Jericho Green on Harnessing Inner Energy to Become a Cultural Commentator

Jericho Green is a man of many talents. You could call him  activists critic, or just one pissed off dude from California. But to me, Jericho is something of a video columnist. In his hundreds of videos, which he usually films on the way to work, Jericho presents a stinging critique of some of the worst of what we see unfolding in America today. He's unapologetic, but deeply thoughtful. The best place to find Jericho is on his great YouTube channel. Just Google Jericho Green. Also, don't forget to check out his awesome hats and t-shirts, which are not to be missed.

Just as a reminder, this episode was recorded back when the show was called the Meaning Creators in case you hear that name pop up in the interview, now onto the episode.

Ashley: So Jericho Green, thank you so much for being here. I think the question, the first question I have is just who are you? Where are you? And how did you get to the point where you're doing these amazing videos and that you're doing so many of them? I just looked through your YouTube channel, like there is video after video, after video, and you've been so consistent with them. And each time you've got something new to say and something interesting to say in a way that it's one of those things where you're hearing, you're like, "Oh yeah, okay. Yes." Why is nobody else saying that? Why didn't I didn't even think of that until I heard it. So, if you just start from the beginning and where you are.

Jericho: Well, first of all, thank you very much for having me. Thank you for taking the time. I really appreciate it. People's time is valuable, so when they use some of it on me, I'm very appreciative of that.

Ashley: It's a pleasure.

Jericho: Northern California is where I am in the belly of the belly of the beast when it comes to these crazy, just ridiculous laws and rules and people that you see in here coming out of California; I'm right there. I'm where they make these kinds of people. But, I'm here, I live with my family, my wife, two kids, my work, and the reason I have so many videos is because I'm passionate about my content, you know, the things that are going on in the world. And when you have kids, it kind of changes your view on things. You start looking at the big picture of the long-term a little bit more. You know when it's just you, you're a little bit more selfish, you know, that's human nature, but when you have other people to be concerned with you start looking at things differently, you start paying attention to different things. You start tuning into the education system and policies coming out of, whether it be your State government or at a federal level, you know, for the whole country.

So, I was one day listening to something, it kind of pissed me off a little bit, for lack of a better word or term, and I just started recording, but I'm so passionate about things. And then there's just this endless supply of liberal, just horseshit flowing from DC, and especially here in California. Think of something crazy that you think will never happen; it'll happen right here in California. Our governor, the exalted one, Gavin Newsome, dare I say his name; he just outlawed gas powered cars being produced in California, starting in like five or 10 years or something like that.

Never mind the humongous ag industry that powers California and feeds the world. I don't know what these guys are supposed to drive around the farm and haul these trailers and huge pieces of equipment with. I guess, you know, water powered cars or some liberal utopian fantasy he has in his mind. But you know, sometimes it's a blessing and a curse. Like, I'm glad to have things to talk about. I'm glad to have things to be passionate about, but some of it is just so crazy and damaging to our country and in some cases, the world. It's crazy, man. And I'm just, you know, you feel... a couple of weeks ago, we had Labor Day weekend here. It was a big deal here in the States. You know, people are barbecuing, you got a three-day weekend, the kids, it's kind of like the last whoorah before summer is over, it starts to get a little colder.

So, we were about three hours North of where I live here, and like I said, being in like the liberal, butt hole of the earth is where I am, so to go three hours away, it was like I was in another state. There was pro-Trump memorabilia everywhere and American flags and a great sense of patriotism, not to say that there aren't Patriots on the coast, but they're kind of quiet about it because they don't want to deal with the bullshit from these crazy liberals. You know, if you dare to stray from the script that they've written for everybody that believes what they believe. It was like I wasn't even in California anymore to see that kind of support for just conservative values. So, yeah, it's crazy living on the coast. And just like the East coast, New York, you know, that's usually where the crazies are on the coast, you know, they book in the rest of the country. Yeah man, being in California, there's a lot to talk about, so coming out with videos is not hard to do.

Ashley: Have you always been on this side of the political divide? Did you always have views that were kind of tending towards conservative, or is this something that kind of evolved over time as we've seen changes on the left and changes to what it means to be liberal? Because it didn't used to mean all that it means today. I mean, when I was growing up, to be liberal was kind of a middle of the road proposition. It's kind of like, live and let live and you know, let's take care of each other; those were the basic premises. To me, it seems like the spectrum really shifted in a drastic way. Was that something that you were part of that shift as well that as the shift was moving in a different direction you're kind of also changing, or is this the views and ideas that you have today, were those always with you?

