New Season: Who Dis? Aja Nikiya, Project 2025 & Who Needs a Kitten?

What if the future of women's rights and adult content access was hanging in the balance? Join us as we humorously tackle the implications of Project 2025 while celebrating the return of our spirited co-host, Asia Nakia. Fresh from her enlightening trip to Africa, Asia shares tales from her journey that reignited her nonprofit passion with Compassion Kind, along with the charming introduction of her puppy, Cammy—proving her mettle as both a dog and kitten whisperer. Together, we explore the artfulness in Asia's life and the heartwarming story of rescuing three resilient kittens, a testament to our commitment to compassion for the vulnerable.

Chapters

• 0:00 The Power of Slap
• 4:48 Compassion and Amplification for Change
• 19:21 Networking Power for Online Engagement

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:00

You know, with Project 2025, porn is one of them. You can't take away people's porn, man. What are you doing? What are you doing with Project 2025? Taking people's porn away? Oh yeah. And women's control of their bodies? That too, no yeah, we can't do that, that's a hard.

Speaker 2: 0:14

No, there's no science at this point. That's a hard, no, yeah, no, that's a hard, no.

Speaker 1: 0:29

Yeah, hey, won't we go slap today? Yo, hey, won't we go slap today? Yes, yes, yes, the world may not need another podcast, but it can definitely use a slap. Welcome to Slap the Power. I'm Rick Barrio-Dill.

Speaker 2: 0:44

I'm Asia.

Speaker 1: 0:44

Nakia, that's right. And we are back, season four, bigger, better than ever. Yes, so much to get into on the show today. We have proof that kittens multiply. Asia is back, back, back from Africa, and a little later we'll do the first in a series of what's hopefully going to be a lot of interesting things for our listeners. It's going to be the adventures of Asia and also, in Espanol, la Ventura de Aja. But first, the interview this week is with not an, only the one and only Asia Nakia in studio, back from Africa. Yes, yes, yes, the one and only Asia Nakia in studio, back from Africa. Yes, yes, yes, tell me, how was your trip? How are you feeling? Are you rested? Are you coming back from? You know La Venturas, and now you need your muy cansado. Yeah, how are you?

Speaker 2: 1:44

Yeah, definitely a little muy cansado. Yeah, how are you? Yeah, definitely a little muy cansado.

Speaker 1: 1:48

Yeah, yeah sure.

Speaker 2: 1:49

But yeah, I'm, you know, getting back in my groove. I think when you come back 12, 11-hour time differences it's always a little rough. You know you need like a solid week to get back in the right scheme of things. But yeah, I mean I'm doing good, I'm excited to be here. What a time.

Speaker 1: 2:07

Yeah.

Speaker 2: 2:07

I mean I. I want to know what I missed too. Yeah, but yeah the trip was amazing, productive, all the things that I wanted it to be. Many aventuras Uh, it was.

Speaker 1: 2:22

uh it was humbling at times and just showed me you know what again, you know reinstilling, like why I do what I do and how great the need is, and it's always just very invigorating and very energizing when I go back over and I come back with this like zest for how can I do more? One of the reasons we started the're going is living the life artfully is where you show up with the receipts. I love that we're embracing this ride together because, for those of you that don't know, we interviewed Asia previously from her nonprofit, compassion Kind, which we met a couple of years ago, and you said it at the top. There's a lot going on, and I feel like one of the ways that we can use our powers for good nowadays is trying to work on amplifying the messages, trying to team up with people that are heading towards that same star. And we might be, but we're going towards the same star, so let's rock together on the spaceship, right? Yeah, love that.

Speaker 1: 4:10

And, um, one of the things that that is so great about the office now I mean that we this is an audio medium, but we, uh, we just had birth over the break. We got a new puppy, which is cammy, which is brie, our, uh, our producer, it's, it's, uh, her little dog that she just got, and partially with your help right, yeah, as far as yeah. Yeah, yeah, because you're the dog whisperer and things like that, but you're also now the kitten whisperer. Tell our listeners about this is how beautiful and artful Asia's life is. Give the listeners our kitten story Go.

