No stone goes unturned in this classic episode; Stephanie Ruhle, MSNBC News Anchor, talks about her transition from Wall Street to News Anchor, and shares her views on complicated issues from the 2011 financial crisis, to free speech and the Me Too movement.
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Of Course Love Supreme is a production of I Heart Radio. This classic episode was produced by the team at Pandora. What up, y'all? It's like EA and this QLs classic episode is all about our m S seven AC girl, Stephanie Rule. Yeah, no Stone gets unturned. In this classic episode, Stephanie Rule, MSNBC news anchor talks about her transition from Wall Street to news anchor and shares her views on complicated issues. Okay, we have some real hard talks from the two thousand eleven financial crisis to free speech and the me Too movement. And remember that time we all talked about the N word with Stephanie Rule. Oh yeah, you want to listen to this episode. This episode originally aired April third, two thousand nineteen. Enjoying Suprema roll called, Suprema Suprema roll call, sub Prima sub prima road call, sub Prima su sub prima role call. Yeah you know the rule, Yeah, sub prima su prema road My name is fante. Yah ha ha ha. Yeah with Stephanie Rule, no relation to the job. Subrema role call, Suprema su sub prema road call. Let's go to school. Yeah with Stephanie Rule, Yeah, just talk slowly. Yeah, this ain't a jewel. Yeah, sma, roll call sua sub prima road before we get to yeah and that's cool. Yeah, to work in TV news, Boss Bill went to school. Roll suremo role prem su premo roll call. It's like, yeah with Stepan Rule, she's smart as hell and she'll shave you too. Sum roll roll my name so rule. Yeah, I came to hang. Yeah, I'm gonna do this thing. Roll call so premuch so premo role, so prima role, so fremo role. Or I can't thank myself right now? Yeah, you a tip. Steve got that. Steve got it. He to win him. He might be the one me or Fonte alright lost. Nobody cares. I care about your life experience, Bill, has anybody ever you have major but I've got for a long time. People, Let's have a conversation like not many things. Rhyme with the mirror, Thank god the chair, come here, cash mere. First pitch at a baseball game. No, it wasn't a pitch, Steve anyway. Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to another installment. Of course, Love Supreme, Um, your hosts, love Jenkins, and we got Team Supreme in the house everything. How's home life? No, home life is cool. Um, I've been getting back into my dancing, you know what I'm saying, back on my dancing, like baby powder all on the floor. No, no, no, I don't. I don't quite use the baby powder. I just do. I do my Chicago stepping like oh yeah, dance, Oh my god, it's like a ride dancing with fonteentally get to the baby powder on the floor. It might the baby pods is in route, but there is there a society in North Carolina. Yeah, thrown in sexy dancing. Yeah, it steppers like we do, uh we do like for the older for the black set, we do Chicago step. But then for like the older White set, it's East Coast swing like Lindy hop, like all of that West Coast swing, all on the baby powder. Oh the baby So at house parties like with like music departs and play house music sometimes like at the end of the night when the drugs have really kicked in, people will put baby powder on the floor. It helps you dance, it helps you just moved. Yeah, that's funny because I was going to just say that's how Janelly did her dancing in the first couple of years. That's how she performs the Lord. Yeah, I didn't know that, So that doesn't ruin the wingtips at the bottom of the shoe or I don't. I've never done would clean the floor. I've only seen it in action once and once in my life. What was it? What was it that um I went to like one of the body and soul parties here in New York. Yeah, it was baby powder all up on that force like nails grown in sexty. No, that's like a house music party. Like, Okay, I think who does that party? I'm I should be ashamed of myself. I should know that Steph use a dancer. Let'sen introduce our guests, ladies and gentlemen today. Our guests is I guess my part time work wife are Okay, Well, I'm gonna get to that. I'm gonna get that. You don't know that yet. I have a few part time work at thirty Rock, but yeah, and my real friend. Uh. But basically I'll say that you gotta put your trust and someone to inform you of what's going on. And I'm the kind of guy that's still wakes up at eight eight eight am, nine am to make sure that the world still running. Yeah, it hasn't imploded. Yeah, and uh, our next guesterday, I kind of trust her to give me, give me the straight how a T I T I Z Wait it was always t I Z. I'm sorry, I'm sorry. Black card just got a little You saved it from going off in the wind. Thank you, Ladies and Gentlemen one of my glasses, while black Ladies and Gentlemen one of my favorites. At my building at at thirty Rockefeller Plaza, MSNBC's own Stephanie Rule. So we were talking about baby powder. Yeah yeah, yeah, so you put the pot on the flow the hip slide. But but now I me and my wife Tess whatever we get back in that dancing we do uh Chicago step I do like it all, but she kind of just sticks. Just from a DJ standpoint, so this is kind of a grown and set like an over thirty, like just mostly all with thirty. So like for a DJ said the stepper, Like the funny thing is like when people think of stepping, the thinking stepping name of love Arkelly whatever. That temple is like really kind of too fast. So like the slope that sexy ballroom is gonna fall anywhere from like between the sheets. You can't. That's you can't footsteps in the dark, not that footsteps might be too slow, but you can do it. It's really good for your marriage. It is it keeps you keep you have something to do. Yeah, you gotta have something. I get born dinner. Whatever in the movie is just the netflix and chill. You know. So when you're married, like the beautiful thing about being together and dancing, you don't need to talk because talking when you're married involves like no, but just like so much men, like how do you go from I'm dealing with bills, I'm dealing with life, I'm dealing who are you putting to bed to? But dancing takes that out. No, dancing is the It is the vertical expression of a horizontal desire. Whoa if bill were right now? What you also realize they called sexy the horizontal mambo, So you know, hey, there it is so yeah, but that's yeah, but we that's what we do. Where's the wisdom from? Okay? Oh damn, I'm sorry. I mean you know I had to represent for unpaid bills. What's fante song? I forgot? Don't have a song I'm gonna make up he kills it with more. Okay, Yeah, I don't have something like yeah, I mean super wisdom or something like that. Um. Anyway, we should also know that, um trustees, Zerra is here and she's already shaking her head no that she doesn't want to say anything. Okay, thank you. People should know that this is only Zarah's second appearance here l which means that the yeah, she was, she was active doing. He was he was banging. We had Ronan Pharaoh on the show stuff serious man, well not on our show. Yeah, he was crooning. He was crooning like little little blue eyes. He was crooning. That was a little bit statement. He did it on roly did it on purpose. He knew he was gonna thank you about that when he did it. We wait, let me let me ask you, because you know, I don't want to be all serious and funny games, because everyone knows you for your your seriousness and taking it. I can tell him how I know you? Okay, how do we know each other? We'll see. I have my story of how we met and you have your story. You start first, he and I met. We were doing this wacky conference and it was quest it was Steve Aoki and I and we just like really got on and yeah that's a likely trio and we really got on and blah blah blah. And then he invited me to one of his food salons and I got to tell you, I felt pretty good about myself. Wait that's that's that's I love you for saying that, because I walk into the food salon and like, my husband's with me, and I'm like, yeah, what's up? You know? Here I am in a Quest food salon and I run into the fashion designer of La La Rose, who I hadn't seen in years, and blah blah blah. And again I'm feeling pretty good that I'm there, and I'm like, hey, Lelo, great to see you. What are you doing here? You know, like what brings you here? And she's like, oh, I'm a good friend of the Mirror's and she's like how about you? And I'm like, um, I don't know a mirror. I came with Quest and she's like, yeah, that's his name, and I'm like, oh my right, and I'm dying. I'm like at this point, I'm just like power eating everything there. I want to run away, and so I don't even know who to talk to. And at the party, he had this Instagram installation that every picture you take you press something and the photograph can get printed and you get to take a picture home. Okay, So I meet a guy named Kevin. So I'm so embarrassed by already what's happened. I don't want to talk to any significant person there. So I'm like, you know what, I'm gonna talk to Kevin, who's printing the pictures. So I'm like, hey, Kevin, blah blah, Oh hey, what's your name? This is cool? I love Instagram? Is it? Oh? That's cool? And I'm like how long have you been with the company? And he's like, oh, kind of since the beginning. And I'm like, oh wow, like you must have nailed it, like you must have cashed in like that right, And I'm literally thinking he's the guy who prints the pictures and I'm looking I'm like, god, I feel like I know you. I'm like did you ever go out with any of my girlfriends? So I'm like where, I'm like where do you live? Of? Right? Like thinking maybe he dated one of my friends and he's like California, And I'm like I don't really know anybody, like right, And all of a sudden my husband is like, I'm gonna need you to shut up as the founder of Instagram. And then I'm like, like, why do you have the founder of Instagram burning the pictures? So at that point, home boss, no hee, here's the thing about the fourteen job a mirror. Luckily you didn't break up of me after that. You lost five jobs today. Damn. I've always had it down to fourteen, and I'm trying to take it down to eight. I'm trying to take it down to eight. I'm looking for some extra some way. I'm just saying. I'm just saying that neither neither the Twain shall meet. And what you did was kind of revealed to these guys, you know, the Bruce, the Bruce Wayne one when ever ever bring up to the I knew any more. It was like you left me for jay Z and Beyonce's house. I know who he is now. I still got a big into a game now I made I got in by the two Footslana was mad. I had to miss it. I don't know where you live. Oh damn, you've never been to my crip before, you do? You know? That his name is a mirror already when I know the middle one too. Yeah, but that's about it. Look, man, I just bring people together, just in different I do food versions of Quest Love Supreme. I do Quest Love Supremes versus Quest of Supreme. I do jam sessions. And you got popcorns out now? Yeah, they need to bring that a shelf up that you've been to Williams and Norman saw a mirror stuff. Yes, but I didn't know you have popcorn, Saul see, because that's because people. I'm all things that all people and literally what people know me for that one thing that's all they know me for. I have assault that I am a huge fan of, which one like jay Z Jane's crazy. So have you ever had what kind is? I'm gonna send it to you called James crazy. Jane's Jane crazy and it's like a It's like a salt with a bunch of other stuff in there. I'm gonna mail it to you because they don't have it New York City. I think the thing is because if I tell one person what everything I do, then spend time with the person, they got to just see and you know at said At said Jabs event. So he did the most mind blowing thing ever and had Daniel Whom catering, which having Daniel Whome of eleven Madison catering your party is kind of like people talk. I don't even know. Food is not rich people ship. Yes it is. It depends on how much it costs bood. That's a rich people thing. That's listen to me. My whole point is that if this guy is catering your party, you can afford it. Well, my whole points not finishing the sentences fast enough for me. Yeah, yeah, okay, I'm giving too much space for the clap. I'm just saying that that's the equivalent of oh, these are the guys that paint my crib, John Michelle and uh yeah and and Andy. Right. It's it's like that. So I was rather impressed, But I think he was rather impressed that I knew who Daniel was, because I've had history of conflicts with him. A lot of people ask like, well, why don't the Routes participate in the Philly uh made an America? And well, part of it is that because the picnic and the Fourth of July stuff and the other stuff we already do. It's like overkill by the time we get to September. However, I've been begging and gunning to curate uh the food, no, well, to curate the food trucks and all that stuff. But because he doesn't know that I'm kind of a thing in the food world, he hasn't who doesn't know j didn't know jay z He don't know a job that He just thought that was crazy talk, And I'm like, well, dog, I've written James Beard nominated books and New York Times best seller Like, did you say that though I wanted, did you say that you don't know that? You didn't? But that's the thing that someone don't know the job. Then I can't I get it. I get Yeah, you can't sound crazy, dog, He's like, come on, dogs, would have just sent your music. I just would have sent Carling the books and said, explain this to your boss when you're Carly knows what time it is, but she knows, like I feel like in order. I think the number one rule to life is people always try to go for the figurehead, and that never worked. Just get to the six people that have their ear, and then that's the thing, you know. So anyway to bring it all back home out of this rabbit hole. You have a lot of jobs, and I make popcorn salt. Yeah, but you had, but the popcorns, I say, the popcorn salt is really more season than it is really salt. So she went and got something the test tastes at the house. Oh yeah, we bought. So my wife she went to win Sonoma and she bought because we go to the movies a lot and normally will like buy the popcorn salt, like from our ghost store whatever and then just bring it in. But he was like all right, just yeah yeah. I was like no. I was like, yo, I'm going to support black business. My man ain't got a salt. We with this salt, so we win't got it into sal. It wasn't really salty. It's a seasoning. It's a season and I didn't know that. I know now, so what I do. So the trick what we do is we'll take your um because you got avocado. We didn't do the avocado. We got like the sweet can. You got the Saturday Morning the Saturday Morning cereal. And then the other one is women pepper mine with you. We got the lemon pepper. But oh oh yeah, come on, he knows the Democratic. Yeah, I love him. I just didn't want