The School of Greatness - 287 Russell Simmons on Living Vegan, Finding Calm, and Changing the World

Episode Date: February 8, 2016

"Anything you want, you have to give." - Russell Simmons If you enjoyed this episode, check out show notes and more at http://lewishowes.com/287

This is episode number 287 with Russell Simmons. Welcome to the School of Greatness. My name is Lewis Howes, former pro athlete turned lifestyle entrepreneur. And each week we bring you an inspiring person or message to help you discover how to unlock your inner greatness. Thanks for spending some time with me today. Now let the class begin. Welcome everyone to this podcast. Very excited about this one. It's with the American business

magnate, Russell Simmons. He's the chairman and CEO of Rush Communications and co-founded the hip-hop music label Def Jam and created the clothing fashion lines Fat Farm and Tantris. Simmons most recently launched All Def Digital, an original content channel on YouTube with over a million subscribers. He's also been described as the third richest figure in hip-hop. We had an incredible conversation in his studio in Los Angeles. And some of the things we covered today are about the lessons he learned about life and business from selling drugs. What entrepreneurs inspired him early on. About the vegan philosophy and about why humans ate meat and who ate meat hundreds of years ago.

why humans ate meat and who ate meat hundreds of years ago, how to handle negative emotions throughout your life, and something that Russell says he does every single morning before he does anything else. This is a must-do for him. The political side of animal rights and so much more. I'm very excited about this one. Make sure to share with your friends, lewishouse.com slash 287. And without further ado, let's go ahead and dive in with this interview with the one, the only, Russell Simmons.

Welcome, everyone, to the School of Greatness podcast. I'm here with the man himself, Russell Simmons. Good to see you. Nice to see you. New York Times bestselling author, new book called The Happy Vegan, A Guide to Living a Long, Healthy, and Successful Life. Make sure you guys go pick this up out right now. We'll be talking about this throughout this interview, but I'm really excited. We met actually years ago through a dare. Probably don't remember. It was about five years ago. We met also at Summit Series at Sea, the first time they did Summit at Sea.

And it's been fun to see your journey ever since. And obviously, you've had an incredible career and built an amazing business, many businesses for years. But since I really became more aware of you, it's been fun to follow and dive more into the vegan lifestyle and learn about it. I've been introduced to it much more since hearing about it from you and your other books. And I want to dive in and get started and And first, I'll ask you a question about who was the most influential person in your life growing up and the biggest lesson they taught you. There's a lot of people that were involved. My father was very good. My mother was very good and big influences on me.

You know, a lot of street cats gave me some direction in terms of just how to move around the streets, not get too twisted, and a lot of different influences from different walks of life, right? Especially as I was bused to school, I met all kinds of people from different ethnic backgrounds and stuff, and a lot of people inspired me. Depending on the minute you ask what's my favorite record, I'll give you a different record.

I mean, maybe the one on the radio that I don't want to change. Right. Yeah, but if you can press any button at any time, then any record you're playing is your favorite because you can play something else. So I don't like to, you know, I can't say one person more than the other. I could say that Minister Farrakhan, the Nation of Islam, inspired me because they showed me potential. You know, they were like, we're in the street, we're selling drugs. They'd come over like, brother, why are you doing that? We had a mosque, a steak and take and a dry cleaners on the corner.

We also had Larry Lucas on the corner, which was, you know, Frank Lucas, the drug dealer, had Lucas cleaners, a couple of his cousins had, and we had one on our corner. That was the heroin capital of Queens. So that was a good place to sell weed. It was a big drug block. But it was also a block where the Nation of Islam was very present. And they were very, very influential in that they were very street, very hood, but they were very clean cut and upright.

And that was inspiring to see that. And I think a lot of people my age have that experience. So that's some of the influences i'm getting it changes well depending on the day you ask me right what were you what would you say you're most passionate about in your teen years uh going into college what was the thing that you're most excited about were you into music the most then or did that come later going into college i really didn't know what i wanted to do too much you know uh i went into college you know all i wanted to do is get high I went into college. All I wanted to do is

get high and get girls. You know what I mean? Like cocaine and pussy was my two driving forces. I used to joke and say that, but I probably meant it. I got a little older in school, in city college, and I found hip-hop. I was selling drugs. I was selling bad drugs,

good drugs, whatever. But a lot of incense, people shooting in their arms and I was, I thought it was safe. I mean, I didn't really have a lot of direction until I found hip hop and wanted to promote the parties

of the artists because I was inspired by them. It was another way, it also had lots of different benefits. I mean, you could not only get in the club, but you could make money from the club and you could promote the artists who I loved,

the hip-hop artists like Eddie Chiba, DJ Hollywood, Love Books, Dosti, these guys were the founders and godfathers of hip-hop

and I was one of the promoters who got to promote them early on, like in the late 70s and, you know, and it was an inspiring moment for me,

77 to 79 when we made our record Christmas Rapping and still, those guys, you know, recently I just saw them at a funeral, a lot of them. Those guys inspired me to shift my attention away from, you know, frivolous street activities that could have destroyed my life like it did so many of my friends into something that turned out to be, you know, a dharma that was inspiring and uplifting and healthy, eventually healthy. I mean, I was still high the whole time, but I was promoting parties, and I was doing something that was not as dangerous.

