The Herd with Colin Cowherd - Jenkins and Jonez - DeMar For MVP??? Plus A Big NFT Conversation

Episode Date: January 3, 2022

The guys marvel at DeMar Derozan’s back-to-back buzzer-beaters before welcoming Lauren Chanelle Allen on the show to have an important, unbiased discussion about the NFT space and how it applies to ...everyday people. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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Starting point is 00:05:01 It's Monday, January 3rd, and we have got more information. information for you today, then you are going to know what to do with a lot of great stuff to talk about, including historic back-to-back nights from DeMarter Rosen. As always, Jenkinson Jones, hosted by my good friends, Legerthro Jenkins, aka John. Wasamp, Bubba's. Dragonfly Jones, aka Tyler. Hey, everybody, I have a gun. Happy doing, you.
Starting point is 00:05:25 Hey, that voice fits perfectly to the shit we're talking about today on the pod, bro. We nerded to fuck out. We nerded to fuck out. I'm Garty B. aka Mike, wait, I did it back. backwards. That's all right. We are going to be joined by Lauren Chanel Allen for a lengthy in-depth conversation on NFTs, the blockchain crypto. If you are like me, someone who does not enjoy people talking about those, I would tell you, I think this is the interview for you, and I hope you listened to it. A lot of good conversation around the optimistic future, as well as the limits of that future and the technology that are going to get us there. But before we get to
Starting point is 00:06:04 Lauren, we have to talk about Damar DeRosen, Compton High School, making history with back-to-back game winners for, and I don't know if this is real or not, but someone on Twitter said, the first time in NBA history, someone made back-to-back
Starting point is 00:06:20 game winners. Tyler, what did this do for you emotionally to see Demar? I mean, they were crazy fucking shots, too. Yeah, they were fucking ridiculous shots, you know, first and foremost, but it's, you know, DeMar's been having a hell of a season. I don't think it's a hot take to say he's the best two-guard in the league this season.
Starting point is 00:06:39 You know what I mean? I don't think he's the best two-guard, period. But I think he's having the best season of any two-guard in the league this year, for sure. I feel like, bro, can we put him in that MVP conversation? You look at his numbers. Chicago one-seat. You know what I'm saying? You can say he's the best player on a one-seat.
Starting point is 00:06:57 That's usually the criteria. You feel me? I mean, yes, I wouldn't say he's having a better season than Steph or KD, right? I'm not saying he's a better, you know what I mean? Better player,
Starting point is 00:07:07 but the best player doesn't always get the MVP. You know what I'm saying? He's the most important person on his team. I would say maybe Katie might be a little more important at this point,
Starting point is 00:07:16 but I'm just saying, what he's doing is incredible. He deserves some MVP nods based upon what we've seen so far. He's been that good. And the two game-winning shots only just kind of stamps what we've already kind of been thinking
Starting point is 00:07:32 but haven't been sane, you know. I think it's like an old head, like, wet dream, too, because these are shot-making-ass shots, right? I mean, these are double-pubbed off one leg, falling out of bounds, over good defense, like crazy fucking shots, yes. I think what's especially, I don't know, and the MVP thing's interesting.
Starting point is 00:07:55 It's January, you know what I mean? For sure, but I'm just saying, we've been talking about that two, two, three weeks ago. Yeah, for sure. I want to go with you, motherfuckettison is the leading MVP. Now Katie's the leading MVP. Motherfuck, we two months into the season. Let's continue to it.
Starting point is 00:08:09 Yeah, for sure. The more's in the conversation. You feel me? I think I want him in the conversation, obviously. If I had a vote, I'd fucking vote for him just because it's more interesting. But yeah, I mean, I just, I do feel like there's something here to be excited about where even people, you know, which I think like us, people who understand the basic analytics of where basketball has been headed with why three points are more. valuable than two points, et cetera. I'm still excited to see someone who's doing this his way that, you know, could have
Starting point is 00:08:39 listened to people saying you don't fit in the league, whatever, whatever, and just has remained himself, has remained the best version of himself, and is kind of getting to see those flowers bloom from what he's planted over his entire career. I think that's really special. And I don't feel like that happens a ton in the league anymore. This, this whole season feels like a bitch you thought. Do you know what I mean? You thought you couldn't play this way.
Starting point is 00:09:04 You know what I'm saying? You thought I wasn't as value as I thought I was. You feel me? Best player on a number one seat. You feel me? I love to see it, especially with DeMarre. Yeah, DeMar is definitely a dude who I root for on like a personal level, so it's good to see him out there hooping for sure.
Starting point is 00:09:22 I see him at the Drew, bro. You don't even know he. It's like DeMar don't even know he DeMar. You know what I mean? He is just such a guy. You know what I mean? and I just I love to do. I think it's great to see him doing this.
Starting point is 00:09:36 DeMar buys the Compton High School basketball team, which I cover a new pair of, everyone on the team gets a new pair of shoes when the playoffs start. He personally paid because the school district wasn't doing it to redo the floor and to put in air conditioning in their gym. They're in the same league as all the Long Beach High School. They're the only one that has air conditioning in the gym
Starting point is 00:09:55 because DeMar de Rosen wanted them to have a better gym. So when they retired that man's number, which I got a chance to cover and catch up with him because we covered him in high school, it's like you would not have known that he was currently in the NBA as an all-star caliber player when that happened because everyone there knew him personally already. Hundreds of people.
Starting point is 00:10:19 And he did not come in. And with all due respect, he did not come in, take a picture with the jersey up on the wall, shake a couple of hands and duck out. He was in there and I stayed in there just to watch it, happening. He was in there for two hours after the ceremony was over to make sure that every kid who wanted a picture with him, everyone who wanted him to sign their fucking school folders,
Starting point is 00:10:39 because some of them just stayed after school and weren't prepared. He signed whatever, took pictures with whoever. And you don't, you understand, I'm not even casting aspersions on people who don't do that shit, because it's not necessarily even the safest thing to do sometimes. But he was in there the whole time and, you know, that's who the dude is. He's a special guy. I think that because he was in Toronto, which is, I think, literally as far away from Compton as you can get in the NBA. I don't think we've necessarily seen his story told fully, but, you know, he's an incredible person. He's a great advocate for lupus as well as for pancreatic cancer that his father, Frank, who's a legend in Compton, passed away from. And I couldn't be happier for him to have this success.
Starting point is 00:11:24 And I'm sick as fuck, but he's not on the Lakers. A discussion for another day. A discussion for another day. Yes, for sure. But also, I think DeMarre isn't having the season he's having now if he's on the Lakers. You know, he got that, you know, that leash is too long for him to be himself. And I love it. So whatever's good for tomorrow is good for me.
Starting point is 00:11:44 You feel me? I love that. I just, I'm a big fan. All right. Stay tuned for our interview with Lauren Chanel Allen. All right, we're very excited to welcome on our special guests for the week. Lauren Chanel Allen, better known as Michelle Hux, on Trump. Twitter and Instagram.
Starting point is 00:11:58 Viral sensation. The author of the funniest tweet of 2021, actually, which let me just, let me throw that up. I laughed honestly for like two straight minutes. Being brilliant has not gotten me far enough. Next year, I will focus on being beautiful. We'll report back. That was a heater. Didn't get enough love as much love as it should have gotten.
Starting point is 00:12:22 It should have been. hit the impacted communities. But not quite beautiful people. So today I got the edges intact. Okay. What I won't do is be brilliant and ugly. Leaving that in 2020. You know what I mean?
