The Eric Metaxas Show - Patricia Heaton

Episode Date: May 1, 2025

Patricia Heaton discusses her comedy 'Unexpected' and National Infertility Awareness Month.

Noble gold investments is the official gold sponsor of the Eric Mataxis show, a company that specializes in gold IRAs and physical delivery of precious metals. Learn how you can protect your wealth with noble gold investments. That's noble gold investments.com. Welcome to the Eric Metaxus show. It's the show featuring Go-Go the Chimp. Nothing like a chimp to liven up the radio show. Easy there. Go-go, go, go. Go-go. No, go-go! No! Go-go! No! Folks, it's Wednesday, April 30th. We have so much today. Okay, in a couple of seconds, in this segment, in a couple of seconds, we have Larry Elder talking about a new film about electric vehicles. Very exciting.

After that, one of my favorite people in the world, Patricia Heaton comes on to discuss all kinds of crazy stuff with me. In hour two, Albin is coming on. Beloved Albin is coming on to talk about our trip to Greece, which is coming up a month from now. and then after that I'm talking to Robert Netsley. This is just a jam-packed day. Buckle your seatbelts. Okay, here's my conversation with Larry Elder. It's my privilege to have my, what is the official term?

Salem faculty. Eric, the official term is the black face of white supremacy. Oh, I forgot. That's right. I worked very hard for that title, my friend. The black face of white supremacy. You have to give credit where credit is due. People, when they bend themselves into logical,

pretzels of illogic, you got to go, wow, just the contortionist, just admiring the contortionism of calling you the black face of white supremacy. It's like a Mobius strip. There's no logic. Larry, you're an American hero. You've done so many things, but now you have made a film about electric cars. I didn't see that coming, Larry Elder. Well, I've been working on this for about a year, Eric.

And before I started the documentary, I knew very little about electric vehicles, other than, you know, look at them on the street. I've never driven one before. I just assumed that they were overall better for the planet than gas-powered cars. I'm not a climate change extremist. I don't believe that we're destroying the planet. planet. I'm not like Joe Biden, who believes that climate change is an existential threat. So it's not about that. It's just about however you feel about climate change, is an EV

better for the planet than a gas-powered car. And I assume the answer was yes until I started doing the documentary. That's why I call it the good, the bad, and the ugly. The good is they're wonderful pieces of technology. My goodness, I never driven one before, so fast, so quiet. The self-driving function is amazing. The bad is that it is just not true that the carbon footprint is smaller. It takes fossil fuel-generated energy to make it, to transport it. Most of the electricity is generated by fossil fuels to charge it. We just don't see it, but overall, the amount of fossil-fuel-generated energy to make it is probably the same, if not more, than for a gas-powered car. Okay, hold on, hold on. That is mind-blowing. I always have to, when somebody says something like what

you just said, I always want to pause to take it in. That is so insane. It's, it's, it's, it's, It's amazing to me. So it takes fossil fuel to create electricity. To manufacture it, to transport it, whether you do it on rail or do it on a ship, and then to get it to the dealership. And then to charge it. Most of the electricity is generated by fossil fuel. It's not generated by wind or solar, although some of it is, but most of it is not. It's generated by fossil fuels.

And I'm in California, and Gavin Newsom issued an edict by the year 2035. no more sale Eric of new gas-powered cars. Two days later, he told the 2.9% of vehicle owners in California who own EVs not to charge them during peak hours because it taxes the California energy grid. You cannot make this up. If, in fact, most people in California bought EVs, what would they do to the energy grid? And how would you power the energy? Fossil fuels.

I mean, the madness of this, it's delicious and amazing, and I'm just grateful for you. you for talking about it because we need to know the facts. It doesn't mean don't buy an electrical car, but at least know that this lie that you've been sold, that there's somehow there's magic here, right? You know, it's like solar powered cars. Well, no, no, this is electric powered cars. And how do you get the electricity? Oh, from fossil fuels. It's, it's kind of unbelievable, actually. So then you have a supply and demand problem. Most people, do not want them. Part of it is that we've grown up on a on a gas powered culture. You know, I had never, as I mentioned, driven one before this documentary. Most people prefer gasoline powered cars. And but for the

tax credits and the tax subsidies, there might not even be that much of a market for it. And even with the tax subsidies and tax credits, Detroit, every EV they make, they are losing money because it turns out people just do not want them. They prefer gas powered cars. Well, I certainly prefer a gas-powered car. I'm not against electric vehicles. But why did you decide to make a film about it? I want to say again, the film, the title of the film is the good, the bad, and the ugly. And where can people see it before I get too far here?

