Season 2 trailer: Plan Be

As the pandemic drags on and the American project feels like it’s spiralling out of control, hope can feel hard to come by. What’s an ordinary person to do? Especially if you're more comfortable ghosting family members with different political beliefs than engaging them, and clicktivism is your idea of getting involved. Join hosts Kelley Lynch and Cindy Sealls in Washington, DC and Obaidul Fattah Tanvir in Bangladesh as they step outside their comfort zones and embark on "Plan Be"— a project to live more in line with at least a few of their loftier ideals by cultivating connection, community and conversation in their own backyards one episode at a time.

Ride along at our new website:  www.anewnormalpodcast.com

The theme music is Fragilistic by Ketsa
licensed under CC BY NC ND 4.0

Episode Transcript

Kelley Lynch (00:06):
Great.
Hey, are you ready to go?
Yeah.
Okay.
You got your mask?
You got your hand sanitizer?
Alright, come on.
Let's go.

Cindy Sealls (00:24):
I need my glasses.
Okay.
Yeah.
So where are we going?
We're going to go start our newseason.
Alright, let's go.

(00:51):
Mask on.
Mask on.
Windows down.

(01:11):
No, we're not listening to this.

Obaidul Fattah Tanvir (01:19):
I'm not really a big fan of this.

Kelley Lynch (01:22):
Tanvir! What are you doing here?

Cindy Sealls (01:23):
I thought you were in Bangladesh.

Obaidul Fattah Tanvir (01:26):
I don't want to miss this virtual road
trip.

Kelley Lynch (01:27):
I'm glad you're with us.
It wouldn't be the same withoutyou.

Obaidul Fattah Tanvir (01:33):
I'm glad to be here.

Kelley Lynch (01:40):
Oh wait.
Here.
I think you guys are going tolike this...

(02:02):
Hey, I'm Kelly Lynch.
Welcome to Season Two of A NewNormal.
You know, these days it's hardto imagine, but there was once a
time when the pandemic was noveland we thought it would be
short-lived those of you who'vebeen with us awhile may remember
this moment from our very firstepisode:

Cindy Sealls (02:22):
when it first started.
I mean, I hate to even admit it.
I remember being at work and Iwas telling people and I was so
excited.
I'm excited.
And they were going, what iswrong with you?

(02:42):
Like you're, that's more of it.
I was like, no, no.
I just feel like, you know, I'vealways studied history and I
love it.
And, but I never felt like Ilived through it where I was
actually conscious of what wasgoing on.
Yes.
I lived Kennedy assassination,Malcolm X and King and the
riots, but I was too young toknow what the heck was going on.

(03:08):
Now.
I can totally get my head aroundthis and realize, Holy shit, the
world is going on, which is whatI've always thought about.
What were people going throughwhen the depression hit?
What were they thinking about inthe civil rights movement?

(03:29):
God remember all those kidsgoing to Vietnam.
I wonder what people thoughtabout that.
And they were going, holy shit!

Kelley Lynch (03:42):
These days Cindy's finished with history, but
history is not finished withher.
It's taken over her mentalspace.

Cindy Sealls (03:51):
I would really hate to be laying in my casket
thinking I'm in here because myson wanted to go get a Whopper
during a pandemic

Kelley Lynch (04:07):
And even invaded her dreams.

Cindy Sealls (04:12):
This is really getting to me this whole covid
political situation.
It's so bad that Donald Trump isin my dream and I'm in a room
with a bunch of people.
And I'm trying to get out of theroom because I realize the viral
load is going to be too much.

Kelley Lynch (04:36):
As for me, my restlessness has returned.
I can't remember the last time Ispent more than six consecutive
months at home.
I'm really enjoying my firstever crop of homegrown tomatoes,
but I do really miss being outand about in the world.
I haven't picked up my camerafor months and I miss the
opportunities to connect withpeople in places that being a

(04:58):
photographer, For his part,Tanvir has grudgingly accepted
the Groundhog day tedium ofworking from home.
He now marks time by thereemergence of hair on the heads
of his wife and daughter, bothof them decided to shave their
heads to cope with Bangladesh'ssummer heat.
And because they knew it wouldbe many months before they had

(05:21):
to go anymore.
So when it comes to thepandemic, it has lingered long
enough to become by and largepart of the background noise of
our lives, masks and sanitizer,social distancing, all of these
are just our new normal.

