Selects: The Soul Train Episode

23:02Chuck Bryant:So it was like just perfect to go hand in hand. And I think they kind of worked with each other, but also were important, independent of one another. But when you put them together, it was like greater than the sum of its parts even. Yeah, and it was a big deal culturally. Not only was it a big hit, but like people like Jesse Jackson said, Don Cornelius is right up there with any civil rights leader of our generation. He gave people a chance to feel good about themselves. That's pretty great. And like I said, I was a little white kid watching it. There's this lady, Madeline Weeks, who is a fashion editor at GQ.

23:35She was a little white girl in Virginia, and she said, I watched Soul Train religiously every week. Loved it from beginning to end. Even the Afro-Sheen and Ultra-Sheen ads were heaven. It had the funkiest, most stylish, sexiest dancers. Everybody looked like they were having the best time. All the girls looked gorgeous. Who wouldn't want to look like that? I was just a little kid living in the countryside in Virginia, and I lived for it. That's something else. It's pretty great.

24:01Chuck Bryant:Well, you want to take a break and then get back into what it was like to watch Soul Train? And be on it. You know, I was a guest. Yes, I can't wait. We're going to debut that clip live. All right, let's do it. Want to learn about a pterosaur and call it pterodactyl? How to take a perky poop and all about fractals? Genghis Khan, Attila the Hun, the Lizzy Porter murders and the cannibal runs. Don't explain everything to your brain. Explodes. And Josh is something you should know. Word up, Jerry. This is Mandy Woodruff-Santos from Brown Ambition. You probably think of Walmart as a store that carries just about everything under the sun, and maybe not as the place to discover small brands.

24:39Well, two things can be true at the same time, because Walmart is home to thousands of small brands, founded by people who had an idea, took a chance, and built something of their own. Behind every one is a real story and a lot of hard work. So why not take a little time to recognize all the people building small brands across the country and support everything they're creating? Walmart is proud to give those brands a place on its shelf and online. It's never been easier to find and support small brands. So take a look at Walmart. You might come across something new, something unexpected, or a brand whose story speaks to you.

25:17You never know what you're missing until you look. Discover thousands of small brands at walmart.com. Ice Cube's Big 3 basketball is heating up. Before the World Cup final, tune in to Big 3 this Sunday. Reigning MVP Michael Beasley and the defending champion Miami 305 play a must-win game against the undefeated Dallas Power, led by coach Nancy Lieberman. Then Dwight Howard and the L.A. Riot, coming fresh off a win, look to knock off the undefeated Chicago Triplets, led by coach Dr. J. The game played the way you love. Watch live Sunday on CBS at 2 p.m. Eastern, 11 a.m. Pacific, and catch replays Monday on BET.

25:51Presented by iHeart. Hey, everyone. It's Cal Penn. I'm the host of Earsay, the Audible and iHeart Audiobook Club. This week on the podcast, I am sitting down with Ray Porter, the narrator of Andy Weir's audiobook Project Hail Mary, massive sci-fi adventure about survival and science and what happens when you wake up alone very far from Earth. I really had to make a decision because I caught myself getting that frog in my throat and starting to get teary as I'm narrating some of these sections. And it's like, OK, yo, yo, yo, is this indulgent? And I really thought about it. I was like, no, at this point, it would kind of be betraying the trust the author and the listener have in telling this story if I don't go through it.

26:37But there's places in this book that deeply emotionally affected me. And I left it on the mic. That's great. Because it served the story. People will say like, oh my God, I cried at the end. It's like, yeah, dude, me too. Listen to Earsay, the Audible and iHeart Audiobook Club on the iHeartRadio app or wherever you get your podcasts.

27:13Okay,

27:15Chuck Bryant:Chuck, so we're back. There was one little thing that I wanted to include about WCIU, the original Chicago home of Soul Train. Apparently, it was like a ragtag UHF station, an independent station. And have you ever seen that movie UHF with Weird Al? Nope. Oh, it's so good. But it actually is not too far off from WCIU. They would play Lithuanian and Polish language talk shows, Amos and Andy, bullfights from Mexico. They just had this weird assemblage of TV shows. Of awful programming. But then their in-house programming was made by this ragtag kind of group of inexperienced people. And I read in the Chicago Reader this kind of oral history of the local version of Soul Train.

