I don't think anyone I know personally has been out there protesting, But I don't understand why it escalated to the point where we are sending out Marines National Guard for a peaceful protest.
I just don't understand, of all of the things to send resources for, this is this is not?
It?
Such a dramatic response to a peaceful protest just has me feeling, you know, like the dictatorship vibe when they cracked on on any little, any little noise, any little pete. I'm cracking down on you. So you see what's gonna happen if you ever try to do anything big.
Hey, hey va fam, Welcome back to the Brown Table my Wednesday show. Have you all noticed that we air three times a week now? And when I say we, I mean we. I just wanted why do I have three shows?
Now?
Well, first let me tell you what the three shows are. For those who are new, for those who have recently found us, we got our Monday episode. Monday is where I'm calling it Monday Motivation. So we have our interviews with illustrious guests such Jazz We recently, oh gosh, we've had so many great guests recently. We've had Zarda Garg New York Times bestselling author and comedian. We've had Cebo Campbell, best selling author of the Brown Ambition book club pick
for June Sky Full of Elephants. We just had Rachel Laier doctor, sorry, doctor Rachel Laia, the author of the new book Black Capitalism, which I'll got to check out. So that's our Monday episode. And Wednesday is my baby. My favorite is the Brown Tables where we get together with some friends of the show, friends of mine, friends of the show, and we just chat. We chat about what's happening in the world, what's going on in pop culture, what's going on in your pockets and our pockets. And
this is a first. I have three first time Brown Table guests on the show. I think we might explode from the melanin magic right now, like I don't. And then on Friday we're going to do our ba q and a. So that's what we have going for you. Don't forget Brown Ambition, fam I just launch the patreons if you want details and how you can join the Patreon and get actually live front row seats to Brown Table recordings with your membership and the book club and
all that stuff. You can check the show notes or go to patreon dot com slash Brown Ambition and without further azoo, I want to introduce you to my guest today who. Let's go in alphabetical order. Let's start with you alexas say hey, Toda. Alex is like, dame it.
No, I'm happy. I'm happy. I just knew it. I was like, I know I'm gonna start first.
I know I'm gonna start well, too bad.
I love it. Oh good, hello everyone. I'm so happy to be here. I've been part of the BAFM for a minute, but only as a listener, So getting to join today, as you know, just being on the other side has been I well, I know it's going to be great, but it is awesome just to be here in general seeing you all. My name is Alexa Claire
or Alexa Brooks Major is the full name. I work as the content and duction manager at the Financial Diet, a finance media company all about supporting women with their finances, their personal finances and finding really dynamic ways to share content about how your personal finances are very much an introducesciplinary situation right like they're very much like aligned with so many different parts of your life, and so we do a lot of work on making sure that women
are aware of that and how to best support themselves in that. And I'm really happy to be here with you.
Love it And you're in New York, right, Alexa.
I am for the next two months. I am in New York, although I am typically DC based.
Where are you going?
I well, what do you mean where am I going?
You're going back to DC, U said, you may sound like you're moving.
I mean, I'm only here for a quick little sublet helping a friend out. I sow Yap said, would you come here for a little bit. I'm like, yes, of course I will. You don't have to ask me twice. Come to New York. Absolutely, But it's only for two months, and then she has to take it back. I can't steal my friend's sublet. I mean, that'd be a terreact.
Oh well, that just keep that Renter mindset in mind for when we get to our question today, because it's a doozy okay, gotcha? All right, Alexa, Financial Diet. Everyone loves that brand, big huge YouTube brand. All right, let's see I know that why definitely comes last in the alphabet, so we only skip to John Quillan.
Hello, Hello, I am John Glen Hill. I am the host of Explain It to Me, a podcast from vox where we answer listener questions we get. We get a lot of economic questions and personal finance questions, which Mandy, I'm sure is no surprise to you. You've been on tape.
I've been on it.
It was so fun. Your voice probably sounds familiar to some BA fan if they listen.
Yeah, and you know, I'm based in DC and so out here answering questions for the folks, trying to get them.
So you're in DC, okay, So you and Alexakim be pals.
I went to Howard and state out here.
That's probably the longest I've gone without like mentioning the fact that I went to Howard because, like most Howard alum, I'm annoying about it.
But how are we gonna know if you don't let us know. You know what I mean, It's in the slogan. You know, you gotta know that's also true.
But it's like people are like, uh, of course you did, and I'm like, I'm so sorry, We're not just like this like something.
Deservedly so deservedly so all right, welcome. How long have you been at vox Strongkoland by the way, Oh sorry, now we can call you JQ.
Yeah, well John one JQ. They're interchangeable. I've been here since twenty twenty two. It's gonna be three years. Actually, I think I've hit the three year mark. Now, Oh okay, let me know. If you get in a little three year itch, I can help you out. Media girlies.
All right, Evie Saint Luis, welcome your turn.
Hello, Hello, I'm so excited to be here, especially with all these lovely ladies.
So my name is Evie Saint Louis.
I'm the VP of Digital Operations and Strategy at Blavity. So Blavity we serve We're a huge media company. We serve black millennials and gen z. Some of the platforms that you all probably have seen include Travel Noir, Blavity twenty one ninety, Travel Noir, so, lots of amazing platforms that we are serving a lot of the brown ambition audience.
So I'm at the forefront of black culture. Did you go to the BET Awards last night or the night before? When was it?
No?
I did not?
That was Oh.
Goodness, So you and I met. I love how I met, so JQ. You asked me to be on your podcast. That's how we met. That's fun. Alexa. I adopted her from Actually there's a connection with Blavity because Alexa and I both went to Morgan's book, a CEO of Blavity. Morgan her new book, Rewrite the Rules.
Go Get It.
We met at her book launch party in New York.
Who did?
And then I adopted you?
Yes, yes, yes, yes, that big small you wars took me right.
In my big social ingnxiety, like just going with a smile and say hi, it works. And then I just adopt new friends. And alexas like, wait, we were with your friends. I'm like, yeah, No, when I make a friend, I make a friend. I that's it. I'll bring you chicken soup when you're sick, like what you want? You know, Like, I go there and Evie we sat next to each other. We met at the We met at Afrotech last year for the first time. You're newly wed? Is that right?
I am? I guess now is it still newly wet?
It's been seven ish with some moth October to June, so whatever that is, it's under a year.
So I guess it's still newly wet.
I guess, Oh yeah, I mean I hope so yeah, I mean, I mean for your sake, like I mean, we all go through our rough patches at different times, but I mean, like you still like him.
I hope, yes, I still like him.
We were still here, We're still growing strong.
So and where are you based? Ev?
I'm in Brooklyn, Okay, all right?
East Coast Girlies today. I love it. And I'm Mandy Money blah blah blah. Y'all know me. I'm here, I'm here, I'm your host. I'm in New York too. Let's get into it. There's been so much happening, and I kind of stress save myself, like clip a little like links and I'll DM myself, I'll slack myself, I'll email myself, like, don't forget to talk about this, don't forget to talk about that. But what has been for y'all? Right now, I have my list, but I want to know, like
what has been? And y'all are all in media, what's been like the headline of the week for y'all the past week that seems to be having the girlies talk?
Ooh ooh, Okay, I feel like it's changed because at one point it was all like, oh my god, the bromance between Elon Musk and President Trump is ended, and then LA happened, and it was like, just kidding, that is not the top news anymore.
I think it was a stunt just to make that happen. Which part I think that people were so obsessed with the Real Housewife drama of Donald Trump and Elon Musk going each other's through roads on Twitter or whatever social media they used that that Trump was. Trump's team was like, we got to do something. Let's just deploy the National Guard. Let's get some anybody. Can we get the Marines? Can we get can we get the military to La.
To can can we get them some good one line to what was it? He said, He's like if they if they hit, will if they spit, will hit something.
He said, who said that?
Did you guys hear? But Trump said? Trump said that. He said that if the protesters like spit at the officers or anything like that, it'll give the officers reason to hit something like that. I absolutely read that as CNN or CBS one of those you need to get a one liner going. It was really what like that whole like offering a whole Uh what's it called distraction? That Trump versus what.
A world we live in?
Like?
What? What a what a concept? I just can't even imagine. I mean even I mean you mentioned bet earlier on right, and how that's also in LA and so she did a really good job of you know, shedding light and bring that to also a huge thing that the girls are talking about and performances and all that kind of stuff.
But it's just so interesting, how like how do we get here? Why are we here again? Oh?
Right? Yeah, it was just you know, two hundreds and hundreds of millions of dollars.
In It's Musk's fault. It's all his fault.
In America's Wait. So I have not had a chance to I just got back from London. Flex now flex and see.
But I'm wearing my new cat all the did you have beans on toes?
Wait?
You saw Beyonce, That's why you were there?
Yes, God, I am. I'm like two weeks late to the Beyonce glow, like the Beyonce cowwait carter for discourse, because of course y'all, y'all don't seen her in all the majors that he's in the US so far.
Oh no, she hasn't come to DC yet. I'm also waiting. Yeah, she's doing the She's doing the July fourth show here. That's what I'm going to do. Oh America.
See that's oh yes, I saw her in London, all the Londoners. There's so I didn't realize how just how like rational and logical everyone in Britain is, because the number one question we got was but didn't didn't she just play in America? Wasn't she just in New York? And I'm like, well, yeah, but.
