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Episode 68: Brave New World

Hello! Because it’s a new year, we’re trying out a new format. In addition to the audio podcast you can find here, you can watch a video version of this episode (and future episodes!) on our YouTube channel.

In this episode, we talk about our past history of making Instagram and YouTube videos, why we stopped doing that, and why we’re back now! 

We hope you enjoy the show, please feel free to follow us on Instagram (@jenn_and_dave), check out our YouTube channel, and we’ll talk again soon. 

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Episode 67: The Obligatory Year-in-Review Episode

On this week’s episode, we take a look back at the good, the bad, and the ugly of 2024. We had highlights, like our youngest daughter’s college graduation and another great trip to Ireland to see Bruce. And we had lowlights, like losing two family members over the course of two weeks and, of course, a presidential election that went sideways.

We know that we’re very fortunate and many people justifiably worry about the future (we worry too!). But we think that maintaining hope and refusing to give up is the only way forward. Don’t be naive about the challenges ahead, but don’t give in to fatalism. Get involved, stay connected, and, above all, take care of yourself — physically and mentally — so that you can be part of the solution.

We hope you enjoy the show, please feel free to follow us on Instagram (@jenn_and_dave), and we’ll talk again soon. 

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Episode 66: Christmas Memories and Lessons from Eighty Years Ago

On this week’s episode — Chili: a New Festivus Tradition. 

We also talk about our video/podcasting/social media journey and family holiday traditions.

But we spend most of the episode talking about Christmas Eve 1944, when David’s father crossed the English Channel to head into World War II, and the loss of loss of nearly 800 US soldiers on the S.S. Leopoldville that night. It’s a story that resonates now more than ever, with the rise of the far right here in America and in Germany. 

For more information on the Leopoldville disaster, check out Jacquin Sanders’ book, A Night Before Christmas: The Sinking of the Troopship Leopoldville.

Finally, we know the holidays are difficult for some and we want you to know we’re thinking about those who struggle this time of year. We hope everyone finds peace in the New Year.

So, we hope you enjoy the show, please feel free to follow us on Instagram (@jenn_and_dave), and we’ll talk again soon. 

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Episode 65: The Big Easy

This week, we take a break from politics to talk about one of our favorite places in the world: New Orleans. Jennifer spent a few days there last week for work, and we’ve made two trips together — in 1994, not long after we started dating, and for our fifth wedding anniversary in 2000. We love everything about it. The food, the music, the culture, the diversity. In many ways, it’s the most unique city in America, and yet it’s quintessentially American in its own way. 

Prof. Longhair Bust, Tipitina’s, New Orleans. Photo credit: Nola.com.

And on a related note, we talk about a local venue, FitzGerald’s Nightclub in Berwyn, Illinois, which brought the New Orleans sound to the western suburbs of Chicago all the way back in the late 1980s.

Then, we turn to New Years resolutions. Jennifer suggests two: 

  • Cutting back on food waste. Home food waste accounts for 42% of all food waste in the US by weight! So it’s well worth the effort to reduce it.
  • Cutting back on online shopping, especially on Amazon. Which is somewhat ironic, given the discussion of Christmas shopping on our last episode (but the holidays are different). Anyway, from unnecessary impulse-buying to the environmental impact of constant deliveries, this is another good idea for the new year.  

So, we hope you enjoy the show, please feel free to follow us on Instagram (@jenn_and_dave), and we’ll talk again soon. 

And if you’re ever in New Orleans, be sure to stop by Tipitina’s.

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Episode 64: Come for the Christmas Shopping, Stay for the Polio

On this week’s episode, we talk about Christmas coming up fast, Black Friday, and transitioning from shopping in malls to shopping online.

And then we turn to America’s recurring nightmare, because we can’t help ourselves.

First up: The incoming president nominating Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. to be Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services. We used to point and laugh and crazy anti-vaccine conspiracy theorists. Now one is about to run the department that basically oversees healthcare in America.

We then have a very frank conversation about the threat RFK, Jr. poses to mental health treatment in America, which could, like his opposition to vaccines, have deadly consequences.

