Don't get Lisa Started on Purse Charms 👛✨ - 12/7/2025

Image credit - Gemini AI

This week, Lisa and David talk about a little‑known firm tied to the president’s son receiving an unusually large loan from his father’s Defense Department; Trump pardons Democrat Henry Cuellar, charged last year with bribery and money laundering; Trump gets his ‘Peace Prize’ from FIFA; creepy photo of Epstein’s island; chaotic ACIP meeting, votes to revise hepatitis B shot recommendations; Netflix agrees to acquire Warner Bros.; Notre Dame opts out of College Football Playoff; frustrating dealership experiences of mandated “tech appointments”; cultural trends of 2025; how is Halloween candy bad already?; and more.

Humor as a Civic Tool

Why is an organization like Outrage Overload, dedicated to tackling toxic polarization and equipping people for constructive civic engagement, spending time on a segment about dealership “tech appointments” and a dubious “Peace Prize”?

Because our mission isn’t just about exposing the outrage industry; it’s also about building resilience. To engage constructively in civic life, we must first learn to manage the perpetual chaos of the news cycle without burning out. Sometimes, the most constructive act is stepping back and recognizing the ridiculousness of it all. We need to be able to laugh.

By finding the humor in the absurd, we reduce the immediate, polarizing heat of every single news story. Laughter is a powerful tool that helps us:

• Reduce Emotional Fatigue: A moment of shared levity is an antidote to outrage overload.

• Create Common Ground: We can all agree that car dealerships and bad candy are universally frustrating.

• Maintain Perspective: When we laugh, we remember that not every issue needs to be a five-alarm political fire.

So, while we will always expose the serious issues, we also give you permission to laugh at the nonsense. It’s not a distraction from our mission—it’s a vital form of civic self-care.

Added Context on Lieutenant General Michel Yakovleff

In a recent viral news segment on the French news channel La Chaîne Info, former NATO Vice Chief of Staff, French Army Lieutenant General Michel Yakovleff, made headlines by explicitly stating that Donald Trump “works for Putin”. He described Trump as “the dream” for Putin because Trump “does everything he asks for” without being paid, dismissing suggestions that Trump’s behavior was merely “crazy”.

Added Context for Netflix Buying Warner Bros.

Netflix has agreed to acquire Warner Bros. Discovery’s film and TV studios plus its streaming arm (including HBO/HBO Max and major franchises like Harry Potter, Game of Thrones, and DC) in a cash‑stock deal valuing the assets at about 72 billion dollars in equity and 82.7 billion in enterprise value.

Netflix is planning to add on the order of 60 billion dollars of new debt for this deal, and total debt on the combined company is expected to jump to roughly 75–90 billion dollars, depending on how the bridge financing is refinanced.

Analysts had been predicting exactly this sort of shake‑out, with a “Big 5” or similar cluster—Disney, Netflix, Warner‑type assets, Amazon, Apple—controlling most global streaming demand and forcing smaller players into partnerships or exits. After the Netflix–Warner Bros. deal, the market is effectively dominated by a “Big Three” general‑entertainment streamers: Netflix (plus HBO/Max and Warner IP), Amazon Prime Video, and Disney (Disney+ and Hulu). Secondary players like Paramount+ and Apple TV+ are much smaller in subscribers and are increasingly discussed as either takeover targets, niche complements, or content licensors rather than full‑stack rivals.

Consolidation like this tends to trade variety of separate brands for a smaller number of bigger bundles: fewer major subscription options, more big‑tent catalogs, but also more pricing power in the hands of a few platforms and fewer independent alternatives for niche or mid‑budget content.

Links:

Outrage Overload Podcast

Yergz Radio (yergzradio.com)

Dare Talk Radio (daretalkradio.com)

This Week in Outrage Substack (outrageoverload.net/twio)

Company backed by Donald Trump Jr.’s firm nabs $620M government contract (TechCrunch)

Trump criticises Democrat he pardoned over not switching political parties (BBC)

Trump mocked for accepting ‘fake’ peace prize from FIFA: ‘Humiliating for all involved’ (Alabama)

CDC advisers vote to overturn decades-long policy on hepatitis B vaccine for infants (NPR)