to say that. Yeah, no, it's the Synome. That was hard because they wanted me to go to barbecue na black and I was like, that's back in the day. Yeah, we had a meeting and the lemon pepper is the new black flavor. So what you do is you take if you take the lemon pepper and your other one is really good, it's parmesan, take that and you kind of mix them and then you hit it with like some salt. Salt. So if you hit them with yourself steping in the crazy James crazy with that, and then you add some butter. Oh ship actually put the butt on first and then you put the salt in the seed and so it sticked to the popcorn and it was like a suit flat at this point. So what did we go see? She um it was when she took h I was actually working in l A. She took my son to see aqueraman. So when they took it into so, yeah, I might have to break my health. Pronu calls to try that and see if the ship works. A bro, Hey, listen, it's real man. Wind it back with a full recipe, though, because that was yeah, you just take you just take his seat and the salt with butter, with the butter first hit a little season and salt so it sticks to the popcorn and you good money. I had an option to include salt or not include salt, but I figured that no, it would have been too much. Oh, because it's like that you have and you know so Steph. Now you know that I sell popcorn, salt, many flavors, many, Well there's only three. But how do you like working with williams Sonoma? Oh? It's cool, I enjoy it. I love you so much anyway, who's pooler William or Sonoma? Wait, you said something earlier about domestic life, and if it just hit me that, yes, you're also a wife and a mother. But I also knew you as sort of already in of the galaxy as far as getting news straight and the way that you know for people that aren't familiar with your um, I guess your interrogation style. First of all, been to law schools. Yeah, but the thing is you don't you don't let the small stuff slide, which I've seen some people give up usually when when pundans come on the show and they'll say something not factual. First of all, like I feel like you have to do is you have to do so much fact checking, so much research in the type of news that you delivered today, because someone can instantly deliver an untruth and you know, some news journalists will just take that as law. As in So, I don't have any sort of journalism background. So I was an investment banking for fourteen years. You brought the MSNBC to talk money, and you just happen to get hired during the most corrupt So I was in investment banking for fourteen years. And uh, I always wanted to work in media my whole life. And uh, one day I was giving a speech for a nonprofit called the White House Project because I used to do a lot of women's things. And after the founder had the board all having lunch, and she said, uh, you know, women and and black men always get compared to one another. And she said, if you take the fifty most powerful women and the fifty most powerful black men, they always lump us together. They say women and minorities, women and minorities. And she said, but go to the top of their field. And if you take the fifty most successful black men in America, they actually think about one another. They think, how do I get someone else in my group a board seat, a book deal, an opportunity with the company. You know, if you look at someone like Jesse Jackson, Jesse john and I'm making this up. You know, before the super Bowl Jessevel Jackson will say, I'm gonna call Pepsicola and find out who are they what advertising agency or are they going to be working with for their super Bowl at because there's African American men on that field, or if they're going to do or if GM is going to do a banking deal, they'll say, who are you gonna give your underwriting fees too? And they're thinking about it. And she said, women don't think about each other in that way. Yet one woman makes her way to the top and she's on a board and she's like, great, I'm here, we're here. And she said, you each need to think collectively, how am I going to help one another? And it was my turn. Everyone had to say what they wanted to do in their next chapter and someone else had to raise their hand and say I'm gonna get you there. And it was my turn, and I said, do you know I think I've always wanted to work in the media, especially after the financial crisis when people were just so anti power and money didn't necessarily understand it. And I said, you know, I think I've always wanted to work in the media. And there was a woman there who worked directly for Mike Bloomberg and she said, I gonna introduce you to Mike, and uh. I met Bloomberg, and I met the guy who ran Bloomberg Media and he said, and this really speaks to what you all are doing right here. And he said, in the new world of media and news, we're not going to have any more people reading teleprompters. People trust relationships, they don't trust information because you can get information from anywhere. Uh. And he said you have to know the content, love the content, and have a desire to be on TV. And I said, well, I I think I have all three. But in order for me to walk away from my career, you can pay me zero dollars, but you need to give me a show to anchor, and you need to hire somebody to teach me how to do it. And he said deal. So you're telling me that you, unlike Boss Bill here, you had zero radio television film experiences. I've done TV as a guest. Jersey County, New York, North Jersey, South Jersey's like Philly, Yes, yes, yes, Sound Jersey is filling. You're serious. Yeah, I've never done it before. Okay, So my version of meeting you you mentioned, uh with the speech that you mean Steve Aoki did um. First, of all of all the things I do, I hate public speaking the most, which is I think I tweet and write better more because I can edit better and it seems fluid, but I don't know. My mind also has to edit in real time, so there's always gaps in spaces. And I'm in a room with a bunch of fortune five people you know. Of course, like my management, they want me to do more speaking and more you know, conferences or whatever, and it's like I have all serious about, like the anxiety, all those things. So I nervously spoke about I forgot what I did. It was like a it was like a poor man's ted talk, or maybe it's the rich man's Ted talk. What what was do you remember them? It was all it was basically people who run marketing for fortune companies and consumer companies, and then the speakers were sort of influencers, so those heads of marketing would understand what you have to say and the way you think, so your management team would want you there because you're a highly marketable guy. So okay, So basically I get on the mic and totally mirrored up like hello, hello, um, like just say a sentence there, this is me. Hey, how are you exactly that? Wow? Rum. So there's there's a room for creativity and a world. And I feel like it's like me giving a speech in seventh grade. Yeah, And I feel like Steve also was sort of like, um, well you know, um, I definitely like today we're gonna do this. Literally, so here's the thing I've never heard of. But she walked on that stage and like it was instant. We all came in attention, like and we're like, who is this woman? Like at first I thought she was a comedian, so I'm like trying to google at the same time. Well, the thing was she just at the presence of like because I was at the mic stand and take the mic off the mic stand. She like took the mic off the MinC stances, okay, show of hands, no, no, no, Like she totally took over the room, and I was like, who is this woman? I have to know who this woman is. So then why didn't you go to the business route first instead of doing the media? And I'm curious if you had the personality for it in the passion, My point was that you were born star. Yeah, that's my point. That was my question based on I knew that's where you were doing because I ended up in banking right out of undergrad because I went to college in the US only for two years, and I studied abroad for two years Kenya, Guatemala, in Italy, and I stayed in Europe because I had no money left. But I wanted to in Europe and in order to do so, you need to get a job. So I'm like, hmmm, I'll get a job of the bank. They have banks all over the world, and uh, I got a job with Mary Lynch. They ended up sending me back to New York. And a newsroom and a trading floor are very very similar. They are high energy, loads of testosterone, passionate. It's all about teamwork. Everyone kind of leaves it on the field. And I didn't even know what anybody did there, but I'm like, whatever they do here for a living. I'm going to do this. And the other thing is you can make a lot of money. And no one wants to say that that's an ugly truth, but especially for women, if you can do something to make yourself financially independent, it's a game changer. When you think about all the things that happened to women in the workplace and put it back us into a corner. It's about not having financial freedom. And when you need a job so badly that you don't know if you can make rent at the end of the month, you'll take ship and to work so that you can. And I remember I almost loved banking two years in because I really wanted to go to journalism school and somebody who ended up being a mentor of mine set don't you'll end up a weather girl in Tuscaloosa. And by the way, you'll be horrible in local news, which I would be. I would be terrible at it. But financial freedom does give you the ability to just make better choice. I mean, when you have a lot of when you have a lot of financial freedom, I think people make terrible choices. Um that's when they're throwing money out the window. But when you know that you've got your situation covered, you can just take a step back and start to really pursue things that you want to do. It's crazy when you think about how many people I'm thinking about, of course I'm thinking about myself, but then I think about how many people just don't know what that feels like. Financial freedom like not because it's not not not like chasing like not having you happen to have a job, like being able to chase your career goals like that is like, but that's because we don't teach anyone to save money. When you think about what we go to school for. And I'm not talking about college, I'm talking about high school. Are you using algebra? Are you using calculus? No? But it really would have been great if they taught you how to get a mortgage, if they taught you how a savings account worked, if you didn't have a parent at home that ever said let me show you. And I don't mean how to be an investor, but how the stock market works. No one teaches you those things, and especially I mean not for nothing, but yet that's black homes. But but that's if you think about financial mobility, You're never going to get that if someone doesn't teach you to you. But that's why they try to not teach it to us, because they don't Black people, we've had hundreds of years. What they don't want you to have that, So it's not part of the core curriculum in public schools. I think that's a huge problem. I've I've been trying very hard to talk to anyone. I can just do one class called real life. Forget when you had home economics in school, home mac, which public schools don't have any more. Budgets are gone, but home mac is not was not just cooking and sewing, it was also personal budgeting, right, And so we live in a world where people are going, I gotta run to a sample sale because oh my goodness, everything's on sale. It's not on sale if you're buying it on your credit card and you can't pay your bill at the end of the month. And if we don't start helping people learn the basics of just saving money. And I realized life is expensive. But if you can save money and you know you have a little bit of cushion, you just don't have to take so much ship. Amen. Okay, So in the banking game, what is the thin line between like what what should the real ceiling goal be? Because I know that when I think of banking automatically think of Wall Street Uh, Koke Brothers um uh not a I G. But scheme like made off. Yeah, I think of of corrupt people. Is there a good example of lucrative banking done right where you can serve a community and be if you think? I actually think every job on some level is the same. Every job is about relationship building and trust. I don't think that my job when I was in banking, truthfully is much different than my job now. If you can sit down and help, whether it's your client or your viewer, get smarter and better and understand what they need and what they want to do, that's your goal. When I worked in banking, there was no one there was. There wasn't a hedge fund that said, well, it is our mission statement to use Stephanie rule to give us the best investment ideas. But they just had to figure out it's Sephenti rules someone I could trust. Are there examples of good banking? Yes, like when we dump on Corporate America all the time. Corporate Amerror is what keeps many cities thriving, right, But when you go you were just talking about Atlanta. What's in Atlanta? Bank America that's the biggest company there, and I'm sure they're the biggest corporate donor in Atlanta. I'm sure they're They're one of the biggest employers. So they're providing healthcare, they're helping schools there. And yes, there are bad, evil, egregious practices. But in every business right in in in news and media and entertainment, once people reach that star status and rules get bent for them, then the world starts to go out of whack. And that's every industry. But it seems like in the bank industry, everybody has had their fair share of controversy, except when I think, I'm like, maybe I feel like t D right now is like the stand alone but Bank of America TD Bank Toronto Toronto, because it's a really vanilla bank that doesn't do too many sort of funky, edgy things. But one of the reasons to be so mad out of the industry, and it's not their faults. There's not enough rules. Right. So after financial crisis, when people didn't go to jail, and everyone's like, what the hell, how come no one went to jail. Well, the problem is they didn't go to jail because technically they didn't break the law. Now does that mean we need more regulation? It does. But you can take that to the pharmaceutical business, right, you can say, like pharmaceutical is the most hated industry out there, but those companies are making billions and billions of dollars because what do they do? They have the big The pharmaceutical industry has the biggest lobbying effort out there, and so there are very few politicians on either side of the angle aisle that are looking to regulate big pharma. And so lots of regulation is bad, but we need some rules to protect people. The sticks are higher, though, in in banking than they are in every in other industries. You know when when somebody's corrupt and bank it's you could cause it, Yes, if somebody, especially I mean in banking, it was sort of the perfect storm