Welcome back to The Main Mic. My name's Harper.
And I'm Mackenzie. And we're giving you our guests,
the Girl Talk Debates. Yes, thank you so much
for having us on. I'm Nerissa. I'm the president
of our model United Nations as well. And I'm
also, you know, one of the main creators of Girl
Talk. And my name is Shreya. I'm the Vice President
of Model United Nations at JCCC, and I'm also
a part of Girl Talk, and you might have seen
me at the Women in Politics Ask Me Anything table.
And today we brought you guys here because I
actually ran into you a couple weeks ago now,
but you had your own little table in the little
courtyard area, and it just kind of was... I
was drawn to it because a lot of the things that
you were advocating for really align and are
obviously like it's woman history month and it's
something that should be brought to us. I'm trying
not to like give too many details so you guys
can talk about yourselves, of course, but we
really like. we were like oh my gosh these people
are so cool we need them on our podcast and i
appreciate it yeah for sure i always joked with
treya that we always needed a podcast because
unfortunately we will talk at each other for
hours and yeah and we you know we're both interested
in political science whether that be you know
us pursuing it as a career or within our extracurriculars
so we thought we'd go ahead and host that table
for women's history month just so that we could
kind of get some information out there and I
feel like doing the ask me anything table was
just like such a fun and trendy way to you know
sit there and have people ask us you know, some
stupid questions and some, you know, really important
questions. You know, I opened that conversation
to campus. Was the table really popular? Did
you get a lot of like incoming traffic? Yeah.
Honestly, not as much as we would have hoped,
but as much to be expected with how the days
were going, if that makes sense. We had some
really good conversations, I feel like. Yeah.
Honestly, like. We were surprised with like how
many people were able to come up to us and want
to have dialogue with us. That was very like,
I appreciated that. I think it's also like, you
know, everybody's like trying to get to their
classes and there's a very limited amount of
time. So, you know, we weren't expecting too
much, but I think the conversations that we did
have were very productive and I think very engaging
and fulfilled the purpose of the table, which
was to be educational. Yeah, 100%. I will say,
people were very respectful, which is, like,
just something I wanted to highlight. Like, what
an amazing thing that our campus was respectful
about an Ask Me Anything table, because I feel
like you usually see the clips of them going
a little crazy. Oh, yeah, we were kind of worried
about the online. We were, like, emotionally
preparing ourselves, but it was totally fine.
I mean, oh, well, what kind of questions are
you guys getting? Like, do you remember? I remember
someone asked us how many women there are in
the world. What, like 4 .1 billion? If I remember
that correctly. So we definitely had some funny
questions. If we prefer cats or dogs, you know,
people really took the anything serious. Name
any woman. Name a woman. But we did have some
really like productive conversations, you know,
about. You know, Kamala Harris was a hot topic.
Vaccinations, authoritarian governments. The
election, body autonomy, things like that. Yeah,
that's a pretty hot topic over here. We weren't
one of the swing states, but we were almost.
We're so close. Yeah, they got our hopes up in
the first half, but it's okay. Tell us a bit
more about your cause and just like what you
guys advocate for. I mean, obviously there's
like a long list and you're welcome to spill
all, but just like tell us about Girl Talk. Girl
Talk was like my... Passion Project, My Baby,
just because. And like I said earlier, me and
Freya always kind of joke about it, but there's
so many men with a microphone. And unfortunately,
we have to deal with them every day, you know.
And there's some really hot people out there
with podcasts, you know, like Ben Shapiro, Joe
Rogan, Candace Owens. And it's just I think that
there is a lot of conversations around that are
for. more of an audience of men and so i wanted
to call it girl talk because And I kind of want
to talk about this in my first episode, you know,
like girl math, girl dinner. And I just think
it's important to kind of rebrand politics and
economics and philosophy as girl talk. Yeah.
Yeah, because like me and Treya, we love to gossip
about current events and, you know, talk about
philosophy and overanalyze everything, unfortunately.
And I get a lot of people who come up to me and
they're just like, I'm just a girl. And I just
think that those are the most devastating words
I've ever heard. heard and embrace my heart every
time because it's um i i just feel like if they
were a part of those dialogues if they were talked
about it from a young age you know I always bring
up like Thanksgiving, like at Thanksgiving, you
know, the dads and the uncles are always arguing
about politics or whatnot. And it's kind of not
your purpose or, you know, not a conversation
that you want to be a part of, you know, as a
girl growing up. So it's I unfortunately was
that girl who was always involved in it. And
I just think, you know, I want to kind of rebrand
that as like this is something that you should
be talking about as girls. And we are smart enough
to, you know, understand all these ideas. Yeah.
It's really just like breaking that barrier.
Now is a more important time than ever to be
able to discuss these conversations. And it's
like, if we can have girl math, we can have girl
politics. Like, we always are discussing the
socio -political state of the world constantly.
And it's just like, it should be an inclusive
space. It affects everyone. The world and everything
is inherently political. So women should be allowed
to have these discussions and not feel that.
they're too stupid or not well -informed and
things like that because I feel like there are
a lot of barriers that prevent us from talking
and prevent us from feeling like our opinions
aren't important from a young age I feel like
young girls are taught that like oh you know
it's better to stay quiet than say anything and
it's better to just like keep your opinion to
yourself like be kind and things like that and
none of those are inherently harmful but in the
sense of like it does teach you to like internalize
everything rather have open dialogue which can
be so productive and helpful and it's like I
feel like women are usually very supportive of
each other, whether it's like in the bathroom
of a bar or like in general, like we're always
like there for each other. And why can't we do
that in a political space? I just feel like we're
so divided now. And it's so important to have
these difficult conversations if we're going
to get anywhere. Yeah, you're definitely right.
It's always growing up. It's always you're thinking
about how pretty you look or how you look according
to like the male gaze. And it's like that's not
the way that women should grow up. thinking about
how to get a man how to keep a man like we should
be more smart about the things that we want to
do in our life whether it be politics or anything
else even if it still is beauty we can be beautiful
without thinking about it for attracting a man
yeah and beauty doesn't compromise intelligence
exactly it can exist at the same time yeah um
well With this Girl Talk podcast and obviously
Johnson County student and a model UN as well,
what out of the three is like, I guess the question
I'm trying to ask is being a student, model UN,
and hopefully a future podcaster, what might
be the most difficult thing out of all three?
I think just balancing all three for me. I unfortunately
have just always done a million extracurriculars
and I've always been too loud and I'll never
shut up, unfortunately. So, you know, things
like Model UN and doing stuff like this is just
I'm truly just doing it because I'm just so passionate
about it and it doesn't feel like homework. And
I know that other people on my Model UN team
would. so heavily disagree with me. And they're
probably procrastinating, you know, finishing
their position papers right now as we speak.
But maybe, you know, more specifically, if I
were to like really answer the question, probably
just be remembering that I'm a student at the
end of the day and that, you know, I still have
to take care of those responsibilities and then
I can get to my passion projects a little bit
later instead of procrastinating on my homework
and whatnot. Yeah. With being a student here,
do you hope to bring Girl Talk into maybe, like,
a club at some point? I would love to. It's just,
unfortunately, for me at least, and I know, you
know, me and Trey have been kind of talking about
what our futures here look like, but we're both
towards the end of our second year, so it might
look like transferring. I'm also a military spouse,
so I, like, never know where we're going to end
up next, but I would love, for something like
that. And I see it so much at other schools.
If anything, I hope that I can, you know, fuel
the fire, put some ideas in there for other people
to keep it going. That's, well, great. I mean,
that's how I was drawn to you at your table.
I was like, I'm amazed. I honestly, I'm sure
you've seen what happens in those courtyards
and who's always advocating in there. So it was
really refreshing to have someone advocate for
like, I guess, woman's rights and just have that
visibility in that courtyard versus, I don't
want to say it, but, like, you know. Those who
must not be named. Exactly. It's okay. But it's
exciting to finally see that visibility because,
honestly, it is very rare to not, I guess. see
it at our school but for someone to be so passionate
about your own project and not like be scared
about other people judging you because that obviously
plays a huge part in nowadays like with social
media and just students and young young adults
in general like everyone is so like black or
white and it's hard to surpass that with certain
people like whatever's right or wrong left or
right um you understand like it's it's refreshing
to see that you guys are so passionate about
something that should honestly be a part of every
curricular and shouldn't be just a club or just
a podcast um and it's just it's nice to see so
much empowerment during one woman's history month
and two after you know after events after everything
that's gone down um but i'd love to just talk
about why specifically you guys honestly you
you said it was a passion project but how how
do you feel about inspiring other people like
what would be the sort of end goal for, I mean,
you have the idea of a podcast. Yes. I just want,
honestly, very early in the wraps, we kind of
have talked about the different formatting that
we want to do, but we're currently running the
Instagram. I remember you actually came up to
the booth and you used that phrase. You're like,
I'm an Instagram warrior. And I think, you know,
that's kind of how everyone starts is on Instagram.
