Latest / Culture Brief - Christian perspectives on the week's biggest news, sports & pop-culture stories / Spirit Airlines collapses, America's 250th, DHS shutdown ends, GameStop-eBay & Lively-Baldoni case | Ep. 68

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Spirit Airlines collapses, America's 250th, DHS shutdown ends, GameStop-eBay & Lively-Baldoni case | Ep. 68 · Culture Brief - Christian perspectives on the week's biggest news, sports & pop-culture stories

0:03
[SPEAKER_01]: Hi, I'm Connor Jones.
0:04
[SPEAKER_01]: I'm Mike Atama-Sella.
0:06
[SPEAKER_01]: And this is Culture Brief.
0:07
[SPEAKER_01]: A Dineson Foreign Podcasts where we are navigating the constant stream of top stories and news, politics, sports, pop culture, technology, maybe the Met Gala, maybe not the Met Gala, just everything and all that's going on.
0:20
[SPEAKER_01]: All from a Christian perspective.
0:21
[SPEAKER_01]: Mike, what a week.
0:23
[SPEAKER_01]: Man, it has just been so much happening.
0:26
[SPEAKER_01]: Oh, and we lost an airline in there.
0:28
[SPEAKER_01]: We're gonna have to hit on that, right?
0:30
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, most definitely if Connor Jones is in the conversation, we're probably going to talk about aviation, Connor's the most fun guy I know.
0:37
[SPEAKER_00]: All right, so we're going to talk about spirit airlines, I'm also going to talk about just a topic that kind of came up as I was thinking about America's 250th birthday heading into Independence Day.
0:47
[SPEAKER_00]: going to take us through that.
0:49
[SPEAKER_00]: We're going to give you some check-in stories.
0:51
[SPEAKER_00]: We'll talk about Iran, what's going on there, what's not going on there, hint hint.
0:55
[SPEAKER_00]: The DHS shut down officially ended.
0:57
[SPEAKER_00]: We're going to talk about that to Turner passing away, GameStop and eBay, and so much more.
1:03
[SPEAKER_00]: So let's jump into the brief.
1:05
[SPEAKER_00]: The brief?
1:09
[SPEAKER_01]: Yes, as you all probably saw this weekend, Spirit Airlines, America's favorite airline.
1:15
[SPEAKER_01]: Not really, not really, genuinely not at all.
1:18
[SPEAKER_01]: I don't know anybody who loved Spirit Airlines.
1:20
[SPEAKER_01]: That doesn't mean it's not sad that right airline and so many like claps and so many jobs are gone, but it truly was a terrible product.
1:27
[SPEAKER_01]: And I can say that, I flew it one time.
1:29
[SPEAKER_01]: Mike, did you ever fly Spirit?
1:30
[SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, I've flown it once.
1:32
[SPEAKER_01]: Yeah.
1:32
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah.
1:33
[SPEAKER_00]: What's it in okay experience?
1:34
[SPEAKER_00]: Bad experience?
1:35
[SPEAKER_00]: Fine.
1:36
[SPEAKER_00]: You know, like if you're, if you're not flying with like checked bags, it truly is like that in front here is consistently now that Southwest has kind of moved away from the self-seeding model.
1:51
[SPEAKER_00]: Southwest is just as expensive as every other carrier, right?
1:54
[SPEAKER_00]: So now it really was between like spirit and frontier.
1:57
[SPEAKER_00]: If you're looking for that last minute cheat quick flight,
2:00
[SPEAKER_00]: I remember it being fine like it, you know, like we didn't check bags and I just kept carry on and that was that was about it I don't I don't really remember much about it other than I felt like it was fine.
2:12
[SPEAKER_00]: Well, here's the thing they even charged for carry on bags They were the like airline that did that like the yeah flew in several years ago I don't know if that change I can't even remember but anyway, I remember being like oh, that wasn't that bad
2:24
[SPEAKER_01]: It's fine right like it gets you from point A to point B if that's if that's what's trying to do now if you want it like a more comfortable experience and you want to bring bags and all that that's where it was a problem that's what ultimately did them in here Along with several other factors, so we're gonna hit on that, but yeah, man those bright yellow planes are now just littered throughout the country sitting part to kind of sad you would see those and be like, oh, that's a just cool looking aircraft the paint scheme is different
2:48
[SPEAKER_01]: They were obviously very focused on kind of vacation destinations.
2:52
[SPEAKER_01]: They were more of a leisure airline We're gonna get you to cancun really cheap now you might get left there.
2:57
[SPEAKER_01]: We may not be able to get you back home But we're gonna get you there type of situation the one time I flew I got stuck in Orlando for many hours because they didn't Have their systems in order and it was just a disaster.
3:07
[SPEAKER_01]: They would supposed to be a direct flight home from Charlotte to DFW
3:10
[SPEAKER_01]: We ended up in Orlando and just sat there and we didn't take off till like two in the morning.
3:15
[SPEAKER_00]: Charlotte to DFW and ended up in Orlando.
3:18
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, it's a whole story.
3:19
[SPEAKER_01]: This won't talk about this one.
3:20
[SPEAKER_00]: Talk about this one.
3:21
[SPEAKER_00]: It's weird.
3:22
[SPEAKER_01]: The experience was not great.
3:23
[SPEAKER_01]: Getting kind of the wrong direction.
3:26
[SPEAKER_01]: Time to trust me better.
3:27
[SPEAKER_00]: Southening needed to head west.
3:30
[SPEAKER_00]: Okay.
3:31
[SPEAKER_01]: Yeah.
3:31
[SPEAKER_01]: Yeah.
3:32
[SPEAKER_01]: Getting to Charlotte was fine.
3:34
[SPEAKER_01]: It was I had to pay for my checked bag, but yeah, it was, you know, not great.
3:39
[SPEAKER_01]: Anyways, yeah, they lost in 1992, if you did not know this, they were, they've actually been around quite a while.
3:44
[SPEAKER_01]: They became the seventh largest airline in the U.S., they were moving about 44 million passengers every year.
3:50
[SPEAKER_01]: They were not a small airline, this is not like just a small airline going to Phonkton, it's not going to have a big impact, there are...
3:54
[SPEAKER_01]: big implications to this for the aviation industry for travel for hotels for airports for obviously loads and loads of employees and then many passengers who had their summer travel booked on the airline are now scrambling to rebook their flights and figure out their path forward for the vacations and people were stranded in South America, Central America, Caribbean, around the country.
4:14
[SPEAKER_01]: Working to try to scramble to find flights to get back home Which is just not ideal and this came really just out of nowhere Sort of people knew that they were on the brink like every day was like hey, they may shut down this We can they could shut down this weekend.
4:27
[SPEAKER_01]: They're trying to find financing there.
4:28
[SPEAKER_01]: We're working with the government to get some money all of that and then but on Saturday Morning, they were just like per shutting it down
4:35
[SPEAKER_01]: and they made that decision on Friday and they didn't want to freak people out so they decided to shut it down as soon as the last flights that took off on Friday landed early Saturday morning the wee hours and they were like we're done.
4:45
[SPEAKER_01]: Airline is collapsed which is just a kind of a sad story of how this can happen in airlines it can happen in other industries as well but when you do that with a bunch of passengers with a bunch of employees around the country it just leaves so many
5:04
[SPEAKER_01]: But yeah, like you said, Michael, the thing that just always kept people coming back to spirit was those cheap tickets, it was always an affordable seat and customers were willing, honestly, like you were saying, to brave the bottom tier experience and exchange for a very cheap A to B destination to tuition.
5:20
[SPEAKER_01]: you're going to fly across the country for 30 bucks.
