The "What's Going On?" Podcast
Think casual, relatable discussions like you'd overhear in a barbershop. Conversations and commentaries from the common-person perspective, a mix of diverse topics and perspectives. The conversations will seamlessly pivot between politics, music, sports, and pop culture. Our goal is to be inclusive and inviting, a broad appeal, non-pundit vibe, and memorable.
The "What's Going On?" Podcast
A Nation's Dilemmas: Revolts and Reflections; NFL subscriptions; Dr. Seuss
Use Left/Right to seek, Home/End to jump to start or end. Hold shift to jump forward or backward.
In this episode, Keith, Mike, and myself discuss recent developments with the National Guard in Washington DC, the potential for civil unrest, and the erosion of democratic norms. They draw parallels with historical events, such as the Kent State shootings and fascism in 1939 Germany. They also touch on the economic impact of high-priced sports subscriptions and reflect on the 20th anniversary of Hurricane Katrina. Lastly, they debate the relevance of Dr. Seuss books in modern children's literature and highlight the importance of diverse representation in children’s literature. Join the passionate discussion as the hosts navigate these complex and thought-provoking topics.
In this episode, key Pickens, Mike Miller, and myself discuss recent developments with the National Guard in Washington dc the potential for civil unrest and the erosion of democratic norms. They draw parallels with historic events such as the Kent State shootings and fascism in 1939 Germany. They also touch on the economic impact of high price sports subscriptions. And reflect on the 20th anniversary of Hurricane Katrina. Lastly, they debate the relevance of Dr. Seuss books in modern children's literature and highlight the importance of diverse representation in children's literature. Join this passionate discussion as a host, navigate these complex and thought provoking topics.
meet-the-music-a-to-z_1_08-25-2025_160948What's going on? Keith Pickens
keith-pickens_1_08-25-2025_161009What's going on tc? How you doing?
meet-the-music-a-to-z_1_08-25-2025_160948fantastic, my friend.
keith-pickens_1_08-25-2025_161009Good.
meet-the-music-a-to-z_1_08-25-2025_160948Mike Miller, how you doing?
michael-miller_1_08-25-2025_160948Still alive.
meet-the-music-a-to-z_1_08-25-2025_160948You what that means later.
michael-miller_1_08-25-2025_160948but I'm hanging in there. Tom, how you doing? How you doing, Keith?
keith-pickens_1_08-25-2025_161009Really good.
meet-the-music-a-to-z_1_08-25-2025_160948Yeah.
keith-pickens_1_08-25-2025_161009how are you?
michael-miller_1_08-25-2025_160948Good. Hanging in there?
meet-the-music-a-to-z_1_08-25-2025_160948summer is slowly coming to an end here.
michael-miller_1_08-25-2025_160948Yes sir.
keith-pickens_1_08-25-2025_161009When the high is 70 degrees you looking at the summer slowly fading away,
meet-the-music-a-to-z_1_08-25-2025_160948right
keith-pickens_1_08-25-2025_161009or maybe it's just fading away.
meet-the-music-a-to-z_1_08-25-2025_160948Yeah. So Mike Miller,
michael-miller_1_08-25-2025_160948Yes, sir.
meet-the-music-a-to-z_1_08-25-2025_160948the National Guard is in DC they've been authorized to carry weapons. Are we in a civil war?
michael-miller_1_08-25-2025_160948Wait. Yeah, that means yes, maybe.
keith-pickens_1_08-25-2025_161009Good answer. Yeah.
michael-miller_1_08-25-2025_160948My understanding today was that they were only going to authorize 50 of the guards in DC to have guns to be armed. I don't necessarily believe that number, but that's what was coming up on the news. That's what the White House released. Are we in a civil war? No. This isn't Civil War yet, but it is the beginning of, worse things to come.'cause now he wants to send them into Chicago and New York and Baltimore.
meet-the-music-a-to-z_1_08-25-2025_160948My understanding is like 19 other states
michael-miller_1_08-25-2025_160948oh yeah.
meet-the-music-a-to-z_1_08-25-2025_160948in total.
michael-miller_1_08-25-2025_160948Ultimately, each one of those cities that he mentioned had a black mayor. I don't remember him mentioning Detroit specifically,
meet-the-music-a-to-z_1_08-25-2025_160948name.
michael-miller_1_08-25-2025_160948But Sheffield hasn't been elected yet,
keith-pickens_1_08-25-2025_161009that part.
michael-miller_1_08-25-2025_160948I had a similar conversation with a buddy of mine, who was an attorney, and he laid it out very clearly. This is in your face, intimidation. He's going to make sure that. They're gonna be on top and he wants every black person in this country, whether you have money or whether you don't have money, he wants you to know we will do whatever we gonna do to you at any time that we wanna do it. We've seen this before. The last time we saw this start was 1939. Of course that was in Germany and swept across Europe, but that's when we saw this start before the playbook. It's like a movie of history going all over again. It's just in today's time.
keith-pickens_1_08-25-2025_161009I don't think Tom we're at the Civil War Point yet. It makes me think about the Spike Lee movie. I think it was the Thing maybe when they threw the garbage can through Sal's pizzeria
michael-miller_1_08-25-2025_160948Correct. Yep.
keith-pickens_1_08-25-2025_161009We've quite gotten to the point where we're totally awake, even though the whole point of what they're doing is because we're quote unquote woke. I think the playbook is playing itself out. Point by point.
meet-the-music-a-to-z_1_08-25-2025_160948As Americans, how come we not responding?
keith-pickens_1_08-25-2025_161009I think you remember Kent State, right? They killed four, four students or murdered four students, I think that is like a powder keg effect. I think he's setting the stage, almost daring us because the Somebody gets out of line, it justifies what he's And that'll set it off. In with Kent State, when those children, when those kids were killed, it set it off. And I think that what it does is it lines him up in a way that he'll say, see, I told you they were rowdy or whatever you want to call it. He, Does, he stirs the pot. Think this is just the beginning of stirring that pot and ultimately. There'll be an outrage, hopefully. And unfortunately, people are gonna lose their lives. but he's planting a seed in Washington where he has an opportunity because DC is different from Chicago or Baltimore or New York. In that I was reading something, I looked it up because I knew that we'd be talking about this and there's something called posse Kati, and it's in the Constitution. And basically it suggests that the president does not have the authority federalize or if you've got troops in cities, because you've got the states who oversee the National Guard and the local police and so forth,
meet-the-music-a-to-z_1_08-25-2025_160948Right.
keith-pickens_1_08-25-2025_161009are going beyond their boundary when, and in fact it's against the law for them to try to police different cities.
meet-the-music-a-to-z_1_08-25-2025_160948They don't have the authority to arrest.
keith-pickens_1_08-25-2025_161009They don't have the authority. He's really trying to push all the buttons, anything he can to make the legal system back up on the heels and justify what he's doing. I think he's really just planting the seed. Everything is moving in the direction that they quote unquote the maga folks wanted to move into. And I don't know that the grounds root maga people necessarily foresaw where we are or were privy to the playbook per se. But the brain trust, the people who put this together, the people who are working as puppy strings are certainly aware. And, you gotta get credit what credit is due, whether you like it or not. They decided to turn everything upside down. It is topsy-turvy because
meet-the-music-a-to-z_1_08-25-2025_160948right.
keith-pickens_1_08-25-2025_161009if you can challenge the system, and you don't have a lot of pushback because you've got the three branches in your pocket then you can make it work to your advantage. And the thing that happens on the other side, if there is another side, is that now we've gotta, implement laws or rules so that something like this doesn't happen again. But the short answer is we're not there yet. But I think a civil war is totally possible, and particularly as it relates to people of color.
michael-miller_1_08-25-2025_160948You are absolutely right. It's probable within the two year period. But you are right Keith. We're the target right now,
meet-the-music-a-to-z_1_08-25-2025_160948You don't think just Americans in general are a target? You just think as African Americans.
michael-miller_1_08-25-2025_160948Right now.
meet-the-music-a-to-z_1_08-25-2025_160948or Latinos or,
michael-miller_1_08-25-2025_160948Right now, right? Anybody of color right now. Remember? 39 to 42, and then we entered the war in 42. Okay. So he went after specific groups the intellectuals, and we saw that in the playbook. Fascist in chief went after the universities. What are you teaching? Who's teaching? Who are you teaching? And now he's going after even public education. Now you gotta pass a litmus test of you can't teach about slavery and, we'll get to that in the Save the Children part. I don't wanna jump ahead. But, Civil War is probable within the next two years.
meet-the-music-a-to-z_1_08-25-2025_160948This
michael-miller_1_08-25-2025_160948it's gonna.
meet-the-music-a-to-z_1_08-25-2025_160948I think things are gonna be moving a lot faster than that.
michael-miller_1_08-25-2025_160948I'm with you.
meet-the-music-a-to-z_1_08-25-2025_160948We're seven months into this presidency and things are off rails for sure. The thing is that like he said, things are being lined up
michael-miller_1_08-25-2025_160948Like he said.
meet-the-music-a-to-z_1_08-25-2025_160948I have to say that as Americans, we need to stand together
michael-miller_1_08-25-2025_160948Yes.
meet-the-music-a-to-z_1_08-25-2025_160948to stand together against this administration. And I think there needs to be voices or guess the deterrent with those weapons is that people don't wanna protest because they don't want to go to the streets because you're gonna have, that kind of civil unrest that might take place
keith-pickens_1_08-25-2025_161009Right?
meet-the-music-a-to-z_1_08-25-2025_160948then, they have a reason to pull the trigger. People are probably afraid to do that. I think that Americans need to revolt in some kinda way. Shut the country down, or something of that nature.
keith-pickens_1_08-25-2025_161009Again Tom, if you turn back to 1970 and Kent State, was such a tragedy in terms of how it went, how it injuries and the four deaths, that afterwards there was a human cry, and supposedly they decided from that point on that for things of this nature, they would use rubber bullets. Now, I don't know if that comes into play now or not. I haven't heard anybody even speak to that, because they just authorized the use of the weapons. But with those weapons are rubber bullets in play or are they really gonna fire on people deliberately and kill them like they did back in
michael-miller_1_08-25-2025_160948In, in some of those George Floyd protest, they did use rubber bullets. I remember a reporter getting hit by rubber bullets. Yeah, that I remember. So they, I say they, that particular police force bullets quite unnecessarily shooting at a reporter,
keith-pickens_1_08-25-2025_161009Yeah.
michael-miller_1_08-25-2025_160948Was, I think it was a NBC or a BC reporter one. But anyway, who was just standing there reporting
keith-pickens_1_08-25-2025_161009Right.
michael-miller_1_08-25-2025_160948You're both right. He's pushing a fight. He wants a fight. He wants somebody to push back to the point where, look at'em. They're wild. He wants a fight. So it's up to us to try to keep calm.
keith-pickens_1_08-25-2025_161009Keep calm.
michael-miller_1_08-25-2025_160948And ultimately, you were right, Keith and you said the same thing that, president Obama said, it's gonna take sacrifice
keith-pickens_1_08-25-2025_161009Yeah.
