Barry
Appearances
Armchair Expert with Dax Shepard
Reid Hoffman Returns (on an optimistic AI)
Loom factories from the Dickens novels.
Armchair Expert with Dax Shepard
Reid Hoffman Returns (on an optimistic AI)
I'm going to react to everything.
Armchair Expert with Dax Shepard
Reid Hoffman Returns (on an optimistic AI)
These old, new cars that keep catching on fire.
Armchair Expert with Dax Shepard
Reid Hoffman Returns (on an optimistic AI)
Anyway, well, it was lovely. And I hope you.
Armchair Expert with Dax Shepard
Reid Hoffman Returns (on an optimistic AI)
This one is a little... The fucking horse.
Health Chatter
Stress
Yeah. Hopefully you can hear me okay now. I think the biggest issues were always the unhealthy behaviors that people resorted to in order to cope with stress. And oftentimes it was with self-medication, drinking more, smoking more, starting drinking, starting smoking. So it was unhealthy behaviors that people were
Health Chatter
Stress
just trying to use to get things under control or to escape from those kinds of things. And I think that's what wound up really happening, or at least from a clinician perspective, those are usually the fallout that you had to deal with. But again, it wasn't always getting at the underlying condition, which Brandon was really very eloquently laying out all the issues
Health Chatter
Stress
And for me, what I've seen over time is this 24 hour, you know, seven days a week bombardment with things coming at us all the time, either on TV or, you know, social media. And it's sort of like the brain doesn't get a rest from stress. It's just constant all the time. And I think that that ultimately takes a bigger toll. And I'm assuming that Brandon is going to help us to
Health Chatter
Stress
uh, learn a little bit more about the kind of things that we can do, uh, you know, to sort of help manage this because, you know, as Brandon, as you said, stress is a part of life and there's a positive side of stress. It gets us out of bed in the morning and, you know, doing all the things that we, that we need to do.
Health Chatter
Stress
Uh, it's just that when it, uh, it gets a little, a little bit overwhelming, um, that sense, how do we deal with that? Mm-hmm.
Health Chatter
Stress
Yeah, I think the whole idea of resilience, that people are a lot more resilient than they think they are. And I think following the ABC cubed model can help people to see that.
Health Chatter
Stress
But it is this idea of having a balance between understanding that some negative things go on, but also focus on the positive things, especially like, you know, the gratitude, what went well in your day, instead of just, you know, the glass being half full, half empty, you know, kind of situation. I think that that's really the, the best way to go.
Health Chatter
Stress
And I've always been impressed with actually the resilience of people when they can, you know, stop, take some deep breaths and then move forward. The other point that I really liked, Brandon, that you brought out is the idea that I'm putting it into this toolkit of things that people can use to cope and manage, you know, their stress a little bit better.
Health Chatter
Stress
And the fact is that everybody is individual, it's subjective, And there's no one way. What works for Barry may not work for Clarence. What works for Brandon may not work for Stan. But the idea is to realize that there are all these resources and it's okay to try on some of them and see what's helpful and what's not helpful.
Health Chatter
Stress
But there are a lot of resources out there and people should feel comfortable in giving it a try because stress is never gonna go away. Right. And it's how do we adapt to that and accept it that we're going to have stress in our lives. And so this is all, I think, very, very helpful. So thank you.
Health Chatter
Loneliness
Yeah, so I have a question about how loneliness is measured from the perspective, are there either standardized tools or some tools that can be used. In particular, I'm putting on my family practice clinician hat here. You know, over the past number of years, you can't go into a, see a doctor and not have one or two questions like a PHQ, PH, you know, two about depression.
Health Chatter
Loneliness
And I believe, and please correct me if I'm wrong, that there is a link between isolation, loneliness, and depression. And we ask a lot about depression, but oftentimes I think of loneliness as being a precondition or, you know, somehow related. And so I was just wondering if there are tools for, you know, how to measure loneliness and the intensity of loneliness.
