0:00

Okay, Well, today's episode is special.

0:03

This is a person that I have never done a

0:06

podcast with before. I'm

0:09

not even sure that I've ever interviewed

0:11

this person except

0:13

maybe at breakfast about

0:16

how she slept. This

0:19

is my wife of thirty five years, the

0:22

fabulous director,

0:24

producer, an award winning

0:27

actress, my all around favorite

0:29

person, Kira Sedgwick. And

0:31

to make it even more special, we

0:34

have Stacy Houston, who

0:36

runs our foundation

0:38

six degrees dot org. So this

0:41

is a very personal episode for me, and

0:43

there are two people that I'm very very close to, and

0:46

I think we're gonna have a lot of fun. So lean

0:49

in. It's a good one.

0:58

Okay, here I am. This is very very

1:00

special edition of six Degrees with

1:02

Kevin Bacon because it's a six Degrees with Kevin

1:05

Bacon and Curra Cedwric. Hi, how

1:07

are you doing?

1:08

I'm good?

1:08

How are you goodhead? You look

1:10

amazing? Thank you who

1:13

set up your lighting?

1:15

Kevin Bacon?

1:19

Well, So, for

1:21

people that don't know this, what's

1:24

one of our least favorite things to

1:26

do?

1:28

What is one of our least favorite things

1:30

to do? Oh? I'm going it's a little very comersed

1:32

and talk about ourselves.

1:34

Interviews about ourselves in our

1:36

marriage.

1:36

Oh yeah, for sure. Oh yeah, that's right.

1:39

The question what's the secret to

1:41

a happy marriage?

1:43

What's a secret to a happy marriage?

1:44

Kurra, that old chestnut.

1:46

The secret to a happy marriage is not

1:49

to take advice from celebrities about

1:51

the secret to a happy marriage.

1:53

Tell me how did you first? You two

1:56

first meet?

1:59

Well, yeah, what's heard

2:01

it all before?

2:03

Kevin? What's your favorite Kia Sedgwick movie?

2:05

And Kurra, what's your favorite Kevin Bacon. I

2:08

mean, it's just so it's

2:10

so hard. I was just on with uh

2:14

with with Seth and Lauren Rogan,

2:16

who are married couple. They are first you know, married

2:18

couple to be on the

2:20

six Degrees. Although this might air before it,

2:23

but they seemed totally

2:26

comfortable, you know, being

2:28

and doing things together. I think I

2:30

think we just have a certain kind of I mean, we've gotten

2:33

better at it over the years, but we've always avoided

2:35

it.

2:36

Yeah, I mean I think, I

2:38

don't know, it just feels really revealing to

2:40

talk too much about, and also it somehow

2:42

makes it I don't know, I always

2:45

feel like it

2:47

sounds like, you

2:49

know, showing off or it's really easy or

2:52

you know, coming off like it's too easy and stuff

2:54

like that, and it's like, I just don't want to

2:56

come off like that. Plus it's ours, And the more

2:59

that we talk about it press, the less it

3:01

feels like it's ours, it's everybody that it

3:03

becomes everybody else's.

3:04

Yeah. Yeah, that's a really good point.

3:07

I feel the same way about those two points. I

3:09

mean, I also feel like, you

3:12

know, I don't want to be the guy that

3:15

is supposed to give somebody advice

3:18

right on how to stay married that that I

3:21

don't I don't know. I just I

3:23

don't know. And and and the other thing that makes

3:25

me nuts about it makes me nuts

3:27

about press in general. But is that you

3:30

know, when was the last time

3:32

you read like a full profile

3:35

of anyone or a full interview with anyone.

3:37

Everything gets homogenized down to a

3:39

single.

3:40

Sound bite line sound bite totally.

3:43

And or headline or whatever. And

3:45

it when you're talking about thirty

3:48

five years of marriage, that

3:50

that just becomes just silly,

3:53

you know, it's it's just it's disrespectful.

3:56

How are you these days, my love? What's what's

3:59

h How are you feeling about life

4:01

and about the world that.

4:03

Yeah, oh my god, do you want to make me cry.

4:05

Is that what you want to do is to make me cry.

4:07

I never want to make you cry. I never want to make you cry.

4:10

I mean I'm feeling I'm

4:12

feeling pretty overwhelmed, to be perfectly honest

4:14

with you, with the state of the world. And

4:17

today we you know, heard about two

4:19

shootings and

4:21

it just feels pretty overwhelming, and

4:24

it just feels like the

4:26

world is in such a mess.

4:28

How could we possibly fix it?

4:29

And I know that

4:33

the antidote to feeling helpless

4:36

and helpless is to get into action. So,

4:39

you know, I posted something on my Instagram

4:41

from every town about you know, about

4:44

gun violence, and I

4:46

am talking to you today and

4:50

I do what I can every

4:53

day to make me feel like I'm

4:55

part of a solution and not part of the problem.

4:58

So when did you first

5:00

start to feel like you were like that

5:03

was going to be a part of it. That

5:06

no, not that part of it. When did you

5:08

first start to feel like you were part of the solution rather

5:10

than part of the problem. Because I feel like, well,

5:14

we met when you were twenty

5:16

one, I think it, and you

5:19

already at twenty one

5:23

had a pretty big, complicated

5:26

worldview. Yeah,

5:29

I think so is it, Yeah, I

5:31

think. I mean, I know that, I

5:33

know that having the kids would definitely

5:35

kind of send it home.

5:38

But I remember you

5:41

definitely feeling like much

5:45

more so than me, thinking about

5:48

about just causes

5:50

and things that were going on in the world. I mean, where do you think

5:52

that comes from.

5:54

I think it's an extension,

5:57

an extension of an

5:59

empathy gene that

6:01

might be dialed up to eleven, you know. But

6:04

I'm happy for it, grateful for it. I mean, I

6:06

think that's what drew me to being an actor,

6:09

is compassion for

6:11

other people and people in difficult circumstances.

6:14

And then also this like

6:17

really fierce feeling

6:19

of really like

6:22

black and white thinking around right

6:24

and wrong, you know, things that were fair

6:26

and unfair and so much

6:29

inequality and so many things that were so

6:31

unfair. And it's a sort of childlike

6:33

rage that I can get into.

6:35

Like I can't believe it's so unfair,

6:38

you.

6:38

Know, and it's and I'm happy

6:41

for it, even though it causes me some

6:44

it causes me a lot of despair sometimes,

6:47

but I'm happy for it because I think it helps

6:49

me as an actor and as a director. But I

6:51

also think it helps me as a civilian

6:53

you know, to feel responsible for

6:56

the world I live in and to think

6:58

that in some ways I can affect

7:01

change, and change doesn't always

7:03

have to be huge. It can also be

7:05

small, little incremental things.

7:07

And that's sort of the bigger picture of my activism

7:11

is this idea of grassroots you know that

7:14

really like it has to be from the

7:16

grassroots up. It has to be little

7:18

things, knocking on doors, you

7:21

know, giving someone

7:23

pulling someone up, you know, reaching your

7:25

hand down and pulling someone up. Like very

7:28

it can be small and they have a

7:30

bigger effect on people because I feel like it's

7:32

like this great snowball effect

7:34

that can happen. But I think it really

7:37

comes from just this very childlike

7:39

feeling of like they are just things that

7:41

are fair, and just things that are just blatantly

7:44

unfair. There may be nuance. As a

7:46

grown up, I can embrace the nuance a little

7:49

bit, but there's also some things

7:51

that are really clearly fair

7:53

and unfair.

