Join Us for a Recap of the Biggest Trends from 2024

2024 in Review 

Election Results (2024 U.S. Presidential Election)

Inside Out 2

Olympic Medal Count (2024 Paris Games)

Luigi Mangione

Beetlejuice (Sequel)

Emoji Kitchen

Dodgers / Juan Soto

StreamEast

Spotify Wrapped 2024

FAFSA (Free Application for Federal Student Aid)

Thanks for tuning into The Current Stream Podcast, where three best friends ride the waves of today's hottest trends. Stay curious, stay connected, and remember—just like rivers that merge, the best ideas come when we flow together. Follow us on facebook at the Current Stream Podcast, email us at thecurrentstreampodcast@gmail.com and visit our website at thecurrentstreampodcast.com

Transcript

Attendees

Bryan Aspenson, Chris West, John R Mezydlo

Transcript

John R Mezydlo: podcast first episode.

John R Mezydlo: Chris and…

Chris West: Hello.  All right. Great.

John R Mezydlo: Say hello, Us three guys,…

Bryan Aspenson: Hi there.

Bryan Aspenson: Hot topic.

John R Mezydlo: we're blessed to have met each other over 20 years ago in college, and now we are joining forces to give you what we hope to be our interesting and funny thoughts about the latest trend Full disclosure, we're just a bunch of premillennial dads looking to have fun, and we hope you enjoy it. So, let's get this kicked off with the search trend that won't surprise  election results. So obviously happened in November 5th. Okay. And can Can you say it wasn't a surprise?

John R Mezydlo: I don't know how you want to think of it,…

John R Mezydlo: but Trump winning 312 to 226 on the electoral college, 77 million votes, and I guess there's still some to be counted to 75 million votes. He's the first Yeah.

Chris West: You're rounding up 75.

Chris West: I see. Go on.

John R Mezydlo: He's the first Republican presidential nominee since George W. Bush in 2004 to win the popular vote.

John R Mezydlo: He's 78 years old. So I mean could make it a quadruple considering a quad like myself.

Bryan Aspenson: Yeah, it's a while.

Bryan Aspenson: On top of the election, the Republican party regained control of the Senate and the House as well. So, it's a three the trifecta, which is very surprising.

John R Mezydlo: They also have control the Supreme Court conservatives do by his appointees. So, I mean, he first announced his first presidential run in June of 2015. So, nine years this guy has been in the political spotlight. And I was telling friends and…

Chris West: Yes. He's definitely got a motor.

John R Mezydlo: family, I was like, I don't know if I have the energy even day in and day out, to even pursue being the president, let alone try and everything that he went through, right or wrong, to be, the impeachments, the convictions, the assassinations attempts.  It's outrageous. And still

Chris West: That's for I mean, you got to give credit to somebody at their age who, could have easily sailed into the sunset from an accomplishment perspective to have that motivation and drive. Yeah, you definitely have to give credit.

Chris West: And yeah, it's I mean depending on who you're talking to, they're not surprised. And like you said, good, bad, or indifferent, you can't help but he's a polarizing figure.

Bryan Aspenson: Yeah.  Mhm.

Chris West: I mean, he's in the media and some shape or fashion at any time.

John R Mezydlo: the opposite side thought it was because we gave him so much air time that if we didn't talk about him, maybe he wouldn't have won, and to further expand on the strategy, a lot of people are giving Baron credit, his son, for saying, "Dad, why don't you try podcasts?

John R Mezydlo: That's like the new mainstream media like Joe Rogan, like Theo Vaughn.

John R Mezydlo: Your top big time podcast.

Bryan Aspenson: Yeah. One thing that's a little controversial with the election is the number of votes this year compared to four years ago.

Bryan Aspenson: The big drop and a lot of people are blaming millennials and Jenzers for not getting out and voting. But there's also a lot of speculation about false votes being counted four years ago and how they've tried to crack down on that. who knows? It's hard to say what's true and what's false.

Bryan Aspenson: A lot of conspiracies.

Chris West: Yeah, credibility of sources. Across the board in today's world is questionable. Yeah. U like you're saying rigged results or voter interference. Yeah. It's all We've seen it all. Yeah.

00:05:00

Bryan Aspenson: And that's astounding.

John R Mezydlo: And…

John R Mezydlo: by each state even of what's credible because call it a coincidence, I don't think so. But Kla Harris won every state where voter ID was not required.

Bryan Aspenson: I don't understand…

Bryan Aspenson: how you need a license to buy a beer or a pack of cigarettes or do anything else nowadays but to vote. You don't need your license. That's insane to me. it should be a Yeah.

John R Mezydlo: It's baffling.

John R Mezydlo: You want me to go to war at 18, but I can vote without a voter ID or without any type of ID?

Chris West: I mean,…

Chris West: the mail and ballot, I don't know what I think about that. I mean, I don't even trust getting my Amazon packages sometimes, let alone, a significant voting option getting there and…

Chris West: being processed correctly,

Bryan Aspenson: Yep. Yeah,…

John R Mezydlo: It's nuts.

Bryan Aspenson: that's a good point.

John R Mezydlo: I mean, it's absolutely crazy.

Chris West: And John, you touched on a few big things. I mean, so we have the election results as a whole. obviously the results are what they are. You talked electoral and popular vote and then you mentioned some other crazy things. So, leading up to this, Biden withdrew as late as it was July 21st of 2024, withdrew. And, again, some people thought not a surprise at all.

Chris West: Some people are surprised, but that was the first since Lynden Johnson in 1968 for someone to not seek a reelection.

Chris West: So a lot of firsts with this.

Bryan Aspenson: Wow.

Bryan Aspenson: I didn't realize that. That's …

Chris West: And then the assassination attempt you mentioned the first time a president has been shot at since 1981, Yeah. Yeah.

Bryan Aspenson: even the speculation and conspiracy surrounding that assassination attempt, not once, even twice on the second one on the golf course. the first one people were pointing him out and the Secret Service saw him and what took him so long. was it almost like they were hoping they were going to take him out? Who knows? I don't know.

Chris West: It makes you wonder, that's for sure. in a world with ironclad security or…

Chris West: least there's cameras everywhere and p, in advance. it is bizarre.

Bryan Aspenson: I'll even play devil's advocate here.

Bryan Aspenson: And the way they mentioned Trump standing up and pumping his fist after he got shot at, the Secret Service would never let somebody do it. you're getting shot at. They would cover him and get him out of there as soon as possible. the one security guard fumbling her gun.

Chris West: Yes, it was the JV squad like the Badgers quarterback situation the last decade.

Bryan Aspenson: It was a circus. It was so unorganized.

Chris West: That's the only thing I could chalk it up to. If there wasn't more to it, I can't imagine to your point that you're on the deck no matter who you are. if your secret is you're down, right?