meet-the-music-a-to-z_1_08-25-2025_160948Yes.
michael-miller_1_08-25-2025_160948to bring democracy back. It's going to take sacrifice,
meet-the-music-a-to-z_1_08-25-2025_160948I.
michael-miller_1_08-25-2025_160948and if we know the history of our country it always takes sacrifice. I hate for anybody to, especially, this is 2025, I thought when we got to this point, it wouldn't be like this, but it's worse than it was in the sixties. You know what I mean? It's worse. I'm like, okay. All right.
keith-pickens_1_08-25-2025_161009And that's the reason Mike, because it, for them, not for us, we've seen progress For them. Things have festered to the point they've had what they consider losses. Okay. To the extent that, I don't know who said it. I don't know if I was watching a newscast or whatever, but it made sense to me that they are such the mind that they feel that they hold the key to freedom. other words, you don't have anything without us. And so we can revoke your freedom or your free will at any time. The mAGA concept was predicated on the fact that we're slipping, losing ground, losing power to minorities, to women. You've got a movement, L-B-G-T-Q or the white man is feeling like, you know what? Remember when we had it all, when what we said went and when he said, make America great again. Let's go back to the way things were. So to erase a lot of these gains that we've had in society to equalize or level the playing field, their end goal is to do away with as much of it as possible. I heard a commentator say it's gonna take and she's a very eloquent young lady. I can't think of her name. She was on M-S-N-B-C. She said that we could possibly, get back to where we were. in her mind it would take at least 20 years.
michael-miller_1_08-25-2025_160948Yes.
keith-pickens_1_08-25-2025_161009I was like, 20 years. And I started looking at my
michael-miller_1_08-25-2025_160948Yeah,
keith-pickens_1_08-25-2025_161009I put 20 And I was like, whoa. You talk about Back and then trying to take a step forward. You take one step forward and take 20 steps back. You got a long way to come.
michael-miller_1_08-25-2025_160948right.
keith-pickens_1_08-25-2025_161009Playbook is in effect. And I think that there should be somebody out there unbeknownst to us at this point who's putting together a playbook to push things back in the other direction because they're doing away with a lot of the games. And the whole point is, you know what they can't stand the fact that even though they're the majority in numbers, their power has diminished over time through civil rights.
michael-miller_1_08-25-2025_160948But okay. When you say they are, the majority define they
keith-pickens_1_08-25-2025_161009I'm gonna be perfectly honest. I think that you're talking about mostly Caucasian males.
michael-miller_1_08-25-2025_160948okay. You're exactly right. And they're not the majority. This is apartheid.
keith-pickens_1_08-25-2025_161009Okay.
michael-miller_1_08-25-2025_160948majority in government. Yes. By design?
keith-pickens_1_08-25-2025_161009number
michael-miller_1_08-25-2025_160948No, not in numbers. Not in the general population. But they have the money. Money is power in this country. And they were able to do what they were able to do.
meet-the-music-a-to-z_1_08-25-2025_160948That leads into that Facebook thing you sent
michael-miller_1_08-25-2025_160948I knew you were going there.
meet-the-music-a-to-z_1_08-25-2025_160948They were talking about that one. I think he's currently a state representative in Texas. He mentioned about the 1%. He said, we are all focused on the wrong 1%.
michael-miller_1_08-25-2025_160948Correct.
meet-the-music-a-to-z_1_08-25-2025_160948Muslim in this country. There's 1% L-G-B-T-Q in this country the 1% we are not focused on are the billionaires.
michael-miller_1_08-25-2025_160948And that's what Hitler did. He focused on, he made every, oh, this is your problem remember, he went after the unions.
meet-the-music-a-to-z_1_08-25-2025_160948Yeah,
michael-miller_1_08-25-2025_160948went after the intellectuals. He went after the immigrants, one by segment. He focused everybody's attention on this little tiny part of their population just to take control, just to get'em into a frenzy. It is powerful. They know how to do it Wrong. I think it's wrong to do that,
keith-pickens_1_08-25-2025_161009yeah.
michael-miller_1_08-25-2025_160948It is what it is.
keith-pickens_1_08-25-2025_161009Yeah. It's been the perfect storm.'cause I've always thought even back several years that money is power, money buys influence and if. The wealthy, the one
michael-miller_1_08-25-2025_160948I.
keith-pickens_1_08-25-2025_161009if they band together make things happen. What's happening now that it's always been there in terms of the potential. Then you had this movement and it just continued to snowball and got bigger and bigger. And it's essentially taking on a life of his own to the extent that the people who are in power, even though he's the, he's placing most of them in power. They're like robots. Those people that had positions prior, you would not necessarily have known unless you were in their inner circles, that their thought process was equivalent to his thought process or that they would be willing to do whatever he wanted them to do. For instance your guy out of, was that Florida? What's our Secretary of
meet-the-music-a-to-z_1_08-25-2025_160948Rubio,
keith-pickens_1_08-25-2025_161009Rubio?
michael-miller_1_08-25-2025_160948yeah.
keith-pickens_1_08-25-2025_161009Who knew?
meet-the-music-a-to-z_1_08-25-2025_160948you say My guy?
keith-pickens_1_08-25-2025_161009even JD Vance, who's just a puppet to billionaires they talked about Trump like a dog.
meet-the-music-a-to-z_1_08-25-2025_160948Yeah.
keith-pickens_1_08-25-2025_161009In
meet-the-music-a-to-z_1_08-25-2025_160948All right.
keith-pickens_1_08-25-2025_161009of them that he's appointed talked about him like a dog. But now can do or say no wrong.
meet-the-music-a-to-z_1_08-25-2025_160948Yeah.
keith-pickens_1_08-25-2025_161009It's strange where we are at this point in time.
meet-the-music-a-to-z_1_08-25-2025_160948What's, our counter to all of that? Having the National Guard in our cities, because right now, technically, I guess we are not feeling it. We're still running around about like have freedoms
michael-miller_1_08-25-2025_160948Yeah. Boots on the ground,
meet-the-music-a-to-z_1_08-25-2025_160948we actually get boots on the ground in downtown Detroit,
keith-pickens_1_08-25-2025_161009not the
meet-the-music-a-to-z_1_08-25-2025_160948We are not seeing that. But if you start going to a game and you starting to see that kind of stuff, then there's so impactful.
keith-pickens_1_08-25-2025_161009time.
meet-the-music-a-to-z_1_08-25-2025_160948Huh
keith-pickens_1_08-25-2025_161009going downtown like we do to have fun.
meet-the-music-a-to-z_1_08-25-2025_160948We need to tell'em, we don't want'em here. They not need it. then that goes in one ear and out the other.'cause they're standing on orders. The orders are to be where crowds are at, or whatever the case may be.
michael-miller_1_08-25-2025_160948Detroit has the largest international border crossing for commerce.
meet-the-music-a-to-z_1_08-25-2025_160948Yeah.
michael-miller_1_08-25-2025_160948In the United States, for truck commerce in the United States. And there is no way that he is going to allow, I'm just gonna say it, he's not gonna allow no black woman to control this city. He gonna make it soon. I guarantee you. Within 30 days of her being elected you'll, oh, we gotta go into Detroit too.
keith-pickens_1_08-25-2025_161009Oh, I am
michael-miller_1_08-25-2025_160948You'll see
meet-the-music-a-to-z_1_08-25-2025_160948that's the
michael-miller_1_08-25-2025_160948You'll see.
meet-the-music-a-to-z_1_08-25-2025_160948Again, what is our counter to all of that?
michael-miller_1_08-25-2025_160948Oh, I counter.
meet-the-music-a-to-z_1_08-25-2025_160948The only way we're going to, going back to what you guys are talking about the money and the power. As consumers, that's the only power we have to shut this country down. We can't stand in front of the Ambassador Bridge because they're militarized And push us out the way. But if we stop purchasing, if we stop going to work
michael-miller_1_08-25-2025_160948If you stop paying federal taxes. How do you avoid it? Okay.
meet-the-music-a-to-z_1_08-25-2025_160948though?
keith-pickens_1_08-25-2025_161009things are
michael-miller_1_08-25-2025_160948See but now here's what you, how do you avoid that without getting penalized number one
meet-the-music-a-to-z_1_08-25-2025_160948I don't know the answer, so hopefully you're giving me the answer
michael-miller_1_08-25-2025_160948when I'm talking? I can't say that on the air Uhuh. Nope. But we try to stay clean. There are things that you can do. I'll put it this way, pay as little federal tax as you can, but it's going to come to a point. Like you said, Tom, shut it down. And that includes the IRS. Why would you pay people to brutalize you? I'm not gonna do that.
meet-the-music-a-to-z_1_08-25-2025_160948Yeah, but you guys brought up the billionaires. Not paying my federal taxes are not gonna hurt the billionaires. How do I hurt the billionaires?
michael-miller_1_08-25-2025_160948All of us have to stop paying the federal taxes.
keith-pickens_1_08-25-2025_161009The system is rigged right now. What we saw was in terms of everything being politicized is a balance that, that was just incredulous almost 50 50. Republicans, Democrats, that's gonna have to be swayed. And quite frankly the Republicans who are now Stepford wives are gonna have to grow some gonads.
michael-miller_1_08-25-2025_160948Stop.
keith-pickens_1_08-25-2025_161009They're gonna have to represent the people, man. Because right now, they're literally laying down. They ran home so they wouldn't have to vote on this They're gonna have to recognize that at some point you gotta be accountable to the people. And if the people wake up. If the people say, you know what, we're not having this anymore. We have to get that balance. Even, they're playing, when I say chess, they're playing it at the highest level.'cause they're going into Texas and say, you know what, we're getting five more seats. Governor Newsom said, you know what, we're gonna balance that off. California is huge. We going to get five more seats. It's gonna play out because basically what they're doing, what's coming into play is exactly what Trump said. And he said it as an aside and he snickered. He said, if we do this right, we may never have to vote again.
michael-miller_1_08-25-2025_160948Yes.
keith-pickens_1_08-25-2025_161009He said
michael-miller_1_08-25-2025_160948Yes,
keith-pickens_1_08-25-2025_161009that stood out to me. I remember it. I'll always
michael-miller_1_08-25-2025_160948Yep.
keith-pickens_1_08-25-2025_161009that was a scary thought.
michael-miller_1_08-25-2025_160948He said It's red. You'll never have to vote again. We don't have to worry about it anymore. I'll never forget that.
keith-pickens_1_08-25-2025_161009They can keep the balance on the red side so that to the extent we'll still be able to vote, hopefully that's not 100%, but let's say that we are, if they've lined it up in a way that they're always gonna have a house and. And they've Lord know it's only for how long they've got the judiciary, the Supreme Court. It's going to be a tough rota hole as they say. It's, it is gonna be hard to get back because the balance of power is shifted tremendously. Typically, it goes, it's like a pendulum. It swings back and forth, from one administration to the next. This is so extreme. They've knocked it out the park. They're saying, you know what? We got it now. We got you, and we're gonna keep it as long as we can. To his point, if we never have to vote again, rhetorically never have to vote again, then so be it. Because everything is gonna be lined up at the end of the day, we're gonna control the votes he's taking away the mail-in vote anything. He's making it tougher to vote. Anything he can do to make sure he sustains that power he's doing my short answer is Tom I don't have the answer but I do know this, as long as there's a balance in the way the system is set up with the legislators and the judicial, gonna be tough. And we just need some of the MAGA people to come out of that stupor and recognize that this man is not only a liar, but he is not doing anything realistically that he promised to them. Promise us anything, but he made promises to the MAGA base that he's not even keeping. Rogan is mad at him.
