Definitely Worry Darling
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Hello, hello, hello, ladies. Hi. Hi, baby. Hi. I'm Sam Sanders. I'm Saeed Jones. And I'm Zach Safford. And you're listening to Vibe Check. Don't worry, darlings. Vibe Check is here. We got y'all. We got y'all.

Oh, so much, so much to get into. Too much. This week, we're going to talk about two big stories. First, climate change and the truly horrific current crisis in Pakistan with their floods. And then we're going to talk about a different kind of storm.

The Don't Worry Darling drama with Olivia Wilde and Harry Styles and Shia LaBeouf and Florence Pugh and Chris Pine and the Venice Film Festival and maybe some spit. We'll get into all of that in a bit. But first, I got to know...

How are my sisters feeling this week? You know, I just came back into town. I'm in town for the next two or three weeks. I'm very excited to be home. I don't believe you're going to be in town two or three weeks. I will. You know what? I'm going to try. And I barely made it home today, which is a whole other story. But I'm feeling a lot of joy because of Hurricane Darling has given me some really low stakes Hollywood drama. Hurricane Darling!

And I just am really happy about it. It's just giving me everything I needed. And I know that people are trying to defend them because they're friends with these people. And I don't care. Let us enjoy this part of a film rollout where everyone is being messy. I love it. I love it. How are you, Saeed? I feel good. So I was excited to go tailgating. And are you familiar, sisters, with the term fair weather fan? Oh, yeah. Fair weather fans, all that. It is me. I am her. I woke up Saturday morning...

Trying to decide which OSU sweatshirt I was going to wear. And it was raining. And I was like, oh, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no. I am not. But you didn't go? Not. Saeed. No.

You have been repping Ohio State, the Ohio State University for years. But Sam, you forget sugar melts in the rain inside his feet. She got to stay in the house. Listen. It was like raining, raining. It rained all day. You were hyping this tailgate so hard. I know. I know. I was like, honey, I will see y'all at the next home game. No. Listen, the Washington Post is going to cover this. It's not that serious. Yeah.

And it was actually, you know, it was kind of fun because I live on Heinz Street and Major Street here. And so it was just like, I was like people watching from my living room. I mean, it's just really a sea of people in red and black marching toward the OSU campus. And then that night, I mean, I sent y'all the photo. I took a picture of my street at what it was like 2.38 a.m.

And baby, you would have thought it was a photo from Times Square, you know, New Year's Eve. It was wild, you know, so, but I'm cute. I'm well rested. I was like, you know what? I'm going to do me. Dry and well rested. Not hungover. How are you feeling though, Sam? You know, I'm feeling some kind of way. This morning I was thinking, oh, I'm feeling like I can persevere and make it through anything.

The heat wave has been so bad in California, so I couldn't run outside. So I spent half an hour on an elliptical machine today, which I usually hate. But Beyonce's album got me through so much to the point where I sweated through an AirPod. That's why I'm only wearing one AirPod. They come back. They come back. But Beyonce did that for me. But on top of feeling resilient because of that, I'm also feeling tired because we're entering that weird phase of the work year where we've got like two months plus before the next real holiday.

You know, we had Labor Day and then September, you're just working. Our next real time off is Veterans Day for some in November. And

And then Thanksgiving. So this is the stretch of the work year where I'm always just like, oh, where's the vacation? But I'll survive. And it's also that stretch of the work year where people are like piling on. This morning I woke up to a deluge of things and people are swinging from holiday to holiday and they're like, this is my sprint week. I'm going to get this done and then I'm going to disappear again. So it's a lot.

