Podcast appearances and mentions of george floyd

(8/11/22) Marc Lamont Hill and New York Times bestselling author Todd Brewster weave four recent pivotal moments in America's racial divide into their disturbing historical context—starting with the killing of George Floyd—Seen and Unseen reveals the connections between our current news headlines and social media feeds and the country's long struggle against racism. According Hill for most of American history, our media has reinforced and promoted racism. But with the immediacy of modern technology—the ubiquity of smartphones, social media, and the internet—that long history is now in flux. From the teenager who caught George Floyd's killing on camera to the citizens who held prosecutors accountable for properly investigating the killing of Ahmaud Arbery, ordinary people are now able to reveal injustice in a more immediate way. As broad movements to overhaul policing, housing, and schooling gain new vitality, Seen and Unseen demonstrates that change starts with the raw evidence of those recording history on the front lines. Join us when professor at Temple University, American academic, author, and activist Marc Lamont Hill examines how the power of visual media over the last few years has shifted the narrative on race and reignited the push towards justice on this installment of Leonard Lopate at Large.

On this week's episode of Kaleidoscope with Allison Keyes, a discussion on how a range of issues including upbringing, religion, and the overturning of Roe v. Wade are affecting discussions of contraception in the Hispanic and Latina communities. Allison speaks with Dr. Erica Montes, an Arizona-based OB-GYN and creator of the Modern Mujer Health Blog, on how conversations that have often been fraught are evolving.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Over the past few years, we have heard about the need to reform and/or overhaul the criminal justice system. Unfortunately, some of the unintended consequences of reforms put into action have included rising crime and homicide rates. In this episode of Policing Matters, host Jim Dudley speaks with Rafael Mangual, a senior fellow and head of research for the Policing and Public Safety Initiative at the Manhattan Institute and a contributing editor at "City Journal," about his recently released book, “Criminal (In) Justice: What the Push for Decarceration and Depolicing Gets Wrong and Who It Hurts Most." In his book, Rafael offers a more balanced understanding of American criminal justice, and cautions against discarding traditional crime control measures: “After a summer of violent protests in 2020 – sparked by the deaths of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, and Rayshard Brooks – a dangerously false narrative gained mainstream acceptance: Criminal justice in the United States is overly punitive and racially oppressive. But, the harshest and loudest condemnations of incarceration, policing, and prosecution are often shallow and at odds with the available data. And the significant harms caused by this false narrative are borne by those who can least afford them: black and brown people who are disproportionally the victims of serious crimes.” Click here for more information on "Criminal (In) Justice" and follow Rafael Mangual on Twitter. This episode of the Policing Matters Podcast is sponsored by Polco. Polco's National Law Enforcement Survey provides a comprehensive, accurate and representative picture of resident opinions related to police services. Compare your results with other agencies around the nation. Align your priorities with community sentiment, build trust, and improve safety services. Visit info.polco.us to learn more.  

Today, we hear how Emeryville is building an affordable housing project for two underserved social groups, senior citizens and foster youth. Then, we listen as a Bay Area photographer's recounts his experience covering the George Floyd protests in Minneapolis. Followed by a reading from San Francisco author, Ingrid Rojas Contreras. And, today's local music features John R. Burr.

At one point, A&E's “Live PD!” was the #1 most watched show on cable TV…and then the death of George Floyd, among others, changed the country's focus on law enforcement…and in the wake of protests across the country, A&E cancelled the show.After that, co-host Sean “Sticks” Larkin retired from the Tulsa Police Dept. after almost 25 years…but then the improbable happened!The Reelz network brought back the series, now under the name “On Patrol:LIVE!”…and lightning struck again!! Over the last 2 weeks, it's been the #1 most watched show on cable!! We got Sticks on the phone to congratulate him on the show's success!! PLUS… Kyle Petty family legacy in NASCAR is the stuff of legend. His grandfather Lee was a driver. His father Richard, known as “The King”, is hailed as one of the greatest drivers ever, and his son Adam was a rising star before sadly passing in an accident during a practice session in 2000. But from Kyle's early days in North Carolina, starting his career in his teens, to his success in NASCAR, and all of the unbelievable family stories in between…the good, bad and tragic…Kyle tells it all in his new book, “Swerve or Die: Life at My Speed in the First Family of NASCAR Racing”…and we had the honor of talking to Kyle about it this morning!

At one point, A&E's “Live PD!” was the #1 most watched show on cable TV…and then the death of George Floyd, among others, changed the country's focus on law enforcement…and in the wake of protests across the country, A&E cancelled the show.After that, co-host Sean “Sticks” Larkin retired from the Tulsa Police Dept. after almost 25 years…but then the improbable happened!The Reelz network brought back the series, now under the name “On Patrol:LIVE!”…and lightning struck again!! Over the last 2 weeks, it's been the #1 most watched show on cable!! We got Sticks on the phone to congratulate him on the show's success!!

8.10.2022 #RolandMartinUnfiltered: Ill. Convictions Overturned,Illegal Voting Maps,Darius Cooks Petition Denied, Sesame Place Diversity They spent 174 years in prison because of alleged misconduct by a disgraced former Chicago police detective. Now the convictions of seven people have been overturned. Cook County State's Attorney Kim Foxx is here to tell us about these cases and how many more convictions could be thrown out.  Eight Minneapolis correctional officers of color agree to a $1.5M settlement for being prohibited from guarding the white cop who killed George Floyd.  Republican dram redistricting maps in four states were ruled to be illegal germanders. We'll talk to the  Senior Counsel, Brennan Center for Justice, to find out why they are still being used.  Good old Donald Trump once said only 'the mob' uses the Fifth Amendment. But that's exactly what he said he invoked during today's deposition with the New York attorney general. We'll take a look at last night's primary results.  It took a class action lawsuit alleging racial bias to get Sesame Place to implement new measures to expand its "diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts."  We'll tell you what those "measures" are.  She was accused of stalking an Atlanta social media cook. After five months of waiting, the judge said, Nah, she wasn't stalking anyone. We'll have an update on the Darius Cooks saga.  And in today's Tech Talk Segment, we'll show you an app that can help determine your hair type and the best products to use on your natural hair.  Support RolandMartinUnfiltered and #BlackStarNetwork via the Cash App ☛ https://cash.app/$rmunfiltered PayPal ☛ https://www.paypal.me/rmartinunfiltered Venmo ☛https://venmo.com/rmunfiltered Zelle ☛ roland@rolandsmartin.com Annual or monthly recurring #BringTheFunk Fan Club membership via paypal ☛ https://rolandsmartin.com/rmu-paypal/ Download the #BlackStarNetwork app on iOS, AppleTV, Android, Android TV, Roku, FireTV, SamsungTV and XBox

Twin Cities and Duluth nurses are heading toward a strike, a special session at the Legislature appears stalled and two former officers appeal their convictions for their role in George Floyd's killing. This is an evening update from MPR News, hosted by Jon Collins. Music by Gary Meister.

As a bonus for Into America listeners, Trymaine Lee previews a recent episode of “Why Is This Happening? The Chris Hayes Podcast.” The Washington Post's Robert Samuels joined MSNBC's Chris Hayes to take a very personal look at George Floyd, exploring who Floyd really was, long before his name became a hashtag. In the episode titled “His Name is George Floyd” (a reference to Samuels' book of the same name), Samuels sheds light on Floyd's ancestors, his early life in Houston, the systemic racism he faced, and how those he left behind are doing today.In this bonus clip from the episode, Samuels shares the big dreams (think Supreme Court-level big) that Floyd had as only a second grader and the positive, loving spirit he steadfastly held onto throughout his life, despite the challenges he faced. He wanted to make a difference in the world, up until the very end. Listen to this preview now, and search for “Why Is This Happening? The Chris Hayes Podcast” to hear the full conversation.

This is Garrison Hardie with your CrossPolitic Daily News Brief for Wednesday, August 10th, 2022. We’ve got some crazy news to get to today, so let’s dive right in… https://www.politico.com/news/2022/08/08/trump-fbi-maralago-search-00050442 Trump's Mar-a-Lago home searched by FBI in unprecedented move The FBI executed a search warrant at the Mar-a-Lago estate of former President Donald Trump on Monday as part of an investigation into the alleged mishandling of White House records, including potentially classified material, according to two people familiar with the matter. The Florida raid, which one of the people said took “hours,” resulted in the seizure of paper records, according to one person familiar with the development, who also noted that Trump attorney Christina Bobb was present during the search. It was a historic step by the Justice Department and FBI to investigate the residence of a former president, who is battling an increasingly complex thicket of legal threats. No former president — particularly one who is openly considering another bid for the Oval Office — has faced such a public law enforcement action, which immediately led to calls among his allies for recriminations and even the elimination of federal law enforcement agencies. “They even broke into my safe,” Trump himself said in a lengthy statement decrying the FBI search and comparing it to Watergate. Trump, who was the first to confirm the FBI action, said in a statement that his resort was “under siege, raided, and occupied by a large group of FBI agents.” “After working and cooperating with the relevant Government agencies, this unannounced raid on my home was not necessary or appropriate,” Trump said. The former president was not present at Mar-a-Lago. Instead, he was at Trump Tower in New York City, according to a person familiar with the situation. His son Eric Trump informed him of the raid. The FBI and the U.S. attorney’s offices in Washington didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment. Spokespeople at Justice Department headquarters in Washington declined to comment. The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Florida, the Secret Service and the Palm Beach Police Department deferred comment to the FBI. Two sources familiar with the matter said top Biden White House officials were not given advance notice of the raid, which could potentially alter the course of both the upcoming midterms and an eventual Trump-Biden rematch in 2024. Though the investigation of Trump’s handling of presidential records has been percolating for months, it has largely remained in the background while the Jan. 6 select committee built a case that Trump committed crimes to disrupt the transition of power after his defeat in the 2020 election. The National Archives and Records Administration had confirmed in February that it had sought to recover 15 boxes of records from Mar-a-Lago that it deemed improperly removed, including some marked as “classified national security information.” The Archives confirmed at the time that it had been in touch with the Justice Department about the recovered documents. At the time, the Archives said it had had “ongoing communications” with Trump’s team about recovering missing presidential records. The Archives also indicated that it was working to recover un-archived social media messages and that it had evidence that Trump tore up and destroyed some papers, not all of which were recovered. The Archives also confirmed in December that it was reviewing whether Trump chief of staff Mark Meadows had properly stored records from his personal phone and email accounts. That investigation has also become an increasingly public threat to Trump, with some of his top allies and former White House officials facing grand jury subpoenas and FBI searches. Earlier in the day, the Justice Department defended its decision to seize the cellphone of John Eastman, the attorney who helped devise Trump’s strategy to seize a second term he didn’t win. Federal investigators have pursued evidence that Trump’s administration mishandled presidential records and even removed some boxes to Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort. An executed search warrant would require the signoff of a federal judge or magistrate, who would issue the warrant based upon evidence of a potential crime. The law enforcement moves at Trump’s residence came as lawyers and other observers have been bracing for action this month in politically sensitive Justice Department investigations as prosecutors approach a traditional quiet period for such probes in the lead-up to elections. Unbelievable… before I get to my next story: Club Membership Plug: Let’s stop and take a moment to talk about Fight Laugh Feast Club membership. By joining the Fight Laugh Feast Army, not only will you be aiding in our fight to take down secular & legacy media; but you’ll also get access to content placed in our Club Portal, such as past shows, all of our conference talks, and EXCLUSIVE content for club members that you won’t be able to find anywhere else. Lastly, you’ll also get discounts for our conferences… so if you’ve got $10 bucks a month to kick over our way, you can sign up now at flfnetwork.com https://www.theepochtimes.com/irs-stockpiles-more-than-5-million-rounds-of-ammunition_4636607.html?welcomeuser=1 IRS Stockpiles More Than 5 Million Rounds of Ammunition Apparently, the IRS needs a little firepower to help with those audits. The IRS has stockpiled five million rounds of ammunition and spent $725,000 on bullets this year, according to Florida Congressman Matt Gaetz, who has introduced a bill to block future ammunition purchases by the agency. The Republican lawmaker announced his sponsorship of the Disarm the IRS Act in a July press release. The bill would ban the IRS from acquiring ammunition through direct purchase or otherwise. The bill awaits a potential vote in the House Ways and Means Committee. The issue drew national attention after Gaetz appeared on Fox News’ Jesse Waters Primetime last week, saying that the IRS had spent $750,000 in 2022 alone on ammunition. “Call me old-fashioned, but I thought the heaviest artillery an IRS agent would need would be a calculator, not $725,000 worth of ammunition,” Gaetz said during his appearance on Fox News. While people may not think of the IRS needing weapons and ammunition, it has a criminal investigation division with armed law enforcement to pursue tax felons. A 2018 report from the Government Accountability Office said the IRS’s Criminal Investigation Division had 2,148 law enforcement officers, 4,461 weapons—including 15 fully automatic firearms—and 5.05 million rounds of ammunition. According to the Officer Down Memorial Page, four officers with the IRS have died since 1989 from medical conditions or accidents. None was firearm related. But the IRS isn’t the only governmental agency building up massive caches of guns and bullets. OpenTheBooks.com, a nonprofit government watchdog group, released a report called “The militarization of the U.S. Executive Agencies” in December 2020, detailing how agencies that people wouldn’t normally associate with law enforcement were stockpiling weapons and ammunition. The Environmental Protection Agency owns 600 guns. At the same time, special agents at the National Aeronautics and Space Administration are equipped with machine guns and AR15s. Even the Smithsonian Institution employed 620-armed “special agents,” up from zero officers in 2008, according to the report. Adam Andrzejewski, CEO & founder of OpenTheBooks.com, told The Epoch Times via email that the public should question why these agencies are armed to the teeth. Not only do they wield legal power, but they are also amassing firepower. “Just who are the federal agencies preparing to battle?” Andrzejewski wrote. Andrzejewski said there is no public purpose for rank and file, paper-pushing federal agencies to load up on guns, ammunition, and military-style equipment. “Our data shows that the federal government has become a gun show that never adjourns. Taxpayers need to tell Washington that police powers belong primarily to cities and states, not the feds,” he stated. Armored Republic The Mission of Armored Republic is to Honor Christ by equipping Free Men with Tools of Liberty necessary to preserve God-given rights. In the Armored Republic there is no King but Christ. We are Free Craftsmen. Body Armor is a Tool of Liberty. We create Tools of Liberty. Free men must remain ever vigilant against tyranny wherever it appears. God has given us the tools of liberty needed to defend the rights He bestowed to us. Armored Republic is honored to offer you those Tools. Visit them, at ar500armor.com https://hotair.com/jazz-shaw/2022/08/08/the-media-begins-to-notice-that-were-running-out-of-cops-n488242 The media begins to notice that we're running out of cops Let’s say there’s a violent intruder at your door or someone is breaking into your house in the middle of the night. Who ya gonna call? Assuming that you don’t have the number for the Ghostbusters, you’ll probably dial 911. But in a number of cities, the odds that anyone will be available to respond quickly enough to save you have been dropping. The problem has grown serious enough that even the Associated Press has been forced to cover the story. They begin with an interview with George Spaulding of Portland, Oregon. Five years ago, his son Brian was shot to death in his apartment. Though George checks in with the detective assigned to the case frequently, the police say they still have no leads. But even George admits that the police are simply overwhelmed and they probably just don’t have the manpower to assign anyone to really work the case full time. And it’s not just Portland where this is happening. Response times to emergency calls are rising and the number of criminal cases being closed are falling in many cities. From Philadelphia to Portland to Los Angeles, killings and gun violence are rising at the same time officers worn out by the pandemic and disillusioned over the calls to divest from policing that followed George Floyd’s murder are quitting or retiring faster than they can be replaced. Departments are scrambling to recruit in a tight labor market and also rethinking what services they can provide and what role police should play in their communities. Many have shifted veteran officers to patrol, breaking up specialized teams built over decades in order to keep up with 911 calls. If you read through that entire report, the AP cites statistics and provides quotes from various officials in five cities. Take a look at this list of names and see if you notice anything in common. Portland, Seattle, Los Angeles, Philadelphia, and Baltimore are all cited. It should come as no surprise to most of our readers that these are all cities that were subjected to violent BLM riots during the Summer of Love and all of them later attempted to “defund the police” in various ways. Now crime rates are up in each of those cities, particularly violent crime rates. Response times are up and case closure rates are down. The police forces in each of those cities have been depleted and they are struggling to find qualified recruits to replace the officers who have left. (Along with the officers who were killed or too seriously wounded to return to duty in some cases.) Is there any honest person who is having trouble connecting the dots here? The Associated Press gamely quotes one professor from the Crime and Justice Policy Lab at the University of Pennsylvania. He claims that you can’t blame the protests and the defunding movement because “crime is up in many areas,” even where those things didn’t happen. That much may be true, but it’s definitely a lot worse in the cities on this list. How can anyone continue to deny this? Today, we’re hearing complaints from disgruntled and frightened citizens. That’s understandable. But we should also remember that many of those complaining the loudest also helped elect the municipal officials who put all of these policies in place to begin with and bent to the will of the mob. Now they are reaping what they have themselves sown. If you don’t like what’s going on in the streets, take some responsibility yourself and work to put new people in charge who will deal with the situation in a serious fashion. Once you do that, you just might be able to convince some new aspiring law enforcement officers to come to work in your cities. Well, let’s shift our eyes over seas now. Did you know that China, is one of the freest countries in the world?! Nancy Pelosi: “China Is One Of The Freest Societies In The World…” - Play Video https://thepostmillennial.com/watch-pelosi-says-china-one-of-the-freest-societies-in-the-world?utm_campaign=64487 Pelosi says China 'one of the freest societies in the world' She cited Freedom House as a source, but Freedom House, however, does not list China as a free country, calling its government an "authoritarian regime" that has "become increasingly repressive in recent years." Freedom House writes: "The ruling Chinese Communist Party (CCP) continues to tighten control over all aspects of life and governance, including the state bureaucracy, the media, online speech, religious practice, universities, businesses, and civil society associations, and it has undermined an earlier series of modest rule-of-law reforms. The CCP leader and state president, Xi Jinping, has consolidated personal power to a degree not seen in China for decades." Freedom House considers the small island nation of Taiwan, however, to be "free," ranking 94/100 on its freedom scale. Perhaps this is what Pelosi was referring to, as she just returned from a trip to Taiwan. Pelosi's Taiwan trip was a huge issue for China, which took the opportunity to engage in a massive show of force over the island. The self-ruling island has faced increased threats of violence from the CCP in recent days following Pelosi's visit to there, to repeated condemnation by the communists. US officials have made clear, though that they do not support an independent Taiwan, despite comments from President Joe Biden that the US would "militarily defend" it. https://twitter.com/i/status/1554169482242916354 - Play Video That was John Kirby for those wondering. https://www.outkick.com/oklahoma-cale-gundy-didnt-want-resignation-football/ ‘VAST MAJORITY’ OF OKLAHOMA PLAYERS DIDN’T WANT CALE GUNDY TO RESIGN: REPORT Many members of the Oklahoma Sooners reportedly didn’t want Cale Gundy to leave the program. The longtime Sooners assistant resigned from his coaching position after he admitted to reading a “shameful and hurtful” unknown word off a players iPad during a film session. He announced his resignation late Sunday night after more than two decades as a coach with the program. Despite his resignation, it sounds like many members of the team didn’t want him to leave. Gabe Ikard reported “the vast majority” of players on the roster didn’t want Gundy to leave. However, it sounds like they couldn’t sway his mind. After more than two decades as a coach with the Sooners and several seasons as a dominant QB in Norman, Gundy is gone because he read a player’s iPad during a film session. As Gundy claimed in his statement, they weren’t his words. He was reading a message on the iPad. ““I want to be very clear: the words I read aloud from that screen were not my words. What I said was not malicious; it wasn’t even intentional. Still, I am mature enough to know that the word I said was shameful and hurtful, no matter my intentions. The unfortunate reality is that someone in my position can cause harm without ever meaning to do so,” the former Oklahoma coach told fans in his resignation announcement. Overall, it seems like this situation spiraled out of control before most people even realized what happened, and that’s backed up by the fact most players didn’t want him to resign. What an incredibly bizarre and strange situation within the Oklahoma football program. This has been your CrossPolitic Daily News Brief… If you liked the show, share it. If you want to sign up for a club membership, for our conference with that club membership discount, or sign up for our magazine, head on over to fightlaughfeast.com. And as always, if you’d like to send me a news story, ask about our conference, or approach us about corporate partnership with CrossPolitic, you can email me at garrison@fightlaughfeast.com. For CrossPolitic News, I’m Garrison Hardie. Have a great day, and Lord bless

