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Speaker 1: Well, welcome to Onward with Me, Rosie O'Donnell. That's two ends,

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Speaker 1: two l's. As I mentioned, many listeners wrote in such thoughtful,

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Speaker 1: beautiful and heartbreaking ways about my conversation with Lyle Menendez.

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Speaker 1: You know, they were so moving we thought we just

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Speaker 1: put them all together in this one podcast. To those

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Speaker 1: we didn't share who spoke so honestly about their childhood traumas,

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Speaker 1: please know I listened to every one of them. I'm

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Speaker 1: sending out so much love and support to you. Please

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Speaker 1: continue to do all that you are doing to heal yourselves,

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Speaker 1: and I promised to do the same. Okay, everybody here

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Speaker 1: we go. Okay, so these are all of your comments

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Speaker 1: and thoughts about the Lyle Menendez episode. All right, Andrew

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Speaker 1: take it away.

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Speaker 2: Hi Rosie, good morning. My name is Andrew, and I'm

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Speaker 2: in East Long Island. When I first saw your TikTok

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Speaker 2: that you are going to have one of the Menendez

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Speaker 2: brothers on your podcast, I immediately heard the tape in

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Speaker 2: my head from childhood Menandez brothers. You don't kill your parents,

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Speaker 2: you run away with the circus like a normal kid. Well,

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Speaker 2: I'm lucky for me. I went in with an open

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Speaker 2: mind or at least curious, and my goodness, did I

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Speaker 2: come out on the other side of that. So I

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Speaker 2: just wanted to say a quick thank you to you

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Speaker 2: and acknowledge that I'm old enough to say times were

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Speaker 2: different then, so.

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Speaker 1: True, so true, Andrew, times were different. And you know,

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Speaker 1: as a society, we couldn't even conceive of the fact

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Speaker 1: that sometimes fathers sexually abuse their sons, their own sons.

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Speaker 1: And you know, it's a society where somehow we understand

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Speaker 1: and accept that women are sexually abused all the time

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Speaker 1: and that boys and men somehow are not. But that's

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Speaker 1: not the facts. And you know, I'm glad that you

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Speaker 1: were able to listen to his story. You know, thirty

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Speaker 1: four years he's been in jail. It's hard to believe.

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Speaker 1: And Lord knows, we did a disservice as a nation

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Speaker 1: by believing the lies and all of the the story

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Speaker 1: and the lure against them. I just hope that they're

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Speaker 1: finally going to be resentenced or or freed or pardoned,

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Speaker 1: because they've served enough for their crimes, and you know,

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Speaker 1: they've been in prison since they were little boys, and

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Speaker 1: they never really have known freedom yet. So I'm hoping

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Speaker 1: that pretty soon that they will be able to walk free,

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Speaker 1: and I think that would be you know, justice served. Okay, Jackie,

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Speaker 1: hit it jack.

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Speaker 3: Hi, Rosie, It's Jackie Gallagher from New Brunswick, Canada. I

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Speaker 3: want to thank you for your wonderful podcasts and for

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Speaker 3: the powerful interview with Lyle Menendez. I'm a few months

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Speaker 3: older than you, Rosie, and I recall the trial vividly,

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Speaker 3: but unlike you, I truly believe Lyle and Eric's tears

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Speaker 3: were fake. While on the stand, I couldn't conceive of

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Speaker 3: a father raping his own sons, and I did not

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Speaker 3: see them as victims. Boy, with humility and pangs of conscience,

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Speaker 3: I no longer feel that way. Lyle and Eric were

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Speaker 3: living a nightmare and Lyle needed desperately to protect his

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Speaker 3: younger brother. They were victims stopping their abusers, albeit in

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Speaker 3: a violent way, but in Lyle's mind, the only way.

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Speaker 3: Keep us updated, Rosie, and thank you again, Love you.

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Speaker 3: That's so sweet, Thank you so much, Thank you so much.

