November 20, 2023 • 38 mins
In this limited series and the 99th podcast episode of the show, host Aalia Lanius welcomes Quinn the Eskimo, a full-time digital “slowmad” who has been traveling the world for the last 3 years is now shifting his efforts to travel to Gaza. Quinn discusses his upcoming journey to the region, his collaboration with local organizations, and his commitment to sharing stories from conflict zones to raise awareness and inspire action.
Quinn, as a white male, talks on dispelling ignorance as they explore the complexities of the Gaza conflict, emphasizing the importance of humanizing those affected and recognizing commonalities across cultural and political divides. The episode underscores the power of individual action in addressing global humanitarian crises and encouraging listeners to engage empathetically with these critical issues.
Quinn, as a white male, talks on dispelling ignorance as they explore the complexities of the Gaza conflict, emphasizing the importance of humanizing those affected and recognizing commonalities across cultural and political divides. The episode underscores the power of individual action in addressing global humanitarian crises and encouraging listeners to engage empathetically with these critical issues.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:03):
From Ubin Studios. You're listening toUnsugarcoted with Alia, bringing you interviews with
public figures and inspirational people speaking onself improvement with empowered themes, and I'm
your host, Ali Elaneus. Hello, Hello, Hello to everyone around the
world. So happy to be backhere with another episode of Unsugarcoated with Alia.
(00:24):
Is you know this is a veryspecial season for us. It is
heartfelt, it is sincere, itis genuine, and of course that is
why our season theme is from LosAngeles to Gaza, a plea for humanity.
In that theme, we continue tohave conversations with incredible individuals from around
the world. We've spoken to London, We've spoken to New York, we
(00:44):
have more people coming up. Letme move forward by starting with this.
In denying the injustice suffered by theinnocent, one's heart grows callous and the
light of empathy dims. I saythat because, over the course of a
lot of the conversations that are beingand have been had well for some including
myself since nineteen ninety nine, butespecially since October seventh, I've seen a
(01:07):
lot of people that want to argueaway reasons why genocidea is okay or mask,
you know, casualties of people thathave nothing to do with the conflict
taking place. It's never okay.And in trying to advocate a belief that
people have, I notice that they'rejust I feel badly for them, because
(01:29):
honestly, I see that their hearts, this ability to be empathetic towards another
person, no matter what, it'sjust going away. And that seriously concerns
me, and it should concern youif you're if you're a person who's seen
that, or maybe you're doing it. You know, I would caution you
to remember, our empathy is whatkeeps us connected, and it makes us
(01:49):
very special in that sense. It'ssomething that I value and it's something that
I hold dear, and you know, in these conversations, I want to
reiterate that I'm not here to sayJews are bad people. They're not.
I have amazing Jewishness, really friendsin my community, in my family,
in my you know, just inmy world. And I have stories that
(02:14):
I could sit here and tell youall day long about these incredible experiences.
So it pains me that we areseeing an increase in violence towards both Jews
and Muslims, or people that youknow, people perceive as being Middle Eastern,
which mind you remember, just justa note, not all Palestinians are
Muslim. But because of what peopleoften get become caught up in their emotions,
(02:38):
we're just seeing that they target peoplethat they consider a threat and that's
dangerous. So education is key,and that's why what we're doing. What
I'm doing is you know, whatI do as a social impact producer,
and putting out these stories and amplifyingthese voices is why I get up every
(02:58):
day. Genuinely, all the amazingthings that we do, this is my
favorite. And you know, alsoconsidering what would you do if it was
happening to you? My mom,you know, of all the things my
family taught me that I do reallyappreciate, I was taught at such a
young age to say, to considerwhat would I feel if it was happening
to me? Or you know,even my mom would say, you never
(03:20):
know what someone else is going through. Maybe that would explain why they're doing
what they're doing. But you know, in any case, if we can
justify the killing of any children forany reason, we can justify anything,
and in that moment, we've losthumanity. Ladies and gentlemen, and I
don't want to be there, andI really hope that if you're listening to
(03:42):
this show, you don't want tobe there either. Even if there was
a cease fire today, it isonly the beginning. Thousands are daily at
risk for death in this moment,and they will continue to die or suffer
because of health complications, not beingable to get medication that would reduce their
risk of infection or even proper healthcare. Infrastructure will need to be rebuilt,
(04:03):
though it's highly unlikely that the Israeligovernment will actually want to give anybody back
their land. This is, youknow, which is another flagrant violation of
international law. Who's going to standup for the Palestinians. Who's going to
stand and help them? There's manypeople who will not enough I would agree
at this, but I am stillinspired and given such hope when I see
(04:27):
that it is happening. And oneof the people that we're going to talk
to today is somebody who's you know, American and has his own story,
but he is actually traveling to Gazain the coming days to be on the
ground ready to help as soon ashe can. And I think, honestly,
I mean he's doing something that Iknow I want to do. If
(04:48):
I could, you know, leavemy kids right now and my husband,
I would absolutely be on the shadowof a doubt head to Gaza and I
would be there because homes will needto be build, orphanages unfortunately, will
need to be built for the massiveamount of children, and that matters.
So with that, I want tobring this person to you. Quinn is
(05:10):
a full time digital slow mad whohas been traveling around the world for at
least three years. He's lived ineight different countries and enjoyed meeting new friends,
learning about their stories, and thenbringing them back to the world of
TikTok. He's the father of eightchildren, plays eleven different instruments, and
recently completed his first book, EightWays to Be Happy. Quinn's passion for
(05:33):
humanity, his hunger for learning andgrowth, and his simple way of breaking
down complex scenarios, all with adisarming smile, who have brought his videos
to millions of beautiful humans all overthe world. Today, He's going to
do it for us. Ladies andgentlemen. Please welcome Quinn standing Ovation.
(05:57):
For you, my friends, standingOvation, I was in joining that applause
and your like monologue beforehand was likeamazing, Gosh, I'm I'm torn in
two. It was so nice.Really, I was taking notes, look
like, I was literally taking notes. You're so good. I appreciate it.
Honored to be here. We arereally honored to have you. So,
(06:19):
you know, on on social mediayou are known as Quinn the eskimos
In the Eskimo, Quinn the Eskimo. Well, first of all, we
have to start off just with that, you know, we want people to
get to know you. So wheredid Quinn the Eskimo come from? All
right? So basically I'm going togive you this short story here because we're
on a time limit. But basically, I was the father of eight children.
(06:39):
Well I still am, actually they'reall still here. But basically,
my wife developed mental illness about tenyears into our marriage and then I basically
just raised my kids as a singleback. And now that they're off on
their own, well you know,three or four years ago, you know,
they're off on their own, andI'm like, well what do I
do now? All I've ever doneis, you know, been a dad.
(07:02):
And so I was like sitting onthis beach in Florida, the most
beautiful location in the world Anna MarieIsland, Florida, and I said,
you know Quinn. Well, Isaid you know John because that was my
name at the time and still leakallyis what do you want to do with
your life? Like now you havethis window, like your kids don't need
(07:25):
you anymore, but you don't haveany grandkids yet. What do you want
to do? Man like? AndI remembered this song from when I was
a kid that I love called Quinnwhat was called the Mighty Quinn. I
always called it Quinn the Eskimo.There was this really interesting song by Bob
Dylan. Look it up and itbasically was like about this mythical guy named
Quinn the Eskimo and all of theselike towns people were growing through like their
(07:49):
regular day and they were like butthey were like joyful because they were like,
wait, when Quinn the Eskimo getshere, everything's going to be okay,
right, And I was like,that is the motherfucker I want to
be. I like it. Ijust want to be somebody who brings joy
to other people, like before I'meven there. Yeah, oh, I
(08:09):
love that. I took the nameQuinn uh and then I got I got
on TikTok and uh started documenting mytravels and so I used the name Quinn
the eskimout and that's really how itYeah, that's how it all started.
So and I love that and Ilove it, you know. Yeah,
that's that is the That is them f H you want to be.
(08:31):
You come up in there and say, you know, give people a reason
to smile, I mean, justlove on people. Yeah, so you
travel the world for three and ahalf years. And by the way,
dad of eight incredible. I'm adad. I mean, I'm a mother
of four. Because I'm a motherof four and I can identify, however,
identify as tired. And I'm kidding. I will say for sure eight
(08:54):
that's eight is enough, right,Yeah, definitely for the people that don't
know that you don't know, butfor us, we know it is enough.