7:54

I feel like, correct

7:56

me if I'm wrong that that was very

7:59

much. When I hear you say

8:01

that, I hear your father's voice. Yeah,

8:04

is that true?

8:05

Yeah, definitely. My dad was into politics

8:07

for a little while on the local level in New York.

8:11

And yeah, he definitely,

8:13

he was very passionate. He would get

8:15

very passionate about things.

8:17

Oh my god, I shudder to think what you would think

8:20

now, but if

8:22

you were alive.

8:22

But yeah, for sure, for sure.

8:25

Yeah.

8:26

And I remember when

8:30

the kids were born, which

8:32

was about eighty nine.

8:34

Trap was born or some eighty nine.

8:36

Yeah, eighty nine, Travis was born. Pretty

8:40

much right away you started to

8:44

get involved with activism

8:48

around climate change, which was then called

8:50

global warming. And it was, when

8:52

you really think about it, a lot of

8:54

people really had no idea.

8:56

Either they had no idea what you were talking

8:59

about, or they completely

9:01

dismissed it as you know, some kind

9:03

of like crazy, you

9:07

know, the lunatic theory

9:09

from on the edge or something that was

9:12

never going to happen in our life lifetime.

9:15

And here we are seeing,

9:17

how, you know, you know, not

9:20

prophetic. I wouldn't say you were prophetic. You were

9:22

just smart about it and you actually

9:24

believe the science. And I thought that it's really

9:26

amazing to think back that that you

9:29

were such a on the forefront

9:31

of that thought.

9:32

Yeah, I mean, I think it's really you know, I always

9:35

think about it as like it was kind of a selfish

9:37

thing. I started to think about the future

9:40

for my kid, and I started to think, you know,

9:43

what do we have here on the horizon?

9:45

And I think it's sort of a mom's

9:48

job, a parent's job, but more

9:50

of a mom thing maybe of like where's

9:52

the danger and how can I prevent it from happening

9:54

to my child? And I think that,

9:57

you know, it just was something that was in the

9:59

zeitgeist if you were listening

10:01

in eighty eight, you know, in eighty eight,

10:03

in eighty nine. I remember specifically, it

10:05

was a very hot summer in

10:08

eighty eight, and people were like, what's happening?

10:10

And then there was a lot of

10:13

information that was coming out, and I just was

10:16

like voraciously reading

10:18

up on everything I possibly could and going

10:21

in and speaking to scientists and

10:23

getting clear and educated about

10:25

what was happening and the

10:27

causes of it, you know, And I think that, you

10:30

know, no one really wanted to say. Still,

10:32

no one wants to say, because of because

10:34

of the power of the of the oil and gas

10:36

companies, that that it is the burning of

10:38

fossil fuels.

10:39

It is the burning.

10:40

Of gas and oil

10:43

that is that is the

10:46

it is the reason why we are where

10:48

we are. And there's

10:51

no two ways about it. And it used to be that

10:53

we would, you know, try to

10:55

say all sorts of euphemisms, like, you

10:57

know, it's one of the causes, but it's

10:59

not.

10:59

It's the cause.

11:01

You can talk about other things that contribute

11:04

to it, but it is the number one cause.

11:06

And I think that I

11:08

also think that plastic was something

11:10

that I was, you know, really understanding,

11:13

was is a petro chemical?

11:17

Is a petroleum product.

11:18

I realized that I knew, I understood

11:21

that plastic is a petroleum

11:23

product very early on, and

11:25

try to you know, diminish

11:28

our use of plastics around

11:31

the kids entirely as much as

11:33

we possibly could.

11:34

So hard with kids to write, everything they touch,

11:36

everything they use, is plastic. It's just you're

11:39

just inundated with plastic. I

11:41

remember when when our

11:43

son was born, we decided that we

11:45

were going to use disposable diapers, and we

11:48

were complete vagabods.

11:51

We were living out of suitcases with this brand

11:53

new baby and going from town to town making

11:55

movies and The Curious Movies

11:58

and My movies. And

12:00

we'd come to a town, you know, in

12:02

the middle of nowhere and have to set up a diaper

12:04

service, and people look, are you out of your mind? Why

12:06

would you have a diaper service when

12:08

you can just you know, go right down to the store

12:11

and buy a nice giant box of plastics,

12:13

dis multiple diapers and make your life easy. But

12:16

you were you were so adamant that

12:19

that that we not do that, and

12:21

uh, and you know, I just

12:23

have to say, it was it was, it was just it was.

12:26

It's just always I'm just always impressed with

12:28

with with you around around

12:30

those things. You know, you really you really

12:32

do walk the walk.

12:35

Thank you, honey.

12:37

You know you mentioned uh

12:40

being an actor

12:43

and being a director, and

12:46

I wonder, uh,

12:49

which is it? Is a chicken in the egg thing? Is?

12:52

Is is your compassion

12:55

for the world, for the

12:57

planet, for other people?

13:00

Uh? Sort of a result of

13:03

the emotional kind of work that you that

13:06

you've chosen being an artist

13:08

like this, or has

13:11

it has that influenced

13:14

the choices that you make and the kinds

13:16

of uh the films

13:18

that you want to direct or the

13:20

kinds of parts that you want to play. I mean, which

13:23

came first?

13:24

Gosh, I mean I think it's kind of both. I mean,

13:26

I'm sure that I was an empathetic creature way

13:28

before I thought about you

13:30

know, acting. But then then

13:33

once I started acting, the

13:35

first thing I did was you know, Tidle

13:38

and Fiddler on the Roof and

13:40

and you know, I

13:42

remember just feeling like I've been through

13:44

the pogrums and you know this

13:46

has actually happened to me, you know, and.

13:48

You take it very personally.

13:50

Yeah, yeah, it felt good to make that

13:52

my story for a little while, you know what I

13:54

mean, It felt good to walk around in other people's

13:56

shoes and to you know,

13:58

feel their big feeling. So

14:01

so I think that probably

14:04

you know, my empathetic,

14:06

you know nature, my my you know,

14:08

I it's not it's not always a great thing. Like

14:10

I find myself a little bit like invasions,

14:13

invasion of the body snatchers, or I kind of

14:15

leave my body and go into other people's

14:17

bodies and feel their feelings.

14:18

But you think that's a bad thing. Why

14:21

would that?

14:21

Well, because I think that it's

14:24

a lot of it's a lot of I

14:27

think it's just makes life a little

14:29

bit harder if you're if you're

14:31

taking other people's feelings

14:34

on a lot, and when they're not asking

14:36

you to, when you're not getting paid for

14:39

it. You know, No,

14:41

I think it can be irritating. I could

14:43

point out a couple of ways in which it's irritating

14:45

and you'll go, oh, yeah, I know exactly what you're talking

14:47

about.

14:48

I mean, do you mean to other people or it's hard hard

14:51

on you.

14:51

I think it's hard on me. I think it's an added

14:54

bird burden on me. Like she's really upset,

14:56

Like there's one person in this party that's

14:58

upset and I can tell, and it's,

15:00

you know, making it impossible for me to have a good

15:02

time at this party. Plus I want to be annoying

15:05

and keep going up to her and going, are you okay?

15:07

You okay, okay? And that's annoying too,

15:10

right, so right, right, yeah.

15:11

But then I think that, like what, it's.

15:13

A great quality I have as an actor.

15:14

Obviously, yeah it is.

15:15

It is a great quality. It's just dialed up to eleven.