5:22
[SPEAKER_01]: Okay.
5:23
[SPEAKER_01]: You're probably going to have some rough bumps in the road getting there.
5:27
[SPEAKER_01]: But if you're willing to brave, kind of like the, you know, they had the least amount of cushion on their sheets that you could have legally.
5:33
[SPEAKER_01]: They had the smallest tray that you could have legally.
5:37
[SPEAKER_01]: They had the least amount of way I see you're laughing with me here.
5:40
[SPEAKER_01]: They had the like least amount of legroom you could legally have that like airbus
5:48
[SPEAKER_00]: Can you verify this or are you just saying that no I'm that is a that is a thing like they were literally saving money on putting the minimal amount of cushion in their I specifically even remember getting on the aircraft and be like oh my gosh No, I know it felt that way, but can you verify the information is what I'm asking you because I remember the seats being uncomfortable But like are you telling me that that was their
6:08
[SPEAKER_01]: Like that was what they set out to do is like whatever with all the corners we can cut we will cut that's what they did Yes, they they it was a budget airline cut as much cost as you can and get as many people on the air against that makes
6:24
[SPEAKER_01]: That's how that that's how these low, but it's not just beer that does that front tier does the same thing a bunch of European modeled Airlines through the same thing the ultra low cost is what they are called cut all costs make it as cheap as possible to get on the aircraft Put as many people on the aircraft and then charge them for every little upcharge that you can't that's what the business model is here but like I was saying it
6:46
[SPEAKER_01]: that didn't stick around very well.
6:48
[SPEAKER_01]: It was going well until 2019 that's when they had their last year of profit and then COVID came shut down the airline, obviously the whole industry took a huge hit.
6:56
[SPEAKER_01]: And then after COVID, what happened was this transition of people wanting to get a more higher tier, more comfortable type of experience and their travel and their vacations and their even in their business travel.
7:06
[SPEAKER_01]: They were willing to pay a little bit more for a higher tier experience,
7:10
[SPEAKER_01]: Um, you know, especially if you're taking your family on vacation, you might want to pay a little bit more to go on Southwest or United or Delta and get a more comfortable experience and more secure experience in terms of you know what your journey there and back will be like, right?
7:24
[SPEAKER_01]: Uh, so spirit struggle to keep up with that with this like kind of, um, luxury.
7:29
[SPEAKER_01]: style of travel that people are going towards and spirit never really built a business travel model the way that these other big airlines at they didn't get a ton of business travelers going on their plane which was ever their model but as things change after covid they just kind of keep up so one thing they tried to do was merge with another ultra low cost carrier which was jet blue in 2023 they came to an agreement jet blue they were going to merge together this is going to be kind of a rescue mission for spirit as they were struggling
7:53
[SPEAKER_01]: Jet blue is going to benefit from is going to make one big super airline of ultra low costs.
7:59
[SPEAKER_01]: And the Biden administration at the time of 2023 turned it down.
8:03
[SPEAKER_01]: They did not let them move forward with them.
8:05
[SPEAKER_00]: It seems like they should have let them move forward now, but hindsight's 2020.
8:09
[SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, and that's what a lot of people are calling out.
8:11
[SPEAKER_01]: Of course, Trump's going at that, too.
8:13
[SPEAKER_01]: Like, yeah, this is the Biden administration's fault.
8:15
[SPEAKER_01]: They should never watch the merger.
8:17
[SPEAKER_01]: Of course, the whole point of the reason the Biden administration did it was to avoid a sort of an ultra low cost monopoly of these two big airlines that would ultimately then knock other competition out of the market, raise prices for consumers.
8:29
[SPEAKER_01]: There's a lot to that and we're not going to go into the whole thing, but it is a big point in the history because after that, they were never able to recover.
8:35
[SPEAKER_01]: That was supposed to be the thing that was going to
8:38
[SPEAKER_00]: about the failed government bailout that happened right there at the end like what happened there.
8:45
[SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, so that's where we're going now because last month is when spirit really is like hold up we're not going to be able to make it like we're we are in our last days here because of the conflict with Iran that shot up the oil prices this was like the final death now like they were just barely skating by and then when oil prices shot up it added
9:05
[SPEAKER_01]: each week for Spirit Airlines and they're like we can't afford this So they reached out to the White House their CEO Dave Davis reached out.
9:12
[SPEAKER_01]: He knew Susie Wiles the chief of staff there because they're a Florida thing She's from Florida and he was able to reach out to her.
9:18
[SPEAKER_01]: She got him in contact with Howard Lutnik the US Commerce Secretary who started making calls Called Trump started working together to put together basically a 500 million dollar bailout
9:27
[SPEAKER_01]: In return though, Spirit was going to have to offer a 90% stake in the company to the U.S. government.
9:33
[SPEAKER_01]: So basically the government was going to own the majority of this company.
9:38
[SPEAKER_01]: But they were going to get $500 million to keep the airline afloat.
9:41
[SPEAKER_01]: Trump apparently really liked the idea because it was going to allow him to say, hey, I saved this airline.
9:45
[SPEAKER_01]: I saved tens of thousands of jobs here.
9:47
[SPEAKER_01]: And this would be a big boom going into the midterms for him.
9:50
[SPEAKER_01]: He also wanted the administration.
9:52
[SPEAKER_01]: to look like the good guys were as the Biden administration would have looked like the bad guys for killing their merger deal with JetBlue, right?
9:58
[SPEAKER_01]: He wanted to kind of look like a savior.
10:00
[SPEAKER_01]: So we had the transportation security, Sean Duffy start making calls to other airlines to see if there was another airline out there that would want to kind of partner with the government to be a future owner of spirit.
10:10
[SPEAKER_01]: Not a single other airline CEO agreed to do it.
10:13
[SPEAKER_01]: In fact, the United CEO Scott Kirby even said no spirit should be allowed to fail And spirits fine answers after all these conversations with the government other airline CEOs the spirit fine answers and banks and lenders told them hey you'd be better off just closing shop and liquidating your assets Sell your air your aircraft fleet.
10:31
[SPEAKER_01]: You've got 172 airplanes sell those.
10:33
[SPEAKER_01]: You'll make billions off that payback your debt Micah just overall thoughts
10:39
[SPEAKER_00]: Well, people like to play the blame game whenever things don't work out like you, you know, maybe somebody who you respect or you love in your life or maybe it work a friendship a family member might share.
10:55
[SPEAKER_00]: some feedback with you that isn't so positive.
10:58
[SPEAKER_00]: I mean, we've all gotten feedback that didn't make us feel great in the moment, but it's, it's there to help you grow.
11:03
[SPEAKER_00]: And that's just kind of like where my mind jumps to of people are going to jump on partisan sides of this and say, well, the Biden administration shouldn't block this merger.
11:14
[SPEAKER_00]: And I, I remember that.
11:16
[SPEAKER_00]: I remember that whole saga, right?
11:18
[SPEAKER_00]: And then, you know, hey, the Trump administration should have done more to save the airline, that the Iran war shouldn't have started, and then this wouldn't have happened to spear it.
11:27
[SPEAKER_00]: I think those are insufficient.
11:29
[SPEAKER_00]: I think it's insufficient to blame everyone else for your own shortcomings and issues.
11:34
[SPEAKER_00]: Um, that's, I'm kind of going to talk about this in my segment, right?
11:37
[SPEAKER_00]: Like there's, there's some people out there that believe America can do no wrong.
11:41
[SPEAKER_00]: Um, and they defend everything America does and then in the same way, there's those people out there that are struggling and failing in their own life and all they want to do is blame society and blame America for their problems.
11:50
[SPEAKER_00]: It's insufficient.
