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1 hour, 2 minutes

We know something about pressure. You can feel it in the church aisles, in the grocery line, in who gets stopped driving down Main after dark. But lately, that pressure isn’t just local — it’s national, creeping in through our screens, our newsfeeds, and the voices of men who look straight into a camera and tell America that power belongs to whoever claims God sent them.

That’s why Episode 27 of Three for the Founders is not just another conversation. It’s a warning flare shot clean into a darkening sky.

The hosts — Reynaldo Antonio Macias, Lybroan James, and Jon Augustine — don’t tiptoe around it. They walk straight into the storm: Steve Bannon calling Donald Trump “an instrument of the divine,” all while promising (or threatening?) a 2028 presidency and brushing past the 22nd Amendment like it’s a speed bump. That’s not politics. That’s an authoritarian sales pitch wrapped in scripture.

And too many folks are buying it.

But this episode doesn’t just talk about Bannon. It talks about the machine behind him — the algorithm, the “ether,” the long-game strategy that has been shaping American power for generations. Think tanks planning in centuries, not news cycles. Propaganda that looks suspiciously like the 1930s, except this time the posters come stamped with the U.S. Department of Labor. Whiteness dressed up as patriotism, again.

And while that machinery churns, somebody’s asking a real question:

Why are white protestors flooding “No Kings” rallies while so many Black folks are sitting this one out?

The hosts won’t sugarcoat:

Because Black people have already learned what happens when we get loud. Because the cost of protest isn’t the same for everyone. Because some of us have warned about voter suppression, policing, and backlash for decades — and we’re still waiting for the rest of America to catch up.

This episode also goes inward — into fear, dreams, kids, Blue Books, Sunday alarms — but not as a distraction. As a reminder: real people are carrying this moment. Real families are thinking about leaving the country. Real communities are asking what safety even means anymore.

And then comes the hardest question of all: What does it mean to be American right now?

Lybroan argues many of us were never allowed to be “Americans” in the first place — not in the way power defines it. Antonio pushes back. Jon names his own fears. They wrestle, respectfully, fiercely, the way democracy requires.

In a time when politicians bend scripture for power, when propaganda gets algorithmic, and when “strength” is sold as a substitute for truth, this conversation is not just relevant — it’s necessary.

Why this matters

Because what happens at the Supreme Court affects who gets housing.

Because what gets framed as “American” shapes which of our kids are treated as such.

Because authoritarian drift never starts with tanks in the streets — it starts with language, symbols, and the quiet rewriting of norms while the rest of us try to get through the week.

Three for the Founders calls it out with humor, with heart, and with the kind of clarity small communities need right now.

So here’s your chall

Thanks for joining us. Still got questions? Other things to say? Hit us up at Three for the Founders on Instagram, Facebook, YouTube, or TikTok and let us know. Til the next time...left on founders...we out!

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🎙️ NPR meets Charlamagne tha God — thoughtful, provocative, and deeply human. Welcome back to Three for the Founders — where classroom truths meet kitchen-table honesty. Today, we’re diving into part two of a conversation that every educator, parent, and student in America needs to hear: “Private Schools, Public Lies: Who Gets to Belong in Education?”

Our guests — Julie Clark, New York Times bestselling author, parent, and public school teacher — and Luivette Resto, internationally award-winning poet, parent, and independent school English teacher — join us to break down what it really looks like when teachers face inequity head-on.

This isn’t your usual PD talk. We’re unpacking:

• How systemic racism shapes classrooms long before students walk through the door,
• Why classism might be the hardest “ism” to teach through,
• And what “care as currency” means when resources and representation aren’t equal.

We’ll hear Julie recall the moment she first saw bias in the system — Black boys being disciplined differently — and how one mentor gave her the lens to fight back.
We’ll hear Luivette speak on bringing poetry to students who’ve never been told their stories belong in literature.
And we’ll talk about what it takes to teach privilege without shame — but with clarity, accountability, and purpose.

Because whether you’re in a public school in South L.A. or a private academy in Pasadena, one truth holds: kids know who’s for them, and who’s not.

🔍 For Listeners to Think About:

• What invisible systems shape how we view our students — and how do those assumptions play out in your classroom, your workplace, or your parenting?
• When have you been called in, not out — and what made that growth possible?
• Are we preparing the next generation to navigate privilege responsibly — or just to enjoy it quietly?

✅ Action Items:

1. Read Lisa Delpit’s Other People’s Children — the book that transformed Julie’s early teaching and might just transform yours.
2. Audit your bookshelf: Whose stories are missing? Add poets like Hanif Abdurraqib, Teresa Mei Chuc, or F. Douglas Brown.
3. Say every name right. Pronunciation is not a courtesy — it’s a declaration of respect.
4. Support diverse storytellers. Buy banned books. Shop indie. Visit bookshop.org if your local store isn’t an option.
5. Challenge your circle. Talk about race and class — especially if your instinct is to stay silent.

