Higher Learning with Van Lathan and Rachel Lindsay - Dr. Abdul El-Sayed on the COVID-19 Vaccines And What They Mean For the Pandemic

Episode Date: December 15, 2020

Van Lathan and Rachel Lindsay discuss Joe Biden officially getting enough electoral votes to win the 2020 presidential election (8:00), Ashanti and Keyshia Cole’s Verzuz battle getting postponed (16:00), Snoop Dogg’s comments about the "WAP" video (23:00), and a questionable headline about a teacher (29:00), before Dr. Abdul El-Sayed joins to discuss the COVID-19 pandemic and vaccines (41:00). Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Yo, yo, yo, thought warriors. What is up? It is I, Van Lathen. It is me, Rachel Lindsay. Rachel Lindsay. How was your weekend? Chill, band. I mean, you know, there's not a whole lot going on.

I feel like I did something, though. I just, I was, I've been working out again. So my body is in, is not responding well to working out because it's been so long. So I couldn't move Saturday. So I just stayed on the couch. and watch TV. Cool. What are you doing?

How are you working out? Like, what are you, what's your, what do you, like, what workouts are you doing? What's happening? I'm working with a trainer one-on-one, one-on-one people. It's okay. Not, well. You're defensive. I feel like you'll turn this on me in a second.

I won't. You're defensive. Have you not met the people who are always in your DMs talking about everything that I do? Yeah, but you don't let them change you, girl. Don't let them change you. You know what I'm saying? I'm good. Thank you.

No, no, no, no. But I've been working out with the trainer and full body, full body, everything from, you know, squats, lunges, female. Female trainer? And you know what? It's my first female trainer. Interesting. Not that I've ever been against it, but she's kicking my butt more than any other trainer I have ever had. Shout out to Irina.

She's amazing. That's because she actually cares about training you and not what the male trainers care about. I wish I had gotten that advice earlier in life, man. Yeah, she cares about training you, you know, the male trainers. There's no more, there's two guys, there's two people that are born in L.A. of the same DNA. It's basically party promoters. I knew you were going to say that.

And trainers. And I have really close friends that are both. But party promoters and trainers are basically the same people, especially the trainers out here. Because a lot of the trainers out here are party promoters. And it's just so weird. Yeah, man. You're not getting the full L.A. experience because of the pandemic.

But once things go back to normal, you'll be able to go to Equinox or L.A. Fitness or one of these places and see some of these dudes in there that are training. First of all, it doesn't matter where you see them, they have a little shaker in their hand. They always have the shaker. The little protein shaker, a little thing. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

Don't matter where you see them. I've seen some of these guys. guys that premieres and stuff like that. Stop, man. They're drinking the shake and they're like, hey, you gotta get your protein. And it's not like what they tell you, and some of these guys are great guys, but not like what they tell

you, is it true? It's just, it's more of an identity. And they very gently put, you see them, they like woman squatting, hey, keep your back straight. And then they very gently put their hand on her back. That is never, that happens. Sometimes they say, sometimes they say,

listen, you have to drop your butt below your knees and they cup the cakes to help you do it. It's like cake cupping. Stop. That has never happened to me. You never had a trainer. You never had a trainer. You never had,

because you know what? You wouldn't even know because you let your guard down. Because I'm so used to it. No, you let your guard down. See, women, when they're around these trainers, these athletic sactivists that they are, you know what I mean? These guys who are really,

they let their guard down. And other ways that like, you know, it's like when a guy, when the masseuse is massaging your inner thigh, you don't think to say, hey, you know. I always prefer a Mel or a masseuse. I bet you do. Listen, stop.

I bet you do. So would you let Kalika have a Mel, would you let Kalika have a Mel trainer? Yeah. Okay. So you, then that shows you really don't believe that the cuffing happens. No, no, that's not what I'm saying at all. I'm saying, go ahead, girl, get a little cupping.

Stop. Go ahead. You deserve it. Get a little cupping. Go ahead. You know what I mean? Like, I'm not about to trip at all. You know, come home, we eat,

we have some potatoes, we watch some movies or whatever like that. Go ahead, you got your cakes, cups, so what? And by day she gets cupped. By night, she's sitting on the couch eating potatoes with you. Yeah, she was with potatoes with me. Get cupped.

Boy, it's not that big of a deal. You get your cakes cupped. Do I do teaching the squat? You know what I mean? As long as all the fingers stay in the right places, I don't care. Like, cups, who cares? Wow.

No. Shout to all the trainers. out there. By the way, it's a lot of my friends who are trainers who are going to listen to this. I know what I'm talking about. And especially my party promoter friends. I want to shout out real quick, my party promoter friends right here. I'm going to shout them out. This is Made Entertainment.

All right, so I want to shout out Devereign, milk, Vic, Sean. Vic is so a party promoter name. I dare you. I dare you

to reduce my nigga Vic to just a party promoter. You can't. Okay. You're the one who taught giving a shout out to your party promoter friends. I didn't reduce him to that. I just said, Vic is such a party promoter. You cannot. Vic is more than a party promoter. I'm sure he is.

I'm sure he is. Like, Vic is, Vic is a. You don't want to clown of him right now on the podcast and his profession. Vic is a pro basketball player slash stylist slash art house. Like, he's all of that stuff. Sounds like a busy man. Sounds like a busy man. And shout out to, uh,

to Adib and all the guys over there and the Supreme Team too. But the reason why I say shout out to these guys is because this is really hard for them. Think about going. Oh, sure. Think about going. Think about the life of the party promoter

and what has happened in the last six, eight months. Think about it. So do you, are they throwing private parties? You don't have to name names. Not these guys. Are they jumping state, like state to go throw parties at another? Because that's, I mean, that makes sense. No, I mean, but they're not.

But you think about it. They're not. They're trying to last on the PPP. and they're doing other things and they're hoping that stuff comes back, you know, but you go, and I'm not trying to count people money, but they was making money.

They was making money, you know what I'm basically making, you're making $15, $20,000 a week or something like that, sometimes more. Are you serious? I can't say how much, but I can tell you that like, it's a lot.

Think about it. If you got beauty and Essex on Sunday, so you haven't been out here, if you got beauty and Essex on Sunday, right, and then you got Nightingale, right? And then you got Boosy Bellows and then you got one-oh. And then you got all of these five, six times.

So the same promoters have all these clubs? Then I give them. Yeah. And you got all these different venues and your shit is jumping. They're making a lot of money. I can't say how much. But they're making a lot of money.

And then it just stops. And then the lifestyle stops too. So, you know what I mean? So I shout out to all my gosh. And just, you know. I would like an interesting. when everything opens back up. So I can have the hookup.

Yeah. Shout out to Vic, Sean. Say it right now. Shout to Big Michael, Sean Dickerson, Debrin, Mill. Shout out to all of them, right? A D. All of them.

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Tramphia today. Call 1-800-526-7736 to learn more or visit Trimfaira Radio.com. You have a good weekend, though? I did. I got some rest. Good. Good. I know the listeners want to hear that. I got some sleep. Things are going good. We're not out of woods, but I can see the edge of the forest. You feel what I'm saying? Hey. Hey. A big introduction.

Big news right now. Joe Biden got to 270 electors. Today is the day. It's Monday. The electoral college is voting. And Joe Biden got to 270 electors. The electoral college voted.

And that is pretty much it besides. Nobody conceded? Nobody conceded? There has not been the concessions. California's 55 electors put Joe Biden over 270 needed to become the president shortly after 5% affirming Joe Biden's election as the 46th president of the United States.

There were no slipups, no hiccups, no anything, no faithless electors or whatever. you know, Donald Trump had been trying to get places like Nevada, Georgia, Pennsylvania, Arizona, Michigan, and Wisconsin to turn around their electoral votes or to stop. He'd been trying to stop the country. He'd been trying to fucking undermine democracy. Why am I missing words? Donald Trump has been trying to undermine democracy for the last couple of weeks, four or five weeks, whatever. He's not alone in it either.

He is not. And it seemingly has not worked quite yet. I am not sure of is there if there's still any other recourse after the Supreme Court has shot this down. And after the electors have voted for Biden, like they said that they would, like they have to, if there's anything else the president can do. But it seems as if that that was the nail in the coffee. Yeah, raise your hand out there if you thought that Joe Biden already won. That's what's so crazy about this. Morning Joe had a really good clip about it seemed he's won like 10 times already.

That's what it feels like. We keep announcing the fact that he won. Oh, did you see this? William Barr will be leaving his role as. Attorney General. Trump just tweeted that? No, but look, look, William Barr got exactly what he deserved. Not defending him.

