Cameron Kasky
Appearances
The Bulwark Podcast
BONUS EPISODE from Tim's New "FYPod"
I'm Cameron Kasky. I'm Tim Miller. And this is FYPod. You are listening to the second episode of the record-breaking and historic look we are taking into Generation Z. And we're asking a lot of questions about why we're all acting so crazy. We're exploring the idea that maybe we're called Gen Z because Z is the last one. And it might be over, gang. It's over? It looks like it's over, man.
The Bulwark Podcast
BONUS EPISODE from Tim's New "FYPod"
Now, mind you, obviously so many gun control policies that are treated as so partisan are extremely popular. Like, yes, many, many, many Republicans support things like universal background checks and issues like that. But ultimately... The simple answer here, in my opinion, and obviously there's plenty of more complicated conversation to be had by people more qualified than me.
The Bulwark Podcast
BONUS EPISODE from Tim's New "FYPod"
But the simple answer is a lot of conservative policy is the easier thing to say and the easier thing to explain. And therefore, people are going to be more responsive to that.
The Bulwark Podcast
BONUS EPISODE from Tim's New "FYPod"
Yeah. And I missed it too, because I spent COVID in a very tight COVID pod with a mid-30s political strategist. So I wasn't exactly dime square partying. My friends and I were actually quite satisfied with Zooming each other and playing Minecraft and playing Among Us and doing stuff like that.
The Bulwark Podcast
BONUS EPISODE from Tim's New "FYPod"
We did something. I did this with my college friends. We did something where we did a reading of a Shakespeare play. I believe it was either Twelfth Night or Midsummer Night's Dream, where every scene, everybody took a shot. So about an act and a half into the reading of the Shakespeare play, We were just fucking wasted and, like, nobody knew when it was their line.
The Bulwark Podcast
BONUS EPISODE from Tim's New "FYPod"
So we were just like, all right, you know what? Let's just talk shit about people that we know from school. But, you know, it's like that was a way to have fun together that required just a little bit of thinking. You know, it required a little bit of conceptualizing and trying to do something creative. But looky, looky here, we were able to have fun anyway.
The Bulwark Podcast
BONUS EPISODE from Tim's New "FYPod"
It was just not fun the easy way and people want to do it the easy way. So... Maybe this party group was able to attract people during COVID and throw a quote-unquote cool party at CPAC, which, I'm sorry, even cool parties once thrown somewhere that the Nazis are hanging out are not cool. But even if the young people are hot, most of the hottest people I know are actually extremely uncool.
The Bulwark Podcast
BONUS EPISODE from Tim's New "FYPod"
I know some very cool hot people, but it's actually crazy how... You know, I have friends who are like influencers with hundreds of thousands, if not millions of followers, gorgeous, always going to beautiful locations, posting pictures at the nicest getaways, retreats and parties. And you'd think that they have just this extremely... bubbly effervescent social life. But I know them.
The Bulwark Podcast
BONUS EPISODE from Tim's New "FYPod"
I hang out with them. They're my friends. They're bigger fucking dorks than I am. And I read fantasy novels every day. Like, turns out social media has us convinced that people are different from who they really are. Like, if I posted my actual life on social media, people would think I wasn't just a little tiny bit broke.
The Bulwark Podcast
BONUS EPISODE from Tim's New "FYPod"
But anyway, I think that a lot of young people who end up doing conservative things... ultimately wanted to be conservative. They wanted to do it and they were just looking for an excuse. I know plenty of Jewish people who said, you know what, I was a liberal my whole life, but I'm voting for Trump because he's the one who's good on Israel.
The Bulwark Podcast
BONUS EPISODE from Tim's New "FYPod"
And I'm like, man, if you look at the Harris policy section on Israel in her campaign, it is almost indistinguishable from what Trump was campaigning on. They were both just like, We're going to do what Israel wants. We're going to support Israel. We'll give them what they want. We're going to stop Hamas.
The Bulwark Podcast
BONUS EPISODE from Tim's New "FYPod"
But Trump was being more racist against the people that certain people wanted to be racist against. And therefore, because it was Israel, which is something that in our culture is widely regarded as this thing that can do no wrong and is just purely perfect and good. They said, OK, now I have a reason to go to the right. But I know plenty of very pro-Israel people.
The Bulwark Podcast
BONUS EPISODE from Tim's New "FYPod"
who are very Zionist, very pro-Israel, who saw Harris and Trump and said, I'm supporting Kamala Harris because she's in line with my values and she's supportive of Israel anyway. The Jewish people I know who moved to Trump because of Israel, they wanted to move to Trump anyway. Their social circles were liberal. They wanted to fit in. They didn't want to support the abhorrent thing.