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Speaker 3: And isn't it amazing how we can reframe something in

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Speaker 3: our mind and and change the entire image and the

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Speaker 3: whole you know, the way that we were taught what

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Speaker 3: we were fed by the news media about them, and

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Speaker 3: you know, the truth was so far from what was adjudicated,

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Speaker 3: you know, and the fact that they didn't even get

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Speaker 3: to have a defense, you know, in their in their

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Speaker 3: second trial when they were given a life sentence without

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Speaker 3: the possibility of parole. So I'm really happy too that

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Speaker 3: that I saw that wonderful documentary and it spurred me

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Speaker 3: on to having contact with him and getting to know

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Speaker 3: him and getting to speak with him and on his

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Speaker 3: behalf on some TV interviews, and you know, that's all

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Speaker 3: we can do. And now let's hope that the judicial

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Speaker 3: system will right the wrong. You know, that's all that's

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Speaker 3: left for us to do.

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Speaker 1: Thank you again. Okay, who do we got next? Hit it?

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Speaker 4: Hi?

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Speaker 5: Rosie. I felt that I wanted to send a comment

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Speaker 5: about the Lyle Menendez episode, which I thought was so

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Speaker 5: so good. You did such a great job. This isn't

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Speaker 5: my usual thing that I leave voice comments or anything

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Speaker 5: like that, but I have followed you forever and ever.

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Speaker 5: I'm almost sixty nine years old, so really we go

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Speaker 5: way back. So what I was thinking about the episode

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Speaker 5: was with Lyle that no matter what he was going

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Speaker 5: to do in his life, it was going to be

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Speaker 5: major and that even in prison, he is doing things

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Speaker 5: that could change the fabric of all prisons, just putting

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Speaker 5: murals and gardens and instilling confidence and giving prisoners more

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Speaker 5: of a sense of self. It just feels to me

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Speaker 5: that he was destined to make some kind of change

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Speaker 5: in the world that was big. I'd like to look

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Speaker 5: at people's lives and look at the overall fabric of

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Speaker 5: their lives, Like I was thinking about people that have

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Speaker 5: sudden changes in their life, like Christopher Reeves was Superman,

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Speaker 5: but then he also was a paraplegic.

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Speaker 4: Where their lives are almost like two lives in one,

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Speaker 4: and Lyle's life clearly was like two lives, maybe even

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Speaker 4: three lives in one.

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Speaker 5: But that he was still destined to do something great.

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Speaker 5: And I really love that he continued his education. I

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Speaker 5: thought that was really just said so much about him.

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Speaker 5: I guess that's it. I just want to say that.

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Speaker 5: I just feel like, I guess that's it.

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Speaker 1: That's okay. I like the ending. I guess that's it. Yeah, Okay,

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Speaker 1: thank you for that, really, and I agree with you.

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Speaker 1: I have to say, the record that Lyle Menendez has

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Speaker 1: in prison is you know, impeccable what he's done, like

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Speaker 1: no other prisoner has done is much in the California

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Speaker 1: prison system as he has in the last thirty four years,

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Speaker 1: and it's really remarkable. And when I went to the

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Speaker 1: prison and got to meet him, and I saw him

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Speaker 1: giving a presentation on the renovation project that he's doing

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Speaker 1: in the prison that he's in San Diego, modeled after

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Speaker 1: the Norwegian program and really really profound work. When I

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Speaker 1: saw him presenting to you know, administrators and legislators and

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Speaker 1: prison heads of prison and I was like, this guy

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Speaker 1: could be running a fortune five hundred company. He's so articulate,

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Speaker 1: he's so smart, he's so well versed. He's you know,

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Speaker 1: he's curious. He's innately curious, and he doesn't like to

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Speaker 1: waste time. He's always doing something. He's always got another idea.

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Speaker 1: He's always you know, he's a remarkable guy. He really is.

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Speaker 1: And I'm glad that, you know, he got to present

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Speaker 1: who he is to people. And I'm so happy that

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Speaker 1: people walked away seeing him for really who he is,

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Speaker 1: not who he was as a scared, sexually abused young

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Speaker 1: boy trying to protect his younger brother, you know, and

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Speaker 1: some people, you know, I have friends who say to me,

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Speaker 1: he killed his parents. I'm like, I know, I know,

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Speaker 1: I know, I know. It's hard for some people, you know,

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Speaker 1: to even get anywhere near that subject without, you know,

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Speaker 1: shutting down all the doors and windows and refusing to

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Speaker 1: look outside.

