The Cajun Navy: Heroes or Liability? | STUFF YOU SHOULD KNOW

Welcome to Stuff You Should Know, a. production [music] of iHeartRadio. Hey and welcome to the podcast. I'm. [music] Josh and there's Chuck and. Jerry's here, too. And we are saving the. day here on Stuff You Should Know. That's right. Um Chuck, [music] I guess. I just said that we're scared to save. the day. And we are. We're going to talk. about the Cajun Navy in a second. But. before we do, we just got back from tour. and [music] um you did something that I.

didn't do and I want to hear about it. Oh, yeah. We. I got tabbed to perform in the. Hanging with Dr. Z. show, which if you don't know, it is. comedian Dana Gould has a professional. Dr. Zaius of Planet of the Apes costume. Nice. And he just does a straight-up. late-night talk show. as Dr. Zaius. That's the only sort of uh. uh wrinkle to it. And it's it's a lot of. fun and I was on um as kind of a. straight guy, you know, I clearly wasn't.

the improvising comedian, but I did an. okay job. Mhm. Um but Dave Foley of the. Kids in the Hall was there. Yeah. And. Janet Varney, uh the great Andy Daly. And I just got to tell you quickly about. uh the night before in the hotel. Yeah. I was hanging out in the lobby with a. friend of the show, Adam Pranica, a. friend of your life. And our good friend and booking agent. Josh Lindgren. Having some drinks and all of a sudden. uh Cole. uh co-founder of SketchFest walks over. with Dave Foley. And they all sit down.

and Dave Foley sits next to me and we. have like a 30-minute conversation. That's so cool. And this is the night. before, so when you guys were on stage. together, you were like old pals? Oh, it. was there was a familiarity built in. Uh. Dave Foley was the nicest guy you could. ever imagine. That's so great. >> He asked if he clearly had listened to. Stuff You Should Know cuz he said. something about is Josh here? So he knows your name. Pretty cool. And. we're sitting there having a. conversation and all of a sudden I look. up and it's Scott Thompson and Bruce.

McCulloch. and Kevin McDonald. Man. And they all. see Dave and come over and this is the. first time they'd seen each other I mean. I don't know how long but you know they. were doing a screening of Brain Candy. the next night. Oh, cool. And so they. were all just seeing each other for the. first time that weekend and they. it it warmed your heart so much seeing. how much these guys liked each other and. how they like seeing each other. Yeah, that I mean that makes me really happy. to hear that they're as great as as they. seem. Yeah, it was incredible. They were.

just they were hugging and laughing and. I'm looking across at Lingren and and. and Adam and we're both have looks on. our faces like what is happening right. now. And Bruce McCulloch had the fun one of. the funniest lines I've ever seen. You. know how you just bag on friends as as a. as a rule. Mhm. They're all standing around and laughing. and Bruce McCulloch goes, "Isn't it. great that Mark isn't here?". >> [laughter]. >> Aw, poor Mark. It was so funny man. It. was like the perfect line at the perfect. time and they all busted out laughing.

and it was I got to. I you know I got to kind of eavesdrop on. their stories and then the next night. Scott Thompson telling stories to Dave. Foley. I'm just like a fly on the wall. trying to be invisible just trying to. soak in these stories about Lorne. Michaels in the early days and like. trashing hotel rooms and it was it was. just great. That's really cool man. Yeah, I wish you could have been there. That was the only thing missing was you. I wish I could have too and thank you. for saying that. That's nice. But thanks. for telling me all about it and congrats. on a great showing at the what is it.

Hanging with Dr. Z? Hanging with Dr. Z. Dana's the best. He's so funny. Is it. anywhere like somebody can see it. online? I don't know if they I don't. think they shot video for this. I'm I'm. curious but go watch. episodes of Hanging with Dr. Z. It's a. lot of fun. Okay, cool. Cool. Um well that was great. Thank you for. telling everybody about it. And I guess now let's you want to start. the uh episode about the Cajun Navy? Yeah, for sure. Um not too long ago in. an episode we had a listener mail that. referenced the Cajun Navy.

