Laura and Kori finally are able to connect and recap after several months of life moving at the speed of a million WTFs per hour. 🙂Last time we chatted, Joe Biden was campaigning for president, Hurricane Helene hadn’t hit Appalachia yet, and Eminem wasn’t a grandfather.
In our personal lives, we chat about Kori's work with the National School Climate Center, her beloved housecleaner, preschool adjustments. Laura shares a funny story about one of her unnamed children playing the recorder and hitting a surprise note. She also talks about parenting a child who’s best friend sustained a serious injury. So many questions to answer and emotions to process. We quickly talked about the Mayor of New York’s indictment, the Diddy indictments and the weird connection to Costco baby oil, a recent Saturday Night Live cold open, how we’re rewatching movies from our childhood without kids (and noticing how much has changed socially in our lifetime) and of course, we get to the big stuff.
We point out the ridiculousness of sending billions to Israel (under a Democratic president) to purchase bombs used in a genocide while the Republican party can’t seem to find it in their hearts to vote to fund FEMA. This juxtaposition of values, investments, and lack of investment really smacks us in the face. Helene really shows us how quickly and unexpectedly we could become climate refugees - and yet the immigration crisis continues and politicians dehumanize folks who are displaced, seeking a better life - even legally! (see Haitians in Springfield, Ohio). We see how communications devices are turned into explosive devices in Lebanon as Israel attacks a sovereign nation, yet we (rightly) balk when Putin invades Ukraine. We have no coherent foreign policy and it’s so hard to stomach the hypocrisy. Same in our presidential election. We have someone with 34 felonies, twice impeached, and a convicted rapist practically tied with a woman of color who’s uniquely qualified. All this to say - vote - and look into your early voting options so you know your vote is in!
We shift to the topic of school shootings and the regular practice of lockdown drills for our little ones - and yet this topic was missing from the presidential debate?!? Kori and Laura disagree about the saliency and likelihood of change related to common sense gun reform. We pivot though to the need to see the big picture and identify the connections between the conflicts and injustices in the world. Where there is a threat to power, there is violence and oppression. Prison systems, Sudan and Congo, Israel, the NRA and guns in schools, successful Black enclaves like in Central Park. It’s all a manifestation of colonialism and white supremacy in our world.
We end in a call to look for the juxtapositions of our policies and our proclaimed values. What do we do and what do we say we care about? We remind listeners that our futures, as humans, are tied. Whatever we permit against one group of people will eventually be used against us. See the current injustices as canary in the coal mine. Find ways to resist. Use your voice, intentionally pursue joy, and exercise empathy and compassion every chance you get.
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