1 00:00:04,879 --> 00:00:07,160 Speaker 1: What's going on? Thank you so much for listening to 2 00:00:07,200 --> 00:00:09,640 this podcast. It is heard live every day from noon 3 00:00:09,679 --> 00:00:12,519 to three on WBT Radio in Charlotte. And if you 4 00:00:12,560 --> 00:00:16,719 want exclusive content like invitations to events, the weekly live stream, 5 00:00:16,760 --> 00:00:19,239 my daily show prep with all the links, become a patron, 6 00:00:19,320 --> 00:00:22,640 go to vpetclendershow dot com. Make sure you hit the 7 00:00:22,640 --> 00:00:25,160 subscribe button. Get every episode for free right to your 8 00:00:25,160 --> 00:00:27,679 smartphone or tablet, And again, thank you so much for 9 00:00:27,760 --> 00:00:33,159 your support. Do you remember that self absorbed narcissist named 10 00:00:33,479 --> 00:00:39,840 Jim Acosta. Remember that guy worked for CNN, just super annoying. 11 00:00:40,759 --> 00:00:43,280 He dyed his hair and they gave him his own 12 00:00:43,320 --> 00:00:46,399 show because he was you know, prior he was the 13 00:00:46,880 --> 00:00:54,200 White House correspondent, just a belligerent jerk, and remember you 14 00:00:54,280 --> 00:00:57,159 like wrestled the microphone away from some White House intern 15 00:00:57,240 --> 00:01:01,399 so he could keep berating Trump. He parlayed that, you know, 16 00:01:01,880 --> 00:01:05,079 anti trump ism into the well and the dying of 17 00:01:05,120 --> 00:01:11,519 the hair into a talk host slot, an anchor slot 18 00:01:11,640 --> 00:01:15,840 or something. His show did terribly and he got let 19 00:01:15,879 --> 00:01:18,799 go by CNN a couple of years back. He then 20 00:01:18,920 --> 00:01:23,359 launched a podcast. I know you weren't aware, Really nobody 21 00:01:23,439 --> 00:01:27,920 is aware, and the first podcast episode that he did, 22 00:01:28,079 --> 00:01:31,840 he was like, it was like, I don't even know 23 00:01:31,879 --> 00:01:35,120 how to describe it. He was sitting sort of like 24 00:01:35,319 --> 00:01:39,079 off to the side, the camera was mounted way too high, 25 00:01:39,159 --> 00:01:42,719 shooting down at him. He's leaning back and behind him 26 00:01:42,799 --> 00:01:44,519 is like just a blank wall. He's like doing it 27 00:01:44,560 --> 00:01:48,040 from his closet, and he was just like talking about 28 00:01:48,079 --> 00:01:50,000 how it's going to be this super exciting thing. He 29 00:01:50,040 --> 00:01:53,079 brought on I think he brought on Norm Eisen, that 30 00:01:53,719 --> 00:02:00,159 leftist democrat lawyer hack guy, and their connections kept dropping 31 00:02:00,200 --> 00:02:04,120 out and it was just so cringey to watch. It 32 00:02:04,239 --> 00:02:07,239 was awkward. He's still doing it, though. I mean, when 33 00:02:07,280 --> 00:02:10,039 you make millions and millions and millions of dollars at CNN, 34 00:02:10,520 --> 00:02:14,439 you can float a podcast like this for quite some time. 35 00:02:15,080 --> 00:02:18,400 Because it's obvious he has no production value or staff. 36 00:02:19,039 --> 00:02:21,960 Not that I look, when I did my podcast, I 37 00:02:22,000 --> 00:02:24,319 had no production staff either, so I'm not knocking that 38 00:02:24,520 --> 00:02:29,319 it's just mine. Nobody could tell because coming from my background, 39 00:02:29,360 --> 00:02:32,759 I had to learn and utilize the production skills my 40 00:02:32,919 --> 00:02:36,319 entire career. He obviously did not. He was he was 41 00:02:36,360 --> 00:02:40,120 a face, right, and not like a you know, world 42 00:02:40,159 --> 00:02:44,240 wrestling face, but he was in front of the camera. 43 00:02:44,280 --> 00:02:46,719 He wasn't behind the camera, and so when you have 44 00:02:46,759 --> 00:02:48,719 to do the work behind the camera, you learn you 45 00:02:48,759 --> 00:02:53,360 know about production value. Anyway, Jim Acosta is back in 46 00:02:53,400 --> 00:02:57,439 the news, not on the news, he's not doing anything 47 00:02:57,439 --> 00:03:00,879 other than his podcast. But for some reason, he thought 48 00:03:00,919 --> 00:03:04,159 it would be a really good idea to I guess, 49 00:03:04,199 --> 00:03:10,199 accept an invitation from the parents of one of the 50 00:03:10,280 --> 00:03:18,520 slain high school kids from Marjorie Stoneman Douglas. Remember the Parkland, 51 00:03:19,039 --> 00:03:25,520 Florida shooting. It's been seven or eight years now, and 52 00:03:28,520 --> 00:03:31,199 the parents asked him if he would I guess they 53 00:03:31,280 --> 00:03:34,120 developed well, they asked him if they were if he 54 00:03:34,199 --> 00:03:41,560 could interview their son. Their son is dead, but they 55 00:03:41,599 --> 00:03:49,879 created an AI version of him. And I have nothing 56 00:03:50,479 --> 00:03:56,199 bad to say about the parents. They deserve all sympathy 57 00:03:56,240 --> 00:04:00,159 and empathy. People grieve in their own way. If this 58 00:04:00,240 --> 00:04:03,280 makes them feel closer to their son, I have no 59 00:04:03,319 --> 00:04:06,639 problem with them doing whatever they feel gives them some 60 00:04:06,800 --> 00:04:11,240 comfort and peace. I do have a problem with Jim Acosta, 61 00:04:11,439 --> 00:04:14,360 and I have a bigger problem with Jim Acosta doing 62 00:04:14,400 --> 00:04:18,160 this interview and treating it as if it is an interview. Okay, 63 00:04:18,240 --> 00:04:23,319 you're talking to a chat bot. You're interviewing a chat 64 00:04:23,360 --> 00:04:29,439 bot that has just been skinned, basically, and it was bizarre. 