The Four Horsemen Of The Kindpocolypse
You can feel the difference between a celebrity people admire and a person people genuinely trust, and we’re chasing that line with a very Gen X mix of humor, grief, and blunt honesty. After we talk through pop culture losses and a quick true-crime spiral about how modern forensics catches the “I bought a saw at Walmart” crowd, we pivot to something sweeter: our personal Mount Rushmore of good people. Not “famous and generous sometimes” good, but the rare kind of good that seems to hold up from every angle.
We start with Dolly Parton as the gold standard for philanthropy and values in public life. We dig into the Imagination Library, why universal access to books matters for early childhood literacy, and how her disaster relief approach prioritizes direct cash and dignity. From there we connect the dots to what actually helps families day to day, including food access, the limits of traditional food banks, and why choice based models and community driven solutions can work better than one size fits all donations.
Then we round out the mountain with Steve Irwin, Fred Rogers, and Bob Ross. We talk conservation that’s measurable, children’s media that teaches emotional skills without talking down, and the quiet power of public broadcasting. Bob Ross’s calm voice and “happy accidents” aren’t just nostalgia, they’re a case study in making creativity accessible and even helping fund PBS when it needs it most.
Subscribe wherever you listen, share this with a friend who needs a little hope, and leave a review if you want more episodes like this. Also, tell us who’s still living that could someday earn a spot on this Mount Rushmore of niceness.
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1 SPEAKER_00: Welcome to Like Whatever, a podcast for, by, and
about Gen X.
I'm Nicole, and this is my BFFF Heather.
Hello.
So Tim Curry died last week, too.
I know.
SPEAKER_03: It was a rough week last week.
SPEAKER_04: It was.
SPEAKER_03: Eeyore.
SPEAKER_04: I know.
Oh.
Optimus Prime.
He was the voice of me.
Not Tim Curry, but.
No.
SPEAKER_00: It could have been.
I have been enjoying all the Dolly tributes.
Yes.
Um one of the real one of my favorite things that I heard
about her was do you know how she got her style, her sense of
the town tramp.
Yep.
I love that.
Yep.
Yep.
There was a sex worker in her town, and as a little girl, she
looked up to her and loved her makeup and her hair and her
tight revealing clothes.
And that's what she modeled herself after.
I mean, talk about from an early age just being completely
open-minded and non-judgy, like she just thought she was pretty.
SPEAKER_03: She well, I'll save it because it's relevant later.
Okay.
Yeah.
I I I love the fact that she said she never went anywhere
without being dressed up because you never know who you're gonna
run into.
But there's been a lot of people that's saying most people would
not have recognized her without her costume.
Yeah.
Because that's and that's what it was.
It was a costume.
Absolutely.
So I think I wonder how much she did go out and nobody knew who
she was.
And just her regular hair with like flats on and tracksuit.
She probably got brunette hair because why bother bleaching it?
Uh-huh.
If you're just gonna they probably I saw some pictures
where they they removed her makeup on, you know, they AI'd
it or whatever.
And I mean, maybe if she talked, but who knows?
Her voice could the her speaking voice could have been fake.
Yeah, yeah.
All and she's covered, she had tattoos.
I knew that.
SPEAKER_00: That's why she always wore long sleeves.
SPEAKER_03: So she went out with the tattoos showing, and I mean,
maybe you would think, man, she looked like but one of my
favorite things was that she went and entered a Dolly Parton
look-alike and she lost to a drag queen.
unknown: I know.
I remember that.
SPEAKER_00: That's great.
I like it too that she just had a private funeral with just
family.
Um, I think that was so smart of her to do because a public
funeral would have been yeah, absolute chaos.
And she probably also knew everyone would be doing tributes
and stuff to her, so people could gather that way to
celebrate.
So but keep it personal and close for the family.
I thought that was really cool.
I thought yeah, and then I felt bad for Tim Curry because he's
not gonna get his flowers because he died like 24 hours
after Dolly did.
SPEAKER_03: No, he died the same day.
The family waited to the next to announce to the next day out of
respect for Dolly.
Oh, he but he did die the same day.
Poor Tim Curry.
I know.
But I think Tim Curry has been wanting to die for I don't think
his quality of life was Yeah, I saw something where he said he
was ready to so that could have been a yeah, uh an assisted
situation.
I don't know for sure.
I'm just throwing speculation out left and right because we're
in the middle of the Lindsey Clancy trial right now.
Well, the jury has been deliberating and I'll keep my
opinions to myself on it because but I think it's gonna end in a
hung jury.
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, as of today, which is Tuesday when we're
recording, they've come out and they are deadlocked.
Yeah, so yeah, we don't think which is understandable.
I've God, I would never want to be on that jury.
That's a tough, it's tough.
It's tough every way around.
Yeah.
So speaking of nurses, I was watching uh um True Crime, this
Angel of Death.
SPEAKER_04: Uh-huh.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, she was great.
She was probably like 60.
And it started with the men in in there that would harass the
uh nurses and get grabby.
She just pumps insulin into there.
That's it.
Yeah.
And the doctor would call it whatever and roll on.
So she did that for a couple times, and then she gave it up
for three years, but then some old ladies started getting on
her nerves.
I mean, it happened.
And they were difficult to work with.
It happened.
And she, but it was God telling her.
Like, sure.
God was like, Oh, this one is the next one to go.
So, yeah, she killed a ton of people, and then she's just
sitting there in the interview room, just going through each.
That's one of the coolest things about psychotics.
They love to tell the story in detail once they're busted.
They want you to know every little gory thing.
They're proud.
I would want to.
SPEAKER_03: If I was a serial killer, I would want you to know
everything I did too.
Just go and be like, Can you believe I got away with this
shit because that's how I did it.
Especially now, like, not then, but nowadays, I mean, with all
the forensics and all, I mean, if you get away with being like
that dude in Philipadelphia, yeah.
Whoa, I know that is gonna be insane when that shit goes down.
I know.
I can't wait to see that documentary.
That's gonna be a good one because it's a lot of women and
there's photo.
I how does that fucking happen?
Crazy.
Especially with the cameras.
Cameras, I mean, there's cameras everywhere now.
SPEAKER_00: I mean, and these people just don't get like they
see you going into it's always Walmart, um, and you buy your
whatever you're using to cut the body up with, or whatever
containers you're buying to put it in, or whatever chemicals
you're buying to clean up.
SPEAKER_03: Here's a helpful hint from people who listen to a
lot of true crime.
Do not buy that shit after you commit the murder.
Exactly.
That's a buildup.
Yeah, you're gonna get premeditated.
SPEAKER_00: At some point, you're going to murder.
SPEAKER_03: I get it.
That's premeditated if you buy this stuff.
But when you're going to buy a saw to dismember somebody, you
gotta buy wood with it.
SPEAKER_00: Right.
You have to, or you buy it ahead of time and you actually saw
some things.
Yeah.
So that it looks like it was just a saw you had.
You buy a saw and some wood, and then plus nobody's gonna be
going back and looking at where what you purchased before all
this happened.
SPEAKER_03: You go home, you buy the tarp, and you'd be like, and
then you talk to people in the fucking Home Depot and be like,
oh, I've I'm re-renovating and I totally forgot the tarp and and
I got sawdust everywhere.
And boy, was that I'm still vacuuming up sawdust, and
they're gonna be like, Yeah, I know I got it.
SPEAKER_00: That's terrible.
And then they blow their alibi, like when you they see you, like
when you're at the Walmart, they can backtrack and look at other
people like gas stations you drove by, other businesses you
drove by.
Once they find out what car who what your name is, what car you
drive, they backtrack it all.
Then your alibi is shot.
SPEAKER_03: And then the people who buy burners because they
think they're doing something with a burner phone, except you
turn it on at your house, you fucking idiot.
Don't turn it on at your house.
With your cell phone.
They they can see the phone thing at this point.
SPEAKER_00: If you get busted, it I mean, if you have ever
watched a murder show, they phone's got you.
Always pull the cell phone down, turn it off and then go do stuff
and then turn it back on when you get somewhere.
SPEAKER_03: They know that you turned it off.
SPEAKER_00: Either leave it at home on so it looks like you're
home.
Exactly, or leave it at home off, whatever you want to do.
Yeah, but don't take it to within school it's a couple
miles of where you dump the bottom.
SPEAKER_03: Get you an atlas.
Yes, use it, pay cash for the atlas.
Yes, use the atlas, burn the atlas.
