Chapter 1: What makes Mike Pesca a notable guest on this episode?
I love being dramatic because why would you ever deal with any emotion in a logical way when you could have the option of absolutely losing your mind?
On this episode of The Commercial Break...
Maybe that person had a podcast lower rating. I think that might be the case.
It might be the case.
And this guy's like, I'm playing ho-hos in Hocus. I'm busting my ass. And this ball damn effort.
The next episode of the commercial break starts now. Welcome back to the commercial break. I'm Brian Green. This is my dear friend and co-host of the show, Chrissy Joy Hoadley. Best to you, Chrissy.
Best to you, Brian.
Best to you out there in the podcast universe.
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Chapter 2: How does Mike Pesca's Mensa membership influence his perspective?
Super excited about today's activities, today's events. Soon, we will be bringing in Mr. Mike Peska, noted political pundit and overall commentarian on current events and news. Used to work for Slate Magazine, now host of the very popular daily podcast The Gist. And The Gist is taking a long and winding road, and we'll talk to him about this, into the land of comedy.
I thought that was our lane, but Mike's going to take over, as he always does, because he's much smarter than I am. I think he's actually a member of Mensa, so we'll discuss that with him. One Mensa member to another. We'll have a discussion on the fees and how the locker rooms have gotten quite messy.
The secret handshake?
secret handshakes and how the locker room has gotten quite messy over there at the Mensa Country Club. But I want to get right to an Ask TCB that we received. I thought it was timely. We should discuss it. Let everything be on the table here, Chrissy, at the commercial break.
Chapter 3: What is the significance of the 'Ask TCB' segment?
All the guardrails are now off TCB.com, TCBpodcast.com. They weren't before? Yeah, but we kind of stayed in a certain lane. I don't open it up just a little bit because I think this is an important question and one that we that my wife and I have dealt with directly in our own sphere of influence, like not us, like we haven't dealt with this particular issue, but people we know have.
So here is the Ask TCB. It's flat out simple. I don't even need to read it. Here it is. My boyfriend and I have been together for four years, recently moved in together about six months ago, and everybody in the entire world, us included, were affected by the election crisis. Like the ramp up to the election and the stress that comes along with that and all the daily news and daily junk.
But without having much conversation about it, the two days before the election, she learned that her boyfriend would be voting for the candidate she did not care for. And she is now rethinking her entire relationship with said boyfriend. What to do? Dump them. That's what I mean. You got to dump them. I don't know any other way to put it.
How did that not get talked about before?
Well, there's a little bit more to the email. I need to leave out certain identifying factors, so I don't want to get into every single clue. But I will say this, is that they had agreed they were going to vote for one candidate. And then a couple of days beforehand, he changed his mind and thought for the following reasons.
Oh.
obvious would be the better candidate now of course you probably figure out you don't she voted for harris he voted for trump but you know i'm not gonna allude i'm just gonna say it out loud and what to do here's my opinion on opinion you can have a difference of opinion differences of opinion are what make the world go around i don't think there's any true you know i don't think that a difference of opinion is i don't like blue cheese stuffed olives that's an opinion that is an opinion right do you really not or i not fully i hate blue cheese i love god damn are they and look at us
That is fine, but we're not married and we don't live together. I mean, we kind of live together, but, you know, only for like four hours, three days a week. So that's good. Yeah. But, you know, we we have heard about similar situations going on in our own sphere of influence. Yeah.
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Chapter 4: Why do the hosts suggest 'Dump Him' in a relationship dilemma?
And how this young lady says, it really makes my stomach turn to think that he voted for the other person. Now, let's take out of it who you like or who you don't like. I think in 2024, these are not differences of opinion. These are like differences in fundamental.
I agree.
Universal spiritual energy, right? It's like good versus evil on both sides of the aisle. I'm sure everyone feels the same way. Mm-hmm. That is something that is stomach turning. And it's going to be hard to give that guy a hand shandy in the shower when you disrespect his universal spiritual energy. That's really hard.
