Episode 51: Time Warp

Hey, we’re back already! After a less-than-consistent podcasting schedule, we’re posting an episode for the second week in a row. Which is pretty remarkable, all things considered.

This week we talk about using people’s preferred names. That is, everybody’s preferred names. Not just trans and nonbinary people. It’s a sign of respect and you should get in the habit of doing it.

On a sort of related note, we talk about the term nibling, a gender-neutral collective term for nieces and nephews, which is particularly useful if you have nonbinary relatives with that relation to you. Again, it’s all about treating people with respect.

And because we’ve been inconsistent with posting lately, we talk about trying to record and post more often and suggest that you might be interested in some of our earlier episodes, including Episodes 49 and 50, in which we talk about our recent trip to Ireland to see Bruce Springsteen and a host of other things.

That leads us to revisit our recent impromptu/informal high school “reunion” and how we reconnected with old friends. We also spend some time talking about maintaining lifelong friendships and how valuable they can be for your mental health. And we talk about surprise parties, which are somehow related to this topic. You’ll just have to trust us.

From there, we recap our past couple of weeks, including walking in the Chicago Pride Parade with Lambda Legal, a fantastic organization that advocates (and litigates!) for LGBTQIA+ individuals and people living with HIV. We did an awful lot of walking that day — and struggled to find parking, as you do in Chicago — but it was a great time.

Finally, we talk about our youngest daughter’s college graduation party, living in a swamp, and the curious (and annoying!) morning time warp. Which is an appropriate way to wrap up this episode!

So, we hope you enjoy the show, and please feel free to follow us on Instagram (@jenn_and_dave). You can also follow us on the site formerly known as Twitter, where our joint account is @JennandDave1 and the podcast account is @itsotetPodcast. Until next time! 

Episode 48: Civil Rights Galas, College Graduations, Kind Words, and Bruce in Ireland

In this week’s episode, we talk about Lambda Legal’s Bon Foster Civil Rights Celebration at the Art Institute of Chicago, for which Dave is on the host committee. It’s not too late to make a donation to this fantastic organization, which has been fighting for LGBTQIA+ rights for more than 50 years. 

Then, Jennifer gives a recap of her fun but very hectic trip to San Antonio last weekend, we talk about our youngest’s college graduation this weekend, and the importance of sharing kind and supportive words … even if it doesn’t come naturally to some of us!

Finally, we spend some time talking about our upcoming trip to Ireland to see Bruce Springsteen (again!), Bruce’s European tour opener in Cardiff, and his (first ever?) performance in Belfast, a city that could use a lot of love.

We hope you enjoy the show, and please feel free to follow us on Instagram (@jenn_and_dave). You can also follow us on the site formerly known as Twitter, where our joint account is @JennandDave1 and the podcast account is @itsotetPodcast. Until next time

Episode 42: Channeling Difficult Emotions

Since we rebooted our podcast, we begin this week’s show discussing topics we plan to cover going forward, including familiar themes such as LGBTQIA+ rights, family, and music, and new(ish) themes like cooking and physical and mental health.

From there, we discuss the tragic death of indigenous nonbinary teenager Nex Benedict after a brutal attack at a high school in Oklahoma, and the range of emotions their death evokes: anger, rage, frustration, despair. But, more importantly, we talk about how to channel those emotions in a constructive and positive way, because losing hope is not an option.

To that end, we also talk about an important fundraising project we are involved in: the annual Lambda Legal Bon Foster Civil Rights Celebration in Chicago, which takes place on Friday, May 10, at 6:30 p.m. Central at the Art Institute. Please consider joining us if you can, and, if that’s not possible, please consider making a donation to Lambda Legal, one of the country’s oldest, largest, and most successful legal organizations fighting for LGBTQIA+ Americans and people living with HIV.

Above all, to paraphrase the late, great Joe Strummer of the Clash, we urge everyone who’s feeling justifiable anger today to turn that anger into power.

So, we hope you enjoy the show, and please feel free to follow us on Instagram (@jenn_and_dave). You can also follow us on the site formerly known as Twitter. Our joint account is @JennandDave1 and the podcast account is @itsotetPodcast. Until next time!