February 17, 2025 • 8 mins
The new US administration has launched a lot of attacks against DEI initiatives, including attempting to erase things like Black History month. And big companies like Google are following suit.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:05):
Hey, this is Anny and Samantha, and welcome to stuff.
Speaker 2 (00:07):
Will never told you, but actually if I heard you,
And today's date is February fourteenth, Happy twenty five.
Speaker 1 (00:23):
Happy Valentine's Day, Samantha, Happy Valentiz again.
Speaker 2 (00:27):
Yeah, yeah, which is kind of relevant to what we're
talking about today, which is calendars. So I mentioned the
date because we're kind of talking about politics today and
things are so rapidly changing. As Samantha mentioned recently, the
current administration has been really really aggressive with the executive
(00:51):
orders and rolling back anything even remotely remotely possibly related
to DEI are just related to marginalized communities in general.
Since as this comes out, it is President's Day, which
I think we have off, it's funny to me how
many holidays I'm not entirely sure we have off. I'll
(01:12):
be working that day because an unfortunate.
Speaker 1 (01:14):
Thing, but I must work.
Speaker 2 (01:17):
But I did want to stop and talk about all
of the months and holidays at the administration is trying
to erase, and not just the administration, because we are
currently seeing huge tech companies absolutely fall in line with
Trump and his extreme policies around this. So in late
January early February, people started noticing that Google has started
(01:39):
removing things from their calendar. Black History Month, Women's History Month,
Holocaust Remembrance Day, Pride Month, Hispanic Heritage Month, and Jewish
American Heritage Month, Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month,
National American Indian Heritage Month, National Disability Employment Awareness Month, Well,
things like Columbus Day, which I thought was gone already
(02:01):
but all right here it's back, and President's Day remain.
Speaker 1 (02:08):
Okay.
Speaker 2 (02:10):
Obviously this caused a big backlash, but the company claims
that this is something that they started implementing last year
because it quote wasn't scalable and that they just couldn't
keep up with all the events and holidays and observances
around the world.
Speaker 1 (02:25):
But the timing is very interesting. I think we can
say they.
Speaker 2 (02:29):
Were basically like, we can't keep up with all of them,
and people rightfully mocked them for it because they're this
huge company.
Speaker 1 (02:36):
That collects data anyway that.
Speaker 3 (02:41):
Has decided to do calendars as part of their thing,
but they can't do it. Also, what does a racing
have to do with keeping up? There's more work to
erase it than it is to leave it.
Speaker 2 (02:51):
That's true, it was already there. It was already there.
And also, weirdly enough, some of their doodles, like the
Google Doodle, still observe these occasions, like there was a
Black History Month one, there was a lunar New Year one.
They also have curated playlists around things like this. So okay,
(03:13):
Outside of Google and Tech, the Defense Intelligence Agency removed
a video about the Tuskegee Airmen, which was a group
of segregated black men who fought for the US and
World War Two. It eventually was restored after a pushback,
but I'm not.
Speaker 1 (03:26):
Sure if it's still up.
Speaker 2 (03:28):
A part of the reason Black History Month is celebrated
in February has to do with Douglas Day, celebrated for
Frederick Douglas's birthday on February fourteenth, which again timely as
we record this, this was something segregated schools in DC
would celebrate in nineteen twenty six that grew into a
week long remembrance and also involved Lincoln's birthday. In the seventies,
(03:49):
it became Black History Month. Since nineteen ninety six, every
US president has released an official proclamation about Black History Month,
but not now a right, so Google, along with a
lot of other tech companies and other companies at large
pretty much eliminated their DEI initiatives with the reasoning that
they are a federal contractor and have to comply with
(04:11):
the administration's policies. Just a reminder, Google's company slogan is
do no Evil. So more than five hundred million people
use Google Calendar me included, So this is a big deal.
It feels like kind of a small thing to talk about,
but it communicates so much and I do use it.
(04:32):
Samantha and I literally we work on this show and
we forgot.
Speaker 1 (04:36):
It was Women's History Month in March. Yep.
Speaker 2 (04:41):
Yeah, but I mean to us, it's always Women's History Month.
Speaker 1 (04:44):
But correct.
Speaker 2 (04:45):
And that's gonna be the That's going to be the
case with us with all of these things. We're gonna
keep talking about them no matter the month, and especially
during the month, no matter what they say. But it
is kind of it was a nice reminder. You'd be like, oh, yes,
thank you, it is women's history.
Speaker 1 (05:01):
Fine.
