WEBVTT - Taking Up Space with Brown Girls Climb

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<v Speaker 1>I think so much of it is just taking up

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<v Speaker 1>space collectively in the gym gyms in particular pinning in

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<v Speaker 1>particular can be very male can be very white. We're

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<v Speaker 1>just trying to be like, you're here, this is yours

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<v Speaker 1>too

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<v Speaker 1>made it to the top. Yeah. You go girl

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<v Speaker 2>from Elliot Studios. This is how to L. A. Where

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<v Speaker 2>we learn a little bit more about the communities we

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<v Speaker 2>live in. I'm your host brian, Los santos. Today's story

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<v Speaker 2>comes from Erica Washington. Hi brian, she writes her newsletter

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<v Speaker 2>over on Elliot's dot com.

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<v Speaker 1>Okay, so brown girls climb BgC. I'm black. I've only

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<v Speaker 1>climbed once before when I lived in Indianapolis. I don't

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<v Speaker 1>know that many black folks that do that, but,

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<v Speaker 1>but it seems like a very fun way to work out.

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<v Speaker 1>So I'm like, why not check it out on the company.

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<v Speaker 2>That's the way to do it. If you're going to

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<v Speaker 2>do it. Yes. Right. Okay. Wait, wait. You climbed with

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<v Speaker 2>your nails.

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<v Speaker 1>Yes, I did. And I'm so surprised none of them

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<v Speaker 1>broke off,

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<v Speaker 2>shout out to your manicurist. Hey,

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<v Speaker 1>hi, I'm Erica. Hi, I'm Jaia, I'm a Los Angeles

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<v Speaker 1>local leader for brown bears climb and these are my

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<v Speaker 1>co leaders. I'm Indra Kaleka. Have you ever climbed before?

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<v Speaker 1>Only once? Only once. So there's maybe 15 or so

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<v Speaker 1>women here for the meet up. We're kind of standing

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<v Speaker 1>around near the front of the gym. I'm looking around

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<v Speaker 1>and honestly at this point, I'm feeling pretty confident.

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<v Speaker 2>You're not scared of heights.

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<v Speaker 1>So what you don't know about me brian.

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<v Speaker 1>I've jumped out of a plane before. so no, I

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<v Speaker 1>wasn't afraid.

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<v Speaker 2>Okay, don't sign me up for that. I'm not doing

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<v Speaker 2>that podcast.

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<v Speaker 1>We're about to get started and so at the beginning

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<v Speaker 1>of every meet up, we like to do intros, talk

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<v Speaker 1>a little bit about what BGC is standing for and

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<v Speaker 1>meet each other. We also like to do a land

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<v Speaker 1>acknowledgement and then after a quick intro, we do a

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<v Speaker 1>warm up and then we go climb. We sat in

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<v Speaker 1>a circle, we went around and introduced ourselves and we

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<v Speaker 1>have some bonding moments, you know, I just moved

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<v Speaker 1>out here and honestly it's been really hard to make

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<v Speaker 1>friends and find community. So I'm honestly really excited to

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<v Speaker 1>be able to share this intimate moment with other women

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<v Speaker 1>who look like me anyway, you know me when we

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<v Speaker 1>get up, I am ready to start asking questions. I

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<v Speaker 1>turned to the girl next to me, her name is

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<v Speaker 1>Maddie Busby. Why is this group so important to girls

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<v Speaker 1>like you

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<v Speaker 1>be really intimidating to climb? Especially if you're new and

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<v Speaker 1>be able to just immediately have someone to talk to

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<v Speaker 1>or ask for help is super important as we're talking.

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<v Speaker 1>I'm looking around the gym, it finally hits me. This

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<v Speaker 1>looks super hard. Okay, let's go climb over here with

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<v Speaker 1>the other group of girls. I'll show you the ropes

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<v Speaker 1>without the ropes. Okay, I'm nervous.

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<v Speaker 2>Wait hold up, hold up. There's no ropes on you

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<v Speaker 2>or anything

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<v Speaker 1>like that? We've got real thick landing pads under our feet.

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<v Speaker 1>But no, no,

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<v Speaker 1>how tall is the wall? It's about 15 ft. You

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<v Speaker 1>follow the colors on the wall. You start on the

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<v Speaker 1>ones that have like a little number on it. A

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<v Speaker 1>lot of the time your arms are very straight, it

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<v Speaker 1>uses less energy. 50 over there. She's reaching up, she's

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<v Speaker 1>moving her feet. Why is she getting back down? She

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<v Speaker 1>didn't make it up there yet. She's warming up for her.

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<v Speaker 1>She's really good. So you do like levels, you start

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<v Speaker 1>at zero and it goes to an indoor gyms probably

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<v Speaker 1>12 or 13.

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<v Speaker 1>She can do like eight level eight. Hold it, hold it,

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<v Speaker 1>hold it. Yeah, she made it to the top. You

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<v Speaker 1>go girl, don't do that one. I want to get

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<v Speaker 1>on top. All right, here we go. Okay,

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<v Speaker 2>this on your first try. Yeah. Damn. Look at you,

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<v Speaker 2>you strong girl.

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<v Speaker 1>I didn't know where to put my foot, but this

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<v Speaker 1>is harder than I thought it was. I might have

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<v Speaker 1>to do the purple one. I just want to

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<v Speaker 1>I didn't want to give up. I'm like, oh my God,

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<v Speaker 1>like this is hard, can I do the purple one?