28:04Chuck Bryant:The head cameraman at WCIU had Stravismas and couldn't use the viewfinder in the camera. It was like that kind of ragtag group that just kind of got it done somehow. I just love that little tidbit. That's pretty cool. Yeah. All right. So if you watch Soul Train, the first thing that you would see when the show starts is that classic animated intro of that freight train rolling into the city. So cool. So iconic. Then you see Don Cornelius, always dressed to the nines. Man. The coolest cat maybe to ever be on television. We make Billy Dee weep with jealousy. He was, because he was a DJ previously, he was, he just had that DJ lingo down.

28:49Chuck Bryant:Yeah. You know, they put in one of the things, it's going to be a stone gas, honey. Like, all that 70s sort of shaft-like talk was just who Don Cornelius was. Let me try my hand at it. You ready? Okay. It's going to be a stone gas, honey. Okay. That sounded like a CB trucker from the 70s somehow. Interesting. It's going to be a stone gas, honey. I don't know what my problem is. Hey, not bad. Don't lie to me, Chuck. Josh Cornelius. You had your musical guests, like we said, just like American Bandstand. I think sometimes they lip-synced and sometimes they really sang. Early on, they lip-synced across the board.

29:35Yeah, it kind of depends on who the artist is, too. Patti LaBelle, Barry White, Aretha Franklin, Stevie Wonder, James Brown, Al Green, like just a murderer's row of rhythm and blues and soul performers. I think Gladys Knight and the Pips was on the first syndicated episode.

29:54Chuck Bryant:Yeah. And like that was a huge favor that he called in. And Gladys totally delivered by being on that first nationally syndicated episode because it drew a lot of attention. And apparently from that point on, he was always very deferential, saying, you know, if it weren't for Gladys, none of this would be here right now. Oh, that's nice. Yeah, it was pretty cool of her. Have you ever eaten at Gladys Knight's house of chicken and waffles? What do you think? I'm thinking you probably have multiple times, but we've never discussed it. Yeah, I mean, when I lived in L.A., I was a regular at Roscoe's chicken and waffles, but yeah, Gladys Knight does it right as well.

30:30Chuck Bryant:Yes, she does. Have you ever had the smothered chicken there? I don't think so. Is it like gravy or something? Yes. And it is even better than the chicken and waffles. Really? Yes. I can't not get the chicken and waffles, though. Get both. Okay. Just get both. There's no reason to hold back at Gladys Knight's House of Chicken and Waffles. Yeah, and eat a little bit of both and take the rest home. Sure. Or eat it all. Yes. So Soul Train, of course, the musical performances were great and classic and iconic. but it's the dancing that is what it's really known for. They scouted out some of these dancers.

31:08They would go to the clubs, and they did this on American Bandstand and other shows, too, that had dancers. They would go find, like, the flyest dancers in the clubs, invite them to be on the show, and everyone else had to audition. Like, thousands of people would line up and audition with their dance moves to be a soul-trained dancer.

31:27Chuck Bryant:Yeah, and, like, again, like, commons babysitter was saying like that was a big deal to be picked and some were recruited like you're saying from the clubs um and those those particular dancers were usually so good that they would rise to like national prominence like the camera just couldn't avoid them they also were no slouches at learning how to play to the camera too sure um when the camera was on them or anywhere near them um but one of the ways that everybody shined too whether you got a lot of camera time or not, was in the Soul Train line, which became a really regular feature of each episode where everybody just kind of be clapping and standing on two sides.

32:08Chuck Bryant:And then a couple would come down, usually a couple, sometimes it was solo, would come down and do some crazy dance moves and really get a chance to like show off and kind of capture the attention of the viewing audience. Yeah, if you've never gone on YouTube and looked at Soul Train line videos, first of all, I'm surprised that you exist as a human. And secondly, just do it and then look up at the clock two hours later because you will be able to do nothing but watch those video clips. It's amazing. And what's cool about it, too, is you can put it to any kind of super cool music and it sounds really great and looks really great.

32:51What you like mute it and put on different music?

32:54Chuck Bryant:No, no. But other people have like put their own tracks or other people's tracks to video of Soul Train. And it works really well. Oh, interesting. Yeah. I like the real music. Sure. Real music isn't bad either. Yeah. The Jungle Boogie one is really good in particular. That is a good one. So they filmed four episodes in a weekend. Apparently the dancers worked pretty hard. And Cornelius was pretty demanding of them. You couldn't chew gum. You couldn't curse. His mantra was be on time, be tactful, be creative, be funky, and be yourself. Yeah. Words to live by. They were unpaid too, typically. I guess you would be paid if you were dancing to a performer.

