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Welcome to "Last Week Tonight"!
I'm John Oliver.
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Thank you so much for joining us.
It has been a busy week.
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The House authorized
an impeachment inquiry,
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Israel's relentless bombing
of Gaza continued
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despite overwhelming international
opposition,
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and Rudy Giuliani, America's mayor
and his cousin's ex-husband,
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was in court over his defamation of
these two Georgia election workers.
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Now, Giuliani has already
been found liable.
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This trial was just to determine
damages,
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which ultimately came
to 148 million dollars.
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And he frankly didn't help himself
by showing no contrition,
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and actually repeating his claims
outside court on Monday.
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Just watch as his spokesman
tries to shut him down.
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{\an8}I told the truth! They were engaged
in changing votes.
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{\an8}- There's no proof of that.
- You're damn right there is.
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{\an8}The Rudy Giuliani you see today
is the same man
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{\an8}who cleaned up the streets
of New York, took down the mafia.
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{\an8}- Stipulation isn't proof.
- Let's go, we're going to our car.
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There's so much there
that is pathetic.
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That man is desperately trying to coast
off the guy Giuliani was 20 years ago.
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It is the rare attempt
to "Weekend at Bernie's" someone
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who is still alive.
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Also, he bailed on that defense
mid-sentence.
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"Yeah, I was gonna get to nine/11,"
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"but this has been a disaster,
just get in the fucking car, Rudy."
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And look, much as though I would love
to talk more about Giuliani,
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I could do 20 minutes
on this courtroom sketch alone,
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instead, we're gonna dive straight in
with our main story tonight.
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This is our final show of the year,
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so we thought we'd focus on someone
who's had a pretty big 12 months,
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Elon Musk.
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A man who can pull off pretty much
any bad-guy-in-a-movie look.
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There's Lex Luthor posing for the cover
of Metropolis Maniacs Monthly,
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there's, "Why no, Mr. Bond, I and
my child bride expect you to die,"
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there's, "I just bought
your media company"
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"and I'm about to strip you for parts,"
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there's space's first racist sheriff,
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and finally, the less fuckable
reimagining of Billy Zane's character
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in "Titanic".
Truly, the man has range.
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Elon has made news all year,
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from test-launching
the most powerful rocket ever built,
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to just this week, having to recall two
million cars due to safety concerns.
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He even challenged Mark Zuckerberg
to a cage fight,
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to which Zuckerberg replied,
"Send me location".
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And may I suggest to both of them,
"interior, volcano".
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And then, of course, there is Twitter.
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He now calls it X, but the rest of us
still call it Twitter.
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He officially acquired it
12 months ago, and since then,
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it has been one fiasco after another,
with the most recent coming
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when he tweeted his agreement
with this antisemitic post,
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calling the great replacement theory
"the actual truth".
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That caused many big advertisers
to flee.
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And then, in the midst of denying
any antisemitic intent,
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Elon decided to taunt the sponsors
who had left.
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Don't advertise.
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- You don't want them to advertise?
- No.
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What do you mean?
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If somebody's gonna try to blackmail
me with advertising,
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blackmail me with money?
Go fuck yourself.
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Go fuck yourself.
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Is that clear? I hope it is.
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It is hard to say what's most
embarrassing there,
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the fact that the world's richest man
is playing
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the "you're not breaking up with me,
I'm breaking up with you" card,
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or that he's doing it to confused
silence while wearing a jacket
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from Ralph Lauren's midlife crisis
collection.
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He's clearly going for "bad boy" there,
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but ended up looking more like
red-pilled Chip from "Rescue Rangers".
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Now, that clip actually made
the rounds, but for my money,
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this exchange a few seconds later
is even better.
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Look, actually what this advertising
boycott is gonna do,
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it's gonna kill the company.
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And the whole world will know that
those advertisers killed the company.
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Everyone will document it
in great detail.
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But those advertisers, I imagine,
are gonna say
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"We didn't kill the company."
They're gonna say...
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Tell it to Earth. Let's see
how Earth responds to that.
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Yeah, tell it to Earth!
And I honestly hope he does that.
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I hope he tries telling every living
creature on the planet,
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including those weird deep sea fish,
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all about how advertiser boycotts
are gonna kill Twitter,
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just so one of them can open its
objectively horrifying jaws and say,
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"Yeah, man, 'cause you said
that weird shit about Jews."
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"We live in a black void"
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"and even we understand
the order of operations here."
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And look, I could talk for hours
about what Elon has done to Twitter,
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many in the media do,
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because it's where they spend
most of their workdays.
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But the truth is, it's not the most
important thing Elon is in charge of.
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It's arguably not even the most
important social networking site.
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We all know the only social media app
that matters these days
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is the comments section of Venmo.
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That is where the real drama is.
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But what Musk's time at Twitter
has definitely changed
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is how many people perceive him.
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Because for a long time, he was seen
as a one-of-a-kind genius
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who'd save humanity, and was
described as a "real-life Iron Man".
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It's a comparison
that he even welcomed,
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cameoing as himself in "Iron Man two".
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Although I never really liked
those comparisons.
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As far as I'm concerned, the only
real-life Iron Man is Troy Hurchubise,
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who spent his life designing a suit
of armor that could withstand
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a grizzly bear attack, and was
kind enough to film the tests.
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Are you ready, Troy?
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- I'm ready.
- Here it comes.
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Yes! That is the hero we deserve.
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That is my Iron Man.
Still, for a long time,
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Elon's public image was that
of a maverick celebrity inventor
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who cut through red tape,
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revolutionized space travel,
and made electric cars cool.
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And he does do a lot.
In addition to Twitter,
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he's the head of five other companies:
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Tesla, SpaceX, The Boring Company,
Neuralink, and xAI.
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And thanks to their rollercoaster
fortunes,
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he can claim the twin distinctions
of being both the richest person
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in the world and the first person
ever to lose 200 billion dollars.
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Which is hard to even wrap
your head around.
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It's like hearing someone
won a marathon
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after accidentally running 200 miles
in the wrong direction.
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And to hear Elon tell it,
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he's been doing this, at least in part,
to benefit humanity.
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He recently said of Tesla,
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"I've done more for the environment
than any single human on Earth",
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demonstrating a pretty strong
messianic streak.
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In fact, Sam Altman,
the CEO of OpenAI,
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who's both worked with and clashed
with Musk, has said,
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"Elon desperately wants
the world to be saved."
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"But only if he can be the one
to save it."
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Which is a pretty big asterisk.
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It's like Jesus says
in the book of Matthew,
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"Love thy neighbor,
but more importantly, me,"
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"and if you don't, fuck you, find
your own heaven, J-Crizzle out."
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And I know there are people
who love Elon,
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and people who utterly hate him.
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And there are gonna be parts of this
piece that irritate both groups.
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There are also people who would,
understandably, rather just ignore him
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but as you will see, we might
have passed the point
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where that is an option for any of us.
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So tonight, let's look at Elon Musk.
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And let's start with how he earned
his "business genius" reputation.
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And I'm gonna skip over
the early years,
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the growing up
in apartheid South Africa,
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then emigrating to the U.S. via Canada
during his college years.
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You can read any number of books
on that,
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or just ask your next Bumble date
who turned up in a fedora
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and a "Release the Snyder Cut"
T-shirt,
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ready to spend the entire night
talking about him.
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Elon first earned his fortune from
creating a company called Zip2
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with his brother, before going on
to help run PayPal
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alongside Peter Thiel.
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And if I could only have been
a fly on that wall,
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I'd have flown straight
into a hot light bulb.
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He then invested that personal
fortune into SpaceX,
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a company that would create and launch
its own rockets and spacecraft.
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And that is a pretty gutsy move,
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to go from an online payment system
to literal rocket science.
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Although, as some point out,
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SpaceX wasn't exactly starting
from square one.
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{\an8}What SpaceX has been very successful
at is taking
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{\an8}basically off-the-shelf technology,
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stuff that was developed by NASA
50 years ago, and streamlining it.