This is not complicated stuff, guys.
It's just not.
SPEAKER_00: I know, I know.
Uh I think all murderers should watch the shows I watch because
I don't know why they don't.
It's really good at it.
SPEAKER_03: It's so much true crime on you can learn all of
it.
Everything.
You might as well have like how to commit murder 101 at this
point.
And then another thing is if you're gonna kill your spouse,
first of all, you gotta report them missing ASAP.
Yes, you can't be a couple days and then be like, I don't know
where and let somebody else call.
No, you gotta you gotta get right up on or you gotta go with
self-defense.
And if you go if your idea is self-defense, you gotta right
away hurt yourself, you gotta hurt yourself and do not shoot
people in the back.
That is not self-defense, they're gonna figure it out.
SPEAKER_00: You gotta shoot them in the front.
And if you're gonna hire someone to kill your spouse, that's just
stupid.
Don't hire some idiot off the street that you're gonna give a
couple grand to because they're gonna screw it up and they're
gonna tell the second they get caught.
SPEAKER_03: You cannot involve any other people in your plan at
all.
It has to be a you and you only, unless you have a friend like me
who will go to the grave for you.
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I know I'm sad because if you ever do murder
someone, I'll never know about it.
No, because I know you won't trust me with it.
And that's fair.
I don't want you to trust me.
I will have a but if I ever murder, I will tell you.
I I will take it.
SPEAKER_03: I'll need your help.
It was funny because I, you know, the other day when you
sent me a video and said you were gonna get murdered, I was
telling my work bestie about it.
I said, Oh, because I didn't text you right away the next
morning to find out if you had been murdered.
And I was like, Oh shit, I have to text Nicole to make sure she
didn't get murdered.
And he was like, What are you talking about?
And so I explained it and he was like, It's a good thing she
didn't get murdered because God helped that poor man.
And I was like, Yeah, there would not, because she promised
to not die before me.
Yeah, so there would not be that would not have been my fault.
There would not be enough places on this planet to hide.
And things are not gonna end well for you.
Because I know what to do.
And it is not show up on a ring camera.
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, no, I haven't seen him since.
Yeah, well it's good news.
It is no murder.
I don't think I do either, except one thing that I have
learned from watching true crime when it comes to rich people,
like rich, prissy, fancy people, like generational money.
Yeah, they all keep waspray by their bed because waspray shoots
far.
Because you don't want to get close to the wasps.
True.
So, like, I watch like a number of different shows in like a
weekend where it was all that type, and they were all like, so
I grabbed the wasp spray off my and I'm like, have a wasp.
So now I'm gonna get a local wasp spray for my house.
SPEAKER_04: I want close up hand-to-hand combat.
I know.
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, but I was watching a show the other day,
and a girl was being stalked for 13 years by this dude.
This crazy this story was and she was reporting it.
SPEAKER_03: And he finally kidnapped her.
You got that because they won't do nothing unless you get hurt.
SPEAKER_00: They will not listen to file their reports and then
kill them.
You gotta kill them.
SPEAKER_03: Yeah, that's the only way that ends.
Yeah, absolutely.
SPEAKER_00: One of you ends up dead.
And don't let it be.
By luck, she convinced him that they could be friends and he let
her go.
Yeah, of course, she went straight to the police, and he
was shocked.
But um of course he was.
But I forgot what I was gonna say about that one.
Sorry.
Um let's see, girl stalked.
Oh, she kept a hatchet under her bed.
Um because this guy was stalking her and she wanted to have some
sort of weapon.
Well, when he broke into kidnap her, that hatchet between her
mattresses didn't do jack shit for her.
And she heard him come in.
SPEAKER_03: No, no, guess what?
I don't know.
Maybe you have to have a special I don't know, maybe there's a
switch in your brain or something.
Maybe you have to be a special kind of person like that,
doesn't just murder on site.
Maybe I'm the problem.
SPEAKER_00: You know, now that I'm thinking about it though, a
little hatchet would be handy.
Yeah.
I wouldn't expect it.
SPEAKER_04: No.
SPEAKER_00: And even just one whack would knock them a little.
Yeah.
Might give you a second to run away.
I don't need to run away.
You would hatchet them to death.
To death.
Oh, it'd be really easy to cut them up once you hatched them.
SPEAKER_03: You know how fast I can dress down a chicken?
It's not that hard.
People are just bigger chickens.
It's the same concept.
You can dress down a person and no problem.
SPEAKER_00: Oh my gosh, too.
Real quick, I want to tell you, I started watching um
re-watching Breaking Bad.
Did you ever watch it?
Yeah.
Um, I was just kind of looking for something old to watch, and
it's always on my screen as like something.
Man, that show is from 2013, which doesn't sound that long
ago.
But it is so old.
Like the way it's filmed looks old, what they're wearing.
They're using house phones and flip phones.
Yeah, they're still using derogatory remarks that are not
used now.
I was just blown away by how old it is from 2013.
I was like, oh my god.
I mean, we're old.
We are so good.
And happy birthday month.
Oh, thank you.
It's September 1st.
It is.
unknown: Yeah.
SPEAKER_00: So there's birthday month.
Woo! Yay.
SPEAKER_03: Yay.
10 years till retirement.
Well, I'm gonna celebrate.
You can.
I no longer celebrate my birthday, so okay.
I'll celebrate it for you.
Okay.
SPEAKER_00: You want to do our spiel?
Oh yeah.
Before we get started, like share a rate review.
Indeed.
Find us on all the socials at Like Whatever Pod.
Find us wherever you listen to podcasts.
Uh we have a website, uh likewateverpod.com where you can
find all the episodes and we have merch.
Merch.
Yep.
Or you can just come on and just like it and we'll like that too.
Um and then the email, likewhateverpod at gmail.com.
unknown: Yes.
SPEAKER_03: So it's my week.
And I was gonna do one thing because I found this.
I don't I had never heard of this person, and it is the most
fascinating fucking story I'd ever heard in my life, but it is
currently happening, and it could end this month after like
I think it's 30 years.
Okay.
So I'm gonna save it until my next episode because I'm hoping
because currently there is an issue as to why it can't
continue.
So I'm hoping that in two weeks it gets resolved and it can
finish.
So I decided to go a different route.
Okay.
And uh let's fuck around and find out about my personal Mount
Rushmore of good people.
SPEAKER_01: Aww.
SPEAKER_03: Yes.
I love it.
Because last week the set was complete.
It was.
Because oddly enough, Miss Parton would be the number one
person on my Mount Rushmore of good people.
Here's my take on Dolly.
As we all know, I am an atheist hardcore.
Uh Dolly is in heaven.
SPEAKER_00: Absolutely.
SPEAKER_03: There's no question in my mind.
Dolly Parton is what Christians should be, what they're supposed
to be.
She is the epitome of uh Christianity and what it should
be.
Everybody else has fallen far short, but she makes you want to
be religious.
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
SPEAKER_03: Because she did it.
That's the way that's that's the way.
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I mean, if Dolly had prayed for me, I would
have taken that.
It might as well just be the word of God himself.
SPEAKER_03: She never judged, she never, it's not her place.
She loved everybody, everybody loved her.
So this Mount Rushmore is the four people that I feel like are
the most, and I don't feel like there is anybody else left on
earth that is universally loved like this.
Like that that nobody has a problem.
I thought about maybe Tom Hanks, but I'm sure there's people out
there who just don't like Tom Hanks because of his politics or
whatever.
I'm sure, yes.
But like Dolly, I mean, no.
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, you'd be really hard.
I I don't think I I just can't even fathom a person that
wouldn't have liked her.
SPEAKER_03: No.
She just was a anyway.
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
SPEAKER_03: Dolly Parton's story begins in the smoky mountains of
East Tennessee, where poverty was not an abstract concept but
a daily reality.
She grew up in a one-room cabin with 11 siblings in a community
where resources were scarce and opportunity was something you
had to invent.
Those early years shaped her understanding of need,
vulnerability, and the quiet dignity of people who work hard
but still struggle.
When Dolly Parton became a global icon, she carried that
childhood with her, not as a burden, but as a compass.
Oh, by the way, this is all philanthropy.
I'm not really going to get into like, I mean, at this point,
it's been a week since we all know her story.
Yeah.
Um, her philanthropy is not an accessory to her fame.
It's the through line in her life.
And that is why I say these people are because it's not
about it is about who they are, fame-wise, because then I think
that but I think these people would have done these things
whether they were famous or not.
