Josh: 0:00

Hey everybody. Quick note about this next episode. We're going to discuss some issues of violence, especially in the context of where we're at as a nation right now. And this could be a trigger topic for some of you and just could be tough for younger audiences. So if you're listening with kids in the car, this might be a good time to throw on some headphones. Also, you're going to hear some changes to the audio that you don't normally hear. We're going to bleep some words and create some edits that we wouldn't normally do, but we're such young podcasts that we're trying to please all the various algorithms. And so these changes in the audio are our attempts to keep those algorithms happy with us and make sure that this can be shared as broadly as possible. However, this is an important topic to us. We wanted to provide our perspective. So before you turn this off, we hope you'll stick around and hear us out. And we'd love if you contributed this conversation in the comments. So here we go. And they they took my blood pressure right when I came in and just as a regular part of their - whatever they do. And I don't remember what it was, but I remember the tech turning around and going, whoa.

Pamela: 1:11

This man's heart is about to explode.

Josh: 1:11

And I told her I was like, look, like that's not a helpful sound for me. Like, whoa and whoops are off the table.

Pamela: 1:26

You're listening to premeditated opinions because yes, we thought about it, and then we said it anyway. I'm Pamela.

Josh: 1:33

And I'm Josh, and we are two people who somehow share a brain and decided to weaponize our brains with microphones. Each week, we unpack anything, from politics and religion to carpool dread and everything in between.

Pamela: 1:46

You know, it would really help us a lot if you followed us on Instagram and YouTube. Giving us a like and a follow is probably the best thing your th-bs will do today.

Josh: 1:54

We are not experts. We are just way too confident in our own opinions. With all that being said, let's get started. So, welcome to my house. We have changed recording venues. -, we are currently in my dining room, and honestly, I'm really happy with it. We - we were using a different space in Dallas that that had been very accommodating to us, and we're very grateful to them. And for a lot of logistical reasons, we just decided to pivot and look for something new and decided to try this. And one of the advantages for those of you who are watching on YouTube, you get to see a lovely backdrop behind us. So, my spouse, who is very dear to everyone involved with this podcast, is a truly brilliant visual artist. And so if you're listening to this right now on Apple Podcasts or Spotify or or some audio only platform, I encourage you to jump over to our YouTube and check out what's behind this because we have a very large format - piece of my wife's behind this. you can find more of what she's up to at kristamiller art.com. We would love for you to check that out. She's also on Instagram, she's very active there. And yeah, so you'll see different art behind us. And in the not too distant future, we're gonna actually have her on to do a little bit of an interview with us. And one of the things I'm excited for you all to hear about is how all this started in the first place because there's a wonderful story behind how she got into doing visual art. and I think there's a lot of people who really connect with it. That being said, we actually have some really cool stuff coming up. So we have had, we've just been feeling really encouraged by the momentum of this. So many of you have listened and been so kind, sent us great feedback, and we're just leaning all the way into this whole thing. And honestly, I'm really enjoying it. And so, why don't you tell them a little bit more about a segment we have coming up that we're pretty excited about?

Pamela: 3:52

Yeah, for sure. So not only do you get to see beautiful art, but you get to see us. Yeah, so we have a new segment that we're gonna be introducing called People You Should Know. Because - we're super cool.

Josh: 4:07

Definitely.

Pamela: 4:08

And we know some super cool people.

Josh: 4:10

Definitely.

Pamela: 4:10

And we want you to know these super cool people. So - stay tuned.

Josh: 4:16

And on top of that, we've we're actually brainstorming some premium content too, which I'm pretty excited about. Yeah. So one of those friends that we're talking about is - this delightful woman named Madeline who has a life that should be a screenplay. Like she it's it's like out of a really funny TV show. - she's just hilarious, and we're gonna do some segments with her that will probably be premium content, which you'll be able to find on Substack, as well as we're gonna introduce something called Tequila Tuesday.

