Gov’t Shutdown, Bad Bunny Rage, & Hoa-Hoa Szn [BROWN TABLE]

Hey BA Fam! It’s been a minute, but Mandi, Yanely, and Chris are back at the table with a rich, reflective conversation on life, culture, and community. This week’s episode dives into how our identities, skills, and values shape the way we move through an ever-changing world.

In This Episode, You’ll Learn:

• Cultural Identity & Authenticity — Why staying true to yourself matters, and how artists like Bad Bunny are redefining representation.

• Career & Soft Skills — The rising importance of adaptability, emotional intelligence, and networking in today’s job market.

• Economic Realities — How inflation and job market shifts are impacting mental health and career choices.

•  Mental Health & Creativity — The challenges creatives face in uncertain times and how community support makes all the difference.

•  Parenting & Politics — How to talk to kids about complex political and social issues with care and clarity.

• Community & Connection — Listener shoutouts, book recommendations, and personal stories that remind us we’re all growing together.

• Travel & Perspective — How exploring new cultures deepens empathy and reinforces the power of connection.

This episode blends cultural commentary with practical advice and heartfelt storytelling — the perfect mix of real talk and inspiration. Whether you’re navigating career transitions, reflecting on your identity, or just need a reminder of the power of community, this one’s for you.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:05):
Hey, hey, ba fan, welcome back to the show.

Speaker 2 (00:08):
It's been a long time coming.

Speaker 1 (00:10):
I watched way too much K pop demon Hunters and
now all they want to do is thing. It's been
a long time coming, but we're back with another Brown Table.
Welcome back, Chris and yon Nelly. It's been too long.
I missed y'all. I've got a busy busy You've been busy.

Speaker 3 (00:27):
Yes, seriously, did y'all both well?

Speaker 2 (00:30):
Tell me what's going on?

Speaker 1 (00:31):
I mean, obviously, an Nellie, you are in like are
you just still in like the ecstasy of learning that
the man is going to be Super Bowl legendary performer
this year.

Speaker 3 (00:43):
I have the mandatory concert merch on to you know,
pre celebrations. But yes, it's it's it is happening, and
I'm so excited. Now this is the third time I'm
going to get to experience how I saw him in person.
So I'm with the Amazon thing and now I get
to see him again at the Super Bowl.

Speaker 2 (01:01):
I'm not really good game.

Speaker 3 (01:03):
No, I'm not even gonna watch a game. I'm just
gonna watch a concert. Like I don't care about the sport.
I care about Benito. But no, I'm so excited, especially
because he just is Saturday Night Live over the weekend.
It was so good, so good. Did you see Mandy
the sketch on the K Pop Girls the Hunter.

Speaker 1 (01:20):
K Yeah, that's the thing I saw so far.

Speaker 3 (01:24):
Oh my god, there's so many good ones. There were
a couple that were kind of corny and some that
were so niche that you won't get it unless you
grew up in a Latino household. But I thought that
they did a good job.

Speaker 1 (01:35):
But isn't that I think Bad Bunny is like such
a good example of how just be exactly as niche
and like exclusionary as your personality is, like as specific
as you can be, and how I don't know what
is it about it that, like I don't know half
the stuff that he says in his music, maybe more
than half, but like I still love and adore him,
and I bet I watched that sketch and crack up.

(01:57):
But there's just something about someone who's being so authentic
that is so electrifying and just makes you like love them.

Speaker 3 (02:05):
Yeah, And it's it's cross cultural because even though the
cultural references might be niche and specific, there's everybody's culture
has those things, So you could imagine like what it
is for your people, even if it's not exactly what
he's doing or saying, so it's it's relatable. Even if
you don't necessarily get it get it, you still get it,
you know. I think people really just love that. And
everybody wants that for him for themselves. Everybody wants to

(02:27):
be able to just be their full authentic self and
not have to turn on and off or tune it
up or down, like just be you. And so the
fact that he gets to do it and gets to
be celebrated and just success after success comes to him,
it's like, damn, it just feels so damn good. Yeah.

Speaker 4 (02:41):
Yeah, And I mean that's the thing, like you don't
have to experience someone an exact like life and how
they grew up to appreciate it or to find the
humor in it. I mean, that was the best part
about growing up for me. Like all my friends get
from different backgrounds, different homes, families, some families or immigrants,
some grew up here for generations, and you just learn
what they what they air, family does, how they party,
how they eat, the things they do, the jokes they have,

(03:03):
and that's just part of it. To me. That's part
about being an American is getting to meet all these different
people with different cultures, and you incorporate things, you learn,
you join and be a part of it, and that's
what makes it great. He's getting to do those things,
and I don't know, I appreciate it. I mean, that's that's.

Speaker 1 (03:18):
It's kind of giving lib tard energy, which recent reviewer
of the podcast just said, this is podcast run by
a bunch of libtards. Oh oh, Chris, you're not helping
me out.

Speaker 4 (03:29):
I'm so sorry. I lost my saying it there.

Speaker 3 (03:32):
For that person who wrote that comment, they might not
know that what Chris was referring to as being proud
to be Americans includes bad Bunny, he is American. Puerto
Ricans are American. Okay, if that makes me a libtard
to have to announce that for you, who probably doesn't
know it and left that stupid comment, it's just for you, Okay.

Speaker 1 (03:48):
There's something so juicy and scrumptious about how pissed off
so much of America is by this man getting the gig.

Speaker 4 (03:57):
Yeah, no sense. Post of all the people who performed
in the Super Bowl, there's been so many people who
performed the super Bowl who are not American at all,
and no one said anything, And it's like, now you
have someone who actually is and it's like, what do
you have to complain about? Just go too the music
and enjoy It'll be quiet.

Speaker 3 (04:14):
Yep yep. Well, you know, we're in the middle of
trying to try our hardest to get rid of so
many people who look and sound just like him. So
I think that it just it brought to people the
wrong way for that reason. It doesn't make sense in
their mind. It's like an oxymoron. How can we be
getting rid of them and then celebrating them on the
main stage at our biggest sport, Like what? It doesn't
make sense? And so I think that that's why people

(04:34):
got rubbed the wrong way. They're genuinely confused and conflicted.
But that sounds like a personal problem to me. I'm
gonna be eating my pitos and dancing, drinking goquito and
singing lyric after lyric of bad Bunny songs every single
song in the performance. And I hope he doesn't speak
a lit of English.

Speaker 2 (04:49):
I don't think he will.

Speaker 1 (04:50):
He had a little tiny part in the Shakira j
Lo performance on Themver forget he had that aluminum foil
outfit and like a healthy.

Speaker 2 (04:58):
Rag bad bunny.

Speaker 1 (05:00):
Isn't that so the American story right now? Like the
polar sides of what's happening, Like we have bad Bunny
at the super Bowl, and then we have still ice raids,
Like have you all heard about what's.

Speaker 2 (05:10):
Going on in Chicago right now?

Speaker 3 (05:12):
It's terrible. I mean, I have two nieces and nephews
who I saw over the weekend when I went to
celebrate my brother's birthday in New York, and I said
to them, like I said, you're growing up in a
time where you're actually witnessing that it's more of these
divided states of America than it is united And if
you're really confused about it, you're not alone. And like
I wanted to just encourage them to start just to

(05:34):
talk more about it, ask questions, because like I just
cannot imagine being ten eleven years old at a time
like this, Like I just I'm like, dang, when I
was a preteen teenager, like that's when I started to
see a shift. And obviously when I was at eighteen
and I got to vote in my first election, it
was me voting for Obama and eight, Like, I just
have such a different recollection of being a young like

(05:54):
coming of age in America, and now to see it
feel like we're kind of going backwards in some ways.
I just like felt so much pain for them. I
wanted them to be like, it's okay if you feel
confused or if you see things that don't quite make sense,
like let's talk about it. But yeah, just I don't
know how y'all do it with these kids. Y'all mommies
and daddy's like, it's half as hard to have some
of those conversations. It really is.

Speaker 2 (06:14):
I think you got to know your kids.

Speaker 1 (06:16):
And like my five year old, I've realized I can
challenge him with some difficult what my what I perceive
is like difficult concepts, Like I explained to him why
we don't shop a Target anymore, and why we do
shop some places but not others. And I even he
loves Tesla's and he loves that that ugly cyber truck

(06:37):
for him, it looks like the coolest like a toy.
Yeah right, And he's like, but I love cyber trucks.
And I was like explaining, why you know, Elon Musk
because he even knows Elon Musk like by name, and
you know, explaining in some of the bad things that
Elon Musk has done, and he's like, I love it
because I think people are afraid of confusing or stressing

(06:57):
them out. But I can see him like realizing it's
okay to like this thing, but to understand, like to
think critically about like who's behind it, and like they
can do some you know, bad things and we cannot
support that, but we can like this thing and do
y'all remember, like I feel like the big when I
like arrived at my political consciousness, I was about thirteen.