Yeah, all of you guys, Donald Trump, Brian Kemp, William Barr, all of you guys, you got exactly what you deserve. That old adage about the snake that bites the lady and then turns around and says, hey, yo, my nigger, I'm a snake. You know what I mean? Donald Trump has bitten

everyone who's shown the least bit of loyalty to him at the moment that they show that they have any type of a spine. So William Barr and the rest of those guys, you've got what you deserve, man. Now, what's going to happen here? I'm going to make a prediction. William Barr is going to come out weeks from now or months from now and tell everybody what a horrible guy Donald Trump is.

Of course. I'm telling you something right now, AG Barr. Save it. Don't want to hear it. I don't want to hear no more after the fact 11th inning he's a horrible guy and all of this stuff like that. And that goes to the media. Don't give him a platform, a mic, to speak out about all the things

that are in ways he's against Trump when we saw what he did for the last four years for Trump. Don't give him a platform. Please take a page out of it. Did you see this? Michigan Republican Congressman Paul Mitchell is leaving the GOP? Because he is disgusted at the fact that his party is not accepting Trump's loss and will not move on for the sake of democracy, for the sake of this country. Please follow his lead.

That's the person we need to be giving a platform and a microphone to. Yeah. Well, he's still, you know, Paul Mitchell still. Listen, but I, listen, you can do all of that. But that's what people, we need to see congressmen doing that, though. We need to see it. But it's easy for a guy like that to do that, right? Because he still has his hair care fortune to fall back on, right?

I'm saying? Paul Mitchell. You know I was going to go there, right? No, I didn't. I was like, I don't know if you know. I don't know if you know that Paul Mitchell is also the name of a very popular hair care care. I very much so know that. And I'm sure most thought word.

No, I don't actually. What do you use, V-O-5, how-d-o-treatment? No, I use, oh, my God. Main and tail? No. Do you know main and tail? No, I don't know main and tail? Oh my gosh, now I can't think of the hair product.

Heather, what's the name of the shampoo we use? Just for me? Just for me? Now, I haven't used that in a long time. Right. What do you use? What do you use? I can't think of the name of it because I actually, well, one, it's a wig.

Okay. Okay. And so they wash it for me. Mm-hmm. Who washes you? And then the hairstyle is that extra. Okay. She washes your wig for you.

Yeah, yeah. So let's stay right here. So you take, oh, wait a second. Wait a second. So you take the hair off of your head. Yeah. And a woman washes the hair when it's not connected to a body. Correct.

That's how all wigs are washed. You put it on a mannequin head and then you wash it. So fucked up. Yeah. I have several of these. And then my hair, I go and get it taken care of somewhere else. Like I'll have her wash my hair, give me a deep-conditioned treatment. press it.

Yeah. So on the weekends, on the weekends, I don't really wear my wig. It's such a lonely thing to think about somebody washing the head. You wash somebody's hair,

you talk to them about when their kids go to school and about their husband or you cut somebody's hair and you talk to them about all politics and stuff. It's such a lonely thing to think about somebody

washing a mannequin's head and they washing the hair. And they washing their hair, and probably like small tears dropping down their eyes and stuff like that. It's very, very disturbing. I gotta keep it gangster.

Because I've washed my wig on mannequin head. I can confirm it's a very lonely experience. It's a lonely, sad, man. That's a crazy, crazy thing. Now, okay, you know, you still haven't told us. I know this is going to bother me that I cannot think of the name of the shampoo.

I can't think of the oliplex. Oliplex. There we go. That's it. Olaplex. Uh-huh. Oliplex. It's great for all hair textures.

Yeah. O-A. Yeah, for all hair textures. It's like a five-step process. Okay. All right. I would be, I would challenge you to find a woman who doesn't have a process, black woman about doing their hair.

Right. Well, I know one woman who does, the woman at extra who has, though, she has a process. She's processing, washing the hair. not connected to a body. Like she's processed. She has to process that every time. I wonder if she's just,

she just sits in there all day long and just wash this manic and heads. It's like, what a terrible life. Like, it's like a life. That's not all she does. It's like somebody that should be in a castle. Man, it takes 30 minutes to wash the wig. No, but just think about that.

Because think about back in the medieval days when there was wigs galore. You know what I'm saying? Yeah. But there was just one woman that was in a dungeon or man that was in a dungeon just washing all of these wigs. Those were synthetic.

probably so you couldn't wash them you know like it's another level now anyway well you gotta take good care of it you got to keep it upkeep you know it's like a bag now I was gonna say speaking of wigs without even disrespect for the black ladies

the verses was canceled I was gonna say speaking of wigs but my mom would have been upset which topic are you doing and my mom would have been upset because I can't say these sisters wear wigs but the verses

between Keisha Cole and Ashanti was canceled because Ashanti came down with the Viti Viti. She tested positive for COVID-19. For what we hear, we saw Ashanti after this, and she is okay. But, you know, she's been on some trips recently

and she says that she came down with COVID from hugging her brother. I guess her brother is COVID positive and she hugged her brother and she got COVID. Now, because of the, I think we're going to put them in the same room, which is how they're doing the versus now to alleviate some of the Wi-Fi stuff.

They couldn't do it. They couldn't do it. And then Ashanti went on her Instagram live after this and took questions for fans. Did you see that? I didn't see the live. No. Right.

Shouldn't have done a lot. Because what? Did she not seem sick? What was the question? Does she? She seemed really fucking sick. Oh, no. Like, not really sick.

Like, not really like she has to go to the hospital sick. But her eyes were darkened a little bit. She was coughing. Why did she do it? As if she needed to prove, she didn't need to prove to us she had COVID? Well, I think that there's a reason, there's an answer to that question.

I think that Ashanti would have still gone on with the versus, what she said when she announced that she had COVID. She had still gone on with the verses from her house and do the Wi-Fi. So I think she was trying to prove to the fans that she could have done it. she could have done the versus anyway. We've been spoiled. In the same room, we're getting live performances. Sure.

Like, that's what we need. So it's like get healthy, Ashanti, and come back stronger than ever. But it's such a- I think she wanted to do it because it's such a moment for people now. It really is giving people a shot in the arm to their careers.

And really, it's almost a diversity is becoming almost a way to sum up your career in a way. It's weird. Like it's over? Not like it's over, but just like a running career. in retrospective. You go back

through all your hits and stuff like that. Yeah. I mean, I'll be honest, especially when it was Brandy and Monica, it was like,

oh, Brandy did have that song. Monica did. You forget about it because it's been such a long time and their career has, you know,

gone for decades. So, yeah. I was looking forward to Ashanti and Keish Cole. Did you have one you thought would beat the other? I don't see how Kisha Cole can

compete with Ashanti, if I'm being real. I love Kishakou. Beautiful lady. All of that stuff. I don't see how Kish Cole can compete with Ashanti, though, in a versus. I mean, Chicago got a lot of hits.

She got some big hits. But Ashanti, especially if we're including stuff that Ashanti wrote, then I didn't see how Ashanti was, yeah. Like what? Like, what does she write? Like, she put her pen on all of that J-Lo stuff. Really? Yeah.

Yeah. I didn't know that. Yeah, she put her pin on all of that J-Lo stuff, all that. You know it was J-Ler and Murder Ain't? Did you like that era? Yeah. The J-Lo Murder-E ink era? Yeah, I did. Do you like I'm Real Remix? Yeah. What?

That's true? I am notorious for messing up lyrics to songs. Right. And confidently saying the wrong thing until I'm proven wrong. So you know at the beginning of the song when she's like, are you Ellie? You know what she does that? Yeah. I was saying, are you early?

Why? Why would it be early? Doesn't it sound the same? Doesn't it sound? Come on, Van. You at least leave me over there. But you have to ask yourself the questions about why it would be early, though. You know what I'm saying?

Like, if that was me? I don't even want to get into all the lyrics that I've messed up. Okay. I guess I don't pay attention to that. I'm just happy to be singing the song. Okay. So because stuff like that action, I got a lie, it aggravates the shit out of me. Why?

Why does that aggravate you? I didn't hurt you. It has a harm you. It's not disrespectful in any way. Right. It aggravates the hell out of me, though. Because. Because he says, what's my motherfucking name?

And he says, what's my motherfucking name? Maybe I was listening to the edited version. Are you early? Maybe I was listening to the edited version. No, no, no. Because even in the editing version, all it did was blank out the mother. It was like, he says, what's my? the name. And then she goes, are you

early? That's not answering the question. You won't make you mad again? I keep going on the lyrics that I've messed up. That make absolutely no sense. I had a cousin back in the day during the dirty dancing era

who, remember that song, Hungry Eyes? Hungry eyes. Of course. Of course. He thought that they were saying heart green eyes. This could be my best friend. I remember to myself going, that doesn't make any sense. I'm like, I'm not down on you for messing up the lyrics,

but that just doesn't make any sense, heart, green eyes. That's probably the only lyrics he knew in the entire song. That's all he knew. That's what I'm saying. So it's like, if you don't know every single lyric, you just are like, that's my part. Are you early? What does he say after that?