It is not something that I had heard of. uh even though it has been sort of all. over the news, but I don't watch news. uh with my eyes and ears. I I generally. read stuff and I guess it just had never. read anything about this even though the. Cajun Navy it seems like. have done a lot of great things um but. there's also some criticism. Yeah, it's. a good example of how absolutely. everything in the United States can. become politicized. >> [laughter]. >> Yeah, good point. Uh and it is like I. get. criticisms. I also get the praise as.

well. Like at the end of the day these. these dudes as you'll see are putting. their lives on the line to help other. people. That's right. Um what we're talking. about is a group of men and women. Now. there are many different groups. Uh. but it's been dubbed the Cajun Navy and. it sprang. from uh Hurricane Katrina when they were. like, "Hey, we we need more help. We. need help beyond FEMA in this case. It's. so devastating. We know that you've got boats, you got. airboats, and you have the will people.

of Louisiana.". And the call went out and they people um. came to help and helped a lot and they. were dubbed the Cajun Navy. Yeah, so um. although the Cajun Navy as we'll see. like as we understand it today really. kind of developed in 2016, basically all. the origin stories all competing origin. stories trace their themselves back to. Katrina. And that is a good place to. start because that is one of the best. examples of government failing its. people that that has happened in recent. history. Um.

the Bush administration, FEMA, uh like they just. botched helping people and so there was. a really big vacuum that other people. who were just basically moved to go help. people who had just been left behind. Like, "Hey, good luck on your roof. Um. hopefully everything works out. People. got their own boats, they got their own. trailers, they drove to New Orleans and. got as close as they could, they put. their boats in uh when they hit the. water, and they went and rescued those.

people themselves. No one paid them, no. one even really asked them to do this. They just knew that people were in. trouble, they knew that they could help. them, and so uh I think as Governor. Kathleen Babineaux Blanco later said, uh. when she was kind of talking about this. retrospectively, she said it was. Louisiana people helping Louisiana. people. Yeah, for sure. Um there there were some. ask and calls for help. Uh there was a. Louisiana state senator named Nick uh. Gautreaux, and he went on the TV and the radio.

during Katrina, and he said, "Hey, if. you've got a boat, we need your help.". Uh there's a there's a mall outside um. of New Orleans and Lafayette, about 150. mi away, >> Mhm. and we could use some some people. And he thought maybe, you know, 20 30. people might show up. Uh close to 400. people show up showed up, and they ended. up forming an 8-mi convoy. of trucks and boats, and in the end um. CBS News reports that they rescued. 10,000 people uh during Katrina alone.

Yeah, and this is where they they were. dubbed the Cajun Navy later on. Um. but like this is just it's astounding. Like from the outset, it was just. just amazing. Like just the number of. people who showed up, the number of. people they saved. And this is exactly. the kind of thing that people love to. read about, hear about, see about, Yeah. because it's like, yes, people are still. basically good. And then on the other. hand, we also, as a country in. particular, love to start picking apart.

everybody, including heroes who. selflessly act. That's right. Uh the guy who would later. become one of the founders of the United. Cajun Navy, and like we said, there's a. a. I think close to 30 or more people or. groups, organizations who have dubbed. themselves some version of a Cajun Navy. like this. Yeah. Uh well, we should. point out that only three of those are. nonprofits. Yeah, that's a big, big. deal. Yeah, it's it's a it's a red flag. in some cases. Uh but this guy's name.

was Todd Terrell and he owned a seafood. business that was completely um. devastated during the first few days of. uh Katrina. Mhm. So, he lost everything. And after that, he didn't take his. shrimp net and go home. He said, "I'm going to help rescue. people." And so, he kind of headed up a. lot of this and ended up one of the. actual founders of the United Cajun. Navy, like I said. Yeah, and the United. Cajun Navy's one of the big ones, maybe. the biggest, definitely the most. professionalized and they are a 501c3. nonprofit. Um but the the Cajun Navy.

moniker itself is shared by a number of. different groups, like you said. Um and. there's something about these people in. particular that make them uh they have a. very specific set of skills, I guess you. could say. Um one, a lot of them are Cajun and grew. up, spent their whole lives and still. spend a lot of their time out on the. bayou in boats that are designed to. navigate uh obstacles in very shallow.

water. Um. That is to say, airboats? >> Airboats, uh pirogues. Okay. >> Um yeah, that's well, those two. Um. Right. Bass I think bass boats also, they use a lot of bass boats. Um so, not. only are their boats designed for this, they have a lot of experience say. getting around a dumpster, but say in. the form of like a cypress tree and then. all of the knees, like they know what. they're doing. They're expert boatmen. and boat when boat people, how about. that?

