This is an iHeart podcast. Guaranteed human. Liberty has never been just a word to we Americans. It has guided every one of our endeavors for the past 250 years. And now it takes form in a new way.
The 2026 Semi-Quincentennial Coin and Metal Program from the United States Mint. It celebrates the founding ideals that have long shaped our coinage. Available one year only, this historic collection features new coin designs, limited edition releases, and reissues. Shop new official coins at usmint.gov forward slash semi-q. That's usmint.gov/slash S-E-M-I-Q.
Amazon Health AI presents painful thoughts. Why did I search the internet for answers to my cold sore problem?
Now I'm stuck down a rabbit hole filled with images of alarmingly graphic sores in various stages of ooze. I can clear my search history. But I can never unsee that. Don't go down the rabbit hole. Amazon Health AI gets you the right care fast.
Healthcare just got less painful. 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 backtest it against the SP 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/slash podcast and earn an uncapped 1% bonus when you transfer your portfolio. That's public.com/slash 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.com/slash disclosures. You're listening to a podcast.
So you're doing something else too, like maybe scrolling home listings on Redfin, saving places you like without thinking you'll get them, because that's what house hunting has become. But Redfin isn't built for endless browsing, it's built to help you find and own a home. Redfin agents close twice as many deals as other agents, which means when you find a place you love, you've got a real shot at getting it. Redfin helps turn saved listings into real addresses. Get started at redfin.com.
Own the dream. This is Lee Habib, and this is Our American Stories. Danny Trejo's story is a remarkable journey from a troubled youth. and 11 years in and out of California prisons, including San Quentin, to become a beloved Hollywood actor. Known for his tough tattooed look, He's appeared in movies such as Desperado, Machete, From Dusk Till Dawn, Spy Kids, and Heat.
always ensuring his villainous characters face consequences. Here's Danny Trejo sharing his story at an Alcoholics Anonymous meeting. I came out of prison in 1969. I had a year clean coming out. I got clean in Soledad State Prison.
I was in the hole. Me, Ray Pacheco, Henri Quijada, we were uh involved in a very serious prison riot. And some people got hurt really bad and Inciting a riot is a gas chamber offense. And Repacheco sucked. A free person, that's a gas chamber offense.
Henry Kihala ruptured the coach. That's definitely a gas chamber offence. and it was alleged that I threw a rock and hit Lieutenant Gibbons in the head. And that's definitely a gas chamber fence, so Uh 1969, it's 1968, Cinco de Mayo. Cinco de Mayo.
Everybody thinks Cinco del Mayo means fifth of May. Uh But if you're like a real Mexican, I mean from the heart. Yeah. Cinco de Mayo means get bail money. 99% of the Mexicans do not even know what Cinco de Mayo is celebrating.
You know what I mean? Let's get drunk. It's just a get drunk. That's tequila was invented for Cinco Amayo, okay? Because you can go to jail and not even know why and uh And so Cinco de Mayo 1968, that was when that riot started.
The first time I ever heard about Alcoholics Anonymous was in 1959. Right? And uh And me and about twenty friends A whole car load. We're cruising down Van Nuys Boulevard. In in my neighborhood.
And Right on the corner of Lev Street and Van Nuyce Boulevard, there was this huge craftsman's house. And there's about 30 cars parked in front of this house.
Now The neighborhood that I grew up in, Pacoima. Two cars. in front of a house means they got guests. You know it's Well, there was always like one car, a Chevy on blocks. in the front you know but But so here we, hey, there's something going on.
This is the murder capital of Los Angeles, was Bacoima. And they're not inviting the murders. What the hell's wrong with them? And it's like it was like this this This revelation wait a minute. They can't do this and We stopped the car, went to the trunk.
or the car to get the tools necessary to crash events. We got tire irons. uh hammers, pieces of pipe. I had a case of beer, three bottles of wine, half pint of whiskey. I was already loaded on second Red Devils.
Appeals. I had 38 snub nose and We, um Proceeded to Crash this event, you know. kicked in the f you have to ki you can't like walk up to event and Like knock on the door, you know lock the door and call the cops.
So we kicked in the door and everybody rushed in and the first thing we saw was a big sign that said, We care. Hold the key. And We're trying to there's only two greetings you can get when you crash an event Either. Everybody rushes to the opposite side of the room. That means they're willing to throw this event in your honor.