(07:21):
It was during the Bush Gore election of two thousand,
because it was like the thing, you know, of course,
like I'm in US history class and like the teachers
talking about it, and then I just remember my parents
never really talking about it other than well and my
comform my republic My mom's side the family is very Republican,
so it was just like, well, Bush is the winner,

(07:42):
and that's that. There was no there was no we
weren't like I wasn't one of those families that would
like have conversations about it, as if there was choices
and decisions.

Speaker 2 (07:53):
To be made about it.

Speaker 1 (07:54):
It was just like, well that's what we do, you know,
And I feel like, at least in this house now,
I want in my family now, I want to have
I want to like have those kinds of conversations and teach.
It just took me way too long to learn how
to like think critically about what I was being fed
by my own, you know, family. But I think today's

(08:15):
teenagers are built different different, oh for sure.

Speaker 3 (08:17):
I mean they have social media at their fingertips and
we didn't have that.

Speaker 2 (08:20):
Like I I grew up.

Speaker 3 (08:21):
In a home that was not political at all, Like
my parents didn't really they didn't have the privilege to
participate until much later when my mom actually became a citizen.
And my dad, even though he had the right to vote,
he didn't really exercise it. So we never talked about
politics at all. It wasn't even a conversation. Like when
there was a presidential election. Sometimes, like for homework, I
would have to watch the debate and like answer questions

(08:42):
about it, and my dad would get annoyed at me
because I would make him change the channel when he
was watching only Viso on Telemundo and like, and I
would have to be like that I have to watch
it like that have to watch the election because I
have to answer questions that he would get annoyed. So
it wasn't the kind of thing that I was. It
was top of mind to me until I like graduated
high school. Once I went off college, then I started
thinking about it on my own. But I feel like

(09:03):
that's not really the case for so many American families. Now.
It's not like you can choose you're talking about it
because it's everywhere, and a lot of these teenagers and
even preteens, Like my niece is eleven, she about to
be twelves. She's uses TikTok better than me, and she
knows what's going on. She's very, very aware. So it's like,
even if you're not talking to them about it, trust

(09:23):
they are still being exposed to it.

Speaker 1 (09:25):
Rio managed to post a TikTok on my account yesterday, y'all.
It's never been on TikTok before other than watching it.
He thought it was the most hilarious thing ever.

Speaker 4 (09:38):
What was the video? What did you post?

Speaker 1 (09:40):
It was just somehow He had a song behind it too.
It was just him and I thought we were read
We were reading books together and he caught me slipping when
I went to the bathroom. When I come back, and
you know, he's posted this thing and it's just him
staring at the screen giggling.

Speaker 2 (09:53):
That's all it is.

Speaker 3 (09:54):
That's all it is. Figured it out, you see what
I'm saying. They figure it out. They know how to
use these. It's it's a different, I think experience around
you know, media is it's so different because it's a
media's instance right on their hand. It's in their hands.
Like we had a harder time accessing media. And of
course I feel like, at least back then it was
a little bit less biased. Like I feel like, no

(10:17):
matter what source you get your news from, it's heavily biased. Nowadays,
it's really hard for me to find on biased sources
of news information. And so I yeah, anybody kind of.

Speaker 1 (10:26):
Like anybody can go on the internet. It's the most
democratic thing we have.

Speaker 3 (10:31):
Now, I have a mic. Why do I have a mike?
I got them they give me a mic, so clearly clearly.

Speaker 1 (10:36):
Oh well, I don't think it's I think it's more
important than ever for people like us to be on
the MIC.

Speaker 2 (10:41):
I need it more than ever actually.

Speaker 1 (10:42):
Because as of like five six days ago when the
government shut down. Mama is the sole income earner of
this household because my husband he has been going to
work with no pay ever since the shutdown. We've been
here before, because in twenty nineteen, I remember that was
like a well, we had no kids then, so that

(11:03):
wasn't as stressful. But in the fall of twenty nineteen,
there was another shutdown that was the longest one. I
think it was like thirty days or something.

Speaker 3 (11:10):
Yeah, thirty five maybe, so, because.

Speaker 1 (11:13):
He works in public safety for the Department of Justice, yeah,
he has to. Still he still goes to work business
as usual with no pay.

Speaker 3 (11:21):
So yeah, it's so hard. I mean, at least you
know that he'll be back paid at some point. It's
just it's just an uncomfortable happened though.

Speaker 2 (11:33):
Confidence in that I don't, I genuinely don't.

Speaker 1 (11:36):
I mean I have, you know, I keep hearing the
I think the Democrats they're very like on the same
message about why you know, they refuse to pass the
continuing resolution like that would fund, you know, patch the government.
I feel like the budget that we have in America
has is literally just a series of patches.

Speaker 2 (11:56):
It's just like get us.

Speaker 1 (11:58):
Through to the next six months, the next what ever
get us through this?

Speaker 2 (12:01):
That's all it is.

Speaker 3 (12:03):
Are you American?

Speaker 1 (12:05):
It's like kicking the can down the road, but this patch,
you know, at least the way it is now, Democrats
have been really focusing on healthcare as a central issue.
You know, millions of people their premiums if you use Obamacare,
they expire at the end of this year. And that's
been like the hill that Democrats are you know, I

(12:26):
don't know, Okay, they're not going to die on this
hill literally, but like they are putting their eggs in
this one basket of like the America will understand because
it's about health care and these benefits. Does that resonate
with y'all? Does that move?

Speaker 3 (12:43):
I mean, it doesn't. It doesn't. It doesn't. It doesn't.
Like I feel like if it's if we think back
to what was the number one thing that pushed people
towards supporting an administration like the one that we have
right now, it was a lot of people talking about
yet like the economy and the economic situation that they
find themselves in. And unfortunately, I don't feel like a

(13:05):
lot of people understand what a huge part of your
economic situation healthcare costs are because it doesn't really kick
in until it kicks in or until you need it,
or until you know you get that fat medical bill.
And so because it's not an everyday thing like the groceries,
like housing, you know, those things that are immediate in

(13:27):
every single day and top of mind for families that
cause the most stress. Healthcare, unfortunately, is just not one
of those big three or four things. And so I
don't know if it's landing. It's hard for me to
say because I'm one of those privileged people who's covered
by insurance through the work, not my work, but my
partner's work, and so it's hard. But I completely understand
why it matters, and I'm like touting it and reposting

(13:49):
the articles and saying, this is huge. Imagine if your
medical cost goal one day from four hundred dollars a
month to eight hundred and fifty dollars a month, Like,
think about that. That's insane. And for this to happen
to tens of millions of people overnight. We can prevent it.
But I from just what I'm seeing and hearing around me,
I just feel like it's not hitting people, it's not
gutting people the way I think it should for them

(14:10):
to actually be able to be like, oh, this is
why the Democrats are making you know this stand.

Speaker 4 (14:15):
Yeah, it's one of those things where you see things
like gas prices and egg prices get people up in
arms because it's very visible. Right, gas stations are on
every corner you go in the grocery store, you're going
to see the egg prices and it's like in your face.
But things like this are so kind of like abstract
because like, it won't happen immediately, right, It'll be like
when you renew for the next year, and it's kind
of like out in the distance and you don't think

(14:35):
about how it could change because you don't know exactly
how it's going to change until it happens. And it's
one of those things where it's like it's sometimes it
is hard to get people to care about things that
you they're a little difficult to understand and grasp. But
it's one of those things where you will understand it
and once it hits you and now you're dealing with
these higher prices.

Speaker 3 (14:54):
Yeah, or you won't understand it because let's be real,
it's designed in a way to confuse the shit out
of us. It's like, oh, you got premiums, you got deductibles,
you got out of pocket, Max, you got I mean,
just the fact of healthcare in and of itself being
so complex, overly complex for no freaking reason, is one
big reason why it's just very nebulous. It just becomes
this giant question mark in people's heads of Like, first
of all, I don't really understand healthcare, and so now

(15:15):
you're trying to tell me that healthcare should be the
main concern when it's something that is a giant question
mark in my mind, it's like doubly offense, Like it's
a double offense. So I personally just thinks it's really
a tough situation that we're in right now. I'm hopeful
that things will work, but it's hard to say. I mean,
I'm seeing so many people not get it. You know.
Like I went into my family chat the other day

(15:36):
and I was like, guys, like, you know, if you're
confused at all about this, I just wanted to share
this quick post. I shared a short article and my
take on it, and then I said, there's two people
in my immediate family, my younger brother who's in the
Air Force, and my other younger brother who's in the army,
who are both going to have to show up every
day business as usual and not get paid until this
is lifted. And if we need to like create a
family collection or something like that, like I'm happy to

(15:56):
organize it. I don't know these boys situations. They're in
their twenties, they probably don't got no damn money and
they still have to keep paying you know, their their bills.
So I was like, hey, like we should pay attention
to this. Crickets y'all crickets in the group chat. So
I don't know what's up. Like it feels like people
are just not connecting to what's happening right now.

