Michael Malice: Thanksgiving Pirate Special | Lex Fridman Podcast #402

1. 0:00 – 1:28

   Introduction

   1. LFLex Fridman0:00

      What's your opinion on my bird here, Mr. Parrot?

   2. MMMichael Malice0:04

      It's a macaw, a scarlet macaw.

   3. LFLex Fridman0:07

      What?

   4. MMMichael Malice0:08

      It is a scarlet macaw.

   5. LFLex Fridman0:10

      Oh, you know birds.

   6. MMMichael Malice0:11

      Yeah. And that's actually not life-sized.

   7. LFLex Fridman0:15

      (laughs) Are you saying he's not real?

   8. MMMichael Malice0:17

      I'm saying it's not to scale.

   9. LFLex Fridman0:19

      Okay. But he's real?

   10. MMMichael Malice0:21

       Are we doing that Monty Python sketch? (laughs)

   11. LFLex Fridman0:25

       (laughs) Everything is a Monty Python skit for you.

   12. MMMichael Malice0:26

       I don't think Monty Python's funny and I-

   13. LFLex Fridman0:28

       You don't?

   14. MMMichael Malice0:29

       ... uh, at all, like not once.

   15. LFLex Fridman0:29

       Well, that explains so much.

   16. MMMichael Malice0:31

       Does it? What does it explain?

   17. LFLex Fridman0:32

       What do you think is funny?

   18. MMMichael Malice0:33

       (laughs)

   19. LFLex Fridman0:35

       (laughs) What?

   20. MMMichael Malice0:35

       You not answering that question is pretty funny. (laughs)

   21. LFLex Fridman0:37

       Well, yeah, what- what- what do you think is funny? Having a mantis shrimp?

   22. MMMichael Malice0:41

       No, that-

   23. LFLex Fridman0:42

       Do you think Big Lebowski is funny?

   24. MMMichael Malice0:44

       Oh, God, no. (laughs)

   25. LFLex Fridman0:46

       This is getting worse and worse. The following is a conversation with Michael Malice, anarchist and author of Dear Reader, The New Right, The Anarchist Handbook, The White Pill, and he is the host of the podcast, You're Welcome. This is a Thanksgiving special of the pirate and ocean-going variety. So once again, let me say thank you for listening today and for being part of this wild journey with me. This is the Lex Fridman Podcast. To support it, please check out our sponsors in the description and now, dear friends, here's Michael Malice.

2. 1:28 – 6:02

   Beauty and mantis shrimp

   1. MMMichael Malice1:34

      The box?

   2. LFLex Fridman1:35

      Yeah.

   3. MMMichael Malice1:35

      The mystery box?

   4. LFLex Fridman1:35

      I'm wondering what's in it.

   5. MMMichael Malice1:36

      There's something in that box of exquisite beauty-

   6. LFLex Fridman1:41

      Mm-hmm.

   7. MMMichael Malice1:41

      ... both literally and in what it symbolizes, and why it is here.

   8. LFLex Fridman1:46

      Given the kind of human being you are, I'm terrified at what you find beautiful.

   9. MMMichael Malice1:52

      That's a good point. (laughs)

   10. LFLex Fridman1:54

       Mm-hmm.

   11. MMMichael Malice1:54

       You kinda hit me with a curveball.

   12. LFLex Fridman1:56

       Yeah.

   13. MMMichael Malice1:57

       Like for me, the most beautiful, like wildlife-

   14. LFLex Fridman2:01

       Mm-hmm.

   15. MMMichael Malice2:01

       ... are what I call, uh, God's mistakes.

   16. LFLex Fridman2:04

       Yeah.

   17. MMMichael Malice2:04

       Because my friend came up with that term where she's like, "You know, God made these disgusting animals, just threw them at the bottom of the ocean." He's like, "Ugh, no one's ever gonna see this."

   18. LFLex Fridman2:12

       Yeah, you, uh, you commented on Twitter about some creature, like a- a rainbow-type creature.

   19. MMMichael Malice2:17

       The peacock mantis shrimp.

   20. LFLex Fridman2:18

       Yeah. It was beautiful.

   21. MMMichael Malice2:20

       It's horrific, though. So it has, I think, eight legs, six arms, two punching claws or spearing claws, depending on the genus, uh, two eyes, two antennae, two ear flaps, I don't know what they do, um, and its punch can be as strong as a bullet.