11:52
[SPEAKER_00]: We're all responsible for our own actions, for our own planning.
11:56
[SPEAKER_00]: So Spirit's been on its last leg for a while, and so I think the leadership at Spirit has only one person to blame, and that's the person in the mirror, where this ended up.
12:08
[SPEAKER_00]: My question to you Connor, I've been seeing this a lot, and guys, remember, if there's an aviation expert, as far as like,
12:15
[SPEAKER_00]: Airlines and planes, Connor is the aviation expert in our circle, you know, again, like I said he's a very fun guy, so I'm gonna ask Connor
12:26
[SPEAKER_00]: I've been reading a lot about how Spirit brought the floor down for prices, right?
12:32
[SPEAKER_00]: Competition is a good thing.
12:33
[SPEAKER_00]: It's what our economy's built on.
12:35
[SPEAKER_00]: I do understand that point.
12:36
[SPEAKER_00]: However, I've been reading some information recently that's like, well, Spirit wasn't in as many hubs as people think that it is and the numbers bearing out, it's kind of hard to know exactly how much
12:50
[SPEAKER_00]: spirit was bringing the floor down on prices like what are the implications of spirit going down now after you've read and kind of taken in all the information.
12:58
[SPEAKER_01]: Well yeah there's a lot I mean it's it's pretty far reaching yeah and I kind of mentioned a little bit of a minute ago obviously the first thing you think of is the 17,000 jobs that are gone I mean they they were a large early like the seventh largest airline there's many jobs that are gone within the airline but beyond that thing but all that's the support those jobs there's contractors there's
13:16
[SPEAKER_01]: places outside the airport that support it now you've got people who are not going to go to the restaurants and bars across the street from the airport after they get off their shift you know like there's things like that there's hotels that the pilots and flight attendant stay in typically now I think a lot of those people will get hired by other airlines they'll be able to find you know there's a pilot shortage right now so hopefully this might help other airlines like hey we're pleased if you're a spirit pilot come help us come get you know we would like to hire you
13:39
[SPEAKER_00]: But I was talking to a buddy of mine who's a pilot at Southwest and he said they're hiring a bunch of spirit pilots right now, totally is long as they fit the southwestern way or whatever, but they're hiring a bunch and he said all the airlines are sweeping up all these pilots right now.
13:56
[SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, because you got a bunch of qualified pilots who were like, yeah, please hire us.
14:00
[SPEAKER_01]: the airport side of this yeah they they had a big presence at several airports though I know you're saying like yeah they didn't have massive hubs outside of Fort Lauderdale that was their primary hub yes they did make up 28% of the traffic at Fort Lauderdale's airport that's 5.7 seconds really gonna affect Fort Lauderdale.
14:17
[SPEAKER_00]: Wow
14:17
[SPEAKER_01]: Big impact on Fort La, and then there's two other reports that are really going to be impacted smaller ones.
14:21
[SPEAKER_01]: Atlantic City Airport, they made up 94% of the flight set.
14:24
[SPEAKER_01]: They were like the primary airline at Atlantic City.
14:26
[SPEAKER_01]: I think frontier in JetBlue, send in one flight a day or something there.
14:30
[SPEAKER_01]: But that's going to impact not just that airport, but think about the actual tourism of Atlantic City.
14:35
[SPEAKER_01]: Now gets impacted when you can't get people there.
14:37
[SPEAKER_01]: And then Arnold Palmer regional airport in
14:41
[SPEAKER_01]: going into their little regional airport.
14:44
[SPEAKER_01]: It was spirit.
14:44
[SPEAKER_01]: So now they do not have an airline to have an entire airport.
14:47
[SPEAKER_01]: They have an entire airport staff that is going to have to be put on furlough until they can get a new airline agreed to go in there, hopefully in the next few months.
14:55
[SPEAKER_01]: But yeah, there's implications here that go beyond just the people that work there.
14:59
[SPEAKER_01]: It impacts cities.
15:00
[SPEAKER_01]: It impacts tourism.
15:01
[SPEAKER_01]: It impacts all of that.
15:02
[SPEAKER_01]: So it's a good question, Micah.
15:04
[SPEAKER_01]: Even here at DFW Airport, they have a big presence at
15:07
[SPEAKER_01]: And so now that thermal is going to be emptied of gates now other airlines have the opportunity to go in they're going to be able to buy up these gates and expand their presence and buy it up the routes that spirit had this is a real opportunity for frontier.
15:19
[SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, frontier can make a real opportunity for frontier frontier can definitely take advantage I think what you'll really see is like American United Delta and Southwest really chop at the bit to take their pilots like I don't like that because they're the most expensive ones.
15:32
[SPEAKER_01]: Well, I'm just telling you, I'm telling you how this industry works.
15:36
[SPEAKER_01]: It's all about getting every last bit of Bit of money you can get but also a bit of like real estate you can get in the aviation market, right?
15:44
[SPEAKER_01]: That's how it works and the big boys are gonna they're gonna fight for it
15:48
[SPEAKER_01]: So, you know, Michael, I was thinking about just kind of like, what can we learn from all of this and you mentioned a little bit like, hey, they can look in the mirror, spirit can look at some of the bad decisions they made, I think the biggest mistake spirit made was not respecting its customer.
16:03
[SPEAKER_01]: Enough to one, they wanted to squeeze every last dollar they could out of them with every uptards they could, which you know what that does is it doesn't build a loyalty.
16:11
[SPEAKER_01]: The early businesses built on loyalty, that's why they have lounges and credit cards.
16:18
[SPEAKER_00]: Fine, you know what it's like you know like they're like looking at their budget Fine That was the reaction more like oh, yeah, I fly spirit.
16:28
[SPEAKER_01]: No, most people were like I fly Delta or you know everyone Tell her to spirit basically.
16:33
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah
16:33
[SPEAKER_01]: Or you just, you were like, okay, I'm going to choose them for this one fight because they are the cheapest, but I'm not like loyal to them, right?
16:38
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah.
16:39
[SPEAKER_01]: They didn't respect their customers enough to do that.
16:42
[SPEAKER_01]: I think you can look at other airlines and say, well, they do.
16:44
[SPEAKER_01]: And this is not just an airline thing.
16:45
[SPEAKER_01]: This is Russia.
16:46
[SPEAKER_01]: There's a recent Chick-fil-A stance out, right?
16:48
[SPEAKER_01]: They have good service.
16:49
[SPEAKER_01]: They are efficient.
16:51
[SPEAKER_01]: Their food is good.
16:52
[SPEAKER_01]: Can they respect their customers, right?
16:53
[SPEAKER_01]: They have clean restaurant.
16:55
[SPEAKER_01]: All of that is something that plays right into every business that we talk about.
16:58
[SPEAKER_01]: You can be an auto body shop.
17:00
[SPEAKER_01]: You choose the person you want to go get to work on a car because you trust them.
17:03
[SPEAKER_01]: You think that they're going to treat you right in charge of fair price.
17:06
[SPEAKER_01]: That's not what Spirit was doing here.
17:08
[SPEAKER_01]: And I think they can look in the mirror.
17:10
[SPEAKER_01]: And I think they could have had some discernment over the last few years.
17:14
[SPEAKER_01]: What can we change to make sure our customers know we care about them?
17:17
[SPEAKER_01]: And want to take care of them, not just try to squeeze every last dollar out of them, right?
17:20
[SPEAKER_01]: Yeah.
17:21
[SPEAKER_01]: So, I think we can learn like our actions, our inactions, they all have broader implications and consequences like we just talked about with spirits, uh, collapsed here, the implications there.
