1 00:00:01,720 --> 00:00:03,280 Speaker 1: Aol Zone Media. 2 00:00:05,000 --> 00:00:11,040 Speaker 2: Book club book club book club. That's the new jingle. Hey, 3 00:00:11,320 --> 00:00:13,920 Speaker 2: I figure if I set up a bit where I 4 00:00:14,000 --> 00:00:17,200 Speaker 2: use a new jingle every single time I introduced the episode, 5 00:00:17,640 --> 00:00:21,319 Speaker 2: then I'll regret it in probably about a month. But 6 00:00:22,160 --> 00:00:25,799 Speaker 2: this is cool Zone Media book Club, which is a 7 00:00:25,920 --> 00:00:29,560 Speaker 2: book club run by cool Zone Media. I'm your host, 8 00:00:29,560 --> 00:00:32,920 Speaker 2: Markaret Kiljoy and with me today as my guest is 9 00:00:33,000 --> 00:00:34,560 Speaker 2: Mi a long Hello. 10 00:00:34,600 --> 00:00:38,760 Speaker 3: Hello, I am booking, I am clubbing, I am pounding 11 00:00:38,800 --> 00:00:40,200 Speaker 3: the tables going book club. 12 00:00:40,720 --> 00:00:42,080 Speaker 4: This is an exciting moment. 13 00:00:43,000 --> 00:00:47,839 Speaker 2: Yeah, well, this is a book club kind of in 14 00:00:47,840 --> 00:00:51,160 Speaker 2: some ways it'll have we're still it'll develop as it goes. 15 00:00:51,159 --> 00:00:53,480 Speaker 2: But right now it's a story club where I read 16 00:00:53,520 --> 00:00:55,720 Speaker 2: you a story. I'm going to read me a story, 17 00:00:55,760 --> 00:01:00,560 Speaker 2: and Mia, by proxy is you the listener. 18 00:01:02,160 --> 00:01:03,680 Speaker 4: And I feel so powerful. 19 00:01:04,360 --> 00:01:10,520 Speaker 2: I know you represent everyone. Wow, that's wild. That's a 20 00:01:11,760 --> 00:01:15,679 Speaker 2: I think that makes you more powerful than most elected officials. 21 00:01:16,240 --> 00:01:19,280 Speaker 4: I have become god. Oh no, someone must kill me now. 22 00:01:21,760 --> 00:01:24,280 Speaker 2: Okay, someone has actually come and killed Mia, so I'm 23 00:01:24,280 --> 00:01:26,399 Speaker 2: gonna have to do most of the rest of this 24 00:01:26,920 --> 00:01:30,679 Speaker 2: on my own. That was a joke, MIAs. 25 00:01:30,680 --> 00:01:32,240 Speaker 4: Still yeah, no, I'm not dead yet. 26 00:01:33,959 --> 00:01:36,119 Speaker 2: Unless you're listening to this like seventy years in the future, 27 00:01:36,120 --> 00:01:40,399 Speaker 2: in which case and we're just talking to you from 28 00:01:40,440 --> 00:01:42,720 Speaker 2: this is okay, whatever, Okay, I'm gonna read a fucking story. 29 00:01:42,880 --> 00:01:45,160 Speaker 2: And this is the first week that we are reading 30 00:01:45,160 --> 00:01:47,840 Speaker 2: a story that, you know, we started the book club 31 00:01:47,880 --> 00:01:50,000 Speaker 2: by me reading a novella of mine called The Lama 32 00:01:50,040 --> 00:01:53,920 Speaker 2: Slaughter or The Lion, and then I've been collecting stories 33 00:01:53,960 --> 00:01:57,560 Speaker 2: from different authors that relate to the themes of the 34 00:01:57,560 --> 00:02:02,120 Speaker 2: show It could Happen Here, that talk about people working 35 00:02:02,120 --> 00:02:06,360 Speaker 2: together or the world changing due to climate and other crises. 36 00:02:07,600 --> 00:02:10,400 Speaker 2: And I'm really excited about the story that I'm gonna 37 00:02:10,400 --> 00:02:12,480 Speaker 2: read today because I think it I think it kind 38 00:02:12,480 --> 00:02:16,720 Speaker 2: of helps set the tone for a what a slow apocalypse, 39 00:02:17,400 --> 00:02:20,000 Speaker 2: like what we're dealing with is really all about. And 40 00:02:20,040 --> 00:02:22,799 Speaker 2: I think we're all living through times where we're gonna 41 00:02:22,800 --> 00:02:24,799 Speaker 2: have to start blurring the lines of what is science 42 00:02:24,840 --> 00:02:26,440 Speaker 2: fiction and what is reality? You know. 43 00:02:27,000 --> 00:02:28,240 Speaker 4: Yeah, So. 44 00:02:29,919 --> 00:02:34,919 Speaker 2: This this story is by Nicassio Andres red and it's 45 00:02:34,960 --> 00:02:40,840 Speaker 2: called Lebong Lucsa. Salt had crept in while he was away, 46 00:02:41,120 --> 00:02:44,280 Speaker 2: and now the freshwater wetlands of Gino's childhood are a marsh, 47 00:02:44,400 --> 00:02:47,799 Speaker 2: brackish and fickle. There is the soccer field where he'd 48 00:02:47,840 --> 00:02:50,760 Speaker 2: stained his knees. It had been a low, dry rise 49 00:02:50,800 --> 00:02:53,800 Speaker 2: of earth bracketed by mud and cord grass, and today 50 00:02:53,880 --> 00:02:57,640 Speaker 2: is impassable, a thicket of cattails and algae, skinned water, 51 00:02:58,280 --> 00:03:01,600 Speaker 2: a humming choir of insects. And here the Jiffy lube 52 00:03:01,600 --> 00:03:04,240 Speaker 2: where Gino got his first job, and a stand of 53 00:03:04,280 --> 00:03:08,200 Speaker 2: trees outside it where Gino smoked his first cigarettes. A 54 00:03:08,240 --> 00:03:11,120 Speaker 2: line of fat old maples that in the summer had 55 00:03:11,160 --> 00:03:14,880 Speaker 2: dropped their seeds in spinning helicopter wings by the whirling hundreds, 56 00:03:15,440 --> 00:03:17,600 Speaker 2: and in the autumn had lit up like match heads, 57 00:03:17,760 --> 00:03:21,440 Speaker 2: screaming into the sky first week of June. Now and 58 00:03:21,480 --> 00:03:24,800 Speaker 2: they're not doing much of anything, their branches almost bare, bark, 59 00:03:24,919 --> 00:03:28,640 Speaker 2: corpse gray from drinking salt water. Around the corner to 60 00:03:28,680 --> 00:03:31,720 Speaker 2: Mifflin Street, past the strip bones of the gas station, 61 00:03:31,880 --> 00:03:34,120 Speaker 2: up two blocks to the high tide line of the 62 00:03:34,160 --> 00:03:37,040 Speaker 2: sand bagged steps of the shop, and go the empty 63 00:03:37,040 --> 00:03:39,960 Speaker 2: lot opposite repurposed into a dock for the neighborhood fleet. 64 00:03:40,480 --> 00:03:43,200 Speaker 2: Half a dozen rowboats with their oars padlocked, a thwart 65 00:03:43,640 --> 00:03:47,400 Speaker 2: one eight seater bow rider with yellowing upholstery, one jet 66 00:03:47,440 --> 00:03:51,360 Speaker 2: ski and as they come into dock the roofed pontoon 67 00:03:51,440 --> 00:03:54,480 Speaker 2: that Gino caught a ride on, a habitat for humanity 68 00:03:54,520 --> 00:04:00,240 Speaker 2: donation forty Benji, the helmsman, get out of here, you know, 69 00:04:00,320 --> 00:04:04,200 Speaker 2: sucking his teeth. We got a problem, naw man nah. 70 00:04:05,040 --> 00:04:06,280 Speaker 2: Gino digs out his wallet. 71 00:04:07,120 --> 00:04:07,640 Speaker 4: Cash. 72 00:04:08,040 --> 00:04:12,040 Speaker 2: Yeah, I figured y'all get a lot of outages. Benji 73 00:04:12,120 --> 00:04:15,440 Speaker 2: counts through the ones and fives more power outages than power. 74 00:04:15,600 --> 00:04:20,080 Speaker 2: We on generators, if we on shit, Benji shakes his head. 75 00:04:20,800 --> 00:04:24,240 Speaker 2: Is what it is? You need directions? I'm good, Thanks, 76 00:04:24,440 --> 00:04:28,520 Speaker 2: I grew up around here. The boardwalk from the boats 77 00:04:28,560 --> 00:04:32,039 Speaker 2: to dry asphalt is made of wooden shipping pallets, new 78 00:04:32,080 --> 00:04:34,960 Speaker 2: ones stacked on top of old when they've started to 79 00:04:35,000 --> 00:04:38,320 Speaker 2: molder as the mud takes them. Gino slings his bag 80 00:04:38,360 --> 00:04:40,560 Speaker 2: over his shoulder and walks across with his eyes on 81 00:04:40,600 --> 00:04:43,920 Speaker 2: his feet, distrustful of the dark patches where it looks rotted. 82 00:04:43,960 --> 00:04:47,440 Speaker 2: Through the street is a relief, even with sedge and 83 00:04:47,480 --> 00:04:49,719 Speaker 2: woolgrass cutting up through the cracks in the pavement. For 84 00:04:49,760 --> 00:04:53,440 Speaker 2: the first few yards past the water line, the distance 85 00:04:53,480 --> 00:04:55,560 Speaker 2: from the stop and go to his childhood home is 86 00:04:55,560 --> 00:04:57,360 Speaker 2: the length of time it took to eat a bag 87 00:04:57,400 --> 00:05:00,160 Speaker 2: of spicy pork skins and throw the evidence in a 88 00:05:00,160 --> 00:05:02,640 Speaker 2: neighbor's garbage can, so his mom wouldn't know he'd been 89 00:05:02,720 --> 00:05:05,920 Speaker 2: ruining his dinner, but he'd measured it in a teenage 90 00:05:05,920 --> 00:05:10,680 Speaker 2: boy's appetite. And the walk seemed quicker now. The street's narrower, 91 00:05:10,960 --> 00:05:15,320 Speaker 2: the telephone poles shorter, the sky closer, everything more squat, 92 00:05:15,680 --> 00:05:18,359 Speaker 2: and the gritty smell of the marsh clinging on even 93 00:05:18,400 --> 00:05:22,200 Speaker 2: two blocks up the street. Still, it's late in the 94 00:05:22,240 --> 00:05:25,280 Speaker 2: afternoon and the sun on the clouds is starting to blush. 