Let's Give A Damn

Before I introduce today's guest, here is the article I referenced in the intro of this conversation — If You're Angry, You're Part Of The Problem, Not The Solution by Ryan Holiday. Read it. And let me know what you think! 

My guest today is Scott Erickson. Scott is an amazing artist, an incredible communicator, and a good friend. He is a touring painter, performance speaker, and creative curate who mixes autobiography, mythology, and aesthetics to create art and moments that speak to our deepest experiences. You MUST check out his art on Instagram. You’ll be blow away, helped, and encouraged. And you’ll want to put his art all over your home. We have some in our home and I look at it every single day.

Scott was in Nashville performing his one-man show called Say Yes: A Liturgy Of Not Giving Up On Yourself. My wife and I went to see him do his show and we loved it! The following morning, we drank coffee and recorded this conversation. It’s a long one but I know you’re going to be greatly encouraged. So, pour yourself some coffee, sit by an open window or go outside, and get ready for an incredible conversation that is guaranteed to make you laugh a little and think a lot.

Before I introduce today’s guest, a little housekeeping. I’m taking the month of July off. It’s not you, it’s me. But seriously, we have been putting out an episode each week for almost 2 years now. I know we skip a week from time to time but it’s been pretty much been weekly released for almost two years. And don’t take me wrong, I love it! This podcast is one of the best things I’ve ever been part of in my life. But I need and want to take the month of July to regroup and put together a clearer vision for the future of Let’s Give A Damn.

Additionally, I’ll be heading to NYC and ATL in July to capture quite a few podcast conversations so we can hit the ground running when we release the next episode on August 6. I may or may not be interviewing a Democratic candidate for President while in New York. We’ll see:) We will still be posting on social media and interacting with you in the comment section and in direct message conversations and stuff like that. We aren’t going anywhere. But we just need the extra space we’ll get from not producing 5 podcast episodes in July in order to really tease out some amazing opportunities we have ahead of us and come back on fire in August. 

Now, onto our guest this week! 

Today we’re bringing back and oldie but a goodie. A while back, I met Clint Smith in the back room of Busboys & Poets in Washington, D.C. Clint is is a writer, teacher, and doctoral candidate in Education at Harvard University studying incarceration, education, & inequality. His dissertation explores how people sentenced to juvenile life without parole make meaning of the purpose of education while incarcerated. 

His two TED talks, The Danger of Silence and How to Raise a Black Son in America, have been viewed more than 6 million times collectively. AND He is a cohost on the podcasts Pod Save the People and Justice in America.

In this conversation, we talk about growing up in as a black boy in America, we discuss mass incarceration, and we chat about how we should live, act, and react in this volatile political climate. I really really enjoyed my conversation with Clint. I know you will, too.

Just a reminder that we recorded this conversation essentially in the backroom of a coffee shop so you’ll hear some ambient noise. Just a heads up! 

This conversation originally aired on September 5, 2017. 

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Follow Let’s Give A Damn on Facebook, Instagram, & Twitter to keep up with all that is going on. We have so much planned for the coming months and we don’t want you to miss a thing! And if you want to follow our host Nick Laparra on Facebook, Instagram, & Twitter.

Support Let’s Give A Damn by giving $5 per month on Patreon. 100% of the money you contribute will go to making more podcasts. Not a dime goes into our pockets! Or you can leave us a 5-star review on Apple Podcasts! Every little bit helps. Thanks for all your help.

Have an amazing week, friends! Love y’all!

As most of you know, June is Pride month. Why June? Well, here is a very concise primer for you. On June 28, 1969, police raided the Stonewall Inn in New York City's Greenwich Village, but the bar patrons weren’t having it and they fought back. This incident, known as the Stonewall Riots, marks the beginning of the gay rights movement in the United States. The activist Brenda Howard organized a march and some other events to commemorate the one-year anniversary of the Stonewall riots and…well, the rest is history. So, Happy Pride to all of my LGBTQ friends. I love you all. 

