The Glenn Beck Program - Ep 156 ｜ How to Laugh Through Depression & Homelessness ｜ Jamie Kilstein ｜ The Glenn Beck Podcast

00:00:00.000 Politics really sucks, and it has been very complicated. 0.98

00:00:04.340 A stumbling block for the guest today, beginning with the community of uber, uber progressive comedians and writers who kicked him out of their tribe. 0.98

00:00:16.720 He was an uber, uber progressive.

00:00:19.960 Conservatives have always been good to him, but he wants to move away from politics and focus on comedy.

00:00:27.880 Mental health is a big thing for him, and he believes that his mental health and perhaps all of our mental health will be better if we just stop talking about politics all the time.

00:00:40.700 Now he's taking a chance for a very fresh start, literally moving from Washington, D.C. to Austin, performing stand-up shows along the way.

00:00:49.280 He has no job. He has no future. He could be living under a bridge.

00:00:53.620 I don't think he's going to have to worry about that long.

00:00:59.560 He has been very familiar with fresh starts and big breaks.

00:01:06.380 His comedy career landed him spots on the Conan O'Brien Show, the Joe Rogan Experience, Burt Cast, ton of other major podcasts.

00:01:14.220 He's performed at the Montreal Comedy Festival, the Sydney Comedy Festival, the Melbourne Comedy Festival.

00:01:20.720 The legendary Robin Williams said that this guy you're going to meet here in a second is, quote, amazing, and I'll be spreading the word.

00:01:29.200 He has the spark that energized my conscience.

00:01:33.000 We need more comedians kicking it hard the way he does every night, end quote.

00:01:38.800 Wow. Does he does he have that framed on a wall somewhere?

00:01:44.860 Because I would today on the Glenn Beck podcast.

00:01:48.420 Welcome, Jamie Kilstein.

00:01:50.780 All right. Tell me who I mean, who doesn't love a good steak besides the vegans?

00:01:55.080 My daughter, Stu.

00:01:57.420 Oh, my gosh. I've got two vegans in my life.

00:01:59.700 Anyway, they don't know what they're missing when it comes to a great steak.

00:02:04.040 It's one of the reasons why I love good ranchers, because their steaks are unbelievable.

00:02:09.940 The highest quality meats, pasture raised USDA prime or upper choice beef, better than organic chicken.

00:02:18.280 Prime seafood has been flash frozen immediately after it's been caught.

00:02:23.100 So it locks in the quality and the flavor.

00:02:26.140 You know how meat prices are through the roof right now because of inflation?

00:02:29.140 Only going to get worse.

00:02:30.580 Now, use the promo code Glenn and you're going to get 30 bucks off your first order.

00:02:37.240 Already excellently priced, high quality meat.

00:02:40.660 You get a discount on top of that.

00:02:42.420 It's not to love.

00:02:43.900 This meat is from real American farms and ranches, hand cut and trimmed by American workers. 1.00

00:02:50.660 Get it today.

00:02:51.640 So the last time you were here was 2019, I think right before the pandemic.

00:03:09.100 Yeah.

00:03:10.240 Lots changed.

00:03:11.420 Yeah.

00:03:11.980 Yeah.

00:03:12.280 Did we cause that?

00:03:13.460 Because we got together.

00:03:15.080 Yeah, I think so.

00:03:15.600 God was like, you know what?

00:03:16.640 Don't love this.

00:03:17.440 Uh, so what's been going on?

00:03:22.340 Um, a lot.

00:03:24.600 Um, and I think, you know, when I used to talk about it, it was in terms of my livelihood.

00:03:33.860 So it was sort of, I spent years just asking, what am I going to do?

00:03:40.420 Like what is going to pay the bills?

00:03:43.180 And then I started asking kind of deeper questions.

00:03:47.920 Um, like who am I as a man, which feels like probably a more important one that will lead

00:03:54.400 to the other ones.

00:03:57.080 And it's weird when you, cause I got to there when I was 30.

00:04:02.720 Okay.

00:04:03.120 And, uh, it's weird when you start it.

00:04:06.280 Cause that, that question changes your entire life.

00:04:09.920 Everything, everything.

00:04:11.000 Yeah.

00:04:11.220 Yeah.

00:04:11.500 Well, and especially we're sort of deceived into thinking that it, any of it is external

00:04:21.680 and, uh, and including, and I'm sure people who listen to you go through it for me, it

00:04:28.180 was always through the lens of politics.

00:04:29.980 So I thought by asking myself, am I a liberal?

00:04:34.280 Am I a conservative?

00:04:35.120 Am I a moderate?

00:04:36.060 Am I a libertarian?

00:04:37.060 That that was who am I as a man?

00:04:39.340 Yeah.

00:04:39.500 Yeah.

00:04:39.840 And so that was like phase two.

00:04:43.140 I feel like phase one was how am I going to survive?

00:04:45.420 How am I going to get money?

00:04:47.240 Phase two was there.

00:04:48.860 The next phase was, all right, well, I guess in order to figure that out, I need to figure

00:04:52.960 out where I am politically.

00:04:54.400 And then where I'm at now is, oh, none of that matters at all.

00:04:58.800 It's all a lie.

00:04:59.960 And it's all just how can you be a better person.

00:05:04.280 And the more I follow that, the more just things kind of start falling into place.

00:05:13.860 So, I mean, I was talking to my dad when I was driving here and I mean, I've been driving

00:05:20.480 from New York for the last like week or two and stopping to do standup shows, but driving.

00:05:26.980 And he goes, at some point I must've said something self-hating without even noticing it.

00:05:32.240 It's just like my OCD is self-hate.

00:05:35.180 It's just a tick.

00:05:36.040 Like, and I said something about being, you know, unemployed and homeless and I'll be

00:05:41.700 able to figure it out.

00:05:42.280 And he stopped me.

00:05:43.120 I mean, him have a complicated relationship, but he stopped me and was really sweet.

00:05:46.720 And he was like, this is the least I've been worried about you because you sound the happiest.

00:05:52.000 I sound the most confident.

00:05:54.240 Um, and I think that's because, you know, through all of the sort of rock bottoms and trying

00:06:00.860 to define myself, it's like, oh, I actually have a purpose now.

00:06:04.100 I know what I want to do.

00:06:05.820 Um, I know what I'm supposed to do for people.

00:06:09.040 Um, I've started way more spiritual.

00:06:12.360 I mean, COVID was great for me.

00:06:13.840 I, I, I, I didn't listen.

00:06:15.260 I don't listen back to podcasts I do.

00:06:17.660 Cause that sounds like literally my hell.

00:06:20.860 Um, but after we, after we met COVID was literally, I know it was really hard for people

00:06:28.900 and I, I, I show so much sympathy, but for me, it was the week before.

00:06:34.100 Before lockdown, my girlfriend left and my cat died and I was like, things can't get worse.

00:06:42.020 And then COVID happened.

00:06:44.500 Yeah.

00:06:45.000 No, I could be locked in here.

00:06:46.480 Yeah.

00:06:46.800 Yeah.

00:06:47.020 Yes, exactly.

00:06:47.820 Locked in.

00:06:48.320 But I had nowhere to run.

00:06:49.720 I had no shows to do.

00:06:52.220 I had no bars to go to.

00:06:53.200 I had no, uh, fake validation to fill the hole.

00:06:56.640 It was just me.

00:06:57.840 Wow.

00:06:58.280 Right.

00:06:58.680 And it was also the first guy who has, you know, you've been codependent and, and also

00:07:05.240 suicidal.

00:07:05.920 That is a recipe for death.

00:07:08.660 Well, and this is where, this is where I sound.

00:07:13.960 No, I'm not even going to qualify it.

00:07:16.720 You have these choices when you are depressed or suicidal or have lost everything or go through

00:07:24.200 a breakup or, you know, whatever it is.

00:07:26.540 I was so much more upset about the cat.

00:07:28.160 I mean, the girl was very sweet, but like, I remember, I remember she would like, I would

00:07:33.180 be crying, uh, um, and she would come up to me and be like, Hey, we're still going to

00:07:37.020 be friends.

00:07:37.420 And I was like, what?

00:07:38.000 And like, I was crying.

00:07:40.200 I was still thinking about the cat.

00:07:42.400 Um, and, uh, and you know, you can frame things as if I framed things as low, look at this

00:07:50.960 suicidal, Jamie, of course, I'm going to get dumped before COVID.

00:07:55.100 Of course, the first time I'm ever single, literally the first time as an adult, I've

00:07:59.780 ever been single because I have been codependent and have stayed in toxic relationships was during

00:08:04.340 this really scary global outbreak.

00:08:07.260 Um, woe is me, woe is me, but instead like right away, and if I didn't write away, I would

00:08:14.080 have been in trouble, but right away I was just like, how can I, what am I supposed to

00:08:18.980 do with this?

00:08:20.040 And if let's take codependency, for example, right?

00:08:25.400 For the first, I remember again, my dad, he was like, you know, I've been telling, cause

00:08:29.680 I was so happy six months in and he goes, I've been telling you, I've been telling you all

00:08:34.200 you got to do is be single and say no to girls and stuff like that.

00:08:37.800 And I didn't have the heart to tell him that like, dad, it wasn't, it wasn't you.

00:08:41.100 It was literally God, a global outbreak stopped me from being codependent.

00:08:46.260 Like I probably would have caved.

00:08:48.200 I probably would have, you know, I would, I would move in with girls like right when we 1.00

00:08:51.960 met, like I was just, part of it's me being romantic.

00:08:55.080 Part of me is just trying to fill that hole.

00:08:57.800 And I literally couldn't, I wasn't allowed to go outside.

00:09:02.820 And, um, so what I did over quarantine was I started reading every day.

00:09:08.060 I started meditating every day.

00:09:10.480 Um, I wasn't drinking, I wasn't smoking pot.

00:09:14.160 I, I, I, I did psilocybin, which was also like, that was my sort of come to God moment.

00:09:19.780 Um, what is psilocybin?

00:09:21.960 Mushrooms.

00:09:22.520 So it's a psychedelic.

00:09:23.620 Um, and, and they're actually using it for a micro dosing too, for PTSD right now.

00:09:29.160 They're using it clinically now, which is really cool.

00:09:31.120 And they're using it for recovery, which is, I think goes against some stuff.

00:09:34.560 But anyway, um, and, but, but I mean, man, if it gets people to stop drinking, if you can

00:09:42.300 do it once and stop drinking, like I'm for it.

00:09:45.340 And, um, and I just literally had the year to figure out who I was and I, I'm not there

00:09:53.440 yet, uh, at all, but it was, it was a really good starting point.

00:09:59.720 And I moved to Austin.

00:10:02.280 I doubled down on standup.

00:10:04.740 Um, then I start doing standup and I go, a lot of the health went out the window because

00:10:10.480 again, I was trying to define myself.

00:10:12.340 I go, okay, well, I'm a comic now.

00:10:14.060 And all the comics are like drinking.

00:10:15.700 I started smoking cigarettes for the first time since like, I was like 16, Glenn, because

00:10:20.640 just everyone was smoking cigarettes.

00:10:21.920 And I go, I guess that's what a comedian did.