The Bulwark Podcast
BONUS EPISODE from Tim's New "FYPod"
And therefore, they were liberal and supported liberal causes. But then when they got away to support Trump in a way that they can virtue signal as some sort of, oh, this is to protect my people, they went for it. Those were not people who were liberal until Trump was more racist against Arabs. They are people who wanted to be conservative the whole time and then they got an excuse.
The Bulwark Podcast
BONUS EPISODE from Tim's New "FYPod"
So I don't know how many people with true liberal values got pushed to the right by the ability to party. I think there's just this idea as you're a young person growing up that liberalism is the way to go because we all ought to come together and support each other and be part of something bigger than ourselves instead of isolating as much as possible.
The Bulwark Podcast
BONUS EPISODE from Tim's New "FYPod"
But then they were like, oh, the Republicans are letting me party. I'm going to be a Republican now. And I just don't know if a party is going to make you say women should not control their own bodies. I don't know if a party is going to make you say minorities who have worked their entire life to get a position that there are now programs to support them getting over some white nepo baby hire.
The Bulwark Podcast
BONUS EPISODE from Tim's New "FYPod"
And those people are just woke DEI and to quickly dismiss the accomplishments of people of color as wokeness without even looking into the tremendous things that they've done to get their positions. I don't know if parties during COVID really did that. I think it just gave people an easy in.
The Bulwark Podcast
BONUS EPISODE from Tim's New "FYPod"
I mean, last time we spoke, you and I, Tim, one of the president's puppet masters had done a Sig Heil in front of everybody. And then the president's puppet master said, no, no, no, no, no. One is not enough. Steve Bannon's got to go up and do the Sig Heil as well. So now we're two Sig Heils into this presidency and probably more to come.
The Bulwark Podcast
BONUS EPISODE from Tim's New "FYPod"
I think it brings to mind how dangerous their attack on the public school system is. You know, while Trump is distracting everybody with fucking Greenland and Canada and the Gulf of America and just other stupid bullshit, we're watching the Department of Education get absolutely fucked. And they're going to rip it to shit and make it a disaster. But schools are where young people come together.
The Bulwark Podcast
BONUS EPISODE from Tim's New "FYPod"
Schools are where they meet each other. Schools are why a lot of the public school kids I know are cooler than the private school kids I know. And it's really important for us to have these social spaces. I read some article.
The Bulwark Podcast
BONUS EPISODE from Tim's New "FYPod"
And by that, I mean, I read the headline in the first two paragraphs about how young people are lacking social spaces where people go and cohabitate and hang out with each other. And that kind of just reminded me how my friends and I face that. Like, fortunately, as I've said so many times on this podcast, and I will continue to until the bulwark sends me an email to stop.
The Bulwark Podcast
BONUS EPISODE from Tim's New "FYPod"
Fortunately, I'm really cool. So I can figure out these things for myself. But a lot of my friends kind of want a place to go where they can meet and hang out with other people. And we lack these things. And school, public school, is such an important part of that. And getting to know other people is such an important part of that.
The Bulwark Podcast
BONUS EPISODE from Tim's New "FYPod"
I was a very lonely kid because I was never in tune with young people my age. I, in many ways, was much more mature than them and in other ways was much less mature than them. But I was very rarely as mature. I was just all over the place. And this speaks to something I normally talk about in greater length about how maturity is not a linear thing that just is some basic crescendo.
The Bulwark Podcast
BONUS EPISODE from Tim's New "FYPod"
Maturity is a circle. And people grow out in all these different directions at different speeds and different ways. So I have friends in their late 30s who are extremely brilliant people where I make more mature decisions than they do in some situations. And then in many more situations, they're more mature than I am. But all this is to say...
The Bulwark Podcast
BONUS EPISODE from Tim's New "FYPod"
I was a very lonely person because I was very different from my classmates. And I remember the feeling of feeling like there was no place for me in this world. And it is a very bad feeling and it can really ruin your life. And it left me thinking sometimes, what would happen if I just disappeared? And this is coming from someone who has the most loving family in the entire world.
The Bulwark Podcast
BONUS EPISODE from Tim's New "FYPod"
We'll just see if the orange guy decides he wants to do it as well.
The Bulwark Podcast
BONUS EPISODE from Tim's New "FYPod"
My family treats me in such a great way. My parents went out of their way to say to me, the best version of yourself that you could be is the one that's the most Cameron. The best thing you could do is embark on the pursuit to become true to yourself. So I had the best support I could have ever had from my family. I couldn't be more grateful.
The Bulwark Podcast
BONUS EPISODE from Tim's New "FYPod"
And yet I still found myself feeling so alone and so isolated. And this was before fucking social media. I mean, there was like Instagram, but this was before TikTok was fucking everybody's brains up. And this was before COVID. I felt alone. Wanted answers. And the feeling of feeling like there's no place for you in this world is something I would not wish upon my worst enemy.
