Pepsi have introduced a carbonated drink called Pilk, and it's a bit naughty, but not in the way that you might expect. Also, the Pentagon has failed yet another audit, which is a good thing, because they're looking to make billions of dollars out of the Ukraine conflict. And why Lindsay Lohan represents sexy danger and naughtiness. Stay Free With Russell Brand is out now, and you won't want to miss it! Logo by Courtney DeKorte. Theme by Mavus White. Music by PSOVOD and tyops. All rights reserved. Used by permission. This episode was produced and edited by Riley Bray. We do not own the rights to any music used in this episode. If you enjoyed this episode, please leave us a five star rating and review on Apple Podcasts. Have a wonderful rest of the week, and we'll see you next Tuesday for another episode of Stay Free with Russell Brand, Stay Free. Thank you. Stay free, Love, Brand xoxo, EJ. - The Oasis - Russell Brand - Stay Free, - This episode is sponsored by Pepsi and is a tribute to the late, great singer-songwriter, singer, songwriter, poet, actor, and all-round greatness, Jonathan Goldstein. . and we'd love to hear your thoughts and musings about it on social media if you'd like to send us a review of the song you sent us a screenshot of it. if it's good enough, we'd like us to send it in the next one, we'll get it on the next time we post it on Insta-postponing it to us and we're listening to it on insta-tweet it :) - Thank you! - thank you, Russell Brand - Thankyou, - EJ & Steve O'Donnell - - Jeebus - Gav & Gav - P.J. - Gave it out to the Oasis - Sarah - Gorms - Sarah - is a lovely, Sarah - is a beautiful, lovely, sweet, beautiful, smart, sweet and funny, lovely and sexy, beautiful and lovely, beautiful - and we love you, thank you so much, thanks so much - and I'll be back next week! XOXO -
00:01:17.000Thanks for joining me for Stay Free with Russell Brand.
00:01:20.000Today we've got some fantastic stuff to talk about, like how the war industry is looking to make billions out of the Ukraine conflict for years to come.
00:01:28.000Also, the Pentagon has failed another audit.
00:01:31.000I think they've failed five in the last five years.
00:01:38.000Joe Biden though, he's a man who could do that all day also because he does know how old he is, which is good news.
00:01:44.000That's a good platform to build upon Joe.
00:01:46.000In our presentation, here's the news, no here's the effing news, we're going to be showing you how your health data is captured and used against you.
00:01:54.000Let me know in the chat right now, did you know that was happening?
00:01:58.000Do you know the new mercurial measures they're introducing to make them more adept at that?
00:02:03.000Joining us later in the show, if we didn't have enough wonder to present you with, Steve-O is joining us to talk about addiction, activism, censorship and his new plan to become the Archbishop of Canterbury.
00:02:16.000We need you to hit rumble right now because it helps us in a way that I can never understand.
00:02:21.000Before we get into that heavy news about the military-industrial complex and how they're willing to take us to the brink of Armageddon in order to turn a profit, which I don't know how they're going to spend in a post-apocalyptic wasteland, because in the post-apocalyptic wasteland all there is is ash, and you'd just be swapping that.
00:03:47.000I mean, if you're watching this on YouTube, then remember, after 10 minutes, we go into an ascensorial wonderland where we talk about whatever the hell we like.
00:03:56.000And I communicate to you deep, deep truths about the deep, deep state.
00:04:00.000For the first 10 minutes, we have a little bit of a laugh about putting lactation into carbonated drinks.
00:04:16.000And it's interesting, again, in post-modernity and in a sort of a state of ongoing irony, the culture devouring itself, it's like things that were sort of serious once, wasn't she getting in trouble for converting to Islam?
00:06:00.000Drugs are very bad, particularly if you're watching this on YouTube, where it's a bit more sensorial and a little bit less able to tolerant nuance and complexity, as we've learned over the years.
00:06:10.000Biden, though, does know how old he is.
00:06:31.000That's good, though, because numbers is one of the areas where he displays most delirium.
00:06:35.000As you know, on this show, Stay Free with Russell Brand, on every day, we believe that this is a sort of a repeat of the madness of King George III.
00:06:43.000Where the descent into senility of a monarch represented the end of the old empire, giving birth, as it did, to both French democracy and the American Revolution, which could have been a mistake.
00:06:54.000Let me know in the chat and the comments where you think that you shouldn't have had that revolution.
00:06:57.000You should have stayed with mad old King George.
00:06:59.000Probably not because, you know, you've got back on the cycle of senility anyway.
00:07:41.000I mean, even standing up on ice skates is very difficult.
00:07:44.000Then to sort of enter into combat under those circumstances, I think is outrageous.
00:07:50.000These are the kinds of stories that are, of course, used to distract you from significant and important news that we would like to draw your attention to now.
