Let's Give A Damn

Angie Thomas is an absolutely amazing human. She was born, raised, and still lives in Jackson, Mississippi. She is a former teen rapper and a current best-selling author. Like, she has sold a shit ton of books. Her first book, The Hate U Give, has sold millions of copies and has been on the NYT bestsellers list for 206 weeks. And it was turned into an incredible feature film! Her latest book, Concrete Rose, has been on the NYT bestsellers list since it came out a few weeks ago. All 3 of her books, including the incredible On the Come Up, hit #1 on the NYT Bestsellers list. All 3 of these books were published during the Trump Presidency. About books, Angie has said these wise words: “I look at books as being a form of activism. Sometimes they’ll show us a side of the world that we might not have known about.” Each one of her books entertained the hell out of us while also introducing to people and ideas that have changed us. Follow Angie Thomas on Twitter and Instagram. Visit Angie’s website to learn more abou

Priyanka Chopra Jonas is an award-winning actor and producer. Without a doubt, she is one of the most recognizable entertainment figures in the world. Here’s a weird and incredible fact for you—she is the 43rd most-followed person on Instagram! Priyanka won Miss India and Miss World in 2000 and has gone on to star in countless films and shows. AND she joins me on the show today to talk about her brand new memoir and so much more. - Follow Priyanka on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook. - Buy her memoir today! - Learn more about The Priyanka Foundation. - Her work as an UNICEF Ambassador is incredible. _________________________________________ Reach out to us anytime and for any reason at hello@letsgiveadamn.com. Follow Let’s Give A Damn on Facebook, Instagram, & Twitter to keep up with everything. We have so much planned for the coming months and we don’t want you to miss a thing! If you love what we’re doing, consider supporting us on Patreon! We can’t do this w

Tina Tchen is a mom, an activist, and an advocate. She is the president and CEO of TIME’S UP Now and the TIME’S UP Foundation. In 2017, Tina co-founded the TIME’S UP Legal Defense Fund which has connected thousands of people with legal or PR support for sexual harassment across dozens of different industries. Before leading TIME’S UP, Tina worked in the Obama White House—first as an assistant to President Barack Obama and then as the executive director of the White House Council on Women and Girls and chief of staff to First Lady Michelle Obama. Before leading at TIME’S UP and before her time in the White House, Tina was a lawyer that specialized in workplace culture, advising companies on gender inequity, sexual harassment, and diversity. Follow Tina Tchen on Twitter and Instagram. Follow TIME’S UP on Twitter and Instagram. ___________________________________ Reach out to us anytime and for any reason at hello@letsgiveadamn.com. Follow Let

Prof. Yaneer Bar-Yam is the founding president of the New England Complex Systems Institute. He received his SB and PhD in physics from MIT. Since the late 1980s he has contributed to founding the field of complex systems science, introducing fundamental mathematical rigor and real world application, ranging from the global financial crisis to stopping the 2014 Ebola outbreak.He has advised the CDC, the Chairman’s Action Group at the Pentagon, the National Security Council, the National Counter Terrorism Council, and other government organizations, NGOs, and corporations.  He is the author of  Dynamics of Complex Systems , Making Things Work, and over 200 research papers in professional journals, including Science, Nature, and PNAS.  His work has been described in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, and other national media outlets. For the past 15 years, Yaneer has been working in the world of pandemics. In 2014, his scientific contributions helped end t

Reshma Saujani is the Founder and CEO of Girls Who Code, the international nonprofit organization working to close the gender gap in technology and change the image of what a computer programmer looks like and does. She is the author of the international bestseller Brave, Not Perfect and the New York Times bestseller Girls Who Code: Learn to Code and Change the World. Reshma’s TED talk, “Teach girls, bravery not perfection,” has more than four million views and has sparked a worldwide conversation about how we’re raising our girls. She is the host of the award-winning podcast “Brave, Not Perfect.” Reach out to us anytime and for any reason at hello@letsgiveadamn.com. Follow Let’s Give A Damn on Facebook, Instagram, & Twitter to keep up with everything. We have so much planned for the coming months and we don’t want you to miss a thing! If you love what we’re doing, consider supporting us on Patreon! We can’t do this without you. Lastly, leav

Annie Lowrey is an accomplished journalist who writes on politics and economic policy for The Atlantic magazine. Before moving over to The Atlantic, she was at the New York Times. In 2019, Annie wrote a book that I read and loved. It’s called Give People Money: How a Universal Basic Income Would End Poverty, Revolutionize Work, and Remake. If you want to dive into this topic more of UBI—or a Universal Basic Income—here are two other books I’d highly recommend: — The War on Normal People: The Truth About America's Disappearing Jobs and Why Universal Basic Income Is Our Future by Andrew Yang — Utopia for Realist: How We Can Build the Ideal World by Rutger Bregman Lastly, follow Annie on Twitter! And catch her work by reading The Atlantic.