Health Chatter
Loneliness
And just wonder if you can maybe share a little bit about, about some of those things.
Health Chatter
Loneliness
This was just very illuminating and it was just fantastic to learn so much more about loneliness and isolation. And we know that it's prevalent in the pandemic highlighted a lot of these things, but it's clear that this has been with us for longer than just that pandemic. It might be an exacerbation factor.
Health Chatter
Loneliness
I don't have any more particular questions other than to say, Julian, just thank you so much. This was just great to learn more about this and to hear about some of the resources that are available that potentially has an impact.
Health Chatter
Loneliness
Yeah, well, kind of following through with that, as I was reading over some of the research, the name that popped into my head was Dan Buettner, who wrote The Blue Zones. And, you know, there are some, you know, clear global implications of certain communities, certainly, that have lots of social connection and better health outcomes.
Health Chatter
Loneliness
Julianne, one of the questions that I had for you, I have a bunch of them, but I'll I'll control myself here. Would social connection be the main factor that mitigates loneliness or that, I don't want to say cures loneliness, but that impacts loneliness? Or are there other sort of other things other than just social connections with other people that can help to reduce loneliness?
Honestly with Bari Weiss
Trump’s Populism Isn’t a Sideshow. It’s as American as Apple Pie.
all of which helps explain the populist wave that put President Trump in office once again. As Eli argues, populism isn't an aberration. It is as American as apple pie. It's a fundamental part of our country's political DNA. Andrew Jackson's legacy is not as pristine as our heroes, people like Abraham Lincoln or Martin Luther King.
Honestly with Bari Weiss
Trump’s Populism Isn’t a Sideshow. It’s as American as Apple Pie.
But Jackson helped forge our nation by reflecting who we were, even if parts of that reflection aren't so pretty to look at. And if there's anyone who can help us forecast what Trump's second term might look like, it's the man on the $20 bill. It's a fantastic episode, and I am so excited for you to hear it, and I'm just so excited about this show. Please do me a favor.
Honestly with Bari Weiss
Trump’s Populism Isn’t a Sideshow. It’s as American as Apple Pie.
Pause this episode before you listen and go subscribe to Breaking History on Apple, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. Okay, actually go and do that. I'll be waiting here for you. Go and subscribe to this show because you will love it. Breaking history. Wherever you listen to Honestly, subscribe to make sure you never miss an episode. I'm waiting. I'm still waiting and I'll be here.
Honestly with Bari Weiss
Trump’s Populism Isn’t a Sideshow. It’s as American as Apple Pie.
Go subscribe. Okay, now that you've done that, here is Eli Lake.
Honestly with Bari Weiss
Trump’s Populism Isn’t a Sideshow. It’s as American as Apple Pie.
Thanks for listening. If you like this episode, please go to Breaking History and subscribe to that feed on Apple, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts so that you never miss an episode. We'll see you next time.
Honestly with Bari Weiss
Trump’s Populism Isn’t a Sideshow. It’s as American as Apple Pie.
Hi, Honestly listeners. Barry here with an exciting episode and announcement for you today. If you've been listening over the last few months, you've definitely heard our incredible reporter Eli Lake on the show. He's been coming on to tell stories of the past that help us understand the chaotic present. Well, we have great news for you guys.
Honestly with Bari Weiss
Trump’s Populism Isn’t a Sideshow. It’s as American as Apple Pie.
We are launching a brand new podcast from the Free Press. It's called Breaking History. It's hosted by Eli Lake, and it starts today. I'm thrilled to play the first episode of Breaking History on Honestly For You. It's the story of the first populist president, Andrew Jackson, and the history of American populism more generally.
Honestly with Bari Weiss
26 Executive Orders, TikTok's Future, and Elon’s Arm
Hi everyone, Barry here with an exciting announcement for everyone who listens, but especially those of you who live in Texas. On February 27th, I'm coming to Austin to moderate the Free Press's next live debate, which will address the following question, does the West need a religious revival?
