WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:02.759 Welcome back to the Deep Dive. Okay, we've got 00:00:02.759 --> 00:00:05.280 quite a stack of material today, and it really 00:00:05.280 --> 00:00:09.060 digs into this tension, this battleground between 00:00:09.060 --> 00:00:12.199 facts, established science, official data, media 00:00:12.199 --> 00:00:14.820 reports. And on the other side, this really determined 00:00:14.820 --> 00:00:18.219 push to create. Well, entirely different versions 00:00:18.219 --> 00:00:21.039 of reality. Exactly. It's complex, sometimes 00:00:21.039 --> 00:00:23.320 a bit surreal, actually. It really is. And our 00:00:23.320 --> 00:00:25.960 job here, our Deep Dive mission, is to unpack 00:00:25.960 --> 00:00:27.879 all this. We're looking at these political fights 00:00:27.879 --> 00:00:31.100 against science, against institutions. And maybe 00:00:31.100 --> 00:00:33.359 more importantly, how all that fighting is changing 00:00:33.359 --> 00:00:36.399 culture. You know, how we all try to find reliable 00:00:36.399 --> 00:00:38.859 information, how we try to feel safe even. That 00:00:38.859 --> 00:00:41.259 cultural shift is key. We need to cut through 00:00:41.259 --> 00:00:43.899 the headline noise, pull out the real insights, 00:00:43.920 --> 00:00:45.960 so you can understand the policies actually changing 00:00:45.960 --> 00:00:48.439 underneath all the drama. Speaking of drama, 00:00:48.920 --> 00:00:51.579 or maybe just pure strangeness, we have to mention 00:00:51.579 --> 00:00:53.600 how the sources kicked off. It sort of sets the 00:00:53.600 --> 00:00:55.340 stage perfectly. Oh, you mean the South African 00:00:55.340 --> 00:00:59.420 pastor, Joshua Malakela? Yes. His prediction 00:00:59.420 --> 00:01:03.270 widely shared, apparently, that today... September 00:01:03.270 --> 00:01:07.629 23rd, 2025 was going to be it, the Rapture, the 00:01:07.629 --> 00:01:10.310 end of days. Right. I mean, talk about reality 00:01:10.310 --> 00:01:13.250 distortion. It's almost a perfect, if slightly 00:01:13.250 --> 00:01:15.730 absurd, local example of what we're talking about 00:01:15.730 --> 00:01:17.790 on a bigger scale. Well, assuming you're hearing 00:01:17.790 --> 00:01:20.829 this, Pastor McKayla's distortion field didn't 00:01:20.829 --> 00:01:23.549 quite take hold globally. Thankfully. But it 00:01:23.549 --> 00:01:25.670 does lead us right into our first major theme, 00:01:26.209 --> 00:01:28.840 the manufactured medical reality. This is where 00:01:28.840 --> 00:01:31.459 we see targeted efforts, often at a policy level, 00:01:31.859 --> 00:01:35.140 to twist facts for, well, political gain. Precisely. 00:01:35.219 --> 00:01:37.219 And the prime example this week was that press 00:01:37.219 --> 00:01:39.219 conference. Donald Trump rolling out this new 00:01:39.219 --> 00:01:41.560 medical insight. Right, that came about acetaminophen. 00:01:41.879 --> 00:01:43.859 Tylenol. Yeah, he claimed pregnant women need 00:01:43.859 --> 00:01:46.540 to avoid it because supposedly it causes autism 00:01:46.540 --> 00:01:48.400 in their unborn children. And the sources made 00:01:48.400 --> 00:01:51.019 a point of noting he stumbled quite a bit trying 00:01:51.019 --> 00:01:53.900 to actually say acetaminophen. He did. But... 00:01:53.900 --> 00:01:56.980 Pronunciation aside, the core claim is now out 00:01:56.980 --> 00:01:58.939 there being pushed as a sort of policy idea. 00:01:59.079 --> 00:02:01.599 Yeah. So the crucial question is, how does it 00:02:01.599 --> 00:02:03.719 stack up against the actual science? What does 00:02:03.719 --> 00:02:06.000 the consensus say? Well, it's pretty clear cut, 00:02:06.040 --> 00:02:08.500 actually. The overwhelming majority of studies, 00:02:08.539 --> 00:02:12.719 they find no link between a mother using acetaminophen 00:02:12.719 --> 00:02:15.759 during pregnancy and autism in the child. No 00:02:15.759 --> 00:02:18.780 link at all. Mostly no link. Now, there are a 00:02:18.780 --> 00:02:20.840 few studies that show a potential connection, 00:02:20.900 --> 00:02:24.740 but even those describe it as weak. A very weak 00:02:24.740 --> 00:02:27.000 correlation. Okay, and this is where we hit that 00:02:27.000 --> 00:02:29.800 classic statistics point, right? Yeah. Correlation 00:02:29.800 --> 00:02:32.800 doesn't mean causation. Exactly. That's the absolute 00:02:32.800 --> 00:02:35.400 critical takeaway here for you. Just because 00:02:35.400 --> 00:02:37.240 two things might happen around the same time 00:02:37.240 --> 00:02:39.479 doesn't mean one caused the other. Like the old 00:02:39.479 --> 00:02:42.819 example. Ice cream