Hour 2 of the Clay Travis and Buck Sexton Show focused on the high-stakes Texas Senate race, the battle for control of the U.S. Senate in the 2026 midterm elections, Democratic Party divisions, American culture, and a lively debate over whether the 1980s or 1990s represented America's greatest modern decade. The hour opened with an extended interview featuring Houston radio host Michael Berry, who provided an in-depth analysis of the closely watched contest between Republican Senator Ken Paxton and Democratic challenger James Talarico. Berry argued that Texas remains a fundamentally Republican state despite massive out-of-state financial support flowing into Talarico's campaign. The discussion examined voter turnout, campaign strategy, and the growing national significance of Texas as Republicans work to protect a critical Senate seat. The hosts also noted upcoming appearances in Texas by President Donald Trump and Vice President JD Vance as the administration increases its involvement in competitive midterm races.
A major portion of Hour 2 explored concerns among Republican voters about Talarico's growing media presence and advertising campaign. Clay, Buck, and Berry discussed Talarico's political positions on issues including immigration, energy, firearms, transgender policies, and cultural values. They argued that many Texas voters are only beginning to learn about the Democratic nominee and suggested that increased scrutiny of his record could become a decisive factor as the campaign enters its final stretch. The conversation repeatedly returned to the broader theme of whether Texas voters will view the election as a referendum on Paxton's performance as attorney general or on Talarico's policy platform and ideological alignment with the national Democratic Party.
The hosts also examined internal divisions within the Democratic Party, with Berry describing a growing struggle between traditional Democrats and a newer, more progressive wing. They connected the Texas race to larger national political trends, arguing that candidates such as Talarico and Michigan Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed reflect ideological shifts that could create challenges for Democrats in swing states and battleground races. The discussion extended to key Senate contests around the country, with particular attention paid to Michigan, where the hosts suggested the race could play a major role in determining future Senate control.
Another major topic during Hour 2 was a cultural debate sparked by actor Ryan Reynolds' criticism of the 1980s. Clay and Buck strongly pushed back against Reynolds' characterization of the decade, launching into an extended discussion comparing the 1980s and 1990s as defining periods in modern American history. The hosts highlighted economic growth, political stability, cultural influence, blockbuster movies, popular music, and American global leadership during both decades. They argued that the United States experienced an unusual period of prosperity, optimism, and confidence as the Cold War ended and American culture became dominant worldwide. The discussion evolved into a broader examination of how different generations interpret historical periods and how personal experiences shape nostalgia.
Clay advanced the case for the 1990s as America's greatest modern decade, citing strong economic conditions, technological innovation, expanding cultural influence, and broad political popularity enjoyed by leaders from both major parties. Buck countered with a defense of the 1980s, highlighting Ronald Reagan's presidency, the cultural impact of iconic films, the resurgence of American confidence, and the events leading to the fall of the Berlin Wall and the collapse of the Soviet Union. Together, they compared the music, movies, foreign policy successes, and social climate of both eras while arguing that neither decade resembles today's political and cultural environment.
The conversation also touched on broader themes involving American culture, conservatism, populism, and the post-2020 political environment. Clay argued that the country may be experiencing a reaction against the excesses of progressive politics and "woke" cultural movements, comparing Trump's political resurgence to Reagan-era efforts to restore normalcy following periods of social upheaval. The hosts discussed shifting demographics, changing voting patterns, country music's growing cultural influence, and signs that mainstream American culture may be moving back toward more traditional values. Country music's commercial success, particularly the popularity of newer artists, was cited as evidence of larger cultural trends reshaping entertainment and public attitudes.
The latter part of Hour 2 featured listener calls and audience participation surrounding the "1980s versus 1990s" debate. Callers weighed in with perspectives on music, entertainment, race relations, and American society. One caller with a background in the music industry argued for the cultural significance of the late 1960s and 1970s, while another contended that racial relations were generally stronger during the 1980s and 1990s than they have been in recent years. Clay and Buck used these calls to discuss the role of identity politics in modern elections and the increasing polarization of American society since the early 2010s.