Pamela: 4:51

Which may not always be on Tuesdays, but Tequila Wednesday just didn't sound right.

Josh: 4:57

Yeah, yeah, yeah. We we went with the easiest alliteration. So we are it's gonna be exactly what you think it is. We are going to crack open a bottle of tequila. We're gonna try different ones and give a little bit of review as we go. And I'm not sure we're gonna have a tremendous amount of plan outside of that. It should be delightfully a wheels off. And and you know, it will be funny.

Pamela: 5:23

Oh, for sure.

Josh: 5:25

Yeah, so yeah, that that's all gonna be available on Substack. We're still ironing out some of the details of all of that. I don't want to say a lot more about it right now, but

Pamela: 5:34

It's gonna be a good time.

Josh: 5:35

Please, if you haven't followed us on Substack, you can follow us there as well. Yep. And that will be - an easy kind of on-ramp to seeing what we're what we're up to.

Pamela: 5:44

Yep. So someone had a a visit to the dentist this week.

Josh: 5:49

God. It's I I know as a grown-up that I'm not supposed to like get nervous and and get all in my head about these things. Something about the freaking dentist chair. Like I was telling the dentist and like this really kind hygienist that he was working with who were so patient, so patient, my god. But I was telling them, like, as a regular part of what I do for a living, I stand on stages in front of hundreds of people and speak or play music or some combination of both, which is most people's hell. Like to most people, yeah, to most people, that is terrifying. So I just, man, I don't know what it is about like I don't really get overly anxious about the doctor's office, but you stick me in that dentist chair, and it like my they took my blood pressure when I came in.

Pamela: 6:43

I was gonna say, I wonder if it's that white coat syndrome.

Josh: 6:47

Well, I feel like I'm not as bad at the doctor's office for some reason. -, but I don't know. I actually was I was watching my heart rate on my Apple Watch while I was in there.

Pamela: 6:58

Texting me the whole time.

Josh: 6:59

Yeah, you and the group thread and Krista, and I was just And then all of a sudden you were like, I'm done.

Pamela: 7:05

And I'm like, I thought you've been in the waiting room this whole time with as much as you were texting.

Josh: 7:09

Well, they had to the they had to numb my mouth and stages, and so they would they would apply something and then leave and then come back and do injections and then leave. And then so I had all these breaks, -, which was not what I prefer. Like, I let's just get this done, let's get it over with and all that. So - I mean honestly, it went about as well as it could go, and I'm grateful for that, but man, that was that was stressful. My my resting heart rate sitting in the chair - was like 109. Which I run a little high anyway, but that is that's a high resting heart rate.

Pamela: 7:50

Yeah.

Josh: 7:51

And they they took my blood pressure right when I came in, and just as a regular part of their - whatever they do. And I don't remember what it was, but I remember the tech turning around and going, whoa.

Pamela: 8:08

This man's heart's about to explode.

Josh: 8:10

Well, and I told her, I was like, look, I was like, that's not a helpful sound for me. Like, whoa and whoops are off the table for the next however long.

Pamela: 8:20

Don't check it again, it's gonna be even higher. Thanks, ma'am. Like you are not helping the situation.

Josh: 8:24

Man, but she was so kind and she was so reassuring, and she worked so hard to try and and calm me down and make me.

Pamela: 8:32

Did she offer you some bourbon?

Josh: 8:36

No, but I seriously considered like it was nine in the morning. Well, my appointment was at nine in the morning. I seriously considered having a little drink or something before I went there, and I'm not proud of that, and I don't encourage anyone to copy that behavior, but I was just stressing, and so yeah, -, but it all went fine. - the the bottom line is I've been told a lot of my life that I was not gonna have to have my wisdom teeth out, that I have a big enough mouth to accommodate them, which surprises no one that's known me for a while. And - and now those stupid things have shifted in my mouth and they're actually starting to dig into my jawbone. Oh, and so I can't, I don't have I can't open my mouth as wide as I used to be able to, but - we're in the process of of basically doing a few different things on the way to having my wisdom teeth out as an adult, which I've heard sucks. - so yeah, we'll be taking a podcast break for a couple weeks when that happens because man, like it everything I know about it is it's it's pretty terrible. But anyway, I survived and I'm I'm very happy that - that I really do have a great dentist. Like I'm a I'm a huge fan of him, and his staff is incredible, and like I they are not the problem. I am the problem.