michael-miller_1_08-25-2025_160948he told us, what in the hell you have to lose? Remember that?
keith-pickens_1_08-25-2025_161009Yeah.
michael-miller_1_08-25-2025_160948He said, what do I have to lose to the black people?
keith-pickens_1_08-25-2025_161009right?
michael-miller_1_08-25-2025_160948never forget that. I would never forget those words. I'm looking at him like wow,
keith-pickens_1_08-25-2025_161009And unfortunately,
michael-miller_1_08-25-2025_160948God.
keith-pickens_1_08-25-2025_161009lot of us believed him.
meet-the-music-a-to-z_1_08-25-2025_160948Right.
michael-miller_1_08-25-2025_160948And that's why I like DL Hugeley. Okay, Tom. Make me wanna holler.
meet-the-music-a-to-z_1_08-25-2025_160948All right.
michael-miller_1_08-25-2025_160948I'm hollering. I can't go there yet.
meet-the-music-a-to-z_1_08-25-2025_160948Ahead and
michael-miller_1_08-25-2025_160948All right.
meet-the-music-a-to-z_1_08-25-2025_160948Hill, you
michael-miller_1_08-25-2025_160948Dear. Ugly said it best, you know these people who are now saying they're sorry they voted for Trump are very disingenuine.
keith-pickens_1_08-25-2025_161009Yes.
michael-miller_1_08-25-2025_160948Very disingenuous. They're only sorry.'cause it affected them. When it wasn't affected them. They wasn't sorry. And that's why I said, okay, I can understand an apology the first time you voted for'em.
meet-the-music-a-to-z_1_08-25-2025_160948Yeah.
michael-miller_1_08-25-2025_160948Anybody can be fooled one time. I can understand that. But after an insurrection, how could you possibly vote for an insurrectionist? You gotta be kidding me.
keith-pickens_1_08-25-2025_161009be
michael-miller_1_08-25-2025_160948Are you that dismayed with democracy that you would vote for an insurrectionist? Wow,
keith-pickens_1_08-25-2025_161009Yeah.
michael-miller_1_08-25-2025_160948That is the one that blew me away. He led an insurrection and y'all still voted for him. Okay. That tells me a lot.
meet-the-music-a-to-z_1_08-25-2025_160948Right.
michael-miller_1_08-25-2025_160948tells me that your DNA, you don't care. Y'all don't have the balls to change the Constitution, but you're not gonna support it. You understand?'Cause if you supported the Constitution, if you defended the constitution says somebody who's an insurrectionist cannot even be president.
keith-pickens_1_08-25-2025_161009right.
michael-miller_1_08-25-2025_160948So I'm wondering how the
keith-pickens_1_08-25-2025_161009and by right. These soldiers, the pledges they take is It's not to
michael-miller_1_08-25-2025_160948To the constitution. Correct? Correct. And that's by design, correct? That's by design.
keith-pickens_1_08-25-2025_161009to be defiant.
michael-miller_1_08-25-2025_160948That's why I called on the generals. The generals can step up. You're right, Keith.
keith-pickens_1_08-25-2025_161009Into the neighborhoods and the war is always supposed to be on the outskirts.
michael-miller_1_08-25-2025_160948That's why it's civil. You're right.
keith-pickens_1_08-25-2025_161009Kill your own people.
michael-miller_1_08-25-2025_160948Or even anything that you are right. That's Keith
keith-pickens_1_08-25-2025_161009we
michael-miller_1_08-25-2025_160948and Tom.
keith-pickens_1_08-25-2025_161009Were farfetched recently
meet-the-music-a-to-z_1_08-25-2025_160948Yeah.
keith-pickens_1_08-25-2025_161009and the way the pieces are being moved around the board, if we're turning on our own people, how tough is it gonna be for Russia or China, North Korea to turn on us because
meet-the-music-a-to-z_1_08-25-2025_160948at all,
keith-pickens_1_08-25-2025_161009so
michael-miller_1_08-25-2025_160948Oh, yeah.
keith-pickens_1_08-25-2025_161009Troops to fighting in-house against your own people, then we gotta pull troops from other countries, Weakens our resolve to do what we need to do to protect our interests in those other countries. So it's a huge psychology going on because it's slight of hand. They got an end game.
michael-miller_1_08-25-2025_160948Oh yeah.
keith-pickens_1_08-25-2025_161009these things. say, look at this. And on the other hand they moving to pieces. They're doing this, they're doing this. And they're
meet-the-music-a-to-z_1_08-25-2025_160948Right.
keith-pickens_1_08-25-2025_161009a way that, nothing will surprise me now.
michael-miller_1_08-25-2025_160948You are right.
keith-pickens_1_08-25-2025_161009I
meet-the-music-a-to-z_1_08-25-2025_160948I'm finally on
michael-miller_1_08-25-2025_160948Yep.
meet-the-music-a-to-z_1_08-25-2025_160948now.
michael-miller_1_08-25-2025_160948You're right.
meet-the-music-a-to-z_1_08-25-2025_160948about anything.
keith-pickens_1_08-25-2025_161009Yeah,
meet-the-music-a-to-z_1_08-25-2025_160948was hopeful that the Democrats would have some kind of messaging to deflect all of this that's going on. But I ain't heard from Jefferies or anything about Epstein or any of this stuff. Not to say that but here's the other thing. Here's, but here's the other thing. Here's the other thing though, Mike can relate to. You guys both can relate to this. Gil Scott, what'd he say? revolution will not be
michael-miller_1_08-25-2025_160948that'll be televised. Thank you. Thank you.
keith-pickens_1_08-25-2025_161009Hey.
meet-the-music-a-to-z_1_08-25-2025_160948Of other podcasters are talking about it.
michael-miller_1_08-25-2025_160948But it's not in mainstream media,
keith-pickens_1_08-25-2025_161009he's
meet-the-music-a-to-z_1_08-25-2025_160948Yeah
keith-pickens_1_08-25-2025_161009every bit of power that we've used to make sure this is a fair nation.
meet-the-music-a-to-z_1_08-25-2025_160948Yeah.
keith-pickens_1_08-25-2025_161009us. Even to the
michael-miller_1_08-25-2025_160948right?
keith-pickens_1_08-25-2025_161009Every They say something that he doesn't like, he wants to file a lawsuit. He wants to say or do something to diminish who they, and this is a guy who doesn't even, he's such a liar that he wants to be the person who writes the story about
michael-miller_1_08-25-2025_160948right.
keith-pickens_1_08-25-2025_161009So he's, all the media is fake news, Says it, it's the gospel.
michael-miller_1_08-25-2025_160948Truth, media.
keith-pickens_1_08-25-2025_161009Up in a way that he has all he wants to have all the power. So it really makes it tough. And to the point that the democrats, the messaging, I get that. And I think that for whatever media outlets are available, there are just a handful, Crockett, Jefferies the California gov. There's some that are out here in Minnesota. There are some governors and politicians who are putting a message out there. Because every time I look at tv, it's the same four or five. But if you've got the politicians to get a vote, and every time the Democrats try to put a vote through, it's squashed because you've got such a super majority in the Congress and in the Senate, it's almost a moot point. But I see them trying, the Democrats, you can almost count on not necessarily. I hate to think that they would go to the Republicans party the way the Republican party is now, but they've gotta find a message that's gonna resonate. With the Democrats who are moderates, with the Democrats who are not maga loyalists, because those people need to be turned. They need to understand what's going on, and they need to understand what's at stake. Because right now it's just power balance is just it's gotten so great with the Republicans that he, that Trump can literally say and do whatever he wants, and even the Supreme Court doesn't put him in his place.
michael-miller_1_08-25-2025_160948Oh, no.
keith-pickens_1_08-25-2025_161009Time that we're in.
michael-miller_1_08-25-2025_160948So you, yeah.
keith-pickens_1_08-25-2025_161009That's just my opinion.
michael-miller_1_08-25-2025_160948You are correct. You are correct. I'm worried. It's really bad when the sale of ammunition and or guns is suspended, it's about to happen.
keith-pickens_1_08-25-2025_161009Yes.
michael-miller_1_08-25-2025_160948NRA is not gonna go for. The suspension of either, unless they're on board with what's about to happen.
keith-pickens_1_08-25-2025_161009That'd be the
michael-miller_1_08-25-2025_160948Let's be real. Let's be really real now
keith-pickens_1_08-25-2025_161009Yep.
michael-miller_1_08-25-2025_160948that national Rifle, NRA, will not be on board with the suspension of, and they shouldn't be. We have the right to bear arms
keith-pickens_1_08-25-2025_161009Absolutely.
michael-miller_1_08-25-2025_160948When they stopped selling to. You'll know that's what happened when they wiped out them towns before.
keith-pickens_1_08-25-2025_161009Mike, it's hypocrisy.
michael-miller_1_08-25-2025_160948Yeah.
keith-pickens_1_08-25-2025_161009the right to bear arms to, they say we can't.
michael-miller_1_08-25-2025_160948It's in the Constitution, so are you gonna change the constitution
keith-pickens_1_08-25-2025_161009Constitution right now.
michael-miller_1_08-25-2025_160948That's not being followed, right? Yes.
keith-pickens_1_08-25-2025_161009it, clearly Federalize going to these cities and take The federal government to do it's actually in the Constitution
michael-miller_1_08-25-2025_160948Correct.
keith-pickens_1_08-25-2025_161009law.
michael-miller_1_08-25-2025_160948Correct. The federal government only exists because the states allow it to exist. Remember, a constitutional convention can be called at any time and the states can abolish the federal government. We are a nation of states that's why they call it the United States because the United, but they can ununited anytime with a constitutional convention. Wow. Now Gavin already
meet-the-music-a-to-z_1_08-25-2025_160948our counter?
michael-miller_1_08-25-2025_160948No. I don't think anybody wants the United States.
keith-pickens_1_08-25-2025_161009Though,
michael-miller_1_08-25-2025_160948Yeah. And nobody wants to do that.
keith-pickens_1_08-25-2025_161009Do you
michael-miller_1_08-25-2025_160948but
keith-pickens_1_08-25-2025_161009that?
michael-miller_1_08-25-2025_160948But they only exist because, so if,
meet-the-music-a-to-z_1_08-25-2025_160948I don't mind becoming part of Canada.
michael-miller_1_08-25-2025_160948I wouldn't mind becoming a part of candidate either.
keith-pickens_1_08-25-2025_161009Is Canada a part of the European
michael-miller_1_08-25-2025_160948nATO or European Union? I don't know. I don't know. No. Okay.
meet-the-music-a-to-z_1_08-25-2025_160948mean they're probably part of nato, but they're not part of the European.
