Till The Wheels Fall Off
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Ladies, move. Gentlemen, move. Somebody ring the alarm. A fire on the roof. Y'all know what song that is? Ring the alarm. It's Christina, right? It's Christina Aguilera. Dirty. I love the way she says ladies. Anywho, hey ladies, I am not Xtina, but I am a little dirty. I'm Sam Sanders. Oh my God. I'm Saeed Jones.

And I am Zach Stafford, Christina's former super fan. You're listening to Vibe Check. Was she your girl? Was she like your main diva? She was my girl. I love an underdog. And Britney Spears was supreme and Christina was chasing her. And I had the dolls. I had the records. I had everything. I loved her so much.

I guess you know what, we're starting dirty because this episode gets messy. What a week. What a week. What's interesting about this episode of Vibe Check, the vibe of the segments this week is these are stories that the three of us have, in different ways, basically been trying to mind our business on. I think this is true for a lot of you. When you see little news hits, you go, oh, that's interesting, but I'm not going to click on the link.

I'm going to keep it going. And then for both of these stories in the last week or so, I think a lot more people, us included, have been pulled into attention. So this week we are, of course, going to talk about the royal scandal. Kate Middleton, where is she? What have y'all done with that lady?

Where is Carmen San Diego Middleton? Where is she? White girl in danger. Where is she? We're going to talk about that. And then, you know, the tone, the stakes are very different. But again, similarly, you know, I think initially, you know, you heard about that Alaska Airlines flight. Maybe saw the videos and photos and you went, oh, that's crazy. But surely that was a freak incident. And then there was another story.

And then another story. And another one. And then what happened to the whistleblower? Wait a minute. We got to talk about it. So our second conversation will be what's going on with Boeing aircraft issues? This is not a freak incident at all. This is about structure. This is about regulation. It's been a long time coming and people have been trying to warn us for a long time about it. So...

Two instances of institutional collapse. That's what it is. Yes. As it turns out, whether it's princesses disappearing or plain doors, you know, it's a weird time. All right. Before we get into the show, let's check in, sisters. How are we feeling? Sam, how are you doing?

Yeah, you know, we're taping this on Tuesday, March 19th. This is the vernal equinox, the start of spring. There's a certain alignment between how much sun and how much moon we get today. For people who follow the turn of the earth or even astrology, it's a day. Oh, okay. I love this. You charted the sky. Yes, yes, yes.

Yeah, it's funny. I was thinking about this because in yoga yesterday, the coach was like, don't forget tomorrow's the Vernal Equinox. Set yourself up for a spring of success. And I was like, okay. So I got up this morning, lit some incense, did some yoga at the house. And my vibe this week is just like,

All right. Damn it. Spring into spring. It felt like the last several months had been a little bit of hibernation for me. I had a rough 2023 and then things had been slowing down and I was just taking time to take care of me. But now I'm like, all right, let's get into it. We're officially really, really into this year and I'm ready to move. So my vibe this week is optimistically, positively motivated and like,

ready to not hustle too hard, but hustle a little bit. You know? I love that. That's the vibe. Sam, I have to ask, every time I see you, and I've seen you a bunch, it feels like lately, you bring up yoga. How is your yoga practice going? Are you doing more or am I just paying attention more? I'm doing a lot more. I'm doing a lot more. You do pay attention a lot. Yeah. So I used to run every day, but the older I got, the more the joints were just like,

You know what? Less of this. So I've been doing less running. I still run some, but more yoga to supplement. And I think really the last year or so doing more yoga, the takeaway has just been like, however you move, move with intention. The whole thing about yoga is every movement is tied to your breath and you are focusing on your body and your breath as you move. And so when you take that approach into just your day, you

you move with intention, you move knowing what you want and what you don't want. And in the words of Zach, you like actually think about how you move through the world. And so that's just been really clarifying for me.

And it's really just leveled out some mood stuff, some energy stuff. Look at me. I'm so L.A. Yeah, you are. I like it. You really are. I'm loving it for you. Yes, yes. And so there's just been. You're in it, girl. It's like, how can I be a steady ship in some troubled waters? And that's what yoga is helping with. So that's the vibe. Yes. I love. Zach, what about you? What's your vibe?

My vibe is maybe the opposite of Sam's. I'm worried. I'm worried for the girls. This is why we come together. There we go. There we go. We start in different places. So long story short, I have been searching for a new thing just to play at my house while I'm cooking or whatever. I've landed on the new season of Love is Blind because you girls will not stop talking about it. And you girls, I mean, Twitter. It was incredible. Sam. Yeah. People are. Yeah. So I'm just a few episodes in. So no one spoil it yet. But wow. Straight people. Straight people.

I'm sorry. What you go through, horrible, horrendous. Would never want to sign up for this.