Honestly with Bari Weiss
26 Executive Orders, TikTok's Future, and Elon’s Arm
I think there's also kind of an aesthetic difference here. Right. You had Joe Biden and the Democrats talking actively all the time about. the rule of law, the rule of law, liberal democracy, how they're going to restore it. There was an amazing Sarah Isger essay a few days ago called The Quiet Lawlessness of Joe Biden.
Honestly with Bari Weiss
26 Executive Orders, TikTok's Future, and Elon’s Arm
He was elected to restore norms, but has done more damage to the rule of law than any other president. For context, Sarah Isger is not where Batya Agra Sargon is on the question of Trump or MAGA. She's like a never-Trumper and a wonderful legal scholar. So for her to say that is significant. And you sort of see that as opposed to Trump, right, who's going on Truth Social and who spent the campaign
Honestly with Bari Weiss
26 Executive Orders, TikTok's Future, and Elon’s Arm
talking about vengeance but the question is whether or not he's going to do it you sort of see that also though in the warring tech oligarchies right or let's just say the warring money on each side where george soros is quiet about the way that he spends his billions and does it through all of these different shell ngos as opposed to elon musk that's going on the campaign trail offering people a million dollars if they register to vote or whatever it is so i think part of it is also like the
Honestly with Bari Weiss
26 Executive Orders, TikTok's Future, and Elon’s Arm
the aesthetics of each side and the way that they try and hide or expose what they're doing. Does that make sense?
Honestly with Bari Weiss
26 Executive Orders, TikTok's Future, and Elon’s Arm
This guy is a bit of a cipher. He became the cause celeb of libertarians on the campaign trail. And Trump promised he was going to pardon him. And he did. And I'm talking about the founder of Silk Road, Ross Ulbricht. I think depending on how you think about Ross Ulbricht. you would describe Silk Road differently.
Honestly with Bari Weiss
26 Executive Orders, TikTok's Future, and Elon’s Arm
If you don't like him and feel he should have remained in prison, you might describe Silk Road as a website made to buy heroin, cocaine, and other drugs. I think if you're a libertarian, you might describe it differently. Brianna, break it down for us. Who is Ross? What is Silk Road? Just lay out the basics of it, and then let's talk about the implications of the pardon.
Honestly with Bari Weiss
26 Executive Orders, TikTok's Future, and Elon’s Arm
Goodbye, Gulf of Mexico. Welcome, Gulf of America. For comparison, Biden signed nine executive orders on day one. Trump in 2017 signed one. Obama signed zero in 2013 and two in 2009. So 26 is eager. And that wasn't all. He also announced Stargate, gave TikTok a second life, pardoned 1,500 January 6th rioters, including violent ones who attacked police and pulled out of the Paris climate agreement.
Honestly with Bari Weiss
26 Executive Orders, TikTok's Future, and Elon’s Arm
Is it a sign about where Trump and the Trump administration is going to stand on crypto or is that reading too much into this pardon?
Honestly with Bari Weiss
26 Executive Orders, TikTok's Future, and Elon’s Arm
Let's talk about some of the big executive orders that Trump signed. And I want to start with his order on restoring biological reality, I believe it's called. We broke that news on Sunday before he signed it on Monday. And that order does a few things. It defines men and women, talks about how there's only two genders. It ends the housing of biological men in women's prisons.
Honestly with Bari Weiss
26 Executive Orders, TikTok's Future, and Elon’s Arm
It ends the practice of self-ID on passports, among other things. Brianna, of course, I want to start with you here. How does this order affect you personally, if it does at all?
Honestly with Bari Weiss
26 Executive Orders, TikTok's Future, and Elon’s Arm
Brianna, you're one of the people that has sort of really been pushing back against the excesses of, let's just say, parts of the trans activist movement, childhood gender transition, the inclusion of trans women and girls in girls' sports. You've basically said—and forgive me if I'm caricaturing it, you'll correct me—
Honestly with Bari Weiss
26 Executive Orders, TikTok's Future, and Elon’s Arm
that the reasons that this is bad is not just because it's unfair to women and girls or children who could make irrevocable changes. It's that the backlash to these kinds of excessive, out-of-touch policies will, in the end, redound terribly to transgender adults. Do you feel like this executive order was sort of that warning coming to fruition?