What you know? What inspired you? You know? I what were
some of the countries that you livedin? What were your experiences? Yeah?
(09:16):
Yeah, man, that's that's agreat question. Actually, I love
that question. Basically, here's whathappened. Like I was living in Florida
and I was I was with agirlfriend at the time, and I was
sitting there looking at like Airbnb,like just around the world. Just I'm
a dreamer, man, It's justyou know, I'm a dreamer. And
so and I was looking and Iwas like, wow, like, we're
(09:39):
paying eighteen hundred dollars a month rightnow for this like apartment that's like yeah,
it's really close to the beach,it's very beautiful, but eighteen hundred
bucks a month, you know.Gotlye uh. And I found this like
beautiful like jungle like paradise in CostaRica. It was like seven hundred and
(10:00):
fifty bucks a month and it includedWi Fi like everything, like no extras,
And I was like, wait,why don't we just go live there?
Right? Yeah. Now, bythe time we got around to planning
it, the Costa Rica wasn't reallylike the place to go. But we
got a beautiful five bedroom house inAndalusia's Spain for seven hundred and fifty dollars
(10:22):
a month. Oh wow yeah yeah. So we just went and lived there.
It was awesome. And then fromthere we're like, wow, we
could go We'd go to somewhere else. So we went to Portugal. We
get a house for five hundred bucksa month, and then from there we
started to get kind of like cold. It was starting to get cold,
(10:43):
and we're like, we love thebeach, and so we thought, well
we could go anywhere at this point, and like, let's go to the
other hemisphere, and so we wentto South Africa. Wow. But I
did eventually go to Costa Rica andI loved it. Those are my people
with a vita may Gosh. Itwas wonderful. So yeah, but that's
(11:03):
basically my life. I've just beenlike touring around. And the funny thing
is like, so when I gothere, I make TikTok videos, right,
and you know, I'm not atech guy, man, I'm like,
I'm a digital immigrant, right,Like I grew up in the eighties.
We were riding big wheels, right. We weren't playing with cell phones.
It was like, you know,go out and play until you know
dark, and then come home whenthe street lights are off, drink out
(11:24):
of the water hoose that kind ofcrap. So, you know, this
is all new to me. Buthere I'm trying to document everything on TikTok
and so I don't understand this.But when I go to a foreign country,
all of a sudden, I'm onthe FYP in that foreign country,
and so the craziest thing is like, so I've been pretty famous in two
(11:45):
countries now so far, both CostaRica and South Africa. Like literally where
I worked on the street and peoplerecognize me. Wow. And I've met
so many locals that way, andthey're so hospitable, like, oh my
gosh, they welcome you into theirhomes, like Quinn come and learn about
like in this Muslim neighborhood in CapeTown, South Africa, right next to
one of the mosques, and itwas like, oh my gosh, like
(12:07):
such an eye opening experience. Andit's just like people they were my neighbors,
and they're laughing at me because they'relike, yeah, we see you
a TikTok quid. Like you know, one of the things I consistently tell
people is no matter where you goin the world, if you sat down
with the family and went into theirhouse, you're going to hear the same
dreams believes. You know, youjust want just want their kids to have
a good life, just want tohave a good life for themselves, you
(12:30):
know, and your experience less incommon, you know. Yeah, And
and what and what travel has donefor me is it has helped me dispelled
my ignorances. You know, Ihave to admit, you know, like
listen, when I was born,they didn't give me a checklist. You
know. It wasn't like I'll takewhite guy Christian America. Like, no,
(12:54):
I was just randomly placed here,just like a Palestinian was randomly placed
in Gossa right or whatever. Right, like it's random geography. And so
I think that we grow up inthe environment that we're in, and of
course we have ignorances towards anybody that'sdifferent than us. Do you know why
I'm going to Gaza? Seriously,we're going to get into that for sure,
(13:16):
But go ahead and tell us.I will tell you, like I
got this. So I got thiscomment on TikTok because I started speaking my
mind about this and this guy saidsomething to the effect of like, oh,
go ahead and go there. Thenyou know, like they'll kill you
within an hour, you dummy orsomething right Like I was like, bro,
(13:39):
like you've probably never left your county. And so I made this video
and I said, I showed hiscomment on TikTok and I said, is
this true? My Arab brothers andsisters, let's educate this man. And
that video, Oh my gosh.I mean, just tens of thousands of
(14:03):
people. And I was like,you know, maybe I should just go
to Gaza. God. I lovethat. I need to show these Western
people to stop being afraid. AndI have literally had the most beautiful offers,
like I had a deed from CostaRica. Contact me, buddy,
(14:24):
I met on take touch other It'slike, come and stay in my house
like it's empty, it's beautiful house. I was, and I was like,
oh God, that would be sonice. But I just didn't feel
it in my heart. I waslike, no, I'm supposed to leave
this open, and I didn't knowwhy. And then this whole thing happened,
and now I know why. I'mjust supposed to get to Gaza.
(14:46):
Yeah. And as a result,I mean, there's there's many things.
Look, with all the tragedy that'shappening today, there are silver linings.
Right. You heard my mother's quotethat I really need to get from her
in Spanish, that Spanish saying thatunfortunately, thankfully you know, out of
America, for bad that a gooddoesn't come. And I feel like for
people like yourself, the good thatcomes is the relationships. You know.
(15:07):
Yes, there's all those negative there'sthe guy who said go to Gaza.
But then there's just these this thisoutpouring of love and connections because I never
worry too much about the people thatare not part of my tribe. I
worry about the people that I haveprid of my tribe. Those are the
people I do either. Yeah youknow, so you yeah, these are
the way that communities are built.And you know that's one of the things
(15:28):
that like, like, I'm asolo traveler. I very rarely travel with
anybody else, and if I do, I'm like, well, join me
if you want, But bro,you're out on your own right now.
Yeah, And like, now thistrip to Gaza has become like literally a
massive community effort. I mean likehundreds and hundreds and hundreds of people involved.
(15:50):
Now someone's doing a documentary on it, someone's doing this, Like I
found out today the most wonderful news. I had a clinical psychologist call me
and say I want to come withyou, And I was like, oh,
praise Jesus, because that's exactly whatI need, is like an actual
expert. I mean I'm not anexpert. I'm just some dude on TikTok.
(16:11):
So yeah, I oh, mygosh, having And I was talking
to her the other day and like, we just we just vibed. Yeah,
So I think we're gonna make areally good team. But I'm super
excited to have an actual expert comingwith people. Well, especially because look,
you know what you're going to gointo, it's a traumatic situation for
a lot. It's it's a littleit's a little hard to believe unless you
(16:34):
see it. I mean, Andto that point, thank god for social
media right now, because if leftup to media, Western media, we
would really not know what was happening, right, would not have the stories
yourself included because why they're trying toban it, m I know, I
mean, you know, because suddenlybeing a humanitarian is means you equates you
(16:57):
to terrorist support, which is ridiculousat at you know. And in fact
on that we connected because I sawthe videos that you were putting out and
they were getting you know, putbut I loved hearing you talk. But
one of them, the one thatreally stood at me was the one the
first one I saw actually was whenyou talked about the Pious Project humanitarian organization
(17:22):
and you shared that they were dealing, you know, they were just there
to help. They're not Humus,they're not the bad guys, right quote
unquote, Oh gosh, no,no, that is the organization I'm working
with right when I get there,and so but yeah, one of their
volunteer homes was bombed and people werekilled. It was horrific. And and
(17:45):
that's that's like Fahim was Fahim isthe president. He was telling me like,
you know, like that's that's theplace where you would be staying.
And it was like, wow,this is like so real, you know,
but yeah, that's what they're goingthrough like every day. Yeah,
well that's why I met you.Yeah you would have been Yeah that you
know, and that's a very crazysurreal thing of like a house is no
(18:07):
longer there that I could have beenstaying in and that you know, and
because yeah, because these missiles,they're not doing identity checks before they you
know, or they're not checking forpassports, they're not doing any of that.
And I'm not trying to make lightof a very difficult situation. It's
just it's the truth. Oh yeah, it's horrifying. I mean, yeah,
it's absolutely horrifying. They're massacring millionsof minutisns. They're going to keep
(18:32):
going and we have to get aceasefire or everybody's just gone. Sure.