sales go up in summer, and 00:02:42.819 --> 00:02:46.219 so do murder rates. Heat drives both, not scoops 00:02:46.219 --> 00:02:48.719 causing crime. Precisely the same logic applies 00:02:48.719 --> 00:02:50.740 here. Think about why a pregnant woman might 00:02:50.740 --> 00:02:53.979 take acetaminophen. Often it's for a fever. Okay. 00:02:54.300 --> 00:02:57.580 So it's highly plausible, scientifically speaking, 00:02:57.740 --> 00:02:59.919 that if there is any link to a negative developmental 00:02:59.919 --> 00:03:03.039 outcome, it might be triggered by the fever itself 00:03:03.039 --> 00:03:05.500 or whatever illness is causing the fever. Not 00:03:05.500 --> 00:03:07.659 the Tylenol she took to try and manage the fever. 00:03:08.039 --> 00:03:10.039 Correct. The drug is treating a symptom. The 00:03:10.039 --> 00:03:12.379 underlying condition could be the real issue 00:03:12.379 --> 00:03:14.800 if there even is one related to this. And the 00:03:14.800 --> 00:03:17.960 other data points in the material. They really 00:03:17.960 --> 00:03:20.379 seem to contradict this new Tylenol theory, don't 00:03:20.379 --> 00:03:23.719 they? They push back hard. Get this, autism diagnosis 00:03:23.719 --> 00:03:27.520 rates have quadrupled, gone up four times in 00:03:27.520 --> 00:03:30.060 the last 25 years or so. Which is a huge increase. 00:03:30.180 --> 00:03:33.860 Massive. But over that same period, how much 00:03:33.860 --> 00:03:36.699 acetaminophen pregnant women are taking, that's 00:03:36.699 --> 00:03:40.680 been basically flat level, no increase. So the 00:03:40.680 --> 00:03:42.539 trends don't match up at all? Not even close. 00:03:42.740 --> 00:03:44.949 And there's more. Research has looked internationally. 00:03:45.110 --> 00:03:47.150 They've found autism rates are pretty much the 00:03:47.150 --> 00:03:48.870 same in countries where pregnant women can easily 00:03:48.870 --> 00:03:51.009 get Tylenol and countries where it's much harder 00:03:51.009 --> 00:03:53.030 to access. OK, so the numbers just aren't there 00:03:53.030 --> 00:03:55.509 to support this narrative. The math doesn't work. 00:03:55.669 --> 00:03:58.150 It doesn't add up to make this common painkiller 00:03:58.150 --> 00:04:00.110 the new villain. Which brings us to the really 00:04:00.110 --> 00:04:02.669 troubling part, the potential consequence. Why 00:04:02.669 --> 00:04:05.650 this shift? Why move away from the, you know, 00:04:05.750 --> 00:04:08.590 the long running vaccines cause autism claim 00:04:08.590 --> 00:04:11.729 to suddenly target Tylenol? That's the big why. 00:04:11.919 --> 00:04:14.500 Is it just about keeping the focus on something 00:04:14.500 --> 00:04:17.680 external, something besides genetics, to blame? 00:04:18.060 --> 00:04:20.839 Or, as the analysis suggests, is it about the 00:04:20.839 --> 00:04:24.339 personalities involved? Trump, RFK Jr., do they 00:04:24.339 --> 00:04:27.279 see themselves as disruptors who need to keep 00:04:27.279 --> 00:04:29.939 throwing out new, shocking claims to dominate 00:04:29.939 --> 00:04:32.379 the conversation? keeping the spotlight, maybe? 00:04:32.740 --> 00:04:35.720 It could be. It certainly speaks to this perceived 00:04:35.720 --> 00:04:39.279 political need to keep manufacturing reality, 00:04:39.480 --> 00:04:41.399 keep generating these narratives. And that leads 00:04:41.399 --> 00:04:43.439 us perfectly into the next tactic discussed in 00:04:43.439 --> 00:04:46.040 the material, controlling the information pipeline 00:04:46.040 --> 00:04:48.379 itself. Exactly. It's not just inventing new 00:04:48.379 --> 00:04:50.879 claims. It's about stopping the official existing 00:04:50.879 --> 00:04:53.100 data from getting out. So how does that shift 00:04:53.100 --> 00:04:56.079 happen from making things up like the Tylenol 00:04:56.079 --> 00:04:59.300 theory to actively suppressing actual government 00:04:59.300 --> 00:05:01.600 reports and data? Well, the material highlights 00:05:01.600 --> 00:05:04.139 some really chilling signals this week. It feels 00:05:04.139 --> 00:05:06.480 sudden. This move towards controlling institutional 00:05:06.480 --> 00:05:09.339 data, as one analyst put it, kind of starkly, 00:05:09.420 --> 00:05:11.519 welcome to life in Oceania. Referencing Orwell 00:05:11.519 --> 00:05:14.339 1984, systematic dismantling of public facts. 