We The 66

Hassan al-Qazwini is one of the most prominent Muslim leaders in America. The Dearborn, Michigan-based Imam has been an American citizen since 1998 and considers the United States to be the best country in the world to be a Muslim. However, he argues that Israel exerts an undue influence -- to put it mildly -- on our politics and has made him and the American Muslim community irate. We ask him about what it's like to live in America's Arab-majority city, how he will vote this November, what he thinks of his Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib, the difference between Sunni and Shia Muslims, AIPAC's influence on American politicians, and more.

Timestamps:

0:00 - Trailer

1:12 - Inside the Mosque

2:35 - IMAM INTRO

3:57 - Sunni vs. Shia Differences

10:30 - What is Dearborn community like?

13:40 - Iran's influence

18:08 - Imam goes off on Israeli War

24:25 - Who the Imam will vote for

26:47 - "Jihad capital of the US" WSJ piece

28:12 - Why we support Israel

30:30 - AIPAC's influence

32:35 - HEATED debate on Israel

42:10 - Rashida Tlaib being pro-LGBTQ

45:45 - Imam on the Republicans

49:40 - Why Muslims hate America

55:15 - Palestine's future

57:30 - Can they live together?

1:00:00 - Future of Dearborn, MI

We look forward to hearing your thoughts on this interview. It was fiery at times, and you may vehemently disagree with some of what the Imam said about Israel, America, and other subjects. But it's important to hear his perspective, and We the 66 believes that more conversation is the answer, not less. Comment thoughts below or email us at [email protected].

In 2012, Oren Cass was the domestic policy advisor to Mitt Romney during his 2012 presidential campaign. Romney's economic policy epitomized that of the modern Republican Party: He celebrated free markets, free trade, and entrepreneurial capitalism. Since the time of Reagan, this worldview dominated the Right. But then, in the mid 2010s, something changed. An opioid crisis swept the Rust Belt, devastating communities that were thriving just decades ago. They suffered population decline, economic shrinkage, and the despair that accompanies both. This wasn't one small region experiencing this: It swept Ohio, Michigan, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, upstate New York, West Virginia, Indiana, and Illinois. Even beyond the Rust Belt, working class towns and cities in every state saw factories close and workers lose their jobs. Coinciding with this trend was China's rise. China was the winner in this manufacturing shift. Whereas the United States was once the manufacturing leader of the world, China stole the crown in the mid 2010s and has put the United States in a $1+ trillion (!) trade deficit. In response to these changes, Oren Cass began publishing articles and writing the book "The Once and Future Worker." He then founded a think tank called the American Compass that makes the case for a worker- and community-first economic policy. He goes after Wall Street, Big Tech, and the neoliberal Washington, DC think tanks whose ideas shaped what he calls the "Old Right." He is one of JD Vance's major influences and has many disciples in Trump World. Some consider Cass to be the most important thinker of the New Right. So what does he believe? On this episode of We the 66, we talked to Cass and looked to find some answers. If you're curious, here is a link to Cass' new Substack: https://understandingamerica.substack.com/ For thoughts and feedback, email us at [email protected].

Dr. Carl Hart is a neuroscientist at Columbia University who researches drugs and their effects on the human brain. After decades of research, Hart concluded that drugs aren't nearly as dangerous as we're taught to believe.

Since then, he's published best-selling books like "High Price" and "Drug Use for Grown Ups" that share his findings on drug and also his personal history of drug use, including his current use of h*roin. In this episode, he shares his views about overcounted drug deaths, morphine vs. heroin, adderall vs. meth, the opioid crisis myth, Prohibition, the crack cocaine epidemic that never was, and so much more.

As is tradition on We The 66, we like to hear a range of viewpoints. After our conversation with Ben Westhoff, the author of "Fentanyl Inc.," we thought it would be valuable to hear an alternative viewpoint.

0:00 - Preview

0:01:35 - Carl Hart intro

0:03:15 - CARL HART INTERVIEW

0:04:10 - Carl Hart's story

0:10:00 - Opioid crisis a myth?

0:22:55 - Truth about addiction

0:26:56 - American to do drugs?

0:37:25 - Myth of Anthony Bourdain

0:40:10 - Politicization of drugs

0:48:25 - Who shouldn't take drugs?

0:56:20 - Drug trials with illegal drugs

1:02:36 - Carl on Kamala Harris

1:08:21 - BACKEND SEGMENTS

1:10:30 - Watch Read Listen

1:16:48 - Frost trivia

1:22:00 - Farewell

Max F's "Watch Read Listen" recommendation: https://www.amazon.com/Vietnam-Tragedy-1945-1975-Max-Hastings/dp/0062405667

Max T's "Watch Read Listen" recommendation: https://www.city-journal.org/article/the-march-of-dimes-syndrome

Please comment your thoughts / questions or email us at [email protected].

