Latest / Culture Brief - Christian perspectives on the week's biggest news, sports & pop-culture stories / Why gas prices are rising, prediction markets exposed, Talarico's theology, Oscars recap & March Madness | Ep. 61

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Why gas prices are rising, prediction markets exposed, Talarico's theology, Oscars recap & March Madness | Ep. 61 · Culture Brief - Christian perspectives on the week's biggest news, sports & pop-culture stories

• 0:02
  [SPEAKER_00]: Hi, I'm Connor Jones.
• 0:03
  [SPEAKER_00]: I'm Mike Atama-Sella and this is Culture Brief, a Denison Foreign Podcast where we are navigating the constant stream of top stories and news, politics, sports, pop culture, technology, apparently military operations, and so much more, it's been another stacked week, but you know what, we got March madness around the corner, I'm looking forward to that, unfortunately the U.S. lost in baseball to Venezuela, a lot of geopolitical aspects of that went to,
• 0:31
  [SPEAKER_02]: we'll give him that one.
• 0:33
  [SPEAKER_02]: I think they needed that one.
• 0:34
  [SPEAKER_02]: All right.
• 0:35
  [SPEAKER_02]: So here's what we're talking about today.
• 0:37
  [SPEAKER_02]: I'm going to talk about the straight-of-home moves because you guys have been here in it in your news feeds over and over and over again.
• 0:43
  [SPEAKER_02]: I'm going to talk about that a little bit of the history of it.
• 0:45
  [SPEAKER_02]: Why it matters why it's important.
• 0:46
  [SPEAKER_02]: I'm going to talk about Carl Island as well.
• 0:48
  [SPEAKER_02]: Mike, Carl Island.
• 0:50
  [SPEAKER_02]: I've been waiting for you to talk about Carl Island and I ran.
• 0:52
  [SPEAKER_02]: Well, here you go.
• 0:54
  [SPEAKER_02]: Connor is going to do a segment on prediction markets, lot of wild stuff swirling around there.
• 1:00
  [SPEAKER_02]: We've got some really interesting mailback questions, so we're going to talk a little bit more March Madness towards the end of the show.
• 1:05
  [SPEAKER_02]: So let's jump into the brief.
• 1:07
  [SPEAKER_02]: The brief.
• 1:11
  [SPEAKER_02]: All right, why, Connor, are the straight up removes and Corg Island so vital to the world?
• 1:21
  [SPEAKER_02]: That's a great question.
• 1:23
  [SPEAKER_02]: Are you going to answer it or are you assuming I'm going to tell you so you don't answer it because if you answered, I'm about to answer it.
• 1:29
  [SPEAKER_02]: So don't answer it.
• 1:29
  [SPEAKER_02]: But everybody's everybody's wondering, you know, why is this little waterway so vital to the world?
• 1:36
  [SPEAKER_02]: Why is it sending so many countries into an absolute tizzy?
• 1:39
  [SPEAKER_02]: I mean, there are countries on the lockdown because they do not have the energy that they need to be able to sustain shortening work weeks, cancelling large events, all those things.
• 1:49
  [SPEAKER_02]: So here's what's happening.
• 1:51
  [SPEAKER_02]: You've probably seen headlines about oil prices and rising shipping disruptions and a lot of that traces back to one place and one place only, the straight of or moves.
• 2:02
  [SPEAKER_02]: It's a narrow waterway between Iran and the Arabian Peninsula.
• 2:06
  [SPEAKER_02]: When I say narrow, I mean very narrow.
• 2:08
  [SPEAKER_02]: And it's the only way oil from the Persian Gulf States from the Persian Gulf area gets out to the global market.
• 2:16
  [SPEAKER_02]: roughly one out of every five barrels of oil in the world passes through that strip of water.
• 2:23
  [SPEAKER_02]: That strip of water is needed to produce 20% of the oil that the world needs, that the countries of the world needs.
• 2:32
  [SPEAKER_02]: So when it gets disrupted, the whole world feels it.
• 2:36
  [SPEAKER_02]: And then inside the goal, if you've got Carg Island, which is basically Iran's primary oil export hub.
• 2:43
  [SPEAKER_02]: Most of their oil flows through that island before it reaches the straight.
• 2:48
  [SPEAKER_02]: Okay, so here's a way to think about it.
• 2:50
  [SPEAKER_02]: Carg Island is the loading dock.
• 2:51
  [SPEAKER_02]: The straight-up or moves is the exit door.
• 2:53
  [SPEAKER_02]: If either one gets hit, supply gets tight fast.
• 2:56
  [SPEAKER_02]: Well, let me go ahead and tell you, let me spoil it with this war conflict going on, whatever you want to call it over there.
• 3:02
  [SPEAKER_02]: Both have been hit, have been damaged, and there's been some problems, right?
• 3:06
  [SPEAKER_02]: So, here's why it matters right now.
• 3:08
  [SPEAKER_02]: Iron doesn't have to fully shut down the straight to create problems.
• 3:11
  [SPEAKER_02]: They're not really even capable of doing that.
• 3:14
  [SPEAKER_02]: Just the threat of disruption.
• 3:16
  [SPEAKER_02]: So slow or stop shipping through that.
• 3:19
  [SPEAKER_02]: You spike insurance costs through that.
• 3:21
  [SPEAKER_02]: You push tankers to reroute or just sit there and wait, right?
• 3:25
  [SPEAKER_02]: As Trump said, he said it a couple days ago.
• 3:27
  [SPEAKER_02]: He said, like, all it takes is a few people with guns.
• 3:30
  [SPEAKER_02]: and that can truly disrupt it because it's such a thin waterway and so no matter how pummeled Iran is right now, you just need a few people out there to disrupt it and that's what's creating a lot of the problems.
• 3:42
  [SPEAKER_02]: And here at home, that's obviously showing up.
• 3:44
  [SPEAKER_02]: We're all going to the gas pumps right now and seeing how much more expensive gases.
• 3:49
  [SPEAKER_02]: We've got higher gas prices increased transportation costs and eventually higher prices on everyday goods because energy
• 3:58
  [SPEAKER_02]: So Connor, what have been your first impressions or, you know, how have you been thinking about this in terms of, man, it's just such a thin strip of a waterway.
• 4:07
  [SPEAKER_02]: And then you've got this oil refinery export hub.
• 4:10
  [SPEAKER_02]: And then Israel hit that export hub.
• 4:12
  [SPEAKER_02]: And then America was like, don't do that.
• 4:14
  [SPEAKER_02]: And then all these tankers are just sitting and waiting.
• 4:17
  [SPEAKER_02]: You know, when we've seen those videos on social media, people who are actually on those tankers, I mean, what is your impression of all this been?
• 4:23
  [SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, well, you know what's funny is I asked a guy this weekend who's kind of aware of the news and everything going on and I said how you feeling about this whole iron conflict he goes, you know how it's pretty much indifferent for the last two weeks until I went to Costco this weekend and I went to the Costco gas pump and the gas prices were way higher and the grocery prices he was like, I'm starting to notice an increase and he said, well, that's definitely going to affect the way I'm probably a bunch of Americans think about this whole thing and it's true.
• 4:46
  [SPEAKER_00]: Now, you mentioned last week that the straightforward moves as important as it is to everybody in the world.
• 4:52
  [SPEAKER_00]: It really matters for, I think a lot of Asian countries and even European countries, which is why Trump is trying to get those countries to put together a collective to protect the straightforward moves and kind of like escort ships through the straight.
• 5:03
  [SPEAKER_00]: with their navies because he's saying we don't need the straight-of-horn moves as much.
