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On the latest episode of Too Embarrassed to Ask, fan-favorite guests Louie Swisher and The Verge’s Casey Newton returned to the show to talk with Recode’s Kara Swisher, a.k.a. Louie's mom.
As with their last appearance on the show, Louie and Casey analyzed some of the latest trends in social media, messaging and online video. But also interesting is what Louie, as a high schooler, is not paying attention to; he was asked about the Congressional hearings into how Russia used Facebook, Google and Twitter during the 2016 election and said that news wasn’t really on his mind.
“That’s terrible, it’s like the destruction of our democracy, but not really,” he said. “I don’t use Facebook or Twitter! I know a lot of people do, though. I think within the next 10 years, they’re going to die out. Once all the grandmas and grandpas are using Facebook and once Donald Trump’s done with Twitter, once his thumbs can’t move anymore, then it’s over.”
Louie considers Snapchat “my main way of talking to people.” But he said political ads on social media should “obviously” be labeled with the names of who paid for them.
“If it’s an avocado made by Switzerland, that’s probably not going to be a good avocado,” he said. “That’s a terrible analogy.”
You can listen to the new podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Pocket Casts, Overcast or wherever you listen to podcasts.
On the new podcast, the trio were briefly joined by a third special guest: Kara’s mom, Lucretia Carney. And they discussed why Louie doesn’t want a Nintendo Switch (“I’m not 8 [years old]”), but does want the one video game Kara has expressly forbidden.
“Grand Theft Auto. I would really like it if the people at Rockstar would send me a free copy,” Louie said.
“No,” Kara replied. “N-O. N-O. N-O. No, they shoot women.”
“They don’t tell you to shoot women,” Louie said. “You have the ability to choose! You could go in that game, you could buy a car legally and you could obey all the traffic laws ... or you could just drive crazily through the city, which most people do.”
“You know what happens to people who drive crazily?” Carney asked. “Accidents!”
With the hedonic fun of Grand Theft Auto missing from his life, Louie was able to explain for the older people a game he is playing: The mobile game Golf Clash.
“It’s one-on-one, one-hole golf and you just have to beat the other person, by getting the least amount of strokes,” he said. “If you tie, if it’s a draw, then you go to a shootout: You have one shot to get it as close to the hole as possible. It’s not boring, like normal golf. Normal golf is like nine or 18 holes, this is one hole.”
“I’m excited to think that teenagers are about to get back into golfing in a huge way, but shortened for their Gen-Z attention spans,” Casey said. “Golf is just one hole, from now on! You can probably get a lot more games in during the day.”
Have questions for Louie or Casey that we didn’t get to in this episode? Tweet them to @Recode with the hashtag #TooEmbarrassed, or email them to TooEmbarrassed@recode.net.
Be sure to follow @LaurenGoode, @KaraSwisher and @Recode to be alerted when we’re looking for questions about a specific topic.
If you like this show, you should also check out our other podcasts:
- Recode Decode, hosted by Kara Swisher, is a weekly show featuring in-depth interviews with the movers and shakers in tech and media every Monday. You can subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Pocket Casts, Overcast or wherever you listen to podcasts.
- Recode Media with Peter Kafka features no-nonsense conversations with the smartest and most interesting people in the media world, with new episodes every Thursday. Use these links to subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Pocket Casts, Overcast or wherever you listen to podcasts.
- And finally, Recode Replay has all the audio from our live events, such as the Code Conference, Code Media and the Code Commerce Series. Subscribe today on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Pocket Casts, Overcast or wherever you listen to podcasts.
If you like what we’re doing, please write a review on Apple Podcasts — and if you don’t, just tweet-strafe Kara and Lauren. Tune in next Friday for another episode of Too Embarrassed to Ask!
This article originally appeared on Recode.net.