Jericho: You know, you're right, the word liberal now means something totally different. It's been hijacked and perverted. Liberal used to be something that we could all agree with. You know, like you said, live and let live. Let's be kind to each other. Let's help each other when we can. I think that should be the ground rule for any good society, but it’s been taken over and now it means something completely crazy. Unfortunately, all credit given to my parents and the environment that they provided for me, I never had a need to change or switch my views or walk away as the popular term is online. I never had to do that. Both of my parents served in the military. So no matter where you're from in the world, if we grow up with military parents, there's going to be some similarities. There's going to be some structure is going to be some discipline. There's going to be some self-reliance and that's not the only way you get it. But with military parents is a very high probability that that's how it's going to be.

And my parents, you know, if you do something wrong or right, that's on you; you either take all the punishment or you take all the credit, but that's on you. You can't blame somebody. And I can't wrap my head around giving my power up to somebody else saying you have control over my life, you control my actions and my emotions, my access to things. I don't subscribe to that. That's ridiculous. Are you kidding me? Nobody has control over me, but me. The only other person's opinion I listened to is my wife and that's about it. Everybody else can suck it pretty much, so I've just never subscribed to that.

I'm fortunate enough. Fortunate for me, unfortunate for them to have examples in my life and my family and people around me to see, oh yeah, I'm not going to think like that; that is just a bunch of garbage. And I don't know how a fully functioning adult can buy into that. And I'm hoping that I pass that down to my kids to not how to be, but at least sit back and be objective, do your homework. Don't just believe this nonsense that's being piped into your mind by some silver ponytail Hawaiian shirt wearing idiot who missed his boat in life so now he's mad and he's going to try to poison your mind. You know, don't be disrespectful. Just like Ronald Reagan said "Trust, but confirm," you know, listen to what they're saying, but make sure you back that with your own research. Have your own mind. Don't be led around by the nose like these morons out in the street, destroying, and creating havoc.

Why? Because you were told to feel that way, because you're told that somebody wronged you in some way, who is it? Well, this imaginary system you keep telling me about, does this system have a face? I mean, is this a real person or just something you make up to make you have excuses for your failures? And like I said, thanks to my parents; I never bought into that bullshit, and I'm so thankful because I couldn't imagine being the age that I am and finally waking up to the tricks that have been pulled on you for years. I'm so glad that I didn't have to ride that train so to speak.

Ashley: Yeah. Well, I mean that to me, it brings a great point, which is that if you've got a viewpoint like yours, and you're looking around and you feel like you're at a point where you're saying, "I'm going to take responsibility for myself, I'm going to hold on to the power that I know, I have in my own life. And I can see around me millions and millions of people who can't do that or are not willing to do that." And the question becomes then, how do we as a society or how do you as an individual help make that change, help make the change where you get people to start opening their eyes or just to listen for a second? You know what I mean? So, it's not just about spewing the hashtag at a protest or online and just hammering away at that point, but to stop and be like, maybe the other person has something to say.

And even for myself thinking about it, you know, when I hear an argument that's counter to something I believe in, I always want to be able to stop and be like, what are they really trying to say and why? But how do we get other people to do that? Because it seems like the hardest thing in the world when you're watching these kids or adults at protests and they're just going bonkers, like they're absolutely out of control. It seems like it's a rage. How do you talk to that? That's the question.

Jericho: That's a great question. I think that number one; we have to know who to deal with. We have to decide, okay, who are the ones that we are able to save and who are the ones that are too far gone because you can't save everybody, not enough room. You know, we can't do it all. Some of those people are gone. Some of those people are mad about things that we can't help them with. You know, like in my video sometimes I'll say, "You know what? You need to go on a road trip with your dad and workout whatever you got going on and let him hug you and tell you the things he should have told you when you were younger" because that's where a lot of this crap comes from. That's where all of our crap comes from as adults. You know, we can always trace it back to somewhere in our childhood. And some of us escaped with less damage than others, but some of them are gone.

So, the ones that we can talk to, the ones who are at least open to listening; my brother, he's a good example of this. We don't see eye to eye on 90% of things. He's not crazy. He's not one of the blue haired, what I call granola, headed dirt fuckers. He's not one of them, but we don't see eye to eye on things, but I learned from him. I learned from his point of view, I can understand it. I might not agree with it, but I understand it, and I'm learning from him. So the people we can engage and talk to like that, that's what we need to do. We need to engage, listen, and also talk, you know, let them know how we feel. Let them know that we have more similarities than differences because the mainstream and the complacent fat career politicians, they're pushing a different narrative. They need us to stay, not focusing because it's so easy.