Yeah. And um so, there's a there's a. really like big incentive to for these. to welcome these people cuz they know. what they're doing. The issue is, as we'll see again and. again, they are expert boat people. They. don't necessarily have search and rescue. training, and that's one of the probably. the biggest most legitimate criticisms. of the whole thing. Yeah, for sure. Um. even though it was born in Katrina, I. believe you kind of hinted that 2016. during the thousand-year flood of. Louisiana when 31 inches of rain.

fell on Baton Rouge over the course of. 24 hours. >> Insane. Uh it was an incredible amount. of rain. Um. completely devastating. Uh the first you know, when Katrina. happened, that was pre-smartphone. Um 2016, that that was the difference. was all of a sudden. you had 56 of Louisiana's 64 parishes. were declared federal disaster areas, and you had a Cajun Navy at work with. smartphones and social media that could.

triangulate and who could post like we. need people here, we need people there. It became much more organized, much more. cohesive in 2016 thanks to, you know, social media and smartphones. Yeah, and. in particular an app called Zello. Um This This sounds cool. I'm going to. try this out with the family. >> Dude, you should go check out their the. website for the app. Like just their, you know, all of the different bells and. whistles it has, it is nuts. So. basically Zello turns a cell phone into. a walkie-talkie.

Even if you barely have a signal, you. can use it. Like it with with a low. enough signal that you couldn't make a. call, you can still use your phone as a. Zello walkie-talkie. So cool. There it. gets even better. It um translates. You. can speak, and it will translate into. another language that you select. So you. can coordinate with people who speak. different languages. Um. and all of a sudden now all of these. people who only had cell phones can now. coordinate and organize and um be much.

more effective than just like say two. guys in a boat and there's two other. guys in a boat here. Now they're saying, "Well, this is where people need the. most help. Let's send these guys out. here cuz they're closest to go get those. people." Like it was a completely. different level of coordination and. organization than in Katrina. Does it translate the Cajun accent? I. I'm not going to say it, but yes, it. does. Okay. >> I I will I will I give you full. reassurance. You know who could help us. with that is our old buddy Doug, right?

>> Yeah. Shastry. We I've met him backstage. at our two New Orleans shows. What a. good guy. >> us so well. He brought us boudin. Mhm. And we just went to town on those. things. Yeah, so good. >> Sausage balls, right? Uh yeah, that's what it is, right? >> Bready gravy sausage balls. They're. amazing. That's so good. Uh the Cajun. Navy these days though is is a big deal. Um like you said, like the the the three. like super legitimate and I'm not saying. that none others are doing good work, but the three nonprofits are like big.

big time. They have a multi-million. dollar budgets now. They have chapters. all like even in Hawaii. They have them. all over the country and they are funded. by charitable donations. They're staffed. by volunteers. And that seems like a good time for a. break. Good intro. I agree. All right, it's an early break, but we'll be right. back. >> [music]. [music].

[music]. [music]. >> All right, we're back and we're going to. talk about the credo of the Cajun Navy. because if they're known for one thing, that is like don't wait around and just. save people. Just get things done and. their credo is uh. it's unofficial but it seemed pretty.

official is act first and deal with the. consequences later. >> [laughter]. >> Right. Which on one hand is like yep, if you. are stuck on your roof, that is the kind. of person you want to come get you. You. don't want them to filling out forms to. get permission to come rescue you from. your roof, right? That's right. On the. other hand, um there's reasons for. regulations and safety for everybody. Um. there. there's reasons for. government in that sense, right?

