Higher Learning with Van Lathan and Rachel Lindsay - Jussie Smollett Found Guilty and Travis Scott Speaks on Astroworld Tragedy | Higher Learning | The Ringer

Episode Date: December 10, 2021

Van Lathan and Rachel Lindsay react to the news of Jussie Smollett being found guilty for falsely reporting a hate crime (13:56) and the Department of Justice suing the state of Texas (27:23). Plus, discussing Travis Scott's conversation with Charlamagne tha God about the recent tragedy at his Astroworld Festival (39:29) and breaking down the production woes for 'Black Panther 2' (1:03:18). Also, a question: Is math racist? (1:16:33).    Hosts: Van Lathan and Rachel Lindsay Producers: Trudy Joseph and Donnie Beacham Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Yo, yo, yo, thought warriors. What is up? How I learning is on. Is I Van Lathen, Jr. And it's me, Rachel and Lindsay. Rachel, you were just playing with your background right there. Yeah. I'm going to do that.

I'm going to start putting pictures up behind. You know, like they green screen like the kids do. You didn't like it. You don't like change. It bothered me for a second. I wasn't sure what was going on. It was like you do it. It looked like you were in a special side.

hi-fi area or something. I don't know. It was different. I would think that would excite you. I don't know. Look at this. I don't know. It's, I don't know.

It bothers me. No. We have to address something. What happened? A lot. We had our first podcast in person. Oh, yeah. Let's talk about it.

It was an abject disaster. Allegedly. Allegedly, we had it in person. No one knows. I saw frustrated thought warriors on the Reddit. They couldn't get there. daily fix of higher learning, not their daily fix, but their Tuesday morning fix of higher learning. And they were making up all kinds of content that was supposedly in the episode.

That's funny. Very funny. Thought warriors are funny. They are. They were like, hey, did you guys catch that Cowder written house interview that they did? They were like, one said, that's good. Vanmate Mitch McConnell unexpected out of the week. I love you guys.

I love you guys. I'll say this. We recorded the podcast. We did. In person. In person. Video. Shout out to the Spotify

studios there, downtown Los Angeles, the arched district where I used to live. We recorded the podcast. It went great, had a different feel. Trudy was there.

You know, dealing in misandry and different things, hating guys as she dates, talking about how you drain a man on the first date, all kinds of things. Wow.

That's what you. you were saying. That's what people said. People, that you caused the conversation. We're going to talk more about it. But then when we were trying to, I guess, send the files over, this is something new. We hadn't done it before. I guess the video had crashed midway and the files themselves were kind of janky. So there was a delay. We didn't get any video. So that is what happened on the podcast this past Tuesday. Not on purpose. We wanted to show. I mean, we were excited. We teased it. This was this was supposed to be a moment, but that's okay. you know, we'll save it for the new year. Yeah. Because we want to make sure we get it right. Yeah, we're going to do it right. Save it for the new year. We're going to be back in person,

pods happening all next year. This was Don't do that. I'm not going to let you do it. I'm not going to let you do it. Donnie, I got you. This is something that, like, on the back end, we, Rach and I, we have to be able to trust

that we have people that have our backs in this area. And Donnie, I don't know, Donnie did something that, you know, Leon Lett did in the Super Bowl back in the day. He dropped the ball. Don't talk about Cowboys. He did drop the ball. Shout out Don Beebe, greatest hustle play in NFL history.

Listen, I don't want to throw Donnie under the bus and I don't want to throw anybody else under the bus. It's definitely not Donnie's fault. Donnie was sitting there waiting for the lives. I was trying to get this done. Donnie stayed up all night. Tell him, Donnie. Donnie. let him know.

Donnie wasn't in the room. It's a joke. Donnie wasn't in the room. Oh, Donnie came at me. I was up until 4.30, nigger. Did you hear, Donnie? I heard it. Yeah, I heard it.

You didn't even have to say it. Niggin. Niggin. Niggin. Oh, Niggin. We got to reach out to niggin. Niggin next week is your week. We got to know what it is.

But yeah, Donnie and Trudy were very valiantly trying to save that podcast. And they did. Audio, no video. We apologize to the thought words for that. Was it kind of anticlimatic that our first in-person pod was steeped in controversy? Like several controversies? No. Or just Trudy's Trudy's controversy?

Oh, you mean. They're so mad at Trudy. You mean the fact we didn't have a video. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, listen. The fact, the point is, you guys, we got together in person. Yeah.

You know what I mean? It's coming. It's coming. Big things for higher learning in 2022. Yeah. A lot of guys out there burning gift cards because of Trudy. Trudy was a hit. I had a lot of guys.

It's so funny. I got one tweet. It was like, man, I thought Trudy was old as pissed, but she sounded like a young tenderoni on the podcast. Okay. I was like, oh, my God. Oh, my God. But then those same guys came back and they don't like this.

This whole gift card thing is controversial, man. Is it common? Did they say, did they go into further detail that they do? bring gift cards? I've never been on a date where a guy brought a gift card. I don't think it's a common occurrence, but I think it's one of those things to where you just want to know if it would be okay. I don't think it's a common occurrence at all. I've never done, well, I've done it with Gleika, but who cares?

You know, you're already together. Yeah, you know what I mean? But like, it's, it's, I don't think it's a common thing with the gift card situation. I don't know. I don't know. But I think it's something that a guy would want to know, hey, if I got a date, you know, and I got $100 to Olive Garding, I would like to take her there. And there should be no repercussions for that. Well, I'm not in out there anymore. But Trudy is and Trudy says it's not okay.

Trudy, give me some other red flags. Give us Trudy's top red flags when meeting a new guy. Top five red flags. Think of, give us some top five. I could name some on them. One of my favorites is if he's like wearing a hat, like immediately, I think your hairline's probably, you can't tell. Wait a minute.

They're going to hate you again next week. They go ahead. I'm sorry, friend. Yeah, the airline's definitely questionable. We can't wear hats. Trudy, Trudy. Come on now, Trudy. You wouldn't date.

You wouldn't date again? Okay. When I first, are you just a questionable hair line? I'm 26. That's what you all said to understand. It's like I'm 26. But some people lose their hairline at 21.

My boy, Gino started losing his hair at three. Walter Gino McLaughlin from Baton. He sounds like he's lost it at three. I want everybody to go to Walter Gino McLaughlin's Instagram and tell them. You lost your hair early. Van says it. Your hair skipped school. You know what?

And like he, like some balls men look great. And you know, that's somebody's man. It's just not mine. Damn, Trudy. Okay.

There's a whole chapter in my book about a list. Okay. I'm just telling you. So can I ask you a question? Catch your question. Catch your question. All right.

Seriously, and this is a serious question. No, I'm not, I'm not about to drag you at all. Hey, I'll be honest with you. I'll be honest with you. I'm not about to drag you. I'm not about to drag you at all. Whatever your list of rear flags is your list of rear flags. But what if the conversation was like with a guy, a bunch of guys and they say,

if I can see a girl's panty line, it's out. That's not the same thing. Why? That's like apples and oranges. How? As a matter of fact, I would, I would, I would, argue that the hair line is actually more egregious because that's something you have absolutely zero control over.

It would be the equivalent to edges. Yeah. That's the equivalent. Wait a minute. Your edges, look, first of all, for a lot of guys, seeing the panty line is unattractive. It's unattractive. For a lot of guys, it makes you think of your school teachers and all of that stuff. But to me, it would be something sort of superficial to raise as a red flag.

And I got to be honest with you. That's such an easily fixable thing. So, wait, wearing a hat. So what you guys are saying is just, I'm glad to wear this. So hold on. No, no, no. I'm glad that we're having this conversation. So it's the easily fixable things.

So something that you can't fix, something that's like you could be a great personality, great guy, donate to the Red Cross, but you just got bad jeans like Gino does. And you saw it losing your hair at 23. Nothing you can do about that. But something you can fix, that's what you're not responsible for. When I'm initially meeting you, I don't know your personality. I don't know your charitable donations. Like, I don't know all that stuff.

So if I was just in a club and you pull me aside on the club, going to have your number, whatever, whatever, and you're wearing a hat. And I have reason to believe because even with wearing a hat, sometimes you just have a laser vision. If I suspect, hold on, hold on. What is that a second, true? Trudy is hilarious. If you're wearing a hat and I suspect that you are follically challenged,

I can't believe you walked your receding ass over here to try to talk to DJ. No, no, no, no. You asked me for my number. I might not give you my number. I will definitely take your Instagram and then do further investigation later that night. That's all I'm saying. You will investigate a man's hairline to make sure. Trudy, you toxic.

Trudy. Trudy. What if he just has a big head? I have a big head and I can accept that. Like I might be able to accept your big head. But then I don't know because two big-headed people together. That's just. Make a waterhead, man.

