WEBVTT - Tell the Truth

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<v Speaker 1>Good morning, peeps, and welcome to okay F Daily with

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<v Speaker 1>Meet Your Girl Danielle Moody, recording live from our plot

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<v Speaker 1>Stream studios in Times Square. Folks. I'm really excited about

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<v Speaker 1>today's episode with our in house doctor, doctor Jonathan Metzel.

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<v Speaker 1>So we're doing something a little bit different today, which

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<v Speaker 1>is that we're going to do a live show inside

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<v Speaker 1>of doctor Jonathan Metzel's class at Vanderbilt University and the

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<v Speaker 1>class that he is teaching right now. One of them

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<v Speaker 1>is COVID in the media. Essentially, how has the media

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<v Speaker 1>functioned in the midst of a pandemic and has it

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<v Speaker 1>shifted forever. The conversation is interesting that Jonathan and I

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<v Speaker 1>have and you'll hear him, as a turn of events,

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<v Speaker 1>interview me instead of me interviewing him. They think that

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<v Speaker 1>what's really exciting about this conversation is one I don't

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<v Speaker 1>get to talk with young people very often about how

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<v Speaker 1>they are experiencing the world that we're living in as

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<v Speaker 1>they are learning about the world that we are living

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<v Speaker 1>in in the context of a university. And then also

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<v Speaker 1>just given the opportunity to talk about what it's been

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<v Speaker 1>like to be on the air for the past eighteen months.

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<v Speaker 1>You know, we've made a lot of shifts at WOKEF

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<v Speaker 1>and thankfully many of you have made those shifts with

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<v Speaker 1>us as we've moved from studios, moved into a different

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<v Speaker 1>transition of audio, and then now get to be back

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<v Speaker 1>in a studio with all of our wonderful vaccinated folks.

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<v Speaker 1>But what is really interesting during this time is I

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<v Speaker 1>think the importance of media. And I've been talking about

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<v Speaker 1>this since forever, since back on serious days and to

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<v Speaker 1>now that the media, in my opinion, has a really

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<v Speaker 1>important responsibility, as a responsibility to tell the truth, not

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<v Speaker 1>to be impartial and not to be neutral, but to

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<v Speaker 1>tell the truth. And I think that what has happened

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<v Speaker 1>over the core of the last several years is that

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<v Speaker 1>we have lost the idea of what it means to

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<v Speaker 1>tell the truth in the desire to show both sides

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<v Speaker 1>of the story, and the reality is that not every

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<v Speaker 1>story has two sides. Frankly, the media did a disservice

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<v Speaker 1>to us one discussing climate change. Think about our climate

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<v Speaker 1>change conversations and how they would bring in both climate

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<v Speaker 1>scientists that are telling us the truth about how ice

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<v Speaker 1>caps are melting, waters are getting warmer, storms are hovering

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<v Speaker 1>longer and causing more damage, and how all of this

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<v Speaker 1>is because our climate is changing. And then in the

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<v Speaker 1>same segment sometimes they would have on climate deniers that

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<v Speaker 1>are saying, no, this is normal. It's totally fine that

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<v Speaker 1>it's fucking snowing in June in some places, and that

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<v Speaker 1>it's totally okay that fire season now lasts for several

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<v Speaker 1>months and burns, you know, hundreds of thousands of acres.

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<v Speaker 1>And the reality is is that because of that both

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<v Speaker 1>sides is um, we've gotten to a really dangerous place

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<v Speaker 1>in our society where we don't all have the same

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<v Speaker 1>set of facts. You know, we thought it was funny

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<v Speaker 1>ha ha ha when Kelly Ane Conway said, well, there

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<v Speaker 1>are facts and then there are alternative facts. Well, no,

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<v Speaker 1>actually they're fucking aren't. There's one set of facts, right,

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<v Speaker 1>Like we all agree that the sky is blue, we

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<v Speaker 1>all agree that gravity exists, we all agree right that