So that was cool, and that's kind of a little journey thing there. Sure. Did I hear you sold fake cocaine as well? Yeah, we used to have this house where we'd sell heroin addicts incense. They could shoot it with the heroin because it had caffeine in it. Okay. And it was- Could I have a similar effect or-

Yeah. You put it in your mouth and it frees your face off. You thought it was cocaine back then when nobody knew cocaine. But dope fiends used to like to shoot cocaine with their heroin because it would be a speedball effect. And in our incense, we had like a caffeine kind of thing. So it was speedy. So it went with the heroin well. Gotcha.

What did you learn from that whole phase of selling drugs and how to translate it into selling music? You never know. I understand your question. But you never know how bad your life is or what risk you're taking when you're surrounded by people who seem to be taking greater risks. See, I'm not killing anybody. They're killing people. I mean, you always feel safer than the neighbor, you know, who's doing something maybe a little bit more risky. But what I learned was, you know, you take something for a dollar, you sell it for two.

Especially as I used to have pounds of weed, I'd sell, you know, you make so many nickel bags out of a pound of weed it's ridiculous and you could make you know some money and that was something that in in the black community at a low middle class place like hollis queens like your only job was maybe if you can get out of school and be a teacher or something like that was an education it was not a culture that that that promoted entrepreneurialism right right so if you notice some of the great entrepreneurs for the black community, especially ones at least my age, they were inspired by their street experiences

because that's what they had to learn to fend for themselves and create $1 that turned into $2 as opposed to working for someone else. So that's the only cultural thing that really reminded you. Like the guys who own the stores, like Johnny was a number man and he owned a store, but he was his own man, you know,

and whoever owned the store, it seemed like they used to be drug dealers or something, but now they own the deli or now they own the, you know, so that's a kind of interesting experience. Sure. A lot of what came out of our community, you know, where people moved in, integration destroyed the fabric of the community, economic fabric,

because you don't have the black doctor, the black pharmacist, the black whatever, you just got now, or not at that moment, but you have Rite Aid, for instance, you know,

you have whatever it is that moved in, you know, so then, that integration thing, you know, kind of was always troublesome to a lot of people because it destroyed the fabric of the community, economic fabric, and took the money out the community.

Right. Okay. So anyway, as an entrepreneur, I learned from having some experiences selling drugs. Yeah. It's true. But music was a totally different thing. I was selling parties. I was promoting parties where great artists performed.

parties, promoting parties where great artists performed and we'd book the ballroom for $1,000 and as a bar guarantee we'd get the money back because they'd drink $1,000 and we'd keep the door. It was a very lucrative business for me as a sophomore in City College.

So it was a way to really fall in love with rap but there were no rap records. In 1979 I made a record, and that record was Christmas Rappin'. And it became a big hit. And it plays every Christmas. And since then, I've been on,

you know, I've been really inspired to give artists opportunities. I mean, that's what I've done my whole life. Even now, here at All Def Digital, we have all these young writers, directors, producers who I get to say, yes, go shoot it every day at least once a day. I say, go make it. Sure.

And I couldn't do that. I mean that is a very, very great thing to let people express themselves and be part of that process. So that's – Sure, sure. that's that's for sure who would you say is the most um that you looked up to in terms of entrepreneurs that you were inspired by in your early 20s when you started doing the music stuff were there a lot of people that taught you a lot of uh a lot of people really meant a lot to me quincy jones david geffen you know dick dick um griffey who ran uh barry gordy obviously was always an inspiration you know i noticed that

barry gordy's gone vegan he looks like he's 12 he's 80 something years old five years old well older than that right so i go he might be 90 he hadn't looked 12 literally he looks 12 he's a vegan vegan power yeah so i noticed that about him and a lot of people like a lot of people made choices that you know they're still you know like i said my about him and a lot of people. A lot of people make choices that they're still, like I said, my friends are dying. A lot of them. Or have cancer. I heard somebody had a triple bypass. Yeah, my man just had a triple bypass.

A lot of my friends right now, AJ, one of the great hip-hop DJs, laid up in a box the other day, asked cancer, I mean, colon cancer. And then Joey Robinson, who is the son of Joey Robinson who started Sugar Hill Records, who ran the company for years. He died same week, ass cancer, same thing. The number of people dying

along with the destruction of the planet, along with the karmic disaster of 100 billion animals being made to suffer short lives. 100 billion? Yeah, 10 billion in America alone. Wow. Made to be born through rape and every other factory practice

and stuffed with shit to make them grow fast in the most difficult environment possible, the most suffering possible. And then all their real good is that they poison the planet and it's inhabitants and so i to me that's why a subject i brought you back to subject it's like just something that did i care about right like i like looking back and saying i changed the drug laws in new york state i helped people do it and thousands of people came home from jail that to me is better than my gold records i could talk about that sometime because we still have so much more to do in that area. And I'd like to talk about

this work and this book in particular right now because there's a transition that has to happen on the planet that will be uninhabitable and you, your children won't have nothing. You know what I mean? They won't be able to inhabit the planet. I mean, your children, they'll be older probably. They'll probably be in their

