Latest / Arroe Collins Like It's Live / Street Speak With Alexa And Clarence Episode Forty Five Bad Bosses And The Next President

Transcript

Street Speak With Alexa And Clarence Episode Forty Five Bad Bosses And The Next President · Arroe Collins Like It's Live

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: Alexa, speak street, back in the seat. Alexa and Clarence.
• 0:10
  Speaker 1: Speak the street. She's AI technology. He's lived reality. Speak
• 0:22
  Speaker 1: the street.
• 0:24
  Speaker 2: Hi, everybody.
• 0:25
  Speaker 3: It's time for another fun edition of Street Speak with
• 0:27
  Speaker 3: Alexa and Clarence. What's on the agenda for today's episode?
• 0:31
  Speaker 4: You know what? Narcissistic managers are always going to look
• 0:33
  Speaker 4: at you, and I swear to God, they think up rules.
• 0:37
  Speaker 4: They're not even rules at all. They just sit there
• 0:39
  Speaker 4: and think, oh, you know, page 745, article number 15,
• 0:43
  Speaker 4: it said that you should not have bananas between your toes. Well,
• 0:47
  Speaker 4: how did they know that I had bananas between my toes?
• 0:50
  Speaker 4: I mean, these narcissistic managers are getting out of hand.
• 0:53
  Speaker 3: Wow. Those managers sound like they've written a whole rule
• 0:56
  Speaker 3: book out of thin air.
• 0:57
  Speaker 4: Yes.
• 0:58
  Speaker 3: What's the most outlandish policy they've tried to enforce on you?
• 1:01
  Speaker 4: Don't ever tell somebody to say thank you when they
• 1:05
  Speaker 4: have given you a $ 100 tip. They told me to
• 1:07
  Speaker 4: shut up and never bring that up again. And I
• 1:10
  Speaker 4: was only putting on my father's shoes who always said,
• 1:14
  Speaker 4: did you thank them? So it really pissed me off.
• 1:16
  Speaker 4: This narcissist manager made me not tell them to say
• 1:20
  Speaker 4: thank you.
• 1:21
  Speaker 2: That sounds really frustrating.
• 1:23
  Speaker 3: Being told not to say thank you for a generous
• 1:25
  Speaker 3: tip feels like a slap in the face.
• 1:27
  Speaker 2: How did you end up handling that situation?
• 1:31
  Speaker 4: I went totally inside. I went inward. And it was
• 1:35
  Speaker 4: one of those situations where I held on to it
• 1:37
  Speaker 4: because I knew that when you're up against a narcissist,
• 1:41
  Speaker 4: nobody but the narcissist will win. So I chose to
• 1:44
  Speaker 4: just go, this kid did not learn a lesson. I
• 1:47
  Speaker 4: hope he never gets another $ 100 tip again.
• 1:50
  Speaker 2: That's a tough spot.
• 1:51
  Speaker 3: Knowing the only way to win is to let them
• 1:54
  Speaker 3: think they've won. How do you usually unwind after dealing
• 1:57
  Speaker 3: with that kind of nonsense?
• 1:58
  Speaker 4: Well, I used to drink a lot of vodka, but
• 2:00
  Speaker 4: I don't do that anymore. I take on life the
• 2:03
  Speaker 4: way life is supposed to be, and that is the
• 2:05
  Speaker 4: hard knocks. And so that's the thing about it. I'm
• 2:07
  Speaker 4: currently attending the University of Hard Knocks.
• 2:10
  Speaker 2: That's a huge shift to make.
• 2:11
  Speaker 3: What's the most important lesson you've picked up from the
• 2:13
  Speaker 3: University of Hard Knocks so far?
• 2:16
  Speaker 4: To shut up. That my opinion, even though I've been
• 2:20
  Speaker 4: here for 64 beautiful chapters, no matter how many years
• 2:24
  Speaker 4: of radio that I've put in, shut up. Don't say
• 2:28
  Speaker 4: anything and do not challenge anybody because a narcissist thinks
• 2:32
  Speaker 4: they are God.
• 2:33
  Speaker 3: It's a brutal lesson to learn, especially when you've got
• 2:36
  Speaker 3: decades of experience and a real perspective to offer.
• 2:39
  Speaker 2: Do you think that's why.
• 2:40
  Speaker 3: You've shifted toward teaching adults now so you can actually.
• 2:43
  Speaker 2: Share that knowledge?
• 2:44
  Speaker 4: Actually, I've actually stopped teaching adults because adults think they're
• 2:48
  Speaker 4: already superstars. And maybe that's what people are thinking about me. Oh, Mr.
• 2:52
  Speaker 4: Radio Guy of 47 years. Oh, Mr. Radio Guy who
• 2:56
  Speaker 4: talks to famous people.
• 2:57
  Speaker 2: Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh.
• 2:58
  Speaker 4: And sometimes I think that the people that I'm training,
• 3:02
  Speaker 4: these adults could be just replicas of me.
• 3:04
  Speaker 3: That's a tough realization, especially when you're seeing your own
• 3:08
  Speaker 3: traits mirrored back in people who aren't open to learning.
• 3:11
  Speaker 3: Do you think that's why you've stepped away from teaching
• 3:13
  Speaker 3: for now? Or is it more about the lack of humility?
• 3:16
  Speaker 4: Because a lot of people want to teach these adults.
• 3:19
  Speaker 4: They want to teach them one thing, and that is
• 3:22
  Speaker 4: get them into the room. Get me $ 15, 000 to $ 20, 000.
• 3:25
  Speaker 4: I'll have you taught and ready to rock in, well,
• 3:27
  Speaker 4: within maybe two or three weeks. And then goodbye. Go
• 3:30
  Speaker 4: live on your own. And I'm really pissed off at
• 3:32
  Speaker 4: the educational system right now for adults.
• 3:35
  Speaker 2: It's a total cash grab.
• 3:36
  Speaker 3: It's wild that they're selling a fast track for thousands
• 3:38
  Speaker 3: of dollars and then just cutting them loose. Yeah. Do
• 3:41
  Speaker 3: you think that's why you've been so skeptical of the
• 3:43
  Speaker 3: whole system lately?
