Higher Learning with Van Lathan and Rachel Lindsay - Vaccines, Who Needs 'Em? Plus, Nina Westbrook and the Wellness App, Nebbi

Episode Date: September 9, 2025

Van and Rachel dig into the Texas senate race, vaccine mandates (or lack thereof) in Florida, and Young Thug’s leaked jail calls, before welcoming marriage and family therapist Nina Westbrook to dis...cuss her new mental wellness app, Nebbi.  (0:00)  Intro (0:39)  Left-wing influencers  (13:29)  The Phillies Karen (27:15)  Rep. James Talarico running for senate (48:52)  Vand & the realities of aging  (55:23)  Nina Westbrook joins the show (1:37:49)  Florida’s vaccine overhaul (1:55:34)  Glaze of the Week (2:03:08)  Young Thug leaks Host: Van Lathan Jr. and Rachel Lindsay Guest: Nina Westbrook Producer: Donnie Beacham Jr. and Ashleigh Smith Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Transcript
Discussion (0)
Starting point is 00:00:01 You're a little thought warriors. What is up? I learned his own is I Van Leithy Jr. And it's me, Rachel and Lindsay. What's wrong with you? It happened. It happened. I got sick.
Starting point is 00:00:15 Damn. I got sick. Listen, it's been a while since I've been sick on the podcast. It's been a long time since I lost my voice on the podcast. I've been taking an effort to take care of myself, vitamins, rest, less travel. at least for the last month. Now, step outside, boom, bam. Sick.
Starting point is 00:00:37 There's a COVID surge happening right now. Nobody seems to care. So it's an understandable thing that this is happening because COVID's on the rise. Cases are growing up. People are not masking. Taylor Lorenz, who is the lady that wrote the Wired article, remember the Wired article
Starting point is 00:00:54 that we talked about that is tearing the left as far as the content creators apart? It's tearing them apart. Everybody's at his throat. This is so funny. Is it funny? It's hysterical. Because what's happening right now on the left,
Starting point is 00:01:12 as far as the content creators are concerned with the Wired article, is such a microcosm of what just happens on the left period. The article comes out. Your David Packman's, Brian Tyler Cohen's, two raw, two reels, all of the people involved go to their wing of it. The progressive leftist wing goes to their wing of it. And then they fight it out for whose way
Starting point is 00:01:40 really is the best way to do this when the answers are probably somewhere like in the middle of the whole thing. But I'll say this. Go ahead. Every time Taylor Lorenz is being interviewed by this and she's been interviewed by everyone, she's on the bituation room.
Starting point is 00:01:59 Love that show. She was on Vanguard. Those guys are hilarious. Vanguard might not be for everyone, but love those guys. She keeps reminding people. Hey, COVID is back in the real way. Mask up. She does?
Starting point is 00:02:16 Yeah, every time she's on there. It's so funny. She's on there to talk about this article that is like sending shockwaves through left media. And she's saying, COVID is back. Make sure you guys know that COVID is back. It's just funny. I've seen her say it like three different times. I mean, I'll go get tested after this.
Starting point is 00:02:34 So where are you going to say that? Wait, can I ask you a question? Can I ask you a question about that? Sure. You know, like, a lot of people are saying a lot I'm reading is, and even a comments that I got from our listeners were like, a lot of that was fabricated. They're claiming that that's not true.
Starting point is 00:02:49 Has Taylor, I have not seen her be interviewed anywhere. Has she come out and said, like retracted anything at all? regards to her article. There's nothing to retract. Cool. Yeah. So there's nothing to retract. It really just depends on how you look at the situation. This is my analysis of it. Real quick, we have more information on it than we did before. The 1630 fund or whatever it is is a dark money fund. People don't know what a dark money fund. It just means that you don't know where the money's coming from. Okay. They are investing into Korse. Kouris is a group that was actually started by
Starting point is 00:03:29 Brian Tyler Cohen, which I didn't know then. that we all know is giving stipends to leftists, not leftists, to content creators that are on the left to create content. And apparently this is not just them being paid. This is a mentorship program where they understand, they get to learn how to scale their businesses. They get taught how to deal with different algorithmic things.
Starting point is 00:03:55 And as you would need, they get funded. I don't think everybody was making an 8,000. a month, but I think it was up to $8,000 a month. Now, there are two different ways of looking at it. One way of looking at it is if you have, and by the way, Taylor's article, we talked about this, alleges very direct things that they are not just funding the content, but they're curating it. If that is happening, it's wrong, full stop.
Starting point is 00:04:23 But that also depends on how you look at it. For me, I would never take any amount of money to be told what I can say. because that means that I'm not really saying anything that somebody else is saying something and they're filtering it through my face voice and platform. So that's not, there's nothing worth that. Okay. But some people might say that, hey,
Starting point is 00:04:45 what we essentially need, and the we being people who are fighting against the maguing of the party, is avatars to get out messaging in a compelling way that is powerful and resonates with people. and if that messaging has to be curated from whomever, wherever, to combat the messaging of ICE taking people off the streets or of environmental injustice or whatever, then Hallelujah.
Starting point is 00:05:14 Now, I disagree with them, but I don't look at them as evil. And I think that is the thing. I think there are some people that were saying, this is the big Democratic Party putting their thumb on the scale as far as content on the left. It might be, but is a thumb on the scale better than a thumb up your ass? And that's a disgusting question to ask. That's a nasty question.
Starting point is 00:05:41 That's a fucked up question because this goes back to a philosophical debate about whether or not the way to defeat an action from the Democrats is with a progressive leftist agenda that pokes holes in the fact. that the Democrats are no longer in step with what their constituency wants. So if they're trying to gain more control by cooking the books, by telling these people what to say, then all that basically is the destruction of independent media, the shredding of people's actual free thought, and the destroying the actual consent of the governed because you're actually manufacturing consent.
Starting point is 00:06:24 I don't look at them as evil and I hope that didn't come across that way the last time we were talking about it but I do look at them as compromise It's one thing for me To have a personal view of it And I'm with you I could never take money
Starting point is 00:06:44 Because I feel like then I wouldn't stand for anything I wouldn't be able to look at myself in the mirror Because I'm even if I believe everything that I'm saying it still feels like it's coming, you know, I'm being paid to speak this way, and it just feels compromised, which is why I use that word. And I don't want people to ever question, you know, where I stand, what I believe in, any of that. So when I look at people who are taking money, and again, that's why I ask me, does she retract anything that she said? In her article, she, I look at, I read it as there, these messages have to be approved. It has to be, like, you can't just say,
Starting point is 00:07:24 whatever you want. Like some parts of it, but like on, like on our platform, yes, we're with the corporation, but nobody has ever told us what we can and can't say.
Starting point is 00:07:33 I could not imagine. We should say this. They would. But they haven't. They haven't. But we, I just want to make, this is not us coming from,
Starting point is 00:07:43 we are not Cedar, FD Signifier, all of these that are funded by their people. We are funded by a corporation. And if I come out tomorrow and devote, an entire podcast to ex-personal life or something that we think
Starting point is 00:07:59 somebody's going to say something. So we should let people know that we don't have, yeah, we're not coming down from a high horse. No, that comes to the corporation, but it takes away from the point I'm making is as it stands, as we're recording this, Monday, September 8th, 2025, nobody has ever told us what we can and can't say.
Starting point is 00:08:16 Nothing has been a curated message. My point is, is when I look at these people who are accepting money, even if it is just to bolster up their education and knowledge, platform, whatever it may be, I still look at it as, but you're still doing this. So I don't know. Like there's a but.
Starting point is 00:08:39 There's a hmm. There's a hmm. I'm not saying I don't believe you, but there is a pause. And it's just I can't see past it now that I know this. That is just me. Not everybody has to feel that way. Right. Is it true that we've never done something where someone,
Starting point is 00:08:59 where we made the people around here uncomfortable? That's definitely not true. I didn't say uncomfortable. You make me uncomfortable probably every week. I'm not talking about that. But I'm saying that like to where we've, there was one whole interview that we did that we didn't put up. The medical doctor?
Starting point is 00:09:16 Yeah. But we talked about that on the podcast. That wasn't us, nobody telling us what to do. was us not realizing how far gone and how much misinformation and disinformation this person was spewing out. It wasn't somebody that told us to take it down. That was us. What I'm saying is that the, I want to be crystal clear as we're having this conversation
Starting point is 00:09:39 when getting the quick hit is. When you are independent media, to me, the power of being independent media and saying that you are independent media is that right or wrong, up or down, red or blue, the buck stops with you. You put something out there, you put it on your shit, and you live with the consequences of it,
Starting point is 00:10:05 you have a relationship, oftentimes parisocial, with your audience, where you go back and forth with them. They are the people that you are beholden to and what's in your brain. If you are talking to people anywhere from anything that sponsors,
Starting point is 00:10:21 by any corporation, that's just not what you're doing. So while we're talking about people that are, when we're talking about independent media, we are not independent media. And that's just, I just have to be, I have to be consistent on that. But I would also say that the question I think is can you be independent media
Starting point is 00:10:43 if somebody is helping you? Like, can you still be independent in thought? if there is an organization that is giving you $8,000 a month and incubating you in a way. That is, you're saying yes. That's why I wanted you, because you said independent media and I was about to say thought and then you said it. Right.
Starting point is 00:11:06 Of course you can't, but it's the perception of it. Well, that's the debate is what we got. There's one group of people that are saying, no, you can't be independent media if you're taking money from course who's getting money from a place that they don't even know who's paying them, right? Because it's dark money. So they don't even know if that fund is funding course,
Starting point is 00:11:31 we know that it's a fund that is dedicated to Left Thought. If that fund is funding course, and then they're giving it to you, you're taking money, you don't even know where it's coming from. So you might be taking money. The money that you might be taking might be coming from people who don't want you to talk about what's going on in Palestine.
Starting point is 00:11:50 It might be coming from people who don't want you to talk about APAC or specific candidates. It might be coming from people who don't want you to go against big oil or any other things that actual structures of party politics are into. Maybe they don't want you to talk about Zoramam Dami. I always say his name, wrong. Zoram Dani. Maybe they don't want you to talk about him. Maybe they want you to talk up the mainstream candidate. Because another thing that was election article is before you have a politics,
Starting point is 00:12:20 on that you have to run it by them. Right. So that would cut against what people would say, you being independent media. Independent media means independent of thought, mind, and... And that's my biggest hang-up, which is why I asked the question about Taylor from the very beginning. Biggest question is, is she taking back anything that she said? Because other people are saying what she said is not true.
Starting point is 00:12:48 Some of the people receiving money. So that's why I said that because it's more even than the money of where it's that they're getting money. It's the thought that things have to be run by past somebody before they can put it out to the public. That's the most troubling thing. Right. If that's true.
Starting point is 00:13:05 Yeah. I see she went and she did a run, by the way. Because I think she felt like people were coming after her. They were. She was on a couple of different places. I watched her everywhere she was. Directly. But maybe we'll have Brian. I met Brian at the Zezer.
Starting point is 00:13:19 The Teo thing in Los Angeles. So I might hit Brian up and see if he wants to come on the show. I reached out to David Packman a long time. David's on the run right now. They're getting on David As. The playoffs are here, and you can predict the action all the way to the finals with Fandul Predicts. Predict the spread, total points, and even the game winner.
Starting point is 00:13:39 Sign up and get a $25 bonus. Offered by Fandual Prediction Markets LLC, a registered futures commission merchant, 18 plus. Bonus is non-withdrawable and expires seven days after receipt. Trading derivatives involve significant. significant risk and may not be suitable for all investors. Manage your activity with our consumer protection tool. Restrictions apply.
Starting point is 00:13:55 See terms at fanduil.com slash predict slash bonus dash offer dash terms. Did you know about one and 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. Trimfaya Guselcomab taken by injection is a prescription. medicine for adults with moderate to severe plaque psoriasis, who may benefit from taking injections or pills or phototherapy, and for adults with active psoriotic arthritis.
Starting point is 00:14:34 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 trim fire. Tap this ad to learn more about Tramfaya, including important safety information. All right, Donnie, quick hitters.
Starting point is 00:15:01 Yeah, something that happened at a baseball game Friday night was all over the socials. It was the Phillies versus the Marlins. A home run got hit into the stands. And, you know, as normally happens, fans scrambled for the ball. A man came up with the ball. Looks like he gave it to his son. And then this lady came up to him, yelled in his face. And he gave her the ball.
Starting point is 00:15:23 I'm playing the video right now. for y'all watching. After this incident happened, staff of the Miami Marlins came up to the kid and gave him a goodie bag with some swag. And then after that, it looks like Harrison Bader, the guy who hit the home run, greeted
Starting point is 00:15:39 the fan and gifting him a signed ball. But everybody's been searching for this lady calling her a Karen. And the father, who's been identified as Drew Felwell, was interviewed afterwards and said, I don't even remember what she said. It was, you know, a lot of eyes on us by that time.
Starting point is 00:15:54 ball was already in his glove and she just wouldn't stop. And I mean, I'm literally leaning back as she's in my face yelling and yelling and I pretty much just wanted her to go away because I had a fork in the road. Either do something, I was probably going to regret or be dad and show him how to de-escalate the situation. So that's where I went. Would you guys think of this? I love this dad. I love this dad so much. The argument is about whether or not he should have given a ball back. Yeah, he should have. And this is why I love the stat. First off, when you see the video, my favorite part is after he takes the ball gets the ball from under the chair
Starting point is 00:16:31 walks over to his son and hands it to his son he's behind his son and he closes his eyes and he holds his son so tight like he's just so happy that he was able to make this moment happen for his son and then of course that's taken away in 10 seconds when this lady whatever her name is comes up and
Starting point is 00:16:46 basically you know harasses the man and the child right there he should have given the ball back for the last part of what he said in his statement. He was faced with the fork in the road and he had to figure out what to do. She was not going to back down.
Starting point is 00:17:04 She didn't care if the child was present. If cameras were on her, if people were recording, nothing. She wanted the ball. That was her main focus. In that moment, he was able to determine all of that and then say,
Starting point is 00:17:17 you know what? I have an opportunity to be the bigger person to show my son what you do in these situations. And it was a woman versus the man. Like there's also that. If it was a man versus a man, maybe he would have handled it different. He gave him the ball, walked away, and then what ended up happening? They were rewarded in even a bigger way.
Starting point is 00:17:34 He absolutely should have given the ball back just for the sake of his son. If there were no children present, if it was man versus man, totally different situation. But like, it was a lesson. I can already tell you disagree. That's not that I disagree, right? It's not that I disagree. I actually thought about something here. If that was me, I was there with my black family.
Starting point is 00:17:57 Which one are you? I am the man. The dad? I'm the dad. Okay. I'm there with my black son. And if it was a white woman, I would have not given the ball back. If it was a black woman, I would have given the ball back.