33:39Chuck Bryant:But if you were part of the segments where it was just them playing music and people were dancing, you were unpaid. I think they'd feed you. because, again, you're doing two episodes over two days, so four total, like you were saying. And, I mean, you're dancing, like, the whole time. And I'm guessing that these things probably took longer than an hour. They didn't just do an hour and that was it with no retakes or edits or anything like that. So I'm not sure how long it actually took to film an actual episode. But you were basically dancing the entire time, two episodes back-to-back twice over a weekend.

34:16I bet it was fun, too, though.

34:18Chuck Bryant:I'm sure it was fun too. I also get the impression that it was a little competitive. Although there's a guy who frequently gets overshadowed by Don Cornelius, but is known as his right-hand man. His name was Clinton Ghent, and he was one of the kind of co-creators of Soul Trainer. He was there from the beginning in Chicago, and he had a real eye for finding those dancers in the clubs. He was one of the ones who would go scout dancers. But not only of finding people who had like really crazy good moves and getting them to come on to Soul Train, but of putting all sorts of different dancers who would normally be pretty competitive with one another, finding groups that would kind of gel together like a family so that when you go back and watch Soul Train episodes or when you were watching it when they were coming on the first time, you weren't like sitting there seeing like dancers like kind of sniping one another, backbiting or pushing each other out of the way.

35:11Chuck Bryant:It did kind of have this really family vibe every episode. And apparently that was the work of that Clinton Gent guy who just really knew how to put people together. Yeah, that GQ editor really nailed it. Like it just looked like a party you wanted to be at. Like everyone was having a good time. Yeah, for sure. So some of these dancers went on to be famous and were kind of discovered there. Jody Watley, the singer, she started out as a teenager on Soul Train. And Don Cornelius was like, you're super talented. I'm a businessman. I'm going to pair you with this other guy, Jeffrey Daniel, and you guys should record music together.

35:52And that little group went on to be Shalimar, of course. In 1977, they got together.

35:59Chuck Bryant:And then after Shalimar, Jody Watley went on to become Jody Watley. That's right. Right. You mentioned Rerun from What's Happening. Nick Cannon, Carmen Electra, which I didn't know that she started out there. That kind of surprised me. I didn't either. Her real name is Tara Lee Patrick. Did you know that? I don't know if I did or not. I know it wasn't Carmen Electra. Yeah, no, it's not that. Although she looks way more like a Carmen Electra than a Tara Lee Patrick. Yeah, agreed. Doesn't look at all Irish or Southern. uh rosie perez was maybe one of the biggest names to come out of soul train this was in the 80s because you know you think about the salad days of soul train and you'd probably think of the 70s but sure the 80s were pretty big and it went all the way to 2006 but um in the 80s is when the hip-hop influence came on and rosie perez brought that uh that brooklyn new york city hip-hop flavor and if you go back and watch some of her stuff on Soul Train, it's like the dancing's cool.

37:03It's much different than that sort of 70s groove. It was that sort of New York City hip hop style.

37:10Chuck Bryant:Yeah. She does it like the beginning of, what is it? Do the Right Thing. Yeah. That's her dancing at the beginning of it, right? Yeah. Yeah. That was like straight up Soul Train. That's what she did on Soul Train, which is very much not like what they were doing in LA too. So she kind of rose to prominence as a soul trained dancer very quickly. And Don Cornelius apparently was like, hey, I want to lock you into a contract. And Rosie Perez being smart, streetwise, Rosie Perez said, that's great. I'll show it to my lawyer. And apparently Don Cornelius didn't like this. And as the story goes, he grabbed Rosie Perez, which is not what you do when somebody says that they want their lawyer to look at a contract you want them to lock into, or for any reason, really.

37:55Chuck Bryant:And to get him off of her, she threw a piece of the fried chicken she was eating at the time right at his head and hit him in the face. That's how the story goes. That's how Rosie Perez tells it for sure. Yeah, and we should mention too that that is not cool at all. And while we're praising Don Cornelius for his talents as a host, he did later in life when he was a bit older. Was he arrested or was he just charred I think he was charged with domestic violence against his Russian-Ukrainian wife. Yes, he was at least charged. I don't know if he was convicted, but there was a, yeah, he got into an entailment because of that at least accusation that he had abused her and then also apparently intimidated a witness into changing their story.