keith-pickens_1_08-25-2025_161009NATO
michael-miller_1_08-25-2025_160948Not European Union, no.
meet-the-music-a-to-z_1_08-25-2025_160948Nato,
keith-pickens_1_08-25-2025_161009A lot of land, but I don't know how much real power they actually have in terms of their militarian and so
meet-the-music-a-to-z_1_08-25-2025_160948no, not much.'cause there's only a population of 30 million.
michael-miller_1_08-25-2025_160948And who's trying to invade Canada? Let's be real. Who's trying to invade? What have they done? You got a peaceful people. They don't bother nobody. Leave'em alone, No. See, they can't. They can't leave nobody alone. We gotta control what you have. I'm not bothering you. I'm over here. That's why I didn't understand that trade issue. You went after Canada, man,
keith-pickens_1_08-25-2025_161009Okay, here's a rhetorical question, or maybe it's a question that could be addressed or answered. Is Trump really interested in the United States, is he more interested in how he can profit from his current leadership of the United States?
michael-miller_1_08-25-2025_160948that's it. You hit it. That's what he's interested in. See, that's stuff. He's not interested. He don't care what happens to the United States as long as he's making money. You are exactly right. He's about him. Always has been. Always will be. And if people didn't see that the first time, you voted for him a second time and now irreparable harm has been done to our democracy.
keith-pickens_1_08-25-2025_161009respect is gone. We're essentially, not all
michael-miller_1_08-25-2025_160948Isolationist.
keith-pickens_1_08-25-2025_161009hoping we'll come back, but we're essentially on an island.
michael-miller_1_08-25-2025_160948Isolationist nation. He's trying to isolate us more and more, leaving it alone is the wrong thing to do. These same conversations were held from 1939 till 1942 when the US entered that war. My uncles went in and defeated these autocratic fascists. When Pearl Harbor was attacked, we were attacked all over the world that day. It wasn't just Pearl Harbor.
keith-pickens_1_08-25-2025_161009Right.
michael-miller_1_08-25-2025_160948Remember, we were attacked in Europe all over Europe. But the most devastating thing was, of course, Pearl Harbor at that point in time, the Evil Axis Act, whatever they wanna call it, was Japan. What Germany, number one. Japan and Russia.
keith-pickens_1_08-25-2025_161009In Russia.
michael-miller_1_08-25-2025_160948It wasn't until 43. I could be wrong about that, where Germany turned on Russia. And then Russia became our allies and they were now fighting the Germans. And then soon as World War II was over, they were our enemies again.
keith-pickens_1_08-25-2025_161009Yeah.
michael-miller_1_08-25-2025_160948But anyway I bring that up to say nobody likes fascism and autocracy. It's hated all over the, that has got to go. And we defeated that once, but we didn't go far enough because that fascist, autocratic DNA has now permeated our government.
keith-pickens_1_08-25-2025_161009Yes it has.
michael-miller_1_08-25-2025_160948And that's what it is.
keith-pickens_1_08-25-2025_161009Yes,
michael-miller_1_08-25-2025_160948So they don't. Negotiate with you. They don't care about your vote. Heda their name, the name calling alone. What leader of the free world calls people, losers and bums. And what my man say the other day caught those white hippies, they're not even black. Talking about the takeover of DC that was Miller. Oh God, that's my last name. Wow. He's the white sheep of the family. I'm disowning him.
keith-pickens_1_08-25-2025_161009Literally.
michael-miller_1_08-25-2025_160948Yeah. But he came out, called him hippies and, said they don't know. We not listen. He flat out said, we're not listening to them. Don't care what they say. And that permeates our government. You'll see more government people name calling now because it came from the president himself.
keith-pickens_1_08-25-2025_161009Absolutely.
michael-miller_1_08-25-2025_160948He set the tone. So now what does that say for the children? When they see the president of the United States calling people losers and this and that. Wow, dude. So this is how you bring up the kids of the United States. This is how you wanna be looked at. You gotta think about it.
meet-the-music-a-to-z_1_08-25-2025_160948Let me go back to Keith's question about whether or not Trump cares about America, or is he trying to enrich himself, and I just don't see. I don't agree and I don't disagree with those both of those scenarios. I don't see him totally enriching himself in the family that's harming the United States. Maybe you can gimme an example, because right now I don't see that. Then the fact that he doesn't care about America I do see that, but I don't see that is just him. I see. It's the whole Federal government
michael-miller_1_08-25-2025_160948I get it.
meet-the-music-a-to-z_1_08-25-2025_160948in positions of the
keith-pickens_1_08-25-2025_161009The World right now?
meet-the-music-a-to-z_1_08-25-2025_160948that's questionable
michael-miller_1_08-25-2025_160948That's questionable, right? It's not us.
meet-the-music-a-to-z_1_08-25-2025_160948That's the Given us. But I don't see that being the case.
keith-pickens_1_08-25-2025_161009let me back the train up. Who's the leader of the United States right now?
meet-the-music-a-to-z_1_08-25-2025_160948Yeah, that's,
michael-miller_1_08-25-2025_160948Yeah.
meet-the-music-a-to-z_1_08-25-2025_160948that's Trump President Donald JJ Trump.
keith-pickens_1_08-25-2025_161009goes maga, so goes whatever philosophy that they're trying to push down our throats. in terms of his enrichment Tom the things that he's doing are hurtful to our economy and beneficial to him and his cronies. And I say cronies as a matter of fact. And so as he implements policies hurt, that impacts the lease of these, it lines not only his pockets, it lines his cronies pockets,
meet-the-music-a-to-z_1_08-25-2025_160948and what in what tangible way.
keith-pickens_1_08-25-2025_161009In what tangible
meet-the-music-a-to-z_1_08-25-2025_160948yeah. What industry is he getting over on? It is not the
michael-miller_1_08-25-2025_160948All of them.
meet-the-music-a-to-z_1_08-25-2025_160948I don't see it.
michael-miller_1_08-25-2025_160948of them.
meet-the-music-a-to-z_1_08-25-2025_160948Oil. I don't see it there. I don't see it.
michael-miller_1_08-25-2025_160948Okay.
meet-the-music-a-to-z_1_08-25-2025_160948That.
keith-pickens_1_08-25-2025_161009The government is now in the auto chip market, if I'm not mistaken. I just read or heard something to that effect. The government oversees who can produce how much oil and when he can profit from basically just suggesting to, we said that we didn't want to pump oil, the fracking or whatever that goes on, he said, let it flow. So I think that he'll benefit from that. I think that his friends will benefit from that. Just like there are kickbacks on the lower level, I think that there are kickbacks on a larger level. If you look at how much money he has earned, how did he go about earning that money and how does it impact? People throughout the United States who have very little day to day,
meet-the-music-a-to-z_1_08-25-2025_160948but
keith-pickens_1_08-25-2025_161009that everything he does, or everything he has done has an adverse impact on people already struggling to make ends meet. And to that end, I think he does benefit because I know that he does things not only for his own benefit, but for the benefit of the people who have billions. Like he has billions and he's probably made more money in the last six months
meet-the-music-a-to-z_1_08-25-2025_160948Yeah, he has,
keith-pickens_1_08-25-2025_161009in a lifetime.
meet-the-music-a-to-z_1_08-25-2025_160948yeah, he has, made money, but it's not generally off of closing hospitals, shutting off aid to foreign countries. don't see him making money off of those things that. hand, and that's what I'm Go
michael-miller_1_08-25-2025_160948okay.
keith-pickens_1_08-25-2025_161009indirectly, Tom, by doing those things it's already freed up the types of things he's trying to get done through that big ugly bill. One thing offset the other. maybe when you look at it, you don't see the direct effect, There's an indirect effect that provides wealth to him and his cronies. Maybe he haphazardly had Doge shut down all these operations and cut off USAID but there was a rationale for that. That ties back to enriching those who already have the billionaires. And the last I checked, he's a billionaire.
michael-miller_1_08-25-2025_160948Here's how he enriches himself. It's called a contribution. It's called a contribution to, what was it before the inauguration? When he came and kissed the ring, million dollars,
keith-pickens_1_08-25-2025_161009Yep.
michael-miller_1_08-25-2025_160948he made it go away. Whatever it was, he made it go away.
keith-pickens_1_08-25-2025_161009Yep.
michael-miller_1_08-25-2025_160948Reelection campaign contributed a million dollars.
keith-pickens_1_08-25-2025_161009Yep.
michael-miller_1_08-25-2025_160948I'll make it go away
keith-pickens_1_08-25-2025_161009Make it
michael-miller_1_08-25-2025_160948and it goes away.
keith-pickens_1_08-25-2025_161009Yep.
michael-miller_1_08-25-2025_160948he tells you to contribute to, that's how he makes his money. Whatever fund, he says, okay, put you, you make a contribution. Write me a check to this fund over here, or this fund over here.
meet-the-music-a-to-z_1_08-25-2025_160948I'm just looking at that as being peanuts. I don't look at Billions
michael-miller_1_08-25-2025_160948No. He's still making money in the market.
keith-pickens_1_08-25-2025_161009Yeah.
michael-miller_1_08-25-2025_160948No. He ain't gonna do that.
meet-the-music-a-to-z_1_08-25-2025_160948But you guys are saying he's adding to his wealth and I'm just trying to figure out in what grand scheme of things is he adding to his wealth besides nickel and diamond and twisted arms and,
keith-pickens_1_08-25-2025_161009Nichols and
michael-miller_1_08-25-2025_160948That's what
meet-the-music-a-to-z_1_08-25-2025_160948no,
michael-miller_1_08-25-2025_160948yeah.
meet-the-music-a-to-z_1_08-25-2025_160948to them it is nickels and dimes. If you say$1 million contribution to a guy who's a billionaire,
michael-miller_1_08-25-2025_160948relative.
keith-pickens_1_08-25-2025_161009You do with a million dollars
meet-the-music-a-to-z_1_08-25-2025_160948no, we're not talking about me. We're talking about other billionaires.
michael-miller_1_08-25-2025_160948But you got a thousand, you, yeah. You got thousands of people that will give him a million dollars each. Those are billions,
keith-pickens_1_08-25-2025_161009those billions.
michael-miller_1_08-25-2025_160948Every hundred.
keith-pickens_1_08-25-2025_161009Said
michael-miller_1_08-25-2025_160948Yeah.
keith-pickens_1_08-25-2025_161009impact you at all, what You're
meet-the-music-a-to-z_1_08-25-2025_160948talking about them. It doesn't impact them on the grand scheme,
michael-miller_1_08-25-2025_160948It,
meet-the-music-a-to-z_1_08-25-2025_160948the
michael-miller_1_08-25-2025_160948the billionaire? No, it doesn't.
meet-the-music-a-to-z_1_08-25-2025_160948I'm talking about Trump right now.
keith-pickens_1_08-25-2025_161009Okay.
michael-miller_1_08-25-2025_160948But
meet-the-music-a-to-z_1_08-25-2025_160948he
michael-miller_1_08-25-2025_160948he'll,
meet-the-music-a-to-z_1_08-25-2025_160948to, to make the billions. What has he done on the grand scale that's impacted America?