Speaker 2: 4:48

So I came home. I maybe made it back in the studio, came home from Africa because you were in Malawi, Kenya, Greece.

Speaker 2: 4:56

Okay, yeah. And then two days after I came home I was hearing this meowing noise from my fence. And it's not like I haven't heard cats in the area before. I'm thinking maybe it's nothing, no big deal. But then Nico, my son was my dog's son was very curious Woof, woof, woof, woof son. He was so curious about this particular panel in the fence and so, you know, a few times I checked it out, I shined a light in there, wasn't seeing anything, I just kind of wrote it off, you know, but keeping a close eye, watching the dog, seeing what they're doing. Two days later I'm hearing the meowing.

Speaker 2: 5:39

And now it's like a desperate meow, like something is wrong. So, mind you, it's two in the morning, I'm like in my boxers not even a real pajama set, you know, and neighbors can see me. I mean it's fenced in, but I'm like hopping fences and trying to get to this kitten in the middle of the night with barely any light. And yeah, so I um ended up hurting my little paw, my little wrist, and uh had to pry open, you know, two pieces of my fence and pry this little kitten out. And that was how kitten number one came to be and I think we.

Speaker 1: 6:16

There was a picture that you sent you, you texted me or me, and brie was we're in the thread and it wasn't as big, it wasn't even as big as an egg. Like, yeah, tiny and we're, and you were like you're, like you know, mama, mama, age is coming in with it, yeah up every two hours.

Speaker 2: 6:35

I mean, you know, I I wasn't preparing for motherhood as soon as I got back.

Speaker 1: 6:40

I wasn't preparing to have more mothering to do so.

Speaker 2: 6:45

yeah, so then you know. Obviously I've been keeping my eyes and ears open the last days following this first rescue See if Mama will come back See if Mama will come back see if there's more kittens. Lo and behold, a few days later, I hear kittens again, I'm like, oh my gosh. So I got a view of two kittens now at this point, so I was able to get one that day.

Speaker 1: 7:07

Two more kittens, two more kittens. Okay, gotcha.

Speaker 2: 7:11

I was only able to get one, though, and then I spent the rest of the fence in all the cinder blocks trying to figure out where is this third kitten that I already had eyes on?

Speaker 1: 7:19

Yeah.

Speaker 2: 7:20

Didn't happen that day. Next day came, I'm like Nico's, back at the fence again and I'm like all right, spy dog, figure out where this kitten is. So he found another panel of the fence and I had no view of the kitten at this point. But I was like you know what, we're just going to break it. So we did and sure enough, I reached my hand in both directions and there was kitten number three. So now we are at three kittens and they're doing very well driving me nuts, but you know, it's part of motherhood, we love them. But then we're also going crazy and I think I might have a suspect of who mother is. So I've been testing the grounds to see if mama comes around. I'm leaving food, obviously, I'm not going to leave mama hanging. But it is also a dangerous situation. There are big dogs in that yard. They can't be in the nest that she created. It's a bunch of plywood, lots of nails, glass things.

Speaker 1: 8:15

So I guess this is a cool segue, because we wanted to sort of start, uh, this season off with how sort of compassion, kind and and and uh slap previously. We're going to come together and we wanted to be inspired by pushing the show in new ways this season let's start with malawi I mean, you know you know Malawi, what gets you there?

Speaker 2: 8:40

Everything that I do stems from. It is difficult, I think, sometimes to understand when someone does so many different things. We've got the animal rescue side, we've got disaster work, we've got a clinic all of these different things going on. So yeah, so the root for me even though the scope is wide, it's actually pretty granular for me which is that I can't tolerate suffering, and I especially can't tolerate suffering in the most innocent of beings on the planet, which, to what you were saying, is children, and animals.

Speaker 1: 9:18

You know, yeah, so for me you had me.