00:10:23.920 That's what Bill Hicks did.

00:10:25.500 And I said, like, I do jujitsu every day with UFC champions.

00:10:28.920 Like I, I'm, I fight with professionals and I'm like smoking cigarettes at these shows.

00:10:33.400 The first day I smoked a cigarette, I got so sick that I lied to the comics and I was like,

00:10:39.580 oh, I must've drank too much.

00:10:41.680 And literally I smoked a one cigarette and I was like, oh, um, and I just felt horrible.

00:10:47.840 And I left, but then I kept doing it because, you know, I think so much of addiction, um,

00:10:55.020 maybe not even addiction, but just why we make these unhealthy choices.

00:10:58.160 It's, oh, I didn't think I was, I mean, I'll just use high school language.

00:11:02.560 Cause that's the only thing I can think of right now.

00:11:04.380 I didn't think I was cool enough to fit in unless I was doing the things that everyone

00:11:07.920 else is doing, which is totally antithetical to my onstage persona, to the advice I give,

00:11:13.300 to what I would tell someone in jujitsu, to what I would tell someone in standup, to what

00:11:18.260 I would tell someone in podcasting, whatever.

00:11:20.740 Um, but it's hard and I go, well, this is what comics do.

00:11:25.340 Right.

00:11:25.680 And so I would, I was drinking more than I was ever drinking and smoking.

00:11:29.440 And, and then, you know, I started, um, being like, I guess I should talk about politics

00:11:37.980 more.

00:11:38.320 Cause I was really, I was trying not to, I was trying just to talk about mental health and

00:11:43.840 I was trying to talk about just comedy and I was like, I can be political by making people

00:11:49.920 laugh.

00:11:50.460 And then when I was talking about politics, I was like, I don't know where I belong.

00:11:56.400 You know, I felt too liberal for some conservative places.

00:12:00.060 I felt too problematic for some liberal places.

00:12:04.120 And it, it's so hard politically for people, for people listening to the show, for people

00:12:11.800 who have listened to me before to, to figure out who they are.

00:12:15.420 If both sides are telling them that they have to align 100% with them, or they're just kind

00:12:23.400 of not accepted.

00:12:23.980 And the left, I think does that more than the right.

00:12:26.820 Um, and so what most right does do it too.

00:12:30.880 Yeah.

00:12:31.200 Oh, for sure.

00:12:31.780 I mean, you saw the whole Trump, non Trump divide and it's so unhealthy.

00:12:37.780 And I think to me, what really helped me more than anything was, you know how they say you

00:12:45.300 get more conservative as you get older.

00:12:46.680 Um, if you look at where I've lived, I went from Brooklyn to LA to Arizona to Texas to

00:12:54.100 now I'm 40 and was in West Virginia.

00:12:55.940 And I'm now going back to Texas.

00:12:57.280 And I was like, so geographically, I definitely kind of proved that I like, I took the roadmap,

00:13:03.020 uh, not metaphorically.

00:13:04.440 Um, and you know, meeting nonpolitical people, people who me and you don't follow on Twitter,

00:13:10.280 people who aren't on Twitter, people, regular people, regular people.

00:13:14.060 Yeah.

00:13:14.280 Who, when you're like, Oh man, everyone's mad at Glenn Greenwald today.

00:13:16.660 And they're like, I don't know who that is.

00:13:17.980 And you're just like, Oh, what's that life?

00:13:19.540 Like, um, and that's pretty sweet.

00:13:21.660 That sounds amazing.

00:13:22.600 That sounds great.

00:13:23.140 No offense to Glenn.

00:13:23.880 This is wonderful.

00:13:25.200 And, um, and, and I, I couldn't, I didn't know if they were conservative or liberal and

00:13:32.600 some of my best friends were conservative and I've seen the way they take care of their

00:13:37.100 kids.

00:13:37.680 And, you know, they gave me couches to sleep on when I had nothing.

00:13:42.520 Whereas I remember a lot of my most 99% of my liberal friends bailed on me when there

00:13:47.940 was trouble and I couldn't get them on MSNBC anymore.

00:13:51.280 And that doesn't necessarily mean that suddenly I go, Oh, I guess I'm a conservative, but it

00:13:58.840 makes you, it makes you go, well, if I respect them when we're training jujitsu together, which

00:14:05.980 is like very, you're trusting someone with your life.

00:14:08.580 Essentially, um, if I admire their, the way they, they, they, they are to their family,

00:14:15.320 the kind of husband they are, the kind of father they are, um, wife, et cetera, then maybe

00:14:20.980 I should actually ask them why they believe the things that I don't believe.

00:14:27.120 And so I would be like, I just go up to one of my poor jujitsu friends and be like, can

00:14:31.980 I ask you about abortion?

00:14:32.960 And they're like, and cause I was so curious cause I was like, I know you're a good person

00:14:38.980 and I know you're a good soul.

00:14:41.840 And half, most of the time they would give me their reasonings for, you know, whatever.

00:14:48.880 Um, I was like, Oh, that, that makes sense.

00:14:51.660 It makes a lot of sense.

00:14:52.640 And I think that.

00:14:54.500 And it doesn't necessarily mean you agree with it.

00:14:57.040 Nope.

00:14:57.260 You can just understand it.

00:14:58.600 You're like, Oh, and isn't that so much better?

00:15:02.980 Like we fight every day on Twitter and we assume that the other side, I made a tweet

00:15:09.600 today where I was like, Hey, just cause someone disagrees with you doesn't mean they're either

00:15:13.320 a Nazi or a groomer or a Russian asset or, you know, whatever.

00:15:16.680 They could just be like a dude who disagrees with you.

00:15:19.780 Yeah.

00:15:20.440 And we get so worked up and those extremes are out there, but we get so worked up.

00:15:26.760 Um, and when I try to tell people, when I go, Hey, look, I know people on the left who

00:15:32.780 are really cool.

00:15:33.380 And I know people on the right who are really cool and they're still like, well, no, but

00:15:37.500 it's different when it's blank, when it's left or when it's right.

00:15:41.060 And I just want to be like, but don't you want to root for the world where the majority

00:15:46.700 of people aren't Nazis or anti-fuck rumors or like, shouldn't we be pushing for that? 0.93

00:15:53.440 Like, shouldn't we be excited about that? 0.96

00:15:55.900 And I think right now there are, and by the way, all the standup shows I've been doing

00:16:00.560 have been, I just got back from Tennessee.

00:16:04.080 I'm mainly doing shows in Texas and the audiences are always pretty split liberals and conservatives.

00:16:10.660 And I remind them at the end of the show, I go, Hey, we all laughed at the P with the 1.00

00:16:15.180 people laughing, which is one of the most intimate things ever.

00:16:17.640 We're in a dark room laughing with people that I'm telling you disagree with you.

00:16:22.200 And if we could almost town hall this, when the lights come up after experiencing that

00:16:29.420 laughter together, we could probably find some gray area on these issues that supposedly we're

00:16:35.740 not even supposed to talk about.

00:16:37.900 That's why I think our American and really Western narrative has been destroyed because

00:16:46.560 we all agreed on that.

00:16:48.560 I know.

00:16:48.860 We all agreed on that.

00:16:49.800 And then once you take that cornerstone out and you say, nope, that's not what, that's

00:16:56.280 not true.

00:16:56.820 Yeah.

00:16:57.020 If we don't believe in that, then you don't know.

00:16:59.840 I mean, you're right.

00:17:00.900 These aren't new ideas.

00:17:01.860 That's a great point.

00:17:02.720 Yeah.

00:17:03.160 Like it's the founding ideas.

00:17:04.840 Yes.

00:17:05.280 It's all the founding ideas, but we have to discover them again for ourself.

00:17:10.520 Yeah.

00:17:10.840 And I don't understand why.

00:17:12.880 Well, no, I do.

00:17:13.440 I mean, I have, I have a, uh, uh, unfortunately nefarious theory, but I was going to, I was

00:17:18.600 going to say, I don't understand why nuance or moderation is the bad thing or the edgy

00:17:27.240 stance to take.

00:17:28.660 Um, and it's because people profit off of divisiveness.

00:17:31.300 It's because literally, and there are bad people on both sides that want that.

00:17:36.780 Yes.

00:17:37.220 Yes.

00:17:37.540 And, and their whole, I mean, that's their whole marketing, their marketing budget goes

00:17:43.500 into dividing and conquering.

00:17:45.200 Right.

00:17:45.880 And if you really care about these issues, I mean, that's the thing.

00:17:52.920 If you really want, um, less abortions, if you really want a safer schools, then you want

00:18:04.140 to talk to both sides.

00:18:05.480 You don't just want to scream to the point where nothing is getting accomplished.

00:18:09.820 You want, so the gun thing was a huge wake up call for me because I used to be very anti

00:18:15.120 gun, um, which has all of your listeners probably can assume means that I've never shot a gun.

00:18:19.860 Right.

00:18:20.040 Hang on just a second.

00:18:20.780 But you also, you used to describe yourself as a male feminist and I've just read one of 1.00

00:18:26.540 your tweets said that you were, you described yourself as a, uh, as a white woman with a gun.

00:18:31.880 Um, did I, I don't even remember that. 0.85

00:18:35.820 Oh no.

00:18:37.300 God.

00:18:37.780 Oh God.

00:18:38.460 Twitter.

00:18:39.240 Um, yeah.

00:18:41.120 Well, I mean, and again, this was the label thing, right?

00:18:45.040 I, I've never, um, I don't know if I've ever gone to a feminist March.

00:18:51.900 If I've told you that I've seen the handmaid's tale, I'm lying to you because I'm nervous and

00:18:56.340 I've never seen it.

00:18:57.480 Um, I, I think I bought a bell hooks book, but I didn't get it.

00:19:01.740 Like, I was like, I tried so hard.

00:19:04.320 I, I, someone got mad at me cause you're like, she's not, you don't capitalize her letters

00:19:07.820 cause that's offensive.

00:19:08.480 And I was like, I don't know, man.

00:19:10.200 Um, I remember, but I got labeled a male feminist cause I was like, rapes bad and treat women 1.00

00:19:19.200 equally.

00:19:20.240 And you know, there are certain things just like there are certain things that women don't 1.00

00:19:25.760 get about guys.

00:19:26.680 There are certain things that guys will never understand about where I don't walk to my car

00:19:31.020 late at night with the keys tucked between my knuckles.

00:19:34.020 I don't have to cover my drink at a bar.

00:19:35.860 Um, and these are things that, you know, at the time I probably thought conservatives just

00:19:39.880 didn't care about, um, which is untrue.

00:19:43.840 But then suddenly I got labeled this male, the feminist, cause I would talk about issues

00:19:49.400 like that.

00:19:49.860 And I think that this is a thing in our industry is once you get labeled something, you kind of

00:19:55.660 just have to go to the edge or you feel like you do.

00:19:58.680 So now suddenly any feminist issue that was brought to my podcast or to me, I was like, 0.90

00:20:04.520 whoa, I don't want to be a bad feminist. 1.00

00:20:07.240 So I guess I believe that it would be the same if I was, you know, conservative, like I back

00:20:12.000 to the gun thing.

