Things Are Getting Weird
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I wanted to start out by singing the Olympic trumpet fanfare. I was very close to doing that. Right? Right? It's here. I'm in the spirit. It's here. Hello to my patriotic ladies. Team USA ladies. Four more years. Four more years. Let's go. Let's go.

I am wrapped in the red, white, and blue, and my name is Sam Sanders. I am a gymnastic stand by the name of Saeed Jones, bitch. And I am a changed woman forever because I have seen in living color that Saeed Jones is now a sports fanatic. We love to see it. He is a sports fanatic, so I am his witness, and I am Zach Stafford, and you are listening to Vibe Check. Olympic edition.

Can I just plant a seed right now and begin to manifest this? Okay. If Snoop Dogg can commentate the Olympics, if Leslie Jones can commentate the Olympics, I'm speaking right now. Saeed, I...

I want you to commentate the Olympics. Speak truth to power. Saeed Jain should be a commentator. You do know four years from now, the Summer Games are in Los Angeles. I know. And that will impact my rate. To be very clear. Anywho, listeners, if you haven't figured it out yet, this episode, we're talking about the Olympics because before you know it, it showed up and made us feel all warm and fuzzy inside. Who knew?

Paris is doing the thing, bringing back the monoculture for at least a little bit. Going to talk about that first, but then it's going to literally get weird. We are going to talk about a new campaign tactic we've been seeing and hearing from Team Kamala. It's taken off, but I'm not sure how I feel about it. This is Kamala Harris and her campaign's pretty expert deployment of the word weird.

In reference to Trump and J.D. Vance and the Republicans this campaign season. I got thoughts on it and I want us to talk about it. So we're going to. But before we get into that, let's just check in. It sounds like y'all are feeling good. Zach, Saeed, you're both in New York this week. I can't be there with you. I miss you. But it seems like you're doing well. Zach, what's your vibe?

We're great. It's been so great hanging out with Saeed. We were at like a dinner party last night with some other friends. Who were the friends? It was our friend Teddy. Teddy and Ty Taylor. Hi, Tover. Oh, we love Teddy. Teddy's brilliant. And Tover's brilliant as well. But Teddy is like, was extra brilliant last night with his takes on politics. And I just, I want to put him on CNN. I want to put him on MSNBC. He is that girl. He is indeed that girl. Very much that girl. But it's been so nice to be back with like old friends because we were all friends before even this podcast.

this Vibe Check podcast began. So it felt like old times in a good way. But beyond that, something else that felt like old times is the reemergence of Zoom as a gathering place for people in the world because these white ladies are on their Zoom. It's a force, not just the white ladies. There's a white man for Kamala Kershaw.

call. Oh, yes. I'm waiting for the South Asians for Kamala call because I want to be on that just to see. I'm sure it's coming. And let me say this, as I've always joked on this show and other shows, I am the black child of white people. There are a lot of white people in my family. I'm a mixed race person. And, uh,

All the white people in my family are activated. They are on the Zooms, on coinciding Zooms in different rooms, fundraising. And I just have to, as always, say thank you to my personal goddess, Glennon Doyle.

My favorite white woman outside my mother who has really brought the girls together. And when you listen to the clips of those Zooms, these women have been studying. They have gone to school. They have listened and they are now applying the lessons. And I love it so much. So it's been great. But it also has been interesting just to see Zoom as a technology being used to bring people together when we could be physically together.

You know, it's like really showing the powers of, you know, it's global reach and that you can have both things. You can have live in-person performances and you also can have digital gatherings that are also effective. So I love it. I'm enjoying it. And it's been such a good time to watch. I mean, regarding that Zoom in particular, yeah, it's a big deal. I mean, one, I think, you know, just anecdotally, I feel like it's not unusual for someone to say, listen, this family member of mine,

who doesn't really talk about politics or hasn't seemed very excited is like asking me, am I going to participate in this event? Or I go to them to share a resource and they're like, oh honey, I've already signed up. That's interesting to see. And particularly with white women. I mean, I've acknowledged it before, right? 47% of white women voted for Trump in 2016. More white women voted for Trump in 2020. Yeah.

So, you know, with everything going on, it's really interesting seeing, I don't know, the responsibility that particular demographic takes on in this election. And it's a calling in. I love it. And we love a calling in. It's them saying, hey, this is for us as a group to figure out and let's all use our resources, time and contacts and figure it out. And as a Black person watching it, I love it.

Keep doing it. Go for it, everybody. While it was going on, I was texting with you about it and you were like, oh, just go ahead and watch the YouTube feed of it because it was also live on YouTube. And I watched for a bit and then I said to myself, kindly, this is not for me. This is for them. It's not for you. And what I enjoyed about it was that they weren't doing that thing

where a gaggle of concerned white women come together to discuss race, but they have to have a Black person lead it. Yeah. They led it. That's interesting. They did it. Growth? Is that growth? It's growth. It's growth. And the they there was Pink in her private jet, Connie Britton in her mansion in the Hollywood Hills, Glennon Doyle, and also, I'm assuming, her mansion. These were white women standing in their truth, and I loved it so much. So thank you. It's really interesting to see the different coalitions come together. Yeah.

Syed, what's your vibe? In contrast, bitch, I am scattered to the August winds. Lord Jesus, I am paying rent.