I wanted to have my guest today on the show during the month of June because she is amazing, she is a huge damn giver, and she is part of the LGBTQ community. Today, you’ll get to hear my conversation with Lisa Schmidt. Lisa and her wife live in Portland, Oregon. Lisa, among many other things, has started a community called The Sober Hipster. Everything she does stems from these five words: You Matter. Your Story Matters. 

Lisa created the Recovery Story Box, the Pride Story Box, and the Body Image Story Box to help you begin your journey of art therapy today. Learn more about these boxes and purchase one for you, your friend, or your family member today! 

And make sure to follow Lisa on Instagram! You'll be encouraged. Guaranteed!

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Follow Let’s Give A Damn on Facebook, Instagram, & Twitter to keep up with all that is going on. We have so much planned for the coming months and we don’t want you to miss a thing! And if you want to follow our host Nick Laparra on Facebook, Instagram, & Twitter.

Support Let’s Give A Damn by giving $5 per month on Patreon. 100% of the money you contribute will go to making more podcasts. Not a dime goes into our pockets! Or you can leave us a 5-star review on Apple Podcasts! Every little bit helps. Thanks for all your help.

Have an amazing week, friends! Love y’all!

My guest today is *fingers crossed* the future Mayor of Nashville, John Cooper. 

John is a family man with a successful business career in banking, real estate, and retail. Additionally, John has served on numerous Metro Council committees, including the Independent Audit Committee, Public Works, Parks and Libraries, and Budget and Finance, which he chaired from 2016-2017. He serves on the Greenways Commission and the Leadership Council for Nashville’s After-Zone Alliance, which supports after-school learning in public schools.

John created and donated two signature public parks in the Nashville area: the Tower Park and the Margaret Hayes Powell Park. He also founded Happy ReTales, a volunteer-directed pet products retail store, where all profits go to animal rescue. Managed by a dedicated group of staff and volunteers, Happy ReTales has provided over $500,000 to local animal charities.

It's very clear John gives so many damns!

To learn more about John, click here. To learn more about his policies, click here. If you're local to Nashville and want to help out, click here. 

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Follow Let’s Give A Damn on Facebook, Instagram, & Twitter to keep up with all that is going on. We have so much planned for the coming months and we don’t want you to miss a thing! And if you want to follow our host Nick Laparra on Facebook, Instagram, & Twitter.

Support Let’s Give A Damn by giving $5 per month on Patreon. 100% of the money you contribute will go to making more podcasts. Not a dime goes into our pockets! Or you can leave us a 5-star review on Apple Podcasts! Every little bit helps. Thanks for all your help.

Have an amazing week, friends! Love y’all!

THIS WEEK'S SPONSOR

My friends at Goodwell are doing incredible work. They create environmentally conscious products that empower people to make a sustainable choice in their daily oral care routines.

If bamboo toothbrushes are your thing, they have those. They also have a metal toothbrush with toothbrush heads that are 100% biodegradable. They have toothpaste, they have floss, and they have an amazing product called Be. Brush — the first non-electric powered toothbrush in the world.

Everything I just mentioned can be purchased as a one-time purchase OR as a subscription—it just shows up at your doorstep when you need it. And everything they make and sell is biodegradable and compostable. Needless to say, we love them and use them in our home. AND I have exciting news! If you use the code DAMN at checkout, you’ll get 30% off your order. That’s a huge discount and you'll feel really good about buying and using their products. So, do us a favor and go check them out. They make it possible for us to continue to provide this podcast to you for free. 

Visit goodwell.co and use the code DAMN for 30% off your next purchase!

NOW, FOR OUR GUEST THIS WEEK!

I got to sit down with Daina Storey—the Director of the Nashville Social Enterprise Alliance, the co-founder of The Kkumi Project, and the co-founder of Fischer Storey Consultants. She has been giving a damn for so long! And she continues to find more ways to do so. Don't miss this episode—you'll be encouraged and challenged!