00:07:56.000Remember, if you're watching this on YouTube, we continue for one hour on Rumble. We'll be talking about how the healthcare
00:08:02.000industry is mining your health data and you know also in conjunction with big
00:08:06.000tech. Let's have a look at that story now about the war industry looking
00:08:11.000forward to multi-year authority in Ukraine. Let's have a look at that. So okay
00:08:18.000there is legislation pending in Congress that indicates that the US government
00:08:21.000government believes that the Ukraine war may continue for years.
00:08:24.000On October the 11th, the Senate Armed Service Committee submitted its amended draft of the National Defense Authorization Act for 2023.
00:08:30.000Nestled within the draft, Gareth, nestled, they've got a draft and then they've found a little enclave where you put a bird's egg or a baby bird or a little viper.
00:08:41.000Nestled within the draft is a provision that would establish an emergency.
00:08:44.000Whenever you hear that word, you know they're up to something.
00:08:46.000Whether it's shutting down trucker protests or endorsing profitable endeavours for Lockheed Martin, etc.
00:08:53.000There's a multi-year plan to award massive defense contracts to Lockheed Martin, Raytheon,
00:08:57.000BAE Systems and other war corporations to produce weapons for Ukraine and to replenish
00:09:01.000U.S. stockpiles, as well as those of foreign allies and partners.
00:09:05.000An amendment spearheaded by New Hampshire Democrat Senator Gene Shaheen and co-sponsored
00:09:09.000by Texas Republican Senator John Cormian would allow the Pentagon to award non-competitive,
00:09:14.000no-bid contracts to arms manufacturers under the plan.
00:09:17.000Now that's the kind of complexity that I want to see covered by the mainstream media.
00:09:22.000Why are they not including that story in their reporting on the Ukraine war?
00:11:13.000It does look like Hollywood production.
00:11:15.000It does look like Top Gun Maverick, in particular the bit at the beginning when he's test pilot in that plane, you know, and you see him in that lab.
00:11:28.000If Maverick starts behaving within the lines, they're going to have to change his name to a conventional figure within the Air Force.
00:11:34.000It's also like a Steve Jobs iPhone launch.
00:11:37.000The commodification of war, the normalisation of war, the reductive vilification of a figure like Putin, who doubtlessly requires no additional vilification because he's a former KGB head who's engaged in military action overseas.
00:11:51.000You know, the vilification stands for itself.
00:11:53.000You don't need to turn these figures into cartoons.
00:11:55.000Unless you're doing that to strip the conversation of nuance in order for this crazy, profitable crap to go down unquestioned.
00:12:03.000How can the Pentagon fail five audits?
00:12:05.000Let me know what corruption you envisage that masks.
00:12:09.000Now, we're going to have to drop out on YouTube now, not just because... Not because we don't love you.
00:12:15.000I love all six million of you awakening wonders.
00:12:17.000I feel connected to you in the limitless, but it's... Gareth, I'm feeling the censorship.
00:13:45.000When you get to a point where the, you know, trust in media is like, you know, falling dramatically over the last few years, is it kind of any wonder?
00:13:53.000You know, there was obviously all the issues around the pandemic and blame, the blaming of the unvaccinated and all those kind of narratives that the news was regularly, you know, CNN, Brian Stelt, we saw it all.
00:14:02.000And then you've got, and you go, no, no, we're fair and balanced.
00:14:15.000Do they give you narratives fit only for mainstream media?
00:14:19.000And also, by the way, those big movies, you know that they're made in alliance and compliance with military ideals and goals, and this is certainly not an attack on The brave service people around the world who sacrifices, we regularly and rightly honour.
00:14:32.000It's to simply say that the military-industrial complex, who take 50% of most Pentagon budgets, do not care about service personnel either.
00:14:41.000Nearly a quarter of enlisted families are experiencing, this is within the military, are experiencing food insecurity, and more than 60% of respondents pay more than they can comfortably afford for housing.
00:14:50.000So this is like people who literally serve in the military are experiencing problems with food insecurity.
00:14:55.000How dare they propagandise and ally those two ideas, pretend that if you don't support the troops you're somehow unpatriotic, when in fact, as you've always known, as you've always known, they simply use that narrative to fatten already wealthy organisations like Raytheon and Lockheed Martin.
00:15:11.000Is it later in this same news report that you see like a general come out that used to work for Raytheon?
00:15:16.000Oh man, this is going to blow your mind.
00:15:49.000If you pick someone that's both Raytheon or Lockheed Martin, they'll, because of their relationships and because of their systemic ties, they'll be looking for ways to create war.
00:16:46.000Do you think that the news should be a trailer for war?
00:16:48.000Do you think that the news should be a mouthpiece for commerce and further commodification of your culture?
00:16:54.000Do you know by now that mainstream media news is just another TV show that they put on at a regular time and wrap up in graphics and grammar that distract you from the fact that it's propaganda?
00:17:05.000The V21 Raider represents a view into the future and brings it to the here and now.
00:17:13.000nuclear armageddon if you keep agitating china and russia can't keep doing that gareth it's going to annoy them in tomorrow's high-end threat environment the b21 looks imposed we are opening and imposing That's what it's come down to.
