Subscribe
Share
Share
Embed
Join feminist coaches Taina Brown and Becky Mollenkamp for casual (and often deep) conversations about business, current events, politics, pop culture, and more. We’re not perfect activists or allies! These are our real-time, messy feminist perspectives on the world around us.
This podcast is for you if you find yourself asking questions like:
• Why is feminism important today?
• What is intersectional feminism?
• Can capitalism be ethical?
• What does liberation mean?
• Equity vs. equality — what's the difference and why does it matter?
• What does a Trump victory mean for my life?
• What is mutual aid?
• How do we engage in collective action?
• Can I find safety in community?
• What's a feminist approach to ... ?
• What's the feminist perspective on ...?
Becky Mollenkamp (00:00.876)
Hi there, this is Becky, in case you're listening or not watching. But hopefully you know our voices. By the way, a quick aside to start the whole thing off, somebody on YouTube was talking about our voices and that I sounded like an anchor and you have an amazing voice. And I was just YouTube tiny. I was like, how nice. We're getting comments about our voice. Instead of just the hate.
Taina Brown she/hers (00:06.062)
I
Taina Brown she/hers (00:17.488)
that's sweet.
Becky Mollenkamp (00:19.52)
I know, see? So some of those wonderful people on YouTube, I've talked about the trolls, but I always want to acknowledge the wonderful people who've left lovely comments. That feels so nice. All right, so today we're gonna talk about what's bringing us joy. And I will share my, what's bringing me joy. One of the things is my sexy ass spreadsheet. So I'll tell you more about that in a minute. And you know what's bringing you joy?
Taina Brown she/hers (00:26.837)
Yeah.
Taina Brown she/hers (00:40.974)
Currently what is bringing me joy is watching the hundreds, thousands, maybe millions of TikTok users block over to Red Note. I still haven't decided how I feel about Red Note, but just the like backfire of everything and just, yeah, it feels like a whole Romeo and Juliet situation that's like incredibly politically charged.
Becky Mollenkamp (01:09.89)
Uh, that's so funny thinking of as Romeo and Juliet. Okay. Well, that's our little, just to, to wet your appetite, to peak your curiosity, to get you to be like, yeah, I to hear this episode. Yeah. Oh yeah. We're such cheeses. Um, but before we get into talking about things, bringing us joy and kind of just how we're like navigating 2025 at the beginning of this year, we know this episode is coming out today, which is MLK day and inauguration day and how
Taina Brown she/hers (01:18.497)
to tease you.
Taina Brown she/hers (01:35.561)
Inauguration Day.
Becky Mollenkamp (01:39.66)
bullshit is it that those things coincide? how like, there's just I don't think that there's going to be this part of me that's ever going to be able to let go of the fact that it could have been Kamala Harris, the first black woman president being sworn in on MLK Day and the beautiful the beauty of that, the like poetry of that. And instead we get this. Now, not to say that I thought Harris was a perfect candidate, clearly not. But
Taina Brown she/hers (01:40.961)
Mm-hmm.
Taina Brown she/hers (01:58.687)
Yeah.
Becky Mollenkamp (02:04.556)
Like that was something that was all along. I was like, my God, how amazing. that I was ready for today to be a tear filled day, but tears of joy. And instead, like I hope everyone who's listening, except for you trolls, that this is a tear filled day for different reasons. And so we want to acknowledge what today is. And like, I don't fucking want to listen to any of it. I don't want to see that man's face. I don't want to hear that man's voice.
Taina Brown she/hers (02:15.18)
Yeah, yeah.
Taina Brown she/hers (02:22.954)
Yeah.
Becky Mollenkamp (02:31.934)
I don't wanna hear news about that man today. Like I am doing all I can today to protect my peace, to not be a part of it.
Taina Brown she/hers (02:39.775)
Yeah, I kind of have a different approach to that. So I'm equally as...
Disappointed? As strong of a disappointment as you can get. It does, it does. It's like a soft landing, yeah, about what the events of today and it's like, it just feels like a slap in the face, I think, for a lot of people in this country to have to sit through a second Trump presidency, his inauguration taking place on MLK Day.
Becky Mollenkamp (02:56.226)
I was like, disappointed feels like such a soft word for what it is, but I know what you mean.
Taina Brown she/hers (03:19.658)
Especially when the theatrics of MLK day from right-wing conservatives and just people like good white liberals who kind of missed the point, Democrats who missed the point, constantly just invoking the spirit and the name of MLK without really having anything to back that up. Yeah, it feels like a slap in the face.
in a place mentally and emotionally where
Taina Brown she/hers (03:55.805)
I don't want to check out. I think it's going to be radically important to stay attuned. And I don't think that means that you have to watch everything and be on the 24 news cycle all the time. Definitely protect your piece. Definitely take breaks and figure out where the balance is for you as an individual. But I think also it's going to be really important for us to.
know what's happening so that we can better respond to it. I don't think ambiguity is the best choice here. Neuroscience tells us, and I was just going say really quickly, neuroscience tells us that our brains do not respond well to ambiguity. We actually make worse decisions when we don't know what's happening. So it's really important to stay informed during times like these. anyway, go ahead.
Becky Mollenkamp (04:33.836)
Can I just, go ahead.
Becky Mollenkamp (04:49.538)
Yeah. Well, no, I was just gonna say I can feel my defensiveness rising, which is obviously something I'm continuing to work on when I feel that. And I know you're not speaking specifically about me, but I just wanted to be clear that when I talk about being like avoiding, I just mean today, like not in general. I have been checked out since the election and I also want to fully recognize there's so much privilege in that, obviously. I have been using this time, the time between the election and inauguration day to be a joy sponge.
Taina Brown she/hers (05:04.039)
Yeah, yeah.
Becky Mollenkamp (05:17.654)
have said in like, can I soak up as much joy as possible? So as I get slowly rung out of me over the next four years, there's like reserves there. And like as much as I don't want to participate in today, because I don't think it should be a celebration of what's happening. And the way it the media will inevitably frame this because they are become his biggest supporters is making this you know, big celebration and it's not a celebration. This is not a good day for America and and
Taina Brown she/hers (05:19.804)
Yeah.
Taina Brown she/hers (05:30.841)
Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.
Taina Brown she/hers (05:40.026)
Yeah.
Yeah.
Becky Mollenkamp (05:44.738)
the way that it's stealing light from someone who actually was fighting for a better America is very upsetting. After today, I will reengage, but the way I'm reengaging does look different. And like you said, I'm done with mainstream media. I'm not watching any of those traditional news sources. I'm getting my media from progressive media and, or my news from progressive media, mostly podcasts. But I do agree completely. Like we do need to be engaged because we have to know how we resist.
Taina Brown she/hers (05:49.658)
Yeah, hard agree.
Yeah.
Taina Brown she/hers (06:03.91)
Mm-hmm.
Becky Mollenkamp (06:11.7)
and what we're resisting, right? And what's happening. So I agree with you. And I'm also trying to stay off social media today because I don't think I can handle seeing one more white person post the hate can't drive out hate only love can do that quote from MLK or, know, one of the many most popular ones that you see come from brands and people who are then flying to Mar-a-Lago and kissing the toe of Trump and coming out and supporting or saying how they're going to work with the new administration or whatever like
Taina Brown she/hers (06:11.769)
Yeah. Yeah.