However, as I've been watching this, my TikTok algorithm has picked up that I'm watching dating shows. So I'm starting to get served dating content. And a piece of content that came across my desk last night was of the rapper Big Dipper, who's from Chicago, who I know from a past life. Who is that? He is a queer rapper. He was on Bindu La Krim, the Amazing Drag Queens podcast. And he brought up something that I have to share here. And I just want our listeners to write in if you've done this or if you've experienced this. So-

What he said is he uses Grindr to hook up with people, which, bravo, get your life, girl. Wait, I saw this clip. Yes, yes. Was this about looking out the window? Yes, looking out the window. Wait, I didn't see it. Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait. Okay, so he gets on Grindr, and when he invites men over, he doesn't give them his actual address. He gives his neighbor's address across the street so he can see them walk up, get confused, and make sure that they are hot. Huh.

before he invites them in. He's going to get somebody killed. He looks out the window. Yep, he looks out the window. You cannot be inviting queer men to strange people's houses. You can't. To get it right, I think what he said is he was like, I live in an apartment building, so I give my building address number, but I don't give them my apartment.

apartment number until I've literally looked out the window and checked. So they're like standing in front of the little call box. So he's not sending them to. They're in his vicinity. And for people who aren't aware, I'm assuming he lives in Chicago still, but they have these half H buildings. So you have a courtyard.

So you can see it's inside the building, I'm assuming. I have lived in this. I have probably gone on a Grindr date through this mechanism of going into these buildings. So I know very specifically what he's talking about. However, he says he does this tactic when they don't send a face photo and it's for his, quote, safety. Also, don't let them come to your house if they can't send you a face photo. Thank you, Sam. Thank you, Sam. I'm sorry. 101, baby. So he shares this and Fendal Kareem and the other hosts are like, girl, what is wrong with you?

This is evil. Why would you do this? And he immediately is deflated. And I agree with them. If you are this worried or not willing to have a conversation with someone, meet them in public, meet them outside, don't invite them over. Don't do this to people. People are people, even if they don't send a face picture. And y'all are being horrendous to each other. And that's why it connects to Love is Blind. Because some of the things these people are saying without seeing these people's faces is insane. This is the thing with these dating shows and with what this man is doing on Grindr.

something about the internet, smartphones, reality TV, it has made love and dating transactional. These other people become tools and they stop being people. And I don't like it. I don't think transactional is the word. I think these apps...

gamify human interactions. And I have felt it because I can't remember, this is a few years ago when I actually even tried to care about one of the apps, but it might be Hinge, that asks a lot of questions that are actually helpful. You know, how seriously do you feel about dating someone who's a smoker? What I found very quickly is that I was more interested in the questions than I was

than looking at people's profiles. And then that's why I was like, it's time for me to get out. Like, I'm not here for these people. And knowing that, I don't think in good faith I should try to pretend like I am. But yeah, they turn it, like the swiping and the buttons, all of it. How many matches can I get versus am I finding real connection? Actually, I think transactional would frankly be maybe a little better.

Because you may actually open the door and let these people in. Anyway, that's my vibe. Saeed, how are you doing today? I'm good. So, you know, first of all, my vibe is, listen, we're all going through it and I

I've been thinking about how you can go through things together. And so I have a friend who's been, you know, life stuff has been life in. And one way that we, because we're in two different cities, have been staying connected is that I found a show that I started watching that I think some of you listeners probably already know and love. It's called Resident Alien. Two seasons of it are on Netflix.

It's about an alien that lands in a small Colorado town and kind of blends in. And I think in some ways it feels like it's a bit of a metaphor for a person on the spectrum kind of being welcomed by community and fitting in. But also he's like a murderous alien. And it's funny. I feel like often these alien shows...

you know, are a little more heartwarming. This show's pretty wild. Like he's willing to kill people. So I got into the show and I realized, I was like, oh, I think my friend would like this. And so we're literally watching it together. Oh, that's nice. We will at times time, you know, what episode are you on? And we're like kind of live texting each other. And it's just been really a fun way for us to stay in touch. Sometimes, you know, when you or someone you care about are going through it,

You know, it may not be crisis mode. It also may not be a mode where either of you has the desire or capacity to talk about the hard stuff constantly.

constantly sometimes you just get it's like we know it we know it sucks but there are other ways you can kind of stay in touch with each other and and using the show as a conduit has actually been really fun so yeah that's my vibe I've really enjoyed it sounds like you're saying always be appreciative and kind to the person in the group chat who only sends funny memes oh there's a value there there's a value there

And when people send you nonsense, heart it, Sayid and Zach. But you don't send funny memes, Sam. We got to go. Ring the alarm. There's a fire on the roof. Ring the alarm.

Sam, I hear you. I will pay better attention to all of this moving forward. But what I have to say to Saeed and what listeners should take away from what you just shared, Saeed, is that sometimes when you have a friend that's going through something chronically or for a long time and you've exhausted the talking about it, bring in something else to talk about. Give yourself a distraction. Change the subject. Give yourself an activity. And that can be the space where you can continue to do the work because I think people get in cycles of talking.

Yeah, and maybe this connects to, because thinking of ghosting in the context of dating, I think, you know, sometimes whether it's grief, you know, calamity, sometimes we, it's not that we're trying to ghost the people in our lives, either because we don't want to talk to them about what we're going through or other, but it's like people on different sides of that dynamic can get overwhelmed. Yeah.

And so you just kind of shut down, right? And you're like, you don't know. And so, yeah, I was really trying to find a show that I felt this person would like. I didn't just like throw a random recommendation at them. But I'm really happy to see that it's like, yeah, we can find a different way for us to stay in touch and kind of check in without, you know, it feeling so fraught constantly. Yeah. I love it. All right.

Well, listeners, before we get into this episode, we want to thank all of you who have sent us mail and reached out to us on social media. We absolutely love hearing from you. So keep them coming at vibecheckatstitcher.com and leave us a review wherever you are listening. So, ladies, are we ready to dive into this mess? Put on your fascinators. We have no choice. All right, let's do it. Get your tea and crumpets out, baby. We about to ride.

