And, This Is Governor Newsom Live At The DealBook Summit With Andrew Ross Sorkin
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Summary
Andrew Ross Sorkin and Gavin Newsom join me in Los Angeles to discuss the future of the Democratic Party and what it means to be a California Governor. We also talk about why we should care about what s going on in Silicon Valley and what s happening in the world of artificial intelligence.
Transcript
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Please welcome Andrew Ross Sorkin and his guest, Governor of California, Gavin Newsom.
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And I just want to say the reason that I wanted you to come here more than anything else right now
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is I think we're in a moment where the country is trying to figure out the politics of the country,
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but in particular the Democratic Party and the future of the Democratic Party and where it all goes next.
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And this governor has become perhaps one of the most vocal critics, frankly, of this president,
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often mirroring his own language on social media.
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In his home state of California, artificial intelligence, of course, booming.
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But you're also dealing with a crowd in Silicon Valley who's moved, I think, in other directions.
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And I want to discuss all of that and in Prop 50 and everything else.
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I'm Kristen Davis, host of the podcast, Are You a Charlotte?
00:01:09.820
The most anticipated guest from season three is here, the Trey to my Charlotte.
00:01:15.940
Kyle McLaughlin joins me to relive all of the magical Trey and Charlotte moments.
00:01:20.900
He reveals what he thinks of Trey giving Charlotte a cardboard baby and why he chose not to return
00:01:31.500
On the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.
00:01:36.020
What were some of the memories from your USO tours?
00:01:38.460
That nobody knew who I was and they were like, why do we have to say hello to this guy?
00:01:42.120
Recently on the Good Stuff podcast, we sat down with our friend Bradley Cooper to talk about
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He was there when I found out that I was going to have a baby.
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And how they've been there for each other through the hard times.
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And I was able to sort of walk Jacob through some stuff.
00:01:57.540
I think times that you knew and times you didn't know.
00:02:00.460
Listen to the Good Stuff podcast on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.
00:02:06.180
This week on Dear Chelsea, Elizabeth Olsen is here.
00:02:11.240
I get anxious that I'm going to say something that is going to offend people.
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We all have to say this over and over to ourselves.
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I find that to be so satisfying as someone who is a fearful person.
00:02:32.800
Listen to Dear Chelsea on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.
00:02:43.100
And I want to tell you about my new podcast called The Mailroom.
00:02:47.920
And like most guys, I haven't been to the doctor in way too long.
00:02:51.320
I'll be asking the questions we probably should be asking, but aren't.
00:02:54.760
Every week, we're breaking down the world of men's health from testosterone and fitness to diets and fertility.
00:02:59.820
We'll talk science without the jargon and get your real answers to the stuff you actually wonder about.
00:03:04.520
So check out The Mailroom on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your favorite shows.
00:03:13.800
I want to tell you about my new podcast called Not My Best Moment, where I talk to artists, athletes, entertainers, creators, friends, people I admire who've had massive success about their massive failures.
00:03:35.540
Check out Not My Best Moment with me, Kev on stage, on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, YouTube, or wherever you get your podcasts.
00:03:44.760
Let's just start at the beginning here of the Democratic Party.
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You recently declared that the Democratic Party of old is no more.
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I think this was in the wake of Proposition 50's win in California and, of course, the wins in Virginia and New Jersey.
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But why you think the Democratic Party of old is not the same and what it looks like?
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I would say it in contextual terms that we're finally back on our toes, not our back heels.
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We're finally beginning to shapeshift and we're finally beginning to fight.
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A year ago, we were all there hand-wringing because we were a party that appeared weak, out of touch, a party that was not fighting back, was not asserting itself.
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And so, from my perspective, I thought November and what it represented in New Jersey and Virginia, what it represented in many respects here, but also in Pennsylvania and Georgia and elsewhere, and certainly with Proposition 50, was demonstrable proof, including last night, that our party's now back on its toes.
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And it's a party now that has gotten more enthusiasm and it's a party that I think is more unified.
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So, there is a wealth tax proposal in California that I think you are adamantly against.
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And we have a mayor that's coming here in New York who would like to have a wealth tax if he could.
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But this idea of a unifying theory of the case.
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We all want to be connected to something bigger than ourselves.
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We have fundamental values that I think define our party about social justice, economic justice.
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I think we recognize it's important to focus on growth but also focus on inclusion.
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And therein lies the dialectic and therein lies the debate within the Democratic Party.
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We also have Democrats that are representative of their districts, representative of the people that they represent.
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So much punditry has been done about, well, is the future of the party of Mandami at the same election that occurred?
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And that's the question about the unifying theory question, which is you could have a big tent, but if the theories of the case are so diametrically opposed, how split and broken is the party?
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Look, the party's knitting itself back together.
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And there's been a lot of forensic analysis, perhaps not enough, about what happened.
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I'm up to page 28 in my analysis of what happened.
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But at the end of the day, you know, I think we have to become...
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No, look, I mean, you know, we could talk about why Kamala lost, which is separate.
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I mean, it's part derivative of the larger narrative, but issues around inflation scars.
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Issues related, you just said, BV on, related to Israeli politics.
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Immigration, the border in particular, you could talk about all those things, not just 107 days, not just talk about Biden's determination or lack thereof in terms of passing the baton.
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But I think there's a broader narrative that we ought to address.