THE THESIS: Thousands of people are going to learn that their loved ones were injured or killed by the useless mRNA injections. Some of them are going to see recompense through the courts, but will then find out that Big Pharma has purchased immunity from the government -- how many of them will then seek revenge? If anyone in power ever wants the medical profession to be trusted by most people again, they will need to destroy Big Pharma's lock on it and break up the hopelessly corrupt CDC and FDA. Please let us remember that God is watching all of this and He will judge.  THE SCRIPTURE & SCRIPTURAL RESOURCES:  Psalm 7:11  God is a righteous judge, and a God who feels indignation every day. Matthew 10:28  And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather fear him who can destroy both soul and body in hell. Romans 1:18  For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth. Romans 2:5  But because of your hard and impenitent heart you are storing up wrath for yourself on the day of wrath when God's righteous judgment will be revealed. THE NEWS & COMMENT: Remember this?  [AUDIO] - Man tracks down the doctor that gave one of his family members the covid vaccine and they died after taking it . . . [AUDIO] - KUSI News is one TV station that is willing to tell the truth about the injections Germany's Largest Health Insurer Reveals 1 in 25 Clients Underwent Medical Treatment in 2021 for Covid 'Vaccine' Side Effects; As many as 1 in 500 injections is expected to cause serious side effects In 2021, the massive number of 437,593 insured, or 1 in 25, received medical treatment for side effects of vaccination, reports the Techniker Krankenkasse (TK). This number is almost twice as high Why British Columbia & CDC & other agencies removing COVID data from public view, even UK & Scotland, why it is so very wrong; deserves SHOWCASING! [AUDIO] -  Ron DeSantis on public health experts making an exception to lockdowns for George Floyd protests: “That's when I knew these people are a bunch of frauds” Liz Cheney would 'find it very difficult' to support DeSantis because of Trump similarities; Cheney said she is focused on her primary despite speculation she is planning a run for the White House BLOCK 2 [AUDIO] - Bill Mahr: “There's a disturbing trend going on in America these days with rewriting science to fit ideology. We've gone from fat acceptance to fat celebration.” The New Study On Rapid-Onset Gender Dysphoria Published In “Pediatrics” Is Genuinely Worthless There's a growing credibility crisis in youth gender research Irish “LGBTQ+ Inclusive” Football Team With Transgender Player Wins Women's Junior Final So-called “Trans” Serial Killer Who Targeted Women Was Granted Entry to Women's Shelter, Used Photos of Victim on Facebook This guy who is not a doctor and pretends to be a woman is apparently sending wrong-sex hormones to kids with a prescritpion or parental knowledge or consent [AUDIO] - “So yeah, I know it's illegal.” @EliErlick  admits intent to sell prescription hormone drugs online. Erlick suggests that even parents and doctors shouldn't have a say . . . according this this publication, he's also a serial rapist [AUDIO] - Talk About Grooming! Same-sex-attracted Man Teaches Kids How To Pole Dance at Pennsylvania Pride Fest BLOCK 3 CNN ratings collapse as network looks for 'new revenue'—including 'extending' the brand in China; CNN's annual profits haven't sunk below $1 billion since 2016 and CNN viewership is about 639,000 in the prime time hours slot, down 27 percent from last year.  [AUDIO] -  THREE years into this all, CNN has discovered the tyranny hiding behind the farce response to Covid … BUT, only in China, ya' all  Senate Republicans Introduce Bill to Prevent Chinese Communist Party From Buying Land in U.S. “foreign investors now hold an interest in nearly 37.6 million acres of agricultural land in the U.S.—an area larger than the state of Iowa”  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

To celebrate the Black Like Me Podcast winning Madison Magazine's Best of Madison podcast 2022, we are highlighting some favorite episodes from past seasons. For the first re-release, Dr. Alex Gee shares a series of observations into what he saw during the Summer of 2020 with the state of racism and national upheaval. This was originally recorded soon after the deaths of Breanna Taylor and George Floyd and racially motivated incidents like Amy Cooper and Christian Cooper in Central Park. Don't miss how Dr. Gee can take account of significant moments and bring fresh insight for those who want to pay attention and understand the Black experience. alexgee.com Best of Madison Support the Show: patreon.com/blacklikeme