This is our last podcast in 2020. What a year! In the beginning of this episode, I share some closing thoughts for the year and then I share some of my favorite moments from conversations I had with damn-giving friends Matthew McConaughey, Ed Winters, Elizabeth Marvel, and Eddie S. Glaude, Jr. Listen to entire Matthew McConaughey conversation here: lgad.co/mcconaughey Listen to the entire Ed Winters conversation here: lgad.co/edwinters Listen to the entire Elizabeth Marvel conversation here: lgad.co/elizabethmarvel Listen to the entire Eddie S. Glaude Jr. conversation here: lgad.co/eddieglaudejr Reach out to me anytime and for any reason at hello@letsgiveadamn.com. Follow Let’s Give A Damn on Facebook, Instagram, & Twitter to keep up with everything. We have so much planned for the coming months and we don’t want you to miss a thing! If you love what we're doing, consider supporting us on Patreon! We can't do this without you. Lastly, leave us a 5-star rating and review on Apple Podcasts! Have an amazing

Rachael Denhollander became known internationally in 2016 as the first woman to pursue criminal charges and speak publicly against USA Gymnastics’ team doctor Larry Nassar, one of the most prolific sexual abusers in recorded history. As a result of her activism over 300 women—including numerous Olympic medalists—came forward as survivors of Nassar’s abuse, eventually leading to his life imprisonment. Read the rest of her bio here. Rachael is an incredible advocate for survivors. She works tirelessly to make sure their voices are heard. I've witnessed so much of this advocacy first-hand over the past year. Buy her first book, What Is a Girl Worth?: My Story of Breaking the Silence and Exposing the Truth about Larry Nassar and USA Gymnastics Buy her second book, How Much Is A Little Girl Worth? Watch the incredible 36-minute speech Rachael gave at Larry Nassar's sentencing in 2018. It's powerful and worth watching. Follow Rachael on Instagram and Twitter. Reach out to me anytime and for any reason at hello@lets

Ed Winters—known as Earthling Ed to his 1.2M social media followers—is a vegan educator, public speaker and content creator based in London, England. He is a Co-Founder and Co-Director of Surge—an animal rights organization determined to create a world where compassion towards all non-human animals is the norm. You won't find me pushing back on Ed in this conversation. We are both animal rights activists (he in a much greater capacity) and vegans. Whether you eat meat or not and whether you plan on making any changes to your diet or not, please listen to this conversation. If you are going to continue consuming animal products in 2020, at least know what's happening behind the scenes and right in front of your face in the meat and animal products industries. After you listen, hit me up on social media or email me (hello@letsgiveadamn.com) with any questions you may have. Would love to discuss and/or answer any questions! Follow Ed on Instagram and Facebook. Follow Surge on Instagram and Facebook. And if you'r

Shannon Sedgwick Davis is my friend, an incredible activist, and a remarkable lawyer. Shannon is the CEO of Bridgeway Foundation—a philanthropic organization dedicated to stopping mass atrocities around the world. The Bridgeway Foundation is part of Bridgeway Capital—a company that has committed to giving away half of their profits to help solve some of the biggest problems facing our world today. Shannon is the author of To Stop A Warlord: My Story of Justice, Grace, and the Fight for Peace. We are giving away a bunch of copies of this book during the first week after this conversation releases. Check us out on Instagram for more details! Follow Shannon on Instagram and Twitter. Reach out to me anytime and for any reason at hello@letsgiveadamn.com. Follow Let’s Give A Damn on Facebook, Instagram, & Twitter to keep up with everything. We have so much planned for the coming months and we don’t want you to miss a thing! If you love what we're doing, consider supporting us on Patreon! We can't do this withou