00:17:32.000People aren't going to make decisions based on the aesthetics of the aircraft, truly, when it comes to geopolitics and the complex global arguments and the ultimate showdown between the USA and the globalist forces that want a unipolar world and can't handle the complexity of a necessary Multi-polar geopolitical space where China aren't going to just give up and go home.
00:17:53.000Obviously, this war is about bankrupting Russia.
00:17:55.000Many people have explicitly said that.
00:18:45.000And also, you know, when you get a stat like this from Global Living, which according to the Department of Housing and Urban Development, it would cost $20 billion to end homelessness in the United States.
00:18:54.000Let's have a look at some of that stuff, Gareth.
00:18:55.000I know you've done some tireless work there with your team.
00:18:58.000Well, I guess, you know, when Tulsi Gabbard talks about leaving the Democrats and that it's, you know, a party of warmongers, and you see statistics like, you know, the new Pentagon budget, which is record amounts that Biden's asked for, And 200 billion going on this new B-21 bomber.
00:19:14.000And then you get a statistic like it would cost 20 billion to end homelessness.
00:19:17.000I mean, I'm sure that's slightly reductive in its own way, because all sorts of systems will also need to be altered.
00:19:22.000But it does seem like their priority is on defence, doesn't it?
00:19:26.000Could you bring that full screen for me, guys, so I can see that in its entirety?
00:19:49.000Let me know what you think in the comments of the chat about this story.
00:19:51.000I would not say that we flunked, said DOD controller Mike McCord, although his office did note that the Pentagon only managed to account for 39% of its 3.5 trillion in assets.
00:20:13.000I'm going to have to smell those ones because I don't trust where you've been putting them on the basis of your inability to accurately audit.
00:20:20.000The process is important for us to do and it's making us get better.
00:20:23.000It's not making us get better as fast as we want.
00:20:27.000We want to get better faster, but possibly because most of your fingers are up inside your bumholes, you crazy crowd.
00:20:33.000The US military has the distinction of being the only US government agency to have never passed a comprehensive audit.
00:21:19.000In the Hill, the House on Thursday passed the annual defence authorisation bill for a record $847 billion, 50% of which it's estimated will end up in the hands of organisations like Lockheed Martin and Raytheon, which by some weird coincidence, the Defence Secretary used to work at.
00:21:35.000Oh, you think because he used to work at Raytheon, now he's his defence secretary, they set up favourable contracts and would even go so far as perpetuating needless wars in order to fatten the pockets of those organisations.
00:21:47.000That war in Ukraine was a surprise for your birthday and you've spoiled it.
00:21:58.000And as you say, Gareth, 40 million people nationwide are living in poverty.
00:22:03.000Yeah, I mean, I guess at a time where you're talking about the cost of living crisis all the time, you've got politicians going on the telly talking about how difficult it is and how, you know, it's because of Putin that we can't, that we have to, you know, you're paying high gas prices because what we're doing is fighting Putin.
00:22:19.000Well, it seems like there's plenty of money around.
00:22:30.000I was out lambing this morning, up to shoulder!
00:22:33.000Not many people, I imagine, are going to appreciate this rather good impression of a Yorkshire farmer from All Creatures Great and Small in the 1980s on British television because you're most likely in America, aren't you, in all reality?
00:22:47.000Military industrial complex giant Norfolk Grumman introduced its B21 radar on Friday.
00:22:52.000The B21, whose development was 30 years in the making and whose total cost is expected to exceed $200 billion, is tapped to replace the B2 Spirit.
00:22:59.000According to the Department of Housing and Urban Development, it would cost $20 billion to end homelessness.
00:23:03.000I mean, I recognise that you can make those kinds of financial connections almost arbitrarily, but it does show what our priorities are.
00:23:09.000as a culture and in particular when you see that that money is not going to
00:23:15.000support in troops who we've just heard are living in various degrees of
00:23:19.000deprivation in spite of the amount of resources available and the bloody
00:23:23.000Pentagon can't even complete an audit. Yeah. It leaves a lot of questions.
00:23:27.000I think we're in a situation now with this war and with some of the things that we're discovering about this war that people, the public, are now starting to ask questions about where does this money go?
00:23:37.000Let me know in the chat, is this war just a pandemic sort of again?
00:24:00.000We're not saying that, you know, the censorship that prevents people having an ordinary conversation and a necessary conversation about this isn't out of respect for Ukrainian people.
00:24:09.000It's out of respect for Rafian and Lockheed Martin and their agenda.
00:24:13.000So do you think in 18 months there'll be more facts available?
00:24:19.000Now, are you curious, even a little bit, about how your health data is captured and used against you and the methods and the measures that they use to capture yet more information in even more interesting ways?
00:24:31.000Have you noticed the ubiquity of cameras?
00:24:33.000Have you noticed how everything now, it requires a little glance of your face that they're reading the contours of your, in your case, Gareth, beautiful face.
00:24:43.000Why not do a compliment in the middle of the link?