00:20:13.100 I am much more of a second amendment guy than I ever thought I would be because I've met experts

00:20:19.300 in the field, which I never did before.

00:20:21.320 Or do I think you should arm teachers?

00:20:24.000 No.

00:20:24.880 Um, I, I joke about this on stage because I'm like teachers, they can't afford bullets.

00:20:29.100 Uh, they, they, they shouldn't have to be trained to be tactical.

00:20:32.740 And then I do a whole thing with them eventually snapping and pulling a gun on the kids.

00:20:35.620 It's fine.

00:20:36.260 Uh, you have to see it guys.

00:20:37.480 It's fine.

00:20:37.980 Don't get me in trouble.

00:20:38.660 Um, but the, you have to talk to people on the other, if I didn't talk to people who

00:20:49.160 knew how to shoot firearms, I wouldn't know the things I now know because I would just

00:20:56.260 be coming at that issue from an adversarial point of view.

00:20:59.720 I have to tell you, I have become such a, uh, a sock snob.

00:21:05.080 Um, I went, in fact, I'm wearing them today.

00:21:08.460 Um, cause it's what I packed in the suitcase on the way home.

00:21:12.000 Uh, I was in Italy for a week with my wife and I only packed one pair of grip sick socks

00:21:20.800 and, uh, I, I wore them two days in a row.

00:21:25.660 Um, cause I didn't have any other socks.

00:21:29.680 I couldn't find really good quality socks.

00:21:33.560 You know, the, the, like the no show or the, the sneaker sock.

00:21:37.320 I couldn't find them anywhere.

00:21:39.720 Crip six.

00:21:40.700 Uh, I've learned my lesson.

00:21:41.880 I'll be packing more of your socks.

00:21:44.400 I won't forget next time grip six.

00:21:47.200 I want you to check out their high, high quality socks at grip six.com slash Beck grip

00:21:54.220 six.com slash Beck go there now American made.

00:22:00.120 Do you know a guy named Tim Kennedy?

00:22:02.100 Okay.

00:22:02.620 So Tim became a friend of mine in Austin and he's a special forces guy was a UFC fighter

00:22:06.920 runs a sheepdog response.

00:22:08.460 And he invited me down to sheepdog response.

00:22:11.680 And one of the things he was saying in front of no cameras.

00:22:15.360 So I hope it's okay that I say this, but he was telling me that he wants more women,

00:22:22.320 gay people, Muslims, Jews, um, to train, to learn how to defend themselves.

00:22:27.820 And I remember in that moment being like, Oh, even though, I mean, you go to his Instagram,

00:22:34.060 you guys are one of the most conservative guys you'll ever see.

00:22:36.200 And I was like, Oh, this guy actually wants to do more to empower and help the people that

00:22:42.780 I thought I was defending with tweets.

00:22:44.920 And that by the way, chances are a lot of my old liberal friends, if they saw a minority

00:22:52.500 getting held up at knife point would maybe like post about it later or film it.

00:22:58.100 But like Tim's running up there, like Tim would like get cut for it.

00:23:02.580 Um, I would like to think I would as well.

00:23:04.940 And so when I had the chance to meet the sheepdog guys, I remember just being, and I was still

00:23:10.920 pretty anti-gun.

00:23:11.840 It was, it was before Uvalde, but, and I remember just asking them, I go, wait, why doesn't anyone

00:23:18.320 ask you guys what to do for a school shooting?

00:23:21.440 When they're interviewed on, they are interviewed on TV, but they have to just defend, don't

00:23:27.140 take our guns.

00:23:28.040 They're not giving tactical advice.

00:23:30.400 Correct.

00:23:30.660 They will on their podcast.

00:23:31.480 Tim did a podcast about tactically what they would do.

00:23:33.400 Jocko did a podcast about that.

00:23:35.480 Um, but they're not really asked about that.

00:23:37.500 And so I asked these guys and, um, Jeff Gonzalez, who's, who's one of the guys and he's a big

00:23:43.040 NRA guy.

00:23:43.880 He goes, because no one asks us.

00:23:46.140 So what happens is when the left after a tragedy just goes, we're going to take everyone's

00:23:50.280 guns, the NRA guys, and you know how media works.

00:23:53.760 They're brought on to the mainstream news.

00:23:56.620 They have like, what, like two minutes or something to talk in sound bites.

00:23:59.880 And they're, they have to just say, yeah, they're just, they're, they're, they're, they're on

00:24:04.960 their heels instead of, Hey, you were in Iraq, you've defended politicians, you've done all

00:24:12.220 this tactically, how should we set up these schools to be safer?

00:24:16.080 Um, which is what I would want to ask them.

00:24:19.200 And now that I have asked them, I go, Oh, okay.

00:24:22.720 I want a gun, but I want to train in it.

00:24:26.960 And I want, as by the way, they think that too, they were like, of course they want people

00:24:31.320 to train, you know, it's so anyway, so I just, but I want to learn that.

00:24:37.700 And this sounds silly, but I want to learn that if I didn't talk to them, you know, and

00:24:42.900 I don't want to just preach to the choir, just real quick, I'll give another example

00:24:46.220 from the other side.

00:24:48.220 Me as someone who I guess is still semi on the left, I've been calling myself a bleeding

00:24:53.440 hard centrist, um, recently, um, but probably more liberal than a lot of your listeners,

00:24:59.680 I guess what, I don't even know what that means anymore, but I, as someone who is considered

00:25:05.900 liberal, am pretty appalled by the, the children at drag shows, by the idea of, um, kids getting

00:25:15.400 sex changes, um, before they really know what's going on.

00:25:19.820 When I think about me as a kid, I'm horrified if I made any permanent decision.

00:25:23.840 I mean, God, me having a ponytail, I like burned those pictures and I was like, you know,

00:25:27.840 banned, you know what I mean? 0.92

00:25:29.140 Um, like that was pretty bad, but I can cut that off.

00:25:32.540 Um, the, but then when I see, so I agree with that and I would get in a lot of trouble

00:25:38.640 and I've tried to like, uh, sort of tweet about it, but it's not worth it.

00:25:44.000 I've talked about it on my podcast cause I can be a little more nuanced.

00:25:47.640 Um, I, I, I think that, and I think a lot of people on the left field that way.

00:25:51.940 Like now what I'll see some conservatives do though, is then they go, therefore the quiet

00:25:59.340 gay couple that's married in the suburbs there, they want to groom our kids. 1.00

00:26:03.060 And it's like, well, no, they're not the same.

00:26:05.300 Right.

00:26:06.100 Um, to use these extreme examples that I'm with you on, um, as suddenly now we're going

00:26:14.360 all the way back to pre same sex marriage and saying all gay people want to groom our kids.

00:26:19.800 It's like, well, no, it's not that either.

00:26:22.000 And the conservatives I know who have gay relatives or, you know, they know that as well.

00:26:26.900 And, and again, it just comes down to, I have trans friends who are horrified by that stuff, 0.83

00:26:32.820 who don't want, you know, uh, trans people competing in like MMA and et cetera, but we

00:26:38.420 don't get to hear from these people because they're normal people and they're not, you

00:26:42.400 know, making a living again, off of outrage.

00:26:48.980 So...

00:26:49.800 Let me, can I go back to the beginning?

00:26:51.700 Yeah.

00:26:52.520 So what pieces have you put into place?

00:26:56.420 Forget about politics and all that stuff.

00:26:59.260 What pieces have you put into place on who are you?

00:27:04.700 Well, I think the first thing you have to do and that I did was you have to get healthy.

00:27:10.840 I think that there's so much, it's so easy.

00:27:17.020 Is this an AA thing?

00:27:18.080 I feel like every time I hear a good slogan, it comes from AA, but I never remember where

00:27:22.340 people talk about a God-shaped hole in your heart.

00:27:25.140 Have you ever heard that quote?

00:27:26.000 I heard that quote.

00:27:26.760 I don't know if it comes from AA.

00:27:27.580 I'm like, is it Rob Doss or AA?

00:27:29.040 It's anyway, it's someone.

00:27:30.400 Yeah.

00:27:30.500 But we're always trying to fill this God-shaped hole, right?

00:27:34.400 And for me, for a long time, it was with relationships.

00:27:36.840 For a lot of people, it can be with alcohol.

00:27:38.380 It can be with food.

00:27:38.920 I've struggled with food addiction.

00:27:40.240 It can be cigarettes.

00:27:41.160 It can be whatever.

00:27:42.260 It can be Twitter.

00:27:43.060 I've done that.

00:27:43.840 You know, for me, it was validation.

00:27:44.840 It was retweets.

00:27:45.600 It was attention, attention, attention.

00:27:47.220 It was someone telling me I'm good because I didn't believe I was good.

00:27:50.620 And the more I hang out with religious people and people were like, you know, God loves

00:27:54.960 you no matter what.

00:27:55.620 And I was like, who is this God guy?

00:27:57.320 This is amazing.

00:27:58.200 Like, I didn't know that.

00:27:59.640 And I forget because again, you only see caricatures. 0.75

00:28:04.440 I only thought of Christians as like, they're the ones that don't like gay people, right? 1.00

00:28:07.720 Not all this like beautiful things that Jesus said. 0.80

00:28:10.760 Anyway, getting distracted.

00:28:13.000 So you have to take care of yourself.

00:28:14.580 And, you know, I have addiction and I clearly have an addictive personality.

00:28:19.700 I have alcoholism in my family.

00:28:21.800 I don't like getting drunk.

00:28:23.580 So I never thought I was an alcoholic. 0.92

00:28:26.420 But I, so I, and I felt stupid going to meetings.

00:28:29.000 I think I went to one meeting cause I don't, my rock bottom stories happened like sober.

00:28:34.380 I was like, no, no, it's me.

00:28:36.220 It's not whatever.

00:28:37.080 But I noticed, I just didn't like that every time I did a show, I had to have a drink,

00:28:43.360 even if it was one drink.

00:28:44.780 I didn't like if I'm in a social situation, if I'm going to a bar, you know, my dream relationship

00:28:52.020 is we don't drink.

00:28:53.940 But if a girl wanted to meet at a bar, I'd go, all right, well, I guess I have to drink 0.99

00:28:57.420 so I don't seem weird to her instead of having the confidence to go, no, I don't want to

00:29:01.380 go on a date with, not just that.

00:29:03.540 Like, I don't even want to go on a date really with someone who wants to have a first date at

00:29:06.180 a bar if that's not the kind of relationship I want.

00:29:09.620 And so I stopped drinking.

00:29:11.400 This is pretty recent.

00:29:14.340 The meditation, making sure I'm working out every day, trying to like chill out with food.

00:29:20.360 All of these things, they don't give you the answer, but it's sort of, it clears the

00:29:27.060 path a little bit.

00:29:28.840 Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

00:29:29.460 Um, have you gotten to the place yet in your drive from New York to Texas?

00:29:35.320 Yeah.

00:29:36.380 How much of it did you spend with no noise, no radio, no podcast, nothing?

00:29:41.740 So this is, it's crazy.

00:29:43.980 You said that because I've never talked to anyone about this yet, but I always thought

00:29:49.700 walking through nature, you know, was one of the most meditative healing things you could

00:29:55.000 do, which it is, but I always have music on or a podcast.