Honestly with Bari Weiss
26 Executive Orders, TikTok's Future, and Elon’s Arm
Suffice it to say, there is much to discuss. So today, I'm back with Batya Ungar-Sargon, Brianna Wu, and Free Press senior editor Peter Savodnik to unpack Trump's first few days in office and also what they think about Elon's arm. Stay with us. Hi, Honestly listeners. Barry here with a really exciting announcement.
Honestly with Bari Weiss
26 Executive Orders, TikTok's Future, and Elon’s Arm
The world today, as you know, is confusing, chaotic, unpredictable, bizarre, times scary, at other times just absurd. But chances are, whatever crisis is currently blowing up your phone, it's probably happened before, or at least a version of it. And there's so much we can learn from looking to the past. Thank you so much for having me. Before there was Russiagate, there was the Red Scare.
Honestly with Bari Weiss
26 Executive Orders, TikTok's Future, and Elon’s Arm
We've partnered with the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression, otherwise known as FIRE, to bring you an epic lineup of debaters. Ayaan Hirsi Ali and Ross Douthat will face off against Adam Carolla and Michael Shermer.
Honestly with Bari Weiss
26 Executive Orders, TikTok's Future, and Elon’s Arm
That is one major social issue that people are talking about in the days since Trump took office. Another one, of course, is DEI. Trump terminated what he called radical and wasteful DEI programs across the federal government. And it has very literal and immediate consequences. All federal DEI employees are going to be placed on paid leave starting today, I believe.
Honestly with Bari Weiss
26 Executive Orders, TikTok's Future, and Elon’s Arm
We're recording this on Wednesday as the agencies prepare to close out all DEI related offices. We're sort of seeing a return to things that seemed maybe standard American 20 years ago, merit-based hiring, colorblind hiring. Peter, what do you think of what Trump is doing on this issue?
Honestly with Bari Weiss
26 Executive Orders, TikTok's Future, and Elon’s Arm
Let's talk about immigration. So there were a number of orders on immigration. Trump reinstated the Remain in Mexico policy, ending a program that released asylum seekers into the U.S. while their cases are under evaluation. There were a number of other things. But the most controversial one is that Trump moved to revoke birthright citizenship, something that is guaranteed in the 14th Amendment.
Honestly with Bari Weiss
26 Executive Orders, TikTok's Future, and Elon’s Arm
Anyone want to bet that he can pull this one off? 22 states, by the way, are already suing. And my sense, at least from we had a great little Q&A with Yale law professor Jed Rubenfeld, who likes a lot of what Trump did in these day one executive orders, but basically feels like this is going to be struck down by the court. What do you guys think about this?
Honestly with Bari Weiss
26 Executive Orders, TikTok's Future, and Elon’s Arm
Assuming he's right and it is going to be shut down, which is what many legal scholars are saying, why did he go for this? What's the point of it? If he likes winning, why choose a losing battle?
Honestly with Bari Weiss
26 Executive Orders, TikTok's Future, and Elon’s Arm
Before there was Donald Trump, there was Huey Long and Andrew Jackson. As George Santayana warned, those who don't remember the past are condemned to repeat it. So tune in every other Wednesday as we remember, rediscover, or learn it for the very first time.
Honestly with Bari Weiss
26 Executive Orders, TikTok's Future, and Elon’s Arm
Do me a favor, pause me right now, stop listening to me, and go subscribe to Breaking History on Apple, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. I'll be waiting. Go ahead. I am seriously so excited about this show. Eli's brilliant. I learn every single time I listen to him and I read him. And I know if you love this show, you're going to love his. Thank you.
