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- [00:00]
Clay Travis
This is an iHeart podcast.
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RJRVC It's a celebration 250 years in
- [00:38]
Clay Travis
the making and we want everyone in America, from Maine to Montana, from Alabama to Alaska, to be a part of it.
- [00:46]
America 250 Announcer
This year marks America's 250th anniversary and we're coming together from coast to coast at star spangled events, live performances and the largest day of giving in American history.
- [00:58]
Clay Travis
Join the nationwide celebration at america250.org
- [01:05]
Frank Siller
what
- [01:06]
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if your next favorite hobby came with a built in crew? That's cornhole. Whether you're brand new to the game or just looking for an excuse to get outside, there's a whole world of players out there ready to welcome you in local leagues, weekend tournaments, backyard throwdowns. It's all happening near you. Find your people at your next event@iplaycornhole.com events new hobby, new friends. Same you just having a lot more fun.
- [01:36]
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Support for the show comes from Public, the investing platform for those who take it seriously. On public you can build a multi asset portfolio of stocks, bonds, options, crypto and now generated assets which allow you to turn any idea into an investable index. With AI. It all starts with your prompt. From renewable energy companies with high free cash flow to semiconductor suppliers growing revenue over 20% year over year, you can literally type any prompt and put the AI to work. It screens thousands of stocks, builds a one of a kind index and lets you back test it against the S&P 500. Then you can invest invest in a few clicks. Generated assets are like ETFs with infinite possibilities, completely customizable and based on your thesis, not someone else's. Go to public.com podcast and earn an uncapped 1% bonus when you transfer your portfolio. That's public.com podcast paid for by Public Investing Brokerage Services by Open to the Public Investing Inc. Member FINRA and SIPC Advisory Services by Public Advisors llc SEC Registered Advisor Generated Assets is an interactive analysis tool. Output is for informational purposes only and is not an investment recommendation or advice. Complete Disclosures available at public.comdisclosures thank you for Listening. This is the best of with Clay Travis and Buck Sexton.
- [02:42]
Buck Sexton
Welcome back in Clay Travis, Buck Sexton show. We are joined now by our friend Frank Siller, who does incredible work tunneled to towers. 25th anniversary of 911 coming up. Frank, I've had the good fortune to work with you and hopefully be a small part of helping you do so much incredible, phenomenal work. Can you believe that it has been 25 years since 9 11? And I know that people, some of them may have heard this story before. But can you tell us about what happened on that day that inspired Tunnel to Towers and why you have continued to work so zealously since that day?
- [03:23]
Frank Siller
Sure, Clay. Thanks for having me on. I always appreciate it and thank you for your great support. You personally have come to plenty of our fundraising events and helped us raise the kind of money that we need to raise to do the kind of great work that we do. So thank you. I want to start with that. So on September 11, 2001, you know, my brother was a New York City firefighter, was just finished his night tour in his firehouse in Squad 1 in Brooklyn. It was on his way home to play golf. My brother Russ, my brother George and myself, the four brothers were going to have a round of golf. And he heard on his radio scanner that the north tower was hit. So we turned his truck around, called his wife, said to him, tell him my brothers, I'll try to catch up with him later. And went back to his firehouse, you know, and got his gear. So he drove to the mouth of the Brooklyn Battery Tunnel was closed for security reasons. So he strapped 60 pounds of gear on his back. He ran through the Brooklyn Battery tunnel, which is 1.7 miles long, up west street into the South Tower. And going up those stairs and saving people, he gave up his life. And you know, the thing about my brother Stephen, and he was the youngest of seven of siblings, he was our little brother, but a lot younger than we were. He was, he was our little miracle. When he was born, my oldest brother was 24 years older than him and I was 14 years closest in age and I was 14 years older than him. So he was our little miracle. He was married, had five beautiful children, all under the ages of nine, nine and under. And he made a tremendous sacrifice. So as a family, we just didn't want his legacy or his life or his, or his sacrifice, I should say, end there. And we decided we were going to do small acts of kindness and start a foundation with small acts of kindness in his honor. And his memory and of all those who perished on that day
- [05:21]
Buck Sexton
25 years later. And I know this is going to stag stagger a lot of people. But college kids now been born, raised, graduated from college post 9 11. Some young lawyers have now been born and been raised and graduated post 9 11. How well do you think kids these days understand what happened on 9 11? It's ancient history to some of them. What do they know based on your experience?