This is where the This is where the kind. of breakdown starts to occur. Yeah, let's start with uh with the good of. acting first. Um you're going to rescue. a lot more people a lot quicker. You're. going to get food and aid um to people a. lot quicker. Uh very great example of. this was Hurricane Harvey, uh the. category 4 that dumped 60 in of rain in. Texas over a course of 4 days. It was completely devastating, apparently the wettest uh costliest. hurricane in US history. And because of what happened in 2016,

uh I think they felt like hey, the call. is coming now from Texas. Um there was a call specifically in one. case that was a nursing home in Port. Arthur that was underwater. Cajun Navy volunteers rushed out there. They got there. They found uh you know, people not able to get out of their. wheelchairs stuck up to their knees in. sewage water. Uh they hadn't eaten since. at least the day before. They were. hydrated. Many of them were confused. And it kind of.

came. literally to blows when a a Navy. volunteer named Ben Husser went to get. these people out and the director was. like, "Our Our corporate policy, sir, says. it has to be a National Guard evacuating. us." Right. And so. Ben Husser said that he beat the hell. out of this guy. He drew his gun on him. at one point to basically say you need. to get out of my way cuz we're. evacuating these elderly patients who. you're clearly neglecting. And they did. They ended up They ended. up. evacuating this this this group of.

nursing home patients, got them to I think a bowling alley or a. movie theater, both which were turned. into basically emergency centers for. people, shelters. And this was like this. story is tailor-made for social media, right? >> One of the reasons why it's tailor-made. for social media is cuz it only presents. one side and it said it presents like. what seems like a the the morally. correct approach to the situation. Just like anything, there's another. side. Nothing is black and white. And.

so, this nursing home director. in one sense, yes, he was he was. following. his corporate orders that he was not. supposed to let anybody else. evacuate the patients. But he was responsible for these. patients. On top of that, um. there are studies that show that. evacuating elderly and medically frail. people can actually be deadlier than. having them shelter in place. That's. even if you're evacuating them ahead of.

a storm. This was in the middle of a. storm that these elderly and medically. frail people were evacuated. And then. thirdly, these Cajun Navy guys showed. up. They don't have like ID cards that. say Cajun Navy signed by the governor of. Louisiana. They're just some dudes that. showed up, one of which pulled a gun on. the director of the nursing home and. said, "We're getting these old people. who you're responsible for out of here. Get out of our way or we're going to. beat you up and shoot you." So, like.

>> [clears throat and laughter]. >> to This is the Cajun Navy is just such a. great flash point because it's so easy. to. to almost cartoonize what they're doing. for for better or worse and just. completely ignore the reality of the. situation. And I think in that sense, it's just so worth talking about because. it's it's an exercise in how. how much emotion and just dumbness we. put into evaluating stuff and how tribal. that stuff makes us. And that this is a.

great example of saying, "Here's. something people are doing. Here's the. problems with it. Let's figure out how. to work everything out together so that. they can still save lives without the. downsides that are clearly inherently. posed in this." That's that's why this. Cajun Navy story is so I find. important. Yeah, absolutely. And you. know, as far as kind of seeing it both. ways, that that happened all the way up. to the top of the ladder. Donald Trump became very sort of I guess.

briefly attached to. John Bridgers, the founder of the Cajun. Navy, specifically Cajun Navy 2016, which is. its own group. >> Right. Invited him to the State of the Union. address in 2018. Had him up there. when the Houston Astros visited the. White House after they won the World. Series. He had called out the incredible Cajun. Navy. And then, you know, on the other hand, was quoted as as sort of saying like, "Hey, you know, stay in your boats. Like.

if these guys are out here trying to. impress their wives and what let the. professionals do their work." And I. think that just kind of illustrates how. how each side has a leg to stand on, you. know. Right. >> Like sure, you want to you want to. rescue people, but as we'll see, you. know, there. rules and regulations are there for a. reason, but sometimes it's just dumb red. tape. It's like it's hard to kind of. come down for me on hard on one side or. the other because on one hand you have a. group that a lot of this comes from sort. of an anti-government sentiment. If not.

anti-government, maybe be very. distrustful. of the response to natural disasters, but then when you see botched responses, you can see where they're coming from. Yeah, I mean, as as far as how these. people's direct experience with FEMA was. in Katrina, I think George W. Bush put it best when. he said, "Fool me once, shame on shame. on you. Fool me, you can't get fooled again.". And that's essentially what happened. FEMA fooled them once and they have.