And the fact that he told you two days ahead of time meant that he was just scared all along to tell you that he was a Musk fanboy. Right. That's just it. And yeah. And so put aside all of the details regarding the political differences. I don't see how you live under the same roof with somebody and literally suck them off when you just despise everything that they feel the world needs to be.
How do you do that? I don't know. I'm sure there are people that are very civil in this world that could do that. Yeah. Who is that famous couple, George Conway and Kellyanne Conway? Divorced now.
Oh, they are?
Well, there you go. See, there you've had it.
I don't think it worked out.
Yeah. And Astrid and I have heard from a couple of couples, one way or the other, that their significant other they know voted for the other person.
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Chapter 5: What insights does Mike Pesca provide about the recent election results?
And they're very unhappy about it.
Very, very tough. Because, again, I felt like with this election, it wasn't the, you know, like, OK, a moderate Republican, you know, like it wasn't a normal Republican. I feel like you're voting for the actual person.
Yeah. And and his beliefs. Well, he's a populist, right? He's a populist by all definitions. And by some definitions, he's other things. But I'm not going to get into that. I'm not here to poke the honeypot too much. But what I will say is that a populist is a cult of personality by definition. It's somebody that you really... Like, because of who they are, not because of what they stand for.
Like, Mitt Romney is a, like, he's just a politician. You either like his platform or you don't like his platform. He is about as personality-less as it gets. Yes. And like, I know about Mitt and all. I mean, Chrissy and I worked for Mitt for like three months. And so we know all about the guy and, you know, his beliefs and all that other bullshit. You don't need to do too much research.
But Mitt Romney is just a vessel through which, you know, political action will take place or not take place. Trump is a personality. He changes everything.
his mind every fucking five seconds he doesn't know what he's for or what he's against it doesn't matter whoever the whichever room he's in will dictate his agenda particularly and there's no particular platform whatsoever now a lot of people will say the same thing about harris although she had like a truncated amount of time to put that platform out there i think she tried to play the same card will you vote for me because you like me right and we can see how well that went
But, you know, I got to tell you, young lady, I don't know. I mean, and she's young, too. This woman who dialed up and let us know this is like 29 years old. You got a lot of life living ahead of you. And this might not be the one.
just sharing that i don't know how you're going to get through the next four years when he's rooting on everything that you dislike that's a really hard thing to do and if you do it you're better than i am and it doesn't mention children or dogs or cats or anything like that so give him the fish and let him walk out let him go on his way That's my opinion. That's my opinion. That is an opinion.
That is an opinion. Not a fundamental, you know, spiritual energy that I have. I just... I agree.
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Chapter 6: How do pollsters impact public perception during elections?
Yeah, and I think that's like my personal opinion is that... It's difficult in 2024 for all of us, no matter what side of the aisle you're on, to look at each other on the opposite aisle and say, fundamentally, I want to hang out with you. I want to be your friend. I think you're a great person because politics has become so deeply emotional for everybody.
Because it really has become deeply personal for a lot of people. Some of the things that some people on both sides of the aisle are talking about doing or not doing are fundamental rights, things that can change your life. And generations. And generations.
in a heartbeat and so when you when it gets that part like i don't care if state highway 92 is named after a traffic reporter that died in a terrible accident that to me does not affect my life whatsoever a penny gas tax so the schools can get more pencils that doesn't affect me except for maybe in my in my pocketbook like uh i'm gonna deport you tomorrow because why
because is another thing altogether. Not that I don't believe that we should have laws or borders, but just some of the rhetoric and some of the things that are being said are so fiery and so firebrand on both sides of the aisle, just to let you know that.
Because there are people on the left who have equally life-changing things they want to do to people, for people, around people, that it's hard not to look at somebody on the other aisle and say, if you believe in that stuff, do I believe in you? That's a really difficult thing to do. So I will say this to this young lady. Thank you for listening to the commercial break.
Your boyfriend is a terrible person and he should be. No, I'm kidding. No, I don't know. I don't know how you think it works.
Let us know how it works out. Oh, I'm sure she would. That's tough after moving in together too.
