Episode 20: “Guard Your Joy, Siblings!” with The Machetes
Please note: This transcript has been automatically generated.
Brittany Packnett Cunningham:
Hey y’all. So it is our season three finale. And boy, we have had a time this season. Listen, we’ve been talking about so much that matters deeply. We’ve been managing to have some joy and some real truth while we do it. We’re entering a season that, um, huh, it is in many ways unprecedented. Have we seen some of this before? Absolutely. And some of this, some of this is feeling real new to your girl, and yet we are finding outposts to express our creativity, to experience the world as we deserve it.
Brittany Packnett Cunningham:
I don’t know about you all, but for me, the three hours watching the Grammys felt like some kind of speculative fiction. Like, what if Kamala had won? What if we still lived in DEI America where people weren’t afraid of pronouns or where people weren’t afraid of queer and trans people, or blame everything on Black and brown people and recognized that our diversity is actually our greatest asset? I don’t know. It was nice to live in that world for three hours, especially because my girl, your girl, our girl, THE Beyoncé Giselle Knowles Carter finally won the album of the year that she deserved. Now, let me be clear, she deserved Album of the Year about four albums ago. And when we look at the track record of the Grammys Album of the Year Awards, there are literally only four Black women ever who have won that award.
Brittany Packnett Cunningham:
Natalie Cole, Whitney Houston, Lauren Hill, all the way back in 1999. And fast forward to 2025 when Beyonce finally gets her hands on what should have been hers all along. Now, it ain’t no way in the world, you can tell me only four Black women have made the album of the year. But besides that point, the fact that she won Album of the Year for Cowboy Carter absolutely thrills me. Y’all know how I feel about this album, and that’s not just because I’m a Black girl from Missouri who grew up loving country. And it’s not even just because I’m clearly certified Hive. It’s because this conversation that Beyonce had in this genre-less album was really about reclamation. Black people claiming what belongs to us, women claiming what belongs to us, people refusing to be gaslit out of our own history. An album deeply critical of the history and the present of this country won album of the year when people are trying to steal this place right out from underneath all of us, the symbolism is deep. And for me, it was punctuated by beautiful moments like Chappell Roan celebratory and distinctly queer performance. The best new artist winner, of course, and Kendrick Lamar winning a Grammy for every wa wa, wa wa w0p that was in Not Like Us <laugh> And I loved moments like listening to Doechii talk about the power of choosing her wellness and being rewarded by God for it. And the dignity that is inherent to all people, most certainly. But to a Dark skinned Black girl who needed to see somebody like Doechii do exactly what she’s done and know that they can do it too and beyond.
Brittany Packnett Cunningham:
As somebody who grew up singing and acting and dancing, and who has always loved the power of music and art and performance, those three hours felt like the DEI America I wanna live in. And I was not anxious to leave it when it was done. But now that we’re on the other side of that and back to reality, I’m clear that in our artistry and our innovation and our willingness to step up in community. We can and will have the future that we want. We just have to keep being serious about doing it together.
Brittany Packnett Cunningham:
Throughout this beautiful season, we have tackled a lot from motherhood to masculinity to of course, <laugh>, Beyoncé. We left no stone unturned. Hell, we even highlighted some stones for future turning. Okay. But more than anything we’ve learned through all this madness that beyond the fear and the anger, what matters most is creating and sustaining real, bonafide, certified community. ‘Cause if the world don’t got us, then we sure need to have each other. That’s why today I am excited? Honestly, I’m ecstatic <laugh> to be joined by five women who are not only part of my community, but my chosen sisterhood. Women who lift me up and at the same time are shaping the world for so many others through their respective fields. I honestly can’t believe that we made the scheduling work for more than half of us. And I’m proud to introduce a portion of our crew that you may know if you follow any of us on social, as we call ourselves “The Machetes.”
Brittany Packnett Cunningham:
There are 10 of us in The Machetes, and we’ve got six of us right here on this call. We’ve got broadcast journalist and TV personality Cari Champion, lawyer, author, and you probably know her as one of the co-hosts of the View, Sunny Hostin, sports journalist, Jemele Hill, activist and co-founder of Black Voters Matter, LaTosha Brown, and bringing up the rear, we have political commentator and TV host of the ReidOut, Joy-Ann Reid. Let’s get into the conversation.
Brittany Packnett Cunningha :
Y’all. I cannot tell you how excited I am, so I I’m gonna let you all introduce yourselves. I want you to tell us your name, and I also want you to tell us if we all pledged The Machetes, what would your line name be? Sunny Hostin we’re gonna start with you because we got our name from you and we’re gonna, oh, we’re gonna come back to that. Don’t you worry.
Sunny Hostin:
Okay. So this is Sunny Hostin, lawyer, journalist, mom, wife, daughter. And social activist. Social justice activist.
Brittany Packnett Cunningham:
I know that’s right.
Sunny Hostin:
But if I had to have a machete name since I did pledge, Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority Incorporated. I know what that name is. My machete name would be the originator.
Multiple Voices:
Ooh. Ooh. Okay.
Brittany Packnett Cunningham:
Okay. The originator. I like it. I like it. LaTosha Brown. We’re coming to you.
LaTosha Brown:
<singing> Well, the first thing I did, right… I’m not gonna sing the whole thing, but anyway, <laugh>. Hi.
Brittany Packnett Cunningham:
Uh, I was about to, I was about to get blessed. Go ahead.
LaTosha Brown:
You’re about to get in it. So I am LaTosha Brown. I am a southerner. I am the, the, the grandchild of Nelly and Joseph Gamble and Mary Lynn, um, and Isaac Brown. I am a singer, a mother, a grandma. And my machete name would be…I am The Singing Literalist <laugh>
Brittany Packnett Cunningham:
The Singing Literalist.
Multiple Voices:
<laughs> I like that.
