♪ Entertain me, entertain me right now ♪
- This is the Pop Culture Junkie podcast.
I'm Olivia here with Shauna.
And we're so pleased you have elected to spend time with us.
We're all about choice here.
And the fact that you choose Pop Culture Junkie
means everything to us.
- So it's been a little bit, what have you been up to, Shana?
- Oh, you know, just hanging with celebrities.
(laughing)
- Yes.
- Yeah, so as previously mentioned, and with the yes on top,
one, three, nine team in Arizona,
this is my first election I've worked on.
I've worked for a lot of like pro choice organizations
for years, but never a political campaign.
And getting to see like the inner workings
of the political campaign is so interesting.
And just every day, there's something every single day, right?
And so we had Chrissy Teigen come to town this past weekend.
- How did that go?
'Cause I know you didn't wanna like her initially.
- Oh my God, you know, I did think about my feelings
for Chrissy Teigen as I was very like neutral.
Like I didn't really know much about her,
except for like, she's--
- That's what it means to not answer.
- Yeah, and I knew she was like hot and funny.
- And married to John Legend.
- She is an amazing cook.
- Yeah.
- It's not like I didn't like her.
I just didn't really like know much about her.
- About her to be fair.
It's kind of like how I feel about just any kind of
neutral celebrity, I don't know.
After meeting her, I'm obsessed with Chrissy Teigen.
I'm absolutely a fan.
- She was amazing.
So she came to Arizona specifically to canvas with us,
met some abortion storytellers at a coffee shop
and literally just sat with these women
and talked about her abortion experience
from a wanted pregnancy.
They all told their stories.
Then she came outside, did a little rally.
And then it was just me and her plus her entire entourage.
In a sprinter van, which I had never been in,
but they were like, oh, just getting our van,
just get in with us.
'Cause I was gonna just follow behind them in my car
and they were like, no, we have an extra seat.
Oh my God, okay.
- Okay.
- Is there candy?
- Literally.
- Oh my God.
So I told Chrissy, there's three rules to canvassing,
like three no-nose.
Don't go in anyone's house.
Don't ask for any candy or don't accept candy
from strangers and don't prine to their personal lives.
And she did all three of those and it was really funny.
(laughing)
She literally walked into somebody's house
to hug their husband and she came back out and was like,
Chrissy, we talked about this girl.
- Did you have like security with her?
- Yes, so.
- Was her security like, yeah, you could see
I'm just rolling his eyes.
I mean, okay, spoiler, but peak behind the curtain.
The houses we went to were like pre-vetted.
- Okay, yeah, good.
- So we didn't just show.
- I was wondering how that worked.
'Cause I'm like, ooh.
- You don't just show up to random strangers' houses
because we don't know if they're security risks.
- I mean, we do.
- I do all the time.
- Fuck, fuck, fuck, Shauna's health and safety.
Chrissy Teigan, let's, yeah.
No, when you think about this celebrity,
you go to their house in advance and you're like,
"Within the next hour, are you chill
if Chrissy Teigan comes by?"
And they're like, oh, yeah.
- Yeah.
- Absolutely.
Yes, please.
- Yes, please, that's so cool.
- Yeah.
So everybody was very sweet to her and she seemed like
genuinely really excited to be there.
It was so nice to me and like, asking about my life
and where I was just joking around.
And then once we were done, we went back for a final rally
and she was like sitting there and I was kind of on the side
'cause I was working and she turned around casually and saw me
and went, like, we waved all the throos yesically
and made the little heart sign and I waved back
and my coworkers looked at me and they're like,
you guys are like friends now, Shauna.
(laughing)
I mean, it's hard not to like this.
Oh my God.
And then as we were walking out and her security was there
and people were like, ambushing her,
like this guy showed up with like bathing suit posters
of her and her security guard to be like,
oh everybody back, hurry back.
She came up to me and like grabbed my shoulder
and was like, oh my God, Shauna was so nice
to hang out with you and it's like,
all right, I'm officially fucking a lovely person.
- Yeah, like can I take that sign and will you sign it?
- Yeah, I can take that sign and post her 'cause we're in love now.
But yeah, she was delightful.
She was very kind and very sweet.
So, yeah, you can go crazy to him.
- Yeah, you can really do it all 'cause you went out
the night before and that was quite the feat.
- Yeah, it was.
We had a good time though.
- That was a good time.
- Yeah, we were bar maidens.
The bar maidens, I don't know.
- Yeah, maidens.
- Maiden sounds more.
- Maiden sounds original though.
- Oh, does it?
I thought it was more like--
- She's a maiden,
- Maiden, you're on our maiden voyage.
- I think like Maiden mother and crow.
(laughing)
- Yeah, so perfect fitting for us, we are innocent.
- We're just innocent,
we're not virgin bar maidens.
(laughing)
- I say with my devil t-shirt.
- Yeah.
(laughing)
- But yeah, I went out the night before with you guys
and we danced and it was fun.
- We went to Thundercat Lounge in Arizona,
which I've never been to, but it was so fun.
- It was great, they played great music.
It was like a lot of 80s synth pop and like the whole vibe
and there was like neon 80s.
- And then they hit us with iconopop, Charlie X-X.
- Yeah, that was like right before I left and I swear,
I lost my voice, you can still kind of hear me
- It was just from screaming, Britney Spears,
Chapel Rones.
- We did H-O-T-O-G-O, like really, we would all out.
- I was so proud because I've introduced so many people
to Chapel Rones and everyone was doing it.
- I wouldn't have known Chapel Rones if it wasn't people.
- Yeah, you don't, even introduced me to him before
she got like super popular to your sound.
- You're not like the other girls.
- It's okay, I found her on TikTok,
but I just found her like a little bit sooner
'cause you never check your TikTok.
- I was locked out of my TikTok.
- I tried because you never joked.
- I tried to get back in the other day
'cause I wanted to make a TikTok for work
and I ended up having to do it on reels
'cause I'm just, I'm locked out.
I'm totally locked out.
- I'm just like,
- Is this thing called password reason?
- No, I tried and listen girl.
It was like a solid 45 minutes.