Starting point is 00:12:41 2021. Check your girl out. Okay. So Lauren is a perfect guest to have on to talk about this subject. John has been super into researching and learning more about NFT. this week and we have the anti-white tech bro NFT evangelist
Starting point is 00:12:59 Lauren on to actually talk about real information behind this without selling a dream of we're going to take down the Fed tomorrow by doing this stuff. This motherfucker Mike, bro, he called me an anti-vaxxer, you know what I mean? I did not call you. I did not call you an
Starting point is 00:13:17 anti-vactor. Hey, hey, Tyler, I did not call you an anti-vacist. She got hitting in the group chat. I didn't know. I was like, I was like, I was We've never had a fallout like that before. John, that is not smart, and it is a bad analogy. Oh, my damn, my niggins. Let's not gate keep the information. That's all I'm saying.
Starting point is 00:13:35 That's all I'm here for. And I share with Lauren before you guys hopped on that because of my friends and the impact that some of this stuff has had on them, I'm wary of John's. John's argument has been spread information and let people make the decision for themselves. Not misinformation, information. Which is why I'm very happy we have Lauren. My point was you can't spread information in a vacuum. And there is no doubt, and maybe this is a good starting point, that there are white tech bro NFT evangelists who benefit from an inflated temporary interest in the financial side of this,
Starting point is 00:14:08 who are going to be fucking thrilled that we are talking about this subject to a black audience. That's a separate conversation from the artistic and technological value of NFTs. But it is, to me, a real world conversation. So you seem to be perfectly positioned to actually talk about all sides of this, Lauren, and I will shut up and turn the microphone over to you. I mean, like, I think that's a great, great intro. I appreciate any conversation around NFTs that start with that really important, like, climate, like, intro. Because it's true. Like, I can't just come on here and say, okay, so NFTs, the non-fundable tokens, but that, we can't start there.
Starting point is 00:14:51 to start with, there's this thing happening and people are creating wealth out of nowhere. That's what got me interested. I did not care about NFTs or crypto until I realized people are just getting rich off it. And then until I realized it was people who were white. And I was like, historically, I should be a concern. Let me get involved and see what the fuck is going on here. Because I'm not like, I can't let let us miss out. That's truly the intro I had into it. that's where I'm coming from. That's the bias. And then I'll say NFTs and crypto, blockchain technology, all this stuff is a, it's called Web 3. So Web 2 as we
Starting point is 00:15:38 now understand it is like Twitter.com, Instagram.com, Google.com. Web 3 is supposed to be a decentralized internet experience where the people are, you know, own everything, right? This is, again, I'm very intentional about saying supposed to be, okay, because one thing, too, is that I do not think Web 3 is at its place yet where it's this great thing that's going to change everything. So then the next thing I always like to explain is that NFTs, all crypto art is NFTs. All NFTs are not crypto art. I have almost zero interest in crypto art. It all looks terrible to me. I'm sorry, I'm getting in trouble for saying this because I work at an NFT platform.
Starting point is 00:16:22 But crypto art to me has, it don't hit. Like I see it. I'm like, cool for you. And whoever wants it. But I don't get it. NFTs are what has my interest. NFTs are a thing that, and this is where I slightly sound as though it's a supporter of NFTs, if you will.
Starting point is 00:16:43 But NFTs can be so many things that interest me. For example, you can have an NFT project that, can be anything. And the one I like to always talk about is Astroheads. Astroheads is basically the Pokemon of NFTs. You get these characters and they have traits and they have like abilities and you can like use them in a game. That game hasn't been built yet. So again, I, it's everything about NFTs is speculative. And I don't only mean that in terms of it's the bids value. Like there are people who purchase pictures of apes for ridiculous amounts of money. And again, to me, I don't get that. I think they are capitalizing off of, off of a promo.
Starting point is 00:17:29 People are just like, okay, this thing's happening. And I want to have one and have it as an avatar. I guess, okay. But NFT projects, I think, are the future. And the one thing I'll add before, you know, opening up to like more discussions on. I'm not just talking talking is. NFTs are also a key to DAO. Dow is a DAO, a decentralized autonomous organization. There we go. And the whole idea of a Dow is that the people who are invested in it also have the power over it. So imagine if Instagram was a Dow, clearly it's not. But if it was, everybody who has an Instagram account could say, hey, for bringing back chronological feeds and they would have to because that's who owns it as who controls it. There isn't Jack on Twitter. There isn't a whoever runs Instagram. Oh, Mark, I guess now is the owner of Instagram. Yep.
Starting point is 00:18:21 There isn't one person, you know what I mean who's like, I hope he, he understands how we use this app and they don't. So, yeah, I'll start with that. Can you talk about the Metaverse a little bit? Because I think, like, how that, I'm wondering, like, how, like, NFTs and all that connects with that as well. And I've been doing some research, and it seems like, you know, when I hear about the Metaverse at first,
Starting point is 00:18:45 I was thinking of like, looking at like, you know, it'll be a bunch of Dungeons and Dragons niggas on that motherfucker. You know what I'm saying? Like, you know, but, but no, I just, I did, I did more research. It became more real to me and I understand, I got some understanding. But I would like for you to like, you know, break it down a little bit for somebody like myself. In, in what your understanding of it is for first, if you don't mind. The metaverse to me is like, you know, we talk about the multiverse,
Starting point is 00:19:12 different dimensions, different universes within the multiverse. the metaverse is like a different, you know, another universe, but I think it's like the internet version. You know what I'm saying? So it's like our lives, but how we live them, you know, I guess digitally.
Starting point is 00:19:27 Yeah, there you go. Okay, so that's perfect. I love talking about the metaverse. I'm trying to figure out how I can like just be specific and not go all out. But the way I always like to start with the idea of the metaverse is video games. Because I feel like it's always,
Starting point is 00:19:45 the easiest entry because it's kind of the most common uh the most common entry into the metaverse so for instance i would assume you guys all play two k or have played two okay yeah for sure this is this sports pot right but um okay so in in in two k if you play my player you can um start out you don't have anything you can't play very well you're good get gears awful, you know, blah, blah, blah. You work your way up, you have an apartment, you can get a skateboard if you want, you can get Jordans, you can get all these things, and they exist in the game. In the metaverse, all those things would have actual value and be able to be taken anywhere
Starting point is 00:20:37 you want because you own it. So, for instance, in the real world, if I put on a hat, the hat's going to go anywhere I go, right? or anywhere I wanted to go. In 2K, I can't take the Jordans I buy and have them on in Grand Theft Auto. Yeah, yeah. In the future, the Metaverse, it means everything digitally is linked. Oh, wow. It's connected.
Starting point is 00:21:03 It's one big Meta, which is why I hate that Facebook change their name to Meta, because A, A, we aren't there, and B, they are the last company, I think, should be in charge of the Metaverse for obvious. called the reasons. Yeah, you don't think they've been handling, controlling the world's flow of information well. Listen, this is a perfect comparison, though, to crypto. Of course, crypto has terrible, scammy people because it's the same people who are in Web 2.0, trying to get into Web 3. Now, the reason I like Web 3 is because there are these altruistic, optimistic people who truly want to decentralize everything.
Starting point is 00:21:42 Twitter should not control everything, Facebook should not control everything, et cetera. But there's also, of course, the people who are trying to take over that because they understand the power it's going to have. And that scares me a lot of it. So, Lauren, I've got, I think I have a pretty basic understanding of what NFTs are. And I'm going to lay it out for you. I want you to tell me how on point or how off base I am with this. Okay. So my understanding of NFTs are an NFT is kind of a stamp of authenticity by the creator of a digital,
Starting point is 00:22:12 intellectual property. And this is kind of a movement to kind of monetize the shift that our world has been making from a print world to a digital world. Is that kind of a fair assessment here? Yes, I would say so. The word monetize is hard because it is still true.