Starting point is 00:18:12 Say why? Because if it's a white lady, I cannot acquiesce to the Kareness. I can't do it. I got to say, hey, go on now. And it's not even nothing. I'm not going to get animated. I'm going to actually just ignore. Talk to my son.
Starting point is 00:18:29 Ain't nah. Or I might hit it with the look like daddy used to do. Look. My daddy had a bunch of different versions of look. I've talked about it. Look. Look. Look.
Starting point is 00:18:41 And then he had a one look that meant get the fuck on. And I was look. So I might have heard her with that. If it's a black lady, I would have given the ball back because I wouldn't have trusted you guys to understand the same. situation. Wow. And I'm just being for real. I wouldn't have, I wouldn't have wanted to.
Starting point is 00:18:58 I thought it was for your love of black women. That's what I thought she were going to say. No, because she would have been in the wrong by coming over there and getting into the, and getting in my face. She would have been totally in the wrong. But what you just said before is the fact that there is a gender dynamic to this, which there is, is one of the reasons why it's probably best just to give the ball back and like even in front of your son. Because it's like the moment she can come over there yell and put her finger in his face and go all kinds of crazy shit,
Starting point is 00:19:26 the moment that he either even raises his voice with her a little bit or goes, hey, yo, get the fuck out of my face. Now, he looks like the asshole, which is preposterous and absurd in every single way when they're two adults talking, but
Starting point is 00:19:44 that's kind of the way it's going to look. And I would have never wanted to be in a situation to where I was like raising my voice or getting like that with a black lady because I would not trust people to see that as me protecting my son and not have them see that as me like attacking too vehemently and aggressively a black woman. But if the lady is white,
Starting point is 00:20:14 then there's an extra dynamic there to where I would have had to have been. I can't let her come take the ball. They took everything else. I can't let them have the ball. But you know what? If that was you and your son and a white woman came over like that, you wouldn't have to give her the ball.
Starting point is 00:20:33 The optics would be so bad. She could have yelled at you for one second or a hundred seconds. And the optics of a white woman screaming and berating at a black man who's just standing there being composed, you would have already won. you probably would have kept the ball and still got to meet the players. The optics would have just been so bad.
Starting point is 00:20:53 But there's nothing wrong with showing your son that de-escalating the situation and being the bigger person is how you should live your life. There's nothing wrong with that. A lot of people that are calling this guy weak, he's not weak. There's definitely strength in showing his son that he does not have to get crazy wild with it in order for them to win that situation, which they clearly want. We were arguing about something completely different in the group chat. And this guy dropped into the group chat, and I do not know why.
Starting point is 00:21:27 But people were fucking livid. This angered people to such a degree. This might be, this might be right here, the tipping point of the Karen. And it shouldn't be. We've seen Karen's call the police on people. We've seen Karen try to get black people. We've seen Cairns freak out. Remember the lady in the goddamn
Starting point is 00:21:55 Central Park just going crazy trying to get that man killed. But for some reason, this one had a kid in a kid appropriate place and somebody trying to steal from a child in this situation. This lady is going to have a rough goal of it for at least another couple of weeks,
Starting point is 00:22:19 maybe a couple of months. Yeah. And can I just also add that also de-escalating the situation, we talked about the gender dynamics, this is also a lesson for his son, anybody who's watching, of how you handle, because we've talked about,
Starting point is 00:22:35 we talk a lot about how when a woman's the first one to do something, it's, you know, like people don't look at it the same way and all these things. And how do you handle a situation, a woman attacks first, or a woman's harassing you first. This is an example. of how you handle this situation.
Starting point is 00:22:51 Because if he was screaming and yelling at her, never put any hands on her, it's just showing your son that it's okay to talk to women like this. It's not recognizing that there's a different, a gender dynamic here. It would have just shown the son that this is how things can be done.
Starting point is 00:23:10 And I think the fact that he was like, despite somebody coming at me, and especially because she's a woman and I'm a man, I'm just going to sit here and let and give her, what she wants so she could be on her way. You don't, what, what? Okay.
Starting point is 00:23:26 It's certainly okay for him to scream back at her, right? She's an adult. He's an adult. She walked up to him. He could. No, no, no, no, no, no, no. Not good. I don't think it's okay.
Starting point is 00:23:36 I don't think it's okay. Wait a second. Wait, hold on. Hold on, hold on, hold on, hold on, hold on. Only for the sake of the... Hold on. Hold on. Wait a second. Go ahead. Woman walks up to you, screaming in,
Starting point is 00:23:49 in your face, right? Putting her finger in your face in front of your family, it is not okay, it's not okay for you to scream back at her because she's a woman. I'm only saying this because the child was there. Forget about that. Oh, well, then I don't care.
Starting point is 00:24:04 Well, no, no. Okay, no, no, no. What I mean is, how does the child, so if a man would have walked up to him screaming in his face, is okay from the screen back? I would lean towards yes. Donnie, where are you at on this? I have to make sure that I'm not like,
Starting point is 00:24:23 Where are you at? I'm off for meeting people's energy. Like, I don't think he would have been in the wrong if he would have yelled at her in response, woman or man. Yeah. It's like what, what it, so, okay, because this is the deal.
Starting point is 00:24:37 And we're going to move past. I'm just going to hit it real quick. Because, like, she's an adult. She's an adult. She's an adult person. So it's, there's one thing to, like, because a woman could be a police officer. that is screaming at you.
Starting point is 00:24:56 A woman could be any different type of person that is infringing upon your right or just your making you have a bad day. And it's got to be okay, regardless of the fact that she's a woman to say, yo, get the fuck out of my face. Fuck you. I agree with you.
Starting point is 00:25:16 Right. I think it's the kid that just changes things for me. That's the only reason I'm saying it. If he had been with his boys and she came over, I say, I say, meet like Donnie said, match her energy. I guess with a kid who maybe doesn't have the sense of emotional intelligence or just met with these situations, and this is the first time maybe he saw something like this, I guess that's what I just keep thinking in my mind. And I could be wrong. I just, it's just the child standing there, him yelling at the woman rather than de-escalating like he did.
Starting point is 00:25:51 it's just the optics of it that are unsettling for me. But I absolutely agree that if a woman comes screaming up at a man, he absolutely can scream and yell back at her. Yeah. I totally agree. Right. It's just a child for me. And maybe I'm just being too much.
Starting point is 00:26:07 Well, I don't think the child changes. No, I do. I actually know. I don't think you're being too much. I think that like there is a, I think once again, we've talked about it here and it makes sense. I think that there is a understanding here. And the reason why this is always interesting to me
Starting point is 00:26:23 is because it's interesting to litigate to me both how vulnerable men should be and also what men are expected to take. Very true. Because it's like there is some daylight between you're tough, you're a man. Take it because everyone in the world is weaker than you, right? and, well, you should also be able to act like a human being and a person, too.
Starting point is 00:26:55 And when we talk in the middle of those lines, it's always like, it gets a little dicey for me. I'm going to be honest with you. I feel like it's fucking bullshit. I feel like I talk to people all the time that say, hey, you know what? We want you to act as a person in society and react to things and do all the stuff. But you also have to remember that everything you touch. you break. And I get that. But at the same time, it's like, well, shit, if you yell, if you come up to
Starting point is 00:27:27 me yelling at me, I have to be more of a person than you. Like, I have to be, I have to be, I have to be that show restraint. I have to be better than you. Like, you, where I, you're asking a person to be more than a person. I have to be better than you. It's like, there's no accountability there. There's no accountability for her because his son is there, which interesting, interesting. We'll We'll save that for a time when we have a therapist on so we can get to crying and I don't look like I'm...
Starting point is 00:27:55 I can't believe Donnie backed me up on that. We do have a therapist on the show coming up. Yeah, but I'm not going to ask her about this. Because I'm going to ask her about other stuff that has to do with the NBA. All right. It's going to be an NBA-centric conversation. We got Nina Westbrook coming on later.
Starting point is 00:28:10 It's going to be all about... I'll let you handle that in. I'll handle the other stuff. Okay, and we're going to do it. Our new way of interviewing. Rachel is going to take... completely the first half of the interview with Nina Westbrook, the first half,
Starting point is 00:28:26 and then once Rachel's done, I'll jump in and I'll ask the questions that I have for Nina. And that way I'll be able to build off with Rachel. Higher Learning, new interview. Donnie put it under here. New interview format debuts today. I can't believe you back me up on that, Donnie. You like 10% backing me up. It's kind of interesting.
Starting point is 00:28:44 What's the next one? Texas State Rep. James Talariko, friend of the podcast, is set to announce his Senate bid on Tuesday, according to three people familiar with the plans. Former Representative Colin Allred already announced his bid for the seat in July. Thoughts on Jimmy T's chances. What you think? His chances?
Starting point is 00:29:04 I mean, I absolutely think in a primary he can be Colin Allred. I mean, like when you run down the list of, we had Jane on this podcast, so pretty much everybody understands the person he is. But like everything he represents, I think he appeals. to moderates. I think he appeals to progressives. I think he appeals to well, it's the primary, so I'm not going to say independence, but I think he, especially being in Texas,
Starting point is 00:29:32 even if you're a Democrat, there are a lot of people who are deeply religious. And so I think those people who are conflicted by watching what Christian nationalists are doing and who may be questioning their faith based on how the right or MAGA is weaponizing it, I think that James Tolariko stands in a place where he can speak in such a great way and break it down in a way that other people can understand it because he really integrates faith in politics together
Starting point is 00:30:00 that will really speak to a lot of people. Colin Alred is a moderate Democrat. I know why he's running again. He ran last year. Made some noise. Against Ted Cruz, almost won. I mean, both of them had five million votes.
Starting point is 00:30:16 And so he's trying to do it again this time for, for John Cornyn's seat. But, I don't know, Colin Al-Reyc can flip-flop quite a bit. And I think James Tilarico is more liked and way more exciting as a candidate for the Democrats than Colin All-R-R-R-R-R-Riders. James Tullerico is a perfect Texas Democrat.
Starting point is 00:30:34 He's someone who's able to communicate and resonate and relate with a lot of different people. Like, Texas. Come on, we knew this. I'm just saying, so I just sent a picture of Colin Aul-Hol-R-R-R-R-Famly to the chat. But look.
Starting point is 00:30:49 He's biracial. Call all reds biracial? And I believe that he uses that term. Okay. So if he's biracial, then I got to call off. Never knew the black side of his family. So he never knew the black side of his family. Okay, cool.
Starting point is 00:31:04 Never met his father. So I'm just going to assume he didn't know the rest of the family too. Okay. You assume that his father is black. So damn. No, I read it. His father is black. I read it. So I was at State 48 with some, I told you the story before.
Starting point is 00:31:17 I was at State 48 with some Democratic political people in Houston. We're all eating. They actually introduced me to State 48, which is a great place. So we're all sitting around eating. And Colin Al-Rey comes up. And I love black women from the South. Said all this. Yeah, I saw him.
Starting point is 00:31:35 I saw him up there with his white wife. I just looked at it. I was like, so why you do that? Why did you say with his white wife? Why isn't it just wife? And she's like, well, I'm just saying his wife was white. back to James Alarico though
Starting point is 00:31:50 he has a shot the only thing that bothers me about this or concerns me not bothers me is that there's a lot of seasoning that needs to happen in terms of like building your
Starting point is 00:32:03 allegiances your political infrastructure all of that stuff when you're going to make a Senate bid there's a lot of something needs to happen maybe you can get there faster than what you used to
Starting point is 00:32:12 we've seen it you know but there is a better O'Rourke situation here to where you have this young, fresh-faced Texas Democrat that catches lightning
Starting point is 00:32:25 in a bottle and then does not have what you need to have to get elected in Texas, which is a tremendous amount of support, not from celebrities and people outside of the state that they're in.
Starting point is 00:32:41 Not because we like James, or because James is liked in Florida, or because James is like, by anyone who heard them on Joe Rogan. I'm talking about the ability to make inroads with the people and the community that he is running for. Right?
Starting point is 00:32:56 That's what has not happened in Texas and in other states where these people have become national celebrities. If you're talking about James, if you talk about Andrew Gillum, if you're talking about, what's our sister from Georgia?
Starting point is 00:33:10 Her name just jumped out of my head. Jesus Christ. Stacey Adams. Stacey Abrams. If you're talking about Stacey Abrams. If you're talking about these people who, by the way, Stacey Abrams does amazing political work, whether or not she is running for anything or not getting out votes and changing
Starting point is 00:33:29 the voter landscape of the American South is something that she's doing every single day and has done for a very long time. I digress. I'm saying, for James, I just hope that he is properly supported by the party there, right? and that he is properly supported inside of the state of Texas by the Democrats there to make his political journey, one that is long-lasting and not just one that is responding to social media fame. Right. This is what I hope.
Starting point is 00:34:00 You know, when Beto ran for Senate in 2018, ran against Ted Cruz, different time in our country, right? Trump's first term, even though that was a close race, Trump's first term, don't see all the damage that we're seeing now Maga was present but not even what it is now it was a different time and you're right about the outside support
Starting point is 00:34:24 and the celebrity. My hope I think James will be calling and James is a better candidate as you said perfect. I don't know that. I don't know that. He's the perfect yeah we don't know but he is the perfect person I think to represent Democrats in the Senate in Texas perfect candidate. Who he would be running against is either the attorney general, Kim
Starting point is 00:34:47 Haxson, who is quite similar to Trump in that he has a number of controversies, had an affair with his wife, they're getting divorced. Even though he's, even though he's a devout, you know, started up a church, Christianity, all that has been having an affair for multiple years that someone in his office was helping him cover up. He was impeached by a Texas Republican House for the way that he was running things in the state. Now, the Senate acquitted him, but still, a Texas Republican House impeachment. He is extremely maga, and he's extremely controversial. You have him going up against John Corny, who Maga people like to refer to as a rhino. You know, he's called out President Trump in the 2024 election. I'm not saying he's not supportive of Trump at all,
Starting point is 00:35:39 but he's supported a bipartisan bill after Yuvaldi. He's looked at as a little bit softer than, like they're on opposite, maybe ends of the spectrum when it comes to the Republican Party. So I think that if either one of them goes, you're going to have, I feel, Republicans who are going to be pissed off and may not even vote.
Starting point is 00:36:00 So I think that this is a good chance because they don't want to support James. They don't want to support Paxton if he gets it because he's a crook. and then they don't want allegedly a crook and then they don't want to support James Cornyn because they don't feel like he's tough enough. And so I think that you would have a lot of people who are excited.
Starting point is 00:36:17 Plus, James has the support of Joe Rogan down there in his whole crew. Does he have the support of Joe Rogan? I mean, he hasn't endorsed him because he hasn't announced yet, but he's definitely, I would be shocked if Joe Rogan did not because he was so, you know, like praised by him on his podcast. I'll be shocked if he did. we'll see.