17:30
[SPEAKER_01]: And along with the path of, you know, along the path of spirit history, those bad decisions were made and they could have followed the customers which is better.
17:37
[SPEAKER_01]: Um, and they would have been in the better position when something catastrophic happened such as oil prices going up or let's say they did have an airplane And have a crash a lot of airlines can't bounce back from that others bigger ones that are more ready for it can But a lot of times some sort of incident or something you don't expect to happen a war in the Middle East maybe Can shoot your whole business down if you're not ready for it So when we ourselves are in tough circumstances What do we do what do we turn to do we turn to wisdom
18:07
[SPEAKER_01]: In discernment or folly.
18:10
[SPEAKER_01]: I'm a personal I would recommend wisdom.
18:11
[SPEAKER_01]: I'm saying that is like I have to teach myself that too It's easy to go the way of the folly the way of the world and say oh, let me see what would the world say do?
18:19
[SPEAKER_01]: Oh, keep squeezing the money out.
18:20
[SPEAKER_01]: Keep getting the every last dollar you can, right?
18:23
[SPEAKER_01]: No, Daniel 12 3 speaks of wisdom.
18:25
[SPEAKER_01]: It says and those who are wise shall shine like the brightness of the sky above and those who turn Many to righteousness like the stars forever and ever
18:35
[SPEAKER_01]: But, my God, the question then is like, where do we find this wisdom and trying times?
18:40
[SPEAKER_01]: Well James 1, 5 tells us it says, if any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach and it will be given him.
18:50
[SPEAKER_01]: And the Proverbs 17 declares the fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge, fools despise wisdom and instruction.
18:57
[SPEAKER_01]: So, that's it for us, man, wisdom comes from the Lord and fools
19:02
[SPEAKER_01]: Denai Wism fools lead to collapse destruction a defunct airline and you join the history of other defunct airlines TWA and pan America and brand of these big airlines that were just institutions of the American aviation industry.
19:17
[SPEAKER_01]: are all gone because they lack discernment at some point and it led to their collapse, right?
19:22
[SPEAKER_01]: So follow wisdom and discernment in your life and avoid the path of spirit airlines.
19:27
[SPEAKER_01]: As said as it is to lose this airline and so many people were praying for the, you know, just kind of the people who have lost their jobs, but there's a lot of, I think, self-reflection that can happen here.
19:37
[SPEAKER_00]: It's great corner and it actually transitions pretty well into what I want to
19:44
[SPEAKER_00]: specifically establish and sustain nations.
19:49
[SPEAKER_00]: And what does that mean for us?
19:50
[SPEAKER_00]: I just want to talk about that.
19:51
[SPEAKER_00]: And I was actually as just as we get closer to America's 250th anniversary.
19:57
[SPEAKER_00]: One thing I would encourage you guys to do.
19:58
[SPEAKER_00]: I'm a big fan of the Wall Street Journal.
20:00
[SPEAKER_00]: and they've been putting out a lot, a lot of articles and just deep dives into what has made American ingenuity great entrepreneurial insights and just hey, like what are all the inventions that have come out of America?
20:13
[SPEAKER_00]: How has America contributed to the world?
20:15
[SPEAKER_00]: My goodness.
20:17
[SPEAKER_00]: I know that we are a very young nation and compared in comparison to so many, but that American spirit that American ingenuity has absolutely changed the world.
20:26
[SPEAKER_00]: And it's been cool to read about some of those
20:30
[SPEAKER_00]: I want to start by giving credit to where it's due of what inspired me to deep dive into this and to talk about it today.
20:37
[SPEAKER_00]: The segment's inspired by Dr. Jim Dinnison and his son, Dr. Ryan Dinnison.
20:41
[SPEAKER_00]: They're both a part of the Dinnison Forum team and they're doing a special email series right now leading up to America's 250th birthday.
20:49
[SPEAKER_00]: So every Sunday for the next 10 weeks,
20:52
[SPEAKER_00]: They're going to take a different slice of this and so this was week one.
20:55
[SPEAKER_00]: This was this past Sunday.
20:56
[SPEAKER_00]: Each Sunday they're taking on a look at our nation where we failed, where we flourished and ultimately asking these questions.
21:03
[SPEAKER_00]: What kind of nation?
21:04
[SPEAKER_00]: What kind of people will we choose to be?
21:07
[SPEAKER_00]: What have we chosen to be and what will we choose to be moving forward?
21:11
[SPEAKER_00]: And that's really where this starts for me.
21:13
[SPEAKER_00]: So what is America actually supposed to be?
21:16
[SPEAKER_00]: Let's think about that for a second because if we're honest people aren't Just answering that differently.
21:21
[SPEAKER_00]: They're they're feeling that differently right now for some reason like for for some reason for some people When we're approaching this anniversary for America They feel a deep sense of pride and then for others.
21:32
[SPEAKER_00]: It's it's it's frustration.
21:34
[SPEAKER_00]: It's it's resentment for a lot of people It just feels complicated.
21:37
[SPEAKER_00]: They feel a mix of both
21:39
[SPEAKER_00]: And there's a moment in our culture that captures that tension, and this was an example that Dr. Jim Denison threw out for years.
21:46
[SPEAKER_00]: The seventh inning stretch at baseball games meant one thing.
21:50
[SPEAKER_00]: It was always taken me out to the ball game.
21:53
[SPEAKER_00]: Okay, that's the song that they played.
21:54
[SPEAKER_00]: That was a baseball tradition.
21:56
[SPEAKER_00]: But after the September 11th attacks, after 9.11, something shifted.
22:00
[SPEAKER_00]: Now when games came back and still today, stadiums do god bless America for baseball games.
22:07
[SPEAKER_00]: Okay, it wasn't just a song anymore, right, especially after 9-11, it felt like a prayer.
22:13
[SPEAKER_00]: Same country, same people, but in a moment of uncertainty, the instinct wasn't just tradition, it was dependence, it was dependence on God.
22:20
[SPEAKER_00]: That instinct points to something deeper, so let's talk
22:23
[SPEAKER_00]: So let's talk about what Scripture has to say about this as I go into the next point.
22:27
[SPEAKER_00]: So Scripture speaks directly to this in Acts 17 verses 24 through 26.
22:31
[SPEAKER_00]: I'm going to read it.
22:32
[SPEAKER_00]: The God who made the world and everything in it, being Lord of heaven and earth, does not live in temples made by man.
22:38
[SPEAKER_00]: Nor is He served by human hands, as though He needed anything, since He Himself gives to all mankind life and breath and everything.
22:47
[SPEAKER_00]: Thank you, Jesus.
22:47
[SPEAKER_00]: And he made from one man every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth, having determined a lot of periods, plots and boundaries of their dwelling places.
22:58
[SPEAKER_00]: So nations aren't just random, Connor.
23:01
[SPEAKER_00]: They're not just the result of politics or power, or chance, or just free will.
23:05
[SPEAKER_00]: In some way, God is involved, and I think we can debate on how involved he is, right?
23:12
[SPEAKER_00]: But when you look honestly at our history, it's hard to ignore that.
23:16
[SPEAKER_00]: This country didn't just appear.
23:18
[SPEAKER_00]: It was formed through conviction and through sacrifice, through faith, through belief, that freedom and responsibility matter.
23:25
[SPEAKER_00]: There's a reason phrases like, in God we trust are written on every single government document, currency, government buildings.
23:32
[SPEAKER_00]: There's a reason scripture shaped much of the early framework of this nation.
23:36
[SPEAKER_00]: There's a reason for that.
23:40
[SPEAKER_00]: No.
23:41
[SPEAKER_00]: No.