If we focus, it's so easy to peel back the layers of their bullshit and their corruption. But we're focused on, Oh, you're different than me or I'm supposed to be fearful of you because I saw you on TV smashing in people's windows that we're not going to pay attention to the man behind the curtain, so to speak. And also, and probably more importantly I think is to start at home because this is a big world. We can't help the world, but we can control to a certain extent what we have in our home. So teaching our kids and maybe you don't have kids, maybe you have a significant other, talking to them and maybe getting them to open up and just listen, not change their views, not bring them to our side, so to speak, but at least be open to it. And especially with our kids, you know, teach them that people are going to have differences, but that's no reason to hate them. Like, because I voted for somebody different than you, you want to hit me in the head with a padlock; insane.

Ashley: It's crazy.

Jericho: You can't negotiate with them. That's insanity. That's evil. What rational person would react like that? But, starting at home and that's not just this turmoil, this speed bump we're dealing with in America, but the fatherless homes that create these people who have interactions with the police, who get shot, who start these ridiculous riots and all these protesters, right. But you know, creating those kinds of people who don't have a value for life or authority, who get shot by the police, who pull their gun on the cop and shoot at this cop. Like, who would shoot at a cop? What do you think they're going to do if you shoot at them? They have guns on them. They have guns in the car that are even bigger, so that's what they do. But if we create people who respect authority and who aren't going to scream "Fuck the police" and throw bottles at them.

If I would not be afraid of the police, I would be afraid that the police would call my dad and my mom and tell them that they caught me out here doing this. Because then, that's the penalty that I'm afraid of because I was taught to respect authority. So, I'm not going to be out here doing this nonsense because number one, I got respect for myself and my mom and dad might be coming down the street behind me, and that's a fate worse than death. I was thinking that definitely, a lot of our ills as a people; it needs to start at home. It really does. I know it sounds old fashioned and whatever, but it starts at home.

Ashley: I a hundred percent agree. And I think that, you know, the family, again, and it sounds even more old fashioned, but I feel like the family is sacrosanct, you know, the family sacred and we've completely... we haven't just lost that; actually, it's been destroyed. I think it's been attacked. I think it's been in some fashion deliberately attacked in the US and not just from the left, I also think it's going to affect, like consumer culture gone, just haywire, just too much, just too much stuff. But I also think that when it comes to the people being on the street and the stuff they're doing on the street, I see something that I've seen in the US a long time, which is there's no sense of us or we in America. And I say this admittedly for someone who doesn't live in America anymore, and hasn't lived there for a long time.

But when I was there, I kind of would look around and be like, these people don't have anything in common with each other besides the geographic location they happen to be in right now. And I don't feel like I have anything in common. It doesn't feel like togetherness. It doesn't feel like a shared mission or shared sense of purpose. And if you don't have that commonality, I feel like, you know, why would you go and step out and help that guy next to you? Why would you look at the cop and be like, it's not a cop, it's a fellow citizen first. That to me is another part of this, it’s like, how do we recapture that? How do we regain that sense of like, this is not just a place where we all happen to live; we're in this together for a reason. And that to me is also something I'd love to hear you talk about what we used to call the common good.

Jericho: Yeah. I totally agree with you and you know, you don't have to be here to have an educated opinion or the right opinion about how things are going in America. My dad would always say, “You don't need to bite the doughnut to know its sweet. You know, you can see that from where you are.” The world sees what's going on here. And it's true, and it's, again, going back to that old fashioned kind of thing. When I was a kid, you know, it was a neighborhood; all the kids played together, parents knew each other, all I got to do is make a phone call to that parent, "Your kid's acting up," "Oh, send him home immediately." He'll be back to apologize. It was respect and a sense of community. And I don't want to put it always on the media or the government because we have to take responsibility in this too, because we allowed it to happen.

It's on all of us. And to be honest, the last time we really felt that sense of community, that togetherness was on nine 12, 2001 and a few months after that, or six months after that or whatever. It was just, you know, you would see people on the street and just kind of nod to them. You know, it didn't need to be said, it was felt, and people were a community and it didn't matter what you look like, because it happened to all of us. We were all here. And I don't want something like that to have to happen again to unite people. But again, bring it back to the home. We got to create these people because adults they're pretty much gone. They're already hardened. They've already hardened their minds. They're no longer pliable. It's the kids. It's them seeing us interact each other and seeing how we treat police officers when we see them.

