Pod-Alization: Trevor Noah Podcast Debuts; Who Killed JFK?

Who Killed JFK? podcast debuts on iHeart
Conspiracy theories have been around since the days when Egyptian Pharaohs and Roman Emperors dropped dead suddenly and mysteriously. In today's world, social media has amped up the distribution of all kinds of crazy conspiracy theories. You can thank Fox News for being the legitimizer of such crackpot-ness.

Perhaps, the genesis of the modern American conspiracy theory is the assassination of President John F. Kennedy on Novwember 22, 1963.

Was it the mob? Castro? The Russians? I'm sure Trump would find a way to blame Barack Obama for this event.

This new podcast from iHeart has names of distinction and lifelong commitment to excellence associated with the show -- Soledad O'Brien and Rob Reiner.

Who Killed JFK? takes us back 60 years ago to one of the most tragic moments of the 20th century, when questions still surround the assassination of President John F. Kennedy.

Join award-winning journalist Soledad O'Brien and beloved filmmaker Rob Reiner on Wednesdays as they team up to discover the truth behind the assassination, revealing how the ramifications of the 1963 tragedy still impact American society today.

Trevor Noah podcast debuts
There's a new maxim in media. Those who don't want to do TV anymore, do podcasts. See Conan O'Brien, Dax Sheppard, Joe Rogan, et al.

Spotify likes to throw around the phrase "highly anticipated" a lot when referring to its original podcast releases.

But its original podcast What Now? with Trevor Noah, which launched on Thursday, November 9, is actually "highly anticipated."

To Noah's credit, he begins with a top-shelf guest who is a notch above the typical celebrity babblefest on audio or video talk shows.

This first episode features a conversation with  Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson.

According to Spotify, "What Now? with Trevor Noah is a show wherein each episode Trevor will go deep with a special guest, including entertainers, CEOs, actors, athletes, and thought leaders. These are the kind of conversations that happen behind the scenes, full of radical candor, authentic back-and-forths, and honest reactions, with Trevor bringing to bear his classic, effortlessly playful and equally probing style.

On the first episode of What Now?, Trevor Noah and Dwayne Johnson get real — discussing everything from Dwayne's troubled youth and his lifelong struggles with depression, to Dwayne listening, understanding and responding to public feedback surrounding the launch of his fund following the Maui fires, and whether he'd ever consider running for President of the United States.

The video episode is available exclusively on Spotify, with audio episodes available wherever you get your podcasts. New episodes will publish weekly every Thursday.

Some highlights in the video episode include:

Trevor On Having a Spirited Conversation (1:00)

Trevor: “If there's one thing I've always loved, it's having a spirited conversation. I've always loved how the words coming out of another person's mouth can change how the mush in your brain processes or sees the world that it's seen a certain way for such a long time. It feels like these days, though. We might be losing that ability. Oh, it's become a little bit harder. You know. A few days ago, I was. I was at an event and. People were having really interesting and dynamic conversations, conversations about really difficult topics… men, women, young and old alike. And every few minutes somebody would start their opinion with the phrase. Now, I would never say this in public, but. Or, I would never say this if I was being recorded, but. And I found that fascinating. So many of us have opinions and ideas about the world that we live in. That we are either unable or unwilling. Or too scared to share. And I thought to myself. If we cannot have conversations about difficult things, if the conversations themselves are now the difficult things, then what hope do we have of fixing the difficult things? You know, I almost think of it like a minefield. One of the most dangerous places you can ever walk into is a minefield. Because you do not know. Where they are. You do not know when your last step may be. All you know is at any moment, something could blow up. But the danger comes when you step into the minefield. Imagine if discussing how to navigate the minefield was as dangerous as the minefield itself. That's what I feel like we're living in now.”

The Rock On His Connection to His Culture (13:33)

“At a very early age from my mom and my dad, it was always ‘what you are is perfect’ and ‘what you are is cool.’ Black culture, Samoan culture. We come from a world of pro wrestling. And at that time, Trevor, if you think about it, pro wrestling was nowhere near the global juggernaut that it is today. And it was, it was a very small subculture. So be proud of everything that you are out of the gate, It was always ‘be proud’… It's a cool thing. And I got to tell you, as you go down the road of life, you start to realize just how special culture is, how special all of our culture is.”