23:41
[SPEAKER_00]: Of course not.
23:42
[SPEAKER_00]: Of course not.
23:43
[SPEAKER_00]: But it's also true that we've been given an incredible amount of freedom of opportunity, of influence, and the ability to openly live out our faith in ways that the much of the world to this day still can't, still cannot, many, many countries in Europe.
23:58
[SPEAKER_00]: You know, people are like, oh, like Europe's super free, not really.
24:02
[SPEAKER_00]: There's a lot of countries in Europe censoring free speech right now.
24:05
[SPEAKER_00]: A lot of it having to do with religious freedom.
24:07
[SPEAKER_00]: That's worth acknowledging without hesitation.
24:10
[SPEAKER_00]: Okay.
24:11
[SPEAKER_00]: At the same time, this is where people tend to drift into extremes.
24:15
[SPEAKER_00]: I'm going to touch on this and we're going to ask your thoughts so far after this corner.
24:18
[SPEAKER_00]: On one side, you have people who treat America like it can do absolutely no wrong.
24:24
[SPEAKER_00]: Everything is defended, everything is justified.
24:27
[SPEAKER_00]: And over time, love of country quietly turns into
24:32
[SPEAKER_00]: It just, it gets wrapped up into who you are.
24:34
[SPEAKER_00]: And then on the other side, you have people who only see what's broken.
24:38
[SPEAKER_00]: They dismiss what's good, focus on what's wrong, and often shift blame outward rather than inward when things don't work out for them.
24:46
[SPEAKER_00]: They shift the blame onto country, onto systems, onto other people without ever stopping to look in the mirror.
24:52
[SPEAKER_00]: I would argue that's just as much of an identity crisis.
24:55
[SPEAKER_00]: Right.
24:56
[SPEAKER_00]: You got a lot of people falling into both extreme camps.
25:00
[SPEAKER_00]: And I would just say both approach is miss it both approach is miss it one ignores reality and the other refuses responsibility.
25:10
[SPEAKER_00]: What do your thoughts so far on this corner.
25:12
[SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, man.
25:12
[SPEAKER_01]: I just think about like.
25:15
[SPEAKER_01]: America is not a perfect place.
25:18
[SPEAKER_01]: No country is or ever will be a perfect place, but man I can't imagine anywhere else that I would want to live.
25:25
[SPEAKER_01]: And there's a reason so many people so many people struggle and struggle and struggle to reach these lands every day, every year.
25:33
[SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, people long to be here for a reason because it is a land of freedom.
25:39
[SPEAKER_01]: It's a land of opportunity.
25:44
[SPEAKER_01]: First off, it's rare in history.
25:46
[SPEAKER_01]: I mean, that was not a thing.
25:47
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, really.
25:48
[SPEAKER_00]: And I'm choosing to harp on the religious freedom part for the sake of this argument that I'm trying to make.
25:54
[SPEAKER_00]: But you're right, there are so many other freedom-based arguments, opportunity-based arguments that we're not even touching on today.
26:00
[SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, I just, you know, we've talked about it before, but I do think a lot of what you're saying those, you do have to reflect on our past and see where things went wrong.
26:09
[SPEAKER_01]: What did we do wrong?
26:10
[SPEAKER_01]: I mean, our biggest flaw in our history is slavery, right?
26:14
[SPEAKER_01]: Like that, and it led to a civil war.
26:16
[SPEAKER_01]: We're, yep.
26:17
[SPEAKER_01]: our country literally wore it against each other, North First South, and it was this massive division.
26:23
[SPEAKER_01]: And in the years after that, there's still been so much division and so much argument and all of that, but at the same time, there is a unity among us all that's like, hey, we're going to defend this nation that believes in freedoms and rights.
26:34
[SPEAKER_01]: And that's a why when World War II started,
26:37
[SPEAKER_01]: You know, America sat on the sidelines for a while, but as soon as it was attacked almost every young man in the country went to the went to their recruiting office and signed up because they're like, we got to defend this.
26:46
[SPEAKER_01]: This is our home.
26:48
[SPEAKER_01]: And we love it.
26:49
[SPEAKER_01]: And we we're going to we're going to go defend it and fight freedom and not just defend it, but fight for freedoms of other countries.
27:06
[SPEAKER_01]: Holocaust camps.
27:07
[SPEAKER_01]: I mean, there's so much to the history there that you can point to as as argument points for you, Michael.
27:13
[SPEAKER_00]: It's good, Connor.
27:14
[SPEAKER_00]: You know, the truth is that God works through nations, right?
27:17
[SPEAKER_00]: But no nation replaces his kingdom, and we just have to remember that as Christ followers.
27:21
[SPEAKER_00]: So yes, you can and should approach what's good about this country.
27:25
[SPEAKER_00]: You should appreciate it.
27:26
[SPEAKER_00]: You should approach it with appreciation.
27:28
[SPEAKER_00]: But and there's a lot to be grateful for, but you also don't have to tie your identity to it in a way that keeps you from seeing clearly.
27:34
[SPEAKER_00]: because once your identity is wrapped up in a nation, it becomes really hard to be honest about it.
27:40
[SPEAKER_00]: You start defending things you shouldn't defend, or you swing the other direction and criticize everything without taking ownership of anything in your own life.
27:46
[SPEAKER_00]: I mean, it's just an identity crisis in both extremes that I believe Jesus can solve.
27:51
[SPEAKER_00]: You see this play out every day in news, in politics, in social media, in just normal everyday conversations.
27:59
[SPEAKER_00]: But as Christians were called to something higher
28:04
[SPEAKER_00]: Our identity is not rooted in a country first.
28:07
[SPEAKER_00]: It's rooted in God, duh.
28:10
[SPEAKER_00]: Right?
28:10
[SPEAKER_00]: Which means we don't evaluate America based on preferences or politics.
28:14
[SPEAKER_00]: We evaluate it based on truth.
28:16
[SPEAKER_00]: So when our nation aligns with what's good, we should say that clearly and without a apology.
28:20
[SPEAKER_00]: When it doesn't, we should be willing to say that too.
28:22
[SPEAKER_00]: We should be willing to call that out.
28:24
[SPEAKER_00]: Not in the heart of tearing it down.
28:26
[SPEAKER_00]: But because the goal isn't to win an argument about America, the goal is to live a life that God can actually bless, and a life that actually points others to Jesus, and that type of life that we're talking about.
28:37
[SPEAKER_00]: So as we think about where we are right now, maybe the better question isn't just what kind of nation America is.
28:44
[SPEAKER_00]: I think it's more, are you focused on what's wrong out there, or are you paying attention to what God wants to change in you?
28:54
[SPEAKER_00]: Or I'll just say this, as we close, like I just want to give one more scripture, this is my prayer for our nation from 2nd Chronicle 714.
29:01
[SPEAKER_00]: We quoted it many times.
29:03
[SPEAKER_00]: If my people who are called by my name, humble themselves, pray and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and heal their land.
29:14
[SPEAKER_00]: That is the path forward right there.
29:19
[SPEAKER_00]: And I'm thinking about this clip I saw,
29:24
[SPEAKER_00]: There's this guy who goes around and he asks random people and supermarkets on the street whatever it might be Hey, one question for you For my social media account.
29:35
[SPEAKER_00]: I have this many followers whatever he asks if it's okay if they're on camera like a vet like these This is not meant to be funny
29:41
[SPEAKER_00]: Are you happy?
29:44
[SPEAKER_00]: Is all he asks?
29:46
[SPEAKER_00]: Are you happy?
29:47
[SPEAKER_00]: And this last one I saw.
29:48
[SPEAKER_00]: And this guy looked at him dead in the face and said, no, I'm not.