What is it? He's like something Mary Jane, I'm handing it on the game. You don't know. You don't know. No. But I know that in no way. Let me tell you one more. Let me tell you one more.

Sure. Let me tell you one more. 112, 112, 112. Uh-huh. 112. Um, song Cupid. Yeah, Cupid. So somebody must have been saying, oh, I like the 112 song.

Cupid. I was like, oh, I never heard that one before. And they were like, it's one of their first hits. Never heard it. Uh, they started singing the song and I said, I was saying, I was saying, you. who did.

It's not funny. It's very sad because you have some kind of, it's a condition. It really is. There's something wrong. There's a glitch. It's really, I'm... The look of disgust on your face.

I swear I was like, man, I never heard Cupid. Right. And all the while I have. But I don't understand about that in a real way, though. Seriously. It's it. He says, they say, Cupid doesn't.

lie, but you won't know unless you give it a try. I wasn't even there. I was even going, you did, you know, when he says Cupid. But you never asked yourself why the lyrics of the songs don't make sense. Cupid doesn't lie, but you won't know unless you give it a try. Cupid, the cherub angel responsible for love doesn't lie. Like that's the point of the song. Okay. I like your cousin.

I did know the rest of the lyrics. So I was just like, but you don't need to know. Heart green doesn't make any sense. There's just a sting. And he would say it over and over again. No, like she has green eyes, but because they're filled with love,

it's like their heart, their heart. I get it. I feel your cousin. I can rationalize this. Heart green eyes. Okay. You did. You'll never hear it the same.

No, I won't. I hear it to say, no, I'll hear it to a regular way because I don't, I don't have the same affliction that you have. Now, all right, Snoop. Wow, Snoop. Snoop's having a big last couple of weeks.

You know, he's doing his boxing thing now. He's commentating. He's got the whole deal. But he made some different type of headlines just recently. He criticized the Wob video. Snoop criticized the Watt video with four old man on us. Or maybe he didn't. Maybe he went full tasteful older Uncle Snoop on us.

Now, he criticized his video saying, let's have some privacy and some intimacy where he wants to find out as opposed to you telling him and when we're talking about he wants to find out we're talking about finding out the WAP now he told this

to Jalisa Bermita is on a show that I'm on yeah shout out to Jalisa shout out to Jalisa the show that I'm on called Central Ave you guys can watch me on Central App check your local listens okay Vanda the House segment on Central Laf but Sue basically said

Our shows come on back to back I just would like to say that Extra and Central Laf? Is true? Yes, they come on back to back on Fox. Got to check out. Y'all can get your, dude, double dose. Double dose. Avairet.

Extra and Central Life. So, yeah, shout out to Jalisa. So Snoop said basically he won't, he don't want you to tell him that you got that Wop. He wants to find it out on his own and thinks that some things are for private and the women should tuck their wops away, basically. Offset defendant, Cardi B,

saying that black women should be uplifted in the rap game. Your thoughts on this? This is one of those things where it's like, you got to read the article before you jump on the headline. Because I saw the headline and I was like, what? Snoop? This is quite hypocritical. And then if you read later on, Snoop's like, listen,

if it's a different generation. If I was of the generation, I'd probably be on the remix, admitted it. He's basically talking in the sense of being 49 years old, having a daughter that's 21, and he just sees things in a different way. I didn't think it was that big of a deal after I read the art.

article because he fully explains himself. So for the fact that he's like, if I was younger, I'd be about it. He's not really criticizing him. He's not really against it. He's just saying he's in a different place in his life where he necessarily doesn't want to hear that. I don't think he was that critical of Cardi B and Megan. That was just my take on it. I'm with that.

Look, I can appreciate Snoop's opinion, you know? Yeah, it's an opinion. Some people, I can appreciate Snoop's opinion. I'll tell you, I never want to be that. I want to be pro. You don't want to turn? You don't want to change? No.

I want to be pro wet-ass pussy for the rest of my life. I never want to be that. I never want to be. I, I'm going to, I would rather be the Madonna. You know how people look at Madonna and go,

Madonna, come on, girl, put that away. You know what I'm saying? Like you, you know what I mean? No, but that to me is more, that's better. I would rather be that. I'd rather be completely free

and unabashed and un-fucking goddamn afraid and out there to the end then one day to tell somebody to button up their their blouse to the top button

you know and so I get what he's saying and I get that it changes but I don't want to change I want to be like this I want to be pro what ass pussy for the rest and it's kind of weird

that snoops change that's what it is it's weird to hear it coming for him it is because remember now this is the same snoop that less than

a year ago completely destroyed Gil King and called her a funky dog-headed bitch and all of that. When are we going to grow out of that? You know what I mean? Yeah, that's okay. Yeah, when we're going to grow out talking to women about it? So we don't ever have to grow out of the way we speak to women.

That's what I was going to say. Snoop came back and said that he was wrong for, but I mean, I would think that we should grow out of the way we speak to women first and let women decide whether or not they want to grow out. of the way they talk about themselves, because that's on them. Or just the double standard in general. You know, like, you're not criticizing men for having vulgar songs talking about a woman's

body parts, but she can't do it herself. That's like such a double standard. When are you going to grow out of the double standard as well as demeaning women? So it's okay for men to do certain things, but women can't do that. Women can't take back their power in talking about their own body parts. So I get both sides of it. I just didn't, I wasn't like, oh my God, Snoop, you know, I wasn't canceling him or anything after that. Nah, there's no reason for that, man. Snoop is who he is and it's all gravy.

The only thing I never get about that is this. There's a website called Stormfront.org, or at least they used to be. And there are other websites that traffic in white supremacist material and the pro boys have a website and the message board and all that stuff like that. You know why those websites don't bother me? Why? Because I don't go to them. like I know that they're there but I don't freak out about them

because I don't go to them. Yeah. Like I don't. So it's out of sight, out of mind. Don't watch the video. You ain't got to tell the light. I don't have to, I'm not going to spend my time telling them

not to put up their white supremac. Go crazy with it. Yeah. You know what I mean? But like it, I don't, if you don't like watch video, don't watch it. You know what I mean?

And by the way, there's a lot of other things like that. You can be critical of something if you feel like it's hurting people. Sure, of course you can, but like for stuff that's just kind of out there, no. No, no, man. I don't know. But look, Snoop's getting older.

He's aging gracefully in hip-hop, and he's in a couple of years, Snoop's going to be out there in his house shoes, water in his lawn, staying telling the kids to stay off his grass. I think he's already there. Did you see the Missouri teacher of the year be identified as a gang member? Did you see this? I saw it from your post first, actually. Darien Cockrell.

Darien Cockrell was named Missouri Teacher of the Year and in a now deleted tweet, K-A-K-E, a news outlet in Wichita, rather than use his name, the headline said, former gang member is named Missouri's Teacher of the Year. On a scale of 1 to 10, one being,

let it go, 10 being burn K-A-K-E to the ground. Where does this fall for you? A 10. because I'll tell you why because after I saw what you posted I googled it and everybody picked it up with the same headline

CNN, New York Post I mean just everybody Who was first though? Because I can't, I don't know who was first Okay, CNN's was two days ago So CNN might have been first I said two days ago K&KE might have just took it

because a lot of people have been pointing this out and I saw it when K&KE did it but CNN could have easily been first in terms of identifying this brother as a former gangman. Because in Missouri, when Jackson put together, was putting together the rundown, when you click that, it does not say former gang member. Right. So that's how Missouri, so I feel like, look, we both work in media. We know, we understand how people want a catchy tagline for people to click it. But not at the expense of dehumanizing a person.

this man is so much more than what he did when he joined a game at 10 years old because he was in the foster system and he was looking at it as a way to protect himself. You know what I mean? This is a man who has come up in the foster system, wanted to be a teacher. From what I understand, based on how teachers influenced his life, he wanted to become a teacher. And now he is recognized as one of the best, if the best teacher in his state. Why are we saying he's just a gang member? They dehumanized him, which is why I was upset when I saw it, which is why it's a tend to me, which is why when I Googled it and I saw all of that,

I was upset all over again. This man as a person, he's a teacher, he's a role model. You're making him just a gang member. I just bother me. Yeah, it's kind of the thing to where when you see the tweet, his name is not even in it, you're, for me personally, I can't speak for Darien, but for me personally, as a black man,

as a black person in America, I want the achievement to speak for me first, right? As I should. My story and what I've overcome, oftentimes they define black people by what we've overcome and how hard it is. And I get that. I understand that people want to say, hey, it's difficult, look what I've made it through. Sometimes we do that to ourselves.

