Higher Learning with Van Lathan and Rachel Lindsay - The NFL vs. Unvaccinated Players and Problematic Astronauts

Episode Date: July 23, 2021

Van Lathan and Rachel Lindsay kick things off with a fun fact about Forrest Gump (23:32) before diving into the circumstances behind Maria Taylor’s exit from ESPN (36:31) and breaking down the NFL��s new policy regarding unvaccinated players (59:11). Plus, we introduce a new segment titled: “What Were the Whites Thinking?” (1:09:35) before digging into the Thought Warrior mailbag (1:20:37).   Hosts: Van Lathan and Rachel Lindsay Producer: Donnie Beacham Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Yo, yo, yo, thought warriors. What is up? Higher learning is on. It is I Van Leighton Jr. And it's me, Rachel Lindsay. Rachel's coming from the closet today. Because I'm being selfless. Brian is podcasting at the same time as me.

I let him have the normal spot and I came upstairs. Interesting. That's interesting. Why? Do I not come across as a selfless person? No, no, no. It has nothing to do with you. You're very selfless.

But I think that in that situation, I got to go ahead and be honest about my friend Brigh guy that he should have done his podcast in the closet and let you spread your wings. Doesn't as the man of the relationship, the man of the house, shouldn't he be the one to do his podcast in the closet? I would agree if this was, but this is my closet. He can't do it. He would have to come in here and it wouldn't look right. Oh, so he has like a, wait, it wouldn't look like. own closet. So his closet isn't as spacious as yours? No, he doesn't need as much room.

I know, because all he has his closet is like ab rollers and like, you know. He actually really does have those closet. See? I know. I know. I watch his TikToks. Hey, three, hey, it's me right, like big ass smile. Big ass smile. Like, impossibly big smile. Hey, three tips for you to get fit. Okay. First tip. Stop now. What?

What? I'm listening to his shit. I like that shit I like that shit man I got up this morning I'm working out You know I'm doing my thing so is But I like it Brian is Brian is an inspiration

Because like we're like the same age But like he's like half The body fat So I'm like look it can be done Right there I said we still got time So you're in the closet You have a lot of clothes

You have a lot of clothes I have a lot of clothes I have a few You have a few Now, what's your theory or your belief about repeating outfits? How do you feel about it? I do it all the time. I repeat it.

I probably wear the same clothes over and over again, and there's a lot of clothes that don't get worn. Yeah. But I'm kind of a hoarder when it comes. It's hard for me to let go a clothes. Right, right. I used to do. Like, I think I'll need it at some point. So I actually coined something about wearing clothes over again because I used to do it all

the time because I didn't have many clothes. I wouldn't buy that many clothes. I don't like shopping like that. I don't either actually. While my friends like Ian and Gino and Ryan and all the player proof, they love to go shop and wear clothes and do all kinds of wear like fancy rings and all that. Is the player proof crew, pretty boys? Hell yeah.

Oh my God. I mean, I've met, I've met Ian. He's pretty. Yeah, yeah. Hell yeah. One of my friends, Trey, shout out to Trey. Trey wants Cut a pair of jeans up

And then took a pair of piece of the gene that he cut up And fashioned it into a bracelet To put around his watch So he took So he cut a pair of jeans Got the material And then put the gene material Through his watch

And made like a fly little denim watch band For his watch And like he did that He did that to be different fashion forward. But these guys would be like, you know, we go to club nightlife and Baton Rouge club upscale. Baton Rouge club dreams.

Play a perfect 10 parties down there. Baton Rouge. Shout out, TJ. We go to those parties and Mike. And like they would get new stuff to wear to the party. Not me. I would do what I call wearing a raw repeat. A raw.

That doesn't even sound nice. I called it a raw ass. repeat. They'd be like, Van, what you're going to wear? Like, what you're going to wear to the club tonight? You go like, do something? Nah, bro, I'm going to bring in a raw-ass repeat of the second week of the month. And they would just laugh because I will come back with the same shit. And nobody cared. We in the club. I'm going to say, did it hold you back? Hell no. We in the club is dark. I can't remember nobody saying, now, I will be, I will admit, there are probably people on campus going, y'all noticed that van were that same gray

shirt and then black pants every time we go out. But I never heard it. So it's like a raw repeat. Bring yourself a raw repeat. Where do you do your repeats at? Will you do a repeat to an event where you're going to be photographed? Probably not. If I'm on like a red carpet, if I'm working the red carpet, yes.

If I'm walking the red carpet, no. But a lot of times that stuff is gifted. So you give it back. Whoa. You give back the stuff that people gift you? Well, like, you know, like a stylist will have you, you wear it on the red carpet and then you have to give it back to the showroom. Really? Yeah.

I don't know these things. These are the things I don't do. People gift me stuff. It's all to half. I should word it differently. Yes, gifting you keep. But like when I'm styled for something, usually you give that back. You give it back to the showroom.

They take it back. What if you really like it and you don't want to give it back? Would it be awkward if you ask them? Can you keep it? Have you ever done that? No, it's not, I don't know if I've done it, but it's not awkward. They'll just simply tell you no. No, I can't.

I have to, I have to return it back. You've done it before? You've asked before? No, I haven't asked. We've got to ask. This is what we're going to do. I mean, special mission. We're going to do a hidden camera situation of you asking whether or not you can keep

this stuff. And I want to see how they react. Who's going to tell Rachel Lindsay? I mean, I've, I mean, Kalika. Calica did Kalika did Kalika has styled me

twice I didn't ask her I didn't ask her I didn't ask her but I knew that those I couldn't keep them I'd have to pay for them

She might let you have it That would be so funny That would be so funny Van do you know that Rachel asked me If she could keep We should do it with her Rachel asked me

if she could keep this stuff I'm running this out of the back room in my house and she don't ask me if I can keep some of this stuff so let me your question then how many people are wearing this stuff that's a good question it gets dry clean but for a lot of the times they're not going to repeat the looks right the showroom's not going to give

the dress out five times so five people can be wearing the same dress if that's the case then why not let somebody keep it i don't understand this or like it sits in a closet it becomes vintage then people bring it back out a few years later so are you trying to tell me that you might be wearing the same funk nasty dress that some other lady had to to cover the X games in. She's out in Riverside somewhere. Because think about it. Because look, she's covering like the X games, right?

They have those in like Riverside or Anaheim or places like that. It gets a little hotter out there. She's out there. She's sweating. She's watching people do the Vert 720 McFlips. She's out there all day. And the next thing you know, you got to cover something on a red carpet. You're wearing her same funk nasty outfit.

They just recycling all of this. stuff bed bugs running all through it they clean it van if they got a reputation for renting out funk nasty dresses nobody would go to them anymore have you ever there's a system here have you ever have ever had a funky dress no not one time not even with not even

one dress with a little you know sometimes it's not straight up funk sometimes it's just a little twinge you know what we get here because this is This is, because I'm fascinated. I never knew that they, I really didn't know. I know that they loaned out like diamonds, right? And tuxes.

People rent tuxes. You know this. Yeah, no, people rent tux. I guess I've rented a tux before. I've rented a tux before for prom. But see, for prom, I don't think I would rent a tux now. I think even especially like during the time that we're in now, like post-COVID, I don't think I would rent a tux.

Also, because we did get bedbugs one time. Oh, did you? Change your life. I know, I've heard. It'll change your life. It'll change your life. Getting bed bugs will make you stop inviting people to your house. It'll change your life.

Is that how you got it? Wait, is that how you got it? No, I'll be honest with you. I think I know how we got bed books. I'm not even bringing it up, okay? Just know. So there was a culprit. There was a culprit.

I wasn't the source of the bedbugs. when the bedbugs were running. Just know that. We know that for sure. I wasn't the source of the bed bugs. For adults with Crohn's disease or ulcerative colitis symptoms, every choice matters. Trimfaya offers self-injection or intravenous infusion from the start. Trimfaya is administered as injections under the skin or infusions through a vein every four weeks,

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I never forget. I had like this brown couch, right? And this brown couch was ground zero for the bed bugs. And at first you're laying down and you're like, God damn, it's itchy. It's like it's like it's. And then you look and then it's like you're bidding up all over the place. You're like, what the hell is going on? And then for a while, you're like, what the hell?

And then you find out it's bedbugs. And then the first thing you do is you try to fight the bedbugs. Like, were there that many? You could see them? Well, I only ever saw bedbugs one time. The only, like, I only ever actually saw them one time. I remember I looked at them. Like, I got bit and then I looked and I saw this little thing crawling.