00:05:14.740 --> 00:05:17.839 Precisely. And we saw concrete examples. The 00:05:17.839 --> 00:05:20.139 Department of Justice, the Dota J, is legally 00:05:20.139 --> 00:05:22.800 required to submit an annual report on sex trafficking 00:05:22.800 --> 00:05:26.100 by June 30th. OK. It hasn't been submitted. Just 00:05:26.100 --> 00:05:27.819 missing. And it wasn't just that one report, 00:05:27.959 --> 00:05:31.089 right? There was economic data, too. Yes, the 00:05:31.089 --> 00:05:33.829 Bureau of Labor Statistics, the BLS, they put 00:05:33.829 --> 00:05:36.709 out annual consumer expenditures data. It's really 00:05:36.709 --> 00:05:38.470 important for economists trying to figure out 00:05:38.470 --> 00:05:42.610 inflation trends. Delayed, just postponed with 00:05:42.610 --> 00:05:46.250 zero explanation offered. No reason given. None. 00:05:46.610 --> 00:05:49.579 And maybe the most blatant example. The annual 00:05:49.579 --> 00:05:51.819 report on hunger in America? What happened to 00:05:51.819 --> 00:05:54.300 that one? Canceled. Just canceled entirely. The 00:05:54.300 --> 00:05:57.199 official justification. The data had become too 00:05:57.199 --> 00:05:59.500 politicized. Wow. So if the facts are inconvenient, 00:05:59.680 --> 00:06:01.800 you just stop publishing them. That seems to 00:06:01.800 --> 00:06:04.240 be the strategy emerging. Ignore it, delay it, 00:06:04.459 --> 00:06:07.519 cancel it. It's a clear power move towards controlling 00:06:07.519 --> 00:06:09.740 the whole institutional narrative. And that same 00:06:09.740 --> 00:06:11.800 ambition, controlling the narrative, seems really 00:06:11.800 --> 00:06:13.800 visible in what's happening with the TikTok deal, 00:06:14.319 --> 00:06:16.550 based on the details emerging. Oh, absolutely. 00:06:16.990 --> 00:06:19.990 The sources detail how the whole divestment process, 00:06:20.029 --> 00:06:22.029 which was supposed to follow certain legal steps, 00:06:22.529 --> 00:06:26.410 was kind of subverted. Well, Trump apparently 00:06:26.410 --> 00:06:29.029 extended the negotiation window several times. 00:06:29.230 --> 00:06:31.689 The analysis questions whether he even had the 00:06:31.689 --> 00:06:33.829 legal authority to do that. And the result. Who 00:06:33.829 --> 00:06:37.050 owns it now? The outcome is that 80 % of the 00:06:37.050 --> 00:06:40.610 US operations are now owned by a consortium of, 00:06:41.050 --> 00:06:43.819 well, the material calls them. ultra -maggie 00:06:43.819 --> 00:06:46.540 techie friends. Specifically, naming names. Oh, 00:06:46.639 --> 00:06:50.300 yeah. Larry and David Ellison, Markin, Dreeson, 00:06:50.500 --> 00:06:52.759 and also Rupert and Lachlan Murdoch are involved. 00:06:52.959 --> 00:06:55.240 Quite the group. And didn't Trump also manage 00:06:55.240 --> 00:06:57.360 to get some kind of fee out of it for the government? 00:06:57.560 --> 00:07:00.240 He did. A multi -billion dollar fee, apparently. 00:07:00.620 --> 00:07:03.220 The analysis rather dryly noted it might end 00:07:03.220 --> 00:07:05.759 up paying for a gold -plated elevator shaft somewhere. 00:07:05.980 --> 00:07:08.870 Huh. OK, so beyond the ownership, what's the 00:07:08.870 --> 00:07:11.589 goal here? Why this particular group? Why TikTok? 00:07:11.829 --> 00:07:14.029 The sources are very explicit about this. The 00:07:14.029 --> 00:07:16.810 goal is to control the algorithm. The thing that 00:07:16.810 --> 00:07:19.889 decides what videos the 170 million US users 00:07:19.889 --> 00:07:21.649 see. Especially younger users, right? That's 00:07:21.649 --> 00:07:24.649 a huge audience. Huge. And the plan is to use 00:07:24.649 --> 00:07:27.689 that algorithm to push specific political viewpoints. 00:07:28.170 --> 00:07:30.689 To propagandize, essentially. Is there evidence 00:07:30.689 --> 00:07:33.910 this kind of thing even works? Can you really 00:07:33.910 --> 00:07:36.310 sway people that way? Well, we don't have to 00:07:36.310 --> 00:07:38.850 guess. The material connects this to a precedent, 00:07:39.410 --> 00:07:42.250 the Israel -Hamas conflict. Remember how quickly 00:07:42.250 --> 00:07:44.470 the term genocide started spreading among young 00:07:44.470 --> 00:07:46.490 Americans? Yeah, that was very noticeable on 00:07:46.490 --> 00:07:49.029 platforms like TikTok. Exactly. The analysis 00:07:49.029 --> 00:07:51.410 points to successful Chinese government messaging 00:07:51.410 --> 00:07:54.970 using TikTok feeds as being instrumental in propagating 00:07:54.970 --> 00:07:57.490 that specific term and viewpoint so rapidly. 00:07:57.670 --> 00:07:59.430 So it's potentially very powerful conditioning 00:07:59.430 --> 00:08:01.819 if you control the algorithm. Potentially, yes. 00:08:02.079 --> 00:08:04.459 But the sources also point out a couple of big 00:08:04.459 --> 00:08:07.100 potential flaws in this grand plan. OK, what 00:08:07.100 --> 00:08:09.399 are the risks for the new owners? First, are 00:08:09.399 --> 00:08:11.839 they actually any good at this? The Chinese government 00:08:11.839 --> 00:08:15.660 has decades of practice being master propagandists. 