   22. LFLex Fridman2:39

       Mm-hmm.

   23. MMMichael Malice2:39

       And the other type with the spears, divers call them thumb splitters, because if you stick your finger near it, it'll cut your thumb down to the bone. So I had one as a pet. All night, I would hear it banging on the PVC pipe, and I've gotta tell you, they have the best eyesight of any animal 'cause they see in like seven different ways, and when you make eye contact with this thing, it's- it's just absolutely terrifying. But you can eat them as sushi. They call them sea centipedes.

   24. LFLex Fridman3:01

       But they're colorful and beautiful.

   25. MMMichael Malice3:03

       That species is, yeah.

   26. LFLex Fridman3:04

       What was it like having one as a pet?

   27. MMMichael Malice3:07

       It-

   28. LFLex Fridman3:07

       And why did you do it?

   29. MMMichael Malice3:09

       Well, when you have a species that's that unique and that much of an outlier, you know, growing up reading these books, watching these shows, I found the stuff so much more fascinating than like space, in which is, you know, dead. Um, so to be able to have this specimen in your house and just observe its behavior, um, is just- just like an amazing thing.

   30. LFLex Fridman3:32

       Why'd you get rid of it?
3. 6:02 – 12:14

   Parrots, Pirates, and Monty Python

   1. LFLex Fridman6:02

      What's your opinion on-... my bird here, Mr. Parrot.

   2. MMMichael Malice6:07

      It's a macaw, scarlet macaw.

   3. LFLex Fridman6:10

      What?

   4. MMMichael Malice6:11

      It is a scarlet macaw.

   5. LFLex Fridman6:13

      Oh, you know birds.

   6. MMMichael Malice6:14

      Yeah. No, that's actually not life-sized.

   7. LFLex Fridman6:18

      Are you saying he's not real?

   8. MMMichael Malice6:20

      I'm saying it's not to scale.

   9. LFLex Fridman6:22

      Okay. But he's real?

   10. MMMichael Malice6:24

       Are we doing that Monty Python sketch? (laughs)

   11. LFLex Fridman6:27

       (laughs) Everything is a Monty Python sketch.

   12. MMMichael Malice6:29

       I don't think Monty Python's funny and I-

   13. LFLex Fridman6:31

       You don't?

   14. MMMichael Malice6:31

       ... at all, like not-

   15. LFLex Fridman6:32

       Well, that explains so much.

   16. MMMichael Malice6:33

       Does it? What does it explain?

   17. LFLex Fridman6:35

       What do you think is funny?

   18. MMMichael Malice6:37

       (laughs)

   19. LFLex Fridman6:37

       (laughs)

   20. MMMichael Malice6:38

       You not answering that question is pretty funny. (laughs)

   21. LFLex Fridman6:40

       Well, yeah, wha- what, what do you think is funny? Having a mental shrimp?

   22. MMMichael Malice6:44

       No, uh-

   23. LFLex Fridman6:45

       Do you think Big Lebowski is funny?

   24. MMMichael Malice6:47

       Oh, God, no.

   25. LFLex Fridman6:48

       (laughs)

   26. MMMichael Malice6:48

       Although-

   27. LFLex Fridman6:49

       This is getting worse and worse.

   28. MMMichael Malice6:50

       ... to be fair-

   29. LFLex Fridman6:51

       Yep.

   30. MMMichael Malice6:52

       ... I only tried to watch Big Lebowski after it's been part of the culture for many years.
4. 12:14 – 19:35

   Humor and absurdity

   1. MMMichael Malice12:14

   2. LFLex Fridman12:14

      So what do you find funny? What makes you giggle, like, in the most joyful of ways? The suffering of others?

   3. MMMichael Malice12:24

      I mean, I, there are, um, YouTube videos of, uh, (laughs) of like fat people falling down, (laughs) and they're, they're really funny.

   4. LFLex Fridman12:36

      There's two kinds of people in this world. Those that laugh at those videos, and those that don't.

   5. MMMichael Malice12:42

      No, and those that are in them. (laughs)

   6. LFLex Fridman12:44

      Ah.

   7. MMMichael Malice12:45

      Um, my friend Jessie just told me a great Norm MacDonald joke.

   8. LFLex Fridman12:49

      Mm-hmm.