40s when shit gets real hectic. But we don't know how quickly the global warming is growing because we never expected what's happening now. So, I even noticed, I haven't even heard, I heard that dumb black guy on Fox, but really I have not heard any Republicans say

in the last six months that global warming is not man-made. Really? They stopped saying it. That's amazing. They don't want to say that shit. Maybe Trump might say it. He'd say any dumb thing. But everybody else is like, we don't want to say it anymore

because it will haunt us. The fact is that this planet will be uninhabitable soon if we continue down this path. So there's companies like Beyond Meat and Hampton Creek and these companies that are studying the 40,000 plants and trying to figure out a way around poisoning the planet and the people. Right. With plant-based diets that people will accept because they used to eat poison. They've been trained.

They've been tricked, bamboozled into being addicted to some of the stuff that they put in the food so they keep going back to it. And that, you know, you can get off it and you can get the healthiest stuff. And we want to give, like, the methadone off the heroin. That's what some of the stuff is. Like, some of the soy-based products are not great for you, but it's way better than the heroin is the methadone, right? Right, right, right.

And then Beyond Meat makes healthy, organic stuff. and the heroin is the methadone, right? Right, right, right. And then Beyond Meat makes healthy, organic stuff. And before you know it, you have these taste buds that taste. Evolve and change. They evolve. They change very quickly. Right.

I'm inspired this week. I'm going meat-free this whole week because I knew I was going to be interviewing you. So I was going to see how my body was reacting and evolving. And I've been – Rich Roll, who came here the other day, he's been for years telling me about it. And he's been saying – I used to play professional football. And he said there's a lot of NFL guys who are now going vegan and track athletes and people in the Olympics. Oh, yeah, a lot of that. People are starting to move towards that and they're seeing the positive effects of the body.

That was the name of the podcast I was doing on the phone when you came in. Which one was that? Athletes – Vegan Athlete something. I think it's like a fun name. Interesting. You know, kind of dispels the rumor

that you can't be an athlete or whatever and be vegan. I think it's the name of the podcast, Athletes for Veganism or something. I'm going to tell you

in a minute. I just got off the phone with these guys. Sure, sure. How many, when did you, so you used to eat meat, right?

Yeah, I ate pig feet, chitlins. What's it called? No Meat Athletes. No Meat Athletes. That's a great name. That's a podcast. Interesting. So you used to eat meat a lot.

And then what inspired you or what was the first moment? The yogis helped. Simone, who's sitting here, helped. Glenn Friedman, my other friend, helped. A lot of friends were beating up on me. And I saw Die for a New America. That was it. Die for a New America. Yeah, it. Die for a New America.

Yeah, I saw that video. Is this a documentary? It's a documentary. It's a book that was a bestseller for a long time. But it really, Die for a New America was the video that made me, the movie, documentary that made me really safe. Like on January 1st, I'm not eating no more meat. And I didn't. January 1st, what year?

Probably about 19, 18 years ago. Wow. Okay. And have you had meat since? Ever, like, just every now and then? Not meat. I mean, I've cheated, had fish at people's places. Sure, sure.

I've eaten noodles with eggs in them. Right. You know, I don't, I don't want to. You try not to eat the red meats and all that stuff. No, red meat. No, I haven't had red meat. I don't know when. Yeah. Okay. Yeah.

Okay. Wow. And how has your body evolved since then? I'm 108 years old, nigga. How old are you? I'm 32. Right. I'm 108.

I feel good. I could out-yoga you. I'm sure you could. I don't know if I could out-run you. Maybe. You're pretty fast, though. Yeah, yeah. Well, maybe not.

I'm in good shape, though. I'm all right. Yeah, you look young. And I think I read somewhere, maybe it was on your Instagram, that you don't do anything before you meditate. Is that right? I don't do nothing before I meditate. Yeah, I mean, why is that? Because you let your brain settle, reboot your brain.

It's really good for your memory, for your brain capacity to connect the left and the right side of the brain, to regrow those cells that start to block and stop and make you age. They can go the other way. If the brain settles, the body heals itself. In sleep, the brain doesn't get to settle the same way. Why is that? Because it just doesn't.

It's just moving all the time. It's thinking, it's dreaming. So when you let the mind settle, then the brain can reboot, then the brain can reboot and then the brain can do amazing things, healing the body and also getting greater brain capacity, greater immune system.

There's just so many benefits from meditation. That's science today. People have been doing it for thousands of years because they know it. Be still and know. In the scripture, you know, every scripture speaks of quiet, still mind. Everyone. When a noisy mind causes suffering, the quiet mind is bliss.

That's true. When did you start getting into that practice? A little bit after meditating. I mean, after going to yoga. Really? A lot of yogis were meditators. 17, 18 years ago you said? Yeah, a little bit after meditating. I mean, after going to yoga. Really? A lot of yogis were meditators. 18, 17, 18 years ago you said? Yeah, a little less, probably 15 years ago.