of a lot of bad things. And listen that The unfortunate thing about the financial crisis is the people who are hurt the most, who lost their homes, still haven't recovered, but the industry has. And that sucks. Where do you think we are now? Do you think we're on the verge of a recession, Like what what do you think, like it's got to come again because we've now had ten good years now. One of the issues though, and it really led to sort of the birth of the Trump voter. It was President Obama's last State of the Union address, and I remember it like it was yesterday, and he said, anyone who says that the economy has not recovered is peddling lies. And here's where he was wrong, because the economy had recovered for people who lived on the coasts, for people who worked in technology, for people who worked in an entertainment, but for people in Middle America it didn't. And sort of out of that speech and that sentiment was quasi the birth of the of the Trump voter, who said, hold on a second, I still I didn't get my house back. I I can't. I haven't you know, I haven't paid gotten any more money at my job. And just think about this. I could say to you, it's two dollars a lot of money for a family to make, and you'd be like, yeah, that's sort of a respectable amount of money. And that's a family who maybe that could be a family with two parents where somebody's a teacher or or an accountant or an engineer. But a family who makes two dollars in the United States cannot afford to support themselves and send a kid to college, to a private college, and definitely can't send two kids. But here's the this is the silver lining that I want to come to good. The silver lining is this that family is angry and they feel left out and they feel forgotten. It's not that that family is filled with hatred. It's not that they hate immigrants, it's not that they hate other cultures. Is that that family is saying the system doesn't work for me, and so they're frustrated. So what gives me hope is when we say this country is so angry and so hate filled and so divided, they're not. There are just people who feel forgotten and angry. And one of the first things you do when you're angry and forgotten is you blame someone else, and you point the finger, and and it's a natural. And when the little girls all right selling water or you do listen, those are very bad examples, and and those are real examples of young kids who are entrepreneurial, who are doing great things, but that person who did that. That's one bad egg. And I'm not saying that bad that bad. That egg isn't rotten. But can I tell you a story about a woman that I met if. I'm If and she was It was a terrible story, but she actually gives me hope. So I was an upstate New York at a dude ranch with my family and a woman comes up and the owner says, a waitress would like to talk to you and tell you why she loves President Trump. So she knew who she knew who I was, and I was like, we're gonna send my kids off the table and she can come on over. So she sits down. I allowed it. That was a nice way for them to do it. Though. Let me tell you I allowed it because I want to get smarter and better and because I do have an open mind in an open heart. Okay, No, I just meant, like I figured, family time is if I'm at the table. No, I can't take yourselfie with you right now. When you're at a dude ranch for four days, were through three children, You're gonna take a break. So she sits down and she said to me, I want to tell you why I love Donald Trump. And I said sure, and she said I love him and he loves me. And she said, and you, She said, you think that I am white to trash And I said, oh my goodness, I said I absolutely don't. And I said, why on earth would you think this? And she said, well, I want to tell you my story. I want to tell you who I am. He thinks she's white trash, that's the crazy. And I said, please tell me and she said, well, Donald Trump came to see me, meaning he did a rally up there where she lives. And she said, and he cares. And I said, tell me what his policies are that are going to help you in your community. And she said, I don't know, but I know he came here. And then she said I'm fifty five years old and she said I'm a single mother. And she goes and I have two adult daughters who are single mothers. And she said, where you live, do you have charter schools? And I played and she played me and I said, oh my goodness, yes, my husband right here is the board chair of a charter school park. It's an achievement for school. And she was like, great, where I live here, we don't have any charter schools. We have the worst schools in New York State. And I was like, oh, She goes, where you live, you have after school programs? Where the where the where the where the She said, I can't think of the world. But it was like a thinly veiled worre that was and racially sensitive. And she goes, we're the girls in your neighborhood, even after school program for for those girls kids. And I bet you raised And I said, yes, yes, you know, we have a big brother, big sister. But blah, you know. She goes, yeah, you have charity events for those things. You don't ever come up here and raise any money. Blah blah blah, so on and so forth, and she said, we're dependent on social services and they don't never answer the phone. And she said, I don't have grandchildren who are washing up on shore wearing tattered clothes in a in a in an inflatable boat. And she said, my story isn't ugly enough to be on the cover of your newspaper, but I am not pretty enough to go to your house for dinner. But I have a covert esquire. Last mom so with the whole white problem, but to her point. But to her point, it just it just makes me sad that she thinks she thinks he cares, because the thing is, I think he knows. The thing is is that what makes me more frustrated with him than anything is because I believe he knows better because he's a wrestling promoter. He knows he's playing the hell out of him. Yeah, and it's like he played her. But here's the thing she's not wrong in that Hillary Clinton did spend two or three work weeks in the August of two thousand sixteen doing the one thing she didn't need to do. She went to the Hampton's. And often times, when people are their most desperate, they need someone to just look at them and just hold their hand. And this goes to the feeling of isolated people have with the birth of social media. People aren't talking to their neighbors or their friends. Right. I've lived in New York City for twenty two years. I never know the names of all my neighbors and the doorman in the building next to me. And you know who does my mother Because my mother is not of a social media generation. She doesn't use a cell phone, she doesn't use socially doesn't use a computer, but she knows my community. And so whether Donald Trump is sincere or not, and you're a right, he's not. In fact, when he goes and does those rallies, they often say that once people become the president and they see the country, they become empathetic because they travel. When President Trump does a rally, he literally lands, unrolls the carpet, pitches the tent, does the show, throws the hats and gets back on and leaves. So what you're saying is completely true. It's sad because he doesn't care. But even if it's about giving people short term hope, the well. But I also think about when people grew to know him and believe his story. They were watching The Apprentice. And here's the thing. In the nineteen eighties, Johnny Carson was considered the most the most trusted man in America. And it's because when people were watching him, they're watching him at the same time they're watching Quest Love at eleven thirty at night in their beds, in their underwear, in their pajamas, and they feel like they have a relationship with you. Right, think about a beloved person in America, it's al Roker. Al Roker doesn't just do the weather. He goes out into Rockefeller Plaza and he physically touches people who are out there in the cold, and he's talking to them about their weather. And people saw Donald Trump at ten o'clock at night on NBC News, eating their ice creams, sitting on their couch, and they're watching him play a role that wasn't true. But this you're fired, straight talking I'm the richest guy in New York. So if you watched, uh, Mike Bloomberg when he spoke at the Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia, I remember it because I worked at Bloomberger, I said for five years. If you actually watched his speech, it was it wasn't bitter, but there was this twinge in it because you could actually hear that Mike Bloomberg is going, this guy is a fraud. And he wasn't saying I'm the richest guy in New York or I'm the most philanthropic, but as the guy who is one of the greatest philanthropists in the country, who is a great businessman, who is extraordinary here you actually watched him at that podium kind of shaking his head, going this is a con man America and whether he's whether President Trump is a con man or not, his salesmanship worked and he didn't. It's funny. I feel like he almost he cheated and used it. It's privilege in a way for him to be able to just go touched on by them, feel affected, and not have to tell them what he's going to do for them or anything. Meanwhile, I'm like Obama had to go touch people, lay down a plan, convince you, and all he had to do was come to your neighborhood and say how you doing. I'm out. And that's just an interesting breakdown in that way. So it's great to think about Obama now. The one thing that Obama gave people, because remember Obama was elected as the financial crisis was crumbling. Obama was a message of hope and President Trump had a different message of hope. Right, Obama had a universal message of inclusion and hope. And then eight years went by and a lot of people said, well I didn't get included, and President Trump, whether he's whether it's true or not, said but I love you and I see you. Let's do this. Why didn't they make them prove it? Though? If you, if you let me show me. Because the benefit that he had is he wasn't a politician, so there was no track record to point to. He was going up against somebody who had a lifetime track record in the public eye, who people had been critiquing for thirty years, and she had been critiqued so much that she lost a sense of her real self and humanity because she had been politicized for all those years. Okay, I was also going to add in that, I mean, I personally believe that with Russia interfering with and I do I have to say allegedly interfering no more. Yeah, but I still don't believe that he would have won had had the election been unscathed. I truly don't think that. I don't necessarily disagree with you, but I don't give any I don't give any time or heart to that because the toothpaste ain't going back in the tube, and so like even for me, Robert Mueller is going to figure out what Robert Mueller does, and in my opinion, that we're going to be a result, Like what do you think the endgame is going to be? He's still going to do his four years. Honestly, I don't don't say eight years. Listen, I think there's a very good chance he gets reelected. No, I want, so, what do you think? Why is it based on what you were just saying kind of about the interact. No, I think that the president has uh And again I'm not saying it's good, but I think he has a two pronged plan that works. So if you actually look at his policies, he is hooking up the rich, and the rich didn't actually vote for him the first time around, and he is helping them out all over the place. Corporate America and the super wealthy who do not have Trump signs in the front yard. They're not wearing Make America Great Again hats, but they want to protect the status quo quietly voting for him. So he hooks them up on policies over here. And at the same time that he's doing that quietly while you're sleeping, he's doing a Trump rally. And at that Trump rally, he s gins up, he stirs up all of those culture wars. So he's going, I know, I haven't helped you in business yet, and you're not making any more money. Give me time. Give me time, because when we go, oh my God, these tariffs, like, he's killing the farmers. And I'm saying he's killing the farmers, and I'm saying it from a newsroom in New York. And then when you actually send a reporter to Kansas or Nebraska and you interview those farmers, those farmers say, you know what, I'm gonna give him more time. At least he's taking this on because he talks to talk. But then he stirs up these race baiting culture arguments that taking the the build the wall, you know, these three words slogans, and he goes to those rallies and those people are going yes. So his base stands with him. Rich people stand with him. And then the third lane, which is his truly winning lane. What wait, nope, it's judges. President, it's jud Yeah, he's all he's president. You've got two Supreme Court justices. He's ready to gout on the bench. And and and even more than that is federal judges. Okay, federal judges. He has got a record number of federal judges on the bench. And those are jobs for a lifetime, and the majority of them are white men under the age of forty. So if you are a Christian conservative and you say, and I'm going to you, I don't understand how the even joelical community could be standing by the president. I mean, what do you think about the things that he says and does? Well, guess what if you're somebody in that community, you're saying, I'm not even going to know what Trump's name is in four years, but he is putting judges on the bench who support my beliefs, and they're going to be there forever. And the justice system impacts every aspect of our lives. Who you think, right, I mean yesterday or today? Excuse me? Pal Manaforts lawyers are arguing for a more lenient sentence, saying, well, he didn't kill anyone, he didn't run a drug cartel, he's not burning made off. And I'm laughing to myself saying, well, really, after you, after you're representing Paul Manfort, are you then going to be representing young African American males who get put in prison for small drug infractions and work on lesser sentences for them. The answer is no. Well, okay, you mentioned about the beliefs in the lifestyles of the coasts versus that of Middle America, But remember Middle America is also right here. We keep thinking that like that Trump voter is like way out there in the hinterland is Middle American. So with what Alexandria Alexandria Um says about this new Green Deal, all right, I know she's wept behind the ears. I know she's a newbie, But does she have a point or because the thing is that you can look at it both ways. Because the thing is that, Okay, I respect the ideal of the Middle America worker or whatever, you know, the coal miner. I understand people have to feed their kids, but at what point do we realize that it's and technology and your day is just over. A lot of them aren't working, aren't they kind of understanding that because having things shrunken in the But it's also not you keep thinking it's the