Podcasts about My President

TODAY: James L Brooks assures us that Homer will continue to strangle the boy, and society holds together for another season ALSO: Markwayne Mullen... Mullins? reads Sean O'Brien's mean tweets on the senate floor, and gets so upset he challenges the Teamsters President, My President, to a fight FINALLY: Conservatives freak out after Ohio voters amend their state constitution to include reproductive and abortion rights. We trace the current right-wing backlash to a 1996 pro-life rock music compilation, including rap metal grandfathers P.O.D. and Ms Jane Roe herself, reading a poem about how sad she is that she killed a million babies. Sign up at http://patreon.com/miniondeathcult for 2 bonus episodes a week

[00:00:00] Tommy Thomas: A strong board of directors is essential to the success of any non-profit organization. The board of directors plays a critical role in providing guidance, oversight, and support for the organization's mission and operations.   There is no cookie-cutter or one-size-fits-all when it comes to Nonprofit Board Governance and Board Service.  However, there is a lot we can learn from people who are active on the Boards of high impact and highly effective nonprofit organizations.   Over the past 104 issues, we have devoted a lot of time to this topic.  From time to time, we will highlight excerpts from some of these conversations.   Today is the 3rd time we are compiling these excerpts.  I will have links to the previous two episodes in the Episode Notes.   Christin McClave has over 20 years of corporate leadership, beginning her career with Johnson & Johnson and serving in senior leadership in her family's large automotive aftermarket business – Cardone Industries.  Christin has served on and continues to serve on several nonprofit and corporate Boards. I've been in this business a long time and I've worked with probably 300 or 400 boards, over the last 30 years. And if I look at them, I would say a lot of the time they're males. They might be closer to my age than your age. And now things are changing. So, what are you seeing, or maybe what are you doing to lower the mean age on a board and to maybe bring more gender and ethnic diversity?  [00:01:43] Christin McClave:  So, I think we see a lot of changes in the general demographics, right?  As our society and culture are changing. The positive thing is there's so much more diversity coming up through the leadership ranks. And I think the traditional way that we've, I'll say we, because I've done it myself as well, when we've needed a new board member on a board, I instantly think about who have I worked with before? Who's like me, who thinks like me, who would be easy to plug and play into this board that I'm on? And so that's been our traditional way of pipelining onto boards. Let's find people who we know and who we know could be very quickly successful and contribute value to this board. I think what we've learned over the last couple years is that doesn't necessarily bring diversity to these boards that we are trying to diversify. And we've seen the pressure coming from the public sector the SEC, not quite regulations, but suggestions that we need a certain percentage of diversity on the public boards. And there's a lot of pressure in the market for that. And then that has trickled down its way to nonprofits and to the private sector. So, everyone is looking to diversify their boards at this point. And I think, a key piece of the job requirements that we have in the past always assumed on larger boards, I'll say. And most boards in general, everybody's wanted, okay you need to have a CEO or CFO or a C level executive. But preferably a CEO or CFO who's been in the chair before. And I've had people say that to me as well, that's what they're looking for. And I think we know just from sheer data that a lot of women and diverse candidates in general haven't had those opportunities. We are definitely developing that pipeline now and being very much more intentional. But I think like through the past few years and now looking at the talent market being as hot as it is and the demand for diverse talent we have, we are at the place we need to take a look at those very narrow criteria that we've said, oh, you have to be a C-level executive to be on a board and to be able to contribute value. And I think, now I've seen a lot more being written, a lot more being talked about, diversity coming onto boards where I'm reading someone's background and I'm like, wow, that is so cool. Maybe 10 years ago that person wouldn't have been chosen for that very significant board seat. So, I think we've opened up our criteria and have opened up our thought process and how we see people's experiences. We're looking at people's resumes really differently these days. From an HR perspective in internal, when we're screening candidates we took the requirement of having a college degree off of our requirements, probably, about 10 years ago, which was a little bit ahead of our time, but it just opened up our talent pool and we realized there are a lot of people out there that may not have a bachelor's degree but are way more experienced with their life and work experience that we were not being able to tap into because we had that very strict requirement. So, I think we're seeing that across the board at all levels, including at the board level. +++++++++++++++++++++++ [00:05:34] Tommy Thomas: Alvin Sanders, President & CEO of World Impact, a nonprofit that focuses on redemptive poverty and cultural proficiency in the urban community.  Alvin and his Board are huge proponents of the Policy Governance Model - an integrated board leadership paradigm created by Dr. John Carver.   I'm asking people these days about bringing younger people onto boards. And philosophically, do you have a position on that? And then I'll ask a follow up.  [00:06:10] Alvin Sanders: Yes, we try to hold it at nine, because we think a smaller board is better for getting things done. And I think in terms of thirds, a third of our board, we want gender diversity, a third of our board, we want age diversity, a third of our board, we want racial diversity. And then we want half and half, what I would say, marketplace people. These are business folk, and then the other half ministry people. Because if you have all marketplace people, the ministry gets lost. It's been my experience. And if you have all ministry people, the business of running the organization gets lost and it loses knowledge and expertise. So that's my philosophy of how you have you bring a board together. But you definitely need people, especially since I just read the other day that millennials now are the most dominant generation numbers wise. It's no longer Baby Boomers. It's never been my generation, Gen X. We're the forgotten generation, I think. Nobody gives a rip about Gen X, but Millennials now are it and you're just being silly if you don't have Millennials on your board. ++++++++++++++++++ [00:07:23] Tommy Thomas: Caryn Ryan, Managing Director at MissionWell, an organization that provides financial and strategic counsel to nonprofit organizations. Caryn is the former CFO for BP/Amoco and World Vision International.  She currently serves on corporate and nonprofit Boards.   I want to ask you one question then I'll close. So, my next to the last question has to do with succession planning and the board. At what point should that begin to occur? And how does the board address that without the CEO thinking “I'm a short-timer”? [00:08:04] Caryn Ryan: Okay. Yeah, that's great.  I'm dealing with that right now at one of the boards that I sit on. And I've just dealt with that last year as well. And it works both ways if it works all, all different ways. So let me just talk about one where the CEO does get the feeling. If you have this conversation that they're a short timer. I want to just say first of all, that can sometimes go back to the trust issue again, right? When there's a lack of trust between the board and the CEO then, and you bring up the succession of the question of succession planning, the first thing that goes of course into the CEO's mind is, oh, I'm getting fired.  I'm a short termer here.  So that has to again, be addressed, the trust issue, before you can have productive conversations around succession planning. But even longer term issues are going to take some time to get resolved. There's something you can always do on the succession plan that's very short term and that every single board must have in place. And that is you need a succession plan in case of an emergency. If your CEO becomes ill is hit by a bus, or whatever, you need an emergency succession plan that is an interim structure or very well thought through way that you'll manage in the absence of the CEO.  And usually, it's not going to bring out the same negative feeling for the CEO.  On the part of the CEO because they understand that, oh yeah, if I'm not there, we need to have some interim structure. And so, they'll begin helping the Board and thinking through, look, okay, if something happens to me, let's make this person on our staff the interim, or let's pull this Board Member out and see if they'll be the interim. Or they'll start to engage in the ideas for how that could work in interim a structure. And as long as you can get that interim structure put in place and everybody's in agreement that it's workable, that then gives a chance during the interim structure for the Board to go out and begin doing a search to find a replacement candidate. Regarding succession planning for a Founder – S/he just might not be willing to step aside. They might have created a whole lack of number twos in the organization who can step in, even in an emergency. It just may not be anybody. So that's a different situation where the board needs to probably, in addition to working on trust, which can be very difficult with the founder. You might be off the board if you start having those kind of conversations. But what you can do as a board is do your research. How would you do a search? You can get your research done on executive search firms who could step in and help you. You can just keep in mind, and Tommy, you're the one who should be telling your podcast listeners this, but it's a long process to do a search. You've got to set up a search committee. You got to figure out how you're going to recruit the person. You've got to have an approach. You have to execute it, you have to review the candidates. It's just really time consuming. You at least have to think through all of these, how that's a minimum thing, even if it's a founder situation. I'd say two things. Number one, for sure, have an interim emergency succession plan, no questions asked. That's an absolute minimum mandate for every board. And number two, if you're on a founder board, you have to do some special extra work along the side with networking, quiet networking, just to figure out the process and figure out how you would do, how would you do that if something did happen to your founder, if your founder's not willing to participate or help with that.  Does that make sense?  ++++++++++++++ [00:11:33] Tommy Thomas: Rich Stearns, President Emeritus at World Vision US.  Prior to joining World Vision, Rich was CEO for multiple organizations in the private sector, thus reporting to their Boards.  He cut his teeth on nonprofit Board Governance as President of World Vision US.   When I interviewed you back in 2017 you mentioned that from your perspective, the best thing that the World Vision Board did for you when you came on was you recalled an offsite retreat where y'all got introduced to each other. Could you share a little bit about that with us? I think we probably have a lot of up and coming CEOs listening and that might be an interesting discussion. [00:12:14] Rich Stearns: Yeah, I don't know how much that costs. Probably not much, but it was the best money World Vision ever spent. When I came into World Vision the Board and the CEO had what I'd call a turbulent relationship. He wasn't thrilled about his board and the way they behaved, and the Board wasn't thrilled about him in certain ways. And so, I was coming into kind of a troubled marriage, right? You could say there'd been a divorce, and I'm the new husband coming in. And so, the Board had enough wisdom to say, you know what, we should start off on the right foot here. Why don't we hire a board consultant to come in and do a two-day retreat with a new CEO to teach the Board and the new CEO, how best they should interact and communicate with one another. So, a friend of yours and mine named Bob Andringa, he's retired now, but he was in the Board consulting business. He's written at least one book, if not several. He came in and he conducted a Board Governance 101, 102 course for all of us. And gave us tools to use and dealt with different scenarios of here are the dos and don'ts for Board Members. Here are the dos and don'ts for the staff and the CEO. Here is the best way to understand your responsibility as Board Members. This is what your responsibility is, and this is what your responsibility is not. This is the role you play. This is the role you don't play. And same with a CEO, Rich, your role is this the board's role is to establish policy. I guess the best way to say it is it laid down the ground rules for a healthy relationship. And I don't think it's an exaggeration to say I had a 20-year honeymoon with my board. Not that there weren't an occasional, marital argument over the years. But it was like a 20-year honeymoon with the board. And I respected them, they respected me. My staff, when I first started, after a year, they said, boy, you've had a one-year honeymoon with this board. It's amazing. Because they'd seen some of the dysfunction in the prior years. And 20 years later, they were still saying you're still on your honeymoon. And I in terms of my response, what I attribute it to, is what I talked about earlier, Tommy, that the board knew they could trust me. I would never tell them a lie. I would never hide anything. I was completely transparent. Anything they wanted to talk about at a board meeting, we could talk about. Any numbers they wanted to see, we'd show them. If I had some bad numbers, I'd bring them to the board and say, look, this is not good, and here's what we're going to do.  They never felt I was hiding anything. And so that created trust as well. [00:15:03] Tommy Thomas: One of the guys that you've influenced over the years is Joe Mettimano at Central Union Mission. And when I interviewed Joe there, he talked about a lesson he learned from you about the president's report to the board. He would attribute part of his success to what he learned from you there. Tell us about that. [00:15:22] Rich Stearns: I started every board meeting with a president's report. So, the Board is gathered, in the case of World Vision they've flown in from all over the country, and here they are at the World Vision board meeting and remember, they're all volunteers, some are pastors, some are business people.  They're from all walks of life and so I tried to use the President's Report to basically bring them up to speed on what was going on at World Vision. What were the important issues? What were we doing about the important issues? How are the finances doing? I tried to answer as many questions as they might have in advance. Because the rest of the board meeting, the finance committee was going to meet and other committees were going to meet. And I tried to use the President's Report to cast a bit of a vision for where we were as an organization, where we're headed, what my outlook was for the coming year or the coming quarter. And I try to use the Board Meeting to really cast a vision to remind them of the mission of World Vision. Often, I would start with a trip report. I've just gotten back from the Syrian refugee crisis, and I want to tell you what I saw. I would remind them, we're sitting here in a nice boardroom, but people are dying all over the world. And our job is to intercede for them to help them to rescue those who are perishing as the book of Proverbs says. And so, trying to remind them why they were here, why World Vision was here and then look under the hood at, the financials, the numbers, the revenues, the overhead, and you had to deal with issues like real estate transactions and mundane stuff like that. I wanted to always to put it in the context of the bigger mission, vision and values of the organization. My President's Report would sometimes go 90 minutes to two hours which is a lot. But usually, the board would say that was the highlight of the meeting because that really brought them up to date on everything. +++++++++++++++= [00:17:16] Tommy Thomas: Paul Maurer, President at Montreat College.  Paul is a student of Board Governance and identifies as a “governance nerd”.  Paul is on his second college presidency and has learned a lot – some through the school of hard knocks about effective Board Governance.   And a lot of people that I talk with, there's a move toward lowering the mean age of the board and increasing diversity. What kind of experience have y'all had at Montreat around those issues? [00:17:45] Paul Maurer: We're intentionally trying to increase diversity. We've not found that to be an easy pathway, but we are we are committed to it. And on age I would just gently push back on the median age lowering. I'm very much of the Aristotelian camp that young people have less wisdom. And part of what you want for board members is wisdom. Wisdom comes with experience, and experience comes with age and the hard knocks of life and just the journey of life with gray hair and getting beat up occasionally. And I want younger people on the board, but that's less common. They're actually very hard to get on the board because they're less qualified candidates in my view, and they're uber busy with career and family. So, the young members, the 30 somethings, I have on my board, I have two of them. They're like up to their eyeballs, four or five kids each, they're CEOs or leaders in their own rights and rising in the ranks. And these people have large portfolios and enormous demands on their time. Then my 70- and 80-year-olds, and I even have a 91-year-old board member who I recruited at the age of 87. And he said to me, he said, Paul, what if I die? And I said, Bill what if I die? We're all going to die. You've got a lot of gas left in your tank. You've got enormous amount of wisdom. And you may have others who think that you're too old to be a board member. I don't think that at all. And if a day should come when your health has slipped, your metro capacities have slipped, we'll have that conversation and we'll have it openly and honestly. Honestly the seventies, eighties, and 90-year-old trustees I have are easily among my best trustees. They're phenomenal. [00:20:04] Tommy Thomas: Let's change over a little bit to the board aspect of being a president. What was the biggest adjustment that you had to make between, say, reporting to the CEO as a cabinet member and then as the President reporting to the Board? [00:20:20] Paul Maurer: Yeah, it's a great question. I'm a bit of a governance nerd. I really think about and study governance. I did that in my doctoral work. I do it as a college president in nonprofit governance. And so, the president needs clarity. What is the role of the board? What is the role of the president? What's the role of the relationship and what's the role of everyone else on campus in relationship to the board? And so, in the world of board governance, there are working boards and there are policy boards. Startups tend to have working boards, like true startups, like really small organizations. More established organizations. If they haven't transitioned to a policy board, they probably ought to consider doing so. Because you don't really want a board involved in the operations of an organization. And so, I'm deeply grateful that my board gave me the lead role in board development, meaning recruitment of new board members, training of board, the board policy manual. And we have a great board today, and they really understand that the board should not be involved in operations. That's the CEO's job but should be sure that they're being fiduciaries, that they're making sure there's a strategic plan that's being carried out their success along the way and that they manage or evaluate. They don't manage, they evaluate the presidents. They hire and fire the president, the CEO. I do think that my argument would be that it's more important for a President to be a CEO than a President. The President is, as I think of a bit of an old model for college leadership, it's rooted in what I think is not a very useful model of shared governance. I think the CEO is a better model, but you also need a CEO who's sensitive to campus dynamics and the idea that consensus really matters. And a consensus building CEO I think is the best model, but I think that the CEO also needs to be the CUO - the Chief Urgency Officer. Because things are changing so fast.    Links & Resources JobfitMatters Website Next Gen Nonprofit Leadership with Tommy Thomas Two Previous Best of Board Governance Episodes:  2023 – Best of Board Service Part 1 2023 – Best of Board Service Part 2 Episodes Featuring These Excerpts Christin McClave – Insights into Board Governance Rich Stearns – President Emeritus World Vision US – An Inauspicious Leadership Journey – Part 2 Alvin Sanders – Board Governance Caryn Ryan – Board Governance Paul Maurer – Board Governance   Connect tthomas@jobfitmatters.com Follow Tommy on LinkedIn

