Media Bias, the Met Gala, gorilla vs man debate & an Alcatraz theory | Ep. 18

This week, we’re starting with a hard look at media bias. How does slanted coverage shape public trust—and are we part of the problem? Then it’s off to the red carpet (sort of) for a deep dive into the Met Gala. From its origins to its over-the-top outfits, we’re unpacking what this annual fashion spectacle says about our culture’s values.

And yes, we tackle the viral question the internet didn’t know it needed: Could a gorilla take on 100 unarmed men? 

Add in quick hits on the India–Pakistan conflict, Trump’s announcements, rumors about Alcatraz reopening, and a closing challenge to rethink your media habits through a biblical lens. Tune in and enjoy a full episode of news, pop culture, and thoughtful Christian insight.

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Topics

• (00:28): Media bias: Are we to blame?
• (05:54): The decline of trust in media
• (08:44): Balanced news sources and recommendations
• (13:04): The Met Gala: What is it?
• (21:32): Vanity and Ecclesiastes
• (25:33): Gorilla vs. 100 men debate
• (27:09): Check-in: Global and national updates
• (30:18): Tune-in: Upcoming events & Alactraz

Resources

• Mailbag: [email protected]
• DenisonForum.org/subscribe
• Culture Brief on Instagram
• Media Research Center finds 92% negative coverage of Trump in first 100 days
• Deputy Press Sec. slams ‘comical’ and ‘unfortunate’ negative media coverage of Trump
• The media owes Trump an apology — and an about-face in his second term
• At 100 Day Mark: Coverage of Biden Has Been Slightly More Negative Than Positive, Varied Greatly by Outlet Type
• Overview and key findings of the 2024 Digital News Report | Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism
• AllSides Media Bias Chart
• Ground News
• The Flyover – Bias and Credibility – Media Bias/Fact Check
• Tangle News
• The 2025 Met Gala Will Celebrate Black Style Tonight. Here’s How to Watch.
• Met Gala Red Carpet Arrivals 2025: See Every Look [PHOTOS]
• Wait, What Actually Happens at the Met Gala Inside? Here’s What Goes Down

About Micah Tomasella

Micah Tomasella is the Advancement Officer at Denison Ministries and co-hosts Denison Forum’s “Culture Brief” podcast. A graduate of Dallas Baptist University, Micah is married to Emily, and together they are the proud parents of two daughters. With an extensive background in nonprofit work, finance, and real estate, Micah also brings experience from his years in pastoral church ministry.

About Conner Jones

Conner Jones is the Director of Performance Marketing at Denison Ministries and Co-Hosts Denison Forum’s “Culture Brief” podcast. He graduated from Dallas Baptist University in 2019 with a degree in Business Management. Conner passionately follows politics, sports, pop-culture, entertainment, and current events. He enjoys fishing, movie-going, and traveling the world with his wife and son.

About Denison Forum

Denison Forum exists to thoughtfully engage the issues of the day from a biblical perspective through The Daily Article email newsletter and podcast, The Denison Forum Podcast, as well as many books and additional resources.

EPISODE TRANSCRIPT

NOTE: This transcript was AI-generated and has not been fully edited. 

Conner Jones: [00:00:00] Hi, I’m Conner Jones. 

Micah Tomasella: I’m Micah Tomasella, 

Conner Jones: and this is Culture Brief, a Denison Forum podcast where we navigate the constant stream of top stories and news, politics, sports, pop culture and technology. And we’re doing it all from a Christian perspective. And Micah, I’m just feeling good today because you know what?

The Cowboys finally did something. They got a wide receiver. That’s right. So life is good. 

Micah Tomasella: That’s right. We have a wide receiver to pair with CD Lamb. Here we come. NFL! Go Cowboys. All right, so I want to give you guys a rundown of what we’re gonna talk about today. Question. Are we to blame for the bias in the media that we see today?

That’s rhetorical. Hmm. I’m gonna answer it in a minute. The Met Gala just happened. What’s it about? What’s the history of the Met Gala? What do they even do? Connor’s gonna break that down for us. Today we’re gonna talk about Alcatraz, Gorilla versus 100 Men Debate that has taken social media by stor,m and so much more.

So let’s jump into the brief. 

Conner Jones: The brief. [00:01:00] 

Micah Tomasella: Alright. The bias in the media is a huge issue. But are we getting what we deserve? That’s my question for us today. Are we experiencing what we deserve? Have we, are we reaping what we’ve sown for so long so Americans don’t trust the media, Connor, and it’s, it’s not just a hunch, but here’s the harder truth.

I think that we might be a part of the problem, and I’m gonna break that down today. I wanna unpack why trust has dropped so far and how bias plays into it, and why our own preferences. Consciously and subconsciously are fueling the divide that we see today. So let’s talk about the landscape of media bias.