2020, I think, was the big time where everyone
kind of was like, oh, politics exists. Like,
let me start reposting some images. So we kind
of started on Instagram just putting out like
feminist literature, different statistics they
can look at, just like really bite sized information.
And then we want to work on having a podcast,
you know, together, being able to have the conversations
we have. And we are obsessed with video essays.
Oh, yeah. Like. what was like our record like
I think six hours like we've just yeah honestly
and it's like we might as well just have a podcast
because we're over here and like well yeah for
like six hours our families don't know where
we are and we're just yapping about like what
like philosophy what did we talk about we talked
about like we talked about Nietzsche today We
talked about Taylor Swift and white feminism.
That was a good one. The 100 games just came
out. How the 100 games relates to American politics.
um we talk about literally anything and everything
and then make it political and make it about
philosophy and make it about social sciences
and i think that's a beautiful thing because
i think it's like as much as that it's so easy
it's accessible first of all to be like an instagram
warrior to be on social media right it's something
that's accessible to most people Like you said,
it took like a lot to be for us to be out there
at the courtyard and physically present. And
I feel like, you know, especially after COVID,
our culture has definitely shifted a bit to use
the Internet as more of a medium to communicate
with people. But I think something about politics
is that it definitely reminds you about the world
itself. The point of politics is to actively
engage yourself in the world and as a community
and with other people, whether that's advocating
for yourself and your rights or the rights of
other people. Yeah. And I think also for me,
I just like when I talk about like my passion,
like at the end of the day, like this is my passion
project. And my true passion is just political
literacy. Like I just want people to understand
what I feel like are the basics. But unfortunately,
you know, not everyone, you know, takes political
science classes, but politics affects everybody,
whether or not you choose to learn about it.
And I think, you know, we talked about. often
as like performance activism. And I think sometimes,
you know, with Instagram Warriors, you get a
little bit into performance activism. And so
we kind of wanted to create something. People
always ask me like, well, what can I do? And
so this is kind of a way of directing people
of like, this is a space where you can learn
about the conversation and get a better understanding.
And maybe, you know, we always want to provide
different books that they can read into other
podcasts, other video essays, like we'll always
cite it. I love citing other things. And then
also, you know, ways that they can make their
community a little bit of a better place that,
you know, at the end of the day, isn't the hardest
thing in the world. Like at our booth, we wanted
to hand out. different petitions and whatnot.
Just so I always say like petitions is the easiest
thing in the world. Anyone can sign a petition,
takes two seconds, you can look up petitions.
So we went ahead and created a list of those
or, you know, places you could donate or even
just educating yourself and other people can
also be a form of activism, you know, tying it
back into social media, but just, you know, kind
of taking, bridging the Instagram and the performativity
of it and making it true, you know, political
action. true like impact I think that's so important
especially right now when we have like the current
administration attacking certain areas of academia
whether that's like women and gender studies
I think it's so important I think to not just
have conversations with the yourself but the
people around you and I think we've also shifted
into a culture where a lot of people are afraid
you know um and we love talking about this in
the sense like just because we like know a lot
about it and we're like total politics nerds
does not mean everybody that we talk to about
these things has to be a politics nerd you know
like sometimes we'll like go into our like big
words and stuff but the thing is it's like we
want this to be accessible right you don't have
to know everything to be able to speak about
it If that makes sense, especially when these
issues as women affect us on a day to day basis,
you know, there needs to be way more respectful
dialogue, way more open conversation with people,
because that's how you get to know that. And
I unfortunately feel like social media has become
a space. that is like incredibly toxic in certain
areas where it's like you're not having a conversation,
you're just yelling at each other. And that's
really why we wanted to have that table is just
to have like open, respectful dialogue and understanding
with each other and not end like that random
jubilee BS, you know, that we see online. It's
like, no, like how do we actually have a conversation
with people and get to an understanding, you
know? And I think we did do some of that with
our table, which I'm really proud of. That's
good. The Jubilee thing is just like I've watched
a couple of them and it's just like Democrats
against Republicans. And it's like this is extremely
messy. It's just crazy. It's like, why are you
having like a person that's like advocating for
their own human rights and people that are like
actively like, no, you don't deserve rights.
That's crazy. Yeah. And they're like, fine, middle
ground. Like what? and they never find middle
ground no it's just an argument it's not a debate
it's just an argument and it's sad to see yeah
and it's just like social media i feel like you
know it's become a space where like people are
in echo chambers i think we've heard that word
thrown around a lot like unfortunately we do
we engage in spaces the internet that have algorithms
right they tailor things that we see based on
what we like and what we spend time on and then
our worldview I think we've seen that a lot with
this election too I feel like a lot of the disappointment
was also around that it's like we were only around
people that agreed with us and we were only hearing
opinions that agreed with us and I feel like
that also could have created like a false sense
of optimism as well and it's just that when we
get to these places where social media tends
to demonize people that do not agree like think
the same way as you And I think it's just so
important to be able to have these open conversations,
you know, especially in this time, even when
it feels so divisive and so crazy, because I
feel like a lot of the time when people can engage
in respectful dialogue, you really do develop
an understanding. And I think you do realize
that like human beings all want the same things,
which is just like, you know, health and happiness
for their families. For sure. And you guys being
able to be there in person, in the flesh, physically,
instead of an online persona is 10 times more
impactful than someone just seeing, well, seeing
a video is more, I guess you can share it, but
having someone physically in front of you speaking
those words to you is, to me, I feel is always
way more impactful than just scrolling mindlessly
and watching video after video um not saying
it's any less educational but having that connection
with a person uh like at your table is just one
of the more amazing tributes to you guys being
able to sit there in in our court keep wanting
to say court like room but like you know the
courtyard yeah all right and we're back we now
have zach on the floor with us You want to just
say welcome in? I know you just said sup, but
I was talking over you. Sup. Again. Okay. But
now that we're all here, how was your spring
break? I mean, we totally should have asked Mackenzie
this too. Probably. Well, I talked a little bit
with her before you came in, before any of you
came in. Pretty much kind of the same. I've just
been watching One Piece, all of it. I'm five
episodes away now. Well, girls. We are huge nerds
here. We really are. Me too. Yeah, we all are.
What kind of nerds are you guys? I'm a comic
book nerd through and through, I will say. Invincible
has just came out with their season. Absolutely
loved it. Beautiful. I'm also catching up with
the boys, you know, with my husband. We've been
watching a lot of that. It's actually kind of
funny. My husband does not like comic books.
Really? Yeah. And Marvel Rivals just came out
also and poured into this conversation. I am
Diamond 3. Oh, my God. You're higher than me.
I know. I told you I'm a nerd. But it's kind
of funny right now because over spring break,
I was like, we need to catch you up on Marvel
because all of these things I keep talking about.
about so it's kind of been an uphill battle trying
to get him to be on the same page as everything
for sure and then nerd about you oh i'm like
a traditional nerd i swear i feel like i'm i'm
such a politics nerd like i literally spend my
day watching video essays and like reading and
i guess like musicals i don't know if that quantifies
it but it's really just it definitely does hi
hi i just like i don't know i love consuming
like film and media and just tv And I'm such
a yopper, so I don't know. And with that, we
are going to go see Hamilton soon together. Oh,
nice. Like official Broadway or Kansas City?
Broadway, New York. Are they doing original cast
or anything? No. No, I think the original cast
has stopped touring for a while now. I know they
have some reunions every now and then, but. I'm
just like crossing my fingers that Lin -Manuel
will make an appearance or something. I know,
he'll just show up. You know what I was going
to say? I'm glad he won't be there. Why? Have
you heard Dear Theodosia? He ruins the song for
me, I swear. When his voice like creeps in with
his like talking singing. Oh, but Leslie's voice
is so beautiful, so it kind of makes it up. I
know, Aaron Burr, it's like I'm literally crying
and then I hear Lin -Manuel Miranda like sneak.