CHRIS NEWBOLD: Hello, wellbeing friends. Welcome to the Path To Well-Being In Law Podcast, an initiative of the Institute for Well-Being in Law. As you know, my name is Chris Newbold. I serve as executive vice president of ALPS Malpractice Insurance. You know, our goal here on the podcast is to introduce you to thought leaders doing meaningful work in the wellbeing space within the legal profession, and in the process, build and nurture a national network of wellbeing advocates intent on creating a culture shift within the profession. As always, I am joined by my co-host, Bree Buchanan. Bree, how are you doing today? BREE BUCHANAN: I'm doing great, Chris. Great to be here. CHRIS: Good, good. As you all know, Bree is the president of the Institute for Well-Being in Law. Bree, we have some really exciting news to share about the institute and the journey that we're on to engineer this culture shift. Would you maybe give us a clue as to the breaking news that I think that we were so excited about? BREE: Nobody could be more excited than me because you said, you know, Bree is the board president. Well, up until this news, I had two jobs. I was the acting executive director, so I am just delighted to let people know we have hired our first full-time staff person and that is our inaugural executive director. Her name is Jennifer DiSanza. She comes to us with a whole host of experience in wellbeing issues and particularly with the law students. For many reasons, we wanted to bring Jennifer on board, but also strategically, we really realized that's where she's coming from is the future of our profession. And also, aside of where we know there's a lot of behavioral health distress and stress on the youngest members of our profession and the law students. So we're just thrilled to have Jennifer on board. CHRIS: Yeah. See, I had the privilege of serving with you Bree on the hiring committee. Boy, we have a dynamic leader now that will be working day-to-day to think about advancing wellbeing in our profession. You know, there's so much work to be done as you well know. We're actually planning on having Jennifer as our next podcast guest, which will be awesome to be able to just talk about the vision, why she's passionate about this work. It will also happen to be after the conclusion of some strategic planning that we as a board will be doing. So things are just really aligning well with both what has transpired, where we're going, and then focusing on what lies ahead in terms of some big issues that we have to tackle as we think about the wellbeing of lawyers and legal professionals in the profession. With that, today we're going to circle back to, we've spent considerable time in the area of diversity, equity, and inclusion. You know, we had anticipated a three part series on this, but sometimes you extend an offer and you get somebody who's so awesome that you sit there and go, we have to expand this even further. Right? BREE: Along came Kori. Yeah. CHRIS: That's right. Along came Kori. And when Kori came along, we're like, okay, we're breaking the rules. We're totally bringing Kori into the mix. And so we were really excited to welcome Kori Carew to the podcast. Bree, would you be so kind to introduce Kori? And again, this is I know a podcast that we've been very excited and looking forward to. BREE: Absolutely. So Kori is a people inclusion strategist, an advocate, a speaker, a writer, a status quo disruptor. Got to love that. Child of God, wife and mother of two curly-haired, wise, energetic, fierce, spitfire daughters. Her family is multi-ethnic, multi-racial, multi-religious and spans multiple nationalities. She brings a fierce love of community and belonging that transcends differences to work, ministry and life. She loves to sing, cook, entertain, dance in the hallways at work, we need a video component of that, and read. Equipping leaders to be inclusive, to interrupt bias and disrupt the status quo. At her day job, she focuses on developing and implementing strategies for individual career and diversity and inclusion success, and helps organizations build bridges across differences and improve inclusion. BREE: When she's not working, she focuses her voice and talent on issues of gender equity and rights, inclusion, and human and civil rights, serving in her church and community, and cherishing her phenomenal tribe and community. She's energized by helping people live their very best lives. Kori was the Director of Strategic Diversity Initiatives for seven years at Shook, Hardy. And then she came over to Seyfarth and is now the Chief Inclusion and Diversity Officer there and oversees their really spectacular wellbeing program, Seyfarth Life, and a whole host of other initiatives we're going to hear about. So Kori, welcome to the podcast. CHRIS: Yay. KORI CAREW: Thank you. I appreciate you inviting me to be on this podcast and also very much the work that you are doing. This conversation of wellbeing for attorneys is such an important conversation. It's one that we probably started having too late, and it's one where diversity and inclusion, there's more work to be done than time. I'm super thankful for all that you do and all that you do to help our profession be better, so thank you very much. BREE: You bet. Kori, I'm going to start off. We ask all of our guests a variation of this question. What experiences in your life are drivers behind your passion for work around diversity, equity, and inclusion and belonging and wellbeing? KORI: Thank you for that question. And of course, you're causing me to go down a bit of memory lane. You would think this is an easy question, but it actually is not. It's not as easy because it forces you to look in the rear view mirror and try to understand where the dots connected to where you are. Before I do that, I do want to make one small correction. Seyfarth Life is an incredible initiative at Seyfarth that I am super proud of and one of the things that energized me about joining the firm. It has a steering committee that leads it. It's four partners at the firm, all of whom have a connection to wellbeing and mindfulness. My department and my role actually does not oversee Seyfarth Life, but we do work very closely with them. Because as one of the founding members, Laura Maechtlen noted from the very beginning, there's that intersection between inclusion and diversity and belonging and wellbeing, and the two work very closely together. But my department does not oversee Seyfarth Life. So just wanted to make sure I give credit to the right people. BREE: Absolutely, give credit where it's due. KORI: You know, because they're awesome and they do great work. In fact, if I may brag on them, out of the steering committee members, one of them is the chair of the largest department in the firm and an executive committee member and co-chair of the national diversity and inclusion action team. Oh, wait a minute. No, that's not right. Three are office managing partners. They're part of this steering committee, this leadership group, because they actually practice wellbeing and mindfulness and meditation in their own personal lives and allow it to influence how they lead. So I know Seyfarth didn't pay me to do a promotion, but I felt like I needed to shout some guys out. BREE: Absolutely. KORI: Our talent team helps them quite a bit in terms of organizing programs and handling the administrative and logistic things. Okay. So to answer your question, what are the experiences? I often say this and it is true that when I look at my life in the rear view mirror, how I ended up where I am makes a lot more sense as I connect the dots in ways that I probably couldn't have foreseen. For example, I never intended to be a diversity and inclusion professional. I actually never intended to go to law school. I started my university career as an electrical engineering major. When I came to the U.S., I wanted to build planes. That was my thing. I wanted to be an aeronautical engineer. I wanted to build planes. I loved science. I could spend hours in the lab. One of the best gifts I ever got was a lab coat. My dad had a custom drawing board built for me when I was a teenager that I carried with me everywhere because technical drawing, engineering drawing was one of my top subjects. KORI: So a lot of things make sense in hindsight. I look at my family composition and my sisters and I were all born in different countries. We have different passports. We grew up in Nigeria, a country with over 300 different ethnic groups with different languages and traditions and customs, so there's that. My family is multi-religious, multi-ethnic, multi-national, multi-racial and there's just so much diversity there. You know, in the family tree, there's a granduncle that's a Methodist church bishop, and one that's an Imam. And my grandfather's father was a teacher, was a teacher of the Quran. And so all of that diversity is there in the family, but it probably influenced how my parents raised my sisters and I and how even through childhood, I was always the person who was connecting the dots between similarities between people. And today we would call that cultural fluency, this ability to recognize cultural differences and not judge them but just adapt to them and be able to say, okay, you know what? KORI: It looks to me like person A is looking through a lens that's different than person B, but they're looking at the same thing. So how can I get these two people to be on the same page? So there's that family dynamic. But another thing that happened when I was growing up that I do think influenced me quite a bit. I grew up in Nigeria. Most of my childhood, we had one military dictator after another. So I grew up with coos happening more often than I would prefer. There were times that things broke out into religious violence. You're talking about incidents where a few people are killed or a lot of people are killed and everything goes to standstill, everybody's on edge. You don't leave your home. When the students go on riots because they're protesting something and things get out of hand, you're turning off the lights in your home and sort of huddled together, trying to make sure that you stay together as a family until everything passes over. So that was also something that I grew up around and experiencing. KORI: And then my parents are from Sierra Leone. Sierra Leone is actually my home country. If you ask me where I'm from, I will tell you I was born in Canada, grew up in Nigeria, but I'm from Sierra Leone. Because in my culture, you're where your father's from. So my entire identity has always been that I am from Sierra Leone. In the '90s, Sierra Leone began to experience a very brutal civil war, which calling it a civil war is actually inaccurate. You have a bunch of people with weapons who terrorize the population for 11 years. And it's been one of the most brutal wars that the world has seen at least in recent times. And that impacted my family in the sense that we lost people, in the sense that I hadn't been back to Sierra Leone for a long time. And it kind of started with my mom not feeling it was safe enough for us to go and visit, with grandparents living on the run and being sick and dying and me not seeing them in a long time because of just this state of chaos. KORI: And all of this fueled how I ended up going to law school, wanting to do human rights work, wanting to be a human rights lawyer, feeling as if I learned so much about the American system and the role that the legal profession played in terms of maintaining democracy and freedom and wanting to multiply that. Right. But then I go to law school. I graduate. I fall in love with a boy who I actually started dating in college, and I ended up in Kansas City because I followed a boy. You know, career took a different turn, ended up being a defense lawyer. And then you fast forward to doing an evaluation and me going through a process of saying, okay, I've done a lot of the things I wanted to do. I've achieved a lot of the things I wanted to achieve. I wanted to try cases. I wanted to build this reputation. I wanted to be successful in A, B, C, D. KORI: And I started taking inventory of the things I was passionate about, the skills I developed, the experiences I had and where I was losing time. You know, where was I given my time in community? What were the things that I could lose myself doing in such deep flow that I don't even recognize that time has gone by? And that journey ended up leading me to inclusion and diversity work and I haven't turned back since. There's some aspects of the legal profession I miss. I miss trying cases. I miss solving problems for clients. It may sound like the weirdest thing, but boy, playing around with evidence, rules, and figuring out how to get things in or keep things out is a nerdy love of mine. And so those are just some of the experiences that I would say led me to this love for helping people build bridges and I'm empower people to succeed despite the challenges, and being able to create just a level of cultural fluency amongst groups of people so that we understand how much better we are together as opposed to isolated from one another. So that's a long answer. BREE: Well, what an amazing life you've had to date and an incredible background that informs your work at a depth that I know Chris and I can't even begin to imagine. CHRIS: For sure. Kori, how long have you been more squarely centered on the inclusion and diversity side of things? KORI: I have been for 11 years now full-time diversity. What I realized, you know, somebody asked me a question similar to this, how long have you been doing diversity work, which is different from what I usually hear. I actually did the inventory and realized that, you know, 29 years ago, when I first came to the U.S., that was when I actually started doing presentations. At the time, we called them multiculturalism. We started doing presentations on bridging differences, on being able to understand different cultures and how you navigate it. And so I've been actually teaching on diversity, inclusion, cultural fluency leadership topics now for 29, 30 years. But it being my full-time job, that happened when I left litigation and moved over to Shook, Hardy & Bacon. CHRIS: Okay. I think a good point to maybe start the conversation is, you know, again, your perspective is so unique and informed. For diverse members of the profession, can you talk to our listeners about some of the more challenging aspects of the last couple of years? KORI: Yeah. So the last couple of years have been tough for everyone. This pandemic, it's been brutal and it's impacted us in so many different ways. We've lost our sense of certainty to the extent that we didn't had any. We've lost our ability to have some kind of predictability, something that is a core need, a core need for many of us. Well, not for many of us, for everyone. It's actually a core human need. And so we've been sort of thrown into this whirlwind of uncertainty with no deadline, right? We went from thinking, well, I'll speak for myself. You know, since I'm not a scientist, I foolishly thought, well, maybe in two weeks I'll go back to the office. And then it was a month. And then I thought six weeks. And then I thought for sure by summer 2020 we'd be able to go out and about and things would be quasi under control. And here we are, you know, some 28, 29 months later and we still have COVID. I'm sick right now recovering from COVID after avoiding it for almost 30 months, I get it. KORI: So you have that benchmark that is impacting everyone and the uncertainty that we've seen with everything going on around us. But as with everything, I think people from historically underrepresented and marginalized groups, what happens is the things that... There's this saying that the things, and I'm going to probably say it wrong. And it may be an African American saying, but it's this thing that what gives some people a cold will give others the flu. And so what you've seen then is populations that have been historically marginalized and underrepresented and haven't had access to full equity, had been impacted very differently by the same storm that we're all in. So we're all in the same storm, but we're not in the same boat. We're experiencing it differently. So communities of color, we know got hit by COVID much harder. KORI: And you have that intersection between race, between housing inequity, between education inequity, between healthcare inequity and healthcare access, all of those things coming together to adversely impact some groups more. So if you are someone who is Brown or Black, or from one of these historically marginalized communities, and you are going to work during the pandemic, or you're working from home, you are more likely to have family members who have been directly impacted by COVID, right? You are more likely to have lost family members. You also, generally speaking are more likely to be in a position where you are in an extended family situation where you are responsible for more people than just yourself. You know, one of the things that we know, for example, that impacts generational wealth is that those of us from communities of color oftentimes are responsible not just for ourselves, but for extended family members. KORI: So you have that dynamic playing, then you have the racial pandemic, which has been going on, but in the last two years have come to fevered pitch. And so the daily trauma of dealing with racism and microaggressions then gets compounded by all the incidents, George Floyd, Charles Cooper, and all the other incidents that have been bombarding us from our television screens, from the news reports, from articles. And so now all of a sudden everything is right in your face and you're dealing with all of it at the same time. And so those are some of the things that are professionals from "diverse communities," from underrepresented marginalized communities have been dealing with. And our reserves have been tapped into and overstretched to where for some of us, it feels like it's been just too much. BREE: Absolutely. It's unimaginable just how much to carry on in that space. All of the things that you just described, this litany of horrors is on top of just the day-to-day difficulty as been expressed to me, and reading in my friends of people of color, just the microaggressions and just how hard it is. Just take away pandemic and everything else and the racial reckoning, how hard it can be just to get through the day. I can't even imagine. It is absolutely just too, too much. Kori, there's so much to unpack here. I wanted to kind of pushing us along here talking about diversity, equity, and inclusion and talking about belonging and overlaying that. I mean, when I started looking in the legal profession, we talk about DEI, it was diversity then DEI, and now we're getting into some of the really, to me, needy and interesting stuff around belonging. I know that you created a belonging project at Seyfarth. Could you talk to us about the importance of that, and also about this project that you got started at Seyfarth? KORI: Sure. Let me separate them out. Belonging is a conversation that more and more of us are having, and it is fairly new to the conversation when you're talking about diversity and inclusion. It started with we talked about diversity, and then we started talking about diversity and inclusion, and now we've included equity and belonging. Belonging goes to that sense, that feeling that each of us have when we belong and we feel like we are part of a group and that we belong to something that is bigger than us. It is also a core human need. Brené Brown has this phrase that she says that we have three irreducible needs, and they are to be loved, to connect, and to belong. What we know from the research is that when we don't have belonging, it impacts us. It is wired into our DNA to belong to something. KORI: So we will either have healthy belonging, or we will seek a belonging that may not be healthy and may not be good. This is where you can queue in hate groups and cult because they will do anything to belong. We will also conform to fit in so that we have a quasi sense of belonging. The problem though is that when we don't have belonging, we actually see physiological, physical, spiritual, mental, psychological impact on our wellbeing. It impacts our sense of health. Forget our sense of health. It actually impacts our health, right? We know that exclusion and the lack of belonging actually results in increased depression, increased high blood pressure, increased diabetes. Incidentally, a lot of the same things that racial trauma and microaggressions also causes on the human body. And so if we don't have that sense of belonging, then we are not able to actually actualize that sense of inclusion where everyone is able to be leveraged and their differences and their strengths leveraged so that they can succeed as they want to succeed. KORI: And without belonging, you don't get wellbeing. But conversely, without wellbeing, you can't cultivate that sense of belonging. And so those two things are intertwined as well as this concept of engagement, which also is in the mix, right? You can't create engagement unless you have social connection and belonging. And so all of these things come together. Unfortunately, in many of our organizations, they're treated as separate, right? In many organizations, you have the wellbeing function being managed in a way that it doesn't speak to diversity, doesn't speak to belonging at all. So imagine now we just talked about COVID and we talked about how COVID has impacted everyone. Then imagine you're developing a wellness initiative or a wellbeing initiative and you're not stopping to think, oh, wait a minute, because of diversity, this pandemic has impacted people in different ways. KORI: And so I can't just trot out a wellbeing program without factoring in diversity and how diversity has resulted in different people experiencing this pandemic differently. Similarly, we fail when we try to, for example, have a wellbeing initiative that doesn't stop and think, oh, wow, we're not talking about racial trauma. We're not talking about microaggressions. We're not talking about the impact of implicit bias and exclusion on the psychological and physical wellbeing of the people in our organization. And so what's happening is these concepts are tied together, but in our organizations and most of our organizations, we're not doing DEI and incorporating wellbeing and we're not doing wellbeing incorporating DEIB. Instead, we're acting as if they're completely separate and they're not. CHRIS: I mean, I think it goes without saying, we, I think as human beings, sometimes we compartmentalize of there's this and then there's that. I think that from the infancy of the institute, I think we've emphasized the importance of diversity, equity, and inclusion as part of, has to flow through everything, every lens that we look at from the wellbeing perspective. But I have to admit, it's been more challenging than I think, than we've appreciated because sometimes we look a little bit myopically at some of these issues without broadening our lens. That's the perspective that I think that you can bring our listeners that, again, this intersection of diversity, equity, inclusion, belonging with wellbeing, I guess I'd be curious on just, how can we merge? Right? Because again, even the fact that there's organizations that work over here and organizations that work over here, and we really should be just the coalition and the umbrella and the totality of how it all works together is something that I don't know that we appreciate the magnitude of. KORI: Well, and the only way we can appreciate the magnitude is if we have these honest conversations. But we also have to have the conversations around the structural and the cultural underpinnings, right? How do we have conversations about wellbeing that take into consideration differences? That take into consideration, okay, we're telling people, hey, we have therapy or we have EAP, or we have whatever the organization offers. But how do you do that and also acknowledge that for some communities that there is a stigma around maybe going to a therapist? How do you have that conversation with those communities? Or that racial bias and racial aggressions are having an impact on people, but you have an entire generation of Black people, for example, who have survived by plowing through all the challenges that the world has put in front of us. And to sit down and talk about the way in which racism has impacted us is asking us to put our shields down, which means opening up ourselves to attack, which means possibly being accused of playing the race card. Right? KORI: All of things that you may have grown up in a time where we just didn't talk about that in mixed company, we only talked about that with each other. And so there are all these layers, all these layers. I recently listened to a friend of mine, Ratu Basin, and she was talking about how it feels for her as someone of Indian heritage to see how much yoga, for example, has been whitewashed. There's so many conversations to be had even in the wellbeing space, even when we're talking to people about things like self-care. Well, what are you recommending? Because some of the things we tell people to do for self-care, go get a massage, who can afford that? What culture support that kind of self-care? And is that really self-care or is that treating a symptom? Should self-care and wellbeing be about a way of life and a way of working such that we don't need these emergency [inaudible 00:32:26] like solutions to fix the symptoms, right? KORI: And that's the big conversation and that's the conversation I'm hearing some lawyers begin to ask where they say, the organization says they care about wellbeing, but we're getting these other messages that say it's productivity and hours and billables that matter, right? How do we shift the culture and how we're embracing these topics in a way that makes it more meaningful? I just realized, I didn't even answer your second question about the belonging project, but yeah, this is the stuff that to me, I see a lot of potential for us to have really good conversations that can lead to solutions that are more inclusive of a diverse profession. BREE: Kori, you're clearly such a thought leader and a visionary in this space. Can you talk a little bit about how do we get change to occur in a profession, the legal profession that is so reluctant to change? Even more so than general society. Where do you see the bright points of really being able to make some change? KORI: Can you repeat that question? BREE: Yeah. Just about how do we get change to occur in the legal profession? You know, this is a profession that is just so stayed and slow and bound up in tradition. This is the way we do it, that sort of thing. And here you are with these fabulous ideas, working with a very large law firm, having come from another very large law firm so you're in this space. What are your ideas for actually getting real change to occur? Where are the pressure points, I guess? KORI: Well, I think some of the pressure points are actually external. You asked me a question earlier about the last two years, something that I didn't mention that has impacted a lot. It's impacting individuals from underrepresented groups, but it's also impacting our organizations. Is this fake cultural war that is also going on, you know, regardless of what political party you're in, I think we can acknowledge that for the last six years, there has been an attack on everything that we are trying to accomplish in diversity and inclusion. White is now Black, Black is now white. And if we are in a state of being, for example, where I'll use Florida as an example where someone can say, we want to ban any training if it makes someone uncomfortable. What you're essentially saying is let's keep the status quo the way it is, even if the status quo supports white supremacy. KORI: Even if the status quo is inequitable. You would rather keep the status quo than have an uncomfortable conversation. When it comes to the legal profession, in particular, law firms, because of how we are constructed. A law firm essentially has multiple owners. It's not like a corporation that has a board of directors and has shareholders. Let's say you have a law firm of a thousand people and 300 of them are partners. You have 300 people running around who think that everybody should have an equal say in every single decision. It's one of the reasons that law firms function so differently from other companies and why decision making is so different. Everything we do is different. You know, we put people in leadership positions not because they're leaders, but because they're great trial attorneys or they're great business generators or whatever, whatever the criteria is, but rarely is it because someone actually is a good leader. KORI: And so we have this culture that we have built that really makes it difficult for us to have real hard conversations on the things that really matter, on the things that really can make change. So imagine that law firm now sitting in the last six years and even more so in the last three years. I can tell you when it comes to diversity, inclusion, many of us are throwing our hands up and saying, so how in the hell are we supposed to have this conversation then? If you're saying, oh, we can't talk about white privilege because someone says, oh, that offends me. Or we can't talk about systemic racism because someone's going to say, oh, wait a minute, if you say systemic racism is real, then that's anti-American. So we are living in a time where the terms racism, the terms CRT have been completely redefined to where they mean nothing that even resembles what they actually mean. KORI: And then we're over here arguing about these fictitious decisions, these fictitious definitions, and we're not actually doing the hard work that needs to be done, right. Because if you won't even acknowledge that systemic racism is real, then how do we evaluate the systems to see where we may be having inequitable results and then changing those systems? Because if you deny a thing exists, then we can't even address it. BREE: Absolutely. KORI: And so that's probably one of the biggest challenges I see, but also the biggest opportunity. And if anything is going to change when it comes to diversity, we have got to get more courageous about having difficult conversations, but conversations that are worthwhile, they are important. Nothing about creating equity is comfortable and cozy and touchy-feely, it's hard work. It requires us to say some things that we maybe may not have faced before, but we don't get to change what we won't face, what we won't acknowledge, and what we won't be honest about. It's like, you can't write a new end into the story if you won't acknowledge the truth of the story. That's the whirlwind that I think we are in now, not just as a profession, but as a country and a society. BREE: Absolutely. What an incredibly difficult place to be? Yeah, go ahead, Chris. CHRIS: Well, I was just going to say, I want to unpack that more. Let's do this. Let's take a quick break and come back because I mean, my burning question and Kori began to sort of thinking about it, which is what's the pathway to better, more productive, honest conversations, right? Because I think that you're right. The question is, how do we create the environments for ultimately that societal discussion to occur in the most productive way? So let's take a quick break and we'll come right back. — ADVERTISEMENT: Meet VERA, your firm's Virtual Ethics Risk Assessment Guide developed by ALPS. VERA's purpose is to help you uncover risk management blind spots from client intake to calendaring, to cybersecurity, and more. VERA: I require only your honest input to my short series of questions. I will offer you a summary of recommendations to provide course corrections if needed, and to keep your firm on the right path. Generous and discreet, VERA is a free and anonymous risk management guide from ALPS to help firms like yours be their best. Visit VERA at alpsinsurance.com/vera.   — CHRIS: Okay. We are back with Kori Carew, our esteemed guests and the chief inclusion and diversity officer at Seyfarth Shaw. Kori, we were just getting into the, I think the discussion. I feel like we're going deeper than even I had thought we would in the conversation, which I love. You know, as we think now about we need to have the honest conversations, right. And so I would just be curious on your opinion as what's the pathway to get there. If we appreciate that there's a lot of noise and the volume levels are high, and there's a lot of yelling, frankly, on both sides of the equation. What's the pathway toward problem solving, thoughtful discussion, intentional discussion that ultimately advances the dialogue? KORI: Thank you very much for that question. Honestly, it's one I've been thinking a lot about. You know, I did do a TEDx in 2017 and the impetus for that TED really was that question that you just asked, which was, there's a lot of yelling and not enough dialogue that allows us to move into action. Since I gave that TED, I've sort of watched what's been going on in organizations and in the country. I don't think I would change anything about that TED, except that there are a few more things that I would emphasize. One of the first things that we have to do if we truly want to make progress, and I'm going to steal a Nigerian thing, tell the truth and shame the devil. We are avoiding being honest with ourself about so many things. Whether it is just being honest about the experiences people have in the organization, or being honest about where the gaps are, or being honest about what the failures are, or even individual honesty. KORI: That self-awareness to say, you know Kori, you talk a lot about wellbeing and you talk a lot about leadership, but the reason you talk about those things is because you were searching for something that you did not have in the leaders that you grew up under, right? So you were trying to create something for others that you didn't have, but you are also trying to create it for yourself. And there are many days that you totally suck. There are many days that you are making very bad wellbeing decisions. There are days that you are not as inclusive as you would want to be, but it's okay. And the only way you're going to get better is by acknowledging where you're not doing it right. Now, think about that when we're talking about gender or race or LGBT inclusion or disability inclusion. If we as individuals and we as organizations are not willing to be honest about our history, what has happened and what is happening, then we don't even have a starting point. KORI: And the way that we do that is very, very cliché. Getting comfortable with what is uncomfortable. I remember when I first started saying that, when I was at Shook, Hardy & Bacon and it wasn't even a thing many people were saying, and now people say it so often that it has lost its meaning. But it truly is the beginning point. And in too many of our organizations, we are shutting down any discussion or any movement in the name of trying to get consensus, or in trying to water things so much that they're meaningless, right? Or being so hyperworried about future possible hypothetical litigation that somebody may have over something that they don't like that they heard as opposed to possible litigation over people who do not feel like they are being treated equitably. You know, it's like we have to choose our heart. And so it's either the heart of sitting in the discomfort and learning things we may not want to learn, challenging ourselves, reaching deep to say, you know what? I don't really like that. KORI: When you talk to me about Christian privilege, this is a true story. Okay. True story. A [inaudible 00:46:22] of mine talked about Christian privilege. We're talking about something. She said, "Yeah, but there's also Christian privilege and people never talk about that." And can I admit to you that I was like, "Oh, is she for real? We're talking about racism and she's talking about Christian privilege." That was my initial reaction. But I sat with it. You know what? She was right. Because she was Pagan and I'm Christian. I've never had to use PTO for Christmas. My holidays are respected, they are recognized, they are centered, they are prioritized. But other people in this country who are not Christian do not have those privileges. Now that's a benign example because it's not one that makes people get as upset as some of the other topics. KORI: But the first step has to be a commitment to sit through the discomfort, sit through what may rub you wrong, and acknowledge that just because something is uncomfortable or just because something offends you does not mean the thing is wrong or it is offensive. And in many of our organizations, we haven't even gotten past that first part. Then the next part has to be a commitment to learn more. We have to operationalize being able to say to each other, tell me more, and not just, oh, I didn't like that training, or I didn't like what I was learning. But to say to yourself internally, okay, I didn't like that. But rather than projecting how I'm feeling it in this moment, I'm going to put myself in the position of saying, tell me more, help me understand why that bothered you, help me understand why you feel that way. Because until we're willing to do that, we're not going to learn. KORI: And without knowledge, we have no opportunity for growth. Growth comes with new knowledge. Growth comes with practicing new skill sets. Growth comes with trying things that you haven't done before. But if you're more invested in protecting the status quo than you are fighting for change, then the status quo will always win. And the status quo right now, it's not working for a lot of people from a lot of underrepresented and marginalized communities. Those are some of the things that have to happen. Oh, Chris, something else I want to add. Both sides. We got to talk about this both sides thing. Not every opinion and argument is equal, and that's something else that we're not willing to address head on. We've allowed inclusion to be so redefined that some people think it means anything and everything is of equal footing, right. KORI: But someone saying in the workplace, we need to be more inclusive of people with disabilities is not the same as someone saying, I don't think disabled people should have to work here. And sometimes what is crouching in is people want to hide behind inclusion to spew hate or bigotry or an excuse not to make the change and growth that is consistent with the so-called values of our organizations. I'll pause there because you're about [inaudible 00:50:05]. BREE: Yeah. I just want to comment to our listeners Kori's TED Talk, just in your browser, put in Kori Carew and TED Talk. I really encourage people to check it out. It is powerful and profound. So Kori, I'm going to ask you a question here that we also tend to ask this sometimes near the end, if you could look for, I don't know, five years or even a decade. If we can do a decent job around changing hearts and minds and attitudes around diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging and wellbeing too, hopefully, how would the profession be different? What do you want to see? KORI: My goodness, my goodness, my goodness. Excuse me. That cough came up. If we could actually accomplish all these things that we've been talking about for 20 years, we would see leadership teams that are more humble in their approach, leadership teams that are people-centric, organizations that are listening to employees and actually care about what employees want. We would no longer be having conversations as if it's either you focus on the bottom line or you focus on employee happiness. Like we will understand that without happy employees who are engaged and doing fulfilling and meaningful work, we actually don't have a great bottom line to talk about. Right? Our organizations would look like inclusion and wellbeing and belonging, it's just part of the business strategy. It's not this separate siloed thing. It's not this thing that we talk about when we are worried about how the woman or the gays may react. Right. KORI: But it's just something that is operationalized into our values, into our competencies, into how we evaluate people, into how we promote people, and that we are constantly in humility, learning from each other. Right. So that even when somebody who's a chief inclusion and diversity officer, here's a phrase and someone says, "Did you realize that that was ableist?" That I would say, "I didn't. Tell me more." And once you tell me more, I changed my language, because we understand that we're always going to be moving. We're always going to be learning something new and there's always an opportunity to be better. And if we do that, we will also see different representation at all levels. We will actually have critical mass of diversity in our organizations. And then I would be unemployed. CHRIS: I was going to wrap up with this though, Kori, like if I was to serve up to you 500 managing partners, that were, again, I think one of the things that you've already mentioned is every individual in an organization is either additive or perhaps distracts from the culture that you're ultimately trying to create. A lot of the wellbeing discussion is about connecting and emphasizing wellbeing with decision makers and those who set the tone of organizations. And so my question to you is this, if I served up 500 managing partners of all sizes of firms around the country and they came and Kori was the keynote, what would be your message to them? KORI: My message to them would be that they are ridiculously in charge, that things happen in their organizations because they allow it, or they create it. And that by choosing to focus a hundred percent on their inclusive leadership skills and up in their ability to interrupt bias, to be culturally fluent, they could transform their organizations because where the leader goes, everyone else follows. BREE: Right. CHRIS: That's great. That's awesome. Well, again, Kori, you have certainly cultivated my curiosity, which I know is one of the things that you strongly advocate for. Couldn't be prouder to have you on the podcast and the sharing of your perspective. We got to get you more platforms for you to be able to shout loudly about these particular issues, because again, we got a lot of work to do, right. We know that there's a lot to be done in terms of realizing the potential of this profession, to realizing the potential of historically underrepresented and marginalized lawyers within our profession. Bree, I think that we all would agree that even as we pursue our wellbeing mission, that so much more has to be done on the diversity, equity, and inclusion perspective that integrates in the intersection there between those two that lanes need to merge in a much more substantive way. KORI: Thank you. CHRIS: Thank you, Kori. KORI: I appreciate it. I appreciate you having me. I appreciate you allowing Justin to come and hold my hand because she's my blinky today. I appreciate you inviting us to talk about what we're doing at Seyfarth and just my perspective as an individual separate from Seyfarth. Again, I've said this before, the work you're doing is so critically important. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you for everything that you do to promote wellbeing in the profession. So important. CHRIS: Awesome. Well, again, thanks for joining us. We will be back with the podcast probably in a couple weeks with our executive director, Jennifer DiSanza, which we are so excited to be having her join us as we talk about the future of where this movement is going. Thanks again, Kori. And to all our friends out there, we will be back in a couple weeks.

