Blake Griffin is surprisingly woke, y’all.
Source: Audible / other
Griffin’s Audible Original podcast “The Pursuit of Healthiness with Blake Griffin,” returns for season two TODAY and we’ve got a few clips, including an exclusive, for your listening pleasure. This year has not been easy, and navigating the crushing toll of the pandemic, isolation and racial injustice has made focusing on health and wellness more important than ever. That’s the motivation behind “The Pursuit of Healthiness with Blake Griffin” — and for the second season Griffin is reaching to expand beyond mind and body. This season taps into conversations around identity, sexual well-being, addiction, the critical skill of listening and much more. The first two episodes premiere today, featuring New York Times bestseller Malcolm Gladwell and Stanford social psychologist Dr. Jennifer Eberhardt. The remaining episodes are set to release weekly. Additional guests this season include Dax Shepard, Jessica Alba, Neal Brennan, Kate Murphy, Tony Gonzalez, Shadeen Francis and Kevin Durant.
In Episode One, bestselling author and thought leader Malcolm Gladwell explores the secrets of physical fitness, the benefits of exercising with joy, and reveals his background as a champion long-distance runner. Malcolm also discusses one of his greatest wishes: he’d like to race LeBron James. During the candid conversation, Gladwell discusses revisionist history and how he believes the Black Lives Matter movement will be viewed in history, check out an exclusive clip below:
LOL @ Malcolm Gladwell questioning if there are any Black people in South Dakota. Of course there are! We like where they’re going in this convo. Gladwell also discussed the way police brutality cases are covered and his disappointment with society’s slow reaction to social injustice over the past decade saying, “I remember, before I wrote my last book, I read this book called When Police Kill by a criminologist named Frank Zimring. It’s an incredible book in which he basically systematically goes through, and he describes what police violence looks like in this country, and compares it to other countries and points out, there’s no other country in the world that has this. You go to Germany, almost nobody gets killed by the police. I mean, this never happens. You go to Canada, you go to France. And I remember reading that book and thinking the same thing. Like, I don’t understand why this isn’t an issue. And then we had the whole wave of cases beginning with Ferguson. And I really thought, okay, we’ve now turned the corner. And there were like, 15 high profile cases. And I wrote about one of them. As you know, in my book, Talking to Strangers, Sandra Bland. I had the same feeling, I’m like, alright, this is finally the moment we’re going to start addressing these things on a systematic basis. I felt like everyone forgot Sandra Bland, and I didn’t want to forget her, and then all of a sudden George Floyd happened and maybe we finally reached that moment. I am grateful it finally happened, but I remain stunned at how long it took, like this stuff has been going on for centuries and that’s what I don’t get. I don’t understand why we’re so slow.”
We are with you Malcolm. Change has got to come. And hopefully with more high profile conversations like this people who have been shy about speaking up against injustice will start doing so.
Episode Two of “The Pursuit Of Healthiness with Blake Griffin,” (also premiering TODAY) features Stanford social psychologist and author of the acclaimed book “Biased: Uncovering the Hidden Prejudice That Shapes What We See, Think, and Do,” Dr. Jennifer Eberhardt, who explains how prejudice can negatively impact our health and well-being.
Check out a clip of Eberhardt discussing the positive change she’s seeing in today’s social justice movement expanding generationally and internationally:
“Definitely there’s positive change. I mean, just with the killing of George Floyd, those, you know, those protests were all over the country and they were also international protests right and it was intergenerational. And they were people of all races right, out there protesting. That was an awakening like I have not experienced before in my lifetime and I think part of it had to do with the fact that the killing when he was filmed and it was so brazen right and so we couldn’t turn away from it, like it was at a time where the world had stopped and we couldn’t just go back to work or go back to doing what we were doing. It forced us to reflect on it and to reflect in a way where people can understand for the first time what this was all about. I’m hopeful that the moment is going to generate a lot of change in the country.”
This is really dope. LeBron has been inspirational in the way he’s created content around real issues and it’s awesome to see he’s not the only one in the league refusing to shut up and dribble. Kudos to Blake Griffin for having tough conversations!
Here’s more of what to expect from Season 2 of “The Pursuit Of Healthiness With Blake Griffin:
Episode Three: Dax Shepard (Premieres May 20): The actor, comedian, and host of the podcast “Armchair Expert” discusses addiction, serenity, and learning how to let go. “I have not had a great deal of success trying to control my brain,” Dax says.
Episode Four: Jessica Alba (Premieres May 27): The actress, business mogul and founder of The Honest Company opens up about the movies that inspired her, the barriers that challenged her, and how to keep your work-life balance in a time of Covid-19. “No time can be taken for granted,” Jessica says. “I think this time has really put that into perspective for me.”
Episode Five: Neal Brennan (Premieres June 3): The comedian shines a light on the link between humor and mental health, and shares the wild story of his quest to find spiritual enlightenment with a psychoactive brew from South America. Do not try this at home.
Episode Six: Kevin Durant (Premieres June 10): The basketball great reveals details about his recovery from Covid-19 and shares his thoughts about his relationship with the late Kobe Bryant. KD and Blake also trade insider stories about what it takes to be an NBA superstar.
Episode Seven: Kate Murphy (Premieres June 17): The New York Times contributor and author of the breakthrough book “You’re Not Listening: What You’re Missing and Why It Matters,” explains why video calls can make us feel more anxious and less connected. She also shares the secrets to becoming a world-class listener. Spoiler Alert: Putting your phone away really helps.
Episode Eight: Tony Gonzalez (Premieres June 24) : The Football Hall-of-Famer, who played in the NFL for 17 seasons, reveals how he stayed at the top of the league for so long, and discusses everything from his transition to veganism to social injustice in the world of sports and beyond.
Episode Nine: Shadeen Francis (Premieres July 1): The licensed marriage and family therapist and expert in sex and intimacy talks to Blake about how to keep love alive in a lockdown, what porn and “The Fast and the Furious” have in common, and what sexual re-education can look like.
Which episode are you most excited for?
You can listen to “The Pursuit of Healthiness with Blake Griffin” HERE
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