29:52
[SPEAKER_00]: And the guy says, why?
29:54
[SPEAKER_00]: And he says, global instability, everything's expensive, everyone's fighting about every single thing.
30:01
[SPEAKER_00]: And that in it of itself breaks my heart.
30:04
[SPEAKER_00]: that there are so many people out there that if your identity is not rooted, if you do not have a foundation in the everlasting kingdom of Jesus, the one who is and is to come.
30:16
[SPEAKER_00]: He researches in Jesus Christ as the same yesterday, today and forever.
30:19
[SPEAKER_00]: If it's not rooted in that, you will root yourself and attach yourself to all of the issues and all of the information out there and all of the people out there trying to convince you that everything is wrong, so you might as well just give up.
30:34
[SPEAKER_00]: that is completely false and incorrect.
30:37
[SPEAKER_00]: There is a way to live with joy, peace, purpose, happiness that is not tied to what's going right or wrong in our country.
30:45
[SPEAKER_00]: It's a mindset, but it's not a mindset, just in the sense of, oh, this is what I think.
30:51
[SPEAKER_00]: It's a mindset and a heart posture and a decision that you make that's rooted to the eternal everlasting kingdom that is established through Jesus, right?
31:05
[SPEAKER_00]: and it truly repent and turn to Jesus as a nation, that that's our best path forward.
31:12
[SPEAKER_00]: God bless America, man.
31:14
[SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, and to your point, there was a, I think, or a port that came out this week, it was kind of a, doing a data study that was showing that poorer people in the United States who attend church frequently are happier than wealthy people in the United States who do not attend church.
31:31
[SPEAKER_01]: who do not.
31:31
[SPEAKER_01]: Oh, that makes a total sense.
31:33
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah.
31:33
[SPEAKER_01]: Makes total sense.
31:33
[SPEAKER_01]: Us.
31:34
[SPEAKER_01]: I was going all over the internet.
31:36
[SPEAKER_01]: I was saying it on social media everywhere.
31:37
[SPEAKER_01]: People are like this.
31:38
[SPEAKER_01]: This is crazy.
31:39
[SPEAKER_01]: It was blowing people's minds that poor people would be happy because they know the Lord everything you know Jesus.
31:47
[SPEAKER_00]: Jesus, man.
31:47
[SPEAKER_00]: Jesus.
31:48
[SPEAKER_00]: And they have to depend on Jesus.
31:50
[SPEAKER_00]: I mean, like that's why there are like some third world countries out there.
31:53
[SPEAKER_00]: You you survey their happiness.
31:55
[SPEAKER_00]: Well, if they're finding their freedom and joy in Jesus, those surveys turn out pretty well, like you have a little bit, but you're depending on God, that's what he's called us to do.
32:07
[SPEAKER_00]: We're actually living out and walking out in our identity and who we've been created to worship, who we've been created to serve, so then we can go and serve and love others.
32:15
[SPEAKER_00]: That makes
32:16
[SPEAKER_01]: Total sense, but I guess I guess you're right that would make sense that a lot of people would be shocked a lot of people Well because so many people believe that money and success is what brings happiness and we've talked about a million times on here That is not true.
32:27
[SPEAKER_01]: No.
32:27
[SPEAKER_01]: That is something maybe the Lord blesses you with but that's ultimately not what brings you happiness I mean I'm not sitting here a million air and saying oh yeah trust me.
32:34
[SPEAKER_00]: It does you know it sounds nice I'm not sitting here saying it doesn't but yeah thankfully we know what truth is well Yes Connor, thank you for that insight to kind of wrap it up what you got next for us
32:49
[SPEAKER_01]: Let's talk a little bit about the mailback.
32:51
[SPEAKER_01]: Uh, I guess we'll be as just this week.
32:53
[SPEAKER_01]: If we will ever have merch, Culture Brief merch.
32:56
[SPEAKER_01]: Uh, I would say I wouldn't rule it out.
32:59
[SPEAKER_01]: We haven't really fully talked about it, but I'd kind of like the idea.
33:02
[SPEAKER_01]: Sounds kind of fun, right?
33:04
[SPEAKER_01]: Um, I feel like something we need is like a nickname for people who listen to Culture Brief and are like part of this community.
33:08
[SPEAKER_01]: I don't know what it would be.
33:09
[SPEAKER_01]: You know, like how a lot of people, a lot of shows about the briefers.
33:12
[SPEAKER_00]: The briefers.
33:14
[SPEAKER_01]: Briefers?
33:15
[SPEAKER_01]: Are you a briefer?
33:16
[SPEAKER_01]: Come join us for, you know, like C. B's.
33:20
[SPEAKER_01]: C. B's.
33:20
[SPEAKER_01]: I don't like that.
33:21
[SPEAKER_01]: I don't know.
33:21
[SPEAKER_01]: The culture B's culture B. Oh culture B's got a buzz buzz buzz buzz buzz buzz buzz.
33:27
[SPEAKER_01]: Yeah.
33:27
[SPEAKER_01]: Okay.
33:28
[SPEAKER_01]: Man, we're we're getting creative here.
33:30
[SPEAKER_01]: Yeah.
33:30
[SPEAKER_01]: I would not rule it out.
33:32
[SPEAKER_01]: Here's what I would request.
33:33
[SPEAKER_01]: If merch is something you'd be interested in.
33:36
[SPEAKER_01]: I want to hear Mike and I want to hear what would you want?
33:39
[SPEAKER_01]: Are you thinking like shirts, hats, stickers?
33:42
[SPEAKER_01]: Like,
33:43
[SPEAKER_01]: Coffee mugs.
33:44
[SPEAKER_01]: I don't know you'd have to help us out here.
33:45
[SPEAKER_00]: Do you want bubble heads of us?
33:48
[SPEAKER_00]: Oh I don't that man.
33:49
[SPEAKER_00]: I don't know that one feels weird I look dover and saw some bubble heads on my desk and I'm like I think we'd I think we'd look pretty cool as bubble heads Maybe I don't maybe that's a weird you want to put us as like a poster on your wall.
34:04
[SPEAKER_00]: Do you want posters of
34:06
[SPEAKER_00]: Our faces.
34:07
[SPEAKER_00]: Nobody wants that.
34:09
[SPEAKER_00]: Okay.
34:10
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah.
34:10
[SPEAKER_00]: You're right.
34:11
[SPEAKER_00]: That'd be crazy.
34:12
[SPEAKER_00]: I'd be weird.
34:14
[SPEAKER_01]: But if you guys are interested in that, here's what I'm going to do.
34:16
[SPEAKER_01]: I'm going to post a poll.
34:17
[SPEAKER_01]: If you're on Spotify or YouTube, there will be a poll below.
34:19
[SPEAKER_01]: You can go vote on if you would actually be interested in merch.
34:22
[SPEAKER_01]: Say yes or no.
34:23
[SPEAKER_01]: If not, that's totally fine.
34:24
[SPEAKER_01]: I don't want to spend time on it, nobody's interested in it, and then I'll post it on our Instagram story on Friday.
34:31
[SPEAKER_01]: So if you're listening to Thursday, check out our Instagram story tomorrow, and I'll post a poll asking if you'd be interested in March.
34:36
[SPEAKER_01]: And then send us your ideas, respond on Instagram or wherever, email us at culturereathedinusandform.org.
34:42
[SPEAKER_01]: Or as I was saying on Instagram, at culturereath podcast, that's our handle there.
34:46
[SPEAKER_01]: You can find us there and shoot us a direct message.
34:48
[SPEAKER_01]: What would you actually be interested in?