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So, in that way, he's kind
of the Henry Ford of space,
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because Henry Ford didn't invent
the automobile.
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He just figured out how to make
the automobile commercially viable.
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Yeah, like Henry Ford, Elon Musk
managed to build on the technology
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that others had invented.
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That's not actually the only way
he's like Henry Ford,
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which you'd know if you'd ever
Googled either of their names
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and the word "antisemitism", but let's
not get ahead of ourselves here.
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The point is, Musk took a big risk
on starting a rocket company,
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which nearly didn't work. His first
three attempts to launch one failed.
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And then he made
a truly audacious gamble.
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When you had that third failure
in a row,
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did you think, "I need to pack this in"?
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Never.
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- Why not?
- I don't ever give up.
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Eight weeks later, Musk bet
the company on another flight.
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We have liftoff.
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This time around, everything worked.
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Perfect.
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If that fourth launch hadn't worked,
that would have been it.
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We would have not had the resources
to mount a fifth.
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You couldn't have gone on at that point?
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Yes. Death would have been,
I think, inevitable.
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That is genuinely impressive.
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Although, there are less weird ways
to say
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"we would have gone out of business"
than "death is inevitable".
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Phrasing matters. It's why people say
"we just had a baby"
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instead of "Lisa shit life
out of her hoo-ha".
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Same meaning, different feeling.
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And that trend continued through
SpaceX's subsequent efforts,
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something that, as this former head
of NASA points out,
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is not something they would ever
be able to get away with.
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If we lost rockets at the rate
that Elon Musk loses his big starship,
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NASA would have been out of business.
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Congress would have shut us down
if we lost one starship,
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let alone six
or however many it's been.
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We can't do that.
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The U.S. government can't waste billions
of dollars just blowing things up
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in the vague hope that it'll somehow
turn into a success, unless,
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of course, those things
are Iraq or Afghanistan.
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So, SpaceX began with a big gamble,
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had a flirtation with disaster, and then
became a massive success.
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And that pattern persisted
with Tesla.
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That company was funded, in part,
by pre-selling cars to future owners,
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only to run into repeated production
delays and spiraling costs.
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Just watch Musk at one meeting
of those early buyers,
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where he told them that the price
had gone up,
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on the cars that they'd already bought.
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We took faith in you,
and now you're just turning around
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and changing the price on us,
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not telling us,
and then we find out about it...
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Everyone's hurt
because we weren't told.
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We can't sell cars for, you know,
less than they cost us to produce.
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If anything, what we had,
more than that occurred,
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then it was an accident.
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00:11:31,360 --> 00:11:34,435
Well, that's why there was a bunch
of comments after it that all got...
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There seemed to be a little bit of anger
from some people in the room
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who felt that we'd kind of done
a bait-and-switch.
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It's a little bit true that there
was a bit of a bait-and-switch.
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That's, I mean, kind of what happened.
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That was very tough.
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Yeah, you can see how baiting
customers with one price
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and switching it for another might
be considered a bait-and-switch.
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00:11:59,799 --> 00:12:02,036
There's actually a great econ book
on the subject,
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00:12:02,120 --> 00:12:04,955
entitled "Words Mean
What Words Mean".
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00:12:05,039 --> 00:12:08,876
And yet, Tesla is now a big success,
with factories on three continents
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delivering over
a million vehicles a year.
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00:12:11,240 --> 00:12:14,595
Meanwhile, SpaceX is currently
valued around 150 billion,
230
00:12:14,679 --> 00:12:18,276
making it one of the most valuable
private companies in the world.
231
00:12:18,360 --> 00:12:21,516
Although it is worth noting that his
boldness sometimes comes
232
00:12:21,600 --> 00:12:22,996
with a tendency to overpromise,
233
00:12:23,080 --> 00:12:25,516
and show off products
long before they are ready.
234
00:12:25,600 --> 00:12:28,116
Like in 2019, when Musk decided
to demonstrate
235
00:12:28,200 --> 00:12:30,435
how indestructible
his new Cybertruck was,
236
00:12:30,519 --> 00:12:34,519
by having its chief designer chuck
a steel ball at its window.
237
00:12:35,080 --> 00:12:37,799
Franz, could you try to break
this glass, please?
238
00:12:46,960 --> 00:12:48,759
- Sure?
- Yeah.
239
00:12:52,200 --> 00:12:55,519
Well, maybe that was
a little too hard.
240
00:12:57,279 --> 00:13:00,600
Yeah, not great.
But also, kind of charming!
241
00:13:01,399 --> 00:13:04,636
I'll be honest, there is something
I kind of like about the Cybertruck.
242
00:13:04,720 --> 00:13:06,756
I mean, I don't want to own one,
or drive near one,
243
00:13:06,840 --> 00:13:09,675
it's basically a 7,000-pound
smushed-up refrigerator
244
00:13:09,759 --> 00:13:13,600
moving at 60 miles an hour, being
driven by a real piece of shit.
245
00:13:14,159 --> 00:13:16,916
But there is something appealing
about a man so passionate
246
00:13:17,000 --> 00:13:19,756
about his idea that he's willing
to ignore questions about aesthetics,
247
00:13:19,840 --> 00:13:22,276
performance, durability,
practicality, safety,
248
00:13:22,360 --> 00:13:25,116
and who on Earth actually wants
to spend up to 100,000 dollars
249
00:13:25,200 --> 00:13:30,876
to drive every child's first attempt
at drawing a car and build it anyway.
250
00:13:30,960 --> 00:13:32,916
And that's not his only embarrassing
product launch.
251
00:13:33,000 --> 00:13:37,516
Two years ago, he introduced a Tesla
robot by showcasing a prototype
252
00:13:37,600 --> 00:13:40,195
that was just a dancer
in a robot bodysuit,
253
00:13:40,279 --> 00:13:42,799
and it was exactly as dumb
as that sounds.
254
00:13:58,200 --> 00:13:59,996
I absolutely love it!
255
00:14:00,080 --> 00:14:03,315
Apparently, all you have to do
to launch a robotics company
256
00:14:03,399 --> 00:14:05,675
is invest in a spandex
bodysuit and a dancer.
257
00:14:05,759 --> 00:14:09,120
So, with that in mind:
behold my new creation!
258
00:14:10,039 --> 00:14:15,960
The robot race is on, Elon!
The race is on! Look at him go!
259
00:14:17,919 --> 00:14:20,315
Okay, okay, enough! Enough, robot.
260
00:14:20,399 --> 00:14:22,116
Enough, enough!
261
00:14:22,200 --> 00:14:24,919
You can power down, robot,
thank you for your service.
262
00:14:26,480 --> 00:14:30,236
But look,
embarrassing moments aside,
263
00:14:30,320 --> 00:14:32,955
there is a lot to like
about Elon's companies.
264
00:14:33,039 --> 00:14:34,916
SpaceX has made real achievements,
265
00:14:35,000 --> 00:14:36,555
like reusable rocket technology
266
00:14:36,639 --> 00:14:39,116
and making space easier
and more affordable to access.
267
00:14:39,200 --> 00:14:42,516
And Tesla has pushed automakers
to take electric cars seriously
268
00:14:42,600 --> 00:14:45,350
in a way that would have seemed
impossible 20 years ago.
269
00:14:45,360 --> 00:14:47,360
But as one of Elon's critics points out,
270
00:14:47,360 --> 00:14:50,759
there are costs to that progress
that often get overlooked.
271
00:14:51,279 --> 00:14:54,519
{\an8}Is Elon Musk a net positive for society?
272
00:14:55,039 --> 00:14:56,636
{\an8}I would argue he is.
273
00:14:56,720 --> 00:14:59,519
I think the EV race is a great thing.
274
00:15:00,080 --> 00:15:05,396
Space exploration is really hopeful
and just kind of inspiring.