And did you feel like your life was a lot more stressful or hectic before you started this, you know, still mind? Your life is not stressful or hectic. It's your mind that's stressful or hectic. So watching the world move in front of you, it's a movie. You're in moving meditation. So the world is doing what it's doing. You don't have to be attached to it or feel You're in moving meditation. So the world is doing what it's doing. You don't have to be attached to it or feel pain from it or suffer from what the world

is doing. Your suffering is self-made. If you meditate and if you watch the world without too much attachment, then the world gets easier to deal with. Things come and they go. Thoughts come and they go. You learn that in meditation. Did you notice your inner world changing then as you started to practice? Oh, yeah. My first yoga class, I was addicted. Really? You know, you smile and breathe in difficult poses, right?

Yeah, it's hard. I don't like it. It's challenging. You smile and breathe in difficult poses. It's very good for you. You know, and it's a practice. You get out in the world. Somebody cursed at you.

You said, bitch, I just did a twist and try. I right like what do you how are you gonna steal my joy with your nasty mouth right you can't really get a guy who's just been through the most difficult physical practice with your dirty mouth you know i mean not probably if he's smiling and hard poses and you say the wrong thing he just can look at you like like you know, you ain't a twisting trowel. You don't hurt. Right. You know, I mean, I don't know. I feel like the physical asana practice, which is what we're talking about now,

of yoga, is to teach you to be comfortable in difficult poses, on and off the mat, obviously. And it's really good. It's part of the overall science for happiness that comes through the yoga sutras and the scripture. And it's something that goes along with a compassionate diet. It goes along with a healthy diet and it goes along with protecting the planet by not causing so much harm through your diet. So they all go back to the diet right the diet is you know a centerpiece the thousands of animals you kill

in your short lifetime many many thousands that you kill as a animal eater yeah that when you put that on your hand the blood on your hands should feel something but people are taught not to feel nothing you know i mean they're unconscious well there's a middleman you know there's someone else doing the dirty work yeah there's always a middleman. You know, there's someone else doing the dirty work. Yeah, there's always a middleman. A middleman don't put the animals they kill. Like the people who make the chicken, they don't, who manufacture those lives, they don't eat that.

Right. They can't. Like three out of four of them can't. Some can still, but don't often. Most don't ever eat chicken after that shit. After working in a chicken factory, you don't eat chicken. So do you feel like it's, you know,

what about people hundreds of years ago when meat wasn't looked, I guess, down upon or looked as it was harming the environment or creating, causing-

They ate less meat. They ate less meat. Period. Anyway. Yeah, yeah. That's all shit about culture is bullshit. Right.

Like, in other words, Irish corned beef and cabbage. They wrote back to Ireland, like, they're giving us corned beef. Like, they didn't have corned beef and cabbage. They wrote back to Ireland, like, they're giving us corned beef. Like, they didn't have corned beef and cabbage. Are you kidding me? Right, right.

Slaves and their pig feet and their chitlins. They came over. They wouldn't eat no flesh. They would die. They were dying. Depending on where you're from, you're okra and green beans. Whatever, depending on the plants that they ate and the places where they were stolen from, they had to go back and get that shit for them because they would not eat flesh.

So in an ideal world, what would it look like for you in an ideal world? Well, one, we would stop poisoning the plant and killing the people with the destruction of animals when we have so many replacements for them that we would find ways to feed the planet, which they're working on. Again, Beyond Meat is one example. Another one is Hampton Creek where they're studying the 40,000 plants and trying to figure out what alternatives there are to the crap that we eat. And there's lots of alternatives now, but they want more.

So it's like if you got horses pulling carriages, then one day there's a car. Horses' carriages are bullshit. You don't need them anymore. You got cars. Right. So therefore, that's the way we should do the animal industry. We just replace them with something that is useful and not hurtful to the planet and healthier and tastier. That's the mix.

Making it taste better, healthier, cheaper. Healthier, cheaper, tastes better. And better for you. Yeah. Yeah.

That'd be the jam. Just got to get people off that addiction. We can do it. We have to do it. Eventually, it's going to have to evolve and change.

Exactly. It already is, but I'm saying it has to do it quicker than we think. Okay. Now, I heard that

one a dare told me that you are really passionate about a number of giving back causes and you give back a lot and um i'm curious what are the top one or two things that you're most passionate about and giving back and why do you choose to give back so much because you can't take the shit with you and as long as you can make it to the finish line and my kids are so rich anyway i mean you know i mean why would i not try to do good things for good people i mean i'm involved in four or five philanthropic social um organizations and and other political movements that help underserved communities because we are all connected ultimately.

And what we do for other people is what we do for ourselves. So we should lift other people as part of our process. What we give the world, the world gives us. It's true. Good givers also are great getters. Jesus taught two sermons, one to the masses. Give and you'll get. And when you get, you can pay the Romans their taxes.