[00:00:00] Rich Stearns: I learned early on, just the importance of, I've said this earlier, being truthful and being a person of integrity in the workplace, you never get caught in a lie if you don't lie. And so, some of my early bosses drill that into my head. Bad news delivered late is terrible. Bad news delivered early is the best thing. If you have bad news, deliver it early. And don't try to hide things when they're going south. Tell the boss or the management that you've got a problem early on. +++++++++++++++++++++ [00:00:28] Tommy Thomas: Thank you for joining us today. We're continuing the conversation we began last week with Rich Stearns President Emeritus of World Vision US.  Today we will continue with Rich's leadership journey. We'll also be discussing the all-important topic of board governance. I'm so grateful to Rich for taking time from his schedule to talk with me. As we mentioned last week, the search that JobfitMatters conducted that brought Rich to World Vision literally set our practice on a trajectory that helped make the firm into what it is today.  Let's pick up on the conversation we started last week. If you were creating a dashboard for a nonprofit to get at their health, what might the dials look like? How do you tell if a nonprofit is healthy? [00:01:19] Rich Stearns: This is one of my pet peeves. You've got these services like Charity Navigator and almost all of these services focus on financial metrics. What's the overhead? What's the balance sheet look like? What's the recent growth been over the last two or three years? Basically, those things have very little to do with whether a charity is a good charity, a well-performing charity, or a poorly performing charity. So, the only thing that really matters is the kind of impact that the nonprofit is having. It's about impact. So, let's say it's a homeless ministry, right? What matters in a homeless ministry is how many of their clients actually get out of homelessness and go on to lead independent lives. That's really the outcome that you're looking for in a homeless ministry. And sometimes homeless ministries talk about how many beds they have and how many nights off the street they give their clients. But just giving somebody a safe bed for the night doesn't solve their problem, right? So, you can say we put 300 men to bed every night, in this homeless shelter, and the next day they're on the street again and then the following day they come back to the shelter and there's nothing wrong with providing some safety for a little bit, but ultimately, you're looking for the cure, right? How do we help these men, if they're men, get out of homelessness and get into more productive lives? But none of these charity evaluation websites talk about impact because it's so hard to measure. And it could be that the charity with the greatest impact also has high overheads. So, they get a negative rating from Charity Navigator, even though they were having a tremendous impact on the people that they're serving. You always try to get inside the charity and say, what kind of work are you doing? And are you making an impact? Now, after that, you start to look at finances. So, at World Vision, we got into the clean water business a number of years ago. So then there's a measure called impact per dollar spent. The cost to bring clean water to one person for life through World Vision is $50. So, you tell a donor that for $50, I don't know what your water bill is, but mine's higher than $50 a month. But for $50 I can bring clean water to a person for life in Rwanda. And then I say, how many people do you want to bring clean water to? How big a donation can you make? So that's impact per dollar, right? Impact per dollar spent. And that's the other thing I tend to look at. [00:03:50] Tommy Thomas: Kind of a similar question. I've been asking this the last month or so and I've gotten some fascinating responses. If you were a judge on a nonprofit version of the shark tank and nonprofit startups are coming to you for early-stage funding, what questions have you got to have solid answers for before you open your checkbook? [00:04:10] Rich Stearns: The very first question that a shark tank guy would ask if you come with a new product is how is this product different from every other product that's already out in the market? In other words, nobody needs another cola drink, Coca-Cola, Pepsi Cola, RC Cola. There are plenty of cola drinks out there. So, if your big idea is I'm going to do my own cola drink, the first question is why? So, with a nonprofit, for example, I've seen young people that want to start up a new World Vision, right? I want to help the poor in Africa. And so, I'm going to start my own non-profit organization to help them. And my question is why would you do that? Because World Vision is a $3.2B organization helping the poor around the world. Compassion is $1.5B helping the poor around the world. Samaritan's Purse is a billion-dollar organization. So, what are you doing that they're not doing? Why would I give my money to you instead of an established, successful nonprofit that's doing that work? And, a good example of a positive answer to that would be the International Justice Mission. My friend, Gary Haugen started it about 27 years ago. He looked around and he said, there are a lot of organizations that are feeding the hungry and bringing clean water to the poor and doing microfinance. I don't see any organizations that are helping the poor with their legal problems protecting them from corrupt police departments and representing them in court when they're falsely accused of something or getting them out of bonded labor in India by using the court system. So, Gary started International Justice Mission to focus on justice and legal issues. He could have called it “Lawyers Without Borders” if he wanted to, because essentially, he hires a lot of attorneys that go around the world, and they work through the legal systems to help people who are being oppressed in various ways. So, the first question to ask is, why would I give to your charity? What is unique about it? And why wouldn't you just partner up with somebody that's already doing this work? If nonprofits are doing it, the next thing you look at is the leader's vision and motivation, right? If there's a powerful leader with a powerful vision and capabilities you believe, just like you'd look at a startup CEO. Do they have the right vision? That's the other thing. Because it takes a lot of elbow grease to start up a nonprofit. [00:06:40] Tommy Thomas: Frederick Wilcox said progress always involves risk.  You can't steal second base with your foot on first. What's the biggest risk you've ever taken and how did it come out? [00:06:51] Rich Stearns: Let me mention the Parker Brothers thing again. So, getting Parker Brothers into video games was a huge risk. We had to take our foot off first base because we had to hire 180 people.  We had to create almost another whole company and another whole capability within the company to enter this new marketplace. Cost a lot of money, and a lot of investment upfront, and I would say the outcome was both good and bad. So initially for a couple of years, we doubled the size of the company. We had huge growth, huge profit. But then about two years in, the whole video game market collapsed. It had been a bubble and it collapsed. And when it collapsed, we had seven of the top ten selling video game cartridges in America. From our startup position, we had been very successful. But once the market collapsed, you couldn't give those products away. They were selling video game cartridges, three for $10 in a barrel at Toys R Us because the market was glutted with people trying to get into that market. It was a little bit like the Dot Com bubble in 2000. So anyways, all that profit we made. We had to give it all back over the next few years. That's one of the reasons I got fired from Parker Brothers. But I tried to persuade Parker Brothers to stay in there, hang in there, right? Because video games are going to come back. But they decided that it was too risky. They wouldn't stay in. And of course, we now know that the video game market is bigger than all of Hollywood combined in terms of revenues. And it's bigger than most professional sports. And so had we stayed in video games, we would have probably had huge opportunities in the future, but that was a huge risk to take. And when you take a risk, you bet big, and you lose big, or you win big. I think the other risk was the AIDS campaign that I did with World Vision, because there was a possibility that HIV and AIDS would turn the American church against us. People say, why are you doing this? Why are you helping people that were affected by this, disease that's sexually transmitted? I thought you were about helping children. And so, we had to get our messaging right with AIDS. We took a bit of a risk to go there, but in the end, it really paid off because what people learned about World Vision is that we would tackle the most difficult issues in the most difficult places. And that earned us a lot of respect from pastors and donors. Because nobody else was doing it at the time, nobody else was willing to take that risk. And we did, and ultimately a lot of organizations followed us a few years later. But that was another pretty risky venture. [00:09:39] Tommy Thomas: What's the best piece of advice anybody's ever given you? The best piece of advice that I have received is to be truthful and be a person of integrity in the workplace. You never get caught in a lie if you don't lie. [00:09:41] Rich Stearns: The best piece of advice that I would say, first of all, I learned early on, just the importance of, I've said this earlier, being truthful and being a person of integrity in the workplace. You never get caught in a lie if you don't lie. And so, some of my early bosses drill that into my head. Bad news delivered late is terrible. Bad news delivered early is the best thing. If you have bad news, deliver it early. And don't try to hide things when they're going south. Tell the boss or the management that you've got a problem early on. One piece of advice I got during a difficult time, I can't remember where I was, probably at Parker Brothers. It was a difficult year and one of my coworkers said, what you have to understand, because most of us, we're afraid we're going to lose our job or we're afraid something's going to happen to us. And he used to say, remember this company needs you more than you need them, right? Because if you're a good worker and you're productive and you've got good ideas, the place you work for needs you more than you need them. And I learned that later as a CEO looking for good people. When I had good people working for me, all I want to know is how do I keep them? How do I motivate them? I need them more than they need me because they can find another job, but it's going to be hard for me to find another person of that caliber. So, the importance of retaining really good people struck me. +++++++++++++++++ [00:11:09] Tommy Thomas:  You've been out of office for a couple of years now, but let's go back three or four years.  If you had invited me to one of your staff meetings and then we had dismissed you, and I asked the team what's the most difficult thing about working for Rich?  What might I have heard? [00:11:27] Rich Stearns: I don't know. I want to say you have to ask them that question. You've interviewed some of the people that worked for me in the past. But I would probably say I tended to be an idea machine, that in a particular meeting, I would throw out 20 new ideas. What about this? Or what about that? What if we did this? And what I learned is that when you're the CEO people are frantically taking notes on everything that comes out of your mouth. Let's say you throw out 20 ideas. They're likely to leave that meeting and spend the next month pursuing all 20 of those ideas. And I realized that I had to tell people, look, I'm going to throw out a bunch of ideas in this meeting. I want you to throw out ideas too. Not all my ideas are good.  Number one:  Don't be afraid to challenge me just because I'm the president.  In this room let's think of ourselves all as equals. Everybody in this room has got good ideas and we need to challenge ideas. Some are good, some are bad, some are worth keeping, and some are not. They're like panning for gold, right? I realized that I needed to give people permission to challenge me as a leader and to challenge me in front of other people. I used to say, if you don't challenge my ideas, you're not very useful to me because I need other people to help me evaluate which of these ideas have merit and which ones really don't. And if you can't contribute to that, why are you at the meeting? You realize that they probably say Rich threw out too many ideas at the meeting. And I left wondering which ones do I really focus on? So I think that could have been frustrating sometimes for people. [00:13:04] Tommy Thomas: What do you think they would have said was the most rewarding part? [00:13:09] Rich Stearns: I don't know. I like to feel that people enjoyed working for me. I tried to create a sense of camaraderie among my teams.  I tried not to lead like the imperial CEO that I'm the boss and you're not. Or I'm here on the organization chart, you're down here. So I tried to be more of a collaborative leader.  Hey, we're all a team and every member of the team is important. All these people that work for me are made in the image of God and they have incredible talents, ideas, backgrounds, uniqueness, unique gifts, and talents. Everyone's gifts are different. And you've all got great ideas. And I tried to, especially in the latter half of my career, I started to see that all these people that work for me are made in the image of God and they have incredible talents, ideas, backgrounds, uniqueness, unique gifts, and talents. Everyone's gifts are different. Everyone's abilities are different. And when you start seeing that kind of symphony of talent in front of you, you're like an orchestra conductor and you say, how can I bring the beautiful music out of these talented musicians that I have working for me? I might have a CEO who was brilliant. In fact, you knew one or two of my CEOs who would have been terrible at marketing, right? But he was a brilliant CFO. And so, I recognized that and made sure that I relied on him and leaned into him for his giftedness. Then over somewhere else, I've got a really talented person in product development coming up with new products. And so, you bring that talent out. Ultimately, a leader is like that orchestra conductor. How do you get all these really gifted musicians, each gifted in a different way to play together so that what comes out is a beautiful symphony instead of, discordant, loud sounds that are unpleasant. I like to think that I could create a positive work environment, positive culture for the team. And what I learned about success in the workplace is that teams of people that work well together and feel valued and are in a healthy culture, they're much more productive than people in a negative difficult culture. Culture matters a lot and leaders tend to create culture. [00:15:20] Tommy Thomas:  Here's a quote I'd like you to respond to: “When you're sitting around the table with your leadership team, you never want to be the smartest person at the table”. [00:15:29] Rich Stearns: I love that quote. And actually, one of my first, I'll go back to Parker Brothers, the President of Parker Brothers, Randolph Parker Barton, when I joined was the family vestige or holdover from the old company that had been acquired by General Mills. Mr. Barton was, how do I say it? Not the most capable leader. He didn't have a Wharton MBA. He didn't come up through other consumer products companies. He inherited his job because he was a family member. He knew a lot about toys and games, but he wanted to hire the smartest, most gifted, talented people he could find and let them do what they were capable of doing. And he developed a reputation from within General Mills, the parent company, for having some of the brightest up-and-coming leaders in the whole General Mills organization, which was much bigger than Parker Brothers. And he basically did it by hiring well and then delegating a lot of authority and influence to the smart people that he hired. He never felt threatened by them because he realized that as long as he kept hiring the best people, he would get the best performance for his division. And General Mills would reward him as the president with bonuses and compensation, increase and all of that. I learned from him to hire really the best people you can, to try to find people smarter than you or smarter than you in their field. Hire the best people you can. Try to find people smarter than you or smarter than you in their field. So again, a CFO who is much better at finance than I am, or hiring a head of human resources that's much more gifted than I am in human resources. A General Manager or a President is really a generalist, right? The orchestra conductor can't play all those instruments, so they need people that are really good at the violin, really good at percussion, really good at clarinet and woodwinds. And when you get the very best musicians working for you, that's when the beautiful music starts to happen. +++++++++++++++ [00:17:34] Tommy Thomas: Let's just switch over to board service. I think board service is hard at any level. Talk to me about the board chair. What's the primary function of the chairman of the board? [00:17:49] Rich Stearns: I think the primary function of the Board Chair is to manage the board.   