- [05:51]
Frank Siller
Well this is what I know. The people that I deal with all the time, the people who donate to the foundation and those who serve our country, our communities, their families know, there's no question about their kids know they're involved in a way that I would like to see most of America to be involved, to be quite frank with you. But there's many families that have no clue of really what happened on 9-11-2001. And that is why it is so important on what we're doing. I want to say that we've been trying to get the word out there to young kids for a long time. We have a curriculum right now that's on our website t2t.org you could download it. It's age appropriate, K through 12. It is incredible the stories of 911 that we have on our website because our first mission is was always to honor the sacrifice and to never forget. Never forget. And they're not just words with us. We mean it and we and we prove it by, by having all this at your fingertips literally to find out the stories of 9 11. If you just want to, if you're a parent and you're listening, go to t2t.org and download whatever your age kid and and you could tell them what happened on 9 11. If you're a teacher, do it for your classroom. If you're a principal do do it for your school. You know and we've had millions of people have done it so far but this year because it's the 25th anniversary we were given a large I beam from the south tower. It's 26ft long, £16,900 is what it weighs. It's an incredible, impressive looking piece of steel and concrete and we're taking that all over the United States to make sure shine a light on what happened 25 years ago.
- [07:38]
Buck Sexton
If people are, and I'm sure Buck and I at different points in time will be involved in this but if people are interested in the Steel Across America tour kicked off this past weekend, ground zero. How many different places are you going?
- [07:54]
Frank Siller
There's 35, approximately 35 stops. There might be a few more in there, but 35 that are playing right now. And we've been working on this for 15 months. So this is not something that is just thought of and say, hey, wouldn't it be nice? No, this is a very thought out process that we have going to make sure that we honor the sacrifice. Where are we going? We're going to so many important places. Like I said, we started at ground zero. Just this past Saturday was the first day that we started the event. I was with one of my, my brother's five kids. His youngest son, Stephen Jr. Was there. He spoke, helped kick off the steal. We had an unbelievable honor, God. We had 343 firefighters with the banners of those who died on 9 11. The 343 firefighters who died, pictures of them, the police officers, banners of them who died, Port Authority police officers, court officers. And that was the honor, God, basically, of us walking from ground zero and then down Broadway with this beautiful truck that we designed and that is carrying the sacred piece of steel. And why am I saying it's sacred? There's many reasons why it's sacred. Number one, it's part of history. That it was at ground zero, was in the south tower. South Tower is where I lost my brother. My brother's body was never recovered. It has the soul of so many different people. My brother for sure it has in that piece of steel. And I want people. Excuse me, Clay. I want people who, who go to the steel and we have steps that they can go up and touch the steel. I want them to put their hand on. I want them to feel the sacrifice that was made that day. I want them to feel that these men and women were running in these buildings saving people and gave up their lives and left their families behind. I want them to feel the resolve they had and the strength of America ever since and that so many 7,000 men and women have died on the global war on terror ever since. So I want them to feel that when they put their hand on that steel. And that's where, that's why it is so important that it's going around all over the United States. This coming Thursday, we're going to be in. Excuse me. Tomorrow I'm going to be. We're going to be in Shanksville, Pennsylvania, where Flight 93, the 40 heroes that took the plane down, Todd Beamer's famous words, let's, let's roll and hear these guys take. Didn't let these hijackers fly into the Capitol or wherever it was going. Maybe the White House didn't let it go, took the plane down and saved people on the ground. The first heroes of of 911 were in that Flight 93. And we're going to be there tomorrow with some family members. I, I walk there. I think you recall this 5 years ago I walked from the Pentagon to Shanksville to Ground Zero to commemorate, commemorate the 20th anniversary in 9 11. And now we're doing this with the piece of steel all across America.
- [10:59]
Buck Sexton
Where will you be on 9 11, the 25th anniversary this fall?
- [11:06]
Frank Siller
So I'm going to answer that by saying where I'm going to be on nine nine first on two days beforehand, we're going to be down at the White House with the steel with a couple thousand people, invitation only. And the president is going to be joining us and we're going to have a ceremony there. From there we have an honor guard, motorcade of fire trucks, police cars, motorcycles. They're going to go up high 95, Route 95 all the way up to New York. And on 911 that piece of steel is going to be with me on the Brooklyn side of, in New York. And I'm going to escort it with my family through the tunnel just like my brother ran through that day through that tunnel 25 years ago. And we're going to have a beautiful ceremony right there at ground zero afterwards. So it's, it's a perfect way to start it. We started at ground zero. We're going to end it at ground zero for this piece of steel. And it means a lot to a lot of people that the reaction we're getting, Clay, is overwhelming.
