Episode 132 - Podcasting, Politics & Porch Tours: Catching Up with Rob Bernstein
Many things are happening around us that challenge the way we live and see the world. Given the changing circumstances of today, we need to think about the actions and choices we want to make to rise above the personal and political crises we are facing. This includes making lifestyle changes and political choices that could bring about greater good for everyone.
In this episode, Rob Bernstein shares what he’s been up to amid the pandemic. He also brings meaningful insights about US politics to the table. He casually catches up with Max to bring a new perspective on socially relevant things, considering the current clash of the pandemic and US presidential elections.
Tune in to the episode to learn about Rob’s insights on podcasting, politics, and comedian career.
About Rob Bernstein
Rob Bernstein is a stand-up comedian and a podcast host. He hosts the Run Your Mouth podcast and co-hosts the Part of the Problem podcast with Dave Smith. He is currently working on new projects and doing a summer porch torch.
To know more about Rob and his work, visit his website. You can also connect with him through Twitter.
Sponsor: Techmeme Ride Home Podcast
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Here are three reasons why you should listen to the episode:
Rob shares how he is navigating the pandemic as a stand-up comedian and podcaster.
Rob and Max exchange fond memories about people they encountered in New York City.
You’ll get to listen to Max and Rob share their insights and ramblings on the upcoming US presidential elections.
Resources
Check out Rob’s upcoming shows.
Find Rob’s Newsroom web series on his YouTube channel.
Run Your Mouth Podcast by Rob Bernstein
Part of the Problem Podcast by Rob Berstein and Dave Smith
Related Episodes
Episode 17 with Rob Bernstein’s first appearance
Episode Highlights
The Comedy Scene Amid the Pandemic
There are still people trying to make shows happen.
Rob has some backdoor shows lined up. This is his way to continuously hone his comedian skills while the comedy scene lays low due to the pandemic.
Rob’s challenge is not being able to do constant shows in his home base, New York City, to polish his bigger shows outside the city.
Life in Lockdown
Besides working on podcasts remotely, Rob has been doing other projects like writing and filming sketches.
The pandemic has changed his lifestyle—from working late nights to spending evenings watching shows on Netflix.
Rob enjoys working and podcasting from home.
Rob’s Porch Tours
Rob came up with the idea of doing shows on people’s porches because he wanted to see what kind of relationship that model could build with his audience.
He had connected with different people through his past porch tours and collaborated on some projects.
He is preparing for an upcoming porch tour in the tri-state area.
The porch tour is a unique and fun experience. It can be awkward walking into random porches, but Rob shares that it’s part of the thrill.
New York’s Government
Max and Rob’s conversation about people, parties, and encounters with homeless people in New York led them to talk about New York’s current political situation.
Homeless people are being housed in hotels. These hotels may have done their homework before housing the homeless, but Rob still thinks this can decrease hotel value.
Rich people are being asked to come back to the city. However, crime rates and undesirable activities in New York make it less appealing for them.
Listen to the full episode to hear more of their opinions about past and present New York City leadership.
Ramblings About US Politics
Rob had a comedy coverage of the 2016 presidential elections.
They talk about Joe Biden and his recent political moves. Do Max and Rob think he will win? Listen to the full episode to find out.
Rob thinks the debates won’t be live this year.
He also thinks the voting bloc that flipped from Barack Obama to Donald Trump will be the decisive factor on whether or not Trump will win a second term.
The social media landscape now is also very political and influential compared to when the last elections happened.
5 Powerful Quotes from This Episode
“I’m just trying to line up some backdoor shows and, you know, stay as sharp as I can.”
“I like the idea of, like, community feel and really trying to, like, as much as possible, have a personal relationship with (my fans).”
“In terms of an awkward experience, you know how many shitty comedy shows I’ve done? To me, that’s like part of the thrill of trying to do the summer porch tours.”
“Isn't that amazing that there's so much in life that's just ruined because there's one person there? And I kind of feel like that's the tragedy of homeless people.”
“When there was only CNN, then there's only CNN. That was what the news was. Internet kind of ruined that for them because I can get all sorts of news. But if, like now, when people tell me to go to Facebook and Twitter, all the contrarian opinions are being deleted, and the only thing you're getting is, you know, whatever that CNN party line is.”
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To expanding perspectives,
Max
Transcript
Max Sklar: You're listening to The Local Maximum Episode 132.
Time to expand your perspective. Welcome to The Local Maximum. Now here's your host, Max Sklar.