   9. MMMichael Malice12:49

      And this is a good litmus test joke, 'cause he says, "A certain group of people lose their minds, and a certain group of people just stare at you."

   10. LFLex Fridman12:56

       Mm-hmm.

   11. MMMichael Malice12:57

       And he goes this kind of... And so I'll tell you the joke. This is Norm MacDonald. A guy walks into a bar, and he sees someone at the bar who has a big pumpkin for a head.

   12. LFLex Fridman13:06

       Mm-hmm.

   13. MMMichael Malice13:07

       And the guy's like, "Dude, what happened to you?" He goes, "Ugh, you'll never believe this. I got one of those genie lamps, and this genie..." He's like, "Wait, what happened?" He goes, "Well, the first wish, you know, I wished for $100 million." He's like, "Yeah, did you get it?" He goes, "Yeah." You know, he goes, "In my bank account, feels fine." He goes, "All right." "Well, the second wish, I wished to have sex with as many beautiful women as I wanted." He goes, "Did that happen?" He goes, "Yeah, it was amazing." He goes, "Then what?" "Well, I wished for a giant pumpkin head." (laughs)

   14. LFLex Fridman13:34

       (laughs) Yeah.

   15. MMMichael Malice13:35

       So there's a certain mindset that will just be staring at the screen.

   16. LFLex Fridman13:38

       Mm-hmm.

   17. MMMichael Malice13:39

       And that is, I mean, there's so many levels why that's funny, at least to me, and I, I just love that kind of ...

   18. LFLex Fridman13:45

       Well, Norm MacDonald is like, uh, just... I watch his videos all the time. He's, he is a guy that definitely makes me giggle, and he's one of the people that makes me giggle for reasons I don't quite understand.

   19. MMMichael Malice13:58

       Did you ever see him with Carrot Top on, um, Conan O'Brien?

   20. LFLex Fridman14:01

       No.

   21. MMMichael Malice14:02

       Oh, making fun of Carrot Top?

   22. LFLex Fridman14:04

       No.

   23. MMMichael Malice14:05

       He... This is probably the best talk show clip of all time.

   24. LFLex Fridman14:08

       Yeah.

   25. MMMichael Malice14:09

       He's on with Courtney Thorne-Smith, she was on Melrose Place, and Conan O'Brien's the host. And Courtney's talking about how she's gonna be an upcoming movie with Carrot Top. And Conan's like, "Oh, what's it gonna be called?" And she's like, "It doesn't have a title yet." And Norman goes, "Oh, I know what it should be called, Box Office Poison." And they're all laughing, and she's like, "No, no, no," like, "the working title is Chairman of the Bored." And Conan goes, "Do something with that smart ass." And Norman goes, "Yeah, bored is spelled B-O-R-E-D." (laughs)

   26. LFLex Fridman14:37

       (laughs)

   27. MMMichael Malice14:37

       And they all just completely lost it.

   28. LFLex Fridman14:39

       There's something about him with words spoken out of his mouth, with the way he, like, turns his head and looks at the camera.

   29. MMMichael Malice14:46

       I think he is one of those rare comedians who you really feel like he's talking to you directly.

   30. LFLex Fridman14:53

       Yeah.
5. 19:35 – 48:15

   Thanksgiving

   1. MMMichael Malice19:35

   2. LFLex Fridman19:35

      Okay. Uh, it is Thanksgiving. So in all tradition, following tradition, what are you thankful for, Michael-

   3. MMMichael Malice19:44

      I got a l-

   4. LFLex Fridman19:44

      ... in this world?

   5. MMMichael Malice19:45

      Do you have a list too?

   6. LFLex Fridman19:46

      No, not really.

   7. MMMichael Malice19:47

      Really?

   8. LFLex Fridman19:48

      It's up in here.

   9. MMMichael Malice19:49

      Oh, I mean, but d- you have several things you're thankful for.

   10. LFLex Fridman19:51

       Yes.

   11. MMMichael Malice19:52

       Okay.

   12. LFLex Fridman19:52

       Yes.

   13. MMMichael Malice19:53

       One of the things I'm-

   14. LFLex Fridman19:54

       My list comes from the heart. I don't have to write anything down.

   15. MMMichael Malice19:56

       Well, I don't have it written down.

   16. LFLex Fridman19:57

       Okay.

