84. Bossy Bottom Taster
2018Show notes
You can hear the after show and support Do By Friday on Patreon!
Show Notes
- Fisherman’s Friend
- The Corey Lewandowski “womp womp” clip
- Meanwhile, On Earth-2… - by Kendra Wells
- Merlin Mann on Twitter: “All men are mortal! Chico and the Man! Pull my finger! Seven meats, three cheeses! Chicks and ducks and geese better scurry! I’m not gonna pay a lot for this muffler! Daisy, Daisy! Give me your answe… https://t.co/FFuc3QmaFr”
- Who is QAnon? The Storm Conspiracy, Explained
- Chico and the Man - Wikipedia
- “APESHIT” by Beyoncé / JAY-Z Review | Pitchfork
- QAnon, the Crazy Pro-Trump Conspiracy, Melts Down Over OIG Report
- Wrath of the Dolphins - YouTube
- Oklahoma! - Wikipedia
- Supertaster - Wikipedia
Transcript
Tap a timestamp or any sentence to play from there · machine transcribed (mlx:mlx-community/whisper-large-v3-turbo), expect mistakesSpeaker ASomething's loud. Wrong mic. Hang on here. Is that fixed? Skype preferences. Sounds like you're near a refrigerator. Hi. There we go. I think I fixed it. He did. There we go. Sorry I'm late.
AlexThis is Dubai Friday, a weekly challenge podcast with Merlin Mann, Alex Cox, and Max Demkin. This week's challenge, Super Taste.
Speaker AOh, you sound like you have a little cold? I'm so sick. Oh, no.
MaxAlex, did you, so what's the deal? You're in the small studio?
AlexYeah because I love the way my voice sounds on these mics But where's my treat It's at your microphone in the big studio
Speaker AOh Jesus
AlexOkay are we talking about imprisoned children Or what's
MaxNo no no no Here's my only bit about Listen I'll say this about the Trump About the child prisons You think it's good or bad Well I don't want to say whether it's good or bad But it's a great time to be in the metal blanket industry If you make those little foil space blankets. Oh, you ever sleep with one of those?
MerlinThey're real comfy.
MaxBusiness is booming. It's like a camp. Oh my God, I should have gotten into the foil blanket industry. Can I say one word for you, foil?
AlexCar seats with handcuffs? You got them.
MerlinThere's a lot of stuff going on. That's fine. The president, don't worry. The president is going to fix it all this morning. He's going to sign something. Is that happening?
MaxI haven't even been looking at this.
MerlinYeah, but wait, let me get to the important part. Go look at political Twitter. Here's the thing, though. Because it doesn't feel right, he's canceling the congressional picnic for tomorrow.
AlexOh, no.
MerlinOkay? But you know what the reporters are all reporting? And I want you to really think on this. Tomorrow, they're at the White House. They're already prepping for the congressional picnic. They've already started cooking the steaks for a picnic tomorrow.
MaxThis is so upsetting to me. Well, you've got to get them in the sous vide right away.
Speaker Bwho grills a fucking steak the day before you eat it it makes me get them frozen from costco
Speaker Ayou get them frozen from costco and then you gotta get them in the sous vide 12 hours before you add 30 minutes to take off the frozen oh oh shit dog have you ever discovered sous vide
Merlinreheating go on okay we had special family dinner uh the other night for the father's day and i had some leftover uh meats and i said i should learn some innovative ways to reheat you
MaxI'm going to try and use this cough button. Hang on. Let's see if it works. Go ahead. Let's see if it works.
MerlinFirst it didn't work, and then it worked.
AlexYeah.
MerlinI got it all late. So what you do is you bag it up, whatever it is you're trying to reheat. Let's say you got like a little bit of steak left. You want to heat up. And I know this is a little bit crazy in wastewater. Shut up. You bag it up. Bag it up. And you put it in the water. The water is just a little bit below whatever your original doneness was. so I did 124 for an hour and it was so freaking good you can't microwave leftover steak it's the worst even if you do my special method of doing very low percentages it's just not as good
Maxyou know what I like to do is I'll slice it real thin you get a cast iron pan which is ripping hot and you put that you throw the steak in the cast iron pan it gets a little crispy oh that sounds
Merlinyummy maybe some teriyaki sauce or something that'd be really good oh sure you could get some
Maxsauce going I'll get a fried egg I'll get a fried egg in there put a fried egg in put a
MerlinDo I get nice and crispy?
AlexWho's egg? Serious question, though. Why would anybody use a microwave for anything other than instant ramen or popcorn?
MerlinThat's a very serious question, Alex.
AlexWait, no.
Speaker ANo, this is clearly something that's really weighed on. You've really, really thought this through. I just used a microwave to reheat a matzo ball soup this morning.
AlexBut why not just put it in the oven?
MaxBecause I wanted to eat the matzo ball soup in two minutes, not in an hour.
AlexSo it's just for impatient people, basically.
MerlinI feel a challenge coming because Jesus Christ, you're so off base. You should listen to my podcast. I have a bespoke methodology that involves percentages. You work the percentages. Here's the problem with every man in America. It's the only problem with men. But the problem with men in America is they understand two things when they use an oven. They understand full power and they understand 350 degrees, which is the international standard for baking for science reasons. Now, here's the problem. Sometimes it's better what you do. what you do is you microwave it real low so all the stuff you used to do i've yeah i've never
Maxchanged the power setting on my microwave nobody does they don't even know you can do it but most
Speaker Apeople like that i i ostensibly it's there but i've never changed it i'm gonna blow your mind
Merlinbecause a lot of people think i need to reheat this and we have a super high wattage microwave so one minute of heat on something one minute on high yeah it gets really hot gets maybe too hot you get spots instead try this try 40 or 30 for two minutes and it's so much better That's all I'm going to say about that. You don't microwave things, Alex.
AlexWell, would you say microwaving something counts as cooking something? Because as we know, there will be grave, grave consequences that I don't yet know about if I don't learn to cook at least three things this year. But I use the microwave all the time.
MerlinWow, you're in a little bit of a mood today. Somebody put you off your beard today. What's going on?
AlexOh, I mean, again, like hearing children crying in prisons just kind of gets me off my game. Womp, womp. Womp, womp.
MerlinHe was just owning the libs.
MaxYou know what I'm eating right now? I'm eating a fisherman's friend. Have you guys ever had a fisherman's friend?