• 5:06
  [SPEAKER_00]: It will impact the global markets, but man, this is where a lot of the Asian nations get their oil from a lot of Europe and Africa gets their oil.
• 5:13
  [SPEAKER_00]: They need that straight opened up and free flowing.
• 5:16
  [SPEAKER_00]: But yeah, it's really starting to pile up over there.
• 5:19
  [SPEAKER_00]: in terms of ships waiting in the car island, Trump, he's been interesting with that, obviously the US pummeled it, like we pummeled a lot of their oil stuff the other day, but not all of it, because Trump knows that you need to keep the refineries up and running for if the US was to take over the car island or something, or another country gets control of it.
• 5:37
  [SPEAKER_00]: He's also seeming to threaten like, this might be where we get boots on the ground, is invading this little like five mile strip of island,
• 5:43
  [SPEAKER_00]: to take over their oil facilities and there's there's marines on the way is what he said in order to ship with twenty five or I think twenty five hundred marines to the region and there's the strategic thought that this might be a place where we might try to literally land on the island and take it over hmm
• 6:00
  [SPEAKER_02]: Well, there you go, yes, I did hear about that, but obviously there's a lot of things that are said that doesn't necessarily mean that it's going to be done true, but yes, I did hear about that as well.
• 6:10
  [SPEAKER_02]: Okay, so why this region has always mattered.
• 6:13
  [SPEAKER_02]: This is not new.
• 6:13
  [SPEAKER_02]: Let me give you an example from the past during the Iran Iraq war in the 1980s, both sides were targeting oil tankers and what was called the tanker war.
• 6:21
  [SPEAKER_02]: The goal was simple disrupt energy flow and hurt the global economy so that happened back in the 80s.
• 6:26
  [SPEAKER_02]: What's interesting is the geography of this hasn't changed at all.
• 6:30
  [SPEAKER_02]: the same narrow waterway that mattered 40 years ago still matters today because no matter how advanced the world gets, that's what's an interesting thought to me.
• 6:37
  [SPEAKER_02]: The world is becoming so much more advanced.
• 6:39
  [SPEAKER_02]: We're still dependent on physical routes and real supply lines.
• 6:43
  [SPEAKER_02]: A very thin strip of waterway, the world is very dependent upon it.
• 6:47
  [SPEAKER_02]: No matter how much we figured out how advanced things have gotten since the 80s, for example.
• 6:51
  [SPEAKER_02]: They're still just very basic logistical problems if the oil tankers can't get through with the oil 20% of the world's oil supply cannot get through.
• 6:59
  [SPEAKER_02]: That's going to create big problems and big reactions in the market.
• 7:03
  [SPEAKER_00]: can't unless your new Gingrich, the former Speaker of the House in the 90s, who literally recommended this week, he wrote a letter to President Trump asking him to, I think, drop 12 nuclear bombs on an area of the Arabian Peninsula to open up a new waterway.
• 7:16
  [SPEAKER_00]: So, you know, maybe technology could do it, Micah.
• 7:20
  [SPEAKER_00]: Well, you just might have to destroy the world and you're now chatting about this yesterday.
• 7:23
  [SPEAKER_02]: Personally, I'm going to take almost any other option than American troops on the ground.
• 7:29
  [SPEAKER_02]: Although that sounds crazy, if that's going to stop American troops from actually being deployed and boots on the ground, then I think it might be worth considering.
• 7:39
  [SPEAKER_02]: So, oh my gosh, here's the big idea.
• 7:42
  [SPEAKER_02]: The global economy is more fragile than it feels, and I think moments like this remind us of that.
• 7:46
  [SPEAKER_02]: It's built on systems that work really well until they don't.
• 7:50
  [SPEAKER_02]: And sometimes all it takes is one narrow choke point, like the straight up home moves, to create global ripple effects.
• 7:59
  [SPEAKER_02]: this is where it gets personal.
• 8:01
  [SPEAKER_02]: I think that there's there's probably some inferences you're already drawing based off the way that I'm already kind of setting this up, but moments like this expose how much of our sense of security is tied to things we assume will always be steady.
• 8:14
  [SPEAKER_02]: Markets supply chains, prices, systems.
• 8:18
  [SPEAKER_02]: But Scripture reminds us those things were never meant to carry that weight.
• 8:22
  [SPEAKER_02]: They can't carry that weight.
• 8:23
  [SPEAKER_02]: Isaiah 26 verses 3 and 4 says, you keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on you.
• 8:30
  [SPEAKER_02]: Because he trusts in you, trusts in the Lord forever for the Lord God is an everlasting rock.
• 8:37
  [SPEAKER_02]: Everything we're watching right now is shifting.
• 8:40
  [SPEAKER_02]: Price is shift, market shift, global stability shifts, but God does not.
• 8:45
  [SPEAKER_02]: He's the same yesterday, today, and forever, Hebrews 13, eight.
• 8:49
  [SPEAKER_02]: So the question isn't just what's happening in the state of Hormuz.
• 8:52
  [SPEAKER_02]: It's this, where are we looking for stability when everything around us feels uncertain?
• 8:59
  [SPEAKER_02]: That's the challenge.
• 9:00
  [SPEAKER_02]: Just ask yourself that question.
• 9:02
  [SPEAKER_02]: If you're feeling unsettled,
• 9:06
  [SPEAKER_02]: what are you anchored in right now?
• 9:08
  [SPEAKER_02]: What are you focusing on?
• 9:10
  [SPEAKER_02]: Because I can guarantee you that if you're feeling that way most often times it's because you're placing your identity in trust in something that was never meant to have identity in trust placed in it because it's going to change.
• 9:24
  [SPEAKER_02]: It's going to shift.
• 9:25
  [SPEAKER_02]: There's going to be struggles trusting God find your piece there.
• 9:29
  [SPEAKER_00]: Man, that's good.
• 9:29
  [SPEAKER_00]: It's actually a perfect segue into talking about prediction markets because the whole idea of a prediction market is trying to figure out what is the unsteady stuff that you can bet on.
• 9:39
  [SPEAKER_00]: But, you know, tying it back to steadiness and like knowing that God is a constant.
• 9:43
  [SPEAKER_00]: That's ultimately what we can tie back to with straighted form moves, global conflicts, lifetrials, but also even prediction markets so, right?
• 9:55
  [SPEAKER_00]: Mike, you said at the beginning, you're seeing prediction markets just make their way into literally every facet of life now.
• 10:01
  [SPEAKER_00]: And that's kind of what I want to talk about.
• 10:02
  [SPEAKER_00]: I mean, it's just at the center of our culture and it continues to grow.
• 10:05
  [SPEAKER_00]: If you're not sure what a prediction market is, you're going to find out very soon because it just keeps blowing up.
• 10:10
  [SPEAKER_00]: You've made your names.
• 10:11
  [SPEAKER_00]: It's definitely more mainstream.
• 10:14
  [SPEAKER_00]: Kind of like, you know, 10 years ago, if you said draft kings are fan dual, people may not know what those are, but now they're just a part of our culture, household sports betting, household names now.
• 10:23
  [SPEAKER_00]: That's what's happening with polymarket and calcium.
• 10:25
  [SPEAKER_00]: These are the two big prediction markets here in the United States.
• 10:28
  [SPEAKER_00]: They're virtual.
• 10:29
  [SPEAKER_00]: You just go on them.
• 10:30
  [SPEAKER_00]: You go on the apps.
• 10:30
  [SPEAKER_00]: You go on the website.
