These two TikTok clips really need no introduction, but I’m going to give them one. If you’re time-challenged, just scroll down to the links and watch them. They’re the best explanations of the topics they concern that I’ve seen all week.

Yes, on TikTok. The dirty little secret is late night TV’s goal is virality online. That’s where you see the shows’ best work. And the standard for virality is high, which is why Jimmy Fallon so often fails. Online edgy works, bland is overlooked. In the days of three networks, bland was the standard, in the era of unlimited choice, you must cause a reaction in the consumer. You must make them laugh or get their blood to boil, to the point where they’ll tell everybody else about your work. The music business used to sell edge, it specialized in this, but now it has sacrificed the bleeding edge to TikTok. As for why your music doesn’t go viral…does it have an edge, does it say something? The audience has got no time for commerce, they want something that affects them.

Now when it comes to politics, those in authoritarian countries say the only thing that works against leaders is humor, that they can’t handle it. The following clip is not about Trump, but it is about the red/blue divide.

The clip comes from “The Daily Show.” To tell you the truth, I don’t know the host’s name, even though I could look it up. She’s got the sneer down pat. She ends up rising above the argument, which is what all cool people do. Now in truth, despite being on TV only one day a week, Jon Stewart is the king of late night virality. We keep hearing about Colbert, but online Stewart rules. His show airs on TV Monday night and for days thereafter the best clips are viewed online by a plethora of people. I don’t pull Stewart’s words, they’re pushed to me, they always come up in my feed. Stewart sometimes gets down into the trenches, but what is most appealing is when he’s separate/above it all, as if saying “look at these doofuses.”

Enough words, please watch this “Daily Show” clip about Sydney Sweeney and the jeans controversy. It nails the issues and the hypocrisy:

@thedailyshow

The Sydney Sweeney ad controversy has Megyn Kelly outraged on behalf of one of America’s most underrepresented groups: blond women #DailyShow #MegynKelly #SydneySweeney #Jeans

? original sound – The Daily Show

Now the other clip I’m going to link to is one about electric cars. It’s a slam dunk. If everyone in America viewed this also humorous clip, they’d get the message, they’d get on board.

This is a gigantic issue in America today. The entire world is moving to electric.

I know many of you hate the “New York Times,” but I point you to an article in today’s “New York Times”:

“Trump Will Slow, but May Not Stop, the Rise of Electric Vehicles – President Trump and Republicans in Congress are eliminating federal incentives to buy electric vehicles, but carmakers need to keep selling and investing in them.”

Free link: https://www.nytimes.com/2025/08/03/business/trump-electric-vehicles.html?unlocked_article_code=1.bk8.7xED.9N54uIc9O82S&smid=url-share

Here’s the nougat:

“U.S. electric vehicle sales rose just 1.5 percent in the first six months, according to Cox Automotive. But globally sales rose 28 percent to 9.1 million vehicles”

“Carmakers that ignore this fast-growing market may not be in business 10 years from now”

The problem is we live in a world economy, where electric is triumphing, led by the Chinese. Anway, here’s the video, please watch it: 

@thefinanceinfo

Rory Sutherland explains why petrol cars only seem normal because they came first — not because they’re better. If we’d started with electric vehicles, no one would ever approve the petrol alternative. They’re noisy, inefficient, polluting, and you can’t refuel them at home. It’s a classic case of status quo bias. Electric cars solve all the practical issues — but because petrol came first, we treat them as the standard. It shows how deeply habits and perceptions shape innovation (or block it). ?? #electriccar #psychology #Economy

? original sound – The Finance Info

Tune in Saturday August 2nd to Faction Talk, channel 103, at 4 PM East, 1 PM West.

Phone #: 844-686-5863

If you miss the episode, you can hear it on demand on the SiriusXM app. Search: Lefsetz

Long time publicist for the Grateful Dead Dennis McNally has a new book “The Last Great Dream: How Bohemians Became Hippies and Created the Sixties.” We talk about San Francisco, the Dead and more!

Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/dennis-mcnally/id1316200737?i=1000720007210

https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/9ff4fb19-54d4-41ae-ae7a-8a6f8d3dafa8/episodes/6bdf3584-e777-415b-99e7-cdd632db2016/the-bob-lefsetz-podcast-dennis-mcnally

This article positively blew my mind, stopped me in my tracks, caused me to exclaim. I’m writing about it from a news analysis point of view. Something we should all be capable of, but too many refuse to do…that’s gathering all the information one can and then trying to divine the truth. It’s very easy to find information that aligns with your preexisting beliefs, but to investigate and read that which is contrary to them? That is rare.

I get three physical newspapers a day. At this late date, there’s less and less that I haven’t previously read online. But the physical layout heightens stories that are lost and overlooked in the apps. So…

I guess this is just a long intro to keep you paying attention. Because when I get to the meat of the topic your preexisting beliefs might make you stop reading and move on, after being pissed off.

Now I get right wing blowback to anything I write that references Trump or anything political. And the vast majority is uninformed. Or is a direct quote from right wing news outlets. Fox has been doubling-down on what is described as a riot in Cincinnati and my inbox is full of Trumpers wondering why I don’t write about it, why it isn’t covered in other mainstream news outlets. What is scary here is not whatever happened in the Ohio city, but the power of one outlet to create an agenda and infect its acolytes with it.