Or they rush to the side of the room you're on, usually at athlete parties. They usually rush to the side of the room you're on. That means they're not, you know, no. We got the stupidest greeting in the world. We had all these old people.
I hate saying old people because they were like 40. Yellow. Mm-hmm. They come rushing at us. Hi, I'm Bob.
Hey And who It's hard shaking hands, holding a case of beer, three bottles of wine, half pint of whiskey. load on pills, you know. I'm trying to get out of here, right? And this guy. Stop introduces himself and and says, uh Danny, I've been on the program eight years.
Now, I don't know what the program in Juvenile Hall is like four months. You know what I mean? I don't know what you're talking about, a program you can't get out of this house. And um And he says I've been sober Eight years. Stupid thing to say to a guy holding a case of beer at three bottles.
Oh, I have. He said, I haven't wanted to drink in that. When he said that, I can never Remember, even at fifteen years of age, Not wanting to drink. My uncle turned me on to grass. I was eight years old, gave me a fix, and I was 12.
I started drinking. Right after that. And uh That's one of the reasons I had a tough time like identifying an AA. Because everybody always talked about everything they lost. I had a car, a boat.
A cabin in Mammoth. And I was drinking scotch. Scotch? I went to Bourbon. I think there's a step down.
I don't know. I have no idea. I lost some material wealth. Mm-hmm. I ended up losing all my material wealth.
drinking wine. in the morning in an alley, And every girl. Oh my god. Here, I started drinking wine in the morning in an alley.
So I started drinking. I shot her own with my uncle and I said, wait a minute. Tell me. Shooting heroin when you're thirteen years old and uh We started stealing wine out of Dale's market. And So this guy said, Danny, look, why don't you put that stuff outside and join us?
And shut up, old man. Because everybody in my neighborhood understand new that we were going to the, you go to Juvenile Hall, you go to youth authority, you go to camp, and you go to the panage. Everybody I knew that's what they did. That was the road to recovery, I guess. I don't know.
And this uh this guy whispers the curse of Alcoholics Anonymous. He says, Daddy. If you leave this program, You're gonna die. Go insane or go to jail. Do you understand?
It's like from now on, you might forget everybody in this room, you will not forget this Mexican. You won't. When you see those lights. In a cop car behind you, bang, bang, bang, bang, bang, bang, bang. And you know you're drunk or you know you're loaded, watch the lights.
The lights go, Daigon Sang, go to jail, die going sing, go to jail, die go and say, and go to jail. They do. They do, I swear to God, as I watch them die once they go So I'm going back and forth to prison. You know, I just did everything. My uncle showed me how to do robberies.
That's what we did. But you have to understand. Knowing about Alcoholics Anonymous, I learned about Alcoholics Anonymous in prison. I met my sponsor in 1962 in prison. I was inside, he was outside.
And uh He was a a speaker and a guy named Johnny Harris and uh And I'll never forget. He said, he looked at me, man, he goes, the only thing that's going to beat you, the San Quentin. is the headlights on the bus. I thought that was a compliment. Yeah.
I just Yeah, you got that right, homie. And. And I see this guy four times in different penitentiaries. He's outside, I'm inside.
So I learned about. Alcoholics Anonymous. I started a narcotics anonymous meeting in.
Soledad state prison. And since Soledad, like I said, in 1968, I'm sitting in that hole. And I'm thinking I'm through. I'm done. And you've been listening to Danny Trejo tell his story.
And what a story it is.
Well it starts early with an uncle of his. teaching him all the things he thinks matter in life. And that is, well, he shows them how to. robberies. He introduces him to drugs.
and to alcohol. Not exactly the way to start off a life when we come back. More of Danny Trejo's story on Our American Stories. Liberty has never been just a word to we Americans. It has guided every one of our endeavors for the past 250 years, and now it takes form in a new way.
The 2026 Semi-Quincentennial Coin and Metal Program from the United States Mint. It celebrates the founding ideals that have long shaped our coinage. Available one year only, this historic collection features new coin designs, limited edition releases, and reissues. Shop new official coins at usmint.gov forward slash semi-q. That's usmint.gov/slash S-E-M-I-Q.
Amazon Pharmacy presents painful thoughts. It's been a long, bumpy road dealing with yet another bladder infection. And driving to the pharmacy to pick up meds. I went over a pothole and a little pea came out.
So now I get to stand in line with pee-pee pants.