Speaker 2 (05:03):
On top of that, both Google and Apple have changed
the name of the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf
of America on their maps. Also, if you're interested, probably
not surprising, but this is a hugely contentious point in
terms of borders and wars, Like there's a I believe
there's a whole episode on tech stuff about Google Maps
(05:25):
and how it the borders impact wars, So look into that.
I know that's not related to calendars. I just want
to put that in there. And then also just to mention,
I've been talking about this anecdotally with a lot of
my friends, but we've also done research. Some of it
is in our Manisphere episode. But the misogyny online is
(05:45):
getting really it's getting worse, and it's spreading to offline
spaces too. And yeah, like I said, we're going to
keep doing this stuff beyond the months. During the month
all of this as an intersextional feminist podcast, it does matter.
(06:06):
And obviously black history exists whether a president endorses it
or not, and black activists have been fighting to preserve
it for so long, so we need to elevate these
things at all times. But it is very troubling because
so many people do use things like Google Calendar. Yeah,
(06:27):
that's that. That's where we are, and it's so it's
changing so quickly. We'll see what happens. Because there is
a lot of tech knowlogy things we need to talk about.
And luckily friend of the show, Bridget is coming back.
She is so good at illuminating this is very complex
(06:49):
and distressing situations and providing resources. So that's very exciting.
But there's a lot going on when it comes to
technology and all of these things.
Speaker 3 (07:01):
Right, and one of the ways of that we are
rebelling is making sure that we are not a part
of being that erasure. And I would say I say
this as a royal we you the listener, and us
as a host coming together like acknowledging that yes, yeah,
keep doing it.
Speaker 1 (07:20):
Yes, say say in Star Wars, Welcome to the Rebellion,
come on.
Speaker 3 (07:25):
Waiting.
Speaker 1 (07:29):
It's the first thing I hear first. She was so excited.
Speaker 2 (07:33):
Sorry, but yes, listeners, if you would like to contact us,
you can and gruding on some of these many platforms.
You can email us at Hello at stephone Never Told
You dot com. You can find us on zuu sky
at mom Stuff podcast, or on Instagram and TikTok at
steffone Never Told You for us on YouTube. We have
a tea public store, and we have a book you
can get wherever you get your books. Thanks as always
(07:55):
to hear a super producer Christine, our executive producer Maya,
and your contributor Joey. Thank you and thanks to you
for listening. Stephane never told you his protection of iHeart Radio.
For more podcasts from My Heart Radio, you can check
out the heart Radio app. I have a podcast or
where you listen to favorite shows
Hey, this is Anny and Samantha, and welcome to stuff.
Speaker 2 (00:07):
Will never told you, but actually if I heard you,
And today's date is February fourteenth, Happy twenty five.
Speaker 1 (00:23):
Happy Valentine's Day, Samantha, Happy Valentiz again.
Speaker 2 (00:27):
Yeah, yeah, which is kind of relevant to what we're
talking about today, which is calendars. So I mentioned the
date because we're kind of talking about politics today and
things are so rapidly changing. As Samantha mentioned recently, the
current administration has been really really aggressive with the executive
(00:51):
orders and rolling back anything even remotely remotely possibly related
to DEI are just related to marginalized communities in general.
Since as this comes out, it is President's Day, which
I think we have off, it's funny to me how
many holidays I'm not entirely sure we have off. I'll
(01:12):
be working that day because an unfortunate.
Speaker 1 (01:14):
Thing, but I must work.
Speaker 2 (01:17):
But I did want to stop and talk about all
of the months and holidays at the administration is trying
to erase, and not just the administration, because we are
currently seeing huge tech companies absolutely fall in line with
Trump and his extreme policies around this. So in late
January early February, people started noticing that Google has started
(01:39):
removing things from their calendar. Black History Month, Women's History Month,
Holocaust Remembrance Day, Pride Month, Hispanic Heritage Month, and Jewish
American Heritage Month, Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month,
National American Indian Heritage Month, National Disability Employment Awareness Month, Well,
things like Columbus Day, which I thought was gone already
(02:01):
but all right here it's back, and President's Day remain.
Speaker 1 (02:08):
Okay.
Speaker 2 (02:10):
Obviously this caused a big backlash, but the company claims
that this is something that they started implementing last year
because it quote wasn't scalable and that they just couldn't
keep up with all the events and holidays and observances
around the world.
Speaker 1 (02:25):
But the timing is very interesting. I think we can
say they.
Speaker 2 (02:29):
Were basically like, we can't keep up with all of them,
and people rightfully mocked them for it because they're this
huge company.
Speaker 1 (02:36):
That collects data anyway that.
Speaker 3 (02:41):
Has decided to do calendars as part of their thing,
but they can't do it. Also, what does a racing
have to do with keeping up? There's more work to
erase it than it is to leave it.