michael-miller_1_08-25-2025_160948He appears at a lot of stuff we don't know about. We know nothing about
meet-the-music-a-to-z_1_08-25-2025_160948So you are just talking about the Trump name. Then the Trump name generates millions and
michael-miller_1_08-25-2025_160948generates million.
meet-the-music-a-to-z_1_08-25-2025_160948But I'm talking about
keith-pickens_1_08-25-2025_161009But how
meet-the-music-a-to-z_1_08-25-2025_160948what,
michael-miller_1_08-25-2025_160948does.
keith-pickens_1_08-25-2025_161009how do
meet-the-music-a-to-z_1_08-25-2025_160948it again.
keith-pickens_1_08-25-2025_161009Is it legit as far as you're concerned?
meet-the-music-a-to-z_1_08-25-2025_160948How he makes the millions is legit. Far as I know.
keith-pickens_1_08-25-2025_161009Wow.
meet-the-music-a-to-z_1_08-25-2025_160948Trump my umbrella? Whatever he does now I'm talking about, his speaking engagement behind the podium. No, that's not legal. And that's not, he should be making
michael-miller_1_08-25-2025_160948True.
keith-pickens_1_08-25-2025_161009When he To a foreign country and they send a plane back,
michael-miller_1_08-25-2025_160948Here's a plane for you.
meet-the-music-a-to-z_1_08-25-2025_160948I agree. That's totally crazy. But now his sons are running a company or trying to do a startup of a cell phone company that's all on the. Popularity of the Trump name.
keith-pickens_1_08-25-2025_161009okay.
michael-miller_1_08-25-2025_160948He's also selling citizenship to the United States, who's getting that money?
meet-the-music-a-to-z_1_08-25-2025_160948Yeah.
michael-miller_1_08-25-2025_160948getting that money?
meet-the-music-a-to-z_1_08-25-2025_160948Why is that not front page news every day?
michael-miller_1_08-25-2025_160948Because the media is complicit.
meet-the-music-a-to-z_1_08-25-2025_160948or the Democrats not going to their districts and making a big deal about it and having people get up and rage about it.
michael-miller_1_08-25-2025_160948They do
keith-pickens_1_08-25-2025_161009the
michael-miller_1_08-25-2025_160948Tom. They're doing it, but they're not getting
keith-pickens_1_08-25-2025_161009I'm sorry, Mike, go ahead.
michael-miller_1_08-25-2025_160948No, I'm just saying they're doing it. The press is complicit. They're not gonna give them the press when they come out with statements like what you're talking about.
meet-the-music-a-to-z_1_08-25-2025_160948Okay. You are the man on the street. Are our man on the street with a phone a camera. So how come we don't see that? Up rise in Chicago on Michigan Avenue, or we don't see that up. Rise in DC on Pennsylvania Avenue somebody with a cell phone. We don't need the media to tell us this. I'm just saying
michael-miller_1_08-25-2025_160948even with a cell phone,
meet-the-music-a-to-z_1_08-25-2025_160948Huh?
michael-miller_1_08-25-2025_160948When you upload that if the controlling entity of that platform that you upload that to, if they wanna delete it, they will. And that's what they'll do. They'll suppress it.
meet-the-music-a-to-z_1_08-25-2025_160948But there's other ways to get around that, Mike.
michael-miller_1_08-25-2025_160948There are and.
meet-the-music-a-to-z_1_08-25-2025_160948it's,
michael-miller_1_08-25-2025_160948You're assuming that there's a lot of free media still out there.
meet-the-music-a-to-z_1_08-25-2025_160948I'm
michael-miller_1_08-25-2025_160948And that's what I'm telling you, that they're being taken over. I'm telling you, Tom,
meet-the-music-a-to-z_1_08-25-2025_160948The guy who runs Google, who was sitting in the front row in front of the cabinet members at the inauguration, he's pulling strings like that.
michael-miller_1_08-25-2025_160948Look what happened to band camp.
keith-pickens_1_08-25-2025_161009yes.
meet-the-music-a-to-z_1_08-25-2025_160948I hear what you about Bandcamp, but I'm
michael-miller_1_08-25-2025_160948Look what happened to band camp.
meet-the-music-a-to-z_1_08-25-2025_160948Work at Google?
michael-miller_1_08-25-2025_160948oh, they get suppressed, dude. When the media suppresses your voice, it's suppressed.
meet-the-music-a-to-z_1_08-25-2025_160948conspiracies.
michael-miller_1_08-25-2025_160948Look, the bi, these same billionaires also run all of the A BCC, B-S-N-B-C, all of all, when I say that,
keith-pickens_1_08-25-2025_161009new
michael-miller_1_08-25-2025_160948All of the media. They're all in. They're all complicit. I've been saying that for a long time. I didn't think that was gonna happen. I really didn't. Not think the media would, especially after Watergate. I did not think that the media would become complicit,
meet-the-music-a-to-z_1_08-25-2025_160948All right.
michael-miller_1_08-25-2025_160948but
keith-pickens_1_08-25-2025_161009it back to you.
michael-miller_1_08-25-2025_160948Wow.
meet-the-music-a-to-z_1_08-25-2025_160948go ahead.
keith-pickens_1_08-25-2025_161009As one individual, what can we do to rail against what's going on?
michael-miller_1_08-25-2025_160948Guns and bullets.
meet-the-music-a-to-z_1_08-25-2025_160948I don't agree with that.
michael-miller_1_08-25-2025_160948I'm just messing.
meet-the-music-a-to-z_1_08-25-2025_160948are, but I don't that is not my solution. My
michael-miller_1_08-25-2025_160948No, I.
meet-the-music-a-to-z_1_08-25-2025_160948is to band together as Americans and be, I don't know, necessarily be heard, but the only way that we can be impactful as a group, as Americans, is to stop. Just stop. Stop doing everything. Stop gassing up your car. Stop
michael-miller_1_08-25-2025_160948I like that.
meet-the-music-a-to-z_1_08-25-2025_160948cars.
michael-miller_1_08-25-2025_160948I like that.
meet-the-music-a-to-z_1_08-25-2025_160948You gotta keep Heat going, so you gotta pay that
michael-miller_1_08-25-2025_160948Just stop.
meet-the-music-a-to-z_1_08-25-2025_160948we really didn't have anything impactful Target. The guy lost his CEO job, but he's still part of the board. He's still getting a check.
keith-pickens_1_08-25-2025_161009Why you say that wasn't impactful
michael-miller_1_08-25-2025_160948that was impactful.
keith-pickens_1_08-25-2025_161009Okay.
michael-miller_1_08-25-2025_160948Okay.
meet-the-music-a-to-z_1_08-25-2025_160948a symbol. If we were making an impact on Target, he would not be part of the organization. He'd have got us two, he took Parachute and he'd have been ghost.
keith-pickens_1_08-25-2025_161009yeah.
meet-the-music-a-to-z_1_08-25-2025_160948They just repositioned him so he wouldn't get his$200 million. He just got rid of his salary. But it's the same salary as a board member. So what's the impact?
keith-pickens_1_08-25-2025_161009On
meet-the-music-a-to-z_1_08-25-2025_160948They just did something to appease some folks, but the guy still got a job.
keith-pickens_1_08-25-2025_161009What is the bottom line? Because really it's not about him, it's about Target.
meet-the-music-a-to-z_1_08-25-2025_160948CEOs are fall guys all the time. The CEO's always a fall guy.
keith-pickens_1_08-25-2025_161009They changed'em as soon as the
meet-the-music-a-to-z_1_08-25-2025_160948Yeah,
keith-pickens_1_08-25-2025_161009so my point is you're saying that
meet-the-music-a-to-z_1_08-25-2025_160948boycott.
keith-pickens_1_08-25-2025_161009you're not saying specifically there wasn't a benefit, but I do think that when you look at the bottom line, that's very important. if that's grassroots, you're talking about trying to do that on a higher level sacrifice that you're speaking of.
meet-the-music-a-to-z_1_08-25-2025_160948Yes,
keith-pickens_1_08-25-2025_161009people to stop going to work, stop driving the car, stop buying product.
meet-the-music-a-to-z_1_08-25-2025_160948yes.
keith-pickens_1_08-25-2025_161009where are the ch how much money do we save before we do that?
meet-the-music-a-to-z_1_08-25-2025_160948It's a sacrifice.
keith-pickens_1_08-25-2025_161009C
meet-the-music-a-to-z_1_08-25-2025_160948Yep.
keith-pickens_1_08-25-2025_161009are gonna stop coming. the jobs are going to be gone
meet-the-music-a-to-z_1_08-25-2025_160948Yep.
keith-pickens_1_08-25-2025_161009We are at home waiting for things to turn
meet-the-music-a-to-z_1_08-25-2025_160948Yep.
keith-pickens_1_08-25-2025_161009that's a passive way of getting to that end.
meet-the-music-a-to-z_1_08-25-2025_160948Yeah, at some point his cronies, the billionaires who are gonna be impacted by their purse strings are gonna say, okay, we need to give in on something he can get rid of Donald Trump, get him outta there, or get him change his thinking.
keith-pickens_1_08-25-2025_161009They're headed towards a trillion dollars. Those are the guys that are working the strings right now that are influencing what Donald Trump does. So
meet-the-music-a-to-z_1_08-25-2025_160948but if we shut, I don't know. If we don't go on Facebook, Instagram or YouTube. The advertising dollars, what do they do? They just dry up.
keith-pickens_1_08-25-2025_161009They Up.
michael-miller_1_08-25-2025_160948You should.
keith-pickens_1_08-25-2025_161009Up.
meet-the-music-a-to-z_1_08-25-2025_160948I don't know if we go back to mailing or pigeons or whatever the case may be, just am radio,
keith-pickens_1_08-25-2025_161009how do
michael-miller_1_08-25-2025_160948Right.
meet-the-music-a-to-z_1_08-25-2025_160948don't know.
keith-pickens_1_08-25-2025_161009that huge.
meet-the-music-a-to-z_1_08-25-2025_160948Yeah. How do you get'em? You move that huge I have no idea. I'm just saying in order for that to happen, it is gotta be across the board from east Coast to west coast, from north to south, where everybody's okay, full steam ahead. Damn, no torpedoes. Just be on board with it. By messaging, it's gotta have a, it's gotta have a figurehead to leave that. I don't know. You start local and then you spread across the country.
keith-pickens_1_08-25-2025_161009How much easier is it to turn votes?
meet-the-music-a-to-z_1_08-25-2025_160948It ain't easy because of the balance. It's not easy because of the count. The count just will never be on our side at this moment.
keith-pickens_1_08-25-2025_161009Which one is easier?
meet-the-music-a-to-z_1_08-25-2025_160948Which is easier, is voting. But that doesn't happen until. November Right?
michael-miller_1_08-25-2025_160948until you wake people up.
keith-pickens_1_08-25-2025_161009Till you wake'em up.
meet-the-music-a-to-z_1_08-25-2025_160948Yeah.