15:17

Sometimes it's a little bit much. But I think

15:20

that definitely. You know, especially

15:22

the things that I've picked as an actor, they

15:24

have to have meaning for me, like in

15:26

the world, like I have to it has to be

15:29

it. I have to feel like I'm

15:32

making a contribution of some kind,

15:34

you know, I'm not just putting like more trash

15:37

out in the world that feels really important to

15:39

me and always has. And also like

15:42

and then as a director, certainly, I mean, if you're going

15:44

to spend over a year on something like I

15:47

want to I want to know why I'm making

15:49

it. I want to know the fact the effect

15:51

that I want to have on people. Like Space

15:53

Oddity was very much about,

15:56

you know, a twenty something year old who's

15:58

really depressed round on climate,

16:00

you know, and around the grief and

16:02

the loss of a sibling, and because

16:05

of that, he wants to go on a one way

16:07

journey to Mars.

16:08

But he grew up on a flower farm.

16:09

He's seeing climate you know, change firsthand,

16:12

and he's really in despair about it. And

16:14

so it's really about his journey

16:17

of like falling back in love with the

16:19

earth right and becoming like

16:21

I want to fix things here. There is no planet

16:24

b right. So that was like very much

16:26

why I wanted to do that story. It like

16:29

felt really critical that I'd

16:31

make a story that had to do with you

16:33

know, climate and climate

16:35

change and the effect that it's having on everybody

16:39

but specifically this young man and

16:41

then tell the and then give like the antidote

16:44

to that is like fall back in love with the

16:46

earth, like take care of this planet, take

16:48

care of your relationships, like deal with

16:50

your grief around it, and then move

16:53

on and fix things here. Don't check out

16:55

and go away. And that felt like a

16:57

big reason to do this. Do the movie.

17:06

You started producing when

17:08

you were very, very young. I mean it

17:10

was I didn't even really

17:13

even at the time, think

17:15

of the implications, not only

17:18

of your age, because you

17:20

know, I just never thought of you always

17:22

seem like such

17:24

a grown up, a grown woman to me

17:26

from the from the from the time I met you

17:28

and now and now when I finally had had a daughter

17:31

many years ago who turned twenty one, I thought,

17:33

wow, is this one I married your

17:35

mom? This is like crazy, you're

17:37

like a child. But I

17:41

I you

17:43

were so hands

17:45

on in in creating

17:47

your own opportunities

17:50

work wise, in terms of like finding

17:53

scripts and optioning books

17:56

and things and and creating ideas.

17:58

And it's as

18:01

a as a not only as a young person, but as

18:03

a woman. At that point

18:06

in the industry, it was kind

18:09

of unheard of to a certain extent,

18:11

certainly for an actor to

18:14

be doing that for for themselves. What

18:17

what what do you think it is that that gave

18:20

you that that impetus

18:22

or that that confidence to want to like to

18:25

take charge in that way.

18:27

You know, I don't really know except

18:30

to say that I

18:32

I mean sometimes when you're older, you look back

18:34

and you go, God, I can't believe I

18:36

had all that hut spot, Like, what the he?

18:38

How the hell did I get that?

18:39

You know, I I just think

18:42

that it was always a desire to do more,

18:44

like to be a bigger part of

18:47

my business, to be a bigger

18:50

part of my my ability

18:52

to make choices in the world, a bigger part

18:55

of creating my own opportunities.

18:57

You know, I'm I'm really like,

18:59

as you know, I'm a jack in the box

19:01

and uh, you know, and you

19:03

know, always wanting to.

19:07

I don't know life.

19:09

What I mean by that and what you

19:11

mean by that, because people may not quite

19:13

get it. So give

19:15

an example.

19:17

The Jack in the box is like, I could get up

19:19

right now. I don't really want to even sit here. Yeah, no,

19:21

I mean it's really hard for me to sit still,

19:24

you know, and waiting around for scripts

19:26

was not something that I did well or

19:28

continue to do well.

19:29

My Jack in the box, our Jack in the Box story

19:31

is.

19:31

That you know, we sit down to watch

19:34

something, and you know, literally

19:37

every five minutes, I'm getting up and doing something.

19:40

I mean, I'm always have a reason.

19:41

For getting up and doing something.

19:43

But sure you do.

19:44

But but but I'm it is hard for me to

19:46

sit still.

19:47

And you multitask, you have you

19:49

have a lot of things going on all

19:52

the time on a whole

19:54

bunch of things that you're holding inside

19:57

one mind at

19:59

all the time. And I would I would

20:02

point out that you know, a

20:04

lot of them, a

20:07

huge percentage of them, are various

20:10

ways of doing

20:13

service for other people

20:16

and other causes.

20:19

And whether it's you know,

20:21

making sure that somebody you

20:24

know that is close to you, you know, has a

20:26

chance to you know, have a conversation, or

20:29

or making sure that you

20:31

show up on a picket line, or

20:34

or or you're trying to you know, make

20:37

calls in a political I mean, it's it's not just

20:39

like, well, I got a script over here, and I got

20:41

a call over here, and I gotta you know, I'm

20:43

you know, having lunch with my friend and you

20:45

know, get my hair done. It's it's like a lot of

20:48

big part of the multiple things that you hold

20:50

in your head are are are

20:53

just ways of giving service

20:55

and giving back. It's it's it's it's pretty

20:57

impressive.

20:59

Thank you.

21:01

That's not really a question, was it. Uh

21:03

No, But

21:05

I think that.

21:05

I also just want to say that thing about the producing

21:08

thing. It's like, as a woman, like you can't

21:10

really sit around or just wait for shit to happen,

21:13

right, you know what I mean. It's like you gotta like

21:15

keep things moving, you know. I mean

21:17

as an actor, it's hard to sit around

21:19

and just wait for the calls to come in. And I,

21:21

frankly, you know, even with all the success

21:24

I've had, I've never had the career where I

21:26

could just like sit back and wait for this stuff to

21:28

happen. So I think that, you

21:30

know, I've always thought entrepreneurially

21:33

that way. My father was an entrepreneur, and

21:35

like, you know, I'm going to get this

21:37

thing here, and when this thing here, I'm going to put these

21:39

things together. And knowing what you don't know is

21:41

just as important as like knowing what you do. Know.

21:44

It's like, I don't know if I can do that, but I'm pretty

21:46

sure I can do that. And if I don't know what I'm

21:48

going to do, I'm going to bring in this guy and bring in this

21:50

girl and you know so, so I

21:52

think it's exciting and makes you feel

21:54

like more in control of your life, and especially

21:56

as a woman, and especially as a woman in this business,

21:59

like we need, we need to take charge

22:01

because otherwise, I

22:03

don't know, you'll get forgotten or railroaded

22:07

or something.

22:08

And then, brilliantly, after

22:11

all these years and having this tremendous

22:14

success as an actor, you

22:16

said, you know what I want

22:19

to direct, and

22:23

you know, talk a little bit about

22:25

that, that moment where

22:28

you know you decided to shift

22:30

gears. You're not the first actor that decided

22:33

has decided to do that, but I

22:35

think it is. It's

22:38

interesting, it's challenging, and I think

22:40

in your case, correct

22:42

me if I'm wrong, it was a little

22:44

bit of an aha kind of moment.

22:46

Yeah, totally.

22:47

It was kind of shocking because if

22:50

you read some of my old interviews,

22:52

I would always say I'll.

22:54

Never direct, I'll never direct.

22:56

Boy, I really learned my lesson around saying never

22:58

say never because you just don't know. Oh. But

23:01

I think I was afraid to direct.

