Higher Learning with Van Lathan and Rachel Lindsay - The California Recall and Remembering Michael K. Williams 

Episode Date: September 10, 2021

Van Lathan and Rachel Lindsay pay their respects to the ultra-talented Michael K. Williams, who’s missed but remembered fondly (23:14). Then, Election Day in California quickly approaches, so we break down Larry Elder’s ridiculousness (47:19), plus the 20th anniversary of 9/11 has us reflecting on that fateful day (56:50). 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? Hard learning is on. It is I, Van Lathen. And it's me, Rachel and Lindsay. It's actually me, Van Lathen, Jr. That's who I am. Get it right.

That's what, Rachel, how was your Labor Day? Labor Day was the cum down. I had quite an eventful weekend. Labor Day weekend. I had a fantastic time from Friday to Sunday. Monday was just chill, a little bit of recovery. Friday went to dinner with some people at

Catch had a group dinner, had a blast Saturday was the football game or was that Sunday? That was Saturday. Saturday was the football game Van and I and Kalika and Brian got to hang out for a bit

we had a good time Van was a little bit upset because his team lost They didn't lose They got fucking embarrassed I was trying to be nice They didn't lose They got fucking embarrassed. They lost to an unranked team.

LSU came into the game as number 16. We knew they'd fall after that. Yeah, they're not ranked anymore. They're not unranked anymore. UCLA moved up to 14 in the AP rankings. They moved ahead of UCLA. I mean, of LSU? LSU fell out of the ranking compete.

Right, but they were 16 coming in. But they, so, but UCLA dominated Hawaii. And then they beat a team full of SEC athletes handily. So you expect for them. It didn't look like it, you know, which is why you need teams from the Big 12 to come back into, you know, your conference or come into your conference to give it the boost, to give it the name it used to have, you know? What happened to last time? You might as well call SEC, you might as well call SEC Alabama. What happened the last time LSU play Texas?

We're talking about the SEC conference. I'm asking you. I'm asking you. What happened to? Okay. It was a close game. The SEC conference. The SEC conference.

What happened the last time LSU played Oklahoma? You know what? Texas lost. And then LSU went on to win the national championship. And then they played. So we lost to a national championship team. I just want to say that. And then we played Oklahoma, another big 12 team. Actually, the champion of the big 12.

We paid the champion of the big 12 in the playoffs. And what happened then? Some of us live in the past. Destruction. Some of us live in the president. I'm just saying. It's nice to reminisce. Before you start talking to SEC Big 12 stuff, just

just hold your horse. It's nice to reminisce. It's nice. You know, I could have been like last time I was at the Rose Bowl, Texas won a national championship, but I was dealing with the present. It's different.

It's like a long time ago. And once again, PAC 12th team. But look, but look, shout out to UCLA. They did their thing. They looked really good.

Shout out to Chip Kelly. Chip Kelly, good coach. You needed that victory. They got it. Hopefully LSU can pick up the pieces and have a great season. But if not, I still win. Do you know why?

Because it means I don't have to be nervous on Saturday. Okay. That's one way to look at it. If we're undefeated going into Alabama, the vans peeling the skin off the side of his, his nails and stuff. But now, knowing that they go out there and probably drop one to fucking Troy or UAB, I don't have to worry about it. Well, I think I like that. Because you're no fun.

You're no fun at the game when your team is losing. He was sitting in a corner by himself, y'all, on a completely different row. We had to ask him to come join us in the box. You were no fun. And then you were a completely different person after the game was over, accepting. pretty much the fate of the season. I don't know what to tell people, but I care

about all of these things. I remember at TMZ, LSU was playing Notre Dame in a bowl game, and we lost the bowl game to Notre Dame. This is some years ago, Leonard Furnett's freshman year. And one of my colleagues,

one of my coworkers, started playing the Notre Dame fight song while we were still at work. We were at work on this day. It was, and the bologna was going on. I fucking lost it. Don't fuck with me. I care.

I'm one of those crazy people that really the sun sets and rises on how well LSU and the saints are doing. I care. So I care. Some of us care, we show our care in different ways. But needless to say, we got to hang out this weekend, which was fun. And then Sunday, I ended up going to brunch. And you know how brunch can take you off into doing something different. And I ended up at somebody's pool house at a little pool party, had a good time.

Brian came to. And yeah, we had a good weekend. Tell you something. You're becoming very L.A. And it happened in record time. Okay. First of all, I've been here here. And second, that's not very L.A. for me to go to brunch with a friend.

And then I got invited to a pool party. Becoming very L.A. It's impressive. I'm impressed. But the pool party wasn't a scene, though. There were very few people there. It wasn't scening. Understand that by definition of it being a pool party, it is a scene.

You can't have a pool party that's not a scene. The only way, let me ask you a question. Were there children there? They were not. It's a scene. If there were children there and they were, mommy, daddy, I want to be in the pool. Then it's not a scene because it's for the kids. But if it's a bunch of grown-ass people sitting around and bathing suits,

drinking libations were there libations? Of course. Seen? Easily. Easily. It's okay. Where were you last Wednesday night? Where were you last Wednesday night, huh?

Van, don't be out here telling all my business. That's not what this podcast is about. Gettn't it. Y'all, he's jealous because he wasn't with us. I feel like you have regret. Like you're like, no, no, I don't want to be there. And then you hear how much fun we have.

And you're like, man, maybe I should have gone. No, I'm not going back out again until I get these hair plugs. I'm about to. it. No. I'm getting a... Man, no you're not. No, you're not.

Yes, I am. I've decided. Have you seen what people go through to get that? It's okay. The shaving of the hair, the plugs, the eyes turn black. The eyes turn black. Yeah, like for women who've gotten it done, like they get black eyes. Why would you get black eyes?

I don't know. I'm not a doctor, but they get black eyes. Like, it's like when you, you know, think about it when you get your nose done or something like that, like you get the black eyes. I'd never hurt this. So what I'm doing is I got the only a couple of, couple spots where I'm thin, right? Oh, so you're not going to do the whole hair line?

No, no, no, no, no, no. We get filled in. A couple of spots where I'm thin. Why don't you just do a spray? And I was, I could do the spray, but I don't, but I did not play basketball and you're out there playing basketball, you know, and you look like a wax figure melting or something like that. I don't want to be that guy playing basketball.

Remember that when that happened to Carlos Boozer in the NBA game, they had gone too tough on that? No, but I got to see it. No. Carlos Boozer had the Beijing in his head. And he got a bad Beijing job. And he started sweating. And the Beijing started to like become really prominent.

You see it? No, but I just typed in Carlos Boozer. You see it? And the first thing that typed up was hair. Hair. Oh my God. See, I don't remember him with hair. I just remember him.

I forget he had hair. He's been bald. Wow. I'm going to do it. Wow. I'm going to get a cup right here, right here. and then right here. We'll have a conversation about it.

Then when I get these hair plugs, I might even go, I don't know. I want it. Can they glue hair onto my head? Because we've talked about the man wig. Yes, you can. It's impressive.

I'm going to get it. I'm going to get it like a high top. Do it. Halloween's around the corner. Just yeah, yeah. Yeah. Halloween's around the corner. Wow.

Who are you? You said you want to be kid and play. Who are you going at? Halloween, the devil's holiday. Satan. Don't act like you haven't dressed up for Halloween before. I have, but I acknowledge it, though. I acknowledge it's a pagan holiday for Satan.

It is. Not for everybody. Does the judge do Halloween? Okay, one of my dad's favorite things is to pass out candy to the kids on Halloween. That's not what I asked. That's just observing a custom. All right. A custom.

So is dressing up. Does the judge dress up? No, gosh. Of course not. You know, I bet I, I, I, I, I, he's the standard. You know, look, look, here's the thing, dude. They should change the J. Not what would Jesus do.

They should change the J. What would judge do? Because I'm telling you he's not fucking up too much. I bet he has the cleanest browser history of anyone in America. So if, if you're telling me right now, the judge of course he's going to hand out candy. They don't want to walk by. Oh, there's Mr. Lindsay.

Judge Lindsay, should I say, excuse me, Judge Lindsay. He's a mean old man. He doesn't give us any candy. He's going to give candy to the kids. Their parents might vote. Or actually, a lifetime appointment. My bad. But he's going to give candy to the kids, you know.

But as far as dressing up, Dracula, the judge, Judge Frankenstein. No, because he knows. The rest of us, have fun holiday and then spend the next couple of days going, my bad, geez. just, you know, we're having a good time. It's L.A. But do you know what you're going to go ask?

Because I'm definitely dressing up. You know, you know what you're going to be? I don't know yet. All right. You want to surprise us? Yeah, I'm definitely going to surprise you guys. We're going to do a Halloween episode where I'm going to come. And my, my costume is going to be very on the nose, by the way.

Very on the nose. By the way, if the thought warriors can guess what my costume is, play this game on Reddit, guess what I'm going at. And you said it's very on brand? It's very on brand, very on the nose for me. Very on the nose for me. Is it one of the characters on your shirt? No, it's not.