On two apartments. Wait, you're already paying rent for Boston? I have been paying rent for two apartments for over a month now, to be honest. Do you listen to the song First of the Month? No, why would I do that to myself? The Bone Tugs and Harmony song? Just stress myself out. Paying a lot of rent. I'm working on, you know, booking movers and figuring out storage. And I've got a to-do list that's like 20 items long.

while also slowly but surely beginning to prepare for the school year. So I guess my vibe, I mean, it's exciting. Like this has changed. This is what it means to like, you know, take, you know, a real gambit on a new experience. But it also to me feels like, bitch, summer is over for Sayid. The fun is done. I'm logged into my Zoom. You know what I'm saying? That's my vibe. There you go. Yeah. Has packing up the apartment been...

at any level. No, because I haven't started packing up the apartment yet. It moves in literally two weeks. I have a theory about packing and it's like changed the way that I just like internalized it. One, once I got to a point where I could just pay the movers to do everything, I did that. But two, when I was still packing myself up,

I do the thing where I would tell myself, I'm going to take two months and do it right. And every Saturday I'll do this in a box a day. You never do. And then you're mad at yourself. You know what I did that changed it? I just gave myself two days off before the move and said to myself, it'll be done in two days. Yeah.

You're going to do it in two days. I'm grateful that I invested in having movers. They're going to pack up most of my apartment. But what I do need to do is, you know, the things I want to set aside, books that I'm using for research that are very important that I am able to keep track of, that kind of thing. But girl, you know, pray for a bitch. That's my vibe. Pray for your favorite bitch. I want that as a t-shirt. Pray for a bitch. Because I am Sagittarius and

And I love live for the highways and byways, but to-do lists are not exactly my strength. So, you know, hang in there with me. Well, if you need anything, we are here. I'm not helping you, Pat. No, I'm not helping you, Pat. I'm not helping you, Pat. I'll help you with logistics. You got questions. I love that. I will offer you an inspirational playlist. Sure. Let's do that. Let's do that.

Okay, Sam, what's your vibe? My vibe is twofold. On the personal front, I've mentioned it. I'm doing some traveling this summer and I was wanting to make the travel a long road trip with my dogs.

But the weather is weird on the West Coast right now, on the western part of America. It's really hot and there are wildfires and smoke. So I had to turn my road trip into a plane trip, which means the dogs cannot gallivant with me in Montana, which is a little annoying, but I'll be fine. But it is a reminder that like, oh, yeah, don't forget.

Climate change is real. She's here. She's working. Well, it feels like we've been, you know, I'm going to literally knock on wood, a little luckier this summer in terms of the impact of wildfires. I mean, last summer, the months of June and July, I mean, it often wasn't safe for us to be outside, even in places like New York City and Columbus. For sure. It's wild. So I'm hoping it doesn't get worse.

but I've already had all that changed from travel plans. It's fine, I'm still going to this wedding. But my second vibe, and I was thinking this morning walking to Wesley, I was like, why do I feel a little more tapped in and connected these last few weeks than I have in the last few months?

And I think it's because the rush of Kamala and her new campaign for president had everyone talking about one thing for a week or two. And now the Olympics are happening and it has everything talking about one thing for a week or two. And I said, oh, I'm feeling good because I have mounted the monoculture.

Mounted that monoculture. Not mounted. Back on it. Back on it. A pommel horse? Oh, no. It feels so good to have a thing that everyone's talking about. So my vibe is happy about that. I'm happy about it. That's all.

listeners, thank you for sending us fan mail. Special shout out to those of you who have subscribed to our Papa John. If you want to join that group chat, you can find us at patreon.com slash vibe check. I wish you had been able to see the look on everyone's face in the control room. Just

Also, if a listener is feeling up to it, I would love in the vein of Las Culturistas for someone to create a chart of all the ways in which Sam creates new words for Patreon. Because it's getting wild. It is really. It's getting wild out here. It's really wild. It's marketing, baby. It is. All right, let's go. Let's go. Let's jump in. All right. First up, we, of course, are talking about the Paris Olympics, which...

If you haven't been able to notice, I am suddenly and intensely obsessed with. We're going to get into my fervor in a moment, but we're also going to talk about how technology and media decisions are definitely playing a role and how the games feel for us at home. But to start, Zach and Sam, I wanted to ask y'all, you know, do you normally consider yourselves Olympic champions?

girlies? Was this something you were, you know, you had marked on your calendar? How have you felt about the Olympics in the past? I go off and on, and I'm realizing my excitement for the Olympics parallels my excitement for America because it just so happens to fall usually around elections themselves, which I think we'll get into in a bit. But, you know, the past few years, especially with the COVID Olympics, which were kind of rescheduled in Tokyo and kind of were shifting a lot, I have felt

But this year and in Paris, one of my favorite places in the world, I'm in. I love the camp of it all. I love that that queer person is directing all the opening ceremonies. I think it's very much for us in a way that like if it was in America in 2024, it wouldn't feel for us, if that makes sense. So I'm really into it. I'm very excited. What about you, Sam?

I'm loving it. I've always been an Olympics junkie. I remember watching breathlessly figure skaters like Michelle Kwan in my youth. I remember Dominique Dawes in her moment as a gymnast when I was in like seventh or eighth grade and all the boys had pictures of Dominique Dawes in their lockers at middle school. Oh, yeah.

I've always been a junkie. I think I live for gymnastics, track and field and figure skating at the Winter Olympics, of course. But I'm really invested because many years ago I got to cover the Winter Olympics in Sochi in Russia. So I'm always watching these games to compare and contrast my experience there. And I just think from what we've seen so far, Paris is doing a pretty damn good job.