I wish. Have you guys seen the people on TikTok
who have like a really good Lin -Manuel Miranda
impression? It's scary. I wish I could do it.
I just love seeing like songs or like musicals
pop out and people are like, yeah, he wrote that.
Yeah. Well, he's a really good composer. He's
just. not so much a vocalist it's just like it's
funny it's like you can just tell when he like
wrote something and i just love that do you see
that he was the one he wrote the music for the
first moana movie right oh my god i love moana
yeah um but he didn't uh for the second and a
lot of people are trashing the second moana movie
because it's not written by him but it's actually
written by um just to like refresh your memory
remember the whole bridgerton phase that tiktok
had yeah um do you remember the i'm a bridgerton
girl it was uh something in bear um they had
they're like music producers but they created
like a whole like the i burn for you song and
oh that was like the the two girls and then they
won like a little was it a grammy and then they
got sued did they get sued yeah Oh, wow. I have
no idea. All I know is that two girls wrote the
song for Moana. I didn't know any backstory.
No, they wrote the whole Moana 2 soundtrack.
Yep. Misogyny. There was like two good standout
songs in Moana 2. I haven't seen it. I'm afraid.
It's good. The original plan for the... For Moana
2, it was originally going to be a Disney Plus
show. And you can tell that they literally just
blended the episodes together. You can tell where
they would cut episodes. And then they probably
just added songs after the matter of figuring
out that they would turn it into a movie. That's
horrific. But it's not terrible. I mean, the
animation is really good. I don't know how to
pronounce it, Auli, the actress who sings for
and plays Moana. She's lovely still. I mean,
it's not as good as the first because the first
one is just so good. Did you watch the end credits?
Yeah, I did. So there's either going to, I didn't
know, but it was going to be a show. But if that's
true. What I heard is that there was going to
be a third movie, but maybe... They kind of set
it up for it. Maybe now that I've heard that,
it might be a show. I feel like now that they
have different cultures coming in with that...
They could definitely do a bunch of spinoff series
of Moana World. For sure. 100%. I need to get
back into it. Ask my younger cousins. There's
Moana lore. I know. Explain it to me. There's
a lot. I saw some people shipping... Moana with
Maui? No. And I was like, no. So scary. He's
like 3 ,000 years old. The age gap. She's like
16. I'm like, she's not even, okay, it doesn't
even matter. She's independent. The point of
the movie. I know she's a queen. If anything,
No, she's not. She remembered the first movie.
She's like, I'm not a princess. If anything,
like, there's that new guy. What was it? What
was that new guy's name? In Moana 2? Yeah. Oh
my gosh, spoilers. Stop. Well, there's like four
other main characters. There's a new character
who people are now shipping her with. It's the
map maker, but he's introduced within the first
like five minutes. Oh, no, no, no, no. There's
a female that they ship Moana with. Which one?
She's the one who like make the boat. Oh, really?
Yeah. That makes sense. Uh -huh. Okay. No, that
would make sense. Oh, I see that. I see that
now on the internet. Uh -huh. Yeah. I could talk
about Moana, too, for the next 50 minutes. Or
Moana in general. And that is real, okay? I get
that. I will talk about movies. We, like, obviously,
like, our podcast isn't, like, the most popular
for sure. Like, I think we're happy to get at
least 24 listeners. I just looked at our statistics
the other day. We have some listeners from Spain.
Really? Yeah. I have no idea how it reached Spain,
but it did. And then we have some from Mexico,
but that was a while ago. So I'm sure it was
just people sharing with their family, which
is really cool. I don't know how much you guys
know about the podcast, but we have a different
segment called Student Stories where we have
a different host. Her name is Jen, and she interviews
students from all over the campus. And we've
already interviewed four. And the first one we
just did. Have you guys heard of Stance Beats
on campus? Yeah, we interviewed him. He's really
cool. I love that. We interviewed a student parent,
an international student. I mean, it's just it's
getting people's stories out there. So it's a
lot of fun. And so I'm sure that's probably where.
It'll it'll help getting the podcast more out
there. And, you know, people just especially
if they're the ones on the podcast, they're the
ones sharing it with their families. So, yeah,
pretty cool. So if you guys have any interesting
student stories or aren't a traditional student,
like feel free to like reach back out and like
we'll get you on the student stories as well.
And you can share your own personal story. Yeah.
Oh my gosh, yes, you really should talk to Soraya.
We actually, she's on our Model UN team, but
she just, she has an amazing story. about you
know coming over here from afghanistan after
you know the current conflict um but we've been
working a lot about her you know just about like
women's issues and stuff like that so it would
be a perfect theme i like i always try to get
her to talk more at like our events and whatnot
because her story is so information let's do
it yeah i got you send her our email literally
like we want people's stories so But, yeah, I
mean, just throwing us back into, like, the word
nerds, did any of you by chance besides me, I
know Zach, did you guys attend Comic -Con? Oh,
my gosh, I didn't. But you know what? I usually
do. And I usually am, like, big into cosplay
and stuff. Oh, really? I swear. I'm really lazy
when it comes to it. So just characters that
look like me. That's so real. Yeah, I just get
a little bit lazy about it. But it's just something
that I love to do, like, in middle school. It
was just, like, so fun. Unfortunately, like,
there's some weirdos there. And I just, like,
didn't have the time to go this past weekend.
So I was kind of sad about that. yeah um i went
uh i had an exhibitor pass i was with the um
elite comics so i was with the little comic book
stand um i only went on friday though Unfortunately,
it worked Saturday and Sunday, but Friday was
like busy, like busy for a Friday. Saturday was
so busy. I know. I saw photos. Everyone was like
packed. It was terrible. I'm so glad I went on
the day I did. Yeah. I feel like if I am ever
going to go. Well, when I'm going to go because
I'm probably going to go again. I want to go
on the Friday because that's just when more people
are going to be working because like everybody's
off on Saturday usually. And it's just it was
so crowded. Yeah, it makes sense. But. No, you
had also mentioned how you're a huge Marvel Rivals
player. Yes, I am. We've talked about this on
the podcast. Really? We've talked about it so
many times. We're huge gamers. Same. She's a
Sims player. I do play Sims, but I'm a PC player,
and I, in addition to that, have had a PS4 for
a couple months, and I've barely been able to
use it because I don't know how to. Switch from
laptop, or not laptop, PC, laptop, and then to
a controller. I grew up with a controller. So
it was a weird, it was a different experience
when I switched over to PC. Isn't it better?
It was probably easier than switching from computer
to controller. Because, I mean, the keyboard
is so just perfect for gaming. Because there's
just, I mean, there's 40 keys on the keyboard.
And then there's like. 10 on the controller so
i mean you can just do so much more on a keyboard
um but i mean like like holding a controller
is just it's it's definitely different for for
PC players who've never, like, really done it.
Zach and I just tried to play with a controller.
Yeah, I saw that claw grip over there. I know
my claw. Except I don't claw. That's the thing.
You don't? I don't, usually. Unless I'm, like,
playing, like, Elden Ring. That's why you're
lower ranked than me on Marvel Rivals. Well,
I don't play it on my console. No, I'm just joking.
No, you're good. I'm plat 2, so I'm not that
far behind. And those are the worst ranks. Oh,
they're terrible. I hate it. I think I'm going
to be hard plat for a while. I'm hard Diamond
right now. Can't switch out of it. Is there anything
higher than Diamond? I'm not a Marvel Brothers
fan. Yeah, it goes Diamond, Celestial, something
else. Or maybe it's Diamond, something else,
Celestial, and then the one above all. Yeah.
Dang. The one above all is like the top 500 players.
Really? Yeah. Wow, okay. Well, I didn't know
I was sitting in a room with a bunch of gamer
nerds. Yeah, you did. What do you play on? Like
PC? Well, I have Marvel Rivals on my PS5, but
me and my husband, what's so amazing about having
a partner in life who has the same hobbies? Is
that we have every single console. Yeah. We have
a gaming room. We have, like, all the screens.
Oh, that's my dream. Yeah, we have, like, the
mini fridge, all the posters and the knickknacks
you could imagine, beanbag chairs, gaming chairs,
every single console and two of them so we can
play together. But we haven't made the switch
over to PC. Mm -hmm. Just because it's... I honestly,
because I have nails and I can't play it on PC.