38:46Chuck Bryant:He was charged with that as well. It was, from what I understand, though, this all took place over a single night and possibly within a very short period of time over a single night. Not at all trying to justify or excuse it. But I don't know the story behind it at all. But I think it's worth pointing out, like, Don Cornelius was not just a straight up, like, nothing but a smooth, cool cat. He was a complex human being who had faults as well, too. Yeah, absolutely. And flaws and all that. I mean, grabbing Rosie Perez is bad enough alone. Sure. You know what you get? You get the old chicken wing to the forehead.

39:22Chuck Bryant:Yeah, you do. You would think, like, even before she was a star, you'd know just hanging out with her a little bit not to mess with Rosie Perez. No, I would never mess with Rosie Perez. He didn't know that. His signature sign-off was, I'm Don Cornelius, and as always in parting, we wish you love, peace, and soul. Yeah. There were a couple of other people who kind of rose to prominence, too. Cheryl Song. She was the first Asian dancer on Soul Train. She said she had to really kind of prove herself that she wasn't just like the token non-African American dancer, that she was actually a really good dancer.

39:56Chuck Bryant:And she did. And then Jemaine Stewart, who you might recognize as the singer of We Don't Have to Take Our Clothes Off. And that's pretty cute because he came back home and performed it on Soul Train in 1986. And when Don Cornelius was introducing him, he was saying, He made good, and we're all very proud of him. And like you mentioned, the Irish Carmen Electra, who I guess stood out because she was river dancing on Soul Train. And everyone was like, what is that? What is that? But then everybody wanted to do it because it was Carmen Electra doing it. So Soul Train was so popular, and Dick Clark, I guess, didn't feel like he had enough money as a TV mogul and an icon on American Bandstand.

40:41So he went, hey, I'm going to start my own Soul Train and try and bury Don Cornelius. And I'm going to call it Soul Unlimited. I'm going to put it on ABC. And it was, you can see clips of it on YouTube. It didn't last long, but it was a literal ripoff of Soul Train. And you might say Soul Train was a ripoff of American Bandstand. Fair enough. But for him to go after the African-American market like that, I don't think was very cool.

41:12Chuck Bryant:No, it isn't very cool. I could see Dick Clark being a little blind to the larger implications of it. Probably. And, you know, I don't know if he was involved in its canceling or not, but, you know, some black leaders did get it canceled. They started a campaign to say, like, no, just leave this one alone. I don't know how easily Dick Clark went along with it or not. I like to think he was like, oh, okay, I see the error of my ways now and dropped it. But, yeah, only a few episodes came out. Either way, Soul Train was left to, like, stand on its own, you know? Yeah. And I think rightfully so, too.

41:46Yeah. Yeah. There were other performers. Later on, they would have white performers. David Bowie very famously was on there. Oh, man. Did you watch that? I did.

41:55Chuck Bryant:That was awful. Did a pretty bad lip sync job, which Cornelius gave him, kind of teased him about. And then Elton John, who has always had a pretty big following in the African-American community. I didn't know that. Did you? Yeah, yeah. Yeah, he wrote about it in his autobiography that I read last year. That's cool. I think it started when Aretha Franklin covered Burn Down the Mission, if I'm not mistaken. Okay. Was that the one she recorded? I think that's the way it went down. I've never heard of that song before. What is wrong with you? You've never heard Burn Down the Mission? I don't think so.

42:32Chuck Bryant:I'm not the biggest Elton John fan. I mean, I'm fine with him, but I really don't like a lot of his 70s stuff. like a lot I really don't like it wow but I like his 80s stuff like the whole I'm still standing thing okay that's good it was burned down the mission before that yeah yeah that was in the 70s I guess my follow up question is what problem did he have with the mission he didn't write it oh okay Bernie Taupin wrote all his lyrics oh I see now I am a Bernie Taupin fan

43:05you're a national treasure thank you So Elton John was on a couple of times, and it's pretty sweet if you look at the one. I'm not sure if it was the Philadelphia Freedom one or the other one. It's such a good song. But he takes questions, and you can tell he's kind of shy and a little nervous. And he takes some questions from the people, from the dancers and stuff, which was kind of cool. But it's just very sweet to see how nervous he was.

43:33Chuck Bryant:Yeah. Because he's known for being a humble spirit. Is he? No. Have you ever seen the documentary they made? Or he self-made? Or no, his partner made. His partner was the only one he would let, you know, follow him around with the camera, which is pretty understandable. But it came out in the last, like, I don't know, decade or less. Yeah. The Tantrums and Tiaras, I think. Yes. Yeah, yeah. Yeah. That was great, man. I loved it. Yeah, he's good. I like that Rocketman movie a lot, too. I have not seen that. I saw it over someone else's shoulders on a plane. You wouldn't like it. No, it didn't look like anything I would like.