Starting point is 00:22:33 But again, everything I say is always that we aren't there yet. That's a really big beat of me. So it's like, I'll tell people all the time, you know, having NFT is amazing because the idea of an NFT to come back just a bit, an NFT is a digital asset on the blockchain. The blockchain is a transparent digital ledger. And I know everybody hates these words.
Starting point is 00:22:54 So I'm going to switch up a little bit. An NFT on the blockchain is a transparent bank account. It's saying I paid, no, it's saying I created this thing at 9.28 a.m. on January 2nd, 2021, boom. And then on January 3rd, it was purchased by this point, this person. So our, right, you know what it feels a really comparison, Benmo, how you can see everybody's transactions, right? Right, right, right.
Starting point is 00:23:21 That's the blockchain. The blockchain is the bedmo activity tab, right? So it keeps track of everything that's being done, like the sales who created it, all of that, you know, how much was paid, you know, okay, okay, okay. So I think that's a really, that foundation is the most important part of NFTs. Everything else has happened right now is everybody trying to put it into action and you can get paid off of it. But that is the key is that, for instance, I go viral a lot on Twitter. And that was before she had the dogs on camera.
Starting point is 00:24:00 You know what I mean? It's about to go supernova. I go viral sometimes or whatever. And I don't really get anything out of that. I mean, like, I'm not paid. I'm not, I don't often get a ton of new followers because of it. But if it was on the blockchain, you know, the idea, again, this is not reality. Yet the idea is everybody would see, I created this here and here's everybody who used it after me, you know?
Starting point is 00:24:27 And so in the future, the hope is our digital engagement, such as retweets, likes, shares will have a financial. component to it. Okay, okay. Wow. And we aren't there. So, Tyler would be rich. You will be rich too. I would be. Yeah. Filthy, bro. Yeah, that's the idea for me.
Starting point is 00:24:52 So the blockchain, you know, basically, to kind of blow down, it is an open world transparent transaction history. Perfect. Yes. Gotcha. Okay. So you have a, on your website, Laurenchannel Allen.com, you have a really great simple page called NFT is a starting point. And of all of the links that were flying around in the group chat back and forth, by far I thought the best thing I'd read about it,
Starting point is 00:25:18 in part because, as you mentioned, even though you work for an NFT platform, you are not a, you know, blinders on evangelists of this. And you acknowledge the difference between goals and reality, where you're hoping things will go and where they are yet. And one of the things you talked about is decentralization. And at the end of that, I really appreciate you. talk about the problem with centralization that you were just discussing that, right? We have all contributed in some way, Lauren, you and Tyler have contributed an enormous way
Starting point is 00:25:48 to Twitter's net worth, and you don't get a cut of that, right? Say that again. Say that again. For real. Well, you know what? But this is something we... Caring me, that's okay? No, but genuinely, that's true.
Starting point is 00:26:02 And we've talked about this on the podcast. I had a Twitter account because I had to for work and I was not on it. And then I followed Tyler and now I have a 10 hour a week Twitter addiction and have for 10 years plus, right? Like Twitter has made however much money off of selling ads to me and they have not given any of that money to Tyler. So one of the goals of decentralization is a more just distribution of where the funds generated are going to. You acknowledge on your starting point page that, you know, that hasn't happened yet. We're not at that point yet. I love from a philosophical perspective those goals of decentralization, but I am a full-on
Starting point is 00:26:46 cynical person generally. And the path that will go from where we are now to that world, I don't personally know what that looks like. You are much smarter about this. If you're much more educated about this stuff than I am, what do you think that would look like? And how much, aside from the philosophical optimism, how much sort of like real world hope do you have for 10 years from now, we have you back on the podcast,
Starting point is 00:27:10 and we're talking about a very different Web3 world as far as social media and creators and everything. That's tough. It's a great. That's a great, that's the big question. It honestly is. Like, it's like, okay, this is all a great idea. How do we make it happen? Well, and let me just add really quick because that's not an entirely fair question. I'm not suggesting that the technology is not worthwhile if it does not solve institutional racism, et cetera in America. Because otherwise we would never do anything. Nothing is going to solve all the problems we have.
Starting point is 00:27:40 If it moves us 10% towards Tyler getting paid for the money that Jack Dorsey is generating from his content, that's a huge movement. I'm just asking about even moving at the 1%, 5%, 10%, what you think that would look like. I think a great example of the direction it's going and where it could be in 10 years and should be is what actually just happened a month-ish ago with ENS. Do you guys know what ENS is? I can know you. So, ENS is the Ethereum name service.
Starting point is 00:28:14 I hope that's the right acronym, but it's something like that. If you know how on Twitter you'll see, you'll see Michelle Hugs.eith. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Those are the, are the ENS names. And so anybody who purchased an ENS name, so Blank, Blank, blank.eath were then airdropped
Starting point is 00:28:38 coins. So I get so excited to have to start to stop over here because it's really cool so on the upside over. EnS. This is the cool thing
Starting point is 00:28:49 has happened. I'm not over you. Okay. E&S is like cash app, let's say. You can have a cash app handle, right?
Starting point is 00:28:57 It's a dollar sign, Hutz, whatever. At me, pay me some money. Is Michelle Hux actually really? But so Enes also has that. So I have, I have, I have, I have, I have, I have, I have, I have, I have, I have, I have, I have
Starting point is 00:29:13 strictly because I have a handle, only because I had a handle is just nothing else I did. E&S re-rewarded me with coins. I got like 100 coins or something like that. I forget how many coins I got. It ended up being worth over, over $5,000. Is this a, what, what coins were these? E&S. E&S, E&S create their only.
Starting point is 00:29:32 coin called you know. Okay. So it's not Ethereum. It's not, you know, Bitcoin. It's a totally difference. It's not Doge. It's a total. Again, it's like if cash apps said everybody was to handle, here's some cash app tokens. And these tokens have value. That's all. And that to me is a future of Web 3, where these platforms, Instagram, Twitter in the future, understand the value of their users and are going to give them actual financial compensation for just being part of it. And that's a very simple example. But, means the best one because I didn't, I wasn't expecting it. I didn't know what was happening. I got a dot-death address because I was told, hey, try it out. I was like, sure, try it out,
Starting point is 00:30:12 whatever. And then I think a year after that, it wasn't like overnight, but year after that, this air drop happened and everybody's like, what the fuck? You can do this? Like, is this leave? Like, you know what I mean? It's like, because, because these platforms have so much money and it's just that, I don't know if I'm explaining it well, but like, to me, that's the future is that in Web 3, the users are valuable. You know, on Twitter, I don't feel valuable. Instagram, I don't feel valuable. On Twitter, they do something called superfollow.
Starting point is 00:30:41 They allow you to be a super follower, and you can get paid by your followers. But Twitter's still making a ton of money, and they're not paying the people who are growing the platform. Like, you know what I'm saying, you and Tyler or whatnot. You feel what I'm saying?
Starting point is 00:30:55 You're being very modest. John's being very modest. I'm saying, though, you know, I don't be on Twitter like I used to either. I mean, I get on there. You know, so I'm, I'm, honestly, maybe two years ago, you feel a year ago.
Starting point is 00:31:05 I'm an old man now, you know what I mean? Even with Twitter super follows, I'm still, and this isn't the way everybody thinks, and Tyler, Tyler, do you have access to that yet? No, I mean, I'm sure I probably could do it, but I don't think I would.
Starting point is 00:31:20 Oh, for, as what I'm saying, is what I'm about to say. The reason I don't like the super follow idea and stuff is like, I personally, I'm not trying to take money from my community. I want Twitter to give me money. Yes, exactly.
