Routes and Roots: Age of Disclosure

The "Aesthetic Life" is officially bankrupt. Welcome to the "Age of Disclosure," where the facade has dropped, and everyone is finally admitting how hard the economy is hitting. This week, Nnamdi and Brandon unpack the perfect financial storm of 2026. We break down the macro—from global wars and the AI bubble to inflation and tariffs—and the micro, including the ghosts of PPP loans, crushing taxes, and the return of student debt.

Transcript

SPEAKER_03 0:20

Hey Brandon. Nobody, how are you?

SPEAKER_00 0:22

I'm doing very well. Happy Tuesday.

SPEAKER_03 0:24

Happy Tuesday. We're back.

SPEAKER_00 0:26

It's the back to back for me.

SPEAKER_03 0:28

You weren't ready for that.

SPEAKER_00 0:30

I was. I was, you know, I love talking to our people. They love talking to us. And uh as long as we're able to do this and have fun, then it's not a problem.

SPEAKER_03 0:38

Absolutely. Episode 9.

SPEAKER_00 0:40

The penultimate episode.

SPEAKER_03 0:42

The penultimate? You taught me that word. Did I? Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 0:44

Yeah, we can't know English, so it's fine.

SPEAKER_03 0:47

God bless you. This is what happens with the colonizers. They actually got to learn English and we were forbidden to read.

SPEAKER_00 0:55

Tell me how you feel. Tell me how you feel. No, no. When I say Americans, I didn't say African Americans. Don't get me in trouble. Americans.

SPEAKER_03 1:01

Oh, you say it, you're saying in general.

SPEAKER_00 1:03

Yeah, the education system, we don't know what's going on. You know, common core and all that.

SPEAKER_02 1:09

See, you just learned that from me. Common core.

SPEAKER_00 1:12

Listen, I think I have a de facto master's in education degree. The things I had to read, well, yeah. Yeah. Yeah. All of that. Yeah, but um, how's the week been? It's been a quick turnover, but uh, we had Memorial Day. What was your recap like?

SPEAKER_03 1:27

Um, Memorial Day was nice. I was out of town. I was in Atlanta for Carnival. Um, West Indian Carnival in Atlanta with my in-laws, so had a great time. Shout out to them. I won't name them all, but they know who they are. Uh and they listen, so they will hear this. So uh was a great host, um, great food, uh, just a great time. Carnival was nice, and then it was a jazz festival on Sunday uh with is it Esmeralda Spaulding? You know her? No, no, who's that? Not familiar, uh an artist, uh as well as the roots. Are you familiar with the roots?

SPEAKER_00 2:05

No, I know she's an artist, but that's all I knew. Okay. I couldn't help you out again. Okay, okay.

SPEAKER_03 2:12

Um I I've heard of her, but I wasn't like uh 100% familiar with her as well. So the concert, the jazz in the park was nice, uh, all of that. I was able to get an earlier flight back. Um, the weather wasn't you know as pleasing. It rained all weekend off and on. Uh, but other than that, it was a great time.

SPEAKER_00 2:32

Okay, yeah. For me, you know, I was I was home. I had you know wanted to like kill myself with physical activities this weekend, but the weather said rest. So I woke up on Saturday and it was like, This is the weather you should stay indoors and just be under the sheet. So I took my sweet old time to get up and then eventually make my way to the gym, do some workout. But I think the weather just did not inspire the kind of uh energy I needed to do the workout that I wanted to do, but you know, neither here nor there. I would say it was a weekend of sleep. I slept a lot, caught up on all my trash TV. Um, talk to family, talk to loved ones, and that was it. We just kept it simple, did some singing here and there, but that was it. That was it.

SPEAKER_03 3:17

Anything interesting on TV that we should recommend for our listeners?

SPEAKER_00 3:22

Um what is interesting on TV that we should recommend? I don't know.

SPEAKER_03 3:27

I don't know, but I'll tell you The Millionaire is it the secret millionaire? The secret millionaire, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 3:32

So that's that's a good one. And I just finished Netflix, right? Yeah, I just finished that one. Um, I think for them black couples, blue therapy, it's a good one. Also on Blue Therapy, yeah, that that we've got finished watching, and then of course that was British based, right? Yeah, it was set in Britain, but it was mainly for like black couples, and I think for some weird reason it had a lot of Nigerian British couples in it, but yeah, but that was that was a good one. Um, and it showed different spectrums of where different black couples are in their stage of being a couple and how therapy it's is helping to advance and help them unblock some of the issues they and headwinds they are facing. So that was cool.

SPEAKER_03 4:09

So recommended, what would you give it out of five stars?

SPEAKER_00 4:13

A good 4.5.

SPEAKER_03 4:14

Oh, that's high.

SPEAKER_00 4:15

I think the point five I will hold is because um the therapist was white, and there were moments where a lack of understanding of culture and context showed itself, but above and beyond that, I think she did a good job. So that that's where the point five is from. But just from a production quality, from a oh, this is actually something that I think black people should get more into in order to help advance black love as a as a concept. I think I think it was a good show.

SPEAKER_03 4:45

Excellent. Anything else you would recommend?

SPEAKER_00 4:48

No, but you know, I'm a track and field fan. Yes, so this weekend we had something very controversial happening in Drack and Field. Do share. Yeah, it's the it was called the Enhanced Games, and so okay, that's walk with me. Walk with me. Where was this located? In Las Vegas. Oh, it was in the States. Yes, so Trust Americans and Capitalism, for better or for worse, there are a group of people, and I think me and you had watched a documentary on one of them who does longevity studies where he tracks all his biomarkers and takes all sorts of vitamins and supplements and enhancements to ensure that he he continues to have the body of a 25-year-old, even though he's 50 and can extend his life expectancy, but beyond that, also his lifespan.

SPEAKER_03 5:37

That was a guy that was like injecting some type of you wanted his son's plasma, yeah, his son's plasma's plasma and all of that good stuff.

SPEAKER_00 5:44

Yeah, so they are trying to break into the market and sell a number of longitudinal longevity products, if that makes sense to the general population in a way that is safe and measured and all. And one of their brilliant market strategies were to talk to a bunch of retired athletes in swimming, weightlifting, and track. So think of it as speed, strength, and agility, and say to them, What if we gave you different types of enhancements? And those can be from growth hormones to testosterone to uh erythropoietin, so EPO to other types of anabolic steroids to simple good nutrition, good massage therapy, good um, you know, monitoring of certain body indices to see where you need to work on and all. And by doing that, they were trying to get retired athletes to come back out of retirement and smash the personal best they had when they were full-time athletes in their younger days. They also try to get some current athletes who are sort of mediocre and get them to do performances that put them in the elite level. And they they try to also get elite athletes who are already at the elite level to try and see if they can get them to smash world records. So it was a mixture of different types of um athletes across weightlifting, track, and and swimming that were both regular people coming out of retirement to smash what they could do 10 years ago. People who are currently in active sports but are not the top of their field getting to top performance, and those who already are the top of their field smashing the world record. So I think for the first two, they were more successful in showing some of that. So there were a lot of personal best and personal records set by retired athletes coming back and mediocre athletes getting to elite level. They really couldn't get a lot of current elite athletes that could to join that agree to be enhanced. So, for example, Fred Curly is one of the faces of the enhanced games, but he he participated as a non-enhanced athlete. And I think the reason for him is that to take all those drugs means he's banned by the anti-doping agencies, and so what that means is that he can never compete for the US in like the world championships, the Olympics, and all of that, and so because of that, he ran unenhanced.

