S8 Ep878: MING THE MAKING JBS, FEATURING JEFF BLISS AND MICHAEL VLAHOS, 5-15-26 1905 LA
The John Batchelor Show
John Batchelor
4.5 • 2.8K Ratings
🗓️ 16 May 2026
⏱️ 51 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
STREAMING THE MAKING JBS, FEATURING JEFF BLISS AND MICHAEL VLAHOS, 5-15-26
1905 LA
The provided transcript captures a segment of The John Bachelor Show, where the host and contributor Jeff Bliss discuss political upheaval in California and broader geopolitical tensions. The conversation highlights the unconventional mayoral campaign of Spencer Pratt in Los Angeles, noting how viral Lego-themed parodies created by supporters are effectively criticizing incumbent Karen Bass. The dialogue then shifts to the California gubernatorial race, examining the vulnerabilities of candidates like Xavier Becerra and Tom Steyer while addressing the state's struggles with homelessness and economic decline. Transitioning to a historical perspective, the guest Germanicusutilizes a Roman lens to analyze modern American diplomacy. He characterizes President Trump’s visit to Beijing as a supplicant’s mission, suggesting it signals a weakening of American influence relative to China's imperial traditions. Finally, the group concludes by reflecting on the looming economic pressures and the shifting power dynamics regarding Taiwan and Iran.
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | The |
| 0:07.0 | The Good day. This is the making of the John Bachelor show. I am he. I'm on the east coast of the United States in New England, where it is a beautiful spring day. And the flowers are growing quickly as I speak. I go to Southern California, however, that's weeks or months ahead of us in |
| 0:57.5 | springtime with Jeff Bliss' Pacific Watch. We go to southern Los Angeles because the story of the |
| 1:04.7 | week is Legos one more time. Who knew that Legos would turn out to be the best commercial maker ever in a political race? |
| 1:13.8 | You will remember that Legos are something you buy for your children and then worry about |
| 1:19.1 | stepping on in the middle of Christmas night. Okay. But they're also charming if you take the |
| 1:26.2 | little figures and set them up and tell a story and play music. |
| 1:30.3 | Who did this? The Iranians. The Iranians made Legos popular around all of Eurasia because they've been appealing to the wider world on the basis of the Legos from America and sinister figures coming in to bombing |
| 1:48.6 | them. But that doesn't stop other people from using Legos. And Jeff introduces me to a new ad for |
| 1:57.4 | an outsider candidate in a Los Angeles mayor's race, Spencer Pratt. |
| 2:03.4 | And as I understand it, this Lego contest was not paid for by Pratt. |
| 2:09.7 | This is not a campaign commercial. |
| 2:13.4 | This is somebody coming forward with the ability to use Legos to tell a story. |
| 2:18.3 | And this one is outrageously funny with a hip song that plays in the background. |
| 2:25.4 | It's clearly meant to be rock and roll, which is a bit out of touch with reality anyway. |
| 2:31.8 | But it's very clever, and it is not shy about saying the present |
| 2:37.7 | mayor, Karen Bass, is the problem. Jeff, a very good day to you. This Lego commercial for |
| 2:46.2 | Spencer Pratt, do I say correctly, he did not pay for it. It just came out of somebody else who just |
| 2:52.0 | put it on YouTube. Good day to you, Jeff. Good day, John. You're exactly right. And it's the latest |
| 2:59.2 | in a series of these AI creations. Some of them have been parodies or have been, you know, |
| 3:05.8 | bounced off of other big movies like Batman movies where, you know, bounced off of other big movies like Batman movies |
| 3:08.8 | where, you know, Karen Bass and other candidates have been posed as, as the villains from |
... |
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