Those People

On this episode of Season Three of Those People Mitch chats with Ihssane Lecky (which I mispronounce at least 3 times in this interview, likely the only thing be and Tucker Carlson have in common) to talk about her journey to America from growing up in Morocco, becoming an organizer and a fighter for wall street reform which was passed and then repealed under the Trump administration, and what being a “progressive” in the American sense of the term means to her.

Leckey is running in Massachusetts 4th congressional district, a seat vacated by Joe Kennedy III deciding for no apparent reason to challenge Ed Markey for Mass.’ 2nd Senate seat. This race is the most contested in the state and while there are several perfectly fine candidates in the race, Leckey stood out to me as someone able to identify the core issues facing working class people in the state including corruption, rampant ignorance of sexual violence and more.

She’s also the most No-Bullshit ‘Politician’ I’ve interviewed so far on the show.

Thanks for checking out Volume/Season 3 of Those People! (we’re just gonna call em season from now on, people were confused with Season 1 being 2 volumes)

We’re back with another slate of congressional candidates with the Primaries in New York just around the corner, we decided to swing back and sit down with 5 other candidates in races here, and check in on the state of presidential politics & the country writ large with a couple amazing Bonus Episodes coming this season.

In this episode, Mitch chats with Shaniyat Chowdhury a badass activist, rugby player and former AOC staffer turned candidate for NY-5!

Beyond all that Shan is self described as one of Those #He/him, #freethinker, #personofcolor, #anticapitalist, #activist, #athlete, #writer. People.

Hey Guys! This is certainly a "different" episode of Those People - just catching everyone up on what we've been up to these past few week's while we've not been posting episodes. Below are some resources that you can feel free to share and utilize to help the cause - whichever part of the cause you want to help. I appreciate each and every one of you listening out there and we'll be back soon with more interviews!

On Episode two of this season of Those People Mitch chats with Melanie D’Arrigo (which I mispronounce 8 times in this interview) to talk about CoVID’s impact on NYC, growing up in a tough-love family to put it kindly, and the saviors that make up our public education workforce.

Melanie is the 2nd of the NYC progressives we’ll be interviewing this season, representing New York’s 3rd district & we spend a good chunk of the first half discussing the intricacies of growing up in the city, and a good deal of the second half on what she wants to do to make that easier for kids and families of this generation coming of age now.

On Episode two of this season of Those People we sat down with Mel Gargarin (back when we could still do the whole in-person thing) to talk about life in NYC, family, Puerto Rican culture and his plans for the city, and the country, once he takes office.

Mel is the first of the NYC progressives we’ll be interviewing this season, representing New York’s 6th district - better known as Queens, & we get into the fabric of the city, how we got here and where it’s going, and of course what Mel was getting into as an NYC Youth back in the day.

In a word, Mel is self-described as one of Those #progressive People and is out here fighting for all marginalized people and for the working class first and foremost.

Volumes One & Two of Those People are all wrapped up but we’re going to keep exploring “Creative People” with this Bonus episode featuring a unique “creator” Tech Creator, Pariss Athena!

We chatted about how Relient Coders gave her a start in tech, the hustle it took to make it, and how once she got into the industry she started putting on for #TheCulture.

Pariss is a Front-End developer, Founder of #BlackTechPipeline and Boston Area tech guru.

She is self described as one of Those…#Techy #CurlyHaired #Chill #NoBigDeal #Black People.

You can follow her on Twitter @ParissAthena or check out @BTPipeline.

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This Podcast was Recorded in Sept 2019 Remotely In Cambridge MA & Winthrop MA.

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In our 5th & Final episode of our 2nd Volume of Those People exploring “Creative People” Mitch is joined on the show by Graphic Novelist Ryan Estrada!

Ryan is a creator’s creator and started on his first works as a child, moved all around the globe chasing the stories he wanted to tell and sits down to chat with me about living in the US, Mexico, Korea and more and what’s it’s like to make your own way instead of depending on others to show you the path.

Ben is self described as one of Those…#storyteller People.

This week brings us another Those People installment of “Pod People” where we’re joined by podcasters who cover the types of people we’re talking to.

In volume 2 we’re kicking it with creatives & this week we’re joined by Uncle Vick - a Podcast Host, former MC and lifelong hiphop head who’s been covering the culture, and it’s creators, for a LONG time.