All right, full disclosure. I'm going to be honest here. I did not think a thought about Kate Middleton until she seemed to disappear. But now she is all I can think about. She's been a trending topic for weeks now across the globe because no one knows where she is or what she's up to.

Close listeners will know that the three of us have talked about the monarchy before, and we talked about it after the queen died to say, long story short, we don't like the monarchy and we think it should go away. Fast forward to the last few weeks, I'm thinking about it again for a really weird reason. I'm going to explain a little timeline and then ask my sister some questions about it. But since December 25th,

Everyone's kind of been wondering what's going on with Kate Middleton. So December 25th, 2023 marked the last time Kate Middleton, wife to Prince William, was seen for a while. She was photographed attending a church service for Christmas. Then on January 17th of this year, the palace released a statement announcing that Kate had undergone, quote, planned abdominal surgery. And they said she wouldn't return to normal duties until either

So Easter, even that announcement made Royal Watchers a little skeptical because around the same time, King Charles was diagnosed with cancer and the crown talked pretty publicly about his diagnosis, what he was going through and how it was being treated. So to see the specificity for Charles and the lack of it for Kate.

sent up some spidey senses. Fast forward, January 30th, the palace says Kate has gone home. And on February 7th, Prince William, her husband, returns to public duties. But by the end of February, people are saying, where is Kate? Where is Kate? The palace releases another statement saying, our guidance still stands. Don't worry.

On March 4th, there's maybe a sighting, but on March 10th, y'all know this photo I'm speaking of, the palace claims to release an actual photo of Kate with her kids. But as soon as it's released, everyone says this looks photoshopped. And it was so badly photoshopped that some American news outlets actually pulled it.

And Instagram put an advisory on Kate Middleton's photo on her own account saying, we cannot trust this. Oh, I didn't know Instagram also. Instagram still has a note on it. I knew the AP put out like the kill notice. No, it was bad. And then at this point, everyone goes into overdrive because now it's not just Kate's missing. It's also the palace is lying about it. Before I finish this timeline, I want to ask Zach and Saeed,

What were your thoughts on that day when you realized this photo was fake? All of a sudden, a thing I didn't care about, I intensely cared about.

I mean, when I first saw it, I honestly was like, you girls are doing too much. Why do we care? She edited it. Okay, whatever. Every photo's edited. So I didn't even pay attention because I was like, so what if she moved her face around? I don't care. I did care about the AP side of this. You know, these are journalistic outlets who are being given false information. However, I have watched The Crown. I know that they lie to the press constantly. So that's a whole other thing. So this is just not my ministry.

However, I finally, finally did a deep dive this week by reading Ellie Hall, who used to work with me at BuzzFeed. She was the royal correspondent, and she wrote at the cut the full timeline, and she talked to the creator that exposed, the first TikTok that exposed the duplicity here. And I then got on board with this conspiracy of like obsession because, oh my God, if these are photos from a year ago, and then they just change the colors of each sweater and try to switch it, like,

That is a wild amount of work to do on a picture you could just create. Because these girls are just sitting at the palace. What else are they doing? Taking a picture. It's Mother's Day. So that's why I was like, something is, this is a symptom of something bigger.

So what were your thoughts that day, that week? Yeah, there's I can't remember where I heard it, but someone was saying, like, let's say like someone's trying to scam you and there's something their left hand and there's something in your right. And the left hand is the scam is the lie. This person was saying when someone's lying to you, there's a tell because they can't help but look to the left hand. Yeah.

You know, and you see that with people who are like not the best liars. It's like over the top. They're actually kind of drawing attention to it. You know, I think it's the mind kind of tripping itself up as it's trying to create or force a false reality. And so I think, yeah, I wasn't especially interested. I was aware of it.

And certainly King Charles is like the health situations. But I was like, I don't know. If you like it, I love it. She got that baby surgery. Whatever. But yeah, when... First of all, as Zach points out, I don't remember another time where the AP has issued a kill notice. No, me neither. It's amazing. That is so...

significant and given, and I think this is part of where our conversation will go, but given the increasing issues regarding misinformation, disinformation and manipulated images in news, that's not a joke, right? Like, like where this princess is, is, is,

uh, celebrity news gossip fodder, but the implications of a government entity manipulating images that are used in the news is that's very serious. Oh yeah. So, so that was why I was like, okay, we got to look at the left hand. Totally. Yes. What are you hiding? It just doesn't make sense. Um, because you wouldn't,

If this was a normal situation and the public was being unreasonable, as I will say, the public usually is. Yeah. You know, I think if you have nothing to hide, you take the demeanor of being calm, chill, and being like, you know, you just put out a quick video of her in pajamas or something. Being like, guys, I'm resting. I'm healing. Please calm down. But they didn't do that. So after this photo, after the retraction, the next day,

Kate herself puts out an Instagram post saying, it was me. I did the Photoshop. Red alert. I don't buy that for one second. But after that, it is a full blown conspiracy theory. Even Stephen Colbert on his late night show suggests that Prince William might be having an affair with Rose Hanbury, another royal, which has caused this whole thing. Others speculate that she's had sex.

