The Work From Home Show

Dr. Noah St. John is "The Mental Health Coach to the Stars" and Inventor & Father of Afformations. He is the #1 New York Times' bestselling author of The Book of Afformations®: Discovering the Missing Piece to Abundant Health, Wealth, Love, and Happiness and the new book The 7-Figure Life:  How to Leverage the 4 Focus Factors for More  Wealth and Happiness. He joins the show to discuss personal growth, success. the impact of poverty on mental health, and the need for a strong support system. He also discusses his invention of "Afformations," which engage the brain's embedded presupposition factor to help people achieve their goals. St. John emphasizes the importance of balancing gratitude with striving for goals and facing fears to achieve success. He then walks through the four focus factors he outlines in his book, which are essential for those working from home in a world of infinite distractions. In today's world of infinite distractions, it's becoming increasingly difficult to stay focused on our goals and achieve success. St. John outlines four key factors that can help us regain control of our lives and achieve more wealth and happiness. The four focus factors are time, energy, relationships, and money. But as Noah emphasizes, focusing solely on money at the expense of everything else can lead to a lack of time, energy, and relationships, rendering the money meaningless. Instead, he encourages us to balance gratitude with striving for our goals and facing our fears. Social media can lead to isolation and loneliness, especially for the younger generation. So it's important to find a community of like-minded individuals who can offer encouragement and support on our journey towards success. In a world of distractions and negativity, it's easy to lose sight of our goals and succumb to self-doubt. But by focusing on the four key factors outlined in "The Seven Figure Life" and implementing the Afformations method, we can regain control of our lives and achieve more wealth and happiness. So let's take a page from Noah's book and start focusing on what truly matters. Websites:  www.noahstjohn.com www.BreakthroughwithNoah.com www.12weekbreakthrough.com www.afformations.com www.sevenfigurelifebook.com   The Importance of Mental Health [00:01:02] Dr. John shares his background and how he became a mental health business coach, emphasizing the importance of mental health and the impact of poverty on it. Changing Attitudes Towards Mental Health [00:04:15] Noah St. John talks about the changing attitudes towards mental health and how it has become a more acceptable topic to discuss, especially with the rise of celebrities talking about it. Challenges Faced by the Younger Generation [00:07:38] The host and Noah St. John discuss the challenges faced by the younger generation growing up with technology and social media, and the potential impact on their social skills and mental health. Social Media Addiction [00:08:42] Noah St. John talks about the addictive nature of social media and how it targets the ancient brain to keep users hooked. Control Your Life [00:09:31] Noah St. John discusses how he helps his clients regain control of their lives and win back time and money. Four Focus Factors [00:16:07] Noah St. John explains the four focus factors he discusses in his book, "The Seven Figure Life," which help individuals leverage their focus for more wealth and happiness. The Four Focus Factors [00:16:49] Noah St. John explains the four focus factors: time, energy, relationships, and money, and how they are interconnected. He gives an example of how he helped a client find more time and money while improving his relationships. Afformations [00:19:07] Noah St. John introduces his concept of Afformations, which are empowering questions that engage the brain's embedded presupposition factor. He explains how Afformations can be used to achieve personal growth and success. The Belief Gap [00:20:52] Noah St. John discusses the belief gap, which is the gap between where a person is and where they want to be. He explains how an unconscious belief gap can hold people back from achieving their goals and how his company, SuccessClinic.com, helps people overcome it. The importance of enoughness [00:25:26] Noah St. John discusses the importance of believing in oneself and the detrimental effects of the false misconception that people are not enough. They also touch on the delicate balance between being grateful for what one has and striving for more. The power of Afformations [00:23:57] Noah St. John talks about his Afformations method and how it engages the embedded presupposition factor of the brain to change one's life. He shares a story of a woman who tripled her investment in just two weeks using his 12 week breakthrough program. The danger of negative self-talk [00:27:36] Noah St. John warns against negative self-talk and identifies "why am I not enough?" and "why can't I do x?" as questions one should never ask. He emphasizes the need to identify and eliminate the voice in one's head that says they are not enough.

Frank Gaffney is Founder and President at The Center for Security Policy and bestselling author of the new book THE INDICTMENT: Prosecuting the Chinese Communist Party & Friends for Crimes against America, China, and the World. He breaks down China's place in the world today, and their strategy to take over the world moving forward. China can do this by paying off politicians worldwide and unleashing future pandemics like what the world just experienced. Gaffney also shares his thoughts on Islamism, predicting more terrorist attacks against the U.S. and worldwide. Websites: www.centerforsecuritypolicy.org www.PresentDangerChina.org www.SecuringAmerica.TV

Marni Jameson is a nationally syndicated home columnist and #1 New York Times' bestselling author of Downsizing The Family Home: What to Save, What to Let Go and the new book What to Do with Everything You Own to Leave the Legacy You Want. Website: www.marnijameson.com

Marni Jameson a nationally syndicated home columnist and #1 New York Times' bestselling author of Downsizing The Family Home: What to Save, What to Let Go She joins the show to answer:  - What do you mean by downsizing one's home? - Shouldn't people who work from home want more space? - How can our work from homers downsize their homes they currently live in? - How can we show our homes we care and more appreciation? - What are your tips for working from home if there are pets in the home? Website: www.marnijameson.com