Because teaching is political — not partisan. And if we’re serious about justice in schools, we can’t just celebrate diversity; we have to confront disparity. So grab your coffee, open your mind, and lean in — this is Episode 25 of Three for the Founders: “Private Schools, Public Lies: Who Gets to Belong in Education?”

Thanks for joining us. Still got questions? Other things to say? Hit us up at Three for the Founders on Instagram, Facebook, YouTube, or TikTok and let us know. Til the next time...left on founders...we out!

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How do you raise and teach children to be kind and accountable in a world that often rewards neither? This week on Three for the Founders, hosts Reynaldo Antonio, Lybroan, and Jon get real about “gentle parenting,” classroom culture, and what education is actually for—with two powerhouse guests who’ve seen it all from both public and private school perspectives.

Julie Clark—veteran Santa Monica public school educator and New York Times bestselling author—joins Luivette Resto, award-winning poet, mother of three, and middle school English teacher, to unpack the myths and realities behind “gentle parenting.” Together, they ask what happens when empathy gets confused with permissiveness, how anxiety gets inherited, and why “The Talk” for Black and Brown families is still a life-and-death conversation.

From classroom discipline to language politics, from banned books to the economics of words, this episode pulls no punches. The conversation moves from the dinner table to the desk—exploring what happens when care, culture, and control collide.

You’ll hear the hosts and guests break down:

• The difference between consequences and punishments, and why anger doesn’t belong in either.
• How race and class shape what kind of “gentle” a parent or teacher can afford to be.
• Why critical thinking and creativity are often the first casualties of censorship.
• And what it really means to “be the adult” when the kids are watching everything.

Whether you’re a parent, teacher, or just someone rethinking what “raising good humans” means, Episode 25 will make you laugh, flinch, and maybe rethink that next parent–teacher email.

📚 Takeaways & Actions:

1. Read banned books—and talk about them with the next generation.
2. Support independent bookstores and classroom teachers bringing critical stories to life.
3. Teach failure as growth, not shame.
4. Model boundaries and respect—gently, but firmly.
5. Keep classrooms and conversations open to complexity, discomfort, and truth.

🎧 Three for the Founders: Where the book club meets the block, and every lesson plan has politics.

Thanks for joining us. Still got questions? Other things to say? Hit us up at Three for the Founders on Instagram, Facebook, YouTube, or TikTok and let us know. Til the next time...left on founders...we out!

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Three for the Founders

November 17, 2025 • 34:40

Jon’s solo surf trip to Bali was supposed to be about chasing waves — but it turns into a meditation on power, privilege, and what it means to travel without leaving a footprint the size of your passport.

This bonus episode opens with salt spray and adrenaline — double-overhead surf at Uluwatu, a sea cave entry straight out of myth, and the quiet terror of being “8,000 miles from Los Angeles” with nothing but a rented board and your instincts. But as Jon, Antonio, and Lybroan debrief, the conversation swells into deeper waters: respect, fear, and the blurred line between traveler and tourist.

What starts as talk of wave height and local drivers named Gus turns into a sharp-eyed look at how tourism mirrors empire — from surf brands lining Balinese cliffs to Popeyes at London Bridge. The brothers trade stories and side-eyes about America’s global reach — by the gun or by the screen — and ask whether the U.S. exports culture or dependency. Cue references from Living Single to Ben Kingsley’s Gandhi, with a detour through UCLA’s own anti-imperial rebel scholar, E. Bradford Burns.

By the close, they’re joking politics, riffing on global headlines, and reminding listeners that even in small conversations — about surfing, travel, or food — there’s a whole world of economics, ethics, and empire beneath the surface.

💬 “Sometimes you paddle out for peace and end up surfing history itself.”

Listen for:

•The fine line between courage and foolishness in solo travel

•Ethics of street photography and influencer culture

•Tourism’s economic double edge

•How America exports itself through media, money, and myth

Follow the journey at threeforthefounders.com and on Instagram, YouTube, Facebook, and TikTok.

Text or drop a message through Buzzsprout — and don’t forget to like, subscribe, and share.

Thanks for joining us. Still got questions? Other things to say? Hit us up at Three for the Founders on Instagram, Facebook, YouTube, or TikTok and let us know. Til the next time...left on founders...we out!

What do YOU think? Text us and let us know!

🎙️Ep. 23 - “Travel Is Fatal to Prejudice — But America Keeps Rebooking the Trip”

November 10, 2025 • 1 hour, 36 minutes

The hosts unpack how global travel broadens empathy even as America clings to the same old routes of racism, denial, and selective memory.