I'm like, yo, that's a bed bug. Like, you know what I mean? But I only ever saw them one time. every other time it was like you would you would like lay down every other time how many times has it been no no no i'm talking about every other instance of with that couch so only have bedbugs once but look so what you the first thing you do is you try to fight the bed bugs bugs meaning you try to save your couch anybody that's listening to me right now so rap if you have if you have bed bugs in your bed on your couch

Whatever you have the bed bugs on, throw it away. Just throw it away. You can't beat the bed bucks. I tried everything. I literally broke the couch down, pillow by pillow, did everything, treated every single, sprayed everywhere, moved all the other stuff away from the couch, turned it upside down, like spit a whole weekend. Monday, bedbuzz was like, psych, nigger, it's on. They hatched. We out here.

And then I remember one day, I was like, fuck it, this couch is done. This was back in the day where just getting a new couch was like a big deal. Like, fuck it, this couch is done. Put the couch outside. And then this was like a horror movie ending. So I put the couch outside. And Kalika goes, well, what you need to do is you need to go outside and put a sign on the couch that says, this has bed bugs

don't come get the couch all right yeah before I could do that I come outside with the sign and hand the couch is gone that it's like

and it moved on to somebody else bedbugs to the hatch it moved on to somebody else I promise you I'm like yo I went out there she was so pissed off I'm like yo I went out there

I'm like yo somebody already took it. She was like, you didn't get a chance to put the sign on there? And I'm like, no. She's like, it continues, man. I'm like, what? I'm sorry. But you know what? That's got to be expected. When you pull a couch off the side of the road like that, anything goes. I feel like that was an era in L.A. where it was a whole put shit outside era. I think the era is over or maybe I've moved past there. That still happens. Nope. Totally still happens. I still see it when I'm walking the dog. Yes, I see mattresses. I've seen couches. I've seen couch. is yes people still put stuff out but do do other people go get it though

I don't wait long enough to see man I'm not I'm not looking out the window waiting to see what happens at the end of the day no in my old apartment we had a whole little area where you could set it out shit out that you didn't want anymore and then people will go get it let me tell you my in law school one of my classmates the neighbor above her got bed bugs and they crawled down the wall into her bedroom and we're living in her headboard. And that's how she got her. That's the hottest shit ever.

I love that shit. I'm glad that she had to deal with it. I'm happy for her because I don't want... What's wrong with you? I don't want me to be the only person that has had to deal with that. It was very... You're not. That's actually a joke.

I'm going to be honest with you. It was mentally destabilizing. It was like I was at war. I couldn't beat them. It was like a source. of real anxiety. I was seriously at war. You really should write a script.

I'm actually surprised there's not a horror movie on bedbugs. Now, were they only in the couch, or did they spread throughout? Only in the couch. Oh. Only in the couch. That's actually at least good. You didn't have to get rid of your clothes, the bed. That's actually good.

Only in the couch. Only in the couch. And for a long time, I would go to hotels. and when I will go to hotels, I'll be like, as soon as I would get in the hotel, I'll be like, could you guys bring some fresh sheets up, fresh stuff, bring it up now? You got to look at the mattress.

You got to lift the mattress and look at it. What does that signify? Looking at the mattress. What does that mean? Like there's something you can see to see if like, I don't know if it's like dropping, something you can tell in a mattress. It's like, oh, they just had their bed bucks in there.

Because like if you look on reviews, there's like movie theaters that have bed bug outbreaks, hotels that have them. Yeah, it's like a thing. A movie theater? Yeah, they were in the seats at the movie theater. I think it was in New York. I have a question for you.

Yeah. We're not going to do this as a whole topic, but I do want to, I just want to touch on it real quick. Dr. Dre, the settlement of his divorce was made public. And it looks like Dr. Dre is going to have to give his ex-wife, Andrea Young, $300,000 a month. Yeah, what's the problem? You know where I'm going to say. Did I say that there was a problem?

Did I say that there was a problem? We know how you felt about old Melinda. Melinda Gates. So this would be too much money in your eyes. Because you thought you wanted, didn't you only want Melinda to have 100,000? That's not what I said. See what, see how stuff happens? No, nobody said that I didn't say $100,000.

I said 100 million, which, and that's before I knew. No, you didn't say 100 billion. I did too say 100 million. Oh, yeah, maybe you did, because I said billion. Yeah, I said I said 100 million. But that was before I realized what Melinda had to go through. I was wrong. I was wrong.

Melinda was putting up with Jeffrey Epstein. Melinda was putting up with Bill emailing chicks at the office, like, weirdly. He didn't, he wasn't even, he was emailing like, hey, it's me, Bill Gates. I'm the CEO of Microsoft. I would like to take you out for dinner. But if you don't want to go, forget that I sent the email. Now, how the fuck they pose

to forget that you send you? You're Bill Gates. Well, like, what are you doing? You got to go. You got to go dinner. You got to go. And think about how boring a date with Bill Gates would be. It would seem like Bill Gates

has an interest in life. But I don't think it would be very interesting to go out with Bill Gates. You don't know that. We didn't know all this stuff about him being a womanizer. and him having all this whole secret life talking to ex-girlfriends,

co-workers, Epstein. Like, Bill might be interesting at dinner. It's very true. You might be interesting, but I've some kind of way, I feel like dinner with Bill Gates is going to end up in a conversation about MS. Doss or like, you know what I mean?

I feel like even if Bill Gates has done so many amazing things, but I'm telling you, he's going to talk to you about the first time he wrote some code. It was a brilliant. I felt like a God. Out here on Earth, this is Bill Gates talking right now. On Earth, sure, I walk around.

I look like a mere mortal man. People see me. I'm unassuming glasses. Stop that. People see me, whatever. But inside of the walls of cyberspace, I am God. I realize in my 20s that I can do whatever I want. I can be whoever I want to be.

I can own the world. And you're sitting across there like, yo. The laugh. You're sitting across there like, yo, man. What the fuck am I going to do when I went out with Bill Gates. You stuck. He's talking about like you like talking about I am a God. But she gets $300,000 a month.

She gets $300,000 a month. I want to do the math on this real quick. Just for fun. Okay. So $300,000 per month times 12. She gets $3.6 million a year. Okay. He's worth over a billion.

Is it over a billion? Yeah. But he's worth it. He's a billionaire, right? Right. If he's not, he's right there. If he's not, he's right there. So that's $3.6 billion.

$3.6 million. a year. $3.6 million a year. Okay. I'm just saying, hey, good for her. But I know, I know. They were married for like, what, 20-something years.

They had a child together. I think they had multiple years. She gave him the best years of her life, sat there, supported him while he built his empire, held down the house. Give her her three-six. Three-six.

So, wait, is her name actually even Andrea Young? Hold on. Let me see. Let me make sure. Dr. Dre wife. Oh, excuse me. It's Nicole. Excuse me, I'm sorry.

His name is Andre. I even give it. I gave her his name. I made her the female version of him. I'm sorry. Masajony, patriarchy. Her name is Nicole Young.

They were married in 1996. And let me tell you something. They have, oh, my God, they have a beautiful family. So 25 years. So, yeah. So 25 years they were married in 1996. And to be,

be honest with you. Even though Dr. Dre was a very, very popular producer in 1996, he would have been like 31 at that time. He had all the NWA stuff,

the chronic stuff, all of that. The reality is the bulk of his fortune was probably made while they were together because if you... Easily.

Yeah, if you remember, Dr. Dre had, he really didn't leave death row records with very much. He didn't leave death row records with very much. Shug had the Masters. and all of that stuff.

So I'm just wondering, you know, she probably had to be by him in some really tough times. Let me just ask you a question. Is this a male-female thing to where just like the number itself, you look at that number,

$300,000 a month and you don't go, God damn. Like, there's nothing that you never, that never happens to you in these situations where you go, wow, that's a shit ton of money. I mean, the people we've talked about, Bill Gates and now Dr. Dre.

No, it does not. It is a lot of money. If it was, if it was you who got hit with that, I'd be like, man, that's a lot of money. But if you were a billionaire, I would be like, if it was me who got. I bet you'll figure out a way to write it off. If it was me who got hit with that, you'd be figuring out bail money because I'd have to rob a nigger to make sure I'd make those payments. And that's another thing. We about to see Dr. Dre's foray back into music that, uh, detour.

the album we've been waiting for. He's about to put that bitch out now. He's gonna need the extra scruz. You know what I'm saying? He's got beats. He's got like, no, he's good. Niggas not fucking with that beat shit like they used to. He sold the company.