Make sure you never miss a second of the show by subscribing to the Clay Travis & Buck Sexton show podcast wherever you get your podcasts! ihr.fm/3InlkL8
as we're rolling through the Thursday edition of the program.
We are joined now by our friend
that many of you listened to earlier in the day
in Houston in particular,
later in the day and other places as well.
Michael Barry.
And let's dive right in off the top here.
We have so many people asking what's going on down in Texas.
What's going on with Tallerico Paxton?
You're there on the ground.
How optimistic are you in the Paxton race?
How pessimistic are you?
Where would you assess us about 60 days out
when we know, obviously, early voting starts sooner
rather than later?
And by the way, Vice President J.D. Vance going to be doing
a White House press briefing any moment
we will be running on that Caroline Levit has left.
There is no White House press secretary
that has been named to take her place yet.
And so the Vice President J.D. Vance will be answering questions
from the media momentarily.
But back to that race in Texas, Michael,
thanks for coming on.
What should we know?
How pessimistic or optimistic are you right now?
Well, if people show up and vote the way they have in the past,
Texans care about this state.
They're just now beginning to really focus on who Tallerico is
and he cannot withstand the scrutiny.
J.D. Vance, who you mentioned, will be in Houston next Wednesday.
The President, again, next Thursday is the first midterm convention
we've seen in modern American history.
Look, we're taking this very, very seriously.
Trump won Texas in 2016, 2024,
with the largest number of votes of Texas record
with 6.4 million, 56% of the votes.
This is a Republican state that wants a Republican senator.
Kim Paxton defeated the 24-year, very unpopular sitting,
John Corning.
He's won statewide three times before.
California is pouring a lot of money into this state
to make a third Senate seat for them in New York.
And Texans are realizing that the guy that was sold to them
as a country preacher is an absolute freak.
And he does not agree with us on anything.
He's a Democrat socialist.
He wants open borders.
He's anti-Beath, Kilo-Lingass, anti-Capel,
anti-Christian, gun-grabber.
That's not going to sell in Texas.
Well, you know, last night, Michael Zarr,
last night, Trump was speaking and the Rose Garden.
And he had a name.
I hadn't heard this one before.
I've heard Tala Freco, but this is cut 12 guys.
Michael, let's you react to this one.
Here's Trump talking about Tala Crepo, play 12.
He was maybe the best attorney, and everybody admits it.
He was a great attorney general in Texas.
And he's running against Tala Crepo.
And this guy was, you know, he has that name for a reason.
He's terrible.
He's radical left.
Now he says he loves meat.
You know what he does?
He eats meat, and he goes outside and he throws up all over the place.
Because in Texas, if you don't eat meat, you're in deep trouble.
It's not a good thing not to be able to eat meat.
He was wearing a mask six months ago.
He had a mask on.
When somebody's wearing a mask six months ago, you're in deep trouble.
I mean, is that funny?
Is that really true that he's wearing a mask?
And also, was he trying to win in Texas, but he's a vegan?
Yeah.
Yeah.
He was a vegan.
He was there, there, a vegan campaign.
This is the cattle industry state.
He's tried to grab guns three different times.
We are gun owners, you know, the NRA has moved here.
You know, the creepiest thing, and the word creep is correct.
The president is smart with these labels.
There's an Ick factor in him.
His big issue is, is, is, is, trans-ing kids.
He was a schoolteacher for repair at a time.
And he was asked recently, what's your favorite thing?
Not your, not your family, not your friends.
What's something that's really special and wonderful to you?
And he said, trans children.
And there was a collective gasp.
Oh, we can't let the, the voters in suburban Texas see this sort of craziness.
This is weird.
He's voted against a bill banning transgender surgery for miners buck multiple times.