- It's okay, you're younger, intelligent friend.
Well, I'll do a reset your password.
- I'm just, you can give big, maiden energy.
I'm giving crone energy, right?
- How do I get back into this damn tick?
- Yeah, none of us are mothers,
except unless we're counting Ziggy and puppies.
- Oh, and toast.
- And toast.
- But yeah, maybe you can help me get back into this.
I have like 200 unbeknown TikToks from you.
- Probably, I've actually been super busy,
so I haven't been on it as much.
- Send me reels instead that I can do.
- No, not that old.
(laughing)
- I love asking the younger volunteers.
I'm like, I have a so great working with you today.
Do you have an insta?
And they're like, no, I don't.
- I have a TikTok.
- I have a TikTok and I'm like,
wow, shit.
- Yeah.
- Well, I have a huge dimension.
- At least I need to ask for your Facebook.
(laughing)
- Well, I love that.
- What have you been up to?
- So I went to San Francisco again.
- Shocked.
- Yes, I know.
For work.
And what I did this time,
so instead of saying in a tiny little shoebox hotel,
me and my coworkers actually rented a Airbnb this time.
So nice.
It was like an older Victorian
and was just literally gorgeous.
It was like a $2 million home,
which was actually a street over from the painted ladies,
which you may have seen the painted ladies
in the iconic Princess Diaries.
And so my coworkers and I did a Princess Diaries marathon.
- Oh my God.
- Here, they announced them for three years.
- Yeah, so I wanna talk about it.
- So it's very timely for pop culture.
Now, I think rewatching the first one
really holds up to just like a good movie,
like fun watching at 31 and be like, "This is amazing."
I really love it.
I did not remember how cheesy the second one was.
- All I remember is Chris Pine.
Do they get depth together in the second one?
- Yes.
- They do, okay, I remember she's,
he's not kind of the evil one trying to steal a crown.
- Yeah, but then they fall in love.
She changes him because she's so pure art.
And then she becomes the queen.
- Mm-hmm.
- And I think that's all I remember.
And when she leads little girls holding their hands
and gives them all crowns or something.
- Yeah, like her bachelor art party is filled
with like 12 girls.
And I'm like, "Oh, okay."
- I know that part's really dumb.
- It's a little cheesier.
Like I think they were like,
"Oh, our audience really is like this demographic.
Well, it's a hint to it."
But I am really excited for the third one
'cause what she'd be like, she'll be the queen.
- She'll be like 40.
- 40, yeah.
- Chris Pine still is.
- So he hasn't confirmed that he's a part of it,
but I'm assuming she's executive producer.
And so they haven't really gotten that far.
It'd be very early in pre-production,
but that was amazing.
- No, I always make this joke
that every time I go to San Francisco,
I think about two things.
The Prince of Styrates and the Zodiac Killer.
(laughing)
- So Ted Cruz and Ann have the way.
- Yeah, Ted Cruz.
- Oh, I was gonna say,
- Nipples.
- Oh, so yeah, no, I never watched it.
- I wasn't in a big full house, Carly.
I know the iconic you got it, dude,
but I was in Marikay and Ashley Olsen stand
once the director DVD.
- No, movies can now.
- I've never seen any of those either.
I feel like I was in that weird little time in my life
where we just--
- You are the crown.
- I am the crown.
We were trying to watch rated-hour movies and sleepovers.
- Yes, yeah.
I mean, I don't think they're very good to go back on
at this age, but they are iconic.
Megan Fox got her start.
- And then I owned in the sun one.
- That is so cute.
- The mean hot girl.
- Of course she's a mean hot girl.
(laughing)
- And so funny enough, the next night,
Netflix released a Zodiac Killer documentary.
- Oh, okay, got a lot of that.
- Yeah, it's pretty good.
They're making a case for this man named Robert Allen
to actually be the Zodiac Killer.
I mean, every single Zodiac Killer documentary
makes a case for like, who is this person?
- A different person, yeah.
- And one of the most interesting updates
with the Zodiac Killer is they've never been able
to fully solve this, all the ciphers.
- Yeah.
- But they've gotten, I wanna say two,
but AI is actually now helping to solve it.
- Oh yeah.
- So they may actually solve it.
- I was gonna say, we just need to get an autistic person
on the case.
- Listen.
(laughing)
- And so.
- They won't solve that shit in two minutes.
- Yeah, I watched one on Amazon Prime.
I think it's also in Hulu.
That was a really good one as well.
I mean, the case for like, these three different people
as well, but yeah, I mean, the most interesting part
about the Zodiac Killer is he just abruptly stopped.
And so he either was imprisoned or--
- What year is this in the '60s?
- It's in the '70s.
- So he could still be alive.
- Yeah, so yeah, but pretty old.
- Yeah.
- And so he's either killed or incarcerated
for something else.
- He's not the old one.
- Yeah, he's said, he's like, I was in a silly mood.
- Not over it.
(laughing)
- No more murder for me.
- I got to murder, please.
- So I got to fulfill both my dreams.
I watched that.
I also went and saw Smile too.
- I loved it.
- Yeah, it was so good.
- It was like scary.
- Yeah, I will say, much goryer.
- Yeah, it was gory time.
- Was that Smile one?
- I had to do this for like one scene.
- I had my hands on my face, like, oh God.
- Just for a long time.
- I want buttery fingers.
- Yeah, butter is getting buttered popcorn.
- Yeah, I ate so much popcorn.
I had a hella bubbleguts that night anyway.
- Yeah.
(laughing)
- But, I mean, I guess it's not really spoiler
'cause this is what Smile's about.
When the first guy kills himself
in the apartment and she watches.
- Very disturbing.
- I would say, oh my God, this is horrible.
- It's dangfully my friend had gone and seen it
like earlier in the day and I was like,
oh, did you like it?
Like, spoiler for your review and she's like,
it's much goryer.
So I was kind of like primed for it,
but I will say, you know, going into it,
know that it's a little goryer.
- But really good.
- Shona and I have talked about how we don't like gory
and we still really liked it.
I liked it more than the first one.
- I did too and I didn't think it was too like over
the top gory.