People went out, masses, and they did that. They told his disciples, give without expectation. Be focused on the giving itself. And the more focused and present you are in your gift, then the more effective you are in your giving. You're a great, great giver, and they keep giving. And you're more like Lakshmi, the Indian goddess. You just give, and everybody's got to pile shit up at your feet because they want you to keep giving right right so that's what the good givers do the great givers give without expectation right so that's did you were you always a big giver or is this like something that you learned over time or

over the last 20 years or so it's been more prevalent in my life but i you know if you want money you got to give money you got to make money for somebody else to get money. And to really be a moneymaker, you got to make money for someone. To really be a good or do something of equal. To make real happiness, you have to promote happiness for someone else. Anything you want, you have to give. You have to give what you want to receive. So I learned that i believe

in that i believe in the cycle of giving and getting that is continuous and that you should participate in it without fear yeah and that you if you do that then you will be a much more prosperous person even yeah in terms of junk in the world and stuff and return on your investments but you will be more prosperous if you are focused entirely on the gift and the honest service because if the man in front of you don't pay you the man next to him will so you guys got to do it just do your job and forget krishna says in the bhagavad-ita, you have control over the work alone, but never its fruit. And he says, go out and give. Yeah.

Yep. Speaking of fears, do you have any fears right now? If something may happen to a daughter or something, sometimes I worry, are you sick? Are you not well? Yeah. That's it. Other than that, I'm not scared much. Yeah.

I mean, I wouldn't want Suge Knight to come in here shooting at me, but I'm not. I'm just giving – I made that example. Sure, sure, sure. I'm not afraid of much. Yeah. It sounds like you don't have many breakdowns because you're constantly in a state of meditation. You're in a state of clear mind, of taking care of yourself. Breakdown like what? Do you experience breakdowns throughout the day or do you just say – or do just smile and laugh at uh you know in a situation that comes to you you know i have problems sometimes but i don't break down like

start crying oh life is so tough no i haven't had that you know i don't know when ever i don't do that but i you know i got moments where i'm not as happy um and how do you handle in those moments are you just do you allow yourself to express and be unhappy for the moments or do you acknowledge and say, okay, I'm aware of what's happening and move through it in a specific way? I think I'm okay with moving through it. I'm probably pretty insensitive. I never know when I'm not happy, for sure.

I thought you were the happy vegan. Yeah, I never know when I'm not happy. I'm never aware. I say, well, you don't seem so good today. I don't know. There are moments I guess I don't know. Sure, sure know, there are moments that yes, I don't know. Sure, sure.

What are you most excited about over the next five years? You've created so much in your business. You've got, you know, so many companies. I'm enjoying watching these kids

build this company all done digital after I'm on a regular. Yeah. I have another kid who's downstairs who's got 15 movies set up in the film Deaf Pictures.

I have another guy who's been in television his whole life. He was behind NBC's drama, but now he's developing tons of TV. I want to see that thing really take off. I want Simone to own the biggest farm factory in the world. Wow. Whatever the fuck.

I mean, not farm factory. You know, like farm sanctuary type. There you go, farm factory. Yeah, you know what I mean? Like Farm Factory. You know, like Farm Sanctuary type. There you go, Farm Factory. Yeah, you know what I mean? Like some shit that she can save some animals. I don't get to saving one animal. Like that animal, that blind dog she has, I could give her mine.

I think that it's about saving 100 billion animals. He's smiling, though. She spends her whole life saving one. He's smiling. He's happy right now. I know it's good to do that. I know God favors those whose intentions are that pure. Yeah, yeah.

That they see one suffering animal and they take their time. But I'd rather just with a sweeping hand change a lot of people's mind and say, like, I like to teach Oprah to meditate so she can teach the masses. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Rather than teach Simone to meditate so she can tell her best friend only. And then, really. Sure. I love Simone, but I'd rather not teach her.

Right. I'd rather teach Ellen DeGeneres. I did those two. They got big mouth. They taught a lot more people. Right, right. What's a good meditation? I mean, for someone who's never done meditation, I've talked about it on a lot of my podcasts.

I bring on people that go through guided meditations. Do you go through guided meditations yourself? No, I do mantra-based meditation. My book was based on a lot of the principles in TM, but a lot of the principles that the yogis taught me. And what's your mantra you'd like to share? Well, I gave away a mass mantra, which is rum. Rum. So I would think that mantra.

But my own mantra that I paid $2,500 for from the David Lynch Foundation, I can't share that. Yeah, yeah. It's personal, yeah. Personally paid for it. David Lynch Foundation. I can't share that. Yeah, yeah. It's personal, yeah. Personally paid for it. Right, right. The money goes to the kids and the programs that we build. I'm on the board. And I use the mantra I got from Bob Roth who taught so many people to meditate.

He was close to Maharishi. But I was okay with giving everybody the same mantra in my book. Sure, sure. Gotcha, yeah. And it's a vibration. And it was one that if he had given me that mantra, I would have freaked out because I always liked it.

