Honestly Speaking

This week we discuss all things climate change! Dr. Wilkinson runs us through Project Drawdown, generational shade, and whether or not Elon Musk stans are delusional or not.

This week we bring back former Obama advisor and current tech entrepreneur Mike Hardaway. We add context to the Afghanistan withdrawal, discuss the recently passed infrastructure bill, and dive into CA's gubernatorial recall election.

A quick podcast check in.

This week we finally bring on close friend of the pod Chris Wilson. He's the author of the Master Plan, a visual artist, film producer, storyteller, and modern day renaissance man. We talk about the meaning of success, the work he is doing to help uplift those behind the fence, Plato's allegory of the cave, and how he is connected to the PayPal mafia.

This week we discuss the American Dream. Is it dead, different, or just an illusion?

We tease out some possibly cancelable takes of ours from the progressive left and if any are actually bringing the heat. We dive into homelessness, did we really go to the moon, and should we be cash apping Black folk for reparations. Listen in!

On today's episode, New York State Senator Alessandra Biaggi joins us to break down her thoughts on the recent NYC Mayoral Primary, on why rank choice voting should not be taking the rap for NYC's problematic Board of Elections, and lastly why even though running a campaign is hard, there are some easy things to avoid.

On this pop culture roundtable episode, we dig into Quentin Tarantino's obsession with the “N word”, on whether or not Tyler Perry is good for Black people, and how American portrayals of Black Americans affect the perceptions of everyone else in the country, including African immigrants.

We've got a real treat for you with G's mentor and head pastor of Middle Church here in New York City on this weeks pod. We get a little history on where Middle Church's progressive roots come from, their place in the larger religious community, and what it means to always be on.

We bring back returning friend of the pod Mike “Ponto” Ponticelli, our resident conservative expert, to be the voice of the right to defend their stance on Critical Race Theory. Is there any validity? Listen up!

The first female rapper Verzuz between Trina and Eve is coming up so we share our thoughts and whether its a good pairing. We also dive into Naomi Osaka bailing from the French Open to deal with her mental health and how much media should be required of athletes. And we wrap things up with the Tulsa Centennial and Farbs thoughts after being on the ground.

We bring back our friend, public defender, and founder of Zealous, Scott Hechinger. We dive into the media's obsession with the crime rate and how much is fact vs fiction. Plus we get his take on the upcoming Manhattan DA and NYC Mayoral race and what he's looking for from the candidates. 

This week we cover Israel/Palestine (01:49) and toward the end we get into gifted and talented programs and their history (26:53)

Today our friend Leon Ford rejoins the pod to discuss whether activists are asexual superheroes or just human beings with the same needs we all have, so listen up!

This week we jump into why 90 Day Fiancé is the human experiment this world desperately needed, the split between Bill and Melinda Gates, and the modern rules of infidelity.

We are back this week and we couldn't help ourselves in discussing everyone's favorite crazy Uncle, Dr. Umar Johnson's recent appearance on the breakfast club. We honestly dive into the debate spurred by tech companies such as Coinbase and Basecamp over politics in the workplace. And finally, Willow Smith has come out as Poly and we break down our thoughts on the evolution of sexuality.

On this weeks episode we discuss the guilty verdict in the George Floyd case and what's next, Tik Tokers and the history of appropriation, and Uncle Russ crashing the Verzuz party. 

No guests this week so we dive right into some of the weeks most controversial stories. We cover our thoughts on the cofounder of BLM and the business of activism, Kyrie Irving and the use of the N word, to Paul Pierce being fired by ESPN and stripper culture.

This week we are joined by boxer Patricio Manuel. Patricio made history in 2018 by becoming the first transgender boxer in the US to have a professional fight. We get into the the obvious conversation of Trans people in athletics, his thoughts on is gender a social construct, and some rationale behind why some well known people get so hot on this topic.

Religious and Twitter Activist, John Pavlovitz, joins the pod to convince us that religion has a role to play in American progress! Is love and empathy what we're missing? Pull up to find out!

We are joined by our friend DeVon Douglass who is a DEI & policy expert most recently with Harris County (Houston) and Tulsa. But on this episode we are scrapping our usual playbook and letting DeVon take us to church. She shares her roller coaster journey of the past year, a glimpse of the work she's doing with her Morning Affirmations show on Clubhouse, and the energy we should all be channeling in 2021.

We are joined by author Michael Slaby this week who’s recently published, “For All the People: Redeeming the Broken Promises of Modern Media and Reclaiming our Civic Life.” He earned his chops as CTO and CIO of Obamas 2008 and 2012 campaigns. While we get into big techs role and opine on popular culture discourse such as the social dilemma, we of course gotta bring in the historical lens and economics cus you know how we do. Buckle up, this isn’t your typical tech is making us divided talk!

We are joined this week by Madame Margherite, dominatrix, activist, sex work advocate, and co-founder of Dom Com. We dive into the community and therapy aspects of the BDSM world, some misunderstood legal aspects, and if OnlyFans is actually as empowering as some claim.

We are joined this week by Madame Margherite, dominatrix, activist, sex work advocate, and co-founder of Dom Com. We dive into the community and therapy aspects of the BDSM world, some misunderstood legal aspects, and if OnlyFans is actually as empowering as some claim.

Writer and author, John Ganz, joins the pod to breakdown why everyone’s a little Marxist, even if you don’t know it. Once and for all, we get into America’s classic conundrum, do our problems stem from Class or Race? You’re not going to wanna miss this one!

We recapped our live pod with Dianne Morales and final take aways + what we feel about the NYC mayoral race in general. And we know many of you are wanting to learn more about our new co-host G Be so we explore her feelings on politics, hip hop, and in defense of Eminem!