They can see it on SalemNow, SalemNow.com. It just came out a few days ago. You love the timing, Eric. It came out on Earth Day. Very nicely done. Also, by the way, they're more expensive than a comparably-reiberately-s-old-old. size gas powered car. And when you have somebody like Gavin Newsom mandating that no more sale and do gas powered cars by 2035, you're telling people at the lower end of our income spectrum,

you're going to pay more for a car than you otherwise would pay for it. The battery, by the way, is much larger. It's much heavier, which gets us to the ugly part. It makes us more dependent upon China because China either mines or manufacturers or produces the minerals that go into the battery or they control the parts of the world where these things are mined and produced. Like, the Republic of the Congo, where you literally have little kids, little girls, ages 10, 12, and under, literally mining the cobalt, one of the minerals that go into the battery, with their bare hands. And this stuff is toxic. So it will have long-term health consequences for these little kids that are often doing it because of slave labor,

and they make about one or two dollars a day. I think most people who wouldn't buy a fur coat because of the way it treats the animal would be shocked to know the exploitation of these little kids in places like the Republican. of the Congo in order to mine the material with their own hands, they go into the EV battery that you're driving around smugly believing that you're helping the planet. I always wonder, how can this be? How can it be that child labor or slave labor, China would have no problem with slave labor, ladies and gentlemen, but where is the human rights outcry? I guess I would wonder what Elon Musk would have to say about this. I'm just fascinated.

Yeah, I don't know what he would have to say about it. There are some human rights groups that have talked about this, but it doesn't seem to be something that the mainstream media is talking very much about. And I've not heard Elon must say anything about it. One of the persons I interviewed believes that he would not buy a car in EV just for that, just for the humanitarian crisis of it. And in the documentary, by the way, I talked to a lot of people. I talk to energy engineers.

I talk to scientists, scientists, physicists, I talked to people that were involved in mining the materials. I talked to people that were pro-EVs, anti-EVs, so that people will get a good idea of virtually every single aspect you ought to think about before you buy one or before you have an opinion about whether or not other people should own them. So you can make up your own mind. But at the end of it, there are a lot of things. I think a lot of people have never even thought about.

I just, I find it absolutely astonishing that we're talking about children in the Congo mining cobalt. Why isn't this bigger news? I mean, this is, look, I'm a huge fan of Elon Musk. So it's confusing to me before everybody hated Elon Musk, before he was pro-Trump, you kind of wonder why there wasn't an outcry about this or an investigation of it. It's, I mean, to me, that's the deal breaker right there. It's kind of like, you know, if I find out that my iPhone is made by Slash,

I'm not going to buy an iPhone. So even having a question about that, you know, people should want to know. We should want to know what is going on. And when you bring up China, I have to say that, you know, if we should be learning anything at this point, is that we should not be relying on our enemies. In China, they are our enemies, folks, in case you think that they're neutral. You're so ignorant. They're not. So that's a big deal, Larry. Well, well put. And we talk about that, of course, in the documentary. We're making China richer, of course. We're also making us even more dependent upon China for the computer chips that go into the EV, and as I said earlier, for the lithium, the cobalt, the nickel that goes into the

batteries. And by the way, the batteries have a shorter shelf life than batteries are using gas-powered cars, and they've got to be disposed of some sort of way. You put them underground. The minerals are toxic. They begin leaking, which threatens the underground water supply. So there's a real problem about what to do with these batteries once they are spent. Well, the film is the good, the bad, and the ugly. It's available at SalemNow.com. SalemNow.com. Larry Elder, thank you.

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Folks, welcome back. Guess what? I'm talking to Patricia Heaton. Unfortunately, I can't include you in the conversation. Actually, you know what? It's a radio program so you can listen in to my conversation with Patty Heaton. And Patty, welcome back. You're always fun to talk to. Hi, Eric. How are you? I'm swell. How are you?