It's looking great. It's feeling great. I love the camp of it all. And I love that we're in a moment where it feels like a lot of Americans can unite around one thing and not argue about it. We're just like, yeah, that's cool. I love that. It won't last forever, but I'll take it while I can.

I agree. I agree. And Saeed Jones, I've known you for three Olympics, I would say, and I've never seen you so excited. So what is it about 2024? Is it just the short gymnasts or is there something else? Oh, gosh. I mean, we're going to talk about technology and media in a second because I do think that is part of it. Just it's been easier for me to access. You know, I don't have...

Cable TV at home. I can't watch NBC normally. So I also think it's just a fluke of, you know, different rules impacting social media, different decisions NBC has made. But I think you're right. I mean, there is a correlation between the politics of the moment.

and the Olympics. And it's because it's hard to disentangle. I mean, when Beyonce suddenly appeared during the opening ceremony, you know, draped in, she was wearing this custom Tom Brown outfit and she acknowledged that America is complicated. You're like, uh-huh. And she smiled and we all knew what that smile meant. I think that's significant. And I think the fact that these Olympics are in Paris is...

And we were mentioning the other day that France and the United States obviously have a long history and important relationship, but it's twinned. So I would say the sudden...

change of energy that many Americans feel. Like, we're on our Zooms, we're texting, we're talking about, you know, like, the memes and everything. We're invested in our politics with, I would say, a generally hopeful energy that we haven't felt. Think about what's going on in France and in Paris. They just had an incredible election, right, that was in some ways even more dramatic than our politics of the last...

week or so, and particularly, you know, they pushed back against the far right. So when you talk about, you know, the opening ceremony being, you know, coordinated and directed by a queer man, seeing drag queens, you know, seeing throuples, seeing couples kiss, in addition to all of the camp, the theater, the can-can, the Celine Dion, the Lady Gaga, I think I'm moved by

Because it's not just about what the Olympics mean for us, it's like we have a very vivid understanding of what it must feel like, for example, to be a queer person in Paris right now. - Yeah. - Wow. - Yeah. - When you bring up opening ceremony, what I noticed and loved the most

And what has been a direct objective of Paris in these Olympics is that they really only wanted to use spaces and event spaces that already existed for these Olympics. At the start of these Olympics, 95% of all the venues needed for Paris to pull it off already existed. They only built two new spaces, a swimming stadium and some new Olympic villages, but they've already promised to turn both of those over to their communities once it's done. Wow.

This is a big deal. And so you'll remember as you watch the opening ceremony,

They were moving through the city. They weren't in some new stadium just built for that ceremony. They were floating on the water in boats. Celine Dion sang on top of the Eiffel Tower. They used the city. And it's not just beautiful. It's not just a nod to French history and culture. It's green. This is the greenest Olympics so far that we've had. So it's a big deal. And just on the logistical accomplishment of that, I commend Paris.

I remember covering Sochi. They built these Olympic villages so shoddily and so quickly. I remember when I got to my Olympic village apartment, some of the lights weren't working. Some of the toilets weren't working. It was built so poorly. You knew they had to tear this down as soon as it was done. And usually that is what happens with cities when they host the Olympics. You build up fake infrastructure just to tear it down or have it become an eyesore. Paris didn't do that. And like, kudos, hats off for that.

Yeah. And just one example of what that,

made possible is the Marie Antoinette death metal moment, which, you know, I mean, I haven't, yeah, outside of a building where I believe Marie Antoinette and many of her court were actually executed. So the specific, imagine like if you translate that moment to a stadium, it just becomes like a theatrical set, but it's like, no, we're in the place. So geography matching symbolism, matching history, you know, pretty incredible. And what's amazing is that the Olympics themselves are,

is a kind of exploration of geography. You know, a new place is picked every four years or technically over two years with the Winter Olympics and then the Summer Olympics. But it's about, you know, not only the athletes and their prowess and their sport, but it's also the place in which it is done. And a lot of places, to piggyback off Sam, with Sochi, create new senses of place, which are very foreign. So you watch them and they feel not real. They feel plastic. They feel artificial. But Paris did the opposite. And they were like thinking of a cultural geography.

of place where they said, Marie Antoinette died here, so we're going to express it in the form. The sin runs through the city, so we're going to use that as a place in which athletics happens. And that is so cool to see because so many places like Atlanta, LA, Salt Lake City in America constructed whole new venues that are just abandoned now and no one uses them. Yeah. I do want to point out a little bit of how

and LA's history with the Olympics ties into this. So this modern era of the Olympics that we know, particularly this Paris version of it, where you're using the city as it exists to pull off the games, we owe a lot of credit for that

to Los Angeles. So Olympic historians will know in 1968 in Mexico City and in 1972 in Munich, there was deadly violence at both games. And then in 76 in Montreal, there were dramatic cost overruns. So by the time it was coming around for the 84 Olympics, nobody wanted to take it. Los Angeles was the only city to bid on the games for 84 after Tehran pulled out and

And they executed the first Olympics that really relied on the city's existing infrastructure and stadiums. And they were the first Olympics to line up these lucrative corporate sponsorships and broadcast rights to build the games into what we see and know today. And the LA Olympics were the first to have a surplus in Olympic history. They had a surplus of $215 million. So, so much of the things we like about these Paris Olympics, um,