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Can you name all the characters on my shirt? Let's go for it. This is a Marvel shirt. Okay. And this has the Avengers on the shirt. Can you name all of these characters? Let's go. Who is it?

Okay, I'll go with, I'll start here on this. Okay. Inflated A cup that I have now because of my weight game. Stop. Is that a mask? No, it's, who is it? Iron Man? That's Iron Man.

Ding, ding, ding. Who is that guy? I don't know. Look at the goddamn picture. Who is that? I don't know. He's blue. He's blue.

Yeah, with a gigantic A on his head. You know, I got to, well, that's how I figured it out. But I got to tell you, these are cartoon characters. So it's throwing me off. Okay. Who is this? The Hulk. Okay.

This one's a little tougher. Who is that? I know. I was going to say he, man. But think about Thor. Thor. Oh my God. You're so close.

Who is that? Black Panther. Oh. Oh. Y'all. Y'all, I'm five for five. I'm five for five. We're killing it.

I have no idea who that one is. Yes, you do. You do know. Black Widow. I'm talking about one, two, three, four, five, six, seven out of seven. You know what? Stop crying a big fucking rage. stop clowning her.

I'm shocked myself. We got to get you a show on the ringerverse now. No. We got to get you an instant reaction Marvel show. We have to get you a show. I didn't know you could do it. I believe in you now, though. Thank you.

Do we want to talk about the flight attendant thing or no? You so, man, since you found out about this, you've been itching. I wouldn't dare take this away from you. Go ahead. Go ahead. A flight attendant made a TikTok. And I didn't, there's two things I didn't know about this. Number one, I didn't know that like you could go on TikTok and like as a flight attended and talk shit on the passengers to the airline.

I don't think you can. Is that, that's got to be frowned upon, right? I don't think you can. That's not. She'll definitely at least be demoted from working in first class. Right. Right. Oh, working in first class.

Ooh, la la. What did you want? You know what I'm saying? I was on a company trip that it was paid for. I just want to put that out. Like a warm croissant. You know what I'm saying? It's the butter here.

That's what they do. So it was made aware. It was brought to my attention over at O.R. Thought Warriors that a flight attendant made a TikTok, a TikTok that has, let's see how many likes of this TikTok has. I put it in the group. let's uh let's see how many likes this this tictock i'm not going to say your name you guys already know this already for fans of the podcast the ticot has what it looks like oh wow it's really gone up

since the last i'm going to look at it has 50 000 likes which is not a shit ton of likes well it is in comparison to any of her other videos wow uh shit ton of likes her name is whatever i'm not going to say the name uh she did a rundown of people who she she did a rundown of people who she he's waiting on in first class and whether or not they were cool or not. She did Sophia Bush, who she said was delightful and pretty cool. She did Kristen Chinoweth, who she was really into and said it was cool because Kristen Chinoweth was writing music while she saw her. And then she did Rachel and Brian. First of all, she disrespected Brian. She did. And if there's one thing that I want to buy by is disrespect of Brian.

You and me both. When Brian was walking through the Rose Bowl, it was if the sunlight was just following him. It was nighttime. Everywhere he went, then it was moonlight. How do I know? Everywhere he went, people were like, that's Brian. So don't disrespect my guy, Brian. But she said that you were mean, Rach.

She said she complimented the other two. She complimented the other two. and then she said that you were choosy about your foods on the first class flight. She didn't say it. This was the most, this was the most, I feel like, this was the biggest deal. She said, you asked for a sandwich

and asked if there was cheese on the sandwich, to which she said, yes, there's cheese on the sandwich. Then she took the sandwich back and warmed the sandwich up for you, and the cheese melted on the sandwich. Then you asked her to go and pick the cheese off of the melted sandwich. And I don't know if there's anything more frustrating than picking cheese off of a melted sandwich. Absolutely.

Do you remember this encounter? Is there any truth to the yarn that has been spun on TikTok about my co-host? So first of all, I do remember. Ooh. And because I was traveling on Christmas Day, and it's not often I travel Christmas Day and I was going to work. I was actually headed to ESPN. I can remember this vividly. This was like two years ago,

or two Christmases ago, I should say. So it's not true. There are parts of it that are true, but not all of it's true. And I just want to say, I think that for somebody to create this type of TikTok or any type of social media posts like this, you know everything you need to know about that person.

That while in, while performing their job, instead of just doing the job, they decided to take what they know in their job and make a whole TikTok out of it which is a bit of an invasion of privacy I'm sure so yeah I know I'm sure Sophia Bush I'm being nice I'm sure I'm sure

Sophia Bush and Kristen Chenoweth wouldn't want a TikTok about them even if it is positive but I'll speak to mine so I absolutely asked for or there were whatever options there were I asked for a sandwich. It had cheese on it.

I asked for it. When it came to me, I was like, no, no, no, no. I asked for the sandwich. She said it had cheese on it. I thought I've never had a warm sandwich on a flight. So I thought it was going to be a cold sandwich. So I was like, oh, I'll just pick off the cheese. You just take the cheese off.

Yeah. I was like, I'll just pick off the cheese because I don't want to, you know, like be too picky. And I was really hungry. So when the sandwich came, it was melted cheese. And then I couldn't pick it off. So I just said, you know, what, I can't eat it. It has cheese. Anybody who knows me and I talk about it a lot, like I cannot handle cheese. I don't do milk. I don't do any kind of dairy. So because the

cheese was melted on the sandwich, I just said, I can't eat it and I gave it back to her. I didn't ask her to pick the cheese off the sandwich. And then she went back, and this was very nice of her, and she like went back to find me other snacks. But at that point, I'm very picky. So I was just like, no, thank you. And that was it. Right. That was the end of it. But she decided, I hope she got the clout she wanted. She clearly got the likes, maybe some followers, because that's why you would put this video out there, right, to garner some type of attention.

I just want to give a shout out to American Airlines because that is the flight that I was on and put American Airlines on notice that your flight attendants, whether they're working in main class, business class, or first class, like to make TikToks about your customers that fly on their flights,

which I think is an invasion of privacy. And now I'm a little bit of, nervous about flying on another American flight because I don't know if I'm going to run into this person and then she's going to have another TikTok about me, an untrue TikTok at that. When I fly, I'm super low key. I'm to myself. I put my earpots on. Like I either sleep, I'm reading, I'm working, watching a movie.

I'm super chill. But the fact that I can't even ask for food and then when it has something that I personally can't handle, my body can't handle and I send it back, that's, that's a little. that becomes a TikTok and it's just really inappropriate but it is what it is the trappings of fame yeah

I mean this is this is the thing if I'm the celebrity that you made a TikTok over you ain't meeting anybody because I'm not a celebrity at all you ain't meeting anybody on your flights I am not on the level of Sophia Bush or Kristen Chenow

that's bullshit anyway but this is what I would say is look you know, now that people know me when I go out, I try to be all super extra nice. But you know what the reality is? Sometimes I'm not even talking about what happened on the plane. Sometimes a nigga don't be with all that. I can remember specifically a couple of months ago, me and Nick May, shout out Nick May,

six feet over productions, Academy Award winners. We went to Atlanta. We went to Atlanta for something at the gathering spot. If you're in Atlanta, please stop by the gathering spot and hang out. It's a great place. And we had a panel there. So we go there. You've flown all across the country.

You know what I mean? You get to Atlanta. You get in. You have to do something later on. What you just want to do is get in your hotel room. And you just want to lay down real quick. Just so you can be at your best because you have a job to do later on. Atlanta just so you could be at your best. And we get to the hotel there and the girl,

uh, the woman, should I say at the front acts like I'm inconveniencing her by asking to be checked into the room. And so after a while of getting intense unwarranted attitude from somebody who's at their job, I said, I said, you know what? Fuck it. I'm out. And she was like, fuck it. I was like, yeah, don't worry about it. All good love and joy. I actually hit her with that line. I said, fuck it, I'm out.

And I went on. I got in an Uber and I booked a new hotel myself that I paid for. All right. As we drove to where we were going. You know what I mean? And the reality is if you ask that girl, Van Lathen's an asshole. But the fact of the matter is like I wouldn't expect her to go. like I wouldn't expect her to go on something and out me

and have a whole dialogue about me when I'm paying for service. I think paying for a service means that you don't get to. Now, was it funny when I watched it? Yeah, of course it was funny. I laughed when I watched it. I was like, oh, I remember that. Of course it was funny. You want to bring her on the podcast and have a face-to-face with her?

No, because this is what she wants. It is true. But I mean, I think it was as soon as when you sent it to me and you were like, Like you out here being mean a flight attendant. I was like, wait, what? And I watched it. And even the way she introed me, it was, do you guys watch The Bachelor? It's an atrocity.