Honestly with Bari Weiss
26 Executive Orders, TikTok's Future, and Elon’s Arm
Okay, here's a question. Is changing the name of Denali to Mount McKinley and the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America, is that just like a weird Trumpism or is that something that has actual purchase, Batya, among the American people? Like, forgive me. I was focused on other issues. I don't know if that was a campaign promise of Trump's, but why?
Honestly with Bari Weiss
26 Executive Orders, TikTok's Future, and Elon’s Arm
So, no, it's not the most important issue, but it's kind of fun. I just think Denali is so much more beautiful than McKinley. Peter, Brianna, do you guys care about Denali McKinley now?
Honestly with Bari Weiss
26 Executive Orders, TikTok's Future, and Elon’s Arm
Are you going to be calling it the Gulf of America anytime soon?
Honestly with Bari Weiss
26 Executive Orders, TikTok's Future, and Elon’s Arm
Brianna inches closer, closer to MAGA every day. Okay. After the break, Elon's arm gesture, presidential fashion, and whether or not Trump will actually get Greenland. Stay with us.
Honestly with Bari Weiss
26 Executive Orders, TikTok's Future, and Elon’s Arm
Let's talk about TikTok. So we were in DC this past weekend for the inauguration. It was freezing. People were talking about the weather. People were talking about Trump. People were talking about J.D. Vance. But the biggest thing, honestly, that a lot of people were talking about was TikTok.
Honestly with Bari Weiss
26 Executive Orders, TikTok's Future, and Elon’s Arm
Last year, people might remember that Congress passed a bipartisan bill to force TikTok's Chinese owner, ByteDance, to divest its U.S. operations on the grounds that it presented a national security threat. Last week, the Supreme Court unanimously upheld that law. So ByteDance had had nine months to find a buyer.
Honestly with Bari Weiss
26 Executive Orders, TikTok's Future, and Elon’s Arm
Instead, spent those nine months lobbying Congress and waging lawfare instead of actually looking for a buyer. And no, you can ignore the Mr. Wonderful sideshow that's going on. So ByteDance didn't sell. And it was banned on Biden's last day in office. The app was offline for like half a day, sending people into absolute panics.
Honestly with Bari Weiss
26 Executive Orders, TikTok's Future, and Elon’s Arm
Breaking History every other Wednesday from the Free Press.
Honestly with Bari Weiss
26 Executive Orders, TikTok's Future, and Elon’s Arm
I did not realize that 170 million people in this country use TikTok, which is shocking. Then Trump swoops in and signs an executive order to keep TikTok alive for another 75 days. Also notable is that Sochu, who is the CEO based in Singapore of TikTok, was at the inauguration and was seen all over D.C. this weekend. This is an interesting one because I think it kind of cuts many ways politically.
Honestly with Bari Weiss
26 Executive Orders, TikTok's Future, and Elon’s Arm
Let's start with a simple question. Why did Trump throw TikTok a lifeline? Why is that good politics for him? Brianna, let's start with you.
Honestly with Bari Weiss
26 Executive Orders, TikTok's Future, and Elon’s Arm
Like, it's not supposed to work that way. Well, it's sort of like if this is a national security threat and Congress deemed it that way and every single justice agreed with them, how do we have the luxury of putting off something that's a national security threat for another several months? Like, it doesn't make sense. Thank you. It doesn't make sense. Peter, do you want to weigh in here?
Honestly with Bari Weiss
26 Executive Orders, TikTok's Future, and Elon’s Arm
Okay, guys, let's dive right in. Last week, J.D. Vance, before he was inaugurated as vice president of the United States, he did an interview on Fox that a lot of people paid attention to because he was asked about pardons for the January 6th rioters. And he was very clear. He said, if you committed violence on that day, obviously you shouldn't be pardoned.
Honestly with Bari Weiss
26 Executive Orders, TikTok's Future, and Elon’s Arm
I'm sure you're a heavy TikTok user.
Honestly with Bari Weiss
26 Executive Orders, TikTok's Future, and Elon’s Arm
We had a really interesting piece by Joe Lonsdale, a prominent venture capitalist and a big Trump supporter who nonetheless, you know, came out in our pages criticizing Trump. Here's what he said. ByteDance will never sell TikTok because TikTok is not a social media app with normal corporate incentives. It is a weapon, and America is the target of that weapon.