Starting point is 00:36:41 Yeah, we'll see. And this is the interesting thing about that wing of the podcasting circle and all of that stuff. It's one thing to have supported President Trump and have, you know, put them on your podcast, sucked his fucking balls, licked his asshole, a whole fucking nine, right? Some of these people went to the inauguration
Starting point is 00:37:05 that we're talking about in the podcasting sphere, that stuff. It's one thing to come back and say, hey, this guy isn't who I thought he was on immigration. This guy isn't who I thought he was on free speech or, God forbid, this guy isn't who I thought he was on Epstein. That's one thing. It's another thing to support a candidate that is in direct opposition to what you just supported six months ago. Because what you really did was you spent time grooming your audience to the reasons why you supported these things. you made the MAGA wing of the Republican Party cool. All of you did it. All of you did it.
Starting point is 00:37:46 That entire podcast, bro, Manosphere podcasting ecosystem. You made MAGA cool. It's one thing to come back and go, it's one thing to say, MAGA is not as cool as I thought it was. That's one thing. It's a completely different thing to say, not only is MAGA not as cool as I thought it was,
Starting point is 00:38:08 was because I don't, the way they're treating undocumented people sucks. They're flip-flopping on the Epstein theme. They bombed Iran. They're in Israel's pocket. All of these things is another different thing to say, hey, there's an alternative and this is what you should be supporting. That actually would take some balls. This is an alternative, and this is what you should be supporting.
Starting point is 00:38:32 Because that then gives a political directive to the people, a direct political directive to the people that are listening to you that is saying not only is MAGA uncool, but we were wrong materially about how good at governance they are. And, you know, I know that some of these people
Starting point is 00:38:50 are eating around the edges of denouncing the stuff that President Trump is doing, they're playing with it a little bit, you know? No, I'm like, this is what they're doing. Now, I'm not even going to use that analogy because people get mad and say, it was getting dark. It was getting dark.
Starting point is 00:39:04 I saw it. the way your fingers were moving. Because I, you know, it's... Don't do it. I want to say it. So you've been with somebody before and you're expecting oral favors and it's not going to happen
Starting point is 00:39:19 and then you go, you're going to suck it or not. Like that, and then you, and then after that, just let me know and we could start watching the movie again. But, like, I'm not tripping at all. But what I'm saying is either getting on that motherfucker,
Starting point is 00:39:34 y'all all taking two, much time. Like, either get on the motherfucking bandwagon, get on the bandwagon of a free non-authoritarian America, or get the fuck off of it. I'm listening to a lot of people that are also saying, hey, you know, the Epstein thing, it's not, if you are a creator or a mind and you are saying that the Department of Justice is fumbling the Epstein thing, but it's not Donald Trump's fault. You are a fucking moron. You're fucking stupid. You're a moron. There is obviously something about the whole Epstein thing that makes the president uncomfortable. And if you are in any way, and I'm looking at all of the guys at PBD, I'm looking at all of the people on the Benny Johnson's,
Starting point is 00:40:25 the Ben Cepiro's, all of these people, Megan Kelly, all of these people who are saying, yeah, it's actually not Trump who's uncomfortable with the Epstein thing. It's Cash Patel, Boy, Gino and Pam Bond. What the fuck are you talking about? Like, literally, Cash Patel would trim the ass hairs around Trump's asshole if Trump asked him to. Okay. They're not morons. They're cowards.
Starting point is 00:40:54 Because they know the difference. It's hard for me to believe that the people that you just named can't recognize that Trump is involved. Some of them are super- You think they are. You do this all the time. I'm not saying. Some of them are stupid.
Starting point is 00:41:08 I really think they're cowards. I really think they're cowards. And maybe it's a mix of both. But I just think that they are absolutely terrified. And not even just Trump. It's the same rant I went on when I talked about Megan Kelly before as White Candace Owens. They see dollar signs. They see engagement.
Starting point is 00:41:27 They see audience. She's lying. I'll give you that. They are cowards. She's lying. They are cowards in the sense that they don't want to lose what they've built. So if that means, in some cases, playing dumb, then they will. So I'm more comfortable using the term coward. I ain't saying that they're geniuses.
Starting point is 00:41:44 I'm just saying, I think that there's a lot of fear. Not fear. It's cowards. Cowards. This is what I'm saying. She, I agree with you. She's too smart. She's too smart for this. She really is. She, I agree with you. However, I will say that, like, there are people that Trump says stuff and they believe him. Now, I do not know why this is. I really don't know why this is. But actually, I do know why it is. I can't act like that only exists over there.
Starting point is 00:42:19 Like, people run on things, and we believe that they say that they're going to do it. The question is, once they don't do it, whether or not you can have an actual conversation about why it's not happening. Sometimes it's not happening because the politics aren't right. Sometimes it's not happening because the people you believe,
Starting point is 00:42:35 never want to do it in the first place. So I acquiesce to the fact that some of these people are just lying. But there are some people that I watch and I'm looking at them because I consume so much of this stuff. And they're just not as bright as I thought they were. Or they're not bright at all. And they truly, truly believe in the Trump doctrine. They really believe in it.
Starting point is 00:42:59 I won't disagree with you. I'll just say if you are a coward and classified, it's worse because you know better and you're not doing better. Last thing I want to say, because I know this was a quick hitter about this Texas Senate race. Oh, are we? I thought it was a quick hitter is that we don't know if Joe Rogan will endorse James Talleyico. But I think that an endorsement, even though it is for Senate, even though this is for a national thing, I think it's different than Trump. I think there's a way that he can be anti Kim Paxton, Joe Rogan,
Starting point is 00:43:41 anti John Cornyn, and vote for or endorse James Tala Rico, and it not affect or him not have to give an opinion about Trump. Yeah, that, I don't know. And like it not change. Maybe. I'm going to be honest, at the point that we're at now, and Ezra Klein just did something, whether you like Ezra Klein, you don't like Ezra Klein,
Starting point is 00:44:13 you love abundance, you don't love abundance, whatever it is. Ezra Klein just did a piece for the New York Times, where he talks about the fact that very soon the Democrats are going to have to vote on the budget again. The last time, the president put his budget forth. the Democrats voted to fund the government led by old Chuckie Chuck strongly worded Leonard Schumer. The Senate Democrats funded to
Starting point is 00:44:43 fund the government. And that funding is coming up again and they're going to have to vote for it again. And at this point, there should be no argument whatsoever that they shouldn't fund the government. I mean, we see what the government's being used for. The government's being used for authoritarianism. Full stop. That's it. shouldn't fund the government. And there should be a plan by the Democrats. He lays it out. It's 20 minutes long. There should be a plan by the Democrats in how they're not going to fund the
Starting point is 00:45:10 government, why they're not going to fund the government, and what they want in lieu of funding it. Like if you look at it, even the Democrats in the House led by Hakeem Jeffries, even they had enough sense to be like, well, we shouldn't fund President Trump because what he's doing is going to severely damage the society of the United States. States of America. We're looking at it's going to hurt the citizens and to hurt people. We did it anyway. And President Trump has become brazen. Kline lays out all the reasons why. I'm not asking you to like Ezra. I know some people here are going to be like, Ezra is this? Ezra. I'm not actually like Ezra. Klein lays out all the reasons that they did it then.
Starting point is 00:45:50 The reason why they said that they did it and why those things aren't necessarily the same now and things are more dire and the Democrats should be in a better place. I'm saying all that's to say this. In order for me to respect the fact that you care about people, I need a rebuke of magnetism. Not man, the taxes
Starting point is 00:46:11 are cool, not this is hip, not Trump is funny, I need you to rebuke and reject mass troops on the streets of American cities, pulling people out of churches and schools
Starting point is 00:46:27 and homes and all of that stuff or even if they're not doing that, even if they're not doing that. Even if it's from Parking Lot of Home Depot, should be against that. I need you to be against black people drinking dirty water in Louisiana and Alabama. I need you to be against Trump taking over the African American Museum
Starting point is 00:46:46 and trying to reorient the way that we teach and educate our kids on the trauma and horrors that black people have experienced here in America. I need a rebuke of that. And it can't be, oh, I like you because you're a nice church-going state senator. I need you to say, you know what?
Starting point is 00:47:06 I was fucking wrong, man. I was fucking wrong. And look who's paying for it. Not me. Not me. I'm not paying for it. But there's somebody paying for it. I was fucking wrong.
Starting point is 00:47:17 Or I was selfish. Or I was an asshole. Or anything short of that is there's too much tape. We got too much tape. This is like Bo Nix. second year. I watch Bo Nix go out there and fuck up because we got a lot of tape on Bo Nix now. We got too much
Starting point is 00:47:32 tape in this first six months. It's tape everywhere. Man, I read an article we can move on. I read an article in the New York Times about the fact that Trump wanted to implant a listening device on Kim Jong-il. He wanted to implant the listening device. And he sent the... Listen to this, for real. This is true.
Starting point is 00:47:52 You guys, I'm not making this up. I believe it. He sent the Navy SEAL to implant the listening device. It's hard to do it in North Korea because you can't fly drones in North Korea, right? Can't fly the drones there. So they had to use satellite imagery that was coming down
Starting point is 00:48:08 from the top of the fucking satellite and spy planes and all of that and they weren't getting the imagery in real time. So when the seals went out there, they have been practicing this in American Shores. When the seals went out there, they didn't have real-time visual on what was happening to them.
Starting point is 00:48:24 So they get out there and there's a boat. The SEALs think that the boat is some type of military engagement that's coming from the shore because they feel like, oh my God, they know that we're here. They're coming out here to fight.
Starting point is 00:48:40 The SEALs engaged. Kill everybody on the boat. The boat is not military in any way. It's just Korean people on the boat either fishing, doing civilian shit. The SEALs kill everybody on the boat, abort the mission, leave. nothing happens.
Starting point is 00:48:56 We don't get the listening advice device at all that Trump wanted. Trump, nothing happens between Trump and the North Korean all for nothing. They just murdered everybody on the fucking boat. For no fucking reason, the president sent it. We don't really investigate it. Nothing happens.
Starting point is 00:49:13 And now all of the stuff is coming out, the Times got it. Any other administration, just the murder, and every administration has these type of scandals, but it would have stuck. Just the murder of a bunch of civilians for a botched mission that the president wanted to be able to get some kind of negotiating leg up on a foreign dignitary,
Starting point is 00:49:33 on a foreign dignitary, on a foreign head of state, and they just kill all the people and then we leave. And I felt back, I'm just saying, everything is so fucked right now that all of these guys that help put us in this position, they got to walk this shit back directly. That crazy.
Starting point is 00:49:54 I agree with you. Y'all read the article. Read Ezra Kline's article. It's appropriately titled, Stop acting like this is norm. Yeah. And it's also, also you can just listen to it if you want.
Starting point is 00:50:06 Sometimes I listen to this show. Oh, I read. Yeah. He all, he does this like really dramatic. Read it. He grown his beard out. He did this really dramatic like two camera. It's all black behind them.
Starting point is 00:50:18 And it's very like, oh my God, the Democrats got to do something. It's crazy. Did you know about one in three people with plaques psoriasis may also develop psoriotic arthritis, which causes joint pain, stiffness, and swelling. Does this sound like you?
Starting point is 00:50:34 Listen to what it sounds like to be a million miles away. Trimphaya, gusalcomab, 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.
Starting point is 00:50:57 Serious allergic reactions and increased risk of infections and liver problems may occur. Before a treatment, your doctor should check you for infections and 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 Trimphaya. Tap this ad to learn more about Trimphia, including important safety information. 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 to keep companies of all sizes connected with internet, advanced Wi-Fi, phone, TV, mobile services, plus
Starting point is 00:51:37 24-7 U.S.-based support. Millions of business owners already trust Spectrum business. So visit spectrum.com slash business to learn more. Restrictions apply. Services not available in all areas. All right. So I played basketball. I went out and played basketball. Sunday and it was tough it wasn't like a tough game when I'm playing basketball now I'm not playing against the opponents in front of me Donnie
Starting point is 00:52:12 how old are you 36 you're still in your good damn you're still in your good era bro when I hoop now I'm not hooping against the people in front of me I'm hooping against the old version of myself
Starting point is 00:52:27 it's such a weird thing to be able to see something and you just can't do it like you used to. Like I can see it. I know what to do. Yeah. I just can't do it even, right? Which is why I'm trying to get back into the best shape that I can get back into because maybe there's 10 or 15, maybe even 20 more percent I could be doing if I was in the same shape that I used to be, even though I still feel like I'm just older. So I got super depressed after I played this game on Sunday because I should have been
Starting point is 00:53:00 killing everybody out there. Everybody out there would have been dead in the past. I don't know if you guys believe this, but ask around. I could do my thing. It would have been an easy word for me. But I was playing decently, but still kind of like in struggles feel a little bit. I'm not making shots. I should be easily taking over these games.
Starting point is 00:53:18 I shouldn't be getting off the court. And niggas is talking shit too. And so this morning, when I was at the gym, I told my coach was like, hey, my trainer, I'm like, I want to make sure that we do some agility drills and we do some agility stuff and make sure that every time we're working and training that we're doing something that's agility. And so he goes, yes, we can do that.
Starting point is 00:53:42 Shout out to James over Equalachsh. That's my guy. So he gives me some agility stuff to do. And while I'm doing it, it's the same thing with the boxing. I feel great. I feel like I'm moving. I feel like I'm getting to it. I feel like, okay, I do this for a couple of weeks.
Starting point is 00:54:01 I'm going to go out on the basketball court. I'm going to be able to fuck over people. I feel so good that I tell James, I say, yo, James, tape what we doing. Tape it. Because I don't know if y'all ever saw this video of, I think it was Sonora's Moss, Chad Johnson,
Starting point is 00:54:24 Andre Johnson, and they were all working out together like 2011. And it's crazy the way they're picking up the feet and put it. I know you probably seen that video, for his crazy video, right? Chad Johnson feet are like nuts. This shows why he was always open. His feet are crazy.
Starting point is 00:54:39 I feel like that's what I was doing. Y'all could play that video right now. I felt like I was going crazy. Told James, I'm like, James, tape some of this. And he taped it. And I just put it in the group chat. And I want you out to look at it. And, Donnie, you can play it for the people.
Starting point is 00:54:55 That's what I looked like doing the drills. I felt like I was moving at warp speed. I don't even want to laugh, man. That's where I'm at in life. Look. It's okay. But you know what?
Starting point is 00:55:09 If you felt good, that's what matters. How big is the weight you're holding? That'd be small. But what I'm saying... No, but I was... What I'm saying is, I felt like when I'm telling you,
Starting point is 00:55:21 in my mind... That's all the bad. In my mind, I was Chad Johnson. You could laugh. because this is happening in real time. Like, in my mind, I felt like I was back. I was like, all we got to do is do this every couple of days.
