On this episode of People's Party, Talib Kweli and Jasmin Leigh sit down with actor, filmmaker, and activist Matthew Modine. This wide-ranging interview begins with his early years, growing up in Utah, being the youngest of seven, living next to a drive-in theater that his father managed, then moving to San Diego where he attended high school while working at his parent's Mexican restaurant. He reflects on what compelled his move to New York at age 17, where he worked as a chef, went to acting school, and met his wife. Matthew also digs into eye opening moments in his life that changed his perspective on US history, and the realization of it's dark past, leading him to note his fears of us falling back towards those times with Trump's "manifest destiny". They also discuss Muhammad Ali's inspiring courage of speaking out during the Vietnam war, working with a young Nicholas Cage in the film 'Birdy', and Matthew's starring in the 80's film 'Vision Quest'. The actor also speaks on the United States and it's failure to fully acknowledge it's atrocities of black people and Native Americans, and breaks down how and when he came to understand the term white privilege.