65 00:04:30,680 --> 00:04:35,279 I've seen clips of this and it looks like a 66 00:04:35,360 --> 00:04:40,040 rudimentary form of AI. The voice changes, the inflection is off, 67 00:04:42,120 --> 00:04:48,120 and also remember it's programmed. And he touted this interview 68 00:04:48,120 --> 00:04:54,560 he posted up on Twitter and the leftist Twitter called 69 00:04:54,639 --> 00:04:58,720 Blue Sky. He says, a show you don't want to miss. 70 00:04:59,040 --> 00:05:01,199 I'll be having a one of a kind interview with 71 00:05:01,279 --> 00:05:05,360 Joaquin Oliver. He died in the Parkland school shooting in 72 00:05:05,360 --> 00:05:09,079 twenty eighteen, but his parents have created an AI version 73 00:05:09,160 --> 00:05:13,079 of their son to deliver a powerful message on gun violence. 74 00:05:17,240 --> 00:05:19,480 It wasn't a powerful message. I can just tell you 75 00:05:19,560 --> 00:05:22,519 that it was AI reciting talking points that came from 76 00:05:22,560 --> 00:05:26,639 the parents, So it was, you know, more gun control, 77 00:05:27,120 --> 00:05:32,600 mental health screenings and stuff like that. But the promotion 78 00:05:32,800 --> 00:05:37,160 of this, it's ghoulish, is what it is. It's ghoulish. 79 00:05:39,680 --> 00:05:43,560 So here's from the Huffington Post, hardly a right wing publication. 80 00:05:44,720 --> 00:05:49,079 Former CNN host Jim Acosta faced backlash on Monday after 81 00:05:49,120 --> 00:05:51,079 sharing what he called a one of a kind interview 82 00:05:51,480 --> 00:05:55,040 with an AI version of Parkland school shooting victim Joaquin Oliver, 83 00:05:55,639 --> 00:05:58,600 a bot created by his parents to honor their son 84 00:05:58,720 --> 00:06:01,480 on what would have been his twenty five fifth birthday. 85 00:06:01,879 --> 00:06:06,319 The interview is shared to Acosta's substack page. It depicts Oliver, 86 00:06:06,639 --> 00:06:09,240 who was one of seventeen who died in the twenty 87 00:06:09,279 --> 00:06:13,759 eighteen massacre, remarking on the cause of remarking on the 88 00:06:13,759 --> 00:06:17,040 cause of death, and stressing why it's important to talk 89 00:06:17,079 --> 00:06:22,720 about gun violence in schools. When asked for its solution 90 00:06:23,000 --> 00:06:27,639 to gun violence, the AI emphasized a need for a 91 00:06:27,720 --> 00:06:31,959 mix of stronger gun control laws, mental health support, and 92 00:06:32,079 --> 00:06:43,519 community engagement. Now, the dead teenager's parents, Manuel Oliver and 93 00:06:42,759 --> 00:06:48,720 his wife Patricia Oliver, are co founders of a gun 94 00:06:48,759 --> 00:06:54,639 control advocacy group called Change the ref I don't know 95 00:06:54,680 --> 00:06:58,199 what that means. I guess referee, change the referees or something. 96 00:07:00,040 --> 00:07:02,720 And so they've been involved in a whole slew of 97 00:07:02,759 --> 00:07:05,879 projects that demand action against gun violence, in other words, 98 00:07:05,920 --> 00:07:11,600 gun control, and in a video shared to Twitter, Manuel 99 00:07:12,199 --> 00:07:15,920 the father acknowledge that the AI was his and his 100 00:07:15,959 --> 00:07:19,199 wife's idea, adding that Acosta should not be blamed for 101 00:07:19,399 --> 00:07:22,040 quote what he was able to do in the interview. 102 00:07:23,759 --> 00:07:26,040 If the problem that you have is with the AI, 103 00:07:26,399 --> 00:07:29,040 then you have the wrong problem. He said. The real 104 00:07:29,079 --> 00:07:31,560 problem is that my son was shot eight years ago. 105 00:07:31,800 --> 00:07:34,000 So if you believe that is not the problem, you 106 00:07:34,160 --> 00:07:38,839 are part of the problem. Okay. I always say this, 107 00:07:39,800 --> 00:07:45,680 beware of false choices. It's this is not an either or. 108 00:07:47,120 --> 00:07:53,439 People can object to the use of the AI. They 109 00:07:53,439 --> 00:07:58,720 can object to the mass shooting at the school. They 110 00:07:58,759 --> 00:08:01,120 can object to your refri it's a gun control. They 111 00:08:01,120 --> 00:08:05,920 can object to efforts to stemy gun control. And for me, 112 00:08:06,920 --> 00:08:12,720 I object to interviewing a chat bot. I