Any number of kind of cosmetic surgeries. It reaches a fever pitch. Then this week, we see another grainy video of Kate Middleton. It's so grainy. Some people say it's a body double. And still, the questions have not quelled. And none of the statements from the royals have stopped this fire.

With that timeline catch up, and thank you for indulging me with us knowing where we are now. I want to start by asking you both, how surprised are y'all that this thing has become as big of a deal as it has? It's topping headlines and news outlets across the world at this point. You know, as I dove deeper into this, I realized there's a whole section of the Internet I do not

And that is of celebrity gossip and the Royal watch people write every day. I found this out this morning. There are blogs dedicated to everything Kate Middleton does, what she's wearing, how to buy it. There's a whole economy built around it, which I think is very much concentrated in the UK and,

So I guess I'm not once I actually allow myself to see the scale of them and how much people are interested. I don't think a lot of people globally think they should exist, but I think they're watching the empire crumble and we like to watch, you know, the crumble happen so that when this begins to like have even more evidence that the royal family is not well, but they're not surviving and thriving post Queen Elizabeth's passing. I think people are jumping on it, but I,

You know, I'm just confused at why the palace, who always has such tight range of stories, has lost the plot completely. It has no control over this. When they control the press, pretty much in the UK, if they want. I think, honestly, the queen died and that house went to shit. It's hard to overstate the way it felt like she kept that house together and that ship afloat. Anywho, Saeed, are you surprised that this has become as big of a deal as it has?

I'm not. I'm surprised by the firm, which is what we call the organization that runs the Crown's PR. I'm surprised by their incompetence. They're usually steely and very consistent, and kind of by will, they seem to be able to kind of make things work. But I'm not surprised for two reasons.

One, in terms of more recent history with this family, this is the chickens coming home to roost. Part of what happened, I think, with the royal family and the cadre of reporters that they pay and use to generate and control stories over the last few years is that they were using Kate and white supremacist dog whistles.

To ostracize and go after Meghan. And just as we saw, you know, we've seen in the United States with how, I don't know, the Tea Party from 2008 eventually turned into Make America Great Again. This stuff doesn't go away. It builds and feeds upon itself and gets worse and worse and worse. It metastasizes. That's actually the word I was looking for.

there were conspiracy theories using Kate to position her as the white woman

ideal against Megan as the black usurper or whatever. Black sheep, yeah. Yeah, black sheep. And the way they were dissecting all of that, presumably at the time, to praise and to put Kate on a pedestal that I would argue she probably never asked for. I don't think she wanted to be used in that way, right? That doesn't go away. So then when you have this figure that is at the center of many of these far-right crazy people's fixation, and then you take her off the chessboard,

They're not going to stop obsessing over her. The other thing that I would say, though, and this goes further back but does feel significant, is just as in this instance we have the palace and certainly King Charles being surprised that the public would have this outpouring of feeling about a princess. Mm.

Being non-visible, this feels like a direct, obviously lower stakes, but direct parallel to Princess Diana dying. Where again, Queen Elizabeth was, she was fully shook. She really did not understand how the public felt about Princess Diana towards the end of her life. And then certainly when she died, they were fully unprepared. So this feels like we haven't seen a miscalculation since then. And it doesn't feel like a coincidence that both issues involve like a woman, you know, kind of not being appreciated.

And to add to that, something that I hadn't been thinking about till this morning when we began recording is that where the firm was unprepared for the scale of attention this was going to get is that they miscalculated the very real phenomenon of missing white woman syndrome that we see in the US play out in media. Oh, that's a good point. That you look at

All the biggest stories like Lacey Peterson when she disappeared. A Hispanic woman, Evelyn Hernandez in 2003, also disappeared at the same time and no one paid attention. So what they have done here is that they try to use the story of a missing white woman and not let us find her and didn't realize that the media was going to latch on because this brings in so many ratings. Totally. So much interest. Yes. And also, you know, I keep thinking about this scandal that

And it shows me how the apparatus of the royal family itself treats women and positions women so differently than men. When I think about King Charles, Prince William, Prince Harry,

They kind of are allowed to be themselves, and there's never a frenzy or a dissection to the extent that the women get. I think about how Meghan was treated, how Kate's being treated, how Diana was treated, how Camilla was hated for decades. It seems as if the nature of the royal family is that if there is to be speculation or grief given, it goes to the women more than the men.

And the royal family itself seems extremely patriarchal, even though there was a queen who ran it for decades. But besides that, I do wonder, what does this scandal say about the strength of the monarchy and the royal family? Does it prove that they can still get all of our attention? Or does it show that this institution is in decline and can't handle its affairs anymore? I think the firm is learning the hard way,

The way many institutions, you know, certainly here in the United States, like our government is regularly shook. I was reading an article recently about some important decision makers in the Democratic Party. And, you know, they had to acknowledge that they're surprised by the persistence and consistency of the Free Palestine Movement.

They really thought that it was going to kind of fall apart as movements not unusually do. And it's like, nope, it's not. I think a lot of institutions are being revealed. Maybe they haven't always been house of cards, but by holding so fast to old ideas, they're ill-equipped.

