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Speaker 1: Levels to This is an iHeart women's sports production in

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Speaker 1: partnership with Deep Blue Sports and Entertainment. You can find

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Speaker 1: us on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you

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Speaker 1: get your podcasts.

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Speaker 2: Hey, what's up, everybody? It's your girl, Treka Foster Brasby.

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Speaker 3: What's good, y'all? It's your girls.

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Speaker 2: Cheryl's swoops Hey, And this is a levels to this

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Speaker 2: the show where we talk about all the things that

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Speaker 2: women go through. And we really do have a great

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Speaker 2: show lined up for you today as we have a

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Speaker 2: very special guest who will be joining us.

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Speaker 4: But first, what's going on, Cheryl? What's your week?

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Speaker 3: Man?

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Speaker 4: How your week?

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Speaker 5: Man?

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Speaker 3: Oh? My week was great.

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Speaker 1: I had to think about it, but you know what,

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Speaker 1: it's great because, like, I've actually been home for a

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Speaker 1: couple of weeks, and I am I hate that the

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Speaker 1: WS season's over, but I'm I've like really enjoyed being home. Yeah,

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Speaker 1: just to sleep in my own bed, get things done.

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Speaker 3: I'm cleaning out closets, taking stuff to.

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Speaker 1: Good will, being a grandma, like just you know all

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Speaker 1: the things that I love doing.

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Speaker 3: Yeah.

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Speaker 6: I know that about you because you you on cruises,

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Speaker 6: you come home, you're working, you're going on another cruise,

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Speaker 6: Like I only keep up with you on social media

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Speaker 6: because I never know where you are.

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Speaker 4: That's so crazy.

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Speaker 2: So I too, have been home for a couple of weeks,

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Speaker 2: and you know what I've done?

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Speaker 4: Sleep?

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Speaker 1: Yes, Like yes, oh my god, yeah, And how good

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Speaker 1: is that?

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Speaker 2: I mean, my god, I didn't realize how much we

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Speaker 2: have missed each other because we don't get it.

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Speaker 3: You have to introduce yourself. You have to reintroduce yourself.

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Speaker 2: Myself to sleep, like, hello, go to sleep, girls.

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Speaker 3: That is so true.

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Speaker 2: I always laugh at like my niece and nephew they

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Speaker 2: want to stay up till two three in the morning

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Speaker 2: because they just, you know, feel like the world is

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Speaker 2: gonna change or something overnight, and they want to be

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Speaker 2: up late.

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Speaker 4: And I'm just like, wow, Remember when I too used

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Speaker 4: to want to be up.

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Speaker 2: All all the time because I just didn't afraid I

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Speaker 2: was gonna miss something. And now, honey, if I get

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Speaker 2: sleepy at ten fifteen, I'd be like, well, I'm going

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Speaker 2: to bed.

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Speaker 4: Even I'm going to be do you.

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Speaker 3: You do know me how many I say it to

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Speaker 3: you said, I will.

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Speaker 1: Fall asleep wherever we are, and y'all be talking about

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Speaker 1: me not being in the streets.

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Speaker 3: We don't need I need my sleep.

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Speaker 4: Because I am outside.

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Speaker 2: When I am outside, but when I am at home,

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Speaker 2: when you die. When I'm inside, I will fall asleep

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Speaker 2: anywhere inside, kitchen, sable, couch, bed, office, I'm out. I'm

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Speaker 2: good like I'm home.

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Speaker 3: So yeah.

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Speaker 4: But other than that, I've been preparing for my Halloween party.

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Speaker 3: Duh, How could I forget?

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Speaker 2: Halloween's my favorite holid But guess what, I Am actually

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Speaker 2: going to be in Houston the week on Halloween. On Halloween,

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Speaker 2: I get to Houston on the twenty ninth of October.

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Speaker 3: Why what are you doing?

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Speaker 2: So I am a delegate for the National PANELMIC Council

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Speaker 2: Leadership Conference, so I'll be representing my city, Hartford as

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Speaker 2: one of the delegates at this conference. The conference starts

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Speaker 2: on the thirtieth and it ends on November second, So

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Speaker 2: I get there Wednesday. The conference starts Thursday. So I

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Speaker 2: was trying to sneak in on you, but I'm like,

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Speaker 2: I can't sneak in on sure. Sure know when I'm

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Speaker 2: coming to a city, So Halloween. I got to find

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Speaker 2: something to do on Halloween, because I mean, I can't

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Speaker 2: help you, I know, I see, I want to ask

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Speaker 2: I want to ask you for that part.

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Speaker 4: I want to ask you with that.

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Speaker 3: But I'm so happy you're coming to the A I am.

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Speaker 1: I am so I'm actually because you know I live

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Speaker 1: outside of Houston.

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Speaker 4: Yes, yet I will actually be.

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Speaker 1: In Houston on the twenty night.

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Speaker 3: I don't know I'm speaking. I'm speaking at afro Tech.

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Speaker 4: Yes, because it's afro Tech weekend.

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Speaker 1: Yeah yeah, yeah, I can't wait.

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Speaker 3: I can't wait, I know.

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Speaker 7: So.

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Speaker 4: Yeah, we will definitely have to connect on where we are.

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Speaker 2: But because I will be gone for the actual weekend

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Speaker 2: of Halloween, that means I have to have my Halloween party.

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Speaker 2: This you do, Yeah, of course I do. So, you know,

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Speaker 2: talking to everybody's.

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Speaker 3: Got to bid you just not have a Halloween party.

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Speaker 4: That's crazy?

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Speaker 3: In what world? In what world? In what world? In

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Speaker 3: whose world? Better than that? Look, and I'll tell you

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Speaker 3: how bad I am.

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Speaker 2: I'm so bad that I started putting up my inflatables,

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Speaker 2: like the inflatables in my yard already eighty oh yeah,

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Speaker 2: because I need them to be up, you know, get

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Speaker 2: in the spirit. And I started, Hey, what are so

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Speaker 2: I have like dual pumpkins? They like angry pumpkins. So

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Speaker 2: that's like a one side and then I have an arch.

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Speaker 2: I have like a ghost arch that's on like one side.

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Speaker 2: So when you walk the art, the walk the pathway

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Speaker 2: to my door, you have to go under the arch, and.

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Speaker 3: Then just have like Halloween music so.

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Speaker 2: On the inside, like so I have. So I'm doing

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Speaker 2: a sores only event from five to eight.

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Speaker 4: So from that we call it a wind down. So

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Speaker 4: we have a wind down.

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Speaker 2: Well, I like that and one of the activities that

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Speaker 2: we're doing because I always try to have some form

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Speaker 2: of self care or some type of activity at this event.

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Speaker 2: But I wanted to fit the theme, and so since this

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Speaker 2: is Halloween, the theme is letting go of fears. Whatever

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Speaker 2: it is that you're afraid of, whether it's a new job,

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Speaker 2: whether it's taking a new leap, like, whatever it is

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Speaker 2: you're afraid. We got to find a way to let

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Speaker 2: go of fears. But then after that we getting drunk.

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Speaker 2: So that's the part, let go of your fears and

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Speaker 2: then we're getting.

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Speaker 1: I like that.

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Speaker 3: I love that. I love that.

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Speaker 1: But you talked about sleep and then you talked about

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Speaker 1: letting go of your fears, because honey, this country that

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Speaker 1: we're living in right.

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Speaker 4: Now, honey, this is a scary time.

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Speaker 1: It's a scary time, and I don't know how many

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Speaker 1: people are able.

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Speaker 3: To sleep through what we're going through right now.

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Speaker 2: People are furloughed, and your president decides that he wants

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Speaker 2: to build a whole two hundred and fifty million dollar ballroom.

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Speaker 2: I'm sorry, I'm sorry number forty seven slash forty five,

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Speaker 2: depending on when.

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Speaker 4: You came in.

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Speaker 2: No, no, no, no, that that that individual has decided that

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Speaker 2: he wants to build a two hundred and fifty million

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Speaker 2: dollar ballroom on a house that he don't even really

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Speaker 2: belong to.

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Speaker 3: That's not your house, sir, it's.

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Speaker 4: Not your house. It's not your house. It is the

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Speaker 4: people's house.

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Speaker 2: It's yeah, it's it's the most ridiculous thing I've ever

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Speaker 2: seen or heard. That we're in a government shut down

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Speaker 2: and you're building shit.

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Speaker 4: So wow.

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Speaker 2: With that being said, yeah, we definitely have a guest

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Speaker 2: today who understands exactly where we're coming from, who knows

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Speaker 2: exactly what it means to have people that she has

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Speaker 2: to be responsible for and has done so for many

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Speaker 2: years in the state of Kansas, and so we are

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Speaker 2: excited today to be welcome me in.

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Speaker 4: Senator Cindy Holscher to the show.

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Speaker 2: Who I think is going to bring a wealth of knowledge,

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Speaker 2: but maybe some perspective to figure out how to deal

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Speaker 2: with the shit that women ain't just going through it.

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Speaker 4: Everybody going through it right now.

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Speaker 2: So without further ado, let's just go ahead and take

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Speaker 2: this to the next level.