Taina Brown she/hers (06:25.702)
Yeah, yeah.
Taina Brown she/hers (06:36.109)
Yeah. Yeah.
Becky Mollenkamp (06:41.376)
I fucking can't do it. So that's like for protecting my piece just today. I'm like, I need to not do that. But I am curious before we move into things bring us joy. Like, do you have any things that you think about doing to honor what this day the part of this day that I do think deserves honoring, which is that it's MLK day, anything that you regularly do for that? I'm I'm trying to decide. I want to make sure I do something to market with my son. He's off school and to make sure that we talk about the importance of that.
Taina Brown she/hers (06:46.682)
Yeah.
Taina Brown she/hers (07:06.629)
Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.
Yeah. Yeah. So interestingly enough, today is also my legal wedding anniversary. So thank you. My wife and I, after Trump got elected the first time on his inauguration, we were like, we're going to the courthouse because we just, we don't know what's going to happen, right?
Becky Mollenkamp (07:11.074)
Sorry, I'm just curious if you do anything.
Becky Mollenkamp (07:22.37)
Congratulations, happy anniversary!
Taina Brown she/hers (07:37.316)
If one of us were to end up in the hospital, what kind of legal protections would we have? I'm also getting a physical today. We both are. We're celebrating that. Our anniversary, a physical I think is just an act of self-care that is
Becky Mollenkamp (07:50.582)
Just a fun day. It's like highs and lows for you today.
Taina Brown she/hers (08:07.011)
not the most indulgent act of self-care. It's not the kind of self-care that we normally think about, but it's necessary. And so it's one way for us to care for our bodies. And I think I'm just going to, we don't have anything that we normally do in terms of like the MLK side of things and honoring that legacy. I think...
What I will probably try to spend some time doing is I've read bits and pieces of letters from a Birmingham jail, but I haven't ever read the whole thing. And so I think I'm going to try to set aside some time to read some of that today. I think it's especially relevant in our current political climate. And I'm also going to try to stay off social media today.
for the same reason, but I think also just like as a person of color and as a black woman, honestly, I'm tired a little bit of the white tears over how things have turned out. And so it's a bit triggering for me. And I know that's something that I have to manage. But at the same time, it's also like, there's a part of me that's like, well, my people have.
been through, like we've done this already, know, like this is like par for the course for us. So what do we do? Like we just keep on living, you know? And so, and there's a lot of like social anxiety about, which I'm not saying that the social anxiety is unwarranted. It definitely is, I think. But it's just like.
That's not for me. That's not where I feel like I fit in. And so much of what's going to be on social media is either going to be the barrage of MLK quotes that take his life and his stance out of context or the social anxiety stuff. This is my normal. So yeah.
Taina Brown she/hers (10:17.556)
Yeah, I think that's what I'll probably do.
Becky Mollenkamp (10:18.018)
I can understand the anger because we fucking did this. The white people did this, right? Like when you look at just the voting numbers, black people did not make this choice. This is white people having to reckon with their own choices. And for all of us who didn't vote for him, that doesn't excuse us, right? We have to be part of educating, having hard conversations with people in our lives. Cause we all know people who voted for Trump. There's just very little chance that you are such a...
lucky white person that you have no one in your world devoted for him. We have to do the work to change things. And so I could understand being like, can't, I can't deal with seeing your quotes from MLK at the same time that your community made this choice. Like those things don't align and fuck you. Like I totally get it. So, letters from a Birmingham jail I read in full. I feel like it was last MLK day. Maybe it was two ago, but that's a great idea.
Taina Brown she/hers (11:03.218)
Yeah.
Taina Brown she/hers (11:11.455)
Hmm.
Becky Mollenkamp (11:14.644)
It's so good and it feels like it doesn't matter when you read it. If you're reading it in America, it's always timely. And so if you've never read it, I highly recommend reading it. There's a lot of bangers in there, like a lot of one liners and things that you're just like, shit, we, this is why we need to study the past so that we learn from it. So as they continue to try and keep kids from reading that kind of material, when you read it, you're like, I see why. So that's a great suggestion. Okay.
Taina Brown she/hers (11:21.342)
Yeah, yeah.
Taina Brown she/hers (11:26.483)
Yeah.
Taina Brown she/hers (11:33.736)
Yeah.
Taina Brown she/hers (11:41.15)
Mm-hmm, mm-hmm.
Becky Mollenkamp (11:44.652)
Can we focus on joy? Is that OK? So what's bringing us joy? And you also had mentioned maybe revisiting now that we're a whopping almost a month in, not even, three weeks into the year.
Taina Brown she/hers (11:45.969)
Yes, yes, let's move into it. Let's move into it.
Taina Brown she/hers (11:57.158)
I know, literally yesterday I was telling my wife, why does it feel like it's still January 5? Like, I just...
Becky Mollenkamp (12:03.362)
Because it always does, right? Tomorrow will be my kids fourth school day of the year. January 21st, fourth day. Between snow and holidays and everything, it is... So like, I feel way behind. Yeah. Yeah. And so I feel so far behind too, where I'm just like, how's the month almost over? And I've had like four full working days this year with my kid, like where there's no kid, no husband here. Anyway, so we're gonna do little check in on our...
Taina Brown she/hers (12:15.363)
Only the fourth? Wow.
Becky Mollenkamp (12:32.438)
goals as well, for other people who heard our episode a couple episodes ago talking about like, not resolutions, commitments, goals, whatever. Yeah, intentions for 2025. So those two things tie together for me because the thing that's bringing me joy in this very moment, although I would love to talk about some like shows and things I've been watching, but my sexy ass spreadsheet. And I wish I could show it to you all, but I can't. But it is so sexy. Yeah, thank you. My dashboard, which.
Taina Brown she/hers (12:33.181)
Mm-hmm.
Taina Brown she/hers (12:39.558)
Be our intentions.
Taina Brown she/hers (12:57.666)
It is, I've seen it. It's very sexy.
Becky Mollenkamp (13:01.89)
Even since you last saw it, I've added a few more things. I know. And I just love it so I can't even tell you because I decided to participate in 100 rejections this year. there's like, don't know, that Jia Zhang, think is how maybe you say the person's name who did a TED talk and had a book about being rejected and like trying to get rejected and how that really helped. think I've never seen the TED talk. So I actually don't know if this is man or a woman or a non-binary person, but I'll say they. It helped them with
Taina Brown she/hers (13:04.334)
my gosh.
Becky Mollenkamp (13:30.626)
like overcoming all that fear that so many of us have around rejection to be able to put themselves out there more. And a friend of mine that I was talking to was saying they were doing it this year and I was like, sign me up. Like I want to do that. I want to do 100 rejection challenge for myself this year where I'm intentionally trying to get rejected. The goal is you haven't reached the goal until you've been rejected 100 times, right? So.
Taina Brown she/hers (13:50.395)
Hmm.