00:08:16.019 --> 00:08:18.139 It's not clear if the Ellisons or the Murdochs 00:08:18.139 --> 00:08:21.160 have that same level of skill or subtlety in 00:08:21.160 --> 00:08:23.279 political messaging. They might be kind of clumsy 00:08:23.279 --> 00:08:27.259 about it. Could be. Second risk, the platform 00:08:27.259 --> 00:08:32.200 itself. TikTok is huge now. But young users are 00:08:32.200 --> 00:08:35.399 famously fickle. They move fast. Like MySpace. 00:08:35.720 --> 00:08:38.419 Or even Facebook feeling older now. Precisely. 00:08:38.860 --> 00:08:41.120 They might be investing billions to control a 00:08:41.120 --> 00:08:43.500 platform. Just as its core demographic is getting 00:08:43.500 --> 00:08:45.460 ready to jump to whatever the next big thing 00:08:45.460 --> 00:08:48.179 is, the investment could become outdated surprisingly 00:08:48.179 --> 00:08:50.679 quickly. Okay, so that covers controlling the 00:08:50.679 --> 00:08:53.639 information pipelines. Let's shift focus now 00:08:53.639 --> 00:08:56.759 to the more direct wars, as the material frames 00:08:56.759 --> 00:08:59.860 them, against established institutions, specifically 00:08:59.860 --> 00:09:02.340 the media and universities, and how those are 00:09:02.340 --> 00:09:04.320 playing out in the courts, it sounds like. Well, 00:09:04.399 --> 00:09:06.279 it hasn't all been smooth sailing for the attackers. 00:09:06.649 --> 00:09:09.110 Definitely not. Despite a lot of aggressive talk 00:09:09.110 --> 00:09:11.269 and legal action, the courts have actually put 00:09:11.269 --> 00:09:13.629 up significant resistance to some of these targeted 00:09:13.629 --> 00:09:16.090 efforts. There have been some pretty notable 00:09:16.090 --> 00:09:18.330 setbacks. Let's start with the media. The big 00:09:18.330 --> 00:09:20.350 one was that massive lawsuit against the New 00:09:20.350 --> 00:09:23.149 York Times, right? $15 billion. That's the one. 00:09:23.289 --> 00:09:25.429 Highly publicized. And it got dismissed pretty 00:09:25.429 --> 00:09:27.970 quickly by a federal judge, Stephen Mary Day. 00:09:28.490 --> 00:09:31.049 Interestingly, he's a George H .W. Bush appointee. 00:09:32.009 --> 00:09:35.350 Dismissed? Why? What went wrong for the plaintiffs? 00:09:35.870 --> 00:09:37.809 Well, there were the obvious legal hurdles from 00:09:37.809 --> 00:09:40.190 the start. Defaming a public figure requires 00:09:40.190 --> 00:09:43.330 proving actual malice a very high bar, plus statute 00:09:43.330 --> 00:09:46.649 of limitations issues. And I mean, proving $15 00:09:46.649 --> 00:09:49.409 billion in damages. That was always seen as basically 00:09:49.409 --> 00:09:51.809 impossible. Right. But the judge's reason for 00:09:51.809 --> 00:09:55.649 dismissal was more about... The paperwork? Exactly. 00:09:55.850 --> 00:09:58.129 It was fascinating. The dismissal wasn't just 00:09:58.129 --> 00:10:00.450 on the merits, but because the legal filing itself 00:10:00.450 --> 00:10:03.970 was, frankly, a mess. Judge Mary Day ruled it 00:10:03.970 --> 00:10:06.090 non -compliant with the federal rules of civil 00:10:06.090 --> 00:10:08.950 procedure. Non -compliant how? Get this. The 00:10:08.950 --> 00:10:11.070 filing was over 80 pages long, but the judge 00:10:11.070 --> 00:10:13.289 said most of it was just boilerplate blather. 00:10:13.750 --> 00:10:16.470 It included things like 48 mentions of Trump's 00:10:16.470 --> 00:10:20.820 TV show, The Apprentice. Seriously. 48. 48. And 00:10:20.820 --> 00:10:22.960 lots of passages just praising the president 00:10:22.960 --> 00:10:25.279 and his father. All this before they even got 00:10:25.279 --> 00:10:27.200 to the actual legal complaint, which was apparently 00:10:27.200 --> 00:10:29.559 buried in the last four pages or so. Wow. So 00:10:29.559 --> 00:10:32.000 the judge wasn't impressed. Not at all. He called 00:10:32.000 --> 00:10:34.399 it out, dismissed it, but gave the legal team 00:10:34.399 --> 00:10:37.659 28 days to try again. But he put a strict limit 00:10:37.659 --> 00:10:40.700 on the new filing. 40 pages maximum. That's quite 00:10:40.700 --> 00:10:43.080 a smackdown. A procedural humiliation, really. 00:10:43.360 --> 00:10:46.100 Absolutely. A very public takedown. Now, moving 00:10:46.100 --> 00:10:49.460 beyond direct media lawsuits, there was the situation 00:10:49.460 --> 00:10:52.120 with the ABC late night host Jimmy Kimmel. Right. 