Bryan Aspenson: Yeah. Yeah.

John R Mezydlo: I mean,…

John R Mezydlo: I on Tik Tok there were so many videos of people pointing this guy out ahead of time saying, "What the hell is that?" I mean,…

Bryan Aspenson: Yeah. Yeah.

John R Mezydlo: You could see the guy climbing up there.

Bryan Aspenson: And then he even set up for a kill shot.

Chris West: It does.

Bryan Aspenson: He was laying on top of that roof in plain sight with everyone pointing him out. it raises so many questions. And I hate to be a conspiracy theorist, but it does.

John R Mezydlo: You wacko.

Bryan Aspenson: I Give me my tinfoil hat.

Chris West: …

Bryan Aspenson: But it is.

Chris West: it's crazy though.

Bryan Aspenson: It is.

Chris West: Yeah. the assassination attempt wild,…

Bryan Aspenson: It's wild.

Chris West: Especially, I just think the time lapse seeing that 1981 the last attempt is crazy to me with advancement in, weaponry and opportunity. I mean, thank goodness we're not Russia. Don't take a sip of your drink or leave your food unattended. You know what I'm saying?

John R Mezydlo: Why do you got to bring Putin into this?

Bryan Aspenson: 

Chris West: Austin powers would be proud.

John R Mezydlo: From something so serious to something a little more light-hearted. What's our next trend?

Chris West: Yeah. Yeah. So, trend of Inside Out 2, the animated release that came out in the summer of 2024. being a family guy like you both, I am used to catching any and all new movies that have come out in that realm. And came out released this summer. Disney specifically, I imagine it'll be able to be streamed on all platforms at some point in time. I don't believe it is currently.

00:10:00

Chris West: But a fun movie that kind of goes across all the spectrums of emotions. pun intended. centers on a character named Riley and…

John R Mezydlo: Wow.

Chris West: her adolescence as she kind of navigates, the typical teenage year returning is Amy Polar. great voice in any fashion from my standpoint. And it is featured in deciders listed 24 standup movies of 24 for Pixar. So yeah. Yeah. I got roped in this year with we were looking for a family themed Halloween planning and I myself was anger which was pretty fun trying to wash off the bright red face paint for a couple days. I think I told you guys about that.

Chris West: Yeah, I don't know if you guys have seen to be honest not caught Inside Out 2 yet as much as we really enjoyed Inside Out as a family.

Chris West: So looking forward to that upcoming. How about you guys?

Bryan Aspenson: Yeah. …

Bryan Aspenson: I have seen it with my kids. We all loved it. I've seen it probably five times already. It's a really good movie, and I'm a 40-year-old man.

Chris West: I love it.

John R Mezydlo: So, we haven't seen Inside Out 2 yet.

Chris West: The NFL season an ongoing drama series week to Yeah.

John R Mezydlo: It's better than Yellowstone,

Chris West: Probably appropriate wise. Yeah, I hear you. Yeah.

Chris West: So, looking forward to checking out Inside Out, too. not surprised to hear that, a lot of people are into it. And it, …

Chris West: I personally, being a 40-year-old dad myself and watching these, we try to watch these in family settings, of course, I really enjoy what Disney and any of these animated movies have been since my kids have been babies essentially because I love that they throw in the innuendos or adult humor in there, and I think they do a great job of it.

John R Mezydlo: Yeah, I mean I haven't seen Inside Out 2 or…

John R Mezydlo: inside out one for that matter. But Moana, …

Chris West: Yeah. Phenomen here.

John R Mezydlo: all those that are streaming on Disney Plus, I mean Moana's my favorite, but I love it.

Bryan Aspenson: Yeah, that's great.

John R Mezydlo: You know what I mean?

Bryan Aspenson: Have you seen Moana too?

John R Mezydlo: And not yet.

Bryan Aspenson: No, I haven't either.

John R Mezydlo: Yeah.

Bryan Aspenson: I'm looking forward to it, though.

John R Mezydlo: So I mean it's like I think Disney I think since we were kids that animation films are at least graphic wise 100 better.  Yeah.

Chris West: And for our generation, I think they do an awesome job of the voiceovers or the characters, you said, Moana, you got The Rock, you got Will Ferrell doing voices in these movies. I mean, we can relate to a lot of them and they're iconic. Jack Black the Panda.

Chris West: I mean I think that makes the movie in itself.

Bryan Aspenson: Yeah. Yeah, I agree.

Chris West: right.

Bryan Aspenson: All right.

Chris West: Move into our third trend.

Bryan Aspenson: The third trend is something that I was glued to this summer. Chris, you and I got to watch it together a little bit. It's the 2024 Paris Games,…

Chris West: Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.

John R Mezydlo: USA.

Bryan Aspenson: 

Bryan Aspenson: the Olympics. United States USA led overall medal count with 126 40 of them were China had 91 medals, 40 were gold. they tied for the highest number of gold, but hey, we took home the most medals. So, let's go. some cool statistics. There were 10,500 athletes that participated. That's pretty insane.

Bryan Aspenson: There were two 32 sports new additions such such as skateboard, sport climbing and cing. We all know the debacle that was break dancing with that Aussie. She became famous overnight with her sweet dance moves.

00:15:00

Chris West: Hey, don't hate.

Chris West: She's got legitimate.

Bryan Aspenson: Legitimately the whitest person on earth right there. yeah,…

Chris West: The crazy thing is I don't know if she's serious or not. sticking with this stick after the fact.

Bryan Aspenson: it's hard to say. How did she even get past the preliminaries? Who pushed her forward?

Chris West: Your husband on the voting committee there the little bit that I know I'm not an expert by any means,…

Bryan Aspenson: How much did she pay? And what did she have to do?

Chris West: but it seems a little shady in terms of how she got to where she was.

John R Mezydlo: What I heard?

John R Mezydlo: And I'm like Chris what when the controversy happened right afterwards her husband or family member I thought was her husband is the coach of the break dancing team and

Chris West: her Yeah. And there were some phenomenal like teenage and young act legitimate break dancers. I think we can all acknowledge that she's maybe not be at that echelon. I wonder…

Bryan Aspenson: too scared to tell her she sucked.

Chris West: what the underlying thing is. either she has no self-awareness,…

Bryan Aspenson: I wonder.

Chris West: him included, or there's more to the story. Yeah, I don't know.

Bryan Aspenson: Yeah. Either way,…

John R Mezydlo: It's like those people that go on American Idol and say, " My mom said I was good." and the judges are like, "You're horrible.

Bryan Aspenson: it's all about the story.

Chris West: Yeah, they're all tonedeaf.

John R Mezydlo: You suck. Same here. Yeah.

Chris West: Unfortunately, sorry about that.