We don't need no more waterhead babies out here. We've seen some in the past. It didn't work. Waterhead babies. You look at the baby. Like a, like a, were you? That's why you got strong neck muscles now. Because you was carrying that shit like the whole.

whole time. Like now that's why you're so headstrong. You're so headstrong. You're headstrong now. That's why, you know, because it's the waterhead. I could see. Look at your neck. You got a good neck.

It's the waterhead. When I was in the neighborhood playing one time, neighborhood kid, did I tell you all this? No. Neighborhood kid walked up to me and like, you know how like y'all are scoring on each other and you going back and forth? He just walked up, put his hand over my head. Yes, I told this story and saying,

I got the whole world. That's funny. That's funny. That's funny. And I ran home all the way home and cried. That's funny. That's funny. So your head, your head jokes won't work here.

I've been dealing with them for years. Okay, Trudy, what else is on the list? One more, Truddy. Give us one more. Damn. You guys are making me getting my bag here. Yeah, getting your bag. If, oh, no, I think.

can't say this one. Say it. No, no, no, because I already dragged enough in this. No, say it. Is it, is it hands? Hashtag dating Trudy. Give me another way. So I'm from Massachusetts

and it's cold like six months. It's honestly like eight months out of year. And I almost lie there. It's eight months out of the year. And you know the little corner of your knuckles? Yeah. If you got that ash

in that little corner You're looking way too hard, Trudy. Your fingers, guys with long fingernails, oh my guy. Long fingernails is true. But Trudy, Trudy, you know what the next question is? They could have washed their hands and got that ash.

Like, you got to keep that. You got to keep that on you. I got to be honest with you. Trudy, you know what the next question is going to be from a lot of people listening to this? Are you single? Don't do, don't do. Don't you dare.

Dr. Kevin Samuel. I'm not Kevin Samuels. She's a high value woman. I'm not Kevin Samuel. I'm asking, are you single? Like, you know, is it working? You have to ask me that again. And I would say, ask me around Valentine's Day.

And then I'll be able to really answer that. I got you. I got you. But like, most people say bad breath. They stink. Oh, yeah. You know, okay, bad hygiene, all that. So, okay, I just have a little bit different of a bag.

Like, all of that. to me is like low hanging fruit. I gave y'all like the creme de la cramp. I got you. I got you. Judy, please add me to the group chat. Please.

I want to be on the group chat too. I want to be. I think on a group chat like that, y'all need at least one dude that's defending the guy. I know. It ruins the chat. I think you need one guy. Just, hey, man, this look, I'll be honest with you.

What if that man was thoroughly washing his hands because of COVID? He comes out. He gets hit by that gust to air. Y'all don't understand that gusts to air. that's what happened to that's what happened to Kevin Duran look you could wash your shit and loathing your shit right wash your shit again for whatever

and then that one gust of air it's like ashy air the air could be ashy it hits your shit and just draw the ass right out of you Trudy I'd like to send everyone in the group chat a complimentary book Oh absolutely please I'll send you everyone's address Just a compliment Let's have a book club and just get into it

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including important safety information. All right. We have to start the podcast with really bad breaking news. Travesty of justice has happened in Chicago. As former Empire actor, Jesse Smolett, was convicted on Thursday on charges that he staged an anti-gay racist attack on himself nearly three years ago in Chicago.

The verdict was read. Jesse stood up and faced the jury. No visible reaction. five counts of disorderly conduct for the 39-year-old embattled singer and actor he was acquitted on the sixth count of lying to a detective

in mid-February no sentence has yet been announced he will be sentenced at a later date there's a post-trial hearing on January 27th unclear on whether or not that is where he will be sentenced. Disorderly conduct is a class for felony that carries a prison

sentence of up to three years. But people have always said that if he was convicted, Jesse would most likely be placed on probation and giving community service. Rachel, you got what you wanted. No, stop, stop, stop, stop.

Stop, stop. In the system. Stop, stop. I find it interesting because we followed this case here on this podcast. We followed it on extra. Everybody was paying attention. And it really seemed like it was 50-50. It really seemed like it was, do you believe Olo and Bolo? Or do you believe Jesse Smallett?

And it seems split down the middle when we would ask people, they said they don't know which way it was going to go. The jury deliberated for nine hours and said, we don't believe Jesse. That speaks volumes. They were the ones in their courtroom because there were no cameras there. They were analyzing every bit of testimony because let's not forget, Jesse took the stand. Okay, not every defendant takes a stand. He took the stand. He told his version and they said, no, we don't believe you.

So here's the thing. Yes, he could get probation. Yes, that's likely. But it's also likely that he could receive three years in prison. And this is what they're saying. They're saying Jesse exposed himself to jail time when he testified in court. And experts are saying that that was a miscalculation by the defense team to put him on the stand to testify because it opened him up. And now the judge gets a sense of what he said.

And by the jury saying that he was guilty, they're resoundingly rejecting what he had to say. Basically, we're not buying what you're selling. So, Jesse could see some jail time. I hope not. You know, give him probation, give him community service. but the jury's spoken, man. Yeah. And look.

You said he was guilty. You said it. At the end of the day, it's probably the right. At the end of the day, it's probably the right decision. And at the end of the day, all those 12 jurors would have left that sandwich on the sidewalk. That's the truth. I'll be honest with you. There's a separate case here to be litigated.

And the separate case has nothing to do with justy. It has to do with the sandwich itself. The reality is that, you know, Leaving behind a sandwich after an attack, to me, is more indicative of what a psychopath would do. Like, if I'm interviewing a witness and they say all these things have happened to them, and I go, okay, well, where's the sandwich? And they go, I left the sandwich on the sidewalk. I'm not doing this today with you.

Guilty? Guilty? Who's going to leave that sandwich on the sidewalk right there? Well, you do whatever. Look, in all seriousness, if this ever went to trial, this was going to be the outcome. the evidence seemed to be overwhelming in the face of Justice Smolett's guilt here. This is what I would say to Jesse Smolett.

Like I tell you, somebody who I know who I have a lot of respect for. Justice Smolett now owes the culture, the truth. He does. He's never going to tell it. As much as I joke around about this, trial, which I think, you know, has some political motivations behind it. Obviously, we discussed that.

As much as I have joked about the fact that this is not that big of a deal to me, at the same time, let me be completely clear. Whereas I don't think that the police themselves are, have the latitude to not investigate things as intensely because somebody might have misled them. I don't think the police or the fire department and anybody like that can do that. I think that's bullshit. So I completely reject the idea that, oh, the next time they might not believe us, I think that's bullshit.

I think we should demand more and ask for more from our public servants. I will say this, though, at Justice of a lesbian filed guilty of this crime, he's guilty of the crime in the court of law. At the time that this was going on and even still, today, the very real, very real feelings of black people and allies everywhere were actually preyed upon by Jesse Smolett and by, you know, anyone else that took place in this. And that is a cultural crime. It is a cultural crime to have taken the emotions of people and used them, put them out there

and then not in any way have been telling the truth. And I think the difference between me and a lot of other people is I don't think that every cultural crime is a cultural death sentence. I don't think that that means you don't have a place in the culture. I don't think that that means you don't have a voice in the culture. I think what it means is that at some point you tell the truth. at some point you come clean and you sit down with somebody wherever you want to go however you want to do it you tell people you made a mistake and then rather than it being on justice mollett it'll be on us as a culture of people who've made mistakes to decide how soft of a bed we're going to give justice mollett to land on but in all seriousness now that this has been adjudicated legally now that the evidence has been heard i think it's time for justice smolet to land on but in all seriousness now that this has been adjudicated legally now that the evidence has been heard i think it's time for justice Millette to come clean and to actually apologize to the people he misled and apologize to

Black America, to the LGBTQ plus community and to anyone else that he personally feels like he's a part of anyone who's supported him over the years. I think that's very important for him to do. I think if he does that, we should be like, all right, man, you fucked up. Don't do it again and we move on. Wouldn't that be nice if that happens? That's never going to happen. It's never going to happen. Because at this point, if you're going to accept what the jury said,

then that means he lied twice to the culture. He lied about the event happening. And then he lied, so he lied about what happened. And now he lied on the stand about why it happened. Right. So he's never, at this point, the moment he decided to take the stand and testify under oath his version of what occurred. And he went into some detail, like some deep, secreted detail and was exposing people.

We didn't even talk about what he said about Don Lemon because we found out kind of in real time that he was taking the stand when we were doing the podcast. But Jesse has to, at this point, if he decided to make that bold of a move, that's what he's choosing to stand. he's going to say the jury got it wrong. He's going to say he was judged by the court of public opinion. He's going to say that people were against him, had judged him before he even walked in. He might even talk about not getting a fair trial because everyone was so familiar with the case. And he's going to hold on to what he said in that courtroom. And that's that.

And I think it would be nice if he came out and said that. But that means he has to tell us he lied twice. And I just don't see that happening. and I think what he is just going to have to accept is what the jury decided, whatever the judge decides to do with sentencing. If they decide to appeal, then whatever happens with that. But that's it.