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Follow Let’s Give A Damn on Facebook, Instagram, & Twitter to keep up with all that is going on. We have so much planned for the coming months and we don’t want you to miss a thing! And if you want to follow our host Nick Laparra on Facebook, Instagram, & Twitter.

Support Let’s Give A Damn by giving $5 per month on Patreon. 100% of the money you contribute will go to making more podcasts. Not a dime goes into our pockets! Or you can leave us a 5-star review on Apple Podcasts! Every little bit helps. Thanks for all your help.

Have an amazing week, friends! Love y’all!

This week on the podcast, meet Nicole Devereaux! Nicole is a Conversational Intelligence Coach® based in Minneapolis, MN. She helps leaders and teams have successful conversations so that they can make more of what's awesome.

 I wanted to have Nicole on the podcast because during a dark period of her life a few months ago, she decided to do something really bold. During a time when most people would have given up or spent most of their time thinking about themselves, she decided to think about others. 

Nicole is raising $40k in the 40 weeks leading up to her 40th birthday! She's inviting you to join her in this quest to do the unimaginable. And guess what? She's on track to hit her goal! In the next 12 weeks, she needs to raise $13k. Will you help her reach her goal?

Also, follow Nicole on Instagram—you'll be encouraged!

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Follow Let’s Give A Damn on Facebook, Instagram, & Twitter to keep up with all that is going on. We have so much planned for the coming months and we don’t want you to miss a thing! And if you want to follow our host Nick Laparra on Facebook, Instagram, & Twitter.

Support Let’s Give A Damn by giving $5 per month on Patreon. 100% of the money you contribute will go to making more podcasts. Not a dime goes into our pockets! Or you can leave us a 5-star review on Apple Podcasts! Every little bit helps. Thanks for all your help.

Have an amazing week, friends! Love y’all!

We don’t need billionaires and government to save us. They can and should play their part, don’t take me wrong. But we can’t and shouldn’t wait around for them to change the world. That’s not their role AND it’s never going to happen. It’s our job to change the world.

How? Real and lasting change will only happen when millions of people give a damn imperfectly and over a long period of time. I share more on this in the first part of this episode. 

During the last part of this episode, I share some of my favorite clips from some of the podcast episodes that have taken place during the first few months of 2019. The clips were taken from my conversations with Claude Silver, Courtney Hale, Audrey Assad, Scott Hamilton, Trae Crowder, and Holiday Reinhorn.

ENJOY!

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Follow Let’s Give A Damn on Facebook, Instagram, & Twitter to keep up with all that is going on. We have so much planned for the coming months and we don’t want you to miss a thing! And if you want to follow our host Nick Laparra on Facebook, Instagram, & Twitter.

Support Let’s Give A Damn by giving $5 per month on Patreon. 100% of the money you contribute will go to making more podcasts. Not a dime goes into our pockets! Or you can leave us a 5-star review on Apple Podcasts! Every little bit helps. Thanks for all your help.

Have an amazing week, friends! Love y’all!

This week’s show is pretty remarkable. My guest is Steven Elliott. Steven was one of two men most likely responsible for the death of Pat Tillman—the NFL player that enlisted as an Army Ranger as a result of the 9/11 attacks in NYC. During this chat, we talk about the story of how he ended up as a Ranger and all that happened while he was deployed. We also chat a bit about veteran care, caring for those actively serving, PTSD, America's current global military footprint and whether or not we are being helpful, and so much more. 

Please visit The Elliot Fund for articles, books, videos, and other resources you can use to become an advocate for those serving in our military. And buy Steven’s forthcoming War Story: A Memoir book on or before May 21. Or preorder it from your local library. 

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Follow Let’s Give A Damn on Facebook, Instagram, & Twitter to keep up with all that is going on. We have so much planned for the coming months and we don’t want you to miss a thing! And if you want to follow our host Nick Laparra—Facebook, Instagram, & Twitter.