Pamela: 9:58

I think Taylor Swift wrote a song about that.

Josh: 10:00

She really did. It's me.

Pamela: 10:02

It was about your dental experience.

Josh: 10:04

Yeah, yeah. I shared all of this. I shared previous dental experiences with her, and she sat down and wrote that.

Pamela: 10:09

You inspired her.

Josh: 10:11

It would be applicable. Yeah.

Pamela: 10:13

No, I get that way, except in public speaking. You know, like I can't tell you how many times when I go in to say to give a presentation or whatever that I've done a hundred times before, even in front of people that I know. I'm like, anybody have tequila? Like, does anyone have anything that I can just take the edge off? More often than not. No, I have been offered - to door dash things in before. But I'm like, no, I'll just suck it up like an adult.

Josh: 10:43

Yeah. No, I mean I mean, I started playing music - in church environments when I was 16. And in those early days, I got really nervous, you know, and and I prepared really hard and and you know, tried to work at figuring out those nerves and how to get past them. And I've been doing work like that for so many years that that now I mean it's very uncommon that I get nervous and and that's a handy skill. Like I'm just not really all that afraid to get up in front of people and have to talk if I need to. But at the same time, like you know, it's I've yet to actually do m many useful things with that. Like I if I could monetize that skill, that would be amazing.

Pamela: 11:29

You know, that's something I have thought about with the kids. You know, trying to get them comfortable with you know, speaking in front of people and plays, but it's it's interesting because both of them do not really like to be on stage, they don't like putting on programs, they don't like doing their you know, orchestra concerts and things like that, they don't like being in the center of attention. And for me to kind of expect them to be comfortable in that spotlight, and I'm not comfortable in that spotlight is it's kind of like telling them you need to drop your accent.

Josh: 12:10

Exactly. Exactly.

Pamela: 12:12

But, I have been in kind of encouraging my daughter to think about joining the - like student council and things like that.

Josh: 12:20

She'd be great at that.

Pamela: 12:21

Yeah, like I just I want them to because these are those to me, those are the skills that are gonna be really important when they get older is being able to negotiate and be able to talk to people, being able to debate respectfully and all of these things. And she was a little hesitant. My favorite thing about her is I will say, Hey, I really think you should do this. And her first response is no. And then about 12 to 24 hours later, well, - I'm like, okay, okay. So I always know like the first no is not a no.

Josh: 12:54

Yeah.

Pamela: 12:55

It's - no right now. Let me process and think about it, and then we'll we'll talk later. But yeah.

Josh: 13:03

Yeah. Well, and I so our kids have some natural musical ability, both of them do. And

Pamela: 13:13

I can't imagine where they get that from.

Josh: 13:15

Yeah. Well, and what's really gonna suck is when they figure out that it it's a really fun skill to have and will almost never pay any money ever. - yeah, it's not what I would call a - like a career dream for most people, but both our kids have some of that ability, which is awesome. And if they're in the same camp as your kids, they don't really want to get on stage and show anybody. So my daughter has a lot of natural vocal ability. And I thought one thing that would be really fun is if I actually recorded with her some -, you know, two or three of the songs that she knows, yeah, and then stick those out on Instagram or whatever, and let her see people respond positively to them. And maybe that would shift her perspective a little bit on being on stage. My son just started orchestra this year, which is really cool. He's playing the viola, which the world needs more viola players, I'm told. And I'm curious to see how this all goes. I think he's gonna be fine. I think there's gonna be some nerves to work through those first times that he's doing you know these concerts and whatnot. But it's good for him. I'm completely fine with him having some nerves and having to overcome that. And I feel like I can be helpful with a lot of that, and so can Krista, which will be great.