Oh. It's an atrocity. The whole thing. Like she had a, like she had a preconceived notion. If you, if she was going to be up and down and we were going to trust her, uh, her reviews of people, she's reviewing people. Um, if we were going to trust her reviews of people, she starts off her review of Sophia Bush saying, I love her.

she's a feminist. I love all the stuff that she does and she couldn't have been nicer and even her dog was nice. That's what she said about Sophia Bush. And she started off with you like, hey, the bachelor is fucking terrible and let me tell you what they hath spawned.

She was like, I know pop culture, so I mean, I know who she is, but this is her husband or whatever. I don't even know what his name is. And I was like, my gosh. Anyways, you know. That's enough. That's enough. I'll tell you one thing.

What's up? Hot the cheese. Hide the cheese when Rachel's on your plane. Okay. Is there any type of cheese that you deal with? I can't stand the smell of it. Like I can smell it if it's on anything. Sprinkled, melted, just regular.

I just, I can't handle dairy. You don't eat pizza? Unless it's butter. You don't eat pizza? So this is how I know melted cheese is hard to take off. I take all the cheese off and then I put the toppings back on. That's what I was willing to do with the sandwich. I was going to take the cheese off.

Can't you just ask them for a pizza with no cheese? Yeah, but I'm usually sharing with people. And so rather than it, because I am nice, news alert. And so I, rather than have a whole pizza to myself, I share with people. I'm like, I don't want to inconvenience anyone. I'll just take the cheese off and put the toppings back on. Because I know I'm ridiculous with my food. It's insane.

Let's take a break and come back. Did you know about one in three people with plaques psoriasis? may also develop psoriatic arthritis, which causes joint pain, stiffness, and swelling? Does this sound like you? Listen to what it sounds like to be a million miles away.

Tramphaya, guselcomab, taken by injection, is a prescription medicine for adults with moderate to severe plaques psoriasis, who may benefit from taking injections or pills or phototherapy, and for adults with active psoriotic arthritis.

Serious allergic reactions and increased risk of infections and liver problems may occur. Before a treatment, your doctor should check you for infections in tuberculosis. Tell your doctor if you have an infection, flu-like symptoms, or if you need a vaccine. Imagine being a million miles away. Explore what's possible. Ask your doctor about trimfaya.

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soft lightly lined cubs for a natural shape, and no wire comfort that lasts all day. All over smooth, all-day comfort, vanity fair lingerie. Find yours at Target today. Okay. Something happened. And it is not something that one would wish to discuss. Okay. Michael K. Williams, a man best known for his portrayal of Omar Little in The Wire, passed away earlier this week. According to reports, Michael was found in his hotel room,

unresponsive. He was dead of an apparent overdose. Now, if you don't know who Michael K. Williams is, he's best known for his role of Omar in the Wire, which is a completely culture-defining role. in every single way, one of the most important roles in television history, if you ask me. He's also done a ton of other great work. He's currently nominated for an Emmy Award for Lovecraft Country. He was in Borwalk Empire.

Michael Kay has popped up all over the place. And at 54 years old, in many ways, it felt like he was just beginning, if you can believe that. At 54 years old, as he had played Omar for all that time in many ways it felt like he was just getting to it, uh, to the level that he was going to be revered. Just continue to do great work. Uh, early reports are that Michael K. Williams

died because of the batch of drugs that he was using being tainted with fentanyl. We're going to come to fentanyl in a second. But before we talk about that, I just want to say what a tremendous this loss that this is for the human community, a guy who comported himself with dignity, grace, and class at all times. One of the most interesting things about remembering Michael K. Williams is that he had touched so many different lives on so many different levels of lives that almost everyone seemingly had a picture with him. Almost everyone had a picture with him and just talked about what a great guy he was.

I had just come to know him in the last couple of years, you know. I would shoot him a message. He would shoot one back. He hit me up last year during the pandemic in order to do something for an organization that he was working with back in Brooklyn. And I did that. And for the little time that I did know him, I was very, very proud to have known him. So whatever God is trying to tell us.

with the last year and a half, two years even, I just hope we're listening. Yeah, no. It was really shocking to hear, like, I couldn't, I think I, like, stared at my phone for like a good five minutes, like, no, really? Yeah. Not Michael, because I've only met him once.

It was on the red carpet at the BET Awards, and he was there to honor DMX. and he performed and I don't know him personally. But one common theme I saw in the outpouring of messages that people were sending out who did know him is that they kept talking about how beautiful of a soul he was. It was a common theme. You don't hear people described in that way all the time. And I will say in talking to him for five minutes, he was infectious. I mean, he was full of energy, full of life.

There was a positivity about him. I remember asking him who he was excited to see that person happened to be on the red carpet right when he said it. I was like, look over your shoulder. He got so excited. We were laughing, joking. He was talking to me as if he had known me for years, like, and really talking to me, you know, not trying to get on, move on the carpet, get where he was going.

He took the time to talk to me. And if he could give me that in five minutes, I can only imagine what he gave to somebody who knew him on a much more personal level. It's a huge loss for the community, for those who knew him. But I hope he knew, and I see people say this too, I really hope he knew how much he was appreciated and how much he was loved and how many people he touched through his work

in what he did. Yeah. So if you're not familiar with the wire, Omar Little was a stick-up guy in the wire. not stick up kid, a stick up man. He was one of the most feared guys on the Baltimore streets. He robbed drug dealers is what Omar did. Now, how in the world could a character that lived by the gun, double barrel shotgun, is what Omar used to carry, how could that character end up being the moral center and the hero of a show that's essentially about.

drug dealers, cops, and the socioeconomic problems that go on in Baltimore, right? In West Baltimore, for the most part. He could because Omar was a character that challenged people. Spoke a little bit about this with Bill and Bill's podcast. Omar was a very challenging character. It was challenging to love someone who was violent, you know. It was challenging as a young man, I think I was 22 when the wire came on, to confirm Omar who was openly gay.

And not openly gay in a way that they said, hey, Omar's gay. Openly gay is Omar's laying in the bed naked with a man. Omar's kissing a guy. Omar's doing all that. And it's right there for you. And when you're confronted with that and you're still wrapped up in the hollow and absurd hyper-masculinity that one is still going through at that age.

And some of us haven't come out of. there has to be something that pulls you through that pulls you through to see the person, unfortunately. There has to be something that pulled you through. And what did was the purity of Omar's character. He was pure. He was pure. It was a quiet grace and the dignity about him

as he was played on screen. There was a complexity to him. And it couldn't have happened without Michael K. Williams. Michael K. Williams had a gigantic scar running down the middle of his face. Huge. To the point to where. where if you saw him anywhere, you'd say,

Jesus Christ, what happened to that guy? Right? The scar would just melt away from his face. It would just, he had the ability to soften his face

and be so incredibly vulnerable to the point to where you saw nothing but like walking trauma and what that life breeds. Even with someone that was as powerful as Omar Little, someone that was as in control

as Omar Little. someone who racked up as many wins as Omar Little did. Like Omar's character was the first gay man on television that I said, I want to be that guy. Now, this is a very, very, very sophomoric in many ways, myopic way to view an entire community's experience. but I can't express how much watching Omar grew me up and not just me but the people around me

it became so much about what he was doing and who he was and what he stood for that anything else besides the core of the character just kind of it dissipated you know around that same time I had been speaking with my sister who had come out and it was just part of an awakening for me. Yeah.

And it seemed silly, but it was a big deal. So for me personally, it was hard. You know, Michael had been very open about his struggles with addiction. He had been very open about what he was trying to overcome in his life. And he just, you know, it's just tough. It's hard, man, for a lot of people. I saw, I saw, there was an interview that he was doing with the cast of Lovecraft Country, and the whole cast was there.

I'm not sure who they were talking to. You can see it on YouTube, but he was talking about the role he played where he's nominated for an Emmy, actually for this upcoming Emmy Awards. And he's talking about the role that he played and how much it broke him and how much he struggled with it. And, you know, a lot of times people see, you see people and you see that they have the fame, the success, the, the money. And, you know, you think that that takes away all the problems. And he said something, I don't know if I'd ever heard anybody put it in this way before. And I'm going to paraphrase it, excuse me for not getting it right, but he said, people think that

when you kick addiction, you kick the drugs, you kick the, you know, the alcohol, whatever it is, that it kicks away all the problems. And he's like, it doesn't. Those problems don't go away just because you kick the habit. They're still there. And you still have to deal with them and confront them. And so it kind of lets you into what he was going through. And then when he talks about how his castmates were his angels and they really lifted him up as he was playing this role in Lovecraft Country,

he literally is from one minute talking to just breaking down completely. It like can't and it's just like he was really struggling and it's really heartbreaking to watch. And I saw somebody post that most scars go unseen and I mean that is so true. And it's just you say, you hear people say it all the time, but it's you never know what people are going through. And just because it looks like they have it all inside they may not. So, you know, it's just a reminder to reach out to people to check on people, especially at a time when we're all separated. you know, we're it's, we feel like we're out of the pandemic, but we're really not. We're really not.