00:24:45.000Do a compliment in the middle of the link.
00:24:46.000That's what I learned at school for old media.
00:24:49.000Now that we're in new media, now that we're truth tellers, now that we're on the side of truth and justice, I can still use some of those techniques.
00:24:56.000When they're reading the contours of your face, where is that information going and how could it be co-opted and misused?
00:25:37.000In this fantastic story, hot off of Ron DeSantis announcing that there will be a statewide investigation into the efficacy and practices, potential misrepresentation around mRNA vaccines, we want to talk to you about some of the phony narratives that are being constructed, for example, People that didn't get vaccinated are probably really bad drivers.
00:25:56.000If you can make such tangential leaps, isn't this a time to be especially vigilant around data capture?
00:26:02.000Because it seems that they don't use that data in ways that are entirely linear, and I would say that they are weaponising health data and trying to create social credit score conditions already.
00:26:14.000Let me tell you a little bit more about this crazy idea that people that aren't vaccinated are bad drivers.
00:26:19.000I'm not taking that medicine, it's not been correctly trialled.
00:26:23.000I don't care about trees or white lines!
00:26:26.000People who refuse to get the COVID vaccine are far more likely to get into traffic crash requiring hospitalisation, a recently published study found, adding evidence to the theory that anti-vaxxers often demonstrate other kind of dangerous anti-social behaviour.
00:26:39.000Now that is obviously a narrativisation to suggest that a personal choice not to take a particular medication, particularly as more and more information is revealed, and Ron DeSantis calls for a state-wide jury to analyse evidence that they could have been misleading and misrepresenting the efficacy of those vaccines.
00:26:57.000You can't say, well, as we know for a fact, anti-vaxxers are anti-social.
00:27:01.000This is like extraordinary propagandising techniques.
00:27:04.000Have you noticed that Almost all media now is propagandising, potentially from both directions, this is not just a liberal establishment modality, possibly the right are doing it, possibly even I'm doing it, maybe none of us are free from this tendency but perhaps the only chance we have is by inviting discourse and conversation around issues, not leaping to conclusions and certainly not giving the ability to garner more data to corrupt
00:27:48.000We theorise that individual adults who tend to resist public health recommendations might also neglect basic road safety guidelines, the authors stated.
00:27:59.000There might come a time where non-compliance is necessary.
00:28:01.000Haven't we seen the mainstream media already shift from, boo, anti-vax protesters, what's wrong with them, those idiots, they should be denied health care, all the way to, look at these brave Chinese protesters protesting against lockdown.
00:28:13.000Why are these people ignoring lockdown?
00:28:33.000The study published in the American Journal of Medicine looked at data from more than 11.2 million people in Ontario, Canada, and data from 178 medical centres in the province.
00:28:41.000Of the 11.2 million people, 84% had received Covid vaccines, and 16% had not as of July 31st, 2021.
00:28:47.000Of that same group, 6,682 people needed emergency care for a serious vehicle crash, During the one month period researchers looked at, or 200 per day, of those traffic crash victims, 75% had gotten the jab and 25% had not, or an increased risk of 72% for the unvaccinated relative to the jab.
00:29:05.000Now that might seem like some pretty contrived mathematics, but it's essentially a pirouette around the algebra to come to the conclusion that unvaccinated people ought be persecuted And when you note that in January, Quebec had a plan to put significant health tax on unvaccinated people, you can see how this data is being mobilised in unique and unusual ways.
00:29:25.000So I think it's really important to spot when they say A is potentially true and therefore B, because A is probably a lie and B is probably tyranny.
00:29:33.000The conclusion around Quebec is drawn from a tweet from Quebec Health Minister Christian Dube who announced, What do you want?
00:29:49.000Traffic deaths surged in the United States during the pandemic,
00:29:52.000but Canada, like nearly all comparable countries, saw the opposite,
00:29:54.000the extension of a long-term trend of fewer road fatalities.
00:29:57.000There could be loads of reasons for that.
00:29:59.000That could be because across the US people's businesses were closing down, they were experiencing despair, they knew lockdowns were being imposed on them that were ultimately unfair, that they couldn't trust Big Pharma, that they couldn't trust the government.
00:30:08.000The researchers are careful to note the studies show no causal link between vaccine hesitancy and risky driving.
00:30:17.000That's another way of saying propaganda.
00:30:19.000But the results may relate to a distrust of government or belief in freedom that contributes to both vaccine preferences and increased traffic risk.
00:30:32.000Also, that old lady's getting what's coming to her.
00:30:35.000Other explanations, the researchers said, might be misconceptions of everyday risks, faith in natural protection, antipathy towards regulation, chronic poverty, exposure to misinformation, insufficient resources, or other personal beliefs.
00:30:47.000so many variables that the entire study is absolutely redundant Other than its potential utility in creating erroneous, facetious narratives to damn and condemn people that it's safe to damn.
00:31:01.000It's almost like in the wake of the woke, where they've realized that you oughtn't condemn people on the basis of identity, there's a craving, a longing.
