#274 – Psychological Thrills, Financial Drama & Stand-Up Comedy
Welcome to Episode 274 of the Spun Today Podcast! I'm your host, Tony Ortiz, and in this episode, we're diving deep into the intricate web of relationships, drama, and personal evolution presented in "Industry Season 3" and the psychological exploration of dual identity in "Joker Folie à Deux." We'll also touch on the comedic controversy surrounding Hasan Minhaj's new Netflix special "Off With His Head."
First, we'll unravel the complex dynamics between Harper and Yaz in "Industry," where love-hate relationships mix admiration with moments of belittling—proving that friendship can be as intricate as any corporate maneuver. Then, we'll explore the gripping drama of Pierpoint’s near-collapse and the character arcs that reflect profound personal transformations, illustrating the power of resilience amid chaos.
In the realm of film, join me as I dissect Todd Phillips' "Joker Folie à Deux," a sequel that combines dark humor with musical elements to portray Arthur's tumultuous internal world. We'll discuss Harley Quinn's character development and the symbolism that adds depth to her relationship with the Joker.
Lastly, we'll delve into Hasan Minhaj's unapologetic and thought-provoking comedy special, where he tackles controversial topics with wit and bravado, addressing the blurred lines between truth and storytelling in comedy.
Twitter: https://twitter.com/spuntoday
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/spuntoday/
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@spuntoday
Website: http://www.spuntoday.com/home
Newsletter: http://www.spuntoday.com/subscribe
Links referenced in this episode:
Joker: Folie à Deux: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt11315808/
Industry Season 3: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt7671070/?ref_=ttfc_fc_tt
Hasan Minhaj - Off with His Head: https://www.netflix.com/title/81776083
Get your Podcast Started Today! https://signup.libsyn.com/?promo_code=SPUN
(Use Promo code SPUN and get up to 2-months of free service!)
Check out all the Spun Today Merch, and other ways to help support this show! https://www.spuntoday.com/support
Check out my Books
Make Way for You – Tips for getting out of your own way
Melted Cold – A Collection of Short Stories
http://www.spuntoday.com/books/ (e-Book, Paperback & Hardcover are now available).
Fill out my Spun Today Questionnaire if you’re passionate about your craft. I’ll share your insight and motivation on the Podcast: http://www.spuntoday.com/questionnaire/
Shop on Amazon using this link, to support the Podcast: http://www.amazon.com//ref=as_sl_pc_tf_lc?&tag=sputod0c-20&camp=216797&creative=446321&linkCode=ur1&adid=104DDN7SG8A2HXW52TFB&&ref-refURL=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.spuntoday.com%2Fcontact%2F
Shop on iTunes using this link, to support the Podcast: https://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewTop?genreId=38&id=27820&popId=42&uo=10
Shop at the Spun Today store for Mugs, T-Shirts and more: https://viralstyle.com/store/spuntoday/tonyortiz
Background Music: Autumn 2011 - Loxbeats & Melody - Roa
Outro Background Music: https://www.bensound.com
Spun Today Logo by: https://www.naveendhanalak.com/
Sound effects are credited to: http://www.freesfx.co.uk
Listen on: ApplePodcasts | Spotify | Pocket Casts | YouTube | Website
transcript
Tony Ortiz [00:00:00]:
But yeah, I just hate seeing that type of thing. It's kind of like the whole what I've been seeing lately with the whole some of the folks within the Rogan sphere, if you will, or within his orbit that are feuding or beefing or like don't like each other and stuff like that ain't even separated themselves from Rogan himself. Like you have the Sam Harris obviously and Kyle Kalinske's crystal ball a bit, which kind of makes sense, you know, being with Kyle, you know, Kyle's wife. But these were all folk folks that blew up because of Rogan and now are taking shots and mainly because they they're not down with some of his more right leaning views and he's not ads left as he was before. And I still like those folks and their podcasts and their shows. So yeah, just kind of hate that like the beefing between folks that I like. But anyway, I digress. What's up folks? What's going on? Welcome to the Spun Today Podcast, the only podcast that is anchored in writing but unlimited in scope.
Tony Ortiz [00:01:19]:
I'm your host Tony Ortiz and I appreciate you listening. This is episode 274 of the Spun Today Podcast and in this episode I'm going to share my recap and review and favorite takeaways from watching Joker Folia do as well as Industry Season 3 and Hasan Minhaj's latest comedy special, Off With His Head. Stick around for all that good stuff. But first I wanted to tell you guys that I appreciate each and every one of you for taking the time to listen to this podcast. If you're a first time listener, welcome. Please like and subscribe. If you're watching on YouTube, listening on YouTube or subscribe on your favorite podcaster, whether that's Spotify, Apple Podcast or via some other method. Your support means a lot and goes a long way.
Tony Ortiz [00:02:11]:
If you want to know about a few other ways to support this show, you can do so by going to spuntoday.com forward/support. There you have all the different ways you can contribute and support to this podcast, whether it be by purchasing merch or using some affiliate links to get discounts on your end, so on and so forth. But first I wanted to tell you guys about a quick way that you can help support and then we'll get right into the show. Do you want to start your own podcast? Have a great show idea that you want to get out into the masses but don't know quite how to get it from your head out into the world? Well, here's how Use the podcast host Libsyn. That's who I use to bring the Spun Today podcast to you. And now you can use them the same way. Using the promo code SPUN S P u n, you can open up your Libsyn account today and get two months of free podcast hosting. Here's how it works.