• 10:32
  [SPEAKER_00]: Man, you can bet on basically anything and it is endless like there's just an endless number of things you can bet on It's crazy It started kind of a sports betting and it has just made its way into every facet of life You can bet on pop culture politics wars So we're gonna dive into all of that here.
• 10:50
  [SPEAKER_00]: It's just rapidly growing and it's just impacting everyone and Everything in our culture and it's gonna keep growing unless the government kind of steps in and starts to regulate And they're talking about it.
• 10:59
  [SPEAKER_00]: They're talking about regulating but right now they're pretty open
• 11:02
  [SPEAKER_00]: there's not a lot of regulation on these platforms.
• 11:05
  [SPEAKER_00]: So like I said, it's just not confined to sports betting anymore.
• 11:08
  [SPEAKER_00]: We're seeing people, I mean, we're talking about the Oscars this past weekend, people are betting on.
• 11:12
  [SPEAKER_00]: So to start, I just want to say, what is a prediction market?
• 11:16
  [SPEAKER_00]: I'm leaning here on Dr. Katie Frigea, she wrote an article for her series in a form.
• 11:20
  [SPEAKER_00]: We'll link them in the show notes, it was called betting on suffering, the moral crisis of prediction markets.
• 11:25
  [SPEAKER_00]: in that she defines a prediction market as something that poses a question with out, no, sorry, with a defined outcome often binary, such as will candidate X win if you're betting on politics in that sense.
• 11:37
  [SPEAKER_00]: Traders then buy shares that pay $1 if the answer is yes, and $0 if it's no.
• 11:43
  [SPEAKER_00]: If those shares trade at 65 cents, then the market isn't applying roughly a 65% chance of a yes outcome.
• 11:49
  [SPEAKER_00]: As people trade, buying when they think the chance is higher is selling when they think it's lower, the price updates in real time.
• 11:56
  [SPEAKER_00]: The idea being that anyone who has a better read on a situation with new information or sharper analysis or faster synthesis, they can profit by pushing the price short a more accurate forecast.
• 12:06
  [SPEAKER_00]: In that sense, the market becomes a living estimate shaped by incentives rather than expert judgment.
• 12:12
  [SPEAKER_00]: So I'm going to give you a few examples with this means here, but just as a broad oversweep, the prediction market really came to the forefront of our culture in 2024 during the presidential election.
• 12:23
  [SPEAKER_00]: That's when a lot of people started to hear about polymarket and calcium because
• 12:26
  [SPEAKER_00]: they accurately predicted the presidential election and most of the state elections too.
• 12:31
  [SPEAKER_00]: It was way more accurate than the polling was back in 2024.
• 12:34
  [SPEAKER_00]: They knew days in advance that Trump was going to win essentially.
• 12:38
  [SPEAKER_00]: And it was all based off of all these people across the world placing bets and hedging on what they believed was going to happen.
• 12:45
  [SPEAKER_00]: And it was just more accurate than polling was.
• 12:46
  [SPEAKER_00]: And so it blew these things up.
• 12:48
  [SPEAKER_00]: And now,
• 12:53
  [SPEAKER_00]: up 400% in betting.
• 12:55
  [SPEAKER_00]: That's nearly $12 billion that was traded in December on a loan of this past December.
• 13:00
  [SPEAKER_00]: It's just growing like crazy.
• 13:02
  [SPEAKER_00]: It's become an ingrained in American life.
• 13:04
  [SPEAKER_00]: Real life pergnocicators are actually referencing markets in their trends of analyzing those trends in culture.
• 13:10
  [SPEAKER_00]: For instance, Polymarket ads are now featured on the Golden Globe Awards.
• 13:14
  [SPEAKER_00]: They were literally putting them up on the screen during the Golden Globes of who's most likely to win this award, what movies can win this award.
• 13:20
  [SPEAKER_02]: So yeah, I guess I've dairy people are voting with their
• 13:23
  [SPEAKER_02]: So it's like, you know, they were more accurate than polls because there is this national sentiment within the country that they were wanting a change and more people, a lot more people put their money on Trump winning than comolled.
• 13:37
  [SPEAKER_02]: So in theory, it really is interesting because on one hand, I'm thinking, you know, and again, I think, you know, I know the point of your segment is to say it's to explain kind of the pitfalls of it, but it is interesting as polling has become more and more inaccurate
• 13:53
  [SPEAKER_02]: people will tell you how they really feel if their money's on the line.
• 13:56
  [SPEAKER_02]: So it is interesting on like I think in some short spurts and in some certain examples could actually end up being useful but I know you're about to get into the examples of some of the things that are being bet on in terms of wars and leadership captures and all kinds of things.
• 14:11
  [SPEAKER_02]: It's like
• 14:12
  [SPEAKER_02]: How would you even know that?
• 14:14
  [SPEAKER_02]: Where are you getting that information?
• 14:16
  [SPEAKER_02]: People with insider information?
• 14:17
  [SPEAKER_02]: Are they profiting off of you know?
• 14:19
  [SPEAKER_00]: Absolutely like that.
• 14:20
  [SPEAKER_00]: So yeah, yeah, that's what we're gonna dive into because you're right Technically it might be a more accurate way to understand things happening in culture But part of that is the insider trading because people with inside information are moving those markets to profit ourselves
• 14:34
  [SPEAKER_00]: I just want to give a few examples on things that people are gambling on.
• 14:36
  [SPEAKER_00]: I went to Pauli Market's website yesterday just to see what's out there.
• 14:39
  [SPEAKER_00]: Right now, you can bet on Will Taylor Swift and Travis Kelsey get married by June 30th.
• 14:44
  [SPEAKER_00]: Right now, it's at a 46% chance, yes, and then from there, you can bet on what attendees will be there.
• 14:50
  [SPEAKER_00]: Patrick, my home has a 92% chance of being there.
• 14:52
  [SPEAKER_00]: Selena Gomez, 75% chance, you can literally bet yes or no on those things, and then try to make a profit off of it.
• 14:58
  [SPEAKER_00]: That is.
• 14:59
  [SPEAKER_00]: just so minuscule and so my new in terms of culture, but it's literally just steeping down into everything.
• 15:06
  [SPEAKER_00]: You can bet on will Pam Bondi be out as the attorney general by March 31st, 5% chance yes right now.
• 15:11
  [SPEAKER_00]: There's a whole section.
• 15:12
  [SPEAKER_00]: This is kind of where it starts to get crazy.
• 15:14
  [SPEAKER_00]: There is an entire section on Pauli Market just for Epstein stuff.
• 15:17
  [SPEAKER_00]: Bending on files, betting on a rest, betting on outsteens, all this stuff and I'm like, that is, it just feels dirty.
• 15:24
  [SPEAKER_01]: Like, it's bad on something that is like, feels a little achy.
• 15:26
  [SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, it's feels it keep those there are real life victims and then there's people profiting off of that the straight-in-port moves traffic Micah this was interesting because I knew you were talking about the straight-in-port moves So I was gonna pull this up.
• 15:37
  [SPEAKER_00]: Will the straight-in-port moves?
• 15:39
  [SPEAKER_00]: Okay, yes Will the straight-in-port moves traffic return a normal by the end of April 26% of people say yes
• 15:46
  [SPEAKER_00]: it was at 78% a week ago.
• 15:49
  [SPEAKER_00]: So that's that's what you're talking about.
• 15:50
  [SPEAKER_00]: Like the active predictions of like a week ago people felt really good about the war may be coming to a close and the straight-of-armus opening up a week later it's down to 26%.
• 15:59
  [SPEAKER_00]: So you're right people are putting their money in and really trying to understand where things are headed right now.