Becky Mollenkamp (13:51.786)
The thing that happens is you put a lot of requests out, you make these big asks and you end up getting some of them and those don't count, right? Instead of counting the wins, we're trying, like, so it's forcing you to get comfortable with being uncomfortable, like forcing you to sit with rejection and actually making it into like this game for yourself of like, well, now I gotta ask for something even bigger because I got it, yes, I gotta get nos. So I've added a tracking system for that to my spreadsheet.
Taina Brown she/hers (14:05.701)
Yeah.
Becky Mollenkamp (14:16.098)
and then have a percent completion for getting my rejections that I've added to my dashboard. So my spreadsheet has many tabs. Somebody was talking to me about my spreadsheet yesterday. like, well, what does your brain inside of your brain look like? Does it look like this spreadsheet? And I was like, no. My brain looks like this picture behind me for anyone who can see is like a mess of everything. The spreadsheet is what helps me turn that into something that seems orderly. And when I can see what is happening in my brain, which feels like a mess,
Taina Brown she/hers (14:41.144)
Yeah, yeah.
Becky Mollenkamp (14:45.408)
If I can visualize it in way that doesn't feel messy, I just can't tell you the joy it brings me. Because I think I can't believe there's like tools that allow the craziness in my brain, like this, the madness. I don't know how to say that. I don't want to be using ableist language. The wildness, the frenzy that's going on in my head to be able to turn that into something that's like other people can understand and like you can see and clearly get.
Taina Brown she/hers (14:56.014)
Mm-hmm.
Taina Brown she/hers (15:00.928)
Ableist, yeah.
Taina Brown she/hers (15:04.878)
Mm-hmm.
Taina Brown she/hers (15:11.319)
Mm-hmm.
Becky Mollenkamp (15:13.258)
It feels so flipping good. So I have all these tabs with all this different stuff, but then I have a dashboard. And the dashboard is what like every time I look at it, I feel I can just feel my body lighten. I feel myself like take a deep breath, which for people who don't love spreadsheets, like I get and honestly, I never thought I would like I people look at this and think I'm some sort of like, like a spreadsheet nerd. And the truth is, I don't think of myself that way at all.
But there's something about being able to, again, take all of the noise and quiet it down in a way that just creates calm in my body. And it feels so nice. And so I'm very excited about it because it's helping me with putting all of these intentions I have for this year, the rejections challenge, the habit formation I'm trying to do, some of my financial goals, into a place where I can see my progress and where I can kind of make sense of all the stuff I have going on. And so it feels really nice.
Taina Brown she/hers (15:43.552)
Mm-hmm.
Taina Brown she/hers (15:47.224)
Mm-hmm.
Taina Brown she/hers (16:06.882)
Hmm. Yeah.
Becky Mollenkamp (16:08.866)
because I am trying to do a lot this year and my word of the year is simplicity, which seems funny, but I am finding a way to take all of it and make it feel more simplified. And that feels really, really good. So that's what's bringing me joy is my sexy ass spreadsheet.
Taina Brown she/hers (16:12.791)
Yeah
Taina Brown she/hers (16:20.651)
Mm-hmm. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, I've seen that spreadsheet. I'm definitely not a spreadsheet nerd. And I feel like if I... I do like it though. Like I very much appreciate a very like efficient, like organized way to like gather and process information. And I feel like if I tried to do the same thing, like I just...
I don't feel like I have the aptitude to create the same thing that you created, if that makes sense.
Becky Mollenkamp (16:57.056)
I honestly can't believe I have the aptitude to do it, be totally truthful. And yesterday, it's like these little victories where I was trying to figure out a new formula to be able to have it create a thing I wanted to create. And when I figured it out, I was jumping in my seat. I was like, my god, because I'm not a spreadsheet. I don't know. I've never been trained in Excel or anything. Maybe I am some other friends. Yeah.
Taina Brown she/hers (17:17.622)
Well, maybe you are. Maybe you're becoming one. Maybe this is part of your transformation. Yeah.
Becky Mollenkamp (17:22.934)
So I don't feel like I have aptitude either. It just is like, I'm learning as I go. don't forget the Google. Google, like there's literally nothing you can't find out. Like down to the, how do I, you can ask a very specific question of like, how do I get my Google Sheets to calculate the percentage of yeses out of like an option of yes, no, and maybe in this column. And like, you'll find an answer. It is wild. So even if you don't have the aptitude, can develop it.
Taina Brown she/hers (17:27.647)
Mm-hmm.
That's true. On Google, yeah.
Taina Brown she/hers (17:47.701)
Hmm. Wow.
That's true. That's true. That's true. Yeah, it's a nice spreadsheet. It's a nice spreadsheet. I like that it's keeping you grounded and regulated. Yeah.
Becky Mollenkamp (17:52.897)
Not that you need to.
Becky Mollenkamp (17:59.606)
Well, thank you.
My hope is it keeps me engaged, because here's the thing. Is it a January 13th or something like that is called like resolution day or whatever where everyone's resolutions end? It takes...
Taina Brown she/hers (18:14.077)
No, I think it's January 2nd. It's called Quitters Day. It's the second. It's the... Well, I mean, according to Apple, it's the second.
Becky Mollenkamp (18:16.806)
is it at the second? I thought it was a little later than that. I thought most people made it a little longer. Maybe it is. Yeah. But there's like some day where they've done the science where like people's resolutions only last. It's such a small amount of time and people just give up. And I know my habits, too, of like I start strong and then I can also find myself dithering out if I'm not like on top of it. And so my hope is that this like more than anything, it's really about like, hope this is a system because it does get me energized. Clearly, I get excited about it.
Taina Brown she/hers (18:37.642)
Yeah.
Taina Brown she/hers (18:45.521)
Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Yeah.
Becky Mollenkamp (18:46.518)
So my hope is that it keeps me engaged. I really wanna be engaged this year in these things that I'm trying to do and how do I keep myself in it? And I feel like having a tool that supports that is great. So like there is that part of it too. But I wanna hear about what's bringing you joy.
Taina Brown she/hers (19:00.444)
Yeah, so another thing that's bringing me joy, well, the red note thing. Let's go back to that for a second. so.
Becky Mollenkamp (19:08.118)
Well, yes, because OK, and now here we have to be honest. I feel like we're going to have to have a little caveat of honesty. We've been talking about today as if it is today. But the truth is it's Friday before Inauguration Day, even though we're talking about like this is an IA day. We were talking in present tense, but now we have to step out of it because the truth is we don't know for sure whether TikTok is still available in the US today. It looks like not because the Supreme Court just upheld that basically from all indication, unless something surprising happens.
Taina Brown she/hers (19:13.423)
Yes.
Taina Brown she/hers (19:17.886)
Yeah, yeah.
Taina Brown she/hers (19:29.041)
Yeah.
Taina Brown she/hers (19:33.107)
Mm-hmm.
Becky Mollenkamp (19:37.11)
There is no TikTok available in the US as of like when we're listening to this, right? So like today, but honestly, this is Friday, so we don't know for sure. But I think most of us are preparing for the fact that it probably, that that ban is gonna continue.
Taina Brown she/hers (19:40.541)
as of Sunday the 19th, yeah.