SPEAKER_03 8:11

So we've but isn't he banned anyway because of domestic violence situation?

SPEAKER_00 8:15

Yeah, but but those are things those are things he will overcome before early 2028, if that makes sense. So he's still before the next Olympics. So he still has something to lose and everything. So we didn't see a lot of the current elites taking the drugs to get to the next level because they still want to be relevant in their current elite sport, if that makes sense. So yeah, you can imagine that Twitter went on fire, some people were for it and against it, and then this morning they I they announced their IPO on the stock exchange market, and I mean it came in at negative and all of that. But I think for better or for worse, I was telling a lot of critics on Twitter on X that this is the future, people are taking all sorts of enhancements in the real world. So, again, this is not for athletes. I think they wanted to use athletes to show what is aspirational, but the target market for profitability is the regular Joe on the streets. So I'm like, and that is the future. So, for example, once upon a time, facelift, breast reduction, breast enhancements, butt lifts, Brazilian things were meant for like the creme de la creme of A-Least celebrities and how expensive it was. It was, and now it's been somewhat democratized, and every Tom Dick and Harry is going to get those enhancements. Once upon a time, you could have argued that the operas and the Dales were the ones who had the designer weight loss drugs that we now know as OZEMP can all, but I I I have a sneaky suspicion they had Intel into those things five years before the market, and they were very expensive. And now they are GLP ones that are sold for $100, $120 a month, and those are enhancements, right? Now they are there are people who are doing what they call peptide stacks, so they're taking all sorts of peptides. So there's peptides to increase your creatinine level, there's peptides to boost your growth hormone level, and all of that is meaning that you're going to see 50-year-olds that look like 25-year-olds, and now it's within the celebrities and the rich people, but then it's going to become very common very soon. So I think it's just the future, and the fact that these people have put out an IPO, they are now traded on the stock exchange, it means that they know there's going to be a market for this. And if GLP wants anything to go by, I definitely feel this is going to be a market. So very interesting.

SPEAKER_03 10:35

So now we won't be able to say black don't crack.

SPEAKER_00 10:38

No, no, all of that is going to be all of that is going to be solved, you know, and everything. So yeah, so that's so you know, again, I get lost in some of my nerdy things. I think the other thing.

SPEAKER_03 10:48

This is not a weight loss show.

SPEAKER_00 10:49

No, no, no, no, but but but but we I was talking about the enhanced games, right? The other thing I've been watching that I think is interesting is there's now this bunch of historical things that are like animated. So the one so it's like imagine you were born in the time of this, this is what your life would have looked like, and they walk you through things. So they do they they I watched one around the life of a vestal virgin in the Roman Empire, as it's like, oh, you were born in the in the 900 AD to middle class but aristocratic family, and at nine-year-old, you are just summoned with other aristocratic daughters to the palace. Somebody looked at you, people checked for blemish, blah blah blah. Select you were selected before you could say top the canari. Your parents said bye to you and walked away, your hair was chopped off and shaved. You were given white gown, and you were told for the next 30 years your job is to guard the vestial fire, which is the fire that you know ensures the prosperity of Roman. Also, they go into some of that. I watched a number of it from the Ming dynasty, from the Banzine um era during Constantinople. So it's very interesting to see how the issues of classism, the issues of gender discrimination, the issues of race, the issues of slavery are not as recent. And I think most people know they're not recent, but to to actually explain that a lot of those deeply flawed channels of discrimination have existed 20 AD, 200 BC, forever. Just means there's something inherent about the human nature and its need to create levels of hierarchy that hasn't gone away. And for all we talk about the advancement of the Homo sapiens species, we're still very primordial in that kind of way. So that that's been something that I've been spending my free time watching when I'm alone.

SPEAKER_03 12:43

Interesting. Yeah, so guys, check those shows out if any are of interest to you. Uh, and then we'll get into our very interesting topic for today.

SPEAKER_00 12:54

Okay, it's um the age of disclosure, and it's going to be um what does that mean? Yeah. Um, so there is somebody called Casenova Brown on TikTok. Casanova Brown, and I is I think it's important to mention his name because he's a black man, he's a queer black man, and sometimes when these kinds of movements happen and they're hijacked by other people with a more corporate structure, the credits to who started those movements is lost. So, for example, the Black Lives Matter movement was founded by somebody, but then when it became a more organized thing, not everybody understood that it was something someone phrased and started organically before it became this thing.

SPEAKER_03 13:39

So before it became commercial, before it became commercialized.

SPEAKER_00 13:41

So Nova Brown is his name, and he came on TikTok to say, you know, a lot of people in America are struggling, and I think for better or for worse, social media and other factors have played into the way we are being transparent and honest about the level of suffering that's been happening. And this isn't, and I want to prefer that he's been very glad to say it didn't just start under this current administration, that this is something that has been happening for years and building up, and people have just tried to put a shine on it, but now he's like, I can't do this anymore, and I want to talk about the struggles I'm having. And you know, he talked about rent, he talked about being able to pay off his credit card, he talked about you know having to file for bankruptcy so he doesn't have to pay off things that he owns and everything. And I think that struck me in a way where, yes, I may not be in that sort of financial situation, but I have also just in my own personal life observed that and you know some of this that you know I I rent properties, and in the last couple of years, the turnover and the ability to find tenants and find people who can pay and stay stable has just been quite tough, and and and we've had those conversations as to what's going on and what's happening because we're not putting at price that is exorbitant, we're not trying to make super profit from it, but even at the barest minimum, people have struggled and all of that good stuff. So I think in in my mind is like I've seen some of this, but I didn't know how deep and how entrenched it was, and and there is there is statistics out there that say a record 50% of American renters are cost burdened, and what that means is that they are spending more than 30% of their income on rent, and when you then look at black renters, that number in America jumps to 57%, and this is from a Harvard Joint Center study on housing. So you can imagine that for black people in this country, the average are spending more than 57% of their paycheck just to pay rent and all of that. So that just blew my mind. And so I just wondered have you seen some of this evidence of struggle and and where have they manifested? And again, we can start to talk about where some of this is coming from.

