Welcome to the first episode of True Thirty 30 | a new weekly conversation where Joey and his Producer Sean X break down the biggest stories, questions, and cultural moments shaping the week. In this episode, we discuss Iran, rising gas prices, tariffs, farming pressures, and the symbolism behind the “Golden Calf” controversy. We also talk about diesel prices, California regulations, global trade pressures, and the strange state of modern political culture. TIMESTAMPS 0:00 Welcome to True Thirty 0:42 Iran War Questions 1:03 Gas Prices and Taxes 2:47 California Gas Island 3:41 Farmers Feeling the Squeeze 5:05 Tariffs Fertilizer and Margins 7:10 No End in Sight 8:01 Asymmetric War Explained 12:06 Hormuz and Global Ripple 13:29 Trump China and Ceasefire 14:57 Generational Farms at Risk 16:32 Golden Calf Statue Story 22:50 Wrap Up and Subscribe FULL TRANSCRIPT Joey Dumont: Hello, everyone. We are doing something called True Thirty 30, which is basically an idea of our members reaching out to us over the weekend with stories that they thought were either crazy, unfounded, or they wanna know more about. So that’s what we’re doing today. Some of the subjects, we’re gonna cover the Iran war for all the obvious reasons. Joey Dumont: We’re gonna talk a little bit about some of the deleterious effects of that war specific to farming. And we’re gonna end the conversation with the golden calf discussion. In case you guys don’t know what that is, you will soon find out. So I’m here with my producer, Sean X, and we are gonna go through these topics, um, as best as possible. Joey Dumont: Hey, buddy. Sean X: Hey. How you doing? Joey Dumont: I’m doing well. It’s a happy Monday. Joey Dumont: So I don’t know, why don’t you share some of the comments we got specific to the... Well, they wanna know more about what’s going on in Iran. Joey Dumont: For the most part, people have said, “Okay, what’s the nuance with the war going in Iran?” Joey Dumont: Because we keep on hearing it’s on again, it’s off again. It’s affecting prices. It’s not affecting prices. Yeah. Joey Dumont: So The New York Times has Iran war long-term energy discussions specific to Iran defended its demands for a peace deal, and President Trump called them garbage. Joey Dumont: Mr. Trump said he wanted to suspend the federal gasoline tax. So obviously everyone knows that gas has been affected by the Straits of Hormuz being shut down because of this war. We’re now seeing gas prices at what, six- Six, si- six. Sean X: It’s $6.35 Joey Dumont: For regular? Sean X: For regular in San Francisco. Yeah. It’s $6.74 for premium, and it’s- Joey Dumont: And diesel fuel is anywhere between 7 and 8 Sean X: $7.80 for diesel. Joey Dumont: Um, a lot of it is from California policies, and some of it is from the pipelines or gas can’t reach us. Yeah. We’re a gas island. If a refinery goes down, we’re screwed. So for the most part, we pay the worst gas prices, so we’re feeling the biggest effect here. Joey Dumont: So we are up over a dollar compared to the rest of you folks out there in the United States of America. Joey Dumont: And Donald Trump wants to suspend the gasoline tax, which is how much? It’s eight- Sean X: 18 cents. Joey Dumont: 18 cents. Joey Dumont: So- Do, do you know what 18 cents means for those of us in California? Joey Dumont: With the gas prices I just mentioned, it’s 2 to 3%. Yeah, every little bit helps, but it’s really our California regulations that are the things that are screwing us. Joey Dumont: I read a meme recently that said, uh, “Donald Trump is so awesome that my truck only used to hold $59 worth of gas and now it holds $130 worth of gas.” Joey Dumont: Which I thought was brilliant. Um, so whoever wrote that, good for you. Um, but yeah, the, the gas tax is not gonna help us and- for us, . No. Sean X: It’s, it’s not gonna help us. Joey Dumont: Like, what we need help with is all the regulations in our state- Yeah ... and let that make us... A lot of people don’t understand. Sean X: We use different gasoline here. Joey Dumont: We do. We do. And it’s actually called CARB, um, which stands for California Air Resources Board, in case you guys have never heard of it, ‘cause I sure haven’t. And it basically means that our gas burns cleaner, reduces smog, lowers certain pollutants, and it’s chemically different from gasoline used in the rest of the country. Joey Dumont: So when they say that we’re a gas island or a, an actual island on its own, that’s what they mean by our taxes. So yeah, I don’t think the, uh, suspending the gasoline tax is gonna work. And by the way, he has to get congressional approval to do so. So there’s another wrinkle. Joey Dumont: Dude- Uh, we’ll see ... we need, we need, we need more help th- than from the federal government. Joey Dumont: So those are all problems, I can say that we have an issue with. Joey Dumont: But As we know, this