Bryan Aspenson: My mother died before I was born type story.

Chris West: the Olympics.

Bryan Aspenson: And you want to know something crazy, guys? Yeah.

Chris West: They were so exciting I like it was a family affair for us and…

Bryan Aspenson: The pingpong,…

Chris West: I know I humbling for the production aspect of it just to bring everybody in and…

Bryan Aspenson: I love And the ping pong was insane. Guys, take a guess how much the Paris Olympics cost. Take a wild guess. Yep. Yeah.

Chris West: and produce it Okay.

Bryan Aspenson: Just the estimated cost of hosting in general.

John R Mezydlo: Let me think about this…

John R Mezydlo: because I heard the winter Sochi Olympics the number was number one as far as total money spent, but I forget I wanted to say that was either two billion or 20 billion by Russia.  probably.

Bryan Aspenson: So It was the sixth most expensive Olympics in history at 8.2 billion dollars.

Chris West: Okay. Whoa. Yeah.

Bryan Aspenson: So if it was the probably 20 billion is probably what you were thinking of, John Boy. but it's insane. tourism game sold about two and a half million tickets internationally. tourists expected to spend around 2.8  8 billion boosting local tourism. It's yeah, and I've heard of the aftermath of hosting the Olympics, all the things that they build and how much waste there is and how devastating it is to the economy afterwards. So there is

John R Mezydlo: that these buildings are decrepit and defunct and they need to be bulldozed afterwards cuz they don't even use it anymore.

Bryan Aspenson: Yeah. They also …

Chris West: Yeah, I heard about Paris just dirty was a common theme I'd heard about where they just literally wrapped walls or features or…

Chris West: covered up things just to make it look a little more glamorous than what it really is, which I imagine is a sunk cost immediately when you're doing stuff like that. Sure. Yeah,…

John R Mezydlo: I think and…

John R Mezydlo: that's why I think it's the summer Olympics coming here next is that we're using existing stadiums. We're not like building and…

Bryan Aspenson: that's good.

John R Mezydlo: we're also using multiple cities. It's just like the US is hosting it. It's not just LA or…

Chris West: that's smart.

John R Mezydlo: Dallas. …

Chris West: Use the resources that you have and showcase them. Yeah.

John R Mezydlo: especially with the billionoll stadiums US has the facilities already.

Chris West: Yeah, a couple of I don't know…

John R Mezydlo: We don't

Chris West: what your guys' favorites were. I was really drawn to just personal interests and just the drama around track and field in particular, but I kind of some things flew under the radar in terms of record-breaking stuff for US athletes.

Chris West: We all know Paul Phelps pretty well or Michael Phelps, excuse me, old buddy Paul Phelps. passed away a long time ago unfortunately. Leiddki, she became the most decorated female 14 medals in total. I didn't even realize that till after the fact. And then Simone Biles obviously dominating.

00:20:00

Bryan Aspenson: Yeah. …

Bryan Aspenson: even the sex testing that was controversial.

Chris West: That's right.

Bryan Aspenson: The sex verification tests have been, in this year especially used to determine an athletes eligibility to compete in female categories.

Chris West: especially in boxing which was highlighted in such a physical sport that is on the Wayne.  I mean the Jake Paul Tyson fight highlighted how boxing it's on the decline but these people that train so hard in a sport like boxing and then if there's any chance that you're especially as a female boxer fighting somebody a couple boxers Algerian and Chinese had failed gender testing in 23.

Chris West: three. Yeah.

Bryan Aspenson: The inclusion of transgender athletes remains a polarizing issue because it balances fairness and competition with human rights. And where will it go from here? It's anyone's guess.

John R Mezydlo: God.

Chris West: Spot up.

Bryan Aspenson: There's so much John wants to say.

John R Mezydlo: I can't No joke.

Chris West: Can we talk about that Cole Hawker race though?

Bryan Aspenson: Yeah.

Chris West: I can't think of a race that was more exciting to watch in a long time.

John R Mezydlo: I was watching it live. My family was here. I made fun of Cole Hawker as the race started.

Chris West: You and everyone else. 64 long strides. Yeah.

John R Mezydlo: I'm like, no offense. I'm like, there's all these six foot plus guys, long legs. Long strides. And I'm like, look at this little W guy that's back here with his little legs like, I can catch The little mouse voice. I can catch you guys. You know what I mean? And it's like, How did that guy even make it in?  And then I was jaw on the floor as the last half of the final lap is going and I'm like you've got to be freaking kidding me right now.

Chris West: And it didn't go I would think he would admit as playing like he kicked out.

Chris West: I don't remember it as vividly as I did, but he had to fight to get into that. And can you imagine your tank getting lower and lower and knowing I mean that was all heart. It was crazy. Yeah. Like you saying both in the 100 or 200 he runs a couple less strides.

Bryan Aspenson: I would love to know the step count of his compared to his opponents.

Bryan Aspenson: Yeah. Yeah.

Chris West: Yeah. It's crazy.

John R Mezydlo: Yeah, I mean I think I want to say he was second or…

John R Mezydlo: third to last and then him and another guy I remember a US teammate they both started making a push and he just kept going like it was unbelievable. I

Chris West: Yeah, it was awesome.

Chris West: And naturally I think everyone's drawn to the sprints so that one kind of I mean by and large I think it's just more exciting quicker races easier to tune into and the fastest person in the world is always intriguing and I thought the Cole Hawker thing was great to balance things out and super pumped for him.

Chris West: He seemed like a pretty cool guy in the interview afterwards and I can't imagine what's going through your mind on the global stage like that, race of your life. Yeah.

John R Mezydlo: And I think even to cap it off, I mean, probably one of the most popular events along with track and field, the basketball and…

John R Mezydlo: Steph Curry going nuts in the championship. I mean,…

Bryan Aspenson: going on.

Bryan Aspenson: Yep. I mean,…

John R Mezydlo: if he did, I think all three of us guys being sports nuts. and I think we could all also recognize that he is probably the greatest shooter we've ever seen. That jersey was a triple XL on him.

Bryan Aspenson: we saw the first glimpse of greatness when he played for Davidson against Wisconsin and knock him out of the tournament.

Bryan Aspenson: that was Yeah. Yeah.

Chris West: 18 years old at that time when he was Just pure shooter. I mean, I don't know what it is with America and basketball, the NBA, but they just make it look easy when they really buckle down. They can just score at will. It's awesome to see when they can work together, those athletes, NBA, me personally, I'm not the biggest fan as I could be at times, but when they can all join together and you see the elite because we lose a lot of guys that go back to their homeland and support their home, which is awesome. I love that. But we lose a lot of top dogs. Mhm.

John R Mezydlo: Think about it. The top five NBA players in the league are not from the US. I mean,…

00:25:00

Chris West: like hockey.

