Here's To You, Dear Listeners: 2023 Q&A

doesn't count. You can recite all your material from last year. Hey, okay, so what we're gonna do today because it's today's a half week because there was a holiday that you might have heard about called the twelve Days of Christmas or whatever the funk I don't know. Yeah, that's it. Today we're going to be answering your questions. The star of the show is you, dear listener, at least those of you who sent us Twitter and Instagram questions in the

past twenty four hours. Well, our past twenty four hours were forty eight hours ago to twenty four hours ago. Time as time is not real. It is not real, as evidenced by the fact that is currently three years long. It's certainly it certainly is. I guess so good used. People are like, oh, yeah, during the pandemic, and I'm like, what, We're still in the fucking pandemic. We are, we are, We're not in the pandemic. We've always been in the pandemic.

We certainly are before time. Is there an illusion? Well, Margaret, let's get this out of the way. Okay, what for you defines a cool person? Margaret Killjoy? Ah, I would say someone who fights against bad stuff, even if they do it imperfectly. That's how I pick my guests, not my guests, well that too, some globle. That's how I pick my subjects, as people who fight against the bad things in the best way that they that they can. And I guess I would also say that it's like

someone who does what's right rather than what's safe. I think that's like the kind of thing that we can all on some level aspire to, which doesn't mean that danger for the sake of danger is what's right, but that we should actually act to stop bad things because there's bad things. I don't know if you knew about that, Sophie, No, I never heard of that. All sunshine and snowflake, Yeah, snowflakes like snow because snow is nice. It wasn't a

reference to the stupid. Not everything's cultural war, Sophie. Not everything's culture where then you name me Sophie. Yeah, well I don't know what that is, because I don't know what a bad thing is. So okay, all right, magpie, let's start with a a fun one. Somebody says, my breakfast lately has been a whole potato with salt grow or against, And I mean, I know how you're going to answer this. There's only one right answer to this. Yes, basically pro. I mean, it is a fair amount of work.

I guess if you're like microwaving it, it's a little bit faster, but like a whole potato, start the day off, right, Let's season that ship. Yeah, maybe get some protein in there somehow, but I don't stress about it. It was perfect, nothing wrong with it. If you could interview any of the cool people you've talked about so far, who would it be. I think I would interview Louise Michelle. I'm like surprised you didn't say I'm a Goldman. I know, okay, so like I would have thought I'm a goldman, but

I'm a Goldman. I feel like I like understand a little bit more, maybe because it's like that's who everyone I know talks about. I'm a Goldman, you know, did all this for people who miss these episodes. I'm a Goldman was early twentieth century, like nineteenth century, um anarchist orator who did all kinds of amazing stuff like fight for birth control and travel around the world and do

all this amazing stuff. Um. But Louise Michelle was a kind of a little bit her predecessor, the like people called her, like sort of the anarchist none of the Paris Commune and the time after the Paris Commune, and and I just feel like she would have like so much more to say about the part of history that I don't understand as much about like this, like this formation of all of these leftist ideologies that later end

up impacting the twentieth century so dramatically. And also I just want to know whether she was gay or ace. Like she was either gay or ace, and either way that's fucking cool with me. But I just want to know. I want to know which fair for me. For me, it would be the fucking Bobby you got, I know, are you thinking, how does that math that up? It doesn't and that's okay. Yeah, it would be the last interview you ever do unless you get it just right. Unless you get it just right, I just think the

supernatural of it all would be so fun. Yeah. Oh, this is a great question, Margaret. What authors inspired you to start writing yourself? Okay, So there's like two things it inspire me to write. One is whenever I read really shitty books published by mainstream presses and I'm like, oh, I could do better than that, right, um, Like, do you ever have that you like listen to? I don't know, for you, maybe be like you listen to a podcast and you're like, well, I I could do better that.

Oh oh yes. And then also for me, it's like whenever I like read fantasy books as a kid, I was like, I will write these I will write stories, I will do these things I can't I I like struggle to engage in the media and then not want

to make that media myself. So there's less specifically, But I guess if I were to say who who influenced me the most as a as a young kid and therefore sort of set me off to go be a writer, I would say to more peers would be like number one and then um and then throughout middle school it probably would have been Tolkien and Heinland just like complicated feels on the Highland one. But whatever, He's an interesting writer and I read way too much of him as

a teenager. Yeah, I mean, I definitely have that with in terms of like podcasting, where it's like you see somebody cover a story and you're like, what you missed this, this, this, and this aspect of it, Like what if you in a total three sixty of that story and actually got It's it's in terms of that, for sure. You see what you're saying. Wait, I have a question for you, Sophie, shut up, what is it? I want to hear more about Sophie's story. What about sophie story? Are we doing

his Sophie choicey reference isn't happening? Oh I don't know what. I don't know Sophie's choices. Oh my god, that's so cool. Oh my god, that's great. Okay cool. I've got that joke my entire life and I'm not going to explain it and you'll never know because in my mind, this is the opposite of Sophie's choice. This is my choice. I'm asking the question, Now, what's your question? What do you want to know? Margaret? Well, the question that someone asked is I want to hear more about Sophie's story.