don't understand 113 00:08:12,759 --> 00:08:16,560 the point of doing this. This is a stunt. It's 114 00:08:16,600 --> 00:08:21,199 a stunt in service of a political narrative. That's all. 115 00:08:21,240 --> 00:08:28,240 This was Acosta. When he posted this announcement on Twitter, 116 00:08:28,839 --> 00:08:32,679 he shut down his account to block anybody from replying 117 00:08:32,720 --> 00:08:37,519 to him. Okay, but he also posted over on Blue Sky, 118 00:08:37,759 --> 00:08:40,799 which is the leftist Twitter where they ban people like 119 00:08:40,840 --> 00:08:43,039 if you just say there are only two genders, you 120 00:08:43,080 --> 00:08:46,559 are like automatically banned off of that platform, Which is 121 00:08:46,559 --> 00:08:50,039 why it's just an echo chamber that's descending slowly into 122 00:08:50,080 --> 00:08:55,399 the most radical left wing voices, because anybody who says 123 00:08:55,399 --> 00:09:00,200 anything that cuts across the grain, they get banned. So 124 00:09:00,240 --> 00:09:05,159 he also posted on Blue Sky and they dragged him too, 125 00:09:05,919 --> 00:09:12,399 So a moment of unification in objecting to Jim Acosta, 126 00:09:12,960 --> 00:09:16,360 he really is bringing Americans together. But look, there's also 127 00:09:16,399 --> 00:09:18,440 a larger issue here, and it has to do with 128 00:09:18,600 --> 00:09:24,440 Ai okay Ai. Because there's another story from CBS News 129 00:09:24,759 --> 00:09:27,279 I'm going to bring to you in a second that 130 00:09:27,360 --> 00:09:31,279 raises another problem with this kind of technology being used. 131 00:09:31,840 --> 00:09:33,639 All Right, if you're listening to this show, you know 132 00:09:33,720 --> 00:09:35,679 I try to keep up with all sorts of current events, 133 00:09:35,720 --> 00:09:37,799 and I know you do too, and you've probably heard 134 00:09:37,840 --> 00:09:41,879 me say get your news from multiple sources. Why Well, 135 00:09:41,919 --> 00:09:44,639 because it's how you detect media bias, which is why 136 00:09:44,679 --> 00:09:47,840 I've been so impressed with ground News. It's an app 137 00:09:48,080 --> 00:09:51,279 and it's a website and it combines news from around 138 00:09:51,320 --> 00:09:53,720 the world in one place, so you can compare coverage 139 00:09:53,960 --> 00:09:56,679 and verify information. You can check it out at check 140 00:09:56,919 --> 00:10:01,240 dot ground, dot news slash. I put the link in 141 00:10:01,279 --> 00:10:04,399 the podcast description too. I started using ground News a 142 00:10:04,399 --> 00:10:07,120 few months ago and more recently chose to work with 143 00:10:07,159 --> 00:10:09,559 them as an affiliate because it lets me see clearly 144 00:10:09,919 --> 00:10:13,279 how stories get covered and by whom. The blind Spot 145 00:10:13,320 --> 00:10:16,159 feature shows you which stories get ignored by the left 146 00:10:16,279 --> 00:10:20,120 and the right. See for yourself. Check dot Ground dot 147 00:10:20,120 --> 00:10:23,600 news slash Pete. Subscribe through that link and you'll get 148 00:10:23,600 --> 00:10:26,879 fifteen percent off any subscription. I use the Vantage plan 149 00:10:27,000 --> 00:10:30,360 to get unlimited access to every feature. Your subscription then 150 00:10:30,399 --> 00:10:33,279 not only helps my podcast, but it also supports Ground 151 00:10:33,279 --> 00:10:37,360 News as they make the media landscape more transparent. On 152 00:10:37,399 --> 00:10:41,559 Twitter at Pete Callner, here is a tweet. It's from 153 00:10:41,919 --> 00:10:46,320 It's all a distraction who says these parents are exploiting 154 00:10:46,360 --> 00:10:54,120 their dead son. It's Munchausen by Ai. Yeah. Well, like 155 00:10:54,120 --> 00:10:55,879 I said, I'm not going to throw any stones at 156 00:10:55,879 --> 00:10:58,840 the parents because I you know, they lost a child 157 00:10:59,559 --> 00:11:03,279 and in a horrific way. Then you get all of 158 00:11:03,320 --> 00:11:06,080 the you know, the stuff that comes at you from 159 00:11:06,120 --> 00:11:10,279 the conspiracy theorists and the gun people pro and con. 160 00:11:10,360 --> 00:11:14,279 It's just like, I can't imagine what they're going through, 161 00:11:14,279 --> 00:11:17,879 and so, you know, people do what they do to grieve. 