23:03

And I think that number one, you know,

23:05

I think that I wasn't exposed to a lot of female

23:08

directors. I mean, after working

23:10

as an actor for over forty

23:12

five years. I've worked with a handful

23:14

of female directors.

23:15

I mean, it's pathetic.

23:18

So I don't think if you don't see it, you

23:20

can't dream it, you know. And I think that

23:22

that's a big part of it. And I also

23:24

think that as you know, there was

23:26

some famous line about you know your

23:29

your your taste and your talent, like

23:31

you know when you've been doing something for you

23:34

know you haven't done it at all. You have this really

23:36

you know, you have a you have a high

23:38

level of taste, you know of like understand like

23:41

I've always understood what makes not

23:43

understood or like I've always I have a very

23:45

I have a very clear I opinion

23:48

of what I think is a good film. Oh

23:50

yes, yes exactly, and

23:52

you know, thinking and then. But my skill

23:54

set would never be as high fluten

23:57

as my tastes. Right, So I think that there's

23:59

understanding that disparity can

24:01

make you frozen in like paralyzed,

24:04

you know, perfectionism, paralyzation, right,

24:07

So I think that paralyzed

24:10

and perfectionism, I think they can

24:12

follow each other if you're too you know,

24:14

worried about being perfect. So I think it's scary

24:16

to take a chance. Women are generally

24:19

risk averse for good reason, because

24:21

I think we only get one chance, maybe

24:24

two. Don't get me started on that,

24:27

and so we are a little more risk averse.

24:29

But I think that, honestly, it had a lot to do

24:31

with you, which is I

24:34

you know, it's hard.

24:35

To get

24:38

enough credit, but I mean, I think

24:40

for years you were like, you really should direct,

24:42

you know, you really have an eye for it, you

24:44

And.

24:45

And I just told myself a lot of stories,

24:47

you know what I mean, about ways why I

24:49

couldn't do it. And then I stopped telling myself

24:52

that story. And I had something

24:54

that I had been wanting to make

24:56

into a film for a really long time as a producer,

24:59

and and I finally was like, you know, I've lived

25:01

with this thing for ten years, and the opportunity

25:04

came to make it, and I was like, you know what,

25:06

and I want.

25:07

To direct it.

25:07

And literally, when I set it out loud loud

25:10

in the meeting, it was sort of like, who the hell

25:12

just said? That? Was that me that I

25:14

say that? But I but once I said it,

25:16

I realized it was true. And I think

25:19

that it was scary and it was you

25:21

know, I felt the fear, and I just did it anyway,

25:23

you know, and then fell madly in love with it,

25:26

you know, so now I don't want to turn

25:28

back.

25:29

Well, there was no shock to me that you fell in love

25:31

with it, And the reason that it was no shock

25:33

to me was that I

25:37

could always see you

25:40

either on the set when you were acting in

25:42

something, looking

25:44

at things with a directorial eye,

25:47

and I towards what's

25:50

happening with this process?

25:53

Is there anything that's going on here that's not

25:55

going to be useful to us in the final

25:57

product. You also oftentimes

26:01

knew exactly what it was that

26:04

another actor was

26:06

missing in terms of their

26:09

performance. And when

26:12

we would watch films

26:14

together. Now if we go to the movies,

26:17

we sometimes have to, you

26:20

know, try to remind you to you're not allowed

26:22

to talk back at the screen, but while

26:24

we're at home you do all the time.

26:27

Oh my god, please

26:30

or oh wow. These

26:32

are things that you would say while watching,

26:34

which to me sort of indicates that you're

26:37

you're you have a certain kind of analytical

26:40

thing about the art of filmmaking.

26:43

Not to mention you know, your point

26:46

of view or visual style,

26:48

but I think you really came to it

26:50

from a personal mostly

26:52

a personal and human kind of, you know,

26:55

connection to it. So it never really

26:58

surprised me not only that you

27:00

would want to do it, but that also that

27:03

you would be so good

27:06

at it, especially since I remember,

27:08

you know, from the very from

27:11

very early on, you come to the set

27:13

and I could see you watching me off

27:16

camera, and every once in a while and you come up and say,

27:18

hey, do a little less or hey,

27:21

you know, you know, don't smile some of

27:23

whatever it was, you know, little little

27:25

tips for hobby that

27:28

you just couldn't resist. And

27:31

sometimes I'd have to say, honey, uh,

27:34

you know, maybe don't make any suggestions

27:37

right now, because that's you know Clint Eastwood

27:39

over there, or Ron Howard or

27:43

or Oliver Stone or you know what I mean.

27:45

But but it's

27:47

it's it's it makes complete

27:49

sense to me that you would have, you

27:52

know, found this this other

27:55

way to communicate all the

27:57

all the you know, artistic talent

27:59

that you have.

28:00

H when you when

28:02

we first started this conversation, we talked

28:05

about, you know, how

28:07

you were feeling and how overwhelming, uh,

28:10

you know, life can be and the news can be

28:12

and all those things. How do you

28:15

personally kind of deal

28:17

with that when when you when

28:19

you when you have those feelings,

28:22

well, I.

28:22

Try to remember, in terms

28:24

of the environmental depression

28:27

that can overwhelm that part

28:30

of my job is to love the

28:33

planet exactly how she is

28:35

today.

28:38

And to.

28:42

Take joy and solace in her beauty.

28:46

And I feel like that's super important

28:48

to do. So when I get overwhelmed

28:50

with like how terrible everything is

28:53

and I get so scared, I

28:55

still that feels like

28:57

a guiding life for me, like a very

29:00

important thing to keep

29:02

in mind

29:06

that I get to, you know, be joyful and

29:08

love what's here now. I

29:11

think doing

29:16

service is really the antidote to

29:18

feeling bad.

29:20

I mean, it just it just

29:22

is. That's the question you asked, right, honey. Okay,

29:25

yeah, yeah.

29:26

I mean if I can do something

29:28

every day that makes me feel

29:32

like I'm taking an action for healing

29:34

around, whether

29:37

it's you know, what I buy at the grocery

29:39

store, like avoiding single

29:41

use plastic and going you know what, I'm not going to

29:43

I'm not going to buy the you

29:46

know, tuna sandwich that's

29:48

in a plastic box for no reason

29:51

or God forbid, like the plastic

29:53

covered orange. You know, I'm

29:56

going to make a choice with my dollar

29:59

to you know, buy something

30:01

that I know I can

30:04

that will not create a lot of waste that will

30:06

last longer than the Pyramids, which

30:08

is what plastic lasts.

30:11

How long plastic lasts. It will last

30:13

millennium. It will be here long

30:15

past my lifetime and my children's

30:18

lifetime. So I have to understand

30:20

that every time I use a piece of plastic, contrary

30:24

to popular belief, it does

30:26

not get recycled and recycled.

30:28

For these companies are putting it

30:30

in the ocean or burning it, which I don't

30:32

think is recycled. Like three percent

30:35

of all plastic is recycled, so that's a paltry

30:38

number. So I have to So

30:40

that's a way to take action right and

30:42

make me feel a little bit better and a little more

30:44

a part of the solution. And

30:48

also doing service, any

30:50

kind of service, whether it's you know, doing

30:53

something for the food bank for New

30:55

York City, or doing something

31:00

for Swing Left, which is a you

31:02

know, political group that I'm involved with, or or

31:05

whipping up you know, phone bankers,

31:07

getting on a zoom or going somewhere

31:09

and going raw raw. You guys, you're

31:11

volunteering. You're amazing. I'm

31:14

so excited that you're here today, and let's

31:16

go out and knock on some doors, you know, encouraging

31:19

people to vote, encouraging

31:21

people to use their voice, helping them understand

31:23

that they make a difference, that everything they

31:25

do makes a difference, and not be inundated

31:28

with the apathy that they, the corporations

31:31

want us to feel all the time and the political

31:34

entities want us to feel all the time, so that

31:36

we just don't make any noise and we don't get

31:38

too angry, and we don't force them to make a different

31:40

and better choice.