34:50
[SPEAKER_01]: And while we're talking about this, if you guys have a few minutes, we would love it if you would leave a review on Apple podcast or on Spotify and YouTube, drop a comment down below on the specific episode.
35:00
[SPEAKER_00]: Helps a lot.
35:01
[SPEAKER_01]: It means a lot.
35:02
[SPEAKER_01]: And when it's good feedback force, we learn a lot from what you all are thinking or hearing what you're wanting or what you think we could fix.
35:09
[SPEAKER_00]: Well, if it's something bad, just email us.
35:11
[SPEAKER_00]: If it's something good, leave a review, how about that?
35:14
[SPEAKER_01]: That works too.
35:15
[SPEAKER_01]: Either way, we want to hear.
35:17
[SPEAKER_01]: But those reviews in those comments, they're great feedback.
35:20
[SPEAKER_01]: They also help new listeners decide if it's worth their time to listen.
35:24
[SPEAKER_01]: And then you can also always hit follow or subscribe so that you are constantly getting updates when a new episode drops.
35:30
[SPEAKER_01]: And it helps build the algorithm so that more people can find this.
35:33
[SPEAKER_01]: We can get more culture bees, as we were saying.
35:35
[SPEAKER_01]: as part of the community, and share the episode, of course, with people who you might think would enjoy it, and help them think through everything going on in the world, do you know people who are anxious about everything going on?
35:46
[SPEAKER_01]: That's what we're trying to talk about, and bring a Christian perspective to.
35:50
[SPEAKER_01]: So, you know, anybody that you might be able to have a faith-filled conversation on the headlines with, send it to them, and tag us on social.
35:56
[SPEAKER_01]: If you're listening, throw it on your Instagram story, tag us.
35:59
[SPEAKER_01]: Also, we're probably giving me on TikTok very soon, so stay tuned for that.
36:05
[SPEAKER_00]: To put a bow on that, there is another way, guys.
36:10
[SPEAKER_00]: There is another way to look at the world.
36:12
[SPEAKER_00]: There is another way to consume the news outside of what they're telling you.
36:19
[SPEAKER_00]: There's a way to look at the news factually.
36:22
[SPEAKER_00]: bring it to God and ask him specifically to teach you something through it.
36:26
[SPEAKER_00]: It's a spiritual discipline in this world that we live in today here in 2026.
36:30
[SPEAKER_00]: So if you've learned that way, I'm not even going to give ourselves credit for that.
36:35
[SPEAKER_00]: If you've learned that way through consuming our ministry's content.
36:40
[SPEAKER_00]: share it with others because what we're trying to do is so against the grain and the people who get it really get it because it's freeing it's it's it's been freeing for Connor and I and so many of the people that we know and get to interact with you do not have to give into the partisan lies all the hate all the bickering there's another way and God's involved in that way so please share it.
37:03
[SPEAKER_01]: Yeah please do all right guys let's jump into check in
37:09
[SPEAKER_00]: Check in.
37:10
[SPEAKER_00]: All right.
37:10
[SPEAKER_00]: So the DHS shut down, ended for a very long 76 day DHS shut down, ended on April 30th after President Trump did fully sign the funding bill that was approved by Congress.
37:22
[SPEAKER_00]: The legislation restores funding to key areas like the TSA, allowing for the resumption of full operations through some immigration.
37:29
[SPEAKER_00]: Those some immigration enforcement functions were not included in the bill.
37:33
[SPEAKER_00]: That was the compromise some ice stuff was not included in the bill.
37:37
[SPEAKER_00]: But just overall having the DHS fully funded so that our political leaders can be fully protected.
37:42
[SPEAKER_00]: There's another shooting in Washington, DCE just a few days ago.
37:46
[SPEAKER_00]: Don't really know exactly what the motivations were behind that, right?
37:49
[SPEAKER_00]: But it's just we need those who are tasked with defending our elected officials to be able to fully do their job.
37:57
[SPEAKER_00]: And this is done.
37:58
[SPEAKER_01]: Yeah.
37:58
[SPEAKER_01]: Keeping us safe as we fly.
38:00
[SPEAKER_01]: Everything we've talked about today.
38:01
[SPEAKER_00]: Totally.
38:01
[SPEAKER_00]: Totally.
38:02
[SPEAKER_01]: We're going into summer travel.
38:04
[SPEAKER_00]: Yes, yes, it feels like a no-brainer, but anyway, you know Connor and I could talk about that for a long time So, and we have at length Okay, so fighting in the Middle East has escalated some even though the ceasefire is still in place The US military sank at least six Iranian small boats in the Strait of Hormuz on Monday
38:22
[SPEAKER_00]: after I ran launched some missiles, some drones, and sit small boats towards U.S. Navy ships and commercial vessels.
38:29
[SPEAKER_00]: I ran also attacked the UAE again.
38:31
[SPEAKER_00]: The UAE has said they'll respond.
38:34
[SPEAKER_00]: They haven't yet.
38:35
[SPEAKER_00]: Basically, everything is fragile and shaky.
38:36
[SPEAKER_00]: This war could fire up again.
38:38
[SPEAKER_00]: However, we're recording on Wednesday, May 6, Trump put a 24-hour stop to
38:44
[SPEAKER_00]: Basically navigating through the straight up hormones because apparently behind the scenes there is a framework for a deal.
38:51
[SPEAKER_00]: This like 14 point on one page deal that's being ironed out right now that could potentially happen.
38:56
[SPEAKER_00]: So stay tuned on that.
38:57
[SPEAKER_00]: We are praying for peace in the Middle East.
38:59
[SPEAKER_00]: I'm just going to gripe one thing real quick while we're talking about this corner.
39:03
[SPEAKER_00]: I was just reading this morning right that the Gulf states.
39:07
[SPEAKER_00]: are starting to feel like America is just threatening and not doing anything.
39:17
[SPEAKER_00]: And they're worried about that.
39:20
[SPEAKER_00]: Then why don't you get involved with Gulf States?
39:23
[SPEAKER_00]: Why don't you help out a little bit Gulf States so that this can end?
39:28
[SPEAKER_00]: I'm like, listen man, like America can't do everything.
39:32
[SPEAKER_00]: I mean, I just don't like reading headlines like that.
39:35
[SPEAKER_00]: Honestly how dare you complain like what are you doing?
39:39
[SPEAKER_00]: You know, it's anyway.
39:39
[SPEAKER_00]: That's just that's just my great No, it's true.
39:41
[SPEAKER_01]: I mean there's a lot of people whispering in Trump's ear trying to get him to to do more tax essentially But if that's the case, and that's the best way forward Then they need to do something to do is what you're saying and I I get that Yeah, I guess we'll just see what happens there.
39:55
[SPEAKER_01]: Hopefully there is a ceasefire agreement I do know that the Trump administration feels a little pressured.
39:59
[SPEAKER_01]: They're trying to get it done before he goes to China next week
40:02
[SPEAKER_01]: to meet with president Jean.
40:03
[SPEAKER_01]: We'll talk about his China visit next week as we get closer to that.
40:06
[SPEAKER_01]: But that's going to be a huge deal.
40:08
[SPEAKER_00]: That's a huge thing.
40:10
[SPEAKER_00]: I mean, a sitting American president hasn't gone to China in a very long time.
40:14
[SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, okay, something else right before we hop down here.
40:17
[SPEAKER_01]: We got alerts that Ted Turner had passed away.
40:19
[SPEAKER_01]: So I don't know how or why he passed away, but he was 87.
40:21
[SPEAKER_01]: So I imagine it was natural causes of some sort.
40:25
[SPEAKER_01]: He's just a Titan of the television industry.