Brittany Packnett Cunningham:
I like, I like that. Especially because if you hear LaTosha Brown speak for any more than 60 seconds, you’ll hear her say several times. Literally. Literally <laugh>. I like this very much. Okay, so we have <laugh>, we have the originator and the singing literalist. Cari Champion, tell us who you are. And what’s that line name, baby?
Cari Champion:
I didn’t, let me tell you. That’s a tough one. I’ve been thinking about it. I’m Cari Champion. I am a journalist, a broadcast journalist. I’m a host. Uh, I like to say that I like to speak on all things that affect our culture, sports, and politics. ’cause I think it intersects in the world that we live in. Um, I consider myself arguably one of the best friends you can ever have.
Brittany Packnett Cunningham:
<laugh> True tea.
Cari Champion:
And more importantly, I think that if I had a line name, it would have to, it would have to be a mixture of the two things I love the most. That’s journalism and thigh meat. ‘Cause I’m always showing them both. So…
Brittany Packnett Cunningham:
<laugh> I mean, thigh meat be a good choice. <laugh>
Jemele Hill:
I, I, I I was gonna say that’s an excellent choice.
Cari Champion:
Call me big sister thigh meat.
Brittany Packnett Cunningham:
I think Thigh meatt is great. How big Sister Thigh Meat.
Jemele Hill:
Yes, big sister thigh meet <laughs>
Brittany Packnett Cunningham:
Cari thigh meat Champion. This works for me. We’ve seen a lot of your thigh meat and nobody minds. Let’s be very clear. Like <laugh>, you’re a full stallion. Thigh Meat. Just have it all out there. Why not?
Cari Champion:
I deserve, I deserve.
Brittany Packnett Cunningham:
Okay. So let’s talk to the person who gave you your porcupine nickname, <laugh> Jemele Hill. Let us know who you are. <laugh>, and what’s your Machete line name?
Jemele Hill:
All right, good people. Um, so, uh, Jemele Hill, uh, broadcaster, journalist, sports enthusiast. Um, detector of bullshit, taker of none. Um, what I think my Machete line name would be, would probably be Lil Tequila, because literally…
Brittany Packnett Cunningham:
Yeah!
Jemele Hill:
Every good story I have involves tequila. I tend to consume quite a bit of it. So I feel like my testimony is told through Don Julio Reposado. Like that is, that’s where my best testimonies lie. So that is, that is me.
Brittany Packnett Cunningham:
Little tequila.
Jemele Hill:
Little tequila.
Brittany Packnett Cunningham:
I don’t know. I think it should be big tequila. Big tequila. Not the little.
Jemele Hill:
No, but I, I just feel like I need to– I need to leave a little room for some growth, so I’m just like little tequila.
Multiple voices:
<laughs>
Brittany Packnett Cunningham:
Okay. Okay.
Jemele Hill:
Like little stomach ache, little tequila. And it, it sounds a little more gangster since I’m from Detroit.
Brittany Packnett Cunningham:
<laugh>. Joy-Ann Reid, can you round us out, please? I’m very interested to hear what you have to say. <laugh>.
Joy-Ann Reid:
Well, I, first of all, enjoy the new Machetes branding company because I think that you all’s skills and branding are unmatched. Um, so, hi, my name is Joy-Ann Reid. Um, apparently, according to Saturday Night Live, Ego Nwodim, it’s just Ann Reid because the Joy is gone. Um…
Brittany Packnett Cunningham:
Pause. Did you all hear that slight flex? Because I, I don’t know about y’all, but ain’t nobody ever seen me on SNL.
Joy-Ann Reid:
It’s a humble brag.
Brittany Packnett Cunningham:
I know that.
Joy-Ann Reid:
Recently, recently, recently.
Brittany Packnett Cunningham:
You’ve had a, a good impersonation on SNL, but keep going.
Joy-Ann Reid:
It was spot on. She even had the, the pattern shirts that I was very proud of her. Um, so my job is I am an MSNBC anchor. I’m a journalist. I’m a, a writer. My main thing is I’m a writer and author. Um, I am an honorary member. I’m so proud to be a honorary member of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority Incorporated, uh, where our line, uh, was called the Justice League. And my line name on the Justice League is The Disruptor. But on The Machetes, I feel that my line name would be The Insomniac, because I’m usually the only one that responds to Angie Rye 2:00 AM Posts, um, where she’s like, nobody’s gonna respond. And then I usually am first because I’m, I don’t sleep. I I’m awake all the time. So, that’s it.
Brittany Packnett Cunningham:
The insomniac. That’s exactly what she says. “So nobody’s gonna respond?”
JoAnn Reid:
She’s like, nobody gonna respond, huh? <laugh>. Um, and I’m like, I’m here. I’m not sleeping. <laugh>, call me if you want.
Brittany Packnett Cunningham:
<laugh>. I love it. I’m Brittany Packnett Cunningham, your host and executive producer. And I’ll call myself the Baby Baddie because
Multiple voices
<laugh>
Sunny Hostin:
Or the bishop! Or the Bishop!
Brittany Packnett Cunningham:
Um, I’m, I’m in here pulling up the rear, trying to, trying to be as ba–
Jemele Hill:
You right, It’s the bishop. Bishop. Bishop.
Brittany Packnett Cunningham:
Y’all do call me the bishop. The bishop, because as much as I cuss somebody out, I’ll also pray to Jesus. Hallelujah. And shout out to our fellow machetes who could not make it today, but who are always here in spirit. Angela Rye, Tiffany Cross, Errin Haines, Alicia Garza. We will make sure that we figure out what those line names are and make sure that we get those jackets made. Um, you know, I’ve been asking everybody as this season has been going, how they’re doing, which feels like such a loaded question, but gimme like a sentence or two about how you are this week, which may have been different from last week. It may have been different even from last night. Cari, how are you doing?