John R Mezydlo: but yeah,…

Chris West: Yeah. Yeah.

John R Mezydlo: I mean, you have Giannis, you have Shay Kid Gilchrist, and really Embiid can go wherever he wants to go. What I mean, when Embiid wants to play. So, …

Bryan Aspenson: I mean, look at the World Baseball Classic, too. …

John R Mezydlo: dude,…

Chris West: Yes. True.

John R Mezydlo: that is nuts. Mexico.

Bryan Aspenson: it's Dominican Republic and, all those Mex Yeah, Mexico made a good push and there's studs from all over South because I mean they can play year round.

Chris West: True. Right.

Bryan Aspenson: If you're from where we're from in Wisconsin, snow's covering the ground three months of the year and it's 20 below for six months of the year.

Bryan Aspenson: So, there is definitely an advantage to living in a tropical area. And also the push MLB has made to invest in stadiums and players from those countries is astounding.

Chris West: Yeah. Gosh,…

Bryan Aspenson: So definitely an advantage.

Chris West: the basketball topic. I just got to say Drew Holiday, it's painful to see as a Bucks fan. won an NBA championship and…

John R Mezydlo: I No.

Chris West: then wins the gold medal. he's a competitor.

John R Mezydlo: And we kick him off the Bucks without even letting him know ahead of time.

Bryan Aspenson: No. subject.

John R Mezydlo: Don't get me started. Next topic. my goodness.

Chris West: Yeah. Olympics are exciting. Good one, Brian.

Bryan Aspenson: Yeah. Yep.

John R Mezydlo: 

John R Mezydlo: Good one. on a light-hearted topic to what I would say it makes me sick is Luigi Manioni or Manion. To be quite honest, I really don't care if I pronounce his last name right. he's the gentleman that shot.

John R Mezydlo: That's not a good term either. The guy that shot.

Chris West: Will you see McAfee allegedly?

Chris West: Yes. Until innocent…

John R Mezydlo: 

John R Mezydlo: Yeah. Yeah.

Bryan Aspenson: Yeah. I mean,…

John R Mezydlo: Okay. Yeah,…

Chris West: until proven guilty. But we'll see.

Bryan Aspenson: here we go to the conspiracy stories again.

John R Mezydlo: allegedly. …

Bryan Aspenson: Even comparing I won't get started.

John R Mezydlo: Hold on here. Okay, so he's 26 years old and he on December 4th, allegedly walked up in the middle of Manhattan as Brian Thompson the CEO of United Healthcare was coming out of his hotel. he's 50 years old and walked up right behind him and shot him and killed him. there hasn't been official statement regarding motive, but speculation is he had some bad back issues and thought healthcare companies were parasitic.

John R Mezydlo: A little also his family to all of my research is a very wealthy family and yes not that says it's right or wrong. Obviously I think it's terribly wrong but this could happen. Anybody could do this is my point. Okay. …

Chris West: Yep. Yay.

John R Mezydlo: but he yep from University of Pennsylvania.

Chris West: Val Victorian Ivy League graduate. Yeah. Yeah,…

John R Mezydlo: He was arrested at a McDonald's in Altuna, Pennsylvania. Allegedly in possession of a fake identification,…

Bryan Aspenson: Yeah.

John R Mezydlo: gun, bullets, and money.

Chris West: three 3D printed gun backpack with a lengthy manifesto included in there.

John R Mezydlo: Yeah. I mean, it's nuts.

Chris West: I mean, it's almost too good to be true from that standpoint considering the manhunt. I mean, this one caught a lot.

Chris West: I understand the magnitude just because of I guess the size of the corporation that he was the CEO of as a young successful CEO, but it's crazy to think how many things that are significant world impact that don't draw as much attention. This is kind of wild in terms of how many people track this in a week.

John R Mezydlo: I mean, it's shocking that to me at least. I didn't see it.

John R Mezydlo: 

Chris West: What happened?

John R Mezydlo: But there was no security around this guy. he didn't even have a friend with him. know what I mean? I don't know. I would just think a guy ahead of a multibillion dollar corporation. I mean I guess nobody may know who he is like a celebrity or something but I would just think that hey maybe somebody should be around these CEOs especially now I don't know if you guys have seen it but there's protesters out in large cities now saying more death to CEOs

00:30:00

Bryan Aspenson: It's insane.

Bryan Aspenson: That's horrible.

Chris West: Yeah. Yeah,…

Chris West: I've seen some of that. And then I think he had as of yesterday 126 people that have donated to him. he's got, fans. it doesn't hurt his cause that he's a good-looking gentleman. I mean, you got pe people trying to marry serial killers in prison and stuff, but this guy, it's a little different, I think, because he's high IQ. comes highly regarded by and large. He's obviously wellthought individual, it doesn't make a lot of sense. And then the more I see he wasn't even a United Healthcare member. that wasn't even his plan and going back to this book club. He lived in Hawaii recently. He went out there and lived in a surf camp essentially. So it's more affordable live with people and got to know people.

Chris West: and he started a book club and very thoughtful but it seems like there was some sort of shift in his thinking. he supported the Ted Kazinski the Uni Bomber book and they kind of shut down the book club from my understanding because he started getting a little off the whole purpose of obviously the guy's got a lot of thoughts going on in his head but very calculated and to your point I think John it's crazy that somebody can just orchestrate something like that on such a high-profile figure in Manhattan nonetheless.

Chris West: broad daylight.

John R Mezydlo: Can I state the obvious?

John R Mezydlo: This is disgusting. what's wrong with people?

Bryan Aspenson: Murder is disgusting. I would never condone murder. Everyone has the right to life.

Chris West: Yeah. Here we go.

Bryan Aspenson: Brian Thompson is also famous or known for helping to develop an AI system to disapprove people from medical benefits.

Bryan Aspenson: So, how many people has he indirectly murdered himself?

Chris West: It's an interesting topic.

Chris West: It's hard to wrap your mind around because obviously you like to think somebody in his role has earned that position, especially 50 years old.

Chris West: I mean, I'm not saying that's super young, but in a corporation of that size that he's with for 20 years to make those leaps, his competency, I don't think, is in question. I've heard he's a farm boy from Iowa, worked ma manual labor growing up, handson, and…

Chris West: has earned his way there. But to your point, the moral and ethical dilemma in a position of that, you're directly linked to good,…

Bryan Aspenson: I mean,…

Bryan Aspenson: Hitler wasn't out there burning the Jews directly.

Chris West: bad, or everything else.

John R Mezydlo: We're not using the analogy of Hitler to Jesus.

Bryan Aspenson: He was ordering people to do it. He knew what he was doing. Brian Thompson created a system where he knew it would decline people that really needed medical benefits. It's a very hot topic and it's a lot of food for thought. I'm just saying Hitler's guilt.