SPEAKER_03 16:01

Well, I wonder if it's just um connected to inflation, meaning rent prices are just much higher and salaries haven't kept up with that. Now we we've heard that with housing in general, like with uh the cost of homes now. A house that would have cost you in the early 2000s 200,000 is now five hundred thousand. Uh so and salaries haven't matched that inflation in the housing market. So I wonder if it's so now that percentage of your income being spent on rent is a lot higher because rent prices are higher, but salaries are not. You see, like, and I'm not stating a fact here, like Namdi's was an actual, you know, you can research that, but mine is a question. I wonder if there's a correlation in that.

SPEAKER_00 16:54

And I think we'll talk about what those macro factors are. Yeah. But I guess I'm wondering in the way that I have seen it show up in my private life through the struggle with renters, where have you seen it show up in your own?

SPEAKER_03 17:06

Well, I think obviously I've seen it, you know, because I'm I've been privy to the information that you share with me from your renters. But I think also um in my employees. Uh-huh. And I hear them talk about having roommates. Uh, and obviously I'm in education as a reminder to people, so my teachers um having roommates are which is typical in New York City though. It especially when you're in your um mid-20s to early 30s, that that's a typical thing to have a roommate because rent is so expensive as well. So it's not like it's it's not typical here as well, but also having to move because rent prices have increased so high, and just trying to figure out their housing and move like further out uh to you know places like the Bronx or further out in Queens or even Jersey, um, just to find affordable housing.

SPEAKER_00 18:02

So, yeah, and and to back some of that reality you've seen, I I I found this thing that said um in 2021 the federal government ended um the universal free launch for public schools, and that the debt from that skyrocketed to about 260 million. And currently, today in America, one in five households with children face food insecurity. So, now I think with the background of that, throughout this conversation, we're going to interrogate what are the things that may have led us to this point. So we take them in batches. The first ones I want us to talk about are the hangover effect from COVID. I want to talk about geopolitics and traffic tariffs, and I also want to talk about the AI bubble and what that has meant, right? So let's start with COVID. What do you think COVID may have, you know, played a role in some of this in the way you're seeing where we are today economically?

SPEAKER_03 19:01

I think COVID revealed a lot of things for us, like um preach. Even with like all the movements and stuff that came from like when you're at home and have nothing to do but watch the news, you know, uh, look at things on social media, that type of thing. So people weren't out doing their normal things, so people really were paying attention uh to what was happening in the world um and reading more. Uh and so I I think that, you know, speaking of this age of disclosure, to this gentleman's credit, like it happened even prior, this was prior to COVID, so not just connected to the current administration as you noted earlier on. Uh, so this is something that'd been consistently happening. I think that um no one really had numbers on what it would take and how long it would take to recover from the world being shut down, not just like a country struggling uh through an economic turmoil or inflation or recession, but like the entire world you know basically shut down. Uh, and so like how long does it take to recover from that? And then what are the residual effects from that recovery? And I think we're still experiencing it. Even six years later, we're still experiencing what that looks like, why you know interest rates and things cannot come down or are not coming down. Uh you know, other things have happened obviously since then, but you know, all of the mistakes or you know, things that weren't done in the right way during that time frame that's costing us now, and that we're seeing the um side effects of it, even in like education where I talk about like children are basically a year behind social and emotionally. Yes, because they lost that year of school, so like you see it start to show up, you know.

SPEAKER_00 20:51

Show up, and and and a way to put meat and potato to some of this is that I don't know if you've seen some trends online where they'll say, guys, don't don't gaslike me, but when I say before COVID, $60,000 a year was good money, and I was flexing and bowling. And and this guy literally showed side by side the same property, the same apartment complex for the same one bedroom or studio, and I think it was in Atlanta. He had showed in 2019 that same thing was being rented for $800. And then in 2022, two years after COVID and the shutdown, that started renting for about $1,700. And so the question is what happened and why did that change? And so I think there was also this thing about because the world shut down, because people were for load, because people were not working, and all, there was a lot of assistance that came out of that kind of period that meant we printed a lot of COVID dollars, and that in itself contributed to some of that inflation where the value for what the same dollar can spend started to go down, and that's what you're now seeing where. People are saying once upon a time when you said to somebody I make a hundred thousand dollars, it meant something, it it it it's something, but but now I make a hundred thousand dollars. The question is where, yeah, and even at some point it doesn't matter where because now that money doesn't even take so far.

SPEAKER_03 22:15

So like you need it to just yeah, yeah, uh just be average, you know, bottom of the middle class for those hundred thousand hours.

SPEAKER_00 22:23

Exactly, and and then you compound it with things like what did things like the Russian war do to drive some of that inflation, what did what did things like then now the current Iranian war do to drive some of that inflation, and how is all of that pressures coming together to just feel like it feels like I'm making more, but I cannot afford the things other people could afford even when they made less prior to COVID, if that's but I think one of the things that happened too, and what I talked about earlier, mistakes that were made, and then like you know, how we try to correct those is people were told they didn't have to pay their rent for months.

SPEAKER_03 23:00

Yes, somebody had to eat that. So now if you're uh a landlord or a building owner and these people didn't have to pay their rent, you have to raise your rent to try to make that up. Like now that we're coming, you know, out of the thing. So now it's like you see that the rent price is increasing and they're never gonna go back to what they were before, yeah, because people are paying that. And then it's all this trickery with uh, oh, this is your net rent because you're gonna get you know uh three months free, but you gotta pay the regular rent. We'll give you a month up front, a month on the back end. So they do all that trickery in New York, uh, as far as like with the rent to make it feel like you're only paying $3,400, but you still gotta pay $4,500 each month, you know.

SPEAKER_00 23:47

And then eventually they get you because the cost of moving is expensive, the cost of breaking your lease is expensive, so it's almost like you are trapped, right? Eventually if you're not budgeted properly, then it starts to cause a lot of problems and then I think the last one I wanted to add in this segment is AI. So I think for the first time there's a reckoning with education and what kinds of skills will be required because it almost feels like there were certain types of skills that black people had gone to learn how to do. For example, we are well represented in things like marketing, in things like communications, in things like human resources. I will almost say in things like legal and paralegal. And you're announcing that a lot of that work requires repeatable tasks, quote unquote. So for the first time, you are seeing white-collar jobs have struggles with finding and staying and being quote well qualified compared to blue-collar jobs. You're seeing that the under the underemployed, which is people overqualified and underemployed, is now outpacing just general unemployment numbers. You're seeing that, and as a result of it, combined with maybe some DEI policies, 600,000 black women have left the workforce. So it's like just this whole combination of what COVID did, what the tariffs are doing, the weakening of the overall dollar um internationally and domestically, and then the AI um uh conundrum is like a perfect storm coming together to cause some of what a lot of people are beginning to voice out today.

SPEAKER_03 25:24

Right. And so, even you know, with that, and I'm glad you mentioned it specifically for uh black women who are also uh the most educated subgroup in this country as well.

