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--:-- Georgia Howe: Good morning, I'm Georgia Howe with Daily Wire editor-in-chief John Bickley. It's May 28th, and this is your Saturday edition of Morning Wire.
--:-- John Bickley: Thanks for waking up with Morning Wire. We have a lot to cover today.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Let's start with some news. Netflix releases Ricky Gervais' controversial comedy special, seeming to double down on their commitment to free speech.
--:-- John Bickley: That's right. We'll discuss the blowback from activist groups and how Netflix is responding.
--:-- Georgia Howe: The average age of puberty for girls has been dropping precipitously over the past few decades, concerning doctors and parents.
--:-- John Bickley: At least one study indicates the trend may have escalated during the pandemic.
--:-- Georgia Howe: And Doug Mastriano's decisive GOP primary victory for the Pennsylvania governor's race last week sent shockwaves through the political establishment.
--:-- John Bickley: Why are progressive opponents calling Mastriano the most radical candidate in the country? And what does this platform actually look like?
--:-- Georgia Howe: Thanks for waking up with Morning Wire. Stay tuned. We have the news you need to know.
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--:-- Georgia Howe: Visit goodranchers.com slash wire to get a box of amazing American meat and get two pounds of free American Wagyu burgers and free shipping added to your order.
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--:-- Georgia Howe: The latest Netflix comedy special by Ricky Gervais is sparking controversy for jokes the comedian makes about transgenderism.
--:-- John Bickley: Here to tell us more about the special and the reaction to it and whether it signals a new direction in Hollywood is Daily Wire culture reporter Megan Basham.
--:-- Megan Basham: So, Megan, you and I have both watched this special. It's titled Super Nature. In my opinion, it definitely was quite pointed.
--:-- Georgia Howe: How would you say it compares to the Dave Chappelle special that caused walkouts at Netflix?
--:-- Megan Basham: Well, I would have to say that it makes the Dave Chappelle special last year look fairly tame by comparison.
--:-- Megan Basham: This is a small sample. Hey, old-fashioned women. Oh, God. You know, the ones with wombs. No, I love the new women. I know the new women. They're great, aren't they?
--:-- Megan Basham: You know, the new ones we've been seeing lately? The ones with beards and... They're as good as... They're as good as gold. I love them. No, it's the old-fashioned.
--:-- Megan Basham: And now the old-fashioned, they're like, oh, they want to use our toilets. Why shouldn't they use your toilets? For ladies. They are ladies. Look at their pronouns.
--:-- Megan Basham: What about this person that isn't a lady? Well, his penis. Her penis, you... Bigot. What if he rapes me? What if she rapes you? You f***ing turf whore. Right. So a little controversial there.
--:-- Megan Basham: How have the LGBT groups responded?
--:-- Megan Basham: Well, as you might expect, they are condemning this special. GLAAD, for instance, has described it as a dangerous anti-trans rant masquerading as jokes.
--:-- Megan Basham: So their statement also addressed Netflix. And they said that the company, quote, has a policy that content designed to incite hate or violence is not allowed on their platform, yet it refuses to enforce its own policy and comedy.
--:-- Megan Basham: So along with that, the legal counsel for the National Center for Transgender Equality said the special could give people permission to discriminate, harass, and even commit violence against trans people.
--:-- Megan Basham: And finally Tara Field who is that former Netflix employee who led walkout efforts over Dave Chappelle last year called for a boycott.
--:-- Megan Basham: So how has Netflix responded to that criticism?
--:-- Megan Basham: Well, that's pretty interesting because they really haven't. And it's hard not to look at this special in light of the platform's very recent artistic freedom memo to employees that informed them that they may have to work on content that they personally find offensive.
--:-- Megan Basham: Now, that document also said if staffers are not willing to do that, then they might be better off leaving and finding work elsewhere.
--:-- Megan Basham: At the same time, we all, and that includes me, took that as a reaction to the dust-up over the Dave Chappelle comedy special.