Hours after President Biden's posted on X that he would be stepping aside and endorsed Kamala Harris to be the Democratic nominee, we sat down with Marianne Williamson to discuss what happened, what's next, and how the Democratic Party works. We also heard from several Roca readers in the first-ever call-in episode. Thank you to all those who called in -- next time we will feature more than three. Timestamps: 0:00 - Biden's historic decision 1:05 - Timeline 6:15 - MARIANNE WILLIAMSON JOINS ROCA 12:00 - Was it a media coup? 19:00 - What comes next? 22:30 - Message of hope 24:30 - Are politics rigged? 26:00 - Anti-Democratic move 30:10 - Marianne on the media 39:13 - CALL IN SEGMENT 59:45 - Frost Trivia and outro If you have any feedback, thoughts, or questions, please email us at [email protected].

In early June, Dr. Alina Chan published an essay in The New York Times arguing what the media once considered a conspiracy: Covid-19 originated in the Wuhan lab. The essay made waves on social media. To some, it was a breath of fresh air from the intelligentsia that validated long-held beliefs about where the costliest pandemic in modern history started. But to others, like our other guest today, it was irresponsible and scientifically misleading. Dr. John Moore is a prominent virologist and professor at Cornell University’s Weill Medical College. He penned a rebuttal for “The Nation” in which he argued that The New York Times is badly failing their readers on Covid by publishing Chan’s argument. Chan is not a virologist; she’s a molecular biologist at Harvard and MIT’s Broad Institute. Early on in the pandemic, however, she took an interest in understanding the origins of Covid. She then published a book about lab leak that she claims drew the ire of the media and scientific establishment. In this episode of We The 66, we share BOTH of their perspectives.

Pennsylvania is the important swing state in the 2024 presidential election. That's why we took a week-long roadtrip around the state to talk to voters, meet with local leaders, and see the different corners of one of America's most fascinating, historically rich, and politically pivotal states. We also ate our fair share of Wawa and Sheetz... In the coming weeks, we will be releasing our interviews and various videos from Pennsylvania, but we wanted to share our takeaways with you. Also, as noted at the beginning, we recorded this pre-Trump assassination attempt. Although we didn't visit Butler, we spent time in that area. Our prayers go out to the Butler community. For questions and feedback, please drop a comment or send us an email at [email protected]. Thank you for listening. Make sure to subscribe to see the fascinating content we got in the Keystone State!

The homeless population in NYC recently eclipsed 100,000 for the first time in history. The official number now is around 150,000, but the real number is likely much higher. That only counts people who live in homeless shelters and not people like Ghoul and Lil Yea Yea, the guests of this episode of We the 66, who don't live in shelters but right on the streets.

They represent a growing slice of the NYC homeless pie, which is homeless youths. It's hard to know exactly how many homeless youths there are in NYC, but after a few years of living here it seems the number has soared. We're eager to understand why and learn about the daily lives of homeless youths. Do they have jobs? Do they all do drugs? Are they happy? How did they get there? Do they have kids? What's it like asking for money? What are their plans? Do they interact with migrants? When's the worst time of year to sleep outside? Do they have regrets? What help do they want?

We had so many questions, and to look for answers we went walking around outside the studio. We started talking to some homeless people and listened to their stories. Some were clearly mentally ill, while a couple others fell on hard times during the pandemic and started bouncing from shelter to shelter. They all seemed high. One gentleman pointed to a group of kids smoking on a bench and told us that we should talk to them. He said they lived in an abandon building "up north" and that they were the homeless kids we were looking for. Lil Yea Yea and Ghoul agreed to share their stories.

0:00 Intro

2:45 Lil Yea Yea and Ghoul

4:20 How they became homeless

8:10 Their upbringings

18:30 Drugs and the homeless community

21:15 Their Fent experiences

23:45 Homeless migrant influx

27:20 Life regrets

30:30 Lil Yea Yea's music

33:00 Ghoul's kids

35:30 Fixing the homeless crisis

44:15 Their plans for their future

48:25 Yea Yea previews song

Lil Yea Yea's IG: https://www.instagram.com/lilyeayeaa/

We are awaiting other handles and will add them when we have them. They gave us their numbers but have been hard to reach. It seems they don't have 24/7 phone access. We also will add Lil Yea Yea's album when it drops.

If you have any questions or would like a part two, email us at [email protected]

Don't forget to subscribe!

Today's episode of "We the 66" is with none other than "The Godfather" actor Gianni Russo, who played the drunken, abusive son Carlo Rizzi in the iconic film. Russo overcame insurmountable odds to land that role: First, he was a child with with polio, and second he had never had a movie role in his entire life. He went from zero acting experience to starring in what many consider to be the greatest movie of all time. How did he get there? Well, he would tell you it came down to his mob connections. He started working for Frank Costello as a kid and gradually rose the ranks, beating his polio and allegedly sleeping with Marilyn Monroe along the way. After starring in "The Godfather," he became a successful nightclub owner in Vegas. On one fateful eve in 1988, he shot and killed a man in his club. The bad news, Russo says, is that the guy was an underboss for Pablo Escobar. Among many others, Russo recounts the outlandish tale of going down to Colombia to see Pablo Escobar and ask for forgiveness. He says Escobar only granted him forgiveness because he loved the Godfather. We discuss the mafia's involvement with various the most important figures and events of the mid-20th century, from JFK to Ronald Reagan.