But the reality is, let's talk about the fact that I've overcome first. Let's talk about the fact that I am the teacher of the year. So link my name, not to the gang, but to the end. achievement. Leak my name to what it is that I've done. All right? It's like, don't tell the story of all the bad shit that I've had to go through before you tell the story of where I am now. So, hey, Dary and Cockrell, Teeth of the Year recalls his former, like the trials and tribulations he's overcome, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. Tell, I'm here and I'm me. Don't jump backwards, stay in the present with who I am now. And then we can talk all about that.

What's his last name? Cockrell. Cockrell, let me ask you this because I saw People Magazine wrote it this way. Darien Cockrell, ex-gang member, recognizes Teacher of the Year. I have less of a problem with that. Now, I still have a small problem with it because I want Teacher of the Year to become before ex-gang member. But that story at least humanizes him first and then talks about what he's gone through. You can see where that story's going. Yeah.

This story right here is a little. little bit murkier. And secondly, I don't think that we should actually even hold it against him that he was in the game. I know why he joined the gang. I can tell you why. His last name is Cockrail. Do you know how much he probably got made fun of? Do you know how many people probably came up to him? I'm not. I just called him. Do you know how many times, like, of course he joined the game. He was walking home. Hey, Cockrail. Cockc, cock, cock, cock, cock, cock. He's got Cockrell. That is there. It's there. cock, cock, cock, cock, you got the big, hey, Darren. Is this what you would have done to Dan?

You got, hey, bro, Darren, bro. He's like, there's a small cockerel back there. Hey, small cockerel. We in the back of the bus. They got a little cockerel back there. I know what kid you were at school. Or, like, if his dad came, oh, you're the bigger cockerel. Your son is little cockerel.

Hey, little cockerel. And so after that, this man was like, look, like, I probably got a, you know, I joined the game and give me a cool nickname. You know what I'm saying? they give me a cool nickname if I join the game. You know what I'm saying? Like they, you know, O.G. Cockrell or something like that. So he joins the gang, but then he gets out of it once he gets security of himself.

And now he's Missouri teacher the year. So get off this man's cockerel. Get off his cockerel. No, but when I saw it, I was very upset. But I want to take the time right now to just go ahead and say, I'm proud of you, brother. I'm proud of you, Darren. You know, you've been through. a lot. You're more than what you've been through. But yeah,

I'm proud of David Cockrell. Teacher of the Year. That's an important thing. Teachers are very important. Absolutely. You got teachers in your family? No. We don't do those types of jobs. Okay. My mom is a retired teacher. What did she teach? 20 plus years. First Baptist Academy. Oh, she teaches like Christian stuff.

That's where we went. That's where I went. Oh, you went to Christian school? I never knew this. Oh, you've got something to say about that? I never knew this. Have we already talked about lock-ins on this before? Have we talked about lock-ins? We have not. We haven't talked about lock-ins.

See how she said that? No, we have not. Did you guys have lock-ins? We, I didn't do them at the school, but I went to other churches that had lock-ins with friends from school. Have you ever done a lock-out? What's a lock-out? It's just the opposite.

Like, they keep making you do certain things so you stay out, like all-like. Outside? Yeah, like we went to like a bowling alley. And you were locked outside of that. in the bowling alley? Or you have to stay in the bowling alley all night long? Like you go to the bowling alley

then you go somewhere else and it was like they keep you up all night but you keep doing anything so instead of locked into one place where you can't go anywhere you're locked out. Oh no, that's stupid as hell.

Don't be mad because you never got to do it. It's dumb as hell. I saw you put a little smile on your face when I said bowling alley if you guys don't know what a lock in is it's like the kids come to like the church.

They used to have a family Christian Academy in Baton Rouge and at the AME church. The kids come to the church and they give you some, it's like a big slumber party for all the kids. They give you some word at first, and they talk a little about different things you talk.

And then it's a night full of games and play. And they got like a, they had like a little area where they had video games. And then we play dodgeball. And then they give you snacks. But here's the thing about a lock-in. The age range of a lock-in from what I knew, went from about 13, sometimes a little bit younger,

to around 16, 17, right about there. Yes. So what always happens at a lock-in if we're being real, and I hate to be crashed right now. I didn't experience. I didn't see this, but go ahead.

What always happened at a lock-in was finger. I never, I'm not saying it didn't happen. I just wasn't around it. Is that like it was what happened at a lock-in, I'm sure people are listening right now. Lock-in big fingering conventions. It's just the reality of it. Because what happens is we're kids.

And the lock-in people are either in their 20s or in their 30s because they're a youth pastors. There's nothing in life more interesting to me than a youth pastor. A youth pastor. Really? Yeah, why do you feel this way? Are you a youth pastor? No, I just want to hear your explanation

as to why you find them so interesting. Youth pastors want to be regular pastors. They're on their way to be regular pastors. The youth pastor is a stopgap to getting there. They don't necessarily love kids, all right? Some of them do, but they always, what they have to do is they have to be relatable. They have to be cool.

They have to be so cool, down with the rest of the kids. So they have to be super cool. Yeah. And that coolness, as it crosses up against Christian, values is hysterical. Because I remember I had a youth pastor give me a clean version of a Tupac CD. And I was like,

nigga, if you don't get this out of my fucking face, like, who's listening to the edited version? Hey, listen, man, you can still listen. Tupac's got some, I know he's got some super dope messages, bro. Like, I know you can listen to it, but you don't have to get completely out of your word. Just take some of the filth

out of it, man. Just remove the Satan. Keep the same rhythms. Here you go. I tossed that. I'm not listening to that. I'm 14 years old. What are you doing? I had editing CDs.

Yeah. I had them. I had one that was like the Wu-Tang. And every time the Wu-Tang-Clan curse, they put in a b-z-z. Like a B-Buzzle. W-Tain forever. Mother, B-Z. I'm like, what?

Get out of here with that. To this day, there are songs that I'm like, whoa, that's what they said that I'll hear because I had an edited version. Right. Lockins. Anyway, so at the lock-in, you, so at the lock-in, what happens is these youth fashions and stuff like that. They're not at the same age.

They're just a little bit older, but they're still young. But they go to sleep. We don't go to sleep. Like, we stay up all night long. We might go to sleep, but I'll lock-in 5, 30, 6 o'clock in the morning. When your parents come to get you, you might sleep on the way back.

We don't go to sleep. We stay up all night long playing video games, all night long, even pop, all night long eating the, because kids get pooped out on pizza, and then the fat kids like me go out and eat the leftover pizza that nobody ate. Like, we, and once they go to sleep,

people start sectioning it off, man. And there's always a nook or cranny. I was always in the good crowd. I was one of the good ones. It never went down in a lock, it for you. It might have. I just never, I was so oblivious to it.

I remember I had friends tell me, Rachel, we don't tell you certain things because we, We want to protect you. So apparently something went down. I just wasn't a part of it. I was very much so a goody-two-shoes. Anyway, I don't know how we got to lock-ins from this entire thing.

Because I said I went to First Baptist Academy, the Saints. The Saints. First Baptist Academy, the Saints. Well, I went to- You ever see a movie saved? Yes, of course. I went to that school. Seriously?

Like, very much so. God told me that we shouldn't be together. type thing. Wow. Got like, yeah. Yeah. I remember when I,

getting into theology when I was going to, to hanging around to FCA, it was very, very interesting. Getting into theology and some of the different sciences that go along with the interpretation of the Bible,

you know, it really gets your head into it. All right. Out of that, heathenistic talk that we're coming, we're going to take a break. This episode is brought to you by Spectrum Business.

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Order now at order. Sweetgreen.com. All right. Now we told you guys that we would bring on somebody who could answer some of these pesky vaccine questions and kind of get us to an understanding of the public health moment that we are in, because be honest what you guys mean, Rachel, well, we cannot do that. And so we have found that person, Dr. Abdul-El-Said.

He is an American politician, former public health professional, should I say, medical doctor and civil servant. He has all the answers, hopefully, doctor. You have all the answers to our. Pesky vaccine questions. Now, in the introduction, did I miss anything that you would want the audience to know about you as well? Yeah, so I used to run the health department in the city of Detroit and got to rebuild that department after it had been shut down. And my background is in epidemiology.