But I guess it's like the question of I think a lot of people are curious about Cool Zone Media and about how it kind of like came to be, and like sort of what your engagement is as podcast mom to all of these amazing shows as and like, I don't know how it feels to be podcast mom. So Jack O'Brien and The Daily z I Geist stole me. I was working. I was working in the tech industry, very unhappy working tech industry. But the tech company that I worked for, like I bought a podcast company and

that some weird connection that brought Jack O'Brien over. And then Jack and I like I was assigned to help him with like his health insurance stuff, which is very very and then Jack and I got along so well that he stole me and brought me over to the podcast out of things, and then I started. I was just supposed to like project managed stuff, and then immediately

like two weeks and I was like producing shows. And then this person was pitching a podcast while running through a wind tunnel about how um and like and like heavy breathing, like the yelling about how they thought it would be cool to do a story about bad people, a podcast about bad people, and like how it's super interesting.

And I was like, hmm, that's my guy. And that's how Robert and I got matched up, because Robert was on the phone pitching behind the bastards and I was like, I like that, and then I got to and then Robert and I started working together, and we did a bunch of different shows and partnered on a bunch of different projects, and then we decided to make Cool Zone Media.

And I guess if we're doing weird titles. My title's head of creative But I basically managed all logistics that go into Cool Zone Media and m our middle person between us and I Heart Radio. I executive managed produced every single one of our shows. I worked with each each talent, each host, each writer, each researcher, and like we decide most of our stuff like decision by committee style on like what we want to do and who

we want to work with. UM. So it's not not definitely not like like a well, I like this type environment, but we create shows together and work with people like Margaret and make things. Answer the question, yeah, I think so, and it also makes me feel better about the time I pitched you a show by voice memo at seven in the morning my time. Yeah, and after it still might happen, and we're not going to tell you what

it is. Dear dear listener, you all get to know, but just say you know, not the weirdest way I've received a pitch, and not the weirdest pitch I've received. So yeah, I do a lot of my thinking while driving or walking, and yeah, left long voice memos. Voice memos are my preferred method of receiving information. So yeah, I'm on board. Uh, let's see, um, let's stick Let's stick on that for a second, because I feel like you get this question a lot, Margaret and I and

I think somebody asked. I think I understand the personal compromise of working for iHeart Media, but do you feel how do you feel about it personally? Um, this is a question that all of us could ask quite often, but I don't think you've ever answered it. Yeah, Yeah, I mean, okay, So I now freelance for the largest I don't know if this is actually true. It seems like the largest media conglomerate in world history or something.

I don't know about that, but it's the number one podcast It like has the number one podcast reach in the world. Okay, And so I worked for this giant corporation, and twenty year old me would be like pretty upset that I do this. But I had been at radical politics for one year when I was twenty years old, and now I've been at it for twenty one years, and I think I have a better handle on like my own understanding of the world and how to engage in it as you know, someone who's an anarchist or

politically radical or whatever. And so for me, some of the things are that romanticizing poverty and obscurity was like a losing move that was way too prevalent in the scenes that I was part of in the early odds. And I don't think it's bad to romanticize the stuff that you have to deal with when you have no money or when you like, it's okay to be like, Okay, I'm gonna find beauty in this thing that I'm struggling with, right, But to do it for its own sakes is nonsensical.

And then in terms of working for a corporation, where are our aims are at odds with each other, that's going to happen. That is going to happen in order to have as as broad of an influence on culture as we possibly can. And if we can do that watering down our message, we should. And I think that that's actually something that I'm very grateful for Cool Zone Media to have done, is lay the the groundwork for

how I could. At no point has anyone been like, oh, you shouldn't cover that, or don't talk about things this way. You know. The only decisions that we make is how to talk about things in order to be understood by as many people as possible, because that is my goal is to be understood by as many people as possible. So it's complicated, but it's not that complicated. It's not. Yeah, it doesn't keep me up at night. And when Robert and I started off with with our shows, we were

we were how Stuff Works. We were a company called Hastaff Works, which is like a a small podcast company out of out of Atlanta, and that got bought by I Heart Radio and essentially that team became the podcast department, And so the people that we work with are very much creative and like and and at least the people that I interact with are are are not what I think when you think of like when you think of like corporate people, they're definitely or like or like people

that are people that, like, we would not want to get a drink with or anything of that nature. Those are not the people that like we interact with. And I very much have had creative autonomy to put out the content we want to do. I've never actually had had somebody say you can't talk about that in any of my shows, even behind the Bastards, you can't talk about that, or um, hey maybe don't mention that person or any type of censorship, which is which is interesting.