Yeah. That's my favorite time of the work year is the gap between Thanksgiving and Christmas because ain't nobody doing shit. I love that. Ain't nobody doing shit. We'll get there. But you're right. That's a good point. It's a lot. It's a little intense. It's kind of like you never get away from that feeling of like we're moving toward midterms. Yeah.

yeah yeah oh god we are it's grind time y'all well all right before we get into our first topic we want to thank everyone who sent us fan mail tweeted us hashtag vibecheckpod and dm dust we love all the feedback we love the enthusiasm thank you so much keep it all coming you can also email us at vibecheck stitcher.com let's jump in though let's get into this gig shall we ladies let's do it

We want to talk about something that's pretty heavy and something we feel as a group has just not been discussed at all. And it's really, really shocking me. And I know we've all been texting about it because it just seems not to be present at all in the media cycle. And that's what's happening in Pakistan right now. So for those of you who have not been following the news or felt like you haven't had access to the news of what's going on on the other side of the world, we have some updates for you.

So in Pakistan last week, they saw catastrophic flooding that was a culmination of many months of monsoon season that intersected with the melting of the glaciers in that area of the world. And that has caused the country, which is in Southeast Asia, to be now one third underwater, according to The Guardian reports.

We now know that between 35 to 50 million people have been displaced due to the floods. And 80% of their livestock have been killed with 600,000 homes destroyed. So those are what we know and what we know from over the weekend due to reporting from the New York Times and the Washington Post. Most people are living on streets in tents made of plastic and just not having access to food. And it's a really, really terrible thing that no one seems to be talking about. Yeah.

I will say I did hear some really good coverage of Pakistan and the floods from public radio. So shout out to them for covering this story in depth. But I'm just flabbergasted that more of the world isn't talking about this nonstop. Some of the figures you just cited, Zach, more than one third of Pakistan is underwater. That is roughly the size of the entire United Kingdom.

I just don't understand. And it's not like this is a one-off. This is our future. Right. This is coming for all of us. It's not just Pakistan. It's going to keep happening everywhere. Yeah. And that, to me, there are two aspects of this that I find so striking. One is, you know, how could something that's impacting 35 to 50 million people, you know, being displaced. Those are just the people who are displaced. That's just one metric for this disaster. How could that not be?

be a major news story? And I think that's a huge question that we should talk about. And then also, you know, as Zach pointed out, how this really is maybe the beginning of this new era of climate disaster. And shout out to Public Radio, our good friend, Aisha Roscoe, had an interview with University of Michigan-Dearborn professor Ulrich Kamp. And he explained part

of why climate change is a lot to do with what's going on now. Because Pakistan is home to the most glaciers in the world outside of the Arctic and Antarctic. That's over 7,000 glaciers because of the Himalayas, which I hadn't thought about, right? And so part of what's going on is that you have climate change making monsoon season happen both more severely and

earlier, I guess, than it's supposed to happen. But also the snow melt, and that's where the glaciers come in, that is going on at a different time in the year than it typically happens. And of course, as we know, glaciers are melting much faster than is normal, than we would like to see. And so I just think part of what's going on is that we're just seeing how climate change and climate disaster, it's like you knock over one domino and then all of them fall down.

When I think about, well, why aren't we talking about this more? I think about trends we have seen in mainstream American news media for years, if not a decade or two now. We've discussed this on the show before. As more and more newsrooms are gutted, as they have to chase profits more and more rapidly, as they cut international bureaus across the world, there aren't even people to cover this stuff as much as there were five or ten years ago.

And then when you look in this competitive, competitive news landscape, you constantly have to cover the thing that feels the shiniest and brightest to American audiences, which is oftentimes some foolishness. And I'll admit, I fall prey to that as well myself as a news consumer. But I do think that at a certain point, the conversation has to

get bigger than why isn't this covered or not? Why aren't we talking about this enough? Because it's been covered enough. Climate change has been covered for decades now. We know it's a problem and we see it affecting us here in the States if not on a large dramatic scale as Pakistan. We see it here. My question now is like,

why isn't there more action? I don't think we're going to be able to change the nature of newsrooms and news delivery and who wants to read what, but I do want to hold every leader in power more accountable and say, why aren't we doing more about this? Because they can do stuff whether or not it's front page news. 100%. And how we deal with this in my point of view is to do what Syed's