We used to have 18 board members at World Vision. It was a pretty large board. And you got 18 people in a room that are all pretty smart. They're all from different walks of life and they've got ideas and suggestions and things of that nature. The Board Chair's main job is to manage the Board.  That Board Chair reminds the Board that their job is governance, a policy role. And the Board Chair has a very important role in focusing the board on the job at hand. You're not necessarily here for everybody to throw in their ideas. We have a professional staff to run the company or run the organization. The board chair reminds them that their role is a governance role, a policy role. Certainly, their ideas can be offered, but it's really the role of the CEO and the staff to determine whether those ideas are effective or usable. I think the board chair really must control the work of the board and direct it in the right ways. And he's basically herding, 10, 12, 15 other board members, to focus on the job at hand. The other role of the Chair is to be close to the CEO so that the CEO and the board chair are on the same page. The Board Chair can deliver some difficult information to the CEO if let's say the performance is poor or other board members have a problem with the way the CEO is conducting the meetings or leading the organization. The Board Chair is often the messenger that brings that information to the CEO, hopefully in a way that's redemptive instead of crushing, that, how can I help this CEO be more successful by giving feedback to him from the board?  The board chair is really a pretty critical pivotal role. [00:19:37] Tommy Thomas: I know your past Board Chair for the last few years of your time at World Vision. What was the key to you and Joan working together so well? The key to a CEO / Board working relationship comes down to mutual respect. [00:19:45] Rich Stearns: I think it comes down to mutual respect. I think Joan had a lot of respect for me. I was a long-serving CEO of World Vision by the time she was Board Chair. She had a lot of respect for me, my capabilities, and what I'd accomplished at World Vision over those years. But I also had respect for her and her position.  I always respected the Board Chair's position because in my worldview, the board chair and my board in a Christian organization, that was God's way of holding me in the organization accountable. These people were accountable before God for this ministry that was entrusted to their care and their governance care as board members. And I never saw the board as an adversary, I always saw them as really a gift that they were there to keep us on the right track, to keep us out of trouble, to ask the tough questions that needed to be answered to make sure we were financially solvent, to make sure we stayed on mission. And by respecting their role they could see that I respected them, which caused them to respect and trust me more. A board relationship is very much about trust. If if the board trusts the leader who's leading the organization and that leader's team that's a critical ingredient. And the leader has to trust the board not to do inappropriate things or get involved in inappropriate ways and not to be disruptive and if you have mutual trust, which the chair often negotiates that, or referees that, or tries to ensure that you're off to a good start with a board CEO relationship. [00:21:24] Tommy Thomas: When I interviewed you back in 2017 you mentioned that from your perspective, the best thing that the World Vision Board did for you when you came on was you recalled an offsite retreat where y'all got introduced to each other. Could you share a little bit about that with us? We probably have a lot of up-and-coming CEOs listening and that might be an interesting discussion. [00:21:45] Rich Stearns: I don't know how much that costs. Probably not much, but it was the best money World Vision ever spent. When I came into World Vision the Board and the CEO had what I'd call a turbulent relationship. He wasn't thrilled about his board and the way they behaved, and the Board wasn't thrilled about him in certain ways. And so, I was coming into kind of a troubled marriage, right? You could say there'd been a divorce, and I'm the new husband coming in. And so, the Board had enough wisdom to say, you know what, we should start off on the right foot here. Why don't we hire a board consultant to come in and do a two-day retreat with a new CEO to teach the Board and the new CEO how best they should interact and communicate with one another? So, a friend of yours and mine named Bob Andringa, he's retired now, but he was in the Board consulting business. He's written at least one book if not several. He came in and he conducted a Board Governance 101, 102 course for all of us and gave us tools to use and dealt with different scenarios of the dos and don'ts for Board Members and the dos and don'ts for the staff and the CEO. Here is the best way to understand your responsibility as Board Members. This is what your responsibility is, and this is what your responsibility is not. This is the role you play. This is the role you don't play. And the same with a CEO. Rich, your role is this. The board's role is to establish policy. I guess the best way to say it is it laid down the ground rules for a healthy relationship. And I don't think it's an exaggeration to say I had a 20-year honeymoon with my board. Not that there wasn't an occasional marital argument over the years. But it was like a 20-year honeymoon with the board. And I respected them, they respected me. My staff, when I first started, after a year, they said, boy, you've had a one-year honeymoon with this board. It's amazing. Because they'd seen some of the dysfunction in the prior years. And 20 years later, they were still saying you're still on your honeymoon. And in terms of my response, what I attribute it to, is what I talked about earlier, Tommy, that the board knew they could trust me. I would never tell them a lie. I would never hide anything. I was completely transparent. Anything they wanted to talk about at a board meeting, we could talk about. Any numbers they wanted to see; we'd show them. If I had some bad numbers, I'd bring them to the board and say, look, this is not good, and here's what we're going to do.  They never felt I was hiding anything. And so that created trust as well. The board knew they could trust me.  I would never tell them a lie. I would never hide anything. I was completely transparent. Anything they wanted to talk about at a board meeting, we could talk about. +++++++++++++++++++++ [00:24:34] Tommy Thomas: One of the guys that you've influenced over the years is Joseph J. Mettimano, the President at Central Union Mission in Washington, DC. And when I interviewed Joe he talked about a lesson he learned from you about the President's Report to the Board. He would attribute part of his success to what he learned from you there.  Tell us about that. [00:24:53] Rich Stearns: I started every board meeting with a President's Report. So, the Board is gathered, in the case of World Vision they've flown in from all over the country and here they are at the World Vision board meeting, and remember, they're all volunteers, some are pastors, some are business people.  They're from all walks of life and so I tried to use the President's Report to basically bring them up to speed on what was going on at World Vision. What were the important issues? What were we doing about the important issues? How are the finances doing? I tried to answer as many questions as they might have in advance. I started every board meeting with a President's Report. I tried to use the President's Report to basically bring them up to speed on what was going on at World Vision. What were the important issues? What were we doing about the important issues? How are the finances doing? Because the rest of the board meeting, the finance committee was going to meet and other committees were going to meet. And I tried to use the President's Report to cast a bit of a vision for where we were as an organization, where we're headed, what my outlook was for the coming year or the coming quarter. And I try to use the Board Meeting to really cast a vision to remind them of the mission of World Vision. Often, I would start with a trip report. I've just gotten back from the Syrian refugee crisis, and I want to tell you what I saw. I would remind them, we're sitting here in a nice boardroom, but people are dying all over the world. And our job is to intercede for them to help them to rescue those who are perishing, as the book of Proverbs says. And so, trying to remind them why they were here, why World Vision was here, and then look under the hood at the financials, the numbers, the revenues, the overhead, and you had to deal with issues like real estate transactions and mundane stuff like that. I wanted to always put it in the context of the bigger mission, vision, and values of the organization. My President's Report would sometimes go 90 minutes to two hours, which is a lot. But usually, the board would say that was the highlight of the meeting because that really brought them up to date on everything. My President's Report would sometimes go 90 minutes to two hours, which is a lot. But usually, the board would say that was the highlight of the meeting because that really brought them up to date on everything. [00:26:46] Tommy Thomas:  I've done a little bit of speaking here over the past three or four years, most of it pre-pandemic on succession planning and one of the things that we talk about in that is how much of the outgoing president's identity is tied up in his or her current job. You've been away now for almost two years, any reflections on that? Did you have any trouble walking away? [00:27:11] Rich Stearns: No, I didn't actually. I talk about this a lot. We had a very orderly succession process when I left World Vision. In 2015, I hired a Chief Operating Officer, and he worked under me for three years, learning the ropes. He then became a candidate to succeed me, although the board did a nationwide search. They ultimately selected him. But about two years before I retired in an executive session of the board, I said, look I'm planning to retire.  I had a contract that expired in two years, and we renewed my contract every five years for 20 years. And I said, at the end of this contract, I'm planning to retire and I'm giving you a gift right now. The gift is number one, I'm leaving without any drama, it's like you're not having to talk at the bathroom breaks about when is the old guy going to retire, when is he going to leave, I'm retiring, I want to retire at the top of my game, not at the bottom of my game. And that's a gift to you because now as a board, you can focus totally on how can we have the best transition process. How can we use this time to find the very best candidate to replace Rich? And you don't have to worry about any of the drama or that I'm going to be clinging to power and so long story short, Tommy, they did a very good job. They did a pretty thorough search. They took a lot of advice from me because I said a lot of nonprofits do this very poorly. And some of the nonprofits that I shared with them during my 20 years at World Vision, some of these nonprofits that were peer organizations had 10 CEOs come and go. And I said that's very unhealthy for an organization to have 10 years. And the reason they had 10 CEOs is because their nonprofit volunteer board continued to make bad decisions about who to hire, so I wanted to help them make a good decision about who to hire with all the facts on the table and knowledge. So then I retired, and I had a nice retirement party. We had a passing of the torch to my successor, Edgar Sandoval, who was the COO under me for the last three years. Then I walked away, and I know a lot of people really have a struggle in retirement and they feel like they've lost their identity. I felt like I gave everything I had for 20 years. I gave World Vision everything I had to offer. It's somebody else's turn. I sensed it was time for fresh leadership. I was 67 years old I had a family, a growing family, grandsons, a wife that I had been away from for a lot of months during my time at World Vision, traveling internationally and I was ready, and I looked at retirement as this is my sabbath rest after a 45-year career. [00:30:01] Tommy Thomas:  Bringing this thing to a close. What's something that you would have liked to have told a younger version of yourself? [00:30:09] Rich Stearns: You know a couple of things come to mind. One is comical - a career is a very long time. In your 20s or 30s, you're in a particular job in a particular industry or sector and your career seems you're focused on this year, right? You're right now, this job, maybe you're thinking about what would my next job be, but in a 40-some-year career, you can do a lot of different things, and if you feel like I used to, I tell young people, if your current job is not your dream job, and it probably isn't, think of it as a stepping stone toward your dream job. Because every job you have gives you more information, more experience. I'm good at this. I'm not good at that. I like this kind of environment. I don't like this kind of environment. You're learning more about yourself and hopefully, the next job you have, the next company, or whatever organization you work for becomes a better and better fit, and more and more like your dream job, the dream situation that you'd like to be in. So don't get too impatient. A career is a very long time. Look at me. I started out selling shaving cream for Gillette. I ran a toy company. I was there for nine years. I spent 11 years at Lennox China selling fine china, crystal gifts, and things like that. Then I spent 20 years at World Vision. I've had three or four different careers during my 40-some years, and then developed a fifth career as an author. I've written four books now. You can do a lot of things in 40 years. Even if you don't like your current job, take heart. There's hope your next job may be the one that you really love and really fits you well. One other thing I'd say, this is a little piece of managerial advice, the most powerful tool in a leader's vocabulary is encouragement. You motivate people a lot more with encouragement. Hey, that was a great idea you had at the meeting today. Wow, I loved your contribution to that discussion. The most powerful tool in a leader's vocabulary is encouragement. You motivate people a lot more with encouragement. That report you gave was fantastic. With that kind of affirmation, people just thrive and they bloom when they get a compliment from the boss. The problem is, as bosses, we often like to lead with criticism. Yeah, I didn't like the way you ended that presentation. Or, 90% of the presentation could have been fabulous, but you didn't like their last two slides. And you think, oh, so what do they hear? I failed. The boss didn't like it. And that diminishes people. It crushes their spirits. You attract a lot more bees with honey than you do with vinegar. There's a time for correction. And even correction is more easily digested when it's preceded by praise and encouragement. I think it's a superpower that a leader who really encourages people, we've all raised kids, and your kid will bring home some crazy drawing from first grade. And what do you do? You praise it and say, I love the way you drew that pumpkin for Halloween, I love the way you drew that house. We praise them. We encourage them. We need to find ways to praise and encourage our staff, and our teams. And then again, correction, when needed, obviously in the right circumstances, but encouragement is powerful. Tommy Thomas:  Thank you for joining us today and thanks to Rich Stearns for sharing his leadership journey with us. I've put links to all of Rich's books in the episode notes, along with some that he and his wife Reneé wrote together. Several months ago, we began to put a transcript of the podcast in the episode notes. Many of you have commented on how helpful this is to you.   Links and Resources JobfitMatters Website Next Gen Nonprofit Leadership with Tommy Thomas World Vision Books by Rich Stearns: Lead Like It Matters to God: Values-Driven Leadership in a Success-Drive World by Richard Stearns The Hole in Our Gospel 10th Anniversary Edition: What Does God Expect of Us? The Answer That Changed My Life and Might Just Change the World by Richard Stearns Books by Rich and Reneé Stearns: God's Love For You Bible Storybook by Richard Stearns & Reneé Stearns He Walks Among Us: Encounters with Chris in a Broken World by Richard Stearns & Reneé Stearns   Connect Tommy Thomas - tthomas@jobfitmatters.com Tommy's LinkedIn Profile

