Guilty x 34

No more deliberations The verdict is in. The fallout from the first former president in American history to be a convicted felon continues. The Trump campaign and conservative media like Fox News are in lockstep, suggesting that "they" are coming after "you," and Donald Trump is just standing in the way... absurd.

We also discuss an eyebrow raising new report from ProPublica about Trump's sweetheart treatment of 9 witnesses in his criminal trials.

Then we’ll talk about the Right to Contraception Act VOTE that Senator Chuck Schumer is calling today.

Don't forget to text in your answers to our group chat question: what's something you do, particularly if you're traveling abroad, that's a dead give away that you're an American? 

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Chapters

• 0:00 Intro
• 0:55 Trump Guilty on ALL CHARGES
• 11:49 ProPublica Report: Benefits Given to Trump Witnesses
• 16:45 Right to Contraception Act
• 21:22 IT'S GIVING
• 22:52 GROUP CHAT
• 28:16 GOOD VIBE GOODBYE

Transcript

Brian Derrick: [00:00:00] No deliberations.

Glennis Meagher: The verdict is in. 

Brian Derrick: This is Vibes Only, unanimously understood to be everyone's favorite political podcast, checking the vibes of American politics every single week. And the vibes this week 

Ari Melber: count 33 and 34. Guilty. That is Donald J. Trump defendant in New York versus Donald Trump found guilty on all 34 felony counts.

Glennis Meagher: We'll do what we do best and check in on the vibes across the political spectrum after Trump became the first former president in U. S. history to become a convicted felon. 

Brian Derrick: Then we'll discuss an eyebrow raising report from ProPublica about Trump's sweetheart treatment of nine witnesses in his ongoing criminal trials.

Glennis Meagher: Then we'll talk about the Rape to Contraception Act vote that Senator Chuck Schumer is calling today. 

Brian Derrick: Finally, we'll play an It's Giving, bring in your responses to our last group chat, and leave you with a good vibe. Let's get into it. 

Glennis Meagher: Let's get into it, Brian. I'm exhausted already. I'm exhausted already.

I, like, [00:01:00] I also have to say, I said, Trump's not going to get fully convicted. I'm like maybe for the 34. Where were you when you found out that Trump was guilty of all 34? 

Brian Derrick: It was the craziest three hours of my life. I was supposed to be packing and heading to the airport right when the jury decided to render a verdict.

And so my whole day was like blown up. I made my flight by, I think, six minutes. Oh my God, 

Glennis Meagher: that's stressful. 

Brian Derrick: Because I was like churning out all this content of like, guilty, guilty, guilty, guilty. You went 

Glennis Meagher: live. Yeah, you went live like right after you're probably supposed to 

Brian Derrick: be on the way to the airport.

Right. Right. That's why I can't believe you're saying you're exhausted. What a time to be alive. We are now living in the era of the first ever conviction of a former president. Donald Trump was, obviously, you had to have heard by now, convicted on all 34 charges in the New York case, which is likely the only verdict we're going to get pre November [00:02:00] election.

So this is a really big deal, and I felt that Energized in a certain way. 

Glennis Meagher: Say more. 

Brian Derrick: Well, I feel like we do not know. And let's talk about what the political ramifications are, but like, we do not know what this is going to do to his chances in November yet. We have polling that says one thing we sort of have.

The vibes and the internet, which is potentially saying a different thing. We have the fundraising numbers to talk about, but for me, more than anything else, it just raises the stakes because we know that Trump is on a war path for revenge after this. And so he was like, the real verdict will be in November.

And I'm like, that is, well, it's both because this verdict is real. And also that is true in the sense of. Like we should kind of be afraid of what he's going to try to do if he wins, like the stakes are even higher stakes are even higher. I 

Glennis Meagher: mean, right after the verdict came down, he came and did one of his like hallway pressers with like no sound.

It's like so depressing and echoey and he's like, it's a it's a rigged, you know, a political prisoner. [00:03:00] America has gone to hell. You know, that should be his new campaign slogan. America has gone to hell. Thanks to me, Donald Trump 2024. 