bringing up is the domino effect. Pakistan is in this crisis due to our overdevelopment in the Western countries. Due to our increase of carbon dioxide and all these gases in the air, that's what's causing things to melt. And I think we as a people need to understand that us being able to have our little vacations in the U.S. and travel on planes may not impact your home in Venice Beach, but it is impacting people in Pakistan. And that connective tissue needs to come into play now because what we're going to see happen, which is

kind of what like the movie Don't Look Up, which is a controversial movie, points to is that in disaster, we don't look up and we don't look at it. And the fact that you have an entire part of the world that you from the space can see water covering a third of this country, we don't care, we're not engaging and don't see how our lives are connected to that, even on a human level, is wild. And what I know from conversations over the weekend with reporters at ABC, they're

there is a impending famine in Somalia due to similar flooding issues that are happening. And so it's just like, this is all connected and it's all happening at the same time. And once it comes for you, it will be too late. Yeah. And these connections and the way that climate change is playing out, it is insidious and harming the people who have done the least to contribute to the problem. You know, a lot of this is attention that has been present in the world

for a long, long time, and that is the privilege of the global north, which has been built on the backs of the work and labor and resources of the global south.

And the global south, who uses much less energy than the global north, they're getting the worst impacts of climate change already. And the global north, which has the most resources to do things, they're saying no. We have seen America and Canada block action on protecting the oceans that surround their countries because they might lose some profits tied to marine commerce. Yeah.

We are seeing writ large global north white-led nations continue to benefit from the backs and labor of majority people of color, global south nations. And we're seeing those people get hurt. And until we address that larger tension and that larger pattern and speak to those systems of inequality and privilege, I don't see a solution. Yeah, to that end,

Pakistan has about 2.6% of the world's population and contributes less than 1% of global carbon emissions. And yet, clearly, they are already being impacted in such a severe way. The United States, by comparison, accounts for only 4% of the world's population, but is responsible for about 13% of global carbon emissions. So it's in addition to the fact that

You know, though the United States likes to frame itself as a global leader, the light on the hill, you know, that we're supposed to be kind of setting the pace for international diplomacy. One, we're not doing that, especially when it comes to climate policy. But two,

But two, we're also not carrying our weight in terms of how we're impacting the environment, you know, here and abroad. And so it's the United States' relationship to climate policy, in my opinion, even when we're trying to do the right thing, which is, you know, going the United Nations route. To me, it still feels colonial.

because it's still like this. It's all colonial. Right? Because it's still like a hierarchical approach. It's still us and our partners in the EU telling people in the global South, this is the sacrifices you need to make. And given the history between the global North and the global South, how can the UK ask India or Pakistan for anything? Anything. How can America or Europe ask Africa for anything? This is what's so galling.

You know, it is the same thing you see happen when white people in America are asked to be fair to black and brown people and address past wrongs. They want to say, no, no, no, no, no. We got to have an even playing field now. Everyone has to pitch in the same way. It's all the same. We're all even. No, the history means that it was never even. The history means that there are different responsibilities based on how this should affected you. And.

And what's the most frustrating about all of this is that as this gets worse and worse and worse, the people whose lives will have to change the most will be the ones who release the cause of the problem. We are not going to see Kim Kardashian ever be a climate migration refugee. Right.

It's never going to happen to her. It's going to happen to folks in Pakistan, folks in Africa, and they will never catch a break unless things change. And what's really weighing on my heart as I look at this coverage is, one, it connects me as a black person in America back to Katrina, which is the 17th anniversary this week of that major flood due to a hurricane that decimated black people and displaced them all around the American self and are very much the most high-profile climate refugees of our country at the time.