No, that's fair. That is fair. It's also just
kind of an expensive Switch too, especially if
you want to get like a really good PC that can
run like a lot of games. Because, I mean, Marvel
Rivals takes a lot. I'm not going to lie. It
is a hefty game when it comes to graphics. Yeah,
I mean, I was having this conversation before,
but... I was kind of debating on which one is
actually more expensive because with PlayStation
and Xbox, you have to pay to play with your friends.
Yes, it is a subscription. It's not so wicked
and evil. Yeah, hopefully they change it. I know
they've been doing that for like 20 years now,
but hopefully they change it. Xbox is changing
it. for real are they they still have game pass
though uh they might but they have a like are
they getting rid of xbox live they're getting
a like pc xbox combo oh yeah i think that's like
the next console they're trying to do right and
it's you can like play with your friends yeah
but if that happens as a lifelong playstation
nerd They're done. I think. I will say, though,
like, I feel like PlayStation's just so. I prefer
the controller in PlayStation. I'm not going
to lie. Well, I made the switch from Xbox to
PlayStation, but I just feel like the graphics
are so much better. That's why I feel like PlayStation,
like, charges, like, such ridiculous kind of
prices because they're, like, so ahead on, like,
PC -level graphics and storage. Their controllers
are, like, $70. That is ridiculous. What? Yeah,
thankfully I haven't broken any of mine yet.
Yeah. Yeah, no, that's, I know. I'm just, I'm
still stuck on, like, the monthly subscription
to what, it could be, like, anywhere from, what,
like, $10 to $25 or $30 a month? I think PlayStation
Plus, they have different, like, versions of
it, so, but I think, like, the standard one is
just, it's probably, yeah, like, $10 to $15 a
month, but. You actually reminded me. I need
to cancel mine because I never go on my PlayStation
anymore. I'm so glad. Because I buy the year
-long one, which is like $100 -something, which
is technically a better price if you play on
it every day, which I used to before I got my
PC. So yeah, spending like... $300, $400 for
the actual console itself, and then $100 a year.
Plus all the games, plus all the controllers,
plus all the cosmetics that you need to buy.
I think a PC is probably worth it. In the long
run, if you play video games that much, I would
probably suggest a PC. But yeah, it's an investment.
It's a bigger investment at the start. But it
will pay off eventually. Okay, okay, okay. We've
talked too much about PCs and all this fun, nerdy
stuff. I mean, we can still continue with the
nerdy stuff, but like... One more thing, because
I want to say it on the podcast, because I know
it makes you so jealous that I met David Tennant.
Oh, yeah. And that I got to hug him, and it was
amazing. I got to see him in person. Yeah, but
I got to hug him. You know what? I might have
a one -up on the nerd stuff. I got to meet and
hug Stanley. Oh, yeah, you would. At Comic -Con.
Yes. Kansas City Comic -Con. Oh, my God. What
year? Oh, I was in middle school. Oh, okay. It
was my sixth grade year of middle school, so
a while ago. Do you have a photo? I do not because
I went with my dad, who is such an old man. Oh,
that's unfortunate. That's bizarre. No, that's
a good... Yeah, I would have loved to meet Stanley.
He's such a nice, sweet old man. That's such
a great... You see that little Stanley documentary
that's coming out about how he was treated poorly?
Yeah, in his old years? In that controversy?
I cannot believe it. And honestly, it made me
feel so bad because I feel like you could kind
of... I just thought that he was like an old
man. Yeah. But like... at comic -con like when
we went there's obviously such a long line to
go see him and he did he did kind of seem like
you know like a little tired um and i just like
can't imagine being in your retirement age and
like having to sit in this line all day yeah
so that's what it kind of made me think of i'm
kind of excited to that they're touching on it
i think uh some of the people that used to work
for stanley or like i guess boss him around i
think they're being sued for elder abuse I would
hope so. And, like, more things as well, not
just that. Like, I think it's also something
called, like, control of environment or some
– I couldn't tell you. I only read a brief article
about what the, like, documentary is going to
be about. But, yeah, it's really sad. But, honestly,
I am very jealous about you meeting Stan Lee.
As you should be. I just came here to Brad. I
had to out -nerd everybody in the room. I think
you did. Thank you. But other than Comic -Con
that I guess only Zach and I went to, what else
did we all do for spring break? I mean, I worked,
but that's nothing fun to talk about. So real.
I had... finished the new 100 games book that
came out and i was very excited about that as
soon as that came like what day did it come out
i think the 18th yeah like a week ago or something
like that because it is the 26th of recording
um so like a week ago or something a few days
um as soon as everybody finished the book all
of my for you page is just about hunger games
like oh my god it's devastating really it was
like an emotional roller coaster i think it's
like her like, most devastating book yet. I've
heard it. It is, from what I've heard, it touches
on a lot more difficult subjects than any of
the previous books, so. Yeah, like, there's a
big, like, conversation going around where she,
like, uses the word rape. And even just like
that, people were like. It's always been implied
in the books. But, like, for, she definitely
kind of just, like, I think she understands now
that her audience is a little bit older. So it's,
like, definitely, like, so much more gory and,
like, graphic and, like, horrific without getting
into spoilers. But I did, like, love it as someone
who loved the Hunger Games books. Did you also,
like, I hate to be that person, be like, did
you also hear about this? Did you hear that they're
also possibly remaking the Hunger Games? I did,
like, hear a conversation about, I think, like,
making it a TV show or something. Just like they
were doing with, like, Harry Potter, right? I
did hear that, yeah. They're remaking Harry Potter
and, like, recasting everyone and then even,
what is it, Tom Fiddleston? Fiddleston? Fiddleston.
Fiddleston? Tom Fiddleston. He plays Draco Malfoy.
Thank you for the reassuring nod. No, but why
are they remaking Harry Potter? So they're making
it a TV show because apparently J .K. Rowling
wrote the books and was never happy about them.
But also, I have thoughts about J .K. Rowling.
As does everybody. And just apparently the movies
weren't portrayed of how she really wanted the
book to be. And so instead of... like just her
tweeting out everything else um they're just
remaking it into a show and then um the original
draco malfoy tom he is going to be playing what
snape or uh whoever plays draco malfoy's father
or um yeah i have no idea i just i hope like
it's gonna be a terrible tv show if it's anything
like how she wants it to be Yeah, probably. But,
I mean, what were you saying? Oh, I was just,
like, those, like, the Indian twin girls, like,
Padma and Parvati, I hope they, like, remake
their outfits for the YOLO because that was,
like, horrendous. Yes. Like, it was, like, I
was, like, oh, so excited. I was, like, oh, there's,
like, people. Like, there's representation in
Harry Potter. And what was, like, the Asian character's
name? I was just thinking about that, but I didn't
want to say my Asian girl, but I do know exactly
who you're talking about, and I feel like...
Her name is Cho Chang. Yeah. That's like her
name. That's pretty bad. Isn't she British though?
J .K. Rowling? Yeah. So maybe that's where the
disconnect was. There are Asian people in England.
There's a lot of people. I don't know. I know.
I know that they get a little bit crazy. Is J
.K. Rowling not American? No, she's British.
Oh, wow. I honestly didn't know. I've never heard
her speak. Yeah, I don't think I have either.
I mean, I would just assume that she's British
considering all of Harry Potter is British. Yeah,
like that station is in like London. Yeah. I
honestly just assumed that nobody in America
would pick it up. And so she pitched it to a
bunch of like BBC News or whatever. Honestly,
I don't think I realized until like a few years
ago that they were all British. I was like, oh,
they're just guys. I love that. No, I don't think
they speak English. What is going on? They just
have a funny accent. Ronan is like, oh, bloody
hell. I know. I was always like, why is he saying
that? We don't say that here. No, but yeah, no,
they're possibly making a new Hunger Games series
as well. But it'll like because people are enjoying
the new movies that are coming out, especially
with that. What's that one girl's name? Rachel
Ziegler. Yes. Yeah. That movie, I don't know
if it was as popular as the original Hunger Games,
but they wanted to remake it and just start from
beginning to end. But there are a lot more books
coming out about the past. I was going to say,
are they going to go in chronological order with
this new show or are they going to go in release
order? What I've heard is that it's going to
be a show and there's going to be a lot of flashbacks.