Cari Champion:
I’m feeling much better. Uh, I had the bishop on the podcast, my podcast, and I was, I was really low. I was feeling like I, I look, I first and foremost, I’ll say this, I know God is in control. Jesus will take care of us. I—I do know that. But it’s the yes and for me. So I was feeling very yes and very unsettled, unsure thinking, okay, this, what is this what we’re dealing with? But this past week, I just took some advice, or I just, from our, from, uh, someone who had sent me a text that said “guard your joy, siblings.” And I’ve been guarding my joy. And this past week I have had nothing but joy. I’ve been able to see my really good friends, act really ridiculous, laugh a lot, um, also get upset about what’s going on in the world. But I’m, right now, in this moment, I put more value on those intimate connections because it’s so hard for us to connect with people. And I put so much value in that and that joy sustains me. So I’m ready to start again.
Brittany Packnett Cunningham:
Jemele, how about you? You always ready to pop off? Is that how you’re feeling today? Or–
Jemele Hill:
Um, I am actually a little angry today. Uh, I wasn’t really feeling, I didn’t wanna commit to a space of anger during this tumultuous time. Um, just ’cause I just didn’t think it, it really was productive for me. But today I’m mad because I’m mad at the thought of Elon Musk having my social security number because…fuck him.
Brittany Packnett Cunningham:
Why are you, he, you don’t even go here, sir. You know what I’m saying?
Jemele Hill:
I was like, didn’t nobody ask for you son. And like all of a sudden for him to have access to all of our information, I am seething, seething about this. Yeah. So anyway, I’m in a space of anger. So, you know, get, get some more. Get, I want to, I wanna, I do wanna steal some of Cari’s joy ’cause I, so I can be a little less upset.
Brittany Packnett Cunningham:
Joy, I often think about you and how you’re doing because not only are you, you can’t turn off this information, right? Like, your job requires you to be deep in it every single day and then translate it for audiences that are looking to you to say, what the hell is going on? And how do I deal with this? So how are, how are you doing, sis?
Joy-Ann Reid:
Uh, well, you know, I, first of all, I appreciate the question. This is why we love Black women, right? Because we’re always gonna think about, um, you know, centering not just our own joy, but our, our sister’s joy. And we’re always gonna think about each other. And I can’t tell you how many, “how you doing” texts. I’ve gotten from, uh, the ladies on this, uh, on this podcast and how many I’ve tried to give out. And I feel like that’s the thing we do best. That’s our superpower, is that we stick together. We stand together. So the way I’m feeling, uh, in this moment is I’m feeling resigned and focused.
Joy-Ann Reid:
Um, part of my job is that we went through Project 2025. None of this is surprising. It’s shocking, but not surprising. So my, my resignation is that I’m saying to myself, okay, we are gonna experience what it’s like for a democracy to fall. And democracies fall all the time. There’s nothing special about the United States that says that our democracy can’t fall, any democracy can fall. It’s happened in lots and lots of countries. We’re just now experiencing it. And the way I’m focused is saying, I, I can be mad about it. I can be sad about it, but I need to focus on what I need to do about it. And so I’m just trying to figure out in my small way, with my platform and with the platforms that I, that I’ve been, that God has blessed me with, how can I help people understand and, and, and sort of resign themselves to we are in this moment of democracy fall and democracy collapse. And what can we do about it? Because just because your democracy begins to collapse does not mean that you cannot repair it. And that you can’t save yourself and that you can’t survive it. So I’m focused on survival for my family, my friends, my machetes, um, my sisters, my brothers, and, and, and, and, and to the extent we can the country, but more our community.
Brittany Packnett Cunningham:
I know that’s right. You, you say you’re trying to think about how to do it in your small way. The truth of the matter is, nobody in this group is doing small things. And it is a minor miracle that there are six of us gathered on this call today because us trying to schedule anything
Multiple voices:
<laughs> Impossible
Brittany Packnett Cunningham:
Is nearly impossible. And yet, you know, I look around at the fact that I’m blessed to know you all, let alone call you sisters and have just so much admiration for the way that each of you is stepping up in your unique way. Let’s have a little fun before we come back to the serious stuff though, speaking of that sisterhood, because again, a lot of people look at us and they’re like, they, I think some people assume that this was like a group that like PR put together <laugh>.
Brittany Packnett Cunningham:
And I’m like, no, this was nobody’s team called anybody else’s team. Nobody’s people called anybody’s people. Literally it was Covid, our dear sis Angela Rye who we call the chief of staff to the Blacks
Multiple voices:
Angela. Chief of staff to the Blacks <laughs>
Brittany Packnett Cunningham:
For a good reason, to quote Tiffany Cross, um, called all of us and was like, look, we need to put together a YouTube special to communicate to our people how we survive and thrive during the time of Covid. Right? So five years ago we got put together in a time of crisis and the group chat that was purely logistical became a group chat that was started sharing information, which then became a group chat that, you know, became like one of real, real sisterhood, right? We’re over here sharing stories and funny pictures and then we’re getting deeper and deeper into conversation. And we talk about everything from financial advice to parenting, advice to activism advice and work advice. And well, what’s your number? And how are you working on this? And, and having lots of laughs in between, right? So like there is nothing fake or fraud or phony about any of this. And I know it can feel rare to people to be in community with folks and feel like you’ve got more community than competition. And I think that’s what’s so beautiful, at least for me, about this crew. But we’re also fierce as hell, which is exactly why we call ourselves tthte machetes. So Sunny, I’m gonna ask you to give us the short version about exactly how we got this name. ’cause you’ve told this story once, but I think some people might have missed it. And they’re like “Machetes?” I don’t like we cut through the bullshit is the tag line <laugh>. But there’s a very specific reason–
Sunny Hostin:
There’s an origin story, which is why I-I-I-I-I love, I love that I’m the originator of this, but I’m actually not the originator, right? The originator is my grandmother. Her name was Virginia Romero. And, uh, quite frankly, the way it happened was because she’s from Puerto Rico and she always had a machete on her wall. I don’t know why she had a machete on her wall. I still don’t really know. She kept it sharp too. And she had it on her wall in the living room. Um, I have it in my attic right now, so it’s ready. But what I will say is that my, one of my mother’s sister’s husbands decided to have an affair with a much younger woman. And I don’t know why, but in our family, the women get together and handle business. Men were not invited. We were invited. I was about eight. I mean, I really should’ve been invited.