275
00:15:05,480 --> 00:15:07,595
The problem is with the word "net"
276
00:15:07,679 --> 00:15:10,835
and that is, once we decide
an individual or a company
277
00:15:10,919 --> 00:15:12,636
is a net good for society,
278
00:15:12,720 --> 00:15:16,799
we don't want to hold him or the
company accountable for anything.
279
00:15:17,240 --> 00:15:21,236
Right. Even if you think Elon
is a "net positive",
280
00:15:21,320 --> 00:15:23,315
it doesn't mean that we shouldn't
talk about the harm
281
00:15:23,399 --> 00:15:25,036
that he's doing along the way.
282
00:15:25,120 --> 00:15:27,876
And let's start with his employees,
many of whom have called Elon
283
00:15:27,960 --> 00:15:29,675
a nightmare to work for.
284
00:15:29,759 --> 00:15:31,876
And not just at Twitter,
where he fired most of the staff
285
00:15:31,960 --> 00:15:35,440
and ordered the rest to work in quote,
"extremely hardcore" mode.
286
00:15:36,120 --> 00:15:37,996
He's been like this at every company,
287
00:15:38,080 --> 00:15:41,075
as this early employee
at SpaceX will attest.
288
00:15:41,159 --> 00:15:44,715
{\an8}It was not unusual to have a phone call
from him at three in the morning
289
00:15:44,799 --> 00:15:45,955
on your cell phone.
290
00:15:46,039 --> 00:15:48,195
{\an8}You better, by God, have that next
to your bed to answer.
291
00:15:48,279 --> 00:15:51,756
He's just gone into yelling fits
against me,
292
00:15:51,840 --> 00:15:55,315
telling me I'm stupid and
I don't know what I'm talking about,
293
00:15:55,399 --> 00:15:58,595
and I've seen him do it
to other very intelligent people.
294
00:15:58,679 --> 00:16:02,116
So, he'll definitely find your weakness
in your personality,
295
00:16:02,200 --> 00:16:05,636
in your character,
in your spirit,
296
00:16:05,720 --> 00:16:11,159
and I wouldn't say exploit it,
but you'll definitely crack.
297
00:16:11,559 --> 00:16:13,435
Well, that sounds unpleasant!
298
00:16:13,519 --> 00:16:16,156
Not just your boss calling to abuse you,
299
00:16:16,240 --> 00:16:18,715
but because there are only two reasons
someone should be calling you
300
00:16:18,799 --> 00:16:20,715
at three in the morning and they are:
301
00:16:20,799 --> 00:16:23,835
because, A, a loved one is having
an emergency and needs your help,
302
00:16:23,919 --> 00:16:27,480
or your house is on fire, and even then,
that could've been a text.
303
00:16:28,559 --> 00:16:30,996
And the damage isn't just emotional.
304
00:16:31,080 --> 00:16:33,396
Workers at his factories complain
of immense pressure
305
00:16:33,480 --> 00:16:35,236
and unrealistic deadlines.
306
00:16:35,320 --> 00:16:37,475
A report a few years ago
on his Tesla factory in Fremont,
307
00:16:37,559 --> 00:16:42,116
California found employees complaining
that "style and speed trumped safety,"
308
00:16:42,200 --> 00:16:45,555
and that "workers there had been sliced
by machinery, crushed by forklifts,"
309
00:16:45,639 --> 00:16:49,315
"burned in electrical explosions
and sprayed with molten metal."
310
00:16:49,399 --> 00:16:51,636
One worker claimed that
she had been told,
311
00:16:51,720 --> 00:16:55,835
Elon didn't want signs or anything
yellow like caution tape in the factory.
312
00:16:55,919 --> 00:16:59,276
Which isn't good,
because caution tape is important.
313
00:16:59,360 --> 00:17:02,075
It lets people know something might
be dangerous and unstable,
314
00:17:02,159 --> 00:17:04,156
like a skull and crossbones
on a bottle,
315
00:17:04,240 --> 00:17:06,640
or this jacket on a middle-aged man.
316
00:17:07,079 --> 00:17:09,195
Tesla does deny that,
317
00:17:09,279 --> 00:17:12,079
but its claims about its factories
can be hard to verify.
318
00:17:12,160 --> 00:17:15,475
Even when regulators try to get involved
at Musk's companies,
319
00:17:15,559 --> 00:17:17,316
they can be strongly resisted.
320
00:17:17,400 --> 00:17:20,195
For example, his Nevada Gigafactory
at one point denied entry
321
00:17:20,279 --> 00:17:24,475
to state OSHA inspectors for "nearly
three months". Which is ridiculous.
322
00:17:24,559 --> 00:17:27,156
The word "Gigafactory" alone should
be enough to warrant
323
00:17:27,240 --> 00:17:29,235
an immediate inspection.
324
00:17:29,319 --> 00:17:31,955
But it's not just workers
who Musk is willing to put at risk.
325
00:17:32,039 --> 00:17:33,689
Sometimes it's his own customers.
326
00:17:33,720 --> 00:17:36,116
He's long been developing self-driving
car technology
327
00:17:36,200 --> 00:17:39,556
and has sometimes knowingly
exaggerated its capabilities.
328
00:17:39,640 --> 00:17:42,556
The two pieces of software available
are called
329
00:17:42,640 --> 00:17:45,275
"autopilot and full self-driving,"
but "despite their names,
330
00:17:45,359 --> 00:17:48,396
neither system can drive a car
on its own."
331
00:17:48,480 --> 00:17:51,836
Yet, in this 2016 ad, it appears
to be doing just that,
332
00:17:51,920 --> 00:17:55,316
amplified by the introductory text
that Elon personally asked for,
333
00:17:55,400 --> 00:17:58,275
which reads,
"The car is driving itself."
334
00:17:58,359 --> 00:18:00,076
But that was extremely misleading,
335
00:18:00,160 --> 00:18:02,356
it was driving along
a pre-planned route.
336
00:18:02,440 --> 00:18:05,475
It was only self-driving the way that
your nana self-drives herself
337
00:18:05,559 --> 00:18:07,356
up and down the stairs.
338
00:18:07,440 --> 00:18:10,475
And Tesla will note, they "tell drivers
that they should keep their hands
339
00:18:10,559 --> 00:18:13,515
on the wheel and take
over if anything goes wrong."
340
00:18:13,599 --> 00:18:15,599
And I sure hope drivers do that,
341
00:18:15,960 --> 00:18:20,116
because he's been inviting them to try
out "full self-driving" in beta mode,
342
00:18:20,200 --> 00:18:23,235
having drivers find the bugs
in new software,
343
00:18:23,319 --> 00:18:27,039
even on complicated city streets,
and with predictable results.
344
00:18:27,440 --> 00:18:29,440
Now, we're gonna make this left turn.
345
00:18:33,279 --> 00:18:35,160
And I'm getting honked at.
346
00:18:35,640 --> 00:18:38,799
But now it's just turned right.
347
00:18:42,000 --> 00:18:43,556
We're supposed to go left.
348
00:18:43,640 --> 00:18:47,796
Ogan is not a professional test driver,
nor is he a Tesla employee.
349
00:18:47,880 --> 00:18:51,636
Instead, he's one of the over 50,000
customers that Tesla has allowed
350
00:18:51,720 --> 00:18:53,755
to access FSD beta.
351
00:18:53,839 --> 00:18:56,599
We just ran a red light.
352
00:18:56,960 --> 00:18:58,636
That is pretty alarming,
353
00:18:58,720 --> 00:19:01,356
especially the moment where
you see people pushing a stroller
354
00:19:01,440 --> 00:19:03,675
way too close to that car.
355
00:19:03,759 --> 00:19:06,715
Because even if Tesla drivers
volunteered to take part
356
00:19:06,799 --> 00:19:09,796
in this high-stakes experiment,
the people around them sure didn't.
357
00:19:09,880 --> 00:19:12,636
No one got a push alert on their
phone saying, "Hey, Tesla here!"