And also the fact that when we talk to or see reporters talking to Pakistani folks on the ground and ask them, why didn't you leave? Because it was two months of raining, like constant months in raining. Like, why didn't you leave? They had said, well, we've survived before. We've been through the terribleness of this year after year. And we found a way. We found a way over and over. And this time it became too heavy. That's when we talk about these low income people of color have become more and more resilient due to the weight of the world on top of them. And they never catch a break. And the break really at the end of the day is

Kills them. And that's what happened in Katrina and that's what's happening here. So to your point, Kim Kardashian, who takes so much water from the state of California? In June, Kim Kardashian used 232,000 more gallons of water than she was permitted to for her estate. Gosh, this says so much about our climate future. When you think about the people who are generations into being overburdened as is, it's almost like resilience is a trap. Mm-hmm.

Right? Because every time, it's like, because part of what resilience does, right, is give you irrefutable evidence that you made it. Baby, you made it through the shadow of the valley of death. You know, you made it to the other side. And then it's like, oh, well, we're here again. And you're like, I did it once. I can do it again. And from one lens,

Oh, that's inspiring. Look at the resiliency of the human spirit. Look at our know-how. Look at our ingenuity. On the other hand, it's like, well, one, who's always having to do that work? And then two, as you point out, they're setting themselves up to sustain unsustainable circumstances. You know, Saeed, to speak to your point of being asked to be resilient, sometimes being resilient in the face of

impending doom. It's like being the frog swimming in that pot on the stove and the water's gradually boiling. The frog was resilient, but now he's dinner. And it's like, what is our answer? And what is our solution to people who have been told for so long, just be resilient. That's no longer enough. Yeah. And then, and meanwhile, I mean, thinking of people being displaced, where are people supposed to go? Because that,

that is what gets Americans attention all of a sudden. Exactly. The moment people from other parts of the world, and often, I mean, we've seen this in Central America, Guatemala, like a lot of the reason we're seeing migrants at the southern border are because of how climate change is impacting that region.

You know, that agricultural issue. And then you see people are like, well, don't come here. And it's like, well, right. It's the trap of resilience and also just the broader trap of like all of these these imaginary walls and borders that we're insisting on maintaining. So climate change doesn't believe in these walls and borders.

borders. No, it doesn't. And what we should all know, and I know from when I spent my time with the caravans south of the border as a reporter, you know, people, when they flee these circumstances, whether it's diplomatic violence, climate violence, anything, when they knock on our doors of a country of our country, they don't want to come here. This was a forced thing. They wanted to be home. They wanted the privileges that we all have, where we get to choose where we get to live. So when they do come here for refuge, you know, they don't want to be here either. So it just kind of, and then they become the villains and it becomes a cycle and the

and then we get a Donald Trump again. And it's just really sad because these people didn't ask to be flooded. They didn't ask for their livestock to die. And now they're being asked, well, figure out a way, find a way. And they didn't ask for those crises, but also when they have to go somewhere else because they've been displaced, they aren't asking for that much. They're asking for a roof. They're asking for food. They're asking for a chance, you know? And this is what is even more galling. Like as climate migrants continue to move across the world, like,

They're going to face harsh treatment once they get where they're going when what they should be facing is an open arm and an apology. You know what I'm saying? And I know we're about to take it to the world of entertainment and the Venice Film Festival. But I just have to say, because this day will come, it's probably almost here, let this happen in Venice, Italy.

Because it's going to happen. Let it happen in New York City. There is wall-to-wall coverage across the country when New York City has a blackout. Meanwhile, you're not hearing about Pakistan. Let me tell you. Remember Notre Dame in Paris when it was on that fire a few years ago? Oh, my God. Oh, my God. Remember how people—and don't get me wrong. And it was a big deal. It's an important historical religious site. I'm not over-sighted. But you mean to tell me—how much of this country is underwater? Like, come on.

on. I'm sure there are equivalent historical religious sites that are also being destroyed and I'm not seeing the outcry. So it's very, you know, it's really frustrating as Zach talked about, like people want to wait to care until they can like see themselves in the tragedy. But in addition to that being a moral failing, you should care period. By the time you see yourself in a climate disaster, baby, it's over.

You are the frog in the boiling water. With all of this being said, here's what we can do to help the people of Pakistan. The International Rescue Committee is urgently requesting donors to step up their support and help them save lives. You can donate at help.rescue.org forward slash donate forward slash Pakistan. With that, we're going to take a quick break, reset, grab some water, and we'll be back with more Vibe Check. So stay right there.