Let’s be honest, most people have a gut feeling that today’s media isn’t neutral, but it’s not. Like I said, it’s not just a hunch anymore. We’ve got hard data that points to something more troubling, a systematic. A systemic, systematic, maybe both imbalance in how news is covered today. So a recent study by the Media Research [00:02:00] Center, MRC, analyzed 899 stories aired during evening news broadcasts from January 20th to April 9th, 2025 on A-B-C-C-B-S and NBC.

So three of the five largest. Kind of traditional media conglomerates. The study found that 92% of the coverage about Donald Trump during his first 100 days was negative 92%. In contrast during President Joe Biden’s first 100 days in 2021, Connor, the same organization found. That when they studied those same organizations that only 41% of the coverage was negative.

So 59% of the coverage on Joe Biden’s first 100 days was positive compared to only 8% of the news coverage for Donald Trump’s first 100 days was positive. 92% of it was negative. Now, this doesn’t mean Trump was flawless or that Biden gets a free pass, but the contrast speaks volumes about selective [00:03:00] emphasis.

Narrative framing. It’s not just about what said, it’s about what gets covered and what gets ignored and how stories are told. So how the stories that are being picked are the more negative ones or the more headline grabbing ones, which which are, you know, are just typically more negative. And when the public sees those disparities, especially over time, it’s no wonder Trust in the media is at historic lows now.

So again, this isn’t about Trump’s bad. Trump’s great. Biden’s bad. Biden’s great. This is about clear data. That shows there is obvious bias and this is just one small part of it, honestly. So Connor, what do you think about this in general, and then how do you think we stay above the fray of this specific issue at Denison Forum?

What makes us different? 

Conner Jones: Yeah. I would say, I think the general consensus is bad news cells. That’s the way a lot of these networks and you know, sources. Provide their yeah. Information. They think through profits. They think through how are we gonna get viewership, how are we gonna get readership, whatever it is.

And [00:04:00] so they know that bad news sell, and if they can hit an audience and focus on the negative, people will read it. They’ll digest it, they’ll watch it, whatever it is. So one thing that I know sets us apart here at Dentist Forum is we don’t just focus on the bad news. We focus on the truth. And so if that’s a headline that introduces bad news, we’re gonna turn it into a way of seeing it through the lens of scripture and hopefully provide a hope induced perspective on that.

We also have good news. Yeah, I mean, if you go to our website right now and look at the articles that have been written this week, you’re gonna see some good news articles, which is something a lot of news sources do not publish. That’s right. Or at least if they’re publishing it, they’re certainly not advertising it.

So we will focus on the things that are happening in this world that are good, that Christ is behind, and we’re gonna always provide that hopeful perspective. We also, we’re not journalists here, we’re not exactly in the weeds of reporting things. We’re not finding sources and trying to get information.

We’re just seeing what’s going on in the world and we’re trying to help listeners, readers, whoever it is, digest it and take it from a hope-filled perspective and, and apply scripture to it. 

Micah Tomasella: Yep. [00:05:00] That’s an important distinction, Connor and two here at Dentist and Forum, and Dentist and Ministries as a whole, we are donor funded, so we are not, you know, we don’t have those clickbait things.

We don’t have those paywalls. We’re not dependent upon people clicking a certain amount of times on something to make a certain amount of dollars. See, that’s the problem is these news organizations, and I’m about to get into this, they make money by clicks, by views, while what’s getting clicks and views.

The negative things, the sensational things. So 

Conner Jones: And we, we also don’t have corporate sponsors. Yep. So we don’t have to bow to whatever a big, if it’s a big pharma company, we don’t have to try to support whatever they are saying we should support. ’cause they fund us, you know, lot of, yeah, yeah. We stand, we stand independent.

We’re separate from that. We’re truly only responding to God in the Bible, what he says, 

Micah Tomasella: independent. But we also stand on God’s word. That’s. That’s what we’re held accountable to, and we’re thankful for that to be a part of something like that. And we’re thankful that all of you are along on this journey with us.

So there is declining, trusted media, right? And so the result is a trust crisis. According to a [00:06:00] September of 2024 Gallup poll, only 31% of Americans say they have a great deal or even a fair amount of trust in mass media to report the news fully, accurately, and fairly. That’s the second lowest number that Gallup has produced on this subject since 1972.

In short, the media’s credibility isn’t just being questioned. It has significantly eroded. This isn’t just an idea anymore. It has eroded. The trust in it has eroded, and there’s a reason for that. But let’s turn the mirror back on ourselves for a second. Let’s talk about the role of audience preferences.