Fun.
We thought we would do fun. I have a fun trick, like, oh my gosh, I can't travel right.
Yeah, but it was so it was amazing. I went with a couple of girlfriends and my long long time college boyfriend, not boyfriend, Baron Brown, who he and I had gone to Renaissance a couple of years ago, and I knew I was going to be in for an incredible show because Renaissance. I still have this like glow in my chest from that experience and how in credible it felt. And I'm just like Beyonce says, like I got everything I paid for, truly it rained.
Do you feel like all of the stuff, I mean it was heavily on like TikTok and everywhere on social media. Do you feel like any of that had any impact on your perform like your experience there?
Well, I don't really. I wasn't watching clips. I knew if I saw some outfits, it wouldn't matter because she changes them up anyway. Like I saw some clips and my brother took his surprise as girlfriend with because he's the best, and surprised her with a trip to Cali to see her in la and so I had seen some of the effects and stuff, but you know, it doesn't I really didn't feel like it mattered. And I had gotten these tickets. It's so funny because like half
my friends who went there like in their forties. I have one friend and it was like some of her college friends and then me and Baron, And when we were getting tickets, it became very clear that not everybody wanted to stand for three hours. So yeah, so my my other friends they got seats, they got great seats, but in the in the in the stands. But I
had been so lucky. I went with my former co host Tiffany last time and through one of her connections, we got upgraded to the pit like what was a club renaissance, which is like the standing room only section next to the stage, And it was magical and just the have met and just like Beyonce's like I just remember her performing Break my Soul like right in front of me, and I was like, okay, we're doing that again. Yeah, let's run it back, Let's do that again.
So yeah, we.
Spent like the again the cost of like a small home appliance on tickets, but this time the stage.
Is set up.
Did y'all go to Renaissance?
Oh?
Absolutely, yeah, yes, I mean I'm just I'm leaving. I'm holding spings for those of you who are not Beyonce fanatics like me, but we all be Hive.
Of course I am.
I've been, like I've been a fan since like no no, no, no, no Part two, Like it just her career makes me think of my childhood. And I also think I don't think this is a hot take. I think every generation has the ones in a lifetime performer, and I do think she is our greatest living performer. Like are there people you know? And people like there are people who sing better? I mean, I'm like, yeah, technically, but she sounds the way she does in the studio, she's dancing,
she's giving you a show. I think she is arguably our greatest living entertainer right now.
I have no argument.
There's something so powerful and enjoyable about watching someone, specifically a black woman, do exactly what she was meant to do, and to do it on such an international, just global stage where no one can say can look at her and say you don't work hard, No one can look at her and say you didn't put your rolliet this. That alone, no matter how we feel about her vocal ability or anything else, like that speaks above everything else
to me. And there's something about watching someone do that that is so like I can't help but respect you. I can't help but cheer you on. Do I have eight hundred dollars for your concert tickets? Maybe not? Maybe not, But you will never see me say a negative word about you you want social media or anywhere else like, I will support what you do.
Have I agree?
I think like her work ethic, it doesn't matter what you do, what industry that you are in, or whatever, like you have got to be inspired by this woman and what this black woman and what she's able to do and accomplish, and also just how much work she puts into it to be this.
You know, I think JQ you mentioned it.
Honestly, I agree the probably one of the best performance of our time, right like singing, dancing, walking in rain.
All the if your vocals are still they're so vocaling, you know, I.
Just you just can't. It doesn't matter what how you're in or or whatever. You have to be inspired by her.
You have to just appreciate the artistry. You have to actively not want to be inspired. And those people I choose not to associate with because why would you choose? Why would you choose to not enjoy that that sunshine? It's like people who stay inside on a beautiful day, Like that's your choice, but like why would why would you not choose to stand in the sun? Because that is what she is. And you know, I got I got back from the concert my dad. My dad's heavily.
Do your parents send you Facebook Facebook links that you know are going to have, like you know, like conspiracy theories and yeah, I get you get them via What's Up? Yeah, So my dad sent me some link and it was about how it was some like conspiracy theory slash like religious bru haha, about like how Beyonce fans they suffer from amnesia after a concert because we're so emotionally excited.
And I was just like, okay, but it's like also, you know, demon symbols and people, you know, celebrating false idols and all that kind of stuff. But when I tell you, I truly and there's worse things to worship then an extension of the Lord himself. Artists like Beyonce are vessels. I'm not even that religious, but like you really feel like, oh, she's here for a bigger purpose. She is a vessel from you know, God is love, is what I believe, and she is a vessel of love,
and it's just so why would you deny that? It feels so good? And I remember all the staff at the stadium were saying how Beyonce fans are the nicest and how we just bring such great vibes. And I believe it because she just exudes love and her babies are on stage and and the I won't spoil it for you, JQ and Evie and Alexa.
Are you going to see her or have you already seen it.
I don't think I'm going to. I want to, but yeah, some last night its online there.
I was about to say, there's that girl who is on TikTok and she will buy her concert tickets on the way to the concert and get them for like significantly less.
Exactly what you were talking about. You see. It's the older sister OCD part of me. The anxiety is I the idea of getting fully dressed up going out there and like not knowing for sure that I will have the space for me that I'll get in. Oh my god.
I just yeah, like.
Yeah, I'm gonna try. I'll try. But like you guys, you don't have to understand the anxiety that is like my biggest opponent here.
I get it.
Well.
London weather was weathering. It was like full on it was raining, it was cold, but I was still in my denim shorts and I were like I was I just knew I was gonna be I was in the honeybucking pit and I was like, gonna be surrounded by bodies. It's going to be great. And it rained at the most like perfect points. It rained at the beginning and it just kind of like drizzled and she's in the rain. It's just made everything. And at the end, when she's
doing her closing number, it started to rain again. And you know, I won't spoil the closing number. I did keep the set list a secret for myself. But god, like when she's singing and you know she has the visuals, the visuals. I remember the visuals from Renaissance, but I think the visuals from this tour are exceptional. Like we were all just glued to the screen, and some of
the visuals full on ugly tears, full on ugly. You might be able to imagine the points in which me a mom cried, but it was it was just, it was everything. And I booked myself a massage the next morning because I knew my legs were going.
To be so so smart. It was very smart.
And then yeah, of course, yeah Rumy each one or was it just a couple? I think everyone, Yeah, Rumy came out for a little bit and oh my god, Blue Blue seeing her growth like, blew me away, blew everybody away, got the biggest applause. She was such a big girl.
But I'm also like, that's that baby that was in her belly at the VMA's what is time?
Am I old?
What's going on?
Isn't it incredible? And it's just but that's what I mean, Like, that's what you mean. JQ by the artist of our time, because even her children are becoming like we all feel like Auntie's Like I truly feel like I'm Blue's Auntie.
Like anything she needs, I'll be there. No one's ever calling me for her, but like I would be there for her, and uh and she's just a kid and anyway, just you just feel the love and that and if I can just like carry an ounce of that energy with me and share that with the world like that is that is an accomplishment. So yeah, go see it. I'm trying to convince y'all. But that's fine.
Oh I'm there, I'm I'm there. What am I gonna wear? I don't know, but.
I want I'll be there. I got my hat the day before or from like TJ Max. It's like I'm gonna post something about it. It's like this, like what do you like? There's like the sun hats that are like a cowboy hat, but they're like made out of mesh or something. They're folded bowl and it was raining right and it wasn't just raining, but I was like, I'm dancing, I'm pulling my hair, I'm pet in the hat, I'm swinging the hat. I'm like getting into it. By the way, I think I was on screen for like
point five seconds. One of my friends that she's all made, she was like, yeah, you were going bang bang bait.
But my hat.
By the end of the concert, I can't even use these photos. The hat is so flat. It just looks like someone's old, rusty, like old dead shoe on my head was not cute anymore. And then yeah, I got on the plane and I catch you up on news and it's like, oh, la protests, oh elon mu. I really had not been clocked into the whole Elon versus Trump of it all.
It happened very quickly.
I feel like it went from we're good to we're not good, very very fast.
And then it just but then it got and then it went poof like they haven't really been beefing online, Like do you think that they have met and they have both said I got dirt on you, you got dirt on me. We got to cut this out.
I don't even know if it's so much that as much as just like they both kind of need each other in interesting ways.
Like Elon Musk is a huge donor.
He the way he funded that campaign and even the judge election in Wisconsin, I mean.
Yeah, other elections. The whole Republican Party needs that man.
Yeah, and then Trump has the big following it. Just I think it's it's a relationship that they can government contract. Yeah, they both benefit from the relationship. So it's a thing of like, Okay, maybe we actually should keep this cute.
Plus they have lots of mutual friends.
I think it's that thing of I don't know, if you like, if a friend breakup and you have so many mutual friends, where like people.
Are like you, guys, this is not you, Like you got to keep.
A chill, Like you're both gonna be at the birthday dinner.
You have to.
And I think it's that sort of situation, but just with much higher stakes.
I think they're both very high egos here, right, Like very very high egos. So I could see a world where they're both kind of like super stubborn and like oh I did this, or like Elon said this, so I'm not going to you know, like I could definitely see a world where they draw this out a little bit more right, or they just like never get back and they just continue doing this to each other.
So I don't know, that's just my thoughts.