MerlinIt's like help and punishment. It's like a harsh father.
MaxThey're nasty, too. It's a lozenge. It's a lozenge. It's a nasty lozenge. You know you're really suffering. Like, it has to be pretty bad for a fisherman's friend to be better than how you're currently feeling.
Speaker AI wonder what that is on Urban Dictionary. Let's find out.
MaxYou know what I'm saying? Like, the fisherman's friend. The fisherman's. You have to be pretty miserable for the fisherman's friend to be an upgrade. But I think Marco has talked about the fisherman's friend. He sure has. And I'm on these things. Now, it does have a recommended amount that you should take per day, and I am exceeding that amount. I wonder how bad that is.
AlexFour pills. Therapeutic dose, right, Roland? It's fine.
MerlinFour is a therapeutic dose. Fisherman's friend. Definition four, slang word for marijuana. Number five, an animal that is brought aboard. This is all so boring. This should be something about butts, don't you think?
AlexNo, there should be a lesbian joke in here somewhere, but I am shocked there's not. Can you edit Urban Dictionary?
MerlinOkay, so what is a fisherman's friend for a lesbian?
AlexI am. I'm done.
MerlinYou like that angling? Back in out.
AlexBack in out.
MerlinGet your rod in there. Reeling it in as well. You like to get your hook in the water? You like to bait the hook? Oh, God. Is that what you like to do? You like to flay the belly? Is that why you're the fisherman's friend?
Pull out an acoustic guitar.
Speaker AI don't like that sound effect.
Speaker BI don't like that.
Speaker AJust the sound of the fisherman's friend. This is a pal from college.
MaxI don't like that sound effect.
MerlinThere was a summer when I was a waitress and I had a fisherman's friend. I think it's an on-the-sly lesbian pal, and you do a little bit of light petting, and maybe you watch Mystic Pizza together.
AlexWait, what's Mystic Pizza?
MerlinIs that a lesbian movie? What's a lesbian movie?
AlexPersonal best. Fried Green Tomatoes.
MerlinFried Green Tomatoes.
AlexYeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Anything with Mary Louise Parker. It's like Subaru. As long as they've been like, yeah, I like pussy, then immediately it's like, yes, good job. Good ally.
MerlinWhat is it you wanted in your Subaru that made it super gay? Did you want a 12-string guitar in it? What is it you wanted?
AlexOh, no. I just, Merlin, you're not going to like this. But finally, our family car died. And we're probably going to get a new one because we're bad people.
MerlinDidn't Maddie say the mechanic had learned their voice over the phone that could identify them?
AlexHey, Maddie.
MaxWait, isn't this, didn't you guys, don't you guys have someone else's car?
AlexYeah, we have the car that we bought it from Veronica, actually.
MaxOh, really?
AlexYeah, yeah, yeah.
MaxAnd is that the car? No, no, no. Yeah, right. I knew you got it from someone. Is that the one that's dead?
AlexNo, no, no. That is a good, wonderful, reliable car. Jesus, how many cars you got? No, we had two, but we've been going along with one for about a month, and I just go to the suburbs too much.
And I hate it, but I like-
MerlinWhat are you doing in the suburbs, Alex? What are you doing there?
AlexOpsec. Well, all of my family.
MerlinOh, Opsec. Are you visiting your brother or something? You're at the hog farm.
AlexYeah. Actually, no, that's genuinely true. Like we, at the fam, during the summer, we go to my John Roderick-esque farm all the time. And we just, we need a car for that.
MerlinThe farm. The farm is up there with compound. It's one of those things that only like, only like guys with cults with glasses have. Come to my farm. Come out and visit. My mom has friends, some Second Amendment people that are real nut jobs. and they'd like to go and visit the farm. Come out to the farm. You can sleep in the treehouse at the farm.
AlexThe most work I've ever done at my farm is to get good fiber there.
MerlinAnd so you're going to get a new Subaru? You're officially a lesbian.
AlexNo, no, no, no. I know. Well, no, now I'm straight because, anyway, I'll probably get one of those little plug-in hybrids that I can plug into my garage. It's very exciting. Oh, Max, does that mean that if I get an all-electric car, if theoretically there was an all-electric car parking spot at our office.
MaxYou're saying could you park in that spot? No, I think it would just become my spot at that point.
AlexWould it finally?
MaxI think that would compel me to change the sign to just be Max's spot.
AlexI would really. That's very brave of you. That's very brave of you.
MerlinYou're like the dungeon master and the consistently highest level character.
Speaker BI should get to move up too, but you're the DM. You're the DM. Womp womp.
AlexDick Doug, Max, do you have any upsetting articles to read to us today?
MaxNo.
AlexReally? Were you just overwhelmed by all the upsetting things?
MaxI've been sleeping a lot.
AlexOh, I'm glad.
MaxNo, I mean, I don't know. I mean, it's been a news cycle that's been heavily focused on child prisons. You know, so I didn't think that there was a lot of comedy in that. Yeah. They're just enforcing the law, Max.
MerlinThey're just enforcing the law. They have to do it.
MaxWell, the Bible says the laws are just and you have to enforce them. Like in Romans, it says, baby in a cage.
AlexThere's a lot of Bible like, well, actually, they meant this.
MerlinIt's almost like it could be interpreted many different ways by people who are looking to advance their own agenda.
AlexHe was also literally writing it in prison. That's what Romans is. That's what Romans and Acts, they were letters from prison.
MerlinRomans is an entire book about how to be a good Christian.
MaxThere was something I did have And this was like an explainer That I asked you guys Do you know about Earth 2 tweets And you were like no I thought it was about The Flash No it's very funny So there are these sort of Cultish Devoted Hillary Clinton people On Twitter I don't know if you've seen them It's kind of pathetic Do you know what I'm talking about
MerlinI'm very aware of the genre For sure
Maxyeah yeah they're they're they're like they're like hillary cocks and um and i mean listen i just want to clarify because we may have some new listeners whatever like i personally worked on the clinton campaign like i did everything i could like i went to work for the campaign but you overlooked a lot of things in the interest of doing the right thing sure but also like i do feel like it's it's two years later and we lost so it's kind of like if you were like standing like john carrey at this point it's like it's it's you know move on move on there's new people out there Is there a name for them?
AlexLike Hill Dogs or something? Like we have Bernie Bros.
