The Daily Stoic - Ask Daily Stoic: Ryan and Charlamagne tha God Talk Opening Your Mind and Political Power

Episode Date: June 3, 2020

In today’s episode, Ryan and Charlamagne tha God, host of The Breakfast Club and author, speak on a number of different topics—from reading and fatherhood to Charlamagne’s always-present interest in politics.This episode is brought to you by WHOOP. WHOOP is a fitness wearable that provides personalized insights on how well you’re sleeping, how much you’ve recovered from your workouts, and how much you’re stressed out from each day. It’s the ultimate whole-body tracker for someone who needs an all-in-one solution. Visit WHOOP.com and enter STOIC at checkout to save 15% on your order.This episode is also brought to you by LinkedIn Jobs. LinkedIn Jobs is the best platform for finding the right candidate to join your business. And right now, LinkedIn is helping companies like yours find the essential workers that they need in these trying times. Visit http://linkedin.com/stoic to post your healthcare or essential job for free, or to post another job for your business..Get Charlamagne tha God’s Shook Ones: Anxiety Playing Tricks on Me: https://geni.us/msLZ3v ***If you enjoyed this week’s podcast, we’d love for you to leave a review on Apple Podcasts. It helps with our visibility, and the more people listen to the podcast, the more we can invest into it and make it even better.Sign up for the Daily Stoic email: DailyStoic.com/signupFollow @DailyStoic:Twitter: https://twitter.com/ryanholidayInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/ryanholiday/Facebook: http://facebook.com/ryanholidayYouTube: https://www.youtube.com/dailystoicFollow Charlamagne tha God: Twitter: https://twitter.com/cthagodInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/cthagod/Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/cthagod/YouTube: https://geni.us/cthagodYTSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Hey, prime members, you can listen to the Daily Stoke Podcast early and add free on Amazon music. Download the app today. Welcome to the Daily Stoke. For each day, we read a short passage designed to help you cultivate the strength, insight, wisdom necessary for living the good life. of necessary for living good life. Each one of these passages is based on the 2000-year-old philosophy that has guided some of history's greatest men and women. For more, you can visit us, just the name of you. Now, I've held so many occupations over the years that my fans lovingly nicknamed me Kiki Keepa Bag Palmer. And trust me, I keep a bag love.

But if you ask me, I'm just getting started, and there's so much I still want to do. So I decided I want to be a podcast host. I'm proud to introduce you to the Baby Mrs. Kiki Palmer podcast. I'm putting my friends, family, and some of the dopest experts in the hot seat to ask them the questions that have been burning in my mind. What will former child stars be if they weren't actors? What happened to sitcoms? It's only fans, only bad.

I want to know, so I asked my mom about it. These are the questions that keep me up at night, but I'm taking these questions out of my head and I'm bringing them to you. Because on Baby This is Kiki Palmer, no topic is off limits. Follow Baby This is Kiki Palmer, no topic is off limits. Follow Baby This Is Kiki Palmer whatever you get your podcasts. Hey, prime members, you can listen early and app-free on Amazon Music.

Download the Amazon Music app today. Hey there listeners. While we take a little break here, I want to tell you about another podcast that I think you'll like. It's called How I Built This, where host Guy Razz talks to founders behind some of the world's biggest and most innovative companies, to learn how they built

them from the ground up. Guy has sat down with hundreds of founders behind well-known companies like Headspace, Manduka Yoga Mats, Soul Cycle, and Kodopaxi, as well as entrepreneurs working to solve some of the biggest problems of our time, like developing technology that pulls energy from the ground to heat in cool homes, or even figuring out how to make drinking water from air and sunlight. Together, they discuss their entire journey from day one, and all the skills they had to learn along the way, like confronting big challenges, and how to lead through uncertainty. So, if you want to get inspired and learn how to think like an entrepreneur,

check out how I built this, wherever you get your podcasts. You can listen early and add free on the Amazon or Wondery. Hey, it's Ryan. Welcome to another episode of the Daily Stove Podcast. Today's guest is someone that I've gotten to know really well, who I like, quite a lot, different than some of our other guests. I've gotten to know really well, who I like quite a lot, different than some of our other guests. I'm talking about Charlemagne, the God host of the Breakfast Club, probably one of the most influential radio shows in the entire United States, if not the world.