Like I can do gory like that where it kind of gives you
that like, ugh, sensation.
Like Andrew has been watching the terrifying movies
and I refuse to watch those.
I can't.
- Yeah.
- Any movie that has the promo of like,
people are throwing up in the theater.
I'm like, why would I want to do that?
- I spent good money on this meal.
- I already have enough of this stomach problem.
I'm good.
- Maybe I already have ideas.
(laughing)
- And you know, I will say, so they,
NEPO baby casting worked its magic probably
for the first time ever.
It has brain neckl soon in it.
- Oh, yeah, just great.
- And you can immediately tell that it's
triac nookl soon sun.
- Naila once you start to see.
- Especially with smiles.
- Yeah.
- Spoilery smiles.
- Yeah, don't figure smiles.
- And I just loved it.
I thought it was really good.
And yeah, there is something about that smile
that is just so creepy.
- I was doing it to Andrew for days after.
- Oh, it's just like,
(laughing)
- Oh, you're actually pretty good at that.
- Thank you.
- Yeah, I really need to be.
- You're really pretty.
(laughing)
- If you do that plus the rocking,
like paranormal activity.
- Oh, you got this like both.
- Yeah.
- Yeah, again, I would totally knock you out.
- That time though.
- He dropped me up at Walgreens,
like the next day and he's like,
I'm gonna stay in the car and I was like,
I gotta go get that on a tampon or lip gloss or some
girl shit.
- You know, yeah, girl bangs.
(laughing)
- I get out of the car and I just stand in front of the car
and I'm just like,
(laughing)
and you can't see him in the car.
He's like, get the fuck in there.
He's like, about to get up.
He's like, stop it.
- He just drives you off the road.
I get back in the car and he's like,
people can see.
(laughing)
- I don't care.
- He's like, I knock on doors for a living right now.
I have no chance.
I literally like, I do not care.
- Yeah.
- People think, yeah, don't care.
Maybe I should care more.
(laughing)
- Oh, I love that.
Anything else you've really watched in a middle break?
- Oh god, I've just been watching a lot of scary movies.
I watched Sleepy Hollow for the first time.
- I know, I've never seen it all the way through.
- He's a classic.
- I really enjoyed it.
- Johnny Depp was so hot.
- He's so hot.
- I love it.
- Christina Ricci is really pretty.
- Yeah.
- So I really enjoyed that.
I watched a movie called Strange Darling.
- I don't know if I've seen it.
- Yeah, it's definitely like a kind of under the radar
thriller.
I don't want to spoil the thing about it
because it starts one way and you think you know
where it's going.
- Oh god, I don't know.
- No one knows.
- Oh my god, okay, the actor who is in Jennifer's body.
- Oh, I'm in.
- Seafreech.
- No, it's the guy who plays like the little golf boyfriend.
- Oh, funny.
- He's in a told man when he's hot as hell.
He's so fine.
Great mustache.
- We watched Jennifer's body.
This is so random.
But I knew a girl in a high school who is cousins with him.
And they have the same very flat face.
Sorry.
And every time I see him, I can't not see that girl.
- Look at him now.
I don't know.
I didn't even realize it was him until later.
And I was like, there's no.
I had a bad mushroom trip with that girl though.
So I think it's just imprinted in my brain.
- You're gonna watch this movie
and just have like mushroom flashbacks.
Oh my god.
Literally, I know.
- Literally.
- I'm very handsome now.
- Okay.
I'll watch it.
- Great movie.
Yeah.
It reminded me kind of like, oh gosh.
What's that movie that came out last year where it looks like it's gonna be about an Airbnb
gone wrong and then all of a sudden there's a monster in the walls.
- Yeah.
That movie is so bad.
- I love our very--
- It's like two separate movies put together.
- The only reason it reminded me of this is because when the movie starts, you're like,
oh, this is a movie about XYZ.
- Okay.
- And then about halfway through.
You're like, oh, this is not a movie about XYZ.
- Is it as jarring of a jump?
- No.
- Okay, good.
- It makes sense.
It's just like, only in the way that like, you think you know where you're going within and
it's not.
So I definitely would recommend that.
I love that.
Well, since you've been having such a foray into politics as of late, we wanted to talk
about a better time, a time before the madness of our political season where politicians
could just be good people on camera.
We'll talk about that after the break.
- Yeah.
- My fellow junkies, Shana and I don't have to tell you or anyone, that is an election happening
in this country.
You've gotten 20,000 texts probably while watching this episode.
- But it come like it, my phone number.
- Yeah, so weird.
- Madala, what are you doing here?
Unfortunately, even your dog probably knows that it is an election season.
- Oh, she knows because I've been very anxious.
- I just need to hold you.
The other day, you sent that video of her wet and I, it was so jarring.
It was like, she's so much tired of you.
- No, it looked like a demon for a second.
It was like, Buffy is like, "You, what did she do to you?"
- Buffy is 90% fluke.
- Yeah.
- She gets her wet and she's just a little griblin.
- Maybe you're lucky.
We'll share it here.
And we may not know the outcome of the election until after this episode comes out.
- Well, actually, Sean is hedging a bet that it comes out on Thursday.
I'm praying we wrap it up real quick.
- Oh God, I hope so.
So we will know the prop 1, 3, 9 results like that night in Arizona and maybe a lot of
local races wherever everybody lives.
But yeah, I want to know everybody's bets on when the presidential election call is called.
And I think November 7th by noon, that's what I'm, I hope it's earlier, but that's what
I'm betting.
- Yeah.
- Like us, you are no doubt dealing with fear, anger, dread, anxiety and maybe even worse.
It's quite overwhelming.
Buffy would agree.
And that's why it made seem a little odd that we're going to talk about politics and pop
culture.
But where better to retreat to the land of Make Believe in movies and on TV?
Big world changing problems can be resolved and as little as 46 minutes.
So I wanted to talk about, you know, what is your favorite pop culture, political TV show?
Just kind of out of the gate.
Last week tonight, which on Oliver.
- Okay.
- Yeah.