31:42

You know.

31:42

So I'm going to be that person who's going to be like,

31:44

you can do it, yes, And that feels like

31:47

something I can do. I'm good at, you know, going

31:49

on MSNBC and talking about why I

31:52

walked in the Climate March and specifically

31:54

why I walked in it, and so, you know, just

31:57

doing what I can to use my voice

31:59

to elevate people

32:02

that don't have as loud

32:04

a voice, you know, or don't have people pointing

32:06

a camera at them.

32:07

And is there anything that you do? Uh,

32:10

those are all amazing. Is

32:13

there anything that you do personally

32:15

just for yourself? I mean,

32:18

drink tea or I don't

32:20

know, I think people would

32:22

be interested in a Yeah, I.

32:24

Mean I think I exercise a lot. Exercise

32:26

really helps me to both my serotonin because

32:29

I can get you know blue. I feel

32:32

like it's a it's a real like chemical

32:34

thing for me. I meditate,

32:37

try to meditate every day utterly

32:40

and perfectly, because you know, there's

32:42

no such thing as a perfect meditation. You

32:44

know, you're constantly trying to discipline your mind

32:47

to just come back to the breath and

32:50

uh. And I find it really helpful because

32:52

because it's so easy to like land on

32:54

the negative. For me, it just it just

32:57

is. And so so if I can like

32:59

see that negative and move right past it.

33:02

You know, sometimes sometimes it's important

33:04

to immerse yourself and in, you

33:06

know, the problem, so you can understand what the

33:08

solutions might be. But sometimes it's like really

33:11

unhealthy to immerse myself in the problem, so I

33:13

try to like figure that out.

33:15

You know.

33:16

Community like community like talking

33:18

to people, having friends, having

33:21

a community that I can go to to talk about,

33:24

you know, talking to other activists

33:27

also really makes me feel good.

33:29

Really, those kinds of things

33:32

can help like quell the like despair

33:35

and like you know, hamster wheel in

33:37

my.

33:37

Brain well,

33:40

I think this is a good segue to bring in our

33:43

pal stay

33:45

Hugh Kacey. Stacy

33:51

runs six degrees dot

33:54

org, which is the

33:58

foundation that I

34:00

started and that

34:03

Kira has oftentimes

34:05

interacted and overlapped with, and

34:08

that is where

34:11

this where this podcast sprung

34:13

from. So Stacey, welcome, thanks

34:16

so much.

34:16

I'm happy to be here.

34:18

How are you doing.

34:19

I'm doing good. Similar

34:21

to Kira, it was a rough

34:24

way to start the day, for sure. I

34:27

know in this airs it'll be getting Tuesday

34:29

and we're coming off of the holiday with our family

34:31

and a good in a good space. But yeah,

34:35

filming a few weeks ahead of time. Obviously,

34:37

we woke up to some pretty sad

34:40

news and it's almost numbing,

34:43

but also the reason why we we

34:45

get up every day and we do this work. So I'm

34:48

just glad that I get to be with with you all

34:50

today.

34:51

And speaking of doing the work, which

34:53

we're going to talk about, but I want

34:55

to find out from you what

34:59

is it, I mean that makes

35:02

you want to do

35:04

this work. You've

35:07

been with six Degrees how

35:09

many years has it been there?

35:10

Almost eight years?

35:11

Almost eight years? And when

35:13

you came on board, it was

35:18

just the greatest moment,

35:20

I could just feel all

35:23

of your compassion and

35:27

energy and

35:30

intelligence and drive.

35:33

And you know, I'm

35:35

always impressed with people who choose

35:39

a life of being involved

35:41

with, you know, giving back, And I just wondered

35:43

what you think it is about you

35:45

and about your upbringing the bride

35:48

to this place.

35:50

I think, first off, thank you, that was

35:52

all so kind to hear.

35:56

I think often this work finds

35:58

us and it chooses us. You

36:02

know, Kira, and I don't

36:04

know if you remember this, we did a podcast together, the Web

36:06

of Women, a few years ago, and that's when you and

36:08

I really got to know each other well,

36:11

and so much of what you spoke

36:13

about that day and earlier today

36:15

resumeets with me. I

36:21

grew up in an environment

36:24

pretty kind of mid

36:26

upper class kind of town, but

36:29

I had a mother who was legally

36:32

blind, was in a car accident when I was eight years old.

36:35

I had a father that was abusive and

36:38

then left shortly after that, and

36:41

then a stepfather that was

36:43

an alcoholic, a wonderful man,

36:45

but had substance abuse. And

36:48

so a lot of my life was

36:50

trying to sit

36:52

in with what I felt

36:55

like were perfect lives

36:57

around me. Everywhere I looked which

36:59

we all know that was wasn't the case, right,

37:01

But that's how it seems when you're when you're

37:03

young sometimes.

37:05

But I was having to grow up really quickly,

37:09

being somewhat of a caretaker and thinking

37:12

about my mom and supporting her being

37:14

visually impaired, also

37:18

being the recipient for so many

37:20

programs that helped

37:23

our family get by

37:26

and allowed me to play

37:28

sports and play varsity volleyball

37:31

and be a part of the school newspaper

37:34

and go on to college

37:36

and you know, be able to

37:38

pay for the university that I wanted

37:40

to go to, and so on and

37:43

so forth. But I

37:47

my whole life, I was a pretty deep

37:49

mpath and still am, and

37:52

I often would find myself similar

37:54

to here. It just like overcome

37:57

with emotion when something

37:59

in the world was so painful.

38:02

And when I

38:04

had this opportunity to

38:06

come and work for you, I

38:09

felt like it was a culmination of all these different

38:11

things in my life and my career

38:14

because at that point I had been doing new market

38:16

development, business and sales for quite

38:18

a long time on the for profit side.

38:21

But it was an opportunity to finally

38:24

kind of use those skills and talent to move

38:27

the needle more than I felt like I could do as

38:29

just an individual, and

38:31

you a looted that platform, that extension

38:34

of you and your platform and Kira

38:36

as well to help

38:38

move these programs and help amplify these

38:40

campaigns so that we could do a great deal

38:42

of good. So really,

38:45

I think it was, yeah, the culmination of kind of life

38:47

experiences and knowing

38:50

that I needed to take a step and

38:53

I would only be fulfilled

38:56

if I was doing kind of purpose driven work.

38:59

Amazing, Well, this is an

39:01

episode where we are shamelessly

39:03

tooting our own hoards, starting

39:07

with having listen

39:10

to anybody would be lucky to have my wife as a guest

39:12

on her podcast, So I

39:15

and it was Stacy's idea, and

39:17

I was like, well, like, I think she's going

39:20

to want to do it. Let's say I'll get her

39:22

to do it. I think she probably did it more for you, Stace

39:24

than she did for me.

39:25

We appreciate that.

39:26

But since we are here

39:29

tooting our own hoards, let's talk about

39:32

six degrees and what

39:35

we have going on these days.