This guy is an app, he's called a, uh, uh, uh, crystal fascist.
He's, he said he's a Christian who hates Christianity.
The, he, there really is a creep factor.
As if at any moment, there's going to be a big news story that pops and you're going to go, you know what?
I believe that about that guy.
Okay, you said that Texans are starting to pay attention.
Hmm.
What should in your opinion, Texans be doing now?
We're going to get Ken Paxton on again soon.
I've been texting with him some this week.
Um, I'm confident he's going to win.
I think he's a great candidate.
He's been statewide.
Maybe you can help for people out there who don't know.
He's been attacked unlike almost anybody in the history of the state of Texas.
And he's still won multiple times statewide.
Uh, so this idea that somehow Texans aren't familiar with Ken Paxton.
I think is untrue.
I do believe that a lot of Texans are not familiar with James Tallerico.
And I want to ask you about the beta race against Ted Cruz back in the day.
Beta was a great candidate.
Um, and I can understand why people thought, hey, he might be able to pull off a win.
Tallerico is an awful candidate.
Are people just not taking him seriously enough because his buck just laid out.
You got a vegan pro trans weirdo who is running for office.
And Texans just think there's no way this guy's going to win.
Whereas Beto was actually pretty compelling.
He was a great candidate.
Am I wrong here?
How would you assess this?
You are dead on, um, Ted Cruz beat beta by one percentage point.
President Trump came in at the end and really rallied the forces and he's doing the same thing for Paxton.
The national Republican establishment led by Carl Rove, which is why Fox is trashing Paxton every day.
It's amazing what they're doing.
Carl Rove would rather a Democrat win because he got defeated with the candidate he owned, which was John Cornyd.
So Rove and the establishment and the other senators, they're not spending any money on Paxton.
So we're counting on Trump to bring in a lot of money, which he's committed to do.
Elon has committed to bringing a lot of money.
Ted Cruz is bringing in from his pack a lot of money and it's out on the hustings.
Paxton's going to work his butt off.
What people are going to have to see is it's not a referendum on Paxton.
It's a referendum on Tolerico because you don't want to send him there for six years.
But Paxton's record clay is amazing.
He's brought over $5.1 billion back to Texas.
He sued meta and one.
He sued Google and one.
He sued Big Pharma and one.
He sued the Purdue folks with the paying medication.
He sued these Medicare fraudsters and one.
He's the best attorney general in the country.
So did he go through a divorce?
Was it unpleasant?
Yeah.
I haven't known anybody who went through a pleasant divorce.
It's ugly.
It's unfortunate all the way around.
But there's a lot of things that the outside public doesn't see and doesn't need to know.
Is he going to do a good job?
Yeah.
He's a mechanic who's going to fix your car.
He's a quarterback that's going to score touchdowns.
He's a senator who's going to vote for Trump.
And that's why Trump's supporting him.
So we can be proud of the senator he will be and we would be ashamed of who Tolerico is.
So Michael, we're talking to Michael Barra everybody.
Zara talk based out of Houston.
You're all familiar with the show.
Michael, we're getting people that write in call in all the above.
And they're upset because they say, I'm seeing again, I don't live in Texas.
So I'm not seeing it.
But they're saying I'm seeing all over local TV.
All over the airwaves, nothing but Tolerico ads.
Obviously this guy's getting a lot of money from out of state.
I'm sure plenty of money from in state too, but a lot of money from out of state.
And it's all over the place.
They feel like there's saturation.
There's Tolerico saturation going on.
They're living in a Tala Freco world, right?
And where's Paxton?
Are you telling us that the cavalry's coming and you're going to be seeing a lot more Paxton
than you are confident in that?
Or is there a little bit more of a wake up call where Paxton's people thought,
oh, we didn't need to spend money, but now we're going to have to, right?
Is it tactical or is this a reorienting of Paxton's campaign?