Brian Derrick: Yeah, we've talked about it before, but the version of America that they are selling is so dark, both in how they see the country now and what they want for our country's future is very dark.

And this only heightens their commitment to the dystopian narrative. 

Glennis Meagher: Right, this narrative of they can do it to Donald Trump, they can do it to you. And it's like this, not us versus them necessarily, but it is a. You as an American verse the criminal justice system or democracy in full and creating this false narrative that government is not to be trusted.

Karoline Leavitt: Well, this trial has been rigged from the beginning, and it has been concocted by Joe Biden in the corrupt Democrat Party, and if they can do this to President Trump, they can do it to anyone. 

Brian Derrick: [00:04:00] Yeah, and I have to agree with them. If you have sex with a porn star, And then give a hush money payment in violation of campaign finance laws and then falsify business records to cover it up.

You also may be convicted of crimes that you just committed. Like, what are you talking about? What are you literally talking about? Of course, like, there's no infamous them coming after the everyday American Jason who didn't do these things. He's not being prosecuted for his political beliefs. He is being prosecuted for a crime that there is an abundance of evidence that he committed and the prosecution has been working through the system for years.

This is not some extrajudicial thing. This is not some Biden kangaroo court. Right. This is exactly how the system is designed to work, to hold people accountable who commit crimes. You're welcome. 

Glennis Meagher: Right. And just to add to that, in the court case, like it's a jury of your peers, like the prosecution and the defense has the opportunity to [00:05:00] choose the jurors.

Like it's not like these fake people that were put in place to come down with this verdict. So I think we also have a clip of how Fox News, who's aligned with Trump in the campaign, reacted. 

Sean Hannity: I have a travel advisory for New York City. If you're a conservative or a Republican or a Trump supporter, beware in the weaponized Biden criminal justice system.

Well, political differences are now considered especially heinous. And if New York's powerful Democrats hate your politics, well, a prison cell might well be in your future or some kind of conviction for something, well, that they make up.

Jesse Watters: But the only thing Trump's guilty of is beating Hillary. and leading Joe Biden.

Jeanine Pirro: A gut punch to the criminal justice system in the United States. People realize we are no longer safe anymore, and it's because of the progressive left agenda. 

Laura Ingraham: Democrats have shown us who they really are. They don't intend to give up power, not ever. And funny, that's what they like to accuse Trump [00:06:00] of.

Glennis Meagher: What? Are they talking about Sean Hannity fully stealing a line from Law Order SVU also? 

Brian Derrick: Okay, to Laura Ingraham's point, nobody wants to give up power, right? The difference is Democrats won elections in 2018, and in 2020, and in 2022, and in 2023. Like, we've been sort of running the board, minus the House, in 22.

And Republicans don't want to give up power. And rather than win elections, they want to instill and cement minority rule through unfair systems and, and the judicial system. And so, it is very gaslight y, and I don't use the word gaslight y, but like, it's very gaslight y to be like, this is about Democrats trying to like, cling to power in some way when, look at the scoreboard!

I know. Like, we don't need to do any of that. Like we're, we're winning election. That's how we stay in power. 

Glennis Meagher: Republicans cheat because they can't win. That's a Eric Holder [00:07:00] quote that I stand by because they're cheaters. So what's next, Brian? We have sentencing July 11th and right after that sentencing, I don't even know if this is a good or bad thing because it's going to give them like Ammo, either way, the Republicans will go to their RNC, their convention, July 15th through the 18th, and the sentencing is July 11th.

Prison time is on the table, but I doubt he's going to get that. It's like one to four years are possible, and it will also likely go to appeals as well. 

Brian Derrick: I agree. That it's unlikely he sees jail time, although we both said it was unlikely he was going to be convicted on all 34. I think that there's also just like a certain amount of pessimism as to how the system can really work to hold him accountable, but we shall see.

That's only a month away, so we do know for sure that that is going to be a fundraising bonanza. He raised 50 million in the day after the conviction. 