00:29:59.180 And even if it was, no one was there.

00:30:02.160 And I did shows in Chattanooga.

00:30:05.480 I'd never been to Chattanooga before.

00:30:06.760 It's not one of my favorite cities.

00:30:08.540 And I went hiking and it was raining and I listened to music for the beginning and then

00:30:13.720 I just took it off.

00:30:15.340 And dude, I've, I've, I felt like I was like on psychedelics.

00:30:22.000 Like there was a moment where I had to stop and I just got emotional.

00:30:26.760 Um, not in a bad way, just in a, this is exactly where I'm supposed to be right now,

00:30:32.320 taking in the beauty way.

00:30:34.180 And, uh, now that you said that, that is my sign because I'm looking for those.

00:30:39.400 I feel like when you're aligned, whether you're spiritual or secular or whatever, I feel like

00:30:43.120 when you're on the right path, you can kind of take inventory of these signs that are

00:30:47.740 telling you like, keep going this way, keep going this way.

00:30:49.940 And even little things like that.

00:30:52.120 Um, there's also, it works in the other direction too.

00:30:55.000 I think we're beacons.

00:30:56.300 Yeah.

00:30:56.960 That's a great way to put it.

00:30:57.720 You know, so we, whatever we're thinking or looking for whatever, whatever it will come

00:31:03.000 to us.

00:31:03.540 Yes.

00:31:03.940 And we just don't necessarily notice or we dismiss the signs going the other way as a, well,

00:31:11.220 just this once or just that, and you go down that way.

00:31:14.360 Yeah.

00:31:14.680 And then when we go, when we get these signs going the other way, we dismiss them as coincidence.

00:31:20.040 Right.

00:31:20.420 No, stop.

00:31:21.380 Stop both of those.

00:31:22.480 Yep.

00:31:22.780 Yep.

00:31:23.100 A hundred percent.

00:31:25.500 And so now I'm going to, I'm going to make it a habit to, to do that more.

00:31:30.880 It's, it's when I knew I was healthy.

00:31:34.280 Yeah.

00:31:34.720 You know, when, when I, um, when I could drive a long distance in a car by myself,

00:31:40.920 no radio, no, nothing, no music, just alone with your thoughts.

00:31:47.120 Yeah.

00:31:47.860 Then I thought, because, because if you're like, I am like you beating yourself up and

00:31:53.880 thinking of things that you did and you've ever been so, I've been so embarrassed by myself

00:32:00.720 that you'll be all by yourself and to stop yourself from thinking something, you'll go

00:32:05.480 like, you do that.

00:32:07.360 I had a moment.

00:32:08.440 So the first book I read over a quarantine when I was like, okay, I don't know anything

00:32:14.320 about self-help or whatever.

00:32:16.040 And I was like, everyone talks about Tony Robbins.

00:32:18.460 I was like, so I went down this YouTube rabbit hole of him and I was like, this guy is huge

00:32:21.980 and he's yelling at me and I'm in.

00:32:23.440 And I bought one of his books and he's talking about, you know, positive self-talk and kind

00:32:29.720 of what you were saying, what we were talking about with like looking for signs.

00:32:32.340 He, he said something like, you know, if I say, look for a blue Jeep or a blue car,

00:32:36.400 suddenly you're going to see them everywhere.

00:32:37.580 So if we can train ourself to sort of hone in on the vision of what we want, we'll start

00:32:43.340 seeing the signs to go in that direction.

00:32:45.700 And, uh, so I go, all right, I just got to think positive.

00:32:49.120 And this sounds like a bit Glenn and it's not, it's not funny enough to be a bit.

00:32:52.960 It was so sad.

00:32:54.180 I caught myself.

00:32:57.440 I was trying to think positive.

00:32:59.400 Yeah.

00:32:59.720 And I couldn't think positive.

00:33:01.200 And so then I started getting mad at myself for not being able to think positive.

00:33:06.860 And suddenly I'm going, just think positive. 1.00

00:33:08.920 You idiot. 1.00

00:33:09.520 Why can't you think something positive? 1.00

00:33:10.460 You're so dumb. 1.00

00:33:11.560 Just one positive thing. 1.00

00:33:13.000 And that's when I was like, okay.

00:33:14.620 And I like, I remember I just like stormed outside and like went for a walk out in the

00:33:18.140 desert.

00:33:18.940 And that was sort of just like a private low moment.

00:33:22.680 It wasn't a biggie, but it was, it was definitely a things have to change.

00:33:26.660 Um, and it, it, it will, uh, change you.

00:33:32.420 I actually want to ask you a question when you're driving like that, are you trying to

00:33:36.400 treat it like a meditation in the sense that you're trying not to have thoughts or when

00:33:41.280 the thoughts come up, you don't judge them and you just let them be.

00:33:44.360 Are you trying to problem solve or are you just trying to like watch the road, watch the

00:33:48.640 scenery?

00:33:49.520 Could be any of those things.

00:33:50.780 Any, it doesn't matter.

00:33:51.660 It's just, I never could be alone with my thoughts cause it would, it would spiral into 1.00

00:33:57.480 what you just said, you know, you stupid idiot. 1.00

00:33:59.700 What are you, you know, or it would get so oppressive in there. 1.00

00:34:02.880 It's just so loud sometimes when you're not healthy.

00:34:07.120 All right.

00:34:07.600 Back with more in a second.

00:34:08.560 First one out of every five pregnancies in this country are aborted adds up to 63 million

00:34:14.500 babies since the beginning of Roe versus Wade after Roe, uh, blue States are gearing up now

00:34:20.960 to become the abortion mills of the country.

00:34:23.520 And it, I think it's going to get worse than it ever has.

00:34:27.400 This is where pre-born comes in there in direct competition with Planned Parenthood, the largest

00:34:34.080 provider of free ultrasounds in the country.

00:34:36.220 And they're partnering with the Glenn Beck program to rescue 50,000 babies this year.

00:34:40.880 When an expecting mother comes in to see her child on an ultrasound, when she hears the

00:34:47.640 heartbeat, she realizes that's my child.

00:34:51.040 That's not just a clump of cells.

00:34:53.720 She's 80% more likely to choose life.

00:34:56.120 Pre-born provides maternity, baby clothes, diapers, car seats, counseling, so much more,

00:35:02.660 all free of charge.

00:35:04.320 They not only want to save the baby, they also want to help the mother.

00:35:09.380 Pre-born, can you help us save 50,000 lives today?

00:35:14.240 Dial pound 250, say the keyword baby, or go to pre-born.com slash Glenn.

00:35:20.660 That's pre-born.com slash Glenn.

00:35:22.940 The last, um, relationship I had, it was this, this great girl on, um, in Austin and she are

00:35:34.080 like last email correspondence, which was pretty recently.

00:35:36.860 Um, she said something along the lines of, you know, thank you for, she, she, she said that

00:35:45.700 it was the safest she ever felt in a relationship.

00:35:49.080 And, and I've heard that before and, you know, it means so much to me.

00:35:56.500 And then I think about random trolls or whatever on Twitter who will say stuff about me that's

00:36:06.340 just completely untrue.

00:36:09.260 And I let that carry weight sometimes.

00:36:13.380 And that's, you know, that's been a lot of the suicide stuff where you just feel trapped

00:36:19.360 or helpless or, you know, when it really happens for me is when you go, I'm doing all the right

00:36:25.120 things like, and, and you still feel like you can't catch a break, you know?

00:36:31.560 Mm-hmm and, uh, and so being in the public, you know, I don't know how you've dealt with this or,

00:36:37.620 or whatever, but it's, it's crazy to me, you know, and in the last couple of months, it's for

00:36:43.500 finally the first time I've accepted that, like, I know I'm a good person.

00:36:46.580 I know I'm a good guy, blah, blah, blah, but it's, it's crazy in the world we live in that sometimes

00:36:51.120 even when you are by yourself with your thoughts, that's what made me think of this.

00:36:54.860 Um, you can let people who, oh yeah, literally they, they, they don't exist.

00:37:01.880 Uh, they don't even have a, they don't even have an avatar of their face.

00:37:04.900 They're just random people saying things to everybody on the internet.

00:37:08.480 You're not the only one.

00:37:09.420 They're not thinking about me right now.

00:37:11.020 Um, and letting that go, oh God, like there were years where I was like, I guess I'm a, I guess I'm a bad guy.

00:37:17.880 So it's really interesting.

00:37:19.140 Cause, um, uh, I,

00:37:24.560 of course that happens and, uh, it's happened to me and happened to everybody that I know and people who I think are really, really good people as well.

00:37:33.300 Um, and I think where I've come to on this is, um, that if it, at some level, it doesn't bother you enough to go, well, gosh, am I that guy?

00:37:50.660 What have I said to make, and how are they interpreting it?

00:37:54.400 Then you are a bad guy.

00:37:56.180 You know what I mean?

00:37:56.800 Right.

00:37:57.080 But it's like asking people who you disagree with.

00:37:59.960 How did you get there?

00:38:01.060 Right.

00:38:01.620 I've tried to spend, I went through about a three year period of just saying, so wait a minute, half the country believes this about me.

00:38:11.420 So what is it I've done and how could I do it differently?

00:38:16.200 Cause that's not who I am.

00:38:18.280 And it's, it's, it's really tough, but I will tell you, there's the problems that you struggle with where people are saying things because you deserve it.

00:38:31.380 And then there's this little magical period, at least for me, this little magical period where you, will you drop in?

00:38:39.060 It took me, Oh, I don't even know.

00:38:42.100 Eight years.

00:38:42.680 Yeah.

00:38:43.620 And this magical period where you drop in and it's like you're brand new and you're, it's like, Oh my gosh, this is fantastic.

00:38:51.040 And so you're, you can put the mistakes of the past behind you, but if you hold on to that period, and I think this is coming in your life.

00:39:01.860 This sounds like, yes.

00:39:03.000 If you hold on to that period and you don't compromise, don't compromise yourself, your belief, don't smoke because everybody else is smoking smoke because you want to.

00:39:16.940 Right.

00:39:17.120 Yeah.

00:39:17.660 For sure.

00:39:18.040 Um, and you refuse to compromise for any reason because your, your relationship with yourself or your relationship with God is more important.

00:39:29.780 Yep. 0.95

00:39:30.580 The same crap comes back because now you're doing wrong, but now you're actually going against the grain of society of trying to do right. 0.99

00:39:44.200 And so people will start to attach themselves to you. 0.99

00:39:48.520 Well, you're only doing that because you want money.

00:39:50.660 You only doing that because you're trying to appease.

00:39:53.140 No.

00:39:53.940 Yep.

00:39:54.380 No.

00:39:55.420 But perhaps that's you.

00:39:57.200 Yes.

00:39:57.520 That's doing that.

00:39:58.460 Yeah.

00:39:58.760 And I think that that's one of the most, I don't want to use the word evil.

00:40:03.900 I'm going to use it kind of hyperbolically.

00:40:05.280 But when people do that, I want to write about this.

