A Pretty Normal Podcast

Hello everyone and welcome to A Pretty Normal Podcast, I am your host, Xavier Diaz.

Quick reminder that we have started streaming the interviews live on Youtube and Facebook and Twitch! This gives you the opportunity to join the conversation and ask questions to all of the amazing guests that come on the show. Also you can hear these great interviews much earlier than when they are uploaded in audio form. So make sure to follow us on all of our social media handles so you get updated every time we go live!

In this episode I am joined by Bianca Graulau, an independent journalist and content creator from Puerto Rico.

Bianca and I discuss why she quit her job as a news reporter and moved back to Puerto Rico during the pandemic and what the political future of Puerto Rico looks like.

Hello everyone and welcome to A Pretty Normal Podcast, I am your host, Xavier Diaz.

Quick reminder that we have started streaming the interviews live on Youtube and Facebook and Twitch! This gives you the opportunity to join the conversation and ask questions to all of the amazing guests that come on the show. So make sure to follow us on all of our social media handles so you get updated every time we go live!

In this episode I am joined by Zach Schleien, co-founder of the video speed dating app, Filter Off.

Filter Off has been featured in publications such as The New York Times, BBC, and ABC. Prior to Filter Off, he ran and sold the dating blog Top Romp, which covered dating hacks and apps for the millennial dater. His passions lie in technology, health, and creating authentic connections.

Hello everyone and welcome to A Pretty Normal Podcast, I am your host, Xavier Diaz.

Quick reminder that we have started streaming the interviews live on Youtube and Facebook and Twitch! This gives you the opportunity to join the conversation and ask questions to all of the amazing guests that come on the show. So make sure to follow us on all of our social media handles so you get updated every time we go live!

In this episode I am joined by Annabel Garcia Torres, host of Latinx On The Rise, a show focusing on conversations with high achieving Latinx movers and shakers.

We discussed why she started her show, not feeling "Latino/Latina" enough, why more Latinos/Latinas haven't adapted the term "Latinx", Marjorie Taylor Green and more!

Hello everyone and welcome to A Pretty Normal Podcast, I am your host, Xavier Diaz.

Quick reminder that we have started streaming the interviews live on Youtube and Facebook and Twitch! This gives you the opportunity to join the conversation and ask questions to all of the amazing guests that come on the show. So make sure to follow us on all of our social media handles so you get updated every time we go live!

In this episode I am joined by Pete Bombaci, Founder of The GenWell Project, a Canadian organization dedicated to making the world a healthier and happier place by reminding people about the importance of face-to-face social connection as a proactive health action that they can take, and inspiring them to take action.

Following a successful career in the beverage alcohol industry, Pete ventured into the world of charities and not-for-profits

We had an amazing conversation about what his organization is doing to help combat loneliness, something that affects everyone across the spectrum all over the world. According to a survey by Cigna Health Insurance, more than three in five Americans are lonely, with more and more people reporting feeling like they are left out, poorly understood and lacking companionship.

In this interview we discuss why we live in a time where although we have so many ways to stay connected at our fingertips, people still report to feel more alone than ever before. 

Hello everyone and welcome to A Pretty Normal Podcast, I am your host, Xavier Diaz. 

Quick reminder that we have started streaming the interviews live on Youtube and Facebook! This gives you the opportunity to join the conversation and ask questions to all of the amazing guests that come on the show. So make sure to follow us on all of our social media handles so you get updated every time we go live!

In this episode I am joined by Donnie C. co- host of the podcast The Diamond Lounge. 

We had an amazing conversation about a wide variety of topics including Donnies connection with God, why fathers started taking on more responsibility in the home, what made her a Bernie supporter in the primaries and why she came around to Vice-President Kamala Harris and more.

Hello everyone and welcome to A Pretty Normal Podcast and I am your host, Xavier Diaz.

Quick reminder that we have started streaming the interviews live on Youtube and Facebook! This gives you the opportunity to join the conversation and ask questions to all of the amazing guests that come on the show. So make sure to follow us on all of our social media handles so you get updated every time we go live!

In this episode I am joined by Krisha, host of the podcast Gay Monologues and the creator of Loud Pride. Krisha’s podcast Gay Monologues, talks about queer topics for personal growth. It was a really great conversation and Krisha is someone I knew I wanted to come on the show since late last year and i'm glad that we made it happen. I want to thank Krisha for being open about her coming out story. She describes the lead up to the day she came out to her parents and how that decision changed her relationship with them. 

We dove deep into problems that affect the LGBTQ community and spoke about why Krisha decided to start her podcast, Gay Monologues. She also taught me what the term LGBTQ2S means! I learned a lot and although same sex activity seems like a normal thing to me in 2020, it was appalling to learn that same sex activity is still illegal in approximately 70 countries. Which shows how the work for equality never ends.

Hello everyone  and welcome to A Pretty Normal Podcast, I am your host, Xavier Diaz.