In this podcast episode of the Work From Home Show, former Ohio congressman Dennis Kucinich is interviewed about his experiences fighting against a utility monopoly and corporate interests in Cleveland. He discusses his book "The Division of Light and Power" and the importance of protecting public ownership and assets from corporate interests. The conversation then shifts to Kucinich's role as the chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus and his experiences working with Republicans during his time in Congress.  Dennis Kucinich's background and book [00:01:22] Congressman Dennis Kucinich talks about his book "The Division of Light and Power" and his experiences fighting against a utility monopoly and corporate interests in Cleveland. How citizens can fight back against privatization efforts [00:09:14] A third person asks how citizens can fight back against privatization efforts and Kucinich discusses the importance of asking questions and making issues out of undervalued public assets. The Cost of Privatization [00:10:24] Congressman Kucinich discusses the negative impact of privatization on taxpayers and rate payers in Cleveland. Corporate Interests and Political Corruption [00:13:15] Congressman Kucinich talks about the attempts of corporations to buy off politicians through campaign contributions and his personal experience with a bank's offer. Combatting Income Inequality [00:18:51] Congressman Kucinich suggests creating a jobs program to combat income inequality and ensure every able-bodied person has an opportunity to make a living. Full Employment Economy [00:20:03] Congressman Kucinich discusses the challenges of finding meaningful work with benefits, especially during COVID-19, and advocates for a full employment economy. Working Across the Aisle [00:21:17] Kucinich shares his experience of working with Republicans in Congress, including Tom Delay, to achieve common goals and emphasizes the importance of looking beyond party lines. Campaign Contributions and Community Organizing [00:24:54] Kucinich discusses the corrupting influence of campaign contributions and suggests that candidates should be careful about who they accept money from. He also highlights the power of community organizing to overcome the influence of money in politics. Speaker 1 (00:00:29) - Hey everybody. Welcome to The Work From Home Show. I'm Naso with Adam Schrader. Shout out to all our homies, homeboys, homegirls, home trans, all the work from Homers out there. Today. We have Congressman Dennis Kucinich on the show. You've probably heard of him, uh, if, if, if you've been around a few years, if you were around in 2004, 2008, that he was a presidential candidate for the Democrat Party. He's a Ohio Congressman from 1997 to 2013. He's the former chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus. We'll talk a little bit about that. He's the author of the new bestselling book, the Division of Light and Power. So without further ado, Mr. Dennis Kucinich, thank you for joining us on the Work From Home Show. Speaker 2 (00:01:22) - Uh, thank you very much for the invitation. And you know, I know people sometimes have trouble with my name. I, it took me a year to learn how to pronounce it, but it is Kucinich and I did represent, um, uh, Cleveland area in the United States Congress for 16 years. The book that I've written, the Division of Light and Power, is the story of, uh, the beginning of my career when I went to, um, uh, this Cleveland City Council and had the opportunity, uh, as a young councilman, 23 years old, to, uh, explore the depth of involvement of various interest groups, and in particular, the, uh, political corruption that was going on to undermine the city's municipal electric system. And I was quite alarmed when I saw that. And I started to take very careful notes about, uh, the machinations of the political system working with a monopoly, uh, utility, uh, conspiring to, uh, sell, uh, the city's, uh, municipally owned electric system. So the book begins there at, uh, on, on with a blackout in December of 1969. And the lights keep going out. And when you find out why the lights keep going out, it's shocking. And so the story opens there, and it goes right until my election is mayor. And through those years, which, uh, describe the, the tremendous battle that took place between my office, the utility of monopolies, the banks, and the mob. Speaker 1 (00:03:05) - Wow, that sounds, that sounds scary. Let's, uh, let's talk a little bit more about that. I'm especially curious to learn more about, uh, just a little more detail on how you fought. Sure. Beat, uh, this utility monopoly and also the corporate espionage, espionage, and sabotage, bank co-conspirators, uh, organized crime. There were even assassination attempts, I believe. Speaker 2 (00:03:36) - Right? Exactly. Well, here's, here's the way it came out. Uh, Cleveland has had its own, uh, municipal electric system, public power, uh, since the turn of the 20th century. And, uh, it, it has competed side by side in a third of the city with a private investor owned utility. The Cleveland Electric Illuminating Company, uh, no, also known as C Ei. C EI tried to block the formation of Muni light right in its inception. At its inception. They were not successful in doing that. Over the years, though, they began to secretly plan and then execute a strategy to undermine the city's municipally owned utility by blocking repairs in the Cleveland City Council, which were needed to, um, uh, uh, to, uh, help the city's, uh, capacity to generate electricity. Uh, they, uh, also, uh, started a PR campaign with the general media who they, where they advertised heavily to attack and undermine the city's, uh, utility and public ownership. Speaker 2 (00:04:50) - Furthermore, uh, the city wouldn't, when the private utility successfully blocked any repairs to the city generators, the city had to turn outside and said, we've gotta buy power from somewhere else. The c e I blocked the city from buying power outside the city, and then the city could only get power from c e I and c EI tripled the cost, so they would run up the, uh, city's operating expenses. And then, uh, finally, we, we were fighting for connection, you know, in Texas, uh, Texas found out about, uh, the, uh, importance of being able to connect outside your territory for power if you know you have, uh, a shutdown as you know, your experience with Ercot in, you know, in the early part of this year, . Yeah, that was fun. And so what happened is that, here's the thing, every, you know, being connected to the grid nationally was vital for the city of Cleveland. Speaker 2 (00:05:54) - But c I blocked us from getting connected to the national grid, so we were isolated. So we had to rely on them for backup power in case we had an outage, which, you know, it was became likely because we weren't able to fix our equipment. And the book documents how some of the blackouts that the city experienced were actually created by C EI so that they could try to use that as an excuse to push the sale. And the public didn't understand this. They didn't understand why when the city needed a transfer of power from C ei, c e I operated that transfer in such a way to deliberately create a blackout on muni system. And that's all documented in the book. And so, you know, the kind of dirty tricks that went on were extraordinary. And c e I got their, you know, they got their comeuppance because the, uh, they were found by the nuclear regulatory commission to have violated numerous provisions of antitrust law. Speaker 2 (00:06:59) - And they, you know, they, they tried price fixing cutthroat competition. And in the midst of all this, the city council was going to sell our municipal electric system, even though they knew that, uh, c EI had been undermining it and was trying to buy our system for a fraction. I mean, this is, this is a story of something that is unprecedented