Yeah. Yeah. So. Yeah. I wish I could say that Michael K. Williams. Oh, I don't wish I could say that Michael K. Williams was the only person. But he wasn't the only person that lost their life to drug use this past weekend. Three people died at one party.

Three people died at one party. Early Saturday morning in Venice, California, they overdose on. reportedly fentanyl laced cocaine. The three people were Fouquin Johnson, Natalie Williamson, and Eric Kalangeli. And Johnson was a stand-of-cometing. He was a writer on a television program. He was a friend of a lot of my friends. So they apparently took fentanyl lace cocaine and they died shortly after that.

There's been a discussion on the internet about fentanyl itself. Remember, fentanyl was also what essentially killed Prince. And a lot of people who are looking at it, I tweeted out that fentanyl is the devil. And after I tweeted that, what I had was a lot of people that came back to me and said, listen, fentanyl being used as a cutting agent, which is what they do. They take it, they'll cut heroin with it. They'll cut cocaine with it. As a cutting agent in these drugs, it is incredibly dangerous. but as a drug used for pharmaceutical purposes

and pain tolerance, a lot of people swear by it, say it was a godsend. All I know is that during a time like this when people have all types of life issues, they're depressed, they're separated from their families, a lot of them,

some of them have lost work. Obviously, people are going to turn to, some people are going to turn to, substances to try to help them get past these moments. And if there is something as dangerous on the streets as fentanyl is being used, you know, as a cutting agent for illicit street drugs, then don't we have to consider if people are dying, if it's this dangerous to people, don't we have to consider what the overall usefulness of it is, period?

it. I mean, you know, there's a lot of misinformation out there about it. And I'm not a doctor. But, man, it seems as if it is a pure lethal monster. If you get it even a little bit wrong, think about it. It took out three people at one party and put another person in critical condition. And Michael K. Williams passed away from it as well. So it just, it's, it's, I don't know. Is this a case where you look at the overall usefulness of a drug if it can be that poorly used and that deadly to people when it's poorly used? You know, I think it's that we're just now, it's becoming more widespread that we're

understanding. I mean, even a little bit of the impact of this drug. I mean, if you Google the word or type it in any search engine, you will see stories outside of what just made the news. It's just not mainstream. In Long Island, six people died over a weekend. It was very recent. It was just recently announced that a young television star died of a... I'm looking at it right now.

Logan Williams. It's very... We're just now understanding it. I think it's something that people have been talking about. but the use of cutting cocaine with fentanyl is becoming more common because it is highly addictive and people are using it so that drug dealers can get repeat customers over and over again. But I think the point is that, and I even had, I know my friend's son said, everybody knows that you don't do coke at a party anymore.

So I guess because it could possibly be laced with this. And so I'm glad we're talking about it because it is becoming a deeper issue. And it takes, sadly, it takes people overdoses, prominent people, more people continuing to pass away from it. The numbers to go up for this to even be a conversation or for us to be aware of it. And we need to talk about it because I didn't know that that's what Prince died of. I had no idea. And it makes me wonder how many other people died of this drug, how harmful it is, but not just that it's harmful. it's being commonly used now.

Right. When it comes to being put in heroin and cocaine. So, yeah, we need to be on notice about it. Okay. So look, there are two ways that you can kind of, if you are going to use drugs, okay? And I want to have Dr. Carl, whatever, the guy, you know, the guy who wrote the heroin book. You know what I'm talking about that guy? You never heard of this guy?

This guy from Brown or Princeton or something. who wrote a book about using drugs and all of that. I want to have him on the podcast. I want to talk about this. I want to have him on the podcast and talk about this. The name of his book is Drug Use for Dummies. I want to have them on the podcast. I want to talk about this.

If you are going to use these drugs, there are two things that you can do. And I'm not. High learning is certainly not telling people to go out there and get high on cocaine or heroin. Not telling you that. but there are fentanyl test strips that you can buy at harm reduction sites you know there are fentanyl test strips that you can buy where you can quickly test your drugs to see if they are fentanyl laced with up to 97 percent sensitivity all right you can get those and you can also obviously people can carry narcan and narcan is a substance that you can take um nasally or

other ways to where if someone is overdosed, you can give it to them and you can perhaps save their life. So what I would tell people, the people listen to this podcast right now, if you are a recreational drug user and you're using drugs that might be cut with fentanyl, there are estimates that 8 to 10% of the drugs in New York City that have been going around were fentanyl laced. These guys are lacing their work with fentanyl. Better safe than sorry. I wish for everyone to be happy, healthy, and clean and free of any addictions. But at least if that's not a possibility for you, please take steps. Please take steps to ensure that you're still here after you get high.

Yeah. I do want to ask you about one more thing related to this. I know we spent some time on this. Lou Nell came out after this. You know, Lunell, the comedian. Yeah, Lou Nell. And she said, she said, enough with these hard drugs, smoke some weed, do this, do that.

But don't take any hard drugs. Actually, so that I don't misquote, Lounell, I will read you the exact post that she put up on her Instagram. She said, have a drink, smoke a self-rolled or dispensary, dispensary roll joint. Leave the fucking scissor, Molly and cocaine alone. You might be next and all you were trying to do was party. This shit is no joke at all. The dope dealers are killing people, but hey, you don't have to listen to me.

Rest in peace. And some people were pissed off about that. Some people were pissed off saying that it was insensitive to Michael K. Williams and that, you know, she had no right to come in and say, hey, leave the drugs alone in the wake of his death. What do you think? Wait, did she, to cut this part out, did you say she mentioned weed? She said, no, no, no.

She said, smoke weed instead is what basically she said. Yeah. Well, there's a couple of, yeah, I have an issue with what she said. I think it's, if you feel that way, fine. But don't make that statement right after the death of Michael K. Williams, it seems highly insensitive. Or the people that died in California or the people that have died period of an overdose when it comes to this drug or any type of drug. It is extremely insensitive and it just, I don't know what it's like to be addicted to something. And because I don't know, I'm not going to speak from the perspective of people who have experienced that.

I have no idea the struggles that they go through to fight that every single day when I know they're tempted every single day. And then second, for you to flippantly be like, just smoke weed, your wheat could be laced with that. We very well could be laced with another type of drug. like it's just to me it's just a little bit of an ignorant comment to make I'm shocked that lunell said that I'm shocked that the timing of that statement um I hope she takes it back or takes it down she didn't she hasn't I don't think she will and you know what I'm not saying I don't have a problem with it but I do understand what she's talking about or not what she's talking about I understand why she said it I'll tell you I tell you why I had a friend uh that I went to high school

with. I'm not going to say his name, but if you went to high school with me, you're going to know who the guy is. He worked at a casino near Baton Rouge, not near Badd Rouge, in Baton Rouge. He worked at a casino in Baton Rouge. He passed away. He got drunk at the casino one night or after or around there, someplace he got drunk. And then he drove up the wrong way on a freeway offering and somebody hit him and he die. And I remember talking to a friend about this and it's like, yeah, man, he passed away. And, you know, he, he drove up the wrong way on a blah, blah, blah, blah. And I heard, I remember him saying, my friend going, well, that driving drunk, man, at driving drunk, what he was doing. Why didn't nobody drive him home? Blah, blah, blah, blah. It's one time. Had another friend

who they found shot to death in his car. He was on a street called Alequipa in Baton Rouge. In Baton Rouge, if you're on any street with a Native American name, you're in a part of Baton Rouge called Dixie. You probably don't want to be in Dixie. So if you own Aliqua, Chalktah, any of those places, parts of Chalktaugh, you know, all of those places, it's like it's kind of where it goes down that. Dixie's a notorious, a notorious part of B.R.

And I remember they found him. There, the car was running. He had been shot. He was already dead. And I told another one of my homeboys about that I brought the news. And it was like, well, what was he doing out there, man? At 2 or 3 o'clock in the morning. And something dawned on me.

It dawned on me that people immediately on hearing about the death of somebody, that they sometimes try to compute and make sense of death, by pointing out what they feel like the person did wrong in order to cause their own demise. Because sometimes people want to detach death from either fate or they want to put distance between themselves and death. And what they're saying is that would never happen to me because I would never do that. And they're saying that by saying, hey, I'm not going to die. And death is so unnatural for us.

Death is sometimes so hard for us that a lot of people I've seen at least in my experience is that they often take issue with things that the dead have done to basically say that these people put themselves in that position to put a buffer between themselves and their own mortality or to put something in between them and the grief. So I'm not giving Lunella a pass for saying what she said. It's just her right to say whatever she said. The message in what she said is good. The timing is bad.