Multiple voices:
<laughs>
Sunny Hostin:
But, uh, I got invited. My mother, my mother, her sisters, uh, a couple of cousins, all women jumped into a hoopty and drove from Manhattan to Brooklyn to this woman’s young woman’s house with the machete.
Brittany Packnett Cunningham:
Lord!
Sunny Hostin:
And my grandmother jumped out of the car, insisted that we all jump outta the car en masse with, and my grandmother unsheathed the machete and started screaming to the woman in a tenement building in Brooklyn to come down. Now, I’m not going to even say in Spanish what she was saying, what she was calling this woman. ’cause it’s really foul
Multiple voices:
<laugh>
Sunny Hostin:
But she was saying a certain name. I mean, I guess it’s a podcast. I could say it right?
Brittany Packnett Cunningham:
You can say it.
Sunny Hostin:
Okay. Well, she called her la hija de la grand puta, which basically means you are…
Brittany Packnett Cunningham:
Now see baby, I don’t know Spanish, but I know what puta means means.
Multiple voices:
Okay!
Sunny Hostin:
Well it’s mainly you are the daughter of the greatest whore. You’re the whore daughter of the greatest whore. So…
Brittany Packnett Cunningham:
Oh wow.
Sunny Hostin:
The girl came out on the fire escape crying, and then the mother tried to be big and bad and came downstairs and my grandmother just waved the machete around and said, come downstairs. Come downstairs. So then I call myself saying, come downstairs too. ‘Cause I’m eight <laugh>. So the moral of the story is when there’s a machete around, come downstairs, meet me outside. Catch me outside before the lights, before the street lights go. Go on.
Brittany Packnett Cunningham:
That’s it.
Sunny Hostin:
Go on Rather, but catch me outside.
Brittany Packnett Cunningham:
Come downstairs.
Jemele Hill:
We ain’t gonna jump you. Right.
Brittany Packnett Cunningham:
Just come downstairs.
Sunny Hostin:
Come downstairs. We’re not Gen Zers. We are Gen Xers. We’re the last feral children, feral adults. You know, we didn’t, weren’t allergic to gluten. Uh, you know, we didn’t, we didn’t have none of that. Okay? We didn’t have summer camps and day camps.
Joy-Ann Reid:
We had a house key and a machete. That’s pretty much it.
Sunny Hostin:
Exactly. You know, oh my God. We didn’t have Google. Okay. That kind of thing
Brittany Packnett Cunningham:
We not gonna go in on the generational thing ’cause we done, we done talked about the older generation ’cause they was the, apparently the greatest whore. And then we done talk about the younger generation being too, too sensitive to gluten. So we, we gonna leave it there. But <laugh>
Brittany Packnett Cunningham:
The point is, when a machete is outside, come downstairs. Okay? When a machete is present, come outside. This is what we all need to understand about how this group operates. So if it’s justice upstairs, if it’s President Trump upstairs, if it’s some wack CEOs upstairs, whatever it is, come outside. LaTosha, why do you think this name stuck for us so quickly? Like, we heard the story and we were like, that’s us. Yep. No questions asked.
LaTosha Brown:
Because we’re sharp and we like to cut deep <laugh> <laugh>. That’s what we do.
Brittany Packnett Cunningham:
That is what we do.
LaTosha Brown:
We leave a lasting mark.
Jemele Hill:
Wait, wait, what was, what was your infamous line? LaTosha you was like, oh, if I, if I if I take it there, you ain’t gonna recover.
LaTosha Brown:
Like, no. Oh, you ain’t gonna recover. You ain’t gonna recover. Yeah. Yeah. This ain’t no, this ain’t no butter knife. Baby. You gonna, we gonna leave a scar.
Sunny Hostin:
And, and by the way, the girl never came downstairs, but she got out of our lives.
MULTIPLE VOICES:
Of course not. Sunny why would she come downstairs?
Brittany Packnett Cunningham:
I’m not coming downstairs either, Sunny.
Sunny Hostin:
You could do it with your word. You could do it with your word Y’all, with your actions.
Jemele Hill:
Your grandma had a machete dog. There’s no way she was coming out. I was gonna say
It wasn’t the words that bad.
Brittany Packnett Cunningham:
I think your grandmother was prepared to go beyond words, but I’m glad it didn’t.
Sunny Hostin:
Can I just tell you that Angela Rye didn’t think it was a true story and then she met my mother and my mother was like, oh yeah, no, that happened. <laugh>. Yeah, I remember that. That that’s a true story that happened.
Brittany Packnett Cunningham:
We’re gonna take a quick break.
Brittany Packnett Cunningham:
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Brittany Packnett Cunningham:
So we are this group chat that organically forms, but we all know that usually the group chat talks about getting together in person IE going on vacation. And the trip never makes it off the group chat, but we have managed four times now I wanna say three or four, yeah. To actually get the trip out, the group chat. I’m talking international, I’m talking coordinated flights. I’m talking time off of work. All the things. Jemele, you’ve been one of the people who’s been in charge of planning these trips. What is your best advice to people who are trying to get the trip out? The group chat?
Jemele Hill:
Well, you got a KYP, Know Your Personnel and like, we’re all very bougie travelers of, of which I am, uh, as well. So I know. I mean, I mean this affectionately as possible, but like I know that like y’all hoes man, like y’all are not–
Sunny Hostin:
Don’t let it be janky. We don’t like janky accommodation.