00:10:52.179 --> 00:10:55.159 He was suspended indefinitely, and then suddenly 00:10:55.159 --> 00:10:58.779 he was back. What happened there? The reversal 00:10:58.779 --> 00:11:01.919 seems almost certainly tied to money. Immediate, 00:11:02.139 --> 00:11:05.080 painful financial pressure on Disney, ABC's parent 00:11:05.080 --> 00:11:07.899 company. How so? Boycotts. Significant boycotts. 00:11:08.000 --> 00:11:09.759 Yeah, people canceling Disney subscriptions, 00:11:09.820 --> 00:11:12.200 things like that. But maybe even more crucially, 00:11:12.399 --> 00:11:15.940 this open letter signed by about 400 major Hollywood 00:11:15.940 --> 00:11:18.419 figures. Who was on it? Big names. Tom Hanks, 00:11:18.639 --> 00:11:20.980 Meryl Streep, Robert De Niro. Basically Hollywood 00:11:20.980 --> 00:11:23.120 royalty. And they threatened to refuse to work 00:11:23.120 --> 00:11:25.940 on any future Disney projects if Kimmel wasn't 00:11:25.940 --> 00:11:28.759 reinstated. Oof. That's not just abstract pressure. 00:11:28.980 --> 00:11:30.940 That hits the bottom line directly. Instantly. 00:11:31.539 --> 00:11:33.799 You can't make movies or shows without stars. 00:11:34.279 --> 00:11:37.370 The material noted... Disney stock took a big 00:11:37.370 --> 00:11:41.149 hit too, lost over $5 billion in market value, 00:11:41.350 --> 00:11:43.470 about a three -point drop right around that time. 00:11:43.710 --> 00:11:45.389 So the corporate pressure worked, at least at 00:11:45.389 --> 00:11:47.970 the network level. It seems so. But there's an 00:11:47.970 --> 00:11:50.149 important caveat highlighting the media divide. 00:11:50.649 --> 00:11:53.210 The Sinclair Broadcast Group, which owns many 00:11:53.210 --> 00:11:56.029 local ABC affiliate stations across the country, 00:11:56.690 --> 00:11:59.190 they are, according to the sources, refusing 00:11:59.190 --> 00:12:01.370 to put Kimmel back on the air in their markets. 00:12:01.529 --> 00:12:03.509 So even though ABC network brought him back, 00:12:03.639 --> 00:12:05.940 Some parts of the country still won't see a show. 00:12:06.159 --> 00:12:08.600 Correct. It shows that deep partisan split in 00:12:08.600 --> 00:12:11.279 media ownership and distribution is still very 00:12:11.279 --> 00:12:13.480 much a factor, even when the big corporation 00:12:13.480 --> 00:12:16.519 makes a decision. OK, so setbacks against a major 00:12:16.519 --> 00:12:19.700 newspaper or reversal on a TV host. What about 00:12:19.700 --> 00:12:23.100 attacks on non -media institutions? universities, 00:12:23.100 --> 00:12:26.139 for instance. The material mentioned UCLA. Yes, 00:12:26.360 --> 00:12:28.659 another significant judicial setback for the 00:12:28.659 --> 00:12:31.000 administration there. U .S. District Judge Rita 00:12:31.000 --> 00:12:33.539 F. Lynn issued a final ruling in a case involving 00:12:33.539 --> 00:12:36.120 UCLA research funding. What was the issue? The 00:12:36.120 --> 00:12:38.440 administration had been withholding $500 million 00:12:38.440 --> 00:12:41.620 in research funds. Judge Lynn ruled that this 00:12:41.620 --> 00:12:45.200 withholding was arbitrary and capricious, and 00:12:45.200 --> 00:12:47.460 ordered the funds restored immediately. $500 00:12:47.460 --> 00:12:49.539 million is a lot of money. Why were they holding 00:12:49.539 --> 00:12:52.019 it back? Well, the reporting cited in the material 00:12:52.019 --> 00:12:53.679 suggests that the administration had demanded 00:12:53.679 --> 00:12:55.960 quite a bit in return for releasing the funds. 00:12:56.080 --> 00:12:59.480 They apparently wanted $1 billion total plus 00:12:59.480 --> 00:13:03.639 other concessions, including requiring UCLA to 00:13:03.639 --> 00:13:06.320 admit more white students. Wow. That's quite 00:13:06.320 --> 00:13:08.840 a demand. Extremely controversial. And strategically, 00:13:08.980 --> 00:13:11.519 targeting UCLA was risky for the administration. 00:13:11.779 --> 00:13:14.419 Why risky? Because UCLA is part of the University 00:13:14.419 --> 00:13:17.559 of California system. The UC regions govern multiple 00:13:17.559 --> 00:13:19.940 major campuses, Berkeley, UC, San Diego, and 00:13:19.940 --> 00:13:22.549 others. If the Regents had given into pressure 00:13:22.549 --> 00:13:25.129 over UCLA, it would set a precedent, a potentially 00:13:25.129 --> 00:13:27.490 devastating one. It would basically be an open 00:13:27.490 --> 00:13:29.190 invitation for the administration to come back 00:13:29.190 --> 00:13:30.929 and try to squeeze concessions out of Berkeley 00:13:30.929 --> 00:13:34.070 next, then UCSD. Applying pressure across the 00:13:34.070 --> 00:13:37.850 entire massive influential UC system, the Regents 00:13:37.850 --> 00:13:41.809 holding firm was crucial. Makes sense. Any other 00:13:41.809 --> 00:13:44.529 institutional setbacks mentioned, there was something 00:13:44.529 --> 00:13:47.529 about wind farms. Right. A clean energy project. 