MaxBack in 2008 when Obama became the nominee, they were called the Pumas, Party Unity My Ass, P-U-M-A. And they were these sort of wine moms who said, I'll vote for John McCain instead of Barack Obama, instead of that Muslim Barack Obama. I got it.
MerlinI got it.
MaxWine mom republic.
Speaker AGive it a minute. So. That's funny. God damn it. It's like Weimar Republic Before the Nazis took over You got the wine Fucking cut that out Okay what's our two next I thought it was funny I gave it a polite chuckle
MerlinI thought it was good Jesus Christ You better get the mix right on this one That was a good joke
MaxPlease make sure that you Give a little volume boost To my polite chuckle
MerlinTen points for Gryffindor
MaxSo One of the funniest genres of tweets From these like Sort of Hillary Stans that they do Is whenever anything happens Like the child prisons they're always like meanwhile on earth two dot dot dot and then they always come up with the most banal nonsense of like president hillary clinton met with john trudeau and they they talked about how to you know how to have better trade policies you know it's just like the most like banal
bullshit i win them over it's just so funny they're so funny and they're so desperate to me because a i guess what's why is it so funny to me it's because you're first of all the whole idea of that it's 2018 and we live in this awful reality and instead of like doing anything they're like writing this like fan fiction sort of about what if hillary won but then also like even though it's completely imaginary and it's a total act of fantasy and they could have it be anything that they want in their wildest imagination the most taken imagine of a good thing happening is like completely normal politics that like don't change this
country for the better in any way. It's never like, in my fantasy, Hillary Clinton fixes the pay gap or does a $15 minimum wage or gives everyone health care. It's always like, she had a meeting with Justin Trudeau and she didn't throw a bag of urine at him.
Yes, queen. So anyway, I just saw one. I'm not going to say who it's from. I just saw one that made me chuckle. It said, it's in this genre. It was a guy, and a lot of people in my personal friend group were retweeting this. And it said, I think that at Barack Obama and George W. Bush should go down to the detention camps together. They should demand to go in, and they should probably get arrested together, too. Oh, well. I thought that was so funny. What is this in service of? I thought it was so funny.
Like, what do you think that, like, we're fucking at prison camps for children. You think George W. Bush walking in there and getting arrested is going to make a fucking bit of difference? Hey, Papa Bush. You've got to be kidding me. Paint us a picture.
Speaker BGo ahead and arrest me. I'll just paint you later. Paint you later.
MaxAlso, I like that even though it's a complete fantasy construction of what they imagine could happen, it's not like in my fantasy there's a revolt and the prisoners escape and people storm the barricades and Trump resigns in shame. It's like they're not even imagining something cool. They're imagining that two former presidents with no power walk up to the door. Don't get in and get arrested.
MerlinChanging lives.
MaxI just thought it was fun. It just made me laugh. And then I sent you guys that. And then also one of my favorite tweets from the account fanfiction.txt. And it just says, Obama chuckled. You mean the chaos emerald?
AlexI admit, I'm kind of a fan of the...
MaxMerlin, I also... You did a tweet this week that I've laughed at. I think I've laughed out loud at it every day since you posted it. I just...
MerlinYou have to start by reading what the president said.
MaxWell, will you read it? Will you read it?
MerlinYeah, I see how I can find it.
AlexWhat is with the two of you not able to find your own tweets on Twitter? Because we tweet too much.
MaxIt takes scrolling.
AlexI'll put it in the thing.
MaxHere. Here you go.
MerlinOh, yeah. The president, such as he is right now, has really settled into a real rhythm with his things that he says over and over. And he often punctuates it with witch hunt. This is two days ago, late morning his time. Kumi gave struck. Is that how you say it? Struck?
Speaker BComey gave Strzok his marching orders, Mother is Comey's best friend, witch hunt.
MerlinAnd I quote that with, All men are mortal.
Speaker BChico and the man, pull my finger. Seven meats, three cheeses. Chips and ducks and geese better scurry. I'm not going to pay a lot for this muffler. Daisy, Daisy, give me your hands.
MerlinI'm not going to pay a lot for this muffler. I mean, it really sounds like the Markov chain has broken down at this point. And he's just spitting out random strings of data. You know, I almost did, Alex. I almost went with the last scene with the bullet coming across the stage in Hamilton. Rise up, rise up! Where he's just spouting out lines from the play.
MaxHe just sounds like he's breaking down It's like a near-death hallucination If you remembered every TV commercial And song that you've ever heard in your life
Speaker AAncient Chinese secret, huh? What is seven meats, three cheeses? That was the only one I didn't know I had a friend in college named Patricia Fingeroff
MerlinI had a friend in college named Patricia Fingeroff And Patricia Fingeroff lived in Philadelphia And her father owned a sandwich place in Philly Where they had a variety of wonderful, wonderful foods I don't remember the exact name of it I would have to look it up I think it's called like the Empire or something. But the famous they were famous for their sandwich that had seven meats and three cheeses. And so she wrote that on the side of her car. Seven meats, three cheeses. And it always made me laugh.
It's such a dad thing to say. You should try this good seven meats, three cheeses.
Speaker BSeven meats.
Speaker AHoly shit. I don't know if I even know seven meats. It sounds very late 70s TV ad to me. Seven meats, three cheeses. Philadelphia. Seven meats. Do you think you can find Chico and the Man on YouTube? Oh, Chico, don't be discouraged.
Speaker BThe man, he ain't so hard to understand.
Speaker AIs that before your time, Alex? Yep. Oh, you absolutely can find Chico and the Man on YouTube. Oh, Freddie Prinze, man.
MerlinFreddie Prinze Prime, the first one. Not that pretender that came after. Let's see. Cheese steaks at home, seven meats, three cheeses.
AlexHot dogs, hamburgers, bacon. steak, ham,
Speaker Bwhat else? Turkey. Ponyo loves ham.
MaxI have some follow-up. So, our listeners, cut. Our listeners
Speaker Bsounded off in the comments.
MerlinYou're turning into like Tom Waits with bronchitis.
Speaker BI have some follow-up. I had to read a little bit to you. Reezer, reezers, come along, We're going to give you thatification.
MaxI'd rather be like a Nick Cave that just got punched in the stomach.
Speaker BThere's a thing I want to read you. I'm going to read it right now to you. You're not going to hear it anywhere else with this.