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<v Speaker 1>water is wet, that it's not. There's not an alternative

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<v Speaker 1>to those real, known, hard facts and truths. But as

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<v Speaker 1>we have gone on in the media, because of the

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<v Speaker 1>desire to get ratings and to have clickbait, they turned

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<v Speaker 1>what should have been thoughtful conversations about analysis about where

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<v Speaker 1>our society is headed on a myriad of topics. They

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<v Speaker 1>turned it into a food fight, and because of that

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<v Speaker 1>we are led completely astray and everyone is now in

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<v Speaker 1>their corners. Right. There are those of us who listen

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<v Speaker 1>to wokaf and who listened to and believe in doctors

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<v Speaker 1>and science and truth. And then there are others that

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<v Speaker 1>are now ingesting I don't know, huffing hydrogen peroxide in

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<v Speaker 1>a nebulizer because some quack on a QAnon network told

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<v Speaker 1>them that that will get rid of COVID, or are

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<v Speaker 1>threatening to blow up hospitals because they won't give you

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<v Speaker 1>a horse tranquilizer or horse hormones that, of course they

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<v Speaker 1>wouldn't have at a fucking hospital that treats human beings

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<v Speaker 1>because it's not a vet. Right. But we have lived

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<v Speaker 1>in a place for way too long that we have

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<v Speaker 1>allowed these conversations to be normalized when they should have

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<v Speaker 1>never been. Right, think back way back when when the

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<v Speaker 1>Obamas were coming into office and you had the entire

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<v Speaker 1>tea party led by fucking Donald Trump, who was debating

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<v Speaker 1>on whether or not Barack Obama was born in the

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<v Speaker 1>United States, or debating on whether or not. He wasn't

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<v Speaker 1>the Antichrist. Like all of those things sounded crazy then,

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<v Speaker 1>but they were not pushed back against hard enough, and

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<v Speaker 1>you gave voice and gave space too crazy, And now

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<v Speaker 1>crazy is dictating our policy. Crazy is what has produced

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<v Speaker 1>the Marjorie Taylor Greens and the Laura Boberts of the

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<v Speaker 1>world that are now sitting in our Congress. Right. Those

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<v Speaker 1>were the nut job fringe folks that are now sitting

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<v Speaker 1>on committees and deciding legislation for the rest of us. Right.

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<v Speaker 1>And so we are in a very dangerous space. And

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<v Speaker 1>one of the questions that you will hear Jonathan ask

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<v Speaker 1>me is where do I think that media will be

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<v Speaker 1>in ten years. Well, I'll be honest, I'll be surprised

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<v Speaker 1>if we're around in ten years. And I say that

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<v Speaker 1>very seriously. I mean, look at what we have dealt

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<v Speaker 1>with over the last eighteen months. We have a global

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<v Speaker 1>health pandemic that is killed over six hundred and fifty

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<v Speaker 1>thousand Americans right and shows no sign of stopping. Because

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<v Speaker 1>now we're living in a space where at first COVID

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<v Speaker 1>nineteen was ravaging blue state those that were highly populated,

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<v Speaker 1>densely populated states that had a lot of international travel,

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<v Speaker 1>which usually happens in blue states. But then once the

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<v Speaker 1>vaccine came into being, we saw our numbers decrease well

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<v Speaker 1>right now, right the New York Times is reported in

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<v Speaker 1>a piece called red Covid that now the deaths are

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<v Speaker 1>on partisan lines, the infection rates are strictly on partisan lines,

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<v Speaker 1>and they're calling it red COVID. Right, so you know,

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<v Speaker 1>we're at a place right now where this virus is

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<v Speaker 1>going to persist for god knows how long. At the

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<v Speaker 1>same time, we have seen superstorms like we have never seen.

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<v Speaker 1>How many times have we saw over the course of

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<v Speaker 1>the last several months historic flooding, historic hurricane, historic fires?

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<v Speaker 1>How many times can you see the fucking word historic?