00:13:48.009 --> 00:13:50.490 Judge Rice Lamberth stepped in regarding the 00:13:50.490 --> 00:13:53.610 Revolution Wind Project, an offshore wind farm 00:13:53.610 --> 00:13:56.049 planned off Rhode Island by the company Orsted. 00:13:56.590 --> 00:13:58.730 What was the ruling? There had been a stop work 00:13:58.730 --> 00:14:01.590 order issued against the project. Judge Lamberth 00:14:01.590 --> 00:14:04.769 granted an injunction basically overruling the 00:14:04.769 --> 00:14:07.029 stop work order and allowing the project to proceed. 00:14:07.470 --> 00:14:09.350 Why was the stop work order issued in the first 00:14:09.350 --> 00:14:11.899 place? Well, Judge Lamberth seemed quite skeptical 00:14:11.899 --> 00:14:14.820 of the official justification. The analysis referenced 00:14:14.820 --> 00:14:17.360 in the material suggests the judge implied the 00:14:17.360 --> 00:14:20.080 real reason was likely just personal annoyance. 00:14:20.600 --> 00:14:22.500 Someone important didn't like the sight of the 00:14:22.500 --> 00:14:24.860 turbines near their favorite golf course. Seriously, 00:14:25.080 --> 00:14:26.980 near a golf course. That was the implication. 00:14:27.279 --> 00:14:29.600 And as the judge pointed out, personal aesthetic 00:14:29.600 --> 00:14:32.200 preference is not exactly legal grounds for issuing 00:14:32.200 --> 00:14:35.440 an emergency stop work order under federal environmental 00:14:35.440 --> 00:14:39.399 law. OK, so loss against the NYT, reversal on 00:14:39.399 --> 00:14:42.980 Kimmel. force funding for UCLA, wind farm allowed 00:14:42.980 --> 00:14:46.159 to proceed. That's quite a string of losses in 00:14:46.159 --> 00:14:48.320 court. Did the administration score any wins 00:14:48.320 --> 00:14:50.399 on these institutional battlefronts this week? 00:14:50.740 --> 00:14:52.860 Just one, really. And it was mentioned briefly. 00:14:53.059 --> 00:14:55.480 It came from the Supreme Court on their emergency 00:14:55.480 --> 00:14:58.799 shadow docket. What was it? A 6 -3 decision allowing 00:14:58.799 --> 00:15:00.860 the firing of the Federal Trade Commissioner, 00:15:01.080 --> 00:15:02.960 Rebecca Slaughter, to move forward, at least 00:15:02.960 --> 00:15:05.639 for now. The court agreed to hear the full case 00:15:05.639 --> 00:15:08.500 on an expedited basis. But in the meantime, the 00:15:08.500 --> 00:15:11.750 firing isn't blocked. So a temporary win on an 00:15:11.750 --> 00:15:13.730 executive appointment issue. Essentially, yes. 00:15:13.909 --> 00:15:16.129 The analysis noted that justices continue to 00:15:16.129 --> 00:15:18.090 show a lot of deference to the executive branch 00:15:18.090 --> 00:15:20.750 on these kinds of emergency docket requests related 00:15:20.750 --> 00:15:23.049 to appointments and personnel. Got it. OK, so 00:15:23.049 --> 00:15:25.549 this long series of attacks, manufacturing medical 00:15:25.549 --> 00:15:28.529 realities, trying to control information, battling 00:15:28.529 --> 00:15:30.870 media and universities in court, it all seems 00:15:30.870 --> 00:15:33.190 to lead to a broader cultural impact, doesn't 00:15:33.190 --> 00:15:36.129 it? The material suggests a real collapse of 00:15:36.129 --> 00:15:38.250 faith in traditional paths and knowledge sources. 00:15:38.509 --> 00:15:40.809 Absolutely. That's the bigger picture emerging. 00:15:41.269 --> 00:15:43.690 We're seeing what the sources describe as a really 00:15:43.690 --> 00:15:46.549 dramatic, maybe even generational erosion of 00:15:46.549 --> 00:15:49.389 confidence, particularly in higher education. 00:15:49.509 --> 00:15:51.389 That's framed as a sign of a fourth turning. 00:15:51.789 --> 00:15:54.750 Yes, that historical cycle theory. And the stats 00:15:54.750 --> 00:15:57.970 are stark. A record low, only 35 percent Americans 00:15:57.970 --> 00:16:01.029 now say a college degree is very important. Thirty 00:16:01.029 --> 00:16:03.750 five percent. That seems incredibly low. What 00:16:03.750 --> 00:16:06.090 was it before? It's down 40 points since just 00:16:06.090 --> 00:16:09.649 2010, a massive drop in just over a decade. Wow. 00:16:09.789 --> 00:16:12.690 And is that decline concentrated in certain groups 00:16:12.690 --> 00:16:15.529 or is it widespread? It's everywhere across all 00:16:15.529 --> 00:16:17.730 demographics. Confidence is down hugely among 00:16:17.730 --> 00:16:20.490 Republicans. Forty eight points. But also Democrats 00:16:20.490 --> 00:16:23.070 down 41 points. Men are down 36 points. Women 00:16:23.070 --> 00:16:26.279 down 34 points. society -wide disillusionment. 