I know. He made his money. He made a lot of money. But I don't know. People spend. Dr. Dre might be out there. She might have sent this man to the poor house. He might be out there panhandling.

Stop. Stop. It would be so crazy to see. That's what he's definitely not. Dr. Dre has your couch. Dr. Dre has my college with the bed books. Dr. Dre

Rodding around LA looking for the sidewalk. Looking for the sidewalks for different. Good for her. Good for her. She's a beautiful lady too. Good for her.

I'm glad they ended because I'm tired of talking about it. We cover it on extra. We talk about it here. Like on to the next, to the next chapter of their lives. On to the next. Good for her.

And she is still a young and attractive lady. And it's time for her to get out here. Now she got $300,000 a month to keep it up. Boy, $300,000 a month. I mean, like, what do you do? You know what's... I would take the best vacation. You would?

I would be, I would be, I would be, what was it? Who was doing that? Kodak, Black, throwing Dr. Trace money to Dr. Trace music off the boat. Do you know what the most shocking thing? The most shocking thing, the most shocking thing. to me and all of this is that 300,000 a month is only $3.5 million a year.

So when you hear these people that are making these ungodly sums of money, America is crazy. It's people out here making dumb-ass money. Like, if you have a $3.6 million a year contract in the NBA, you ain't nothing. That's like a mid-level exception guy.

Like, you don't even start to become a valuable NBA player until you get to like $10 million a year. guys are making, eight figures, yeah. Like you were making ridiculous, crazy. I just think about last year, James Harden made something like $40 million a year. That's, whew, God bless him. No, but don't you remember when a million dollars was like everything?

You were so rich if you had a million. Now it's like you got to have at least 10. Do you want to be rich? I want to be comfortable. Mm-hmm. I think there comes a point where, like, you got so much money. it's like, what? Let's take a break.

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We're going to start off in our home, the South. Okay. Okay. Tennessee State Building Commission has voted five to two to move the bust of General Nathan Bedford Forrest out of the Capitol building Governor Bill Lee also cast a vote for its removal.

The two no votes to remove the bus came from Lieutenant Governor Randy McNally and House Speaker Cameron Sexton. Both have voiced their opposition of moving the bus and instead adding context to the statute. This is what

Lieutenant Governor McNally had to say. McNally, it makes me think of maps. Remember that Rand McNally, the map people? Whatever. Because it's Randy McNally. Wasn't it Rand McNally, the Mac people, the map people? You don't remember this? Who are the map people?

You don't remember. Am I wrong about this? Rand McNally? You remember this? I don't trust you after Andrea Young. I thought it was. Let me look this up. Hey, Donnie,

wasn't it Rand McNally who used to make maps and globes. According to Google, yeah, you're right, but I don't remember this person. Google said you're right, go. Boom, Rand McNally. I knew this.

I used to be a random piece of information. Why is that random? Who used to make maps? Who used to make maps? You never looked at maps and paid attention to who made the map at the bottom. It was all always random Mcnawley.

No, because I was too busy looking at whatever the map was mapping out, whether it would be a country, the world, state. You know what? Let's move on because we're getting sidetracked.

But the reality is that there's a lot of people that are going to be listening to this. If you're listening to this and when you saw this guy's name was Randy McNally, did you not go, oh shit, it's kind of, it's the map guy. He's gone racist. Anyway, this is what, this is what Lieutenant Governor McNaally said. The left wing activists who are pushing anti-American, anti-history agenda here in Tennessee and across the nation will not stop with Nathan Bedford force. The woke mob means ultimately to uproot and discreet. and discard not just Southern symbols, but American heroes and history as well.

Rach, are you familiar with who Nathan Bedford Forrest was? No. Really? Correct. Interesting. Tell us, tell us who he was. Okay. So I'm going to talk specifically right now to my people

on the right. Pick your battles, man. I know you don't care, but pick your battles. This is who Nathan Bedford-Forest was. Nathan Bedford-Forest was born poor in Tennessee and one of the poorest parts of Tennessee, still a poor part of Tennessee, very, very rural.

And in order to make sure that his family did not stay poor, his father died at a very young age, Nathan Bedford-Force went into one of the most brutal, and inhumane professions that you could go into. Nathan Bairford Forrest made millions of dollars as a slave trader. Now, I want people to understand the difference between those two things.

We're not talking about a plantation owner. See, plantation owners themselves were particularly brutal. Some of them, others were not as brutal, but they were all slave owners and owners of human capital, so that meant that there was exploitation, rape and all of that stuff that went into having that. Slave traders,

slave traders were even looked down upon by some plantation owners. Slave trading is the industry where you're breaking families up. Slave trading is the industry where you're endeavoring into purposeful eugenics. Slave trading is the industry where you are kidnapping people from the north and bringing them to the south. slave training itself was in fact to me legal dope dealing of the day like hurting exploiting and taking advantage of people for profit okay that's what nathan bafferfors did made made a lot of money doing it he spent almost his entire fortune when the time came time for the civil war when the civil war came Nathan bedford for us was a part of the civil war he was

maybe the finest general that the South had. Now, maybe not general himself. He was more of a cavalry man. So cavalry men, should I say? He was incredibly tough to kill. And he had a specific knack for winning battles. And what he did all throughout the South,

he was one of the most feared generals. And obviously there will be people who jump in and say that Robert Lee was the best general, whatever. He was one of the most feared generals that the South had. While he was serving in the Confederate Army, Nathan Bedford Force was a commander at the Battle of Fort Pillow. People don't know what the Battle of Fort Pillow was. It was a massacre.

It was a massacre where about Confederate soldiers won a battle and then went around during that battle executing Black Union soldiers. executing them. Now, normally when you fight a war, you know, war's over, people lift their hands up, hey, whatever, whatever.

They bring them in, you know, P-O-Ws, whatever. Not this time. At the Battle of, at the Fort Pillow massacre, black soldiers were rounded up, systemically shot in the head, right?

Shot over and over and over and over again. That became the, that's why it's known as the massacre of Fort Pillow. Nathan Bedford Forrest was one of the commanding generals in that. Now there are some people that say that Nathan Bedford Forrest didn't take part in those massacres, but the reality is that there's no reason to believe that he did not take part in it or didn't command his men to do that based upon the history of who Nathan Bedford Forrest was. Now, the South loses the war.

All right, the South loses the war. After the South loses the war, you might think, okay, Nathan Bedford Forrest is his his lifetime as a scourge on black people is over. No, it's not over. Because after the war is over, Nathan Bedford Forrest became the Grand Wizard of the Ku Klutz Klan. Oh, wow.

A very early iteration of the Ku Klutz Klan. Now, a lot of people say that he founded the Ku Klutz Klan. That's actually not true. What's true is that the clan had been around for a little while. It's a little while. And what they needed was somebody who could organize them,

who could bring national prominence to them, someone who they could, as a de facto mascot for what the clan did. And the man that they chose for that was Nathan Bedford Forrest. The question is having talked about all the things that we just talked about, why on God's Green Earth would there be any conversation about whether or not Nathan Bedford Forrest's bus belongs in a capital that's supposed to represent all of the people of Tennessee? If there are people in Tennessee who are black, how could there be a conversation about

whether or not Nathan Devereforce's bus needs to be in there. Number one, forget that he was like if you want to, if you want to talk about the fact, if you want to say, hey, he was a man of his times, forget the slave trading stuff. If he was a man of his times, forget about the Confederate stuff.

He was the Grand Wizard of the Koolholymouth clan, which is a domestic terror organization, dedicated to destabilizing black businesses and wreaking terror on black people in order to make them, fearful of white supremacy. The question that we should all have is what's not

disqualifying about that? That's a question for the two people who voted in favor to not remove his bus. Your buddy, Randy, McWhatever. He's my buddy now? McMally.

McMally, whatever his name is. My goodness. It's just wild to me. that the thinking that goes behind deciding to create a bust of that individual and then defending his presence

in where is it the capital, wherever it is, and defending that it should remain there. And these are people and the people defending it are Congress, is a congressman right? And a lieutenant governor.

Lieutenant governor and the House Speaker of Tennessee. So people who are making decisions for the constituent, of the state of Tennessee. This is who they honor. This is who they uplift. This is who they defend.

This is who they fight for. That's terrifying. It is. That's terrifying. It's interesting. And there are a lot of people that go, you know, you don't want to erase history and stuff like that. No one's trying to erase history.