Now, here’s where the mirror turns back on us, because while it’s easy to blame the media, we also have to acknowledge how our own behavior shapes what the media becomes. The digital age has made it easier than ever to customize our content diet. Right algorithms, whether on Facebook, YouTube, X or even Google, our preferences feed us what we already like.

The algorithms know it. Yep. What we already prefer, and for most of us, that means being served, headlines being served, [00:07:00] commentary that confirms to our worldview and rarely challenges it. Pew Research found that 54% of US adults say they sometimes are often get news from social media. That’s a problem. But here’s the issue.

Those platforms are not designed to inform. They’re designed to keep you scrolling. To continue to affirm you in what you already believe. It’s not journalism, Connor. It’s a dopamine loop that a lot of us are stuck in and it gets worse when we click on outrage. When we click on partisan framing media companies, they take note, they chase those clicks, and before long the incentives have shifted.

News organizations, you know, many of whom are fighting for survival, start prioritizing engagement. Over truth or objectivity. What news organizations should be standing their ground on controversy becomes their currency, I guess you could say. And division is what makes them profitable. So in some ways, the media bias we complain about is the media diet we keep choosing.

Any thoughts on that? 

Conner Jones: [00:08:00] Yeah. I, to be fair, I, I mean, I am on social media following a lot of different Yeah. People on there. I think you can do social media correctly. You just need to be smart about how you go about, yeah. No judgment. Yeah. I’m on social media too. Don’t put yourself in an, don’t put yourself in an echo chamber, like only following one side.

Try to gather opinions and thoughts and follow journalists or news sources. Yes, follow your sports people. Whatever it is, whatever your interests are, that’s, that’s what’s cool about social media is you can kind of curate it to yourself, but also they’re trying to curate it to you as well. Great segue there.

There’s an inherent danger there, but you know what, it’s. It’s an opportunity to see lots of different things. Yeah, and I, I personally like, I like X because I follow a lot of people there. It’s fast. It’s, you can keep up with things going on, but I, I try to make sure to follow people on both sides. 

Micah Tomasella: Yep.

Great segue, Connor. So here’s some good news. We can sync balanced news sources. We just have to look a little bit harder so it doesn’t have to be this way. We do have to be intentional with it. So there are legitimate outlets. That strive to present a more balanced and fact-based view [00:09:00] of the world, and they often get drowned out by the noise, by the larger organizations out there, all the people out there just giving their opinions.

So here are a few that are worth your time, so we want to equip you with a few that we feel like are actually balanced. So all sides.com, one of the best tools out there for understanding bias, it rates all the news outlets from left center to give that a look. The flyover. It’s a newer site that aggregates news from various sources, and it strips out all the.

Editorializing, I guess you could say. Yeah, it’s just straight, all the opinion. It’s just straight fact and news. Really enjoy that one. So check that out. At the flyover. The Wall Street Journal, while its opinion section does lean right, it’s newsroom, so specifically Wall Street Journal News is consistently rated as centrist, and then Reuters, you can check out Reuters.

They may not be flashy, but they’re reliable, focused on facts. Largely not all the time free of ideological tilt. And then finally, these are two suggestions ’cause I asked Dr. Ryan Denison and I asked Connor [00:10:00] for their personal selections. Dr. Ryan Denison suggested the Tangle by Isaac Saul Tangle presents top arguments from both sides of the political spectrum.

And it adds this guy Isaac Saul’s analysis and includes reader feedback and then ground news, ground news. Connor’s suggestion. They give you the ability to read the news from multiple perspectives. See through media bias with reliable news from local and international sources. Are these sources perfect, Connor?

No. No, but they’re much different in a far cry from what you often see scrolling on social media and from these large institutional media organizations. So as I wrap this up, I want to give you a scripture. Galatians six, seven says this, do not be deceived. God is not mocked. For whatever one sows, he will also reap.

That holds true in our relationships, our work, our faith, and yes guys, I. Our media habits. I think oftentimes we wanna apply this verse to everything that it naturally applies to, but [00:11:00] actually think about. It does apply to what you consume, it applies to what you click on. So what we choose to consume each day shapes us more than we realize the headlines we believe, the voices we listen to and even promote, and the content we scroll through, all form the lens through which we see the world.

Here’s the danger if we keep feeding ourselves outrage. Division. We’ll eventually start thinking, speaking, and living that way, but scripture calls us to something deeper. Philippians four, eight tells us this. Finally, brothers, whatever’s true, whatever’s honorable, whatever’s just whatever’s pure, whatever’s lovely, whatever is commendable.

If there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things. Seek those things out. That’s not just a. Filter for our personal devotion time, that time that you spend with God every day. It’s a standard for how we should engage with the culture around us, with the media that we consume.