in US history, that this would come out, uh, the kind of underhandedness that was going on with this utility, uh, all in the, in their plans to try to take over the city owned electric system. And so, it, it, some people have compared the book to the movie Chinatown, uh, which involved water, whereas this involves electricity. So I was elected mayor on a, on a platform to save our municipal electric system. I got elected, I canceled a sale, which had been, um, uh, consummated, uh, and, uh, you know, just, we, we just won that by the skin of our teeth, uh, uh, won the issue by the skin of our teeth. And the second part of the book opens up on this, uh, on the saga that happened, and how the, the utility monopoly, the banks and other corporate interests, uh, put a tremendous squeeze on the city to try to force me as the mayor to give up our electric system. Speaker 3 (00:08:24) - This sounds very similar to a lot of other bigger, not bigger necessarily, but other issues going on, on a, a national scale where the push towards privatization, where it seems like there's a lot of issues where politicians nationally are willing to let some programs just deteriorate and get worse and get worse, so that they can kind of push the whole, well, if the private sector did it, it would be better. Let's get it out of the hands of, uh, the government and give it to, um, private companies. How do we as citizens push back against that? Because, you know, like, if I don't agree with it and I need to talk to my congressional representative, I'm one of, you know, a couple million that they represent, or a hundred thousand that they represent, and I feel like just a, you know, throwing a pebble in a river, how does a normal citizen fight back against that? Speaker 2 (00:09:14) - Well, first of all, I wanna say that you have, uh, correctly identified the, uh, urgency of this book at this time, because there, there is, uh, increased privat, there are increased privatization efforts underway, and they will accelerate once the American rescue plan money, uh, dries up, uh, you know, in city after city. So first of all, you have to, you know, when you see a privatization effort underway, uh, start asking questions right away, like, why, uh, I will promise you that every privatization effort results in the public, uh, public assets being stolen, uh, you can make an issue out of how much is being paid for that, uh, electric system, water system, whatever. Because I will, I will guarantee you every municipal asset that's ever up for privatizations being undervalued. That was part of our story. It was, uh, for example, uh, the c EI was ready to purchase, uh, muni light in Cleveland for 88.1 million. Speaker 2 (00:10:24) - Uh, and, uh, we, we determined that the value of it was at, uh, at least a quarter of a billion dollars plus, uh, the loss to the taxpayers that would come when they, the taxpayers would've to pay the full rate. Plus the rate increases to the private utility would've to, uh, pay for street lighting and service to the city facilities to private utility, you know, and pay a premium price. And so taxes were gonna go up and, uh, rate payers who were forced to buy the private power would also see their, uh, budgets cut into by increased utility costs, privatization, uh, can, uh, and, and is often a nightmare for communities. This book shows how to fight it. But you, and the biggest and most important way is you have to do your homework. You have to do the research, and you have to pay attention to what's going on, not to what the media's saying, because all too often corporate media ignores the needs of the people and instead serves the needs of, of narrow economic interests that are gonna capitalize on a privatization. Speaker 2 (00:11:34) - Now, this battle in Cleveland, which was unprecedented, drew in a bank, uh, which told me on December 15th, 1978, that either you, the mayor, the bank will not renew the city's credit on loans. I hadn't been taken out. And so I had to make a decision what I stood for. I told them, no, it turned out the bank was a business partner of the utility. They stood to profit as well from the privatization, shocking. And the banks will check this out. So the people of Cleveland followed my leadership and, and increased their taxes. They taxed themselves more. They pay off the defaulted notes on loans I hadn't taken out. And when the tax passed, the banks who had proposed the tax to pay off the notes, and who said that if you pass the tax, we'll take out a default, they were Ned on their commitment and kicked the, kept the city into default until I left office. Speaker 2 (00:12:29) - And, uh, and in addition to that, uh, they had agreed to abide by the decision of the voters. And the question of people voted two to one to keep muni light, the banks in the corporate community turned around after the people voted two to one to say, Nope, you gotta sell that system, . I mean, this is, so I stood, I was 31 years old, and I stood against this crude, uh, extortionate exercise of corporate power that really was, you know, was so intent on having its way that they were prepared to destroy the city to get a, uh, a monopoly on electricity. But, you know, we stopped them , Speaker 1 (00:13:15) - First off, did the corporation, the electric company, did they try to pay you or buy you off? And how easy is it for corporations to buy off politicians? Speaker 2 (00:13:28) - Oh, it's called campaign contributions, big ones. No, I, I, I, you know, what, what happened was this, uh, uh, the, the day of default, the biggest bank told me, Hey, look, uh, if you go ahead with this sale, we'll give, we'll, we'll loan, loan the city 50 million, and you can do whatever you want with it. You know, you, it was like a, a express pass to reelection, you know, all of a sudden you could start paving the streets in gold. And, uh, but of course, you know, I knew, you know, they, they were asking, I mean, it was a fraud. They were, they wanted, uh, me to give up an electric system that was worth more money than the monopoly was ready to pay for it. And they were gonna let the city borrow more money. I mean, give me a break, you know, I was, as I said, I was a very young person. Speaker 2 (00:14:19) - I suppose they felt they could roll me at that point. You know, I looked younger than I, I was, and I think they probably, I had a certain amount of disbelief, cognitive dissonance, saying, oh geez, how can this be happening with this kid who's the mayor? You know, I was the youngest mayor in America at the time of any big city. But I, my, the task that I took on, uh, was one where I had to take a stand against these corporate interests that were determined to have their way, even if it meant, uh, uh, smearing the very city in which they operated. Speaker 3 (00:14:54) - I want to touch on you becoming mayor there. How, what made you, and it always amazes me, when people go into politics in general, like, I have a friend who's one of my best friends, is a mayor of a city here in Texas, but it's like a 2000 person town, so it's nothing like Cleveland. What made you decide, like, what was, I mean, was it the electric situation that made you think you should go into public