Pamela: 14:35

So my daughter plays the violin, and I know last year she she's played for I feel like it's been about two years now. - but when she first started playing and she had to be on stage, she was first chair - for a while, but she like hated it because she did not want to be on the end front and center. - but the good thing is with her having done that and you know, she finds us and like we're rooting her on and and all the things, I think she's starting to get a little more comfortable being on stage at least. - and and kind of allowing somewhat of the center of attention to be on her. I've noticed just over the years and over the performances, and as she's gotten better, -, that confidence is building a little bit more. One thing I find interesting about your daughter, and I know that singing is you know different, but you know, she's such a great gymnast.

Josh: 15:34

She is. Yeah.

Pamela: 15:35

And she can dominate that mat and she has no fear. Like she just leans right into it. So it's interesting to hear you say that she's a little nervous when it comes to singing because the the daughter, the girl that I see, I'm like, she's amazing. You know, when she is when she gets that Leotard on and she is in the zone, I'm like, watch out.

Josh: 16:02

Yeah, it's it's really fun to watch. Like her her gymnastics career has been -, I mean, I call it a career, which is kind of a silly word, I guess. But it it with the amount of work she puts into it, yeah, it's it's a career right now. And -, you know, she has had She's just not monetizing it yet. Yeah. - but man, seeing her in competition environments where there is a room full of people, and the the way that gymnastics competitions work is you have a you have multiple events all running at once, but it's only one person per event. So if she's on the balance beam, there's other people doing events too. So she's not necessarily the only center of attention, but it's still very exposed and it's very quiet. You you don't really cheer a lot during gymnastics meets until - everyone's kind of done.

Pamela: 16:54

Yeah.

Josh: 16:54

Because if you want to yell and holler, you could really distract people. And in fact, there was a there was an event that she did where I brought one of my big fancy cameras and I took some photos of her. And I asked her before we got there, is it going to distract you if you see me taking photos of you? Because if it will distract you, I won't do it. Yeah. But she was she was fine with it and and the photos turned out great, which was fun. -, but I was I think that she's growing and evolving in a lot of that, in a lot of how she's processing being in a stage environment and having a lot of attention on her and stuff.

Pamela: 17:30

Yeah.

Josh: 17:32

Since the last time we recorded, there's been some pretty significant cultural news. - and honestly, we've gone back and forth as to whether or not to talk about it. But what we've decided is that we're going to address an element of what happened around the death of Charlie Kirk. So for anyone who who has been under a rock for the last couple of weeks at least, -, there's a conser a young conservative commentator named Charlie Kirk. He's a 31-year-old man, he has two kids and he's married, and he was brutally murdered in front of a crowd of people in Utah. And the if you are unaware of what's going on, I'm a little jealous of you because it has been a massive piece of news within, you know, just the the world that we're in right now. And we didn't initially feel like we had a lot to offer to the conversation. But what we do want to talk about is divisiveness and and the poison that we all seem to be drinking when it comes to how we are seeing our fellow humans.

Pamela: 18:38

We want to make it really clear that while these are political topics, we do not believe that they should be. Like these are not politically driven opinions, these are human-driven opinions. These are stripping away, you know, all of the divisiveness and being able to actually look at people as people, you know, as as our neighbors, as our friends, as our, you know, that is how I look at any individual as a human being first, not whatever their opinions and things are. So I think I just wanted to make it really clear that while these are heavy topics, that these are things that, you know, we've all heard every opinion on, we kind of felt a little bit responsible to at least speak a little bit into it.