Chris West: My positive take away from it stream Brian.

Bryan Aspenson: Hey, Hitler was guilty. I think Brian Thompson was guilty in a lot of ways, too. I'm not.

Chris West: So you're saying blood on your hands whether you're Yeah.

Bryan Aspenson: But here, say still blood on your hands if you willingly and knowingly do it.

Chris West: I think a positive takeaway if there is one from such a terrible thing and…

Bryan Aspenson: Yes. Yep.

Chris West: I personally don't love the romanticizing from the extreme embracing murder in the sense but I think the bigger issue like you're saying Brian is it the healthc care industry is broken and it's interesting that a lot of top figures with companies including United now have come out acknowledging that

Chris West: I mean, it's under the microscope, as it probably should have been for decades, but it's probably going to force some change. And meanwhile, you've got CEOs and high officials, executives removing their profiles from their websites, looking at things a little bit differently when you've got the CEO of United essentially getting whacked, in Manhattan. Yeah. Yeah.

John R Mezydlo: I mean, even to a lesser extent, I mean, they're not getting murdered yet, but all these athletes at their homes are getting broken into while they're playing football games.

Bryan Aspenson: Yeah. Yeah.

John R Mezydlo: I mean, because like you said, Chris, people have their information out there. You know what I mean? I mean, it's so easy nowadays. I can go on the internet and find out where anybody lives. anybody I can find out.

00:35:00

Chris West: You can.

John R Mezydlo: It's so easy.

Bryan Aspenson: Even those meta glasses we were just talking about, how it can scan your face and look up different images and…

Chris West: Yes, that is wild.

Bryan Aspenson: reference who your parents are and where you went to school and who your kids are and what you do for a living. I think Joe Rogan said it not long ago, privacy is done with. It's dead. There is no privacy anymore. And I would have to agree with that.

Chris West: Yeah. No,…

John R Mezydlo: It's dead.

Bryan Aspenson: unless you live under a rock and have no social profiles and you live off-rid but even your driver's license and your social security all that it's wild there really isn't any privacy these is introduce.

Chris West: there really is.

John R Mezydlo: Lighten it up for me,…

John R Mezydlo: Chris. Give me another movie.

Chris West: All Yeah, we'll keep on the movie train. So, Beetlejuice big time trending.

John R Mezydlo: Beetlejuice. Beetleju.

Bryan Aspenson: Introduce

Chris West: Yeah, that's the second Beetlejuice came out this year. I was thinking back Beetlejuice was a big one in our generation. I think it was well done. if you think of the graphics and effects and everything, that movie was released in the 80s, the original Beetlejuice. And a lot of great Hollywood actors in that, even if they've been on the mainstream throughout or they fell off and came back. I feel like a lot of them fell off and…

John R Mezydlo: I heard Michael Katon was fantastic.

Chris West: came back I'm forgetting her name. Moira from Shitz Creek, the mom and that Winona Ryder came back with Strange Stranger Things. Yeah. Michael Keaton. great. Yeah.

Chris West: And this one is probably not going to be popular, but I think he's the best Batman myself, but I like Beetlejuice in itself. We back to the Halloween train. I've done Beetlejuice characters. We're big Halloween family and friends and everything. I did Beetlejuice again for the third time. he's pretty great. You could be vulgar. I had a horn in my pants. You could honk. But what a great movie.

Chris West: I just think it's one of those things like if you told the plot to somebody, you'd be like, "What There's a model in some guy's attic.

Chris West: They're going to die." And then I thought they did a pretty good job. I personally don't think you could do the original justice like a lot of movies that you're seeing remakes of nowadays. I think this one falls in that bucket, but they did a pretty good job.

Bryan Aspenson: I agree and…

Chris West: I don't know what you guys Yeah.

Bryan Aspenson: botic success achieved 111 million opening weekend marking third best opening of the year. Proof's in the pudding.

John R Mezydlo: I feedback that I've heard is that the nostalgia wasn't there as much as our generation wanted it to be.

Chris West: Highly anticipated. Sure. Sure.

John R Mezydlo: So, I mean, I haven't seen it. I'm just going off of what I've heard from other people. my wife went and saw it, loved it, but that she also said that she was like,…

Chris West: Yeah.

John R Mezydlo: it just like I was hoping they would have done this, that, or the other thing to, bring in the nostalgia from the previous movies.

Chris West: Yeah. It's a hard one to beat because it was so unique and how do you build off and change it too much? But yeah,…

John R Mezydlo: A little bit.

Chris West: love Beetlejuice just a little bit.

Bryan Aspenson: Next up, the emoji kitchen. Have you guys heard about this?

Chris West: I can't wait to explore it.

Bryan Aspenson: I had not heard about it until we did our research on the top trends of 2024. so, the emoji kitchen, it's a feature in Google's Gboard app. It allows users to combine two emojis to create unique stickers. one of its utilities enhances digital communication by offering personalized and expressive icons and it's regularly updated with new combinations often themed around holidays and events. So, I don't know about you guys, but I'm going to have to explore that because it sounds fun.

John R Mezydlo: I don't think a lot of people would be using this as a holiday themed idea.

Chris West: My thought I picture our text threads getting a little spicier.

John R Mezydlo: I mean, honestly, I mean, ju don't get me started, right? Yeah.

Bryan Aspenson: Yeah, we'll keep it PP, but I'm sure the eggplant and the squirt icon will be used often.

Chris West: We'll keep it PG followed by that. Brian, what a lot of vegetarians you mean in watering their plants.

Chris West: I don't get it, Brian. But I let my imagination go.

Bryan Aspenson: The spice of light.

John R Mezydlo: Unbelievable. And Juan Sto right up my alley.

Bryan Aspenson: Up next, Chris or John Boy Dodgers

00:40:00

John R Mezydlo: Yeah, I mean, the Dodgers, as many some of you may have know, if you're sports fans, they won the World Series this year with a stacked team.

John R Mezydlo: Okay, it's almost like they are the new Yankees.

Chris West: Yeah. Yeah.

John R Mezydlo: They will spend money. and they have some of the biggest contracts on their roster. the previous to this year, they last won the World Series in 2020. I don't know. I should have done maybe a little more work on this, but they're owned by the Guggenheim Baseball Management Group. No clue who they are, but I think is Magic Johnson still on their ownership group? Do you guys know that? Cuz he was with them.

Chris West: He was. I don't know if he still is. And I saw a crazy stat how Magic Johnson has won so many championships aside from his basketball playing days just as ownership across multiple sports. It's crazy.

John R Mezydlo: Yeah, it's nuts. I mean, but I think the biggest thing about the Dodgers is I don't know about you boys, but Brian, who was your favorite baseball player growing up?