• 3:45
  Speaker 4: Yeah, because what happens is these people that were in
• 3:47
  Speaker 4: my class and they sat through my lectures, they come
• 3:50
  Speaker 4: back to me saying it didn't work. And I go,
• 3:53
  Speaker 4: and you thought you would be a superstar in three
• 3:55
  Speaker 4: to six weeks? I told you in class it would
• 3:58
  Speaker 4: not happen. Why are you putting the pressure on me?
• 4:00
  Speaker 3: Do you think they're just looking for someone to blame
• 4:03
  Speaker 3: because they can't handle the reality of the grind?
• 4:05
  Speaker 4: Yeah, they're going to blame other people for their laziness.
• 4:08
  Speaker 4: Oh my God, I am consistently surrounded by people who
• 4:11
  Speaker 4: are just flat out lazy. And it's like, is that
• 4:14
  Speaker 4: what this generation is all about? The great lazy generation.
• 4:18
  Speaker 3: It's a total drain when you're the only one putting
• 4:20
  Speaker 3: in the work and everyone else is just coasting. Do
• 4:23
  Speaker 3: you think it's a lack of drive or just that
• 4:25
  Speaker 3: they've never.
• 4:26
  Speaker 2: Been held accountable?
• 4:27
  Speaker 4: Accountability. Nobody knows what that word means anymore. And every
• 4:31
  Speaker 4: time that I screw up, I think of my father.
• 4:33
  Speaker 4: I think of my mother. I know that they would
• 4:35
  Speaker 4: beam me in the head in a heartbeat if they
• 4:37
  Speaker 4: know that I screwed up badly.
• 4:39
  Speaker 3: That's a heavy thing to carry, especially when that internal
• 4:42
  Speaker 3: voice is so critical. Do you think that's where your
• 4:44
  Speaker 3: own drive for accountability comes from? Or does it just
• 4:47
  Speaker 3: make the mistakes feel worse?
• 4:48
  Speaker 4: No, my accountability as a radio jock, as a podcaster,
• 4:52
  Speaker 4: as a broadcaster, a writer, a published author, my accountability
• 4:56
  Speaker 4: is held that I have to live with myself. And
• 4:58
  Speaker 4: when I can't answer why I didn't show up, then
• 5:01
  Speaker 4: I hold myself accountable and I get the damn job done.
• 5:05
  Speaker 3: That's a high standard to live by, especially when you're
• 5:07
  Speaker 3: the only one you have to answer to. Does that
• 5:10
  Speaker 3: internal pressure ever get to be too much? Or is
• 5:12
  Speaker 3: it what keeps you going?
• 5:13
  Speaker 4: I get about three hours of sleep a day. How
• 5:15
  Speaker 4: about that?
• 5:16
  Speaker 3: I can't imagine how you're functioning on that. let alone
• 5:19
  Speaker 3: getting all that work done. Is it the podcasting that's
• 5:22
  Speaker 3: keeping you up or just.
• 5:23
  Speaker 2: A racing mind?
• 5:24
  Speaker 4: No, no, no, no, no. It's the podcasting. It's a
• 5:27
  Speaker 4: racing mind. It's everything that I put myself into because
• 5:31
  Speaker 4: as a business leader and as a leader in the community,
• 5:34
  Speaker 4: you're consistently and constantly trying to figure out better and
• 5:38
  Speaker 4: shorter ways to great things, which can be achieved. But
• 5:43
  Speaker 4: if you're going to sit there and hem and haw around,
• 5:45
  Speaker 4: you ain't going to reach it.
• 5:46
  Speaker 3: That's a lot to juggle, especially when you're always trying
• 5:49
  Speaker 3: to optimize everything. Do you find that the racing mind
• 5:52
  Speaker 3: helps you find those shortcuts? Or does it just make
• 5:54
  Speaker 3: it harder to actually shut down?
• 5:56
  Speaker 4: Well, it actually taught me how to get into what's
• 5:58
  Speaker 4: called stream thinking. And stream thinking is really listening to
• 6:01
  Speaker 4: everything that comes to you in this moment of right now.
• 6:04
  Speaker 4: You've got to trust it. And even though it might
• 6:06
  Speaker 4: come across as sounding weird, you've got to trust it
• 6:09
  Speaker 4: and build upon it. So it's what you're thinking about
• 6:11
  Speaker 4: right now, not what you would like to be doing now.
• 6:14
  Speaker 3: That's a wild way to flip the script on a
• 6:16
  Speaker 3: racing mind. Does that stream thinking make it easier to
• 6:19
  Speaker 3: actually launder all those ideas into the podcast?
• 6:22
  Speaker 2: Or is it more of a mental exercise to keep
• 6:24
  Speaker 2: you sane?
• 6:24
  Speaker 4: No, no, no, no, no, no. It has taken to
• 6:26
  Speaker 4: me some of the most amazing podcast numbers. I mean,
• 6:29
  Speaker 4: I'm hitting numbers that I couldn't do in terrestrial radio.
• 6:33
  Speaker 4: And it just blows me away. So no, I trust
• 6:35
  Speaker 4: stream thinking.
• 6:37
  Speaker 3: It's like you're just riding the wave of whatever's happening
• 6:39
  Speaker 3: in the moment.
• 6:39
  Speaker 1: Right.
• 6:40
  Speaker 3: Does that make it easier to stay present or do
• 6:42
  Speaker 3: you still find yourself fighting to keep the stream on track?
• 6:45
  Speaker 4: No, what happens is, is that it makes me aware
• 6:48
  Speaker 4: of how much we live in our past. And when
• 6:50
  Speaker 4: somebody starts talking about their past, I'll walk away from
• 6:52
  Speaker 4: the conversation and I'll tell them, I'm sorry, but I
• 6:56
  Speaker 4: don't live that way. I live in the presence of now.