00:40:09.000 Um, when they call you a grifter or they say you're just, you know, whatever this idea that the only reason somebody could try to change their mind or try to better themselves or try to is for a paycheck or as for, you know, even with the feminist stuff, you know, I am years ahead of that.

00:40:28.400 That was like a decade ago.

00:40:29.880 And when people go, you know, well, were you just doing it to like get girls?

00:40:33.260 I was like, no, I was doing it because I thought it was right.

00:40:35.960 And now I can go, oh, okay, well, this part was right. 0.93

00:40:39.840 But like that part was a little ridiculous. 0.81

00:40:41.480 And like, oh, I let that get to my head.

00:40:43.680 And like, yeah, I probably should have worked on my marriage.

00:40:46.200 And, you know, you can go back and look at it.

00:40:48.000 But this idea that the only reason that you could change your mind or become friends with conservatives or talk to liberals is because of, you know, a paycheck.

00:40:58.440 It's like when people, you tell someone, I mean, this has happened to me a lot recently where I tell people, you know, I want to eat healthy.

00:41:06.140 And they're like, oh, but don't you want to have fun?

00:41:07.560 Or you tell people you're going to quit drinking and they're, you know, they get mad at you.

00:41:11.800 And you're like, hey, man, what's going on with you where you're upset if I, I didn't say you don't have to drink.

00:41:18.120 I'm just going to have like a Topo Chico.

00:41:19.800 Like, we're fine.

00:41:22.860 Where people, and I think if everybody listening to this, which is a lot of people, if everyone could just ask themselves, how can I make myself better every day instead of attacking other people, attacking other people?

00:41:39.800 And what I've noticed is the more I try to better myself, whether it's spiritually, physically, mentally, politically, the more suddenly, and you probably noticed this too, your people start to find you.

00:41:53.020 Whether it's fans or just new friends, the beacon, it's the beacon.

00:41:57.660 And then you don't feel alone or crazy because I'll tell you, if you are listening to this and if you are struggling, you know, going on a diet, as simple as that sounds, you're going to feel alone.

00:42:09.400 Quitting drinking, you're going to feel alone.

00:42:12.360 Standing up for what's right.

00:42:14.520 No, no, no.

00:42:15.260 Just standing up for what you believe in.

00:42:18.140 Yep.

00:42:18.360 Doesn't even have to be right.

00:42:19.580 Just what you believe in.

00:42:21.020 You feel crazy.

00:42:21.680 You feel crazy.

00:42:22.300 I mean, especially in someone like, like for me, and you can choose the way you want to see it.

00:42:28.100 I can either go, oh God, I'm hated by the left and the right.

00:42:30.980 Or I can go, oh, I'm speaking for people who aren't represented.

00:42:35.900 And that's actually really exciting.

00:42:38.280 And that's actually really cool.

00:42:39.700 That puts you into the category of Gandhi and Martin Luther King.

00:42:42.900 And I mean, you know, not necessarily that you're that guy.

00:42:46.260 That's my new quote is, Jamie is the new Martin Luther King from Glenn Beck.

00:42:50.600 That will be.

00:42:51.980 The left would love that.

00:42:53.140 Looks like I'm going to get hired somewhere, baby.

00:42:54.720 It has to be here.

00:42:55.520 Please hire me.

00:42:56.060 But yeah, no, I, but it's true. 0.71

00:42:59.580 It's, it's, it's, it's so wild that this idea of trying to bring people together. 0.87

00:43:07.100 I mean, this is a silly thing.

00:43:08.300 I never thought I would tell anybody, but I emailed myself before I came on the show because

00:43:12.940 whenever I would do other shows that are conservative or in the middle or whatever,

00:43:17.400 for me, for me, the only way someone can sell out is if they say something they don't

00:43:25.940 believe for profit.

00:43:27.400 And I had an opportunity to do that and I didn't do it.

00:43:31.060 And I would have been very, I would have had a lot more money.

00:43:33.200 I would have, I would have also been able to bring a sweater for the taping.

00:43:36.220 It's cold in here.

00:43:36.800 This is all I have.

00:43:38.720 I'm so broke.

00:43:39.920 I'm just kidding.

00:43:40.520 But like, uh, I had those opportunities and, and so then there was a phase, you know,

00:43:48.080 when I came on this show and where I go, okay, well, when I'm on right wing shows,

00:43:52.500 I'll probably make fun of the parts of the left.

00:43:54.840 I don't, I don't agree with.

00:43:56.240 And that's cool.

00:43:57.600 And I can do that.

00:43:59.860 And I'll probably try to get at least some kind of liberal, like, Hey, don't, this is

00:44:04.540 Jamie Kilstein. 0.98

00:44:05.000 Don't beat up gay people or like whatever. 0.72

00:44:06.740 So I'm like, um, that's pretty common sense that I'm sure all your listeners would agree 0.89

00:44:10.980 with.

00:44:11.740 And, and, and that's it.

00:44:13.340 But there was no like mission statement.

00:44:15.740 And now when I do comedy shows, the mission statement is be funny.

00:44:23.660 And that's it.

00:44:24.640 Whether I'm talking about politics, whether I'm talking about dating, make people laugh

00:44:27.960 and bring people together that way.

00:44:29.780 And then when I do shows like this, what I emailed myself was, I was like, bring people

00:44:34.120 together and it's, I'm gonna get killed for saying this.

00:44:38.580 But when you said Martin Luther King, it's so funny you said that because I was in DC 0.79

00:44:44.900 and I went to the Lincoln Memorial for the first time.

00:44:48.000 I'd never been there.

00:44:48.840 I was again, just a godless liberal.

00:44:50.360 And I was like, ah, it's a bunch of whatever.

00:44:52.460 And, uh, and I went to the Lincoln Memorial and I started reading the speeches and I'm like

00:44:57.600 joking up.

00:44:58.680 I was like, Oh my God.

00:45:00.100 I was like, I understand patriotism.

00:45:02.020 I was like, why did it, why did it take me so long to come here?

00:45:05.820 And, and I go to leave and I call my brother, um, my, my, my awesome liberal brother who

00:45:12.440 keeps me in check.

00:45:13.220 Like sometimes when I go, Hey, I'm starting to feel this way.

00:45:15.420 Am I, am I?

00:45:16.420 And he's like, no, no, no, that you're fine.

00:45:17.820 I'm like, um, and he goes, Hey, not a lot of people know this.

00:45:22.840 Um, cause it's kind of dusted over, but on the top of the steps, the, the, the squares

00:45:27.760 marked off where Martin Luther King gave the, I have a dream speech.

00:45:30.380 And I go, what?

00:45:31.900 And so I was like running late.

00:45:33.540 I had to pee.

00:45:35.060 I was so hot.

00:45:35.920 I was sweating.

00:45:36.540 And I ran back and, uh, like double jumped the steps and I find it.

00:45:42.020 No one's there.

00:45:43.400 And I stand there and I like, you know, it takes your breath away.

00:45:47.360 And then this little tour group comes up and the leader of the tour groups, this Latino 1.00

00:45:52.700 guy, and he's, you know, and there's like six people in his group and he starts giving

00:45:56.900 parts of the speech, you know, um, doing his tour guide thing, but it's still, it's, it's

00:46:00.660 cool, it's cool because I wouldn't have said anything.

00:46:03.720 And then this girl, uh, in the group, this younger girl points at the date and she goes,

00:46:09.120 Oh my God, that's today.

00:46:11.300 Not even the tour guide realized that none of us realized it.

00:46:13.740 And so we were there on the anniversary.

00:46:14.960 And so I get chills and, and I'm not even, I have ADD.

00:46:20.520 I'm not even a museum guy.

00:46:21.740 Like, I'm like, okay, I get it.

00:46:23.380 And then I go find snacks.

00:46:25.100 Um, and, and I, I have just, I've been thinking about him so much and, you know, I hear I conservatives

00:46:35.360 get demonized every time they quote the, I have a dream speech.

00:46:38.540 And even liberals do, you know, I think now Martin Luther King Jr. would probably be like

00:46:43.620 a canceled moderate.

00:46:44.840 Oh yeah.

00:46:45.100 No, he is, he's not, uh, yeah.

00:46:49.000 In favor.

00:46:49.760 Yeah.

00:46:50.020 And so, um, but yeah, so when I emailed myself, I thought of him and I was like, why can't my

00:46:56.080 mission statement just be bring people together?

00:46:58.940 Why when I can't, I just, when I go on liberal shows, I can talk about all the great conservatives.

00:47:03.480 I know when I come on shows like this, I can say like, Hey, my friends aren't trying to

00:47:08.000 groom your kids.

00:47:08.820 Uh, my liberal friends are like pretty cool and just want to do jujitsu and make art and,

00:47:12.600 you know, hang out too, whether they're gay or straight or black or white or whatever.

00:47:17.140 I have black conservative friends, you know?

00:47:18.940 I mean, isn't that, I mean, that's what we should all be trying to do, but it's, it's so

00:47:25.200 hard because even when I make a tweet about bringing people together, the majority of people,

00:47:32.080 and I have a lot of conservative followers now, there's a, there's a lot of mega and

00:47:35.960 screen names and, um, and so many of them are saying, I agree, I agree.

00:47:40.900 And then there'll always be usually one from the left and one from the right who was like,

00:47:44.600 I just can't, if the other side wants to blah, blah, and then talking point, talking

00:47:47.760 point, talking point.

00:47:48.660 And I feel for them and I feel sad for them and I don't yell at them and I always try to

00:47:52.320 write them back and go, Hey, no, this is, we need this.

00:47:55.960 We need to stop this.

00:47:57.780 Um, so then, so, so let me interject here.

00:48:00.160 Let me ask you a question because I hear this all the time too.

00:48:04.180 Yeah.

00:48:04.660 Um, and, um, and I know what my answer is.

00:48:09.500 Yeah.

00:48:12.160 How do you, um, Martin Luther King did not compromise with what he felt was evil.

00:48:20.540 Yeah.

00:48:21.400 So if you actually feel like, uh, I don't know, teaching my kids about sex changes and

00:48:28.400 giving them hormone drugs and cutting me out of all that.

00:48:31.360 Yeah.

00:48:31.900 That's evil.

00:48:32.840 Yeah.

00:48:33.300 And if that's what you want to do, how do I compromise with you?

00:48:37.620 So it's, I never thought I would say this on any show and I'm not a scholar and I'm so

00:48:43.440 new to it and I wouldn't, but I think about, you know, God, I think about Jesus and I, I,

00:48:49.400 I try to, the first thing I always do is I try to, I try to feel compassion for everyone.

00:48:59.180 And so again, the idea of, you know, it's funny.

00:49:07.280 I get the most mad at people who, I don't get mad at the, the kid who got the sex change 0.63

00:49:14.180 or thought there were a different gender. 1.00

00:49:15.520 I feel so much compassion.

00:49:19.340 Parents.

00:49:19.860 I start to get, um, but the, the, the, the, the liberals who just kind of cheer it on because

00:49:25.220 they just go, well, this is the thing we're supposed to be cheering on this month.

00:49:28.700 You know, that's when I get kind of upset.

00:49:31.280 And, and let me play the other side, conservatives that will not look at a person's, um, I don't

00:49:43.580 know, suffering is suffering and will not recognize that you don't have to have an answer for it.