Honestly with Bari Weiss
26 Executive Orders, TikTok's Future, and Elon’s Arm
Trump may be the undisputed king of MAGA, a cultural and political movement, but he is now president of the United States, which is a republic, and republics don't have kings. In America, we abide by the rule of law, even when the law comes for a popular app, TikTok, that the MAGA king likes. I don't know if we could say it better than that.
Honestly with Bari Weiss
26 Executive Orders, TikTok's Future, and Elon’s Arm
The rare issue in which there is consensus on this panel. One interesting thing, and I know Batya has been kind of all over the place talking about the new tech oligarchy, and that was notable at the inauguration. Ezra Klein, who I don't quote a lot on this show, but I thought he had said something really notable on Twitter. Here's what he said.
Honestly with Bari Weiss
26 Executive Orders, TikTok's Future, and Elon’s Arm
For all Trump's talk of manufacturing jobs, you didn't see the CEOs of GE and Caterpillar sitting in the prime seats at the inauguration. You saw the CEOs of Amazon and X and Meta and Google and TikTok. It's the attentional oligarchs, I thought that was a really smart phrase, whose power he cares about. Let's talk a little bit about the new marriage of the...
Honestly with Bari Weiss
26 Executive Orders, TikTok's Future, and Elon’s Arm
biggest figures in big tech, the billionaires that run the most important companies in the world, and the way that they've now turned around and married themselves to the MAGA movement. You had Mark Zuckerberg throwing a ball on Monday night. It's Sunder Pichai, Sam Altman, Jeff Bezos, of course, all of these people just crawling all over D.C. this weekend.
Honestly with Bari Weiss
26 Executive Orders, TikTok's Future, and Elon’s Arm
It was such a huge, huge change from eight years ago. I wonder, first of all, what you all make of that change. And let's start there.
Honestly with Bari Weiss
26 Executive Orders, TikTok's Future, and Elon’s Arm
It's going to be an unforgettable night, a chance to meet other free pressers out in the real world, hear directly from four intellectual powerhouses, and participate in our very first free press wet t-shirt contest. Just kidding. I want to make sure you're listening.
Honestly with Bari Weiss
26 Executive Orders, TikTok's Future, and Elon’s Arm
And lots of other prominent Republicans agreed, including the woman who's about to become our next attorney general, Pam Bondi. But J.D. Vance's advice is not what Donald Trump followed. On his first day in office, he signed a sweeping executive order that granted pardons to about 1,500 people who had been arrested that day, including those who violently attacked police.
Honestly with Bari Weiss
26 Executive Orders, TikTok's Future, and Elon’s Arm
Batya, not everyone obsessively watches all of your Fox hits the way that I do and your hits across cable. So why don't you explain to people your feelings about the likes of some of these tech billionaires and their positions in the new Trump orbit?
Honestly with Bari Weiss
26 Executive Orders, TikTok's Future, and Elon’s Arm
Right. This is amazing. Just to catch people up. Right. Elon Musk and Sam Altman have a like really, really, really bitter feud going back to the founding of OpenAI. Right. People can go back and listen to the Sam Altman episode, but Sam Altman is now sort of the face of this new, I think it's $500 billion Stargate AI project. Oracle is involved. Myoshu Sun is involved.
Honestly with Bari Weiss
26 Executive Orders, TikTok's Future, and Elon’s Arm
And Elon, who's like essentially Trump's, I mean, in a way, Trump's, I don't know, second in command. Trump's probably like sleeping in the Lincoln bedroom. He's like openly trashing the idea in the replies to Sam Altman on Twitter. So it's just like this is all as far as I'm concerned, like some it's a powder keg. It will explode. The question is, like, who's going to be left standing?