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Speaker 3: Everyone.

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Speaker 2: I am so excited to welcome in today, Senator Cindy Holscher.

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Speaker 2: She is a dedicated public servant representing the state of Kansas,

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Speaker 2: also a candidate for governor, and since first being elected

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Speaker 2: to the Kansas State Senate and twenty twenty, Senator Hulshore

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Speaker 2: has really been a strong advocate for education and health

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Speaker 2: care access and community safety. And we are just so

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Speaker 2: excited to have another strong woman joining our show today.

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Speaker 2: So without further ado, Senator who Shore, thank you so

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Speaker 2: much for joining us.

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Speaker 5: Oh, thank you so much for having me. I love

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Speaker 5: joining other strong women. So thank you, thank you, thank you.

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Speaker 5: I appreciate it. It's an honor to be here.

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Speaker 3: You know, I have to give it her.

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Speaker 4: That's not just for the customary welcome.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, yeah, so excited to have you join us on

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Speaker 1: the show.

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Speaker 3: Thank you.

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Speaker 2: Yes, customarily for us to make sure that we give

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Speaker 2: a great, warm welcome to our guests. And before we

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Speaker 2: get into the nitty gritty, we know that you're representing

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Speaker 2: the state of Kansas. Not sure if you're a sports

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Speaker 2: fan or not, but Kansas Jayhawks.

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Speaker 4: Are always in the mix.

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Speaker 2: They are approaching college basketball season. Are you rooting for

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Speaker 2: the team, what's going on? What can we expect?

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Speaker 3: Oh?

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Speaker 5: I am always rooting for any Kansas team, but the

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Speaker 5: Jayhawks do make it particularly exciting with their history of

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Speaker 5: wins and history of success. And I was thrilled to

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Speaker 5: be on the Senate floor a couple of years ago

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Speaker 5: when we honored the team and coach Sas.

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Speaker 7: I mean, what a big day. They're just they're just

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Speaker 7: so impressive and awesome.

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Speaker 5: I've always I'm always going to cheer for and congratulate

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Speaker 5: successful young people and that team.

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Speaker 7: Like I said, they are.

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Speaker 2: Awesome every single time, every single time. You never can

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Speaker 2: count Kansas out anytime we're doing anything.

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Speaker 4: So we had to get that out the way.

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Speaker 7: That is important. That is very important, Tea.

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Speaker 1: I have one more fun one before we get to

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Speaker 1: the serious stuff. I know you're always dealing with just

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Speaker 1: everything politics, so this one has zero to do with politics.

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Speaker 3: So my question is this pineapple on pizza or.

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Speaker 1: No, no, thank you god, thank you.

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Speaker 3: No, it does not pineapple does not be so sorry,

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Speaker 3: thank you, senator.

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Speaker 5: I can't do it. My daughter loves it. I can't

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Speaker 5: do it. But here's here's my kind of odd thing.

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Speaker 5: Pizza and milk.

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Speaker 2: Oh my god, you have the nerd to talk about

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Speaker 2: me and pep.

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Speaker 3: I just said, ill.

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Speaker 7: To that's so delicious.

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Speaker 4: Ill Oh my goodness. But I'm just I'm not getting tea.

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Speaker 3: I ain't trying. I am not trying pizza and milk.

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Speaker 7: No, I guess you know a lot of people will

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Speaker 7: do now.

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Speaker 4: No, I don't know.

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Speaker 7: I had melt with every meal, even pizza.

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Speaker 4: That is that is interesting. I'm not gonna knocket.

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Speaker 7: I still do it, and my family makes fun of me.

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Speaker 4: It's okay, that's so funny. That's awesome. That is so funny.

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Speaker 2: Well, you know what, let's just go ahead and kind

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Speaker 2: of get into because there is so much going on.

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Speaker 2: It's kind of one of those moments where it's like

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Speaker 2: where do we even start because there's so many things

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Speaker 2: that make you want to generate what in the hell

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Speaker 2: is going on?

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Speaker 4: What where is this place that we're living in?

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Speaker 2: But I want to start with the ability that you

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Speaker 2: have to collaborate with so many different people. You've really

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Speaker 2: built a reputation for working across the aisles and co

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Speaker 2: founding a bipartisan women's caucus, and really this is a

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Speaker 2: time where it feels like politics is more divided than ever.

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Speaker 2: So what have you kind of learned about, you know,

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Speaker 2: how women leaders specifically can really bridge the gap and

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Speaker 2: bring people together to get things done.

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Speaker 5: Oh yeah, I mean I feel like women really just

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Speaker 5: take a different approach in terms of how we collaborate.

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Speaker 5: You know, we're very calm, We also multitask, we can

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Speaker 5: you know, we can sit down and get things started,

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Speaker 5: and I think that's part of it. Sometimes it's just

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Speaker 5: knowing where to start and bringing people on board.

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Speaker 7: And you know, we know too that first you kind

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Speaker 7: of got to get.

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Speaker 5: Got to get some of those issues out in the

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Speaker 5: open first to then lower that resistance so then you

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Speaker 5: can move ahead and you know, really get into the

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Speaker 5: meat of fixing things and coming up with solutions. And

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Speaker 5: you know, we are we are slower to jump to

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Speaker 5: angry conclusions, I would say, and that is a huge help.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, well, Senator, in your twenty twenty six Kids's governor campaign.

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Speaker 1: Everyone that you had in that video they call you

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Speaker 1: a fixer. I love that nickname. And then you also

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Speaker 1: say but also known as Sarah's mom. My question for

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Speaker 1: you is because people ask me all the time, like,

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Speaker 1: how did you get started playing basketball? What was it

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Speaker 1: that made you want to, you know, play basketball? What

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Speaker 1: made you want to get into politics?

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Speaker 5: Well, okay, so I had been working at Sprint large

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Speaker 5: company here for several years. Took a few years off

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Speaker 5: to be home with my kids. They were very little.

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Speaker 5: I had three kids under the age of four, so

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Speaker 5: it was kind of nutty and crazy here.

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Speaker 7: So it took a couple of years off to be

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Speaker 7: with them while they were little.

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Speaker 5: And then when it came time to go back to

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Speaker 5: work was when all of this kind of transpired. And

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Speaker 5: you know, here's what's interesting. We came to the Kansas

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Speaker 5: Kansas City area, Kansas area because of the great schools

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Speaker 5: and the communities and to decide, Okay, this is where

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Speaker 5: we want to be to raise our family. And as

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Speaker 5: luck would have it, about the time our kids got

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Speaker 5: into school, things were aspiraling downward very fast.

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Speaker 7: We were in what was called the brown Back experiment.

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Speaker 5: The brown Back tax experiment at that time, it was

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Speaker 5: devastating our state budget. It was just another form of

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Speaker 5: trickle down economics honestly, but you know, marketing and packaged

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Speaker 5: a different way that it was supposed to really boost

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Speaker 5: our economy did not do that. So so, like I said,

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Speaker 5: about the time our kids got in school, things weren't

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Speaker 5: going so well. We were losing teachers, we didn't have supplies.

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Speaker 5: We had shower curtains for doors for some of our classrooms,

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Speaker 5: and wow, that's where this was going. So, like I said,

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Speaker 5: you know, I was seeing the situation. Actually joined up

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Speaker 5: with a group of advocates and walked to Topeka from

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Speaker 5: Shawnee to Topeka twice. I mean it's a sixty mile walk,

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Speaker 5: but we did that to draw attention to the funding issues. So,

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Speaker 5: like I said, I was very aware of what was

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Speaker 5: going on. And then one weekend, my daughter Sarah and

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Speaker 5: I Sarah was twelve, we went into Target on the

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Speaker 5: weekend just to pick up a few things and we

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Speaker 5: saw one of her teachers there working stocking shelves.

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Speaker 4: Wow, I had to have another job.

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Speaker 7: Yeah, yes, yeah, And.

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Speaker 3: That part is in the video right, yes, yeah, yeah.

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Speaker 5: And Sarah said to me, why is my teacher here

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Speaker 5: working on the weekend after being at school all week.

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Speaker 5: I know she's got a family, and I told her, so,

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Speaker 5: we're in a huge budget crisis. She probably hasn't gotten

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Speaker 5: a raisin a while, and she's working two jobs to

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Speaker 5: pay her bills.

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Speaker 7: And I kid you not. She looked at me and

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Speaker 7: she said, you go fix that. That's wrong.

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Speaker 4: Wow.

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Speaker 5: Wow.

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Speaker 4: It was your daughter, and that challenged you to go

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Speaker 4: and be the fixer. Wow.

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Speaker 7: Yeah.

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Speaker 3: Yeah.

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Speaker 5: And you know, as I stood there in Target and

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Speaker 5: I've told you to go fix this a huge situation, situation,

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Speaker 5: you know, I just started thinking, you know, we were

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Speaker 5: in quite a situation that kind of similar to what

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Speaker 5: we are now, where there have been a lot of

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Speaker 5: extremists really uh, you know, pushing forward an agenda that

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Speaker 5: didn't fit in with most Kansons.

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Speaker 7: And I started thinking about it. I was like, you know,

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Speaker 7: it's going to.

