Latest / The Daily Sarcast / May 8th, 2026: Wellness, National Debt And Mom I Need
Transcript
- 0:00Today's ad is sponsored by still running away from people in your 30s to avoid them.
- 0:05There was this juice at this party we were at. I don't think anyone, like, drugged me.
- 0:10I think I was the dumb one who drank it and didn't realize that everyone was on drugs.
- 0:15Kim K on being at Coachella a million years ago.
- 0:19Insert theme song here. This is the Daily Sarcast. I give you the news and maybe
- 0:23a laugh. I'm Lindsay Vernick, and it's May 8th, 2026.
- 0:27Happy Mother's Day weekend! I know everyone's going home for Mother's Day,
- 0:32but I am not because I'm a bad daughter.
- 0:35So instead, I hope you stay to the end of this podcast to listen to the very
- 0:41nice gift that I'm giving my mother.
- 0:44In real news, half of Americans under 50 are now apparently getting their health
- 0:49advice from influencers and podcasters, which couldn't be more 2026.
- 0:54A new report looked at nearly 13,000 wellness accounts and found that fewer
- 1:00than one in five are actually medical professional accounts.
- 1:03The rest are coaches, entrepreneurs, parents, or people whose qualifications
- 1:08are basically I started sleeping better and now I'm a leader.
- 1:12And these accounts aren't small either.
- 1:15Some accounts have millions of followers, meaning your colon health is now partially
- 1:21due to someone filming in their car talking about toxins who may or may not
- 1:25have actually gone to college.
- 1:27About half of people who consume this content say it actually helps them understand
- 1:31health better, which is super cute because there's also nothing saying about
- 1:36whether it's actually correct.
- 1:38Doctors are, unsurprisingly, not thrilled. A lot of wellness content floating
- 1:43around online includes things like sunscreen causing cancer or nicotine improving brain health.
- 1:49So it's all just science fiction with ring lights.
- 1:52The real issue is that medical professionals speak in nuance.
- 1:56Influencers speak in certainty. And on the internet, certainty wins,
- 2:01even if it's confidently incorrect and posted alongside a discount code.
- 2:05So we've basically built a world where your primary care physician says, it depends.
- 2:11And a guy with 2 million followers says, do this for 7 days and your life will change.
- 2:16And that's where we are now. One lab cupboard away trying to compete with a
- 2:2190-second TikTok called Fix Your Hormones While You Clean Your Kitchen.
- 2:25The U.S. just hit a pretty bleak milestone. National debt is now bigger than the entire economy.
- 2:32It's like checking your bank account, seeing disaster, and saying,
- 2:35actually, let's just buy a jet ski, which is honestly my personal mindset.
- 2:41We're at about $31 trillion in debt versus $31 trillion in economic output.
- 2:47And while I have no idea what any of this actually means, This can lead to higher
- 2:54interest rates, more expensive borrowing, and something called a debt spiral.
- 2:58Which sounds fake, but unfortunately, it's actually not.
- 3:02Meanwhile, Washington's reaction has been incredibly inspiring.
- 3:06If you enjoy denial, both parties acknowledged the problem, then immediately
- 3:11continued doing the exact things, making orders.
- 3:15Bipartisanship is alive and well
- 3:17when it comes to chaos. Republicans added trillions to their tax cuts.
- 3:21Democrats resisted major spending cuts, so together they've created the world's
- 3:26most expensive group project.
- 3:28Experts say it's not an immediate crisis, but more of a slow leak in a giant
- 3:33ship where everyone keeps going, relax, we're still floating.
- 3:37Congress treating a flashing economic warning sign like a low battery notification
- 3:42feels very on-brand for 2026.
- 3:45Okay, stick with me on this one. New York now has a Jeffrey Epstein Museum pop-up
- 3:51in Tribeca because as a society, we've officially run out of things to monetize.
- 3:57It's called the Donald J. Trump and Jeffrey Epstein Memorial Reading Room,
- 4:02which sounds less like an exhibit and more like a law firm that definitely got subpoenaed.
- 4:07The exhibit contains 3.5 million pages of Epstein-related documents.
- 4:13That's honestly the most New York thing ever.
- 4:16Someone looked at these thousands of pages of Epstein files and was like,
- 4:20you know what? This definitely needs to be in a museum.
- 4:24Naturally, it's in Tribeca, because nowhere else on Earth you could combine
- 4:28human traffic and documents with an RSVP-only art experience.
- 4:33The best part is that regular people apparently can't even read most of the files.
- 4:38Only journalists and law enforcement can access them because some victims' names
- 4:42weren't properly redacted. So the average visitor is basically just walking
- 4:47around staring at binders that are not allowed to open.
- 4:50It's less museum and more haunted staples. Also, apparently it's part museum
- 4:56exhibit and part cursed archive, which may be the most accurate description
- 5:01of Manhattan in general.
- 5:03Honestly, this city has reached a point where every horrible thing immediately
- 5:07becomes either a podcast, a limited series, or an immersive experience in Tribeca with a waitlist.
- 5:15And this one has managed to become all three at once.
- 5:18In Lindsay life I've been
- 5:21working as a producer in reality tv for about five years
- 5:24now a little over five years and this is
- 5:27the first very first time in my career where
- 5:30I've truly lived somewhere like had a lease in
- 5:33New York and had a job in New
- 5:36York and I've been trying to figure things
- 5:39out and I've been doing a lot of as you know comedy and
- 5:42stand-up and improv and now that I have
- 5:45a job in New York it's really weird to
- 5:48have to blend these two lives together like yesterday
- 5:51I worked all day on set and then I went to my friend's
- 5:54comedy show after which is two things that I never expected to be able to do
- 5:59in one day and yesterday I did them all at once so it's very strange it's kind
- 6:04of like my two lives like my two alter egos blending together now which is very
- 6:10strange, but also very, very cool at the same time.
- 6:14An MVP of this week goes to my mom.
- 6:17Unfortunately, I won't be with her this weekend, but I wrote her this little
- 6:21song as a gift, and I hope you all enjoy it.
- 6:25And please ignore my singing voice. I'm not a professional, obviously.
- 6:29Also, I just want to state the production value on this will be a lot better,
- 6:34but as I said, I had such a busy day yesterday between work and my friend's
- 6:38show that I really didn't have time to do any of this.
- 6:41So I apologize. The quality of sound isn't that great.
- 6:44Just listen to my beautiful voice.
- 6:48Talk to me. Talk to me.
- 7:18Your taxes too guess I already learned to laugh at life watching you do it so
- 7:26easily already know I can't leave you alone I call you five times a day,
- 7:36already told you every detail of my day so pretend to be interested in me just Come be the mom I need.
- 7:45Tell me you got some advice for me. I want it.
- 7:48I kind of like it when you call me first on the phone. Whatever the type of talk it is, come on then.
- 7:57I gotta know you're meant to be the mom I need.
- 8:02Happy mother's day mom i love you and happy mother's day to all the moms,
- 8:07cooking tip of the day anything that's fried tastes better well okay not always
- 8:13but point of the story it's not good for you at all feedback comments questions
- 8:18a nice jewish by looking for a date email me at lindsey at the daily starcast.com
- 8:23thank you so much for listening have a great weekend and i will talk to you guys on monday.