MaxSo I asked on the last show. I had invited the Flat Earth Society to come out and do my Friday. And Alex and Merlin both said that they thought it was a bad idea. So I said, sound off in the comments if you think this is a good idea.
Speaker ANo, you didn't say that. You said, tweet at Merlin. Well, whatever. They did.
Speaker BThey said, well, actually, Max, I would love it if Merlin would bring about an interesting conversation.
Speaker AI got a number of tweets about this.
MerlinYou got like six or seven ding-a-lings bugging me on vacation, and I said to each one, thank you.
MaxAnd, well, I got, I probably got, I probably got a couple dozen. Were they coming in hot, Max? Were they coming in hot? Oh, they were coming in hot. I got a couple dozen comments about this, but almost universally everyone thought it was a bad idea.
MerlinSo you got, yeah, you got a little bit well actually from a couple people.
MaxI really, I truly did.
Speaker ASo I don't know. I still think it would be funny. What's the thing about this? Did he tell me about the thing about the sun and mountains at some point?
MerlinWill you explain that to me?
MaxNo, I can't explain it. That's why we need to guess. You won't have the Flat Earth Society on, but you want me to do their explain it to you?
MerlinOh my God, you're right. I don't understand it. The call's coming from inside my hypocrisy.
MaxIt doesn't make any fucking sense. I want them to come on and explain it. I thought that would be funny.
MerlinI can't imagine a way it would go anyway, but extremely well. Sure, have them on, Max.
Maxoh so now you change now that our fans don't want it you do that you do want to ask them on i i
Merlinrespect i'm i'm a respecter of fans i think if anybody knows me i i the fan respecter has logged in that's me i'm here hello hi i'm robert respect um um you know sure what do you imagine happening
Alexi think this is one of your pranks and you love your pranks it was merlin he was gonna let it die let's let it die we're just let it lay i'm happy to let it die but i do think it would be genuinely
Maxlisten i'm interested i like weird people and i don't have to agree with them well you do two podcasts with people like that everyone who works at our company is a weird person i like weird people and i like people who go through life in not doing things the normal way whether i agree with it or not i'm intrigued by it and i always think that maybe they're onto something and even if i don't agree with it that there's something i can learn from it and as soon as i heard that there's a flat earth society i'm like i immediately want to know what's their deal what do they really believe this or is it is it a political agenda or i don't know or like what's it fucking like to go
through life and and not believe in the most like fundamental thing that everyone agrees on i just merely am asking questions i thought that it'd be interesting i do i do think it's i do think
Merlinit's interesting in the sense that it's a kind of a belief that is uh a perhaps unusual kind of belief, not so, oh God, I'm getting in trouble for this. I mean, the thing is like Pascal's wager or whatever, like you can choose to believe or not believe that there is a God who is all knowing and all seeing and dah, dah, dah, but it doesn't have to change the way you live your life unless you choose to. And Flat Earth seems kind of like that to me. I mean, as far as like going to the bodega for a pack of Marlboros, it doesn't really change your day to have that belief. It's just that once you drill down into that, I guess I'm kind of interested because, and
maybe this shows you what a what a you know cuck for big science i am but it could be something like you know it's i don't i don't know i just feel like it would be like well you you believe this thing that we feel like science has kind of proven to be a thing with pictures and stuff and you think the world is actually a frisbee and so like i'm just not sure how we prosecute that or interrogate that further to end up anywhere apart from going like how does gps work on frisbee
Speaker AYeah.
MerlinNow, do they believe in satellites? I don't know. Okay, listen, do they believe in space? Do they believe that we're floating in space? I don't know.
AlexYou're right. It would just be like having a bunch of Mormons on and being like, okay, so you believe you're going to get a planet when you die? Or having me on being like, wait, so you eat the flesh of a dead man who ascended a thousand years ago?
MerlinYeah, you hug your wife seven times.
Speaker AWe do have you on.
Merlinthat's the thing is we do have you on here you are hi i took some time today to sit down with alex cox of cards against humanity to learn a little bit about some of her own beliefs which are a little bit unconventional hi alex num num num jesus no little fisherman's friend
Alexyes
MaxDid you guys see, listen to the new Jay-Z and Beyonce album?
AlexIn fact, I will never forget the day that Max Temkin was the one who alerted me to the fact that there was a new Beyonce album. Did Jay-Z ever say anything?
MerlinI only made it a couple minutes into the video and Jay-Z mostly just stood there looking concerned.
MaxDid he ever say anything? Well, that's sort of his thing. But no, but as a matter of fact, in the song Ape Shit, they do, it does include the line, fast like my Lambo, scoot, scoot, scoot. Oh, sweet. So I think that that's a little shout out to the Dubai Friday Powder Nation.
AlexYou can't even joke about something like that because if I ever met Beyonce, we've talked about the celebrities.
Speaker AShe's probably a listener.
AlexShout out to Beyonce. I bet she's nice.
Speaker AShe's probably fine. Come on Dubai Friday.
AlexSweetie, sweetie.
MerlinStunning. Stunning. did you see the daily beast article about how q anon is mad that the ig report was not what they expected about all the democratic arrests and everything can you explain this whole thing i i
Maxi will admit that i'm not i'm not up to date you need to really really spend some time with q anon because it is a lot of fun can you catch me up on on this whole story well my understanding of it is
Merlinthat this is a, this is, how does one say? So you had the Pizzagate thing, which was this, according to my understanding of Pizzagate, it was the idea that there are people, especially in the Democratic Party, the Clinton Foundation, who are part of an international child sex trafficking ring. And that there was some nexus of that activity was going on at this pizza place, this combat ping pong pizza place. And everybody always thought that was really crazy, that one guy showed up there with a gun to find out and investigate. Now, QAnon is very special because if you can imagine Pizzagate, except it's about everything.
It's really – QAnon is – just go to Twitter. Please just go to Twitter and search for like pound Q or pound QAnon because it's about everything, how everything is connected. And so the part of this that's really the nut is that there's this person who has what is called Q clearance. There's someone who is a White House or intelligence operative who has Q clearance who is letting everybody know on the behalf of Donald Trump.
MaxWhat is Q clearance? Is that real or made up?