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Speaker 5: Take reasonable people stepping forward to make a difference. And

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Speaker 5: as it turned out, my own representative at the time

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Speaker 5: was leading the charge on defunding our schools and really

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Speaker 5: moving and spearheading all of these efforts.

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Speaker 3: Wow.

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Speaker 7: So that seemed like a good place to start.

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Speaker 1: Yeah.

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Speaker 4: Yeah.

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Speaker 2: So there were there were three things in there that

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Speaker 2: you said that I got a touch on.

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Speaker 4: Number one, you mentioned working at Sprint.

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Speaker 2: All of our listeners who are born after two thousand

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Speaker 2: are going to.

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Speaker 4: Be what a Sprint? I still love Sprints.

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Speaker 3: That was funny.

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Speaker 2: That's when we had the phone that like Chirk and

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Speaker 2: I was like, oh, you've got spread.

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Speaker 4: So there was that.

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Speaker 2: The second thing that you mentioned is education, right, just

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Speaker 2: the way that this country has continued to spiral downward

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Speaker 2: as it relates to prioritizing our education those who are

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Speaker 2: our educators, and the way that funding for education is funneled.

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Speaker 2: It's like there there seems to just I can't put

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Speaker 2: my finger on how we're losing the receipts of how

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Speaker 2: important that is. But the third thing that you touched

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Speaker 2: on is also economic security right. And it's so funny

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Speaker 2: because I was literally just posting on Twitter earlier about

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Speaker 2: how this week I went to Walmart and I literally

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Speaker 2: spent one hundred and eighty nine dollars.

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Speaker 4: That was Tuesday.

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Speaker 2: Today is Friday, and I'm opening up my refrigerator and

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Speaker 2: I'm like, what did I buy?

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Speaker 4: Like what it feels like I bought nothing?

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Speaker 2: Like That's like it just went anywhere, And so I

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Speaker 2: think it's not just me, it's not just you, it's

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Speaker 2: not others, But it's just so many women that are

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Speaker 2: just continuing to try to figure out how do we

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Speaker 2: juggle the rising costs in groceries, in child cares, and

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Speaker 2: being in careers that just don't always pay fairly. So

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Speaker 2: from your perspective, what do you think you know needs

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Speaker 2: to happen, Whether it's at a state level, whether it's

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Speaker 2: at a national level, but how do we truly find

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Speaker 2: a way to support women's economic mobility and family stability

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Speaker 2: in today's day and age.

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Speaker 5: Oh yeah, I mean I have been pushing for livable

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Speaker 5: wages and I will keep pushing for livable wages because

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Speaker 5: I mean, I don't have a problem with CEOs making

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Speaker 5: a lot of money, per se. I have a huge problem, though,

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Speaker 5: with them making a lot of money while they're exploiting

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Speaker 5: their workers.

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Speaker 7: And that's often women.

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Speaker 5: Yeah, and it's often men too, but a lot of women,

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Speaker 5: and I have a huge issue with that. So, you know,

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Speaker 5: I'm going to keep pushing for livable wages, you know,

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Speaker 5: raising our minimum wage, h and also looking for.

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Speaker 7: Ways to improve the situation.

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Speaker 5: We have a housing crisis here in Kansas, and you know,

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Speaker 5: across parts of the nation, we have issues with access

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Speaker 5: to affordable childcare as well as ish access to affordable

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Speaker 5: health care, and that always affects women more disproportionately than men.

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Speaker 7: So, like I said, I'm going to keep pushing on

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Speaker 7: those issues.

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Speaker 5: When we entered the brown Back tax experiment, I was

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Speaker 5: part of, I was a co founder of the Women's

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Speaker 5: bypars And Caucus that ended the experiment. We pushed women,

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Speaker 5: pushed to ensure that there were tax credits there for childcare.

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Speaker 7: And I mean, there.

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Speaker 5: Were certain things that we held out on that we

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Speaker 5: said had to be in there. And like I said,

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Speaker 5: I'm going to keep pushing for those things because that's

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Speaker 5: important because again, women are always, it seems disproportionate affected

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Speaker 5: by this.

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Speaker 7: Yep.

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Speaker 1: Yeah. And speaking of health care, I want to go there. Healthcare,

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Speaker 1: reproductive rights. Health care continues to be a defining issue

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Speaker 1: for women, whether that's reproductive care.

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Speaker 3: Maternal health, mental health.

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Speaker 1: In your opinion, how do you see the path forward

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Speaker 1: for protecting women's health rights while finding policies that can

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Speaker 1: actually pass intoday's divided Congress?

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Speaker 4: And I'm putting that nicely super divided.

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Speaker 5: Yeah, We've got to do a better job when I

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Speaker 5: say we Democrats other advocates of making sure that people

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Speaker 5: we got to help them connect the dots.

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Speaker 7: And here's what I'll tell you.

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Speaker 5: Back in August twenty twenty two, we had the Reproductive

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Speaker 5: health Care Valid Initiative. That was what the far right

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Speaker 5: Republicans had pushed to try to do away with abortion

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Speaker 5: access and all forms of reproductive health care associated with that.

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Speaker 7: And here's what happened. We had a huge turnout for

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Speaker 7: that election, and that amendment failed. I think overwhelmingly about

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Speaker 7: sixty percent people turned out, men, women.

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Speaker 5: But here's what happened just a few months later than

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Speaker 5: in November. The number of people who showed up to vote.

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Speaker 7: Drop by thirty percent in some areas.

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Speaker 5: And what that meant was that the very representatives and

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Speaker 5: senators who put that ballot initiative or put that initiative

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Speaker 5: on the ballot got elected back to office by and large. So,

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Speaker 5: like I said, we just have to do, in terms

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Speaker 5: of our messaging, a better job of helping voters connect

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Speaker 5: the dots between Okay, you know, state level, these are

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Speaker 5: people that are making decisions about your healthcare, about your roads,

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Speaker 5: your you know, your tax base and are trying to

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Speaker 5: strip away voting rights.

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Speaker 7: So I know, and here's the thing, like, I know,

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Speaker 7: people generally.

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Speaker 5: Get more excited about the presidential election or you know,

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Speaker 5: the congressional elections. You know, we're trying to bring more

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Speaker 5: focus and I'm working on this really hard to draw

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Speaker 5: attention to the state level those races, because again, those

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Speaker 5: are so many of the decisions are made that affect.

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Speaker 7: People's day to day life.

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Speaker 5: And so that thirty percent that didn't come back, I mean,

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Speaker 5: to me, that's an area that we have to focus on.

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Speaker 7: And I will say this.

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Speaker 5: You know, often they're working parents, or you know, they're

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Speaker 5: shoving their kids to soccer, or you know, they're working

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Speaker 5: two or three jobs. And so what I'm telling people

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Speaker 5: too is like, you know, we as just regular citizens

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Speaker 5: have more power and influence than we realize. And what

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Speaker 5: I'm talking about is, you know, over the past couple

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Speaker 5: of decades, we've lived under this kind of unwritten rule

448
00:22:35,800 --> 00:22:38,360
Speaker 5: if you don't talk religion, you don't talk politics.

449
00:22:39,359 --> 00:22:40,240
Speaker 7: And look where we.

450
00:22:40,359 --> 00:22:43,840
Speaker 4: Are, yeah, yeah, because one.

451
00:22:43,720 --> 00:22:46,360
Speaker 7: Side certainly has been talking politics.

452
00:22:46,800 --> 00:22:49,800
Speaker 4: Yeah, and we're behind Yeah.

453
00:22:49,840 --> 00:22:51,920
Speaker 2: And you know what I believe, if I'm not mistaken

454
00:22:52,000 --> 00:22:55,439
Speaker 2: Kansas was one of the states that actually passed the

455
00:22:55,480 --> 00:22:58,960
Speaker 2: amendment to continue to make things like abortion legal in

456
00:22:59,119 --> 00:23:03,160
Speaker 2: your state, and your Supreme Court reaffirmed that last year.

457
00:23:03,600 --> 00:23:06,760
Speaker 2: So it's one of those things where it's like, somebody's

458
00:23:06,800 --> 00:23:09,000
Speaker 2: got to start to change, right, Someone's got to stand

459
00:23:09,080 --> 00:23:09,840
Speaker 2: up for people.

460
00:23:09,880 --> 00:23:11,320
Speaker 4: And I love to see that.

461
00:23:11,520 --> 00:23:13,760
Speaker 2: You know, people in the state of Kansas are understanding

462
00:23:13,800 --> 00:23:19,240
Speaker 2: the importance of midterm elections, who's sitting as your representatives

463
00:23:19,280 --> 00:23:21,359
Speaker 2: and who's sitting in these different seats, because we have

464
00:23:21,400 --> 00:23:24,040
Speaker 2: a million people that turn out to vote every four

465
00:23:24,119 --> 00:23:26,159
Speaker 2: years for the President of the United States, and the

466
00:23:26,200 --> 00:23:29,360
Speaker 2: way that the numbers continue to fall off for midterm

467
00:23:29,400 --> 00:23:33,320
Speaker 2: elections and mayoral elections, and it's like, I don't know

468
00:23:33,359 --> 00:23:35,920
Speaker 2: what we need to do to get folks to understand

469
00:23:36,160 --> 00:23:42,840
Speaker 2: the importance of those more close knit elections, the people

470
00:23:42,880 --> 00:23:45,560
Speaker 2: who really have an ability to legislate for you and

471
00:23:45,800 --> 00:23:46,960
Speaker 2: that will affect.

