There are a lot of questions being asked these days: Does a low-income person have the ability to actually rise into the middle class? Can you actually break the cycle of generational poverty? Is the American Dream still real? Is your zip code truly your socioeconomic destiny?

We cover these broad questions and learn more about the "opportunity gap" with the Executive Director of Opportunity Nation, Monique Rizer.

Monique shares what Opportunity Nation is doing to raise the profile of discussions America has about access to economic opportunity and covers her own story of becoming a young mother, pursuing higher education and how she found true opportunity in America.

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Having each recently watched Ava DuVernay's Netflix documentary "13th" about the criminal justice and incarceration systems in America, Ben and Malcolm discuss the film, what they learned and just how America has managed to reenvision slavery in a way that feels all to close to the country's "original sin".

The co-hosts also cover the struggling restaurant industry and what lessons to learn from a former NBA player's recent bankruptcy filing. 

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Equal pay advocate and salary negotiations expert Jacqueline Twillie joins MYDM: The Podcast to shed light on the best ways to approach salary negotiations, how to conduct market research for a particular employment opportunity and the benefit of having a Beyonce-Boss attitude when preparing to negotiate for salary, pay or workplace benefits.

Jacqueline also shares how she went about writing her book, "Navigating the Career Jungle", while balancing a full-time job and what women (and men) need to understand about the gender wage gap.

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Ben and Malcolm share the intimate experience of having one's car broken into, discuss why childcare is more expensive than college in-state tuition and cover Kevin Hart's blockbuster year overtaking Jerry Seinfeld as the most well-paid man in comedy.

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Shawn Mitchell Perkins is a former 3-dimenisional design professional, who turned to his passion in painting for relief from an unfulfilling career path.

Now working as a full-time artist in the Washington, DC Metro area, Shawn joins MYDM to discuss how he went from waiting tables to painting canvasses for living. Shawn also shares how he creates a consistent stream of cash flow painting commissions and original pieces of art and how his his "non-traditional" job sometimes gets in the way of his love life.

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Ben and Malcolm cover the US Department of Defense's payments to the NFL in exchange for patriotic ceremonies against the backdrop of Colin Kaepernick's continued protest of the National Anthem and explore the value of opening and keeping an account with a local credit union, even if that credit union is housed inside of a rickety old trailer.

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National Financial Educators founder and national speaker, Adam Carroll joins MYDM to talk about his work engaging young adults around issues of personal finances like debt, student loans and saving as well as his documentary, "Broke, Busted and Disgusted".

Adam also shares how he approaches financial education for his children and what parents can do to instill good common sense in their kids around the subject of the almighty dollar.

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Ben and Malcolm discuss the plight of the millennial generation having the lowest percentages of homeownership in generations and asks the question as to whether or not singer Frank Ocean sidestepped his record label with a clever ruse in order to fatten his pockets.

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Blavity Co-Founder Morgan DeBaun joins MYDM The Podcast and shares the story behind how she got prepared for making the jump from being a well-paid employee at Intuit to an unpaid CEO at her now, Los Angeles based start-up.

DeBaun shares what her parents taught her about money and offers wisdom on how to take steps toward making your creative and entrepreneurial dreams a reality.

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