So my work is about studying epidemics. And so I hope that I can answer whatever questions you all have about the virology, the vaccinology, the epidemiology, and what we can look at. look forward to from here. So there's a lot in front of us, but a lot behind us too. And I look forward to the conversation. Sure. So let me ask you a very just open-ended question. When you first realized that there was going to be a coronavirus spread here in the mainland United States of America, your first reaction was what? What did you think it would be? And how close did it come to what you thought it was going to be. I'll be honest. I started paying attention to this in January. And

that was when I first heard stories about the spread of this new disease out of China. And I'll be frank with you, the minute I had learned that it hit the United States and had been hearing about the consequences in China, I knew it was going to be a real issue. And I remember because I actually had a book come out at the end of March, and we had had this 39-stop book tour, all booked out. We were going to go all over the country. And I remember calling my associate, and it would have been early March, in saying, I'm pretty sure we're going to have to cancel all of it. And I was just reading the tea leaves. Now, I knew that by the time we had hit late March, and we were seeing those numbers skyrocket, that,

we were not going to be out of this until either we figured out how to come together as a country, do the things we needed to do to stop the spread of this thing, and choose to live a life that was a bit curtailed by the pandemic, or we had a vaccine. And, you know, we all know how the story went. We were not able to have the kind of collective action, the community response to this in large part because I hate to say it, we, from the very top of government, had an approach to denying and in dissuading others from doing the things that they could do to protect themselves. And so here we are. And, you know, vaccines were rolled out today on Monday. And that's a big deal. But that is the beginning of the end. It's certainly not the end. It's all uphill from here. I had to say it's like we're uphill toward the light at the end of the tunnel. Yeah, doctor, you had a very interesting segment on CNN. And I want to pick up where you left off

because we definitely want to get into the vaccine now that we have this news, that this week it's being delivered and people are taking it in the United States. But you said the end will be painful. And I thought that that was so important for us to hear. And I'm hoping that you can share that with our listeners. Why do you say the end will be painful, even with the arrival of the vaccine? Yeah, I'll give you a couple of reasons. Number one, we have the fastest and most of the vaccine. most deadly spread that we have had of this virus over the past couple months from the beginning of the history of the virus. And so we are in the part of the pandemic that they're going to write about when the historians write about this thing. This is going to be the part they write about. The second part is that we are starting to exhaust our hospital resources. And we are watching

as hospitals are starting to fill up. And the worry that I have is that when hospitals start to fill up, what happens is that folks who otherwise could have gotten great care and potentially lived, they get triaged, meaning decisions are made about where to put scarce hospital resources to protect the folks who have the best shot at living or have the most life in front of them to live. And that is a really scary circumstance because it means that people who otherwise might have lived because of lack of health care don't. And then the last thing I'll say is that, you know, I wish I could say that because there is a light at the end of the tunnel, that all of that death and disease will go away. But I actually worry that because of that, people are going to

think, well, you know, it's only a matter of time until I get my vaccine. So I might as well maybe just not put my mask on today or maybe just do that thing that I wouldn't have otherwise have done. And I worry that people are going to take their foot off the gas when it comes to protecting themselves because the end looks near. And so for all of those reasons, I'm worried. But look, here's the thing. I hope I'm wrong, right? I hope that everybody just proves me wrong that we all do the things that we need to do. Because at the end of the day, this is not a force that exists outside of us. We get to make decisions about what it is that we do to protect ourselves and protect our families and protect our communities. And if we make those choices, then we can

protect ourselves. And if we don't, then that is the circumstance I'm worried about. It's just that, if you look at what decisions people are making, I really am worried about this. the next couple of months. So given that, first of all, Doc, I appreciate that. I appreciate everything you just said. That is going to really, really do wonders for my anxiety. So thank you, Doc, for that, for that sobering. I appreciate that.

Why don't you just lie to me, huh? Doc, we're drowning over here. So why would you, you should have been like, you know what I mean? He said there's a light. Yeah, he said there's a light. But it was kind of like an Andy Duframed, Shawshank Redemption Light where you got to swim through the fucking tunnel of shit to get to the end. So I appreciate you, Doc.

It's the Shawshank pandemic. It's the Shawshank pandemic. Yeah, no, but look, I want to ask you something. So given that dire sort of outlook right there, what's your opinion of celebrities and luminaries and different people that you see potentially operating without a mask? For example, we talked about James Harding here on this podcast, who's a basketball player for the for the Houston Rockets, at least for the time being. He went to a party, and it was a party for a rapper down there in Atlanta, and he didn't have his mask on.

He didn't have a mask on. He wasn't social distancing. There are people, a lot of people, in prominent positions, not just James, but other people that don't seem to take heed to the public safety and health guidelines. What kind of damage do you feel like people who have that type of influence are doing to society at large when they kind of cut corners like that. Yeah. Well, look, you know, I love James Hardin's beard. If I could grow some of that, that dense and thick. You know, I'd be a lot more popular these days, but I got this, you know, as an Arab dude, right, the one thing I should have

going for me is a thick beard. And I don't know what happened there. But, but, but, you know, one of the things that I hope that some of these celebrities think through is that I know this has been a really hard pandemic for all of us. And how many interactions did you miss out on? How many things that you have to cancel? And I told you about my book tour, right? I mean, it was my first big published book. I was really excited about it and how to cancel the tour. And that's a minimal loss. Honestly, people have lost so much more than that. But I get it. People are upset and they're frustrated. And at some point, you kind of want to go about living your life. But part of what comes with the privilege of being a celebrity is that people pay attention to what you do. And in particular,

the kids. And that's what I always try and think about is that, you know, what kid is watching and what are they thinking about the world and who are they looking up to? And what can I do to potentially get that kid and get that kid's family to do something that's just a little bit safer? That's just a little bit better for that kid. And so it does do damage, right? Because people look at at celebrities, people who they look up to because of how good they are basketball or because of, you know, their ability to sing or or, you know, otherwise how entertaining they are. And they take cues. And so this is one of those things that unfortunately all of us got to be in on together. And when anybody chooses to do something unsafe because of the nature of how virus is bred,

unfortunately, all of us get hurt. And it's not just the virality of the virus, right? It's the virality of the behaviors that allow the virus to move. And that's the thing I want people to understand, right? There are two viralities here. It's the way the virus spreads and then it's also the way our behavior spreads. And I got to say it, right? Like, I mean, worst of all, you think about the misinformation that's coming out of the current president and you say, well, you know, how many lives could we have saved if everybody was on the same page and said, look, this is serious. We've got to take this seriously. We've got to protect ourselves. And, you know, as a relatively young person, I'm talking to relatively young people, right? Sometimes I think we go about life thinking more invincible.

and that, you know, it's not going to hurt me. But if you think about it, right, given that I am my grandmother's grandson, I am my father's son, everything that I do affect them to, and they're not invincible. And so I've got to think about what happens for those kids who are watching and also for those folks in my life who may not be as healthy as I am. And I've got to think with them in mind. And this virus is a wake-up call to all of us that we live in this thing together, right? Not one of us gets to say that, you know, I'm an island unto myself. No, what I do affects other

people, what other people do affect me. And I've got a responsibility to that. And I hope that, you know, that this is a wake-up call because it's not just the virus, right? Think about the circumstances of inequality and the circumstances of poverty and, you know, climate change. These are all collective problems. And if we're serious about taking them on, I hope we learn some lessons from this. When you talk about behaviors, I'm interested in your thought about collegiate and professional sports. I mean, we're continuing to see games being postponed and the safety of the athletes being compromised, particularly the amateur ones who aren't professionals and getting paid for what they do. What are your thoughts about that?

Yeah. Look, I love sports, and sports are a real pastime for us. And they really, you know, for folks who say, well, they're not important. I think they are important. But I also think that protecting players and also setting a good example, given what we just talked about with James Harden, is probably more important. And so, you know, the other side of this is that there are a lot of people making a lot of money off of college and professional sports. And this particular in college, it's not the athletes. And so I think, you know, in college in particular, there's a real responsibility to put the athletes first.

And to think about whether or not it is worth a few folks making a lot of money to set a bad example and potentially put people's people in harm's way. And then on the other side, right, when you look at the NFL, you know, this is a bit of a different ballgame. You've got folks who are being paid and sharing in the proceeds. But at the same time, if it's unsafe and it potentially is putting a lot of folks who are not just the players, but all of the folks who are necessary to be able to make an NFL game work, if it's putting all of them in harm's way, I think we've got to think twice. And then the other thing I'll say is that, you know, we watched the Denver Broncos play a game

without a quarterback, right? And I would have thought for sure somebody would have signed Colin Kaepernick at that point. I'm like, yo, that man's waiting to play. They couldn't. In the game, you need a quarterback. Anyway, that didn't happen.

I was a little bit upset about that. But they couldn't sign him. They couldn't. Like, the way the thing is, he wouldn't have been able to clear to get in time there, but I don't think they still wouldn't. He wasn't going to make quarantine, right?