Starting point is 00:31:36 And that's what WIP3 is to me, where it's like these powerful places understand that I bring value to the platform and that they're rewarding me for that. Like, I don't want you guys paying me. I want rich white people to pay me. Facts. Exactly that.
Starting point is 00:31:55 I'm wondering, like, the things that I think are really interesting about that I've researched, like, or listen to podcasts. or whatever, it's like, you know, when it comes to like smart contracts, where, you know, so Blue to Great,
Starting point is 00:32:11 he's an actual artist. So he's not just making fucking apes that look like basic-ass fucking clip art. You know what I mean? He's an actual artist that, you know, you know, grew, was broke for a while on that artist's grind. Now it's making good money and things like that.
Starting point is 00:32:25 Might sell his art for like 10, 5, 10, maybe 15K. recently just sold a piece as an Ft, one of a kind, and it went for like 50 some thousand. What I really love about that is a dude that probably bought that shit was probably one of the rich white guys we were talking about and he was going to flip that motherfucker for much more. But because of the smart contract and written in the programming, there will be, you know, like,
Starting point is 00:32:50 blue to gray has to get some of that money as it's flipped by rich people who are using his work to flex on other rich people. You know what I'm saying? Exactly. And so like these are the things with, that I feel like, I don't know if digital art is, like you said, we talked about this on the phone and you were saying, this is like the least most interesting part of NFTs to you.
Starting point is 00:33:09 It might not be it. And you know what I'm saying? I like it for creators, but it might not be it as far as a rich, get rich game. But the concepts to me are what's powerful and important. We don't have a lot of artist friends who sell their shit to rich white people. You know what I'm saying? For like 4K. and then that person sells that motherfucker for 10K or 15K
Starting point is 00:33:30 and they never see any of that money. You know what I'm saying? Afterwards, when they're the creator, you know what I mean? So I think like the concept is beautiful, you know? Yeah, it's like smart contracts, the idea behind them is even after the first transaction, I purchased X from this person, if that person wants to raise solid, I can put it in the contract.
Starting point is 00:33:52 Okay, cool, I get 15% or whatever it is. Right. And again, it's the idea. idea that the creator should constantly benefit from their creation. Something else I really enjoy about this idea, smart contracts is creators in the future won't have to do what we do, which is try to appeal to everybody and hope I get 10% of that to invest in me. All you need is that one person who understands the value of what you're creating to say,
Starting point is 00:34:25 you know what, this is worth however much, because that's what happened with apes, kind of. To me, I would never spend over a dollar. I always spend a dime on that shit, honestly. Not a dime, okay? But there is one person out there who says, you know what, to me, that's worth this. And I think it creates a more intimate relationship
Starting point is 00:34:44 between the creator and the purchaser or whoever. Again, in theory in the future. I don't think we're here right now. It's possibly a, it's possibly headed in a different direction, but I'll also say the NFT space and the crypto space are very, very different. So like the crypto space is like a hold by the dip, you know, like stonks. And I'm like, I don't know if that stuff really. I dabble, but like I can't be like, oh, you should get this coin.
Starting point is 00:35:17 And I don't know that stuff. And those people are very scammy to me. They are. You know, it's not just you. And I know that stuff pretty well. And that's, I think they are different. You're absolutely right there different, obviously. But I do see similarities.
Starting point is 00:35:32 And that was sort of what I was going to ask is like Bitcoin, the idea of decentralizing from World Bank, from the Fed, from, you know, returning financial power more so to individual people, there's an obvious philosophical appeal of that. However, there's also, you know, that you run into the way things apply in the real world. And, you know, I think a thousand people own about half of Bitcoin. and it is a pump and dump scam. I'm going to say something about, wow, hey, Bitcoin just signed a new deal with,
Starting point is 00:36:02 I forget what country in South America is going to use it as a currency. Great, the value goes up. These people can then sell at a high rate. Because they don't have to disclose that they sold it. They can then do a press conference and say, we're actually having some real trouble with the technology that's underlying the Bitcoin. The value plummets. Real world people, right, lose their money.
Starting point is 00:36:24 the people then can say, okay, I cashed out at 100, so I made a million dollars. Now the value went down to 50. I'm going to buy twice as much as I just owned with the million dollars that I made. Like that's where I run into this sort of my own cynicism, I guess, about the, we've been saying the rich white people. We can say rich white people, we can say Twitter, the market cap. You can say whatever we want to say. Those people still have all the money. Yes.
Starting point is 00:36:52 Very true. And so my cynicism and life experience to some extent just makes me feel like they're not going to give that up because we've created an interesting new technology. This is a fantastic point. It really is. I had a cool exchange on crypto where I bought a coin at like half a cent, if that or whatever. And I put in like $100 and at the end of the week, I had like $800. And I was like, oh, I get it. This is how you scam people.
Starting point is 00:37:24 I was like, I was like, no, I get it now because it's like, if you have money, you can get more money. I don't like that. Like, that is not okay. Like, you know what I mean? Like, like, had I put in a million, I would have had. 800 million, whatever. Right, right.
Starting point is 00:37:42 Don't even talk about that. You know? So it's just like, okay, I get it. Well, and that, and that was the, what I would say is sort of the trap that I mentioned before. I have a lot of friends who don't look like me. who got $3,000, $2,000 off a stimulus check. They're seeing people, and I would say this.
Starting point is 00:37:58 I mentioned this to John. They're seeing people like John who are maybe more educated people who are more people who are up on trends and stuff like that talking about, oh, I'm doing this with crypto. Not that John, you were specifically doing it. I didn't do a thing with crypto. But there are seen people that are sort of like. I know exactly what you're speaking to.
Starting point is 00:38:14 Thought leaders, right? Yeah, for sure. They're seeing people that have moved into Long Beach, not the people who grew up in Long Beach. Does that make sense? Okay. They're seeing those people saying, okay, I made this money off crypto. And they are the ones being pumped and dumped. They are the ones going, I got $2,000. I'm buying in. It's $100. But look, it went from $50 to $100 over the last month. So if it goes from $100 to $200, right? And then instead it goes the other way because they're being, I'm not going to say scam. Manipulated, scam. But they're being manipulated 100%. And so that's the, yeah, that's my thing. And I think I think that's why on all my. on my website on on on on on any Twitter the threat I do in any condition I have I always started with with NFTs or it's not crypto because you know like I like the crypto world I don't do
Starting point is 00:39:03 it I'm not I'm not that person I don't have any piece in it the only insight I have is people are being scanned I don't like it right you know I'm being so real like and so I really really do try to to create a divide because here's because although all that is true It is very cool the idea of cryptocurrency with NFTs. And again, I'll use the, the ENS example, because for free, I got like, like, like, like, like, like, like, $5,000. I didn't touch it and it kept increasing. If I was paid 5K, it wouldn't be increasing. You know, like, I would have 5K, which is great, you know?
Starting point is 00:39:45 Right, right, right. I think that, like, how crypto can grow and fall is still intriguing to me as a cryptocurrency, a currency to buy NFTs. Crypto as a stock as an investment, I don't, I don't, I can't co-s up. You don't fuck with that side of it. I don't know, I mean, like, I don't. But because our, our, our lives are increasingly digital. And I studied in grad school that the experiences we have in our digital spaces, physiologically mirror our experiences in the world. For example, if you're at a party and you get rejected, how that feels is the same in your body, in your brain as being blocked on Twitter.