It's on that note when people tellme, well, what can we do?
I can't do anything. I'm here. You can do something, you
can do something. Yeah. Ilove that. Yeah, because that's my
message too, Like listen, Ican't I can't go stop the ceasefire.
I can't do that. I can'tchange Joe Biden's mind. But what I
(18:56):
can do is like, like oneof the things I say in a lot
of my videos, it's kind ofbecome my cat phrase is like the prerequisite
for genocide wars is dehumanization, andso therefore the solution is humanization, and
we can all do that. Youcan just start to humanize each other.
We can start to like learn aboutone another. You know, we have
(19:18):
so much in common. Whether ourskin is a different color or our beliefs
are different, but so much incommon. Like, you know, I
have this Clapper group right now thatthere's almost seven hundred people from countries all
over the place. We're just chattingand people are actually learning about each other,
and they're going like, yeah,when I was little, like cooked
with my grandmother and we used tomake this recipe and then somebody else is
(19:41):
like, oh my gosh, Iused to cook with my grandmother. Right,
Like, we're sharing commonalities and that'swhat makes us human. And when
we do that, it's really damnhard to genicide each other. Yes,
agreed, Oh right, And sothat's what we can all work on right
now, is literally just humanizing eachother, because like that's the whole point
(20:03):
is like, let me take myWestern audience and like introduce them to you,
right, Like what if y'all didthat, Right if we just all
did that, we all went andmade a friend that was like a different
skin color than user from a differentcountry and introduce you know, we're starting
some stuff on my website. We'regoing to old school, We're doing something.
We're going to do pen pals again. Oh that's a great idea.
(20:27):
Yeah, Like we're going to doletters from the world where people can like
write letters the Palestinians. I'm gonnago on the trip, I'm gonna bring
in with me like things like that, Like these are things everyone can do
it no matter what their situation is. Every day, to just put more
humanization into the equation. I lovethat because I think right now you have.
(20:49):
You have so many people that havefeel like they're largely abandoned by society,
and you know, they're not there. They are being thought of and
they are cared for. And I'veseen so many of people. We just
want to reach through the screen andhug and protect and let them know.
You know, it's heartbreaking. Sodo you remember that there was this young
(21:10):
boy who was like shell shock atthe beginning of this. Yeah, yes,
we all know this boy. Hetouched our hearts, right and then
his name he's like just this shellshock boy. Well, of course we
know his name now. His nameis Mohammed, and I have a friend
who has been in contact with himand his father, and he's still alive.
(21:33):
He's doing well. He's like livingin a school. And so one
of the things that we're doing,we talked to the dad and dad they're
like, what can we do?What can we do? And you said,
what you could do is just justsend him some fun videos so that
he could watch them and just justtake a moment and smile and between the
bombs. So we're making all thesecompilation videos. I made mind today because
(21:57):
he loves cars and trucks. SoI went and found this like antique truck
and like did a video front forhim, and but like those are the
things that bring humanity and it's andit's so beautiful when we can all contribute
and just do those little things fromwherever we are, you know, so
some good news at least you knowit is. And you're right it does
(22:18):
because that little boy looks a lotlike my grandson. Oh, I mean,
that's the boy I started crying overas soon as I saw. I
was like, oh my gosh,like I've got to go there and like
hug one of these kids, likeah, and my grandson loves trucks and
he loves you know. So whenyou say that, all House sends you
the truck video too, and youcan jo. I think it's so important
(22:41):
and how beautiful that we can wecan do those things. So you're you're
not a filmmaker, but I lovethat you're kind of getting involved. I
know that other people have reached outand for you to be on the ground
and document, you're bringing up somethingthat is very very important. I think
that even right now, while uh, you know, we have oh my
gosh, Bisan Motaz, you know, we have these people and what they're
(23:03):
capturing so many heroes, heroes andas well documentarians in these moments. Definitely,
because with that we can humanize,and with that we can hopefully refute
any denial of what is actually happeningto these people, right because you get
a lot that say, oh,well that's staged or oh that's not real,
(23:26):
and no, it's very real.How do you hope to show up?
I mean, I know you're flyinginto Egypt. First, you're going
to Cairo, your head is sobasically, we're staging in Cairo, and
we had an apartment donated to usthere by a supporter, and so we've
got we've got a month to getinto Gaza. And basically what that entails
(23:48):
is we have to get across theSuez Canal border of course, right and
then be able to get to Rafaand then and then get across the Gaza
border. So right now, bothof those borders are pretty much impossible because
all of the AID is staging inRafa and so they're not just letting normal
(24:11):
people in there anymore. But youcan't show up with your backpack and your
passport and say hey, I wantto get in there. I've had people
offer to sneak me in. I'mlike, now, man, I'm doing
this like the legit way. I'mworking with organizations on the ground. Yeah,
I know better than that. Butbasically what's going to happen is the
ceasefire will come, they'll open theGaza border, and the humanitarian all these
(24:37):
trucks that are staged we'll get inthere, and then they'll open the Sue's
Canal border and then normal people willbe able to get across. And so
I'm waiting for that day. Butbasically I'm just staging in Cairo until I
can get across there now. Andthe thing is like there are so many
stories just in Cairo, as I'vediscovered. I didn't know this before I
(24:57):
started, you know, planning thistrip. I'm learning, you know,
like all these people. But nowI'm doing all these like meetups in Cairo.
I've got I don't know, overone hundred people in Cairo that I'm
meeting with and so, and there'ssuch a deep history there between that that
region in Egypt and Gaza, andthere's so there's so many Palestinians there.
(25:18):
I mean, these are their familyand friends that this is happening too,
right, Yeah, So We'll haveplenty of stories to tell, and that's
really just my goal. My goalis just together and love people and listen
to their stories and tell them tothe world. And you're still doing more
than you know, a lot ofother people are able to do right now,
whether because they can or because theydon't want to. But I think
(25:40):
that it's still incredible, and youknow, to touch on your point,
you're absolutely right. I mean,through this season, a lot of people
are learning about my own background andmy my you know, and I know
I will jokingly say this again myex husband, I'm not like we're not
best friends, you know, obviouslyhe's an ex, but but actually what
we've gone through in our life,I actually don't Rea gret I love our
children. He was born in Cairoas the result of being born Palestinian with
(26:06):
no country. His dad. Hisdad was you know, a refugee.
His dad was in Cairo actually attendingthe which at that time was the most
prestigious medical university in the world forthe Arab world. So his dad attended
the Cairo Medical University and then theyeventually moved to the UAE. But you
know, for a long he hadno country, and yeah, and to
(26:29):
your point, yes, there area lot of Palestinians there as a results
of that. Yeah, so it'syou know, you don't and we don't
understand that in the West, likeyour typical American or your typical brit Or
whatever. We don't. We don'tunderstand those things. We didn't understand those
nuances, you know, just likeoh, yeah, there's Egypt, there's
Israel. That's it. We don'tunderstand much more than that. So these
(26:51):
stories are very important to get outbecause it helps us to spell our ignorances.
Yeah. No, one thousand percent, and I mean no. When
we would go through customs, Iremember they say you were so you're Egyptian,
right, because they automatically see youwere born. It's not like in
America, Oh you're born in America. Oh you're American, right, But
you go in your Middle Eastern Arabspecifically a Palestinian, you're in no country
(27:14):
that's your own. You're probably bornsomewhere else. And so then they're like,
oh, you're Egyptian. He's likeno, But you know, we
didn't want to get searched, sowe would just kind of go with it
at times, right, you know, Yeah, I mean how horrible that
people have to undergo that, andyou know that that's been actually a source
of struggle for me in this wholething. Is like because my voice is
(27:36):
started to be repressed on social mediabecause I'm standing off for this and honestly,
it's the first time that's ever happenedto me in my white life.
M It's like, wow, thisis a little bit of an awakening right
right, And it's like, oh, well, maybe you're starting to finally
understand like what all these people,like, like, I feel so guilty
(28:00):
that like my my voice is beingheard right now really just because I'm a
white guy from America, Like thePalestinians have been saying the same thing for
seventy five years and nobody's listening tothem. Yeah, it's like it's not
fair. But at the same time, you're like, well, I should
probably use this privilege to keep shouting. And that's very That's that's the key.