Tony Ortiz [00:03:09]:
Once you record your show, you upload it to your Libsyn account where you can fill in your episode notes, upload your podcast art, and schedule when you want your episodes to release. Once you do that, Libsyn will take care of the rest. They'll distribute your show to Spotify, Apple Podcasts, YouTube, and all the other podcasters that you choose instantaneously and seamlessly. Again, go to Libsyn.com and use the promo code SPUN S P U N to get two months free. Or use the affiliate link that's in the episode notes. Again, that's libsyn.com promo code spun. Take that great podcast idea from out of your head and put it out into the world. Joker Folie Adieu.
Tony Ortiz [00:03:58]:
Here is the official synopsis. Struggling with his dual identity, failed comedian Arthur Fleck meets the love of his life, Harley Quinn, while incarcerated at Arkham State Hospital. This is the sequel to Todd Phillips original mega hit titled Joker which was meant to be a one and done type of film and it was so popular that after I guess enough arm twisting by the studio he gave in to doing second movie. The first one was dark and gritty and really engaging and had heart and a ton of emotion. It's a really dope movie. I definitely broke it down in a prior episode probably a year or two ago. Sorry I don't remember the episode offhand, but you could check out my playlist on YouTube the Movies Playlist. You'll definitely find the the chunk of the episode where I discussed the first movie on there.
Tony Ortiz [00:05:01]:
And as we like to do here on the Sponsor Day podcast, I want to shout out the writers, the foundation. In my opinion, the movie was written and directed by Todd Phillips along and also credited writers were Scott Silver and Bob Kane. Scott Silver, by the way, who also wrote on the first Joker movie and one of my other favorite movies, 8 Mile shout out to each and every one of the writers that put this film together. The movie also stars Joaquin Phoenix who reprises his role as Joker. Lady Gaga who plays Harley Quinn who also killed it. But just like the first movie I think Joaquin Phoenix is he's definitely one of the goat actors. He's one of those actors that is so drowned in the essence of whatever it is that he's trying to portray. That you don't see the acting.
Tony Ortiz [00:06:00]:
And through that character, you get drawn into this world and immersed in it. So the first thing that stood out to me in this movie is the subtitle Folie Adieu. It's French for what the hell does that mean? So I look it up and it stands for the presence of the same or similar delusional ideas in two persons closely associated with one another. And we see that theme play out throughout the movie with Arthur Fleck slash, Joker's character played by Joaquin Phoenix, and Harley Quinn's character played by Lady Gaga. And the movie starts out with this slapsticky Bugs Bunny style cartoon, which to me was foreshadowing that his shadow or alter ego or whatever it is that's responsible for all the bad shit that he does is not him. And it's something that he's wrestling with the cartoon that he's watching while again, locked up in Arkham, they're all watching this cartoon. The cartoon character is going about his business, about to be on stage or it's backstage or something along those lines. And the shadow of the cartoon is taking its place and making it do bad, negative things.
Tony Ortiz [00:07:16]:
And then when hits the fan, the shadow disappears. Something else I noticed early on in the movie, which I'm not sure if it was intentional. I haven't heard or read that anything on this specifically, but I felt like the light symbolized when he's Joker. And the gloomy dark scenes are when he himself feels like Arthur Fleck when he's in his reality, in his sadness, in his depression. But every time he was light and jovial and risky and ballsy, there was extra light in the room or on him or like the moonlight shining in through the cell window, like some sort of light was present. And I kind of sort of noticed that early on and I was, you know, that I kept that in the back of my mind as I was watching it. And it felt like that throughout the rest of the film. Again, not sure if that was an intentional thing or not, but just something I picked up on.
Tony Ortiz [00:08:18]:
And his laugh, yo, his iconic creepy ass laugh is so good. Definitely get a lot of that. You had a couple actors from industry, which is the show that I'm gonna break down next, season three of the show that we're gonna break down next. And I've. I've broken down seasons one and two in prior episodes, but yeah, you. It was cool to see a couple actors from there that were in this. Robert Spearing's character from Industry, Harry Lottie. He plays Harvey Dent and he's a young prosecutor making his bones.
Tony Ortiz [00:08:50]:
I think he's like the assistant DA And Eric Tao from Industry, played by Ken Leung, he was Dr. Victor Liu, my guy. Tim Dillon is in this. He plays one of the guards at Arkham. Shout out to Tim Dillon, who's a stand up comedian and amazing podcaster. Now Harley Quinn again played by Lady Gaga. She was a different kind of crazy. She meets Joker when they pass by each other at Arkham.
Tony Ortiz [00:09:22]:
She's in this glee club singing thing program and she's an inmate at Arkham. And he's going from wherever he's housed to go meet his attorney or something like that. And he passes by this room that she's in, they lock eyes and they wind up striking up a romance from there. But she essentially tells him that the reason why she's locked up is because she burned down her parents place with them in it. And she tells him that she's from the same neighborhood that he's from because he by this point, by the way, because of everything that happened in the first movie with him killing Robert De Niro's character on live television and the riots that ensued and. And just like the lore that he had and the followers, they even made this made for TV movie about him. He was kind of like a D list celebrity, kind of. But she tells him all this and it winds up turns out that apparently it was all she was.