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<v Speaker 1>Before we realize that this has become our new abnormal,

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<v Speaker 1>and we look at the media and we say to ourselves,

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<v Speaker 1>you know, tell us the truth. When weather people meteorologists

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<v Speaker 1>are reporting on the weather, how come they aren't talking

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<v Speaker 1>about climate change because they've been told not to because

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<v Speaker 1>some of them will lose their jobs. Right it's Al

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<v Speaker 1>Roker is one of the only people that you will

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<v Speaker 1>hear talk about how climate change is devastating our country. Right,

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<v Speaker 1>we talk about white supremacy. Donald Trump wanted to tell

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<v Speaker 1>us that they were good people on both sides. We

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<v Speaker 1>knew that white supremacy was on the rise in this country,

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<v Speaker 1>but did you see it reported in mainstream media. Did

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<v Speaker 1>you see conversations about what was going on with the

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<v Speaker 1>Proud Boys and the Boogoaloo boys and these folks know right,

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<v Speaker 1>every time with regard to the killing of unarmed black people,

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<v Speaker 1>we would talk about, oh, that this cop is a

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<v Speaker 1>bad apple, but the large majority of cops are good.

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<v Speaker 1>And then we'd get a blitz on media of all

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<v Speaker 1>of these good cops, stories of look at them playing

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<v Speaker 1>basketball with the black kids. They wouldn't dare kill them,

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<v Speaker 1>And next week. The reality is is that the medias

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<v Speaker 1>had a way to shape our images of ourselves, of

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<v Speaker 1>these pandemics of historic climate change, and they've had an

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<v Speaker 1>opportunity to tell the truth, and instead they decided to

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<v Speaker 1>go after ratings. They decided to go after the low

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<v Speaker 1>hanging fruit, which was just how to make more money.

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<v Speaker 1>And so now we are living inside of this reckoning,

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<v Speaker 1>living inside of the problem that was created by media.

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<v Speaker 1>I don't say that Donald Trump created alternative facts, but

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<v Speaker 1>the media did because they allowed us to live inside

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<v Speaker 1>of this both sidesism. They allowed us to think that

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<v Speaker 1>neutrality was something where we took ourselves out of the story,

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<v Speaker 1>when in fact, we are the story. So when asked

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<v Speaker 1>the question where do I think that media goes in

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<v Speaker 1>ten years, I have no fucking idea. And to be honest,

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<v Speaker 1>I don't feel really hopeful about where media goes because

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<v Speaker 1>I think that we are so far into our corners

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<v Speaker 1>right now that I can't even imagine what a coming

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<v Speaker 1>together will look like. But I know that we don't

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<v Speaker 1>come together unless we come together around a shared truth,

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<v Speaker 1>around values, around a shared understanding of what it means

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<v Speaker 1>to be moral right. And I don't mean the religiosity

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<v Speaker 1>of it. I mean to understand that no one should

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<v Speaker 1>fear losing their life for passing a counterfeit bill. No

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<v Speaker 1>one should fear or losing their life as they're driving

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<v Speaker 1>down the street, or sending their black son to the store,

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<v Speaker 1>or playing on a playground. Right that you know, these

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<v Speaker 1>things that we have seen, these stories that we continue

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<v Speaker 1>to hear, they could provide a sense of empathy and

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<v Speaker 1>humanity if they were told in the right way. So

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<v Speaker 1>where does media go? I have no, honestly, no idea.

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<v Speaker 1>But I know that we need to challenge media more

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<v Speaker 1>and not just take what they've been feeding us, not

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<v Speaker 1>just ingest it and say that that is the way,

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<v Speaker 1>because it is not, and it has never been until now.