Yeah, he wasn't going to be quarantine. Yeah, they couldn't. Well, okay, so let me ask you this. Let's move on to the vaccine now, talk a little bit about that and some of the vaccines out there and some of the conversations around these vaccines and, you know, what they're going to do. We here on higher learning, I don't know if you know this doctor,

we have an anti-vaxxer here. Rachel Lindsay. I am not an anti-vaxer. Don't start that rumor. Rachel Lindsay, my co-host, has said several times on the podcast that she is going to take a wait-and-see approach to the vaccine that she doesn't want to take it. That's initially.

The stretch doctor. Initially. So here's the thing. There are Americans, particularly, we'll talk about black Americans who have a great deal of medical distrust in terms of things that come from not just the American government, but from Big Pharma, because let's face it, in the past, we haven't always had the most transparent relationship with any of these entities. And I know a lot of brothers and sisters out there, a lot of people in general, but a lot of specifically brothers and sisters who are saying they don't trust the vaccine, that the vaccine was rolled out. too fast. I remember when the pandemic first started. I read things in the New York Times that said it would take two to four years to get a workable vaccine. It took eight months to get a workable vaccine. So if you having the wealth of the vast knowledge that you have talking to somebody who's a layperson in it, what would you say to make them comfortable being vaccinated? And how can you explain the quick timetable by which this vaccine, this vaccination was created? it and then test it and then rolled out to the public. Yeah. Well, let me, let me, let me speak to that. And first, I understand the the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, very, very broken

history that has left black Americans without trust in a system that has abused and exploited them, right? I mean, you go to, you know, think about J. Marion Sims and the experiments that he ran on black women. You think about the Tuskegee syphilis experiment. You think about just the fact that in 2020, a pregnant mom going in to give birth is three times as likely to die in childbirth as if she's black, then. than if she's white. And I understand entirely that trepidation. But I'll say this.

You know, the Moderna vaccine in particular, but many of these vaccines, they were put together by teams that are actually quite diverse. In fact, the Moderna vaccine, one of the lead researchers at the NIH is a black woman. Her name is Dr. Corbett. And part of what has allowed us to move as fast as we have is that the science has just shifted. And part of that is because we've now got all of our country's scientific minds at play, not just folks who, because of systemic racism, have been allowed into those privileged spaces. And I'll also say that science is a process. And the way science works, science doesn't say anything. Science is just a process by which we ask and answer questions. And we've taken these vaccines through extremely rigorous trials. And I've looked at the data

directly. And as an epidemiologist, my science is about trying to understand what these data tell us coming out of these kinds of trials. And this is a very safe, very effective vaccine. Now, is it new? Certainly. And do we have data that is years and years old? No, we don't, because this is a a vaccine that is set to prevent contracting a virus that's only ever been in humanity for less than a year. And yet, I think about what the tradeoffs are, right? Because in science, when you think about taking something, putting something in your body, is always a tradeoff. What's a risk? What's the benefit? Given what we understand about the side effect profile, right, the side effects that we've seen, right, are simply the same old side effects that you see with most vaccines.

It's the pain at the injection site, right, because you've got a needle stuck in your arm. It's the malaise and sometimes fever because the vaccine is working and activating your immune response and your immune response sends out these chemicals from your own body that gives you a fever, et cetera, because your body thinks that it's being infected, but actually it's not infected. It's learning the code of that virus that it's trying to prevent. And because of that infection process, because of that immune immune. process, you're now immune from being infected in the future. And then you look at the upside, right? And the upside is that you're 95% likely to be protected from a virus whose short-term consequences have killed 300,000

Americans and whose long-term consequences were still starting to understand. Look at upwards of 30% of people who get infected with COVID-19. And these are folks who are having long-term side effects that are lasting months and months and months. And then there's an added benefit across society, which is the faster we get people immunized, the faster it is that we bring this pandemic to its knees, and we end the way that we've had to live for the past nine months. So to me, right, looking at the cost and the benefit, I can't wait to get my vaccination. As soon as I get the opportunity to be in line, my shoulder's going to be right out there, bear looking to get that vaccine, because it means that I'm not just protecting myself from a deadly virus, but I'm also protecting people around me

from a deadly virus. And I think that the science is sound and that this is worth taking. So, you know, I put my shoulder where my mouth is. And I'll tell you that when you look at the science on this thing, it really is a medical marvel that this has happened. And I think that all of us who can ought to be vaccinated to protect ourselves first and foremost, but also protect our community. Were you looking at me straight in the eye when you said that? No, no, of course. Okay, I was just making sure after the way Van prepped that question, I'm not an anti-backer. I want to say something, though, because like, look, I get the people are skeptical.

Like, it's okay to be skeptical. In fact, the essence of science is skepticism, right? Thank you. And it's okay to be skeptical. But what's important is that you don't just sit in your skepticism, but that you look and you assess your skepticism next to the evidence. And if the evidence suggests that this thing is safe and effective, you should take it. right? And if the evidence suggests that it's not, then you shouldn't. So I never blame people for being skeptical. That's what good scientists should be. But I also think that it's worth always assessing

our skepticism next to the rigor of the science. And if the science holds out, then we move forward. We do the thing that is best for ourselves and our loved ones. So now that we know the vaccine is out here, I want to talk a little bit about how you receive it, you know, the number of doses, when it really takes effect to where either you're protected. And then I guess the other side of that question is, how do you know if you can infect someone else? Like what kind of protection do you have? And then what type of protection does the person have that comes into contact with you

that may have not taken the vaccine? Yeah. So it's a two-dose course that is spaced apart about 21 days. And you go just like any other vaccination, you know, they stick a needle in your arm and they put it in. And usually if folks are going to experience those side effects, that malaise, that potential fever that that we talked about, it's usually in the first 24 hours. And again, that's just your immune response, recognizing that there's something new in there and firing up to learn the code of the virus

so that when you see it next time, you can beat it. And then 21 days later, you get another vaccination and it's just sort of a re-up, a relearning process, right? So that any part that your immune system missed, it picks up. And then, you know, within about 10 days, so usually the whole course, 10 days to two weeks, the whole course being, you know, five to six weeks, you're considered immune. And the data show us that 95% immunity. And that really is a big deal. Now, you are protecting other people in your community because you're now somebody who is not going to get sick,

or at least 95% likely not to get sick from the virus. but it is theoretically possible, and this is something we're still studying, that you could harbor a small amount of the virus, you know, in your nose and potentially pass it on, but it's still highly unlikely that that happens. And so that's why we recommend, even if folks have been vaccinated, that they continue to wear a mask to protect other people from that potential risk. Now, I want to talk a little bit about how this virus works, because it's actually really cool. So imagine your DNA, right, DNA for any living being, it's sort of like, like the book of life, right? All of the codes for all of the things that you could make are in that

book of life. And then the way that your body translates that book of life, right, into making stuff, right, that it needs is by writing a little note, right? So you walk to the book of life, you're like, I need to figure out how to make, you know, this spike protein. So you turn on the spike protein page, you take a little note about what it says, and then you carry the note off to the machinery, and the machinery then makes that spike protein. What this vaccine does, which is actually really, really cool is that instead of introducing the entire virus or a dead version of the virus or like an attenuated sort of weaker version of the virus, it introduces a note that MRNA, right?

That's what MRNA is. It's the note that you copied from the Book of Life that's the DNA. It introduces it and then your body's own cells make that protein, right? And then that protein turns on your immune system because your immune system says that's not part of me, right? That thing you all just made, that's not part of me. So it activates the immune system. But what's cool here is that MRNA, that note, is set to be torn up after you use it, right? Your body naturally just tears up these extra notes because you don't want them just sitting around telling all the machinery to make stuff, right? So it naturally gets torn up.

So the part of the vaccine that is biologically active gets torn up. It doesn't even stay in your body. Your body naturally tears it up versus, right, the old version of a vaccine, which was a piece of a virus or a virus itself, it lasts a lot longer. So it makes sense that the side effect profile of this vaccine would be lower, right? Because the stuff that you're putting in your body that note, right, gets torn up in the process. And so folks, you know, should understand that this is actually, from a theoretical perspective, I remember being in med school being like, oh, that's super cool that they're going to make that. And now here we are, right, 10 years later, and we're about to be vaccinated with it.

It really is a medical marvel. So stay right there then, because that's very important to say. So if we stay right there, then what we have is the realization that the technology that enables this vaccine to work was not created in the last eight months. The technology, the mRNA technology that allows this vaccine to be effective is something that have been in the works for years and years and years prior to this epidemic and is now just being utilized. on the scale that it is in order to stop this particular spray. Yeah, that's a really good point, Van. So, you know, you think about it. How often do you get new viruses?