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We have to be a party that understands the importance and power of the border, substantively and politically.
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We have a party that I think needs to design and develop a compelling economic vision for the future,
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where people feel included to reconcile the fact that if we don't democratize our economy, we're not going to save democracy.
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And I don't think it's healthy that we have 10% of people that own two-thirds the wealth in this country.
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The folks watching Mr. Beast, disproportionately 30-year-olds, the first generation in history not doing better than their parents.
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There's some underlying issues here that have to be addressed.
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We have an economy that is broken for too many people.
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And I say that as someone that doesn't begrudge other people's success.
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I do that as someone that believes not in redistributive policies, believes in progressive tax policy,
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but is mindful that businesses can't thrive in a world that's failing.
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And I think that's foundationally and fundamentally what Trump understood.
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It's what people like AOC, Bernie, and Mandami understand from a narrative perspective.
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But the policies that shape that, I think, will also shape the comeback for the Democratic Party.
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Okay, but let me ask then about wealth taxes, because it's an easy one to discuss in certain ways.
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You're not for a wealth tax in the state of California.
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People have this simple luxury, particularly people of that status.
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They already have two or three homes outside the state.
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Plus, there's some simple questions that haven't been answered very simply, is how the hell do you determine it?
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How do you make that determination in terms of just what the basic assessment is?
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We have one individual that represents one labor union in the state of California that has not collected one signature
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that is considering putting on the ballot after he collects signatures, a wealth tax that vast majority of labor opposes and almost everybody I know opposes.
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So it's not something to be panicked about, but it's part of the broader concern and narrative that's developed in this country of the haves and have-nots,
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not just income inequality, but wealth inequality.
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Quote, two-plus thousand years ago, Plutarch was warning the Athenians that the imbalance between the rich and the poor
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is the oldest and most fatal ailment of all republics.
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It's so foundational, and it's off-kilter now, and it has to be addressed.
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And that's why I talk about growth and inclusion, and I think that's-
00:10:01.040
But how do you address it if it's not for taxes?
00:10:04.040
Well, I'm around, but we can get into many issues related to affordability and reducing costs, not just subsidizing costs.
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This is not an answer, but it is a proof point.
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We're manufacturing it, reducing costs, not subsidizing costs.
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We just came out with a new strategy to provide $60 billion of utility rebates in the state of California
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through our Cap and Invest program, regionalizing our grid with other Western states to lower costs,
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deal with curtailment issues, create more stability on our grid to also address that issue.
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As it relates to the broader issues for our party,
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I believe fundamentally that our interventions come too late.
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One of the things that has come too late, but I'm glad its moment is here,
00:11:00.860
interestingly, because I'm rare am I out there promoting what Ted Cruz is promoting,
00:11:06.360
but Cory Booker and Ted Cruz absolutely right in the big, beautiful bill,
00:11:13.560
By the way, I did it four years ago, $1.9 billion for 3.4 million students going into kindergarten,
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That's about creating opportunities for wealth.
00:11:26.560
You're talking about what some people are calling the Trump accounts.
00:11:28.900
Well, Trump is literally just, you know, vandalizing it by putting his name on it.
00:11:32.640
And we can get into broader issues there, but it's a good idea.
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And, you know, all these conversations are very familiar.
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People are now talking about UBI, Mincome and all that.
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Now it's moved to universal basic capital and equity and sovereign wealth.
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But this is the conversation we need to start having, because, again, we have got to democratize our economy.
00:11:57.440
It is the democracy cannot withstand this kind of disparity for long.
00:12:10.420
The headline admitted Gavin Newsom is the 2028 front runner.
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For years, Democrats and pundits have rolled their eyes at Gavin Newsom, they say.
00:12:20.820
But he's positioned better than anyone else for the future of politics now.
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Trying to sell links to Politico is what it sounds like.
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Look, I'm humbled by that because it's rather remarkable.
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I'm trying to meet this moment, and I'm trying to be accountable to this moment.
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I know there's a lot of speculation about the future.
00:12:59.280
And I said to someone who asked me directly, he said, have you ever thought about it?
00:13:04.680
So I haven't thought about the future in that respect.
00:13:26.460
It was about being accountable, not just rhetorically, but substantively, to address what Donald Trump is trying to do to this country.
00:13:36.400
He dialed for votes down there, said, find me 11,000, 12,000 votes with the Secretary of State in Georgia.
00:13:42.700
He did the same thing when he said he's, quote, unquote, entitled to five seats when he called Greg Abbott.
00:13:47.540
He's trying to rig the midterm elections in 2026 before one vote is cast.
00:13:52.580
And what he expected is California would sit back, maybe work to write an op-ed, hoping that the New York Times would run it, to say what a terrible thing this is.
00:14:03.440
They did not and he did not expect us to go out and raise $118 million over a 90-day period and put our independent redistricting commission on a new status for three-year temporary and transparent new maps in order to counter what happened in Texas.
00:14:26.000
You will not have, and I don't, you know, I imagine half of you may just roll your eyes.
00:14:32.120
You will not have a free and fair election as we know them today in the United States of America if Speaker Jeffries is not sworn in a year plus from now.
00:14:54.680
That's what I mean by competitive authoritarianism.
00:14:57.180
Ask folks in Hungary and Orban what's going on in Turkey.
00:15:03.020
I know that on the basis of a lot of evidence in fact.