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<v Speaker 1>So I hope that you all enjoy this conversation, this

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<v Speaker 1>kind of flipping of the script that doctor Jonathan Metzel

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<v Speaker 1>and myself will do in this episode. So let me

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<v Speaker 1>know on the comments section below what you think of

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<v Speaker 1>our live in studio or I should say, live in

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<v Speaker 1>classroom conversation with doctor Jonathan Metzel at Vanderbilt University. Folks,

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<v Speaker 1>I am so excited for this edition of woke ffa

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<v Speaker 1>daily with our friend, our in house doctor, doctor Jonathan Metzel,

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<v Speaker 1>to be live in his classroom for the very first

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<v Speaker 1>time at Vanderbilt University. So this is an exciting time

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<v Speaker 1>to be talking about what it means to be covering

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<v Speaker 1>a pandemic in the media, what it means to tell

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<v Speaker 1>the truth, what it means to use our platforms for good. So, Jonathan,

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<v Speaker 1>we're turning the tables today and you're going to ask

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<v Speaker 1>me questions as opposed to the last eighteen months of

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<v Speaker 1>me hammering you with the most important questions that the

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<v Speaker 1>wokeaf audience gets to know. So I'm very excited to

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<v Speaker 1>turn the tables today, so to you. Wonderful, wonderful, Well,

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<v Speaker 1>welcome to my honored guest here, Daniel Moody, who's going

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<v Speaker 1>to be interviewed by me, which is really really exciting.

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<v Speaker 1>And we actually have a live studio audience, which is

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<v Speaker 1>why I'm wearing. Man, I'm wearing a mask. You don't

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<v Speaker 1>often to get to see yourself in a mask, but

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<v Speaker 1>I'm wearing like a big ass pancake on my face here,

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<v Speaker 1>which is weird to be on television and be doing that,

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<v Speaker 1>but that's the way it goes. But let's just quickly

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<v Speaker 1>have our studio audience say hi. Let's get a big

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<v Speaker 1>cheer from the studio audience and they will be joining

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<v Speaker 1>us very shortly. But Danielle, today we're talking about the media.

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<v Speaker 1>The class that you're coming in on today is called

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<v Speaker 1>COVID and Society, and what we do in the class

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<v Speaker 1>is we just think about how is the pandemic changing

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<v Speaker 1>and how has it changed the world as we know it.

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<v Speaker 1>And so even though we have a lot of questions

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<v Speaker 1>for you, and actually the students are going to come

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<v Speaker 1>up and ask you questions on a little bit. Can

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<v Speaker 1>you just tell us, first of all, what's it been

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<v Speaker 1>like to be I mean, if we can even use

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<v Speaker 1>the word the media, what's it been like to be

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<v Speaker 1>in the media during a time like this? What's your

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<v Speaker 1>what's your experience been like? Just to start, I mean,

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<v Speaker 1>I will say that we've had to learn how to

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<v Speaker 1>do a lot of things differently, right. I came from

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<v Speaker 1>a radio and a podcast and then a radio background

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<v Speaker 1>and then back into doing a podcast. And the reality

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<v Speaker 1>was that before the pandemic, I'd been in studio, guests

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<v Speaker 1>were coming in studio every day, and so you're building

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<v Speaker 1>a rapport and you're having conversation, and now we had

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<v Speaker 1>to transition to doing all of our interviews doing everything

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<v Speaker 1>on zoom. I think that the basic way that I

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<v Speaker 1>can say how the pandemic has shaped has reshaped me

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<v Speaker 1>is that it has reflected to me just how important

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<v Speaker 1>the media is. Like we had the nightmare that was

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<v Speaker 1>Donald Trump because of the media. We have a completely

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<v Speaker 1>and total breakdown and facts and science and truth because

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<v Speaker 1>of the media. And so to me, I feel a

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<v Speaker 1>huge responsibility as we are living in and will essentially

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<v Speaker 1>until forever. Who knows living in this pandemic what it

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<v Speaker 1>means to tell the truth and to use whatever platforms

0:13:11.559 --> 0:13:14.199
<v Speaker 1>that you have in order to do that. So that

0:13:14.240 --> 0:13:17.280
<v Speaker 1>to me has just been hammered home more so over