• 16:04
  [SPEAKER_00]: It doesn't look like the straight-of-armus is going to open up by the end of April.
• 16:07
  [SPEAKER_00]: I mean it's
• 16:08
  [SPEAKER_02]: That's going to be a 10-year-old second.
• 16:09
  [SPEAKER_02]: It looks like it's going to.
• 16:11
  [SPEAKER_02]: It's going to flip right on back.
• 16:13
  [SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, you're exactly right.
• 16:14
  [SPEAKER_00]: Here's another interesting one right now.
• 16:16
  [SPEAKER_00]: The Republican presidential nominee for 2028.
• 16:18
  [SPEAKER_00]: So people are putting in their bets that their hoping will pay out years from now.
• 16:23
  [SPEAKER_00]: Right now, JD Vance is at the lead of that with 39 percent.
• 16:25
  [SPEAKER_00]: Marco Rubio is up there in second place and his stake is rising, which is what a lot of people are pointing to.
• 16:30
  [SPEAKER_00]: They're like, hey, Marco Rubio keeps rising in the prediction markets.
• 16:32
  [SPEAKER_00]: Maybe he'll be the next
• 16:34
  [SPEAKER_00]: Trump watches these things.
• 16:36
  [SPEAKER_00]: Tucker Carlson went viral this week for thinking he's going to get arrested.
• 16:40
  [SPEAKER_00]: That shot his chances up to 3% on these prediction markets, even Tom Brady's in there at 1%.
• 16:44
  [SPEAKER_00]: There's a bunch of people at 1%, but they're 80%.
• 16:47
  [SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, no.
• 16:48
  [SPEAKER_00]: So, that's what I'm talking about here, man.
• 16:50
  [SPEAKER_00]: There's just so much that you can bet on where it gets really weird, though, is like things like this.
• 16:55
  [SPEAKER_00]: Will another country strike Iran by March 31st?
• 16:58
  [SPEAKER_00]: There's a 20% chance of yes on that right now.
• 17:00
  [SPEAKER_00]: People are betting on countries getting involved in a war, and then here's the craziest one, will Jesus Christ return before 2027.
• 17:08
  [SPEAKER_00]: There's a 4% chance yes on Pauli Marker right now.
• 17:11
  [SPEAKER_00]: People are betting on Jesus's return dude, that is just like crazy to me.
• 17:15
  [SPEAKER_02]: And people wait, so like if if I get in there, bet money.
• 17:20
  [SPEAKER_02]: on no on that one.
• 17:23
  [SPEAKER_02]: I would make money technically.
• 17:25
  [SPEAKER_02]: Yeah.
• 17:25
  [SPEAKER_02]: I think so.
• 17:26
  [SPEAKER_02]: Okay.
• 17:27
  [SPEAKER_02]: Well, that that seems like a really easy one.
• 17:30
  [SPEAKER_02]: I'm not encouraging you about it to go do that, but because ultimately like as long as he like if he returns whatever you bet doesn't matter just FYI, if he doesn't return and and he terries as as my friends in that in my upbringing in the Southern Baptist
• 17:49
  [SPEAKER_00]: then you can just keep making that money right i mean that's such an interesting that i'm sure that's uh that's uh that's because of that because it's down at 4% chance of yes your bet on no would barely profit you make it really makes on anything like like your 4 cents on the dollar right yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah people will bet more on the risk your things right yeah sure it's trying to make a quick buck so
• 18:13
  [SPEAKER_00]: One of the things that I want to point out here though, the prediction markets man that they're just having lots of dangers and not just for our nation, but also I think for our souls people who are getting involved in this, but even those of us that are like analyzing it, we can start to see destructive consequences, but one of the primary issues here is like you said, my command it's enabling legal insider trading.
• 18:32
  [SPEAKER_00]: And ultimately, like, I'm going to get into this, it's presenting a national security risk.
• 18:36
  [SPEAKER_00]: So just to some background, CalShe's one of the platforms I mentioned, it is US regulated to an extent.
• 18:42
  [SPEAKER_00]: It does require users to identify themselves, but polymarket, which is what I just read all those odds off of.
• 18:47
  [SPEAKER_00]: is not fully regulated for use in the US and does not require identification and rely strictly on cryptocurrency.
• 18:53
  [SPEAKER_00]: So it can't be tracked or traced to people's bank accounts.
• 18:57
  [SPEAKER_00]: So that's how people are able to go in here and kind of like anonymously make best.
• 19:00
  [SPEAKER_00]: Not if they have inside information, right?
• 19:03
  [SPEAKER_00]: So there are people with power or just knowledge that are betting and making profits.
• 19:07
  [SPEAKER_00]: For instance, even in the pop culture thing, let's do the Taylor Swift Travis Kelsey wedding.
• 19:11
  [SPEAKER_00]: Anybody who's close to them could easily go play subet because
• 19:16
  [SPEAKER_00]: I mean, Travis Kelsky, Taylor Swift could go play some bet.
• 19:18
  [SPEAKER_00]: They could drop a million dollars on it because they know when the wedding win or win it will be if it's going to be before June 30th or not.
• 19:24
  [SPEAKER_00]: Nothing is preventing them from doing that, which is crazy to me, but it's also, this is what people say.
• 19:29
  [SPEAKER_00]: These markets, they know insider trading, it's not great, but they also say that's part of the advantage.
• 19:33
  [SPEAKER_00]: You know insiders are in there, and so they are offering a more predictive.
• 19:38
  [SPEAKER_00]: outcome.
• 19:39
  [SPEAKER_00]: When you know insiders are betting, it gives you a better understanding of what might actually happen here.
• 19:44
  [SPEAKER_00]: But just a couple more examples.
• 19:45
  [SPEAKER_00]: Let's just say a Disney board member last month.
• 19:47
  [SPEAKER_00]: We talked about the new Disney CEO a few hours before hand went and put a betting.
• 19:51
  [SPEAKER_00]: Nothing's stopping him from doing that.
• 19:53
  [SPEAKER_00]: When he knows who the new CEO is going to be, he could go place a bet a few hours before it becomes public knowledge.
• 19:59
  [SPEAKER_00]: Right.
• 20:00
  [SPEAKER_00]: This year, 105 million dollars was wagered on the Oscars in these prediction markets, which is crazy.
• 20:06
  [SPEAKER_00]: Let's just say one of the handful of people that actually knows the results before the show goes on and changes the market because if you put a big bet and it changes the entire market even a few hours before yeah that would spoil the entire Oscars the whole thrill of the Oscars is seeing who's going to win and not knowing the outcome yeah there's a lot that even during the show this year Leonardo DiCaprio's odds for best actor were going up in the hours of the programming it's just constantly moving here's where it gets weird though
• 20:31
  [SPEAKER_00]: When we start to talk about politics and national security, even Senator Jeff, Merkley of Oregon, just introduced legislation that would actually ban members of Congress from betting on these prediction markets, including the President and the Vice President.
• 20:43
  [SPEAKER_00]: And he said, we've got more than 400 members of the House.
• 20:46
  [SPEAKER_00]: You've got 100 senators.
• 20:47
  [SPEAKER_00]: You've got tons of staff.
• 20:49
  [SPEAKER_00]: I'm sure many of them are currently making bets.
• 20:51
  [SPEAKER_00]: I mean, he's calling out his own colleagues there and he's like, we got to stop betting on political decisions and speech links and retirement announcements and legislative decisions.
• 20:59
  [SPEAKER_00]: Yeah.
• 20:59
  [SPEAKER_00]: I mean, people are betting on the words that they're going to be using speeches.
