Higher Learning with Van Lathan and Rachel Lindsay - Malcolm D. Lee and Expanding Story of ‘The Best Man’

Episode Date: July 15, 2025

Van and Rachel are joined by Director Malcolm D. Lee to discuss his new book, ‘The Best Man: Unfinished Business’, what inspired the writing of the original movie, and if we can expect a ‘Girls Trip 2’ anytime soon? (0:00)  Intro (1:35)  Adapting the story for the page (7:33)  Addressing criticism  (11:29)  Adapting the story for the screen (14:47) Prequels? (17:46)  One of the sexiest casts of all-time (22:35)  Sable bourbon (22:41)  Girls Trip 2 (24:17)  Essence Fest Hosts: Van Lathan Jr. and Rachel Lindsay Guest: Malcolm D. Lee Producers: Donnie Beacham Jr. and Ashleigh Smith Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Okay, a treat for you guys. The Saga of the Best Man, which started in 1999. I saw it at Gremlin University. Oh. I wasn't going to Gremlin. I was going to Louisiana Tech. But the best man, the movie. You're on a date?

No, no, no. Because that's a great movie to take somebody on a date. Well, we went as a crew. Okay. All of us went as a crew to see the best man at Gremlin because they were showing it there. They showed it at the story. school and we was all going crazy. We didn't realize how big the movie was going to be. And it's basically spawned a whole best man-a-verse. Oh, man-vers.

But a whole best man-mc-you. We have television shows. We have sequels. And now we have books written by the architect of the best man world, Malcolm D. Lee, who is joining us on higher learning today to talk about his for a into authorship the best man unfinished business was released on July 1st

2025 and it's continuing where the best man the final chapters left off it is your debut novel it follows Harper, Jordan, and Robin as they try to establish new lives away from the hurts of the past and come to realize that some of their relationships

are impossible to break away from Malcolm Daly joins us on higher learning today. Malcolm Thank you. Yes, sir. I'm going to get right into it. Why is the mythology, the story of the best man, so durable? Why are books a part of this now?

That's a good question. Thank you for having me, number one. I'm glad to be here. Yeah, I mean, why is the myth... Listen, I think that for my generation and in the generations that have followed. And even the generations prior, they feel like they're seeing themselves on the screen,

represented in the screen an authentic way. I know for myself, when I was trying to break into the filmmaking industry, I wasn't seeing representations of black men in particular that I thought were authentic and true to the experience that I had as an educated black man or one who was trying to get educated. And so, you know,

most of the brothers that were depicted on screen who were educated were, you know, they had forgotten their ethnicity at the door. They checked it. They said, you know, I'm not really black. I'm just kind of, you know, I'm OJ, right? And so they're in that whole, they're in that whole space of like, you know, you have to, if you're educated, somehow you have to like speak to speak the English all the time and, you know, not cut up with your boys.

And so that wasn't my experience. I said, okay, let's do that. And then when it came to time to continue to tell the story, you know, I thought we were done after Best Man Final Chapters. It's incredibly difficult to mount a movie or television series. And to get all those actors back together is a feat, right? And then there's budgetary constraints and there's all kinds of, you know, demands from the studio and network and whatnot.

And I was like, okay, we're done, finish, complete. But I've always loved their written word and I've always fantasized. I'm sorry, I don't want to say always fantasized, but I have long fantasized about being a novelist and writing a novel. And so I said, okay, let me try my hand at this. These are characters that are already established, they have backstory, so let me, you know,

give a shot at this. And the end result, I'm very happy with, because in a way, you're going to, you think you know these characters, right? But you're going to get to know them in a very, much more intimate way, because you get to get inside their brains. You get to get inside what,

they feel, how they grew up, what their, what their backstory is that's even beyond what we know. So this is book one. Correct. It's going to be a trilogy. Yeah. I'm interested in, do you know the direction that you plan on taking this story? Or are you going to maybe wait for audience feedback to see how they respond to it and then maybe adjust in that way?

No, we have a pretty clear idea where we're going. No, we had a clear idea. idea where we were going on the first time, you know, with this first book. And I will say that things changed as we, you know, came to rewrite and edit. You know, one, because I've gone to Ghana to do some research on, you know, Robin's journey. Right. Because she's now has moved to Ghana. Two, because, you know, you just have to, things change as you get to the end of it, right? And then you say, okay, because I've done this, now you got to like fix what's happening in the front or enhance or, you know, the shape and shift and what have you.