keith-pickens_1_08-25-2025_161009Outta all respect, the three of us on this call could probably afford to do that for a sustained period. I can only do it for so long, right? I'm retired now.
michael-miller_1_08-25-2025_160948Oh, yeah. Me too. I don't have,
keith-pickens_1_08-25-2025_161009I need to look at because the way they shifting they talking about the dollar might not be the standard anymore. They might
michael-miller_1_08-25-2025_160948Right.
keith-pickens_1_08-25-2025_161009to the gold standard, right?
meet-the-music-a-to-z_1_08-25-2025_160948Right.
keith-pickens_1_08-25-2025_161009At the point where you tell people to stop participating, easier for some than for others.
meet-the-music-a-to-z_1_08-25-2025_160948Yeah.
keith-pickens_1_08-25-2025_161009who wanna participate, who can't, they're struggling. They can't hardly make ends meet. Don't have jobs. This, the balance of power is, we are gonna have the halfs and the half nots. That's what we headed
meet-the-music-a-to-z_1_08-25-2025_160948right,
keith-pickens_1_08-25-2025_161009and we're blessed. For the sake of this podcast. I think the fact that we're not always in agreement is a good thing
meet-the-music-a-to-z_1_08-25-2025_160948Absolutely.
keith-pickens_1_08-25-2025_161009be lined up.
meet-the-music-a-to-z_1_08-25-2025_160948Yeah.
keith-pickens_1_08-25-2025_161009and so I'm fine with that,
meet-the-music-a-to-z_1_08-25-2025_160948Yeah,
keith-pickens_1_08-25-2025_161009I think I'm good with where we left it, because the back and forth is not really gonna lead to any place different because we're in a quandary. Where important for something to happen.
meet-the-music-a-to-z_1_08-25-2025_160948yeah.
keith-pickens_1_08-25-2025_161009know what that is. And if
meet-the-music-a-to-z_1_08-25-2025_160948I don't either. That was just a guess for me.
michael-miller_1_08-25-2025_160948I know what it is. I can tell you what it is, but you ain't gonna like
keith-pickens_1_08-25-2025_1610091776.
michael-miller_1_08-25-2025_160948No, it's not me saying, you all said it.
keith-pickens_1_08-25-2025_161009yeah.
michael-miller_1_08-25-2025_160948historians and I've been listening, if you listen to different old PBS and other. Historians and newscasters, they all say the same thing. These things have a way of correcting themselves. Unfortunately, it's not pretty. They all say the same thing. That's what they say. These things have a way of correcting themselves, but it's not pretty. That's what it's gonna take. It's gonna take a revolt and like you said, sacrifice. It's gonna take sacrifice. That's what it's gonna be at some point in the next two years,
meet-the-music-a-to-z_1_08-25-2025_160948two years is within two years. There's voting, so it may shift.
michael-miller_1_08-25-2025_160948No, you hit it right on the head. Tom, you said within two years there's voting,
meet-the-music-a-to-z_1_08-25-2025_160948Yeah.
michael-miller_1_08-25-2025_160948is there voting
meet-the-music-a-to-z_1_08-25-2025_160948It might shift back to Democrats.
michael-miller_1_08-25-2025_160948If there's voting.
meet-the-music-a-to-z_1_08-25-2025_160948to be a voting?
michael-miller_1_08-25-2025_160948But because at the point where there's, huh?
meet-the-music-a-to-z_1_08-25-2025_160948gonna say, do we wait until the point where there's no voting? Do we see,'cause the signs are here and it's going Where the snowball is so big that we can't get in front of it.
michael-miller_1_08-25-2025_160948If
meet-the-music-a-to-z_1_08-25-2025_160948we act now with all the craziness going on?
michael-miller_1_08-25-2025_160948That's the best thing to do, because if you get to the point where there's no voting, I'm gonna tell you right now, no voting, no taxes and guns gonna come out. If I can't vote, why am I paying you? Nobody Uhuh,
keith-pickens_1_08-25-2025_161009fight fire with fire time. And an example is what governor Newsom, right? Governor So here's the thing that's funny about this whole Republican hypocrisy and the psychology that they try to use. said anything, particularly from the Republican side Trump encouraged Texas to look for five seats. But when Newsom started looking for five seats, they talking about how bad that was and how outrageous it was, and how dare he go against the system. we're supposed to, as Democrats, kowtow, and say and this is our problem. We've done this for way too long. That's why we're behind the eight ball
michael-miller_1_08-25-2025_160948Thank you, Keith. Thank you.
keith-pickens_1_08-25-2025_161009are, right? So we're going to go high, and it doesn't matter that you're going low and you're gaining all this ground on us, but you are right. We'll let you have the five seats. You'll continue to have the majority and we'll just play your game as long as you want to. No, Newsom said, we're not doing that.
michael-miller_1_08-25-2025_160948That's right.
keith-pickens_1_08-25-2025_161009I don't want this gerrymandering in California. I don't wanna do this, but you have to fight fire with fire. And he said, you Hope my blue states across the United States will follow suit because you can believe that after Texas gets it done, which they've just about gotten it done, To other states where that opportunity is available. Supposed to come around the census. What every 10 years that opportunity for gerrymandering, the Republicans are turning it on his face. They are doing what they want to do and they're doing it their way. Anything to gain an advantage and then they'll look at you and say, you know what? You dirty dog. Look in the mirror.
michael-miller_1_08-25-2025_160948Jackson,
keith-pickens_1_08-25-2025_161009we're
michael-miller_1_08-25-2025_160948starting with The Man in the Mirror,
keith-pickens_1_08-25-2025_161009way we're gonna keep up. And we ain't even talking about getting ahead time. We're I think that there's a point, this is a point in our history, and I had said this a couple years ago. I always go back to when they did Obama wrong, and they finagled and got that extra seat because they would not even look at the people that he recommended.
meet-the-music-a-to-z_1_08-25-2025_160948Yeah.
keith-pickens_1_08-25-2025_161009they've been playing dirty like that for a while They've got the advantage. And guess what? It's unfortunate nobody likes it. But if that's going to sustain us or get us an opportunity to get the majority again, play dirty too.
meet-the-music-a-to-z_1_08-25-2025_160948Yeah I finally got on the wagon on that one too. That's another one I When I was Not taking the gloves off. And you guys are, take the damn gloves off, Tom. And I was
keith-pickens_1_08-25-2025_161009Off.
meet-the-music-a-to-z_1_08-25-2025_160948All right. It's truly a make me wanna holler. Now I'm not so much a pro sports fan, The fact that to watch games, I gotta have a subscription streaming service. At least two of the Lions Games, you gotta have Prime and you gotta have Netflix
keith-pickens_1_08-25-2025_161009Yep.
meet-the-music-a-to-z_1_08-25-2025_160948Now there's calculations out there that say you could pay a thousand dollars just to watch the NFLA year.
michael-miller_1_08-25-2025_160948Oh, please.
keith-pickens_1_08-25-2025_161009possible, but.
michael-miller_1_08-25-2025_160948do that.
keith-pickens_1_08-25-2025_161009What I see here,
meet-the-music-a-to-z_1_08-25-2025_160948Yeah.
keith-pickens_1_08-25-2025_161009I don't know whether it's fact you just happen to Google anything nowadays, but apparently new subscribers for NFL Sunday Ticket, which provides you access to all the games. For new subscribers, it's 2 76. For current or returning subscribers, it's$480,
michael-miller_1_08-25-2025_160948Woo.
keith-pickens_1_08-25-2025_161009$480 for the season. If you wanna see everything,
meet-the-music-a-to-z_1_08-25-2025_160948Ask if you wanna see everything.
keith-pickens_1_08-25-2025_161009If you wanna watch locally, you get NFL plus. And like you said, you either get Netflix because it because it comes on Fox. So if you got Fox locally, you're good to go. But if you're gonna Of games, if you don't have Netflix. And what was the other that you
meet-the-music-a-to-z_1_08-25-2025_160948Prime. Because everything else is either ESPN or Fox, maybe a couple of CCBS games.
keith-pickens_1_08-25-2025_161009Prime.
meet-the-music-a-to-z_1_08-25-2025_160948Yeah.
keith-pickens_1_08-25-2025_161009Fortunately for me, I got both of those, but lot of people don't have it.
meet-the-music-a-to-z_1_08-25-2025_160948Right.
keith-pickens_1_08-25-2025_161009afford it.'cause it is an additional cost associated with getting those
meet-the-music-a-to-z_1_08-25-2025_160948yeah that's going back to some of the households that we were talking about that are not privy to, economically make that part of their budget. My understanding is the reason they claim they're doing it is because of the demographics. They want to reach out to younger people. How is that not being done? Why Just a regular,
keith-pickens_1_08-25-2025_161009you got a young guy, 25, 26 years old, making$40 million a year,
meet-the-music-a-to-z_1_08-25-2025_160948Yeah.
keith-pickens_1_08-25-2025_161009A lot of people didn't even make a million dollars in their whole career, When I go to the Lions games, can't get outta there without spending at least a hundred dollars. And that doesn't include parking. Parking's about$50, so$150. But when I tried to look back to access, how much I paid for season tickets back in 98 against what I paid now, but I can tell you this, when the Lions started winning, my tickets went up 100%. The first year, Two years ago, past year, it went up another 15%.
michael-miller_1_08-25-2025_160948Wow.
keith-pickens_1_08-25-2025_161009So I literally pay probably five or$600. A month.'cause you can split it up. You don't have to front all the money up front, but I'm paying Upstarts at$6,000 a year for season tickets.
michael-miller_1_08-25-2025_160948Wow.
keith-pickens_1_08-25-2025_161009'cause I've got four tickets
meet-the-music-a-to-z_1_08-25-2025_160948Yeah. Yeah.
keith-pickens_1_08-25-2025_161009we've got, Netflix, Prime and we've got Fox through YouTube tv. That provides me access of watching the local team. Way I To see the other teams, obviously, when they're in a major stage channels or what have you, Me, that's all I'm interested in Team. But that being said, the cost is astronomical. A lot of people can't afford it. A lot of people are put off by, having to pay. As an aside to watch the Tigers, pistons and Red Wings, you have to have FanDuel. And that, again, is another streaming service. And
meet-the-music-a-to-z_1_08-25-2025_160948Is that a free streaming service or does that pay.
keith-pickens_1_08-25-2025_161009sir. No, sir. It's not free. Not at all. So you have to pay for entertainment nowadays. The salaries are so exorbitant that the only way they can afford to one of the ways, I'm not gonna say the only'cause they got merchandise and so forth and so on, one of the ways that makes it easier for them to pay these guys is to charge us whether we're going out the house to see the game or not. I can tell you when my tickets went up a hundred percent. I did holler but I was, fortunate enough to be in a position to say, you know what, i've had season tickets since 98
michael-miller_1_08-25-2025_160948Yeah.
keith-pickens_1_08-25-2025_161009been winning in all those years. And so now they're pricey. hard to give'em up after you've gone through, 20 something years of just going down there to see'em, barely win. fortunately I can afford to, but at some point I could possibly be priced out of season tickets, let alone being able to sitting in the mancave and watch it. Because subscription services, you're at their whim.