never forgotten it. I thought that was. Roger Daltrey. No. No. No. That was pretty good. >> get fooled again. Nope. Uh here's a. quote from the vice president of United. Cajun Navy, another group, uh Brian. Trascher said, "Katrina is what. ultimately showed us. and the world that really people, uh. even in the richest country in the. world, people cannot rely on their. government to save them from the. weather. If a flash flood hits your. house and all of a sudden you're on a. roof, you're not looking around for FEMA. because they're nowhere around and a lot. of this goes back to not just a distrust.

of the official systems, but sort of the. the shame of a nation a nation like you. got the richest country in the world. that's not able to save their citizens. from a flood or people that need to rely. on the donations of their friends and. neighbors to get over cancer without. bankrupting them, you know? >> Right. Yeah. That and that's definitely. a a supported and supportable viewpoint, for sure. How about this? We'll take a break and. we'll come back and we'll talk some more. about the Cajun Navy. Let's do it.

>> [music]. [music]. [music]. >> All right. So, Chuck, um.

you I think you mentioned that 2016 was. a really pivotal time, those floods in. Baton Rouge, yeah, um where a of. different groups that that um. present themselves as Cajun Navy groups. um formed and as the some of these. groups really started to emerge in. particular Cajun Navy Relief and United. Cajun Navy uh they started to organize, they started to form 501c3s and accept. donations and show up more and more uh. frequently at natural disasters um they.

started to get more pushback. It went. from just some guys with boats to this. is an actual organization showing up. >> Right. And what they're you know, they're organizing, they're helping, but. they're still as far as we the the. people who are professionals at this. stuff are concerned just some guys with. boats. And there was you know I guess. tension that started to arise. Yeah, for sure. Uh Amanda Faulkner um. was a spokesperson. uh for the Coast Guard I believe that.

said, you know, we have we have plenty. of boats. We don't need more boats. The. Coast Guard has all the boats that we. need. Uh we know when it's safe to get. them out in the water. Uh at one point. um. do you become a liability? Is basically. what people started asking or when are. you in the way? When are you creating an. unsafe situation? >> Mhm. Or like you said with the people in. the retirement home. Like. maybe you know, if there were 15 of. them, maybe 13 of them it was great to. get them out of there, but what if two. of them had very adverse health outcomes. because of that rescue?

>> Right. And and also you're you have not. received medical training to evacuate. people. The National Guard who are. supposed to evacuate these people do get. medical training. Like there's just a. lot of. arguments that you can make against it. and some government agencies have. started to make those arguments against. it. And you can say well, yeah, these. guys are upset that their turf is being. stepped on and even worse they're being. made to look ineffective uncaring. um and just basically concerned with.

bureaucracy, not saving people's lives, which is what the Cajun Navy is all. about. Well, yeah, and especially if it's a a. situation where you're rescuing people. in Louisiana. and a group of Cajuns on an airboat show. up, uh they may be just innately more. trusting of them than when the FEMA. truck pulls up, you know? Uh yeah, for. sure. Like they're locals. Uh and you know, conspiracy started springing up that. like FEMA was actually I think this was. in uh Helene.

Yeah, and Helene uh in 2024 started in. Florida, went up through the East Coast. into the Appalachian Mountains. >> It's nuts. Killed a lot of people, 250. people, and I think it was the deadliest. hurricane since Katrina. And this is. when conspiracy started to spring up and. words getting around that FEMA is using. the government's using this as a chance. to seize your property. Well, So so they. can have and own your land. Right. And. just like how in 2016 social media. helped a lot of the Cajun Navy organize. and be more effective, this is a great.

example of how social media helped the. whole system just break down all the. more completely. Because if if you have. people who actually believe that these. government agents who are now there, like I saw a FEMA truck, FEMA's here, and that they're actually going to try. to steal your land, maybe kill you, um. like and you're already under the stress. of your house is underwater because of a. natural disaster, that's going to create. a climate that you don't really need. That's not the Cajun Navy's fault.

