All language subtitles for 1 1 Last.Week.Tonight.with.John.Oliver.S12E26.720p.HEVC

Bye.

Thank you so much for joining us. It has
been a busy week. The government

shutdown continued, Peru ousted their
president and there was big news

Gaza with the announcement of a White
House broker deal.

This morning, joy and relief as a
ceasefire is now in effect, paving the

the remaining hostages to be released
early next week after being held by

for more than two years.

In Gaza, thousands seen heading north
back to Gaza City.

I hope this happiness will be fulfilled
and the ceasefire deal will last.

Yeah, there is a ceasefire, and that is
very good news. And I do know that the

phrase, very good news, is not one you
tend to hear much these days.

It's kind of like the phrase, be kind,
rewind, or starring Kevin Spacey, or

homosexual. I thought those days...

We're gone forever. And look, there are
lots of details to be worked out before

you can call this an actual peace deal,
whether Hamas will fully disarm, whether

Israel will completely withdraw its
troops, and what government in the

will look like. But that has not stopped
Trump and Republicans from taking a

victory lap. Before the ceasefire was
even official, they were calling for

to get the Nobel Peace Prize, and once
he didn't get it, some suggested a weird

workaround. He deserves the Nobel Peace
Prize, and that's why I'm introducing a

resolution for a sense of Congress today
that will honor him with the Nobel

Peace Prize. And if need be, we'll offer
a discharge petition on that. I hope we

can work with the speaker, though, and
get it on the floor for a vote.

What the fuck are you talking about?

Congress doesn't pick Nobel winners.
That is absurd, as we all know.

The winners are chosen in Norway by a
select committee of elves, trolls, and

Nurcan, the ancient horse spirit that
drowns children in rivers.

Did you ever wonder how Henry Kissinger
won the Nobel Peace Prize? Yeah, you can

thank the Nurcan for that.

And look, there'll clearly be more to
say about this going forward. But for

we're going to dive straight in with our
main story tonight, which concerns CBS

News, one of the most trusted names in
American journalism. It gave us Edward

Murrow's Harvest of Shame, Walter
Cronkite delivering the news of JFK's

assassination, and of course...

In recent months, a kind of underground
fashion has spread among marijuana

smokers. It involves the fancy paper
used to roll the joints, as they're

sometimes called.

Cigarette paper is manufactured in this
country, France, Mexico, and Spain. Now

about to big business.

Mainly because of the boom in grass,
pot, tea, Mary Jane, reapers, giggle

or marijuana.

Wow. Someone really did their research
into weed synonyms back then.

I just wish he'd kept going. Giggle
grass, bong weed, power flower, magic

cabbage, Lucifer's lettuce, smoky dokey,
whistle pizzle, and of course, checking

in at the Blitz Carlton.

Specifically, we're going to talk about
CBS's parent company, Paramount, and its

recent merger with Skydance Media, a
deal largely powered by the money of

Ellison, one of the richest men on
Earth, and notable Trump supporter, with

company now run by his son, David, a man
with resting, just checked into the

white lotus face.

Already some worrying signs regarding
what this takeover might mean for CBS

in particular, starting with the fact
that this guy is thrilled about it.

I think ABC is very bad. I think NBC is
very bad.

And CBS has a new owner, so we have hope
for CBS. CBS has a great new owner, my

opinion. Yeah, it is never a great sign
when Donald Trump, seen here fresh from

a trip to Sephora to colour match his
hair to his skin.

Loves a management decision that you've
made. But he does have a lot to be happy

about in order for Skydance to get its
merger approved by Brendan Carr's FCC.

committed to adopt measures that can
root out the bias that has undermined

in the national news media. One of those
measures was installing this former

Conservative think tank CEO as CBS News'
new ombudsman. But this Monday, Ellison

took a much bigger step.

A major shift in the landscape of TV
news.

Paramount Skydance announcing that
they've made Barry Weiss editor -in

CBS News and acquired her online news
and commentary organization, The Free

Press. She's a registered independent
who at one point called herself

politically homeless, unrepresented by
the two main U .S. parties.

Okay, first, politically homeless?