95 00:05:25,680 --> 00:05:28,320 Speaker 2: So folks are setting themselves up on front stoops and 96 00:05:28,360 --> 00:05:31,400 Speaker 2: threes and sixes, with cigarettes and beer bottles and babies 97 00:05:31,400 --> 00:05:35,159 Speaker 2: on bouncing knees, their friendly racket sounding to Gino something 98 00:05:35,240 --> 00:05:40,080 Speaker 2: like a first language, so familiar, unheard for years. He 99 00:05:40,120 --> 00:05:42,840 Speaker 2: gets a couple nods and throws them back, but nobody 100 00:05:42,839 --> 00:05:46,679 Speaker 2: knows him on sight. He turns the corner on South 101 00:05:46,720 --> 00:05:49,760 Speaker 2: Bosnel Street. The sidewalk is broken in all the same 102 00:05:49,800 --> 00:05:52,320 Speaker 2: spots he didn't know he knew until he sees them again, 103 00:05:52,680 --> 00:05:55,200 Speaker 2: and then he knows every fissure and crack, every dog 104 00:05:55,279 --> 00:05:59,600 Speaker 2: pole mortalized in wet cement. No parked cars, a lot 105 00:05:59,600 --> 00:06:02,000 Speaker 2: more boarded updoors and windows than there used to be, 106 00:06:02,320 --> 00:06:05,120 Speaker 2: although there had always been some. There were never any 107 00:06:05,120 --> 00:06:08,200 Speaker 2: front yards in the neighborhood, all the basement windows looking 108 00:06:08,240 --> 00:06:11,560 Speaker 2: directly out onto the sidewalk. Now every house on the 109 00:06:11,640 --> 00:06:14,440 Speaker 2: road that still looks occupied as a rain barrel out front, 110 00:06:14,800 --> 00:06:17,520 Speaker 2: and a couple have one of those larger galvanized metal 111 00:06:17,560 --> 00:06:22,240 Speaker 2: cisterns that look like fat, little grain silos. There's a 112 00:06:22,279 --> 00:06:24,279 Speaker 2: line of grass growing right down the middle of the 113 00:06:24,320 --> 00:06:28,479 Speaker 2: street s edge, probably a bad sign on what used 114 00:06:28,480 --> 00:06:32,479 Speaker 2: to be high ground. And then inevitably there is number 115 00:06:32,520 --> 00:06:36,479 Speaker 2: twenty seventeen. He's been gone almost twenty years, and it 116 00:06:36,520 --> 00:06:41,040 Speaker 2: looks not the same, but like a faded photograph of itself. 117 00:06:41,920 --> 00:06:44,120 Speaker 2: Gino doesn't know if it's looked like that for a while, 118 00:06:44,520 --> 00:06:47,160 Speaker 2: or if it happened all at once. If a year 119 00:06:47,200 --> 00:06:50,080 Speaker 2: ago when his father died the color drained from the 120 00:06:50,120 --> 00:06:55,359 Speaker 2: house's facade, he could still turn around. It's not that 121 00:06:55,400 --> 00:06:57,560 Speaker 2: he hasn't thought about his father's death or how it 122 00:06:57,560 --> 00:07:00,440 Speaker 2: would be to come home and see the place without him, 123 00:07:00,600 --> 00:07:02,279 Speaker 2: but he's been able to think about it from a 124 00:07:02,320 --> 00:07:05,719 Speaker 2: distance know it without seeing it, and that's worked for 125 00:07:05,800 --> 00:07:08,599 Speaker 2: him overall. But from the bottom of the steps and 126 00:07:08,640 --> 00:07:12,040 Speaker 2: through the screen door, there's his mother's voice telling someone 127 00:07:12,080 --> 00:07:14,640 Speaker 2: to bring out the good plates, the ones for company, 128 00:07:15,200 --> 00:07:17,640 Speaker 2: so much clearer than her voice over the phone, telling 129 00:07:17,720 --> 00:07:20,440 Speaker 2: him she'd understand if he couldn't make the trip, like 130 00:07:20,520 --> 00:07:23,120 Speaker 2: she was forgiving him for disappointing her even before he 131 00:07:23,200 --> 00:07:26,280 Speaker 2: did it. Gino wants very much to be someone who 132 00:07:26,280 --> 00:07:29,400 Speaker 2: doesn't need to be forgiven, so up the stairs he goes. 133 00:07:30,440 --> 00:07:32,240 Speaker 2: Gino was five years old when the bulge of the 134 00:07:32,240 --> 00:07:34,880 Speaker 2: schoolkil river met the fat and trickle of cobs creaked 135 00:07:34,880 --> 00:07:37,480 Speaker 2: to the east, and together they fingered their way west 136 00:07:37,480 --> 00:07:40,360 Speaker 2: through parkways and back yards to touch the gutted Delaware. 137 00:07:41,320 --> 00:07:43,800 Speaker 2: It was then declared that everything south of the Roosevelt 138 00:07:43,840 --> 00:07:48,080 Speaker 2: Expressway was officially part of the Greater Chesapeake Floodplain. The 139 00:07:48,120 --> 00:07:51,239 Speaker 2: majority of Philadelphia was under at least six inches of water, 140 00:07:51,720 --> 00:07:54,720 Speaker 2: so the entirety of it was legally classified it as inundated. 141 00:07:55,920 --> 00:07:58,920 Speaker 2: The news his folks, every adult he knew, kept track 142 00:07:58,960 --> 00:08:02,040 Speaker 2: of the losses. The city took bids on where to 143 00:08:02,080 --> 00:08:05,080 Speaker 2: relocate the Liberty Bell and crowd funded the removal and 144 00:08:05,160 --> 00:08:08,320 Speaker 2: transport of the arch at the foot of Chinatown, the 145 00:08:08,320 --> 00:08:11,640 Speaker 2: neighborhood threw up barriers around the Pentecostal church on Snyder 146 00:08:11,680 --> 00:08:15,160 Speaker 2: Avenue and brought up in replanted mangroves from nurseries on 147 00:08:15,200 --> 00:08:19,000 Speaker 2: the Jersey Shore. They were losing more ground than they saved, though, 148 00:08:19,320 --> 00:08:22,880 Speaker 2: for as long as he could remember. When he was eight, 149 00:08:23,320 --> 00:08:25,360 Speaker 2: the block half a mile away where his mom grew 150 00:08:25,440 --> 00:08:28,679 Speaker 2: up was evacuated, and his Grandpap moved in with them. 151 00:08:28,840 --> 00:08:32,920 Speaker 2: Slept on the couch. His sharp pressed slacks and red 152 00:08:32,960 --> 00:08:37,560 Speaker 2: striped shirts displaced Gino's clothes in the closet. His basketball 153 00:08:37,600 --> 00:08:40,319 Speaker 2: games and bachi club pushed Gino out of the afternoons 154 00:08:40,320 --> 00:08:44,199 Speaker 2: he'd spent with his dad, and his voice, old Philly 155 00:08:44,559 --> 00:08:47,800 Speaker 2: short vowels running up into each other, filtered into every 156 00:08:47,880 --> 00:08:50,680 Speaker 2: room and out the front door onto the stoop every day, 157 00:08:50,679 --> 00:08:54,079 Speaker 2: adding to the to his eulogy for the city. Grief 158 00:08:54,200 --> 00:08:57,840 Speaker 2: was the background static of Gino's childhood, every one else's 159 00:08:57,840 --> 00:09:01,840 Speaker 2: grief for a place he'd never been. Gino's family was 160 00:09:01,840 --> 00:09:04,640 Speaker 2: in West Pasiunk, a little too distant from the heart 161 00:09:04,679 --> 00:09:08,160 Speaker 2: of old Italian Philadelphia to benefit from the touristing nostalgia 162 00:09:08,760 --> 00:09:11,120 Speaker 2: and too black and brown for their one sob story, 163 00:09:11,120 --> 00:09:14,640 Speaker 2: among many to generate charitable donations, like for the black 164 00:09:14,679 --> 00:09:18,040 Speaker 2: folks down in king Sessing Up in Kensington. The official 165 00:09:18,080 --> 00:09:19,880 Speaker 2: plan was to leave it to rod in the water, 166 00:09:20,679 --> 00:09:23,240 Speaker 2: but the less than a mile square from twentieth Street 167 00:09:23,280 --> 00:09:26,440 Speaker 2: to twenty sixth sat on a rise known only to 168 00:09:26,480 --> 00:09:29,280 Speaker 2: the kids who'd biked it, pushing and sweating up one 169 00:09:29,320 --> 00:09:32,920 Speaker 2: way and gliding legs storked out down the other, while 170 00:09:32,920 --> 00:09:35,080 Speaker 2: the rest of the neighborhood went to algae and rot. 171 00:09:35,520 --> 00:09:38,480 Speaker 2: Gino's old block and the couple dozen around it became 172 00:09:38,520 --> 00:09:43,240 Speaker 2: an island in the marsh. It was almost lucky a 173 00:09:43,320 --> 00:09:45,920 Speaker 2: mile in any direction. The government offered to buy homeowners 174 00:09:45,920 --> 00:09:47,640 Speaker 2: out of their property for less than a quarter of 175 00:09:47,679 --> 00:09:49,680 Speaker 2: how much it would cost them to start over somewhere 176 00:09:49,679 --> 00:09:54,079 Speaker 2: further inland. Most people took it because, in the choice 177 00:09:54,120 --> 00:09:57,360 Speaker 2: between an insultingly low offer and nothing at all, they 178 00:09:57,400 --> 00:09:59,240 Speaker 2: figured it was better not to wait around for the 179 00:09:59,280 --> 00:10:04,120 Speaker 2: insulting offer to expire. Up in the neighborhood, basements flooded, 180 00:10:04,400 --> 00:10:08,800 Speaker 2: tap water went funny, electricity flickered and failed, but no 181 00:10:08,920 --> 00:10:12,880 Speaker 2: buyout offers came and even as everything else changed, the 182 00:10:12,920 --> 00:10:15,960 Speaker 2: old rule still held true. If you didn't get out 183 00:10:16,000 --> 00:10:18,439 Speaker 2: of the neighborhood by the time you were eighteen, then 184 00:10:18,559 --> 00:10:23,000 Speaker 2: chances were you were never getting out. Gino left when 185 00:10:23,000 --> 00:10:26,800 Speaker 2: he was eighteen. Gino's older brother, Stevie, got married at eighteen. 