The Bulwark Podcast
BONUS EPISODE from Tim's New "FYPod"
And it put me in such a dark place. And it's in those lows, it's in those depths that these ideologies that are thriving now can get you. And unfortunately, we have more kids in those depths now. I mean, I don't want to brag, but I kind of beat Gen Z to isolation. Like I did it before it was cool. But, you know, it was being someone like that.
The Bulwark Podcast
BONUS EPISODE from Tim's New "FYPod"
And it's the young people I know who had similar experiences to me that are the ones who are super red pilled right now. The ones who I had to unfollow on Instagram because as interesting as it was to see them get radicalized, I just couldn't put up with it anymore anymore. Pepe the Frog started as this adorable little cartoon. I loved Pepe the Frog. He was a cutie patootie.
The Bulwark Podcast
BONUS EPISODE from Tim's New "FYPod"
And then he became a fucking Nazi. And I just couldn't look at him on my Instagram story anymore. But it's the isolation that does this. And it's so crazy. Young people are not getting this important lesson that you can play a part in making somebody feel less lonely. Even the smallest things you can do.
The Bulwark Podcast
BONUS EPISODE from Tim's New "FYPod"
the littlest bits of attention you could pay to people, the recognition that you can offer them as another human being who deserves respect and dignity and deserves to be seen, you can do such small things that could very well ripple into saving somebody's life. And all of us can be less alone if we just make a little bit of effort to connect with other people.
The Bulwark Podcast
BONUS EPISODE from Tim's New "FYPod"
And a lot of the best friends that I've kept to this day were kids I met when I was popular in high school, and they were fucking nerds, and I just knew that I had the chance to pay them just a little bit of attention. And I saw them, and I saw myself in middle school feeling like I had no place, desperate for somebody to just come up to me and recognize that I was fucking alive.
The Bulwark Podcast
BONUS EPISODE from Tim's New "FYPod"
part of me that saw myself in them made me go up to them and just pay them a little mind and say hello and now they're some of my best friends to this day and i forget that they were kind of a you know loneliness dei hire in my life this is um the real challenge though i mean like this is hard this is a lot harder than the other stuff that we're talking about on the pod and because it's like
The Bulwark Podcast
BONUS EPISODE from Tim's New "FYPod"
Yeah, and I think it requires a belief that human beings are better than everyone's telling us that we are and i think that this is a problem on the left and on the right we are all characterizing the other as bad people and if you can have some belief in the human spirit that humans have good in them that's not to say you know let's let steve bannon do sig heils that's not to say you know
The Bulwark Podcast
BONUS EPISODE from Tim's New "FYPod"
If Hitler had gone to art school, he would have been a super nice guy. Not that there's much of a difference between Steve Bannon and Hitler these days. And Hitler might have gone to art school, actually.
The Bulwark Podcast
BONUS EPISODE from Tim's New "FYPod"
Well, listen, I today was talking about how the thing that stopped me from all these ideologies was drama. So in many ways, Hitler and I have the whole... should have gone to art school thing in common. Hopefully not much more though. And I think that people, young people need to reinvest in each other.
The Bulwark Podcast
BONUS EPISODE from Tim's New "FYPod"
Young people need to be given the chance to believe in what we can do for each other and what we can do together. Because it is in meeting other people and understanding their relationship with this thing that we call being a human who's alive that we all become better. I know
The Bulwark Podcast
BONUS EPISODE from Tim's New "FYPod"
young people who were on the right again, who got a little bit more hope in our ability to support each other and in doing such, had a few more values that were a little bit better and more progressive because they met other people. And I think that we need to support this notion and this truth that
The Bulwark Podcast
BONUS EPISODE from Tim's New "FYPod"
If you support certain things that a party supports, that doesn't mean you need to believe all the shit that they say. And I know young people who identify as conservative that do believe women should be able to get abortions.
The Bulwark Podcast
BONUS EPISODE from Tim's New "FYPod"
I know young people who say that they're conservative, say that they're Republicans, who think that we need to have background checks on guns, and who think that trans people should just be left alone. There are young people on the right who I'm friends with
The Bulwark Podcast
BONUS EPISODE from Tim's New "FYPod"
who's, you know, I believe in supporting and uplifting trans joy and platforming their voices and celebrating them, but I know young people who just say, you know what, I don't know what the hell they're doing, and that means I'm not qualified to tell them how to do it. And it is in meeting other people that they were able to get these beliefs. So...
The Bulwark Podcast
BONUS EPISODE from Tim's New "FYPod"
I really think it all ties back into this question of how can we get young people to buy into each other again and support each other and build community because it is in building community that we can stop things like fascism and it's in isolation that fascism thrives.