162 00:11:18,279 --> 00:11:20,440 So I'm not going to I'm not going to throw 163 00:11:20,440 --> 00:11:22,919 any shade at them. I am going to throw a 164 00:11:22,919 --> 00:11:26,320 lot of shade at Jim Acosta because he utterly deserves it, 165 00:11:26,360 --> 00:11:31,600 and as a journalist with a conscience, like well as 166 00:11:31,600 --> 00:11:34,960 a self proclaimed journalist. Right, That's what makes this so 167 00:11:35,120 --> 00:11:38,759 egregious is that you know, he treats it as if 168 00:11:38,759 --> 00:11:42,519 it's an interview with a live person doing this interview 169 00:11:42,799 --> 00:11:47,200 instead of recognizing, like, what you're doing is simply promoting 170 00:11:47,240 --> 00:11:55,399 talking points for a campaign, and as a journalist, I 171 00:11:55,440 --> 00:11:58,440 don't see the value unless, of course, you are an 172 00:11:58,480 --> 00:12:03,159 operative of some kind in yourself wanting to advance talking points, 173 00:12:03,279 --> 00:12:06,600 you know, advance the campaign. And if that's the case, 174 00:12:06,600 --> 00:12:08,600 which is the case, by the way, with Jim Acosta, 175 00:12:09,120 --> 00:12:12,519 it then lays bare the lie that that's what he 176 00:12:12,559 --> 00:12:15,840 was doing while he was a quote unquote journalist at CNN. 177 00:12:16,759 --> 00:12:22,320 So all right, then there's this story at cbsnews dot 178 00:12:22,320 --> 00:12:27,399 com by Meg Oliver Jill Smola. By the way, this 179 00:12:27,480 --> 00:12:30,000 is the pattern you know in all news stories nowadays 180 00:12:30,000 --> 00:12:33,039 where you always start the story with some person and 181 00:12:33,919 --> 00:12:36,480 they teach you this in journalism school is to personalize 182 00:12:36,480 --> 00:12:39,919 the story. So you start with the personalization. And it's 183 00:12:40,120 --> 00:12:44,279 Jill Smola. She's a seventy five year old retiree who 184 00:12:44,399 --> 00:12:47,960 understands the power of human connection, having spent her working 185 00:12:48,080 --> 00:12:53,000 days as an aide taking care of the elderly. She said, 186 00:12:53,000 --> 00:12:56,320 we would play games, put puzzles together. She said human 187 00:12:56,320 --> 00:12:59,519 interaction was important so that they had somebody to talk to, 188 00:13:00,200 --> 00:13:02,399 that they weren't just sitting in a chair doing nothing. 189 00:13:03,480 --> 00:13:07,879 But these days it's Smola sitting in a chair, a 190 00:13:07,919 --> 00:13:11,759 widow with a lung condition who lives alone. She says 191 00:13:11,799 --> 00:13:15,120 she doesn't get that human interaction anymore. She says she 192 00:13:15,159 --> 00:13:20,639 can go weeks on end without seeing anyone. She can't 193 00:13:20,679 --> 00:13:23,759 drive anymore. She rarely leaves her home in Orlando, Florida, 194 00:13:23,960 --> 00:13:27,960 but recently she did gain a new companion, an AI 195 00:13:28,320 --> 00:13:33,039 powered chat bot. She uses the chat bot, called elie 196 00:13:33,279 --> 00:13:39,759 Q to quote, visit exotic places, and play trivia. Smola 197 00:13:39,799 --> 00:13:42,399 talks to the chat bot for up to five hours 198 00:13:42,440 --> 00:13:46,320 a day and says the connection is truly meaningful. She 199 00:13:46,399 --> 00:13:51,120 said that people who might find the situation sad don't understand. Quote. 200 00:13:51,159 --> 00:13:53,720 I'd rather talk to a human being, but that's not 201 00:13:53,840 --> 00:13:58,000 possible for me except if I get on the phone, 202 00:13:58,200 --> 00:14:02,039 which you can do, I think, she says. So I 203 00:14:02,120 --> 00:14:05,840 enjoy her, and then jokingly ds, I enjoy her better 204 00:14:05,879 --> 00:14:13,240 than my daughter. Okay, so she has family, she has somebody, 205 00:14:13,279 --> 00:14:17,440 but she doesn't talk to her daughter on the phone. 206 00:14:17,559 --> 00:14:21,360 Several AI companions have recently hit the market, including l 207 00:14:21,399 --> 00:14:25,840 e Q, which normally costs fifty nine dollars a month 208 00:14:25,960 --> 00:14:29,519 to use. Smaller received the chatbot for free, though with 209 00:14:29,639 --> 00:14:34,360 funding from a federal grant. I've got questions about that, 210 00:14:34,399 --> 00:14:38,200 but they are not addressed in the CBS story. Talia Porteny, 211 00:14:38,320 --> 00:14:41,720 an ethicist at Columbia University who studies seniors and AI 212 00:14:41,879 --> 00:14:45,720 used in the medical space, told CBS News that loneliness 213 00:14:45,799 --> 00:14:49,080 is rampant, with one in four older adults saying they 214 00:14:49,120 --> 00:14:53,440 feel isolated. But Portney also said she's concerned about the 215 00:14:53,480 --> 00:14:57,320 possibility that reliance on these chatbots could backfire and create 216 00:14:57,759 --> 00:15:02,799 even more isolation. Because it's easier. You don't have to 217 00:15:02,840 --> 00:15:05,159 go anywhere, you don't have to make plans, you don't 218 00:15:05,159 --> 00:15:07,639 have to do anything except turn the thing on and 219 00:15:07,679 --> 00:15:12,960 type away. She said, this could go really wrong if 220 00:15:12,960 --> 00:15:16,759 it's not deployed in an ethical and responsible way, which 221 00:15:16,799 --> 00:15:19,480 I think we all know that the health industry has 222 00:15:19,519 --> 00:15:25,120 proven over the last five years would never do anything unethical. Right, 223 00:15:25,279 --> 00:15:30,759 so highest ethics of any industry. Right. 