coal worker out there here, it's people right here. Why didn't the lady from upstate that you were talking about earlier, Why and she just moved down to New York City? Listen, no, no, no, but time out, time out. He's joking, But I'm kind of thinking that. But the thing is that, you know, you know what I'm saying, high, but that's real, that's real, like like the struggle is real for everyone, right, and the rich have gotten people who are like I'm talking rich rich have gotten so rich that things don't even like there is no price on anything. How do you redistribute Sorry to interrupt your thoughts, how I'm trying to just get to the some of some of the end end game. How do you redistribute wealth without redistributing wealth? Listen, it's really tricky. You know. It's somebody who you should actually meet if you haven't met him yet. Is a guy named Michael Tubbs. He's a current mayor of Stockton, California. About him, I love this boy. He's twenty eight years old. I grew up a single mom. I'm pretty sure his father was incarcerated for most of his life. He in turned at Google, I want to say, he endured a Facebook, and then the last year before he graduated from college and turned at the White House. And it comes home and he says to his mother, I want to go into politics. And she's like, uh, She's like, you're the one who's going to get us out of here, and he said, no, I think this is my calling. He um joined the city council in Stockton. He was I want to say twenty two. He became mayor when he was twenty six, and he's this unbelievable force, and through philanthropy, he just in the last month has implemented a universal basic income. There So there's not a clear answer yet. Philanthropy maybe, but but the problem is it can't just be philanthropy because that's like this system has been so gamed that we're then supposed to say, oh, thank you so much, Microsoft for giving us these crumbs and these pennies on the side side, the answer isn't corporate America bad. Individuals are good. Government and corporate America have to find a way to work together or we are going to turn into the Third World. Do you think that corporate Americas should pay their taxes? That Corporate America should pay their taxes, But that's not the issue. Corporate America isn't evil for paying zero taxes. They're legally gaming the system. So change the system, okay, as long as every company has a need for a tax department, as long as someone is a tax lawyer, as long as the tax system is so complicated that sophisticated wealthy people can use loophole after loophole to pay nothing and regular people can't, then the system doesn't work. So when they cut the corporate tax rate from tht do you know what, really rich people did turn themselves into corporations. So now they pay corporations before the tax cut, we're paying too much. Should exactly whatever the answer is, we've got to find a way. When President Trump said make America great again for everyone at this table or from for women, you could say, like, that phrase is rooted in racism, because for women and minorities it wasn't great for us. We don't want to go back into like black people don't want the time trap. But I'll tell you what things used to be for many people. The disparity between the boss and the worker pay has never been great as great as it was now. It used to be like this and we're on the radio, so I shouldn't just use my hands or only speaking of a visual. It has grown massively. We have to figure out a way to shrink that. So when they gave that big tax cut, instead of just giving it and hoping, hey, you're going to give people a raise. If you gave that tax cut, there should have been stipulations around worker pay. But I'll tell you one more thing, and then I promise we could change the subject. Here's the issue. It is not a CEO's job. Sign his job to do right by the community and to do right by his employees. He should or she should. But as his fiducia, as a fiduciary, his job is to make money. It is to make money for his shareholder. It's to sell products. If you want to change the rules of the game, get up, let's change them. But given what the rules are, you can't. Let's say we were all shareholders in quest Love LLC, and quest Love decided tomorrow. Hey guys, right, let's say we're all investors in a Mirror LLC, and tomorrow Amir says, guess what I have decided. I'm gonna take of our profits and before I pay it back to you, I'm gonna start a foundation and i'm gonna give it to kids that I want to in Philadelphia, and then i'm gonna turn this studio into I'm gonna only use green energy. And the six of us sitting here could say, damn right, you won't. That's my money. I'm your investor. You don't get to pick to do the right thing. You don't get to pick to go green. That's my money. You're gonna give it back to me, and then I'm going to decide what I do with it. So we're sitting here with our arms folded demanding that Corporate America quote unquote do the right thing. Then the answer is change the rules of the game of what the right thing is. Now. With people like Alexandra Accacio Cortez getting elected, that shows that there are more voters saying maybe I want something different. With millennials saying I only want to do business or buy products from companies whose values are support maybe you're gonna start to see difference. My concern is those things are only happening at the margin once you start really audited. I know, it's funny because people only do the right thing after they try everything else, but gus, once you really start auditing the companies that you support in the smallest ways, whether it's the cereal that you eat or the stock that yeah, because you'll start seeing it because you're starting to learn the politics of these corporations or presidents and things of that nature. And it's kind of ill because you have to make these decisions like do I stop doing what I've been doing for ten years, because now I know something that people didn't used to know ten years ago. But do you reward the companies that do the right thing? And here's where I ask. So just today I sat down with Ed Stack. Ed Stack is the CEO of Dick Sporting Goods. Dick Sporting Goods is based in Pittsburgh. If you remember, it'll be a year ago Thursday, after the Parkland shooting, they said we're not going to sell assualt rifles anymore. Okay, that's a big deal. That's a company based in Pittsburgh with huge hunting business. They went to their sales dropped. I want to say, just under just like four. And here's what I want to know. All those activist groups who stand up and say let's boycott this company, let's boycott that company, and they ball stand not they all many people get righteous and indignant and they say this company doesn't stand for my values. On boycotting them, I want to know on the other side, when a company stands up and makes a move that's around culture or social justice, definitely, where are those groups lining up to go buy products there? We're looking for something to boycott but the people, but the people who were around they still I think the people who were boycotting with them still see that and go back. I mean, I remember I hate to use Target as an example, but targeted during Hurricane Katrina, right, they did all this stuff, they gave whatever that. I remember that and that state my mind until you know, they funked up everybody's debit card situation. But still, like what I'm saying, we need to remember gratitude and forgiveness because this is an angry, divided time and we're quick to get mad and quick to say I'm done with you, I'm finished with you when someone does something we support our business. You're also one of the few journalists that I know that actually takes a portion of your show to say here's some good things. That's the thing. And the thing is is that no one's ever going to report the good news like I didn't know about. I think that's admirable that Dick Sport and Goods did that, But I don't think we're a society that necessarily we'll throw a ticket tape parade because someone helped my grandmother across the street today. Let's find a way to do that and the truth is right. So people always I'm gonna get it wrong in newspapers something like if its right. And we do love train wrecks, we do love reality shows, we love the World Wrestling Federation. But we have to find a way, not in some Pollyanna way, but at the margins to celebrate good things. But is it also okay? You remember the Chris Rock joke. We's like, uh, fathers always weren't credit for something that they should this. Yeah, I was actually gonna bring that up. But tell me, tell me. I mean, like when dad's saying babysitting my kids exactly know, you're watching your offspring, your job, politic care of you. So it's it's but could that also be the case, like you should give back company? Yeah, you know, it's not a big deal, you should, I mean, but in what ways would you feel that it's more prudent or beneficial for said protesters to let us know that it's great to shop ed Dicks again? Listen, you you watch those protests, You watch those protests, groups go off on social media and say I'm done with this company instead. Great. Fine, Then when I don't know, Father's Day comes around, I want to see that same handle say great and all their dorky golf shoes. I'm gonna see. I think what you're saying, that's a whole another round because we all know, and you know this even better than we do. There are organizations that are just for protesting, like even with black people, black lives matter, black lives matters, it's particularly a protest organization, right, so they might not be the ones that are going to come back afterwards and be like, so, you know, now we can support DA I seem like it needs to be in some or entities that do that clean up on the back end. Yes, I'm just saying there has to be a way to find mind goodness and push the goodness forward because otherwise we're just anger on top of anger. And I know that every days I feel like I think, in the case of the Parkland shooting, the same time. Yes, when whenever there is a shooting and an occurrence um, the one question that no one ever seems to bring up in you know, whenever these problems arise that I never seemed to hear is the reasoning behind wanting UH to be armed, which no one is really going to talk about. You know, the reason why arms are used in the first place, was for slaves to keep slaves in line, to keep them from running away. Like we really get to that part of the conversation. That's like our part. They don't get to our parts of the conversation, which is kind of like the best thing to try to feel like the history of the gun in America starts with what were they used for? And it's almost like the white elephant that didn't do we talk about from the dogs used for. I mean, I mean that you could chase black people, and you know, that's what it was all about. But that's fine, you know, I get that, Yeah, I get, yeah they did. I don't I don't fust with dolls though there is not still happy with these answers. But my point is that my point is that I don't know if I would say, hey, okay, well Dick Sporting Goods did right by us, so go buy rifle. Like I personally, I mean, I don't want to put my personal beliefs on people. But you know, wait, wait, let me, let me let me backtrack. You're from the down South, fante. Now, I was very shocked at Big Mike's the yeah, killer killer Mike's position about wanting to be armed, and he felt he you know, he doctors second mementarized, teaches his daughter how to do it. But I understand the lifestyle of which he grew up in under the Mason Dix the line down south, that that's necessary, that's a necessity for him. In your experiences in North Carolina, do you feel that you need to be armed or um, not really because you just don't necessarily dwell where you feel. Yeah, I mean, I mean listen, well, I don't know if this is a dwelling thing. I mean for us. Like so for my my earliest experience with guns, my granddady had a shotgun he kept like right behind the bed, you know what, you had like a rifle back there. And I mean I think, yeah, all the granddad has had to grand Yeah, my my gran dady had the gun. And I mean like all my homies they pops had like shotguns or whatever. But it wasn't a thing of where like if you felt like you needed to, like if you were in danger or whatever, that you felt like you had to carry a gun. When I was coming up, it just wasn't. It just wasn't that if it was really somebody. If you was just a regular dude, and about regular dude, if you were just a dude that just went to school, just you know, just it was just a regular cat. If you had problems with somebody, you just damn y'all just scraped en if you had guns, Like if the niggas I knew they had guns, they was like all the dues in the streets. So fast forward. I do you feel like I feel like I know more people regular as We like to say that have aren't at least something in the house, not did you carry, but at least yeah, something in the house. Yeah, I mean I know something I got like one home. You just got like a ton of guns. I wanted to ask those people, how often have you had to use the gun to you? Yeah, that you have in your house. They go to the gun range just make sure the muscles still work. Yeah, because the thing is even with that, like when people say it's for home defense, Like I don't think people understand, like how quick that ship jump off? Dude, Like so unless you just walk around your house and you under the on the top shelf up under all them books. Yeah yeah, yeah, like the man the other night, like we was in. I was up one night. This was this was like this a couple of weeks ago. So I'm in the crib and I'm just up late, and you know, I'm just in my regular hours. It's like maybe like three four in the morning. And so I motioned to the light comes on outside. So but we live around like woods and ship, so I'm thinking it could have been an animal, could have been a rap, it could have been any kind of ship. And so I go and I opened like just looking the window, and it's like a kid. It looks literally like my son outside right, So like my older sons, I got two boys, eighteen and thirteen, so I'm seeing what looks exactly like my son. So my first thinking, I'm just I was like, why is my son outside? At for them? Like, but hold the funk up? And then it clicks on them, So I like, look at the one when I tap and homey, look, I run outside. What the funk y'all doing? The niggas take off running. It was two It was these kids. So because we live like right by high school, so what it is? It's these these fucking idiots. No, they won't even smoke it. They do this ship where they just go to cars and they don't even break in the car. They don't steal, just try to, damn try to if it's something unlocked. If the car isn't locked, they see it's a lot and then try to go and get something of the car. So I run outside and like like run them off. And then I'm thinking, but I ain't got no gun with me. I'm not even thinking to go get a gun on knife. I'm just like what