What I just said about Nathan Bedford-Force is history and it can't be erased. You can't tell the story of the Civil War without telling the story of Nathan Bedford-Force, the battles that he won, the havoc. that he reaped. I think Sherman once said, if I remember correctly, Sherman said that he would trade 10,000 men to capture Nathan Beffield Force. If it mean that they could kill Nathan Beffa Force,

that he would give up 10,000 men. That's how much of a thorn in the side of the Union Army that he was. He was a war genius. And guys like that happened. And he apparently was good at trading human capital. That's fine. of those things will be remembered. A bust is not about who you remember. It's about who you exalt. We don't have, we don't have a, they don't have a statue outside of Michael Jordan,

outside of the United Center because he played for the Bulls. It's a lot of people who played for the Bulls that are a part of Bulls history. Exactly. That, that, they, they have statues outside of him because he was especially great and worth remembering. And I'm sorry, nothing about Nathan in bed for Forrest's life is. But this is what we're dealing with. Right. This is the crazy thing. Isn't that nuts?

Isn't that nuts? Yeah. I didn't know. I didn't know. Like, even when we were talking about this topic, I was like, huh, I wonder what, I wonder what he's going to talk about with this. And now I'm like, oh, I get it. Like, I'm just thinking it's, any time that there's a person from the Confederacy that

they want to, you know, like keep up as a bust or a statue or whatever, I believe it should come down. But I was like, oh, we've talked about this. Not like this. Not like this. Fun fact. Do you know who was named? named after Nathan Bedford Forrest?

Do I, is it fun? It's fun fact. It's actually a fun fact. Nathan Bedford Forrest. Forrest Gump? Yep. Go back and watch the movie Forrest Gump again. I actually read the book.

I don't think I want to. So Forrest Gump, the movie is great. The book is sensational. So is it problematic? Now that that Mama decided to name him after this individual. They didn't even live in Tennessee. They didn't even live in Tennessee.

And she's, so he was just like, I think they were from, they were from Alabama, right? Alabama, because that's where he went to college. Yeah, but I think that maybe,

I think that maybe Flores came from Mississippi. I gotta remember, I think maybe, because remember. But that's still not Tennessee. I know. But I think that they were saying

that Nathan Bedford Forrest was Forrest's great, great grandfather or something like that. And if you watch them, movie. Just watch beginning of the movie. It says that there was a reason why Mama named him after him because it was supposedly some decent reason. I haven't seen it in a while, but he's, that's what he's named before. So Mama would have voted in favor of keeping the bust up. Mama would have said, keep it up. There's no maybe about it. She memorialized his,

him and with her son. Shout to Mama, though. It was still sad. Wow. I don't know if that's a fun fact. I don't know that's a fun fact. I'm looking at the whole movie at a different way now. You don't fuck with Forrest Gump's mom anymore, is what you're saying? Maybe not the whole movie. Wow. But Forrest wasn't racist?

Forrest was Bubba. Bubba was his friend. Forrest? I don't know. Forrest, I don't know. Forrest, Bubba was his best friend. By the way, Bubba in the book, not black. Oh, really?

No. What? Not black. They made them black from the movie. So I don't know. Maybe it's fuck for us. Who knows? All right.

Oh, this was interesting to me. Maria Taylor, gone. Leaving ESPN. We knew it. You knew. We knew it was coming. Yeah. She's out.

Maybe. In case you guys don't know, like, when I was back in Louisiana, she had to go. There was a whole situation that went down at ESPN. Now, correct me if I'm wrong about this, Rachel. This was a two-pronged thing. Wasn't part of this about Maria Taylor and her contract situation with ESPN? What do you mean? Well, her contract was up.

Her contract was up for negotiation. And they were negotiating. And I remember even Jalen, our friend Jalen Rose, shout out to him, was going on television and actually saying that, you know, he wanted Maria Taylor to get paid and stuff like that. So it was kind of known that she was in a contract negotiation when the Rachel Nichols thing came out. Yeah, but the thing with the Rachel Nichols thing is it happened a year ago. And I'm like, how do we not know it? I know it was July 2020. And I know so much was going on in the summer of 2020.

And it's one of those things that was buried or glossed over or somehow. Somehow we missed it. It didn't come to light until this year. So, yeah, she was in the contract negotiations, but this coming to light in the New York Times article, there were a couple of articles actually on it in the New York Times, didn't help it. But she had to go, Van.

She had to go. Why's that? First of all, should we refresh people's memory on what happened with Maria Taylor and Rachel Nichols? Because we didn't get a chance to cover this. Yeah, because we thought it was old news. Yeah, we thought it was old by the time we would talk about it again. So Rachel Nichols is a host of The Jump, which is a great basketball show.

I like the jump on ESPN. She was caught on, I guess, was a hot mic or a hot Zoom talking. Yes, it's more of a hot Zoom. Hot Zoom talking to some guy who works with LeBron James and basically saying that. Not just some guy because that's part of the problem as well. Give it to me. Well, she was talking to like LeBron's PR agent or something. So it's not just some guy.

some guy who was very instrumental in helping him establish more than a vote. You know what? Let's do this. Let's make sure we give that guy his credit. Because I feel like he is, I feel like he's getting the slide a little bit. Okay. So look, this guy's name is Adam Mendelssohn. You've been skating out here, Adam.

You don't get to skate, Adam. You were right there saying weird shit too. Anyway. And just to refresh your memory, what he said, what Adam said was between, More than, no, he said between the Me Too movement and Black Lives Matter, he's exhausted. And then he and Rachel have a good laugh about that. Yeah. Okay.

So, what so happened? So Rachel Nichols said that, you know, she was all in favor of diversity. She understood how hard it was to get ahead at ESPN. I'm paraphrasing what she said, being that she is a woman. But if diversity meant, for better or for worse, Maria Taylor, getting to cover the NBA finals from the sideline, rather than Rachel Nichols, then that's where diversity stops. Basically, Rachel Nichols says she doesn't want that to rob her of her opportunity. All right.

We never got a chance to talk about that. Maria Taylor is leaving ESPN, reportedly for NBC. Your thoughts on her exiting and her departure, and would it have been possible, in your opinion, for her to have stayed and had an amicable working relationship with ESPN after what has come out, came out? I do think that there was a possibility to work this out. But ESPN fumbled this.

Like they fumbled the past. They messed this up. They didn't sit the two of them down. They kind of let the situation just they brushed over it. They didn't address Rachel. They didn't address Maria. They instead end up forcing the girl out who's the one who brought it to Maria's attention. They didn't handle this situation right.

So what was Maria supposed to do? I mean, they read. really forced her hand. And the fact that the president of ESPN said, quote, she chose to pursue a new opportunity. That's troubling because it shows that they still don't get it. Maria didn't choose this new opportunity. I think if Maria had a choice, she probably wanted to stay at ESPN, wanted to stay at ESPN, but how could she knowing that they had drawn a line in the sand? I mean, they basically let Maria know what they think about her because they did absolutely nothing in regard to last year's situation, well, except the girl that they forced out. So if I'm Maria, I don't feel appreciated.

I don't feel respected. This woman said something that I felt and not just felt it actually was offensive to me. And instead of doing something that offended me and black people, you let her continue to go on as if you value her and her feelings and her thoughts more than me. And I think that they made that painfully clear to Maria. And they really messes up. Maria offers way too much to the network. I mean, she covers college football, college basketball, men and women's. She does professional football.

She does professional basketball. She is knowledgeable. She's entertaining. She's funny. She works hard. She's incredibly smart. And they're just letting her go. And I think that it, and the way that they handled this, it was a last-ditch effort for

them to say, you know what, we're going to sideline Rachel Nichols, and we're not going to let her work as a reporter on the sideline. during the finals. That's after the fact. You let me know exactly what you thought about it when you handled the situation the first time. What you're doing now is just a response to the public pressure.

Would you have like, so what could ESPN have done? Would you have wanted ESPN to fire Rachel Nichols? No. So I think, so I'm glad you actually said that because, you know, people think I'm quick to say somebody should get fired

and that's not necessarily the case. I don't think that this was a fire. It's fireable word. I don't think this was a fire. a fireable offense. But what I do think should have happened is let's not ignore this. Let's not just wish this away. You have one of your employees who's offended because of something another employee did.

You need to address this situation head on. Why are you having a town hall meeting now? You should have had a town hall or a discussion between Maria and Rachel. They are two faces of the NBA and Maria faces of other things as well for your network. yet you didn't do anything to make her feel comfortable or that you valued her in your company. And when she's seeing you not value other women who look like her, what else is she supposed to think?