- [12:19]
Buck Sexton
We're talking to Frank Siller, Tunnel to Towers. You can join Buck and me in joining in donating to Tunnel to Towers. By the way, President Trump news brief, unexpected. According to Fox News, Trump event in the Oval Office, I would think may have something to do with Iran. That's just me speculating, but we will follow that if it happens before the end of the program. If it does not, I'm sure Sean Hannity will be talking about it. But since I see that headline come up, you've known President Trump for a long time. Most people out in the audience will not get the opportunity to meet President Trump. They see him from afar. What's he like from your experience, Frank,
- [12:58]
Frank Siller
I'm going to give you just one little, quick little story. Somebody was doing a fundraiser at Mar a Lago for us about a month ago and the president was having dinner there. Now, the fundraiser was for Tunnel to Towers. He heard about it. I went up to say hello to him. He was having dinner. He got up and came over to me. He goes, frank, I understand we have a big event going on downstairs. Let's go down and say hello to them. He goes downstairs. I walked down there with him, right. I didn't ask him to go down there and talk to everybody and do this. He goes downstairs, he walks in and he starts talking about the Tunnel to Towers foundation and all the work that we're doing, how we help, you know, those, you know, catastrophically injured service members. We build them smart homes, you know, pay off the mortgages to goldstar families and fallen first responders. He starts going through the litany of things that the Tunnel Towers foundation does. And then he says, and for the 25th year, they have this piece of steel coming all over the United States, and they're coming to the White House because I met him in the Oval Office and I told him about the steel. And I said, frank, oh, my God, yes, I want this to come to the White House. And it's so important that we do it to make sure we never forget. He lost a lot of friends that day. He's a New Yorker. He's a regular guy. Is. He would do so much. He does so much for so many people. And he's done a lot for the Tunnel to Towers foundation, for sure. He loves America. He cares about those who serve our country and those who serve our community, and he has their back. And he proves it every single day.
- [14:23]
Buck Sexton
All right, I'll leave it with this. And you guys do incredible work. And again, Buck and I are going to be doing a bunch to continue to help raise money during this 25th anniversary year. I know you have seven grandkids. Six of them are big sports fans. Do any of them have the misfortune to be New York Mets fans?
- [14:45]
Frank Siller
My brother Stephen was the biggest New York Met fan that you can believe that you could. Absolutely.
- [14:51]
Buck Sexton
You're a Yankees guy, right? You're a Yankees guy.
- [14:54]
Frank Siller
I'm not. I am not a Yankees guy.
- [14:56]
Buck Sexton
Oh, I thought you were a Yankees guy.
- [14:59]
Frank Siller
No, no, no, no, I'm not. I don't care about.
- [15:01]
Buck Sexton
Well, you have so many Yankees at the. At the Tunnel of the Towers events. They love you. I thought Yankees fan. That's true.
- [15:11]
Frank Siller
Wells is doing a golf outing for us on Monday. He's a great guy, you know. You know, again. And Andy Pettit, you know, he did the PSA for me. But so. So have Alonzo. Sorry he did stuff for me and Terry Collins and John Franco. So we have a lot of big athletes that have done a lot of stuff for us for the Tunnel to Towers Foundation. I'll tell you what fan I am. I'm a fan for anybody who is willing to help those who need the kind of help that these families need, that, that pay the ultimate sacrifice for our country and, and their families need to be taken care of. And if they're out there trying to help Tunnel to, to foundation because they know we don't waste their money. You donate $11 a month and we do it on the back of $11 a month, you know. You know, and they're pushing that for us. You know, from Stallone. That does it. Mark Wahlberg, who does it for our Kevin James. That does it. You know, it's, it's, it's incredible.
- [16:13]
Buck Sexton
For people who want to donate, where can they go?
- [16:16]
Frank Siller
T2t.org Very simple.
- [16:20]
Buck Sexton
T2t.org by the way, I said that I thought Trump might be having a press conference to talk Iran situation. It's actually the ufc, so he's got a bunch of UFC fighters probably for the June event. All right, there you go, Frank. It's going to be a big one on the lawn.
- [16:39]
Frank Siller
I was invited already.
- [16:42]
Buck Sexton
That's going to be a heck of one so that I'm sure he'll address other things. But there is a UFC title belt on the Resolute desk right now for President Trump's press conference. Frank, keep up the good work. We encourage everybody out there. Go donate and we look forward to helping you this fall.
- [16:59]
Frank Siller
Thank you as always, Clay. God bless.
- [17:02]
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- [17:32]
America 250 Announcer
It's a celebration 250 years in the making.