So this week I wanna make it practical for all of us. Okay? Ask yourself these questions this week. Is this headline [00:12:00] stirring up wisdom or just anger? Is this post helping me love my neighbor? Or just trying to win a debate. Is this source feeding my spirit positively or just reinforcing my bias, just reinforcing what I already believe.

Romans 12, two says this, and then, and then I’m done. Promise. Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. That’s a continuous renewal, not a weekly renewal, not even a daily renewal, a continuous renewal of your mind that includes what we read. What we watch and what we share.

So we may not be able to fix all the media overnight, but we can choose to be different. And we can be people of truth, people of discernment, and people of grace in a world that is desperate for all three of those. 

Conner Jones: Mm. Great stuff Micah. Thank you for that. Thank you brother. And yeah, there’s a lot out there with media and there’s a lot to watch for and a lot to take part in.

And I think media is [00:13:00] a great thing, but can also be dangerous. Yep. So thank you for that. That’s awesome. Hey, let’s talk about something a little more light. The MET Gala. Yeah. Which, you know, if you’re wondering what is the Met Gala, why are we talking about this? I, I guess that’s what I’m gonna tell you about, because honestly I learned a lot this week as I was kind of researching the Met Gala because it, here’s the deal, every year I see all the stuff I’m sure a lot of us do.

You’re on social media and you see, boom, here’s this celebrity in a big, crazy outfit. Yeah. What is this Met Gala thing? Why is everyone here? Here’s the deal. The Met Gala. It is short for the Metropolitan Museum of Art Costume Institute. Gala. That is a lot of words. Yeah. Yeah. Long one. That’s, you can see why they call it the MET Gala.

Basically, it’s a big annual fundraising event for the Costume Institute at the Met in New York City. That’s obviously the big art museum there. If you’ve seen Night at the museum, you’ve seen some of that, you know. This began in 1948, and it’s traditionally held on the first Monday in May, so it was this Monday a couple days ago, and it’s always [00:14:00] hosted since, I think like 95 or something like that by Anna Wintour.

She’s obviously the most powerful person in fashion. I’m not a fashion guy, but even I know that name. She’s the editor. People. You’re clearly a 

Micah Tomasella: fashion guy, Connor. Come on, baby. Yeah. 

Conner Jones: Says, yeah. I’m sitting here in a golf polo in a hat. That’s, yeah, I’m right up the fashion alley. Yeah, same. Anyway, Anna.

People know Anna Wintour. Literally, why do people care about fashion from the two of us? Yeah. I don’t know, but here we are. I don’t think they do. Don’t worry. Anna Wintour is the inspiration behind Meryl Streep’s character in the movie The Devil Wears Prada, so a lot of people understand that. Okay. Yeah.

There you go. There you go. This is fashion’s biggest night. Apparently. I always thought it was gonna be like, you know, a Paris show or something where they walk down Yeah. A thing. No, it’s, it’s, it’s the MET Gala. This is the biggest night. All the designers are a part of this. All these celebrities come in.

Each year there’s a theme given, and this year’s theme was. Super fine tailoring black style, which they said is a reflection of the tailoring politics in history of the way black men dress. So that was the theme for this year. And if [00:15:00] you go look at the pictures of all these celebrities who were there and what they’re wearing, you can kind of see that theme coming out.

Okay. But every year there’s some, there’s something that they base all their outfits and. I guess costumes around and you know, it’s always very extravagant and highly creative. I would really venture to say outrageous outfits at times inspired by this theme. If you just, you can type in to Google most outrageous Met Gala outfits, and you will just be shocked by what some of these people wore, and some of you, even, I know you’re listening, you’re like, oh, I, I know some of these outfits you’re thinking of.

I would say. It is a who’s who of who’s there it is all the A-list celebrities you can think of. You get designers, musicians, actors, athletes, royals, other cultural icons like I guess the Kardashians. Those people who don’t really fit into any of those categories, but somehow they’re just famous. They are all there.

They’ve all worn iconic outfits. Some are hard to forget. For better and for worse. For instance, Jared Leto, he usually comes out to this thing. He’s an actor. A lot of people would know him. He comes outta this thing. He wears the [00:16:00] weirdest thing. A couple years ago, he wore a big cat costume. It was very bizarre.

Go look up a picture of that. I, I don’t how to explain it, but even more bizarrely, he, he walked in with a replica of his own head, lifelike head. A few years ago, if that was odd. This year, I would say one of the weirdest ones was Andre 3000. He’s a, he’s a musical artist. He walked in with a, an entire piano on his back and not like a keyboard, like a, a full, like piano.