Tony Ortiz [00:10:19]:
Just like she self committed herself because she wanted to get close to him and get to know him and stuff. It's kind of stalkerish if you ask me. And she still lived at home with her parents in the Upper west side. She was a little rich girl who went to grad school for psychology. So yeah, different kind of crazy. It was interesting to me to see Arthur's character in, how even in all his craziness, his dual personality, his delusional state of mind, he was also a narcissistic, insecure kind of guy. He constantly wanted the validation that he never got while, you know, being on stage and attempting to do comedy. Or from his love interests that he made up in his mind, like to his neighbor from, from the first movie.
Tony Ortiz [00:11:13]:
And he's constantly worried about how he's being seen, how he's being perceived. Like he really wanted to know if someone saw the TV movie that they made about him and if it was good or not. And he had this inkling to be famous or love and adored which all stems, in my opinion, from the character's insecurities. And speaking of his neighbor Sophie Dumand, played by Zazi Beats, there's a scene when they're in court and she's on the stand because they're essentially trying to plead insanity and that it was his other personality that did the violence things and it wasn't really Arthur Fleck and he shouldn't be in there, you know, to try to get him out on the technicality. But she says something that just cuts through and pierces his soul, which is that his mother confided in her once upon a time and told him, told her that she couldn't believe that he based his whole life on a story that she told him once about his purpose in life, which was to make people laugh, which is why she used to call him Smiley, I think, and that that's why he went so hard at trying to be a stand up comedian. And she was saying in this, like, you know, it's pathetic of him making a tone that you could just see broke his heart as he heard it and it made him flip out in court. Now, what the movie was criticized for most was the fact that it was essentially a musical, which I myself don't, don't prefer when it comes to movies. Actual Broadway musicals I actually do like, but in my head they're compartmentalized into different things.
Tony Ortiz [00:12:56]:
So any movies, like La La Land, I think was a musical, which I never saw, by the way. I won the Oscar that year, but things like that always turned me off. This was part musical and I did hear that, but just because I love the first one so much, I had to watch this. And although I could definitely have done without it, I did get it. I did get what. At least I think I did. I feel like I got what Todd Phillips and Scott Silver were going for. Just to slightly correct my writing credits, I just realized that Bob Kane is one of the character creators, not one of the writers of the script of the film.
Tony Ortiz [00:13:37]:
So that's just Todd Phillips and Scott Silver. But to me, it was a way of showing how he felt inside, how he felt awake, alive, and shit was sweet. Even though what we as the audience would see around him was chaos. It was kind of showing how in his own weird, delusional way, he was in control of the moments that he was in, the situations that he was in, rather. And he was the smartest guy in the room, even if in reality that clearly wasn't the case. But again, I felt like all those breakouts Song and dance scenes were just heightening that, that idea. And they were done well, tastefully artsy. So, you know, if that's your lane, which again, for me it's only really something that I appreciate on theater stages and don't really look to movies for that.
Tony Ortiz [00:14:33]:
So it kind of sort of feels like out of place for me. But if you're into that sort of thing, I'm sure you could get appreciation from it because it was clearly well done. But I felt like if you stripped all of that away from the movie, you would have wound up with a film that lived up to the hype and anticipation. And again, that's coming from someone who enjoyed the film. I still liked it despite that. I just think it would have been way better without it. But soundtrack wise, the score of all the oldies that that were played throughout I thought was pretty cool. And I call them oldies from my perspective.
Tony Ortiz [00:15:06]:
But the setting of the, of the film is like in what, the 70s, late 70s, early 80s, around there. So probably pretty contemporary for when the film takes place. I like the scene, spoiler alert, where in the courtroom and the verdict is being, being read and he's being found guilty for everything. And the side of the court blows up. Someone set off a car bomb right next to the courtroom. Literally rips the wall out of the courtroom. And then it shows Harvey Dent disoriented and sitting down with half his face blown off, you know, setting it up for the two face character. But who knows? Because Todd Phillips famously didn't want to make this movie, let alone like a two face spin off or something like that.
Tony Ortiz [00:15:53]:
But it was more, it was kind of more so like a reminder of the world that you're in, right? You're in that D.C. comic, Batman world. And I like something that I heard on screen Crush, where they said that people that get upset about this Joker movie because it's not true to the origins of any of the origin stories of the Joker from the comic books, is essentially that those critiques are unfounded because what this movie is doing is just taking elements of the comic and remixing the characters, just doing a remix in film form. So it's not meant to be that and the movie essentially towards the end, towards the very end, we see Joaquin characters, Joaquin Phoenix's character Joker getting shanked in Arkham, seemingly being set up by the guard to get shanked in a hallway where he was left by himself by someone that another inmate that you see throughout the film. It's kind of creepy and in the background and he stabs and kills Joaquin Phoenix. And as the camera pans out, you see that character cutting his own face, a smile into his own face, akin to the Heath Ledger Joker character, which rubbed some people the wrong way. They were like, how can you, you know, even touch such an iconic character or allude to it that that's the real Joker, which is kind of like what the first movie set up, right? The Joaquin Phoenix was not necessarily the Joker that. Or not necessarily, he was not the Joker that fights Batman.