The Bulwark Podcast
BONUS EPISODE from Tim's New "FYPod"
guess well it's not called gay anymore it's just called woke he was the first woke Disney character he was woke yeah
The Bulwark Podcast
BONUS EPISODE from Tim's New "FYPod"
None of that. It's so disappointing because it's just like, once the studios just started making too many things and letting corporate algorithms decide how they were going to tell their stories, that happened to line up with when we were trying to tell more diverse stories. So these diverse stories that deserve to be told suffered from fucking nerd...
The Bulwark Podcast
BONUS EPISODE from Tim's New "FYPod"
data nerd execs letting algorithms make their movies, and now everybody's saying that the movies got worse when the diversity came in, and they did get worse, but it's not because of the diversity, it's because they started letting math make their fucking movies.
The Bulwark Podcast
BONUS EPISODE from Tim's New "FYPod"
I think it's important for us to hold space for the fact that no executive would let Aladdin get made today. Nobody would make Aladdin today. Aladdin came out in the fucking 90s.
The Bulwark Podcast
BONUS EPISODE from Tim's New "FYPod"
Okay, well, that's its own thing. But studio execs would be like, oh, so you're trying to make Hamas the movie? Meanwhile, if you watch the Dune movies, the Dune movies are more fucking Israel-Palestine than anything you see on the news. The Dune movies are just white Mohammed played by Bob Dylan. So anyway, we've got Josh Rush coming on. Josh Rush was a Disney star.
The Bulwark Podcast
BONUS EPISODE from Tim's New "FYPod"
Now he is an organizer who does a lot of great work in the Texas State House. And also people used to think that we had gay sex together, which we'll talk about this in the interview. Surprisingly, we never did.
The Bulwark Podcast
BONUS EPISODE from Tim's New "FYPod"
Okay, just because I'm podcasting doesn't mean I don't have a life. And I got to catch a flight to Los Angeles, baby, City of Angels. to do awesome stuff with the gang, but I wasn't going to abandon my duties to put more white man podcasting into this beautiful world. So I'm joining us today and I'm really happy to be here with such a great group of guys. Okay, great.
The Bulwark Podcast
BONUS EPISODE from Tim's New "FYPod"
I'm sorry, Josh, the Lion Guard or whatever it is that he's referencing, that is not the weirdest thing he could remember you from. The weirdest thing he could remember you from is the Where's Waldo cartoon.
The Bulwark Podcast
BONUS EPISODE from Tim's New "FYPod"
Okay, so let's feed the libs. You were a Disney star. You were one of the first openly LGBTQIA plus coded Disney characters. Not coded. Oh, yeah. You guys like held hands.
The Bulwark Podcast
BONUS EPISODE from Tim's New "FYPod"
Wait, sorry, Swiss army knife for beating fascism. Is it the Swiss or the Swedish that didn't fight the Nazis? Yeah.
The Bulwark Podcast
BONUS EPISODE from Tim's New "FYPod"
Ideally not a Swiss army knife. More like perhaps a Soviet army knife.
The Bulwark Podcast
BONUS EPISODE from Tim's New "FYPod"
An American clone. You said it, not me. An American gun.
The Bulwark Podcast
BONUS EPISODE from Tim's New "FYPod"
I think that a lot of right wing values, especially where the right has turned these days, are they require isolation. The Republican Party wants everybody to be further away from each other. And they act like, oh, we're going to stop lockdown. We're going to start the frat parties again so everybody can get COVID and have herd immunity. But they want you to be isolated.
The Bulwark Podcast
BONUS EPISODE from Tim's New "FYPod"
No, no, no, totally. You're just not some lazy prick like Cameron Marley Kasky. No, it's really great to hear that kind of stuff, especially somewhere in a state like Texas that I think has a lot more blue voters on the ground than people want to say it does.
The Bulwark Podcast
BONUS EPISODE from Tim's New "FYPod"
But I guess my question for you, first of all, that monologue you just went on, the bulwark audience is going to like you so much more than they liked me. The non-voting anarcho-communist that we had on last week, who is a great guy who I love and respect, but definitely less bulwark-coded than you. So just already, go check the comments after this. They're going to love you.
The Bulwark Podcast
BONUS EPISODE from Tim's New "FYPod"
So you and I both run in... very progressive circles saying and doing progressive things with progressive people. And I think you kind of share this perspective that I do. I mean, I personally can't say I've worked with too many Republicans. Um, but this idea that you do have to accept a certain amount of compromise.
The Bulwark Podcast
BONUS EPISODE from Tim's New "FYPod"
And if you want to make the most progressive things happen, that means you're going to be working with people who don't feel that way. And you're going to be trying to do that from the inside and, and, and, you know, to advocate for the right stuff, you have to meet people where they're at.
The Bulwark Podcast
BONUS EPISODE from Tim's New "FYPod"
So just what's your experience having your own values and working with people who might very well feel the opposite on some key issues?