We watch that almost every week, unless I'm just too anxious because even though he's hilarious,
sometimes he, I watch it and I'm like, I can't, I can't.
Because it's all real stuff that he's dealing with and talking about, but in a funny way.
He's really educational to us.
I love his little segments where he really dives deep into one specific topic.
And it's more like, okay, not just like the person, but the systematic problems that
come from, like today we're talking about prison reform or like insurance and like, it's
really interesting.
I've also been a fan of the Daily Show for years through.
Well, he came from the Daily Show.
Yeah, exactly.
So like original John Stewart run and then I really love Trevor Noah.
Now, John Stewart's back just when we need him.
Yeah.
So those are my favorite like, nonfiction, I guess, political shows, but then I loved House
of Cards and Parks and Rec, which I know we'll talk about later.
Yeah, I would say I was kind of going through and thinking of all of my political TV shows.
And I would say that they're very conspiratorial in nature, go figure.
Yeah.
But you know, I really loved House of Cards.
I think, you know, we don't love Kevin Spacey.
We can separate the art from the artist.
Why did you have to go and blow it like that?
We loved that.
I mean, I think it's, it's kind of like he was already always a bad person, which is why
I think he played the Frank Underwood.
Yeah, I almost said Underwood.
Frank Underwood from the Underworld.
Yeah, I didn't.
It's not far off.
But Frank Underwood was just such a good character.
He was such a good character.
And I think he came in a time where, you know, America was really starting to have a
disdain for political figures.
I mean, I think it's only gotten worse since the show came out.
I think there's like this interesting mix right now with people having a disdain for political
figures or absolutely worshiping them and idolizing them.
Like, I mean, the amount of idolization that goes on around Donald Trump is insane because
this man doesn't give two shits about any of you.
And people are like getting tattoos and flags and hats and making their Trumpism their entire
personality, right?
Yes.
And I mean, even you could say that for the last two.
Like I like Bernie Sanders as much as the next person.
Yeah, Bernie.
Bernie was going to like just be the, be all in doll.
And I don't know, I just, I can't idolize any politician like that.
Yeah.
And, you know, I think with House of Cards, it really embodies this secret CD like everything
is an illusion.
Yeah.
Start of TV.
I was looking at the Rolling Stones' best 20 political movies and TV shows.
And what was really interesting going through this list of what's known is like the best political
movies of all time is they were really coming out before the 2000s.
They were old.
I haven't seen many of them.
Yeah.
And they were representations of, you know, strong political figures that you could trust.
And I thought it was such an interesting, you know, dichotomy of how far we've come where
you know, like our popular ones are going to be like House of Cards.
I really like to get homeland homeland homeland homeland homeland homeland homeland homeland.
That's where we're at at a jump.
I really liked homeland as well, which is, you know, very conspiratorial.
I never forget that before.
Oh my gosh.
Everybody gets so good.
So good.
So homeland is about the CIA and it's about this imperfect CIA agent.
And she is with Claire Danes plays her.
Oh, okay.
What's his name?
I can't remember his name.
Damian Lewis isn't it?
And basically he is like a prisoner of war who comes back.
Oh, okay.
And he's been turned into like a jihad.
And but they don't know it.
And he starts to get put up this like political ladder into becoming like a senator and all
the stuff.
And he's like infiltrating the whole time.
Yeah.
And Claire Danes is like the only one who's been in the CIA.
And who's convinced that he's been turned.
And so it's like the story, but she's also bipolar.
And so she makes like these really dumb decisions.
And not that big bipolar has he made dumb decisions.
But she is trying to hide her mental illness and like you can't really do that.
And sure.
And so when you say Claire Danes, like now I can picture her like on a poster or something
with it.
Yes, where she has like that.
Well, I wrapped around her.
Exactly.
Maybe I'll give it a whirl.
That's really an interesting thing.
I think it's like a really good thing to do.
And I think it's like a really good thing to do.
is a good representation of our hopefulness back in the 2000s of our belief in political figures.
Yeah. They can do right. They can be in here for honor and trust and stuff. That's a really
good point. Now, this said, everything is like the city underbelly of what really goes on.
I also like to show I didn't watch the whole thing because it kind of fell off, but it was called
designated survivor with a cat the same guy from 24. He for someone. There it is. Also, I loved 24,
but it was very problem. Oh my god. Yeah. But it's like the whole president's cabinet,
like whenever there's a state of the union, everybody goes, but one person stays behind in case there's
an attack. Yes. And there's an attack and it's all wiped out. So he goes from being like this
low level, lower level like government employed to being the president in like one night.
I've watched that with my dad actually. Yeah. It was really in my face. Yeah. And it's like,
oh, he's so good. And like, he's imperfect, but like he does the right thing. He's just a dad. He has a
strong moral compass. Yeah. I think I should get back on that. House of cards is the opposite where he's
got that low moral compass. Yeah. I tried to get my dad to watch House of cards. He's not listening.
I love you, dad. He's him and his wife said they couldn't watch it because there is too much
oral sex. And like, so that tells me what you guys aren't doing. It's probably good. It's pretty good.
60s who cares if there's some kind of lingus. Yeah. Well, Jesus, Jesus cares.
They're gentle. Yeah. Well, I think it's a little too close for home to them to look into
or politicians. Yeah. One of the interesting things that we were reading through this rolling
stone's list and I'll just kind of read the 10, you know, they're from 10 to 9. So 10 is a face in the
crowd. It came out in 1957. We had this movie called on number nine called Bob Roberts, which is
1992. I want to watch that now that you send me the trailer for it. It looks fast. And yeah, so I was
actually hoping to watch the movie before this episode, but you actually cannot find it anywhere
in a streaming in the United States. We could find it if we went to like a Zeea Records or something.
Oh, on DVD or something. Yeah. And like we'd have to find a DVD player. Good will. Yeah.
I own a VHS player. Oh my god. A VCR. Oh wow. Well, because I wanted to show Andrew my whole
crew. I am serving Croad as energy. Yeah. We can't do it. I do like no. I do like no. I do like no.
That's that's amazing. Yeah. But so this film is very known as the predictor of Donald Trump. And so
if you just go on YouTube and look at Bob Roberts trailer, it was insane. He called it personality.