   17. MMMichael Malice19:58

       One of the things that I'm most thankful for, this is a common answer, but I c- I can back it up, is my family because my nephew, Lucas, is now six years old. And he... When kids have a sense of humor, it's like just miraculous. So he stole my sister's phone, his mom, figured out that grandma is listed as mom in the phone, and he calls her up and he's like, "Michael's in the hospital. He's really sick. He didn't wanna tell you." (laughs) And she's freaking out. He goes, "Prank." So I, I took him... Uh, Dinesh D'Souza just released a movie called Police State, which is actually really good.

   18. LFLex Fridman20:36

       Mm-hmm.

   19. MMMichael Malice20:36

       Um, highly recommend it. I was surprised how much I liked it. The... 'Cause he wasn't going Republicans good, Democrats bad. It was just about authoritarianism. And he had a movie premiere at Mar-a-Lago. So I'm like, "I gotta bring Lucas to Mar-a-Lago." So Lucas is... I'm like, "We're going to the president's house." He's like, "Oh, the White House?" And I'm like, "No, no, like the, uh, former president." He goes, "Oh, Abe Lincoln?"

   20. LFLex Fridman20:57

       (laughs)

   21. MMMichael Malice20:57

       And I'm like, "Okay, kid logic." Like he's- he's giving-

   22. LFLex Fridman20:59

       Yeah.

   23. MMMichael Malice20:59

       ... logical answers.

   24. LFLex Fridman21:00

       Yeah.

   25. MMMichael Malice21:00

       This is kinda like AI. You have to f- you have to program it to y- it's using logic correctly.

   26. LFLex Fridman21:04

       Mm-hmm. You should've told him there's a president that's second to only Abe Lincoln-

   27. MMMichael Malice21:10

       (laughs)

   28. LFLex Fridman21:10

       ... in terms of greatness.

   29. MMMichael Malice21:12

       (laughing) Accomplishments, yeah.

   30. LFLex Fridman21:13

       (laughs)
6. 48:15 – 1:04:13

   Unboxing the mystery box

   1. MMMichael Malice48:15

   2. LFLex Fridman48:16

      What's in the box?

   3. MMMichael Malice48:18

      So-

   4. LFLex Fridman48:18

      Is it your fragile ego?

   5. MMMichael Malice48:21

      That's my ... You stole my joke. You stole my joke. That was the joke I made at you before we recorded.

   6. LFLex Fridman48:26

      (laughs) .

   7. MMMichael Malice48:27

      You stole my joke.

   8. LFLex Fridman48:28

      No, no I didn't. I, uh, I write all your material. You hack.

   9. MMMichael Malice48:31

      (laughs) So as you know, I have a lot of beautiful stuff in my house-

   10. LFLex Fridman48:38

       Yes.

   11. MMMichael Malice48:39

       ... because I think it's something very important. Everyone listening, if you accomplish something that is great, uh, some achievement, what I like to do is buy myself something to remember that moment because sometimes when it's-... hard, you forget you've done great things in your life. You've had accomplishments. Doesn't have to be some amazing factory, it could just be, like, my first job where I got a raise, or, you know what, I, I... E- anything. So there's this amazing sculptor named Jake Michael Singer, a singer who's a sculptor. And I saw a piece of his.

   12. LFLex Fridman49:18

       How's his singing voice? This is a joke song. I, I think we're gonna cross that-

   13. MMMichael Malice49:23

       Hold on. I can go somewhere with this.

   14. LFLex Fridman49:24

       Okay. All right.

   15. MMMichael Malice49:25

       How's his singing voice?

   16. LFLex Fridman49:26

       Do you want me to write your joke for you?

   17. MMMichael Malice49:27

       Yeah. What's the punchline?

   18. LFLex Fridman49:30

       Um...

   19. MMMichael Malice49:30

       Hard!

   20. LFLex Fridman49:32

       (laughs)

   21. MMMichael Malice49:32

       (laughs) There it is. That's

   22. LFLex Fridman49:33

       That's what she said.

   23. MMMichael Malice49:35

       So I followed him on Instagram. He followed me back.

   24. LFLex Fridman49:40

       Mm-hmm.

   25. MMMichael Malice49:41

       And he's like, "If I made..." He says, "What's the point of being an artist if the work I create isn't in the spaces of people I like and admire?" He's a big fan of yours. You've given him... And our episodes together give him joy. So he said, "If I get a sculp... Make Lex a sculpture, will he put it on the shelf behind him?" And what that reminded me of is when I was a kid, uh, you read Batman comics and there's the Batcave. And the Batcave has all this cool stuff in it. I didn't realize until much later that all of those things in the Batcave had an origin story.