00:16:26.539 --> 00:16:28.059 And are fewer people actually going to college, 00:16:28.179 --> 00:16:30.379 then? Yes, enrollment numbers reflect this. Back 00:16:30.379 --> 00:16:33.080 in 2009, about 70 % of high school graduates 00:16:33.080 --> 00:16:35.840 went on to college. Now, in 2024, it's down to 00:16:35.840 --> 00:16:39.379 about 62 -63%. It suggests college is increasingly 00:16:39.379 --> 00:16:42.000 seen less as an opportunity and more as, oh, 00:16:42.360 --> 00:16:44.460 the material called it, a dreary, if necessary, 00:16:44.700 --> 00:16:48.860 chore. Why? What are the reasons driving this 00:16:48.860 --> 00:16:52.000 disillusionment? It's a mix of factors identified 00:16:52.000 --> 00:16:55.509 in the sources. On one side, you definitely have 00:16:55.509 --> 00:16:58.490 ideological reasons, particularly among conservatives, 00:16:58.750 --> 00:17:02.450 this view of campuses as bastions of progressive 00:17:02.450 --> 00:17:04.829 orthodoxy. OK, the culture war aspect. Right. 00:17:05.150 --> 00:17:07.710 But there's also widespread anger across the 00:17:07.710 --> 00:17:10.009 political spectrum about the practicalities, 00:17:10.589 --> 00:17:13.809 the incredibly high costs of tuition, the crushing 00:17:13.809 --> 00:17:16.640 burden of student debt. That hits everyone. Absolutely. 00:17:17.059 --> 00:17:18.960 And then there's dissatisfaction with what's 00:17:18.960 --> 00:17:21.519 actually being taught. The curriculum itself. 00:17:22.039 --> 00:17:24.880 Liberal arts courses, in particular, face criticism 00:17:24.880 --> 00:17:28.019 for being dreary and pedantic, as the source 00:17:28.019 --> 00:17:29.980 put it, not really preparing students for the 00:17:29.980 --> 00:17:32.000 real world. Plus the job market was pretty strong 00:17:32.000 --> 00:17:34.000 for a while, even without a degree. That's another 00:17:34.000 --> 00:17:35.779 factor, especially coming out of the pandemic. 00:17:35.900 --> 00:17:38.279 There were good job alternatives available for 00:17:38.279 --> 00:17:40.059 people who decided not to go the college route. 00:17:40.119 --> 00:17:42.839 So all these things combine. OK, so if trust 00:17:42.839 --> 00:17:45.930 is collapsing in science, in media, and the value 00:17:45.930 --> 00:17:49.549 of college. People naturally start focusing more 00:17:49.549 --> 00:17:52.990 on personal security, protecting themselves. 00:17:53.789 --> 00:17:56.329 Exactly. When the big systems feel unreliable 00:17:56.329 --> 00:18:00.210 or even hostile, the focus shifts inward, which 00:18:00.210 --> 00:18:03.329 leads us directly to this idea of the burner 00:18:03.329 --> 00:18:06.869 phone era. Explain that. It sounds kind of spy 00:18:06.869 --> 00:18:09.529 movie -ish. It does, but the material presents 00:18:09.529 --> 00:18:13.230 it as a real societal symptom of this deep distrust. 00:18:13.339 --> 00:18:16.579 It's about operational security or OPSEC. OPSEC. 00:18:16.720 --> 00:18:18.640 What does that involve? Basically, it's the practice 00:18:18.640 --> 00:18:21.279 of consciously protecting your personal information, 00:18:21.519 --> 00:18:24.200 your movements, your digital footprint from people 00:18:24.200 --> 00:18:26.019 or systems you don't trust, whether that's the 00:18:26.019 --> 00:18:28.140 government, corporations or whoever else. OK. 00:18:28.500 --> 00:18:30.599 The sources drew an interesting contrast. They 00:18:30.599 --> 00:18:33.430 said. Years ago, maybe reading something like 00:18:33.430 --> 00:18:35.789 the Anarchist Cookbook felt rebellious or edgy. 00:18:35.869 --> 00:18:38.630 Right, a counterculture thing. But today, practicing 00:18:38.630 --> 00:18:40.609 OPSEC, like using a burner phone, doesn't feel 00:18:40.609 --> 00:18:42.609 rebellious. For some people, it feels genuinely 00:18:42.609 --> 00:18:45.289 necessary for their own safety and privacy. The 00:18:45.289 --> 00:18:47.869 burner phone is just the modern, tangible symbol 00:18:47.869 --> 00:18:50.809 of needing that personal security layer. So what's 00:18:50.809 --> 00:18:53.650 the actual advice being given? If someone is 00:18:53.650 --> 00:18:55.589 genuinely concerned about this, say, if they're 00:18:55.589 --> 00:18:57.829 traveling to the U .S. or specifically Southern 00:18:57.829 --> 00:19:00.529 California, as mentioned, what should they do? 00:19:00.599 --> 00:19:03.279 The material suggests a burner light strategy 00:19:03.279 --> 00:19:06.039 might be wise for visitors or anyone concerned. 