472
00:23:46,600 --> 00:23:48,840
Speaker 4: Your every day versus the larger thing.

473
00:23:48,880 --> 00:23:50,680
Speaker 2: I don't know who we got to do, but we've

474
00:23:50,720 --> 00:23:52,840
Speaker 2: got to do something, And go ahead.

475
00:23:52,840 --> 00:23:53,560
Speaker 4: I'm sorry, go ahead.

476
00:23:53,600 --> 00:23:55,360
Speaker 3: No, I don't know what we have to do either.

477
00:23:55,440 --> 00:23:57,600
Speaker 3: But what I was going to say is, first.

478
00:23:57,400 --> 00:24:01,440
Speaker 1: Of all, local elections are very very very very important,

479
00:24:01,680 --> 00:24:04,399
Speaker 1: and so to your point, I think so many times

480
00:24:04,440 --> 00:24:06,640
Speaker 1: people are like, Eh, my vote doesn't matter, my vote

481
00:24:06,640 --> 00:24:09,480
Speaker 1: doesn't count. So when you ask the question what we

482
00:24:09,560 --> 00:24:11,880
Speaker 1: have to do, I think all we have to do

483
00:24:12,040 --> 00:24:18,040
Speaker 1: is look at where we are right now in this country.

484
00:24:18,560 --> 00:24:21,080
Speaker 3: Yea, And yes, your vote does matter.

485
00:24:22,920 --> 00:24:24,360
Speaker 4: Does matter absolutely.

486
00:24:25,320 --> 00:24:30,119
Speaker 2: One thing that you mentioned, Senator Holscher is people talking

487
00:24:30,160 --> 00:24:32,280
Speaker 2: because you know what you right, right, Like, we grew

488
00:24:32,359 --> 00:24:34,720
Speaker 2: up in my household. Well, I guess my household isn't

489
00:24:34,720 --> 00:24:38,120
Speaker 2: necessarily the best example, because we talked about everything at

490
00:24:38,119 --> 00:24:40,040
Speaker 2: the dinner table, right, Probably some stuff we shouldn't have

491
00:24:40,080 --> 00:24:40,640
Speaker 2: been talking about.

492
00:24:40,640 --> 00:24:41,399
Speaker 4: We were talking about.

493
00:24:41,800 --> 00:24:45,760
Speaker 2: But it's like, wait a minute, this is not appropriate

494
00:24:45,800 --> 00:24:50,560
Speaker 2: conversations and dinner. But it was like an unwritten rule

495
00:24:50,600 --> 00:24:52,600
Speaker 2: that it was like, you don't talk about religion, you

496
00:24:52,640 --> 00:24:54,960
Speaker 2: don't talk about politics, you don't talk about money.

497
00:24:55,040 --> 00:24:58,359
Speaker 4: Yep, Like we don't talk about what and how much

498
00:24:58,400 --> 00:25:01,240
Speaker 4: in all of those things. And you mentioned that.

499
00:25:01,119 --> 00:25:03,240
Speaker 2: There are those on the other side of the owl

500
00:25:03,600 --> 00:25:07,160
Speaker 2: who do have these conversations and that's how they are

501
00:25:07,640 --> 00:25:12,640
Speaker 2: raising future leaders. But here recently there was a release

502
00:25:12,800 --> 00:25:18,960
Speaker 2: of some ELK text messages from the young Republicans future

503
00:25:19,000 --> 00:25:22,359
Speaker 2: leaders of the I mean, that's a societ to be

504
00:25:22,840 --> 00:25:28,800
Speaker 2: yet to be determined. But the seriousness of the things

505
00:25:28,800 --> 00:25:32,199
Speaker 2: that were stated in those messaging talking about and I

506
00:25:32,240 --> 00:25:35,240
Speaker 2: won't go into everything in every detail, but for our

507
00:25:35,240 --> 00:25:38,880
Speaker 2: listeners who are unfamiliar, some of the messages contain things like,

508
00:25:39,240 --> 00:25:41,760
Speaker 2: you know, everyone that votes know should go to the

509
00:25:41,840 --> 00:25:45,760
Speaker 2: gash chamber and calling black people water millon people, and

510
00:25:46,160 --> 00:25:49,400
Speaker 2: someone else talked about how much they love Hitler and

511
00:25:49,760 --> 00:25:54,080
Speaker 2: Hitler aesthetics and things of that nature, and so double

512
00:25:54,160 --> 00:25:58,320
Speaker 2: sided question here number one is how disturbed were you

513
00:25:58,840 --> 00:26:02,600
Speaker 2: when you saw these messages? And then the second part

514
00:26:02,600 --> 00:26:05,480
Speaker 2: of that is how disturbing is it to know that

515
00:26:05,640 --> 00:26:11,199
Speaker 2: these are people who could potentially be leaders, senators, representatives,

516
00:26:11,760 --> 00:26:14,600
Speaker 2: and even president right like that these could be the

517
00:26:14,640 --> 00:26:15,920
Speaker 2: future leaders of our country.

518
00:26:17,240 --> 00:26:20,320
Speaker 7: That's horrifying. I mean, I just.

519
00:26:22,440 --> 00:26:25,280
Speaker 5: I can't quite put it all into words. How I

520
00:26:25,320 --> 00:26:28,560
Speaker 5: mean vile and horrible it is and how I mean

521
00:26:28,640 --> 00:26:31,240
Speaker 5: it just it felt like such a hard hit in

522
00:26:31,359 --> 00:26:34,600
Speaker 5: terms of you know, what was in those messages. And

523
00:26:34,760 --> 00:26:37,720
Speaker 5: let me say this, I am just so I mean,

524
00:26:38,359 --> 00:26:41,600
Speaker 5: I'm just so extremely sorry that there are people out

525
00:26:41,640 --> 00:26:45,640
Speaker 5: there who feel that way, and I feel I hate

526
00:26:45,680 --> 00:26:48,159
Speaker 5: the way that this must make my peers of color

527
00:26:48,200 --> 00:26:52,360
Speaker 5: feel to know that they are you know, and sure

528
00:26:52,680 --> 00:26:54,879
Speaker 5: you know, of course, you know, we've always kind of

529
00:26:54,920 --> 00:26:58,520
Speaker 5: suspected or you know, you always have these inklings into

530
00:26:58,720 --> 00:27:01,840
Speaker 5: were some people's attitude are and their perception and everything.

531
00:27:02,200 --> 00:27:07,480
Speaker 5: But yet to know that, yes, this, this type of

532
00:27:08,400 --> 00:27:11,520
Speaker 5: language came from from a group that really is a

533
00:27:11,560 --> 00:27:12,920
Speaker 5: pipeline to leadership.

534
00:27:13,359 --> 00:27:13,800
Speaker 3: Wow.

535
00:27:13,920 --> 00:27:16,120
Speaker 5: I mean, I'll be very clear about that. These are

536
00:27:16,119 --> 00:27:20,840
Speaker 5: not kids. I mean, yes, these are twenty thirty, you know,

537
00:27:20,920 --> 00:27:21,560
Speaker 5: and are forty.

538
00:27:21,920 --> 00:27:22,800
Speaker 7: These are adults.

539
00:27:22,840 --> 00:27:25,960
Speaker 5: They knew exactly what they were saying, and like I said,

540
00:27:27,000 --> 00:27:32,760
Speaker 5: it just is so shameful and I hate what, like

541
00:27:32,800 --> 00:27:35,560
Speaker 5: I said, how this must make my peers of color feel,

542
00:27:35,880 --> 00:27:38,720
Speaker 5: knowing that they're in the midst of this. Uh, in

543
00:27:38,800 --> 00:27:42,960
Speaker 5: terms of people in leadership roles with these attitudes and

544
00:27:43,080 --> 00:27:46,080
Speaker 5: again you know, you know, and not only like.

545
00:27:46,040 --> 00:27:47,640
Speaker 7: I say, is this the pipeline of leadership.

546
00:27:47,640 --> 00:27:51,760
Speaker 5: These are individuals who have jobs for some of you know,

547
00:27:52,320 --> 00:27:53,680
Speaker 5: the GOP leaders.

548
00:27:53,960 --> 00:27:55,479
Speaker 7: Yeah, so again not kids.

549
00:27:55,840 --> 00:27:57,840
Speaker 5: And you know, if you want to, you want to

550
00:27:57,840 --> 00:27:59,880
Speaker 5: look at this, I mean, these.

551
00:27:59,680 --> 00:28:02,360
Speaker 7: Are people being groomed for leadership. But they're being groomed

552
00:28:02,359 --> 00:28:06,160
Speaker 7: and hate as well. Yes, yes, and that part stands

553
00:28:06,200 --> 00:28:06,760
Speaker 7: so badly.

