In episode 2020, Jack and Miles are joined by comedian and host of Go Fact Yourself, J. Keith van Straaten, to discuss… Pete Hegseth’s Pentagon Is Spending Billions On War... And Millions On Lobster, Trump Playing 4D Checkers Baby With Save Act,Old Habits…Iran/Midterms, Is Hollywood’s UFO Trend A Government PSYOP? And more!
Is the Iran war really costing the US $2bn per day?
Pentagon Should Focus on Defense Priorities, not Lavish Dinners, After Historic $93.4B “Use-It-or-Lose-It” September
Pete Hegseth Blew Billions on Fruit Basket Stands, Chairs, and Crab
Hollywood Is Suddenly Taking UFOs Seriously, With Rival “Disclosure” Projects in the Works (Exclusive)
‘A lot of stories but very few facts’: sceptics push back on buzzy UFO documentary
MAGA Congresswoman Claims UFOs Might Be ‘Interdimensional Beings’
UFOs, Aliens & Steven Spielberg's 20-Year Obsession
Close Encounters: Cultural Impact
Claim: NASA tried to stop Spielberg's 'Close Encounters of the Third Kind'
CIA Influence on 'The Day the Earth Stood Still'
The Day the Earth Stood Still: Rejected by the US Air Force, but aided by the CIA?

LISTEN: blackbird by Victoria Canal

In episode 2020, Jack and Miles are joined by comedian and host of <a href="https://gofactyourpod.com/">Go Fact Yourself</a>, <a href="https://www.instagram.com/jkeithdotnet/?hl=en">J. Keith van Straaten</a>, to discuss&hellip; Pete Hegseth&rsquo;s Pentagon Is Spending Billions On War... And Millions On Lobster, Trump Playing 4D Checkers Baby With Save Act, Old Habits&hellip;Iran/Midterms, Is Hollywood&rsquo;s UFO Trend A Government PSYOP? And more!
<ol>
<li><a href="https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2026/3/9/is-the-iran-war-really-costing-the-us-2bn-per-day">Is the Iran war really costing the US $2bn per day?</a></li>
<li><a href="https://openthebooks.substack.com/p/pentagon-should-focus-on-defense">Pentagon Should Focus on Defense Priorities, not Lavish Dinners, After Historic $93.4B &ldquo;Use-It-or-Lose-It&rdquo; September</a></li>
<li><a href="https://newrepublic.com/post/207555/pete-hegseth-billions-dollars-fruit-basket-stands-chairs-crab">Pete Hegseth Blew Billions on Fruit Basket Stands, Chairs, and Crab</a></li>
<li><a href="https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-news/ufo-disclosure-movies-spielberg-kosinski-roswell-1236522458/">Hollywood Is Suddenly Taking UFOs Seriously, With Rival &ldquo;Disclosure&rdquo; Projects in the Works (Exclusive)</a></li>
<li><a href="https://www.theguardian.com/film/2025/dec/15/the-age-of-disclosure-ufo-documentary">&lsquo;A lot of stories but very few facts&rsquo;: sceptics push back on buzzy UFO documentary</a></li>
<li><a href="https://gizmodo.com/maga-congresswoman-claims-ufos-might-be-interdimensional-beings-2000642770">MAGA Congresswoman Claims UFOs Might Be &lsquo;Interdimensional Beings&rsquo;</a></li>
<li><a href="https://theankler.com/p/steven-spielberg-ufo-aliens-close-encounters-third-kind">UFOs, Aliens &amp; Steven Spielberg's 20-Year Obsession</a></li>
<li><a href="https://academic.oup.com/liverpool-scholarship-online/book/37761/chapter-abstract/332135354">Close Encounters: Cultural Impact</a></li>
<li><a href="https://www.metabunk.org/threads/claim-nasa-tried-to-stop-spielbergs-close-encounters-of-the-third-kind.11611/">Claim: NASA tried to stop Spielberg's 'Close Encounters of the Third Kind'</a></li>
<li><a href="https://www.scribd.com/document/123762648/The-CIA-the-Movie-Mogul-and-The-Day-the-Earth-Stood-Still">CIA Influence on 'The Day the Earth Stood Still'</a></li>
<li><a href="https://www.spyculture.com/the-day-the-earth-stood-still-rejected-by-the-us-air-force-but-aided-by-the-cia/">The Day the Earth Stood Still: Rejected by the US Air Force, but aided by the CIA?</a></li>
</ol>
LISTEN: <a href="https://open.spotify.com/track/0GKHsu9HyyL93RakAtXWNO">blackbird by Victoria Canal</a>

There’s more news and less comprehension today than any historical period that didn’t involve literal witch trials, and trying to stay on top of it all can feel like playing a game of telephone with 30 people, except everyone’s speaking at the same time and like a third of them are openly racist for some reason. From Cracked co-founder Jack O’Brien, THE DAILY ZEITGEIST is stepping into that fray with some of the funniest and smartest comedic and journalistic minds around. Jack and co-host Miles Gray spend up to an hour every weekday sorting through the events and stories driving the headlines, to help you find the signal in the noise, with a few laughs thrown in for free.

The Daily Zeitgeist

Pentagon Pete’s Spending Spree, Spielberg = Pied Piper Of Idiots? 03.11.26

https://api.omny.fm/orgs/e73c998e-6e60-432f-8610-ae210140c5b1/clips/3b021221-629e-43ef-99c5-b40901463565/transcript