(28:22):
That's what we're doing right here.That's why we're you know, I
mean, it's yes, shouting andsaying you know that this isn't right and
recognizing that not right with regards toyour trip, you know, I know
you say you kind of don't youhave certain expectations you don't or not many.
You just want to be there.But you know, how are you
preparing yourself for a trip like this? Are you you know mentally, you
know, physically, Like, howare you preparing yourself for this? When
(28:45):
I'm in a stagnant situation like Iam right now, I feel like just
kind of lethargic, and I kindof can't wait for the next adventure to
tell you the truth. And sofrom a minute I like book this.
I was like like, I'm justI'm stoked and I'm completely ready, and
(29:06):
it's like it's rejuvenating to me,Like I have a love affair with travel.
Yeah, yeah, I do too, use my mistress. I just
I made a video about that.It was like a love letter to travel.
I don't know. It does somethingto my soul. It rejuvenates me.
So no, I'm like totally ready. Man, I can't wait.
(29:30):
I'm just planning and fielding calls.Honestly, I keep getting calls from It's
growing and growing and growing. Morepeople are becoming involved. It's becoming a
big organization, and that's a lotof work for me. Honestly, I
can't wait till it's over and Ican just be on the ground, right.
It takes a certain type of personto run towards the danger that a
(29:51):
lot of people are trying to getout of it. And it's interesting because
even when I was interviewed by themedia in two thousand and six in regards
to the conflict that my own familywas caught in, there's a moment in
the interview and I'm just kind of, you know, pleaing to media like,
can you guys, can you canAmerica make a safe ruit? And
I heard another person say that theother day on the news, and it
was interesting because it's almost a youknow, now, when I look back,
(30:14):
I almost feel a bit selfish,can you make a root for Americans
to get out? And then Iand I kind of pause because I said,
or people that don't want to bethere? And I just so distinctly
remember thinking in my head, nobodywants to be caught up in this,
right, like nobody, And soit does take a special type of person
to say, you know, Imean, I know that there was a
woman, she's a Christian living inRamaala, and she was experiencing increased violence
(30:40):
and she said, I got toget out of here. I have my
kids. She messaged me that herhusband is still there. She feels quite
guilty because they have olive trees andshe's taking but she had to leave to
Malawi because she just for peace andsafety and she's yeah, so to It
does take a special person to goand say, you know, I'm I'm
bold enough, I'm not afraid,and that speaks volumes about your character.
(31:06):
I'll tell you the truth. Like, and people keep telling me that they're
like, Quinn, You're so bravewhen you're this, like, listen,
I mean, the reality of thesituation is that I've been doing this for
a long time. My first internationaltrip was in let's see, I think
ninety one, and I went toHaiti and I get stuck in a coup
while I was there. So I'vebeen around a little bit. Yeah,
(31:30):
and I'm old enough and wise enoughto make good contacts on the ground,
Like I've done my research, likeyou know, I know what I'm doing.
I've got all sorts of contacts allover and I'm beholden to those people
when I come in country. Okay, they're the locals, they're the experts,
and listen. As bad as itis, Nobody wants the white guy
(31:52):
to die, right, This isthe fact of the matter. Nobody wants
the white guy to die, especiallywhen he's filming everything. So I'm I'm
working with these contacts. I'm listeningto their expertise. Uh and and I'm
vetting all of them. And I'vebeen doing that for years, so I
know how to do it. SoI'm honestly not in any danger at all
(32:15):
at all. Like they're not goingto let me in if there's danger,
right, right, you know,like I'm not getting into Gaza until the
ceasefire has started. Period. There'sno pot There's just no way, right
unless the press pass and then Iget one of the blue vests and shit,
then I could get killed. That'sunlikely. I'm not laughing because I
(32:35):
want that to happen. That's notI just you know, I I know
we have to joke about these things. We do. We have to,
you know, we have to smileand laugh because in the tragedy, that's
the only thing that makes it evensomewhat palatable. This is not specific to
Islamic faith. I want to makesure that this is clear. It's very
just traditional with Arabs. When youknow, when my friends call me up
and say how are you? Itcould be my worst day and I'm still
(32:58):
going to say haimdela. I'm stillgonna say thanks to God. You know,
everything has fallen apart. But Ijust learned what that meant today and
I'm so excited by I love it. Yeah and I and then I had
to research, like, wait,is it okay for somebody is not Muslim
to say it because I just findit such a joyous Yeah. Absolutely,
because all it is is it's justsaying thanks to God in a different language.
(33:21):
That's what it is. You know, in the midst of what we've
seen with the Palestinians, despite theterror and the loss of life and the
trauma, they will still say amdolillalike it's you know, and you can't
help but admire. Now you seethe spirit of them and it's just,
oh my gosh, it's it's yeah, that's what makes us love them so
(33:44):
much, Like, yeah, thatspirit agreed. There's a book, great
book out there, from Babe toJerusalem. If anybody reads. It's a
New York Times bestseller. He wasraised in Michigan and and very relevant to
what we're seeing right now because hewas raised in Michigan with like that very
I'm Jewish, and he had allthese ideas and then he was a news
correspondent and he was assigned to Beirutin the nineteen eighties and he it's just
(34:10):
such to this day, there's yeah, to this day, there's parts of
that that book that I will stillweep when I read. Thank you for
sharing that. I'm I'm a voraciousreader. Oh you'll love that book.
So listen, we are so excitedto you know, follow your journey continue.
I'm grateful to have had this conversationwith you and you know all the
(34:31):
things. That's so nice getting toknow you. You have a wonderful heart
and mind. Really, this hasbeen a good conversation. Back to Arabic,
back to Arabic ioniq helloueen, whichmeans you see the beauty of my
soul because of the beauty in yourown. It's a beautiful thing to speak
more than one language. And whenI go to foreign countries and talking to
(34:53):
that point where you say about itdispels your own ignorance section when you go
to foreign countries and you're suddenly feelingwhat it's like to be in a room
where everybody else is speaking a languagedifferent than you, and suddenly you're the
minority. Right, that's a wakeup call, ie opening, Oh my
gosh, yes, yes, andyou feel a sense of empathy for what
the other person is going through withthey anywhere. I enrolled out the most
(35:15):
when I lived in Thailand because Ijust had no idea what they were saying.
Yeah, that's I I could kindof get a gist at least,
and I, you know, Ineed some you know, I knew Spanish
and French and stuff, so butti I was lost right right, Well,
thank you so much listening for ourlistening audience as well as you know,
(35:37):
the ones who are watching. Go. You know, what is the
website? What is the way?Where do you want to direct people to
support you, to keep in touchwith you and keep an eye on what
you're doing. Thank you yeah forsaying that the best way is through my
website quinn Eskimo rocks dot com.I do have an email list where I
send updates as well, and I'mbasically on all social media platforms. The
(36:00):
the place to find my footage fromGaza though, and you'll see this on
my website is going to be theClapper app, which is more of like
a new kind of app, butthey personally contacted me and they're like,
we want to see the real shitand we won't take it down. Wow,
I'm actually writing that down. Ineed to get on that app.
I want, like, not onlythat, like two of the executives are
(36:22):
actually arriving here at my house thisweekend, and they're bringing me recording equipment
right right, Like They're so supportiveand they want the total truth, like
unadulterated, and so that's where I'mgoing to be doing my live streaming.
I get shut down on TikTok orInstagram. Yeah, they shut everything down
(36:46):
there, so I have to bevery careful there. Wow. But Clapper
app, it's raw. Good toknow, good to know. Well,
thank you so much. We wishyou so much, you know, to
take take our hearts in prayer andtake our you know, our will with
you and we'll definitely see you onthe other side of that. Sounds good.
(37:07):
It's been an honor, thanks somuch. Thank you so much.
QUIDN. To everyone at home,I want to say thank you as we
continue these conversations. We appreciate youand just you know, support these amazing
individuals. They are doing incredible things, and in closing really quick, I
just want to string onto that wonderfulpart of our conversation that really focuses on
(37:28):
what divides us as an illusion.There is nothing that is a reason or
justification for what we're seeing today.So if you can really believe that in
your heart and your mind and yoursoul, then I do believe that we
will begin to see the progress weneed to continue to make a difference and
to continue helping innocent people around theworld. You know, if we can
(37:51):
do this, there's so many there'sobviously much suffering in the world, but
right now, obviously this is acrisis. We all should be concerned because
we don't. If it can happento them, it could happen to us.