So, like, it's going to follow a singular timeline,
but if they talk about something, there's going
to be, like, the next episode is, like, all flashback.
So, One Piece. Okay, yeah, pretty much. I'll
always bring it back to One Piece. I was just
thinking, I was like, they should pull Star Wars.
You know how, like, Star Wars is, like, four,
five, six, and then they did one, two, three.
I was like, they should pull one of those. Probably.
Well, they kind of are with the movies, aren't
they? Yeah. A little bit. A little bit. I just
feel like. it would be like makes more sense
i don't know yeah wasn't the most recent book
about hamish's trial or yes so good um i sobbed
i mean i'm not gonna speak about it because i
i mean i haven't like read the book i don't usually
plan on reading books because i'm already so
behind on my book list right now but i know that
yeah like i i buy so many books and then i like
just look at them collecting dust on my shelf
because i'm stuck on two books at the same time
um yeah but it's the fact that they're bringing
like names of characters now or like not now
but of like the first original hunger games uh
movie book or what like whatever you people the
first original hunger games yeah they now that
there's haymitch um so there will likely be what
like one more You know what, honestly, like my
opinion, I feel like after reading this book,
it touches on the other books like so well and
kind of closes all the loose ends. Yeah, it like
ties it all together so perfectly. Every character
that you could possibly imagine in the other
books has like their backstory all fleshed out.
Like everything's just like so touched on so
beautifully that I'm like, and also the epilogue
was so amazing that I just feel like this is,
her last book um for like the hundred games i
think this is probably like it just felt like
a really like goodbye and it felt like one of
her like i i want to say it's my favorite one
of the hundred games really yeah like i think
it was like just so you know well written and
i feel like she definitely had a purpose uh and
i think that we're done with the 100 Games universe
after this one. Yeah, well, I haven't read the
Hunger Games since like middle or high school.
So as like me, like I'm trying to like pick up
the books again. Obviously I have a list, but
like what order do you recommend reading these
in? I've, somebody, I've never read the books
either, but going back to the TikTok thing, I
got so many videos that were telling me to. read
them in release order. Like you need to, to get
the full story, not chronological, not chronological.
Is that something you agree with? I actually
read them in chronological because I was a movie
fan and then I heard about this release coming
out. So in the last month, actually, I read all
the books. Um, and I think having the movie knowledge
in there, like kind of helped, but I will say
now with Haymitch's book out, I would read it
in released order. Like, because, but I don't
think for Songbirds and Snakes, the other movie
with Rachel Zegler that came out, like, for that
book, I really don't think it matters where you
read it. If you want to read it in chronological
first, if you want to read it at the end, I don't
think it matters. I just think, like, what matters
is, like, Haymitch's story. You have to end with.
Yeah, you have to end with it because it's just
so perfect. Like, the epilogue is perfect. His,
what I really loved about this, no spoilers,
but his story was kind of the beginning of the
rebellion as a whole. So we kind of get, you
know, the beginning of Panem and President Snow
with Sunbirds and Snakes and his, on the book
cover actually, it's a Flintstriker. Oh, okay.
Which is, like, I loved it. I'm getting so nerdy
about it because he, like, started the flame
of the rebellion and the girl on fire. And it
was just, like, such a perfect ending to the
series. That's why it's, like, maybe I'm delusional,
but I just really hope that she doesn't release
any more of it because I just felt like it was
such a perfect ending. oh sorry go ahead that's
just so like powerful to end it like that with
like the start of the rebellion yes i don't know
she's been yapping to me about it like i've i've
heard it i don't it's like almost i don't need
to but i'm definitely picking them up like she
convinced me she did the whole marketing thing
so well and it's just so good they're so good
and we were talking about this too today we were
like the political messaging in it is so sanitized
in the movies so we felt like i don't know if
they're gonna remake it i feel like If they're
going to remake it, they have to do it, correct?
Yeah. They have to, like, go all out. Yes, we
were talking about this, and it's like, this
book is so gory and, like, so disturbing and,
like, just horrific. Like, jaw open. Cannot believe
that she wrote some of the things that she wrote.
And I was talking to her about it, and it's just
like, in the movies, they don't really do, like,
gore. No, yeah. They kind of, like, give you,
like, an outline. They beat around the bush.
Yeah, like, even Rue's death was so pretty. Yeah.
You know what I mean? Like, she... I feel like
it's not spoilers. It's been out. But she was
impaled. It was this horrific thing. You don't
even see blood. Yeah. And it's not like, have
you seen The Last of Us? I have, yeah. Again,
hopefully not spoilers. It's been out long enough.
The Last of Us has been out. The TV show? Or
just in general. In general. They've both been
out for five seasons or two. I will spoiler alert
if you guys are playing the game. Skip ahead
five minutes. If you're behind 10 years. Yeah.
But Ellie's death, I just remember I saw that
mortified because it just kind of shows the childhood
innocence and her screaming for her dad. And
it's just being gory. She was just shot, too,
and there's still more blood. Wrong character,
by the way. Oh, my gosh. I don't remember her
name, but it was Joel's actual daughter. Yes,
yes. Oh, I'm so sorry. And you know what's so
funny is that I wanted to correct myself and
say Clementine, but that's a completely different
zombie. Yeah, that's The Walking Dead. Completely
different zombie movie. With a C, though. It
might be, like, Claire or something. I have no
idea. I mean, she lived for, like, 10 minutes
in the game, so, like... And not me calling her
Ellie. I know. Like, Ellie, we see. I was like,
Ellie's dead? No, no, no. Maybe in the third
game. It's okay. Like, I understood what you
were talking about immediately. I did. I was
just like... Because I was like, Sarah is her
name. Sarah, that's what it was, yeah. That's
nowhere near what... Shut up. But, like, the
sound was in there. But, yeah, I just, like...
That's how like what kind of draws my mind is
like the political message is like war so bad
and evil and like these are children. And I'm
like, I want it to like kind of be like gorier.
Yeah. Instead of like the entertaining. yeah
we were talking about this but i just felt like
okay so i grew up on like hindi cinema i don't
know that much about american pop culture like
i live here i'm a really american but like when
it comes to like anything before i was born like
before 90s i know nothing I literally know nothing.
Like, it's embarrassing. And it's just, like,
the thing that is so, like, famous about Western
cinema is that it's bold. Like, especially Hollywood.
Hollywood has always been the, like, industry
that does not shy away from things. That doesn't,
like, you know, they have everything. It's in
your face. The point is, like, shock value. Especially
in, like, things that are horror movies. I feel
like, you know, we were talking about it's very,
like, symbolic of the culture as well to be able
to sanitize these messages as well. especially
because this is like a mass piece of massive
media this like however it's just like massively
popular um i think it's like a very much a testament
to like the culture of today as well and it's
just like like come on guys this is what you're
known for like don't be like shy about it it's
like if you're gonna do it do it well because
the point of it like she was saying like these
are children that are dying in war and i think
it's like it's to send a message yes and the
point of the hunger games too i think it came
up too as well as like uh with the recent election
as well a lot of dialogue was going on about
like these dystopian novels that a lot of americans
have grown up with and i think it's just like
This is really, I think these kind of pop culture
things, like Americans, I do feel like there's
a obsession with like post -apocalyptic dystopian
media. And I think it's also because we've been
so detached specifically from like me drawing
in some politics. We're so detached to conflict
and like, especially in like recent generations,
we've not seen like the horrors that the rest
of the world does face. And I think it's like
when you're sanitizing that, I feel like it's
a more of like. like you're no yeah you're like
protecting everybody's like eyes from like what
reality is like kind of gory reality is dark
yeah and i do think like i don't know like things
like the boys too i really the gore of it to
me and like the shock value the satire the humor
i think was done very well love the boys yeah
i love the boys half the first season it was
really good from what i saw and it's just like
it's not serious but it's also social commentary
in a way i think that's what it needs to be it's
pretty political too yes exactly i think in the
second season it gets more political correct
me if i'm wrong 100 but it's like it's still
like a dystopia right it's still something that's
like fictional it's still something that you're
taking like a different world and you're making
it realistic but i think it's like it's almost
like it's dark humor in the sense yeah 100 and
i feel like that's what these like i don't know
i don't think the hunger games is dark humor
so i'm saying it's like that gore aspect of it
that narissa was talking about like these are
children like they have these like insanely ridden
death scenes that are like terrible and the point
of it is that it's supposed to evoke emotion
so when like cinematography is trying to make
it beautiful and aesthetic and i feel like the
movement is to make things more aesthetic it's
also censored now yes exactly the emotional value
goes away yeah They always joke about it. They're
like, oh, the movies are the capital version
of the 100 games. Yeah. It's like, that's so
true. And with that, I will say, my quick rant,
the love triangle was important to the plot.