Yes.
SPEAKER_00: I think that just the resources that they had
where she earned.
SPEAKER_03: It's what made her be able to do it on a grander
scale.
Yeah.
Her most transformative philanthrop philanthropic work
began in 1995 with the creation of the Imagination Library.
The idea was simple: mail free, high-quality books to children
from birth to age five, regardless of family income.
Dolly launched the program in I don't know if it's is is it
Sevier Sever County, Tennessee?
Sorry, if you're from Tennessee and I'd say it wrong.
Sever.
Sever.
S-E-V-I-E-R.
unknown: Oh.
SPEAKER_03: Inspired by her father's inability to read and
his shame he carried because of it, she wanted to ensure that
children in her community would have access to books long before
they entered school.
What began as a local literacy initiative expanded into one of
the largest early childhood education programs in the world.
As of 2026, the Imagination Library has distributed over 332
million books across the United States.
That's a lot of books.
Canada and the United Kingdom.
Oh, the United Kingdom, Australia, and Ireland.
The program's impact is measurable.
Communities that adopt it consistently report improved
kindergarten readiness, increased family engagement, and
higher literacy rates.
Dolly Parton did not simply donate books, she built an
entire literacy infrastructure.
They so I know this because people that I am friends with
have recently had babies.
They ask you in the hospital whether or not you want to be
involved in it, and they sign you up immediately and they get
it.
You get it, I think it's till five.
It goes.
They send, and I deliver them all the time.
Yeah, that's it's a really cool program.
The books are very high quality, they're very, they're very
pretty, and her philanthropic work extends far beyond
education.
In 2016, when wildfires swept through Sever County and
destroyed more than 2,500 homes, Dolly responded with the My
People Fund.
The program provided$1,000 per month for six months to families
who lost their homes, ultimately distributing over$12 million in
direct aid.
The structure of the fund was notable.
Dolly insisted on cash assistance rather than vouchers
or temporary housing, believing that families needed autonomy
and stability more than anything else.
The My People Fund became a model for disaster relief
organizations, demonstrating how direct financial support can
accelerate recovery and preserve dignity.
SPEAKER_00: That is so true.
SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
Her health care philanthropy is equally significant.
In 2020, Dolly donated a million dollars to Vanderbilt University
Medical Center to support COVID-19 vaccine research.
The donation directly contributed to the development
of the Moderna vaccine, a fact confirmed by Vanderbilt
researchers and acknowledged publicly by Dolly herself.
She has also raised$500,000 for LaConti Medical Center through
benefit concerts and contributed to pediatric health care
initiatives across Tennessee, including support for the Dolly
Parton Children's Hospital at Monroe Carroll Junior Children's
Hospital at Vanderbilt.
SPEAKER_00: I bet that's a really cool children's hospital.
SPEAKER_03: Oh, I'm sure.
Her community development work is wide ranging and often quiet.
She has funded band uniforms for Tennessee schools, supported
local businesses, and invested in cultural preservation
projects.
But one of her most meaningful acts of giving came from a song
she wrote.
1973, one that would become one of the most successful singles
in music history.
When Whitney Houston recorded I Will Always Love You for the
Bodyguard soundtrack in 1992, the song became a global
phenomenon.
It topped charts in more than a dozen countries, sold millions
of copies, and generated substantial royalties for Dolly
Parton, who retained full ownership of the composition.
Dolly had spoken openly about the impact of Whitney's version,
calling it one of the greatest gifts of her career, but she did
something unusual with the money it earned.
Dolly used a portion of the royalties from Whitney Houston's
recording to purchase a strip mall in a historically black
neighborhood in Nashville.
She had explained that she chose that neighborhood intentionally
as a way of honoring Whitney Houston and giving back to the
community that shaped her.
The strip mall housed black owned businesses and served
families connected to Whitney's own roots in the city.
Dolly has never disclosed the amount she invested, nor has she
publicized the full list of beneficiaries.
But the act itself is verified, documented, and consistent with
her philanthropic philosophy.
Invest in people, invest in communities, invest in dignity.
Wow.
That's amazing.
And shoot Whitney's version of that song.
Yeah.
She she called it the house that Whitney built.
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, that part in the song where it's the
drumbeat.
It dropped.
Yeah.
And then silence.
And then Whitney, oh, I get goosebumps still every single
time I hear it.
SPEAKER_03: Well, they had always said, you know, oh, how
do you feel about Whitney?
And she's like, that's Whitney's song now.
SPEAKER_00: I mean, I do love Dolly's version, but and you
know she wrote that song for her husband.
So it's kind of neat, like for it to have so many meaningful.
SPEAKER_03: And it's just so cool that she went and she
invested in black-owned businesses.
SPEAKER_00: And right, she could have just made the money off it.
SPEAKER_03: She could have made the money off of it.
She could have done anything she wanted with.
I mean, she could have just been sitting in her house for the
rest of her life and not.
And from what I understand, it was a big chunk of change that
she gave away, like all the profits.
SPEAKER_00: Well, I mean, how much money does that song have
made?
I mean, come on.
It's still Yeah.
SPEAKER_03: Her disaster relief work continued in 2024 when she
donated a million dollars to support recovery efforts
following Hurricane Helene.
The donation was matched by Dollywood Partners, doubling its
impact.
She has also supported wildfire recovery in other states,
contributed to scholarship programs, and funded initiatives
aimed at preserving per preserving Appalachian culture
and supporting rural communities.
Dolly Parton's philanthropy is defined by scale, strategy, and
sustainability.
It's continuous, it's structural.
She builds systems that outlive her, systems that expand, that
address root causes rather than symptoms.
Her giving is shaped by her childhood, guiding by her
values, and executed with a level of intentionality that
sets her apart from most celebrity philanthropists.
Her mountain is built from books, cash assistance, and
vaccine research, disaster relief, community investment, uh
quiet generosity that never made headlines.
It's built from the belief that opportunity should be not be
determined by circumstance, that literacy is a right, that
healthcare is essential, and that communities deserve support
long after the cameras leave.
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, like these are just all the big things we're
hearing about.
Can you I can't even fathom how many small things she did.
SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
Where she just gave money here and there, and you know, I'm
sure wherever she went to breakfast in where in whatever
part of Tennessee she lives now, you know she gave I'm sure.
Uh and then you know the thing, and that's why I say, you know,
because the things that she mainly because she is treating
the problem and not the symptoms.
SPEAKER_00: Exactly.
SPEAKER_03: And she's not just throwing money at, you know.
SPEAKER_00: Which is what is wrong with a lot of yeah, what's
going on now.
Yeah.
Like they just stick a band-aid on it, and then somebody's mad
that you spent that money there as to where if you would
actually get in and make a difference.
If you send people might buy more into it.
SPEAKER_03: If you send books to to people who can afford books,
who can't afford books, and instead of sending them to just
well, you have to meet a certain economic threshold in order to
get this.
Well, what about kids who are over that threshold but under
the ability whose parents are just scraping by, but they make
too much money, yep, and they can't buy books.
Well, it doesn't matter how much you make.
Here's a book.
SPEAKER_00: Yep.
SPEAKER_03: Read it to your fucking kid.
Exactly.
You know, and that that's when that's how literacy happens.
And then to and the other thing is when she gave out the relief
and she gave them a thousand dollars for six months.
And it's not vouchers, so she's not saying, well, you have to
spend it on Yeah, that's what I was gonna say.
SPEAKER_00: Like cash is what people need.
Yeah, they don't need you to tell them what they need.
Right.
It's like I'm I'm seeing more and more, and I love this.
And food banks are wonderful, food pantries are wonderful.
Anyone who's trying to help somebody that needs food is
great.
But people in their communities are starting to create free
grocery stores now, yes, so that people can go in and shop and
actually get what they want instead of and actually the food
bank in Milford is trying to transition to that.
They actually have like a freezer section now and a
refrigerator session and fresh produce, and it's all free.
SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
So that's and that's the that's the problem with food banks.
And you know, it depends on donations from the community, I
know, because we do the food drive every year, and it's the
same shit all the time, pasta, which if it that's fine if you
want to give spaghetti, but if there's no sauce or no butter or
no garlic, or no, then then who's eating just pasta?
SPEAKER_00: Nobody, so you yeah, like when I I used to help pack
food for the food bank and a lot of craft macaroni and cheese,
butter's expensive.
Milk's expensive, it only takes well, it takes half a stick of
butter.
