Neural Newscast

[00:00] Lila Grant: I am Lila Grant, and you're listening to Buzz, your daily deep dive into the trends, the memes, and the moments that are literally taking over our feeds.
[00:10] Jonah Klein: And I'm Jonah Klein. We have an absolutely packed episode today.
[00:15] Jonah Klein: We're talking historic political shifts in Europe, Olympic gold under a political microscope, and a massive power vacuum in Mexico that's lighting up the conspiracy side of X.
[00:27] Lila Grant: It is heavy, Jonah. We have to start with the news coming out of Mexico.
[00:32] Lila Grant: The elimination of El Mencho, the leader of the CJNG,
[00:37] Lila Grant: Mexican special forces took him out on the 22nd, and the digital fallout is just as intense as the physical unrest on the ground.
[00:47] Jonah Klein: We're seeing reports of bus burnings and road blockades in at least 20 states.
[00:52] Jonah Klein: But Lila, it's the theories that are really trending.
[00:55] Jonah Klein: Some accounts are claiming he was actually a deep state asset trained by the U.S. in Israel,
[01:01] Jonah Klein: and that this was more of a tactical removal than a simple operation.
[01:05] Lila Grant: The CIA top man angle is definitely gaining traction in certain corners.
[01:11] Lila Grant: But then you have these incredibly moving images, Catholic priests in Jalisco climbing onto church roofs with the blessed sacrament praying over the cities, as they've basically turned into ghost towns.
[01:25] Jonah Klein: You see the hashtag Mencho trending alongside prayers for Our Lady of Guadalupe.
[01:31] Jonah Klein: It's wild how quickly a major geopolitical event like this turns into a mix of real-time reporting and wild speculation.
[01:40] Lila Grant: Um, switching gears to something a bit more celebratory, though no less historic, let's talk about the Netherlands.
[01:49] Lila Grant: Rob Jettin was just sworn in as Prime Minister.
[01:53] Jonah Klein: 38 years old, Lila.
[01:55] Jonah Klein: He's officially the youngest and the first openly gay leader in Dutch history.
[01:59] Jonah Klein: This took almost four months of coalition building, but the internet is absolutely here for it.
[02:05] Lila Grant: The photos of him and his fiancée, Nico Keenan, celebrating are all over pop base and the Stan accounts.
[02:12] Lila Grant: It's rare we see a European PM get the main character treatment on social media.
[02:18] Lila Grant: But Rob's energy is very much matching the moment.
[02:22] Jonah Klein: It's a huge progressive milestone, even if there are still heated debates about migration and EU policy waiting for him on day one.
[02:31] Jonah Klein: But today, the TL is just pure vibes and Dutch flags.
[02:35] Lila Grant: Speaking of vibes, Jonah, we have to talk about the 2026 Winter Olympics.
[02:41] Lila Grant: Elisa Liu just won gold in figure skating, and she is officially our ice princess.
[02:48] Jonah Klein: She was incredible.
[02:50] Jonah Klein: But did you see the Bratz recreation?
[02:52] Jonah Klein: The official Bratz account literally made a version of her winning the medal.
[02:56] Jonah Klein: It's the ultimate Gen Z validation.
[02:59] Lila Grant: Iconic.
[03:00] Lila Grant: Her gala performance was breathtaking, but it's the Ice Princess edits that are racking
[03:05] Lila Grant: up millions of views.
[03:07] Lila Grant: She really captures that perfect crossover of elite sports and digital aesthetics.
[03:12] Jonah Klein: However, it's not all glitter and spins at the Olympics.
[03:15] Jonah Klein: The U.S. men's hockey team is in the middle of a massive political debate after winning gold.
[03:21] Lila Grant: Oh, the Trump call? People are losing it.
[03:24] Lila Grant: There's a video of the team laughing and chatting with President Trump who even invited them to the State of the Union.
[03:30] Lila Grant: And as you can imagine, the comments section is a battlefield.
[03:34] Jonah Klein: It's divided.
[03:36] Jonah Klein: You have people like Dave Portnoy saying that anyone mad about a team
[03:39] Jonah Klein: talking to the president has a dump in their pants,
[03:42] Jonah Klein: and that it's as American as Apple Pie.
[03:44] Jonah Klein: But then there's the AI side of it.
[03:46] Lila Grant: Wait, tell me about the AI videos.
[03:49] Lila Grant: I saw one where Trump is apparently punching a Canadian player.
[03:53] Jonah Klein: Yes, Trump shared an AI video of himself as a hockey player winning the gold for Team
[03:59] Jonah Klein: USA.
[04:00] Jonah Klein: One even showed him getting physical with the Canadian team.
[04:03] Jonah Klein: Critics are calling it pathetic and saying he's trying to insert himself into the win while
[04:07] Jonah Klein: supporters are eating it up.
[04:09] Lila Grant: It's 2026, Jonna.
[04:11] Lila Grant: Of course we can't just have a gold medal win without an AI-generated hockey fight involving the president.
[04:18] Lila Grant: It's just the world we live in now.
[04:20] Jonah Klein: It really is.
[04:21] Jonah Klein: The crossover between sports, patriotism, and woke criticism is basically a permanent fixture of Olympic Twitter at this point.
[04:28] Lila Grant: Um, well.
[04:29] Lila Grant: Well, from AI hockey to something a bit more real, or at least real for a superhero,
[04:36] Lila Grant: Hugh Jackman is viral for the most relatable waking up post I've seen in a while.
[04:41] Jonah Klein: Yeah, the mirror selfie.
[04:43] Jonah Klein: He posted it saying that he woke up, looked in the mirror, and realized he's actually become the character he's played for 25 years.
[04:50] Lila Grant: 25 years as Wolverine.
[04:52] Lila Grant: That's longer than some of our listeners have been alive.
[04:56] Lila Grant: The fans are obsessed.
[04:58] Lila Grant: It's that self-deprecating humor that makes Hugh so lovable,
[05:02] Lila Grant: especially with all the Deadpool and Wolverine hype still lingering.
[05:06] Jonah Klein: The comments are full of people calling it the greatest comic book casting ever.
[05:10] Jonah Klein: And honestly, looking at that selfie, he's not wrong.
[05:13] Jonah Klein: He is Logan at this point.
[05:15] Jonah Klein: The salt and pepper beard, the look, it's legendary.
[05:19] Lila Grant: It's a rare, wholesome moment and a day full of some pretty heavy news cycles.
[05:24] Lila Grant: It's nice to see a legend just lean into the role that defined his career.
[05:29] Jonah Klein: Exactly.
[05:30] Jonah Klein: From cartel leaders to Dutch PMs to Wolverine selfies.
[05:34] Jonah Klein: The internet never sleeps, Lila.
[05:36] Lila Grant: And neither do we.
[05:37] Lila Grant: I'm Layla Grant.
[05:39] Jonah Klein: And I'm Jonah Klein.
[05:40] Jonah Klein: Thanks for catching the buzz at buzz.neuralnewscast.com.
[05:44] Jonah Klein: We'll be back tomorrow with more of the trends you can't ignore.
[05:47] Lila Grant: Neural Newscast is AI-assisted human-reviewed.
[05:51] Lila Grant: View our AI transparency policy at neuralnewscast.com.