MerlinYou can Google it. It's a high level security clearance, supposedly. But the story goes that this is on whatever, 4chan, I guess. I don't know, one of those sites. But there's this person called Q. And Q drops these sets of inscrutable clues to let you know what's going on in the investigation and to warn you when everything's going down. What we know so far is that the Mueller investigation is a smokescreen, that Mueller is actually investigating all of the Clinton people and Podesta and the Clinton Foundation, all those people.
Essentially, almost all Democratic leaders have already been pre-arrested. They've already been arraigned, and they're all wearing ankle monitors, which is why they wear boots and long pants. And so if you look in lots of pictures, you can tell that they're actually wearing ankle monitors. And any day now, Q's going to let you know that the storm has arrived. You know, watch the water. You know what I'm saying? And a lot. So you just need to go. Just go dive in a little bit.
MaxWhat is the storm? I mean, I just did a search for hashtag Q&L, and I'm seeing a lot of pictures of storms and talk about the storms.
MerlinThe storm is coming. Watch the water. But they. So the beauty part is, though. So in addition to being a wonderful conspiracy theory. And did you guys look at the image that I sent? Did you look at the actual image that explains how everything's connected?
AlexOh, that a while back. Yes. I got a little overwhelmed.
MerlinOh, it's a crazy board. It was probably the craziest crazy board ever that shows you how almost literally everything is connected, including the reptile people. And so essentially now, they're really everything is a clue. Almost everything. Everything Trump does is a clue. Everything you see in the media is a clue.
Speaker ASo there was a Q update just now.
MaxOh, no. What's the drop? So it was posted on 4chan. Please read it verbatim. Yeah, it says FF prevented. Does that mean anything to you? Follow Friday. Final Fantasy.
Forza. So it says, it says, it says FF prevented. Next. Immigration slash chick D separation. It's clearly they meant to write child separation, but now I see all these posts going, what is chick D? Chick D equals child? Question mark. People are trying to decipher it, but it's just a typo.
MerlinIt's just, that's another symbol.
MaxIt says narrative change critical. I den talking points. Distract IG report slash hearings slash Korea. Iran next. regime in trouble people awake projection these people are sick and then in all caps winning
Merlinq mm-hmm the closer trump gets to the truth the more the libs will scream be prepared the richness is coming down pounce on q anon let me find some more drops oh there's lots about yoga in here bhakti yoga oh um gardens by the bay see previous pic timestamp coincidence everything shown has meaning you are watching a quote-unquote scripted movie alice in wonderland get it right Like when they post a picture, right? And you see a bunny in it. Okay. That's part of it.
AlexThis is like the Simpsons Treehouse of Horror episode where the dolphins come and take over the planet. Like, what if the reptile people aren't reptile people? They are just aquatic mammal people. They have the technology. It's possible. It's possible. What if Merlin's a crisis actor and it is cute?
MerlinWhat if I'm actually a child in a jail?
AlexYeah.
MerlinAnd I'm crisis acting as a podcaster.
AlexI'm sad again.
MerlinOh, gosh. Trump put an extra P in his twat at 9.52 a.m. So with brilliance of Q&A's decoders, let's see, Master Spock, you're a traitor of your country, sit down and shut up, make Iran great again. I want to find some more of the actual drops because the posts are real inscrutable.
MaxHere's one where Representative Jackson Lee, it's a picture of her, and she's wearing a ring, and then it says, have a peek at her ring, just sick, and then someone else posts part of the clothes.
MerlinAmanda Renteria, Bridge LL and HRC, plus one, BC, ampersand LL, Tarmac, Bill Clinton and Loretta Lynch. Witness, period. Look close behind Bill Clinton, trusted by Clintons, running for California governor. Who's funding? Who is campaign manager? Risk is high. Q.
AlexAnother serious question. Not microwave question. So Q is like one person or is this like anonymous?
MerlinI think it's a verified anonymous account.
AlexI don't know. You're not. Okay.
MerlinSee? See?
AlexI see now.
MerlinDo you think that's a... Listen, listen. Do you remember when Melania wore white?
AlexOh, oh, yes. Yes.
MerlinOkay, there you go.
AlexIs she alive again?
MerlinWatch the water.
AlexI'm sorry. You're right.
Speaker AAre you watching the water? I don't think you're watching the water. So what's the end game of QAnon? Is there like a thing they believe is going to happen?
Merlinum i there was a really good q anon explainer somewhere in the last couple months by will summer maybe i don't i'll find who's q anon the storm conspiracy explained let's see on october 28th someone calling themselves q began posting a series of cryptic messages in a slash uh slash poll pol uh thread titled calm before the storm uh probably in reference to that creepy uh quote q claimed to be a high level government insider with q clearance hence the name tasked with posting intel drops, which he for some reason called crumbs,
straight to 4chan in order to covertly inform the public about POTUS's master plan to stage a counter coup against members of the deep state. It was in short, absolutely insane. However, thanks to some rather forced coincidence, like Q kind of sort of guessing that Trump would tweet the word small on small business Saturday. And this one time, the internet decided that Q was totally on Air Force One because he posted a blurry picture of some islands while Trump was on his trip to Asia. And a whole heck of a lot of wishful thinking people believed it was real. So he kept talking.
Speaker BHmm.
MerlinYeah, I'll put this in show notes. Where do people find show notes for this episode, Alex?
AlexI don't even know. In as much as you can say. DubaiFriday.fm slash 87? How many shows have we done? Oh, my God.
MerlinIt's an Ecto-Key New York moment here. I think we're like 84 or something like that.
AlexWe are... Holy shit. Yeah, we're at 84. We've done... Watch the water.
MaxWe've done a lot of these. Well I think we should get Moving on the challenge here Alex I'm curious what did you think it was Before you looked at it
AlexI thought it was going to be the hot hands Glowing glue
MaxOh shit I forgot about that We should actually do that A hand washing challenge No what I've sent everyone this week Have we had like four of those
MerlinI guess the sleep is probably the one we've done the most
MaxListen Nobody cares more about washing their hands than me And doing the Purell now and listen to how healthy I'm. Strong as an ox.
Speaker BYeah. All right.
Speaker AAll right. A box, a box, a box. I came home from my vacation time and a box had arrived at my house. Do you guys have your little boxes? I do. Okay, I don't have mine. I have to go upstairs and get it. I'll be right back. Oh, for the love of Christ.
AlexAll right. I need to go do a storm as it... Oh, go, go blast the storm.
Speaker BWe'll come back. I'll be right back.