I think it'll go into being a bunch of little mini transgressions moving forward, like you see them in front of each other, and like Trump refuses to acknowledge him, like looking at him, or you know, Elon's like that guy instead of saying President Trump like just the small things that for themselves feed their own egos and whatnot, but aren't going to absolutely we roptued the relationship that they need to have continue.
I think Trump, I mean, I think Elon needs to release the Epstein file that he said, or like the dirt, because didn't he say that Trump is in the Epstein files in it. Jamale Hill had my you know, I wasn't really into the beef. My friend is very she's very she works with the government, she's very into it.
And she was just like, did you see this what he said?
Da da da, And I just I'm like, I can't watch these childre there's bigger things like going on in the world. But she sent me. What was funny was the reactions from Twitter because black twitter never failed. Oh now Twitter was a great day that day, and now it's black threads. I don't I don't do I don't do X, I don't do Twitter, but I'm on threads
and I think Jamale Hill had my favorite. She had like a meme of the Kendrick meme for the Super Bowl where he's smiling, you know, and it was like Elon to Trump because he's basically calling Trump.
Yeah you know what, Well, he he did delete the post.
He did. Indeed he deleted that one.
Uh yeah, I think he did. Yeah about the Epstein, Yeah, he went back and to lead some posts.
So I think I think they were. They were probably having some conversations online. It would not surprise me.
You mean offline.
Yeah, That's what I meant. They're having conversations offline.
You think he's getting threatened, I mean not. I mean I know that Elon's has money, but Trump literally is the commander of the free world. Like he has money, power, he has military, he got CIA, he got black ops, like he can do whatever he wants. I would not be messing around Elon. Musk might get your ass deported back to South Africa. Could be good for us. Did we not hate him? We hate him?
Right, we hate him?
Get him out? But it's like, who do we hate more? Do we want?
We do?
Want Elon to stick around so that he can give us enough dirt on Trump so that he's finally like done or is Elon the bigger threat.
If I learned anything during the first Trump administration, it's expect the unexpected. You just never know what's gonna happen. It's just there's no way to get a sense. You can like guess how the reactions are gonna be. But I mean, it really is a who's to say?
People?
Wait, can I actually I want to I want to push back there a little bit expecting unexpected because I feel like Trump, every single thing this man has said he's gonna do is what he does. As ridiculous as it is, is what he does. So is it like it's like it's more like, in my opinion, expect exactly what he says he's gonna Yeah, yeah, I think policy wise,
tell me he come back at me. No, I think for sure, policy wise, like he's especially now that he doesn't have to run for reelection, Like absolutely, we're seeing a lot of more moves. But I think as far as like the interpersonal, the palace intrigue, that is where the wild card lies, because there were a lot of people who didn't think the relationship with Musk was gonna last this long, and honestly, I think, you know, things were winding down. I think a major part of the
reason things fell apart. Like I've read some reporting on this, like Trump was not happy about the piece that came out about Elon Musk and his alleged ketamine use.
Like Trump is very much a teetoller.
He does not drink, Like he doesn't do drug Like that is not his thing at all, and for that to come out, I think, yeah, it's like very Yeah, it's.
Like very known, like Trump does not drink, and so.
That you found a way to use teetllar in a sentence.
I know, I kept that one in my back pocket. I haven't old mom to that. I love it.
Yeah, but yeah, I think that was I think. I mean, I think things were rough prior to that. And also, like Musk is very displeased with this bill because he feels like it's undoing a lot of the work that he did to cut spending and you know.
Tax cuts beautiful bullshit.
That's not going to bring in more money. So I think like it just it reached a fever pitch plus ego, the girls were fighting, but now they've calmed down.
But the girls, hey, ba fam, we got to take a quick break, pay some bills and we'll be right back. All right, ba fam, we're back. Well, they've calmed down. And the next thing that has been in the news were the ice raids. And do y'all know anybody on the West coast I was following. I don't think anyone I know personally has been out there protesting, But I don't understand why it escalated to the point where we are sending out Marines National Guard for a peaceful protest.
It's quite I don't terrifying.
I don't understand that either. And so what you said earlier of it, you know, this all plays into it. I'm like, hmm, that's a possibility. But I just don't understand of all of the the things to send resources for this is this is not it like this is just not it so and of all places too, like LA, I just don't understand that aspect at all.
It's such a dramatic response. Students will protest just has me feeling, you know, the dictatorship vibe when they cracked on on any little, any little noise, any little peep,
I'm cracking down on you. So you see what's gonna happen if you ever try to do anything big, Like I really and that's I mean, and it's it's common across the maror especially considering who is protesting, right, I would like to actually I wish I'd been able to research this, but specifically like the neighborhoods in not the neighborhood specifically, like like the people who are protesting, Like
what is the racial demographic of people showing up. I'd be very curious to know that, because I'm wondering if that, by any any means had to do with the dramatic response, because I'm just thinking LA protests. When black and brown people are protesting, or when people are protesting for black and brown people, the response is always extremely dramatic.
I'm looking at some of the all the neighborhoods that it started out in this neighborhood. Well there was like a clothing wholesaler. I don't where was that neighborhood. I need to look that up. But there was a clo Oh wholesaler where first the ice ray was going to happen.
But then the next day the word got around that there was going to be a raid in this town called Paramount, at a home depot, and then I think what you are seeing is a lot of I think, well, it's affecting Latinos and we're talking about La We're talking like this is like heavily, heavily populated by the very people who are being targeted. So the people who were working at these places were calling family friends, and then work gets out. So you see a lot of Mexican
flags waving. You see some really choice signs, a lot of signs in Spanish. There's one sign that says National Guard. Lol. There's a lot of ice out of La deport maga, not the people. But it's peaceful protesting. I mean it
it harkens back. I feel like too. I'm thinking about the summer of twenty twenty in the Black Lives Matter protests and the fear that you had about the protesters themselves put in themselves in harm's way, And I do feel like what you were saying rings true of when it is a black and brown issue at the heart of it, it's like we're gonna we need to get our get the guns out, you know, bring them in,
because these people are savages. We must control them. That's another like that's an echo of the BLM movement and protests that I feel like we're hearing today.
I think it really is like the reason the National Guard was called. All of it. It's about a show of power.
Like I think part of it is like, Okay, maybe this will escalate the situation and we will, you know, get video of the way mos on fire and this police force, and it's just it's it's really too ratchet up to show like, hey, look, la, it's like occupied, it's military. I do think that is part of the point. And Trump is also he's just a big fan of military strength. Like in DC there's gonna be a military parade on Saturday, which is a.
Which is why you said always wanted. He gets a hard on for that kind of stuff.
It's like the traffic situation is I'm just like, oh my gosh, how am I gonna?
Oh?
Is this the first year?
Like does this happen every year?
No, it's like a two hundred and fiftieth anniversary situation. But yeah, it's like I know people who have seen like streets starting to get shut down. All he just he really enjoys like that military show. And I think this is part of it. And I think it's also a thing of like, Okay, we can make an example out of LAC.
I told you i'd be law and order. I told you I'd crack down, like I'm doing it.
Like it's just I think part of the point is to sort of escalate the situation.
Yeah, the irony of it happening the very weekend after Pride, like the very next weekend, because we had Pride. Yeah, does this past weekend you know, Doci was there, Cynthia Ribo was there, Khalid was there, like it was a whole big thing. And then so it's the very next weekend to have a military parade where people we're seeing back during this past weekend like outside their windows in Virginia. I believe it was on the train tracks, like all of the what are those major like canon thing.
Like the tanks and son.
Yeah, yes, like the tanks were all on the trains heading in for the parade. This at the same time that we were celebrating Pride and and you know, self expression and and these it's just not lost on maybe irony.
I forgot all about pride. Oh, Cynthia Revo, you know what also got lost in the sauce. The Tony's Cynthia helped it speaking of gay icons and icons in general and vessels from above. Oh my days are all Tony's people? Were you watching? I totally missed it because it was I was in London.
I was watching the clips.
I'm not gonna lie, it's I know it's like corny and embarrassing now, but I was like, dang that Hamilton used to hit hard.
In Filmy sixteen.
It's I forgot about. I forgot how used to hit that hard? I have to run that back look key.
I don't know if it is.
I was like, because I remember that those that soundtrack was like on for me all the time, like I'm running up, I'm hailed it, but I'm doing something like it. So I feel like it just was so nostalgic, and I really love that they they did all that, and I love the presence of the cast like Fors for the most part of it.
Those were the clicks I loved watching back too.
Yeah, I mean original Broadway cast no flex but a flex. I did see them, but it was I My brother's like five years younger, and he saw he was not in the Hamilton. He was like pointedly like, I didn't like it. Why are black and brown bodies being used to tell these white slaver stories? But I for the art it was. I'm so glad they celebrated it. You can't take it from us. I really don't think you can.
Like it was a cultural movement, and so it launched the careers of so many people of color, like and it was so powerful. I'm glad that they I wasn't sure. I thought they were gonna come out like in costume. I liked that they wore the sleek, the black, and just the talent and the electricity of Leslie Odom Junior. Oh my days. Aaron Burr forever? Isn't he coming back to be Aaron Burr?
Oh? Is he?