Yeah. Yeah. The only thing that Donald Trump does not mirror this person on is attractiveness.
Well, that yeah, that and he's not like a singer. Yeah. And that's the only thing. But it is really
this guy who comes in. He's a like a nepo baby rich person who comes in like a country music singer.
Yeah. Yeah. And just like in the trailer, it really lays out like everything. I was watching a clip
from it and like he gets like almost assassinated. And I was like, wow. This is even more. No.
This is even more spot on. Did you catch the young Jack Black? I didn't actually until you said it.
Yeah. And he likes familiar. Yeah. I love Bob Roberts or something like. But yeah, it was really,
really crazy to see. So there were some movies that were starting to make its way into the zeitgeist
that were making fun of politicians. It's really calling attention to the craziness of politics
with humor. And I think one of the best movies that I have seen that I really, really like that
is looking backwards is the movie dick. And you would have seen it before, right? I've seen that movie.
So I was on my computer and I was trying to see where I could stream dick again. And whenever I
started to go type into my work computer dick into the search bar. And I just like looked and
before I hit enter, I was like, that's a personal search. Like dick movie. Yeah. Wait, still not better.
And so if you've never seen dick, it's with tears to and Michelle William. I've seen that I can picture
the cover in my head no from blockbuster. Yes. Yes, right. And this is a movie that is kind of made
for teenagers like it's silly. It's goofy. But I think it had a really profound effect on the adult
who lived through the Nixon administration. Yeah. And kind of saw all that. I was watching it. And
I was just thinking like, man, what we wouldn't do for Nixon now. Oh my god. You know, and now that I
think about it, I think that maybe I we weren't alive during the Nixon administration. But that was
probably the beginning of like the downfall of American politics. And then you get like Ronald Reagan
in my opinion. That's the entrance of like Christian nationalism into the zeitgeist and like that
mix of religion with politics. But yeah, I mean, this movie is stacked with like I mentioned Kirsten
Dunn, special Williams. We have Dan Hadea, Will Ferrell and just so many famous. That's a given
the world in it. And it is basically instead of, you know, the mysterious deep throat Kirsten Dunn's
and Michelle Williams are 15 year old girls and they are deep throat in the movie. And it is so funny.
Oh my god. It's hilarious. You know, of course, there is a lot of slide dick jokes with a lot of
slide dick jokes. Yeah. When I first started going to ASU, Jessica and I were in journalism and we
got putting a bunch of like 18 year olds in a room and trying to teach them about deep throat
the entire time. We were just like, he he he like the entire room and the professor had to get up
there and be like, stop laughing at deep throat. It's not that funny, which of course was the most
fucking hilarious thing we never heard. Because it is funny. He's like your your dad and your stepmom.
Like it's not getting deep 30. Orals.
Jeep throat isn't funny. And it's too much oral sex.
You can never have to see my Jorls X. Sorry. Yes. And just to kind of finish off these top 10 political
movies. Oh, I want to talk about, I don't know what number this is in the list. So I want to talk
about idiocracy. Oh, yes. Let's keep going. So we have Lincoln, which is obviously about Abraham Lincoln.
And then number seven, we have idiocracy. And I want to kind of take you back to 1999.
Oh, let me just I mean, how old was I? I was 10 years old.
Or I guess yes. Did you see it when it first came out? Or when did you first watch the movie?
What did you think when you first saw it? I see it as a 2006 movie. So it looks like the concept
kind of went back. It felt like the early 2000s, but it wasn't released until 2006. Oh,
interesting. Yeah. Exactly. So it was 1999. Yeah. So the film is released. So I watched it in high
school. Okay. And at the time I thought no one could ever be this stupid. Yes. I remember watching
this and be like, what a dumb movie. This could never happen. Exactly. And so now it's like cold
following because it really is where we are today. It's got a lecture. Yes. Yes. So idiocracy
stars Luke Wilson, my brood off, Dax Shepherd, Terry Cruz, just in long, I mean, another hilarious
cast. So Luke Wilson plays, I don't know, a low level. Just a suit. He just a guy who travels to the
future. Yes. He gets the hibernates or like gets cryo friends. Yeah. And wakes up and he's the smartest
person alive. Yeah. And back in his time, he was just a dude. Yeah. It was like not very smart. But
in the future, he becomes, you know, the smartest person ever. And really just using critical
thinking skills. Yes. But everybody has lost that ability. Yes. Which is so funny to see a movie
that was either conceived in 1999 and released in 2006. Who could know? There's no way to know.
Not the Rolling Stones. Apparently. But yes. And the president is Terry Cruz. And he is just
a personality. He's just this bombastic personality. He's a wrestler. He's a professional wrestler.
He like, he doesn't really have any plans or policy. But he's got a big personality. So, yep.
He gets elected president. Yeah. And when I want to say, you know, when we were kind of approaching
to 2017 and it became really popular to be like, we are literally living in idiocracy. Yeah. And it
is crazy to go back and watch to be like 10, 15 years later. Now it feels like this is our reality.
It really does. Like God, I mean, when I just think about how we accepted a reality TV star to be our
president. Yeah. Well, that's, that's what's interesting. You know, obviously the apprentice has come
out as a reality show. And then recently we have had drama with the movie The Apprentice
Sebastian. So, okay, I forgot that this was a thing. Yes. But I know Sebastian Stan is playing Trump,
which is crazy because Sebastian Stan is a very good looking person. Yes. I digress. They make them look
pretty, pretty dang close to orange. Yeah. Well, he wasn't so orange back then. Okay. It's
this is yeah. So the movie The Apprentice with Sebastian Stan as a young Donald Trump came out
and has really been mirrored in controversy ever since they released it at Cannes. And so the film
already came out. Yes. So you can go see it now in theaters. I don't know if I want to. Yeah. Yeah.
And so the film explores Donald Trump's early life and his early years in real estate under the
mentorship of Roy Cone. So it really did run into a lot of struggles. So when it first came out at
Cannes, Donald Trump and his team really threatened a lot of the distributors. Okay.