00:31:22.000This is why it's all the more concerning that we are seeing again, through the process of commerce and convenience, new technology introduced that will give centralised big tech resources, which, as you know, are deeply interpolated with political and government agencies, the ability to garner more of your data.
00:31:41.000New software from Radiant, a San Francisco-based software company that plans to roll out its AI-driven kiosk by the end of this year, will create a personalized experience for customers while helping boost restaurant sales.
00:31:55.000Well, that's got to be good for the economy.
00:31:56.000This isn't going to lead to you stealing our data and using lots of facial recognition tech to make all sorts of assumptions and prevent people getting insured, is it?
00:32:03.000According to Radium, you'll walk up to a kiosk in a quick-service restaurant, and a tiny camera will scan your features, registering your height, age, gender, and mood.
00:32:34.000Using anonymous AI facial technology, cameras attached to radiant screens capture and count the number of passers-by with the opportunity to see the content.
00:32:43.000Do you see that what that's actually suggesting is there's going to be posters that are reading your gender, your age, your preferences.
00:32:50.000This is at the point that it's being offered to vendors as a way to sort of target customers.
00:32:56.000But do you see that in the wrong hand, for example, in the kind of hands that might make a connection between you not taking a certain kind of medication and being an irresponsible driver, that could be used to make all sorts of decisions and choices about not only what you might buy, but where you might go and what you might be allowed to do and not do.
00:33:12.000And also health information of yours that ought remain private.
00:33:15.000And measure engagement behavior through the number of people that pass the screens Oh my God, look at those bananas!
00:33:21.000The performance of each ad is measured using the data captured and visualized in SightCorp by Radiant Analytics.
00:33:28.000Data plus capitalism will lead, ultimately, to a sharp spike of evil.
00:33:34.000Because in the end, there's an obligation to use all of the data accrued to generate profit.
00:33:39.000This same data could be used to create a better, fairer, more just society.
00:34:26.000How come the only people that get to be anonymous are these powerful interests?
00:34:29.000Every little bit of privacy is being extracted from your life, from your masturbation habits, to your personal acquisition choices, your consumer habits, your health biometrics, the shape of your face, your mood, your gender, your preferred type of weather, what kind of hat you like to wear.
00:34:52.000What are some of the ways though that the data accrued through this charming tribal tech could ultimately be utilized?
00:34:58.000With little public scrutiny, the health insurance industry has joined forces with data brokers to vacuum up personal details about hundreds of millions of Americans.
00:35:06.000The companies are tracking your race, education level, TV habits, marital status, net worth.
00:35:10.000They're collecting what you post on social media, whether you're behind on your bills, whether you order online.
00:35:15.000They feed this information into complicated computer algorithms that spit out predictions about how much your healthcare could cost them.
00:35:21.000Are you a woman who recently changed your name?
00:35:23.000You could be newly married and have a pricey pregnancy pending.
00:35:25.000Or maybe you're stressed and anxious from a recent divorce.
00:35:28.000That too, the computer's models predict, may run up your medical bills.
00:35:31.000Once you know that data accrued under one pretense, often within very prescriptive and
00:35:37.000explicit conditions, can be used elsewhere, you know that this data will end up being
00:35:43.000used to the convenience of the highest bidder or the most powerful.
00:35:47.000Once you know that the state has agents deeply embedded in social media organizations and is controlling the narratives of just public discourse, you know that these relationships and conditions already exist.
00:35:58.000You know that the real tyrant that you need to be concerned about is not Vladimir Putin and whether or not he's shat himself lately, but the new tyranny afforded by this kind of technological dictatorship.
00:36:08.000Are you a woman who's purchased plus-size clothing?
00:36:11.000You're considered at risk of depression.
00:36:17.000Hopefully they'll keep you cheerful, because you ain't going into no clinic.
00:36:21.000Cuddle up to your giant leggings, tubby!
00:36:23.000We sit on oceans of data, said Eric McCulley, Director of Strategic Solutions for LexisNexis Risk Solutions, which sounds like a Superman baddie.
00:36:32.000Insurers contend that they use information to spot health issues in their clients and flag them so they get the services they need.
00:36:38.000Yeah, because that's how insurance companies behave, isn't it?
00:36:40.000Oh, oh, we've just noticed you're an insurance risk.
00:36:43.000Would you like us to insure you so we can help you down the line?
00:36:45.000Do you not know that whenever you get insured, this is my experience, Oh yeah, we'll insure you, we'll help you, your car, your house.
00:37:05.000And companies like LexisNexis say the data shouldn't be used to set prices.
00:37:09.000But, as a research scientist from one company told me, I can't say it hasn't happened.
00:37:12.000Because it has, and that would be lying.
00:37:14.000At a time when every week brings a new privacy scandal and worries about the misuse of personal information, patient advocates and privacy scholars say the insurance industry's data gathering runs counter to its touted and federally required allegiance to patients' medical privacy.