is affecting everyone, not only the day-to-day people, but farmers specifically because a lot of farmers use diesel fuel as opposed to regular fuel. And, um, so let’s talk a little bit about that, dude. I just moved back to Minnesota to be with my mommy, uh, for her 86th birthday, and, uh, it was cool. Joey Dumont: And I don’t know, I think most of our listeners understand that I grew up there. I’ve been in California for now 44 years, and I have a lot of buddies both from high school here in California, as well as the people I grew up with in Minnesota who are in the farming business. Sean X: Yeah. They’re also tend to be more conservative than out, uh, out in California. Joey Dumont: I mean, it’s- All my friends from Minnesota are Red Hatters. Not all, but most. And then most of my relatives are Red Hatters as well. I’ve been talking to them for the four years that I’ve been reporting on politics. They come to me because they say I don’t judge them, and that, you know, they know I love them. Joey Dumont: And so they’re just like, “Joey, what’s actually going on?” Yeah. And that’s kind of why we wanted to start this program as well, is that it’s, if I’m reaching out to my Republican friends all the time on a DL basis, which is kind of funny, um, they don’t explain to everyone else, “Hey, I called Joey. Joey Dumont: I wanted to know what’s going on.” That’s really what I try to do with my friends and relatives the other side of the aisle, if you will. Joey Dumont: And what we tried to explain to them specific to gas is that I have a buddy of mine who’s a soybean farmer, in the Midwest, and he called me previous to the election and said, you know, “What do I need to know?” Joey Dumont: And I tried to explain to him, I said, “Hey, buddy, look at where you’re getting your potash,” because I knew he was actually getting potash. Potash, about 80% of our potash comes from Canada. In Project 2025, the Trump administration announced that they actually did want to tariff potash. And I told my buddy, I said, “Hey, just if you can, try to find another source. Joey Dumont: Look at supply chain issues. Figure out that specific to your EBITDA,” because farms, if you guys don’t know out there, farmers run at a very small margin to begin with. And if there’s increased prices specific to tariffs, which is on the potash, the Mexico-Canadian free trade agreement that Trump actually launched in 2017, which was a good free trade agreement, he blew it up, said it was the worst deal ever, and now we have supplies specific to John Deere, other maintenance issues that are going across the borders of Mexico and Canada, which is also putting up their prices. Joey Dumont: And some of the things that I talked about specific to the numerous farmers that I’ve talked to over the last month- Is that the Farmer Bureau is actually saying that, and I’ll just repeat it here, “Fertilizer pre-booking rates up 19%. 70% of farmers being interviewed are unable to afford all the fertilizer they need,” so they’re actually planting less, “And farm diesel prices have increased by 46% since the end of February.” Joey Dumont: So nearly six in 10 farmers report worsening finances, rising fertilizer, fuel cost during plant season, and the immediate economic assistance to keep these open is probably gonna help this year, but they’re worried, they’re very worried about next year. Yeah. So that’s the big- Sean X: So, well, a lot of them, as you said, they pre-book. Joey Dumont: So they’ll pre- Well, they’re running out. That’s the problem. Sean X: They’ll order, and now it’s running out. Yeah. So now the effects are hitting them. Yeah. So what, what were their main concern to you? What, what are they asking you? Joey Dumont: They’re just asking me what I think based on my reporting, based on the homework we’re doing here at True Thirty to figure out, you know, what do you guys see an end to this war? Joey Dumont: President Trump has said very publicly that there is so much disarray in Iran that there is actually no leadership to negotiate with. And if you read up on this, the Iranian leadership specifically are a Basarashi- Sean X: Well, that is a problem when you bomb their leadership. Joey Dumont: I- Well, he did mention that. He did mention that. He didn’t kill the people they wanted to replace, Khomeini. But, uh, yeah, I, I, I don’t see an end to the war. Obviously, there’s a lot of people talking about that. We’ve had some war correspondents on the show to talk about the externalities of this war and the longevity and the possibly forever war specific to anything in the Middle East based on our history, based on us being the United States. Joey Dumont: I think what we’re gonna try to explore here at True Thirty, some of the experts we’re bringing on in the next couple months will be talking about what they have referred to as a asymmetric war, and the wa