0:13:17.320 --> 0:13:21.000
<v Speaker 1>the last eighteen months. And when you say the truth,

0:13:21.080 --> 0:13:23.520
<v Speaker 1>I mean, is there a different relationship now that you

0:13:23.600 --> 0:13:25.240
<v Speaker 1>have with the truth than you think you had before

0:13:25.280 --> 0:13:28.240
<v Speaker 1>all of this? And you know, I think that initially,

0:13:28.559 --> 0:13:31.360
<v Speaker 1>you know, when you're a commentator, you're being asked to

0:13:31.400 --> 0:13:33.920
<v Speaker 1>come on television, You're being asked to do shows to

0:13:34.040 --> 0:13:38.880
<v Speaker 1>provide your opinion, which your opinion is basically the information

0:13:38.920 --> 0:13:41.600
<v Speaker 1>that you're taking in, and you're providing your analysis the

0:13:41.640 --> 0:13:44.800
<v Speaker 1>world that you see with the perspective that you have

0:13:44.920 --> 0:13:48.600
<v Speaker 1>through your work, through your ethnicity, your race, your religion,

0:13:48.679 --> 0:13:51.960
<v Speaker 1>your geography, your gender, your sexuality, orientation, all of the

0:13:51.960 --> 0:13:54.840
<v Speaker 1>things that help shape how we see and reflect back

0:13:54.880 --> 0:13:59.040
<v Speaker 1>the world. And you know, now I have a lot

0:13:59.080 --> 0:14:04.240
<v Speaker 1>more people on like yourself who are steeped in you know, facts,

0:14:04.240 --> 0:14:07.479
<v Speaker 1>who are steeped in science, right like I am interviewing

0:14:07.480 --> 0:14:10.960
<v Speaker 1>and talking with scientists and doctors more so than I

0:14:11.000 --> 0:14:13.719
<v Speaker 1>would ever because I before it was just like, let

0:14:13.720 --> 0:14:16.400
<v Speaker 1>me have another commentator on to get their opinion on,

0:14:16.800 --> 0:14:18.720
<v Speaker 1>you know, on the state of the world. Where I

0:14:18.760 --> 0:14:22.600
<v Speaker 1>don't really want people's opinions on this pandemic so much

0:14:22.640 --> 0:14:25.840
<v Speaker 1>as I just want to keep people alive, right Like,

0:14:25.880 --> 0:14:28.640
<v Speaker 1>I just want to give people the information that they

0:14:28.720 --> 0:14:31.560
<v Speaker 1>need in order to keep themselves, their families, and their

0:14:31.560 --> 0:14:34.880
<v Speaker 1>communities safe. And so it's not so much setting up

0:14:35.640 --> 0:14:38.600
<v Speaker 1>thoughtful debates, you know, as we would on let's say,

0:14:38.600 --> 0:14:42.000
<v Speaker 1>the reconciliation package or let's talk about, you know, the

0:14:42.080 --> 0:14:45.360
<v Speaker 1>debt ceiling or these things. But it's more so this

0:14:45.480 --> 0:14:47.680
<v Speaker 1>is about life and death. So I'm not looking for

0:14:47.920 --> 0:14:51.520
<v Speaker 1>opinions so much as as much clarity as we can

0:14:51.560 --> 0:14:54.200
<v Speaker 1>get in these times. But isn't it the case that

0:14:54.360 --> 0:14:57.400
<v Speaker 1>facts themselves are so contested right now in a way,

0:14:57.440 --> 0:14:59.880
<v Speaker 1>So I mean, how do you how do you navigate

0:14:59.880 --> 0:15:01.280
<v Speaker 1>that out of There are examples you can think of

0:15:01.360 --> 0:15:03.320
<v Speaker 1>during the pandemic where it's kind of like, what is

0:15:03.360 --> 0:15:05.760
<v Speaker 1>a basic fact and how do I convey that to