• 21:02
  [SPEAKER_00]: People are betting on how long Trump's state of the Union speech was going to be.
• 21:05
  [SPEAKER_00]: And there's people in the no one these things.
• 21:07
  [SPEAKER_00]: This leads into probably the most consequential insider trading that happens in DC and just around the world.
• 21:13
  [SPEAKER_00]: And that is betting on national security.
• 21:15
  [SPEAKER_00]: There was a big story that came out of January that really gained a lot of steam and brought attention to this.
• 21:19
  [SPEAKER_00]: And that was because hours before the U.S. military went and captured Nicholas Maduro and Venezuela.
• 21:24
  [SPEAKER_00]: And anonymous user went to Polymarket and bet tens of thousands of dollars that Mr. Maduro would fall in the next 24 hours.
• 21:31
  [SPEAKER_00]: That fueled speculation essentially that a government official went in their place bets using confidential information about the
• 21:41
  [SPEAKER_00]: Like I said, nothing's preventing somebody with information on that operation and the Pentagon or in the White House From going and placing a bet on their phone real fast stepping out of the room placing a bet and they coming back in to make sure the operation goes according to plan, right?
• 21:53
  [SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, even in the hours leading up to the U.S. and Israel attacks on a ran on February 28, oh, Trader named Maga my man Bet big on strikes happening that day.
• 22:04
  [SPEAKER_00]: He won $553,000
• 22:07
  [SPEAKER_00]: That prompted Senator Chris Murphy.
• 22:09
  [SPEAKER_00]: He's a Democrat out of Connecticut to post on X.
• 22:11
  [SPEAKER_00]: This isn't saying that this is legal.
• 22:13
  [SPEAKER_00]: He's three members of Trump's orbit from profiting off of war and deadly.
• 22:18
  [SPEAKER_00]: Totally absolutely.
• 22:19
  [SPEAKER_00]: Absolutely.
• 22:19
  [SPEAKER_02]: Did you know that?
• 22:20
  [SPEAKER_02]: How would you know those things?
• 22:21
  [SPEAKER_02]: Otherwise.
• 22:22
  [SPEAKER_02]: Yeah, absolutely.
• 22:23
  [SPEAKER_00]: Yeah.
• 22:24
  [SPEAKER_00]: There was an Israel Defense Force reserveist who was also recently indicted for using classified information to place polymarkabets.
• 22:31
  [SPEAKER_00]: This is a national security issue, Mike, and that's what I'm trying to call out here.
• 22:34
  [SPEAKER_00]: It's not only unethical, but the bets like this are manipulating specific markets.
• 22:39
  [SPEAKER_00]: So much so that an enemy could be like closely watching this market.
• 22:43
  [SPEAKER_00]: And if they see it just right before, why I'm sure they are now enemies are starting to learn.
• 22:49
  [SPEAKER_00]: We got to watch these prediction markets.
• 22:50
  [SPEAKER_00]: Somebody with knowledge could be betting and raising and then we know that strikes are coming.
• 22:54
  [SPEAKER_00]: Or we know a raid is coming.
• 22:55
  [SPEAKER_00]: This definitely puts our like troops and harmsway, right?
• 22:58
  [SPEAKER_00]: Yeah.
• 22:59
  [SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, man, absolutely.
• 23:01
  [SPEAKER_00]: So all that to say prediction markets, man, they're just permeating our culture.
• 23:05
  [SPEAKER_00]: I wanted to bring it up because it's having, I think having a good understanding of what they are is essential because they're going to just keep getting bigger and bigger.
• 23:11
  [SPEAKER_00]: You start to see them pop up on all your apps on social media, on sports, on TV, now the news, everything.
• 23:17
  [SPEAKER_00]: So you need to have a good understanding of what they are because they're going to be part of daily life going forward most likely.
• 23:21
  [SPEAKER_00]: It's also just, I feel like it's upending morality for a lot of Americans and people around the world like this is just, it's not the same thing as sitting at a poker table or you just get up and leave and take a cash.
• 23:31
  [SPEAKER_00]: We're talking about people who started bet on insane things and then they're doing insane things.
• 23:36
  [SPEAKER_00]: There was a headline this week that went super viral from Emmanuel Fabian.
• 23:39
  [SPEAKER_00]: He's a journalist for the times of Israel.
• 23:41
  [SPEAKER_00]: His headline read, gamblers trying to win a bet on Polymarket are valuing to kill me if I don't rewrite an Iran missile story.
• 23:48
  [SPEAKER_00]: Literally, I read the article this morning, it's crazy.
• 23:51
  [SPEAKER_00]: These people were upset that he wrote in an article that one missile had hit on March 10th, but they had all bet no on missile sitting Israel on March 10th, and they were mad.
• 24:00
  [SPEAKER_00]: They all lost money.
• 24:02
  [SPEAKER_00]: And they were trying to say, no, it wasn't a missile, it was a, it was a misfire, something you know, like they were trying to get him to change his entire report and the actual facts of the story to basically help them win their bet.
• 24:11
  [SPEAKER_00]: And when he didn't do it, they started threatening his life.
• 24:14
  [SPEAKER_02]: Well, I mean, that's, and we've seen that on a smaller scale with sports betting, right?
• 24:19
  [SPEAKER_02]: Like athletes and their performances that, you know, we're placing bets on how they're going to perform and if they don't perform in the way that people have placed their money, they receive a lot of hate and vitriol.
• 24:30
  [SPEAKER_02]: That's on a smaller scale compared to this one, right, but goodness gracious.
• 24:34
  [SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, I actually, there was this really cool article that came out this week by McCabe Hopkins at the Atlantic, and he was given $10,000 by the Atlantic to bet on the NFL season for the year.
• 24:43
  [SPEAKER_00]: Just dude, this, it was an experiment, and he wrote down, it's like an hour long read, but I read the whole thing the other day, it was insane to read how it just corrupted him.
• 24:52
  [SPEAKER_00]: He had $10,000 that wasn't even his own money, but he was so stressed out.
• 24:55
  [SPEAKER_00]: He started to dislike players, he started to dislike the sport, all this stuff because he was so bought into trying to win the bets.
• 25:01
  [SPEAKER_00]: What it does, man, he can just corrupt your soul.
• 25:05
  [SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, he talked about that.
• 25:06
  [SPEAKER_00]: He was like, I had to get off.
• 25:07
  [SPEAKER_00]: It was just changing my entire life.
• 25:09
  [SPEAKER_00]: I want to quote, go back to Dr. Frujay and her article that I mentioned a minute ago.
• 25:13
  [SPEAKER_00]: I want to quote her here, because I think she ties it up perfectly.
• 25:16
  [SPEAKER_00]: She says, the moral crisis of prediction markets lies in their industrialization of the human experience, when you buy shares betting that a war will escalate, a pandemic will worsen or a public figure will die, you are financially incentivized to bet on catastrophe.
• 25:31
  [SPEAKER_00]: Your profit requires someone else's loss not in the abstract sense of a stock trade, but in the most literal sense imaginable, the widow, the orphan, the refugee, reduced to a line item.
• 25:41
  [SPEAKER_00]: Oh, dude, that's like a bunch of a sentence.
• 25:44
  [SPEAKER_00]: That was great.
• 25:45
  [SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, just a great summary of what these mean than the morality behind prediction markets.
• 25:49
  [SPEAKER_00]: So how can we just respond today as Christians?
• 25:52
  [SPEAKER_00]: You know, we talked about this before we're sports betting on this podcast.