Welcome to After 5ive! This week, we discuss splitting the bill, the impact of "My President", Ben Simmons, and plenty other shxt! Check out our new website TheAfter5ivePod.com. Follow us @after5ivepod!!

The Snowman gives a detailed look at how he left the street life behind and became a major force in the rap game. Nas and Miss Info also talk to Jeezy about his initial resistance to Nas' claim that “Hip-Hop is Dead” before the two collaborated on the anthem “My President.” Jeezy also reveals his feelings about getting uninvited to the White House. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The Fund-Raiser – S03/E07 WelcomeEpisode synopsis HBOMax Synopsis: Riley takes over the school candy bar hustle and floods the block with sugar. But when the competition comes looking for payback, it's all out war for control of the chocolate covered streets. Will the sweet life take Riley under? Pre Show: The Queen Prince Harry Megan Markle Facebook whistleblower and outage Judge Mathis Tumblr/MeWe/Porn Hub Henrietta Lacks Reminder:  https://www.patreon.com/boondockspod Show: Selling candy for schools Gangster movies Granddad's bad influence Huey tried White People Question: From lots of random white folks everywhere: Why use “Black” instead of “African-American”? (or vice-versa) Have a “Stupid White People Question” you want to leave us?Email us at Hosts@TheBoondocksPod.com or leave us a voicemail at ‪‪(760) 933-8636‬, that's (760) WE-3-UNDO. Post Show: Next week: Pause Need to see where we are on social media and such?  Come find us!  https://www.theboondockspod.com/links Trivia: This is the fourth time Riley has taken narrating duties in the series. Ed Wuncler III was shot once again, but this time, his W-Chain protected him, although the impact of the bullet against the chain against his chest had knocked him out. If Huey had never predicted Riley's fate and given him a bullet-proof vest, Riley would have been killed as it was shown that he was shot in the chest region of the vest. This is Cindy McPhearson's fourth and final appearance on The Boondocks. The opening music is a slowed Scarface theme song. The music for the montage after Riley confronts the principal is similar to Debbie Harry's “Rush Rush” from Scarface. Cindy references rapper Beanie Siegel from the film State Property when she says – “Either Get Down Or Lay Down” The premise of the episode is similar to that of Scarface. The speech that Granddad gives Riley about allowance is a reference to the speech that Julius from the sitcom Everybody Hates Chris gives Chris when he asks for an allowance, for example when he says “I allow you to live in this house!” The student being dunked and frozen in chocolate is a reference to the scene in The Empire Strikes Back in which Han Solo is frozen in carbonite. The Scene in which Cindy and her friends bully a girl for selling on her territory is taken from a skit, “Can It Be All So Simple” remix on Raekwon‘s Only Built 4 Cuban Linx… album. When Riley tells the business owner off, he says “My President is Black and my Lambo is Blue,” which are lines from the Young Jeezy song “My President”. There is a Goodfellas reference when Riley confronts Jazmine about the money, similar to when Henry's wife got rid of the coke and Henry confronted her on it. There is also a Goodfellas reference when Riley is driving to close his fundraiser, and he looks up to see a helicopter following him. Another Goodfellas reference is at the episode's end. Riley starts as a normal “loser” kid, and after everything ends up the same way. Just like Henry Hill started out as an average nobody, tried to run away from it, but still ended up in the “schnook” life. The scene where Granddad‘s new car blows up is similar to a scene from The Godfather in which Michael Corleone's wife, Apollonia, is killed after igniting a car bomb. The scene where the chocolate factory owner sits and introduces himself to Riley is a reference to Harry Lonsdale's monologue in the film Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels. In the same scene, when Riley is being seen and his thoughts are being heard, the end of Snatch with Turkish sitting in front of Doug ‘The Head' Denovitz is referenced. The name of the chocolate factory owner is “Alestor Rigby”. This may be a reference to the British song “Eleanor Rigby” by The Beatles. Additionally as Riley responds to the chocolate factory owner, he says “Fuck Guy Ritchie.” Guy Ritchie being the director of the previously referenced movies Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels and Snatch. He also directed the Sherlock Holmes films starring Robert Downey, Jr. Additional British references include the chocolate factory owner mentioning “(he) gets angry when Liverpool beats Arsenal.” The reference is to the two English football clubs in the Premier League. The allusion to him being an Arsenal supporter is supported by his Cockney accent – an accent stereotypically associated with working-class London, Arsenal's home city. The scene where the PETA worker pulls out the check for the fundraising money that Jazmine sent to the organization was in reference to the golden tickets in Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory. The scene in which Riley describes how the kids sell the chocolate is a reference to rapper Freeway‘s song “What We Do” in which Jay-Z raps “Rain…sleet, hail…snow man” and refers to selling drugs in any circumstances. The shootout scene is a reference to a similar shootout which also saves the protagonists in Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels. The ending scene where Riley narrates would he do it again is in reference to the film Paid in Full. When Riley says that Cindy has “less compassion than the average girl”, it may have been a reference to when 50 Cent said that President Bush has “less compassion than the average human.” The scene where Riley and his crew are walking down the sidewalk slowly while wearing sunglasses is a reference to the opening sequence of the Tarantino heist film Reservoir Dogs. The shoot-out is also very similar to the one in True Romance, a film written by Quentin Tarantino. The desire to use Riley's money to buy a car that turns into a boat was previously expressed by Granddad when he was in Riley's dream in “Ballin'”. Phil, the character accompanying Jazmine in this episode, was the same character that was kidnapped and interrogated by Ed Wuncler III in the episode of “Shinin'”. Thugnificent is working as a delivery man which is a continuity of the episode “Bitches to Rags”. He also uses his UPS delivery van in an attempt to crash Dorthy's car in “Fried Chicken Flu”. Thugnificent continues to work as a delivery man in “Mr. Medicinal”  Show Music: Intro:  #Makeachange by K.I.R.K. is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 License. Outro:  Good Times by Audiobinger is licensed under a Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike License. ★ Support this podcast on Patreon ★

Creed Edition: Episode 5: "Bullets" The boys made it to Tallahassee in record time with the “police” escort. The beat-up cruiser pulled up in front of a huge mansion and the “cop” jumped out. John eased the Winnebago in behind him and turned to Memphis and Cameron. “Okay we got to play this real cool. This dude could be dangerous,” he said. “Don't worry. I'm packin'.” Cameron said as he lifted up his shirt to reveal a realistic looking Uzi. “It's just a toy full of hot sauce. Like in Airheads. Remember Airheads guys?” The boys filed out of the Winne and followed the “cop”up the sidewalk to the house. “Hey, what was your name again, sir?” Memphis said, glancing at the others. “Me? Didn't I tell ya? It's Steve.” the cop said, not turning around. When they reached the front door, Steve looked at them and smiled. “See? I told you I knew where he lived!” He pulled a set of keys out of his pocket and began unlocking the door. “Wait what? How do you have keys?” John asked, flabbergasted. “Oh Scott lent them to me.” Steve said as the door swung open. The boys walked into a very spacious, very grandiose and very EMPTY mansion. “There's nothing here,” Cameron said, inching his hand towards the toy Uzi. “Where's Scott? What is this place?” “That's so weird. He was just here 2 years ago.”Steve said, scratching his head. As he did, a long greasy lock of hair fell out from under his trooper hat. He walked into the kitchen. Memphis motioned to the guys and indicated he had an idea. “Say Steve, don't you think it's really dark in here? You could probably see better without those sunglasses.” “Nah I'm good. I don't really like to show my face that mu--” Steve was cut off by the boys jumping him from behind. They pulled off his hat and sunglasses. “I fucking knew you looked familiar!” Memphis shouted. “It's you! You're Scott Stapp!” Is Memphis right? Have they finally found the man of legend? All this and more will be answered in the thrilling conclusion to Creed Edition. Stay Tuned. Highlights include: Holy diver; Suicidal Tendencies; Shoot Em Up; Scott Skalari; Wacky Jackie; MY President; I LIKE TO FIGHT; 311 Punch Party; Orange You Glad I Didn't Say 'Gina; Full Circle Jerk; Still Tuckin'; Yarlins Soar; Vidya Games; 18 Hour Days; LOOK AT ME; Stabbed in the Back --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app