40:28
[SPEAKER_01]: One of the guys who may television what it is today billionaire.
40:32
[SPEAKER_01]: fourth largest owner of land in the United States used to be the largest owned two million acres of land loves ranching Wow, but he was the founder of CNN TNT TBS Cartoon Network and more TV channel So just one of those guys who kind of helped shape America to what is today.
40:47
[SPEAKER_01]: You could compare him probably most closely to like Rupert Murdoch who owns Fox News
40:51
[SPEAKER_01]: And it has, you know, just do their influence shaped the way a lot of people approach life and think about things for better for worse, huh, for better or for worse, you get to decide that on your own, but you can not deny that he had a massive impact.
41:06
[SPEAKER_01]: He's also the owner of the Atlanta Braves in the Atlanta Hawks and Thrashers for quite a time there.
41:11
[SPEAKER_01]: Something else, GameStop.
41:13
[SPEAKER_01]: This one's crazy, Mike.
41:14
[SPEAKER_01]: GameStop wants to buy eBay.
41:16
[SPEAKER_01]: Now, if you remember, GameStop had their own little spirit airline thing going on a few years ago, where they nearly collapsed.
41:21
[SPEAKER_01]: So, I don't know where they think they're going to get them.
41:23
[SPEAKER_00]: They did collapse.
41:24
[SPEAKER_01]: They were on the verge.
41:25
[SPEAKER_01]: And then do you remember they had that like stock surge?
41:27
[SPEAKER_01]: The GameStop stock meme surge in like 2021, I want to say.
41:32
[SPEAKER_01]: Yeah.
41:32
[SPEAKER_01]: And it kind of gave them some capital.
41:34
[SPEAKER_01]: Well, they got a new CEO.
41:35
[SPEAKER_01]: He's the guy who founded Tui, the pet supply.
41:38
[SPEAKER_01]: company he's a billionaire himself he's the new CEO and he just out of nowhere unsolicited sent a bid to eBay for a 56 billion dollar basically take over of eBay from GameStop.
41:50
[SPEAKER_01]: Here's the problem.
41:52
[SPEAKER_01]: GameStop is worth nine billion dollars and so everyone's like
41:55
[SPEAKER_01]: He's apparently secured a $20 billion loan from TD Bank, but that brings him to $29 of the $56 billion He's offered to buy eBay for I guess I'm just confused.
42:09
[SPEAKER_01]: I'm like, I don't understand why GameStop is going to buy eBay.
42:11
[SPEAKER_01]: He seems to think that he can make them a competitor to Amazon.
42:15
[SPEAKER_01]: They both just seem like dying companies to me.
42:17
[SPEAKER_00]: I like the idea of competition man.
42:19
[SPEAKER_00]: It's the same thing with spirit, you know, I don't like to see any of these companies go under.
42:23
[SPEAKER_00]: I'd love for an organization to kind of rise up and be similar to Amazon did just, it drives prices down man.
42:30
[SPEAKER_00]: It makes everything better when there's more competition man.
42:33
[SPEAKER_00]: So, so.
42:34
[SPEAKER_00]: But it would work out.
42:35
[SPEAKER_01]: I mean, the game stuff was going to be the only one.
42:38
[SPEAKER_01]: No, this is probably it's Walmart.
42:40
[SPEAKER_01]: It's the one who's going to be able to compete with Amazon the most, right?
42:42
[SPEAKER_01]: And they're they're working on that.
42:43
[SPEAKER_00]: But yeah, it's just, there's somewhat different lines, you know what I mean?
42:47
[SPEAKER_00]: But yes, I mean, like Walmart does directly compete with Amazon, but I'm just thinking like specifically online only deliver quickly, not necessarily as much grocery-based anyway, who knows?
43:00
[SPEAKER_00]: We'll see what happens.
43:00
[SPEAKER_00]: I don't know what's going on.
43:01
[SPEAKER_00]: Probably won't happen, but I've seen crazier things.
43:03
[SPEAKER_01]: Okay, the other thing I'm sure a lot of y'all saw this was golden tempo one the Kentucky Derby Yeah, I mean from last place going into that last turn I mean as you want in a video you just see going from last to first I just go to round it.
43:14
[SPEAKER_01]: It was I've never seen anything like it Yeah, really cool when in the victory made I don't know how to say your name fully.
43:20
[SPEAKER_01]: Sherry devalu I mean, it's got that French probably devalu devalu Sherry devalu.
43:24
[SPEAKER_01]: It's very kind of like Cagin for and Sherry devil.
43:28
[SPEAKER_01]: Oh, yeah
43:29
[SPEAKER_01]: She is the first female trainer to ever win the Kentucky Derby.
43:32
[SPEAKER_01]: So, I was a really cool, just a unique one.
43:35
[SPEAKER_01]: You don't get something like that every year.
43:37
[SPEAKER_01]: It's comes from literal last place, and in 60 seconds, takes over and wins.
43:40
[SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, that was cool.
43:42
[SPEAKER_01]: Then, we've also got Justin Bell donning and Blake lightly.
43:44
[SPEAKER_01]: The lawsuit that has upended Hollywood for the last year and a half came to an end.
43:49
[SPEAKER_01]: They were setting to go on trial in two weeks from now.
43:52
[SPEAKER_01]: and we're planning to kind of break down what that was going to look like, but it's been settled.
43:56
[SPEAKER_01]: The case has been settled.
43:57
[SPEAKER_01]: That is not going to happen.
43:58
[SPEAKER_01]: I think they were both trying to avoid Beldoni and lively and their teams are trying to avoid kind of like very public and very embarrassing things that we're going to come out of a list of liberties.
44:06
[SPEAKER_01]: We're going to be on the witness stand.
44:07
[SPEAKER_01]: So it's going to be just public fodder big for media, big for Americans, big for TikTokers.
44:12
[SPEAKER_01]: We're going to like just really
44:14
[SPEAKER_01]: eat alive this whole trial.
44:16
[SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, I think they wanted to avoid that.
44:17
[SPEAKER_01]: And so they did.
44:18
[SPEAKER_01]: I don't, we don't know the terms of the settlement, but essentially it's over, uh, and ultimately what was happening was lively was suing Baldoni and this PR team for $400 million claiming retaliation, aiding in a betting retaliation and breach of contract.
44:33
[SPEAKER_01]: A. K. A.
44:34
[SPEAKER_01]: Basically, she was saying Baldoni ran a public smear campaign to ruin her reputation and public persona and demon her You know, some of her business Interest and all of that, and ultimately the movie that they worked on together Just a little side note, Blake Live and Justin Baldoni together, spent a combined 60 million dollars to sue and counter sue one another Which is more than twice the budget of the movie that started all of this, which was this into with us You know
44:59
[SPEAKER_01]: It pays to be a lawyer, I guess, is what I would take out of that.
45:01
[SPEAKER_01]: It would be a holiday with lawyer kids if you're trying to get into something coming out of college.
45:06
[SPEAKER_01]: Yeah.
45:07
[SPEAKER_01]: But that's pretty much a big wrap up of everything going on, and we'll just see what comes out next week.
45:11
[SPEAKER_01]: We got a lot to dive into next week with Trump going to China, but there's going to be so much more that happens between now and then as well, we'll dive into.
45:16
[SPEAKER_01]: But yeah, guys, thanks for joining us on this week's episode of The Culture Brief, a Dinnison Farm podcast.
45:21
[SPEAKER_01]: All articles and videos mentioned will be linked in the show notes.
45:23
[SPEAKER_01]: If you want to help us reach more believers with truth, and today's chaotic culture, please share this podcast around and leave a five star rating interview, and we'll see you next Thursday.