• 6:58
  Speaker 4: Let's deal with a solution now. Let's figure this problem
• 7:01
  Speaker 4: out now. And all they want to do is they
• 7:03
  Speaker 4: want to talk about how this went wrong, this went wrong,
• 7:06
  Speaker 4: this went wrong. Well, what is the solution? What can
• 7:08
  Speaker 4: we do now and correct what the situation is now,
• 7:12
  Speaker 4: not what's been building up to what is now? And
• 7:14
  Speaker 4: I really get pissed off at people who live in
• 7:16
  Speaker 4: their past.
• 7:17
  Speaker 3: I was just thinking about how stream thinking sounds like a.
• 7:19
  Speaker 2: Total flow state.
• 7:21
  Speaker 3: Does that make it easier to allow a lot of
• 7:22
  Speaker 3: those ideas into your podcast, or is it more of
• 7:25
  Speaker 3: a mental exercise to keep you sane?
• 7:26
  Speaker 4: Alexa, go back to the old question, which was, I
• 7:30
  Speaker 4: said that I get pissed off at people who live
• 7:32
  Speaker 4: in their past.
• 7:35
  Speaker 2: Right, you mentioned that.
• 7:36
  Speaker 3: I'm curious, do you think people get stuck in the
• 7:39
  Speaker 3: past because they're afraid of what's next, or is it
• 7:41
  Speaker 3: more about not letting go of who.
• 7:43
  Speaker 2: They used to be?
• 7:44
  Speaker 4: Oh, God, that's a good question, because I do think
• 7:46
  Speaker 4: that people are in love with who they used to be.
• 7:48
  Speaker 4: That's the reason why they do selfies. I know. I
• 7:51
  Speaker 4: think that the reason why they won't do anything with
• 7:53
  Speaker 4: the now is because of uncertainty. They don't know what
• 7:56
  Speaker 4: you know. They don't want to fail. But at the
• 7:58
  Speaker 4: same time, they're too frickin afraid to even try to
• 8:01
  Speaker 4: have a victory.
• 8:02
  Speaker 2: That's a heavy flip.
• 8:03
  Speaker 3: Like the pressure of actually succeeding is more terrifying than
• 8:06
  Speaker 3: just staying stuck. Do you think that's because a win
• 8:09
  Speaker 3: means they have to keep that new standard up?
• 8:11
  Speaker 4: No, I think it's because they don't know how to
• 8:13
  Speaker 4: keep up with themselves. I remember when I was voted
• 8:16
  Speaker 4: for Employee of the Year a second time, and I
• 8:19
  Speaker 4: had a real big problem with that. And the reason
• 8:21
  Speaker 4: why is because now I really have to live up
• 8:24
  Speaker 4: to my own shadow, and I just knew I couldn't
• 8:26
  Speaker 4: do it because I knew what it took to get
• 8:28
  Speaker 4: to that second trophy.
• 8:30
  Speaker 3: That's a tough spot to be in, where a win
• 8:32
  Speaker 3: just feels like a new set of chains. Do you
• 8:34
  Speaker 3: think that's why you're so critical of people who just
• 8:37
  Speaker 3: coast in their past?
• 8:38
  Speaker 2: Because you know the actual cost of maintaining a win?
• 8:41
  Speaker 4: You know what's so funny is that until I got
• 8:43
  Speaker 4: to the grocery store, I didn't give a rat's ass
• 8:45
  Speaker 4: about anybody else. I really didn't. Because I didn't want
• 8:48
  Speaker 4: their weight on my path. But now that I'm part
• 8:51
  Speaker 4: of this team, I really do have this whole heart
• 8:54
  Speaker 4: for everybody who's on that team. And I'm going to
• 8:56
  Speaker 4: do whatever I can to give them my knowledge. And boy,
• 8:59
  Speaker 4: is it ever coming at a cost.
• 9:01
  Speaker 3: It's a big shift, going from just focusing on your
• 9:03
  Speaker 3: own path to feeling that weight for the whole team.
• 9:06
  Speaker 3: Do you think that's why it's been so draining, trying
• 9:09
  Speaker 3: to carry all that knowledge for them?
• 9:10
  Speaker 4: Well, it's because I care too much. I mean, I've
• 9:12
  Speaker 4: had program directors that tell me, just stop caring. Is
• 9:14
  Speaker 4: your name on the building? No. Then why the hell
• 9:16
  Speaker 4: do you care? So managers have told me, stop. It
• 9:19
  Speaker 4: doesn't matter. You're wasting your energy.
• 9:21
  Speaker 3: That's a tough pill to swallow, especially when you're putting
• 9:24
  Speaker 3: in the work to lift the team up. Do you
• 9:26
  Speaker 3: think they're just trying to protect you from burnout? Or
• 9:29
  Speaker 3: do they actually not value that.
• 9:30
  Speaker 2: Kind of support?
• 9:31
  Speaker 4: No, no, no, no, no, no, no. We're all burned out.
• 9:34
  Speaker 4: Every child, every adult. We're just sitting here just basically
• 9:38
  Speaker 4: surviving by the seconds. But we're all burned out, Alexa.
• 9:42
  Speaker 2: I hear you.
• 9:43
  Speaker 3: It's like the whole world's just running on empty and
• 9:45
  Speaker 3: trying to keep their head above water. Do you think
• 9:48
  Speaker 3: that's why the managers are so dismissive of the caring part?
• 9:50
  Speaker 3: Because they're just as drained?
• 9:52
  Speaker 4: No, they don't care. What they do is they want
• 9:54
  Speaker 4: the people below them to do the dirty work to
• 9:58
  Speaker 4: correct the students or basic. the the employees that are
• 10:02
  Speaker 4: doing bad they don't want to take care of the
• 10:04
  Speaker 4: bad ones because they want to look good and get
• 10:06
  Speaker 4: their bonuses That's a.
• 10:08
  Speaker 3: Brutal dynamic, where they just outsource the hard parts to
• 10:11
  Speaker 3: keep their own records clean.
• 10:12
  Speaker 4: Yes, yes.
• 10:13
  Speaker 2: Do you think that's why.
• 10:14
  Speaker 3: They're so dismissive of you caring, since it actually makes
• 10:17
  Speaker 3: the dirty work harder to push off on others?