Which one? That's my hot take. Peter and Gail.
Oh, yeah. People were always like, oh, you're
missing the point of the bush. It's so much deeper
than that, blah, blah, blah. And I'm like, no,
the point was the love triangle. And here's my
quick rant about it. We talk about this all the
time with Model United Nations, but in conflict,
it's like clearly Gail and Katniss and Peeta
were all just so traumatized by the conflict
that was happening in Panem. I'm pretty sure
Gail's dad had also died in the coal mines. That
was a big plot point. And they believed that
the government had killed them. So it's like
they have been dealing with this authoritarian
force. And people always... They always call
Gale like, you know, he did kill Prim. Unfortunately,
spoilers if anyone didn't know. And they always
like joke about how terrible he is. And I'm like,
but that's like the point of his character is
that he resorted to revenge and violence and
fighting back. And he kind of saw it as like
equal opportunity. And that was like the whole
point of his character. I was like, it's so important
that Katniss chose Peeta. And, like, that's why
the love triangle was important. Because it was,
like, symbolic of her choosing peace with the
rebellion. And, like, not siding with, what's
her face? Not. Coin? I think that's her name.
Yeah. But that's just my rant. Because everyone
talks about it online. And I'm like, you're wrong.
You're wrong. No. Gail was such a, like, harsh
individual compared to Peeta. Like, he was very
demanding of what. Sorry to listeners, we're
ranting about Hunger Games, but suck it up. Gale
was so conflicting with Katniss about how he
wanted their relationship to be, which it doesn't
look like it from the movies. But if you have
read the books, which I'm just going off what
I've remembered so far. pita was so calm and
patient with her even after he had been physically
abused and um put into a like comatose situation
where he or that's not not like inappropriate
word but like i know what you mean like he's
like brainwashed yeah brainwash is the word i'm
thinking of um he was brainwashed to think that
katniss was such an evil person and even after
that like his patience with her and then his
patience with himself he relearned to like love
her again and like he like understood like what
she needed even after being taught that she was
such a horrible person and just that regaining
of patience with her and him like they both balanced
each other out where like where he needed Katniss
like she was there and versus Gail needed Katniss
or like Katniss needed Gail like there was no
like mutual respect going there like he was over
overstepping boundaries and yeah I think people
always say they're like it was never a love triangle
like it was always Peeta and I'm like 1000 %
it was all she was always supposed to end up
with Peeta but I'm like the love triangle is
so important because like Katniss kind of dealt
with it especially I think in the third book
where you know people started bringing it up
to her and it was definitely the author's way
of being like everyone's wanting to know about
this love triangle um and so like people at the
like sanctuary start bringing it up to her she's
like so annoyed about it because she's never
even thought of it in that way and I'm like it
was just so important because like she that was
her choosing piece in her life for Prim she was
like this is what Prim would have wanted like
you know they just had so much trauma so it's
like I don't think Gail is a bad person like
people people hate Gail and I'm like I'm here
to speak up for Gail I'm like he he was doing
the best as like a 17 year old In that situation.
Yeah, people forget how young they are, too.
Yeah, because the other actors don't portray
them. Yeah, exactly. They're literally children.
Have you guys seen the... I don't know if it's,
like, one specific video, but I'm sure there's
a couple of them. But, like, they show the Hunger
Games actors, so, like, Jennifer Lawrence and...
What's his name? Peeta. Josh Hutcherson? Yeah.
They show, like, them in the movie and then them
at the actual age of their characters. It's terrifying,
like, thinking about literal children being in
that situation. Yeah, that's why I thought it
was, like, it was just so important. You know,
like, if the message that you want to get across
is, like, war is bad and, you know, children
are in armed conflict, then, like, make them
children. I think that's, like, a huge part of,
I mean, I was going to mention it earlier, but.
Like when you were originally talking about it,
you as well. But a lot of the movies that we
watch nowadays, all or I'm not going to say a
lot, all movies besides like rom -coms or like
something funny, all movies are political. Like
every single movie you can like put into a political
situation or all like. sci -fi like dystopian
fantasy all of those movies start with a political
conflict that are later brought up resolved or
like demolished and it's so i want to say it's
just like i mean it's censored to the fact that
like what it's actually trying to portray um
like a lot of like gore and whatever but i feel
like most movies do that now because they don't
want that political situation to be brought up
with what current realities are it's controversial
exactly it's like it causes dissent it causes
like thing it causes like people to have certain
feelings about things it causes to you like that's
what media does like art art itself right inherently
it's supposed to evoke emotion like people create
things in dark times to express to the world
how they are feeling and i feel like when you
are censoring that it's really like i feel like
that's when you know like things are kind of
like i mean yeah you're censoring the artist's
work at that point and it's like i think when
we have times where like art is being like not
a lot of art is being censored yes art is being
censored with cultural shifts as well it's like
what we talk about now like what is prioritized
in media and social media like what trends are
out there i think it's like it's very signifying
of like a move backwards in my opinion 1000 and
we wanted to talk about that actually like in
our first episode is like an introduction to
like why feminism is important i feel like people
are starting the word feminism but like just
time that like you know like people like if i
say i'm a feminist it's like oh i'm radical and
i'm crazy oh yeah the like stigmatism but yeah
and it's like i feel like people don't understand
what that word means because you know that controversy
but also it's like you kind of said it earlier
like everything is political. And people think
I'm so crazy when I say that, but it's like,
it's true. We are three women with microphones
in front of our face. Like that's political.
I'm wearing pants right now. That's political.
You know what I mean? Like, it's just, so that's
what's like, why again, like I think. Just, like,
tied it back in, I guess, is, like, girl talk
is so important because it's, like, these concepts
are, you know, truly in everything. And it's
so important to be able to have that, like, political
literacy of, like, understanding the meaning
behind media, like, the importance of it. Like,
I saw the other day on TikTok people were arguing
about the 100 games. And there were some more,
like, conservative people who were mad at Rachel
Zegler. for being pro -palestine and i just remember
thinking i was like you're fans of the hunter
games but you're not like caught up to like war
right now yeah like but you know what i mean
i'm just like very like do you understand what's
going on in the current situation you don't know
what's happening in gaza like and that's the
thing like the sanitation out of it because like
i think part of what made a lot of young people
you know switch up their views on israel is like
because social media forces us to see what's
going on i think there were many journalists
that were very brave and did an amazing job at
covering what was the day -to -day violence that
was happening and i think this is the first time
in a long time a lot of us had to grapple with
the fact when it's right in front of your face
you know like right in front of your face you're
seeing suffering that has to impact you in some
way it doesn't matter what you think about the
conflict or not it like emotionally you know
it does something to see that and i think it's
like what i think these are the realities right
and it's like it was for the first time this
was not a distant thing right I think a lot of
American perception about the rest of the world
is that we live in a bubble that is just I think
that's so true we do live in a bubble as Americans
and I think this was the first time where it
was everything was in our face we're like okay
this is our impact on the world this is what
people think of us this is what people live like
on a day -to -day basis and i think it was very
powerful especially too with like the tiktok
ban and people going to red note and seeing how
like chinese people are living i just feel like
little silly things that our generation does
like that with social media i think are so imperative
and important like and i think our current media
is not able to reflect that that in a way that's
sufficient and i think that's why we turn to
social media no i think we're like i have recently
lost contact with someone who had never thought
america was political and that they don't have
to care about politics and i'm like if you are
living in america the world is political like
america is politics there is In my opinion, we
are the most political, like you have to be up
to date with politics. You have to know what
is like constantly like being put into bills,
signing, like what is being demolished. Like
you have to know things. And we're learning things
in, I have a mass media society class. It's very
much focusing on what is like socially condemned
right now and like what. people are like me just
media literacy in general and it's okay this
is gonna sound like biased but i swear it's not
um most if not all of the content in that class
is like if i were to sit down there and like
not know anything it's more like liberal liberal
based i'm using air quotes now but like it's
all like against propaganda spreading false news
and one of the things that we are often like
being shown as like examples is like this was
false news in this presidency like it's a lot
of politics all righty guys um we did take a
moment to get some tea hot cocoa uh and water
but you know we're back we're um just like wrapping
up the end of this segment but uh we just wanted
to I don't know, continue. We had such fun spring
breaks. Obviously, you heard the conversations
that we had. We dove deep into the Hunger Games
lore, and we're trying to find ways to wrap this
up, but at least half of the semester is over.