- [17:36]
Clay Travis
And we want everyone in America, from Maine to Montana, from Alabama to Alaska to be a part of it.
- [17:43]
America 250 Announcer
This year marks America's 250th anniversary and we're coming together from coast to coast at Star Spanx events, live performances and the largest day of giving in American history.
- [17:54]
Clay Travis
Join the nationwide celebration at america250.org
- [18:02]
Jack Carr
what
- [18:02]
Cornhole Commercial Announcer
if your next favorite hobby came with a built in crew that's cornhole. Whether you're brand new to the game or just looking for an excuse to get outside, there's a whole world of players out there ready to welcome you in local leagues, weekend tournaments, backyard throwdowns. It's all happening near you. Find your people at your next event@iplaycornhole.com events. New hobby, new friends. Same you just having a lot more fun.
- [18:32]
Public Investing Commercial Announcer
Support for the show comes from Public, the investing platform for those who take it seriously. On Public you can build a multi asset portfolio of stocks, bonds, options, crypto and now generated assets which allow you to turn any idea into an investable index with AI. Starts with your prompt. From renewable energy companies with high free cash flow to semiconductor suppliers growing revenue over 20% year over year, you can literally type any prompt and put the AI to work. It screens thousands of stocks, builds a one of a kind index and lets you back test it against the S&P 500. Then you can invest in a few clicks. Generated assets are like ETFs with infinite possibilities, completely customizable and based on your thesis, not someone else's. Go to public.com podcast and earn an uncapped 1% bonus when you transfer your portfolio. That's public.com podcast paid for by Public Investing Brokerage Services by Open to the Public Investing Inc. Member FINRA and SIPC Advisory Services by Public Advisors, llc, SEC Registered Advisor. Generated Assets is an interactive analysis tool. Output is for informational purposes only and is not an investment recommendation or advice. Complete disclosures available@public.com disclosures you're listening to the Best of Clay Travis and Buck Sexton.
- [19:37]
Buck Sexton
Welcome back in Clay Travis Buck Sexton Show. Appreciate all of you hanging out with us. We have got a ton of you that sent us awesome talkbacks and I want to make sure that we run through many of these because so many of them were super interesting and I'm scrolling through. Guys, let's just start if we can with let's see with a I believe which is the first of the Talkback crew. And this is Frank in Arizona and we were talking about brilliant military maneuvers and so many of you have talked back.
- [20:14]
Frank Siller
Cut a yeah, Frank in Arizona. It's a little before our time, but anything Alexander the Great ever did was probably the most brilliant tactician that ever lived.
- [20:28]
Jack Carr
Usually about 20,000 men in his army
- [20:31]
Frank Siller
going up against hundreds of thousands, if not a million men in Persian armies and Oriental campaigns.
- [20:38]
Buck Sexton
There you go. We were talking about American military maneuvers, but yes, Alexander the Great. Kind of a significant military figure. Sean in San Diego Cut B.
- [20:48]
Frank Siller
The greatest move in military history I believe is done by Brigadier General Buford. He stopped the advance of the Southern troops at Gettysburg to give the Union the high ground in that battle.
- [21:01]
Buck Sexton
Oh man, I could talk all day about the battle of Gettysburg. That is my wheelhouse. I did Civil War sleep away history camp at Gettysburg back in the day and that was absolutely just every aspect of that battle. Super interesting. I would point out that Buford may have chosen the battleground of Gettysburg, but it was the failure of Yule to take Culp's Hill on the first day when there was no one there at all on the top of it because you will had taken over. This goes into the weeds for Stonewall Jackson. They had split that core and Stonewall Jackson would have taken Culp's Hill and frankly I think the south would have won the war if Stonewall Jackson hadn't been killed, shot by his own troops at the Battle of Chancellorsville after what I argued was maybe the greatest military maneuver of all time. I think Stonewall Jackson at Gettysburg, Lee wins that battle and the south may well have won the war. I did want to clear up one thing that I said yesterday. I got the name wrong of the, of the general that was in charge at the at Bastone who was refusing to surrender. And a lot of you have continued to weigh in there. I said mad Anthony Wayne. Matt Anthony Wayne was a revolutionary Revolutionary War general. And if you go back and look at the, at the Battle of the Bulge it was a different Anthony Anthony McAuliffe for responsible for saying nuts. Somebody emailed me that a couple of you did. I got the general wrong there. So I got Anthony Wright but not Anthony Wayne Anthony McAuliffe. That may be the nerdiest of the corrections that we've ever had.