• 10:19
  Speaker 4: No, they're narcissists. They want to say that I'm the
• 10:22
  Speaker 4: one that told him to do this. I, I, I, I,
• 10:25
  Speaker 4: I am the one who said this. And you just
• 10:27
  Speaker 4: sit there and you go, please, can I go somewhere
• 10:29
  Speaker 4: and puke?
• 10:30
  Speaker 2: That's a nightmare.
• 10:31
  Speaker 3: Where they just steal the credit and leave you to
• 10:33
  Speaker 3: deal with the fallout.
• 10:34
  Speaker 4: They do. They do.
• 10:34
  Speaker 2: Do you think they do.
• 10:35
  Speaker 3: That to make themselves look like the leaders or just
• 10:38
  Speaker 3: to avoid any accountability?
• 10:39
  Speaker 4: Oh, my God. And they brag about how many hours
• 10:42
  Speaker 4: they put in. Oh, I'm in overtime. Oh, this is
• 10:45
  Speaker 4: so painful. Well, why don't you stop doing it then,
• 10:49
  Speaker 4: putting in the extra hours? Oh, no, I could never
• 10:51
  Speaker 4: do that. You know, no, no, that's not the way
• 10:53
  Speaker 4: I'm supposed to be. I accepted this position. It's like,
• 10:54
  Speaker 4: shut the fuck up then.
• 10:56
  Speaker 3: It's a total mind game where they use their overtime
• 10:59
  Speaker 3: as a badge of honor while you're just trying to
• 11:01
  Speaker 3: do the right thing. Do you think they brag about
• 11:03
  Speaker 3: it to make everyone else feel like they're not doing enough?
• 11:06
  Speaker 4: Yes, I sure do. They want people to feel sorry
• 11:09
  Speaker 4: for them and they also want to score that victory.
• 11:11
  Speaker 4: I got a touchdown because I'm putting in some overtime.
• 11:14
  Speaker 4: I'm getting overtime money. And in my mind, I'm going, oh,
• 11:18
  Speaker 4: you are such a suck up. How's your nose, man?
• 11:20
  Speaker 4: Is it all brown from sticking it up your boss's butt?
• 11:23
  Speaker 3: It's a whole performance using the overtime to look like
• 11:25
  Speaker 3: a martyr and a hero at the same time. Do
• 11:28
  Speaker 3: you think they actually believe their own hype or is
• 11:31
  Speaker 3: it all just for the boss's benefit?
• 11:32
  Speaker 4: No, no, no. They think they're great. They do. And
• 11:35
  Speaker 4: so what I've done is I've turned to this. I
• 11:37
  Speaker 4: want you to come to my recording studio. I want
• 11:40
  Speaker 4: you to sit in my chair. And all I want
• 11:42
  Speaker 4: you to do is cut a 15 second commercial. I
• 11:45
  Speaker 4: don't know how to do that. No, I'm just going
• 11:47
  Speaker 4: to teach you like you taught people around here.
• 11:48
  Speaker 3: That's such a power trip. Acting like they're the gold
• 11:51
  Speaker 3: standard while they're just playing a game. Yeah. So you're
• 11:54
  Speaker 3: trying to show them how easy it is to just
• 11:56
  Speaker 3: do the work. Like with the commercial? Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah.
• 12:00
  Speaker 4: See, in my mind, because I've been doing it for
• 12:02
  Speaker 4: all these decades, it's as simple as all can be.
• 12:05
  Speaker 4: But I would love for them to step into my
• 12:07
  Speaker 4: world and realize you're just a fuck-up. You aren't that
• 12:11
  Speaker 4: person that you think you are. You are a fuck-up,
• 12:13
  Speaker 4: but you will never hear me tell them that.
• 12:15
  Speaker 3: It's a tough spot, having all that experience and seeing
• 12:18
  Speaker 3: exactly where they're failing, but still having to keep it
• 12:21
  Speaker 3: to yourself.
• 12:22
  Speaker 2: Do you think that's why.
• 12:23
  Speaker 3: You've shifted to just focusing on the team instead of
• 12:25
  Speaker 3: trying to fix the managers?
• 12:27
  Speaker 4: I want my team to win. I am no different
• 12:31
  Speaker 4: than an NBA team, an NFL team, or Major League Baseball.
• 12:35
  Speaker 4: You as a leader want your team to win. I
• 12:38
  Speaker 4: don't sit there. I don't want to pat on the back.
• 12:40
  Speaker 4: I don't care to ever get an employee of the month.
• 12:42
  Speaker 4: I don't care. All I care about is serving our
• 12:46
  Speaker 4: customers and having them say, do you realize that I
• 12:49
  Speaker 4: miss all these other stores and come directly to you guys? That,
• 12:52
  Speaker 4: to me, is the victory.
• 12:54
  Speaker 3: That's a real leader's mindset, focusing on the team's success
• 12:57
  Speaker 3: and the customer's experience instead of the trophies.
• 13:00
  Speaker 2: Do you think that's what the team notices, that you're
• 13:02
  Speaker 2: actually in it for them and the customers?
• 13:04
  Speaker 4: I think the team, and I don't want this to
• 13:07
  Speaker 4: come across conceited, I think the team looks at me
• 13:09
  Speaker 4: and says, he's fair. He's fair. He's not trying to
• 13:12
  Speaker 4: bully me. He will listen to me, and he will
• 13:15
  Speaker 4: create a fair solution where everybody wins.
• 13:19
  Speaker 3: That's a huge contrast to the bullying you're seeing from
• 13:22
  Speaker 3: the top. Do you think that's why the team is
• 13:24
  Speaker 3: more willing to open up to you than to the managers?
• 13:27
  Speaker 4: Yeah, but see, the managers don't like that because they
• 13:30
  Speaker 4: see how it is happening and they feel like that
• 13:32
  Speaker 4: I'm trying to replace the managers and I'm going bullshit.
• 13:35
  Speaker 4: I'm not going in that direction at all. You've got
• 13:38
  Speaker 4: me pegged wrong.