Um and like yeah, the ad stuff fucking sucks. The ad stuff sucking sucks, and like there is totally a you know, there's a huge weight of being attached to this, to this thing. But yeah, whenever I like cools, the media is so different, we run we run our teams so differently than like anyone else that it's just yeah, you would think you would think it would impact us more than it does, if that makes sense, And I

wholeheartedly agree with your answer. I think about, um, I really like the show and or and Loves and or Yeah,

I mean it's it's so good. And one of the things that came up is, you know, people are like, well, how did Disney, this not particularly traditionally far left organization or whatever, put out this like clearly revolutionary show, right that clearly the writers have more knowledge and care for revolutionary movements than the way that revolution is usually depicted in mainstream media, And so people are like, wow, Disney made this as if like Disney the company was like,

what are we trying to say? And the thing that I've come to realize as I work in media is that writers and creators work within these infrastructures and make what they can within those infrastructures, And so I feel less like it was like Disney being like this is what we want to say, as much as creative creators who are like, this is what we want to say, Well, Disney, let us get away with it. And in this case, the answer was, yes, this is not always the case,

but it's not. I think people have this like conception of like monolithic control of corporations and things like that, and Um, and I think that the corporations want to us to believe that as well, but it's not it's not always the case. I don't know any insider information about and or whatever. That's just my like, yeah, and I and like Robert and I talk about this all the time. It's so cool that we're able to pay our friends. Yeah, and like and like and like talk

about ship that actually fucking matters. And like, if somebody was telling us like we couldn't talk about the ship, we didn't matter, and we weren't able to like equitably play our people and uh, you know, continuously be able to like bring on people like Margaret and like pay our guests and things like that. You know, there would be a different conversation happening here like where we would that that would not be the case, But thus far we haven't run into that type of a situation. On

another note, Um, what kind of bear is the best? Well, the best bear is a black bear, because okay, we'll hear me out. Okay, it's like a murder raccoon. Oh well, you know, or at least a raccoon with the potential for murder. You're not wrong. I would say the red panda because that looks like that's what my dog looks like. Oh yeah, that's actually a really good point. Um. Speaking of good points, it's time for our capitalism. Break capitalism.

That's the thing that's destroying the planet. You can participate and we are back that one. Um. Okay, Margaret, I'm gonna find you a a a solid question. Oh, this is a good one. This is a very good question. Okay, if you could pick one cool person to have a movie or show made of their exploits, which would you choose and why? I would pick Sophie Lyons, the least political person that we've had on this show, because I like heist movies and she was the queen of the

underworld of nineteenth century America. She just robbed a lot of banks, so she's cool. I would totally watch the ship out of a movie about Sophie Lions. Also, a ton of these people also have movies about them, Like even when you're like, yeah, there's so many, even the things that are like seem kind of more obscure. Okay,

what would you pick? Um? I'm still I still just really want more, Bobby Agata, I really want more, like I feel like I feel like there's been stuff done, but I feel like they haven't really like like what like like when we were talking about it earlier, we're like, we're I think they could. I just think it could be done better and I think it would be done properly. And I and I, yeah, God, just gotta get on the horn with that. Yeah, that Disney. I know. I

know this whole Actually the entire subtext. Sophie and I were like, all right, we're going to use this episode to pivot the pitch to convinced to get hired by Disney. Yes, And that's essentially And I totally didn't talk literal ship on Walt Disney and his Nazi ties and um period while we're on it. Fun that guy what eras of histories. Cool people, such cool stuff deserve wider attention, and they've generally received Oh yeah, this is I'm reading what you

wrote here and that is the perfect Yeah. So it's just people the sausage just made With this episode. We we compiled all the questions into a list and then I like wrote some of my notes on some of them. But now actually I'm almost like worse at answering off the top of my head, the ones that I wrote notes for, because I don't know where in the document

we are. I would say that the the the people who weren't the royalty of every period ever, Like it's so easy to find the fucking books about the presidents and the princes and ship like that, and it's just so much harder to find information about everyone else. And I don't know about you, Sophie, but I am not currently a monarch. I don't know if that's true. Margaret. No, well, thanks one of my queen of What do you queen of? What do you queen of? Oh? My god, how do