So with that, thank you somuch for your time, your energy.
Be a light in the world.Do not give up, do not
lose hope, and thank you forletting us be on sugarcoated Take care
From Ubin Studios. You're listening toUnsugarcoted with Alia, bringing you interviews with
public figures and inspirational people speaking onself improvement with empowered themes, and I'm
your host, Ali Elaneus. Hello, Hello, Hello to everyone around the
world. So happy to be backhere with another episode of Unsugarcoated with Alia.
(00:24):
Is you know this is a veryspecial season for us. It is
heartfelt, it is sincere, itis genuine, and of course that is
why our season theme is from LosAngeles to Gaza, a plea for humanity.
In that theme, we continue tohave conversations with incredible individuals from around
the world. We've spoken to London, We've spoken to New York, we
(00:44):
have more people coming up. Letme move forward by starting with this.
In denying the injustice suffered by theinnocent, one's heart grows callous and the
light of empathy dims. I saythat because, over the course of a
lot of the conversations that are beingand have been had well for some including
myself since nineteen ninety nine, butespecially since October seventh, I've seen a
(01:07):
lot of people that want to argueaway reasons why genocidea is okay or mask,
you know, casualties of people thathave nothing to do with the conflict
taking place. It's never okay.And in trying to advocate a belief that
people have, I notice that they'rejust I feel badly for them, because
(01:29):
honestly, I see that their hearts, this ability to be empathetic towards another
person, no matter what, it'sjust going away. And that seriously concerns
me, and it should concern youif you're if you're a person who's seen
that, or maybe you're doing it. You know, I would caution you
to remember, our empathy is whatkeeps us connected, and it makes us
(01:49):
very special in that sense. It'ssomething that I value and it's something that
I hold dear, and you know, in these conversations, I want to
reiterate that I'm not here to sayJews are bad people. They're not.
I have amazing Jewishness, really friendsin my community, in my family,
in my you know, just inmy world. And I have stories that
(02:14):
I could sit here and tell youall day long about these incredible experiences.
So it pains me that we areseeing an increase in violence towards both Jews
and Muslims, or people that youknow, people perceive as being Middle Eastern,
which mind you remember, just justa note, not all Palestinians are
Muslim. But because of what peopleoften get become caught up in their emotions,
(02:38):
we're just seeing that they target peoplethat they consider a threat and that's
dangerous. So education is key,and that's why what we're doing. What
I'm doing is you know, whatI do as a social impact producer,
and putting out these stories and amplifyingthese voices is why I get up every
(02:58):
day. Genuinely, all the amazingthings that we do, this is my
favorite. And you know, alsoconsidering what would you do if it was
happening to you? My mom,you know, of all the things my
family taught me that I do reallyappreciate, I was taught at such a
young age to say, to considerwhat would I feel if it was happening
to me? Or you know,even my mom would say, you never
(03:20):
know what someone else is going through. Maybe that would explain why they're doing
what they're doing. But you know, in any case, if we can
justify the killing of any children forany reason, we can justify anything,
and in that moment, we've losthumanity. Ladies and gentlemen, and I
don't want to be there, andI really hope that if you're listening to
(03:42):
this show, you don't want tobe there either. Even if there was
a cease fire today, it isonly the beginning. Thousands are daily at
risk for death in this moment,and they will continue to die or suffer
because of health complications, not beingable to get medication that would reduce their
risk of infection or even proper healthcare. Infrastructure will need to be rebuilt,
(04:03):
though it's highly unlikely that the Israeligovernment will actually want to give anybody back
their land. This is, youknow, which is another flagrant violation of
international law. Who's going to standup for the Palestinians. Who's going to
stand and help them? There's manypeople who will not enough I would agree
at this, but I am stillinspired and given such hope when I see
(04:27):
that it is happening. And oneof the people that we're going to talk
to today is somebody who's you know, American and has his own story,
but he is actually traveling to Gazain the coming days to be on the
ground ready to help as soon ashe can. And I think, honestly,
I mean he's doing something that Iknow I want to do. If
(04:48):
I could, you know, leavemy kids right now and my husband,
I would absolutely be on the shadowof a doubt head to Gaza and I
would be there because homes will needto be build, orphanages unfortunately, will
need to be built for the massiveamount of children, and that matters.
So with that, I want tobring this person to you. Quinn is
(05:10):
a full time digital slow mad whohas been traveling around the world for at
least three years. He's lived ineight different countries and enjoyed meeting new friends,
learning about their stories, and thenbringing them back to the world of
TikTok. He's the father of eightchildren, plays eleven different instruments, and
recently completed his first book, EightWays to Be Happy. Quinn's passion for
(05:33):
humanity, his hunger for learning andgrowth, and his simple way of breaking
down complex scenarios, all with adisarming smile, who have brought his videos
to millions of beautiful humans all overthe world. Today, He's going to
do it for us. Ladies andgentlemen. Please welcome Quinn standing Ovation.
(05:57):
For you, my friends, standingOvation, I was in joining that applause
and your like monologue beforehand was likeamazing, Gosh, I'm I'm torn in
two. It was so nice.Really, I was taking notes, look
like, I was literally taking notes. You're so good. I appreciate it.
Honored to be here. We arereally honored to have you. So,
(06:19):
you know, on on social mediayou are known as Quinn the eskimos
In the Eskimo, Quinn the Eskimo. Well, first of all, we
have to start off just with that, you know, we want people to
get to know you. So wheredid Quinn the Eskimo come from? All
right? So basically I'm going togive you this short story here because we're
on a time limit. But basically, I was the father of eight children.
(06:39):
Well I still am, actually they'reall still here. But basically,
my wife developed mental illness about tenyears into our marriage and then I basically
just raised my kids as a singleback. And now that they're off on
their own, well you know,three or four years ago, you know,
they're off on their own, andI'm like, well what do I
do now? All I've ever doneis, you know, been a dad.
(07:02):
And so I was like sitting onthis beach in Florida, the most
beautiful location in the world Anna MarieIsland, Florida, and I said,
you know Quinn. Well, Isaid you know John because that was my
name at the time and still leakallyis what do you want to do with
your life? Like now you havethis window, like your kids don't need
(07:25):
you anymore, but you don't haveany grandkids yet. What do you want
to do? Man like? AndI remembered this song from when I was
a kid that I love called Quinnwhat was called the Mighty Quinn. I
always called it Quinn the Eskimo.There was this really interesting song by Bob
Dylan. Look it up and itbasically was like about this mythical guy named
Quinn the Eskimo and all of theselike towns people were growing through like their
(07:49):
regular day and they were like butthey were like joyful because they were like,
wait, when Quinn the Eskimo getshere, everything's going to be okay,
right, And I was like,that is the motherfucker I want to
be. I like it. Ijust want to be somebody who brings joy
to other people, like before I'meven there. Yeah, oh, I
(08:09):
love that. I took the nameQuinn uh and then I got I got
on TikTok and uh started documenting mytravels and so I used the name Quinn
the eskimout and that's really how itYeah, that's how it all started.
So and I love that and Ilove it, you know. Yeah,
that's that is the That is them f H you want to be.
(08:31):
You come up in there and say, you know, give people a reason
to smile, I mean, justlove on people. Yeah, so you
travel the world for three and ahalf years. And by the way,
dad of eight incredible. I'm adad. I mean, I'm a mother
of four. Because I'm a motherof four and I can identify, however,
identify as tired. And I'm kidding. I will say for sure eight
(08:54):
that's eight is enough, right,Yeah, definitely for the people that don't
know that you don't know, butfor us, we know it is enough.
What you know? What inspired you? You know? I what were
some of the countries that you livedin? What were your experiences? Yeah?