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Speaker 6: You know.

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Speaker 1: But thank you, thank you all for this. And who

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Speaker 1: do we have next? Shane? Is that Shane?

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Speaker 7: Hey? Rosie Shane here based in weho just listen to

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Speaker 7: the episode what Lyle Menendez? And I am really kind

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Speaker 7: of overwhelmed by the different feelings that are going on

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Speaker 7: right now. I am, of course, like so many people,

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Speaker 7: was brought up with the story that the media told

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Speaker 7: in the nineties and how both Lyle and Eric were

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Speaker 7: made out to be these cold blooded, soulless automatons who

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Speaker 7: wanted only wealth and were eliminated their parents to get it.

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Speaker 7: And looking back now and finding out this new evidence

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Speaker 7: and all the sort of re examination that we're doing

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Speaker 7: as a society of sexual abuse, childhood sexual abuse in particular,

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Speaker 7: I think is a really really powerful thing, and I

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Speaker 7: cannot help but be both moved and inspired and want

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Speaker 7: to continue to advocate for people who have experienced similar things,

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Speaker 7: whether it's victims of incest, of non familial sexual abuse.

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Speaker 7: You know, it's just a very powerful episode, and your

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Speaker 7: empathy and your generosity with Lyle really shown through. I

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Speaker 7: think it was a very powerful conversation. Thank you for

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Speaker 7: making the room and taking the time to have it,

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Speaker 7: and for doing it with such grace and humility as

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Speaker 7: you have always done all things. I've admired you for

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Speaker 7: many years and will continue to for many more. Thank

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Speaker 7: you so much.

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Speaker 1: Oh, thank you, Shane. So beautiful. Yeah, I think it

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Speaker 1: really moved a lot of people. I really think a

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Speaker 1: lot of us were sold a bill of goods in

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Speaker 1: the nineties about who these young boys were and what

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Speaker 1: the story really was about. And you know, sadly, it's

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Speaker 1: a story of you know, sadistic, abusive, pedophile father and

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Speaker 1: an equally unwell mother and the tragedy that was their

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Speaker 1: childhood and ended up on the night that they killed

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Speaker 1: their parents. And you know, it's a story of our times,

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Speaker 1: of our life. It's one of the defining you know,

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Speaker 1: trials of our lifetime, without a doubt. And to think

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Speaker 1: that's thirty four years later and they're still in there,

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Speaker 1: and there's been so much done on the abusive children

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Speaker 1: and the abuse of young boys, and I really I'm

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Speaker 1: really grateful that I got to know him and I

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Speaker 1: have the opportunity to, you know, introduce him to you

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Speaker 1: in a way that will hopefully change a mind or two.

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Speaker 1: And it sounds like it did. Up next, Margaret, what's

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Speaker 1: going on?

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Speaker 6: Margaret?

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Speaker 8: Hey Rosie, it's Margaret. I'm sixty one and I just

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Speaker 8: finished listening to your interview with Lyle Menendez. I'm a survivor.

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Speaker 8: I guess is a terminology of childhood abuse by my father, physical, sexual, mental, emotional.

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Speaker 8: He was an overbearing asshole, sexually abused me and both

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Speaker 8: of my sisters. I didn't have an I still don't

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Speaker 8: have clear memories of it happening to me, mostly feelings.

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Speaker 8: What my bones know that book, Yeah, what my bones know.

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Speaker 7: I have a.

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Speaker 6: History of.

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Speaker 8: Alcoholism, drug abuse, multiple suicide attempts, no friends, don't trust

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Speaker 8: my family other than my sister, one of my sisters.