Big reader, huge Instagram following. Charlemagne's just a fascinating guy. Deeply spiritual, really funny. You know, he's talking about how he likes to have spirituality and ratchetness on his show, which I think is a great sort of encapsulation of the mix of traits and the personality that is Charlemagne the God. I mean, this is a guy who gave himself

the radio moniker, Charlemagne the God. So there's some bombass there, and some self-promotion there. But he's also, when you actually meet him, a deeply humble guy, a big reader, a deeply kind guy, a guy that's really concerned with issues in his community. He's been on the forefront of sort of bringing mental health issues up to the surface in the black community. Senator Tim Scott, the senator from South Carolina, where Charlemagne is from, also a reader of Daily Stoic. So when I've got to meet a few times, has worked with Charlemagne on political issues. And then at the same time, you know, Charlemagne

has brought a number of Democratic candidates, the forefront, you know, shine the spotlight of his show on them, whether it's Bernie Sanders or Kamala Harris or Mayor Pete. Charlemagne is just, I think, like all the people I like to spend time with and I find most fascinating, he's complex, he's contradictory, but at the core, there is a good human being and someone who makes you think and someone who you can have good conversations with. Charlemagne's an advisor to a site that I run called dailydad.com. We do a daily email each day just like with the Daily Stoke and a daily podcast. If you haven't heard that, so you can check that out.

But with Charlemagne, we talk social media, we talk politics, we talk mental health, we talk sort of bringing ideas to the masses, we talk about philosophy, we talk about his morning routine. One of the things that's always impressed me about radio folks is just how early they have to get up. Charlame was telling me that, you know, the COVID-19 crisis hasn't working from home. So now he only wakes up at 5.20 instead of 4.20. But just a great guy, a family man, a father, and then of course, and always an entertaining personality. So without further ado, I'll give you my interview

with Charlemagne, the God. Definitely follow my Instagram, great stuff. You can follow the Breakfast Club. I don't listen to the Breakfast Club on the radio. I don't even really ever listen to the radio, even in my car, but I do catch up with the clips of the best part of the show. And that's where I sort of get the content

he's putting out in the world is usually from Instagram. So that's a great place to follow Charlemagne. And then I strongly recommend you check out both of his books, Shook One, which is about mental health, and then Black Privilege, which is sort of his memoir. There's a good shout out in Black Privilege for Robert Green and the 48 Laws of Power. Robert's been a mentor to Charlemagne over the years,

so that's another great connection. But check out both of his books. We have two interviews with Charlemagne on dailystoke.com, which we'll link in the show notes as well. Check it out. Here I am with Charlemagne the God. I feel like you do a good job sort of mixing the sugar and the medicine, pop culture, gossip, but then you're slipping in this other really important stuff.

You're kind of meeting people where they are. Absolutely. I'm meeting people where they are because I'm still meeting myself where I am, right? And I think that when I get on that microphone every day, the easiest thing to do is be myself. So I can't make up anything. Like I don't have that type of expertise.

I don't have any areas of expertise that I can go to and just, you know, tap into that to have something to say. The only thing I can really talk about is, you know, what I'm going through in that moment, what I'm feeling in that moment, what I've experienced, what I've learned, what I'm currently learning. So I feel like I just shared that with the audience. Things that interest me, I feel like they'll interest other people. So that's what I share. No, and it's weird. We wouldn't typically think of that as, say,

philosophy or spirituality. We tend to think that, you know, philosophy is the classroom, spirituality is the church. But to me, it's like, it's the discussion that people have together. I mean, I think the first time I heard the breakfast club, it was in an Uber. And I think the idea of meeting people where they are

is really important. At least that's what I try to do in my work. Absolutely. I absolutely think that, man. And like I said, like a certain thing that's gonna grab you regardless. Like I'm a true, I'm a stern believer that if something is for you,

it's not gonna get past you. You know, whether it's, you know, the daily stoic, whether it's totic wisdom, you know, whether it's teachings of the NOI. stoic, whether it's totic wisdom, you know, whether it's teachings of the N.O.I. I just feel like that truth is so powerful. That energy that radiates from those things is so powerful that you cannot help, but like just open your ears to it.

And then, you know, once your ears get opened, then maybe you're hot in your mind will too. It's like walking past a bakery and you just smell that cupcakes baking. You're like, what is that? You know? Yeah, but were you curious about your journey from what I remember from Black privilege,

you were not super into school, you were not a big reader for a big chunk of your life. How did you come to this sort of pursuit or this journey? Well, I know I was always a big reader because my mother was an English teacher. And so my mother used to always encourage me to read, but not just read. She would tell me to read things that don't pertain to me.

So I wouldn't just be reading about like, you know, I wouldn't just be reading source magazines and double-leg sales. I'd be reading actual literature. And it's this started. Young, I'm pretty sure I started. I was reading like Judy Bloom and Beverly Clearly books in elementary school.

And then I started getting a love for the supernatural. So I was reading about ghosts and UFOs and Sasquatch and Muffman and all that stuff like that. And that just turned into my mother giving me to watch Tile was to read, because she was just over witness in no weeks to read. And then my father started giving me the autobiography of Malcolm X

and the method to the black man by honor of our boy Elijah Muhammad. So I always, always read. And for whatever reason, I was always reading things that were a little bit deeper than I was willing to go at that time. So that's just kind of always where my mind state was. Even when I was running the streets and getting off track a little bit,

I still would find time to read something. Because a lot of times, that's why I always mention books the way that I do. Because I think about when I was young, and I would be reading in a source magazine, and I would see a rapper reference to 48 laws of power. I would see, I remember Jay-Z and Oprah referencing Gary Zoucaf's CD to the Soul.