Do we say hello to them? Do we say, “Hey, you guys stay safe out there” or do we mumble something under our breath when we walk by or do we give them a dirty look; kids pick up on that. They're so fine tune to our feelings and our emotions, it's unreal. They know like, you know when mommy and daddy got... when they're beefing, when there's a problem, you can feel it in the air. It's like when you go up in an airplane, your ears get tight, there's a pressure change in the atmosphere; you know what's up, and it's so important. I hate to be cliche, but you got to have kids to know. You know what it feels like to look at your kids, it's not even love. Love is a horseshit word. I mean, that doesn't begin to describe the feelings you have for your children.

I mean, I love my mom's potato salad. That's nothing compared to, you know, this 50% of my DNA right here, I do whatever I had to for them. So along with loving them and giving them the proper tools is showing them how to be kind to others and showing them that sense of community, waving to your neighbors, meeting them when they move into the neighborhood. We got to hit reset and re-install some of those old fashioned ways; I guess that made us... that got us here. You know, that made us the great country that we are. It's still there. There's some erosion, there's some rust on top of it, but it's still there, and we need to go back to it and reconnect people. And it's tough with social media, you know, it connects us, but it distances us. You see a line of people somewhere, what are they all doing? They're all looking down at their phone, so there are new enemies against creating a sense of community, but it can be done. It's a hell of a task. It's a tall order. It's a son of a bitch, but it can be done.

Ashley: I had a friend who lived here when he passed away recently, he was 98 years old. Born and raised, I think he was born and raised in the US, definitely raised there. He was in Harvard. He studied Harvard. He left, he tried to race to graduation so that he would be able to fight in World War II because the idea of him not being able to go into that war while all the other people around him were sacrificing their lives and their futures was unacceptable. He just could not imagine that so he did it. He was on, I think a destroyer in the Pacific and he did it again. He was in law school and he saw the Jews of Europe after the Holocaust, they're being rounded up by the British and putting these internment camps.

He got a boat by himself, because he hadn't experienced, the Navy, took this boat to Cyprus to try to free these people, was arrested by the British. This guy as at 22 years old, 23 years old at the time, his name was Harold Katz. And the reason I'm talking about him is because he always used to say to me, you have to have a sense of the sacred, otherwise it all just goes out the window. Well, you can hold on to an idea, you can hold on to a compromise or a bargain, but if there's not a sense of the sacred that's keeping it all together that we say, these are the things absolutely won't transgress because it's who we are and it's who I am. And you know, this isn't a view I don't really speak about too much because it feels like the cultural climate we're in. It feels like if you say something about the sacred, you're a Puritan, you're a Bible Thumper or something, which I'm a hundred percent not because I don't feel like it needs to be a particular form of the secret, but we need to have a sense of the sacred.

And that does need to be connected to a culture of who we are, our society of who we are, and that doesn't mean it makes you fascist. Not at all because there does need to be a diversity of ideas and thoughts, but I think that's, what's missing not just in the US, all around the world and even in a country like Israel where there's a lot of religious people here where, you know, this country is sort of based or rooted in the Bible. We should also have lost that sense of the sacred. We've also given it up in exchange for surfing on the web and making our little, scoring our little points on Twitter and being cool and all that kind of thing. That to me is another big question here is how do we find that sacred, that sacred... not a safe space? How do we find a sacred space in our culture today?

Jericho: Yeah, I think, like you said, speaking of the older gentleman, I mean, 98 years old, just think of just sitting with him for an afternoon, listening to him tell you stories of how he grew up, what they used to do, how much things used to cost. You know, well, not only do we need to focus on raising good people, but also listening to the people who've been there and done that, who have been through much tougher times than we could ever imagine. When's the next time you're going to somehow commandeer a boat to go save people from somewhere? Those times have passed and they did that so we don't have to. You know, those people went through those really hard times. I mean, imagine now if they were drafting people; could they'd be hashtag not going, you know, I'm not going to go fight this evil, fascist, you know, whatever, the stupid words they would throw around.

But you're right, there needs to be some non-negotiable there needed to be things that we can all agree, you know this is sacred, you know, children, women, the elderly, animals, the basic, these are people that we have to protect, the elderly people we have to revere to a certain extent. Yeah really, it's tough, you know, to kind of hit, reset and get back to those values. And the reason people want that is because it's in us. We all know what's right. We don't need a book to tell us, don't steal, don't hurt people, don't be eyeballing your buddy's wife, you know, all that kind of stuff; that's in us. You know that's not right, so can we say that out loud without being ostracized and you know, a call, like you said, some kind of Puritan or fascist, because we believe in things that the latest little pop slut told you was bad.