(09:16):
Yeah, man, that's that's agreat question. Actually, I love
that question. Basically, here's whathappened. Like I was living in Florida
and I was I was with agirlfriend at the time, and I was
sitting there looking at like Airbnb,like just around the world. Just I'm
a dreamer, man, It's justyou know, I'm a dreamer. And
so and I was looking and Iwas like, wow, like, we're
(09:39):
paying eighteen hundred dollars a month rightnow for this like apartment that's like yeah,
it's really close to the beach,it's very beautiful, but eighteen hundred
bucks a month, you know.Gotlye uh. And I found this like
beautiful like jungle like paradise in CostaRica. It was like seven hundred and
(10:00):
fifty bucks a month and it includedWi Fi like everything, like no extras,
And I was like, wait,why don't we just go live there?
Right? Yeah. Now, bythe time we got around to planning
it, the Costa Rica wasn't reallylike the place to go. But we
got a beautiful five bedroom house inAndalusia's Spain for seven hundred and fifty dollars
(10:22):
a month. Oh wow yeah yeah. So we just went and lived there.
It was awesome. And then fromthere we're like, wow, we
could go We'd go to somewhere else. So we went to Portugal. We
get a house for five hundred bucksa month, and then from there we
started to get kind of like cold. It was starting to get cold,
(10:43):
and we're like, we love thebeach, and so we thought, well
we could go anywhere at this point, and like, let's go to the
other hemisphere, and so we wentto South Africa. Wow. But I
did eventually go to Costa Rica andI loved it. Those are my people
with a vita may Gosh. Itwas wonderful. So yeah, but that's
(11:03):
basically my life. I've just beenlike touring around. And the funny thing
is like, so when I gothere, I make TikTok videos, right,
and you know, I'm not atech guy, man, I'm like,
I'm a digital immigrant, right,Like I grew up in the eighties.
We were riding big wheels, right. We weren't playing with cell phones.
It was like, you know,go out and play until you know
dark, and then come home whenthe street lights are off, drink out
(11:24):
of the water hoose that kind ofcrap. So, you know, this
is all new to me. Buthere I'm trying to document everything on TikTok
and so I don't understand this.But when I go to a foreign country,
all of a sudden, I'm onthe FYP in that foreign country,
and so the craziest thing is like, so I've been pretty famous in two
(11:45):
countries now so far, both CostaRica and South Africa. Like literally where
I worked on the street and peoplerecognize me. Wow. And I've met
so many locals that way, andthey're so hospitable, like, oh my
gosh, they welcome you into theirhomes, like Quinn come and learn about
like in this Muslim neighborhood in CapeTown, South Africa, right next to
one of the mosques, and itwas like, oh my gosh, like
(12:07):
such an eye opening experience. Andit's just like people they were my neighbors,
and they're laughing at me because they'relike, yeah, we see you
a TikTok quid. Like you know, one of the things I consistently tell
people is no matter where you goin the world, if you sat down
with the family and went into theirhouse, you're going to hear the same
dreams believes. You know, youjust want just want their kids to have
a good life, just want tohave a good life for themselves, you
(12:30):
know, and your experience less incommon, you know. Yeah, And
and what and what travel has donefor me is it has helped me dispelled
my ignorances. You know, Ihave to admit, you know, like
listen, when I was born,they didn't give me a checklist. You
know. It wasn't like I'll takewhite guy Christian America. Like, no,
(12:54):
I was just randomly placed here,just like a Palestinian was randomly placed
in Gossa right or whatever. Right, like it's random geography. And so
I think that we grow up inthe environment that we're in, and of
course we have ignorances towards anybody that'sdifferent than us. Do you know why
I'm going to Gaza? Seriously,we're going to get into that for sure,
(13:16):
But go ahead and tell us.I will tell you, like I
got this. So I got thiscomment on TikTok because I started speaking my
mind about this and this guy saidsomething to the effect of like, oh,
go ahead and go there. Thenyou know, like they'll kill you
within an hour, you dummy orsomething right Like I was like, bro,
(13:39):
like you've probably never left your county. And so I made this video
and I said, I showed hiscomment on TikTok and I said, is
this true? My Arab brothers andsisters, let's educate this man. And
that video, Oh my gosh.I mean, just tens of thousands of
(14:03):
people. And I was like,you know, maybe I should just go
to Gaza. God. I lovethat. I need to show these Western
people to stop being afraid. AndI have literally had the most beautiful offers,
like I had a deed from CostaRica. Contact me, buddy,
(14:24):
I met on take touch other It'slike, come and stay in my house
like it's empty, it's beautiful house. I was, and I was like,
oh God, that would be sonice. But I just didn't feel
it in my heart. I waslike, no, I'm supposed to leave
this open, and I didn't knowwhy. And then this whole thing happened,
and now I know why. I'mjust supposed to get to Gaza.
(14:46):
Yeah. And as a result,I mean, there's there's many things.
Look, with all the tragedy that'shappening today, there are silver linings.
Right. You heard my mother's quotethat I really need to get from her
in Spanish, that Spanish saying thatunfortunately, thankfully you know, out of
America, for bad that a gooddoesn't come. And I feel like for
people like yourself, the good thatcomes is the relationships. You know.
(15:07):
Yes, there's all those negative there'sthe guy who said go to Gaza.
But then there's just these this thisoutpouring of love and connections because I never
worry too much about the people thatare not part of my tribe. I
worry about the people that I haveprid of my tribe. Those are the
people I do either. Yeah youknow, so you yeah, these are
the way that communities are built.And you know that's one of the things
(15:28):
that like, like, I'm asolo traveler. I very rarely travel with
anybody else, and if I do, I'm like, well, join me
if you want, But bro,you're out on your own right now.
Yeah, And like, now thistrip to Gaza has become like literally a
massive community effort. I mean likehundreds and hundreds and hundreds of people involved.
(15:50):
Now someone's doing a documentary on it, someone's doing this, Like I
found out today the most wonderful news. I had a clinical psychologist call me
and say I want to come withyou, And I was like, oh,
praise Jesus, because that's exactly whatI need, is like an actual
expert. I mean I'm not anexpert. I'm just some dude on TikTok.
(16:11):
So yeah, I oh, mygosh, having And I was talking
to her the other day and like, we just we just vibed. Yeah,
So I think we're gonna make areally good team. But I'm super
excited to have an actual expert comingwith people. Well, especially because look,
you know what you're going to gointo, it's a traumatic situation for
a lot. It's it's a littleit's a little hard to believe unless you
(16:34):
see it. I mean, Andto that point, thank god for social
media right now, because if leftup to media, Western media, we
would really not know what was happening, right, would not have the stories
yourself included because why they're trying toban it, m I know, I
mean, you know, because suddenlybeing a humanitarian is means you equates you
(16:57):
to terrorist support, which is ridiculousat at you know. And in fact
on that we connected because I sawthe videos that you were putting out and
they were getting you know, putbut I loved hearing you talk. But
one of them, the one thatreally stood at me was the one the
first one I saw actually was whenyou talked about the Pious Project humanitarian organization
(17:22):
and you shared that they were dealing, you know, they were just there
to help. They're not Humus,they're not the bad guys, right quote
unquote, Oh gosh, no,no, that is the organization I'm working
with right when I get there,and so but yeah, one of their
volunteer homes was bombed and people werekilled. It was horrific. And and
(17:45):
that's that's like Fahim was Fahim isthe president. He was telling me like,
you know, like that's that's theplace where you would be staying.
And it was like, wow,this is like so real, you know,
but yeah, that's what they're goingthrough like every day. Yeah,
well that's why I met you.Yeah you would have been Yeah that you
know, and that's a very crazysurreal thing of like a house is no
(18:07):
longer there that I could have beenstaying in and that you know, and
because yeah, because these missiles,they're not doing identity checks before they you
know, or they're not checking forpassports, they're not doing any of that.
And I'm not trying to make lightof a very difficult situation. It's
just it's the truth. Oh yeah, it's horrifying. I mean, yeah,
it's absolutely horrifying. They're massacring millionsof minutisns. They're going to keep
(18:32):
going and we have to get aceasefire or everybody's just gone. Sure.
It's on that note when people tellme, well, what can we do?
I can't do anything. I'm here. You can do something, you
can do something. Yeah. Ilove that. Yeah, because that's my
message too, Like listen, Ican't I can't go stop the ceasefire.
I can't do that. I can'tchange Joe Biden's mind. But what I
(18:56):
can do is like, like oneof the things I say in a lot
of my videos, it's kind ofbecome my cat phrase is like the prerequisite
for genocide wars is dehumanization, andso therefore the solution is humanization, and
we can all do that. Youcan just start to humanize each other.