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Speaker 8: What touched me most about the interview with Lyle was

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Speaker 8: being believed I disassociated my abuse. Have as I said,

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Speaker 8: mostly feelings, mostly inklings about what happened to me. And

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Speaker 8: then as an adult in the military, I was raped

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Speaker 8: by two different individuals, different military My brothers in arms,

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Speaker 8: one of whom was a supervisor type, the other.

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Speaker 1: Equal rank.

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Speaker 8: But I guess I was trained as an adult as

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Speaker 8: a child rather to not report, and so I didn't report,

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Speaker 8: and I stuffed those experiences down, told myself that they

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Speaker 8: were just unpleasant sexual experiences, and then I went out

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Speaker 8: upon my business. And all my sexual experiences have been

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Speaker 8: horrible in the sense that I've always been drunk or stoned,

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Speaker 8: and I've given myself away to strangers, just acting out.

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Speaker 8: But being believed, Yeah, being believed Finally, as an adult

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Speaker 8: late fifties, late fifties, after so many different diagnoses, so

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Speaker 8: many different psychle psychle whatever drugs that the psychologists and

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Speaker 8: the psychiatrists give you, I was finally somebody asked me

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Speaker 8: were you Were you abused as a child, were you

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Speaker 8: sexually abused? And we started talking about it and talked

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Speaker 8: about disassociation and this and that, and being believed by her,

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Speaker 8: I cling to my relationship with her, I speak to

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Speaker 8: her monthly, being believed by the military. Ultimately, when I

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Speaker 8: reported the two rapes, not for punitive purposes, but for

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Speaker 8: acknowledgment of my disability, because I am disabled. I suffer

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Speaker 8: from PTSD and anxiety and depression and the like. And

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Speaker 8: I have for you know, since I was as obviously

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Speaker 8: as a child that abuse, but then my early twenties,

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Speaker 8: early to mid twenties, with the two rapes by my

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Speaker 8: brothers in arms, being believed that that touched me, I followed,

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Speaker 8: Excuse me, I didn't. I didn't follow the Menendez case.

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Speaker 8: I was aware of it obviously as a sixty one

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Speaker 8: year old, but I didn't follow it. Maybe maybe there's

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Speaker 8: a reason, Maybe maybe my own experiences that's the reason.

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Speaker 8: But belief, belief, Rosie's that's so important.

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Speaker 1: Well, Margaret, that was beautiful. Thank you for sharing all that.

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Speaker 1: It couldn't have been easy to do, but it's amazing. Yeah,

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Speaker 1: how powerful it is to have someone believe you. It's

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Speaker 1: freezy really from the constant questions in your mind. Did

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Speaker 1: I make this up? Surely I made this up? Right,

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Speaker 1: Surely I made this up? Because nobody wants that to

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Speaker 1: be true. That's a code of shame, you know, you

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Speaker 1: don't want to wear. And even though it's not your shame,

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Speaker 1: as the anti Lennox song goes, take this twisted code

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Speaker 1: of shame. It never did belong to me, right, And

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Speaker 1: I'm glad that you know listening to Lyle and hearing

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Speaker 1: us talk about surviving trauma, you know, and how to

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Speaker 1: make the best out of your life. You know. I

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Speaker 1: wish the best for you, Margaret, I really do, and

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Speaker 1: I'll be thinking about you. You take care of yourself.

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Speaker 1: Stick around. We have more of your comments after this.

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Speaker 9: Hi, Rosie.

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Speaker 10: My name is Bob Merrick, and I am a longtime listener,

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Speaker 10: longtime fan, first time caller, and I could probably spend

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Speaker 10: an hour gushing about how much I love you, and

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Speaker 10: how important you are to me and have been to me,

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Speaker 10: and all the ways you have inspired and influenced my life.

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Speaker 10: But we can do that another day for right now.

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Speaker 10: I just wanted to respond to your request about your

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Speaker 10: Lyle Menendez interview, and I wasn't actually going to say

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Speaker 10: anything until you asked about it. But the thing I

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Speaker 10: thought was most interesting was I had a very almost

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Speaker 10: physical reaction to not wanting to listen to the episode

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Speaker 10: the going into it. I just I never really got

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Speaker 10: into the case. I never heard a lot of details,

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Speaker 10: but growing up at the time, I knew the headlines

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Speaker 10: and I knew enough to know I didn't want to

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Speaker 10: know anymore, and I just thought what was really interesting

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Speaker 10: was my.