Piano. I don’t, I don’t know the word for it, but Wow, this guy’s strong. Yeah. You know, just people, people go way out there with these outfits, man. So who else was there? I, you would recognize these people. Zendaya, Rihanna, Sabrina Carpenter, athlete Side, Jalen Hurt, Joe Burrow. On the acting side, Demi Moore, politics side, Kamala Harris, usher.

Nick Jonas, dude, everyone is there. Like pretty much everybody except for Blake Lily. She did not show up this year for undisclosed reasons, but I think you can assume Oh. 

Micah Tomasella: Oh, 

Conner Jones: okay. Yeah. Micah, the ticket price for this thing to get into this fundraising event, [00:17:00] $75,000. Whoa. Per person, per head. That’s insane, right?

And it has tripled over the last decade, so it just keeps going up. ’cause everybody wants to be at this thing. So it’s $75,000 for a seat this year. They raised $31 million at this Met Gala and just saying these outfits can cost up to six digits, six figures on these costumes or outfits, whatever you wanna call ’em.

Don’t surprise me at all. I’ll tell you this. As I was researching this, I was like, do these celebrities really pay for all this themselves? For the most part, they do not actually. They are paid for by fashion companies typically who want them to wear their outfits. It, you know, improves the brand of the fashion company.

And these stars are typically invited by brands who buy their tickets. And their seats at a table, in addition to making their costume looks, they’re gonna fly them into New York. They put them up in a nice hotel. So these fashion companies are the ones fronting the bill for all of this. The celebrities, they can make their own donations and that some of them probably do, and other corporate sponsors such as TikTok and Instagram typically make their own donations.

They know that this is a big social media thing, that they are very much involved in this. This event [00:18:00] does cost more than $6 million to host, which is just an insane number to me. Micah, what do you think actually happens inside the Met Gallup? Because if you follow this at all, all we ever see are pictures of the outside of what happens on the red carpet and, and all these outfits, but no one ever talks about the inside of this thing.

Micah Tomasella: I actually have no idea what happens, but that’s why I’m interested to kind of hear you explain a little bit more about it. 

Conner Jones: Yeah. Okay. So I had no idea. It is a secretive thing. They have a cocktail hour, but they’re not allowed to have their phones on in there. You know, it’s always kind of secretive.

But what we do know is there’s a dinner cocktail hour and then typically an A-list performer. Last year that was Ariana Grande and Cynthia ar Vo, the stars of Wicked Performed. Anyways, Micah, this whole Met Gala thing, it’s a big show. What? What do you think of it in general? 

Micah Tomasella: I think it’s the time of the year that you see the most outrageous outfits.

If anything, I think I almost kind of assumed it was like an awards thing, almost like the Oscars or the Grammys, but this is not that. As I’m learning more about it. 

Conner Jones: No, it’s definitely weird. No one gets an [00:19:00] award, no one’s presented or anything. It, it is truly just a dinner and fundraiser. Anyways, Rachel Feinberg, she’s a gala consultant in New York and I, I wanted to share this quote ’cause it’s leading me right into where I think we are all going.

She noted that the sheer spectacle of the MET Gala is what the people are there for. She said it’s gone beyond what a fundraising event usually is. It’s not necessarily the cause that everyone’s coming for, it’s to be part of the event. Which brings the who’s, who leads to my main point to be important.

It’s a who’s who. Yeah. Yeah. It’s, it’s the attention. It’s the pictures. Look at me. It’s the, yeah. There are thousands of paparazzi. I mean, it’s just insane. I mean, yeah. Michael, what, what if it’s everyone’s there not for the cause, what are they there for? What’s the purpose of a celebrity’s attendance and what’s.

The culture’s fixation with this event? If not the cause, then what? What’s the whole point of this? Met Gala defenders, I, I, I’ll tell you this. Defenders would say the gala allows top designers to express ideas, history, cultural identity, provoke thought, emotion, creativity. And in doing so, they raise millions of dollars for this cause that they’re all believing in.

And if you view fashion as like a form of cultural [00:20:00] storytelling or artistic expression, then you may say the gala is fascinating, maybe even important. I think the majority of people would say it’s maybe a little bit out of touch. It’s a little elitist, an event that is more like a big costume party rather than a fashion show, given that most of the outfits.

They’re not really wearable outside of this event. Yeah. Like they’re not gonna wear it out and about. It’s not really fashion. You’re not gonna typically 

Micah Tomasella: wear a piano on your back, like an entire piano on your back typically. 

Conner Jones: Yeah. And all these outfits, they’re just not, they’re not really feasible to wear.

They’re not practical outfits. I personally tend to agree with this kind of assessment that it’s maybe a little. Much. It’s a little out of touch. It comes across to me as really like a celebration of celebrity and wealth. Yeah. Maybe a hint of this culture in art, if you Google the Met Gala right now, or search it on social media, most of the results will be about the celebrities, not the artists, not the exhibits, not even the money raised.