AlexOh, dear.
Speaker BI am a cinematographer. I am a cinematographer. And I walked away from New York City.
And I walked away from everything.
Speaker AAll right, here we go. I got it. She had to go blast a storm listening to music. This is good radio. Eh, they're all cut out.
MaxMan, that QAnon stuff is fucking crazy. Do you follow Will Sommer? S-O-M-M-E-R? Will Sommer is like a S-O-M-M-E-R. He's like a journalist who reports on all this crazy right-wing conspiracy theory stuff.
Speaker AOh, that was him. He wrote the Daily Beast article.
MaxYeah, he used to do a thing called... He used to do a newsletter that you could subscribe to on Patreon that I was a subscriber to, which is how I learned about all this shit. But now he got his newsletter. He basically, his newsletter was so good, he got hired by a publication to do it. So it'll be like a feature, a free feature now.
Speaker ASo he does like fringe groups? Yeah, he reports on like crazy. Oh, in conservative media, I see.
MaxSo it's called Wright Richter, R-I-G-H-T-E-R-I-C-H-T-E-R. Okay. And Wright Richter just got picked up by...
Speaker AIs it Daily Beast? It might be the Daily Beast. Because that's who he wrote that article for.
Speaker BI'm a cinematographer
MerlinChicks and ducks and geese better scurry When I take you out in a surrey When I take you out in a surrey With the fringe on top Oklahoma was a very revolutionary musical Nobody'd ever seen anything like it before
MaxWhy? What was revolutionary about it?
MerlinYou think about musicals Stage musicals from the 20s, 30s Into the 40s And they would always be I'm just cribbing this from a guy who wrote a book about Hammerstein But they would always begin with a big chorus number, so people could come in late and be shuffling around like, da-da-da-da, Overture, it's hurting, it's like a big opening song. And instead, Oklahoma starts with this very pastoral scene.
AlexOh, hello, I'm back.
MerlinAnd he comes out and he sings that Oh, What a Beautiful Morning song. And nobody had ever seen anything like it. You know, Rodgers and Hammerstein, they got into a lot of stuff that now seems pretty simple now, but at the time was pretty wild.
AlexDid I leave in the new subjected Max to musical talk?
Speaker BPhone rings, door chimes, in comes company.
MaxAll right. Here we go. We're back. Why do I seem like Jilla Biafra? Why do I do that? Alex, what do you think this is now based on?
AlexI mean, the box is labeled. Yeah, that was the thing, Max.
MerlinHang on. Here we go. Wait. Cop knife. So, Max, before me, I have a small gray box with a URL on it that gives me a hint as
Maxto what it is and i'm so excited yes yes yeah so this was i think this was honestly i think this might have been something that tiff recommended and it's a kit that you can buy on amazon which is where i got these and it's a super taster kit so you what we're gonna do is i think the way it so i i just am looking up the instructions myself but i think basically what we're gonna do is there's different little tabs of paper in here and we're gonna taste them it's like like ph strips kind of thing? Yeah, basically, and it's gonna whether we can taste the things on these strips or not
it's gonna tell us if we're a super taster or not. Do I need to brush again? I don't know. Okay, I'll just use hydrogen peroxide. So, um
AlexOh, is that the hydrogen
Merlinperoxide? Oh, shit dog what is that? You have like tongue striations, right Alexandra? Oh my god, are you okay? hey, what's wrong with your tongue?
AlexNo, I'm just hoping... Is it supposed to do that? I'm hoping that this just won't skew the results because in my follow-up, I had acid reflux, which is not something I normally get, but when you read about child prisons in a morning, suddenly you want to throw up all the time. So I took some Pepto-Bismol and my tongue is still pink.
MaxDo you have those crazy cracks on your tongue always? Yeah. Is that normal? I think that means you're a supertaste. I think that's a trait of a supertaste.
MerlinI think it means Domino's has an opportunity need to put an ad on your tongue. You should fix that right up.
MaxAll right. Step one. Assign each person a participant number. Wait, so we can open it. We can open it, right? Open, open, open, open. Step one. Assign each person a participant, number one through five. I should add that this is an experiment for like a high school biology class. So I'll be one through three. Merlin, you'll be four. And Alex, you'll be five. Okay. What? Out of view of the five participants, to avoid participants expecting various tastes. Oh.
I need a friend. I need a fisherman's friend. Set up the five tasting sheets. Well, here's the deal. Obviously, we can't do this, so we're just all going to have to agree not to be influenced by placebo effect, okay?
MerlinSo just don't look at the label. Don't look at the label, right?
AlexYeah. I've turned them away from me. Oh, I see what you're saying. Yeah. Okay.
MerlinOkay. I'm not looking at the labels. I've got the four lined up in front of me. You take one out and you taste it. What am I supposed to do? What am I looking for?
MaxHang on. Hang on now. Hang on now. Have each participant taste each strip by placing the strip on his or her tongue for a few seconds. Saliva will wet the paper and allow the flavor or the lack thereof to be detected. Have each participant write the taste of the strip in the box underneath the strip for each round. So, none, salty, bitter, sweet, sour, or umami. Gather the results and use the chart to determine which kind of taster each participant is.
Speaker AOoh, they're teeny. There are like pH strips. Okay. Okay. All right, here we go. I'm doing number one. I'm doing number one.
MaxHmm.
Speaker AYeah.
MaxThis is a big little This is a big tab of acid in here
MerlinOkay, I did number one And wrote down what it tasted like to me I'm now doing number two I'm not looking at the label
AlexWait, are you supposed to keep it in your mouth? Not forever
Speaker ADo not eat the paper, Alex
AlexToo late?
MerlinOh, man You got a lot of struggles, don't you?
AlexNumber two I'm concerned this tasted like nothing Okay, well
Speaker AI got two bitters so far.
MaxMerlin, I think those were both controls. And you're having a stroke. Oh. Okay. Oh, Jesus. Oh. Mm-mm, mm-mm, mm-mm.
Speaker ANo thank you. Oh. It's going to be hard when you've got a cold. Yeah, that's interesting. Oh, trust me, I can taste it. I can taste it. I've got bitter, bitter, nothing.
AlexOkay, I'm having some trouble opening. Ba-ba-ba, turned away.
MerlinOh, boy, I keep getting multiples. Okay.