And that made me go out there and literally buy those books and read that literature. That's why I named drop books the way that I do because I just understand the power of that influence. Yeah, no, that's a good point. I think books, it's weird. You know, Warren Buffett talks about books sort of being one of the best investments he ever made.

Certainly the decision that I made to pick up a certain book on stoicism, changed the whole direction of my life. Yeah, a lot of people are kind of quiet about those books because they don't want to seem weird or like an evangelical or something. But I do think people in positions of influence or power, the more they talk about the books that they've read, not only is that that's sort of good to get that message out there, but it's sort of normalizing the idea that reading is something that important people

do. Absolutely. Because you got to think, right? Like, we're always looking for gain. Like we all want inflammation. And a. Like, we all want information. And a lot of times, we watch these interviews, we read these interviews because we're trying to figure out how did that person get the way they are?

You know, what's that person's thought process that made him or her, you know, put themselves in the position that they're in there. And when they give us those little tools, like, oh, I read this, I watch the speech from this person. I want to go get some of that game too. And it's not just the entertainers and the athletes. Like every single person who is successful in a certain space

can reference you to a certain piece of literature that they read that change their life. No, and like people are like, oh, I want to get into reading, what should I read? And it's like, you could create a whole reading list of nothing but the books that the people you admire say change their life. And that's a pretty good filter. You know what I mean? Like, if there's someone who is where you are and you want to get there, you want to start where they left off. And that's like sort of picking up their reading

list. Because you know, you know that Oprah or you or or like you've read hundreds of bad books that you quit. And so when you talk about good books that made a difference to you, that's a huge filter and people people should take advantage of that. Absolutely. I agree wholeheartedly. You know what I mean? It's like you know, I think that every successful person should put out a book list at least once in their life. I think it should be like mandatory. Like we should have like a national book day where every single successful person from every walk of life has to post their five.

I'm not gonna say five, they're three favorite reads. Well what I think is interesting, if we could get all those lit, all those books, and then they, then, then we could sort of crash reference like what books were the most popular, influence the most important people. I bet the irony is how few of them would appear on English curriculum, how few of them were mandatory reading in school, and then, and then we wonder why kids aren't big readers. It's like, if you wanted to get someone into rap

and you gave them a Spotify playlist of the hardest and most difficult to understand music, and then you were like, why don't you like rap music? Oh, absolutely. I, you know, I was exploring, you said something just not that made me think about something though. I'm exploring the concept of,

and the kind of blends both things just saying, rap music and, you know, reading. I wonder if the love of reading isn't gone. It's just that people consume content differently. So you may not necessarily pick up a book and read it, but you might listen to it, you know, like people who listen into this podcast right now. Yeah. You think that is the way to get people back into reading? No, totally. I think there's a huge chunk of people who thought they didn't like reading,

but really they just don't like physical books. And think about it. If you were like a long distance truck driver 15 years ago, and you would either, if you wanted to listen to a book, you had to listen to like a 15-CD audio book, or you know, you wanted to listen to a book, you had to listen to like a 15 CD audio book, or you basically could listen to music or like right-wing talk radio. Those were like your three options.

And now those people have podcasts and audio books. They have so much content at their fingertips. And I think that's really good. I think authors need to adapt. Of course, like, I think a lot of authors because we, like friends, it's I grew up loving physical books. So audiobooks are not super important to me, but I have to think about the fact that it's helping me reach people who ordinarily wouldn't be interested in what I have to say. Very true. I got to do a combination of

both nowadays because I don't know if it's because of social media. I don't know if it's because I listen to so much podcasts. I don't know if it's because I got three kids, but it takes a lot for me to sit down and read nowadays. Like it's like working out. Yeah, sure. You got to, you got to really tell yourself, no, I'm going to work out right now.

I'm going to forget this two hours in the gym. I'm going to leave my phone in the car. I'm gonna really tell yourself, no, I'm going to work out right now. I'm gonna get this two hours in in the gym. I'm gonna leave my phone in the car. I'm gonna just focus. Like I have to do that when it comes to like sitting down with a good book and back in the day. If I read a book that was like kind of shitty and it didn't catch my attention in the first few chapters, I could kind of plow my way through it.

Now I don't have time. If you don't, if you don't get me in that first chapter too, I got to put it down. Like I can't, I like, I got to get away from it. Now I don't have time. If you don't give me an F first chapter too, I got to put it down. Like I can't, I like, I got to get away from it. And I read multiple books at one time and let's I'm really into something. You know, but it is in a way I feel like that's good pressure on the author, right? There's this famous surf stoke debate where one of this one stoke philosopher was congratulating himself on having read a particularly sort of like difficult and obscure stoic writer and the other stoic replied and he said, if he were a better writer, you wouldn't have anything to congratulate yourself about, you know.