00:37:27.000Patient advocates warn that using unverified, error-prone, lifestyle data to make medical assumptions could lead insurers to improperly priced plans, for instance raising rates based on false information or discriminate against anyone tagged as high cost.
00:37:41.000So in a sense you can see how A story saying that people that didn't get vaccinated are causing car crashes, while there are new investigations into the efficacy of those vaccines that were, as I recall, quite aggressively pushed, means that we oughtn't be marching open-hearted with our trousers down into the arms of data capture organizations, even if they're saying that they're ultimately going to offer us better services.
00:38:04.000There's enough evidence to suggest that these big tech platforms and data capture giants operate in coordination with the government to push An agenda that is not beneficial to anybody but themselves.
00:38:59.000Firstly, I loved you in the Jackass days because I thought there was something piratical and mad about what you all were doing.
00:39:05.000And now I know, I think it's okay for me to say, we're both in recovery and stuff and I know you have a very different side To your nature.
00:39:15.000Now that you're like a sober person, how is your perspective altered?
00:39:20.000Not only to your past, but to the aspect of you that still craves that kind of attention and still craves that kind of craziness.
00:39:28.000How do you adapt to that as a man in recovery?
00:39:32.000It occurs to me there's a saying, what happens when you take a drunken horse thief and take away his alcohol?
00:40:48.000When I took the course in Transcendental Meditation, and kind of like any good habit, if it's working out, if it's eating properly, all you have to do is miss one day, and then it just becomes this slippery slope of inactivity.
00:41:05.000And, you know, that was my experience.
00:41:09.000I dabbled in it, and then I just fell off and it went away.
00:41:12.000But the years that went by, I felt that I was really missed.
00:41:19.000I thought, you know, I should be meditating.
00:41:21.000I would be really benefiting if I meditated.
00:41:23.000And I got myself a new teacher in 2019.
00:41:28.000And knowing that I'm all or nothing, I started recording my meditation, keeping track of it on an app.
00:41:49.0001,084 days, averaging over 40 minutes every single day.
00:41:54.000I've not missed a single day since December 27th, 2019.
00:41:58.000And I really believe that it's transformed me.
00:42:05.000I genuinely believe that my meditation practice Causes the universe to conspire in my favor.
00:42:16.000When you say that, can you think of examples or times that you felt that you've accessed another power or that your life has been different as a result of meditation?
00:42:27.000It's very, very hard to put your finger on it.
00:42:31.000You know, there are experiences that, you know, in our world of recovery, we refer to as God shots, things where we just think that something's just too magical to be chalked up to coincidence.
00:42:48.000There's, you know, just the general, I would, I would call it momentum.
00:43:35.000It makes me think that perhaps people don't appreciate the complexity of you.
00:43:40.000When you look back at it now, mate, and I know that part of it is looking for attention,
00:43:44.000but what else do you think you're striving for?
00:43:46.000I once heard you describe it as a kind of pursuit of glory.
00:43:50.000And given the way that those, much of that stuff is presented on MTV,
00:43:53.000there was sometimes a kind of nihilism.
00:43:55.000Aside from the camaraderie and friendship between you and the rest of the crew, there was something that indicated to me that we were coming to a time where the world was changing.
00:44:04.000But now, in this new spirit, in this place of new spirit where you are becoming more awake, where you're in recovery, where you have more self-awareness, what aspect of yourself do you think was being expressed?
00:45:11.000Maybe they're not happy in their marriage, but people have great stressors in their life.
00:45:18.000And I genuinely believe that by performing the most outrageous, ridiculous, shocking acts, That when people are consuming my art, that I have effectively distracted them from their stressors.
00:45:37.000And I would not purport to having solved anybody's problems, but by distracting people from their problems, I have made their problems go away, albeit temporarily.
00:45:48.000And as such, I have given myself the title of Distraction Therapist.
00:45:56.000And I believe that it's a noble title.
00:46:00.000I feel like almost, I was just thinking then, that in certain yogic practices, the endurance of pain is regarded as a kind of a noble mastery over people's addiction to comfort, addiction to conformity, and normalness, and being willing to do those things.
00:47:07.000We used to be of the old school, where every job that we God, we needed permission for.
00:47:15.000We needed some asshole in a boardroom to give us permission to work and now we don't need that anymore because we're of the new school of the digital world and we work when we want to work and we deliver our content straight to the audience.
00:47:36.000What kind of freedom do you feel as a result of that?
00:47:38.000And were you aware at the time that when working within mainstream media and an organization like MTV, that there are certain agendas strapped onto your work?
00:47:47.000Commercial, but perhaps agendas even beyond that.
00:47:50.000What do you think is the significance of operating in this space, as well as the artistic freedom?
00:47:54.000Do you think that there are other ideals that you can tag onto that, mate?
00:47:59.000I don't know that the That the agenda of MTV or Paramount Pictures was anything particularly nefarious outside the confines of standard issue capitalism.