LA wrote that DNA I gotta give my city some credit

I hope it's a way forward. I mean, I saw, I was watching a video that noted in the last few rounds of when cities like volunteered themselves, usually it would be 20 to 25 cities. And the last few rounds, it's been like two or three. Exactly. Only willing because, you know, cities like Athens, as you mentioned, Tokyo, these spaces just become a burden. So it's savvy. It creates, you know, really beautiful opportunities to

actually introduce the world to your city that's kind of the point don't just have a siloed in some artificial you know village that we're never going to see again let us see you know these historic sites it's also a better view when you can actually see it in the city i'll never forget one of my biggest disappointments of covering sochi uh my editor out there shout out vicky walton james she was like sam i'm gonna give you one of the tickets to the opening ceremony

And I was like, this is incredible. I get to go to the opening ceremony. Do you know where you have the worst view of the opening ceremony at the Olympic Games? Is that the opening ceremony? At the opening ceremony. You want aerial views. You can't see nothing. And what Paris did by having the opening ceremony happen within the city, all of Paris got a taste with the good view. It's beautiful. If you haven't

seen Celine Dion's performance. My friend Teddy, as we mentioned hanging out the other night, he made me, he was like, no, no, no, you've seen clips of it on TikTok. We're going to sit and watch it. It is so moving. And I think, you know, it evokes what's so special about the Olympics because it's about an event. It's about a place. It's also about time.

Yeah. You know, the fact that Paris and the country of France, which obviously Celine has such a relationship to, is hosting it now at this moment in her life. For her to be able to sing the same song that I believe Edith Piaf sang, you know, decades ago. It's just. Yeah.

It's like there's something about the stars aligning. You know, like to see Simone Biles, you know, go for the gold again after everything she's been through. We understand that we might not get to see this again. And I think that specificity is part of what makes it special. Yeah. And what's also beyond the specificity, it's just the story construction that you're talking about here. The Olympics at their core are a three-act hero's journey. You know, you have the person that you meet that you have no idea who they are.

A lot of these gymnasts, I didn't know who they were the other day. I get backstory. I understand the hurdles they literally and emotionally went through to get here. Then I get to see them fight it out and in the end win. And seeing that can be so fulfilling. And Celine was that. We just watched a doc where she's like, I can't sing anymore. And we got to see her overcome so much and get on the Eiffel Tower and perform better than most anyone in the world. It was incredible. It was amazing. But it also makes me think about, Saeed, you've written about this a lot. And I'd love for you to talk about it before we run out of time, which is just

And this idea of awe. Yeah, I mean, it was something I noticed and I read a bit of science reporting on it during the pandemic because I realized I was having such a strong response, not just to like the fun videos on TikTok, but particularly the nature and science content, like learning something about the world. And a scientist, forgive me, but I can't remember his name, basically explained that what you're experiencing in those moments is awe.

You know, it's kind of like when you see one of those new photos from a deep galaxy in the universe via a telescope. That sense of scale where you realize that we are connected to something big and wondrous beyond us. That that is actually a really important feeling that it's important for us to stay in touch with it. And when we're distanced from it, you know, it can lead to things like depression and anxiety. And I think with the Olympics, you know, watching these gymnasts, these short kings...

One of these young men, you know, has to take off. He wears his glasses up until the very last second and then hands them to a teammate. And then, baby, he worked that goddamn pommel horse. He worked that pommel horse within an inch of its life. It was just incredible. And you're just like, so that sense of when you're watching it and you go, how does he do that?

do that. That's awe. And I think it's beautiful. And as Sam mentioned, it becomes a shared experience because you can talk with anyone about it. I love that you bring up the awe of it all, because one thing that we have to point out from the business side and the viewing side, NBC has finally made it easier for more people to experience the awe. I remember having a conversation on a podcast of mine years ago when Rio was happening a few years ago,

and everyone was saying, I don't know how to watch the Olympics. I can't figure out this app. What time are they showing it? Et cetera, et cetera, et cetera. And previously, NBC had opted to not broadcast certain events live and showed stuff in clips on tape delay in prime time to get as much ad revenue. Everyone hated it. They finally wised up and just made it

easier to see the stuff. They now are using comprehensive live coverage to drive folks to Peacock. It's just easier to watch. And that's a big part of it too. So I never want to give a corporation like NBC Universal kudos, but they have made the experience of watching these games from America to

when compared to four years ago. Yeah, I mean, I don't even think it's about kudos. I mean, to me, it reminds me how technology and media can change reality. Our emotional experience as viewers is different because I can mention Stephen with the glasses. And I can watch it too. And people, total strangers, like in our control room,

People are nodding their head. They know what I'm talking about because, you know, they're not gatekeeping these moments in the way they used to. I also want to point out that beginning with the Tokyo Olympics, the IOC relaxed its social media rules for the athletes. And because of where TikTok is now compared to 2020, you know, it's so much more popular. We're also getting the behind the scenes look. So it's really interesting, you know, seeing the athletes, I don't know, in the Olympic cafeteria.

kind of, they're rating the food, which is funny, or, you know, seeing how many of them can stand on one of those beds at the dorm room. So there's so many ways where it just feels like they've let the oxygen in, and with oxygen comes that connection. And it's great. I remember when I was covering Sochi, I was able to profile a few athletes. I spent a lot of time with the extreme skiers. They were so great. Devin Logan, you know I still love you, girl. Just amazing. The flip she turned. But one of the challenges to myself was,

was to see if I could get into the athlete's village, which you can never get into. So I would just traipse around Sochi hours at a time every day, just kind of trying to finesse my way in, trying to do it. You can't do it. It's virtually impossible. And so now to see that these athletes can at least show us TikToks and social from that village, it feels so good because it was a lockbox. You couldn't get up in there.