Taina Brown she/hers (19:51.153)
Yeah, yeah, I've already started seeing like highlight of videos. Yeah, and goodbyes and thank yous and things like that. Yeah, yeah. So I mean, I just I the irony of the whole situation is just like, like I just
Becky Mollenkamp (19:55.616)
Yeah, and goodbyes.
And here's where to find me now, yeah.
Becky Mollenkamp (20:10.124)
For people who don't know, because I think a lot of people don't know, talk about what Red I've heard about this thing you're talking about, but I think there will be people who don't know what Red Note is.
Taina Brown she/hers (20:15.378)
Yeah, yeah. So Red Note is an app in China that is controlled by the Communist Party. a creator, I don't know if he would call himself a creator. I think at some point people thought he was the owner of Red Note, but I think he's just a user of Red Note. Got on TikTok and maybe like last week or earlier this week and was just like, you shouldn't. Basically saying,
It's horrible that they're trying to silence you by taking away TikTok. And so a lot of TikTokers, content creators, just regular users have been signing up for the app and there's memes, people are learning Mandarin to better engage, because there's no translation.
Becky Mollenkamp (21:02.53)
I was gonna say the entire thing's in Mandarin. Yeah, it's not intended for US usage. It was built by and for China. it's, yeah. And the irony of people leaving the ban because the government, responding to this ban that was in response to potential Chinese influence over US citizens and their data to go to an app that is literally...
Taina Brown she/hers (21:08.652)
all.
Taina Brown she/hers (21:12.472)
Yeah. Yeah.
Taina Brown she/hers (21:24.996)
Mm-hmm.
Taina Brown she/hers (21:29.603)
Yeah. Yeah.
Becky Mollenkamp (21:29.646)
owned by China because ByteDance or whatever it's called that owns TikTok is no, I'm sure there's no question they're largely influenced by the Chinese government because any business operating out of China is, but they aren't owned. Yeah. Right. It's not literally owned by the Chinese government. And now people are leaving and responding to this ban out of these fears of the Chinese government having control of our data and going to an app that is literally owned by Chinese government. So it does crack me up too, because
Taina Brown she/hers (21:41.712)
but it's not, yeah, they're only dependently. Yeah, yeah.
Taina Brown she/hers (21:55.884)
Yeah, yeah. Yeah, it's hilarious. It's it's a dramatic irony. And so I'm it's it's hilarious, but it's also a little bit scary. Because I've I've heard of, you know, people getting on there and immediately getting banned because, know, they are talking or they have content about a certain topic.
Becky Mollenkamp (22:08.45)
It's very scary.
Becky Mollenkamp (22:18.998)
I've definitely heard from the LGBTQ community in particular of their being, which the Chinese government is not pro LGBTQ. Let's make no qualms about it, right? Like it's very clear the communist government there is not pro LGBTQ. So it's not a surprise that they're being met with either being kicked off or hatred or whatever. And I think I've heard similar from some black folks as well.
Taina Brown she/hers (22:22.093)
Mm-hmm.
Taina Brown she/hers (22:27.382)
Mm-hmm. Yeah, yeah.
Taina Brown she/hers (22:36.302)
Yeah.
Taina Brown she/hers (22:43.884)
Yeah, yeah. so it'll be interesting to see how that plays out. Again, we're recording this on Friday, the Friday before January 19th and January 20th. So we don't know what we will wake up to on January 19th or January 20th when it comes to TikTok. But it'll be interesting to see how it plays out.
Becky Mollenkamp (23:06.38)
The scary thing is there's so many kids. And by kids, I mean even early 20s, but young, mean, TikTok skews much younger than say Facebook for sure, or even Instagram. I mean, it skews much younger. And so there are these kids that are flocking over to this thing in a language they don't know, in a country whose government they have very little understanding of. I don't think that we teach nearly enough here beyond just generalized scare tactics about China for people to actually understand. I mean, clearly based on just what we hear, people don't understand what communism is.
Taina Brown she/hers (23:08.653)
Mm-hmm.
Taina Brown she/hers (23:14.597)
for sure.
Taina Brown she/hers (23:25.774)
Mm-hmm.
Taina Brown she/hers (23:31.191)
Yeah.
Becky Mollenkamp (23:36.342)
They don't know what socialism is. They throw these terms around. They don't know what fascism is. They don't know. And the younger you are, the less likely I think that lot of folks are to really have any understanding. They haven't been around. Like Gen X has a different understanding of communism because of our relationship with Russia and growing up in that. But I just think it's scary to me, these young folks that are flocking to this thing without any real understanding of what it means or could mean for themselves and their data and their safety. And then the bigger picture for
Taina Brown she/hers (23:39.895)
Yeah.
Taina Brown she/hers (23:51.01)
Yeah.
Taina Brown she/hers (24:01.399)
Mm-hmm.
Becky Mollenkamp (24:04.736)
America and I'd be interested to see how the government responds. Cause how long did it take for this to happen with TikTok? How long do we think it will take for the U S government to respond to what's happening with red note? Like it's just, but tell me why it brings you joy.
Taina Brown she/hers (24:11.117)
Yeah, yeah.
Taina Brown she/hers (24:18.4)
It brings me joy just because it's just like a giant fuck you to Metta, right? Like Metta was... They have been trying to buy TikTok for so long and because they couldn't buy it, right? Which we know they want to buy it because they want to control information, right?
Becky Mollenkamp (24:22.422)
Yeah, I do agree with that, yeah.
Becky Mollenkamp (24:36.812)
They want to be able to, I mean, it's a huge, huge audience that they can then monetize. And TikTok has clearly shown it is monetizable. The TikTok shop and everything, like it, that is an app that has figured it out in ways that others have not.
Taina Brown she/hers (24:39.687)
Yeah.
Taina Brown she/hers (24:43.456)
Yeah.
Taina Brown she/hers (24:48.428)
Even beyond the TikTok shop, just creators. My wife was saying that she was watching a TikTok of a girl who was like, I just leased an apartment, I just bought a car, the majority of my income comes from TikTok. I don't know what I'm gonna do if I can't. Yeah. These are people's jobs.
Becky Mollenkamp (24:52.326)
for sure, yeah.
Becky Mollenkamp (25:05.378)
That's the reality and non-joy part of this ban is there have been just the quick rep, right? Their livelihoods. I mean, I do hope I always feel bad when someone loses their livelihood or when some choice outside of their control affects their lives in that way. And I do hope it's a good reminder for everyone who is a content creator, create is a business owner, whatever to remember. You don't own those platforms. You got to think about that when you're
Taina Brown she/hers (25:31.743)
Mm-hmm.
Becky Mollenkamp (25:34.602)
relying on a platform for your business and to diversify or to choose platforms that you own like your email list. So just a quick aside, but yeah.
Taina Brown she/hers (25:37.013)
Yeah.
Taina Brown she/hers (25:41.567)
Yeah, for sure, for sure. Yeah, that's why that's bringing me joy.
Becky Mollenkamp (25:45.61)
Yeah, I do. hear the piece of reason me joy is just I thought is as much as it like scares me and all that. So we don't have to get too serious about it. But it's the petty it's the like, you're going to ban us from this app. OK, guess what we're going to do. We're all going to get right. We'll show you. So that does bring me some joy. All right. Yeah. Watch out. you're so funny. My bedazzled, my bedazzled Stanley. Jeweled. OK, so.