39:38

Yeah, for sure. So I think most

39:40

people know the sixth degrees separation

39:43

theory and what has been synonymous

39:45

with you Kevin and your career, the sixth

39:48

Degrees of Kevin Bacon, and

39:50

just a little background for those that you

39:53

know know that idea but know less a little less

39:55

about six degrees dot org. You basically started

39:57

this organization in two thousand and seven. You

40:00

really wanted to take yourself

40:03

out of it in a way, and you've talked

40:05

about this lots of time in the past,

40:07

like if you take me out, we're all

40:09

just human beings looking for

40:12

and in fact really needing connection. So

40:14

six Degrees was founded along

40:16

those principles and much of what

40:19

Kira and you talked about earlier, like

40:21

providing opportunities for people

40:23

to connect with one another through

40:25

these different service opportunities and

40:28

opportunities to get back. So you

40:30

know, we really just support

40:33

initiatives that sustain in

40:35

rich local communities. We're focused

40:38

all in the United States. This podcast

40:40

has been a way for us to kind of look at

40:42

organizations globally, which has been really

40:45

really fun. But our core programming have

40:48

always been really focused domestically because

40:50

that's where we believe we can make the greatest

40:52

impact. So we have four

40:54

pillars. Those pillars are youth

40:57

empowerment, which we obviously

40:59

do a lot or work around young people

41:02

through music and education and

41:04

you know, getting them tools and resources that they

41:07

need, just as an equity, which

41:09

is you know, it's a wide

41:12

whye reaching of course from gender

41:14

equity to and we kind of touched

41:16

on that through LGBTQ rights, so

41:18

on and so forth. Improving a sustainable

41:21

living environment, and that's where we kind of do

41:23

the work around climate action and

41:25

PSAs to help people to move

41:28

in the right direction towards better

41:30

sustainable goals in terms of our environment.

41:33

And then we really try to remain agile

41:36

so that we can support some emerging crisis

41:38

that come up. And it seems

41:41

like that's happening obviously more and more

41:44

directly related to gun violence

41:47

or natural disasters

41:49

that seem to be on the uptick.

41:57

If you are inspired by today's episode, please

42:00

join us in supporting six degrees dot org

42:02

by texting the word Bacon to seven

42:04

zero seven zero seven zero.

42:07

Your gift empowers us to continue to produce

42:09

programs that highlight the incredible work

42:11

of everyday heroes, well also enabling

42:14

us to provide essential resources to those

42:16

that need it the most. Once again, text

42:19

b A c N to

42:21

seven zero seven zero seven

42:23

zero or visit six degrees

42:26

dot org to learn more.

42:29

It's interesting talking about these pillars, and we've

42:32

talked about it a lot, and it really relates back

42:34

to you, Kurra.

42:36

You know. You you were

42:38

saying how you were kind of going

42:40

down this list of uh, environment

42:44

and hunger,

42:46

your your relationship with food bank in New

42:49

York, and gun violence and

42:51

the times that you've you

42:53

know, reached out and also on political causes.

42:57

And you know, we're kind

42:59

of in the same boade in terms of six

43:01

degrees. And I often talk about how

43:04

if you're going to be a celebrity and

43:07

get involved with the cause, it's probably going

43:09

to be easier if you just pick one, you

43:12

know. And And when when

43:15

I was taught thinking about doing this

43:17

this uh, you know, six degrees dot org,

43:20

every time I would think, well, I'll

43:22

just do you know, save the redwoods, or

43:24

it's just going to be kids, or it's just going

43:26

to be you know, whatever it

43:28

is, I just kept going, Yeah, but there's this over here,

43:31

and there's this over here, and there's this over here. And there

43:33

was something about the number six and

43:35

the and the and and the

43:37

and the idea of connectivity that I

43:39

just really resisted and

43:42

and so I think that it's interesting

43:45

that all of us, all

43:48

all three of us have that point

43:50

of view where where where we just

43:53

are, uh, we

43:55

just see so much out there that that

43:59

you know, needs help. And it's

44:01

been so fascinating from the podcast

44:03

point of view because people

44:05

come in and every time I

44:08

finished talking to the person that runs

44:10

their organization, I'm like,

44:12

oh, yeah, that's the thing, you know, and

44:15

then somebody else comes in and we talk

44:17

about that, and I feel that as well. I

44:19

mean, are there challenge Jesus if I challenges

44:22

in terms of that stace, like in terms of like, you

44:24

know, keeping our focus being

44:27

spread too thin?

44:29

I mean, you know, I think absolutely.

44:32

And for the first few years it was a struggle

44:34

to also community keep that to

44:36

funders, right because at the end of the day, you're

44:38

doing all this incredible work. We know it's not

44:40

just anecdotal. We can see the impact, we have the metrics

44:43

around it. But you

44:45

know, we talked about this. Sometimes it's easier

44:48

to say we do water, we

44:50

provide access to water and

44:53

you know, and we put in wells, and

44:55

that's a very easy and clear message,

44:58

but quite frankly, it's

45:01

it doesn't speak to kind of who

45:03

you are, who I am here

45:05

is like there are these diverse

45:08

needs and they're all seemingly

45:10

critical, right, and

45:13

we want to be able to

45:15

utilize the resources that we

45:17

have and like our basically our core free

45:19

programs to address

45:21

these these needs. And so much

45:24

of our pillars overlap, right because

45:27

and we can talk a little bit about this some of our different

45:29

programs, but you know, when we

45:31

build kits, that's like our main program

45:34

right now, where we are focused on

45:36

pulling essential resources together and

45:39

give them to different people in need. I mean

45:41

that touches racial justice, food

45:43

injustice, environmental impacts of

45:45

injustice, and

45:48

oftentimes we're coming in after natural disasters

45:51

to help support people, or

45:53

we just did this building kit in Houston

45:56

to help with hurricane preparedness kids

45:58

so that they could be better prepared

46:01

should that inevitable hurricane

46:03

come and hit that area. So I mean

46:06

we see such an overlap now. So I

46:08

do feel we are kind of

46:10

keenly focused on core areas

46:12

that we can do the most impact

46:15

in the other core

46:17

programs are Cause Evolved,

46:19

and that's really what you're seeing

46:21

with the podcast. So we're utilizing

46:24

our unique expertise to

46:26

create really compelling storytelling, and

46:29

our hope is that we cut through the noise and really capture

46:32

attention and then inspire people to

46:34

action. So with this podcast, that's why

46:36

it's really important that we have these call to

46:39

actions. We have the people on the

46:41

ground that are the true change makers on

46:43

the podcast to talk about their day to day

46:45

activities, because we know that

46:47

no one tells a story better than those people

46:49

that are like the battle soldiers on the ground

46:52

doing this work day in and day out. And

46:56

the celebrity is the hook, right

46:58

Like, it's not, and it's different,

47:00

right I think that we really have been thoughtful

47:03

with the different celebrity

47:06

or talent that have come on this show and that will

47:08

continue to come on that we want them

47:10

to have a sincere connection to

47:12

truly care about the work. You

47:15

know, it's more than a tweet, although tweets

47:18

are important, right Like, it actually

47:20

does draw a lot of attention those simple actions

47:23

because of your immense platform. But

47:26

we've used six degrees to you

47:29

know, do format shows like this or

47:32

play on which was the music benefit we did. We

47:35

raised over seven million dollars for racial justice

47:37

and food insecurity

47:40

back in twenty twenty. You know, at

47:42

the you know, basically what we thought

47:44

was almost the end of the pandemic, and it

47:47

was really only just beginning at that point.