Support Let’s Give A Damn by sharing $5/month with us on Patreon. 100% of the money you contribute will go to making more podcasts. Not a dime goes into our pockets! Or you can leave us a 5-star review on Apple Podcasts! Every little bit helps. Thanks for all your help.

Have an amazing week, friends! Love y’all!

This week on the show, I chat with Trae Crowder aka The Liberal Redneck. Trae Crowder hails from Celina, TN—population 1500. Warning right here at the onset, there is more cursing than usual in this interview. I like to curse but Trae loves to curse. If you don’t like to hear it, this might be a good one to skip. Or maybe just don’t listen to this in the car with your kids on the way to soccer practice. So, just wanted to give you a heads up because, I love you.

Trae has been doing comedy for quite some time but his career skyrocketed after this video that he made about North Carolina’s HB2 bill went viral back in 2016. When I saw that video back in 2016, I really appreciated his creative blend of comedy and talking about important issues. Important societal and political issues have always been addressed in comedy and Trae is doing that very well, I think.

In this conversation, Trae and I talk about how there are more liberals in the South that might think, what liberals get right and what they get wrong, how we move forward in these divisive times, and so much more. It was an absolute pleasure to meet and hang with Trae for a bit. I hope you’ll follow him on Facebook and Twitter. Maybe even show up for one of his live shows!

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Follow Let’s Give A Damn on Facebook, Instagram, & Twitter to keep up with all that is going on. We have so much planned for the coming months and we don’t want you to miss a thing! And if you want to follow our host Nick Laparra—Facebook, Instagram, & Twitter.

Support Let’s Give A Damn by sharing $5/month with us on Patreon. 100% of the money you contribute will go to making more podcasts. Not a dime goes into our pockets! Or you can leave us a 5-star review on Apple Podcasts! Every little bit helps. Thanks for all your help.

Have an amazing week, friends! Love y’all!

I went up to the Rainn Wilson residence last week in LA but it was not to chat with Rainn this time. I stopped by to record a podcast conversation with his wife and much better half, Holiday Reinhorn. Erin Shacory, one of the LIDÈ Haiti board members, joined us for the chat and I had a blast. We spent the majority of our time together chatting about all things Haiti, LIDÈ, empowering young people, and we even talk about how a Rainn stole a bunch of hotel keys over 20 years ago. But back to LIDÈ. LIDÈ provides academic support and arts programs that empower girls who have been denied equal access to education and strengthen their resiliency. You may be asking, “Is educating Haitian young girls in the arts the best thing LIDÈ can be doing for them? I mean, they probably need clothes, and food, and jobs!” Holiday and Erin have a fantastic response to this question. 

Allow me to point something out to you—this organization exists to serve young women and it is primarily led and run by women. This is hugely important. Two of the co-founders are women. Most of the board members are women—over half of them being Haitian women. And almost all of their staff are women. Amazing!

I do want to give a special shout-out to the third co-founder, Kathryn Adams, who is also the executive director and who has lived in Haiti for the last 4 years. She, alongside Rainn and Holiday, have started something truly impactful, hopeful, and amazing in Haiti. 

Follow LIDÈ Haiti on social media at Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook. And check out their work and more ways you can get involved by visiting their website. 

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Follow Let’s Give A Damn on Facebook, Instagram, & Twitter to keep up with all that is going on. We have so much planned for the coming months and we don’t want you to miss a thing! And if you want to follow our host Nick Laparra—Facebook, Instagram, & Twitter.

Support Let’s Give A Damn by sharing $5/month with us on Patreon. 100% of the money you contribute will go to making more podcasts. Not a dime goes into our pockets! Or you can leave us a 5-star review on Apple Podcasts! Every little bit helps. Thanks for all your help.

Have an amazing week, friends! Love y’all!