Yeah, and right now, this year, apps like Grindr have blocked it on their maps where you can't even cruise. Because there's a million of villages. Because you know what happens. And this is what I heard from the athletes. As soon as these athletes' events are done, they're free to play. So if your event is the first one or two days of the Olympics, you have basically the two weeks after that off to be a freak in Paris.

They deserve. They earned it. Well, we're going to leave this conversation here for now. The Olympics, of course, are going on, I believe, for another 12 or 13 days. I saw breakdancing starts like the first week in August. I am so excited to watch Olympic breakdancing. So follow me on the Patreon or on Blue Sky if you want more of my updates. But we're going to take a quick break. Stay tuned. We'll be right back.

This message is brought to you by McDonald's. Did you know only 7.3% of American fashion designers are Black? Well, McDonald's 2024 Change Leaders Program is ready to change the face of fashion. The innovative program awards a monetary grant to five emerging Black American designers and pairs each with an industry professional to help them elevate their brands.

I know specifically and distinctly how McDonald's can support and empower not just black Gen Z, but black people. My first job was McDonald's. I learned a lot there about customer service and how to relate to people. I still love that place and go there very often. Look out for the change of fashion designers and mentors.

at events like the BET Awards and the Essence Festival of Culture. And follow the journey of the 2024 McDonald's Change Leaders on their Instagram page, We Are Golden.

Here's an HIV pill dilemma for you. Picture the scene. There's a rooftop sunset with fairy lights and you're vibing with friends. You remember you've got to take your HIV pill. Important, yes, but the fun moment is gone. Did you know there's a long-acting treatment option available? So catch the sunset and keep the party going. Visit pillfreehiv.com today to learn more. Brought to you by Veve Healthcare.

Welcome back. So the past few weeks have been quite the roller coaster to state the obvious, as we all know. We've had a former president almost assassinated, a sitting president stepped down from a historic presidential race, and the ascension of a VP candidate for president who everyone assumed would be a lame duck, but has been quite the opposite. And I must note, we have seen the emergence of a Democratic Party that was asleep for many, many years now wake up and

and has given thousands, and I mean thousands of people, newfound hope. I was in the airport and people were talking to each other about all the things that have changed these past few weeks. So it does feel very hopeful. But in the midst of all that hope, something else has emerged that we really want to talk about today because things are getting weird, as Sam suggested earlier in the show. And to get us going, we want to take a listen to a clip from Fox News. It's kind of weird. Yeah.

I mean, that's the box you put that in, right? It's not just a weird style that he brings. It's that this leads to weird policies. That is weird behavior. More extreme, more weird, more erratic. I mean, on the other side, they're just weird. The 32 ounces of weird. Donald Trump and his weirdo running mate. And by the way, they are weird. It is bizarre. It's weird. It is weird. J.D. Vance, just dumb Vance, is pretty weird.

Just dumb Vance. Then that was Anna Navarro saying that on The View. It's a new phrase for me. But if you are picking up on what we're laying down, the Democrats and those that are aligned with Kamala Harris are using the term weird to attack Trump and Vance. And it is working. They are so, for lack of a better word, fucked up over this. They are really shaken over this usage of weird and we want to get into it. So, Saeed, Sam,

What do you think of this so far? When did you start seeing this trend of weird emerge? Because it happened quickly, but I found out it's been going on quietly in the background for a while.

I think it is a very potent choice. It's not a coincidence. So many of Kamala Harris's surrogates, I mean, we heard people like Gretchen Whitmer, Pete Buttigieg, Governor Tim Walz of Minnesota, just a few in that one clip. The first time I saw it, I believe it was in a statement issued by Kamala Harris's team. And significantly, when I first saw it, it was dumbfounded.

Donald Trump and these policies, weird and creepy. And I just want to say that I know we're going to focus on weird, but I think weird and creepy is a really potent combination because it really turns back the kind of Sauron's gaze of a lot of the rhetorical strategies Trump, the Republican Party have been using the last few years to particularly villainize, target, and I would say intimidate

endanger queer people, you know, drag queens, trans people, that ominous sense of something's off, like that has been undergirding so much of their rhetoric. So it's really interesting because to me in this moment,

It feels like, you know, just to create an image, you know, an instance where kids on the playground who have been terrorized by some bully just kind of wake up and go, wait a minute. You're being weird. Like, we are all trying to have a good time. We're trying to live in community with each other. And why are you acting like this? And I think when you're able to turn the tables, that's a powerful moment both to call someone out, but also to build a coalition of other people going, wait a minute.

You know, that's a good point. So that's where I'll start. Yeah, I love it. I love that analogy of the bully on the playground because it does feel very similar. That moment where you're letting someone pick on you and suddenly you're like, wait a minute, I can pick back. And it changes the dynamic really quickly. Sam, I'm really excited for your take because I think we all have a different approach to this. So take us there. How are you feeling about this term weird and how it's being deployed across the political spectrum right now?

I don't like it. I think they're allowed to use it. I think it's already proven to be quite potent, but I don't like the way they're using it. And I want to get a little bit linguistic to say why. I look at the word weird in comparison and in contrast to the Kamala campaign's deployment of the word brat.

These are both single words that mean something and feel buzzy and make a point very quickly. Brat feels affirmative. It is drawing you into a certain cultural moment around Charli XCX and her music and summer energy. And the whole ethos of Brat is, this is a fun little club. Don't you want to be in it? It is affirmative as opposed to negative. And most of the time when you're using the word Brat in this context, it is a positive thing.