Yeah, I mean, I'm not saying that he's going to. What I'm saying is, there can't be absolution until, you know, like you can't be absolved and you can't get a clean slate unless you clean up. And in this case,

I personally think at the end of the day as much fun as I've had with this I don't think it's the end of the world but it is a thing it's a thing for me to be at a school or be at a place to come home and cry racism cry this when it didn't happen. It's a thing.

It's a thing because while it might not mean anything structurally emotionally it's corrosive. Absolutely. It's absolutely corrosive. And, you know, I've had this thing. I've had this thought about other people.

I had this thought about, to be honest with you, Johnny Cochran. Brilliant lawyer. But Johnny Cochran used the very real racial animus of Los Angeles to gender support for somebody who killed two people. And Johnny was doing his thing. He was doing his job.

and everybody in their life should want to have a Johnny Cochran on the on their side. The reality of it is though, at certain points, there are things, touch points that are sensitive and stuff that has to mean something in the end. And our feelings, our angst are hurt, our disappointment in the system. They have to mean something in the end. So, uh, Jesse, if you're listening to this, um, obviously an open invitation to come on higher learning, of course. Of course.

Of course. But somewhere at some point, a deeper, more thorough explanation of what was going on in your head. Yeah, why? Like why this happened? How this happened and all of that. Just so people know that they can trust you. And they should be able to trust Justice Smolet.

And he should want that. He should want people to trust him. Yeah. Justice Smolet has done enough in his past for people to trust him. And, you know, people fuck up. People make mistakes. people make grand, huge, hilarious, off-color, ridiculous, ridiculous subway sandwich mistakes.

This is a subway sandwich mistake. You know, on the list of things that subway people have done wrong, this is way down. But, but, but, Jesse, if you can hear me, if, if, if anyone in Jesse's life can hear me, just just come clean man talk to us we your family trust us like our uncles and cousins then done worse all right texas while and again you know wait wait you made a face you don't have any uncles or cousins in the whoa we've never talked about this do you have family in the pen

not any uncles cousins how close they're not currently in the pen But they were before. Let's just put it like that. In and out, right? They're in and outers. Right. Not, not like been there sentenced to 20 or even 10 years or anything. They're in and outers.

And I don't mean like overnight. I mean, they definitely spend some time there. And they do something else and they go right back in. Right. Yeah, yeah, yeah. My family was the fucking prison. Like, we were the prison. You know what I mean?

Like, it was, it was like, it was so funny. Like And my Uncle Ray would Shout out to my Uncle Ray My Uncle Ray He would see people around town And be like yeah I was locked up with him

I was like how many times Are you fucking locked up He was like He's like I was locked up with him Oh that's your homie's father Oh I was locked up with him We did some time together I was locked up with him

Yeah I can tell you some things about him No I don't want to know Uncle Ray Uncle Ray Great guy But see they all got locked up For different stuff Uncle Ray was

federal moving some of that birds fly down south you know Uncle Uncle Ray had it going he was doing this thing out here you know shout out shout out

yes but Texas while it out again part of justice is suing Texas over new electoral maps Texas has decided look our state is getting too niggerish that's what Texas has decided

Texas is pushing back against niggerishness. They have said that minority voters have accounted for 95% of the population growth in Texas over the last decade. But there are no new majority minority districts in the new plans that the Texas legislature is drawing up. They're controlling these congressional seats. They're gerrymandering the fuck out of this situation. and Merrick Garland is suing them. Merrick Garland says this. The complaint that we filed today alleges that Texas violated Section 2

by creating redistricting plans that deny or abridge the rights of Latino and black voters on account of their race, color, or membership in a language or minority group. So Texas is now a place where you are currently disenfranchised. You have your reproductive rights take. and it's even more difficult to vote. So even if you can vote in an area where like you're outnumbered, it's more difficult to vote. What the fuck is going on with your home state, Rachel?

It's embarrassing. I've been saying it. It seems like every week we're in the news and the fact that this isn't the first time in like what, the last couple of months that the United States is suing the state of Texas. Yeah. Texas is, I feel like Texas is taking a stance where they're like to all the other red states, it's like, hey, look at us, watch what we do. Maybe you can emulate it or you can figure out what we did wrong and do it better.

We see this in abortion. We've seen this with gun laws. We've seen this now with voting. I feel like I'm running out of things to even name here. But what's happening in Texas is what's going to happen pretty much to the future of this country. Minority is going to become the majority. And Texas gained two seats in Congress because they are growing so fast. And yet they're still holding down minorities, right?

They're trying to desperately cling to what once was, not how things are going to be. And I mean, this whole article and what's happening right now and this. lawsuit is showing that. And it's not going to stop. I feel like every month we're talking about Texas and something that's going on. Every single issue. Texas itself seems like it's going to be an issue in 2024. Seriously.

It's going to be a campaign issue. Let me tell you what's happening right now in Texas. Nope. Don't you say something wild. I'm not saying it's on the level of subway. It's not, has nothing to do with subway. Stop besmirching subway. All right?

I'm telling you, man, I'm starting to take it personally pretty soon. Stop the smirching subway. Texas is coming for the crime For a long time here in America Florida has been the Number one state in terms of fuckery Now I love you guys in Florida Don't get on me

The reality is that If there was a headline that said Man has sex with alligator Alligator Eats Man Hours after sexual encounter What state is that coming from? Florida That's coming from Florida.

Okay. If there is a frisbee gets stuck in the mouth of seven foot six-year-old child, you know what I mean? Florida. Florida's the place where all of that kind of shit happens, right? Texas said no. Texas is like we want to be the capital of fuckery. But our fuckery won't be weird, like bizarre, politically incorrect fuckery. Texas is going for the capital of real actual fuckery.

Texas is going Florida. You got hillbillies? Well, guess what? We got slaves. We got people who can't fucking vote. We got people whose votes don't count. We got people who can't do stuff with their bodies. We got, you can fucking go to 7-Eleven in our state and buy an M-16 carbine and a 16 carbine

and a 60 round drum. We are going for the number one fuck-fucked-up place in the entire world. The question, Rachel, is we know Texas is doing this and we know that Georgia is going, hey, wait a second, man, we're right behind you.

Then the little brother's my home state, Louisiana, and then Mississippi, they're like, we want to be fucked up too. The question is, how does this stop? You are, a very proud Texan. What has to happen to stem the tide of what's going on there? Is it possible? Well, it's leadership, right? I mean, you throw Georgia in there. Georgia's sitting back and watching,

well, what's happening in Georgia right now? Stacey Abrams, with all that she did, what she lost in the governor's race last time, then what she did in that state, and then throughout the United States, and now she's running again. It's leadership. It's having people with power who can actually make changes. What's happening right now in Texas is because it's a Republican-run Congress, and you've got Greg Abbott as a Republican governor. You've got the lieutenant governor underneath him, and they're the ones making all these rules. So I feel like if you can knock it down at the top, which the only way to do that is through voting, then you can make those changes. And we've seen it in Georgia.

So it's like the same way we're talking about, hey, these red states are looking at. Texas, we need to be looking at Georgia and see what Georgia did in the Senate with the governor's race. We're going to be watching what happens with Stacey Abrams. Does Texas have a Stacey Abrams? Does Texas have someone there on the ground who can because here's the thing that we keep talking about here on the podcast? We have one of them on our podcast. Who? Sheila Jackson Lee. Okay. Well then so this is my thing. We understand the voting. restrictions that are going on in Texas. We understand all of this stuff that's happening. It has to be organized around. Stacey Abrams organized around some of the things and got

people out to the polls. The Democrats are doing a piss poor job right now of messaging all the things that they're doing. We've talked about that ad nauseum here on the podcast. But what has happened now is somebody has to take the reins in Texas and somebody has to be responsible for the political and cultural revolution that needs to take place there if people are going to have their freedoms. And I don't know who that person is. Well, I think also talking about Because I mean, remember Texas was in the news When the Democrats refused to come

And join the Oh my gosh, what's that, what's it called? The legislation, what's it called? When they meet, the meeting, the meeting, the meeting they do. The session. The session. They refused to come back Until they were basically like, Listen, we're going to come and get you.

So, you know, they're doing things there But then also with what's happening right now with the United States suing Texas right now because they're violating the Voting Rights Act. That's bringing to the attention of what's happening. How many people in Texas probably did not know that we gained two seats, but yet when it comes to redistricting in the mapping, we have no power.

The fact that we're gaining more minorities, more brown and black people are coming into the state, yet we're losing our voting power. So talking about this, I think, is also helping. But you're right. Yes, we need one person or we need an organization. You know, Stacey wasn't just one person. and she built an organization.