00:15:06.540
I saw, in fact, examples of that the day of our election just a few weeks ago where Donald Trump set out BORTAC teams, border patrol tactical units to Dodger Stadium to chill free expression, to chill election turnout.
00:15:21.900
He said the day of the election before one vote was cast, he said this was a rigged election, sent out his DOJ with no basis, no business to being there for a state ballot.
00:15:31.720
He sent Greg Bovino and his secret police that seemed to have taken an oath in office to him, not the Constitution of the United States, to our campaign kickoff at the Democracy Center to chill participation in our rally.
00:15:46.540
And he federalized 4,000 National Guard and sent 700 active duty Marines, not overseas, but to the second largest city in America.
00:15:56.480
And they're still, our federalized guard, still there.
00:16:05.140
And I'm sure a lot of you are fine with it because a lot of people have figured it out.
00:16:11.840
State capitalism, crony capitalism, the great grift.
00:16:18.400
But one of the things I'm trying to do better is express my concern, highlight that with more conviction and clarity,
00:16:26.140
and also reinforce that we're about to walk into the 250th anniversary of the best of Greek democracy in the Roman Republic,
00:16:36.480
this historic values of our founding fathers in 2026.
00:16:43.740
And so I'm standing on that line, and we're trying to push back.
00:16:49.580
I had asked readers of DealBook if they had questions for you.
00:16:57.160
And here's a good one that came in that actually matches the conversation I think you were just having,
00:17:06.680
How is California's gerrymandering exercise with the full support of the governor anything but a slippery slope?
00:17:27.980
Not only am I against it, I was one of its champions for independent redistricting.
00:17:32.060
And that's why I required in this ballot initiative that we affirm our desire to have national independent redistricting.
00:17:39.340
And by the way, the voters overwhelmingly supported that.
00:17:41.500
But a temporary response to an emergency of Donald Trump's making was appropriate.
00:17:49.060
We maintained the independent redistricting commission.
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We still maintain the independent districts for everything but three elections for Congress.
00:18:01.560
These were the first maps in U.S. history to go on the ballot.
00:18:09.220
Compare that to the maps that were drafted and are currently being drafted in Mar-a-Lago,
00:18:13.980
up there in Indiana, in Missouri, in North Carolina, and will be done quite literally in Mar-a-Lago when DeSantis gets his arms around them.
00:18:34.860
You have taken to trolling Trump and really using his words.
00:18:42.700
Happy holidays to everyone except the seriously demented piggy who turned the Oval Office into a revolving door for grifters and crooks.
00:18:50.640
You go on to say this clown slapped tariffs, attacks on the working man.
00:18:55.880
You go on to say that his dimwit Avengers, including Cash Money Patel, Dumb Dumb Pete, Cosplay Christie, and you go on and on and on.
00:19:08.460
Because you have been very critical of the way the president has spoken and the rhetoric of this president.
00:19:14.620
And here you are using the exact same rhetoric.
00:19:26.960
You got Pravda, the propaganda networks out there, the primetime lineup at Fox just going on and on and on.
00:19:32.520
You call someone the R word or piggy and somehow it's just Trump being Trump.
00:19:40.000
It's unbecoming of the president of the United States.
00:19:52.680
I tried to put a mirror up to what the hell is going on in this country.
00:20:07.460
I think there were 11 to 15 Fox News pieces on this.
00:20:14.060
Newsom's wife, who's here, thank you, Jen, she should wash his mouth out with soap saying about me for these tweets.
00:20:21.660
Without any situational awareness, they haven't said a damn word about the president of the United States.
00:20:44.040
And what I'm trying to parrot is an iterative style.
00:20:48.180
Put that mirror up, but also test some theories.
00:20:52.000
And I, forgive me, I think it's working a little bit.
00:20:57.420
And not all of these, there's a kill switch for me.
00:21:02.040
Well, I was going to say, what is the kill switch?
00:21:05.860
But you're selling, you said coming soon, you're selling new knee pads for all CEOs, universities, and GOP bending the knee to Donald Trump.
00:21:17.980
Well, we raised hundreds of thousands of dollars.
00:21:28.740
By the way, some of you may need to buy them in bulk.
00:21:33.160
But we have the new Trump Signature Series knee pads on my Patriot site, which is an actual real site.
00:21:40.320
I encourage you, if you're bored, to Google it right now.
00:21:43.500
And they were sold out, just like our universities were selling out, just like our law firms were selling out, just like a lot of CEOs were selling out.
00:21:51.300
Selling out this country, our future, our republic.
00:21:59.860
And, I mean, it breaks my heart to see these law firms sell out like this.
00:22:04.600
I mean, President Xi is out there going, my gosh, Trump's flattery.
00:22:10.620
I mean, 10% of Intel, 15% at AMD, 15% at NVIDIA, MP Materials, Golden Shares, U.S. Steel.
00:22:19.240
Well, what the hell happened to free enterprise, a healthy horse pulling a sturdy wagon?
00:22:26.300
What's going on with a country that President of the United States shows up, but the one group that shows up before him are members of his family to make sure they get the golf course approved.
00:22:34.100
To use the tariffs is leveraged to get personal deals done.
00:22:39.580
What is the one thing that has in common all his trips overseas?
00:22:43.200
This meme coin, the crypto scam, the pardons on a daily basis, it seems.
00:22:53.780
It's not the America I want my kids growing up in.