Well, very well. I'm trying to bring the word swell back into the national... That's good. Yeah, we need to get rid of the word awesome. It's overused. Oh, my gosh. Even the song our god is an awesome God kind of makes me a little sick. Like, awesome, really? It's kind of lost its meaning. I'm trying to bring back the way they talked in the little rascals and the arch-a- gang comedies, you know?

Yes. Right? Gee, your swell. G. Yeah. So I'm trying to bring back swell. Say, mister. I mean, honestly, those are like the greatest films.

I know you're not here to talk about Hal Roaches. We're here to talk about what you and your husband David Hunt have just done. And we will. But honestly, when I watch the little rascals, the Argang stuff, I'm in awe of how great it is. It's just. Yeah. We watched them constantly, and they were hilarious. It's just the greatest thing ever.

Anyway, so our gang comedies, Hal Roach, Little Rascals, it was on TV when we were kids, like, constantly. It's just we watched it. Yes. You know, when I was working on the middle and the kids, Eden shared triling with Dermott and Atticus, Schaefer, obviously all much younger, but thank goodness for Neil Flynn, who's Irish Catholic from Chicago, only a few years younger than me. And we had all those same references, and we were able to,

and those long 12-hour days reminisce about little rascals and branded with Chuck Connors and the rifleman with Chuck Connors. Oh, wow. The right. Yeah. And what was really funny is when we would talk about it,

and then you get on your phone to look it up, and you realize they were in black and white. And then you really are really, are reminded of how old you are. Oh, my gosh. Unbelievable. There's just, there's certain things from that, from, you know, our child that there's nothing greater.

There's nothing greater. Now, speaking of which, uh, you weren't just in the middle. You were Debbie Barone. Deborah Barone. Yeah. Oh, I knew you were going to correct me. Deborah. Deborah.

Deborah Barone and everybody loves Raymond, which honestly, you know the value of TV, of a sitcom. When it comes on, like, you know, if you're flipping around on TV, which sometimes I will still do, and you think, oh, I know this is good. There's not a lot of that. Yeah, that's one that even I who shot all of them, I watch them if they come on. And they're really funny and they're timeless. Isn't that amazing, though? Because there's not a lot that rises to that level. And so congratulations on your great work.

Thank you. in the middle. Now, we've got to talk about you and David, your husband, who's not with us right now, but you've made a film a little bit over a year ago called Unexpected about the rather serious issue of infertility. So tell my audience about the film. Yeah, the reason we're talking about it now is because April is National Infertility Awareness Month, and it is a big issue for a lot of people. And our movie Unexpected is about Amy and Bob, and they can. cannot naturally conceive children. And she wants to adopt and he doesn't.

And it's this quirky, humorous sort of dromedy about them struggling to navigate this issue in their marriage. And I think I have not seen this issue handled in this way. And they are two great comedic actors, Anna Camp and Joan Rosello, who play our leads. And talking of Neil Flynn, he plays a major role. in it. And so we got this book

that we optioned and it was about a couple who basically just adopted a lot of stray animals and it wasn't really working as a script. And so we added this element of the reason she's adopting so many animals is she's redirecting her maternal instincts because she can't have children. And so that's part of the film now. And it has really resonated with audiences because so many people are struggling with it.

And it's told not just from the female perspective, but from the male perspective. We had one of our crew members in Oklahoma say, it's really nice to see you give the male character an opportunity to talk about his struggle because it's with both of them. And it really affects marriages. And of course, I'm a big believer in comedy

as a way into difficult topics. because comedy just sort of even physically, when you're laughing, you're oxygenating your whole body, you're opening up yourself, you're relaxing. And so you're able to receive the story and take in what we were trying to do. And it's just kind of a wonderful quirky movie that takes, and quote, unexpected turn in it. So I think your audience will enjoy it.

And it's available on Amazon Prime. Amazon Prime. So the film is called Unexpected. And you say it takes an unexpected turn. Is there an exciting car chase in the film, Patty? There is not. That will be the next movie we're doing. Oh, okay. But there are chickens and geese and a rabbit named Binky. A rabbit named Binky. Look, I'll watch it anyway. No, listen, it has a very quirky sense of humor. You will love it. And it's kind of what we like to call God-influed. Fused. Amy is a woman of faith. She believes that, you know, she can trust God for this plan in her life. But the usual human frustrations and difficulties, you know, enter in and complicate things. And so we just love that it, it has the sense that God is watching all these characters and knows what they're going through without having. having it be terribly overt about it. So it's faith-friendly.