The Legend Of S Ū P ∆ Я E E.™ What? Dillon Francis doesn't think he's attractive--? Must be black magic; He's so handsome, Symmetrical and shit... This is the parallel reality Where actually…. SupaCree is a superstar rapper... Flash back to slap-stick: Comedy Slap-Jacks Not apples, but stacks of ‘That's slappin', and ‘Happily in eternal ever-after' Or hasn't happened, Or, just happened And happening as It's about to happen, and… —The whole world stands under her (And Dillon Francis ) —or Skrillex, Whatever. Fuck it, Then. JESUS: Nope. I quit. M Back to Back, Snapback hats, and Immortal Masters Half-Tragedy, Half-Comedy; Half-The Actors in Half-Ass-Hollywood, Gave half-of it back to—- ...Satan... After the battle. What is “It”? [SKRILLEX.] Aha. [OR DILLON FRANCIS, WHATEVER] OH! Then Laughed at it and Banished him to ‘Nothing Lasts' Banished Skrillex in ‘The Skrillex; What the fuck is that? First come first serve, If you order that You're liable to find a Someone in your hat! "What's a Bampheramph?" Sounds like a brand new anthem Kick Drum Just sit on your subs and listen and Bass Makes that Bitch "Run-Nigga-Run!!!" Everything under the Sunni Blu Second to None Suh Dude Sup Getter, I'm looking at you Yeah, That's exactly what the Men in Black do And in fact, Better get back to that soon Who's ‘Soon'? What's Luna and Sola's man do? Two dad's, That's madness A mom and a half, Cause the God's a man, He's gotta inhabit his planets Infinity's power so damaging All her parents together and her brothers can't manage To stay mad, But Bun In The Oven's Just wreaking havoc Soul so great, they had to try to split it in half, And that's how that marks the start of the Fist act, But first-things-last The front man in From First To Last Is Asked a task By a man in a mysterious mask A mystic shamanic medicine with magic Manages to mess with his management Snach ‘em and vanishes into the capsule Where time-space-past-present are actually infinite This isn't any regular science fiction if fantasy could bite it in the ass whippin it with fiction This shit is happening in 9-Dimensional High-Visual Comedy Central hasn't got shit on this interval Intergalactically practically impossible, Which isn't a possibility anything is, and Excision's Mission is to diminish this kid's vision of becoming a bass music hit Superstar super-car driving superstar DJ Headlining the festivals The Rotella made Insomniac made me do it, In Live Nation's name, Amen, Aliens save Getter, And oh shit Winter Is Coming It's Miserable Cold, though the Polar Ice caps are practically invisible She's immortal ‘until,' But she was never invincible Sent to the principal, just to see she was the Principal In physical infinitely different dimensional interpretations Interpersonally and impractically imperfectionallly perfect Political Aspirations Hulk-Smashed As Thor Smashed his Hammer blabberin' about how ‘Hatch' (excuse the Pronunciation) wanted to run for president ‘28 Gossipin about overhearing her conversation Between her and a friend which she attended The Pasquallian Annual Celebration OF EDC SUPA-ME Who's this dancing? Day two Preview of the Could be the first-man Like a magnet attracted the President out of her bed Running to catch the Inaugural Sonrise set Suprise Motha-Mufasa, And “that's all you get”; Now let it sit, Sit with it, And sit in it It's like the Festival Version of ‘This Is The End' Which DJ Battle will be the End If there is no end and it's just Infinite An intimately interesting instant-hit “Who is this Bitch--?!?” No, don't call her a bitch But everybody's a ‘nigga' nowadays, It's lit, Until it isn't And gotta double dutch in some nigga shit So get this bitch-nigga to kick the shit And go Get Matt Mason to Dig a Ditch Let's pusher in it, bury her alive and tell her this “Listen Bitch Nigg*r You'll NEVER be MY President” And that's what they said, But that's what you get When you live in a red-state In some hillbilly-shit Who hate native indegeneous because they get Reparations since the state was established, After they finally stopped massacring “savages” These racists just don't get the half of it And she's half of them, So they hate her, As she manages them, And the Intelligence agency hacks her shit To find she's actually rather intelligent But wants do music, Googling her favorite 10-years straight Made way to be made fun of and run away Heavyweight, Made to be made fun of and thought of as nothin No love and no attention from someone but suddenly one night, Somethin' one might say is a miracle If you believe in it, or hear from the spirits After being straight resurrected, A man she respected, As the past-lives of either reflected in Both their eyes, faster than fast ever happened A mirror and magnet Not alike, but equally powerful Outside, opposites Inside the match And that's that, But she couldn't manage to wrap her Goddess braid-brain around The God's honest fact: The Gods say, This prophet is meant for that But she's not blonde or pretty, So she's so sorry she's even existing And worries, momentarily dying inside A psychic vision instantaneously penetrating His image intimidating, but to him it's indifferent In certainly lives in the definite ending, Just spent infinite eternities with alien mystics and Deities in decision of how this division encrypted in ritualistic mystery kept hidden for centuries Collide in dimensions and send a signal As humanity transitions into ascension and reunification of an ancients Transition to save a nation. In Dillon Francis name, Made famous by Ahem, What's my name again? Amen. A hotel room in Las Vegas DILLON FRANCIS is awkward, as he stands nervously in front of the door. He knocks three times. SUNNI BLU has been expecting this. She opens the door; sees him-- Dillon Francis: Hi, I'm-- --and promptly shuts it. Chak Chel: Ring the bell. He does so. A random guy opens the door. Dillon Tries to look around him, but the man matches his movement, blocking his view. Dillon Francis: Um. Hi--I'm...looking for Sunni... Guy: She's not here. Dillon Francis: What do you mean she's not--it's a hotel, there's only one way out. Guy: Well, she left. Dilon Francis: What do you mean she--i've been standing here the whole time! Guy: ...So? Dillon Francis: There's one door! ... ... ... Guy: Can I help you with something? Dillon Francis: Um yeah, I'm trying to find your friend--or--my friend--whatever. Guy: And you are... ? Dillon Francis: I'm Dillon Francis! Guy: (Unamused.) Oh. Dillon Francis: “Oh.” Yeah . [seemingly from nowhere, the man produces a picnic basket, complete with shiny bow and card;he shoves it at Dillon Francis] Guy: Here. Dillon Francis: Oh--! Uhh...thank you…? Guy: Whatever. Dillon Francis: What's-- But the man has already shut the door. He looks over the basket, rather impressed. Chak Chel dials in. Dillon Francis: I don't think this is going to work. Chak Chel: Did you get the sandwich? Dillon Francis: ...sandw--wait, what? Chak Chel: Check the basket. Dillon Francis: How did you-- [checks basket] Chak Chel: Do you see the Sandwhich? Dillon Francis: There's a lot of stuff in here… ---CUT TO: PUT THE DILLON IN THE BASKET! what. PUT THE DILLON IN THE ---CUT BACK TO: [he finds a cleverly wrapped oblong shaped object, which might be assumed to be a sandwich] Chak Chel: Do you see it? Dillon Francis: [inspecting the thing] Uhhh… Chak Chel: Dillon--did you get the sandwich? Dillon Francis: I mean, this could be a sandwich...It's kind of heavy...and hot. Chak Chel: Good. Bring it here. Dillon Francis: Now? I thought I was supposed to-- Chak Chel: I'll send a portal

GOD WINS. My President, Donald J Trump issued an Executive Order on Dec. 21 2020 before leaving office. I have shared the EO here with my updates on a special Day By The Bay, featuring super-elite prisoner, Hillary Clinton facing one Vice-Admiral (with 18 charges against her), and three military officers (to decide her fate). I realize that you do not have time to research what I know, or keep up with the censored news, so as my gift to you in a effort to help you become fully awake, I am Reading news from reliable and credible news platforms, which I find to be far better in sharing what is being censored elsewhere. I learned a lot from teaching 6th graders in Gen XYZ and one thing is that they don't have time or don't want to READ. I grew up at a time when we READ all the time, and we were READ TO, as well. It is my calling to make sure Patriotic Americans are READ TO and informed so that they can be fully awake for what is coming. Please share the articles, even you don't share the podcasts that I make. I just want to be a seed of knowledge that you can pray about and then ask GOD to lead you. Please subscribe to these wonderful (and GOD- Anointed) alternative news sources - and do the research for yourselves. According to the data offered in this blog by a citizen journalist and digital warrior, as I consider myself to be, there are hundreds more of these VIP prisoners who we will hear about. These are Military, so they are private, not much grandstanding, short and to the point, no 5A pleading or it will be used as a confession or presumption of guilt, and above all - it's Constitutional. Beforeitsnews.com Realrawnews.com X22report.com humorousmathematics.com --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/lillianperry/message

Allison Kaplan Sommer, Noah Efron and Times of Israel Ops & Blogs Editor Miriam Herschlag discuss three topics of incomparable importance and end with an anecdote about something in Israel that made them smile this week. Hear the Extra-Special, Special Extra Segment on Patreon   —What Now?— The President just asked the Prime Minister (who is standing trial for corruption) to form Israel’s next government. Should he have? What the hell happens next? —Make My Standard a Double!— Is it hypocritical of PM Netanyahu and his supporters to form a coalition with the support of the Islamist Ra’am Party? —My President?— By June, Israel will have to elect a new president. Who should she be? —Trying to Make Sense of It— For our most unreasonably generous Patreon supporters, in our extra-special, special extra discussion, we talk about the parole of Rushdi Hamdan Abu Mukh, after serving 35 years of a sentence for the 1984 murder of 19-year old IDF corporal Moshe Tamam. Videos show Abu Mukh being cheered and hoisted on shoulders when he returned to his hometown of Baka al Garbia, causing Tamam’s family to call for Abu Mukh to be stripped of his Israeli citizenship. What should we make of this sad, sad thing? All that and Bilgo!

Nothing but respect for MY President. If you've had... any kind of conversation with Katie in the last four months, you know that she's fallen head over heels in love with the senior staffers of The West Wing. And the Lily obliged and said they could talk about it. Come join us as we dive head first into American politics! It's fun I swear!

In the way they portray outer beauty, rom-coms feel tethered to their fairy tale roots. Even if the leading lady isn’t an actual princess, she needs to look, talk, and behave like one. This genre has a lot to say about a woman’s size, style, and decorum—and how those traits help or hinder her chances at finding love. Listen in for discussion of the rom-coms with the best wardrobes (Clueless), the most under-appreciated May-December love stories (Murphy’s Romance), the most deceptive and self-guided makeovers (She’s All That and My Big Fat Greek Wedding), and the best use of Dolly Parton since 9 to 5 (Dumplin’). Flavor of the Week: Kisses for My President

Trying to be more consistent, Keep it too real?, Hov, My President is Black, Interruption --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app

Support The Fedora Chronicles on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/fedorachronicles Jason Cousineau and Eric Fisk fulfill a promise made to listeners years ago; to do an episode about President Dwight D. Eisenhower's Farewell Address on the 60th Anniversary of that occasion that finally arrived earlier this month. The conversation about President Eisenhower's final speech from The White House is in context with President Kennedy's Inauguration days afterward and the meaning of the phrase "Deep State," and how it's evolved in the past five a half decades. We also discuss how the shadow of The Deep State looms over everything in the realm of divisive politics, including the swearing-in of the new President, Joe Biden. Jay and Eric also debate whether or not The President of The United States is "Your President" or "My President," and the dangers of deifying candidates and elected officials. Episode Show Page: https://thefedorachronicles.com/podcast/2021/2021-01-21-military-industrial-complex.html The Fedora Chronicles products on Zazzle https://www.zazzle.com/store/fedorachronicles The Fedora Chronicles Twitter: https://twitter.com/fedorachronicle

Support The Fedora Chronicles on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/fedorachronicles Jason Cousineau and Eric Fisk fulfill a promise made to listeners years ago; to do an episode about President Dwight D. Eisenhower's Farewell Address on the 60th Anniversary of that occasion that finally arrived earlier this month. The conversation about President Eisenhower's final speech from The White House is in context with President Kennedy's Inauguration days afterward and the meaning of the phrase "Deep State," and how it's evolved in the past five a half decades. We also discuss how the shadow of The Deep State looms over everything in the realm of divisive politics, including the swearing-in of the new President, Joe Biden. Jay and Eric also debate whether or not The President of The United States is "Your President" or "My President," and the dangers of deifying candidates and elected officials. Episode Show Page: https://thefedorachronicles.com/podcast/2021/2021-01-21-military-industrial-complex.html The Fedora Chronicles products on Zazzle https://www.zazzle.com/store/fedorachronicles The Fedora Chronicles Twitter: https://twitter.com/fedorachronicle

Support The Fedora Chronicles on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/fedorachronicles Jason Cousineau and Eric Fisk fulfill a promise made to listeners years ago; to do an episode about President Dwight D. Eisenhower's Farewell Address on the 60th Anniversary of that occasion that finally arrived earlier this month. The conversation about President Eisenhower's final speech from The White House is in context with President Kennedy's Inauguration days afterward and the meaning of the phrase "Deep State," and how it's evolved in the past five a half decades. We also discuss how the shadow of The Deep State looms over everything in the realm of divisive politics, including the swearing-in of the new President, Joe Biden. Jay and Eric also debate whether or not The President of The United States is "Your President" or "My President," and the dangers of deifying candidates and elected officials. Episode Show Page: https://thefedorachronicles.com/podcast/2021/2021-01-21-military-industrial-complex.html The Fedora Chronicles products on Zazzle https://www.zazzle.com/store/fedorachronicles The Fedora Chronicles Twitter: https://twitter.com/fedorachronicle

Support The Fedora Chronicles on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/fedorachronicles Jason Cousineau and Eric Fisk fulfill a promise made to listeners years ago; to do an episode about President Dwight D. Eisenhower's Farewell Address on the 60th Anniversary of that occasion that finally arrived earlier this month. The conversation about President Eisenhower's final speech from The White House is in context with President Kennedy's Inauguration days afterward and the meaning of the phrase "Deep State," and how it's evolved in the past five a half decades. We also discuss how the shadow of The Deep State looms over everything in the realm of divisive politics, including the swearing-in of the new President, Joe Biden. Jay and Eric also debate whether or not The President of The United States is "Your President" or "My President," and the dangers of deifying candidates and elected officials. Episode Show Page: https://thefedorachronicles.com/podcast/2021/2021-01-21-military-industrial-complex.html The Fedora Chronicles products on Zazzle https://www.zazzle.com/store/fedorachronicles The Fedora Chronicles Twitter: https://twitter.com/fedorachronicle

Vendetta Cast episode 16.... My President is here to save humanity, Joseph R. Biden!!! Been a few months since I did a podcast, but I felt inspired after I signed up for the Ridin with Biden gymnastics team.  DnB Virtue Squad.  This podcast is a complete love letter to America.  Like and share, and may god bless this nation

Please pray for Attorney L. Lin Wood who is calling out Justice John Roberts and V.P. Mike Pence in their alledged associations with Jeff Epstein (who appears to be alive and singing like Pavoratti). As a result death threats and attempts against this celebrated and fearless attorney Wood, have increased in the last few days. Lin Wood has released tweets in regards to salacious videos he obtained from laptops confiscated from high ranking officials, during 2019 and 2020, displaying images that suggest child sex trafficking and sacrificial rituals involving children. Information is available at rumble.com. and other censor-free platforms, i.e., Parler. In the meantime, I am reciting Psalm 91 as a covering over the brave Patriots who are investigation heinous crimes such as Election Fraud, Human Trafficking, Epstein Island, Treason, Collusion, Violations of Exceutive Order 2018, Espionage, and identifying government officials in at least 10 government agencies and branches, being blackmailed by national and/or foreign entities. Details are yet to come out, but prayers and Psalms will be going out and up to the Most High God, for those on the front line of exposing this Globalist cabal - including those for My President. This is going to be a pivotal week in the History of our Republic. It's time for America to experience once and for all the 'Haman type point in time', such as that in the Book of Esther (PURIM) when genocide of a nation of people, flipped, like a boomerang against the evil doer (Haman) causing a reversal in his devious plan, causing him to be hung on his own gallows. This is Spiritual Warfare. I use spiritual weapons. Please join me in prayer for our REPUBLIC. --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/lillianperry/message

I know now why I had to stop counseling and comforting those voters who have emotionally conceded the election to a criminal, a so-called 'president-elect who sits under house arrest with an ankle bracelet, or so I've heard. I had to stop talking to the doubters, the skeptics, and the lukewarm, so I could be led directly to the posts and videos and interviews of Juan O Savin, which is a alias (and you'll have to do the research and message me with your guess as to who he really is. Meanwhile, Now that I have been voraciously reading Juan's newest Magazine Booklet - THE KID BY THE SIDE OF THE ROAD - I have an amazing optimism about the events taking place at this time, globally, as well as nationally. I know the roots and the ultimate purpose of what My President, Donald J Trump is doing to restore America, spiritually and economically, as well as politically, as well as what he is up against historically and Biblically. I know who the players are on the winning team, and why. There is so much here i this book. First of all, discover who Juan O Savin is. That is your homework. More notes coming. --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/lillianperry/message