office? Or what led you to think I should get involved in politics? Speaker 2 (00:15:22) - Well, you know, I, I entered politics at the age of 20 as a candidate for city council. Uh, and I, I got involved because, you know, growing up in the air of the sixties, uh, the change was in the wind. And I felt the best way to change things was to go inside the system. And I've always felt from a spiritual standpoint that my life didn't belong just to me, uh, that all of our lives belong to community, that, uh, you know, while we can make our own choices, that we should always try to do something for the betterment of society and not just, uh, take care of, you know, take, yeah, we have to take care of our sal and you also need to think of others as well. So that was the spirit that I brought into public life, uh, not to, uh, uh, uh, do well, but to do good. Speaker 2 (00:16:17) - And I'm, um, uh, that brought me into, uh, contest for city council. I was elected on my second try by 16 votes. I beat an entrenched democratic machine to be elected to the council. And the story opens up on, uh, at Christmas time in 1969 with this holiday season blackout, which as we found out later on, uh, these blackouts were being created by this, uh, uh, private utility in their, as part of their scheme to take over the public system. So, you know, I, I started very early. I made a choice early to go on the inside. Um, and, you know, so I was motivated by, you know, wanting to be of service. And I still am. Speaker 1 (00:17:02) - Shifting gears just a little bit. You chaired the Congressional Progressive Caucus to lessen income inequality way back in the early two thousands. The latest figures I've seen, income equality has only gotten worse. Can you explain why that is and what the initial goal of the C P C was and what's gone wrong with it? Speaker 2 (00:17:28) - Well, you know, first of all, uh, the Congressional Progressive Caucus has had, uh, you know, a number of really important leaders, including Bernie Sanders, uh, uh, Pete DeFazio, uh, and others. And the purpose of the caucus was to present, um, a different approach to management of the government's resources. So we presented our own budget, which emphasized healthcare and education and housing, uh, and Deemphasized war and, and, you know, and military spending. Uh, the whole idea was about, you know, revisiting our, uh, what's what is necessary to support people in our society, uh, to support their, their existence. So this, this caucus, uh, has members who are quite diverse in their politics. Uh, and occasionally they'll vote as a block on certain issues in Congress. Uh, you know, it, it may happen less and less now, uh, there's a lot more pressure in Congress now that things are much more polarized, and, uh, every organization within the Congress is perhaps more fractionated than it's ever been. And so that, that is indeed a problem. Speaker 3 (00:18:47) - So how did, how do we combat income inequality today then? Speaker 2 (00:18:51) - First of all, every able-bodied person should have an opportunity to make a living. Um, and if the private sector doesn't, can't provide the jobs, the public sector has to, I mean, we're in an interesting position right now in the Covid era where, uh, the economy is starting to move ahead. But, you know, there's so many job openings now. People, uh, are just, you know, getting back into a, a mode of, um, of, well, first of all, work's being redefined. And secondly, uh, there's a lot of jobs out there that are wanting. So, you know, it's a little bit different than it was a few years ago where the economy was being managed in such a way that a certain amount of unemployment was seen as being necessary, the proper functioning of the economy. We don't seem to have that right now, but I think that it would be good if the government, uh, created a jobs program and gave people an opportunity to do long-term productive work in restoring our environment and in, uh, in helping to repair our infrastructure. Speaker 2 (00:20:03) - Uh, you know, I'm, I I, and the other thing is that having work with no benefits is, you know, quite a challenge. Uh, people, uh, uh, are finding that the cost of healthcare is extraordinary, and being able to meet your healthcare needs of your family might be almost impossible, even though you may have a job that is paying you more than $15 an hour. So you, you know, it's, it the, um, COVID added a, uh, a layer of complexity to this question of, uh, of employment and, and meaningful work. And, um, it's gonna, I think, take a while to sort that out. But I think our polar star has to be a full employment economy with, uh, meaningful, productive work available to all those who are able to work and with, uh, supportive systems for those who can, for no fault of their own, cannot work. Speaker 1 (00:20:58) - You touched on the polarization in Congress right now. When you were in Congress, was it more friendly? Were people more friendly? Were Republicans more friendly to you? Did people, were politicians more willing to work together, or? Well, Speaker 2 (00:21:17) - Let, lemme tell you, it, it, you know, yes and no, uh, uh, you know, there's always a certain amount of political polarity that that exists. I mean, the very basic, the very basis of a two-party system is by its definition polarized. You have Democrats have Republicans, and for some people, never the twin shall meet. Uh, I did it differently. I worked on both sides of the aisle, and as a result, I had the opportunity to make, uh, uncommon friendships with, uh, people on the Republican side, including those in the Texas delegation. Uh, you know, when I, I mean, I'll tell you a story. To give you an example. The Clinton administration was looking for authorization to continue the bombing of, um, Serbia. Uh, and they were, you know, and to keep the war going over there. And I was, I was opposed to that. So, uh, they, the authorization I think, was Senate Joint Resolution 21 came up in 1999, and I was trying to figure out a way to defeat it. Speaker 2 (00:22:26) - And finally, I came upon a plan that would've required the help of the Republicans. So I went to Tom Delay and I explained to him, uh, what my objective was. Now, he may have had some political, uh, strategy in mind, but the long story short is we put together a coalition of Republicans and Democrats, and we stopped the war. Now, somebody would say, well, delay would never go along with something like that. Well, he did, and we worked together, and we stopped a war that was, that should have never been fought by. And so, uh, you know, I'm, what I'm saying is that forget about party, forget about ideology, look to what your goals are and see if you can find a way to get alliances at certain times and places. And you might be surprised. So I never, um, you know, when, when people, you know, when I'm looking for Ally, I don't care about Party at all. Speaker 2 (00:23:24) - I mean, I've worked with Ron Paul on so many of Texas, so on so many issues of foreign policy. And we found that, well, we had differences in domestic policy. We work together to try to limit us involvement in these, in these wars. And, you know, the, that's why I'm saying there might