Taina Brown she/hers (25:52.563)
It's the petty for me. Hold my beer, hold my coffee, hold my Stanley Cup.
Taina Brown she/hers (26:11.413)
Yeah.
Becky Mollenkamp (26:13.024)
I would like to share some pop culture stuff too. That was very pop culture. So that takes us into just like things that I'm watching that are bringing me joy. And I don't know if you have anything in particular, because I know we've talked about movies, but we haven't really talked about TV shows that we've been watching. And so some shows that I've been watching lately, well, first, can I share one that pisses me off and then I'll share one that brings me joy? Because kind of this is like.
Taina Brown she/hers (26:15.922)
Okay. Mm-hmm.
Taina Brown she/hers (26:24.745)
Mm-hmm.
Taina Brown she/hers (26:33.28)
Yeah
Becky Mollenkamp (26:36.286)
not great, but sometimes I get some joy out of being pissed off because my husband will be like, why are we watching this if you're going to if you're bitching the whole time if you're so pissed off? But I'm like, I kind of like there's this little thing like a little bit of excitement and joy I get off of being like, fuck it. So my my my target is Taylor or Tyler Sheridan, who does Yellowstone and landman. I haven't watched those, but I watched Lioness.
Taina Brown she/hers (26:42.771)
Yeah.
Taina Brown she/hers (26:48.003)
Yeah, you need a target to funnel your rage towards.
Taina Brown she/hers (26:59.111)
The land man, Yellowstone, yeah.
Becky Mollenkamp (27:03.938)
It's his show. I did not know it was his show. I had just heard good things about Lioness. I knew it starred Zoe Saldana, who I like, and I knew it had Nicole Kidman, who I like less, but I was like, OK, women, it's a woman-focused show. Like, I'm really into watching. I'm trying more and more to consume only things that are really, like, women-centric. The new caveat on that, which has been a previous caveat, but now I need to be more firm about it, is it needs to be women-centric by women, because Taylor or Tyler? I think it's Taylor Sheridan.
Taina Brown she/hers (27:10.525)
Mm-hmm.
Taina Brown she/hers (27:31.953)
It doesn't matter.
Becky Mollenkamp (27:32.906)
It doesn't, because fuck him. Because this show, there is every episode, literally, go watch it. I've watched two seasons of this show. And I swear to you, every episode, there is a woman in a shower, a naked woman in a shower, and usually it ends in sex. Not always, but usually. I was just like, this show pisses me off so much. I'm constantly yelling. Zoe Saldana is, listen, I am sure she's strong and mighty.
powerful bitch. I love her. Okay, I think she's gorgeous. I think she seems very smart. But she's not particularly believable in the role that she's in because she is like a little tiny twig of a nothing. And we're supposed to believe that she's like able to be out there like in these battlefields. There's things that just don't add up. Not that you can't be a twig of a woman and be just as strong, but they make her look like
Taina Brown she/hers (28:02.856)
Mm-hmm.
Taina Brown she/hers (28:10.472)
Hmm.
Taina Brown she/hers (28:19.974)
Mm-hmm.
Taina Brown she/hers (28:26.725)
Yeah
Becky Mollenkamp (28:30.506)
she has the same level of strength as some of these men who are like jacked up beefcake guys, right? Where you just think like, how does she, like there are things where you're thinking, this doesn't add up. And then like, she's this mom of two young kids, but she's never home, which is fine. Dad's there, so all that's okay. But like, there's this constant tension of like, this job I have to do for national security.
Taina Brown she/hers (28:35.556)
Yeah, yeah.
Taina Brown she/hers (28:51.546)
Mm-hmm.
Becky Mollenkamp (28:55.298)
But then, you know, my kids are suffering and I feel so bad about it. But she made, they made it clear that she made the choice to have those kids after she was very much in this role and was doing all this traveling. Like there's stuff about it that just, I'm like, this feels like somebody who doesn't understand women wrote, who is just trying to say, I want to get this role for this hot lady. And I'm just going to stick her in this role, whether it makes sense or not. And then, because I really, just want to get her in the shower naked. It pisses me off every time I watch it. Cause I'm like, then,
Taina Brown she/hers (29:09.734)
Yeah, yeah.
Taina Brown she/hers (29:17.403)
Yeah.
Taina Brown she/hers (29:22.086)
Hmm.
Becky Mollenkamp (29:24.638)
Explain to me why she had these kids. If she's going, if it's this constant, like, I want to be there for them and I can't. But I knew when I was doing this job that I was this like traveling around the world, killing people. She's just like a killer is what she is. She goes around killing people for the government, but like CIA. Anyway, it doesn't fucking make sense. so I just the whole time I'm yelling at the screen and now my husband's even like, my God, there's more water. here they come. Like he's just like.
Taina Brown she/hers (29:27.972)
Mm-hmm.
Taina Brown she/hers (29:36.867)
Yeah, yeah.
Taina Brown she/hers (29:44.463)
Mm-hmm.
Taina Brown she/hers (29:52.581)
hahahahah
Becky Mollenkamp (29:54.516)
But of course, my husband's like, I like this Taylor Sheridan. Like, he really is enjoying all of the naked ladies. And listen, they're gorgeous. It's fine. Like, it is nice, except that I'm like, really tired of men writing for women. Similarly, I just binge watched. So listen, I say I hate it. And yet I watched all two seasons, right? And in a binge. And then I just watched Younger, which was like a seven, seven seasons, which I watched in like two weeks.
Taina Brown she/hers (29:57.593)
Yeah, yeah.
Yeah.
Taina Brown she/hers (30:06.425)
Yeah.
Taina Brown she/hers (30:19.565)
It had seven seasons? Okay, wow.
Becky Mollenkamp (30:22.23)
which I did not know when I started. thought it was like a show that had two or three. And then I got through like a season or two and I was like, wait a minute, that says seven seasons. Are you fucking kidding me? There's 12 per seasons. What did I watch? Like 90 episodes or something of this show? my God. Well, yeah, you know, and that's what it does. Well, younger was OK, but also kind of bad. I played it in the background mostly, so I will say. But like, that's why I got through it so soon. But it's written by the same guy who did.
Taina Brown she/hers (30:25.434)
Yeah.
Taina Brown she/hers (30:33.302)
Yeah, yeah, and then you have to finish it.
unless it's just really, really bad, you know?
Taina Brown she/hers (30:44.663)
Hmm. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.
Becky Mollenkamp (30:51.106)
Carrie Underwood or Carrie, what's her name? Bradshaw, Darren Starr, I think is his name who did, right? Isn't that Darren Starr? Yeah. And it's another one where I'm like, and I think back to Sex and the City, I'm like, I'm tired of men writing about women because these are not representative, right? These are not women I know. Who are the women I know? Because this woman like was pretending, she's 40 pretending to be 26.
Taina Brown she/hers (30:57.443)
The one who did Sex and the City? Yeah, yeah.
Taina Brown she/hers (31:06.915)
Yeah, it's not believable. Yeah, yeah.