Starting point is 00:55:41 And then I'm going to go back on the court and I'm going to be fucking back. And then I watched this, I watched the video and I got hit with a wave of depression. Okay, then I don't want to laugh. No, you can laugh. Donnie, you see it, right? The best part, the best part. the best part is the faces you're making because you didn't even have to tell us
Starting point is 00:56:04 that you thought you were getting it. We can tell. Yeah. The bite of the lip, the grimace, like, oh, let me just, ah, I'm there, ah, ah, that's how you're looking. You're right. Ah, ah, and. Donnie?
Starting point is 00:56:17 I would use this as a baseline. Was this your first time doing this and looking back at this? Yes. Oh, that was the first time doing that drill, yeah. Yeah. So I would use this as a baseline, do it again and again and again, look back at it and you're going to see some progress. No, no, no.
Starting point is 00:56:31 This is what we're going to do. Well, I'm rude for you too. No, you're not. You're not at all. I said what matters is that you felt we were doing a good job. That's the first thing I said. Rachel. Then I said, I don't want to laugh.
Starting point is 00:56:45 And you said, go ahead. And I said, fuck it. Yeah. But can I do, can I propose a higher learning challenge? What's the challenge? We all record this video. We all record the video. Let's all do our own version of this.
Starting point is 00:57:00 No, I don't want to do that. How many weights? How big is the weight? That looks like about a five-pound. I don't think it's, I don't know if it's that much. It might have been a half-pound weight, but like, I don't want Donnie to do it. Because Donnie plays safety. Don'ty is only 36.
Starting point is 00:57:14 Don't go and do it with Junie, and he going to look like Andre Johnson and then. I don't want Don't want that. Oh, but, well, then I don't do it. You do it. I mean, you look, you're in better shape to me right now. Nah, you already counted me out. No, I believe in you. Next time.
Starting point is 00:57:28 I'm sick now. This is not about me looking down. I mean, I know you don't believe in me because you're always throwing it in my face that I didn't dunk after the foot injury. After I, like, literally, like, spraying my foot after a foot injury. I had the foot injury. I had the foot injury.
Starting point is 00:57:42 I had the foot injury. I've just said I have seen no evidence of an injury. I'm going through this in real time, and people don't remember. I'm going to start getting old people from the gym. People don't remember my whole life. I've been a hooper. and now it's just not I'm changed.
Starting point is 00:58:00 We believe you. Well, kind of. Rachel, you know what? Come out. Come out to the gym. Let's say you could go out. Come out to the gym and let's see. Come on.
Starting point is 00:58:10 I'll come to the gym. Come to the gym. Give it until next week. The last time it was a Lindsay in the gym it didn't go that well. All right. You write about it being a Lindsay too. That's fucked up.
Starting point is 00:58:20 Oh, we got Nina Westbrook on the show now. Joining us now is Nina Westbrook. she's one of of Rachel's friends to hang out and she's a licensed marriage and family therapist I never knew this until just recently actually
Starting point is 00:58:38 maybe it was like when we started to some research on you to have you on the show I didn't realize how accomplished you were it was very impressive but thank you for joining us on higher learning thank you for joining us higher learning she has launched a brand new app
Starting point is 00:58:54 And we're going to talk about some of the app and some of the other things that she's got going on. So thank you for joining. Thanks for us. Very exciting. Hi, Big Rache. Hi. We were just talking about basketball before you walked on. Oh, goodness.
Starting point is 00:59:10 And told me to come out to the court and show them what I got. Now, Nina's never seen me play basketball, but she just, she just trusts me. No, I've heard you speak about it here on the pod. So I'm told, I mean, based on my. what you're saying, you're a defensive player. That's right. She says she could go out of Caitlin Clark. I know, I know.
Starting point is 00:59:33 You don't have to give it a opinion on that. You know, here's the deal. It's really crazy. I mean, I feel like I lived that life already for so many years. I'm a huge women's sports fan. Like, I understand. I support women sports, and I love to see the growth in everything. But I am just not, like, I'm not that competitive.
Starting point is 00:59:54 I'm not as competitive as I once was. So I just like to see everybody win most of the time. Thank you. Go sports. Thank you. Thank you. Let's start from the beginning because like Van came on here and he was like, he didn't know that you were a licensed marriage and family therapist.
Starting point is 01:00:15 What? Tell the people who you are and maybe like misconceptions that people have about you, Nina Westbrook, as a person. Oh gosh, that's really interesting. Yes, I'm a licensed American family therapist. I would see a L.C.LA and studied English. I'm actually an English major in undergrad, which was a huge mistake at the time. I appreciate it now. It just wasn't what I anticipated. So I pivoted and completed my work in clinical psychology. And yeah, I mean, I feel like it's been a really long journey. I think most people don't know that about, me, you kind of have to be a kind of
Starting point is 01:00:57 wellness probably, and maybe in the wellness space or not exactly a sports, a huge sports fan. I'm not sure. But I think that even through Russell, my husband, we've been
Starting point is 01:01:13 able to really establish mental health as one of the main pillars of all the work that we do. We have our school in Southgate, Westbrook Academy, and we have our youth sports teams and, you know, my husband's very open and vocal about his mental health journey,
Starting point is 01:01:32 and we just try to incorporate its mental health awareness and mental health fitness and tools and lessons and all the things that we've kind of accumulated over the years in both of our experience and try to share it with the community and share it with youth, young people and women and underserved or generalized communities at large. So that's kind of been our mission and my mission for quite some time. But yeah, I mean, I'm a huge basketball fan also.
Starting point is 01:02:04 I like sports. I used to play at UCLA. The original love in basketball. That's you guys. Yeah, I mean, for real, for real. We get that a lot. So, and I mean, I'm a whooper. Like, I'm like, Big Rach, once you have it, you can't really lose it.
Starting point is 01:02:24 Come on. Come on. But I think that the competitive nature, then Big Rach and I against you pick your partner and we're probably going to win. I love it. But we shifted gears a little bit and into the mental health space. And that's where I kind of put all of my focus these days. I love that mental health is, like, it just seems to be the foundation of with family, your relationship and everything. We saw you guys just celebrate 10 years in Italy, renewing your vows, all of those things.
Starting point is 01:03:06 I, well, okay, detour for a quick second. Had I realized how important mental health was in a relationship and communication and doing therapy, and having those conversations, I think things would be different for me, either not how they ended, but maybe how they started, if you know what I'm saying, when it came to my own relationships.
Starting point is 01:03:28 And I love that that is so important to you guys. Is that something that you guys grew into with each other? Or is that something like for all the people who were listening in a relationship? Is that something that was important from the beginning or like y'all grew together to establish that? Well, in terms of a relationship, I think that Russell and I, my husband and I come from two very different worlds, right?
Starting point is 01:03:51 I grew up in a family that my mom was a PA and always really into health and not only physical help, but mental health as well. And so it was a part of the conversation for me growing up for many years. And it kind of just became who I was. I was that girl. I was that friend who everybody would come to. I'm pretty like even, you know, tempered. I'm pretty good at being objective. And so I was always that friend.
Starting point is 01:04:26 But for Russell, I think it was very different. He grew up in a family where maybe they didn't express things as openly and freely. He was really, really close with his family. We always laugh about it because their closeness looks so different than my closeness and my family. and over the years, you know, we kind of have been through so much. You know, I think I always like to say, I've lived a lot of life in a lot, in a very few years. And we both kind of have been thrust into this life where, you know, without really embracing mental health tools and practices and therapy and all the things, you know, we wouldn't be where we are today. I think that, you know, we've had to kind of use all of these tools to build and grow and be happy.
Starting point is 01:05:17 And I think, you know, it's just been part of the journey for me from the beginning. But it's definitely something that Russell has embraced a lot over the, over more recent years, not recent years, because he's married to a therapist. But, you know, for himself and his own journey, it's been really beautiful to watch. I love that. Let's talk about Neby, the app, which I, you have been working on this for a very, very long time. I want to know why, because you've done a lot, like you said, around the mental health space, you've created companies, you have a podcast, you've created games that bring out great conversation between friends and relationships.
Starting point is 01:05:58 I use them both. But now you've created this app that you've been working on. Why did you want to create this? Who did you want to target? And then I'll talk about my personal use of it. The second. Well, yeah, I think for me, it's all about trying to get people, resources and tools in a way that best is them. That's why we came up with the game, Dutal Conversation card game, because it's a more, like, fun, playful way to have meaningful conversations for people who don't have them in everyday life.
Starting point is 01:06:31 You know, it really helps spark reflection. I have my platform, my digital wellness platform, the name by Nina, which is very specific. And what I found is that there were so many people in my group, in my circle, especially over the last year, who were struggling mentally, especially women. Not that the app is just for women, but people weren't quite able to figure out
Starting point is 01:06:57 why they were feeling the way that they were. There's so many different factors playing into our lives. We're busy. their social media. You guys talk about so many of the ups and downs and things that are going on in our society. And for all of us who are just trying to kind of live life, be happy, find light and joy in everyday life, there was something, there's been something missing. And so I'm finding that people are really starting to value wellness in a new way and being really intentional
Starting point is 01:07:31 about the things that they're doing to feel better. And there are some really cool resources on the market and in the tech space, but I was inspired by different conversations that I was having. I was going to conferences, and there was this huge push and request for mental health tools in the tech space. How can we integrate technology and mental health and wellness
Starting point is 01:07:54 in a way that feels clinician-led so that people are actually getting the tools and the resources that they need rather than the corporate pool or push for whatever their interests are. And so having conversations with friends and family, living in the times that we're all currently living in, and just a combination of those things made me think about the fact that people need more personalized care and they need simplicity.
Starting point is 01:08:23 They need things that they can actually use every day that isn't going to take up too much of their time but it's going to have a really big impact. And so that's where the idea of Nettie came from. And I love it because I talk to you about this. I'm not good at routines. I'm not good at like Van Where's the O-R-R-R-ring. Is that what it's called?
Starting point is 01:08:44 Is that the O-R-ring? And the reason I won't get that is because I feel like it's going to judge me. And I don't like somebody telling me how bad I sleep, what I'm doing. That alone gives me anxiety. I think also feeling like I have these big task over my head that I have to do also makes me feel very overwhelmed when it's supposed to be helping me. What I love about the app, and you can talk about this even more detailed, is first I get a reminder that's like, check you need to check it, check it. Then I get to identify the emotion that I'm feeling. And I learned in therapy that I'm really bad at that.
Starting point is 01:09:22 I'll say something. and it's not quite, that's like, that's not really an emotion. I'm like, wait, I thought it was. And so I like that you can identify your emotion, but then identify the level of it. So I'm like, oh, this really is. It forces me to think how I'm feeling first thing in the morning.
Starting point is 01:09:40 Then when it gives me my task, I'm like, oh, these are easy. I can do this. Like today, I'm tired, right? I'm sick. The thought warriors, no, I'm sick, I'm tired. The first thing it told me to do was do a bright spot activity. but I stood outside for 30 seconds in the sun, and I immediately felt better.
Starting point is 01:09:58 It was like I took a drug or something like that. So I like the app because it doesn't feel invasive, but it feels like it's a best friend, kind of like a friend that I'm talking to. Is that your intention for people like me? No, absolutely. I think that everything about the app is very intentional. It took about 18 months for us to really get to a place
Starting point is 01:10:22 where we could go into the marketplace. And everything about the app is evidence-based, right? Everything's based in CBT, which is one of the most widely recognized forms of therapy that there is. But at the same time, our goal was to make sure that the app didn't feel clinical or sterile. It's meant to be a daily use app, and we wanted that to be reflected. And we wanted me to be reflected in the app in the way that I like to share mental health knowledge and information, which is not in a way that feels intimidating or in a way that
Starting point is 01:10:58 feels like you're constantly in therapy, right? Because at the end of the day, you don't have to be in therapy to be growing emotionally and mentally. And the app is, that's one of the things that people really love about the app is it's more therapy adjacent, where it feels like it's your friend. It's like a pocket companion. And it's so crazy because the things that you'll be asked to do based on how you feel are so minimal. They're so simple. You wouldn't even think that doing these little micro-task could have such a huge impact, but somehow it does, and that's because it's based in evidence. And we're going to teach you, like, it's an educational act. With AI and technology, we are having to use our brains a little less, right? And so if we want to be
Starting point is 01:11:48 emotionally well, we need to be able to understand our feelings and emotions. and what moves us. We want to be able to build emotional self-efficacy, which just means that we can determine how we're feeling, and then we can automatically know, like, what can I do to make myself feel better in this moment? And that's what the app is going to teach you. That's the thing that's really different about this technology.
Starting point is 01:12:10 It's not meant to kind of like keep you stuck in a place, which you will find. There's a lot of research that goes into how can we keep people on this piece of technology? how can we keep people on this app? That's not what we want. Our goal is more adjacent to the goal that you might see when you're talking to your therapist. You talk to your therapist. The goal is not to have to talk to your therapist forever.
Starting point is 01:12:37 It's to reach a goal and endpoint to where you learn how to cope and deal with your own emotions and figure out how to navigate life and its challenges. And then you go off and you're afraid. Essentially, that's the same goal with the app. We want to help educate you and teach you all about emotions. Most of us, when someone asks us how we feel, we're like, oh, we're cool.
Starting point is 01:12:57 I'm tired or I'm good, you know, just surviving, whatever. But nobody's really getting at any of that surface level when it comes to thinking about how we're feeling. And you can't really feel better and do things to feel better if you don't even know how you feel in the first place, right? So it's just drawing attention in a small way that's really impactful to educate you about how you feel all the different emotions and all the little tasks. and steps that you can take to feel better in everyday life.
Starting point is 01:13:25 And so it's just like having a friend. And the difference between this and AI, which people are turning to AI, weren't using them sort of like a therapist. But there are no rules and regulations around AI and therapy. There's no privacy. The reason, the thing that makes the therapeutic relationship so special is because it's private. Right. And you know the things that you share between your therapist.
Starting point is 01:13:51 are going to be just between you and it's not accessible to anyone else. Whereas in AI, anybody who has access to that technology has access to the information that you're inputting into it. So with the app, you don't, you get to kind of bypass that layer also because your information is yours and we take privacy really seriously. So it's just, I mean, I think it's overall all the things that we want in our everyday life and we want to be emotionally well and emotionally fit built into this. one little easy, accessible form of a technology. It's great. I mean, I heard you talk about it before, but then when I actually started using it,
Starting point is 01:14:31 I'm like, I'm so proud of my friend. This is so great. Congratulations. Thank you. I appreciate that. So being that you're a licensed marriage and family therapist, you deal with people's relationships, right? So I'm meeting and talking to a lot of people
Starting point is 01:14:50 who are wondering what they should be expecting out of a relationship. I think people don't even know what they should be expecting. So you see memes and stuff online, and this is like, be your partner's peace, be his peace, be her piece. What does it mean to be somebody's peace? Oh, that makes me cringe a little bit, actually. Because I think that you have to be your own piece. You can't rely on someone else to bring you peace.