But anyway, the point is, but it was like, I used the mantra that I used. Sure. You're constantly giving back. So many people are aware

of what you're doing with politics and, you know, I think there's a foundation with prisoners, right, that you're supporting? Yeah, but the foundation

for ethnic understanding is one of our big things. We get imams to speak in synagogues and rabbis to speak in mosques. And I think that we need that. And it's just an example. It's a microcosm of what we need. It's interesting to see the chief rabbi of Israel

and the grand mufti of the Palestinian people in Israel, or in Palestine, whatever you call it, to have them be open and willing to promote this program where imams speak in synagogues and rabbis speak in mosques. That, to me, and Simone Perrette said it wasn't going to happen. Then I come back to, yeah, our programs are starting to run. He was kind of surprised because he lived there and he didn't think it was possible. Right, right.

So dialogue is king, you know? Yeah, yeah. And dialogue is very important. Yeah. In every, because when you don't talk, you get separate, you forget that you have the same wishes for yourself that the other person wishes for themselves. You forget that you have the same desires and hopes and fears and questions that they

have. Sure. And when you find that common thread, you realize you have so much more in common and almost nothing that's not in common. Yeah. And I think that's what dialogue does. Like the imams and the rabbis, they're the same anyway. It's the same religion. Right. I can common. Yeah. And I think that's what dialogue does. Like the imams and the rabbis, they're the same anyway,

the same religion. Right. Well, I could tell. Right. So that's interesting to see. All the Judeo-Christian faiths, they're all the same, but the fact that they think

there's such great differences, you know, and that one's right over the others is also disturbing, but that's what it is, whatever. I just think that, you know, those things are really important. People need to be able to

communicate and to touch each other and to find the sameness in each other. Yeah. How do you balance all this? I mean, you've got your family. I sleep usually six hours. I meditate. I go to yoga. And sometimes I go to cryotherapy. Today I'm going to try to race to cryo,

go to yoga, go to my book side, and go to my comedy show. But I meditate and I do these things. If I have those things in my life, I can do everything. And this whole idea of being stressed, I kind of let that go a lot. I really don't carry a lot of weight. And I don't think it's necessary to carry weight for what? You can't change shit you worry about. You can change stuff you focus on, but not that you worry about. What do you think your life would be like right now if you didn't meditate, do yoga, and you ate meat? There's a picture of me from 33 years ago

on my Instagram. I look like I'm about to die. Really? Yeah. Did you post this recently? I posted it a while ago. When I post it again, I'll be so off. Yeah, it's not... It's a few days back. I posted again.

33 years ago, huh? Yeah. I looked like I was going to get and die, literally. Okay. So that's what you'd be like right now, about to die. Yeah, probably. Look at me then. Yeah. You see that shit? I can't see it. You have it on there? Look how old I am. Wow, that's you? 33 years ago. You look like shit? I can't see it. You have it on there? Look how old I am. Wow, that's you? 33 years ago.

You look like you're about 60 right there. Huh? You look like you're about 60 right there. Yeah, but I'm 20-something. Yeah, okay. All right. I'm curious, with all the stuff that people know about you, all the great things you've done, what's something you've done that you're really proud of that most people don't know

about? you've done that you're really proud of that most people don't know about? I like the idea that I was helpful in creating the movement that changed the Rockefeller drug laws. I like the idea that I wrote the letter that went to the president and to the attorney general that got signed by all of Hollywood and all of these people and then eventually was tweeted by Justin Bieber. The Attorney General called me immediately and the President changed the way he charges first-time offenders. I like, there's a little shit I did that I'm,

you know, that I like that I did. I mean, some artists became more conscious and did more things philanthropic, social, and political because I dragged them down one block one day and they realized how powerful they were, and they changed, and they used their celebrity to make things change. When we had the Muslim inquiries and Kim Kardashian tweet out, she's Muslim for a day, they shut them down.

Congress was so embarrassed. The shit went all over the world. Wow. That there was this protest that people, rabbis especially, were saying they were Muslim for a day, and that was wrong. It was un-American, these inquiries that the Congress was holding. So little things like that matter. Like, really, like, no one will write about that much.

Right. No one will care about that much. But they'll care about, you know, the records you sold. Right, right, right. Other stuff. I'm surprised. Frankly, I'm really surprised. I see the change.

My publisher didn't even want my chapter on being vegan in my last book. Really? And now they asked for a book about vegan. Right. So the world changes. They asked me for that. Wow. Because my reasons for going vegan were compassion,

not wanting to contribute to the abuse of so many animals, not even the environment, which obviously is just really, you know what, as a yogi, all those reasons matter, right? The first chakra should always be of a concern. But my reason was really compassion. Compassion. I couldn't write that in a book because nobody gave a fuck. Nobody cared about the animal. They really don't.

Simone would disagree. She gets angry. She's taking care of a blind dog. But really don't. Simone would disagree. She gets angry. She's taking care of a blind dog, but most people put that animal to sleep. Most people would put that animal, a blind dog, like you got to take your whole day and watch the dog. You put him to sleep. Right, right. So that's how people feel about individual animals and certainly about 100 billion of them that they don't know. Right.

You see women walking. And they're not killing either. Yeah, and they walk around in their fur coat walking their dog. You know what I mean? You see it all the time. You see this with their brand new fur coat, you know, 8,000 chinchillas into one little coat, and then they walk in their dog like the dog is precious. Right.