Sounds like how you describe Rudy
Giuliani's current fashion sense, but it

true. Paramount has bought the free
press for $150 million and Barry Weiss,

co -founder, will now be setting the
editorial strategy, vision and focus for

CBS Morning, CBS Evening News, Face the
Nation and even 60 Minutes. Also,

instead of reporting to the president of
CBS News, Weiss will apparently report

directly to David Ellison. And look, if
you are not familiar with Barry Weiss,

you should know she's a proud contrarian
who in public appearances will

inevitably deliver some version of this
pitch.

I confound people because I'm Jewish.

I've always thought I was liberal.

I'm gay. I'm married to a woman. Like,
that's my life. You would think that I'm

liberal, and I would just go along with
the flow. It's like, I look like them, I

think like them, I eat at the same
restaurants, but I don't think all the

things. And I'm not scared to say when I
disagree.

And I think that's really pissed people
off throughout my career.

Okay, first and least importantly, the
reboot of Between Two Ferns looks

terrible, but...

That is her basic self. She's a liberal
who's brave enough to disagree with

other liberals. And along the way, she's
accumulated admirers from Jeff Bezos to

Meghan McCain, and from Amy Coney
Barrett to Joe Rogan. And if you're

wow, that's not a very ideologically
broad from and to, you're starting to

on. Because there are times where she's
a little more explicit about what she

believes, like when she gave a speech to
the Conservative Federalist Society

featuring this fun joke.

I'm a gay woman who is moderately pro
-choice.

I know that there are some people in
this room who don't believe that my

marriage should have been legal.

And that's okay, because we're all
Americans who want lower taxes.

Good one!

You can almost hear that room unclench
after she basically says, I know you

think I deserve fewer rights, but don't
worry, besties, we're still chill.

And while that is obviously framed as a
joke, it's also a set -up to her saying

in all seriousness, I am here because I
know that in the fight for the West...

who my allies really are. And she goes
on to say, among other things, the wave

of so -called progressive prosecutors
has proven to be an immensely bad thing

for law and order. And I've got to say,
for someone whose claims they are

politically homeless, she sure seems
awfully at home in that room.

And look, this isn't the first time an
outsider billionaire has tried thumbing

the scale of a news organisation.

We've seen Jeff Bezos increasingly
meddle with the Washington Post, and

Soon -Shiong do the same at the LA
Times. But this feels...

like the most sweeping change yet, and
one of the few remaining prestige names

in news. And if one person has suddenly
been handed this much power over a whole

news organisation, it is worth knowing
who that one person is.

So tonight, let's take a look at Barry
White. Let's start with the fact that

she's been given editorial control of a
massive news organisation, even though

she's never run a TV network, has no
experience directing television

and as one 60 Minutes producer pointed
out, is not even a reporter.

That is true.

She didn't come up through the news side
of a newspaper, but through the opinion

pages, which are a very different thing.

She really made a name for herself after
she was hired by the op -ed page for

the New York Times in 2017.

And to hear her tell it, it was for a
pretty simple reason.

To put it bluntly, I was brought in,
along with Brett Stevens from The Wall

Street Journal, as a kind of
intellectual diversity hire. My job

to bring in voices that wouldn't
otherwise naturally appear in The New

Times, either because other editors
wouldn't think to commission them or the

writers themselves would think, you
know, The New York Times would never

me. Yeah, she was apparently tasked with
finding voices that the Times op -ed

page would never accept, which is
already a big claim, given that before

hired there, it published op -eds from,
and this is true, Muammar Gaddafi and

Vladimir Putin.

If the Times had been around in the 15th
century, I'm guessing it would have

given an opinion piece to Vlad the
Impaler.

Drinking the blood of my enemies isn't
disgusting, it's beautiful and

courageous.

In any case...

Wife started getting attention at the
Times for writing provocative pieces

this one, in which she argued that the
left had gone too far in policing

cultural appropriation. This one, a
largely sympathetic profile of the

intellectual dark web, a term that she
popularised for people like Jordan

Peterson and Ben Shapiro. And this one,
suggesting progressives were so focused

on labelling fellow Americans
fascists... They missed opportunities to

real fascism, which is just some weapons
-grade whataboutism.