be polarization today, but it's often mindless people, you know, need to talk to one another and find out what they actually stand for. . And like in any family, you may not agree even within a family with each other on something. And it could be very important, you look to those things you can't agree on, and that's where you do your work. And so that's what, you know, that was my approach in Congress, and I think that approach could still work. Today. Speaker 3 (00:24:10) - We've talked about kind of money in politics being an issue in buying off politicians. You look at what's happening today in, you know, congressional races, especially presidential races. I mean, you see campaigns spending, you know, a billion plus dollars for a job that makes $400,000 a year. And, you know, there's a whole lot more to it than, you know, just that, just the job and the salary. You know, obviously being president has so much power in it, and you also see it in congressional races where money from all over the country flows into one specific state. How do we keep our politicians in a way that the community can still show their support for them, but they're not being completely bought off? Speaker 2 (00:24:54) - Well, you know, going back to the book, uh, the Division of Light and Power, uh, when these corporations had their interest, I never went to them for money. So nobody forces an elected official or somebody running for office to go to a certain group and say, Hey, give me money. I mean, that's where it begins. And when they do give money, nobody forces you to take that money if they offer it to you. So, you know, it's not as though, uh, we're just helpless cuz those who aspire off have to be very careful about, uh, who is, uh, providing contributions to them. And to make sure that you can be independent of those contributions and function autonomously with, without, uh, um, without the, uh, large Jess, which comes into campaign coffers. And that is very tough. And what I'm prescribing here is not easy, but the book that, you know, the Division Light and Power points out, that when people organize at a community level, they can overcome almost any interest group. Speaker 2 (00:26:02) - But, you know, it's the organization and the knowledge of what is actually happening that empowers people to overcome the influence of money. I mean, I was, you know, we were heavily outspent in Cleveland on the, uh, on, on every election that involved either, either, um, uh, you know, either with my name on the ballot or an issue oriented election. We were heavily, uh, outspent, but because we aligned with the popular interest and how people understand their interest, we won anyway. Now, I eventually was defeated in 1979 because the banks kept the city into default, and people at that time did not understand why despite having paid, uh, uh, more money on their taxes, we were still in default. But years later now, the people of Cleveland understand it. So yeah, campaign contributions have, can totally corrupt the system, but no one forces these candidates to take that money. And if they do take the money, then that needs to be noted by the voters, uh, to see if those interests align with the, uh, more specific concerns of, uh, the electorate. Speaker 1 (00:27:15) - That's Congressman Dennis Kucinich. Dennis Kucinich, thank you so much for joining us on The Work From Home Show. Your latest book is called The Division of Light and Power, the Division of Light and Power and your website dot, uh, Speaker 2 (00:27:31) - Well, they, they, they can, uh, go to, um, finny avenue books.com, uh, where they can purchase a book through many different links, or they can go to, um, Barnes and Noble, target, Amazon. There's a whole list of, uh, of places you can get the book, go to your local bookstore and ask for it. And then if you don't, they don't have it, uh, in stock, they'll order it. Uh, and you'll have it shortly. Speaker 1 (00:27:59) - And your website is percentage.com Congressman Dennis Kucinich, any final thoughts you want to share with our listeners or anything else you wanna promote? Speaker 2 (00:28:08) - No, I mean, I appreciate being on your show and, you know, and this virtual book tour that I'm doing from house to house, uh, with your help is, is very important. I mean, this book, uh, it took me 40 years to write it. Uh, it is thoroughly documented and I've been told that there's never been a book quite like this that explains, uh, the political process from an insider's point of view. And again, you know, it's one thing to fight City Hall from the outside. Uh, try fighting City Hall when you're the mayor. . Speaker 1 (00:28:42) - Yeah, completely understood. This is a wild, wild story. I'm gonna have to check out the book. So, once again, the Division of Light and Power, get the book on Amazon, Barnes and Noble, wherever you get your, your books. Congressman Dennis Cinj. Thank you once again for joining us on the Work From Home Show to all our listeners. Check us out at work from home show.com. Email us if you have any questions. Hello, at work from home show.com. You can follow us on all social media, leave us a review on whatever podcasting platform you use. And until next week, keep on working from home.

Vince Everett Ellison is the Director of the new documentary Will You Go To Hell For Me?. He was the Republican Party nominee for the South Carolina 6th Congressional District, and is now the #1 bestselling author of The Iron Triangle: Inside the Liberal Democrat Plan to Use Race to Divide Christians and America in their Quest for Power and How We Can Defeat Them and 25 Lies: Exposing Democrats' Most Dangerous, Seductive, Damnable, Destructive Lies and How to Refute Them. He has appeared numerous times on Hannity, The Laura Ingraham Show, Newsmax, and One America News. He joins the show this week to discuss:  - Why his background makes him qualified to be an authority on racial and political issues - Why the vast majority of educated, middle class, Christian African Americans vote for the Atheist/Anti-Christian, Liberal Democrat Party - The definition of racism - His fellow brothers and sisters calling you names like Uncle Tom and sellout - Where we can find his documentary? Website: www.vinceeellison.com

Carol Roth is a former judge on Mark Burnett’s America’s Greatest Makers television show and former host of WGN Radio's The Noon Show. She is a weekly panelist on the current events and business show Bulls & Bears and is a New York Times, Wall Street Journal, and USA TODAY  bestselling author of The Entrepreneur Equation: Evaluating the Realities, Risks, and Rewards of Having Your Own Business and the new book The War on Small Business: How the Government Used the Pandemic to Crush the Backbone of America. She joins the show to discuss: - What it takes to build a valuable business - How can we assess the risks and rewards of business ownership based on personal circumstances? - How do you know when to turn a hobby into a business? - What are Democrats in power currently doing to "the little guy?"  - Didn't the government try to help small businesses through the PPP? - How is the progressive Left pushing us further away from freedom and closer to centralized planning/socialism? - Is wealth redistribution in America already underway? - Given all of this, what's the future of cryptocurrency? - AMEX told its employees that capitalism is racist. What was their argument here? Website: www.carolroth.com