--:-- Megan Basham: And I'm sure that it was that, but now you have to consider that they issued that memo knowing that this Ricky Gervais stand-up show was about to be released.
--:-- Megan Basham: And no doubt, they knew that there would be some pretty big blowback.
--:-- Megan Basham: So maybe having learned a few things from the Chappelle experience, they were making a preemptive statement that they weren't going to put up with the kind of walkouts and internal activism that they allowed that last time.
--:-- Megan Basham: So do you think this is an ideological commitment to free speech among the higher-ups at Netflix, or do you interpret this to be a business decision on their part?
--:-- Megan Basham: You know, I think to a large degree, this is probably a business decision.
--:-- Megan Basham: As you and I have discussed before, Georgia, the biggest streamer in the business is in pretty significant trouble right now.
--:-- Megan Basham: For the first time in a decade, it has started losing subscribers.
--:-- Megan Basham: So domestically, Netflix was down 200,000 people in the first quarter of the year, which was bad enough.
--:-- Megan Basham: But it's actually forecast to lose another 2 million subscribers in the second quarter.
--:-- Megan Basham: Now, a number of forces are working against the company right now.
--:-- Megan Basham: You have to look at the end of the pandemic and increased competition.
--:-- Megan Basham: But I also think it suffered by becoming too identified with one side of the political spectrum so that it risked turning off a pretty wide swath of people.
--:-- Megan Basham: And I think the company may be calculating that it lost more by seeming to capitulate to some pretty niche forces on the left than it would by presenting itself as a champion of comedy and free expression.
--:-- Megan Basham: So I think what we may be seeing here is a bit of rebranding on Netflix's part.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Well, Megan, thanks so much for giving us that context, and we'll be following this.
--:-- Megan Basham: That was Daily Wire culture reporter Megan Basham.
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--:-- Georgia Howe: Coming up, the average age of puberty for young girls is dropping precipitously.
--:-- John Bickley: You can get this show and all of the content you love wherever you are, all on the Daily Wire app.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Even if you're not a Daily Wire member, you'll be first to know what's trending with mobile notifications for the latest news, and you'll get content from all your favorite Daily Wire shows.
--:-- John Bickley: Download the Daily Wire app and keep up with the facts no matter where your day takes you.
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--:-- Georgia Howe: According to doctors, signs of puberty are appearing earlier and earlier in young girls.
--:-- John Bickley: Here to give us the details is Daily Wire's Charlotte Pence Bond.
--:-- Charlotte Pence Bond: So, girls are experiencing puberty at a younger age than they did in the past.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Yes, it appears so.
--:-- Charlotte Pence Bond: Starting in the 90s, researchers began documenting the finding that girls were starting to develop breasts around the age of 10, which was more than a year earlier than had been recorded in the previous medical literature.
--:-- Charlotte Pence Bond: The same study noted that Black girls were starting puberty even earlier, at around age 9 on average.
--:-- Charlotte Pence Bond: That study wasn't a one-off. Researchers began monitoring the trend over the next decades in countries around the world, and that body of research points to a worldwide trend.
--:-- Charlotte Pence Bond: In many countries, the puberty age for girls appears to have decreased by about three months each decade since the 70s
--:-- Charlotte Pence Bond: Now aside from some social concerns is early puberty associated with other health issues?
--:-- Charlotte Pence Bond: Yes, early puberty in girls is associated with an increased risk of anxiety, depression, substance abuse, and other issues compared to those who reach puberty later.
--:-- Charlotte Pence Bond: It's also been linked to some cancers if they start menstruating earlier than others.
--:-- Charlotte Pence Bond: So the big question is, why is this happening?
--:-- Charlotte Pence Bond: A definitive answer is hard to pin down, but researchers have identified three factors that are likely contributing to the issue.
--:-- Charlotte Pence Bond: Body weight, stress, and exposure to certain chemicals.
--:-- Charlotte Pence Bond: Obesity is certainly a main factor, and that's been shown in various studies.