Tony Ortiz [00:17:32]:
Because we see Bruce Wayne as a little baby or a young kid in the first Joker movie. But this Joker spawns all these fall followers and uprisings and inspires who will become the Joker that winds up being, you know, Batman's arch nemesis. And then with taking this character that shanks this one and then, you know, cuts his face, you kind of playing with that idea that this is that Heath Ledger Joker character. I personally thought it was a cool nod to. To that iconic character. I don't think it's blasphemous or anything like that, but to each their own. And the movie again starts with that whole Looney Tunes sketch style sketch in the beginning of it. And it ends with him watching Looney Tunes.
Tony Ortiz [00:18:24]:
So part of me felt like similar to the first movie. Did he just imagine this whole. Is he just that and crazy in the brain that he. Everything that we saw in the film again was like all in his head. Was it? Not just the musical scenes that were in his head, but in fact, everything. Two other items I'd like to touch on related to the film is the whole conspiracy of again, speaking to Todd Phillips and him, you know, be vocal about just making the first Joker and that's it. He never intended to do a second movie, but then clearly, obviously he did. He wound up doing it.
Tony Ortiz [00:19:01]:
There's a quote in the film where he says, I have a sneaking suspicion that we're not giving the fans what they want. Which seemed like meta commentary about the fact that Todd Phillips wasn't giving the fans what they wanted and wound up doing this musical thing just to piss everybody the off. Which I honestly, after seeing a couple interviews with him, I don't think that was it. I think he was just trying to do, you know, like this artsy thing and marrying the two styles or genres of storytelling, if you will. But I thought that was an interesting take. And something else that I thought that was really cool was that iconic scene in this movie, which was used throughout the trailers and stuff like that. So I was familiar with it even before watching the film, but where he's locked up and behind the glass and Lady Gaga's character Harley Quinn goes to visit him and she puts lipstick on the glass and then he smiles into it and it looks like it's the Joker makeup lipstick on him. And Todd Phillips said that they, they took like an hour to get that shot right.
Tony Ortiz [00:20:14]:
And the way they did it was they put a light smudge on the mirror on the glass where, you know, to indicate to her the perfect spot for her to draw the lipstick smile. And then Joaquin essentially had to hit that mark and smile just right and just enough to fill in that lipstick smile, which I thought was pretty, pretty cool and creative and just interesting. You know, that's a little of the behind the scenes, if you will type of that I like. But yeah, I thought it was a good movie. It was worth a watch. Again, could I have done without the musical numbers and stuff like that? Yes, because it's not my thing. But that aside, I still thought it was a. A worthwhile watch, especially if you're a fan of the first one.
Tony Ortiz [00:21:04]:
If you're a fan and as invested as I was in that first film, how could you not want to see how the story plays out? You know, it's almost. It's a must. But yeah, that's my little recap and review of Joker Folia Do Industry Season 3 here's the official synopsis. This is a British American television drama series, financial drama that premiered in 2020. It follows a group of young graduates competing for permanent positions at a prestigious investment bank in London known as Peer Point. And these young bankers and traders make their way in the financial world in the aftermath of the 2008 collapse. And as we like to do here on the Spun Today podcast, let's shout out the writers. The show was largely written and created by Mickey down and Conrad K.
Tony Ortiz [00:21:59]:
Additional writers for a handful of episodes were Joseph Charlton, Sam H. Freeman, Kate Verges, Matthew Barry and Zara Mirza. Shout out to each and every one of the writers that put this great series together. Season three is the last and final series, the series finale, and I've broken down both seasons one and season two, which if you haven't listened to those, feel free to go back and listen to them. It was with the last handful of episodes that I've put out where I think I got a bit more foundational with the characters in terms of information that I shared. But here for season three, I'm gonna just do kind of a data dump of some of my favorite parts and scenes and things that happened as I normally do, starting with Randolph and Mortimer Peoint, which were the founders of the Peoint Bank. I thought that was a cool nod to the 80s film Trading Places. And the season starts out kind of upside down, backwards again, you're not.
Tony Ortiz [00:23:05]:
We as the viewer don't know how much time has lapsed. What's going on exactly. Eric, his character Eric Tao, played by Ken Leung, is getting a standing ovation from the C Suite execs. Harper Stern's character, played by Maihala is completely mia. Yasmin Karahanani, played by Marissa Abella. She's getting dragged throughout through the media. Kenny Kilbane's character, played by Connor McNeil is being a dick again and not with shell of himself as he was being in in the prior season after he got sober. And it was, it didn't seem like he was back on the sauce or anything.
Tony Ortiz [00:23:51]:
It was just he was getting some of his edge back, if you will. And there's a couple new characters, one of which was Sweet Pea Go Lightly played by Miriam Pechy. She was this smart financial girl that was also a tick tock star. Nicole Craig's character, played by Sarah Parrish, makes this poignant point with Robert, which are still sleeping together. But she winds up telling him that we're all just chimps in a hierarchy. And then they're laying out by the pool, they're just drizzling. They wind up falling asleep. And then it starts drizzling or raining.
Tony Ortiz [00:24:28]:
And Robert wakes up, she's not really moving. He lifts her off him, she's half on him and she's dead. Which was a 16. Crazy, unexpected. Eric winds up firing Kenny instead of Yaz because Bill Adler, his boss, wants him to get rid of somebody to make another cut. And I thought a funny scene. Well, not a funny scene, but an interesting way that Eric's character framed a climate conference that they were going to was that it's just ESG enough to appease the Democrats and also anti woke enough to not trigger the Republicans, which I thought was just like an interesting tightrope that banks and industries in general are constantly walking, right? You're playing both sides of the fence. You see Democrats and Republicans, liberals and conservatives and ESG for the uninitiated within the finance world stands for in environmental, social and governance.