Why would she sign on for another few years? Does ESPN have a black woman problem? When we see the way Maria Taylor was treated, when we see the way, really to be honest with you, a personal friend of mine, of mine Jamel Hill was treated is there a black woman problem

at ESPN that's hard for me to say you used to work there because huh you used to work there spilled beans I used to work there it's hard for me to say

because you do have women like L L Duncan I love L Duncan I do too you have Chenay you have women there that you have Kimberly Martin you have black women there who are actually doing their thing and do it well.

And they're, and they're, I don't know if they're the face like Maria, but they're definitely out there. And you know you attach their name, their face to ESPN. It's hard for me to say it's a black woman problem, but there's definitely a diversity problem there. They don't know how to handle issues when they come up in regards to race. They don't know how to make people who are diverse feel comfortable. in that setting. They just wish it away. Sounds very familiar, right? For another franchise that is under the same company. They don't face things head on. And I think that that's a problem. And that's why you're seeing people continue to leave. This is clearly not

the way to do it. And I think it's a very simple fix. And I'm not sure what they're afraid of and why they just won't figure this thing out because you're losing amazing talent. And if I'm Maria, I understand exactly why she felt the need to leave. She couldn't stay there. Not after everything that happened. We're just finding this out. Maria's been dealing with this for a year. I do want to also shout out Carrie Champion who also left ESPN, you know. ESPN has had some amazing black ladies over there and they continue to have some amazing black ladies over there. Maria, Jamel, Carrie, Rachel, I mean, please, I have not on their level. You're missing, you're missing, but you're missing somebody,

right? You're missing somebody that's still over at ESPN. No, you're missing someone. Adult. You're missing, Sage. Nope. You're missing, say. What, you're missing. Sage still. I miss some other people too. There are other people. Roz works there. There's some other people who miss. I didn't just not name Sage.

I didn't just not name Sage. Say, hey, Sage Steel. She works there. We love her. Say it. Say it, Rachel. Say it. Say it you love Sage still.

Okay, anyway. So here's the, like. Sage. Sage. I'm trying to figure out how to work this. No, no, no, no. Sage. Has changed on me.

She's very good friends with Chris Okay And she's kind of changed on me Oh, Sage Still is Sage Still got beef with you I don't think Let's just say we were We were social media friends

And you know I looked one day And she don't follow me anymore Sage still unfollowed you Over Chris Harrison's stuff I just say she I follow me She'll follow me anymore Wow So I said

So I hit it unfollow as well I said oh it's like that You and Sage oh wow I didn't notice There's no beef but I did notice that I said no no no no no no I said huh that's like saying it without saying it I was like that's a that's a beef situation

The unfollowing I have no problems with her But I have to say I was shocked I've been around her a couple of times And we've always gotten along and I was like Huh She took Chris Harrison side She unfollowed you over the Chris Harrison thing That's interesting.

Nuts. Nuts. I do want to say something about the Rachel Nichols-Maria-Taylor thing because here's the thing that I thought when this happened. I feel like I know what you're going to say. Yeah. So this is what I thought. Really when you get down to it, nothing that Rachel Nichols said is shocking. Okay. None of it is shocking.

nothing that she said is shocking or to me hyper racist or anything like that all right it's it's only because we looked at rachel nichols as an ally rachel nichols has has you know she's on there she's talking NBA basketball she's doing all of this stuff like that rachel nichols never said that she wanted to give up a part of who she was or a part of what she's worked for so that a black voice could be in the room And this is what I try to get people to understand where I say, when I say, we shouldn't be looking to people for all of these allies and stuff. The reason being is when you put, when you put a person in a situation where they have to choose themselves and you or their community and you, they're going to choose themselves. And all it does is set us up for disappointment in situations like this.

When I saw what Rachel Nichols said, yeah, it was very white. It was like, I hope all the niggas get what they get. Just not this nigger, not this time. And the reality is that left up to the devices, that is what a lot of them would say. What a lot of them would say was like, cool. If somebody else has to lose for diversity or if someone else has to wait their turn for diversity, that's cool. but I'm not going to be that person. I actually think it's an unfair burden to ask somebody

to care as much about your stuff as they do, as you do about your stuff. And I feel like that's the kind of ally ship that we seem to be looking for. People expect that Rachel Nichols to look at this entire situation and be like, I'm happy that Maria Taylor is going to get this job, is going to get this situation that I think that I should get.

I'm happy that she's going to get it because I want to see more diversity in the room. These people, the way these people's like, in this situation has been set up over hundreds of years. They don't think like that. And if we're expecting to think like that, we're going to be setting herself up for the big fat kill. Well, one, she put her diversity on the same.

She kept saying, I know how it is. I'm a woman. So that's that. She was putting her diversity on the same level as Maria's. But it's not that Rachel, that's not what got me, is that Rachel was saying, you know, I hope that she gets hers, but don't take.

but don't take mine away to give it to her. That's not what got me. She assumed that the reason Maria got that position is because she was black and not qualify. That's what bothered me about what Rachel said. When did she say that? No, it's the assumption. See?

I don't think, see, I believe that she was, because for her to say, I'm all for diversity. I'm all for diversity, but don't take away my opportunity to give it to her. She's assuming Maria got it because of diversity. that is taking away Maria's qualifications. Maria didn't get that job because she's a black woman. Like that's not why.

Maria is hella good at her job and entertaining in a way that Rachel's not. I'm not taken away from Rachel's journalism skills. I'm not taken away from her work 20 years and what she's done and her level of reporting and all of that. But there's Maria brings something different to the table. And that's what bothered me the most. She's saying Maria got it because she was black. So this is my thing. What bothered me the most is that we expect anything different.

I'm really, I'm really serious about that. We have, so we have a bunch of, we have a very diverse group of people who listen to our podcast. And this is going to come off as if, actually it's not going to come off. What I'm telling you is I have a low threshold of expectations

for white America. I just do. Right, we talked about allyship. And it doesn't, and that's not to say that when I, when I saw what she said, when I saw what Rachel Nichols said, I wasn't shocked or appalled or offended at all. I was like, okay, that makes sense. She lives in a situation. By the way, it's funny that you said she put her diversity issue on the same as Maria's

diversity, same levels of Maria's diversity issue. Why wouldn't she? Of course she would. She has been a woman working at ESPN, which is. is a boys club for X amount of years and has gotten to where she's gotten. You cannot tell her that she hasn't had to shatter some glass ceilings. I'm not saying she hasn't. To be a female host of an NBA basketball show.

And if you tell her anything different, what you're going to get back from her is look what I did. Look what I did. Look what I did. And when she looks at Maria Taylor, she's going to think, hey, we're in this season. We're in this situation. I've been doing this. I've been doing that. and that's why they're doing it.

Even if all of that's bullshit and cloaked and coded in privilege, which it is, my question is, what do we actually think is said about us when we're not around? No, and I agree with you. One, with the diversity thing, I'm not saying that she didn't, you know, knock down doors to get to where she is. I would never take that away from her. I just think that, you know, Maria is also a woman and then she's also black, so there's something else there. But I don't think that anybody doesn't think

that people have those, white people have those conversations when we're not in the room. I don't think that. I think for me, it wasn't even shocking that she said it. It wasn't even shocking that she got caught. It was shocking to me that ESPN has known about this for a year and did nothing. when it involves one of your greatest talents

right now on your network. That, to me, was the most shocking thing. Does that happen a year ago? I didn't even know. I interviewed Rachel Nichols. I would have asked her. You would have been like, hey, Rachel Nichols, who are you?

I do want to say something. This is, I'm going to give you guys a clear-cut example of, and me and Rachel differ on this issue. I'm going to give you guys a clear-cut example of what I would like from white people. Take you straight up. Shout out to my boy, Walter Gino McLaughlin. Walter Gino McLaughlin.

His middle name is Eugene, but he's too cool for Eugene. So it's got to be Gino. Ooh, I'm a Kappa. Is this your friend? Oh. Yeah, yeah. So my friend Walter Gino McLaughlin. He's a Kappa.

He became a Kappa with Chris Toombs on the same Kappa line back in the day. They were so happy Walter got cross Kappa and he cried. He doesn't want to talk about the fact. He cried when his brother's arms. He cried his Kappa. Anyway. When you pledge, it's a real thing. Yeah.