Right. >> really lay that on them. The point is. that in that kind of climate, they. become all the more vital, but at the. same time them pointing out the failures. of the government just by them existing. becomes all the more pronounced as well. Yeah, and boy, I hope what doesn't. happen is that the Cajun Navy doesn't. roll in here and. disparage uh. or more organized governmental efforts. at the same time, you know? Uh. the ones that I saw, the ones that like. you could feel comfortable donating to.

or good about donating to, don't. >> Okay. No, that's actually a pretty good sign. I think if you actually. are are looking at a Cajun Navy to. donate to and they do that, then you. should probably keep walking. Yeah, and and if you look at the you. know, the sort of more official. organized ones, they they do try to work. with FEMA. They're not combative. Um. sometimes they they do work around FEMA. if they think that it is holding up a a. legitimate rescue or aid coming to. someone. But uh.

Todd Terrell says, you know, we try to. work with the government as best we can. Um but the government can't do what we. do. FEMA is not designed to do what the. Cajun Navy does and that's you know, that's a fact. It's it's a quicker. moving, quicker operating, you know, they make the point that um. somebody with a laptop or a or a. satellite phone in the Cajun Navy can. get supplies there a lot quicker than. going the official route, you know. Yeah, like you you could say, "Hey, we. have a whole bunch of bottled water. We.

want you to take with you when you take. your boat to go rescue people." And that. aid that you sent to those people in. need could get them in a few hours. rather than having to go to a warehouse, be put on a truck, and then the truck. has to deliver supplies. Like it's it is. agile, as they say in like the project. management world. And that's a huge. bonus. I mean, in addition to the fact. that these these people are risking. their lives to save other people for no. no [clears throat]. uh compensation whatsoever.

Yeah, there's a article in GQ um. by Miriam Markowitz. who kind of affirmed what we were saying. about, you know, it just shows like. people people love to have faith in like. regular people and they love to hear our. stories. Um but points out uh I think. the quote is, "For our efforts to be. effective, they need to be large scale. and um systemic.". >> Mhm. Uh heroism can't be the exception. in a civilized society, and it shouldn't. be financed by micro donations through. GoFundMe campaigns. Uh we pay for taxes.

for firefighters and police cuz we can't. bank on the whims of our neighbors to. save us. Uh and it's these institutions that that. have cracks uh that need to be shored up. uh along with some of some local. volunteer efforts, I think, you know. Yeah, but those institutions that we pay. for through our taxes, like we're owed. them to be effective and responsive. >> Yeah. But at the same time, when those. things work correctly, that is something. that can give the entire nation a sense. of pride.

Right. >> the same way that stories about everyday. people joining the Cajun Navy and saving. other everyday people, saving their. lives literally, they give you like a reaffirming faith. in humanity. If FEMA had showed up and saved everyone. in Katrina, that would have given everybody a. reaffirmed faith in like the collective. good of say like a organized government, right? Right. >> Or maybe even like a sense of. patriotism. That's not what's been. happening, right? So that's where the.

breakdown is. I think that Markowitz is. saying is that our government's failing, and then the presence of the the Cajun. Navy is just pointing this out even. worse. And then worse than that, if we. come to rely on essentially um. crowdsourced or vigilante forms of um. like supportive efforts, whether it be. say a fire department, you know, that. just basically is a bunch of guys who. who come out on Saturday nights, but not. on Tuesday night if your house is on.

fire, to say like the Cajun Navy, who. may or may not make it out to the. natural disaster in your neck of the. woods. Like we you just can't. You can't. rely on people. They're not These people. have jobs. They have They have families. They have stuff they have to do. They're. not getting paid for this, so you. inherently can't rely on them, even. though they they are reliable people, you can't rely on them in every. situation. That's why we have these. institutions. That's why these. institutions have to be, like you said,

shored up and step up so that we don't. need the Cajun Navy. Yeah, I mean, one of the criticisms or. potential criticisms is that it might. discourage evacuation uh if the storm is. impending and people knew from the news. or social media that like, "Hey, man, the you're on the your roof, the Cajun. Navy will be there tout suite and get. you out of there with a bottle of water. in their hand." Uh a lot of people might. like not follow evacuation orders. because they're relying on something. that may happen but it may not. But you.

