As promised on Episode 13, The Red and Blue Switcheroo, here is a link to one of the best peices I've read in a long time! A must read, especially if you call yourself a liberal. Protect and support the 1st Amendment!

https://taibbi.substack.com/p/the-left-is-now-the-right

that's all for this week!!

-j

It is very important that we put facts before anything else on our political podcast. Both Justin and I have said before that, if either of us gets it wrong and it's called to our attention, we will gladly correct our mistake.

In Episode 5 of the pod, A Lot Less Wokeness, Please, I was discussing inequalities that may or may not be the result of inequities, and I brought up the topic of women's soccer. It was my understanding at that point, probably influenced from a right-wing commentator, that the audience for women's soccer was significantly less than that of men's soccer; and so the disparity that exists in salaries was likely not due to any inequity but rather the fact that less money is being generated for the women's league. This argument was presented in the context of how many on the woke left will seek to attribute the disparity in salary to the sex of the players exclusively rather than any other various factors that may be involved.

I received a call from a good friend of mine who expressed in the kindest way possible that I was "full of sh-t" in regard to this claim. According to the articles that he sent me, it appears as though my claim was indeed false. I own this and apologize for my mistake.

The more important question is, assuming the following pieces are accurate, why do YOU think there is a disparity that generally exists between men and women's salaries in nearly every professional sport?

Thanks for accepting my clarification. Here are links to three articles that cite the real statistics:

https://www.cnbc.com/2019/07/10/us-viewership-of-the-womens-world-cup-final-was-higher-than-the-mens.html#:~:text=According%20to%20a%20statement%20from,a%2022%25%20U.S.%20viewership%20boost

https://www.cnbc.com/2019/06/19/us-womens-soccer-games-now-generate-more-revenue-than-mens.html

https://www.wsj.com/articles/womens-world-cup-final-drew-higher-u-s-ratings-than-mens-final-11562628017

Sincerely,
Rob

Rob here! I have already received a few messages from friends saying that they took issue with something I said in Episode 2 of Down the Middle. In the spirit of making this podcast as organic as possible, we are almost always speaking off the cuff and will likely run into many situations where we later wish we would have phrased something differently.

I was speaking about the cultural shift that has happened in the country, and I was referring to homosexuality and transgenderism and the way in which Hollywood and music and entertainment "celebrates" this cultural shift. It was in the context of a discussion over what has driven many conservatives in America further to the Right probably since the early 60s. The exact term I used was "fringe" cultures. I have heard from several of my gay friends who wanted me to know that they don't consider being gay a "fringe" culture.

This was an example of something I didn't express in the correct manner. I should have said "non-traditional" cultures or something to that effect. As a liberal, I am one of those people who both celebrate and embrace every variety of human being in the world. Thank you to those who pointed out my poor choice of words and asked me politely to clarify.

Justin and I want everyone to know that we will submit clarifications for things that we genuinely believe need to be clarified, but we will never be pressured into going against our convictions. Disagreement is a GOOD thing. It is okay for us to have diversity of thought. We welcome any and all types of criticism and feedback and look forward to engaging with all those who agree or disagree with the views expressed in this podcast!

With love,
Rob Leifer