44:12Chuck Bryant:No, if you don't like Elton John, you wouldn't like the movie about Elton John. No, and again, Sir Elton, I have no problem with you personally. It's just that period through the 70s, like Crocodile Rock, the one about Philadelphia Freedom. You know, all those bad 70s albums, Madman Across the Water and Captain Fantastic and Goodbye Yellow Brick Road. Those are all terrible. Exactly. I feel understood, Chuck. Thank you. So the 80s come along and 1983, Don Cornelius has brain surgery, takes a little time off. He comes back. Soul Train has changed their look a little bit to try and fit with kind of what's going on at the time with like Whitney Houston and people like that.

44:56and then hip-hop and rap come along and apparently Don Cornelius is not a big fan.

45:05Chuck Bryant:Yeah, and I think I read, I can't remember, I read a really great article in Dazed about it or there's another pretty good one that was a review of the recent TV biopic about him and Soul Train on The Guardian. It basically explained it like that Don Cornelius was like a mid-century integration-minded black businessman and that he and his ilk and generation, they had been working toward like, you know, getting a piece of the pie that didn't necessarily, it wasn't the white pie, it was the pie that white people controlled. And if you were, you know, if you made your way to get a piece of this, like you could be black and still enjoy the good life and that hip-hop reminded him of everything that he and his generation had kind of tried to work beyond and past and to integrate.

46:01Chuck Bryant:And that to him it was a step backwards. So he wasn't vibing on it at all. My own personal take is that he was a smooth customer and he appreciated smoothness in hip-hop, especially 80s hip-hop, was the opposite of smooth. And so he was not vibing on it at all. And he even referred to himself as an old guy sometimes when he was interviewing, you know, some of the hip hop artists who came on Soul Train in the 80s. Yeah, I watched one of the Public Enemy clips and it was weird. Afterward, he like, he basically ignores Chuck D and like talks only to Flavor Flav and then finally turns to Chuck. and was like, and now Chuck D, he said, you must feel so blessed to have someone as talented as Flavor as your partner.

46:52What, really? It was really weird. And Chuck D was like, yeah, you know, he's quite a character. As you can see. Yeah, I just, I don't know. It really came off as like Don Cornelius doesn't understand this. I'm not dissing Flav, but like Chuck D was like the, he was the leader of that band, you know?

47:12Chuck Bryant:Yeah. Yeah, he was the brains behind the outfit for sure. And I mean, like, yeah, Flavor Flav's just like, he's like fills in the kind of hardness of Chuck D. Yeah. I don't, yeah. If you think public enemy, it's definitely Flavor Flav and Chuck D, but it's Chuck D. Yeah. You know what I mean? And then Flavor Flav. Yeah, it was definitely a strange interview because I thought finally he's going to talk to Chuck D. And he's like, you must feel so good about having this guy as your partner. Which one was that after? Because they were on at least twice on the regular show by my count and then once on the Soul Train Awards at least.

47:48Yeah, I don't remember.

47:49Chuck Bryant:So it's not like he wasn't smart enough to know that they were big and should be on anyway whether he liked them or not. But they did Can't Trust It in 1991, and they did Rebel Without a Pause in 1987. And I could not find the interview segment. I just saw the performance. They were both really great. Well, it was very sweet. And actually, it would have had to been the 90s one because afterward, Flavor Flav asked for a moment of silence for the passing of Miles Davis and Red Fox. Yeah. And they took a moment of silence. That's awesome. Yeah, it was cool. So, and that's actually, just in case we haven't gotten this across enough yet, Soul Train, again, was, it never got away from, like, its black roots.

48:38Chuck Bryant:Like it never sold out or anything like that. Like it was like that makes perfect sense that they would include that part. They wouldn't just edit that out in the episode that they published. Yeah, totally. That was just part of it, even as late as the early 90s. Yeah, in the early 90s is when Don Cornelius finally had to step down. May 10th, 1993 was his final episode. He passed it on to the younger generation. went all the way to 2006 and became the longest-running syndicated show in TV history. Yeah, 35 seasons. Amazing. And that younger generation that he handed the reins over to, some of the temporary hosts included Jamie Foxx, got his start, Tyra Banks, and Shamar Moore from Criminal Minds.