Max Sklar: You’ve reached another Local Maximum. Welcome to the show. If you are expecting that we’re going to be talking about machine learning or software today, well, I’m sorry to disappoint you—we’re not going to go in that direction today—but we’re going to have a lot of fun. I am going to talk to Rob Bernstein again, host of the Run Your Mouth Podcast. He was one of my early guests way back in Episode 17. One thing to note—today's episode will be marked explicit. The reason for that is there are a few expletives sprinkled in around for emphasis that is common for some of these podcasts. If you're worried about this, you don't like that, consider not listening. It's not everywhere, I know some of you are like, “Oh, this is gonna be good now. You’re gonna be like...” Now, some of you really want to watch this.
We're going to be talking about podcasting, we're going to be talking about comedy, a little bit of the political situation now—Trump, Biden, Kamala Harris, a little bit of what's going on in New York. So it's more of a catch-up episode. I really enjoyed the conversation. Next week, I think I'm going to swing the pendulum all the way back the other way and go hard math on you, so watch out for that. Alright, my next guest is the host of the Run Your Mouth Podcast and co-host of Part of the Problem Podcasts on Gas Digital Network, and his content covers a tremendous range, Rob Bernstein.
Rob Bernstein: I'm happy to be on with big corporate censors. What a thrill.
Max: Rob Bernstein, you've reached the Local Maximum. Welcome to the show.
Rob: Thanks for having me, buddy.
Max: So, what were we talking about? There's a lot of things we could talk about today. You know, last time we talked was like what—not the last time we talked—but the last time you were on my show was 2018. That was like, that feels like 1000 years ago.
Rob: It does.
Max: I mean, it's...I don't even know how to describe it. Your show—Episode Number 17. You're the first one I had on the show who I didn't know beforehand. Did you know that?
Rob: I did not know that.
Max: Yeah, no. And that so that was a big deal for me.
Rob: And I opened you up to, “Hey, I can trust random people.”
Max: Yeah, yeah. I can, and I was like, “Yeah, I can trust random people. Surprising, huh?”
Rob: I mean, I came up into your office, filthy comic. I didn't wreck anything. I didn't steal nothing. I sat in the conference room.
Max: That we know of.
Rob: I didn't make other employees feel uncomfortable. I was very, very gracious.
Max: Yeah. Well, alright. So it's now 2020, and we have a lot to talk about. I'm glad we're all still alive here in 2020. And so, you're not in New York anymore, so let's talk about that, like where what happened?
Rob: What happened? You know my lease was up and who the hell wants to pay rent in New York City right now?
Max: Oh, my god. It's got so bad. So like what does that mean for the comedy scene? Is it just done? Like how are they just gonna be able to restart, or is it just…?
Rob: You mean comics; I'm not one of them right now, but comics are going at it. From what I understand, there's been a lot of shows that, like Parks, I'm not really there, so I don't know quite like the extent by which people are hustling and trying to make shows happen, but I think people are out doing it. I know, myself, I'm starting to line up my backyard comedy shows just hitting up my own fans being like, “Who the hell wants to throw a show?” and trying to put them together. I got two coming up—actually, I got three coming up. It's not enough. The big problem with that or what I don't like about playing to your audience, especially in that capacity, is that, usually when I actually get up in front of my fans or like the Part of the Problem fans, I got like polished 20 minutes—or whatever it is—I got a polished half-hour, and I can go to your city once a year and actually make money off my comedy because I'm like presenting the polished 30 minutes. But without being able to get up like in front of randoms in New York City to constantly polish and have new stuff, like you can't—I can't go to Baltimore twice now to do the same half-hour in front of people who are actually paying to see me. So I'm not really sure what the model for me is going to be, but at the moment, I'm just trying to line up some backdoor shows, and you know, stay as sharp as I can.
Max: Alright. Where the show's gonna be? In Connecticut or…?
Rob: No, I'm doing one August 21st outside Baltimore. A fan of Run Your Mouth built us a stage. He put out banners; he’s got a sound system. I think there's like 100 people coming out for that—he's got a big ass property. And then, August 22nd, I'm doing one in Philly. Just another random fan. For people who are showing up, we're going to barbecue. Doing a show this Friday night in Philly on a rooftop. So that's kind of what I'm looking at the moment—a kind of private backyard and rooftop shows.