Glennis Meagher: His website crashed. 

Brian Derrick: Bananas, like really bananas, which we talked about last time, right? Like we knew that there was going to be this [00:08:00] political backlash to accountability happening, but we know that in combination with the RNC, like it's kind of their dream scenario.

Totally. It's because they're running as victims. They're like, let's get the most sympathetic. Optics we possibly can, which is Trump being sentenced for this mythological political witch hunt, witch hunt, right, exactly. And then suddenly get all of our donors and political operatives in one place to yell about it.

Right. It's going to be ugly. I

Glennis Meagher: mean, he went on his social and already posted a graphic that he's a political prisoner. I'm curious. I don't have an answer. This is just. He's not in prison. I know. Exactly. Like, do you want to go? You want to go? Is he going to have like a Lindsay Lohan surfboard moment where he had like the ankle brace on for probation?

If he goes to the RNC, right? It's like, what if he sent, this is me living in my like internet meme fantasy world, which is if he's sentenced to like house arrest or like [00:09:00] Trump Tower arrest or like, Something like that and then he has an ankle monitor and then he flies cause you, I think you are allowed for certain reasons to fly in and out of state if you have like, you're like a guard with you or something.

I mean, that would be, that's when America, I think really would implode if he's, you know, at the RNC with an ankle monitor, I am making this up. I do not know if this is factual or it could even be reality, but my internet brain is like, wouldn't that be good for content? 

Brian Derrick: It would be good for content. I think it would be bad for Joe Biden.

Okay, so you said sentencing is happening on July 11th. We'll know officially what happens then. I did get a million questions right after. Does this mean he can't run for president? Does this mean he can't serve as president? How could someone convicted of crimes be president? He absolutely can still run and be president, if you have not read that anywhere yet.

The Constitution sets out the requirements for someone to be president, and it says nothing about felony convictions. So, that does not preclude you from being [00:10:00] president. And there was also a lot of talk about whether it precludes you from voting, whether he would be able to actually vote for himself. So Trump votes in Florida, and in Florida, if you are convicted of a felony out of state, it depends on that state's laws.

And in New York, you can vote as a convicted felon as long as you're not in prison, and like, therefore have served your time. And so he likely will be able to vote in November in Florida, unless he's actively serving a prison sentence in New York. 

Glennis Meagher: I just want to double down on the narrative opportunity that this conviction has given Republicans.

Tim Scott, who we've talked about on the pod, who is a contender for VP, who previously had failed to acknowledge that he would in fact serve by or agree with an election if, if Joe Biden were to win. He doubled down on this narrative that building this distrust with the system for Trump voters, 

Tim Scott: this verdict has actually brought unifying our party without any question.

What we've seen is never. Trump [00:11:00] is calling me and saying, Tim, I'm on the bandwagon. Now I've seen this two tiered justice system working against the president United States. It could work against me to 

Brian Derrick: imagine believing that there's a two tiered system of justice in the country. And that one of the tiers is like to specifically attack rich billionaires in New York.

Yeah, we do have a two tiered system of justice. It's for rich people and poor people. And guess which side of the fence Donald Trump is on. 

Glennis Meagher: Period. So let's see if that, I guess, you know, only time will tell what the political realities are of this conviction. And, and. If Dems are able to catch up with the narrative, uh, that the Republicans are really laying the groundwork for right now,

speaking of Trump's trials, ProPublica came out with an article that lifted the hood on the criminal cases against Donald Trump and about nine witnesses who [00:12:00] received it. New jobs, shares in companies, uh, board seats on Trump Media's company, campaign jobs, etc. And that's really sus. 

Brian Derrick: Very sus. Yeah. So we obviously have a verdict and a settled outcome in the New York case, but we still have the Mar a Lago federal trial.

We still have the January 6th Jack Smith federal trial. We still have the Georgia election interference case. There are lots of pending criminal trials against Trump. And it sounds like they are throwing around cash at witnesses, trying to, it would give the appearance of trying to buy favorable testimony, is what it looks like.

