The Breakfast Club – Episode Summary

Podcast: The Breakfast Club (iHeartPodcasts)
Episode: DONKEY: Juelz Santana Says Kids Don't Really Need To Learn To Read
Date: December 1, 2025
Hosts: DJ Envy, Charlamagne tha God, Jess Hilarious (not present in segment)

Main Theme

This episode’s "Donkey of the Day" segment focuses on rapper Juelz Santana’s controversial comments about the importance of reading for kids. Specifically, he argued that financial literacy and common sense outweigh the need for learning to read—statements that Charlamagne tha God and DJ Envy dissect, critique, and ultimately reject as harmful and misinformed. The conversation becomes a broader reflection on education, critical thinking, and the role of literacy in empowerment, particularly within Black communities.

Key Discussion Points and Insights

1. Juelz Santana’s Viral Comment on Reading

• Context: Juelz Santana recently appeared on the "No Funny" podcast, discussing what kids truly need to learn (03:07).
• He suggested that by high school, students should focus more on entrepreneurship and financial literacy, implying reading was less essential.
• Juelz Santana’s quote (03:52):

  "Kids can’t read how to, how to, how to, but they don’t really need to learn how to know how to read. I say that respectfully. I’m not saying that in a way to be illiterate...but you can...reading, or math, you can still obtain the information. You don’t have to know how to read. I believe common sense is better than everything. I’m on common sense. I’d rather have zero book smarts and common sense... Nowadays, you can listen to a book."

• He downplays traditional literacy, leaning into technology (audiobooks, apps) as sufficient replacement for reading skills.

2. Charlamagne tha God’s Response: The Case for Literacy

• Immediately refutes the take, declaring his disagreement and emphasizing that it shouldn’t be an "either-or" debate:

  "First of all, there shouldn’t be an either or to this discussion, right? You should be able to read, and you should learn financial literacy. And you know, if you’re—if you’re going to learn financial literacy, you need to know how to read." (04:42)

• He stresses dependency risks: relying only on apps or audiobooks means surrendering agency over knowledge.
• Reading is described as foundational for formulating questions, understanding context, and direct learning—skills essential for financial literacy and more.
• Charlamagne highlights the cognitive benefits of reading (brain exercise, vocabulary, critical thinking, empathy):

  "Reading scrimps your brain...It builds your vocabulary, your reasoning skills, even empathy...Reading trains critical thinking, which is really a lost art nowadays." (04:41–05:30)

3. Literacy as Empowerment and Historical Perspective

• Charlamagne invokes the example of Malcolm X, also from Harlem, to illustrate literacy’s transformational power.

  "Malcolm X used reading to realize his full potential. I would say reading is the superpower that turned Malcolm Little into Malcolm X. Malcolm X once told Alex Haley, 'I knew right there in prison that reading had changed forever the course of my life as I see it today. The ability to read awoke inside me something long dormant, craving to be mentally alive.'" (06:00–06:30)

• He references a saying from his father to urge curiosity:

  "'If you want to hide something from a nigga, put it in a book.' That…should make us intellectually curious enough to want to know what the hell they hiding from us, all right? Pick up a damn book, kids." (06:40)

• Argues that reading provides context, history, culture, and critical tools for navigating life and society.

4. Financial and General Literacy: Not Mutually Exclusive

• Charlamagne and DJ Envy both agree financial literacy is crucial but insist it cannot substitute for basic reading.

  "To think that reading is secondary is like saying the foundation don’t matter as long as you got nice windows. I promise you, one of the fastest ways to level up is reading, okay? That’s how you learn. That’ll teach you how to question things. That’ll teach you how to think." (08:16)

• Offers a striking statistic:

  "According to the National Literacy Institute, not only are 21% of American adults illiterate, but also 130 million adults are now unable to read a simple story to their children." (08:40)

• Reading to your kids:

  "That’s something money can’t buy...Reading to your kids before bedtime, you can’t put a dollar amount on that." (08:50)

• Final message: reading and financial literacy both vital, but reading is the foundation upon which everything else is built.

5. Understanding Juelz Santana’s Perspective

• DJ Envy offers empathy, suggesting Santana’s view likely comes from hard life experience—coming into money early in the music industry, losing it, and wishing he’d learned about generational wealth.

  "But you know where the frustration comes from, right?...being in the industry early, making all this money, and then losing a lot of it and being damn near broke and saying, I wish I knew...financial literacy." (10:18–10:34)

• Both agree, however, that Juelz's experience doesn’t justify dismissing literacy.

6. Final Takeaways

• Charlamagne, DJ Envy, and the unidentified female host all agree:

  "The moral of the story, it’s not an either or." (11:04)
  "It’s all encompassing. It’s all part of education." (11:08)

• A call for young people:

  "Read, learn, question. Think so, kids, okay? Invest in your mind...Just like you want to invest in your pockets. Not because you’re trying to get rich, but so you can stay sharp and not sound illiterate on somebody’s podcast." (09:30–10:00)

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments (with Timestamps)

• Juelz Santana argues against the need for reading:

  "But they don't really need to learn how to know how to read. I say that respectfully...You can still obtain the information. You don't have to know how to read. I believe common sense is better than everything." (03:52)

• Charlamagne dismantles the false dichotomy:

  "There shouldn’t be an either or to this discussion...You need to know how to read to really become financially literate." (04:41)

• On dependency and agency:

  "If you rely on the apps and audiobooks, then you're always going to be dependent on someone else's translation. But if you know how to read, then you have direct access to the information yourself." (05:00)

• On Malcolm X and the power of reading:

  "Reading is the superpower that turned Malcolm Little into Malcolm X...reading had changed forever the course of my life as I see it today." (06:05)

• Sobering assessment for the Black community:

  "Nothing worse than watching a group of black men be happy about not being able to read." (05:45)

• Compelling statistic:

  "Not only are 21% of American adults illiterate, but also 130 million adults are now unable to read a simple story to their children." (08:40)

• DJ Envy on the root of Juelz’s frustration:

  "I'm sure [for Juelz]...he had all this money coming in, and he didn't know what to do with the money, how to invest, and he lost it all. So that's where that frustration comes from." (10:26)

• Final collective takeaway:

  "The moral of the story, it's not an either or. It's all encompassing. It's all part of education." (11:04–11:08)

Timestamps for Key Segments

• [03:07] – Introduction of Juelz Santana’s viral comment on reading
• [03:52] – Juelz Santana’s direct quote from "No Funny" podcast
• [04:41–06:40] – Charlamagne’s detailed rebuttal and argument for reading
• [06:00] – Historical example: Malcolm X’s life transformed by reading
• [08:40] – National Literacy Institute statistics
• [10:18] – DJ Envy’s insight into Juelz Santana’s mindset
• [11:04] – Hosts’ agreement that education is not either/or

Tone and Language

The episode features spirited, candid debate—trademark "Breakfast Club" style—with Charlamagne both humorous and pointed in critique ("I admit I don't speak nigga like I used to, but I still speak it very fluently..."), employing anecdotes and community references to ground his argument. DJ Envy offers a personal, empathetic angle based on industry experience, while all present ultimately unite in championing balanced, holistic education.

Summary

Charlamagne tha God awards Juelz Santana "Donkey of the Day" for his viral comments undermining the importance of reading, powerfully countering that literacy is essential for personal development, financial empowerment, and community advancement. The conversation strongly reasserts that financial literacy and reading go hand-in-hand—one cannot meaningfully exist without the other—and closes with a call for young people to invest in their minds, not just their pockets.