That's ridiculous, and a lot of this stuff comes from people who come from broken homes so they don't know. They don't know what it's like to have those values; they view them as old rigid passed things that we shouldn't. We need to update, its 21st century, man, I can have abortions if I want, marriage is stupid. No, it's not; that's what made... that's what created you. That's what made you, that's what gave us these times that we're talking about getting back to. The times do need to be simpler, so to speak. Now, we're not going to all go back and shut down the internet. That's here to stay, but we somehow need to reconnect. And like I said, we can't change the world, but we can change our house, and that's where it starts.

And it's tough, especially having kids. You want to limit that screen time. You want to limit your screen time to watch time with them, especially like you and I, you know, having things that we also do that require the phone, answering emails and things of that nature. You've got to balance providing a life for your kids and being a part of that life you provide. It's a balancing act, but we're parents, we signed up for it; the stork didn't drop it off on the porch for us. We had to went to work for it, so it's we just got to dig deeper and try to do better and hope that we don't have to have a time where there needs to be a draft where we got to send our young to go fight like that. Because those times, you know, World War II, those are tough times, man. We don't want to have to go through that again.

Ashley: No, we certainly don't. You know, but along those lines of being someone who's, you know, you're leaning into the social media where all this stuff is really going down. How does that work for you? So you said it earlier that, you know, you just got pissed off and you wanted to put it out there and to say something. And I feel like a lot of people could do that once or twice and be like, "All right, I did it." How did you keep going? How do you keep going? What are you finding with your audience? Are you hearing back from people? What are they telling you? I just want to hear a little bit more about what's now become a real project. I mean, you're deep. How many videos are there because it seems like there a lot? So, I'm really curious to hear about that whole thing.

Jericho: Oh my God, man. I must be around 750 videos.

Ashley: Wow.

Jericho: Because I pretty much do them every day. Every once in a while, I'll take a day off and not do anything, but if there's something big or something that I hear about that really gets me going about something; yeah, I'll talk about it. I was listening to one of my... I did my first video I was listening to ESPN. There's this guy on their named Max Kellerman, and he was talking about how tough it is for the black quarterbacks in the NFL, where the league minimum mind you, meaning even if you sit on the bench and don't play, you make $900,000 a year. So, spare me all that nonsense and this Phantom racism you may deal with. And okay, let's say you really did have to deal with some racism. All right. Okay. Fine.

All I do is think about that $900,000 check and I could give a shit what anybody thinks about me or what I'm doing. Like, get real, like what rich? And he was talking about Warren Moon, which is like a famous Hall of Famer quarterback. So what racism are you talking about, because I'm sure whenever he stepped out of his home, it was "Warren, Warren signed this. You're awesome, man. I got your poster. Great game last week." What a tough life that is? Like, you're seriously telling me that black NFL quarterbacks have a bad... come on, man. Is this what we're focusing on? So, I felt like nobody who looked like me was saying things the way that I wanted them said. I felt like the voice of, like, there wasn't a voice for black people. Like, everybody thought we all thought of the same way as Jesse Jackson or Al Sharpton, and I felt that way even as a kid.

Because I'd hear my parents talk about Jesse Jackson, you know, he doesn't represent me. He's not the official spokesperson for black people. My parents never agreed with what they said, so that kind of planted something in me. I'm tired of hearing people talk like that. I'm tired of hearing them say the same thing making people think that, I think like that too, and I don't. So, I'm going to tell you about it. I'm going to tell you what I think. And just so happens, I got a lot of things that I like to talk about that concern what I think. Yeah, it's great. I do them because I try to spend as much time as I can with my kids, so me taking 15 to 20 minutes a day out to do a video; that's a lot. But I got to sit in my car anyway to drive to work, so you know, the rat race, so I might as well knock it out then, you know, that way I'm not taking any extra time for my kids, I put off some videos; everybody's happy.

Ashley: The car thing is cool because it kind of like situate you in your routine. Like, we get a sense of not just what you're saying, but what you're doing, you're on the way to work or wherever you might be going. But it's kind of like, I don't know, there's something about being in the moment that way. It's not like you're in a padded studio with like the egg shell foam around you. That's something that actually I feel like it really contributes to that message. Like you're out there, you're in the world, you're doing clearly a busy guy; it’s like managed to find this 15 minutes, which is also something I think a lot of people miss is that change and making a difference doesn't require 40 hours a week. It just requires I think enough courage to be able to commit to it and say, whatever it is I'm just going to do it every day. People miss idea in a lot of different ways in life, but sorry, I kind of interrupted you there.