This is Garrison Hardie with your CrossPolitic Daily News Brief for Wednesday, August 10th, 2022. We’ve got some crazy news to get to today, so let’s dive right in… https://www.politico.com/news/2022/08/08/trump-fbi-maralago-search-00050442 Trump's Mar-a-Lago home searched by FBI in unprecedented move The FBI executed a search warrant at the Mar-a-Lago estate of former President Donald Trump on Monday as part of an investigation into the alleged mishandling of White House records, including potentially classified material, according to two people familiar with the matter. The Florida raid, which one of the people said took “hours,” resulted in the seizure of paper records, according to one person familiar with the development, who also noted that Trump attorney Christina Bobb was present during the search. It was a historic step by the Justice Department and FBI to investigate the residence of a former president, who is battling an increasingly complex thicket of legal threats. No former president — particularly one who is openly considering another bid for the Oval Office — has faced such a public law enforcement action, which immediately led to calls among his allies for recriminations and even the elimination of federal law enforcement agencies. “They even broke into my safe,” Trump himself said in a lengthy statement decrying the FBI search and comparing it to Watergate. Trump, who was the first to confirm the FBI action, said in a statement that his resort was “under siege, raided, and occupied by a large group of FBI agents.” “After working and cooperating with the relevant Government agencies, this unannounced raid on my home was not necessary or appropriate,” Trump said. The former president was not present at Mar-a-Lago. Instead, he was at Trump Tower in New York City, according to a person familiar with the situation. His son Eric Trump informed him of the raid. The FBI and the U.S. attorney’s offices in Washington didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment. Spokespeople at Justice Department headquarters in Washington declined to comment. The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Florida, the Secret Service and the Palm Beach Police Department deferred comment to the FBI. Two sources familiar with the matter said top Biden White House officials were not given advance notice of the raid, which could potentially alter the course of both the upcoming midterms and an eventual Trump-Biden rematch in 2024. Though the investigation of Trump’s handling of presidential records has been percolating for months, it has largely remained in the background while the Jan. 6 select committee built a case that Trump committed crimes to disrupt the transition of power after his defeat in the 2020 election. The National Archives and Records Administration had confirmed in February that it had sought to recover 15 boxes of records from Mar-a-Lago that it deemed improperly removed, including some marked as “classified national security information.” The Archives confirmed at the time that it had been in touch with the Justice Department about the recovered documents. At the time, the Archives said it had had “ongoing communications” with Trump’s team about recovering missing presidential records. The Archives also indicated that it was working to recover un-archived social media messages and that it had evidence that Trump tore up and destroyed some papers, not all of which were recovered. The Archives also confirmed in December that it was reviewing whether Trump chief of staff Mark Meadows had properly stored records from his personal phone and email accounts. That investigation has also become an increasingly public threat to Trump, with some of his top allies and former White House officials facing grand jury subpoenas and FBI searches. Earlier in the day, the Justice Department defended its decision to seize the cellphone of John Eastman, the attorney who helped devise Trump’s strategy to seize a second term he didn’t win. Federal investigators have pursued evidence that Trump’s administration mishandled presidential records and even removed some boxes to Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort. An executed search warrant would require the signoff of a federal judge or magistrate, who would issue the warrant based upon evidence of a potential crime. The law enforcement moves at Trump’s residence came as lawyers and other observers have been bracing for action this month in politically sensitive Justice Department investigations as prosecutors approach a traditional quiet period for such probes in the lead-up to elections. Unbelievable… before I get to my next story: Club Membership Plug: Let’s stop and take a moment to talk about Fight Laugh Feast Club membership. By joining the Fight Laugh Feast Army, not only will you be aiding in our fight to take down secular & legacy media; but you’ll also get access to content placed in our Club Portal, such as past shows, all of our conference talks, and EXCLUSIVE content for club members that you won’t be able to find anywhere else. Lastly, you’ll also get discounts for our conferences… so if you’ve got $10 bucks a month to kick over our way, you can sign up now at flfnetwork.com https://www.theepochtimes.com/irs-stockpiles-more-than-5-million-rounds-of-ammunition_4636607.html?welcomeuser=1 IRS Stockpiles More Than 5 Million Rounds of Ammunition Apparently, the IRS needs a little firepower to help with those audits. The IRS has stockpiled five million rounds of ammunition and spent $725,000 on bullets this year, according to Florida Congressman Matt Gaetz, who has introduced a bill to block future ammunition purchases by the agency. The Republican lawmaker announced his sponsorship of the Disarm the IRS Act in a July press release. The bill would ban the IRS from acquiring ammunition through direct purchase or otherwise. The bill awaits a potential vote in the House Ways and Means Committee. The issue drew national attention after Gaetz appeared on Fox News’ Jesse Waters Primetime last week, saying that the IRS had spent $750,000 in 2022 alone on ammunition. “Call me old-fashioned, but I thought the heaviest artillery an IRS agent would need would be a calculator, not $725,000 worth of ammunition,” Gaetz said during his appearance on Fox News. While people may not think of the IRS needing weapons and ammunition, it has a criminal investigation division with armed law enforcement to pursue tax felons. A 2018 report from the Government Accountability Office said the IRS’s Criminal Investigation Division had 2,148 law enforcement officers, 4,461 weapons—including 15 fully automatic firearms—and 5.05 million rounds of ammunition. According to the Officer Down Memorial Page, four officers with the IRS have died since 1989 from medical conditions or accidents. None was firearm related. But the IRS isn’t the only governmental agency building up massive caches of guns and bullets. OpenTheBooks.com, a nonprofit government watchdog group, released a report called “The militarization of the U.S. Executive Agencies” in December 2020, detailing how agencies that people wouldn’t normally associate with law enforcement were stockpiling weapons and ammunition. The Environmental Protection Agency owns 600 guns. At the same time, special agents at the National Aeronautics and Space Administration are equipped with machine guns and AR15s. Even the Smithsonian Institution employed 620-armed “special agents,” up from zero officers in 2008, according to the report. Adam Andrzejewski, CEO & founder of OpenTheBooks.com, told The Epoch Times via email that the public should question why these agencies are armed to the teeth. Not only do they wield legal power, but they are also amassing firepower. “Just who are the federal agencies preparing to battle?” Andrzejewski wrote. Andrzejewski said there is no public purpose for rank and file, paper-pushing federal agencies to load up on guns, ammunition, and military-style equipment. “Our data shows that the federal government has become a gun show that never adjourns. Taxpayers need to tell Washington that police powers belong primarily to cities and states, not the feds,” he stated. Armored Republic The Mission of Armored Republic is to Honor Christ by equipping Free Men with Tools of Liberty necessary to preserve God-given rights. In the Armored Republic there is no King but Christ. We are Free Craftsmen. Body Armor is a Tool of Liberty. We create Tools of Liberty. Free men must remain ever vigilant against tyranny wherever it appears. God has given us the tools of liberty needed to defend the rights He bestowed to us. Armored Republic is honored to offer you those Tools. Visit them, at ar500armor.com https://hotair.com/jazz-shaw/2022/08/08/the-media-begins-to-notice-that-were-running-out-of-cops-n488242 The media begins to notice that we're running out of cops Let’s say there’s a violent intruder at your door or someone is breaking into your house in the middle of the night. Who ya gonna call? Assuming that you don’t have the number for the Ghostbusters, you’ll probably dial 911. But in a number of cities, the odds that anyone will be available to respond quickly enough to save you have been dropping. The problem has grown serious enough that even the Associated Press has been forced to cover the story. They begin with an interview with George Spaulding of Portland, Oregon. Five years ago, his son Brian was shot to death in his apartment. Though George checks in with the detective assigned to the case frequently, the police say they still have no leads. But even George admits that the police are simply overwhelmed and they probably just don’t have the manpower to assign anyone to really work the case full time. And it’s not just Portland where this is happening. Response times to emergency calls are rising and the number of criminal cases being closed are falling in many cities. From Philadelphia to Portland to Los Angeles, killings and gun violence are rising at the same time officers worn out by the pandemic and disillusioned over the calls to divest from policing that followed George Floyd’s murder are quitting or retiring faster than they can be replaced. Departments are scrambling to recruit in a tight labor market and also rethinking what services they can provide and what role police should play in their communities. Many have shifted veteran officers to patrol, breaking up specialized teams built over decades in order to keep up with 911 calls. If you read through that entire report, the AP cites statistics and provides quotes from various officials in five cities. Take a look at this list of names and see if you notice anything in common. Portland, Seattle, Los Angeles, Philadelphia, and Baltimore are all cited. It should come as no surprise to most of our readers that these are all cities that were subjected to violent BLM riots during the Summer of Love and all of them later attempted to “defund the police” in various ways. Now crime rates are up in each of those cities, particularly violent crime rates. Response times are up and case closure rates are down. The police forces in each of those cities have been depleted and they are struggling to find qualified recruits to replace the officers who have left. (Along with the officers who were killed or too seriously wounded to return to duty in some cases.) Is there any honest person who is having trouble connecting the dots here? The Associated Press gamely quotes one professor from the Crime and Justice Policy Lab at the University of Pennsylvania. He claims that you can’t blame the protests and the defunding movement because “crime is up in many areas,” even where those things didn’t happen. That much may be true, but it’s definitely a lot worse in the cities on this list. How can anyone continue to deny this? Today, we’re hearing complaints from disgruntled and frightened citizens. That’s understandable. But we should also remember that many of those complaining the loudest also helped elect the municipal officials who put all of these policies in place to begin with and bent to the will of the mob. Now they are reaping what they have themselves sown. If you don’t like what’s going on in the streets, take some responsibility yourself and work to put new people in charge who will deal with the situation in a serious fashion. Once you do that, you just might be able to convince some new aspiring law enforcement officers to come to work in your cities. Well, let’s shift our eyes over seas now. Did you know that China, is one of the freest countries in the world?! Nancy Pelosi: “China Is One Of The Freest Societies In The World…” - Play Video https://thepostmillennial.com/watch-pelosi-says-china-one-of-the-freest-societies-in-the-world?utm_campaign=64487 Pelosi says China 'one of the freest societies in the world' She cited Freedom House as a source, but Freedom House, however, does not list China as a free country, calling its government an "authoritarian regime" that has "become increasingly repressive in recent years." Freedom House writes: "The ruling Chinese Communist Party (CCP) continues to tighten control over all aspects of life and governance, including the state bureaucracy, the media, online speech, religious practice, universities, businesses, and civil society associations, and it has undermined an earlier series of modest rule-of-law reforms. The CCP leader and state president, Xi Jinping, has consolidated personal power to a degree not seen in China for decades." Freedom House considers the small island nation of Taiwan, however, to be "free," ranking 94/100 on its freedom scale. Perhaps this is what Pelosi was referring to, as she just returned from a trip to Taiwan. Pelosi's Taiwan trip was a huge issue for China, which took the opportunity to engage in a massive show of force over the island. The self-ruling island has faced increased threats of violence from the CCP in recent days following Pelosi's visit to there, to repeated condemnation by the communists. US officials have made clear, though that they do not support an independent Taiwan, despite comments from President Joe Biden that the US would "militarily defend" it. https://twitter.com/i/status/1554169482242916354 - Play Video That was John Kirby for those wondering. https://www.outkick.com/oklahoma-cale-gundy-didnt-want-resignation-football/ ‘VAST MAJORITY’ OF OKLAHOMA PLAYERS DIDN’T WANT CALE GUNDY TO RESIGN: REPORT Many members of the Oklahoma Sooners reportedly didn’t want Cale Gundy to leave the program. The longtime Sooners assistant resigned from his coaching position after he admitted to reading a “shameful and hurtful” unknown word off a players iPad during a film session. He announced his resignation late Sunday night after more than two decades as a coach with the program. Despite his resignation, it sounds like many members of the team didn’t want him to leave. Gabe Ikard reported “the vast majority” of players on the roster didn’t want Gundy to leave. However, it sounds like they couldn’t sway his mind. After more than two decades as a coach with the Sooners and several seasons as a dominant QB in Norman, Gundy is gone because he read a player’s iPad during a film session. As Gundy claimed in his statement, they weren’t his words. He was reading a message on the iPad. ““I want to be very clear: the words I read aloud from that screen were not my words. What I said was not malicious; it wasn’t even intentional. Still, I am mature enough to know that the word I said was shameful and hurtful, no matter my intentions. The unfortunate reality is that someone in my position can cause harm without ever meaning to do so,” the former Oklahoma coach told fans in his resignation announcement. Overall, it seems like this situation spiraled out of control before most people even realized what happened, and that’s backed up by the fact most players didn’t want him to resign. What an incredibly bizarre and strange situation within the Oklahoma football program. This has been your CrossPolitic Daily News Brief… If you liked the show, share it. If you want to sign up for a club membership, for our conference with that club membership discount, or sign up for our magazine, head on over to fightlaughfeast.com. And as always, if you’d like to send me a news story, ask about our conference, or approach us about corporate partnership with CrossPolitic, you can email me at garrison@fightlaughfeast.com. For CrossPolitic News, I’m Garrison Hardie. Have a great day, and Lord bless