Bryan Aspenson: I like John Krook a lot and Nolan Ryan obviously is my all time, but I really like John Krook and…

Chris West: No one right.

Bryan Aspenson: Len Dyra, the old school Phillies team. that's when I fell in love with baseball and…

John R Mezydlo: Yeah. Mike Schmidt.

Bryan Aspenson: then it moved into the Brewers. Yeah, Mike Schmidt's a stud.

Chris West: Yeah, Barry Bonds probably…

Bryan Aspenson: I mean,…

John R Mezydlo: Chris, how about you? Who was your favorite growing up?

Chris West: if I had to pick one.

John R Mezydlo: Probably the greatest hitter you've ever seen.

Bryan Aspenson: Ken Griffy,…

John R Mezydlo: But that is mine.

Chris West: Yeah, is so iconic.

Bryan Aspenson: I can't not say Ken Griffy, too. Yeah.

Chris West: I mean there Yeah.

John R Mezydlo: I mean, I was a lefty that played center field. I tried to model my swing in game after him. However, we might be witnessing the greatest player in ever right now on their team, Show Otani. And he's only doing half of…

Chris West: Yeah. Yeah.

John R Mezydlo: what he needs to do right now.

Bryan Aspenson: Yes. Yeah.

Chris West: Didn't even troll this year. And when you're talking about that stack line, that's disgusting. Filthy. I mean, his stats are fake. It's unreal.

John R Mezydlo: They call it,…

Bryan Aspenson: It's gross that he is elite in batting and…

John R Mezydlo: 

Bryan Aspenson: pitching. How he is top dog in both categories.

Chris West: Unbeliev Yeah.

John R Mezydlo: Just It's like watching Tiger Woods of baseball or…

Bryan Aspenson: This is excellent. Mhm.

John R Mezydlo: Michael Jordan in baseball or what I would assume is Muhammad Ali, I mean, the guy's only doing half of what he does and then this year he steals more sto He has more stolen bases than…

John R Mezydlo: what he's ever So, guy can run, the he can hit for power.

Chris West: He's big.

John R Mezydlo: He's big and they paid him to hit and pitch and now people are saying he did so well at just doing one thing. Do we'll stick with our 10year $700 million contract…

Chris West: Yeah.

John R Mezydlo: if he'll just do that every year?

Chris West: As a DH alone, that's a no-brainer. You can justify that. It's crazy. Yeah, I agree. I Yeah.

John R Mezydlo: It's so none.

Bryan Aspenson: teammate. He doesn't take it too seriously. That's what I really like about him. Some of those guys play just so uptight and you can tell by the look and expression on his face that he's having fun and…

Bryan Aspenson: it's almost like varsity playing against JV.

Chris West: here. Yeah.

John R Mezydlo: can go and use his money and just try and get away with it for a little while.

Chris West: I wish I wouldn't have studied it Spanish growing up. He could use a new interpreter. It sounded like I could have done that as my plan. yeah, Ota unreal. I think that Juan Sodto deal highlights I mean it is unbeliev I could see…

Chris West: how people get upset about pro athletes and the amount of money they're making and us fall in baseball and other things what a contract I'm going to start calling them one for the money two for the dough

Chris West: Yeah.

John R Mezydlo: Yeah, dude.

John R Mezydlo: I mean, but here, people get irritated with what athletes make in general across the board. And I think, to a certain extent, there is an argument. However, find somebody else that can do what they can do. find another person. you're right. I wish all of our first responders, our teachers, our nurses,…

Chris West: Yeah. Yeah.

John R Mezydlo: I wish they could all be paid a lot more. they deserve it. I couldn't imagine, what they go through on a daily basis. not being in that field, Me being in the business world. However, find somebody else that can hit a baseball like show. And if people are willing to pay it, hey nurses and everybody else, if somebody's willing to pay you, I think you should get it, too. Get it while you can.

00:45:00

Chris West: Right. Right.

John R Mezydlo: But it's nuts. I mean, Juan Sodto, and his money's not even deferred. They're just paying them over that 15 years, the 765 million. who I think is probably pissed right now is Bryce Harper. He thought he broke the bank when, how many of years ago it was?  5 years ago when he signed with the Phillies and it was just under what Mike Trout had signed for and it was like, wow, that's a lot of money. And now these guys are doing double it.

Chris West: And not to jump off that,…

Bryan Aspenson: Yeah. Mhm.

Chris West: but Otani again, it's hard. He's so polarizing. I mean, his contract structure, that guy's, think how smart he is, too.

Chris West: how he deferred all that money so that the Dodgers could have that bankroll to keep the talent and bring it in. He's just a thoughtful individual from that standpoint.

John R Mezydlo: But nobody talked about it. Mookie Betts did the same thing. His contract with them currently has deferred money in it. The Dodgers are just doing that now. I mean, they're pulling every big player that they want with a Bobby Bonia contract.

Chris West: The Barbie bunny.

Bryan Aspenson: It's all about that championship and…

Chris West: Everybody. Yeah,…

Bryan Aspenson: winning Yeah, that's insane. Yeah.

John R Mezydlo: I mean, it's crazy, But one fun fact, guys, we'd be remiss to say about the Dodgers,…

Bryan Aspenson: Great barriers.

John R Mezydlo: they were the first team to sign an AfricanAmerican player, and we all know who that is, the great number 42, Jackie Robinson. So, I mean, obviously breaking barriers, you know what I mean? Dodgers have been doing that for a long time, whether it's business-wise or culturally, demographically. I mean, they've been doing it for a while. Yeah, I mean us from being from Wisconsin,…

Chris West: And even though I'm not personally a Dodgers fan, it's good for sports to have major markets being successful. I think that's undeniable. So, good for the Dodgers. Yeah.

John R Mezydlo: we're always, the little David that's trying to fight the big machine. But you're right. it's like the blue buds in college basketball. when I went to the Final Four last year, I wanted to see Duke, UNC, North Carolina, and Kentucky in there,…

Chris West: Right. Yep.

John R Mezydlo: of course. You know what I mean? but I mean, that's just the way it is. You want to see the big names.

Chris West: Yeah. Absolutely. Brewers got a steal and Cheerio eight for 84 mil. Take it.

Bryan Aspenson: Yep. Yeah.

John R Mezydlo: Yeah. All right.

Bryan Aspenson: It's going to help us compete. I still can't sleep over that Alonzo home run in the playoffs this year,…

Chris West: Absolutely. my gosh.

Bryan Aspenson: So glad Devin Williams is gone.

Chris West: Hey,…

Bryan Aspenson: Devin Williams, I love you, man, but I'm so glad you're gone.

Chris West: you can't be walking a guy in the big one,…

Chris West: He's guilty of that too many times. I'm sorry. I loved him, too.