00:22:58.120
And I know it's painful for some because, you know, you know, to be called out and I don't mean to be a fan.
00:23:04.120
I'm not I don't want to be this guy, but it disgusts me.
00:23:07.740
And so I thought the knee pads were appropriate.
00:23:15.240
I'm the director of the men's clinic at UCLA Health.
00:23:17.720
And I want to tell you about my new podcast called The Mailroom.
00:23:22.760
And like a lot of guys, I haven't been to the doctor in many years.
00:23:26.800
I'll be asking the questions we probably should be asking, but aren't.
00:23:30.320
Because guys usually don't go to the doctor unless a piece of their face is hanging off or they've broken a bone.
00:23:37.860
Every week we're breaking down the unique world of men's health.
00:23:40.880
From testosterone and fitness to diets and fertility and things that happen in the bedroom.
00:23:49.240
We'll talk science without the jargon and get you real answers to the stuff you actually wonder about.
00:23:54.880
It's going to be fun, whether you're 27, 97, or somewhere in between.
00:23:59.400
Men's Health is about more than six packs and supplements.
00:24:08.700
So check out The Mailroom on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your favorite shows.
00:24:14.940
I'm Kristen Davis, host of the podcast, Are You a Charlotte?
00:24:18.740
The most anticipated guest from season three is here, the Trey to my Charlotte.
00:24:25.580
Kyle MacLachlan joins me to relive all of the magical Trey and Charlotte moments.
00:24:31.160
He reveals what he thinks of Trey giving Charlotte a cardboard baby.
00:24:38.100
I was literally, I was like, this doesn't track for me at all.
00:24:45.040
I'm talking about, you know, I think he's, he's a guy who spends time in Central Park.
00:24:47.720
You know, he's probably, you know, he'll do some surgery stuff, you know.
00:24:50.400
And I was like, all this kind of stuff going on.
00:24:57.360
And why he chose not to return to And Just Like That.
00:25:10.280
On the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.
00:25:15.200
This week on Dear Chelsea, Elizabeth Olsen is here.
00:25:22.920
So I guess I take myself seriously a little bit.
00:25:26.220
But I also don't take the job of being like an actor very serious.
00:25:39.540
How did you get into the practice of journaling?
00:25:42.240
I just started doing it every morning three years ago, along with jumping naked into my
00:25:59.480
I do 80-year-old calisthenics afterwards to warm up my body.
00:26:05.540
Listen to Dear Chelsea on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.
00:26:12.240
What were some of the memories from your USO tours?
00:26:14.860
That nobody knew who I was, and they were like, why do we have to say hello to this guy?
00:26:19.180
Recently on the Good Stuff Podcast, we sat down with our friend Bradley Cooper to talk
00:26:29.440
He was there when I found out that I was going to have a baby, which was incredible.
00:26:34.700
You showed me the picture, you're like, what's that mean?
00:26:39.420
Did you ever tell the Clint Eastwood story on this?
00:26:44.620
And how they've been there for each other through the hard times.
00:26:46.980
You know, I've been lucky enough to have dealt with some issues early on, you know, relatively
00:26:52.460
And I was able to sort of walk Jacob through some stuff.
00:26:56.140
Yeah, next month I'll be eight years clean and sober.
00:27:03.340
I think times that you knew and times you didn't know.
00:27:06.160
Listen to the Good Stuff podcast on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your
00:27:16.180
I want to tell you about my new podcast called Not My Best Moment, where I talk to artists,
00:27:21.020
athletes, entertainers, creators, friends, people I admire who had massive success about
00:27:40.420
But if they had tomatoes, they would have thrown the tomatoes.
00:27:43.960
We've all had those moments we'd rather forget.
00:27:52.660
But this podcast is about that and how we made it through.
00:27:55.940
So when they sat me down, they were kind of like, we got into the small talk and they
00:28:05.240
Check out Not My Best Moment with me, Kevin on stage, on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts,
00:28:15.240
President Trump on his website is selling hats that say 2028 on them.
00:28:21.120
Do you believe that he has any ambition to be the president beyond 2028?
00:28:32.620
But I think he recognizes time of life is catching up with him, even though he can't
00:28:44.220
And so I think his regime will be measured in years, not decades.
00:29:01.600
I was in the Oval Office, incidentally, just as an aside, with President Trump a few months
00:29:06.280
I think I was one of the first Democrats to sit down with him, almost 90 minutes.
00:29:09.540
And one of the things, I'm sitting there at the resolute.
00:29:19.760
And I literally looked and I went, oh, God, here we go.
00:29:25.880
He's trolling everybody, but he's also bringing world leaders in to give them the 2028 hat.
00:29:32.140
Heck, this is how serious he was about avoiding the government shutdown, that he not only canceled
00:29:37.600
the meetings with Jeffries and Schumer, felt pressure to get the meeting back on.
00:29:46.200
He just had a photo with the 2028 hat to troll them on the desk.
00:29:55.600
But for me, what I worry about, again, is his ability to manipulate the 2028 election.
00:30:07.780
That's why it's so important that we win the House of Representatives in 2026.
00:30:23.280
He wants this to bring us back to pre-1960s world.
00:30:28.820
Republicans, broadly, have been in support of that agenda.