" My Father, My President"  As president, he oversaw the end of the Cold War and helpedliberate Kuwait from Saddam Hussein's forces. As the U.S. Liaison to China,he held tenure during communist rule under Mao, and as Ambassador to theUnited Nations, he forged relations around the world. From his days as ayoung Texas congressman to witnessing his son become the current president,George H. W. Bush has played a major role on the world stage for decadesand continues to as elder statesman. Now, using events from his life, theformer president's only daughter examines how her father confrontedchallenges, how he responded to crises, and how he kept his humor andpersonality through it all. Buy it HERE

Everybody broke! Moulz & Mel scrounge up just enough money to pay their podcasting host and record their review of Young Jeezy's The Recession. But is the album money or an empty piggy bank? ---------------------- Intro (0:00) -- The Rating System, Explained (5:22 - 9:38) -- The Recession Info (55:24) -- Track 1: "The Recession (Intro)" (1:06:00) -- Track 2: "Welcome Back" (1:23:10) -- Track 3: "By The Way" (1:30:40) -- Track 4: "Crazy World" (1:40:10) -- Track 5: "What They Want" (1:47:06) -- Track 6: "Amazin'" (1:54:04) -- Track 7: "Hustlaz Ambition" (2:00:41) -- Track 8: "Who Dat" (2:05:05) -- Track 9: "Don't You Know" (2:12:03) -- Track 10: "Circulate" (2:19:19) -- Track 11: "Word Play" (2:26:56) -- Track 12: "Vacation" (2:36:20) -- Track 13: "Everything" (2:41:29) -- Track 14: "Takin' It There" (2:48:38) -- Track 15: "Don't Do It" (2:55:23) -- Track 16: "Put On" (3:00:54) -- Track 17: "Get Allot" (3:17:15) -- Track 18: "My President" (3:24:09) -- Ranking The Recession (3:43:04) -- Outro (3:46:46) Support this podcast

*My President is Black* Intro- My President is Black Ir Sais - Dream Girl Remix Wizkid Feat Bruna Boy - Ginger Patoranking - Abule Adekunle Gold - Something Different Olakira - In My Maserati Unknown - Sing for Me Morris - Denge n Pose Davido feat Nicki Minaj - Holy Ground Davido- FEM Torri - Ojoro DJNeptune - No Body I-Tribe - Dis Kind Love Rema - Dumebi Kizz Daniel- Poko Skiibii - Sensima Jassie ft Kracktwist & Samza- Get Am Nice Amy Feat K Rhyme- No Other Skiibi - Omaema YOK7 - Study Outro All Mixes are a Reflection of Creative art Non-Profit n its not for Sale Please share and enjoy My president is black.

Episode 59 * Unpacking Vice President Kamala Harris record against the Black Community (07:35) * Outkast verzuz A Tribe Called Quest might be in the works (37:23) * P.R.E. Game - Omarion/Lil Fizz/Apryl - Did Apryl ruin a B2K reunion? (49:19) * Rapid Shotz - Biggie, Lloyd Banks (01:05:49) * Chris Brown and Drake tease collab album and Collabs we got that we didn't ask for (01:17:49) * Dave East, Jay Z and Nas song in the works? (01:24:30) Songs of the Week Flaw 700 - Jeezy/Nas " My President" | Jerrell - Outkast "Chonkyfire" | Ant - Mobb Deep " Allustrious" Visit Manscaped.com and use Code FLAW700 for 20% Visit Tssseamoss.com and use code FLAW700 for 20% off your entire order Executive Producers: Jerel Miner, Anthony Robeson, Jerrell Williams and Jae Williams Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/barz-n-shotz-podcast/donations

Host Luke Burbank and announcer Elena Passarello share their most effective coping mechanisms during stressful times; journalist and activist Jose Antonio Vargas recounts coming out as an undocumented immigrant with the publication of his memoir "Dear America: Notes of an Undocumented Citizen;" poet Danez Smith praises personal heroes in their poem “My President;” and singer-songwriter Angelica Garcia performs the one-woman version of her song "It Don't Hinder Me."

Biden gave false and misleading statements during the first debate with My President. There are 33 to be exact. I've recorded them in this episode so you don't have to read them all, but just in case you want to back up the corrections, just visit the accompanying sources in the main link below. While the majority of Americans have already made up their minds as to who they will vote for, the more you know, the more likely that you will NOT vote stupidly, or maybe you will. Click on the highlighted link for the actual text, and learn something. --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/lillianperry/message

A warm welcome to listeners as Michael Aaron Casares presents the premiere first episode of season two of Queer Vox! Episode one, playfully called “Daddy Trump is My President,” presents the more LGBT centric format Queer Vox will bring, presenting news, views and current events in the LGBT community from the conservative and libertarian perspective of a gay man. We are living in queer times. --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/romr/support

In response to nationwide protests against police brutality, host Luke Burbank and announcer Elena Passarello share conversations with writer Ijeoma Oluo, who unpacks the themes of systemic racism in her book "So You Want to Talk About Race;" poet Danez Smith, who explains how they're looking for leadership elsewhere in their poem “My President;” and singer-songwriter Amythyst Kiah, who performs her Grammy-nominated song “Black Myself."

ABOUT THIS EPISODE Within Black communities, "respectability politics" is a term often used to describe efforts at racial uplift that involve efforts at self-regulation in the service of disproving negative racial stereotypes. It includes ensuring that one's conduct is beyond reproach, and that one's standards of dress meet certain high standards (often those of upper-middle class White society). The term also refers to demands that Black Americans engage in such self-regulation. Black figures such as Charles Barkley and Bill Cosby have famously (and infamously) made such demands. One's consumption choices--ranging from clothing to housing--can constitute a domain in which respectability politics plays out. And University of South Carolina marketing professor David Crockett has studied exactly that topic. We discuss respectability politics, consumption, and more in this episode. LINKS --David Crockett's University of South Carolina webpage (https://www.sc.edu/study/colleges_schools/moore/directory/crockett_david.php) --Crockett, D. (2017). Paths to respectability: Consumption and stigma management in the contemporary Black middle class. Journal of Consumer Research (https://watermark.silverchair.com/ucx049.pdf?token=AQECAHi208BE49Ooan9kkhW_Ercy7Dm3ZL_9Cf3qfKAc485ysgAAAmIwggJeBgkqhkiG9w0BBwagggJPMIICSwIBADCCAkQGCSqGSIb3DQEHATAeBglghkgBZQMEAS4wEQQMB6KxC57-ZVXTOengAgEQgIICFQQEO44TzCWsG7GIXcVPeRFpZ0_6pasA4YXabwGH9-fsXfaKNj1AwDe3qtTBGxUBwj-by7q49RPgN3pa45jZuSsa7WOy_9tqgTZ2kYfLVM_vHy7Cx3nqYdHdFF_DQyityg8OX7lKQDjK1wHV8WtiLEcywfRtKrQ2w-SwzkQICLojN-KtFxB0PQ_AT7QY4qXhj3M7Elqc3bYTtb6RmVUYhdC-eO2Cip-AewOXYk3DMnLX4FwNOm80aNkBrjV2emxu9v70A2LixB6DTrD0_rTIfVC_mnJVZDU7I9vGDQaLSNCMqS-BcpsUDqBqxfKtnNHBRTOE95UzXOvGUe7jYbf9DleWJ0w9liQYno7moszUnQ8YKl5Mo_7lMmvZoy9cUTDXhuhBvYgvqVwOnnCQc3nYIlK9nr6WykXF61Y4dGZvY2FsqqZFvwloVOo_a63IAcPCpKC7sfgaNmFrYRbnnfoQMGJdkRUGCEINITvHQNO-PpjbSUGmm89ywqT0XF9a0CCvDLOITOh2yf2ZhLvG2juEP9sxC-vx0XqLOMeBS9qF4DpccPPZ4kxNKOpC8c5C1baO8VUlV5Pt3yD_nfMIB5AuWeGJ90NgjdF_VQa1ryDOdHmZqnYYVyYUBHYvjslmIktJDPvJG55Gzeo6AtCY8XffI8gTtYOL2bHNdMxRI-JwGlGg_Y0abUts_wYl7zRQijF7H3eVHput) --Detroit Urban League brochure photo (HS6701) , from Detroit Urban League records; Bentley Historical Library, University of Michigan (used with permission) (https://quod.lib.umich.edu/b/bhl/x-hs6701/hs6701) --Coates, T. (2014, October). Charles Barkley and the plague of "unintelligent Blacks." The Atlantic. (https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2014/10/charles-barkley-and-the-plague-of-unintelligent-blacks/382022/) --Coates, T. (2017, Jan/Feb). My President was Black. The Atlantic. (https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2017/01/my-president-was-black/508793/) --Starkey, B. S. (2016, December). No, President Obama does not practice respectability politics. The Undefeated (https://theundefeated.com/features/no-president-obama-does-not-practice-respectability-politics/) --Charles Barkley 7/12/16 appearance on the Dan Le Batard show (https://youtu.be/-aTkgmT5jO0) --Higginbotham, E. B. (1994) Righteous discontent: The women's movement in the Black Baptist church, 1880-1920. Harvard University Press. (https://www.hup.harvard.edu/catalog.php?isbn=9780674769786) Special Guest: David Crockett.

In the inaugural episode of All the Best, Sam LeBlond sits down with his mother (and daughter of George H. W. and Barbara Bush) Doro Bush Koch. Doro reveals what it was like to be the only woman in American history to have both her father and brother serve as president of the United States. She also discusses her journey to write, My Father, My President, her personal account of her father’s life, which in many ways acted as George H. W. Bush’s memoir. Doro also remembers how her parents instilled the importance of service in their family growing up, which continues to inspire her to live a service-filled life to this day anchored in her chairing the Barbara Bush Foundation for Family Literacy.

Andy starts the podcast with one of his own pet peeves, which turns in to an impromptu Live Boutique education for the the boys by the illustrious Deanna Campbell. Once the boys get back on track, the conversation turns to the Presidential Election of 2020. Anyone who knows just a little bit about Matt knows he is all in on Elizabeth Warren. So much so that he is referring to her already as "My President." Andy puts that to the test with the help of our friends at iSideWith. Will Matt's views match the best with Elizabeth Warren or will it be someone else? How close does he align with Donald Trump? Tune in to find out. Take the test for yourself and let us know how you scored on Twitter at @cs_pod Tune in next week to see who Andy aligns most closely.

We are beyond the glory days of “My President is Black/ My Lambo’s Blue”. These are the days of our lives. In a time such as this, we are literally shaping the future through our decisions. On Episode 3, we’re sitting down with Ms. Danielle Jones, who is currently running for Memphis City Council, Super District 9, Position 2. We have real talk about today’s politics, lack of Black Millennial votes, reparations and more. Thanks for tuning in!

Tenemos presidente, tenemos quien nos represente. Jhon Henry Ortiz Trujillo. Se confirma el torneo nacional interclubes en Bogotá, del 11 al 14 de octubre, sede Grada Norte. Confesiones de un ibaguereño apasionado, forjador del deporte y ahora con pinta de Ministro. My President de la Federación Colombiana de Disco Volador. --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/arbol/message

Please tell me you read that title to the tune of Jeezy's hit "My President", if you didn't take 3 seconds and do it. It makes this post and episode that much better. If you can't tell by now, this episode is all about Disney and more specifically their recent live-action reboots. Between the announcement of Halle Bailey as Ariel in the upcoming live action remake of the 'Little Mermaid', the release of 'Lion King' almost two weeks ago, and the release of 'Aladdin' the month before that there's been no shortage of Disney content for the world. I know that I've loved all of the diversity that the company has shown in their castings recently, but unfortunately that wasn't the case for everyone. But wait, there's more! They showed the previews for a few upcoming releases before 'Lion King' and I'm beyond pumped about those. I'll be sharing a bit about that, as well as my love for the soundtrack Beyoncé executive produced for the reboot. The title of the album was perfect, because it truly is a gift for us all. So grab a coffee or tea and listen to this week's episode; you may even hear a random mention of an even more random holiday! Oh! And next week's episode is one you don't want to miss either. If all goes as planned I'll be interviewing one of my favorite bloggers and dear friend who is not new to this blogging game. She's been blogging for about 10 years now and has a wealth of knowledge about it. If there's anything you want to ask her please feel free to email me or DM and I'll be sure to ask them on the show!