--:-- Charlotte Pence Bond: One theory is that fat cells are known to produce a variety of hormones, some of which may trigger body processes that stimulate the onset of puberty.
--:-- Charlotte Pence Bond: We should note, though, that fat cells aren't inherently bad.
--:-- Charlotte Pence Bond: This is part of a normal, healthy developmental process, but it may be an issue when girls accumulate high levels of body fat at an early age.
--:-- Charlotte Pence Bond: However, researchers believe that can't be the full explanation because plenty of girls start puberty early who are not overweight.
--:-- Charlotte Pence Bond: Another possibility could be chemicals.
--:-- Charlotte Pence Bond: A 2009 study of almost 1,000 young girls in Copenhagen discovered that the average age of breast tissue attainment was much earlier in the group of girls from 2006 compared to 1991.
--:-- Charlotte Pence Bond: The 2006 cohort were starting puberty more than a year earlier than their 1991 counterparts.
--:-- Charlotte Pence Bond: The doctor behind that study hypothesized that chemicals could be part of the change.
--:-- Charlotte Pence Bond: He said that the girls with the earliest development of breasts in the study also had the highest level of phthalates in their urine.
--:-- Charlotte Pence Bond: Phthalates are found in a lot of plastics and in some hair products, and they have long been on researchers' radar as possibly harmful.
--:-- Charlotte Pence Bond: Phthalates are part of a wider group of chemicals known as endocrine disruptors, which can also impact hormones.
--:-- Charlotte Pence Bond: However, although various studies have looked at this, they've had a hard time drawing a definitive link between specific chemicals and early puberty.
--:-- Charlotte Pence Bond: Now, you also mentioned stress. What's the evidence for that?
--:-- Charlotte Pence Bond: Well, there's some preliminary evidence that girls who experience sexual abuse early in life may be at an increased risk for earlier puberty.
--:-- Charlotte Pence Bond: But it's hard to establish a causal link.
--:-- Charlotte Pence Bond: Researchers have also identified a few other interesting correlations.
--:-- Charlotte Pence Bond: For example, it's more common for a girl to have early puberty if her mom has a history of mood disorders or if she doesn't live with her biological father.
--:-- Charlotte Pence Bond: Again, it's very hard to establish causality, but sustained stress may be the common factor.
--:-- Charlotte Pence Bond: One very interesting study that implicates stress is an Italian study published in February.
--:-- Charlotte Pence Bond: It looked at the number of kids who presented with suspected precocious puberty at five pediatric endocrinology offices in Italy in 2020 compared to 2019.
--:-- Charlotte Pence Bond: The study found that only 140 girls presented with precocious puberty symptoms in 2019 compared to 328 in 2020.
--:-- Charlotte Pence Bond: So the number of girls presenting with these symptoms more than doubled in 2020.
--:-- Charlotte Pence Bond: The researchers also established a link between confirmed precocious puberty in girls and a sedentary lifestyle, as well as greater use of electronic devices.
--:-- Charlotte Pence Bond: Now, is there anything that can be done about this?
--:-- Charlotte Pence Bond: Well, without a clear idea of what's causing it, it's difficult for doctors to make recommendations.
--:-- Charlotte Pence Bond: But it's definitely something that's currently being studied.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Well, Charlotte, thanks so much for bringing us this story.
--:-- Charlotte Pence Bond: That's Daily Wire's Charlotte Pence Bond.
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--:-- Georgia Howe: Last week, Pennsylvania State Senator Doug Mastriano decisively won the GOP primary for governor.
--:-- John Bickley: Mastriano won the primary by nearly 24 points over his next opponent after building his following around issues of election integrity which earned him a late Trump endorsement
--:-- Georgia Howe: Here to discuss is Carrie Sheffield Senior Policy Analyst at Independent Women Voice
--:-- Carrie Sheffield: Thanks for having me, Georgia.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Well, as a Pennsylvania State Senator, Mastriano was a strong supporter of President Trump in 2020, up to and including being present outside the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021.