Max: Cool. If there's one in the area in New York or Connecticut, let me know. I'm definitely down to head out there. So, yeah. So how's the podcasting going? Where does that leave the podcast now? Are you all doing it remote? Just like...
Rob: Yeah. I mean, podcasting has been great. I've been working on a lot of other projects. I'm writing a lot of stuff. I'm starting to film some sketches. So in that regard—I mean, there are nights, though, that I'm just like bored, and I've watched more Netflix over the last three months I have in the last three years. So that's definitely like a change in my lifestyle is that, evenings that I was definitely out working, I'm now just home kind of twiddling my thumbs, but yeah, no, I still Run Your Mouth. I think content and quality has been up because I got more time to put them together. Part of the Problem, I do remotely probably once or twice a week. I actually kind of prefer the remote format because Dave has to listen to me a little more.
Max: Yeah.
Rob: But yeah, podcasting’s great; you can do it from anywhere. It's easy. It's fun.
Max: Yeah, I found...I mean, I don't know there's something that you miss that's like in person that's a little better, especially sometimes…
Rob: I don’t like leaving the house; I prefer this. I'm like good. I don't need to be in a room.
Max: Yeah, I don't know. Sometimes, man. Yeah, but you don't interview—you don't do like tech interviews—and sometimes with some of those, and they're not podcasters, and they're not funny, and sometimes you really have to focus to get something good out. And I don't know; it's different. I'd rather have the person there.
Rob: Alright, I'm lazy. Even when I do Run Your Mouth, like I actually like the phone call because I can put them together for short segments, and then, like, I can kind of...
Max: But I need to get some with a good microphone, too. I'm never, you know.
Rob: Yeah, that’s an issue. The way I like to do it on my show—I’m the only person I know that does it this way—is I tell people I'm going to have them on for 10 minutes segment, and I find the advantages that if it's going well, we can go for 45, 50 minutes, an hour. Great, let's fill it up. And if they're kinda not at all that interesting, I can get them off within 10 minutes, and they don't feel like I cut them short. That's been my approach, and that's also why I like phone calls. I can be really deedy about it, and like the format's real flexible, but I'm the only person I know that does it that way, where I’ll do three guest calls on one episode; most people like to have one guest.
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So you've got like a porch tour coming up. I was on your porch tour two years ago. I think we missed it last year.
Rob: Yeah, it’s one episode.
Max: Yeah, yeah. We missed it last year. And I know I’m supposed to do it, but I kept trying to… I had my…
Rob: Oh, yeah, ‘cause your friend didn't like me. You wanted to do it at your friend's place because he had the nicer porch, and then he checked out my content and said, “I can't have this bigot over,” and it fell through.
Max: I don't think that's what happened.
Rob: That's what happened. I remember. I have a good memory, Max. You’re like, “My rich friend has this incredible porch. It should be interesting to talk to.” And then he checked out my stuff, and he's like, “Max. You shouldn't even be listening to this.”
Max: I think if my friend heard you say that, he'd be completely like, “This is like Bizarro backward land.” But, okay.
Rob: I’m not for everyone, I'm not upset or offended. I'm just telling you, that's what happened—he uninvited us.
Max: So, what happens this time? You just go over to random people's porches and see what happens? I thought you said you were lazy? Now, you're getting out there.
Rob: Well, alright. Here's all the summer porch story that came today. I found, when I was in New York City, I never—I didn't have a car at the time—so I felt like I was missing out on summer because I was just in New York City inside my apartment.
Max: Yeah.
Rob: And so the summer porch show, if anything, I like sitting on a porch, and I was like, let's be weird. Let's go to, whoever hits me up—I was also kind of curious to get a feel for like how many people were listening to the show or what the engagement was. I’m also a big fan of Grateful Dead from a marketing perspective. I like the idea of community feel and really trying to like, as much as possible, have a personal relationship with...like, that's what I'm trying to craft, as much as possible, and I think there's a vibe to it. Firstly, it's what I enjoy, so it's genuine, but I also think that over time, it's going to become an interesting model of do-it-yourself direct relationship, you know, just doing shows in my fans’ houses. I think it's more interesting than—anyways, long story short—I like hanging out on a porch. So we put out the call, “Hey, if you got a porch, you’re in the tri-state area, invite me over. We're going to do an episode from your porch.” And it's been fun because every person I meet is like different, and so every episode turns out to be really weird and different. I became really good friends with the Shedcast guys I'm doing like a whole bunch of episodes with now.