Chris West: He was a great replacement for the polar bear was Yes.

Bryan Aspenson: Alonzo was cold.

Bryan Aspenson: Alonzo was cold the entire series and then he lights up against us.

John R Mezydlo: My beautiful TV in my living room almost got busted after that.

John R Mezydlo: Okay, I was so mad. We are unacceptable.

Bryan Aspenson: But hey, as Wisconsin fans, we're used to brutal losses. Yeah. Heat.

Chris West: Even though we're title town on the football realm, we need some more titles now. Yeah. NFC championship losses are brutal.

John R Mezydlo: But Chris, lead us off with the next one, buddy.

Chris West: Yeah. Yeah. I'm Chris West. I'm going to talk about Stream East.

Chris West: It's a website Brian unfamiliarity on the emoji earlier. I was not familiar myself with Stream East and I was joking around.

Chris West: I thought this might be what Adam Shfter got in trouble for having illegal streaming on the sideline earlier this year. that was a different …

Bryan Aspenson: What did…

Bryan Aspenson: what was it? Meth streams or something. What kind of website name is that?

John R Mezydlo: I'm basting. I want to know…

Chris West: Shepard does look a little peaked by nature. I don't know what his natural skin tone is besides gray or…

Bryan Aspenson: Who thought that was a good idea to name the domain?

Chris West: green, but I kind of love it.

Bryan Aspenson: Meth stream.

John R Mezydlo: how he found it. what's in your Google search, Sher?

Chris West: I mean, he does give the breaking news all the time. I mean, that's his job, but it was great that he got busted for illegal streaming on the sideline. Yeah, stream me is kind of similar is my understanding.

Chris West: it's a website for streaming live sports in particular and it offers both free and premium Controversial of course with any of these new streaming services and it's had a lot of questions on legal and ethical related concerns for unauthorized streaming. I've heard about some risks in my little bit of research that users can encounter intrusive ads or malicious links.

00:50:00

Chris West: what's new in the world we live in,…

Chris West: but more so posing security risk to their devices. but again, you accept if you're using a streaming device, especially, one that hasn't been fully vetted, I think that's just a user known risk. But, I don't know much about it. You guys know much more. Whoa.

Bryan Aspenson: Sounds a bit territory.

Bryan Aspenson: I've never heard of it. one crazy stat is over 80% of online piracy comes from live sports streaming.

Chris West: I did not get fixed.

John R Mezydlo: Holy cow. I used to like because when I moved down here to Arizona and…

Bryan Aspenson: Me too.

John R Mezydlo: I needed to watch the Packer games, I needed my Packer game fix and my family member to be named never told me about this app, right? And I'm like, "Oh, yeah." But It was like you would pick any sport, anytime, whatever was going on.

Chris West: Yeah.

John R Mezydlo: And then it would give you five links and it was on YouTube. All of them would link to YouTube. and then you would get it, but then it would either pause and then be buffering, or then all of a sudden the NFL would find out and so then it blacked it out so you had to go to the next link. And I just got so sick of it, NFL got my NFL Sunday ticket,…

John R Mezydlo: had to pay for it, I'm just like, I'm not doing this anymore.

Bryan Aspenson: Yeah. …

John R Mezydlo: So, I actually am surprised it's not more

Bryan Aspenson: I mean, speaking of having to pay a premium to watch live sports, the economic impact is immense. Losses projected at over 28 billion dollar annually worldwide. it's a lot of money.

Chris West: multiple times a week, you really want to catch the games around your schedule because as parents and busy lives, you can't catch them all, but when you have the time to sit down, you want to catch it. So, it's not like UFC where you used to be like, "Hey, who's buying the UFC fight tonight?" And you all go over there because it's once in a while. So, I could see the appeal on streaming. myself I've bounced around between several different platforms just to make sure…

Bryan Aspenson: Mhm. Was cutting cable worth it?

Chris West: because I'm now a Minnesota resident following Wisconsin sports. So, I've jumped around trying to be economical between Fubo TV. what was the one before? I'm on YouTube TV just and then you need Amazon if you want to catch Thursday Night Football. So, s kind of they get you right if you're a fan.

Chris West: Yeah.

Chris West: Yeah. It's 100% worth it.

John R Mezydlo: For sure.

Bryan Aspenson: I remember at one point we were paying $180 a month for internet and…

Bryan Aspenson: cable. as far as what we spend on these streaming services, it's a fraction of that. So, yeah,…

John R Mezydlo: Yeah. You guys did that?

Bryan Aspenson: I would agree. It is worth it.

Chris West: You just think though when we were in our 20s, we'd drop 180 at the bar in one night and not think twice about it. we got it. we're old, frugal men.

John R Mezydlo: 

John R Mezydlo: I never did that.

Bryan Aspenson: I didn't do that either.

John R Mezydlo: I was a good boy.

Chris West: Yes.

Bryan Aspenson: Yeah, John, I have some stories. we'll save those stories for another day. Next up, How many of you guys actually listen to people's Spotify wrapped?

Chris West: Not it.

John R Mezydlo: Not it.

Bryan Aspenson: Does anyone care about Spotify wrapped?

Chris West: No, I mean I like Spotify,…

John R Mezydlo: No. heat.

Bryan Aspenson: No. Why?

Chris West: but I don't care about rap.

Bryan Aspenson: Yeah, Spotify is great, but why post your top artist and stuff? So, I mean, some cool stats. Taylor Swift most streamed artist globally in 2024. Exactly. That's no surprise. Sabrina Carpenters's Espresso became the most 1.6 billion streams since its April release. one cool thing is user engagement.

Chris West: You can't make

Bryan Aspenson: So Spotify introduced AI generated podcasts personalized to users listening habits to offer deeper insights into their songs, artists, genres. So that was kind of cool. AI is just overtaking the world and it's kind of scary. that's another rabbit hole that I'm sure will go down in another podcast, but AI I'm a huge fan of chat GPT. I use it extensively with my marketing company.

00:55:00

Bryan Aspenson: It has changed the game. but it's also very scary. Yeah.

Chris West: Love it.

John R Mezydlo: I mean, I'm shocked that AI just that term alone wasn't in and…

Chris West: Absolutely. Yeah,…

John R Mezydlo: I mean guys when we did our powows before this and our study and our research it wasn't in the top 25. That's nuts.

Chris West: it is crazy to think, Johnny, and more stuff that's coming out. Yeah. and how reliant inevitably it seems we're going to be on AI across all business avenues.

Chris West: It's crazy. Yeah. Yeah.

John R Mezydlo: It makes me wonder.

John R Mezydlo: I bet you there's already something more powerful than AI out there.

Bryan Aspenson: Explain that. And Chris,…

Bryan Aspenson: I had sent you that one article about the machine learning system creating backups and lying to its developers to save itself as if it's sentient in self-preservation.

