Oct. 22, 2025

Louvre Heist in 7 Minutes, Latin Mass Drama, and Trump’s Tunnel Trouble

Show Notes
Transcript

Thieves pull off a cinematic jewel heist at the Louvre in just 7 minutes—complete with motorbikes. At the Vatican, Pope Leo XIV faces conservative backlash over the Latin Mass. And in infrastructure news, Trump tries to axe the $16B Gateway tunnel project, infuriating New York and New Jersey alike. Patrick Gutfield reports from Paris to the Pope to Penn Station.

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Callaroga Shark media from Paris, where thieves steal art like

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Joe Biden steels elections. This is valid, that's right, but

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at least the thieves can remember the theft. Let's hit this.

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I'm Patrick Guttfield with news from the City of Lights.

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Thieves just turned the louver into an Ocean's eleven audition tape.

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Picture this Sunday morning in Paris. Tourists are sipping over

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priced espressos, art students are sketching nude sculptures, and somewhere

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a group of professionals are planning a heist that would

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make Danny Ocean look like an amateur. Seven minutes, these

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guys moved faster than a French waiter, avoiding eye contact.

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They rolled up with a truck because nothing says sophisticated

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international art theft like what looks like a delivery van.

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They use an elevated platform that's basically a fancy ladder,

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cut through display cases with a grinder, and grab the

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French crown jewels. I mean, who does that. These aren't

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your average smash and grab criminals. These are precision artists.

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They probably have a spreadsheet for their crime, color coded

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and everything The French interior minister looked less shocked and

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more mildly inconvenienced. It's like, oh, another jewelry heist must

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be Tuesday. The Louver evacuation was probably the most excitement

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those tourists have had since someone drew a mustache on

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the Mona Lisa. Imagine planning your dream Paris vacation and

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instead of seeing priceless art, you get front row seats

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to a real life heist. That's an Instagram story nobody

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saw coming. And let's talk about the getaway motorbikes. Motorbikes

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in Paris. These criminals are basically living out every action

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movie chase scene, except with more oat couture and less CGI.

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I can see the police report now suspects last scene

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weaving through Paris traffic, possibly enjoying a croissant. Meanwhile, at

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the Vatican, we've got a holy war and it's not

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about miracles, it's about Latin picture. This a papal liturgical

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SmackDown that makes political debates look civilized. Pope Leo the

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fourteenth is walking into a Catholic cage match where the

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prize is whether priests get to speak in a dead

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language that sounds like a Harry Potter spell. Let me

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break this down. The Latin Mass is basically the ecclesiastical

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equivalent of vinyl records, old school, nostalgic, and beloved by

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people who think everything was better in the past. Pope

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Francis called it backward, which is basically papal shade throwing.

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Now Pope Leo is caught in the theological crossfire. Conservative

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Catholics are treating this Latin Mass like their last stand

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against modernity. They're not just wearing veils, they're wearing cultural

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warfare couture. When twenty four year old and Catholics said

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the Old Mass left him breathless, which sounds more like

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a workout review than a religious experience. Some bishops are

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getting absolutely roasted on social media. One got called a

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woke Protestant Catholic to Birkenstock wearing Franciscan, which sounds like

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an insult you'd hear at a very nerdy theological comedy roast.

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The real drama. This isn't just about language. It's about

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whether the Catholic Church looks backward or forward. It's like

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ecclesiastical cosplay, but with higher stakes. Conservative cardinals are lobbying

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Pope Leo like he's a swing vote in a Supreme

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Court case. Everyone must be given space, one cardinal said,

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which in church politics basically means let us do our

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Latin thing. Breaking. Infrastructure news, folks, President Trump is playing

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urban planner, and New York and New Jersey are not happy.

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The Gateway Tunnel project, a sixteen billion dollar infrastructure megaplan

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connecting New York and New Jersey, is Trump's latest target.

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He told Fox News He's going to cut the project

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faster than he cuts a real estate deal. This tunnel

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isn't just some underground passageway. We're talking about replacing century

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old rail tunnels damaged by Superstorm Sandy. If these tunnels fail,

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it could cost sixteen billion dollars and potentially wipe out

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thirty three thousand jobs. But hey, who's counting. Senator Chuck

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Schumer called it petty revenge politics, which sounds like a

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reality show. I'd absolutely watch. The project's already got five

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active construction sites. Workers are literally in the ground, and

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Trump's like, nope, We're done here. Even Jack Tiatarelli, Trump's

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own endorsed candidate for New Jersey governor, is saying not

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so fast when you've lost your own team. You know

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you're in trouble. Transportation experts are saying canceling this won't

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even save money, it'll just cause delays. This is Patrick

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Guttfield reminding you that in politics, infrastructure is just another

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chess game and everyone's a pawn. Portions of today's show

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were made with the help of AI and a ninety

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minute delay on New Jersey Transit