I revisited a guy I was at last year. Now, this year, we shotgun, so it's interesting because all the personalities are like returning and we're building off of it, and now we're in year three, and we're actually doing legit comedy shows with stages in people's yards. I'm hoping by next year—because I'm getting so many inquiries from out west—that I can really do like a full cross country drive and like a new episode every week, but I don't know, man. I love doing it. It's fucking weird. I like it now. Meeting new people; it forces me to do so. And so we put out the call, summer porch, sure. For fans of the show, hit us up if you're in the tri-state area. We'll do a show from your porch with you on it.
Max: Let me ask a question. Have you ever gone on someone's porch and be like, “Man, I am not comfortable here. I shouldn't be here.
Rob: So the answer is like not exactly.
Max: It could happen.
Rob: Firstly, it definitely could happen. I think I have a remarkable skill to de-escalate situations. Firstly, I don't think my fanbase is so large that there's some creep that's listening to the show that wants to invite me over to their porch to do something weird. I just really, like I don't even have them in my head as being a risk.
Max: Sure. Yeah, yeah.
Rob: I just don't see that. In terms of an awkward experience, you know, many shitty comedy shows I've done. To me, that's like part of the thrill of trying to do the summer porch stories. I don't know going into, it's gonna be fucking weird. I'm interacting with some random person from their house on their porch. Thus far, they've all been fun. Am I going to do one with someone who's a total fucking...like, I mean, whatever. That's the thrill of the summer porch. I don't know where I was going to go. We’re interacting with someone I never met. Let's fucking do it.
Max: No. I mean, that's part of the excitement of it. I was just curious if you had any situations. I mean, I don't know when I was younger, when I was in my 20s in the city, like I would go to whatever party anyone invited me to and some of them weren't rooftops, aren’t they?
Rob: Rooftop is like one or two a year, and so, yeah, it’s easy to put it...
Max: Yes, it’s two a year, and one of them would be like, “Oh, shit. I really shouldn't be here.”
Rob: Why? What would be a party that you would walk into and just—by the way, you should know, I feel that every single place I go to ever like. Like, I'm uncomfortable, especially like I'm claustrophobic. That's one of the things I don't like about New York City—everything feels fucking cramped. And social anxiety, like I like being at places if it's work-related. If it's not work-related, I got no interest in being there; I want to be back at home in my apartment. I mean, curious for you, what is like the party that you walk into, you're just like, “Shit, I shouldn't be here”?
Max: Okay, well. I'll give two examples. There was one when I was on like a rooftop party and got busted by the cops. But I wasn't like—it wasn't that I wasn’t supposed to be there—like it was like a friend of a friend of a friend's type situation. And like, I just ended up there on the fluke. And I'm like, “Now, I'm gonna get arrested because these guys are making too much noise.” But yeah, like, I don't know, the police came and asked for everybody's ID, and I just kind of slipped out the back and walked out.
Rob: Nice, nice.
Max: So that was a little weird. And there was one new year, I wasn't even living in the city yet. Was I living in the city? Oh, no, I was—New Year's 2007. New Year's 2007. That's my first New Year's in the city. I ended up at somebody's apartment with my cousins. And it was, I don't know—people were stoned, drunk out of their minds and fallen on the floor, I saw vomit. I was like, I don't know, I wasn't nervous. I was like, “Hey, it's actually kind of cool that I'm seeing this right now. Like, I wouldn't get to see this as other places.” I don't know, maybe you see that more, but it was really bad.
Rob: Sounds like a good party. If that one showed up to a party, this was in college to be sure.
Max: Well, it was a little over the time. It was little like I'm afraid some of these people are gonna get really hurt, and then I'm gonna have to deal with that.
Rob: Man. That's just nervous Jew energy. I once went to a party. It was like, I don't know, some summer in college, and I went with a good friend of mine. We drove, I think, like in Fairfield. We show up to some really nice house. There's like, you know, cars going all the way up the fucking street, and we're walking towards the front door. And as we walked through the front door, some guy’s being carried out by his friend because he just shot his pants.
Max: Oh, my god.
Rob: My first reaction was like, “Fuck,” I was like, “This gonna be a good fucking party.”
Max: Yeah.
Rob: You know, like I see what's going on in there? Are you kidding me? This guy’s getting carried out because he shot himself, you must have some fun stuff going on in there.