And I think, like, Zach's point, it's so interesting. It's like the firm is absolutely willing to tap into white supremacy, old ideas about white femininity when it serves them. But they don't understand. It's like, well, baby, you wind up those dolls. It doesn't mean you get to stop them from moving. And now you see what – I'm like, listen, an entire generation of people have been raised on true crime. So it's actually not just –

Media, I would also reiterate, it's individual people who are like, oh, no, honey, it's my hobby. I go to sleep, you know, indulge in my white women's syndrome, stuff like that. So it's interesting seeing that these institutions can't withstand that.

the blowback from the very dynamics that they often try to enact themselves. Yeah. Well, and what we've got going on here, you know, a lot of folks will say, oh, leave them alone, leave them alone. The exchange that they make in order to continue being royals and use taxpayer dollars to stay rich and have their palaces, the exchange is they give the viewing public

information about themselves and they perform monarch for the public if they stop playing this game they might lose the money so this is a like catch 22 you know on the one hand these are people going through it on the other hand they've kind of signed up for this as their job in order to stay in the palace this is the deal they've made

Yeah, I agree so much. And I guess my final note on this is that I do think what we've said so far about misogyny within the royal family and how they treat women is so true because the royal family is the patriarchy. It's like similar to a colonization and all the white supremacy, like the royals are the tip of that spear and they will always represent it. But what's even bigger playing out here is that

the royal family has always been consistent about protecting the crown above all else. And forever, the queen was the crown. Now Charles is the crown. And that works really well for them when everyone else thinks that the crown should be protected as well. And that power continues to rise. But...

But the vast majority of people around the world do not think the crown should be protected. So as the crown chooses itself by not giving us information about Kate, by treating Meghan and Harry terribly, the public is siding with them. They don't care if the crown exists. And I think that's where the firm also miscalculates is that people don't really want them there. So now they're not going to have the goodwill to keep them going. And if they misstep, they're going to trip.

And no one's going to pick them up. And speaking of goodwill, what was really telling to me is as soon as that photoshopped photo was called out, who did they try and throw under the bus? Kate herself. Kate herself. They had Kate say, I made the edit. No, she didn't. No, she didn't.

Look, you know, even if she does want to Photoshop her photos, someone in the crowd needs to say, that's not a good idea. Yes. There's incompetence somewhere. It can manifest itself so many ways, but I don't think it's on her. But we'll see what happens. It's like they set a deadline for, I think now it's like April 17th. They said Easter, now April 17th. Yeah. I think she's going to pop back up and then King Charles is going to croak like the next week.

That's my prediction. I hope she's at Tyler Perry's house up in Montecito. Girl, go be free. Go hook up with Megan. Megan said, girl, stay out there. Anywho, I have talked about the Monarchs enough. Listeners, tell us, are you following this story? What has it revealed to you about gender, power, patriarchy, etc.? Email us. I want to know. Thanks for indulging my tea and crumpets. Let's take a break. Music

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, WeAreGolden.

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, welcome back. And I hope your seatbelts are fastened because we're delving into the stormy sky. You better stop. You better get out of here.

I had to. But also, let's say it, because those of you that be playing it fast and loose, directors from flight attendants, y'all better quit playing. Remember that Denzel Washington movie, Flight? Oh, I do remember that. If you don't have your seatbelt on and there's turbulence, you can just flop and drop across that plane, baby. Girl. Babe.

I had a come to Jesus moment around that because I did play it fast and loose for a while. I was like, what? It's turbulence. Whatever. That Hawaiian airline flight from last year where those people were hitting the ceiling. Yes. Yes. Thank you. Seatbelts are on. Well, months ago, I was just worried about seatbelts, but now I'm worried about the doors, the panels, everything. Everything. Everything.

It's all falling apart. It's all falling apart. So, you know, I know you've been tracking this because the news is everywhere. Boeing airplanes are not doing quite well right now. And I just want to read off a few high-profile moments. And this isn't all of them. This is just a few of the big ones. And these are only incidents that have happened between January and March. I'll say that again. January and March of this year. This is the list so far. So here we go. Wow. January.

The door panel flies off in an Alaska Airlines Boeing flight, which we all saw. Horrifying. That's when we see the videos of people literally in the sky with the plane open. I will never sit in an exit row ever again. The kid whose shirt was ripped off. Yeah, the kid's shirt was ripped off. Someone else's shoe and sock was pulled out the door. That's how, like a sock. I can't even get my socks off when I'm sitting on the bed. How is the airplane doing it? That is wild.

Next up, February. A Madrid-bound American Airlines flight leaving Boston takes off and the windshield cracks. They have to immediately turn it around. Right after that, a United Airlines Boeing 777 lost a tire taking off in San Francisco. And that tire fell into the parking lot. Hit a bunch of cars. Destroyed a bunch of cars. The tire hit a car. It hit cars. Plural. Yeah. Took out some cars.