No, it's scrambling.
I mean, if you win the Super Bowl the next season, you start having had less time off and less time to regroup
and less, you don't get the first round draft pick.
Paxton, I mean, Tolerico had an easy, easy primary with Jasmine Crockett,
but he pissed off a lot of black voters and he's really struggling with black voters.
He's pandering in a manner right now that makes Tim Waltz look authentic.
It's sad for him.
So he's struggling with black voters really badly.
And Paxton started with zero.
The Republican establishment's been over $100 million attacking him.
And as soon as he came out of that, then California, Reed Hoffman, you know, Epstein, buddy,
and the like is after him and they're pouring all this money.
I mean, the last number I saw, I know you have the Attorney General, and shortly,
last number I saw was they spent 70 million just since then.
Paxton started at zero.
So he's going out, Cruz is helping him.
President Trump is weighing in heavily now.
Elon is very involved.
He's got the Big Terra Fab project here.
He wants his new home state to have the right U.S. Senator.
I mean, Paxton would be a great senator because he's been a great Attorney General.
And once people see his actual record and who Tolerico is, they're going to turn to Paxton.
I would argue that the election just began two days ago, September 1st.
That's when the independence and the moderate start paying attention.
And they realize Tolerico is a guy who grew up in a Bible belt state in a small town
where they played Friday night football and Sunday morning church.
And they wear guns and they work in the oil field.
And he's against all of that.
He comes back home to Texas from Harvard looking like Rachel Maddow and sounding like the love child of Abdul El Saeed and Bernie Sanders.
It's not going to fly in Texas and Texans are paying attention to it now.
You mentioned black voters.
Jasmine Crockett ran a campaign.
I said, I don't know if you echoed it, that I actually thought Jasmine Crockett was a bigger threat to Paxton, more talented politician.
Believe it or not, more normal for a lot of Texans.
I'm not saying Jasmine Crockett was a, was a perfect representation of Texas by any stretch of the imagination.
But I think she's a better representation of the Democrat party in Texas than Tolerico is and for casual voters.
I think she likely would have had better appeal.
What is going to happen with black voters?
Is there a great deal of reticence there?
Is Jasmine Crockett going to be on the campaign trail?
How is that all playing out?
A lot of talk about the Republican side.
What about the Democrat side?
Well, Clay, you guys have talked about it.
Nice profile in the Wall Street Journal yesterday, by the way.
Wow.
Thank you.
That's too bad.
You're going to say something nice of you.
You know, the Democrat party is in the middle of an absolute rift, a civil war.
Kind of like what we went through with the Republican party in 2016, when all these voters came to the table and said, hey, we're taking over this party.
The Tea Party folks, the Maga folks, the Trump folks, the populist, the Nationalist, the Christians.
And there was this resettling of the table.
And we're still at the tail end of that.
The Democrats are just beginning this.
So, Tolerico can't decide on Monday if he's a Democrat socialist or if he wants to pretend he's a Texan in a rented truck, no joke.
And a cowboy hat that didn't fit.
And Chris knew cowboy get up that he's never worn before.
I mean, he's wrong on every single, you know, he wanted an open border with the front porch and Democrat Socialist.
He is out of touch and he does not have black support.
He is sort of this new DSA candidate, whereas Jasmine was the old style black Democrat and the old Democrats are really struggling.
You hear this with Bill Marr or you see what Federman saying or you seeing what Ramaman was saying on a Chicago or listen to James Carvell and Louisiana.
This new breed, which Tolerico is part of, it gives a great discomfort to Texans.
It's like watching Tim Walls do jazz hands as he comes out on the stage and you see Tolerico and you go, I see a lot of frightening similarities.
Michael, before you let you go, just wondering outside of your home state of Texas, we're by the way,
Clarence, I have to come down there and visit you got your buddy Jesse Kelly just down the road.