SPEAKER_00 25:35

Educated for the AI era or educated for the pre-AI era is the question.

SPEAKER_03 25:40

Well, we know the answer to that. It's definitely pre, but now what do you do when you have this demographic of highly educated individuals? How do you we now retrain them, right? Like how are they gonna work?

SPEAKER_00 25:53

Yeah, yeah, because because I want to broaden it to education because I also read something the other day from from one of the fortune papers that talked about the collapse of the MBA. And so in the in the past where the number of MBA graduates from a school like Duke's um business school or Harvard Business School, 90 days after graduation was in the single digits. So, what that meant was that 90 days after getting your MBA, the number of people who hadn't gotten a full-time role in these top school business schools were like four percent, six percent. Today, those numbers are 25 to 30 percent, depending on what statistics you're looking at. And then um, I think um the Chicago business school, which is like the number one um one, uh, and Wharton, Warton, that's the one I was looking at, which is like number one, is now like the number of warden MBAs without a job 90 days after graduation is like 16, so it's almost like unheard of. And then there's also the industry saying maybe we don't need universities to do MBAs, we just hire you, give you our MBA in real jobs, real case studies, real implications, and we either keep you or we kick you out if you're not performing. So I think it's just I don't know that we we we have a consensus on what it means to be highly educated again in this era because of all of these things.

SPEAKER_03 27:22

That compounding with what it costs for education in this country as well. Yes, you know you're going into severe debt, and is it worth it if the job is not even gonna be there? At the end of the day, at the end of the yeah, you just named it. Like, what does it cost to go to Wharton business? Like, how much debt are you gonna go into? And now you're you can't find that high-paying job afterwards.

SPEAKER_00 27:44

Okay, so maybe this would be a good place to look at other factors, but we got some mails, so I'm going to read some of those fan mails for us to anchor us to the other things, all right? Okay, um, so this person is um Jonathan in Atlanta. Fellas, I need some advice during the 2021 boom. I was the only one in my circle who didn't take the PPP loan. For three years, I watched my guys live like millionaires on IG, Dubai trips, VIP sections, designer everything. It's funny. Now in 2026, the audits are hitting, the cars are getting repossessed. I believe this is what it meant, and the money is gone. But because they are addicted to aesthetics, they are taking out new types of loans like HELOC loans in their houses to keep up appearances online. How do I have these conversations around the fake rich era and let them know that that is over and they need to downgrade before it ruins their lives? So that there's a lot going on here. So you want to unpack some of that. I'm hearing PP loans, I'm hearing fraud, I'm hearing HELOC. So what are those things? Yeah, what are those things? Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 28:55

Um, I think the first thing was I think a lot of people got caught up in that uh PP loan uh situation.

SPEAKER_00 29:01

But what is that?

SPEAKER_03 29:02

Um, it was what was the government was giving out. Um I can't remember exactly what the PPP stands for. Um the government was giving out that you if you owned a business, meaning you had uh LLC or um you know a small business, that you could get this like small business loan to kind of get your business through that time period.

SPEAKER_00 29:23

Now it's called paycheck protection program. Yeah, okay.

SPEAKER_03 29:26

So you had to um you know provide documentation that you know you owned a business, that you know, you took a hit, you took a loss during COVID because of that. Um, and I think like people were I mean fraudulent in the sense of maybe they were fraudulent about the loss. I think they owned these businesses, they had LLCs, like it's not hard to get an LLC. Uh they had these businesses and stuff, and they took a loss, but maybe not as substantial as they portrayed it to be. And so some people were, you know, getting hundreds of thousands of dollars uh versus like smaller amounts, $15,000, $20,000, something like that. And so you started seeing, you know, all this come back to bite them uh around that 22, 23 time frame, um, you know, where they were now being for convicted of this fraud for these loans, like fraud to the government. And they had to either pay that money back or, you know, risk, you know, some type of legal action against them. Uh, and so people were definitely like, you know, flexing and you know, buying things that they probably wouldn't have normally bought because now they have all of this extra money, you know, uh, as well. So I think that, you know, that is what it is, right? Like, I'm not gonna condemn anybody that did or didn't. Uh, they know they have to answer for that and deal with the consequences of that, just as we all do with whatever actions and steps we take in life.

SPEAKER_00 30:56

But I think it's also a way of working with the system, right? Because we you we we have to take advantage of this because I think historically these types of things have existed at different time points. The Great Depression, post-World War II, the resettlement.

SPEAKER_03 31:08

Um they have, and at time points where African Americans weren't allowed to participate. Participate in those things, yeah. So a lot of a lot of them did feel like that was a thing, right? This is our reparations, you know. Jesus! It was real, like it was like let me get this good old PPP loan uh as reparations because this is my chance to get something finally back from the government, which we know they have. We're not gonna talk about this current administration administration with 1.8 billion uh going to insurrectionists, but that's another story for another episode. Uh so I think something felt like that way. Uh, but either way, you know, uh some situations didn't work out well for them where you know everything had to be given back or you know, tried to figure out so they could stay out of jail. You know, so that's real um as well. I think the other part of that that he's talking about he luck became a big thing uh for those that a home equity line of credit. Okay. Uh I didn't know that one. So you take out the equity in your home, you know, prior to selling it. Let's say you own a $500,000 home, it has eighty thousand dollars in equity, you take that out. Um, some people are doing it to like reinvest, like now you use that for a down payment on uh like a rental property or something like that. So, or to you know, fix up something, you know, like fix up another property that you have or whatever, you take the equity out of something you have. Um, I think where you're robbing Peter to PayPal. Okay. So those type of things eventually catch up with you somewhere because you know, if now you've used up the equity and you don't have other places you can pull money from and you're strapped, uh, your debt to equity ratio is strapped now because you have so much debt uh that you can't go get another type of loan, like if you get stuck somewhere or uh investment property or something doesn't go the way you anticipated it going. Uh so you have to be careful with those things. But it is something else that you know is there as a way, if you use it as a right tool and don't get too far above your head, can help you if that's what you're into.

SPEAKER_00 33:14

Okay, so it just has to be done well and all. I think I think the only thing when I think of this HELOC as you described it was that I know a couple of close associates who bought properties during the pandemic at extremely historically low rates. Yes. So a part of me is like, how much of that is worth trading for those? Because I'm assuming that when you take out the HELOC, you have to refi.

SPEAKER_03 33:38

No, not not you're not re-fi, you're just taking out the equity from the house. Yeah, because that's why it's a line of credit. But then when you So you do have to pay that back, yes.

SPEAKER_00 33:47

At what rate is not?

SPEAKER_03 33:48

That depends. Everybody's situation is different. Okay, because everybody's credit is different. That's why I said if your debt to equity is already high and it's already affected your credit score, depends on what rate the bank is gonna get. Is it worth getting that money to put down on something else at a higher interest rate? That makes sense, you know, as well. But you you don't have to change, like refinance your whole home. No.