So it doesn't paint him at a very pretty light. It doesn't paint him in a great light in his opinion.
But then there are also critics who say it was too sympathetic and that they don't
villainize him enough, which I think is just kind of a good representation of where we're at in
the world. Like there's no ability to be in the middle and just look at someone, how they arrive
where they are. I think, you know, you can look at Donald Trump and say like he's been evil from
the beginning, but I think a lot of it is the human experience and you can go through that and
look at that. Like he's a shit person. He's a terrible person. I mean, he's been like having,
I mean, even when he was just a property manager or whatever, he had like racist policies for that.
He's just a bad self-expression. And I think it kind of goes to the human experience of wanting to
understand like a serial killer. I just agree with no notes. But you know, you want to understand
and you want to explore how someone got there. But do we need to give them like a platform
in a movie about themselves? Especially well, maybe not like, does it have to come out right now?
When we're still in the mud with this guy where he might be the fucking president again.
So I mean, maybe in 10 years from now, once he's long gone.
So yeah, I would disagree on that note though, because I don't think it shows I'm going to
goodbye it at all. But I also don't think it's like an overly cited opinion. So maybe it's just very
neutral. I mean, not neutral because he's a bad person. Yeah, I mean, it's going to show
through. So, you know, kind of going through the issues. So Trump labeled the film as pure fiction
and threatened legal action against its creators. This led to distributors not wanting to pick up
the film, which, you know, kind of given what's going on with the Washington Post right now.
Yeah. With Jeff Bezos, you know, it's a very interesting argument that we have. And so it was well
received at cons. A lot of people have said like, do should we release this in an election year?
Ultimately, that is why Donald Trump wanted to stop it, so that I didn't come out. It wasn't his
October surprise. But it's been really interesting. Not that the October surprise worked out.
Yeah. Favorite last time. Yeah. And so, you know, I think it's been really interesting to watch
the press of this movie. Yeah. And, you know, Sebastian Stan has been seen on like the red carpet of
like, please just go see the movie in four or a judge opinion. Yeah. Which is crazy.
It's like we're so divided on, you know, should this even come out where it's already been.
Yeah. I think that art should always be, you know, presented in New Austin,
yeah, thought through and maybe I'll give it a try once I'm further removed from the election.
Like right now, I am just we're all so immersed in it. I had to watch stop watching handmaid's tale
like years ago because it just got so like close to home and yeah, anxiety inducing. I would agree
with that. And then I found out she was a Scientologist. I know. And I don't feel that.
But maybe maybe in a couple years, I'll give it a whirl. Yeah. Exactly. It's a PTSD. And so, I know I'm
taking like 17 years to go through this list, but six was wagged the dog in 1997. It has De Niro
and Justin Hoffman for number five. This where you start to see a lot of these movies are very,
very old. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Just rattles. Yeah. So five. Mr Smith goes to Washington. That's a 1939
movie. We have the candidate in 1972. We have for a third Dr. Strangelove or how I learned how to stop
bringing and love the bomb 1964 for number two in the loop 2009. And then for number one, which none of
you will be surprised by this is all the president's band of 1976. Probably very good movies. Yes.
I have seen all the president's band. I think it's a great movie. Yeah. It's kind of what they spoof
Dick off of. Oh gosh. It's so it's the serious. Yeah. So it's the serious. Sometimes you need a
serious Dick and a funny. Yeah. And so, you know, I think that it has just been such an interesting
metamorphosis that we've gone through just through our lives, both in the media that gets created
as well as the way that politics has changed. Yeah. Let's take a quick break. And then I want to talk
about just politics as itself as entertainment. We've mentioned that election years, I mean,
and I think this will probably be an overwhelming sentiment can be anxiety inducing and make you
worried, especially if things are a tight race, right? And when you feel like so much is on the line,
I feel like in recent years, politics has almost become itself entertainment. So I've heard some
people say that they are voting for Donald Trump because he's quote, funny or entertaining, right?
Which I think is I'm not racist. I just think he's funny. Literally. I think these are not qualities
that I need in the president. I want somebody who's going to be frankly boring and steady. I don't
think to be entertaining. And I don't know. I think and then people are kind of creating
entertainment out of when Trump was in office. Oh, what's he going to do next? What's his next tweet
going to be, right? And I mean, what do you think about just kind of like, I've mentioned
cult of personality like people who watch politics as entertainment? I mean, on the more boring side,
there's people who just enjoy watching C-SPAN. Yeah. Could be me. There's people who just enjoy listening
to political talk radio and find it as entertainment. So yeah, I would probably say in 2016 to 2020,
I was much more involved in watching the news, staying like watching it every day, making sure that
I was following things on a daily basis. And I think that it is very easy to get sucked into it. Like
yeah, a lot of people say the day that 24/7 or 24 hour news cycles were created was the day that,
you know, journalism died, democracy died. Yeah. Because ultimately, it really is advantageous for
these news networks to make you angry. Absolutely. I guess not even make you angry, but keep you hooked.
That's how they make their money. They have advertising dollars. Unfortunately, the human experience
does not stay around for good stories. What we are incentivized to do is get angry, to watch hate
watch things, to get upset. Yeah. And that keeps us tuned to get riled up and tuned in. Exactly. And so,
you know, I can look at my own personal like mental health in the times where I was watching the
news every day. And I was, you know, waking up and listening to the daily every single day. And it
just became this really negative cycle. And, you know, I'll look at my brother who is like a libertarian.