The dog, I'd rather have the dog be the coat than 8,000 chinchillas. Right, right. If I could choose, but I mean, I want none of them to die. But so to me, it's a big picture thing. You know, when they want to save horses, I help save horses. When they want to save dolphins, I help save dolphins. But every cow counts. Every chicken counts.

Pigs, smarter than the people that killed them. They count. And the dolphins too, probably. But, you know, I mean, smart, not that it matters. Suffering is suffering. But animals that feel so much pain go through so much shit so we can get sick and cancer and diabetes and heart disease. It's kind of nutty to me.

Such a thing, you know, it's a process and it's all money, greed. And it's all the downfall of this fake democracy, which is controlled by money. And it bothers me that our American government can't get on its feet. The only two people who can talk about, say what they want to say, are free to kind of really make a campaign to run for president. Donald Trump, who said, look at these people on stage. He said, you know what? He paused.

He said, good people. Money corrupts good people. What do you think? And the whole crowd looked. They didn't get it. And he said, you know, about Citizens United. I got it right away. I thought it was funny because I watch him.

He's entertaining. I've known him forever, so I watch him. He's very entertaining. But what he said about people being corrupted by money, they all look like little girls in miniskirts at the wrong party. Like they should go home because they look like whores. And it was wrong. And it was wrong.

And he said it, and it was true. And it was like, that's the Republican Party. And then you have Bernie Sanders, who talks about the one-tenth of one percent getting all the money. And he's saying stuff. He's dragging Hillary there because Hillary doesn't want to lose. But, you know, she's doing it with the awareness that she's got their money in her pocket and that she owes. He is free from the control of corporate interests at this moment.

And he's bound by his past, you know, the gun thing. He lived in a gun state. He had to bend. Politicians mostly do. He learned some lessons about bending, you know, the gun thing. Or little things that he did to survive in the state in which he was. So the idea of people free from corporate control. I didn't like Mayor Bloomberg.

I campaigned against him. And I campaigned for some Democrat. I might have did it again this time. But this guy won, de Blasio, because he hadn't had any balls. He needs money just to breathe. And he needs money to win again. And he's controlled. Hasn't been able to do anything.

He announced his deal. I was so happy. I just heard his headline. He announced his deal. I was so happy. I just heard his headline. He made a deal for animal rights people that put him in office. Then I found out the deal sucked. It's horrible. It's not helpful. To me, I think it was going to be, say, 70 of the 210

horses. It sounds insensitive, but 70 horses were not to question. The reason I thought we were taking horses off the street is not for the 200 horses. It was because I didn't want my kids to see the abuse. I wanted just one more statement, one more step towards the lack, getting away from the belief that animals are here to work for us. Yeah.

That animals are here at our, you know, play things. Yeah. So getting rid of the horses mattered to me because it's part of a bigger picture. There are people who really want the horses off the street and don't care about the other animals. And there are people who, I'm not one of them. Every step counts. Every chicken, every bird of every kind and every species and the suffering of each of them is equal to me. So getting 70 horses off the ground, yeah, I totally get saving one animal at a time.

But I think my time is better spent on the mess. But this saves a lot more if one person chooses to go vegan. One person chooses to go vegan changes the whole world. I mean it changes the dynamic. So that's true too. Get back to that. One person can make a tremendous difference. In the thousands of animals, he won't participate in eating or eat.

And also maybe he rubs off on another one. Right. And another one. Yeah. A couple of questions left for you because I know you got a lot going on. What are you most grateful for in your life recently? Grateful, just, you know, family, you know, basic stuff. You know, I'm grateful to get out of bed every morning every morning um for my service

you know that goes well and days i get rest today you know it's hard i just say wow i go through the whole day i do all these podcasts and interviews and stuff this is about the animal rights thing now and also grateful we got funded all deaf digital is now you know really doing very well and a lot of movies are in development and a lot of TVs are in development. The world is moving along. My personal peace is more accessible. I'm generally more happy today than I was before.

I think that that idea moving toward the calmer space and recognizing how little the world has to offer me regarding my happiness the more i recognize that the more free i get from stuff yeah you know i'm surprised these things come get me for the shit i'm saying i did i tell you that the american government gives 38 billion dollars to the meat industry. Meat and dairy and $17 million to vegetables that they are poisoning, subsidizing the poisoning of this planet and the poisoning of its people. And it's just lobbyists and stuff.

So I'm surprised. The stuff that I say. They're not coming after you. I don't know what they can get me for. I mean, it's all documented. That was PETA's. So get PETA. But it's all documented in the book. So it's none of it's my. I mean, it's all documented. That was Peter's, so get Peter. But it's all documented

in the book, you know, so it's none of it's my, I didn't do the research. Right, right. I'm sharing with the world. Yeah, I'm sharing the research

and I guess most of it's pretty correct. So they haven't come after me to try to destroy me like they did Oprah years ago. I don't have Oprah money. I really can't afford to fight them

in that way forever. It probably cost $20, $30 million to talk to them. I don't want to do that. But I'm not going to agree that eating animals is okay. I ain't going to bow down. I ain't a punk. So I say what I think needs to be said. I think it's important. I'm proud of that. I'm proud of the fact that I've spent a great part of my life saying things that people don't like to hear, saying things that I believe are necessary that should be shared, that people overlook. There's a lack of consciousness on the part of humankind to recognize a lot of its flaws. I have most of them, but the ones that I recognize, I speak out about.