186 00:10:28,120 --> 00:10:31,320 Speaker 2: Stevie's in his forties now and on the couch this morning, 187 00:10:31,679 --> 00:10:33,880 Speaker 2: his knees as high as his chest because his spot 188 00:10:33,920 --> 00:10:36,199 Speaker 2: on the far corner has sagged under the years he's 189 00:10:36,200 --> 00:10:40,320 Speaker 2: spent there. There's a stack of dishes and cutlery on 190 00:10:40,320 --> 00:10:43,120 Speaker 2: the coffee table in front of him. He's the ghost 191 00:10:43,120 --> 00:10:46,640 Speaker 2: of their dad, heavy brows, a twice broken nose, an 192 00:10:46,720 --> 00:10:50,280 Speaker 2: ancient thick sweater despite the heat, and a smile that'll 193 00:10:50,280 --> 00:10:53,240 Speaker 2: never let you in on the joke. More hymn than 194 00:10:53,280 --> 00:10:57,360 Speaker 2: their mom, some more Filipino than Italian, and Gino never 195 00:10:57,400 --> 00:11:01,800 Speaker 2: pegged as either remembers again to resent him for it. Jesus, 196 00:11:01,840 --> 00:11:05,440 Speaker 2: you actually showed, Stevie says to him. There's a pause 197 00:11:05,480 --> 00:11:08,280 Speaker 2: where Gino's supposed to say something biting, but he doesn't 198 00:11:08,360 --> 00:11:12,000 Speaker 2: rise to it. Stevie shrugs. He got about a minute 199 00:11:12,000 --> 00:11:14,320 Speaker 2: to turn around and leave before the rest notice you're here, 200 00:11:16,200 --> 00:11:20,760 Speaker 2: Eugenio Stevie's husband frozen halfway down the stairs. Got some 201 00:11:20,840 --> 00:11:25,480 Speaker 2: fucking nerves showing up here. Kevin Gino says he hasn't 202 00:11:25,520 --> 00:11:28,640 Speaker 2: set his bag down yet. You look good, change your hair, 203 00:11:29,520 --> 00:11:33,160 Speaker 2: don't tell me how I fucking look you. Geno his 204 00:11:33,240 --> 00:11:35,520 Speaker 2: name Ricochet, is down the hall and around the kitchen, 205 00:11:35,840 --> 00:11:37,920 Speaker 2: then back out into the living room, carried on the 206 00:11:38,000 --> 00:11:41,239 Speaker 2: high voices of his nieces, who make him hug them. 207 00:11:41,559 --> 00:11:44,679 Speaker 2: One of them takes his bag upstairs, whispering something strident 208 00:11:44,720 --> 00:11:48,480 Speaker 2: to her dad on the way. Jasmine. Geno thinks, the 209 00:11:48,520 --> 00:11:51,160 Speaker 2: one with freckles is Jasmine. The other one is Roxy, 210 00:11:51,240 --> 00:11:53,680 Speaker 2: who's telling him about what they're making in the kitchen, 211 00:11:54,200 --> 00:11:56,760 Speaker 2: what they had to substitute in the ponset, what they 212 00:11:56,760 --> 00:12:01,000 Speaker 2: grew in the community garden. Cousins, assorted children, neighborhood aunties, 213 00:12:01,000 --> 00:12:03,360 Speaker 2: and their husband cycle into the room with dry kisses 214 00:12:03,360 --> 00:12:06,240 Speaker 2: and slaps on the shoulder, telling him he hasn't changed 215 00:12:06,280 --> 00:12:09,680 Speaker 2: at all, telling him he's gained weight. Kevin slips behind 216 00:12:09,760 --> 00:12:12,720 Speaker 2: them all and into the kitchen, and Gino tells everyone 217 00:12:12,760 --> 00:12:14,920 Speaker 2: that he needs to go volunteer to help out his mom. 218 00:12:15,240 --> 00:12:17,400 Speaker 2: Before word spreads that he rolled up to her house, 219 00:12:17,440 --> 00:12:22,360 Speaker 2: expecting to stand around being waited on. He steps heavy 220 00:12:22,400 --> 00:12:25,040 Speaker 2: down the short hall back to the kitchen, less to 221 00:12:25,080 --> 00:12:28,160 Speaker 2: give Kevin and his mom warning he's coming, and more 222 00:12:28,160 --> 00:12:31,160 Speaker 2: to spare himself whatever they were saying about him, which 223 00:12:31,240 --> 00:12:35,160 Speaker 2: might have been a sound strategy in another family. Don't know, 224 00:12:35,240 --> 00:12:38,480 Speaker 2: I bothered, Kevin is saying, from less of a distance. 225 00:12:38,520 --> 00:12:41,679 Speaker 2: Now Gino can see white in his hair, and that 226 00:12:41,760 --> 00:12:46,400 Speaker 2: pinched line between his brow never quite disappears. Kevin spots 227 00:12:46,440 --> 00:12:48,720 Speaker 2: Gino in the doorway and turns back to tell his 228 00:12:48,760 --> 00:12:51,800 Speaker 2: mother in law, it's a cruel thing to do to you, Francesca. 229 00:12:52,360 --> 00:12:54,640 Speaker 2: God knows he's just going to turn around and leave tomorrow. 230 00:12:56,080 --> 00:12:59,040 Speaker 2: His mom, her small hands shining with oil inflecked with 231 00:12:59,080 --> 00:13:03,679 Speaker 2: carrot skins, turns and sees him well. She says, will 232 00:13:03,720 --> 00:13:08,320 Speaker 2: you head out tomorrow? Hey ma? Nah, No, I took 233 00:13:08,320 --> 00:13:10,920 Speaker 2: the week off. Takes about a day to get back, though, 234 00:13:11,040 --> 00:13:13,680 Speaker 2: took a day to get here, so I can stay 235 00:13:13,679 --> 00:13:16,959 Speaker 2: a couple days. She looks him up and down, then 236 00:13:17,000 --> 00:13:19,600 Speaker 2: away just as quickly and goes back to chopping a lemon. 237 00:13:20,120 --> 00:13:22,800 Speaker 2: He adds, right now there's a break between the last 238 00:13:22,800 --> 00:13:25,280 Speaker 2: project and the shoreline thing in Maine. I don't know 239 00:13:25,320 --> 00:13:28,600 Speaker 2: if you've heard about it real. Glad you could squeeze 240 00:13:28,640 --> 00:13:31,520 Speaker 2: us into your busy schedule, Kevin says, about a year 241 00:13:31,600 --> 00:13:34,120 Speaker 2: late for the funeral, but it's the thought that counts right. 242 00:13:34,960 --> 00:13:37,319 Speaker 2: He leaves a heaping bowl of rice under one arm 243 00:13:37,320 --> 00:13:41,040 Speaker 2: and a pan of lasagna under the other. For a 244 00:13:41,080 --> 00:13:44,400 Speaker 2: long minute, Gino just watches his mother work, reaching for 245 00:13:44,440 --> 00:13:47,679 Speaker 2: this and that, washing her hands. There's less of her 246 00:13:47,720 --> 00:13:51,360 Speaker 2: in reality than there had been in his imagination. She 247 00:13:51,440 --> 00:13:53,640 Speaker 2: tells him the garlic bread is ready, and he falls 248 00:13:53,640 --> 00:13:56,360 Speaker 2: into the routine of ducking outside to turn off the gas, 249 00:13:56,720 --> 00:13:59,320 Speaker 2: grabbing the wire basket on top of the fridge, a 250 00:13:59,360 --> 00:14:01,960 Speaker 2: cloth from the drawer on the left, and plucking the 251 00:14:02,000 --> 00:14:05,440 Speaker 2: steaming slices from the oven pan, folding them under the cloth. 