Tony Ortiz [00:25:30]:
And it's essentially, think of it like you have rating agencies, right, like Moody's and S P and Fitch that rate different businesses, different companies, like triple A rated, A rated B rated, triple B rated. That's where the term like junk stocks comes from, which essentially are anything rated below A, B, I believe, or B and below or triple C and below or junk bonds. But think of it in those terms of a rating agency. But ESG are. There are companies that essentially assign scores, ESG scores and ratings to companies not based on their profit and loss and balance sheet investments and revenues. You know the financial stuff. But on those three pillars, those three buckets, esg, environmental, social and governance. In the environmental bucket would be things.
Tony Ortiz [00:26:32]:
Does this company have a target goal to be carbon neutral by you know, 2045 or 2050 or wherever the goalpost happens to be right now in their supply chain doing. Do they knowing, knowingly have humane practices when it comes to mining cobalt and you know, like conflict minerals? That's the kind of stuff in the E bucket, the environmental bucket. Then you have the social bucket, which I can't think of any examples right now, blanking on it. And then you have the governance bucket which is you have a balance of male and females on the sweet seat on the board of directors. For example. Are you equal opportunity employers? Do are you have the sensitivity trainings and diversity trainings, you know, kind of office culture type of things. What is the payout the severance packages look for, let's say a CEO, just things up badly. Are they able to cash out their shares and get paid a ton of money anyway.
Tony Ortiz [00:27:35]:
But anyway that's what ESG stands for essentially. And I just liked Eric's framing there, which was that this, this particular ESG conference or climate conference rather was just ESG enough to appease Democrats, which are more for this, these types of things and anti woke enough not to trigger Republicans. So still meant to be financially sound, you know, practical investments and companies and stuff like that that would be involved. We also find out that Rishi, we find out in season three is spiraling and has a sick gambling addiction which isn't covered in the prior seasons, but definitely plays into his vibe, the vibe of his character throughout seasons one and two. It was very reminiscent of Adam Sandler's movie Uncut Gems. That was like the type of shit Rishi has been on. And it spills over into work where he, he has this huge negative position that is pretty much going to erase all the gains that the entire desk has made that that year. And he makes this crazy bet that winds up paying off like on some Hail Mary last minute type shit where sterling silver has some once in 27 year rate hike and that offsets the that that's in his favor, essentially.
Tony Ortiz [00:29:11]:
So for his huge negative position to actually make sense and pay out, this once in a 27 year occurrence had to happen. And we also find out that Diana, Rishi's wife, played by Emily Barber, has a podcast that actually makes money. And she winds up bailing him out of a big hole that he's in with his bookie. And they kind of have this heart to heart, you know, just like cards out on the table moment between the two. And she winds up telling him she was like, do you know? Do you even know what a man is? And she's like, a man is how you treat people who expect your love. Which I thought was a dope line. And I'll put a pin in that and circle back to those two in a bit. But then, moving on in the season, the Lumi IPO winds up failing, crashing afterwards, the CEO cashes out before it does.
Tony Ortiz [00:30:07]:
And he comes from legacy wealth in London. Some backdoor deals were made with the politicians and regulators, etc, etc. Robert, his character is essentially put out there by Purepoint to take the fall. He and the Lumi CEO wind up going on an Ayahuasca retreat, which I thought was funny. We find out through flashback scenes because this season has a lot of flashbacks just to tie out loose ends and fill in some blanks that we, we as viewers have. And we find out that Yasmin lets her pops drown on some Phil Collins in the Air Tonight type shit. Harper, we finally find out is working for this boutique fund and then winds up leaving that fund with one of the partners of it and starting their own fund. And they together angle a deal that would short the fuck out of Pierpoint and really screw the bank over.
Tony Ortiz [00:31:06]:
And it winds up leading to this great dialogue confrontation between Harper and Yaz, who throughout the series have this love hate relationship for each other filled with adoration and respect, facts and belittling at the same time. And true moments of friendship and being there for each other, sprinkled with moments of I wouldn't piss on you if you were on fire. A very contentious relationship. Oh, this was a dope line. The interim CEO of peerpoint tells the head of Barclays, because they come down pretty much to the wire where the bank is going to implode, essentially it's gonna collapse. It's gonna be like the, like Lehman Brothers. And the interim CEO tells Barclays who's like, at the table with them, willing to buy them for pennies on the dollar. Buy out the bank.
Tony Ortiz [00:31:58]:
He tells them, he tells him. So we're just at the mercy of someone else's ambition and debarklays CEO replies to him. Aren't we always. I thought that was a pretty dope back and forth there. Eric Tao angles with one of the execs who was spearheading the whole ESG push within the bank which was a colossal failure for them as it has been for some banks and entities and real life in the financial system. But he angles with her to Bill Adler and pin things on him and position it as it being due to his brain tumor and that he pretty much positions himself as being the next CFO for whatever the remnants of Pure Point winds up being and pivots the idea from letting Barclays buy them for pennies on the dollar to having investors from the Middle east just invest in Pure Point as is. You know something that I noticed about Robert's character, he always had this douchey walk and mannerism to him that I thought was, you know, just the character that Harry Lottie was playing. But I think that that's just Harry's way of being.