Jemele Hill:
Oh my God. I was like, I, I mean my biggest thing is like, I have to make sure this is all on point because I know I’m gonna hear it. Right? And um, I understand because I am that way as well. So my thing is like, you know, you have to know, uh, know the group, know their likes, dislikes, understand what is the standard. And so there’s an established standard among our group that, you know, let, let’s give our shout out to our, our Chief of Staff of the Negroes, Angela Rye. Because she was the one who did the first couple trips. She established a standard. I took the baton and as I told y’all the last trip, I’m handing her the baton to somebody this year. <laugh>. It ain’t gonna be me again. Alright?
Sunny Hostin:
We’re not gonna let you quit.
Brittany Packnett Cunningham:
I’m, I’m calling baby on this one. It’s not gonna be me either. Sorry guys. I just need to show up.
Cari Champion:
<laugh> I didn’t like my room and I, I just, I bogarted and took my room. That’s why I said I ain’t fooling with y’all no more
Jemele Hill:
That’s why I was like, I’m gonna just let y’all do what y’all do. So, and now
Sunny Hostin:
We had the monkey. We had the monkey one year. That was, that was bad too.
Joy-Ann Reid:
There was a monkey. Y’all try to act like that monkey isn’t real. Now y’all gonna talk about the monkey. See
Jemele Hill:
The monkey was not real.
Joy-Ann Reid:
It was not real. I heard it.
Jemele Hill:
That monkey was not real.
Joy-Ann Reid:
I recorded the monkey. But…
Brittany Packnett Cunningham:
Let, let me set the scene. The very first trip is Cabo summer 2021–we are, we’re saying in this beautiful house in Cabo. And one morning we’re all gathered for breakfast, which was delicious. And Angela comes up looking like she saw a ghost. And we were like, are you like, what is wrong? Are you okay? And she was was like, y’all didn’t get a monkey in your room last night. I had a monkey in my room last night.
Brittany Packnett Cunningham:
We were all like, nobody has seen a monkey. Nobody’s heard a monkey. Nobody’s heard no. Ooh, oohs or Uhuh.
Joy-Ann Reid:
Some of us heard the monkey. The monkey is real. Okay, continue.
Brittany Packnett Cunningham:
I don’t know if it was in your mind, but all I know is Angela said she was trying to get rid of it. So she put on her deepest voice and she said “get outta here.” <laugh>. And we never heard from the monkey sister. And so that’s the story of the first trip. But the other part of the story is that a lovely team of wellness workers came to the house that Jemele had set up. And one of them is telling Jemele, oh you have a free slot because one of the young women had to cancel. And she’s like, oh, who canceled? And the lady’s like, I don’t know, one of them is pregnant. So she can’t get a <laugh>, she can’t get a massage. Right? And later that day, I’m in the pool and Jemele’s in the pool. She goes, Brit, I know you’re trying to keep it a secret, but you might as well go ahead and tell us. ’cause they already let us know. <laugh>. They were like, we we did process of elimination and you’re clearly the pregnant one <laugh> great. I was sitting there drinking sparkling water the whole time. Everybody was drinking…
Multiple voices:
Champagne
Brittany Packnett Cunningham:
Champagne straight to the head. And I was like, well, okay. I gave it away. But it was actually just the most beautiful experience ’cause I was really nervous about it and worried that something was gonna happen. ’cause that’s something had happened before. Um, and here we are a few years later, um, and the group keep the trip, keeps making it out, the group chat. And I’m about to drop another baby. So here we are with familiar things
Jemele Hill:
And Brit, you asked about the secret. The secret is alcohol. Like it has, you can never run out of alcohol like that is if there’s anything, the room, look, it might, somebody might get a bowl room here and there. Right? But what will not happen is that there will be plenty of rose high tequila,
Sunny Hostin:
High end tequila. The high end of tequila that this group puts together
Jemele Hill:
Oh my God.
Joy-Ann Reid:
And, and also on, on the subject of Bougieness, I have to say that one of the trips and Sunny didn’t make, this is the one I think Sunny didn’t make. We went all the way to Paris to see a basketball game that’s in one of the four, right?
Brittany Packnett Cunningham:
We went to see Dawn Staley. To see Dawn Staley and Notre Dame and South Carolina opened up the college women’s basketball season. Yeah,
Cari Champion:
You missed that one. But in next trip we all organized. I think that was one of the one trips where everybody did something Jemele.
Jemele Hill:
Correct. That is very true.
Cari Champion:
Who found the hotel? Somebody found the hotel.
Jemele Hill:
Somebody else found a hotel. Yeah. That was like a group.
Brittany Packnett Cunningham:
Sunny found a hotel even though she didn’t come to it.
Jemele Hill:
That’s right. It was sunny. I may,
Sunny Hostin:
I may plan the next one. I may, I may.
Jemele Hill:
Yes. Sunny. Plan the next one. Come on.
Cari Champion:
Sunny. Plan the next one.
Sunny Hostin
I think I may plan the next one.
Brittany Packnett Cunningham:
Y’all heard it here first exclusive Sunny Hostin is planning the next Machetes trip. Done. No, she doesn’t get to get out it now.
Sunny Hostin
I got a good spot. I got a good spot.
Brittany Packnett Cunningham:
Locked in. Okay. Okay. That’s So let me ask y’all some rapid fire questions. Um, on these trips, who is the most likely to get to the airport late?
Joy-Ann Reid:
I’ve missed one. I missed a whole flight to one of ’em. So I was gonna
Jemele Hill:
Say, I thought somebody missed a flight and…
Joy-Ann Reid:
I was at LaTosha house trying to cool it out because I had to go. ’cause me and LaTosha both missed it.
Brittany Packnett Cunningham:
And y’all were kicking it so hard. I was worried you were gonna miss the rescheduled flight.
