Episode 46: Music for All Occasions

We take the title for this week’s episode from a 1995 album by one of our favorite groups, the Mavericks. But more on that later.

We start out with an update on our local walking club, which we joined a few weeks back despite some initial … hesitation. Turns out, it’s been a lot of fun and we’re glad we joined. Then we discuss our upcoming schedule. We will be out of the box for most of May, going to our youngest child’s college graduation followed by yet another trip to Ireland. 

At least we have excuses this time. And we’re telling you up front!

After that, we circle back to last week’s topic — mental health. And, in particular, how to manage your mental health on social media. This week’s story begins with an infamous comment by an infamous billionaire author who’s made it her life’s work to trash trans and nonbinary people, and what happens to normal people when they push back. We talk about the positive side of social media (that it can give you a voice when you feel like you don’t have one) and the negative side (that angry mobs will try to silence you if you challenge their narrow-mindedness). And then we talk about the strategies that work for some of us: Don’t engage the haters. Instead, go ahead and block them, mute them, and leave conversations to protect your own mental health. These strategies may not work for everyone, but they give many of us peace of mind while still allowing us to have our say.

We then turn to much happier topics: Seeing the above-mentioned Mavericks in concert this past weekend for what is at least the sixth, if not seventh, time. From the first time we saw them at a small club in the Chicago suburb’s touring in support of their 1994 LP, What a Crying Shame, to this most recent show, they’ve never let us down. Their music spans country, rock, blues, and Latin, but it’s all universally fun. And they’re fantastic musicians, which doesn’t hurt. They also have a new album coming out called Moon and Stars which will be available on May 17. We’re really looking forward to that.

Finally, we talk about an interesting new album called Petty Country: A Musical Celebration of Tom Petty. As the name suggests, the album consists of twenty covers of Tom Petty songs by a diverse group of country artists, including Chris Stapleton, Luke Combs, the Brothers Osborne, Willie and Lukas Nelson, Margot Price, Wynonna Judd, Marty Stuart, Steve Earle, George Strait, and Rhiannon Giddens. We’re not entirely sure what to expect, but we’re looking forward to giving it a spin.

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 23: On the Road Again

On this week’s episode: cats don’t worry about other people’s chosen names and pronouns, so you shouldn’t either. We also revisit an old classic: the Boy Scouts of America, an organization notorious for its homophobia in the 1980s and ’90s, recently settled decades of child sex abuse claims for a cool $2.5 billion, and yet your favorite online transphobes — you know, the ones who claim to care so much about other people’s kids — remained predictably silent. It’s almost like they’re more interested in distracting attention away from real abusers than they are in keeping kids safe … 

But we spend most of this week’s episode talking about one of our favorite bands, The Mavericks. We just got back from seeing the alt-country, Latin-influenced icons in Milwaukee (a greatly underrated city, by the way), and, as always, they were outstanding. We’ve followed The Mavericks since the mid-’90s and it’s hard to explain just how great they are in concert. You just have to see them for yourselves.

And speaking of traveling to see bands, next month we’re off to Ireland to see Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band in Dublin, which means that we will take a two-week break after next week’s show. But don’t worry. We’ll have lots to talk about, not the least of which will involve driving stick-shift on the wrong side of the road.

Finally, we wrap up the show with a funny incident that happened last week: somebody hacked notorious anti-LGBTQIA troll Matt Walsh’s Twitter account, and hilarity ensued.

So, please enjoy this week’s episode, feel free to share your thoughts in the comments, and, as always, support the rights of LGBTQIA people everywhere! And if you’re new here, you can also follow our Twitter account, @itsotetPodcast.

Episode 11: Our Favorite Artists

On this week’s show, in light of the unexpected, tragic death of the Foo Fighters’ beloved drummer, Taylor Hawkins, and our upcoming appearances on Jesse Jackson’s Set Lusting Bruce podcast, we talk about some of our favorite musicians and bands — artists who are not only incredibly talented, but also genuinely decent and compassionate people:

  • Garland Jeffreys
  • Living Colour and Vernon Reid
  • The Mavericks
  • Rosanne Cash
  • The Clash and Joe Strummer
  • Billy Bragg
  • Tom Petty
  • Los Lobos

Great artists you can enjoy without shame!

Please listen to this week’s episode, feel free to share your thoughts in the comments, and, as always, support the rights of LGBTQ+ people everywhere!

And keep an eye out for a special episode this Thursday in honor of Trans Day of Visibility.