Jericho: No, no, no, not at all. Yeah, I think that's part of the appeal is even if you're not at that point in your life now, maybe you're done working or maybe you've reached a level of success, but we've all been in the rat race at some point. We've all been sitting in our car, going to work. We've all had a work to go to, and the things that come along with the work. And then the things that come along with life, and the trust that we've lost for the media that played a part in that too, because the media used to be a watchdog. You know, we're out here, living life, kids, work, whatever, building something, and so when I come home at night and I tune in before the days of the internet; you tune into the TV, all right, Walter Cronkite or whoever, tell me what's been going on. What are these bastards have been up to while I've been at work all day? And they would give us, you know, the news and allow us to give our own opinion, but that's been perverted along with liberalism to "We'll give you your opinion. Here you go. This is what you're supposed to think. You know, this is how you're supposed to digest this, and this is what this means.

Not letting us kind of treat it as the buffet, so to speak, "I'll take this. I'll take that. I don't like that. I'll take this. Let me digest it; come up with my own opinion. Thanks for keeping an eye on them for me," but that's changed. You know, now you're telling me what to think. I'm not stupid. I might look stupid, but I'm not stupid. You know, I can think for myself, so now you're insulting. Now you're thinking I'm dumb enough to believe this nonsense you're spewing to me; this hatred. You're telling me that I live in a country or in a world that I don't. You're telling me one thing, but I don't live what you're telling me. I don't live and very white person... Don Lemon said white men are the most dangerous things in America... the most dangerous terrorist in America, but he's married to one. I work with some, I'm good friends with some, I'm married to a white woman, so does she have some secret alternative, you know, some ulterior motive just lying and waiting to spring on me?

You know, in her family, I don't live that bullshit every white person is racist. There's no system against me, if there is, I haven't seen it yet. Any of the failures or successes, they're mine, so I don't know what you're talking about, so now I can't trust you anymore. Now, I got to go get my own information. Now, I got to go find a Jericho Green who's not going to lie to me. I'm glad they do that because that kind of created what I do, but it's unfortunate. It's very unfortunate because it's very, very dangerous.

Ashley: Who are the Jericho Greens that you, that the actual Jericho green is going to look at? Who do you go to? Where do you go to get the information, to get what you feel is reliable and honest and open information?

Jericho: I have people that I know, even some people that I don't know… followers of mine. No, that sounds a little weird to say. People who watch videos, they'll email, you know there are different ways, and I verify everything. I try to do some research so I know what I'm talking about. I've had people send me things, I look into it and it's like a total hoax or something like that. But there are some people that I trust. I do my own research. I'll look at a Fox news, but I'll also look at, you know, salon or something like that. Some left-leaning things to try to find the middle, but I just look, I just scour the internet, you know, try to get a couple of sides of the argument. Sometimes I don't need one. Sometimes I already know, but just various things. You know, it kind of just... when you have your finger on the pulse of current events I guess, you just find them.

Ashley: And it's out there.

Jericho: Yeah, it's definitely out there. But no matter who I get something from, I definitely do a certain level of vetting to make sure everything's on the up and up and that I know about it. You know, I want to know what the hell I'm talking about.

Ashley: Yeah. I wrote a book a while ago, when was it; it was like 10 years ago really, which was about the 10 cases where the New York Times, you know, the most famous and influential newspaper in America and possibly even the world, they actually misreported history to such an extent in these cases that they changed the course of history, like really crazy stuff. And so, one of the cases was... the most recent was the 1619 project. If you heard about it, where they were...

Jericho: Yeah.

Ashley: So you heard about it, so the point of being 1619 project for people listening is, the New York Times is trying to relocate the founding of American history from 1776, the declaration of independence to 1619, which was the arrival of the first slave in the US. And the biggest critic of the project by far was the world socialist website. I mean, the most left hard left outlet that you could find out there. And you would think they would all be in cahoots with this narrative. They were not, they were saying what the 1619 project has done is not only just honest, it's inaccurate. And that was a real eye-opener to me because I think it's always easy to fall into an idea that all of them over there at one way, and all of us over here are another way, and I think that's a part of the lie. You know, that's a part of the lie we all kind of love to tell ourselves or to fall for it even when we have the best of intentions.

And it's like what you're saying before, it's like, you have to be able to listen to that other person, listen to your brother who's got different views than you do. And you know, as someone... as a storytellers, which is what I am, what I think about myself as, I keep thinking, like, if we could only just sit down, like, you know, there's that incident a few weeks back in DC where this crowd of people walk up to these people eating lunch on sidewalk and just start hounding and harassing them intimidating them. It's so ineffective because if one of those people had just sat down next to them, said, "Hey, can I join you for a second? Can I tell you my story? Can you give me five minutes of your time let me tell you my story?" Let me hear what it was like for me. And even if the story they're telling, maybe doesn't ring totally true; that other person could at least hear what they're saying and why they're saying that, and I think that's such a big thing.