Max: I haven't been. Yeah, I haven't been to one of those in a long time. I guess it's not really very socially distant to have defecation in the middle of...although it feels like the Sixth Avenue is now that party every night, every day.
Rob: It's just every just all homeless people pitching up on the street.
Max: No, so I was in the office, in the Foursquare office for like the first time—not for the first time—but like one of the first times in a long time today. And I was like, “Okay, let's go to my sandwich shop,” that's like two blocks away on 6th Avenue and, I think, 24th. So I have to walk between 23rd and 24th, and like, it's just all lines with people. I want to say “like a tent city,” but there are no tents. They just have like all their stuff, and there's like, I don't know, every three sidewalk squares is like another zone, another person living there with all their junk? And I don’t know, I’ve seen someone sleeping in a—what are one of those things—a shopping cart. I saw someone sleeping in a shopping cart today. I don't...that's weird. I've never seen that before.
Rob: I was thinking about this because I was reading about all the homeless situations that's currently in New York City, and part of your brain, like it breaks your heart really. Like, “Man, these people are really in trouble.” But then I was also thinking about like, all of life is kind of in—we've all had this situation. You might have even been this kid that I'm about to describe. But you're hanging out with all your friends, and then one person that you don't like shows up, and it just ruins the entire hang.
Max: Oh, yeah.
Rob: And like it's amazing that you could be with your five best friends in the entire world, and you could be going, I don't know, to an amusement park or you could be going to meet women, you could be going and play poker—whatever your favorite activity is. It could be with five of your favorite people, going to do your favorite activity, and because there's this one person that you don't like there, it just ruins the entire thing. There's nothing enjoyable about it.
Max: They always have some reason why you can't say no to them, like you think, “Oh, just just say no.” And then somehow, they have some sneaky way of getting in to the group.
Rob: But isn't that amazing that there's so much of life that's just ruined because there's one person there? And I kind of feel like that's the tragedy of homeless people. It’s that they are the quintessential person you don't want in the group. You don't even want to see him. You don't want to be around them, obviously, because they're crazy, and they've got problems, and they're homeless, and they smell all the negatives of..or if you try to help them, you're not going to be able to help them because their life's a mess, and this is gonna become their decision.
Max: That’s the saddest thing. It's like, I don't know what to do, and I've got a job to do usually during the day, and it's like...
Rob: No, but that's the point. You want to be able to live in your area. You pay a shit ton and rent, and you want to be able to excel to your job, be able to leave your job, and go about your life. But at the end of the day, all of us don't want to see or deal with these people, which puts them into a weird position. Because if, let's say, just government didn't exist, we would be in gated communities or some sort of arrangement where like, this wouldn't just build up. You know what I mean?
Max: Yeah.
Rob: It's like an allowance of the government that this builds up. And on the same note, you're like, “Wait, but so the government's gonna like forcibly do what with these people?” How's that gonna work? That doesn't sound very nice. Like it’s kind of...
Max: Well, in the Upper West Side, haven't they moved in like…
Rob: Hotels? They’re putting them in hotels.
Max: Yeah.
Rob: They won't even tell us how much money, but they're spending 175 bucks a night to put these people up in the hotels, which firstly, I'm going to guess at the end of those people stay in the hotels, that hotel value decrease is not going to have been worth housing these people. But you know, I guess they're doing their homework. They know what their government check store are or what they need to do to keep some contracts alive or whatever the hell it is.
Max: But well, who's staying at those hotels now? Probably, I mean, they probably wouldn't be in trouble, you know, filling up rooms as it is. So I guess they need the money.
Rob: Yeah, but I mean, it's incredible that you got—what's his name? Who's the governor? I just forgot his name.
Max: Cuomo?
Rob: Yeah, you got Cuomo, who's begging rich people to come back to the city because he needs their tax dollars.
Max: Oh, yeah.
Rob: And at the same time, they're allowing the property value of these people to depreciate because their neighborhoods are becoming overrun with, let's just say, undesirables and undesirable activities, and also, they don't want to live in these areas now. So how's that gonna work? How are you going to get the tax dollars that you want or the people that you want living in these areas if you're also letting them turn to shit? You can't have it both ways.
Max: And, you know, de Blasio said, “We're not gonna pander to the rich anymore in this city.”
Rob: Right. They’re gonna go bankrupt, and it's going to be a cesspool of crime.