00:49:52.060 You know, and you, all you have to do is recognize that that person for whatever reason is suffering

00:50:00.120 and you may not be able to relate to it.

00:50:02.400 Nope.

00:50:02.760 And, and what, what I try to do is, cause I've never thought about is I try to encourage honesty

00:50:11.040 and conversation.

00:50:11.800 So if we can do that, right, you don't, so with the trans issue, you don't have to be 0.95

00:50:19.620 either on one side, which says give kids sex changes, or then the other side is hate all 0.79

00:50:27.120 trans people, right? 0.99

00:50:28.880 There's the middle ground where I'm in, which is just like gay people. 1.00

00:50:35.440 It's like, I don't understand it.

00:50:37.120 Like I'm, I'm, I'm not, I'm a straight cis dude, right?

00:50:43.020 Um, but I can also say, Hey, I disagree with the sex changes for kids. 0.93

00:50:48.900 And I think it's important for liberals who do disagree.

00:50:51.260 I think most of them are scared to say that.

00:50:53.520 And I will get in trouble from the left for saying that, but then I could also get in trouble

00:50:57.280 from the right where it's like, what I want to say to the conservatives listening is if you

00:51:04.580 see a trans person walking down the street, that, that trans person could just be a person

00:51:09.020 like you and are, yeah, they are.

00:51:11.460 I mean, yeah.

00:51:12.460 And that just because they're trans doesn't mean they're even in favor of sex changes for

00:51:19.200 kids.

00:51:19.500 Doesn't mean they even think about it.

00:51:20.980 They're just trying to survive and, and are probably scared.

00:51:24.400 Like you remember after nine 11, how so many Muslims were just terrified and there were hate

00:51:29.920 crimes and, you know, and even I have Muslim friends who, when the anniversary comes, they

00:51:33.900 don't get to mourn, man, because they're just on edge.

00:51:36.920 Like how sad is that?

00:51:38.920 And so I can imagine that right now, since the trans conversation, you know, it's not just

00:51:44.580 like trans bathrooms.

00:51:45.600 It's literally these people want to groom our kids that trans people who don't are probably 0.50

00:51:51.480 really on edge.

00:51:52.540 And just like liberals think that anyone who owns a gun doesn't care about school shootings

00:52:01.860 and they're, yo, they'll care more about, I've said stuff like this.

00:52:04.840 You care more about your toys to prove what a man you are than kids getting killed.

00:52:07.940 Right.

00:52:08.660 It's like, well, no, a lot of people own guns to actually protect people like us.

00:52:13.280 And a lot of trans people don't want to groom your kids. 0.96

00:52:16.560 And just like Republicans hate it when liberals, and I hate this too, say all conservatives 0.96

00:52:21.620 are racist. 0.84

00:52:22.660 All right. 0.90

00:52:22.900 Well, if we don't like that, then we also shouldn't say that all LGBT people are groomers.

00:52:28.140 Right.

00:52:28.520 And then where it's our responsibility is when there are racists on the right, you guys call

00:52:34.340 them out.

00:52:34.800 When there are creepy people on the left, we call them out.

00:52:38.800 I mean, how cool would it be if our own sides could weed out? 0.99

00:52:43.340 That's the way it used to be.

00:52:44.740 Yeah.

00:52:45.520 We're not supposed to have sides.

00:52:49.180 Right.

00:52:49.500 Our side is truth, justice.

00:52:51.860 That's our side.

00:52:52.900 Yep.

00:52:53.280 I mean, you know, you know, the amount of cops that I've talked to because what's cool about

00:52:57.120 doing jujitsu is like, I have met a lot more military people, cops than I ever would.

00:53:01.380 And, you know, they were horrified at what happened to George Floyd.

00:53:05.180 They were horrified at what had the response to you.

00:53:07.700 I believe George Floyd that first day when that came out.

00:53:12.300 Yeah.

00:53:12.840 That was one of the most uniting days in American history.

00:53:16.740 Yeah.

00:53:17.060 Because we all felt the same way.

00:53:20.000 Yeah.

00:53:20.240 We all condemned it.

00:53:21.660 Yeah.

00:53:22.040 And then 12 hours, 18 hours into it, it starts to spin.

00:53:26.100 Yeah.

00:53:26.460 And then you have sides going, well, no, wait a minute.

00:53:29.300 I mean, it was.

00:53:30.460 No, we all knew it was wrong.

00:53:32.580 We were all against it.

00:53:33.580 And then it was politicized and everything fell apart.

00:53:36.380 And again, just like I was talking about with 9-11, the fact that we don't even get to mourn,

00:53:41.720 that suddenly like we're not even thinking about that guy's family.

00:53:45.280 It's just what side are you on?

00:53:46.960 Or no, it's more like we got to check what side are my people on?

00:53:49.760 All right, they're on that side.

00:53:50.820 I guess I got to come up with my talking points for that side.

00:53:53.160 And it's just, you know, it just goes on and on.

00:53:55.740 And instead of stepping out and being willing to, and again, if you lead with compassion, that's it.

00:54:04.100 One more quick break, then back with Jamie.

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00:54:54.500 relieffactor.com.

00:54:57.120 You and I are in a similar problem.

00:55:00.380 I just am not in the position yet to where I could be living under a bridge.

00:55:09.080 Right.

00:55:09.300 You know what I mean?

00:55:10.340 And, but we're in the same, we're in the same predicament.

00:55:13.680 I think we believe exactly the same thing.

00:55:16.360 And I just don't care.

00:55:21.920 Oh, you don't like what I believe.

00:55:25.120 Oh, well.

00:55:25.720 And I'm not saying that just to the left.

00:55:27.900 Yeah.

00:55:28.080 I'm saying that to my audience as well.

00:55:30.280 I, I, I, they like me, at least I think one of the reasons they like me is I say what I mean.

00:55:38.880 And I mean, what I say, even if I disagree with you, you know what I mean?

00:55:43.260 Um, that's really important.

00:55:47.140 Yeah.

00:55:47.280 Um, but to do that, it means I had a guy who wrote a book called the pendulum and, uh, and, uh, it's about how authoritarianism and the me and we and how it swings back and forth.

00:56:03.320 And he said, you know, you don't win, right?

00:56:07.280 And I said, well, I was calling you for some hope and insight.

00:56:11.860 And he said, no, you don't win.

00:56:13.800 Cause you're out of step in these, in these, we swings.

00:56:18.380 That's when people who believe in the individual and believe in stop with the group.

00:56:24.080 Think let's, let's have conversations.

00:56:26.480 He said, they don't win.

00:56:28.800 They win later.

00:56:30.160 Yeah.

00:56:30.640 But usually not when they're alive.

00:56:33.440 I know.

00:56:33.860 I, you know, I, I think about that sometimes where I was like, well, people are going to, if I survive this, I know I'm on the right side right now because I'm not on the side.

00:56:46.260 Right.

00:56:46.780 And I think, and you can feel the pendulum.

00:56:50.480 You can feel it swinging.

00:56:51.920 A lot of people are getting disgusted, I think, by tribalism, but they're too scared to speak up.

00:56:55.780 Correct.

00:56:56.120 It's, we're at the apex of it at 2024.

00:56:58.840 It's an 80 year swing.

00:57:00.040 And we're at that apex.

00:57:01.880 It's going to start swinging back.

00:57:02.980 I think it already has.

00:57:04.220 People will whisper to me that they're a moderate.

00:57:07.900 Like they're about to tell me a racist joke.

00:57:09.980 They're like, Hey, and they'll like, look around and they're like, I think both sides are full of it.

00:57:13.480 And I'm like, buddy, we shouldn't have to whisper that.

00:57:15.780 I think the majority of people feel that way.

00:57:17.880 But then the extremists on both sides are just screaming us down.

00:57:23.020 Shouldn't that tell you everything that you need to know when you feel you have to whisper it?

00:57:29.640 You know, and both sides are calling the other fascists.

00:57:34.860 Yeah.

00:57:35.400 Either side could become fascist that fast.

00:57:38.980 And if you're whispering, that should tell you everything you need to know.

00:57:45.040 Yeah.

00:57:45.300 I'm part of building that authoritarian regime.

00:57:49.680 Yeah.

00:57:50.040 Through my silence.

00:57:51.340 Yeah.

00:57:51.700 Well, and you know, I mean, I even think about that when I think about how to get my career on track.

00:57:56.560 I mean, standup's going great.

00:57:58.860 And that's definitely where I feel the most like, okay, I'm doing something.

00:58:05.680 But, you know, even with like my podcast and stuff, I go, okay, well, if I truly think that this is the way a ton of people think, then obviously make a podcast about it.

00:58:15.080 But I've seen people, friends of mine, who, by the way, are much more successful than me.

00:58:20.300 Like, you end up, if I make a centrist podcast, now I'm still digging for articles to attack both sides.

00:58:31.000 I'm doing the centrist version of the same thing.

00:58:33.920 And so, so then you go, well, I guess I could just do a show about just like being a good person.

00:58:39.420 Then that's it.

00:58:40.100 Be you.

00:58:40.800 That's it.

00:58:41.340 Yeah.

00:58:41.740 And that's what it comes down to.

00:58:42.980 And, you know, a friend of mine said to me, he goes, why don't you just make comedy your tribe or comedy your language or comedy your political, you know, whatever.

00:58:53.500 And if everything's filtered through the lens of laughter, then it's, yeah, sometimes I'll make fun of the left, sometimes I'll make fun of the right.

00:58:59.720 But most of the time I'm trying to bring people together through that.

00:59:02.960 And that should be the goal.

00:59:03.900 So how do you feel about Ricky Gervais?

00:59:06.340 I love, I mean, I love him.

00:59:07.720 I love him too.

00:59:08.460 Yeah.

00:59:08.800 I mean, I also love Stuart Lee, who just got in trouble for criticizing him just as a comedian.

00:59:12.180 But yeah, I mean, I think.

00:59:15.200 I mean, because he's, I heard him, I heard, did you watch his last?

00:59:20.940 No, I didn't watch that one.

00:59:22.140 You should watch it.

00:59:22.860 It's hysterical.

00:59:23.480 But he says, he's talking about cancel culture.

00:59:26.400 And he said, you know, they're going back in time and finding things you said 10 years ago.

00:59:29.620 He said, one thing you're never going to find is, you know, a tweet from somebody who said, you know, no, I don't think that men can have babies.

00:59:39.780 Because we didn't think we needed to.

00:59:43.280 Okay.

00:59:44.120 And while you could look at all of this as divisive, there are certain things that are true that we all know are true.

00:59:56.240 And I mean, even.

00:59:57.020 And that is that divisive.

00:59:57.800 And divisive.

00:59:58.480 Right.

00:59:58.820 And even Chappelle, you know, being known as like the number one transphobe, it's like his special.

01:00:06.240 When he told that beautiful story of his trans friend and it's like who died and people didn't even give that a chance because they just made their decision. 0.77

01:00:15.920 Before they got to it.

01:00:16.780 Before they got to it.

01:00:17.440 They never saw it.