Speaker 1 (16:16):
Maybe they just there's so much to be outraged about
that the result is like that sense of analysis paralysis,
or like I can understand how I can feel like
should I be outraged and put my funds through you know,
to that or like through this. And I think a
lot of people are just in survival mode, you know.

(16:39):
I wish there was something in this freakin budget that
I wish. I wish what I heard was like Democrats were,
you know, not going to vote this through until there's
you know, some sort of relief for the long term unemployed,
because I'm honestly, I'm terrified for the number of workers
that are out here who have been looking for work

(16:59):
for months and not being able to find it. And
what terrifies me more is, you know, and I understand
my data is very skewed. The vast majority of the
people who I talk to, you know, in my work
are women of color, but so many of them are
doing everything right and still unable to find full time work.

(17:22):
And the data is starting to back this up now,
so they consider the BLS considers Labor Department rather just
they consider long term employment to be anything past six months,
and right now there's a surge in the long term unemployed.
It's the highest level it's been since twenty twenty one.
And we can't even really get the real up to

(17:44):
date numbers on the number of jobs that are being
created or not created because of this freakin shutdown, which
has resulted in the Department of Labor like not being
able to release the monthly Jobs Report, which you know,
it's a huge economic indicator. It's what the FED uses
to decide. It's one of the biggest, you know, data

(18:04):
points the FED uses to decide what's going to happen
to rates.

Speaker 2 (18:09):
But yeah, I just I'm.

Speaker 1 (18:11):
Really freaking worried, and I think this, I think we're
in a situation. It just reminds me of like COVID
almost where the financial strain is so widespread and the
challengers are so widespread, Like, can we get some relief
for people? Can we extend can we get like extensions
for unemployment benefits for people who don't have health insurance?

(18:32):
You know, like, can we get some sort of relief
because it's hard as hell out here right now?

Speaker 3 (18:39):
Girl? I know people personally. I have two black male
friends unemployed since earlier this year, one black woman friend
who's been unemployed since the beginning of the summer, Latino
and an Asian woman, all very close near to your people,
either family or friends. And I mean it's talk about

(19:00):
like January of this year finding out that your position
is no longer a thing, and it's about to be.
It's oct toal, We're about to be November, holidays are
coming up, it's January again real soon, And I mean
being without a job for an entire year, even when
you do everything right. According to personal financial literacy experts,
who tell you to have three to six months nine

(19:22):
months of university savings fund even doing all of that,
which let's be real, most people don't have the opportunity
to have six to nine months set aside. But let's
say you do. Let's say you're the small percentage people
that did. It's still not enough because now you're going
into eleven month, twelve months, thirteen months of unemployment and
that emergency savings is gone, and you and like, what
are we doing? What are we We're not really talking

(19:43):
about it. So I feel like your point, Mandy is
spot on, because this is a point in time where
I feel like the most people that I could list
off the top of my head that this is directly affecting,
which means the statistics are starting to back it up.
It's very rare that I would, you know, personally touch
and connect with people. So many people being affected and
very different you know, walks of life, different locations, different
all being affected in that way. So I completely wholeheartedly

(20:07):
second at.

Speaker 2 (20:08):
Thanks for sharing that.

Speaker 1 (20:09):
I'm running out of things to say, Like all the advice,
all the strategies, they just are meaningless when companies are
simply not hiring and the jobs are simply not there,
you know, even jobs that are there, they all feel
like ghost jobs. You know, people sending in dozens of
applications and all that and not not hearing anything back.
I think I've worked with two women now for twelve weeks,

(20:31):
one on one, incredibly like talented, currently employed, looking for
new work, and nothing has panned out. I think, you know,
over that twelve week so and that's for something. Those
were for people who are like currently working. It's just
I don't have any there's no like simple answers.

Speaker 3 (20:49):
Yeah, And even situations where like I know one person
who got a job offer and it was a kind
of medical devices company or something like that, and then
was offered verbally and everything like that was like okay, cool.
The next week nothing happened, but like, oh, we're going
to reach back out to you to get all the paperwork.
Another week. So they go reaching back out to the

(21:09):
person the recruiter like, hey, like they told me, I
got it, they gave me a salary and everything they
told me, and then having heard from them, it's been seven, eight, nine, ten, twelve,
fourteen days and come to find out eventually they contact
back and say, oh, you know unfortunately the position is
just like on pause right now, Like what I imagine,

(21:29):
I just can't after being unemployed for nine ten months,
and then you finally get something and it's like a
huge sense of relief and then that like it's just
oh my gosh, kick the while they're down, like what
is going on right now?

Speaker 4 (21:40):
And it's like in the mental toll right Like it
was one thing, like the financial stress you're under when
you have to, you know, go without income for that long,
but then mentally it's hard to even keep yourself motivated
and want to keep going. I have a friend similar
what you're saying, La, where it's like he's been out
since he got laid off last year and he's been
on the hunt and he basically it was like like
the worst possible time to get late because it was

(22:01):
like right at the start of all of this, so
he kind of like got in at the early stage
of all this. It has to see the job marre.
You get worse and worse and worse, but then still
be like I'm going to wake up today, I'm going
to keep applying for jobs, and it's just it's just
hard mentally to keep yourself in the game. I don't
blame anybody who's feeling like defeated, because it's like, what,
who wouldn't under these circumstances.

Speaker 1 (22:20):
It's almost like, don't I almost wanted to start saying,
don't wait to find a part like a temporary part
time position anywhere, Like, don't wait to go out and
look for that that bridge opportunity, even if it's not
in you know, even if you're way overqualified and you
you know you you need to take some part time

(22:41):
work at a at a grocery store in retail, you know,
in the hospitality business and healthcare, like anything that can
provide some income to weather the storm. It's not the
it's not what you want to be saying to people.
It's not like doesn't make me feel good to say,
but I think that's just the reality that we're in.
It's like I don't want people to I don't want

(23:02):
people to like rely on false hope of like or
that sense of like, well, I'm doing everything right. I
have these qualifications, I should qualify for these roles. I
should be able to find my next role. And then
weeks and months go by and you're maybe you're living
off of credit cards, you're blowing through your savings and
you're not replenishing them, and you're going to end up

(23:23):
in an even more dire financial situation. And yeah, and
to have like to Chris's point too, that can like
do a number on your mental health when you feel
like you're not like you're undervalued, you're underemployed. But I
think at the same time, it's like it's shifting the
perspective to like, this is a really unprecedented time in
the economy. Things are going to have to temporarily be

(23:46):
this way. It doesn't mean that you can't get back
on the path that you were on. When you know
this the clouds start to part. But yeah, I get
really concerned when I when I hear about people who
are relying on debt credit cards to float them by
and blowing through their savings, because there's going to be
an end to that.

Speaker 2 (24:05):
To your point on LA.

Speaker 3 (24:06):
Yeah, definitely. I'll say one thing. Two of my friends
personal connections that I have, I recently said to them, Hey,
I mean I see that it's been a while and
things are getting more frustrating. Granted I have, like my
background is in teaching and education, but even if your
background is not in education or teaching. If you can
stand children even a little bit, if you can stand them,

(24:27):
if you can, if you can, if you enjoy children,
or even just be the presence around kids, like, being
a substitute teacher is a really good bridge. I think
not enough people consider it, and I've recently told two
of my friends, bro, all you have to do is
put an applications, be able to pass the background check
if certain things that are like pretty much typical positions

(24:49):
that pay decent salary would require of you anyway. So
if you can get through those hoops, you can start
working fairly quickly. Because school districts right now are in
desperate need a lot of teacher. They had a mass
exodus from COVID, and surely after COVID a lot of
teachers exiting, and there's a lot of understaffing in districts
in school So if you're if you're willing to be
a sub is great because first of all, the hiring

(25:11):
process is fairly quick if you can pass the back
on check. Second of all, pay for the kids. I mean,
I mean, if you're a good person. Okay, this is
only for the good people listening who like kids, like
I said, But the reason why I mentioned it.

Speaker 1 (25:23):
Is because body to watch these little headlans.

Speaker 3 (25:27):
That's not how I meant it, But you're right. But
it's more so the flexibility, Like if you're a sub
you can literally pick the shifts the morning of. So
let's say, for example, you have to you have to
go and interview, you have a couple of interviews for
real jobs today and you can't. Great, just don't pick
up the hours in the app like it's it's actually

(25:48):
very flexible so that you can continue to like put
all of your energy into finding a new position while
getting paid probably I don't know, maybe like one hundred
two hundred dollars a day every shift that you pick
up to teach. But it's again flexibility, pretty easy to start,
and it actually doesn't look bad on a resume, Like
imagine you're on a you're looking at someone's resume, there's
a period of time where they decided to give back
to the community and work with children at the local

(26:08):
school like that that makes you look good. That doesn't
actually look bad. So I personally would vouch for substitute
teaching as a really great bridge. If you or someone
you know who's listening is in that self position. I've
given this advice to two people recently. One of them
already took my advice on it, the other one, I'm
not sure, but hey, it's a great bridge to Mandy's point.