Becky Mollenkamp (31:16.322)
At some point after seven seasons, she's 47 pretending to be 26 or 27, you start to go, listen, where are the people around here saying, friend, this is not believable anymore. Yes, you're gorgeous, but this is not believable. And, but even more than that, you keep going like, why? Because it's not, it was like 2020, 2021 when the show ended. I'm like, the world is not, it felt like a show that should have been set in the eighties and not the
Taina Brown she/hers (31:27.843)
Mm-hmm. Yeah.
Yeah.
Taina Brown she/hers (31:43.714)
Mm, mm. Yeah, that's a kind of gimmicky storyline you'd find in an 80s TV show or an 80s movie.
Becky Mollenkamp (31:51.682)
Right, well, and like maybe it was more reality then. It didn't feel real where I'm like, you can't tell your like they kept finding excuses why she can't tell anyone. Anyway, all of it felt like this is not written by a woman who like lives this life at all, which is why I really like Michelle Buto and her show. What's the name of that show? It's Thickest. That's the survival thickest. Oh my God. So good. Yes.
Taina Brown she/hers (31:54.515)
Yeah. Yeah.
Taina Brown she/hers (32:03.25)
Yeah.
Taina Brown she/hers (32:08.707)
my gosh. Survival of the Thiccous. my gosh, she's amazing. I love her so much. Have you watched her comedy specials?
Becky Mollenkamp (32:20.042)
I have the new one. I've watched one, but I haven't watched the new one that just came out. I have it bookmarked on Netflix. So yeah, I want to watch it.
Taina Brown she/hers (32:23.637)
The one at Radio City Music Hall, the historical one. She's like the first female comedian ever to have a show at Radio City Music Hall. Yeah.
Becky Mollenkamp (32:30.454)
which is wild. I would have thought Wanda Sykes at least would have if not others, but I can't, that's shocking to me, but.
Taina Brown she/hers (32:35.509)
Yeah.
Yeah, very shocking. We watched it last week. So good.
Becky Mollenkamp (32:41.748)
I freaking love her. And I love survival ethicus. can't wait for the new season to come out. But shows like that that are clearly written by women, for women, who understand what it means to be a woman and have conversations that you're like, this is the kind of conversations that I have with my friends. This is what my friends look like and act like. I just need more of that in my life. So I haven't found a lot of those examples. But a show that has been bringing me joy, although I finished it now, is Shrinking on Apple+. I don't know if you watch it.
Taina Brown she/hers (32:49.419)
Yeah.
Yeah.
Taina Brown she/hers (32:57.216)
Mm-hmm.
Taina Brown she/hers (33:00.98)
Yeah. Yeah.
Becky Mollenkamp (33:10.86)
There's an amazing character on there, Jessica, what's her last name? She played Jessica James in another show, but anyway, she's, I fucking love her, love her, love her. And it has Harrison Ford, who I generally don't like, but he plays this curmudgeon really well. But it's a show about Jason Siegel, yeah. And he's like a, they're all therapists. And it's really like, it's one of these kind of sweet and easy shows, but I love it because to me it speaks to chosen family.
Taina Brown she/hers (33:26.525)
is this the one with Jason Seagal also? Okay, or Seagal, yeah.
Taina Brown she/hers (33:36.32)
Mm-hmm.
Becky Mollenkamp (33:40.522)
And I love the concept of chosen family. As someone who doesn't have a lot of biological family, chosen family, and the older I get, the more chosen family it feels so important to me. And that show really speaks to finding your people who aren't afraid to be with you warts and all, right? Who love you warts and all, who are there for the bad stuff as much as they are for the good stuff.
Taina Brown she/hers (33:40.8)
Hmm.
Taina Brown she/hers (33:45.706)
Mm-hmm.
Taina Brown she/hers (33:51.498)
Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.
Taina Brown she/hers (33:57.088)
Yeah.
Taina Brown she/hers (34:02.442)
Yeah.
Becky Mollenkamp (34:07.584)
and who are there for you when you even try to not let them be there for you. So it's really beautiful and speaks to, I think in the same way Ted Lasso spoke to something that we were all needing at that time during COVID, this show feels like it's speaking to where I think so many of us are right now, coming out of that time and being more in this like, I'm tired of being online. I'm tired of this online existence. I'm looking for like IRL.
Taina Brown she/hers (34:11.84)
Mm-hmm.
Taina Brown she/hers (34:35.528)
Yeah.
Becky Mollenkamp (34:36.0)
community and it really speaks to that in beautiful way. So it brings me a lot of joy as well. I highly recommend watching it. What about you? You got me? I know that's a problem. Apple TV has some of the best shows right now and it's so upsetting that more people aren't able to watch them. what have you been, what else is bringing you joy? It doesn't have to be TV or whatever, but.
Taina Brown she/hers (34:41.7)
Okay, I might have to well we don't have Apple TV, but yeah
Taina Brown she/hers (34:51.772)
Yeah, yeah. Yeah, I mean, in terms of TV, I've been going through Ghost. Well, there's only, I think they're only on season 3's. Ghost, yeah, on CBS. It's quirky, you know, I think it has themes along the same lines of like Chosen Family, because basically it's a bunch of ghosts who are like trapped in this like estate from like different eras. And so...
Becky Mollenkamp (35:03.202)
Are you talking about, ghosts. Is that so good or not?
Taina Brown she/hers (35:20.733)
Some have been there for thousands of years and some have only been there for a few decades. And so they just have learned to cohabitate. And then the new owners played by Rose Byrne. And I forgot the name of the guy who plays her husband. She has an accident and almost like dies for like two minutes. And so when she comes back to life, she's able to see the ghosts.
Becky Mollenkamp (35:38.558)
I like Rose Byrne!
Taina Brown she/hers (35:50.84)
And so it's one of those just like quirky, every episode is some kind of antique, you know, kind of thing. And so I got into it because I follow Danielle Pinnock on Instagram and on TikTok. She plays a ghost named Alberta. She was on the Young Sheldon. She's been on a few things. She's a Black actress.
married to a British white guy, which they're so adorable. They're so adorable. They're always hosting meals at their home for like 10, 20, 30, 40 people. so, yeah, so she's hilarious. She's so funny in real life and on the show. so I was like, you know what? I need something light and that 30 minute kind of sitcom thing to get into that is just
Becky Mollenkamp (36:21.858)
Mmm.
Becky Mollenkamp (36:32.194)
guys.
Taina Brown she/hers (36:49.531)
Cozy and that was it. I'm not watching a whole lot of TV other than that. Mellow and I do true crime on Fridays. so usually something on Netflix. So that's something that we like. I wouldn't say that brings me joy. That mostly creeps me out. So we recently watched Don't Fuck With Cats. Have you seen that?
Becky Mollenkamp (37:15.842)
No, but I heard you saying it freaked you out. saw it on social media you talking about it. So I will not I don't do true crime Because I can't sleep if I do
Taina Brown she/hers (37:18.778)
Oh my god, it was so disturbing.
Taina Brown she/hers (37:25.434)
I couldn't sleep after this one. I couldn't sleep. It definitely kept me up. It was incredibly unsettling. And so...