0:15:05.800 --> 0:15:08.840
<v Speaker 1>my audience? You know, I will say that for me,

0:15:09.120 --> 0:15:12.440
<v Speaker 1>I have always trusted let's say, you know, the World

0:15:12.480 --> 0:15:18.920
<v Speaker 1>Health Organization, the CDC. Aside from the Trump administration, I

0:15:18.960 --> 0:15:23.920
<v Speaker 1>had trusted for the most times what was being delivered outside,

0:15:24.040 --> 0:15:26.760
<v Speaker 1>you know, from the White House. And so you know,

0:15:26.880 --> 0:15:30.560
<v Speaker 1>I trust the people who I believe have reputations of

0:15:30.600 --> 0:15:33.200
<v Speaker 1>telling the truth and wanting to really do no harm.

0:15:33.560 --> 0:15:36.840
<v Speaker 1>So the doctors and the scientists, the data analysts, the

0:15:36.840 --> 0:15:39.960
<v Speaker 1>folks that I'm bringing on I have either worked with

0:15:40.240 --> 0:15:43.320
<v Speaker 1>or I have had deep connection through work that I

0:15:43.400 --> 0:15:47.000
<v Speaker 1>have done with people who are dedicated to upholding their

0:15:47.000 --> 0:15:51.120
<v Speaker 1>oaths right to protect people and to provide you know,

0:15:51.160 --> 0:15:55.720
<v Speaker 1>as much coherent, thoughtful information as possible to many people

0:15:55.800 --> 0:15:58.360
<v Speaker 1>who haven't had a biology class since they were in

0:15:58.520 --> 0:16:02.200
<v Speaker 1>middle school, right, And so you're trying to reach people

0:16:02.720 --> 0:16:05.080
<v Speaker 1>where they are, and those are the people that I

0:16:05.160 --> 0:16:07.160
<v Speaker 1>like to bring on Woke A f are people that

0:16:07.240 --> 0:16:10.200
<v Speaker 1>are adept at reaching people where they are. You know.

0:16:10.240 --> 0:16:12.840
<v Speaker 1>It's interesting because like, of course, I'm somebody who's a

0:16:12.880 --> 0:16:15.160
<v Speaker 1>cultural critic. I you know, I happen to have gone

0:16:15.160 --> 0:16:18.000
<v Speaker 1>to med school, but I study race and politics. And

0:16:18.880 --> 0:16:21.040
<v Speaker 1>yet when I go on your show, I'm probably more

0:16:21.040 --> 0:16:23.440
<v Speaker 1>of a doctor than I ever expected to be on

0:16:23.520 --> 0:16:25.880
<v Speaker 1>television because I'm like, you know, because I'm like you know.

0:16:26.040 --> 0:16:29.200
<v Speaker 1>But it's interesting because that used to be the role

0:16:29.200 --> 0:16:31.440
<v Speaker 1>of everybody, right, getting out the information. And now there's

0:16:31.480 --> 0:16:34.280
<v Speaker 1>such a hunger for information in a particular way. And

0:16:34.320 --> 0:16:37.400
<v Speaker 1>so tell us about your audience a little bit, you know,

0:16:37.880 --> 0:16:40.000
<v Speaker 1>is it your sense that your audience is also looking

0:16:40.040 --> 0:16:43.080
<v Speaker 1>for they're looking for opinions, but they're also looking for facts.