It's a faith-friendly film. Yeah, I mean, I don't know if you would, you know, just give your audience this little clue. You'll see camera shots that are from above looking down onto the characters. That's what we call a God's eye view. And that you see these characters struggling and you understand that someone else is seeing that struggle also.

So that's the beauty of movies. get to do things like that. Yeah. Well, I mean, you mentioned this that, again, the folks, the film is called Unexpected and you can find it at Amazon Prime. But this is a big issue, an increasingly big issue, in part because a lot of people are getting married later. They're a lie that, oh, I can have a career and I'll get to that when I get to that. And then when they get to that, they find, oh, it's not so easy to get pregnant in your mid-fif. 30s as you thought it would be. So this is a very real issue for a lot of people right now.

You're right. And, you know, I myself did not have my first son, Sam, until I was 35. So Dave and I are those people that waited, partially because I didn't meet Dave until later. So there was that. And really, within a year and a half of getting married, we just, you know, we wanted to have children. And we were fortunate to be able, even starting as late as 35, being able to have four sons. We had them every two years. It was a little hectic. But the other thing is, I think 10, 20 years ago, you know, the workplace was not as friendly to parenting moms and dads.

And now one of the blessings of the pandemic, if you can call it that, is the ability to work remotely. Now, I know a lot of people are, you know, are going back into the offices and a lot of businesses are requiring people to come back in. But there's an opportunity for valued employees who are pregnant to be able to work from home for as long as they need. And I think that's a great thing. You know, many years ago, I was working with an organization called Feminists for Life. And one of, and they still, you know, are in existence. And one of their main things, and this has been going on for 20 years more, was what they called telecommuting at that time, which we now call remote work. But they always were fighting for corporations to allow women to telecommute. And nobody

ever really did it until the pandemic. And then the whole world was forced to do it. So I think that that's a really great opportunity now. I believe that women who think maybe a long time ago thought they couldn't work and be a mom at the same time, it's more available now because of remote work. Well, yeah, so these are serious issues, and obviously you said it, but you do it in the film unexpected, which we're discussing. You do it with comedy. It's not pure comedy, right?

You said it's a dromody. Yeah. Well, if you look at everybody that loves Raymond, all the comedy comes out of the struggle of Ray and Debrae in their marriage and struggled with raising kids, the struggle with the relationship with the in-laws. all comedy comes from struggle and pain. So, and so this movie Unexpected is no different. But there is a, it kind of takes a dramatic turn at the end.

But it's, it's really beautiful. We lead into it with the wonderful performances of Anna Camp and Joe Mazzello. Fun fact, Joe Mazzello was the little, in the original Jurassic Park was the little boy. Wait a minute. Hold on a second. We're going to go to, we come back. We're going to explore this fun fact. Don't go away. Okay.

Welcome back, folks. I'm talking to Patricia Heaton. You probably know her from Everybody Loves Raymond or the Middle. But we're talking about a new film called Unexpected, reasonably new film about the issue of infertility. It's on Amazon Prime. And you were just saying, Patty, before we went to the break, that Joe Mazzello was before he was in unexpected, he was in Jurassic Park. Did I get this right? Yes, he was the original little boy from Jurassic Park. And it was so much fun to have him on set and have them just tell us about Spielberg and the Velociraptors and, you know, the whole thing for him.

And he was young. He was a little guy. I'm trying to think of how old he was, nine or ten, maybe, something like that. I mean, to be part of such an iconic movie, you know. Did he tell you fun showbiz? anecdotes of like Spielberg doing barbiturates and vodka and stuff. Yeah, no, I don't think that's ever been Steven Spielberg's thing. That's why we can joke about it because we know that's not true. That's not true, yeah. Yeah, but that is so, that is so interesting.

I was interested, people don't know this about you because, and I think that, you know, if you consume media, watch TV or sitcoms, you would never know the acting chops of of some of the actors. And I had the privilege some years ago of seeing you in a small play in New York City. Oh, right. Almost, it's like nine years ago or something like that. Oh, much longer than that. Was it?