Max: But I don’t know, is not having crime pandering to the rich? I mean, we all want no crime. You know, I don't know what he wants there. But yeah, I never thought I'd miss Bloomberg, and I know I'm kind of gonna be, well, if I said that, I’m like part of the problem. I'd be pummeled or whatever, but seriously, like, I mean, I have no illusion. Michael Bloomberg, you know, in terms of the nanny state, he was the nanniest, and he would have locked the shit down during COVID like no one else, but he would have come up with a way for it not to be that bad economically. He would have come up with better ideas. Like, he understands that, you know, the city has to be run and the city needs money coming in, in the long run. And the current leadership, de Blasio, they're just milking it for all they got. They've got what? Two years left? A year and a half?
Rob: de Blasio is an idiot. I mean, I don't know what is long term, you know, plan is, but he's got no future in politics. He's been outed as being an idiot. He tried running for president, and pulled it basically zero, so, you know. I don't know what his game plan is, but maybe he's just kind of, you know, checked out on this whole thing. Who knows?
Max: It's so weird. Like in every election for mayor of New York City that I can remember, there was like a huge debate about it. And then like, you know, Bloomberg versus all the people he ran against—Mark Green, Ferrer, all that, Giuliani a big deal. And then, you know, 2013 rolls around, and the mayoral election is like, eh, he just kind of walks right in and takes it. Nobody really finds out anything about him.
Rob: It wasn't, from what I recall, it wasn't that it was all that at. It was, after three terms of Republican.
Max: Yeah—five. Five terms.
Rob: Oh, yeah, yeah.
Max: The two of Ju…20 years.
Rob: Yeah, yeah.
Max: But it was the three in a row of—what's his name—that he managed to extend his term, which already felt like being imposed upon so you're gonna see a switch. The people that ran against de Blasio, one of them was that Gristedes guy, who literally looks like a villain.
Max: Oh, Gristedes. Yeah ‘cause he charges too much for the groceries.
Rob: That could be true too, but I'm just saying he looks like a villain out of Spiderman.
Max: He didn't actually won. He didn't actually win in the Republican…
Rob: No, he ran.
Max: Yeah, but he didn't get to Republican...
Rob: I thought he were in Republican.
Max: Yeah, he was.
Rob: Anyway, de Blasio was an early kinda riding the bull train thing, that he went out there and he's like, “Look, I got a black wife, black kids,” and people in New York City kind of thought that that was really cool, especially as they were looking for something a little bit more Liberal. And also, people really didn't like the stop and frisk policy.
Max: Yeah.
Rob: So, you know, he kind of rode that, but even so, I mean, he won his second term in a fucking land. Like, I don't even remember him being much opposed despite the fact that his first term, I don't think people were, you know, I don't know...
Max: Nobody was paying attention. I don't think if you ask voters like what's de Blasio been up to his first term if they were voting from the second term, I don't think people could have told you very much.
Rob: Nah. Yeah, I think you're right. Yep.
Max: And I think the first term, like the city was just kind of coasting. You know.
Rob: Yeah.
Max: Yeah. And now we're in real trouble. So, but yeah. Anyway, I am really excited about you. I'm really excited that I have a podcast for this election season. Like, it's the next three months. I mean, I don't even know, like people here expecting tech talks and stuff are gonna be like, “What happened to the Local Maximum?” But it's gonna be exciting. Did you have a podcast in 2016? Were you in the podaverse?
Rob: I think, no.
Max: No?
Rob: I started my podcast right after Trump got elected, but prior to that, I was doing a web series, “Rob's Newsroom.” And I got to tell you, that election, I did the funniest and best coverage of it than anybody. I mean, you can go back and watch it, that shit, my presidential coverage.
Max: But they have YouTube?
Rob: Yeah, it's all there. The problem is it's political, so it's super dated. But the best episode I did was on the Hillary Clinton email scandal. I still remember the jokes from that. They were incredible jokes. You know, you guys can go look that up. It's all there. I actually got a website, robbiethefire.com. It's all there on one page. You can check it out. But no, I'm telling you, dude, I did great, really funny coverage of that election cycle on that, and then I started doing, you know, that kind of died out, and I started doing the podcast. I've been doing this since.
Max: Yeah, I don't know how funny I could be, but I feel like...I don't know what's gonna happen, and I hate to admit this, but like, it's gonna be the Democratic Convention next week and the debates, like I am just nervous for Joe Biden. Like, there's a lot I don’t like about him, but I'm like, every time he walks out, I'm nervous. What’s he going to say? What's he going to do?