So that's what it is. Yeah, okay. Two final questions. but the ones that I recognize I speak out about. So that's what it is. Yeah. Okay. Two final questions. I want to make sure everyone goes and gets this book, The Happy Vegan, and they can get it on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, anywhere books are sold. Is there also a specific website you want to send people to for you or the book or anything they should be following?

Where do you hang out most on social media? I hang out most on my Instagram, Uncle Rush. So go follow you there. Yeah, Uncle Rush is my Twitter and my Instagram. I play on Instagram. I swear to God, probably you'll unfollow me. I see you're posting like 10 times a day. Yeah, probably unfollow me, but I send out prayer and I feel

like I'm curating a magazine. Lots of yoga stuff on there. Yeah, I put shit on there and I like it. I like it. Okay, so we'll go follow you there. Last two questions. If this was a, you know, your last day and you have all your friends and family that supports you and all the books you've written or been erased and all the stuff you put out there has been gone for some reason. And you've got a piece of paper and a pen to write down three truths. The three things you know, to be true about your experience from life that you want to

share with your friends and family as your message back three simple things what would those be putting on the spot obviously do everything you can to be comfortable in your seat but use scripture as your guide because those are the honest and quickest routes to that kind of happiness I want people to look for. Give what you want to receive. And the world has nothing to offer you. You have everything to offer it. So therefore, don't trade with the world. Give to the world. And all those things, those ideas alone

will help someone to be successful in their goal. And the goal is happiness. I love it. That's a great truth. That's all right. That's a great truth. Thank you. Final question before I,

before I ask, I want to acknowledge you. I acknowledge every one of my guests at the end for speaking out and using your voice and saying what you want to say and not holding back. I think it's really important with someone who has a platform like you to be able to share whether people agree or not agree. I believe it's important that you're sharing your message and a positive message with this meditation, your political messages, things like that. So I want to acknowledge you for speaking up and not

being afraid to share your voice, no matter what people say about you or do behind your back. I think it's really a great way to stand up for yourself and inspire others to do the same. I think it's really a great way to stand up for yourself and inspire others to do the same. Thank you. I like doing it. So it's easy. Helps me sleep at night. That's good.

Thank you. And a final last question really quick. You said last question like 12 times. I apologize. It's all good though. I just want you to know how many times you said last question. What's your definition of greatness? Greatness.

I like this, what you said about giving your heart to the world and being honest to the world despite being criticized by the world. There are a lot of leaders who, uncompromising, who believe in their messaging and believe that they're serving God, you know, if they're religious or the community or the people, you know, people who go out every day and just try to make the world a better place. You know, I would, you know, people who go out every day and just try to make the world a better place. You know, I would, you know, count a few people who from the outside in looked almost enlightened. And, and those people, you know, they're around me. Sometimes I would think Mr. Farrakhan, when you're around him, you're like,

wow, he really believes everything out his mouth. He really wants to help his people and he saved the lives of hundreds of thousands of black people it's very special man in that regard i believe that there's a few other people who really go to work every day try to make the world a better place and really are selfless in their nature simone here really believes that going out and pouring paint on kim k on Kim Kardashian's coat makes the world a better place. She goes out and does what she does, and she means it. She spent all her time trying to save animals, except for the time to make her read scripts.

People are dedicated to making the world better. It's great. And the size of your impact is – I said about Farrakhan and him saving hundreds of thousands of black lives. of your impact is, I said about Farrakhan and him saving hundreds of thousands of black lives, that's one thing. And I said about Simone

who really sparks, sparks a lot of energy that creates a vibration that save a lot of lives as well. But people who just have the honest intention to do well for the world, who are selfless,

are the ones that are favored. Not the guy who gave the billion dollars, the guy who actually administered the drugs in the most difficult climate. They went, they tried to save the person. If to the God outside of us, he favors that person over the person who gave the money. Russell, thanks so much for coming on.

Thank you. Appreciate it. There you have it, guys. I hope you enjoyed this episode with Russell. Again, a very powerful individual who's created so much good in his life. And his message resonates with so many people. Make sure to share this with your friends. lewishouse.com slash 287.

Let me know what you thought on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram. And tag Russell as well over on Instagram and Twitter with this episode. Let him know what you thought. We've got the full video interview back at the show notes as well. LewisHowes.com slash 287. Make sure to check that out and subscribe to the podcast on iTunes, Stitcher, or SoundCloud, wherever you prefer to listen. And also make sure to subscribe to the YouTube channel.

That's YouTube.com slash LewisHowes because we're doing multiple videos a week moving forward. Now I'm very excited about the video that we're creating moving forward. So make sure to subscribe and check that out as well. I love you guys. I appreciate you so much. Thank you for being here. And you know what time it is. It's time to go out there and do something great. Thank you.