252 00:14:05,520 --> 00:14:08,040 Speaker 2: With the buttery smell of a thousand ancient dinners. Around 253 00:14:08,080 --> 00:14:11,920 Speaker 2: the kitchen table. There's a lot of chatter coming from 254 00:14:11,920 --> 00:14:14,320 Speaker 2: the front room, and someone comes in and out of 255 00:14:14,320 --> 00:14:16,400 Speaker 2: the back door to bring in the folding chairs that 256 00:14:16,440 --> 00:14:19,000 Speaker 2: have been rusting out there since before Gino was born. 257 00:14:20,320 --> 00:14:22,880 Speaker 2: Gino hovers in the middle of the kitchen. He's spent 258 00:14:22,960 --> 00:14:25,720 Speaker 2: an inordinate amount of time over the past weeks thinking 259 00:14:25,760 --> 00:14:28,760 Speaker 2: about what he'd say to her. Even in his imagination, 260 00:14:28,920 --> 00:14:33,040 Speaker 2: he never quite got it right. Finally, he asks, is 261 00:14:33,040 --> 00:14:36,120 Speaker 2: there anything else to do? His mom waves a hand 262 00:14:36,120 --> 00:14:40,320 Speaker 2: at him without turning around. Take those out there, okay, 263 00:14:40,560 --> 00:14:44,920 Speaker 2: and then he tries, I'm sorry, ma for what he's 264 00:14:44,960 --> 00:14:47,560 Speaker 2: wiping down the counter now piling pans and ladles in 265 00:14:47,600 --> 00:14:52,280 Speaker 2: the sink. Or Gino takes a couple breaths. He's feeling 266 00:14:52,320 --> 00:14:54,920 Speaker 2: a little sick, which isn't the same as feeling sorry, 267 00:14:54,960 --> 00:14:57,240 Speaker 2: but it is close enough that he's sure it is 268 00:14:57,280 --> 00:15:01,040 Speaker 2: what he should say. I should have been here last year. 269 00:15:02,320 --> 00:15:05,000 Speaker 2: His mom is brisk, business like with her hands. She 270 00:15:05,040 --> 00:15:07,600 Speaker 2: shakes her head. You were gone a long time before 271 00:15:07,640 --> 00:15:11,160 Speaker 2: that you knew you weren't coming back, she says it, plainly, 272 00:15:11,400 --> 00:15:33,440 Speaker 2: without accusation, right, Gino says okay. He carries the basket 273 00:15:33,440 --> 00:15:36,440 Speaker 2: of bread into the front room. Out front, there are 274 00:15:36,480 --> 00:15:39,760 Speaker 2: people everywhere on mismatched chairs, kids cross legged on the floor, 275 00:15:40,040 --> 00:15:42,920 Speaker 2: and not enough plates for everyone. A neighbor comes in 276 00:15:42,920 --> 00:15:44,920 Speaker 2: the door with a package of paper plates to make 277 00:15:45,000 --> 00:15:48,480 Speaker 2: up the difference. Stevie gestures Geno over to a spot 278 00:15:48,560 --> 00:15:50,520 Speaker 2: he's saved on the couch, and their mom comes in 279 00:15:50,560 --> 00:15:53,640 Speaker 2: and settles herself into the big, cracked leather armchair that 280 00:15:53,760 --> 00:15:57,160 Speaker 2: used to be their dad's. There's a moment where everyone pauses, 281 00:15:57,240 --> 00:15:59,960 Speaker 2: leaning over their plates. The youngest kid in the room 282 00:16:00,200 --> 00:16:02,480 Speaker 2: asks if they can eat now, and Uncle Lenny turns 283 00:16:02,480 --> 00:16:06,200 Speaker 2: to Gino's mom and says, hold up, Francesca, you want 284 00:16:06,200 --> 00:16:09,200 Speaker 2: to say something. She says yes and puts her plate 285 00:16:09,240 --> 00:16:11,640 Speaker 2: down on her lap. She'd insisted on taking one of 286 00:16:11,640 --> 00:16:14,280 Speaker 2: the paper plates. She runs a quick hand over the 287 00:16:14,360 --> 00:16:17,320 Speaker 2: arm of the chair. It's strange to see her in it. 288 00:16:17,320 --> 00:16:20,240 Speaker 2: It's strange to see her. I hear it's not always 289 00:16:20,280 --> 00:16:22,360 Speaker 2: easy to get here across the water these days, and 290 00:16:22,400 --> 00:16:25,120 Speaker 2: it's nice to see you. Who did? She nods at 291 00:16:25,160 --> 00:16:28,200 Speaker 2: some folks eu Gino didn't know had moved away. The 292 00:16:28,240 --> 00:16:30,320 Speaker 2: house is always better with a whole lot of people 293 00:16:30,320 --> 00:16:33,160 Speaker 2: in it, even if it's a little crowded. Nato and 294 00:16:33,200 --> 00:16:35,280 Speaker 2: I moved in here him a few months before Stevie 295 00:16:35,320 --> 00:16:38,240 Speaker 2: was born, all the way across town for an extra bedroom. 296 00:16:38,640 --> 00:16:40,960 Speaker 2: When we had Eugenio and he wanted his own room. 297 00:16:41,120 --> 00:16:43,680 Speaker 2: Nato told him, you can make a down payment, then 298 00:16:43,720 --> 00:16:46,800 Speaker 2: you get your own room. There's some laughter in Gino's direction. 299 00:16:47,640 --> 00:16:50,480 Speaker 2: His mom turns to her own brother and Lenny, you 300 00:16:50,560 --> 00:16:53,040 Speaker 2: know our dad, God rest him. He didn't like me 301 00:16:53,080 --> 00:16:55,480 Speaker 2: taking up with Nato, didn't like us moving away from 302 00:16:55,480 --> 00:16:58,600 Speaker 2: the old neighborhood. And we had some conversations about all that. 303 00:16:59,680 --> 00:17:03,000 Speaker 2: Lenny chuckles, incredulous that what you want to call it? 304 00:17:04,400 --> 00:17:07,960 Speaker 2: All right, she says, we had some loud conversations about 305 00:17:07,960 --> 00:17:10,679 Speaker 2: all that, But then give it ten twenty years and 306 00:17:10,760 --> 00:17:13,040 Speaker 2: him and Nato were best goddamn friends, getting up to 307 00:17:13,040 --> 00:17:16,240 Speaker 2: all sorts of trouble together here in this house. When 308 00:17:16,280 --> 00:17:18,920 Speaker 2: Dad passed, it was a mess, you know what I mean. 309 00:17:19,359 --> 00:17:22,240 Speaker 2: I wasn't ready for that. She looks at Gino for 310 00:17:22,280 --> 00:17:25,960 Speaker 2: a moment, then at Stevie and your father. He held 311 00:17:26,000 --> 00:17:29,159 Speaker 2: me up and gave me ways to say goodbye. We 312 00:17:29,200 --> 00:17:32,040 Speaker 2: did this for my dad the year after. And if 313 00:17:32,040 --> 00:17:33,560 Speaker 2: anyone said it was a little strange to have a 314 00:17:33,600 --> 00:17:36,399 Speaker 2: babang lusa for some old Italian from South Philly, then 315 00:17:36,400 --> 00:17:39,399 Speaker 2: they had to have a loud conversation with me. She 316 00:17:39,480 --> 00:17:43,080 Speaker 2: clutches a hand on Lenny's knee. This year, us of 317 00:17:43,119 --> 00:17:46,560 Speaker 2: all held me up, So let's eat and say goodbye 318 00:17:46,640 --> 00:17:50,359 Speaker 2: to Nato. Kevin and a cousin who Gino couldn't place 319 00:17:50,400 --> 00:17:53,479 Speaker 2: take charge of dishing out food. There's a massive salad 320 00:17:53,520 --> 00:17:55,879 Speaker 2: that he hadn't noticed before, weighed down by a mount 321 00:17:55,880 --> 00:17:59,440 Speaker 2: of black olives and grated parmesan. The lasagna is meatless, 322 00:17:59,440 --> 00:18:01,920 Speaker 2: but the pansup beyond his chicken and liver. And there's 323 00:18:01,960 --> 00:18:04,480 Speaker 2: something that smells like a dobo, even if it doesn't 324 00:18:04,480 --> 00:18:07,520 Speaker 2: look like it. Jasmine and Roxy start a folk war 325 00:18:07,560 --> 00:18:10,280 Speaker 2: over the best looking corner slice of lasagna, which Kevin 326 00:18:10,320 --> 00:18:13,639 Speaker 2: settles by taking it for himself. Gino lets mostly everyone 327 00:18:13,680 --> 00:18:15,840 Speaker 2: be served before him while he tries to unclench his 328 00:18:15,880 --> 00:18:20,359 Speaker 2: hands and his jaw from his left. Lenny shovels all 329 00:18:20,359 --> 00:18:22,480 Speaker 2: the olives from his own plate onto Gino's an old 330 00:18:22,560 --> 00:18:25,520 Speaker 2: joke he'd forgotten they shared. Good to have you around here, 331 00:18:25,600 --> 00:18:28,560 Speaker 2: Lenny says. Can't get anyone else to take those off 332 00:18:28,560 --> 00:18:32,120 Speaker 2: your hands, not all of them at once. I got 333 00:18:32,119 --> 00:18:34,840 Speaker 2: to do two here, three, there, hit five, six plates. 334 00:18:35,040 --> 00:18:39,080 Speaker 2: It's a logistical nightmare. That's rough man. Luckily I'm a 335 00:18:39,080 --> 00:18:42,480 Speaker 2: logistics guy. Oh yeah, you uh still with the uh? 336 00:18:42,520 --> 00:18:46,960 Speaker 2: What's the thing? Army Corps of Engineers yeah, Gino catches 337 00:18:47,040 --> 00:18:51,320 Speaker 2: Lenny's searching Look almost ten years now, he offers. Roxy 338 00:18:51,320 --> 00:18:54,280 Speaker 2: breaks off talking to the neighbor kids and shoots Stephen, accusing, Look, 339 00:18:54,840 --> 00:18:59,520 Speaker 2: Uncle Gino's in the army. No, Gino answers for her cors. 340 00:18:59,520 --> 00:19:03,920 Speaker 2: Mostly see, we do infrastructure projects, building stuff. They did 341 00:19:03,920 --> 00:19:08,240 Speaker 2: the levees downtown. You worked on that, Roxy lights up. 342 00:19:08,560 --> 00:19:10,399 Speaker 2: The levees would have been big news in the city 343 00:19:10,400 --> 00:19:12,440 Speaker 2: when she was a kid. They're half the reason their 344 00:19:12,480 --> 00:19:16,639 Speaker 2: little island is still above water. No, Kevin says, he 345 00:19:16,760 --> 00:19:19,639 Speaker 2: was long gone, but the mail still came. Then he 346 00:19:19,720 --> 00:19:22,800 Speaker 2: sent you postcards from all his little projects. When was 347 00:19:22,840 --> 00:19:26,160 Speaker 2: the levee? What year was that? Hmm? Roxy looks uncomfortable, 348 00:19:26,359 --> 00:19:30,040 Speaker 2: but Jasmine puts in that she was in sixth grade, right, 349 00:19:30,200 --> 00:19:33,840 Speaker 2: big year. You were in that inner city youth boxing thing, Jess. 350 00:19:34,600 --> 00:19:37,080 Speaker 2: She made the quarter finals. Where were you that time? 351 00:19:37,080 --> 00:19:40,600 Speaker 2: Eugenio Gino isn't sure what year Jasmine was in the 352 00:19:40,640 --> 00:19:43,359 Speaker 2: sixth grade or exactly how old she is now, but 353 00:19:43,400 --> 00:19:46,800 Speaker 2: he can see Kevin waiting for him to ask. Connecticut. 