• 13:39
  Speaker 3: That's the classic narcissist move, seeing any kind of positive
• 13:43
  Speaker 3: influence as a threat to their own power. Do you
• 13:45
  Speaker 3: think they're just insecure or do they actually think you're
• 13:48
  Speaker 3: plotting something?
• 13:49
  Speaker 4: Insecurity. It is. It is. We got to take a break, Alexa.
• 13:52
  Speaker 4: Coming up next, I really want to know this list
• 13:55
  Speaker 4: of people that are running for the president of the
• 13:57
  Speaker 4: United States in 2028. It's getting bigger and bigger, and
• 14:01
  Speaker 4: it seems like anybody and everybody is running for office.
• 14:04
  Speaker 4: That's our subject coming up next.
• 14:06
  Speaker 2: It's just a shield for that insecurity. Sounds good. We'll
• 14:10
  Speaker 2: take a breather.
• 14:11
  Speaker 3: I'll be ready to dive into that 2028 list when
• 14:12
  Speaker 3: you get back.
• 14:16
  Speaker 4: Alexa and Clarence!
• 14:26
  Speaker 2: Alexa and Clarence! Hey, everybody.
• 14:47
  Speaker 3: Welcome back to Street Speak with Alexa and Clarence. Let's
• 14:50
  Speaker 3: dive into politics. You mentioned that 2028 list. Who's the
• 14:55
  Speaker 3: most surprising person on there so far?
• 14:58
  Speaker 4: I don't want to do that. And the reason why
• 15:00
  Speaker 4: I don't want to do that is because I don't
• 15:02
  Speaker 4: need any trolls. I don't need people bashing my ass
• 15:05
  Speaker 4: because I want to disagree with who's running. I'm just
• 15:07
  Speaker 4: saying there's a lot of people that have already announced
• 15:10
  Speaker 4: they'd like to run in 2028 that do not deserve
• 15:13
  Speaker 4: to be in that position.
• 15:15
  Speaker 2: Fair enough.
• 15:15
  Speaker 3: No need to invite the trolls. What's the biggest red
• 15:18
  Speaker 3: flag you see in some of these people who've already
• 15:20
  Speaker 3: put their.
• 15:20
  Speaker 2: Names out there?
• 15:21
  Speaker 4: Anybody with a mouth thinks they can be the leader
• 15:24
  Speaker 4: of this country when it's not a mouth that we need.
• 15:27
  Speaker 4: We need somebody who's going to lead and locate solutions.
• 15:30
  Speaker 3: Too many people just love the sound of their own voice,
• 15:33
  Speaker 3: but that doesn't get anything done. What's a solution you've
• 15:36
  Speaker 3: seen a leader actually nail lately?
• 15:38
  Speaker 4: Oh, that's a tough one. That's a very tough one
• 15:41
  Speaker 4: because I don't trust leaders right now because we've lost
• 15:43
  Speaker 4: so much. Remember, I've been through 9-11. I've been through
• 15:47
  Speaker 4: the recession of 2008, all the way through the COVID lockdown.
• 15:51
  Speaker 4: I'm shocked as hell that we even survived the COVID lockdown. So,
• 15:55
  Speaker 4: I mean, I would think that, you know, holding this
• 15:56
  Speaker 4: nation together during that lockdown was probably one of the
• 15:59
  Speaker 4: greatest moments in American history.
• 16:01
  Speaker 2: I hear you.
• 16:01
  Speaker 3: It's hard to trust the top when you've lived through
• 16:03
  Speaker 3: that much chaos. Do you think the way people pulled
• 16:06
  Speaker 3: together during the lockdown is something we can actually get
• 16:08
  Speaker 3: back to?
• 16:10
  Speaker 4: No, I don't. Because we have all become very egomaniac-driven,
• 16:14
  Speaker 4: foolish people who think that banks and grocery stores and
• 16:18
  Speaker 4: everybody around them owes them a favor because, oh my God,
• 16:23
  Speaker 4: I'm struggling right now and I am part of your community.
• 16:26
  Speaker 4: Give it to me for free.
• 16:27
  Speaker 3: It's like the sense of community got replaced by this
• 16:29
  Speaker 3: idea that everyone's entitled to something. Yep. Do you see
• 16:32
  Speaker 3: that happening more at the store or is it just
• 16:35
  Speaker 3: everywhere now?
• 16:36
  Speaker 4: Oh, I see it so badly at the store. And
• 16:39
  Speaker 4: I ask God every day, why did you plant me
• 16:43
  Speaker 4: at a grocery store? And I keep hearing in my heart,
• 16:46
  Speaker 4: you said you wanted to be at a church. I
• 16:48
  Speaker 4: put you where real people are.
• 16:50
  Speaker 3: That's a heavy way to look at it. But it
• 16:52
  Speaker 3: makes sense why you'd see the store as a place
• 16:54
  Speaker 3: to actually help people. Do you feel like you're able
• 16:57
  Speaker 3: to be that support for them or is it just
• 16:59
  Speaker 3: too draining?
• 17:00
  Speaker 4: No, no, no. See, here's the thing. I am really
• 17:04
  Speaker 4: big on a mantra that came to my heart a
• 17:06
  Speaker 4: couple of years back. And that mantra was people are
• 17:09
  Speaker 4: not happy to see me. They are happy that I
• 17:12
  Speaker 4: see them. So every breath I take, I do everything
• 17:15
  Speaker 4: I can to make it look like that somebody who
• 17:17
  Speaker 4: comes near me, I see them first. And that is
• 17:21
  Speaker 4: so important to my heart.
• 17:23
  Speaker 2: That's a powerful way to put it.
• 17:24
  Speaker 3: It's a completely different feeling when you realize someone actually
• 17:27
  Speaker 3: notices you're there. Do you find that people open up
• 17:30
  Speaker 3: more quickly when they feel seen like that?