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Speaker 9: My want to not want to listen to it.

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Speaker 10: But when I was wondering why that was, it was like,

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Speaker 10: I didn't want you to humanize him.

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Speaker 9: I didn't want you to change my opinion.

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Speaker 10: And I thought that was really interesting when I couldn't

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Speaker 10: figure out why I had an opinion in the first place,

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Speaker 10: if I've never.

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Speaker 9: Paid any attention in any detail to the case.

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Speaker 10: So all that being said, out of my love for

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Speaker 10: you and my respect for you and all of the

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Speaker 10: things I have learned.

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Speaker 9: From you over the years listening to Rosie Radio and

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Speaker 9: your talk show, I.

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Speaker 10: Gave it a listen, and I'm really glad that I did,

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Speaker 10: because more than anything, it opened my mind and it

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Speaker 10: opened my heart, and I was very impressed with what

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Speaker 10: he's done with his time. And I don't know, it's

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Speaker 10: always nice to be surprised, and to anything that can

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Speaker 10: remind us of our humanity, I think is always a

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Speaker 10: beautiful thing. So as always, I thank you for that,

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Speaker 10: and I look forward to following his journey a little

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Speaker 10: bit closer and seeing where it ends up and hoping

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Speaker 10: that good things come to him.

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Speaker 9: So thank you, Rosie. As always, You're amazing.

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Speaker 1: Thank you, Bob. So sweet. Isn't it interesting how sometimes

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Speaker 1: you know, we turn away from that which is like

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Speaker 1: a little too hot for you to touch yet, you know,

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Speaker 1: I mean memories and things that you hold locked away

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Speaker 1: way so that your psyche doesn't shatter. You know, as

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Speaker 1: we get older and as we have more therapy and

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Speaker 1: help and understanding, and you know, time the doors kind

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Speaker 1: of open and you can go, you know, turn the

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Speaker 1: light on in that very dark room and empty everything out,

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Speaker 1: you know. And you know, I'm glad that that lyle

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Speaker 1: was able to move you and that you didn't, you know,

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Speaker 1: instinctively just ignore it. You know, you were brave enough

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Speaker 1: to go to go toward it and to be led.

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Speaker 1: And so you know that's really really positive stuff. And

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Speaker 1: thank you so much, Bob. Thank you, Laurel.

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Speaker 11: Here you go, Laurel, Hello Rosie. My name is Laurel

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Speaker 11: and I live in the Vancouver area of Canada. I too,

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Speaker 11: grew up as a motherless daughter. My mom died when

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Speaker 11: I was two years old. My father was an alcoholic,

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Speaker 11: and I, like a lot of adult children, struggled with

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Speaker 11: many of the same issues that are spoken about by

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Speaker 11: people in recovery. I also was sexually abused, and I

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Speaker 11: have spent the last forty years in recovery with alan

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Speaker 11: On and have had lots of therapy. I am in

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Speaker 11: a good place these days, even though I lost my

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Speaker 11: husband three years ago and my dog a year later.

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Speaker 11: I wanted to talk about Lyle Menendez's interview. I think

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Speaker 11: about why some of us come out the other side okay,

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Speaker 11: and why some people go in a different direction and

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Speaker 11: have different outcomes. I believe most of the prisoners, drug addicts, alcoholics, etc.

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Speaker 11: Are all once abused children from various backgrounds, some different circumstances,

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Speaker 11: but ultimately wounded deeply. I don't know what the solution

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Speaker 11: is or if there's hope for society. Because we have

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Speaker 11: to keep people safe, we need prisons to do that.

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Speaker 11: How do we bring people around to the idea that

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Speaker 11: rehabilitation is better than punishment. Who decides which person can

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Speaker 11: be healed and who is just evil? There's no easy answer.

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Speaker 11: It was so great to hear how Lyle and Eric

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Speaker 11: have recovered and are now helping others.