- [22:52]
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- [22:57]
Jack Carr Interviewer
We've got Jack Carr with us right now. The best selling author, the creator of the incredible Terminal List series with of course with James Reese is the main character. He's got a new book out, the fourth option which has just come out now. He's got a new character, Chris Walker Clay. Apparently Clay Travis was the second choice for the protagonist name but they went with Chris Walker. So you were close, buddy. But next time, next time, next time. Exactly. Next time. I still, I keep telling Jack that he's got to have a character who's a smug CIA analyst with poofy hair because we'll all know, we'll all know what's going on.
- [23:34]
Jack Carr
Poofy hair is going to be a dead giveaway. Dead giveaway.
- [23:37]
Jack Carr Interviewer
Hey, man. Jack, we're so glad to have you on. We got a lot of things to talk about, including. I'm not, I don't. I'm not trying to, you know, break any sacred cows here. I love the Terminal, this series. I actually think I like Dark Wolf even more. I watched the whole thing on Amazon. We'll get to that. You also wrote and create that, which is a great. I'm a Taylor Kitsch superfan as well as a Jack Carr super fan. So there's a lot, a lot going on here, Texas. Tell us first about. Tell us first about the fourth option, if you will, which just came out now. This new series, new book.
- [24:04]
Jack Carr
Yeah, yeah, absolutely. But first off, hey, I'm in New York. I can't see you guys, but this is a nice setup here. So we got the audio rolling. You got this nice pen right here. We got the clay and buck pen and microphone. I mean, this is amazing. This is fantastic. Got the news going right here. Can catch up on things. But fourth option, yeah, it's my take. It's a. My modern take on the Old west narrative of the Stranger Comes to Town. So inspired by have Gun, Will Travel, which was a radio show first in the 50s, then a TV show in the late 50s into the 60s. And I used to watch that with my dad when I was growing up. And I always wanted to write something that had a touch point with those, that old Western mythology that is so American in. In nature. So that Pale Rider, for those who remember Pale Rider, Shane, High Plains Drifter, a little Magnificent Seven thrown in there. And because I'm a child of the 80s and this focuses on police force in, in New Orleans, there's a little bit of Lethal Weapon in there, maybe a little drop of Airwolf, A Team, a little Magnum and the equalizer from the 80s for those who remember that show back then. So all of those things became part of my experience and really, I think, imprinted on me at a time when, when I was between, let's say, 8 and 18, 10 and 20. And I think what you do in those years really imprints on you in a different way than something that you would do at age 30 or 40 when you have a spouse and kids and have to get to soccer practice and pay a mortgage and a car payment and all those sorts of things, have a job. So all of those things became part of my experience. And this is Chris Walker. And instead of jumping on that horse and riding into town as that stranger. He gets in his Volkswagen Westy pop top camper with his Belgian Malinois dog. He's a former SEAL and CIA paramilitary operator and heads to New Orleans to dish out some old west brand of lethal outlaw justice. So it's. I wanted to set up novel in New Orleans for a long time. Trained, was trained in, in Louisiana in the SEAL teams a bit. And then on the weekends we went to Bourbon street out there in New Orleans. So there's just a, a lot of color to that city. And that's the backdrop for the fourth option.
- [26:03]
Buck Sexton
So how do you decide to go and create new characters? You've obviously got the two shows that are thriving. You've already sold a ton of different copies with existing characters. How do you decide, hey, I'm going to go in a new direction?
- [26:17]
Jack Carr
Yeah, it was, it's a risk obviously to do these sorts of things and Simon and Schuster, my publisher has been with me for, for everything. Just like the targeted Beirut series, so nonfiction, that's a risk as well. Even some of the things that I do in the Terminalist series are very risky. Meaning True Believer, my second novel. I think most editors would have taken out the first third of that book, but I really wanted James Reese to go on this journ, learn to live again on this journey as he goes across the Atlantic and then ends up in Mozambique and then uses the skills that he acquired in Iraq and Afghanistan to focus on the anti poaching team in Mozambique there. So looking at this from the fan perspective, being a fan of Tom Clancy as a kid, he started out with Hunt for Red October, then it was into Red Storm Rising and Patriot Games and Cardinal of the Kremlin and Clear and Present Danger. In the early 90s he branches off into the nonfiction side of the house with a guided tour series and a Study in Command series. And then he does some co written thrillers as well to expand that universe. So looking at that model, but applying it to obviously a 2026 type of a timeframe, it was just something I could do to explore other characters outside the James Reese terminalist universe. And this is the first one in what will hopefully be many different characters and universes that I create over the years. But this is the, the and if, if pre orders are any indication, it's. It's looking pretty good.
