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Episode 72: Understanding Our Transgender Friends and Family

Inspired, in part, by the new Amazon Prime series Clean Slate starring George Wallace, Laverne Cox, and Telma Hopkins, we take a different approach to this week’s show: We talk directly to those of you who may be confused about transgender people, who are both increasingly visible and increasingly under attack these days. We understand that many of you — many of us — grew up without learning or being taught accurate information about sex, gender, and sexual identity, and so many of us labor under misconceptions about our transgender friends, family members, and neighbors. But that can change if we approach these subjects in good faith, with an open mind, and an acceptance of our shared humanity.

So, with that in mind, we consider some common questions that we think many people are unclear about:

  • What does it mean to be transgender?
  • According to science, aren’t there only two genders and two sexes? For some background information that may be helpful, please read this Scientific American article. 
  • Isn’t this a “new” thing? How come I never heard of transgender people before?
  • Hasn’t the number of kids identifying as transgender exploded in recent years? Aren’t adults “indoctrinating” them?
  • What about kids getting gender affirming care? Isn’t that dangerous and won’t they regret permanent or life-altering treatment? This article in Mother Jones provides some useful statistical information. 
  • Isn’t it unfair to allow transgender athletes to compete in girls’/women’s sports?

Please listen to our answers to these questions. We think they may help people are confused and don’t know what to think. And, if you are interested, please watch this interview with George Wallace an Telma Hopkins on Clean Slate.

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 and on Instagram (@jenn_and_dave).

We hope you enjoy the show, please feel free to leave us a comment, and we’ll talk again soon. 

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Episode 71: The Upheaval Continues

Someday, we may be able to post an episode without talking about the madness of the Trump Administration. But today is not that day. Because the second week was even worse than the first.

In this episode, we talk about the blitzkrieg of executive orders coming from the White House, from their attempts to stop spending money that Congress already appropriated to their assault on government employees and their psychotic obsession with “DEI.” 

We talk about the real-world impacts of Trump’s drunken road-rage of a presidency so far, including his attacks on accessibility, gutting federal agencies, turning over confidential private information to Elon Musk and his gang of hackers, and an old favorite … tariffs that are almost certainly going to raise prices and crash the economy.

On the topic of accessibility and inclusion, we spoke about Jennifer’s former employer designing a locker room for everyone.

And then there’s that “blatantly unconstitutional” executive order on birthright citizenship …

Finally, we end the show with some thoughts about DEI and how it functions in the real world. Hint: it’s about economic justice as much as anything else.

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 and on Instagram (@jenn_and_dave).

We hope you enjoy the show, please feel free to leave us a comment, and we’ll talk again soon. 

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Episode 70: Airing of Grievances

We got a lot of problems with you people. Well, maybe not you people, but … some people.

In this episode, we talk about the chaos that followed Monday’s inauguration and the never-ending stream of outrages coming from the new administration. In no particular order, we talk about Trump attacking transgender people, rescinding a 60-year-old executive order on race discrimination, raising tariffs, and gutting the federal government; Bishop Budde’s sermon and the rightwing reaction to it; Elon Musk’s unmistakable Nazi salute … and a whole lot more.

We also revisit the discussion of the Equal Rights Amendment that we began last week, and we’re less optimistic than we might have been.

Finally, with Holocaust Remembrance Day on Monday, we talk about the importance of speaking up, how ordinary people have answered the call in times of crisis, and how we should be those people today.

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 and on Instagram (@jenn_and_dave).

We hope you enjoy the show, please feel free to leave us a comment, and we’ll talk again soon. 

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Episode 69: Where Do We Go From Here?

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 Bob Uecker’s passing, the ban on TikTok, Trump’s inauguration on MLK Day, of all days, Jimmy Carter’s legacy, Ronald Reagan ruining everything, and dreading the next four years. 

And, as a teaser for our next episode … just how many amendments does our Constitution have? 

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 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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