Richard Luthmann and I were back for episode 37 of The Unknown.
The Economy
We first discussed the recently released economic data, pointing to a recession on the horizon. The gross domestic product for the first quarter of 2025. The economic contracted by .3%.
A recession occurs when the economy contracts for two more quarters straight, so another contraction and the US is in a recession.
Richard defended the President as usual, saying that this was necessary medicine to transform the economy from one that favored Wall Street to one which favored Main Street.
I said this was rhetoric and the last full quarter under Biden the economy grew by 2.4%.
It grew by 3.8% per year under President Clinton and 3.4% under President Reagan. While Trump has promised better trade deal, more domestic manufacturing production, and a fairer economy, the only delivery so far is an economy on the brink of a recession.
Zelensky/Shapiro
We also discussed the interview between Daily Wire’s Ben Shapiro and Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky. In one interesting part, Zelensky argued that Ukraine was fighting America’s enemies, including China, Iran, and North Korea, all countries which have helped Russia’s war effort.
I said that Russia was fighting the proxy war against the US. Richard said the goal was never to leave Ukraine high and dry to fend for itself but to create a partnership.
On that note, after the podcast came out, the US and Ukraine announced the mineral deal which was scuddled after the disastrous Oval Office meeting.
The United States and Ukraine signed a long-negotiated mineral deal on Wednesday evening, handing Washington future shares of Kyiv’s natural resources, if the U.S. allocates new money to support its war against Russia.
The agreement was struck after months of negotiations between the two sides, set back a few weeks by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s contentious meeting in Washington with President Trump and Vice President Vance.
The deal entails the formation of a joint investment fund that Ukraine sees as a way to harden the U.S. backing for the war-torn country, though it does not include specific security gaurantees, which Kyiv has demanded as part of a larger peace deal.
It symbolically attaches Trump to the nation’s future, and according to Washington marks a step toward ending the largest land war in Europe since World War II.
“As the President has said, the United States is committed to helping facilitate the end of this cruel and senseless war. This agreement signals clearly to Russia that the Trump Administration is committed to a peace process centered on a free, sovereign, and prosperous Ukraine over the long term,” Treasury Department Secretary Scott Bessent said in a statement on Wednesday.
Richard has argued that mineral deal is critical to protecting Ukraine because it gives the US economic interests to protect.
I noted that President Trump first promised to end the war in 24 hours, and then his first hundred days. Both deadlines have passed. He has not put any pressure on Vladimir Putin, in my opinion.
What the Hales
In the What the Hales segment, I did a deep dive on Megan Fox and her merry band of astroturfers. Megan has recruited a team of astroturfers, who insult and belittle me, and in return, she promotes their YouTube channels. Take Rosalyn Duke. She had previously dabbled in this story, but her interest really amped up about six weeks ago. In that time, she has primarily attacked me and Richard.
Note: Megan and I were friends for ten years but I’m tired of writing {my former friend} Megan.
I don’t know who she is, but her increased attacks “coincided” with Megan promoting her on her YouTube channel, which boasts 50,000 subscribes, and Rosalyn’s has grown from about 1,000 to 2,750.
Megan is apparently acting as Rosalyn’s pseudo-executive producer/booker on Rosalyn’s news show Tell Me Everything. Rosalyn has booked five guests, and the guests include Megan and three of her good friends.
Her guests include Larry Forman the DUI Guy, a buddy of Megan’s.
The third guest is Megan.
The fourth guest is Nick Rekieta. Nick and Megan became acquainted covering the Depp/Heard trial. Nick had a fall from grace, but Megan is a better friend to him than me. When he was being sentenced for drug possession, she sent the judge letter which stated in part.
I've known Nick Rekieta professionally and personally since 2022. Nick created an entirely new type of entertainment covering legal battles on YouTube that was wildly successful. His commitment to his work and his love of the law drove him to be one of the most successful law channels on YouTube drawing hundreds of thousands of people to engage in legal discussions. Nick’s unique style of covering trials from gavel to gavel with humor, legal analysis, and irreverence led to multiple law channels gaining notoriety and popularity. The law became approachable for the average person through Nick’s invention. Several channels became successful because of his model and an entire community known as “LawTube” grew out of Nick’s influence. This led to many people becoming interested in the law, going to law school, becoming lawyers, making life-long friends who shared interests in legal battles, and changed the trajectory of many lives for the better, including mine. My channel was positively impacted by Nick’s unique approach to online entertainment and his direct help and advice.
Like a vast majority of lawyers, Nick struggled with substance abuse. This is a well-known and studied problem in the legal profession. It is so widespread that every bar association has programs and resources for lawyers with substance abuse problems. The stress of quickly attained fame and fortune is also often a catalyst for substance abuse that is also widely acknowledged in the entertainment industry. Nick’s meteoric rise to success no doubt played a role in his mistakes.
Nick has acknowledged he broke the law and has taken responsibility for it by pleading guilty to possession. The community and his family would not be served by his incarceration but would be served by his rehabilitation and his ability to get back to the job he loves: explaining the law to his audience while entertaining them and supporting his family.In the years I have known Nick, I have known him to be generous with his time and helpful to anyone who wanted to know how to be successful on YouTube. He has a genuine desire to help others and has helped me on many occasions whether it was to give advice about my channel or to just be a friend and listen when I needed someone to talk to. Nick is loyal, kind, empathetic, smart, and passionate about his work. He is a good friend. And good friends are rare.
The fifth guest is Vice Vice Baby, another friend of Megan’s.
This allows Rosalyn to build a show interviewing YouTube personalities on YouTube, a good business model, and all she has to do is insult me repeatedly.
Gwen and Grace
Richard and I also discussed our recent interview of Gwen and Grace Girard, the two seventeen-year-olds stuck in an abusive child custody case which refuses to end despite their refusal to have anything to do with their abusive mom.
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