(05:59):
But that doesn't mean things areall bad.
In many ways for us, they'reactually pretty good.
Podcasting has become our newnormal.
Just saying we have a podcasthas opened the door to talking
with all sorts of interestingpeople about the impact COVID
has had on work, traveleducation, the environment.

(06:22):
And what we've learned is thatas much as COVID has been a
nuisance, a disaster and atragedy, it's also been an
opportunity.
It has sparked tremendousstrength and creativity and
propelled us into ways of livingand working and relating that
were unthinkable just a yearago.

(06:44):
And yet this microscopic virushas also exposed the all too
obvious fault lines in theAmerican project.
So much so that some days hopecan feel hard to come by.
I mean, there is so much goingon and it's all so big and so

(07:06):
overwhelming.
And so out of the realm ofanything that an ordinary person
has agency over, that it feelsparalyzing.
Our first guest, this season hassome advice:

Baratunde Thurston (07:19):
"Start something, find your thing.
And to the extent that it alignswith something you're passionate
about or competent at all thebetter, what are you good at?
What are you interested ingetting good at and take some of
that energy that's going intodissecting and what if and the
scenarios and the election.

(07:42):
So take those minutes, takethose hours and invest them in
we, not just me.

Kelley Lynch (07:49):
But start what, because when it comes to
investing in, we, I haven'texactly been the living
embodiment of the kinds ofchanges I'd like to see in the
world.
I've refused to engage inconversations with people I
disagree with politically, evenif it meant ghosting members of
my own family, I spent a lot oftime complaining about what's

(08:13):
wrong with any number of things,but when it comes to taking
action, pretty much only engagedin clicktivism.
I've forgotten everything.
I once memorized for my highschool civics exams about how
the government works, ditto, thenames and dates that once passed
from my understanding of U Shistory.

(08:34):
I voted party line because Icouldn't be bothered to do the
research and I've gotten highagain and again on the divisive
political crack in my Facebookfeed, Cindy, who's one of the
most open minded people.
I know.
I mean, how many people do youknow who have switched from
being an evangelical Christianto a Quaker said her biggest

(08:57):
challenge still lies inlistening with an open mind to
people who believe differentlythan she does.
And Tanvir, who's always, sowell-informed said that one of
his biggest struggles isventuring out of his go to news
bubble to study the issues frommultiple perspectives.

(09:19):
The three of us agree, it's timeto expect more of ourselves, a
country, a government, asociety, and a community are
each just a collection ofindividuals and how we act in
the plural starts with how weact in the singular with that in

(09:40):
mind, how could we holdourselves to a higher standard,
put another way?
And I will be the first to admitthat this sounds super corny,
even though it really shouldn't,how could we embody the changes
we'd like to see in the world?
This time, the travelrestrictions of the pandemic put

us exactly where we need to be: right in our own backyard. (10:03):
undefined
And so we invite you to join usas we set off in search of
another new normal—one thatreimagines a future that starts
with each one of us.
This season, we'll do thingslike get to know our neighbors.

(10:25):
And we are lucky to have peoplein this neighborhood who
literally come from every partof the world.
We'll also get to know moreabout the past that has shaped
our present so that we can useit to help us create a better
future.
We'll try to find the fun andcivics and put ourselves on a
balanced news diet.

(10:47):
We will consult long deadphilosophers and their modern
counterparts for advice on howto live well in difficult times.
And we'll invest some seriousenergy in learning how to have
civil and productiveconversations with people who
see things very differently thanwe do.
Our virtual car would be evenbetter imagined as a virtual

(11:10):
bus.
And we'd be more than happy toshare the driving.
Maybe you've started your own bethe change project.
And you've got stories to share,or maybe you've got ideas about
people we should talk to orthings we should look into,
whatever the case we'd love tohear from you.
Like all the best journeys.
We're not exactly sure wherewe'll end up or what we'll

(11:32):
encounter along the way, but welook forward to figuring it out
together.
One episode at a time.