AlexMmm. Hmm, hmm, hmm. Mmm. I'm spitting. What if I want to eat the paper? Hmm.
MerlinHmm.
AlexHmm, hmm, hmm.
MerlinHmm. And so, I'm going to redo that one.
Speaker AUnless I'm getting bitter in paper. Alex, what are you tasting here?
AlexI've got the nothing. I assume one is a control, right? I didn't look at any of them. But I've got a salty one. What is that?
MerlinI'm going to redo these. Okay. I'm doing a second assay here. Okay. I like this box. This is a baller box.
AlexOh, no.
MerlinLooks like this was intended to have slides in it.
AlexSlides?
MerlinYeah. Not oncology, but what do you call that? Forensic slides? You know like for a microscope? Oh, I see.
AlexYes.
MaxAh, so bitter. Okay. What the, wait, something must be wrong here. I'm already jumping ahead to look at the results for myself. This must be wrong.
MerlinI'm going to do like five. See if it makes a difference. I'm not going to use all of these. Oh, God, I got like probably 15 here.
Speaker BOh, no, you can taste a lot more when you do a bunch.
MaxYeah, you can.
Speaker BPut a bunch in.
MaxWe're, uh, spoiler alert, we're having Veronica on for the after show for next week's challenge, and I'm just dying to have her try this. Oh, gosh.
Speaker AOkay, it tastes like a lot of paper.
MaxCan I walk you through the results now?
AlexUh, yes, but wait. Yes. I only had four. Were there supposed to be? Yeah, that's all there are. Oh, okay. No, there's four.
MerlinCool, cool, cool. Let me do, like, 15 of number four. Hang on. Let me get this in.
MaxOh, I'm a fan of them. Merlin, I'll tell you that all that matters is whether you taste something or nothing.
AlexOh, okay.
MaxOh. So let's start with the control.
MerlinThis definitely tastes like paper. That's a paper one.
MaxAll right, let's start with the control. Did anyone taste anything for the control?
MerlinI had no taste. Hang on. I need to do my coding now. Okay. For thioria, I have bitter.
MaxFor. Well, hang on. I want to go through them in the order here. I'm reading the fifth grade lab experiment here.
Speaker AOkay. Okay, so we're looking for the name on the label to match up, right? Correct. So control. So for me, the control tasted like Fisherman's Friend and paper. I tasted paper, that's all. Okay. Alex?
AlexWell, that's the thing. Like, I recognize it as the taste of paper, but it also tastes like the kind of paper that you get at Dunkin' Donuts, like a really cheap napkin. And I kind of like the taste, so I'm eating some more.
MaxOkay. Very normal. Yep. All right. Next, let's look at the Thoruria. It's going to be fun to do the methodology paragraph. Oh, no, I'm sorry. Excuse me. Next, let's look at the PTC test paper.
AlexYeah.
MaxI had bitter. I tasted bitter for the PTC.
AlexAlex? I did too. This was my least favorite. I did not swallow.
MaxYeah, I tasted bitter. Okay. So if you can only taste the PTC, but the other people, you couldn't taste the other ones, then you are a standard super taster. So now let's look at the other two. The Thor Theoria.
AlexMm-hmm. Yep.
MaxBitter.
AlexI wrote down bitter for that one. But like a little bit of umami. Like it was a bit.
Speaker ANo, mine's like a Switch game. It's just whether you play something or nothing.
MaxOh, yeah.
Speaker AIt's just whether you have any taste or no taste.
MaxI'll definitely get something for one. So if you can taste the PTC and the Theoria, then you're a recessive super taster. And then the last one is the sodium benzoate test paper. And this one. This is my favorite. I couldn't decide if I tasted it.
Speaker AI wanted to say sweet, but then when I put 15 in my mouth, I felt it was just paper.
MaxI definitely, I certainly tasted something. And I said that it tasted somewhat salty.
AlexYeah, this is delicious. I love this.
MerlinI'm going to try it again. Let's do another 15.
AlexNo, no, no, no. What you have to do though is like spread it out over your tongue. You got to fan it. You got to fan your strips.
MaxAnd then, so yeah, so I did taste something here. So if you can taste the PTC, the theuria, and the sodium benzoate, you're a dominant super taster. Oh! So I tasted all three. You're a bossy taster top. My hypothesis here was that Alex would taste them all and Merlin and I wouldn't taste any of them.
AlexWell, here's the thing. Hold on.
MaxAll right, I'm going to read. Can I read the fifth grade lab experiment intro that we should have read before? Yes, please. Yes. mammals such as humans have a unique sense that makes consuming certain substances pleasant and consuming other substances unpleasant the ability to taste special receptors in the taste buds on our tongues allows to taste five different flavors sweet salty bitter sour and umami without this ability okay i'm this is too basic i need somewhere in between this and what these chemicals mean um just as humans have different levels of acuity in the senses of sight and smell
they also have differences in their ability to taste. Approximately 25% of Americans are considered supertasters, and of this subset, people have varying levels of supertasting ability. Supertasters are people who have the ability to taste the substance phenyluria, PTC. Some people cannot taste the substance at all, and others taste it quite distinctly. Whether or not a person is a supertaster is dependent on his or her genetics. For the purposes of this experiment, the dominant supertasting gene will be represented as S, and the recessive super tasting gene will be represented as s lowercase s based on the genetics
and okay i what does it mean though if you're a standard recessive dominant that means you're
Alexa cis taster the i i have a theory maybe because you you all just popped them straight away without
Maxlike rinsing in between right right no i could tell the difference i could tell the difference
Alexbetween them all though do you still have an aftertaste i do well everything mainly tastes
Speaker Alike fisherman's friend oh yeah i got a lot i still taste a lot of bitterness i well that's
Alexprobably from junior high i kept tasting the bitter and even the like uh just swishing with water didn't help so i just keep putting the sodium ones in because i like the taste
Maxi'm kind of this is kind of blowing my mind i'm i i'm a super taster i'm not surprised by that
Alexi love i love food though super tasters don't like food well you're not a dominant super taster
MerlinI don't understand how I didn't detect the sodium. Is it because I put way too much salt on all my food? How would I not have tasted the sodium?
MaxIt's sodium benzoate. So it's a thing that some people can taste and some people can't, and you can't. You're along with the 75% of people. Is this bad for my OPSEC, Max?
Speaker ADoes this mean there's now a gateway to poisoning me? Probably.