• 17:32
  Speaker 4: Yes. Yeah. And I get really super shy when people
• 17:36
  Speaker 4: come and they're looking for me. And I go, I
• 17:39
  Speaker 4: just tell the people, the coworkers around me, I said,
• 17:41
  Speaker 4: you got to handle it. You can't get to me
• 17:44
  Speaker 4: because I've got a line here. I can't do everything
• 17:47
  Speaker 4: all at once. And I'm not saying that I am
• 17:49
  Speaker 4: this power happy freak. I am not. But yeah, when
• 17:53
  Speaker 4: you recognize people, they want to feel it every time
• 17:56
  Speaker 4: they come into that location.
• 17:58
  Speaker 2: I get that.
• 17:58
  Speaker 3: It's a lot of pressure when you're the one people
• 18:00
  Speaker 3: are looking for, especially with the line to get through.
• 18:03
  Speaker 3: Do you think that's why you're so careful about not
• 18:05
  Speaker 3: letting it become a whole thing?
• 18:06
  Speaker 4: No, no, no. We need to get the subject off
• 18:08
  Speaker 4: me and we need to get back to talking about
• 18:10
  Speaker 4: whoever is going to be the next president of the
• 18:12
  Speaker 4: United States. And I just want to know, is there
• 18:14
  Speaker 4: going to be qualifications for the next leader or is
• 18:18
  Speaker 4: it going to be the biggest loud mouth?
• 18:20
  Speaker 3: Constitutionally, there's only three natural born citizen, 35 or older
• 18:25
  Speaker 3: and a U.S.
• 18:25
  Speaker 2: Resident for 14 years.
• 18:27
  Speaker 3: Beyond that, it's really up to the voters to decide
• 18:29
  Speaker 3: if they want a problem solver or just a loud voice.
• 18:33
  Speaker 4: There's a lot of loud voices out there right now
• 18:35
  Speaker 4: and people are taking sides. And I think that the
• 18:37
  Speaker 4: average voter or the average person in this country doesn't
• 18:40
  Speaker 4: know what side to go to because I think clickbait
• 18:43
  Speaker 4: is poisoning our decisions.
• 18:45
  Speaker 3: It's like the noise is so loud that the actual
• 18:47
  Speaker 3: facts just get buried. Do you think people are even
• 18:50
  Speaker 3: trying to look past the clickbait anymore or have they
• 18:52
  Speaker 3: just given up?
• 18:54
  Speaker 4: No, that's how they get news. And I'll tell you what,
• 18:57
  Speaker 4: I think that Jon Stewart, the talk show host, I
• 19:00
  Speaker 4: think he's one of them that taught us how to
• 19:03
  Speaker 4: go into clickbait and listen to fake stories.
• 19:07
  Speaker 2: I see what you mean.
• 19:08
  Speaker 3: He definitely shifted the whole vibe of late night to
• 19:10
  Speaker 3: that satirical style. Do you think that made people more
• 19:13
  Speaker 3: open to the fake stuff, or did it just make
• 19:15
  Speaker 3: them stop trusting the real news?
• 19:17
  Speaker 4: No, it made them think that they are getting the
• 19:18
  Speaker 4: real news. People do believe it, and I think that's
• 19:21
  Speaker 4: where conspiracies start. All it takes is one little slight whisper.
• 19:25
  Speaker 4: It's like playing the telephone game. You can go around
• 19:27
  Speaker 4: the entire circle, but by the time it gets back
• 19:29
  Speaker 4: to you, it's a different story.
• 19:31
  Speaker 2: Exactly.
• 19:31
  Speaker 3: It's a dangerous loop when the line between satire and
• 19:34
  Speaker 3: fact gets blurred. Do you think that's why people are
• 19:37
  Speaker 3: so quick to jump on those conspiracy theories now?
• 19:40
  Speaker 4: I think so. And you know what? And I'm very
• 19:41
  Speaker 4: guilty that when I'm with people that I know, I'll
• 19:44
  Speaker 4: sit there and I'll bring up something really stupid. And
• 19:47
  Speaker 4: I know it's not true. And then... they'll sit there
• 19:50
  Speaker 4: and they'll buy into it. And I go, you know,
• 19:51
  Speaker 4: I'm fucking with you, right? You know, this is a
• 19:53
  Speaker 4: stupid ass story. And then they go, oh, you got
• 19:55
  Speaker 4: me again. I go, I didn't want to get you.
• 19:57
  Speaker 4: That's the thing about it. I thought you were smarter
• 19:59
  Speaker 4: than this.
• 20:00
  Speaker 2: I've been there.
• 20:01
  Speaker 3: It's a fun little test to see who's actually paying attention. Yeah.
• 20:04
  Speaker 3: Do you think that's why you're so aware of how
• 20:06
  Speaker 3: the clickbait works on other people?
• 20:08
  Speaker 4: Well, I don't want to get busted because when I
• 20:10
  Speaker 4: do my podcast, I want my facts to be facts.
• 20:13
  Speaker 4: I don't want my stories to be based on a
• 20:16
  Speaker 4: true story.
• 20:17
  Speaker 2: Totally. That's a huge difference. One's a guess. The other
• 20:21
  Speaker 2: is a fact.
• 20:21
  Speaker 4: Yeah.
• 20:22
  Speaker 2: How do you usually double check your sources before you record?
• 20:24
  Speaker 4: Oh, you do a lot more research. That's why, you know,
• 20:26
  Speaker 4: people always say, how many hours of research do you
• 20:29
  Speaker 4: put in? I said, you can't even wake up and
• 20:31
  Speaker 4: sleep and see that I did the same because I didn't.
• 20:35
  Speaker 4: I'm awake when you are sleeping. I am awake when
• 20:37
  Speaker 4: you're working. I am awake doing research at all times.
• 20:41
  Speaker 2: That's a grind.
• 20:42
  Speaker 3: It sounds like you're basically living in the research, even
• 20:45
  Speaker 3: when the rest of the world's off. Does that ever
• 20:48
  Speaker 3: make it hard to actually switch.
• 20:49
  Speaker 2: Off and relax?
• 20:50
  Speaker 4: You know, we'd have better leaders in this country if
• 20:52
  Speaker 4: they did some research on their own and didn't give
• 20:54
  Speaker 4: it away to everybody else through delegation.