00:48:20.000I don't know that there was much political behind it, but I feel that at a point, the mainstream media, the entertainment industry, just kind of lost interest in me.
00:48:35.000You know, I had expired for their purposes, and they no longer believed in me, and they no longer wanted to give me permission to work, as they had in the past.
00:48:45.000And I was the only one who believed in myself, and I had to take control and give myself permission to work.
00:48:53.000And since then, I've built an audience, and I'm thrilled.
00:48:59.000And with regards to my love for animals, It's just pretty shocking how much callous disregard there is for animals.
00:49:14.000The sea world seems like the most, you know, low-hanging fruit.
00:49:23.000I mean, I think that if there's a fight that most people can get behind, it's the plight of orcas in captivity in SeaWorld.
00:49:36.000And at the time when I got arrested for protesting It was pretty silly what brought about the idea.
00:49:49.000I had just purchased my first drone, and my team and I, we were figuring out how to fly this thing, how to use it to film, and now I wanted to come up with an idea to use our new toy.
00:50:09.000And I felt pretty strongly that for drone footage to be compelling, I needed to place myself extremely high up in the air.
00:50:19.000And so I looked up in the air and what I saw was construction cranes.
00:50:26.000And I thought, okay, well, if I climb to the top of a construction crane and we're flying the drone up there, that might look pretty cool.
00:50:35.000But it didn't feel like a complete idea.
00:50:38.000It felt like kind of a part of an idea.
00:50:41.000So I thought, Well, I'll take an inflatable killer whale and go up to the top of a crane, inflate, I'll write SeaWorld sucks on the inflatable killer whale, and I'll blow up some fireworks, and then that's it.
00:51:01.000The crane that I climbed up was nowhere near SeaWorld.
00:51:09.000There were people who saw just a figure up 150 feet in the air with a backpack.
00:51:17.000Who knew if I was some kind of a terrorist?
00:51:20.000And the response, I mean, God, there were like 80 firefighters and who knows how many police officers, a SWAT team.
00:51:33.000And, you know, at the end of the day, I was quite And not in a good way for wasting the city resources the way that I did.
00:51:49.000Now, with that said, there was a change in legislation regarding orcas in captivity, which followed fairly shortly thereafter.
00:51:59.000I'm not taking credit for that change in legislation, but I may have helped.
00:52:07.000It was just a big attention grab and I slapped a, you know, a worthy cause onto it to try to get, you know, I don't know, like, it was pretty dumb.
00:52:22.000You know that free climber Alex Halland, like, when they tested his amygdala and all that stuff, they found that he didn't have a normal relationship with fear and adrenaline, etc.
00:52:33.000Have you ever had tests like that done?
00:52:38.000No, but I'm reasonably sure that I wouldn't have to have those tests done.
00:52:44.000I experience fear, I experience pain, you know, all of these things.
00:52:48.000I don't think I'm particularly unusual in that regard.
00:52:52.000I think it's simply that my desire for attention outweighs my desire for comfort.
00:53:03.000How do you contrast the kind of fear and pain that you feel in anticipation and execution of your stunts with the kind of emotional fear and pain that a lot of us associate with addiction?
00:53:14.000Fear of rejection, fear of being alone, the pain of not being loved, the pain of trauma from your childhood.
00:53:24.000You know, it's interesting that In preparation for stunts, there's really two things that I equate, and one of them is
00:53:42.000There have been times when drawing attention to something that I've done to harm another person represents genuine risk, especially in cases where the person may not know that this harm has been done.
00:54:05.000addressing that by by calling attention to it by revealing this uh this harm that's been done there there are potential consequences uh much the same way there are potential consequences with uh with dangerous stunts like jumping off of a building and in both cases preparing to do that uh it looks like um you know an objective assessment of what the Logistics are, you know, like an assessment of the risks, you know, an assessment of how it's going with the men's, you know, to sit down with the sponsor and sort of read a script of what's going to be said.
00:54:51.000Not that you would ever read the script, but just to prepare.
00:54:55.000And, you know, with this stunt, a little bit of a blueprint, maybe a stick figure drawing of what it looks like.
00:55:01.000Once it's been assessed, then It's quite literally an exercise in counting 1, 2, 3, go.
00:55:11.000And I've done that with every dangerous stunt and, you know, with all of those, you know, really scary amends.
00:55:21.000And I've never backed out after counting 1, 2, 3, go.
00:55:46.000And also, you know, and the fear that most people that do stand-up comedy associate even when experienced with standing up in front of an audience and also having experienced whether or not it was a cultural cancellation, you know, the cancellation of Jackass in 2000 when in your words it no longer became a sort of an appropriate commodity.
00:56:05.000How do you feel about the risks associated with content now as a stand-up comedian and the risk cancellation even when masters like Chappelle are like, you know, and Rogan, you know, super experienced
00:56:16.000guys are like, you know, within the sights of a particularly difficult cultural moment.
00:56:22.000I mean, there's a couple of things there.
00:57:03.000With respect to the cancel culture, I'm not as concerned with that because, much like with Jackass, you know, I really only target myself.