Becky Mollenkamp (37:32.128)
Was it literally about cats? Don't give away too much, but for, yeah. Okay.
Taina Brown she/hers (37:34.986)
Yes and no. Yes and no. Yeah. Some of our friends had watched it last year and they told us about it. And I was like, I don't really care about cats, whatever. But then we were like, we need something new. We've watched a bunch of these already. And it popped up on Netflix. So we were like, OK, it's three episodes. Why the hell not? And yeah. there's an international.
Becky Mollenkamp (37:44.491)
I don't either, but...
Taina Brown she/hers (38:02.073)
entourage looking for this guy, which is, it adds a layer, a lot of the true crime docs that we've seen. in one place. But with this guy, it's international. So yeah, it's bizarre. But some other things that have been bringing me joy is, this was actually really recent, and this is related to the fires in California.
Becky Mollenkamp (38:31.394)
which thank you for acknowledging, because I don't think we have on the show.
Taina Brown she/hers (38:33.576)
Yeah, we haven't. haven't. so somebody that I have worked with and follow closely on social media, Kelly Mosser, she started this campaign to help brides who had lost their wedding dresses in the fire, replaced their wedding dresses. And it just has kind of exploded. And I think she was on Muse Nation this morning.
this morning being Friday morning. And she's had all these people commit to sending in donations and whatnot. so the first bride got her dress. She was from Altadena, which is a historically Black community, Black middle class community just north of Pasadena. And so I don't know if the bride was Black, but just some general facts about the community. So that
That's been bringing me joy because it's one of those little things that like, sure, it might seem superficial to some people, but for someone who is getting married and who has lost their wedding gown or their wedding outfit, that can be heartbreaking. You put so much effort.
Becky Mollenkamp (39:47.104)
And it's also probably one piece of so much loss that you're going through. And it's something that's more easily controlled or helped. as, right, right. As somebody like my aunt lost her, like completely her house was gone in a tornado. This was decades ago. But when you've lost everything, when someone finds one thing for you, something that brings you back this feeling, yeah, it makes a huge difference, whatever that thing is. So I agree.
Taina Brown she/hers (39:51.048)
Yes, yeah.
Right. Yes. Then like, I can't give you your house back, but this is what I can do.
Taina Brown she/hers (40:11.57)
Mm-hmm. A meal. Yeah, something. Yeah.
Becky Mollenkamp (40:16.876)
I'm pausing here, pause. I have to go help my kid real quick. I'll be right back. Okay.
Becky Mollenkamp (40:53.896)
our toilet okay? I'll be done in a little bit.
Sorry, he's off school today. Okay, I'm gonna.
Taina Brown she/hers (41:01.142)
That's okay.
Taina Brown she/hers (41:04.819)
And we're back. But yeah, she just, like, I think last week was like, hey, this is something that I want to do and just put out a call and said, if you're a bride in the area, reach out. If you have something you want to donate, reach out. And I think so many times when we're faced with crisis situations, a lot of us might feel like it's too big to do anything. And this is just such a great example of just like,
You don't need to do everything. There's usually just one thing you can do. And if you just do that one thing, it can make a difference in somebody's experience. so, yeah.
Becky Mollenkamp (41:44.246)
Yeah, we didn't come out. I don't want to go too far down the rabbit hole with the fires. But I do think it's important that you acknowledge them because we haven't. just to say, like, something I wrote in feminist founders newsletter this week was thoughts and prayers, right? Like, obviously, our hearts and thoughts are going to that part of the region. And in the same way, thoughts and prayers don't do jack shit to change what's going on with gun control and gun issues in this country.
Thoughts and prayers really mean nothing. the people of the entire, not just there, not the people just of California or LA, but the people of the entire world, what we need is meaningful climate change resolution. We need changes to fix the problem because that is what this is about. Don't believe what the Republicans are telling you. This is somehow Gavin Newsom's issue. It's not, it's not about raking the forest floor. That's part of it, but that's not the answer. The answer is we've got to figure out how to change the ways that we are damaging our environment that are leading to these
extreme droughts, extreme conditions that are creating a tender box. And if it's not the fires, it's more tornadoes, it's more hurricanes, it's more floods, it's everything. And this is just part of that. the Republicans are going, they want to our eyes off of that and focus on anything else. We have to know this is about climate change. And so like all the thoughts and prayers don't mean much until we actually make meaningful change. Okay, I don't want to go down that route. I just wanted to say something about it, I guess.
Taina Brown she/hers (42:45.406)
Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.
Taina Brown she/hers (43:01.138)
Yeah, absolutely.
Taina Brown she/hers (43:08.014)
Mm-hmm. Yeah.
Becky Mollenkamp (43:11.682)
Okay, I'm gonna share one more thing because I know it's a wrap up and then maybe you can share one more thing. But I am almost finished with a book that I had no expectations of. It's called Frozen River by Ariel Lawton. I don't know if you've ever heard of it. I hadn't heard of it. I searched, I asked ChatGPT all the caveats about AI, but I was just at this loss. I have been putting out on social media and looking on, like searching on Google, trying to find books that center women that are by women.
Taina Brown she/hers (43:15.804)
Okay.
Taina Brown she/hers (43:26.076)
Mm-mm.
Taina Brown she/hers (43:37.852)
Mm-hmm.
Becky Mollenkamp (43:39.33)
that are not about romantic love and there are just not enough of them, right? So this one had come up a couple of places. One person recommended on social media, ChatGPT suggested it and I read the description and I was like, what the fuck? I don't wanna read this, but okay, I'll give it a shot. And I have been so pleasantly surprised. It is set in the 1790s. Like I don't usually read deeply historical fiction. If anything, maybe from the 70s, 1970s, but the 1790s, I was like, okay.
Taina Brown she/hers (44:05.242)
Mm-hmm.
Becky Mollenkamp (44:07.974)
and it's about a midwife. And I just was like, what? This does not sound like something I would enjoy. And I am riveted. I am riveted. It is so good. It's fast paced. It's really interesting. It's about this woman who's in her fifties and she's a midwife and she has a bunch of children. She's experienced a bunch of loss because everyone in that time, any woman who had children was going to have loss. just happens. She has this husband who's deeply supportive of her.
Taina Brown she/hers (44:32.21)
Hmm.
Becky Mollenkamp (44:37.93)
and her work and like her fiercest defender and is like a good human. Like that part might be fantasy, but still it's amazing. And like this woman is so strong and it speaks to so many issues that still feel relevant despite this being 250 years old. Like the placement of the time is so old. And yet it's speaking to issues around reproductive justice, around healthcare, around women and the respect they receive in the workforce.
Taina Brown she/hers (44:45.808)
Mm-hmm.
Taina Brown she/hers (44:52.185)
Yeah.
Taina Brown she/hers (45:07.49)
Mm-hmm.
Becky Mollenkamp (45:07.714)
relationships between men and women, empowered dynamics. I am blown away that I enjoyed this, am enjoying this book as much as I am. Like it will maybe be one of my first five star reviews for this year. And I only gave like three books, five stars last year out of the like 30 I read. Like I really just stickler, like I'll give four stars. Like if it's really good, I know you enjoy it. But five stars is a book like I will recommend to people that I would actually read again. Like I gave James a five star last year. There's only a few.