358
00:19:12,720 --> 00:19:14,596
Please consent to take part
in the beta test
359
00:19:14,680 --> 00:19:18,839
that is currently hurtling towards you.
Do hurry, time is a factor."
360
00:19:19,839 --> 00:19:23,475
And Musk has taken a pretty blithe
attitude toward self-driving deaths.
361
00:19:23,559 --> 00:19:25,876
In 2016, when concerns
were first emerging,
362
00:19:25,960 --> 00:19:28,955
he told reporters that "if they wrote
stories that dissuaded people
363
00:19:29,039 --> 00:19:31,116
from using autonomous
driving systems,
364
00:19:31,200 --> 00:19:32,916
or regulators from approving them,
365
00:19:33,000 --> 00:19:34,955
then they would be killing people."
366
00:19:35,039 --> 00:19:37,435
Essentially, arguing that any deaths
in the present day
367
00:19:37,519 --> 00:19:40,955
will be more than offset by lives
saved later.
368
00:19:41,039 --> 00:19:42,916
And just this week, when
The Washington Post noted
369
00:19:43,000 --> 00:19:45,715
that they'd tallied "about 40 fatal
or serious crashes
370
00:19:45,799 --> 00:19:47,916
involving Tesla's driver assistance
software,"
371
00:19:48,000 --> 00:19:49,116
Tesla responded by saying,
372
00:19:49,200 --> 00:19:52,755
"we believe it is morally indefensible
not to make these systems available
373
00:19:52,839 --> 00:19:56,235
to a wider set of consumers,
given the incontrovertible data
374
00:19:56,319 --> 00:19:58,916
that shows it's saving lives
and preventing injury."
375
00:19:59,000 --> 00:20:00,715
But rather than producing that data,
376
00:20:00,799 --> 00:20:03,999
it promised "more detailed information
will be publicly available
377
00:20:04,039 --> 00:20:05,076
in the near future."
378
00:20:05,160 --> 00:20:07,610
Which, I'm sorry,
is just not data bitch behavior.
379
00:20:07,680 --> 00:20:10,955
And that is coming from
TV's number one data bitch.
380
00:20:11,039 --> 00:20:13,796
Anyone who collects
"incontrovertible data"
381
00:20:13,880 --> 00:20:16,836
would give you a more specific date
than "the near future."
382
00:20:16,920 --> 00:20:22,195
Because data bitches, as we all
know, are also calendar bitches.
383
00:20:22,279 --> 00:20:24,519
And look, I know myself!
384
00:20:25,480 --> 00:20:29,116
History is littered with titans
of business who were shitty
385
00:20:29,200 --> 00:20:30,316
or broken people,
386
00:20:30,400 --> 00:20:32,796
from Thomas Edison through
Henry Ford through Steve Jobs.
387
00:20:32,880 --> 00:20:34,596
The difference is, by and large,
388
00:20:34,680 --> 00:20:37,515
they didn't open up their brain
to let the whole world
389
00:20:37,599 --> 00:20:39,116
have a constant look inside.
390
00:20:39,200 --> 00:20:42,275
But Elon does, and the glimpses
we get can be terrifying.
391
00:20:42,359 --> 00:20:44,916
And that brings us back to Twitter.
392
00:20:45,000 --> 00:20:48,450
Musk has been a heavy user for years,
putting out classic tweets like,
393
00:20:48,519 --> 00:20:50,400
"I put the art in fart",
394
00:20:50,759 --> 00:20:54,119
"69 days after four/20 again haha",
395
00:20:54,640 --> 00:20:57,316
and "technically,
alcohol is a solution,"
396
00:20:57,400 --> 00:20:59,596
which technically, isn't a joke.
397
00:20:59,680 --> 00:21:00,995
And his biographer will tell you,
398
00:21:01,079 --> 00:21:04,240
he's addicted to the app
to a genuinely problematic extent.
399
00:21:04,759 --> 00:21:08,556
{\an8}One day he was traveling with
a friend, Antonio Gracias,
400
00:21:08,640 --> 00:21:11,275
and Musk had kept tweeting
late at night,
401
00:21:11,359 --> 00:21:14,636
doing these ridiculous tweets,
sometimes very harmful ones.
402
00:21:14,720 --> 00:21:16,916
And so, the friend said,
"Let me take your phone
403
00:21:17,000 --> 00:21:19,675
and I'm gonna put it in the safe
here in the hotel room."
404
00:21:19,759 --> 00:21:21,715
Friend punches in the code,
and he said,
405
00:21:21,799 --> 00:21:23,849
"That way you can't use it
late at night."
406
00:21:23,920 --> 00:21:27,396
At 3:00 in the morning,
Musk calls hotel security
407
00:21:27,480 --> 00:21:30,396
to get him to open the safe,
and he starts doing tweets.
408
00:21:30,480 --> 00:21:32,515
He was addicted to tweeting.
409
00:21:32,599 --> 00:21:35,876
Look, I'm sure when the average
security guard is called
410
00:21:35,960 --> 00:21:38,110
up to a billionaire's hotel room
at 3:00 AM,
411
00:21:38,160 --> 00:21:39,475
they have a list of things to expect,
412
00:21:39,559 --> 00:21:42,035
and it begins and ends
with "dead body".
413
00:21:42,119 --> 00:21:44,475
So it must have been a pleasant
surprise when he wheeled
414
00:21:44,559 --> 00:21:47,796
an empty garbage bin into the room
only to find Elon Musk
415
00:21:47,880 --> 00:21:50,515
punching random numbers
into his hotel safe
416
00:21:50,599 --> 00:21:52,755
just 'cause he thought
of "I put the art in fart",
417
00:21:52,839 --> 00:21:55,715
and the whole world simply
had to know.
418
00:21:55,799 --> 00:21:58,235
And look, Elon's tweets
were never that great.
419
00:21:58,319 --> 00:22:02,035
Not like mine, of course, which are
banger after banger
420
00:22:02,119 --> 00:22:05,836
after banger after certified banger.
421
00:22:05,920 --> 00:22:08,916
I don't miss! But in recent years,
422
00:22:09,000 --> 00:22:12,156
they've taken a turn toward
the nasty and conspiratorial,
423
00:22:12,240 --> 00:22:15,475
getting increasingly into the realm
of right-wing trolls.
424
00:22:15,559 --> 00:22:18,515
And many point to one particular
moment as the turning point here,
425
00:22:18,599 --> 00:22:20,475
the pandemic lockdowns.
426
00:22:20,559 --> 00:22:23,235
California's 40 million residents
are in lockdown.
427
00:22:23,319 --> 00:22:27,235
At the time, the government had ordered
Musk to close his Tesla factories
428
00:22:27,319 --> 00:22:28,596
in California.
429
00:22:28,680 --> 00:22:32,356
He was pissed that his factories
were kind of forced to close.
430
00:22:32,440 --> 00:22:34,435
{\an8}Yes, ultimately, yes.
That's the thing.
431
00:22:34,519 --> 00:22:36,316
{\an8}He wanted them there
and he wanted them working.
432
00:22:36,400 --> 00:22:40,960
{\an8}He thought it was an existential crisis
if Tesla didn't succeed.
433
00:22:41,400 --> 00:22:45,796
For the world, for all of us.
And then it got weird.
434
00:22:45,880 --> 00:22:48,076
Free America now.
Give people their freedom back!
435
00:22:48,160 --> 00:22:50,396
Hospitals in California have been
half empty this whole time.
436
00:22:50,480 --> 00:22:52,230
Now give people back their freedom.
437
00:22:52,720 --> 00:22:56,916
Musk told his employees that he
intended to defy orders and go to work.
438
00:22:57,000 --> 00:23:01,116
{\an8}CEO Elon Musk tweeted, "I will be
on the line with everyone else.
439
00:23:01,200 --> 00:23:05,000
{\an8}If anyone is arrested,
I ask that it only be me."