It's like we don't... we've stopped telling stories about honest stories. It's about who we are and where we've come from, and we've all fallen back on the hashtag. We've all just fallen back on the, "this is how it is, you know, whether you like it or not, throw it in your face." And I'm not sure what my original point there was. But I think the idea is that diversity of opinion is always a good thing. When you start shutting other people down; you start eliminating that diversity of thought and opinion and information too, because there is more than one. It's not that they're alternative facts, but there's more than one way to understand what's actually going on. You got to eventually in the final analysis, decide for yourself, which is, I think what you're saying all along, decide for yourself. Don't just take the whole cloth from Don Lemon or whoever, or from Tucker Carlson, whoever it might be.

But that seems to me to be this huge challenge, and I think a lot of that challenge is social media. I mean, you're a guy who is talking to the world through social media, but at the same time we know what social media are doing. We know how they're using algorithms to deliver the kind of content that will get people riled up because it gets them clicking. So, I think that's... as we kind of start to wrap up, I'd like to hear from you as someone who's really kind of in that world, and you're starting to really leverage its power, but at the same time you must be aware of its dangers. And how do you balance those ideas? And what do you have to tell people? What do you have to tell social media users like me who are kind of like, I find myself getting lost in the maelstrom of hate and vitriol? How does other people out there, how can we fight that and use it for its best affects and not fall into its worst causes?

Jericho: It's tough to do let me tell you. I kind of rely on my wife for that and not… I wouldn't say like I just try to tune out and she'll tell me, "Hey, why don't you take a break from that?" Or take a few hours off from that or take a day off, you know, trying to come back to the world" because it's a fast current, it's very easy to get swept up in it because there's so much of it and it's there 24/7 and whatever you're looking for, you're going to find it. But try to find something that's tethered to the real world, to our world, our lives to kind of pull you back from that. I find also, kind of trying to find other outlets that I've never used before to kind of see the other side, but not like the foxes or the salons that's just like total left-wing garbage that hardly anybody listens to, but maybe something like you said, that's a difference of opinion, but it's still something that we can listen to, and it's still rooted in some kind of sanity and normalcy, you know, not this four year olds can decide their own gender kind of shit.

But you know, the stuff that we can all agree on, but it may be a difference of opinion from what we are. It's kind of a breath of fresh we're out of our usual flow of how we get our information and what we read and probably like, "Oh, okay. There is hope. There are sensible people on the other side, so to speak." So, it's a good feeling to kind of get lifted out of that for a second, but I would definitely try to look to something that's not related to that, that's in like just your regular life to kind of give us a, you know, come to the surface for air because it's so easy to get pulled down in that basement of what's going on in the world, you know, kind of in that lab, that mad scientist lab of what's going on in the world. Because there's plenty of it, and every time you turn around, somebody said something crazy, some athletes said something stupid, some company is getting woo and calling some product for some dumb ass of reason. And just something that further make us go, "Damn it! How do we get here?

So, try to find something to snap us out of it or see the other side, like, "Okay, there are sensible people, will be okay." And we will, I think it's going to take a lot more than whatever the hell we're dealing with now to unravel not only the fabric of America, but the world. You know, there are countries that have been around for a long time, they've put these values in place for a long time, and I like to think that it's going to take more than what the far left have to offer to tear that down.

Ashley: Yeah, I agree. I think that what you're talking about is coming up for air and doing, and not even... I think it's, you know, trying to get to the point where we're not coming up for air, but we're breathing the air and occasionally dipping below the surface for a few seconds and then living life back out in the open of "Real life" you know, from our job, family and community and hobbies. You know, what happened to having a hobby? Like even a hobby doesn't have to be like pasting together like a wooden ship or something. It could be like riding a motorcycle. A friend of mine, just like, he loves riding motorcycles. He doesn't commute with it. It's just his weekend thing, he just gets out there for a few hours and breeze the air. So, what is that kind of thing for you? What is it just so people get a sense of who you are and what you love to do?