MaxMerlin, what I would say is that 75% of people are not super tasters, and you're in that group.
MerlinI'm so not a super taster.
MaxSo you're a, or rather, I should say, rather what it means is, because you could taste the PTC and the Theoria, but not the sodium benzoate, you're a recessive super taster. I'm a bottom. I'm a bossy bottom taster. Exactly. You're a super tasting power bottom. Woo! Cradle the balls! I can't believe I'm a super taster. Yay! That's the super, even with a cold. Even with a cold.
Speaker AI thought the whole thing was I was going to make fun of Alex here. I don't understand, because isn't a big part of taste smell?
AlexDon't worry. If you were in the studio, you'd see that I'm still sucking on the sodium benzoate. And I think that's because I enjoy plain things. Call me shocked. And this is just the most... This one is like the one that the fewest people can taste, right? No.
MaxThe PTC is the one the fewest people can taste.
AlexSee, I don't like the taste of that one, though. It's nasty.
MaxSo let me explain what this means. This is not part of the fifth grade lab experiment. This is just what I know about super tasting. so certain kinds of vegetables like for example the brassica family which is like brussels sprouts broccoli it's like basically every green vegetable that we eat is all one one family of plants they have bitter tastes in them that most people cannot you're more likely to taste as a child and then people grow out of it and they can't taste the bitter flavor anymore and so they they grow to like vegetables because they can no longer taste this awful thing in there kind of like
Merlincilantro you know some people can taste some people cilantro some people have a like genetic hatred of cilantro they just cannot even so it's because it's because some people have a gene where
Maxthey can taste this flavor in cilantro that tastes like soap to them and if you have that gene you're just fucked like you can't ever enjoy cilantro because you're able to now that chemical is in there the issue is i don't have that gene so i can't taste it right so super taster is a is a term for someone who can taste these chemicals on these paper strips and most people can't taste them but all three of us can so it makes us probably more picky eaters i guess than the
Alexaverage person i see i've always assumed that about max just because you have um you know you you have a really good taste in food as far as i can tell um and maybe it's just uh it is like some like the quality of vegetable or the quality of food it it depends on the bitterness right like Like I, for example, I really, really enjoy sourdough bread. And I can very much tell when something's like good sourdough bread or when something's just like from Panera.
MaxWell, just to be clear, being a super taster does not mean that you have a super sense of taste. It means you're just more. I know. It simply means that, I mean, I guess you could have a super sense of taste or not. It's just not related. What it means is you're capable of tasting these chemicals.
AlexGot it.
MaxThat most people can't.
MerlinBut I think about something like I've always hated Brussels sprouts my whole life. They're really like little cabbages. There shouldn't be anything too bad about them. But I've disliked them my whole life. And I think in one way, it's how they were prepared, which is they were usually like boiled, which is pretty gross. But like now I roast them with sea salt. And something I learned, I think, from Marco, a little bit of balsamic vinegar on them. And they're really good. I hate to use that phrase flavor profile. But I wonder if it's something about that roasting does something and then adding an acid component to it makes it palatable.
But I hated it as a kid and I love it now. I can't explain it. Maybe it's because I've lost that bitterness.
MaxI do think you – I think as you get older, it becomes less – I think you're less able to taste these things. Like whether you're a supertaster or not, that's the case. But definitely I think having like – I love like chow roasted. I mean, I guess I do taste these bitter chemicals in plants and stuff, but if it's like really well-cooked broccoli, I do like it.
AlexSorry, I have a lot of paper in my mouth.
MerlinAlex, you should probably really, really rein that in.
AlexNo, I've started spitting it out.
MerlinAlex, you're going to reach a point in life. I know you like to go to the doctor. You're going to have to really start thinking about what it means when you have to fill out a form in an emergency room. I want you to really start thinking about that. And I want you to think about the part where you're not going to be able to do it and your partner is going to have to write, put way too many strips of paper in their mouth during a podcast you're not thinking that way yet you're like hey everybody what do you think of the way i arranged my bag doop da doop no no start thinking emergency room level and you're going to change your game no i have you don't
Alexwant to die in an absurd way i do no merlin i do because i've thought about this many times i've been the one filling out the emergency room forms and i'm like if anybody ever has to do this for me i kind of want it to be fun because it's very stressful and tedious and i want maddie to be able to write uh you know cracked head open on corner of death someone to fill in my form oh no i'm gonna cry oh man i i so what's the difference then i guess between i'm curious between the like coral well i guess there is none between palate and tasting in general because
i also get i guess then i also have a really sensitive palate as well i i don't know that's possible i mean i think you're just a picky eater and a super taster all those shitty things like
Merlini don't mean to problematize but everybody knows that smell is a huge part of taste there's that thing that you do in elementary school if you hold it if you hold your nose and take a bite of onion versus a bite of apple it's difficult to tell the difference if you can't smell it so i mean there seems there's more to that you've got your whole sinus condition going on i wonder if there's i mean it just seems like this is so much more complex like this seems to work for telling you how your tongue works which i guess is a big part of it but what about stuff like pregnant ladies wanting a steak like there's this thing where your body wants a certain kind of food without you consciously knowing from a chemistry standpoint why you want it that's the thing i can eat like
Alexway healthier food when i'm sick because i i can taste oh that's interesting yeah so i wonder if it is like a mix of my palates become less sensitive but i mean you guys saw my tongue i didn't even think about yeah i wasn't really prepared for that yeah sorry sorry i was worried that everything would just taste like Pepto-Bismol, but no, no, no. It did not. It tastes like all things.
Speaker AWhat's your feeling about the results, Max? How do you feel about the results? I'm very surprised.
MaxSo Veronica has just joined us.
MerlinIs this the after show or the regular show?
MaxWell, I think we're still in the regular show, but if people want to hear the after show with Veronica where she's going to help us set up the challenge for next week, you can go to giveusyourfuckingmoney.com. You can become a subscriber on our Patreon for $5. And as you may know, every week, we record a whole second episode of Dubai Friday, and you can hear me cough into the microphone and hear Veronica help us yeah hear me eat food hear me eat paper Veronica's Veronica's gonna take the super taster test
MerlinAlex you have to stop Alex
AlexI'm spitting it out now I'm not I'm not a follower I want to see a photo
Speaker Aof the pile
Alexalright the storm
Maxis coming people see you later watch the water