You’re hard pressed to actually find how much was raised at this thing. Yeah. It’s always about the outfits and the celebrities. I’m just a little baffled that with. All the like, [00:21:00] big issues happening in the world right now. This is where all these people wanna put their time, energy, and finances. You know, I, I can’t judge anybody for how they wanna donate money or whatnot, but it’s just interesting.

Here’s the deal. The MET Gala is actually a way for attendees, brands, and designers to build their own profile. By showing up, they only grow their attention factor and subsequently their own wealth and celebrity. Like Ms. Feinberg said, who I quoted a a minute ago, they’re there for the event. I do not think that everybody is really there for the cause.

Yeah. All the attention seeking leads me to focus on one word as a general theme of this whole event, Micah Vanity. Hmm. And when I think of vanity, I couldn’t help but think of Ecclesiastes in terms of this whole thing. King Solomon, wealthiest man known in history, and that’s because God bless him with enormous wisdom and wealth and power.

But man, he, he really worked hard in Ecclesiastes to warn that those things do not bring the happiness that people think it will, and in [00:22:00] fact, they can be destructive. In verses two and three of chapter one, he starts off the book with saying, vanity of vanities, all is vanity. A generation goes and a generation comes, but the earth remains forever, which is reminiscent of James four 14, which is like saying that life is but a vapor.

We come and we go. What do we do with our time here on Earth? And he even said, I have seen everything that is done under the sun and behold all his vanity into striving after wind. 

Micah Tomasella: Mm-hmm. 

Conner Jones: Solomon, I think he’s trying to tell us, man, he’s indicating that wealth and power and honor, those are fickle things.

They’re not always evil, right? You can have money, you can be successful. God may bless you in that way. And it’s not necessarily evil, but they’re not our end all be all in. In chapter 12 verses 13 and 14, he says. Fear God. And when I say he, I’m talking about King Solomon of Ecclesiastes. Fear God and keep his commandments.

For this is the whole duty of man. For God will bring every deed into judgment with every secret thing, whether good or [00:23:00] evil, that Micah is our real purpose. God will take us many places in this life, and he may even bless us with those things. Wealth, power of fame, whatever it is. But we have to be careful not to place our worth and value and hope in that.

Because that is vanity. When we care more about what others think than what God thinks, that’s vanity. When we want all eyes on us and not on the Lord, that’s vanity. Yeah. When we make generosity about ourselves, such as going to a fundraiser for the event and not for the cause. That’s Vanity. I’m not saying everybody that was at the Met Gala is vain.

There are people there with good intentions, I’m sure, and they’ve been invited to this thing and they want to go. It’s a big thing. But if you’re at something like that, and most of us listeners will not be going to a MET Gala anytime soon, but when we’re at something similar, are we there for ourselves or for the cause?

And more importantly, are we doing things in this life for ourselves or for God? 

Micah Tomasella: Mm-hmm. 

Conner Jones: Yeah, that, that’s, that’s just, [00:24:00] I, I think that’s a great lesson we can take from the Met Gala. Anyways, I’m gonna, I’m gonna post some links of the most outrageous outfits from previous years, so if you want to check those out, I’ll tune in for that.

Be in some 

Micah Tomasella: boats. Tune in for that. Connor. Thank you for that story. You know, I think oftentimes it’s hard to relate to stories like this, but. Vanity comes out in your environment, so the rich and the powerful, this is their version of vanity. What’s your version of vanity? How are you prioritizing self over others?

How often are you thinking about how you’re viewed or how you look or you know, all those different things. Mm-hmm. I’m not saying those things on the surface are necessarily bad, but. You clearly laid out what vanity is, and so that’s how we can apply a story like that to our own lives and our own hearts.

Connor, thank you for that. I wanna talk about the mailbag for a second. We wanna continue to hear from you all. Please send us your questions, your thoughts, your topic, ideas to culture [email protected], and follow us on Instagram at the Culture Brief Podcast. So at Culture Brief Podcast is the tagline, send us.

Things [00:25:00] like what was the craziest Met Gala outfit that you saw that was just unreal. Send us what your favorite news source is. How do you find your information? How do you find your news? All that, send us all those types of suggestions. Anything that you want us to cover, send it to us. 

Conner Jones: Send us your funny, embarrassing story.

We’ve had fun getting those in and reading here on the please and those Yes, 

Micah Tomasella: actually, please. And those, yeah, absolutely. 

Conner Jones: Okay, Micah. We gotta just hit this real fast because yeah. This is the story that has taken over social media still. Everything we’ve talked about, it’s still News Met Gala and this.

