The Breakfast Club - Ryan Wilson & TK Petersen Interview

Episode Date: June 24, 2022

Ryan Wilson and TK Peterson speak on 'The Gathering Spot', building community, financial inclusion and more.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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Good to be here. Greenwood and the Gathering Spot, sir. Well, let's break it down for people that don't know. What is the Gathering Spot? So the Gathering Spot is a private network that we established in Atlanta in 2016. We're in the community business. We figure out how to connect people. Youngest member's 21, oldest is 90.

So we spend time building connections, hosting programs programs and we have physical clubs across the country we actually just had mary j blige's um strength of a woman yeah strength of a woman their whole entire event was there at the gathering spot so how can people become a member if they wanted to become a member of the gathering spot so you go online right we we have a process that starts there you'll get in contact with the person on our membership team and then we interview everybody right it's really important for us to get to know every single member of the community to make those connections that i was talking about we've got to spend time really understanding what makes you you and then from there we send out acceptances so it kind of works like college you you put your application in and then we'll tell

you uh soon after if you're soon after if you're a member. How many members are there? There's 12,000 across the country. Across the country. Now, with membership, what does that include? What do I get with the membership, and how much is membership fees? And why would somebody want to do it? Gotcha.

So the membership includes access to the physical locations we have. So in Atlanta, we have about 25,000 square feet. In D.C. and L.A., roughly the same size. So physical clubs that have event space, a private restaurant and bar, and a workspace with private offices and conference rooms, the thought being that anything you would need to do in a modern day's worth of work, you can do inside of the space, both professional and social. And then we have our own content platform, digital platform there,

and local perks and different benefits. But the biggest attraction to being a part of the community is that one another. You're meeting other people who are like-minded and highly driven and see value in being part of something that's larger than themselves. So very similar to college where you're meeting people who are lifelong friends and partners and different things. This is how you keep that connectivity beyond the educational setting and with you for the rest of your life, hopefully. Interestingly enough, you know, when I started my private label store in Detroit, the meeting that I had with my partner, Mikey, was at the gathering spot. So that's where we actually had our first initial meeting in person to kind of talk about getting things started.

So like stories like that or what it's about for us. Like we look now, it's been seven for us like we look now it's been almost seven years since TGS opened and there's so many business partners and relationships we even have TGS babies where people are like I met I met at TGS and now now look at us that's why we started it you can be a good side piece at the gathering spot hey look there there are a lot of different relationships that have been created that's all I'll say and that's that's again, when we were talking about this in 2013, that was the plan. Like, how do we create, yes, a place, but a network where we can build with one another, right?

Knowing that there's not enough places around the country to be able to do that. So we started in Atlanta, but we're building them all over the country now. Now, what is membership fees? How much does it cost to be in membership? And can I bring in people? Because, you know, how does that work? Yeah great question. The fees are it's $200 a month or $2,000 for the year to be a member of the gathering spot and yeah you're allowed three guests pretty much at any time without giving advance notice. If you need more than that we

ask that you reach out so we can make sure that there's enough space for your for your guests. What made you decide Atlanta was the right place to start? I think Atlanta is one of the more important cities in the country right and we we've believed that for a really long time. But you look between the colleges and universities, the big businesses that are there, the small businesses and startups that are there, and then you've got the culture that's coming out of the city, right? That special sauce, we couldn't pass that up, right? That's what you see inside of the club. You'll see people who are wearing suits and ties ties sitting next to people who are wearing t-shirts and jeans right and so our goal is to try to figure out how to make them talk to each other but you have to be in a city that

understands and kind of moves in that way already and so we uh we planted it in atlanta but we're in the community business so i mean we're at this point able to do this work all over the country and then dc right also so yeah dc was the second one And then D.C., right? Also. Yeah, D.C. was the second one. And then we recently opened another in Los Angeles. And that's the physical clubs. But we have membership communities. Actually, one here in New York, Chicago, Detroit, Houston, Charlotte. So there are TGS folks everywhere.

Now I was going to ask, you know, Drake talks about kicking it with Jack Harlow at the Gathering spot. So you have celebrities as well that are members or do you have celebrities that you know come through because they feel safe I used to always see T.I. there yeah yeah yeah Tim's our brother man he he's a longtime supporter showed us a lot of love the whole Grand Hustle team we're forever thankful for their support very early on but yeah we have we have celebrity members oftentimes we have a lot of people who the team around the the celebrity is oftentimes a member so they're like manager their assistant their attorney so the apparatus around them and then because of that they're

familiar with this space and because it's a private community they have you know private get-togethers regularly so we're fortunate that we've worked with Drake and the OVO team up several times over the years it's always a great time with them now why would you turn somebody down if they wanted to become a member why would you turn them down so we're looking for people who are connectors right so if you're one of those people that likes to walk in rooms and just pass out your business card and not say anything and the the interaction is really transactional you're probably not a good fit for TGS. Forget it, Envy.