8.9.2022 #RolandMartinUnfiltered: Ill. Convictions Overturned,Illegal Voting Maps,Darius Cooks Petition Denied, Sesame Place Diversity They spent 174 years in prison because of alleged misconduct by a disgraced former Chicago police detective. Now the convictions of seven people have been overturned. Cook County State's Attorney Kim Foxx is here to tell us about these cases and how many more convictions could be thrown out.  Eight Minneapolis correctional officers of color agree to a $1.5M settlement for being prohibited from guarding the white cop who killed George Floyd.  Republican dram redistricting maps in four states were ruled to be illegal germanders. We'll talk to the  Senior Counsel, Brennan Center for Justice, to find out why they are still being used.  Good old Donald Trump once said only 'the mob' uses the Fifth Amendment. But that's exactly what he said he invoked during today's deposition with the New York attorney general. We'll take a look at last night's primary results.  It took a class action lawsuit alleging racial bias to get Sesame Place to implement new measures to expand its "diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts."  We'll tell you what those "measures" are.  She was accused of stalking an Atlanta social media cook. After five months of waiting, the judge said, Nah, she wasn't stalking anyone. We'll have an update on the Darius Cooks saga.  And in today's Tech Talk Segment, we'll show you an app that can help determine your hair type and the best products to use on your natural hair.    Support RolandMartinUnfiltered and #BlackStarNetwork via the Cash App ☛ https://cash.app/$rmunfiltered PayPal ☛ https://www.paypal.me/rmartinunfiltered Venmo ☛https://venmo.com/rmunfiltered Zelle ☛ roland@rolandsmartin.com Annual or monthly recurring #BringTheFunk Fan Club membership via paypal ☛ https://rolandsmartin.com/rmu-paypal/ Download the #BlackStarNetwork app on iOS, AppleTV, Android, Android TV, Roku, FireTV, SamsungTV and XBox

I was intentional about not speaking about The Slap but here we are months later, and the slap is still "traumatizing people" while the overturning of Roe V Wade has not even blipped their radar!It's not a secret that we are a culture that is celebrity obsessed but when many people are loud about a slap between two grown men and silent about the taking away of the fundamental rights of women to choose what happens to their body, then Houston we have a problem!Two issues that seems unrelated, but to me is a blatant look at the priorities of our culture, the things the news cycle deems important and the bombard us with so that we can be distracted from what is happening and what we should not only be outraged about but marching for!If you enjoy the Sit Down with Suzanne podcast, please consider supporting the show by buying me a coffee at https://www.buymeacoffee.com/PositivelySuzie.  I love to hear from you for please consider writing a review on whatever platform you listened on or send me an email at suzanne@positivelysuzanne.com. Follow me on Instagram @positivelysuzanne to keep up with the latest news and upcoming events for the Positively Suzanne brand and the Sit Down With Suzanne podcast. Support the show

Ron Sweeney, entertainment attorney, manager, consultant, and former record executive. He may be the biggest music industry legend you've never heard of. Named one of the top music lawyers by Billboard Magazine on multiple occasions, Ron has done major deals for artists like James Brown, Eazy-E, Sean "Puffy" Combs, and Lil Wayne. As a senior executive with Sony, Ron controlled a $70 million A&R budget and was directly responsible for signing several platinum and gold-selling acts. Ron is driven by his strong belief that creative people should own what they create. In the wake of George Floyd's murder, Ron helped to bring about meaningful change in an industry that has exploited people of color since its beginning. 

The Portland Art Museum is featuring works of six BIPOC photographers made during the racial justice protests sparked by the murder of George Floyd in 2020. The photos in the "Perspectives" exhibit seek to elevate the stories of people of color, both in the background of the protests but also in the context of how those in BIPOC communities continue to be affected by the coronavirus pandemic. We talk with photographers Daveed Jacobo and Linneas Boland-Godbey to hear more about their experiences and their work.

Holyoke Media, en asociación con WHMP radio, emiten diariamente la Síntesis informativa en español a través del 101.5 FM y en el 1240 / 1400 AM. Esta es la síntesis informativa del martes 9 de agosto de 2022: - Un padre blanco y su hijo que persiguieron, acosaron y mataron a Ahmaud Arbery en un vecindario de Georgia recibieron cada uno una segunda cadena perpetua el lunes, por cometer delitos federales de odio, meses después de recibir la primera por asesinato, en una audiencia que culminó con una sentencia de casi dos años de procesos penales. La jueza del Tribunal de Distrito de EEUU, Lisa Godbey Wood dictó las sentencias contra Travis McMichael, de 36 años, y su padre, Greg McMichael, de 66, reiterando la gravedad del asesinato de febrero de 2020 que destrozó a su comunidad de Brunswick. William “Roddie” Bryan, de 52 años, quien grabó un video del asesinato con un teléfono celular, fue sentenciado a 35 años de prisión. “Un joven está muerto. Ahmaud Arbery tendrá 25 años para siempre. Y lo que sucedió, encontró un jurado, sucedió porque él es negro”, dijo Wood. Los McMichael fueron sentenciados previamente a cadena perpetua sin libertad condicional en un tribunal estatal por el asesinato de Arbery y le pidieron al juez que los desviara a una prisión federal para cumplir sus sentencias, diciendo que estaban preocupados por su seguridad en el sistema penitenciario estatal. Bryan había buscado cumplir su sentencia federal primero. Wood rechazó las tres solicitudes. Las sentencias impuestas el lunes pusieron fin al segundo juicio contra los hombres responsables del asesinato de Arbery, que junto con el asesinato de George Floyd en Minneapolis y el tiroteo fatal de Breonna Taylor en Kentucky alimentaron una ola de protestas en todo el país contra los asesinatos de personas desarmadas y personas de raza negra. FUENTE: AP Los preparativos están en marcha para el nuevo año escolar que comienza a finales de este mes de agosto. El Departamento de Educación Primaria y Secundaria, o DESE, realizó una reunión a puertas cerradas con los superintendentes el lunes por la tarde para atender los protocolos COVID-19 del próximo año escolar. El comisionado de DESE, Jeffrey Riley, dirigió la reunión. Duró aproximadamente media hora y abordó principalmente los protocolos de COVID-19 para el próximo año escolar. La conclusión principal es que la guía de COVID-19 de la primavera pasada será la guía que seguirá adelante en el otoño. Eso significa que el uso de mascaras es opcional. Los distritos escolares no están obligados a informar los casos de COVID-19 al DESE, y si los estudiantes o el personal dan positivo, pueden regresar a la escuela después de 5 días de cuarentena si no tienen síntomas. En mayo se anunció que el estado ya no suministrará pruebas rápidas de COVID-19 a los distritos escolares, por lo que se publicó más información sobre la compra de pruebas rápidas y máscaras a través de un contrato estatal. DESE monitoreará cualquier actualización de la guía del CDC, pero los funcionarios estatales no siempre están al día con ellos. Algo interesante de nota: la viruela del simio se abordó brevemente. El comisionado Riley dijo que cuando el Departamento de Salud Pública y el Departamento de Salud y Servicios Humanos de los EEUU publiquen una guía, seguirán su ejemplo con su propia guía. Funcionarios de DESE en un comunicado el lunes anterior dijeron que planean poner esta información a disposición del público en los próximos días. FUENTE: WESTERN MASS NEWS, HOLYOKE MEDIA

Reni Eddo-Lodge, the journalist, podcaster and author of essential book, Why I'm No Longer Talking to White People About Race, joins columnist, author and academic Gary Younge in conversation. As the murder of George Floyd and the emergence of the Black Lives Matter movement reverberated around the world in 2020, Eddo-Lodge's book, originally published in 2017, found new readers and topped bestseller lists in a world trying and make sense of a pivotal moment. The book is now available as an updated edition reflecting on some of those more recent events and the conversations that have followed over the past two years. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