Gregory Wrightstone is Executive Director of the CO2 Coalition and bestselling author of Inconvenient Facts: The Science That Al Gore Doesn't Want You to Know. He joins the show to share how Al Gore has killed democracy, why increasing CO2 carbon dioxide and rising temperature actually helps our planet and doesn't hurt it, and how we can educate our young children on the truth regarding climate change. Websites:   www.inconvenientfacts.org www.co2coalition.org

Tom Clavin is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Heart of Everything That Is: The Untold Story of Red Cloud, An American Legend, The Last Stand of Fox Company: A True Story of U.S. Marines in Combat, Blood and Treasure: Daniel Boone and the Fight for America's First Frontier, Tombstone: The Earp Brothers, Doc Holliday, and the Vendetta Ride from Hell, Dodge City: Wyatt Earp, Bat Masterson, and the Wickedest Town in the American West, and the new book FOLLOW ME TO HELL: McNelly’s Texas Rangers and the Rise of Frontier Justice. He has worked as a newspaper editor, magazine writer, TV and radio commentator, and a reporter for The New York Times.  Clavin joins the show to discuss his writing journey, where he gets his story ideas for such a niche field of historical nonfiction, and how he got his first book deal. He finishes the interview by sharing the most important characteristic for children and anybody in any profession: curiosity. Website: www.tomclavin.com

Tracey Baptiste is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of Minecraft: The Crash and the new book MERMAID & PIRATE Website: www.traceybaptiste.com Baptiste shares how her readers' perspectives are expanded by the diverse representation in her stories and the impact it can have on young readers. It is fascinating to hear Tracy Batiste's journey as a writer and her insights on the challenges and benefits of working from home. Her passion for storytelling and commitment to diversity in her work were truly inspiring. Check out her latest book, Mermaid and Pirate. If you're a fan of children's literature or interested in the world of writing and publishing, give this episode a listen. She also shares some advice for aspiring writers, emphasizing the importance of persistence and dedication. "You have to be willing to put in the work," she says. "You have to be willing to write every day, even when you don't feel like it." Baptiste's insights and experiences are sure to inspire anyone interested in pursuing a career in writing. As Tracy says, "If you have a story to tell, don't give up on it. Keep writing, keep revising, and keep submitting." So, if you want to learn more about Tracy's journey and get some valuable tips on writing and working from home, be sure to tune in to this episode. Introduction [00:00:01] The hosts introduce the Work From Home Show and welcome Tracy Baptiste as a guest. Tracy's journey as a writer [00:01:20] Tracy talks about how she became interested in writing and her journey as a writer. Tracy's first published book [00:03:27] Tracy talks about her first published book and her experience working with different publishers. Tracy's current projects [00:04:22] Tracy talks about her current projects and how she is always working on something new. Collaborating with illustrators [00:06:18] Tracy talks about how she collaborates with illustrators for her picture books and cover designs. Minecraft: The Crash [00:07:55] Tracy talks about her book Minecraft: The Crash and how it is set in the world of Minecraft. Researching Minecraft [00:08:53] Tracy talks about how she researched Minecraft for her book and how her son became a consultant for the book. Tracy's Writing Journey [00:10:07] Tracy talks about her journey as a writer, from starting at a young age to becoming a full-time writer. Writing Location [00:12:34] Tracy discusses her writing process and how she has a specific location for most of her work. Mermaids Have Always Been Black [00:14:23] Tracy talks about her New York Times op-ed and her new book, Mermaid and Pirate, which was inspired by the idea of black mermaids. Final Thoughts and Promotion [00:18:09] Tracy shares her final thoughts and promotes her new book, Mermaid and Pirate. Speaker 0 (00:00:01) - Forced to work from home by your employer laid off or feeling depressed at home. Do you wanna make money working from anywhere? We'll show you how to do it from your couch. It's time for another episode of The Work From Home Show, coming to you from their homes in Austin, Texas, and Tampa, Florida. Here are your hosts, Adam and Naresh. Speaker 1 (00:00:28) - Hey everybody. Welcome to The Work From Home Show. Shout out to all our homies, homeboys, homegirls, home Trans, all the work from Homers out there. I'm na This, uh, today we have Tracy Batiste on the show. She is the number one New York Times bestselling author of Minecraft, the Crash in the new book, mermaid and Pirate. Tracy Batiste, thank you so much for joining us on the show. Speaker 2 (00:00:55) - Thank you so much for having me. Appreciate it. Speaker 1 (00:00:58) - Yeah, and I'm really looking forward to reading your book, mermaid In In Pirate. I haven't gotten a chance to, to read the hard version yet, but I'm gonna be reading it to my children. Yes, I think it's, uh, it, it's, it's very different from your Minecraft. Now, your Minecraft book, I believe is more a novel if I'm not mistaken. And Mermaid and Pirate is a children's book, Speaker 2 (00:01:20) - Right? Yeah. So I write pretty much always for kids. It just, it sort of depends on the age group. And Mermaid and Pirate is a picture book. It is for younger kids and my books like Minecraft and the Jammies series are for older kids. Ones who are reading on their own and who wanna read longer novels. So yeah. Um, mermaid and Pirate, definitely for the little guys. Speaker 1 (00:01:47) - Tell us a little bit about how you got interested in writing Fiction Fantasy, if you want to call it. Walk us through your journey. Is this something that you always wanted to do as a kid? Did you use to watch a lot of Disney movies? Tell us more. Speaker 2 (00:02:03) - Yeah, I actually decided that I wanted to be a writer when I was three, which is kind of ridiculous. Oh, you know, , I, um, it's kind of ridiculous cuz you know, like when you're, when you're really little and somebody asks you what you wanna be, it's always like all of these different things. And, um, I had so many books in my house and a lot of them were fairy tales. Um, a lot of them were grims fairy tales. And I wanted to be a writer because I really love stories. My mom, my dad, everybody in my family would read to me, they would tell me stories. There was a big oral tradition in Tritan Tobago where I grew up. And so I was, you know, steeped in stories all the time. So it did not seem like that farfetched to think that I could grow up and be one of these people who has their name on the cover of a book. So I was three when I decided that that was a thing that I wanted to