we even answer that? Uh? The queen of cool people who did cool stuff? You're the queen of cool. Oh that's badass. Alright, alright, keep that, keep that. Oh you know, let's say, let's answer this one. What are your realistic predictions for the next ten years or so is going to go in America? Politically speaking? Let's let's bomb everyone out just lightly, Okay. I will say that the one thing I have been consistently correct about is that I'm

always wrong, and so is everyone else. Like I keep thinking, I know how ship's gonna go, and it's usually not how Ship's gonna go. So with that in mind, I think that we are in a lot of trouble. I think that we probably won't have a outright civil war in the next ten years. I think that the problem the two nested problems that we're facing. Well, there's so many other problems too, but two of the big problems we're facing the US right now. One is rising fascism

and one is uh climate change. Right and I think that the rising fascism problem is not solved, but I think it's on its back leg. And I don't think it's like specifically what's going to cause the most immediate problems to the most immediate people in the very near future. I could be wrong. I think that by ten years from now, the conversations about climate change will have fundamentally changed the way that our world works and looks. I think that we are exiting the period where people can

have their heads in the sand. And I think that that will trigger a wave of fascism that will cause major problems. And I think that will have two major camps about how we deal with climate change. And one is that I've got mine fuck you camp, which I'm going to call the Nazis, and one is, though, we need to figure out how to deal with this together camp which I will call the not nazis great nickname, and I think that that will start becoming very true

about ten years from now. That's my personal guest, Sophie, what do you got? I think if the left doesn't stop in fighting, we're fucked. I think it's the left I don't stop fucking in fighting, were absolutely fucked. I think that the not that it is the most important thing, but I think that the election, whoever wins that will probably not that I align with either the Democrats or the definitely don't ruin, but the Probican Party about a lot of the Democratic Party also, whoever wins that will

will keep power for a really long time. Yeah. I feel like we've had a lot of eight years, eight years, eight years, eight years, like passing it back and forth, and I think that that, uh, I don't think that's

necessarily going to happen moving forward. There was a tweet several years ago, a New Year's Eve tweets so it's appropriate um by my friend mc soul he's a musician and a podcaster, and it basically was like, my New Year's resolution is to de escalate all conflict that isn't with the far right, And that's the energy I think

that we need to go into this with. Is that, like at a certain level, I think of like, if I don't think someone's going to be trying to shoot me for being trans five years from now, I want to figure out how to make peace with them. And I say that as someone who's like I could be as guilty as anyone else of some of this stuff.

But overall, yeah, uh, de escalate conflict that isn't with the enemy, you know, yeah, which doesn't mean that conflict doesn't happen, But we get so confused and like think that, like, you know, we're so angry and then the person next to us is like fucked up, so we're really fucking mad at them, but like, I don't know, we're all fucked up, Yeah, except me and Sophie and Anderson and Rentrall Yeah, and interson in Traw. How is we get? Can we get rentrap? Rentraw is doing really well. Rentraw

is a barely a puppy anymore. And as much as puppies are cute, the munt he's grown since when we started this podcast blows my mind. I know, I know, so perfect, you know, he's so great. Um, he still can't handle cars going by because he's a hollow dog. That's fair. I'm a human, I can't handle cars going by. Yeah. It's very stimulating, you know. Yeah in theme of dogs, should I answer some Anderson stuff? Yeah? Um, people would

like an update on Anderson. Um, I'll have a better update on Anderson because those of you have been following. She like she had knee surgery last year because she tore her a c l running on wet grass and getting her leg caught in a div it and had to have surgery and did physical therapy. I think she's doing fucking awesome. I think she's uh, she's she's fully recovered. We have an appointment in a couple of weeks to

confirm that. But she's extremely happy. Her favorite toy right now, my friend, my friend Bethiane got Anderson for the holidays, got her this like it's like a like a thing of doughnuts, but it's all squeaky toys. And so they come in a bunch of different color like a bunch of different colors, and they really do they're like very realistic looking like donuts and it's like the perfect size for her to like throw around and like fit in her mouth. And so there's just like donuts all over

my house and I love that. So, Margaret, what is the origin of your Magpie nickname? Sometimes I answer by saying it's because I always found shiny objects and brought them home. But it's also because I was a thief. I stole a lot of stuff when I was like nineteen twenty. Yeah. Actually I picked the name Margaret by reverse.