   26. LFLex Fridman50:21

       Mm-hmm.

   27. MMMichael Malice50:21

       So the giant penny, the dinosaur, there was actually a story where that came from. So if you're a fan of a show, you can spot, "Oh, this is when this appeared. This is when that appeared. This is when that appeared." So he made you this sculpture. Uh, he lives in Turkey. Um, and it's called Chance Murmur. And it is... I haven't even seen it yet. It is absolutely beautiful.

   28. LFLex Fridman50:41

       All right, this... So you wanna do a little unboxing?

   29. MMMichael Malice50:44

       Yes.

   30. LFLex Fridman50:45

       Okay. Uh, ax or... body spray?
7. 1:04:13 – 1:12:30

   Karl Marx and religion

   1. LFLex Fridman1:04:13

      Karl Marx wrote that, "Religion is the sigh of the oppressed creature, the heart of a heartless world, and the soul of a soulless condition. It is the opium of the people," as the famous phrase goes. Do you think he has a point?

   2. MMMichael Malice1:04:26

      No, I hate that quote. I absolutely hate it.

   3. LFLex Fridman1:04:29

      Mm-hmm.

   4. MMMichael Malice1:04:29

      I despise this sort of Reddit internet atheist activism for the simple reason that I know many people who, in finding faith, have become objectively better human beings.

   5. LFLex Fridman1:04:46

      Yeah. Me too.

   6. MMMichael Malice1:04:46

      They start living consciously. They take morality seriously. They try... We, we all fail, to be moral, good people. So this sneering that these mid-wits, these marginally intelligent people have towards religious people. Now, lots of religious people use religion to rationalize their bad behavior or, uh, you know, sinful or big egos, so on and so forth. That exists. That's true. But to say that it never helps anyone and it's universally the o- See, Marx was talking about a period, uh, you know, and I'll defend his quote, when his argument was, you know, the masses are being starved and oppressed, but they're promised, don't worry, you'll have riches in heaven. So you should kind of like-

   7. LFLex Fridman1:05:35

      Yeah.

   8. MMMichael Malice1:05:35

      ... let yourself be pushed around now, and this is kind of this BS bargain that the people are being given, so that was, I think, the point he was making. It's not... It certainly doesn't apply, uh, um, nowadays. Um, I, I've, I have a close to the family in the Midwest. They're good Christian people. I remember very specifically this guy, shout out to him, Sean Sherard. I went to college with him, uh, David Lucas. Um, and-

   9. LFLex Fridman1:06:01

      Have you checked out the comedy Mothership? Great, great club.

   10. MMMichael Malice1:06:03

       Where is it? Is it Austin? Um-

   11. LFLex Fridman1:06:05

       Willie Nelson.

   12. MMMichael Malice1:06:06

       And I, you know, I was 17, 18 freshman year, uh, and I was reading all this criticism of the Bible and I was like, "Look, this is in there. Look at this in there." And he put his hand on my shoulder and he says, "Michael, there's nothing you're gonna tell me that's going to make me lose my faith." And that was a very, uh, self-aware and profound thing to say. As I've gotten older and I know lots of religious people, there's no part of me that, um, thinks they're wrong or they should be mocked. It's like, it, it also reminds me of when people sneer at, uh, addicts in recovery. They're like, "Alcoholism is a disease," it's a choice. It's like, wait a minute. You don't know what it's like to have your entire life ruined by drugs or alcohol.

   13. LFLex Fridman1:06:48

       Yes.

   14. MMMichael Malice1:06:49

       And if you have to tell yourself, you know, I have this disease and blah, blah, blah, and that keeps you from drinking, and now you're a moral upstanding person who's reliable and takes responsibility for their actions-I, I, I, I, don't see the harm at all. So I, I think this kind of activist atheism is, uh, cheap. I, I don't agree with it whatsoever and I, I do not like that quote at all.

   15. LFLex Fridman1:07:12

       Uh, but otherwise, big fan of Marx?