Now I didn't plan on releasing a new episode until at least mid January, I wanted to take some more time off to figure out what I wanted to do next and to learn any new software that I would need to take the podcast to the next level. But life has its own plans and 2021 got off to one hell of a start and I couldn't not comment on the recent events at the capitol building.

So we expedited the process and took the podcast live for the first time on Facebook and Youtube. I was joined by the homie, the one and only Rocio Vives, co-host of Chica Chats as we discussed our thoughts on what took place as well as the media reactions and coverage to the aftermath.

Streaming the show live was something I really wanted to do this year and I am happy to announce that I will be live streaming all of my podcast interviews from now on. So definitely make sure you follow us on Youtube and Facebook so you can participate in the discussion every time we go live. I will always post the audio to the podcast afterwards, but why not come join and get involved in the conversation!

Make sure to subscribe to A Pretty Normal Podcast so you get notified every time a new episode drops. This show can be found on Spotify, Google, Apple and all other other podcast streaming platforms. Subscribe and please leave a review and a five star rating if you enjoy the content.

Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram at A Pretty Normal. Also subscribe on Youtube at www.youtube.com/prettynormalproductions.

Hello everyone  and welcome to A Pretty Normal Podcast, I am your host, Xavier Diaz and 

I am excited to announce that this will be the final episode of 2020. The year started off with episode 29 and I am super proud to say we have made it all the way to episode 74. That's not even including all of the monologues, all of the lives, all of the video content that we produced this year. 2020 has been one hell of a ride and I know that is has affected people in very different ways. But go back to the beginning of the pandemic back in March and throughout all of this time I have consistently said how grateful I am to be in the position that I am in and even from the start I knew that I was going to use this year as a way to create as much as entertaining and thought provoking content as possible. And that meant continuing what I started in 2019 with the podcast by interviewing people from all walks of life. I’m really proud of all of the growth of this show and I couldnt have found a better way to end this year than with my next guest.

I had the pleasure of speaking with Jalen Vasquez - host of The Inspired By Fire Podcast, a show which seeks to analyze all aspects of what it means to be a free human being. 

Jalen decided to push his life experience to the extreme when he sold all of his possessions and traveled all over Asia, South America and Australia.

His show interviews and discusses a wide variety of guests and topics as he explores the meaning of liberty in all forms.

Hello everyone and welcome to A Pretty Normal Podcast, I am your host, Xavier Diaz and we have something a little different for you this week. 

Recently I discovered the app, Stereo. Stereo describes themselves as a LIVE broadcast social platform that enables people to have and discover real conversations in real time.

They aim to combat loneliness and provide a platform for debate and education.

To be clear this is not an advertisement, I just started using the app and I think its pretty cool. You create an avatar, so its pretty anonymous if you are shy. Anyone can start a conversation with anyone else on the app people are literally on there streaming all the time at all hours of the day and then the cool part is listeners can record audio messages and submit them and everyone can listen together, giving the app a really cool interactive feel.

You can share clips straight to Instagram and overall its just a really fun and new way to go live and speak with your followers. I think it was released in August this year so its pretty new and has a lot of potential. I went live for the first time with my good friend Reme Flyizhie and we had a blast with it talking about family members who hurt us, the impacts of technology and a lot more. We’re planning on going live again this Friday at 9 pm EST so if you enjoy what you hear, download the stereo app and follow us so that you can join the conversation. 

Hello everyone and welcome to A Pretty Normal Podcast, I am your host, Xavier Diaz and we have an amazing new interview for you this week!

I had the pleasure of speaking with Simon Chadwick, the Author of For The People: A Citizen's Manifesto to Shaping Our Nation's Future. Simon is the managing partner of Cambiar, a management consulting company dedicated to the market research industry. 

He grew up in two totalitarian societies and is the son of Bishop Graham Chadwick, a prominent anti-apartheid activist.

Simon is someone who is intensely interested in and concerned about politics and society in America. We had a really great conversation about Democratic Libertarianism, why people fall for authoritarian leaders, what Joe Biden can do during his administration to prevent another fake populist from taking control in future elections and plenty more.

His book, For The People, A Citizen's Manifesto to Shaping Our Nation's Future, is available for purchase on Amazon,  and I highly recommend everyone go check out his website where he has the first 3 chapters available for free. Simon does a great job explaining Why Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs is relevant to modern-day government and what the people can do to reclaim their power.

Website:

Hello everyone and welcome to A Pretty Normal Podcast, I am your host, Xavier Diaz and we have an amazing new interview for you this week!

I had the pleasure of speaking with Jackie, aka La Gorda Corajuda on Instagram, Tik-Tok and Twitter. She’s a Latinx, intersectional feminist making really awesome and educational content on social media and I came across her profile right before the 2020 election and instantly knew that I needed to have her come on the show. She wants the best for her community and wants us all to progress forward, even if that means discussing issues that make some people uncomfortable. Here's an example of some of the work she is creating that made me really want to interview her.