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Speaker 6: I love the interview.

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Speaker 11: I'm so sad they have spent most of their lives incarcerated.

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Speaker 11: I do hope they get their freedom for time served.

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Speaker 11: It's a great topic. Rosie. Thank you again. I will

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Speaker 11: continue to follow your career. You're a joy to listen

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Speaker 11: to and watch. Oh and as a big fan, yes,

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Speaker 11: I do have the Rosie doll in the box and

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Speaker 11: all your magazines. Have a great day, Rosie, take care well.

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Speaker 1: Thank you, Laurel, thank you so much. Yeah, what a

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Speaker 1: beautiful message you left. It's really hard to know right

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Speaker 1: what we do. But I agree with you that most

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Speaker 1: of the prisoners in this country are abused kids who

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Speaker 1: never got an help. And you know, the forster care

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Speaker 1: system is a mess. And you know children in affluent

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Speaker 1: homes get abused, and you know no one ever shows

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Speaker 1: up and knocks on their door to check on you know,

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Speaker 1: the Menendez brothers in Beverly Hills. You know, even though

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Speaker 1: many people testifight at the trial, seeing the father work

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Speaker 1: them till they passed out on the tennis court, and

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Speaker 1: his abuse was evident to people in their lives, not

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Speaker 1: the sexual part, but all of the other type of

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Speaker 1: mental abuse and and never being good enough, never never

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Speaker 1: being good enough for their father. But what do we do?

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Speaker 1: And you know, we have to have a better system

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Speaker 1: than we have right now, where mentally ill people get

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Speaker 1: sentenced and housed and not given rehab, not given any

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Speaker 1: way to better themselves in prison. It's really a horrible

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Speaker 1: thing and it needs to you know, we look at

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Speaker 1: other countries and how they do it, and we have

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Speaker 1: a lot to learn the United States of America and

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Speaker 1: this you know prison complex right this million dollar prison

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Speaker 1: complex that we have going for us here. We have

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Speaker 1: a public defender, next, a public defender. We'll be back

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Speaker 1: with more of your comments after this.

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Speaker 12: Hi, I work in public defense, so I represent people

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Speaker 12: accused of crime. I listened to the episode, the thoughtful

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Speaker 12: episode he did with Lyle. I really appreciated hearing it

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Speaker 12: and the perspectives and the vulnerability that everyone shared. I'm

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Speaker 12: grateful to Rosie for putting that out there and getting

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Speaker 12: people to think about what happened in a different way.

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Speaker 6: One thing I wanted to bring up, and I.

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Speaker 12: Hope your show finds a way to spotlight and to

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Speaker 12: get your listeners to think about, is that most people

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Speaker 12: who commit crimes are not famous, they're not rich, they're

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Speaker 12: not well educated at Princeton, and they also have horrific

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Speaker 12: reasons that they do what they do. Our jails and

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Speaker 12: our prisons are not filled with horrible people who are

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Speaker 12: psychopaths most of the time. There are rare exceptions, but

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Speaker 12: most people who make the worst mistake of their lives

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Speaker 12: have done so because of horrible circumstances that have brought

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Speaker 12: them to the point in their life. Sometimes it's abuse,

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Speaker 12: sometimes it's addiction. Sometimes it's lack of resources or lack

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Speaker 12: of finances, or.

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Speaker 6: Lack of opportunity or being young.

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Speaker 12: And but I just hope that your listeners realize that

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Speaker 12: most people do not deserve to be judged by the

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Speaker 12: worst mistake of their lives, and that we should have compassion, Yes,

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Speaker 12: absolutely for Lyle and people like him who are victims

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Speaker 12: of abuse, but also have compassion for the millions and

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Speaker 12: millions of people that we have put behind bars, that

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Speaker 12: we do not think about, that you do not care about,

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Speaker 12: that you do not pay attention to, and we dehumanize and.

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Speaker 6: Treat in the worst way.

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Speaker 12: We absolutely should be considering parole and allowing for rehabilitation,

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Speaker 12: and that people change and grow, and that we want

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Speaker 12: them to rehabilitate themselves and become productive members of society

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Speaker 12: and move past the worst thing they've ever done in

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Speaker 12: their life.