Rob: He's going to tell you that Kamala has taken over the second they get in. I mean, he's like literally just saying that. He tweeted today, “Hey, I wanted to pick someone who would be ready from day one.” I don't think...I think he's, I don't know. I don't know what his plan is. But I said at the day he announced he was running, “This guy's really dumb.” And we just keep seeing how dumb he is and just wait till there's a little more exposure. This has been the best six months of that guy's life. He's been able to stay in his basement and just put out edited videos that were like, mostly pre-written.
Max: How is that...? I mean, it would be amazing if that strategy pays off. I don't see it, but like, I get it.
Rob: He can only hurt himself. People are going to show up and vote against Donald Trump.
Max: Yeah.
Rob: Because they're really upset with what's going on in the country. Unless Biden talks more, and people realize just how dumb he is, that's it. That's the only way—Biden can only beat himself right now.
Max: Yeah. I mean, he's gonna have to talk during the debates. Some people say that debates aren't going to happen or he's going to be replaced. I find it so, I don't think they can replace him. First of all, you can’t replace him…
Rob: They’re not going to replace him, but they will do the debates live. It's going to be an easier format for him to not have to like really be attacked.
Max: You mean they might do a Zoom debate?
Rob: Yeah. I can see that that’s easy.
Max: I feel like, I picture them doing a Zoom debate, and he starts talking and then like, once he starts saying something a little weird, the picture starts going all fuzzy, and it's like, “Oh…”
Rob: I could see that. That wouldn't surprise me one bit.
Max: That would be...so when you go through this like...
Rob: I mean, they gave, what was the story when they gave debate questions to him? They're in the business of propaganda. Like you think...
Max: Uh-oh. You're frozen.
Rob: I'm back. You froze on me.
Max: Okay, I think the issue—you froze on me—I think the debate moderators were trying to censor us a little bit there.
Rob: They're already going on after us.
Max: They're showing us, they’re like, “Oh, yeah. Well, that's what he can do.” No, I think, yeah. I think the moderators are going to get involved with the debates like they did in 2012, and that's just going to be—it's going to be Trump versus the moderators. Actually, that would be great for Biden. He could just sit back, get a moderator to debate Trump, and he doesn't have to do very much.
Rob: Yeah. I also, I can't quite...I haven't worked out this joke in my head. Like, I just can't figure out the funny on it yet, but there's something really offensive to minorities that the person that Biden ended up picking was Kamala Harris. In like, for months, he's saying, “Hey, we're going to find this qualified black lady.” And then the person he ended up bringing forward was the one that folded nothing in the polls because no one liked her. And the fact that it took him this much time in order to say, “Hey, this person has been here the whole time is the best option.” I don't know, there's something like, I can't quite pay it, but there's something offensive on both fronts. It's offensive to Kamala that it took him this long to pick her if she's actually the qualified person, and then there's something like offensive about going, “Hey, we're gonna find someone in this specific category who is qualified.” And then you come forward with basically someone that everyone rejected.
Max: Yeah. Even if you're gonna do that, like I don't see why he came out and said, “Oh, I'm gonna pick a woman.” If he was gonna do it—he should just do it. I feel that.
Rob: Because he wanted the woke points. It wasn't so much the, he was very specifically saying, “I don't care about the person being the most qualified or the most…” Like, “I don't care about any of this. The thing that I need is that the person who has a vagina.” And so—and he said that you know. And he’s sticking to it.
Max: I'm gonna be willing to it. Yeah, I'm going to kind of wait and see how this shakes out. But yeah, I don't get what he's trying to achieve there. Like, I totally understand why Obama picked Biden in 2008 even though Biden also didn't do very well in that presidential election in 2000. But the difference is like Kamala Harris was painted as the savior by the media. She was everywhere in like last year, right? And then she got almost no votes.
Rob: Well, you can tell, that gives you the insight that for some reason, the system really likes her. Whoever the real people with power are, the fact that a front, she got the biggest push and the most coverage, means that somebody—I don't know who. You know, if you want to go really conspiracy theory with it, you could say whatever the, you know—deep state fucking war machine thing is—that's who they want, and so they weren't able to get her as president because despite everything they tried to tell us. Everyone's like, “Nah, nah, nah. This whiny lady, I don't like her.” And so now they got her in as vice president. She probably will be president when Biden just goes, “Yeah, I've got dementia.”