And so I feel like a lot of authors because they were because writing and reading books was the only game in town as far as like sort of intellectual nourishment that that they got really, really spoiled. So like what world. You know, I was like, oh, they're just good at storytelling. Storytelling. Yeah, absolutely. Absolutely. 100%. Now, you're absolutely right. That's why I approach all my books like I'm writing a rap. And I guess because I used to write raps back in the day, it kind of flows that way.

Even when I'm on the radio and I'm talking like it's just a certain way. I don't know why my rhyming works. Of course. I mean poetry goes back to our earliest days as humans and I think our mind is designed to remember things that rhyme and all of that. I mean, I think probably what makes your books good and what has made you a great storyteller is like, since you didn't start with podcasts, you started with radio, which has the short, you know, short bursts. You know how to capture interest and carry people from segment to segment, which is good. It's like, but now you watch some of these Netflix shows where they know they have unlimited time and you're like, get to the fucking point.

Like when are you going, get to the fucking point. Like when are you gonna get to the point? And I think, you know, the medium of radio has been really good for you in terms of just, you get to the point, but then you also know how to keep something going. Yeah, I don't think I'm gonna ever write a long book ever again. I'm gonna be honest with you, right?

I, um, I read, I just finished reading the Seven Spiritual Laws and Success by Deepak Chopra, which I did. My homegirl was telling me to read years ago, but I don't know why I'd never did, but I read it in February, and I actually listened to it first on Audible, and it was like an hour and 20 minutes long, and I was like, man, this can't be all of the book.

And when I ordered it, I realized it's only 175 pages, but then I started thinking about the secret, and I started thinking about the four agreements, and I'm like, oh, none of these books are that long. I'm like, am I just wasting words? I think it's different for what you do. You know what I'm saying? What Robert Green does,

because there's a lot of historical context and the things that you all put out there. But I don't think I ever write a long book again, man. Well, I think the problem is a lot of people go right in the middle, right? So if you do a Robert Green book, you're saying like, this is the definitive text about power and I'm going to have everything in here and I'm going to work for seven or eight years on this book.

Like his new one, Laws of Human Nature, I mean, he worked on for six plus years, right? Whereas my books are, I can do in about a year, but my books are about half as long or shorter than Roberts. And so my ideal length on one of my books is that you can read it on a plane, like on a cross-country flight or maybe a little bit shorter. And so I think like the page a day thing is obviously different also because you're like, okay, it just has to be five minutes in the morning. But I think deciding to go short is a good idea, deciding

to go long is a good idea. The problem is I think a lot of people just go like, oh, what? A book's like 250 pages, so I'll just do that. And they don't really think about like how long their idea actually needs to be. And so really thinking about what you're trying to do is great. And the benefit of shorter books is that people can, people feel like they, it was so good that they read it quickly. They're not noticing that it was actually just short

and then they can reread it, which is really powerful. Yeah, reread it, go back and reference it, highlight it. You know, you said something just now. It's like, yo, it's not about, it's not about what you're saying to me. It's about what's the idea you're trying to convey to me. You know what I'm saying? Like I want to grasp that idea.

Like I know what Rhonda burned with the idea was of the secret. You know, I know what the idea is with the Seven Spiritual Law success. Once I grasp that idea, those four or five principles you have in that book just help me to continue to flesh out I did and continue to help me to gravitate towards that idea And just use and actually use those principles to hopefully, you know, create the action that I need in my life to make this idea come to fruition Well, I think that to me that's what's powerful about your second book. I'll do your first book has this too

Your first book is a little bit more of a memoir is that Even if I don't read your second book, or your first book has this too, your first book is a little bit more of a memoir, is that even if I don't read your second book, just the title and the concept about being about mental health and being about taking care of yourself and being about about depression and anxiety and shaking all that stuff off, that in and of itself does does a service for people. And so like, I've tried to do that with my book. Like, you don't have to read the obstacles the way to be like, oh, that's an interesting way to think about it. You go as an enemy, that's an interesting way to think about it. And so I think also with books, if just the concept itself

can be a value, then you've already gifted something to people even if they never crack it open. Oh, man, definitely the interesting you say that, right? Because, you know, we all get our book statements, right? So we all get how much books we saw, whatever, whatever. And Black privilege was a super huge success. New York Times bestseller. Shookwon was a national bestseller.

And it did well, you know what I'm saying? It sold well into the six figures, but not as well as Black privilege. But when I look at Shookwon, it was the idea, right? Because when your book publisher is hitting you, and she's like, you know, we need a second book, we need a second book, you don't want to just put anything out. I don't want to do things just for the money.