As it’s black history month, we start focusing on the black experience Vick’s closeness with it, and the circumstances that estranged Mitch from it, before diving into giant families, being raised by drug dealers, interracially dating and SO much more.

Vick is a fellow founder of Blank Kanvas, a collective of creators ranging from rappers to podcast hosts, fashion designers to videographers helping one another create, grow and finance their dreams.

We were first brought together through a fan group of the Joe Budden Podcast and have since become close friends, and I was super excited to share this interview back to back with the Matthew Harris one, as a Ying and Yang of the black experience in close proximity - despite being in two entirely different countries and eras.

Vick is self described as one of Those…#Passionate, #longwinded, #misunderstood, #artsy, #selfaware People.

This week brings us a Those People installment of our “Pod People” section of the volume we’re joined by podcasters who cover the types of people we’re talking to.

In volume 2 we’re kicking it with creative professionals so this week we’re joined by Matthew Harris - a Podcast Host who covers hip-hop culture through a “True North” point of view. Based in Toronto he’s a financial planner and amateur boxer by day and his show “True North Views” is a weekly breakdown of the culture with a heavy focus on music along with his co-host Shola.

Harris and I were first brought together through a fan group of the Joe Budden Podcast and together with some others from there and outside have established a community of fellow creators from the Culture called Blank Kanvas to share work, ideas, inspirations and resources.

Harris is self described as one of Those…#Feminist-ally, #alwaystriestoseeBothSidesoftheArguement, & #black People.

You can follow him on on Twitter @M2H4 & the show @truenorthviews on Twitter, IG or Youtube.

In this episode of our 2nd Volume of Those People exploring “Creative People” Mitch is joined on the show by Maverik - a Radio Personality, Musician, Rapper, and Lifestyle Entrepreneur based here in Boston MA.

Mav has been a mainstay on Boston’s #1 Hip-Hop station for years and has carved out a growing niche as an artist himself along the way. We met in person recently for the recording of his music video for “Pharrell” his newest single, and he was gracious

enough to carve out an hour for me to break down his journey throughout Massachusetts schools, arts scene, and black culture.

Man is self described as one of Those…#Black, #Caribbean, #Intellectual, #fun-loving, #charismatic, #creative, #Gracious People.

In the 3rd episode of our 2nd Volume of Those People exploring “Creative People” Mitch is joined on the show by Jazz Saxophonist, Photographer & creator, Ben Dulong!

Ben is a lifelong friend dating back to childhood, but we fell out of touch for the middle 15 years or so. We catch up to discuss the absurdity and privileges of growing up on Massachusetts’ North Shore, unique arts education programs, meeting young Bo Burnham & trying to define math rock as we meander our way through equal parts memory lane and exploration of identity.

Ben is self-described as one of Those…#Mustached, #CarGuy #SteelyDanFan, #creative, People.

This is a VERY special 2 guest bonus episode where Mitch addresses some of the criticism of Pete Buttigieg with Black voters, his outreach and his Douglass Plan for Black America.

In this episode Mitch chat’s with Ryan Grim of the Intercept about where he grew up, his foray into covering racial inequality and some of his criticisms of Buttigieg’s campaign including the 400 questionable endorsements he received for his Douglass plan in South Carolina.

In the second half of the pod, we run the second segment of a full episode we did with Nina Smith, Pete’s National Press Secretary where she response to some of Ryan’s critiques as well as my own questions and a few from you listeners out there in the twitterverse!

This is the FIRST episode of Volume 2 of Those People exploring “Creative People”.

In this episode Mitch sits down with Boston’s (by way of Singapore, India and Middlebury College) Most Handsome Comic, Anjan Biswas.

Me and Anjan cover A LOT in this episode, so much so that we broke it up into two chunks!

Part 1: We explore Anjan’s early life and childhood, the restrictive culture of Singapore, his abusive mother and getting engaged at 19 after just 6 months of dating. Plus Moving to America and a whole lot more.

This is the FIRST episode of Volume 2 of Those People exploring “Creative People”.

In this episode Mitch sits down with Boston’s (by way of Singapore, India and Middlebury College) Most Handsome Comic, Anjan Biswas.

Me and Anjan cover A LOT in this episode, so much so that we broke it up into two chunks!