Speaker 2 (02:51):
That's true, it was already there. It was already there.
And also, weirdly enough, some of their doodles, like the
Google Doodle, still observe these occasions, like there was a
Black History Month one, there was a lunar New Year one.
They also have curated playlists around things like this. So okay,
(03:13):
Outside of Google and Tech, the Defense Intelligence Agency removed
a video about the Tuskegee Airmen, which was a group
of segregated black men who fought for the US and
World War Two. It eventually was restored after a pushback,
but I'm not.
Speaker 1 (03:26):
Sure if it's still up.
Speaker 2 (03:28):
A part of the reason Black History Month is celebrated
in February has to do with Douglas Day, celebrated for
Frederick Douglas's birthday on February fourteenth, which again timely as
we record this, this was something segregated schools in DC
would celebrate in nineteen twenty six that grew into a
week long remembrance and also involved Lincoln's birthday. In the seventies,
(03:49):
it became Black History Month. Since nineteen ninety six, every
US president has released an official proclamation about Black History Month,
but not now a right, so Google, along with a
lot of other tech companies and other companies at large
pretty much eliminated their DEI initiatives with the reasoning that
they are a federal contractor and have to comply with
(04:11):
the administration's policies. Just a reminder, Google's company slogan is
do no Evil. So more than five hundred million people
use Google Calendar me included, So this is a big deal.
It feels like kind of a small thing to talk about,
but it communicates so much and I do use it.
(04:32):
Samantha and I literally we work on this show and
we forgot.
Speaker 1 (04:36):
It was Women's History Month in March. Yep.
Speaker 2 (04:41):
Yeah, but I mean to us, it's always Women's History Month.
Speaker 1 (04:44):
But correct.
Speaker 2 (04:45):
And that's gonna be the That's going to be the
case with us with all of these things. We're gonna
keep talking about them no matter the month, and especially
during the month, no matter what they say. But it
is kind of it was a nice reminder. You'd be like, oh, yes,
thank you, it is women's history.
Speaker 1 (05:01):
Fine.
Speaker 2 (05:03):
On top of that, both Google and Apple have changed
the name of the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf
of America on their maps. Also, if you're interested, probably
not surprising, but this is a hugely contentious point in
terms of borders and wars, Like there's a I believe
there's a whole episode on tech stuff about Google Maps
(05:25):
and how it the borders impact wars, So look into that.
I know that's not related to calendars. I just want
to put that in there. And then also just to mention,
I've been talking about this anecdotally with a lot of
my friends, but we've also done research. Some of it
is in our Manisphere episode. But the misogyny online is
(05:45):
getting really it's getting worse, and it's spreading to offline
spaces too. And yeah, like I said, we're going to
keep doing this stuff beyond the months. During the month
all of this as an intersextional feminist podcast, it does matter.
(06:06):
And obviously black history exists whether a president endorses it
or not, and black activists have been fighting to preserve
it for so long, so we need to elevate these
things at all times. But it is very troubling because
so many people do use things like Google Calendar. Yeah,
(06:27):
that's that. That's where we are, and it's so it's
changing so quickly. We'll see what happens. Because there is
a lot of tech knowlogy things we need to talk about.
And luckily friend of the show, Bridget is coming back.
She is so good at illuminating this is very complex
(06:49):
and distressing situations and providing resources. So that's very exciting.
But there's a lot going on when it comes to
technology and all of these things.
Speaker 3 (07:01):
Right, and one of the ways of that we are
rebelling is making sure that we are not a part
of being that erasure. And I would say I say
this as a royal we you the listener, and us
as a host coming together like acknowledging that yes, yeah,
keep doing it.
Speaker 1 (07:20):
Yes, say say in Star Wars, Welcome to the Rebellion,
come on.
Speaker 3 (07:25):
Waiting.
Speaker 1 (07:29):
It's the first thing I hear first. She was so excited.
Speaker 2 (07:33):
Sorry, but yes, listeners, if you would like to contact us,
you can and gruding on some of these many platforms.
You can email us at Hello at stephone Never Told
You dot com. You can find us on zuu sky
at mom Stuff podcast, or on Instagram and TikTok at
steffone Never Told You for us on YouTube. We have
a tea public store, and we have a book you
can get wherever you get your books. Thanks as always
(07:55):
to hear a super producer Christine, our executive producer Maya,
and your contributor Joey. Thank you and thanks to you
for listening. Stephane never told you his protection of iHeart Radio.
For more podcasts from My Heart Radio, you can check
out the heart Radio app. I have a podcast or
where you listen to favorite shows
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