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

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.

All right, we're back. You're listening to Vibe Check, and we're going to switch the conversation to a different kind of storm. Pachooey! That was me pretending to spit. All right, Harry. All right, Harry. Before we get to the spit, though, I do want to catch everyone up who might not know on all the drama. Saeed, Zach, will y'all bear with me?

Oh, bear with you, baby. I am living with you. Go in, honey. I have so much schadenfreude over this. Please do it. I'm Nicole Kidman sitting in that red theater seat. Come on, baby. So...

The latest part of this saga, which I'm sure our listeners have seen already, seems to be a short video of the musician and actor Harry Styles taking his seat next to actor and all-around good Chris, Chris Pine.

and spitting on Chris as he goes to his seat. This is at the Venice Film Festival during the press run for the upcoming thriller Don't Worry Darling, which they both star in. I want to talk about the insanity of, quote unquote, the spit, which I think is white Hollywood's answer to the slap. But first, I got to catch everybody up. It is. They got to have what we have. Oh my God. The slap. You're drawing comparisons with Smith. They got to have what we have.

The spit is the white, the slap. We're going to talk more about that. We didn't land on the slap. The slap landed on us. Chris Pine was bamboozled. Okay. Okay. Okay. This is so ignorant, but keep going. Keep going.

Chantel, start the ticker. I can give you the whole timeline of this Don't Worry Darling mess in two minutes or less. Here we go. The saga begins when Olivia Wilde was announced as the director of an erotic thriller called Don't Worry Darling, which was set to star Shia LaBeouf and Florence Pugh as the lead roles. Once allegations of Shia being abusive to his ex-singer FKA Twigs were

Florence Pugh said, I don't want to work with him. And that's where stories start to get a little different. Olivia Wilde told Variety magazine that she fired LaBeouf from the movie. She said that his process wasn't conducive to what she demands and that she has a no assholes policy. But Shia LaBeouf says, I was not fired. I left this production on my own.

Then this drama escalates and escalates. More and more rumors swirl after Olivia Wilde replaces Shia LaBeouf with her soon-to-be boyfriend, Harry Styles, singer and now actor who we've discussed on this show before.

By some accounts, which cannot be confirmed, the romance between Harry Styles and Olivia Wilde began on the set of Don't Worry Darling. And it got so heated that the cinematographer had to take over director responsibilities because Olivia was too distracted with the budding romance. Mm-hmm.

The saga between Shia and Olivia continued to escalate with Shia LaBeouf releasing a video that Olivia sent to him where Olivia Wilde seemed to be trashing Florence Pugh and almost begging Shia to not leave the production.

So then in the midst of that drama, it seemed as if Florence Pugh is avoiding as much press as she can for this press tour for the movie. She went to the Venice Film Festival but said, I had to catch a late flight so I can't do any interviews. And poor Chris Pine is caught up in this as well. He's just a star in the movie. But in every moment you see him around Olivia, around Harry, he looks like he wants to escape.

That leads us to the moment that is the spit. Which one of you will tell our listeners what that was? I mean, spit. First of all, listen, you just brought clarity to a lot of people. Take a bow, John. Yes, he's bowing for those listening. Twirling. Kenya Moore is here twirling. Summation. That was an impression. Oof.

I mean, just to wrap a bow on this, Spitgate, we've watched all of us, every angle of this moment. I can confirm Harry Styles does not spit on Chris Pine as he arrives to the premiere of the film in Venice and sits next to him. How can you confirm? With Florence Q behind him. Because there's no spit. There's literally no spit coming. But there is a moment in which Harry does something. Chris Pine engages with Harry and Harry just does not make eye contact.

and sits down, and then they cut to the film premiering, which Chris Pine puts his sunglasses on for, which is very weird inside a dark theater. Because he was zoned out. So my theory with Chris Pine is I think he felt all this tension and said, I don't want any parts of it. I'm a professional. And so he was trying to just be low-key throughout all of this, but all the tension just came off to the point. He was looking like a fine-ass Angela Merkel at the press conference. He was. Very bad. But he was trying to disassociate.