Josh: 19:43

Right. Letting you as a listener be behind the curtain a little bit, one of the things that Pamela and I discussed, you know, around this topic, but really kind of in general, is we don't want to be a source of divisiveness. We have our opinions, sure. It's in the title of the podcast, but we're not necessarily inviting you to only ever agree with us. And so when we bring up these topics, are our we want to be genuine in how we talk about them. And so you will hear these topics through the lens of who we are as people. And at the same time, we invite you to stick around even if you disagree with that.

Pamela: 20:20

Yes, absolutely.

Josh: 20:22

We're not trying to say, hey, this is how we feel, so you should too. We're just saying this is how we feel. And we were dumb enough to stick it on the internet. And so

Pamela: 20:35

Yeah, I think, I think it the polarization is what we want to get away from.

Josh: 20:41

Yeah.

Pamela: 20:41

We we want to be able to have these conversations with people of many different opinions without things getting ugly.

Josh: 20:50

Yeah.

Pamela: 20:50

Without there being blame thrown, without scapegoating, without gaslighting, without any of these things, like just human, genuine conversations around pretty heavy topics.

Josh: 21:02

Right.

Pamela: 21:02

Because those are the things that are going on in the world. And those are the things that are affecting our lives, unfortunately. And we we really need to be able to look at those things through a human lens.

Josh: 21:13

Yeah. For those of you who don't know, Pamela has a Substack called The Data Cowgirl, and you really, really, really, really should follow it. Her writing is excellent. It's worth your time to actually sit down and read through everything she's posted. But specifically, you posted something this last Monday, and I want to hear you talk a little bit about it. But in a nutshell, you are looking to challenge people to re-evaluate how they approach other humans. That that's that's the way I read it. And I thought it was brilliantly written. I thought it was timely in its delivery, and I think it is the perspective that we need to have as we are looking towards a tragedy with somebody who like let's face it, if anyone's listening to this podcast or knows us personally, you're gonna know that our policy preferences and and our social perspectives are not aligned with Charlie Kirk's. And that's fine.

Pamela: 22:09

Yes.

Josh: 22:10

That's completely fine. But we're not gonna talk about any of that. Like, we're that's not helpful dialogue. What is helpful dialogue is us taking a good hard look at ourselves in the mirror and deciding how we want to approach people that we disagree with. So tell me a little bit about tell me a little bit about what your thought process was going into that article and and what you wish people would take home from it.

Pamela: 22:34

So when I found out that Charlie Kirk had been shot and and eventually succumbed to his injuries, I started doing a little bit of digging. I didn't really know much about him. Started just listening to you know clips and podcasts and and really kind of trying to to see who this person was. I found some good stuff. I found some stuff that I really did not agree with. Sure. which is fine. He is a human being, he is a person. And at the end of the day, that is what matters. He is still a human being. He is still a person, he's still he has a family, he has children, and a lot of the the people that I would have expected could have had an I told you so moment or a - well looky there, you know, they came out and said, absolutely not. Like this is not okay. We do not condone violence, political violence, any of that. You know, they they said we disagree with a lot of the things that he he said and that he agreed with and that he believed in. However, that doesn't mean that he should have died for that.

Josh: 23:58

Yeah.

Pamela: 23:59

Well, and I also believe that people's opinions can change.

Josh: 24:03

Oh man, I am evidence, I am walking, living, breathing evidence.

Pamela: 24:06

Exactly. So it's so when when people are saying, like, oh, the left is celebrating, you know, Charlie, no.

Josh: 24:13

Who?

Pamela: 24:14

No, we're not.

Josh: 24:14

Yeah,

Pamela: 24:15

No, we're not, because even though I don't agree with his opinion, doesn't mean he's gonna have that opinion, that same opinion in 10 years.

Josh: 24:22

Right.

Pamela: 24:22

It does and he does not deserve or he has to get executed for the opinions he has today. If I had the opinions - that I had when I was 31,

Josh: 24:35

I was a pretty different guy.