NYC mayoral candidate Dianne Morales joins our 2nd live pod to discuss schools, housing, the vaccine rollout, and much more. Were not your average campaign stop so buckle up!

We kick off the second season of Honestly Speaking with a new host, Genesis Be. You might already know her from last season as one of our guests and her work with the Mississippi state flag. We dive into a few hot topics plus preview the season to come. Tune in!

We are over two weeks removed from the election so while the exit polls aren’t fully updated, we dig into the numbers. Joining us in the booth, is Michael Hardaway, Obama alum and former senior advisor to Congressman Hakeem Jeffries to help us make sense of it all. We talk the legacy of Obama with the black community. What’s really going on with the media hype around moderates and progressives. Biden is giving us LBJ vibes, should we believe our own hype? And what we think could be possible in the first 100 days.

This week we’ve got two heavy hitter politico guests. We kick it off with returning candidate for Manhattan DA, Eliza Orlins, (.50 - 23.34) covering all things the courts. We also are joined by NY State Senator Alessandra Biaggi (23.34 - 56.50) and cover the difference between state and federal responsibilities, Governor Cuomo’s handling of Covid-19, and how we are feeling in the final days ahead of election day.

Republican voters edition w/Mike Ponticelli and “Q.” We bring back friend of the pod Mike Ponticelli to see where his vote stands in the lead up along with new guest “Q” who was a Obama voter in 2008, non voter in 2016, and now voting for Trump in 2020. 

We are in the home stretch of the 2020 campaign. We chop up the latest, plus an update from Farb still on the road.  

We analyze the debate from the perspective of each camp, discuss the infamous Trump tax records, and the big question being thrown around: are you racist if you vote for Trump?

Farb is on a road trip through trump country and his faith in Biden is being tested. Plus we chop up the legacy of RBG and what comes next, Bloomberg and Desmond Meade’s work in Florida, plus our new found appreciation for the word caste along with our general love for Isabel Wilkerson's new book. 

Jim is finally back for our first ever live show. We tap in with our audience on what’s happening in their communities across the country. We even sneak in a few of our favorite guests into the mix. 

We got in the booth with the defacto Poet Laureate of Baltimore, Kondwani Fidel, to talk his new book the Anti-Racist. We also talk about the Black experience growing up in Baltimore, Black Liberation strategies, twitter buck shots, and the nuance of rebellion.

With everything happening in Kenosha, Portland, and across the country we had to dip back into the history of policing. We bring on Field Advisor for the National Network of Safe Communities, Danneile Davis, to set the record straight. We also dive into her work in intimate partner violence prevention and the gender double standards when it comes to policing today.

We welcome democrat operative Rania Batrice this week. We learned about her story of growing up in Lubbock Texas as a Palestinian immigrant, lessons from the Bernie 2016 campaign, and her work with a coalition of organizations pushing HR 40 including the NAARC (National African American Reparations Commission).

This week we chat with Brad Hargreaves, founder of General Assembly and Common. We touch on the rental economy, the impact of Covid 19 on NYC, public vs private solutions to America’s real estate inequality, and the future of cities.

Professor Ed's take on Kamala and the Census.

We welcome entrepreneur (co-founder of Blavity) and writer Jonathan Jackson this week. Him and Ed explore their unique connection with growing up black in New Hampshire, the role tech has in dealing with racism, society’s upholding of the talented tenth, and our thoughts on media’s role and the future of the opinion section.

We break down the historic significance, the impending critiques, how we are feeling, and did Ed make a mistake in transferring to Hampton.

This week we are joined by Manhattan Public Defender and candidate for Manhattan District Attorney, Eliza Orlins. We cover the crime “spike” in the city, the importance and understanding of local politics, why she’s running, and even touch upon her early youth and her connection to the show Survivor.

Joined in the booth this week by friend of the pod Courtney Kornegay, co-founder of Stereotype Studio and the host of the Privy Podcast. We go all in on the weeks hottest twitter trending moments from Nick Cannon's anti-semitic remarks, Ghislaine Maxwell and the continued Jeffrey Epstein horror show, Kanye doing everything in his power to be canceled, and the role of media in all of it.

We dive into story time growing up black in majority white neighborhoods, influences when you're a teenager, financial literacy, and should the 2nd amendment be abolished.

We chat with friend of the pod Mike Ponticelli, a lifer conservative, to break down why he reps the grand old party. We get into some classic conservative pillars, their view of BLM and the current movement, and where they might be areas of compromise.

On this episode, Farb and Eddie catch up on some headline topics including Netflix putting $100M into black banks, the NYT capitalizing B in Black, the defund the police movement, and will the name Redskins finally be on its way out.

This week we catch up with friend of the pod Genesis Be, a native of Biloxi Mississippi and proud member of a multi generational activist family. We talk about the significance of finally removing the confederate state flag, what it meant to grow up around it, and her general attachment to activism. Follow @ https://www.instagram.com/genesisbe/ Support @ https://genesisbe.com/, https://www.strivetillirise.org/

This past weekend in Tulsa it was more fizzle than fireworks when it came to Trump's rally. We dive in with Tulsa native and founder of the Black Wall Street Times, Nehemiah Frank, about Tulsa's upcoming centennial for the Tulsa Race Massacre and how life is changing in this historically deeply conservative part of the country.

Pittsburgh’s Leon Ford, author and survivor of police brutality, joins us for a powerful discussion with Jim on black fatherhood and living in survival mode.

Ify Ike returns to join Farb and Ed in the (virtual) booth. We dive in on blackout Tuesday, language usage of riots vs rebellion and protesting vs looting, and the southern strategy and Trumps chances in November.