00:57:18.000You know, I'm not... I view Jackass, again, you know, you know suggested maybe that there's an underlying self-hatred and uh you know and i see nobility i see something very wholesome in it because with jackass you know we we only ever target ourselves and each other and we're all such willing participants it's permissible to enjoy our uh
00:57:49.000Our misfortune and outside of that intimate targeting of ourselves and each other.
00:57:58.000We're so universally respectful of third parties.
00:58:03.000You know, there's just really nothing.
00:58:08.000There's never been anything hateful and as such I really view Jackass and the spirit of the comedy that I perform as something that's genuinely wholesome and I wouldn't want to go so far as to say You know, immune from the woke cancel army.
00:58:33.000But I think, you know, I don't really particularly consider myself, for the most part, anybody who is a target of that type of stuff with the comedy that I perform.
00:58:47.000Yeah, I think you're right as well thinking about it with the Jackass, that the spirit of that always came through, that it was inclusive and joyous.
00:58:55.000And again, even with a little bit of analysis and research, emerging as it does out of skater culture and punk, both of those ideals and genres afford the pushing of boundaries and breaking rules.
00:59:12.000And it's kind of like, and also risk with skating in particular, I suppose.
00:59:17.000So like um yeah it makes sense and I guess what I was saying with the I suppose if you weren't a person in recovery I wouldn't have thought about the potential for because I know I've done things in my life where there's because I did self-harm like as a kid not in a kind of a joyous celebratory just in a kind of angry like breaking glass and all that kind of crazy stuff so I guess yeah I was looking at it from that angle but you've made it very clear that that's not a motivation thanks for it thanks for explaining.
00:59:41.000I mean, nothing is ever purely black or purely white, so you're not wrong to perceive that, and certainly I think there's a tinge of all of this, and that's what makes it a little bit dangerous, and so you're not entirely off-base.
01:00:04.000I think that there's room for that as well.
01:00:08.000And when we think about, you know, having been destroyed, you know, as men in recovery, you know, man, are there other ways that we can be self-destructive for the love of God?
01:00:22.000I've made my way into, I want to say, five different 12-step fellowships at this point.
01:00:29.000I'm balls deep in four of them, and I think barrelling towards a fifth.
01:00:36.000I can't even imagine what the fifth one is.
01:00:37.000I'd love to continue that conversation with you, possibly offline, because I think I could probably benefit from some of your experience in some of the only four, because I keep it sort of substance-oriented, even though plainly I've got behavioural addictions in all sorts of areas where I could really do with support.
01:00:51.000Stevo, it's amazing to speak to you and see you.
01:00:54.000I'm always struck by your spiritual rigor, your bravery and your connection to very vivid principles like joy, the evidence of clowning and things that I think are right, important and beautiful.
01:01:05.000I always get it emanates from you very clearly.
01:01:09.000I'm going to check out your book, A Hard Kick in the Nuts, what I learned from a lifetime of terrible addiction.
01:01:14.000And I will make this one request of you, as well as the potential learning that I could get from some of that 12 step stuff you just outlined.
01:01:20.000I was thinking, I would like to come on your channel one day and like see this like I was thinking what I would do steve-o is like say like if you had to get a child to do a stunt like how because I'm I always say I always said from jackass from the beginning if I did any of that
01:01:58.000You know, it's wonderful to speak with you, Russell.
01:02:01.000It's been a long time since we've seen each other.
01:02:03.000I've been remarking as I was watching you have your conversation with Gareth, I thought, man, he really is a beautiful creature to look at, this Russell Brand.
01:02:19.000And I'm also fascinated by this Rumble thing.
01:02:22.000Is Rumble really a platform where you can just show whatever you want?
01:02:27.000Because I run into a lot of problems with community guidelines.
01:02:31.000I mean, they censor, like, all of my exciting stuff.
01:02:35.000So do I need to get on Rumble and how much can I really show on there?
01:02:38.000Stevo, this is the non-censorship platform.
01:02:41.000I will be happy to broker your arrival on this platform and use it as leverage for my own advancing interests.
01:02:48.000Yeah, there's nothing that they won't let you show.
01:02:50.000Within, like, the law of the land and common, you know, what is understood to be a consensual decency, you know, like in the spirit that you've already described, I don't think you'd have any problem.
01:03:00.000The community guidelines here is a community of maniacs that are self-supporting.
01:03:22.000I'm coming over there to sort of, in fact, to promote Rumble and evidently now to do a baby stunt and I assume some work around S-fellowships and food fellowships, gambling, debt.
01:03:35.000I don't know which other ones there are.
01:04:14.000Please don't take offense to this, but I thought, man, this is like a much more attractive, a much more articulate, and a much more expedited and British InfoWars.
01:04:32.000I look forward to serving my custodial sentence and paying out billions to the innocent people who my words have harmed.
01:04:40.000Yeah, I didn't even think of it in those terms, but it's interesting and everything that you said makes sense.