SPEAKER_00 34:11

Um, so a couple of things. I just wanted to read a quick statistic and then ask you a tongue-in-cheek question. According to the Small Business Association study, the estimate is that over 200 billion, which is 17% of all COVID relief funds, went to fraudulent actors. And there is a 10-year timeline for the government to get people down. So I think that that's interesting. But I think the bigger question for Jonathan is this his business?

SPEAKER_03 34:41

That they're still going after people for that. I think yeah, in a sense, it's his friends. So obviously, you care about your friends, and you, if you can find a way to help them in some kind of way, that is important. You know, like he's one of the lucky ones, he didn't take it, right? So he's not gonna have to deal with it. Uh, but there are people he knows that are close to him, uh, that did do this, you know, and you know, it's affecting them in a way, and obviously he wants to at least be there, not maybe financially, but you know, personally be able to uh provide uh, you know, advice, emotional support, that type of thing to his friends. So I think like this is a real thing that I don't think gets talked about a lot because people are afraid to talk about it because they don't want nobody investigating them or looking into them if they took one, uh, which is another point that I just want to throw in here real quick. I think that happens often in the African-American community, is where we don't talk to each other about business deals and how we can help each other. There's a certain level of distrust when it comes to money things because and a lack of forgiveness, you better not make a mistake. Exactly, because now it's going to it's going to feel personal or hurtful versus somebody you don't know or somebody from another race or whatever, doing the same thing to you, but you don't hold it against them the same way.

SPEAKER_00 36:04

Where do you think that comes from?

SPEAKER_03 36:06

Um, I mean, you have to go all the way back to slavery, you know, like where the uh person that was overseeing the slaves was, you know, the one also gonna go tell Master that you tried to escape. You know, so creating that, like I have some type of authority over you. We're both in a horrible situation, but I have this upper hand on you, right? Which then even like within that, which within slavery, there was classism. Like I'm a better slave than you because I get to do this. We both are owned by this master, but I'm better than you because you know I'm lighter, I get to work in the house, you know, or I get to oversee you because I've built this trust level with the master. So I think that some of it, PTSD, post-traumatic slave syndrome, exists. And so uh even when we were starting to be able to get things for ourselves, classism came out, you know. Uh it came out during the civil rights movement. Like certain people say we're better than them because of this, right? Versus this thing that we're all in this together and it's gonna affect all of us, just as like police brutality, that type of thing. Somebody thinking, like, okay, don't argue with the police if they bore you over. Like, you know, if you're of a certain class, then you're excused from that, right? Like, that's somebody that wants to argue and carry on with the police, and I'm not wearing no t-shirt and marching for that person because he cut a fool with the police. But then you heard things like uh Philando Castile, like he was just in his car with his baby's mother, like, you know, didn't present a gun, just was honest and said, I have a gun in the car, and ended up his life being taken anyway. So I think it's a lot of different um throughout you know history. You can see it show up in a lot of different ways, and even to this day, where we're secretive about, you know, are we investing, what we're investing in? Like, we don't share with each other those things that can continue to build us up and build community as much as we should. I don't want to say it doesn't happen at all, because that's not true.

SPEAKER_00 38:11

So it's two things. Um one is I think you you had quoted for me some study you'd seen some couple of years past where how many times does the dollar circulate circulate in the black community, the black community versus zero how many times does it circulate within the Jewish community, to nine, yeah, and then the Asian and then the white community. So and and so I think that would that's that what you're saying now is reminding me of that that statistics you had quoted. So, guys, go look at that. I I wanted to also touch quickly, if you if you permit me, Brandon, on whatever we're discussing now. I don't think it's unique to the African-American experience in the US, I think it's a more global phenomenon. There is some level of financial collapse happening on a global level. So let me speak to more of the sub-Saharan African Nigerian perspective. I think the factors that contribute are a bit different, but but quite quite interesting to understand.

SPEAKER_03 39:05

So is this since COVID too?

SPEAKER_00 39:07

Like, yes, I think I think it's also since COVID, and for a number of things. I think that we're in our fourth republic of democracy. What that means is that we've had three different time periods since we gained independence where a civilian democratic elected person was ruling the country. This is Nigeria, yes, and it's been punctuated at different times with military calls where then the military took over. So there was a first republic, a military coup happened, they took over, then we then went to a second republic, a military coup happened, a third republic, a military coup happened, and now you have the fourth republic, and that fourth call has been since 1999. So it's about 26, 27 years old. This fought the republic. And I think the last uh eight years to twelve years has been characterized by you know diabolical levels of corruption that I think is super malignant, where I think there's no part of the world where co where we are immune from certain types of corruption, and I think Quick GoPro, lobbying, those are like low-level, benign corruption that just sort of gets things moving. But when you are funding a project, whether it's a recurrent or a capital expense for main infrastructure, and 97%, 99% of that money is siphoned and only 1% is left, then you can imagine what is going on. I think that's one. I think then we went through uh a very structural shift in 2023 when the new government came in, where a foundational part of our safety nets called the oil subsidies were taken away. And so, for context, Nigeria is an oil-producing nation, and so like six or seven a world, yeah, very large and and very low in sulfur quality, which means that the purification process is easier. So we have sweet oil for the colonial telephone, right? And for some reason, because we don't have infrastructure for refining our oil, hence the corruption that has been there, it means that we we sell the oil as crude and then we buy refined oil into Nigeria. But because we make a lot of money from crude, one of the ways to make sure that our wealth is distributed is that the petroleum products are subsidized, so it means the cost of energy should be relatively low. So, for context, before um the subsidies were removed, um a gallon of petrol or gas, like you call it here, was the equivalent of maybe 20 cents. Yeah, right. But now, with that subsidy taken away by the government, we are paying almost a dollar, a dollar, twenty, a dollar, close to two dollars for a gallon, and put it in mind that this is a country where the minimum wage is about two dollars a day. For context, right? So after less than two dollars a day, that's the minimum wage, and so you're actually able to buy gas that is rather rather than that price. So it's like it's like super crazy. So the government removed it and claimed they were removing it to put it in other social programs, which never really happened. So and then you can imagine that with gas price going up, the electricity, the generators, running your business, everything just went up. So all the food prices went up and all of that. Then you then have slow growth and productivity. So the factories are not working, uh, infrastructure is not being built, you have more of religious houses being built than actual economic hubs and everything. So nobody's producing anything. So we're importing the very basic things like toothbrush, toothpaste, toothpick from other parts of the world in a petrol rich country. So I think it's a combination of all of those factors that has uh seen the naira devalue so severely. And so, one of the things then that's happened is that you've seen my parent generation just become significantly poorer because wealth that they built and accumulated has just devalued because the Naira has devalued. You're also seeing my generation and maybe the younger ones earning more money than our parents ever saw, but the value of that money can has no purchasing power, as it were, and then maybe the Gen Zs and Gen Alphas, um, Gen X, um, whatever those the generational Gen Z are those people, yeah. Those people are maybe getting a bit more, and that's just because they are now tapping into the more global competitive market where there's remote work and they're able to earn in US dollars but working and live in Nigeria and all of that. So it's been very punishing and all of that. So I just wanted to make it clear that this problem exists in different areas and everybody is just trying to to figure them out.