The Bulwark Podcast
BONUS EPISODE from Tim's New "FYPod"
You move farther to the right when you're isolated because you are less likely to believe in the power of what happens when people come together to support each other when you're on your own. And, you know, it brings to mind the fact that I have reflected several times that I don't think I'm that far from the life where I ended up a red pill in cell type guy.
The Bulwark Podcast
BONUS EPISODE from Tim's New "FYPod"
I mean, I saw those ideas when I was a teenager, some of them spoke to me in certain ways, and I flirted with this idea that maybe this party of bad guys, maybe if I join the bad guys, I can win too.
The Bulwark Podcast
BONUS EPISODE from Tim's New "FYPod"
I mean, I just think it's a matter of balancing. I think that, first of all, I don't know any annoying person I've ever done activism with. As a matter of fact, everybody I've done activism with has been perfect with no flaws, so I don't know what you're talking about. But I would say that... Right, every single one?
The Bulwark Podcast
BONUS EPISODE from Tim's New "FYPod"
Couldn't even begin to imagine for at least the next four episodes. But I think that it's sort of a choose your battles and figure out how hard you want to fight them situation because I don't think we should be managing a system right now where Democrats feel comfortable fighting this rise in authoritarianism and fascism that's being led by a foreign billionaire organization.
The Bulwark Podcast
BONUS EPISODE from Tim's New "FYPod"
who's throwing the R word around on Twitter. I don't think we should meet that with press conferences saying, hey, by the way, did you see that the price of eggs are up? Because it was never really about the price of eggs. And, you know, could have factored in here or there. But right now what we're seeing is
The Bulwark Podcast
BONUS EPISODE from Tim's New "FYPod"
Everything that leads up to the type of authoritarianism that gets a lot of people killed. And I said this last week, you know, when people used to throw around the Trump is a Nazi Hitler stuff, I would say, cool your jets. But they're telling us who they are. It's not just Elon doing two sick hiles in a row. Now it's Steve Bannon. Roman salute. Yeah. Yeah.
The Bulwark Podcast
BONUS EPISODE from Tim's New "FYPod"
Now, Steve Bannon is going up and saying at CPAC, we want Trump 2028. And he's just saying it. And I think that the idea that the Democratic Party is going to meet this with talking about the economy and is going to meet this with press conferences about how, you know, oh, did you notice that gas costs a little bit more now? I don't think that works.
The Bulwark Podcast
BONUS EPISODE from Tim's New "FYPod"
And the thing that stopped me from that, I mean, I think my family, I think there were multiple factors, but I really think the reason that I did not turn to the right, which my brother did and he had the same parents, the reason that I did not turn to the right was that I did drama. And in drama class, you are around women. You're a young man and you're around women.
The Bulwark Podcast
BONUS EPISODE from Tim's New "FYPod"
And I think people do need to be a little uncomfortable because I think the more comfortable you are as these fascist powers rise... the more dangerous they are going to get. And I think that they want us to feel this sort of apathy and say, you know what, maybe we ought to chill out.
The Bulwark Podcast
BONUS EPISODE from Tim's New "FYPod"
But also, I think that, of course, you know, certain forms of protest are, I don't know if I want to say counterproductive, but are just not really going to do anything. Because I do, I mean, I've been present enough in Democratic elections
The Bulwark Podcast
BONUS EPISODE from Tim's New "FYPod"
political and organizing circles to know that a lot of these politicians laugh about these types of protesters in private and, you know, think of them as just these morons. So I do think there should be a certain amount of attention put into making sure everybody knows that
The Bulwark Podcast
BONUS EPISODE from Tim's New "FYPod"
We are far past the point of devastating damage, and we are already at a point where it's going to take a lot of time and effort, even in the best case scenario, to undo the damage that has been done to the government and the services that it provides to make Americans' lives and futures better. So I think it's a matter of figuring out and balancing your approach.
The Bulwark Podcast
BONUS EPISODE from Tim's New "FYPod"
And I wish I had a more obvious answer, but I guess the direction in which I lean is we need to make sure that politicians in the Democratic Party right now and politicians in the Republican Party who would dare to stand up against the regime are aware that this is the 11th hour. The doomsday clock is seconds away and there's no shrugging that off.
The Bulwark Podcast
BONUS EPISODE from Tim's New "FYPod"
And it's harder to other women and to treat them like this other group of people when you're all part of the same team. Boys and girls feel different. Boys and girls act different. But when you're in drama class, boy or girl, it doesn't matter. You got to get on stage and make a good fucking show.
The Bulwark Podcast
BONUS EPISODE from Tim's New "FYPod"
I think that one of the things I try to say to my peers, and keep in mind, I do significantly less than Josh does. I'm significantly more apathetic than Josh is, and I'm still...