But what I will say is I have seen this before. Oh, man, rather than it's too sad. to put up something and go, hey, rest in peace, Michael K. Williams. So what you say is, man, lead the drugs alone. You don't want to really think about death. And we've been thinking about so much death. So I thought about that when I read her message. I think that's a very optimistic way to look at it. Word. I mean, like, you're giving her the benefit of the doubt, which I think is nice. I mean, I do think it's natural, like for the person who said, what was he doing in that part of I actually think that's like a natural question to ask as opposed to man that drinking and driving,

you know, like, you know, don't drink and drive. I think it's a little different. But again, nothing's wrong with her thinking that. I just think posting that on social, you know, right after it is, I don't think anybody can deny that that's insensitive to the people who struggle with addiction. It's not as simple as saying, don't do drugs. You don't think people who are addicted don't want to be addicted. don't want to deal with, you know, whatever is, whatever pain is causing them to, to want to seek out

drugs, to numb that pain or take away whatever issue, I think they would much rather not be addicted than addicted. Again, I don't know, but I would just assume that they would rather not. So it's just, to me, it's just a little, it's just a little insensitive. I got you. I got you. Let's take a break. This episode is brought to by Nas Energy, introducing new Nas Energy, Grand Prix guava. For those that want to be fueled up and fired up with a hundred-bound hour tropical tasting power, ignite your taste, start your engine, shift your flavor to high gear with new NOS Energy Grand Prix guava. Hit the street, grab a can and get after it. This podcast is brought to you by Carvana. Selling your car should feel like one less thing on your list. Not one more. With

Carvana, it is. Just go to Carvana.com and to your license plate or Vin and get a real offer down to the penny. No back and forth, no surprises, just an experience you can trust. Like your offer, accept it, schedule pickup, and we'll come to you with a check in hand. Your car, your timeline, your terms. Visit Carvana.com to sell your car today. Carvana. Pick up fees may apply. All right, California has a decision to make. Woo! California. Recall election coming up, California. Recall election coming up September 14th. Gavin Nne. Newsom, his ass is on the line. Okay.

I'll tell you what's, Gavin Newsom, that ass is on the line. That ass, Gavin. This is not a laughing matter, but keep going. It's kind of funny. It's kind of funny. No, it's not funny. It is not funny. It's a little funny.

If his, okay, his ass is on the line, but if his ass gets booted off, it's not, we're not laughing anymore. Well, I would still kind of laugh. Wow. Okay. I'll tell you why I would laugh. You go move? I'll tell you why I would laugh. Okay.

No, I'm not moving. I live through Trump. I could live through elder. But let me tell you why I would be laughing. I would be laughing because just the fucking whole thing is absurd, man. It is. The whole fucking thing is funny. Okay, let's get into what's going on right here.

All right. Gavin Newsom, his term doesn't officially end until 2023. But because of some people's problems with the handling of COVID-19 last year and the fact that he was caught out at a very swanky restaurant in Northern California. French laundry. Not wearing a mask. Gavin Newsom is in danger of recall.

Recall means that there were enough signatures on a petition to force a revote in the state on whether or not to recall, impeach, remove whatever Gavin Newsom. Okay. So what has to happen is on September 14th, there is going to be an election. And if over 50% of the people who vote in this election, call for the recall of Gavin Newsom. It is done. Okay.

Now, two ways, the two things that you vote on in, on a recall ballot. Number one, you vote on whether or not you want to recall the governor. Number two, you vote on who you would want to replace the governor. The frontrunner in this is a gentleman by the name of Larry Elder. Larry Elder is a stalwart in the conservative community here in California and really all over the country. someone who I put on my Instagram argued that slave owners have just as much of a case for reparations than black people do. First of all, he probably missed the point that a lot of slave owners did get reparations and were compensated and all over the world.

It happened. Haiti had to pay reparations to France. for winning their own freedom. True fact, look it up. Okay? Even the bare mention of this is crazy. If he were to win, you can look at things like revoking mass mandates. You can look at COVID craziness.

He is a diehard and loyal, loyal Trump supporter. And he's talked about a lot of things he's going to do. Kayla Jenner is also mixed up in this, but she looks to be less of a threat. Just like 1%. Yeah. Polling right now is looking like Newsom will keep his seat, but it's still one of the more interesting things because it could change the balance of power in the U.S. Senate. Diane Feinstein is 88.

She says that she is going to serve out her term. Her term, I think, ends in 2025 or something like that. That's right. If something were to happen to Diane Feinstein, God forbid, the governor would choose who replaces her in the Senate. if that's Larry Elder, the Democrats would lose their majority in the Senate. Now, I'm not a shill for the Democrats, as the people know. But I do think certain things like women's reproductive rights and other things like that

that I caucus with the Democrats on are important. So this recall election that's coming up is very, very, very, very, very, very key. Rachel, did you vote? I'm not registered in California. God damn it. I know. It sucks. I'm still registered in Florida.

So unfortunately, I can't vote, but it won't stop me from telling those who can vote that they need to. I'll continue to post that on my social. But it is important, you guys. Like, yes, Van Lass and says that ass is on the line. But we've seen governors recall before. I mean, you'll remember Arnold Schwarzenegger. That's how he got to become governor on a recall. I think initially, let's go back to the 2016 election.

and we all thought something couldn't happen and then Donald Trump became president. People don't think, oh, Larry Elder's not really a contender. There's so many other people. There's 46 people who are running to be the next governor if Gavin Newsom's recalled. It's very likely it could happen. I mean, a lot of people initially, I should say this.

It's very often that you see because of this law or rule or whatever it is, it's very often that you see people put a petition together to get the government. governor recalled. It is not often that they get the 1.5 million signatures that they need. And what sent Newsom over is what Van mentioned about the restaurant and COVID. Initially, that wasn't even why the petition was started. It was other issues like high taxes and the economy and homelessness. Now they're using that incident as the forefront and that was able to push them to be able to get the signatures they needed. As we see COVID increase,

and we see this, the COVID cases increase and all these variants out there. We're also seeing the state of California, among other states as well in the country, become more strict when it comes to how you can function in this state. That upsets a lot of people. And if COVID is the main reason that people are voting to recall him, then it is very likely that he could be recalled and the leading candidate will be Larry Elder. And I would like to point out some Larry Elderisms. Oh, let's go.

I love this, Rach. Let's point out some Larry elderisms. Elderisms. That's what we'll call them. He has made several anti-LBGTQ plus comments on social media. He opposes abortion and believes it should be decided at the state level,

which means he would be in support of the Texas law, which means he could try to implement something like that in the state of California or fight for it. Okay. He believes in police use of charge. chokeholds. He believes that the state of California is soft on crime and has said the 2014 California Proposition 47, which reclassified as misdemeanors, many low-level drugs and property crimes that had formerly been felonies. He said he would, if elected, he would press for

the proposition to be repealed. Jesus, Larry, come on, man. He thinks climate change is a myth. Larry. He believes that global warming is not a big day. danger to earth. He's called systemic racism a lie. God damn it. God damn it. Blamed Black Lives Matter for rising crime. What are you doing, Larry? What are you doing?

He believes that welfare is more harmful to black families than slavery. Larry. Larry, come on. What are you doing? Larry, Larry, what are you doing? Larry, Larry, come on, Larry. He will do whatever it takes. to please the conservative vote.

He said that Biden won the election. And as soon as he got backlash from that, he took it back. He took it back but said we need to focus on 2024. I'm telling you, you don't want this man. And I saved the worst one for last. Now, Larry Elder has been accused. It gets worse than the slavery thing? I mean, that's pretty bad too.

But this is really bad because I have a direct quote on this. Oh, let's do it. Now, Larry has been accused of sexual assault and harassment a few times. Okay. And in one case, Larry Elder defended himself by implying that the woman who was accusing him was too unattractive for him to sexually harass. Larry. He said, quote, if you had seen her, you would know that the picture would be a complete defense. Wow. I'm just saying. Wow. That is the man who is leading right now to potentially be the governor of California. Get out of vote, please. Please, the man is despicable. Please vote.

Please vote. Larry, you got a, you got to chill, bro. You're not going to be governor. I voted. I voted. Man, setting the example. Elderisms. Don't let them become laws in the state, y'all.

Don't let, God damn it, Rachel, what a bar. Don't let an elderism become a law. In this case, I have to say, fuck the elders. Normally I respect elders But this elder Fuck this elder Fuck him

It just reminds me that Martin The Martin stared up where he's like Fuck him girl Fuck him Fuck him Fuck him All right It is

The 20th anniversary Of one of the most unfortunate And shocking events in world history. That is the September 11th terrorist attacks. Before we even go into anything else, Rachel, where were you? What were you doing on September 11th, 2001?

Oh, I remember like it was yesterday. So I was 16. And I don't know why I wasn't driving to school that day. But my dad was driving me to school. Both my parents worked downtown. We went to school downtown. And I was listening to the radio. Shout out to K-104 in Dallas.

And I remember the sports guy, Chris, runs into the, you can tell that he ran into the room where they were. And he goes, y'all, a plane just ran into the Twin Towers. And everybody thought he was joking. Like, you heard it in real time. And they were like, what? And they were like, no, no, no, no, what? And I remember I turned my dad and I was like, are they serious? And he was like, I'm not sure.