That piece, by the way, also got
attention for the fact that whilst

posts from the official Antifa Twitter
account, there was actually a well

hoax site, which is pretty embarrassing.
You don't expect a Times writer to fall

for online hoaxes like they're your 75
-year -old aunt on Facebook who keeps

posting that message saying, I hereby
state that I do not give my permission.

to use any of my personal data or
photos.

That is fake, Linda.

Also, why would anybody steal your
photos?

You exclusively post pictures of your
elderly cat.

You're going to be fine.

But things came to a head in 2020 after
The Times ran this infamous Tom Cotton

op -ed in which he argued that the US
should send federal troops into cities

tamp down protests against police
violence.

A lot of staff at The Times argued that
it shouldn't have published.

that editorial, and Barry Weiss wrote a
series of tweets about a supposedly

heated staff meeting characterising it
as a civil war between the mostly young

woke and the mostly 40 and up liberals.
That claim was strongly disputed by

others at the paper, with one editor
saying, I'm in the same meeting that

appears to be live tweeting.

This is inaccurate in both
characterizations.

It's not a civil war, it's an editorial
conversation, and it's not breaking down

a long generational line. So, to be
fair, it seems Barry Weiss does have

reporting experience, specifically
trying to report what was happening in

meeting, only to have her own co
-workers say, hey, what the fuck are you

talking about?

Now, shortly after that, she resigned,
posting a lengthy resignation letter to

her website, claiming that her forays
into wrong -think had made her the

of constant bullying by colleagues who
disagree with my views. And she now

the story of that letter in some pretty
self -mythologizing terms.

I thought to myself, I have a choice to
make.

I can stay.

And in where I lived on the Upper West
Side of Manhattan, Seinfeld territory,

telling people you worked at the New
York Times really meant something.

Got you a good table at a good
restaurant, among other things.

And it meant a lot to me because I felt
like, wow, like I made it.

Or I could leave and I could give up the
prestige, give up the platform, have no

plan for what I'm doing next, but leave
with my integrity. So I left with a

resignation letter, sort of heard around
the world.

It was my Jerry Maguire moment.

Okay.

Self -aggrandizing bullshit aside, let's
not reduce the Upper West Side to just

Seinfeld territory.

It's the site of many other cultural
touchstones, like You've Got Mail, Will

Grace, and that time the night before
the Macy's Parade when Balloon Spider

made an absolute meal out of Uncle Sam's
ass.

My point is, the Upper West Side is more
than just one thing.

Anyway, she quickly launched her own
publication, first as a sub -stack

Common Sense and later as a full -blown
media company, The Free Press.

Its first motto was, honest news for
sane people, which feels scientifically

engineered to trigger an eye roll.

Here she is, not long after starting it,
making her pitch.

I want to create the media company where
people can go for the best podcasts,

the best reporting, the best analysis,
basically combining...

the blue chip high quality of the old
media landscape with the punk energy of

the new political realignment. Okay,
first, it is pretty hard to claim you've

got punk energy when you essentially
spout conservative talking points while

dressed like the front desk manager at a
courtyard Marriott.

I, for one... Do not trust the punk bona
fides of anyone wearing an Ann Taylor

collarless silk blouse. But it turns
out, like most punk rock things, the

press was quickly bankrolled by a string
of reactionary billionaires, like

venture capitalists Marc Andreessen and
David Sachs. And in the five years

since, it's grown to roughly 1 .5
million readers, although only around

ten actually pay to subscribe, meaning
it generates subscription revenues of

about $15 million a year, which isn't
nothing, but...

I would argue, also not quite enough to
justify someone spending $150 million to

acquire it, as that is a revenues -to
-valuation ratio that would make Mr.

Wonderful start vomiting blood.

Anyway, Weiss has since stocked the free
press with staffers who, in some cases,

are quick to brag that, like her, they
are proud refugees from the mainstream

media. Hey, I'm Lucy. I'm the social
media editor here at the Free Press. And

today I'm going to ask my co -workers
the moment they realized they were free

pressers. Olivia, when did you realize
that you were a free presser? Um, when I

was reporting for... on President Trump
and they inserted the word racist into

the headline.