• 25:54
  [SPEAKER_00]: Like, the Bible does not strictly say you cannot gamble.
• 25:58
  [SPEAKER_00]: It does give a lot of warnings.
• 25:59
  [SPEAKER_00]: I'm going to read some scriptures here.
• 26:00
  [SPEAKER_00]: And you have to be careful about
• 26:02
  [SPEAKER_00]: If you know you're likely to be trapped into an addiction with gambling or something, don't touch it.
• 26:07
  [SPEAKER_00]: I mean, it's just like you got to use wisdom here and discernment.
• 26:11
  [SPEAKER_00]: Don't touch it if it's going to lead you down a destructive path.
• 26:14
  [SPEAKER_00]: Honestly, I would just say avoid these markets as a whole.
• 26:16
  [SPEAKER_00]: I just play it careful from the get go.
• 26:19
  [SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, you might think you know what's going to happen, but we can't predict the future.
• 26:22
  [SPEAKER_00]: Just stay out of it.
• 26:23
  [SPEAKER_00]: It's not good even if it's something as innocent as a wedding for Taylor Swift and Travis Kelsey Maybe you're not betting on catastrophe.
• 26:29
  [SPEAKER_00]: I just avoid it if I were you because what we don't ever hear about we hear about all the right predictions They yeah predicted the election correctly and all that we don't ever really hear about the wrong predictions when a bunch of people lost their money Right like no one talks about when the prediction markets were inaccurate
• 26:42
  [SPEAKER_02]: Well, there's so much money in these prediction markets because so many people are losing money.
• 26:46
  [SPEAKER_02]: Right.
• 26:46
  [SPEAKER_02]: I mean, that's, I mean, someone has to, in, in this case, for the company to win, that means the people, the better is have to lose.
• 26:54
  [SPEAKER_00]: That's, man, that is just the, the truth of all betting, right?
• 26:58
  [SPEAKER_00]: The house always wins.
• 27:01
  [SPEAKER_00]: Yes, they do.
• 27:02
  [SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, you can get some wins here there, but the house always wins.
• 27:05
  [SPEAKER_00]: And ultimately, yeah.
• 27:07
  [SPEAKER_00]: Right.
• 27:07
  [SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, like I said, the Bible doesn't say you can't gamble, but it does offer some profound wisdom about the idols of greed or an addiction and the desire for quick wealth.
• 27:14
  [SPEAKER_00]: First Corinthians 612 says, all things are lawful for me, but not all things are helpful.
• 27:18
  [SPEAKER_00]: All things are lawful for me, but I will not be dominated by anything.
• 27:22
  [SPEAKER_00]: First Timothy 610 declares the love of money is the root of all kinds of evil, and some people craving money have wandered from the true faith and pierced themselves with many sorrows.
• 27:30
  [SPEAKER_01]: Yeah.
• 27:31
  [SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, I mean, we're called to love our neighbors, not exploit them for profit, essentially.
• 27:35
  [SPEAKER_00]: Exodus 22, 25 says, if you lend money to one of my people among you who is needy, do not treat it like a business deal, charge no interest.
• 27:43
  [SPEAKER_00]: We got to stop profiting off of death and destruction and moral decay.
• 27:49
  [SPEAKER_00]: That's ultimately what it comes to.
• 27:50
  [SPEAKER_00]: That's what these prediction markets are doing.
• 27:52
  [SPEAKER_00]: I would just say as a kind of like final takeaway rather than chasing fortune or predicting the future or call to pursue biblical contentment and integrity in generosity, Micah.
• 28:02
  [SPEAKER_02]: Love it, man.
• 28:03
  [SPEAKER_02]: Love it, man.
• 28:04
  [SPEAKER_02]: Great stuff.
• 28:05
  [SPEAKER_02]: You, you want to jump into the mail bag?
• 28:07
  [SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, let's do it.
• 28:10
  [SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, we love hearing from you guys as we always say and we got some messages this weekend, so we're going to touch on one of those now and we'll maybe hit on some more in the future.
• 28:18
  [SPEAKER_00]: But yeah, you can always message us questions or topic ideas at culture brief at dinisinform.org.
• 28:23
  [SPEAKER_00]: You can email us there or follow us at Instagram at culture brief podcast, shoot us a DM there.
• 28:28
  [SPEAKER_00]: This one actually was a DM from Instagram.
• 28:30
  [SPEAKER_00]: This anonymous listener sent us a few videos.
• 28:32
  [SPEAKER_00]: of James Taloreco and if you don't know who that is I'll tell you here in a second but he was speaking in these videos that he sent us and he's the solicitor said I believe he's a hair tick There's a lot that we can take with that phrase, but for those who don't know who Taloreco is he just won the primary to represent the Democrat party and the race for the Texas Senate seat He's gonna either face canpaks in a John corn and here in Texas Mike and I are both in Texas, and so we're watching this race closely
• 28:55
  [SPEAKER_00]: Tellerico, man, he's well-spoken.
• 28:57
  [SPEAKER_00]: He's called demeanor.
• 28:58
  [SPEAKER_00]: A lot of people have kind of like compared him a little bit to Barack Obama and the way that he talks and presents himself and dresses him.
• 29:04
  [SPEAKER_00]: Man, you're with some sort of all that.
• 29:06
  [SPEAKER_00]: He's gained a lot of popularity for that style and for his Christian background and the way that he tries to tie Christianity to a lot of his policy ideas.
• 29:13
  [SPEAKER_00]: He says he hopes to counter what he sees as a conservative takeover of the American church, but man those those those Christian views is theological views have definitely been controversial he believes scripture never actually says anything about abortion or transgenderism or gay marriage and I would say we probably don't have time to dive into all of those things right now and all of Talleriko's
• 29:31
  [SPEAKER_00]: positions, but Dr. Jim Dinnison, who you guys heard on here a couple of weeks ago talking about the war in Iran, he wrote two articles last week that I think I'm going to point you all to because they're great.
• 29:41
  [SPEAKER_00]: They're titled explaining James Talleriko's theology and responding to James Talleriko's theology.
• 29:46
  [SPEAKER_00]: We'll link those in the show notes.
• 29:47
  [SPEAKER_00]: You can also find him at DinnisonForm.org and he offers just kind of a way of addressing Talleriko's positions and then a biblical response to those.
• 29:54
  [SPEAKER_00]: But Mike, any just initial thoughts on Talleriko before
• 29:57
  [SPEAKER_02]: No, I think people are looking at him as an alternative to the status quo, and I understand that part.
• 30:05
  [SPEAKER_02]: He comes from a more liberal PCA background, what is he's Presbyterian, right?
• 30:12
  [SPEAKER_00]: I think he's Presbyterian.
• 30:13
  [SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, and go say, go say Presbyterian seminary.
• 30:15
  [SPEAKER_02]: Yeah, but there's like there was a split, you know, there's there's a split between the more liberal view of things from the Presbyterians and then there's more a conservative leaning, you know, who would align more with the ministries standards of what scripture says and stuff like that.
• 30:29
  [SPEAKER_02]: So, you know, he just comes from that that strain and so like a lot of these thoughts like are permeated like in those churches, so I don't think what he's saying.
• 30:38
  [SPEAKER_02]: would be super odd if you attended one of those churches.
• 30:40
  [SPEAKER_02]: It's just gym's articles really helped me process through this personally as well, and I would just definitely point everybody to go listen to those.
• 30:47
  [SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, and we may come back and talk about Talorico in the future, especially if we get closer to mid-terms, but for sure, now go read those articles, get an understanding of who he is and the belief systems that he's kind of got built around him.