So Walter does this thing in Baton Rouge called Black Restaurant Week. And I don't know if you guys know, but what that way is is you eat at Black Restaurants for a week. You support Black Restaurants for a week. Okay. So Walter does this thing for Black Restaurant Week. For me, I don't care if any white people support Black Restaurant Week. It would be great. it would be great if they did.

It would be great if the allies, my friends from down there, Louisiana, Tommy Talley, good white folk, as you can call them. You know what I mean? Derek Pomanski, shout out to him, great guy. It'll be great if all of these guys

decided that they're going to bring their families and go support black businesses. That would be great. That would be fantastic. That's not what I'm asking for them from them. This is what I'm asking for them not to do. Walter told me about a conversation

he had with someone and this conversation he had the person who was white looked at him and goes I love this I love what you guys are doing I love this

but do we have to call it black restaurant week that is the only thing I'm asking white people not to do that I'm not asking you at all

to pick your family up and take them to Dale pits or take them to boiling rue or take them to pit and peel or take them to Bulldogs, the Bulldogs in Baton Rouge, not Bulldogs in Atlanta, it's a completely different vibe, or Jones Grill or any of those places in Baton Rouge.

I'm not asking for you to do that. What I'm asking you to do is not get in the way of what we need to do. Yes, it needs to be called Black Restaurant Week. That's what it needs to be called. black restaurant week. It needs to be called that. Don't worry about it. Do your thing.

We're going to do black restaurant week. And all of these people that are up around going, hey, do we need to call it black restaurant week? Yeah, we do. We need to do stuff. Don't get in the way of what we need to do. And that's it. I'm not asking you to be down because I can't count on that.

Because the moment you say you are, you then do some slick shit on the side. And it happens every time. I'm not mad at Rachel Nichols. Rachel Nichols is looking out for number one, the same thing she's done her whole life. I think Rachel Nichols is typical. I think she's just,

I think she's, I think she's typical. What did you think about what, um, oh my gosh, why can I not think? Stephen Jackson had to say. People were upset with him.

I don't know why. I love Jack. I don't know why Jack jumped out there like that, man. Because Matt Barnes didn't do it the same way. Like, Jack, see, here's the thing about Jack. Jack got a warrior spirit.

Jack like a good fight, but I guarantee you Rachel Nichols going to be all right, dog. She's going to be straight. Jack, like, I love Jack. And Jack, Jack is the kind of guy. Jack is the kind of guy that rise with his friends, no matter what.

Jack is the kind of guy that, like, in his heart believes what he believes. So he's going to stand on what he believes. He's going to say what he say, and that's fine. But this is my question that I have. And maybe she did. I don't know.

Jack stepped in. it last year with some stuff that he said on his Instagram or whatever as it related to the Jewish community. Everybody remembers that, right? Yes. During that time, and maybe she did, maybe she didn't. I don't remember Rachel Nichols

stepping off of a cliff for Jack. No. I don't remember Rachel Nichols saying, hey, like, this is my friend and y'all don't know. I don't remember her doing that and putting her professional and cultural reputation on the line for him. No. So I don't remember her doing that.

Maybe she did. I don't remember her doing that. If I'm wrong, I'm wrong. It's just awkward for me when, you know, he came out. Matt came out even though what Matt said was way better than what Stephen Jackson had to say. And then she apologizes on her show and like she gets interrupted for, I don't even remember who said it. It might have been perk. She gets interrupted.

And Kendrick Perkins is like, okay, I'm going to stop you there. And it's like, you know, talking about. how great she is. And in my mind, I'm like, let one of y'all try to host the jump and then boot her and see what she has to say. Yeah. I think it's all fine when y'all are playing your role

and it's her show and you're on her show because she's like, oh, she gave me this opportunity. On her show. Step into her seat and see what happens and see if she's singing the same tune. It just wasn't, it wasn't necessary. I understand people that stay friend and stuff. It's just I don't like to see that type of energy.

I don't. I don't. I don't. I don't like to see that type of energy. Angie. Actually, you know what? Let's take a break. This episode is brought to you by Spectrum Business. Fast, reliable internet means everything for your business. And even this podcast, that's why I trust Spectrum Business. They keep companies of all sizes connected with internet, advanced Wi-Fi, phone, TV, mobile services,

plus 24-7 U.S.-based support. Millions of business owners already trust Spectrum Business. So visit Spectrum.com slash business to learn more. Restrictions apply. Service is not available in all areas. This episode is brought to by WeatherTech. Everyone knows winter is the MVP and making a mess. You don't need WeatherTech floor liners in the summer, unless you hit the beach or go camping. Then you'd want a cargo liner. Or a road trip goes sideways, ketchup goes rogue, ice cream drips.

Yeah, you'd be pretty happy about those Weather Tech seat protectors. So just to be clear as the mud, you're inevitably going to step into the summer. You don't need Weather Tech unless you plan on doing summer. Visit weathertech.com today. All right, NFL. Okay. The NFL. The NFL is sick of you sick bastards.

The NFL is all done with you delta variant carrying fucking. They're not winning no more. This is with the NFL. The NFL has new rules. The NFL, according to Tom. Policero of the NFL network, the NFL just informed clubs that if a game cannot be rescheduled during the 18

week season 2021, due to a COVID outbreak amongst unvaccinated players, the team will, with the outbreak, will forfeit and be credited with a loss for playoffs seating. A team responsible for a canceled game due to an outbreak among

unvaccinated players or staff will be responsible for financial losses and subject to potential discipline from the commissioner. Those financial losses could be significant for everyone involved. The league said that the game is canceled due to a COVID outbreak among unvaccinated players or staff. Neither team's players will receive their weekly salary and Commissioner Goodell can impose additional penalties, particularly if the COVID outbreak is reasonably determined to be the result of a failure by club personnel to follow applicable protocols. This has already caused ripples throughout the NFL community.

DeAndre Hopkins, one of the best in the league, one of the greatest catch radiuses I've ever seen before. He said, he tweeted this and then he later deleted it. Never thought I would say this. But being put in a position to hurt my team because I don't want to partake in the vaccine. is making me question my future in the NFL. He then deleted that tweet later on. This is essentially, it's not officially,

but this is essentially a vaccine mandate by the NFL. This is essentially a vaccine mandate by the NFL. Do you have an issue with this? No. And I'm sorry. Y'all can get mad at me, but I just, we don't have to have

have a football season. We are. We're having a football with fans. Okay. We're going back to normal, even got a new song for the games. Okay. We're going back to a season. We are also seeing at the same time in our country an outbreak again. In L.A., we have a mask mandate. I know so many people vaccinated and unvaccinated that have this new variant. It is hitting them hard. I know people that are in the hospital. This is real. We have heard about the Delta variant, and now it is really taking our country, like, by storm.

It is out here, guys. And at the same time, if you want to watch football, and I know we kind of talked about this before when we talked about Cole Beasley, and I know it all comes down to money when it's about the NFL. I talked about them caring about their well-being, their health, but I think that goes hand-in-hand.

They want them to be healthy so they can play for them and make them money. So it all goes hand in hand. If you want to play and you want a season of football, then there are rules in place to protect the game, the sport, the people, the money, the business, however you want to look at it. I think the NFL is well within its right to impose these rules.

And if you are unvaccinated, they're not telling you you can't play. I think you just have to go through extreme measures to make sure that you don't contract this, disease, this virus. Maybe it's staying away from family and friends. Maybe it's quarantining throughout the entire season. Nobody's taking the game away from you, maybe some of your livelihood, but you have options here. So I have no problem with it. None. Okay. So what I want to do right now is look up the protocol for unvaccinated NFL players.

It's very, I think we've talked about it before. We talked about it. Yeah, yeah, yeah. But they can't do anything. thing. Yeah, they can't basically do it. They can't really do anything. Okay. So, you know, if you're vaccinated, you don't have to be tested daily. If you're vaccinated, you don't have to stay in the hotel and be quarantined away from people. So here's this, here is right now. Unvaccinated players, this is what they have to go through in the NFL. They will still have to be tested daily, still wear mask at team facilities,

are still subject to physical distancing. We'll have to quarantine after exposure. We'll have travel restrictions and will not be able to end. interact with family and friends during travel, cannot eat in the cafeteria or use the sonnet or the steam room. They will also be subject to capacity limits in weight rooms as well. Unvaccinated players don't have any of those things that they have to be worried about. I think the thing that was interesting in this was that if one team causes an outbreak, I think that I read, and I'll look at it again,

but I think that I read that if one team causes an outbreak, then both teams get all of their stuff. of forfeited. Let me read this again because maybe I'm wrong about this. No, no, no, no. The cancel, the team that has the outbreak has to forfeit. Right. So the team that has the out. So if the league, the league says if a game is canceled during, if the game is canceled due to a COVID-19 outbreak among unvaccinated players and staff, neither team's players will receive their weekly salary. Does that mean that does that mean that neither team

so if the if the Rams are playing the Saints and the Saints have a have an unvaccinated outbreak and the game has to be canceled does that then mean that the Rams also don't get paid

I mean you said donnie Donnie look at that like help me help me out with that it says I'll read it again it says the league said if his game is canceled due to a COVID-19 outbreak among unvaccinated players or staff, neither teams players will receive their weekly salaries

and Commissioner Goldel can impose additional penalties, particularly if the COVID outbreak is reasonably determined, like I said before. And I'm reading that right, is that both teams, Donnie? Yeah. You said neither teams. Yo, that's crazy. That's nuts.