440
00:23:05,559 --> 00:23:08,755
What that really drives home is just
how different Musk is
441
00:23:08,839 --> 00:23:11,116
from the rest of us,
because there is "rich and detached,"
442
00:23:11,200 --> 00:23:13,796
and then there's "I've asked the cops
not to arrest anyone else,
443
00:23:13,880 --> 00:23:15,995
so we should be good,"
rich and detached.
444
00:23:16,079 --> 00:23:17,435
And, look, let's admit,
445
00:23:17,519 --> 00:23:20,556
a lot of our brains got a bit broken
during the pandemic.
446
00:23:20,640 --> 00:23:22,916
I think we can all agree
that it'd be really cool
447
00:23:23,000 --> 00:23:25,755
if the entirety of the pandemic chapter
in future history textbooks
448
00:23:25,839 --> 00:23:29,319
simply read, "Weird time, had
to be there, we did our best."
449
00:23:29,960 --> 00:23:32,755
But Elon didn't channel his anxiety
in one of the normal ways
450
00:23:32,839 --> 00:23:34,889
like spraying groceries
with disinfectant,
451
00:23:34,960 --> 00:23:37,060
getting really into sourdough
bread-baking,
452
00:23:37,119 --> 00:23:39,995
or tracking down and purchasing
one-of-a-kind rat erotica.
453
00:23:40,079 --> 00:23:42,876
You know, normal stuff that we all did.
454
00:23:42,960 --> 00:23:45,636
Instead, his brain broke
in the direction of right-wingers
455
00:23:45,720 --> 00:23:47,515
who were loudly opposing
the shutdowns.
456
00:23:47,599 --> 00:23:50,556
And once he started siding
with them over those complaints,
457
00:23:50,640 --> 00:23:52,636
he found himself sympathizing
with their broader concerns
458
00:23:52,720 --> 00:23:55,715
about a "woke mind virus,"
and that they were being mocked
459
00:23:55,799 --> 00:23:58,549
and shadow-banned and generally
disrespected by Twitter.
460
00:23:58,599 --> 00:24:00,995
And since he was also the richest man
in the world,
461
00:24:01,079 --> 00:24:03,675
he could fix all of this
by simply buying the whole thing,
462
00:24:03,759 --> 00:24:05,356
which is what he then did.
463
00:24:05,440 --> 00:24:07,715
And I don't have time to run through
every bad decision
464
00:24:07,799 --> 00:24:09,099
that he's made at Twitter,
465
00:24:09,119 --> 00:24:11,556
although, real quick, he cut
about 80% of the staff,
466
00:24:11,640 --> 00:24:13,316
dissolved
the Trust and Safety Council,
467
00:24:13,400 --> 00:24:14,755
blew up the verification system,
468
00:24:14,839 --> 00:24:16,876
exercised the same censorship
he claimed to be against,
469
00:24:16,960 --> 00:24:19,515
reactivated the accounts
of various white supremacists,
470
00:24:19,599 --> 00:24:21,396
released The Twitter Files,
471
00:24:21,480 --> 00:24:23,235
in which he basically mistook the emails
472
00:24:23,319 --> 00:24:25,515
of various feckless left-leaning
tech weenies struggling
473
00:24:25,599 --> 00:24:28,556
with the impossible job of content
moderation for a vast elite conspiracy
474
00:24:28,640 --> 00:24:31,290
to silence right-wing dipshits,
changed the name to X,
475
00:24:31,359 --> 00:24:33,596
put a gigantic "X" on the building
which he then took down,
476
00:24:33,680 --> 00:24:35,556
and, just this week,
reversed his earlier decision
477
00:24:35,640 --> 00:24:37,275
and let Alex Jones back onto the site.
478
00:24:37,359 --> 00:24:39,556
A decision that's been met
with resounding praise
479
00:24:39,640 --> 00:24:42,119
from "Big Loud Fucks Quarterly".
480
00:24:43,079 --> 00:24:46,235
And notably, his time in charge
of Twitter has seen a rise
481
00:24:46,319 --> 00:24:48,796
in unpleasant rhetoric
from Musk himself,
482
00:24:48,880 --> 00:24:51,235
including boosting a transphobic
documentary saying,
483
00:24:51,319 --> 00:24:54,316
"every parent should watch this,"
responding, "Interesting,"
484
00:24:54,400 --> 00:24:58,035
to a tweet reading, "blacks kill
each other, whites kill themselves",
485
00:24:58,119 --> 00:24:59,675
and boosting this "Office" meme
486
00:24:59,759 --> 00:25:02,636
falsely implying there had been
a coverup about Pizzagate.
487
00:25:02,720 --> 00:25:05,836
I didn't think it was possible, but it
genuinely makes me miss the man
488
00:25:05,920 --> 00:25:08,955
who once posted
"Send me your dankest memes!"
489
00:25:09,039 --> 00:25:11,275
and this picture of a turtle on wheels
with the message,
490
00:25:11,359 --> 00:25:13,359
"Science has gone too far."
491
00:25:13,960 --> 00:25:17,156
And while Elon will dispute that there
has been a rise in hate speech
492
00:25:17,240 --> 00:25:18,235
on the platform,
493
00:25:18,319 --> 00:25:20,316
or that he has pandered
to white nationalists,
494
00:25:20,400 --> 00:25:22,350
you know who disagrees
with him on that?
495
00:25:22,359 --> 00:25:23,916
White nationalists.
496
00:25:24,000 --> 00:25:26,596
Just listen to Nick Fuentes telling
Richard Spencer
497
00:25:26,680 --> 00:25:28,960
everything Elon has done
for their movement.
498
00:25:29,359 --> 00:25:32,235
It's only been a year since Musk
acquired Twitter,
499
00:25:32,319 --> 00:25:33,715
which is not really a long time.
500
00:25:33,799 --> 00:25:37,399
And the changes didn't even begin
to roll out until less than a year ago.
501
00:25:37,400 --> 00:25:39,836
And yet, the change has been dramatic,
502
00:25:39,920 --> 00:25:43,076
how much the window has shifted
noticeably on issues
503
00:25:43,160 --> 00:25:46,235
like white identity, which apparently
is suddenly mainstream.
504
00:25:46,319 --> 00:25:47,876
It wasn't for a long time.
505
00:25:47,960 --> 00:25:51,475
It seemed like Charlie Kirk said one
or two things about it last year,
506
00:25:51,559 --> 00:25:54,259
and then this year,
now everyone's a white nationalist.
507
00:25:54,319 --> 00:25:55,836
Now everyone's a white identitarian.
508
00:25:55,920 --> 00:25:58,356
You open up one of the social platforms.
509
00:25:58,440 --> 00:26:00,715
It's so hot, it's so fast.
510
00:26:00,799 --> 00:26:03,356
It changes public
opinion virtually overnight,
511
00:26:03,440 --> 00:26:05,319
and really in our favor.
512
00:26:06,559 --> 00:26:10,916
All of that is horrifying, but the use
of the term "white identitarian,"
513
00:26:11,000 --> 00:26:12,916
is just not fooling anyone.
514
00:26:13,000 --> 00:26:15,475
That is what the word "racist" writes
on a job application
515
00:26:15,559 --> 00:26:17,599
to make it sound like
it went to college.
516
00:26:18,079 --> 00:26:20,955
And the fact Elon seems to be getting
increasingly radicalized
517
00:26:21,039 --> 00:26:22,076
is a big problem.
518
00:26:22,160 --> 00:26:25,076
Because we've put a lot of power
into his hands,
519
00:26:25,160 --> 00:26:27,636
and much more than you may realize.
520
00:26:27,720 --> 00:26:30,556
Remember when I said that no one
is taking the big swings that he is?
521
00:26:30,640 --> 00:26:32,356
That includes the government.
522
00:26:32,440 --> 00:26:35,316
And over the years, that means a lot
of things that this country relies on
523
00:26:35,400 --> 00:26:37,235
have been outsourced to Musk.