Hank and his beautiful family live in Los Angeles. He is the GM of Artist Management at RocNation. And a few years ago, he founded AdoptTogether—a non-profit, crowdfunding platform that bridges the gap between families who want to adopt and the children who need loving homes. Over the past few years, they have helped 4K families raise $17M dollars to adopt children from over 60 countries.  Follow Hank on Twitter and Instagram. Follow AdoptTogether on Twitter and Instagram. Watch Hank’s TEDx talks: How I use the internet to build families / The power of together Lastly, watch this great Buzzfeed piece on why and how he started World Adoption Day. Reach out to me anytime and for any reason at hello@letsgiveadamn.com. Follow Let’s Give A Damn on Facebook, Instagram, & Twitter to keep up with everything. We have so much planned for the coming months and we don’t want you to miss a thing! If you love what we're doing, consider supporting us on Patreon! We can't do this without you. Lastly, leave us a 5-star ra

You probably know June Diane Raphael from shows like Veep, New Girl, and Parks and Rec or from movies like Long Shot or The High Note. But what you may not know about her is that she co-founded an incredible organization called The Jane Club! TJC is committed to "taking care of the woman who takes care of everything else.” They started as a physical space in Los Angeles but when they pandemic hit, they moved online and their community has grown by 450%! I found four statements on the website that I love and want to share with you for your consideration: Honor all work. Come as you are. Show Up. Be of service. Check out The Jane Club! I suspect some of y’all will want to join. Follow June on Twitter and Instagram. Join our texting community by sending us a text at 646-328-6414. Reach out to me anytime and for any reason at hello@letsgiveadamn.com. Follow Let’s Give A Damn on Facebook, Instagram, & Twitter to keep up with everything. We have so much planned for the coming months and we don’t want you to mis

Chloé Valdary couldn’t find any antiracism training that didn’t ultimately spread more bigotry and hatred so she started The Theory of Enchantment—an innovative framework for compassionate antiracism that combines social emotional learning (SEL), character development, and interpersonal growth as tools for leadership development in the boardroom and beyond. In just a few short years, Chloé has taught The Theory of Enchantment to high school and college students, government agencies, business teams, and more in many countries around the world. Chloé is super smart and wise and I’m honored to have her on the show today. Follow Chloé on Twitter. Follow The Theory Of Enchantment on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter. Watch her brilliant TED talk called How Love Can Help Repair Social Inequality! Join our texting community by sending us a text at 646-328-6414. Reach out to me anytime and for any reason at hello@letsgiveadamn.com. Follow Let’s Give A Damn on Facebook, Instagram, & Twitter to keep up with everythi

Yes, the Matthew McConaughey is on the podcast this week. How does one introduce Matthew McConaughey? What’s that, you say? Don’t even try? Cool, I won’t. I will say this—he is charming, smart, and incredibly wise. Matthew recently wrote a book based on 36 years of journaling. In it, he shares incredible stories, tons of wisdom, and he helps us learn the art of catching Greenlights. Remember, no matter how many yellow lights or red lights you may be experiencing in your life, they always turn green. In this conversation, you’ll finds of wisdom for damn-givers of all shapes and sizes. Follow Matthew on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook. Visit Greenlights.com to learn more about the book and please it from your local bookstore! Join our texting community by sending us a text at 646-328-6414. Reach out to me anytime and for any reason at hello@letsgiveadamn.com. Follow Let’s Give A Damn on Facebook, Instagram, & Twitter to keep up with everything. We have so much planned for the coming months and we don’t wan

I’ve admired Gretchen for years! It was an absolute honor to speak with her on the podcast this week. In 2016, Gretchen boldly spoke up about abuse she had suffered at the hands of one of the biggest media tycoons in the world. And the rest is history! Now, most of you already know who Gretchen is. For the few of you who may not know her story and her work, here are a few highlights from her website: Gretchen Carlson is a fierce, fearless and internationally recognized advocate for women’s rights, whose bold actions against Fox News Chairman Roger Ailes helped pave the way for the global #MeToo movement. A journalist, author, TED talk alum, and champion for workplace equality, Carlson was named one of Time Magazine’s “100 Most Influential People in the World” and is a member of the TIME’S UP Global Leadership Board. She’s a PEOPLE TV special contributor and host of the new daily news podcast “Get The News With Gretchen Carlson” on Quake Media. Carlson is the author of the New York Times bestseller “Be Fierce”