Honestly with Bari Weiss
26 Executive Orders, TikTok's Future, and Elon’s Arm
And this is a kind of amazing phenomenon considering that the GOP was long considered the party that talks about backing the blue, about being the party of law and order. And it just strikes me as kind of a watershed change. And I wondered what you guys made of it. I want to start with you, Batya.
Honestly with Bari Weiss
26 Executive Orders, TikTok's Future, and Elon’s Arm
So Steve Bannon – so are you saying Steve Bannon – brought down Musk via Marjorie Taylor Greene. I kind of buy it. I mean, I just I want to push back on the idea that these people are trophies for Trump. I think they have enormous influence and sway over him. Like, why do we think that it goes directionally one way where they're sort of his little playthings? I'm just wondering why you think that.
Honestly with Bari Weiss
26 Executive Orders, TikTok's Future, and Elon’s Arm
I'll just add, I think one thing to watch is we know that Truth Social is in receivership or some kind of trust. I think it's being run by Devin Nunes. That's definitely something he needs these guys for. Don't you think he wants a buyer for that at some point? I think he has a lot, a lot to gain personally and financially from these relationships. Let's just talk briefly about... Who else?
Honestly with Bari Weiss
26 Executive Orders, TikTok's Future, and Elon’s Arm
Elon and Elon's arm specifically and a hand gesture that he made at his inaugural speech where he kind of seems, depending on how you look at it, to grab his heart and throw it out to the crowd. Or as it looked like to some people, a kind of Hitlerian Sieg Heil gesture. People were outraged, including people in the mainstream media. What do you guys make of this story? Peter, let's start with you.
Honestly with Bari Weiss
26 Executive Orders, TikTok's Future, and Elon’s Arm
Is this coming from, you know, hatred of Elon or just a media landscape that's, you know, legacy press that's desperate to stay relevant and hold people's attention? What do you think, Brianna?
Honestly with Bari Weiss
26 Executive Orders, TikTok's Future, and Elon’s Arm
I think the other thing that's just for me just absolutely outrageous about this one is the people that are making such a fuss about this arm gesture are the people who have been completely silent or morally equivocating since October 7th. I know you're no fan of Elon Musk, but where do you fall on this one?
Honestly with Bari Weiss
26 Executive Orders, TikTok's Future, and Elon’s Arm
OK, I know Batya hates predictions, but we're ending with a few of them because I love them and I think they're fine. Okay, so yesterday, Doug Collins for Department of Veterans Affairs and Elise Stefanik for UN Ambassador had their hearings. Will they be confirmed? Let's just do a quick round robin. Doug Collins and Elise Stefanik. Batia, yes for both? I think so, yeah. Peter?
Honestly with Bari Weiss
26 Executive Orders, TikTok's Future, and Elon’s Arm
Brianna? Yes, for about especially Stefanik. Agree. I just opened the prediction market Kalshi, who is sponsoring this episode today. And the question of whether or not Trump will buy at least part of Greenland is trading at a 30 percent chance of happening. What do you guys think? And I guess I'll put myself on the line. I'm bullish on the idea of the U.S.
Honestly with Bari Weiss
26 Executive Orders, TikTok's Future, and Elon’s Arm
acquiring Greenland, a place I have never gone to and probably never will go to and have only been able to locate it on a map as of recently since this issue has come up. But I'm a yay on that. Peter?
Honestly with Bari Weiss
26 Executive Orders, TikTok's Future, and Elon’s Arm
Well, as far as the Panama Canal goes, it's trading at a 43% chance of happening. Okay, let's end on fashion, which is where my head is. Yes! This weekend, I loved a lot of what I saw. I don't know how you guys felt, but I thought Melania's hat was incredible. I thought Usha's stunning and looked really, really beautiful. Ivanka wore this forest green monochromatic Dior hat.
Honestly with Bari Weiss
26 Executive Orders, TikTok's Future, and Elon’s Arm
I know, Peter, that this is where your head is. So we're going to start with you. What was your favorite look from this past weekend?
