Modern WisdomDating, Cheetos, Liquor, Biden, Bernie & Fitness | Michael Malice | Modern Wisdom Podcast 140
CHAPTERS
- 0:00 – 0:52
Biden backlash fantasies, Hillary trilogy joke & ‘The Rock’ as future candidate
The conversation cold-opens with Michael Malice riffing on Democratic primary chaos, imagining ‘angry old man’ Biden getting the nomination and the party pivoting to Hillary Clinton. They spin it into a pop-culture gag about needing a trilogy—wanting to see Hillary lose a third time—and briefly entertain Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson as a possible future candidate.
- 0:52 – 3:17
Remote-recording banter, pajamas, and a grim Newcastle true-crime detour
Chris welcomes Malice back and they joke about recording over Skype and Malice being in pajamas. Malice then ambushes Chris with a harrowing Newcastle fact—the Mary Bell child-murder case—before shifting to discussion of the Geordie accent and its unintelligibility to outsiders.
- 3:17 – 5:14
2020 memes, body-shaming limits, and Bloomberg as ‘benevolent dystopia’ manager
They pivot to internet culture—what counts as a good meme in 2020—and quickly land on Michael Bloomberg jokes. Malice rejects easy body-shaming as lazy critique and instead argues Bloomberg’s real danger is technocratic ‘for your own good’ governance and social engineering.
- 5:14 – 6:46
WallStreetBets: leveraged chaos for internet points
Chris introduces WallStreetBets and the culture of absurdly risky trades made for clout. They laugh at the spectacle while acknowledging how disturbing it is that people gamble life savings for online validation.
- 6:46 – 8:53
North Korea fades from headlines, while China inches toward ‘Songbun’ style control
Malice explains why it bothers him that attention has moved from North Korea’s population-level suffering to other geopolitical stories. He describes North Korea’s hereditary ‘Songbun’ caste-like classification system and warns that China’s social credit ambitions echo similar control mechanisms—though Hong Kong offers a small hope.
- 8:53 – 12:21
Data surveillance in practice: insurance, GPS inference, and uncomfortable correlations
Chris shares examples of how companies infer private life details from data—like insurers using phone GPS patterns to guess relationship status and adjust risk models. Malice argues most behavior is quantifiable, but both note the creepiness of these inferences becoming operationalized and effectively public-facing.
- 12:21 – 18:49
From niche porn stats to fitness-status dating: what ‘attractiveness’ changes socially
A quick, comedic detour into the most popular porn category in India leads into a longer discussion on dating dynamics. Malice questions whether being a public-facing ‘hunk’ makes dating easier; Chris argues it selects for a narrow pool and can make finding a serious partner harder, while they explore hypergamy, intimidation effects, and how ‘outliers’ are perceived.
- 18:49 – 21:10
Flamin’ Hot Cheetos origin story & the ‘American supermarket’ spectacle
Chris recounts the rags-to-executive story of Richard Montañez, credited with creating Flamin’ Hot Cheetos after being a Frito-Lay janitor. They broaden into a playful comparison of US vs UK snack variety, including Malice’s observation that American kids’ cereal mascots look ‘coked up.’
- 21:10 – 22:48
Baijiu: the world’s top spirit, and Malice’s ‘Arduous March’ of bizarre liquors
They discuss how Baijiu dominates global spirits by volume and Malice describes its harsh taste from personal experience. Malice recounts his fan-funded ‘Arduous March’ challenge sampling dozens of strange liquors, calling Moutai/Baijiu the worst—lingering, metallic, and cleanser-like.
- 22:48 – 25:26
Drunk shopping economics and the brutal honesty of ‘booty-call tier lists’
Chris shares stats claiming drunk shopping is a massive industry, prompting Malice to explain he avoids drinking because it makes him mean in person. The topic turns into a darkly funny ‘life hack’ story about a friend’s WhatsApp broadcast lists segmented by time/preference—likened to descending circles of hell.
- 25:26 – 27:58
Emojis as legal evidence, personal emoji ‘tells,’ and the helicopter meme’s darker edge
They explore how emoji strings are appearing in court and how ambiguous interpretation can be. Malice lists his go-to emojis for tone-signaling on Twitter, including the nail polish and kiss emojis, then explains the notorious helicopter emoji’s Pinochet reference—and why real-world politics made it less funny.
- 27:58 – 33:53
Fast fashion’s low quality ripple effects, Malice’s raw denim obsession, and random science tangents
Chris shares an odd economic consequence: cheap ‘fast fashion’ textiles are so flimsy they’re hurting the industrial wiping-rag recycling market. Malice contrasts this with his love of long-worn raw denim and disdain for pre-distressed clothes; the segment then meanders through nightlife-fame annoyances, a quick discussion of gay ‘top/bottom’ roles, and fungi being closer to humans than plants.
- 33:53 – 37:43
Spite funding: fans buying Malice bizarre collectibles (and why it works)
Malice explains ‘spite funding’—people donating so he can buy frivolous items to irritate his critics—and shows off examples. He details unusual pen materials (fordite, tusks, DMZ wood), an Andy Kaufman signed photo, and later a historic ‘Mind your business’ penny, emphasizing the escalating challenge of finding ever-weirder purchases.
- 37:43 – 40:26
UK politics curios (Nigel Farage), protest culture, and why people get ‘triggered’ by clownish theatrics
They riff on the decline of the name ‘Nigel’ and Malice’s admiration for Nigel Farage’s theatrical savagery in the EU Parliament. The discussion broadens to how quickly UK political attention cycles compared to the US, and how protest rituals (bells, public shaming) signal excess time and misallocated energy.
- 40:26 – 46:47
2020 election crystal ball: Bernie vs the DNC, Biden’s decline, and Trump’s advantage
With Iowa underway, Malice predicts escalating warfare between Bernie’s base and the Democratic establishment and doubts the party will allow Sanders to become nominee. He contrasts matchups—Trump vs Biden as brutal and sad due to Biden’s perceived decline, versus Trump vs Bernie as unprecedented anti-establishment collision that could shift power toward media/social platforms.
- 46:47 – 59:33
Cutting for abs: diet brain, motivation, macros, and practical refeed strategy (plus closing tangents)
Malice asks Chris for advice on staying motivated during a cut and coping with strength loss. Chris explains the subjectivity of aesthetic progress, the mental strain of calorie deficits (‘diet brain’), and suggests process focus plus refeed days; they review Malice’s macros and weight before ending with brief pop-culture/comics talk and wrap-up plugs.