Glennis Meagher: Or witness tamper, which, as far as this brain is concerned, is Illegal. 

Brian Derrick: That future Supreme court justice brain. Yeah, 

Glennis Meagher: yeah. I'm hard at work here and I'm pretty sure witness tampering is a no go in the criminal justice system. So some examples, campaign aid, Boris Epstein, he had his average monthly pay double from [00:13:00] 26, 000 a month to 53, 500 a month.

It's a lot. It's a lot of money. Like it's a lot of money. 

Brian Derrick: That's the median annual salary for most Americans. That's what they're making in a year for their family. 

Glennis Meagher: Allen Weisselberg, he was a former Trump executive, got a 2 million severance package barring him from voluntarily cooperating with law enforcement.

So that was in his deal, 2 million. 

Brian Derrick: How is that, 

how is that even legal? 

Glennis Meagher: I don't know. You get a severance package and they say, but in this you can't cooperate with the law. That's 

Brian Derrick: real wild to me. I'm 

Glennis Meagher: sure that doesn't hold. Susie Wiles was one of campaign's top officials, had her daughter hired onto Trump's campaign staff, and now her daughter is the fourth highest paid employee on staff.

Brian Derrick: I would love to see a Republican family tree and just, like, show us all of the individuals who are spouses of Republican operatives and elected officials hired by other sketchy organizations and paid outrageous [00:14:00] sums. I mean? Like, Ginny Thomas consulting for groups and being paid outrageous sums for it.

Clarence Thomas's wife, Josh Hawley's wife, who's also, I believe, an attorney, has been hired by lots of dark money and like far right Republican groups and paid huge sums to fight cases for them. And it's like, it's interesting where the money is flowing into all these joint accounts. Right. That's furious.

Glennis Meagher: Yeah. And it's just very convenient that all of these pay increases or job benefits or, or, you know, favors were given at very delicate times in the trial. So one aide was given a position on the board of Trump's Truth Social. He got the seat. After he was subpoenaed, but before he testified, so imagine like if you're just a human being and you're the peanut by, you know, a grand jury or however it works, and then in between that, and when you're supposed to testify, someone gives you a really nice job.

Brian Derrick: Totally. So it seems that Trump's not too happy about [00:15:00] ProPublica doing this investigative reporting on. All of these compensatory packages that they're sending to witnesses and David Warrington, who was representing Trump as his attorney, sent ProPublica a cease and desist letter demanding that the article not be published and warned that if they did publish that President Trump will evaluate all legal remedies.

Glennis Meagher: Okay. 

Brian Derrick: So threatening them with a lawsuit. 

Glennis Meagher: Okay, that's so delusional. Like there are journalistic standards and ethics to publishing, you know, pieces like this where there are. Multiple people vetted and sources vetted by different varying levels of deep background on the record, etc. ProPublica wouldn't publish this if they didn't have the receipts.

Brian Derrick: They love receipts. They are printing receipts over there. They're the ones who did all the Clarence Thomas stuff. Like, I love it. And so to your point on witness tampering, this is not the first time that Trump has been in trouble for this type of behavior. If we think back to during [00:16:00] the hearings on the January 6th attack on the Capitol, a White House, a former White House staffer during the Trump administration got a call literally the night before she had an interview with investigators telling her We know you'll, quote, do the right thing tomorrow and that you're going to protect him and the boss.

That's a direct quote. And so they've been trying to influence testimony from the very beginning. And let's just get a quick cut to the clips that we just heard. Of all the Fox News hosts saying that the system is rigged against Trump while he has people literally calling, intimidating and bribing witnesses.

So, it's very much the pot calling the kettle black. 

Glennis Meagher: Hypocrite. So, there's many assumptions I think Americans make that we have a right to something. One of those things being contraception, and that is just not true. Because in 2022, 195 House Republicans [00:17:00] voted against your right to condoms, the pill, IUDs, a.

k. a. contraception. So they don't want you to have that right. So today on Capitol Hill, the Senate is voting on a new bill, the Right to Contraception Act. 