--:-- Carrie Sheffield: Although I will note, he says that he left before the rioting began.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Now, he was also subpoenaed by the House January 6th Committee over his efforts to send alternate electors to Congress.
--:-- Carrie Sheffield: Here's some sound from Pennsylvania Attorney General Josh Shapiro, who is Mastriano's general election Democratic opponent.
--:-- Carrie Sheffield: He was speaking Sunday on CNN's State of the Union.
--:-- Carrie Sheffield: Here in Pennsylvania, the next governor will appoint the secretary of state.
--:-- Carrie Sheffield: And the governor and the governor alone appoints electors based on the will of the people.
--:-- Carrie Sheffield: And Senator Mastriano has made it clear that he will appoint the electors based on his belief system.
--:-- Carrie Sheffield: Listen, he's essentially saying, sure, you can go vote, but I'll pick the winner.
--:-- Carrie Sheffield: That's incredibly dangerous.
--:-- Carrie Sheffield: And it is what is at stake in this governor's race.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Now, Mastriano has been described as radical by opponents. What does his platform actually look like?
--:-- Carrie Sheffield: Mastriano says he doesn't want a repeat of the 2020 election chaos, which he said resulted from judicial overreach.
--:-- Carrie Sheffield: Now, most of his proposed bills involve tightening up election procedures, which he claims will restore the public's faith in the integrity of the vote.
--:-- Carrie Sheffield: Here's Mastriano himself describing a state Senate bill that would end the use of drop boxes, which he said were allowed by the state Supreme Court.
--:-- Carrie Sheffield: The courts interpret the law. They don't make law, but they wrote the law. They changed the law.
--:-- Carrie Sheffield: And I believe that compromised our election.
--:-- Carrie Sheffield: So today we passed legislation to end drop boxes.
--:-- Carrie Sheffield: Anything that undermines people's confidence in the vote is a danger to our constitutional republic.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Aside from ending drop boxes, what else has he proposed?
--:-- Carrie Sheffield: Mastriano also wants to crack down on so-called ballot harvesting or collecting ballots from other voters.
--:-- Carrie Sheffield: The current penalty for illegal ballot harvesting is a misdemeanor, and Mastriano proposes increasing that into a third-degree felony.
--:-- Carrie Sheffield: Mastriano also pushed to ban outside electoral spending like that seen from Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg.
--:-- Carrie Sheffield: You know, Zuckerberg and many other entrepreneurs threw millions of dollars into Pennsylvania.
--:-- Carrie Sheffield: Disproportionately, the money went to Democrat counties.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Now, I understand that he's also been scrutinized for his stance on abortion.
--:-- Carrie Sheffield: That's correct.
--:-- Carrie Sheffield: Mastriano has described abortion as his top issue, and he has proposed a heartbeat bill like those we've seen in other states.
--:-- Carrie Sheffield: He's also made statements indicating that he would back future bills that banned abortion outright.
--:-- Carrie Sheffield: Progressive opponents have really latched onto that, claiming that Mastriano plans to eliminate all abortion in the state, without exceptions for rape, incest, or the life of the mother.
--:-- Carrie Sheffield: That claim has become the basis for a new $6 million ad campaign that began airing this week in Pennsylvania.
--:-- Carrie Sheffield: Democrats are gambling that abortion will be the issue that will hurt Mastriano most in the general election.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Right, well, definitely a race to keep watching.
--:-- Carrie Sheffield: Thanks so much for reporting.
--:-- Georgia Howe: That was Keri Sheffield, Senior Policy Analyst at Independent Women's Voice.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Thanks for listening to Morning Wire.
--:-- John Bickley: We created this show to bring more balance to the national conversation.
--:-- Georgia Howe: If you love our show and you stand with our mission, consider subscribing, leaving us a five-star rating, and most importantly, sharing our podcast with a friend.
--:-- John Bickley: That's all the time we've got this morning.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Thanks for waking up with us.
--:-- John Bickley: We'll be back tomorrow with the news you need to know.
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