00:00.00 mikebledsoe Well I think we should record now then you got 2 Eight week puppies a week old puppies. Yeah, you don't seem much like ah. 00:01.45 Max Shank Yeah,, let's do it. Puppies are great. Yeah, ah. I don't seem like a dog owner at all. And in fact, so far I have not been. 00:13.52 mikebledsoe No. 00:19.17 mikebledsoe What did she do to you. 00:22.92 Max Shank Made me an offer I couldn't refuse I guess I mean it's it's funny. Um, we talk about basically on this show. We talk about benevolent selfishness not in so many words, but basically do as good for yourself as you can. Well doing good for other folks and I've never wanted to have the responsibility required but I love dogs. Someone brings a dog into the gym and I'll just play with it the whole time I'll completely ignore the people right? but. I don't know there's a really nice, beautiful connection between beings between a person and a dog and Lindsay my special lady friend. She ah she just fell in love with this dog right. And I watch the two of them together I'm like man I don't want to because Lindsay and I cohabitate so I don't want to stand in the way of that so I was like ah I guess you can have a dog and it can live at the house but outside basically and then. Within 1 trip. Um, it was put on the table like we should take her her brother also so a pair of dogs and that seemed really nice and i. Kind of started to question all the resistance I've had toward that because resistance is a funny thing. It's either the exact right thing and in fact, you should experience a lot of resistance toward stupid risky behavior ah like jumping off cliffs. With no safety equipment. It's not really a reward there. The resistance to do that is is a good thing. It's a safety mechanism but basically ah I thought it would be good to to shake things up a little bit might as well go to instead of one also is. My thanking. 02:32.35 mikebledsoe Yeah I think it's kind of like it's probably easier have 1 or 2 kids instead of 1 02:41.43 Max Shank It's like ah, an energy balancing thing I feel like um, it's ah, a boy and a girl puppy and of of course I'm a boy and my lady is a girl I shouldn't say of course I mean who knows I could be whatever I want to be but it's like ah it feels like a good. 02:55.73 mikebledsoe It's right can make it up anytime you want. 02:59.18 Max Shank Yin Yin and Yang balancing so husky pomeranian mutts they're adorable. They're the cutest dogs ever seen. Yeah, one of them is and 1 of them is not. 03:00.66 mikebledsoe Yeah I love that what kind dogs are these. 03:08.70 mikebledsoe Wow They probably are furry. 03:17.77 Max Shank It's they would don't even look like they're from the same litter. 03:18.69 mikebledsoe Ah, interesting. Yeah, we're looking to getting a dog I think we're gonna end up getting a pit. We want to get like a big tough dog and like a little tiny. Yeah and then I have like a little tiny Yipper you know. 03:22.26 Max Shank 1 1 03:28.67 Max Shank Ah, defense dog. 03:35.27 Max Shank like like fuck what's his partner's name like Lenny in of mice and men and then the little shorter smart guy kind of you know I'm talking about ah man it's like ah there are these 2 guy. 03:37.24 mikebledsoe So. 03:46.78 mikebledsoe Now. 03:54.39 Max Shank Someone and Lenny in of mice and men anyone who's read that book and remembers it is laughing right now because Lenny is this ah mentally challenged guy and then there's the who's huge and then there's the much smaller guy who basically. Calls all the shots and Lenny's like I like to pet rabbits and you know that kind of that kind of thing so you got the big. You got the big dog bringing the muscle and then you got the the smart dog. 04:13.33 mikebledsoe Right? Yeah, yeah, so. Exactly exactly we'll make it work. Yeah um I had an interesting weekend. The ah my my fiance and I did a little couple's Journey. So. 04:25.00 Max Shank Yeah. 04:38.14 Max Shank Oh. 04:40.88 mikebledsoe We took some special medicine. That's really good at opening the heart and creating more connection. So we had an all day experience together. Ah a variation variation which is. 04:46.47 Max Shank Is that mdma. 04:55.35 Max Shank Mdma is like hooking up your heart to an electrical socket. So. 05:01.45 mikebledsoe Ah, yeah I took ah a variation of that slightly different. Ah it's it's better for 1 on 1 connections or connection to self if you were to take it in a big group. You would kind of find yourself being a little more hermit versus mdma. 05:11.60 Max Shank Oh. 05:19.90 mikebledsoe Where you're going to want to you know, be friends and make love to everybody? Yeah, so um, it's yeah, but. 05:20.70 Max Shank Love everyone? Yeah right? What a horrible drug. What a horrific side effect you, you're gonna want to love everybody ban. It. 05:35.30 mikebledsoe Ah, it's really difficult not to love everybody? Um, but it's it's a really good experience for um, you know, even though Ashley and I have had an enormous amount of personal development work and and. Ah, communication work and all these things and and we're probably we're we're definitely in the the point zero one percent of couples on communication and yet even though we're there with sobriety. We use a substance a heart opening substance. And you know we just start digging into areas that we weren't willing to or you know I think I think that these these medicines are so um, things that are really working on the serotonin. You don't really There's there's a level of presence that you're able to stabilize for a period of time there where it allows you to get deep with somebody so beyond just the being really happy and loving There's also a heightened a much heightened level of of presence and so I got to learn a lot. Yeah, a lot of openness. So like. 06:33.91 Max Shank Oh. 06:42.95 Max Shank Sounds like openness to yeah. 06:49.50 mikebledsoe Like I'm open to hearing a prefer experience and she's open to sharing I'm open as open to listening. It's ah it's it goes both ways if 1 of us was using it the other unpleasant we wouldn't get nearly as far. Yeah. 06:51.50 Max Shank Right. 06:59.15 Max Shank Huh unless one of you was super enlightened and able to be very open on command I think that's that's why people say that comedians are modern day philosophers. Because that's ironically like None of the only people we listen to because you use humor and it drops a person's guard so it like opens them up in the here and now so they actually take it in rather than lecturing to someone where I don't know if you tried it, people don't love that they they close up. 07:21.81 mikebledsoe Yeah, so. 07:29.80 mikebledsoe Yeah now. 07:34.57 Max Shank Real quick and so that's kind of like a bit of a psychedelic experience for someone to ah catch you off guard with the surprise of humor so much that it rocks your balance off center and so you're like whoa and you just fully like take that. That bit of information in and you know this openness and boundaries thing makes me think about ah the openness to to welcome new lives into my home. It. Ah it feels already like a psychedelic. 07:53.64 mikebledsoe Um, yeah. 08:06.10 mikebledsoe And. 08:12.64 Max Shank I mean puppies are drugs Man are you kidding me now I'm like gonna love this thing Yo I'm like fucking rocking and rolling right now. It's insane. The fact that I've even accepted this I mean last week I would have never even considered it every time she asked I was like now I'm like I'm a. 08:12.94 mikebledsoe Oh yeah, you're gonna be high for at least six months you got it? yeah. 08:32.27 Max Shank I'm a cat I'm a cool cat I'm a fat cat I'm a fucking cat I don't want any other things around I don't want to love anything else. That's why I told her I was like I don't want to love anything else, but it can happen really fast and that openness right? So what you're saying. 08:41.16 mikebledsoe A Ah yeah. 08:51.30 Max Shank With the medicine which is ah an exogenous substance. Basically that's taking you to that level of openness that is required for let's just call it complete communication where there's no like. Coversion right? oh. 09:10.10 mikebledsoe About as complete as you're going to be able to get I mean if there's another more complete way I would love to be you know, be with that. But um, what we so fast. Well here's the thing is like I'm willing to share a lot of things. 09:20.62 Max Shank So fast too. 09:28.97 mikebledsoe Because I have some of the things I haven't shared up to this point because I'm afraid of how she'll receive. She'll receive it and when I'm having that experience and feeling this way I'm like well if she were to share if I were gonna were to share something that's triggering now's the time to do it because this't gonna be she. 09:33.90 Max Shank Ah. 09:42.40 Max Shank Wait till after you get married man. Forget it. 09:46.60 mikebledsoe Is when she's gonna be the most open. 09:51.39 mikebledsoe Ah, yeah, yeah, but yeah, so we had a nice time. It created a lot of closeness. Um and gave us like a really clear vision of where we're currently standing and where we want to go together and. 09:52.88 Max Shank Ah, just put it off till later. It'll be. It'll be fine. 10:00.45 Max Shank Yeah. 10:08.66 Max Shank Whom. 10:10.70 mikebledsoe Yeah, it was really really beautiful and I mentioned all this because it brought up because I know you and I like to have create distinction and we like to look at the juxtaposition of 2 things and the contrast of things and her and I both really care about. 10:29.40 Max Shank E f. 10:29.94 mikebledsoe People right? and we really care about helping people and being of service to people I know you are too and None of the the differentiating factors between how it expresses between her and me which I think expresses similarly amongst a lot of men and women. Is. She tends to really focus in on the individual like how do I how do I help this individual heal or how do I help this individual. You know, live out their best life and all that and whereas I'm much more concerned about humanity as a whole. 10:56.12 Max Shank Um. 11:02.77 Max Shank Move. 11:08.39 Max Shank Totally. 11:08.76 mikebledsoe How does how are how a society can benefit from how this person is behaving and so what's that what? well yeah, it's. 11:15.53 Max Shank I can relate I can relate. It's a bit grandiose isn't it I can absolutely relate the that desire ah for for like it's so exactly me too. It's a big difference of scope. 11:26.81 mikebledsoe Well well, that's where I'm making decisions from it's it's you know like I want to help this person but I'm not going to sacrifice the people around them in order for them to get what they need like they I want them to show up in a way that's good for everybody. Not just for themselves. 11:35.94 Max Shank Oh. 11:43.53 Max Shank Oh interesting I I took it to mean like she enjoys helping people 1 on one and you have this vision of being broadly beneficial to you know None or None or something like that. Oh. 11:58.39 mikebledsoe No, no yeah I think that's I think that's also true. Um, but yeah, my my desire to help there I used to have the desire to help millions of people and and I know I've touched maybe close to that I don't know. 12:03.20 Max Shank Misunderstood. 12:16.21 mikebledsoe Ah, with with some type of message. 12:18.77 Max Shank Depends if you count ricochets which I do and then and then like you've probably affected like a billion people right? I count ricochets. Ah. 12:23.10 mikebledsoe Totally totally Rick let's count Ricoche's here I'm going to keep that one. Yeah, ah. 12:31.23 Max Shank Ah, me too that was good that was like a little easter egg for us today. 12:37.11 mikebledsoe Yeah, so um, ah so I think that men and this isn't you know there are no absolutes here. But I think men in general probably think about humanity as a whole and and women think about the individual and that's probably why women are. Going to be much more compassionate to a single person having that's down on their luck versus a man who's more like you know we need to clean up the streets. You know we look at the we have ah a homeless population in Austin Texas which is um, improving. It's getting smaller because. 13:12.25 Max Shank Wow. 13:15.21 mikebledsoe The citizens of Austin got together and voted a little over a year ago to create a camping in the city ban. Um, because years ago the the city decided to make it where people could camp in the city which created. 13:29.17 Max Shank Yeah. 13:32.37 mikebledsoe Ah, tent you know several tent cities around town that were just insane and and there's still an issue but you know like we're in the car regularly and these people are on something that's causing them to scream at people that don't exist on the street while holding a sign to try to get. 13:33.78 Max Shank Um. 13:51.88 mikebledsoe You to hand them money and um, it's you know and she's like well you know can we help this one person and I'm looking around going. How do we clean this shit up because like you know how much how much do you give this person. 14:00.40 Max Shank Who. 14:11.52 mikebledsoe Over time. How much help do you give them before you say look We just gotta push you to the outskirts. We don't know what to do with you like you are your responsibility and you're causing problems for other people so where is that line where we're sacrificing the whole we're sacrificing you know. 14:18.54 Max Shank Yeah. 14:28.59 mikebledsoe Many individuals because 1 individual can't get their shit together and it's um so it's it's very interesting to me. Yeah, it's just an interesting place to be is because I I what I'm seeing is if I care about humanity then I have to. Ah. 14:31.95 Max Shank Totally. 14:47.89 mikebledsoe The the best place for human the thing that creates the best place for humanity as a whole is when if each each individual is taking on personal responsibility and so. 14:55.80 Max Shank You see that as just the best option was that the word used. Yeah. 15:02.36 mikebledsoe It's probably optimal like if if humanity as a whole is going to flourish that would only happen under the circumstance of every individual taking personal responsibility. But what we have is a lot of people caring about. 15:12.41 Max Shank Yeah. 15:18.71 mikebledsoe You know the feelings of 1 person and trying to get everybody around them to mold to what they desire sacrificing 20 people to make one person happy. It's very interesting. 15:26.49 Max Shank Ah, right? Well, it's all about it's all about so our our ah species is the the compassionate caring species now. We're still savage animals like a lizard dinosaur. Ah, baboon right? But we have this super high level of compassion which is the only reason ah and desire for connection emotionally and intellectually which is why people painted on cave walls. And left their handprints. There. There's no reason to do that unless you want another person to see it this desire to like leave your Mark and be part of the tribe and sustain and so that's also very easily leveraged to make absolute bad choices. But ah comparative good choices and it relates back to what we were talking about I think ah, it made me think of ah self versus system and I'm also very much system oriented like I it's hard for me to pick something specific to care about. Because the first thing I do is I see how it's connected to a none other things like like world hunger I always come back to this I'm like how is that even possible world hunger is impossible unless you're fucking with the ecosystem. You know what? I mean. 16:56.77 mikebledsoe Yeah. 16:58.60 Max Shank Like there's the right amount of creatures for a certain area or they overeat and then they under reproduce and it like has this normal recycling effect. So if you look at the big system. Totally so the difference between looking at an individual. 17:07.50 mikebledsoe Ah, the the planet is abundant with food. 17:17.80 Max Shank Person versus the system I mean look it's not good when someone shoots up a school. Let me be clear I don't think it's good when someone shoots up a school I think it's bad just so there's no confusion here but all but also um, like. 17:28.54 mikebledsoe Okay, okay. 17:36.28 Max Shank Let's just shut the fuck up like it becomes such a hot button story but it's such a low amount of the whole system right? So now we're like a fraction of a fraction I mean you could do the math like what's I'm not trying to. 17:45.62 mikebledsoe Right. 17:54.53 Max Shank Make light of the situation right? But it's None out of 350000000 people when you know a none are dying of diarrhea or something like that. It's like or fucking mosquitoes are taken out way more people than depressed teenagers with firearms. And so it's like we really don't it's so rare to see people think in systems because ironically the system itself is just taking people on a wave where they care about None thing at a time but they care about it with their whole heart. And they use none of their brain to think about the system at play here and they're like I care about Ukraine this month I care about George Floyd this month I care about police brutality this month or ooh I'm suddenly interested in Afghanistan again because they told me to be like what. What the fuck man I get it. 18:50.75 mikebledsoe Yeah, well, it's very and it is very interesting because I I don't know if it's just because I'm paying attention in a different way or things are actually have actually sped up the. The news cycle is perfectly paced to keep people distracted and if you try to stick with I'm like Afghanistan right? The Afghanistan issue went on the Afghanistan issue went on way longer than it was reported to have gone on. Ah. 19:13.33 Max Shank Yeah, a trillion miles an hour 19:26.83 mikebledsoe News about ukraine is dying off actually a lot of the news is now turning into the Ukrainian troops are are you know hiding in civilians' homes and Civilians are getting killed and they're they're breaking international law. But then the. The journalists are kind of like softening it Up. It's like yeah but they kind of have to and it's like no, that's fucking Illegal. Um. 19:48.42 Max Shank Um, there's a huge reason like it's so good to just look through an abbreviated version of the amendments like 1 of the None rules is no fucking troops can stay at your house and like these people were smart. 19:55.77 mikebledsoe Yeah, yeah, and that's a Us thing but that's also an international thing. 20:05.91 Max Shank I Mean these people were smart putting these rules together. So there's there's a reason and and you said it here's how it ah shakes out right? yeah. 20:12.90 mikebledsoe Yeah, things degrade and when troops starts staying in homes and ah you know their job is to protect the population and now they're just putting the population in danger so that the gangsters in charge can win. And yeah. 20:29.70 Max Shank Martial law mob mob rule. 20:31.51 mikebledsoe And so yeah, and you know people are just jumping from None thing to another so I'm just pointing out in that news cycle. How like things have to shift in order to keep people distracted and you're right? It keeps them from thinking about the whole system. It keeps them from thinking about. Like why are we always in some type of pickle like the amount of like the fear cycle is just insane and um, you know I don't really? ah. 21:00.27 Max Shank Because it pays because it because it pays I mean all of this is related to what you said about people making decisions on an individual basis. I mean it's very possible to run a tight ship as a dictator right? but. It doesn't rebalance as quickly or easily as when we're all just adjusting to the natural rhythms right? You vote with what you pay attention to you vote with your dollars you vote with who you spend time with and if you're always. 21:27.14 mikebledsoe E. 21:36.45 mikebledsoe It's ah it's a slower. It's a slower and smoother evolution for everybody the the centralized decision making can be very herky jerky it can it can create whiplash and often does. 21:42.81 Max Shank Yeah, oh no. 21:52.15 mikebledsoe Yeah, they get results quickly but how much harm is done in the process when when you're decentralizing the decision making like you're talking about it definitely creates slower reaction times but they're usually safer there. Any Danger is. Isolated to a single area and isn't replicated amongst the entire system and um people have a higher level autonomy which means that people are also experiencing the feedback of their behavior in a much tighter system that allows them to become you know, attain more knowledge and wisdom. 22:13.19 Max Shank Oh. 22:28.26 Max Shank O. 22:29.87 mikebledsoe Ah, without being robbed of that by having their decision making diffused over the entire population. 22:35.22 Max Shank Yeah I really think of it like a shock absorber. Basically ah, it just has more ah more little shock absorbers rather than just 1 linchpin where one guy is calling all the shots and of course it's always the guy who. 22:38.99 mikebledsoe E. 22:52.93 Max Shank Desperately wants the big chair and the big stick which coincidentally is the only person who should be disqualified from that position entirely It's just like it's good to remember with all this stuff. It. It is just mob rule based on a popularity contest. Like that's crazy. So I think it's um, maximizing attention but minimizing action. So if you have a news cycle. That's so quickly. Um with writers who know what fucking sets your ah heart and balls aflame ah they're going to. Use the software to even readjust and so there always have something that is commanding a tremendous amount of your attention but they'll never um, give you time to do any action about it. So you you have like None attention and zero percent action which is good if you're. Meditating about your unity with the universe but it's pretty shit if you're like watching people get murdered and bombed and. 23:58.29 mikebledsoe Yeah, well I think this puts us in a very precarious situation. So um I think you and I both agree that that the United States as far as a group of people is probably the most advanced. Um, the plan is I say the largest group that's the most advanced politically government wise. It's a big you know 33350000000 people are all participating in a yeah for this. 24:20.30 Max Shank That's such a huge group. Yeah I would say it has the best infrastructure for the most part. 24:33.36 mikebledsoe You know, a lot of times people like to compare what's happening like the Netherlands to here or Denmark. It's like it's like those people have like ah like less than 10000000 people in the entire country. We have 330000000 this is a different. It's a different situation. Um. 24:36.20 Max Shank Or Norway Norway. Yeah, right. Right. 24:50.70 mikebledsoe But you know just just the fact that our country is based on on a philosophical these philosophical concepts of natural law. You know puts us ahead of the curve in a lot of ways. Um the expression of that. Yeah, so. 25:00.79 Max Shank And it makes it more difficult. It makes it more difficult because it's a bit of a fractured culture Also like I think one of the things that I think that's why I interrupted you. It's so important I think I shouldn't do it anyway. But it's so important to recognize that. 25:11.63 mikebledsoe In. 25:18.98 Max Shank In America. The only thing that united us was a desire for freedom to manifest your own destiny now if that includes you know some native genocide then I think we were basically okay with that at the time not now. But at the time that was okay. But so that's the unifying idea but we don't have a culture like let's say Norway or let's say Japan some examples that I think of off the top my head where that there are so many things that are done that are not done because it's the law. Or even because it's profitable. It's done because that's what that culture does and that sort of unity makes things run way more smoothly. 26:00.68 mikebledsoe Yeah. Yeah, well and everything comes down to narrative and so what we have in the United States is you know Ah the United States was like the beginning of the decentralization of of power of personal response. Of responsibility. It's a decentralizing of that and it's just continued to decentralize decentralized decentralize and what's happened now is there's been a decentralization of narrative and we have you know human beings for none of years grew up in a. With a lot fewer people a lot fewer interactions. We're exposed to way fewer narratives and variations of that narrative and if you go to somewhere like China or Russia I guarantee you that narrative is pretty fucking tight. There's not a lot of variation from. Whatever the top is telling the bottom and it creates a lot of unity like if everybody were buying into the same narrative. This is what hitler was able to achieve you know at the the early years he unified everybody with a common narrative. 27:02.67 Max Shank Ah, right. 27:10.45 Max Shank Totally f. 27:19.96 mikebledsoe And everything went pretty well until you know he took control of all those people's minds and decided to take it sideways. But this I think a lot of people you know, either consciously or subconsciously are. Upset and I imagine a lot of people in these government agencies with ah a lot of these Intel agencies think that it's their job to create a common narrative to unify everybody even if it is reducing things like freedom of Speech. Um, and we know that by reducing things like freedom of speech that just leads to tyranny. Yeah. 27:58.62 Max Shank The ends justify the means the ends justify the means I mean whenever you get someone with a grandiose idea like that Hitler Napoleon whatever it doesn't matter. They will. That's why I think orwell said it was the most dangerous type of guy because they think they're. Ah, justified in what they're doing. They think they're the hero so they'll commit atrocities thinking that they're the good guy and then there's no way to work them out of that idea and they think oh god that's why you know with everything happening I'm i. It wouldn't surprise me one bit if some really clever people. Ah for good reasons were like we need the world to stop working the way it does because if they believe a story that we are destroying ourselves and the world. Um, you know 7000000000 people plus this giant. Ah, ball or disc. You're on depending on what people are thinking now. Ah the turtle show. Yeah, it's half. It's a half dome. That's a great place to visit by the way half down in Yosemite. Beautiful 10 out of 10 recommend but I would. 29:00.32 mikebledsoe The turtle show. Um, if. 29:15.37 Max Shank I could totally get it especially as a systems thinker if I could push a button right now and murder 1000000 people and it guaranteed utopia for the remaining ah billions I would be an asshole not to do it almost right? So if you have that belief. 29:30.59 mikebledsoe Yeah. 29:34.92 Max Shank You're like I gotta fucking rape and kill these people for for for the greater good and whenever you hear greater good that that should be like if you hear the word greater Good rest assured you're gonna be bleeding from the Asshole soon. Either literally or metaphorically. 29:53.00 mikebledsoe Yeah, yeah, so it it becomes concerning because I think that even though America and the ideals that it was founded on is create a situation where we have decentralized narratives and. And infinite narratives and variations of those narratives I mean you've got on. Um one side you've got say something like mainstream media and on the other side you have q and on and q and on is putting out None narrative and in ah in a very convincing way the mainstream. Media is putting out ah narratives and neither one of them are correct and both of them are probably just as far from the truth as the other one is and but then you have all these other variations and ah. 30:42.90 Max Shank It might be the truth from their perspective by the way like it might be false information but they might believe what they're saying which means they're telling the truth but they're telling a falsehood. Also. 30:50.85 mikebledsoe Of course. Yeah well I mean I like to define truth is just what has happened and what is happening and people's ideas or perceptions about the truth are are not the truth. 31:06.59 Max Shank I call that a fact good hard hard to have 1 You can't have a complete one either. That's the problem. 31:08.86 mikebledsoe So yeah, there you go? Yeah very few people have any facts. Um, yeah. Ah, yeah, so we we we were're in this really strange predicament predicament as americans and what triggered this thought for me was ah the other day China basically cut off like none of. Communication and interaction with the United States and basically said we're not going to participate in our military is communicating and all this stuff. This was ah Friday and I was like oh oh I've been in conflicts before and when one side goes. 31:46.80 Max Shank How exciting. 31:55.77 mikebledsoe Silent That's bad juju that's like everybody contracts everybody starts preparing everyone starts wondering who's going to strike first. These are these are these are the thoughts that run across people who are in conflict so people in the military. What do you think. 32:07.40 Max Shank Winding up. 32:11.66 Max Shank Move. 32:14.71 mikebledsoe China Goes silent. What do you think the American military does fucking getting ready just relaxing launch hairs. Yeah yeah, so yeah, just give some space I need some space. Ah but I get thinking about it and I go Wow I look at um, ah. 32:16.51 Max Shank Probably just just relaxes. No big deal. Yeah, they're fine. Give give them time. Give them some space. 32:34.64 mikebledsoe You know if you go to say Ukraine right now like there's not a lot of slobs hanging around Ukraine or Russia there there might be some drunks but there's not a bunch of so weak slobs and you come. 32:46.21 Max Shank Well, they're not a lot of weak people because they just can't be I don't know what you mean by slob but I definitely agree that if you're in an environment that doesn't permit it. It's kind of like that idea about world hunger like if you're in a place you're eating if you're in a really harsh dangerous place. You're tough and you're eating or you're dead. It's like when ah when that Ufc guy. Ah Kabib you remember him and I remember I was just watching because he was like trained in the mountains by his dad who was like a fourth generation. Wrestler. 33:05.10 mikebledsoe Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, so like. 33:24.61 Max Shank You know and he's just like running up a mountain with boulders when he's like 4 meanwhile you know you could have someone who's raised in Orange County and who's like you know I think I'm going to get into some kickboxing or something like that and they might meet in the same place like in the cage. That's just funny to me. 33:36.98 mikebledsoe Right. Yeah, no, no and and depending on the sport you know 3 minute rounds the orange county guy might do all right? but I bet if he took it to 20 minute rounds you know we're in a different. 33:44.26 Max Shank They're like not the same creature. Basically. 33:57.22 Max Shank Right? Yeah, yeah, it was kind of like ah rocky versus Ivan Draggo also right rocky is just training in the barn with big hunks of wood and the other drawgo in the science lab getting injected with stuff and there's like a. 34:00.73 mikebledsoe In a different place. So ah, yeah, yeah. 34:13.37 mikebledsoe Yeah, typical russian. 34:17.10 Max Shank Super computer on the on the wall. Yeah is awesome. 34:20.54 mikebledsoe Um, did you ever watch ah was it icarus the documentary on the russians doping program. It's really good. It's really good. You should check it out. It's on Netflix. So. 34:29.57 Max Shank Now sounds amazing. 34:38.22 mikebledsoe So I look at this and I and I look around in the United States and I'm I'm thinking I mean you and I both have been trying to help these people you know, get their shit together and there's a lot of people that need to get their shit together or it would would it be better for the rest of us if they got their shit together. 34:56.73 Max Shank Who are we talking about now just people. 34:57.23 mikebledsoe And um, you know if they did something you know people who think that they're doing their duty by getting a vaccine instead of just taking care of their health. Overall so a lot of fats. There's a lot of slobs getting ah vaccinations instead of just. 35:03.77 Max Shank Oh shots fired folks to totally. 35:17.10 mikebledsoe Creating some type of interest about their overall health or learning about how their body works. So. 35:20.26 Max Shank Yo that that's a shocking funny thing I mean it's tragic also like I never hear I got to get this out though I never hear ads anywhere but I clicked on the radio because I didn't have my like. Ah, phone on Bluetooth It's it when it whatever I'm listening to the radio. 35:38.42 mikebledsoe He's poor folks easy listening radio. 35:42.69 Max Shank Ah, and I heard like a fucking a fucking jingle like a little jingle song about how you should get your kids this shot and it's like yo what the fuck I'm I'm just I'm listening to this I'm like are you fucking kidding me. Like how how is this it it sounded like I was listening to mother Goose Barney on sesame street talking about how you should you know fucking inject your None ar old with this experiment for for what the fuck and. Bet a lot of people do that and that thought made me really sad that thought made me really sad because I was like what no don't and and I realize that is what's happening. 36:24.30 mikebledsoe Yeah, yeah. 36:31.84 mikebledsoe Yeah, was I think they created laws where like um, serial companies can't make can't target kids with like cartoon advertising. They basically can't advertise sugar cereal to kids anymore. 36:45.97 Max Shank Yep. 36:50.65 mikebledsoe But they're doing it with pharmaceuticals which is fucking insane. 36:52.98 Max Shank Why can we advertise pharmaceutical I mean I'm a hardcore capitalist when I get right down to it. But Jesus Christ like that. But then again, then again you I still have that strong belief that the customer is always right? So it's not too. Ah. Like fight against these companies. It's to illuminate and like help people understand how to apply some logic and I think a big part of it actually relates back to the openness that you and I were talking about you have to be open to not know what's going on to be. To be wrong and you have to be open to the idea that the people who are in charge of both countries and companies may not in fact, be having your best interest at heart. So you got to use your critical thinking a little bit. 37:48.93 mikebledsoe It's the only thing you have that's gonna that's gonna help you out like you can't rely on other people. Um well going to like ah I'm with you on the whole like you know both by the us being capitalists and that we believe in. Voluntary interaction between individuals and that means if someone is going to create and make a drug then I have every right to purchase that from them and there's no one has the right to get between the None of us on creating that transaction and here's the thing is with the. Pharmaceutical companies in the us. Yes, ah the us and New Zealand I think are the only None countries that allow pharmaceutical companies to advertise at a citizens through media and the rest of the countries don't but here's the thing is not only have they allowed that to happen. Which I think that people should be able to run an ad for anything they want ah but they have also cornered the market. There's an entire agency from the government called the Dea who harass people who are and kill and and jail people. 38:47.82 Max Shank Agreed agreed. 39:01.64 mikebledsoe Who are selling drugs that they don't think should be sold and so you have an entire agency that their job is to squash out anything. That's not the pharmaceutical companies. So the pharmaceutical companies have leveraged the violence of government. While also creating deals to be able to market. So. It's a double whammy if you were to say okay, we're going to open up the entire market and everyone can advertise like if I want to advertise my cocaine if I want to advertise whatever it is you know or Lipitor or whatever it is. And that would actually cause people at least should cause people to to activate their critical thinking because now they have to go? Well, what's the difference between these two things and ah. Because right now they think the difference between those 2 things is None is safe and None is not safe and it's not safe or safe based on what somebody else thinks so they don't even think about they don't even think to do the research on it and so there's um so going to. Should people be able to advertise I say yes and we should do away with some people getting preferential treatment from the government that that is giving some people more rights than others. 40:27.39 Max Shank Agreed and here's how I'm gonna tie it back to what we were discussing about openness and relationships and your experience. So there's this concept of nonviolent communication right? where you're not um. 40:42.55 mikebledsoe In. 40:46.64 Max Shank You're not an opponent.. You're a collaborator and in a country or a nation or a state of some kind. Ah they have a system of laws and the law is basically when the violence comes out. So imagine if you're in a relationship. And you have to use the threat of violence to control this party all the time that it's basically like the more you have to use the stick the more fucked you basically are you really shouldn't have to enforce. That many things with violence but ah, nothing is more effective. Certainly imagine if like every discussion you got into with a romantic partner. You were like blah blah blah. 41:34.21 mikebledsoe Yeah. 41:43.48 Max Shank Or I'll fucking beat you Yo I've never hit a woman unless she asked me to however, ah, there's like I would win easy in a in a in a fight. Of some kind if that was possible to just be like hey I say this goes or I will beat you like of course if you don't have any critical thinking. You'll just do that every time but it's pretty asshole move. But that's what law is it's like fucking do this or. 42:17.38 mikebledsoe Yeah, yeah. 42:21.47 Max Shank We will Imprison you or kill you or what the fuck ever and the irony is that it's all of the people who hide away from society the most who are voting the people in to control the people that they're. Afraid of because they're a little too free right? ooh that person might do a bad thing. We need more drugs off the streets. They got to stop with those violent video games. It's like fucking busybodies across the board. But ah you, um, you mentioned a good. 42:40.31 mikebledsoe Yeah. 42:58.20 Max Shank Ah, tonic for that realization which is to recognize that there's there's really no such thing as law. It's just consequences right? You do whatever you want? You know you're 100% free to do what you want all the time and there are just consequences right? I find that. 43:14.54 mikebledsoe Yeah, like. 43:17.71 Max Shank Find that a very ah, comfortable way to live and it's also very accepting too because then you go everyone else is always free to do as they like and talk about the burden. That's off your shoulders because look these people these busybodies These are not happy people. 43:35.29 mikebledsoe Now. 43:37.17 Max Shank These might be the most ah mentally ah tortured people ever because they have all this attention. They have no action within their own lives and they're just trying to gain control by leveraging the violence. Of a more powerful entity right? So They're not powerful themselves. They're just trying to diminish everyone else because they're always afraid that someone might do something that that's not a happy person. That's that's no way to go. You know we got Avoidance. We got exposure right. 44:08.57 mikebledsoe Okay, now. 44:16.98 Max Shank Avoidance is a path that only leads you to an underground bunker where you are in complete control of the environment. But also you're completely trapped complete exposure is you just have no discernment so you probably walk off of a cliff or get eaten by a tiger or what the fuck ever. But. Um I think part of what makes the slobs or the weak people is they engage in a little too much avoidance and not enough exposure. 44:44.97 mikebledsoe Yeah, agree. 44:51.78 mikebledsoe Out of thought that I lost but it'll come now we talked about um, rejection or acceptance tolerant. Yeah. 44:54.27 Max Shank Is it about openness and acceptance we talked about that last week right the difference between tolerance. Yeah I mean it's this is a perfect example of that. 45:09.50 mikebledsoe Yeah I. 45:18.82 Max Shank Comes come. 45:19.49 mikebledsoe This this cuts out the pauses. That's okay, if we pause. 45:25.12 Max Shank In my normal life I do way more and longer pauses than on a podcast. 45:33.84 mikebledsoe Yeah. 45:38.96 Max Shank Also have a different agenda. 45:50.20 Max Shank So what did you learn from your experience the one you were telling me about. Yeah. 45:53.33 mikebledsoe Which one with my lady. Um I learned a lot I learned that you know we we we we. Did a question prompt which was tell me a story I wrote it up on a chalkboard tell me a story about a time you felt fulfilled and then just kept asking each other about stories of fulfillment and looking for patterns and so. 46:22.51 Max Shank Oh. 46:28.61 Max Shank Ah. 46:31.46 mikebledsoe Um, was like oh okay I see a pattern of fulfillment for myself I see a pattern of fulfillment for her. It's like okay if we want to experience more fulfillment moving forward. We should probably do things that are similar to what made us fulfilled in the past and. 46:47.95 Max Shank A. 46:50.54 mikebledsoe Yeah, there's definitely patterns of that that was that was really cool to dive into you don't have to take anything to answer these questions or journal about that. But um, it does help and so that was really really beautiful. 46:58.46 Max Shank A. 47:07.76 mikebledsoe None of the things I want to I want to cut back over to is my concern and ah, we're kind of jumping back and forth. But my concern is we have ah an entire country of people who. Can't agree on a single narrative or even 2 or 3 narratives and then you have countries like Russia and China who have that single narrative and even though we may be because society progresses and as the pendulum swings between organization and chaos. 47:42.21 Max Shank Boom. 47:44.24 mikebledsoe Definitely in a chaotic place and when we're experiencing chaos. It's a great time for someone else who's experiencing organization to take advantage of the people who are in chaos. So that's my one concern is even though we're we are advancing. We are weak during the advancement and um, you know when I heard the news that China Cut Off Communications I was like ah you know I've never seen the country more divided what a what a perfect time to. 48:14.98 Max Shank Oh. 48:20.50 mikebledsoe To pull out more tricks. 48:21.19 Max Shank So when you say concern. Ah, that's like ah low grade fear perhaps of something specific ah happening because of that lack of open and ah. 48:40.71 mikebledsoe Yeah, absolutely got it? Yeah yeah, yeah. 48:41.80 Max Shank Congruent communication. So you're concerned maybe about like war. Yeah yeah, War is not that Cool. You know how earlier I was like really anti-school Shootings I'm also very anti-war. I Know it's a bold stance to take. 49:03.89 mikebledsoe Ah, yeah, Wars Funny man. It's just um, people just not getting along people people wanting to rule over ah over other people is what it comes down to. 49:16.50 Max Shank You know one of the one of the most consistent thoughts I've had is like you know when you're a kid at least in my experience when you're a kid and you see None people fighting and you know there's no need for them to be fighting. Like you have this perspective where them fighting is retarded. It's stupid. There's no need for it. You know you have this unique perspective where you can see what each of them want but neither of them can see what they want. Like they're just blinded in this like cloud of dust and one of the most prevailing thoughts I've had as an adult has been this. This is just ah, a failure to communicate everybody needs to just settle down like relax. We all want basically the same thing but it's it's so surprising. That's the most lasting idea it just seems so unnecessary for people to speak to each other with such venom and it seems like. All these disagreements are basically manufactured. Um, yeah, it's ah I used to get really sad about that honestly and now I I kind of like that. Ah, that quote that ends up. Where you try to change your nation realize you can't try to change your city realize you can't try to change your family realize you can't try to change yourself and you're like man if only I'd done this sooner. It would have had that ricochet effect on out and ah. Mentioned in the past how the the distance between your zone of awareness and zone of control is like your feeling of powerlessness. So if you're aware of like a thousand problems globally which is like I don't know whatever. Twenty Thousand Miles Pi are cubed or squared or some shit like that I don't fucking know I don't I don't remember surface area of a sphere right now but your control area is very small. It's like five feet versus you know. None of Square Miles 51:45.30 mikebledsoe Totally I've um, I've been experiencing like the the most grounded groundedness I've had in my entire life the last year and a half I just get more and more grounded and one of the results of getting more and more grounded is. Getting much more in touch with that reality of the only thing I can change is me and ah mikeness. Yeah, yeah, well because before I was had some grandiose thoughts about how I could make a. 52:04.85 Max Shank Of this. 52:13.78 Max Shank It's an it's a type of accept acceptance I think. 52:23.55 mikebledsoe You know, a really big impact by you know, being really influential and and you know having a lot of followers or whatever. Yeah, like I know what to do. 52:30.88 Max Shank I'll fix it I'll fix it. That was what I thought I'll I'll fix it and then ah I'm like I'm like just like those ah fucking grandiose big chair guys. It's like the same thing I Just don't want a big chair I'll fix it I'll fix it. 52:40.86 mikebledsoe Yeah, yeah, yeah, just do what I tell you to do ah so fuck your ideas. So you know I um I just got become less and less concerned. 52:47.54 Max Shank Yeah. 53:00.12 mikebledsoe I keep up with what's going on I don't let it dominate my my thinking you know it's 1 thing to have awareness or to learn of what's going on around the world. It's another thing that dwell on it. Um, and I become much more focused on what I can impact immediately like you know how. 53:03.76 Max Shank So. 53:20.20 mikebledsoe Comfortable Can I make my home. That's a sanctuary instead of you know, trying to worry about like I don't care if I drive a fancy car I need where I spend the most time at my home people come to my home people come to my home and they go Wow this. 53:22.79 Max Shank Ah. 53:29.29 Max Shank Right? You got different values. 53:39.45 mikebledsoe Place is really nice and comfortable. It's not It's not a big expensive home. It's ah it's a moderate home. It's a middle class home. Ah, but it's not but we've created a vibe inside that just. Very welcoming and peaceful and calm and so Ashley and I when we go out in the world. We we have this calmness and peacefulness about us and people they want to know how we do things and you know we get really strong reflections about us. And the thing is neither one of us are going out to try to teach people how to be much I mean this is about the extent of it right? Ah put a band man. Yeah there you go. 54:21.53 Max Shank What is a good man but a bad man's Teacher. What is a bad man but a good man's job. 54:32.36 mikebledsoe Ah, so you know the the thing that I keep circling ah since becoming more grounded is really the idea of leading. By example, if I'm not if I'm not happy with how other people are behaving then who I want. 54:45.84 Max Shank 5 54:51.40 mikebledsoe Everyone else to be I have not fully embodied myself in a way that it's noticeable or I haven't done it long enough or repeated the behavior enough for people to take note or the benefits of taking those behaviors I haven't been doing it enough in order for people to take note but I'll tell you. That the majority of benefit that I that I think I have helped people achieve has been through modeling and because people learn through modeling they create their desires are created because of modeling and and. 55:25.57 Max Shank Absolutely. 55:29.40 mikebledsoe For me to think that I said something in particular to get somebody to a specific goal is that is incorrect. You know if I if I wasn't living my life a certain way. People wouldn't give a shit about the words that I was using and in fact, they're probably modeling. 55:38.91 Max Shank On. 55:48.47 mikebledsoe A lot of my behavior but are giving credit to the words that I use because people people want. That's the logical things like oh I heard this thing and then I put it in place and now that's logical. But I think. 55:55.16 Max Shank Ah, well, you're. 56:03.60 Max Shank I fixed it I fixed it and what it's what's funny is by being a model you unburden yourself of the responsibility of getting them to behave a certain way and you're not burdening them with a fucking command. 56:05.74 mikebledsoe Most who are learning through modeling. 56:17.29 mikebledsoe Yeah, yeah. 56:23.29 Max Shank So You are completely unburdened. Ah because you're not trying to force them to be a certain way or manipulate them to be a certain way. People think the word manipulate has a lot of a negative connotation and it does but really, that's all we do. Is we manipulate the world and people for our benefit and sometimes for others. 56:41.84 mikebledsoe Yeah I think well I had a conversation with a woman yesterday about this. She was talking about manipulation I was like well I like to create the distinction between influence and manipulation and ah in it with influence I am I am. 56:50.23 Max Shank Um, yeah. 57:00.75 mikebledsoe Making somebody else more informed about something so that they can make a better choice for themselves. Manipulation is I'm likely trying to make them less informed or confuse them in a way so that they'll do do the behavior I'll do not because they have ah a greater understanding. 57:04.25 Max Shank The. 57:20.37 mikebledsoe So that's yeah, so it's like instead of thinking about it as just like a spectrum of manipulation and say no manipulation is this thing and influences this thing they're very different in my mind So when I'm approaching people. The question I have to ask myself is you know. 57:20.83 Max Shank It's like fraud. Yeah. 57:31.10 Max Shank Yeah, yeah. 57:38.41 mikebledsoe If you're if you're going out and you're going to talk to a girl are you are you practicing influence on the date or are you manipulating And yeah, that wasn't for you that wasn't for you. Um. 57:45.79 Max Shank Manipulating for sure I mean wait wait that was oh that was a rhetorical question. Got it? Yeah oh got it I mean I. 57:53.95 mikebledsoe Yeah, but I mean this happens a lot and like people talk about marketing and they're like they're like oh marketing is so manipulative I'm like well what kind of marketing are you doing? Are you. 58:04.31 Max Shank That's why I bring up machiavelli do the ends justify the means if you believe in a product this is an easy argument to make if you believe in a product you should be willing to say anything to sell as many as possible. That's one way of looking at it so you could totally. Ah. Forgive psychologically ah any kind of what might be considered a dirty tactic but I want to ah touch on something None things actually before we move on 1 one of the things that is taken away one of the burdens that's relieved by just being the example. Is. You're not lusting after your own acceptance I'm gonna say that again. So you're not lusting after your own acceptance because what you're doing is you are looking to have someone say you fixed it or you did it. Or whatever. So instead of lusting after that now that desire's gone and if you look at it from a zen buddhist ah framework that desire being gone is going to bring you a lot more peace and a lot more clarity and a lot more flow. You're not going to feel that burden like. Oh I got to I got to like remind myself that I'm good by helping this guy and then another thing you said, um, that was related to being the example and you said it to me like ah. 59:23.62 mikebledsoe Yeah, yeah. 59:36.73 Max Shank It was at your house out here. It was a long time ago. It was like maybe five to seven years ago and yeah, he's been enlightened for a long time. Ah you you it was just about it just was one of those times where I was very receptive and I listened and i. 59:43.17 mikebledsoe I've been enlightened for a while. All. 59:53.98 Max Shank Started putting it into practice. A lot was I stopped listening as much to what people were saying and more focused on how they were being and now what I'll do sometimes is I'll I'll just try to listen to the noise that someone's making and look at their posture. 01:00:10.37 mikebledsoe Yeah. 01:00:11.72 Max Shank And I'll try to look beyond the words and see do they go up and down and up and down with their talk and ah du and is their music ah did and you see how the how that flow is kind of coming out. Ah it's It's really interesting to see how people are being. Ah. Because I think that's actually a lot more honest than what that because people are very tricky like have you ever Seen. Ah a really good actor fucking say any word combination and their expression on their face will trick the shit out of me my god. 01:00:46.28 mikebledsoe That it's insane. Insane. Oh yeah, the the tonality thing is interesting. So your time about body language. Um, you know if somebody has really poor posture hunched over. Um I start I start. 01:00:49.99 Max Shank Yeah. 01:00:56.98 Max Shank And. 01:01:04.88 mikebledsoe Noticing when they're more hunched or more open which may be rare that they're open. But oh wow they they don't feel safe or they have a history of not feeling safe and they just haven't had the physical restoration of their body. Um. 01:01:06.16 Max Shank O m. 01:01:14.94 Max Shank The. 01:01:23.46 mikebledsoe It' not like like whatever is happening energetically takes a lot longer to manifest physically. And yeah me too. 01:01:29.28 Max Shank I Used to cross my arms all the time all the time all the time and I would do that thing where you flex your knuckles into your arms from the from the back so that ah your biceps look a little bigger and your little forearm. Extensor muscles look bigger so you get these? Ah, It's like the standard personal trainer photo and I look back at I look back at all these photos I took and every single one I've got like fucking sunglasses ah under armor ah shirt that's skin tight. And my arms are crossed and I'm like that guy doesn't want anyone to know who he is that guy So now I'm super sensitive to it I notice when I see people cross their arms I think it's a really funky posture the the arm crop. Yeah. 01:02:10.62 mikebledsoe Be yeah, exactly just. 01:02:23.65 mikebledsoe We're putting the hands in pockets too. 01:02:27.00 Max Shank What what do you do with your hands though. You can't just be like Ricky Bobby like I don't know what to do with them. 01:02:31.45 mikebledsoe Yeah, there's something about and there's a military thing. There's no hands in the pockets. Um, and what I noticed from years of not hanging out with hands in my pockets is. There's. 01:02:37.26 Max Shank Yeah, yeah, 1 01:02:47.69 mikebledsoe Hands in the pockets is a really safe place to put your hands when you're insecure about like having a more open posture. It's like it's like halfway open and yeah it is kind of strange sometimes I I have to find things to do with my hands every once in a while I'll let myself put my hands into my pocket. 01:02:56.22 Max Shank Yeah, interesting. 01:03:06.46 mikebledsoe Only when I know that um you know it's not coming from a place of insecurity. It's like I'm hanging out my friends I just feel like putting my hands in my pocket I'm gonna fucking do it but it it is something that I was I overdid until I couldn't do it anymore and then that's when I recognized oh this is something that. 01:03:10.34 Max Shank Yeah. 01:03:20.31 Max Shank What. 01:03:26.63 mikebledsoe It's a safety you know it's my safety blanket to put my hands in my pockets and kind of hard to be ready for shit when your hands in the pockets when you want to you want to be running down the road. 01:03:30.20 Max Shank That kind of curiosity Impossible I mean unless you got something good in there then it's even better. 01:03:41.66 mikebledsoe Running down the road with your hands in your pockets. That's that's when people knock their teeth out. No. 01:03:42.17 Max Shank Oh yeah, yeah, that's not good, but if you got something interesting in your pocket and could be a great spot. Hey now. Um, yeah I think. 01:03:50.27 mikebledsoe I've always got some interesting in there. So. 01:03:58.80 Max Shank The curiosity we're talking about about posture I mean look it's no, It's no mystery that you and I are are nerds about things like this about communication about the way the body moves about integrating the body mind heart The rest of them Chakras and so. I Think that's one of those things that can accelerate that openness if you so curiosity is such a ah powerful force of moving into the Unknown. It's the difference between the unknown being scary and the unknown being exciting. And interesting. It's like an a curious is an opportunity forward right? It's the exact opposite of fear right? which is like ah a threat an unknown threat oncoming versus an unknown opportunity oncoming. And we're talking about using different medicines to do that. The other option is to be extremely invested into what you and I are talking about. So I Think that's one of the things that is attractive about using different medicines like I'm. I'm ah experimenting with some puppy medicine right now I have a feeling it's going to ah increase openness probably patience Positivity Ah love Perhaps I I don't know yet. It'll be really interesting to see how that. Changes my paradigm but I think that's really the the pull of those different medicines psychedelics. Whatever cocktail you and your witch doctor can concoct um, is because it can. Increase your connection and alleviate burdens very quickly. It's like you can either get high by doing breathing exercises and going for a run or you can get high by smoking some cannabis or crack or something like that. You know there are a lot of there are a lot of ways to do it. Sometimes you just have something That's a little more push button so to speak and short term. Well but the effects are long term a lot of the time I mean the walls aren't melting forever. 01:06:12.79 mikebledsoe Yeah, and short term. Totally totally if done well now that would be terrible. 01:06:26.20 Max Shank Thankfully, but but you get the you get the alleviation of some of that that guard that dropping of the guard and openness is what allows you to. See some of the filters that you've put on kind of coming back to the stories like I feel sad when I talk to people and I see them hardcore into one narrative or the other because you know, um, there's basically nothing you can say that will resolve that and I I Think. Can pick up on queues and I know a lot of weird facts. But ah once someone's locked into a narrative like that. It's very tricky to get out unless they themselves are getting curious and then you have a chance to take away some of those layers but I think sometimes. 01:07:15.54 mikebledsoe Yeah. 01:07:22.89 Max Shank Using those substances can sort of accelerate that process. 01:07:25.50 mikebledsoe Um, yeah, it causes a can cause a pattern interrupt I think most people that they're in a pattern that whatever narrative they're in is a pattern of thinking feeling behaving and most people no matter how much. Information may be counter to you know this being a good idea or or whatever they can't seem to break it until there's a pattern interrupt you know, somebody somebody ends up with heart disease or cancer or something like that like wakes some of its pattern interrupt is like oh I can't keep eating the banas. 01:08:00.40 Max Shank Car accident for my mom car accident changed her life. She wasn't injured the car was totaled but ah the whole trajectory of her life changed and she was in her fifty s I mean she was already like a fully baked human so to speak. 01:08:04.25 mikebledsoe Car accident. Yeah. 01:08:12.20 mikebledsoe Yeah, yeah, so as it it. 01:08:19.90 Max Shank So anything that changes. It's kind of like the only absolute is relativity so you and I our stories are just in relation to everything that we understand so we're like part of a ah net and um so I think we're like None musical note. And when you get together with ah lsd you strike a different chord than if you do heroin and if you hang out with puppies or if you drink coffee like I I drink coffee basically daily um some sometimes I'll skip for like a week or something like that. But I've been pretty. Hot on coffee for at least like six months now and I I enjoy it It's just a different ah chord. You know I'm a note coffee's a note boom play them at the same time. That's this different type of resonance and everybody needs and likes different things like these two puppies. Different personalities. None person should have coffee None person should probably do a microdose mushrooms or something like that. There's not a one size fits all for everybody which is also why those ah dictatorships inevitably piss off so many people. Because not everybody wants the same sized solution right. 01:09:36.58 mikebledsoe Yeah, yeah. 01:09:40.82 Max Shank Who So here's what I'm thinking I think we want to do a show about ah all the stuff that we like and I want to do a