0:16:43.520 --> 0:16:46.360
<v Speaker 1>I think that in the beginning of the pandemic, I mean, Jonathan,

0:16:46.400 --> 0:16:49.120
<v Speaker 1>the comments that we used to get from you know,

0:16:49.200 --> 0:16:52.120
<v Speaker 1>our segments in the very beginning, when we didn't know anything,

0:16:52.360 --> 0:16:55.120
<v Speaker 1>people were so desperate for you to come on and

0:16:55.240 --> 0:16:58.760
<v Speaker 1>just tell us what we need to know, just tell us, like,

0:16:59.200 --> 0:17:01.440
<v Speaker 1>you know, am I to be is this is this

0:17:01.560 --> 0:17:05.080
<v Speaker 1>virus spreading on cardboard boxes? Is it? You know? Can

0:17:05.160 --> 0:17:07.400
<v Speaker 1>I walk past my neighbor? Do I have to move

0:17:07.440 --> 0:17:09.520
<v Speaker 1>to the other side of the street. You know, they

0:17:09.520 --> 0:17:13.959
<v Speaker 1>were just so desperate in the beginning for any you know,

0:17:14.080 --> 0:17:17.680
<v Speaker 1>any sense of how they can control right their environment

0:17:17.720 --> 0:17:21.760
<v Speaker 1>and themselves. Now, so I think that it is also

0:17:22.880 --> 0:17:27.520
<v Speaker 1>folks wanting your analysis, right, like wanting you know, why

0:17:27.880 --> 0:17:30.439
<v Speaker 1>is there such a big gap? Right? Like you know,

0:17:30.520 --> 0:17:35.200
<v Speaker 1>in the New York Times yesterday was the article entitled

0:17:35.200 --> 0:17:39.040
<v Speaker 1>red COVID right where it's just like, why is this

0:17:39.040 --> 0:17:43.200
<v Speaker 1>this virus that started out ravaging blue states, now ravaging

0:17:43.280 --> 0:17:45.840
<v Speaker 1>red states, right when we have a vaccine and we

0:17:45.880 --> 0:17:48.920
<v Speaker 1>have more information than we did this time last year.

0:17:49.040 --> 0:17:53.000
<v Speaker 1>And so my audience are very you know, they're they're

0:17:53.080 --> 0:17:58.480
<v Speaker 1>highly educated, they're multiracial, you know, span pretty much everything

0:17:58.520 --> 0:18:00.920
<v Speaker 1>that you can think of. But the thing that they

0:18:00.960 --> 0:18:03.479
<v Speaker 1>all have in common is the truth and is a

0:18:03.520 --> 0:18:08.800
<v Speaker 1>dedication to progress, right, to progressive values and ideals. And

0:18:09.000 --> 0:18:12.719
<v Speaker 1>you know, it's funny because because of course we're not

0:18:12.760 --> 0:18:15.520
<v Speaker 1>just talking about COVID. COVID is also a reflection of

0:18:15.560 --> 0:18:20.080
<v Speaker 1>American society, right, It's a reflection of our investments, or

0:18:20.080 --> 0:18:23.040
<v Speaker 1>our lack of investments about race, about social justice and

0:18:23.119 --> 0:18:24.879
<v Speaker 1>things like that. And so, do you feel like the

0:18:24.920 --> 0:18:30.080
<v Speaker 1>pandemic has also changed how you talk about other social, political,

0:18:30.520 --> 0:18:34.880
<v Speaker 1>racial issues, because I think, yeah, I think that everything

0:18:34.960 --> 0:18:38.639
<v Speaker 1>has been colored in such a very distinct way because

0:18:38.640 --> 0:18:41.240
<v Speaker 1>of the pandemic. Things that we had always talked about

0:18:41.320 --> 0:18:44.920
<v Speaker 1>right before the pandemic. We would talk about racial disparities,

0:18:44.960 --> 0:18:47.480
<v Speaker 1>we would talk about you know, mass shootings, we would

0:18:47.520 --> 0:18:49.639
<v Speaker 1>talk about all of these things. We talk about hunger,

0:18:49.680 --> 0:18:55.040
<v Speaker 1>we talk about education and public schools. Everything became so

0:18:55.080 --> 0:18:58.840
<v Speaker 1>exacerbated over the course of this pandemic, the ills that

0:18:58.880 --> 0:19:04.480
<v Speaker 1>we always knew we're facing our society now were blown up,