47:50

And then our third program, which is Degree

47:52

Shift, and that's been something that we've been doing

47:54

for quite some time, which

47:57

is just being a convenor of these different campaigns

48:00

together, different stakeholders, different

48:02

people of influence organizations,

48:04

and we get everyone, you

48:07

know, with a single call to action and

48:09

really trying to maximize the impact of that

48:11

by drawing attention to a singular cause. And

48:14

so most people probably will know the campaign

48:17

that we did I Stay Home For and that was the

48:19

beginning of twenty twenty when covid

48:22

had just really shook

48:24

the whole world, and you

48:27

know, we call it kind of like a

48:29

lightning and a bottle time period

48:31

because it was a pandemic. The entire

48:34

world was facing the same thing and

48:36

we were all being told to kind of shelter

48:38

in place. And

48:41

our way of trying to support that was the campaign

48:43

that you launched via six degrees Kevin, asking

48:46

people to share a video or

48:48

a photo simply saying

48:50

who they're staying home for. And the idea was to

48:52

say, we're not doing this for ourselves.

48:55

Like you might be healthy, and you might

48:57

be young, and you may not have any pre existing

49:00

conditions, but you're staying home for your

49:02

grandmother or for your

49:04

sister that you know has an autoimmune

49:07

disease, or so on and so forth. And

49:10

through campaigns like that, we've received lots

49:12

of recognition and support from

49:14

the community through you

49:16

know, Webbys and Shorty Impact

49:19

Awards and Telly Awards and those sorts

49:21

of things, which which is all great. That just

49:23

lets us know that people believe

49:26

that we're on the right track here. But the

49:28

idea is that we build these campaigns

49:30

that are really accessible for people to do.

49:33

They're also easy to replicate, so

49:35

that people can take ownership and make

49:37

these campaigns their own and spread messages

49:40

and appeals to their own networks

49:43

and try to help further you know, the

49:45

impact, and do good in

49:48

their own communities and neighborhoods.

49:50

Cure, I don't I don't want to put you on the spot, but

49:52

do you remember any kind of six degrees

49:54

based the thing

49:56

that you were involved with that was memorable?

49:59

Yeah?

50:00

Remember that really great spoken

50:02

word thing. Remind me a little bit

50:05

of.

50:05

That stacy we were That was a

50:07

couple of years that was in d C. Yeah,

50:10

March for Our Lives.

50:12

Yeah, that's right, it was, that's

50:14

right. Oh god, oh

50:17

it's hard to think. Yeah, right,

50:19

exactly, it's it's it's it's amazing

50:21

because it was really I think it was Marjorie

50:24

Douglas High School had that horrific

50:28

shooting and that was the catalyst

50:30

for March for Our Lives and it was

50:32

a you know, trying to bring

50:34

attention to gun violence in

50:36

d C. And before the

50:39

march, there was a

50:42

an event at a like.

50:44

A like a.

50:46

Venue where people did spoken word

50:48

about their experience

50:51

with gun violence. And it was extraordinary

50:53

and there were a lot of young people there and

50:56

it was I think

50:58

it was hosted by sixty degree and

51:00

it was extraordinary. I mean it was You

51:04

really could feel the

51:06

need that these kids had

51:09

to share their experience in a

51:11

communal way and to

51:13

have people be affected by it.

51:15

And it was it was incredible

51:17

for everybody, for the people that were watching

51:20

and the people that were participating, and I thought,

51:22

oh, you're really doing a great thing here, you

51:25

know, you guys, really you

51:27

really really got your

51:29

finger on it. You know.

51:31

It kind of comes back to us really

51:33

focusing on amplifying

51:36

voices with lived experiences, and

51:39

that was an example an event where it was

51:41

actually just young people that were asked to

51:43

speak and share. And

51:46

what Marjorie Douglas did so well when

51:48

they were the kind of the catalysts for this March

51:51

for Our Lives was enormous and

51:53

I remember, I mean it was

51:55

palpable the pain

51:58

that you fell in the air from all these young people. But also

52:01

their intention about making

52:03

a change and having their voices heard is

52:05

that they were inclusive in DC the night

52:07

before out of all the young

52:10

you know, inner

52:12

city young people

52:15

that experience gun violence all

52:17

the time, right, and it's in their

52:19

neighborhoods and in their communities, and

52:22

they made space for that on on you

52:24

know, during the poetry event and

52:26

and the day the next day at the march.

52:29

But I remember that I think that was our

52:31

first time meeting in person. Yeah, yeah,

52:35

yeah, And I just remember it being I mean,

52:37

it is one of those things that's a unifier because

52:39

it was very heavy, but

52:42

but I think it's it's important, right, It was

52:44

like comfortable. It was very hard, a lot

52:46

of tears shed, but we show

52:48

up and we look at it because we

52:51

walk through that privilege that we don't you

52:53

know, have those lived experiences all the time, right,

52:55

but we want to show up for those that

52:57

do, and we want to be

53:00

an ally.

53:01

I totally agree. And I think being you

53:03

know, not afraid to look is

53:05

a really important thing, you know, I

53:07

think because these things do exist

53:09

in our lives and they're happening all the time and they need

53:12

to be witnessed. So I think that

53:14

having that was pretty extraordinary

53:16

for them and for us.

53:17

Yeah, it was great. It was a great night. We

53:21

have some special announcements scenes.

53:23

This is Giving Tuesday of Stacey.

53:26

You do want to talk about what we have going

53:28

on here or any kind of call to

53:30

action that we can hit right now for six

53:32

degrees dot Org.

53:34

Yeah, so, because

53:36

we are still under

53:39

this strike, I'm gonna dance

53:41

around this a bit. But you

53:45

think that I did that.

53:46

I see what you did there. Maybe

53:49

by Given Tuesday there won't be a strike.

53:51

Maybe maybe we can

53:53

bleep it into the script.

53:56

But a certain dance

53:58

film that has been

54:01

synonymous with your career, Kevin

54:04

is turning forty, which, oh,

54:07

how is that happening? I don't It's like right

54:09

twenty years ago, But somehow the film has

54:11

aged passed you.

54:14

So it's a fortieth year, which is amazing,

54:17

and in celebration of that, six

54:19

Degrees is going to commit to.

54:21

By the way, I was, I was seven when I made

54:24

that film exactly.

54:25

It was amazing.

54:26

It was amazing. They aged me up a whole bunch.

54:29

It was sorry, I'm sorry to interrupt,

54:32

go ahead.

54:33

AI was involved in the conversation

54:36

then as well, apparently, but

54:38

no, I, it's

54:41

as we're going to build forty thousand kits

54:44

for the essential care items

54:47

across the entire country. So that's our commitment

54:49

at six trees dot org. We're going to be partnering

54:52

with our network of community

54:54

partners across the whole country. And

54:57

what's really special about the forty

54:59

thousand kis it's people might say

55:01

like, okay, like you know, sure

55:03

there are hygiene items and books

55:06

and you know, shampoo

55:09

conditioner, Like what does that really do

55:11

in the longevity of this

55:13

partnership. But we've

55:15

been running this program now for six months,

55:18

and we've been working

55:20

with nonprofits at the grassroots level

55:22

for a lot longer than that, and

55:24

what we find is that, you

55:27

know, it's the best way to put it. This way,

55:29

you walk into target and

55:32

if you want to buy house targets and to say I'm

55:34

sorry, like we don't sell you houses, right, But when

55:37

you're a constituent and you walk into a

55:39

nonprofit and you might be there because

55:41

it's a food bank and you're hungry, but guess

55:44

what, you also need clothes, you

55:46

might need job services,

55:48

you might need housing. When

55:51

you're in this type of purpose driven work, you don't

55:53

just turn people away. You exhaust

55:56

your resources and your efforts and your bandwidth

55:59

trying to either you

56:01

know, turn someone to another organization

56:03

that you create a partnership with or it's

56:05

local in the community, or you

56:08

open up your pockets and you

56:10

provide them with what they need in the moment.