I Um, I started going by Magpie a long time ago because um, I was a forest defender, and all of us forest defenders had names after various animals and plants and all that stuff, And so I picked Magpie or someone else I think actually named me Magpie because I would, um find rusty objects and bring them home, like find little things on the ground. And then also I kept shoplifting. That's how I got Magpie. And then from there I met someone named Magpie and I was like, Okay,

I'll tell a story. I very rarely tell stories about anything like vaguely romantic. When I was much younger, I was off to go steal photocopiers from a college for some anti war flyer and this person comes up and goes, Hi, what's your name? And I'm like, I'm Magpie and she looks at me funny, and she goes, that's my name. And I was like, is that why you came up to talk to me? And she said no, I just

thought you were cute. And her name was Margaret, and that's how I learned that Magpie was short from Margaret. And I was in the market for a girl's name, so I ended up Margaret. It's the origin of my name. And then I got killed joy because I, um, it was kind of a buzz kill for a while. It's just funny because now I'm a professional optimist sort of somebody. Somebody's asking Margaret, if you're stranded on a Dessie Island, your top three or five books you would bring? Okay,

I would want The Lord of the Rings. I'm gonna cheat and have whole trilogies here. I want the Lord of the Rings. I want the Mars trilogy by Kim Stanley Robinson because I've never finished it. You're like, You're like, I think I want this, Well, no, it's really good, but it's so long, and so I get distracted. I'm kind of a D H. D. And it's it's three

very long books with lots of names. And then they got halfway through the second book and then I put it down for some reason, for like something, not because I'm bored, but because something else comes up in my life and I'm not don't have time to read. And then I pick it back up, and I'm like, I have no idea where I was, and so I have to start over. And so I've done that twice. Um, it's a very influential book on a lot of how I think, the first book and a half of it,

which I've read twice. Okay, So I would take those books. And then I would take Where there Is No Doctor because I'm on a desert island. And then I don't know if this book he exists, but I'm sure it does. I would take How to Survive on a Desert Island, and then I would take how to Build a Seafaring Raft from Coconuts. Those are the books I would pick. That's cool, what do you got? I would I would take Sophie's choice, would take Sophie's choice. The only book I would do is it is a book. It is

a book, and it's also a movie. Okay. The only book I would take is a book that's available for pre order in a fab by one Margaret Killjoy, called Escape from Instel Island. Where can people preorder that? Margaret? Oh, they can get that Tangled Wilderness dot org. It is about escaping from an island. So that actually is pretty does perfectly fit. And that's the only book I take. Fuck your three, fuck your five. Um. Speaking of the things that people can order, it's time for capitalism, goods

and services, and we're back. Dennis asks, why do you have a girl's name about a man's boy? So, my god, dennist you know listen. I read the dentist asked, but didn't read the second part of it. My Margaret asked me. Margaret highlighted this as a question that she wanted me to put to ask. I only read the dentist asks part. But apparently you want to answer this one. Go off. Well. When I was a young child, I ran away from home and I met a powerful sorcerer who raised me

in the forest. He was mighty in magic but frail of body, and he had me to his evil bidding until one day when I grew stronger than him. I wrestled him to the ground. I reached into his throat, and I hold forth his mighty voice, and the woods became mine to command. That's why I have a man's voice. I stole it from a man. I think that's beautiful. Also, I only read Dennis asks. Dennis, I said, I set

Sophia up for that. Dennis, what the fuck? I have literally no idea whether that was an earnest I've never heard of a trans person question, or whether it was a troll question. It could be fifty fifty I I don't know, hence why I said, what the fuck it not? Fuck you? Yeah, if it was an earnest question, I'm a trans woman. If it wasn't an earnest question, and fuck you, good fuck you. Okay, Uh, somebody wants to know how we met, and I really like your answer. Okay,

let me capsized boat. Sophie was hanging out on a door with this loser and I was like, hey, ditch this loser and let me on, and so he was like, yeah, all right, extly what happened? Loser got ditched, I got on the doorm that we met. You fill in the fucking blanks there. Ye oh, this is such a funny question. Have either of you considered attaining godhood and what would your spirits of influence be? Do you want to go first? No, you answered, I have to think of mine. Okay, I would.

I would my sphere of influence. All paladins who think they're rogues would would worship me. That would be my sphere. But don't have a good could answer to this? Uh, podcasters, no God? Margaret posted your name. Margaret posted the funniest into story slash tweet the other day where she was like, I had this horrible nightmare that somebody asked me what I did for a living and I had to say podcasting, and like that's a that's a regular like jump scare

for me. So yeah, especially especially like anything to do with the family, because I'm the younger of two siblings and my older siblings like trying to literally cure cancer. He's an oncologist. And then they're like, I know what about you? And I was like, this is the podcast podcast? Yeah, and it's funny because I shouldn't be it. I listened to a lot of podcasts I really like. I I wasn't like his is the hot new thing. I'm like I really like podcasts, and I've been running podcasts for