Starting point is 00:40:37 I mean, and so I guess as a person who really understands and appreciates that our whole, world is increasingly digital and our currencies are too and the U.S. dollar ain't all that stable so begin with if we want to get into that. People are making decisions with the U.S. dollar that might not benefit us but benefit certain sex of people as well. The thought behind cryptocurrency is interesting. It hasn't been, we're not there yet, you know what I'm not there yet. But I guess I want to highlight going back to the idea of the matter of first, right?
Starting point is 00:41:14 I play I play Grand The Ottawa a lot still I love it whatever I have all these cool cars and shit right
Starting point is 00:41:21 and I have a house like in the hills and it has art in there and it has I have a dog in the game like
Starting point is 00:41:28 those things are going to increasingly become more important to us they are it's like people get
Starting point is 00:41:36 their accounts suspended on Twitter and lose all connection to their friends because
Starting point is 00:41:43 most time you don't have each each time's email and phone number. You're Twitter friends. It's real. It's a real-ass connection, but it doesn't go off that platform. And so the idea of decentralized sensations that everything that happens online, you own. You know, it's like Twitter can't take it from me. Like, I'm still having these connections.
Starting point is 00:42:02 And again, I have to keep saying we aren't there yet, but that's what I hope keeps happening. I hope we get to because I live online. I prefer being online. I'm an introvert. I mean, like, I don't want to be in people's faces. I don't want to be there. You know, but. Their breath be stinking.
Starting point is 00:42:17 You know. I met John and Tyler online a couple years ago. And it was, it was, it was, it was, it was real. It was like we were friends. And then we talked on the phone before and then we met up in person. And it's like all that happened because we, we valued our digital connection. It wasn't like, well, close a laptop. I don't know about him anymore, you know.
Starting point is 00:42:42 This podcast wouldn't exist without those digital connections. We all met through this, you know what I'm saying? And we've also talked with like Zach Fox and several other creators about how uncomfortable they are that their careers and relationships have happened, as have our relationships and to this podcast extent careers on a privately owned website that is traded. I shouldn't say private, publicly owned, right? like traded people have made a ton of money off it we are tangentially those people in that we figured out how to make money from creating a podcast or whatever but we're not making the money generated
Starting point is 00:43:22 from twitter we're not participating in a trillion dollar market cap you know that yeah anyway so but that that is like that's the conflict i see your point about the optimism on the digital space because that already happened yeah that like that's already the case like dan bonjino is controlling what 40% of America thinks because he owns Facebook. Like because he owns the news feed on Facebook. Yeah. But like, but that are,
Starting point is 00:43:47 and you're so right that that already happened. So it's, it's understandable to want or certainly to need something to follow it in terms of how that stuff is regulated and commodified. And you, you were talking about Mark and how like, we hope Mark understands how we interact on here, right? I was,
Starting point is 00:44:06 I quoted Chris Crack on a, on one of my post. It was like, Black, don't crack unless you're Cooning. I'm a nigger. I can say that shit, right? But my shit was taken down because somebody complained about it, right? Because these algorithms don't understand that niggas talk like niggas and niggas can talk like niggas.
Starting point is 00:44:26 You feel what I'm saying? Same thing with Twitter when my shit was blocked. You feel what I'm saying? And so, like, I've built up a certain following this. Help me actually get paid. You know what I mean? I'm getting paid to what I'm getting paid now because of what I've done on Twitter. If that's motherfuckers that own, that's created these algorithms
Starting point is 00:44:40 that don't understand that niggas talk like niggas and niggas can say shit that other people can't say and it's not disrespectful and take my shit from me in the metaverse that doesn't happen. You know what I'm saying? It doesn't happen if where it's connected.
Starting point is 00:44:54 Wait, it doesn't happen if and this is part of the reason why I'm actually currently learning the code. We need non-white programmers. Yes. Because algorithms and everything, it has bias and I hate when people are like, it's a computer, it can't have bias.
Starting point is 00:45:09 Like we need to be the people coding this shit. Like that scares me because that's not, I don't see a current, a current wave, you know, of, of people like us coding and,
Starting point is 00:45:22 and, pro tech is stuff like that are trying to push it, but it's not, you know, growing. We need that. Yeah, yeah.
Starting point is 00:45:29 The analogy that I heard and is why we've got, my wife and I've got our kids, you know, the coding is something that we're looking at for them, is that learning to code now is, learning to read after the printing press was invented, right? Like not knowing how to code is going to make you functionally illiterate in like 30 years. Seriously.
Starting point is 00:45:48 I really do that. Yeah. And so it is, it is important, but my kid, uh, is learning cursive right now in fourth, third grade,
Starting point is 00:45:57 which is like probably not as valuable. I thought they stopped teaching that shit. Nobody uses that shit. You're going to type and you're going to type in cursive. Is that going to make it like, like, you know, I'm saying, that's, that's extremely odd.
Starting point is 00:46:13 I'm pretty sure his third grade teacher does not listen to the pod, hopefully not. So you have interesting comments on my teaching style, I heard. Mr. Gona-Basio, can I speak to you after class, please? But this speaks to the idea of centralization and decentralization.
Starting point is 00:46:34 Also, I'll add, you know, on like Instagram and stuff, this tracks me up, but this is the climate. you know, hair stylists often book clients through Instagram. They message you on there. So when Instagram went down, like, whenever it was last year, people lost clients, appointment. They couldn't contact me of their thing because their home business is on a centralized platform.
Starting point is 00:47:01 And again, that's the idea where I'm like, yeah, that's not good, you know? Like, decentralization is the way. I don't know how we get there, but I am thankful that there are people much smarter than me trying to figure it out. All right. I got a, I got a basic-ass question here.
Starting point is 00:47:23 Are the values of NFTs volatile, or are they like set? Like, what I'm asking is say you buy one of those little weak-ass eight avies for like four stacks, right? Will you wake up one morning and it's at $2,500, or is it always going to be $4,000?
Starting point is 00:47:35 If you can't flip it, then you should out of luck. Is that you see what I'm saying? It's only worth anything, and this is true of all speculative assets, whether it's NFT or whether it's the Honest Wagner card, it's only worth what someone's going to pay for it. Yep, if you find somebody to pay 4K for it, it's worth 4K for it. And so that's why the conversation John and I first started having when he was just talking more so about the art on NFTs, and I was saying, look, this is the definition of a speculative asset bubble.
Starting point is 00:48:00 And it's nothing pro or con about the art, but there is absolutely an inflated demand for it right now. and, you know, maybe that creates a new market and things continue to run. I don't think it's, I don't think it's, I don't think currently happening is sustained. And I think that like the apes, like there will be as there are with every speculative asset bubble, including trading cards. The Honest Wagner card is still worth a lot, but there are a billion times more trading cards that moms and grandmas bought for their kids to be their retirement plan or their college plan. I made the joke in the group chat. I have four copies of X-Men number one that my grandma bought me, right? I got the copy with Superman died because I thought that was, you know what I'm saying?
Starting point is 00:48:41 And that was being sold. Not the 17th time. And that was being sold to people. And that is still being sold to. Now, there are still comic books that you can buy that are very valuable. But the bubble popped in the 90s, right? And the bubble popped on internet stocks in the 2000. And the bubble popped on the stuff people were doing with real estate.
Starting point is 00:48:59 The bubble popped, as I talked about, on the Dutch tulip mania in the 1630s. Like asset bubbles pop. Asset bubbles pop. They pop every time. And it's like it is a, you know, in economics, it's a documented five-step thing. I think the only argument on the NFT asset bubble is, are we in three or four on the elation, ecstasy rise or are we moving into the profit taking? And I don't know because the people who own the stuff are either taking the profits now or
Starting point is 00:49:28 they're not. But I would say, I would say the projects that are. interest me in the NFT space are ones that have two things. They have community and they have utility. Those two things to me aren't speculative. It's like if you have a group people who are invested in this one thing, that's going to keep growing because humans are humans, you know, like that's what we do. And then if you have utility, which is, I think, the important part of the Ethereum network and everything, it's going to also keep being valuable.