0:19:04.600 --> 0:19:06.720
<v Speaker 1>you know, on a big screen in a way that

0:19:06.760 --> 0:19:09.600
<v Speaker 1>we couldn't look away from it. I think that we

0:19:10.119 --> 0:19:13.959
<v Speaker 1>in our society we love to excuse the faults that

0:19:14.080 --> 0:19:18.280
<v Speaker 1>government and bad policies have created. We always put it

0:19:18.320 --> 0:19:20.560
<v Speaker 1>on the people. Oh, there's something wrong with them, because

0:19:20.600 --> 0:19:24.640
<v Speaker 1>they're low income, because they're poor, because they're because they're black,

0:19:24.680 --> 0:19:27.040
<v Speaker 1>because they're Latin X, because they're this. It's always the

0:19:27.080 --> 0:19:29.800
<v Speaker 1>problem of the community. But what we see through this

0:19:29.880 --> 0:19:33.760
<v Speaker 1>pandemic is that no, this is it's the problems that

0:19:33.800 --> 0:19:38.600
<v Speaker 1>we are seeing enlarged. Our societal problems right they are

0:19:38.760 --> 0:19:42.159
<v Speaker 1>their policy problems. There are things that weren't fixed that

0:19:42.200 --> 0:19:44.600
<v Speaker 1>we knew were a problem. For instance, in our public

0:19:44.640 --> 0:19:47.520
<v Speaker 1>school system and public education. I'm talking K through twelve.

0:19:47.920 --> 0:19:50.440
<v Speaker 1>We knew that a majority of children didn't have access

0:19:50.480 --> 0:19:53.120
<v Speaker 1>to the internet, didn't have access to broadband. We knew

0:19:53.160 --> 0:19:56.000
<v Speaker 1>that a majority of kids didn't have you know, decent

0:19:56.560 --> 0:20:00.800
<v Speaker 1>computers and technology in their homes. We known that because

0:20:00.920 --> 0:20:04.040
<v Speaker 1>reports had told us that for a decade plus, but

0:20:04.200 --> 0:20:07.560
<v Speaker 1>we waited until now. We couldn't go into school, and

0:20:07.640 --> 0:20:10.000
<v Speaker 1>now teachers were forced to teach on zoom, which they'd

0:20:10.040 --> 0:20:13.159
<v Speaker 1>never been asked to do, or forced to teach on blackboard,

0:20:13.240 --> 0:20:15.560
<v Speaker 1>or use technology in a way that we never asked

0:20:15.560 --> 0:20:17.520
<v Speaker 1>them to do. And then all of a sudden, we're

0:20:17.560 --> 0:20:22.280
<v Speaker 1>having to have public school buses with broadbands circulate neighborhoods,

0:20:22.560 --> 0:20:25.200
<v Speaker 1>or kids go and sit outside of the McDonald's or

0:20:25.200 --> 0:20:27.400
<v Speaker 1>a diner in order to do their work because they

0:20:27.400 --> 0:20:30.520
<v Speaker 1>needed access to the internet. That wasn't the pandemic's fault.

0:20:30.560 --> 0:20:33.600
<v Speaker 1>That's a failure of our public education system, right that

0:20:33.720 --> 0:20:36.040
<v Speaker 1>we had ignored and continued to kick the can down

0:20:36.040 --> 0:20:42.679
<v Speaker 1>the road until there was no more road. That's it

0:20:42.760 --> 0:20:45.360
<v Speaker 1>for Today's Woke a f Daily podcasts To hear more

0:20:45.480 --> 0:20:49.040
<v Speaker 1>from today's show, including my full interview with doctor Jonathan Metzel,

0:20:49.200 --> 0:20:52.359
<v Speaker 1>support me on Patreon at patreon dot com Slatch Woke

0:20:52.400 --> 0:20:55.280
<v Speaker 1>a F. Power to the people and to all the people. Power,

0:20:55.440 --> 0:20:57.320
<v Speaker 1>get woke and stay focus. Fuck