do. And, um, even though I diverged from that a little bit, I was a teacher, I was an editor and so on. I always was interested in storytelling. And so I always came back to this idea that I could write stories. So yeah, I started writing really, really early and kept with it. Um, my first published book came out in 2005, and I have been publishing pretty steadily ever since. Speaker 1 (00:03:27) - I didn't know that your first published book came out in oh five, that's nearly 20 years ago. Was that through a traditional I'm, as there wasn't self-publishing back then, so I'm assuming that was a, a book deal that you got for that first book. Speaker 2 (00:03:41) - Yeah, that one was Simon and Schuster. And since I have worked with a lot of different publishers, uh, mermaid and Pirate comes out through Workman, which is a division of Hasat. And, um, they have actually been my home for quite some time now. I have a series with them. The Jumpy series is a fantasy for middle grade readers. I have this picture book, obviously. I have, um, a non-fiction book called African Icons, 10 People Who Shaped History that is also for middle grade readers. And so yeah, they've, they've been my home for several books. Speaker 1 (00:04:22) - How many total books have you written? Speaker 2 (00:04:26) - I think at this point it's 20, Speaker 1 (00:04:29) - So no, you can't, you can't even keep track the podcast you're Speaker 2 (00:04:31) - Sent. Yeah, I I'm not exactly sure because, well, part of the part of it is that I am constantly working, right? Like, uh, you know, your podcast is for working from home writers, uh, working, you know, people working from home. And that is 100% who I am. I am a mom who works from home and I am constantly working on something. So I just handed in a book on Friday, just gone, and I have another book that I need to hand in at the end of two months and yeah. Oh wow. Just, you know, cost Speaker 1 (00:05:03) - From the same publisher. They want you to submit some, Speaker 2 (00:05:06) - Um, no, these are actually two different publishers that I'm working with this time. Um, so the same publisher from Mermaid and Pirate, uh, is the same publisher that I owe a book to in two months, but I owe a book. I, uh, the book I handed in on Friday was for a different publisher. So yeah, I am just, you know, it is very much a, um, a business and as a business I am always working and I'm always working on something. I'm always doing something new. I'm always looking for my next story. I'm always looking for the next thing that is going to engage a young reader and yeah. Right now, so I'm hoping that Marian and Pirate is that thing that engages the, the next set of readers for me. Speaker 1 (00:05:54) - Can you tell us a little, you, you said this is your business and Mermaid and Pirate is a, a children's picture book, and you have an illustrator who did the pictures, Minecraft, the crash, similar, you have, uh, images that go along with it. So how did you partner up with your collaborators and you guys just continue to push out more projects together? Speaker 2 (00:06:18) - Right, so for the most part, the publisher pairs me up with an illustrator for the picture books because with picture books, obviously, you know, they're, they're pictures throughout with, uh, projects like Minecraft Crash and the Jumpy Series. Those I really, um, only need a cover illustrator for. And because I obviously am not an illustrator, I only write, um, the publisher pairs me up with who they think is going to be the right person to convey, uh, the images that they need on that cover or in those interiors in the right way. So, um, so they, there was a cover designer for Minecraft, the Crash, um, the, I think it's the same cover de designer that does all of the Minecraft novels that Mojang puts out. Um, so, you know, that was something that had already been planned even before I came on board to do a Minecraft book. Um, Vivian Tow was the person who did the covers for the entire Jumbies series, and Liesel Adams did the, um, illustrations for Mermaid and Pirates. So the cover in all of the interiors, all of those bright, vibrant colors and the, um, the facial expressions that are so amazingly expressive for both Mermaid and Pirate because, you know, they don't speak the same language. So a lot of their, a lot of their communication is non-verbal. And, uh, Liesl was able to, to convey that in the, in the illustrations. Speaker 1 (00:07:55) - Now, your book, Mindcraft, is that based on the video game? Speaker 2 (00:07:59) - It is a world, it is a story set in the world of Minecraft. So the, uh, Mojang wanted me to write a fantasy because that is what I am best known for. I am really well known for writing fantasy, for writing, um, action scenes. And they wanted something like that for, um, their Minecraft world. So they came to me and asked me what ideas I had for it, and I was able to come up with something fairly quickly and write this story in which, um, the main character Bianca gets stuck inside of a virtual reality Minecraft world. Speaker 1 (00:08:44) - So to, did you already know about Minecraft before or did you have to start doing some research or playing the game, or how did that Speaker 2 (00:08:53) - Oh, I, I mean, I knew what Minecraft was because I have, I come from a family of gamers, so literally everybody in my house played Minecraft except for me. I, I get really nauseated, um, playing video games or watching video games, so it's really difficult for me to, to play video games at all. Um, but I did know about Minecraft because I, my kids were younger at the time and they were huge Minecraft fans and they helped me a lot. My son especially, he was 10 at the time I started working on this book and he became the consultant on this Oh wow. Book for me, cuz he would show me how to play the game, you know, for as long as I could stand because again, I do get nauseated. Um, and he would answer all my questions about how things could work in the story and what, you know, I could or could not get away with. And he did such a good job of it that Mojang actually gave him credit on the book as a consultant. So when you look on that, on that title page at the very bottom, his name is on there as a consultant, Speaker 1 (00:10:04) - Minecraft consultant. I like it. Speaker 2 (00:10:07) - Yeah. Speaker 1 (00:10:07) - Talking about your family a little bit more, you said that your, your kids are now somewhat grown. Mm-hmm. , you work from home. Tell us a little bit about the overall journey. Okay. So you told us you started at three years old, you wanted to be a writer or you started writing at three, but like you, did he go to college study literature or English or something? Did he go straight to writing out of college or did he work a job? Tell us a little bit more. Speaker 2 (00:10:37) - Sure. So I did start writing, you know, pretty early. I think I tried to write my very first novel when I was about 12. And that of course was not a success because I was 12 . You know, I really, um, was just starting on my journey then. But I kept writing. I did go to college, I went to NYU and I got my degree in literature. My bachelor's degree is in literature. And then I went back