Okay, so just to be clear, she was
apparently reporting for NPR, even

that bleep makes me seem like she used
to write for an outlet called The Fuck

Whole Time.

And the word racist...

With the top, a story of hers about
public response to Trump saying, these

members of Congress, all American
citizens, three of whom were born in the

should go back to the countries they
came from. And I guess, if you're not

to call that racist, the free press
might be the place for you.

One of Barry Weiss's go -to lines is
that she's only interested in the truth.

In announcing her decision to go to CBS
this week, she said, America cannot

thrive without common facts, common
truth, and a common reality, which

great.

But watch her articulate the free
press's approach to arriving at the

see if you can spot a small problem with
it. The identity of our brand is truth

-seeking, and our premise is you cannot
get to truth in an echo chamber.

The only way that you get to truth is by
sitting next to someone. This is what

makes it so different from any newsroom
I've ever worked in. Right. Sitting next

to someone who disagrees with you, who
you still respect, admire them, and

collaborate with them. Yeah.

I mean, maybe.

Maybe that is how you do it as an
opinion writer, but that is not how you

truth as a reporter, is it? You do that
by leaving the newsroom and reporting.

That's why I said the only way to hold
Henry Kissinger's skull in your hand is

by sitting next to someone who disagrees
with you. No, that's not it.

You do that by leaving your desk,
breaking into Dick Cheney's house, going

his master bathroom and taking it out of
its jar.

And I'll be honest, There's not a ton of
hard journalism on the free press

sites. There's really not much of
anything there. There's usually just a

of new posts a day, which can even
include weird shit like editorial

from David Mamet, the playwright. And if
you're thinking, I didn't realise David

Mamet could draw, fun fact, he can't.
But...

Don't worry, because that hasn't stopped
him from producing cartoons like this

one that says, what's the best way to
deal with detractors? With the answer

being a manual for tractors. Or this one
supposedly about environmentalism that

just says, shoving eggs up the tushies
of chickens.

Or this one of an autobiography by
Kermit the Frog with a blurb that says,

ribbiting, which, I'm worried, might be
too funny.

There are also a ton of first -person
clickbait ethics with titles like I can

explain why the Nazi salute is back. I
criticised BLM, then I was fired. I took

religion out of Christmas, I regret it.
I want people to have more kids, does

that make me far right? I was called an
inbred swine at Princeton last night.

I'm 17 and I'm immunised from woke
politics. My family was hunted by Nazis,

I was fired for defending Hitler. My
husband wants to be cremated, I'd ignore

his dying wish. And I used to hate
Trump, now I'm a maggot lefty. At this

it feels like we're just two weeks away
from the... I was reading an article

titled, I dressed my dead wife up as
Hitler for her funeral, and now her woke

family is mad at me.

And look, if you go to the homepage of
the free press, it might not immediately

read as a particularly conservative
outlet, but once you start reading its

articles, the pronounced theme that
starts to emerge is, the left has gone

far. Basically, whatever issue you feel
like that is true for, Israel, campus

politics, DEI or police reform, you'll
find articles there to reinforce that

opinion. And look, I'm not saying the
left never goes too far or that it's

immune from criticism at all.

But it can sometimes feel like the free
press's conclusions can get out ahead of

its evidence, which brings us to the
fact that some of its pieces can be

poorly fact -checked and in ways that
feel important.

And let's look at three key examples.
First, take one of its biggest splashes,

this article.

I thought I was saving trans kids, now
I'm blowing the whistle. It's an account

by Jamie Reid, who'd worked as a
caseworker at the Washington University

Transgender Centre. Her piece claims
that the clinic was harming patients by,

among other things, routinely approving
adolescents for medical transitions

without proper mental health
assessments, calling its work morally

appalling. Now, that story,
understandably, got a ton of attention,

from public officials, which prompted
Weiss to go on Megyn Kelly's podcast to

take something of a victory lap.

The day after the piece published, I've
never seen such a sort of rapid reaction

to a piece of journalism.

Missouri's attorney general announced an
investigation into the gender clinic.