01:00:18.160 And when I was coming up, this is at the height of Chappelle's popularity.

01:00:21.320 He would come by the club I was working at every night in front of 30 people.

01:00:25.880 And I mean, he was a darling of the left.

01:00:28.500 He was, you know, criticizing the war in Iraq and Bush and all this stuff.

01:00:34.900 And now I remember when his last special came out being like, is Ben Shapiro the only guy saying something positive about Dave Chappelle?

01:00:42.020 I was like horrified.

01:00:43.420 It was so bizarre.

01:00:44.680 It was like a time warp.

01:00:45.440 But, you know, Chappelle is just he's going through the lens of comedy where he's like, all right, you guys are going to come after me.

01:00:53.760 I'm going to make jokes about it.

01:00:55.040 And, you know, that people forget that that's what comics are supposed to do.

01:01:00.320 If you look at my comedy trajectory, man, it's like the worst model of good business, man.

01:01:05.440 Criticize George Bush about the war in Iraq when everyone was very like pro war in Iraq.

01:01:10.040 Then get on Conan, not invited back to Conan because I do a rant about drone strikes because if I'm anti-war under Bush, I got to be anti-war under Obama, even though I think that guy's cooler.

01:01:20.680 It's the guess, the only guess, it's me and Kobe Bryant.

01:01:25.720 It's not really like a anti-Obama audience.

01:01:28.480 And I do I do a rant, a anti-drone rant under Obama.

01:01:33.760 Audience liked it, but got in a little bit of trouble.

01:01:37.080 And then under Trump, when suddenly, oh, you can finally make political jokes.

01:01:40.780 Everyone's making political jokes.

01:01:41.960 I said, no, it's hacky.

01:01:43.880 Everyone's just calling Donald Trump orange.

01:01:45.900 I'd rather.

01:01:46.440 And I talked about relationships for the first time in my career.

01:01:49.220 And now Trump's gone.

01:01:51.300 Yeah, same deal.

01:01:52.020 The political standup I'm doing in my act now is about the kind of both side stuff.

01:01:59.440 But it was never the marketable thing.

01:02:03.440 That's why I get mad when people say, you know, people say a lot of untrue things about me. 0.99

01:02:08.340 But when people say I did anything for profit, I was like, no, I did some stuff because I was an idiot. 0.68

01:02:13.580 But if I had the I'm a smart guy when I put my mind to things, if I wanted to sell out, I could have sold out. 0.86

01:02:20.420 I've made this joke before on podcasts.

01:02:21.960 But even after the whole feminism thing, if I wrote a book called From Feminist to Freedom Fighter, and it was like a picture of me with like a red pill and an American flag, I'd be a billionaire.

01:02:32.220 I'd have so much money.

01:02:34.180 But I don't.

01:02:34.980 I want to be nuanced, which is not as catchy of a title.

01:02:38.100 Actually, nuanced sounds like a good title.

01:02:39.540 So, and yeah, man, it's harder and it's a bummer.

01:02:42.920 And the times I've gotten.

01:02:45.360 So, can I ask you this?

01:02:46.440 Because this keeps coming to my mind.

01:02:50.640 Are you trying to be nuanced or are you nuanced?

01:02:54.720 I'm not trying anything.

01:02:56.060 Okay.

01:02:57.020 Yeah.

01:02:57.440 Because that's a, because that is a huge, you know what I'm asking, right?

01:03:00.760 I know exactly what you're asking.

01:03:01.420 There's a huge difference if I'm, if I'm trying to do something as opposed to that's who I am.

01:03:07.120 That's who I am.

01:03:07.980 Well, and by becoming more nuanced, I'm, I'm remembering times when I was forcing it.

01:03:16.740 And a lot of that was when I was on the left where I would cover some story.

01:03:21.620 And then afterwards I'd like ask someone, I'm like, Hey, are you sure?

01:03:26.120 You know, um, this like seems a little, and they're like, ah, we got to, you know, I mean,

01:03:30.960 I remember, I don't think I told this story last time, but I remember one time this kid

01:03:36.020 wrote in, not kid, this man, he was like a father and he was really overweight.

01:03:40.120 And I talked about mental health a lot.

01:03:42.560 And he said, his doctor said, if he doesn't lose, you know, all this weight, he's going

01:03:46.000 to die.

01:03:46.560 And he's like, I don't know what to do.

01:03:48.080 I, you know, I love my kids so much, blah, blah, blah.

01:03:50.360 So I emailed him back and I sent him a bunch of recipes.

01:03:54.080 Cause like I was, I've struggled with eating stuff, like binge eating stuff.

01:03:58.580 Um, I guess I call it an eating disorder.

01:04:00.100 You can't do that.

01:04:00.540 Cause that's a girl thing, but like I've struggled with that.

01:04:03.520 And, uh, I found him a jujitsu gym, uh, in Baltimore.

01:04:08.380 And so he writes me back like six months, eight months later.

01:04:11.180 And he goes, dude, you're not gonna believe this.

01:04:12.760 My doctor said like, he's never seen such a quick recovery.

01:04:15.140 Um, I'm entering my first white belt, uh, like jujitsu tournament.

01:04:19.540 I lost all this weight.

01:04:20.260 My kids are so proud of me.

01:04:21.340 So I read it on the air.

01:04:22.640 Cause at the time I'm just like miserable and super depressed.

01:04:25.740 And I'm like, why am I doing this?

01:04:27.540 And I read it on the air feeling really good about myself.

01:04:31.100 And the next day the show got like eight or 10 emails from people that said by reading

01:04:37.880 his email, we were fat shaming them, which is insane.

01:04:43.340 Like I didn't say if you're overweight, you're bad.

01:04:46.860 Or I just, we read a Victoria story about someone who chose to get healthier.

01:04:51.700 And that was the first time where I was like, am I a conservative?

01:04:56.980 Like this is, it seems so insane to me.

01:04:58.820 It was the first time that I saw that sort of like victim mentality hurt someone else

01:05:03.280 where I'm like, you would rather this dude die.

01:05:06.720 So have you ever thought that, um, you are a liberal, just not this liberal?

01:05:16.240 Cause that's not liberal.

01:05:17.700 No. 0.99

01:05:19.060 They've gone insane.

01:05:20.960 Yeah.

01:05:21.300 And so many people who have been in your position, um, kind of went along with it for a while.

01:05:26.900 And then you're like, wait a minute, but that's not a liberal position.

01:05:29.440 These are not liberal ideas.

01:05:32.260 Yeah.

01:05:32.400 And I mean, I think that if everybody, if you just look at very broad generalizations,

01:05:38.980 if everyone listening to this could take the compassion and, and please, I'm not saying

01:05:45.340 that either side doesn't have the other things, but the compassion that supposedly the liberals

01:05:50.420 have the discipline that supposedly the conservatives have, right?

01:05:55.780 If we just took these things that the other side is known for and then applied all of them.

01:06:01.460 I mean, I remember, I used to think that whenever I'd hear someone talk about victimization

01:06:06.900 or pull yourself up by your bootstraps, I would just be like, ugh, like that's, you know,

01:06:12.060 that's so privileged or that's so this until I was suicidal.

01:06:15.480 And I was like, I got to pull myself up by my bootstraps.

01:06:17.900 Now with that said, I will say, I will give my little progressive, uh, disclaimer.

01:06:22.880 Well, what I was going to say is a lot of times it was, it was politicians on either

01:06:28.280 side who were, who were born into privilege, coasted through life, who were saying that

01:06:34.440 to like, you know, the single mom of five, like pull yourself up by your bootstraps.

01:06:38.560 It's like, all right, well you stole the boots.

01:06:40.280 Right.

01:06:40.500 But that mentality in general, isn't bad.

01:06:44.780 That mentality in general is great.

01:06:46.960 That mentality.

01:06:47.560 Here's what, here's what people, um, miss, um, when they think about a conservative is

01:06:53.740 pull yourself up by the bootstraps means be personally responsible for the things that

01:06:59.520 you are personally responsible for.

01:07:01.780 Yes.

01:07:02.300 Pull yourself up by the bootstraps.

01:07:03.980 I would say that to Citibank and Bear Stearns and AIG and all these people who made all

01:07:10.920 their own bed and then we fricking paid for it. 1.00

01:07:13.720 Yep.

01:07:14.520 You made the decision.

01:07:16.440 Yes.

01:07:16.800 You are responsible.

01:07:18.780 Yes.

01:07:19.140 Now, where were you at Occupy Wall Street?

01:07:21.060 Yeah.

01:07:21.360 That's what I was saying.

01:07:23.340 That's exactly what I was saying.

01:07:25.020 We were saying the same.

01:07:25.920 I've, I've said this for years.

01:07:27.320 Because if we could just listen to each other, I know, because we've, we've made it about

01:07:35.000 things that we all know are no freedom of speech.

01:07:39.100 No, you cancel people there.

01:07:41.200 I mean, what makes you different than the people who locked Galileo up?

01:07:44.640 Right.

01:07:45.100 You, you, what are you talking about?

01:07:46.560 And the thing with canceling too is again, if you care about the issues that you say you

01:07:53.740 care about, you need, you need a path for redemption.

01:07:56.640 Don't you want people to get better?

01:07:58.680 Don't you want people to learn instead of just now no one wants to talk about anything

01:08:02.940 and everyone's just shelling up even more.

01:08:05.120 You know how many women have told me like, man, I miss guys being like, guys, everyone's

01:08:08.720 just like super.

01:08:09.800 And these are like liberal women. 1.00

01:08:11.640 Like everyone's just so scared and so on edge.

01:08:14.900 And you know, for me, again, something I cared about when I was like, I guess I'm a liberal

01:08:18.940 was prison reform.

01:08:20.980 And now liberals, it's like, guys, if we're pro prison reform, if we're,

01:08:26.640 we're pro using prison to rehabilitate instead of punish, you're the same person who wants

01:08:31.540 a comedian to never work again because of a tweet or you want Chris Pratt to get fired

01:08:36.600 from Guardians of the Galaxy because he believes in God.

01:08:38.780 Like, are you out of your mind?

01:08:39.920 Um, it's so against what I thought liberalism was.

01:08:46.660 So I think that I think what's happening in the country and nobody's really talking about

01:08:50.040 it is, uh, you know, when September 11th happened, we all kind of woke up and then we all kind

01:08:59.060 of got into a pocket and that was our first real bad good.

01:09:04.740 You know what I mean?

01:09:05.960 Uh, and since that time, a lot of my friends have woken up and went, you know, this whole

01:09:15.640 nation building thing, let's go to war and we're on the righteous side.

01:09:20.560 That's kind of bad.

01:09:22.280 Right.

01:09:22.640 You know what I mean?

01:09:23.280 And we, we woke up from that and, and the, the system is still kind of the Republican system

01:09:32.520 is still kind of like that.

01:09:34.240 You know what I mean?

01:09:35.240 But the conservatives that I know are, are really repelled by that.

01:09:40.260 And we've learned so many things along the way that we're like, okay, I'm not that.

01:09:46.180 Right.

01:09:46.480 Okay.

01:09:46.800 But you don't really say it all the time.

01:09:49.980 Yeah.