the fun y'all niggas doing? So I run out, they run off. So then it becomes a whole another thing because now I'm like, Okay, do I want to call the police, because then the niggas might get shot? So it's like, you know what, wish we did so, but it's like these are the levels whenever people talk that gun ship, I'm like, dog, but that you know that y'all ain't really been in the smoke before and they could have been shot either way though, because it got the wrong house. Well yeah, they was lucky they went to your house. You was like, yeah, because like the white dude was the next to me. I think that they've gotta arsen he could have you know, he could up But it was the thing where it was. It was just like, dude, like I'm looking at this ship and it's just like, Yo, first of all, I'm like, Okay, y'all a fucking idiots, because who the fuck try to breaking cars in the cold to sect nigger? It ain't but one way in, one way out. So y'all ain't that suburban boy? I'm like, y'all, ain't really about that action, you know what I mean? So I came out and like we called police or whatever. I'm just like, look what they look like. I'm like, I just they had on hoods. I don't know. But yeah, So in even in moments like that, like me and my wife talked, Yo, so do you think it's time to get a gun? I was like, well that was a one. Yeah, It's like I don't, I don't know. It's just ain't that again unless you're just gonna be a commando nigger to just walk around in your boxes with a gun just while you eat your fucking your car problem. Yeah, Like are you describing nor right now? You're gonna be the game banging on bacon, dude. I just don't. Yeah, And I just don't live my life in a way that like that requires that. Yeah, So when you were just speaking, I was thinking, So this morning, my son, who's twelve, I was pressing my husband and I that the music we let him listen to we have it on a filter that he can only listen to the clean version of songs. And he's complaining he's twelve, and he's like, I don't want to listen to the clean version. That means there's lots of songs I can't listen to, blah blah blah. What's the reason why I can't? And I can't really, I didn't really have a good answer. Requires a history lesson right, so right here, right, So I didn't really have a good answer. And so while you're sitting here speaking, and I'm going thinking about my son listening to this, because obviously is gonna want to listen to it, he's gonna have a conversation with me after again about the N word. I knew that's where you were going. So I want you to help me, right because there's been all these conversations that lack of education or that lack of nuance, and now people are giving the wrong answer. I want you to honestly help me with likes my writing. No, no, no, obviously they can't. But what's obviously and what and when you're speaking to children who can only who are like whom from my heart and mine, couldn't be more understand And it's funny because I would have thought that you wouldn't have been serious until a week ago when I was sitting randomly sitting with him, a white mom who had like a one year old son, and I thought it was funny the cover of the Esquire magazine about the white boy, And she said, but no, seriously, though, what do I tell my son? How do I raise my son in this world and tell him how to react? And I thought it was such an interesting conversation because you know, black people have been doing this all our lives. You know, we've had to extra nurture, extra education, and so now it's time for white people to extra educate, extra nurture and teach about culture. And a lot of times, I know it sucks for you guys, because you weren't I know a lot of people like her, She wasn't taught a lot of things, so she doesn't like she doesn't have the answer to that question. The history of the N word and everything else. So that's all I was gonna say. I said, I just wanted to say in that moment that I'm taking this conversation very seriously now when I used to kind of laugh, but now you have to help, I'm about helping, all right. So here's the thing with white people and and all right, look, look this this is really easy. Look like you can't in the terms of music. So just on the base level, like we're talking to your son about explicit lyrics. Um, what I went through with my son like when when they were when they were younger, Um, my whole thing was, I mean, because I make music. So my old thing was now again, when I was you know, in when I was a kid, you could buy the clean version from Kmar or whatever, and the only way you could hear the explicit version was if your homie had the tape or if a cousin had the tape or whatever. So there was some kind of separation. Now we all all go into the same Internet. There is no separation. So it's very yeah, don't pay for none of this ship. So the thing now is trying to limit them to the clean versions of something. It really is just kind of a moot. Point, because I mean they can if you google that one song, I promise you the clean version ain't gonna be the one to come up, so you know what I mean. So my thing was always with listen if I know you're gonna listen to this fun So yeah, I was like, I know you're gonna listen this bullshit, so listen to it with me and we can have a conversation about what this really means. Because also too, there's another level where y'all thinking about like the um you know, from the racial aspect, and a lot of that hip hop ship. It's a lot of gang references in gang culture. And I'm like, Homie, when when my son was a kid, well that too. But then even like the ship before, like Blank Wayne when he was like it was blood like. So it's a lot of like coded language in that ship. They don't know that they don't know. And I'm like, Homie, you you say that ship in the wrong place, you're gonna get sucked up. So my thing was, I just need to have a conversation with you so y'all know exactly what this is. You know what these references are started saying this, They from Bompton's over. It's a round like you don't know, how does Stephanie. But that's ill because you knew these things, right. But Stephanie trying to say too that she doesn't know all of these right. So just in general and in general, for cares to put your your you have to take yourself down the track of people who care less and lesson and listen. Forget the moral stance of should we say it, should we not say it, should we listen to it, not listen to it? That right now, we're canceled cards. Were in cancel culture, and we live in cancel can cancel key, we cancel him. But this is our social media works. We're in cancel culture, and we're also in in in beat you down now and ask questions later right there. And I don't want to be I want to find a way to be in a forgiveness culture and at least here and get smarter and think more. Well, I would just say with the kids, I mean, I wouldn't personally limit them to the clean version just because that's just gonna make them want the dirty ship even more. So my thing is just like we don't listen to the dirty ship, but let's listen to what explain and explain like what it's about. And when it just comes to saying nigga like homeo, you just can't say that ship like I understand this show. You might listen to the jams and you can even if you said in your room, you might say it in your room. And I know, like it's unfair if it's a call and response if he go to a show and you know, my favorite part of a jay Z concert. I've seen eighteen jay Z shows and literally when that ship starts to the widest part and just look at him like I still do it to this day. You're gonna You're gonna say it j Jacob my home. Yeah, yeah, you got. You just have the splints on, like yo, dog, like I know the rappers are saying it, and I know you might want to say you might even say it in your head. But if you say this outside like in the world, like you can get sucked up. Just their consequences, its consequences that ship. Okay, well you're done. I think I did I answer a question, Stephan Rue was that that makes it? I appreciate it. Actually, uh, step That's where I wanted my but you answered it and I want you to. It's because it speaks to exactly this cancel culture, this beat up and give an answer later. And for me, the goal in two thousand nineteen should get out of cancel culture and figure out a way to say I might disagree with you, but I hear you and I see you, because right now we're not getting one another dolly stuff. You're gonna do that to the ark alley. You're gonna listen to hear. I'm seeing what you got to say, what you're doing. I mean some people like I love the thing the thing with cancel culture too. I mean, I agree with what you're saying, and I don't think I don't think they're gonna get another shot. But can we talk to the fact that the woman from the daycare build and Mountain, Yeah, yeah, that's where she was. You know, the white lady that owns a daycare is Alabama? Nah white she well you know what, I saw footage of her in the in the in the McDonald's. She looked white mans like she important, she owns nine businesses. What's what is? What is are Kelly's new work? Like? It was like, should R Kelly be around? I'm like, I don't know since ignition, I'm not sure, but they wanted to be total canceled like today and yesterday's work. It's not just about today, it's about just erac Ira and I don't think Yeah, the check stop coming. His last few albums have sold nothing. Yeah, but he made so much money they shouldn't even matter. Boy, I think I didn't listen to all nineteen minutes of that song I did. What did he admit that he sold his publishing? He admited sold. He admitted he sold his publishing. That he uh, he admitted he's he can't read, admitted he's illiterate. Um, but he sold his publishing. That's what he said. Valuable acid he had because he but he probably had. Like man, I don't understand bro, like for you to terminal trial five years. I understand that five years it got damn billable. I mean to say he can't afford his legal bills. There's no Trump superpack pay and them like that good. I mean, they were probably good even if they were slow. You don't piss on cheer and then they've been good for you. But I'm just saying, you know, if you gotta keep paying off parents and ship every damn quarters. And I know that, I know that publishing checks are really a three time a year things, right. Yeah, kind of can't imagine that he's got any money. No, well definitely not because I initially thought like, Okay, well when he gets arrested a million dollars, this a hundred thousand, Yeah, I believe I can he can come out. And I couldn't believe that she you know, yeah, I think I think it was the picture I saw, and she was with him into when he went to McDonald's. That's first thing he did. She owns the McDonald's. She just went to him. He went to the rock and roll McDonald's. He got out, he went to he went, he went. He went to the rock and roll McDonald's like a presumably to get a macred And what's the rock and roll McDonald's. That's the biggest McDonald's in Chicago. It's like it's like Wily World, It's like club and there night. Yeah, it's it's like a city block. It's the biggest McDonald's South Side. Um No, and like downtown, like off of Michigan Avenue. I just don't understand how these women continue to be in his web. Um, Well, I think it's much like much much like your Trump waitress. R. Kelly came and talked to you. Yeah, he like he was. He came, he I saw you, and now you know it was That's what it was. Doesn't that take us right back to this cancel culture. Look at these people who are rising, whether it's a Trump having is following on R. Kelly, see someone hear them. Well, I don't know if I need to hear Trump or Kelly. But we don't even support the people those two, but all those people out there that want to be seen in her that are the ones that are falling victim to Oh that's falling, Okay, I got you. One is getting finessed you right? Yeah? So yeah, So I don't know. I think he's um, I think he might actual see sometimes. I don't know. Did you watch Fire Festival? I did that. It was great. Which which of the two? Because I watched the better than Yeah, the Netflix Netflix? How did that happen? Yo? It was the it to me that is one of the most Yo. It's social media and it's a story of just how in America you can sell any kind of bullshit as long as you package it right, except all of the except for the main guy. All those people, Like, how did they not say, like, this thing isn't gonna work on out? I think it was what so my yo and the people who were early on. I think it was kind of almost like to make a financial parallel, like the banking crisis. I think there are a lot of people or the fun the housing crisis. I think it was a lot of people that knew that ship wasn't gonna work, Like they saw what was coming, but they was like, Yo, this ship is gonna fall down, but if I can get what I can get out of it before, then fuck it. But they knew that ship wasn't gonna work. Face saw hell, Mary passed and just pray to god. Lynn Swann was at the end. They had no because the thing is when the homie, the key part to me was when your man was in the um. Not not the dick sucking water. Dude, you don't see it. The planner do. When he was like most festivals take like a year, he was like most like if you know, they take a year, he said, when they told me I had six weeks to feed and do all this ship, dude, you knew this ship was goddamn. Think about all those vendors there still never got paid. Yeah, the lady did get up. They raised for the main woman that lost like fifty tho bucks. They what do you call it, go fund me go? Yeah, they go funded her. But why did we have to pay for that? Why didn't what's his name? Jerry? Who still make it breaking in money? Yeah? Because because then so was coming from it became Jerry. That was like the new hashtag. It became Jerry. And I think I think they took a little said he might bring that John back down, he said the day after going to buy up all tickets and empty when he come out. That's not fraud, that's not fraud. It's like, how does jar Rule come out of it unscathed? I don't know, because he's missed the nineties. I think, I'm sorry. He's not a nineties rapper. He's an arts rapper. I don't know. I think the documentary kind of painted him to be a kind of a victim of the whole situation too, where they just kind of used his his image to pull off this festival. I mean, it's not that he's not I agree, he's not like you know, completely blame free because he should have done his due diligence. But that's it, Like I agree, like we overuse this word victim. A victim is somebody who's walking down the street who gets attacked in a gang initiation. A victim is not somebody who closes his eyes and closes his ears and lifts his champagne. How it goes to that point like Jarroul looks at himself like I was a victim here not? Come on now, I believe again. I love doing the Ray Crock versus Ronald McDonald thing. I think he was just Ronald McDonald really not knowing what Ray Croc was up to behind him. And you don't agree