You know, he was like, you know, and at that point, we had pulled up into the garage. And I went to up to school. And when I got there, I remember telling people, you guys, a plane just went into the Twin Tower. I mean, at this point, I'm 16. This is 2001. So we had flip phones, but we didn't really have like access to the internet that quickly. Yeah. And we have this thing at our school called TV One.

No, not TV one. That's a real thing. The beat is black boy houses. It was called like one, one channel, and they played it in different schools. And I remember Maria Menunoz used to host it. And they would show us the news every morning. And then they said, somebody ran in. They were like, y'all a second plane.

No, no, no, no. I heard the guy say it on the radio. So I hadn't gone up yet. A second plane just ran in. And everybody was very confused. And so I remember I went upstairs and I told everyone. And my school's downtown. And we're in Dallas, Texas.

And at the time, you know, President Bush was the president. So there's a lot of confusion going on. And because we're downtown and a lot of people referred to us as Bush country, there was a huge fear at the school amongst the administration that they should cancel school because we, they were saying there was a possible threat in Houston, in Dallas and Austin, specifically being downtown. Right. Then immediately after there was a bomb threat. There was an unidentified or unmarked car that had been left on the street in the area. And they just told everybody to call their parents and to leave downtown.

The federal building where my dad was had a threat, bomb threat. My dad refused to leave. And I just remember my parents, like, ride home with a rent home with my best friend, Aaron. And we left school that day. And it was a very, it felt like a dream. It was a very surreal moment. Yep. You were so far away from what happened, but it felt like you were watching a movie.

Like, it just, I just remember there. We were in silence. We went to a Chili's. And I just remember sitting there. And we were like, what's going to happen? Like, you know, you didn't know the gravity of like what, like, you saw the buildings fall down on. I remember I saw the second one fall down on television. You didn't know how many deaths there were, how many people in the city were impacted.

You kept hearing about, you heard about Pennsylvania. you heard about the Pentagon and it's like it just wouldn't stop. And I just kept thinking, I'm going to wake up and then I, and this is not going to be a reality. Yeah. I was, me and Ian were living together. Yeah, we were, we were roommates. Mm-hmm. Where?

Jefferson Lakes apartments. Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Pat and Rouge. Jefferson Lakes. We had a two-bedroom, gigantic two-bedroom, 47, $5 a month. Wow. Nice place.

We end up just not paying a rent and getting evicted. Anyway, so I was sleep. I had a lady over. She knows. She's shout out to her. I had a lady over. And it was in the morning and now we were just waking up, you know, from sleeping. And boom, boom.

Hit on the door. in and he goes terrorists just ran a plane into the world trade center in New York and I was like what he's like yeah terrorists just bombed the world trade center in New York so by the time I get up the second plane had hit like the when I get up the second plane had hit and I'm listening to them on the morning show go this was an act of terrorism. So I wasn't one of the people that watched it in the time after the first plane had hit. And then in that time, not knowing what was going on. When I woke up, I saw we're under attack. And I remember for the first time in my life feeling, like you said, it was a dream,

feeling detached from reality. Because for the very first time in my life, Forget it. All of the, see, here's the deal. All of the trauma that I experienced growing up in South Baton Rouge, I was used to it. Like, I was used to this trauma. I was used to people dying of overdoses. I was used to people getting hooked on drugs. I was used to people dying violently.

I was used to people being infected with HIV and AIDS. A lot of my friends. So I was used to all of this. I was used to people getting weird cancers. These were things to watch out for. No one had ever told me, if you go into a tall building, watch out for planes. It was something that I didn't realize was a possibility at that point.

And never in my life had I seen, besides in 93, which was sort of a botched attempt on a World Trade Center. I hadn't seen America attacked in this way. So there was an incredible sense of vulnerability. Like never felt as safe as you did before. And for me at least, and this was the subject of some arguments and chaos amongst some of the people that I was around at the time, there was an injection of patriotism. at the I had no idea

the history of the United States as far as our Middle East policy I hadn't been paying attention to any of the reasons why anyone will want to do this all right and even having said that there's absolutely zero reason

to attack people and to put women and children and firefighters, all innocents, all non-combatants, to death. But I guess what I'm saying is I looked at the attacks at that point, not as anything that had to do with any geopolitical mathematics, but of, as President Bush said them, pure evil. Yeah.

As I've grown, what I've tried to do, in order to detach myself from the feeling of good and evil as it relates to human beings, because that oftentimes leads us to extremes. What I've tried to do is understand how we can participate in a future that brings us better outcomes. And how we can participate in a country that is more responsible

that breeds and fosters and incubates better outcomes on the international stage. Now, me believing that now might have not saved those people on that day

because they were the target of a very determined and a very sinister plot. They were but I think going back and looking at it

in its totality it was one of the things that most shaped the way I looked at American foreign policy and what came out of it after that you know you have to wonder if

we made it worse in the aftermath. You have to wonder if 9-11 wasn't used as an excuse and a motivation for people to go hawking all over the world and taking out targets that they had always wanted to take out but just didn't have any reason to do it. And if that is the case, then it's one of the biggest failings in the history of the country. because the people that died in 9-11 don't deserve to have their deaths be used to wage any more geopolitical attacks. They don't deserve to have their names used to drone innocent people.

And they don't deserve to have their names used to excuse any decades-long occupations that it might exist anywhere. So I don't know if the United States has got it right since 9-11. But I do know that I'll never forget it. Never forget it. Something you said made me think of something because I did. I heard it in real time. I didn't see it. And I remember, so you probably didn't grasp this because you were told,

because Ian comes in and tells you terrorists. Yeah. When it first happened, you thought a plane just crashed. I watched that on the documentary, yeah. Yeah, like that's how it was described. Nobody even thought, at least like, us, the civilians, didn't think, oh, this is a terrorist because you just didn't understand the method behind it and why, but as more information started to develop, you were like,

wow, we're under attack. Could I be next? And I think that was the scariest thing, even after that day. I mean, that was a feeling I carried around. I remember I wanted to go to college in New York. And I had never been to New York prior to the attack. I had never been either. No.

So I remember what it was like to go before they started rebuilding the tower that's there now. I just remember seeing like the memorial and, you know, and the empty, the emptiness there. Yeah. It's. No, yeah, everything like, you know, they reported from there live from there for like months after. Live from the cleanup. Yeah. Like live from the cleanup.

And even the ticker that you see running on the bottom of your thing, that wasn't there on cable news before 9-11. Like the little ticker that's giving you all the news, they didn't have that. Like they put that there to keep up with the news updates as 9-11, like, was, as we just needed so much news. The NYPD was working. The FBI was working. CIA was working. We were about to launch into a new war. Like, what's Congress doing?

What are you doing? Like, there was a period of hypervisionless in America. and the brown people of America paid a debt for what happened in New York because there were hate, there was hate attacks, hate crime, should I say, everywhere. Yeah. In Baton Rouge was a big deal. People were getting, it was just, it was a very, very, very, very, very weird time. And I remember one day just waking up going, damn, it's been five years since 9-11. Yeah.

as we always do. Yeah, yeah. Human beings are just. I mean, I think this one, not because it's the 20th anniversary, but just because of what happened with us pulling out, it makes you wonder in a way that I really haven't, I guess, in a while because here we are 20 years later. We've had, you know, tens of thousands of civilians in Afghanistan have died.

You have so many dollars that were spent. You have 9-11 and all the categories. from that. And where are we? Yeah. That's that's the thing. Like it feels like, you know, what is people, what are people, what do other countries think of the United States? You know, when I just say tens of thousands of civilians died, when I talk about all the money that we spent the way we left Afghanistan, what do people think about us? You know, yeah, if we were going in there to get al-Qaeda and most of the leaders of al-Qaeda were captured or killed, but what spawned from that? all these affiliated groups.

You know, I just, I, it makes me concern about how people view America with the 20 years that we were there. No, it's very true. It's very true. So look, um, we could right now move on to more depressing shit, uh, because we could, we could update you guys on COVID. Guess what? It's bad.

That's the takeaway. It's not great. It's suboptimal. Let me tell you something. if you're wondering how the United States of America is handling COVID right now, the answer is sub optimally. It's not, it's not,

we're not doing the best. We're not getting all the bang. And by the way, something else I just realized that I haven't paid attention to. Because, you know, I haven't been leaving the house as much. Fucking gas is out of this world.

Like, I went, I've never hit triple digits at the pump before. I've never. In the Honda? In the Honda, I hit triple digits at the pump. You put Supreme? You put Supreme Gas in?

No, man. I'll get the regular let, let, let it. Let's letty. Lettie. I'm looking at her. I'm like, girl, you're thick ass. I'm like, you take, well, I'm looking at it. I'm like, girl, you're so thick.

You take a lot to fill my baby up, huh? $101. I don't know where you get a gas because I have not hit triple. Your thick ass. Now, I get gas in Beverly Hills, baby. There you go. That's what I do. My gas judges your gas.