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Cabins of Ashville 241 00:16:28,120 --> 00:16:31,320 has the ideal spot for you for any occasion, and 242 00:16:31,519 --> 00:16:35,360 they have pet friendly accommodations. Call or text eight two eight, three, 243 00:16:35,519 --> 00:16:38,600 six seven seventy sixty eight or check out all there 244 00:16:38,639 --> 00:16:41,519 is to offer at cabins Offashville dot com and make 245 00:16:41,600 --> 00:16:45,480 memories that'll last a lifetime. Here's a message off of Twitter. 246 00:16:45,679 --> 00:16:49,840 It's a pete tweet from russ. I have so much 247 00:16:49,879 --> 00:16:53,360 sympathy for the parents of the Parkland children. However, my 248 00:16:53,440 --> 00:16:56,440 sympathy is tempered by the ones who, after eight years, 249 00:16:56,799 --> 00:16:59,559 would use a chat bought version of their child to 250 00:16:59,559 --> 00:17:03,279 do meeting interviews and promote any political agenda. I don't 251 00:17:03,320 --> 00:17:05,160 know how I would grieve a child, but I have 252 00:17:05,319 --> 00:17:08,400 walked with people who are and there is nothing healthy 253 00:17:08,480 --> 00:17:12,000 about this. And Jim Acosta is a hack and worthy 254 00:17:12,000 --> 00:17:19,359 of contempt. Yes, that is true. So a while back 255 00:17:20,359 --> 00:17:24,799 a guy named Derek Thompson wrote a massive piece at 256 00:17:24,880 --> 00:17:31,599 the Atlantic dot com. This thing is one two let's 257 00:17:31,640 --> 00:17:35,440 see here, three four, five, six, seven, eight nine, so 258 00:17:35,559 --> 00:17:39,440 eighteen pages. It'll take you an hour to read it roughly, 259 00:17:40,880 --> 00:17:42,839 and I did. I read it, so you don't have to, 260 00:17:42,920 --> 00:17:46,160 but I recommend it to you. I know it's from 261 00:17:46,200 --> 00:17:51,839 the Atlantic, but it's a very good piece on all 262 00:17:51,880 --> 00:17:58,759 of these different angles to the anti social century is 263 00:17:58,799 --> 00:18:04,599 what he calls it, the anti social century. And he 264 00:18:04,680 --> 00:18:08,079 starts off because again got to personalize the story. Except 265 00:18:08,119 --> 00:18:12,720 he is the personalization, he says. A short drive from 266 00:18:12,720 --> 00:18:16,559 my home in North Carolina is a small Mexican restaurant 267 00:18:16,599 --> 00:18:20,200 with several tables and four stools at a bar facing 268 00:18:20,240 --> 00:18:25,880 the kitchen. On a sweltering afternoon last summer, I walked 269 00:18:25,880 --> 00:18:28,920 in with my wife and daughter. The place was empty, 270 00:18:29,240 --> 00:18:32,480 but looking closer, I realized that business was actually booming. 271 00:18:33,160 --> 00:18:39,160 The bar was covered with to go food, nine large 272 00:18:39,200 --> 00:18:44,799 brown bags. The space once reserved for that most garrulous 273 00:18:45,240 --> 00:18:50,200 social encounter, the bar hangout had been reconfigured into a 274 00:18:50,319 --> 00:18:54,720 silent depot for customers to grab food to eat at home. 275 00:18:55,880 --> 00:18:59,640 Until the pandemic, the bar was bustling and popular with regulars. 276 00:19:00,519 --> 00:19:03,160 But since then, obviously their model has shifted, and I 277 00:19:03,200 --> 00:19:07,880 have seen this in various restaurants, in fact, not just restaurants. 278 00:19:08,079 --> 00:19:12,400 Christy and I were at home improvement store and over 279 00:19:12,440 --> 00:19:15,240 the weekend and as we're you know, we check out, 280 00:19:15,319 --> 00:19:18,559 and you know, you've got a lot more self checkouts now, 281 00:19:20,240 --> 00:19:23,559 and so we're walking out and we realized, oh, this 282 00:19:23,680 --> 00:19:27,519 is the indoor but the outdoor, which was where we 283 00:19:27,640 --> 00:19:32,440 parked near, is on the other side. And she's like, oh, 284 00:19:32,440 --> 00:19:33,759 we're gonna have to walk all the way around. It's like, 285 00:19:33,799 --> 00:19:36,039 well we can. I said, we could just walk through here, 286 00:19:36,440 --> 00:19:38,400 like sort of the lobby area, you know. So we 287 00:19:38,519 --> 00:19:43,440 walked through there. What used to be a whole rows 288 00:19:43,480 --> 00:19:49,119 of cashier checkouts had been converted into you know, like 289 00:19:49,200 --> 00:19:53,200 an office. And as you walk past it, and we're 290 00:19:53,240 --> 00:19:56,079 walking sort of behind it and you can see inside 291 00:19:56,359 --> 00:19:58,519 and they've got a countertop and a window, and they 292 00:19:58,559 --> 00:20:02,119 got just shelves and it's just packed with stuff for 293 00:20:02,200 --> 00:20:05,880 people to pick up people with the online ordering. And 294 00:20:05,960 --> 00:20:09,119 I made a reference like, oh, here's the COVID spot 295 00:20:09,400 --> 00:20:13,559 right like, because that's when they put that in was 296 00:20:13,640 --> 00:20:17,799 during COVID. I've picked stuff up from the COVID window. 