Jericho: Man, I love spend time with my kids. I love to do my videos because it gives me a chance. It's cathartic; it's therapy, everybody who I see in the comment section, you know, "Hey man, you're saying what I'm thinking. It's good to hear somebody say that." Same for me, I'm glad to hear myself say that, so I'm kind of being therapeutic to myself. But definitely by far, no question, is hanging out with my kids. And we have a municipal airport near here, and on the weekends, there's this huge industrial park near there, like the headquarters for Coca-Cola and the news stations where they park all their vehicles, but on the weekend, there's nobody there and they have these freshly paved parking lot. So, I'll take my kids over there to ride the roller blades or their skateboard, and just getting outside with them because they're spending so much time in front of the screen right now with this online school and bullshit, so any way to get them out in nature in the air to scrape their knee and get dirty, you know, that's really my main thing.

And so, and with that, like we were talking before, you know, we started with that second kid; you kind of get to relive the first kid because the first kid you learn how fast time goes. You blink, now they're half your height telling you what they think about the world. So with the second one, you know, you kind of get to be in the moment more because the first one you don't know what's going on, and they're babies, you're turning on the light to see if they're still breathing. You're so caught up; not knowing what the hell is going on. That's a real parent stuff right there. If you haven't turned on the light to see what that baby's still breathing you don't understand. You know with that second one, you kind of get a second shot at it. So, just being with them, you know, and listen to them talk and you know the silly stuff.

They're so simple. They're so simple. They're so pure. They're so untainted by the world. Everything's black and white to them, but you know, they come, kids are like a new cell phone. They come with some apps on them; you can't erase it. You know, they come with some things already on them, so it's up to us to kind of guide it. Don't extinguish that little flame. You kind of guide it, give it some basic rules and just being around then man because you know, you blink, there'll be asking for our car keys and want us to drop them off a block from school so nobody knows they have parents. So, you know, I'm trying to live in the moment, man. I'm trying to soak it up before they're slamming doors, giving me attitude, you know what I mean? So that's it, my kids are it.

Ashley: That's amazing. That's amazing. You don't hear that often, and that's the greatest thing to hear because it's really... you know, right now the Jewish people we're in this time, we call it the Days of Awe between the New Year Roshashana and the day of judgment coming up on Sunday, Monday. And a friend of mine texted me saying, "You know, this is the time to think about what's really important." And just that phrase, what's really important because when you start thinking what's important, I'm like, Oh, my platform's important, and my income is important, my tax is important. You're like, "No, that's not it actually, that's not what's really important." What's really important are my kids, my wife, and our family, and the community around us, and the people in the country that we live in, who matter no matter who they are, they matter.

And those are the things that are... and like you said, nature and animals and making sure that we're doing what we can do to make this a better place. I mean, that's got to be the really important thing. The rest is mostly ego I find and fear; those things just get ahold of you and they don't let go unless you pry their fingers off, and I think that's what's going on. A lot of the time with US is that you look at hatred; you trace it back to fear every single time. And when people are scared, they start to hate and then the hate causes more fear, and I think that's unfortunately where we are.

Anyways, on that cheerful note, I wanted to say, thank you for what you're doing. Thank you for taking the time for this interview. I think a lot of people out there, again, on every side of a question of our political divide can appreciate the core sentiment of what you're doing and what you're saying, and I think that's what really matters. Whether they're here or there on a certain issue, it's not that relevant. It's really about where someone's coming from. And I think when people hear what you're saying, that's what they're hearing. Even if they disagree with the issue you're talking about the way or the opinion you've got on it, they hear you're coming at it from a place that's honest and fair, and I think that's what really matters. So, you know, that's just my appreciation for what you're doing and you know, I hope you and I can continue this. Maybe we'll do around two, another 6:00 AM, 8:00 PM for you, or we'll push it 5:00 AM, you know, go for the gold.

Jericho: Whatever time, whatever place you let me know, man, this has been an absolute pleasure when you're great at what you do. I really appreciate it. And it's so wonderful, great, awesome to see someone on the other side of the world that values the family, because that's going to fix all this is the family, that's the most important thing. Because we're going to damage our kids in some way, we're human, but we got to give it our best and we have to give them the tools and to hear someone on the other side of the world, for me, thinking the same way, it's just very encouraging. And hey man, we'll definitely have around two. This was awesome.

Ashley: Jericho, thank you so much. I'm going to put all your info in the show notes when we got the show notes ready, but I think what people really need to check out is your YouTube channel; that's where it's all happening. I'm going to buy a t-shirt because I think those t-shirts are awesome. And I hope you ship internationally because I've got friends in different countries who will really love to get a Jericho Green t-shirt. So, thank you and let's be in touch.

Jericho: Most definitely. Thanks a lot, man. You have a good night or good day, actually.

Ashley: Good day. Yeah, that's it. Take care.