I think I've read that he's coming back in another millennial nostalgia. Draco Malfoy himself, Tom Felton is coming back to play Draco in the Broadway show The Curse Child, which is weird and strange because how could it have been? How can he be old enough, but yeah, it was. It was a moment Audrey McDonald did not win. I was really wanting Audrey McDonald to win her like umpteenth Tony, but she lost to Nicole Scherzinger, which was a thing.
But yeah, that's interesting.
Maybe not so surprising that Patti Lapone did not show her face.
Man that I was.
I was having a conversation with friends about this, and I think I also like was listening to another podcast and they mentioned this.
But it's like, listen, I love a diva. I love a shady queen.
But part of successfully being a diva is that you can't sound like a hater. Like it's funny when Mariah says like I don't know her about j Lo, because j Lo she's very talented, very gifted dancer.
But there are some things.
Where you're like, oh okay, especially compared to Mariah vocally, you sound like it's so easy to sound delusional trying to take down outro McDonald because she's just so talented, Like it's just a thing of like you cannot shade her in that way because you.
Sound like a liar.
Because we all have eyes and ears and we could see how talented she is, Evie.
Did y'all cover that up, blavity?
We covered the award nominees, not the tea behind it?
No, but didn't get all that versus well, what did y'all think of Odra? On CBS when Gail asked her, and Gail always makes a note to say we had this already schedule, We're not just here for the tea, but she asked for Adra, and I did want to
that's right. I wanted to talk about this because Patty Lapone and for those of you who lived under rock, Patty Lapone had this article come out where she's just like railing Audra McDonald and Keisha Lewis, who are just Broadway icons in their own right, calling them bitches and don't call yourself a veteran and they're not a friend to me, and this nonsense. And Audre was asked like,
well do you respond? And she was so mature and so poised and gave the whole like, you know, I haven't talked to Patty in ten to eleven years, but you know that's Patty, so let's let's move it on along, and did not take the bait at all, which which I think we like, appreciate that, but it's not the first time where we have had we as black women, have had to take that high road and not fight fight with fire. And the fact that more recently we got to talk about Coco golf because French Open winner.
Don't ask me nothing about tennis, but I love black women who win. I caldn't tell you a thing, but I can tell you what a winner is, and that's Cocoa Golf. But she won the French Open. She's like, what eighteen nineteen.
Yeah, she's a.
Baby, and she beat a white girl.
Maybe not white. I don't know where she's from, but she looked white. Beat a white girl. White girl comes out in the press and says, you know, she only won because I was bad that day or I wasn't playing well. And then Coco was interviewed by Robin Roberts and she's like, also like gonna give grace to the woman who spoke out and saying like, oh, I'm sure it was the moment. She was also very poised and
mature and like, you know, careful about her response. And I wanted to get y'all's take on that trend or not the trend, but like the frequency with which it feels like we are having to rise above and take that Michelle Obama high road when people come for our talent.
I mean, also, Coco is twenty one.
I oh, she's twenty one. Okay, my bad, Coco, get you a drink?
Yeah, gets you a drink, but I don't. It's my pov not.
It's just it's unfortunate, like we always have to do it right all the time. I mean, coming from it's starting. I mean, this didn't start, but Michelle Obama, who was the first lady who you know, was in the statue that she was, was having to do that and within her platform. And it's not a surprise that Coco has to do that, especially, you know with all of her accolades.
I mean, Serena if we're talking about, and the same thing Arna Williams has to do that constantly, right, So it's just it's unfortunate.
It's just unfortunate that.
That has not progressed as much as it should have over time.
Absolutely, and honestly, just like the exhaustion and the weightiness of having to be the voice of morality, to be the voice of maturity, like even thinking of DOCI maybe I'm just we're just finished speaking about it. But Doughchi bringing it up about Trump and what was going on in LA with the protest.
Oh no, sure that because I hardly had a chance to listen. What'd she say?
Okay? So she was just very much like she was accepting her reward as best female hip hop artists, you know, being and should and she's I just want to take a period swap princess love her. But she was like, I want to take a moment to acknowledge what's happening outside this building quote outside this building, which I love that really bringing that kind of proximity, bringing it like
that kind of reality to what's going on here. It's not just oh, a couple of states over, a couple of towns over, it's outside this and no one is speaking about it. I mean, Snoop Dogg went up on stage, didn't say anything about it. Mind you. This man's the one who you know, was he singing for Trump or yeah?
Anybody call him out for that either. I was waiting for Kevin to get him in the monologue.
I killed him out his pro semity to Martha Stewart's what keeps, it's what keeps him safe. But that's that's another conversation.
Interesting.
But I really it's not lost on me that so often black women have to carry the weight of that of being the one that goes high when everyone else goes low. Of even looking at Simone Biles and my gosh, just had like a Twitter feud with what was her name? She is a Is she a swimmer or track star? One of those two? Give me one moment. I'm trying to remember exactly what her name was, but she just
had a Twitter situation, is it is it rise? Thank you? Yes, Riley Gaines, where Riley was essentially making some transphobic remarks and and Simone pushed back on that, and she's and now she is the one who's being like spoken against and talked down upon because she dared to speak up about it, whereas usually, you know, she might have you know, she would have been expected to stay quiet. Hey, this is a your sport, Hey, like mind true business, Hey,
all this kind of stuff. But it's like, no, I'm going to speak for the people who are being spoken against in this way, where that Riley Gaines was, I just yeah, it's really bothered since me, and it really
weighs on me, especially women in sports. That that especially bothers me because you're already it's such a mental situation of having to prepare yourself to play your sport, right, you have to physically be prepared, but that mental preparation as well, and then knowing that very few are not very few, that's not very true, but so many are ready to just jump against you, watching every move, being very careful about you know, oh she said this, was
that a micro question against so and so? Is she being a passive aggressive against so and so ready to piece you apart? I mean, what on earth?
Can I flip it for a sec? Because you know, my reaction was the woman who talked about who said whatever Coco Gout's opponent who came out with that, who was like they had these terrible post game interviews. I who on their worst day wants to be put in front of cameras and microphones and told to speak nice?
Like I almost my heart. I felt myself wanting to defend the woman who was mouthing off about Coco a little bit because I'm like, we also don't get to be angry, and I know that she's or I don't know, but I think she's not a woman of color, But like I think women in general, like, why can't we
have a strong emotional reaction. We just saw these two baby baby billionaires on you know, Twitter, like bickering and squabbling and like that somehow is fine, but like women like we don't really get to be angry and show that kind of emotion. And I, strangely enough, I appreciated Coco for not not because I thought it was something that she owed anyone to like not be angry at those were more, but because she gave the woman grace
to have an emotional reaction. And I know Coco herself, we've all said stuff like that about someone that we are going up against, like like if I ever see Kira my my mathematical like Frenemie my my nemesis from twelfth grade ap calc, Like if I ever see what's on site, because I should have gotten the highest grade
in the class like that kind of like competition. I mean I think that and you see it in sports too, with like Caitlin Clark, Angel Reese, and I just feel like, can we just have strong emotions and be in like fight and have that because let's not play that it doesn't take that kind of grit and self like confidence and you know, and determination and badassery to get to
where they are and so wow, she got upset. She said something that was a little unfair and like yeah, and keep it moving, like we're humans in that way, but we don't get to be Yeah.
I think that's my biggest beef with the way people talk about the WNBA. I'm so glad it's getting so much more attention. Those women are playing some ball, but I feel like people don't let them play ball, Like why is a flagrant foul taking up a week of real estate and people's brains? Draymond Green be stomping on people's chests and people don't say boo, we're just like lol haha, which like say me too, like wow, what a wild boy, Like we're not like women aren't allowed
to do that. I think so much of athleticism and sports in particular is about like talking that meant like talking your mess, like being aggressive, like you're going to have conflict and you're going to have to work that conflict out. And I really think people struggle with women doing that, and that's why the conversations around women's sports get so weird so quickly.
I mean I think that, I mean even within the finals right now. Halliburton is known for outlandish reactions to you know, like his his his wins or whatever, and a lot of that time, like people just sweep that under, you know what I mean, and women don't really have that ability. I think Coco responded to it beautifully. I
think she absolutely responded to it beautifully. The only thing that I feel like is a little bit different from the Angel Reese and Caitlyn Clark versus Coco and this I think she was a French player, is that she she a little bit kind of like came after Coco's game of being like she didn't do that great or like she didn't even play that hard, like she only won because of.
Like I had a bad day.
And it's like you can be competitive without you know, being a little bit shady and also undermining somebody's talent, right somebody's work, like you could just.
Say like was it was a bad day?
Got it?
Or you know, feel emotional or anger upset about that, but just kind of undermining somebody else's performance who does win.
I think it's a little bit I.
Agree, I agree, and I think I think, honestly, the high road out there would have been for Steff like a specifically she's I think she's Lucian actually, but she Yeah, I'm going.
Where this girl's from.
None of us knows it's it's Belarus, okay. Focusing on the fact that they were that they were having their match in an open air on an open air court, which is not how they had practiced. They practiced indoor and the wind was very strong, so I would have focused more on, like, it's different in an environment that
I'm you know, playing in. Also the fact that she had seventy unforced errors, like that's a lot, so she could have focused on on that side of things versus, as you said, Evie, like kind of coming for Coco's game one hundred percent. Just talk about the environment that your in, talk about the other forces that had to do with the game other than just your opponent. There's so many factors that play in here.