After that, literally like a week later, a flight to Chile on a Dreamliner, which are the big ones, beautiful, very comfortable, great for long flights. However, not great for midair drops because this plane just dropped and 50 people were injured immediately. And then the last few. Within a week, beginning March 12th, there was a series of incidents involving engine fires on planes, making multiple planes take emergency landings. And then finally, just over the past week,

John Barnett was found dead after submitting testimony in an ongoing case around a whistleblowing complaint he made in 2017, raising awareness of safety concerns with

with Boeing airplanes. And that whistleblower thing is so crazy because according to reporting, he had finished his testimony, was set to go home. Boeing said, actually, can you stay an extra day for more testimony? And on that extra day morning, he was found dead. It's wild. Also, as I said at the beginning, this is just the past three months. If we go backwards to 2018 and 2019, two flights in

in the sky, crashed, killing hundreds of people that created a whole grounding of these planes during that time. So Boeing's been going through it for a while, but lately things seem to be happening more. We're talking about it more. I don't know. Significantly, and this is from a Vox article that Zach shared in the group text I was reading this morning, it's difficult to avoid a Boeing plane. They're everywhere. About half of U.S. airlines use, either they use a Boeing plane

or they use Airbus. I think it's like 13,000 Boeing planes and then like 10,000 Airbus. So it's not even like you can be like, well, I'm just not going to use X airline anymore. So this is really an issue because we can't really avoid it. Yeah, I know. The number is 42% of all flights flying right now are Boeing flights. And here's why it's so disturbing to see all these incidents. You know, we were raised in a world in which we were told from youth that

the safest form of transportation is flying. We were told our entire lives that it's safer than driving. It's safer than walking down the street. You're always safe in the air. And increasingly, it feels like that's not the case.

Yeah, which, you know, I want to begin there about how it all feels for us because I fly a lot for work. I'm on planes a lot. I got over my fear of flying years ago. I used to be petrified. Now I'm cool, but it's creeping back in. Trevor Noah on his podcast this week also stated he now is terrified of flying because of everything happening. So look, we're all feeling heightened stress getting on the plane. Are you two feeling it? Are you not flying? How are you dealing? I've already thought about it.

how I will probably never sign up to sit in an exit row ever again. The exit rows are the ones with the doors on them. I don't want to do that anymore. F the extra leg room. You know, but I mean, that is the first time I've ever thought about changing my protocol for a plane for my own safety. And that's wild because I'm the kind of person that flies and gets on the plane and just goes to sleep right away.

Yeah, what's funny, I appreciate you sharing that because I used to be the girl that was always like, yeah, I'll sit in the exit row. I'm cool. I can deal with this. I now cannot deal with this. I am not dealing with the door opening. I am not prepared for this. Yeah.

I mean, listen, I grew up on airplanes. I come from really several generations of being raised by flight attendants. I love it because here's my thing. For the last few years, too many people who don't need to be flying

have been flying to chaos as a frequent flyer that I've observed. People not knowing how to act, not understanding the importance of, like I said, listening to flight attendant directives. Those aren't suggestions. Those aren't preferences. These are strategies intended to save your life and the lives of your other passengers. And I just think people have been playing it fast and loose. And really, since the pandemic, disrespect. Disrespect.

We've lost decorum. It is a shared journey that we are all going on on this metal tube through the sky has gone away. So honestly, you know, if a few people decide they can't handle it, by all means, sit this journey out. I will be buckled and ready. You know, I'm not scared because I think to indulge that fear would just open me up to nihilism because I don't think this is just...

The airlines. I think next week we're going to be talking about cars not being as safe as we've been told. We're going to find, you know, like it's just escalators because, and I know both of you agree with me on this, really what's going on here is fault lines escalating.

lapses in regulation being revealed. And, you know, I think lobbyists and certainly business people and boardrooms benefit and they're making money hand over foot. Boeing has been making a lot of money lapsing a lot of regulation, but eventually the fault lines revealed themselves. So yeah, I'm not freaking out because I'm like, honey, the moment I start making decisions regarding institutional collapse, I'm not leaving my

my home and honestly my home probably ain't safe because we know housing regulation ain't that great either you know what I mean yeah that's so true you know you're exactly right we can't actually if you begin to think about how much these structures can collapse on us then you won't be able to even walk outside because you'll be like everything could be a potential collapse of something around me and that's really terrifying yeah

I am obsessed with how we got here. You don't get to the point where doors are falling off planes unless a lot of things were happening before. And I want to point out two trends that I think have led –

to this point. One is Boeing's corporate greed. More than almost any other company in the airline industry, Boeing has been known for the last several decades for putting profits over pretty much everything else.

This company has had mass layoffs, streamlining their protocols to maximize profits and beat Airbus. And according to Vox reporting, they have basically replaced their top level of leadership, which used to be really smart engineers, with MBAs who maximize profits and maximize profits just like.

For the shareholders to get the most money, you know, we have seen Boeing executives spend over 43 billion dollars buying back their own stocks, paying out nearly 22 billion in profits to shareholders while laying off their employees and getting into fights with the unions.

Right. So that's a part of it, number one. But number two, we've also seen the FAA. This is the federal regulatory agency that monitors airlines and airplanes. They have kind of dropped the ball on regulation. A very interesting thing happened after 9-11. The FAA all of a sudden had a bunch of new responsibilities.

So instead of just making sure the planes were flying okay and doing well, after the hijacking of four planes here in the States, they had to do background checks for tarmac workers, check the security of cockpit doors, and basically take on security protocols on top of inspection protocols.

And this got so bad that around 2003, a Republican-controlled Congress literally ordered the FAA to delegate more nuts-and-bolts compliance to plane manufacturers themselves. For about 20 years, we've lived in a situation in which these plane manufacturers can self-inspect.

And then report to the FAA if they're doing it right or not. That is wild. Yeah, it's so interesting, like the security. There's a Nadine Gordimer short story that's set in South Africa during the apartheid. And a white family surrounds their home with barbed wire to protect themselves from the dangerous black people. And a white child actually gets caught in the barbed wire and dies.