SPEAKER_03 43:58

Yeah, well, ha ha 'cause. Nigeria is home of the flex. Nobody flex like a Nigerian. Yes. So how has that affected 30 December, the flexing that goes on?

SPEAKER_00 44:11

So so so think about it. It's a country of 200 million people. So if 80% of that population lives in multiple multidimensional poverty, and let's say five percent of that of the country is exposed to all the crude oil wealth. You know, five five percent is about ten million. If ten million people can ball, there's enough that means there's enough people to create the illusion of prosperity, and almost like hide the poverty that is supposed to be blatant and obvious in our face, it becomes a bit more opaque to see because there are 10 million people, and then you as the foreigner, you as the highly educated person coming in, you're lost in that space on that web or that network of the 10, 5 to 10 million people who really have it like that. That you're like, oh, so where is the poverty and all? But then you don't see the sea of nearly 180,000, 180 million people living in multi- multi-dimensional poverty.

SPEAKER_03 45:14

Yeah, they're not just going to church saying God will do it.

SPEAKER_00 45:17

Yeah, and but but but that is that's even pure destitute, right? But then the the way that then shows up, Brandon, is then the cheap cost of human labor. So that's why you can find a middle income person, be able to have a personal chef, a personal house cleaner, a personal person to own, open and close the gates. I mean, drivers are quite universal, but I'm talking about things that you have to be a super alive celebrity or super wealthy person in America, an average middle person, middle income person in Nigeria is able to exploit that for next to nothing. And I think that that's where you start to see the true reflection of that 180 million people because the moment you say no, you don't want to do it, there are 10 more people wanting to wanting that job to be replaced by you. And so I think you start to see some of that show up.

SPEAKER_03 46:11

Yeah, and I think like you said before, I what I pay for one house cleaning, my housekeeper, is a month's salary for somebody in Nigeria, less than wow, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 46:23

That might be two months at this point because there's somebody willing to take that, right? Yeah, exactly. So you don't have to think about health insurance, you don't have to think about liabilities, no, no, no, it's none of that, right? So it's it's it's really a sad situation. All right, I wanted to read a second fan mail and then we can start to wind down, okay? Um, this is from Jasmine in DC. She says, Hey Brandon, hey Namdi. I make a hundred, I think she was trying to mimic how I call your name at the beginning of it. Hey Brandon, I see what you did there, Jasmine. She said I make $155,000 a year. Come through with the transparency. Maybe I shouldn't have mentioned her name.

SPEAKER_03 47:02

Um DC.

SPEAKER_00 47:04

Okay, which used to be my dream salary, but I'm secretly drowning between federal taxes, my student loans coming back, and inflation. I have about $200 left. Amen.

SPEAKER_03 47:17

Amen.

SPEAKER_00 47:18

I have about $200 left at the end of the month. But my friends and families still expect me to fund things like Sunday brunches, destination weddings because of the six-figure aesthetic. I'm terrified about being labeled broke or a hater if I tap out. How do I start being financially transparent with our people without offending anyone? So I think let's talk about it from a black tax perspective and also from a student loan yo-yo. It's it's we're forgiving, we're not forgiving. We are we're forgiving, we're like on all of that. I mean, a lot of us wanted Biden to come through, but yeah.

SPEAKER_03 47:54

Yeah, that's the sore subject for me.

SPEAKER_00 47:57

Say more.

SPEAKER_03 47:58

That's what I gotta say. I didn't get the Biden uh relief, so I didn't make the cut. Uh I was right there. They kept telling me it was gonna happen, it's gonna happen. And then it didn't happen. And then I was like, okay, it's on me. Uh so it is what it is. Um, but I definitely feel her pain uh for that. Um having to pay that. Uh mine is deferred right now because I'm working on my PhD. Uh, but I know that time is gonna come where you know I got to pay the piper. So uh it's gonna happen regardless of what I'm making. Uh, but people think that's like a lot of money. In actuality, it's not by the time you you're in a different tax bracket, you know, by the time you pay your bills and stuff like that. Or if they see you enjoying yourself in some kind of way, some people feel entitled to that. Um, and I think that's where, and I think we spoke about them before, that's where the issue comes in. It's okay to have black taxes. If you help somebody out because you want to help them out, uh, that's one thing. But somebody feeling like, you know, I can just call you and ask you to pay my phone bill just because I feel like you have it, not cool.

SPEAKER_00 49:05

Not cool. Okay, not cool. Not cool. Yeah. I I think I think there's something also called lifestyle creep. You know, I I I like to make fun of people and say it's easy to say you hide, but it will be signs.

SPEAKER_01 49:22

There will be signs, there will be signs, and so you have a time cologne, whatever.

SPEAKER_00 49:26

But but but but but but but I think that it's also something that, and I'm not saying Jasmine is this, but uh, I'm also saying 115,000 is still a lot of money, I'm sorry. And so there's a question around how much of this is things that are just expensive and how much of it is also lifestyle creep, and then just making sure that we are trying to balance keeping our lifestyle consistent, even though the paycheck keeps going, so there's more room to do the things we need to do. And it doesn't have to be give all your money to your family, but have more savings because I don't know, 115 and you're only able to look at $200 as free money at the end of the month seems like there might be some lifestyle crypt.

SPEAKER_03 50:08

I might be wrong, but if if she's already in payment of uh student loan, if the rent is high, like yes, maybe she chose a really nice apartment, car note, insurance, um, you know, light bill, water bill, gas bill, cell phone bill, uh Netflix, whatever, you know, subscriptions, uh, and then just being a woman, like hair done, nails done, everything like you know, like that is expensive. And so I could see that like easily that money gone at the end of the month, just you know, in and living in herself. But also now, depending on what age group she's in, her friends are getting married, you gotta travel, you gotta, you know, buy the things for the wedding, people are having baby showers, you know, people like life is happening and you're participating, uh, and so you're spending a lot of money and doing that. So it might not be a lot of money to save.

SPEAKER_00 51:04

Okay, I see, I see your point. So, in order to wrap up this, I want us to speak from a place of empathy. I think Casanova Brown, going back to him, when I looked at some of his follow-up, he had talked about how this month, the month of um April. April. Yeah, before before May, um, so first 1st of May, 2nd of May, 3rd of May, 4th of May, 5th of May, I think he posted something on the 6th that said as he was walking down his apartment complex, every single door had a pink slip. And that pink slip is supposed to remind you that today is the 6th, you haven't paid your rent, it's late. They're not they're not eviction notice, but they are saying these people are not paying their rent all the time. Yeah, and that every door had it. And I I think I'm saying that to say, Brandon, this problem is far and wide and expansive. What do you have to say to our people to say, listen, the times are hard, but we have to we have to overcome?