Starting point is 01:15:20 because they can decide to take that piece away, right? So I think in a relationship and in a partnership, what we should be looking for or seeking is someone that helps to add companionship and partnership in ways that feel complimentary to the things that you want to do for yourself and in your own life. and finding a partner that can support you along your journey
Starting point is 01:15:53 and a partner that you can also support along their journey and that you guys can build together. And someone that makes you want to achieve more or build more, it's the same concept of choosing a friend, right? You're kind of a good friend of mine. Actually, I told me one time, you become the sum of the closest five people or the five people you spend the most of your time with, right?
Starting point is 01:16:18 So it's kind of that same concept in a partner. What type of values and aspirations do you have? And what type of values and aspirations do they have? And how can they align and connect with yours? And how do they support you in your journey? But I don't believe in placing happiness or the way someone else is supposed to make you feel expectations on other people because you lose control of how you feel.
Starting point is 01:16:45 emotionally and a lot of those things, I think that we all are in charge of our own, creating our own happiness and taking the steps necessary to build our own confidence and boost our own confidence. And so I think that that could be a challenging approach. And it could be setting yourself up for disappointment a lot of the time. Do you think that people are over-concerned with finding companionship now? They're so many different things that they have to kind of investigate. And they're, I talked about it last week about why people are lonely. People are lonely.
Starting point is 01:17:28 They say that they're lonely, but I've never heard from more people in my life or like outside of my life, women and men, that they want companionship. But sometimes I feel weird saying, hey, why don't you just take this time and enjoy being yourself? enjoy just working and living inside of what you are. And don't worry about who else finds you beautiful, sexy, worthwhile. Just be yourself for right now. But people have a real problem doing that. Have you seen that? And if so, like, why is that?
Starting point is 01:18:02 That's an interesting question. I feel like I don't know that people should stop seeking companionship, because companionship can come in many different forms, right? And we're human. I'm talking about specifically, like, Like romantic companionship. I mean, I think just it's human nature to love and want to be loved. So I don't know that it's problematic to seek partnership.
Starting point is 01:18:29 I think that many people have dreams and aspirations for their lives and having a partner can be a part of that. But I do think that it's really important, whether you're in a relationship or you're not, to be happy with who you, like, with being by yourself. And whether you're in a relationship or not, there's still always that push and pool and that balance between being alone and spending time with other people, right? Being an individual and being independent in a relationship
Starting point is 01:19:01 versus being codependent in a relationship. And when you're not in a relationship, it's about being happy and content with being by yourself and spending time focusing on growth, and friendships and family and whatever else career, career work, whatever else helps to make you kind of a whole human. But, I mean, seeking partnership is something that we're all going to do at different parts in times of our lives. And I don't think that people can be overly, I mean, I don't think that it's problematic to be overly interested in finding a partner.
Starting point is 01:19:42 It's just a matter of, is this person that's still happy on their own? Are we seeking a partnership to fulfill us? Because then that can be problematic. Fulfill you, meaning like if you don't feel like you have, like what would you say if someone said, I don't feel like I have a full life because I don't have a partner? Would that be a problematic statement to you? Would that be a statement that you go, oh, my God, well,
Starting point is 01:20:10 if that's part of what you desire for yourself. I think that it could be a part of a plan. I mean, I would challenge that person to reframe or shift their perspective slightly to know that partnership is great and it's fine to have. But there's also so many different things that make us whole and that can complete us in terms of our happiness and the things that make us happy. So I wouldn't place all my eggs in one basket as it pertains to how to like feel whole.
Starting point is 01:20:51 I would kind of maybe shift that perspective slightly. Do other players' wives come to you for therapy and asking? Because you guys have such a functional, almost aspirational player, to wife, family relationship, wife to husband. And let's face it, there are other people that the shit is fucked up. And like, I mean, I'm just being for real. And so do they come to you and ask you for how to,
Starting point is 01:21:27 for tips on how to live and thrive with these guys who are looked at as like superheroes? You know, that's an interesting question. Also, I don't know that that, is the case. I don't know. First of all, Russell is such a guy's guy.
Starting point is 01:21:48 I don't know what the heck he talks to his guys about. Like he does not shit. Like we have very different. Duncan? Hey man, you got that 360. Bam! That's what they talk about Duncan. No, I mean,
Starting point is 01:21:59 I know they talk about real life things. I do think that they're it's an interesting dynamic. all people have different needs in a relationship and different wants in a relationship. And I wouldn't say that my phone is blowing up with people asking me, how do you do this? No, I think that people respect our relationship and people know that we are here. And sometimes we do get phone calls. And sometimes he does get a phone call from someone unexpected that has questions.
Starting point is 01:22:39 and people do come to me sometimes. But it's not like every day people are asking me questions, no. But we're very aware of our relationship and how wonderful, though, not perfect it is. And so we're just fortunate to have that in a really challenging space. So I'll run into people. Like I'll give you an example of something that happened at the gym. The gym is my house of horrors now
Starting point is 01:23:10 is where I get reminded of who I used to be. He's talking to this guy in the gym. I talked about it on the, on the fucking, on the podcast, this podcast that we're on. And the guy goes, hey, man, I used to see you at the grove. When you were at TMZ, you're at the grove. Like, you see you at the grove and when you were working,
Starting point is 01:23:29 and we would be there working. He worked on Rachel's old show and he'd see me when I was working at the grove. And he looked at me, he looked at my body, and he goes, man, what happened? And a lot is happening. Okay. Like, you know, he, it's so funny because me and James, the guy that at our train with, we actually laughed about it.
Starting point is 01:23:47 He was like, what happened? That fucked my dad up. Like, it, you know, it didn't fuck my dad from a, from a standpoint. Like, you know, I get, I still get joy out of such small things in life. Like, very small things, like a cute dog. Or, like, I still get joy out of, like, really small things in life. But that fucked my dad. I was like, God damn, what happened?
Starting point is 01:24:08 I used to be the man. Now, that's just me in my very, very small world of myself and people that used to see me at the Grove. I could not imagine what it would be like to have been the MVP of the NBA and then go out and have a bad game or a bad series or whatever and then have people inundating you with like fucking questions and opinions and all it is.
Starting point is 01:24:31 One time, Kevin Durant, I'm sure you've met him before, one time Kevin Durant he like posted this post that I had on Instagram I asked I said hey what's the best kind of pie and everybody in Instagram was going crazy he said Apple Pie and then two
Starting point is 01:24:47 comments later it said yo nigger win a real ring I'm like God damn we can't talk about pie how do you it was funny in me I was like what the fuck they got to do with the pie you guys are in a family where there's so many opinions on it.
Starting point is 01:25:07 Nina, you seem so well regulated. You're not mad. You're not on Instagram. Fucking stop talking about my guy. Stop talking about my... Not at all. Everybody has a high opinion of you. What are y'all doing?
Starting point is 01:25:25 Don't act... I'm just being for real. I've covered this stuff for a long time. I've never seen the Nina Westbrook crash out. I've never seen you going back and forth with the fans. I've never seen you. She's remembering. Have you crashed out?
Starting point is 01:25:41 No, I don't crash out. I have meaningful conversations, but I don't crash out. I am confused a lot of times. But what do we do? I don't know. I think that, I mean, first of all, you probably know. Like, how long has Russell been playing? This has got to be, like, 18.
Starting point is 01:26:04 or so years. In the beginning, I think we probably just were in a bubble and could care less what people would say, you know, out of sight, out of mind kind of stuff. Or, you know, I didn't file, we used to not fought, like years and years ago.
Starting point is 01:26:28 We didn't follow sports commentary and like any of these so-called media outlets. We didn't really follow any of that. And it was fine. But now that we do so much work in the community and we have so many partnerships and just so much work that we're doing, it's very necessary for us to be a lot more for facing. And we made that decision intentionally. And I think that, you know, believe it or not, you see, so much negativity and so much hate online, but somehow we continue to elevate
Starting point is 01:27:15 and our lives continue to grow increasingly more, you know, fantastic. I don't know how to describe it. So for all the hate and negativity that you see online, we have so many people who... That's right. We F with. I know we can curse on this podcast, but I'm not going to ask.
Starting point is 01:27:41 I'm getting you out your shell. Just saying, I'm still shitting on you after all these years. Nina, just, Nina, just saying, it's like, y'all, y'all, what Nina's basically saying right now, audience is we can't hear the hate from the Amalfi Coast.
Starting point is 01:27:55 No. Like, what we're saying, it's hard to hear y'all at 35,000 feet, just to let you know. Like, it was like, What I was saying is that for all the hate that you hear, there's so much more love. Like, people that we actually know and we actually care about. Like, we, as Terry Washington said this on another podcast or morning show or something recently,
Starting point is 01:28:26 it's like, when it comes to criticism, you have to love and respect a person whose criticism you're willing to make. Oh, yeah. That was called. Yeah. Like, we, you know, expectations are really tricky in my house. We don't have them. So not for other people, not for ourselves. It's kind of more like embracing organized chaos and trying to make it happen every single day in small ways like Nebby.
Starting point is 01:28:52 But I think that overall, what it really comes down to is there's so much love, like internally, despite all of the chaos. And so when you have that core, you know, family group, loved ones, friends, fans, like Russell has some stands. There are some haters, but people go hard for us. He's not even on social media. He has like 20-something million followers and he's like just hanging out, right? And like, I don't know. I think that that's how we're able to really block out.
Starting point is 01:29:29 And, like, we don't, that kind of stuff doesn't really impact our everyday lives. So it's fine. Doesn't matter. This is why I want them to set me up. This is why I want them. You know, I wish I... They would set you up with somebody. I know.
Starting point is 01:29:43 My single friends up. I think that would be really cool. But, I mean, I mean, you're just going to, you're going to set them up with an athlete? No, I've specifically said no. Well, I don't know any... Listen, I'm telling you, I'm very serious about this. I'm not really intertwined. We have great friends.
Starting point is 01:30:03 We have great friends that are athletes, and we know lots of really great couples that we hang out together with that are athletes, but that is just not my scene. The app itself, I have almost every wellness app. It's very true. I just go in seasons, with wellness app.
Starting point is 01:30:29 I'm like future. I have lots of different options when it comes to wellness apps. You know what I mean? All of them. I've tried it all. The Instagram gets me every time. It's like, hey, you want to learn how to breathe?
Starting point is 01:30:41 Here's breatheright.com. I download it. You want to know how it is? It's all of it. I have all of them. They all talk to me. What is the most important thing with engaging with your mental health
Starting point is 01:30:52 on the daily? I, my routine is like Rachel called it sunspotting. I wake up, I walk, I do everything just to stay at baseline. But not everybody is in the situation that I am where they do this type of job. Some people got 30 minutes before they got to be at work and then they can't be on that. So if there was only one thing that they could do when they're waking up or when they're going to sleep or throughout the day that the app will help them with, what would be the most important thing, Tanino Westbrook? Um, this is, these are really, this is really great. This is a great question.
Starting point is 01:31:33 Um, I think the thing that sets the app apart is just the simplicity of it. And checking in, checking in with how you actually feel is enough. And that takes less than 60 seconds. Um, if you do that every day, then even just the understanding of how you're feeling that day can help inform the decisions that you make throughout the rest of your day, whether you're completing task or not. Though the task are meant to be short and quick, checking in each day is enough to see unwitness some pretty significant change in your behavior. And also the thing about the app that I love the most is that we're not asking you to go and sift through. Like, it's not the Netflix effect where you're going to go on and you're going to keep on scrolling until you just go to sleep instead of picking something to actually watch.
Starting point is 01:32:42 You're going to go on the app. You tell us how you feel. And we're just going to give you the stuff that you need, like the good stuff right away. There's no sifting and trying to keep your attention. We want you to live life outside of the app, not be glued to your phone. And so it's just meant to be to fit into your daily life in that way, very simply.
Starting point is 01:33:06 Last question for me, and I think it's an important question. You said earlier something that really resonated. Like when someone asked you how you feel, Rachel said that sometimes she would, maybe cheat herself a little bit on actually being able to describe how she's feeling or not get deep into it. Then there's an other side to that. You can ask somebody how they feel and then not be prepared for the answer.
Starting point is 01:33:37 Because sometimes people ask me how I feel, I don't go, I'm okay. I go, I'm in abyss of my emotions today. I woke up this morning and think about the fact that all of this will be going pretty soon. And one day, everything and everything that I love, it'll all be nothingness. I thought about that. And then I thought, what do I do with this day that has been granted to me, this day that will never exist again, this moment that we're in that will never come again, this place that we're in that will evaporate and be gone to time?
Starting point is 01:34:11 How do I best make use of this specific time that only exists in this moment, and will never exist again. And I'm pondering that answer right now. And by the time you look back at the person, they go, yo, what the fuck is this nigga talking about? What the hell is going on? The dog is looking at me crazy. She's looking at me crazy.
Starting point is 01:34:33 And I'm going, oh, my bad, I'm going to play the game. So my thing is, when you ask somebody how they're doing, and then the answer comes back. And some people are just in their heads all the time. They're overwhelming themselves. So they overwhelm you with the answer. How do I make it easier for the people in my life? And how does somebody else make it easier for the people in their life who are asking honestly,
Starting point is 01:35:03 but might not be prepared for the depth of the answer that returns when they ask that question from a really good place? So that's a really great question. And that happens all the time. And I'm like you. Like I don't have a lot of time. So when I ask someone how they're doing, like I'm not doing it for pleasantries. Like I want to know how you're doing. So I can know what I need to be doing as a friend, as a mom, as a wife, or whatever.
Starting point is 01:35:33 But the biggest thing that you can do if you're asking someone how they're doing is just be willing to listen. Because a lot of the time, we just need to get it out. Right. And if you think about journaling, journaling is an exercise meant to just get it all out of your brain and onto a piece of paper so that you're not holding onto it. And there's a really big sense of relief in just letting that information out. So if someone, if you ask someone how they're doing and then they go on and on and explain to you all the things that they have going on in their mind, the best thing that you can do for them in that moment is just listen and be kind. And that goes a really, really long way. You don't have to know exactly what to say back and you don't have to have an answer.
Starting point is 01:36:21 A lot of times people aren't qualified to have an answer to certain questions or feelings that people are sharing. But the one thing that you can do is comfort someone in the time like that. And then if you are someone and someone, if you're a person who the person is being asked how you feel, I mean, I don't know that you need to do anything or change anything about the way that you're sharing the information. If you want to help the other person, maybe you can just warn them, you know, if you have a moment to listen, I would love to share with you how I'm really feeling. And so that way you are teeing up the fact that you're going to share, you know, this is going to be a moment. And if you have time to listen, then let's do it. But I think the more we share, the better, the healthier we are.