and I got my master's degree in education cuz I thought that I wanted to be a teacher as well. And I was teaching pre-K, kindergarten, second grade, sixth grade. These were all the grades I was teaching. And I found that as a teacher, I was so busy and I was so, uh, involved in what I was doing in the classroom that I really didn't have time to write. Speaker 2 (00:11:33) - So I decided to leave teaching and I then I went into educational publishing. So I became a publisher, um, an editor, uh, for an educational publisher. And that really afforded me more time to write. So while I was editing, I was also writing, and that's how my first book was published. I was, I was able to finish it while I was working as an editor. I would come home at night and write. And after that I was publishing more books while I was working as an editor. And then when the first Jammies book came out, uh, that was in 2015, that's when I decided that I was going to start writing full-time. So it took me, uh, quite a long time. It really was 10 years between my first book being published and, uh, the ju the first Jumbies book being published and me deciding that I could now work from home on my writing solely, um, at that point. Speaker 1 (00:12:34) - That's a pretty cool story. And, and then as far as working from home goes, you get most of your ideas from home, your writing at home, do you have a set location at home to, to do your writing or are you just doing it on the fly? Speaker 2 (00:12:49) - I do have an office. So you are talking to me right now inside of my office, and this is where I do most of my work. I find that it is easier for me to have a specific location where I do most of the work that I, I need to do. But usually when I start a story, it starts in like little bits and pieces. So often I have a notebook that I just walk around with and wherever I get ideas, you know, as I'm walking around or if I'm traveling or whatever, I will write them down in the notebook. And most of my stories begin longhand, even if they are picture books. Even if they are novels, um, they always start longhand. So I start them, you know, writing and it doesn't have to be inside my office that I'm doing that longhand writing, uh, of the initial ideas that can really happen anywhere. Speaker 2 (00:13:45) - But once I start really solidifying what the story is going to be, that's when I come to my office, I sit at my desk, I turn on the computer, and I go to my notes, my handwritten notes, and that's when I start writing. Um, I often then print it out so that I can read it and mark it up long hand. That often happens in my office, but doesn't necessarily have to happen in my office. So I would say, um, you know, like maybe 75% of my writing happens in my office at home, and the rest of it might happen really anywhere. Speaker 1 (00:14:23) - You wrote a piece in the New York Times titled Mermaids Have Always Been Black. What do you mean by that? Speaker 2 (00:14:33) - So when, uh, Disney announced that Halle Bailey was going to play Ariel, there was a lot of pushback about this idea of this black woman playing a mermaid. And people didn't seem to be able, able to grasp the concept that, um, mermaids can literally be anybody, right? Um, I mean, there was the initial kind of ridiculousness of this is a fantasy character, so it doesn't really matter what the race of the fantasy character is, but because of my growing up in Trinidad and Tobago and my particular interest in, uh, folklore, fantasy and mythology from all over the world, but very specifically the folklore, fantasy and mythologies of black and brown people, um, I happened to know that there were a lot of mermaids, um, from various cultures that were black and brown, um, but they didn't have a chance to, you know, like have a Disney movie made about them. Speaker 2 (00:15:44) - So that piece was really about the idea that, um, that mermaids could be anybody from anywhere, but also to introduce the idea that, um, mermaid stories have existed in all of these different places. So for example, um, South Africa, um, has in, uh, a place called Caru has these cave paintings of mermaids from, you know, like millennia ago. And, um, Persia had mermaids. Um, there are ancient stories from China and Japan that have mermaids. Um, the Maori people from New Zealand have mermaids. There are mermaids from, uh, south America and Central America. So, you know, mermaids really can come from anywhere. And the idea that this one particular casting was somehow, um, you know, inappropriate because it was a mermaid and mermaids can only look a certain way was, was a little bit ridiculous. And so that's really what that, um, op-ed was about. And you know, it was after that that my editor, she asked if I would write a Black Mermaid story and I said, yeah, sure. You know, I've always loved mermaids and it had never occurred to me to write a Black Mermaid story particularly. Um, I had touched on black mermaids in one of my series, but you know, not a story that's centered on black mermaids. And that's really where Mermaid and Pyre started. It started because of all of this sermon drawing and then, you know, the op-ed and then my editor saying, Hey, hey, how about a Black Mermaid story? And, and then Mermaid and Pirate was born. Speaker 1 (00:17:33) - That's Tracy Bist, number one, New York Times bestselling author of Minecraft, the Crash. Check out her new book, mermaid and a Pirate, go to Amazon. Her website is tracy batist.com. That's b a p t i s t e. And Tracy is also spelled t r a c e y. So Tracy Batist, t r a c e y b a p t i s t e.com. Tracy, any final thoughts you want to share with our listeners or anything else you want to promote? Speaker 2 (00:18:09) - Sure. Uh, thank you so much, first of all for having me and for, um, you know, spelling out my name for the website. I really appreciate that. Um, you know, I really just hope that people enjoy Mermaid and Pirate. I hope that when they read it aloud to their kids, that they have a fun time talking like a mermaid and talking like a pirate and enjoying the absolutely gorgeous illustrations by Liesel Adams. And thank you again for having me. Speaker 1 (00:18:40) - Thank you for writing the book. I, like I said, I'm really looking forward once I get it delivered to read it to my kids. They're young once an infant wants a toddler, so it'll Speaker 2 (00:18:51) - Be Oh, perfect. Speaker 1 (00:18:51) - Yeah, it, it, it'll be fun. And, and then we could watch the, the movie that comes out this, this summer also, maybe mm-hmm. . So it, it ties in very well. So once again, Tracy Bice, thank you so much for joining us on The Work From Home Show to all our listeners. Check us out at work from home show.com. That's www.workfromhomeshow.com. Get on our mailing list there. If you have any questions, comments, if you wanna leave a note for Tracy that you want us to forward, email us hello at work from home show.com, that's Hello at Work from home show.com. Follow us on social media, we're on Twitter, we're on Facebook, we're on a few others, just search for us. You can leave us a review on iTunes. Tune in Stitcher, Spotify, whatever podcasting platform you use. And until next week, keep on working from home.