You know, we got we got we got fun stuff to do. We come out of Texas. We'll go, you know, drink with Ted Cruz or somebody who's down there.
We'll have a lot of fun. We got to come visit. But beside that outside of your home state, what is the Senate race that you are either most concerned about or most dialed in on because of how important.
It is those things kind of bleed together, but which one are you really looking at and following with the most intensity?
I'll tell you that Texans are so proud of Florida and what Florida has become since DeSantis won in 2018 and he barely won over a guy that ended up butt naked and drugged out of his mind in a hotel room a few weeks, a few months later, the former mayor of Tallahassee.
I'm not worried about the Florida seat against Nixon. I am worried about Michigan and I'm watching Michigan closely and it's going to be interesting to see how many Democrats are willing to go over for Rogers and vote for a Republican and hold their nose because they realize Abdul El Sayed is a he you know they can't dress him up in cowboy duds like they do Tallahrico.
You know they they can only make him so local he has too much of a past and his Hassan Piker Association. I think that race if Republicans can win that seat and hold Texas is going to be a good next two years next six years.
Michael bear everybody Zara talk out of Houston great to talk to you buddy thanks for being here with us.
Thank you guys always appreciate you play it's going to be okay in Texas. It's going to be okay. I'm not worried I'm a word you little bit of sunshine.
Come into our buddy there. All right something else that I really want you to focus in on for a second is pre born clinics. They're so so important because they're saving lives of tiny babies in the womb and they're doing this every day all across America in fact they set up their clinics in places where the abortion rates are highest because they want to be that alternative right there on the front lines where moms with a crisis unexpected pregnancy are getting pressure they're being told the
go to one of those places that doesn't abortion you know quote take care of it pre born there saying no no let's bring it to let's bring it into this world this baby let's bring your little boy a little girl into the world and bring blessings enjoy to all those around you.
And that is a incredibly beautiful message and that's what pre born is doing every day now they start this process with the ultrasound because they bring the mom in and she might have heard a lot of things.
Oh it's a clump of cells. Oh it doesn't matter no it's more than that it's your baby and with that ultrasound mom meets that baby for the first time in a scientific way but it's a godly connection between mother and child and then over 80% of the time that mom chooses life for those of you who can please consider donating today to pre born 28 dollars would be a gift that would sponsor an ultrasound for one of these moms and you could be that person who steps up and helps them out.
She steps up and helps them bring her little baby in the world I went to a pre born clinic in Miami just to visit with him and see what they do and there was a little girl running around the office and her mom told me she's like I was I thought I was alone I thought I couldn't do this and now she is this beautiful little girl maybe five six years old running around the office giggling having a great time and I just said you know this is a really important organization and I really hope that some of you are going to step up and help them because it's important.
Go to pre born dot com slash buck pre born dot com slash BUCK $28 with sponsor an ultrasound $280 with sponsor 10 ultrasounds that could be 10 little babies that get a chance at life because of your donation today pre born dot com slash buck pre born dot com slash buck or you can just dial pound 250 on your phone and say the keyword baby dial pound zero say baby sponsored by pre born.
It's like having your house at the perfect temperature all the time pre set clay and buck on the i heart. Welcome back in here to clay and buck we will get to talk backs and emails and all of that good stuff but clay.
This was weird and this is cultural so I want to get into this for a second here Ryan Reynolds the actor trashed the eighties play 28 I'll probably call for it to be short and play it guys what's interesting about when you get far enough away from time period that's quite distinct I think there's always a lovely feeling associated it's almost like you pave over all the trauma with like puppy dogs and ice cream and the eighties was a brutal brutal time for people it's a mess.
Like you know people forget that it was like that was a tremendous strike the sociopolitical tensions everywhere you know we're still like pretty fresh off like a Cuban missile crisis which is only like 15 20 years before so you know it's a tumultuous period but you look back at it now and you're like oh yeah top gun cocaine like no it was like a really scary so I think you know I think when you look back at 20 I can't hear this guy should stick to acting and launching vodka brands or tequila brands or whatever it is that he's doing on the side.