You got that. Judge away because we ain't hit triple digits over here. Pathetic-ass nigger gas is what you got. Stop. You're driving around Soulplane Mobile. Meanwhile, my gas is fit for a motherfucking golf court. That nigger gas out of here. We pay extra in the Honda, baby.

We pay extra. COVID's not great. Something happened in the world of hip hop, and I want to talk about it. We'll talk about it on the other side of this break. All right, man, let me tell you, we have to update you guys on the sassiest rap beef in the history of rap.

Sassy. Sassy. I don't have much to say. While we were away, things between Drake and Korn. kind of got even weirder. Mm-hmm. Yeah.

You got a cough into your arm, Rachel. That cough that you just did didn't do nothing. Okay. We've talked about this. You coughed into your... Okay, stop. Rachel, we've talked about this. You coughed into the little fist.

I did. You don't do that. That's not what we do. I did. And I'm going to wash my hands as soon as this podcast is over. Yeah. You got to wash them. If you get Brian sick,

how are we going to learn to lose weight on TikTok? Keep going with the sassy story because I don't even want to cover it. Okay. So this happened. So this past weekend, you know, we didn't get it. Shout out to Dr. Yusef Salam, the interview that dropped. Very, very amazing interview, very, very inspirational figure. But while you guys were listening to that, mess was happening.

And I want to talk about it, even though it's old, just because I want to break things up. Kanye West and Drake are going. going back and forth. And you know how most beef sounds like rat bass drums? Think about hit them up. First off, fuck your bitch and the click you claim. You know what I'm saying?

Think about ether. Fuck, Jay-Z. You know, that's how beef normally sounds. You know how this beef sounds to me? Rhe-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-w. When I hear, like,

when I hear the sound of the Kanye versus Drake beef in my mind, I hear, we-w-w-w-w-w-w-w-w. That's how it sounds. Sassy, fish, sassy, catty. So Drake dropped a song. They victimized one of the greatest rappers of all time in this beef. There's collateral damage in this beef. Drake dropped the song called Life of the Party.

Life of the Party is a song that did not make it on to Donda. And God damn it, I don't know why. I can't find it anywhere. You haven't heard the song? No. And I think that's why I've searched everywhere to try to hear this song. couldn't find it. Motherfuckles was posting a song on their Instagram.

I didn't see it. Who do you follow on Instagram? Who do you follow? You follow me on Instagram? I didn't post it. Who else are you following? Are you following Matt James? Did he post it?

I bet he didn't. I bet he didn't. If Matt James is going to post any song on Instagram, it will probably be Binfold five. Or maybe Maroon 5. But definitely not the Jackson 5. So did people, did they have to take it down? Because when I saw it, I was like, okay, let me hear this song. And I couldn't find it anywhere.

It wasn't even in the rundown. I was like, okay, Trudy found it. No. Okay. So here is now. See? They might have taken it down. Like, there was a good like four days when it was up.

Yeah. No, no, Trudy, no. I looked within four days. I listened to the song a dozen times. Well, rap it to me. No, I can't. It's too beautiful. Can I tell you something?

I'm going to be honest with you. Yeah. There's a song by Ghostface Killer call All That I Got is You. I can't listen to the song without bawling my eyes out. It's about how Ghostface grew up. Even the very, the very, the very mention of the song makes me want to cry. It's about how Ghostface grew up

and about everything that he went through as a kid. And it is just fucking beautiful. It's hard, but it's beautiful, right? Like, beautiful. Andre 3000's verse on Life of the Party is gorgeous.

It is sublimely beautiful. He actually rapped, about losing his mother. Right. And he wraps about, he's got a line in there that's like, um, the fact that he hasn't heard from his mother says she died makes him think that maybe there's no heaven. And he goes, and he goes, because like what kind of heaven it is if they don't let you talk to your son.

And I'm like, shit. And he's just and he's, but he, then he goes, maybe I have heard her like through the, through a baby's laughter or this or this. And I'm like, God. damn this nigga's spitting and it and it's beautiful look i got chills i actually have chills i'm so mad i haven't heard it like i actually have chills like he is because somebody posting and reddit it's got to live on reddit it's got it's on it's on reddit somewhere yeah please somebody put it in the thought warriors i'll i'll get on yeah so read it please so anyway this verse comes

then connier's verse comes and conier's verse is weird Kanye's rapping about the fact that he he he says he'll do something that drake he puts it on gd he he he he's He disses Drake. And this is in the same song? Yes. Okay. He disses Drake. Puts it on G.D.

Kanye's gang banging on this track. And then I guess that was his diss to Drake. Drake leaked it on his radio show. And I guess the purpose of this leak was to get ahead of it in case Kanye decided to make a video of her to put the song out where it's going to be a Drake disc. Whatever. Andre D.000. came out and was like, look, I'm sorry. I didn't know that this, that Kanye was going to be dissing Drake on this song.

I wanted to write something for my mom. And I'll be honest with you. Both Kanye West and Drake ought to be fucking ashamed of themselves. They both ought to be fucking ashamed of themselves. Like, for real. for each one of them to involve this pure and genuine soul, for Kanye to involve him by having him record a verse for Donda, and then putting some hearing that beautiful verse,

and then putting that bullshit on the end of it, and then for Drake to come back and release the song, right, put it out there something that amazing, something that heartfelt, something got to say, hey man, if this don't come out the right way, this is somebody sold at their bearings, somebody got to stop.

They should both be ashamed of themselves. Andre's 3000 came out, apologized, cleared it all up, said he'd love to work with Drake, he'd love to work with Kanye. He said he'd basically love to work with everybody. The only name I didn't see on the list

that he would love to work with the Soulge Boy. He said, Andre 3000 just want to rap. And I'm going to be honest with you. It's getting to the point to where maybe we need less Kanye's, maybe we even need less Drake's, And maybe we need more Andre 3000s to get this music back that makes us feel something, this music that's about something, and this music that means something.

It was an ocean of difference between what Three Stacks was able to do on that verse and anything that we heard on either album, and that's real. So I love Andre 3000. And I'm mad. That's why I was searching so hard, apparently not hard enough to find the verse. And I hate that they did this to him. I don't really go up and ask people for pictures, but man, when I saw Andre 3000 in Dallas,

I was like, I'm sorry, can I get a picture? I really just love him so much. And I remember this summer. Do you remember this summer when Three Stacks was on everybody's song? Not everybody's, but it was just like featured. You had the GZ, I do, I do, I do. You had. He likes the rap.

Walk it out. But it was like a, it just like kept coming, kept coming, kept coming. It was a Lloyd song And I'm like Gosh, and every verse was just Why are you laughing at me? Because I'm thinking of the walking out verse The walking out verse was nuts

Walking out like Usher If you talk real talk I probably want to If you want to go to world with guns My pleasure He was like he was just nuts He's nuts I know everything he did

And it was just like he kept It was like all featuring Andre 3000 Man he's giving us more music He's giving us this love them hate i haven't heard it yet this is this is what i was going to say about what you said about is it time to go back to people like three stacks which the answer is duh focusing on them but are we part of the problem and i don't mean you and me because lord knows i do not care about this battle beef stuff and i did not care about whose album was dropping when i'm like is it friday

just give it to me i could care less but are the people part of the problem because who are you doing these sassy beefs for the people for social media for like you know what i mean like are we the problem because we pick this up we talk about it we're doing it on this podcast it drives up cells people are curious like what if we just were like just get to the music just get to the music we're part of the problem well rachel i'd like to thank you for holding up a mirror to myself and making me look directly in it we are I wasn't prepared. I can care less.

Just give me the music. No, no, let's keep it. Let's keep it. Let's focus on us. I wasn't prepared to, you know, have to come to terms with my own culpability in this thing. But your answer to the question is yes. Your answer to the question is, we eat it up. Said I wasn't going to talk about Kanye anymore on the podcast and what's my favorite thing to do.

But yeah, but no, you're absolutely right. You're absolutely right. But a lot of times I do, there's this, there's a movie called The American President. and in the American president, there's this great scene between Michael J. Fox and Michael Douglas. It's a great movie, by the way. If you just want to watch something that's cool

and represents a different time where, you know, it's like whatever, White House politics, the worst things then would be looked at as like nothing now, but whatever, the American president in 1990. And Michael J. Fox is trying to tell Michael Douglas was the president to attack this guy, Bob's Runfield, Bob Rumson, Rumsfield's played by Richard Dreyfus saying, attack him.

The people need leadership. And he says, he goes, people are starving for leadership. They're thirsty for leadership. And in the absence of real leadership, they'll, they like they'll, he says, no. People are starving for leadership. People are thirsty for leadership. They'll crawl through the desert looking for an oasis of leadership. and in the absence of actual leadership,

when they find that there's no oasis there, they want leadership so bad, they'll drink the sand. So we're a bunch of Israelites. No. Michael Douglas comes back and you know what he says? He goes, people don't drink the sand because it's the only thing there. He said people drink the sand

because they don't know the difference. between genuine leadership and the same. They don't know the difference. This is the central question right now is whether or not it doesn't exist or whether or not we've lost our way creatively and culturally and inspirationally so much to where now we don't even recognize it when we see it.