I want to do something that's actually an idea, right? So it's like the idea was, I'm a Black man going to therapy. I'm dealing with anxiety for years. I didn't even know that I had all these layers. I had to peel back. You know what I mean? So it's like I was going to therapy. I was keeping a journal.

So I just threw the idea out. Like, well, you know, I've been going to therapy. You know, maybe I should just put some of these pages of my journal out. You know, grab a psychiatrist, my man, Dr. Ish, and just have these clinical correlations that go with what I'm feeling, you know, grab a psychiatrist, my man, Dr. Ish, and just have these clinical correlations that go with what I'm feeling, right? And they were like, yes, that's great.

So to put the idea of that has sparked something else in the culture. It's sparked something else in the community. It's made it okay for brothers to talk about, you know, going to therapy. It's made it okay for brothers to be vulnerable. It's made it cool for people to talk about their insecurities and their vulnerabilities.

And it just opened up this greater conversation about mental health in our community. So it was the idea of that, right? The idea of a black man talking about these things, talking about his mental health. I had the idea of a black man going to seek self-care. That was something that a lot of people were doing just never spoke about. about his mental health, the idea of a black man going to seek self-care. That was something that a lot of people were doing

just never spoke about. And I feel like that book kind of shifted things a little bit. Well, no, I think one of the things I talk to authors about sometimes, and they're sketching out books that go like, here's a scenario. Your book sells millions of copies and but is culturally irrelevant or your book doesn't sell any copies

but it creates a conversation or creates change or has an enormous amount of impact which one would you grab it? Which one would you define as a greater success? And almost always people choose impact over the financial success because books are such a crappy way to make money to begin with like you're only doing a book because you love the written word and you love ideas and you have an idea you think that needs to get out into the world. And so like if you're doing it just for how many copies you can tell you're already thinking about it wrong. And so if you can line your priorities up right first, then you can make decisions. And I think you did that with your book. And that's why yeah, maybe the conversation has been slightly bigger than the sales, but that to me also

lends itself to the idea that your book will continue to be relevant and sort of define a conversation for people, you know, over many, many years. Yeah, that's what I care about. I care about the cultural impact. I care about creating something, writing something that's gonna outlive me. 20 years from now, somebody else is gonna pick up like privilege. 20 years from now, somebody else is gonna pick up Shilk One.

And I remember Malcolm Gladwell said to me one time, man. And it kind of confused me. And he didn't give me no context to it, but I figured it out later. We were talking about his books, right? I was talking about the outliers and Blake and the tipping point. And he said to me, I don't even know how we got on the conversation.

I think I might have asked him, and he's like, how do these books still affect you now? And he kind of was like, they don't, because I'm not even, I don't think like that anymore. Yeah. And it fucked me up. I was like, what do you mean? You don't think like that no. Yeah, and it fucked me up. I was like, what do you mean? You don't think like that no more?

Because when you put it in a book, right? It's so concrete, but you forget people grow and people evolve. So when Malcolm wrote the outliers, that's where he was in his life. He's evolved to something else. But that doesn't mean that it's a 15 year old kid who won't pick up outliers and get the same influence

and inspiration that Malcolm wanted him to get when he first wrote it. Even though Malcolm may be on something else, that book is going to meet somebody where they are now. Right? No, totally. Music's the same way that rolling stones are out there recording songs,

or playing songs for thousands of people about that they wrote when they were 17 years old about what it's like to be young and poor and angry. And they're not those things anymore. Exactly. So it's like for me, even with shook one, that was a book about my beginning exploration into therapy and my beginning exploration into myself, but since that book has come out, I've gone on even greater journey when it comes to mindfulness and mental health. Just being a full, whole spiritual being you know, what your sacred purpose is,

because I have a sacred purpose coach now. So like the next thing I write, you know, it's just the idea of where I am at mentally, spiritually, and emotionally, now sits, you know, that beginning journey of starting to go to therapy. So it's just interesting, man. Books and books are a lot like, like you said, there are a lot like music, it's a lot like records.

That's why I like when we call things records, because we're keeping a record of where we're at, at certain points in our life, and that's always gonna be beneficial to somebody. I got two more questions for you, and then I know I gotta let you go. So you mentioned being a father of three kids, and you know, we've collaborated on the daily dad site that I run.

One of the things that I think that's interesting about you as a father and as a husband, is just how private you are about your family life. I mean, it's obviously something very, very important to you, but there's no photos. You keep it under wraps. It's just sort of like what you do when you leave your show. I'm just curious, why make that decision for someone who is so sort of active on social

media and so much in the public eye? Well, you know, if I'm being honest, I think, you know, initially, I just never wanted to put that out there, probably because I was still being a whole in these streets. You know what I'm saying? So I was still being around with a lot of other chicks. So I never wanted to put out there that I had an actual girlfriend, but then once you get married,

like you can't hide that part of your life. So it's like I have to talk about getting married, being married. But then also it was a matter of safety and protection for me too, right? Because I'm like, if people want to harm me, then they would try to harm the closest people to me.