That's nuts. If you're going to do that, then you should just not have unvaccinated players in the league. If you're going to stop people who get vaccinated who are following the rules from making money, that's too much. That doesn't even make sense. But see, that tells me right now,

that's actually draconian in a way. That tells me right now just how serious they are about this. And it also tells me that there's an interesting cultural tug of war going on in the NFL. That is a very extreme way to deal with this problem. Hey, we are basically going to tell you that if you fuck up, not just you, but the players on the other side of the line of you, they're going to be held responsible too, right? That tells me that the NFL, what they really want to do is they want to come out and they want to say in order to play next season, you have to have vaccine. You have to be vaccinated.

Right. Like you're going to see probably in offices and places around like that. You're going to see that pretty soon. And that's going to start a whole different culture war. but they don't feel like they have the latitude to do that with their fan base. They don't think that that's going to fly. So this rule, which in a way is actually more severe than that, is the NFL's way of telling players you need to go get vaccinated really if you want to play in the NFL.

And I think coming off of what you just said about the Delta variant, I think if the numbers were the same way that they were these past weeks, these past months, then maybe you'd have seen them just lean on the, we're going to make your life a lot harder in the NFL if you don't get vaccinated thing. But I think with the Delta variant popping up and them seeing that they could see another season that had all the stoppages and all the hiccups of the last season, this is basically them telling you the organizations themselves are going to put so much, so much pressure on their players to get vaccinated.

It's going to be interested to see how this plays out, especially with guys like Cole Beasley and DeAndre Hopkins who are showing open vaccine hesitancy to see if this works. Well, to hear from a DeAndre Hopkins is a huge deal. Yeah. As opposed to, like, not trying to knock Cole Beasley, but I'm about to. I'm just saying DeAndre Hopkins. DeAndre Hopkins is one of the best wide receivers in the league.

And for him to come out and say that, that's huge. He's a moneymaker. He's a draw. People want to come out and see him play and see what he's going to do. Also, just as we're sitting on this, recording this, L.A. cases are now back up to February levels. This is where we are, people. This is where we are. Backwards, not forwards.

We are going backwards, literally. So this is why I'm not mad. I'm mad at that rule about the other team not getting paid, or any teammates, period, getting paid. But this is why the NFL is being so strict. When they're taking measures like this, it's because of that number I just read. That's that fact. We're backwards. I don't know what to do next.

You know what? What's on the list? You know what? You know what I kind of want to talk about? I kind of want to talk about the astronaut. What astronaut? Gail? Yeah, Gail King.

Was he black? Was he black? Yeah, he's black. I couldn't tell. Or was he just... He's a black man. Okay, I couldn't tell if he was like a tan white man or a light-skinned black man. So this happened on television.

You know, let's combine these. Let's do. With what? Let's do a segment called, What Were the Whites Thinking? I want some big pro. I want a big, big, big thing. What were the whites thinking?

It balances out unexpected ally of the week. So we actually have two two nominees for what were the whites thinking this week. The first one is a former astronaut Charles Bolden who Bolden is the first black NASA administrator

he raised eyebrows when he said this and this guy isn't even white but it was a white feeling when he raised this he said the young man sitting there excited as he was he's looking at the crowd of people after Jeff Bezos landed his penis successfully back onto earth

it said the young man sitting there excited as he was that's one less black kid on a corner somewhere getting ready to use a weapon God damn Chuck Charles So bad It's so bad Charles you're not white but you get to be an honorary white today

What the fuck is wrong with you? I thought it was bad when he just said on the corner, then he proceeds to say with a weapon in his hands. It is really important for us to inspire young people. We have to inform them. There were no black kids standing around when

Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin went to the moon. We weren't part of that. We are today. All of that's great. I love, look, black guys want to go to space, have at it. I have no desire. But if you want to go up there, you want to go to space, please go to space.

But look at the, look at what we're left with either go to space or murder somebody. Bolden. My God. My guy. Bolden. Chuck. Come on,

Chuckie B. Come on, Chuck E. Come on, Chuck Eby. You didn't mean that. Gail was better than me. Gail comes back.

I would have stopped him. I would have stopped him right when he said it. They let him keep talking. They let him complete his thought. Chuck E. Chuck E. Chuck E. Chuck E.

Chuck E. said this and Gail came back. Gail said, I don't want anybody to think or believe that all black kids are just hanging out on the corner. I think it's inspiration for everyone. But I get the point that you're making. I just really wanted to clean that up because I'm sitting here going, no, Charlie, no. Chuckie B. What?

Chuckie B. Oh, Chuckie B. Chuckie B has lit so many boots to get to where he is in NASA. I'm sorry. I got to keep it real with Chuck E. I got to keep it real about Chuck B. Chuck E. That was a booed liquor statement.

I'm sorry. That was a booed liquor statement. That was a booed liquor statement. I wish, I don't want to do this. But if the first thing that comes to your mind after Jeff Bezos lands his penis back to earth, is to shit on black people. It's hard for me to believe that Chuckie B is not a boo liquor. Like, that's a boo liquor statement.

No, no. The worst is that he didn't think he was shitting on black people. He really thought he said something profound. You could tell. Like people were going to be quoting him on that. That's the bad thing. And all I kept thinking is, if this black man can say this to a black woman on national television,

my God, what does he say behind closed doors? What does he say with the other astronauts? What does he say at NASA? Where's the, where's the, I just, I can't. Did Chuck E. Have to go to space? Let's look up Chucky B real quick. No, did Chuck E.

Have retract that statement? Has he come out and said anything since? I don't know. Let me, I'm going to look it up right now. Charles Bolden, Charles Bolden, Jr. He's been to space several times. Okay, so Charles Bolden has been to space. Maybe that, maybe, maybe shit is different up there.

I don't know. Well, you back here now, Chuck E. Yeah, he's different right now. He is, he was appointed by Obama back in the day to be the administrator of the national aeronautics of NASA base. because I just said that. He was a, he's a former Marine. Chuckie B is increasingly,

he's incredibly decorated. He's a major general in the Marine, saw time in Vietnam, Operation Desert Thunder. He was also a part of, distinguished service medal, Superior Service Medal, Legion of Merit.

I don't want to take any of this away from Chuckie B. He's, but he went, I see him right now in 1991. He went up there and he did his, thing. Look, Chuck E. B. is very impressive guy, but he bootleaked. He bootled.

Chuckie B. has been fighting wars overseas, been out of this world and outer space, and the time he needs to be spending is on a corner to see that there aren't black kids holding weapons on every single one of them. That's what he needs to do. He needs to spend

some time in our community. All right, Chuckie B. Chuckie B, you don't... Put up, get decorated for that. Chuckie B, you don't... We still fucking with you, Chuck E B. But come on, bro. He's in timeout. He's in time out.

He's in timeout right now. He's in Boothicker timeout. Okay. The second. This is the second. This was not funny that I laughed at this. But I've watched this video over and over and over again. And I laugh every time.

It's not funny. It's really not funny. What is it? You didn't see the video of the Alabama councilman who was straight up in the meeting. What is going on? What is going on, man? It's not funny, but I didn't know that's what you were going to say. Like what is going on, man?

What the fuck is happening? Like, seriously, like, guys, like, guys, like, what? I was so mad. I even looked at Bozeman. I was like, yo, Boseman, do you see this? And he's like, yo, I'm a dog. It's so ridiculous. So, during the meeting, Alabama Democratic Party.

Wait. Like this guy's name is, hold on for a second. Wait a second. Hold on for a second. This guy, this guy, this guy is a councilman. What's his name? Donnie, what's his guy's name? Tommy Brian.