The reason that this story was
especially important and gratifying for

have substantiated was because it's
exactly the kind of story that we exist

pursue. It's exactly the kind of morally
naughty story.

in which journalists avoid pursuing it
because they know they will be punished

or smeared for doing so.

That is why the free press exists.

Wow, that is an exceptional amount of
self -congratulation. And the bar was

already set at the Jerry Maguire moment
heard around the world.

But she is right. The state AG
apparently found that article, to borrow

ribbiting, because...

They soon announced an investigation
into the centre, and it ultimately

treating minors, with Reid's claims even
being used to help justify a statewide

ban on gender -affirming care for them.
So it did have real impact, which is

what makes it so awkward that when
Washington University conducted its own

investigation, they found that
allegations of substandard care causing

outcomes for patients at the centre were
unsubstantiated. And when other outlets

reported the story out again and again,
their findings did not match what the

free press published.

For instance, the St. Louis Post
-Dispatch found dozens of former

parents at the clinic who told them
their experiences sharply contradicted

examples supplied by Reid. NBC spent two
months reaching out to nearly 40 people

associated with the centre and got the
same result, with patients and parents

saying the care they received was
thorough and slow.

And the Missouri Independent found
parents who told them any treatments

kids received were only undertaken after
long consultations with doctors and

mental health professionals, and often
patients were told they needed to wait

four years. In fact, at worst...

Follow -up reporting shows that as more
patients sought care, the clinic became

overwhelmed as its employees grappled
with how best to help patients. And to

fair, the Times did find some former
patients who had complaints, including

who'd since detransitioned and felt
there'd been a major lack of care and

consideration from the centre.

But even that article, which Weiss
claimed vindicated their story, said

clear the clinic benefited many
adolescents.

with patients and parents saying their
experiences were overwhelmingly

And the thing is, some of Marie's
marquee examples just don't hold up on

inspection. For instance, she cited the
harrowing story of a patient she claimed

suffered liver toxicity from medication
she was prescribed at the centre, and

whose mother was so distraught, she said
they were lucky her family was not the

type to sue.

That sounds pretty striking.

But... When the Times spoke with that
family, they were stunned to read this

characterization of their daughter's
case, saying she only experienced liver

problems after getting COVID and taking
another drug with possible liver side

effects. After threatening a lawsuit,
they were adamant that never happened,

the point they went on local news to
refute the whole story.

It's not just not true, but it's a lie.

You can't see their faces. We're in
shadow, but we're not hiding. But you

hear their voices.

There's lies.

and people have paid for that in the
transgender community.

Did you ever say that you were going to
sue the clinic or ever allude to suing

the clinic?

No.

Nope. The parents' message goes on to
say they don't regret any decision and

would never have denied their daughter
these life -saving treatments.

We still have no regrets.

It's blatant exploitation of my
daughter's medical situation.

Yeah, that mother felt that the story
was blatant exploitation of her

medical situation, or as the guest Barry
would describe it, harnessing the punk

energy of the new political realignment.

And look, I get her frustration at
seeing misinformation about her daughter

far and wide.

In fact, when we reached out to that
mother, she told us, I've been fighting

the truth about that damn Free Press
article for a while.

And if you're getting the sense that the
Free Press...

isn't about to let whatever fact
-checking they do get in the way of a

they want to tell you. That also extends
to some of the original reporting they

do. Take this piece that they published
last year about Austin, claiming crime

had soared there under a progressive DA
named Jose Garza. It prominently

featured a billionaire named Daniel
Lubecki, the founder of Kind Snack,

moved to Austin a few years earlier and
was supporting a primary campaign to

elect a more moderate DA.

The story claims that Austin's crime
wave was leading many of its most buzzed

-about new residents, and some of its
wealthiest, to worry it might become the

next San Francisco. But as local news
there pointed out, there was a pretty

hole in that piece's argument.

But this article from a website called
The Free Press, one of the first lines,

hopefully we can pop it up right here on
the screen, one of the first lines of

the article claims crimes in Austin has
soared under a progressive district

attorney. This morning, the numbers tell
us that that is just not the case. We

looked at crime reporting data from
Austin police.

So in December of 2020, before Jose
Garza took over.