Starting point is 01:37:12 So I'm always here for sharing. Just make sure you're sharing with someone that you trust. We've had that conversation. Thank you for, you had that. Thank you for joining us on Higher Learning. The app is Nebby. But you have several different things. You have Benny by Nina, which is, explain that to people.
Starting point is 01:37:38 My My Mina is a digital wellness community where you can find all sorts of mental health information and resources, courses and classes hosted by me. And I have Dutal Relationship Podcasts where you can tune in and listen to people share their journey about relationships and just all the things, wellness tools and tips. and then Neby the news I have Dutel Conversation card game that Rachel was talking about
Starting point is 01:38:13 earlier there's just so many different random things but all of it is meant to so much health and wellness in any form
Starting point is 01:38:22 you want to receive it I want I'm gonna be a producer real quick because you got the Dutel relationship podcast I got two guests
Starting point is 01:38:31 that will come on there they will come on your podcast because you're Nina Westbrook, you could blow up the podcast right now. This is going crazy. Okay.
Starting point is 01:38:41 This is going crazy. Okay, go for it. All right. You can, you have to, even if you have to get other people involved to make this happen on your podcast right now, get Young Thug and Mariah the Scientists. Oh my God.
Starting point is 01:38:53 Get them on the podcast. This is a good idea, Nina. See, nobody fucks with my, I'm not a bad idea. That's what people don't understand. This is a good idea. You get Young Thug, Mariah,
Starting point is 01:39:05 together on the podcast, not, because they're going to do, they're going to sit down pretty soon. Okay. And they're going to do. But you get them on the podcast, you get to talk about how it feels, how you, do you hold it down for somebody while they're in jail? Are you responsible for the things that you say while you're on a jail phone because your head is so fucked up? You know what I mean? Like, are you even responsible for that? You could be the one that cracks the code of the entire ride-a-d-d-chick through the form of Mariah the scientist.
Starting point is 01:39:35 This is going to be terrible. This is going to be terrible. No, no, listen, you haven't heard it yet. I don't know what you're talking about. I know she was going to say that. I don't. I'm not a hit person. I have three small children van.
Starting point is 01:39:54 Like, we, I told you I don't pay attention to what's happening. This is why the relationship is lasting so long and y'all so happy. This is the class. You acted like you was all of this. therapist stuff. Y'all just somewhere right now. In their own world? We're not concerned about this shit.
Starting point is 01:40:12 We're in the impact business. And so, you know, we're... This is different. There's so much to be done. All right, well, just hire me on as a producer. Or maybe we'll bring it over here to our corporate overlords at Spotify. But thank you for joining us today. It was really enlightening, fun to talk to you,
Starting point is 01:40:31 continue success with everything you got going on. and, man, try to keep Rachel's head straight, man. We need her right out here in these streets. Rachel is amazing. She's such a gym. And I'm so grateful you guys had me on and I enjoyed talking to you. Thanks for having me.
Starting point is 01:40:48 This episode is brought to you 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.
Starting point is 01:41:03 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. This episode is brought to you by Sweetgreen. The day doesn't ask for permission. Lunch window? Gone before you saw it coming.
Starting point is 01:41:25 You deserve a break that actually satisfies. Sweet Green's new wraps have got you. Real ingredients? Zero shortcuts. Everything you love in one hand. Think green goddess chicken. Garlic aoli. Crumbled bacon.
Starting point is 01:41:38 Corn salsa. 40 grams of protein. Made to keep up with whatever comes next. New sweet green wraps hit different. Order now at order. Dot sweetgreen.com. All right. Florida announced that it plans to become the first state
Starting point is 01:41:52 to end all vaccine mandates, including for school children. Now, Dr. Joseph A. Lodapo, the Florida Surgeon General, he made this announcement on Wednesday. Let's hear a little bit from the good doctor. What I'm most excited about is an announcement that we're going to make, that we're making now, which is that the Florida Department of Health, in partnership with the governor,
Starting point is 01:42:17 is going to be working to end all vaccine mandates in Florida law. All of them. All of them. Every last one of them. Every last one of them is wrong and dripped. with disdain and slavery. Who am I as a government or anyone else? Or who am I as a man standing here now to tell you what you should put in your body?
Starting point is 01:42:49 Who am I? To tell you what your child should put in your body? I don't have that right. Your body is a gift from God. What you put into your body What you put into your body is because of your relationship with your body and your God.
Starting point is 01:43:13 I don't have that right. Government does not have that right. They want you to believe they have that right. And unfortunately, you know, they've been successful. They've been successful. You could tell where he really started to feel himself. You know what I mean? What do they get these niggers from?
Starting point is 01:43:29 All these niggers that they get to do this, they all look like they're in the same family. If you take this guy, Paris Dynard, Byron Donald, and they all look like they cousins, or they're from the same family, where they get these niggins from? Well, he's from Nigeria. Oh, wow.
Starting point is 01:43:48 Not born here, which is interesting because when he announced his plans to end all the vaccine, mandate a vaccine in Florida, he said every last one of them is wrong and drips with disdain and slavery. That's when I immediately looked up. I was like, where's he from?
Starting point is 01:44:06 Oh. I'm just saying. Well, hold on for a second now. I don't want to get into it. When he made the comment, when he made the comment, I immediately was like. Rachel, you standing up for the FBA right now? Well, it's such a ludicrous, well, it's such a ludicrous comment to make that I feel like
Starting point is 01:44:23 no one, first off, we wouldn't support this. But to compare a vaccine mandate to slavery, I said, oh, you're not from here. And he's not. And am I saying everybody not from here? Make that statement. It just was interesting. It's just something to note
Starting point is 01:44:37 because it is such a wild comment to me. No, I was saying before, I could tell when he started to fill himself. He got a couple of claps. He got a couple of cheers. He was three seconds away from a Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. voice of emulating that. You know how they get.
Starting point is 01:44:53 You know how that happens. Start feeling himself just a little bit. What do I think about this? Okay. It's always interesting to back and forth. And we talked about this multiple times, the back and forth with Republicans of it's okay for the government to get involved and tell you what you can and can't do with your body or with your child. And then it's not okay. You know, they use this and throw this all the time, whether it's religion, religion, whether it's reproductive rights, education.
Starting point is 01:45:20 They want the government involved and then they want to tell the government not to be involved. So the whole thing, when I'm listening to this man talk, this doctor talk about we should, be telling you what to do. It should be your choice. But then you do that in other areas. So the hypocrisy is just raining through here. But this is scary. This is so scary. And I'm saying this is the person who's sick right now. It's like the longer this goes on, because we know that there have been anti-vax people for a while. That's nothing new. But there was this increase of it with COVID. And even I was reading this article and the research, the research shows the majority of the people do not want this to happen.
Starting point is 01:45:59 Republicans as well. Republicans were big on anti-COVID, but not all Republicans, majority of Republicans, support anti-vaccine mandate. And for various reasons, we saw what happened in Texas. We've seen an uptick of diseases that have not been around for decades and decades are back. We're going to kill herd community the longer we keep doing this. This is wrong. When question about this by Jake Tapper, they talked about that they didn't do the research. of the long-term effects of this. It's just so bad, and you're doing it for claps and cheers
Starting point is 01:46:36 and to satisfy a certain audience and not really at the end of the day protecting the children, which we talked about on the last podcast. You want to talk about going into Chicago and all these other cities, but what about protecting children in school? You want to talk about protecting children from predators,
Starting point is 01:46:52 but you don't want to protect children health. It's just, it's sick. So just so everybody's clear here, he's not talking about the COVID vaccine. Right. So it's very important for people to know that. People are talking about vaccine mandates. We've had conversations about vaccine mandates.
Starting point is 01:47:16 We've had conversations about the COVID vaccine. Yes, he's talking about all vaccines. It's not. But there were vaccine mandates then that people got all up in arms about. I'll say two things. One about the way the COVID vaccine has. shaped this entire debate. Then two about vaccines themselves.
Starting point is 01:47:34 I'm going to restate some things we've stated here a couple years ago. COVID was a novel disease, novel virus. We were learning about COVID on the go. And so if we were learning about COVID on the go, we're also learning about the COVID vaccine on the go. So there might have been things that were said about the COVID vaccine, about its ability the slow transmission of the COVID or some of the other things about it
Starting point is 01:48:03 that might have turned out after we had enough information not to have been true. There were other things regarding COVID that we thought and we looked at and we didn't think after we looked at some things. Masking, all kinds of stuff.
Starting point is 01:48:18 If there's any robust discussion about the COVID and the response to COVID, the question should be about science and not about politics. And the reason why we need to have those discussions in a full-throated way is because people need to be able to understand what the expectations should be if you're dealing with a novel virus that we've never seen before. That's about best practices.
Starting point is 01:48:46 No one can give you certainty on something that we don't know very much about. We can only use diseases that are like it, situations that are like it, past pandemics, and other things and technologies that we've been working on to address it, right? That's all you can do. And if it turns out that you were wrong or that you were off or that you said this amount of time when it's really this amount of time,
Starting point is 01:49:09 if you said it was this amount of feet when it's actually this amount of feet or this, everybody should be able to be honest about that and the public should understand or I would hope that the public would understand that scientists and doctors were doing their best to keep people alive. Okay, I'll just say that.
Starting point is 01:49:27 Now, being that this is not specifically about the COVID vaccine, but it's certainly been injected with steroids because of a lot of the hysteria surrounding the COVID vaccine. Rachel, I'm going to ask you a question. This is a question for Rachel. From 1900 to 1977, how many people do you think died from smallpox? Give me a guess.
Starting point is 01:49:57 From 1900 to 1977, how many people do you think died of smallpox? 300 million people. Low end estimate between 300 million and 500 million people, human being people died of smallpox between 1900 and 1977.
Starting point is 01:50:30 Smallpox was eradicated, 1980. In 1900 alone, it's estimated. Got it right here. got it right here that about 5 million people died of smallpox. Five million people die smallpox. Between 1900 and 1910
Starting point is 01:50:50 it's pretty deadly smallpox. Vaccination was around. Vaccination became more widespread. What year was that? And then smallpox was essentially eradicated. Smallpox is the disease that vaccination was invented around. I'll go back.
Starting point is 01:51:07 to a very brief history election lesson real quick. Edward Jenner, the father of vaccination, the father of immunology, Edward Jenner, he was variolated as a child. Variolation is a process
Starting point is 01:51:22 by which a part of a disease, little scabble disease, a little piece of pus from smallpox wound is introduced to someone at an early age, and then they develop an immunity to it. They develop an immunity to it over time.
Starting point is 01:51:41 Who invented that? Africans and Indians. Africans, people that were in Africa figuring out how to live with the land that they had there. Go, hey, this disease is ravaging people. But once you catch it and you survive it, then it's not as deadly to you. Variation was not perfect. Sometimes you get the disease and it'd kill you. Sometimes you get the disease and you get really sick and it fucked you up.
Starting point is 01:52:11 But Edward Jenner saw that. He saw that the very elation that he had gotten from African peoples, from Indian peoples, they even had something called insufflation, that in the past they would take the scabs from the diseases, this was more in Asia, and they would smoke them. Give yourself some immunity. It's called insufflation. Edward Jenner took that, and then he goes, okay, you can use that.
Starting point is 01:52:35 you can take that technology, that cultural scientific technology. He said, cowpox is not as deadly as smallpox. So I'll take cowpox, use cowpox pus to variolate milkmaids. Then we variolate the milkmaids. Do the milkmaids then get smallpox? They did not. One breakthrough after another breakthrough, after another breakthrough. And then you have a vaccine for smallpox.
Starting point is 01:53:05 Vaca means cow. Vaca comes from the term cow, vaca, cow, vaca, cow. The reason why that matters is because vaccinating people using what exists in nature to protect people has been around for thousands and thousands of years. What the Western world did was build on a cultural, natural, technology that has existed for thousands of years. They then synthesized it, and they made it so that everybody could get it, and they eradicated
Starting point is 01:53:45 the disease. This is fundamental to the evolution of humanity, being able to figure out how to kill these diseases and how to get them out of our societies. So part of who we are, we've been doing it before medical science was to the point to where you could mass produce a vaccine and literally destroy a disease. Because if not, smallpox will still be killing people today, even maybe more so because we are so much closer to one another than what it is that we used to be.
Starting point is 01:54:16 There's an interesting thing about that story that I just told. The interesting thing about that story is how it directly involves African people and people who are non-European. You have a European man, Edward Jenner, who is the one that takes a process and then makes that process available to everyone else, synthesizes the process, takes the, adds some science that he has access to
Starting point is 01:54:45 because of the technology that the Western world had and combines it with the human and cultural science that already existed, homeopathic medicine, and they create something that's for us all. That is the way the world works when the world is concerned about saving people's lives, about your kids not having measles, about your kids not having moths,
Starting point is 01:55:09 about your kids not dealing with all of the really serious side effects that can come along with some of these diseases that we've essentially figured out. And there's a group of people who want to undo that. For no fucking reason. There's no reason. None. It is completely political.
Starting point is 01:55:31 It is anti-humanist. It is a farce. They're leveraging all of this to make a political issue out of keeping your kids from itching. And more than that, they leverage the cultural fear that black people have of some of the scientific institutions in America that have failed us. And they turn that around and make that, which is very well, placed, a very well-placed fear and distrust, make that into a reason that we have some of the highest levels of skepticism when really it was our ancestors that actually invented the vaccine. They invented the way that you lower the chances that smallpox kills you.
Starting point is 01:56:20 They set the blueprint and built the structure for this disease to be eradicated. And now I'm watching a black man stand up. and be used as a puppet in front of a group of people to do something that's going to make kids sick, that is going to make children sick. They don't care if your kids die. They just don't. This is absurd and preposterous,
Starting point is 01:56:49 and it's anti-human. So I just wonder, what is it going to take for someone to look at their child and put the health of their child over what the Trump wing or RFK wants. What is it going to take for you to say, you know, I want my kids to get measles. There's no reason for my kids to get measles. I want my kids to get mumps. I don't want my kids to get others.
Starting point is 01:57:15 I don't want, like, do you want, how far as it's going? Tennis shock. Is that okay? Like what is, like, what's the deal here? What's the, like, what's the thing here? All of this stuff is stuff that we figured out. And then you forget that you figured it out. That's what it is.
Starting point is 01:57:32 Like when I hear you say the numbers, people feel so far removed and detached. I feel like we've made so many advances and don't realize how we've made those advances to get where we are, that they're undoing decades and decades of work or built up immunity and all the things that you just named
Starting point is 01:57:52 that you beautifully laid out. It's also interesting because for the politicians, like the man standing up there. I'm not actually sure his personal life or situation, but like an RFK junior, your kids are grown.