Priti Krishtel is an incredible human! She’s a a committed campaigner for justice, a community organizer, and a relentless advocate for patients. For the past 20 years, she Priti has worked to tirelessly to make sure more people can have access to affordable, life-saving medicine. Please read her full bio here. She has done and is doing so many incredible things. Also, watch her incredible TED talk. She delivered the talk at TEDWomen in December of 2019 and it already has 2M views! Lastly, make sure to follow her on Twitter. ___________________________________ Join our texting community by sending us a text at 646-328-6414. Reach out to me anytime and for any reason at hello@letsgiveadamn.com. Follow Let’s Give A Damn on Facebook, Instagram, & Twitter to keep up with everything. We have so much planned for the coming months and we don’t want you to miss a thing! If you love what we're doing, consider supporting us on Patreon! We can't do this without you. Lastly, leave us a 5-star rating and review on App

Ann Lee is the Chief Executive Officer of CORE (Community Organized Relief Effort)—Sean Penn’s disaster relief charity. Among many great things she had accomplished in this role, she has led high-level partnership with organizations like The World Bank, the United Nations, the Sean Parker Foundation, the Supreme Committee of Qatar, the Leonardo DiCaprio Foundation, Salesforce, World Central Kitchen, and many others. Before she joined CORE, she was the lead on urban humanitarian response and the private sector liaison for the Secretary General’s World Humanitarian Summit at the UN’s Organization for Coordination and Humanitarian Affairs. And I genuinely need a smoke brea after rattling off just a couple of the incredible things Ann has accomplished. Additionally, Ann received the Society for International Development’s prestigious Truman Award in 2009. I could go on and on and on. Bottom line—she’s a certified badass. Learn more about CORE’s rapid response during this global pandemic. It’s truly amazing! Follo

Yes, that Elizabeth Marvel is on the show today. I’m honored she took some time to be with me and with us. Elizabeth is a force to be reckoned with! She has acted in some incredible movies (True Grit, Lincoln) and TV shows (Homeland, House of Cards, Fargo). Her career has been amazing so far. How has she done it? By finding strategic ways to give a damn and by removing herself from the toxic social media environment. Read about how and why she protests in the NYT. Read about the "Cut Piece for Pant Suits” project we talked about in our conversation. ___________________________________ If you need anything at all, text me at 646-328-6414 or email me hello@letsgiveadamn.com. 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! If you love what we're doing, consider supporting us on Patreon! We can't do this without you. Lastly, leave us a 5-star rating and review on Apple Podcasts

Eddie Glaude Jr. is amazing! And he has a remarkable bio. It’s so remarkable that I’ll just link to it instead of trying to summarize it for you here. I hadn’t heard of Eddie until 2 months ago when my Priest brought him up during one of our conversations. I left our conversation and immediately bought his latest book Begin Again: James Baldwin's America and Its Urgent Lessons for Our Own. Holy shit! I mean, I’ve always been a massive fan of Jame Baldwin’s life and work, but this book wrecked me. I teeter-tottered between hope and despair the entire time. Follow Eddie on Twitter and Instagram Buy his books: Begin Again, Democracy In Black, In A Shade of Blue What did you think about this conversation? Hit me up anytime and for any reason at hello@letsgiveadamn.com. ___________________________________ 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! If you love what we're doi

Michael Wear is a friend and fellow damn-giver. He believes politics is a forum for loving your neighbor. And that's exactly why he joins us on the show today — to help us be hopeful, to share that hope, and to love out neighbor well. From Michael’s website: Michael Wear is a leading strategist, speaker and practitioner at the intersection of faith, politics and public life. He has advised a president, as well as some of the nation’s leading foundations, non-profits and public leaders, on some of the thorniest issues and exciting opportunities that define American life today. He has argued that the spiritual health and civic character of individuals is deeply tied to the state of our politics and public affairs.  As one of President Obama’s “ambassadors to America’s believers” (Buzzfeed), Michael directed faith outreach for President Obama’s historic 2012 re-election campaign. Michael was also one of the youngest White House staffers in modern American history: he served in the White House faith-based initiat