Mark Twain wrote that “travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness.” This week, our hosts update that line: travel is fatal to prejudice in people. And as this conversation unfolds, they remind us that translation itself—of words, of cultures, of identities—is always an act of interpretation.

Because this episode isn’t just about passports and plane tickets. It’s about the journey of perspective—how seeing the world reshapes what we think we know about race, belonging, faith, and power.

And yes, there’s news. The guys unpack the fallout from the assassination of Charlie Kirk. They look at the way certain segments of America are already mythologizing him as a martyr of “free speech.” The conversation gets uncomfortable, especially when Jon revisits his own past as a young preacher intoxicated by certainty and applause—and recognizes, with some humility, how dangerous that confidence can become when supercharged with funding, politics, and grievance.

They identify white supremacy not as robes and rallies, but as a lens—one that distorts what we see and who we value. And they ask: if America can pay settlements to families wrongfully detained or deported, why can’t it pay reparations to those it enslaved and systematically excluded?

From Morocco’s marketplace warmth to India’s fearless flow of life, from Haiti’s echoes of home to the small cultural rituals that make family sacred—this episode asks what it really means to travel well.

• What happens when you realize your culture’s “order” is someone else’s “chaos”?
• When you feel less Black or white abroad and more American—and not always proudly so?
• When you see that happiness doesn’t depend on hustle, and that “community” might just be the most radical form of wealth?

Listener Takeaways & Questions:

•Can travel be a form of reparative justice—a way to unlearn the hierarchies we were raised inside?

•How does American consumer culture—our holidays, our spending, our advertising—mask deeper absences of meaning and belonging?

•And what would it take for our country to admit, out loud, that repair isn’t just legal—it’s moral?

Action Items:

1.Listen with curiosity, not judgment.

2.Reflect on where your perspective was born—and when it last changed.

3.Share the episode with someone who travels differently than you do.

4.Engage: Drop your thoughts on Instagram, Facebook, or TikTok @ThreeForTheFounders, or text them directly through Buzzsprout.

This is a conversation about proximity—the kind that dissolves prejudice, reshapes identity, and maybe, just maybe, brings us a little closer to justice.

So buckle up. Episode 23 of Three for the Founders starts now.

Thanks for joining us. Still got questions? Other things to say? Hit us up at Three for the Founders on Instagram, Facebook, YouTube, or TikTok and let us know. Til the next time...left on founders...we out!

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🎙️ Three for the Founders
Oct 27, 2025 • 69:16 minutes

This week, the hosts of Three for the Founders head to the gun range with guest Alan Wright—better known online as @2A-N-LA—and come back with more than just ringing ears. What follows is a raw, layered conversation on what firearms mean in America: as lived experience, as cultural symbol, as constitutional right, and as public hazard.

From the bing, bing of a Glock that sent one host sprinting, to the data points on suicides, homicides, and mass shootings, to a candid reckoning with how guns conjure both heritage and trauma depending on who’s holding them—this episode refuses to flatten the debate into red-blue soundbites.

Alan offers an inside look at California’s labyrinthine gun laws, breaks down common myths around AR-15s, and situates gun ownership within Black history and the fast-growing reality of Black women arming themselves for safety. The hosts push back, raising questions about school shootings, the “urban” semantics of crime, and what kind of civic covenant—if any—should exist between Americans and their weapons.

The episode doesn’t hand you answers. Instead, it sits in the discomfort: Is fear the real driver of our policies? Are guns scapegoats for deeper wounds like poverty, dislocation, and mental health? And is the Second Amendment the “teeth” behind the First—or a splinter in the body politic?

💡 Takeaways for listeners:

• Guns aren’t just tools; they’re symbols—of freedom, of violence, of belonging, of exclusion.
• The data is messy, and how it’s framed often tells you more than the numbers themselves.
• Common ground exists, but only if we stop outsourcing our opinions to algorithms and start talking like neighbors.

👉 Action items: Subscribe, share your perspective with the hosts, and—if you’re brave—ask yourself which amendment matters more to you: the right to speak, or the right to defend the speaking.

Thanks for joining us. Still got questions? Other things to say? Hit us up at Three for the Founders on Instagram, Facebook, YouTube, or TikTok and let us know. Til the next time...left on founders...we out!

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Oct 14, 2025 • 65:40 minutes

This week on Three for the Founders, we invite you to play America’s favorite quiz: What’s scarier—fraternity hazing or an AR-15? Spoiler alert: one of them can be survived with juice boxes and patience. The other requires ear protection.