Play his analysis of the eighties could not be more wrong the eighties may be the greatest decade of America pre-Trump for sure ever the eighties is a time of absolute peak Americana incredible movies incredible music the fall of the wall all the incredible stuff that started in motion is particularly by the late eighties I think the eighties is the eight plus decade what is this guy talking about I would go 90s over eighties really content just take for the
me there but I understand let's come back to this quick come back to this the but the fact that they can't keep actors from just saying go see my movie and smiling on red carpet is really kind of amazing because they always step all into it if you want to have great food in your home good ranchers is an American company that is actually bringing American meat into your home you know they took away origin labels on meats 85%
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welcome back in clay and book we are rolling through the Thursday edition of the program a lot of you immediately weighing in on my potentially contention take that the nineties are better than the eighties they are the two best decades I believe in American history I think what unites both of them
book is Reagan was an incredibly popular president in the nineteen eighties I think we talked about this when we were talking about the presidential power rankings last week that president Trump posted I think that Reagan is the best president of my life by a substantial margin
Bill Clinton though was also really really popular in the nineties and he got elected basically by saying Democrats are crazy and I'm going to be a new type of Democrat and I don't know that people expected that he was going to have an affair with his intern and that would certainly play very different in the 21st century that ended at the end of the 20th
but buck to me the nineties were the better decade now I said this before if you are having a dinner party and you're worried about what the topics are going to be you know you're like oh my god Lindsey Clancy might come up and the women are going to lose their minds or you're going to talk about Trump and people are going to get really fired up I'm telling you the best debate that could occur that will actually make people like each other more is eighties versus 90s are you really going to be a big change.
You saying even younger than me that you would take the eighties over the nineties you can consider movies music economy culture president like all these different things you can roll together you would take eighties over nineties.
I think is a decade you you probably do take the eighties over the nineties now to be clear where we started on this was that Ryan Reynolds who is married to Blake lively was trashing the eighties as this like messy bad decade when when really for America both the eighties and nineties were overwhelmingly prosperous you know we didn't have
yeah we had the Persian Gulf War in the early nineties and then Clinton got us involved in some stuff in the Balkans but we didn't have a Vietnam we didn't have a World War one or a World War two we didn't have a Korean war we didn't have anything like of that scale in either of those decades so start with that I think it's really hard to have a great decade when you're losing a lot of your your best and bravest young men in a conflict somewhere so you know that other things would be going on to but I think that's a that's a very good start your America was at
relative peace I understand Persian Gulf War but the first Persian Gulf War was kind of a like a Mopping Up Operation from day one and I the music is an interesting call for me and the movies are an interesting call for me I I don't know I think you're at a really a
immovable object unstoppable for situation I could be persuaded either way but I could not be persuaded that what Ryan Reynolds said which is like the eighties was a bloody and horrible decade is like what are you for America that's the thing for other places maybe yeah I wouldn't have wanted to be you know in Afghanistan he's also our age roughly so he actually lived through some of the nineteen eighties I think I think Ryan Reynolds is forty two forty three ish if I were
guessing he's also but not a total moron in that he's been successful from a capitalistic perspective I don't understand how these guys can't just walk down the red carpet all this is Canadian is he Canadian is he Canadian I think yeah he's
can a there we go problem so now we know he's Canadian so it doesn't like all that muscular Reagan optimism morning in America he's he's one of those
can I know we have Canadian is listen to show and you're on board with us and everything else but a lot of Canadian a lot of you can us running around up there
living under a blanket of freedom provided by America I might add just speaking honestly here living lives of prosperity because the guy next door to you is your best buddy who will stop any bullies from messing with you you're going to you're going to give us the eighties was a bad decade he's gonna turn 50 in October next month