Taina Brown she/hers (45:20.312)
Wow.
Taina Brown she/hers (45:28.516)
Yeah.
Taina Brown she/hers (45:34.253)
Mm-hmm.
Yeah.
Becky Mollenkamp (45:37.686)
This book is so, for me anyway, I am so excited at how much I like it and how surprised I am to like a book set in this time. and it speaks to, there's racial dynamics at play, because they're in Massachusetts or Maine, I can't remember, Massachusetts. It was a free state at that time, and they speak to that, and there's this black woman who comes, sounds to me like she's maybe from Haiti based on the way the narrator is, the language they're using, but I don't know, they don't say for sure, but she's like this doctor and this healing woman, and she's like,
Taina Brown she/hers (45:42.404)
Well.
Taina Brown she/hers (45:48.591)
Mm.
Taina Brown she/hers (45:55.204)
Yeah.
Taina Brown she/hers (46:01.475)
Yeah, yeah.
Becky Mollenkamp (46:07.81)
special interesting thing and there's all of the relationships with the indigenous folks that are coming up as well and like medicines, plant medicines and anyway it's just it's so fascinating, you know, like I'm really riveted and shocked and I so I highly recommend it. Frozen River Aerolotin. Now if you hate it, don't blame me because we don't know if we'll have the same taste everyone but I'm
Taina Brown she/hers (46:19.502)
Wow.
Taina Brown she/hers (46:27.981)
I won't. I won't. Yeah.
Becky Mollenkamp (46:31.944)
focused on reading more fiction. And I have been surprised at how hard it is for me to find fiction that speaks to what I want. Right? Like there is just women, books written by women for women too often are only about heteronormative love. And even those that are written by the queer community are still often about queer love. And I'm just like, what is it? Like, is it that hard to write a book that's not centering love? Like she has a husband and there's definitely partnership dynamics inside of this book.
Taina Brown she/hers (46:39.117)
Mm-hmm.
Taina Brown she/hers (46:46.957)
Mm-hmm.
Taina Brown she/hers (46:58.817)
Yeah. Yeah, yeah.
Becky Mollenkamp (47:00.204)
But it's about her and it's about how she's moving through the world and her experiences well beyond just the relationship. The relationship is like one small element of this much bigger story. And that story speaks to so many things that are so relevant still. And I just want more of that. And it is so fucking hard to find. It is so hard to find. So if anyone knows any books like that, and I especially love books that center women, platonic friendship. Those are even harder to find that aren't about those two friends trying to find love.
Taina Brown she/hers (47:09.687)
Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.
Taina Brown she/hers (47:24.989)
Mm-hmm. Yeah.
Taina Brown she/hers (47:30.005)
Yeah, yeah, or falling in love with each other.
Becky Mollenkamp (47:30.038)
Like I want to find more books like that. Right. Miss Benson's Beetle by Rachel Joyce is a book that shocked me too. It was set in the 1950s about this old woman going to find this rare myth, maybe not even real beetle with her, this woman who becomes her friend. Not about love at all. Not about something I thought I would enjoy. And I ended up loving it. So I'm open to like wacky suggestions because it is so hard to find these kinds of books. So anyone has any great recommendations of a women-centric book?
Taina Brown she/hers (47:52.429)
Mm-hmm.
Becky Mollenkamp (47:58.55)
written by women that is about the experience of women outside of love, hit me up because it is impossible to Yes. Yeah. And thank you. And one last thing, bringing you joy to close out our episode.
Taina Brown she/hers (48:04.201)
Yeah, yeah. Email us, messyliberation at gmail.com with your book recs for Becky.
Taina Brown she/hers (48:14.961)
I'm going to say two things real quick. One thing is I just got back from facilitating a professional development workshop on emotional intelligence. I'm really proud of myself because I was really nervous. I was having a lot of imposter syndrome and just like, my God, I'm really going to fuck this up because I just haven't done something like that in a long time.
Becky Mollenkamp (48:18.306)
That's fair.
Taina Brown she/hers (48:39.63)
And I was taking a different approach to emotional intelligence than I think what most people are used to. I was taking like an somatic approach to emotional intelligence. And so, but it went well. It went really well. Got a lot of good feedback from people participating. And it's with a group of people that I have six more.
professional development workshops to do with them. So I'm glad that the kickoff session went well and that they were receptive. And then the other thing is something that's bringing me joy is we are introducing guests to our podcast this season. we'll have, yeah, yeah. So we'll have our first guests in a week or two here.
Becky Mollenkamp (49:15.892)
And of course it did, but I'm proud of you.
Becky Mollenkamp (49:28.458)
Yes! Thank you for that! I forgot. I love it. Thank you.
Becky Mollenkamp (49:35.508)
Next episode I think right cuz I have a recording next week so yeah tell people who that is give a little sneak peek since she's somebody you know.
Taina Brown she/hers (49:36.585)
Next. Yeah, I think so. Yeah. Yeah. So she is somebody I know. She's a former client of mine, Marina. And she has been really instrumental in how I have or how comfortable I've been, I guess, with the topic of mutual aid and actually implementing it in my own personal life as opposed to just learning about it and studying it. And so
I was her coach for a while. She's also a health at every size aligned health coach. She has a lot of public health knowledge. She talks a lot about masking and the dangers of long COVID and things like that and preventative measures there. So I'm excited to have her on and talk about all of those things. And we're also, you know, we have our website and
Hopefully we'll get our email list up and running and have some goodies to share with you all if you sign up for our email list. So go sign up for our email list, MessyLiberation.com.
Becky Mollenkamp (50:44.748)
That's it, MessyLiberation.com. You'll find how to sign up there.
Taina Brown she/hers (50:47.558)
Yeah, so we'll see you on the inside, behind the curtain. Yes.
Becky Mollenkamp (50:53.492)
Yeah, everyone protect your peace today as if this is today, but you know what we mean. Inauguration day, MLK day. Do what you need to do today to protect yourself, to tend to yourself, whatever that looks like for you, whether that and for some folks that may mean being with it, facing it, listening to it for that. Like I want to be prepared for some folks that might mean not participating in any of it, whatever it looks like for you. Protect your peace today.
Taina Brown she/hers (51:04.36)
Mm-hmm.
Yeah.
Taina Brown she/hers (51:11.214)
Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.
Taina Brown she/hers (51:17.33)
Yeah.
Becky Mollenkamp (51:20.586)
And then tomorrow the fight begins. Tomorrow resistance begins, right? So we're in this together and we will not let some other folks destroy what we know is possible for this country.
Taina Brown she/hers (51:39.898)
Yeah, yeah, we will save us.
Becky Mollenkamp (51:43.586)
because they aren't. Yes, that's right. We will save us. We are the ones who can save ourselves. Thank you, Tyneth, for doing this with me and for, I'm excited for 2025 because we are the ones who will save us and I, in our teeny tiny little way, I feel like these conversations are part of that. So thank you.
Taina Brown she/hers (51:56.588)
Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Yeah. Thank you.