What's interesting to me about this bit is, and I saw someone tweet that, you know, because all the actors in the cast, they have to sit together during the screening. And it's like there are like seemingly hundreds of cameras. It's intense. And someone pointed out, they were like, whoever planned this seating arrangement has definitely planned like a wedding reception, you know, where there are divorcees, you know, in the frame.

And the family party. The most scandalous perception of this I could have is that maybe Harry spit by accident and didn't notice. I don't think he did it on purpose. Spit on accident. On accident, you know, whatever. But what to me is so funny is that Harry is flabbergasted

fully oblivious of whatever Chris's reaction was. 100%. Whether Chris was like, what the hell? You just spit on me. Or as some people are pointing out, Chris is like, oh, I just found my sunglasses that are sitting on my lap. Harry is clearly checked out. He is disassociated fully. Yeah, and Chris, poor Chris Pryor.

to send there as the human shield between Harry and Olivia. But here's the thing. This is what is so frustrating for me as a big fan of Chris Pine. Pause. Pause. Did you say you're a big fan of Chris Pine? I have never heard that sentence out of anyone's mouth in my life. People like Chris Pine. Really? He's a very good actor and his eyes... How did I know this? His eyes take you to another world. He is handsome. I just can't remember him in anything. And that's on you.

That's on you. I think he's likable and he seems like he minds his damn business, which was clearly the case. He's the least evil of all the Chris's. And this is the thing that annoys me about it. So Chris Pine, with all of this drama in the film, he just stayed quiet. He never talked about it. He wasn't in the news for liking this tweet or not liking that Instagram post. Here's what I think pissed him off. In a lot of the events for the film and a lot of the press junket, Harry Styles would be seen sitting right next to Chris saying,

saying things that just felt amateur. Like there's one clip of him being like, yeah, this is a movie that feels like a movie that makes you want to go to the movies. And then Chris Pine, this thespian who gets it, is looking at him and was like, oh my God. So I think what we also saw in this dialogue

disassociation between Chris Pine and Harry Styles is that I don't think Chris Pine takes Harry Styles seriously at all and wonders why he has to be on the same cast with this newbie who really doesn't seem to get it. I mean, to that point, the cast is stacked. Like, Gemma Chan, Florence Pugh. It's a huge cast. Like, what? Kiki Lynn, I think Kate Berlant sneaks in here somehow. Like, there are

There are a lot of impressive actors. And you have Harry Styles, who makes everything about him in this situation. And Florence Pugh, who is our next great actress of our time, is being overshadowed by a pop star who says he doesn't like to be public with his relationships, but yet is kissing Nick Kroll at the Venice Festival. Who was also in this movie. Is always performing sexually.

Like, it's just kind of like this thing. And what I think is so problematic about all of this is that this began due to a man acting badly. And I'm shy above because he did act badly according to FKA Twigs. He was abusive to FKA Twigs and another ex of his. Yeah, exactly. And so he has this history of abuse. And then,

He gets recast by Harry Styles. And yet again, the behaviors of a man or lack of, I guess, knowledge of movies has centered this movie again where all the women are continuously being erased, forgotten, all these things. It's just very deeply frustrating. And it's kind of like, it's funny on one level, but I feel bad for Florence Pugh. It's also striking to me. I feel like I know at this point, everything about the behind the scenes. Did you see even the stylist of Olivia Wilde and Florence Pugh were like kind of posting shady stuff on Instagram? Wait, are you serious? Yes.

There's a lot going on. It's a lot. There's a lot going on. And I was like, but I actually haven't seen a trailer. All I've seen is that 30-second clip where Harry Styles is like trying and failing. This is the thing about it. The reviews aren't great. The reviews aren't great in this movie.