Sam and Emma host Jake Grumbach, professor at the University of Washington, to discuss his recent book Laboratories Against Democracy: How National Parties Transformed State Politics. First, Emma and Sam tackle the successful passing of Biden's Build-Back-a-Bit, filled to the brim with goodies for the fossil fuel industry as a ransom tradeoff for even thinking about a green transition, and run through the punitive damages ordered against Alex Jones in the wake of his libel trial. Then, they're joined by Professor Jacob Grumbach as he dives right into his book the inspiration he took from Louis Brandeis' concept of federalism as “Laboratories of Democracy,” bringing it into a modern assessment of the relationship between US Federalism and Democracy. Next, he walks Sam and Emma back to the formation of US Federalism in the wake of the US Revolution as a compromise between a political structure that emphasizes national unity for strength and one centered around preventing tyranny through state autonomy (aka allowing for the continuation of the industry of slavery), leading up to Brandeis' arrival on the Supreme Court in 1916 and his assessment of the ideal of federalism. They then work through what changed over the fifty years since 1970, with the nationalization (and centralization) of everything from corporate and social media (including the disappearance of local news) to political fundraising and interest groups, all while the national parties coalesced around their corporate leaders, unifying internally while polarization grew. This gave birth to a radicalism pipeline for the Right, starting with mass messaging on the level of national media and the party apparatus and trickling down to the footsoldiers of state implementation (as seen, particularly, with the recent fights over CRT). Next, Professor Grumbach walks through the various crises of 2020 that brought to the forefront the failures of our federalist system, including the COVID pandemic, the backlash (and backlash to the backlash) to the murder of George Floyd, and the wider crisis of democracy, discussing how it shined a light on the inefficiency of a decentralized public health system, the paradox of Governor and Mayoral power being trumped by their police departments, and more. They wrap up the interview by tackling the anomalies of Brandeis' post-war era, in terms of economic compression and political de-polarization, and diving into the necessary importance of large-scale organizations in helping us situate ourselves within these massive political systems, and how the right already capitalizes on it. And in the Fun Half: Emma and Sam dive into Brett Kavanaugh's expertise in avoiding accountability, from his severe debt that just happened to disappear in the run-up to his nomination to the recent revelation that Trump's White House covered up over 4,000 tips on Kavanaugh's sexual assault allegations. JR from Philly helps us parse through where the hell Alex Jones' money came flowing in from, Rick Scott is pressed on support for Masters and Walker, and Kim Crockett asks if we can just eliminate voting for disabled folks as a treat. Aaron Rodgers can't take a jab – physical or comedic – Kowalski from Nebraska talks climate change and labor, Spencer from Minnesota gives some primary previews, and Robert from Rochester discusses the Right giving up the game with their “wage-driven inflation” rhetoric. Mike from Rhode Island talks midterms, plus, your calls, and IMs! Check out Jake's book here: https://press.princeton.edu/books/hardcover/9780691218458/laboratories-against-democracy Become a member at JoinTheMajorityReport.com: https://fans.fm/majority/join Subscribe to the AMQuickie newsletter here: https://am-quickie.ghost.io/ Join the Majority Report Discord! http://majoritydiscord.com/ Get all your MR merch at our store: https://shop.majorityreportradio.com/ Get the free Majority Report App!: http://majority.fm/app Check out today's sponsors: ZBiotics: Go to https://thld.co/zbiotics_majority_0722 and get 15% off your first order of ZBiotics Pre-Alcohol Probiotic by using my code MAJORITY at checkout. Thanks to ZBiotics for sponsoring today's video! Ritual: We deserve to know what we're putting in our bodies and why. Ritual's clean, vegan-friendly multivitamin is formulated with high-quality nutrients in bioavailable forms your body can actually use. Get key nutrients without the B.S. Ritual is offering my listeners ten percent off during your first three months. Visit https://ritual.com/?utm_source=arm&utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=majority to start your Ritual today. Follow the Majority Report crew on Twitter: @SamSeder @EmmaVigeland @MattBinder @MattLech @BF1nn @BradKAlsop Check out Matt's show, Left Reckoning, on Youtube, and subscribe on Patreon! https://www.patreon.com/leftreckoning Subscribe to Discourse Blog, a newsletter and website for progressive essays and related fun partly run by AM Quickie writer Jack Crosbie. https://discourseblog.com/ The Majority Report with Sam Seder - https://majorityreportradio.com/