Speaker 1 (26:29):
Hey, ba fam, we're gonna take a quick break, pay
some bills, and we'll be right back.

Speaker 4 (26:37):
Yeah, Jed, hold on, I didn't know how Wait, so
how are these videos working?

Speaker 1 (26:41):
You just you just make videos of music and then
you put them on YouTube, and then you know, people
search for music apparently to listen to on YouTube, and uh,
you know, yeah, you become a jillionaire.

Speaker 2 (26:54):
Obviously.

Speaker 4 (26:55):
Why don't I know about this? I should have been
doing these years.

Speaker 1 (26:57):
No, you shouldn't have because honestly, recently Youtubo just stop it.
You're doing your Sleepy Sounds podcast right like you your
your business and.

Speaker 4 (27:08):
What it's called. But yeah, you in the ballpark.

Speaker 1 (27:13):
But YouTube's cracking down on AI generated stuff.

Speaker 2 (27:16):
There was this fast.

Speaker 1 (27:17):
I didn't put it on the run of show because
I forgot, but I remember one of the recent episodes
of The Daily was about how tech has you know,
tech single handedly like went through the education education system
and the last like fifteen years and was like every
all the kids would learn how to code and they'll
have these, you know, one hundred thousand dollars six figure

(27:38):
jobs in tech. And how there's this gap now because
recent graduates who followed that advice and studied computer programming
and software engineering entry level stuff are graduating into a
job market where the entry level work for them has
been replaced by AI, and there's they're not they're not
finding work after they sort of did the right thing.

(27:59):
And it's you know, I feel for that weird like
pocket of people because I think now, if you're in
college and you're paying.

Speaker 2 (28:06):
Attention, you're switching.

Speaker 1 (28:08):
Your major, you're being more you know, you're you're studying AI,
you're getting the train that you need to have to
come into the job market at a higher level. But
for those people who, you know, did it the right way,
did what did what the big tech bros said, They're
they're coming up short. They're having a real hard time
just getting entry level stuff, even internships.

Speaker 3 (28:29):
Yeah, that sucks, that really sucks. It's just like the
word future ready, just the definition of being future ready
changes every two to five years. It's impossible to I
feel bad for young people. It's like, but I will
say something that I did that I would always recommend
is focusing on soft skills and not just these hard
skills that you need these technical skills. Because soft skills

(28:51):
like presentation skills, communication skills, your ability to like you know,
be convincing, negotiation skills, adaptability and flexibility, team work, being
able to be the person that everybody wants to work with.
Those things will take you so much further than any
one hard skill that you have, like coding, because coding
will in five years be done by an AI. But
an AI cannot be the best team on a team,

(29:13):
the teammate on a team. The AI cannot be flexible
and adaptable when things happen that it's not been inputed
into that AI, like you as a human, have this advantage,
which is the soft skills that computer systems just cannot do.
So never completely stop focusing on soft skills, even when
you are putting your focus on like future ready tech
skills and hard skills, because that balance is so important

(29:35):
to have someone both.

Speaker 4 (29:39):
That's so true. It's I think we discount those those
little things, but that make you a valuable person in
the company or an organization because yeah, a lot of
people don't pick up those skills. I remember I got it, Like,
you don't tell that in school. I didn't learn that
in school. It came from like being in work, being
forced to like interact and talk with people and talking
meetings and present things. That's when you're like, you're forced
to learn those skills. You forced to learn it or

(30:01):
just to fail while you're trying to do it. It's
like those are the two options.

Speaker 3 (30:04):
Exactly. You want to get paid, you better do this
team presentation.

Speaker 1 (30:09):
Oh my god, doing a deck. I could not think
of something anything worse that I am like have the
soul little patience for. And again I'm not really talking
myself into being very qualified for many corporate roles today.

Speaker 2 (30:21):
But I can't stand it.

Speaker 3 (30:25):
Girl, this is hilarious. TikTok. I've decend it to you
as a guy who's like, why didn't they tell me
that my life was going to be about decks? Making
the deck, sharing the deck, discussing the deck. What version
of the deck are we on? Is like, I didn't
know this is what's going to be. Adulthood is all
about the damn decks. And I was like, he's not wrong.

Speaker 1 (30:43):
He's not really so right though. Feeling future proof, I
don't know that I'm future proof.

Speaker 2 (30:47):
Chris.

Speaker 1 (30:48):
Do you feel future proof what you study? You know,
financial stuff though, I.

Speaker 4 (30:52):
Study personal finance. But but you think about even the word
of person to find its how much.

Speaker 2 (30:55):
Has changed finance? You could do that.

Speaker 3 (30:56):
That was to say you could study personal finance.

Speaker 4 (30:58):
Yeah. So my randomly I went to school as an
art major and I just lucked out and picked the school.
I went to cal State Fulach and they had like
one of the biggest business programs in California. It just
lucked out. And so when I switched my major to finance,
their business school had you can either go corporate finance
or you could go financial planning. And so my degrees
in finance, but I had a concentration in financial planning.

(31:20):
So that's where my that's where I got my degree in.
But I mean the world has changed. I mean I
graduated what sixteen years ago? The world has changed so
much from then until now?

Speaker 1 (31:31):
Possible because I only graduated five years ago.

Speaker 4 (31:34):
Yeah, yeah, exactly, you just graduated yesterday, right, Every twenty
third birthday, I.

Speaker 3 (31:44):
Want to talk about that. I have my fifteen year
college reunion in twenty twenty six.

Speaker 2 (31:51):
So are you going?

Speaker 3 (31:53):
I am going. I'm excited to go. I don't think I.

Speaker 1 (31:56):
Arly organized class from my high school or college because
I don't get nowhere's nowhere.

Speaker 3 (32:01):
I The only reason I know is because I follow
a group on social media like Instagram that's like the
graduating class. So every time they post like funny stories
or little things like I'll see it, And they recently
posted something saying like specifically class only eleven, like we're
gonna have the reunion. We're planning it now, like what
suggestions do y'all have? And so I've threw in some suggestions.
But I feel like my college friends, even though we're

(32:21):
spread out a lot, are really still very very tight.
Like our group chats are always popping every time we
get together. It's like I just saw you yesterday, even
though it's probably been like eighteen months since we last
hung out in person. But yeah, So I'm actually excited
to go to my fifteen year and I've kept up
with a lot of them on social media, even if
I don't see people in person as much. And I

(32:43):
don't know my experience in undergrad was very much like
I was one of the I always identified as after Latinas,
so I was very much in the black Latino community heavy.
So it's like, even though you know, there's gonna be
a lot of people that I'll be happy to see,
it's really this group of people that made my experience
very special that I cannot wait to reconnect with. So

(33:05):
it's just my.

Speaker 5 (33:05):
Experience sounds beautiful. Yeah, my college pals, Yeah, y'all kind
of feel like college pals, but like financial Oh yeah,
speaking of that where I met y'all.

Speaker 3 (33:16):
Fin Con just happens.

Speaker 2 (33:18):
This was it, Jalla. You didn't go, Chris, and how
was it over there?

Speaker 4 (33:20):
You know what, all you East coast people didn't let
me If you all don't know. Fincoun's this conference that
we all have gone to where people who do what
we do, like this finance media stuff, they come together
and you know, it's a conference. It's a good time.
It's like really good people, all this stuff. But it's
always almost always either in the center of the country
or on the East coast for years and years and years.

(33:43):
For the first time in like seven years, it was
on the West coast over here, like it was a
beautiful West Coast our weather is so much better, especially
this time of year than what y'all got going on,
and you all could have came over here. But I
felt like every East Coast person was like, oh, the
fights too long. I can't sit on a plane five
six hours. And I'm like, I've been doing this for

(34:04):
years and the one time it's on my side of
the country, nobody wants to go. I don't understand it.
Say it's a little rude if you ask me, But
why are.

Speaker 1 (34:14):
You going to take it personally? It's not all about you.

Speaker 4 (34:17):
I did take it personally, Chris specific And here's the
thing I want you everyone listening to know. Neither Mandy
or yeah Ll they told me in advance that they
weren't going.

Speaker 2 (34:27):
I actually genuinely sound surprise.

Speaker 4 (34:30):
I was talking to Mandy on the phone and I
was like, Oh, I'm gonna see I'm getting ready for
fink you're gonna be there, and You're like, oh, I'm
not going. I'm like, what do you mean you're not going?
You had all this time to tell me you're not going,
and all of a sudden, you.