Next time, skip the pain and get fast-free delivery with Amazon Pharmacy. Healthcare just got less painful. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. 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 backtest it against the SP 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/slash podcast and earn an uncapped 1% bonus when you transfer your portfolio. That's public.com/slash 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 are available at public.com/slash disclosures. Mm-hmm.
Ryan Reynolds here from Mint Mobile with a message for everyone paying big wireless way too much. Please, for the love of everything good in this world, stop. With Mint, you can get premium wireless for just $15 a month. Of course, if you enjoy overpaying, no judgments, but that's weird.
Okay, one judgment. Anyway, give it a try at mintmobile.com slash switch. Upfront payment of $45 per three-month plan, equivalent to $15 per month required. Intro rate first three months only, then full price plan options available. Taxes and fees extra.
See full terms at mintmobile.com. And we continue with our American stories and the story of Danny Trejo's redemptive journey. from death row. Hollywood. Let's pick up where we last left off.
Here's Danny. I'm remembering every teacher. that I ever had Wrote Amazing potential. All through school, I failed, but I had amazing potential. Every probation officer I ever had Unbelievable potential.
But I'm violating this inmate. I'm going back to jail, yeah. Parole officer, same thing. Amazing. I had a lot of potential.
Now when you have a lot of potential And you're in the hole. In Soledad, And you might go to the gas chamber. Your potential don't mean that much. And it's like you wonder what happened. Bless it.
If you know about these programs, You got the instigated. Doesn't have didn't have to happen. Huge. Didn't listen. Remember?
This Mm-hmm. program back here telling you about hey it doesn't have to be this way And so I'm thinking I'm going to the gas chamber right. I remember asking God, just Just let me die with dignity. And and I'll say your name every day. and I will do whatever I can for my fellow men.
And by the grace of God, we had a DJ reject. They sent the charges. to the district attorney and he rejected it. I got out August twenty third, nineteen sixty nine. That's when I got out of the joint.
And uh I've been clean sober ever since. Um Let me tell you, you're not clapping for me, you're clapping for what God's done with me. I ain't gonna have a thing to do with it. And so, you know, like everything good that has happened to me has happened as a direct result of helping someone else. Everything.
I had No social skills whatsoever. If you were on fire, I wouldn't care unless you owed me money. I I no, really, I didn't I wasn't like a sharing, caring person. I come out of the pen and I make this promise, right? You know, because I thought it was just going to be a couple of years, then they were going to kill me.
And it wasn't. God fooled me and gave me the rest of my life. He's okay, now hold up, do this.
So now I got to say his name every day. I say it 8, 9, 10. twelve thirty times a day. And every morning, dear Heavenly Father, let me help anybody I come into contact with. That's my prayer.
And it's all about being of service. This whole thing, I have seen people. God, I have seen people pray. God, they got they got shrines in their houses and they Dania they do. It just that doesn't matter if you're not if you're not being of service.
So we get here.
However we get here. And We bring our bag with us, this bag of junk, this bag of secrets. And we're only as sick as our secrets. And I did not know how to do an inventory when I got here. And I'm in the meeting, and this guy just says, You're only as sick as your secrets.
Whoa. They do, wow. You know what I mean? Boy, am I screwed. You know.
And uh And I started, like, I wrote down these secrets. Just, I wrote down about. Just only about ten of them, you know, but Fifteen, twenty more, but I And I remember I had him in my pocket for like three weeks. And Frankie, what's wrong? I want to show you my my inventory, my secrets and okay, so three o'clock in the morning after the late, late meeting, Because that's all we did, go to meetings.
And so Out in front of a place called Behind the Allenest in the Alley, we lit a fire and a trash can and we stand there. And I give him this. this inventory of ten secrets. written on a gas bill. And I gave it to Frank and he was reading it and he goes, Wow, you did that then?
Yeah. Do you like it? Yeah. Okay. I guess so he did again.
And so then I'll never forget, he tore it up and threw it in this fire in the smoke. And he says, now, every time you think about one of these things, you've got to remember you've given it to God in the smoke. It's God's.
So it doesn't matter how you do that. Man, I've seen people try to work perfect. There's no such thing with the perfection. We don't deal with perfection. We just, all we want to do is just get next to God.
It's just admitting that I'm powerless. That's all it is. Admitting I'm powerless. Wait a minute, I am powerless. Take this.
I uh I said everything good that's ever happened to me has happened as a direct result of helping someone else. I got into the movie business on a twelve step call. I want to just Work with this kid. And it happened to be on the movie set of a movie called Runaway Train: John Voigt and Eric Roberts. I walked on this movie set I thought it was the cutest thing I'd ever seen in my life.