Over the last couple of years, we have seen many of our communities come under attack, plagued by drugs, organized crime, and senseless violence. But often times we do not see these stories in the mainstream media, we do not hear about the heartbreak and bloodshed that takes place all across our country on a daily basis. Ann Dorn knows this all too well. Her husband David Dorn was murdered in St. Louis as protests turned to chaos in the wake of George Floyd's murder. We will hear her story, how it has impacted her family and community, and the great work she is doing in the aftermath of this tragedy. We'll also answer some questions from our listeners about life and the abortion debate.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Show notes:1:00 evidence at trial from historian David Olusoga regarding Colston's ownership of more slaves than any other Brit in history, one of the earliest, biggest slave traders 1:30 Colston died circa 1720 1:45 statue of Colston erected by Victorian dignitaries in Bristol2:10 half of the schools, streets and whatever in Bristol are named after Colston2:20 circa 1990s, true history of Colston revealed3:25 in the wake of the killing of George Floyd, the Black Lives Matter protests group pushed Colston statue into the harbor 3:45 restorative justice by others with community penalty3:55 Colston 4 jury trial over prosecution of four individuals involved in toppling Colston statute4:05 Elected for a Crown Court jury trial and were acquitted5:20 Conservatives and those in the government, including the cabinet, expressed surprise at the verdict6:10 UK Attorney General considered whether to send the case to the appeal court to consider whether there was an error of law in the direction of the jury7:50 bill going through Parliament with a provision to increase the potential sentence for criminal damage against a public monument8:15 proposed bill to change threshold that currently exists for criminal damage against a memorial or public monument with value under 5000 pounds, maximum sentence magistrates that could  impose was three months in prison8:50 proposed bill is to remove financial threshold and make maximum sentence 10 yearsTo view rewards for supporting the podcast, please visit Warfare's Patreon page.To leave questions or comments about this or other episodes of the podcast, please call 1.929.260.4942 or email Stephanie@warfareofartandlaw.com. © Stephanie Drawdy [2022]

On this week's episode, we're looking ahead to the November midterm elections, and what voters across the nation are thinking. Asian Americans Advancing Justice has released its 2022 Asian American voter survey, including opinions on everything from gun control to education, and what the major political parties are doing to engage that community. Janelle Wong, with survey partner AAPI Data, says the answer is, not much.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.