We all pretty much graduate at the end of the
year. Technically not, but technically. When
you finish out the semester. Yeah. I'm not graduating
yet. I still have like one class that I have
to take, but I really don't want to take it.
Same. College algebra? Oh my, yeah, same. I really
don't want to do it. I did college algebra and
with liberal arts, you have to go from college
algebra to finite math. So you have to take multiple
maths to get to the one. So you're lucky if,
like, college algebra is, like, your final, like,
destination. Because I sucked at algebra. But
you have to take stats. you're just a stats yeah
i'm i'm nursing so i have to do like science
that's why politics is my hobby because i don't
have time well yeah i mean it's easy to pick
up politics as a hobby when we have internet
now and nursing is so political like everything
else like we talked about is nursing really political
oh 100 we're literally taking care of people
oh well yeah for sure you're in the health care
system which is broken and then like we could
go on and on about it yeah medical dap And I
want to be, like, a labor and delivery and neonatal
ICU nurse, which, so. Yeah. I'm dealing with
women's health issues all the time. Oh, yeah.
I guess I didn't really, like, connect with that
when you said it's political. I honestly thought,
like, just, like, everything. Yeah. I mean, we
advocate for our patients. So, like, that's political.
That is true. Yeah. No, I'm just, like, blindsided
about how everything can. genuinely be so political
and honestly having you guys on here is like
genuinely eye -opening because not only did we
have conversations on podcast like recorded but
we also had off -topic conversations like and
like some of the things that we say might get
cut and some of the things that we have said
are like off mic and like yeah like dang nursing
is political Like, I mean, like, obviously, like,
healthcare and all that, but, like, when I think
of healthcare, I think of, like, the people and
not, like, the actual nurses and doctors. But,
like, I, I mean, I understand that now. And,
I mean. I think that's, like, again, like, why
I just want to, like, I think that's, like, the
essence of, like, Girl Talk and, like, what we
want to do is I just feel like people. um like
I think they brought it up earlier but sometimes
like people think feminist such a radical word
or like the conversation I do all the time is
like why do we need feminism what rights do you
have uh do you not have that I currently have
it's always like a man asking it or like people
say that online a lot um and it's like even just
what you said there's this book that I love and
it's called Invisible Women um by Caroline Perez
I believe amazing author and it's not a super
biased book at all um like the way that she writes
is very much just throwing all these horrific
statistics out there in the world and it's about
how the world's like designed for men so it's
like those little things that you would never
think about that's still very much like affect
western society like um like only four percent
of cardiovascular research is done on women even
though women face like more deadly like side
effects and outcome um so usually you know women
are misdiagnosed or poorly treated like that's
why we have on our instagram we kind of talk
about the women's health gap and so basically
it's like the research gap like it's so interesting
um i'm pretty sure you know unfortunately black
women have a higher rate of uh maternal mortality
yeah when it comes to treatment you know giving
birth and pregnancy care because um their bodies
just aren't a part of any research and they've
never been so they've just been neglected so
it's it's interesting like how those little things
um can like really you know just like impact
in a good way so we kind of want to like shine
a little bit light on that you know something
i always bring up is like car designs I think
most women can relate when you get into the car.
Like usually women are like a little bit below
the steering wheel. It's actually like that would
immediately kill you on impact. Your steering
wheel is supposed to be like in line with the
center of your chest. So that way, you know,
when the airbag comes out and everything, you
can probably handle it. And so cars are designed
for 511 dummies. Those are the crash dummies
that they use. It's 511 men. And they only use
men for the driver's seats. They have never,
like, there has been no companies in recent years
that have used women. And the only time that
they use women test dummies is in the passenger
seat. Wow. So it's just like. You know, because
of that, obviously, you know, women and head
on collisions are more likely to suffer more
serious impacts. It's just like, you know, little
things like that. It's you would never think
of that. The iPhone women make up. She talks
about this book as well. And I don't remember
the exact statistics, but women make up a majority
of iPhone consumers. And the phones are often
like too big for our hands. So it's just like
little things like that. It's like. You don't
think about it that affect your daily life. Like
when she was talking about heart attacks, like
this is one of my passions, especially in healthcare
and research, something I research about specifically
on disparities in healthcare. I've written about
it a lot, but it's... What they study in medical
school, all we know about physiology, when we
take these classes, I'm taking human physiology
right now, it's based off of how the white male
body works. And I think there's been a recent
movement with epigenetics, and especially with
the way the world is going, understanding that
everybody's bodies function differently. when
she was bringing up heart attacks specifically,
like, the reason why the heart attacks are more
prevalent in women is because the symptoms are
completely different in men and women. And so
what we think of when doctors are trained to
look for these diseases, they're trained to look
for them in a specific type of body, which is
why so many things go misdiagnosed, is why you
see those disparities. Same thing with, like,
maternal mortality for Black women. It's a lot
of two, like, it also creates the environment
for systemic racism. where people like it's assumption
that black women do not feel pain or women of
color have a different tolerance for pain so
when they are in active labor they're not taken
seriously which just leads to that maternal mortality
which it's like these little things you know
the way you drive the way that cities are planned
they were not built with women in mind and i
think it steers that conversation and like okay
why feminism about rights like think about it
like I think as women we are so grappled day
to day with like how walking home alone at night
like we have these little things that we do when
you get into your car what do you do you lock
the door you check the back seat that's another
really great point i was in it there's like another
thing in her book that i thought was so interesting
she goes over city planning um and how inadequate
public space design is always so you do a design
for men and it has led in this study i think
like in london to at least one in five women
i'm reportedly like experiencing physical and
sexual assault on public transport just because
they don't think of a little things of like these
dark alleys or making sure that they have, you
know, people in those areas that they report
to. Women gyms, I remember she mentioned, she
mentioned like the rise of women gyms because
regular gyms aren't designed with women's needs
or their parking lots aren't designed in that
way. So people who have lived in those communities
or areas for their entire life, like the women
were more likely to, you know, suffer from injuries
or I think like loss of bone density was something
they had mentioned. So it's like, pilates like
why is pilates so popular among women it's because
also like the way machines work and lifting are
designed for men as well like a lot of these
things that we don't think of little day -to
-day things and like okay why are these sort
of things associated with women why are these
sort of things associated with women and as we
talked about earlier in this podcast a lot of
the qualities that are stereotypically archetypically
politics has been always associated with men
the political world as well as much as there
have been very groundbreaking female politicians
i mean as we've seen in this past election cycle
like we are not ready as a country for a female
president and considering most of the world has
already progressed to that point it's very concerning
to like you know it does paint a really distinct
picture on where we are currently in the world
on like women's rights as well and lost my train
of thought but it's more of the sense of like
why do we need to talk about this why do we need
to talk about women it's because when you think
about the traits of like what is politics right
what are these things like philosophy economics
why like why are they something that's male oriented
when traits that are political like diplomacy
talking to people collaboration those are all
traits that you need in politics those are also
traits that women do very well in Because, you
know, the way that we are socialized as women
and it's like, why aren't these spaces more open
to women? Yeah, that reminds me, too. I just
love throwing statistics out there that I have
in my brain. But for Women's Month, I remember,
you know, for our model United Nations team,
I've been shoving it down their throats that
it's Women's Month. And one of the statistics
that we showed was that women who are involved
in diplomacy and specifically peace negotiations
globally, I believe, I don't have the exact number,
but like. greatly increase um the longevity of
peace agreements you know 15 years yeah by 15
years like it it's just so crazy that these kind
of roles have been like almost taken away from
women and also i i completely understand you
know we live in kansas like i understand the
idea of like you know i'm not super into politics
or you know i i don't want to make a podcast
Like, of course, we have our biases, but I don't
want the, you know, message to exclude out anybody.
I want it to more be so an open conversation
that we can have and just like building up to
have like the political literacy to have deeper
conversations and to have disagreements. Because
I feel like a lot of like identity politics has
been playing into things in some people. Don't
even know what party the elephant represents
or the donkey or what color or who their state
representatives are or how to vote. I had so
many friends asking me how to vote, which I don't
want to make anyone feel stupid for. It's like
I wish that they had. a platform or a community
to kind of have that explained to them so they
can have, you know, those deeper conversations
and really contribute their thoughts. Exactly.