Pamela: 24:37

Yeah, like and I've managed to mature and process and and and I have in my opinions in 10 years,

Josh: 24:45

Right.

Pamela: 24:46

are not going to be the same that they are, and in 20 years and so forth, like I think that's the problem is that we just automatically tag these people with whatever their opinions opinions are of the day. And it's like those opinions are not who that person is.

Josh: 25:01

Yeah.

Pamela: 25:02

Okay. Now, I do want to be very respectful in the fact that like we need to be responsible in what we are saying and what we are preaching, and and you know, the consequences that come with that. The consequence of Charlie Kirk's opinion was not murder.

Josh: 25:23

Right.

Pamela: 25:24

Okay. I want to make that very clear. Like, that was not a consequence of his opinion. That was a consequence of some crazy person,

Josh: 25:33

Right.

Pamela: 25:33

You know, in whatever that whole situation is, like his murder was not a consequence of his opinions. And I think what really fired me up about things was our leaders basically immediately throwing blame on the left, throwing shade to the Democrats. Like, that is not what this is about.

Josh: 26:02

Right.

Pamela: 26:02

It's and you and they had no basis, they had no facts, they had no information, immediately division.

Josh: 26:09

Right.

Pamela: 26:10

We immediately go to division. And whether I was on the right side or wrong side or or this the side that was getting mud slung, you know, whatever. No, no, that is not okay. That is not how we handle these situations. You know, when 9-11 happened, did Bush come out and say, oh, it's the Democrats?

Josh: 26:33

Right.

Pamela: 26:33

Oh, it's the left.

Josh: 26:34

Yeah.

Pamela: 26:35

No, he came out and said, it's the terrorists.

Josh: 26:38

Yeah.

Pamela: 26:39

This is the terrorists, the problem. Like we have we have not had a single major event that involved violence like like this, where the leader of the free world has come out and said, Oh, it's it's the Republicans.

Josh: 26:58

Oh, it's the opposing party.

Pamela: 27:00

It's the it's the people who so the more I kind of thought about that and the more I kind of processed it and really kind of thought through all my thoughts and feelings around this whole situation, which were all over the place, because it's a very volatile situation, it's a very nuanced situation. I kind of went back to you know that a moment in my life where I really didn't know if I was gonna live. And in that moment, you know what didn't matter? Republican and Democrat and you know, liberal and conservative, and you know anything, like the only thing that mattered in that moment was survival.

Josh: 27:53

Right.

Pamela: 27:53

And the people who were with me at that time and who were supporting me and and and just doing whatever it was that I had to do to see the next day. Right. And so when we have these super loud, super divisive, super politically charged moments and people just start immediately slinging mud in any direction.

Josh: 28:25

Yeah.

Pamela: 28:28

I just kind of go back to humanity and people and what matters at the end of the day. It does it doesn't matter at the end of the day if you're a Democrat. Like it doesn't matter at the end of the day. But being the leader of the free world and just completely creating chaos and division and and and furthering this narrative is not not not where we need to be right now.

Josh: 28:59

No.

Pamela: 29:00

And and it makes me uneasy. And I just it doesn't need to it doesn't need to be this way, it doesn't need to feel this way. We need to get back to - treating each other like human beings. We need to get back to our policy being for people, not against people. So a lot of the piece kind of came from what is the actual problem here.

Josh: 29:27

Yeah.

Pamela: 29:27

And it's not people, it's hate.