Speaker 2: 9:21

Yeah, yeah, so so you know, the dog top line is end suffering through compassion yeah but then under that is like the most vulnerable on the planet, which is third world countries, children, disabled, I mean that's the more vulnerable someone or some being is. I gravitate to that and that's why I gravitate towards these you know, huge disasters. That's why I gravitate to animals. I gravitate towards the children in Malawi Because I think the more innocent and vulnerable you are, the more society should have to protect you, and yet I see a big gap in that protection and them having a voice. And it's not that they don't have a voice. Sometimes I struggle with that comment doing things for those who have no voice. They have a voice, but whether we choose to listen or not and do something about it.

Speaker 2: 10:15

So amplifying that voice, I think amplification is like a big you know, theme that just keeps coming up lately, and that's really how I feel about it. So yeah, I mean. You're the vehicle for this, the vehicle for amplification, and I think what we're doing and having these podcasts and having conversations about these things to the general public, I mean I think it's what the world needs right now the most you know.

Speaker 1: 10:41

Amen. Little things can make such a big, big, big difference, and we have this tremendous opportunity, with the Harris campaign being next door, at this moment in history that we're at where it feels like one way has compassion and joy and the other does not. And so, if we're not, you know, using this time to kind of, you know, for you now spending so much time, like if you spend a, you know, a month overseas. Coming back, I felt like, okay, I knew this next two months here in america is just going to be something where we had to be in the game. We we had to be in the game, we had to be talking about it, we had to be providing a place to do things and to do things where we can be talking about these issues that are coming up in real time, whether it's AI misinformation, I mean, this next 30 days in potential disinformation can change the fate of the free world, and I don't know that that's too much of a big statement. I mean there's a lot that could be put into that. And yet, you know, yesterday we had Elon Musk jumping up and down and saying the same thing, but in defense of what, to so many of us, is indefensible. And I guess we find ourselves at this moment where I, if we're going to go all in, I want to go all in on compassion, you know, and being kind, and that's why I love you know. Thank you for kind of bringing your funk up in here.

Speaker 1: 12:14

And what is it, you see, of your biggest mission if you could say for us this season?

Speaker 1: 12:21

We've got coming up this season.

Speaker 1: 12:22

We know we've got senators, we've got artists, we've got comedians, we've got screenwriters, we've got all kinds of people that are pushing forward through their art coming up this season.

Speaker 1: 12:31

But one of the things I wanted to do, by why I loved the idea of doing uh, you and I sitting here and kind of saying the why for me, whether it was democracy, whether it was rights, whether it was climate, they always seemed like these things that were that were, uh, there's not, they weren't fixable. And yet what I realized is no, actually you can will it down to some pretty easy things. You just need power, right. And so that is my goal is to give whether it's a kitten that needs power, needs voice and needs a microphone so that somebody could maybe hear it on the other end and potentially give a kitten a good forever home, or uh, democracy, you know, uh, or fighting fascism or whatever it is. I feel like that the my goal, without making it too like, like self-important or anything is just to kind of be the glue that pulls artists together in a way that feels like we can do things together that are way bigger than we can do individually.

Speaker 2: 13:36

I love that. I mean that's exactly it. I mean what else can we be doing when there is so much chaos and so much negativity and so much going on in the world? I mean bringing more compassion and being able to figure out a way to get power. I mean for me too, like this you know, this show is a platform for us to do good and connect those pieces, like you said, you know, be the glue and bring these artists together. I mean we can do amazing things across the globe as artists. You know. I mean I've learned firsthand. You know I didn't know what I was doing when I said I wanted to start a clinic in malawi. I didn't know how to build a building, I didn't know the rules, but you can do it.

Speaker 1: 14:29

You figure it out.

Speaker 2: 14:31

But I want to give people inspiration to do things. I mean, I had not a penny to my name, I was brand new in a country, didn't know the language and I've done not to toot my horn, but it's just to show you can make a difference. And it can be saving a little kitten's life.

Speaker 2: 14:52

It can be. Whatever the case may be. I mean, we all have something inside of us that we can do and give back. So I really hope that our show invigorates and inspires people, even if they're not famous, even if they're not a politician, even if they're just sitting at home and you know, Calabasas, I don't know.