Speaker 1 (34:42):
Woman with children's going anywhere. I didn't children Brooklyn yesterday,
twin and then I paid a ticket for Okay, it
was two hours away.

Speaker 4 (34:53):
It's so far you would have been halfway to Portland
if you would have came fake within two hours.

Speaker 2 (34:59):
No, but it it wasn't. It wasn't on. It wasn't
that poorly attended.

Speaker 3 (35:03):
Was it?

Speaker 1 (35:03):
Like?

Speaker 2 (35:04):
What was the vibe?

Speaker 3 (35:06):
A good crowd?

Speaker 4 (35:08):
It was a good turnout, but definitely felt smaller and
I definitely could see who wasn't there and it was
pretty much everybody. Only PEO wouldn't show it with the
ones on the East coast.

Speaker 1 (35:17):
Maybe they should, like, I don't know, pay your girl
to talk. Sometimes I don't want to pay my way
to go out there. It's kind of how I feel, Ken,
did you learn anything good there?

Speaker 4 (35:28):
Like?

Speaker 2 (35:28):
What were there any goods?

Speaker 4 (35:30):
Like?

Speaker 2 (35:30):
What was the vibe?

Speaker 1 (35:31):
How are how are the finn Con influencers, bloggers, podcasters doing?

Speaker 2 (35:36):
Like how's business? Did you get a sense of that?

Speaker 4 (35:38):
I did? And you know, I felt the theme was
transition because everybody is getting hit, especially what you're saying,
a lot of the writers, so those people were bloggers
who were freelance.

Speaker 2 (35:49):
Writers writers ton Yeah.

Speaker 4 (35:51):
Yeah, big got hit. They're getting hit really hard because
obviously all the changes to Google and their little AI
block that they throw over at the top. It's cutting
trafficked to a lot of websites, and so that cuts
down AD revenue, and that trickles down to letting go
of writers. I mean they're letting go of like staff writers,
let alone, you know, the freelancers. Those are the first
ones to something to get bumped out of there. And
so I met a lot of people who were writers

(36:11):
who are now transitioning, and I will say I was
pretty I was really impressed by the upbeat approach a
lot of these people had, because I mean, I think
it would be so easy to be defeated if I
was a writer and all of a sudden all my
jobs are disappearing. I understand you could just fall into
some dark spaces. But I was really impressed by so
many people I talked too are like, yeah, it sucks,
but I'm learning to be a video editor. I'm learning

(36:35):
how to make content in other forms. And a lot
of people were just on that pivot, that pivot grind,
trying new things, and that really was like, you know,
impressive to see it. And he gave me even like
a little more hope fight. Look, this is tough itself
for all of us, because the space is really rapidly changing,
and the way you earn money through this space, like
through ad revenue things like that ISPID has been changing

(36:55):
for years now. But to see people who are being
hit the hardest right now finding ways to pivot and
make something out of nothing, I was really impressed, and
I was happy to see so many people taking it
being as positive as you possibly could be considering what
they did is not a show. I mean, hey, look,
you got to say it first, right, you gotta believe it.

Speaker 3 (37:15):
First before it could be putting on a show. But also,
I feel like now is the best possible time ever
in history to be in that situation because you have
social media platforms like substack, so I guess technically not
social media, but just like an ability for our writer
to monetize their writing by having an audience that pays
them directly instead of being a famous New York Times
columnist who who's direct who's directly tied to payments coming

(37:39):
from the New York Times, and if they let you go,
you're screwed, right versus. Subsack is kind of platform that
I think is allowing writers to feel empowered to write
every single day, every week, every month however often you
want to and be paid directly. I feel like that
just didn't exist and in the past. And also I
think fin Con is a great space for that kind
of energy. Like every I've been going to like twenty eighteen, right,

(38:01):
and every single year that I've gone, it feels like
people just be like, I didn't know what to do,
and then I met this person over here and they
told me to do this, and I did it, and
then I started making ten thousand dollars a month, like
and it's just like WHOA. When you're in a space
like that where you hear from people showing you what's possible.
As long as you're willing to be gritty and put
in the work and be creative and stick with something,
I think that is a good space for people to be.

(38:23):
And even if they were a little bit faking the
funk while they were there, I think they leave with
value if they truly do build relationships while they're there.
Like I've met people who I'm like, damn, like that
is so motivational and inspiring to me, and I would
never have known them if I didn't go to Fincoln.

Speaker 4 (38:38):
Yeah, that's true. And I think it's one those things
too where it's especially you see now like the world
was crazy the end of this country. It's crazy and
it's easy. I think. I'm sorry I lost myself again,
you know, it's it's wild. And one of things I
always hear people say is like, you know, one of
things you can do to help yourself is fine community, right,

(38:59):
And sometimes I roll my eyes and like community. But
then when you're in the space where you're around people
who like either you've you've met it before or you
know you meet now in this event and you're all
kind of like working through a similar thing together, You're
you're you're talking, you for conversations. Even if it's like
you didn't learn anything that made you make some more money,
you just have someone to talk to who knows what
you're going through. And I'm like, oh that it is

(39:19):
so important. Like even just even if that moment, even
if once I leave this space, I'm gonna open up
my news up again and get depressed again, you have
those moments where you can break yourself out of it,
and that's what you need to kind of help yourself
keep going. Because if you just if you're just sitting
in it every day all day like I do. Sometimes
you're just like, well, well, what's the point, and but
you need those community moments. Yes, who gave you a soundboard?

(39:43):
Who gave you a sound.

Speaker 1 (39:45):
Boy, I'm just over here looking at these little buttons.

Speaker 3 (39:51):
Cut it so quick. It's like they cheered and then
they didn't like what happened.

Speaker 1 (39:57):
Oh my Godlogy, that's the sitcom guy.

Speaker 3 (40:01):
No, that was a bad laugh track. That's like a
sitcom fake laugh track.

Speaker 2 (40:06):
You know, you guys are both right.

Speaker 1 (40:07):
I mean, I think looking for any place where you
can show up and be with other people who are
like who are choosing positivity, which is not I think
it's I think everyone can't be optimistic and positive all
the time, but enough of y'all can be optimistic while
others are being pessimistic to like lift each other up
and then hope, like reaching out and like being in community.

(40:29):
I think it's it's like to we talked about mental
health earlier. It's like the only cure. It just is
so hard when you're in that deep, deep thunk to
reach out toward.

Speaker 4 (40:41):
It is, you know, I will say that one of
things about moving up here to San Francisco has been
that having more of a community and that I didn't have,
or because people didn't want to drive. I knew people,
but people didn't want to drive. Like I don't blame
I don't want to sit in an hour traffic. But
being here in the city, we're so dense and people
walk around a lot and you just end up seeing
friends often you nip have a night. I was with

(41:01):
a friend yesterday at coffee shop and then we just
struck up a conversation with some people in the coffee
shop and we're just like, it was just so nice.
I'm like, oh, look at this. It's like, you know,
it's a nice, pleasant moment that I wouldn't have thought
was possible if I was just inside and staying to myself.

Speaker 2 (41:16):
Chat GPT couldn't do that. They can't take you inside
of some combo.

Speaker 3 (41:21):
Sure can't. Maybe a side of convo, but not not
a lte.

Speaker 1 (41:27):
Should we take a little break out and come back
and do a brown boost Brown break.

Speaker 3 (41:32):
Let's do it.

Speaker 1 (41:32):
Let's do it all right, We'll be right back b
a fam stick around. Well, listen to this before we
get into brown boost Brown break. I wanted to get
back to thinking the listeners who take the time to
leave reviews and comments and dms, and there was one
for you, jan Nellie. We did an episode. When did

(41:54):
you mention this? I forget it must have been our
last Brown Table, which was a while back, but one
of our listeners, one of our listeners said, oh, yeah,
this is from Nedda who commented on Spotify. By the way,
you guys can comment on Spotify, and a lot of
y'all do, and it's so great. On specific episodes, Nedda
Jones said, thank you yan Nelly. She's bout yan Nali.

Speaker 2 (42:14):
I like that. But ya Nelly for the.

Speaker 1 (42:17):
Book recommendation Defectors. I didn't know about the Parsley rule.
And also I will be googling it to learn more.
So they're listening defectors.

Speaker 3 (42:26):
I love that. So yeah, first of all, Defectors are
so good. And speaking of Defectors, the author Bala Ramos
just started a new podcast with her father, Jorge Ramos,
who I'm sure y'all know if you've ever seen Latin News.
He's huge media guy. But together father and daughter duo
are doing a podcast and yeah, it's really good and

(42:48):
it's no it's e English they are. Their very first
guest was Zoron Mamdani, which I highly recommend. That interview
is so good, so.

Speaker 1 (42:56):
Good, then I wish him very well because New York
deserves so much better.