And then what happens also is the story and the characters tell you where they want to go. So the idea was to wrap up the trilogy, well, this love triangle, Robin Harper and Jordan in book one, and then start to go into the stories of Lance and his new wife, Jasmine and Quentin and Shelby and Merch and Candace and their journeys. and we're going to do that, but as fate would have it, we're going to still talk about and dedicate chapters to the POVs of all three

Harper, Robin, and Jordan as well. And then we have a loose idea of where we're going. And yeah, there may be some influence from fans, but I try not to do that. You know, I try to be very clear about where I'm going and the story that I want to tell. And my co-author Jane Allen,

and I have a pretty, you know, good idea about what we're doing. What can you do in the books that you can't do in the movies? You know what? First of all, you can use all five senses. You know, you get to not only see and hear, but you get to smell, you get to feel,

you get to taste. All five senses are at work, number one. Number two. Expand on that. What do you mean? Well, like, you know, if I'm describing something, right? If I'm, like, for instance,

Robin's cooking, for instance, right? You can, I mean, you can get a sense of that in, in a, in a, in a, in a, in a, in a, in a, in a, in a, in a, in a, in a, in a television, particularly if you don't have, if you can't dedicate a whole bunch of time to it. You know, there are a lot more time constraints in film and television, right? And there's act breaks and like, you know, lean forward ability and making sure people have, you know, you know, propulsion and whatnot. I'm trying to tell a story. I'm a lot more. free to storytelling in a novel form. Also, as I said before, you get to be inside the brains of these characters. You get to know backstory without like having to do whole flashbacks. You can write it in a word.

It's very freeing, I will say that. And here's the other thing. This book takes place in four different cities, two different continents. That is virtually, you know, cost-prohibitive. It'd have to be a marvel movie or television. Yeah, exactly, exactly. And they ain't giving me no marble money to make best man.

Right. For adults with Crohn's disease or ulcerative colitis symptoms, every choice matters. Tramphia offers self-injection or intravenous infusion from the start. Tramphia is administered as injections under the skin or infusions through a vein

every four weeks, followed by injections under the skin every four or eight weeks. If your doctor, sides that you can self-inject Trimphia, proper training is required. Tramphia is a prescription medicine used to treat adults with moderately to severely active Crohn's disease and adults with moderately to severely active ulcerative colitis. Serious allergic reactions, increased risk of infections or lower ability to fight them, and liver problems may occur. Before treatment, get checked for infections and tuberculosis.

Tell your doctor if you have an infection, flu-like symptoms, or need a vaccine. Explore what's possible. Ask your doctor about Trimphia today. Call 1-800-526-7736 to learn more or visit trimfire radio.com. The playoffs are here, and you can predict the action all the way to the finals with Fandul Predicts. Predict the spread, total points, and even the game winner. Sign up and get a $25 bonus. Offered by Fandul prediction markets LLC, a registered futures commission merchant, 18 plus. Bonus is non-withdrawable and expires seven days after receipt.

Trading derivatives involve significant risk and may not be suitable for all investments. Manage your activity with our consumer protection tool. Restrictions apply. See terms at Vandul.com slash predict slash bonus dash offer dash terms. Okay, kind of piggybacking on the question I was asking you before of if you might change the book based on audience influence. It's interesting. Van said the best manosphere because I remember that there was some criticism, we'll call it constructive criticism in the beginning after the first movie about the women's portrayal in the movie. but I've seen it all.

I've watched the movie. I've seen the series. I'm in. I'm following these people. They feel like family at this point. But if you watch, the women have evolved. And I'm just wondering, you know, how you maybe took that constructive criticism and applied that to the final chapters, to the second movie, and maybe even into this book.

Because there's a moment in Best Man Holiday where I was even like, oh, is that me? Where, shut up. Which character? At what moment? Oh, it's definitely Jordan. Okay. I'm definitely Jordan. And it's when she's talking to Eddie Cyprian and that's like, shut up, shut up, man.

You know, I was in an interracial marriage at one point. It's not that. It's not, it's not that. It's, he says something to her along the lines of you act like you don't need me. And she's like, I don't. And I said, oh, my God, is that me? And I, but it was, that's the beauty of the movie. where I feel like you can compare yourself to some of these characters.