a while. You know, It's okay, same with same, same with Jamie Loftist hates when people put podcasts or first in her list of accolades. So it's it's it's a universal thing. Yeah, okay, nex. Yeah. The conversation with Jamie about it once where it was just like Jamie's like, I'm a comedian. I'm like, yeah, I write books. Such a funny question and your answer is so surprising to me but also very funny. Is there any media you enjoy consuming that can be a little problematic? Okay, where's

where's the highlight? Last page? Damn it? Now I have to actually answer it. Yeah, you do. If you didn't actually put an answer in this, I wouldn't have asked this question. Now, I know. I know Brooklyn nine nine hilarious. It's capaganda? Is it? Because Chelsea Peretti is like the funniest person on Earth? I feel like Brooklyn nine nine like managed to figure out how to like whenever people are like, oh woke, people aren't funny, And I'm like,

have you ever seen someone trying? Like I don't know, there's just the jokes in it are actually funny where the thing that they're making fun of is the non wokenus. They're making fun of regressive ideas, but but actually humor, like they're actually just you know, it's all the stuff

people like, Oh, you can't make jokes anymore. And I'm like, these people managed to make a ton of jokes about all of this stuff that we're like supposedly not able to touch, and they do so generally speaking with grace, with the exception of the fact that they're all police officers. And I feel like and later seasons they a little bit tried to wrestle where the characters are like, are we the baddies? You know? But they don't quite realize

they're the baddies. And so that's my that's my problematic faith. What's your problematic faith? Our problematic faive is making my friends watch reality TV shows from like their early two thousand's. I love to make a friend watch uh problematic Laguna Beach Okay, where you just like see how like entitled uh pendagers reacted in the early two thousands in our life. Oh my god, it's just like the oh, but it's

so enjoyable. And then I and then Part two would be anything that's like Game of Thrones adjacent, because yeah, I guess that would be another one for me. This Game of Thrones, the movie, the show that I stopped watching, like every single time there's a rape scene that isn't in the books. I put down this show for like a year and then I come back because it's high budget things with swords and swords and dragons and just kind of this is like the worst question I've seen,

who is the coolest person of all time? I don't even know how to answer that, you, dear listener. Yeah, I was gonna say the collective you. Yeah, how do we get you? And other accolades of Sophie. Oh, I'm now speaking in third person to the center of the country for book events, I feel like you, you have stuff coming up. No, I I did a tour last summer, but I the only middle part I did was across the middle bottom across the bottom of the middle, like

Texas and Arizona and all of that. I tour by driving, and most months of the year the center of the country are not incredibly conducive to that. It limits the the time, but at some point I like touring um and then I will convince Sophie and other people to come join me at something. Yeah, Robert and I are probably gonna do uh uh in person touring stuff this year, if not next year. Um, people get real salty if you only go to New York City, l A in

San Francisco, but also sometimes you do. I don't know. I've definitely played a show in Manhattan, Kansas for the Bartender, you know. Yeah, I don't hate that I went to Manhattan, Kansas. I hope the bartender liked the show. I'm sure they did. Um, how did you both get your dogs? And have our

dogs met? They should have they should have met, but they didn't meet, mostly because Anderson, like, I'm being super cautious with her injury, and I haven't been introducing her to new dogs or like taking her to like a lot of public places while she recovers. Um, because they in the first year after holding that, they're like likely to do the other leg, which is no, thank you. But yeah, how did you get ring? How did how did you? How did you? How did Rent become become yours?

I was living in a cabin in the mountains in North Carolina alone during the pandemic I was not incredibly happy about many of the parts of this preceding sentence. And my neighbor on literally the other side of the mountain. When you talk about Appalachians, it's not like what the

West Coast people think of mountains. On the other side of the hill from where I lived, my friend rescued eight or so puppies that were running away with their mom and we're all like sick and dying and basically started nursing them back to health and fostering and let me know. And I came over and there's this photo of me. Ntaw is like five weeks old, uh, and he's like sitting in my skirt, and I was just like ugly crying. Yeah, it's like I hadn't experienced away

it like two years, you know. And and there were two in the litter that looked really similar drawd a little white spot on his forehead, and one of the people who rescued the dogs was like, I'm thinking about taking one of these two, and I was like, this one is mine, which is like not my place to, you know, like I didn't do any of the work, you know, But Beautiful by Renshaw's litter mates had had died from um neglect and we're all sick and uh, and so mom had run away and he would have

been destined to be a bear hunting dog, which is like, I actually think working dogs can have great life lives. I'm not specifically anti that, but he wouldn't have had a good life as a bear hunting dog where where he was destined to be sold if he had survived, which he probably wouldn't have, because I really liked him because he was the calmist all the dogs. I'm a very low energy person and he was the calmist by far.