Now, the question that has generated from Reddit to TikTok to now every social media source is, can a gorilla fight 100 men and win? Who wins in that case a gorilla or the 100 men? Who do you think? 

Micah Tomasella: Connor, the rules are that the men don’t have weapons. Right? 

Conner Jones: Sorry. Yes, that’s correct. Yeah. 100 unarmed men just, and I don’t know their size.

Are they all the size of joining the Rock Johnson, or are they all the size of an average male? I 

Micah Tomasella: [00:26:00] don’t know. For the sake of this debate, let’s just say it’s a hundred average males, average American males versus a gorilla. I’m gonna say something that’s probably pretty controversial. I think if the men work together, they can defeat the gorilla.

That’s all I’m gonna say. Okay. 

Conner Jones: Yep. I will say I, I can see that happening because the men would probably outsmart the gorilla gorillas are smart, but I think. Are just, I think so too. They’re of a higher iq, so could they make a plan? I don’t know. I actually lean though the opposite. I think a gorilla win just from full force.

Yeah. I, it would be incredibly difficult. But that’s the, that’s the whole point of this question is we don’t really have an answer. So I did see Mr. Beast is trying to see if he can get a bunch of people to participate in something like this. In spite a gorilla actually test. Oh man. Get a, that’d be so interesting.

Trying to get a hundred volunteers to, to basically fight a gorilla. I also, and I’m like, this sounds stupid. 

Micah Tomasella: I also saw a video. ’cause there’s like all these videos, these. People create these CGI gaming simulators where basically it was like I just kept seeing one Chuck Norris versus a hundred thousand gorillas, [00:27:00] and it’s just this loop of Chuck Norris just, I mean, let’s just cut to it.

Chuck Norris won. He beat all those gorillas, right? So of course he did. Yeah. Yeah. Okay. So we’re gonna jump into the check-in section. The purpose of this is to check in on things that we’ve previously talked about and just kind of give you an update on them. So last week we mentioned something was brewing between India and Pakistan.

They exchanged missile fire on Tuesday. I. May 6th. Okay. There are only nine countries in the world who have nuclear warhead capabilities. Oddly enough, two of those countries are neighboring countries, India and Pakistan. It might seem random and it might seem like this has nothing to do with us. Why does it matter?

I understand that initial reaction, but at the same time, there’s already a lot of regional wars breaking out, and so this is not great news. So prayers for all of those involved. 

Conner Jones: Yeah, there’s been several dozen deaths over the last few hours here where they’ve been exchanging fire. Praying for this region.

There’s a bunch of people who just get caught in the crossfire. I know a mosque was hit that killed a bunch of innocent people who were just in [00:28:00] their place of worship, and that’s just really tragic. Yeah. So yeah, join us in prayer for this conflict that it would come to a resolution very quickly.

Quickly. Yep. Micah, Canada. It’s still not for sale. Okay. According to the new Prime Minister, Mark Carney. Okay. He was at the Oval Office this week with Trump and they were talking about it and they were on camera, and I gotta say, Carney looked so uncomfortable. He did in this whole interview process.

He did, because Trump just keeps laying threats out, but in front of the whole media, just he was like nicely laying 

Micah Tomasella: them out, you know? He was, he’s nice, 

Conner Jones: Yeah, we kinda still want Canada. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. The party said, no, Canada won’t be for sale. Ever. Mm-hmm. But then maybe this is funny, maybe it’s not, it’s funny to me.

But then Trump responded that he said, time will tell, never say never. Just yeah, what is the what’s the end goal here? I don’t know. But anyways, keep your, keep your eyes on that. Another thing. Yeah. We forgot to mention this last week, Mike. We didn’t mention that the Kentucky Derby was, oh, I felt like this was interesting coming off the topic you just said.

The horse that won its name was Sovereignty. Amen. It won the Kentucky Derby. [00:29:00] Congratulations to sovereignty. Amen. And it told team, but the second place horse that was in the lead and then sovereignty took over was named journalism. Hallelujah. So of course, Halleh, this felt like a big metaphor and all of social media was like, ah, is sovereignty.

Yes. Is this a metaphor for where we are in life? I don’t know. Oh, okay. Sovereignty versus journalism. Who knew that would end up in the horse racing world? 

Micah Tomasella: Yeah, absolutely. Okay, I love that. Okay, a couple more things on the check-in section. We’re now entering the second rounds of the NBA and NHL playoffs.

Got a shout out to stars here for a second. Our Dallas Stars for an insane game, seven win comeback to move on and win, and so they’re heading into the second round with the Winnipeg Jets and man, they, that was a dominating performance really, especially there at the end. That was wonderful to see that they won that.