Starting point is 00:50:09 The projects that also are transparent and say X amount of tokens are going to the people and X is to marketing and this and that also I appreciate, you know, but the ape stuff and the crypto are and I don't know how to tell. I'm like how you ask. I'm just like, I don't know how that works. It's like if person interested, it goes up and then at some point, Tick-Tac-Tick-Tac. It won't be worth of that, you know? I think when it came to like the digital art, the way I look at it is more from creators,
Starting point is 00:50:38 because I have, that's the space that I exist in. You know, most of my friends are like creative people, you know what I'm saying? Or in that space. So I was getting an opportunity for creators to, you know what I'm saying, make, potentially make money from the communities they built. You know what I'm saying? And, you know, as they, as the projects continue to get worth more, like with the smart contracts, they continue to make money.
Starting point is 00:51:02 So that's how that's that's the aspect I was coming from. Also like I like the concepts as well, you know. And I think Mike was looking at it as an investor. I didn't even, I'm not saying, I never thought that's why that. That is what's driving. I mean, and I'm just talking about talking to seeing a lot of regular people on my timeline. That is what's drawing people in is the, oh, I could buy one of these for $20 and it could be worth $2,000. That's what I will always tell people that's not the move, at least right now.
Starting point is 00:51:28 And I was never going to say make that move. Yeah. This was more for like, yo, here's. information, do what you want with it, but I was speaking from the space, the side of a creator. I think it's what Mike was saying as far as like Bitcoin being shady, you know what I'm saying, 1,000 people own 40% of it. And I think like with Bitcoin, they're never going to make any more Bitcoin. How much money is, how much Bitcoin is made is the only amount that'll be made. They'll never change that. So that'll never fluctuate. You know what I'm saying? Well, but they could decide to change it whenever that's my point. And that's where decentralization,
Starting point is 00:52:00 I think is a great goal, but it's so delicate as to how you get there. Because, like, we talk about how the Fed has made decisions that benefit white people, you know, like a million percent. But the Fed is also has to issue press releases and hold a press conference every time they make a decision. I can go on the Wall Street Journal right now with a glossary and the ability to Google a shitload of words. I'm not going to understand. And read about what the Fed chairman is going to do this week. like he is tracked in the financial world
Starting point is 00:52:31 the same way the president is tracked, right? And they might lie to you in that shit, but they had to lie to you. You know what I mean? They had to get on there and record it and lie to you. But saying interest rates are going up, like just as a, for example, I didn't know shit about money until like,
Starting point is 00:52:45 basically until we started the Patreon for the podcast, as you guys know, and I had enough money to where, oh, I should learn something so that I don't go through what some other family members of mine went through. Motherfucker, you was coping everything. No, that was going to be.
Starting point is 00:52:56 Mike was big money bags Got a Bosphi World big TV Nickle PS5 Fuck you thought Nick you know what I said Broke boy You know what I mean
Starting point is 00:53:07 But I learned enough That when I saw Okay because of the pandemic They're lowering interest rates I went to our mortgage guy And I said I want to refinance a house
Starting point is 00:53:16 And we lowered our monthly payment On our mortgage by $300 And now I went to a bunch of friends of mine Who I know don't know Fucking shit about money But who owns some Little Piece of Long Beach or whatever
Starting point is 00:53:24 And I said Let's go refinance let's get some money out of this shit. So you don't know, like, so that's always my thing is the difference between learning to work within the system from the cynical perspective now, which is not how I felt 10 years ago of I can't do shit about shit, except trying to take care of my family,
Starting point is 00:53:41 versus how do we decentralize things to where it's a more just world for my kids to grow up in? That's a great point. I think it's almost a great summary, if you will, about the the NFT space and kind of crypto like I said
Starting point is 00:53:58 I don't want to do crypto but the NFT space which is currently present day it is a great thing to be involved in if you're interested in like
Starting point is 00:54:06 decentralizing in the future how do we do it how do we figure it out I'm not convinced a single person and I have a ton of friends who are creators, artists everything
Starting point is 00:54:14 I've never been like you should create an NFT that's how you're going to make your money right right right for sure but I think I think it's important to understand
Starting point is 00:54:23 understand it because I feel like it's going to be a quick shift between what is this and crap I missed out. Right, and that's my thing. That's what I'm thinking. Here's information. Like I said, I don't know if it's it now, but there's a good chance there'll be it. You want to get hip to this. You know what I'm saying?
Starting point is 00:54:40 At least understand it because when it's time to tap in, you can tap in. Right now, I don't know. Like I said, I ain't telling nobody to buy no motherfucking apes. You feel me? And I know, and I got a homie that bought an ape and it is worth a motherfuckerachie worth a 175K. You feel me?
Starting point is 00:54:55 That's cool for him. I still ain't bought a motherfucker ape. Is he a little? I don't. I'll DM you. Good luck. You know what I'm saying? And I wish you the best of luck, you know what I mean?
Starting point is 00:55:05 You know what I'm saying? Cash in, shoddy. I'm being beautiful this year, Mike. What's so funny? God of that. Laura might be my favorite guest we've ever had on the podcast. Hey, bro. Mike, I told you, bro.
Starting point is 00:55:16 Okay. I told you this is. Mike was, Mike was hella, you know, this motherfucker was, you know, fucking white knuckles, you know, pink knuckles,
Starting point is 00:55:25 red heat, hot, you know what I mean? We're telling them to scam. No, we're not. Here's information. that, you know, gatekeeping is a theme. We want to give you this information. Learn about it.
Starting point is 00:55:34 You know what I'm saying? And then as we're learning, we want you to learn to. So we'll all be prepared when it's time to take full advantage. It might not be now. And here's my perspective since you threw a pink knuckle joke in there. Okay. The, the, if you go on Wikipedia or Google, whatever, look up the Dutch tulip panic. It's like one of the first recorded instances of a speculative asset bubble where everyone in,
Starting point is 00:56:00 I don't even know what country Dutch. refers to is that the Netherlands. The Netherlands. Thank you. Everyone in the Netherlands, suddenly tulips were the thing. And suddenly, you know, the people making the, you know, the ape versions of the tulips, whatever, I got to have this dude's tulips, et cetera, et cetera. People were selling land. I read about this shit.
Starting point is 00:56:16 People were selling their houses to buy more tulips because they felt like there was. And this is the thing where all this is so sort of up in the air. They felt like there was utility. People love the tulips. They're beautiful. There's an underlying value here that's going to keep going up. Obviously, the shit didn't keep going up. A lot of people lost a lot of shit.
Starting point is 00:56:37 And so where you talk about gatekeeping information and spreading information, if you had just sat that one out for four years in the Netherlands and the 1630s, that worked out pretty well for you. You know what? There was not a smart way to go about getting into that. Now, the difference with this is technological. There's nothing new technology about flowers. And when we're talking about things becoming increasingly digital,
Starting point is 00:56:58 that's not a question or an opinion of Lawrence. that's obviously the fucking fact of the world. So, but that's where... And it should change as much quicker. You sit out four years, you missed the boat, Nicky. You know what I'm saying? But it might have been a boat you wanted to miss. It might be maybe, but maybe not.