Finally, we talk at length about this week’s oral arguments before the US Supreme Court in United States v. Skrmetti, a case in which the federal government and a number of private plaintiffs are challenging Tennessee’s outright ban on gender-affirming care for transgender youth. While the outcome of the case is far from certain, the lawyers for the US and the private plaintiffs — US Solicitor General Elizabeth Prelogar and ACLU attorney Chase Strangio (the first transgender lawyer to argue before the Supreme Court) — were just fantastic. Please listen to this extended discussion of a very important topic, and check out this excellent piece by Chris Geidner on the Skrmetti arguments. 

You can also listen to a recording or download a transcript of the oral arguments on the Supreme Court’s website.

We hope you enjoy the show, please feel free to follow us on Instagram (@jenn_and_dave), and we’ll talk again soon.

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Episode 63: ’Twas the Night Before Thanksgiving

On this week’s episode, we begin with the story of how we met on November 23, 1993, the night before Thanksgiving. We did it the old fashioned way: In a bar, forced to have an awkward conversation by well-intentioned friends. And here we are, 31 years later!

We also talk about Rep. Nancy Mace’s Michael-Richards-style meltdown over Rep.-elect Sarah McBride, who will be the first transgender member of Congress, and the Republican Party’s obsession with other people’s genitals. As Philadelphia Inquirer columnist Will Bunch pointed out last week, this is perhaps the first major moral crisis of Trump II. Long story short: we need more people, including more Democratic politicians, to speak up for Rep. McBride and the broader LGBTQIA community.

To hear more, you’ll have to listen in … but do yourself a favor and read Will Bunch’s column. It’s very good.

We hope you enjoy the show, please feel free to follow us on Instagram (@jenn_and_dave), and we’ll talk again soon.

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Episode 62: The Election, Part 2

This one actually required two takes because somebody had a hard time coping on our first attempt to record it …

Anyway, this episode focuses on the outcome of the election (as compared to last episode, recorded on election night, where we still felt some measure of hope). We talk about the consequences of the election, the impact on our mental health, and the need to vent a little. We also talk about making connections and staying connected to good people who are making the world a better place, which is more important now than ever.

And, respectfully, to all the politicians giving us their hot takes on what just happened: Please be quiet. You should be listening, not talking.

Other topics we cover include the future of education under the incoming administration, Trump’s political corruption, the (very!) slim margin of his victory, the value of immigration, and much, much more.

So stay connected, be you, be out, be loud, and don’t give up! 

We hope you enjoy the show, please feel free to follow us on Instagram (@jenn_and_dave), and we’ll talk again soon.

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Episode 61: The Election, Part 1

So we tried a kind of a thought experiment this week. We recorded this show on election night without knowing the outcome of the election. We’re going to record Part 2 now that we know the outcome, as a … contrast, we suppose.

But despite the fact that this episode is somewhat untimely, it’s still a good one. We talk about Joe Biden dropping out, Kamala Harris becoming the nominee, Tim Walz becoming the vice presidential nominee, and what’s happened since. We also talk about our hopes — now dashed — for the outcome of the election and why, no matter what happened, we have to keep fighting. And along the way, we share some words of wisdom from Tom Morello and an artist you may not be familiar with: Ian Robinson, who goes by the stage name Black Guy Fawkes.

There’s a lot more, of course — media failures, exit polling, early voting — but you’ll have to tune in to find out!

So, we hope you enjoy the show, please feel free to follow us on Instagram (@jenn_and_dave), and we’ll talk again soon.

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Episode 60: The Family Friendly(-ish) Episode

Well, except for the cursing.

This week, we leave the politics and social issues behind and and focus on the family. In a way.

We talk about planning a 30th anniversary trip (to Cornwall?), traveling for work, the challenges of having adult children, Halloween costumes past and present … and a certain somebody’s pet peeve about pop culture definition of “generations.” 

So, we hope you enjoy the show, please feel free to follow us on Instagram (@jenn_and_dave), and we’ll talk to you soon.

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Episode 59: More on Will & Harper

After talking about our Saturday morning walk (or hike, as Jennifer called it) and Illinois’ 21-7 victory over Michigan, we continue our conversation about the Netflix documentary, Will & Harper, featuring Will Ferrell and Harper Steele. We talk about the challenges of coming out late in life, the importance of having support from family and longtime friends, and dealing with the inevitable haters.

But you’ll have to listen in to find out more!

So, we hope you enjoy the show, please feel free to follow us on Instagram (@jenn_and_dave), and we’ll talk to you soon.

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