Oh, it was probably 15, 18. Yeah, a long time ago because my kids were all still in school. Yeah. In any event. Who else was in that? Anna Camp. So Anna Camp, who was in unexpected. It was called The Scene written by Teresa Rebeck.

Yeah. And it was Anna Camp, Tony Shaloo. Yeah. And Chris... But it can't be that long ago because I was doing radio, and I've only been doing radio for 10 years. It's got to be 10 years ago. It's more than that.

No? All right. Well, whatever. Yeah, it's more than that. Probably 15, but... The reason I bring it up is because I had the privilege of seeing you do something radically different from the sitcom work that you do, and really being in awe,

of you as an actress. And you know me well enough that I don't blow smoke. But I was so impressed. And I'm somehow, I'm amazed sometimes watching sitcoms of realizing what it takes. I forget the name of your co-star, not Ray. The big... And from Raymond? But yeah, the big... Brad Garrett or Peter Royal. Brad. Brad. Another amazing actor. And it's just so interesting. think I'm, I am to this day most in awe of Carol O'Connor and Maureen Stapleton. Did I get that right? All in the Family. Right.

They created these characters. It wasn't Maureen Stapleton, though. Yeah, no, forgive me. That's amazing that I'm forgetting that now. Yeah. It'll come to me or I'll look it up. Yeah. But honestly, the level of genius in those performances, to this day, I cannot get over.

Gene Stapleton, Gene Stapleton. Yeah, forgive me. Yeah, that's okay. These are two of the greatest actors of their era. Yeah. And we know them as these characters. But my goodness, what they put into that, I just, it's almost unbelievable how real Carol O'Connor and Gene Stapleton were in those roles. Yes.

We can give it as a comedy. Yeah, you know, it was interesting. I was watching. They had two sort of guys in their late 20s, early 30s, a black guy and a white guy, watching like a compilation of all the racist things Archie Bunker said. And it's very interesting, Eric. I'll see if I can find the link and send it to you. But it was hilarious, and it wasn't kind of celebrating.

his racism or whatever. And you could see the human being behind it. But I thought it's so, and these guys were stunned when they were hearing this because you're not allowed to even portray a racist character. Well, I mean, that's just part of the problem that we have because nobody believed that they were supposed to agree with Archie Parker. It was pretty clear that he was the one being made fun of. But it was, it is.

interesting, but that really was. Well, and when you think of the fact that Norman Lear was an extremely liberal person and it was his show, right? I mean, even he had said he would not be able to do that show today. I'm trying to think who I just was listening to an actor

say that Norman Lear always took credit for creating that show, but basically Carol O'Connor created the show. Which I had not known. Well, here's the thing about, you know, that whole combination. Really, TV in particular, is very much an ensemble venture.

And you have to have the writing. If you don't have a good script, you don't have anything. The best actor in the world can't make a good script, a bad script, good. So you have to start with that. It's always the writing. But then the actor does bring in things that the writer had not imagined that expanded. So it's really a group effort. And it's hard to just pinpoint one person.

And it's such kismet. You don't know. We know when we did everybody else, Raymond, none of us had ever met each other. None of us had ever worked together. And yet it was magical from the first day. No, there's no doubt about it. Folks, we'll be right back for the final segment. but we're talking about the film unexpected.

You can see it on Amazon Prime. It's about the serious issue of infertility, but it's actually funny, funny, a lot like the Marks Brothers and the Three Stooges. We'll be right back. Make like a little lamb and wham you're shorn. I tell you, chum, it's time to come blow your horn. Welcome back, folks.

I'm talking to Patricia Heaton. We're talking about her film unexpected. And Patty, you're one of the producers or the producer, but your husband, David, directed the film. Yeah, that's always interesting, us working together. We're a bit like the Bickersons. There's two actors with big egos and very strong opinions. And so we have to kind of set the hierarchy and kind of set some ground rules like a sporting event to help keep us in our lanes. are expecting places. That sounds like you're describing marriage. It's marriage in general, yes, basically. Yeah. But it was really fun. We shot in Oklahoma,

which was such a wonderful state. Great crews there. It's a kind of place where you're first land and you think it feels like I'm on the moon. It's like, look, I don't see anything here. And then you get to know the people and you find your favorite coffee shop and your favorite diner and you just get to know local folks. And they're so wonderful. We had a great time. And there's something about doing an independent film we financed it ourselves. And to be able to call all the shots to see the magic happen right in front of you, it's why we stay in this business, which is so crazy and is currently contracting.