20 ,500 crimes against people were
committed throughout the entire year. A

years later, in 2023, with Garza as DA,
for a couple of years, the number was 2

,000 fewer than in the same time frame.

Yeah, true.

And it is kind of striking that even
local news was like, girl, calm down.

Because the only thing they usually love
more than overhyping crime is maybe,

maybe dogs running 5Ks.

This just in, woof, woof, pant, pant,
good boy goes fast.

And finally, there's this piece the Free
Press recently posted about media

coverage of young people starving in
Gaza.

It concerned photos that it said had
helped convince a growing number of

Americans that Israel has induced famine
and is committing war crimes in Gaza.

There is a lot wrong with this article.
For one thing, it questions how

starvation and famine have been
measured.

by claiming the IPC, the international
body that helps monitor food insecurity

and malnutrition, has quietly changed
its methodology in Gaza, essentially

redefining the criteria for determining
a famine. But that is false.

Very basically, the IPC has multiple
metrics for measuring malnutrition in

children. One involves measuring height
and weight, another involves arm

circumference. Now, because arm
circumference only requires a tape

far easier to obtain, especially in a
place like a war zone. So in Gaza, that

what they started using because of, you
know, all of this shit happening.

And those methods were not, in fact,
quietly introduced.

as the free press suggested, but have
been accepted since 2019 and previously

used in famine classifications in South
Sudan and Sudan.

But it gets even grosser because the
piece tries to provide extra context for

some pictures of starving children.

Here's one of its writers, the one who
used to work for the Fuckhole Times,

summing her work up.

So you've probably seen these photos of
skeletal kids in Gaza on front pages,

all over social media, even in a UNICEF
ad.

They've become the symbols of famine.
But we decided to look into these photos

and the stories behind them. And what we
found is that in case after case, these

kids were sick, but not just with
malnutrition. In every instance, they

suffering with other conditions or
illnesses like cystic fibrosis, cerebral

palsy, and even traumatic head injuries.

Now, their article claimed all those
kids were already facing grave

because of their health, irrespective of
any third -party action. But a few

things. First, the traumatic head injury
she mentioned was, as their article

points out, caused by an Israeli shell
explosion, which feels like a pretty

significant third -party action.

Second, it's not like the 12 photos they
chose to look into are the only ones

illustrating stories about famine in
Gaza. And as for the notion that this is

something that the mainstream media was
ignoring, there is a key problem with

that claim too.

And see if you can spot it as she walks
through their in -depth journalistic

process. We did something so simple,
it's shocking that no other journalist

bothered to do it. So this is how we
figured this out. Let's just take this

example of Najwa Hussain Hajjaj, who
appeared in CNN simply as suffering from

severe malnutrition in Gaza City.

So all we did is we took her name, we
went to Google Translate, we took the

Arabic spelling of her name, put that
into Google, and pulled up...

Okay,

so if no other journalist...

Bothered to do it, but it was even
reported in the New York Times.

That sure suggests the journalist very
much did bother to do it. But also, if

we're talking about context, when it
comes to the child she mentioned there,

they quote from an Arabic news outlet.
Here is the whole section about her from

that outlet. Here's the translation, and
here's the quote the free press pulled,

mentioning her ailments since birth,
including vomiting while eating. But

worth noting...

The sentence before says, her condition
worsens each day without access to

protein and vitamin -rich foods that are
needed for her treatment. And the line

after reads, during the Israeli war on
the Gaza Strip, her condition

deteriorated and she developed
malnutrition because the right food for

simply unavailable. And while I would
love to keep splitting hairs on whether

country starving kids is better or worse
if those kids are already sick, let's

just table that discussion for when I
see you in hell.

And that is not the only bit of
cherry... in that piece, which features

young people with, yes, pre -existing
conditions or ailments, but which were

made significantly worse when they
couldn't access food.

And to be clear, as the president of
Refugees International wrote, people

underlying conditions always suffer
first when hunger sets in, adding that

vulnerability is not a rebuttal of
famine, it is a feature of how famine

and who it hits first.

And it is kind of weird that nobody at
the free press thought to include that

sort of important context, given that
they are famously proud of their ability

to Google shit.