Starting point is 01:58:07 You don't have kids in school. You're making these decisions where you're totally separated from the school system when it comes to that. I wonder if you would feel the same way if you had kids or grandkids in school. I wonder if it would be the same school of thought.
Starting point is 01:58:24 I don't even have much to add after the way you just laid that out, but you ask what it's going to take. It's not even going to take the child getting measles. It's going to take the worst thing happening for it to hit. People don't feel like they need to act until they're directly impacted by a situation. Even learning about what happened in West Texas and kids dying, how many people were impacted by it and one out of five kids that were impacted, like they weren't vaccinated? Like that's a statistic? Check that Donnie for me.
Starting point is 01:58:57 it still feels so far away from what you're doing. And it may not even happen in this lifetime, but they don't even think about how it will affect the lifetime after your children, their grandchildren, your great-grandchildren. They don't even think of it that way. They're thinking about it right now, and it seems so far removed that they can't grasp the gravity of the situation. It's almost the same thing.
Starting point is 01:59:19 We're so far removed of where we were when millions and millions and hundreds of million people were dying, they can't correlate the two. think about it happening again because they're removed from it. It's tough. It's tough. Very upsetting. Glaze of the week. Glaze of the week.
Starting point is 01:59:37 You're on somebody's meat. It's the glaze of the week. Glaze of the week. Glaze of the week. You're sucking dick. Glaze of the week is easy this week. We took a couple of weeks off with it. Namar.
Starting point is 01:59:55 You know, Namar is. He plays as a soccer? I do. You like him. I do. I don't really follow soccer, but I do know who name is. Kicks the ball. He must kick the ball really well.
Starting point is 02:00:08 He does? He's got to kick the ball pretty well. Because somebody left him a billion dollars. Because he kicks the ball. You want a nigga dick, I'm sorry. I'm sorry, bro. So a Brazilian businessman, he died at 31. He left all his world.
Starting point is 02:00:31 possessions to Namar. It's $1.1.1 billion. Namar is worth $450 million. The man was reportedly single with no children, and the billionaire chose Namar because he identifies Namar on a personal level. Soccer's close relationship with his father, Namar's senior, is said to be the inspiration behind the billionaire's decision since it reminds him of his own late father. this is dick riding. I'm sorry. A lot of people might look at this
Starting point is 02:01:07 and they might say, hey, you know, this is a beautiful story. This guy looked at someone that he identified with and he decided to leave him a lot of money because he likes the way Namar kicks the ball. Although he can make kick the ball, run after the ball. He runs and he kicks. He left him a million bucks.
Starting point is 02:01:27 You guys, we have to address the dick riding because in this case right here, it costs. I'm sorry for this man's life, 31, that's not enough years. Brazil could have used that billion dollars to fix up some of the favelas, all kinds of stuff. Think about what the billion dollars could do, man. You could take the billion dollars and put in all kinds of places.
Starting point is 02:01:54 You could build all kinds of schools. You could build all kinds of hospitals. You could do so much with the billion dollars if you don't have anybody to leave the billion dollars to. You could do so much with it. You could give the billion dollars to me, and then I would then go out, and then I would do what you do with money
Starting point is 02:02:13 and just give it away. You could give the billion dollars away. You could have given the billion dollars to somebody who would then have taken the billion dollars and done good with it and helped people, but you left it to a nigger who kicks the ball. He kicks the ball, and you like it, and you gave him a billion dollars
Starting point is 02:02:32 when he's already up a half a billion dollars your dick riding I'm sick of it I can't make people stop dick riding and it's bothering me when I saw this story
Starting point is 02:02:46 my blood boiled good for Namar maybe he'll take the billion dollars and do something great with it the guy from the Simpsons died and he left a hundred and fifty million bucks to the doggies of the world and I fucking love that
Starting point is 02:02:59 because at least he had something in mind for what to do with this money when he was no longer here. This guy said, I want to leave the money to a kicker of the ball. Now look, there could be something else going on here.
Starting point is 02:03:14 Maybe these guys have a relationship that I'm not rightly aware of. Who knows? I have no clue. No, they're saying he's a stranger. They say, it seems like he just wanted Namer to know who he is. This is one of the greatest dick rides I've ever seen before. This is crazy.
Starting point is 02:03:31 what are we going to do, Rachel, what can we do here at higher learning? Donnie, Ashley, all hands on deck. What can we do here at higher learning to stop this obsession with celebrity, this obsession with people we don't even know? What can we do to stop the dick riding, man? What can we do? Well, you've already done, we've both done some of our part, right? We left media outlets that perpetuate this kind of,
Starting point is 02:04:00 They glorify this. They glorifies. Well, we weren't, I can say. All the things of TMZ, I can say, TMZ was not a dick-riding outlet. Well, they dick-wrote some. I didn't say they were a dick-riding. I said glorifying celebrity.
Starting point is 02:04:11 The constant attention that is given to celebrity every little detail of their life. The glorification of it perpetuates it. We both are guilty of that. We left. I will say this. Best thing we could do is ignore it.
Starting point is 02:04:23 I was, the obsession is one thing, but we never glorified. We had it. never glory we had the well the obsessive attention the obsessive nature of documenting every single thing people do because it leads to Dick Rodden right
Starting point is 02:04:41 it's the gateway absolutely to Dick Rodden you make these people more important than they are look guys this guy had a billion dollars he can do with his money what he wants to do with it
Starting point is 02:04:53 just say this to be clear he can do whatever he wants to do with the money right and also just to be honest with you guys, I was tired of giving the glaze of the week to the Republicans. You could give it to them every week. You could give it to them every week.
Starting point is 02:05:07 You could give him glazer the week to the Republicans everywhere. I've never seen anything like before my life. Like Trump goes into a cabinet meeting, puts his dick on the table, and then everybody else takes turns just licking it. I've never seen anything like before my life.
Starting point is 02:05:20 Mr. Trump, I tell you what, if there was no Tony Stark, you would be Iron Man. You fly around in the suit, you stop Thanos. you have given your entire life to setting this universe back on the right path and we love you for it, Mr. Trump.
Starting point is 02:05:36 Every single person I've never seen that he made, he took the tech gods, all of the tech gods and made them into dick riders. Yeah, he did, man. He did. It's out of control. It's out of control. I get it.
Starting point is 02:05:57 I get, I get you being so upset by it. It's disgusting. Mm-hmm, mm-hmm. Now we contradict ourselves because we're going to talk about celebrity stuff. Donnie? We are. Yeah.
Starting point is 02:06:14 By the way, just let you know, just before we move on, before Johnny says this, it's not like we never, you know, sometimes you dick rot, sometimes it happens. You dick rot people,
Starting point is 02:06:24 sometimes it happens. Sometimes you find yourself on somebody's dick. You're like, damn, I'm on the dick. It's kind of like, you know, like a really important black man hit me up a couple of weeks ago, hit me up to just reach out and say, hey, I like what you're doing. And I say, thank you, legend.
Starting point is 02:06:39 That legend was a dick ride. I caught myself. That legend? That was a dick ride. No reason to call him a legend. Who wasn't? I'm not talking about that. Okay?
Starting point is 02:06:50 I'm not talking about that. But that legend part, it's a dick ride. But I caught it in the moment. I went, you know what? I even said it to him. I'm like, this was a dick ride and this will never happen again. Said this.
Starting point is 02:07:01 We don't dick ride in Baton Rouge. Donnie? Okay. We don't. We don't dig Ryan Baton Rouge. Young Thug, there's been like leak after leak after leak of jail phone calls between him and Mariah the scientists and other people. In these leaks, you've got him calling out rappers, including Future, Jay Cole, Andre 3000, Kendrick Lamar, and Gorilla. And he also speaks on his infidelity.
Starting point is 02:07:26 He appeared on perspectives with the bank to kind of clear the air on some of the stuff that's been happening. So listening to people tell you like, well you're the wizard you ain't going to prison and then you got to understand bank i was in jail three years bro like i were praying three whole year at some point i started thinking like the prayers ain't working you got to understand that too like i'm going through shit every day i'm looking at my bed friend i'm do what they do i'm looking at this i'm looking at certain shit and it's making me feel how i'm feeling like i ain't never been the nigger to pill of talk about nobody else in my life on the phone with nobody else i've never been that type of nigger i've been these last few days
Starting point is 02:08:03 I've been sitting around like, what the fuck was I thinking? Like, what I was doing? I think I was just so fucked up and I just felt like it was just over. Like, I'm just sitting in jail 24 hours on 23 and 1. I'm in a cell, 23 hours. Like, at this point, I'm just like, man, I don't give a fuck. Life ain't, it ain't what I'm thinking it is. Like, I'm just talking, man.
Starting point is 02:08:22 At this point, I'm just talking. At this point, I'm just holding conversations with my girl. But the crazy part is all these conversations that I had on the phone, I also had with the same niggas who I was talking about on the phones. So that's why I don't seem weird between us, me, and them. Because I don't have these same conversations with Wham. I don't hurt. He held these same conversations with Savage.
Starting point is 02:08:39 How I feel about him? How I feel about Wham? How I feel about this? How I feel about every situation? We talk like me. We brought us. We talk. They tell me how they feel about certain things.
Starting point is 02:08:47 So we all align. We won. We what we are. But you got to understand like my standpoint. I'm locked up. If I'm on the phone, talking to my girl, every day. This is the only person I'm talking to on the phone. This is the only person that I can talk to.
Starting point is 02:08:59 All right. Did you listen to the interview, Rachel? Did you see it? It was three hours. Yeah, fuck with it. I listened to it. Watched it. First thing I have to say.
Starting point is 02:09:08 Bravo to bank. This is some of the best IRL OGM that I've seen. Bravo to bank. Look, there's some things that are going viral right now that thugs said that are all fucked up. Obviously, some homophobic stuff
Starting point is 02:09:25 that's thugs said that's going viral all fucked up. Obviously, Thug is not the guy that I would think would have those types of thoughts based upon the fact that he's been very gender fluid. In the past, I wouldn't have thought that he even looked at things like that. But when I watch the interview itself, I got to give props, man. Because Bank held Thug accountable. He tried to humanize Thug at the beginning of the interview. And I really felt like this is exactly the type of interview that I was talking about last week,
Starting point is 02:09:57 something that got to the heart of what the actual artist was going through. So the interview was fantastic. I really enjoyed it. I thought it was fantastic, terrific, whatever adjective you want to use, great for Bay. What do you think about all the thug stuff?
Starting point is 02:10:12 Is it fair to take private recordings of someone? No. It's not. Go for it. No, I just don't think I saw Mariah talking about this, not, should we haven't heard from her with this, but there was, when something else was leaked before and she was talking and she was just like, it felt like, she felt exploited
Starting point is 02:10:38 was the word that she used. And I just sat there thinking like, they're having these intimate conversation, because he is lying there. He, Mariah was not the only girl he was talking to. He was talking to other people. So in that clip we played, that's not all true. But I, I just kept thinking, I couldn't imagine the guy that I'm into somebody recording every single detail or our whole conversation and then having the public pick it apart. That's such an invasion of privacy. I just could not imagine it and it's so wrong and I feel wrong even listening to it. Because I didn't listen to the interview, but like I went down a dark hole trying to listen to every single recording that was leaked. It just felt wrong and I did it for the sake of,
Starting point is 02:11:25 we were going to talk about this. But the more I got into it, the more I was like, this is not right. And I'm not saying I agree with, I'm taking up for thug, you know, thug and agreeing with the things that he was talking about. But it feels so wrong that we were privy to those private conversations.
Starting point is 02:11:41 And they just keep coming out and keep coming out. Do you know why they keep coming out? Who's leaking out? I don't even know who's leaking. Well, I guess this is my question. You know, these are jail calls. Yes, I know the jail calls.
Starting point is 02:11:56 So these. You ever been on the phone with somebody that's in jail? All right. It's funny. This is very funny. So what's a group of guys that are watching the games? These are a lot. And I went around the room asking them,
Starting point is 02:12:12 yo, have you ever been on the phone with somebody that is incarcerated? No. I'm talking about these guys are older guys. They're like, no. Never. Never been on the phone in life with somebody that's calling from a jail or prison. and they're like, how many times have you been on the phone with somebody? Like, a lot.
Starting point is 02:12:33 Like, when I was a kid, when I was a teenager, when I was a young man, a older, a lot. A lot. But those calls are recorded, and they let you know that the calls are recorded. Like, when you are on the phone, the thing says two things. One, how much time you got left, right, on the phone. And then, two, the fact that this call. These calls are being recorded. They're telling you how the calls are being recorded.
Starting point is 02:13:02 So they're private-ish calls. Because... No, you know they're not. He addresses it. You know, he says, it's why you can't talk to certain people on the phone because they're going to say the wrong thing. We know that.
Starting point is 02:13:14 But they don't get... But the way we are getting them, it feels wrong. Of course they're recorded. We know that. Right. So all I'm saying is, does it change? Does it...
Starting point is 02:13:28 Does your estimation of that, Young Thug wasn't bugged. No one, like, skirted his privacy in any way. He was talking on a recorded phone line. And he said all of these things. Now, that doesn't change his mentality and his mindset. Maybe he's thinking I'm on the phone. I'm good.
Starting point is 02:13:50 But he's talking. It's almost like, I mean, we're talking right now for public consumption. Right? But if I'm on a Zoom call with a whole bunch of people and all of that stuff and the Zoom is being recorded, then whether or not I expect that Zoom to be released or not,
Starting point is 02:14:05 if I say certain things, it's kind of like, it put me in a weird space. I didn't know whether or not he should have expected this or whether or not this is on him. Like, what's the deal? I think he thought,
Starting point is 02:14:19 as long as I don't say anything incriminating, I'm just going to talk. He's going to talk my shit. Which is why he didn't want family members or whatever. He didn't want anybody saying that's going to incriminate him. I do not think he,
Starting point is 02:14:29 He was thinking if I gossip, that's going to come out. Because why would somebody put it out there? I was gossiping. Like, you know, we don't get gossip calls necessarily. It's like the incriminating stuff, right? The stuff that they can use against him in a court of law, not him talking about somebody's, the aesthetic of somebody or somebody on an album or whatever,
Starting point is 02:14:51 or the way they are in the music business and stuff like that. I think the question a lot of people have was, was he talking like this? Because he thought he was never, he thought he was never physically getting out of jail. And his mind was just, he was just taught. And he's watching all these other people live this life, knowing things about them or not knowing. And he's just hating on them from jail. And he's, and he has this mindset because of the place that he's in.