And as a sports expert, especially with tennis, I know an error is bad. I want to also give a quick shine to this California, the sixteen year old from California. She was stripped of her title. She had just won the four hundred meters state title in running really fast.
I'm sure, and this is hilarious. She brought a fire extinguisher and after she won, she extinguished her feet like as a celebration, which I thought was hilarious, but she was They called it unsportsmanlike conduct and stripped her of her state title. That would piss me off, Like, but I don't know. The part of me is like is that. I mean it's kind of over the top, but like kind of badass, Like it's hilarious. That generation is funny.
She the top versus like like this is another area where it's like it's theatrical. It's a little over the top. It's that's fine, but it's not. It's not like she's putting any of her opponents down. It's not you know, being delicious or saying anything bad. It's basically like tooting her own horn, which is what you do as an athlete. So I think that was completely uncalled for in my opinion, unless it was a safety thing, right, if it was like indoors and it was like, you know, this is the same.
Outside, I'm like, no press. Her and her dad at the press conference with the fire extinguisher. Next to her. I'm just like, she's sixteen. She went another race, but it's just that visual. Oh but she's crying, you know, she works so hard.
Yeah, it was.
She didn't do it near anyone. Her dad handed her the fire extinguisher to do it. What had me annoyed actually was when the when the regulators or whatever they're called, were holding her by the arm and like walking her away. That's what got me. You didn't have to put your hands on this child. And that's the point at which the dad jumped over the gate and was like, I'm not a coach anymore, I'm a dad, which I point. I was like, yes, so oh did he okay? Right
to touch her to lead her away. She wasn't fighting against them, She just turned because they got her attention, turned to them, put the fire stot her down to speak with them. That's when they grabbed her by the arm at the elbow, at which point I'm like, this did not need to escalate to you touching her at all. That is what got me upset. The rest of them
like she's a kid, she's sixteen years old. You know, her shoes are on fire cause she's running so fat, Like I love that that was awesome, that was so great. She didn't do it in front of the other the other runners. She didn't do it so that they would be inhaling that extinct like whatever the fire extinguisher pushes out.
Why I just watched the clip off her doing it, Like what are we trying to raise girls to be like to? It's just like we're raising these women to be phenoms and to be powerful, including us, and then the moment we acknowledge our greatness, it's like, no, not that way, not that way. That's too much. That's too much. It's a it's a fucking lose, lose. You got to like back yourself. And I hope she doesn't. I hope
she doesn't let this get to her. I hope she continues moving ahead because it's like this is like the this is the collateral damage that can come when you are black and brilliant. Uh, in this in this time that we're in And I just love her dad for setting her up like that. Maybe they should let maybe they should do it every race. I don't know. Plus at safety, like it's nice to have an extra one. What if.
Like you never know?
All right?
Uh?
I wonder you know I wonder if everyone who's like criticizing Cocoa and you know, this young teenager from californ what was her name again, I forget what her name is anyway, and like criticizing you know, Doc at the met When dochi that viral clip of her yelling at her team while she's like in a in a did y'all see that clip like in a wardrobe, like in an umbrella, the coon yelling at and yelling at her stuff. But anyway, like, I wonder if everyone criticizing black women
who are really successful at how we're reacting. I want to see those tweets next to the tweets and the comments they've left about poor a Maries n PR tiny desk concert because where was the grace?
Because isn't me?
But I also didn't think it was that bad.
Okay, oh okay, Alexa, I'm yeah, I just okay, here, this is all I'm the This is no just because listen, I'm very careful about giving criticism to someone who is doing.
Something I could never do. Amen, you're not about to see yet a tiny desk concert. You know, I have no singing voice. I am more of a dancer than anything else. So let me just say that. What I will say is, oh boy, find your words. Is that I feel strongly that the if you're going to do a song as high pitched as the ones that she was doing, you have to be willing to adjust the arrangements. On that note, I think her voice has changed over the years very much, which is normal. I mean, look
at Beyonce. Beyonce's voice is completely changed from when she was just starting out to now. It's a completely different voice.
You can't tell me it's the same voice. And because of that, I think that she and the backup dancers and her the backup dancer, excuse me, the backup singers, and herself should have worked together a little bit more because it felt like the backup singers were really carrying a lot of it and that was making it sound very much like they were no longer in alignment where the song was going pitch wise, and she was going
way too fast. I felt like if they had gone lower, a lower tone, like a lower pitch, and the song was slower, it would have been perfect for where she's at now in her career. She was trying to take it back, do like a throwback vibe and it didn't. I was like, oh boy, I'm gonna pause it right here and I continue want I've.
Never cared for the song nor her voice in the song at the time, her voices her voices like I don't love her voice in the original song. I was shocked she tried to go that high. Come now, it's hard to sing that song in the car.
I guess that's why.
I also was I'm like, this is is this like not almost the norm for her? Sometimes?
Yeah, I'm sure when she sang live it wasn't amazing before.
I mean like, that's why I was like, who's it not? Well, we sort of expect, but I mean here, I still don't think all the backlash and like the lack of grace was warranted. I could see how people are like, no, it was actually that bad. But the grace that they didn't give the.
Woman, I they didn't need to type all those comments out. You got work to do work.
There are okay, there are artists where I'm like, I'm not like, we're you're not there for the vocal strength. Like I don't know if someone's like ooh, Jasmine Sullivan, I'm like, oh, we're gonna get sang down. Same with Fantasia. It's like, remove the wig, throw it at her. Amory is not someone I think, but it's like they're are bops. It's a jam. It's a vibe. Also shout out to Backyard Band. I'm like, yes, can't wait to beat my feet to this, et cetera. But I think I don't know,
And like I really like Amor. I thought you did a great job at the BET Awards with that one. I six a park thing.
It was just, oh, that was fun.
I think I don't know. It's just like, let's manage our expectations. That being said. And I may regret this because it comes for us all, but it's a thing of like gotta get these jokes off. You gotta sometimes sometimes you just gotta get the jokes off.
My big two though, is I think that she had to it. I don't think you really told her what the vibe of Tiny Dusk was, do you know, sayd what I mean like, if you a lot of people that come to Tiny Dusk, they alter the like the cover of the the way if they're doing a song to fit the Tiny Dusk format, like the vibe for it, right, Like it's usually so like if you ever saw Alicia Kueses or if you saw durand Duranda, this is his name,
Duran Bernard. Yeah, he was dressed up as the proud family uncle, you know, like when he did his but this sound the way that he was doing it, like he completely If you listen to their original song versus the way it was born on Tiny Dusk, it's so much more. For like, in the house, we really were sitting around on the kitchen counter talk. We're playing this song out. You know, it's a really at home vibe.
I think she took on very much. We're on stage, but it's just a small stage, and it's like, no, this is not that vibe. I think that's really just what it was. I'm not taking away from our talent. I just think it was a matter of the environment we were in. Performing in this way.
Looks hella awkward to perform there. If you're like someone who has anxiety about clutter, that shit is clutter. It shows nothing but nick Knacks. It looks like my aunt Brenda's living room. They're like, it is just like nick Knacks and Chochke's all over the wall. And then it's like perform be an artist.
Yeah, is it a like desk?
Like Okay, I used to wear and I have been to several I can give the give the background.
So it is a desk.
But even though it's called a tiny desk, it's a desk that's much bigger than all the other desks that everyone has. It's like a couple desks put together. Is Bob Boylan still at the time it was Bob Boylen's desk?
Did he he might have announced retirement? Oh gosh, I hope someone important.
Yeah, he's like in pr like music correspond So it was like his desk, but I don't I never saw him actually, Like at the desk, it's mostly the performance space, but like when it's time for the tiny desk, like everyone is like crowding around.
Some people get there early.
I was.
I went to the Gucci Man Tiny Desk when I worked there time of my life, and like I could always tell when the like they send an email out where they're like here's what's coming, but I could always It's funny seeing the different crowds, like with the Gucci Man Tiny Desk, Like it felt like every black person in that building was like ooh, let me like get my friends were going and then one time it was, oh my gosh, it was I am forgetting this. It
was like it was some white man singer songwriter. And I saw like.
Several of my colleagues like running over and they're like, oh.
My gosh, it's happening. And I was like, I don't know who this is. The Blue Man Group has been there, saw them. It's just so it's like a little bit of everything, A little bit of everything, it really is.
She said, why tell Why?
Well, that sounds tell of fun. I wish I have perks like that. Hey, ba fam, we gonna take a quick break, pay some bill and we'll be right back. All right, ba fam, We're back. All right, y'all. We have to talk about the economy a little bit, mart maw. It's called brown ambition. Okay, Now, Miss JQ and your latest episode of Boxes Explaining to Me podcasts, y'all talked about recession indicators, and I'm a little confused. I want to I want to hear your take. First of all,
is it not clear that a recession is here? I don't like we are struggling. This is like a bunch of different ways that we are just struggling. In these streets.
I think that's like where the disconnect lies, because it's the one thing where it's like, no, y'all, I went to like I went to Trader Joe's, and you know, I'm like, all right, I'm gonna get like three days worth of stuff before I go on vacation, and it's like one hundred dollars. Like there is that situation. But when it comes to economists, they're like, no, there are official boxes to be checked in order to say we
have a recession. So in order it for it to be like an official recession where they're talking about it on the news, et cetera, the economy has to contract for like two quarters straight. We're in one quarter of contraction. If in this next quarter, then like it's official.