This is about relationships, right? So if you're not a person that displays interest in building real relationships, this is probably not the best environment for you. I mean, we ask a lot of questions in our interview, but the main thing that we're asking and the question that everyone gets is what animates you outside of the office. And we really care about the answer to that question like you have to talk to us about that other thing that you're passionate about that's what we ultimately build programs around so it's important to to get to you like the real

you and if you don't want to bring that to the table again like this is probably not the best place for you know this always fascinates me so I want to get to the Greenwood part okay well you guys have done this whole partnership now the wording is they did greenwood acquired the gathering spot and so as people who have built this up right as a baby from the beginning what was the decision that what was the thinking behind you making that decision to go into business with greenwood so there are a lot of things in this right but first and foremost if you look at what we've been talking about at TGS for years right so the pandemic hits and we we had a very vocal campaign called we all we got and the thing that we were talking about was we've got to support one another and like be radical in that support that's us talking a lot though about money right and so the conversation

that was happening a lot in the community is that we just don't have access to the right resources and the right tools to be able to advance our personal and our business interests. So what we're doing with Greenwood is something that really is special, right? When you hear the term black on black, a lot of times that phrase doesn't end positively, but in this context, it does, right? This is black on black M&A we're we're working together to build a really really big company knowing that we bring the community that we have at tgs now together with the financial tools and resources that greenwood has those those two things together are super super powerful so we decided it was it was better to go with each other than to to be trying to build a business

separately now are black people only allowed at the gather spot No, so look We are we are specific at TGS and at Greenwood that while everybody is welcome, we are speaking to our community directly, right? And so that is where we are focused, right? We're talking to black folks and have never mixed words about that. It's important for us to have places. You mentioned safety earlier.

We have to have places where we are safe and can build and grow with one another. So, again, everyone's welcome, but we are definitely specific about where we're. We have a perspective. I think something that Ryan has said over the years as to is that there's places where we're tolerated or accepted. This is a place that was built for us. This is black owned, black managed, black operated. This is our platform. Now, let me ask you this.

So we talk about working in tandem, right? Black on black, but in a positive way way so why acquiring and not a partnership so i mean that really got down to just the the way that the the best way to construct the deal right i mean greenwood is a big platform right if you look at just technology companies generally uh the way that they're able to scale is a little bit different than what we were we were doing But the way that this works truly day-to-day is that we are partners, right? Like our teams are working with one another we I think this is an example of like again For other business owners that are out there. It's possible to find arrangements like I mean, we've been working together for a long time We just have expanded the family and are proud to work with the Greenwood team day in and day out now how difficult was it to get everything

together I mean starting off saying you want to have a membership club how difficult was that because you need a vision and it has to be a vision I'm not just one or two people you need a bunch of people right yeah I'm gonna join a membership type of club I can't just I just mean one person like you need numerous people so how difficult was that big difficult, difficult, big, difficult. So the hardest thing as always, you guys know, as entrepreneurs as well as you need capital, which is the first step. So something we talk about is that we got 97 no's before we got the first yes, when it came to get an investor. And then when you finally make it to the part where you have the capital to

build out the location, then you start operating the business and like you said we're a private membership club and people want to see it before they sign up and you don't want to come to a place that doesn't have anyone in there so it was it was we say hand-to-hand combat every day we went out and we were in atlanta and meeting as many people as possible yeah i mean we're just getting to the place honestly where we can talk about that part of the journey yeah um i mean it was it was like super rough yeah a lot of people told us no and like not the like no i'm not interested polite nose we were getting like no i like get out of my office i don't like this you're gonna fail nose and you know it took just us continuing to believe that like the thing that

we saw that could really be a thing that we like could build we just had to figure out how to make that happen like we see this as as like assignment work right this is something that we feel uniquely called to do and didn't want that part of the process to uh to stop us but i mean when you don't get paid for years right it it's it you know it's difficult yeah and we we spent the first several years of the business really trying to figure out, one, how to make it happen. But then, two, how to keep it on financial statement. Because you've got to pay everybody else that works for you around you. You cannot pay yourself at first.