524
00:26:37,319 --> 00:26:40,755
Every day, Musk's companies control
more of the internet,
525
00:26:40,839 --> 00:26:42,596
power grid, transportation system,
526
00:26:42,680 --> 00:26:45,275
objects in orbit, the nation's security
infrastructure,
527
00:26:45,359 --> 00:26:47,356
and its energy supply.
528
00:26:47,440 --> 00:26:50,156
To take just one example,
SpaceX has now put
529
00:26:50,240 --> 00:26:53,235
more than 4,500 Starlink satellites
into orbit,
530
00:26:53,319 --> 00:26:56,116
meaning that Musk's company
now accounts for over half
531
00:26:56,200 --> 00:26:58,275
of all active satellites.
532
00:26:58,359 --> 00:27:01,116
And that puts the U.S. government
in a bit of a bind.
533
00:27:01,200 --> 00:27:04,300
Just watch a National Security Council
spokesman try to explain
534
00:27:04,359 --> 00:27:07,475
why it wouldn't be acting in response
to Elon's boosting
535
00:27:07,559 --> 00:27:09,715
of that great replacement theory tweet.
536
00:27:09,799 --> 00:27:12,755
{\an8}There's innovation out there in the
private sector that we'd be foolish
537
00:27:12,839 --> 00:27:13,995
{\an8}to walk away from.
538
00:27:14,079 --> 00:27:19,076
{\an8}I'm not aware of any specific efforts
to address
539
00:27:19,160 --> 00:27:21,396
our concerns over his rhetoric,
540
00:27:21,480 --> 00:27:27,596
{\an8}but that doesn't mean that we accept
or agree with
541
00:27:27,680 --> 00:27:32,799
{\an8}or condone in any way that antisemitic
rhetoric that he pushed.
542
00:27:33,400 --> 00:27:36,035
Yeah, we're now at the point where
the government is explicitly saying,
543
00:27:36,119 --> 00:27:39,035
"We've chosen to look the other way
on the antisemitism thing,"
544
00:27:39,119 --> 00:27:42,316
or as it's more commonly known,
a "Daddy's Home two".
545
00:27:42,400 --> 00:27:46,435
And the problem isn't just the optics
of having someone as erratic as Elon
546
00:27:46,519 --> 00:27:49,076
in charge
of half the world's satellites,
547
00:27:49,160 --> 00:27:51,515
his opinions can change
the shape of world events.
548
00:27:51,599 --> 00:27:52,999
When Russia invaded Ukraine,
549
00:27:53,079 --> 00:27:55,876
one of their first actions
was to sever its internet access.
550
00:27:55,960 --> 00:27:59,076
Now, Musk, to his credit, agreed
to provide Ukraine
551
00:27:59,160 --> 00:28:02,116
access to his Starlink network,
and donated hardware,
552
00:28:02,200 --> 00:28:04,435
enabling them to reach the internet
via satellite.
553
00:28:04,519 --> 00:28:06,200
And they were very grateful.
554
00:28:06,680 --> 00:28:10,955
Lieutenant Taras Berezovets is a
spokesman for Ukraine's military.
555
00:28:11,039 --> 00:28:15,675
He told us Starlink is crucial for
commanding troops on the battlefield.
556
00:28:15,759 --> 00:28:17,235
SpaceX, Elon Musk.
557
00:28:17,319 --> 00:28:20,955
We've been so grateful to SpaceX
and to Elon Musk.
558
00:28:21,039 --> 00:28:27,160
Without Starlink, none of our
offensives would be so successful.
559
00:28:27,519 --> 00:28:31,755
It's true! The Ukrainian military was
grateful to SpaceX and Elon Musk,
560
00:28:31,839 --> 00:28:34,235
which is one of those headlines
that even a few years ago
561
00:28:34,319 --> 00:28:36,035
would have sounded impossible,
562
00:28:36,119 --> 00:28:38,916
like "Panera Bread's Lemonade
Linked to Second Death,"
563
00:28:39,000 --> 00:28:41,076
and "Henry Kissinger:
Finally Dead".
564
00:28:41,160 --> 00:28:45,359
And, by the way, I'm pretty sure
it's the lemonade that got him.
565
00:28:45,920 --> 00:28:46,995
But as time went on,
566
00:28:47,079 --> 00:28:49,979
Elon toyed with the idea
of withdrawing Starlink's service,
567
00:28:50,000 --> 00:28:51,675
complaining that the cost was too high,
568
00:28:51,759 --> 00:28:54,515
even as he seemed increasingly
Russia-friendly.
569
00:28:54,599 --> 00:28:57,675
At one point, he said Russia should
be allowed to annex Ukrainian land,
570
00:28:57,759 --> 00:29:00,356
and tweeted a proposed peace plan
that would essentially just give
571
00:29:00,440 --> 00:29:02,235
Russia everything they wanted.
572
00:29:02,319 --> 00:29:04,919
Perhaps most notably,
he "refused a Ukrainian request
573
00:29:05,000 --> 00:29:06,715
to activate Starlink in Crimea,"
574
00:29:06,799 --> 00:29:09,515
enabling them to launch
an attack on Russian ships,
575
00:29:09,599 --> 00:29:11,949
reportedly because
a Russian official warned him
576
00:29:12,000 --> 00:29:14,356
that that could lead
to a nuclear response.
577
00:29:14,440 --> 00:29:15,916
And I guess that must be true. Right?
578
00:29:16,000 --> 00:29:19,435
What are Russian officials gonna do?
Lie to an easily flattered CEO
579
00:29:19,519 --> 00:29:22,319
to get exactly what they want?
Nah, I don't see it.
580
00:29:22,680 --> 00:29:27,359
And look, Elon still insists
that he is pro-Ukraine, and, okay.
581
00:29:27,960 --> 00:29:30,955
But U.S. officials are now in the
awkward position of having to defer
582
00:29:31,039 --> 00:29:32,556
to him on policy.
583
00:29:32,640 --> 00:29:36,035
One Pentagon spokesman even said
that he'd let a reporter interview
584
00:29:36,119 --> 00:29:39,396
an official only
if Musk gave permission, saying,
585
00:29:39,480 --> 00:29:42,316
"We'll talk to you
if Elon wants us to."
586
00:29:42,400 --> 00:29:43,675
Which isn't great!
587
00:29:43,759 --> 00:29:46,475
"You know, before I respond on behalf
of the mightiest military on Earth,
588
00:29:46,559 --> 00:29:48,796
let me just run this up the chain
and make sure it's cool
589
00:29:48,880 --> 00:29:51,556
with Admiral Dank Memes 420."
590
00:29:51,640 --> 00:29:54,796
Elon Musk could not have humiliated
the Pentagon any more
591
00:29:54,880 --> 00:29:56,876
if he had opened up his own building
next door
592
00:29:56,960 --> 00:29:59,799
called "The Hexagon:
The Pentagon That Fucks".
593
00:30:00,440 --> 00:30:04,116
Now, the Pentagon has since signed
a contract with Starlink
594
00:30:04,200 --> 00:30:07,100
to take over certain services
and rely less on Musk's whim.
595
00:30:07,160 --> 00:30:10,955
But even Elon's own biographer
has expressed unease
596
00:30:11,039 --> 00:30:13,515
about just how important
he's become.
597
00:30:13,599 --> 00:30:17,675
So how does Elon feel about
having this much global power?
598
00:30:17,759 --> 00:30:20,916
You know, he says to me, "How
am I in the middle of this?"
599
00:30:21,000 --> 00:30:23,316
But frankly, he loves it.
He loves drama.
600
00:30:23,400 --> 00:30:27,235
He loves being the epic hero.
I think it is a little bit dangerous,
601
00:30:27,319 --> 00:30:29,035
because he loves it too much.
602
00:30:29,119 --> 00:30:31,156
Wait, he "loves drama?"