I think the decision has already been made if I'm being just the fact that she texted in. I mean, I think the decision was made when he told you this. And I can only imagine if you're as fiery as I am. I can only imagine the conversation that went down when the two of you decided to go vote. Like, how do you how do you even I don't know. How do you approach that subject?
How do you smooth that over? How do you make that better? How do you make that better? I'm not sure. I don't know. I don't know how you do that.
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Chapter 7: What is the focus of Mike Pesca's new interview series, 'Funny You Should Mention'?
I'm trying to be positive. Trying.
It's hard. It's hard. It's hard. But you got to remember, we voted for the person on the losing side. Doesn't mean that I loved everything about Harris or hate everything about Trump and their agenda. It just means that when you lose, there's always a lump in your throat and a sour belly. Always. So I'm trying not to be too, like, you know, kicking my dirt and stuff like that.
But at the end of the day, it hurt. It hurts. And we're all still feeling it. And it hasn't even started yet. So there you go.
I know.
It hasn't even started yet. So this will be a for sure, without a doubt, there will be political conversation on this particular episode of the commercial break because we have invited Mike Peska weeks ago to come in and have this conversation around his new comedy podcast focus. He's talking to comedians around the world. A lot of the same comedians we are talking to.
One that I listened to last night was Rachel Feinstein. who is fantastically funny. He has a podcast called The Gist. It's terribly popular. A lot of people like it. He is a pragmatic pragmatist, if you will. And he's a lovely human being, but a friend of the show's for a long time. We just never had a chance to bring him in. And so, I mean, we never took guests until recently anyway.
But I'm so glad he's coming in. Mike Peska from The Gist in just a few moments. So let's do this. Let's take a break. And when we get back, we'll have Mr. Mike Peska here with us on the commercial break. Nice.
In case you guys were wondering, I am currently trapped in the closet in the studio being forced to record liner after liner and I never get to leave. So help me by following us on Instagram at The Commercial Break and on TikTok at TCB Podcast and go to our website, tcbpodcast.com for more information about Brian and Chrissy and access to our massive catalog of video and audio episodes.
Now, please text us at 212-433-3TCB and tell Brian and Chrissy to let me out of the closet.
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Chapter 8: How do comedians influence societal conversations?
No, I'm just saying that there are many products, there are many lotions for the bald head, and if I had hair there, I wouldn't appreciate them as much. Yes. There you go. Your emoluments, your rub-ins, etc.,
I have a 38-minute routine after I get out of the shower. That does not include the hour and a half I spend in the shower. Notorious for long showers. That's why I got a water heater that's the size of one of my bedrooms. But at the same time, I love a good lotion. And I got to say, I love a good lotion. I've just become this way in my old age.
And it's good to put it on your head because when it's on other parts of your body, you know, slippage can result. But the head is usually up there alone navigating the world. Did you see the SNL song about the bald man? Yes, I did. I didn't understand their point. I mean, it's good to be seen, right?
It is good to be seen. Mike, you are a noted... I want to say a pundit, an observationist. I mean, you are really good at what you do on the gist because you are so damn intelligent. Are you part of Mensa?
It's funny because my wife and I just took IQ tests. And after me telling her that there are a lot of statistics that show the ideal IQ in a mate and leader is 120. I thought she'd be about a 120. She tested higher than that. And then I tested lower. Oh, no. I have a lot of excuses. A number of them like I wasn't paying attention. I didn't mean it.
You know, you shouldn't get sarcastic on an IQ test. No.
I love it. But I consider you a brilliant guy, one of the smarter guys that I've known in my life. And it would not be fair to the audience for me to let you start this conversation without sharing your thoughts on the recent election and why the Democrats lost and why Trump lost. Yet again, the Teflon Don avoids consequences of any actions, and he also gained followers. He gained popularity.
How did this happen? Pick any ethnic group or any group at all in America that he was supposed to have offended, and he actually gained with all of them. Every single one of them. The only ones he didn't offend were college-educated whites. He didn't bother going against them. I guess he needed their money, and he did well with them. The election results was the word is overdetermined.
Do you know what I mean by that?
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