00:30:31.200
But he's doing it with more ferocity and voting rights, civil rights, LGBTQ rights, women's
00:30:36.940
But when it comes to the issues of voter ID, when it comes to the issues of voter integrity,
00:30:40.760
when it comes to the issues of masked men being in and around polling places, when it
00:30:46.640
comes to the issue, as he's doing in January, quick response teams.
00:30:52.580
He announced quick response teams in every state in the United States of America so that
00:30:59.980
Think about that as we come to the elections in 2026.
00:31:07.080
It's not one thing he's doing, getting rid of vote by mail.
00:31:14.880
And that stacking creates a lot of stress from my perspective.
00:31:18.240
Let me ask you a different question, which is, for a very long time, people specifically
00:31:22.620
actually in Silicon Valley were very supportive of you.
00:31:28.760
And there has been a big move of foot, as you know, out of the state, either out of
00:31:35.680
the state or at least their politics have shifted markedly.
00:31:39.620
So you may have Sam Altman or Mark Zuckerberg in your state, but effectively, they are also
00:31:54.760
I mean, I live in a state with 32 of the top 50 market cap AI companies, I mean, in
00:32:00.860
the Bay Area, almost dominantly, disproportionately.
00:32:07.040
We dominate in all these future technologies, including R&D and nuclear.
00:32:12.140
And of course, we have 18% of the world's R&D in my state.
00:32:20.680
You saw Tesla move their world R&D headquarters into Silicon Valley at HP Enterprises' old
00:32:31.340
But all he left with was a bag of cash so he can avoid capital gains.
00:32:39.200
In fact, you can go and watch the press conference we had a few months later when he brought the
00:32:43.460
R&D headquarters back, where he made the case we've added 10,000 jobs from Tesla since
00:32:49.960
So what is your relationship, by the way, what's your relationship like with these people
00:32:54.440
And how do you keep them in your state, and yet they're on the other side of your own
00:33:03.500
It's very situational with a lot of these guys.
00:33:06.240
A lot of the folks that well-described move towards Trump, sort of the Sachs types, watch
00:33:24.560
I mean, cryptos are, I mean, all in podcasts, by the way, is, you know, great podcast, not
00:33:30.760
But his, you know, one of his co-hosts is in business with Trump Jr., who's in business
00:33:44.920
They announced the big AI deal at the All In podcast.
00:33:49.180
I mean, this is a different level of griff than we've ever experienced in our lifetime.
00:33:57.620
But I say this, those guys were already on the spectrum, libertarian spectrum, already.
00:34:06.060
Most of the other folks, I think it's a little bit more, I don't want to say the word transactional,
00:34:21.240
So I don't see it as a big shift, as perhaps others do.
00:34:26.660
And that's on the basis of very close relationships, as you suggest, going back decades.
00:34:30.760
So let me ask you a question, because you mentioned David Sachs.
00:34:32.380
The New York Times had a big piece about David Sachs.
00:34:34.440
A lot of folks in the Valley thought that David Sachs is doing a great thing by being in this
00:34:44.760
The argument is that if you're going to have experts in these fields, invariably there are
00:34:55.160
I ask because there are people who go back and look at people who were Democrats.
00:35:00.420
By the way, a lot of people in Google land and lots of other parts of Silicon Valley that
00:35:05.100
were very close to the Obama administration years ago.
00:35:10.860
And I don't know if you think that that's a fair question or you think that they're even
00:35:18.300
If you're suggesting that, I just want to be careful about this notion of sort of, you
00:35:28.740
There's nothing equivalent about what's going on in the United States right now as it relates
00:35:33.720
to crony capitalism and self-dealing, period, full stop.
00:35:37.640
And I mean, we can get into the $230 million demand on the DOJ.
00:35:41.780
We can get into the $400 million Qatari jet that includes a billion dollars of your money
00:35:45.960
where we cut food stamps to pay for a billion dollars to retrofit that $400 million plan.
00:35:52.700
We can get to the resorts and the towers and the golf courses.
00:35:55.260
We can get into the children of all of these guys from, I mean, from Whitcoff, 32-year-old
00:36:00.600
AI czar who had no experience and rather cryptozar in his own right, the $2 billion, the Binance
00:36:10.080
If you want to compare that to someone who resigns or takes a leave of absence from Google
00:36:15.780
to work on open source for the Biden administration or the Obama administration, I think that's
00:36:25.820
What I'm arguing for, David's a very bright guy.
00:36:28.460
I'm not naive about that, but what the New York Times highlighted was the conflicts at
00:36:36.060
He hasn't pulled away from all of these investments.
00:36:39.520
And I just think there needs to be levels of ethics that are demanded of these leaders.
00:36:49.260
That said, there's so much self-dealing and that entire ecosystem has benefited from it.
00:36:54.900
California has benefited from it, but I do not think it's healthy for capitalism, and
00:37:00.660
I do not think it's healthy for free enterprise.
00:37:03.060
Let me ask you a question about your own prospects outside of California.
00:37:07.360
California, like New York, is not always the most beloved state by the rest of the country.
00:37:14.500
And they look at some of these states as aberrations or on the ends.
00:37:20.960
They physically are on the ends of the country.
00:37:22.760
And I wonder when you look at your own prospects, I think it's clear that your ability to communicate
00:37:32.840
But there's a lot of people who would look in California, and they look at the debt in
00:37:38.440
They look at some of the issues that have taken place with, you know, the homeless, which you
00:37:45.560
Prop 47, housing costs and the like, and companies and others leaving the state.