But also one more thing. Skype is dead. Skype’s gone. Skype’s done. The service that lets you video call anyone in the world for free, shut down after an awesome 23 year run. Microsoft, which bought Skype for 8.5 billion in 2011 is [00:30:00] encouraging users to go ahead and move on over. 

Conner Jones: To teams instead. It’s kind of crazy to me that even with Covid, Skype did not take advantage of the fact that everybody was trying to do video calls.

Yeah. Everybody jumped into Zoom. 

Micah Tomasella: Skype was like the first one in the game and I’m, you know, I’m thinking back like people weren’t really talking about Skype. That was a missed opportunity there. 

Conner Jones: Yeah. Big, big one. Okay, Michael, let’s talk about things to tune into this week. ’cause we’ve got several big stories that have come about.

Actually, first off, it’s not even a story, but it’s just a reminder to all of our listeners. This Sunday is Mother’s Day. Yeah. So go get your mom a gift. Go get your wife a gift if she’s a mother. Yeah. Happy Mother’s Day to all of our moms out there to shout mother day to my mom. Shout out to all the 

Micah Tomasella: moms.

Shout out to my beautiful wife and mother of our children. Love you. So Happy Mother’s Day. 

Conner Jones: So many great moms in our lives, and I’m sure in yours too, the conclave, Micah It. Mm-hmm. It began. It is going. We’re gonna see how long it takes to choose a pope. Maybe by the time you’re listening to this, a pope’s been chosen and the white smoke has come out.

Started today 

Micah Tomasella: or yesterday. So we’re recording on Wednesday as we released on Thursday morning. Started today, starting today 

Conner Jones: on [00:31:00] Wednesday. So by the time you’re listening to this, the Cardinals, they’re locked up in the Sistine Chapel and they have no phones, no contact with the outside world, and they are in the process of electing a new pope.

Micah Tomasella: Let’s talk about a secretive meeting. Goodness. No kidding? Yeah. Okay, so we’ve got some trade deals coming soon. Maybe do we? So the world may never know, but Trump has been busy this week, guys. He announced that NFL draft in 2027 is coming to Washington, DC. Hollywood may face tariffs on movies made outside of the United States.

Not sure how that would work since they’re not physical products going in through a shipping port. Again, this has kind of been clarified. This is just kind of more of a, more of a statement right now. And then lastly, as Trump has stayed busy, Alcatraz might reopen. You know, this is this is a really interesting concept, you know, because people are scared about it or upset about it because we’re.

Thinking about reviving this prison, which I’ve actually been to that I think was discontinued. Oh yeah. In the 1960s out in California. They shut it down a long time ago. So [00:32:00] we’ll see what happens. Yeah. They shut it down a long time ago. Think about that. 

Conner Jones: I gotta mention this, Micah. There’s a, there’s a theory that’s running out there about why Trump just randomly posted on truth social that he wants to reopen Alca Addresss.

Okay. And that’s because this past weekend he was in Mar-a-Lago. He typically goes down to Mar-a-Lago in South Florida. Yeah. His home down there every weekend. Okay. On Saturday night, there was a South Florida cable channel that was airing a rerun of Clint Eastwood’s 1979 classic movie Escape from Alcatraz.

This would have aired at Mar-a-Lago where Trump was staying just hours later after it aired. Trump posts this. Thing saying he wants Alcatraz to reopen. So the theory is that movie was on cable. He had it on, it inspired him to wanna, you know, reopen the, the in Infa prison. Oh. So who knows? I believe that a lot of people say believe if you wanna get through to Trump, you gotta put it on tv.

That’s why a lot of, a lot of these people trying to get through to him, they can’t get him on the phone or whatnot. They just go straight onto Fox News or another news network and just, they basically speak directly to him through the camera. They’re, they’re in front of millions, but they’re really [00:33:00] talking to somebody watches one he watches and 

Micah Tomasella: he.

He lets people know that he watches, he knows that he gets communicated to in that way. Wow. Wow. 

Conner Jones: So if you were trying to communicate directly to Trump, go on tv, he might see you and bring him a Diet Coke. I don’t know. 

Micah Tomasella: Yep. 

Conner Jones: Anyways, awesome guys. This was a fun episode. Lots happening this week.

Stay tuned in to all these other things going on, and we will catch you next week. Thank you for joining us. Today on the Culture Brief, a Dentist and Forum podcast, all the articles that we mentioned, any videos that we mentioned, pictures of Matt Gala outfits that I mentioned, we will link those in the show notes.

We’ll also link up the sources that Micah mentioned that are great middle ground sources. And if you enjoyed today’s episode, please subscribe and rate, review the show and share it with a friend, and we will see you next Thursday. Bye-bye.