Josh: 29:30

Yeah. Well, and what really sucks is that it's in times of tragedy, our instinct is to try and place blame because blame makes things make more sense. Like we can explain it better if we have something we can point to and say, well, if we just had fixed this, then this tragedy wouldn't have happened. And I'm not saying that there's nothing to fix here, because there certainly is. But at the same time, there is a there is a huge philosophical problem that we have where we have just decided that anyone that is different from us is dangerous. And and I I remember thinking that that there is this weird set of headlines several years ago where there was this stretch of where some where a person just ended up someplace that they didn't mean to be and ended up getting for it. So for example, there was there were two different times where an individual got into the wrong car on accident thinking it was their car. This was big news in Texas. Like I I I could dig up this headline, but they they got in the wrong vehicle on accident and were by the driver of that vehicle because the driver of that vehicle thought that this person was invading their car. And there was another story, too, about a kid that showed up at a house to pick up his siblings that he thought was there, but he got the address wrong. And the house that he went to was owned by a person that sh-t the kid through his front door. And I just thought, man, we have lost the plot. We have decided that anyone remotely different is now dangerous. And the problem is that narrative gets perpetuated, like what you were saying, when you have leadership that continues to put anyone in opposition to them in their crosshairs. And so when a lot of that mentality, I think, comes from that idea that we've decided that people who are different from us are dangerous, and we have got to start whatever work is required to let that go. That has to be something that we overcome because otherwise the same divisiveness will be a poison and it will not stop until we start making conscious effort and decisions to make it stop.

Pamela: 31:54

Well, and another thing, we have got to stop picking and choosing whose life is more important than someone else's.

Josh: 32:01

Right.

Pamela: 32:02

The other thing that really upset me on September 10th was all the attention on CK. While children in Colorado are getting in a school sh--ting, you know, I I'm seeing people like, oh, poor Charlie and his family. And yes,

Josh: 32:31

yeah,

Pamela: 32:31

I agree.

Josh: 32:32

But what about that what about children getting sh-t?

Pamela: 32:38

Like what about what about where where were your thoughts and prayers and your your outrage and all of these things for the the the students who got while praying? And what about Trey Reed who was found hung on a school campus?

Josh: 32:56

Right.

Pamela: 32:57

You know, where where were all of where was your outrage for these things? What what about George Floyd? Like what about all of these things? It's like I think you know, the the rhetoric that I hear, oh well, he was a criminal.

Josh: 33:14

Right.

Pamela: 33:15

Oh, well, he had this. Oh, well, he had that. Okay, well, but you have people who you're praising who are not perfect people. They are creating this division and this hate, and they are they are saying these things that are triggering to people and are are causing harm.

Josh: 33:38

Right.

Pamela: 33:39

You know, they may not be, it may not be criminalized, right, but they're these people are no different. Like sitting here and pointing at, oh, well, he had a criminal background, oh, he stole, oh, he did this, he did that. It's like, no, no, no. Like these are still people. The problem isn't the people, the problem is the hate.

Josh: 33:58

Right. Yeah. And we just can't get enough. And I'm so ready for people in positions of power to start naming that for what it is.

Pamela: 34:12

Yes.

Josh: 34:13

And stop perpetuating it themselves.

Pamela: 34:15

Yes.

Josh: 34:16

And I I saw this clip, and and I'm not getting political by bringing George Bush back up, but - any more than we've already been political in this, but the I saw this clip of of George Bush introducing Nancy Pelosi as the speaker of the house for the first time.

Pamela: 34:34

Yes.

Josh: 34:35

And he had this thoughtful, heartfelt celebration that he said from the lector and he was speaking at, where he, and I'm gonna misquote it probably, but it was something to the effect of it gives me great pleasure for the first time to introduce Madam Speaker. Yeah. Because it was the first female speaker of the House, which is a massive position of power. And I just thought, okay, there's some decency. There's some, you know, acknowledgement that this we can disagree on policy lines, but I can still celebrate the fact that our country is moving forward and that you have been put in this position, even if he didn't want her there.

Pamela: 35:19

Yeah.

Josh: 35:20

But like, I just I I want that decency back.

Pamela: 35:23

I want yes, you know, like, and I'll hear Obama speak on these things, and I'm like, that is leadership. What we have right now, this is that's not leadership. I swear, if my kids were acting like these adults, oh hell no.

Josh: 35:39

Seriously.