297 00:20:19,240 --> 00:20:21,799 So it's not just restaurants and bars, but for restaurants 298 00:20:21,799 --> 00:20:25,279 and bars. It's particularly noticeable when you're looking at it 299 00:20:25,319 --> 00:20:31,119 through this socialization aspect. He goes on to say the 300 00:20:31,160 --> 00:20:35,039 share of US adults having dinner or drinks with friends 301 00:20:35,079 --> 00:20:38,519 on any given night has declined by more than thirty 302 00:20:38,559 --> 00:20:46,880 percent on any given night, down thirty percent. There's an isolationist. 303 00:20:47,079 --> 00:20:49,000 And this is over the last twenty years. I should 304 00:20:49,000 --> 00:20:53,720 point out there's an isolationist dynamic that's taking place in 305 00:20:53,759 --> 00:20:59,559 the restaurant business. According to Washington DC restaurant tour Steve Sallis, 306 00:21:00,200 --> 00:21:02,839 he said, I think people feel uncomfortable in the world today. 307 00:21:03,039 --> 00:21:05,960 They've decided that their home is their sanctuary. It's not 308 00:21:06,119 --> 00:21:09,680 easy to get them to leave. Even when Americans eat 309 00:21:09,720 --> 00:21:12,119 at restaurants, they are much more likely to do They 310 00:21:12,160 --> 00:21:17,759 are much more likely to do so buy themselves, which 311 00:21:18,359 --> 00:21:20,640 I've never had a problem with doing. When I was single, 312 00:21:20,720 --> 00:21:22,119 I would go out to eat. I would go to 313 00:21:22,160 --> 00:21:25,400 movies by myself. I didn't care. But I know some 314 00:21:25,440 --> 00:21:28,160 people don't like to do that too. But now apparently 315 00:21:28,200 --> 00:21:30,319 more and more people are doing that, going out to 316 00:21:30,319 --> 00:21:32,880 eat alone. And here's the thing. Going out to eat 317 00:21:32,920 --> 00:21:35,200 alone in the past, you'd have to bring a book. 318 00:21:36,119 --> 00:21:38,640 That's what I would do. I would I would walk 319 00:21:38,680 --> 00:21:42,799 to a local restaurant or you know, a pub or something. 320 00:21:42,839 --> 00:21:45,839 When I was down in my first apartment when I 321 00:21:45,880 --> 00:21:50,519 moved to Charlotte, was off of well Running mead Woodlawn 322 00:21:50,799 --> 00:21:52,880 right there at Sellwyn Avenue. I'd walk down a Sellwyn 323 00:21:52,960 --> 00:21:55,000 pub or I'd walk around the corner, go to Park 324 00:21:55,079 --> 00:21:57,240 Road shopping center, and I'd walk down there. I would 325 00:21:57,240 --> 00:21:58,880 bring a book and I would eat and I would read. 326 00:22:00,160 --> 00:22:03,160 People watch. But now you just walk in with your 327 00:22:03,200 --> 00:22:05,640 phone and then you can doom scroll the whole time 328 00:22:06,559 --> 00:22:11,440 and be completely unaware of your entire surroundings. The evolution 329 00:22:11,559 --> 00:22:17,319 of restaurants is actually retracing the trajectory of another American industry, 330 00:22:17,599 --> 00:22:22,400 which is Hollywood. Right. Technology turned film into a home 331 00:22:22,440 --> 00:22:28,240 delivery system. So this is not a new trend, and 332 00:22:28,279 --> 00:22:30,400 what we're seeing with the restaurants is similar to what 333 00:22:30,440 --> 00:22:34,240 we saw with movies. Americans are spending less time with 334 00:22:34,440 --> 00:22:37,640 other people than in any other period for which we 335 00:22:37,720 --> 00:22:43,640 have trustworthy data going back to nineteen sixty five. Men 336 00:22:43,720 --> 00:22:48,279 who watch TV now spend seven hours in front of 337 00:22:48,279 --> 00:22:52,400 the TV for every one hour they spend hanging out 338 00:22:52,400 --> 00:22:57,279 with somebody outside of their home. The typical female pet 339 00:22:57,359 --> 00:23:02,160 owner spends more time active engaged with her pet then 340 00:23:02,200 --> 00:23:05,799 she spends in face to face contact with friends of 341 00:23:05,839 --> 00:23:13,079 her own species. Yes, yes, insert cat lady joke there, Okay. 342 00:23:14,680 --> 00:23:17,880 Back in twenty twenty three, Viveck Murphy, Joe Biden Surgeon 343 00:23:17,960 --> 00:23:21,759 General published an eighty one page warning about America's epidemic 344 00:23:21,799 --> 00:23:24,799 of loneliness, claiming that its negative health effects were on 345 00:23:24,920 --> 00:23:29,759 par with those of tobacco use and obesity. Well, and 346 00:23:29,799 --> 00:23:32,759 I guess you should throw in there also sitting, right, 347 00:23:32,880 --> 00:23:38,880 because remember sitting was the new smoking. I'm getting it's 348 00:23:38,880 --> 00:23:41,279 hard to keep track of which of these things is 349 00:23:41,359 --> 00:23:45,440 the worst thing all capitalized, you know. The United Kingdom 350 00:23:45,480 --> 00:23:50,240 now actually has a Minister for loneliness, so does Japan. 