That's not that often, right? Right. And so you've got this technology hanging around where scientists are like, ah, this could be a really cool use of this tech, but there's no reason to use it because the vaccines we've been using traditionally worked just fine, right? So why would we use this new tech? This was the perfect test case, right?

It was a perfect case where you're like, listen, once I know, right, once we can copy the genome of the of the the virus then right we can use that genome to code the mRNA to code that little note right and we can then turn it into vaccine immediately and what's amazing about that is it doesn't require you to then figure out how to attenuate the virus figure out how to introduce dead virus you just know the the the virus is DNA you turn it into mRNA that codes for the the protein that you want your body's immune system to recognize and boom you're there in fact In fact, we knew by January what the DNA of the virus was and could start turning it into this vaccine from then. That's why, A, we wanted to use this new tech that's been sitting around for a while because it allowed us to fast forward the vaccination process, right, of creating a vaccine and allows us to get to this point where now we can get to a point where we're vaccinating people with a safe and effective vaccine.

So it had nothing to do with Trump. Good to know. No. Here's the other thing. Look, you're not going to find somebody who disdains Donald Trump as much as I do, right? I mean, you know, I'm a Muslim dude in America. And I remember, I remember the day he said a complete and total shutdown on Muslims entering this country. I'm never going to forget that, right?

And I think about my little girl and I'm raising her in this country and thinking about, right, like my grandfather was an American citizen. My stepmom who raised me as a daughter of the American Revolution, right? And I'm thinking this man wants to get rid of people. people who pray like I do simply because we pray the way we do. Now, I wish he was not president at this time. I think we would have had a far lower death count and we would have had a very, very different course in this pandemic. And, you know, a lot of folks look at this and say, well, he's been messing around with the process. The reality of it is, though, is that the thing about science is it's transparent, right? You show me the data. I can tell you if it's safe and

effective. And so even though he's been mucking around and trying to take credit, he had no impact on the science of this process. Right. The science was here before him, right? And the execution of it was simply a choice of whether or not we were going to fund it, right? And so, you know, I want folks to rest easy that, you know, this is not a Trump vaccine, right? This is a vaccine built off of decades and decades of research from incredibly smart, you know, nonpartisan scientists that finally had the moment to be able to turn into a vaccine that could save a lot of lives. I have, I wanted to get this question in because I was actually talking to a friend about this this morning.

I haven't heard a lot about pregnant women getting the vaccine. And I know I'm at the age where I know a lot of people who are trying or, you know, in the process of that for next year. So what information is there out there for women that are trying to get pregnant or that are currently pregnant and want to take the vaccine? So the best advice is that pregnant women or women who could be pregnant should talk to their doctor. Here's the thing. They weren't included explicitly in the trials.

They're going to be spin-off trials now that include specifically pregnant women. But because of the nature of the world, there were people who didn't think they were pregnant, who ended up being pregnant who took the vaccine. And from what we understand, right, they were safe and that it did not compensate. complicate their pregnancy. That being said, we do want more research. And so it's worth anybody who is pregnant or potentially could be pregnant to have a conversation with their doctor as they think about getting vaccinated. And interestingly and importantly, right, neither the FDA nor the CDC said that pregnant women should not take the vaccine. So they were included in the group of people

who could be vaccinated. And that says a lot about the confidence that scientists have in the safety and efficacy of this vaccine in pregnant women. But it's important to talk to your doctor, nonetheless. Okay. Rapid fire, quick, short-burst answers now. I'm going to throw them at you, Doc. All right. Number one, are you in fact a member of the deep state trying to indoctrinate us into taking something that was created in order to start a new world order? Yes or not? I am absolutely not. You are not. Number two, is there even a 5% chance that we are entering into an I am legend scenario We're taking this vaccine is going to end up creating 70% of the world's population into being night stalkers who cannot tolerate sunlight but must feed on their fellow human beings. Is that going to happen?

I haven't seen Will Smith yet, so no. You haven't seen Will Smith yet. So no. Number three, and probably the most important, okay, of all of these, what do you think is going to be the date? that I, Van Lathen, am going to be able to walk into a gentleman's club, safely tip a dancer, safely get a little lappy, lappy,

safely walk around and have some old school, with Kalika's permission, fun, in the club. What do you, when do you think that will be? My guess would be sometime between, June and September. That's pretty soon, man. Okay. All right.

All right. But that's a guess. Only because I see you, I see you hitch in there. So, you know, I don't know what I mean? That's how it is. You know what I mean? Okay, Doc, look, we appreciate your time today. Yes, thank you.

Thank you. No, no, no. He answered all my questions. Thank you. Yeah, you did. Now, on a serious last note, I will ask this, there is an anti-vaxxer movement that is out there.

There are people that every day, we see them on the internet, on Facebook, which I'm not on, but on Instagram. They say the vaccines will, you know, cause a rise in autism. They say that vaccines are unsafe. They say that vaccines are unnatural. They say that vaccines are dangerous and scary. And there are a lot of people who are susceptible to those beliefs. What, if anything, would you say to people who are hearing all of that stuff?

They're hearing that it might cause Bill's policy or that it might cause their children to be autistic or something like that. What would you say to them to break them free from those ideas? Yeah. I would say, you know, a lot of that is driven by fear. And I think when we get afraid, we want answers that feel certain. And that tends to be where conspiracy theories thrive. And I just think it's worth always bringing that skepticism, right? Ask people, don't tell me a story.

right because that story is not data show me evidence right show me evidence of a systematic study that has linked these things together because there is no real evidence and people say well let me tell you about my cousin and you're like okay there are a lot of different things that could have happened with your cousin right that's not evidence a story is not evidence i want evidence and it tends to be that when we bring our skepticism and when we hold our skepticism up to the evidence that a lot of these hypotheses don't hold the other thing i'll say is that unfortunately that a lot of folks who are interested in swindling people out of the money, right, and grifting people out of the money. And it's an easy way to grift people out of the money when you say, well, the vaccines don't

work, but let me tell you what does, right? And now all of a sudden, you're selling the response, right? And so I just, I'd always ask people like, who's making money on the back end of this thing? And look, I am one of the biggest opponents of pharma and the way that they operate and the way that they raise prescription drug costs and the things that they do, right? But when it comes to vaccines, they don't make much money off vaccines. I'll be honest with you, right? Like, that's not where they're making their money. They're making their money on raising prices of insulin. They're making their money on some of these new biological drugs. They're making their money in different ways. Vaccines don't make them much money. And so the notion that somehow pharma is, you know, tricking us or

the deep state and pharma have come together to sell us a bunch of vaccines. Like, that's not really how that works. And so I believe that we have to bring our skepticism always, that we always have to ask who's making money on the back end of this thing. But then we also have to hold it up to reality and ask, all right, so who is making money, right? And if you got, you know, the dude who's got his group on Facebook, right, who's now selling you his alternative to the vaccine, that guy is trying to make money off of you, right? It's not big pharma and in deep state. It's that guy trying to sell you something that you don't need that ultimately will keep you less healthy because you're not taking those vaccines. And so it's important, you know, I understand people being afraid, but it's important

to bring our skepticism and hold it up to reality and ask, all right, like when when I take my skepticism to this thing, what actually pans out. All right, Doc, we're out of here, man. Plug something before we go. But where can they find you? Where can they get more of your information from you? You roll these things out in such a digestible way. I feel smarter for how they had this conversation.

Where can they get more of you and more of this good knowledge? Absolutely. You could check out our pod at America dissected. You can get it wherever you get your podcast. We're focusing on the pandemic. In fact, we've got a whole vaccine's episode. coming up and then check me out on Instagram or

Twitter at Abdul-Al-S-A-E-L-S-A-E-D A-D-U-L-S-A-Y-D and on Facebook at Abdul-F-U-L-M-M-H-A-R-R-R-R-R-R-R-R-R-R-A-R-D. Appreciate your time today. Thank you so much. Thank you for having me. I really enjoyed the conversation. Yes.

No problem. And Rachel, get that vaccine, okay? I promise that will. She promised. She just promised. I will. She promised. She promised to get the vaccine. I want to go home.

Right. All right. Thank you so much. Thank you. Thanks again. This episode is brought to by WeatherTech. Everyone knows winter is the MVP and making a mess. You don't need Weather Tech floor liners in the summer unless you hit the beach or go camping.

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Ask your doctor about Tramphia today. Call 1-800-526-7736 to learn more or visit trimfireradio.com. Okay, Rach, thank you to the doctor for stopping by and talking with us and stuff like that. It was amazing. Did he change your mind at all about the vaccines? Okay, my mind was already changed because I just want to protect people and get back to normal life as quickly as we can. Yeah, I'm taking it. I'm taking it.