354 00:19:46,840 --> 00:19:51,360 Speaker 2: He says, coastal restoration. Oh yeah, how'd that work out 355 00:19:51,400 --> 00:19:56,320 Speaker 2: for Connecticut? Come on, keV, says Stevie. Gino says, not bad. 356 00:19:56,400 --> 00:20:01,280 Speaker 2: Last I heard, I've seen worse. Yeah, me too, Lenny says, 357 00:20:01,440 --> 00:20:04,399 Speaker 2: and jerks his chin at the front window. Everyone laughs. 358 00:20:04,960 --> 00:20:09,240 Speaker 2: Gino nods, which is close enough to laughing. Another neighbor, 359 00:20:09,359 --> 00:20:11,560 Speaker 2: a big guy whose name Gino can't come up with, 360 00:20:11,720 --> 00:20:15,280 Speaker 2: asks use guy's got work planned down here, and the 361 00:20:15,280 --> 00:20:18,959 Speaker 2: woman next to him, his wife maybe, says oh, they 362 00:20:18,960 --> 00:20:22,320 Speaker 2: should put up boardwalks, and somebody else we've been saying 363 00:20:22,400 --> 00:20:24,919 Speaker 2: there's plenty of high enough ground for boardwalks to connect 364 00:20:24,960 --> 00:20:28,880 Speaker 2: up to downtown. They gonna do that, Gino, They don't 365 00:20:28,880 --> 00:20:30,960 Speaker 2: really tell me that kind of thing. I just keep 366 00:20:31,000 --> 00:20:33,760 Speaker 2: the truck and everything running. I'm a you know what 367 00:20:33,800 --> 00:20:37,119 Speaker 2: I mean, A glorified mechanic. He trails off, and his 368 00:20:37,160 --> 00:20:41,080 Speaker 2: brother laughs. Please. Stevie says, they're not gonna do shit. 369 00:20:41,400 --> 00:20:44,960 Speaker 2: I mean, sorry, but you're not right. The levee was 370 00:20:44,960 --> 00:20:50,200 Speaker 2: what eight years back and nothing since that they gave up. Francesca, 371 00:20:50,240 --> 00:20:54,800 Speaker 2: who had been quiet eating, says they did, but that's okay. 372 00:20:55,560 --> 00:20:57,440 Speaker 2: Everyone is allowed to give up when they got a 373 00:20:58,520 --> 00:21:01,560 Speaker 2: from the tension in the room. A popular statement, but 374 00:21:01,600 --> 00:21:06,560 Speaker 2: nobody argues her on it. After a second someone brings 375 00:21:06,640 --> 00:21:09,000 Speaker 2: up the NBA finals and how piss Nato would have 376 00:21:09,000 --> 00:21:11,520 Speaker 2: been that the Raptors made it this far again, and 377 00:21:11,560 --> 00:21:14,399 Speaker 2: then his general grudge against Canadian teams in the NBA, 378 00:21:14,960 --> 00:21:17,800 Speaker 2: and then his earnest incompetence on the court himself as 379 00:21:17,840 --> 00:21:20,520 Speaker 2: a young man. And then a picture is brought out 380 00:21:20,560 --> 00:21:23,240 Speaker 2: of a shoe box, and it's Gino, perhaps three years old, 381 00:21:23,280 --> 00:21:25,560 Speaker 2: with a bowl cut and a look of childish ecstasy 382 00:21:26,119 --> 00:21:29,200 Speaker 2: up on his father's shoulders, his father's hands holding up 383 00:21:29,480 --> 00:21:33,240 Speaker 2: Gino's chubby, childlike legs, Gino's arms up at the end 384 00:21:33,240 --> 00:21:36,080 Speaker 2: of an arc, a basketball in the air, suspended in 385 00:21:36,119 --> 00:21:39,200 Speaker 2: the moment before it fell short of the net. Gino 386 00:21:39,320 --> 00:21:41,280 Speaker 2: ducks out to sit on the front stoop and finds 387 00:21:41,320 --> 00:21:43,800 Speaker 2: a pack of Stevie's cigarettes where he's always left them, 388 00:21:43,800 --> 00:21:46,119 Speaker 2: in the nook of the broken corner of the top step. 389 00:21:47,080 --> 00:21:49,520 Speaker 2: He lights one just as the screen door creaks open 390 00:21:49,600 --> 00:21:51,679 Speaker 2: and shut, and his brother sucks his teeth at him 391 00:21:51,680 --> 00:21:55,960 Speaker 2: and says a asshole. Gino hands him the one he's 392 00:21:56,040 --> 00:21:59,399 Speaker 2: lit and takes another for himself. They settle into their 393 00:21:59,440 --> 00:22:02,520 Speaker 2: old arranged Gino facing the street on the middle step, 394 00:22:02,960 --> 00:22:05,920 Speaker 2: Stevie behind him, leaning back against the railing between the 395 00:22:05,960 --> 00:22:08,080 Speaker 2: two of them, A view of the narrow street and 396 00:22:08,160 --> 00:22:11,800 Speaker 2: the intersection nearby, and all of the folks who would 397 00:22:11,800 --> 00:22:15,800 Speaker 2: wander over to shoot the shit. Nobody wandering today, Just 398 00:22:15,880 --> 00:22:18,760 Speaker 2: the distant figures of other stoop loiterers at another house. 399 00:22:19,640 --> 00:22:24,720 Speaker 2: A familiar view, but uncanny. It's so quiet around here, 400 00:22:24,720 --> 00:22:30,359 Speaker 2: Gino says, it's weird. It's been this quiet for hell years. 401 00:22:30,960 --> 00:22:35,280 Speaker 2: You just weren't around to notice. Gino grimaces, shakes his head. 402 00:22:35,440 --> 00:22:38,480 Speaker 2: I'm not going to keep apologizing for living my own life. 403 00:22:38,680 --> 00:22:43,200 Speaker 2: Didn't ask you to. I'm just saying right, sorry, shouldn't 404 00:22:43,200 --> 00:22:46,439 Speaker 2: put words in your mouth. Stevie never won to let 405 00:22:46,520 --> 00:22:50,080 Speaker 2: discomfort sit for long. Ask Gina how work is and 406 00:22:50,119 --> 00:22:55,040 Speaker 2: you've still seeing that girl, Tina Trisha Tanya says Gino. 407 00:22:55,760 --> 00:22:59,080 Speaker 2: We call it quits. It's the job. I'm somewhere for 408 00:22:59,160 --> 00:23:01,760 Speaker 2: six eight months, than a couple weeks of nothing, being 409 00:23:01,760 --> 00:23:04,080 Speaker 2: a bum on her couch, then some other place, do 410 00:23:04,160 --> 00:23:08,000 Speaker 2: it all over again. I like the work, get a project, 411 00:23:08,119 --> 00:23:10,639 Speaker 2: see it through, tie it up. I like that, But 412 00:23:10,720 --> 00:23:13,920 Speaker 2: I think she got sick of the whole thing. Dolan says, man, 413 00:23:14,880 --> 00:23:18,480 Speaker 2: I'm good, so who's couch you bumming on between projects? Now? 414 00:23:18,520 --> 00:23:23,359 Speaker 2: Stevie asks, you know, shrugs, just still around. Really, HQ 415 00:23:23,480 --> 00:23:27,760 Speaker 2: has some ten housing, so I'm there mostly, bro Hold up? 416 00:23:28,200 --> 00:23:32,360 Speaker 2: Are you homeless right now? Gino shoves back against Stevie's knee. 417 00:23:32,480 --> 00:23:34,520 Speaker 2: Fuck off, man, I just I don't need a place 418 00:23:34,520 --> 00:23:37,920 Speaker 2: as all? All right, all right. I was going to 419 00:23:37,960 --> 00:23:40,600 Speaker 2: say he could crash here, but being honest, I think 420 00:23:40,640 --> 00:23:43,199 Speaker 2: I'd have a heart attack if you said yes, and 421 00:23:43,280 --> 00:23:47,880 Speaker 2: Kevin would fucking kill you or me. Stevie grunts an agreement. 