Tony Ortiz [00:33:15]:
No, no disrespect to Harry, but when I saw him in in Joker 2 playing the Harvey Dent character there, he had those very same similar mannerisms about him and like the same walk. So I don't think that was a character specific to Robert Spearing. Then we see Yaz's character has this opportunity to have all her troubles go away in terms of how she's being portrayed in the in the press and legal legal troubles with her family's estate and her dad being MIA and then found out to be have been dead and drowned and she could have had everything go away and you know, be be in wealth which she was always accustomed to to being given how she grew up by getting with the Lumi guy. That's what the grandfather of the Lumi guy, which again comes from this legacy wealthy family. But then she chose to go with Robert to be with Robert who they were. Oh they always had this flirty kind of they're going to wind up together type of relationship. They would wind up together at the end and they do finally sleep together. And it seems they're going to be like, you know, right off into the sunset, live happily ever after and carve out a nice existence and life for themselves.
Tony Ortiz [00:34:38]:
And then you fast forward to the end of that same day and Henry, which is the gloomy guy, he announces that they're engaged after they them two discussed, you know, just being practical about things and about going on their lives because her that family had the power to just clear her name and from the papers and tabloids and they owned all the photos that were being used to trash her. And then what's in it for Henry is that she would help, you know, whitewash Henry's corporate failure somehow and Rob just gets fucked in the end. And there was a scene that was shot pretty interestingly that pretty cool that I liked, which was when the engagement was announced. They were at this very long fancy dinner. By long I mean very long table seemed like royalty style dinner. There's a shot of them exchanging looks, Rob and Yaz. And it's like everybody else melts away. And the look from her is essentially saying I'm sorry.
Tony Ortiz [00:35:42]:
And the look from him is essentially saying that I understand. And then he winds up driving away at the end and there's a moment where he kind of like sparks and smiles and in that moment found solace in knowing that he was the one that she truly loved. Like he took her for her word that they actually said I love you and stuff like that when they slept together, while at the same time knowing that for practical reasons he wouldn't wind up with her. Jesse Bloom, we find out, goes to prison for tax evasion. Bill Adler winds up dying the cancer tumor. Eric gets fired in the end and is given a $20 million severance, aka a golden parachute. Like what I was mentioning earlier, like the G in esg, Harper makes a decision to leave the fund that she started with Petra and making a deal with one of those legacy wealth guys, which is Henry's father, great not father, great uncle or friend of the family or something like that, who initially backed her and Petra's fund, but he was more of a shady type character. And Harper said that she would run her own short only fund from New York and that she was ready to go home.
Tony Ortiz [00:37:02]:
Then you fast forward some time and Yaz winds up calling Harper to congratulate her on being on Forbes 30 under 30 and to invite her to her wedding. And then we see the invitation list and we see that the Obamas are on there. That's how fancy this family is. We also find out that Rishi, circling back to him and his wife Rishi is in the hole now to his bookie, £600,000. And the bookie winds up paying him a visit and shooting his wife in the head and then leaves him there. Just freaked the fuck out. So we kind of see how that's gonna end. Yaz finally confronts the fact that her dad molested her, which they kind of tease throughout the the series, but never fully show or confirm until the moment where she's told that by someone that, you know, if he, that they're sorry for what he did to her or if he ever did that to her and she breaks down crying.
Tony Ortiz [00:38:06]:
And this moment of like clarity and realization and then soon after denial. But it definitely explains a lot of how promiscuous her character was and how contentious the relationship was between her and her dad. And there's also we get a nice amend between Harper and Eric between their characters. Harper called Eric, which was the central mentor mentee relationship throughout the series. And they kind of made amends. And those two, they were kindred spirits in a way. They were very, very similar people, sociopathic, very able, very focused, very smart. And they played off of each other very well.
Tony Ortiz [00:38:47]:
And then the series essentially ends with Rob finally coming into his own as a salesman and seemingly locking in a deal for the VC funding for this was either like a Silicon Valley startup or this, this medical startup that was going to make him the CFO of the company if he was able to lock, lock in, lock down some VC funding. But yeah, Industry is a dope series. I definitely recommend it. It's a fairly quick watch being that it's only three seasons and that is the full series, but definitely worth a watch. I really enjoyed it. I'm sure you find folks will too. And that is my little recap and review of Industry Season 3. Check it out.
Tony Ortiz [00:39:32]:
Now streaming on HBO Max Hasan Minhaj is off with his head. His latest comedy special streaming now on Netflix. Hasan Minhaj is a dope stand up comedian. I've seen all his comedy specials, really enjoy them. He kind of popularized, in my opinion, using slides and pictures and visual aids throughout his stand up. Although this one, he didn't have any of that, which was an interesting shift. He was a correspondent on the Daily show under Jon Stewart, had his own show on Netflix as well. And recently a few months ago, I think I mentioned this on the pod.
Tony Ortiz [00:40:16]:
And I have broken down his other comedy specials, by the way, in the past if you guys want to go dig those up. I also have a comedy about stand up comedy playlist on my YouTube page if you guys are interested. You could dig it up there probably more easily than going back and listening to an old full episode of the pod. But I think I mentioned on the podcast his recent controversy from a few months back where he was quote unquote caught telling lies within his stand up comedy, which was generally taken one of two ways, which was oh, that's. That. That's kind of dirty to make things up about because one of the things was that he was allegedly making things up about real people that didn't happen. And those people came out like, you know, bits that he had about his prom date and her parents being racist and not, you know, him showing up and them not letting him take her to prom because he was a brown kid, she was a white girl, and then it turns out that she's married now to an Indian guy and she came out and said that, you know, none of that ever happened. And then on the flip side you have him defending that, yes, that specifically or something similar to that happened.