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Speaker 1: So true, So true. You know, you know, jails are

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Speaker 1: full of people with addictions, and you know what the

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Speaker 1: addiction industry is, you know, the recovery programs that you know,

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Speaker 1: they're expensive and they get families and they tell them

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Speaker 1: this is how you treat your addict family member, and

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Speaker 1: whether or not you can do that, and you know,

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Speaker 1: the jails are full of the holes in all the

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Speaker 1: social programs that no longer exist or are just so

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Speaker 1: badly staffed, you know, and mental health in America, I mean,

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Speaker 1: my god, we don't have enough help for everyone's it's

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Speaker 1: a tragedy. Yet we seem to be able to find

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Speaker 1: millions and millions and millions of dollars for other wars

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Speaker 1: and other nations, and that, frankly, I don't understand. I

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Speaker 1: really don't, But yes, I agree with you. Most of

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Speaker 1: the people in prison are not rich and didn't go

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Speaker 1: to Princeton. You're totally right. And everyone deserves to be

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Speaker 1: treated as an equal part of society and a human being,

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Speaker 1: and you know, everyone deserves to feel a part of society.

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Speaker 1: And yeah, yeah, good points. Thank you very much for

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Speaker 1: leaving that message our last one today. Evo EVO, what

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Speaker 1: a cool name.

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Speaker 13: Hi, Rosie, my name is Evo, and I'm from San Jose, California,

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Speaker 13: right outside of the San Francisco and the Bay area.

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Speaker 13: And I just, oh, excuse me. I just finished listening

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Speaker 13: to the Lie Old men Endez podcast and that you

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Speaker 13: have on your Onwards show. And oh, Rosie, that's amazing,

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Speaker 13: that's so amazing that you're doing this. Yes, I do

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Speaker 13: believe that you should put both brothers on or I

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Speaker 13: don't know, you know, talk more about it. You know,

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Speaker 13: this is this destroys lives and you really would be

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Speaker 13: helping a lot. It's wonderful what you're doing. I hope

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Speaker 13: you do it. I hope you're protected when you do,

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Speaker 13: and I hope that the truth comes to light in

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Speaker 13: a way that everyone can understand it. Thank you, Rosie O'Donnell.

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Speaker 1: Thank you, Evo. Beautiful sentiment. I love your big heart

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Speaker 1: getting all choked up. Yeah, they deserve to be free.

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Speaker 1: They've served enough time, and we can write this wrong.

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Speaker 1: We can, and we just need some brave people at

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Speaker 1: the DA's office and to get a resentencing going, because

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Speaker 1: Lord knows, thirty four years is enough time, especially for

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Speaker 1: boys who were so brutalized as they were. All Right,

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Speaker 1: we'll be back with more after this. Thank you to

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Speaker 1: each and every one of you who left a voice memo.

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Speaker 1: With all that's going on, we need to listen, love

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Speaker 1: and help each other in any way possible. Sometimes, for me,

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00:32:31,600 --> 00:32:36,080
Speaker 1: in the quietest moments, it's as simple as befriending a squirrel.

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Speaker 1: I know some of you think that's crazy. Sorry not sorry.

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Speaker 1: Next week, my guest is Derek Downey Junior, aka a

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Speaker 1: Squirrel's best Friend. Fighting depression like so many of us do,

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00:32:47,760 --> 00:32:51,360
Speaker 1: Derek found solace and connecting with his neighborhood squirrels and

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00:32:51,400 --> 00:32:54,960
Speaker 1: sharing these videos on social media. Now he has over

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Speaker 1: a million TikTok followers. Derek uses this time with his

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Speaker 1: favorite squirrel, Max Vaccine, as a way to share thoughts

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Speaker 1: on compassion, mindfulness, humanity, and coexisting with nature. He is

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Speaker 1: a lovely, lovely man, Derek Downey Junior. That's next week,

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Speaker 1: Gone onward until then, Peace out, everybody,