All the money goes back into the business. So it'll be the people that work for you, but they're the ones that are making money while you're struggling. There were years where it was like, everybody in this joint is making more money than us. Truly, we weren't paying ourselves anything. But, I mean, you gotta see it through. I mean, we kept going knowing that there would be a day

where we'd be able to participate too and we just had to stick around long enough to make that happen. And that's why, I was gonna say, that's why we're forever grateful to the founding members of the club, particularly in Atlantalanta because they they bet on two guys and and a concept way before there was any proof in the pudding so we had people who signed up in 2015 to become members just because they they met us so they saw uh they saw a post on instagram and they just liked the concept and they wanted to truly support and that's why like every time we talk we always say like first and foremost we're we just

work here and we're happy to serve and be a part of this organization but it's member led it's all about the members and the 12,000 plus people who have invested but particularly the the people in Atlanta the founding members there who made it possible salute to Mayor Dickens in in Atlanta, who's a founding member of the club, who recently got elected as the mayor of Atlanta. Like, that's how long and deep-rooted we are in that community. I was going to ask, so now, who handles checks and balances, right? $200 a month.

Sometimes a $200 is going to get declined. So who calls that person? And if that person decides to come to the gathering spot after they've been declined six times, who says excuse? Ryan calls you personally. Hey, it's Ryan. My grandmother used to say, I ain't talking about anybody, but I'm talking about somebody. Yeah.

I mean, we have a team internally, right? So that's actually TK's responsibility inside of the business. That's TK too. Yeah. So for everybody out there, talk to TK. Yes, yes. But honestly, that hasn't been a huge problem for us. I mean, there's a lot of things that you get with a TGS membership.

And, you know, yes, access to the space itself and the programs, but like the people, right? And so people don't want to miss out on being able to continue to build those relationships. What about pictures? Can you take pictures in the gathering spot? So you are allowed to take pictures of yourself. You are not allowed to take pictures of other people.

So you can't sneak and be like, oh, look who's in here. Drake is in here. We don't do that. So, no, we've had a lot of special moments at TGS, but I'll knock on wood, but none of those things have gone out to the public. People take it seriously. Honestly, one of the most special moments, we were fortunate that we hosted John Singleton back in 2016 his last his last speaking

engagement before he unfortunately passed and we're celebrating the 25th anniversary of boys in the hood this was brought to us thanks our brother Shaka Zulu at DTP and he he was supposed to be like a 30-minute talk and he ends up speaking for like two and a half hours because he's so comfortable and he's trusted in the room and towards the end he's like hey i'm gonna show you something i'm working on like i just gotta trust y'all please like don't record any of this and don't show anyone and he shows us like the first 15 minutes of snowfall didn't leak right because everyone understands it's a community so you can't you can't violate that trust and so you know we

that was i mean there's many special moments at this point that are like that, where people just took seriously the fact that we're there for one another. And we've got to be responsible to one another in that way. That's so dope. And now working together as partners, I think it's important to talk about that balance too, because I think a lot of times in business, getting into partnerships with the right people means so much. So what are the skills that you guys bring? Because I think sometimes I've had experiences

where you can't go into business with somebody who y'all both do the same exact thing. It has to be like, this is my responsibility. You said TK's responsibility is calling people whose credit card didn't go through. But what are the ways that you guys work together that makes it happen? Because sometimes we want to do things,

we don't want to do it on our own. We want to find the right partner, but it's not easy. Go ahead. The fortunate thing is that we have complementary skill sets. So Ryan is a lawyer by training. He went to Georgetown Law, all that good stuff. And I studied finance and accounting. I was a portfolio manager before I started doing this. So we have defined lanes. And I think that is a critical

part of it. And I don't want to downplay the friendship part. That is important because there's a level of trust that has to occur for a partnership to work properly. There's no one I speak to more often than Ryan. There's no move that I make that he's not aware of because everything we do impacts the other person it impacts the business so if we weren't friends I wasn't I wouldn't be sure how long it take to develop that like level of like hey I'm about to go do this I'm gonna visit my mom I would do that and they're like having defined areas where it's like if it's something with marketing or strategy like that's Ryan's Lane we're gonna do that if it's like I want to move to this accounting platform I want to set up this

type of payment processing system it's like okay like TK said it let's do that and having having your areas and spheres I think are our core parts of being able to operate as a partnership and be friends and understanding that like the the truth is like the dynamic of our friendship has changed because we're business partners. And we were at his family's house on Sunday, and we still end up talking about work because that's what we do. Can I just have a drink? I mean, but we're honest with each other. We have been the entire time.