Like, I was taking a political science class
in jccc like it was my intro to political science
and i felt like i was like i already know a lot
of it but we did this thing called like comparative
politics and we needed to compare like what we
knew about the american government to another
country and i was researching india and when
i was trying to find resources that like explain
the basics of government and how our government
functions how these like the senate works and
all that like for them their country they learned
that when they were like in the fourth grade
yeah they learned that so early so i straight
up was watching these videos that they were making
in like hindi for like tiny children with like
these funny cute little animations and i was
like so you're telling me like this class that
i'm taking like a political science class is
an elective course that i'm taking in college
that i pay for these are like knowledge that
like indian children have at like what like 10
8 Like, they're learning about, like, how their
government functions. How do you vote? How do
political participation work? How does representation,
proportional representation? These are all things
that I was researching for this class. And that
I was, like, I was researching. It was literally,
like, a website for a school. It was, like, the
eighth grade textbook. And I was, like, oh, this
is so bad. Yeah, I always feel like, too, it's,
like. I think I love disagreement I was a debate
kid I'm a debate coach actually and it's like
I love being able to argue with people I love
being able to debate people and I just feel like
there's almost for both sides kind of this point
where neither one of them want to have that discussion
anymore because it's no longer open um you know
people on You know, like, just to overgeneralize,
like, what we see on TikTok social media is,
you know, people on the far left will almost
dehumanize, you know, people on the very far
right. And it's, like, to an extent, you know,
you have to understand that some of these people
don't necessarily always know what they're talking
about. Yeah. And same for the other way around.
They'll say, like, oh, they're radical, they're
extremist, they're communist. Or, you know, the
other side of, like, oh, they're, you know, they're...
some other extremist groups as well. And it's
just, you know, at the end of the day, you know,
most people don't vote. So most people aren't
taking any political action at all. And they're
just repeating these ideas back to each other.
So I would like to be, I think just like the
podcast and even the Instagram is just being
able to, you know, open conversation to all sides
without any of that, like. like mean and harsh
tone when it comes to it just you know a very
like welcoming community where you're able to
learn about the basics um like we said like you
know when you walk into like a club bathroom
and it's a bunch of girls and we're all complimenting
each other even though we never met before it's
like that's the kind of welcoming space that
you community yeah yeah that you want because
why is that excluded from politics like the things
that nurse is saying i think are so so so important
it's like we are i think everybody knows we talk
about this we're so divided like politically
we are so divided and i think of media plays
like a huge role in it is that we have the distorted
image on what the other side looks like it doesn't
matter where you are like you have this idea
of what the other side is and very rarely are
you actually talking to people that believe those
things and we're also getting fed like information
like oh these people are like we're throwing
words around that we don't understand okay i'm
gonna be for real i didn't understand some of
them too when i was getting into politics but
it's like you know nurses saying like oh these
people are communists these people are like nazis
like what are these concepts let's break that
down so that we can understand it's it's all
about political literacy we want there to be
an understanding of what these things are and
why they are important to know about 1000 it's
like for all the girls yeah yeah but um I mean,
it's been really like I've already said this.
It's truly enlightening that you guys have been
on our podcast. And I honestly thank you so much
for like wanting to be on our podcast. Like when
I was reaching out, I was like, fingers crossed.
Like, I hope they say yes. But I guess just towards
this is now like the end of our podcast episode.
What might be like the last message you want
people to say? Like, why? Why should they care?
Yeah, I mean, my takeaway is just, you know,
and I know that it's girl talk and I know it's
centered towards women. Obviously, you want to
create a community towards women, but also just
like, you know, men as well. It's just it's nice
to surround yourself with different forms of
media, even if you have listened to everything
on this podcast and, you know, you think that
we're crazy or you even disagree with us. I welcome
that with open arms. Please disagree with us.
disagree with every media that you ever watch.
And I, you know, I hope that you can almost,
you know, learn that from any media that we create
is, you know, like looking into deeper sources,
being able to have like critical thinking about
it, political literacy, you know, learning those
skills and using them and doing, being able to
apply them just, you know, in the real world
instead of behind the screen. I just want to
make sure that, you know, we can. platform a
community that's you know more open to pushing
the under generation and just to be more politically
active yeah well oh yeah I I just think we're
in a very like time politically and socially
we're like as I said in the beginning we're more
disconnected now than ever we're so divided we're
so on our screens we have different perceptions
of what people are and what they think and I
think we know deep down like judging people is
wrong and stuff and when you have conversations
that are respectful like if there's one thing
you can take away is that even like what nurse
was saying if you think we're whatever we're
saying is crazy like talk to someone that you
don't agree with like you don't i understand
to a certain extent like where it can be harmful
and where it's difficult but i think if you can
have a respectful dialogue and or even consume
a piece of media that you don't agree with you'll
learn something You learn something from anything
you pick up. It's so important to just be so
well -rounded with these things because I just
think it's like, I don't know, it personifies
it, right? When you're behind a screen and you're
thinking a certain way about someone else, it's
very easy to make them out to be a monster. And
we have to realize that these are people, not
monsters, right? Yeah. Like these things that,
bad things that happen in history, they happen
because of human beings. Right. Not just monsters,
not like all these. And I think, you know, a
lot of the media are consumed really perpetuates
that idea that it's so foreign when it's not.
And it's like and you don't understand that until
you're having these talks with people. So, yeah,
talk to people in the real world. Step out of
that echo chamber. Exactly. Touch some grass.
But honestly, like it's truly been an honor to
have both of you guys on the podcast. And I like
Zach and I thank you so much. And obviously,
Kenzie had to leave, but. She thanks you too.
But do you guys have like a social media that
you want to promote right now? Like it could
be personal or your brand. I'll probably also
link it in the description. 1000%. So like we've
said multiple times, we're working on content.
It's going to be on girltalk .debates. So that's
going to be on Instagram. And you can find me
on anything. My name is Narissa. If you look
up Narissa. You're going to find me because there's
not many of me. And, you know, if you're interested
in it, we have so many links to so many good
sources as well, like in a little link tree that
hopefully we can link in the description. And
we are on the Model United Nations team on campus.
If you love talking about politics as much as
we do, we would love to have you. We get to compete
and travel to some really cool places. We're
going to New York next week. So, wish us luck.
It's nationals. So exciting. Nice. And it's,
you know, completely free and paid for and we
just get to yap the whole time. Yeah. It's so
fun. Do you have any personal, I mean, she already
plugged the Girl Docs debate. Do you want to
put your name out there too? Yeah. So, like I
said, my name is Shreya. S -H -R -E -Y -A. And
then you can find me on Instagram, underscore
Faith. That's my real name, Shreya Faith. So
that's my Instagram. And yeah, I just want to
go back to the link tree. It's... We'll link
it below, but it's linktree .com. And it has
a bunch of very cool resources. I spend a lot
of time compiling a reading list for Women's
History Month that has a lot of important women
authors. I think, like we said, you don't have
to agree with anything we're saying. I think
it's just so important to read something or listen
to things and consume a piece of media that even
if you don't agree with. And if reading's not
your thing, we've got a bunch of video essays
as well. check those out and we have a bunch
of petitions if you would like to be more active
both local and international so yeah i'd invite
y 'all to look at that link And then soon enough,
like fingers crossed, you might be getting a
podcast soon too. So yes, I'm trying to make
sure that we have, because I don't know necessarily
if, you know, conversational would be the correct
format. So hopefully we get some, you know, ideas
written down and then we'll start making it soon.
So if you want to hear more from us, you can
always make sure that you're looking for those
updates on that Instagram. Well, again, thank
you guys so much for being on the podcast. Hopefully
we see more of you guys in the future, genuinely.
But, yeah, it's been amazing being able to sit
down and speak with you. Thank you for closing
out Women's History Month, too. Yes. What an
episode. 100%. Thanks for having us. We appreciate
it. I can't wait to say just blessed that. That's
so awkward for me to say. I'm glad that you guys
were sitting at that table and I ran into you
guys. And thank you guys for listening so much.
But we'll talk to you next week. Yeah. Bye. You
want to say bye too? Bye. Bye.