The other big right wing trope/blowback this week has been about the photo of the starving child in Gaza in the “New York Times.” I won’t say it’s equivalent to the nude napalm photo from Vietnam, but it is something that you see once and cannot forget.

But it turns out that the child has cerebral palsy.

Now my response to said right wing naysayers was that the “Times” corrected its mistake, which too often those on the right refuse to do. Hell, Fox News refused to apologize re election falsehoods and got sued.

I know, I know, a correction never reaches the number of readers the first story reached, but…

But, but, BUT!

There is a piece in today’s “Wall Street Journal” that as I said above positively blew my mind.

Okay, this is about Israel, the most hated nation in the world. You probably have your own opinion on the country and the Gaza conflict. I certainly do. I know that the goal of the Palestinians is to eradicate Israel entirely. I know that every time the Palestinians have been offered their own state they’ve refused. But I too was affected by the photo of the starving child in Gaza. It was just TOO MUCH!

But now read this:

“Gaza Starvation Photos Tell a Thousand Lies – Hamas propaganda exploits seriously ill children, and Western media go along.”

Free link: https://www.wsj.com/opinion/gaza-starvation-photos-tell-a-thousand-lies-palestine-israel-aid-1d689cc8?st=2p5WFe&reflink=desktopwebshare_permalink

Now this writer, Eitan Fischbveger, was embedded with the IDF over the weekend. He covers the photo controversy. But here’s the nougat:

“…I stood surrounded by nearly 600 trucks worth of food, water and diapers, all ready to be delivered. The U.N. refused to do the job, saying it couldn’t operate safely with Israeli protection. Instead it asked that security be provided by the ‘Gaza Blue Police’—a euphemism for Hamas’s internal security forces. This is the same group the U.N. has repeatedly accused of stealing aid, including in October 2023, only weeks after the Hamas-led massacre.”

“In addition to rejecting IDF protection, the U.N. has declined to cooperate with the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, despite its backing by the U.S. The result is that food meant for children like Mohammed is left to rot. Put simply, the U.N. would rather work with Hamas than the Israelis or the Americans.”

Wow! Let me reinforce that Eitan Fischberger was actually there, he saw this with his own eyes.

Meanwhile, on this very same day, the Editorial Board of the “New York Times” goes on record saying “Gaza’s Hunger Is a Moral Crisis.”

Who you gonna believe, the Editorial Board or the guy who was actually there?

Sure, the Israelis shot Palestinians running for food. This is abhorrent to me and seemingly everybody I know. But there appears to be more to the story.

And now the “Times” has driven countries from France to Canada to recognize a Palestinian state.

Hamas is a terrorist group. With a stranglehold on Gaza.

Netanyahu is a flawed character. Who is under criminal indictment. He’s no picnic. And prior to this war the politics of Israel were abhorrent. Trying to neuter the Supreme Court…

But Hamas was the attacker, and Hamas refuses to return the hostages and end the war.

But the truth is antisemitism runs rampant. Sure, you can separate Israel and Jews, but most people conflate them. And unknown to many is that Palestinians have infiltrated American campuses with their propaganda intentionally, it was all part of a long term plan, akin to the right and the Federalist Society. Such that when this war began, many college students immediately took the side of the Palestinians.

Now for those who abhor mainstream media, I say the joke is on you. As I have stated numerous times, the difference between the three major news outlets, all newspapers, the “Times,” the “Journal” and the WaPo, is that they actually report, whereas online it’s almost exclusively opinion, even cable news is almost all opinion. You’ve got to start with the facts.

But the facts are usually ignored in a world that runs on emotion.

It’s not only Gaza, this thinking is rampant in the music business too. Spotify is screwing artists…I heard all these indies complaining they’re not making money, this must be true. Ticketmaster is ripping-off the customer, it gets all those fees, it’s that company’s fault! Both of these takes are categorically wrong, but you can’t convince the public otherwise.

So what is the truth in Gaza?

I’m not exactly sure. But I do know I must read both the left and right wing papers of record, the “Times” and the “Journal,” to try and divine the truth.

Hamas is legendary for lying. Inflating casualties. Never mind stealing aid to build tunnels that prevent this war from ending.

The Israelis are killing innocent people.

Then again, from the above article:

“Since Oct. 7, 2023, Israel has coordinated and facilitated the entry into Gaza of more than 1.86 million tons of humanitarian assistance, more than 78% of which has been food. The population of Gaza is about 2.1 million. The only comparable effort in modern history is the Berlin Airlift of 1948-49, during which the Allies delivered 2.3 million tons of supplies to 2.5 million West Berliners over 15 months. Even then, the aid was going to an allied population. ‘There is no historical precedent for a military providing the level of direct aid to an enemy population that Israel has provided to Gaza,’ writes John Spencer of the Modern War Institute at West Point.”

I’m trying to divine the truth. And it isn’t easy to uncover. But it does require a constant finger on the pulse of legitimate news outlets.

Hopefully you’re paying attention to all sides too. And are not stuck in your beliefs and can change if you find out your take was wrong.

Modern life is very complicated. And it’s especially worse now that institutions have been neutered…from the media to government, who can you trust?

I’m not sure.