Brian Derrick: Yeah, and it's not a messaging bill, as they're called, where you're just trying to, like, stake out a position on an issue. It's necessary, because we literally have, from the mouth of the horse, Clarence Thomas being the horse, that they are coming after the jurisprudence, after the Supreme Court cases that, had established a right to contraception via the right to privacy.

It's the same legal argument that was used to strike down sodomy laws in Lawrence v. Texas in 2003. It goes all the way back to, I believe, 1965 was the Griswold case that said Americans do have a fundamental right to privacy, and that leads to the right to have an abortion, that leads to the right to marry who you want to marry.

All of these things. And so Justice Clarence Thomas wrote, when [00:18:00] he overturned Roe v. Wade, that the bench should reconsider, quote, all of this court's substantive due process precedents. And those would be the same cases that included birth control and marriage equality. 

Glennis Meagher: In this bill, Brian, what it would actually do if it became law, it guarantees the legal right for individuals to get and use contraception and for healthcare providers to provide contraception information, referrals, and services related to contraception.

So that's like when you're at the doctor's office and you like look on the wall and it's like, here's what condoms do. Like imagine not having those in like a doctor's office. 

Brian Derrick: Absolutely. I mean, there's an entire Segment of the far right movement that wants to classify birth control as a like forever chemical and make it not available to people.

Glennis Meagher: Yeah, the bill continues that it would prohibit the federal government and any state from administering or enforcing any law, rule or regulation to prohibit or restrict the sale or use of contraception, and it would allow the Justice Department providers and [00:19:00] individuals harmed by restrictions on contraception to go to court to enforce those rights.

It's really a little bit like what that's not already protected in this country, but it's not so Chuck Schumer, Senator Chuck Schumer from the great state of New York. He's bringing this bill to the floor because he wants receipts. He wants Senate receipts of where people stand on this right to contraception.

I think there's this cultural idea that contraception is just like a women's issue, but no, it includes condoms and includes like basic healthcare. Thank you for your time. Condoms are not just to prevent pregnancies, they're to prevent STIs, etc. So, that's a vote today. So, if you want to call your senator and tell them to vote, make sure they vote to support contraception, I would encourage you to do that.

Brian Derrick: Absolutely. I think that people get really frustrated by the lack of progress on some of the issues that they care the most about and they want to see progress. Like positive forward motion from the progressive [00:20:00] movement on like really fundamental things like fair wages and guaranteed health care and, um, like the list goes on.

But these are the moments where I'm reminded that while we can do two things at the same time, we can't forget that we have a lot of Republicans trying to take a wrecking ball. To the state of things as they are now. And so while we have to keep pushing to fight forward, like we can't let what exists now, including the right to contraception, um, the right to privacy be demolished, um, in while, while we are not paying attention.

Glennis Meagher: Right. And this goes back to the heritage foundation of it all and the Leonard Leo of it all, the project 2025 of it all. There's this machine, this conservative machine that is. Funneling hundreds of millions of [00:21:00] dollars to take away basic rights in this country to create American universe that is rooted in Christian nationalist conservative values, including taking away your right to contraception.

So if the spirit moves you today, pick up the phone, call the Senate switchboard, call your representatives and let them know how you feel. It's giving. It's giving. We're going to talk about Trump's convictions. So we're going to bring it back. And we're going to bring it back to Marjorie Taylor Greene.

Brian Derrick: Marjorie Taylor Greene is always giving something, so let's see what she's giving us this week. 

Speaker 9: We're not a serious country anymore. We're literally a banana republic. So, what does it matter funding the government? The American people don't give a shit. 

Brian Derrick: Yikes. Yikes! It's giving senioritis. 

Glennis Meagher: It's giving she doesn't know the definition of banana republic.

It's giving some things for Nana Republic as a clothing 

Brian Derrick: store. I think that it's giving a peek behind the curtain. Because that actually explains a lot of Marjorie Taylor Greene's behavior. Is it that she thinks that Americans [00:22:00] just don't care and don't want to have a government? Right. Because that's how she acts all the time.