We don't mix words with each other. We hold each other super accountable. So if I drop the ball, he tells me. He drops the ball, I tell him. And we try to keep ego out of this. I mean, even now working with new partners, we have the same sort of energy where we're just trying to get the thing done. What is the best way to get there?

And if you've got the skill set to do it, then go in the game. Shoot the shot. We've always tried to keep the mission ahead of any of the personal stuff. Because some people's friendships get damaged over working together, too. And so that's why I think that's important, because we've seen that happen a lot, where people fall out with each other. So when y'all don't agree on things, what happens?

So we set ground rules. So I'll say this first. We set ground rules at the beginning of this process, and we planned out when we had these moments, how are we going to get through them, right? And so it's in our operating documents. It's a part of how we understood how we were going to talk to each other. And that's helped, right? Because when a thing happens, we go back to that playbook

and are able to march through, okay, so this is the decision. And again, we have different swim lanes. So if it's something that ultimately is in his lane he's got to be the person that that that when loser drives you it's your it's on you yeah and and he respects the same thing when it's something that's in in my universe so um like 100 but like it would be like ryan would be like hey i wanted like i want to do this activation i want to invest in this and i eh, I'm not sure if I want to do it to that level. And it's like sometimes it's, okay, bet. We can scale it down.

Other times it's like, no, it's really important that we do this. So I'm like, all right, if we're going to shift some budget over there, it better hit. I'll give you an example. So a year ago I went to TK and I was like, hey, look, we're opening a club in D.C. and I want to fly a private plane with all of the members to the club. And he was like, cool, we'll get like 10, 12 seaters or something.

And I was like, no, no, no, we need to fly over 100 people. And he was like, what do you mean, 100 people? How are we going to do that? I'm like, I don't know, man. You got to figure that part out. But we got to figure out how to get our folks up to D.C. And I did my part of the work. He did his part. And we flew the plane up. And it was a beautiful 747 it was a 737 737 but yeah it was a beautiful experience all the members

from Atlanta that wanted to go who's sitting in the front of the plane who's sitting in the back like how do you see are you about to get into the plane right? T.E. now I'm a member you a member who get class? Who get the back? Even though it's a private plane. Somebody's sitting in the front, somebody's sitting in the back. Well, Envy, you would be in the back because I've been to the gathering spot and you haven't. That's fair. I'll put it like this. I would just walk, Ben.

Fine. You're fine. I was in row 32E. I'll put it like that. We were walking on that part. You in the middle seat? Look, we had that problem. We were walking on it.

It was like, ooh. Oh, it's first come, first serve. No, everybody everybody has seats but like we weren't gonna sit up front so we had to we had to rearrange it just yeah get it where you we flew we were now well how does things change now we're green wood right what are some of the added benefits that members get so a couple of things right and there's there's things now and things that are coming. The things now, so members have the ability to join the platform, right? You have access to the tool. You can get the card immediately. And we'll continue to see new products built and developed for the entire community, right? And so again, we've been talking about

money for a really long time at TGS. Our money just simply does not circulate enough times in the community. And so the work that we're going to be doing together is about trying to disrupt that. Right. I mean, we were looking at a stat here recently. Ninety seven percent of black folks income is spent outside of the community. And our dollar doesn't even circulate one time. So the real work between TGS and Greenwood is getting specific about that. We're going to highlight businesses, we're going to highlight people, and we're going to get them the tools necessary to be successful financially, which is a tool that we didn't

have in our toolkit. Wow. Well, how can people become a member if they want to try to become a member? How do they become a member? You could join us. Go to thegatheringspot. club or go to bank greenwood right we would love for you to be a member of both communities it's a it's a really easy process on both fronts and you can find us on social too can you interview envy right now can i interview can i interview yeah just to see if it's membership

to qualify okay let's do this oh oh oh we flipped the head around. Okay, we're getting serious. Okay, so we're going to have to start off with the basics. So what's your name and what do you do? Hi, my name is Sean Casey. Rashawn. I say Sean, but I don't know what you're talking about. We're celebrating ourselves. Yes, my name is Sean Casey, and I'm an entrepreneur. Okay, and how long have you been doing that work?