There was boots on the ground. Yeah, we need that. What are you looking at? You keep looking away at the, like you're looking at. Is something happening to you? No, I'm just like, when I think, when I think I like look, yeah, I'm not just looking straight ahead. Like I'm thinking because I'm also thinking about what I'm going to say and my thoughts. Yeah.

I'm not reading. The judge should run for governor of Texas. No, my dad's never been in a politics like that. But you're right. We need someone. You know, we should have Senator Royce West to come on because we were going to have him come on before at one point. And we should talk to him about that. Senator Royce West has been influential in the state of Texas, especially he's in the district that my parents live in.

Going back to helping out the, we talked about this. He was with the, what was the movie that came out with the athletes at Carter being accused? Carter High, it's like this Carter High was called Carter High. And there was, there was, they made them look terrible on. Oh, Friday Night Lights. Friday Night Lights. A bunch of big, dirty, fast-playing niggas. The coach was licking on a lollipop.

Just looked weird. We'll have him, we'll have somebody come on and talk about that. Yeah, Operation Texas, man. Gotta figure out what the hell is going on. I realize something. I hate politicians. What made you just realize that? I'm pretty sure you've expressed that sentiment on this day podcast.

No, that was a dislike. But now as I get older, I'm looking around and I'm seeing a bunch of every sort of, every politician to me looks like their prepared statement. They look like a finished speech. They don't look like anything expeperaneous. They don't, politicians to me now, because as I get older, especially after the last year and a half,

and I'm stuck in my own human emotions and I know how they come out and how they present, I look at politicians and they look like no comments. They look like statements given to the press. They don't look like anything that's real. They don't seem like they're breathing. Does Beto look like that to you? Since we're staying on Texas and he is now running for governor. Good question.

Beto looks like somebody that might be breathing. Might be. Might be. So I put it to you like this. So he's short of breath. You ever been in? You ever seen a zombie movie before? Yes.

And then you watch a zombie movie, right? And then zombie movies sometimes like somebody gets bit, but you can't tell whether or not they're a zombie yet. And they're hiding the bite. And like, you don't want you to see the bite. And over the course of the movie, either they cut their arm off or you find an antidote or something, or they become a zombie,

Beto is in mid-political zombie phase. He's been bitten, but he's not all the way a zombie yet. He's hiding the wound. You know, he's hiding. He's like, oh, don't look at my arm. He put it like, hey, no, don't look at my arm, whatever, whatever. But it's coming then.

But it doesn't have to. He can either cut his arm off. He can find the antidote. You know what I mean? That's where Beto is right now. And there are a lot of people out there that are like that. there are a lot of people out there that are kind of there but not there and I'm hoping one of them

takes the fucking antidota just steps in there steps in there to be if you're going to be a politician be a people's politician you know because you got to play the political game but fucking care about us man Stacey Stacey cut her arm off

Stacey Abrams she's cut her arm off I don't think she had to I don't think she was ever she was never ever bit you just made your segue to the next topic, go ahead. What's the, what do you mean? With the antidote. What, what do we, what's that?

You tell me, you tell me what's going on. Travis Scott spoke for the first time. Oh, wow, Rach, God damn, that's a good fucking. I know, and I thought, I just knew that's why you kept using that word. No, because I'm looking it down. I've got the rundown right in front of me. Rach, that's a fucking million dollar fucking, uh, segue right there. Travis Scott sat down with old Charlemagne de God Lanier McElvey.

And talked about the astro world tragedy for the first time. Rach, did you watch this interview? No. And surprisingly, not many people did. Well, one, it's just been a crazy day and I didn't have time. It was an hour-long interview. I read about it. I didn't have time to sit down and watch the whole thing.

But not, I'm like, I looked on YouTube to see. And I thought millions of people would have wanted to hear what Travis God had to say for the first time. It hasn't even reached a million views. I'm actually surprised, which may be very telling to how people feel about Travis Scott right now and this tragedy that happened at AstroWorld. They don't even want to hear from him. They aren't even curious as to what he has to say. It seems that in the court of public opinion, they've already made their mind up about Travis.

This was a bad move. I don't know if he felt inspired after watching Alec Baldwin sit down and do an interview with George Stephanopoulos, which had mixed reviews, which people felt like he was making himself the victim in the situation where someone lost their life. Whoever's, I don't know why Travis Scott would sit down and feel like he needs to talk. He has issued a statement. He put out a bad Instagram video, and I think he just needs to let this play out and the legal system do its job.

I personally am not interested in what Travis Scott has to say because at this point, we know he's denying liability, so anything he has to say is going to deny. anything that makes him responsible for that tragedy that happened. I just, when I saw this, I was in shock. First of all, did you know this was happening before it happened? Did not. Okay. Wow. Really?

I promise, yeah. Did not. Okay. Did not know that was happening. So when I woke up, this is the first thing I saw this morning. And I just was like, why? Why, why, why, why, why, why would he do this? Now, I didn't watch it.

You did. Did you have any, like what was your impression of it? Did it change your mind or maybe you haven't even made up your mind yet? Did it help you understand? So let's let's let Travis Scott speak for himself real quick. A couple of clips from the interview. Then I'm going to give you guys and tell you what I thought of it. Here's Travis Scott specifically on his responsibility in terms of the astro world tragedy.

is, does he feel responsible for what happened to the actual real tragedy? Check it out. So I guess my final question, man, who does, who does Travis Scott ultimately, I guess, think is responsible for this tragedy? You know, it's crazy because something tragic happened here and what I've just been trying to, you know, get to the bottom of is just what happened.

here, how it happened here. And I, you know, I think the families are old, you know, that. I feel like, you know, the community is old that. I feel like we're old that to just know what happened here. And, you know, I don't want to, I don't want to just speak too soon. I just want to figure out, you know, what happened, you know. But, you know, we, like I said, you know, as artists, we just leave this up, you know, to, you know, to professionals, to be. make sure that we, you know, that fans are having a good time. You know, people are protected and can, you know, leave and have the best experience ever, you know. You know, they're going to pick this interview apart.

So is there anything you want to say, you know, to your fans, to the family of people who lost loved ones, you know, before we get out of here? I mean, I just want everyone to just continue praying for the fans. So here's the thing about that. and we'll play another clip from the interview in a second and we'll talk about a very pointed question that was asked to Travis Scott about the culture that exists

and his shows and whether or not he feels like that contributed to what happened in Houston. This is what I'll say about that. So, I am of the school of thought that Travis Scott is probably not responsible for what happened in Houston at the Ashe Road Festival. Okay?

It's very rare that in a situation, like that, that one person would be responsible. It's probably the failing of multiple different organizations and different factions, right? The police probably bears some responsibility. Travis probably bears some responsibility. The event organizers probably bears some responsibility. And to be quite honest with you, the fans there probably bear some responsibility as well.

Okay. But what it is Travis Scott's responsibility to do is to fix everything. and that's unfair, but that's true. It's whereas he certainly didn't want 11 people to come to, like 11 people to die at one of his shows. He probably is the last person who would have wanted that to happen. In terms of what happens now, it is definitely on Travis Scott, his team,

whoever he has to pull together to try to do something to make a change in concert safety, make a change at his shows and make sure that people know that they are safe when coming to his shows, that they are value when they come to his shows, and that whatever went down in Houston, he will do whatever he can to try to mend it.

Okay? By that sort of, by that standard, he is doing maybe the worst job I have seen of anyone that's on the back end of a crisis like this. That answer was completely without any power. It was totally feckless.

It was meandering. It was wandering. It showed absolutely zero understanding of the gravity of the situation itself and of how difficult it's going to be for the families and people involved moving forward. Now, to be honest with you, that might be the actual way that he feels, right? He might feel in a state of confusion. I don't know what to say. certain things I can't say because I don't want to believe myself legally liable.

The point then becomes what is the purpose of the sit down? Thank you. The point, if you don't have anything to say, if you don't have anything to give, if you don't have anything to clear up, if you don't have any answers, then why would you subject yourself to being asked questions? I watched it and literally 10 minutes in Like all the questions that have to be asked are going to be asked, right? But literally 10, 15 minutes in, I'm like, this is a waste of time. Like this is a waste of time and it makes him look once again In a weird way, the interview makes Travis Scott look like somebody

Where that could happen at one of their shows Because he doesn't seem very. in tune with anything. He doesn't seem very engaged with it. He's obviously remorseful. Obviously remorseful. Obviously to me. I'm sure he has remorse. He'd have to be inhuman,

not to or subhuman. Now, I don't mean to dis black bolt and the rest of the inhumans, but like he'd have to be subhuman to not have any emotions. But there's a lack of clarity. There's a lack of plan. There's a lack of purpose

and a lot of things that he's saying right now. And I feel like that's almost worse. In a time where people, you can't make sense out of it, but they definitely aren't tied up to answers. He doesn't seem to have any. I disagree. I think there is a level of negligence that Travis Scott will have to account for. I don't think it's definitely going to be when you're naming police and, you know, the promoters and the city and. all that, he's going to be at the very bottom,

but it doesn't mean that he won't have some percentage. I personally believe. I said, I said he's a part of it shared with all those different entities. I don't think he is responsible. Okay. When you say, so then he is liable just at a bare minimum in regards to percentages. I don't mean this in any kind of shady way. I am very curious because this was my first thought as well.