could also say the same for for the. government institutions, you know. Yeah, apparently uh you really as a a. government spokesperson shouldn't say. like, "It's going to be worse than this. last storm." Or "It's as bad as say this. last hurricane." Because. >> people will be like, "Oh, well, I didn't. evacuate for that and I made it through. fine, you know?" So, yeah, you can. definitely misstep. That's I think. getting people to evacuate's got to be. one of the harder things you could. possibly do. >> Oh, yeah. Uh another um criticism is. that you know, when you've got people in. there, all of a sudden there's more.

people on the scene, it could create. confusion and maybe even hazardous. situations and perhaps even a situation. where you're needing to then rescue. people from the Cajun Navy. >> Mhm. uh who have run ashore or whatever. happened that was, you know bad for. their efforts. Yeah, there's a a a rumor. that it's not true that some uh Cajun. Navy people showed up to help after or. during even Hurricane Michael and got. stranded in a hotel and had to be. rescued. And they did have to ride out. some of the storm in the hotel, but they.

didn't need to be rescued and they left. from the hotel to go help people. So, it. seems I couldn't find any instance where. somebody who is in the Cajun Navy needed. to be rescued themselves. Mhm. And that. seems like the kind of thing that would. have made news everywhere if that had. happened. So, it seems to be like a. theoretical issue that hasn't probably. happened, but could. Yeah, but it's also like. hey, we rescued 10,000 people in. Katrina, but this group of six needed. some help themselves.

It it it's sort of a flimsy argument, you know? It's it's not like every every. part of the Cajun Navy all of a sudden. all needs rescue as well, you know? Like. maybe that kind of thing could happen, but on on a pretty small scale. Agreed. Um another one is that it just. straight-up encourages vigilanteism or. vigilanteism. >> Yeah. Um and. you know, on the one hand, if the. government institutions were there, the. Cajun Navy wouldn't necessarily be there. because they wouldn't be needed.

So, there's you know, there is a a a. place for this, but. on the other hand, even if it's morally. correct in an instance, you don't you do. not want to encourage vigilanteism in. any form whatsoever because that is a. major facet of mob rule, and you don't. want mob rule. So, even though this is. this makes a lot of sense, you can make. a really good argument that if you look. far enough down the road, it's not. because how long. would it be potentially, again.

theoretically, before say a Cajun Navy. guy takes it on himself to start looking. for looters, and he starts patrolling. things with looters, and he starts. shooting at looters? Yeah. This is not. this guy's place to shoot at looters, and yet he's taking it upon himself. Like again, this hasn't happened. It's. theoretical, but the point of is is that. encouraging any form of vigilanteism. can have these knock-on effects that. says, well, if you're willing to let. people do this, this makes sense, too. So, let's start doing this as well.

Yeah, I mean that [clears throat] that. sort of I could see that happening cuz. we've seen it happen with the the straps. neighborhood watch situation. Sure. Uh. and it's not hard to draw a line there. So, yeah, I see where you're coming. from. Uh but my big thing is like to. think about the legal liabilities. Uh I don't know how it how it works when. you're an official nonprofit you know. with multi-million dollar budgets, you're way more official, but um what if. you're just one of these other sort of. uh startup Cajun Navies and something. happens where you cause the loss of life.

or you cause something terrible to. happen. Like the the liability the legal. liability and the just the sort of. ethical and moral liabilities there are. pretty tremendous. Yeah, I think people. who are like say working for a state. agency or a government agency or like. the National Guard, they are immunized. from civil lawsuits for like if they if. somebody gets injured while they're. rescuing them, you can't sue that. person. That's not true for the Cajun Navy and.

that's actually one argument um. for solving a lot of these problems is. enticing them to kind of become more. part of the larger. um search and rescue community that. responds to natural disasters, to. coordinate more with them, still Yeah. >> be a Cajun Navy, but come here and get. training. Come here and figure out how. you can coordinate with us to for all of. us to be the most effective and in. return we'll extend this legal immunity. to you uh when you're operating in these.

natural disaster areas. Yeah, but then. the headline is uh. government ruins Cajun Navy. Right. I think that's why there's some. resistance to it, but the the um I. believe both the Cajun Navy Relief and. the United Cajun Navy both require their. members to undergo training. Yeah. Like. official training, I believe, and they. they do like you said tend to coordinate. with um responders more than just like. go out and say the hell with you, I'm.