554
00:28:07,160 --> 00:28:09,080
Speaker 2: The hate part is the part that bugs me the

555
00:28:09,080 --> 00:28:11,399
Speaker 2: wrong way because this is to me and I'll let

556
00:28:11,440 --> 00:28:14,480
Speaker 2: you go, Cheryl, But to me, the thing that bothers

557
00:28:14,520 --> 00:28:17,399
Speaker 2: me the most is there are so many conversations about

558
00:28:17,480 --> 00:28:21,240
Speaker 2: people asking, you know, how are we so divided politically?

559
00:28:21,280 --> 00:28:23,639
Speaker 2: And in my head, I'm like, well, there's always been,

560
00:28:24,119 --> 00:28:26,560
Speaker 2: you know, people who have different political views that will

561
00:28:26,600 --> 00:28:30,240
Speaker 2: never change. Political views aren't actually the end of the world.

562
00:28:30,400 --> 00:28:32,159
Speaker 4: I mean, it is what it is.

563
00:28:32,240 --> 00:28:32,400
Speaker 3: Right.

564
00:28:32,440 --> 00:28:35,080
Speaker 2: We have different views on food, We've got different views

565
00:28:35,119 --> 00:28:38,480
Speaker 2: on clothes. To have different views on politics is not uncommon,

566
00:28:38,560 --> 00:28:41,200
Speaker 2: and I mean that's happened for since the beginning of time, right,

567
00:28:41,880 --> 00:28:45,880
Speaker 2: But the problem is that there are these moral character

568
00:28:46,080 --> 00:28:49,880
Speaker 2: human rights differences, and that is the problem. You and

569
00:28:49,960 --> 00:28:53,000
Speaker 2: I can disagree on what text cuts make sense. You

570
00:28:53,040 --> 00:28:57,880
Speaker 2: and I can disagree on you know, what conservativism is

571
00:28:58,000 --> 00:28:59,440
Speaker 2: versus what progressivism is.

572
00:28:59,480 --> 00:29:00,960
Speaker 4: We can deg disagree with all of that.

573
00:29:01,720 --> 00:29:04,680
Speaker 2: I can't agree with someone regardless of what party you

574
00:29:04,760 --> 00:29:08,040
Speaker 2: affiliate with, if you are a bigot, if you are

575
00:29:08,080 --> 00:29:11,000
Speaker 2: a racist, if you are misogynistic. If you believe that

576
00:29:11,120 --> 00:29:13,800
Speaker 2: my existence as a black woman is null and void

577
00:29:13,960 --> 00:29:15,400
Speaker 2: simply because.

578
00:29:15,960 --> 00:29:17,040
Speaker 4: You believe that.

579
00:29:18,120 --> 00:29:18,760
Speaker 3: You know what I mean?

580
00:29:18,840 --> 00:29:22,680
Speaker 2: Like that is that is the divide. It's not the politics.

581
00:29:22,760 --> 00:29:28,080
Speaker 2: It's the basic human rights and moral values that divides us.

582
00:29:28,120 --> 00:29:29,200
Speaker 4: But go ahead, shryl Well.

583
00:29:29,360 --> 00:29:31,560
Speaker 1: I was just going to add on to something that

584
00:29:31,800 --> 00:29:38,240
Speaker 1: Senator said. When when you have the vice president, right

585
00:29:38,600 --> 00:29:43,240
Speaker 1: jd Vance basically say oh, they're just kids. To your point,

586
00:29:43,280 --> 00:29:45,840
Speaker 1: first of all, no, they're not kids. But then when

587
00:29:45,880 --> 00:29:51,440
Speaker 1: you have the vice president, he didn't denounce it. He's

588
00:29:51,520 --> 00:29:57,239
Speaker 1: making excuses for them. And so I I don't know

589
00:29:57,640 --> 00:30:05,040
Speaker 1: how we change the political conversation or the rhetoric when

590
00:30:05,040 --> 00:30:09,440
Speaker 1: we have the president the vice president basically then oh,

591
00:30:09,440 --> 00:30:13,920
Speaker 1: they're just kids, it's okay, Like Senator in your opinion,

592
00:30:14,960 --> 00:30:18,240
Speaker 1: to me, that's just empowering not only the young Republicans

593
00:30:18,280 --> 00:30:20,640
Speaker 1: but anyone else who sees that and says, oh, well,

594
00:30:20,680 --> 00:30:23,880
Speaker 1: we can do whatever we want to do. Like what

595
00:30:24,120 --> 00:30:27,280
Speaker 1: goes through your mind when you hear the vice president

596
00:30:27,360 --> 00:30:30,800
Speaker 1: of the United States basically blow it off like it's

597
00:30:30,840 --> 00:30:31,400
Speaker 1: no big deal.

598
00:30:32,800 --> 00:30:34,920
Speaker 7: The rock starts at the top. I guess this is

599
00:30:34,960 --> 00:30:36,040
Speaker 7: what costs through my mind.

600
00:30:37,800 --> 00:30:43,280
Speaker 5: I mean, yeahah, people in power and you know, vice president.

601
00:30:43,040 --> 00:30:46,240
Speaker 7: As well as president spewing hate.

602
00:30:46,480 --> 00:30:50,080
Speaker 5: Yeah, And like I said, that goes on down and

603
00:30:50,120 --> 00:30:53,280
Speaker 5: then you're at the state level, people in positions of

604
00:30:53,320 --> 00:30:54,000
Speaker 5: power that.

605
00:30:55,600 --> 00:30:57,840
Speaker 7: Put those you know, put viol remarks out there.

606
00:30:57,880 --> 00:31:00,080
Speaker 5: But yeah, I mean, yeah, the rock starts at the

607
00:31:00,080 --> 00:31:01,760
Speaker 5: top is what goes through my mind.

608
00:31:02,320 --> 00:31:03,120
Speaker 4: Without question.

609
00:31:03,360 --> 00:31:07,680
Speaker 2: Yeah, for sure, staying kind of in that, but a

610
00:31:07,760 --> 00:31:10,440
Speaker 2: little bit differently. We talk, you know, briefly, and I

611
00:31:10,520 --> 00:31:12,479
Speaker 2: kind of just mentioned a moment ago about like this

612
00:31:12,520 --> 00:31:13,520
Speaker 2: whole thing with DEI.

613
00:31:13,720 --> 00:31:15,760
Speaker 4: People are so funny when you mentioned DEI.

614
00:31:16,120 --> 00:31:18,520
Speaker 2: It's like they're using it as a derogatory term, and

615
00:31:19,760 --> 00:31:22,520
Speaker 2: I just don't understand it. And I kind of got

616
00:31:22,520 --> 00:31:24,800
Speaker 2: this from my girl Joy and read She's like, well,

617
00:31:25,000 --> 00:31:27,800
Speaker 2: she says, she asked people it's funny, but it's true.

618
00:31:27,920 --> 00:31:31,080
Speaker 2: She says, she asked people often, well, what about DEEI

619
00:31:31,280 --> 00:31:34,680
Speaker 2: don't you like is the diversity, the equity or the inclusion?

620
00:31:34,720 --> 00:31:35,840
Speaker 4: And I always find that.

621
00:31:35,720 --> 00:31:40,240
Speaker 2: To be funny, Like what about that specifically don't you

622
00:31:40,280 --> 00:31:43,880
Speaker 2: not agree with? But I say that to say, you know, again,

623
00:31:43,920 --> 00:31:46,320
Speaker 2: this is a podcast where we continually talk about the

624
00:31:46,360 --> 00:31:49,800
Speaker 2: issues that affect women and women of color, working moms,

625
00:31:49,840 --> 00:31:55,360
Speaker 2: young women. We're still underrepresented it in government and policymaking spaces.

626
00:31:55,600 --> 00:31:57,800
Speaker 2: You know, what do you think it will take to

627
00:31:58,080 --> 00:32:00,440
Speaker 2: maybe not just bring more women to the tape, but

628
00:32:00,760 --> 00:32:06,120
Speaker 2: to really ensure that they're empowered once they get there. Especially, say,

629
00:32:06,240 --> 00:32:08,880
Speaker 2: if you were elected as governor, I.

630
00:32:08,840 --> 00:32:11,040
Speaker 5: Think then you know it is very much up to

631
00:32:11,080 --> 00:32:13,360
Speaker 5: me to bring good people with me. And that's what

632
00:32:13,400 --> 00:32:17,120
Speaker 5: I've always done and always worked toward. You know, starting

633
00:32:17,160 --> 00:32:20,960
Speaker 5: out on the House level, what I ran for election

634
00:32:21,080 --> 00:32:24,640
Speaker 5: twenty sixteen, that right away that next election cycle, I

635
00:32:24,680 --> 00:32:28,880
Speaker 5: got busy recruiting people specifically, working to recruit minority women,

636
00:32:29,240 --> 00:32:33,760
Speaker 5: you know, minorities in general, women because I want diversity

637
00:32:35,440 --> 00:32:38,400
Speaker 5: in our government, and working to bring on young people.

638
00:32:38,480 --> 00:32:39,880
Speaker 5: I mean, when you look at the age of the

639
00:32:39,960 --> 00:32:44,160
Speaker 5: legislature too, I mean that's not representative of our democracy.