I just had it for dinner the other night.
It was so good.
SPEAKER_03: But that's why when I get when I when I participate
in the food drive, because I do, um, I get the Velveeta where
it's already all in there, and so you don't have to and then
you know, of course, then there's the other option of
well, this food's not very healthy.
And yeah, yeah, that's you want to say, oh well, they should be
spending their money on healthy.
Well, healthy is expensive.
It is.
Vegetables are expensive and they go bad.
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, exactly.
SPEAKER_03: If you don't use them within, you know, three or
four days, then shit's getting gross and no one can eat it.
Whereas, you know, mac and cheese sits in the cabinet for
two months and you still have it and you can still eat it.
And and then another thing, like I give instant coffee because
you know, these are things, yeah.
Do they need instant coffee?
Do they need coffee?
No.
Yeah, but do you want coffee?
Yes.
Do you want to live without coffee?
No.
So why would just because you don't have any money, you
shouldn't have to live without coffee.
Yep.
I also give powdered milk.
Yes.
SPEAKER_00: I grew up with powdered milk.
I did my grandmother used it, yeah.
Okay.
I mean, I I I don't remember what period in my life we had
it, but we used to only have box powdered milk.
SPEAKER_03: So and that's just it.
Like these are the things, and it's great when they do because
they everybody gives peanut butter, and peanut butter's
great, but if there's no bread, then you're just scooping out
peanut.
I mean, I'll eat a scoop of peanut butter, but that's not
gonna get you through the day.
That's not gonna feed, you know, five kids.
Right, right.
Yep.
So it's it's important to have more think it through.
SPEAKER_00: Like yes, don't just buy canned vegetables and canned
beans and get spices.
SPEAKER_03: Like, yeah, nobody gives spices to the food bank.
And no, they're not needed, it's not necessary.
But who wants to eat just plain old pasta?
Just because you're poor doesn't mean and this is why I said if I
ever win big money or have a lottery or whatever, the number
one thing I'm gonna do is make a restaurant and it's gonna be
open to children at school, and the employees will be, you know,
like the food bank in Milford does, right?
They have a restaurant, and but it'll be a when we had our
restaurant, it was fine dining without the fine dining prices.
We had tablecloths, we had lovely my little roses, the
napkins.
They all hated making them, but I'm sorry, they just made the
table, candlelight, and what I want to do is you it'll be a
set.
I mean, it won't be a spectacularly fancy menu, but it
would be food, like not just yeah, yeah, chicken parm and
stuff like that.
And it would go to schools and they would give out vouchers for
kids whose family need would need help like that, and they
would go to a real restaurant and have a real dining
experience and not made to feel they they get a little card,
like you just swipe the card and bada boom, bada bang, but but a
real restaurant experience because just because you don't
have money doesn't mean you can't have an experience.
I know, I know, but that's what I would always want to do.
Yeah, I love that.
So I gotta win the lottery or something to I hope you do.
Thanks.
Number two on my Mount Rushmore of good, decent human beings,
Steve Irwin.
I mean come on.
Steve Irwin's legacy begins long before he became a global icon,
begins in the bushland of Queensland, where his parents,
Bob and Lynn Irwin, founded the Bearwall Reptile Park in 1970.
Steve grew up inside that world catching crocodiles with his
father, caring for injured wildlife with his mother, and
learning from an early age that conservation was not a hobby but
a responsibility.
His childhood was shaped by the rhythms of the natural world, by
the fragility of ecosystems, and by the understanding that humans
had an obligation to protect protect the creatures that could
not protect themselves.
When Steve Erwin stepped into the public eye, he carried that
childhood with him, not as a backdrop, but as a mission.
I mean, who fucking doesn't love Steve Irwin?
SPEAKER_00: I know.
SPEAKER_03: I mean, that was devastating when he died.
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
Yeah.
SPEAKER_03: Just devastating.
SPEAKER_00: He was so young.
SPEAKER_03: Yes.
SPEAKER_00: Oh my gosh.
SPEAKER_03: His television career began with The Crocodile
Hunter, a series that introduced millions of viewers to wildlife
conservation through enthusiasm, humor, and a sense of wonder
that felt almost electric.
And I hate snakes, and he always had fucking snakes on there, and
I watched him anyway.
I'm sorry, but I'm not gonna be okay with snakes ever.
But Steve's energy was not performative, it was genuine.
He approached every animal, whether dangerous,
misunderstood, or fragile, with respect and curiosity.
His catchphrase crikey became synonymous with a kind of joyful
fearlessness, a willingness to engage with the natural world
without hesitation.
But beneath the entertainment value of his work was a deeper
purpose to inspire global conservation efforts and to
protect endangered species.
That purpose took shape in 2002 when Steve and Terry Irwin found
Wildlife Warriors, a conservation nonprofit dedicated
to protecting injured, threatened, and endangered
wildlife.
The organization was designed to be both local and global,
addressing immediate needs in Australia while supporting
conservation projects around the world.
Wildlife Warriors became the philanthropic backbone of Steve
Irwin's mission, a structure that allowed his passion to
translate into measurable impact.
One of the most significant achievements of Wildlife
Warriors is the Australia Zoo Wildlife Hospital, which opened
in 2004.
The hospital was built in honor of Steve's mother, Lynn, who
dedicated her life to caring for injured wildlife.
Today it is one of the largest and busiest wildlife treatment
facilities in the world.
The hospital treats 9,000 to 10,000 animals every year,
including over 11,800 koalas since its funding.
The hospital staff provides emergency care, surgery,
rehabilitation, and long-term treatment for species ranging
from kangaroos to wombats to sea turtles.
Its impact is not symbolic, it is life-saving.
I bet they don't take any stingrays, though.
SPEAKER_00: They're probably like, fuck you, stingrays.
SPEAKER_03: Fuck you, stingray.
SPEAKER_00: It's funny because um on the news the other day, uh
on the evening news.
No, I think it's on Sunday mornings.
Anyway, they do a segment where they show you animals that are
at the um uh shelter, usually cats and dogs.
Yeah, yeah.
They had a baby tortoise.
Oh, I want one so bad, but they're she was only like two
years old.
Yeah, they live like a generational pet.
Your great-grandchildren will be caring.
But she was so cute.
She was so, I mean, she was big, but she was little.
Yeah.
SPEAKER_04: They're a lot of work too.
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
SPEAKER_04: And they do live like 120 years.
Well, you know.
SPEAKER_00: Didn't one just live till like 200 or the oldest one
they know of?
SPEAKER_03: Yeah, on the glob.
And he he brought he single-handedly like brought the
species back.
Good for him.
unknown: Yeah.
SPEAKER_03: Then did you see that whale that had like a like
a uh um they found a whale that had a spear in it from like the
1800s.
Yeah.
SPEAKER_00: What?
Yeah, that's that's crazy.
SPEAKER_03: They live a long time too.
SPEAKER_00: If you're big like that, there was a shark attack
in Martha's Vineyard.
SPEAKER_04: Jawls.
SPEAKER_00: They're getting really far up there now.
Yeah, you know, they did show footage of a great white, but I
don't know if they were just showing shark footage or if it
was a great wave that attacked her, but just off the beach.
SPEAKER_04: Yeah, they will.
SPEAKER_03: Mm-hmm.
There's a great um, it's called O Search.
If you go on it, it tells you what's pinged.
Oh, yeah.
I love to check out what's what's out there right now just
to see what it is.
It was funny because my uncle, they went out into the ocean
fishing all the time.
And they have a fish finder, whatever that is.
Yeah, my parents had that too.
Yeah, something big went under their boat and they were talking
about it, and I was like, that's so crazy because a great white
had pinged right off of acetigue that day.
Because it has to come up close enough to the surface where it
can ping.
Yeah, so that was probably what they had seen.
The big ass great white.
I love great whites.
I know they're so awesome.
Steve Irwin's philanthropic legacy also includes land
conservation on a massive scale.
The Steve Irwin Wildlife Reserve, located at on the Cape
York Peninsula in Queensland, spans 330,000 acres and contains
35 distinct ecosystems.
The reserve is home to numerous species, including the
endangered northern qual and the vulnerable palm cockatoo.
SPEAKER_04: Which I'm a fan of cockatoo.
SPEAKER_03: They're very mean and they're very loud, and I
would never have one.
But it also contains critical wetlands, rainforests, and
savanna woodlands.
When boseite mining proposals threatened the reserve, wildlife
warriors mobilized a campaign that gathered 451,234
signatures, leading to the land's designation as a
strategic environmental area.