The Bulwark Podcast
BONUS EPISODE from Tim's New "FYPod"
way more empathetic than most people my age like josh makes me look like i do nothing and i still care way more and do way more than people our age so that's how bad it is but you know i say to people about the doomerism the same thing i say about female electability it's like when people say we'll never elect a woman as president i'm like yeah we won't if you say we won't like it's it's a self-fulfilling prophecy doomerism is a self-fulfilling prophecy if you say we're fucked we're definitely gonna be fucked
The Bulwark Podcast
BONUS EPISODE from Tim's New "FYPod"
And if we're definitely going to be fucked, you have to say, well, what can we do to try and prevent that fuckery the most? And it's really a shame to see how apathetic everybody is, but also how could you blame them? The bad guys have won and the bad guys are not only winning, they're twisting the knife.
The Bulwark Podcast
BONUS EPISODE from Tim's New "FYPod"
I agree with you. Just for our Gen Z listeners who might have some questions right now, Hoover and FDR were presidents in America. Yeah, great. Thanks, Cameron.
The Bulwark Podcast
BONUS EPISODE from Tim's New "FYPod"
And there were people of different races, ethnicities, that drama class really made us part of the same team. And the reason that I say this is, I know a lot of young people who have moved further to the right because of loneliness. And I know a lot of young people who were further to the right that I've watched surround themselves with other people.
The Bulwark Podcast
BONUS EPISODE from Tim's New "FYPod"
And the more people that they're around, the more human beings they're interacting with, a lot of their right-wing views start to kind of fade away and they start to have more faith in other human beings and have more faith in each other because they understand what we can all accomplish when we come together. So I do think isolation is the main thing driving these young people
The Bulwark Podcast
BONUS EPISODE from Tim's New "FYPod"
And can I just say, Tim, you will never catch me saying ****. is a word that is not only completely unacceptable it should not be normalized and we need to decenter the use of ableist language like so for you to even say in front of this hot mic and normalize the use of is despicable and you ought to check yourself
The Bulwark Podcast
BONUS EPISODE from Tim's New "FYPod"
Yes, real quick. So Josh Rush, Disney Channel superstar, icon, twink, everything that's good. That's what they call me. Now that you and I are on our twink deathbeds.
The Bulwark Podcast
BONUS EPISODE from Tim's New "FYPod"
Okay, yeah. For those of you who don't know, a twink is an otter who has some hair going for him.
The Bulwark Podcast
BONUS EPISODE from Tim's New "FYPod"
Correct. He corrected me. Is that not what I said? No.
The Bulwark Podcast
BONUS EPISODE from Tim's New "FYPod"
with the caption, Joshua Rush and Cameron Kasky, the subject of Josh's planned future first date with a guy. Josh says this will happen if he gets a thousand tweet replies with proof that the person has registered to vote. Cameron is openly gay and turns 19 on November 11th. This picture was posted on Josh's Twitter three days after Josh came out as bi.
The Bulwark Podcast
BONUS EPISODE from Tim's New "FYPod"
So these rumors from the internet in 2018 that you and open homosexual Cameron Kasky were dating each other,
The Bulwark Podcast
BONUS EPISODE from Tim's New "FYPod"
You enjoyed it? I enjoyed that I thought it was funny. I don't know how much I enjoyed the invasion of...
The Bulwark Podcast
BONUS EPISODE from Tim's New "FYPod"
privacy but i also didn't really care because most of it was funny enough that i found it amusing but you know it was a nice change of pace because at that point in 2018 i had gotten so many tweets uh suggesting that my family was human traffickers and that i was uh not present at the school that's not cool from that part is not awesome that i was a that I was a paid crisis actor.
The Bulwark Podcast
BONUS EPISODE from Tim's New "FYPod"
So when the tweets were like, Cameron is a bisexual Disney stars, uh, man's, um, that was, that was, that was a bit refreshing because I was like, you know what? I can handle this one. Um, you know, it was interesting. We were sort of, we were, the way we were posting together, it was sort of like one could call it queer baiting, but since we're both queer, I don't know if it was queer baiting.
The Bulwark Podcast
BONUS EPISODE from Tim's New "FYPod"
into these Nazi... I wanted to say Nazi-adjacent, but, I mean, Elon and Steve are SIG-hiling. You can call it a Roman salute all you fucking want. They're doing the Hitler thing. So I think isolation is part of that, and I think that part of what's driving isolation is also the way our social media algorithms are kind of locking us into our belief system.
The Bulwark Podcast
BONUS EPISODE from Tim's New "FYPod"
Let me say, I am just honored that he thinks that I inspire hordes of young people. So thank you to Mr. Klasky guy. And I hope he writes back next week with some more feedback.