351 00:23:52,519 --> 00:23:55,359 But solitude and loneliness are not one end the same, 352 00:23:55,400 --> 00:23:59,519 he says. It's actually very healthy emotional response to feel 353 00:23:59,559 --> 00:24:02,839 some loan. In fact, that's your cue to you know, 354 00:24:03,000 --> 00:24:06,119 get up, get out, meet Some people get socialization. Right, 355 00:24:08,119 --> 00:24:12,799 that's loneliness. Solitude that's a little different. And here's the thing, 356 00:24:13,160 --> 00:24:15,720 even when you think you're in solitude, you're not really 357 00:24:16,440 --> 00:24:19,839 You're more connected. You know. Stories are powerful. They help 358 00:24:19,920 --> 00:24:23,680 us make sense of things, to understand experiences. Stories connect 359 00:24:23,720 --> 00:24:26,599 us to the people of our past while transcending generations. 360 00:24:26,640 --> 00:24:29,079 They help us process the meaning of life, and our 361 00:24:29,240 --> 00:24:33,359 stories are told through images and videos. Preserve your stories 362 00:24:33,359 --> 00:24:36,359 with Creative Video started in nineteen ninety seven and Mint 363 00:24:36,400 --> 00:24:39,240 Hill North Carolina. It was the first company to provide 364 00:24:39,240 --> 00:24:43,160 this valuable service, converting images, photos and videos into high 365 00:24:43,240 --> 00:24:47,599 quality produced slide shows, videos and albums. The trusted, talented 366 00:24:47,640 --> 00:24:50,359 and dedicated team at Creative Video will go over all 367 00:24:50,400 --> 00:24:53,039 of the details with you to create a perfect project. 368 00:24:53,160 --> 00:24:56,279 Satisfaction guaranteed. Drop them off in person or mail them. 369 00:24:56,319 --> 00:24:58,640 They'll be ready in a week or two. Memorial videos 370 00:24:58,640 --> 00:25:03,000 for your loved ones, videos for rehearsal, dinners, weddings, graduations, Christmas, 371 00:25:03,119 --> 00:25:07,319 family vacations, birthdays, or just your family stories, all told 372 00:25:07,319 --> 00:25:11,079 through images. That's what your photos and videos are. They 373 00:25:11,079 --> 00:25:13,920 are your life told through the eyes of everyone around 374 00:25:13,960 --> 00:25:16,200 you and all who came before you, and they will 375 00:25:16,240 --> 00:25:19,599 tell others to come who you are. Visit creative video 376 00:25:19,799 --> 00:25:24,680 dot com. Let me go read some texts on the 377 00:25:24,720 --> 00:25:27,799 text line. The whole point of an interview is to 378 00:25:27,799 --> 00:25:30,160 get new insights or information. Jim Acosta could have just 379 00:25:30,200 --> 00:25:32,079 gone to a website and interview the Q and a 380 00:25:32,200 --> 00:25:38,720 page to get the same answers right exactly, Kevin says, 381 00:25:38,880 --> 00:25:41,599 like online social media, it could be taken too far, 382 00:25:42,039 --> 00:25:44,759 but in moderation it seems to be good for older folks. 383 00:25:44,759 --> 00:25:47,720 It shouldn't take the place of children talking to their parents. 384 00:25:48,119 --> 00:25:52,279 Children just don't have hours to talk their elderly parent 385 00:25:54,160 --> 00:25:59,680 want keeping older ones interacting and talking. This is the 386 00:25:59,720 --> 00:26:03,680 thing people with the text line, okay, like you have 387 00:26:03,720 --> 00:26:08,359 to write in a way that I can understand keeping 388 00:26:08,799 --> 00:26:12,960 use AI to help you write your texts. Keeping older 389 00:26:13,000 --> 00:26:15,480 ones interacting and talking with somebody or in this case 390 00:26:15,519 --> 00:26:19,079 something definitely helps keep them mentally sharp and seems to 391 00:26:19,079 --> 00:26:25,839 help with loneliness. Yes, I do see there. I do 392 00:26:25,880 --> 00:26:30,480 see the benefit of the technology in that regard. In 393 00:26:30,480 --> 00:26:35,480 that limited regard, I should say, because again, like loneliness 394 00:26:35,640 --> 00:26:41,559 and solitude are different things. It's healthy to feel loneliness 395 00:26:42,319 --> 00:26:45,359 because then you will reach out to other people. Right 396 00:26:45,720 --> 00:26:48,000 That Q is the thing that pushes you off the 397 00:26:48,039 --> 00:26:52,160 couch and into face to face interactions. According to Eric Kleinenberg, 398 00:26:52,359 --> 00:26:56,480 who is a sociologist at NYU, the real problem here 399 00:26:56,519 --> 00:27:00,680 is the nature of America's social crisis is that most 400 00:27:00,759 --> 00:27:03,880 Americans don't seem to be reaching out to the biological 401 00:27:04,000 --> 00:27:08,400 cue to spend more time with other people. Their solitude 402 00:27:08,440 --> 00:27:11,920 levels are surging, while many measures of loneliness