Speaker 3 (43:03):
Much tell me about it. Although on the podcast they
talked about this, but a lot of the districts in
a lot of the counties that voted for Trump, those
exact same counties voted for Mom Donnie. So you you
see a lot of flip flopping. And I think either
people just didn't show up to vote, or those same
people are now like what did I do? Hurry up,
take corrective action, and like go and vote from I'm

(43:24):
not really sure, but it was. It was explored a
little bit in the podcast. Was so interesting to hear
those stats around the exact same communities and pockets that
voted for Trump now when I voted Donnie. You think
it doesn't really make sense, but it's interesting to see
that shift.

Speaker 1 (43:38):
I don't count as a New York City, uh constituent anymore.
I'm technically no.

Speaker 3 (43:44):
You up. I don't think it's look for anybody in
the five boroughs. They know for a fact, Westchester is upstate.

Speaker 4 (43:51):
I'm not. It's pretty Far North.

Speaker 2 (43:56):
Valley doesn't count.

Speaker 3 (43:57):
Okay, let me tell you something, baby girl. We got
two airports in New York City, LaGuardia and JFK y'all.

Speaker 1 (44:03):
Got it, and White Plan Airport, by the way, very
affordable flights to Florida. We go to the Bahamas. Now
we even go California.

Speaker 4 (44:10):
Oh oh, so it's easy to get, easy to get
to the West Coaster.

Speaker 2 (44:13):
Is it White White the Reporter or west Chester? No,
it is West Westchester.

Speaker 3 (44:20):
The city girl.

Speaker 2 (44:22):
Yeah, how to bet on this topic?

Speaker 1 (44:26):
Tanisha also on Spotify Back to our listeners, Tanisha, hey girl,
she said, Oh, she was responding to I did an
episode without y'all about housing, the housing economy right now.
I had the chief economists from Redfin on the show,
and I was bitching about my property taxes as I do,
and Tanisha commiserate. She said, property taxes are no joke.

(44:48):
Mine increase every year, and more houses being built in
an area does not help. I live in an area
that's been adding more houses and apartments for the last
twenty years, but my taxes go.

Speaker 2 (44:58):
Up every year every year.

Speaker 1 (45:02):
Yeah, because they'll add houses and then they're going to
add a Trader Joe's and then you know, you know,
or Whole Foods. You know them taxes are coming up.

Speaker 4 (45:10):
You don't want to see a Whole Foods pop up.
You know it's about to get expensive.

Speaker 3 (45:14):
Or it's the Starbucks one of them.

Speaker 1 (45:16):
Yeah, we're getting an old navy near me. Now, I
don't know what that says about the economy or my
taxes are what. It's kind of giving like discount it is.

Speaker 3 (45:25):
I mean, I'm not mad at it. That's where I
get my work. I'll close at I'm not even mad.

Speaker 4 (45:29):
Was I was driving when I went back home. I
was down in LA and I was driving. That's how
a billboard like, oh new Arawan coming. I'm like, this
is about to get real crazy Arawin. Have you heard
that grocery story?

Speaker 2 (45:40):
Oh that's the expensive smoothie place.

Speaker 4 (45:42):
You read a forty dollars movie that that place.

Speaker 1 (45:44):
Yes, I only had learned about them when I went
to Beverly Hills like a couple.

Speaker 2 (45:49):
Of years ago.

Speaker 4 (45:51):
They're opening new ones apparently. I guess. Oh you know what,
people got too much money in this area. That's make
them wasted.

Speaker 1 (45:58):
All these people I'm about to are baking my own
bread Okay, I'm about to be on a tight budget.

Speaker 2 (46:04):
I actually need my husband to like get his paycheck.

Speaker 1 (46:08):
Yeah, I'm gonna have to. I'm gonna start homesteading. I'm
gonna be a trad wife.

Speaker 3 (46:12):
I don't know. Oh oh that's the route.

Speaker 1 (46:14):
Okay, I'm just gonna start growing my own food.

Speaker 3 (46:17):
I think you don't have to wait till Hobby's paycheck
hits again then to take that route. Girl, not during
this government shutdown. You can't be no trad wife.

Speaker 2 (46:26):
I know.

Speaker 1 (46:26):
Okay, that's right, because tradwives don't work.

Speaker 2 (46:28):
That's the idea, right.

Speaker 1 (46:29):
Yeah, I'm like the worst type of t I'm the worst.
I'm like the stay at home mom entrepreneur.

Speaker 3 (46:33):
And like I'm a working trad wife, like that moron.

Speaker 1 (46:37):
That's really what I feel like, because how am I
like in the pta?

Speaker 2 (46:40):
I'm class mom.

Speaker 1 (46:41):
I have a garden, but like I'm still here writing
a book, running a business. I texted one of my
friends last night and I was like, why the hell
did you? Why did why did you not stop me
from trying to do all this ship when I had
two kids under five? Like why did you let me?
She's like, you wouldn't have listened. She said, legends never listen.
I was like, I don't feel like a legend. I
feel like a loser. It's so hard.

Speaker 3 (47:04):
Uh, it's only while they're this little. Think about it.
When they're older, they're gonna be like, well, my mom
was at everything. She was in the PTA, and she
was sad, like, you know, you can't really say that
once they're older and you're not really having to do
all that stuff. So I kind of agree with her.
I feel like you should do all the things now
while you can, and while they will feel like it's
a special thing that you're doing.

Speaker 5 (47:23):
Yeah.

Speaker 1 (47:24):
That see now, I wish I could just focus on that,
But it's the it's the other half of the coin
that can become laborious. But yeah, now Rio does no
mommy has a podcast.

Speaker 4 (47:33):
He likes it. Ooh.

Speaker 1 (47:35):
Christina from IG says Mandy, I'm one of your Latina listeners.
I'm listening to today's episode, and I love that you
read an Audre Lord poem, one that I've turned to
in my own life. And I wanted to recommend a
book my girlfriend and I love reading to each other
called Black people who Read to each other. That's so cute.
It's called Black Liturgies by Cole Arthur Riley as black

(47:58):
and brown lesbians, respectively. She and I turned to this
book together for comfort and reflection. If you haven't already
read it, check it out and let me know what
you think. Okay, I've never read that. I'm a checking
out either.

Speaker 3 (48:08):
I'm just writing it down. Cool Arthur Riley.

Speaker 4 (48:11):
You have, Chris, No, I haven't. I'm writing it down too, okay. Okay.

Speaker 3 (48:17):
And here's me thinking that the author was a man.
It's a beautiful black woman.

Speaker 4 (48:19):
Okay.

Speaker 3 (48:20):
Cool Arthur Riley. You're author of this here Flesh and
Black Liturgies, which is the recommended book.

Speaker 1 (48:28):
Okay, saved, Thank you, Christina. Oh, you have the best listeners. Okay,
brown boost Brown brig time. So I'm gonna boost one
Ashley Allison, whose name I did not know before this weekend,
but whose name we will now never forget.

Speaker 2 (48:43):
It will live an infamy.

Speaker 1 (48:44):
She is taking ownership of The Root, which, if y'all
you know, I didn't realize The Root wasn't even that old.
It was founded in two thousand and nine by the
esteemed you know, Professor Henry Lewis Gates Junior Selivan Roundson
two thousand and nine. But it's like one of the biggest,
baddest sources of black news, and it has actually not

(49:07):
been owned by a black owner for several years now.
It was acquired by I forget which company acquired them,
but then, like a lot of companies do, they spun
it off to private equity firm. But Ashley Allison has
now taken over ownership. She's acquired the route and I
was on the Win with Black Women. Remember Win with

(49:27):
Black Women. It's that grassroots organization that really started, I
think during the pandemic, but came to fame the summer
of twenty twenty four in being one of the biggest
like crowdfunding fundraising efforts from black women for Kamala Harris
to his campaign when like forty thousand black women got
on a zoom call that was Win with Black Women.

(49:49):
It was founded by Jotaka Eddie and they still meet
almost every Sunday, and I always try to catch the
calls because they are so inspirational. And last time I
was on the call, Kamala Harris was on it. Stacy
ab Rooms stop by was like insane. And yesterday Ashley
got on and she had a really inspiring story because
apparently in two thousand and nine she was trying to

(50:10):
start a blog like a media brand was the name
of her company. I'm gonna forget it now, but that
sort of had gone dormant. And since then she's you know,
come up in in media as an executive and as
a an investor. And now she's able to purchase the
Route and bring it back to black ownership. And I
just think that that's incredible.

Speaker 3 (50:33):
Is amazing call. Her company is called Watering Hole Media.

Speaker 1 (50:37):
Oh thank you watering Hole Media now the owner of
the Route.