Starting point is 00:57:13 It might not, you know, it might not have been the fucking tulips. You feel me? Even if it is the tulips, I think the difference is, and there's a hilarious tweet out there, which I hate that, I can't remember who came up with it. But it was like, we weren't supposed to have access to this many people's thoughts. right, whatever it was. And it's like, that's the difference is that maybe I didn't hear about tulips and stuff back
Starting point is 00:57:38 then because I live too far away. You know, blah, blah, but right now I'm seeing all my homies apparently are talking about this. So to me, I think because of that, I have to like talk about here's what it actually is. Here's what it could be. Here's a scammy part of it. Here's all this. Do what you will.
Starting point is 00:57:53 And I keep saying, hold back. Do your research. Don't just dive in because all this is so new. still. Like I, like, we are still early until we missed it. And so for me, it's like, because I think we're so interconnected and we're online, people keep hearing about it. And if they, if they only hear about, oh, he looked 100 and 200. Oh, right. Then they're like, well, I should try it. But if there's people like us who are like, eh, but I think that's good. And I do. And I just, I just want to compliment you because I think the problem that there is a, John's correct that there
Starting point is 00:58:30 is an information vacuum. There are a lot of evangelists out there trying to profit from those stories, trying to get as many people in as possible by saying this bought for 100 and it sold for 2,000 next day. On the other side of that, there's a lot of cynical people like me who are going exposing people to certain forms of misinformation is not education. It's dangerous, et cetera. Like, I want to keep this shit as far away from the people who trust me as possible. and in the middle there's like probably 15 people like you. And we got that motherfucker and we got it on a pie. You feel what I'm saying?
Starting point is 00:59:04 That's where it happened overnight, kind of, because I remember at one point I would pick on Twitter. And I'd like, oh, hey, I'm running my NFTs. He's like, oh, it's interesting. And then one day I got on Twitter and I was like, NFTs and I got DMs from like people I know who were like, this is a scam. I can't believe you of all people.
Starting point is 00:59:21 I'm like, whoa, whoa. I was like, I'm just. I would have DM the fuck out of you. when you cheated that. Like people are like, I understand the, the, the anger and stuff
Starting point is 00:59:34 because people do have friends like Mike had friends who were scammed and stuff. And, and they really, I think, I think what surprises me is how passionately people are about a thing that is so new.
Starting point is 00:59:51 The point I'm trying to make is that it's evolving so quickly that anything you hate, about it, it's possibly already changed. And I think that's what kind of keeps me trying to educate people. It's like, I don't want you guys to hate it and then miss out. Hate it and hold out as far. It's not perfect yet.
Starting point is 01:00:10 It's not even close to perfect yet. It's still evolving and still being built. Like even, I think even the fact. Imagine an Olympics where doping is not only legal, but encouraged. It's the enhanced games. Some call it grotesque. Others say it's a lot. unleashing human potential.
Starting point is 01:00:28 Either way, the podcast, Superhuman, documented it all, embedded in the games and with the athletes for a full year. Within probably 10 days, I'd put on 10 pounds. I was having trouble stopping the muscle growth. Listen to Superhuman on the I-Hard Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. A win is a win. A win is a win.
Starting point is 01:00:50 I don't care what I'm saying. Yep, that's me, Cliver Taylor the 4th. You might have seen the skits, the reactions. my journey from basketball to college football or my career in sports media. Well, somewhere along the way, this platform became bigger than I ever imagined. And now I'm bringing all of that excitement
Starting point is 01:01:06 to my brand new podcast, The Clifford Show. This is a place for raw, unfiltered conversations with some of your favorite athletes, creators, and voices that not only deserve to be heard, but celebrated. One week, I'll take you behind the scenes of the biggest moments in sports and entertainment. And the next, we'll talk about life, mental health, purpose, and even music.
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Starting point is 01:02:33 Thank you finishing that sentence. I don't think there's a more important year for black people. Really? Yeah. For me, it's one of the most important years for black people in American history. Listen to look back at it on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Welcome to my new podcast,
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Starting point is 01:03:50 that we still call them NFTs proves we're too early. To me, an NFT is like asked Jeeves. Anybody asking Jeeves anything anymore? Who the fucking Jeeves? Fuck that nigga. But it's like, that's my point. It really is, it's too early to be all in
Starting point is 01:04:12 or to be all out, I think. And you say, too, which I thought was great in the write-up, you were like, dude, like, if people say they know, everything there is it to be, be weary of that. Yeah. Be very weary of those people. Nobody knows everything yet. We're all still figuring it out.
Starting point is 01:04:27 Ain't no experts in the space. It's too early. Well, I think that was a full meal and a half of good information to start 2020. I do encourage everyone follow at Michelle Hux on Twitter and Instagram. And the cash app is conveniently the same amount. She does have a beautiful new dog that I'm sure would love a sponsor. You sponsor us. Definitely check out as well. If you're interested in learning more, talking more about this,
Starting point is 01:04:58 NFT is a starting point on Lauren and Chanel Allen.com. A really good middle of the road, you know, acknowledging benefits and shut the fuck up, John. I love it. I love. I'll be out arguing your ass because you know all these big ass words, all this history. Like, bro.
Starting point is 01:05:15 You get gloat. Why don't you gloat after the interview is over? Thank you, Lauren, for joining us. Thank you for having me, guys. I appreciate you, Lauren. With Bloomberg's global news coverage, you will get inspiration to feed your ambition. You will shed light on dark matter
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Starting point is 01:08:24 Gambling problem, call 1-800 next step. All right. Our thanks again to Lauren for joining us for a great conversation. And we are good. We're exing everything else out on the topics because we, that was a good long interview. I'm not going to glow. I'm not going to glow at all.
Starting point is 01:08:45 But as I stated, I don't know if this is going to make the interview part. I think it's going to cut. But like, I'm not going to bring no weirdos on the fucking pot. I am truly the lamest of all of my flurans, including you. So no, if I bring somebody to the motherfucking pot, it's going to be a real one. You know what I'm saying? And all I was trying to do was like, here's information, good and bad. Mike, you tell your part, all of that shit.
Starting point is 01:09:12 You know what I'm saying? And let's give them all the information. make their own decisions. I do understand where you're coming from. I'm not bringing no fucking NFT evangelist. I'm not saying, hey, bring the motherfucker who said NFT literature is the biggest thing in the world this year. Fuck that, nigger. And I do not condone none of the shit he's ever done ever in his life, good or bad, because fuck him all the way. You feel what I'm saying? I'm going to bring, you know what I'm saying? So like, dog, I understand your apprehension completely, you know what I mean? I would add, by the way, and I know you're taking a victory
Starting point is 01:09:45 lap because Lauren was awesome. I would add that my apprehension remains and I would basically guarantee that at least one real person out there will end up losing money over having listed to this interview, gotten interested in the shit, and throwing their money where they shouldn't be throwing their money. That could happen in stocks as well.
Starting point is 01:10:01 We're not having people on to tell people about stocks. That's my point. Are we not going to have people on to talk about stocks? If that's an important way for people to, you know, it's important things happen that they could benefit from, you know what I mean? I feel like I think we have different ways of thinking. I think this is one of the,
Starting point is 01:10:20 we agree on most things, you know what I'm saying? I believe this is literally the first subject matter disagreement. I mean, without due respect to peanut butter and jelly and squirrels, this is the first time we've actually disagreed about some shit in the group chat. Yeah, I feel like,
Starting point is 01:10:34 but this is just from our aspect. Like this, this hot, like you talk about, you know what I'm saying, you being a dude who stayed in your city, you know what I'm saying? And, you know, built your life around, the people you grew up with, right?
Starting point is 01:10:47 I literally couldn't do that if I wanted to do the shit I wanted to do, right? I had to take some risk and all that shit to be able to do what the fuck I wanted to do. I couldn't build what you built in St. Louis or what I built in St. Louis. The opportunity just wasn't there. So I had to take some risk. And so, like, I'm not as risk averse. I don't think.