So to me, that was just a sense of paranoia and anxiety that came with that. But then, over time, it's like, you know, me and my wife, it's not like I'm hiding. So it's just like it's my, I guess, I don't wanna say celebrity, because I hate that word. As my profile started to grow, you would see me and my wife walking out of Saturday night live.

I used to walk out of Saturday night live with my wife before, it's just that, Papa Ratchie never cared to take a picture. You know what I'm saying? I walked the red carpet at, you know, I think the, like the last two pictures, they saw me and my wife, it was a taraji P. Henson event. She has a foundation called the Boris Lawrence Henson Foundation.

And you know, she helps to eradicate the stigma and mental health in the black community. Of course, I'm gonna be there. And me and my wife walked the red carpet at that. Our Tyler Perry's, you know, a vent for the grand opening of his studio. Me and my wife walked the red carpet at that. Like you can't escape the cameras and stuff

at a vent like that. But as far as my kids, I just don't have the desire to put my kids out there in that way. Like, you know, I think that social media is the devil in a lot of ways. And I know that people are going to see my children. And no matter how beautiful my girls are, they're gonna have something negative to say.

And I'm not gonna put myself through that. You know, why would I put myself out there like that? Because every single one of my homeboys that put their kids on social media complain about what people say about them and their family. And they get upset about what people say about them and their family. So my thing is why I put your family on social media then?

I got to... I agree, but I also feel like too, it's taking this kind of sacred and important thing. And I don't wanna say it's like prostituting it because that seems very judgmental to other people. But like, you know, I mean, you have millions of Instagram followers. You know what the mindset required to think about.

What's gonna get likes, what's not gonna get likes, what's doing well, what's growing the brand. I have to say, I just don't wanna apply that lens to something that's supposed to be unconditional and present and personal and all of that. You know what I mean? Yeah, and you know what's so funny about that? It's like, you know, people say things to me like that.

Like, you know, you have listeners, feel called a radio station or somebody who sent me a tweet on social media. And I'm like, y'all just don't know me. Like, all my friends and family, they know my wife and kids. Like, it's not like they come over and I hide them. Or we go out and it's like, yo, I'm not bringing the kids.

Like, if you're my people's You know my friends. You know my family like we take big family vacations with my family my wife's family All our friends like that's things that we do, you know my all my friends are my wife's friends. It's like They the people that need to know her know her and it's like I'm not I'm not sitting around on social media asking the people that follow me to show them who their significant others are, who their kids are. It's just like, I'm not gonna say I think it's weird because to each and zone, I just think foolish to complain about something that you're causing on yourself.

You know what I'm saying? I totally agree. Yeah, it's a weird thing. It's like, it makes me uncomfortable when I see other people do it, but that doesn't mean I'm judging them. It just means when I see it, I think I don't want to do that. Absolutely. 100%. Like, I'm just not, that's just not my thing. And I got a lot of homeboys who do it. And that's their thing. Like, you know, in a lot of ways, they have become the family guy, you know what I mean and that's cool

I'm cool But that's not something I'm I'm not I'm not going to ever put that out there like that You'll hear me talk about it. You'll hear me right about it in my book But you're not going to ever see it if you don't you don't know me totally Although I would say I think we can both agree DJ Khaled is maybe doing is maybe Putting some unfair burden on his son. That seems like a crappy thing to do. Yeah, I mean Assad has a high bar, I guess.

Yeah, Assad has no choice but to turn out to be like some big mega superstar. You know what I'm saying? Just because of how Khaled has put him out there. And that's cool. That's the stuff what I'm saying? Just because of how Caledys put them out there. And that's cool. That's the stuff what I'm doing over here. Like I'm at cheerleading competitions all the time. I'm sitting with the other parents, you know, we're talking about cheerleading

and our daughters cheerleading, like that's super regular for me. Like I'm not, I don't hide in the public, but it's just that I'm not putting it on social media. That's the other thing too, right? Like that's something that we all need to really sit down and explore at some point, the fact that people think if it's not on social media, it doesn't exist.

Right, it should be the opposite. Yeah, and by the way, I'm not, I'm not just like that with my family, I'm like that with a lot of things. I'm like that with business. Like I'm not the guy that's, you know, putting out there, oh, I just did this deal, or oh, I just had this meeting, or, I like, I hate that.

I hate when I see people at NBC, and they take a picture in front of the NBC sign. I hate when I see people that Spotify, and they take a picture in front of the Spotify sign. It's like, who cares? I get the deal done. Let your action, let me to work. Tell me to work, your actions will speak. When I see the deal done. Let your actions work. Show me the work.