Yeah. The trailer to me was just like, you just checked out a copy of The Feminine Mystique outside, out of the library. You haven't read it yet. You've read like the front flap and the back flap. And then you get home and you trip, you trip. Okay. And you land on your remote control and Get Out comes up on your TV screen.

And that's what the movie is. It is Feminine Mystique. It is the cover, not the actual book. The cover of the Feminine Mystique meets a random scene from Get Out. I'm dying. Don't worry, darling. That is such a good way of describing this because this is set, I think, at the same time period in which Betty Friedan did write the Feminine Mystique. So that's like a perfect example.

Are y'all going to watch the movie? Oh, absolutely. Duh. I'm going to wait till it's like on an airplane. Girl, no. I'm trying to get my hands on the script right now. I want to read it. I want to understand it. I'm here for it. I'm here for white mess, white tragedy, white drama. Here's the last thing I will say about definitely worry, darling, which is what I'm calling all of this.

I mean, one, it's just, it's like a clown car of tidbits of gossip and scandal unfolding in real time. So even if you think you're above the drama, like I see a lot of people being like, I was trying not to pay attention to this, but now I'm like all in. But also I think it's like classic, relatively harmless celebrity gossip and scandal. But for me, I'm enjoying it, I realized, because it has no nostalgia. Like I realized, I was like, that's why I don't care about like J-Lo and,

I'm not trying to return. I don't want any throwbacks. Like, this is all real time of this moment of this generation celebrity gossip. And it's, you know, it's delicious to see it unfold in real time. I think what I like about this moment in the was it a spit take? Was it not a spit drama of it all?

it feels incredibly low stakes. You know, the abusive man involved has been removed from the situation and that's been the case for a while. So now I feel a little better just laughing at the absurdity of this white chaos and saying once again that like a world with petty movie star drama is much better than a world without. Amen. I love it. Give me more. On that note, we're going to take another quick break, but don't worry, darlings. We'll be right back.

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All right, my dears, we are back. And before we end the show, we'd like to share something that's helping each of us keep our vibe right this week. Lord knows we need all the help we can get. I'll start with the 1966 classic film, Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf, based on the play by Edward Albee. Listen, I realize, like, if you want more Caucasian drama, and there are quite a few slaps. White chaos. And I think Alyssa...

I think Elizabeth Taylor does do actually quite a bit of spitting. And who's afraid of Virginia Woolf? Watch it too. So the film was nominated for 13 Academy Awards, including Best Picture and Best Director for Mike Nichols. It's one of only two films in history to be nominated in every eligible category, which is like really impressive. Wow. Yeah. Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton play a really unhappy,

married couple. And I rewatched it for the first time in years. And part of the reason it's so messy in my mind, I thought it was like, oh, it's like this older unhappy couple invites this younger couple over for dinner. And then chaos ensues as people get drunk and drama kind of unfold. No, no, no, no, no, no, no. It starts at two o'clock in the damn morning. They've already been at a party and the wife kind of without the husband's permission was like, oh,

oh, why don't we invite this young couple over to the after party? So everybody's already drunk. Richard Burton's trying to get into bed and then this young couple knocks at the door and that's how it starts. Were they trying to swing with it? I would argue there's some tension. There's some feelings in the air. That's definitely part of what's going on.

Who does Harry Styles play in the reboot? He would play the young husband. Yes. Okay. Terribly. Badly. Not well. Not well. Okay. I'll watch it. But yeah, if you're looking for some white mess baby, some well-acted, acclaimed white mess, yes. Who's afraid of Virginia Woolf? But Sam, what about you? You know, I've been feeling some kind of way about Chris Pine, the best white Chris, and

I'm really a big fan of Chris Pine, and I want to recommend this week that anyone who hasn't watched it yet, or even if you have, go back and watch a really great modern American Western, Hell or High Water. It stars Chris Pine. It was directed and written by Taylor Sheridan of Yellowstone fame. And I want to say it was up for Best Picture at the Oscars the year it came out. It is a beautifully shot Texas Western set in the present day, and it's this really subtle and nuanced commentary on late-stage capitalism.