with me. I think he could have given some of his money to that woman that on that bar. I don't think he has money. What you say, he did two years in jail for tax evasions, right, and I'm sure any money that he quote up earned, I'm sure I got you probably. Yeah, you're right, you're right, oh public, yeah, yeah, should we haven't won the show one that? Yes? Love which one? Like the stories? Good story? I like good stories. Look, I was not a murdering fan. Listen, like I mean, I was respect. Was about the time you guys signed Vanessa Carlton. Yeah, what happened with that Vita album? Like, yeah, I just wasn't. I don't know. I wasn't a fan like that. I respect the movement. They had hits, I can't knock it, but I never thought none of that she was hot. I didn't need that story anyway. Can we ask fund the MS and BC questions I've been waiting. I just want to yeah, yeah, okay, because yeah, we were talking about this earlier. Wanted to no no good. First of all, the aspect of having two shows on MSNBC, Um, can we talk about that on the daily? And how the fun you do that with being somebody's wife and three people's mom? We never got that was literally my first question, and we this is this has been a All I wanted to say was in addition to having to deal with pundits all day, you still have to be a mom and a and a wife. How do you balance it? Like I could get Okay, here's the thing. Anyone like and all of us, none of us were ever balanced, right. People who are grinders and overachievers have never like achieved something to be like woof you know, I'm all set, and I think that, uh, these are blessings, right. I'm so lucky to have this moment, to have this time, to be in news, to have this opportunity, to be married to somebody who hasn't kicked me out, and to have three kids who are all standing and tying their shoes and all work it out. Can I ask you a question? Okay? So, so if a certain unnamed network, Sugar Network starts, it was certain unspeakable network comes to you with the bag No, but you can still be yourself? How could you do this? Tom out? But listen, listen? Okay, now, correct me from wrong. Za. Is Murdoch's son's going to take over because of their political because of their black Murdoch runs Fox News? Okay, I'm I was hearing through the cheese line that Murdoch's sons weren't as extreme as you know, the Roger they were trying to Sky. Yeah, they were trying to They were trying to dilude it a little bit. And then when they were trying to buy Sky, what they were trying to do is not have the huge sexual harassment issues, right. They didn't want to have. They weren't changing anything inside the company, but they didn't want to have massive um sexual harassment headlines. That was going to block that deal. Well, but Sky also said like, we would never associate ourselves with you because everyone thinks you're a joke. And it almost seemed like they said, well, we're what what do we have to do to have a real conversation. There's no reason for them to change what they make. And we're talking obviously about Fox News. Fox News has no reason to change what they make. What they make is extraordinarily successful for the people who watch it, right there are the many people who watch it. You know, we're like a badge of honor. Now they talk about other going to have to change to start to attract a younger demographic, because you know, they're the go to for that, you know, over the age of fifty, white male demographic, many of whom watch it. I just want to see a pair of calves. And more than that though, listen, I mean, they haven't skipped a beat in their success. Lots of people are watching. She's on there, she is in the afternoon MTV. She's quite conservative. It's a little bit more of a libertarian than a than a conservative conservative you know she's a small government. Um, I'd never watch Fox News unless I'm traffed in an airport. They're they're great at what they make. And now if you're asking me if they if they walked in and said, I'd like to give you a pile of money and you could still make your thing, I don't think it would be a I don't see that happening because what I have to say wouldn't sell to their audience. And now I don't necessarily have what you would call traditional, only progressive or only liberal views. To me, like you ask the right question, but that's it. Like I'm just myself. I lean into I want to live the best life for my family, and I want my neighbors and my community to live their best life. But that might mean I don't always align myself. You know, let me make it easier to me. The most brutal place isn't cable news. It's social media. Because social media you don't ever get to actually speak your mind and be yourself. It's like performance art and the moment you're categorized as something you have to fit into this or suddenly I didn't know you were this, I leave you now and you know, there's a really beautiful I wish I knew it off the top of my I had Dave Chappelle quote that he gave a couple of months ago where he said, when did the world get this messed up? Where everyone in your house you had to agree with? You only talk to people who who were on the same side of everything, And he said, disagreement, even with the people closest to you, is what makes us great. This is when we lose heart and humor and we stopped getting smarter. And so there are people who are super liberal who don't like what I have to say. Unfortunately for them, they got no other network to go to. You set up that they don't have more to Cole Wallace is on Fox because I just gotta say I love the way she has evolved as a Republican in her way of thought, not that she's a Democrat now I don't think so, but just in her sense, and I feel like that kind of voice needs to be more president. Most people don't label themselves. I'm a Republican, I'm a Democrat. We're all the same. We're all just trying to get I mean, that was her career job. But for most people out there, We're all just trying to live our best lives, get to our highest self, and the more we can focus on that and less on politics. Listen, if you're a single mother in the South Side of Chicago, would you say I identify myself as act or why I didn't know myself is trying to make my God damn rent id. But that's exactly the thing is, though, is that I'm fine with disagreements if the person disagreeing with me them not even I respect if they come with actual facts. Boom, you nailed it now. Okay. Let's from a musical standpoint, Uh, okay, a music fan could give me the pros of why sliding the Family Stones there's a Rye corn On. It's such a monumentous, important moment and funk. But a person like me, it's kind of sad at that record because I feel guilty is celebrating the joy of someone who's Yeah, I feel like it's watching a car accident and and I acknowledge it, you know. But I'm just saying that. I feel that both arguments are based in fact. However, a lot of the political arguments are just more about my sides winning my sides winning, and I don't know. I just feel as though I believe I'm on the side of the truth. Like when I watch Rachel matt Out, I don't feel as though she's trying to, you know, put me on her gin. I don't believe he hasn't show you feel like you're at a college court. And I didn't watch Rachel before I got into political news. I have to be perfectly honest, I don't have a great voting record, and that it wasn't a priority in my life. And now that I see so many of our basic rights in question, I'm filled with guilt over that and even what I thought Rachel was. And then I started watching. It's like watching a masterclass. I don't feel like there's a political agenda and where you're exactly what right. Fox News will look at her and say elitist, homosexual, she's trying to right. But I feel that the basic, the basic gripe and not listening or even taking her words and filtering it because she's not this or she's not that. Well yeah, but you know, because then I just feel that most conservatives might feel that, well, you know, she can't be telling the truth because she's she's a gay against God, and then that, then that goes into it. We need to find a way to see those people and hear those people because people cable news ratings are up, but we have to break through the stereotype so people can actually hear you. And we have to stop attacking the president about his weight or his hair or is it like we don't have to go with all that he gives us. Correct, but we don't need to jump to conclusions about what we believe he's guilty of before we know it, because guess what, right now, at this moment, I'm sure he's given us something. Right, he's going to be somebody who's told I want to say the Washington Post has now added it to eight thousand lies. We can stick to covering those eight thousand lies. And we have to resist the temptation and because guess what, we're all guilty of it. Whenever I get whenever Fox News, you know, at prime time, we'll do a segment at night mocking me. They do that. I don't watch Fox News. You may. Here's the thing, when they do it, usually a little bit of fact in there. I got a little lazy that day, I got over my skis. It was usually on a Thursday or Friday because I didn't do my homework and I'm tired. So we are challenged right now. We must stick stick to the facts because the facts are on our side. But you make an amazing point around freedom of speech, and that we support freedom of speech. But where we're conflicted is if people are just spewing propaganda and lies. That's where we don't want them to But then it's but that that's but that's my next kind of thing, because you say, like we should hear these people. I really think it's some people we just don't need to hear if they're talking that bullshit like we don't want coming. Oh yeah, like that, like when I saw like you don't give her any air. Don't you know what, we don't talk about it exists because we're talking about her. So you know what, let's just put this, Yeah, we need to hear. Huh what do you think? I want to know your opinion on Howard ha ha. I think he's an extraordinary businessman. I think, um, listen, he's an unbelievable success story. I think that coming off the last election and looking at at politics historically, we have a two party system, and the two party system might stink, it might be unfair, but that's what we got. Mike Bloomberg has spent millions of dollars researching what it would look like to run as an independent. He's done the math and he goes it doesn't work. He didn't run last time because he knew that running was only going to help President Trump win Again. The concern for Howard Saltz if he goes to run as an independent, is only going to advance President Trump. And I think it takes a whole lot of hutzpah or brazen nous to think that you can win outside the system. System stinks, but unfortunately you got to figure out how to win in this system. Wait, has he been forgiven outside of Starbucks? Yeah? Yeah, yeah, yeah yeah he did. Common did some commercials and they had some works. You wouldn't take the call. Wait, we can build. That's Microsoftsoft. It's the same thing. It's Common. Yeah. I missed that zero joke though. That was funny. Nothing you missed it. You're gonna have to wait for the Okay, it's too true. Who makes you laugh at MSNBC? That's my question? I want da I'm gonna tell you who makes me laugh to comedian? Right now? Do you guys know who? Sebastian Meniscalco is? Oh, yes, I love you. Don't think he's funny, No, I I don't think so. I mean I like dirty comedians too, but to be a comedian and not go after people and not be dirty, that takes the talent. And I saw this guy for the first time like nine months ago. Jerry Seinfeld had a night was sort of all of his favorite comedians. I urge you look him up on YouTube. I think he is something else. But on MS I gotta tell you, I really love working there, and I really love the people I've worked with. They work so hard, they are so smart, They're just great to be around. I was just wondering if you guys ever really because in our minds where she sent everybody drinks for Christmas, but um, there are moments where I'm going I can't believe Andrew Mitchell knows me right, Like I can't believe that, And just within all where she walks back Andrew minto whenever she says at of it, it was like I can't believe it, right, I mean across the board right and on the day Savannah got three. I mean like I was in England for the Royal wedding and I'm walking down the street with Savannah and Hoda and people are losing their minds when they see Hoda. And the beautiful thing about that is she brings them joy. She's always smiling. She brings them joy, and that is something like, yes, you're bringing people the news and really important stories, but you have a relationship with people at home. I mean my partner ali Velshi, I love I'm Katie tur I love them all, Joe and me can how did you How did you come to have two shows? Or is it just two? Do I say two hours? No? I I have two shows there, um I I came. I came to NBC and I was anchoring up my show on MSNBC and I used to anchor The Today Show on Saturdays. But when your mom and you have three kids, you know, six day work week is someone's got again that. I still feel as though there's rooms for like there's more room at the top for you not to drink anything. But what is higher? Is the Today Show a better lateral move or for me? I can just say whether it's at NBC or anywhere. But I don't have a long term I don't have dreams or long term talk about that's interesting. So I used to and it was, and all it did was give me stress and anxiety, and more than that, it put me in terrible positions that I would have bosses that I did. I would either have terrible bosses that treated me badly or a bad job with a great boss. And I'd say like, well, this is awful, but I just have to I just have to hang tight and then in a year, it's all going to be better. And if you're living your life like that, if you're if you're living your life, if you're in a relationship or a family in a job like this blows so badly right now, but in a year it will be great. Just that, Just then the goalpost. Just keep moving and the like. There's only three things. You have no control of the weather, your health, and time and giving your time to something that you like. No job do you love all the time, working as a grind, waking up early as a grind. But you've got to be doing something that the people you like, or you're getting better, or parts of it are exciting. And if it's not that doesn't work. But as far as like what's my ultimate I didn't even eight years ago. I didn't know I was going to be in television. Two years ago, I had no idea I'd be covering politics. And here I am, you know, going to bed and waking up with Trump tweets. So if we can say I'm gonna try to go to bed happier than I was when I woke up, like, that's it for me. As addiction, right there is it like being a doctor, like right now, if something catastrophic happens, this episode is coming on way later. So you know, if something catastrophic happens in the world of