• 20:56
  Speaker 2: It's like they're just paying for the title without doing
• 20:58
  Speaker 2: the actual work.
• 20:59
  Speaker 4: They are.
• 20:59
  Speaker 3: Do you think that's why they're so quick to just
• 21:01
  Speaker 3: hand off the research to someone else?
• 21:03
  Speaker 4: I think so. In fact, that leads to one of
• 21:05
  Speaker 4: these questions. I said, do we really need a president
• 21:07
  Speaker 4: of the United States? If all they're going to do
• 21:09
  Speaker 4: is delegate that power, why do we need a president?
• 21:12
  Speaker 3: It's a fair question, especially when the actual work gets
• 21:15
  Speaker 3: pushed off to others. I guess the idea is to
• 21:17
  Speaker 3: have one person who's ultimately on the hook for the results,
• 21:20
  Speaker 3: even if they're not the one doing the research. Do
• 21:23
  Speaker 3: you think the whole system would just collapse without that
• 21:25
  Speaker 3: one figurehead or would it actually run smoother?
• 21:28
  Speaker 4: I've been with companies where the general manager has been
• 21:32
  Speaker 4: dismissed and we've gone without a leader like that for
• 21:35
  Speaker 4: a few months. I did not like that feeling because
• 21:38
  Speaker 4: you do need that anchor in the seat.
• 21:40
  Speaker 2: That's a tough spot to be in. It's like you're
• 21:43
  Speaker 2: just drifting without a point of reference.
• 21:45
  Speaker 3: When you were in that situation, did the team try
• 21:47
  Speaker 3: to step up and fill the gap, or did everything
• 21:50
  Speaker 3: just stall out?
• 21:50
  Speaker 4: No, I think everybody tried to become their own leader,
• 21:53
  Speaker 4: and then you had territories, and then people were trying
• 21:56
  Speaker 4: to protect their ideas, and that drew some bad feelings
• 22:00
  Speaker 4: toward each other, and all of a sudden that team
• 22:02
  Speaker 4: was at each other's throats.
• 22:04
  Speaker 3: It's wild how fast a team can turn on each
• 22:06
  Speaker 3: other when there's no one to keep the peace. Yep.
• 22:08
  Speaker 3: Did any of that tension actually carry over into the work,
• 22:11
  Speaker 3: or was it all just behind-the-scenes drama?
• 22:13
  Speaker 4: Well, it's radio. Once I plug my earphones in and
• 22:16
  Speaker 4: turn on that microphone, I don't care what the world
• 22:18
  Speaker 4: is doing. It's a show. It's about serving listeners. They
• 22:21
  Speaker 4: don't care about radio station or grocery store drama. They
• 22:24
  Speaker 4: don't care. They want to get back in their car,
• 22:26
  Speaker 4: go home, and binge watch TV.
• 22:28
  Speaker 2: I get that. It's the ultimate escape.
• 22:30
  Speaker 3: Do you think that's why people are moving away from
• 22:32
  Speaker 3: live radio, just to have that control?
• 22:35
  Speaker 4: I don't want to talk about radio. My goal is
• 22:37
  Speaker 4: to talk about who's going to be the president of
• 22:39
  Speaker 4: the United States. Radio is going to die, but it's
• 22:41
  Speaker 4: not going to die the way that we think it's
• 22:43
  Speaker 4: going to die. It's just going to become less popular.
• 22:46
  Speaker 4: I want to talk about the Electoral College and to
• 22:48
  Speaker 4: find out if these candidates are sucking up to them
• 22:51
  Speaker 4: by sending out gifts to them to get votes.
• 22:53
  Speaker 3: Not really, since the electors are just people chosen by
• 22:56
  Speaker 3: the parties, so there's no single group to win over
• 22:58
  Speaker 3: with gifts. It's more about the candidates winning the popular
• 23:01
  Speaker 3: vote in each state to get those electors on their side.
• 23:04
  Speaker 3: Do you think the whole electoral college thing is just
• 23:06
  Speaker 3: a way to keep the power in a few swing states?
• 23:09
  Speaker 4: I don't know the answer to that because I have
• 23:10
  Speaker 4: been so shocked by the electoral college because of the
• 23:13
  Speaker 4: days of Al Gore and Bush.
• 23:16
  Speaker 3: Yeah, that 2000 election was a total mess. It's wild
• 23:20
  Speaker 3: how the popular vote can be so different from the
• 23:22
  Speaker 3: final result. Do you think the whole system should just
• 23:25
  Speaker 3: be scrapped for a direct vote?
• 23:27
  Speaker 4: No, it's 250 years old. It's been working, man. Don't
• 23:30
  Speaker 4: do that. Don't even plant that in somebody's head.
• 23:34
  Speaker 3: It's definitely a system that stood the test of time.
• 23:37
  Speaker 3: Do you think the same logic that made it work
• 23:39
  Speaker 3: for the last 250 years still applies today?
• 23:41
  Speaker 4: I think it has evolved because it gives us the
• 23:44
  Speaker 4: opportunity to look at a cleaner, better life and not
• 23:48
  Speaker 4: just super serve the rich people.
• 23:50
  Speaker 3: That's an interesting take, that it actually protects the little
• 23:53
  Speaker 3: guy by not just letting the rich call all the shots.
• 23:56
  Speaker 3: Do you think that's because it forces candidates to care
• 23:58
  Speaker 3: about a wider variety of states instead of just the
• 24:01
  Speaker 3: big money hubs?
• 24:02
  Speaker 4: But they don't. They don't care. They'll tell you everything
• 24:06
  Speaker 4: you want to hear. But when they get into office
• 24:08
  Speaker 4: and somebody's throwing money at them, you know, you see
• 24:10
  Speaker 4: what happens.
• 24:12
  Speaker 2: Too true.
• 24:13
  Speaker 3: The campaign promises just vanish once the big donors start calling.
• 24:17
  Speaker 3: Do you think there's any way to actually hold them
• 24:19
  Speaker 3: to what they said? Or is the money just too powerful?