The Rock On Why He Wanted to Be A Wrestler (17:32)

“Not only did I grow up in it… but man, I loved it. I loved wrestling. I love the antics of it. I love the characters of it. And especially at that time, you know, when you grow up in the 80s, wrestling back then was a whole different, I think, unique experience in that a lot of people bought into it and they felt like it was real and they'd have these local stars every week and they'd be on their television sets, just their local TVs, and they would talk down the lens about what they're going to do to their opponent this Saturday night at whatever little arena they're wrestling in. I loved all that, and I had a front-row seat watching my dad and my grandfather and everybody in my family live their passions and it's what they, I believe, were all born to do… And so. I think the yearning of it, it started to happen for me when, to be honest, when we were evicted out of Hawaii. So we were living in a little apartment. We were evicted when I was 13 or 14 years old. And I remember in that moment I never wanted to feel that again. I was with my mom and we came home and there was a padlock or there was a notice… I remember just her and I were standing there. She was crying. She didn't know what to do. And my dad was wrestling in Tennessee at that time. And I remember then thinking, I never want to experience this again and what can I do to change it? What can I do? Like, what can I do with my own two hands on 14 so I can't do shit, right?... So I remember at that time thinking, well, all the heroes in my life are these guys. These guys who are, they’re big, they’re strong. They're pro wrestlers. I bet you if I built my body and if I went to the gym, then I could change the scenario. So from that moment, I think that is the defining moment.”

The Rock On Starting the People’s Fund of Maui and Reacting To The Initial Backlash (22:32)

Trevor: “...you know, when you feel like you've missed a news cycle, like The Rock and Oprah under fire. But for what? And people were like, Oh, you're the problem. And how dare you? And why would you? And I was like, Man, our whole lives, people have asked people to join into a worthy cause. When did this become a criticism or a fight? And I would love to know how you process that.”

The Rock: “I woke up the next morning wondering the same thing. Thinking. What? What happened? Did I miss something? So it took me a couple of weeks to really process that. And I felt like that moment was a pivotal moment for me in my life for a few reasons. Number one, I want to go back to the brass tacks of it and the whole idea of creating this fund, the People's Fund of Maui, is to help people and help survive and thrive. These are my people. These are my Polynesian people. My Hawaiian Kanaka Ohana. My grandparents. They're all buried in the islands, you know, So it meant so much to me. And I know it meant so much to our people, Right. That we were able to come together and create this fund. Over 8000 survivors, by the way we're helping right now. It's really beautiful. But what's interesting is when all that started to happen and the backlash started to happen and it started to come our way. So I always feel like in moments like that, it's important. Not to get caught up in it. It's important just to pause. Let's be prudent. Let's pause. But let me just wait and see. And. I felt like my gut said it's going to take a couple of weeks, but let me really take a look at it. I don't want to respond to it right now. Yeah, let's stay focused on the mission. And the mission is to help the survivors right now who have nothing. And they are devastated. And so let's continue to stand the fund up on its feet. But at the same time, I want to pay attention to this. And it really tested my ability to separate noise from criticism that was really worthy of my attention in this case and this noise. And at first it was a wave of noise. Okay, how dare you ask us for money? And I thought the same thing you did was right. Whatever you can give, if you want to give a prayer. Great. A buck, seven bucks, or nothing. So there was the noise that started to feel like it was political noise. Then it started to feel like it was. It just started to feel really noisy. And I wanted to make sure that we just paused and I was just waiting for. Well, where's the criticism here that is worthy of my attention? That really makes sense. And then, Ah, that's it. This is what I feel I got. And it took me weeks before I figured this out. And I had a I just had a moment one night, and I think I was as I usually do, I was having a drink, drink off and clear my mind and clear all this shit up in my head. And once all that left, I thought, Ah, that's it. And I saw someone had posted something and it was something to the effect of basically don't pay attention to these guys and all this other bullshit that they're saying. However, you're one of us. And when I read You're one of us was the thing that made me go. Got it. Went back to when I was in Hawaii. When I got evicted, we had nothing. I was a troubled kid. I got arrested like you. I mean, you know, we both were troubled kids, arrested multiple times. I was always pissed that we were broke. There's a difference between being poor and then being broke. And I was pissed. I was always angry, getting in fights, getting in trouble. And the last thing I realized in that moment, the last thing that I wanted to hear was somebody asked me for money. Especially if the dude who I like, right, is asking me for money, and he already has money, and I get it. And a lot of times when you're in that situation, I've been there when you are living paycheck to paycheck. You're in it. Yeah. And you're not necessarily vibrating, you know, at a certain level and you're in it. So I came out of that and then I went, That's right. I got it. Now I understand. And you know what? Last thing you wanted was to hear people ask for money regardless of the situation.”

Trevor On The Power of Global Connection (51:57)

Trevor: “I mean, we were doing your moves in the gym at school. We had detention, and we had this like giant room where you would just get locked in and was like, that's your detention. It was like a gym, really, but it was a massive gym and we would put out all these mats. And would be like alright we’re practicing The Rock’s moves. Let's go and everyone would get in there and I'm talking like almost two stories high and we'd climb up on the railing. That's just a cage match. And you'd grab someone. You know what I mean?... Think about that connection. Think about how far that was. Think about how far you were from me in South Africa. Think about how far I was from you in the United States. And yet in that moment, we were connected.”