Speaker 3 (50:42):
I love that amazing. I love that. Well, my boost
is going to be a little bit like sad slash,
you know, not not great. But if you don't already
know what happened in the Trey Read case, he was
found dead on the on the campus of Delta State University,
I have been trying to figure out what happened with

(51:02):
this case, with the Trade Read case, like I feel
like it was everywhere and then it was gone right.
And so yesterday, yesterday I read an article on black
girl nerds dot com. If you don't know Black Girl Nerds,
I love Jamie Brodnax. She's amazing. But she posted literally
just a couple of days ago that new information has

(51:23):
been revealed from the second autopsy. And so my boost
is a huge shout out to Colin Kaepernick because through
his nonprofit organization, they fully funded a second independent autopsy.
And this was bad.

Speaker 2 (51:36):
He was found hanging from a tree.

Speaker 1 (51:38):
From a tree, they said it was a suicide.

Speaker 3 (51:41):
Okay, so they immediately said it was a suicide, which
a lot of people were like, shady, shady, shady, hell no,
that can't be it. And so it was kind of
like a case close situation. But the family and all
these people were like, there were murmurs if things weren't right,
like that didn't feel right. And so Colin Kaepernick's organization
went and funded a second independent autopsy, and now his
organization revealed that there was blunt force trauma to the

(52:04):
back of Trey Reid's head, which was not found when
the initial ruling was determined to be a suicide. So
now there are all of these activists and advocates that
are essentially reviving the situation, Thank goodness, because if not,
like nobody would be paying attention. And that was just
way too sketchy and bizarre. For people to just ignore.

(52:26):
So if it wasn't for Colin Kaepernick funding this, I
don't think it would have been possible. It's very expensive.
And not only that, but then I looked into the organization,
the nonprofit that he has that does this, and this
is a track record of what they do. Like his
organization was created specifically to help in cases where, you know,
things don't seem right, in these criminal quot or whatever
case situations where there's like, oh, it's you know, there's

(52:47):
something sketchy, but the find the official report says there
was no sketchy part in it. And so his organization
actually funds independent autopsies pretty regularly, and so I just
thought that was incredible that he would take his money
put it to a nonprofit that focuses on doing that
because that is so incredibly necessary in the larger fight

(53:08):
for social justice. And so yeah, this boost is just
big ups to Colin Kaepernick because that's amazing, amazing.

Speaker 1 (53:17):
Well that I don't know if that would even bring
comfort to the family, but I hope that I think
the truth any any closer to the truth. Yes, I agree,
it was crazy how it just completely fell off of
mainstream news.

Speaker 4 (53:30):
Nothing about it.

Speaker 3 (53:31):
No, And I've literally been like every time I'm on
the new I'm looking at the news. I'm like, a
matter of fact, the other day, I was going through
my phone. I pull up this New York Times article
and it's like Tarlor Swift's new album, here are the
top songs. I'm like, how is this news? New York Times?

Speaker 2 (53:47):
I've been seeing us here are the worst songs people.

Speaker 3 (53:51):
I'm just like, New York Times, how is this news?

Speaker 2 (53:53):
Please?

Speaker 3 (53:54):
I truly don't understand, like how that comes to my
email inbox when there's all kinds of crazin happening and
that it's not deemed news, Like I don't put me
on this mic to talk about that. But anyways, So
shout out to Don Kaepernick. Shout out to him, because
that's amazing. We It just put fuel under me to
recognize that every time I think about my wife for

(54:14):
financial independence, it's because I feel like there's so much
work that needs to be done that a lot of
like official channels won't do. And that's where independently wealthy
people can come in and play a very powerful role
and just like fired me up to keep doing what
I'm doing.

Speaker 1 (54:29):
Yeah, I should have done a break for the Epstein shit.
I'm so tired of that man's name and jazaying what's
her face? Like that's been on the New York Times
ham page for megor I'm sick of that shit. I can't. Yeah,
that's true, you know, and let's keep Trey's naming the
news because I think exactly that's just a symptom of like, oh,
America must be really comfortable with the idea of a

(54:50):
black man swinging from a tree to just you know,
turn the page on it and pretend like it never happened.

Speaker 2 (54:56):
I know, by white woman.

Speaker 1 (54:58):
Let it have been a Suzanne or something like and
we would not hear the end of it.

Speaker 3 (55:03):
Anybody like it. Just it's so bizarre to me, Like,
what kind of person who wants to underlive themselves does
it in a like extremely public place, in a public
way like that people usually want to do that they
did in the privacy of their own home and hotel
room and the bathroom and the you know, it just
seems so bizarre. And then to them immediately say it's
a suicide. I mean, nobody obviously knows exactly what happened,

(55:26):
but the fact that Kaepernick is putting money behind actually
figuring it out is just it's necessary, because it just
seemed way too sketchy.

Speaker 4 (55:33):
Yeah, because no black person's choosing that as their way
to go out.

Speaker 1 (55:37):
That's a level of self cloathing. That doesn't I don't
think we're capable. You gotta trust the mother. The mother
always said like he would not do this, He was
not that unhappy. I believe. I believe her. I hope
that the truth comes out.

Speaker 3 (55:53):
Yeah.

Speaker 2 (55:53):
Same, All right, Chris, You're okay?

Speaker 4 (55:59):
All right? I I was. I was letting it breath.
I didn't want to just hop right in. Yeah.

Speaker 3 (56:02):
I can't jump in with something. That's why I said,
I I preface mind. We're like, this is a this
is a hard one.

Speaker 2 (56:07):
Sorry, that's my anxiety.

Speaker 1 (56:08):
I don't know how to how to how to let silence.

Speaker 2 (56:11):
You saw what I did with.

Speaker 4 (56:14):
What to do? Uh? You know what? I'm gonna do
a brown boost and mine. You know, Amight. It's gonna
be for the city of Portland, which neither of YouTube visited.
But you know it's Portland. You know, it's another West
Coast city not too far from where I live. Right now,
It's been in the news. I can't I couldn't bossly understand
why it's been in the news, but it's been in

(56:34):
the news, and I gotta say I enjoyed my time
in the city of Portland. It was beautiful.

Speaker 1 (56:41):
Wait, why has it been in the news for for ice?

Speaker 3 (56:43):
Is that why? Yeah? Yeah, because they were the court
the judge said that they can't bring in forces to
protect people in Portland, like essentially stopped him from sending
in troops, which is wild. That yeah, anyway, but that's
why they've been in the news.

Speaker 4 (57:00):
Yeah, and because you know the same you know, Portland's
in a state of revolution. I was. I spent five
days in Portland, and I gotta say it was Look,
it's still a city. Every city. I've lived in cities
my whole life. You're gonna see some stuff in the city.
That's just how it is. And if you've never been
in a city, it is shocking. But if you've lived
in cities, you're like, hey, that's just part of it.
It's part of being in the city. But there are

(57:23):
so many beautiful areas out there. I was, look, Portland
the most bike friendly city I've ever visited. I was
zipping around that city on e bikes, left and right,
hopping on trains, going down to different restaurants, different parks.
Went to this, uh, this is mount like little park
called Mount Tabor. It's like a little mountain hill. You
can ride a bike all the way up to the top.
Had views of the city, got to talk to There's

(57:45):
like just a couple up there walking around. We were
talking to them, so it was it was just there's
so much good food. It feels almost like you're going
in like like a little time capsule, because Portland is
weird and people are definitely dressed like it is nineteen
nine three out there and it's like the grun scene.
I was like, I feel like I've traveled back at time.

(58:05):
But it was just cool to see there's so many
like they like a lot of their food scene. Come sure,
you know it's a city is expensive like any other places.
A lot of restaurants have these like food trucks and
trailers that they park together and it'll be like a
whole like little park of just like trailers, all these
different food. Which is once when they had music playing,
they had like I had like this great Japanese sandwich
from these people who wore from Japan who set up

(58:26):
this this this sandwich shop that was amazing museums. Yeah,
sandwich I was like a you know, like a Japanese sando.
It was like anyone used like a soft milk bread.
It's like like a fried chicken or pork little katsu.

Speaker 2 (58:43):
I love.

Speaker 4 (58:47):
It was so good and so I'm.

Speaker 2 (58:48):
Like, you know what, prepping too long?

Speaker 1 (58:50):
I just want to take something different. I'm so sick
of salmon and chime.

Speaker 4 (58:56):
Saying you came to Portland. I could have taken you
to some of those plays, but you weren't there, so
you missed out.

Speaker 2 (59:04):
You know that Twilight music girl, I don't know what that.

Speaker 4 (59:09):
I didn't know what.

Speaker 1 (59:12):
Oh, y'all are not on my side of TikTok no.

Speaker 4 (59:15):
I think whatever you did was never on TikTok I
don't know where that was.

Speaker 3 (59:19):
I was like, what is that to do with.

Speaker 4 (59:22):
You?

Speaker 3 (59:24):
When there's living around the ploorest on the north?

Speaker 4 (59:27):
Is this a frozen.