My first thought when I saw that he was speaking out, I thought, why? Why would you do that? And the second thing was, why did he choose Charlemagne? And I, no, I'm like, I am asking a very genuine question. I think because I think. I'm not trying to be shady. Right, right. I was like, why did you choose Charlemagne?

I think because Shar has been, so the pitchforks came out for Travis pretty soon, right? Because people want to. So there's something else that we have to discuss on the backside of this, too, is that sometimes the way people make sense of things is with a pitchfork in their hand. So don't act like we can't act like it's not soothing to have somebody to blame for something that happened. It is. It makes you feel like there's more control over it. Someone did something wrong. And when you go someplace or when you're somewhere, somebody's going to do something right and it's not going to have it in the same way.

It makes you feel like you have more control if you know who to blame, right? And so whereas a lot of the other media was getting their pitch force out for Travis and, you know, Travis got in and trying to end his career, basically is probably the way he looks at it. I think that Shar has cast him in a little bit more of a sympathetic light and said, look, this is a tragedy that happened. So I think that the sit down in that instance was because maybe if Travis was in front of somebody else, it might have been either more uncomfortable or he might have felt like he was going to get grilled to a different degree. If he sits down on 2020 or Robin Roberts or somebody like that, not that the questions that were supposed to be asked in the interview weren't asked, but they are going to maybe ask questions that are trying to expose the fact that in the middle of this right now, there doesn't really seem to be a plan. My question to Travis is, how are you going to figure out what happened? Like, we just need to figure out what happened.

Okay, how? Who's figuring out what's happened? Who are you working with to figure out what happened, right? Like, has anyone given you a sense of where the breakdown was? Do we know how this started? He can't say that. But my thing is, okay, do we know why? Because at one point in an interview, he says he did see an ambulance in the crowd, right?

He said it was a golf cart with lights on it because that's what his attorney said. Well, he said he didn't know at first, but he said he could see it. And he stopped the show like, yo, there it is. What's like what the hell is going on and stuff? At this point, because there's also a point in the show to where they told him you can't perform anymore, something's going wrong. but the show went on for about 40 minutes after that. So how does something like that happen

between your team and you? Like, okay, we'll kill the show after the guest comes out. Well, you know, it's a lot of stuff. But I want to get to one more thing on this before we move on. One more thing. In past concerts, Travis has been he is encouraging the raging culture.

Now, if you've ever heard Travis or been to a Travis show, he'll even tell people sometimes, hey, don't let security stop you. much past security get to the stage people get jammed up and really really amped up at these shows and it creates sort of a frenzied atmosphere where people are going nuts. Wow, they're having a great time. Charlemagne asked him specifically if he felt like

that culture from his previous shows in any way contributed to what happened in Houston. Here's what he said. Raging make it harder to identify when something is going wrong in the crowd. Well, I think, you know, raging is just a you know they have a textbook you know definition but you know

in concerts we've grown it to be just experience of having fun it's not about just oh harm it's not about that it's about just letting go and having fun you know help others know love each other it's not about just you know

harm that's not what it's all about the show isn't just rambunctious for an hour you know that's not what it is So don't want to kick the boy It is nuts Don't want to kick the guy that's nuts

The man is nuts But Obviously that's a non-answer It's a non-answer Yeah you know what I mean So obviously that's a non-answer Well I guess in my thing is I will want follow up It's like well you did tweet

The day before if not the day of It doesn't matter if you don't have tickets show up anyway You know What about the fact that the police chief Who says he was friends with you Who's a friendly with you spoke to you before and told you he was concerned. Like these are things that, it's like, it's not keeping you why you down.

They did talk about that in the interview. Okay, and what did he say? Well, I mean, what he said in the interview was basically that they weren't really talking about specific issues that, like of crowd control, they were talking about something that happened at the merch stand or they were talking about, they were talking about other things, but nothing specifically like, hey, I think this could be a really dangerous situation. Nothing that would have raised like a red flag or the, the red alarm or anything like that.

That's so hard to believe when you see the videos of what they did at the merch stand. There's no way that that was just a calm, cool conversation of like, hey, you know, they bombarded the merch stand and pretty much tore it up and ran all over it and stole. Like, how in the world is that a calm? You know what I mean? And this is the daytime. And they're anticipating your arrival. It's just, listen, again, it should have, it's a conversation that I would have never put

my client in. I would not have allowed him to sit down and have this conversation. There's so much he can't say because he is denying all liability in this case. But I don't know. I love, love what you said, though, about this could be an opportunity for him to make changes in the culture of concert going. He said he's going to try, but he just didn't give anything specific. This could be huge. And you're right.

Like, what steps are you taking in regards to that other than not performing, right? That's not, we've seen you do that, but that can't be the end-all, be-all. Right. Because we know that you will eventually take the stage again. Right. So I, but I really think by based on how many people have watched this, they're very disinterested into what he has to say. Yeah.

All right. Let's take a break. This episode is brought to you by Spectrum Business. Fast, reliable internet means everything for your business. And even this podcast, that's why I trust Spectrum Business. They keep companies of all sizes connected with internet, advanced Wi-Fi, phone, TV, mobile services plus 24-7 U.S.-based support, millions of business owners already trust Spectrum Business.

So visit Spectrum.com slash business to learn more. Restrictions apply. Services not available in all areas. This episode is brought to by WeatherTech. Everyone knows winter is the MVP and make it a mess. You don't need WeatherTech floor liners in the summer unless you hit the beach or go camping. Then you'd want a cargo liner or a road trip goes sideways, ketchup goes rogue, ice cream drips, yeah, you'd be pretty happy about those weather tech seat protectors.

So just to be clear as the mud, you're inevitably going to step into the summer. You don't need weather tech unless you plan on doing summer. Visit weathertech.com today. Okay, one of my favorite stories. What? This is one of my favorite stories. What is we always ask ourselves, how much is being white worth? How much is being white worth?

We walk around here all black, all blacked up. Look at me. I'm looking at myself right now. Look at me black. Oh, look at brown. Big ass nose. We walk around here all blacked up and we don't know. What's the actual difference?

The dollar amount difference between black and white. In one case, it's half a million dollars. Man. Paul and Tunisia, Austin, purchased a home in Maryland. County, 2016, for $550,000. Then these two blacks put around $400,000 of extensive renovations into their home. They like Tyrese. Shout out to Reese, man.

I went to Reese's house. You go to Reese's house. You go in the front. Reese got a nice house, nice crib. And you go in the back of Reese's house. And it's like a fucking Wonderland. Reese got a Starbucks back there. Reese got a full.

club back there. He got a Habachi back there. Reese got a fool. He got a drive-in movie type of deal. Shout out to Reese, man. Show me a lot of hospitality. So they put it, they tie Reese their houses, what they did. Now, they wanted to sell the home after they put all this money

into it. And they were appraised for $995,000. They thought to themselves, hey, it's a little low. Does it seem like that is is what the house was worth after we've tiraced it. Sure.

So they called a white friend of theirs. Oh, what? And they wanted to get a second appraisal. Boom. House is now worth $1.4 million, nearly a 50% increase. Okay? The woman who appraised the home is named Jeanette Miller.

Very upsetting that her name is Jeanette, because that's the name of one of the Chippets. And the Chippets would never do something like this. So they have now filed a complaint. They plan to sue, and they feel like this is an example of some of the shenanigans that get played when black people are trying to sell homes,

buy homes, own homes. It speaks to a long history in this country, this enfranchisement of redlining of all of that stuff. Rachel, were you as tickled by this story as I was? No. Yes, it's funny. It's not funny. Yes, it is.

But here's what I had an issue with. So the woman comes, Jeanette. Jeanette Miller. She appraises the house for less than a million, all right? Exactly what they bought it for, exactly what their upgrades were, and that was it. then a second appraiser, I'm assuming, whether it's from the same company or a different company, a totally different person comes in and inspects the home when a white, when there's a white owner, and it costs more money.

What's the legal complaint here? You haven't shown necessarily a pattern that this woman or her company discriminates just because it happened to you. and you can easily say that this other person came in and they had a different rate. Jeanette was off. Maybe she's terrible at her job. Maybe she doesn't know how to appraise a house or the land or whatever.

Wow. I'm sorry. That's how I saw it. They're going to come at me. Me and Trudy. Trudy, it's you and me today. I'm sorry. I'm watching this.

I'm sorry. It would have been different. What I wanted to read. When I saw the headline, I was like, ooh. I wanted to know that Jeanette went back and then saw that it was white owners or something and then appraised it half a million dollar more.