We had a really great wide ranging conversation about the Latinx community, what intersectionality means to her, how Democrats can improve their messaging to the Latinx community and you'll definitely want to stick till the end of the episode where we discuss the subject of whether or not Latinos and Latinas can say the “n” word. This has been a topic she has discussed on her platform, i’ve discussed here on mine and I wanted to take some time to really dive into the issue and see where the disconnect lies among the Latinx community when it comes to this word.

Connect with Jackie on social media at: 

Hello everyone and welcome to A Pretty Normal Podcast, I am your host, Xavier Diaz and we have an amazing new interview for you this week! 

Its been a week since the election was held and there were some amazing results on a variety of fronts including the fact that 5 different states passed some form of marijuana legalization measures. This was a huge victory for the cannabis industry and another step forward in ending the drug war. 

One amazing comeback story came to us from the state of Arizona, where voters passed proposition 207, which legalizes recreational marijuana. In 2016, the initiative failed to pass but only by a few percentage points, which left proponents of legalization, no pun intended fired up and ready to finish the job. And it certainly paid off because this time prop 207 was passed with 60% of the vote and was, once again no pun intended, the highest vote getter in Arizona state history with 1.92 million people voting in favor of legalization. I wanted to take the time out to learn about what changed in those 4 years and how community organizers got the message out.

So I spoke with Alejandro Chavez, a Political Director at Strategies 360, who joined to help win the Smart and Safe Arizona campaign to legalize recreational marijuana in Arizona.

He’s done a lot of amazing work with MoveOn.org where he helped the successful campaigns of Arizona State Representative Ruben Gallego, Texas Rep Veronica Escobar and Nevada Senator Catherine Cortez.

Oh yeah and he just so happens to be the grandson of legendary civil rights activist Cesar Chavez.

This is part 2 of my special election coverage. I did three different interviews throughout the night with people of different political backgrounds and demographics. Here I speak with a political independent from Texas who leans Democrat about the election results and whether or not Texas will ever turn into a blue Democrat state.

Check out part 1 where I discuss big tech monopolies and stay tuned for part 3 where I speak with a Democrat from New York City.

This is part 1 of my special election coverage. I did three different interviews throughout the night with people of different political backgrounds and demographics. Here I speak with a political independent about big tech censorship, how to balance combatting misinformation while also not giving complete power to the tech monopolies and more.

Stay tuned for part 2 & 3 where I speak with an Independent from Texas and a Democrat from New York City.

Hello everyone and welcome to A Pretty Normal Podcast, I am your host, Xavier Diaz and we have an amazing new interview for you this week! Tomorrow, November 3rd is the election here In the United States. I can't believe 4 years have come and gone already. No matter what happens it's truly amazing to see the amount of voter enthusiasm this time around. Early voting records have already been surpassed and whatever  happens I hope people continue to participate this much in our election process.

This week I had the opportunity to speak with Triston Jackson, a U.S army veteran, entrepreneur and founder of a non-profit which aimed at helping the homeless. Triston grew up in the deep South however his political views are very interesting considering the conservative nature of the state he lives in. It was a pleasure to speak with Triston and that speech you heard at the beginning was an amazing speech he wrote. His words inspired me to create a powerful video detailing the struggles the black community faces. Go check that out on Youtube or Instagram and let me know what you think.

Hello everyone and welcome to A Pretty Normal Podcast. This week I had the opportunity to speak with Qyarris, a New York based Youtuber, and this was the perfect person to have on after taking a break from the show. 

I had so much fun speaking with Qyarris about why he has made the decision to not vote this year and the backlash he receives from the black community. As I always state, use the information you hear from this interview as a starting point into your own research and always educate yourself before making any decisions.

Hello everyone and welcome to A Pretty Normal Podcast, a show that re-imagines what society considers normal. Each week I interview different guests about the topics they’re most passionate about.

This week I had the opportunity to speak with Rocio, co-host of the podcast, Chica Chats. Chica Chats is composed of Rocio and Kendy, 2 Latinas trying to tackle taboo topics. Each episode highlights different topics that are then dissected with a weird mix of sincerity, humor, and brashness.

Rocio has been on the show a couple of times in the past and it's always a pleasure to speak with her. You know the vibes, the conversation geared off into a wide variety of topics including the controversy surrounding the film, “Cuties,” Donald Trump’s new supreme court nomination, America's fascination with violence, podcasting and more.

Hello everyone and welcome to A Pretty Normal Podcast, a show that re-imagines what society considers normal. Each week I interview different guests about the topics they’re most passionate about.

This week I had the opportunity of interviewing Harriet Robinson, a journalist, presenter and the host of Wannabe Greener, a podcast that focuses on sustainability and other eco-topics.

Harriet meets inspirational people whose actions are making big changes in terms of sustainability. Their interactive discussions break down myths and offer advice and tips and answer questions from listeners.

As you can tell from the clip at the beginning, I wanted to speak with Harriet about her eco journey and wanted to get some advice for people who want to reduce their  own environmental footprint, but don't know where to start or think it’s too expensive to do so.