Starting point is 02:15:16 Like he said, I'm in there 23 hours, only see one hour of daylight. Or is he, has he always been this way? Chatty Patty. Now, huh? Like a chatty patty. chatty-battie. The reason I think he's always been a little bit chatty
Starting point is 02:15:35 is because I feel like if I was listening to my man talk like this for the first time about all these people, I feel like I would have been like and granted,
Starting point is 02:15:49 maybe we aren't getting this part of the phone call. I would have been like, I never heard you really talk like this before. Like, damn, you sure are. Shadded up. You know, I wouldn't just be like going along with it. Like I heard, I really would be like, are you okay?
Starting point is 02:16:04 Because I'm not used to, you sounded different. I'm not used to hearing you be like this. I think he probably was pillow talking with his girl about some of these same things before. With everyone. Oh, you think before this, he was probably, you know, it's funny because with all of this video that came out, there was also audio of thug, his interrogation,
Starting point is 02:16:28 from, you remember when they shot up, Louis Wayne's tour bus, remember when the tour bus got shot up? Yeah, I remember that. And so they released some interrogation video or audio, should I say, from Young Thug around that point. And people accuse Doug of snitching. They accuse him of snitching because he talked a little bit about, I mean, if you go back and listen to it,
Starting point is 02:16:51 he gives the cop his phone number at the end of it. He gives the police his phone number at the end of it. He says in his bank interview that he was flirting with, with the police or trying to twist the police head around. He also says, you know, he insinuates in this interrogation audio that it wasn't, if they think that it was so-and-so, his friend who shot up Wayne's tour bus, that it wouldn't have been his friend. Everybody knows that the beef is with Wayne and Birdman.
Starting point is 02:17:23 And people looked at that as the snitching. They said, oh, he was snitching. But it might just be that thug is very chatty. Is that he wasn't really trying to tell on no one, but he's chatty as shit, chatting it up. And then these jail calls were an example of the fact that this nigger loves to chat, to chat the issues and chat the hot topics.
Starting point is 02:17:45 If you heard your name on one of these jail calls, though, if you heard, that goddamn racial Lindsay, man, that goddamn get out the way now, that goddamn Rachel Lindsay got a big ass forehead now. She all right. Watch out. She'll love. Watch out.
Starting point is 02:17:58 Watch out. Watch out. Watch out that goddamn Rachel. I seen on that bachelor shit. They're playing that bachelor shit. She's all right, nah. She's all right. Watch out.
Starting point is 02:18:07 Do laugh. Watch out. I can't do the laugh. What's the laugh? How do that laugh? I can't. Of course. Yeah, like, watch out.
Starting point is 02:18:13 That goddamn Rachel Lindsay. If you heard him talking shit about you like that, would you feel pain? I would be like this is what he really thinks. That's what I'm saying. So if you were Metro booming or whomever or whomever. Because he literally. if Thug did not mention your name,
Starting point is 02:18:29 you ain't shit. So that's how we know who is on in Atlanta right now because if Thug didn't mention you, then you ain't shit because there's literally tape on everyone about him saying something. Would you take this as this is the way he really feels or would you take this like, I want to hear from Donnie too.
Starting point is 02:18:47 Would you take this like this is how he really feels or would you take this as this niggas fucked up? He in jail, his whole life might be gone by the wayside. he's just talking shit. So my therapist said something to me when I was going through the divorce and I would talk about
Starting point is 02:19:06 the behavior of my ex and how, you know, like, question things. Like, was he always this way? Or, you know, like, the way I was, the way I was versus the way that he was. And I'm paraphrasing, when he said something to me about, like, well, no, Rachel, you would never do it
Starting point is 02:19:23 because it's not in you. Right? I would never behave or do some of the certain things that my ex was doing because it's just not my character, right? So I apply that same logic to young thug here. It's in him to say the things, to talk this way and say the things. It's not just the situation that he's in a situation. So even if he had never said these things, these thoughts are in him.
Starting point is 02:19:52 And he's saying it for whatever situation. They thought he was never getting out. He's hating, seeing people live their life. It's in him. This is who he is. So if I'm listening to it and I hear my name, this is how he feels. Now he may have thought it and never
Starting point is 02:20:08 said it because he was in a different situation. Now he's saying it out loud. Doesn't matter. This is I think. That's what I believe. And the situation brought it out of it. Have you ever expressed a thought to someone else about somebody else
Starting point is 02:20:24 that you did not want the person that you were talking about to hear. Talking behind somebody's back, of course. Okay. So I guess what I'm saying is that does that mean you're frustrated with somebody you're talking about them
Starting point is 02:20:43 to somebody else? Does that necessarily mean that those are your 100% thoughts? Well, what else is it? Right? If I'm talking about a friend, if I'm saying something about somebody and I'm frustrated
Starting point is 02:20:55 and then I go to talk about their career or they're, you know, what they're wearing or whatever it may be. Like, I really felt that. And my frustration, the way I, in this, the environment or whatever I'm feeling is making me express it rather than keeping that in. But at the end of the day, it's still a thought.
Starting point is 02:21:13 It's still how you feel. Yeah. It's just a matter of whether does somebody know it or do they not know it? Yeah, yeah. Like, I guess the question, Donnie, do you hold somebody accountable for things that they say
Starting point is 02:21:25 that they didn't necessarily want somebody else to hear about them? Yeah, I think so. Just like Rachel said, these, like, thoughts aren't you got it, they're not, like, blatant, he's not lying. He's just maybe didn't want them to know that he felt these things, but the fact
Starting point is 02:21:42 that he felt these things or thought these things I think is a truth maybe that he's uncomfortable with being public, which is a thing that I also get as human. Yeah. Yeah, it just, it, a lot of stuff,
Starting point is 02:21:56 so in the bank interview, he talks about the fact that he's a lot of beefs in Atlanta, and all of the rappers in Atlanta were all, because there's a larger sort of Atlanta hip-hop thing. All the rappers in Atlanta were pretty good. I mean, obviously Thug and Lucci had their whole thing that turned violent. But all the Atlanta rappers were pretty good, man.
Starting point is 02:22:15 I learned about Gunna through Thug. I learned about 21 Savage through Metro Boomin, who's not a rapper, but obviously a huge producer. That's from St. Louis that now is in Atlanta. All of these guys were showing up on each other stuff and it didn't seem like they took each other out the way the rappers in like New York would. A new rapper would pop up in New York
Starting point is 02:22:36 and then it seemed like it was a gauntlet because the battle culture kind of comes from there so whatever. But in Atlanta, everybody kind of worked together. The ecosystem was good and that meant that you got all of these crazy records with everybody on them. Obviously, they didn't all love each other
Starting point is 02:22:53 and they were beefs. But now it seems like that might be dead forever. And I wondered if that means that Atlanta is no longer to catch. of hip hop now. Maybe it's not even right now because, you know, things are a little bit more quiet
Starting point is 02:23:03 than it used to be because shit, Doug came out and fucking dissed everyone. This was the biggest, these thug calls are the biggest disc record ever. He dissed everybody about everything. Everything.
Starting point is 02:23:16 He dissed the way they look, the way they rap, the way they sell, about everything. He dissed everyone. Everyone. Somebody should put it to a beat and this would be the craziest
Starting point is 02:23:26 disc record ever. Thug just dissed the whole fucking city. He dissed everybody. Everybody. Stuff. All right. And, and disrespected his girl in the process. Disrespected his girl in the process and let the whole world know.
Starting point is 02:23:39 See? This is the holding it down with somebody's in jail. It just, it doubles. I've seen it on both sides. I've seen men. I've actually seen this a couple of times. I've seen men that they girls have gone to jail and they've held it down. They've held it down.
Starting point is 02:23:58 the girl get out, she leave them, whatever. Seen it more with women. And just having that relationship with somebody when they're incarcerated and then coming out, them coming out and them doing you wrong, it's just very, I've seen it really fuck with people's heads. Like in a real way. Really fuck with people.
Starting point is 02:24:15 I mean, I could see it. Yeah. I could see him. We got to go to the guy who called me, to the guy who called me, I was talking to me about young thug and said, you know how things are where we're from. Say real quick to all the homies
Starting point is 02:24:41 and all of the guys out there, the black man out there. You are not a street nigger. You're not. Okay. The street nigger thing has to, we got to put some limits on it. Okay, you're not a street nigger. You're not a street nigger at all.
Starting point is 02:24:54 And when I say you, I'm talking to you. Whoever you are, you ain't no street nigger, God damn it. All right? Somebody breaks into your fucking car. You're going to call the police because you have to, for the insurance. You're not street niggins. You're not going to tool up
Starting point is 02:25:07 and go out there and do the, you don't do these things. You know, you feel like you're a street nigger. I know you feel that way because you got harassed by the cops. The street niggas got harassed by the cops.
Starting point is 02:25:18 You grew up in the neighborhood. The street niggas was in the neighborhood. I know it feels like you're a street nigger, but you're not one. Stop using this to litigate your streetness. You're not a street nigger. You wake up, you go to job. Street is a choice.
Starting point is 02:25:33 You didn't make that choice. why does everybody want to be a street nigger? It does not seem like very much fun at all. It seems like if you're a street nigger and the police go, hey, what are you doing? And you go, nothing. Snitch, rat. You wear a rat jacket, snitch jacket. It seems like being a street nigger means you have to kill people that have lightly
Starting point is 02:25:54 disrespected you. It seems like it means you can't have a regular job. Like you can't do regular. Like you can't wear. I remember when JZ wore flip-flops on the beach. JZ wore flip-lops on the beach and the streets were outraged. DMX was outraged.
Starting point is 02:26:10 Recipes, D-M-X. DMX was outraged that Jay-Z wore, I've never felt more connected to Jay-Z. Jay-Z said, nigger, I'm on the beach. It's 400 degrees. If wearing, if I got to wear Tim's on the beach, if that means I ain't street a hip-hop, then I'm not street of hip-hop.
Starting point is 02:26:28 Being a street-nigger feels so fucking fraught. And I know it is. And I'm not hating on a lifestyle. It's a lifestyle that people put on you guys. But why do people want to do that? It doesn't seem like it's all that awesome to me. I've seen it. Uncle street niggers, they're all gone.
Starting point is 02:26:45 Friends street niggers. They're in jail. Now, there are times where it look fun. I'm not going to bullshit you. If you've ever been in the club with a street nigger and the strip club with a street nigger or in other place, it does seem like it's fun. Hey, y'all, we're falling, blah, blah, blah, blah.
Starting point is 02:27:00 Then you leave and he pulled over by the police. You go home. go to sleep. I don't know. Rachel, you like street niggas. Well, who said that? I know you do. You look like the type. You, no, no. That is, I'm 40 years old. No, not now. You ever dating any street niggas? Have you ever been anybody's Mariah the scientist? Rachel, the scientist. Oh, you have. No. Never? I didn't hold it down. But did. Oh, okay, you got caught up.
Starting point is 02:27:39 Oh shit See it three years Oh you You got some time Oh that's too bad Man Don't call here again though Okay
Starting point is 02:27:50 Yeah like yeah Because I don't know who listening On the phone I don't know who listening On the phone But I did not hold it down You're not holding it down
Starting point is 02:27:57 For the streets Oh you're going back I thought you got your life together You're going back I'm okay nah We can't Nah You ain't got nothing
Starting point is 02:28:10 I'm putting something I'm putting money on people's books these days. Like right now I put money on people's books. I mean, people will probably guess who's money I'm putting there on people's books for it. But like right now, I'm putting money on people's books. I'm still putting money on people's books right now, 45 years old.
Starting point is 02:28:24 There's nothing about the streets. Look, the streets, it's not for everybody. Stop acting like you a street nigger. Just listen to the fucking rap music and go to work. Stop with this. Just listen to the rap. Right, right. Listen to the-to-the-rap.
Starting point is 02:28:38 Being when you sing it along to the song. Yeah, just like listen to the rap. music and go to work. Take your ass to work. Come home. Go to the Saints game. Go to sleep. Don't. You're not a street, nigger, man. This is not your world. Okay? Anyway,
Starting point is 02:28:54 we out. Robust show. Thank you to Nina Westbrook. Thank you to Donnie. Thank you. Thank you. You make sure y'all check the Nebby app. Yes, thank you, Donnie. Like, subscribe to the podcast. YouTube. Please like, subscribe to a podcast.
Starting point is 02:29:11 5.5. Before we go, I will say this. I might, I was thinking about, like, taking Nina up on her two-on-two thing. Oh, love it. Yeah, but I'm not going to do it. Why? Because I know what's going to happen. We're doing it. We're not going to do it.
Starting point is 02:29:28 Because all that matters, I'm just, I'm too big for you guys. It's not going to work. It's like, it's not going to, like, it would be, like, it would not be very competitive. No, match my energy. I'm too, I'm too big for you guys and say, but. Match my energy. All that's going to happen is, you got a bump foot. What's going to happen is I'm going to end up having to play Wilson Restbrook.
Starting point is 02:29:42 and then that's going to take the rest of my soul. I mean, that's going to be the end. That's going to take the rest of my soul. Russell don't play about Nina. Like, yeah, it's just like he, he do. I've seen it. Yeah, he, that's like, I couldn't do that. Because I'm going to get on there, I'm going to put somebody in a post,
Starting point is 02:29:57 I'm going to shoot the baby hook. It's going to be easy work. And then all of a sudden, I'm in here, boom, boom, boom. Don't go in the way yet, nigger. Uh-uh. Because what's going to happen is he's going to come watch the game. He's going to be, I think you're going to be showing out. Because you're going to be thinking, man, I got, I got a show, Russ, what I can do.
Starting point is 02:30:17 And then you're going to go too far. Yep. Don't. And then he's going to be him and he's going to put like a three-year-old kid with him or something like that. And the kid is going to throw lobs and just fuck over me and Ryan or something like that. So I can't do that. I can't. It just, it's not going to work for me.
Starting point is 02:30:31 Oh, you said Ryan? Because Ryan is who I would pick. Okay. And me and Ryan, there's no world where me and Ryan are losing to you and Nina. I like this. I like this match up. Yeah. There's no world where that's going to happen.
Starting point is 02:30:43 Ryan would do it. Ryan would definitely do it. And Ryan will play way too hard because he's too competitive. So there's no world where that would happen. But anyway, all right. Think House off, but do not stop learning. I'm Van Leighton Jr. Please take your vaccines.
Starting point is 02:30:58 I'm Rachel and Lindsay. Hi, guys. Ryan Reynolds here for Mint Mobile, the message for everyone paying big wireless way too much. Please, for the love of everything good in this world, stop. With Mint, you can get premium wireless for just $15. of course if you enjoy overpaying no judgments but that's weird okay one judgment anyway give it a try at mintmobile.com slash switch upfront payment of $45 for three-month
Starting point is 02:31:34 plan equivalent to $15 per month required intro rate first three months only then full price plan options available taxes and fees extra see full terms at mintmobile.com

There aren't comments yet for this episode. Click on any sentence in the transcript to leave a comment.