   16. MMMichael Malice1:07:14

       (laughs) I mean, i- i- it's ... I, I think ... There's a fan of mine, I forget who it was, apologies. He had this great quote. He goes, "The ga-" And this is me talking. He goes, "The games people play to f- to feel smarter than others is, uh, depressing and annoying." And I think this kind of fedora internet atheism is a good example. 'Cause here's the other thing. If you've proven that someone else is stupid, that doesn't mean you're smart. You could both be stupid.

   17. LFLex Fridman1:07:40

       Mm-hmm.

   18. MMMichael Malice1:07:40

       So congrats, you proved someone else is stupid. Who cares?

   19. LFLex Fridman1:07:43

       Yeah. And sneering in all forms-

   20. MMMichael Malice1:07:45

       Yes.

   21. LFLex Fridman1:07:45

       ... in general, is just not ... great.

   22. MMMichael Malice1:07:48

       That's one of the things I block out people on social media instantly. You're not gonna sneer at me in MySpace. You can sneer at me all you want in your space, but I'm not putting up with your crap. I don't know you.

   23. LFLex Fridman1:07:57

       MySpace, great social network.

   24. MMMichael Malice1:08:00

       (laughs) Is that on, uh, s- on six dat- s- 6th, 6th Street?

   25. LFLex Fridman1:08:04

       AOL.com.

   26. MMMichael Malice1:08:06

       Mee-do-do-do-do-do-do-wang-clang-clang. (laughs) That's how Lex comes.

   27. LFLex Fridman1:08:11

       (laughs)

   28. MMMichael Malice1:08:12

       (laughs)

   29. LFLex Fridman1:08:12

       Like Pavlov's dog. That was the sound before you get to see, spend 10 minutes waiting for an image of a lady load.

   30. MMMichael Malice1:08:23

       (laughs)
8. 1:12:30 – 1:16:44

   Art

   1. LFLex Fridman1:12:31

      Yeah, this thing is beautiful.

   2. MMMichael Malice1:12:32

      It's ridiculous.

   3. LFLex Fridman1:12:34

      You have, you have actually a lot of really cool stuff at your, at your place.

   4. MMMichael Malice1:12:37

      It's so fun.

   5. LFLex Fridman1:12:38

      What, um, what's a, what's a cool thing that stands out to you? Maybe a recent addition?

   6. MMMichael Malice1:12:44

      So I went to the Dallas Museum of Art last year for my birthday, and there was a painting I liked.

   7. LFLex Fridman1:12:53

      Mm-hmm.

   8. MMMichael Malice1:12:53

      And I Googled it and I saw the auction for that exact painting, and it was like, I think three grand, which is not cheap, but not something you'd think ... You think in a museum, I can never afford something like this, right?

   9. LFLex Fridman1:13:04

      Mm-hmm.

   10. MMMichael Malice1:13:05

       So when I was in, um-I went to Houston with some friends, the Sideserfs. Uh, Natalie, who made that cake of you.

   11. LFLex Fridman1:13:15

       Oh, yeah. Cake, um, terrified my mom.

   12. MMMichael Malice1:13:17

       Did, did it?

   13. LFLex Fridman1:13:18

       Yeah.

   14. MMMichael Malice1:13:18

       Aw.

   15. LFLex Fridman1:13:19

       No, it's not the cake that terrified my mom. It's you, Michael Malice, cutting it off.

   16. MMMichael Malice1:13:24

       (laughs)

   17. LFLex Fridman1:13:24

       Cutting the face off, and laughing maniacally. (laughs)

   18. MMMichael Malice1:13:30

       Well, N- Natalie's pregnant. She's gonna have a daughter named Daisy. So congrats to Natalie.

   19. LFLex Fridman1:13:35

       Oh, Congrats to Natalie.

   20. MMMichael Malice1:13:35

       But I was in the museum with them, and there was a statue of Thoth, who's the Egyptian god whose head is an ibis. It's a bird with a long beak. And Thoth is the god of the moon, god of knowledge, and supposedly, he invented writing.

   21. LFLex Fridman1:13:50

       Hmm.

   22. MMMichael Malice1:13:51

       So I thought, you know what? I've always loved ancient Egypt, I know a lot about it, and especially the mythology. It'd be really cool, as an aspiring author, to have an ancient Egyptian Thoth statue in my house.

   23. LFLex Fridman1:14:03

       Mm-hmm.