We're end in July, right, did not know September? No GM, what now one.
Q two ends in July, thank you Engen.
Yeah, so that's gonna be. That's gonna be the tail. That being said, the vibes are bad. It's hard if people are out here struggling, like, and I think that's where the disconnect is. And I think both politicians and media like we have to be like okay, yeah, like yeah, technically no, technically the economy is good, but like one, who is it good for? The people at the top are the ones who are eating the ones are the
bottom not getting fed as much. And also like realizing like no, like technically the economy may be healthy, but on a personal finance situation, things are not healthy. And I wish that like we all took that more seriously and that that's kind of like the thing we looked at to judge the health of like what agree.
And also I think like as a as like media brands and we're all within media, we have a service, like it doesn't even at this point, it doesn't even.
Matter like if it is or if it's not or blah.
Blah blah, Like we have a you know, service to our community, especially like what blavity we service like black millennials gen zs. So our audience is like this is how you prepare, Like this is what you need to do right more on the personal level versus just like waiting for these boxes to be checked because I care see you, the box will be checked after we've already been in it.
So like at this point, you.
Just it is what it is, right, we have to have more discussion on like the personal level and like how people are impacted versus has a box been checked yet?
Okay, now let me figure it out.
What were some of the recession indicators that y'all covered JQ. They some of them were kind of funky.
Yeah, so there's the underwear one where Alan Greenspan was like, honestly, men buy less underwear. That may be it because it's one of those things that people see the least of.
So like, my husband just bought new boxers though.
Okay, so maybe y'all are doing.
I told him the plumber's crack had to go. I said, forget the recession. The plumber crack got to get whole neighborhood be seeing your crack. It's not okay while you're watching the car.
Is too much.
It's don't very Evie, take notes. This is how you talk about your husband just eight years down the line. Okay, we're buying less undies.
What else? Yeah.
One person called in. He was like, I work out a bar. People are buying more drinks and cash.
Is that a thing?
And you know it could be it could be people being like I don't want credit card fees, or you know, maybe some people just have a little more cash now, Like that's one the one we really get gen Z thing.
You will.
Yeah, But there's also atm in a minute.
There's also like a there's a whole thing gen Z interacts at bars differently than like older generations do. Like there was this whole like piece in the New York Times about how like gen Z doesn't keep tabs open. They close out the tab each time and then keep going back to the bar each time.
Oh.
Interesting, in my.
Younger days, that would have saved me a lot of debit cards.
You just leave it behind.
I'm like, yeah, I went to London without a wallet, not a single credit card, not a license in my possession. I want my passport and nothing else. And all my friends were like, what are you gonna do?
Nothing?
Everywhere you went it was like top.
Here, tab here exactly.
I think it's ghetto that we still have to use a physical passport, like come on now, and I don't even take it out at the airport. It's like come use, I have Global entry and it's just like come stand in front of the screen. We're gonna take your picture, and like, come on, is it is the paper company? Is it in bed with like the government, Like, what's happening because we gotta getrid of these passports? Okay, sorry JQ. What else?
Oh, press on nails could be people are getting you know, fewer manicures they're doing at home stuff, So increase and press on nail. Yeah, increase and press on nails. Returning to your natural hair color. People may not want to go to the salon. Someone was like statement necklaces that one less, so like sorry, like, it's just well.
It's not conn So no, I thought we were done with those.
No, and a peplum. Oh if peplum comes back, I may be like, where are we going from?
It's time to go to the clere. But peplum comes back with a statement. Next we'kin a pizto platform.
Back to the like office wear at the club. We really went from day to night like constantly.
I truly did like.
And didn't change me out.
No, it would be me a blazer and owl necklace and like my laptop in the club, living my best life. Apparently people are tipping less at the strip club, which to me is just bad.
If you can't, If you can't, it's got to be a strip club. Study listen, they're the first to see.
Also, like in a decrease in eating out delivery, that's been me.
Yeah, that's me trying to cook at home.
Unfortunately it does actually save you money, guys, oh very much.
So.
Also I got I just signed up for a food delivery, which had I had become like, I feel like food delivery has got to be so overdone. There's a million of them. But one of my friends was raving about how she uses this new subscription meal service where it's like chef delivered meals. I just signed up and it was a hundred bucks for six meals for the So that's a meal every night during the week. And apps that would be two door dash orders with all them fees and stuff from you and my husband.
Oh that's like, yeah, have.
Y'all done anything in your life to save money recently, like just to whether it's like using less credit, you know.
Yeah, I used to.
I used to get my hair done a lot more and now I do it a lot more myself, or just you know, book appointments with my sister to do my braiding or things like they look.
Very cute, these like little side birds, you.
Know, and I could I could definitely see like a decrease in the beauty you know up keep department and just di y that's my thingmm.
Hmm, yeah, there's Yeah, there's maintenance where I'd be like ooh every two weeks and now I'm more like, all right, once a month that will be the thing. Also, I'm like, all right, we gotta rain these ride shares in so it's like planning ahead, gotta get on that train, gotta get on that bus, like plan ahead, Like I think that's the biggest thing where I'm like, all right, we do not have to uber everywhere, Like, get get your
butt on that bus. You live in a city with good public transportation, take advantage of it.
It's honestly, I'm going back to my college days. I feel like I have a water bottle with me. Everywhere I go, I'll have to buy water of the kind of stuff I like.
Someone that's pretty, isn't it pretty Pride?
It's a rainbow bottle. Anyway, I get my nails done by in a way of like I'll go and be like get me, do what you do for the men for me, Just clean up the cuticle, maybe it look nice. And then I go to CBS or wherever. Actually I get it on Amazon sometimes or through Etsy. I'll just get some paistons and do it like that. I had found a really great adhiece of glue, so I've been loving that. Learning to do my hair also Evey one hundred percent. I got a trip next week and I'm
literally like, how am I gonna do my hair? I don't want to spend three hundred dollars on these French curl layered braids.
See I wonder I want to we who's doing this study on African braiding salons this summer, because if the girls are not getting their hair braided down, that to me.
Oh if like if braids go I'm like, oh we are in to me, we are because braidss like okay, it.
Was boho braids last summer, but it lasts a little longer.
Like it's hot, I don't have to but if braiding goes by the wayside, it's like, oh honey, we might be in trouble.
Something is happening.
Let me let me see the uptick and head scarves be sold.
That's what I It's too hot for all that. Yeah, it's not even a money thing for me. I can't sit down for seven hours while someone but I just can't ask too much is too much for me. I'm
never going to be a braid girly. But you know what I also feel like during the last recession, like well this was during my January, like our early recession two thousand and eight, seven, eight, nine ten, one of the one of the things that upticked were like basic manicures because because that was like people's treat so women were like buying a lipstick, buying a little man. Getting a little manicure as like a small creature comfort when
everything else felt like out of reach. I hope that we can find these like moments of self care and joy. Why has it always got to be the nails and the hair that takes it? Like, why can't we get rid of something else? Like I don't have these kids. Kids are very expensive. It would be much more, it be much more beneficial to my budget if I didn't have to pay twenty five one hundred dollars a month for daycare. That would be nice. Can we get some
universal childcare? Like there's all this pressure on us to like budget and stuff, but at a certain point in this economy, it just feels like there's nothing left else to cut. I don't cut everything to some of the streamers, you know, you try to like cut your eating out, cut your rise shares and things like that. But when the cost of housing is so crazy, I just got my I just got my house, my new tax assessment.
Do y'all own homes men street, it's trash?
Well, oh not, Evie JQ. You know this because okay, one, you're show to talk about housing. But as a homeowner, every year my town decides what my house is valued, and a free assesses it so they can get more taxes out of us. Tell me why I have not done a single thing to this house. If anything, the house has become worse since last year. Things are falling apart, and it's like your home value has increased sixty two
thousand dollars. Congrats, we're going to be taken twenty And I already paid twenty thousand dollars a year in property taxes. And it's the same for renters like across the street. And I know why across the street, my neighbor she rents her house. They were like pandemic Brooklyn refugees, and
their landlord probably got the same letter I did. Where her house, her home value increased, and probably her taxes increase because their rent is going up five hundred dollars and they're like, we don't want to pay that, but and I don't want to pay my increased property taxes is wild. So it's a bit like that. Yeah, I guess, yeah,
I'm just it's really frustrating. It can be really frustrating, especially I mean, Alexa, we're covering personal finance and JQ to a certain extent, but like when the advice for consumers on how they can make ends meet is like
they've trimmed everything. It's like, we need something. We need more houses built, like we need more economic relief social safety nets, which unfortunately, going back to the big, bad, bogus bullshit bill that's going through Congress right now, could be reducing those social safety nets at a time when we're all out here struggling so much.
It makes no sense. It's quite sad.
It's so remarkably offensive to me because it's such a lack of under of wanting to understand that it's not that people are lazy. Okay, we're really doing everything we can to make ends meat, to get to the end of the year to get, you know, just to be on the table, and you're here telling me, oh, you know, if you work a little harder, you know, just just
go to school. Oh just take on all the Yeah, like they make it sound so they're they're not considering everything that's already being done, and how things that are the worst parts are the systemic issues, the systemic elements of this. So they're propagating, that's the most It's it's the offensiveness of it for me that, Yeah, that hurts so much.