00:37:52.560
If we're going to have a guy managing the country, California is not the example we want to follow.
00:37:56.700
Well, I mean, we're one from the sixth largest economy, the fourth largest economy, $4.1 trillion
00:38:03.500
We have more Fortune 500 companies than we've ever had in the last two decades.
00:38:08.180
Went from 48 to now, or 49 now to 58 Fortune 500 companies.
00:38:13.780
You brought up Sam Altman a moment ago, the largest market cap private company in world history.
00:38:19.420
He decided just a few weeks ago, we're at a headquarter in the state of California.
00:38:23.940
More scientists, engineers, more Nobel laureates, venture capital, over $106 billion this year,
00:38:30.560
68% of that invested back into the state of California.
00:38:35.260
Finest system of higher education in the world, a conveyor belt for talent like no other.
00:38:43.120
The future happens in my state first, where America's coming attraction.
00:38:49.520
We're also the dominant manufacturing hub in the United States of America.
00:38:52.820
$405.6 billion, 13.9% of the U.S. manufacturing.
00:39:02.440
We're the dominant ag state, $62.1 billion, forestry, hunting jobs, ag jobs.
00:39:10.220
You're talking about my home state of California.
00:39:12.880
The state of California has seen population increase.
00:39:15.920
We had a treasury secretary here who needs to actually get some facts.
00:39:21.040
California saw a population increase last year of 108,000, 105,000 the prior year, 49,000 the prior year.
00:39:27.860
Before that, you've got to update your talking points.
00:39:37.520
And I'm also proud of the fact that in the spirit of New York Times and the abundance agenda
00:39:41.940
and the good work that Ezra is doing, we've never tackled our housing crisis more aggressively than we tackled it this last year.
00:39:50.280
We've never tackled our homeless and mental health crisis more than we have in the last few years.
00:39:55.080
There's 0.45 percent increase, less than 1 percent in unsheltered homelessness.
00:40:00.020
Forty other states saw significantly higher increases in homeless.
00:40:03.580
I'm not happy about that, but we're finally making progress.
00:40:07.300
So in many ways, I think there's a story to tell, and I'm not arguing for my own case,
00:40:15.640
but it's a story that I think a lot of Californians are proud to tell.
00:40:18.860
I wanted to go back to your – you've mentioned grift a couple of times
00:40:23.040
and corporate leaders doing things to placate what you think of as this administration.
00:40:31.700
I talked to Secretary Scott Besson earlier this morning.
00:40:34.040
We were talking about David Ellison in Paramount.
00:40:35.940
It's a deal, by the way, that would likely happen in your state, depending on what ultimately happens.
00:40:40.000
I don't know if you want to go see Rush Hour 4 or not, if that's on your –
00:40:43.440
I like one, two, and three, so I'm a Chris Tucker fan.
00:40:47.620
But my question to you is, do you blame the businesses for trying to curry the favor,
00:40:56.580
or do you blame the administration or the other political party for incentivizing
00:41:03.500
or creating this opportunity if you think that's the case?
00:41:09.960
You've got to kiss the ring, the fealty to the dear leader, the likes of which we've never seen.
00:41:18.080
But if you were Tim Cook – and I'm serious – if you were Tim Cook, under the circumstances –
00:41:22.740
and he's in your state – under the circumstances he is in,
00:41:26.500
which is he manufactures a lot of stuff in China, worried about the tariffs.
00:41:31.760
And he was able to make a phone call that no small business in my state could have made.
00:41:36.280
I mean, how about my farmers and ranchers in California?
00:41:38.440
How about all these small, medium-sized businesses that can't pick up the phone
00:41:53.160
But what does he – back to the generous analysis.
00:41:58.060
That's called being a fiduciary, doing what he needs to do on behalf of his shareholders.
00:42:10.000
But what I do begrudge is the tone and tenor that this administration has set
00:42:17.520
and the expectations they've set that if you don't do the bidding,
00:42:21.960
you don't write the check, you don't get the contract.
00:42:25.660
Directing contracts, changing procurement, sole source on this, sole source that.
00:42:29.900
This is a different level than we've ever seen in the past.
00:42:34.500
Some would argue, okay, it's just more transparent, BS.
00:42:37.560
It's at a different scale than we've seen in the past.
00:42:41.560
And for those that are complicit and participatory in that,
00:42:45.580
beyond their fiduciary responsibility, that's where I have a real problem.
00:42:50.380
We talked to Dario Modi today, and we also talked to Mary Barra,
00:42:53.740
and you're going to see a connection between the two in just a moment.
00:42:56.360
One of the things that's fascinating in the AI space is that there are states,
00:43:00.900
including California, that would like to regulate artificial intelligence, as you know.
00:43:07.900
And for a very long time, California regulated fuel standards, efficiency standards.
00:43:22.300
I think if you're the governor of the state, you might say to yourself,
00:43:27.820
If you become the president of the United States, do you want to do it federally?
00:43:37.280
There was a president of the United States by the name of Ronald Reagan,
00:43:41.020
whose approach was, in 1967, to advance an effort to regulate tailpipe emissions.
00:43:50.980
It was codified by the Clean Air Act in 1970 by Republican Richard Nixon.
00:43:55.540
Did so in response to the smog crisis in Los Angeles.