And you got Chris Pine looking like a cowboy snack. Okay. He is very handsome. This movie is really good. The thing about Chris Pine, one more thing. He can also sing. He was in the movie adaptation of Into the Woods in 2014, so watch him sing. Oh, my God. He was. Oh, he was in Into the Woods. Listen, Chris Pine is the truth. And if y'all lay a hand on my man, I'm talking to you, Harry. I'm talking to you, Olivia. I'm talking to you, Florence. Touch not mine anointed. Do my profit no harm. Y'all leave Chris Pine alone. What?

Oh, wow, Sam. Put some respect on that man's name. You have found yourself at the altar of Jesus Christ, Chris Pine. Wow. Anywho, go watch Ella Highwater. Wow. I gotta say, that was persuasive. I'm going to watch now. I'm going to watch now. Okay. My vibe isn't just right, it's now anointed with desire. Yes.

Wow. Well, I'll be really quick with mine because I'm kind of late to the bandwagon. But I finally watched the Manti Teo documentary on Netflix. So good. And I was gooped gagged falling out in the airplane. It felt like I was hit by a train. And he's in the film, which I love. I love a doc that goes deep into someone's backstory with them there and everyone involved there. Makes it more like, I think, more ethical at least. But anyway, football player was catfished by his girlfriend who he on the same day his grandmother died.

She also died, allegedly, and it became this huge national story, led him to be nominated for the Heisman Trophy, but then it came out through Deadspin's reporting that it was all catfish and fake, and it kind of ruined his career a bit. Like, he was a first-round pick and then dropped and kind of disappeared. But what's amazing is he goes through this, like, really wild ride that gives you an insight into that time that, like,

I was in college where catfishing was legitimate. People could start dating you and it made sense that you had a video called with them or met them. Like it kind of was in the realm of possibility. But what I found so inspiring was he has like, his life is, was pretty messed up from this. And he's still so forgiving and finds grace and power and purpose through all of this. That final scene where he talks about his mission and purpose and getting over it. Yes. The tears. Yes.

So inspiring. Knocked me out. Knocked me out. I was like, okay, I am team Manti Teo. I get it. I get it. I get it. I get it. Where can we watch this? On Netflix. A two-part series, one hour each. Really fabulous, even if you don't like football. Like, I don't like watching football, but this, deeply engaging. Watch it. It's good.

All right, girls. Well, we'll leave it there for now. But we want to ask y'all, what are you feeling or not feeling this week? What's helping you keep your vibe right? Do you have thoughts on the sexual prowess of Chris Pine? Now I'm suddenly kind of like... It's not even... Listen, it's not... The sexual prowess is secondary to his talent, his eyes, his presence, his gravitas. Okay. Hallelujah. Is that what we're calling it now? Gravitas. Okay. Well, either way...

thoughts, feelings, emotions, check in with us at vibecheckatstitcher.com. We love hearing from y'all. Well, that's it for this week's episode of Vibe Check. Thank you for tuning in and huge thank you to our producer, Chantel Holder, engineer, Brendan Burns, and Marcus Hom for our theme music and sound design. Special thanks to our executive producers, Nora Ritchie at Stitcher and Brandon Sharp from Agenda Management and Production. And last but not

least, thank you to Jared O'Connell and Imelda Skender for all of their help. I want to also thank Chris Pine for being an endless source of inspiration to us all throughout the years. And listeners, we want to hear from you. Do not forget. You can email us at vibecheck at stitcher.com and please keep in touch with us on Twitter at Sam Sanders, at Zach Stafford, and at

the ferocity. Use the hashtag VibeCheckPod. Also, we on TikTok. Come follow us at VibeCheckPod. Stay tuned for another episode of this show next Wednesday. Till then, be nice to Chris Pine. Goodbye. Bye, girls. Don't do anything we wouldn't do. Or maybe. Maybe do. I've always wanted to say that. Stitcher.

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