Anyways, I'm going off on a tangent. But I really want to know how you maybe took some of that feedback and applied it to, like I said, the movie, the chapters, and even this book. Yeah, I'll interest that in a couple of ways. One, I think that it's just natural growth and of me as a person, as someone who's married, who has kids, who has lived life, you know, that can give greater perspectives. But number two, and I don't know if this is the most important,

but just to let you know the impetus behind the best man, I was very much inspired by waiting to exhale, right, where I felt like the men, the portrayal of men, black men in that movie was not favorable, right? Not dudes I recognized, not dudes I would hang out with, not dudes I would associate with. And so I really wanted to tell a story, about four black men who were friends

and layer them, you know, and make sure that I was centering them and we didn't use the word centered the time, but it was going to be about the brothers, right? And their POVs. And honestly, I didn't even expect women to come to see Best Man. I was writing it for dudes, right?

But of course, I'm so stupid. Like, of course, women are going to come see a movie about a wedding, right? Like, they want to. I just thought wedding movies were popular. I don't know. They were driven by women, you know, at the time. I know that they're popular.

So I said, okay, I'm going to send her a story about four black men in a reunion story and around a wedding. And, of course, it's about, you know, somebody's like, but my bride, right? And so, you know, for me, that was the impetus. That was the story that I was telling about these four guys. We have a 10-minute, you know, Spades playing scene, right? And the women were tuning in. They even more so than the men, but the men could relate to what was what was being talked

about and what was being said. So in terms of growth, yeah, I wanted to expand on the women's stories. And then, you know, when we got to final chapters, I partnered with a female showrunner to, you know, kind of help with that perspective. And the same thing with the book and grabbing Jane Allen, because it will be stupid of me to partner with a novelist that wasn't a woman, you know, a black woman. They give me that unique perspective, even though I've got, I'm surrounded by, black women and very influenced by black women.

But to have somebody work with me in the trenches on that, what's the smart thing to do? What are the chances that we see what we are reading in these books on the screen at some point? What are the chances? That's what people are going to want to know, Malcolm. I understand. I get it. Look, as I said, it's incredibly difficult.

They're not trying to read. No, no, no, that's not true. No, that's not true. They want to know when it's coming to peacock. There are plenty of women in particular that are coming out to read these books. They are, women are much more thoughtful than brothers, right? And I will say, brothers,

trying to make up for what he did in the best man. Don't try to get them back over your side now, Malcolm. I love the best man. I've watched it all. And there was nothing I would change about that first movie. You know, it's funny that Malcolm went, because this is so funny to me. So I was in science class

and we were talking about waiting to exhale and my science teacher, Ms. Watry, she goes, I hate that movie. I was like, whoa. She was like, that movie made our brothers look so bad. Like, we ain't nothing but drunks and skunks. I was like, wow, I never heard that before, right? Ms. Watry felt that way.

And somewhere, Malcolm was on the set of a Spike Lee movie working with his people and was like, you know what? I got you. I got something for them. And then boom, 99. The best man drops. That's what I'm talking about, Malcolm.

Way to stand up for us, brother. No, no, that's part of my mission. And it's part of my mission. My film production company is called Black Male Productions, M-A-L-E-D, right? Because, you know, brothers have been vilified for years, for decades, for centuries. And I'm trying to change that narrative. I'm trying to, number one, first of all, I uplift all black people,

but black men in particular, right? Like, like, I want to normalize black life in America, right? And I want to, you know, make sure that we are, our humanity is highlighted. And our universality of the human experience is highlighted. But, but answer to your question, will there be, let me also say, if brothers don't want to read, they can also listen.

They can get the audio. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Of course. So they can have these, they can drive in their car, let's do it. And they can also have a little sip of bourbon while they're doing it.

Now I do, and I do, because that's stable bourbon. I'll get to that in a second. But I will say this. The brothers got to weigh in on this conversation. Again, I've made this,

the first best man for brothers, right? And I need them to weigh in because there's going to be a lot of debate about how trifling Harper is and how, you know, this is why this and this is why that. And I need brothers to be like, wait a minute,

wait a minute, You're getting into the psyche of this man. Like, now, I'm not saying everybody's going to relate to or defend Hartford, but there's going to be some aspects that they're going to relate to. They're going to be like, yeah, yeah. I've been there before. I've been there before. And I'm going to tell you, sister, why this is and why you shouldn't do X, Y, and Z.