so he remembers the eighties does look pretty good for fifty but he died away that of me a does though remember what the nineteen eighties were and here's my historical analogy buck the nineteen eighties were a final repudiation of nineteen sixty eight right Reagan one to a large extent on let's bring normal see back to America I think there's an argument out there from a historical perspective that our
modern day nineteen sixty eight was twenty twenty and that what we have seen since twenty twenty on into twenty twenty one and what not was a peak woke era that was destabilizing and what we have seen and what certainly the Trump
re-election in twenty twenty four represented was in some way a return for some form of normalcy if I want to be optimistic I think we could have a generation that things go back to being somewhat normal and let me build on that to buck because the other part of this is the country is aging and older people are
sainter generally speaking they've actually seen things happen they have perspective and they also tend to vote more conservative and so I think that we may be trending towards an era and I think even the way a
O.C. is talking suggests that she might see it coming where this sort of revolutionary even though they're having a flare up right here with the
Democrat socialist sort of revolutionary left wing ideas are going to be roundly soundly rejected by normal people across
America that would be my optimistic take I also think with the fall of the wall on the dissolution of the Soviet Union not only was
there a spread of incredible optimism now that again that bridges that's eighties into nineties right so this is where decades
nineteen ninety people forget because Reagan gave the tear down the wall speech but it wasn't in tool George H. W. Bush was
president that that Berlin wall actually came down a lot of people think that was Reagan Reagan was the force behind it occurring but it was his
vice president in charge when it did happen I will tell you though if you're talking about more timeless movies I actually think now the
nineties had better production value better technology to work with in the film industry so that's a huge advantage but I think the eighties
might have I might actually have it beat you got ET ghost busters raiders of the lost the last lost arc princess bride goonies karate kid die hard
the terminator aliens predator all eighties movies nineties movies if you're looking at the top of the top in terms of overall popularity you get
a Shawshank redemption which I actually enjoyed watching but it's it's an absurd movie the whole thing everyone in prison is like this you know kind of
jolly like remorseful but you know friendly fellow and not everybody obviously but a lot of them are and the whole thing I think it's a little
little too uh smalty a little to all at the end but anyway goodfellas science of lambs forest gum fight club the matrix I do love the matrix pulp fiction
Terminator to those are accordingly the best movies the nineties look that's an amazing lineup to you don't have something similar for the first
decade of the 21st century the movies are just not as good and then last this last decade the movies have turned into trash we also had
more I would argue American dominance globally with our culture certainly in the eighties and nineties than we do we do today a lot of
place I think that's true love movie industries music is better in the nineties it was more diverse in terms of the type of music that was
ascendant if you go back and look at rock music rap music country music there was a wider variety of excellence
than had existed in the past I will say I do you know you know who LL anglia is
LL no
you're you really don't know who LL anglia is I wouldn't lie to all these people listening on the radio I don't know who LL
is I know I know LL see I had quarters world of magic happens LL
leaving Texas you know that's on oh then she's the new country singer with the big first the song I just forget
yeah okay I do know that is yeah okay so she is about to have the longest tenured number one overall hit
potentially in history of music I think she's had a number one the leaving Texas on has been number one
now for 20 weeks when I think about the culture changing the fact that a country music song is now
dominating and it comes on the heels of Morgan wall in and we can run through any number of country
artists that are all having their quote unquote moment I do think it suggests that the culture overall
is changing and we're moving back in the direction of the 80s and the 90s now to your point
box here's what we need actually really good movies to start being made again and that's why I have
argued to bring it home that paramount should come back to leave California come to Nashville and make
Nashville the Hollywood of the heartland let's go to break here by the way JD Vance just walked out
to start a press briefing in the White House he's speaking right now we will monitor that and give you