Our guest is Alan Wright—fraternity brother, Sigma stalwart, and the one-man YouTube machine behind 2A-N-LA. He walks us through pledging philosophies (“What you gain too easily you value cheaply”) and then—because irony is delicious—explains why he now owns about 80 firearms he definitely did not gain cheaply.

We cover the basics:

• Gun safety 101: Eyes, ears, and making sure your range buddy still has all ten fingers when you’re done.
• History quiz: Did you know gun control laws in California were originally designed to keep Black Panthers disarmed? Yes, even Ronald Reagan had a role in America’s favorite game show: Who Gets Rights?
• Fun fact: “AR” stands for Armalite, not “Assault Rifle.” We know, it ruins half of Twitter’s jokes.

🎧 Questions for listeners:

• If you owned 80 of anything—guitars, cats, Beanie Babies—would your family stage an intervention, or just sell tickets?
• Is a Star Wars “Stay on Target” T-shirt an acceptable segue into a firearms debate, or should we have gone with “Use the Force, Not the Firearm”?
• And seriously—who do you trust more: your newsfeed algorithm or the guy with a Glock who also happens to be your godfather?

📝 Takeaways:

• Brotherhood sometimes means letting pledges breathe. Gun ownership sometimes means letting society breathe—before pulling the trigger.
• The number one new demographic of gun owners is Black women. Yes, America, meet your stereotype breaker.
• Dialogue beats shouting. Especially when shouting happens in an enclosed range with live ammo.

✅ Action items:

• Like, subscribe, and maybe rethink your next meme about “assault rifles.”
• Ask yourself whether your information diet is coming from data—or from whichever politician last yelled “freedom!” the loudest.
• And if you do head to the range… remember Alan’s golden rule: everybody goes home safe.

Because this is Three for the Founders: where we keep our trigger discipline tight, our mic levels tighter, and our sarcasm fully automatic.

Thanks for joining us. Still got questions? Other things to say? Hit us up at Three for the Founders on Instagram, Facebook, YouTube, or TikTok and let us know. Til the next time...left on founders...we out!

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🎙️ Three for the Founders: Episode 1 (Remix)

Airdate: October 6, 2025 • 1 hr, 2 min

Please allow us to re-introduce ourselves. Our name is Three for the Founders:

You’ve heard people say “I’m not racist.” But what if that’s exactly where racism hides?

This week, Three for the Founders reaches back with a director's cut, a remix of their very first episode—where three fraternity brothers trade comfort for candor in a fearless unpacking of racism, white supremacy, and America’s enduring myths.

Lybroan James, Reynaldo Antonio Macías, and Jon Augustine—three men bonded by brotherhood and sharpened by years of cross-racial conversation—take us beyond the slurs and the “hard R’s” into the quiet violence of detachment. Together, they name what many won’t: that neutrality is partnership, that silence is capital, and that America’s favorite myths—from Lincoln’s sainthood to Santa Claus—still serve as the bedtime stories of whiteness.

With humor, love, and uncomfortable honesty, they dismantle the everyday wind that pushes some of us forward and others back. From flag worship and “heritage” hysteria to DEI backlash and redlined neighborhoods, the hosts trace how symbols, language, and laws still do the heavy lifting of white supremacy—even when no one “means to.”

This isn’t a lecture. It’s a living-room intervention—equal parts scholarship, storytelling, and brotherly debate. The kind of talk that would make James Baldwin lean in and say, “Now, that’s the truth.”

So if you’re ready to stop whispering about race—and start defining it with precision—pull up a chair. As the brothers say, this is love work.

Listener Takeaways:

🌀 Redefine racism: It’s not just hate—it’s detachment.

🌬️ Check the wind: Whose back is it at, and whose face is it in?

🏛️ Interrogate the myth: What “truths” are you protecting, and at whose expense?

🤝 Engage: Use your proximity, your access, your discomfort—for good.

Hosts:

•Lybroan — Math educator, futurist, and former Young Republican with a “Ph.D. in white-tea.” (UCLA, Harvard)

•Reynaldo Antonio — Historian, educator, and community builder fluent in identity, language, and legacy. (UCLA, Brown)

•Jon — Musician, executive coach, and a white man initiated into a Black fraternity, navigating whiteness from the inside. (UCLA)

Together, they make up Three for the Founders: a podcast born from decades of late-night talks among brothers who refuse to flinch at the truth—and who want you to stop flinching, too.

Call to Action:

💬 Share your reflections at threeforthefounders.com or on Instagram, Facebook, YouTube, TikTok, or send us a text through Buzzsprout.

❤️ Comment, like, subscribe, and share this episode with someone who “doesn’t see race”—they need to hear it.

Thanks for joining us. Still got questions? Other things to say? Hit us up at Three for the Founders on Instagram, Facebook, YouTube, or TikTok and let us know. Til the next time...left on founders...we out!