We can start to like learn aboutone another. You know, we have
(19:18):
so much in common. Whether ourskin is a different color or our beliefs
are different, but so much incommon. Like, you know, I
have this Clapper group right now thatthere's almost seven hundred people from countries all
over the place. We're just chattingand people are actually learning about each other,
and they're going like, yeah,when I was little, like cooked
with my grandmother and we used tomake this recipe and then somebody else is
(19:41):
like, oh my gosh, Iused to cook with my grandmother. Right,
Like, we're sharing commonalities and that'swhat makes us human. And when
we do that, it's really damnhard to genicide each other. Yes,
agreed, Oh right, And sothat's what we can all work on right
now, is literally just humanizing eachother, because like that's the whole point
(20:03):
is like, let me take myWestern audience and like introduce them to you,
right, Like what if y'all didthat, Right if we just all
did that, we all went andmade a friend that was like a different
skin color than user from a differentcountry and introduce you know, we're starting
some stuff on my website. We'regoing to old school, We're doing something.
We're going to do pen pals again. Oh that's a great idea.
(20:27):
Yeah, Like we're going to doletters from the world where people can like
write letters the Palestinians. I'm gonnago on the trip, I'm gonna bring
in with me like things like that, Like these are things everyone can do
it no matter what their situation is. Every day, to just put more
humanization into the equation. I lovethat because I think right now you have.
(20:49):
You have so many people that havefeel like they're largely abandoned by society,
and you know, they're not there. They are being thought of and
they are cared for. And I'veseen so many of people. We just
want to reach through the screen andhug and protect and let them know.
You know, it's heartbreaking. Sodo you remember that there was this young
(21:10):
boy who was like shell shock atthe beginning of this. Yeah, yes,
we all know this boy. Hetouched our hearts, right and then
his name he's like just this shellshock boy. Well, of course we
know his name now. His nameis Mohammed, and I have a friend
who has been in contact with himand his father, and he's still alive.
(21:33):
He's doing well. He's like livingin a school. And so one
of the things that we're doing,we talked to the dad and dad they're
like, what can we do?What can we do? And you said,
what you could do is just justsend him some fun videos so that
he could watch them and just justtake a moment and smile and between the
bombs. So we're making all thesecompilation videos. I made mind today because
(21:57):
he loves cars and trucks. SoI went and found this like antique truck
and like did a video front forhim, and but like those are the
things that bring humanity and it's andit's so beautiful when we can all contribute
and just do those little things fromwherever we are, you know, so
some good news at least you knowit is. And you're right it does
(22:18):
because that little boy looks a lotlike my grandson. Oh, I mean,
that's the boy I started crying overas soon as I saw. I
was like, oh my gosh,like I've got to go there and like
hug one of these kids, likeah, and my grandson loves trucks and
he loves you know. So whenyou say that, all House sends you
the truck video too, and youcan jo. I think it's so important
(22:41):
and how beautiful that we can wecan do those things. So you're you're
not a filmmaker, but I lovethat you're kind of getting involved. I
know that other people have reached outand for you to be on the ground
and document, you're bringing up somethingthat is very very important. I think
that even right now, while uh, you know, we have oh my
gosh, Bisan Motaz, you know, we have these people and what they're
(23:03):
capturing so many heroes, heroes andas well documentarians in these moments. Definitely,
because with that we can humanize,and with that we can hopefully refute
any denial of what is actually happeningto these people, right because you get
a lot that say, oh,well that's staged or oh that's not real,
(23:26):
and no, it's very real.How do you hope to show up?
I mean, I know you're flyinginto Egypt. First, you're going
to Cairo, your head is sobasically, we're staging in Cairo, and
we had an apartment donated to usthere by a supporter, and so we've
got we've got a month to getinto Gaza. And basically what that entails
(23:48):
is we have to get across theSuez Canal border of course, right and
then be able to get to Rafaand then and then get across the Gaza
border. So right now, bothof those borders are pretty much impossible because
all of the AID is staging inRafa and so they're not just letting normal
(24:11):
people in there anymore. But youcan't show up with your backpack and your
passport and say hey, I wantto get in there. I've had people
offer to sneak me in. I'mlike, now, man, I'm doing
this like the legit way. I'mworking with organizations on the ground. Yeah,
I know better than that. Butbasically what's going to happen is the
ceasefire will come, they'll open theGaza border, and the humanitarian all these
(24:37):
trucks that are staged we'll get inthere, and then they'll open the Sue's
Canal border and then normal people willbe able to get across. And so
I'm waiting for that day. Butbasically I'm just staging in Cairo until I
can get across there now. Andthe thing is like there are so many
stories just in Cairo, as I'vediscovered. I didn't know this before I
(24:57):
started, you know, planning thistrip. I'm learning, you know,
like all these people. But nowI'm doing all these like meetups in Cairo.
I've got I don't know, overone hundred people in Cairo that I'm
meeting with and so, and there'ssuch a deep history there between that that
region in Egypt and Gaza, andthere's so there's so many Palestinians there.
(25:18):
I mean, these are their familyand friends that this is happening too,
right, Yeah, So We'll haveplenty of stories to tell, and that's
really just my goal. My goalis just together and love people and listen
to their stories and tell them tothe world. And you're still doing more
than you know, a lot ofother people are able to do right now,
whether because they can or because theydon't want to. But I think
(25:40):
that it's still incredible, and youknow, to touch on your point,
you're absolutely right. I mean,through this season, a lot of people
are learning about my own background andmy my you know, and I know
I will jokingly say this again myex husband, I'm not like we're not
best friends, you know, obviouslyhe's an ex, but but actually what
we've gone through in our life,I actually don't Rea gret I love our
children. He was born in Cairoas the result of being born Palestinian with
(26:06):
no country. His dad. Hisdad was you know, a refugee.
His dad was in Cairo actually attendingthe which at that time was the most
prestigious medical university in the world forthe Arab world. So his dad attended
the Cairo Medical University and then theyeventually moved to the UAE. But you
know, for a long he hadno country, and yeah, and to
(26:29):
your point, yes, there area lot of Palestinians there as a results
of that. Yeah, so it'syou know, you don't and we don't
understand that in the West, likeyour typical American or your typical brit Or
whatever. We don't. We don'tunderstand those things. We didn't understand those
nuances, you know, just likeoh, yeah, there's Egypt, there's
Israel. That's it. We don'tunderstand much more than that. So these
(26:51):
stories are very important to get outbecause it helps us to spell our ignorances.
Yeah. No, one thousand percent, and I mean no. When
we would go through customs, Iremember they say you were so you're Egyptian,
right, because they automatically see youwere born. It's not like in
America, Oh you're born in America. Oh you're American, right, But
you go in your Middle Eastern Arabspecifically a Palestinian, you're in no country
(27:14):
that's your own. You're probably bornsomewhere else. And so then they're like,
oh, you're Egyptian. He's likeno, But you know, we
didn't want to get searched, sowe would just kind of go with it
at times, right, you know, Yeah, I mean how horrible that
people have to undergo that, andyou know that that's been actually a source
of struggle for me in this wholething. Is like because my voice is
(27:36):
started to be repressed on social mediabecause I'm standing off for this and honestly,
it's the first time that's ever happenedto me in my white life.
M It's like, wow, thisis a little bit of an awakening right
right, And it's like, oh, well, maybe you're starting to finally
understand like what all these people,like, like, I feel so guilty
(28:00):
that like my my voice is beingheard right now really just because I'm a
white guy from America, Like thePalestinians have been saying the same thing for
seventy five years and nobody's listening tothem. Yeah, it's like it's not
fair. But at the same time, you're like, well, I should
probably use this privilege to keep shouting. And that's very That's that's the key.
(28:22):
That's what we're doing right here.That's why we're you know, I
mean, it's yes, shouting andsaying you know that this isn't right and
recognizing that not right with regards toyour trip, you know, I know
you say you kind of don't youhave certain expectations you don't or not many.
You just want to be there.But you know, how are you
preparing yourself for a trip like this? Are you you know mentally, you
know, physically, Like, howare you preparing yourself for this? When
(28:45):
I'm in a stagnant situation like Iam right now, I feel like just
kind of lethargic, and I kindof can't wait for the next adventure to
tell you the truth. And sofrom a minute I like book this.