Your actions will speak. When I see the work, then I'll know that you out here doing what you're supposed to be doing in that space. Now, I love that phrase, by the way. I think that's a good reaction to all the things you see on social media, which is you go, cool, but that's not what I'm doing over here. I think that's a very stoic idea.

It's like to each their own, but that's not what I'm doing over here. I think that's a very stoic idea. It's like to each their own, but that's not for me. Yeah, I'm trying to be less judgmental, right? But then I often think like, damn. Your job kind of has to make you judgmental. Exactly. Exactly. Like if I'm a cultural critic, then my job is to kind of judge, you know, I try to judge ideas

and not individual, though. Sure. You know what I mean? Totally. No, that's, I feel like that's the only honest way to do it. Okay, so last question. So in the debate in the ancient world for the Stoics, there's the Stoics and the Epicurians and Epicurians believed a lot of the same things as the Stoics.

They're like, folks on what you control, don't chase things that don't belong to you, you know, be honest. A lot of the same sort of general sort of virtues, but the Epicurians were sort of like, let's go into this garden over here and live and kind of like our own bubble of quiet sort of personal happiness, right? And the Stoics were saying like, no like, you got to be active in the world. You got to run for public office. You got to serve in the military. You got to be involved in life. And one of the things I think's been interesting in your journey as someone who, yeah, starts in

in radio, starts as a cultural critic, has now become, you might not agree with this, but I think it's objectively true. A sort of a political power broker. I mean, like your show was in some ways kind of a primary among the Democratic candidates, and I'm sure during the election itself, people will have to come through there. What, walk me through your journey,

sort of becoming politically active and involved, because that seems like it's been a powerful transition for you. And that's a great question. I think that I think it kind of started way, way, way, way back in the day only because I've always, I always have been like socially conscious, and I always have wanted to be involved.

But a lot of my involvement, I guess, would come through what some people would call activism. I would be the person that would always be quick to call something out, always be quick to protest. It seemed like my whole life, people would come to me and look for help in certain areas. And it's not like I was a attorney, I wasn't an activist, I just always seem to have a voice

and could like get the word out, so to speak, right? And you know, Malcolm X once said that a man who controls the media controls the minds of the masses. So whenever it was something that I felt like was important to our community and our culture, I would bring it on. You know, whether it was the breakfast club or any other platform I had, I would bring it on. You know, whether it was the breakfast club or any other platform I had, I would bring that person on.

I don't care if it was a person run up for office. I don't care if it was a person who had a book that I think could change things in our culture. I would just bring these people on. And my man, Bacari Sellers, back in 2014, Bacari is a political opponent, but he ran for Lieutenant Governor I think it was Lieutenant Governor of South Carolina.

I'm not sure. I don't remember right now, but I'm pretty sure it was Lieutenant Governor. And he, you know, he, I had him on breakfast club back in 2014 and that might have been the first like political, pundit political politician that we had on the show. And you know, Bakari is connected with quite a few different people. And you know, that was a good media hit for Bacari. And so Bacari just started telling people like, man, you know, if y'all run up for office,

or you know, if y'all, you know, have dreams of running for office, you might want to go on the breakfast club and connect with that audience, right? And so my home girl, Angela Rye, who's a political punting on CNN, we had her on as well. And you know, that kind of helped her to get her profile up. So she kind of was singing our praises too.

So when the first president, when the presidential election came, and like 2016, people like Simone Sanders, Nina Turner, all of these people that are black and from our culture were a part of these people's campaigns. You know, the Hillary Clinton's, the Bernie Sanders, whoever, and they started telling these people, like, yo know, the Hillary Clinton's, the Bernie Sanders, whoever, and they started telling these people, like, yo, you have to go on the breakfast club.

I know it's not the media that you're used to, but that's where the people are. And so back in 2016, that's when it kind of started. You know, Hillary came to the breakfast club twice, you know, Bernie Sanders came to the breakfast club a couple times, and he called in. And so when 2019 came, and everybody started their presidential campaign,

man, it was like a revolving door, you know? And I think that me paying attention to what black people have been saying for years in regards to like, yo, black people need reparations. Black people feel like Democrats haven't done anything for them. A conversation that started last year was, look, if there's no black agenda, then there's not going to be any black vote.

You know, people wanted like tangible things done for black people, which I understood, you know, black people were, it was a systemic set of legislation and circumstances that put black people in this position. And it's going to take systemic legislation to get us out. So when these candidates were paired, I was asking them these things. You know what I mean?

I'm like, yo, what's your black agenda? You know, do you believe in reparations? And man, I didn't realize that that conversation would be so big. Like, you know, you had, I think it was the Washington Post said that the conversation around reparations really grew and got huge last year when we had Senator Kamala Harris on and I asked her about reparations.