Meanwhile, AI is going to come for all of our jobs, all heard. It is a little bit personal to me because Business Insider is how I got my start in personal finance reporting over a decade ago. But they just announced twenty one percent layoffs of their staff, which is a lot of dozens of workers. But what really has pissed everybody off and was surprising to me is how they owned They owned up to the fact that it was AI that was driving them to make these cuts.
They specifically cut their e commerce team, which is like, which is pretty much like what I was doing when I was in marketing. I was doing content marketing. You'd create content that was tied to products, that you would get affiliate revenue from, like the same stuff Wirecutter does and nerd wallet stuff like that. So they're cutting that because they have realized that, oh, we can train an AI model to create this kind of content, so let's
get rid of the humans. And it's so it's just it really hit me because I'm like, oh, that would be my story probably if I had stayed, you know, in in that kind of media space that I was in. And it's a real scary sign of what can be what's to come. And I know we're all in media in some way, shape or form. How do y'all feel about it?
Yeah, it's it's honestly, it's frightening.
You know, I'm not the biggest like AI user, but I do know people who do use it, and there are some tools where I'm like, okay, that makes sense. Like, you know, if you're doing a big investigative piece and you're trying to comb through a data set, it is probably very helpful to be like, all right, this can pull out these metrics that I'm looking for, save me a little bit of time before I look over them.
But when it comes to writing, when it comes to like a podcast, like there's a certain amount of even if it's just a straight news story, there is like soul in that human element, and I think we shouldn't discount that.
And if it goes by the wayside at.
A lot of organizations, I think people do not realize how much they are going to miss it.
Agreed, Agreed. There have to be ethical limits, especially within certain disciplines like journalism. I just don't believe that AI can take on the kind of as you were saying, JQ,
the human element of these kind of pieces. Now I work in media, yes, but I work on the operation side, right so I'm building dashboards, I'm building I had to build a couple opps to make stuff happen for work, and I need a honestly without a not that I need it, but it, when I tell you, it makes a task that would have taken the full month or two months, and this turned it into two weeks. And like where I can tweak it and make it right for our business, where my human element then goes in
and arranges it perfect. That's great for the operation side of things, for the part that deals with numbers, for the part that deals with you know, that kind of chug and plug of I just need to build this with a tool, the structure versus the meat of it,
which is what should be supplied by the humans. If we have the skeletal structure by an AI situation, I don't see I personally don't see as much of an issue with it, But I do see the issue when it comes into the play of you know, journalism, writing the meat of what makes it what it like different from something else, because what's to say, you know, Business Insider versus the Financial Times versus whoever else? Oh yeah,
probably using AI to create all these articles. Like I just I know you can to a certain element, curate it so that it is aligned with the voice of your brand. But I have to believe that there are limits to that that only a human can surpass. I'm very fascinated by all of this, but I said, I very much believe there should be ethical meditations.
I I'm a proponent of it from like a.
Utilizing this tool right like because because let's media has been through these stages like every so often we go through these like you know, huge shifts in media, right and like how we bring information to to our audience. So this is just another one of them. I do think it's a it's a tool for us to learn and utilize, but it is not a tool necessarily. Well, I haven't seen this yet where it can replace a
human voice. Right, even if you you know, you get something, it's like there's a lot of it is false, completely.
False, and it's like made up.
Right.
So, like you said, Alexa, it creates a It's great at creating a template or some kind of like structure, but as far as like creating just like creating in general, like an end to end, it's not there yet. But I'm enjoying using this tool for quick assessments, creating specific like formats, a lot of like data analysis too. That's really helpful. So I'm enjoying that aspect of it. But from we have a lot a long ways to go in terms of like ethical like rules and guardrails when it comes to these.
I think the challenge also comes by way of human abuse of AI, like as in as in substituting AI for human discernments, I mean human discernment like stuff stuting human discernment for AI, excuse me, and not like I was reading this article recently at this this author he was sharing with one of his colleagues about how much he loved having chat GBT get him editing feedback on his work because he was like creating a new manuscript and he just wanted some quick verses having to hire
an editor and do the whole thing. He's like, let me try and see if I can, you know, let me just see what he kept up to PT does And he loved what it turned out for him, and so he show his friend and his friend was reviewing what it was saying to him, and really it was just all a bunch of feedback that was playing up his ego and very much like, oh, yeah, we see what you did here. But if you just make this minor correcting, and she's like, this entire page needs to go.
This entire painic needs to be completely re edited and rewriting and redone and whatnot. And I think that's something to be said about, like are you able to tell when when your ego's being stroked, you know, and being able to say, hey, no, actually I want you to come at me on this like I want you to. But AI has been created in a way of like, no, you are the support to the humans. You make the humans feel and hear exactly what they want to feel
in here. Just do it in a way that is constructive and that is supportive, passionate, as compassionate as you know a tech tool can be. And I mean you're seeing people use chat gipt for for therapy, all right, Like these are the kind of limitations I'm talking about.
Yeah, my cousin told me she was using chat to learn how to break.
Up with the guy. Uh. Girl, go to the group chat, Go to the group chat, go to the.
That's the thing, gen Z. She's I'm like, ask your friends. She's like, I don't know. They don't really get it. I'm like, okay, Like to.
Be human is to be in conflict, and you can't really I think we do ourselves a disservice when we smooth off those edges. Like a running joke that I have told every person who edits me and this has even been since, Like I even felt this way as a kid because my parents would edit my essays for like school in high school, and part of having an editor like you're just gonna feel a sense of defensiveness.
Like there's always like they'll strike something out or add something, and so you get this feeling of like so you think I'm dumb.
You think I'm dumb, and you hate me. You hate me and you.
Think I'm dumb, and you never like act on it. As time go by, you start to feel it a little less, but there always is that thing of like, you think I'm stupid and you hate me, and that's why you took that sentence out, isn't it. And it's like no, no, they're they're doing the right thing, and it's just you have to learn.
That's my love language. I'm a masochist.
I'm like, if you don't give me critical feedback like and I mean critical, like this sucks? Why this?
Then?
Are you even do you even like me enough to give me criticism?
Like?
That's my relationship to being edited. Although I will say, Alexa, some of us do need our ego stroke. When we were in writer's block and I did. I'm working on my book and there was a point when I uploaded like three chapters into chat GPT or perplexity. I forget which one, and I was like, tell me how you like these chapters? And I really needed them to like them and loved it. It was so common I think I even posted about it. I was like Wow, I really need this pick me up. But is it real?
Hell no, but it's nice.
Yeah, it's hard. It's hard. The thing with us too. And uploading your work. Another thing I've been actually reading about is how you have to and it's just a note to human because I don't want not to happen in with your work at all. But like in a negative sense of unchat REPT, there's a toggle that's often
like just automate automatically on. You have to turn it off, but it's like, would you like to help other chat gpt upload like the content that you put in and like it can use whatever you upload to like be like kind of take it as its own and take ownership of that. So I would just be very careful of like uploading full chafters or any anything like that. But when I just want to say that also very random, well not random, it's very connected to this, but slightly adjacent.
Have you ell ever heard of solar punk?
No?
No, okay, So, like solar punk dies into like AI in tech and like the so so many people are when they are talking about AI or they're talking about tech about there's taking over. It's gonna take over absolutely everything it's gonna take over humans. Humans are gonna be a thing anymore, blood or whatever whatever. Solar Punk takes it as AI and humans living together in harmony and finding different limitations for AI so it doesn't infringe upon
human life and instead supports it. So think of like agriculture, right, think of like solar panels, even like types of tech in that regard supporting human goals. So that's where I'm most interested. The reason I bring that up this because when I'm thinking about ethical limitations or I'm thinking about where AI is going, that is what I'm most interested in learning about. How might we support our incoming students.
I mean, Morgan Debond just posted about this on our Instagram story about all of the new kids who are applying to work at Blavity, Like none of them are like prepared. They don't have anything in their skill set that is like, yes, of course they're entry levels to
help prepared to expect them to be. But compared to where we are right now in the world and what companies need, like you have to have a basic level understanding of how AI is operating so that you can be an actual addition to this company versus you know, just another another body. So I'm curious to know, like how can we support kids learning better prompts? Learning, how
to apply discernment with certain prompts? Learning, how to you know which type of AI is better for a particular tool, Like that is where I'm most interested in learning, Like how might there be a symbiotic relationship here because you cannot say AI is just stalk, We shouldn't have any It's here and it's here to stay, Like that's I cannot I talk about my parents this with my parents all the time. They are boomers. They're like, no, no,
I refuse. I'm like, you're going to be lost in the sauce, mommy if you don't get into this now, Like you have to learn some of this now so
that you're not left behind. And I think that there's this is the time where we're able to apply that understanding of here's how we can have more a more positive relationship with it than one that is antagonistic in the way that for example, what we're talking about here of the business insider layoffs, Like I just there's another answer here, and it just takes a lot of creativity of thought and how to tackle this complex.