It's really hard right now. Right. But we love it. We love doing it. Well, so the film is unexpected. Let me ask you, how did this originate? In other words, you said that somebody gave you a book? We optioned a book, and it was just about a couple where the husband was sort of dealing with the low-level depression,

and the wife was adopting a lot of rescue animals. How did you come up on the book? Our agent. Our agent found it for us. Well, you have an agent. Oh, you're a big shot. Now you got an agent. So your agent said, I think this would be interesting for you and pass you.

And then you, as you said earlier, you read it, and you say, It needs something. Yes, well, we had actually had the script written from the original story of the book, and we did a table read at our house in L.A. Got our actor friends to come along. And when we finished, we thought, hmm, something's missing. And we decided, you know, we had talked about this before, that she's adopting all these animals because she's channeling her maternal instincts into that

because they can't have children. Let's go with that. Well, the writer went away, came back within a week and a half or two weeks and had completely rewritten the script, and we said, how did you do this so quickly? And he said, I never told you, but my two girls are adopted. And I know exactly how this story goes. And I know exactly the conversations these two would have had. And so a lot of the conversation is verbatim from Rodney Vicaro's script. He's such a wonderful, magical writer. So it was it really added so much depth and power to the movie. Well, that's great.

So once again, the film is titled Unexpected. It can be seen at Amazon Prime. I rarely seem to have time to watch films. But I was, you know, stuck in a hotel room the other day, and I kind of flipped on the TV. And amazingly, they had Turner Classic movies in the hotel, which is rare. Okay. Usually they have like 77 ESPN channels.

and I'm not interested. But Turner Classic movies, because they're great films, but Howard's End popped up. This is a Merchant Ivory film, which I saw when it came out in 1991. I've seen it a few times, but I was in awe of how great it was. Like, I was actually in awe.

I said, this is for sure one of the best films that's ever been made. It was that, I still cannot get over how much comes together in that film. It's based on an EM Forster novel from 19th. Howard's End. But Merchant Ivory, the producing directing team, what they did with it. I mean, Emma Thompson is in it, Anthony Hopkins in it.

But it is so great that I just said, I have to like mention it on the air at some point. No, I think everybody should watch that movie because it's, it just that, it has so much depth. It's so profound about relationships and, you know, what Emma Thompson discovers about her very proper husband that she married. And that they weather that storm, too. That's very interesting. You know, they weather the storm. And just, you know, the sort of romanticized, Helena Bonham Carter has a very romantic view about trying to help people less than her. and her interventions end up screwing up people's lives.

And, you know, so it's just this really wonderful, complicated, emotionally complicated movie. It's just, and the acting is off the charts. It's off the charts. And Emma Thompson, Anthony Hopkins also did Remains of the Day. Yes. And they're also equally wonderful in that. Yeah. Well, anything, but whenever the problem now is whenever I think of Remains of the Day,

which is another great Merchant Ivory film, I immediately think of the Christopher guest mockumentary waiting for Guffman. Right. Because in waiting for Guffman, Corky St. Clair,

I think he has like a little theater gift shop and he has a Remains of the Day lunch box. That's right. It's so stupid that it's the funniest thing I've ever seen. One of my favorite lines

from that from waiting for Guffman is when Corky is talking about how he got to New York. And he said, I got off my Navy battleship with nothing more than a dance belt and a tube of chapstick. Oh, my gosh. So that's another great film. Yeah. For Guffman. Yeah. I didn't expect to talk to you about this stuff, Patty. I don't know. But Remains of the Day is a great film. The first one that they made came out in 1985 with Helena Bonham Carter, which I forgot the time. But those three films, by Merchant Ivory. But honestly, Howard's End, it absolutely took my breath away, the genius of it, and the portrayal of, it's the classic well-meaning liberals who want to help the poor and screw

everything up. Right. You see that. Right. Lannery O'Connor. Is that the first time you had seen it? Oh, no, no, no. I've seen it. Yeah, you saw it when it came up. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. It is so great. It just holds up beautifully. I was, but I was in awe of how great it was. I said, this is like one of the greatest films ever made. I mean, this is, there's so much to it. Anyway, that's Howard's end, folks. You should watch it. But you should also watch Unexpected, made by another director, producer team, Patricia Heaton and David Hunt. So you said folks can see it on Amazon Prime. Yes. And it's with Anna Camp and Joe Mazzello because there is one other old, much older movie called Unexpected. So just make sure it's the Anna Camp, Joe Mazzella. It came out like a year ago, year and a half ago.