Glennis Meagher: Right. Giving pick me also. Like she just gives pick me so hard all day, every day. Whether it be like her workout photos or like videos or Her like praying at the altar of Donald Trump. It's like, we see you, we see what you're doing. You're not the one. 

Brian Derrick: It's definitely giving preview of 2025. If Republicans control the white house and the house of representatives, because we have seen Marjorie Taylor green gets so much more powerful over the last Year or two, she really defines a lot of their platform at present in the house.

And with Trump in office, there will be nothing to keep her crazy and check. 

Glennis Meagher: Yeah, she's minority rule at its worst.

Okay, Brian, we got some responses to our vibes only group chat question, which is if you could [00:23:00] intervene in one moment in history. Assuming the rules of time travel are like, nothing is affected, like, horribly, what would you do? 

Brian Derrick: There were some really interesting months. We got way more than I anticipated.

And there were some really good ones. One of my favorites, I would say, was stop the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. Because Train was going somewhere. It would be so interesting to know like what he would have accomplished in the rest of his life. 

Glennis Meagher: Yeah. We have one in that same tone and they would have stopped the assassination of Abe Lincoln.

All of us history post civil war would have turned out differently if he had survived and carried out through to reconstruction. 

Brian Derrick: Totally. Definitely a lot of assassination prevention ones. 

Glennis Meagher: I like this one. If I could go back in time, I'd cancel The Apprentice after season one. Maybe that would cancel Cheeto before all the drama.

I kind of agree. I think he got a taste of the spotlight. And he was ready to rumble. 

Brian Derrick: Yeah, you could also go back and interrupt the [00:24:00] Seth Meyers White House Correspondents Dinner Trump roast, which also was like said to be one of the moments that pushed him to run. People also said that they would convince Mark Zuckerberg to attend culinary school instead of Harvard and prevent the creation of Facebook, which is a good one.

Glennis Meagher: My friend had one that was kind of like yours, but a little different, which was They would have made sure Hitler got into art school and like graduated from art school and then maybe that path would have been different for him if he was just embraced for his creative, whatever he was. I don't even know.

Brian Derrick: But that's very magnanimous and I prefer my strategy. We also had some very kind messages sent our way. Um, so thank you all for that. Please. Review if you are enjoying the pod and it is saving your mental health this year. Reviews actually really help. So go review us on whatever platform you listen to.

But someone wrote in and said, and as you may well be aware, there's a fantasy survivor league and it might be fun to have a vibes only bracket. Also please [00:25:00] audition Brian. And if you don't, I will. So Travis, I think that you should audition. Yeah. I will see how Jon Lovett does next season and then I'll decide.

But we should definitely do a bracket next season. I'm totally down. 

Glennis Meagher: We'll all see. We could do a Vives Only live recording, pre Survivor, into Survivor Watch Party. We're big Survivor fans! 

Brian Derrick: We are. We are. We are stans around here. Um, what else was in your group? Got 

Glennis Meagher: well, pride. I got a lot of pride stuff.

Happy pride. 

Brian Derrick: Did you see that a drag queen won their defamation suit against the far right? Well, that made me really happy. Over a million dollars. 

Glennis Meagher: Trump is on tick tock. I don't know if you saw that. 

Brian Derrick: I did see someone sent it to me while I was on my out of office and I said, nope. Yeah, not today. 

Glennis Meagher: Not today.

I think it will be good for him because he has such a strong, at least in my algorithm. And in my comments, there's a very strong conservative Trump talk presence. So now they actually have. The person that they're supporting to follow. I do think it allows Dems to have [00:26:00] a new vertical of content, which is stitching or reacting to things that Trump is saying on the app, as opposed to having to like bring in content and respond to things he's saying, you could literally just stitch it or respond to the video.

Brian Derrick: Well, we will leave the group chat with, is there something that you feel like gives you away as an American? Oh, I 

Glennis Meagher: love this question. So when I studied abroad for the year, my junior year, that's why I'm so insufferable, by the way, is because I studied abroad and I came back and I was like, Oh, my flat. Oh, I'm on holiday.