This protected status prevents mining and preserves the habitat
for future generations.
The reserve is now used for research, conservation, and
habitat protection, reflecting Steve's belief that land must be
preserved not only for animals, but for the ecological balance
of the planet.
The Beyond the Reserve, Wildlife Warriors and Australia Zoo
collectively protect over 450,000 acres of habitat across
Queensland.
Their conservation work includes anti-poaching initiatives,
endangered species breeding programs, and habitat
restoration projects.
One of the most notable restoration efforts is at Iron
Bark Station, where wildlife warriors have planted 44,000
eucalyptus trees to support koala koala populations affected
by habitat loss.
These trees provide food, shelter, and breeding grounds
for koalas, helping stabilize populations in areas where they
have been declining.
SPEAKER_00: Koalas are so goddamn cute.
I know.
Oh my god, they're so cute.
SPEAKER_03: I know.
Like the most the cutest thing like on earth.
Maybe penguins might have them beat, but I don't know.
SPEAKER_00: Oh, yeah.
Penguins don't sit on eucalyptus and just munch away on those
leaves, though, looking so cute.
But they waddle.
They do.
That's so cute, too.
And we're built the same.
Me and those penguins.
SPEAKER_03: Steve Irwin's philanthropic work also extends
to international conservation.
Wildlife Warriors supports projects that protect elephants,
tigers, rhinos, cheetahs, sharks, whales, and other
species threatened by poaching, habitat destruction, and climate
change.
The organization funds anti-poaching patrols, wildlife
sanctuary, and community education programs designed to
reduce human wildlife conflict.
Steve believed that conservation required global cooperation, and
wildlife warriors continues to operate with that philosophy,
partnering with organizations across Africa, Asia, and the
Pacific.
And you know, Australia has like every dead deadly animal.
SPEAKER_00: Oh, yeah.
Like they're like the Amazon down there.
SPEAKER_03: They everything is trying to kill you in Australia.
His legacy is not defined solely by the organizations he founded,
but by the cultural shift he inspired.
Steve Irwin made conservation accessible and exciting.
He made it feel urgent.
His enthusiasm was contagious, and his ability to communicate
complex ecological issues in simple, joyful terms brought
millions of people into the conservation.
He showed viewers that caring deeply was not embarrassing,
that enthusiasm was not a flaw, and that the natural world was
worth protecting and both passion and science.
I mean, who doesn't love fucking Steve Irwin?
When Steve Irwin died in 2006, 20 years ago.
The world mourned not just a television personality, but a
conservationalist whose work had a tangible impact.
His family, Terry, Bindi, and Robert Irwin, continued his
mission with unwavering dedication.
Under their leadership, Wildlife Warriors has expanded its
programs, increased its conservation footprint, and
strengthened its global partnerships.
The Australia Zoo Wildlife Ha Hospital grew in capacity,
treating more animals each year.
The Steve Irwin Wildlife Reserve became a cornerstone of
ecological research, and the organization's international
projects continued to protect species threatened by
extinction.
And um Robert went on dancing with the stars.
I mean he made him love animals.
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, yeah, exactly.
SPEAKER_03: His legacy is defined by measurable ecological
outcomes, defined by animals treated, habitats preserved, and
species protected.
It's defined by the continuation of his mission throughout the
work of his family and the global conservation community he
inspired.
His mountain is built from land, from ecosystems, from the
wilderness he dedicated his life to defending.
It's from a belief that every creature, no matter how small,
how dangerous, or how misunderstood, deserves
protection.
His he stands as a reminder that conservation is not a passive
act, it's an active, urgent, and necessary.
And his life demonstrates what can happen when passion is
paired with purpose, when enthusiasm becomes advocacy, and
when a single person commits to protecting the natural world
with every ounce of every energy they possess.
And now we will do your diary since we hit the midway point.
Perfect.
SPEAKER_05: Because I refer to your life, but I can feel her
teenage life.
So I guess that's your soul.
SPEAKER_00: All right, this week in Nicole's diary, we are at
November 18th, 1985.
SPEAKER_04: Oh boy.
SPEAKER_00: Um I started basketball practice.
It's hard and hurt.
And that's exactly what I remember from joining the
basketball team.
I wanted to play a sport as in middle school.
I went out for basketball.
I was god awful.
I worked so hard.
I am not a runner, and there's a lot of running in basketball.
I was miserable.
We get to the first game, and I don't know how all this stuff
works because I'm just a kid and I don't, I'm not into school
sports, but you know, the best players get to play during the
games, and the people that suck sit on the bench.
So um we got through that first game and I didn't play for even
a second, and I was like, fuck this shit.
I'm not gonna work that hard.
Which is weird because you're tall.
I know.
I know.
SPEAKER_03: You must have been that bad.
SPEAKER_00: I was.
Well, I don't even know if I played basketball before that.
Like maybe in gym class, like I lived out in the country.
We didn't have basketball courts actually in the town that that
was closest by.
We didn't really have basketball courts, so yeah, I was that bad.
I uh I yeah, I didn't play at all and I never went back.
I was like, I'm not working this hard to sit on the bench and
watch I can sit up in the bleachers and watch them play
and not run.
So yeah.
And before we end the segment, I forgot to say in the beginning,
Justice for Tupac has finally happened.
Yes.
Finally settled.
Yeah.
Although I still think Sean Combs did it.
Well, I still think Sean Combs is behind it.
I think he's too big a pussy to do it himself.
But 100%.
SPEAKER_04: I do think he also took down Biggie.
SPEAKER_00: Oh yeah.
unknown: Yeah.
SPEAKER_00: For sure.
We haven't heard any whining from him lately.
He must be out of appeals or I don't know what's going on with
that.
I know.
It's crazy because he's in is his trial over?
Yeah.
He's in jail.
Yeah, because he barely got anything, it felt like.
SPEAKER_04: Well, because I could only get him on Rico.
SPEAKER_03: Oh yeah.
So yeah.
Yeah.
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
All the stuff he did to women, though, that none of it.
SPEAKER_03: Yeah, but then Fi Fiddy Cent put out that
documentary that was just like a giant fuck you.
He's always hated him.
Man.
SPEAKER_00: Long before any of this.
Because I follow Fitzdy on Instagram and I have for years,
and he fucking hates.
SPEAKER_03: He's a petty potato.
I love him.
SPEAKER_00: I know.
It's awesome.
Yeah.
Pettiness is fun.
SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
He might as well be a woman.
He's so petty.
Okay, next up on our on our Mount Rushmore of Love.
The love.
The love more.
Fred Rogers' legacy begins in a quiet place, far from spectacle,
far from noise, far from the kind of cultural machine that
usually produces icons.
His work emerged from stillness, gentleness, and a belief that
children deserve to be spoken to with honesty and respect.
Born in Latrobe, Pennsylvania, in 1928, Fred Rogers grew up in
a household where kindness was not a performance but a
practice.
He was a shy child, often retreating into music and
imagination, and those early experiences shaped his
understanding of emotional safety.
When he entered the world of children's television, he
carried that understanding with him, not as a stylistic choice,
but as a moral interpret imperative.
Because of course, who doesn't love Mr.
Rogers?
SPEAKER_00: I mean, I do as an adult, but I wasn't allowed to
watch him as a child.
That's crazy.
SPEAKER_04: So your mom hates him.
SPEAKER_00: My mother hates him.
SPEAKER_04: How can you hate your mom?
SPEAKER_00: Probably because he had strong morals and was a good
person.
It made her feel uncomfortable.
I watched Sesame Street every single day, but as soon as Mr.
Rogers came on, she changed the channel.
SPEAKER_03: That's because he he was in a swimming pool with a
black man.
SPEAKER_00: She didn't have a problem with black people.
SPEAKER_03: Oh, that's right.
His career began in the 1950s at WQED in Pittsburgh, the first
community-supported public television station in the United
States.
Fred Rogers did not like the frenetic commercialized
children's program he saw at the time.
He believed children deserved better programming that
acknowledged their feelings, respected their intelligence,
and offered them a sense of stability.
He began creating content that reflected those values, and in
1968, Mr.
Rogers' neighborhood premiered nationally on PBS.
The show was quiet, deliberate, and deeply intentional.
It offered children a place where emotions were named, where
fears were acknowledged, and where kindness was modeled with
consistency.
Fred Rogers' approach to children, media was
revolutionary.