SPEAKER_03 52:02

Um I think it's it's two parts to that. Because one, I know people that, you know, um, we spoke about it, some that have lost their jobs because of uh this situation and that really struggle to find new jobs where I don't work, you know, uh for long periods of time, six months to a year over a year. Or people that are sitting on the edge and have that fear of losing their job. So I absolutely empathize with them uh as well. Um and I think it's that reminding yourself that no, you don't have to like not be able to enjoy life or live your life, but you do have to be wise with your decisions to plan uh for that rainy day, right? Uh that that may be coming. Um and it used to be like have three months uh of your salary saved to be able to afford your bills and stuff like that. I think you have to even go beyond that now. You need like six months to a year because you just don't know. And then, like, how do you get to that point to save that? Extreme discipline. Like, you're gonna have to cut out something, you know, to get to that point. But um, that's what is what it's gonna take if you are fortunate enough even now uh to have a job, and then you know, things are gonna have to cut back because people can't keep paying this type of rent, that type of thing. Like, what's gonna end up happening, right? Yeah, we'll buildings sit empty, you know, like what will happen.

SPEAKER_00 53:27

Will buildings sit effing empty. I think that's a fair point, right? I think I think a couple of other things I wanted to say. Please, corporate America, stop posting fake job numbers or fake job posts in order to appear profitable, in order to appear healthy. Because I think there's also people calling out job postings on LinkedIn or Indeed and saying they're not real, nobody's been hired by them, they just post them only to repost them three weeks, four weeks later. And I think part of it is that you have to show how many job postings, how many new jobs you are creating as a marker of prosperity or or balancing your shit. But I think it's beginning to also impact on people. The second thing I would say to our people again is that I find that there's a growing trend on social media where people are like, I quit my six figure, I quit my seven figure, I quit my four hundred thousand dollar job because I was tired. And I'm like, I don't know that we are in the season where people should be quitting jobs.

SPEAKER_03 54:27

Is that still happening?

SPEAKER_00 54:28

I know that was a thing before it's still a thing happening, and I and I just and and and unfortunately, I know there's a tension between being black and being in the corporate world and the stress that comes with it and the weathering that comes with it, but I think that if there was ever a time to just figure out how to survive within those systems for the sake of financial stability for you, your family, and your community, this is the time. I don't think that we have the luxury of walking out of high-paying jobs because we don't like the way people look at us, and I'm not trying to trivialize because I know what those things are, and I I I may or experience it to some degree in the in the kind of places I I find myself or spaces I find myself. But I just I'm a bit concerned that people are not seeing the full ramification of the inflation, the longing effect, long-lasting effect of COVID, what the tariffs have done, inflationary things from the war, the AI bubble happening, all of these things coming together, the lack of student loan forgiveness, and understand this is not the time to want to be brave, you know, and you just want to hunker down and and have money for sustenance. That's just my two cents.

SPEAKER_03 55:35

Yeah, yeah. I mean, I can agree, definitely. Um, I think that definitely you have to have a plan even more extensive than your plan before. If you're going into some type of business for yourself, like what does that really mean and what does that really look like long term for you and your family?

SPEAKER_00 55:51

But the market is shifting, and I think we need to see how all of these things will play out in the age of AI for you to even understand if that business idea is still relevant.

SPEAKER_03 56:00

So do it as a hobby until it makes you real money.

SPEAKER_00 56:03

I'm I'm serious, I'm serious, you know? Yeah, and all of that. So I have some rapid fire for you this week. Are you ready?

SPEAKER_03 56:10

Here we go.

SPEAKER_00 56:10

Okay, so renting a luxury apartment downtown to look good or buying a fixer upper in a bad zip code. Everybody, he made a whoa. What kind of thing?

SPEAKER_03 56:26

Well, if they know me, they know what that face looks like. The branded face, okay. Yeah, because the fixer upper part, I'm not a good fixer upper type person, so it would have to be the a luxury rental.

SPEAKER_00 56:36

Okay. In the context of all our conversation, um student loans aggressively pay them off and eat ramen, or pay the bare minimum and live your life.

SPEAKER_02 56:53

It's like another face I eat ramen. You could have said anything, you could have just said rice.

SPEAKER_00 56:59

I remember when I saw this one, I selected it, and the reason is because I remember the first time one of the times you came to my had ramen, and you were offended I offered you ramen. Yes. Did you remember that? Yes, it's so bougie.

SPEAKER_03 57:11

Anyway, but yeah, no, I was like, you don't know what real pasta like ramen was like 1993 college. Excuse you. Okay, uh-huh. Yeah, like uh never mind. Um student loans, yeah. Pay them off. Like you, I mean, because they're just gonna come back to buy it you later, unless we just hope for another miracle.

SPEAKER_00 57:38

What of car loans?

SPEAKER_03 57:39

No gift giving gift-giving uh democratic president, yeah. Uh what of car loans? Car loans, um, okay for a period of time, but pay it off as quick as you can.

SPEAKER_00 57:49

Okay. This one is a bit spicy. If you found out a teacher in your school used a fake PPP loan to buy a Tesla, are you firing them or asking for a ride? What's the true answer? What's the political answer?

SPEAKER_03 58:00

I wouldn't ask for a ride. I'm a ride with any of my teachers. I wouldn't fire them, no.

SPEAKER_00 58:04

Okay, and it's really none of your business today. It's none of my business. If the US dollar collapses tomorrow, what's your ultimate currency? Gold bars, bitcoin, or a basement full of joloff rice and canned goods? I have to throw in the joloff rice.

SPEAKER_03 58:19

It's the joloff rice to me and canned goods. Um, move to Mexico. Move to That's a joke. Uh no, no, no. No. I actually moved to Ghana. I said that before in earlier episodes. What's this place?

SPEAKER_00 58:35

Is it Panama or DR? People are moving to like a lot of these places and just having fun.

SPEAKER_03 58:40

Shout out because it's so much uh less it's less expensive to live their life.

SPEAKER_00 58:44

My brother and his friends are on a bachelor's eve, bachelor's party before one of his friends gets married, kind of thing, and they went to Peru. Peru to Lima. Yeah, they're in this very luxurious Airbnb, and they have private chefs and house.

SPEAKER_03 59:00

He did that before.

SPEAKER_00 59:02

This is like this one is this one is on the next level type of thing, and they're like and they're like a lot of Americans. I think the ones I've seen on social media are like military, ex-military, who are like just taking their veterans' paycheck and going to live in all of these places and yeah, their pension, yeah, might have some type of pension and living the lifestyle they want.