It's because he was sick as hell. He was so sick and then we got him like de wormed and all of that stuff, and they just like, has so much energy. So I got I got really excited about this. I just like, I really love Renstraw a lot. But basically my friend was like, you you don't get the dog that you want, you get the dog that you need. And so I have a a monster full of energy in my house who's part boed. It was gonna honey. Renshaw will outrun the sun. Renshaw chases planes that are

five in the sky or whatever. Um he's want. He's perfect how do you end up with Anderson? So, Uh, I've had an inderstond for like six or seven years. She Uh, my parents before, before their business failed during the pandemic, sold office furniture as like a husband and wife duo selling office furniture in my entire life. And they had an office that was down the street from this adoption rescue place. And and they went in randomly because I saw a dog that looks similar to their dog.

And then uh, they went in and they sent me a photo of Anderson. Um, and I left work in the middle of the day. I was like, I was like, funk you guys kind and and uh I went in. She put her paws on me and went hi, and I was like, my she was like she was like severely mount she was found in the streets. She was severely malnourished, covered in ticks, and Um, it was at a point in my life where it's like God, I

needed her and needed her. I was like fully still dealing with PTSD and had just had like my heart stomped on. And then Anderson came through and was like, I shall save you. And um, She's the best dog ever. And uh, literally one photo I was like, funck this, I'm out. I'm gonna go get this dog. I went adopted her, went back to work. My mom took her to the vet. Were like, she's covered and she's covered in ticks. It's great, it's gonna be good. Well full

fix it. Okay. I went back to work, left work, came home, and I was like, this is my this is mine, no regrets. She's the ship. I will say. I'm very lucky. I was raised right. I grew up with rescue animals, Like all of our pets were rescues, and like that is um. There's not very many things. I'll just be like this is what I believe in. You all shouldn't do, but like rescue animals, that's those are the those the animals that need it. Yeahson was like I was like found on the streets. Was so

like you could see her ribs. She was so tiny and um was super close to getting on the freeway in California. She was available for adoption for less than two hours and I was like, that's my girl. Let's go. Nobody touched her. Um, let's do uh, let's do two more still serious, one you do one and then I'll I'll do one. Okay, so one person asked. I mostly didn't write down the names of the people who asked,

except Dennis. Sorry Dennis taking on the other day. So, what, if anything, have you all learned about moving people politically? What approaches are helpful and encouraging people to become less fashion And one of the reasons I was really excited to work with Cool Zone Media is that I really appreciate the work that I see y'all have done. Two.

Be outward facing and specifically like not aim things at people who are already the super cool radicals or whatever, but instead just talk about these ideas two a broad audience and be open to open to admitting which parts seems silly as hell, like open to admitting the like weaknesses and different radical ideas. I don't know. I was

like really inspired by that. And actually that was how I first started really talking to Robert, was about that, um and how I I felt that Robert and you all and you did a really good job of doing that with the stuff that you put out. So I think that's a big part of it. I think that what I've learned about moving people politically is that preaching the choirs boring, uh, there's some ad, there's some beauty and creating a culture that we all get to participate

in and stuff like that. It's cool, like inside culture stuff is great, but it doesn't change anything, right, And what I found far more useful is that when I stopped being an anarchist and anarchist spaces and I started being an anarchist and non anarchist spaces, like not anti anarchist spaces, but just like basically when I started hanging out with nerds, like more so again, and I started going to science fiction conventions and things like that, because

it wasn't about I'm going to go out there and proselytize and convince people of these ideas, but instead actually having a free exchange of ideas, being like open about what you believe without trying to convince people of what you believe. That's what's been the most useful for me. It really helps that for me, my goal is not a thing where I need people to like subscribe to my newsletter and like pay me money or whatever um.

But instead my goal is to be around for the development of freethinking individuals so that we can collectively decide

what to do right. Because I'm not offering answers. I'm offering ideas about how we can collectively develop ideas, develop answers, and so yeah, and then just like be willing to admit which parts of your ideology are like kind of weird or like the for me, I mean, not everyone whatever, Like I'm an anarchist, and I have to admit that there's like times on historical anarchists like that all kinds

of awful things or whatever. Right, and then there's also parts of it that like our contradictions, and I'm like, I don't know how to answer that, and I don't have all the answers, and I don't want to have all the answers, and I don't need to have all the answers, so it's less about like and then in terms of making people more less fashy, you know, it's hard for me, right because in a the ways, I'm like, well, someone just hates trans people. It's just not gonna work.