meet-the-music-a-to-z_1_08-25-2025_160948Yeah.
keith-pickens_1_08-25-2025_161009tell them what to charge you, they charge you whatever they want to make from you.
meet-the-music-a-to-z_1_08-25-2025_160948Yeah that's the thing. You have a choice to decide whether you wanna have season tickets or not,
keith-pickens_1_08-25-2025_161009Oh
meet-the-music-a-to-z_1_08-25-2025_160948when you were at home. You think you're saving money by being at home, In actuality you're not.
keith-pickens_1_08-25-2025_161009Yes you are. You still saving money. And I say that because most of the games are on. A local channel,
meet-the-music-a-to-z_1_08-25-2025_160948Yeah.
keith-pickens_1_08-25-2025_161009Relative. That's a whole nother discussion because if you're streaming, you're doing better than cable. Okay. nobody gets out without paying.
meet-the-music-a-to-z_1_08-25-2025_160948Yeah.
keith-pickens_1_08-25-2025_161009And that's the unfortunate thing because, I could sit here and watch, pay what I pay through the streaming services, save money on the beer or whatever I'm gonna have, and the snacks, the hot dogs or whatever, sitting in front of the tv, the proximity of the restroom, and, there's a savings. But back to the reality, can most people wanna afford to go to the games in person and those who can't, can they even afford to watch it at home? Because subscription services, are, starting to be a little pricey.
meet-the-music-a-to-z_1_08-25-2025_160948Yeah.
keith-pickens_1_08-25-2025_161009Yeah, you gotta really love sports now to make the investment because it's not like when we were young, we could just turn on channel two or 50 or 20 or whatever station they were and watch whatever game we wanted
meet-the-music-a-to-z_1_08-25-2025_160948yeah. Let me throw this in here. We weren't scheduled to talk about it, but did you guys have a feeling 20 years ago with Hurricane Katrina,
michael-miller_1_08-25-2025_160948What do you mean?
keith-pickens_1_08-25-2025_161009In
meet-the-music-a-to-z_1_08-25-2025_160948It's been 20 years
keith-pickens_1_08-25-2025_161009in New Orleans,
meet-the-music-a-to-z_1_08-25-2025_160948Yeah,
keith-pickens_1_08-25-2025_161009That was one that was, and I'm a sports fan, so the first thing I could think of is not only the levies and the impact it had on the people there, even how it impacted sports. Yeah, I remember that. That's one of those occasions that to me, if you have any compassion at all, even if you don't remember all the specifics of the particulars, somebody say, hurricane Katrina, you're going to say, oh yeah,
meet-the-music-a-to-z_1_08-25-2025_160948yeah.
keith-pickens_1_08-25-2025_161009I
meet-the-music-a-to-z_1_08-25-2025_160948It seems conveniently that our federal government has forgotten Katrina All of the dealings and cutbacks and like you say, slide a hand with the FEMA
keith-pickens_1_08-25-2025_161009That's one time.
meet-the-music-a-to-z_1_08-25-2025_160948Yeah,
keith-pickens_1_08-25-2025_161009one man.
meet-the-music-a-to-z_1_08-25-2025_160948It is.
keith-pickens_1_08-25-2025_161009is so heartless, He'll tell you out one side of my mouth. The African American and women are so concerned. They're asking me to send in the troops, and on the other hand, he's taking food out of their mouth by not providing those who need food stamps,
meet-the-music-a-to-z_1_08-25-2025_160948Yeah.
keith-pickens_1_08-25-2025_161009Home care, medical, For their children. Don't tell me you care enough to go in there and police me, but you don't care enough to do something to take care of me. So I said all that to say, when you say the federal government, I guess Donald Trump is the federal government
meet-the-music-a-to-z_1_08-25-2025_160948Right.
keith-pickens_1_08-25-2025_161009but from then till now, we did care. We've done a lot, not only in New Orleans, but in different places to support, catastrophes.
meet-the-music-a-to-z_1_08-25-2025_160948Yeah. Yeah.
keith-pickens_1_08-25-2025_161009current administration, this current idiot, for lack of a better word, I probably should let Mike choose a word. Mike's much better at it than me. but he doesn't give a damn about anything or anybody but him and his family and his friends. When you say that, I take issue, because that would make a presumption that we've fallen short in terms of how we care and how we look at those situations. But we didn't up until the last five or six months when Donald Trump's administration and Donald Trump decided to pull monies from those places to support them in the event that they had catastrophes or even acknowledging that they ever happened.
meet-the-music-a-to-z_1_08-25-2025_160948Yeah.
keith-pickens_1_08-25-2025_161009rewrite history, but they're trying their damnedest to do it
michael-miller_1_08-25-2025_160948It's being rewritten to his story,
keith-pickens_1_08-25-2025_161009It's his story.
michael-miller_1_08-25-2025_160948It's his story,
keith-pickens_1_08-25-2025_161009not history. It is
michael-miller_1_08-25-2025_160948right?
keith-pickens_1_08-25-2025_161009Yeah.
michael-miller_1_08-25-2025_160948That's why, a Smithsonian, the whole nine yards. It's his story.
meet-the-music-a-to-z_1_08-25-2025_160948Yeah.
michael-miller_1_08-25-2025_160948I'm gonna leave it at that.
keith-pickens_1_08-25-2025_161009That's the nation we are or was a compassionate nation. And we come to your aid.
meet-the-music-a-to-z_1_08-25-2025_160948Yeah.
keith-pickens_1_08-25-2025_161009TV and have a USAID or we Are The World or whatever, behind boom.
meet-the-music-a-to-z_1_08-25-2025_160948Right.
keith-pickens_1_08-25-2025_161009pulling from what we got to share to make sure those who are suffering doesn't have to suffer. we got a guy now who say, you know what? Every man for himself,
meet-the-music-a-to-z_1_08-25-2025_160948Yeah.
keith-pickens_1_08-25-2025_161009Every man for himself. Yeah. personally, I've got some memories and some feelings about that date or that time. But in terms of our government now, they could care less.
meet-the-music-a-to-z_1_08-25-2025_160948Yeah.
keith-pickens_1_08-25-2025_161009If it impacts, and I hate to keep bringing this up, but it's a fact it impacts people of color,
meet-the-music-a-to-z_1_08-25-2025_160948Yeah.
michael-miller_1_08-25-2025_160948That was my, when I Katrina, my most vivid memory was waking up and seeing Lester Holt in those high boots. Yeah, those waiters. And he was standing where I had stood two years before I had been to New Orleans. My first time, going to New Orleans, he was standing in Jackson Square and he said, the levees have broken. Jackson Square is underwater and it's rising. And he was standing right there, and I'm looking like I was there. I walked right past those very statues. I was right there. I could not believe it. But that was very vivid. And then of course, behind that, it just got progressively worse.
meet-the-music-a-to-z_1_08-25-2025_160948Yeah.
michael-miller_1_08-25-2025_160948I thought the government would just run in there and say, no, they didn't do nothing. They didn't do nothing.
keith-pickens_1_08-25-2025_161009No.
michael-miller_1_08-25-2025_160948And then Barbara Bush came on TV and said those manufactured homes that were wreaking of formaldehyde or whatever chemical they used, that people couldn't stay in.
meet-the-music-a-to-z_1_08-25-2025_160948All right.
michael-miller_1_08-25-2025_160948She said, these people are living better than they were, in these sickening homes. They're living better than they were before. I just couldn't believe the words came outta her mouth.
keith-pickens_1_08-25-2025_161009When
michael-miller_1_08-25-2025_160948Like,
keith-pickens_1_08-25-2025_161009you
michael-miller_1_08-25-2025_160948wow.
keith-pickens_1_08-25-2025_161009dare to be insensitive because all you've known,
michael-miller_1_08-25-2025_160948so it's
keith-pickens_1_08-25-2025_161009have always had money
michael-miller_1_08-25-2025_160948Oh yeah. Every,
keith-pickens_1_08-25-2025_161009today Personal loss because maybe somebody passed on, but they haven't Can be insensitive because they're just stacking, They're racing now to see who can get to the first trillion, but they can give Those they leave behind and those who are struggling even just eat,
michael-miller_1_08-25-2025_160948Yeah. No, they don't have that. It is. It is it really is. So anyway.
meet-the-music-a-to-z_1_08-25-2025_160948So the Dr. Seuss books, Or at least particularly Green Eggs and Ham, I guess is the one been around for over six decades it seems to be the go-to for children's reading, although there have been decades of more authors out there who write. Children's books who have much more relatable meaning Diverse culture, I guess you could say. Convers, there's not gonna say conversations. There's there's a thought that the cat in the hat was made up after a menstrual, the black and white, A thing back in the early 19 hundreds. And but now, like I said, 60 something years later, should the cat in the hat still be our standard for children's reading?
keith-pickens_1_08-25-2025_161009When you say standard, should Shakespeare still be our standard for English lit? should Socrates still be our standard
meet-the-music-a-to-z_1_08-25-2025_160948That's a good point. That's very good points.
keith-pickens_1_08-25-2025_161009Here's the thing. I try to do my homework when you feed us these topics, and I do know that six or seven of his books have been banned for portraying Asians, blacks,
meet-the-music-a-to-z_1_08-25-2025_160948Yeah.
keith-pickens_1_08-25-2025_161009in a way that was prejudicial racist. And I even read somewhere where he ultimately acknowledged and redid one of the books because he agreed, am I excusing it when I say this? No, but those were the times we were in,
meet-the-music-a-to-z_1_08-25-2025_160948Yeah.
keith-pickens_1_08-25-2025_161009I can look at an episode of Lucy or the Flintstones or any of those cartoons back then, and you see the Africans with the bones through their nose
meet-the-music-a-to-z_1_08-25-2025_160948Yeah.
michael-miller_1_08-25-2025_160948Yep. Yep. Yep.
keith-pickens_1_08-25-2025_161009and was it right? No, of it funny. Yeah. But yeah, Dr. Seuss, was, man, I'm gonna lie. So it was funny, even now as I think about it, it was racist, but it was funny.
meet-the-music-a-to-z_1_08-25-2025_160948Right.
keith-pickens_1_08-25-2025_161009that doesn't make it right. But Dr. Seuss came up with some things that just. the way he flipped those lyrics, man or whatever you want to call'em those stories with, cat in the Hat and Green Eggs and ham, and they're entertaining and they're easy reads, and they're lyrical to the extent that kids kinda learn how to rhyme and what have you or helps. I think those books that are offensive like he's already taken or seven off the shelves, or they stopped publishing them,
meet-the-music-a-to-z_1_08-25-2025_160948Yeah.
keith-pickens_1_08-25-2025_161009Do away with'em, because they're not pertinent to this day and time.
meet-the-music-a-to-z_1_08-25-2025_160948Yeah. Yeah.
keith-pickens_1_08-25-2025_161009But the ones that, outside of the fact that they're just dated those are books that you can get something from. A lot of them have kids laughing and joyful. I'm not saying I'm an expert on Seuss, although because I have children, and even before I had children, I read Dr. Seuss books. But I think that there are enough being written today.