SPEAKER_03 59:20

So you saying going to Mexico, it doesn't sound yeah, because it's cheaper than staying in America, especially if you have um income that you know you're gonna get received every month and you're done with like as far as like your earning years, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 59:33

I know okay. I think this is a nice topic, definitely so, yes, right.

SPEAKER_03 59:38

I think we we talked we talked on a lot of it, a nice penultimate episode episode, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 59:42

And speaking about the final grand finale next uh two weeks' time, we're very next week, two weeks' time, you'll be gone.

SPEAKER_03 59:51

So we gotta record again back to back.

SPEAKER_00 59:54

No problem. We have bring it on, bring it on, yeah.

SPEAKER_03 59:56

Yeah, but but but and then we'll be done that week. That final like we're trying to do it.

SPEAKER_00 1:00:00

No, for the season one, season one season one will come to a glorious end. Um, and we've asked for a bunch of um you guys to send topics related to any and everything. And one of our listeners, your your friend, give us a good number of questions.

SPEAKER_03 1:00:17

My cousin, my cousin, yeah. Uh several people have sent stuff in. So we're gonna get to you, so I want to name that to some people that have sent uh messages in and we haven't quite answered them yet.

SPEAKER_00 1:00:28

Uh we only selected messages that align with the topics we wanted to discuss, but next week we're touching everything and anything. So it's gonna be a party. I'm hoping to have the music. Yeah, yeah, but I'm hoping to have the music on the side with the speaker, blaring some you know, soccer, Afro Beats, Caribbean type of music. It's gonna be a real part that we're gonna answer questions. I think we're gonna we should drink on that day so that we are loose and and free-flowing.

SPEAKER_02 1:00:57

We don't even drink like that.

SPEAKER_00 1:00:58

But that's that's listen, we have to celebrate the hard work, so prepare for all of that. Um, and I'm trying to get a third guest.

SPEAKER_03 1:01:07

Give me a glass of Cabernet. A third guest? Who is this person?

SPEAKER_00 1:01:10

I don't know yet. We need to think about it pre-production, but I think it would be nice to have a third person to help answer some of the questions. So we need to find one of your brilliant minds, and also we'll get to it and all. But um, guys, it's going to be a party. Please send in every and anything you want to ask. I think we've shown range in the nine episodes that we've published out here. Um can you explain to them?

SPEAKER_03 1:01:34

I always get this question too. Like, how can they send in their responses? I know on uh Apple, I think they just click on uh when they're on it. This is a spot where you can click on it.

SPEAKER_00 1:01:45

Yeah, so let's let's let's talk about that.

SPEAKER_03 1:01:48

Send us fan mail. Yes, that's what it says on Apple.

SPEAKER_00 1:01:50

I'm not sure about the other it says it on Apple, Amazon Music, as well as Spotify. It says send fan mail. When you click on the send fan mail, there are two options. You can either send it as a text message or you can send it via email as as an email. I think that if you are in the US, the text message will work and we will get it. If you're outside of the US, please use the email um routes to get to get to it.

SPEAKER_03 1:02:17

So that's yeah, and that's uh send us fair on yeah, I'll just double check. Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 1:02:21

You know, I mean I do pronounce it. So I'm right, yeah. So so you can if you're in the US, the the US text message phone number will work. There are no costs that apply. If you're outside of the US, I think it's better to do it through the email option, and we'll get it either way. And there's also a voice um recording thing. Please also do that because it will generate a transcript of your voice uh mail to us and we can read it out. Or if you want us to, we can play your actual voice for um our viewers to listen to. So there are different modalities and different ways to send it.

SPEAKER_03 1:02:57

Yeah, yeah, guys. Uh, thanks for listening. We appreciate you almost there, season one. Excited.

SPEAKER_00 1:03:05

We'll become a big boy, you know, podcast.

SPEAKER_03 1:03:09

God will do it.

SPEAKER_00 1:03:10

Would he? Wouldn't he will? Or whatever, whatever we say there. All right. So, any other last words before we close?

SPEAKER_03 1:03:16

You can remember. Uh, I'm gonna help you out.

SPEAKER_00 1:03:18

Listen, I try.

SPEAKER_03 1:03:19

Won't he do it? Won't he will? There you go.

SPEAKER_02 1:03:22

Come on, black proud, blessed, black and highly favored. He's a black proud. Listen, put them all together. You is black and proud.

SPEAKER_00 1:03:37

You is kind, you is important, you is you're smart. Listen, all of it, all of it. I'm feeling woefully, but talking guys I'm giving my cultural. Did I tell you tonight that I was randomly watching Roots on 2D?

SPEAKER_03 1:03:51

Why?

SPEAKER_02 1:03:54

And then the fact that you said on Tuesday, so I get in this episode now.

SPEAKER_00 1:04:00

It's Friday, and then I'm like, okay, I've done my workout, work was crazy, I've done it's stress relief. You know, I I went, I had a nice meal, and then I come later in bed, and I turn on um the Google TV, and then it just recommends to be, and then it shows roots, and I'm like, you know what, why not? You've never watched it, yeah, and I mean I watched the original say my name, Kunta Tinke. You know, I've I've watched that the original production. I think it was um Steven Spielberg, if I'm not wrong, but this is like a new production that is a bit more nuanced and everything, and it was free on 2D with commercials. So I was like, okay, yay for watching. And I think I gave it a good for the five years.

SPEAKER_03 1:04:40

Notice anything different.

SPEAKER_00 1:04:42

Yeah, I think it's it it it gave more context to uh sort of the African side of things, and the fact that even before the white man showed up, there was hierarchy in the African societies, and within that hierarchy they were slaves. And then I think the white man coming, the white man bringing firearms and other kinds of gifts influenced certain vices that sort of incentivized and promoted some of that slave culture. So where it was a contained thing, there was now an expansion and need, and then tying that to goods and services meant that when they ran out of slaves that they naturally had, they went to neighboring towns to capture people and call themselves. So that's that's that was it was good to see a play of what some of that interaction is because I think sometimes there's this sort of infantile narrative of all was well and green and luscious in Africa, and then people came and stole people.

SPEAKER_03 1:05:35

Yeah, we were kings and queens.

SPEAKER_00 1:05:37

I mean, they are kings and queens, but you know, is it's not as yeah, but you know, yeah, yeah, those weren't the ones that were captured and brought over here. Some of them were kings that were conquered. So I didn't I'll ask you to read and sold into slavery, yeah, sold into slavery or sent into exile and slavery from the like judger of a pool, um, is one of those examples, you know, and all of that. So there might be royalty among. You guys, do I just conquered royalty?

SPEAKER_03 1:06:02

I know it's in my blood.

SPEAKER_00 1:06:03

Okay, congratulations. You understand? Um, what does what's Kedric Like as a king? I'm the king that I have royalty in my DNA. Alright, bye guys.

SPEAKER_03 1:06:15

Bye guys.