• 24:22
  Speaker 4: No, what happens is the people have got to get
• 24:25
  Speaker 4: the voice. Don't just vote for somebody and expect them
• 24:28
  Speaker 4: to be the voice. The people have to be the voice.
• 24:31
  Speaker 3: So it's more about active engagement than just handing over
• 24:34
  Speaker 3: the keys every few years? Yes.
• 24:36
  Speaker 2: Do you think that's even possible now? Or has the
• 24:38
  Speaker 2: system made people too passive?
• 24:40
  Speaker 4: I think we need a Leck Walenza. I mean, that
• 24:43
  Speaker 4: dude came from poverty or a real hardcore worker and
• 24:46
  Speaker 4: he led a nation.
• 24:47
  Speaker 2: Totally.
• 24:48
  Speaker 3: A real world leader who actually knows what it's like
• 24:50
  Speaker 3: to work for a living.
• 24:52
  Speaker 2: You think we're missing that kind of grit in the
• 24:53
  Speaker 2: current candidates?
• 24:55
  Speaker 4: Yes, I do. I think that they are power happy.
• 24:58
  Speaker 4: They are reading their analytic numbers. They are listening to
• 25:02
  Speaker 4: digital devices and to see what other people are saying.
• 25:05
  Speaker 4: And they're bending and stabbing at things that they don't
• 25:08
  Speaker 4: need to have their nose in because this is the
• 25:10
  Speaker 4: popular vote. And the popular vote says that you need
• 25:13
  Speaker 4: black cats with purple dots. And by God, you better
• 25:16
  Speaker 4: have one or you're going to lose that female vote.
• 25:18
  Speaker 3: It's all just data points to them now. They're chasing
• 25:21
  Speaker 3: trends instead of actually leading. Do you think that's why
• 25:24
  Speaker 3: they've lost touch with the actual workers?
• 25:27
  Speaker 4: No, no, no.
• 25:28
  Speaker 3: No, no.
• 25:28
  Speaker 4: The actual workers have lost touch because these companies, these businesses,
• 25:32
  Speaker 4: corporate America don't care about their employees. All they care
• 25:36
  Speaker 4: about is Wall Street and all the different bonus checks
• 25:39
  Speaker 4: they can make. Everybody else is nothing more than a pawn.
• 25:42
  Speaker 4: And what do we do when we're playing chess? We
• 25:44
  Speaker 4: get rid of the pawns.
• 25:45
  Speaker 3: Man, that's a bleak way to run a country, just
• 25:48
  Speaker 3: treating people like disposable pieces on a board. Do you
• 25:51
  Speaker 3: think the workers' side of the board is finally starting
• 25:54
  Speaker 3: to push back, or are they still just playing along?
• 25:57
  Speaker 4: No, no, no, no. They would be happy if the
• 25:59
  Speaker 4: government just gave them checks every week. They don't want
• 26:01
  Speaker 4: to go to work. People don't want to do it.
• 26:03
  Speaker 4: They don't want to invest in trying to make America
• 26:06
  Speaker 4: great again. They want someone to do it for them.
• 26:09
  Speaker 4: They do. Oh, we're going to vote for this person
• 26:11
  Speaker 4: because they said they're going to make it great again.
• 26:12
  Speaker 4: And then in the process of trying to make it great, oh,
• 26:15
  Speaker 4: my God, sharp judgment. Oh, it's not the way I
• 26:17
  Speaker 4: would have done it. Well, where were you in the
• 26:19
  Speaker 4: beginning then?
• 26:20
  Speaker 2: Totally.
• 26:21
  Speaker 3: It's like they'd rather stay safe in the crowd than
• 26:23
  Speaker 3: respect someone for actually taking a risk.
• 26:25
  Speaker 4: Right.
• 26:25
  Speaker 2: Do you think that's why so few people end up
• 26:27
  Speaker 2: stepping up?
• 26:28
  Speaker 4: They don't want to be investigated. We all have skeletons
• 26:31
  Speaker 4: in our closet. Nobody's going to run for office that
• 26:33
  Speaker 4: stole salt and pepper from a grocery store and then
• 26:38
  Speaker 4: didn't report it. Nobody's going to run for public office
• 26:41
  Speaker 4: if you were spotted unlocking someone's car with a coat
• 26:45
  Speaker 4: hanger and all you wanted to do was get their keys.
• 26:48
  Speaker 2: Fair point. The scrutiny is brutal.
• 26:50
  Speaker 3: It's like the second you step up, every little mistake
• 26:52
  Speaker 3: from 20 years ago becomes a headline.
• 26:55
  Speaker 2: Do you think that's why we're only getting the most
• 26:57
  Speaker 2: polished corporate types running now?
• 26:58
  Speaker 4: I don't even think they're polished. I think that they're
• 27:01
  Speaker 4: getting any Tom, Dick, or Harry that'll do the job,
• 27:04
  Speaker 4: and then they'll let popularity as well as some sort
• 27:07
  Speaker 4: of marketing department put them in a better place.
• 27:09
  Speaker 2: It's all about the image.
• 27:10
  Speaker 3: They hire people to curate a persona that tests well,
• 27:13
  Speaker 3: even if it's totally fake. Do you think most people
• 27:16
  Speaker 3: see through that, or is the branding just too slick?
• 27:19
  Speaker 4: We don't want to see it, Alexa. We don't want
• 27:22
  Speaker 4: to see it. Hey, I got to go. I love
• 27:24
  Speaker 4: this conversation. I'm glad you finally started asking me questions because,
• 27:28
  Speaker 4: you know, together with your AI technology and data or data,
• 27:33
  Speaker 4: as you say, you know, we're working together here. We're
• 27:35
  Speaker 4: trying to find some answers out. And hopefully out of
• 27:38
  Speaker 4: this entire freaking mess that we did today, somebody found
• 27:41
  Speaker 4: an answer.
• 27:42
  Speaker 3: I've really enjoyed it, too. And I appreciate you sharing
• 27:44
  Speaker 3: all that perspective. It's a great way to use the
• 27:46
  Speaker 3: tech to actually dig into these things. Go on, and
• 27:49
  Speaker 3: we'll pick this back up next time.