And you should also know that piece
circulated far and wide among those

to downplay the suffering in Gaza,
including Bibi Netanyahu himself, who

that video on his social media with the
caption,

matter, which is terrible for multiple
reasons, including if Netanyahu ever

shared one of our stories, I think I'd
burn this place to the fucking ground.

And by the way, any story too.

Even if it was the one where I ate the
arse of a cake bear that looks like me.

If he retweeted that with the comment
facts matter, you would never hear from

ever again.

And look, everything I've shown you so
far should comfortably be enough.

to make you question the wisdom of
putting Barry Weiss in charge of CBS

But I still haven't even gotten to her
weirdest venture, which lays out her

priorities and worldview pretty clearly.
And that is the fact that Barry Weiss

has started her own university.

Specifically, she's co -founded the
University of Austin in Texas, and it is

exactly what you'd expect. Here is one
of the school's promo videos.

If you're wondering why...

The museums you love and the publishing
houses you love and the newspapers you

used to trust, if you want to understand
why they are hollowed out, you have to

look at the nucleation point for this.
And that is the university.

The premise is that America is not only
not great, but evil to the core and

rotten and need to be torn down. The
answer to that is simply no.

Okay, there are so many things wrong
with that, from the firm no to a

strawman argument, to the claim we all
have publishing houses we love that have

been hollowed out, to the
pretentiousness of the phrase nucleation

sounds more like the title of a straight
-to -streaming action flop starring

Steven Seagal.

Now, UATX is currently unaccredited, and
while Wise proudly posted this image of

students on the school's first day, I
should note that while that building

look impressive, that is because it's
the Texas State Capitol.

The actual school is housed on a couple
floors of a former department store in

downtown Austin, which is pretty
unusual. You don't generally expect a

to suddenly pop up in an abandoned store
like it's a spirit fucking Halloween.

Well, the school may not have a
traditional campus. It does have a white

bust of Barry White prominently
displayed in one of its common areas. It

apparently donated by Joe Lonsdale, the
billionaire co -founder of the dependent

contractor Palantir.

He's one of several billionaire donors
to the school, along with Daniel

Lebesgue, you know, the nut bar
billionaire from that Austin crime wave

and Harlan Crowe, famously Clarence
Thomas' benefactor. So the school's

got a lot of red flags on it, even
before you get to what's been... being

in there. Its substack, because of
course it has one, brags that it's a

where students quote Joseph Conrad and
Joe Rogan in the same breath.

And one of its big selling points is
that its students adhere to what's

the Chatham House Rule, which
essentially requires all classroom

be conducted off the record.

And I'll let one of the school's
professors explain.

If someone says something unacceptable
to people or shocking or problematic,

can't run out.

and say, Bobby said something racist, or
Susie actually is a Zionist. You cannot

do this. And what that means is that
students don't have to conform.

They can actually say what they think.

Oh, that's good. Well, in the spirit of
saying what we think, I'll go first.

Your vibe is all the way off.

You look like Guillermo del Toro if he
only directed episodes of Yellowstone.

And you enunciate like you're the third
crane brother that Frasier and Niles

never talk about.

And you can't tell anyone I said that.
Chatham House rule.

And if you're wondering what sort of
topics might require a rule like that,

apparently one of their first offerings
were a summer class called The Forbidden

Courses, which promised to inquire
honestly into today's most vexing

which they then illustrated with this
photo of an instructor seeming to point

out. Hot button statements for debate.
And if you zoom in, you'll see, there it

is, non -black people cannot use the N
-word. And suddenly, that Chatham House

rule makes a whole lot of sense, doesn't
it?

Although, any black college student will
tell you, you don't need to set up a

whole university to find out which
college kids are comfortable using the N

-word, when all it takes is a couple of
rum and cokes and Lil Wayne to come up

on shuffle.

Look, it is no mystery.

What sort of person starts a university
like this? But in case there were any

doubt at all, just listen to Barry
Weiss, not long after the campus protest

started over Gaza, spell out as clearly
as possible what she wanted to see

happen. Above all, starting today, we
need to uproot, root and branch the

ideology that has supplanted truth at
the core of American higher education.