01:09:50.540 And the same thing is happening with liberals is you believe in the bill of rights and now

01:09:58.900 they're all being violated and the system is saying, no, no, no, you will go to war when

01:10:05.920 we say you go to war and you will stifle speech when we say it.

01:10:11.120 And the mass amount of people are just like, I, but that doesn't make sense.

01:10:15.900 Yeah.

01:10:16.280 Yeah.

01:10:16.800 And by the way, it's, you know, the extremes on both sides, but I can speak for the left.

01:10:22.520 They're just pushing people away.

01:10:25.120 You know, I mean, you know how many new conservatives I saw who weren't conservatives who went straight,

01:10:31.240 like suddenly became like Trump dudes because liberals were the ones shutting down small

01:10:36.780 businesses or jujitsu gyms during COVID or because of the, the sex change stuff with kids 0.59

01:10:43.740 or because of stuff that like, yeah, we didn't know we're going to be issues under George

01:10:48.600 Bush or whatever.

01:10:49.760 And they're just like, or the free speech thing.

01:10:51.560 The free speech thing is huge for people in my community where it's all these comedians

01:10:55.160 I know who, when you talk to them, I mean, dude, you still talk to Rogan and you're like,

01:10:59.820 that guy's pretty liberal.

01:11:01.340 And he is considered like an alt-right demigod.

01:11:04.600 Uh, that's that, that again is the failure on the right where a, we're so desperate for

01:11:12.300 anybody.

01:11:12.760 They like us.

01:11:13.580 Okay.

01:11:14.520 So desperate.

01:11:15.660 But then the other thing is, is that's the refusal of the right to say, no, that they

01:11:25.360 may not have changed.

01:11:26.780 Their side has gone so far over.

01:11:30.760 They're just saying, I, I'm not you guys, but I've always defend, I've always thought

01:11:37.780 you guys were those people way behind you.

01:11:41.640 You know what I mean?

01:11:42.300 And so we're finding ourselves in.

01:11:46.320 Redefining who we are.

01:11:48.120 I'm a conservative.

01:11:49.000 Well, I don't know what that means.

01:11:50.100 I'm a liberal.

01:11:50.620 I don't know what that means.

01:11:51.480 It means what it's always meant, right?

01:11:53.600 The edges have tried to change.

01:11:55.840 Yeah, no, that's a great point.

01:11:57.380 And you know, similar, but not is when I will go on this show when I, I don't even know if

01:12:06.480 I had the guts to post the picture me and you took together when we took a picture together,

01:12:11.220 or maybe I looked bad in it.

01:12:12.300 I don't know.

01:12:12.820 I think I didn't realize how tall you were or how short I was when I was like, but we'll

01:12:19.140 do it again and I will make a post, but I will get, if I go on this show, if I go on

01:12:24.360 Tim Pool's show, if I go on Rogan's show, if I go on whoever, I will get people who unsubscribe

01:12:30.680 from my Patreon and I'm, I'm, you know, more confident than I've ever been.

01:12:36.800 But I, if I lose one listener, I actually know who that listener, like, I'm like, I, I need

01:12:41.340 them.

01:12:41.640 Um, and, uh, and, and, and, and, and I'll write, I'll write back to them sometimes where

01:12:47.260 they, you know, they're like, if you're on that show, you're supporting whatever.

01:12:50.820 And I have to go, you know, one, I mean, I stand by everything me and you have said during

01:12:55.420 this conversation that if anyone said anything, I would be like, I challenge you to listen

01:13:01.380 to it and tell me what you disagree with.

01:13:03.340 But also this is where I go, if you're not blindly just doing this because you, you think

01:13:09.900 you're a tribe wants you to do this.

01:13:11.780 If you truly are liberal, wouldn't you want me to someone like me to talk in front of millions

01:13:21.400 of people who may disagree with me about compassion or about, Hey, not all liberals are

01:13:27.480 psychopaths or about, you know, all this stuff when conservatives want you to go on MSN

01:13:33.320 NBC and say what you said about Bear Stearns, right?

01:13:36.200 Like, wouldn't that give people hope?

01:13:38.580 Wouldn't that actually, again, if you care about the issues, isn't that actually really

01:13:42.800 good for not just humanity, but like, if you're being selfish and if you are being tribal, isn't

01:13:49.000 that good for your team, quote unquote?

01:13:51.980 Um, and I think people are just so brainwashed where it's like, no, there is no talking to

01:13:57.100 the other side. 0.85

01:13:57.880 There is no, and it's like, well, then we're screwed.

01:14:00.540 Well, I have great hope that we're not this, you are, you've, you're great.

01:14:07.200 We're getting there.

01:14:07.940 You're great.

01:14:08.500 Thank you.

01:14:08.880 You're great.

01:14:09.500 Thank you so much.

01:14:12.320 I have found once you stop worrying about it, that's when it happens when you stop.

01:14:18.260 Um, yeah, I mean, that's really, that's what these last couple of weeks have been.

01:14:26.120 Um, and I don't know what it is because I don't have a gig lined up.

01:14:30.600 I got a couple of standup dates here at jamiehilston.com slash tour.

01:14:34.820 I think I'll be in Syracuse.

01:14:35.980 You, you, you have been offered jobs, um, recently that you won't, you won't do cause

01:14:45.780 you're afraid you'll do more damage or be part of damage.

01:14:49.540 Yeah.

01:14:50.340 Like I'll get these offers sometimes and they sound good, but anything where one, I don't

01:15:07.940 want to be a prop.

01:15:08.920 Right.

01:15:10.040 And you don't want to be the, Hey, he used to be a liberal. 0.98

01:15:13.540 Now he's a crazy conservative. 0.96

01:15:15.520 That's what it is. 0.99

01:15:15.720 Right. 0.99

01:15:16.040 I'm just shooting guns. 0.94

01:15:16.980 Yeah.

01:15:17.580 Like, uh, like I want to be able to have conversations like this.

01:15:22.320 Like these are the conversations that I want to have.

01:15:26.740 I mean, if I had a dream podcast, it wouldn't even be labeled something political politics

01:15:33.120 is always going to come up because I'm me and I care about people and you know, politics

01:15:39.880 obviously matters.

01:15:41.540 I think even if I did a strictly mental health podcast, politics would come up, but it would

01:15:46.080 come up like this and it would come up in a, in, we're trying to find a middle ground.

01:15:53.440 We're not trying to yell at each other or, you know, be the token liberal where I just

01:15:59.060 go on and everything, you know, poor Sarah says, I just shouted her like the opposite where 1.00

01:16:05.180 I'm like, I'm just a token liberal guy and I show up on the networks.

01:16:08.560 Cause so you guys can fill your like, you know, hipster liberal quota or whatever.

01:16:12.520 Um, be like, we got something from Austin and I'm like, hi everybody.

01:16:16.860 I'm tattooed.

01:16:17.900 Um, I used to have a vegan tattoo and I'm not even vegan.

01:16:21.220 Um, and, uh, and so I didn't want to do any of that, but on both the left and the right,

01:16:28.840 there is just dude, so many of these places, it's just divide, divide, divide, divide,

01:16:35.160 It's coming apart.

01:16:36.240 It's coming apart.

01:16:37.240 And I would rather, I would rather go on the road and do standup, you know, where, I mean,

01:16:48.080 look, man, it's, it's, it's, again, if I'm being super candid, it, it's hard for me to get gigs.

01:16:55.100 Um, whether it's because I align with some conservatives now, whether it's because, you know, me having

01:17:04.740 an affair was 10 years ago or eight years ago was, uh, called sexual misconduct, um, online,

01:17:13.260 whether it's because I don't know how to make my Wikipedia look better, uh, I've like literally

01:17:20.220 had to have conversations with like girlfriends, parents about it.

01:17:23.700 Um, which is horrible.

01:17:26.400 Um, and there are people who say more hateful things than me.

01:17:32.000 And this is where I can't let myself get bitter.

01:17:33.620 Um, who were accused of things like way worse.

01:17:39.460 Um, but they had a really big following and so clubs don't care, but I didn't have a following

01:17:47.840 because I alienated people because I was such a hardcore lefty.

01:17:52.280 And then when I had the affair and people were like, ha ha ha, it was sort of, well, one

01:17:58.060 side disowned me and the other side like laughed at me.

01:18:00.360 And so there wasn't, I wasn't famous enough to be able to get in trouble properly, you know, um,

01:18:07.600 where I could have a successful career.

01:18:09.000 But man, if I could just do standup every night and just, it felt so good to do standup in Houston

01:18:17.200 and Nashville and Chattanooga and be in front of, and dude, most of the people coming up to me after

01:18:21.160 the show were conservative.

01:18:22.240 And I still have some liberalist jokes in there and, and they were just like, man, we just

01:18:26.860 needed that.

01:18:27.400 We just needed to laugh.

01:18:28.360 And you forget that that's a political statement, just doing comedy, you know, especially like

01:18:34.360 I'm saying things that I'm not supposed to say on the left, but I'm also saying some views

01:18:39.680 that I'm not supposed to say on the right.

01:18:41.220 And it's cool.

01:18:42.340 It actually feels dangerous.

01:18:43.720 That's what you're, I know, that's what a comedian is supposed to do.

01:18:47.200 Lenny Bruce is like, hello.

01:18:48.800 Yeah.

01:18:49.220 Yeah.

01:18:49.460 And Carlin getting arrested with Lenny Bruce and, you know, Bill Hicks, all these guys that

01:18:53.640 we looked up to, I mean, Richard Pryor literally talked about being abusive.

01:18:59.600 Um, and it was just so real and so honest and so raw.

01:19:03.020 And so, you know, I love doing that.

01:19:05.400 I think that, you know, I never say good things about me.

01:19:12.120 I was always so self-deprecating.

01:19:13.980 Um, but I also think, I think there is a place on a show for me.

01:19:18.860 I think that someone talking about issues like this, um, is important.

01:19:23.720 I think someone who can laugh with a liberal and conservative is important.

01:19:26.540 I just, I haven't found where I can do it yet.

01:19:29.680 That's not going to either try to push me to be something I'm not, or like I said, even

01:19:35.400 that moderate world where it's like, all right, we're still digging for people to trash.

01:19:39.240 Like that's kind of what everyone does every day.

01:19:42.260 And to be honest, I'm the happiest when I don't read the news that day.

01:19:45.660 I'm the happiest when I go for walks and I don't know what happened this week in the

01:19:49.820 news, but me and you still had a good show, but I don't know what happened, but I can

01:19:54.940 guess.

01:19:55.400 Cause it's probably very similar.

01:19:57.680 I didn't know what it, I didn't know what it, I was on vacation for 10 days, right?

01:20:01.060 I didn't know it until about six hours ago and I was less happy, much less happy.

01:20:12.340 Thank you.

01:20:13.180 Thank you so much.

01:20:19.620 Just a reminder, I'd love you to rate and subscribe to the podcast and pass this on to

01:20:24.900 a friend so it can be discovered by other people.

The Glenn Beck Program - October 01, 2022

Ep 156 ｜ How to Laugh Through Depression & Homelessness ｜ Jamie Kilstein ｜ The Glenn Beck Podcast

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