Max: Yeah, yeah. Well, I want to compare this to like Obama 2008 picking Biden, you know. Biden didn't do too well in the presidential election, but you know, he did okay, but he wasn't expected to do well, you know. And he wasn't...I think he helped…
Rob: The deal with Biden…
Max: I think he helped Obama get like some of the midwestern states. I think that made people more comfortable voting for him; I think it balanced the ticket. Does that do this this time in some ways? But I don't know if it really will work.
Rob: No, I think part of the Biden thing was he was a long time senior, you know, mainstream Democrats. So Obama being the new guy, now had the endorsement of like, you know, the mainstay of the party. That was the idea there.
Max: And now we have insider-insider, basically. The Biden-Harris. So, yeah. Trump did the same thing, outsider-insider with Pence. So yeah, I don't know. Every time you're like, “These are the rules from the past election,” but then the election comes in, you're like, “This election could be new rules.” So I don't know.
Rob: I just don't see Biden end up winning this. I mean, unless people are so mad at Trump over Coronavirus, and they really see this as being his fault, that they just want him out, which is very likely. It's like that there are enough people—and it's not even enough people—there were already a ton of people that hated Trump no matter what. So it's just a matter of if the people that were okay with Trump, which is essentially the biggest, I think voting bloc of that is the white college-educated women, that demographic that had voted for Obama that flipped to Trump, that people still try to say was the racist. There’s so many racist in the country, and it's like, no, it was mostly the white college-educated women that flipped. But anyways, that's the demographic that if they're just kind of fed up with Trump,, you know, that's it.
Max: Yeah. I feel like the social media landscape is so different now than it was in 2016. Like, it really changed a lot. Like now, Facebook and Twitter are really heavy in terms of just, you know, getting the information out that they want to get out. But then it's also like other people see through that, and it's… I don't know, some...
Rob: Why do you think that is? I think it's because they..
Max: They made a concerted effort in 2016. Yeah.
Rob: They lost an election, and they realize…
Max: Which might not actually help the Democratic candidates. I don't know if they're, I don't know if they realize this, but they're like, “Yeah, let's all collude to,” you know, “blatantly help the Democrat.” That doesn't necessarily make the Democrats look good when people see that going on, but...
Rob: I think the average person is not aware that it's that level of collusion. I think they're just, yeah, I think it's now not at this level, but it's like when there was only CNN, there's only CNN. That was what the news was. Internet kind of ruin that for them because I can get all sorts of news.
Max: Yeah, with all the crazy people talking.
Rob: Like now, when you go to Facebook and Twitter, all the contrary and opinions are being deleted, and the only thing you're getting is, you know, whatever that CNN party line is. Those platforms become an extension of what CNN was, you know, five years ago.
Max: Yeah. Now you just see everything, and that's driving us crazy. Maybe, but I don't know. Maybe it's maybe giving us more potential avenues to find the truth in different situations, but who knows? Alright. Cool, you said...oh, yeah, one thing, if you're filming some sketches, I was in sketch comedy in college, so if you ever have a character that meets my description, let me know I'll come out do it.
Rob: Alright. You got it, man.
Max: Okay, great.
Rob: Oh, come up. I'm not lying. That's good to know, like, there'll be an arc type for you, I will take you up on that.
Max: Hey, I can be an actor too. So if you want something that totally doesn't fit my description, but see if I could cut it, I'd be willing to give it a shot.
Rob: Alright, I'm gonna take you up on that.
Max: Alright, awesome. Yeah, I will come over and do that wherever you do those filming. So I was in Fifth Humor in college. It was like the sketch comedy group at my school, and it was a lot of fun. We made all these videos. I actually found them all recently because, during quarantine, I was like, I was digitizing all my videos, my whole video collection, and I probably have some stuff that...
Rob: I love the way that people that don't drink spend their time. You hear that, and you're like, “Alright, you know what, drinking is fine.”
Max: Well, I don't know. It made me miss the whole sketch comedy group situation. So, yeah. I'd make time for that. So alright, Rob, thanks for coming on the show. Really appreciate it, and maybe we could do a porch tour sometime in Connecticut.
Rob: Summer porch tour.
Max: Alright. Take care.
Rob: Alright later. Bye. Thank you.
Max: Okay, we've got a change of pace next week. If all goes according to plan, I'm going to talk to Aaron about a branch of mathematics known as topology. If you don't know what that is, I'll try to catch you up. And you might want to know why I've been looking into it recently. So don't miss that next week. Have a great week, everyone.
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