It’s hard to fathom the scale of the United States’ fentanyl crisis: In 2023, more Americans died from fentanyl overdoses than in the Iraq, Afghanistan, and Vietnam Wars – combined. In the same year, more Americans died from fentanyl overdoses than from car crashes, gun homicides, drowning, and choking – combined. And in 2023 alone, more Americans died from fentanyl than could fill the Kansas City Chiefs’ Arrowhead Stadium for a playoff game. In order to better understand how we reached this point and what we can do now, we talked to Ben Westhoff, the author of "Fentanyl Inc.: How Rogue Chemists Are Creating the Deadliest Wave of the Opioid Epidemic." Fueled by questions from the Roca community (which we gathered on Instagram), we had a wide-ranging conversation on fentanyl that covered its history, lethality, supply chain, US infrastructure, offshoots, and more. Ben also shared the story of when he visited a Chinese chemical manufacturer, posing as a fentanyl producer himself. He learned how the Chinese companies make the fentanyl precursors and how the Chinese government incentivizes their production. You can buy Fentanyl Inc. right here: https://www.amazon.com/Fentanyl-Inc-C... Please make sure to subscribe to this channel for more important conversations like this one and to help us get better guests. Unless, of course, you want to stay in your echo chamber. For any questions or feedback, email us at [email protected].

This is a message to our readers regarding the criticisms we received after last episode. But first some context.

Almost exactly one year after the murder of George Floyd, Canada had its own reckoning. But this time, there was no video or autopsy that sparked the unrest. There was a claim, and that claim may have turned out to be baseless. On May 27, 2021, the Kamloops Indian Band in British Columbia reported that they used ground-penetrating radar (GPR) technology to discover the unmarked graves of 215 indigenous children at a former residential school. The discovery sent shockwaves across Canada and then the world. Within 24 hours, the largest media outlets had jumped on the story. The Washington Post wrote, “Remains of 215 Indigenous children discovered at former Canadian residential school site.” The Guardian’s headline was virtually identical. The AP made it sound as though the bodies may still be warm: “More than 200 bodies found at Indigenous school in Canada.” Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau barely inhaled before mourning the news on Twitter and ordering the Canadian flag be flown half-mast – not just for that day, but until the Assembly of First Nations gave him permission to raise them again. That didn’t happen until November – five-and-a-half months later – marking the longest period of half-mast flag flying in the country’s history. Trudeau pledged to “bring these terrible wrongs to light” and the money started pouring out of Ottawa: After the Kamloops claim, numerous other tribes announced their own unmarked grave discoveries. In total, the Canadian government pledged $320M to support the searches. At the end of 2021, the Canadian Press crowned the Kamloops discovery its “news story of the year.” The below photo, meanwhile, earned the prestigious World Press Photo of the Year award. The AP describes the photo: “A haunting image of red dresses hung on crosses along a roadside, with a rainbow in the background, commemorating children who died at a residential school created to assimilate Indigenous children in Canada won the prestigious World Press Photo award Thursday.” Meanwhile, Canadians channeled their fury over the mass grave discoveries at Catholic and Christian churches, because many of the residential schools were Christian schools. The Kamloops Indian residential school operated under the supervision of the Roman Catholic Church until its closure in 1978. Canada established these schools to assimilate indigenous students. Today, critics allege they constituted a “cultural genocide” against indigenous peoples by forcing them into white colonial culture at the expense of their language and culture. They also point to many harrowing allegations of sexual and physical abuse perpetrated against children by the schools’ authorities. But the schools aren’t without their defenders, who generally say they were needed to integrate indigenous people into Canadian society; that parents generally sent their kids away to get an education or because they couldn’t take care of them; or that kids had to go because they lived in sparsely populated places with no day schools. This had been a controversial historical topic in Canada for decades. The Kamloops allegations brought it to the forefront. On June 30, 2021 – weeks after the initial Kamloops allegations – the executive director of the British Columbia Civil Liberties Association tweeted, "Burn it all down." Protesters heeded these words, and – as the media and government remained silent — set dozens of churches on fire. At least 33 were burned to the ground, according to the CBC. So three years later, what has been found at Kamloops? Nothing – not a body, not a bone. When we heard about this story, we reached out to a Kamloops spokesperson, indigenous leaders, and members of the media who reported on the mass graves. None responded. We only received a reply from Dr. Thomas Flanagan, an esteemed retired professor who authored a book – Grave Error: How the Media Misled Us –about the Kamloops allegations and their aftermath. He is the guest on our latest podcast. You can watch the full episode here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gc8IfsnB5ho&t=54s Let us know what you think of this episode.

Our email is [email protected]. Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/wethe66podcast X: https://x.com/WeThe66Podcast