Chris West: Yeah. Replicating itself and…

Chris West: Yeah. For self-preservation. Yeah. No.

Bryan Aspenson: So the direction that AI is heading is very scary. it's already capable of so much just after a couple of years.  Chat GPT really wasn't even a thing a few years ago.

John R Mezydlo: You lost me after It's not

Chris West: No, it's widely accepted.

Chris West: I mean anything that you need I mean just the time sync and trying to craft messaging especially you got so many topics involved there's my brothers talked about with just postings on jobs of finding the right person throwing in there all these skills and strengths pertinent to industry you don't want a posting that's 10 pages long they can give you a recap and two paragraphs

Chris West: It hits everything on the head. Yeah. Yeah.

Bryan Aspenson: Yeah, it's become a real problem in colleges too as far as AI generated papers and…

Bryan Aspenson: content and teachers not being able to be aware or skilled enough for there are programs out there designed to identify AI generated content but it's not 100% accurate and there's also apps that twist AI generated articles to make it sound more humanlike.

Chris West: intentional. Yeah. Yeah.

Bryan Aspenson: So little spelling errors and putting in yeah dumbing it down a little is what it really down to. it's wild and interesting and it's exciting to see where it's going to go because I think there's a lot of benefits especially in the health industry being able to identify diseases and illnesses and people where it would take doctors tons of research and tons of information because information is We live in a world…

Chris West: data. Yeah.

Bryan Aspenson: where data is worth its weight and gold. data is the most important thing that you can have nowadays. especially from a marketing standpoint. but as far as the health industry, being able to identify or catch a disease early in its stages to help lives, it could be used for good and it can be used for bad both ways. That's

John R Mezydlo: You hit it right on the head, Brian. That's the main thing. Any tool like social media, any tool that can help you with something used right is fantastic and used wrong can be devastating. You know what I mean?

Chris West: Just like anything,…

John R Mezydlo: Yeah.

Chris West: weapons, …

Chris West: technology, I mean, there's a lot of good, you can fight the argument either way, but it's the who's in charge of it and how are they using it.

John R Mezydlo: Yeah, situations are situational,…

Bryan Aspenson: Yeah. …

John R Mezydlo: .

Bryan Aspenson: even it's controversial with AI systems who's programming them,…

Bryan Aspenson: their biases are being programmed into these AI generated machines as well.

Chris West: Yeah. Yeah.

Bryan Aspenson: So like we said earlier in the show, truth is so important. it's surrounded by a bodyguard of lies most times. truth is very important. and what is the source of truth?

Chris West: And if you are the one with the key to the truth, you can twist that however you need to your benefit while still from the outside offering a positive,…

Chris West: product service. But if you could be using it to your gain without anybody even knowing what your intentions are. Yeah, it's interesting.

Bryan Aspenson: You're right.

Bryan Aspenson: Group is so purple.

John R Mezydlo: or heck, even when we're talking to our wives. You know what I mean?

Chris West: All right,…

John R Mezydlo: I'll spin it any way I want to. All right, I'm going to move on to the last one. all right.

Chris West: perfect. I got to hop off here in a little bit, too. This is a good time. Okay.

01:00:00

John R Mezydlo: FAFSA, the free application for federal student aid.  the acronym is FASA. So, it's a free application for student loans. what's an important distinction here is that FAFSA is free, but that's just the application pro to be able to submit the application. The actual loan is not free. my understanding is this is a top trend in search because of the current administration announcing they want to do student loan gi And FASA which is the application that can get you to the loans is the big one. Okay. So I mean what are you guys thoughts on student loan forgiveness?

John R Mezydlo: I think that's more where I want to take this.

Bryan Aspenson: I mean,…

Bryan Aspenson: obviously all of us went to college together. pay your bills. That's my thought. Why should I rely on taxpayer dollars to pay for something that was my choice, regardless of how expensive it is, that's my choice to get that education.

Bryan Aspenson: I need to own up to it and pay for it. Plain and simple. I don't see it's black and white to me. I'm not all about handouts, I'm all about the needy and poor and helping them. but as far as you taking out a loan, you should have to repay it.

John R Mezydlo: to further on that, What about the parents that paid, hundreds of thousands of dollars for their kids to go to whatever school it may be? Doesn't matter. College isn't cheap nowadays. Let's just take a 4-year for example, University of Wisconsin.

John R Mezydlo: 

John R Mezydlo: Not cheap to go to every year. It's expensive no matter what you make. It's a lot of money. So now,…

Chris West: Yep. …

John R Mezydlo: who's paying back the parents that could afford it then? because they're not getting parent we want to help our child forgiveness programs.

Chris West: we all know that answer.

John R Mezydlo: I mean,…

Chris West: Yeah, it's kind of hard to wrap your mind around.

John R Mezydlo: that's outrageous.

Chris West: At the same time, you can't fault somebody with good intentions of pain back with full intent and even from their own pride and control of it wanted to and then they're forgiven. But at the same time, somebody who had no intentions of paying it back, same it's a weird dilemma from that standpoint.

Chris West: And like Jonbo, you said the PE parents or somebody who worked their butt off through school, paid it all, grinding and about killing themsel and then been like, " I could have just screwed off and then been forgiven on this." It's interesting.

Chris West: Yeah. Right.

John R Mezydlo: I mean,…

John R Mezydlo: it's just I don't know. I feel like Brian says, if I was that person, I don't know if I could say no to it, okay? Even if I was paying it on a monthly basis, because here's the other thing.  I have spoken with people who, have had loans and then a good friend of mine, his wife, okay, and he just happens to be real good with, finances and numbers looks at his and just sees the company that her loan is through is just raking them over the interest rates and how they structure that loan that even your minimum payment doesn't do anything.

John R Mezydlo: you're not knocking off anything off the principle. I mean, that's just one bullet point I can put on.

Chris West: No, no. I mean, there's so many examples. It's an interesting topic. I have a close friend who had a associates degree in their field and was working in the field for a long time and then their employer required them to go back for a bachelor's degree, right? So, they had to go back and…

Bryan Aspenson: H. Yep.

Chris West: there's other, pieces to that, but then ultimately, their loan is forgiven and good for them because I don't know if they would have even acquired that extra debt had their employer not forced it. But I can look at it a bunch of different ways. It's a tough one.

01:05:00

John R Mezydlo: that's our show everyone. Thank you so much for listening. please follow us on our Instagram page at the CurrentStream podcast and on our Facebook page. right now those are the only socials we're on. Hopefully, we'll expand to other ones. If you want to hear more from us, listen to the podcast, tell us what you think. we hope to put this out more, but for right now, it's going to be once a month. And and we'll talk to you guys soon.