Honestly with Bari Weiss
26 Executive Orders, TikTok's Future, and Elon’s Arm
Do you think that she covered her feet in lidocaine to numb them to be able to do that?
Honestly with Bari Weiss
26 Executive Orders, TikTok's Future, and Elon’s Arm
I think it's amazing that we're talking about fashion and we have not brought up the fact that John Fetterman in Arctic temperatures and to the inauguration wore a hoodie and shorts, which is perhaps a sign of how much we respect him that we give him a pass for that sort of thing. Brianna Wu, Batya Angersargon, and joined by Free Press senior editor Peter Savodnik, who was with me in D.C.
Honestly with Bari Weiss
26 Executive Orders, TikTok's Future, and Elon’s Arm
for the inauguration. And his column, Trump is uncool and that's a good thing, is a piece you should go and read at the Free Press. Thank you all so much. I'll see you next week. Thanks for listening. If you like this conversation, share it with your friends and family and use it to have a conversation of your own.
Honestly with Bari Weiss
26 Executive Orders, TikTok's Future, and Elon’s Arm
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Honestly with Bari Weiss
26 Executive Orders, TikTok's Future, and Elon’s Arm
If you haven't attended these debates before, they are one of my favorite things that we do because it allows us all to be in person together, to have a drink, and to do something that we love, which is argue with each other and still have fun at the end of the night. So bring a date. Bring your parents. Bring your kids. Come meet me and other free pressers in person.
Honestly with Bari Weiss
26 Executive Orders, TikTok's Future, and Elon’s Arm
I think it's possible to kind of hold two ideas in your head at once when it comes to January 6th. On the one hand, and this is where much of the right has been, and I think there's a lot of merit to this, it's pretty clear that the FBI and the Justice Department were very overzealous. in their prosecutions of people who were at the Capitol that day. And indeed, the Supreme Court said so, right?
Honestly with Bari Weiss
26 Executive Orders, TikTok's Future, and Elon’s Arm
The government charged people under this statute criminalizing the obstruction of official proceedings, and the Supreme Court later said it shouldn't have applied. And of course, there's what Batya pointed out, which is, I mean, the misuse of power on the part of President Biden from sort of preemptively pardoning people, as Batya noted, in his family, but also people like Fauci and others.
Honestly with Bari Weiss
26 Executive Orders, TikTok's Future, and Elon’s Arm
I guess the problem, though, is that it's sort of a race to the bottom. It's like one side saying, hey, you weaponize the justice system. And they did. And the other side is saying, hey, you weaponize the justice system. And they did. How do you end that sort of like cycle? Is there any way to end it at all?
Honestly with Bari Weiss
26 Executive Orders, TikTok's Future, and Elon’s Arm
Let's talk about just the pure political strategy of this move. How is the MAGA movement, how's the base responding to this? Was this essential for Trump to do?
Honestly with Bari Weiss
26 Executive Orders, TikTok's Future, and Elon’s Arm
You do that by getting your tickets right now. You can do that by going to thefp.com. dot pub slash debate. Let me spell that out for you. T-H-E-F-P dot P-U-B slash debate. Go to that URL and get your tickets now. Now, back to this week's show. It's been 72 hours since Trump was inaugurated as the 47th president, and he's come in swinging.
Honestly with Bari Weiss
26 Executive Orders, TikTok's Future, and Elon’s Arm
Do you guys think that if he had made the distinction between the people who had not attacked police officers and those that had and really been specific in who was pardoned, that it would have gone a long way to kind of restoring just the total degradation of trust in the rule of law? You have one side that each side feels like there's like a two-tiered justice system.
Honestly with Bari Weiss
26 Executive Orders, TikTok's Future, and Elon’s Arm
On his first day, he signed 26 executive orders and rolled back about 80 of Joe Biden's. He made good on many of the promises he campaigned on. Immigration — he's trying to end birthright citizenship and his brought-back remain in Mexico. DEI — he's saying you're fired to DEI employees. On gender, he signed an order that declared that there are only two of them. And he's all in on America first.