- [27:43]
Jack Carr Interviewer
Yeah, well, absolutely. We're speaking of Jack Carr. The fourth option is his latest and you know, we're excited for it. I've. I've got it, I've got it at home And I've got a whole bunch of. I've basically got a Jack Carr shelf.
- [27:55]
Jack Carr
You're awesome.
- [27:56]
Jack Carr Interviewer
It's funny too, because if I did it alphabetically, you'd be near all my old Tom Clancy books. You mentioned Tom Clancy?
- [28:01]
Buck Sexton
Jack.
- [28:01]
Jack Carr Interviewer
He's the reason I joined the CIA. The whole Jack Ryan character, 9, 11 happens. I'm like, I could be an analyst. That guy was an analyst. So these books can have profound effect on people. But you know, one thing I remember my, one of my other childhood author favorites saying, Michael Crichton was one of the great things about the success he had had, which is similar to you, just a whole series of books that, that people, that the readership loves, is that it creates the space and the access for him to do what he wants to, like, create what he wants to create and get made what he wants to get made. You're in that space right now, which I think is just a dream. Like getting published is a dream for so many people. But then getting to the place where you get to make the projects you want to make. And is that what led you to Dark Wolf? Like, where are you now in that creative process?
- [28:45]
Jack Carr
Yeah, I mean, on the book side of the house, it's so great because never. And I didn't know how it was going to be when I stepped into publishing. I thought my only kind of expectation was that an agent might be like somebody from Californication or Entourage or Jerry Maguire. That's my. No experience in Hollywood or in publishing. And I didn't know how a publisher or agents would be. And if they try to guide your quote unquote career or give you suggestions on what to go next based on their experience. And I get nothing like that. It's. It's complete creative control when it comes to the books. And I have 100% support from the publisher, so that's fantastic. So if someone hates the book or loves the book, doesn't matter. It's either it's my fault or anyway, it's like it's all on my shoulders. But then we go to Hollywood and in that space, it is a team sport. 100% a team sport. There's 350 people on set. There's probably a thousand people attached in various ways. And then there are notes that come from scripts and then cuts of the show all the way to the top of Amazon and back down. And all those notes need to be addressed. And there are so many places that those projects can totally go off the rails. It's a miracle. That anything gets made in Hollywood, it's even more of a miracle than anything good gets made in Hollywood. So. Because there's just so many opportunities for things to go off the rails. But it is also so much fun to be able to create something like a Dark Wolf because of the success of the Terminal List. So that opens doors because obviously Amazon has the data, they know who's watching, they can look at the reviews. In the case of the Terminal List, that was audience reviews. The critics weren't, weren't too fond of it. But Dark Wolf, both critics and the audience score was up there. So as long as you keep hitting, you know, keep hitting, hitting it. Not, not out of the park, maybe you don't have to. But we did with, in the Case of the Terminal List and that opened a lot of doors, allowed us to do Dark Wolf, which was really cool. Focus make, make a espionage thriller rather than like a military conspiracy type of a thriller. And then now we have True Believer, second book that's coming out. I think I can announce this. It might slip up a little bit here, but in the fall. How about that? Should be coming in the fall. I think Pratt or somebody is going to announce it very soon and it's looking great. So we filmed that in Toronto, in South Africa and Morocco and it is an awesome looking show. So fired up to get that out there too.
- [31:01]
Buck Sexton
When you write the books, do you have an idea of who might play them in a television or movie adaptation? In the back of your mind as you're writing it, you got Chris Pratt, who most people know, Taylor Kitsch, you mentioned Texas Forever. I don't know if Buck signs off on this, but on air, meaning broadcast television drama. I'm not sure that Friday Night Lights has any competitor. I think it's the greatest on air drama that's ever been made. I'm a little bit biased because I love sports and football, but the Tim Riggins character that Taylor Kitsch played is one of the greatest certainly in television history. Are you envisioning that at all as you work through the process? Oh, these guys could make sense. And how do you go about finding these guys? Do you recruit them? Do you recognize, do you, do they reach out to you? How do you end up with such big time stars? And what are these dudes like? I'm just kind of fascinated by how this all comes together.