He believed that children could be a tool for emotional
education, not just entertainment.
He spoke directly to children, not at them.
He paused, he listened, he made space for silence.
He addressed topics that other programs avoided anger, sadness,
divorce, death, fear, and self-worth.
His work was not flashy, but it was profound, and it became a
cornerstone of American childhood for decades.
His philanthropic legacy is not defined by large financial
donations or global foundations.
Instead, it's defined by institutions, advocacy, and
cultural infrastructure.
Fred Rogers built systems that continued to educate and comfort
children long after his death.
His giving was structural, not symbolic.
It existed in the form of organizations that produced
educational media, support emerging writers, and
strengthening community engagement.
SPEAKER_00: See, that kind of falls on what we said about
Dolly Parton, you know, able to do more because she had made
more.
I can't imagine Mr.
Rogers made a ton of money with Mr.
Rogers Neighborhood on PBS.
No.
So he did find alternative ways to make an impact.
So yeah.
SPEAKER_03: In 1971, Fred Rogers founded Fred Rogers Productions,
a nonprofit organization dedicated to creating
educational children's programming.
The company produced Mr.
Rogers Neighborhood and continues to create PBS kids
content, including Daniel's Daniel Tiger's Neighborhood, Odd
Squad, Peg and Cat, and Alma's Way.
These programs are designed to support emotional development,
problem-solving skills, and social understanding, a core
component of Fred Rogers' educational philosophy.
The organization operates as a nonprofit, reinvesting its
resources into new programming, research, and community
initiatives.
SPEAKER_00: And again, that's um getting to the root of the
problem and not just putting a band-aid on it.
Like I've been saying for a while now, especially since I'm
working with um kids that are in school, why aren't we teaching
mental health in elementary schools?
You know, just helping and feelings, you know, not on like
a grand scale, but just making kids aware, letting them know
it's okay, and other people feel like that.
Yeah, you know, things like that.
So, you know, creating these shows that can foster that in
the kids, like that's what they need.
They need to know they're okay.
Like I met with this, she just popped in my head.
I met with this girl yesterday.
She reminds me of a little Minnie Heather, actually.
She's adorable.
Um, little emo girl.
She just graduated high school.
I know you're not emo, but anyway.
Primo.
That's what they call them there.
Primo.
Yes.
Oh.
I'm primo.
But she just graduated high school, and we were talking
about like what her plans are right now.
And but first I always asked the kids, like, how's your summer
been?
And you know, she was just like so bubbly, and well, she went
for walks, so that's one thing.
She doesn't remind me.
No, but I don't know how long these walks are.
Right.
She could just do a handwalker.
Yeah.
Yeah.
So um, and she told me some other like fun things that she's
done this summer, and she was like, I'm just so happy I'm not
going back to school right now because everybody's going back
to school.
I was like, Yeah, you seem it seems like being done with high
school has been very good for your mental health.
She's like, Oh my god, you have no idea.
Like, and I just felt for her, but I'm glad she's come out on
the other side trying to be a little more positive and and
happy, and she wants to get a job and yeah, all that good
stuff.
So she is just cute as a button, though.
It's tough out there for golf kids.
It is still to this day.
To this day.
Yeah, get over it.
It's not a phase.
For one thing, they don't they just want to be left alone.
I mean, that's the easiest thing in the world to do.
Yeah.
And secondly, they're more likely to murder you.
So we know how.
SPEAKER_03: Well, and it, you know, it's always uh I was lucky
in that I did not have to deal with the oh, it's just a phase.
I mean, my parents made fun of me.
SPEAKER_00: But your parents make fun of you for everything.
SPEAKER_03: For everything.
SPEAKER_00: Yes.
SPEAKER_03: And it was never made like a big deal that I I
mean never.
The only thing my mom didn't like is that we destroyed her
bathroom.
Yeah.
With the hair color.
She didn't like to pick up.
SPEAKER_00: Well, she got really pissed when I died at cotton
case.
SPEAKER_03: She did not like pink.
SPEAKER_00: That was the one color I wasn't allowed to do.
Yeah.
SPEAKER_03: I wasn't allowed to get my nose pierced either, and
I did that.
She did that too.
Yeah.
It's hard to rebel against hippies.
SPEAKER_00: It is hard.
You're like, can you give me something else I'm not allowed
to do so I can go do it?
Really hard.
I'm bored.
SPEAKER_03: We lived in a van for fuck's sake.
While they dropped acid everywhere.
It was really hard when your parents smoke pot all the time
to do whatever.
So I guess I went anti-hippie and I don't know.
Yeah.
But it was never made.
SPEAKER_00: Like it was never a Yeah, even when you rebelled,
your mom was just like Heather.
I mean, that was about it.
SPEAKER_03: Every year for Christmas, and still she buys
me, you know, nightmare before Christmas stuff.
And everything I everything she buys me is black.
And like she's not, she never.
Nope.
She never tried to bubble me up.
SPEAKER_00: Other family members did.
SPEAKER_03: Yeah, other family members did buy me makeup.
It's stupid.
But my mom never did.
And even my dad, like my dad's a little different because he's
like got an obsession with the Grim Reaper, also, but that's
probably where mine comes from.
But like my mom is the most normal out of the four of us.
And currently I bought her a little um she drinks tea.
Um I bought her a a Grim Steeper.
And he holds your tea bag.
And you dunk him, and she let she, I don't think she uses it.
SPEAKER_00: It sits on her counter like a tchotchke, but I
have one of those, but it's a Cappy Barra.
He hangs off the side of my cup while he steeps my tea.
It's so cute.
SPEAKER_03: This it sits in your tea, and you just see his eyes
over and the the hood and his and his eye and the sit and the
side.
SPEAKER_00: Okay.
SPEAKER_03: She doesn't use it, but it sits on her counter like
a tchotchke.
Whatever.
She yeah, it was never.
I was never made to feel like I was weird at home.
No.
Mm-mm.
Fred Rogers' advocacy for public broadcasting is one of the most
significant components of his philanthropic legacy.
In 1969, he testified before the U.S.
Senate Subcommittee on Communications, delivering a
calm, heartfelt explanation of why public television mattered.
His testimony helped secure funding for PBS at a time when
its future was uncertain.
Where is he now?
That moment is often cited as one of the most effective
examples of public advocacy in American media history.
It demonstrated that kindness, when articulated clearly and
confidently, could influence policy.
His philanthropic impact continues through the work of
Fred Rogers Productions and its partnerships.
In 2024, the PNC Foundation awarded a$1.4 million grant to
support Alma's Way and expand Be My Neighbor Day events across 49
communities.
These events are designed to promote kindness, community
service, and neighborly engagement, value central to
Fred Rogers' philosophy.
The events have engaged hundreds of thousands of participants,
assembled over 90,000 give back items, and collected more than
30,000 donated goods for families in need.
The scale of these events reflects the enduring relevance
of Fred Rogers' message.
Another philanthropic initiative connected to his legacy is the
Writers Neighborhood Fellowship, supported by a$100,000 grant
from citizens.
The fellowship nurtures emerging writers in children's media,
providing mentorship, training, and opportunities to develop
content that aligns with Fred Rogers' educational principles.
This program ensures that new generations of storytellers
continue to create media that supports children's emotional
well-being.
His philanthropy also exists in the form of Fred Rogers
Institute, established in 2003 at St.
Vincent College in Latrobe.
The institute focuses on early learning, children's media, and
professional development for educators.
It houses archives, conducts research, and provides resources
for teachers and caregivers.
Its work reflects Fred Rogers' belief that supporting the
adults who care for children is just as important as supporting
the children themselves.
His legacy is quieter than those of Dolly Parton or Steve Irwin.
It does not involve massive financial donations or
large-scale land conservation.
Instead, it involves emotional infrastructure, systems designed
to support children's development, strengthen
communities, and promote kindness.
His giving is embedded in institutions that continue to
operate decades after his passing.
It is embedded in the cultural stability he created through
public broadcasting and embedded in the educational philosophy
that shapes modern children's media.
His impact is measurable not in dollars, but in generations.
Millions of children learned emotional vocabulary from him.
Millions learned that feelings are manageable, kindness is
powerful, that the world can be confusing, but still safe.
His work helped shape the emotional climate of American
childhood and the institutions he built ensure that his message
continues to reach new audiences.
SPEAKER_00: That's why my mom didn't want me to watch it.
SPEAKER_03: Sometimes it requires speaking softly in a
loud world.