All my life, since I was 16 years old. Why do you like doing it? Well, I love money. But other than that, I like to help people as well. I try to make sure I encourage younger individuals to do the right thing. See, growing up in Queens, I tell everybody this story all the time. I seen Clue, who was my neighbor. And if it wasn't for him, I don't know what I would do.

He encouraged me to be a DJ, to follow his heart and not be a drug dealer or do anything illegal. So I followed him and that's the reason I'm a DJ and I like to really encourage people to do the same. I'm taking notes of all the red flags. What other ways do you give back to the community now? How do you like to stay involved? There's many different ways. I mean, we conduct seminars which we teach minorities, black and brown people how to invest, whether it's by real estate or it's anything financially, whether it's by real estate or it's anything financially, whether it's opening up their own business, opening up their own store.

And of course, we do the typical turkey drives, toys for tots and things like that, that I feel like everybody does. But we do that, too, to the communities. You sounded good to me. You sounded like a Gathering Spot member. You want to hear what my thoughts are? Yes, please. What are the red flags?

I'm interested. All right. So the fact that he led with he loves money and then he also said that he has these seminars that he does. It feels like he's coming to just get people to- To sell stuff? Yeah. But I'm being honest.

Are you asking what I'm- I'm being honest. Then he also did some name dropping. He mentioned Clue being his neighbor. No one asked that. And so I just feel like, I don't know if we want a groupie in the gathering spot. Why? He just called you a groupie.

Those are just my thoughts. Maybe you guys need me as part of the interview. You can join the team. You can start tomorrow. Start tomorrow. We're ready. I'm sorry, sir. You know what?

In a year, you can... Let's say now we just said, okay, we're going to have to decline his membership. Can he reapply like a year from now? How does that work? Well, you know that's how Lamborghini was created when the guy from Lamborghini wanted to get a Ferrari. Oh, so you're going to go start your own gathering? That's another red flag. Gathering spot two.

Hold on. I think that's trademark infringement. Hold on. Sounds like another red flag to me. Let's talk about trademarks for a second. So, you know, the gathering spot is a protected mark. But all seriousness, like the point for us at TGS is not trying to keep everybody out. We do more things to have folks come in than anything.

So it's a community-based business. So while there are memberships that are part of the whole thing, the doors of the club are open. I mean, we opened our doors for the first time in 2020 to any activist or organizer in the city that needed a place to organize, whether you're a member or not. And so it's stuff like that. That is serious work for us. Like we have to have places where we can build genuinely. And again, the same thing exists on the Greenwood side right now. Like if you are currently not banked, underbanked or just need a banking relationship where the institution has been built for you Greenwood is that platform and seriously with the gathering spot when I launched my press juice business Which is back during fresh juice

I did an event there that you guys open the doors for me to come in and bring the juices in and make some cocktails With these press juices and it was amazing for me to even be able to tap into that network of people that you guys have Access to like well, we're That's what we're here for. If you have a business, we're here to be supportive. We've got to be specific about that, truly. And it's not just entrepreneurs. If you don't have a business, it's still a great place for you to come in and meet people

and do social events and, you know, there's edification that's happening all the time. It's really just about being connected. Like, that is the biggest thing. It's about connection and collaboration and seeing value because you can start to get stifled if you if you just work in your one area that's one of the big drivers for us like I worked in finance Ryan was in the legal field and I started feel like the only people I was meeting were people who worked in my

specific type of finance like I worked in mortgage-backed securities and I was only people who did that with that mortgage-backed securities. And I was one of the people who did that. What's that? Mortgage-backed securities. Go ahead. I know he's going to try to tap you after this. I'm not. I'm good. And that's a good thing, though. That is how we advance ourselves, by learning about someone. It's like, oh, you know,

I do electrical work. I was wondering about this project I had in my house and now you have that resource. And that's about resource building and by knowing who's in my house. And now you have that resource. And that's what it's about. It's like resource building and by knowing who's in your community. And that's my favorite part of the work that we do. It's like if you have an idea or a concept or anything you want to share, like let's figure out how we can.

There's enough for everyone. Let's figure out how we can all platform one another. You could do a real estate event there. I have done many, right? Yeah, because that's what he does, these real estate seminars. No, I mean, it's truly built for that. And so now, like the second iteration of the business

is we can now have the right financial instruments to now be able to start to supply the right resources to one another. Because like, we would have the conversation about real estate, but then a lot of folks would be talking about, well, like, well, who do I partner with to actually get this deal done? We're about to be able to answer that question in a real way.