meet-the-music-a-to-z_1_08-25-2025_160948Yes.
keith-pickens_1_08-25-2025_161009When I watch the news, I think the newscaster on Channel four has written children books, and different people now are just because it's easier to publish,
meet-the-music-a-to-z_1_08-25-2025_160948yeah.
keith-pickens_1_08-25-2025_161009there's so many options. I think as parents, it's up to us and if we have any influence on schools to get in books that maybe are more pertinent or become an option,
meet-the-music-a-to-z_1_08-25-2025_160948right.
keith-pickens_1_08-25-2025_161009If you're teaching time, if you're substituting and you're with the children, then you have an option to introduce something that is more diverse or to fall back on the old standard. I don't know, I, maybe I'm a little biased. I can't say it's time to just shut Seuss down and say, you're no longer pertinent or relevant. But I think we just need to be more mindful of the content those books that aren't offensive. Continue to read'em, continue to expose children to'em, again, I'm not an expert. That's just my opinion.
meet-the-music-a-to-z_1_08-25-2025_160948Everything here is in our opinion.
keith-pickens_1_08-25-2025_161009That's
meet-the-music-a-to-z_1_08-25-2025_160948Go ahead, Mike Miller. Mike Miller look like.
keith-pickens_1_08-25-2025_161009have to throw that in. might Check.
michael-miller_1_08-25-2025_160948I, when you say a standard first off, I think that standards, if we even gonna have a standard. In fact, I don't like standards at this point
meet-the-music-a-to-z_1_08-25-2025_160948Oh.
michael-miller_1_08-25-2025_160948for children's books. We have a lot of very talented. Writers today Very good children's books, just like Keith said. And I'm in agreement. Let those be the new standard.'cause this is our time. It's not their time anymore. But to your point for a standard, if I was gonna choose one,
meet-the-music-a-to-z_1_08-25-2025_160948Yeah.
michael-miller_1_08-25-2025_160948if I were gonna choose the standard, I would choose shoots. Charles shoots the Peanuts gang.
meet-the-music-a-to-z_1_08-25-2025_160948I was gonna say something
michael-miller_1_08-25-2025_160948All I was gonna say is Franklin.
meet-the-music-a-to-z_1_08-25-2025_160948Franklin.
michael-miller_1_08-25-2025_160948Franklin. Franklin, Frank the whole nine about Charles Schultz and how Franklin was introduced and the pushback that he got,
meet-the-music-a-to-z_1_08-25-2025_160948Yeah.
michael-miller_1_08-25-2025_160948But he did it anyway.
meet-the-music-a-to-z_1_08-25-2025_160948He didn't just jump,
michael-miller_1_08-25-2025_160948no, he didn't. It took. Some doing, but he persevered it, got on it, it made it. And when it made, oh, people didn't like that. Some people didn't. Oh, you done brought a black kid into the Peanuts universe. It is what It's
keith-pickens_1_08-25-2025_161009is.
michael-miller_1_08-25-2025_160948This is America.
meet-the-music-a-to-z_1_08-25-2025_160948Yeah.
michael-miller_1_08-25-2025_160948is a melting pot that we call democracy. And that's the kid I you have to teach the kids. This is it. This is what you are. America is a great melting pot. We are a nation of immigrants and the children's books, in my opinion, should reflect that,
keith-pickens_1_08-25-2025_161009Agree.
michael-miller_1_08-25-2025_160948Should just reflect who we are and just, I'm just gonna leave it at that. The standard I would choose would be Charles Schultz, but. I'm against standards in the first place. I think that there are so many talented writers out here today that have so many very good and relevant children's books that help with self-esteem. All different things. I can't go into all of it just dealing with humanity. We got some really good and it goes beyond books. It goes to music. And look they got a Venus Williams doll out now Barbie, Venus Williams, doll out. I went, whoa. Great. I love it. You see what I mean? You gotta have, it reflects who we are,
meet-the-music-a-to-z_1_08-25-2025_160948Yeah.
michael-miller_1_08-25-2025_160948and that is who we are. We are not just one race. We're not just one this, or one that. Our democracy works because of all of us. And the melting pot. Yeah.
keith-pickens_1_08-25-2025_161009that I want, I hope that's who we continue to be making America Great again, is not the intent. Okay. So it's to force stall what is supposed to be an evolving, perfect union. And I think the diversity, the different offerings we have from different. and Just our lifestyle and the way we live, like you said, where we were heading. Although it's taken a while it provides opportunities for, like you said, for our children to see themselves in books TV shows, Musicians athletes and so forth. The pushback is real. In terms of rewriting history and stifling the things we've done in order to make this a more perfect union and more diverse really what's worrisome and bothersome. But not to get totally off topic time or I pardon my interruption, Mike. I agree. I agree That offers a fresh perspective because again, when you talk about Dr. Seuss. How many years are you really going back and how Relevant or pertinent is the information that he tried to share all children? Probably really wasn't necessarily for all children, if I'm being honest. as a result that was, as Tom said, the standard. And so those are the books that were read to our children and that we, like I said, I even some of those books for my children when we were young
meet-the-music-a-to-z_1_08-25-2025_160948Sure.
keith-pickens_1_08-25-2025_16100925 years ago, it was a part of their library and what I read to them.
meet-the-music-a-to-z_1_08-25-2025_160948Yeah. Do we need to move on from
keith-pickens_1_08-25-2025_161009question
michael-miller_1_08-25-2025_160948just to add onto that real quick, pBS since you mentioned PBS was the only network, to my knowledge, was the only network where children could see shows and they were not marketed to, nobody was trying to sell them anything on PBS, Every show you saw was educational or beneficial to kids across the board.
meet-the-music-a-to-z_1_08-25-2025_160948Right.
michael-miller_1_08-25-2025_160948You never saw a commercial about, I don't even know what they buy today. Any of the toys or anything.
meet-the-music-a-to-z_1_08-25-2025_160948Now hold on. Slow your roll
keith-pickens_1_08-25-2025_161009Oh.
michael-miller_1_08-25-2025_160948They had toys.
meet-the-music-a-to-z_1_08-25-2025_160948Elmo, big bird, Damn.
michael-miller_1_08-25-2025_160948Wait.
meet-the-music-a-to-z_1_08-25-2025_160948Street,
michael-miller_1_08-25-2025_160948Yeah, they had stuff. But the what? Did they use that on PBS? Did they market it on PBS or were those marketed
meet-the-music-a-to-z_1_08-25-2025_160948To your point, they weren't marketed,
michael-miller_1_08-25-2025_160948That's,
meet-the-music-a-to-z_1_08-25-2025_160948I'm sure people went
michael-miller_1_08-25-2025_160948I get it. Oh yeah. I'm sure it just wasn't when the kids watched the show.
keith-pickens_1_08-25-2025_161009Mr. Robinson sweater back then. It was a cardigan.
michael-miller_1_08-25-2025_160948But I get it. You're right. They still have merch,
meet-the-music-a-to-z_1_08-25-2025_160948Yeah,
michael-miller_1_08-25-2025_160948It wasn't marketed to the kids all during the show. Now when they have those pledge drives, they market everything.
meet-the-music-a-to-z_1_08-25-2025_160948Yeah.
michael-miller_1_08-25-2025_160948Yeah.
meet-the-music-a-to-z_1_08-25-2025_160948Yeah.
michael-miller_1_08-25-2025_160948During the show,
meet-the-music-a-to-z_1_08-25-2025_160948of that though, I, that's for me to investigate. I don't even go down that rabbit hole, but Henson make the money or did PBS make the money? Or did they split it?
michael-miller_1_08-25-2025_160948Henson was paid a salary for his stuff, as far as I know. But now you mean on the merchandise?
meet-the-music-a-to-z_1_08-25-2025_160948yeah,
keith-pickens_1_08-25-2025_161009is he did
michael-miller_1_08-25-2025_160948I would think that he would've gotten something.
keith-pickens_1_08-25-2025_161009And I'm He made money off of
michael-miller_1_08-25-2025_160948He would've had to, they would've had to, probably got split Oh yeah. I'm sure he made some money.
meet-the-music-a-to-z_1_08-25-2025_160948So here's to say, PBS could have a large endowment we don't know about.
keith-pickens_1_08-25-2025_161009Yeah.
michael-miller_1_08-25-2025_160948The as far as I know, again, this is, as far as I know, the budget cut from the government to the local PBS here, channel 56 was like 7% of their budget.
meet-the-music-a-to-z_1_08-25-2025_160948Yeah.
michael-miller_1_08-25-2025_160948But
keith-pickens_1_08-25-2025_161009up.
michael-miller_1_08-25-2025_160948yeah, they can, and they're certainly trying, It's a significant 7%. That means, some programs were gonna have to be cut,
meet-the-music-a-to-z_1_08-25-2025_160948Needs to help us step in,
michael-miller_1_08-25-2025_160948Yeah I'm sure they have pledge drives. In fact, they've been doing it ever since it's been announced.
meet-the-music-a-to-z_1_08-25-2025_160948All right.
michael-miller_1_08-25-2025_160948And different shows, if you like a particular show on the radio D-W-D-E-T,
meet-the-music-a-to-z_1_08-25-2025_160948do
michael-miller_1_08-25-2025_160948You,
meet-the-music-a-to-z_1_08-25-2025_160948for the
michael-miller_1_08-25-2025_160948You got a pledge during that show, to make sure they know, yeah, I wanna keep seeing this. I wanna keep hearing this music, On the show. And the same thing for WTBS, on tv, pledge during the show when they have those pledge drives
meet-the-music-a-to-z_1_08-25-2025_160948yeah.
michael-miller_1_08-25-2025_160948and it helps keep your program on the show
meet-the-music-a-to-z_1_08-25-2025_160948Yeah.
michael-miller_1_08-25-2025_160948Under air,
meet-the-music-a-to-z_1_08-25-2025_160948to sell meet the music to WDET as a show. Was shortly after Stevenson got let go
michael-miller_1_08-25-2025_160948Oh yeah. You got dei.
keith-pickens_1_08-25-2025_161009That's
michael-miller_1_08-25-2025_160948That's okay.
meet-the-music-a-to-z_1_08-25-2025_160948was, they were kind enough to reach out to me and gimme a Ignore my communication,
keith-pickens_1_08-25-2025_161009Did That time?
meet-the-music-a-to-z_1_08-25-2025_160948huh?
keith-pickens_1_08-25-2025_161009Did you feel that's coming from on high just five months ago?
meet-the-music-a-to-z_1_08-25-2025_160948Oh
michael-miller_1_08-25-2025_160948yeah.
meet-the-music-a-to-z_1_08-25-2025_160948Yep.
keith-pickens_1_08-25-2025_161009Yeah.
meet-the-music-a-to-z_1_08-25-2025_160948But hey, it is what it is.
To learn more about today's topics, go to the show description. You can text us, join us every week by becoming a subscriber on your favorite streaming service. If you enjoy our podcast, become a supporter. Be sure to hit the follow button to receive a notification when we upload a new episode. That's all the time we have this week. Thanks for listening. We'll be back next week with the What's Going On Podcast.