   24. MMMichael Malice1:14:04

       Well, it turned out that the Egyptians also killed and mummified ibises, and buried them with scribes. And a week after I went to the museum, there was an auction for an ibis mummy.

   25. LFLex Fridman1:14:18

       (laughs)

   26. MMMichael Malice1:14:18

       And I have it now in my house, still in its bandages, overlooking my desk, and we all know it's gonna come to life and peck out my eyes-

   27. LFLex Fridman1:14:27

       Yeah.

   28. MMMichael Malice1:14:27

       ... and write with my blood. But that is one of the recent cool additions. Another thing I have, which is, like, in terms of, "Holy crap, I've made it." Uh, I have, uh, an original Patrick Nagel painting. And if people don't know the name, he's, like, the '80s artist. Uh, he did the Duran Duran cover. We'd never see him in nail salons. I have a male, which were very rare for him to do. Um, so that's two of my kind of favorite pieces.

   29. LFLex Fridman1:14:49

       He did what?

   30. MMMichael Malice1:14:49

       He only drew, drew women predominantly. I have one where he drew a male, like a, it was a guy in a, like, a jean hat or something.
9. 1:16:44 – 1:29:21

   Books

   1. LFLex Fridman1:16:45

      What do you think about Camus as a writer?

   2. MMMichael Malice1:16:47

      I don't like his novels at all.

   3. LFLex Fridman1:16:49

      Oh, you don't?

   4. MMMichael Malice1:16:49

      At all.

   5. LFLex Fridman1:16:50

      Yeah, you've talked shit about The Plague to me a little bit.

   6. MMMichael Malice1:16:52

      Yeah, I, I didn't... I, I think the book is pointless.

   7. LFLex Fridman1:16:55

      It's fascinating.

   8. MMMichael Malice1:16:56

      'Cause all you need to do is read the synopsis, and then you get it. Like, I don't think his book-

   9. LFLex Fridman1:17:00

      Isn't that true for most books?

   10. MMMichael Malice1:17:01

       No.

   11. LFLex Fridman1:17:02

       I mean, like, you could take... I, I don't know. I just don't agree at all. There... I mean, it's, uh, it's Catcher in the Rye. There's a lot of books that are... seem trivial.

   12. MMMichael Malice1:17:11

       I don't think it seems trivial, but I think what-

   13. LFLex Fridman1:17:13

       Animal Farm.

   14. MMMichael Malice1:17:15

       Animal Farm is a methodical, step-by-step examination of a transformation from one thing to another. The Plague i- is not that.

   15. LFLex Fridman1:17:23

       It's a methodical examination of what a society is like under the plague, which could symbolize a lot of things, including the plague directly or Nazi Germany or ideological movements or... It's, it's similar to Animal Farm, maybe not as effective i- in terms of using this kind of symbology.

   16. MMMichael Malice1:17:44

       I think Animal Farm has a narrative, and... I'm gonna spoil the whole Plague, the book The Plague.

   17. LFLex Fridman1:17:50

       Okay.

   18. MMMichael Malice1:17:51

       There's a, there's a town, I believe, in Oman.

   19. LFLex Fridman1:17:53

       Mm-hmm.

   20. MMMichael Malice1:17:53

       A plague descends. People struggle to deal with it, and the plague vanishes as quickly as it came. The end.

   21. LFLex Fridman1:18:02

       Yeah, but there's the victims, the, the people that take advantage of it. There's the doctor that admits the absurdity and the evil of the plague as fighting to do good.

   22. MMMichael Malice1:18:11

       Nothing for me. It does nothing for me.

   23. LFLex Fridman1:18:12

       Okay. Well, I can spoil Animal Farm. There's, uh, pigs. There's animals at a farm (laughs) -

   24. MMMichael Malice1:18:20

       (laughs)

   25. LFLex Fridman1:18:20

       ... and they, the humans are abusing them. And then the animals overthrow the humans, but then-

   26. MMMichael Malice1:18:28

       (laughs)

   27. LFLex Fridman1:18:29

       ... the pigs, uh, become just like the humans. It... The lesson, kids, is that, uh, power corrupts no matter whether you walk on four or on two.

   28. MMMichael Malice1:18:40

       I thought the lesson was that pigs are the most humanlike animals on the farm.

   29. LFLex Fridman1:18:45

       I thought the-

   30. MMMichael Malice1:18:46

       (laughs)

Episode duration: 1:39:01