The Bulwark Podcast
BONUS EPISODE from Tim's New "FYPod"
So once you start to watch those self-help videos made by right-wing douchebags who go to the gym, suddenly you're going a little farther and you're going a little farther. I was on an airplane the other day. It was really funny. In the row across from me, there was a young man, probably around my age or younger, who was constantly refreshing his crypto. And then he was going to TikTok and watching
The Bulwark Podcast
BONUS EPISODE from Tim's New "FYPod"
Yeah, rent. I saw this, there's this post that I've seen a hundred different places, which is, you know, an old person saying, anytime a kid says, okay, boomer to me, I'm going to say, okay, renter. But, you know, the cost of living has gone up so much. I can't say I'm a big doom spender. I definitely have a good deal of friends who spend money on some things that leave me asking why exactly rent.
The Bulwark Podcast
BONUS EPISODE from Tim's New "FYPod"
But I think that it is all part of the larger doom narrative, the same doomerism that affects our politics and the way that we view ourselves and our futures. And it's this collective feeling that we are at the end. So if it's the end of the world as we know it, and I don't feel fine, sorry, Michael Stipe, I'm going to spend my money. And again, I can't relate.
The Bulwark Podcast
BONUS EPISODE from Tim's New "FYPod"
I can't say I have much money, but I don't spend it that much. That's why I dropped out of Columbia.
The Bulwark Podcast
BONUS EPISODE from Tim's New "FYPod"
What am I going to do? Buy a house like I'm not getting my twenty thousand dollars for Kamala Harris.
The Bulwark Podcast
BONUS EPISODE from Tim's New "FYPod"
I have been, there's a very easy explanation for why the number is so much higher with women. And I have been with men and women, so I can confirm this. Women are better. So if I was a woman and I tried, you know, the other side of it all, I don't understand why I would ever go back.
The Bulwark Podcast
BONUS EPISODE from Tim's New "FYPod"
Um, whereas with men, you know, to, to be with other men is to realize that those things that people say about them.
The Bulwark Podcast
BONUS EPISODE from Tim's New "FYPod"
andrew tate and tp usa tech talks and then the guy in the row in front of him was watching the tim miller show and i wanted to go up to him and be like hey i'm sorry to bother you on the plane but you know i actually just launched a show with tim miller it's called fy pod we were number 12 you should have gone up to the guy already watching my show you should have gone up to the andrew tate guy and like figured out how we could get into his feed well that was the person his feed we're trying to get into
The Bulwark Podcast
BONUS EPISODE from Tim's New "FYPod"
I refuse to fucking believe that. Absolutely. Yes? Yes. I don't think 31% of Gen Z anyone has actually done that, from what I've heard. From what I've heard around the block, no, I actually think I know a good deal of Gen Z women who identify as straight. Actually, I know a great deal of Gen Z women who identify as straight that have had their kissy sessions with the other girlies.
The Bulwark Podcast
BONUS EPISODE from Tim's New "FYPod"
So I think that these numbers on both ends are actually criminally underreported, as they always have been. Everyone's always been gay. It's just a matter of who's going to say it. And if you don't believe me, look at Abraham Lincoln. Look at the Greeks. Everyone's been gay the whole time.
The Bulwark Podcast
BONUS EPISODE from Tim's New "FYPod"
Here's what I'll say. I don't think we need less bisexuals. I think we need bisexuals to stop acting like this. I think like bisexuals, if bisexuals just started getting our shit together, I wouldn't mind it as much. It's not the bisexuality. That's the problem. It's the vibes and the aesthetic and the attitude.
The Bulwark Podcast
BONUS EPISODE from Tim's New "FYPod"
That's the culture war. That's the boogeyman that they picked to make everybody scared. That's the like 12 trans athletes that got the entire United States government to mobilize. It's just the boogeyman that this party that's really fucking good at press picks. Right now it happens to be LGBTQIA plus people.
The Bulwark Podcast
BONUS EPISODE from Tim's New "FYPod"
It's something about which they can raise alarms and act like everybody ought to be scared. What did you say? What's the I? Intersex, I think. But if I'm wrong, cancel me.
The Bulwark Podcast
BONUS EPISODE from Tim's New "FYPod"
I'm rambling, but I do think loneliness is a big part of what's driving young people to the right, and I think that a big part of that is right-wing politics are working to drive us away from each other. The attacks on the education system are designed to make sure that young people are not going to school with people outside of their social class. It's really disappointing.
The Bulwark Podcast
BONUS EPISODE from Tim's New "FYPod"
All right, everybody. Well, um, this is an announcement officially to end this episode on a high note that I am in early talks, negotiations, and exploratory phase of launching a multimillion dollar pack from which I am going to pay myself a hefty salary and ideally promote it as aggressively as I possibly can. Um,
The Bulwark Podcast
BONUS EPISODE from Tim's New "FYPod"
whether or not my focus should probably be on strengthening the democratic party i i love the democratic party totally slay but i'm really focused on me right now and my interests and ideally gaining as much financially and opportunity wise as possible so all right thank you cam and thank you josh
The Bulwark Podcast
BONUS EPISODE from Tim's New "FYPod"
You know, COVID was a real... It was a real interesting glimpse into what happens when we all don't feel like we're on the same team. And I think, you know, young people lacked the awareness and empathy to say, we're not staying at home for us. We're staying at home for everybody else. And old people... they don't deserve to die before it's time for them to die.