With weird, it is negative, first of all, which I think is always worse than a positive, affirmative message for a politician. And two, it is so broad a word and can be used in so many ways, I fear that very soon it will just be used to be an insult and a slur.

Whereas with brat, oh, it's specifically about a thing this summer. Weird is a word that many people can weaponize in many different ways. And why I really feel bad about the use of the word weird in the campaign is because Kamala and her team aren't just saying these policies are weird. These behaviors are weird. Your actions are weird. They're just saying you're weird. And they're not just saying you're weird. There was a tweet from Kamala HQ that had something that Trump did or some photo of Trump. And it said, oh,

Old and weird. I did see that. I don't like that. That feels ableist. That gets really close to just schoolyard insults. And what I fear with this is that

Yeah.

I don't like it. That's interesting. I totally hear you on that. I think I come at it at a different vantage point after learning this little tidbit about the word. So the word people thought emerged from the Kamala Harris campaign because of that press release. And then someone was like, oh, it's Governor Walz said it offhand on, I think, CNN. That's

Not the case. The actual case is Kamala Harris herself, when asked about Donald Trump's performance with Hillary Clinton during the debates back in, what, 2015-16 era? She said, if he stalked me on stage like that, I would turn around and say, this guy's being weird. Isn't this weird? And I was like,

Oh, my God. We were at that moment not calling a spade a spade. Like this man from the beginning was acting inappropriate, like a predator in public. But we were trying to treat him with dignity that he wasn't giving back to us. But I think there's a difference because Kamala can say and what Kamala was saying is your behavior in this moment was weird. This thing you did is weird. I.

I like that framing. It's specific and distinct. When you just say a person is weird, that's when it feels sloppier to me. And that's when it feels like it opens the door for the word itself just to become an insult that could be used in many different ways. I am not under any illusion that anything happening from Kamala around the word weird is worse than what Donald Trump does in his politics, in his rhetoric. But I am saying, you know, they're going to do what they want to do, but I don't like it.

Yeah. I mean, it's helpful to hear what you say. I absolutely disagree. I don't think it's a slur. I don't think this rhetoric has the potential in a few months to endanger people. I don't know. I'll explain why. But I wanted to read a post from someone on Blue Sky that I adore. They go by Miriam.lol. I encourage you to follow Miriam on Blue Sky. Miriam posted yesterday, just yesterday, because everyone's talking about this. She wrote, right-wingers are weird, though.

I think the reason it's so potent is that...

One thing that has burdened Democrats is that Democrats understandably want to draw attention to systemic dangers, right? Like Trump and J.D. Vance and the Republicans are in danger to democracy, to things like freedom of speech, to queer rights and reproductive justice.

But I think we often see ourselves or find ourselves kind of lost in the weeds when we're trying to advocate and trying to express that. And people get, understandably, like the more elaborate your argument is, the more opportunities to kind of lose focus. And so I think to say, and to me, I think it's important to add creepy.

Because I think so much of the Republican Party's stances are about gender policing, body policing, right? And that is creepy and sinister. And so I think that's an important addition. I think it's potent and helpful to give people, everyday people,

tools they can use, you know, while talking to their friends and coworkers so they don't have to get up in a conversation because this will happen if you're like, oh, they're white nationalists and now you have someone trying to make you debate the definition of racism. And you're like, damn, that wasn't even what I was trying to do. I'm just trying to say these people are bad and they're not good for us. Something I do think, you know, to Sam's point is

You can't just have the critique. You have to have the solution. And I think when I've seen in Kamlo, she's not consistent. And I think part of it is they're all kind of throwing spaghetti at the wall right now and trying to see what sticks. I think what will work best is freedom in contrast to the we're, right? They're trying to inflict that on us. That's what I think she needs to argue. I hear everything you're saying, but as soon as you tweet out,

Kamala HQ, old and weird, just that? I'm not on board. No, old and weird is a misstep. That's not a good idea. But no, to finish this thought, the Democratic Party just barely beat the old allegations themselves. And

A linchpin of every election victory is appealing to older voters. This is what I don't want them to do. You keep saying old. You keep saying weird. Do potential swing voters who kind of like Trump at a certain point say, are you calling me old and weird?

That is what I'm saying. Well, I think what you're pointing to, Sam, which is correct, is that this can be a slippery slope when we start using, you know, the weapons used against us. Everyone dies at the end and it never works. There you go. But I do think this is a clear sign that the Democrats are taking a page from Donald Trump's book and it's working and it could help them win the election. But to your point, Sam, like the fallout of us becoming them may not be that great. Yeah.

even goes further than Donald Trump. Ryan Teague Beckwith of MSNBC pointed out this was actually a strategy Newt Gingrich introduced when he was campaigning using these like potent one word kind of put down. So, yeah. I think as a political reporter, I,

I was always interested to see the way in which our attention was drawn to spectacle and not to policy. And I think there's an opportunity to deploy the word weird in reference to policy that focuses on policy. These policies are weird. The IVF ban is weird. This is weird. But just saying y'all are weird. Yeah.

That doesn't take us from spectacle to policy, so that. But two, I remember what it was like to be a seventh and eighth grader whose voice was too high and was a little too femme, and the boys called me weird and called me weirdo. I don't like it. And I do not want to create an environment where even on the inverse—

We're telling our kids that that kind of speech around other kids is okay. I remember specifically talking to people in my life after Trump won the election in 16. These young kids came to school in MAGA hats just bullying motherfuckers because they saw their parents do it. I do not think what's happening on this side is that extreme, but why even go in that direction? Well, I guess, you know, what it really calls to, because you're drawing attention to, you know, the perils of in-group, out-group rhetoric. Yes, yes.