So will it turn into a television show or movie? I got this first book to promote and I've got two more books to write. If Universal comes to me and says, let's talk, oh, listen. Okay. I mean, the beauty of what you're doing is it's just such great conversation and back and forth to have. I mean, you even brought up waiting in Excel and we talked about that on this podcast. And so I think that that's also, in addition to the story and the characters, it's just the conversation is just so rich, just talking about the dynamics of it all, which now I'm going to ask you something else. And I know you're promoting this.

And I'm sure you've been asked before. But the more we step into their world, it makes me want to go back to the beginning. Have you ever thought about having it all like what happened in college and all of that playing out where we have younger characters playing the characters that we know and love now, something like that come out. Because I would love to see how it all started. Do you think that that would be something that most audiences would be into? Yes. Okay. I really do. I'm so curious. The answer to your question is yes, I have thought about it. I mean, I would just, I want to see, I think when somebody has a good story and now I'm curious to know, well, how do we get here? I mean, that's, I attribute that to you. But I am, I'm very curious. Hold on for a second.

Wait, wait, wait, before you ask that question, I will say with this book, you will get a lot more backstory than you've ever gotten before. Okay. I will tell you that. Malcolm. Yes, sir. Is it possible that the show that Rachel just kicked around? you actually went out with and then we're told that there was no audience for it?

No. Okay. It's making sure because there is an audience for it. And there's also a bunch of young black actors out there right now that people would love to see it. You know, she's got to have it. Yeah. Interesting.

She's got to have it had a second life on Netflix. We've got forever, the success of forever. The success for forever. I think. Love forever. Right. Love that show. So I think there would be people that will watch it.

But don't let them tell you that they're not trying to, because they're out there. Yeah. Don't you worry. I'm this, I will say that, you know, the best man is a little bit the gift that keeps on giving.

And I'm very, very grateful that that's the case, that people are, want to know about these characters and want to know more about them and feel like they're their friend group. And, and, you know, You know, it's, so I'm very blessed that that's been the response and that I've been able to build

upon it. And, you know, with the, you know, with the collaboration of both the studios and the networks as well as the actors who, you know, just embody those roles very well. And so, you know, when they're reading, when people read this book, they're going to be able to visualize very clearly who those characters are and how they sound and, and everything else. And I'm giving you not only a literary, but a cinematic experience with. in the book. For adults with Crohn's disease or ulcerative colitis symptoms, every choice matters. Tramphia offers self-injection or intravenous infusion from the start. Tramphia is administered as injections under the skin or infusions through a vein every four weeks, followed by

injections under the skin every four or eight weeks. If your doctor decides that you can self-inject Tramphia, proper training is required. Tramphia is a prescription medicine used to treat adults with moderately to severely active Crohn's disease and adults with moderately to severely active ulcerative colitis. Serious allergic reactions, increased risk of infections or lower ability to fight them, and liver problems may occur. Before treatment, get checked for infections and tuberculosis. Tell your doctor if you have an infection, flu-like symptoms, or need a vaccine. Explore what's possible. Ask your doctor about Trimfaya today. Call 1-800-526-7736 to learn more, or visit trimfireradio.com.

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. I want to ask you a question. The original best man has in it. Personal friend of mine, Tay Diggs, Neil Long, Morris Chestnut, Harold Parenthood,

Terrence Howard, Sanalathan, Monica Calhoun, Melissa DeSouza, and a young, maybe in her first or second role? Regina Hall. Maybe in her first or second role?

Maybe something like that? It was her first. It was her first. So this might be the best-looking cast of all time. Okay? I got to ask you this. Just how much fucking was going on on this set, Malcolm? There has, because I know, Tay, just how much was going down on this set.

When you look at this, this is the top of the top, man. These are the ones. When people talk about 90s fine, best men. and Love Jones, you can't leave Love Jones out. Can't leave Love Jones out. These are so fantastic, beautiful black people all in the same movie together for X amount of months. How much did you as a director have to wrangle and like snatch people out of each other's trailers and stuff like that? Let me just say.