Joy-Ann Reid:
And we clearly could’ve.
Brittany Packnett Cunningham:
I appreciate the honesty here, the transparency. Okay. Who’s most likely to be up early dressed and ready to explore while everybody else is asleep?
Joy-Ann Reid:
Tiffany. Tiffany.
Jemele Hill:
Yeah. Oh, Tiffany. Definitely Tiffany. And
Brittany Packnett Cunningham:
I say Cari too because Cari’s like, are we ready, ready to go? Are we, are we up? Are we ready to go? Because I’ve already been out. Yeah, you’re right,
Cari Champion:
You’re right. I do do that. That’s how my normal moves. But you know how we dynamic shift when we get around? So I do feel like I want to explore.
Brittany Packnett Cunningham:
Okay. Even if it’s a short trip, who is the most likely to over pack?
Cari Champion:
Angela.
Jemele Hill:
Oh…
Brittany Packnett Cunningham:
I’m gonna also own it myself here. ’cause I–
Sunny Hostin
Yeah, I gonna say, I was gonna say you, Brittany <laugh>,
Brittany Packnett Cunningham:
At least you honest about it. I have to have options. I love it.
Cari Champion:
But Angela
Brittany Packnett Cunningham:
I have to have options.
Cari Champion:
Angela brings clothes for everybody in extra bathing suits. Does she
Jemele Hill:
Does. That’s true. She does.
Brittany Packnett Cunningham:
She Does. Who is the type A friend who’s gonna have everything planned down to a T?
MULTIPLE VOICES:
Angela and Jemele
Jemele Hill:
Hell no. I am not…
Joy-Ann Reid:
I want you to plan my life. I mean, God, these things are so well planned that I think you should do my mm-hmm. I mean, you’re so good at this.
Jemele Hill:
So I, this is, this is only by, it’s only by level of responsibility. It’s not because I am a planner. Look, Joy you a Sagittarius just like I am. It’s just like I am on a daily basis–
JoAnn Reid:
I can’t find my keys!
Jemele Hill:
<laugh>. See, on a daily basis, it’s a wonder. I don’t set myself on fire. So trust me, I just rise to the occasion for this group.
Brittany Packnett Cunningham:
Okay, so you all have heard that there’s a photo shoot every year. Now, some of us were like, I just, I’m just trying to sit on the beach, but there’s a photo shoot every year and it’s always very cute. But who has the strongest opinion on the photo shoot aesthetic?
MULTIPLE VOICES:
Tiffany.
Tiffany.
Tiffany.
Tiffany.
Jemele Hill:
It’s either her or Angela.
Brittany Packnett Cunningham:
Ding, ding, ding.
Jemele Hill:
It’s either her Angela, but I think it’s Tiffany.
Brittany Packnett Cunningham:
Tiffany is always in there photo directing and she’s like, um, no. Wear this. Put on this jewelry. Yeah. No. Okay, I’m gonna, and then Tiffany will always hop in the picture with you.
Multiple voices:
Yes.
Brittany Packnett Cunningham:
There’s one Machete that has professional pictures with every other machete. Everybody. And it’s Tiffany Cross.
Multiple voices:
Yes. <claps. Accurate.
Brittany Packnett Cunningham:
She’ll look at you and she’ll say, I think something’s missing from this photo. Oh, it’s me. And then she’ll hop in.
Cari Champion:
I agree. I agree.
Joy-Ann Reid:
Accurate.
Brittany Packnett Cunningham:
Okay. Last question, but I think we know the answer. Who’s the party friend who’s going to get every situation popping?
MULTIPLE VOICES:
Cari Champion.
Cari Thee Stallion.
Carrie Thee stallion. Without a doubt.
Brittany Packnett Cunningham:
So we only got a couple minutes left and I, I don’t know why I, I don’t know why I tried to, um, <laugh>. I don’t know why I tried to be serious in the first place with y’all except for the fact that I know here’s, here’s something we do take seriously is sisterhood and community. And I know a lot of us have been saying throughout this season that community is how we survive, right? That if you, if we do nothing else, if we have nothing else, it’s the people that we rely on that are gonna help us get through. I know that you all have come through for me more times than I can even share. Um, LaTosha, what has this sisterhood meant to you? If you feel comfortable sharing, why is this such a remi–, this, this group, such a reminder of the importance of community in this time?
LaTosha Brown:
You know, I think there’s a couple of things I love about this sisterhood. One, you know, as you were saying party, I was thinking about Alicia too. I’m like, Alicia will turn it up.
Joy-Ann Reid:
True. Very true.
LaTosha Brown:
Alicia Will, will, will turn it
Brittany Packnett Cunningham:
Up. That’s exactly true. And then Errin will give the best recounting of what happened.
Sunny Hostin:
She’s a storyteller. He’s the, that’s her line name “Storyteller.”
LaTosha Brown:
Resident comedian, standup is Errin. Yes. So, you know, this sisterhood has meant for me sometimes creating space. Let me just be honest. Sometimes creating space that’s big enough to, to hold me being big, that’s big enough that you are connected with other sisters that actually see and celebrate, um, the space for you. That give you, when you wanna walk through the world and just take up as much space as possible. This is the space for me to be able to feel comfortable with that. Like, like you’ve got built-in cheerleading squad. You got a built-in coach, you got built-in preacher, you got a built in, um, medical need. Like there’s an approach that I think all of the sisters, um, are part of Machetes. Like the way we deeply care about each other and love each other and are willing to use kind of our relationships, our resources to actually help a sister. But also this is a, these are the sisters that literally when you feel in a certain kind of way will remind you, you a gladiator. Right? And so there’s, there’s something really powerful and beautiful about that for me.