Speaker 2 (59:29):
Music you sing?

Speaker 4 (59:31):
I didn't know what was happening.

Speaker 3 (59:32):
I was confused if you could it out into into hymn.

Speaker 1 (59:38):
Were you in Portland as a flyover on your way.

Speaker 2 (59:41):
To Hawaii or just like was that a destination?

Speaker 4 (59:46):
Oh?

Speaker 2 (59:46):
When she went to you, weren't you in Hawaii recently?

Speaker 4 (59:49):
I did get to go to Hawaiian, I know, but
I was in fortand Fan Con. That's why I was here.

Speaker 3 (59:54):
That's why was that girl He was japping at you
the whole time about going to Scortland, not going to
Big Con.

Speaker 4 (01:00:01):
It went right over you was so far away from
ever coming to fix us. She didn't even get the
jokes even just for my bad bad Yeah, shout out
to Portland, keeping it weird.

Speaker 3 (01:00:15):
Were shouting out Portland. We should also shout out the
federal judge who blocked Trump's National Guard deployment to Portland,
because I think that's like breaking news and honestly so
important in the follow that order.

Speaker 1 (01:00:26):
I'm afraid for the day when he stops listening in
judge's orders.

Speaker 4 (01:00:29):
Well, listening the California National Guard up there now.

Speaker 3 (01:00:33):
Yeah, it's honestly, it's a lot like there. I don't
know if y'all have heard of these stories, but there
are a couple of stories about a bunch of people
who are just being murdered on ships that are like
throughout the Caribbean, off the coast of Venezuela, and every
possible international law or maritime law is being broken by
this Trump administration because they have not to this day,
not presented any evidence that these boats were indeed filled

(01:00:56):
with drugs. But yet they're like, oh, we're just trying
to vent these boats from bringing all these drugs to America.
So they just bombed them and killed like twenty something
people so far in the past thirty days. Imagine just
murdering one person every day for the past month, and
nobody's talking about it and it hasn't really been on
the news that much. I haven't seen people posting about it.
And it's like such a blatant, like violation of international

(01:01:17):
and maritime law. So I hear you, Mandy, I am
a little nervous about the like, does he even care
about what judges are saying he can can't do because
clearly there's no concern over violating international law in those cases.
But at least the judge did what she's supposed to do.

Speaker 1 (01:01:34):
So yeah, yeah, Well, Supreme Courts back in session this week,
so we go. I think this is the first, like
I don't know, maybe the second time they've been in
session this year. But we'll see if he follows anything
that they say, because I know a lot of the
cases that they're hearing have to do with shit he'd
been trying to do, these National Guard deployments and ice
raids and all of that.

Speaker 3 (01:01:55):
Yeah. Yeah, giving really happening.

Speaker 2 (01:01:58):
It's really giving.

Speaker 1 (01:01:59):
Like Israel, everyone that they bombed in Gaza was Hamas
you know, was harboring her home. It was it's all propa.
You know, a lot of propaganda. We have to really
be I was gonna say mistrustful, but just like.

Speaker 3 (01:02:12):
No, a healthy level of examining.

Speaker 1 (01:02:14):
Yeah, skeptical, that's the right word. Skeptical of everything that's
coming out of this administration.

Speaker 3 (01:02:19):
I agree, m hmm.

Speaker 2 (01:02:21):
But that was supposed to be a boost. Well, thank
you Chris for taking us to it.

Speaker 1 (01:02:24):
How was Hawaii? What's Chris like in Hawaii? What were
what was happening over there?

Speaker 4 (01:02:29):
Oh? Well, Southwest? I got a companion passed through their
promo day going on? Did you get did you see that?
You know other day, like if you would be like
a ropter flight And I got it for two months
and so we're like, well, where can you go on Southwest?
And I was like, We're like, oh, Hawaii, And so
we ended up using it to go to Kawai and
the Big Island and it was so so beautiful. I

(01:02:52):
mean it's hot and humid, but you're on the island.
That's what you expect and so but I was like,
you know, just just getting the island breeze, eating some
food with uh no so dolphins though, almost got seastick
on a boat because I'm like, oh, I don't really
go on boats like that, and I would, but it
was still beautiful. Get around the I think it's the
Nepali coast on Kawhi, the Big Island.

Speaker 3 (01:03:15):
You would love it, many you would love it.

Speaker 4 (01:03:17):
I know it's a trick Look, that's far from someone
on the East Coast. That's like a twelve hour flight.

Speaker 1 (01:03:22):
Damn near across. I might as well keep going to Japan.

Speaker 3 (01:03:26):
But worth it. Yeah, you get exactly. You do a
trip to the West Coast and then you stay for
a day, and then you do a trip to Hawaii
and he lived, Yeah.

Speaker 4 (01:03:35):
Just make your way around the world, come.

Speaker 2 (01:03:36):
Back to America.

Speaker 3 (01:03:38):
I mean, you know, why do you want to question?

Speaker 1 (01:03:40):
Why do you want to come on the Jello ship?
I hear that you had some R and R and
how is the sleepy time? Sleepy Talk Sleepy to Me.

Speaker 4 (01:03:50):
Let me just cut you off because you just given
all the wrong names Talk Sleepy to Me. There you go.
The podcast is called Talk Sleepy to Me. The official
trailer and all that. It's out and now you can
subscribe to it. You can follow it and.

Speaker 2 (01:04:04):
Just the trailer. When's the first.

Speaker 4 (01:04:06):
First episode is coming out? Next week? Next week the
first episode will be launching, and uh yeah, I love
to get any feedback from people listening. And you want
me to.

Speaker 1 (01:04:14):
Moonlight, I can do like a little Twilight for you
for one of your.

Speaker 4 (01:04:19):
The thing is, I would like the podcast to survive
if it keep going. And I feel like that.

Speaker 2 (01:04:26):
And I'm like brow, I'm really nailing it.

Speaker 4 (01:04:29):
I mean you, I love that. I love that confidence
you have in yourself.

Speaker 2 (01:04:36):
I feel like Hillary Duff and yes.

Speaker 3 (01:04:39):
Yes that is accurate. All right, y'all, I just hit
the follow button on Spotify Talk Sleepy to Me, Chris Browning.
I can't wait for the first episode. I cannot wait.

Speaker 4 (01:04:50):
I appreciate it. Just so y'all know, if you're all nervous,
Mandy will not be on that podcast, So you're safe
to subscribe.

Speaker 2 (01:04:58):
We'll see if it works.

Speaker 1 (01:04:59):
Because drink here is in the news again for being
showing her ass, and I've been listening. I fall asleep
to Harry Potter every night. I'm not ashamed to admit that.
So maybe a little something different would help.

Speaker 4 (01:05:08):
Shake it up a little bit.

Speaker 2 (01:05:10):
Well, thank y'all so.

Speaker 1 (01:05:11):
Much for doing the Brown Table with me. I really
missed y'all. Hopefully we can do another one the next
few weeks.

Speaker 2 (01:05:17):
We can get it together.

Speaker 4 (01:05:18):
Yeah, sure we could. You know, we could have done
in person in Portland, but hey, that opportunity is gone.

Speaker 1 (01:05:25):
You know, bitterness really rots the soul from within and
I wouldn't want that for my friend.

Speaker 2 (01:05:32):
You know, I want you to be liked.

Speaker 4 (01:05:35):
Thanks for looking out for me. I appreciate it.

Speaker 1 (01:05:39):
All right, Love y'all be well, take care, NBA fam
love you even more. Don't forget to leave us a
review while you're at it. Comments on Spotify, on YouTube, Oh,
that's where I forgot to look for comments. I'm gonna
go to YouTube next time.

Speaker 2 (01:05:52):
Y'all.

Speaker 1 (01:05:53):
Shout out our YouTube listeners and our Patreon. Don't forget
to sign up for the Patreon, where you can join
Brown Table sessions live in our audience. Go to Patreon
dot com Slash Brown Ambition and I'll be announcing our
November December book club pick very very soon, so make
sure you stay tuned and we'll see y'all next time. Bye,

(01:06:18):
okayva fam, Thank you so much for listening to this
week's show. I want to shout out to our production team, Courtney,
our editor, Carla, our fearless leader for idea to launch productions.
I want to shout out my assistant Lauda Escalante and
Cameron McNair for helping me put the show together. It
is not a one person project, as much as I

(01:06:41):
have tried to make it so these past ten years.
I need help, y'all, and thank goodness I've been able
to put this team around me to support me on
this journey and to y'all be a fam.

Speaker 2 (01:06:51):
I love you.

Speaker 3 (01:06:52):
So so so so much.

Speaker 1 (01:06:54):
Please rate, review, subscribe, make sure you're signed up to
the newsletter to get all the latest updates on upcoming episodes,
our tent, your anniversary celebrations to come, and until next time,
talk to you soon via bye