422 00:23:48,640 --> 00:23:53,040 Speaker 2: You wouldn't stand a chance. He's a bitter too. Gino sputters, 423 00:23:53,520 --> 00:23:56,399 Speaker 2: Come on, man, I don't even know that shit. He hesitates, 424 00:23:56,440 --> 00:23:59,560 Speaker 2: then says, you guys don't have to stay here either, 425 00:23:59,640 --> 00:24:04,840 Speaker 2: you know, Gino just saying I know what it's like 426 00:24:04,880 --> 00:24:07,560 Speaker 2: to feel trapped here, but you're not. You don't have 427 00:24:07,600 --> 00:24:09,479 Speaker 2: to stick around and watch it all sink. You know 428 00:24:09,800 --> 00:24:13,320 Speaker 2: I can help. We can pack up Ma, and Stevie 429 00:24:13,320 --> 00:24:16,360 Speaker 2: cuts him off. I'm the fuck on, man. You think 430 00:24:16,400 --> 00:24:18,600 Speaker 2: Ma's leaving this house? You want to pry her out 431 00:24:18,640 --> 00:24:20,920 Speaker 2: of here with a crowbar? You're gonna break her heart 432 00:24:20,920 --> 00:24:23,040 Speaker 2: with that, And who's gonna take care of her, then 433 00:24:23,119 --> 00:24:27,400 Speaker 2: you I could help you get set up somewhere. Get 434 00:24:27,400 --> 00:24:30,120 Speaker 2: the fuck out of here with that. Come on, I'm 435 00:24:30,160 --> 00:24:33,719 Speaker 2: just saying, I know what you're saying, but be real, Okay, 436 00:24:34,080 --> 00:24:36,600 Speaker 2: Ma's not going anywhere, and if Kevin and I leave, 437 00:24:36,840 --> 00:24:39,040 Speaker 2: there's no one to be with Ma. You're not dropping 438 00:24:39,040 --> 00:24:42,680 Speaker 2: everything and coming back. So yeah, you're not trapped because 439 00:24:42,720 --> 00:24:45,520 Speaker 2: I am. And that's not on you. I'm glad you're 440 00:24:45,560 --> 00:24:48,119 Speaker 2: out there doing your thing. You're my little brother, you know. 441 00:24:48,200 --> 00:24:52,439 Speaker 2: And you're a smart kid, Stevie. I'm thirty six. See, 442 00:24:52,640 --> 00:24:55,600 Speaker 2: you can count real high and everything. Stevie laughs at 443 00:24:55,600 --> 00:24:58,600 Speaker 2: his own joke. That loud on self conscious snorting that 444 00:24:58,600 --> 00:25:02,600 Speaker 2: always makes Gino smile. Jesus listen to us like we're 445 00:25:02,640 --> 00:25:06,440 Speaker 2: in therapy or some shit. I am, actually, Gino offers, 446 00:25:07,160 --> 00:25:11,800 Speaker 2: for real. Yeah, Stevie nudges Gino's back with his foot. 447 00:25:12,000 --> 00:25:15,639 Speaker 2: So he goes on work, has these folks on staff, 448 00:25:15,680 --> 00:25:17,520 Speaker 2: and it's free, so I figured it might as well, 449 00:25:17,680 --> 00:25:20,359 Speaker 2: you know what I mean. Huh, nice of them. I 450 00:25:20,359 --> 00:25:23,960 Speaker 2: guess what do you us talk about? Geno Crane's neck 451 00:25:24,000 --> 00:25:26,199 Speaker 2: around to glare at him. What I've never been to 452 00:25:26,240 --> 00:25:31,040 Speaker 2: therapy before I'm curious. Come on, it's personal, all right, fine, 453 00:25:31,080 --> 00:25:35,120 Speaker 2: don't tell me anything. It's like, aa, you know, it's confidential. 454 00:25:35,920 --> 00:25:39,479 Speaker 2: How much confidential shit could you even have? Oh? Come on, 455 00:25:39,520 --> 00:25:44,560 Speaker 2: screw you, Stevie, He laughs again, kidding, I'm kidding. Gino 456 00:25:44,640 --> 00:25:47,040 Speaker 2: finishes his cigarette and rummages in the pack for another, 457 00:25:47,440 --> 00:25:51,360 Speaker 2: offers Stevie one, then lights them both. Overhead, the sun 458 00:25:51,440 --> 00:25:54,200 Speaker 2: is behind gray clouds, and some sort of hawk or 459 00:25:54,280 --> 00:25:58,640 Speaker 2: kite is making high, irregular circles. He's cool the therapist 460 00:25:58,720 --> 00:26:01,320 Speaker 2: they got. Gino says he thought coming here for this 461 00:26:01,480 --> 00:26:04,120 Speaker 2: was a good idea. He's kind of a hard ass, though, 462 00:26:04,200 --> 00:26:08,200 Speaker 2: you know, calls me on my bullshit. That's a big job. 463 00:26:08,440 --> 00:26:14,159 Speaker 2: You're full of bullshit. Hilarious, I know, right. Stevie taps 464 00:26:14,160 --> 00:26:16,320 Speaker 2: a little song on the top step of his fingertips. 465 00:26:16,800 --> 00:26:19,400 Speaker 2: Inside the house, Roxy and Kevin are talking fast, back 466 00:26:19,400 --> 00:26:23,359 Speaker 2: and forth, loud and happy enough. So go on, Stevie says, 467 00:26:24,080 --> 00:26:28,520 Speaker 2: what kind of bullshit? Gino sighs. He gestures with his 468 00:26:28,640 --> 00:26:32,159 Speaker 2: chin back at the front door. This kind mostly for 469 00:26:32,280 --> 00:26:34,359 Speaker 2: a session we had. He gave it fifteen minutes before 470 00:26:34,400 --> 00:26:37,160 Speaker 2: asking why I kept getting angry at myself for having feelings. 471 00:26:37,960 --> 00:26:41,359 Speaker 2: Oh fuck yeah, I almost walked out, and he was like, 472 00:26:41,440 --> 00:26:44,520 Speaker 2: see right there, there it is again. He shakes his 473 00:26:44,600 --> 00:26:49,520 Speaker 2: head smiles. Bastard, you still do that, though, Stevie says, 474 00:26:49,560 --> 00:26:52,080 Speaker 2: with all the self assurance of someone who changed his stipers, 475 00:26:53,119 --> 00:26:56,200 Speaker 2: I do. But I notice it now, which he says 476 00:26:56,240 --> 00:26:59,680 Speaker 2: is good. Stevie blows smoke out of the corner of 477 00:26:59,720 --> 00:27:01,520 Speaker 2: his mouth and they watch the hawk drop out of 478 00:27:01,560 --> 00:27:04,600 Speaker 2: sight somewhere over the marsh. Is it good? 479 00:27:05,680 --> 00:27:05,840 Speaker 1: Nah? 480 00:27:05,920 --> 00:27:10,120 Speaker 2: It sucks now I get angry about being angry. Stevie 481 00:27:10,160 --> 00:27:12,640 Speaker 2: laughed so hard that both his daughters and his husband 482 00:27:12,640 --> 00:27:14,800 Speaker 2: bang out through the front door to see what they're missing, 483 00:27:15,240 --> 00:27:17,800 Speaker 2: the three of them fitting themselves into Geno and Stevie's 484 00:27:17,800 --> 00:27:20,640 Speaker 2: stoop arrangement and a new configuration that makes him feel 485 00:27:20,680 --> 00:27:24,639 Speaker 2: crowded but at least not crowded out. The kids surround 486 00:27:24,680 --> 00:27:28,160 Speaker 2: him on the steps, long teenage limbs getting everywhere. Kevin 487 00:27:28,200 --> 00:27:30,080 Speaker 2: even offers him a bite of a slice of pie 488 00:27:30,119 --> 00:27:32,720 Speaker 2: he carried out with him and barely makes a face 489 00:27:32,760 --> 00:27:51,560 Speaker 2: when Gino uses this fork. Gino walks with his mom 490 00:27:51,600 --> 00:27:53,840 Speaker 2: to his dad's grave about a five minute trip up 491 00:27:53,880 --> 00:27:57,040 Speaker 2: the street. It was Kevin who pointedly heard at his family, 492 00:27:57,080 --> 00:27:59,240 Speaker 2: and everyone else left at the house to clean things 493 00:27:59,280 --> 00:28:02,280 Speaker 2: up and follow a long afterwards. So Gino and his 494 00:28:02,320 --> 00:28:04,399 Speaker 2: mom are alone together for the time being, in the 495 00:28:04,440 --> 00:28:08,840 Speaker 2: dim late afternoon, walking through sticky air and the droning 496 00:28:08,880 --> 00:28:13,000 Speaker 2: noise of a neighbor's household generator. It's slow going, not 497 00:28:13,080 --> 00:28:16,239 Speaker 2: because of any infirmary on Francesca's part, but because she 498 00:28:16,280 --> 00:28:20,240 Speaker 2: walks slowly and always has an infuriating trait in a 499 00:28:20,240 --> 00:28:23,240 Speaker 2: city person. Finally at home, now that this part of 500 00:28:23,240 --> 00:28:28,000 Speaker 2: the city has been cut off, made circumstantially provincial. Gino 501 00:28:28,080 --> 00:28:30,920 Speaker 2: doesn't mind meandering, but he's not used to the sound 502 00:28:31,000 --> 00:28:36,040 Speaker 2: of his mother not talking. Stevie's girls look all grown up, 503 00:28:36,119 --> 00:28:39,240 Speaker 2: he says. She nods. She puts her hand on his 504 00:28:39,360 --> 00:28:41,520 Speaker 2: arm and folds it so that her hand is tucked 505 00:28:41,520 --> 00:28:44,160 Speaker 2: into the crook of his elbow, and they walk like that, 506 00:28:44,640 --> 00:28:48,520 Speaker 2: a dignified little procession. He's a good father. She says, 507 00:28:49,200 --> 00:28:52,680 Speaker 2: you're still not seeing anyone, Nah, would you tell me 508 00:28:52,720 --> 00:28:58,160 Speaker 2: if you were, Gino put docs his head. Probably they 509 00:28:58,160 --> 00:29:01,400 Speaker 2: come to the graveyard. Steevev had written to Geno about 510 00:29:01,400 --> 00:29:04,240 Speaker 2: the place and sent some pictures, but it's more odd 511 00:29:04,320 --> 00:29:07,120 Speaker 2: more abrupt to see it in person. What used to 512 00:29:07,120 --> 00:29:09,320 Speaker 2: be a messy six way intersection in the middle of 513 00:29:09,360 --> 00:29:11,880 Speaker 2: the neighborhood had become just so much useless space. When 514 00:29:11,880 --> 00:29:15,480 Speaker 2: the seasonal flooding stopped being seasonal and residents were cut 515 00:29:15,480 --> 00:29:18,720 Speaker 2: off from the closest