I'm in hospital at that point. It was sneakers and jeans. Like if you were wearing sneakers and jeans means as we called it, you are like totally an American. But now sneakers are in vogue. They have been for years now. So that's less of a giveaway. Loud talking. I think if you're speaking very loudly, it's pretty clear you're an American.

Brian Derrick: I am so embarrassed by this. I can't believe I'm actually going to say it, but I am truly a very considered person. I'm very Midwestern and [00:27:00] like, manners mean a lot to me. I was just having a grand old time catching up with a friend at a restaurant in London, and the table next to us moved. Because you were too loud.

Because we were being too loud. And I really, I was like, oh my god, I'm the ugly American. I cannot believe this is happening in real time. 

Glennis Meagher: Okay, wow, I didn't realize I was gonna, I was gonna call you out there. But that's like. You're It's a real thing to our American listeners, which I assume are all of you.

You'll notice it if you leave the country that American are loud. We're loud people. I was like, 

Brian Derrick: come back. I swear I didn't. Oh, no, it's like really mortifying 

Glennis Meagher: because you're like, wait, what am I screaming? But it's the American way that like, if you're at a dinner and like someone's talking, you talk louder and then you talk louder and you get excited.

That is a real thing. 

Brian Derrick: If you, as a listener, if you have been abroad and were called out for being American or you entered a room and someone knew that you were American immediately, I want to know [00:28:00] why. Yeah. Because I've tried very hard to blend in and we need all the tips on how to um, camouflage as, as locals.

Link is at the top of our show notes to. Send us your response. Okay,

Glennis Meagher: good vibe, good bye. In case you missed it, and TBD, if this is Taylor Swift's impact, I think it might be. But the DOJ has brought an antitrust lawsuit against Live Nation, which is the parent company of Ticketmaster, in an effort to break them up. We have an antitrust moment. Merrick Garland, the attorney general, says the goal is to encourage more competition.

Ticketmaster, this is shocking, Ryan. Ticketmaster controls 70 percent of the market share. Concert tickets are outrageously expensive. Ticket prices for the top 100 tours went up 46 percent from 2022 to 2023. When you were talking about your rent last week, tickets, if I want to go see a show, the [00:29:00] fees and the service charges are astronomical.

Fees and ticket resales can push the price way, way up from there. So that was the issue with Taylor Swift. If you recall, the presale sold out almost immediately and then tickets jumped from, you know, 120 to like 5, 000 and people were like, this can't be. So no competition, no real pressure to fix these issues.

So let's bring in more competition. Yada, yada, yada. Let's go. I would enjoy a cheaper ticket. 

Brian Derrick: The Biden administration has pushed really hard on the antitrust front, and if you're someone who sees how capitalism has sort of gone off the rails, and we have a few companies controlling huge markets, and really hurting the average consumer, then this is exactly the type of change that we need, and we need to be more aggressive on this front, so it's great to see DOJ filing this lawsuit, and hopefully we will all be jamming, To Taylor Swift and Beyonce at their concerts in the future with lower fees and lower ticket prices.[00:30:00] 

Glennis Meagher: And Gaga, Gaga 7 this year. 

Brian Derrick: Don't tease me. Those are all the vibes this week. Thanks for listening. Don't forget to text us with your answer on what would give you away as an American if you're traveling abroad. We'll be happy to share your embarrassing stories next week, just like mine. Next week, we're also going to do something a little different and do a deep dive on some issues before the captured Supreme Court that we're expecting to hear this month.

You're not going to want to miss it, so stay tuned, same time, same place. 

Glennis Meagher: Vibes Only is a production of Courier, a civic media company that protects and strengthens our democracy through credible, fact based journalism, and seeks to create a more informed, engaged, and representative America. Vibes Only is produced by Devin Maroney, with support from Courier's Kyle Tharp, RC D'Amezzo, and Daniel Strasburger.

Tara McGowan is founder and publisher of [00:31:00] Courier.