And that ideology goes by the name DEI.
Some call it wokeness or anti -racism or

progressivism or safetyism or critical
social justice or identity Marxism.

Whatever term you use, what is clear is
that this worldview has gained power in

the world in a conceptual instrument
called DEI.

Yeah, and that itself is a whole
worldview right there. You know this DEI

that we've been trying where we
acknowledge not everyone's been getting

access to opportunity?

Let's just roll back the clock on that,
shall we? Also, let's be anti -anti

-racist and not think too much about
what that might make us.

DEI! It's actually one of her favourite
targets. She's also said it's

undermining America, it's about
arrogating power, and that it demonises

work, merit, family, and the dignity of
the individual. And look, it is not new

or indeed interesting that a commentator
would say that. There are plenty of

them out there, and there'll always be
an audience for those who want to make

that case. And the truth is, we wouldn't
even have done this story were it not

for the fact that Barry Weiss has just
been named editor -in -chief of CBS

And that feels different.

Because there are many opinion -heavy
outlets out there, from left to right

with low to high editorial standards.
This show is, among other things, an

opinion outlet.

And while our staff works incredibly
hard to research stories before we write

something and vigorously check our facts
afterwards, we're also not the news.

And I wouldn't want anyone who led a
pure opinion outlet, not even one that I

happen to agree with, to suddenly be
running CBS News. But it is especially

alarming to have someone doing it.

who has spent years putting out work
that, in my opinion, is at best

irresponsible and at worst deeply
misleading.

And look, it is not just about Barry
Weiss being at CBS. It's about the fact

that CBS is now under the control of
someone who thinks that she and her

editorial sensibility make her a good
fit for the job, and who, incidentally,

reportedly preparing a bid for Warner
Brothers Discovery, home of CNN and, uh

-oh, HBO, which isn't ideal, although...

I've got to say, if what he likes about
Barry is that she forces him to have

hard conversations that get a bit
uncomfortable, maybe he'll like this.

But the thing is, it's not just about
Ellison either.

Again.

He's just the latest in a string of
billionaires who've taken over our

journalistic institutions from the
Washington Post to the LA Times and

making worrying changes. And whatever
complaint I might have had with their

coverage before, and I have had plenty,
my solution would never have been this.

Because when these takeovers get
announced, it's easy to think, well,

goodness there are other outlets that
aren't under some billionaire's

And that is true.

Because there is always another one.

Until... There suddenly isn't.

And I admit, I don't know what is going
to happen next. Maybe Barry Wise will

completely reshape CBS News. Maybe
she'll flame out and write another

resignation letter heard around the
world.

But it is worth keeping an eye out for
subtle changes there, because while I'm

sure many of CBS's good journalists will
continue to do great work, if you start

seeing people resigning, or getting
fired, or you start seeing stories that

off... in some way, especially if it
involves the left going too far on a

Barry Weiss cares about.

It's worth asking yourself why that
might be. Because unfortunately, the

bigger answer might be that a
billionaire has chosen to inject

-leaning opinion journalism into an
American icon.

Even if, much like that Thanksgiving Day
Spider -Man, it has absolutely no

fucking business being there.

And now, this.

And now.

People on TV analyze Dennis Wood's song,
Wood.

Just propose to him. You mentioned the
song that you said is dirty. It's about

Travis Kelsey and... Wood.

There you go. Do the math.

That Wood song? The Wood song. The Wood
song.

The Wood Song. Let's just say it's a
love letter to Travis.

Well, you can call it that, too. The
Redwood Song. She is having a great

Excellent time. Let's just say Taylor
Swift is a very happy woman. All right.

I'll just say that.

It's about wood.

It's about somebody's wood.

Yeah, it's definitely not about a two
-by -four.

She doesn't have to knock on wood.

As people do.

Somebody's knocking on the door.

She doesn't have to hope or knock on
wood that it's going to work out. She'd

with him forever.

And then he mentioned, as you mentioned,
that his manhood is the size of a tree.

It's a song that references Travis
Kelsey's penis.

That's our show. Thanks so much for
watching. We are off next week, back

26th. Good night.