00:44:03.500
And so they began the modern environmental movement,
00:44:05.680
particularly as it relates to issues of emissions.
00:44:08.660
What Mary did, with respect, I say this, is I've worked with her in the past.
00:44:13.780
She worked behind our back to work with Republicans in Congress and Trump to gut that leadership going back to Ronald Reagan through a process called CRA with Senator Thune.
00:44:33.800
Today, she or her representatives are back in the Oval Office today celebrating the fact they're going to increase costs for fuel
00:44:47.200
and increase subsidies for polluters by rolling back Joe Biden's fuel efficiency standards, celebrated by big oil that just got $18 billion in subsidies, big oil and gas,
00:45:03.400
in the big beautiful bill, that will put us further behind our number one competitor, China, in terms of a global market.
00:45:13.920
And so I'm not happy about that as a Californian.
00:45:16.940
But if someone just came back from Belém, came back from COP, and everywhere you went there was a BYD, I mean, these guys are flooding the zone.
00:45:27.840
It's about markets, it's about supply chains, and it's about influence.
00:45:32.000
They're doing it in Latin America, South America, increasingly in Europe.
00:45:35.620
And we are doubling down on stupid here in the United States.
00:45:40.500
70% of the EV market is coming out of China now.
00:45:45.640
They're 3x the manufacturing of automobiles that we are in the United States of America, about 31-plus million vehicles to our 10.
00:45:52.380
And it's the tech stack where they're dominating.
00:45:55.080
It's batteries, it's software, it's the future, it's mobility.
00:46:00.440
And so, yeah, I'm a little ticked off that these guys want to pave over the old cow path,
00:46:05.200
as opposed to transform the industry and the technology and lower costs for consumers,
00:46:12.100
and not have the socialized cost of pollution and lousy health as a byproduct of it.
00:46:18.240
We've only got a minute, and I have a final question, and it's from a longtime DealBook reader who asked this.
00:46:24.800
If you are not the Democrats' presidential nominee...
00:46:29.560
In 2028, who does he want to be the nominee, assuming they can win the election?
00:46:38.400
I'm the director of the men's clinic at UCLA Health, and I want to tell you about my new podcast called The Mailroom.
00:46:45.800
And like a lot of guys, I haven't been to the doctor in many years.
00:46:49.920
I'll be asking the questions we probably should be asking, but aren't.
00:46:53.380
Because guys usually don't go to the doctor unless a piece of their face is hanging off or they've broken a bone.
00:47:00.480
Every week, we're breaking down the unique world of men's health, from testosterone and fitness to diets and fertility, and things that happen in the bedroom.
00:47:12.780
We'll talk science without the jargon and get you real answers to the stuff you actually wonder about.
00:47:17.940
It's going to be fun, whether you're 27, 97, or somewhere in between.
00:47:22.440
Men's Health is about more than six packs and supplements.
00:47:31.640
So check out the mailroom on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your favorite shows.
00:47:38.240
I'm Kristen Davis, host of the podcast, Are You a Charlotte?
00:47:42.180
The most anticipated guest from season three is here, the Trey to my Charlotte.
00:47:48.660
Kyle McLaughlin joins me to relive all of the magical Trey and Charlotte moments.
00:47:53.780
He reveals what he thinks of Trey giving Charlotte a cardboard baby.
00:48:01.180
I was literally, I was like, this doesn't track for me at all.
00:48:07.340
I'm kind of excited at talking about, you know, I think he's, he's a guy who spends time in Central Park, you know, he's probably, you know, there'll be some surgery stuff, you know.
00:48:13.460
And I was like, all this kind of stuff going on.
00:48:20.420
And why he chose not to return to And Just Like That.
00:48:31.580
Listen to Are You a Charlotte on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.
00:48:38.260
This week on Dear Chelsea, Elizabeth Olsen is here.
00:48:45.960
So I guess I take myself seriously a little bit.
00:48:49.220
But I also don't take the job of being like an actor very seriously, like the other elements that come with it.
00:49:02.600
How did you get into the practice of journaling?
00:49:05.360
I just started doing it every morning three years ago, along with jumping naked into my pool.
00:49:22.540
I do 80-year-old calisthenics afterwards to warm up my body.
00:49:28.600
Listen to Dear Chelsea on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.
00:49:33.760
What were some of the memories from your USO tours?
00:49:37.920
That nobody knew who I was and they were like, why do we have to say hello to this guy?
00:49:42.300
Recently on the Good Stuff Podcast, we sat down with our friend Bradley Cooper to talk about family.
00:49:52.500
He was there when I found out that I was going to have a baby, which was incredible.
00:50:02.500
Did you ever tell the Clint Eastwood story on this?
00:50:07.680
And how they've been there for each other through the hard times.
00:50:10.020
You know, I've been lucky enough to have dealt with some issues early on, you know, relatively early on in my life.
00:50:15.440
And I was able to sort of walk Jacob through some stuff.
00:50:19.240
Yeah, next month I'll be eight years clean and sober.
00:50:26.400
I think times that you knew and times you didn't know.
00:50:29.500
Listen to the Good Stuff Podcast on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.
00:50:39.240
I want to tell you about my new podcast called Not My Best Moment,
00:50:42.620
where I talk to artists, athletes, entertainers, creators, friends, people I admire who had massive success about their massive failures.
00:51:03.480
But if they had tomatoes, they would have thrown the tomatoes.