And his legacy demonstrates that gentleness, when practiced with
intention, can become one of the most powerful forms of
philanthrop philanthropy.
And my thing about him is yeah, he didn't have the money because
it's PBS and blah, but people who did have the money.
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
SPEAKER_03: Went on to and and named him after him.
Like he was a big part of a lot of most of our childhood.
Not yours, but we're I knew who he was.
Even I without a damn house watched Mr.
SPEAKER_00: Rogers and his neighborhood of the lady.
I know, and I love trains as a kid too, because my dad would
set them up and I know he had a train on there.
SPEAKER_03: He did.
Yeah.
Yeah.
But Lady Elaine was a little creepy.
Yeah.
I'm not gonna lie.
SPEAKER_00: She was a little Was she the gray-haired one?
SPEAKER_04: Yeah, the little pup hand puppet.
Yeah.
Yeah, she was a little the old lady.
SPEAKER_03: So this will bring us to our fourth and final
member of and I don't know if you're gonna guess this one.
So I'm gonna let you know.
SPEAKER_00: I've actually been trying to think about it.
SPEAKER_03: Take a stab.
You don't want to take a stab at who it could be?
Universally loved human being.
Never heard a bad word.
Cheese.
SPEAKER_00: Um I mean, Oprah pops in my head, but that's
definitely not.
That does not describe her.
SPEAKER_03: I mean, she's the one.
SPEAKER_00: Also a very good human, but what you just said
doesn't fit in.
Not me.
I know I'm gonna be so princess die.
SPEAKER_03: No Bob Ross's legacy begins in a quiet in a place of
quiet and too big and too hard.
Yep.
Far from because people did dislike her.
I mean, the queen being one of them.
I mean, she did a lot, yes.
She probably belonged.
It was just the anniversary yesterday.
And she's not American, so she can't go on our Mount Rush horn.
That's what I'm gonna say.
That's what.
Poor Mother Teresa.
This is fuck Mother Teresa.
Jeez.
Back to Bob Ross.
SPEAKER_00: Oh, yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_03: His world was built on calm, on patience, on the
belief that creativity should be accessible to everyone.
Born in Daytona Beach, Florida, in 1942, Bob Ross grew up in a
working class family and spent much of his early life in the
U.S.
Air Force, where he worked as a medical records technician.
It was during his military service in Alaska that he
discovered painting, first as a hobby, then as a calling.
SPEAKER_00: That explains all the pretty little trees.
SPEAKER_03: Trees, yes.
Happy little trees.
The landscape around him, vast and untouched, became the
foundation of his artistic style.
When he eventually stepped into the public eye, he carried that
quiet world with him, not as a persona, but as a philosophy.
Here's my thing about Bob Ross.
How?
Like I just don't understand.
I I you could give me all the paint in all the world and put
it in front of me, and there is no way with his doing his
instructions bit by bit by moment by moment breaking it
down.
Never, I will it will never, it would just blow because I am
incapable of being an artist.
I just um do not have the ability.
SPEAKER_00: I mean, we did do the paint night, and it turned
out fine.
It turned out fine, but it all were drastically different.
Like if you were trying to make a specific picture, none of us
did it.
Because everything was so different.
SPEAKER_03: That was another thing that why I chose Bob Ross
too, because I worked for Paint Night for a very long time.
You might have to go.
You might have like a wine and paint, sip and paint situation
where you live.
It's all basically the same where you go to a bar and you
paint, and it was the most fucking brilliant idea ever.
It was.
I fucking love that job.
I cannot paint, save my soul, couldn't tell you what colors
make what.
I have no idea.
So I was the assistant.
The fact that you could have 30 people going off the exact same
instruction, and it would be 30 very different paintings.
And also the fact that as you're watching, because people come in
and their first time in there, and they're like, This is uh
this person talked me into going, this is gonna look like
shit.
I'm and at the end of it, you are staring at a painting that
looks remarkably like what it's supposed to, yeah.
SPEAKER_00: Like everybody's happy with their painting.
Yes, everybody, everybody's proud of themselves.
SPEAKER_03: It is freakish because I can't draw stick
people, no, but the way it is all broken down into shapes, and
you know, as I did I did the job for like three or four years
because I loved it so much.
You should you break out, you can see after a while, like, oh,
I get it how they break down these paintings into like, well,
that's just a triangle without the back, and you know, and it's
oh, I see.
And then you do it, just would amaze me how everybody's
painting would be different, but they all look great.
Yeah, and in the beginning, people would be like, This is a
waste of my money.
I can't believe I'm here.
Yep, this they drug me, and at the end of it, I mean, because
we would have wives who would drag their husbands who did not
want to be there, and by the middle of it, they are like
fully invested and like just and you know, you would go around
basically my job was to refill paint, tell people they're doing
a good job, and like clean up afterwards.
Yeah, that's basically I I was just there to assist the artists
and walk around and just do that.
And the I got to be pretty good friends with all the artists
because I loved it, I love doing it, they love doing it, and it
was so much fun.
It was so much if you ever get the opportunity to do a paint
night or a sipping paint or whatever they call them, do it.
Even if you think it's a waste of your money because you're
never gonna it it will, yep, it will look like it.
Yep, yep, it will.
Everybody's looks different, and everybody's is cool, and it is a
lot of fun.
SPEAKER_00: And we would have people that would do ten of them
a year, like you know, they just had half they had like bathrooms
full of these paintings, and yeah, and they're actually very
detailed, and yeah, like ours was a night scene with trees and
branches in the winter, so you had to draw like and a purple
background and a fairy laying on one of the branches and the moon
in the back, which looked like it was glowing with the star.
I mean, it was intricate, yeah, and it still looked good.
unknown: Yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_03: It's it's just it's a lot, it's a lot of fun.
And when I would watch Bob Ross as a kid, I just was shocked by
how it would go from looking like blobs of paint.
And that was one of the the things that you had to kind of
as my job as the helper was you walk around and you tell people,
yes, when you're looking at a painting from two feet away from
it or six inches away from it when you're doing it, it looks
like blobs of paint.
But when you stand back from it and everybody would get up and
stand back and they'd be like, you know what, or their friend
would come around and be like, Well, let me see, and they'd be
like, Oh wow, yours looks really good.
And you know, it was it's amazing how I I am amazed by
art, how art goes from like nothing to a fame too.
SPEAKER_00: I am too.
When I meet with students in the high school and they like they
want to go to college for art, or they tell me their hobby is
drawing, and I'm like, oh my god, I'm so jealous.
Yeah, and it's cute because sometimes they'll pull out their
phone and they'll start showing me like some of the work they've
done and stuff, and I'm just like, that's just amazing.
It is, and to them it's just like whatever.
SPEAKER_03: It's doodles, like you should see my my doodles are
like multi-triangles literally like spirals.
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, like I like to make that shape where you you
you keep swirling around and you fill in like every other spot,
then I feel fancy.
SPEAKER_03: It's just amazing, it's an amazing ability.
SPEAKER_00: It is, it is.
SPEAKER_03: Uh he was born in it.
His television career.
Began in 1983 with the Joy of Painting, a half-hour
instructional program on public television.
The show was simple.
Bob Ross stood before an easel, spoke softly, and painted
landscapes in real time.
There was no special effects, no dramatic music, no commercial
breaks, just a man, a canvas, and a belief that anyone could
paint.
SPEAKER_04: Yep.
SPEAKER_03: His voice was gentle, his manner reassuring,
and his catchphrase, happy little trees, no mistakes, just
happy accidents, became cultural touchstones.
I mean, his afro classic.
SPEAKER_00: Come on.
I mean, it's right up there with your dad's mustache back in the
day.
SPEAKER_03: The show aired for 31 seasons, reaching millions of
viewers across the United States and eventually around the world.
His impact on art education is difficult to quantify.
He democratized painting, making it feel approachable rather than
intimidating.
He taught viewers that creativity was not reserved for
professionals, that beauty could emerge from simple techniques,
and that the act of painting could be a form of emotional
release.
His calm demeanor provided comfort to viewers who turned in
not only to learn, but to feel grounded.
In a media landscape filled with noise, Bob Ross offered quiet.
His philanthropic legacy is quieter than those of Dolly
partner Steve Irwin, but it is deeply aligned with his values.
He did not establish large foundations or global programs.
His giving was directed towards public broadcasting, the
platform that made his work accessible to millions.
He believed in the mission of public television, free
educational programming available to everyone,
regardless of income or background.