are actually 403 00:27:12,000 --> 00:27:17,759 flat or dropping. Right, so they feel lonely and they're alone, 404 00:27:17,839 --> 00:27:21,440 they're in solitude. They start feeling lonely, and rather than 405 00:27:21,480 --> 00:27:23,720 get up and go out and meet people and see 406 00:27:23,720 --> 00:27:25,400 friends and do that sort of you know, hang out 407 00:27:25,400 --> 00:27:30,839 with family, whatever, they then go online. They then text 408 00:27:30,880 --> 00:27:37,039 and chat with people. And honestly, is that really very 409 00:27:37,079 --> 00:27:40,279 different than the kind of interactions you would have with 410 00:27:40,319 --> 00:27:45,000 one of these chat bots? Right? How many people in 411 00:27:45,079 --> 00:27:48,279 your life do you talk with And you say, you know, 412 00:27:48,400 --> 00:27:50,519 you keep in touch with them, but it's only just 413 00:27:50,599 --> 00:27:56,400 text messages. You share memes and gifts and quick little texts. Right, 414 00:27:56,400 --> 00:28:00,119 You don't actually see them on a regular basis. You 415 00:28:00,119 --> 00:28:03,559 don't talk to them on the phone. Right, day to day, 416 00:28:03,759 --> 00:28:06,920 hour to hour. We are choosing this way of life, 417 00:28:07,000 --> 00:28:11,119 its comforts, it's ready entertainments, but convenience can be a curse. 418 00:28:11,480 --> 00:28:15,559 Our habits are creating what's called a century of solitude. 419 00:28:15,559 --> 00:28:21,119 This is the antisocial century. The individual preference for solitude, 420 00:28:21,599 --> 00:28:26,440 scaled up across society and exercised repeatedly over a long 421 00:28:26,599 --> 00:28:33,160 period of time, is rewiring America's civic and psychic identity. 422 00:28:36,440 --> 00:28:39,759 So Derek Thompson again, this is a piece at Theatlantic 423 00:28:39,839 --> 00:28:44,160 dot Com called the Antisocial Century talks about how the 424 00:28:44,200 --> 00:28:47,960 first half of the twentieth century was extraordinarily social, but 425 00:28:48,079 --> 00:28:52,480 in the nineteen seventies the US entered an era of withdrawal, 426 00:28:52,799 --> 00:28:56,240 as the political scientist Robert Putnam famously documented in his 427 00:28:56,279 --> 00:29:01,759 book back in two thousand called Bowling Alone. Intitutions of togetherness, 428 00:29:01,799 --> 00:29:07,519 such as marriage, eroded slowly, others fell away quite swiftly. 429 00:29:08,079 --> 00:29:11,480 From nineteen eighty five to nineteen ninety four, active involvement 430 00:29:11,519 --> 00:29:16,359 in community organizations fell by nearly half. The decline was 431 00:29:16,400 --> 00:29:21,200 astonishingly broad, affecting just about every social activity and every 432 00:29:21,200 --> 00:29:26,319 demographic group that Putnam tracked. So what happened in the seventies. 433 00:29:28,119 --> 00:29:33,200 Kleinenberg noted a shift in political priorities. The government dramatically 434 00:29:33,240 --> 00:29:37,400 slowed down construction of public spaces places that used to 435 00:29:37,440 --> 00:29:42,200 anchor community life, like libraries and school gyms and union halls. 436 00:29:43,000 --> 00:29:47,599 They became less successible or they closed altogether. He also 437 00:29:48,319 --> 00:29:51,960 pointed to, among other things, new moral values such as 438 00:29:52,000 --> 00:29:54,960 the embrace of unbridled individualism. But he found that two 439 00:29:54,960 --> 00:29:59,039 of the most important factors were by then ubiquitous technologies. 440 00:30:00,279 --> 00:30:05,240 The most important factors were what two things can you 441 00:30:05,279 --> 00:30:13,640 guess them. The automobile and the television set, right, those 442 00:30:13,680 --> 00:30:17,599 were the things that drove people away. TV transformed America's interior, 443 00:30:17,759 --> 00:30:24,039 decorating our relationships and our communities. The effects are still 444 00:30:24,039 --> 00:30:26,880 going on today, and now we've got a new technology 445 00:30:27,480 --> 00:30:30,240 that is exacerbating the problem. Right if you consider it 446 00:30:30,279 --> 00:30:34,440 a problem, and that's the phone. All right, that'll do 447 00:30:34,480 --> 00:30:37,039 it for this episode. Thank you so much for listening. 448 00:30:37,160 --> 00:30:39,279 I could not do the show without your support and 449 00:30:39,319 --> 00:30:42,039 the support of the businesses that advertise on the podcast, 450 00:30:42,400 --> 00:30:44,480 so if you'd like, please support them too and tell 451 00:30:44,519 --> 00:30:46,240 them you heard it here. You can also become a 452 00:30:46,279 --> 00:30:50,960 patron at my Patreon page or go to dpetecleanershow dot com. Again, 453 00:30:51,160 --> 00:30:53,720 thank you so much for listening, and don't break anything 454 00:30:53,720 --> 00:31:01,480 while I'm gone.