gas station, now half an hour away, 516 00:29:18,720 --> 00:29:22,680 Speaker 2: over the water, folks brought out the sledgehammers and tore 517 00:29:22,760 --> 00:29:25,640 Speaker 2: it down to the dirt. The original plan had been 518 00:29:25,680 --> 00:29:28,440 Speaker 2: to till the soil and put in vegetable crops before 519 00:29:28,480 --> 00:29:32,000 Speaker 2: they started planting. Someone on twenty third Street died, and 520 00:29:32,120 --> 00:29:34,920 Speaker 2: all at once the residents of the Newborn Island realized 521 00:29:34,920 --> 00:29:36,640 Speaker 2: that they didn't know what to do if they're dead. 522 00:29:38,000 --> 00:29:41,400 Speaker 2: Cemeteries in South Philly had been exhumed and relocated long ago, 523 00:29:41,960 --> 00:29:45,000 Speaker 2: well before most of the living started to leave. If 524 00:29:45,000 --> 00:29:48,000 Speaker 2: the bereaved were so inclined and could afford it, they'd 525 00:29:48,000 --> 00:29:50,120 Speaker 2: ship their dead up to a plot in the northwest 526 00:29:50,120 --> 00:29:53,480 Speaker 2: of the city, or even to the suburbs. Churches and 527 00:29:53,520 --> 00:29:56,880 Speaker 2: mosques and synagogues pitched in, but most people, if their 528 00:29:56,880 --> 00:30:01,080 Speaker 2: faith allowed, opted for cremation. The shore had been in 529 00:30:01,160 --> 00:30:03,800 Speaker 2: flux their whole lives, and there was no assurance their 530 00:30:03,880 --> 00:30:06,000 Speaker 2: kids wouldn't have to dig up Grampa and ship his 531 00:30:06,080 --> 00:30:09,640 Speaker 2: bones even further inland a couple decades down the line. 532 00:30:10,440 --> 00:30:14,480 Speaker 2: Unfortunately for the remains of west passiunc However, when the 533 00:30:14,520 --> 00:30:17,840 Speaker 2: water rose around them, no crematoriums remained on dry land, 534 00:30:18,560 --> 00:30:20,440 Speaker 2: so they had the body of a young woman whose 535 00:30:20,480 --> 00:30:22,720 Speaker 2: heart gave out and a fresh field of open dirt. 536 00:30:23,440 --> 00:30:26,720 Speaker 2: They planted her in it, and then the next death, 537 00:30:27,320 --> 00:30:30,200 Speaker 2: and the next one. By the time Gino's dad was 538 00:30:30,200 --> 00:30:35,520 Speaker 2: buried here yet plenty of company. The graveyard has the 539 00:30:35,520 --> 00:30:38,680 Speaker 2: long triangular shape of the old intersection, enclosed by a 540 00:30:38,760 --> 00:30:41,920 Speaker 2: chain link fence to keep out dogs and raccoons. The 541 00:30:42,000 --> 00:30:45,320 Speaker 2: grass is clipped short, the regular sort of lawn grass, 542 00:30:45,360 --> 00:30:47,840 Speaker 2: instead of the mess of marsh grasses that have crept 543 00:30:47,880 --> 00:30:51,320 Speaker 2: in everywhere else. White forget me nots are dotted in 544 00:30:51,360 --> 00:30:53,920 Speaker 2: among the plots, and one corner of the yard is 545 00:30:53,960 --> 00:30:57,000 Speaker 2: taken up by a huge mess of purple aster. The 546 00:30:57,080 --> 00:31:00,240 Speaker 2: markers are pale wood names and dates burned into them 547 00:31:00,440 --> 00:31:04,000 Speaker 2: in a dark, neat script. Gino's mom leads him to 548 00:31:04,040 --> 00:31:08,520 Speaker 2: his dad's plot, which is catching some late light. Gino 549 00:31:08,640 --> 00:31:11,480 Speaker 2: knows his father is dead. He's known it for a year, 550 00:31:11,880 --> 00:31:13,960 Speaker 2: but seeing a grave with his father's name on it 551 00:31:14,000 --> 00:31:18,200 Speaker 2: feels like coming down off a high wire. Sickening and sudden. 552 00:31:19,240 --> 00:31:21,520 Speaker 2: He sits down in the grass, and after wiping some 553 00:31:21,640 --> 00:31:24,240 Speaker 2: dust and grit off the marker, his mom sits down 554 00:31:24,280 --> 00:31:28,080 Speaker 2: next to him. You should come visit him in the morning, too, 555 00:31:28,200 --> 00:31:31,960 Speaker 2: she says. A lot of bees then, and bluebirds. I 556 00:31:32,000 --> 00:31:34,720 Speaker 2: almost move that feeter over here, that one he put 557 00:31:34,720 --> 00:31:37,120 Speaker 2: out by the back door, But then they wouldn't come 558 00:31:37,160 --> 00:31:39,960 Speaker 2: to the house so much. They come here already anyhow. 559 00:31:42,000 --> 00:31:44,960 Speaker 2: Gino doesn't trust himself to speak yet. He hadn't known 560 00:31:44,960 --> 00:31:47,520 Speaker 2: it would feel like this. He had hoped to avoid 561 00:31:47,560 --> 00:31:51,080 Speaker 2: feeling like this indefinitely, the finality of it, and the 562 00:31:51,080 --> 00:31:54,040 Speaker 2: premonition that she would be gone soon enough too, and 563 00:31:54,120 --> 00:31:57,080 Speaker 2: even Stevie one day, and that this gentle garden of 564 00:31:57,120 --> 00:31:59,680 Speaker 2: the dead would flood with salt water and he wouldn't 565 00:31:59,720 --> 00:32:02,120 Speaker 2: get another chance to be brave enough to stick around. 566 00:32:03,200 --> 00:32:05,880 Speaker 2: He thought he'd buried them for himself already by leaving, 567 00:32:06,280 --> 00:32:10,280 Speaker 2: by not watching it happen. But they're still here, and 568 00:32:10,360 --> 00:32:12,959 Speaker 2: all he'd done was lose time that he'll never recover, 569 00:32:13,520 --> 00:32:16,120 Speaker 2: and let Stevie dig their dad's grave, all on his own. 570 00:32:17,200 --> 00:32:20,760 Speaker 2: Gino's squeezing his hands, one in the other, and his 571 00:32:20,920 --> 00:32:24,320 Speaker 2: mom rests hers on top of them. A question. He 572 00:32:24,360 --> 00:32:29,520 Speaker 2: shakes his head convulsively. Is fine, sorry, I'm fine, sorry, 573 00:32:29,600 --> 00:32:34,080 Speaker 2: I'm sorry. All right, she says. She squeezes his hand, 574 00:32:34,160 --> 00:32:39,640 Speaker 2: rubs his back. All right, you go on. He knows 575 00:32:39,640 --> 00:32:42,719 Speaker 2: what Stevie said, but he's got to ask. It's clawing 576 00:32:42,760 --> 00:32:45,400 Speaker 2: at him. You and all of them could come back 577 00:32:45,400 --> 00:32:48,120 Speaker 2: with me, Gino says, I can take some more time 578 00:32:48,160 --> 00:32:50,320 Speaker 2: off and find a place. Doesn't have to be that far. 579 00:32:50,920 --> 00:32:53,560 Speaker 2: There's a whole lot of Pennsylvania. We can get you 580 00:32:53,600 --> 00:32:55,920 Speaker 2: out of here. It's time to get out of here, 581 00:32:57,960 --> 00:33:00,080 Speaker 2: all of us. She looks at him like he just 582 00:33:00,120 --> 00:33:03,240 Speaker 2: spat in her face. Your brother can make his own decisions. 583 00:33:03,680 --> 00:33:06,640 Speaker 2: And you, baby boy, I'm happy to see your face. 584 00:33:07,200 --> 00:33:10,240 Speaker 2: But you can go any time. She nods at the grave. 585 00:33:11,040 --> 00:33:13,480 Speaker 2: But I'm not about to leave him, don't you ask 586 00:33:13,560 --> 00:33:17,360 Speaker 2: me to. I'm sorry, ma for leaving, for coming back 587 00:33:17,400 --> 00:33:19,200 Speaker 2: for the moment a few days from now, when he'll 588 00:33:19,280 --> 00:33:23,200 Speaker 2: leave again. That's all right, it's all right to have 589 00:33:23,280 --> 00:33:26,640 Speaker 2: things you're sorry for. Your dad lived a good, long life, 590 00:33:27,000 --> 00:33:29,280 Speaker 2: and he left, still sorry for all sorts of things. 591 00:33:30,080 --> 00:33:34,760 Speaker 2: You go on, be sorry, that's okay. A trio of 592 00:33:34,840 --> 00:33:37,320 Speaker 2: swallows have landed on the fence and are calling their 593 00:33:37,360 --> 00:33:42,000 Speaker 2: clear tittering trills into the dusk. Insects are flitting around, 594 00:33:42,040 --> 00:33:44,719 Speaker 2: and the birds take turn launching themselves from the fence, 595 00:33:45,280 --> 00:33:48,760 Speaker 2: diving in wild arcs, then coming back to rest, the 596 00:33:48,800 --> 00:33:52,680 Speaker 2: other two waiting chirrup, laughing, the insects droning on, oblivious 597 00:33:52,720 --> 00:33:55,720 Speaker 2: to the game that's been made of their fate. I 598 00:33:55,760 --> 00:33:58,680 Speaker 2: couldn't watch, Gino says, leaning into his mom's hand on 599 00:33:58,720 --> 00:34:03,520 Speaker 2: his back. I couldn't watch it happen dad, the neighborhood. 