My President is Black ft. Levon Campbell Jr. by Shine Season

My President and his lawyer thought they could buy all the dirt their friend had on Mr. Trump. But J. Edgar Hoover had taught later generations how to play the game for fun, profit, and power. They never had a chance. - More -

 There are plenty of ways to describe my personality and most of the good ones rank pretty low on a political correctness scale of one to ten. A few screws loose is popular. Kind of a wackadoo is a cute one. Then there's one of my favorites, That boys is nutballs! It's okay. I've gotten used to it over the years and I really kind of wear it as a badge of honor. Sane people are boring and droll about their days NOT talking to themselves in funky cartoon voices or breaking out in Broadway showtunes if someone repeats, in normal conversation, even the hint of something in common with a show. For example: “I say, good man. I'm nearly finished reading Victor Hugo's The Hunchback of Notre Dame.” “There is nothing like a daaaaaame … nothing … in tha … WOOOOOOOORRRRLLLLD!!” In this scenario, it would also be acceptable to also sing lyrics from the Hunchback Disney movie or even go way out there and sing something from Les Miserables, which is also by Victor Hugo. The point is that if you ask anyone about me, they'll probably include something like, Yeah, he's a couple bricks short of a load. However you slice it, the truth is … You may be right, I may be crazy. I'm Michael Blackston and these are a few pieces of insanity from my Funny, Messy Life.  I’m trying to learn good marketing techniques so that I can reach the widest audience possible. One of the most important things I have to keep in mind is that the content I provide needs to be delivered on a consistent basis and it’s got to be something that’ll catch people’s attention. Another handy idea is to throw in a topic every once in a while that’ll get someone's dander up in a way that makes others take notice of their excitement and/or outrage. So in the spirit of stirring things up, I’ll go ahead and set our sights on the yuletide and proudly shout from the mountain top … Let There Be Christmas 365 Days A Year!  I can hear you right now screaming at your phone or computer screen. From the sound of things, you’re as jubilant as I am about the prospect of carols on the radio 24/7.  I'll admit with sing-song merriment that I'd absolutely cast my ballot, arriving at my local voting center with, yes, bells on, for such a festive turn of culture. Would that our halls be decked ever more with tinsel and candy canes and tiny white lights! I take joy in the thought of banisters wrapped year-round in bows and shelves lousy with elves.  “But Michael, such conditions brush past the other holidays. Thanksgiving won't even be here, yet the stores will fill their inventories with December stock and I don’t like it.”  I reply, “COAL FOR YOU!”  Not really. I wouldn’t be so cruel as to further your rampant Grinchivity with such non-jolly treatment.  Instead, “FRUITCAKE FOR YOU!”  But in fairness, I do understand your point. It’s just that I'm thankful every day and while I do see the need to celebrate other excuses to get together and eat, I don’t see why we can’t do those things wearing hats with reindeer antlers and blinking lights. Wouldn’t that just be fantastic? I’m not suggesting we forget our homage to the Veterans or not remember the fallen who fought for our country. To be honest, I’d be more than happy to lay aside my Golden Scepter of Sugarplum Dreams on those days, (I have one, by the way, made of old Gummi Bears, used candy foils, a birdbath pole I stole from the neighbor’s yard, and some gorilla glue) but I want to Trick or Carol on Holly-ween!  Again, I can almost hear you protest.  “Michael, I get enough of that stuff in the several weeks leading up to Christmas. I’m ready for Spring after that, you imbecile.”  But I CAN’T hear you. I've stuffed my ears full of red and white striped marshmallows.  Come on, go along with me on this. There’s room in our everyday for Christmas, isn’t there? Or is your heart as cold as Mr. Forty Below's? Get your inner Scrooge out of that VW Hum-Bug and grip your hands around the steering wheel of a One Horse Open Mer-sleigh-des! I apologize for the blizzard of bad puns, but you made me do it. Just sayin’.  So if you’re not with me, where do we go from here?  We’ve obviously come to an impasse. You want “variety” in your year. I want Christmas every day. I suppose we’ll just have to - as the bumper stickers say - Co-Exist. I’m okay with that as long as you don’t say anything negative to me when I sneak up to you, softly, quietly, like Santa on July 4th, and whisper as sweetly as a snowflake, “OH THE WEATHER OUTSIDE IS FRIGHTFUL!”  “Okay, Mr. Christian, what about Easter?”  Ya got me there. We don’t need to mess with Easter, unless you want to slap a red, floppy hat on that stupid bunny. Otherwise …  CHRISTMAS! CHRISTMAS! CHRISTMAS! CHRISTMAS!  At least I have those of you who are in my camp - Team Christmas - to lean on. I know those people exist because I see them even now on social media posting their wondrous glee at the coming season and causing no end of stress to the heartburn of society, also known as Team Seasick Crocodile. (Don’t get the reference? You would if you were a member of Team Christmas. We’re still taking applications, by the way. Although, looking at your Christmas Cheer credit history, I can’t promise you’ll be approved.)  Of course, this entire thing has been aimed at the secular essence of Christmas, which I do adore. But I would be remiss if I didn’t close out with the precious real reason we celebrate. You could take away all the lights and all the glitter. You could erase the fat man and the presents. As long as you give me the baby Jesus and songs of salvation come to earth, that’s truly Christmas for me.  I celebrate that Every. Single. Day. (Whether you like it or not.)  And by the way, I’m told by the head office that we WILL be able to approve your Team Christmas application.  We’re just going to need the title to that VW Humbug. __________________  I feel like I should remind new listeners that most of these stories originated as blog articles before I came up with the idea of turning them a podcast. Most of the time, I edit out the parts that mention anything being written or my readership, However, I like the line near the beginning of this one about writing in a Huddle House, so I'm keeping it in. Just pretend it was your imagination if it bothers you when you hear it - like you were drunk or high or something. After all, there are others to think about, even if it's just you and me. Why? Because it's about me and ...   Me's A Crowd  I’ve done a lot of live stage performance over the years and have learned to really get into my part and transform for an audience. Character roles that challenge me have become my favorite way to express myself on stage and I feel like I’ve been training for them my whole life. The reality is that my acting career will more than likely be corralled to amateur stages and that’s just fine for me, but it doesn’t stop me from doing the things now that I've always done in order to continue the journey to perfect my craft.  What are those things, Michael? Huh? Give us your golden wisdom!  Wait a second. I’m sitting in Huddle House trying to write this while a version of the barber shop scene from Coming To America plays out at the next table, except instead of an argument over history’s best boxer, it’s whether or not one of our past Sheriffs is a racist because there aren’t enough black deputies. It’s hard to concentrate and the discussion is getting heated. I don’t want to put in the earplugs I keep in my computer bag for fear of insulting them and becoming a subject of their very loud and angry conversation. Anyway, the truth is I talk to myself. A lot. That’s what I do when I’m alone to hone my stage skills.  Now before you look at me sideways and cock an eyebrow while chewing on a toothpick like one of the old dudes at the next table is doing, let me explain to you that any actor who is worth his or her salt will tell you they’ve been guilty of doing the same thing.  Let me to explain further.  Actors have a base need to be part of a scene. We need to be “ON” at all times, including, for instance, when we’re driving alone in our cars. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve engaged in conversations with “characters” of my own design, only to turn and see an old lady, a cute young woman, maybe a burley construction worker, or even a mime pretending to drive an invisible car, looking at me like I’m a nut. The worst was getting caught having a debate with myself at a traffic light by a cute, burley, old lady mime wearing a hard hat. She wasn’t in the lane next to me. She was crossing the street pretending to use an invisible walker.  That’s just a way I practice improv. And it’s one of the reasons I’ve become obsessed with getting to do great character roles.  I’ve played a British murderer, an old British crook, a British play director, …. are you starting to sense a pattern? …. a singing Hebrew with family issues, an eccentric tango-ing Hispanic with a wife who has a death fetish, a New York gambler, and …. oh yeah …. a redneck version of Jesus. And that’s just the tip of the iceberg. Not to mention that at the time of this recording, I’m about to open curtain as a 90 year old man.  Part of the reason I love these roles is their tendency to require the use of a foreign accent, or at least a different one than my native southern that comes out the way I imagine cornbread would sound if it could talk, and accents are something I’ve been working on since I was a child. Now my son has discovered a talent for it. In fact, most of my conversations with myself have one or both of us speaking with a different accent and it’s rarely the same one between the two of me.  You still think I’m crazy, don’t you?  Doesn’t matter to us. We enjoy our discussions between ourselves and we know plenty of us we can call on at any given moment to tag into the ring with me and me. It gets hard sometimes to even remember who I really am when one of me gets going with several others of me, but I’m never lonely when I’m around to talk to and play out scenes in our head of mine.  So I understand if you have trouble figuring out the complicated maze I understand me to be as us. Understand?  It doesn’t matter. Just believe me when I say that all of me are not the only ones who frequently engage in this practice.  But that’s not all. We have to have our props when we play out these works of performance art and that can be a pain to handle while the me of us is trying to drive. (I know I’m driving the grammar police batty and that makes me …. or us …. a tad giddy.)  Have you ever tried to smoke a prop cigarette with one hand and swing a foam battle ax all wacky like with the other while driving with one knee? I can only do it with one knee because the third Me is using the other one to kneel on for a crying scene. I’m proud to say that I’ve proven over and over again that I can do just that type of thing while merging into six lanes of downtown Atlanta traffic where rush hour is a nightmare. Have you seen how many idiots text while they drive?  I can say that I’ve never once been stupid enough to try and put on stage makeup while I’m commuting, so don’t worry. Of course that would be hard to do with a sewing needle in my other hand. I have to prioritize and stitching a costume is more important than makeup. It’s the easier thing to do while keeping my eyes on the road, so long as I thread the needle at a red light and keep the sewing to a simple half-back stitch when I’m rolling.  It’s not that in depth every single time I practice my art, though. I don’t always need to wear chain mail and jousting armor for the plays in my head. Not always.  Then there’s the death scene. You should know that it’s a difficult thing to pull off with others around you. There’s no way to be inconspicuous because people think you’re dead or at least unconscious for a few moments until your mind audience erupts into thunderous applause and the scene changes. It’s the throes of death that seem to bother people. If you’re doing Romeo & Juliet you might be okay with Romeo’s demise. He poisons himself - spoiler alert. Your coffee cup would probably be a fine substitute for the poison bottle. But Juliet stabs herself with a dagger and I find it difficult to accomplish the illusion with a stale french fry or a renegade straw from under my seat.  However we choose to chisel away the rough edges of our craft, we actors will be ready when that curtain opens. I can count on any of me to face the charge and bully forth in our thespianic responsibilities. So if you're somewhere near me, we fully expect to see you out there in the gallery giving us a bravo to me.  For now, the conversation at the other table has turned to national politics and it’s starting to get rowdy. There may be fisticuffs, which is my cue to exit stage right. __________________  One of the benchmarks of getting people to assert that you are, indeed, Not playing with a full deck, is to publicly engage in a little foretelling. Whether you have a real ball of crystal or you supplement your devining tool with old coffee grounds and the chicken bones from your last embrace of Bo Time, it doesn't matter. You don't even have to use a tool to sound like an idiot. That's why I instruct you to believe blindly as I give you my ...   Product Predictions of The Future  I’m in the mood to look forward to what lies ahead, especially in the world of technology, and it excites me to the core to think of all the things we Americans will be able to spend way too much time with instead of our families. Hey, I’m not preaching just to you; I’m one of the worst offenders. It’s only recently that our little clan has adopted a no cell phones at the table rule and it's not going so great. It was hard at first watching everyone playing air phone because they didn’t remember how to join in a discussion.  But cell phones could just be a thing of the past. The possibilities for new stuff are endless.  So I’ve created a list of things we might see that will make you say, “Ooooooo, SCIENCE!” Keep in mind that I am something of a prophet as I make these up.  The future will bring: The Cannibaby. As the father of a Barbie-lovin five-year-old, I’m excitied about this one. This toy will be all the rage as ol’ St. Nick is making his list and checking it twice. Why? I’m glad you asked. Are the dolls in your child’s toy basket overrunning the house? Well no more! The Cannibaby is a brand new doll that is an angel in the arms of your beloved bundle of joy and a demon at night for all the other dolls in the house. Once it knows your child is asleep by way of a sensor, the Cannibaby springs into action and fills its little belly with every morsel from anything that looks remotely like a doll. But don’t worry if there’s a real baby in the house. The Cannibaby is designed to shut down when near a life source. And before you go and shout, “Foul! That was introduced in the 1980’s and his name was Chucky!” remember that Chucky went after real people. And also, Cannibaby would eat Chucky. The “That’s My President” App. We’re inundated with politics these days and nobody seems to be able to agree on anything. Everyone has their opinion, but it’s irrelevant now that we’ll have the "That’s My President” app for all of our devices. Just plug in the face of anyone you want to be president, touch the “GO” button on your screen, and voila! Whoever is elected will have the face of whomever you voted for any time they’re in front of a camera. They all intend to say the right things during the campaigns and then be an idiot once they’re elected anyway. So who cares whose head is on the body behind the podium. There is one exception, of course. Me. In the next election, I'll be running for POTUS on the “Lotty Dotty I Hate The Parties Party” ticket. Rap Shoes. You’re literally a walking beat box when you’re wearing your Rap Shoes. With the slogan, “Kick it with your kicks!” you can expect to pay a pretty penny for these sneakers, but it will be well worth it because you can finally have a steady beat everywhere you go. These shoes have powerful speakers mounted in the sides so that your soundtrack is projected to the whole world as you walk. The beat matches your speed, so if you want to groove to a slow funk and impress the ladies, you can walk slow, Jive Master. Aww yeauuhh! If you want to jam with a hot, fast freestyle, pick up your speed. It’s all up to you. This product is not recommended for anyone who can’t walk in rhythm or is too square to rap. The concert is yours to command with Rap Shoes. Only $562 a pair. Shaving Elves. You may not know this, but all elves don’t make the cut for Santa’s workshop. They have to find work somewhere. After an ill-thought out prank and Santa not appreciating his reindeer being bald on Christmas Eve, an enterprising young elf named Eugene will be introducing a brand new service to the world. He and his partner Bob, who does the books mainly because he’s not that good with a razor, will front a team of elves who didn’t work out for the big guy in red and need employment. Using the skills they learned during their training at the North Pole, they’ll break into your home at night and give you a shave while you sleep. You go to bed looking like something that might be photographed blurrily in the woods and wake in the morning clean-shaven with skin as soft as the Cannibaby’s bottom. Careful when ordering the service, though. The staff is still small and sometimes Bob does the shaving, unless you specifically ask not to be shaved by him. Do not get shaved by Bob. Fat Sucking Leeches. I’m personally looking forward to this one. They'll train leeches to no longer crave blood, but to only eat fat. You’ll purchase a "Box-O-Leeches" and let the fun begin. Empty them out in the bath as you take a nice soak, close your eyes, and the leeches begin to work. Ladies go ahead, look at yourself in the mirror before you get in. You might want to take a picture to remember yourself by because when you look in that same mirror after the leeches are done with you, the phone may start to ring and it’ll be Victoria’s Secret wanting you for a photo shoot. Don’t worry, they’ll Photoshop those suction marks right out before they slap up enormous posters of you in your underwear all over the windows in malls across America. And guys, that six-pack you’re dying for is no longer chilling in the fridge. Feel free to eat all the crap you want because thanks to Fat Sucking Leeches, you’ll always have abs of steel no matter how much you pack away. Oh, never mind. I forgot you’ll need to actually work out the muscles to make your stomach flat. And on that note ... Workout Elves. They don’t like to shave people. They think it’s gross. But they'll come to your bedside at night and physically work your muscle groups so that you don’t have to. It can get pricey if you buy the Gluts Package, so choose your program carefully. If you start to wake up, an elf named Sven will slam your skull against the headboard of your bed until you’re unconscious. You’ll never know they were there except for the sore muscles when you wake, the candy cane flavored protein shake they’ve prepared, and the knot on the back of your noggin. And finally ... Books. No longer will you need to worry about the stories you like to read being unavailable if you loose your charge! Forget worrying about losing your entire library when you drop your phone in the toilet! This new product will revolutionize the way you take in information. At about the same face size as your Kindle or iPad and in an endless variety of exciting thicknesses, Books allow you to focus on one thing at a time. You’ll delight at the variety of actionable options afforded you. Things like: Turning pages, folding corners, using REAL bookmarks, and highlighting important parts for future reference! And not only does holding a book make you look smarter when others are around, they can be DECORATIONS! You can create shelves and shelves and shelves and shelves and shelves and shelves of BOOKS! And if you drop one in the bathtub, no problem. The worst thing that will happen is you have to let it dry out and now your book is 80 times thicker than it originally was! I hope you'll consider purchasing one or all of these future products once they're available and if you like the results, let me know. ________________  To say I'm a little eccentric is being kind, but I know I'm not the only one who has a case of the funky-brain, so I feel like I'm in good company. And if at any time you feel as though people around you are a little scared to be in your vicinity, just know ... they are and there's nothing you can do about it. Embrace the insanity and have a conversation with yourself. Maybe the you of all of you can calm one of you down.    