49:26Chuck Bryant:He was a longtime stand-in host. Really? Yeah, he's big time now. I don't know who that is. I don't watch Criminal Minds either but you've seen enough like ads for Criminal Minds that you would recognize I'm sure very sadly Don Cornelius took his own life he was suffering from Alzheimer's and apparently was having a lot of seizures and just in a pretty bad way physically and his son said that that was the reason why he took his own life yeah well plus he'd also sold the rights I think to Soul Train 2 and it seems like things kind of started to go downhill for him around then, I think in 2008. But yeah, apparently it was a really big surprise to everybody who knew him that he died by suicide.

50:14Chuck Bryant:That was not the perceived outcome for him, I think. But his legacy lives on. Like you said, I mean, the 35 seasons, the longest-running syndicated television show of all time, in and of itself, it's an incredible achievement. But also to be like a cornerstone of like introducing black culture as black culture to the larger culture as a whole and white culture. Huge. Is, yeah, I mean, that's about as big an accomplishment as you can make. It's like Jesse Jackson said, he was as important as any civil rights leader. Yep. You know? So that's Don Cornelius and Soul Train. That's how it went. if you want to know more about that you don't need to know anything else just start go watching clips of Soul Train and you will be a happier person than you were before you started yeah get ready for some sick robot action it's so great and rerun too you can't forget about rerun Fred Berry no that's sweet well since we talked about Fred Berry that means everybody obviously it's time for listener mail this is about Iron Maiden hey guys listen to your short stuff on 666 and loved it.

51:28More so for Josh's thoughts on Iron Maiden. Hardest working band in business. Seen them twice. I've been a Maiden fan for about 15 years and I gotta say, Josh was right on the money when he said Power Slave was the album to listen to if you've never really given them a chance. So Chuck, whip out that old beanbag, roll up a fatty, crack open a cold one and crank up some Maiden. You'll be glad you did. Also, just want to say thank you both for the awesome work you do. I'm spewing, which must be Australian for angry. He says, I'm spewing because I couldn't get to your show when you came to Perth.

52:05Chuck Bryant:I think so, yeah. Yeah, you missed a good show. I was thinking about how cool that town was the other day. Yeah, Perth was cool. Your discussion and delivery of interesting, exciting topics week after week transmute information and understanding into very enjoyable entertainment into my ear holes, bringing much joy not just to my commute but to my work life. lots of love from Mandura, Western Australia, and that is from Ty. Ty, I like this person. First of all, Ty says that I'm right, which I love. Likes Iron Maiden, loves Iron Maiden, you could say. And is upset that they missed our show. We'll be back.

52:44Chuck Bryant:Sure, we will be. Hey, you know we're like number one in Australia as far as podcasts go right now. I heard that, man. They're practically begging for us to come back. We'll come back And we'll definitely go to Perth again. So don't worry, Ty. We'll be there. Just keep an ear out. Keep your ear holes out. That's right. If you want to be cool like Ty and get in touch with us, you can do that. You can send us an email to stuffpodcast at iheartradio.com. Stuff You Should Know is a production of iHeart Radio. For more podcasts from iHeart Radio, visit the iHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.

53:28Chuck Bryant:This is Jacob Goldstein from What's Your Problem? When you think about discovering small brands, what store pops into your mind? Well, it should be Walmart. Seriously. Walmart has thousands of small brands, and they're all in one place. Just go online or in-store, discover, and shop. It could not be easier. Every one of these brands has a real story and real people behind it. They're true American success stories, and you can find them all at Walmart. Discover thousands of small brands at walmart.com today. IceCube's Big 3 basketball is heating up. Before the World Cup final, tune in to Big 3 this Sunday.

54:08Reigning MVP Michael Beasley and the defending champion Miami 305 play a must-win game against the undefeated Dallas Power, led by Coach Nancy Lieberman, then Dwight Howard and the L.A. Riot, coming fresh off a win, look to knock off the undefeated Chicago Triplets, led by Coach Dr. J. The game played the way you love. Watch live Sunday on CBS at 2 p.m. Eastern, 11 a.m. Pacific, and catch replays Monday on BET. Presented by iHeart. Hey, everyone, it's Cal Penn. I'm inviting you to join the best-sounding book club you've ever heard with my podcast, Earsay, the Audible and iHeart Audiobook Club.

54:42Every episode, I nerd out with amazing guests and dive into the best new audiobooks available on Audible. It's the book club for your ears. Listen to Earsay, the Audible and iHeart Audiobook Club on the iHeartRadio app or wherever you get your podcasts. This is an iHeart Podcast. Guaranteed human.