President Trump was challenged by Rev Buddy to have mercy on marginalized groups. Our hope in this episode is to talk through our personal christian journeys and show what our faith looks like under a new and antagonistic administration.

In the hopeful aftermath of the cultural phenomenon of Drake vs Kendrick, Drake gives his first musical offering since and Kennedy and Josh breakdown the project.

In the 2024 election president trump won the popular vote just four years after one of the biggest civil rights movements in modern America. How did that happen? I would like to take a series of segments to talk through how something like this was even possible and what aspects of liberal messaging should perhaps shift in order to make a better appeal in 2028. On this episode we will talk through the moral appeal that was made in 2024 election and perhaps the need to shift that messaging.

In the 67th annual Grammys kendrick Lamar swept the night with his moderately popular song they not like us. As he received his reward the portion of the song accusing drake of being child predator was playing with many in the crowd singing along. Drake's rap beefs have throughout his career been more akin to a smear campaign against his character and person. In this episode I hope to show that pattern and reveal why it seemingly never works.

The 2024 Election was clearly one of the most shocking and revealing elections in American history. One of the most unelectable candidates in American history was was reelected for the second time in three term attempts. Over the past four years President Trump has spear headed an insurrection, been criminally charged with multiple felonies, and continued to spew anti democratic rhetoric. But this did not stop the American populous for voting for him in record number with Trump becoming the first Republican nominee to win the popular vote in twenty. So what exactly happened to cause this? We break that down as much as we can on this episode.

https://www.thenation.com/article/politics/bernie-sanders-democrats-working-class/

As we are coming to the conclusion of the 2024 election cycle there is extreme optimism around the rejuvenated Democratic Party ticket there is still a cloud looming over this election. As we approach the anniversary October 7th we are reminded of the evil and genocidal response to that national tragedy. As the DNC continues to neglect this issue and support the funding and support of this retaliation it has put the average voter in a precarious circumstance. We have a conversation with friend of the show Nikki Thompson as she brings her wealth of knowledge and research to this intense but needed convo.

Al Jazeera Palestine Timeline: https://remix.aljazeera.com/aje/PalestineRemix/timeline_main.html

DNC Rejecting Demand for Palestinian Speaker: https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2024/8/22/they-want-to-erase-us-how-dnc-rejected-demand-for-palestinian-speaker

ICJ Summary: https://www.icj-cij.org/sites/default/files/case-related/192/192-20240524-sum-01-00-enc.pdf?__cf_chl_tk=vnnVdzWuRUsEfZ04ZTCve38ptlqX4MyTCyNZloZFA60-1726110402-0.0.1.1-5161

For further reading:

Noam Chomsky on Palestine: https://www.aljazeera.com/features/2023/4/9/qa-noam-chomsky-on-palestine-israel-and-the-state-of-the-world

Angela Davis on Palestine: https://hammerandhope.org/article/angela-davis-palestinians-gaza

As we approach the 2024 general election we are on the precipice of the second black presidency of America's history. Kamala electrified this presidential run with her entry into the election. This has led to a plethora of controversial conversations about her race and identity. The usual suspects of former president Trump and his vice presidential candidate have both questioned Kamala's racial identity. But unfortunately they were echoed by prominent rap artist kendrick Lamar during his highly publicized beef with Drake. Does this have any implications on this years presidential election? We believe it does.

https://www.latimes.com/opinion/story/2024-08-11/kendrick-lamar-drake-hip-hop-kamala-harris-blackness

The Drake vs Kendrick beef has not only intrigued and engaged the entire hip hop community but has become a pop cultural for the ages. Potentially the biggest exhibition in the history of the genre has done everything from garner cheers to induce eye rolls. It also demanded a bevy of cultural conversation around race, sexual impropriety, domestic abuse, cultural authenticity, and the future of hip hop. Joshua and Kennedy do their best to both summarize an analyze this beef and speak to how in affected them as both hip hop fans and black Americans. This one is for both the casuals and the hip hop heads.

Clarification: Kendricks aunt actually became his uncle. We misspoke in the episode.

Racism has been a long standing issue in the American context. Healthy but at times trite solutions have been given to create common language that can be used and understood by the masses. Racism equals prejudice plus power has been a main stay definition for many activist and advocates for justice on the lay level. In this episode I attempt to use more sophisticated language that may help broaden understanding on the issue and potentially create kinder engagement for us as a society.

A great source on this topic among others would be Ibram X Kendi's book "How to be an anti racist"

A myth of fascism is that cities are the epicenter of depravity and a social contagion that rural areas are trying to hold off in order to save our country. This becomes very prevalent in a world where many right wing pundits and even politicians have embraced ideas of fascism. With many citing their apprehensive views towards cities with the Bible it may be helpful to debunk the notion that the Bible hates both ancient and modern cities. On this episode Josh seeks to do just that.

Light scriptural references

Gen 19, Joshua 2, Rev 21, Luke 19:41-44, Deuteronomy 14:28-29, Habakkuk 2:20, 1 Corinthians 7:1-16