603
00:30:31,240 --> 00:30:34,590
I'm really not that comfortable
with one of the most powerful people
604
00:30:34,640 --> 00:30:36,435
on earth being summed
up the same way you'd describe
605
00:30:36,519 --> 00:30:38,920
Andy Cohen on New Year's Eve.
606
00:30:39,519 --> 00:30:42,235
Look, the fact is,
whether we like it or not,
607
00:30:42,319 --> 00:30:44,596
and the answer is absolutely not,
608
00:30:44,680 --> 00:30:48,435
a huge number of very important things
going forward are going to depend
609
00:30:48,519 --> 00:30:50,916
on how Elon is feeling.
610
00:30:51,000 --> 00:30:52,955
Which is a terrifying thing to say
about anyone,
611
00:30:53,039 --> 00:30:55,955
but especially this guy.
So what can be done here?
612
00:30:56,039 --> 00:30:57,396
Well, it's actually simple:
613
00:30:57,480 --> 00:30:59,995
we just create a robust infrastructure
economy that can resist
614
00:31:00,079 --> 00:31:03,596
easy monopolization by private firms
headed by overconfident billionaires,
615
00:31:03,680 --> 00:31:06,359
and we do it about 15 years ago.
616
00:31:07,039 --> 00:31:09,739
Two problems with that:
one, time machines don't exist.
617
00:31:09,799 --> 00:31:12,715
And two, the only person with the
resources and ambition to build one
618
00:31:12,799 --> 00:31:15,235
is the last guy that you'd want
to do that,
619
00:31:15,319 --> 00:31:18,969
because he'd probably use it to go
back in time and high-five baby Hitler.
620
00:31:20,039 --> 00:31:23,435
And look, I'll be honest, my feelings
about Elon changed a bit
621
00:31:23,519 --> 00:31:24,836
in the writing of this piece.
622
00:31:24,920 --> 00:31:27,720
I'm probably now more impressed
by what he's doing,
623
00:31:28,240 --> 00:31:31,916
but more worried by the fact that
he's the one who's been doing it.
624
00:31:32,000 --> 00:31:35,195
Because he cultivates an image
that he's simply too visionary,
625
00:31:35,279 --> 00:31:37,636
too original to play
by other people's rules,
626
00:31:37,720 --> 00:31:40,675
and he waves away the damage
that he does at the cost of innovation
627
00:31:40,759 --> 00:31:42,235
and saving humanity.
628
00:31:42,319 --> 00:31:46,195
But the truth is, that way of thinking
isn't remotely original.
629
00:31:46,279 --> 00:31:48,356
We've seen it so many times before.
630
00:31:48,440 --> 00:31:52,715
The least surprising thing on Earth
is a middle-aged billionaire CEO
631
00:31:52,799 --> 00:31:56,435
with self-serving libertarian views,
increasingly racist politics,
632
00:31:56,519 --> 00:31:58,235
and a messiah complex.
633
00:31:58,319 --> 00:32:01,356
And it is long past time that
he faced the kind of accountability
634
00:32:01,440 --> 00:32:02,596
that should come with that,
635
00:32:02,680 --> 00:32:05,755
and not just from the echo chamber
that he bought himself online,
636
00:32:05,839 --> 00:32:09,435
but from everyone whose lives
are very much affected by him.
637
00:32:09,519 --> 00:32:12,195
And I know Elon might be unhappy
with this piece.
638
00:32:12,279 --> 00:32:14,556
He might even permanently delete
my Twitter account,
639
00:32:14,640 --> 00:32:16,076
which is fine by me.
640
00:32:16,160 --> 00:32:18,796
After all, when this absolute treasure
is gone,
641
00:32:18,880 --> 00:32:22,079
Elon's the one who will have
to explain why to the Earth.
642
00:32:23,319 --> 00:32:26,435
And he might say he's saving
humanity, what have I ever done?
643
00:32:26,519 --> 00:32:28,316
What industries have I revolutionized?
644
00:32:28,400 --> 00:32:31,400
Well, I admit, nothing yet,
but may I remind you,
645
00:32:32,000 --> 00:32:36,559
I've already taken the first step
toward building a robot empire.
646
00:32:37,240 --> 00:32:41,156
Bow down and worship
your metal gods!
647
00:32:41,240 --> 00:32:44,995
Bounce! Bounce!
648
00:32:45,079 --> 00:32:46,440
And now, this.
649
00:32:47,640 --> 00:32:53,559
And Now: People on TV Do Not
Understand This Holiday Dessert.
650
00:32:54,079 --> 00:32:56,275
I don't think
I've ever tasted fruit cake.
651
00:32:56,359 --> 00:32:59,000
Well, I did once,
and I never will again.
652
00:33:00,039 --> 00:33:05,836
Well, I tried the fruit cake once
and I was like why? I don't get it.
653
00:33:05,920 --> 00:33:09,076
{\an8}- Have you ever had a good fruit cake?
- I've heard they exist.
654
00:33:09,160 --> 00:33:12,396
That fruit cake that they would
make would last until July 4th.
655
00:33:12,480 --> 00:33:15,515
It's a nuclear war food. I put it
in the category with Twinkies.
656
00:33:15,599 --> 00:33:17,916
It can survive anything, and for that,
I do not want to eat it.
657
00:33:18,000 --> 00:33:19,675
I brought a fruit cake to the dinner.
658
00:33:19,759 --> 00:33:21,836
I think people do that.
659
00:33:21,920 --> 00:33:24,435
I think they do. I think that's a thing.
660
00:33:24,519 --> 00:33:26,235
I think they know
no one's gonna eat it.
661
00:33:26,319 --> 00:33:27,356
{\an8}Here's what you do with fruit cake.
662
00:33:27,440 --> 00:33:29,796
{\an8}You make it and then you put it
in the garbage.
663
00:33:29,880 --> 00:33:33,475
- I mean, who buys that?
- I don't know, but stop it.
664
00:33:33,559 --> 00:33:36,275
- What exactly is pound cake?
- Delicious.
665
00:33:36,359 --> 00:33:39,955
- Really?
- Yeah. What do you mean by "really"?
666
00:33:40,039 --> 00:33:42,515
Isn't that the one with the fruit gelled
inside of it?
667
00:33:42,599 --> 00:33:46,599
That's a fruit cake.
No, that's trash.
668
00:33:49,680 --> 00:33:53,275
Moving on. As I said, this is
our final episode of the year,
669
00:33:53,359 --> 00:33:54,755
and we had a lot of fun.
670
00:33:54,839 --> 00:33:57,435
We talked about everything
from dollar stores to McKinsey
671
00:33:57,519 --> 00:33:59,876
to why Ron DeSantis
shouldn't be president,
672
00:33:59,960 --> 00:34:02,435
which seemed at the time
like an important thing to do,
673
00:34:02,519 --> 00:34:05,596
although he's now making that argument
pretty effectively himself.
674
00:34:05,680 --> 00:34:07,796
We made our own episode
of "Thomas the Tank Engine",
675
00:34:07,880 --> 00:34:10,276
which meant that our staff could play
with trains for a week.
676
00:34:10,360 --> 00:34:14,316
Wanda Jo came back to help me start
a timeshare exit company exit company.
677
00:34:14,400 --> 00:34:17,400
We hid an entire episode
on Chuck E. Cheese inside an episode
678
00:34:17,480 --> 00:34:19,075
about homeowners associations,
679
00:34:19,159 --> 00:34:22,916
{\an8}which you can actually still watch
at Last-Squeak-Tonight-dot-com.
680
00:34:23,000 --> 00:34:26,276
I set fire to a lettuce for reasons
that I don't fully remember.
681
00:34:26,360 --> 00:34:29,075
We challenged an Austin, Texas
plumbing company to create an ad
682
00:34:29,159 --> 00:34:30,876
based on the movie "Magnolia"
683
00:34:30,960 --> 00:34:33,199
and they fucking delivered
on that challenge.