They are a very beautiful cast, okay? Yes. There was none of that going on. I would say like everyone. Sorry, man. If there was, if there was, I knew nothing about it. I will tell you this. In all seriousness.

Yeah. We were all very excited to be embarking on this journey of making this movie, right? We were all in New York, around the same age, around the same level of celebrity. I mean, I wasn't. But, you know, Tay, Harold, Mia were all, like, you know, in a certain place, Morris. Everyone was in a similar space. And it was the first time, and they were say to themselves, that here were eight trained actors who were getting to play real characters,

getting to play real people. And they were so excited to do that. In fact, the day that we had a great rehearsal period, a two-week rehearsal period, and when we were about to shoot the following week, we all held hands and we prayed, and Terence, you know, said, you know, asked God to bless this production

and let the world see that black people were not who we were, you know, said that we were portrayed to be. And that this film was going to help shadow those stereotypes. It was something, I'm paraphrasing, but it was something in that vein. And there was just a good energy about what the material was and what we were going to do. And I knew or I felt,

and when it was my intention, that we were going to make a classic movie. That was all the intention was. Now I know that's like, oh, wow, you're going to intend to make less. Yes, that was my intention to make something that was going to stand a test of time. Did I expect us to do sequels and television shows and books? No, not at all.

That was not the intention. With the intention to make a great movie. And you did. Has the cast read the book? Yes, not all of them. I know that Tane, Harold, and Morris, my partners and Sable Bourbon have. But I don't know, but everyone else has gotten the book. I don't know if they read it.

They can't. Take it. It takes him a while. Yeah. It takes him a while. Because he has to sound out the words, right? That's terrible. Wow.

It's hard to be Vance friend. I'll say. His most talented guy, though. This is ridiculously talented. Wait, tell us about the bourbon. Tell us about the bourbon. We want to hear about it. Oh, Sable Bourbon.

Yeah, it's a, it's a venture between the four of us, as I said. Morris Tay, Harold, and bespoken spirits. We're the owners of the brand. It was Harold's idea after, you know, best man and final chapters, where each scene where we had the fellas gathering, there was always some kind of brown spirit that was, you know, being embodied and shared amongst the friends. And so he was like, well, why don't we make our own?

And so we're like, yeah, okay, let's try it. So we went out to bespoken spirits and said, okay, we'd like to do this. And everything from the juice itself to the labeling, to the title, to the packaging was all, you know, we all were in agreement of what it should be and what it should represent. And, you know, it's bottled in brotherhood. That's our, that's our slogan. And, you know, it's a symbol of our friendship and our love for one another. Last question for me.

In 2017, you made a film that had a $19 million budget and ended up making $140 million. That, my friends, is a bona fide blockbuster. That's the kind of thing that gets people promoted and also the type of thing that spawns sequels. It's a bona fide blockbuster. The movie was Girlstrip, and the question is, when will there be another one? Girl strip 2. Is it happening?

We are working on the script as we speak. We feel like we've got an idea and, you know, a pathway forward. Because, you know, once you make a movie like that, you know, obviously the... This episode is brought to you by Sweet Cream. The day doesn't ask for permission. Lunch window?

Gone before you saw it coming. You deserve a break that actually satisfies. Sweet Green's new wraps have got you. Real ingredients? Zero shortcuts. Everything you love in one hand. Think green goddess chicken. Garlic aoli.

Crumbled bacon. Corn salsa. 40 grams of protein. Made to keep up with whatever comes next. New sweetgreen wraps hit different. Order now at order. This episode is brought to by weather tech. 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. 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. You know, the internet is like, oh, let's make another one, right? And we had, the bar was not set that high for grocery.

It was like, oh, the expectation was like, okay, it's, you know, that, that looks like it's going to be good. And it was beyond people's expectations. Now their expectations are like sky high. So can you meet that? And the only reason for us to do it is if we can't meet that, that expectation, we don't even do it. So we feel like we could meet this expectation and, you know, you know, knock out the park with another one. But, you know, there's no guarantees. but we're certainly working on that.

I would love that. I would love it. It seems like it's a no-brainer. I mean, that's a $40 million first week. Easy work. And it could help out some of this drama that's going on. This is my last question. You were just down in Essence Fest.