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<v Speaker 1>It said I'm so scared to fall.

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<v Speaker 1>Okay, so now I gotta get down.

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<v Speaker 1>Nice climb. Thank you girl. How did it feel? It

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<v Speaker 1>felt harder than it looked. It was yelling at you.

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<v Speaker 1>I don't know if that works for you know they

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<v Speaker 1>did they had my heart beating and I was like

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<v Speaker 1>oh my God like I got a supportive team behind

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<v Speaker 1>me of dope women, I love this, this made my day,

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<v Speaker 1>made my week, you could do another one,

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<v Speaker 1>you can have another week so brian when I finally

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<v Speaker 1>did catch my breath I just wanted to know how

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<v Speaker 1>did she get started when I was living in India

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<v Speaker 1>I was a part of an organization called climb like

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<v Speaker 1>a woman I saw myself in climbing when I was

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<v Speaker 1>starting out like I could see myself in the people

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<v Speaker 1>that were teaching me that's what we're trying to build

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<v Speaker 1>in meet up space.

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<v Speaker 1>How many people are part of brown girls crime people

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<v Speaker 1>who come to the 2020 30 so now I want

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<v Speaker 1>to find something hard like really really hard, how you

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<v Speaker 1>doing good, what is something that looks intimidating to you?

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<v Speaker 1>So one of these two, what is the orange one?

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<v Speaker 1>I think it's a V. Five like this

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<v Speaker 1>What the heck

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<v Speaker 1>yeah I give up and I don't give up okay

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<v Speaker 1>I give up

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<v Speaker 1>look at wow she makes it look so easy all

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<v Speaker 1>the way to the top. She makes me feel like

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<v Speaker 1>I could do it too but I know I can

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<v Speaker 1>it was so cool to watch her do something I

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<v Speaker 1>was thinking was damn near impossible. No surprise it was

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<v Speaker 1>Indira one of the leaders I have been climbing for

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<v Speaker 1>about six years now, and can you tell me, how

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<v Speaker 1>did you find out about this organization? I started out

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<v Speaker 1>climbing in Chicago and I actually co founded Chicago Brown

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<v Speaker 1>girls climb.

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<v Speaker 1>It's super empowering, right? I think that's why so many

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<v Speaker 1>people are drawn to it. There's always something harder for

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<v Speaker 1>you to work towards, right? Like you will never be

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<v Speaker 1>able to climb everything because you can find something harder.

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<v Speaker 1>My heart is like so lit up right now because

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<v Speaker 1>I had a group of women who look like me

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<v Speaker 1>who would cheer me on. There was a moment that

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<v Speaker 1>I didn't think I would and you said you climbed

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<v Speaker 1>months before. How does this experience compare to that harder?

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<v Speaker 1>I think this was a little bit harder.

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<v Speaker 2>What did you gain about the experience? Like how do

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<v Speaker 2>you feel overall? Would you go again or what's

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<v Speaker 1>up? Yeah, I would definitely go again. They were really

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<v Speaker 1>welcoming and it was cool to see girls like me

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<v Speaker 1>at a climbing gym, it's very intimidating. You see a

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<v Speaker 1>lot of guys and sometimes, okay, so I have an

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<v Speaker 1>example

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<v Speaker 1>while we were in our circle, there was a guy

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<v Speaker 1>who decided to climb right above us

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<v Speaker 2>just because he could

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<v Speaker 1>Yeah, just because he could, because he thought that he

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<v Speaker 1>had ownership of that space, so he could have really

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<v Speaker 1>hurt himself and hurt us if he would have fell down?

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<v Speaker 2>I didn't think about it that way, but you're right,

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<v Speaker 2>You're

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<v Speaker 2>making space for yourselves and you have to sometimes right.

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<v Speaker 2>It is intimidating. I'm intimidated not only because I don't

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<v Speaker 2>like heights, but also it's like I'm not a bro,

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<v Speaker 2>you

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<v Speaker 1>know, like it was definitely a lot of rosie. Yeah,

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<v Speaker 1>but it's so cool when you have a group of

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<v Speaker 1>people who are watching over you,

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<v Speaker 1>by the way, there's another group that they told me about.

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<v Speaker 1>There's a group called for generally people of the global majority,

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<v Speaker 1>like any gender. That means you're next brian,

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<v Speaker 2>you're gonna have to come with me because I do

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<v Speaker 2>not go anywhere near heights. Okay. We set at the

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<v Speaker 2>beginning of the episode. We've seen it again. I'm scared

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<v Speaker 2>of heights.

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<v Speaker 2>Shout out to Brown girls climb. You can find upcoming

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<v Speaker 2>events on their instagram at Brown girls climb. Erica's got

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<v Speaker 2>a link in the newsletter too along with some really

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<v Speaker 2>cute pics of the meet up. So definitely check that

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<v Speaker 2>out too. But that's it for today. Catch all soon.

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<v Speaker 2>See you

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<v Speaker 1>in the newsletter

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<v Speaker 2>from Elliot Studios. This is hard to L. A. I'm

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<v Speaker 2>your host brian de los santos. Catch us Tuesdays through

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<v Speaker 2>Thursdays wherever you get your podcasts.

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<v Speaker 2>Our producers are even Jacoby meg hotel and Kyle chang

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<v Speaker 2>Erica Washington writes a newsletter. Chris varias handles our social media,

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