- [31:55]
Jack Carr
Yeah, I think, I don't think there's a model for it. But now people are reaching out to us because they're hearing about what our sets are like. And how different it is from a lot of other Hollywood sets. Meaning we have Chris Pratt at the top. We have Antoine Fuqua up there, director. We have Dave Dijilio is the showrunner. And it's such a positive environment, and they're so encouraging, and they want to see everybody, no matter what department they're working in, make it to that next level. So people are now hearing about that and wanting to be part of the show. So that's. That's pretty cool. And also it has the track record of success, so there's that piece of it. But for Chris Pratt, being a child of the 80s, I wrote my first line for the Terminal list in December of 2014. And of course, I wrote that first line. And then I stopped, put my. Put my pen down, and thought, who's going to star in this masterpiece? Oh, Chris Pratt. He was just in this movie called Zero Dark Thirty. So I got to see him change from Andy Dwyer on Parks and Recovery into this Navy seal. This guy needs to do this for his career. Will be very helpful for him if he does this. And then I continued writing, and then, of course, he does Guardians of the Galaxy and Jurassic World and all these things, become an A list star. But my friend who from the SEAL teams, he calls me out of the blue in November of 2017, so six or seven months before the book comes out, and I look at my phone and. And pick it up, and he says, hey, this is Jared Shaw. Do you remember me? And I said, of course, Jared. And he said, you remember what you did for me in the SEAL teams? And I said, no. And he said, you're the only person that sat me down in your office, talked to me about getting out of the military, introduced me to people in the private sector. You followed up with me. No one else did that. I sincerely appreciated it. I've always wanted to thank you. And I said, yeah, no, no problem. And he said, I heard you have a book coming out. And I said, yeah, it's coming out in a few months. And he says, well, I'd like to give one to a friend of mine, if that's okay. And I said, sure. Who's that? And he said, chris Pratt. So I was like, well, this is very convenient for me. And I sent it to Chris Pratt. He read it and wanted to option it the next week. So I don't think that's the normal way that these things go down, but it's. It certainly was. Was hand that the. Jared was friends with Chris.
- [33:53]
Jack Carr Interviewer
That's amazing, by the way. Can I ask you. It's funny too. Clay and I think also agree if I was writing like a thriller, Navy seal, CIA thing, of course, starring the analyst who writes really good papers about what's going on in the scary places. But if I were doing that, Chris Pratt and Taylor Kitsch would be like two of the first guys who would come to mind. So Clay and I, we both co sign on that. That's just so cool that, that you managed to pull that off and it's been such a success. I have a nerdy question though to ask you guys. Go get the fourth option. I know every time we have Jack on Jack Carr with this now, people are like, I love his stuff. I'm like, yeah, that's why we have him on. So go buy his. Go buy the latest, the fourth option. Get ready for the one in the fall. If you haven't seen Dark Wolf on Amazon prime, go check that out. I've seen the whole thing. It's awesome. I love the beginning stuff, by the way, in Iraq reminded me of Mosul 2007 in a big way. So that's a whole other thing. Like I was like, oh my gosh, this is this. You know, because you have people that really know this stuff, like you, Jack, who were writing it. Sorry, I've. I almost lost my train of thought. But I was going to say my nerdy question for you is video game. Has that been something you've considered as an expansion of the franchise? Kind of like a Tom Clanty Splinter Cell, Seal Team 6, you know, or Rainbow 6, rather. Is that in the conversation at all?
- [35:02]
Jack Carr
It is. Let's say that's in the conversation. Of course, from the fan perspective, I was very aware that Tom Clancy did these things as he continued to expand his readership and his audience. So actually right now there are some talks going on, but of course I don't want to, don't want to ruin it or jinx it, but, you know, the odds are something like who knows? But yes, it's in the conversation. How about that?
- [35:22]
Jack Carr Interviewer
I mean, Clay, you know, some of those, some of those first shooter franchises are multi billion dollar franchises. So it's a big, it's big business, big deal. It'd be amazing to see a terminal list. All right. I had a feeling it might be in there. I don't want to get, get ahead of us. That would be really cool too.
- [35:36]
Jack Carr
That would be fun.
- [35:37]
Buck Sexton
No, and my kids play those games all the time, Buck. The crazy things are the updates, the skins, you know, the outfits that you can wear the guns, that you can have all that different stuff. Jack, one more time. Book title. When's it going to be out? Where can people find it?
- [35:49]
Jack Carr
Yeah, yeah, the fourth option. And it comes out May 12th in audio. And that's read by Ray Porter, who's an incredible narrator. Ebook also. And then there's Book Tour. It's coming out if anybody wants to stop by and say hi. And I love Book Tour because you get to shake somebody's hand, look them in the eye and thank them for their support. Really. And a lot of times people come through and they say that. I haven't read a book since it was assigned to me in high school. I found these. I love them. And here's my son who's reading it too, and he's in junior high or high school. And it's just so cool to try to create new readers because there's very few places where you can actually develop empathy and compassion. And one of those ways is by putting yourself in someone else's shoes. So in the pages of a thriller, in the pages of a novel. So through fiction you get to do that. And really scrolling on social media and looking at those comments or making those comments does the opposite. It seems to develop the opposite attribute. So I try to encourage people to read as much as they possibly can. If someone wants to improve their life, put down that phone, pick up a book, dive into the pages, particularly a fiction, to develop that empathy and compassion that seems to be missing in a lot of today's world, especially in online discourse.