640
00:32:45,160 --> 00:32:46,520
Speaker 5: So you know, one of the things I did is

641
00:32:46,560 --> 00:32:50,120
Speaker 5: I worked on getting some changes made in terms of

642
00:32:50,160 --> 00:32:53,880
Speaker 5: campaign finance. When I first ran, my kids were pretty

643
00:32:53,880 --> 00:32:58,000
Speaker 5: small then and I could use campaign funds to buy supplies,

644
00:32:58,000 --> 00:33:00,240
Speaker 5: but I couldn't use it for childcare to make sure

645
00:33:00,280 --> 00:33:02,600
Speaker 5: my kids were safe. As I was out there working

646
00:33:02,640 --> 00:33:05,080
Speaker 5: and doing the things I needed to do. So I

647
00:33:05,400 --> 00:33:09,320
Speaker 5: put together a petition. I put together a document, and

648
00:33:09,400 --> 00:33:12,520
Speaker 5: I petitioned the campaign finance people to.

649
00:33:12,840 --> 00:33:14,760
Speaker 7: Allow that to happen. And it took a little while,

650
00:33:15,000 --> 00:33:17,600
Speaker 7: but it did so now moving.

651
00:33:17,880 --> 00:33:19,560
Speaker 5: It was a little too late for me and my kids,

652
00:33:19,560 --> 00:33:21,080
Speaker 5: but that's okay because the.

653
00:33:21,040 --> 00:33:23,240
Speaker 7: Main thing is I want to bring more people with me.

654
00:33:23,400 --> 00:33:26,920
Speaker 5: So now it has been changed that people can use

655
00:33:26,960 --> 00:33:30,560
Speaker 5: campaign funds for childcare needs, you know, when they're campaigning

656
00:33:30,680 --> 00:33:33,280
Speaker 5: running for office, and you know, that's one step in

657
00:33:33,280 --> 00:33:35,280
Speaker 5: the direction of being able to bring more people on

658
00:33:35,360 --> 00:33:39,240
Speaker 5: board that are younger and potentially more diverse. But like

659
00:33:39,280 --> 00:33:41,640
Speaker 5: I said, every step along the way, every time there's

660
00:33:41,640 --> 00:33:43,840
Speaker 5: been an election cycle, I'm going to work to recruit

661
00:33:43,880 --> 00:33:46,240
Speaker 5: people that are diverse, and I'm going to do what

662
00:33:46,280 --> 00:33:51,400
Speaker 5: I can to try to bring them into office.

663
00:33:50,360 --> 00:33:54,840
Speaker 3: We definitely need more people like you running.

664
00:33:55,680 --> 00:33:55,920
Speaker 4: Shit.

665
00:33:56,120 --> 00:33:57,160
Speaker 3: Sorry I did say it.

666
00:33:58,000 --> 00:33:58,280
Speaker 2: We do.

667
00:34:00,280 --> 00:34:01,000
Speaker 4: Not say it.

668
00:34:01,280 --> 00:34:02,440
Speaker 7: I just wait for.

669
00:34:05,640 --> 00:34:07,360
Speaker 4: I want to know. I got you.

670
00:34:09,040 --> 00:34:09,680
Speaker 3: I got you.

671
00:34:09,760 --> 00:34:13,960
Speaker 4: Have been keeping it real, PG, we have we have

672
00:34:14,440 --> 00:34:15,160
Speaker 4: a good job.

673
00:34:17,360 --> 00:34:20,600
Speaker 5: I mean my dad, my dad's a marine veteran. He

674
00:34:20,719 --> 00:34:24,680
Speaker 5: was a construction worker, your labor. So there's a lot

675
00:34:24,719 --> 00:34:28,680
Speaker 5: of work. You should have said that in the beginning,

676
00:34:28,880 --> 00:34:30,040
Speaker 5: describe what's going on.

677
00:34:30,239 --> 00:34:32,640
Speaker 4: Every know, we probably should have made this career from

678
00:34:32,640 --> 00:34:33,160
Speaker 4: the start.

679
00:34:37,640 --> 00:34:39,719
Speaker 3: We're not going to keep you much longer. But I

680
00:34:42,880 --> 00:34:46,120
Speaker 3: so every day I wake up and I have to.

681
00:34:46,200 --> 00:34:48,879
Speaker 1: Monitor how much I'm on social media, how much I'm

682
00:34:48,920 --> 00:34:52,439
Speaker 1: watching the news, because the things that are going on

683
00:34:52,560 --> 00:34:57,960
Speaker 1: in this country just just isn't the America, I know, right.

684
00:34:59,840 --> 00:35:01,560
Speaker 3: My I question for you, and.

685
00:35:01,920 --> 00:35:07,000
Speaker 1: Maybe it's giving someone hope or some advice when you

686
00:35:07,080 --> 00:35:10,200
Speaker 1: see all the things that are going on with the

687
00:35:10,239 --> 00:35:15,120
Speaker 1: president sending national guard to you know, these democratic states

688
00:35:15,200 --> 00:35:18,640
Speaker 1: and cities, and just all the horrific things that are

689
00:35:18,680 --> 00:35:23,560
Speaker 1: going on, Like, give us some words of encouragement. Like

690
00:35:23,680 --> 00:35:25,800
Speaker 1: there are days where I'm like, I just need somebody

691
00:35:25,800 --> 00:35:29,200
Speaker 1: to tell me something positive out of all the negative

692
00:35:29,200 --> 00:35:31,759
Speaker 1: stuff that's going on in this country right now. And

693
00:35:33,000 --> 00:35:36,319
Speaker 1: I don't know, what would you say to someone who's like,

694
00:35:36,520 --> 00:35:38,680
Speaker 1: I can't, I can't keep doing this.

695
00:35:39,160 --> 00:35:39,239
Speaker 3: No.

696
00:35:39,400 --> 00:35:42,759
Speaker 5: I get that it's heavy and it's overwhelming. There's so

697
00:35:42,800 --> 00:35:45,880
Speaker 5: many different things. So you know, I read something a

698
00:35:45,920 --> 00:35:49,160
Speaker 5: couple of weeks ago that really resonated with me. You know,

699
00:35:50,080 --> 00:35:53,359
Speaker 5: it was something to the fact of you know, it's

700
00:35:53,360 --> 00:35:54,240
Speaker 5: not over yet.

701
00:35:54,719 --> 00:35:56,480
Speaker 7: We do still have our democracy.

702
00:35:57,920 --> 00:36:00,840
Speaker 5: You know, if it were over, it would look totally,

703
00:36:00,880 --> 00:36:04,160
Speaker 5: it would look even different than this and worse than this.

704
00:36:04,280 --> 00:36:05,719
Speaker 7: So it's not over yet.

705
00:36:06,560 --> 00:36:08,560
Speaker 5: And what that means is we got to get busy

706
00:36:08,760 --> 00:36:12,799
Speaker 5: now in terms of what we're doing. And and I

707
00:36:12,960 --> 00:36:16,200
Speaker 5: encourage people even to think, Okay, you know, what's your

708
00:36:16,280 --> 00:36:18,920
Speaker 5: line in terms of you know, what are you going

709
00:36:19,000 --> 00:36:21,080
Speaker 5: to do to try to make a difference. You know,

710
00:36:21,200 --> 00:36:25,880
Speaker 5: people are protesting, which I think is important that you know,

711
00:36:26,400 --> 00:36:29,080
Speaker 5: showing up for events and protesting.

712
00:36:28,680 --> 00:36:30,400
Speaker 7: That solidarity builds courage.

713
00:36:30,600 --> 00:36:32,720
Speaker 5: And then let your neighbors know that they're not alone

714
00:36:32,719 --> 00:36:35,000
Speaker 5: because there's always people sitting at home on the couch

715
00:36:35,000 --> 00:36:37,160
Speaker 5: going I think I'm the only one who who feels

716
00:36:37,160 --> 00:36:39,680
Speaker 5: this way. You let them know that's not true when

717
00:36:39,719 --> 00:36:42,799
Speaker 5: you get up and you take action. But you know,

718
00:36:42,880 --> 00:36:44,680
Speaker 5: the other thing I think about, too, is what are

719
00:36:44,719 --> 00:36:48,000
Speaker 5: those practical things that you can do in terms of

720
00:36:48,040 --> 00:36:50,879
Speaker 5: making a difference in this next election. You know, I'm

721
00:36:50,960 --> 00:36:53,480
Speaker 5: encouraging people to be precing people in our in our

722
00:36:53,560 --> 00:36:57,839
Speaker 5: districts here in Kansas. You know, again, talking to your

723
00:36:57,840 --> 00:37:00,919
Speaker 5: friends and neighbors, so small conversation. And when I say

724
00:37:00,960 --> 00:37:02,920
Speaker 5: talk politics, I'm not saying that you got to go

725
00:37:02,960 --> 00:37:06,000
Speaker 5: out and talk about abortion or going or things like that. Yeah,

726
00:37:06,040 --> 00:37:09,680
Speaker 5: you know, talk about those things that matter to everybody.