I think they said that was the most they have insertions, tiny Hisi Coates wrote his article about reparations and I think the Atlantic. And so it's just like, I think all of these politicians just started talking to each other and they started realizing like, yo, that's a good media hit. Like you go there, you know, people are going to be

hitting you up on social media. People are going to be talking about it. It's going to make news and like they really do have the ears of black and brown people. And, you know, right now, Joe Biden, I've been putting pressure on him over the past few months simply because I looked at his record. I didn't know his record, you know, when he was vice president, the Barack Obama. Barack Obama was the first president, the first person that I ever voted for a period in 2008.

So I didn't know any, I wasn't politically sophisticated then at all. I just wanted a black president. And that's where I went out and voted for. I know that stupid devote on identity politics, but yo, that's the energy that he gave back to. And with Joe Biden, man, I look at him, and I look at his record, and I'm like, man,

this guy has done so much to hurt black people. The 86 crack laws, the 94 crime bill. When I look at him now, I see a guy who still has it apologized for the 94 crime bill. And to me, the best apology is change behavior. And yes, you were, you know, vice president of the Barack Obama for eight years. But man, what are you going to do?

Like, stop standing next to Obama's policies. And like, as Tupac said, you ain't shit without your homeboy. Forget that. I want to know what you're going to do, you know, as an individual. And it just bugged me out there. Somebody who had created so many policies,

the hurt African-Americans had so much of the black vote. So I was the guy that was out here saying, like, why are we just so quick to support this dude? And last week, Diddy came out there and did he was like, look, he was like, yeah, we're gonna hold the vote hostage. He was like, yo, if y'all don't do something for black people, you know, put a black agenda on the table, then, yo, we might not vote. And I didn't have a problem with that.

And the reason I didn't have a problem with that is because I feel like when you're black, the only leverage you have is your vote, you know, until we establish some real political power or some real economic political power the way we're lobbyists in a real way. So I was like, man, I'm with him on that, you know? And yeah, I probably would still go out and vote.

I just wouldn't vote top of the ticket, you know? I might write in something else, but I think that that conversation that we were having about where is Bill Biden's black agenda saying, hey, Joe Biden, you need to have a black woman as a running mate. Hey, Joe Biden, you need to have a black woman as a running mate. Hey, Joe Biden, you already committed to putting the black woman on the Supreme Court.

So that's great, but we need just black agenda with these tangible things in it. So we should feel comfortable going out there to vote for you in November. And if you notice, Joe Biden, after what did he said and after the pressure that we've been putting on, all Democrats for the past year, they came with a black agenda this week, you know, it's not the best black agenda in the world, but at least you're showing that you're willing to play ball, you know, and like he said,

Simone Sanders said the agenda is, it's a working agenda, it's a living agenda, so that means that they're willing to make changes to it. So to answer your question after that whole long, No, no, I love it, man. You get the rights you fight for in life. And I think what you're doing is a testament to that and why this idea that like, oh, I can just sit here on Twitter or I can just sit here and just sort of read about the ideas that I want to see in the world. It's not enough.

Like people have to take action and I think you're being a good leader on that. Yeah, and it's just about using my platform for good. You know, simple as that. It's just about using my platform in the right way. You know, I think that's something that I take very, very serious man. Like Michael McSaid, you know, the person who controls the media controls the

minds of the masses. And so that's, that's, that's just honestly where I'm at with it, you know, and as far as like what you were saying about, you know, you're getting what you demand, I truly believe that you get what you demand and you encourage what you tolerate. And I feel like too long we've tolerated, you know, not getting anything from the Democrats and exchange for our vote. And that's just not how voting works. The more sophisticated I get in my political process, I totally understand that your vote is quid pro quo. So you give me something and I'll give you something

in return. It's just that simple. No, that's how it wasn't, that's how it was in the ancient world, that's how it is today. You get what you demand and you've got to look for leverage. And as Robert Green talks about, it's all about power at the end of the day. And if you don't understand how power works,

you're going to be at the mercy, you're going to be the victim of the people who have power. And I think, unfortunately, a lot of us are looking at that right now. It's like, guys, this is what we allowed to is what we allowed to go into place and then we're angry about it. Very true. Very, very true. Oh, man, you're the best. It was so good to talk. I really appreciate you taking the time and thank you for all the support you've given to my books. It means a lot, man. Oh, man, thank you for writing those books because you don't understand, you know,

what, what, what you do to my ecosystem. I recommend Ego is the enemy to everybody, you know, because I feel like, you know, Ego is the... When we talk about obstacle is the way, like, Ego is the biggest obstacle for a lot of us, you know? And once we can get our Ego's out of the way, then I think we can really become the whole people that we're destined to be.

Totally agree, man. We appreciate it. Appreciate you, right? All right. Peace. If you like the podcast that we do here and you want to get it via email every morning, you can sign up at dailystoch.com slash email. Hey, prime members, you can listen to the Daily Stoic Early and Add Free on Amazon Music, download the Amazon Music app today, or you can listen early and add free with Wondery

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