684
00:34:33,840 --> 00:34:38,396
And we announced plans to steal the
"Steamboat Willie" Mickey Mouse
685
00:34:38,480 --> 00:34:40,635
ahead of him entering public domain
next year,
686
00:34:40,719 --> 00:34:43,515
which was, I admit,
a little bit legally dicey.
687
00:34:43,599 --> 00:34:45,635
And speaking of which, hey, Mickey?
688
00:34:45,719 --> 00:34:51,716
Mickey, did Disney ever sue us
over that?
689
00:34:51,800 --> 00:34:52,840
Nope!
690
00:34:53,159 --> 00:34:56,155
So, should we take that as a green light
that we can do whatever we want
691
00:34:56,239 --> 00:34:57,679
with you in the future?
692
00:34:58,920 --> 00:35:00,515
I don't see why the fuck not!
693
00:35:00,599 --> 00:35:02,920
Me neither,
that's good news, buddy!
694
00:35:04,000 --> 00:35:07,350
And of course, we entered New
Zealand's Bird of the Century contest,
695
00:35:07,400 --> 00:35:09,555
and got hundreds of thousands
of people to write
696
00:35:09,639 --> 00:35:13,155
the Puteketeke
into bird history books forever.
697
00:35:13,239 --> 00:35:16,756
By the way, I'm excited to say our giant
Puteketeke puppet is going
698
00:35:16,840 --> 00:35:20,035
to New Zealand to be put
on display there.
699
00:35:20,119 --> 00:35:21,475
We don't know exactly where yet,
700
00:35:21,559 --> 00:35:24,196
but we do know that Air New Zealand
has offered to fly it for free.
701
00:35:24,280 --> 00:35:27,236
So let me just apologize in advance
to all of its seatmates.
702
00:35:27,320 --> 00:35:30,440
That's gonna be a rough flight
for all of you.
703
00:35:30,920 --> 00:35:32,820
But this was also a weird year for us.
704
00:35:32,880 --> 00:35:34,155
Because, as you may have noticed,
705
00:35:34,239 --> 00:35:39,035
we were off the air for five straight
months, as for 148 days,
706
00:35:39,119 --> 00:35:41,435
all 13 of our writers were on strike,
707
00:35:41,519 --> 00:35:44,595
and we truly,
sincerely missed eight of them.
708
00:35:44,679 --> 00:35:48,115
And while I'm happy the Writers Guild
eventually got a good contract,
709
00:35:48,199 --> 00:35:51,075
I'm a little disappointed the strike
meant that we couldn't do
710
00:35:51,159 --> 00:35:52,515
some of the stories
that we'd planned.
711
00:35:52,599 --> 00:35:53,955
Although, I will say, some cases,
712
00:35:54,039 --> 00:35:56,155
I was actually pretty grateful
that a story didn't run.
713
00:35:56,239 --> 00:35:58,075
Like the one we'd planned for in May
714
00:35:58,159 --> 00:36:01,916
about how the future of private undersea
exploration is the Titan submersible.
715
00:36:02,000 --> 00:36:05,155
That could've dated pretty badly,
so I'm glad it didn't happen.
716
00:36:05,239 --> 00:36:07,716
But there were others I really
wish that we could've aired,
717
00:36:07,800 --> 00:36:11,075
like our piece on pet insurance,
or elder abuse in dentistry,
718
00:36:11,159 --> 00:36:13,035
or floors, the butts of houses.
719
00:36:13,119 --> 00:36:15,756
We all have floors, but most of us
think about them so little
720
00:36:15,840 --> 00:36:19,316
that you didn't even realize that's not
a floor. That's a ceiling, you idiot!
721
00:36:19,400 --> 00:36:21,519
I got you! I got you so good.
722
00:36:22,639 --> 00:36:25,155
There were so many stories
that we couldn't do,
723
00:36:25,239 --> 00:36:27,236
and while I can't recap them all,
I will try and knock out
724
00:36:27,320 --> 00:36:28,955
a few as quick as I can.
725
00:36:29,039 --> 00:36:31,196
There was bee theft. Beehives have
been stolen across the country.
726
00:36:31,280 --> 00:36:33,676
They're valuable because
of how critical bees are in pollinating
727
00:36:33,760 --> 00:36:35,075
California's almond crops.
728
00:36:35,159 --> 00:36:36,836
And the fact that bees
are all but untraceable
729
00:36:36,920 --> 00:36:38,515
makes bee theft a lucrative crime.
730
00:36:38,599 --> 00:36:39,635
There was designer dogs,
731
00:36:39,719 --> 00:36:43,236
why rich people like making golden
retrievers and poodles fuck.
732
00:36:43,320 --> 00:36:45,236
That one would have ended
with a live dog orgy on stage.
733
00:36:45,320 --> 00:36:47,876
We still had the orgy,
we just didn't do the show.
734
00:36:47,960 --> 00:36:49,716
Blood oranges. Spoiler alert,
735
00:36:49,800 --> 00:36:51,716
they're not called that
because of their insides.
736
00:36:51,800 --> 00:36:55,035
The Statue of Liberty.
She actually coughed once in 1967
737
00:36:55,119 --> 00:36:57,639
and no one is talking about it.
738
00:36:58,159 --> 00:36:59,876
We had a whole story on Unilever.
739
00:36:59,960 --> 00:37:03,035
One company makes mayonnaise,
Q-Tips, and Klondike bars?
740
00:37:03,119 --> 00:37:04,519
That's fucked up!
741
00:37:05,280 --> 00:37:07,595
Probably. Honestly, we never got
to the bottom of that one,
742
00:37:07,679 --> 00:37:09,155
and now we never will.
743
00:37:09,239 --> 00:37:12,396
Finally, headlights. You're not wrong,
they are actually brighter now,
744
00:37:12,480 --> 00:37:14,876
for reasons including the rise
in the use of bluer LED lights
745
00:37:14,960 --> 00:37:17,595
and issues with headlight aim
and alignment,
746
00:37:17,679 --> 00:37:20,435
all of which makes everyone driving
at night feel at best, blind,
747
00:37:20,519 --> 00:37:22,679
and, at worst, completely insane.
748
00:37:23,119 --> 00:37:25,836
We planned to motivate lawmakers
to move faster to address this
749
00:37:25,920 --> 00:37:28,356
this by pointing blinding floodlights
at congressional offices,
750
00:37:28,440 --> 00:37:30,515
but we ran out of time and money
and also,
751
00:37:30,599 --> 00:37:33,280
legal flagged that move
as "terrorism".
752
00:37:33,760 --> 00:37:37,155
Sadly, none of those stories
will see the light of day.
753
00:37:37,239 --> 00:37:40,196
If you're thinking, "couldn't you just
do them next season?" No, we can't.
754
00:37:40,280 --> 00:37:44,316
We have a tradition of shredding all
our scripts at the end of every year
755
00:37:44,400 --> 00:37:47,920
and starting over fresh.
Our process is our process.
756
00:37:48,400 --> 00:37:50,475
But with that, that's it,
757
00:37:50,559 --> 00:37:54,836
all that's left to do at the end
of this, our 10th season,
758
00:37:54,920 --> 00:37:57,595
is to say goodbye to our giant puppet.
759
00:37:57,679 --> 00:38:00,639
Safe travels, my friend!
Save travels to you.
760
00:38:01,199 --> 00:38:03,635
We will miss you,
but you're going where you belong.
761
00:38:03,719 --> 00:38:06,756
And remember, you will always be
New Zealand's Bird of the Century,
762
00:38:06,840 --> 00:38:09,515
whether they like it or not.
But that is it!
763
00:38:09,599 --> 00:38:12,199
Thank you so much to everyone
for watching this year!
764
00:38:12,239 --> 00:38:16,555
Thank you to our staff for working
so hard. We'll be back next February,
765
00:38:16,639 --> 00:38:18,515
and we'll see you then. Good night!
766
00:38:18,599 --> 00:38:23,679
Fly away! Puteketeke!
68592
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