And what this demands of us is we have to define the in-group.

And the in-group is people who believe in democracy. The in-group is people who believe in reproductive justice, who believe you should be able to be in relationships. So they will. And so I think, you know, part of this is, again, I think you're right. Like the old and weird is a disastrous misstep. Like never repeat that again. Never repeat that again for so many reasons. It's ableist. It's ageist. It's not effective.

But I think, you know, saying like, let's define a picture of the country we have lived in that we want to live in. And let's define a picture of the zany fascist acid trip they're trying to take us on. Like, that's the rhetoric. Yeah, I agree with both of you so much. And I guess my final point before we wrap this is,

I'm holding space for people who have felt disempowered, who have not felt seen, who have felt like their voices have been silenced over the past eight years. I'm giving them space to be messy and be petty for a minute as they get their new footing to fight because I cannot separate the emergence of weird as a way to describe a man who is a predator, who has been found guilty of behaviors that are illegal, criminal, awful. That coincides with

150,000 white women getting on a Zoom, tens of thousands of black women

gathering together and fighting because when I hear weird and I hear women talk about weird men, what that brings to me as someone that's in deep community with lots of women who have faced violence from men is that they're trying to signal to communities around them, like this man's dangerous to me. He's done something bad to me and I need you to fight for me. So that's what I hear when I hear weird. And that's why I've loved seeing the men say it. But I think to your point, Sam, is that if we don't define how we're using this and we don't call policy action or something productive

at the end of it, we will just get lost in this word battle at the end of the day. Not to take it back to what I said last week on the show, but I think what I'm asking for around language is discernment. Words mean things. They always do. Deploy them carefully. I'm not saying you can't use the word weird, but think about it and is it working in the best way possible?

Precisely because it is potent. We have to be thoughtful about how it's deployed. I think that's a fair point. Yeah. Well, with that, we've got to take a quick break. We will be tracking this weird political moment, and we'd love to hear your feedback on it. How are you taking the word? How are you using the word? What are your thoughts on it? Please share them with us. We'd love to hear. But don't go anywhere. We'll be right back with some recommendations.

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All right, we are back. And before we end the show, I want us each to share a thing that's helping us keep our vibes right this week. A recommendation. Who wants to go first? I can go first. Do it. I need to get something off my chest. I need to testify. Okay. Testify. I need to testify. I have for years heard...

Straight people talk about the show Love Island. I have refused to watch it. I tried and I was like, your accents are too heavy. They now have a US version. Oh. And let me tell you. Is it good? This is my new drug.

I get it now. Okay. I understand it all. But I also, again, to my ongoing thesis, are straight people okay, or my ongoing question, this show is an open relationship structure. Like, we are seeing straight people on Love Island. If you're not familiar with the show, it's a reality dating show where mostly straight identified people go to an island and they're coupled off. And then every episode, they choose a new couple and fall in love with new people that arrive on the island. Okay.

But the whole structure of it is like this false heteronormativity that you have a partner that you're dating, but you're allowed to play with others. Oh, so they show up. So they show up and they're immediately coupled. Oh, I see. And then they like test out this relationship on camera. And then a new bombshell, they call them bombshells, hot people arrive and they test the relationship and you can uncouple and get with new people.

But it is wildly addictive. It's wild to think about the show and the fact that it's just days apart. These people fall in love in two days, then they cheat on the person and get with the next person. But it's like years of a relationship collapsed in a few weeks, and I love it. It's so enjoyable. My heart currently, I'm not finished, so no one spoil it for me, but Janae and Connor. Oh, someone in the note wrote, do you mean Kenny? Is that you, Chantel? No, I'm not that. See, I was like, don't do that.

Just for the note, everyone, Chantel just almost won for me. Leave it in, Chantel. Leave it in.

I love how messy this episode is. Yeah, where I'm at in Love Island is Jenea is dating the big white man from L.A., Connor. I think that's his name. And they're currently about to break up and I'm like on the edge of my seat. So it's a wonderful show. Watch it. Chantel just ruined my weekend plans because I know I'm kidding. I don't mind spoilers. It's fine. That's my vibe check. I'm deep in Love Island. I should watch it. Yes. All right.

Zaid, what is your rec this week? It is hot as hell in New York City this week, and even more humid. We're inside. It's air-conditioned, and I am just, I'm struggling. It's so humid in the studio. I thought I would pick a poem that is as cold as possible to take us in a totally different direction. It's also grown as possible, which, you know, honestly, this has been a pretty grown folks episode. It has been.

the vibe. It is from a dear friend of mine, Ocean Viong. And I just want to share a quick little thing. My first chat book I published because Ocean Viong told me I was ready. And so I will always appreciate that. I... Wait a minute. I have to interrupt. So...

If you talk to me ever about poetry, my two poets I love deeply are Saeed Jones, who I loved before we were friends, and it was also Ocean. And I said to him, you and Saeed make me think that poets write the best prose ever. So knowing that he is kind of your push over the edge for a chapbook that meant so much to me, ah, the universe, give it. It would have been like maybe 2010. We did a reading together at Sarah Lawrence College,

And I remember we went for a walk and he had just published his chapbook. And I was like, it's incredible. And he's like, well, Saeed, why haven't you? You're ready. You need to do this. And, you know, there comes a point where sometimes you do need someone who you trust to say you're ready. Chapbook? What is that?