Speaker 1: 15:14

Yeah, sure.

Speaker 2: 15:15

Somewhere, yeah, or in Malawi, or you know. Wherever you are in the world, there is always something that you can do.

Speaker 1: 15:23

And now we're in a place where we can speak and amplify those voices. You know of that, what we want to kind of see in the world.

Speaker 1: 15:35

And I love that in a way that is, you lead by example, and you know I'm looking forward to. We have four weeks. There's a bunch of caravans that are coming up that we're going to be taking people to go knock doors, helping people knock doors from California to Arizona, and there's going to be a lot of good. There's going to be a lot of this next month is going to be pretty crazy. So I'm glad that we are kind of changing it up. We're going to go fast with our episodes. We're going to go fast with our listeners and with those new artists that want to sort of get involved and come in with your ideas, and you know we'll help lift you up as well.

Speaker 1: 16:26

So, you know, I feel like I'm blessed. We're blessed to be kind of here, and with everything that's going on, it's like okay, how can we help?

Speaker 2: 16:35

Right.

Speaker 1: 16:36

You know how can we help and how can the people that are listening help.

Speaker 2: 16:39

And I feel like this season is just I mean it's just really exciting. I mean we've got celebrities, politicians, people in academics, climate change activists I mean we've got it all. And then we've got kittens and puppies and you know.

Speaker 2: 16:57

I mean, you just never know what's going to happen and maybe we even have Harrison here one day. I mean, you know, like the sky's the limit. I mean being right next door to the campaign and just feeling that energy. And I don't know, you know, and I just go back to you, know the fact that I, you know, just moved to Los Angeles. But there is something about this city that makes you feel like anything is possible. You know, it's got. It's got all the ingredients to make the pie, it's just putting them together in the right bowl you know so and that's what's also so fascinating about this.

Speaker 1: 17:36

The Harris thing is what, once one thing happens, it's like the next thing happens and then we just you just start to realize what a big sort of coalition there is. You don't feel as alone, I don't feel as helpless, I don't feel as hopeless, or, you know, alone on a lot of things. It feels like, ok, ok, I feel better. You know, there's all, there's all these people and I can't wait to drop all these names that are already like confirmed for all these things we have coming up. So it's going to be the fact that we're next door to history, the fact that we're, um, uh, happily involved in a way that is uh, unapologetic, because there are certain things that you know, there's certain things that you know, there's certain things that, yeah, there's certain things that are non-negotiable and uh, yeah.

Speaker 1: 18:22

So you know, with uh, project 2025, porn is one of them. You can't take away people's porn, man, what are you doing? What are you doing with project 2025? Taking people's porn away? Oh, yeah. And women's control their bodies? That that too, no, no, no, that's just there's no, that's a we can't do that.

Speaker 2: 18:37

That's a hard. No, there's no science at this point. That's a hard no, yeah, no, that's a hard, no.

Speaker 1: 18:41

Yeah, yeah. So all right, Asia, nakia, I look forward so much to these adventures that we're about to kick off, because you know that tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick when you go up the. That's what this is, that's where we are right now.

Speaker 1: 18:56

That's what this episode is the one and only asian akia. Thank you for for gracing us with uh, all of your efforts and everything, and uh, between all of our guests that we have coming up and your work, and then the work that we're getting to do here next to the harris campaign. Uh, everywhere you get your podcast, tell your friends about it. That's how you can help out. That that's it. We'll see you next time. Slap the Power is a Slap Network production. It's written and produced by Rick Barriodil and Asia Nakia. Our senior producer is Bree Corey, audio and video editing by Asher Freidberg and Bree Corey, and studio facilities provided by Slap Studios LA and 360Pod Studios. If you're into online power scrolling, like we are, don't forget to follow. Thank you this episode and you can help blow up the group chat by sharing with friends, family or random shit posters on the internet. You want in on the conversation and if you're interested in being a guest on the show, please email info at slapthepowercom.