Tony Ortiz [00:41:31]:
But also the folks defending the mindset of a comedian, obviously all stories are embellish and changed and tweaked for comedic effect, which is what comics do. And I myself was initially more on the former side of that argument and now I'm more on the latter side of that argument. But just this special coming out in and of itself, you know, folks were anticipating him, you know, speaking to that and he does with it within the special. Something that I don't like would sucked around when that was was going on is that I hate when folks that I like are like beefing with each other. Like I know some of the guys on flagrant Akash specifically went in on Hasan when that whole controversy came out and were just highlighting a few other things because they came up and like in the comedy scene, not completely together, but somewhat together. But he said some other shady stories about Hasan kind of jumped on the bandwagon if you will, folks that were attacking him for shit. And if Drew definitely didn't look good with on Hasan, but it kind of like reinforced the whole allegation of him just making shit up. But yeah, I just hate seeing that type of thing.
Tony Ortiz [00:42:49]:
It's kind of like the whole what I've been seeing lately with the whole some of the folks within the Rogan sphere, if you will, or within his orbit that are feuding or beefing or like don't like each other and stuff like that ain't even separated themselves from Rogan himself. Like you have the Sam Harris obviously and Kyle Kalinsky's crystal ball a bit. It kind of makes sense, you know, being with Kyle, you know, Kyle's wife. But these were all folks that blew up because of Rogan and now are taking shots and mainly because they're not down with some of his more right leaning views. And he's not ads left as he was before. And I still like those folks and their podcasts and their shows. So yeah, just kind of hate that, like the beefing between folks that I like. But anyway, I digress.
Tony Ortiz [00:43:40]:
So I anyway, it was anticipated to see how Hasan would, would address it, that whole controversy. And he essentially addressed it as he mentioned it a couple times throughout the special, but he essentially sarcastically just addressed it as the New Yorker were fact checking his stand up, which you know, he was saying it like you're fact checking comedy, like how ridiculous is that? Which in a, in a vacuum it is. And he was kind of like, oh no, I got caught, you know, embellishing for dramatic effect. And that was I think as far as he went. But he did continue taking shots at the New Yorker and that type of behavior in general throughout. He also mentioned that our Congress is like Israeli mass nursing home.gov and that we should treat our politicians the way we treat our professional athletes. He was like, if we treated Ruth Bader Ginsburg like Tom Brady, abortion would still be legal. That was hilarious.
Tony Ortiz [00:44:39]:
Just like kick her out, forced her to retire one way or the other, replace it with another left leaning judge and just completely avoid Trump coming in and having put in a right leaning one. He had a funny bit where he says that Hillary wanted to be president so bad that she was willing to sit in the same office that and then he left it open after that, obviously alluding to Clinton getting a BJ from Monica Lewinsky in the Oval Office. And he says that Beijistan, as he calls the brown folks, has four key issues that they give a about which are essentially give us a green card, believe in God, lower our taxes and don't bomb our home country. After that you got our vote. I like this line that I mentioned that he is from a generation of men that don't read but listen to podcasts, shout out to podcast. He mentioned his, his boy Sanjay sent him Kobe Bryant quotes and he highlighted that, that famous quote which is hard men make soft times, Soft times make soft men. Soft men make hard times. Hard times make hard men.
Tony Ortiz [00:45:57]:
It's a cycle. Like his boy. His boy Sanjay is texting him that and quotes Mamba mentality quotes from Kobe. He just writes about Sanji. You're a software engineer. When you sending me this? That was hilarious. He mentioned the Gaza and Israeli attacks a few times throughout, which I thought was pretty dope to do. He's a, you know, a mainstream comedian and probably wouldn't be too in his best interest to do so, especially if he's on one side more than the Other.
Tony Ortiz [00:46:30]:
But I like how he highlighted, which again is how I feel how all issues now are made binary. They're either black and white, who's right, Gaza or Israel. And it's like the issue really is that it's insane people versus insufferable people. He had this bit on racism that was dope where he, he says that white people have the classic hits when it comes to racism and they hate on people that don't look like them. But the rest of us, we hate people that look just like us. Think like India, Pakistan, Dominicans and Puerto Ricans or warring factions within like Middle Eastern countries or African countries, so on and so forth. This was funny. He was blm.
Tony Ortiz [00:47:16]:
That movement was just the Black Lives Matter movement was just them saying, you know, we just want to be treated human beings. And then the ALM movement, the All Lives Matter movement was more like, no. And then he goes, his pops, you know, coming from like the immigrant mentality, he's like, it's not about black lives matter and all lives matter. It's none of those people matter. Tell me what your GPA is and I'll tell you if you matter. And the last thing I'll mention about is special is he says that therapy and like taking therapy needs to be more like a haircut. You can't tell us about it. We have to notice the difference in you.