Part 1: We explore Anjan’s early life and childhood, the restrictive culture of Singapore, his abusive mother and getting engaged at 19 after just 6 months of dating. Plus Moving to America and a whole lot more.

In this special Bonus Episode we release the Pilot Episode recording of Those People with Jordan Partridge, better known as PapiChulo_JP.

Jordan is a millennial’s millennial working a day job in the trades, building passive income through real estate and stocks and creating content in the time in between. Mitch & Jordan met online through a mutual love of the Joe Budden Podcast and Jordan was one of the first followers and supporters of Those People.

This episode is also part of our November series on Healthy Masculinity and features a terrific conversation around male role models, masculinity and family.

Jordan is self described as one of Those... #Podcast #Atlanta #RealEstate #Stock People.

You can follow him down on Twitter @PapiChulo_JP & on Youtube @ https://youtu.be/tFuAEqmVkkI

We’ll be back with Volume II of Those People next week!

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This is the final episode of Volume 1 of Those People exploring "Political People" in particular, Democratic Candidates for Congress.

In this episode Mitch sits down with New Jersey’s 6th District hopeful, Russ Cirincione, who’s running on a very progressive platform including an ambitious green new deal, and seeking to restore the distinction of “profit creators” back to the working class.

He’s been a housing attorney, a Seton Hall Pirate, and a Dad already and we chat about how those things shaped his life’s experiences leading him to the decision to run for a seat in the US House of Representatives.

Russ is self-described as one of Those... #Loud! #Passionate #GoodGuy #Attorney #Husband #Jersey but via #StatenIsland People.

Volume 1 of Those People explores "Political People" in particular, Democratic Candidates for Congress.

In this episode, we take a break from the candidates of this series to talk about the people who COVER them, with our second of this season’s “Political Podcast People” episodes.

In this episode, Mitch speaks with Lety Stanton Verduzco (whose name he apparently cannot pronounce on the first try) who is a grassroots activist and host of the Good Guy Pete Podcast, a podcast covering the presidential bid go Mayor Pete Buttigieg through a South Bend perspective.

She’s been a go-to source of coverage behind the scenes of the Pete campaign, and we chatted about her family’s journey to South Bend, her entry into activism and politics and what exactly goes into turning a small meme page into a following of thousands and a successful podcast.

Lety is self-described as one of Those... #SouthBend! #Progressive #Lesbian #Mother #Wife #Advocate(for the children) People.

You can follow her on Twitter @GoodGuyPete2020 & a few other accounts if you can track her down ;-).

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Volume 1 of Those People explores "Political People" in particular, Democratic Candidates for Congress.

In this episode, we take a break from the candidates of this series to talk about the people who COVER them, “Political Podcast People”.

In this episode, Mitch chats with Kelly Pollock the Director of Content for DemCast, a grassroots aggregator and amplifier for smaller democratic voices and candidates.

We chat about religion, the urban midwest, moving away from family & being able to stay connected and becoming friends with Alyssa Milano. We also touch on community in a lot of different ways, feminism and the hard work that step-moms put into parenting.

Kelly Pollock is self described as one of Those... #Political #Feminist #Vegetarian #midwestern People.

You can follow her on Twitter @FeministKelly as well as @TwoBroadsTalk

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Volume 1 of Those People explores "Political People," In particular Democratic Candidates for Congress.

In our 4th Episode Mitch sits down with Joshua Collins, a candidate for WA-10’s house seat, challenging long term incumbent Denny Heck from WAY left of the establishment democrat.

Despite being our first “Cis Straight White Male” guest on the show we talk about his “Big Gay Truck Driving Socialist Agenda,” How to Negotiate with Republicans, and the Green New Deal.

But as you know, we’re more about the people than the politics so we also talk step-family, child abuse, growing up in small town Kansas and overlap the personal and the political with a conversation about NAFTA’s impact in Joshua’s hometown.

Sadly, Mr. Collins was limited on time so this episode doesn’t contain everybody’s favorite podcast segment, Random People, but don’t fear it’ll be back in next week’s bonus episode!

In addition to being a #Political person, Joshua Collins self-identifies as one of Those #DemocraticSocialist, #FarLeft, #WorkingClass, #TruckDrivin, #Young #RasinBranLoving People.