Podcast Summary: My Momma Told Me

Episode: Animals Have Different Races w/ Chris 'CP' Powell
Date: August 26, 2025
Hosts: Langston Kerman and David Gborie
Guest: Chris "CP" Powell

Episode Overview

In this lively and humor-packed episode of My Momma Told Me, hosts Langston Kerman and David Gborie welcome comedian Chris "CP" Powell to tackle the question: Do animals have different races? Through a blend of comedy and speculation, the trio explores Black conspiracy theories, dives into evolutionary science, riffs on society’s obsession with classification and identity, and questions the narratives constructed by humans—especially as they relate to animals, AI, and even the possibility of giants and hidden civilizations. Alongside these big ideas, the hosts drop classic banter and thought-provoking bits about everything from orca dialects to the politics of bottled water.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Setting the Scene: Everyday Paranoia & Conspiracies

• Opening Banter: The group jumps in with a wild mix of everyday conspiracies ("all koala bears are racist," "government growing babies," "ozone layer owes me money") and riffs on the gross-out idea of finding Band-Aids in tacos.
• On Automation & AI: CP pokes fun at fast-food work and automation, noting, "These jobs are jobs that the same automotion that built the car that you drove through the fucking drive through line could also prepare your burger the same way...without the ignorance and the attitude of a 17 year old." (04:16)

2. Capitalism & The Commodification of Essentials

• Discussion on Paying for Water & Food: The hosts roast the commodification of water and other natural things:
  • "We're paying for water. Nigga. It's the same water that the dinosaurs was splashing around in." (06:53)
  • "They got us to pay for water...Then they sold us this is cleaner." (07:31)

3. AI Hysteria, Flaws, and the Future

• AI as Social Mirror: They debate the risks and revelations of AI, arguing that AI just exposes greed and inefficiency within society.
  • “AI is so efficient and fair that people are asking AI questions and it's answering questions like, well, yeah, you have to just kill the leaders. It's like, what the fuck?” (08:19)
  • “My conspiratorial brain though, does say, who's making the AI. Because there is holes in the models.” (09:21)
• Pop Culture References: Comparing AI fears to movies like Eagle Eye, Terminator, and Three-Body Problem (10:00 – 11:30).

4. Main Conspiracy: "Animals Have Different Races"

Race in the Animal Kingdom

• CP’s Thesis: "What pisses me off... is that the white people think all the animals are white. That's why they love them so much." (13:16)
• CP elaborates on how orcas, as a species, have many regional dialects, diets, and social structures—with striking parallels to human concepts of race, culture, and locality:
  • "Now, orcas...from about 17 or 18 different subspecies. They speak different languages...They eat different foods...and they have different temperaments. They raise their kids differently." (15:30)
• Cultural Stereotypes for Animals: They imagine "hood orcas" and "Spanish orcas" and riff on the conflicts between new groups of orcas and local sharks—a playful anthropomorphizing of animal social life (16:00 – 17:30).

Extending the Analogy Globally

• They speculate on terrestrial animals: "I think that as humans, we're so arrogant that we don't understand how big this land really is." (18:50)
• CP connects this to giants and lost civilizations, contending that vast parts of Earth may hold unknown histories and peoples (20:00+).

5. Manipulation of Scale & The Limits of Human Knowledge

• Discussion on Map Manipulation: The team notes how colonial history downplays the size of places like Africa to impact perceptions of power and wealth.

  • “If our house is the biggest house on the block, but we grew up in an apartment and never knew that that big ass house was ours...then motherfuckers could dupe you out of under[standing] how rich you were.” (23:30)

• Possibility of Hidden Societies: They suggest that just as some indigenous people remain uncontacted, there could be vast “hidden” zones—geographical or social—humans are oblivious to (21:44–24:19).

6. Animal, Race & Subspecies: Actual Science & Nomenclature

• David and Langston’s Research: Clarifies that “races” in animals are better referred to as "subspecies."