That movie centers around Essence Fest. I've heard people in the criticism. One, I want to know, you had boots on the ground. What were your thoughts about Essence Fest this year? And since the movie centers around Essence Fest and like, shows the ends and outs. A lot of people have been saying, or that I've seen talk on social media is

that was when it was at its prime and it's so different now. Can you speak a little to that? And I don't know, maybe the second movie could bring it back. Not that it ever left, but that's just what some of the talk is. You know, I had a good time in essence.

You know, it seemed like the population or the attendance might have been down a bit and I heard that it wasn't down a little bit. But it all seemed like a good time. You know, there's great activations. everywhere. You know, there were great celebrity endorsements

and, like I said, activations that were there. The concerts that I went to were fantastic. So, I mean, I didn't see them all. But yeah, it's, I think there may be a little bit of a transition,

but from what I mean, of course, this is a rough year financially for a lot of people, right? Economically, it's tough all around. So I, you know, it stands to to reason that there'd be less attendance there. But it seems it's just as robust as it has ever been. I mean, in terms of what essence presented.

The feeling. All right. Go get the book, Malcolm D. Lee with Jane Allen, the best man, unfinished business. It was released last week, wherever books are sold. That's correct. Wherever books are sold. And the thing is that I'm hearing,

they're selling out. everywhere. Okay. Yeah, yeah. Like, I heard, like Jane went, she has a ritual that she goes to every ritual, every time her book comes out where she, you know, she goes to New York. She has hot chocolate from a certain place. She goes to Barnes & Noble in around 42nd Street or Times Square. She went there. Day one sold out. Wow. On Barnes Noble. So now, no, I'm not saying sold it everywhere, but, but, get you a copy. Yeah, that's great. It's a good sign. My book, you could, you could find it there. It's not sold out. Mine is, you can get it. I like the fact that you're an elevated brother

because you did not put that S on Barnes and Noble. I was waiting to see if you was going to say Barnes and Nobles, but you didn't. Malcolm... A lot of blessings through that. You know, we like plural. I say it.

I figure you. Malcolm, thank you for joining us, brother. We really appreciate it. Thank you. Thank you for having me on, guys. Appreciate it. All right, for sure. So we're going to do something

for I just thought of a bit. So after I've made my way through the book, I'm going to actually, if you're saying there's things in the book that would, like, trigger people and make brothers think what they would do. So I'm going to take those passages and I'm going to put them in the podcast. And me and Rachel are going to center the gender wars around passages from the book. That would be great. That's the kind of stuff I like to do because we like to have the gender wars.

And so if there are things in there that we could actually like center around it, We'll put it in the podcast and then, like, put it on Twitter. I'll be very curious. I'll be very curious. You know, it's in the first couple of chapters with Harper. It's Harper's POV. What the debate will be on that. I mean, I already think Harper is trifling, so there you go.

I'm coming in by us. I like Harper. I don't say it like that. But do you want Harper and Jordan to link up? I don't. You don't. You might be alone or very few of women that are alone. So why not?

I think that's, I think people are holding on. Well, that's not. that he's trifling, I think people are holding on to the past with them. Where I left off with them in the final chapters, I was like, this is beautiful, this is it. Let them go be happy and support each other from afar.

I think that's a problem that we fantasize what could be, and then it never turns out to be what you wanted to be. That's funny. I look at it the opposite way. I kind of look at them as ships passing in the night. that never got a chance to really play that out

the way it was supposed to be. And I look at things like that in life as sort of unfinished... Business. Not unfinished business. Yeah. Unrealized stuff.

All right. You're more of an optimist. That's the chapter. That first chapter Harper and then by the end of Act 1, I want to see what... Those are the things.

too I'll be most curious about. Wow. Okay. The debate. Okay, cool. I love it. I love it. Oh, you know what? Donnie, take that little part and put it in there.

Leave that in. That's a good tease. Yeah, look, take that little part of the other day. All right, thank you, Malcolm. Thanks, Malcolm. All right. Did you know if your windows are bare, indoor temperatures can go up 20 degrees? Get ahead of summer with custom window treatments like solar roller shades from

blinds.com and save up to 45% off during the Memorial Day Early Access Sale. Whether you want a DIY. it or have a pro handle everything. We've got you. Free samples, real design experts, and zero pressure. Just help when you need it. Shop up to 45% off site wide right now during the early access Memorial Day sale at blinds.com. Rules and restrictions apply.