We don't have to ask anybody for partnership. We can ask ourselves, right? And we have the tools and the resources to do that ourselves without asking anybody. That's what TGS in Greenwood is about. What about buying the land where your locations are? Amen. Yeah, it's important. But, I mean, we know

firsthand how difficult it is to do that. I mean, we started this journey when we were 24. And forget buying anything, people weren't willing to even lease a space. Like, sat in an office and watched a major landlord in town tell us, I will not lease you this space no matter how well capitalized you are.

Like, quote, unquote. And so it is important to us to, like, we've got to encourage not only ourselves, but everybody. We've got to own as much as we possibly can. I can't wait to write my book and talk about him in my book. Because, I mean, what's the rationale behind that? I can't speak to write my book and talk about him in my book. Because, I mean, what's the rationale behind that? I can't speak to the rationale. I can just say that there are a lot of industries, including banking, right, where we have been consistently just pushed out of the process.

And it is like way over time that we own those businesses and those industries and are starting to do the stuff ourselves. Right. This this is not about and as you say, as it sounds, we are not trying to be invited to anybody's table anymore. Right. Work we're trying to do is and the work that we're doing is about building our own table sincerely, because we witnessed for years asking and getting kicked out the office not being able to get a deal done right and so i i don't want that experience for anybody else it almost truly took us off of our path well ryan wilson tk peterson yes i think you guys are so inspirational to me just the way because i remember when the gathering spot first started my girlfriend janae yes she was on board from the beginning.

She would always be like, we have to go to the gathering spot. And so just to see, you know, just how far you guys have come in this period of time. And I know it definitely wasn't easy. Some people probably felt like it wouldn't ever get done the way that it has. I congratulate you because it's a huge deal. And I think people watching this should all say, how can I be a member? How can I join the community?

Even if you're not in Atlanta, D.C., L.A., like you said, there are communities in Chicago and Detroit and New York and other spaces where they can also be a member and support. Yeah, please. Please come join us and be a part of this collective. It's a really special time for us as a company. And, you know, to TK's point earlier, we're just extremely grateful. People like Janae, like Shaka, the only reason we made it was because the community decided that they weren't going to let the business go under. Even folks that y'all seen here, I mean, Dr. Key, the Village Market, Pinky, Slutty Vegan,

we've been a part of this tribe together, really growing together. And that is something that we don't take lightly. And so anybody that's interested in joining the work, we'd love to have you at TGS or at Greenwood. All right. Well, thank you guys for joining us. And make sure you check out The Gathering Spot. And it's The Breakfast Club. Good morning. Hey guys, I'm Kate Max. You might know me from my popular online series, The Running Interview Show,

where I run with celebrities, athletes, entrepreneurs, and more. After those runs, the conversations keep going. That's what my podcast, Post Run High, is all about. It's a chance to sit down with my guests and dive even deeper into their stories, their journeys, and the thoughts that arise once we've hit the pavement together. Listen to Post Run High on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Daphne Caruana Galizia was a Maltese investigative journalist who on October 16, 2017, was assassinated. Crooks everywhere unearths the plot to murder a one-woman WikiLeaks. She exposed the culture of crime and corruption that were

turning her beloved country into a mafia state. Listen to Crooks everywhere on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts. but in a way that informs and empowers all people. We discuss everything from prejudice to politics to police violence, and we try to give you the tools to create positive change in your home, workplace, and social circle. We're going to learn how to become better allies to each other. So join us each Saturday for Civic Cipher on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Hey, y'all. Nimany here.

I'm the host of a brand-new history podcast for kids and families called Historical Records. Executive produced by Questlove, The Story Pirates, and John Glickman, Historical Records brings history to life through hip-hop. Flash, slam, another one gone. Bash, bam, another one gone. The crack of the bat and another one gone. The tip of the cap, there's another one gone. Each episode is about a different inspiring figure from history. Like this one about Claudette Colvin, a 15-year-old girl in Alabama who refused to give up her seat on the city bus nine whole months before Rosa Parks did the same thing. Check it. Get the kids in your life excited about history by tuning in to Historical Records. Because in order to make history, you have to make some noise. Listen to Historical Records on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

Muhammad Ali, George Foreman, 1974. George Foreman was champion of the world. Ali was smart and he was handsome. The story behind The Rumble in the Jungle is like a Hollywood movie. But that is only half the story. There's also James Brown, Bill Withers, B.B. King, Miriam Akiba, all the biggest black artists on the planet, together in Africa. It was a big deal. Listen

to Rumble, Ali, Foreman, and The Soul of 74 on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.