Because a lot of people have been hitting me up in the DMs and talking about how dangerous some of your rhetoric is around your anti-vaccine stances and stuff like that. I'm not about to play into that. As you told me earlier to not care, again, I've never been anti-vax. So I will be taking it. But I will admit there was definitely some skepticism about it for sure. Once again, it's a new technology. Yeah. You know, like deep state, big pharma stuff or anything like that.

is just more of, it's so quick. But hearing what the doctor had to say, I'm like, okay, that actually makes a lot of sense. So I really hope people take the time to listen to what he had to say because I'm like, okay. Because before, you know, the record was four years. That's the quickest the vaccine had ever come. Four years. And here we are less than a year. Why? Why?

Yeah. He answered my why. Yeah. It makes a lot of sense. It makes a lot of sense. Real quick. We're going to get to mailback questions real quick. Just a couple of mailbacks.

We're getting close to end. But I want to talk to you about this Sasha Obama picture. Okay. I want to talk to you about it. You just had, we were almost done. I really didn't think we were going to get here. Go ahead, talk to me. I want to talk to you about Sasha Obama picture.

You don't think that the picture is Sasha Obama. I don't. Okay, you guys, there was a picture that started going around Twitter of this girl and all our hot girl majesty. And a lot of people thought it was Sasha Obama. Rachel in our group text said it couldn't be Sasha Obama. Said it'd never be Sasha Obama. I'm going to read exactly what Rachel Lindsay put into the group text.

Just so you guys can know kind of what it is in terms of like what we're dealing with with Rachel Lindsay and who she is. Now I'm remembering what I wrote. Yeah. I know you remember it. You should remember it because. No, I thought I was just like, no, it's not her. And then I said why? And now I realize you were setting me up to make a segment on this podcast.

I wasn't setting you up. I put the picture in there. I said what I said. I stand by it. You said, that's not her, right? And I said, they're saying it was. Is it? And you go, no, it's not.

I said, how you know? And you said, look at the, I'm looking at the surroundings, the purse, the banana clip, the house, the man, the tattoo. As if to say that Sasha Obama would never be called dead. in a situation with these inwards, because I think I'll use up my in-word quote already today. You already did use it. I used it already. That part I did not say.

Now you're adding. That's how it's coming off. No, as an attorney, I use context clues. So rather than just stare at her face and they look a lot of like. But as an attorney, I said, let me assess the situation and check out the surroundings of this young lady, who's very pretty in the picture. I noted the purse. I noted the banana clip.

I noted the home. I noted the table. Well, I didn't, but I didn't, but I did now. And I noted the man in the background. And a tattoo. And there are pictures of her in a bikini online, and there's no tattoo there. So I said, this doesn't, something doesn't add up. And what it doesn't add up is to Sasha Obama.

It's not her. Right. That's all I'm saying. Do we know that it was Sasha Obama or not? We don't know for sure. Okay. My guess is no. Also, this didn't really blow up like that.

What? What, the Sasha Obama picture? Mm-hmm. It didn't blow. I'm reading it off Newsweek. Oh, okay, never mind. So I think that... I mean, when we were talking last night,

I didn't really see it anywhere other than the tweets. No, I'm reading it off Newsweek right now. And what do they say? They're saying that, they're talking about the TikTok video that went along with it because there was another TikTok video.

And in the TikTok video, she had long acrylic nails, just like the lady in this picture did, whether or not Sasha Obama or not. They're talking about people. Which are very end. I wear long nails. Right.

And they're talking about people that are defending her, assuming that the picture is her. You think that the picture doesn't reflect who she really is. And I personally, I look at this different. Like to me, I think that could definitely be Sasha Obama, and I'll tell you why. All of the girls in Louisiana that were of Sasha Obama's social standing,

they didn't like anything more than to come hang with us. Hang with... See, just at houses, just like that. By the way, the house does... It's not like the house is a trap house house in somewhere. It's just black people around.

I don't know why you think... There's one black man. And he got dressed. I don't know why you think she wouldn't be down to chill. She wouldn't be down to come hang. You're just putting... it like you're adding so much to it

don't make me go ahead would you would you come to you were you absolutely I'm so if you do it then why wouldn't sasha Obama I'm just saying it didn't look I just don't think it was her I don't think it was her at all I think it's a girl who looks just like her I do and if it is her

who cares that's what it seems like you it seems like you care that's what no I just think it's her that's what you're missing from this whole thing I could care less if it is her you sent the picture to the group chat. And I said, no, it's not her. Is it? I just don't think that's her. No, and when I asked you why, you got all, look. And I said, because

I said, I'm looking at the surroundings and I just don't think that that's her. Sasha Obama didn't come home. She didn't come on home. She's in Michigan. She comes, she didn't come on home. She down. She's going to, she was going to crazy. It's going to crazy. When she joined the city girls, that's going to be crazy.

You know what I'm saying? Ben also put in the chat that he loves ratchet shit. So that's why he is, he is, he is so, that's why he's saying city girls. I'm just saying that's why he's saying city girls because he loves this. This is what he wants for her. Yeah, yeah, you're right. And she was rapping to City Girls too in that now deleted TikTok video.

In that TikTok video. What I do wish, though, is people would just let her live her life. Let her live her life. Be a young college student and have the best time ever. The name fits JT, Young Miami, and Sasha. Sasha. Sasha. City girls become a trio.

By the way, you said, you asked me, you was like, oh, man, why are you like it so much? I like shit like that. I like seeing people be them. I like seeing people be them. Good for her. Okay. I don't know. I don't know if you feel that way.

Jackson, uh, let's, let's go ahead. Jackson, let's go ahead. I've been in that same seat. I know you have.

I know you have. Jackson. A couple mailback questions and we're out. Okay. First one is from Irma Fernandez. What sporting event do you wish you had been, do you wish you had been able to see live like in person?

Mike Tyson and Roar Jones, Union? The most recent one? Okay, I would say whatever Super Bowl it was that Michael Jackson performed at. You're up, you're not, you're not, no. No, why not? It said, what sporting event do you wish you would have seen live? Why can't I go back?

So we're not, we're not talking about pandemic stuff. We're talking about, I thought, I thought this question meant during the pandemic. Because you don't, you don't, you don't, you're mad at your original answer. No, no, Jack was. Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait. Oh, we're talking about overall or it's during the pandemic. Yeah, oh, I think the question was meant for overall, which is why I thought your, your answer was really, really. No, no, I thought it was doing that.

I was a wild, a wild answer. No. Oh, my God, did he not hear the question? The current, the recent one? Right. No, I thought it was during the pandemic. If that's not the case, then it's a tie for either the Saints who winning the Super Bowl or for LSU winning this last past national championship.

Oh, you weren't there? No, I didn't get, I didn't go because, you know, I couldn't go because I was sick. Oh, it was, it was a good game. It was a good game to be at. Yeah. I still go with the trailer, the trailer of it. Oh, yeah, I was like, my Texan was Roy Jones Jr. When they're like, yeah, you're like the reason one?

I thought it was during the pandemic. Okay. Okay. Mine would have been the Super Bowl when Michael Jackson perform. Not for the game for Michael Jackson or Kobe's last game. Kobe's last game. I watched Kobe's last game. Shout out to the Watson, Sam, Marcus and Brandon.

I watched it over. Me and the Watson's watched that. It was an amazing night, man. It was a magical, amazing, crazy night. That would have been fantastic. Okay, last one. Last mailback. From Kate Pancratz.

What are you reading right now? Doomsday Clock. I'm reading the Doomsday Clock. It is a sequel to Watchman. Fantastic. It's a graphic novel, nothing too heavy. Just something to take my mind, keep my mind on the fantasy of it all.

What about you, Rach? Sorry, I had to burp. I am reading... Keep that in. I don't care. I'm reading cast by Isabel Wilkerson. Oh, yeah. So I've heard a lot about it.

Not... It's in Oprah's Book Club, which I don't normally necessarily read the books in her book club, but no, this is just one that piqued my interest. So, yeah, cast. Okay. Guys, we are out of here on the next higher learning. We're going to get to the Batch Recap, okay?

We got a two for two episodes this week. Why? Two episodes of Batch? Monday night and Tuesday night. There's an episode of Batch tonight? Yes. Well, Monday night, yes. Monday night. Okay. So Monday night and Tuesday night, I'll give a short recap on both of those coming up. And we are going to continue to follow all the trials. The first people are being vaccinated right now as we speak. So shout out to all of them. Hopefully they do not grow ears coming out of the middle of their heads. But they won't. We would like to thank Dr. Abdul Syed for being here and educating us. You guys can take your think caps off. But things are moving too quickly. Do not stop learning. I am Van Lathan. I'm Rachel Lentie.

We out. You know,