Brittany Packnett Cunningham:
I know that’s right. Especially as I think about our political situation. I want everybody to have this kind of village experience. Whatever you call yourselves, whatever your line names are, like whether the trip makes out the group chat or not. Fundamentally a space where you are safe enough to be big, safe enough to be loved and cared for and covered. And where people will always remind you you’re a gladiator is like, what I wish for everybody, everybody should know this kind of love.
LaTosha Brown:
It allows me to be profoundly human in all of the aspects of my humanity. When I wanna, when I’m feeling, when I’m feeling weakened or tired, when I’m grieving, when I’m feeling on top of the world, when I’m being, um, when I’m dreaming, when I’m being creative. This space is a safe space for me to be totally explore every aspect of who I am.
Brittany Packnett Cunningham:
And I mean, Sunny, you know this, this is a group filled specifically with the 92%, right? The 92%
Sunny:
Yes.
Brittany Packnett Cunningham:
Of Black women that voted for your soror Kamala Harris. You know, when I was watching the Grammys last night for like three hours, it felt like speculative fiction of like what if Kamala had won, like the world felt joyful and diverse and beautiful. And yet as the 92%, we are both the, the ones who worked the hardest to come to an alternate outcome than the one we have now. And also among the ones that are in the most vulnerable
Sunny Hostin:
Yes.
Brittany Packnett Cunningham:
To what is currently happening as a Black woman and a woman of color in the public eye, what are you saying to the rest of the 92% and maybe even yourself. To balance how to keep going while also caring for yourself?
Sunny Hostin:
Well, you know, I’ve given so much thought to it because, um, like many of you, you know, I can’t disassociate from our reality because I have to do it for work. Um, so I constantly have to read in, constantly have to be bombarded with this madness. Um, and so I’m on sort of what you would call the oxygen mask protocol. You know, they say you get on a plane and they say put your oxygen mask on yourself first and then help the other people. Help your child, help your spouse, help the other people. And so I’ve got the oxygen mask on my face and uh, uh, the oxygen mask on the 92% of my community. And I’m here, I’m here for that. And that’s what I’m gonna be doing for the next couple of years. Um, I’m taking care of me and mine.
Brittany Packnett Cunningham:
Cari, you’re reevaluating too?
Cari Champion:
Oh 100% everything. I, every everything times 10. Oh my mama, everything Joy said, LaTosha said, Sunny Said. I totally agree with you ladies. I think what I have tried to do, um, is, is not get into silly arguments. And I say that as a contributor. I’m on CNN I’m not gonna get into these silly arguments when I know, you know what I’m saying? If you see something, say something like that’s where, that’s where I’m living right now. So you can’t tell me what I saw wasn’t a Nazi salute. You can’t tell me that this man is not robbing and looting our, our, our country as we speak and making sure that all his boys club, win. I don’t want you to start telling me that that’s not true. So I’m not gonna have that argument with you ’cause you’re crazy. You’re, you’re insulting my intelligence and I think that it’s okay to say what you see. We have to stop playing and pretending We really, really, but the only way that we will ever get better, and we’ve seen it with our ancestors ’cause they did far more with far less, right? I mean, literally, literally the only way that we can actually think, I think, get out of this moment that we are in, or at least understand that it’s a teachable lesson. So we don’t have to keep learning the same lesson is say what we see.
Cari Champion:
And I, and I get disappointed in the, in those who don’t. But I’m living to have grace. Right? And I wasn’t always that way. I’m just reengaging in a different way. This fight calls for, for, for different types of approaches than what we used to do before. What I did before isn’t necessarily gonna work. ’cause we all have common sense, but common sense obviously is not what got us here today. So we have to engage in different ways. And that’s what I like to do. I see Joy, Joy, you do it all the time. And I’m like, keep going. You do it all the time. And Sunny, you do too. But we have to speak truth to power, which we do, but make it make it simple. If I see it, say it. This country is racist, sadly.
Brittany Packnett Cunningham:
So Joy, how do we do that right? From, from right where we are, right? We don’t all sit in an anchor chair, but to Cari’s point, bearing witness refusing to be gaslit and telling truthful stories is more important now than ever. We’re caring for ourselves. We’re putting on our own oxygen mask first. We’re breathing now. What’s the next step so that we can remain politically engaged, um, and, and protective of ourselves in our communities.
Joy-Ann Reid:
Yeah. You know, I used to have, and I just affirm everything that’s been said, uh, before me. I think all of these ladies are absolutely right, just about, you know, we, how we’re engaging and how we’re centering ourselves and how we’re kind of, you know, kind of trying to work it out in this moment. But I, I used to have a boss when I got out of media and went in and worked in campaigns. And what he would always tell us is under-react.
Multiple voices:
Mm.
Joy-Ann Reid:
And, and, and I, and I think it’s an important thing to remember when you’re being overwhelmed with a fire hose of executive orders and you’re being overwhelmed with a fire hose of this person’s being fired and this group is being fired and these people are being locked out, the goal is to overwhelm you, right? The goal is to cause you to react to each individual thing and freak out a million times a day.
Joy-Ann Reid:
So everything that comes out, you freak out again. And then you’re focused on all of this other stuff while on the other side, someone has their hand in your pocket or someone is taking to Jemele’s point earlier, your, your, your personal identifying information while you are debating whether DEI could possibly cause a plane crash, right? I mean the media is very subjected to this. ’cause we overreact. So when one person and then a bunch of people from the administration say “A plane crash was caused by DEI.” Ee get distracted debating whether it’s possible for recruitment and retention of disabled people, Black and brown people and women could cause a plane crash, which is ridiculous. And we know it’s ridiculous, but we’re debating something that’s silly and not debatable and not seeing what we see. To Cari’s point. We’re suddenly ignoring the fact that while they’ve got us debating that, they’re literally giving a private citizen access to personal data.
Sunny Hostin
The chaos is the point.