The Bulwark Podcast
BONUS EPISODE from Tim's New "FYPod"
You know, that's one of the things that I saw a lot of young people saying was like, yeah, it's the old people who are at risk. And to me, since I'm such a woke hero, I was like, yeah, it's the old people who are at risk. There's this thing that old people deserve, and it's called not to die until they have to. And young people were like, no, no, no.
The Bulwark Podcast
BONUS EPISODE from Tim's New "FYPod"
But I mean, it is just a larger government failure issue. Overall, and I think that we lost a lot of faith in our institutions for a lot of reasons. You know, I lost faith in democratic institutions when I saw democratic congressmen selling all their fucking stocks right before the market went down.
The Bulwark Podcast
BONUS EPISODE from Tim's New "FYPod"
You know, that made me a little less flirty with the Democrats was when there were Democrats who were literally fucking gambling with our lives and making it about money. And then Republicans went in and said, here's what the people want. This is not what's best. This isn't what's going to be good for the people. But the people want to hear, no, no, no, no, go out and party.
The Bulwark Podcast
BONUS EPISODE from Tim's New "FYPod"
And the Republicans really know how to either give people what they want or convince them that they're being given what they want. So young people who were at home and they were at home because they needed to be, because we needed to make sure we were stopping the spread, they said, okay, well, the Republicans are saying, no, no, no, no, go out, go have a ball.
The Bulwark Podcast
BONUS EPISODE from Tim's New "FYPod"
And why would you not want to listen to the fun uncle who's letting you take a hit of the joint when mom and dad say no?
The Bulwark Podcast
BONUS EPISODE from Tim's New "FYPod"
Of course you can understand the appeal. The appeal reached out to me, man. I was hearing stuff Republicans were saying, and I was like, I think this is the right idea. I was hearing that sexual assault is this really bad problem, and I was hearing people say, well, maybe women shouldn't dress like that. And I said, well, maybe they shouldn't.
The Bulwark Podcast
BONUS EPISODE from Tim's New "FYPod"
And, you know, that brings to mind Ayn Rand, who wrote a book where the protagonist commits sexual assault, and the book just acts like that's totally fine and keeps going. So, congratulations, Ayn Rand. Call me Atlas, because all I have to say is, but...
The Bulwark Podcast
BONUS EPISODE from Tim's New "FYPod"
No, for sure. I just don't want to ever talk about Ayn Rand without mentioning that she kind of acted like that was a little bit of a slay. But, you know, I think that this is just one of those many situations, and this happens all the fucking time, where the Democratic Party ended up on the...
The Bulwark Podcast
BONUS EPISODE from Tim's New "FYPod"
wrong side of an issue, not the incorrect side of an issue, but the side of an issue where the people aren't going to want to hear what you have to say. Because very often, being part of a society where you have to go out of your way to make other people's lives better, people don't want that.
The Bulwark Podcast
BONUS EPISODE from Tim's New "FYPod"
People don't want to hear that you have to be inconvenienced in order to maybe stop somebody from dying while they're gasping for air. Who fucking cares, right? I care, but who fucking cares? You know, Republicans are so quick to say the easy thing. It's easy to say, oh, you know, if we all go out, maybe we'll get a little sick, but let's go out because it's fun.
The Bulwark Podcast
BONUS EPISODE from Tim's New "FYPod"
And I do, you know, I do see people... who years after the pandemic were scolding folks for not wearing masks while we were double, triple vaccinated. And I'm like, oh, fucking K, calm down. Like, this is not how you win people over. This is how you make people like you less.
The Bulwark Podcast
BONUS EPISODE from Tim's New "FYPod"
But also, it just speaks to a broader thing where Republicans say the easy thing because liberal, democratic, even progressive values are are very easy to characterize as the more complicated way to do it. And people don't want to do the more complicated thing. Let's look at Bernie Sanders versus Joe Biden at the presidential debate.
The Bulwark Podcast
BONUS EPISODE from Tim's New "FYPod"
Bernie Sanders was picking apart universal health care and explaining to you how you will be paying a little bit more in taxes, but ultimately saving money because of your health care costs. Joe Biden was saying, don't you remember when everybody was nice? What if we just got nice? And guess who won?
The Bulwark Podcast
BONUS EPISODE from Tim's New "FYPod"
Joe Biden, because be nice works a lot more than here is a detailed financial plan for how I'm going to. So, you know, Republicans say, oh, shootings are a problem. People getting shot. OK, bad guy with gun. Well, what if we good guy with gun? And people are like, oh my God, that makes so much sense.