My President now publicly warns us of 100 pound bags of drugs falling from the sky, sent upward by Mexican catapults. Ha Ha. The problem is, some fantasies are leaving scars on vulnerable people, and doing lasting damage to our democracy. - More -

Cartoonist and longtime con-pal Shannon Wheeler (Sh*t My President says, Too Much Coffee Man) chats with me about his new book from Top Shelf in which he Illustrates Trump's most insane & inane tweets, the confused state of America, and how this time has been on the horizon for decades. We also talk about the deliberate choice of art style and techniques, pushing to make stuff happen for yourself, Kyle Baker, and a bit about Hollywood... with more about tinsel-town in part 2 next week! Pick up Sh*t My President Says from Top Shelf, anywhere you buy comics or books. Shannon has crafted an incredible piece of art. Follow Shannon on twitter @muchcoffee, on instagram @muchcoffeeman and on Facebook, where he posts tons of cartoons. Follow this podcast on twitter @storycraftpod, and support the show by subscribing, rating & reviewing on iTunes, and by sharing with your friends. Follow me on twitter and instagram @kraigcomx.

Kevin and Veda review Pipeline at Lincoln Center. http://www.lct.org/shows/pipeline/schedule/ My President was Black by Ta-Nehisi Coates https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2017/01/my-president-was-black/508793/ Don't Like Betsy DeVos? Blame Democrats by Diane Ravitch https://newrepublic.com/article/142364/dont-like-betsy-devos-blame-democrats Notes of a Native Son by James Baldwin http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/410810.Notes_of_a_Native_Son LCT Theater Magazine available here: http://www.lct.org/explore/magazine/

In this episode of Jed Bartlet is My President, I sit down with Sarah D. Bunting of Previously.tv and Tomato Nation to discuss authoritative mustaches, the flute of doom, and anaphora in The Shadow of Two Gunmen (2.01-02). Download the mp3 here. Subscribe to the show! iTunes • Stitcher • RSS Show notes: Discuss Jed Bartlet is My President on the […]

In this episode of Jed Bartlet is My President, I sit down with Matthew Vose, co-host of Pop-Culturally Deprived, to discuss sacred spaces, cranky Sam, ghost Mrs. Landingham, and sarcastic Latin when we talk about Two Cathedrals (2.22).

In this episode of Jed Bartlet is My President, I sit down with Kevin Flynn, co-host of Crime Writers On... and These Are Their Stories: A Law and Order Podcast, to discuss government shutdowns, the incredible power of hot girls dispensing garbage, and Josh's private computer folder on Shutdown (5.08).

Further Reading: Fact Checking Donald Trump’s Interview With NBC’s Lester HoltI’m Sticking with My President by Rick PerlsteinDid James Comey Misunderstand the Clinton Email Case?The Right Is Claiming All the Democrats Demanded Comey’s Firing. They Didn’t.Representative Tom MacArthur Town Hall MeetingEasthampton School Committee bans Confederate flag 'at this time'UMass student won't be allowed to carry Tibetan flag at Commencement ceremonySupport Civil Politics by donating to the tip jar: https://tips.pinecast.com/jar/civilpoliticsradio

In this episode of Jed Bartlet is My President, I sit down with Dr. Charisse L'Pree, associate professor at the S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications, to discuss media, race and gender as we dig into the themes in The Women of Qumar (3.09)!

We needed that week off. Seems like everyone's got a podcast side gig now. Toby's hosting Radio Free Dystopia, Kevin's making an appearance on Jed Bartlet is My President, and Rebecca is a new permanent panelist on Slate's Mom and Dad Are Fighting. Rebecca didn't get verified on Twitter and she's PISSED! In a true crime podcast update podcast update, we'll give our take on how the experts from Real Crime Profile used their profiling skills on John B. McLemore from S-town. For a character who's so beloved, the enumeration of his less-than-desirable traits has stirred lots of feelings. At the intersection of entertainment and suicide lies Netflix's "13 Reasons Why," the most controversial series of the year. Great acting, interesting plot, but is possible to tackle teen suicide in a way that doesn't make the problem worse? Despite earnest intentions to make the show a conversation-starter, there remain legit concerns that the series irreparably sends the wrong message. In essence, everything that makes 13 Reason great are what also what makes it dangerous. In the crime of the week: beware the sniper cat. Our sponsors this week are Chris Gethard: Career Suicide, premiering Saturday, May 6th at 10pm, on HBO. Zebit - get up to $2,500 interest-free credit at zebit.com/crime. Away Luggage - Get $20 of at awaytravel.com/crime - use promo code CRIME at checkout StoryWorth - Get $20 off your subscription at StoryWorth.com/crime Support the show.

In this episode of Jed Bartlet is My President, I sit down with Robbie Hurlocker, co-host of Hamilton: The Podcast, to discuss morality, poetry, tragedy, and Lin Manuel-Miranda as we talk about Posse Comitatus (3.23)!

In this episode of Jed Bartlet is My President, I sit down with high school English and film study teacher, and occasional podcast host at FThisMovie.Net, Rob DiCristino to discuss Gilbert and Sullivan, fantastic writing for female characters, and workplaces with an uncanny command of Gilbert and Sullivan as we examine And It's Surely to Their Credit (2.05)!

In this episode of Jed Bartlet is My President, I sit down with story nerd in training, future co-host of the Outlander podcast Sassenachs, and my daughter, Sarah Schwalbe, to discuss well-written women, reverse TellaDonnas, and CJ's incredible awesome in The U.S. Poet Laureate (3.17)!

In this episode of Jed Bartlet is My President, I sit down with high school English teacher and my best friend from high school Liz Lutz to discuss the state of our educational system, the history of turkeys in the White House, and Aaron Sorkin's recent diversity dust-up in Shibboleth (2.08)!

In this episode of Jed Bartlet is My President, I sit down with acclaimed author and comic book editor Alisa Kwitney to discuss Sam as walking sexual subtext, Josh as a superhero, and our plans to Weekend at Bernie's the Bartlet Administration as we talk about Mr. Willis of Ohio (1.06)!

In this episode of Jed Bartlet is My President, I sit down with Dr. Kelly Jones from Southern Fried Scholar to talk about educational policy woes, ill-advised lip syncing, and bad, bad flirting when we discuss Six Meetings Before Lunch, S1.18!

In this episode of Jed Bartlet is My President, I sit down with Mandi Kaye from Pop Culturally Deprived to talk about Bartlet for America (S3.10). I get cranky about feminist issues, she talks me down, and in the end, we bask in our love of emotionally connected masculine relationships. Leo + Bartlet 4ever!

In this episode of Jed Bartlet is My President, I sat down with the hilarious and insightful Rebecca Lavoie of Crime Writers On... and These Are Their Stories: A Law and Order Podcast to talk about great teachers, underappreciated female characters, and the one real-life politician who reminds her most of Jed Bartlet... and I promise, it's not who you think it is.

We're back with Episode 14 of the Dial Up Podcast! We're starting off Season 2 of the Dial Up Podcast with #TheReturn of Jack Crackstone, and breaking down Week One of the Resistance. Let's see if we can determine just how many L's we should plan on taking over the next couple of years, and lament the fuckery that is already the Trump Administration. But hey, at least we have Quavo, Offset, and Takeoff to guide us now. Subject matter includes: My President is No Longer Black Hashtag My Activism So You Know It's Real My Transracial Identity 2017's Saving Grace: Culture! Hosted By: Jack Crackstone (@jfkblackstone) Edited By: Magic Williams (@dvdltmr) Artwork By: DAVE PRIME (@soapyfranco) Guests: Lazy Anwar (@Lazy_Anwar), Magic Williams (@dvdltmr), Link Wolfe (@_ToonLink_), Afrodite (IG:@belair_rose) Follow us on twitter @DialUpStuff Check out our website at dialupstuff.com

My President is Black ... well for the next few days then who knows what will happen? Well this week the crew dives in to figure out who is better in White House Samuel L Jackson and Denzel Washington or J.Cole and Kendrick Lamar? Also this week we have a guest in the studio Rikki Tan. Lions Tigers and Trump?... on my ! Tune in now to hear all about how the crew feels about Election 2016. --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/justanotherweekpodcast/support

On today's show we will discuss… RIP's: Alan Thicke @ 69 Zsa Zsa Gabor @ 99 Box Office: Rogue One second largest Dec opening ever with $155M in North America alone WTF's: Galileo The Titanic 2008 Meltdown Columbus Dewey Defeats Truman? Look At Me… I Can…??? Sporting WT????!!! My President just flew away Bill and the blue dress OJ (WTF) Sarah Palin The Donald I think even Roswell and Area 51

w/ Dick Beck, George Cortez, Chris Otte, Mike Otte, Kristin Knox. Yoko Scream. Trump is My President. Real or Fake Breitbart. George's Spotify research. Show on December 11th!

Dap of REELYDOPE Media has some words on the permanence of our information online, then the late Alan Davis Drake reads a poem about Lincoln by Vachel Lindsay, and last up is Job Ranger (Louis Reich) with some thoughts on the election. ---------------------- Episode 123 - Internet, Lincoln, and Election Editor/mixer -Michael Belancourt Narrator -Nizar Babul Contributors -Dap "The Internet Never Forgets" -Vachel Lindsay "Abraham Lincoln walks at Midnight" (read by Alan Davis Drake) -Job Ranger (Louis Reich) "My President" Music -Narration: Kazumi Kaneda - Sardis -Segment 1: Linn Mori - Remedy (Requiem for Victims) -Segment 2: Based Frequency - Fade away -Segment 3: Based Frequency - I keep trying Art -Bashir Harrell ---------------------- If you liked Dap, check out his other work, including an amazing podcast over at: http://reelydope.com/ If you liked the Lincoln poem, check out the other readings on LibriVox: https://librivox.org/abraham-lincoln-walks-at-midnight-by-vachel-lindsay If you liked the music be sure to check out Michael Belancourt, Mr. Alexander, Kazumi Kaneda, Linn Mori, and Based Frequency: https://soundcloud.com/enfinity https://soundcloud.com/mr-alexand-er https://soundcloud.com/kazumi-kaneda https://orikamirecords.bandcamp.com/track/sardis https://soundcloud.com/linn-mori http://linn-mori.bandcamp.com/ https://soundcloud.com/b54e https://itunes.apple.com/us/artist/based-frequency/id971491927 If you liked Kazumi Kaneda and Linn Mori be sure listen to the other artists on the label, Orikami Records: http://www.orikamirecords.com/ https://soundcloud.com/orikami If you want to have your music featured on Comatose, send us an email at Submissions@comapod.com or tweet us @ComatosePodcast. ---------------------- Site: http://comapod.com iTunes: http://comapod.com/itunes The Coffeelicious: https://medium.com/the-coffeelicious

Who is the best film president? Movie Addict Headquarters presents rousing stump speeches for nominees Harrison Ford (Air Force One), Bill Pullman (Independence Day), Morgan Freeman (Deep Impact), Henry Fonda (Fail Safe) and Polly Bergen (Kisses for My President). These five candidates have been chosen from a list of other candidates including Michael Douglas, Peter Sellers, Kevin Kline, Danny Glover, Jeff Bridges, Jack Nicholson, Stephen Colbert, and Daniel Day Lewis. Recorded stump speeches are delivered by film critic A.J. Hakari, co-host Jazz Shaw, award-winning blogger Fausta Rodriguez, producer Nikki Starr and host Betty Jo Tucker.