727
00:37:10,000 --> 00:37:14,480
Speaker 5: Our schools, our roads, our highways, voting rights matter to

728
00:37:14,520 --> 00:37:15,200
Speaker 5: a lot of people.

729
00:37:15,280 --> 00:37:17,520
Speaker 7: So, like I said, you know, those are the.

730
00:37:17,400 --> 00:37:19,719
Speaker 5: Conversations that we need to be having with people and

731
00:37:19,840 --> 00:37:23,759
Speaker 5: laying them though. It's all at stake. So like I said,

732
00:37:23,800 --> 00:37:25,400
Speaker 5: you know, that's how I look at We've got what

733
00:37:27,480 --> 00:37:30,080
Speaker 5: I can't remember how many days now until the midterms.

734
00:37:30,920 --> 00:37:33,040
Speaker 5: But what you know, I think about that, can I

735
00:37:33,160 --> 00:37:34,840
Speaker 5: reach five more people every day?

736
00:37:35,000 --> 00:37:36,160
Speaker 7: I reach ten more people?

737
00:37:36,560 --> 00:37:38,480
Speaker 5: And you know, obviously I'm in a little different position

738
00:37:38,480 --> 00:37:40,080
Speaker 5: where I'm reaching out to a lot, but you know,

739
00:37:40,600 --> 00:37:42,879
Speaker 5: can regular people reach out to two people a day?

740
00:37:44,280 --> 00:37:45,200
Speaker 4: Yeah?

741
00:37:44,719 --> 00:37:47,400
Speaker 5: And back to the point of voting doesn't make a

742
00:37:47,440 --> 00:37:51,879
Speaker 5: difference on these statewide elections for our legislators like here

743
00:37:51,920 --> 00:37:53,719
Speaker 5: in Kansas, and this happens across the nation.

744
00:37:54,120 --> 00:37:56,080
Speaker 7: Sometimes there are de side of my ten votes.

745
00:37:56,680 --> 00:37:58,600
Speaker 4: Yeah, I mean, yeah.

746
00:37:58,520 --> 00:38:02,640
Speaker 5: Your vote makes a difference. You know, friends, get them

747
00:38:02,680 --> 00:38:04,839
Speaker 5: to go vote. Yeah, I mean, that's where that's where

748
00:38:04,840 --> 00:38:05,480
Speaker 5: our power is.

749
00:38:05,520 --> 00:38:06,239
Speaker 3: It's a great point.

750
00:38:06,320 --> 00:38:09,720
Speaker 2: Yeah, No, that's that's an incredible point that you're making,

751
00:38:09,960 --> 00:38:13,399
Speaker 2: Like on a state level, sometimes that one or two

752
00:38:13,719 --> 00:38:15,759
Speaker 2: people who decided not to turn out to vote could

753
00:38:15,760 --> 00:38:19,440
Speaker 2: have literally shifted the direction of the election. So it

754
00:38:19,520 --> 00:38:21,960
Speaker 2: is just so important that we continue to encourage people

755
00:38:22,200 --> 00:38:26,240
Speaker 2: to exercise your right to vote.

756
00:38:26,719 --> 00:38:27,359
Speaker 4: Just do it.

757
00:38:27,520 --> 00:38:29,600
Speaker 2: Just get out and do it. Educate yourself as much

758
00:38:29,600 --> 00:38:31,919
Speaker 2: as you can so that you can do it. And

759
00:38:32,719 --> 00:38:35,160
Speaker 2: you know, I'm trying to go and visit my mom

760
00:38:35,520 --> 00:38:38,920
Speaker 2: for I'm from Michigan, originally born and raised in Detroit,

761
00:38:39,280 --> 00:38:42,000
Speaker 2: and I'm trying to go and visit my mom for Thanksgiving,

762
00:38:42,000 --> 00:38:45,760
Speaker 2: you guys, And the flights are seven hundred plus dollars.

763
00:38:45,800 --> 00:38:47,840
Speaker 2: I have never paid seven hundred dollars to go to

764
00:38:47,840 --> 00:38:51,120
Speaker 2: Detroit in my life. And something is telling me that

765
00:38:51,280 --> 00:38:53,919
Speaker 2: part of the reason flights are so expensive right now

766
00:38:54,440 --> 00:38:56,959
Speaker 2: may play a part with this damn government shut down

767
00:38:57,120 --> 00:39:01,359
Speaker 2: which is now on day seventeen. Yeah, and there are

768
00:39:01,440 --> 00:39:05,040
Speaker 2: a lot of American senator that are suffering right now

769
00:39:05,120 --> 00:39:07,920
Speaker 2: due to the shutdown. Either people have lost their jobs,

770
00:39:07,960 --> 00:39:11,719
Speaker 2: they are furloughed, or just you know, basic things. And

771
00:39:11,760 --> 00:39:14,759
Speaker 2: I know on the state level, every you guys, are

772
00:39:14,800 --> 00:39:18,400
Speaker 2: also affected just from different funding and different projects. I

773
00:39:18,440 --> 00:39:21,320
Speaker 2: have a friend who works in nonprofit who no longer

774
00:39:21,360 --> 00:39:24,080
Speaker 2: has a job because there's no longer any funding coming

775
00:39:24,080 --> 00:39:27,960
Speaker 2: from the department, so that that funded her nonprofit, and

776
00:39:28,000 --> 00:39:30,439
Speaker 2: that's in the state of New Jersey. Just you know,

777
00:39:30,719 --> 00:39:33,440
Speaker 2: what are your thoughts or or shall I say, do

778
00:39:33,520 --> 00:39:34,680
Speaker 2: you have any advice?

779
00:39:36,920 --> 00:39:38,239
Speaker 4: What can these people do?

780
00:39:38,320 --> 00:39:41,160
Speaker 2: What should they be thinking about doing to get the

781
00:39:41,200 --> 00:39:42,200
Speaker 2: government reopened?

782
00:39:42,200 --> 00:39:44,000
Speaker 4: If anything? Like what's going on?

783
00:39:45,080 --> 00:39:48,800
Speaker 5: Okay, I mean, don't underestimate the effect again of showing

784
00:39:48,920 --> 00:39:52,400
Speaker 5: up and reaching out because and here's why I mentioned this,

785
00:39:52,880 --> 00:39:55,600
Speaker 5: elected officials, if they're doing things that aren't in line

786
00:39:55,680 --> 00:39:59,360
Speaker 5: with the American people, they prefer that you're not watching.

787
00:40:00,280 --> 00:40:03,880
Speaker 5: So if you aren't reaching out and you aren't making

788
00:40:03,920 --> 00:40:06,919
Speaker 5: a little noise, then they kind of feel like they're

789
00:40:06,960 --> 00:40:08,680
Speaker 5: fine to move forward because they're not going to get

790
00:40:08,680 --> 00:40:11,520
Speaker 5: held accountable. When they start to feel like they're going

791
00:40:11,600 --> 00:40:14,640
Speaker 5: to be that they're being watched, that there's a chance

792
00:40:14,640 --> 00:40:17,000
Speaker 5: they'll be held accountable in the next election, then we

793
00:40:17,040 --> 00:40:19,759
Speaker 5: see change. And I mean I think back to you know,

794
00:40:19,800 --> 00:40:23,600
Speaker 5: when protests first started back in April, the hands off

795
00:40:23,600 --> 00:40:26,279
Speaker 5: protests started happening and the focus on a lot of

796
00:40:26,320 --> 00:40:29,240
Speaker 5: those was Elon Musk at that point and the things

797
00:40:29,280 --> 00:40:32,160
Speaker 5: he was doing. But people even here in Kansas were

798
00:40:32,200 --> 00:40:35,960
Speaker 5: showing up and protesting at the capitol and across the state.

799
00:40:36,480 --> 00:40:39,160
Speaker 5: And guess what you know, a couple of months later,

800
00:40:39,280 --> 00:40:42,480
Speaker 5: Elon Musk kind of was moved off the stage.

801
00:40:42,960 --> 00:40:44,080
Speaker 4: Mm hmmm hm.

802
00:40:44,880 --> 00:40:48,120
Speaker 5: Now there's probably other people doing horrible things in the government,

803
00:40:48,320 --> 00:40:52,520
Speaker 5: but the government saw we were paying attention and noticed

804
00:40:52,520 --> 00:40:53,319
Speaker 5: what was going on.

805
00:40:53,880 --> 00:40:57,680
Speaker 2: True, very true, very true, And I love that. That's

806
00:40:57,880 --> 00:41:00,399
Speaker 2: such a great point. We just have to stay sticks

807
00:41:00,560 --> 00:41:04,040
Speaker 2: and we have to stay paying attention. I think that's

808
00:41:04,080 --> 00:41:08,359
Speaker 2: probably the overall overarching theme of this conversation, is that

809
00:41:08,880 --> 00:41:11,520
Speaker 2: we have to continue to pay attention and let them

810
00:41:11,600 --> 00:41:13,120
Speaker 2: know that we're paying attention.

811
00:41:13,160 --> 00:41:15,200
Speaker 4: That's how we get things done.