Yeah, correct. unexpected Anna Camp, Joe Mazzello, produced by Patricia Heaton. Patricia Heaton, thanks for coming on here and laughing with me and talking about fun stuff. Always a joy. Yes, thanks, Eric. Good to see you. Okay. Thank you.

Bye-bye. Bye. Folks, welcome back. Exciting news. We get to participate in the modern-day abolitionist movement. Because of this program, we have a relationship. with Christian Solidarity International. They are in the business of literally freeing slaves.

This is not metaphorical. This is not made up. This is not something that's sort of. This is real. We do this every year. You have an opportunity to join us in this. The website is metaxis talk.com. At the top of the page, you'll see the banner.

But I have Todd Chapman on, who's with CSI. And Todd, you know the actual stories. So put some meat on the bones. Help us understand because it seems sometimes so theoretical and impossible to fathom that this is real. Yeah. Yeah. We conduct several what we call slave liberations every year. We try to do three or four a year.

And we have just got a little bit about the process. And then I'll share a couple stories that I literally just got earlier this week. But we have slave retrievers that are always moving around in North Sudan, identifying slaves, and then negotiating their freedom with their masters. And so four times a year, we gather them all in a large group and literally march them. We walk them in mass down into South Sudan, where there's a big celebration. Huge party goes on when these captives are set free. We set them up with a bag of hope and the she goats and everything they need to start a new life.

It's a beautiful picture of God's redemptive grace. But it's interesting, Eric, because we've talked about this before. again, most of these women that have been held captive were taken captive when they were very young, two, three, four years of age. And they've been held ever since. And so now they're adults. And I'm looking at two stories that I just got. These are two beautiful women just liberated. One's name is Alec. One's name is Alec. But the thing that's interesting about these two stories, and I saw this amongst this latest liberation, more stories of women who were actually born in slavery in Norfolk. Sudan. And now we've set them free. And interestingly enough, you probably can't see this if I hold it up, but I've got photos of them. Both Alec and Alec, they are holding children of their own. And this really, this will bring tears to my eyes because it's so important, friend, that you understand that this is multi-generational bondage, slavery, that we are stopping, that you are stopping when you give a gift. It was already significant and beautiful that $250 freed one of these captive women. But now that they've had children there, and we've been now, over the last year or so, been able to negotiate oftentimes freedom for some of their kids as well. And so that's a beautiful thing. So when you give that $250 gifts, you know, you may well be liberating

one of these women and their children. But Alik and Alex story very similar. They were actually born into slavery. Parents have been captured from South Sudan, worked without pay. They were beaten. They were abused. They were basically sold to different masters. every one of them, both of these ladies were raped multiple times. The children that they have are from their slave masters, and both of these ladies actually have more than one child. They were only able to bring one child into freedom with them. Think about the heartbreak of that, right?

You want all your kids to be free, but you take what you can get. And so it's just beautiful, and I read these stories, Eric, and it just motivates me even more to advocate on behalf of our brothers and sisters and these kids that have had no voice. They've been forgotten. But thanks to your show and your listeners, we've been able to bring this in front of so many people. And literally thousands and thousands of slaves have been set free because you said, wow, that shouldn't be happening. Not today, not any time.

And you've given. So thank you for that. Thank you for setting these women free. And now they're children as well. It's just incredible. I want to mention, again, the website metaxistalkystalk.com. That's my radio website, metaxis talk.com. At the top of the page, there's a banner.

If you click on the banner, it gives you all kinds of options and information. MetaxistalkisTalk.com. Metaxistalk.com. And if you prefer to call, I'll give you the phone number. You can speak to somebody. 888-253-3522. 888-253-3522. please call 888-253-3522.

888-253-3522. 888-253-3522.