And when public broadcasting faced significant financial
challenges, Bob Ross's legacy became a source of support.
Bob Ross Inc., the company that manages his intellectual
property and the rights to his artwork, has donated 30 original
Bob Ross paintings to raise funds for public television
stations across the United States.
These pagings were auctioned in response to$1.1 billion in
federal cuts to public broadcasting, cuts that
threatened the survival of PBS and APT stations nationwide.
The auctions were designed not as commercial ventures but as
active preservation efforts to sustain the very system that had
allowed Bob Ross to reach millions of viewers.
The first series of auctions raised$662,000, with subsequent
auctions generating over$600,000 in additional funding.
Individual paintings sold for remarkable amounts,$787,000,
$318,000,$279,000, and$203,000, with 100% of proceeds directed
to public television stations.
Wow.
These funds supported programming, equipment,
staffing, and community outreach, critical components of
public broadcasting's infrastructure.
In 2024, one of Bob Ross's paintings, Cabinet Sunset, sold
for over$1 million, setting a charity auction record and
providing substantial support for the Public Media Bridge
Fund.
The sale demonstrated not only the cultural value of Bob Ross's
work, but the enduring trust viewers placed in his legacy.
His paintings, once created in quiet moments on a public
television set, became instruments of preservation for
the very system that had carried his voice into millions of
homes.
His philanthropic legacy is defined by accessibility, and
his commitment to public television ensured that art and
instruction remained free, inclusive, and widely available.
He believed that creativity should not be limited by
financial barriers, and his giving reflects that belief.
The funds raised through the auction of his paintings helped
sustain public broadcasting during a period of financial
uncertainty, ensuring that educational programming,
including art instruction, remained available to
communities across the country.
Bob Ross inspired countless artists, hobbyists, and viewers
who found comfort in his calm demeanor and encouragement.
His work continues to be used in classrooms, therapy programs,
and community centers.
His approach to art, gentle, forgiving, accessible, has
influenced modern art education and inspired new generations of
instructors who prioritize emotional well-being alongside
technique.
His legacy is built from quiet generosity, from the belief that
creativity is a universal right, from the understanding that
public broadcasting is a vital resource, is built from
paintings that became lifelines for stations in need, from
infrastructural moments that shaped the confidence of
millions, from a voice that offered calm in a chaotic world.
His legacy is not defined by scale, but by alignment.
His giving reflects exactly who he was.
His chapter stands as a reminder that philanthropy philanthropy,
goddamn, does not always require grand gestures.
Sometimes it requires consistency, humility, and a
willingness to support the system that supports others.
His life demonstrates that gentleness can be a form of
generosity, that accessibility can be a form of advocacy, and
the art can be a form of public service.
He his legacy continues to shape the landscape of public
broadcasting, ensuring that creativity remains within reach
for anyone who picks up a brush.
SPEAKER_00: I love that his paintings become became so
valuable.
Yes, they should.
Yes.
Yeah.
And like I'm curious, like a hundred years from now, like
what's it gonna be like?
Like, will he go on to be a Picasso?
SPEAKER_03: Right.
It's just uh art I want to be artsy so bad.
SPEAKER_00: I do too.
SPEAKER_03: And I'm just not.
SPEAKER_00: I'm not in any way, not just with painting or
drawing or no.
Yeah, I have no artistic ability.
SPEAKER_03: None at all.
SPEAKER_00: I can't even like rearrange furniture without like
I put it where I think it should go.
Sometimes it obviously doesn't go there.
Sometimes I have to sit there for a day and look and be like,
what's wrong?
Like I know something's off.
Like I don't have an eye for anything whatsoever.
No, and eventually I might get it to where it is, or at least
it's close enough.
But I think that has a lot to do with why I can't do art.
Like I can't visualize things.
People that can walk into a house and be like, oh, we're
gonna bust out this wall, we're gonna do this and that.
And I I don't know how you make your brain do that.
Like that's insane to me.
And same thing with paint.
Like, how can you look at a blank canvas, know what you want
to paint, and then it make and then make it with just like a
pencil, yeah.
SPEAKER_03: Like those pencil drawings that's like different
colors and shading, and that's uh just yeah, there's a lot of
like chalk, yeah.
SPEAKER_00: They're just holding it and just going so fast, and
like and like this beautiful thing comes.
SPEAKER_03: I watch these TikToks and they're like, How to
draw a frog?
And I show you like this is you do this, and then you do that.
There's like there's a lady on TikTok who was a paint night
instructor because she calls the brushes the same things that we
call the brushes.
Yeah, she was definitely a paint night, but she calls it a puff
and paint.
And she does the whole, it's the whole basically the whole class
is she does it in like a 10-minute TikTok, and they're
cute.
I mean, they're very much they're very much paint night
paintings, like you can definitely tell.
But the way she does it, it's it's just I know, and it's with
anything.
SPEAKER_00: Like I when I watched uh Taylor Swift
documentary at some point, and it showed her just sitting there
with a little keyboard typing out the first few notes and
words coming out of her mouth of a song that I know, and that's
where it started.
Like, how?
Like, how do you do that?
I my brain does not do that.
Nope.
SPEAKER_03: I'm incapable.
Yeah, same here, and so I think that Bob Ross goes up because he
makes the what I find to be impossible, possible in in a
half an hour on TV, and I watched him religiously.
I never had paint, I just sat there and watched the man paint.
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, but his legacy and what he did has raised so
much money, yeah, which public radio needs and television very,
very badly right now.
So, yeah, that was so fun.
Thank you.
Thank you.
SPEAKER_03: I wanted to do something for Dolly, but I also
didn't, you know, everybody's got Dolly tributes.
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, this was a good way to do it.
And they were all Gen X figures, all from exactly.
We love them all.
We do.
Well, thank you so much.
That was really neat.
Like I didn't know all the of course I knew the Dolly stuff.
SPEAKER_04: Right.
SPEAKER_00: But I didn't necessarily know all the little
things, philanthropic things that everybody else did.
SPEAKER_03: Yeah, and and and it that's important, you know, if
you're passionate about something.
And you know, a lot of these not it not just was their own thing,
but it's what they inspired in other people.
Like how many countless people Yeah.
SPEAKER_00: I mean, it's great when people want to share that
and want to try to make the world a better place with what
they have.
And I don't say everybody should, like not everybody
should be told they're a role model, like some people just
aren't.
Yeah, and they don't want to be.
SPEAKER_03: Well, how many people but they have a talent
somewhere grew up watching Bob Ross and then became an art
teacher in a school and made some other kid love art, and now
that kid does, you know, whatever now.
And you know, that's yeah, to me, that's part of your yeah.
SPEAKER_00: The funds raised though for for everything
afterward was huge.
And if he hadn't done what he did, people wouldn't be paying
that kind of money from it.
So good on him.
That's really cool.
Well, yeah, all your heroes are dead.
SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
SPEAKER_00: That would be universally like Yeah, that's
that's why it was so hard to think of who you were talking
about.
Because I'm like, God, it's so hard to even think of like
there's four good people in the whole world.
SPEAKER_03: And they're all dead.
SPEAKER_00: And they're all dead.
SPEAKER_03: Well, thank you for listening.
Yes, thank you.
Thank you for looking at my Mount Rushmore.
I don't know where we're gonna build it, but we're not gonna
steal in uh land from the uh natives to build it.
SPEAKER_00: So we'll go make a sand castle.
Yeah.
If we had any RCS ticket, but we don't.
SPEAKER_03: So it's just gonna be blobs of sand.
That one's Dolly.
That one's got curly hair.
We'll put a wig on it.
Put a wig on all of them.
There we go.
Yeah, that would be see the two ends, the curly hair on the two
ends.
I did look like that.
Yeah, yeah.
I didn't even intend that.
I mean, I did.
So they look balanced.
Anyway, thank you for listening.
Thank you.
Uh, you can find us where you find all the podcasts.
Um, you can find us on all the socials, like whatever pod.
You can uh find our website, likewhateverpod.com.
You can look at our merch that is not artistic.
Um you can find all of our episodes there.
You can share that with people and be like, hey, look at this
not artistic merch.
Uh you can send us an email at who is currently living that
when they pass could be added to this Mount Rushmore.
Oh, that's a good one.
Of niceness.
I feel like there's gotta be other nice people out there to
like whatever pod at gmail.com or don't like whatever.
Whatever.
Bye bye.
SPEAKER_01: Like whatever.