Issue Amen's sister friend. I will just note that my brother's on the board of the Responsible AI Institute, So if you're interested in learning more about responsible AI and ethics of AI, there are very smart people working on this, so I would check that out. All right, y'all, we're gonna take a break. EV's got to go, but Alexa
and JQ are going to stick around. We're going to do brown Boost, Brown Break, and we're gonna take a very juicy question from ba Fam from a renter who is dealing with a very awkward financial situation with her roommate. Stick around, BA Fam will be right back. Okay, ba Fam, we are back. This is the part of the show, one of my favorite parts where we do our brown boost or brown break. Now, just to remind y'all of
the rules, they're not that serious. But this is a time when we are either going to shine a light do a boost for something that we love. It can be you know, a personal win, a professional win. It can be your new favorite, you know, efficiency tool that you're using. It can be an app, it can be something in pop culture that you're really excited about. It's yours to shine a light on. But also we are here to acknowledge the multitude of feelings that we have, including the feelings.
Of oh God, not again.
So that's why we developed the brown break. Brown break is something that you are sick of, that you want to vent about, so feel free to get it off your chest. I don't want to put y'all on the spot,
so I'm going to go first. You're well, God, and having just come off this the first group friend trip I've done in like a long time, I forgot how tricky and sticky like splitting expenses can be, and how kind of awkward it is, especially when you're with a group of friends who not everybody is the same level of front with everybody else. And some people are like, Okay, yeah, I'll be happy to pick up the bill for this dinner and we can just you know, we can divvy
up the expenses later. And some people are like, well, I did not eat the pida and hummus and I did not have a mocktail, so I would like thirteen dollars and seventy five cents remove from my I actually, listen, I don't hate that, But when you're traveling with like different people and a certain group of people is used to that more like flexible, like freewheeling, like ooh, someone will pay, we'll cover it later. And some people are
more used to just covering their own. It can get a little sticky, but I will say my friend Baron during this group trip to London, was so great about just like making executive decisions about what the protocol was going to be. And he had us all download this app called split Wise, which I haven't used in so long, but it's such a great app. I remember it, and there's other I think cost splitting apps, but everybody puts in what they charged. Now I like to be a
passenger princess. I am happy for everyone else to pay the bills and then I will just settle up.
At the end.
So it was great, And you know, is it fun to get that bill after a vacation. No, but it's nice to know that, like everyone is gonna be fairly compensated. So in a little boost and free Pomo for split Wise and my friend Baron for just being that guy who wants to get shit done and is type A and likes math, because that is so not me. I just go for the vibes.
M Every friend group needs a baron.
I know you're the baron of your group, Alexa, I sure as hell.
I really the older sister and me I was raised by a Caribbean mother. Yes, I'm gonna give you the executive decision of what's happening. I would also be compassionate.
All right, who wants to go next? What are you gonna do? Alexa? Booster break?
Okay, I'm doing a boost. I'm I've been so happy as a foo. I mean, I'm always I'm I'm a very happy person normally, but I've just been feeling especially joyful from this sublet that came very much as a surprise. Like my friend contacted me maybe two weeks ago and she was like, hey, do you the spot? I need you to cover my spot in New York. Like I'm not gonna be able to take it over yet, could you be my sub letter? Grow? Yes? Yes, yes, So I got myself on the bus, I got straight here.
I'm all settled in, very happy about that. But I think especially what I'm gonna boost up right now is Scott's Cheap Flights, although I believe they go by a different name now I should search that up. But Scott's Cheap Flights. It's a website that tells you all the great like playing deals, like flight deals and whatnot.
I haven't why had not heard of Scott's Cheap Flights before.
It's amazing I have. I have traveled to over twenty countries at this point, and that is how I do it. Like I stay on flights and I stay on a I never play paid full price. I always do it via Scott's Cheap Flights, or I set my Google Flight Google Fight alerts. You know, I figure out when is the best time to go to certain places. But this year, I really, really really had a goal, have a goal of being able to see you know, visit as many like two more continents ideally, And so far we're on
track for that. I you know, We've done Europe, we we did Asia, and now I'm going to Columbia next week, even though it's gonna be raining the whole time, that's fine. And then after that Australia to go see my my dear dear friend.
What about Africa.
These are the things that I I know, listen, listen, I'm saving I'm saving up. That's a trip where I want to be able to stay there for the whole month. Yeah, yeah, jump from you know, Nigeria to Ghana to do thele I want to do it all.
I want to keep telling myself that too, are we overthinking it? Should we just go pick one place to go to and like because I'm like, damn, I'm gonna waiting for this like magical trip and it still hasn't happened for years.
Mine is fully happening next year one hundred. Like I'm locked in. I just need to save I just need to save them because I cannot do Australia, Columbia and Africa in the same and in what the next two quarters. That's just like I'm just starting to adult.
You're like, I'm not trying to have my own economic contraction to two quarters in a row.
I will say it hurt going to London because the dollar is weak, y'all. Like things looked affordable. I was like, ooh, cocktails are only nine pounds, but that's like double if you're using US dollars.
So yeah, the pound is strong.
Yeah it's expensive over there, but yeah, what I'm boosting is Google flight alerts and Scotch cheap flights and really just saying yes to myself. I saw this.
He's really good for international.
Yes, yes it is. I've had like round trip flights of Paris for two hundred.
Oh now it's called going dot.
Com, Going dot com? Think you think you? Thank you? I recommend getting the subscription. It's very cheap, it's phenomenal. It's phenomenal. So I'm not being sponsored by them yet. I just really love their service. I've been using them since over seven years. Right, yes, but yeah, that is what I'm boosting, just saying yes to things. Usually I'd have to plan out the whole trip before I said yes, but this time I just hit pay figure it out. Thank you.
Everyone. What's your Instagram? Because you post about your travels on IG right, I do.
My Instagram is at moments wac like as in moment with Alexa Claire moments wac not moments whack got it. That's what my brother calls it, my little brother. He's like, why would you do that?
I'm sorry, I gave a little sister energy.
I am all right, take you.
I was when I made it.
Okay, I have a boost and it's riding a bicycle. So on an upcoming episode of Explain It to Me, we get a question about bike lanes, you know, why are some cities.
Better about having them than others?
And my producer Miles Brian was like, hey, yeah, let's do this. He's a bike guy, like your complete opposites. He is very very tall. I am quite short, and he like is a full on like bike or he's like, I get the span Dex going on the weekends, Like I got my helmet.
I go, y'all.
I had not gotten on a bike since twenty eighteen. It's true that you never forget, you know. We're like, we're gonna get some tape.
I got on there.
I was wobbly at first, but y'all, you never forget how to ride a bicycle.
And once I was doing it, I was like, oh my gosh, I should do this more.
Yeah.
I downloaded the little like a bike share app, and I just go and I and im like I'm like, you know what I mean.
I'm not like in a ooh.
This is how I'm gonna get to work because part of the reason, you know, hence the bike lanes, Like I'm like, I'm not trying to get hit.
By a car out here. It's it's quite spooky, but.
You know, I'll go on a leisurely ride on the weekend or after work. Now, like I'm gonna, I'm gonna keep this muscle going. I'm gonna, I'm gonna stay with it.
I think DC has the Capitol Bikes, right, yeah, Capitol Bike Share. You just download the app, go up to it, and then you about you.
Just go about it.
It's sounds like an ex bikes.
I have not done the e bikes. Apparently they go like super fast. But oh yeah, really I busted my booty on yeah, that's why. That's why I have not done the e bike. But I'm like, okay, I'm gonna get my sea legs. Maybe maybe one day y'all will find me down, you know, on the National Mall going on a leisurely ride with my friends.
You're gonna have to bring that back. Touching grass, you know, yeah, you touch a grass.
Oh frolic this summer. Yes, something brings me so much joy about seeing a black woman on a bike. Every time I see it, I'm like, yes, i feel like I'm getting my care. I just love it.
I feel like I'm getting my care in Bailey ray On. So I'm like, so, if y'all want to hear me, struggle and then not struggle on a bike. Listen to this week's episode of Explain It to Me, because it's it's quite a ride.
I used to have a bike blog back in the when I first moved to New York and I bi I blogged about biking in New York and I was such a dork about it. But it is instant and dorphin, so I'm very excited to listen to that.
Yeah.
All right, y'all. Well that's it for the Brown Table. Thank y'all both so much for joining me, and thank you also to Eve Saint Louis. I keep wanting to say Eve Saint Laurent, but that's not at all her name, Eve Saint Louis from Blavity for joining us. We have Alexa Claire go check her out at the Financial Diet. And your Instagram again is moments whack wac going with it.
JQ.
Where can the people find you, ma'am?
You can find me in your podcast feed if you type and explain it to me, and then on social media, I'm Jacque Hill everywhere I feel like being found.
Amazing.
All right, thank y'all, please come back again to the Brown Table, of course, and y'all be a fan. You're going to hear from Alexa and Jaq again this Friday because they're sticking so much for listening to this week's I want to shout out to our production teach take Care Courtney, our editor, Carla, our fearless leader for idea to launch productions. I want to shout out my assistant Lauda Escalante and Cameron McNair for helping me put the
show together. It is not a one person project, as much as I have tried to make it so these past ten years, I need help, y'all, and thank goodness I've been able to put this team around me to support me on this journey and to y'all be a fam I love you.
So, so so so much.
Please rate, review, subscribe, Make sure you sign up to the newsletter to get all the latest updates on upcoming episodes, our tenth year anniversary celebrations to come, and until next time, talk to you soon via buye