And I think one of the lessons of that parable is that security is not safety, right? And it feels like it's so interesting, like you're saying, this response to 9-11 that we've all lived in so long. It's in our cultural DNA. So it's actually, I think, difficult for us to identify the shift. But it's so clear that the airline industry being pulled under the auspices of Homeland Security, it's like they're so obsessed with security theater that actually keeping us

safe, physically safe, has become less of a priority to our detriment. And it just speaks to the crumbling of not just aviation, but so many other industries. You see...

The decrease in regulatory power from the federal government at the same time companies are pushing shareholder primacy and profits over everything. It is a toxic brew, and it's not just affecting aviation. We're seeing these effects across all types of American industries and sectors.

Yeah, we are. And something I want to bring up is behind the story that's on top of the shift in people versus profits as we're seeing with big companies like Boeing is the story of how these companies came to be. A lot of these huge legacy companies are American royalty. They began with really beautiful stories of being small businesses that then grew, grew, grew, grew, grew. And then once it became public and really vastly wealthy, things went awry. And Boeing has kind of always been seen as

the banner company to look at for American innovation. You know, it began in Seattle. It was a guy building planes in the boat yards and World War II happens and Rosie the Riveters began working at the boat yard with him to build the planes and they start building the planes for the war and Boeing becomes famous.

Boeing. But in the past few years, their brand has lost all of its Americana specialness because it's always being seen as in turmoil and it's actually impacting their bottom line. So what do you two think about this for the company? Can they turn it around? Are there other companies that you're thinking of as you're looking at Boeing that have had, you know, big decline and then figured it out and fixed it?

This is the thing. I don't want to put my faith in Boeing to turn things around. They've already proven they care about profit over everything else. I want a strong federal government and I want strong regulation. It's really hard to overstate the ways in which regulatory federal government makes our country run. Think about your day as an American.

Any groceries you buy, any food you eat from the store, it's been inspected to make sure it doesn't make you sick. You ride on the highway, someone inspects the road to make sure you don't fall into a pothole. You drive a car, you ride the bus. All of these things are regulated and inspected to make sure they're safe. And I think we have lost sight of

of how that is one of the primary functions of a government to keep us safe and until we reprioritize our political desires and drive to reinstill that founding principle we're in trouble baby forget about boeing i want my government to do what governments do keep us safe i mean one quick thing that i would say is it's very clear that like stock buybacks need to stop

just period, across corporate America, because it always leads to this kind of calamity one way or another, regardless of the industry. But the bigger thing is, it really frustrates me. It's important for this episode. I think we have to acknowledge, whether we're talking about the royal family or not, conspiracy theories. And what really irritates me about most

conspiracy theories, at least in our culture, as I'm familiar with, is it feels that they ultimately skew right wing. And it's like, you know, let's take anti-vaxxers obsessed with the idea that the government is doing whatever they're doing, using vaccines to hurt us, to manipulate us when it's like, honey, the real conspiracy is deregulation.

The real conspiracy is companies using all this kind of stuff. And it's like, there's some shit going on. Learn about this whistleblower. There are real things going on where harm is being done. There are cover-ups that go to the detriment and endangerment of all of us. If you want to find something to obsess with, baby, I got a list. But

But it's like, instead of focusing on these actual harms, we're worrying about people putting chips in vaccines. And that just frustrates me so much because we need attention to be put on these issues. And I just, you know, I have such gratitude. I can't imagine what this John Barnett fellow who's been talking about this since 20, like these specific issues since 2017, you know what it feels like when you are aware of something and

No one with power around you believes you. And for him to now be dead as people are continually being harmed around him is just so disturbing. And I hope I'm with Sam. I don't think I trust or want this to be on because this is about the federal government and the broader industry. Let's hope Airbus, the other company, by the way, that we depend on, has its shit in order. We're totally vulnerable here. Well, and just like listeners think about this.

Whenever you walk into a restaurant, you know how you see that little letter score that says A, B, C, D because they've been inspected? The federal government does that for everything or is supposed to for everything that touches American consumers' hands. It should be commonplace. And I think we forget about it because we don't think about it or talk about it. But like –

It's hard to overstate how much our lives are our lives because the government is doing things we can't see to keep us safe. Like without regulation, we would be getting food poisoning every day. Well, listeners, we need to leave it there, but don't go anywhere. We're taking just one more quick break, but we'll be right back with some recommendations.

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All right, my loves, we are back. And of course, before we end the show, we always like to share something that's helping us keep our vibes right. Zach, why don't you get us started? Yeah, I'd love to.

So this week, I would love to recommend a new book by a friend of the show. His name is Michael Arsenault. In his new book, I Finally Bought Some Jordans, a collection of essays. I saw you at his book event last week. I was at his book event. Michael, this is his third book. I was at his book event at Reparations Club, which was my first time there. It's a black-owned bookstore in LA. It's a really cute shop.