All these guys were walking around acting like convicts. It was like You know, hey, get out of the way, mother. Just really growling. And, you know, prison is probably the most polite place you'll ever be. Yeah.
Because if I'm a murderer and you're a murderer, I don't want to offend you. You know, it's like that simple. And you don't want to offend me. But they had this thing of everybody running around pushing people. It doesn't work that way, you know.
And so this guy says, hey, do you want to be in this movie? And I said, what do I got to do? He said, Do you want to be an extra? I said extra what? Yeah.
He's just gonna act like a convict.
So I'll give it a shot. Give me a blue shirt. I take off my shirt. I got that big tattoo. The tattoo I got on my chest.
It it doesn't say I love America, it doesn't say mom, it says oh this guy was in prison. Prison tattoo, needle and thread, and so on.
So you leave your shirt off.
So I'm standing there with no shirt, like just taking this all in. And I'm looking at this guy. He looks familiar. He comes over and says, hey, you're Danny Trejo. I go, yes.
I saw you win the lightweight and the Walterweight title up in San Quentin. I go, you're Eddie Bunker. I knew this guy. This guy was in prison with me. He said, What are you doing here, Danny?
I said, Oh. Hanging out with this kid, they're gonna give me fifty bucks for acting like a convict. And he said, Are you still boxing? I go, See, I'm 40 years old, homie. I train, but I don't want to get hit in the face anymore.
He says We need somebody to train one of the actors how to box. And what's it pay? He says 320 a day. He said, No, you gotta be careful because this actor is really high-strung. He might sock you.
I started training an actor named Eric Roberts how to box for the movie called Runaway Train, and Eric. respected me and he would do whatever I told him to do. And the director who didn't understand movie stars, movie stars are very high strung. They suck and uh And And that was the start of my career. From that day to right now, I've done over 380 movies.
Everything good that has happened to me has happened as a direct result of helping someone else. I don't know how many times I can say that. I don't know how many times I can say, I am so blessed. I am so blessed just to be alive. We all wait for that miracle.
I live the miracle every day. God bless you. Thank you very, very much. Yeah, two. And a terrific job on the production and editing by our own Greg Hengler.
And a special thanks to Danny Trejo for sharing his story with us. For more, pick up his memoir, Trejo. My life of crime, redemption, and Hollywood. And my goodness, him talking about himself, that tagline that was on him from the time he was young, amazing potential. him saying those words don't mean much.
when you're in the hole in prison. Then came his release, his miraculous release, and he has been sober ever since. Everything good for me happened by helping someone else. He said it again and again, service, be of service to others, get out of yourself. The story of Danny Trejo's redemptive journey from death row to Hollywood.
On our American stories. Liberty has never been just a word to we Americans. It has guided every one of our endeavors for the past 250 years. And now it takes form in a new way. The 2026 Semi-Quincentennial Coin and Metal Program from the United States Mint.
It celebrates the founding ideals that have long shaped our coinage. Available one year only. This historic collection features new coin designs, limited edition releases, and reissues. Shop new official coins at usmint.gov forward slash semi-q. That's usmint.gov/slash S-E-M-I-Q.
At CVS, it matters that we're not just in your community, but that we're part of it. It matters that we're here for you when you need us, day or night. And we want everyone to feel welcomed and rewarded. It matters that CVS is here to fill your prescriptions and here to fill your craving for a tasty and yeah, healthy snack. At CBS, we're proud to serve your community because we believe where you get your medicine matters.
So visit us at cvs.com or just come by our store. We can't wait to meet you. Store hours vary by location. I'm U. S.
Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy. Yeah. We all get distracted when we drive. Whether it's from our phones, Or are kids in the backseat bickering? But how we handle these distractions can be a matter of life.
or death. Before you get on the road for your next road trip, Please put your phones on silent. and take a mental note. to focus on driving. Paid for by Nitza.
Hot take. You can disagree with someone and not hate them. I know, really groundbreaking stuff. But lately, that line seems blurry because hate is rising across communities in all kinds of ways, and Jewish communities are getting a lot of it right now. You don't have to agree with people, you just have to not be awful.
The Blue Square is a simple way to say, I'm with you, and I don't tolerate hate of any kind. Go to bluesquarealliance.org, get a pin, share it, and stand up.