56:13

And so what we're doing at six degrees

56:15

is providing these essential kits, really

56:18

talking to the nonprofits on the ground

56:21

what they need, what they're being asked for, providing

56:24

these items to those

56:26

organizations so that they can focus on their

56:28

core programs. So this is a way that we

56:31

can serve them, help with their bandwidth

56:33

and their resources and get them focused

56:35

on what they're doing day to day to really make

56:37

an impact in a greater way. So we're

56:40

very, very excited about.

56:41

That we stopped three

56:43

three hundred backpacks the other day down in DC.

56:47

We did.

56:49

It was it was awesome.

56:50

It was awesome.

56:51

Yeah, yeah, And that was a

56:53

perfect example of like community

56:55

organization coming together and local

56:57

people that live in the area just stopping by

57:00

and helping us with stuffing

57:02

these backpacks and then getting

57:04

them directly to a great organization that

57:07

helps families and transition.

57:08

So it's in a.

57:09

Look that way, and it's going to cover kind

57:12

of all of our different core pillars.

57:15

And to officially launch

57:18

us for Giving Tuesday, we

57:20

have a fantastic partner which is

57:22

Bonfire, and they are committing

57:24

to twenty five thousand dollars

57:27

in matching gifts. So if

57:29

you text the word Bacon to

57:32

seven zero seven zero seven zero,

57:35

you can make a gift today and your gift

57:37

is doubled, and it'll go on throughout

57:39

the whole month into December. But

57:42

it's going to be this kind of initial appeal

57:44

for twenty twenty four and

57:47

Bonfire is a really important

57:49

partner for us. Bonfire

57:51

has been a partner that we've worked with lots

57:53

of times, and in fact, you and Kira have worn

57:56

their shirts several times. So when

57:58

we just did the Dragon is an art

58:00

campaign people are listing,

58:03

saw this little dynamic

58:05

duo do a Taylor Swift dance

58:08

with these really cool, beautifully

58:10

designed T shirts. We

58:13

did that with Bonfire, and it was

58:15

an apparel campaign where we raised over

58:18

fifty five thousand dollars and forty

58:20

eight hours for ACLU and

58:22

their Drag Defense fun which

58:24

was really supporting lots

58:27

of anti LGBTQ legislation

58:30

fights that were all over the country. And we felt

58:32

the need to stand up and exercise our voice.

58:35

And you two stepped up

58:37

and did we have the shirt?

58:39

And you definitely did right, and

58:45

you know, and with that we

58:47

obviously did a great deal of good. But we also created

58:50

these like walking billboards everywhere.

58:53

And the great thing about Bonfire is like they're

58:56

free to use. They

58:58

take care of all the customers service for

59:00

us, so we didn't have to really worry

59:02

about our limited bandwidth or

59:05

logistics. When it comes to fulfilling these

59:07

products, it comes through

59:09

as a donation for the organization,

59:12

so that's a wonderful gift. People

59:14

can also donate when they buy items.

59:17

It's not just T shirts. We did coffee

59:20

cups right now

59:23

and toats and lots

59:25

of different things that people can

59:28

wear to help spread a message,

59:30

right, and so Bonfire

59:32

is open to the public. They can partner

59:35

with them and they can put these beautiful

59:37

campaigns that helped them

59:40

to raise money, read a message,

59:42

do a lot of good. They've been fantastic

59:44

work to work with. We're just so excited, but

59:47

really just a great, great support to

59:49

the nonprofit community. And so they are

59:51

a partner for this. We couldn't be more grateful

59:53

because that's what it takes. It takes corporate

59:55

partners stepping up and supporting

59:58

us in this in

1:00:00

this fight to the you know,

1:00:03

spread good, spread kindness, build

1:00:05

these kits, do social impact

1:00:07

productions like this. It

1:00:10

really takes a village. So we're grateful for hours.

1:00:12

And today we are super

1:00:15

excited because we're launching a special addition

1:00:17

T shirt from your signature dance

1:00:19

movie, Kevin. So if listeners

1:00:22

go to bonfire dot com forward

1:00:24

slash Kevin, they're going to see a

1:00:26

super cool T shirt that we designed

1:00:30

and got license and all that fun stuff

1:00:32

so that we can raise money for all the programs

1:00:34

that we talked about here today. And there's so

1:00:36

many ways that Bonfire supports

1:00:39

nonprofits and other individuals

1:00:42

and change makers that are doing a world of good. So

1:00:44

we have some really specific call to actions

1:00:47

and they're easy, right, Like, mainly

1:00:49

could share this podcast and you

1:00:52

know, follow us along on all of our social media

1:00:54

channels. All the links will be in the show notes.

1:00:57

But really, following and engaging

1:00:59

in content for nonprofits does

1:01:01

a whole lot of good. Obviously, it helps us cast

1:01:03

a much bigger net, increases

1:01:05

our reach and therefore our impact.

1:01:08

So we'd love to hear from you, guys, Hear

1:01:10

what you're liking about the show, about the work

1:01:12

that we're doing, and

1:01:14

if you're so inclined, please

1:01:17

join us as we fundraise

1:01:19

to build all of these essential

1:01:22

care kits by texting Bacon

1:01:25

B A C N to seven zero

1:01:27

seven zero seven zero.

1:01:29

Thank you, Thank you, Stacy,

1:01:33

you rock, You really do so

1:01:36

hard amazing. I'm

1:01:38

so grateful to have you with six

1:01:40

degrees and

1:01:43

yeah, it's the best. It's

1:01:46

the best means and also to know you and your

1:01:48

beautiful, two beautiful

1:01:51

little girls and your

1:01:54

fantastic husband. Yes, we're

1:01:56

thrilled to have you as as

1:01:58

our friends and hire. I'm

1:02:00

very happy to have you as my friend too.

1:02:02

Thank you, Thank you very much, thanks

1:02:04

for asking me to come. It's amazing. It's an honor,

1:02:07

really, it really is. You guys are incredible

1:02:09

and six degrees is incredible.

1:02:12

I'm so proud of you guys and what you've accomplished

1:02:14

and what you continue to do with that podcast.

1:02:16

I think it's really something special. So I feel

1:02:18

lucky to have been a part of it.

1:02:20

Thank you, Thank you, Thank you, Kia, and come

1:02:22

back anytime. Kay, Let's

1:02:26

dat some more love you guys,

1:02:29

Thanks for being here. Hey,

1:02:32

guys, thanks for listening to another episode

1:02:34

of six Degrees with Kevin Bacon. And if you

1:02:36

want to learn more about six degrees dot

1:02:39

org and all the work

1:02:41

that we are up to, you can head to six

1:02:43

degrees dot org, reach

1:02:46

out to Stacy on our social platforms,

1:02:48

get connected, get involved. You can

1:02:50

find all those links in our show notes,

1:02:53

and if you like what you're hearing, subscribe to the

1:02:55

show and tune in to the rest of our episodes.

1:02:58

You can find six Degrees with Kevin Bacon

1:03:00

on iHeartRadio, Apple

1:03:03

Podcasts, or wherever you

1:03:05

get your podcasts. We'll see you next

1:03:07

time.