I was like like, I'm justI'm stoked and I'm completely ready, and
(29:06):
it's like it's rejuvenating to me,Like I have a love affair with travel.
Yeah, yeah, I do too, use my mistress. I just
I made a video about that.It was like a love letter to travel.
I don't know. It does somethingto my soul. It rejuvenates me.
So no, I'm like totally ready. Man, I can't wait.
(29:30):
I'm just planning and fielding calls.Honestly, I keep getting calls from It's
growing and growing and growing. Morepeople are becoming involved. It's becoming a
big organization, and that's a lotof work for me. Honestly, I
can't wait till it's over and Ican just be on the ground, right.
It takes a certain type of personto run towards the danger that a
(29:51):
lot of people are trying to getout of it. And it's interesting because
even when I was interviewed by themedia in two thousand and six in regards
to the conflict that my own familywas caught in, there's a moment in
the interview and I'm just kind of, you know, pleaing to media like,
can you guys, can you canAmerica make a safe ruit? And
I heard another person say that theother day on the news, and it
was interesting because it's almost a youknow, now, when I look back,
(30:14):
I almost feel a bit selfish,can you make a root for Americans
to get out? And then Iand I kind of pause because I said,
or people that don't want to bethere? And I just so distinctly
remember thinking in my head, nobodywants to be caught up in this,
right, like nobody, And soit does take a special type of person
to say, you know, Imean, I know that there was a
woman, she's a Christian living inRamaala, and she was experiencing increased violence
(30:40):
and she said, I got toget out of here. I have my
kids. She messaged me that herhusband is still there. She feels quite
guilty because they have olive trees andshe's taking but she had to leave to
Malawi because she just for peace andsafety and she's yeah, so to It
does take a special person to goand say, you know, I'm I'm
bold enough, I'm not afraid,and that speaks volumes about your character.
(31:06):
I'll tell you the truth. Like, and people keep telling me that they're
like, Quinn, You're so bravewhen you're this, like, listen,
I mean, the reality of thesituation is that I've been doing this for
a long time. My first internationaltrip was in let's see, I think
ninety one, and I went toHaiti and I get stuck in a coup
while I was there. So I'vebeen around a little bit. Yeah,
(31:30):
and I'm old enough and wise enoughto make good contacts on the ground,
Like I've done my research, likeyou know, I know what I'm doing.
I've got all sorts of contacts allover and I'm beholden to those people
when I come in country. Okay, they're the locals, they're the experts,
and listen. As bad as itis, Nobody wants the white guy
(31:52):
to die, right, This isthe fact of the matter. Nobody wants
the white guy to die, especiallywhen he's filming everything. So I'm I'm
working with these contacts. I'm listeningto their expertise. Uh and and I'm
vetting all of them. And I'vebeen doing that for years, so I
know how to do it. SoI'm honestly not in any danger at all
(32:15):
at all. Like they're not goingto let me in if there's danger,
right, right, you know,like I'm not getting into Gaza until the
ceasefire has started. Period. There'sno pot There's just no way, right
unless the press pass and then Iget one of the blue vests and shit,
then I could get killed. That'sunlikely. I'm not laughing because I
(32:35):
want that to happen. That's notI just you know, I I know
we have to joke about these things. We do. We have to,
you know, we have to smileand laugh because in the tragedy, that's
the only thing that makes it evensomewhat palatable. This is not specific to
Islamic faith. I want to makesure that this is clear. It's very
just traditional with Arabs. When youknow, when my friends call me up
and say how are you? Itcould be my worst day and I'm still
(32:58):
going to say haimdela. I'm stillgonna say thanks to God. You know,
everything has fallen apart. But Ijust learned what that meant today and
I'm so excited by I love it. Yeah and I and then I had
to research, like, wait,is it okay for somebody is not Muslim
to say it because I just findit such a joyous Yeah. Absolutely,
because all it is is it's justsaying thanks to God in a different language.
(33:21):
That's what it is. You know, in the midst of what we've
seen with the Palestinians, despite theterror and the loss of life and the
trauma, they will still say amdolillalike it's you know, and you can't
help but admire. Now you seethe spirit of them and it's just,
oh my gosh, it's it's yeah, that's what makes us love them so
(33:44):
much, Like, yeah, thatspirit agreed. There's a book, great
book out there, from Babe toJerusalem. If anybody reads. It's a
New York Times bestseller. He wasraised in Michigan and and very relevant to
what we're seeing right now because hewas raised in Michigan with like that very
I'm Jewish, and he had allthese ideas and then he was a news
correspondent and he was assigned to Beirutin the nineteen eighties and he it's just
(34:10):
such to this day, there's yeah, to this day, there's parts of
that that book that I will stillweep when I read. Thank you for
sharing that. I'm I'm a voraciousreader. Oh you'll love that book.
So listen, we are so excitedto you know, follow your journey continue.
I'm grateful to have had this conversationwith you and you know all the
(34:31):
things. That's so nice getting toknow you. You have a wonderful heart
and mind. Really, this hasbeen a good conversation. Back to Arabic,
back to Arabic ioniq helloueen, whichmeans you see the beauty of my
soul because of the beauty in yourown. It's a beautiful thing to speak
more than one language. And whenI go to foreign countries and talking to
(34:53):
that point where you say about itdispels your own ignorance section when you go
to foreign countries and you're suddenly feelingwhat it's like to be in a room
where everybody else is speaking a languagedifferent than you, and suddenly you're the
minority. Right, that's a wakeup call, ie opening, Oh my
gosh, yes, yes, andyou feel a sense of empathy for what
the other person is going through withthey anywhere. I enrolled out the most
(35:15):
when I lived in Thailand because Ijust had no idea what they were saying.
Yeah, that's I I could kindof get a gist at least,
and I, you know, Ineed some you know, I knew Spanish
and French and stuff, so butti I was lost right right, Well,
thank you so much listening for ourlistening audience as well as you know,
(35:37):
the ones who are watching. Go. You know, what is the
website? What is the way?Where do you want to direct people to
support you, to keep in touchwith you and keep an eye on what
you're doing. Thank you yeah forsaying that the best way is through my
website quinn Eskimo rocks dot com.I do have an email list where I
send updates as well, and I'mbasically on all social media platforms. The
(36:00):
the place to find my footage fromGaza though, and you'll see this on
my website is going to be theClapper app, which is more of like
a new kind of app, butthey personally contacted me and they're like,
we want to see the real shitand we won't take it down. Wow,
I'm actually writing that down. Ineed to get on that app.
I want, like, not onlythat, like two of the executives are
(36:22):
actually arriving here at my house thisweekend, and they're bringing me recording equipment
right right, Like They're so supportiveand they want the total truth, like
unadulterated, and so that's where I'mgoing to be doing my live streaming.
I get shut down on TikTok orInstagram. Yeah, they shut everything down
(36:46):
there, so I have to bevery careful there. Wow. But Clapper
app, it's raw. Good toknow, good to know. Well,
thank you so much. We wishyou so much, you know, to
take take our hearts in prayer andtake our you know, our will with
you and we'll definitely see you onthe other side of that. Sounds good.
(37:07):
It's been an honor, thanks somuch. Thank you so much.
QUIDN. To everyone at home,I want to say thank you as we
continue these conversations. We appreciate youand just you know, support these amazing
individuals. They are doing incredible things, and in closing really quick, I
just want to string onto that wonderfulpart of our conversation that really focuses on
(37:28):
what divides us as an illusion.There is nothing that is a reason or
justification for what we're seeing today.So if you can really believe that in
your heart and your mind and yoursoul, then I do believe that we
will begin to see the progress weneed to continue to make a difference and
to continue helping innocent people around theworld. You know, if we can
(37:51):
do this, there's so many there'sobviously much suffering in the world, but
right now, obviously this is acrisis. We all should be concerned because
we don't. If it can happento them, it could happen to us.
So with that, thank you somuch for your time, your energy.
Be a light in the world.Do not give up, do not
lose hope, and thank you forletting us be on sugarcoated Take care
Popular Podcasts
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com
The Herd with Colin Cowherd
The Herd with Colin Cowherd is a thought-provoking, opinionated, and topic-driven journey through the top sports stories of the day.