00:51:07.000
We've all had those moments we'd rather forget.
00:51:15.720
But this podcast is about that and how we made it through.
00:51:19.120
So when they sat me down, they were kind of like, we got into the small talk, and they were just like, so what do you got?
00:51:28.280
Check out Not My Best Moment with me, Kev On Stage, on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, YouTube, or wherever you get your podcasts.
00:51:35.440
Someone who's a hard-headed pragmatist, someone that understands we all need to be loved and all need to love, meaning someone who's a repairer of the breach, you know, the spirit of Father Cause, Isaiah.
00:51:53.500
The guy literally calling people the R word, piggy.
00:52:01.480
The reason I started my podcast and my first guest was Charlie Kirk.
00:52:05.180
Look, just to show respect, people I disagree with, Bannon, who I had on, Newt Gingrich, who led my recall campaign.
00:52:16.600
And so this notion of all being better off, we're all better off, is the kind of attributes that I pray that our nominee brings.
00:52:33.980
They're all, yeah, they're, and there'll be the surprise.
00:52:42.900
I think right now the obstacle's the way, sort of the stoic frame.
00:52:49.460
Trump is so dominant situationally, getting back to 2026.
00:52:53.340
I know we all want to paint that positive alternative beyond Trump.
00:52:56.940
And everybody's right to have that conversation.
00:52:58.740
Is that J.D. Vance, by the way, in your mind, too?
00:53:03.400
I'm saying, is J.D. Vance the person you think that you'd be running against?
00:53:10.400
I mean, Trump, Trump, he doesn't care if he's the heel or the hero, he cares that he's the star.
00:53:20.380
And you heard him yesterday, even in the Oval Office, or in the Academy meeting, he was saying, well, is it Rubio?
00:53:32.500
An extension, again, of his third term, if, because of time of life, he can't extend it.
00:53:50.540
The question is, if you are not the governor and you're not the presidential candidate, what do you actually want to do?
00:54:03.080
Well, remember, people don't know this about me.
00:54:06.960
It is remarkable what's perceived versus reality.
00:54:12.980
I actually have a book coming out, Young Man in a Hurry.
00:54:16.540
Again, speaking of purchasing, you can buy it in bulk.
00:54:22.620
But to sort of demystify all this, February 23rd.
00:54:28.680
But I say that to make this point, that I'm a small business guy.
00:54:41.720
I started right out of college, pen to paper, one part-time employee, Pat Kelly.
00:54:45.660
Opened a little business with literally $175,000, 13 investors.
00:54:55.280
We've got about 1,000 employees, 23 little businesses.
00:54:57.720
I say that not to impress any of you, but to impress upon you my passion for entrepreneurialism, my passion for risk-taking, free enterprise.
00:55:14.820
But I'm also deeply committed to public service and deeply committed, however that manifests, even if it's not an elected office.
00:55:27.500
He said, in a democracy, the most important office is not governor, mayor, president.
00:55:33.240
In a democracy, the most important office is office of citizen.
00:55:37.020
So it's in that spirit of citizenship that I look forward to the future as well.
00:55:47.760
I'm Kristen Davis, host of the podcast, Are You a Charlotte?
00:55:51.700
The most anticipated guest from season three is here, the Trey to my Charlotte.
00:55:57.720
Kyle McLaughlin joins me to relive all of the magical Trey and Charlotte moments.
00:56:02.660
He reveals what he thinks of Trey giving Charlotte a cardboard baby and why he chose not to return to it just like that.
00:56:11.300
You listen to Are You a Charlotte on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.
00:56:17.900
What were some of the memories from your USO tours?
00:56:20.220
That nobody knew who I was and they were like, why do we have to say hello to this guy?
00:56:23.900
Recently on the Good Stuff podcast, we sat down with our friend Bradley Cooper to talk about his deep friendship with host Jacob.
00:56:29.880
He was there when I found out that I was going to have a baby.
00:56:32.580
And how they've been there for each other through the hard times.
00:56:34.740
And I was able to sort of walk Jacob through some stuff.
00:56:37.680
I leaned on you real heavy, I think, times that you knew and times you didn't know.
00:56:42.220
Listen to the Good Stuff podcast on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.
00:56:47.940
This week on Dear Chelsea, Elizabeth Olsen is here.
00:56:53.000
I get anxious that I'm going to say something that is going to offend people.
00:57:01.740
We all have to say this over and over to ourselves.
00:57:06.760
Yeah, I find that to be so satisfying as someone who is a fearful person.
00:57:14.560
Listen to Dear Chelsea on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.
00:57:25.040
And I want to tell you about my new podcast called The Mailroom.
00:57:29.680
And like most guys, I haven't been to the doctor in way too long.
00:57:32.720
I'll be asking the questions we probably should be asking, but aren't.
00:57:36.100
Every week, we're breaking down the world of men's health from testosterone and fitness to diets and fertility.
00:57:41.360
We'll talk science without the jargon and get you real answers to the stuff you actually wonder about.
00:57:46.360
So check out The Mailroom on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your favorite shows.
00:57:55.560
I want to tell you about my new podcast called Not My Best Moment, where I talk to artists, athletes, entertainers, creators, friends, people I admire who've had massive success about their massive failures.
00:58:17.060
Check out Not My Best Moment with me, Kev on stage, on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, YouTube, or wherever you get your podcasts.