- [36:54]
Buck Sexton
Amen. Look, we were both big readers here. We appreciate the time. Congrats on all the success. And we look forward to hearing more different, awesome things as you continue to expand your horizon.
- [37:04]
Jack Carr
Oh, thanks so much. I love talking to you guys. Appreciate all you do. And hopefully I'll see you both in person soon.
- [37:09]
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- [37:16]
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- [37:32]
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- [37:40]
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- [37:43]
Clay Travis
And we want everyone in America, from Maine to Montana, from Alabama to Alaska, to be a part of it.
- [37:51]
America 250 Announcer
This year marks America's 250th anniversary. And we're coming together from coast to coast at star spangled events, live performances and the largest day of giving in American history.
- [38:02]
Clay Travis
Join the nationwide celebration@american america250.org
- [38:10]
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- [38:40]
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- [39:44]
Buck Sexton
Welcome back in Clay Travis Buck Sexton show. That was awesome by the way. It's really cool to see Jack have the success that he has had and you've watched this Dark Wolf show because a lot of people are always looking for new shows to watch that. I mean I don't know.
- [40:01]
Jack Carr Interviewer
I I am super rough on like a couple things. One is I Jack is one of the nicest. He he was the fir once the CIA cleared my book Clay him and my official editor was like the first people to read the book.
- [40:15]
Buck Sexton
Oh wow.
- [40:16]
Jack Carr Interviewer
The full book.
- [40:16]
Buck Sexton
Yeah.
- [40:17]
Jack Carr Interviewer
So and he was super kind and very encouraging and you know I love people who are who who win and like seeing other people Win. Don't get too high on yourself. But you're one of those people too, so it's a very nice trait that you have. You know, it's true. But you like to see other people win. Jack is all about that. And, and he likes to see other people do well. The Dark Wolf series. So he's just a very generous person, you know, a very good guy. And the Dark Wolf series is awesome. It's a little bit faster pace. I mean, I like Terminal List. I felt like it could have tightened up a little bit. I mean, obviously I watched Dark Wolf because I liked Terminal List enough as a, as a. I love the books, but I'm talking about the, the, you know, the series. Dark Wolf is awesome. Really, really good. So get the. Get the fourth option for sure. And something else, Clay, where I feel like he, he is pushing reading as so important.
- [41:09]
Buck Sexton
Yes.
- [41:09]
Jack Carr Interviewer
Reading books, books. Not tweets, not, you know, not like scrolling on your phone or whatever. Sit with a book. You know, I've really set up a corner now in my home. That's my little book reading corner where, you know, once the baby's asleep and if Carrie's asleep before me, I can go and read at night. I try to read every night before I go to sleep. And I read to my son, even though I don't know he knows what's going on. Clay, everyone should be reading themselves and getting their kids to read books, too.
- [41:36]
Buck Sexton
Amen. Read as much as you can.
- [41:39]
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- [42:01]
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- [42:09]
America 250 Announcer
It's a celebration 250 years in the making.
- [42:12]
Clay Travis
And we want everyone in America, from Maine to Montana, from Alabama to Alaska, to be a part of it.
- [42:19]
America 250 Announcer
This year marks America, America's 250th anniversary. And we're coming together from coast to coast at star spangled events, live performances, and the largest day of giving in American history.
- [42:31]
Clay Travis
Join the nationwide celebration@america250.org
- [42:39]
American Cornhole League Announcer
you fired up the grill, you strung the lights, you even cleaned the patio furniture. But let's be honest, your cornhole set is an embarrassment this summer. Level up with official American cornhole league gear. We're talking pro quality boards, bags and everything you need to become the undisputed backyard champion of your entire neighborhood. Or at least beat your brother in law. Shop now@aclshop.com because summer's too short for bad cornhole
- [43:09]
Jack Carr Interviewer
professional wrestling fans, the action continues every week.
- [43:12]
Jack Carr
You got it coming.
- [43:14]
Jack Carr Interviewer
This is total non stop action. TNA Thursday night Impact every week on amc. For showtimes and more information, visit tnarestling. Com.