Chap, C-H-A-P, book. Mine was titled When the Only Light is Fire. It came out before Prelude to Bruise. They're like shorter. They're like a mixtape, like a little zine that comes out when you're dipping your toes. Okay, gotcha. Okay, so I'm going to read this poem by the wonderful Ocean Viong. It's from Ocean's first book, which was titled Night Sky with Exit Wounds, an incredible collection of poems. This poem is titled Devotion.

Instead, the year begins with my knees scraping hardwood, another man leaving into my throat. Fresh snow crackling on the window, each flake a letter from an alphabet I've shut out for good. Because the difference between prayer and mercy is how you move the tongue. I press mine to the navel's familiar whirl, molasses threads descending toward devotion.

And there's nothing more holy than holding a man's heartbeat between your teeth, sharpened with too much air. This mouth, the last entry into January, silenced with fresh snow crackling on the window. And so what if my feathers are burning? I never asked for flight, only to feel this fully, this entirely.

The way snow touches bear skin and is suddenly snow no longer. It's a cold poem, but it's hot as hell. I'm almost about to cry in the studio. Sam was going through it on the Zoom. Sam is not well.

Ocean said with teeth. Ocean said with teeth. He said bite it a little bit. Bite it a little bit. The physicality of Ocean's work when reading it is just so striking and like overwhelming in so many ways. I

remember reading On Earth We Are Briefly Gorgeous, which is, you know, a fictional story of a Vietnamese queer person moving to the States and falling in love. But how he talks about war and his body and desire and place, it is like

And it's so good. Thank you for breaking that. And of course, Ocean is a superstar now, but please check out the poetry as well. There's some beautiful wordplay here. I'm just looking at that phrase, another man leaving into my throat. We usually think that leaving means going away. He says leaving into. That's some high level shit right there. I love it. So good. And I mean, what's my favorite? Because the difference between prayer and mercy is how you move the tongue.

It's like, come on. Come on! To clarify, this is a poem about oral sex, right? Okay. Praying on our knees and praying. Praying on our knees and praying. It's a poem about walking the dog.

Also, what I think is so funny, like knowing Ocean well, Ocean is so quiet. So quiet. So gentle. You know, he's someone you kind of have to lean forward because he speaks just above a whisper. But damn, a freak. Yeah, a freak. You know, we live. Also, my last note, because Chantel's telling us to move on and I'm realizing we could do a whole episode about Ocean. He has a viral clip, I think, from late night.

one of the late night shows where he talks about the language of violence that we enact all the time, where we say, you know, this is cutthroat. I'm going to kill it. You bombed. Like, how we enact the language of war. I'm blowing up. I'm blowing up. Like, he talks about it in the most amazing way. So anyway, love Ocean. We also employ the language of violence around sex.

It's a whole lot. Anywho. So that's me. That's my voib. Sam, what about you? Yeah, I have another music recommendation because I have to slightly rescind last week's recommendation. I was telling y'all to check out the new Donald Glover album. I like it musically. Hold on. I like it musically.

As soon as you dig into the lyrics, you're like, bro, your lyrics are corny. Oh, really? The lyrics are still cheesy in a way that hasn't matured with the sound of his music. So I've been listening to that less, but it has been replaced by this new Claro album. It is called Charm. And let me tell you, baby, Claro.

Claro is a 25 year old, I guess that's Gen Z bedroom pop singer who was making grown folks music for the grown and sexy. This is clean the house on a Saturday morning music. This is I ain't got nowhere to go for a few hours. I was just chill music. This is morning after music. It is so good. It

It's hard to overstate how much I'm loving this album. Think of it as really soft, sultry, understated R&B.

with a Gen Z bedroom pop sensibility, but it works for all ages. I love it. I love it. After you get on your knees and do your devotions, then you can put on Charm by Clairol. I see the vision. I love it. And to anyone who listened to me last week when I said, oh, I love this Donald Glover album, it's not quite love anymore. It's a strong like.

I so appreciate your integrity because I listened to it when I was in Cambridge last week and I was like, I don't know, Sam. So I appreciate you acknowledging it. With that, listeners, what are you listening to, reading, watching, eating, consuming? What are you feeling or not feeling this week? Let us know. What's your vibe? Check in with us at vibecheckatstitcher.com. Vibecheckatstitcher.com.

All right. I was going to make another nasty joke, but let me just get to the credits. We're there. We're there. Thank you for tuning into this week's episode of Vibe Check. If you weren't an adult before, you are now. Congratulations. You can now rent a car. If you love the show and want to support us, please make sure to follow the show on your favorite podcast listening platform. Bully all the people in your life into showing us support as well. You can subscribe on Apple Podcasts and leave a review, for example.

Huge thank you to our producer, Chantel Holder, engineers Jordan Duffy, Rich Garcia, and Brendan Burns, and Marcus Holm for our theme music and sound design. Special thanks to our executive producers, Nora Ritchie at Stitcher and Brandon Sharp from Agenda. And shout out to Aisha Ayub who creates our social content and our intern, Ella Barnes. It takes teamwork to make the dream work. We do not mount the monoculture alone.

Oh, yeah. Oh, shit doesn't just happen. It doesn't. It takes community. Well, speaking of community, we want to hear from you as always. So don't forget, you can email us at vibecheckatstitcher.com. Keep in touch with us on Instagram on our page at vibecheck underscore pod and our Patreon, where for $5 a month, you get direct access to our group chat. And that's patreon.com slash vibecheck. Stay tuned for another episode next week. Until then.

Have a great Olympics, everybody. USA! USA! USA! Four more years. Four more years. Yes. Stitcher.

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