• 30:56
  [SPEAKER_00]: He's gaining popularity.
• 30:57
  [SPEAKER_00]: He went on Joe Rogan, that helped him just boost his profile.
• 30:59
  [SPEAKER_00]: So you're going to keep seeing his face and name in news and on social media and everything.
• 31:04
  [SPEAKER_00]: But yeah, that's kind of the update there.
• 31:06
  [SPEAKER_00]: Thanks for sending that message into that listener and we'll continue to address your all questions.
• 31:10
  [SPEAKER_00]: Mike, let's pop up to check in.
• 31:12
  [SPEAKER_02]: Let's do check in.
• 31:15
  [SPEAKER_02]: All right, the start checking on the summer note 13 US military members have been killed in this conflict, and I ran so far.
• 31:23
  [SPEAKER_02]: No clear idea on when this will end, but God bless her troops, God bless the people who, I mean, the stories that coming out, you know, they're coming out of the families that they're leaving behind.
• 31:32
  [SPEAKER_02]: Their husbands, their wives, their kids who are left.
• 31:36
  [SPEAKER_02]: without them, because they're out there defending our freedom and so God bless our troops and the sacrifice that they're willing to make when they go to work every day is a different sacrifice most of us are.
• 31:48
  [SPEAKER_02]: We'll ever have to make, or we'll ever be asked to make, so thank you to our troops, God bless them, and Lord, please protect them.
• 31:57
  [SPEAKER_02]: Secondly, Israel strikes this week, killed more of Iran's top leaders, including Lara Johnny, who was kind of the main guy that was called the shots, it seemed like the Secretary by Iran's Supreme National Security Council, who the Israeli military says was and at that time was the regime's effective leader.
• 32:18
  [SPEAKER_02]: He was the previous Iatola's right hand man.
• 32:21
  [SPEAKER_02]: And then, finally, we mentioned this at the beginning, watched it last night.
• 32:26
  [SPEAKER_02]: We're recording on Wednesday, March 18th, the game happened on Tuesday night, March 17th in Miami, the United States made it to the championship game against Venezuela and the World Baseball Classic, and they lost three to two.
• 32:39
  [SPEAKER_02]: It was a gut punch.
• 32:40
  [SPEAKER_02]: Congratulations to Venezuela, but I'm sad that our boys from the US lost.
• 32:45
  [SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, did you see this week that Trump threatened to, no, I guess maybe it's not a threat.
• 32:49
  [SPEAKER_00]: I don't know how you classify he wants to make Venezuela the first 51 state now.
• 32:54
  [SPEAKER_02]: I read that it honestly was like a it didn't come.
• 32:57
  [SPEAKER_02]: I mean, I guess like if you would take that as a threat as like a Venezuelan, but the way that he wrote it,
• 33:02
  [SPEAKER_02]: was more of like, you know, and we'll see how things go and maybe we'll make a mistake.
• 33:06
  [SPEAKER_02]: And it almost, it was almost phrase, you know, because we've seen all the aggressive stuff he puts out that that didn't come off aggressive to me.
• 33:13
  [SPEAKER_02]: It was like, you know, maybe we'll just bless them and just make a mistake.
• 33:17
  [SPEAKER_02]: Yeah, that's kind of the way it came off.
• 33:21
  [SPEAKER_01]: It makes me feel so serious about it.
• 33:22
  [SPEAKER_01]: You can just add a state all the sudden.
• 33:24
  [SPEAKER_01]: Just just annex them.
• 33:25
  [SPEAKER_01]: Yeah.
• 33:26
  [SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, man.
• 33:26
  [SPEAKER_01]: I don't know.
• 33:27
  [SPEAKER_00]: The other thing that happened was obviously the Oscars were on Sunday night.
• 33:30
  [SPEAKER_00]: I made predictions last week on last week's episode.
• 33:31
  [SPEAKER_00]: I only got two of those four, right?
• 33:33
  [SPEAKER_00]: But, oh, wow.
• 33:34
  [SPEAKER_00]: You know, I was seeing the risk here.
• 33:36
  [SPEAKER_00]: Did you place your name back?
• 33:38
  [SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, I was out there on Polymarket.
• 33:40
  [SPEAKER_00]: No, not really.
• 33:41
  [SPEAKER_00]: No, I got two of my four predictions right.
• 33:42
  [SPEAKER_00]: One of those was Paul Thomas Anderson winning best director for one battle after another, Jesse Buckley winning best actors for Hamlet.
• 33:49
  [SPEAKER_00]: Now, here with, here with the shocking one, Michael B. Jordan, one best actor for the movie centers.
• 33:54
  [SPEAKER_00]: He is one of the most beloved actors in Hollywood still, and he just,
• 33:58
  [SPEAKER_00]: May he upset Timothy Shalameh, who was expected from Marty Supreme, but to not win.
• 34:03
  [SPEAKER_00]: And people love Michael B. Jordan.
• 34:04
  [SPEAKER_00]: I mean, he's in the Creed movies.
• 34:05
  [SPEAKER_00]: He's in the Blacks.
• 34:06
  [SPEAKER_00]: He's in the movies.
• 34:07
  [SPEAKER_00]: Now he's a great actor.
• 34:08
  [SPEAKER_00]: He played twins in the movie center.
• 34:09
  [SPEAKER_00]: So I'm not totally shocked.
• 34:11
  [SPEAKER_00]: I mean, playing twins in a movie is kind of hard.
• 34:13
  [SPEAKER_00]: And the one battle after another did win best picture.
• 34:16
  [SPEAKER_00]: I wasn't fully surprised by that.
• 34:18
  [SPEAKER_00]: It was very, it has progressive kind of leaning towards it.
• 34:21
  [SPEAKER_00]: And so Hollywood loves a good progressive political movie.
• 34:23
  [SPEAKER_00]: Leonardo DiCaprio was the star.
• 34:25
  [SPEAKER_00]: So it just, it was going to be catapulted up there.
• 34:27
  [SPEAKER_00]: and then the top winners of the night were sinners with four wins and like I said, one battle after another, it got six wins on the night and then kpop demon hunters, I'm not even sure we've addressed that movie on this podcast, but kpop demon hunters was technically the biggest song of the year, or a big song, technically, and movie
• 34:42
  [SPEAKER_00]: of the year.
• 34:43
  [SPEAKER_00]: Most watched movie in the world in 2025.
• 34:46
  [SPEAKER_00]: Still being watched like crazy.
• 34:48
  [SPEAKER_00]: There's a lot of questions about the content there.
• 34:50
  [SPEAKER_00]: So I would actually point you guys to an article we have by Dr. Ryan Denison.
• 34:54
  [SPEAKER_00]: He wrote it last year as the movie was blowing up.
• 34:55
  [SPEAKER_00]: Should Christians watch K-pop demon hunters because I know a lot of families are questioning that too.
• 35:00
  [SPEAKER_00]: Like should they watch the movie that has the name like the word demon in its name?
• 35:05
  [SPEAKER_00]: Is that okay for Christians to watch?
• 35:06
  [SPEAKER_00]: He takes you through that.
• 35:07
  [SPEAKER_00]: So go read that.
• 35:08
  [SPEAKER_00]: We'll link that in the show notes as well.
• 35:10
  [SPEAKER_00]: But the Oscars, man, they're here.
• 35:11
  [SPEAKER_00]: They're done.
• 35:11
  [SPEAKER_00]: And I'm already ready for the next one because this upcoming year we got Dune 3, the Odyssey.
• 35:16
  [SPEAKER_00]: A lot of big movies are upcoming.