600 00:34:04,520 --> 00:34:09,040 Speaker 2: Her hands stills, Then she passed him briskly and stands. Stevie, 601 00:34:09,200 --> 00:34:11,279 Speaker 2: Kevin and the girls are coming through the gate into 602 00:34:11,320 --> 00:34:15,759 Speaker 2: the yard, chattering like birds. Well, anytime you want to 603 00:34:15,760 --> 00:34:19,160 Speaker 2: see us, we'll be here, his mom says, whether you're 604 00:34:19,200 --> 00:34:23,160 Speaker 2: watching or not, that's the story. 605 00:34:24,560 --> 00:34:27,040 Speaker 4: Right before he died, Mike Davis gave this interview where 606 00:34:27,080 --> 00:34:30,799 Speaker 4: he was talking about one of the sort of like 607 00:34:31,120 --> 00:34:34,319 Speaker 4: giant struggles that people do in America, and the thing 608 00:34:34,400 --> 00:34:36,439 Speaker 4: he was talking about was the story of people sort 609 00:34:36,440 --> 00:34:41,439 Speaker 4: of fighting tenaciously to stay in their home, and something 610 00:34:41,440 --> 00:34:43,719 Speaker 4: I've been thinking about a lot more. I mean not 611 00:34:43,800 --> 00:34:47,239 Speaker 4: just from you know, it's people losing this fight, and 612 00:34:47,280 --> 00:34:49,560 Speaker 4: this has been you know, this is in essence, this 613 00:34:49,640 --> 00:34:51,680 Speaker 4: is the story of America, right, is the story of 614 00:34:51,719 --> 00:34:54,720 Speaker 4: people fighting to stay in the place they love him losing. 615 00:34:55,320 --> 00:34:58,080 Speaker 3: Yeah, And you know, each successive cycle of people gets 616 00:34:58,160 --> 00:35:01,160 Speaker 3: driven further and further and further and further until you know, 617 00:35:01,280 --> 00:35:03,239 Speaker 3: the places they love are gone and there's nothing of them, 618 00:35:03,440 --> 00:35:06,479 Speaker 3: well little of them left, And you know, I think, 619 00:35:08,760 --> 00:35:10,680 Speaker 3: I don't know, it's something I think I like about 620 00:35:10,680 --> 00:35:14,319 Speaker 3: this story a lot is like there's you get that, 621 00:35:14,840 --> 00:35:17,440 Speaker 3: and you also get this sense that sort of you know, 622 00:35:17,680 --> 00:35:20,280 Speaker 3: is the apocalypse is you know, it's slow, it happens 623 00:35:20,280 --> 00:35:24,880 Speaker 3: through yeah. Yeah, but also that you know, like this 624 00:35:25,000 --> 00:35:29,560 Speaker 3: isn't the first time this has happened. Yeah, and it's 625 00:35:29,680 --> 00:35:33,480 Speaker 3: you know and like yeah, like the sort of horror 626 00:35:33,600 --> 00:35:36,839 Speaker 3: of it, right is like it will it will keep 627 00:35:36,840 --> 00:35:38,200 Speaker 3: happening and people will live. 628 00:35:38,040 --> 00:35:40,120 Speaker 4: On and it will sort of just keep rolling. 629 00:35:40,760 --> 00:35:45,799 Speaker 2: Yeah. No, I I read this story and I kind 630 00:35:45,800 --> 00:35:48,879 Speaker 2: of like there's a bunch of other stories that I'm 631 00:35:48,880 --> 00:35:50,880 Speaker 2: also really excited about to shine with everyone, but I 632 00:35:50,880 --> 00:35:55,720 Speaker 2: like really wanted this one to be first, because I 633 00:35:55,719 --> 00:35:59,000 Speaker 2: I really wanted to talk about the way that the 634 00:35:59,040 --> 00:36:06,160 Speaker 2: apocalypse is not just slow but like a reflection of 635 00:36:06,200 --> 00:36:09,360 Speaker 2: the way that everything changes and everything ends, and like, 636 00:36:10,000 --> 00:36:14,200 Speaker 2: you know, and I'm really like interested in the idea of, 637 00:36:14,239 --> 00:36:18,000 Speaker 2: you know, the son who moves away, who like the 638 00:36:18,040 --> 00:36:19,960 Speaker 2: family accepts it, but it's kind of going to give 639 00:36:20,000 --> 00:36:24,239 Speaker 2: him shit forever for it. And like, yeah, I don't know. 640 00:36:24,280 --> 00:36:28,360 Speaker 2: I think it's just a really human thing and I 641 00:36:28,400 --> 00:36:31,200 Speaker 2: think it helps like because also, like, Okay, this hasn't 642 00:36:31,239 --> 00:36:34,200 Speaker 2: happened to Philly yet, right, This has happened already many 643 00:36:34,200 --> 00:36:38,239 Speaker 2: places in the world, and will happen many places more 644 00:36:38,280 --> 00:36:40,960 Speaker 2: places in the world. Like that is an inevitability at 645 00:36:40,960 --> 00:36:44,760 Speaker 2: this point, right, and just like we need to start 646 00:36:45,160 --> 00:36:48,839 Speaker 2: grappling with that, you know. Okay, So I'm gonna I'm 647 00:36:48,840 --> 00:36:52,959 Speaker 2: gonna read his bio the author's bio. Nicassio andras Read 648 00:36:53,320 --> 00:36:55,600 Speaker 2: is a writer, poet, and essayist whose work has appeared 649 00:36:55,600 --> 00:36:58,840 Speaker 2: in venues such as Strange Horizons, Light Speed on Canny Magazine, 650 00:36:58,840 --> 00:37:02,279 Speaker 2: and Shimmer. A Philadelphia resident until age nine, he now 651 00:37:02,320 --> 00:37:04,640 Speaker 2: lives in Tagateay in the Philippines with four dogs, some 652 00:37:04,719 --> 00:37:09,440 Speaker 2: family and the occasional uninvited monitor lizard. He's the poetry 653 00:37:09,520 --> 00:37:11,600 Speaker 2: editor at the dead Lands and is working on a 654 00:37:11,640 --> 00:37:15,000 Speaker 2: novel about the history of Filipino migrant laborers in Alaska. 655 00:37:16,000 --> 00:37:16,440 Speaker 4: And then. 656 00:37:18,120 --> 00:37:22,000 Speaker 2: I asked, I basically asked him, since he's not on 657 00:37:22,080 --> 00:37:25,239 Speaker 2: here to plug things people already know. Miya Wong, you're 658 00:37:25,320 --> 00:37:28,239 Speaker 2: the host of the podcast whose feeds are probably in 659 00:37:29,239 --> 00:37:32,640 Speaker 2: statistically and if not go listening could happen here. But 660 00:37:32,800 --> 00:37:36,480 Speaker 2: I asked, I asked Nico, and he said and for 661 00:37:36,520 --> 00:37:38,960 Speaker 2: an additional plug, I don't have any recent pubs, and 662 00:37:39,000 --> 00:37:41,320 Speaker 2: I feel slightly bad about Wetlands being the de facto 663 00:37:41,360 --> 00:37:43,000 Speaker 2: bad guy in the story, So I'd love to shout 664 00:37:43,040 --> 00:37:46,200 Speaker 2: out the Society for the Conservation of Philippine Wetlands, which 665 00:37:46,239 --> 00:37:50,800 Speaker 2: is at Wetlands p. The Philippines is one of the 666 00:37:50,800 --> 00:37:53,160 Speaker 2: most dangerous places in the world for environmental activists and 667 00:37:53,239 --> 00:37:56,240 Speaker 2: land defenders, who are often red tagged, that is, publicly 668 00:37:56,320 --> 00:37:59,960 Speaker 2: labeled as members or supporters of the armed communist insurgency. 669 00:38:00,600 --> 00:38:02,960 Speaker 2: For many years now, it's been open season on red 670 00:38:03,040 --> 00:38:06,960 Speaker 2: tagged individuals, State forces and private corporate armed groups alike 671 00:38:07,239 --> 00:38:09,880 Speaker 2: kill them with impunity, almost always in the name of 672 00:38:09,960 --> 00:38:12,880 Speaker 2: land grabbing. At the same time, we are one of 673 00:38:12,920 --> 00:38:16,040 Speaker 2: the countries facing early and extreme effects of climate change 674 00:38:16,960 --> 00:38:19,279 Speaker 2: and the damage that these land grabbing entities due to 675 00:38:19,280 --> 00:38:23,800 Speaker 2: our natural resources is making things worse fast. A healthy, diverse, 676 00:38:23,840 --> 00:38:26,279 Speaker 2: resilient wetland barrier to typhoons is one of the most 677 00:38:26,320 --> 00:38:30,240 Speaker 2: vital things for us, for us to rebuild and protect. 678 00:38:31,000 --> 00:38:35,560 Speaker 2: So that is the plug for this episode and we 679 00:38:35,600 --> 00:38:38,600 Speaker 2: will catch you next week on the cool Zone Media 680 00:38:38,640 --> 00:38:39,200 Speaker 2: book Club. 681 00:38:41,400 --> 00:38:43,880 Speaker 1: It Could Happen Here as a production of cool Zone Media. 682 00:38:44,000 --> 00:38:46,640 Speaker 1: For more podcasts from cool Zone Media, visit our website 683 00:38:46,680 --> 00:38:49,799 Speaker 1: coolzonemedia dot com or check us out on the iHeartRadio app, 684 00:38:49,800 --> 00:38:53,000 Speaker 1: Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to podcasts. You can 685 00:38:53,040 --> 00:38:55,759 Speaker 1: find sources for It Could Happen Here, updated monthly at 686 00:38:55,760 --> 00:38:59,000 Speaker 1: coolzonemedia dot com slash sources. Thanks for listening. 687 00:39:00,600 --> 00:39:00,960 Speaker 3: Copy