And he would wake up every single day and, you know, watch Fox News. And he would watch like other
channels as well. And we lived together at this time in 2020. And it was really insidious to watch like
how that changed him, how that changed me, how that, you know, really went into it. And so, you know,
I think it's a very human thing to get sucked into that like even just scrolling through
TikTok right now. Like I have to be very intentional about like not watching these recaps or these
incredibly like disturbing things. Yeah. I totally agree. And also once you get so consumed with
these things, you stop paying attention to the really important things. So exactly. So when Trump says
something that's actually really problematic and scary, like actually scary, like yeah,
like he's he's threatening to like just deploy troops to like, I didn't exactly. And then when he
says stuff like that, it gets buried with all the little silly shit he did. Like, oh, we went to
McDonald's and serve fries. How that's so stupid. Exactly. He did his little stupid Trump dance,
right? So we get so desensitized because like you said, it's 24/7 that it gets buried. And then you
you forget there. It's easy to forget. Okay. Yeah. This man has said some really terrible racist
things against black Americans against Latinos against like gay people and in Puerto Ricans,
Haitians like because it's so bogged down and buried with just yeah. So I to me, it's like I listen to
the news every day. Well, I get ready. My Google just played like the little recap. Yeah. Which is all I
need. Just give me like, you know, here's your headlines for the day. Perfect. I know what I found that
if I read it, it's much less jar like yeah, emotionally. Yeah. I can just, you know, have my one sense
really activated there. And then I can internalize and feel the information. But yeah, I think it's just
and you know, I always ask myself like, I'd look back to the world before 2016. And ask myself like,
okay, is that attitude of making fun of Trump almost like early on in that election like with the
news and all that like did that almost create him? I thought that too. Like if you look back up those
SNL sketches that did not age well. I remember one where it was Hillary and Trump. And I mean, to be fair,
SNL has been doing this for years. Yes. I mean, the like, Al Gore sketches from back in the day are
hilarious. Yes. The Sarah Palin. Yes. And Will Farrell is George W. Bush hilarious. So good. So good.
Now watch the strap. It's so funny. There was some sketch. I remember with Trump and Hillary
debating and the commentators in the sketch were like, we might as well just say it. President Clinton,
what do you think about it? Right. And now I think back on that and I get like itching. Like, oh my god,
they chinkest us. I don't know. I think part of it was we didn't think that he had a chance at hell.
Right. We give him so much attention. We give him so much attention to mock him. To mock him. And so
that's what people started thinking, oh, this guy's funny. I remember people saying that, oh, he's
funny. Oh, he's a businessman. What's the works that could happen? And turns out it's not funny.
I don't think any of that was ever fucking funny. But like, I mean, whatever humor is subjective,
I suppose. But we gave him a lot of platforms. And I know that like Jimmy Fallon, they, you know,
he was on that show and he rubbed Trump's hair and kind of humanized him, right? And then they let
Hillary host SNL. So Trump came and hosted SNL and did sketches with them. And there are a few
cast members who were like, no, I'm not going to be on this episode of this guy is here. And I respect
that so much. Right. But gave him equal platforms as Hillary Clinton. And he emerged as the guy with
the great personality. Maybe he's a little rep around the edges, but he's funny. And he says what he
means, which he does. And he's a lying ass. But whereas Hillary Clinton was kind of the standard
cookie cutter politician or, you know, in a more misogynistic way, they were kind of putting her
forces like the shrill, no fun woman. Well, that's how men of a certain age see women. Exactly.
And now it's the total opposite. Kamala laughs too much. I'm sorry. So either we laugh too much or
we're too shrill. Which one's it going to be by? The only acceptable version is a woman who's quiet.
They're ultimately, you know. And yeah, I mean, I think it is such an interesting world that we live
in now where we are not just seeing it on the news, but we're also seeing it in the algorithms.
And there is proof that everything we see on social media is intentionally created or not created,
but Sean get it to you to further deviate us. Oh, absolutely. And there are studies. It's not just
from the news, but also on social media where, you know, you're starting to exist in a vacuum.
And I do think that that is such a scary world that we live in. And I see it personally just on
my algorithms or my social media where I go, oh, how could anybody ever think this way? And then
I'm like, oh, no, I need to be intentional about consuming what is this other side seeing? Exactly.
So that you can just kind of understand, like I think one of the things that politics has done to
us is intentionally divide us 100% and it's getting worse and worse. That's such a good point. Like,
I've said that to my husband before, like, I can't comprehend how anybody would think XYZ. And he goes,
well, they think that about you too. Yeah. Yeah. Exactly. And that's true.
Yeah. And, you know, like I've lived through that time with my brother in 2020. And, you know, him and I
went to all the same schools. We had the same upbringing. Obviously, he was a man or the woman,
but we went to the same college, the same degree. And, you know, I really wanted to like take a step back
and be like, how does he think this way? And, you know, we look at, there's always a stroke about
the male loneliness epidemic, but they are being served like these crazy, like, misogynistic views,
as well as like this looks-maxing thing and like everything in your life will be better.
Alpha male. Everything in your life will be better if you have a six pack and you just can't believe in
these ideals and go back to church. You are better than women. You need to assert your dominance over
them and get a six pack and like get her back in the kitchen. Yeah. And it's not the systematic
things that have been created by government and by this division. It's just we, you know,
gave women too much responsibility or we got to liberal and Donald Trump's campaign and like,
agenda absolutely. Like, that's what they stand for. Right. Yes. Like, and so then when you see like
a politician on television who's getting these platforms, who is also preaching these things,
and maybe some of these words don't come straight from his mouth, but like they're from his cabinet too,
from the comedians he lets on stage with them. That was disgusting. And then-
Like him in the roast of Tom Brady, that was like, oh my god, we had faith in you. And then, you know,
the grabber by the pussy tape came out and we all thought that was going to be the end, but it
absolutely wasn't. And all it did was in bold in this gigachad personality even more of, you know what,
yeah, grabber by the pussy man. Yeah. It's almost like crazy to think back on like everything like
the textbook for just 2016 to this time. Oh my god. When people, when kids, like, look,
it'll learn about that someday they're going to be like, what were you guys thinking? What happened?
Yeah. No, it is really crazy. At least the boy students, well, the girls won't be allowed to
read anymore. Yeah. No, we're not manifesting that. We are sending really good love. Obviously,
this episode is being recorded before the election results. So we are living in a world where,
we know, hopefully we get we have rights. Everybody lives. Let us make this podcast moving forward.
This might be the last episode of the party. Yeah. When it's speaking freely. No, no, no, no.
Yeah, stop it. Stop it. Why are you being too negative? We don't love that.