Starting point is 01:11:02 I'm running a nonprofit journalism outlet that I started because I got laid off. I'm not risk of verse. I feel what you're saying. But, like, you know, I've had to maybe take risks that you might not have taken it. I think it just highlights some of our dimmerties as some of far as things are the thing, you think like, hey, let's hold out telling this information because people can invest and fuck they shit up. I'm like, hey, let's give them information and let them make their own decisions
Starting point is 01:11:24 because I feel like not misinformation, the full story make their own decisions. I don't think, I mean, I honestly don't have friends that can invest 17K into a motherfucking one monkey or something. No, that's what I'm talking about my friends who lost their stimulus check, which if they threw it at S&P tracker would be worth three times what it was when they got it. And that's underwritten, you know what I mean? Like in a very different way. And unlike the NFT shit, if they lost it, the whole tax code is written around people
Starting point is 01:11:52 investing in Wall Street. It'd be a tax write off for the next 10 years. Right. Like, that's what I'm saying. And you, my friends are dumber than your friends. I mean, you know what I'm saying? I don't. I'm just like, I got some.
Starting point is 01:12:05 Hey, no, the reason I talk about. You know what I'm saying? No, but I'm just saying, like, I've got friends who are like very intelligent creative people. but I also have a lot of people who listen to me and who listen to the pot and stuff that they see, oh, they're talking about NFTs. Like, I've been seeing all this shit about NFTs.
Starting point is 01:12:22 I bet you know what I mean? Like, and that's those are those are the people I worry about. And I do think about it. I would say the difference to me is I think about it more so from the perspective of a journalist. And I've been covering these school board meetings for the last two years. It's a lot of people who come to say crazy bullshit
Starting point is 01:12:37 at the school board meetings. I don't write about that because I don't think it's responsible to spread misinformation or to spread bad information. I totally agree with you. Lauren's not on here doing that, and I thought that was a great informative conversation. But that's where I'm coming from is we already
Starting point is 01:12:53 know everything that everyone thinks about everything. We don't have to highlight stuff that's going to make people go broke. That's my personal philosophy. I knew very little about NFTs. I knew very little about the technology. You know what I'm saying? And I think that technology will be used and the concept will be used in the future. And that's why I'm like, let's
Starting point is 01:13:10 tap in with that shit. You know, I mean to understand it. Like I said, like, yes, people knowing about NFTs and digital art, they may invest and lose money. I'm telling you, don't do that shit right now. If you're still listening, this late in the motherfucking pot, you know what I mean? I don't think, you know, I'm personally not going to do that. You know what I mean?
Starting point is 01:13:27 I will learn more about the space. That's what Instagram is built on, though. We talked about the ape shit. We've mentioned it seven times. And now, you know what I'm saying? Like, whether we want to have that inflate the value of it or not, audience is value. attention is value. Like that,
Starting point is 01:13:42 and that's where it's, I agree with you. It's an essential conversation. I came away from that interview. I feel like a lot smarter and more informed because of how good of a guest Lauren was. But I genuinely don't know how you pass that information on
Starting point is 01:13:55 about subjects like this in a way that does not have a massive risk for hurting people. Because that's it. And that's just the world that we're, that's the world we're like, that's literally how misinformation is spread. And I apologize about the anti- I was not suggesting you were anti-vax. But the comment...
Starting point is 01:14:14 Call me anti-vax, y'all. I did not call you anti-vax. I want to be very clear I did not call you on anti-vax. Compare me to an anti-vax. What I was saying was, what I was saying was, the philosophy of let's put all the information out there and let people make their own decision is whether we like it or not. This is a life or death situation, Mike. Hey, man, as someone who grew up broke as fuck, I'm sorry, it is a life-or-death situation.
Starting point is 01:14:38 And it might be a life-or-death situation for dumb people. people being irresponsible with their money, but that's my family. That's the house I grew up in. So that's very real to me. You know what I mean? And so all I'm saying is whether is we like it or not, and I'm not associating with those people, the let's put the information out there and let them make their decision. A lot of really bad people have used that as justification for doing shit.
Starting point is 01:15:01 But you're also, we're not, we're like, dude, we're not Joe Rogan. You know what I'm saying? We're not having people on that we know are on some fuck shit. Like she said, she's not an NFT evangelist. I'm not saying anything about Lauren was amazing. I know you're not saying about her. I know you're not saying about her. You know what I'm saying?
Starting point is 01:15:17 I'm just saying we're not doing that. What we are doing is, hey, this is interesting. We don't know what it is. This is what information we have. You know, just, you know, here's some information. Do your own research. See what happens. This is, you know what I'm saying?
Starting point is 01:15:32 And just watch this. That's all. That's all I was coming from. I think the metaverse and NFTs are more important than I initially thought they were. I was like, fuck all this weird shit. You know what I thought it would have passed by now? The second wave is hitting and you're like, oh, okay,
Starting point is 01:15:46 I should have already known about this shit. And I started looking at Bitcoin and like shit like that. And you're saying like 40% of people own, 40% of Bitcoin is owned by a thousand people. Yeah, yeah, you know what I'm saying? That's worse than the Fed. You know what I'm saying? You feel me?
Starting point is 01:16:00 And so I'm like, yo, let's hip ourselves to these things. And I think, I see like a lot of other, you know, digital, you know, currency, like, big Cohen and other weird ass shit. You know what I mean? Let's not like, it does get scammie. Let's talk. We talked about that as well.
Starting point is 01:16:16 But like here is the stuff that we find interesting about it. And a lot of it wasn't the digital, you know, art. It was just a tech behind it and a thought behind it. And that's what I think is important. The whole interview is basically like fuck all the art that people are. You feel me? She says she thinks that's the least interesting part of it. You know what I mean?
Starting point is 01:16:36 Fuck them damn. monkeys. Fuck them damn gorillas. The mics. Oh man, I gotta go, y'all. All right, handshake emoji. John, I'll call you later, bro.
Starting point is 01:16:49 I love y'all, man. I love y'all. I hear you, Mike. I love you, but you know what I'm saying? We will be back in the middle of the week for another episode of Jenkins and Jones. Bye. Bye.
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Starting point is 01:17:43 Me and hilarious guests from Bob Odenkirk to David Letterman help make you funnier. This week, my guest, S&L's Mikey Day and head writer, Streeter Seidel, help an a cappella band with their between songs banter. Where does your group perform? We do some retirement homes. Those people are starving for banter. Listen to humor me with Robert Smigel and Friends on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.
Starting point is 01:18:08 Imagine an Olympics where doping is not. not only legal, but encouraged. It's the enhanced games. Some call it grotesque. Others say it's unleashing human potential. Either way, the podcast's Superhuman documented it all, embedded in the games and with the athletes for a full year. Within probably 10 days, I'd put on 10 pounds.
Starting point is 01:18:28 I was having trouble stopping the muscle growth. Listen to Superhuman on the IHard Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Hey, what's good, y'all? You're listening to and learn the hard. way with your favorite therapist and host, Kear Games. This space is about black men's experiences, having honest conversations that it's really not safe to have anywhere, but you're having them with a licensed professional who knows what he's doing.
Starting point is 01:18:53 How many men carry a suit or armor. It signals to the world that you not to be played with. And just because you have the capability that does not mean that you need to. Listen to learn the hard way on the AHA radio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcast. Hey, this is Robert from the Stuff to Blow Your Mind podcast. Joe and I are both lifelong Star Wars fan, so we're celebrating May the 4th with a brand new week of fun, thought-provoking Star Wars-related episodes.
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