00:19:06.500 --> 00:19:10.559 That means getting a temporary, disposable, prepaid 00:19:10.559 --> 00:19:13.160 phone. OK, a burner phone. But critically, if 00:19:13.160 --> 00:19:14.980 you're going to do it, you have to commit, buy 00:19:14.980 --> 00:19:17.559 it with cash, something untraceable, and never 00:19:17.559 --> 00:19:20.099 use it near your home, your work, places you 00:19:20.099 --> 00:19:23.000 socialize. The goal is to avoid linking the phone 00:19:23.000 --> 00:19:25.960 to your identity through geolocation data. That 00:19:25.960 --> 00:19:27.609 sounds like a lot of effort. What if getting 00:19:27.609 --> 00:19:30.029 a separate burner phone isn't practical? Then 00:19:30.029 --> 00:19:32.849 the advice shifts to basic phone hygiene for 00:19:32.849 --> 00:19:35.789 your existing device. Before you travel, especially 00:19:35.789 --> 00:19:38.809 internationally or to sensitive areas, clean 00:19:38.809 --> 00:19:41.369 your phone. Clean at hell. Delete things. Go 00:19:41.369 --> 00:19:43.309 through your saved photos, your text message 00:19:43.309 --> 00:19:45.890 history. Get rid of anything that could potentially 00:19:45.890 --> 00:19:48.730 be misinterpreted or seen as antagonizing if 00:19:48.730 --> 00:19:51.450 someone, say a border agent or law enforcement 00:19:51.450 --> 00:19:53.970 officer, decides to search your phone. It feels 00:19:53.970 --> 00:19:56.089 pretty extreme to have to preemptively delete 00:19:56.089 --> 00:19:58.670 personal texts and photos. It does feel extreme, 00:19:59.049 --> 00:20:01.569 surreal even. But the fact that this advice is 00:20:01.569 --> 00:20:04.869 being shared reflects the level of anxiety and 00:20:04.869 --> 00:20:07.849 the perceived need for personal operational security 00:20:07.849 --> 00:20:10.230 in the current climate. Okay, let's try to pull 00:20:10.230 --> 00:20:12.130 all these threads together then. We've covered 00:20:12.130 --> 00:20:15.869 a lot of ground from specific manufactured medical 00:20:15.869 --> 00:20:18.970 claims about Tylenol. To the deliberate suppression 00:20:18.970 --> 00:20:22.390 or delay of official government data. through 00:20:22.390 --> 00:20:24.809 the legal battles against major media outlets 00:20:24.809 --> 00:20:26.710 and universities. And landing on this broader 00:20:26.710 --> 00:20:30.109 cultural shift, the fading trust in college and 00:20:30.109 --> 00:20:33.529 the rise of personal opsec, symbolized by the 00:20:33.529 --> 00:20:36.170 burner phone. It really feels like the central 00:20:36.170 --> 00:20:38.549 theme connecting all this material is this intense 00:20:38.549 --> 00:20:41.289 conflict between officially sanctioned versions 00:20:41.289 --> 00:20:44.289 of reality science data, institutional knowledge, 00:20:44.690 --> 00:20:46.890 and these powerful efforts to push alternative 00:20:46.890 --> 00:20:49.480 narratives. I think that's right. And the consequence, 00:20:49.680 --> 00:20:51.240 the common thread running through everything, 00:20:51.440 --> 00:20:54.400 is this profound collapse of confidence. People 00:20:54.400 --> 00:20:56.519 are losing faith in science they don't understand, 00:20:57.059 --> 00:20:59.720 in media they suspect is biased, in government 00:20:59.720 --> 00:21:02.740 institutions they see as politicized, even in 00:21:02.740 --> 00:21:04.740 pathways like higher education that used to promise 00:21:04.740 --> 00:21:07.319 success. That vacuum of trust is really palpable, 00:21:07.720 --> 00:21:11.220 and it forces people towards, well, towards self 00:21:11.220 --> 00:21:13.500 -reliance in ways that feel pretty isolating, 00:21:13.859 --> 00:21:16.980 like needing OPSEC. Which leads us to the final 00:21:16.980 --> 00:21:18.559 thought, the question maybe for you to really 00:21:18.559 --> 00:21:21.220 chew on after this deep dive. If this erosion 00:21:21.220 --> 00:21:24.740 continues, if trust in verifiable facts in traditional 00:21:24.740 --> 00:21:27.880 institutions keeps crumbling, and if people increasingly 00:21:27.880 --> 00:21:30.819 feel they need burner phones and OPSEC just to 00:21:30.819 --> 00:21:33.759 navigate daily life, what comes next? What fills 00:21:33.759 --> 00:21:37.759 that void? Exactly. What new systems, maybe unofficial, 00:21:38.019 --> 00:21:40.039 potentially even dangerous ones, will individuals 00:21:40.039 --> 00:21:42.380 start turning to to try and figure out what's 00:21:42.380 --> 00:21:44.819 true and to keep themselves safe? That's a heavy 00:21:44.819 --> 00:21:47.119 question to end on. A lot to think about there. 00:21:47.519 --> 00:21:49.819 Indeed. Until the next Deep Dive, stay informed 00:21:49.819 --> 00:21:50.640 and stay critical.