  • Example: Caribou versus reindeer—genetically nearly identical, but location (and evolutionary pressure) results in minor adaptation (34:02–35:16).
  • “The caribou children come out light skinned. The reindeer children come out dark skinned.” (35:04)

• CP’s Branding Theory: "What I think race is...is genetic branding, for sure." (38:10)

• Human Race as Social Construct: The hosts highlight how in humans, race is a widely debunked but persistent social construct—whereas, in animals, such distinctions often more clearly relate to survival and adaptation (37:17–38:05).

7. Human Projection & Animal Stereotypes

• Naming & Framing: They dissect the problematic labeling, e.g., “Africanized” or “killer bees”:
  • “Killer bees, Africanized bees is the technical name for them. It's a nasty naming…Their genetic background is mostly European with a little bit of East African mixed in.” (50:07–50:22)
  • CP: “OG Bees. Because African bees...you know, I'm five weeks old. Who can you tell me? What? Can you? Nigga, I was dead.” (51:01–51:18)

8. Human-Like Thinking in Science and Alien Life

• The panel muses on our search for “humanoid” aliens and how life elsewhere could be based on other elements—like gas giants yielding gaseous beings (52:31–54:04).
  • “We assume it's gonna be like that, like bipedal, just like look like us, but a little different...we don't know what the most efficient [form is].” (54:04)

9. Listener Voicemail – Wild New Conspiracies

• The show closes with a classic “My Momma Told Me” voicemail pondering if Jesus was bisexual—another humorous example of wild, porch-based conspiracy (54:47–55:23).

Notable Quotes & Moments

• On White People “Claiming” Animals:

  • “The white people think all the animals are white. That's why they love them so much.” – CP, (13:16)

• On Water Commodification:

  • “We're paying for water. Nigga. It's the same water that the dinosaurs was splashing around in.” – Langston, (06:53)

• On Human Constructs:

  • “What I think race is, is genetic branding, for sure...Like, soda is soda. But there's Fanta, there's Faygo, there's Pepsi, there's Sprite.” – CP, (38:10)

• On Human Exceptionalism:

  • “We're so arrogant that we don't understand how big this land really is.” – CP, (18:50)

• On AI’s Place:

  • “I don't think AI should be…when it comes to animals, AI needs to mind this motherfucking business...You never petted a dog, bitch.” – CP, (33:05)

• On Systemic Distraction:

  • “They decided to release all the distractions. Let them do Spongebob with titties. I know it's depleting the water source, but we need them to be able to do that.” – CP, (45:29)

Timestamps for Major Segments

• 02:19 – Podcast banter kicks off; conspiracy riffing begins
• 04:16 – Automation, fast food, and the threat of AI
• 06:53–08:17 – Water, tissues, and the absurdity of late capitalism
• 13:16 – CP introduces his conspiracy: Animals have races
• 15:30–18:00 – Orcas as an allegory for race and subspecies
• 20:00–23:30 – Digression into giants, flat earth, and the manipulation of scales
• 33:05 – On AI giving answers about animal races
• 34:02–37:06 – Caribou vs. reindeer and adaptation
• 38:10–39:49 – The concept of “genetic branding” and dog breeds
• 50:07–51:41 – The “killer bee” and cultural projection
• 54:04–54:47 – Alien life, elements, and what we look for in the universe
• 54:47–56:09 – Listener voicemail: “Jesus is bisexual” theory
• 58:01 – Plugs and episode sign-off

Final Takeaway

In classic My Momma Told Me fashion, this episode careens between wild speculation, astute observations, and gut-busting comedy, all while poking holes in the ways humans categorize and mythologize the world around them—especially animal life and social “races.” CP’s framing of animals as having “races”—in dialects, diets, regional traits—becomes a springboard for riffing on how arbitrary, human-centered, and at times ridiculous our own social constructs can be.

Listen if you want:

• Wild, hilarious, and incisive banter about race, science, and conspiracy theories
• A comedic but thoughtful look at how and why humans classify everything—including ourselves
• Insight into the way pop culture, AI, and language shape our collective beliefs