• 35:17
  [SPEAKER_02]: The Odyssey.
• 35:18
  [SPEAKER_02]: I'm looking forward to that one.
• 35:19
  [SPEAKER_02]: I might actually go to the theater to see that one.
• 35:21
  [SPEAKER_00]: You want to go together?
• 35:22
  [SPEAKER_00]: Should we go together and see the Odyssey?
• 35:24
  [SPEAKER_02]: I will see.
• 35:27
  [SPEAKER_00]: I just got denied.
• 35:30
  [SPEAKER_01]: I'll have my people get with your people.
• 35:32
  [SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, okay.
• 35:33
  [SPEAKER_01]: Literally, like, your wife gets with my wife and text her, hey, can...
• 35:37
  [SPEAKER_01]: Sounds fun, bro.
• 35:37
  [SPEAKER_01]: Let's go.
• 35:41
  [SPEAKER_02]: Alright, what else we got Michael?
• 35:42
  [SPEAKER_02]: What's coming up?
• 35:44
  [SPEAKER_02]: Alright, so gonna give you something to tune into, really only gonna give you one thing to tune into because it's all that really matters.
• 35:49
  [SPEAKER_02]: March madness is upon us.
• 35:51
  [SPEAKER_02]: It's March.
• 35:52
  [SPEAKER_02]: And it's a lot of madness.
• 35:54
  [SPEAKER_02]: So March madness is here.
• 35:55
  [SPEAKER_02]: The first four tipped off on the 17th and the 18th.
• 35:59
  [SPEAKER_02]: So Texas beat in sea state.
• 36:02
  [SPEAKER_02]: At like a buzzer beater to really kick off the whole thing.
• 36:04
  [SPEAKER_02]: There's some more play in games.
• 36:05
  [SPEAKER_02]: That was awesome.
• 36:06
  [SPEAKER_00]: Then there will be a kick to start.
• 36:07
  [SPEAKER_02]: Does that mean Texas made it
• 36:11
  [SPEAKER_02]: They were the first four in, or sorry, the last four in, so therefore they all had to play each other and then two actually get in and get spots on the bracket.
• 36:22
  [SPEAKER_02]: But the real chaos starts on round 64 on March 19th through 20th and from there it's nonstop through the final four on April 4th in the National Championship taking place on April 6th.
• 36:33
  [SPEAKER_02]: So here's what's to watch for.
• 36:34
  [SPEAKER_02]: Okay, the number one seeds and again.
• 36:35
  [SPEAKER_02]: By the way, this is Men's College Basketball I'm talking about.
• 36:38
  [SPEAKER_02]: I don't even think I said that, this is Men's College Basketball.
• 36:41
  [SPEAKER_02]: It is the playoff format that eventually crowns a champion.
• 36:44
  [SPEAKER_02]: It happens every single year.
• 36:46
  [SPEAKER_02]: Starts with 64 teams, gets you down all the way to two teams.
• 36:50
  [SPEAKER_02]: There's always a ton of upsets, always a ton of Cinderella stories and teams.
• 36:54
  [SPEAKER_02]: It is always a great time and I have never, ever gotten close to a perfect bracket in my entire life.
• 36:59
  [SPEAKER_02]: And I've been filling them out since I was a wee lad.
• 37:02
  [SPEAKER_02]: So the number one seeds they look strong, but this tournament is all about upsets and they usually hit hard that first Thursday and Friday right when the tournament starts you're going to have a 13 knock off a four a 12 knock off a five and what I mean 12 seed knock off a five seed it is always awesome because you just have these really small schools that beat these gigantic schools and
• 37:24
  [SPEAKER_02]: the passion is there.
• 37:26
  [SPEAKER_02]: It's incredible.
• 37:26
  [SPEAKER_02]: So you can watch the games on CBS, TBS, TNT, True TV, or stream them on March Madness Live.
• 37:32
  [SPEAKER_02]: They have their own streaming platform.
• 37:34
  [SPEAKER_02]: So if you're feeling out of bracket, here's my advice.
• 37:36
  [SPEAKER_02]: Do not overthink it.
• 37:39
  [SPEAKER_02]: Okay, pick a few upsets, maybe pick a lot of upsets, trust a couple of teams and just enjoy the chaos.
• 37:45
  [SPEAKER_02]: Don't try to overanalyze this and don't start asking chat GBT to pick.
• 37:50
  [SPEAKER_02]: Trust me, just do a little bit of research
• 37:54
  [SPEAKER_00]: and make your picks trust your heart or do what I've heard a lot of people do and just pick based off of the mascots if whichever one you like better or the colors whatever it is you did it's so random of what's going to happen that you there's really no way to fully predict I know I know and so and I look here the prediction markets are going wild right now marchmenis they're trying to capitalize big time you're going to see them all up in marchmenis you're going to see their names on everything
• 38:17
  [SPEAKER_00]: because they want you to predict they want your money to predict and predict but if anything can prove us as just infallible humans it's March madness when we cannot predict anything it is yeah you can we all make a bracket i'm going to make like five brackets this week for different leagues and stuff and none of them will get even close to winning i think it's like a one in hundred and twenty billion chance of making a perfect bracket you just can't
• 38:38
  [SPEAKER_02]: because there's just so many variations.
• 38:40
  [SPEAKER_02]: There's so many picks.
• 38:42
  [SPEAKER_02]: And then if you get one wrong in the round of 64, then close up your whole bracket.
• 38:47
  [SPEAKER_02]: It blows it up.
• 38:48
  [SPEAKER_02]: Because then you get to the round of 32 and then the round of 16 and then be a lead eight, then the final four, then the championship, right?
• 38:56
  [SPEAKER_02]: It's you got to get it right from start to finish.
• 38:58
  [SPEAKER_02]: I don't think there's ever been a perfect racket.
• 39:00
  [SPEAKER_00]: So no, there's been a few times I think in history where people had a couple of rounds of 64 like that first round, which is already insane to predict that correctly, and then it just gets ruined on the next round of 32 or whatnot.
• 39:11
  [SPEAKER_00]: So man, have fun watching March madness.
• 39:13
  [SPEAKER_00]: That's going to be blessed.
• 39:14
  [SPEAKER_00]: As always, it's madness and it needs a team to root for.
• 39:17
  [SPEAKER_00]: I would suggest Miami of Ohio who was almost undefeated in their season, almost left out of the March madness tournament, even though they were like, what, Mike a 31 and one or something like that.
• 39:27
  [SPEAKER_00]: Crazy.
• 39:28
  [SPEAKER_00]: Yeah.
• 39:29
  [SPEAKER_00]: Crazy.
• 39:30
  [SPEAKER_00]: out of the max smaller school and they are kind of seen as like an underdog overdog?
• 39:35
  [SPEAKER_00]: I don't know.
• 39:36
  [SPEAKER_00]: I don't know.
• 39:36
  [SPEAKER_00]: Yeah.
• 39:37
  [SPEAKER_00]: But don't cheer for Miami of Ohio.
• 39:38
  [SPEAKER_00]: And thanks for joining us on this week's episode of The Culture Brief Podcast.
• 39:42
  [SPEAKER_00]: We are a Denison 4 podcast.
• 39:44
  [SPEAKER_00]: All the articles that we mentioned, all the videos, anything else that we mentioned here will be in the show notes.
• 39:48
  [SPEAKER_00]: If you enjoyed today's episode, please like, subscribe, write, and review the show, and share it with the friend.
• 39:53
  [SPEAKER_00]: And we'll see you next Thursday.
• 39:55
  [SPEAKER_00]: Bye.