You had a totally different person, totally different company, it sounds like, coming in and giving it a different value. You could easily say, well, Jeanette just sucks at her job. That's what the company would say. Show us the pattern of Jeanette discriminating against black people. So your team, so I want a more. I want it more from the story.

Whoa, whoa, whoa. Wach, I'll be honest with you. Not saying it's not true. I just want to more. Rachel, I'll be honest with you. This shit I like, okay? Because your team Jeanette on that, and this is cool. I'm not teaching that.

I'm just saying, the case is looking weak. You're one of the Chipettes. A pattern of discrimination. You're one of the Chipettes. The Chipettes used to be Eleanor, Jeanette, and Brittany. Now there. Eleanor, Rachel, and probably Yote. Yodi probably agrees with her, too.

Get Yote on here right now, legal, y'all talk about this whole thing. Y'all have to chip bets now. Interesting. So what you're saying is there are actually holes in the Austin's allegations here. I mean, I haven't read the whole complaint, but from what we're getting in this article, seems like, where can you show the link? Where can you show the pattern?

They say, you know, they allege, and I believe that they're probably right, that appraisers discriminate against black and brown people. It's a majority white neighborhood. That's probably true. But in this instance, it doesn't seem like that was established without showing that Jeanette or this company have a pattern of discriminating. Does it matter what Jeanette wrote on the appraisal documents when she saw? Oh, what is she right?

She said, nigger home. I was like, I did not see that. What? That's what she said. I was like, wait, I read the whole thing. I'm so bad. Minus 500,000. That's what she said.

Nigga home minus 500,000. That's what she said. That's what Jeanette said. Genet is like, Jeanette's not having it. But you know why? I like this discourse right here. I like this because I think what you're doing right now is very important. Like for me, I'm not a legal ego like yourself, right?

So I look at this and I think, hey, open it shut. like Jeanette is all down bad but what you're saying is actually there's more to it and that to me makes me a little smarter and maybe even helps me dial down my rage just a tad because what you're saying is

it's not that it's not racist but in this situation there's no way to know definitively whether or not it is or not. Yeah unless and maybe they have proof in their case to show that that she specifically or this company has like I said a pattern of doing it but

in this article I don't know the good thing is they got their house appraised for the correct amount and they're and they're going to be able to sell it at a very decent price we don't know if that's correct either we don't know what the you're right the second appraisant by me we don't know the second appraisal might have been like he walked in the house but yeah you look white but

I smell black in here those black eyed peas I smell smells like chitlin juice minus 200,000 no but obviously we know that redlining and this type of discriminatory practice is something that's very very real and by the way we are not at all saying I am certainly not saying that this did not happen in this case I still actually kind of not kind of

pretty much I believe that it did what we are saying and I would like to have Paul and Tanisha Austin on the podcast just see what they're talking about but what we're saying is that we're you're saying is you don't think in terms of a lawsuit that this has very much leg to stand on. Yeah, there's not enough evidence.

If this is it. Mm. Mm. Mm. Mm. Sorry. Look, uh, Black Panther 2 is in fucking trouble. Okay?

Yeah. Yeah. Letitia Wright, who plays Shuri, excellently, by the way, in Black Panther 2. Let's just face it, she's anti-vax. She doesn't want to take the Vax. Correct. I say anti-vaxer, not because she's vaccine hesitant, but because also she seemed to be going around reports

where she was going around on the set of Black Panther to Wakanda Forever and telling people about the evils of the Vax. Oh, really? Yeah, they were saying that earlier. Okay, now she doesn't want to take the Vax. She left the country. She can't come back into the country unless she gets vaccinated. She is not going to do it.

it. Okay. So the reports are she is done with the MCU. No Black Panther 2. No more MCU. No more Shuri. Have to recast Shuri. Black Panther 2 was already partly through the filming of the movie. And the goddamn movie had been written to make Shuri the central character with most people speculating that she would become Black Panther. So if she's off the movie now,

whatever she's shot now is probably kaput. If they recast a new shuri, they'd have to do it over. It's the movie was pushed back already. This is a fucking disaster on the second installment of a movie that we loved so much when the first one came out in 2018. Do you think that because if let's just say it is confirmed and she's not going to be a part of this movie and because they've already done so much with her that maybe this is her making a movie. move, right? This is her play. Well, if you can't do it with me, it's going to take you a long time to rewrite it and then refilm and do it without me. And you got to figure out how you're going to do it without me that by the time you do all that, I'll be at maybe the mandate or whatever the

rules are at Disney, is it Disney, will have changed and I can come in and do my part. It's tough. That could happen. That could be her play. It could. It could. It's tough. It's tough. It's tough. It's I got to be honest with you. I personally believe that they are furious with her. Of course. And have no, and have absolutely no desire to continue to work with Laetia Wright right now. Like,

what Laetia Wright feels about the vaccine, it is absolutely her prerogative. We've talked about this before. I want to do nothing less than relitigate that whole, don't want to have that conversation anymore. But look, man, I have been very forthright about what I thought should have happened in Black Panther, too. I'm sorry. I'm sorry.

I've been very forthright. I personally believe that Black Panther should have been recast. Is that what you really said at the beginning? I thought you said no. No, that's not what I said. I said it should be recast. You said maybe wait some time. Maybe wait some.

Maybe wait some time. Maybe wait some time in recast, but definitely recast. And look, I feel like the decision, nobody could have seen COVID. Nobody could have seen the vaccine. Nobody could have seen Letitia Wright's hesitancy to do the vaccine. I'm sure her upcoming podcast as she starts with Kyrie Irvin is going to be amazing. But I do feel like, and over on the Ring of Versa. we spoke to Marvel VP Nate Moore about this and he was very he's an amazing guy.

Oh yeah, that went viral. Yeah. I do feel like though, I feel like they're overcomplicating this. Audiences, black audiences, audiences themselves can handle a recasting of Tichala. They're going to handle a recasting of Shuri, obviously for different reasons. not even in the same realm, but audiences can handle a recasting of Tachala. Tachala is so central to the story of Black Panther.

Let's be honest, guys. Black Panther is a mantle. Tachala is Black Panther. He is. And I know that Nate said that we wouldn't get Tachala again in this universe, so there's a chance that in a multiversal situation, another universe,

Chala can come in and we can get something from him. But I feel, really upset and really bad about the fact that filmgoing audiences are not going to get Chala as Black Panther moving forward at any time soon in this current continuity. Well, Van, it could change. At the time you spoke with him, nothing had been confirmed with what they were planning to make this movie in the way that they had always planned, not knowing that she was not going to be a part of it. So now that she's not, they may have to roll back what they.

they said to get this movie out. You don't know. Let me ask you this. If she truly has this conviction, is it selfish or is it admirable that she is sticking to it? That is a really tough. I mean, I guess it depends who you ask, right?

because, no, it's not admirable, right? That's not the word I would use. It's absolutely selfish. Scratch all that. It's selfish, okay? It's selfish for her because of the commitment that she's made, but she also is being selfish for herself to make a decision that she believes in.

So maybe it's an admirable version of selfish, but however you split the baby, it's a selfish move because she's making the decision for herself, right? She's choosing that this is what she wants to do with her body. She does not want to be told what to do in regards to this vaccine. So she's making this decision for herself. That's a selfish move, no matter how you wait, whether you want to use it as a positive

or a negative. And that selfish move is selfishly impacting an entire franchise at the moment. Right, right. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Well, we'll see what happens. I am imploring Marvel as much as I have. Think about recasting Chichala. So many amazing black actors out there can play the part right now.

Maybe you don't need a black actor. Maybe cast Chalasas Tchala is Timothy Shalamee. No, stop. Put them in there. Put them in there. Why not? Because everybody knows black pants. It's got to be black.

Stop. Just put them in there. Timothy Shalemate, they don't give a fuck. They don't watch it. Timothy Shalamey's Wakanda forever. Imagine. DeBlet Penta. Hey, it's me, guys.

Big fight coming up next year. Big fight. Freddie Gibbs versus academics. We got to have them back on. In one corner, Freddie Gibbs, one of the hardest gangster rappers currently working.

One of the best, one of the top, nominated for a Grammy for Best Rap album, Vice Lord Rep. Freddie Gangster Gibbs in the other corner. Wayne in at Unknown, we have one of the most polarizing people

in all of hip-hop media, the man with the Hennessy plan. Chat nigger, DJ Academics. Ak went on a million dollars worth of game podcast. and challenged, said he would fight Freddie Gibbs. They've been having an on and on and off beef for a while. A couple of years now. He would fight Freddie Gibbs one-on-one in the boxing ring.

Freddy Gibson went on Jalen and Jacoby and said, let's do it. Said, I'm 180. Act weighs a little bit more. Act probably like 205, 2-10, something like that. Actually, the quote was, I'm a solid 185 and he's a soft 204. That's funny. That's funny. And they fight, they fight, they get their differences off.