We're not getting anywhere and they're not going to talk to me, you know. Um, But in general I find that a lot of people, I mean, actually, okay, with my other podcast, Lived Like the World Is Dying, one of my favorite types of listener mail, I get as people who are like I was a center maybe even center right prepper because I was interested in preparedness and all of the media that was available for that was

right wing. And so I really appreciate your show not because they've suddenly become leftists, but because they stopped becoming more fashion At least it reversed that trend. That's what That's what I've got. But you've been kind of doing some of this stuff for a long time too, Sophie. Yeah.

I mean obviously like Tanky's Turfs fucking Nazis all suck, But in terms of like those it you would be so surprised how easy it is to find some sort of like like gateway topic with you know, specifically like with with people that you know, um like because like arguing with the fucking Turpos on the internet is like,

you're really not going to get anywhere. But you know, speaking from somebody who you know grew up in a with a centrist mother and a Republican father who are now I have been convinced to go a lot lefter shout out shout out my parents. Uh, but and then just having just a such a wide ranging uh politically, Like my extended family is all over the place in

terms of politics. Um, you can you can find something that you know is something that both of you can agree on, and then you you just start expanding from that. And if you see that they're not listening, don't say it louder. Is if they're not If they're not open, they're not open to hearing what you're saying. If you say it louder, they're just gonna put their ear plugs in deeper. Like it's just not it's not it's not

going to happen. Um. But like you said, in terms of like, you know, you found a lot like with prepping and right wing preppers, you you had that in common, and you're able to expand on that and to go into certain principles of of of what what you think matters and what they think matters, and how to expand on that. And and and I think that community and

mutual aid brings a lot of people together. Um. I remember we had the amazing Kim Kelly on It could Happen Here talking about a story that she was working on in terms of of a union strike and how it was like she hadn't politically nothing in common with the wives of workers. But they were getting along so well because they all had the same this ame goal of of getting of getting equality and and and and

better better pay and writes and things like that. And I think when it comes down to it, if people can see beyond the wall. Sorry that was my that was my screaming into the void personal internet side of things, and you actually talk to people, you can find common ground and expand on that. And I think that uh, you know, share sharing articles and sharing uh podcasts and things like that, are they might not read it and they might not listen and things like that. Um. I've

definitely had that in terms of family members. UM. But if you if you, I think a lot of people need to give more people a chance. Honestly, I think I think, yeah, yeah, don't start by writing people off. Don't start by writing people off. And just know that you might You're you're going to get your feelings and you're going it's going to be hard and it's not

an easy process. But if you love somebody and you use and it's not you know you want to it ties into what you're talking about earlier about in fighting because I think about like we um, don't. We're politics is polarizing right right now, very intensely. The center cannot hold and it's not holding. Uh that's my attempted not even shelling reference. I can't even remember who wrote the plan. Why did I even? I don't know turning turning a widening guy, widening guy, or the falcon cannot hear the

falconer anyway, that's my weird nineteenth century reference poetry reference. Okay, so we're asking people to pick a side in a lot of ways right now, because conflict is brilliant, right, you have to let people pick your side. If you're asking people to pick a side, which means that they didn't start off on your side. And so instead we have this ad to it of like, well you ever believed this? So you're cast out forever from the garden of Eden. Sorry, I mean cool radicalism, Yeah, you know.

And so you're like, okay, so you're just literally making Nazis. That's what you're doing. If you're telling people that they can't join anti Nazis side and there's no middle left, they're joining Nazis. That's what's available to them. And so it's a bad idea. It's ethics aside. It's a bad idea to say, I want you to pick a side, okay, but you didn't pick mine perfectly enough, or you didn't go back in time and pick it ahead of time. It's just annoys. You were quoting, uh the poem The

Second Coming, and it's Yates Yates. Yeah, it's Willie, It's William Butler Yates and uh yeah, mere anarchy is loosed upon the world, but not in a good way in that version. Yeah. I think that's where we'll leave it, right. But you know, we we said we got so many really good questions that we would do this again at some point. Wait, we're gonna do one last one. Oh, you have one last one. Okay, give it to me.

So if you do you like Scott, Uh no, because it makes Robert, because Robert like Scott, and so if I like Scott, that would make him happy, and I must I must. I must not like things that Robert likes to make him suffer. That's fair. Okay, good, all right? So that was your last question, be like, I really need to know it was. That was a genuine listener asked question. I just wanted to get that one in there. That's so funny. No, I have no issue. I have

no issues with Scotts. It's not my favorite, but I don't I don't dislike Scott And so we'll be back. We'll be back next week with your regularly scheduled twice a week. People who did Somebody asked us. Somebody asked us, like, what we what our nickname for our listener basis? And I don't want to answer it, but I want to think about it. Yeah, okay, I think that's a good should. We should think about it. Yeah, okay, Bye bye. Cool People Who Cool Stuff is a production of cool Zone Media.

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