politics or you know, development, um is it you have to rush to stop what you're doing. In me, yes, but absolutely right. And people are trying to game their vacations and this and that. But I'm forty three years old and I have three kids, and in any job that you ever have, in that moment, either that massive deal at work or that massive show or the massive news thing, it feels like everything and then six months later you can't even remember that day. In this time that we're in right now sort of ruined, No, because Donald Trump doesn't get to take my joy. He doesn't get to take my personal life or my family. And when I'm there, I'm gonna give it a hundred percent. And if I can be there at breaking news, I will be. But if I can't called you sometimes and you're like way in Jersey somewhere they're like, uh, let's get Hallie. Sure, yes these things happen, but I can't live my life like, oh my god, I wasn't there and they picked you know, you know there's this idea in TV like she was on maternity leave and when she was out, the girl who filled in was the best, and then her career was not only from more standpoint, I just mean from logistics, where are they send out like a massive text to see which one to ten already know where you are every week every Friday? You have to tell them here's where I am this weekend. Wait, so can I ask is well? I was going to ask if you're planning and having a rendezvous with me? I just mean, like, well, in the case of Brian, who always seems to be there in suiting, like when something happens or breaks, is he like in a holding area just waiting for something? When there is like a big event or like, I mean that's Brian's jam, Like that's what Brian does. I mean, listen, if he's a way, he doesn't do it, but it's like a massive but he always seems to be there when it's breaking news time. But but but he's our breaking newsperson. So you know, if there's an awful, thank God forbid of shooting, you know someone's gonna be there taking us through it. And then probably at the top of the hour once Brian gets there. Brian's a guy who's going to take you through that. Though he had to come in like twelve in afternoon and just wait. The only he probably has a fat contract to be that breaking news guy, like that was a big deal for him to have him in the first place. So yeah, I'm gonna call you because I'm paying you all this guy Well, no, no, I wanted to know if he literally just chills there a twelve hours a day waiting for something to break and it doesn't. Okay, well I'm gonna go home now. I was surprised to see you doing the last day of the Union. I was like, she gotta get up in the morning, and is she gonna waite for us. Do you sleep in the office Sometimes No, But I have to tell you, like, there's some days where I'm like, because sometimes I do Brian Williams show at night, which is at eleven, and if I did have a shower in my offe this it would be better on those nights. Because it's true that you know this from working late. The thing is you know this if you work late. You get home, then you open your door, then you open the refrigerator, then you check the mail, then you turn the TV on and it's two in the morning, as opposed to if you did TV at eleven o'clock at night, walked in your office, went to sleep, you could might be asleep at twelve oh five and I might be up early for work. But on nights like State of the Union, come on now, this is our super Bowl. This is what we do it for. If you can't stay up late one night and wake up early one day, then Laverne and Shirley called, you should be working at the the Bottle Factor. I have a question, um, so he was asking I think ten minutes ago. Essentially, is what's the what could be bigger or whatever or what would you want next? Or more than what you have now career wise, I guess, or show wise or whatever, and m wouldn't it seems like you, Well, I guess My question is, wouldn't the next step you to get into politics rather than you know to. I would never want to run for office. I think it's hard enough on my family that I chose to have a public life in the way that I do. My kids didn't choose this. I chose it. And what people go through who are running office, running for office is so brutal that I just would And I hypothetically all that aside, like where do you have a where do you have a a louder voice or more chance to affect change? Yeah, I think it's pretty good where I am right now. What I wish we could do, and I don't see it done enough, is actually cover thorny cultural issues because what I'm afraid of right now is we're not talking about a lot of hard topics. Well, yes, don't repeat, especially the cable news. It's it's like a fifteen minute, but it's also it's an arrow what we cover. But there's lots of topics that because we're accusing one another of being ignorant or being closed minded, or being stupid. Instead of continuing the conversation, we're getting silent. Me too is a really good example. So for me, covering me too is very complicated. I don't think it's black and white. And when you try, yes, but when you try to dig into that, you get shut down. And what it does is people who aren't necessarily stakeholders in that, like me, I find myself retreating and saying, you know what, I'm just not gonna do. And so like a year a year ago, I was doing actually patao, but in l A, the conference where Amir and I met, and I was doing a town hall about me too. And I tried to bring up the idea of you know, there's a spectrum, and can we talk about forgiveness at all? And and and it was an know and and one woman stood up and she said, absolutely not. I never want for all of the women in the world who have ever suffered from this, for for this, I never want to talk about. I never want to hear from those guys. And so I said, okay, And another woman stood up and said, corporate America was built by the by by a white supremacist patriarchy, and until that's blown up. This conversation is moot. And I'm not saying that that woman is wrong, but what I am saying is that point is also what she's saying is somewhat pointless because right now, corporate America is run by white guys, more guys named John and David than women total. And don't get me started on African Americans. So unless you can find a way to have a constructive conversation, they're gonna go uh huh uh huh, and they're gonna walk out the room. But I think before we bring up forgiveness, which is a point that I see, we never talked about justice and you know, and that's sort of like, Okay, I went months ago when I went to the oscars, uh, you know, for the for people who have committed the most offensive of assault. I mean forgiveness in terms of just cultural forgiveness. We're getting much more mature. We're seeing people in a different way. You're not allowed to grow, like you're not allowed to like when we talk about the whole cancel coach and everything. I mean, the thing about it is just that if you're if you see people, if you commit any kind of transgression, or whatever, and you see that you're never gonna be forgiven, then you have no impetus to change, Like you know what I'm saying. If you see it's like, you know what, y'all ain't gonna fot me no way, So fuck it. I'm gonna keep doing whatever I'm doing, Like there's no there's if you don't ever give that point that person for a person like Russell Simmons, whom I've definitely seen the evolution of right def jam eighties Russell Simmons versus Russell Yoga Russell, then why he hadn't like, go ahead, I'm sorry, but the world has changed from the eighties and the nineties and the early and it's a weird thing that we have to learn. Right. We were talking about this on our group text because we were I mean, I hate to bring it up, but we were talking about a controversial story where a guy is being accused of being inappropriate with women, as in like going on a date and just pulling his speenings out right, and so talking about the levels of okay, yeah, yeah, the levels of how should this guy be, how should he be taken care of? Even though this may have happened twenty years ago, even though you could have walked away, even though you could have laughed and been like, I'm out. Like now women are like, I'm calling for justice is best? But what does that look like? What that look like? Yeah, because I'm like, you could have just like I mean, I remember when A Z's I'm sorry, when his story came out and the woman I'm like, yeah, hey, that sounds like a bad hook up. And I'm not saying she didn't have a bad experience. But last I checked the premise of Sex in the City, which was I don't know, the most successful show of its time, was kind of based on four girls hooken up with rich guys in New York City. I'm broken. And so it's just a complicated thing. And you want to show sympathy and empathy for anyone who feels wronged, but you also have to realize, especially sexual experiences, something could happen between the two of us and when we walk away, what you thought happened to what I thought happened are two different and so no one has clearly articulated with the new rules of engagement and the rules of the road are. And when I say intimacy, I don't mean sex, but intimacy, especially among colleagues, is at least for me, what has helped me, like be successful in my career. Amir and I are friends, right, we're both colleagues at MSNBC or at NBC, but we've never worked together. But when I met him, I connected with him and I cared him. I cared about him as a person. You didn't even know his name, you know what. I was dragging about it, and you hugged him. Now it's like, I get worried about hugging people. But if we get to a place where we can't even show compassion or show any kind of action, is I mean, if you worked in the music industry, if you worked in advert in a creative industry, you have to care about people, Yeah, because you're working with these motherfucker's all the time. Like it's sometimes you might see the people when you see your damn family, you know what I mean? It's yeah, it's yeah, that's will were established, And I think that's the that's the whole thing about right now, in this time with all these raised conversations and all of these conversations me too, conversations like we're re establishing ourselves and the rules, and we're also acknowledging of what we didn't know. Yeah, and I think you have to give people the space for that, like because it's like even with the whole with the whole black thing, Like when they're going through these white college rude books and finding all these white ship it's like, dude, I mean again, for me, it's different as a Southerner because I went to these schools. I knew all them good old boys, like they was listening to Wutang, but they had got THEMN Confederate flags on the It's done some form of fashion because not for nothing, that's that's the eighties, Not for nothing. Open a book, like, I'm tired of white people have an excuses for not knowing black for culture that like this is a part of black face, was a part of American but it wasn't. I mean, but you gotta think though it's a thing like a society. To me, society's nothing more than just a contract, right, It's just a contract, and like it's an ever evolving, ever renegotiate aidable contract. So one day it's like, Okay, this was cool, but then all of a sudden you wake up and it's like, no, this ain't cool no more. I just know that people don't be a few offending Jewish people as much like they know the rules. People know the rules about certain cultures, they will not what did you do? What? This happens much faster for other us. We got to be understanding. You got to understand that they don't know. And I'm not saying understand the people don't want it. There are tons of things that I'm not sure why you shouldn't do it, and this is an opportunity to explain it and find out why. I've had to explain to many people about menstrualsy and and that sort of and people that just didn't know about the history. They knew that it was wrong, but they didn't know why. And sometimes I feel like, you know, with some fight wife pos they can know why, but they're like, well that no, so I want the big deal, I'm gona just do it, don't. But that's because I think a lot of white people, when you say white privilege, they're like, what do you mean white privilege? I don't have it so easy because we take for granted what we don't realize because they're saying, how could you say, because the idea of white privilege. I don't have a privileged life. I'm struggling. But when you actually put it into content to stand out, cidebric it right, It's true. I was. I was recently. I was upstate skiing and there was a woman there talking and she goes, you know, people talk about white privilege all the time. I mean, I don't think it exists. And I said, have you looked at this mountain? Do you see any black people that ain't serving you? It's sovilege. You don't even know when we're missing. But because the idea, because for some people, they think that they conflate, they conflate white privilege with white supremacy, and they're not the same saying they're not, but those two things get conflated. Interesting. It just like to say, it's not saying that it's easy to be white. I'm not saying that just because you're white you're gonna have an easy life. That's not you. Yeah, but you easier, but you ain't gonna know it, so it's still gonna feel hard. But but if you had to walk a day and my ship, you would jump off a bridge. You ever see the Michael lad I was Bridges. Oh, yeah, that's the great I watched that ship in a hundred times. So Todd Bridges nine year old time. Yeah, he's he's talking to Michael Landon. He said, he asked some question from from from Little House on he was like nine years old. He asked, Michael Landon, would you rather be what was it? Would you rather be black and live do a hundred or be white and diet fifty? And then all of a sudden, Michael Landon the panning envy John Williams jaws like music and Michael Landon's depends a look of pain on his face and the look of defeat on his face when he realizes, yeah, I'd still be I'd rather diet fifty white like just walk away. And for the record, Michael Landon died at the age of fifty four. Wow, what was the rest of the joke? Who lived to be? No? No, no, he just walked away. Basically, Michael Landing was basically saying, yes, I'd rather I'd still be white, just like when Chris Rock said none of you would trade places with me and I'm rich. Yeah right, I mean the shot. I don't want to defend anything unpopular right now. But the show is Little House on the Prairie, which is based in the seemed to be the loan liberal. You always did the right thing, though, you know, I have a question. Um, so I hinted that the fact that I went to school for working in the news, working in television news earlier. Um, what's what made me switch directions? Um? Happened in my senior year, a little event that you might have heard of, heard of called eleven UM that morning. Um, you know, I atually had to work first, go to work first, and then I had to go to class Ball State