Tommy Brian is his name. Y'all, this really happened. I know y'all I've seen it by now. Tommy Bryant. They wanted to resign because, like, he's in the council and they're talking in the council. And he looks over to Veronica Freeman, who is black. and he says to her, do we have a house nigger in here?

Do we, do we? Would she please stand up? The woman left the place crying. What is going on with the whites? He lost it. Bryant lost it. He said he was repeating something, Wayman Newson, Newton,

a black man said about Freeman during an executive session. He was repeating something that he was saying. He said it in a derogatory manner. I said it so people would know what the mayor said is what he said. He basically used the whole, he basically used the whole of, I was just rapping what Snoop Dog said.

That's what he said. I don't know. I really don't know. It's not funny. It's so ridiculous that I can't, I have to laugh. It's the whole thing. It's not what he said.

It's the way he said it. It's standing up. Once again, in public on a live. They were recording this on Facebook Live, stood up and spoke to a black woman and called her out of her name. I think he said it twice.

What bothered me to in that video is there is a black man. Maybe it was the mayor. I'm not sure. Who never looked up. He was on his phone the entire time. Didn't look shocked. Didn't look appalled. It was just kept texting on his phone.

I'm sorry. That's an issue. And the other thing is exactly what you said. Why do they always use blame us? excuse their behavior by blaming us that it's our fault that they said that. It's the black mayor's fault that he stood up and said, called her a house nigger in front of a whole council.

Okay. So I have a question. We didn't do Vans very serious question of the week on Monday. We're going to do it right now. We're going to do it right now. This is the question we're going to do right now. This is Vance very serious question of the week. Okay.

To anybody that's reading or watching this and to Rachel. are you okay with somebody slapping or punching the shit out of someone after they've been called the N-word? Is the N-word sufficient grounds to you? I know how we feel. I know how I feel, but I just want a general sense from the people that are reading this and watching this. is being called the N-word legitimate grounds for physical violence and retaliation.

Rachel, do you feel like if you get called the N-word that you can slap back, pop back, punch back, in the mouth, in the jaw, go in somebody's face, bloody their nose, fatten their lip, wring their ears, hit them in the temple, all of that? On site. On site. you call me that it's grounds for whatever

those are fighting words that's a violent word if it comes out of your mouth directed towards me I wouldn't have run out of the room crying and I feel so bad for her and I hope that she's okay and I hope they remove that man from his seat

his government seat because he is making decisions on behalf of his head is not resigning they said that county or that city whatever it is 53% black and this is how this man speaks and he's making decisions

on behalf of your city get that man out of office. On site, I'm allowed to make any type of physical contact with you that I want to. Yeah, yeah. There's all people listen to this and goes, there's never a time for violence. The N-word is violence, like racial said. That's violence. That's violence.

Do you know how many bodies are on the N-word? Especially when it, you know, there's a lot of bodies on the N-word. In-word's violence. Yeah, so I'm with it. That's the question. Is the N-word still grounds for physical violence? The word is out there so much right now. is the N-word still grounds for physical violence.

Somebody calls you the N-word. Are you well within your rights to slap the living shit out of them? That's the question. All right. It's time for Mailback. Donnie, come on. Like, we got to go. It's like run the song and we got to do it.

Come on. Mailback time. Time to read your letters. And then we'll reply to them. Oh. It's mailbag time. Write us with your queries and we'll chime in. All right.

From Donald Bullock. If you could only listen to one artist for the rest of your life, who would it be? Did we answer this question? Maybe. Prince. USA Prince. See, you need somebody with a deep catalog. That's the problem.

Deep catalog. and levels to it, right? Because I can hear fast with Prince. I can hear something slow and sexy. I can dance to it. There's levels to Prince. No? Okay.

Now you're right. What? The answer is probably Michael Jackson. Does that include the Jackson 5? Yeah. Then I might change my answer. Yeah, it's probably Michael Jackson. I changed my answer.

We got to do something about this. We got to, to talk about this. You guys, it's, it's, it's serious. Thank you, Donald Bullock, for bringing the podcast down. We were having a great podcast. Donnie, next question. You're out of your element, Donnie.

All right. This one is music. Music as well. From Josh Coyne, we have to compromise our feelings to enjoy Kanye now. What else does that to you? I think we just talked about it. Yeah, seriously. Michael for sure.

Yeah, Michael for sure. And to a degree, the NFL. The NFL has kind of shown me who they are. But it's the only way, the only place we can go to get that exact content, that exact experience. But to a degree is the NFL, watching the NFL will never be as fun as it was before. It's just something that's almost like habit now. It's a really good point.

Next question. from Erica Miller. If you could go back in time and relive one experience the same exact way, what would it be? The TMZ Kanye thing. Yeah, I mean, it was flawless.

Yeah. I would say for me, it would be my, and this is cliche, but it would totally be my wedding day. And it's not even just because I got married. It's the family and friends all coming together. My family meeting Brian's family,

extended family for the first time. Everybody's just so happy. You know, celebrating love and life. It's just like, it's like a family reunion all at the same time. And so that's the one I'd relive. That's dope.

That's dope. Next, come on. You're out of your element. Let's go. All right. From Elisabeth Franklin, would you guys have been friends in high school? So I'm how much older than you?

Oh. No. Imagine we're the same age. No, no. It depends which high school. It depends which high school we were going to. If we were going to First Baptist Academy where I went, absolutely we would be friends.

If it was your high school, you would have made fun of me. Oh, you would have fun of me in high school. No, you guys have to understand something. That wasn't me in high school. In high school,

I, I am a gentleman. I'm a gentleman. Like, I'm a gentle man. In order to get what you get from me, you got to get way in the inner circle. Like,

I am a gentleman. So you would have, ignored me. No. Like, we'd have been cool because like to be honest, like to be honest with you, like at high school, we got all stick together. Like, I'm not with that divide and conquer boot licking Chuckie B shit. That's not me. Chuckie B. Do better. I want, look, look, I think we would have been friends. I think, I think we'd have been friends. I think, I think we'd have been friends. Like, I think would have been friends. We're back to Chuckie B real quick. But Rachel seems like she would be very, I was supposed to say this real quick.

Rachel was an athlete, I was an athlete, Rachel would be very easy to be friends with in, in, in, in, in high school. Back to Chuck E. Cool. Chuckie B, maybe I was a little hard on you by calling you a boot liquor. Yeah, I read all of those things you did for our country and I felt kind of bad. But I'll tell you this, like, I like, black kid with the gun, Chuckie B, we can't have that. It was so bad.

Okay. I'm sorry. I apologize to Chuck E. that I said all of the things that I said but we can't we can't do it like that Chuckie B all right you can't listen he hadn't apologized for what he said I know but I just want to look I want to be better Chuckie B do better

do better than that okay do better than that Chuck Bucky Chuck Biddle Chuck Chucky Chucky Chucky Chucky Bizzle All right do you have an unexpected ally of the week I'm gonna still the five people who voted in favor of removing old Nathan Bedford forest bust out of the capital, Tennessee.

Mine are the writers and showrunners of the show, Loki. Jesus Christ, was that good. Wow. How is that an unexpected ally of the week? Because Kang is black and we weren't expecting him to show up. Put the black man in the black man is big. Who played him?

Who played him? Jonathan Majors. Oh, okay. You like him? Who's your favorite actor right now? Who's the hottest? Who's the hottest male actor? The actor did you go, ooh, daddy.

Who's like, who's that? Idris, hands down, yeah. Isris over? Okay, cool. Cool. It's like, I mean, that's it. Why is that so shocking? It's like, it's, because, like, I feel like it's more guys that could come up and steal that crown now.

No, no, no disney. You asked me who says, who would I say, ooh, daddy to? Like, who I think is the hottest. Yeah. Daddy. Daddy. Daddy. Daddy.

Dad. Adrian. Edret, come here. String a bell, come to me. Come over here, Daddy. Daddy, I missed you. All right. That's enough.

We don't have any more podcasts. Rachel, you got anything for him before we jump out of here? Y'all continue to keep Trudy and her family in your prayers, your thoughts. Yeah. Absolutely. Trudy, we love you.

We can't wait for you. come back and we're praying that everything turns out okay. Everybody, I'm not going to tell you what to do, but I am going to tell you to be careful out there. This virus is, it's spinning a block on us. It is back. And we're going to have to be as visually as we were before to keep everybody safe. So I hope that you guys will do that this weekend.

And we will see you next week. Take your thinking caps off. Do not stop learning. I am Van Lathen Jr. I'm Rachel Lindsay. We are out.