I mean, this has gotten pretty bad. Act said something about Gibbs. Gibbs came back and said something about Ak. Gibbs seemingly threatened, Act on Twitter. Act went to Gibbs' hood and tried to discredit him. They're saying all of these things. These are two guys going back and forth. Two guys going back and forth.

And now it seems like they want to come to blows Fisikisikus in a fight between Ack and Freddie Gibbs, who you got? Neither. Okay. I don't want to see this shit. Neither one of them are boxers. Let's stop calling it a boxing match. Don't even call it that. These are just two idiots about to go fight, right?

Fight out their differences. There's a cock fight. I don't want to see it. I don't want to see Gibbs and Act fight. Okay? It's just so stupid. Y'all figure it out. Figure out another way to deal with it.

I get that you don't like each other. Just don't like each other, right? Just don't like each other. Gibbs talking about he don't even want money. off the thing. He just wants out of the game completely. I don't, I would love to have academics on here and talk, like why.

Why do we need to see this? For what? So, AC is making millions of dollars. He's doing the way he's doing. He's never leaving the game, so that's out. Yeah. You said you don't want to see it. I don't, I don't, I think, I feel like this makes us looks, this is stupid. Makes me look stupid.

Us, what, both of them. Both of them. Well, they're both black men and it looks stupid. Like, y'all just going to go fight it out and y'all doing all this. You on ESPN. You're another podcast. Ain't know us. Is Ack and Freddie Gibbs.

And if they want to fight, I can't think of anything I'd rather watch. Literally, I would literally rather, I would literally rather watch Act box Freddie Gibbs than watch the Super Bowl. Not even close. It's not boxing.

Fighting in a ring with gloves, I would pay $200. I'm not lying. I pay $200 to see DJ academics To make fools of themselves. It's not happening, nothing to do with making fools. You know what I like? They don't make fools of themselves.

You know what I like? This is what I like. I like when, because here's the thing. Number one, this stuff like this should never come to violence, right? It should never come to violence. But if it's going to come to that, I would rather see it in a controlled, entertaining spot where these two people can wail on each other and realize at the end of the day, it ain't worth it. it's just not worth it.

It's not worth it being in the ring, huffing and puffing, trying to hit somebody in front of all of these people. It's also just not worth, oh, go ahead, sorry. But then, because then somebody really gets embarrassed. So for me, what I personally want to see, and look, both guys are great guys. Both guys are great guys. You might have problems with some shit that Gibbs does.

You might have problems with some shit that acts, act does. But they can't, they can't not talk about each other, it seems like, and they can't not exist in this. So let's fucking see it. Who fucking cares? Let's do it. Make some money off of it. Like, like donate something to charity.

Box. Box. They won't get more time or attention. And we're not going to talk about on this podcast. We definitely are and you definitely watch it. I'm mad we wasted this much time. You're definitely watching a boxing match between Freddie Gibbs and I can. This will never happen.

This will never happen. But if it did happen, you would definitely watch a Freddie Gibbs versus DJ academics boxing match next year would do bigger numbers than any Jake Paul fight has ever done. Freddie Gibbs versus DJ academics next year. Bigger numbers. I don't doubt it.

Than any Jake Paul fight has ever done. Now, not the Floyd shit with Logan Paul because you got Floyd. But if they were actually to do that, bigger numbers than Jake Paul and they can run the bread up. If you go beef, at least get some money out of it. I don't know who I'm taking, by the way. I don't know who I'm taking.

I've never seen either guy a fight. I mean, I assume Freddie got them hands because, you know, gangster Gibbs. But I don't know, man. You never know what act brings to the table. You never know what act brings to the table, you know? So who knows. You don't know who I'm taking in the fight

between Freddie Gibbs and act. I don't know. Let's take a commercial break. Take a commercial break. Who are you taking? I'm taking a commercial break. Well, let's do that then. Let's take a break. We'll be right back.

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That's a mouthful, but that's because it packs a lot in. Earn unlimited 2% cash rewards on purchases with it, big or small. So whether it's buying tickets to the game and grabbing a coffee, it earns unlimited 2% cash rewards on purchases. Say it with me, the active cash credit card from Wells Fargo, be a 2%er. Learn more at Wells Fargo.com forward slash active cash terms of play. Okay, casual question is math, racist?

Sorry. It's a tough question. Maybe not math itself in regards to like when it's numbers and equations, but problem solving and standardized test with math, I think are. Okay. So I want everyone to listen to that answer because that is an answer that is an answer that. that people who pose that question do not want you to give. That answer is the entire issue of this. There's a hyper-intelligent person's answer to this question,

which has been posed in a very disingenuous way. What we're talking about right now are schools debating whether or not the way math is taught and the way math is applied, whether or not those things can be tweaked to be more inclusive cultural, the question that came out of that discussion for a lot of people was is math racist in an attempt to dumb this argument down to is two plus two equals four calling you a nigger

obviously it's not correct but there are of course ways that you can take anything and when it put into a societal circumstance or taught into a school where people are different races, that it can be culturally less inclusive. Schools are looking into this. It's something that falls into the line of thinking along the same track as critical race theory. There is an amazing teacher, and I want to make sure I get her name right. In Florida, there is an amazing teacher in Florida named Nadine Ibray. And what she is doing is she is changing the way she's teaching the math.

She's making the math culturally accessible for her students. So maybe a little math wrap. Maybe she's dropping it into Minecraft. Maybe she's having them doing a call and response with them. One of her lessons with viral where they have a better entry point into what these problems actually mean. Maybe it's not fucking Jody and Bill each have $5 to go to the country club. You know what I mean? Correct.

And so what the right is attempting to do is conflate this issue once again. What Rachel said was absolutely right. Math, of course, isn't Rachel. Or isn't racist. Math is just math. But when we are teaching math to students, predominantly in settings where students are underperforming and black and Latino students in different places seem to underperforming and math and algebra for different reasons, isn't it important to consider that it's not

their aptitude in the way that explains why they're underperforming, it's actually the method in which they're being taught. What's wrong with that? Like, why does this have to be a debate? Because you add race into it and then it becomes a whole issue, right? We've been doing it this way for this long. Why are we trying to change it up? That's exactly what this is. Is it the goal that we're supposed to be better and smarter and more educated? So if you can do so, have a system that helps them accomplish that, then what is the problem? I remember, and it's like our generation and generations before, we never had an opportunity to learn math in any other way to the point where what we saw

with Johnny and Amy going to the country club or going to buy skis or whatever it is, that's all we ever knew. That's what we had to accept. I remember when I was studying for the LSAT. Elsat. One of those tests. That's the lawyer test. No, no, no, no.

I just couldn't remember. No, no, no, I couldn't remember if it was my SAT or my LSAT. I think it's my SAT. I can't remember one of them. And I remember when, no, it's my SAT. I don't know. Anyways, I remember I had a white male teacher and it was a weekend crash course I was taking. And he said, and I had never heard this before,

standardized testing is made for northeastern white males. And I had never heard that before. And after that point, I started reading every question in a day. different way. And the way he taught us, it's called Power Score. The way he taught us was to look through it through those eyes. So it wasn't necessarily a creative teaching like this young woman is doing, but it was more of like once you understand who they're talking to, it can help you read past that so you don't get caught up and trying to understand what the hell that even is. You just need to pull out what it is the problem you need to solve. And I'll never forget that. And nobody had ever

said that to me before. So imagine these young children are getting that at this age and how they can excel, right? Because standard eye testing is a weed out system. So imagine if you can't weed us out so easily because we get it so much better now. What the hell is the problem with this? You know what standardized testing really is? Totally and completely useless. Sure. It's a weed out system. It's it's another piece of bullshit that we should do away with. It's a dumb, it's dumb bullshit. I don't care. Race, no race, whatever. Put a time limit. Hey, you have one hour to figure this out.

No, I don't. I'm going to get a job. I have way more than an hour to figure whatever this is out. I can go and sit down and read. Man, I remember I was trying to learn more about the vaccine. And I listened to this YouTube video. And they're talking in a lot of medical jargon that I do not understand. So in order for me to make sense of it, I had to listen to that same thing on every walk that I took for a while.

I was actually studying, right? And now I got it. In the real world when you're trying to figure something out, you normally have time to tinker with it until you have an understanding of it. There are some people that would have understood that sooner. There's some people that were understood it later. Standardized testing is another masturbatory act that kids have. to go through to prove to somebody else whatever like you said it's just stupid the whole thing is dumb is stupid yeah um now 17% of third graders at majority white schools after the pandemic

are performing on uh their grade level in math uh while four percent of black students attending mainly black schools are here's a thing two reasons why this is important number one stats like that ask a fundamental question of the reader of the stat look back into yourself look into a mirror and just ask yourself really easily. Do you think black people are stupid? Just ask yourself, can black people not do math? Can black and Latino kids not do math? Okay, just ask yourself that.

