A Pretty Normal Podcast

Latest Episodes:

Episode #74: Exploring the Meaning of Liberty with Jalen Vasquez Dec 17, 2020

Show notes

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.

Connect with Jalen and check out his content at www.inspiredbyfire.org

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Remember to leave us a rating and review if you enjoy the content brought to you every week. Message us if you would like to come on the show or know anyone who you would like to see come on the show.

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STEREO LIVE: Who Can You Vent to, Why Does Family Hurt Us, What Is Technology Doing to Society and More with Reme Flyizhie Dec 07, 2020

Show notes

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.

https://stereo.com/

Stereo Usernames:

@xavierdiaz

@1flyizhie

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Episode #73: What is Democratic Libertarianism. Money in Politics and How the People Can Reclaim Their Power with Simon Chadwick Nov 26, 2020

Show notes

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:

https://www.simonchadwick.us/

Amazon Link to the book:

https://www.amazon.com/People-Citizens-Manifesto-Shaping-Nations/dp/1632992698

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Episode #72: Discussing Intersectionality, What Politicians Got Wrong about the "Latinx" Vote and More with Jackie, La Gorda Corajuda Nov 17, 2020

Show notes

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:

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Episode #71: How Community Organizers Helped Legalize Recreational Marijuana in Arizona with Alejandro Chavez Nov 10, 2020

Show notes

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.

Connect with Alejandro Chavez on Twitter @alejchavez

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Special Election Coverage Part 3: Whats the Deal with Latinos for Trump, and Election Coverage with Rocio Vives Nov 05, 2020

Show notes

This is part 3 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 Rocio Vives, co-host of Chica Chats a Liberal Democrat from New York City about why some Latino voters are choosing to support Trump. Check out part 1 where I discuss big tech monopolies and part 2 discussing whether or not Texas will ever turn blue.

Check out our merch and more content at www.aprettynormal.com

Subscribe to the show and follow us on Facebook // Instagram // Twitter // Youtube Remember to leave us a rating and review if you enjoy the content brought to you every week. Message us if you would like to come on the show or know anyone who you would like to see come on the show.

---

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Special Election Coverage Part 2: Will Texas Eventually Turn Blue and Election Coverage with Floyd Hope Nov 04, 2020

Show notes

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.

Check out our merch and more content at www.aprettynormal.com

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Special Election Coverage Part 1: Discussing Censorship, Breaking Up Tech Monopolies and the 2020 Election Results with Rob A Nov 04, 2020

Show notes

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.

Check out our merch and more content at www.aprettynormal.com

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Episode #70: Counting Down the 2020 Election, More Politics in Hip Hop, and Black Lives Matter with Triston Jackson Nov 02, 2020

Show notes

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.

Connect with Triston Jackson on Instagram @the_0racl3

https://www.facebook.com/Triston412

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Episode #69: Why POC Youtuber, Qyarris Has Decided Not to Vote This Election featuring Qyarris Oct 28, 2020

Show notes

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.

Connect with Qyarris on Instagram @Quba.j

https://www.youtube.com/user/qjest1993

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