I'm going, you know? Yeah, and I'm sure. as they I mean, this was. not that long ago that all this started. up. I'm sure as it grows, if it's. allowed to grow, it will become more. rigorous in the training and you know, cuz they're they're out to do good. They. want to do good things and they want to. solve problems on the ground. So, they're not like, yeah, we don't need no. training, you know, like I'm sure given. time and you know, the donation of funds. coming in, they're they're trying to do. just that, I imagine. Right. Um so,

there are again, I think you said most. of them are for-profit, there's some. that are non-profit, and two rise to the. top again, United uh Cajun Navy and. Cajun Navy Relief. On Charity Navigator, they have uh 85 and a 87 rating. respectively, which is pretty good. Charity Navigator says you can give you. can donate to this these groups with. confidence, Yeah. That they're going to. use your your money wisely. Um I didn't. see on um Cajun Navy Relief, but I'm.

guessing it's the same. United uh Cajun. Navy, their officers, the people who run. the show, get zero-dollar compensation. Wow. So, you don't like there's they're. they're groups of these people who are. genuinely dedicated that so are doing it. right. Then there are others who are. like getting arrested for fraud. So, do. your homework before you you like make a. donation, but if you feel moved to. donate, go donate, but just do a little. bit of of research first. Don't listen.

to somebody on the internet who says, you know, stay away from this group. because this group's better. Go do your. own research, and Charity Navigator's. usually pretty good place to start. Yeah, totally. You got anything else? I got nothing else. This is a a rare. shortish long or a extra-sized short. Nice. Well put, Chuck. >> Yeah. Since Chuck said what he just. said, I think it's time for listener. mail. Uh yeah, we're going to forgo listener. mail this week just cuz we uh wanted to.

take a quick moment. We just got back. from our first tour in a year and a. half. >> Mhm. Uh, back out on the road doing. shows in Denver and Seattle, Washington, and San Francisco, California, and. >> just want to thank everybody at the the. Paramount Theater in Denver, the. Paramount in Seattle, and the Sydney. Goldstein, and. SF Sketchfest [music] who always does. such a great job. There's. Uh, I feel like we don't often thank the. people there that put these shows on, and the crews were all great. The people. that came out to see us, thank you so. much. It's hard to part with a dollar.

these days. I know times are tight. Yeah. So, we really really really. >> [music]. >> um means a lot that you would spend some. of your money to come out and hear us. talk for a couple of hours. Yeah, and. your time, and yeah, just leaving your. house is ordeal these days anyway, so. yeah, we genuinely appreciate everybody. who came out, and like that was really a. great way to get back on the road after. 18 months. >> know, it was a great welcome back, so. thank you guys. It was a lot of fun. The. show was really fun and great. Uh, and.

we say this also as a reminder that. we'll be doing shows in Madison, Wisconsin, Chicago, and Akron, Ohio. >> Mhm. before hitting the road for um. Canada this summer. And there are still. plenty of great seats, and like I said, it's a fun show. The There's a lot of. bad stuff in the news going on, and it's. it's nice to go sit around for a couple. of hours with a bunch of. curious uh smart compassionate [music]. people, which is the Stuff You Should. Know Army. That's right. Well put, Chuck. Yeah. Uh, if you want to get. tickets or whatever, I think we.

basically have like a clearing house on. stuffyoushouldknow.com, and you just. click on the on tour tab, and it will. take you to heaven. Yay. Uh, if you want to get in touch. with us in the meantime, you can send us. an email. We always love it when you. send us an [music] email. Send it off to. stuffpodcast@iheartradio.com. Stuff You Should Know is a of iHeart. Radio. >> [music]. >> For more podcasts on iHeart Radio, visit. the iHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or. wherever you listen to your favorite.

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