the absolute latest on anything he might say and we'll take your calls we got loaded lines not
surprisingly plus I've got a sports story that I was trying to explain to Buck and we may get into
that a little bit because it is truly become I actually got fired up over it yeah it's and it is not
the WNBA not the WNBA and I got fired up so that tells you something about the sports story
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wherever you get your podcast well I knew this would happen clay 70 super fans have already come for us
with all their gripes with their bell bottoms with their bg's with their oh Jimmy no actually
no that's not even Jimmy Henter to be 60s right that's how much I know about the 70s well a little
bit of the 70 when did he die I don't remember but they're coming for us with their bell bottoms
their disco music and they're really bad hairstyles and tight t-shirts a lot of a lot of polyester
shirts with big collars billy from Georgia oh I'm sorry Paul VIP emo from Paul buck what rock
where you wonder cars were ugly music was horrible disco clothes were embarrassing okay we had Reagan
I think he's confusing the 70s and the 80s no one thinks of the 80s is disco am I missing something
I I don't know I we got loaded lines but I wonder if Todd Blanche who's gonna be our guest
next second the attorney general the way in on the way general the way and see if he can just
decide the issue for the nation which is better the 80s or the 90s I bet he's gonna say 80s because
one of the defining aspects of which decade you like the most is and with at what age were you the
youngest and having the most fun and so those of us who are around my age your age a lot of us say
the 90s and then if you're five or six years younger than me a lot of you say the 80s if you're
a decade younger a lot of you say the 70s that's the way the math works most of you're wrong it's the
1990s that's the greatest decade in the history of the United States play who we got on the lines
let's get you it lines let's see Greg in Charleston he is saying the 1970s are better so I just
hang up on him here he is hey how y'all doing great you're fine until you're crazy take go ahead yes
hey I've got some both some street cred and some academic cred on this I was a recording artist
all through the touring recording artist in the 80s had a couple of records out it was a
Nashville songwriter in the 90s and by the way Clay I got my undergrad in music business at
MTSU that's where my parents went go blue raiders all right yeah true blue got my masters from Miami
and music business and I'm working on my PhD right now in entertainment so the 90s I'll have to
agree with you Clay that was the best decade for country music one of the interesting things about
that though is there was a lot of covers done in the 90s there were of 70s music and so to qualify
I think really was the late 60s through about 1977 or 1978 that has often been called the golden age
of American popular music I would argue that from a theoretical and classical perspective
that was the absolute unequivocal culturally best decade of all time
interest thank you for the call and congratulations on all the success go blue raiders
art has a good point and I do think this is significant people of different racial groups
we're getting along much better in the 80s and the 90s now I know some of you are going to say
Clay do you remember the LA riots yes I do Rodney King OJ all of that yes there were racial divisions
I actually don't think they were as pronounced in the 80s and the 90s as they were
surrounding George Floyd art in Washington Georgia fire away yeah I'm an old boomer I grew up in the 60s
in the 70s so I remember the racial tensions from those days which is why for me when I when I think
about the 80s and the 90s I look at them pretty equally because we didn't have the racial divisions
we got along people were peaceful for the most part I mean yeah we had our problems but nothing
like we have today and when I look at history over the past few decades it seems to me that right
around 2009 when Obama came in is when we started to stumble backwards it's almost like we've
gone back in time to where now we have a lot of racial animosity a lot of racial division and
I'm just trying to figure out how did we get here and how do we return back I think it's a great
question Buck thank you for the call art my thesis on this and I'm curious if you would sign on
is Obama 2012 2008 Obama was a very optimistic version for America that he won and ran on 2012
hey we've got to get the black vote out no matter what and I think really identity politics in the
Democrat party started in 2012 in earnest certainly with Hillary 2016 I'm with her black not the
glass ceiling down um I think all of that continued to accelerate and Kamala ran and I think Kamala
run again the most identity politics laden election of all time and I think that provided a lot of
disunity across racial lines coming up here we'll talk to attorney general blanche about some of
the top initiatives of this DOJ and much more so be sure you stick around here on Clay Ann Buck