University in Muns, Indiana, and UM, and basically like the whole department, like we just all came together and it was it was it was the class was the coverage of the news. And I'm just watching all this stuff and I'm realizing, like if I go into this for the you know, as a career. You know, I've seen the Bud Dwyer suicide video in class, you know they damn yeah, they showed it in class Philly. Yeah. Budwyer, he was he was like some he was caught up in some skame. Was a corrupt UH councilman who strategically called a press conference in a Philadelphia judicial room. Um, but he did it in from the judges position where there's like a protective barrier and then he pulls out a gun and then he uh killed himself live on television. We all saw it. So it was it was you know, your your journalism ethics classes and all that, and you know, yeah, I mean because if I'm working in news, I'm gonna so you know, with watching nine eleven happen and you know, I'm realizing that I don't have time to process this as a human being. I have to get ready to get something on air. You know, this is you know, have you ever had a situation where you were your emotions were your emotions were kind of running really high and you weren't sure. Yeah, I mean, first of all, uh, it's it would be odd to find a day when I don't cry a little bit on TV, because I definitely do. Um. I did actually last summer and it wasn't a great night for me when we were in McAllen, Texas at the border. It was sort of when there was first news coverage of what was going on with child separation, and it's very rare for Rachel Matt out to cry, and I was going on right after Rachel, and it was in the last moments of her shows when she found out that there were what's called tender age detention centers for children who are separated, who are who are under the age of three, and Rachel was on talk about it and she started crying on air, and then when Rachel handed off to me, I was really crying on air, and I sort of looked at the camera because, um, Ivanka, first Starter Avanka Trump and first Lady Milannia Trump always say, you know, Milannia's whole thing is you know, she's a devoted mother, and Ivanka always says, I stand for the advancement of women and girls. And the thing is, when you have the privilege of saying I stand for something, that means you stood in the face of adversity, you stood up for something. And so I was so devastated by this idea of babies being taken from their mothers. I was really I was almost couldn't even understand what I was saying. I was crying so hard on air, and some people after we're like, oh, that was real emotion, and that was raw, and that was great, but it really wasn't. And after the president of NBC his name is Andy Lack, who I worked for it at Bloomberg too, gave me graded ice and he said, you can be real and you can be emotional on television, but it is your job to deliver this information. And the example he gave he said, if if someone died and you, and and and and two of us perform eulogies the same script and I did it hyperventilating and crying with no control of my emotions, you'd walk away and be like, oh my god, Stephanie was devastated, and you choose crushed. If you gave the same eulogy, the same words, but you were controlled, you could be emotional, but controlled and knew that it was your job to deliver that message. People would forever remember that message. So I think, to me, as a viewer or somebody who's in it, actually, the best you can be is your real self. But you're not your real self sitting on a couch crying and screaming and wailing. You've got to be sort of the boss of the table and saying I'm here to deliver this to you in the best way I can but something I think, and cable news has given us the opportunity to do it, unlike what sort of traditional network news is a we have more time, but be it's edgier and we can be ourselves and I don't mean like our opinionated selves, but our real selves. And I can see a difference of people who sort of grew up, you know in a very traditional journalistic uh kind of network news place where like never give yourself, never give emotion. I would not have I would would not have gone into this business if I couldn't be my at first all. I went into it too late. I was thirty six years old, Like it was too late for me to be anything but me um. And I think people want that. People like they don't want you to just give here as the information you could get the information from the internet. You can try to give it in the best way you can. We had to do radio on that day. It was hard, Leven, I had to on radio at six pm that night. Not easy, but it was. But but you also feel like you're doing the service to your phones because you're given him the information that they need. And so the more you get in your head about that and getting your folks to information unless you get into the feelings part. Covering shootings is horrible. Covering Parkland is horrible. Covering the Remember that shooting in Texas last year that was in a church in Sutherland Springs, Texas, a tiny little Baptist church, and a guy walked in and he shot everybody, you know, and they were facing the altar. So he shot him. No, no, shot him from behind. Those are horrible to cover. I couldn't do it. So I had to, like literally really really like it was my senior year, like like I had to. I had to finish out the major but like nine eleven's like I don't think I can do this because I just needed to process what had just happened, you know, like there's no way that like I wasn't trying to be an on air person, you know, I was either going to be behind behind the camera or an editing room somewhere. Editing room definitely would have been a problem because you getting all the unedited footage, You're seeing everything that's not going to you know, not going to make it the air. So I just, you know, I had to do some serious soul search and like I can't do this here I think things have changed. I'm not doing like you know what. But I also even think the shows that I love to watch or listen to, I don't think you have traditional roles. I don't think it's like you're the anchor, you're the I mean they're more everybody involved is putting all the best ingredients they can think of in the pot, and hopefully everyone will rise with it. Right Like, I think people were more famous, Like I think people on television ten years ago were more famous now. I think great content makes people famous because there used to only be a few platforms. Right Like when we were growing up. You can watch the Today Show, you can watch Good Morning American. You know what I mean? That was it. Now there are so many outlets. I think great things find their way overwhelming. Who's your professor? Stow? Yeah, just passed away last month. Fun fact January. Fun fact when that bud dwire thing happened. Uh, that was the day that Prince premiered kiss on Parent. So I literally whenever I hear that intro, you think, I always think a bud dwire. I'm sorry like that that? Yeah, that that that image was kind of no, no, no, it was. It happened coincidentally at the same time, like my parents. My parents and family were screaming, do not google Bud Dwyer. Don't do that to yourself. I don't know. Maybe now you should should have. Don't know I was doing it. I wonder if it is on YouTube. It is. Okay, So look, Stephanie, we're about to wrap up right now because I know you have to get up at zero o'clock in the morning. So technically only got one question now, so I don't even get to where did you where are you born? And all your childs or whatever? Well, yeah, I mean I asked, but anyway, university am Yeah. So my second question, what was the first record you ever purchased? The first record I can remember so vivisibly as a child. No, no, I'm gonna tell you. Okay, So the first record I can like when I close my eyes is the double soundtrack from Grease, the movie being a little girl staring at the green record with all of the photographs. What part one? Right, I'm just making sure Grease one. Yeah, don't get me wrong, like Grease to nobody wants to admit that it's but you know we're going to score. So okay, I'll tonight, we're gonna we're gonna go, We're gonna school. And so no, not like right there, you were going to dump on Grease Tels when all the words it's true, it's just you know that it was the Grease double album. I can so vividly remember white. Yeah, did that just happened? You see? I know good ships. Greece is universal. Here's the thing about Greece. It's far dirtier than you remember. Because I have little kids. And then I'm like, I'm sorry, what the chicks? So who what? Like, yes, I gotta watch it again? Keep from KNNICKI yes, because like my daughter's five people and I'm like, oh, come on, let's watch the dancing. And I'm like, wow, Chota deep Gregorio, you never try watching to the future post me topare the president to b from back to the All right, what was your first concert material? Girl Madonna? Not a bad one where the Beastie Boys the opener, I don't think, so okay, okay, And I went to a meat Loaf show at a community college. Really yeah, somebody's parents took us, you know when I when I was seven years old, Uh, I played meat Loaf in a pinball game. Uh in Albany, New York. This is back in the day when um rock stars would normally stay at airport. What are you laughing at, era, What do you mean you played him in a pinball game? Okay, you know what? Yeah, because it's hard to play. Okay, I thought I thought it was some sort of Okay, let me explain to you. Hotels. She thought you, like, were in a play and your your role was meat looks for all. So you were playing it was vert. He was your opponent. Thank you. Okay, back the most shared in the holiday ends. They used to have something called game rooms and every arcade game. Yeah, hotels used to have fully stocked arcades inside of to keep kids occupied. Now it's just like pay per view on your your but kids used to have something to either go swimming or you go to game room. So your parents give you five bucks and then that buys you depending on if you memorize all the patterns or impact. Man, you know, that could buy you good three hours in the game room. And you know your parents could do whatever. Um My my dad did like two weeks in Albany, New York. And that's back when now rock stars stayed in the best five star hotels and the glamour and all that stuff. But back in the day, you can always find a rock at at whatever the nearest airport hotel was. So usually the holiday In airport or the Sheridan Airport. So we happen to be appearing there, my parents having to be appearing there and back in like seventy nine, Uh in Albany, New York, and I didn't know who meat Lof was, just new fat guy always playing um, I forget the name of I think No, it wasn't Flash Court that anyway, we became pals, uh playing pinball games in the game room, and I later found out, Yeah, I was. I didn't even hear that story. I would do anything anyway that I loved him. Zero, what was your first concert? Wingo Tango by Kiss FM? What the hell's Wingo Tango? It's like, you know, jingle Ball? Yeah, Kiss FM and l A does a like a summertime one at the Rose Ball who performed She's Gonna make us feel Zoh what nothing? Go ahead? Zero's of age. She just sounds fourteen. I can't remember, but I think it was like the Backstreet Boys. Oh I remember Kelly Osborne saying it was doing the Osbourne when the Osbornes were on and Jarrol and Ashanti tango. You gotta have a little bit everything, like jingle Ball was the first record bought. Osborne had a song. Yeah, it was really little cover Papa Don't Preach. It was her first single. Jam I loved it. Yeah, what was your first record? It was that Kelly No No, probably Raffie. Yeah, like, how do you know? I was a key at one point to record's cultural My parents didn't buy the raff here, but my friend Evans from Dynasty. You know what. No, I think Yanni did the one word, okay, rafi Yanni. I thought they were Anyway, I appreciate this. This is a very generous interview. We we enjoyed talking to you. Episode Stephanie. Can't just tell you. It was one episode already told Artis, but it knocked me off my feet. This guy was talking, he was on the Conservative and he came at Belgi for no reason. He said, um, and where are you from? It was totally racial, and your ass jumped to his defense so quick that I thought you was going to jump through that screen. And I just want to tell you ever since that day, I have f a spirit. Thank you. Why are you asking where he is from? He was trying to say that it was okay that Roy Moore down in Alabama went after underage girls because he looked at Ali and he said, well, you're from a far off land, trying to make some sort of thinly veiled Muslim race like so that guy could take a hike. You got pissed. It was great, Okay, I just let her speak to Yes, you got she got this. But I think about that, think about in Alabama that guy almost got elected. And listen, there was Charles Barkley the night before I went down to Atlanta and said, I mean Atlanta, Alabama and said we have to be better than this. And he got out the vote and made a difference. Barkley. I remember twenty years ago, Charles Barkley was a guy saying, I don't want to be an idol. I don't know, I don't want to be a role model for your kids. Volution which guess what everybody and everybody can Well, I don't say everybody before a lot of people can before I let you go. Everybody has a potential to potential, yeah, before it's just no, because she can come back, and you know we have a beat for years. Would you do a drunker episode? Well for year in episode we just have alcohol. Actually, wait a minute, we get when the drink has been porn. No, I think we need to do a drunken episode with Rachel. Oh, Rachel and Stephanie. That would be salved alright, because Rachel's starting to speak to me in elevators now. I've been hearing about how good she is at pouring drinks. I just, you know, want to find out for myself she is. She's very good at It's Rachel's single, she's still married. She she is not single. Okay, she's still been nice. They've been met together for a long time. It's great. All right, Well, Stephanie, we thank you for coming on nan and nine am and one p m. Since she's at right now this, could you say that one more time because you got interrupted nine am Monday to Friday, one pm Monday, what network, M, S, N b C. Thank you very much. Hey. By the way, I know our audience can't see this, but these tates cookies have they been here since they've been here the entire time that it was a courtesy of this Sugar Network. Thanks Networks, noll O, Baby, Bill, Zara, Uh Sugar, Steve with a Sugar Network eight. It's Lya and Fonticolo and Stephanie will Ques Love signing off only on Pandura. We will see you on the next ground. Thank you. What's Love Supreme. It's a production of My Heart Radio. This classic episode was produced by the team at Pandora. For more podcasts for my Heart Radio, visit the I Heart Radio app, Apple podcast, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.