So if you really think that, go about your merry way. Don't want to talk to you anymore, that's fine. I'm not allowed to have to argue with you about it. But if you don't think that, the question then would be, why are their scores not meeting their white counterparts? Then you problem solve. Another reason why that matters is because a lot of these standardized test scores, a lot of these scores, a lot of these performances

are a direct entry point into STEM programs. And STEM programs are overwhelmingly white, and the industry is overwhelmingly white. So if we adjust the playing field at the base level, maybe kids have a better chance of actually breaking through the glass ceiling of what I believe is going to be the profession and the expertise that takes us to the next phase of humanity. So this is very important stuff. Right. Very, very important stuff.

They should let me write the questions. I'm sure they would be, people would be laughing than they would be able to concentrate what it is. They should let me write the questions. Give us one. Okay. Go ahead. Simple math. Simple math.

All right. This is the question. Young thugs. featuring the baby, Kill a nigger while he's driving. The song is three minutes long. The hook of the song is 30 seconds long. It appears twice in the song,

Kill a nigga while he's driving. If you took the hook out of the song, how long would kill a nigga while he's driving? he's driving, be now. Okay, okay. Come on, Rachel. So that's, so three minutes. Three minutes on?

It is 180 seconds. Wow. That means. You're already there, you know. We're going to go. Of course I know it, but I don't. Of course I know it. You know, I was in the math Olympics when I was little.

I don't know. I wasn't in the math, nothing. I was very into math when I was a kid. I didn't even take it in college. I tested out. No, I was being in the math. Did the judge teach special religious math? What were you about to say?

Are we going to move on to? I mean, I want to know how to judge put the math. No, bad questions. There are ten commandments. Stop. The covenant of Christ, the number 10. Thou shalt not. All right.

I love the judge. I make it seem like the judge is like a. Literally. is the voice of God. Like he is. Moses had two tablets. He dropped one and it broke. How many tablets does Moses have now?

I don't think he had two tablets. How many tablets did Moses have? Just one or two? Was it one or two? Well, in the picture, there are two, right? He's holding both of them. And they got five on each. That's how the picture shows it.

Yeah, five commitments on each. Real quick question before we move on. did God just like because the iPad would have been so much easier you know what I mean and God could make it it's like wouldn't God want to give Moses some technology because he could scroll

but like where's he going to plug in his iPad van like where are we going to get there like just the iPads up here he just got two iPads holding up in his hand he wouldn't even need to he wouldn't even need to he could just have one he could just scroll

and just scroll and just scroll meanwhile you're making this man you're making this man lug big ass Moses must have had incredible core strength. You're making Moses low, the big-ass tablets around the Mount Sinai.

He got to go up and down. You know what I mean? No, what was it? It was Mount Arifah. What was the mountain? It was Mount Arisham. Wait, what Moses is Mountain? It was Mount Arishim.

Hold on. Moses is. Donnie, look this up. Moses's Mountain. Moses's Mountain name. Mount Sinai. Wasn't it? I see Mount Sinai.

Mount Sinai. You got it. All right. Yeah. I stand correct. Yeah. It's all gravy. Like Mount Sinai.

Look at it. Look at Moses with the tables right there. Like hurting his man's abs and his size. All right. Let's go to, let's go to, let's go to mailback. Mailback time. Time to read your letters. And then we'll reply to them.

Oh, it's mailback time. Write us with your queries and we'll chime in. Okay. Alish Irwin asks, in your opinion, what's the best chain restaurant and why? Bruce Chris. Black IP. Bruce Chris, I mean, it's easy. I don't know if they're still out there, but black IP.

So let me tell you something. Alish. Bruce Chris has three things that are completely undefeated. To me, a restaurant needs three things. If a restaurant has just one thing, they cool. If a restaurant has two things, it's right. If a restaurant has three things, then they elite. And what is it?

Ruth's Chris Cheesecake. Fucking insane. It comes in a little circle, got the gram cracker crust, of course. It's like a little circle of cheesecake. Fucking crazy. Like crazy the cheesecake. Number two, Ruth's Chris, jumbo lump and the crabby cake.

All right. Ridiculous. Amazing. The lump cake sits on the butter. That's how it comes in. They come out, hey, they put two fucking spoons down and they put the crab cake thing on there for you. It's like, don't touch it.

It's hot because it's hot, baby. Third thing, Porterhouse for two, medium. Oh my God. That steak is steak is. crazy. Three things right there on Ruth's Chris menu. You cannot go wrong. It's insane. It's amazing. Fuck the black IP. All right. Wow. All right. Next. At Bon Cannon underscore S. Would you rather fulfill your biggest dream instantly or resolve your biggest regret? It's the dream for me. Rachel, what about you? It's definitely the dream.

I got caught up on the instantly. Right. But yeah, definitely fulfill your biggest dream. What's your biggest regret? I can't think of one. And so maybe that's why it's easier to pick the dream. There's no like resounding regret that I'm like, man, you know? And I don't know if you work this out in your book, but I talk about it in mine.

Like there's things that you're like, huh, you know, I could have done that differently, but literally the last couple of pages is me talking about I'm glad I didn't because this led to this and this. You know what I mean? Like you build on it, you learn from it, you grow it. I know that sounds cheesy or maybe cliche, but it is true. Because if you don't, then you're not better from it. So, no, I don't want to resolve my biggest regret. I think you do resolve it as you move forward in life.

There you go. Very well said. Very well said. My biggest regret is that I fell in front of the whole school during a pep rally in 94. Right. I took a false step on the bleachers. I thought I had it. So walking down the bleachers, feet slipped off.

and like when I say the entire school the whole that's a ninth grade I was a freshman like you would have the too old to be doing that like I stepped and my foot and boom and when I went out I fell twice I hit the bleacher then I hit the floor pop pop everybody laughed

everyone laughed how great were pepper rallies back in the day oh Jesus Christ man like you get to miss class like you miss class you go out there everybody's excited, especially if they had it after lunch period. Because if they had it after lunch period, then that means that, you know, you go right to football practice after.

It was so fun. High school was fun, man. All right, one more. Lena asks, how and where do you make friends as an adult? Basketball court. Yeah, you really do. That's why I would try to tell Brian to come out to the basketball court because, and he swears he was great back of the day, like you.

Yeah. I feel like that's a lot of the talk on the basketball course that you play on. For me, it's through other people. So that's because I honestly, I feel like I'm working all the time. So it's hard for me too. But like moving to L.A. coming here, I'm still learning and meeting people. So the friends I do have, I meet through their friends, you know? Or I mean, like, right, like me and Van, I met Kalika.

We cut Van out of the equation and it's just me and Kalika. It's just me and clique It's okay Things happen Um Yeah so me basketball Uh always doing Stuff like that that I like to do

You know I remember last year I will go in these long walks And I end up seeing this same white guy On the walks Every time we see each other in the same spot I was hey man How are you saying guy how are you

Like where are you walking to? I'm walking down there Hey isn't this whole pandemic thing crazy Talk with the guy for a little while Also, I'm very friendly. Very friendly. I'm like you. I'm like yourself.

I'm nice. You're nice. You're very nice. No, I'm friendly, not nice. There's a difference. Oh, that's very interesting. What's the difference? I don't know.

Like, I'm friendly as in, you know, I like to meet people and work a crowd and, you know, I'm an extrovert, an extrovert. But am I nice? Maybe not so much. Like, I'm going to be nice. I'm social. which is what I think friendly is. All right. Do you have an unexpected ally of the week?

No. Mine, I do. The woman who pretended like she was the houseperson for Tunisia and them. Good for you. Help us catch racist whites. You know? I recently went to see Ghostbusters. Afterlife, which I cried my eyes out at the end of the movie.

But I was thinking about maybe we need white busters. When there's something racist in your neighborhood, who you're going to call white busters? When they do you wrong and it don't look good. Who are you going to call white busters? You know what I mean? Like just a group of people that just go out and our job is just to find racism. You're a white buster. I'm a white buster.

Our job is just to find racism and root it out. But we set traps. I don't mind setting a trap, you know. Like your unexpected ally. Like unrespected ally. You go out there, you set the trap. You know what I mean? You set the trap and then they come white busters.

Who are you going to call? White busters, as I'm telling you. Would you be in it? It could be me, you, Donnie. I'm so into it. What, setting traps? I'm so into it. Senting traps.

Sentent traps. You know what I mean? Like put Martin Luther King's face on a urinal and see who pees on it. You're racist. You should have gone to another urinal. You should have gone to another urinal. Why do you want to pee on Dr. King?

We don't even know if Dr. King was into that. He probably was, though. All right. That's going to do it for us today. Can't wait to see you guys next week. Take 10 caps off, but do not stop learning. I am fan. Nathan, Jr.

I'm Rachel Lynn Lindsay. I'm sorry, Dr. We out. I literally get out with you. Please send that out.