812
00:41:16,040 --> 00:41:19,080
Speaker 5: Yeah, and I will say too, I mean, obviously, you know,

813
00:41:19,160 --> 00:41:21,759
Speaker 5: sometimes you can find ways too to make an impact,

814
00:41:22,520 --> 00:41:26,120
Speaker 5: you know, economically. I think that talks to a lot

815
00:41:26,160 --> 00:41:28,399
Speaker 5: of these companies and a lot of these leaders when

816
00:41:28,600 --> 00:41:31,480
Speaker 5: you know, when there are voycotts or different things done.

817
00:41:31,760 --> 00:41:33,880
Speaker 7: Uh, and it starts hitting out of the pocket book.

818
00:41:34,160 --> 00:41:39,320
Speaker 2: Yep, yeah, sure, do one hundred percent agree. Well, Senator

819
00:41:39,400 --> 00:41:42,319
Speaker 2: We really appreciate you pulling up, keeping it real with

820
00:41:42,440 --> 00:41:45,320
Speaker 2: us about what it actually takes to keep things moving

821
00:41:45,360 --> 00:41:49,319
Speaker 2: and keep things moving forward just for everyone, for women, families, communities.

822
00:41:50,040 --> 00:41:51,799
Speaker 2: You've been doing this work for a long time and

823
00:41:51,880 --> 00:41:54,160
Speaker 2: it does show and we appreciate you. But before we

824
00:41:54,200 --> 00:41:56,120
Speaker 2: wrap and get you out of here, we just want

825
00:41:56,120 --> 00:41:58,840
Speaker 2: people who are listening who want to stay connected with you.

826
00:41:58,960 --> 00:42:01,359
Speaker 2: We have listeners in this thinking of Kansas who may

827
00:42:01,400 --> 00:42:03,239
Speaker 2: want to support what it is that you're building, in

828
00:42:03,280 --> 00:42:03,960
Speaker 2: what you're doing.

829
00:42:04,200 --> 00:42:06,520
Speaker 4: How can they get involved? How can they reach out

830
00:42:06,520 --> 00:42:06,719
Speaker 4: to you?

831
00:42:07,080 --> 00:42:07,319
Speaker 3: Oh?

832
00:42:07,400 --> 00:42:10,600
Speaker 5: Yeah, you can go right to the website Cindy for

833
00:42:10,760 --> 00:42:13,520
Speaker 5: Kansas dot com, all spelled out c I N D

834
00:42:13,719 --> 00:42:16,080
Speaker 5: Y f O R K A N S A S

835
00:42:16,160 --> 00:42:20,359
Speaker 5: dot com. I'm on Act Blue in terms of donations,

836
00:42:20,440 --> 00:42:24,240
Speaker 5: but yeah, reach out every week. We're happy to welcome aboard,

837
00:42:24,280 --> 00:42:29,520
Speaker 5: more volunteers, more people who support this campaign as we

838
00:42:29,560 --> 00:42:31,720
Speaker 5: move forward to make a big difference here in Kansas.

839
00:42:33,160 --> 00:42:36,480
Speaker 4: I love that. Thank you so much, senator, and here

840
00:42:36,520 --> 00:42:37,319
Speaker 4: we go best.

841
00:42:37,640 --> 00:42:40,799
Speaker 3: Thank you so much, Thank you for coming on.

842
00:42:41,760 --> 00:42:42,560
Speaker 7: Thank you so much.

843
00:42:56,400 --> 00:42:59,440
Speaker 2: Such an incredible conversation with Cindy. Uh, it was just

844
00:43:00,360 --> 00:43:03,799
Speaker 2: great to get the perspective of someone who's literally in

845
00:43:03,840 --> 00:43:07,920
Speaker 2: the trenches doing the work, and also just another woman

846
00:43:07,960 --> 00:43:10,360
Speaker 2: that she's trying to continue to lead in the way

847
00:43:10,400 --> 00:43:13,520
Speaker 2: that we hope people can understand that women can lead.

848
00:43:13,640 --> 00:43:15,880
Speaker 2: You know, they didn't seem to understand the assignment in

849
00:43:15,920 --> 00:43:18,839
Speaker 2: November of twenty twenty four about how a woman can lead.

850
00:43:19,120 --> 00:43:22,640
Speaker 2: So hopefully the state of Kansas can see what they

851
00:43:22,680 --> 00:43:25,480
Speaker 2: have in front of them with Senator Cindy Holscher and

852
00:43:26,040 --> 00:43:28,640
Speaker 2: make and make a wise decision, whatever decision that may

853
00:43:28,680 --> 00:43:29,160
Speaker 2: be for them.

854
00:43:29,640 --> 00:43:31,839
Speaker 3: Yeah, just to get a different perspective.

855
00:43:32,280 --> 00:43:36,800
Speaker 1: Right, She's in politics, so she knows things, sees things.

856
00:43:36,840 --> 00:43:38,840
Speaker 3: Here's things that we don't.

857
00:43:39,600 --> 00:43:42,240
Speaker 1: But just to get her perspective, to hear her voice

858
00:43:42,480 --> 00:43:45,960
Speaker 1: on a lot of different issues was so incredibly good

859
00:43:45,960 --> 00:43:50,680
Speaker 1: to have her. I loved everything she said, but I

860
00:43:50,719 --> 00:43:56,239
Speaker 1: particularly loved her story on how she got involved in politics.

861
00:43:58,600 --> 00:44:02,560
Speaker 2: A great kids, a way of motivating people to do

862
00:44:02,680 --> 00:44:06,640
Speaker 2: things that never you probably never thought was possible. And

863
00:44:07,080 --> 00:44:09,440
Speaker 2: when she said, you know you got to fix it,

864
00:44:09,719 --> 00:44:12,640
Speaker 2: well that's that's exactly what you do. You find a

865
00:44:12,640 --> 00:44:14,920
Speaker 2: way to fix it. I hear you, I hear you,

866
00:44:15,160 --> 00:44:17,720
Speaker 2: I understand, I understood love it.

867
00:44:17,920 --> 00:44:19,960
Speaker 3: And she's and she's still fixing.

868
00:44:19,600 --> 00:44:23,279
Speaker 2: It and still is doing her best right, So much

869
00:44:23,400 --> 00:44:27,279
Speaker 2: luck to her on upcoming elections and we'll check in

870
00:44:27,320 --> 00:44:30,080
Speaker 2: with her to see if she is the next governor

871
00:44:30,120 --> 00:44:34,120
Speaker 2: of the state of Kansas. But with Zach Cheryl, it

872
00:44:34,200 --> 00:44:37,200
Speaker 2: is that time where we have you level us on up.

873
00:44:37,760 --> 00:44:42,399
Speaker 1: This one's simple, you know, just giving the conversation we had,

874
00:44:43,160 --> 00:44:45,160
Speaker 1: the climate we're living in, I know.

875
00:44:45,360 --> 00:44:48,760
Speaker 3: There's just there's there's just fear right that's.

876
00:44:48,560 --> 00:44:52,319
Speaker 1: Probably running through if you live in this country, you're

877
00:44:52,640 --> 00:44:56,400
Speaker 1: fearful of something. I just want to say to everybody

878
00:44:56,760 --> 00:45:00,319
Speaker 1: found this and it just says hope is.

879
00:45:00,280 --> 00:45:03,160
Speaker 3: The only thing stronger than fear.

880
00:45:06,200 --> 00:45:07,839
Speaker 4: So yah, that is so good.

881
00:45:07,960 --> 00:45:12,440
Speaker 1: Listen, hang in there, don't quit, don't give up. I

882
00:45:12,480 --> 00:45:15,359
Speaker 1: know what's to say. Keep hope alive, Like, seriously, keep

883
00:45:15,520 --> 00:45:16,320
Speaker 1: hope alive.

884
00:45:16,840 --> 00:45:18,560
Speaker 4: Yes, because we need it.

885
00:45:18,560 --> 00:45:23,240
Speaker 2: It's the only thing greater than heere. I absolutely love that. Well, guys,

886
00:45:23,280 --> 00:45:25,560
Speaker 2: thank you guys so much for listening to levels to this.

887
00:45:25,719 --> 00:45:28,759
Speaker 2: We are definitely going to be back next week with

888
00:45:28,800 --> 00:45:31,439
Speaker 2: more next level conversations, just talking about the real shit

889
00:45:31,520 --> 00:45:34,400
Speaker 2: that we go through as women. But remember, guys, this

890
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Speaker 2: isn't just our show. It's our show, so we want

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Speaker 2: to hear from you. Leave us a review on Apple Podcasts,

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Speaker 2: Email us at Levels to This Podcast at gmail dot com,

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Speaker 2: tell us what you thought of this week's show and

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Speaker 2: what you might want to talk about next, and you

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Speaker 2: know you can always follow us on Instagram at ltt pod.

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Speaker 2: So until then, keep your mentals ground level and we

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Speaker 2: will be back next week.

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Speaker 1: Thanks. Listen to Levels to This on America's number one

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Speaker 1: podcast network, iHeart open your free iHeart app and search

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00:46:05,560 --> 00:46:08,440
Speaker 1: Levels to This with Cheryl Swoops and Tureka Foster Brasbee

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Speaker 1: and start listening