Pamela: 35:40

Like I I just I'm so upset about it and and the fact that like we have just completely lost humanity. Yeah, there is a difference. I think that there are a lot of topics that get that go that fall under the umbrella of politics that are not just opinions. I'm sorry, but like racism and misogyny and all of these things, like those are not political opinions.

Josh: 36:12

Right.

Pamela: 36:13

Those are the part of the problem here. If if I had my way, if I was Madam President, - we would not have legislation on our bodies.

Josh: 36:24

Right.

Pamela: 36:25

Anybody. That is not what it's for. You know, like I am paying my taxes for you to fix my roads,

Josh: 36:32

Right, right.

Pamela: 36:33

For you to help feed children,

Josh: 36:35

Right.

Pamela: 36:35

for you to, you know, provide books to the library for for all of these things. Like I do not I don't want my tax dollars going to an organization that is going to shame a pregnant woman.

Josh: 36:50

Yeah.

Pamela: 36:51

Like that is not what tax dollars are for. That is not what policy is for. Like, I want women to be able to get health care.

Josh: 37:00

I think at the end of the day, this has all been kind of forced to the surface. and you know, we we are not an exclusively political podcast. Obviously, we discuss those things. This felt like something that was probably too big for us to do - super deep dives on. And I we just wanted to try and keep the focus on what is helpful. And so that's kind of our challenge to you is what is helpful in the context of how you're dealing with this right now? How are you approaching this in a way that looks at people as humans and not just by the bumper stickers that they have on the back of their car? And I really believe that we are capable of better. And I believe that that better will only come with conscious decision. It is not going to happen on accident. It is not gonna happen because it's easy. It's gonna happen because we decided to try. That's what I want to do. I want to try. Both you and I work hard to try and be just politically aware. Like, you know, we we try and participate as as good citizens and as good responsible humans. We try and have a little bit of our radios tuned to the station of what's going on around us politically. And and I would completely agree with what you said about how people evolve and change. And one thing I a phrase I like to use a lot is almost everything in my life is written in pencil. I reserve the right to grow and change and evolve. And there's some things that I have no interest in in growing out of, you know, I but at the same time, like it's not that long of a list, you know, and and I I want to be a person that can grow and change and evolve. I want to be a person that can be challenged and and you know look at things a different way. I don't know that I'm on a path to where I was ever going to be aligned with Charlie Kirk. Ten years ago, that would have been a much easier thing for me. But at the same time, you know, we we have to start making different decisions as a as a society. We have to start being more self-aware about the hatred and the poison that we spread. And we have to have leaders in the right spaces that are going to challenge us in the right ways on those things and keep our focus on what the actual problems are. And if you want to read more about Pamela's thoughts on this and learn a bit more about just her path and perspectives and things like that, I really, really, really encourage you to go check out The Data Cow girl on Substack. It's it's phenomenal. And this this last post really centers around what we're talking about, is the foundation of this conversation we're having. - it's worth your time. And it's not just worth your time, it's worth the time of all the people that you have influence with. Because if we can start agreeing on what the problem is, then we can start addressing it. But as long as we are trying to diagnose the wrong disease, we're gonna treat it with the wrong medicine. And and we have got to start making changes. So go check out Substack, go read what she has to say, and we'll this will be the end of our Charlie Kirk commentary.

Pamela: 40:27

Yes. Well, that's it for premeditated opinions, where the thoughts were fully baked and only mildly regrettable. If you enjoyed today's episode, congrats on having truly excellent taste in podcasts and opinions. Following us on YouTube and Instagram is a quick and easy way to support us. So if you liked literally anything about today's episode, please like and subscribe.

Josh: 40:51

Also, send us to someone who needs to feel seen, dragged, or both. We'll be back next week with more unsolicited insight and emotionally responsible spiraling. And until then, please stay hydrated and behave yourself in the comments. But if you don't, at least make us laugh.