I really liked that bookstore. I went there with Sam and our friend Tracy Thomas. So fun fact, I heard about you guys going with Tracy because the owners came up to me and they were like,

I know your voice. You're Zach Stafford, right? And I was like, yes, I am. They're like, we love Vibe Check. We listen all the time. Sam and Saeed were here with Tracy. And I was like, oh, those are my girls. And they're like, we've been waiting to meet you. You're like the last, kind of like last Pokemon. I was like, I'm the last Pokemon that you've collected. Collect all of us. But the Space is Beautiful was incredible for an event. It

It felt like we were in, remember Moesha? You know how she used to go to that little book club thing? The cafe? It feels like the cafe. So anyway, the event was there. Sylvia O'Bell, also a friend of the show, was interviewing Michael. And it's just a wonderful book. He's an incredible writer. If you love our show, if you love how we weave politics through culture and use our own energy,

personal experiences to understand the world around us and how it's changing. Michael is one of those writers that does that really well, has really great views on the world around us. Cool. All right. Sam, what's your recommendation this week? You know, I've been on my yoga girly vernal equinox tip. So it is no surprise that for the last few days I have been playing nonstop the new Casey Musgraves album called It's So Good. Baby Girl. It's so good.

It is this wonderful mix of soft country, Americana, folk, and post-divorce energy. Oh, I love it. I love it.

It's actually perfect for you, Sam. It is very your vibes these days. I have been lighting the incense, putting on KC, tidying up the house, and just feeling things. What I love about KC Musgraves is that she is such a subdued and restrained artist. And so you'll hear her songs. And if you don't think too carefully about it, it'll just wash over you and you won't think. But if you dig into it, she is doing this.

the work. The lyrics speak volumes. She has one song on the album called The Architect. And the song starts out, you know, talking about how some things in life just make you wonder, is there an architect? What did the architect think when they made this thing? And then she ends up ending the song by saying,

This life that we make, is it random or fate? Can I speak to the architect? Is there an architect? Baby girl goes existential. I love it. So it's like this soft country pop song.

that before you know it is like deeply philosophical she also has the most soothing voice I can't recommend this album enough it is called Deeper Well Kacey Musgraves love you girl my question is are there any bops on there because I do I like her single song because I still love High Horse that's still my favorite Kacey Musgraves song this is very subdued this is a very subdued album well

So I said, all right. And if you really love this album and want to have a full vibe around it, I definitely suggest buying a candle from Boy Smells. They do a collaboration with her every time she has an album. I do like her candles. Oh, okay. Yeah, she had Slow Burn the candle and now she has Deeper Well the candle and both are really wonderful. Yeah, she's been doing collaborations with them for a few years now. Casey, we love you. You get a cookout invite. No, no you don't.

To my cookout. To my cookout. It's my cookout. You can have her over for dinner. That's what you can do. You can have Casey over for dinner. I just, I was in the mood for just a sweet, warm poem. I know I don't bring y'all sweet, warm poems often.

But it felt needed, especially with this chaotic topics this week. It is by Willie Perdomo. And the title of his poem is That's My Heart Right There. You know that saying? That's my heart right there. Yeah. We used to say, that's my heart right there. As if to say, don't mess with her right there. As if, don't even play. That's a part of me right there. In other words, okay, okay. That's the start of me right there.

As if come that day, that's the end of me right there. As if push comes to shove, I would fend for her right there. As if to say, come what may, I would lie for her right there. As if come love to pay, I would die for that right there. Beautiful poem. And again, the title is That's My Heart Right There.

A rare sweet poem. Enjoy it. Listen, so if you can enjoy a sweet poem, you can enjoy some Casey Musgraves. Oh my God. All right, listeners, what are you feeling or not feeling this week? What's your vibe? Check in with us at vibecheckatstitcher.com.

And that's our show. Casey Musgraves, Christina Aguilera, Flaynz, Kate Middleton. You might say we wrote this episode until the wheels fell off. We did. Hey!

Wow. All right, listeners, thank you for tuning into this week's episode of Vibe Check. If you love the show and want to support us, please make sure to follow the show on your favorite podcast listening platform, subscribe on Apple Podcasts, and leave a review. Most importantly, tell a friend. And I will say the owners of Reparations Club told me to my face, they always tell friends when they're talking on podcasts about our show. So live like they do. We love that. Thank you for that love. Yes. Yes.

All right. Huge thank you to our producer, Chantel Holder, engineer Rich Garcia, and Marcus Holm for our theme music and sound design. Special thanks to Casey Musgraves and our executive producers, Nora Ritchie at Stitcher and Brandon Sharp from Agenda. We want to hear from you. Don't forget, you can email us at vibecheckatstitcher.com. You can find me on Blue Sky where I am having...

quite a good time, I've got to tell you. I am causing a lot of mayhem. People tell me about it. There was one screen grab you shared where I was like, oh lord, he's over there. I had a fun post about Tom Hardy. Anyway, keep in touch with us also on Instagram, at Zach Staff, at Sam Sanders, and at The Ferocity. Use the hashtag, vibecheckpod, if you can. I feel like hashtags are...

seemingly going away on this internet we've been bequeathed anyway stay tuned for another episode next Wednesday bye bye Stitcher

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At All Modern, you'll find every style of modern, from Scandi to mid-century, minimalist to maximalist. Every piece is hand-vetted for quality by our team of experts and designed for real life. That's modern made simple. Shop now at allmodern.com. There are a lot of reasons some people choose cannabis.

Whether you're tapping into your creative side or just trying to relax, the one thing weed won't do is make it any more safe or legal to drive afterwards. It can slow reaction times, for example, and if you thought a few eye drops helped you get away with it, know that people can tell when you've been smoking marijuana, including law enforcement. If you feel different, you drive different. Drive high. Get a DUI.