Tony Ortiz [00:48:00]:
It was a dope special by Hasan Minhaj and I highly recommend it. Hasan Minhaj is off with his head streaming now on Netflix. Check it out. And that, folks, was episode 274 of the Sponsored A podcast. Thank you very much for taking the time to give it a listen. Thanksgiving is coming up right around the corner. Wishing you and yours have tons to be thankful for this year. No, I definitely do.
Tony Ortiz [00:48:30]:
Especially with what a rough year it's been for me and my family. Health wise. I'm looking forward to more of a return to normalcy and an uneventful happy holiday season. So enjoy the time with you and yours while you have it, while you have the ability to do so and stick around for another minute or two. So I can tell you guys about a few different ways you can help support this show if you so choose. And I'll check you guys out next time. Peace. What's up folks?
Tony Ortiz [00:49:03]:
Tony here. I hope you're enjoying the Spun Today podcast as much as I enjoy producing it for you. Here are a few ways you can.
Tony Ortiz [00:49:11]:
Help support the show.
Tony Ortiz [00:49:12]:
You can support the Spun Today podcast financially by going to spuntoday.com support. There you will find a couple different ways that you can do just that, some of which will actually not even cost you a dime, such as using my Amazon affiliate link. When you go to spuntoday.com support, you'll see my affiliate link to Amazon. Click on it and it will take you to Amazon's website where you can do your shopping like normal. This will not cost you anything extra, but Amazon will pay me for driving traffic to their website. If you'd like to support the podcast more directly, you can do so by becoming a patron@spuntoday.com support. You'll also find my Patreon link. This is where creators such as myself can be paid directly by patrons like you.
Tony Ortiz [00:49:59]:
You can either make a one time donation or schedule recurring donations if you so choose. There are also different tiers of support and depending on which you decide to go with, you'll also receive some perks in return such as early access to content, free digital copies of my books, free bookmarks, etc. That is again by supporting via my Patreon link available at spontaneous.com forward/support similar to Patreon at that same location. You'll also find my Ko Fi link as well as my Buy me a coffee link. They work very similar to Patreon and are different ways that you can help support the show financially. And last but certainly not least, you have the good old fashioned PayPal donation button. Any which way that you choose to.
Tony Ortiz [00:50:40]:
Support is greatly appreciated.
Tony Ortiz [00:50:42]:
It all helps me do more of what I love, which is writing and podcasting. Again, go to spuntoday.com support. You can also support the Spun Today podcast by rating and reviewing the show. Wherever it is that you're listening to this episode.
Tony Ortiz [00:50:57]:
I'd really appreciate it because it really does help.
Tony Ortiz [00:51:00]:
Also, follow me on all socials Funtoday on X, formerly known as Twitter, Funtoday on Instagram and funtoday on YouTube where you'll not only find full length episodes.
Tony Ortiz [00:51:14]:
Of the podcast, but also chopped up.
Tony Ortiz [00:51:16]:
Clips and additional content. And of course you can follow the Facebook page@facebook.com spun today. Another way you can help support the Spun Today podcast and also upgrade that stale wardrobe of yours is by going to spuntoday.com support and clicking on the banner for Stitch Fix. Once you do, you'll enjoy a 25 discount to your first purchase. And the way Stitch Fix works is pretty cool. I use it and have never been disappointed. You'll set up a profile, you put in all the sizes for your clothes as well as all the different brands and types of clothes that you like to wear. It's really simple and intuitive to set up.
Tony Ortiz [00:51:55]:
They'll show you pictures and pretty much give you a thumbs up or thumbs down option on if you would wear something or not. And you get to select all the brands that you already are used to wearing. With this information, their thousands of passionate trend setting stylists will curate a Stitch.
Tony Ortiz [00:52:12]:
Fix box for you.
Tony Ortiz [00:52:13]:
They'll send you five items that you get to preview before they mail it to you and you'll get to select based on the image if you like it or not. If not, they'll replace it with something else and if so, they'll mail it to you absolutely for free. You can try everything on and you have a few days to send everything back or keep the stuff that you want to keep. Then you can use that $25 credit that I mentioned towards your purchase of those items. Again. To freshen up your wardrobe and also support the Sponsor Day podcast, go to sponsored.com forward/support and click on my affiliate link banner for Stitch Fix and enjoy your $25 credit.
Tony Ortiz [00:52:48]:
Do you want to start your own podcast? Have a great show idea that you want to get out into the masses but don't know quite how to get it from your head out into the world? Well, here's how. Use the podcast host Libsyn. That's who I use to bring the Sponsor Day podcast to you. And now you can use them the same way. Using the promo code spun S P U N, you can open up your Libsyn account today and get two months of free podcast hosting. Here's how it works. Once you record your show, you upload it to your Libsyn account where you can fill in your episode notes, upload your podcast art and schedule when you want your episodes to release. Once you do that, listen Libsyn will take care of the rest.
Tony Ortiz [00:53:32]:
They'll distribute your show to Spotify, Apple Podcasts, YouTube, and all the other podcasters that you choose instantaneously and seamlessly. Again, go to Libsyn.com and use the promo code Spun Spun to get two months free. Or use the affiliate link that's in the episode notes. Again, that's libsyn.com promo code spun. Take that great podcast idea from out of your head and put it out into the world. And as always folks, substitute the mysticism with hard work and start taking steps in the general direction of your dreams. Thanks for listening. I love you Aiden.
Tony Ortiz [00:54:26]:
I love you Daddy. I love you Grayson. I love you Daddy.