Joy-Ann Reid:
So what I suggest that people do is when you’re…when this barrage is coming at you underreact, don’t freak out and jump on each and everything that they’re doing. Take a step back and look at the collective of number one. What do they want you to focus on? Right? They want you to focus on the fact that there’s an executive order that no one can use pronouns. Well, actually, you can’t make a sentence without pronouns. It’s gonna be hard to talk about anything if you delete all the pronouns out of the sentences in the federal government.
Cari Champion:
Oh, Joy, stop making sense. <laugh>
Joy-Ann Reid:
I mean. Just saying, it’s gonna be hard to talk, but while they, while they have you focused on that, I’m narrowly focused on a private citizen taking our data. And I’m narrowly focusing. I don’t care what they want me to react to. I’m reacting to one thing. Why is this private citizen who has no right and was not elected going in my data and getting my grandma’s social security and why is–
Sunny Hostin:
And an immigrant and an immigrant from South Africa who overstay his visa and why is he doing
Joy-Ann Reid:
Right? And why…
Brittany Packnett Cunningham:
And who wants to tell everybody else where to go.
Joy-Ann Reid:
That’s all I wanna know. Answer me that question and then we can talk about whether it annoys you that people want you to use their pronouns.
Brittany Packnett Cunningham:
Mm. That is such good advice. And I think I wanna leave it there except for one important question, Little Tequila <laugh>, where should our next trip be?
Joy-Ann Reid:
Come on.
Jemele Hill:
So, uh, because you know, I, I knew somehow that when I told y’all I was passing a baton, y’all wouldn’t believe me. But now we have Sunny on the record. So now I’m gonna pass this to Sunny. Fair. But I have already been scouting some places.
Multiple voices:
Oh! Mmm.
Jemele Hill:
I don’t want to make them known, you know, here, but let’s just say the company that we typically use to book these places, um, I started following them on Instagram a while ago and there are some options. There are some really good options if we wanna do something.
Brittany Packnett Cunningham:
This is such a critically important question to ask because in case the 10 of us are not allowed back, I wanna know whether we end up someplace nice.
[MULTIPLE PEOPLE LAUGHING]
Brittany Packnett Cunningham:
Okay, Okay, okay. Okay. Alright. Machete mysteries to be continued. Ladies, I love you. I’m so grateful for you. If there’s anybody else I’m gonna be in the fight with, I’d want it to be you all each and every time I pick y’all in. Every single universe, in every single lifetime. Um, thank you, thank you. Thank you for being the best aunties, best sisters, best homegirls on the planet.
Sunny Hostin:
Don’t forget the machete’s in my attic.
MULTIPLE PEOPLE:
[laughter]
Oh yes. Come downstairs, bring that with you.
Come on, come downstairs
Come outside.
Come outside.
Come outside.
[laughter]
Brittany Packnett Cunningham:
We’ve been talking about it for several episodes now. From the group chat with Brittany Cooper and David Johns to me, sharing some of my thoughts with you all to, of course, The Machetes. The goal is to keep us overwhelmed, discombobulated, and distracted. That is why here at UNDISTRACTED, we work so hard to try to make sure that we remain focused, clear-eyed and on target. So before the season wraps and I go drop this baby, let’s talk about a few things that are manageable, intentional actions all of us can take in the days, weeks, and months ahead. You can download the app Five Calls, that’s F-I-V-E-C-A-L-L-S or go to FiveCalls.org. It’s an app that allows you to very easily make calls to your members of Congress, local and state elected officials on the issues that you care about. We’re gonna have to call those folks early and often in order to get them to act in the ways that reflect the will and desire of the people.
Brittany Packnett Cunningham:
Follow organizations like the Working Families Party and Indivisible, who have real tangible plans for what, say the Senate Democrats can be doing to fight Trump’s extremism and Elon’s takeovers, and who give us the opportunity to easily sign up for things like phone banks and state office visits to make our voices heard on those matters. And last, but not least, that village, that community we’ve been talking about. Get real with them. Get in the group chat, on Signal preferably, and talk about what each of you need in order to feel supported. Talk about what you have to offer to support others. Execute real plans, and share critical information with each other that you all need to show up for one another. And from the very, very, very bottom of my heart, I wanna thank each and every one of you who’ve listened, who’ve posted our episodes, who’ve shared with your friends and family, who’ve given us ideas and feedback and reviews who’ve been with us all three of these seasons or if you’re just joining us for this first episode, you are cherished. You are loved, you are deeply, deeply appreciated.
Brittany Packnett Cunningham:
When Cindi and I first sat down back in 2019 and talk about the possibility of launching this podcast, it all felt like a totally foreign concept. I had been co-hosting a very successful podcast for a number of years, but the idea that I could strike out on my own and do it with a feminist and womanist collective, well, that felt like it was too good to be true. And for the last three seasons, UNDISTRACTED has been both good and true. And that’s thanks to each and every one of you. Thank you for caring about what little old me has to say and what all of our incredible guests have to offer. Thank you for not being an audience, but for being real community. Okay, I’m gonna be right back. I gotta go drop this baby <laugh>.
That’s it for today and for this season, but never ever for tomorrow. We hope to see you really soon. Undistracted is a production of The Meteor and our friends at Wonder Media Network. Our producers are Vanessa Handy, Brittany Martinez and Alyia Yates. Our editors are Grace Lynch and Maddy Foley. Thanks also to Natalia Ramirez and Sarah Culley. All of those people I just named are the best team ever! Our executive producers at The Meteor are Cindi Leive and myself and our executive producer at Wonder Media Network is Jenny Kaplan.
Brittany Packnett Cunningham:
Thanks to Wonder Media Network for your phenomenal support this year. You can follow me at @MsPackyetti on all social media and our powerful team @theMeteor. Subscribe to UNDISTRACTED and don’t forget to rate and review us on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or any place you get your favorite podcasts. Thanks for listening. Thanks for being. And always, especially right now, thanks for doing, let’s go get free.