And that's what I mean, though, is like I had and I don't think you could do this right now because
of what you're working on and who you're talking to every day. But like I had to stop watching the
news every day and I had to like read it and change my algorithm because it was such a negative
feedback loop. And you know, I tried to do it more with my social media, right? Because like you
said, I work in politics. And so all day, all I'm thinking about is the election. All day, it's just,
it's there and just like and it shouldn't be that way. So that is so scary that that's the world we
live in. Yeah. I mean, it sucks. It sucks. It sucks you in when you're in that job, right? Like when
you're going to an event that's probably all you can think about for days. Yeah. So my algorithm,
right? It's a lot of dogs. Yes. And a lot of good Halloween costumes and Agatha all along,
which is amazing. Yeah. I know. I've been seeing a lot of like fan. It's incredible. I'm like,
do I watch it? You should absolutely watch it. I have to watch Juan David. No, you don't. I'll
fill you in. Okay. Literally. You don't. Cool. It's very queer and very witchy. Yes. I think she's
got a plaque for being the first woman in the Marvel Universe to show her butt. Yeah. I look good,
but it's good. It's a good bum. Good bum. Good bum. Squirrel. Yep. I have to change the subject.
You know, but all of my all of my scrolling right now is I try to keep it very light. Yeah.
Because I need that little break or I'll play little games on my phone and turn off the brain for
a little bit or watch scary movies. Anything to just, you know, we need to take care of ourselves in
this time, I think. Yeah. And Sean and I obviously really believe in the Democratic Party right now
is the best solution for women, but I hope, you know, if you aren't undecided voter, even a Republican
who's listening to this blue and it's carried away by now. But you love that you know that we believe
that we are so much closer than what separates us. Yeah. And ultimately, I think that, you know,
we exist in a world right now that is intentionally trying to divide us. And I think just going back to
remembering we're all struggling. The, yep. The problems that are being talked about in politics
are really only applying to the upper elite or 1% of people in we're all struggling. You never
know what the person next to you is struggling with or what they're experiencing or what their life
experience is what they're actually what got them to this level. What their algorithm shows them.
You never know what the person next to you is. Yeah. Looks like it's a river. I mean, we both
have friends, friends who are Republicans. And like you said, we have a lot in common and we just
we try to focus on that and like, you know, just live life the best you can and be a decent person.
There you go. And rewatch parks and rec because that's the government at its post medical.
And if you've never seen it, watch The Manchurian Candidate. Because that's my, I've never seen that.
I know. I can't believe you'd never seen it. It's Denzel. It's so good. It's so good. It's, I, I can't even
begin to explain. It's so conspiratorial. But it's, oh my god. It's really, really good. Okay, so I'm only
watching anything scary up until Thursday, which is for future listeners. It's Halloween. It's going
to be Halloween in two days for us on this side. So only scary movies, but then after that, maybe I'll
maybe I'll get some political drama. It's a good, like, political thriller. Yeah. And psychological
thriller. So it's, I love to be psychologically thrilled. I put it in the, like, kind of like Jacob's
Ladder. You gotta watch it. Okay. Okay. Okay. Jacob's Ladder is known as one of the best psychological
horrors of all time. Yeah. Like, I know Colin's up to put that. Yeah. It's really, really good. It's
a ladder. Jacob's Ladder. Do you know what that is? It's like the twist. It's that thing you used to
do when you were a kid. Yeah. With the string. Like, I'm saying this like, yeah, like kind of like that.
Yeah. Okay. Yeah. So it's like, it's a what? It's a what? Yeah. I was straight. Yeah. What you should
play with strings when I was a youth. I had to find the strings. Oh, yeah. I'm the strings in
rocks and sticks. I'm only 35. I'm suffering. Yeah. Sorry, guys. Everybody like a older than me right now is like,
shut up. Yeah. Yeah. So they're like, oh, I'd go, but I'd give anything to go back to them. And,
and you know, so my, my pop is Manchurian Candidate. Your pop is Agatha All Along. I love it. It's incredible.
It's on Disney+. Tomorrow is October 30th for us. And it's gonna have the last two episodes. But
at that point, you can just stream the entire thing on Disney+ and highly recommend it. The Puses.
Yes. Love that. Now, it's time to wrap up this campaign. But before we go, let's tell your
friends how they can find this on social media. You can buy me, Shauna Trinidad, on Instagram and not
on TikTok until Olivia helps me get back at @ShaunaTrinidad S-H-A-U-N-A-T-R-I-D-A-D. And you can find me
Olivia on Instagram @livimariez L-I-V-I-M-A-R-I-E-Z. You can find me on TikTok @livyolife420 L-I-V-Y-O-L-I-F-E-420.
It's ballet. I can't. It's great. I can't spell. I can spell. I can spell, you know, the best words.
And don't forget, you can find the pop culture junkie podcast, social media links, and
much, much more on our website popculturejunkie.com. From there, you can find our podcast on all platforms and
follow, subscribe, rate, review. Please do it all. It really helps us to get found and reach more people
with our lovely stimulating intellectual discussions. Very intellectually. Intellectual.
Psychologically thrilling. Yeah, psychologically thrilling. You never know where we're going to go on
this one. One day we're talking about pop music and recession, political candidates,
Chrissy Teigen, Boobs, come up, dick jokes. Yeah, all of it. We have it all. Kind of lingus.
Sean is dead, not getting a blow. Sorry, I don't throw it in there. And for only $5 per month,
you'll get access to the completely un-sensored, unedited, unapologetic video version of this podcast.
You can only imagine. You'll also get access to all of our episodes one week early. And of course,
every subscription helps us bring you the best of pop culture every week. Find us at patreon.com/popculturejunkeypodcast,
sign up and get that sneak peak. Or just let us call your name out during our next episode. And thank
you for being a subscriber like this. Olivia! Was that so good? If you're on YouTube, you will see
the look of horror. She looks so offended, but also like, kind of like, I don't like it.
We will say your name like that. Yeah, it's Shauna and I. I won't. I won't. And come back next week for another
hit of pop culture. The Pop Culture Junkie podcast is produced by Jeff Markin and Cheryl Lightfoot
for the Pop Culture Entertainment Network.