Because there are artists out there that are putting out music and doing all of this stuff, but frankly, they're not the ones that we're talking about. Not really. I mean, you got cold, you got Kendrick, you got some guys like that, of course. But there are people out there making it inspired real, but do we know the difference anymore? No, and we used to, right? Conscious rappers, remember we used to talk about that? That was a thing. They still got it. They still got them. No, I'm not saying it's not, it's not still there. I'm saying it was a thing. It was at the forefront. It's what we listened to. It was like, oh, did you hear that? Like,

You were, they were inspiring. They were talking about things in depth, not this melodic rap where, you know, they're really just saying about 20 different words over and over again or really just trying to find the best beat that matches a TikTok dance. You know what I mean? I'm not saying, I'm not saying that Drake and Kanye aren't putting out good music, but is it, you know, if you're going towards leadership, is it all that? not the way they're doing these

not the way they're doing these social media digs at each other and putting up the maps of people's homes and ugh yeah yeah I will tell you I'll tell you this I will say that I did like I said I did really enjoy and fill it three songs on Donna so I want to give Donda

credit and Certified Lover Boy is it's cool music I said it's good music it's just there's all this outsides let's just stick to the music say to the music I know we're about speaking to music go ahead and drop it the best number one hottest song in the whole fucking world. You know what I'm saying?

Music hit it. Hit it. Trudy, hit it. 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. All right. Mailback. Let's do it. The true true. Let's do it to the true true, true, the true time. Do it, Trudy. From Austin Berkwist.

Who would win a game of family feud between the Lathens and the Lindsay's? Well, we're the Abasolos. We're the Abbasolos. Jesus Christ. You're just going to take the judge right out of the whole situation like that. Is that what we're doing? I thought he meant like Brian. You know what I mean?

The nigga, it's going to be two on two. like it's like no me and the judge against you know it's gonna be if it's the ab of solos it's just gonna be y'all two against us two and it's not gonna work it could be the whole family if it's the linds Brian could still be a part of the team you know how it works obviously

so that to answer your question we would win Brian and I religiously watch Family Feud we love the show right it would be us do you watch it I do let me tell you why y'all gonna lose okay because family is a great question by the way Austin

with an E. Let me tell you why you guys are going to lose. Because the questions are more up our alley. That's not true. We're salt of the earth people. You know what I mean? We're like, we're the type of people.

We're the salt of the earth. So I'm not salt. We're not salt of the earth. Nah, nah, man. Nah, you're not salt to the earth. What does that mean? You're the Dijon of the earth.

Stop. Stop. Stop. Stop. We will win. You're the honey. You're the honey. mustard of the earth. We will win.

We ain't no great Poupon. Don't do that to us. Don't do that to us. All right, next question. This is from Krista Patrice. What do you think of Matt Weeney joining Dan with the Stars?

Y'all need to stop. I think he's ducking me. And by the way... Oh, I'm out of contract now, so come on. I think he's ducking me because I saw him on another podcast. He did Brian's podcast. Did he not? Or was that Dale? No. He didn't. That was Dale. Wow. You mix it up. You're like five black people on the show where you're mixing them off.

Hey man, I'm not going to lie. I was happy to see Dale. I miss Chippendale. Why don't they give Chippendale their own reality show? They, I'm sure Dale would love it. Yeah. I don't know. I'm sure it's, I'm sure it's happening. I want to see more Chippendale. Listen, what do you think about Matt James being on dancing with the stars? I tell you what. I'm on there. Shumper, Shumper. Shumper.

I think he's going to do well. I think if they were African-based dances, he might struggle. But he's going to kill it with the fox trot. He's going to kill it with the Lindsay. He's going to kill it with that dance that the Rockets do. I'm on your ass. Till you're on my show, Matt. Get over here.

I want to see, I want to see them throw up. I want to see them throw some curveballs to Matt. I want to see Matt crumpy. Like, I want to see Matt in full. No, they don't do it, but they should. I want to see Matt and you got served mode because he think he can dance. That's the best part now. I like Matt.

I like Matt James. I do not think he's going to do well on dancing with the stars. I'm sorry, somebody had to say. Oh, I will say this. I think you will do all just aside. think he will do well. You think he'll do well in voting-wise, or you think he'll do well as in the dancing? Football players always do well, man.

Football players do good on the show. Wait, let me think. No, they do. They do. They do. Football players always do good. Jerry Rice did well. Oh, yeah, yeah.

Almost any football player they've had on it has done pretty well. Football players always do well for whatever reason. I'm trying to think who was that, who was it that was just on it? No, that was Charles Oakley. That was basketball. Okay, maybe. Yeah, football players do. Oh, my gosh.

No. Who? No. What's his name? Come on. Vernon Davis. He was terrible. Yeah, that's different.

That nigg was too swole for all of that. He should have never, he should have like, look. It's not terrible. Excuse me, Vernon. He just wasn't that great. It's a level of swole to where you shouldn't be on to dance with the stars. What you're doing, homie? You know what I'm saying?

Like your ancestors didn't survive slavery for you to be doing that. You know, all the muscles mean something. Don't do that. Anyway, Matt, I'm on your ass, baby. Get your ass on higher learning or the jokes keep. spinning. Hey, hey, come on, we got to hurry up because Cowboys are about to come on and I need to get home.

Mel back, hurry up. Mel back. From Gina Colombo. If you could create a holiday, what would it be and how would it be celebrated? Colombo, not Columbus. Stop. I was about to get her. You said, I was about together.

Colombo. Are you connected, Gina, the Colombo family? If I could create a holiday, what would it be? It will be National Black People Day. This is the day. And what will we do? What will we do?

National Black People Day. Answer, whatever we want. Okay, so just a free day. Like a purge for 24 hours. We want to purge? Is that what we want to go, Rachel? I wasn't thinking about violence. Let me finish.

Right. I wasn't thinking about violence. I just mean like a purge for 24 hours. Mm-hmm. Not we can do whatever we want, but kind of anything we ask for, we get one ask and anything we ask for, you got to do it. Yeah. You got to give it to us. But like once a year, national.

What will we call it? Black people day. I mean, the answer is obvious. The answer is obvious. Nigger day. No, see, I thought that's where you were going with it. No. Nigger day is perfect.

You know what I'm going to do? I'm going to do nigger day anyway. So on the calendar. It'll say that. Depends on whose calendar it is. No, no, no. Calenders are, it's a national thing. This is why it can't be that.

Wilson. We'll call it Black Pride Day. We'll call it Black Pride Day. No, that's too sanitized. That's not going to work. Nigger Day. What month is it in? Not February.

We want a good month. Yeah, we have February. We want, we want, we want, Noah, we want like a nice crisp. We want May. May is great. Okay, we want May. Yeah, we want May. We want May.

That's Black Pride Day. Okay, next one. Last one. This is from Marley Emma. What would your dog's voice sound like if he could talk? He's right here. I've said this multiple times. It would sound like Simba's.

Really? With Simba. Grown Simba? Grown Simba or a baby Simba? Grown Simba. Grown Simba. It would sound like Simba. Grown Simba.

I think that for some reason, Bozeman's voice would sound. Oh, I love you, boy. Bosman's voice would sound authoritative, but like very, very smooth as well. I think Bozeman would sound like Barack Obama. Really? I had him pin for like a cookie monster.

Could be. Or, you know, I see hoarseness in Bozeman's voice. Yeah, but his eyes are so, he's so beautiful, man. I can't believe I love this animal this much. His eyes are so soft. He's got like a soft soul, this beautiful goddamn boy. So his eyes are soft. So I think he would be very calm.

He calms me down when he's not. sharing shit up. As a matter of fact, you're on punishment. Get out. All right. Oh, that's enough. That's enough. That's it. Do you have an unexpected outlaw of the week? Yeah, I'm going to give mine to lift. Oh, wow. That's great. That was mine. Okay, good. Lift and Uber. We've got the same one. Lift an Uber who will be covering the legal fees of drivers

in Texas on their respective ride-sharing platforms if they get sued under Texas's new restrictive abortion law, but as breaking news today, oh my gosh, Merrick Garland is suing the state of Texas right now because that law is unconstitutional, or at least that's the argument they're making. So we'll see what happens. Doing what the Supreme Court didn't do. As a matter of fact, I'm glad you brought that up. We'll have a breakdown of that as the next couple of days unfold. We're going to talk to somebody that's going to let us know what merit, the Merit Garland is merit. Merit. Merit Garland. what merit that he's suing on,

what we can do to help or amplify, if there is anything, or what chance it has in the courts. So we'll work on that for Monday. For right now, keep your thinking caps on. Leave them on. Don't take them off.

Don't take your thinking caps off. Okay? I'm going to leave mine on because my hairline is disappearing. So leave your thinking caps on. I am Van Lathen Jr. I'm Rachel and Lindsay. We are out.