We are doing a listener survey before we go on our retreat next week and so many of you have already responded. First, thank you for taking the time to give us your feedback. It’s so valuable to us. (If you haven’t filled it out there’s still time! Survey here)
In our age of AI, I (Maggie, Director of Community Engagement here at Pantsuit Politics) thought about getting something to summarize our survey responses. But then I thought, “you are real people, and I want to be as human as I can this year.” So, I’ve read through your comments with my actual human eyes.
And what a treat it was:
Sometimes I tap out of political news sources because of how stressful it all is. When I return to Pantsuit Politics, I’m always reminded how your content lessens my stress rather than increasing it. I need this tattooed on my forearm.
When my kids were in HS and we’d drive to school they would say “can we listen to that indignant lady!”
I really like that you all give action-oriented solutions and make me believe that there will be another day that the news cycle isn’t the only thing to pay attention to. Even when everything is going wrong, I still feel hopeful when I listen to you all, not because you sugarcoat anything, but because you take a broader perspective than what is happening in the moment.
It’s rare to have a podcast that forces you to think, take in multiple perspectives, and follows you on your journey of forming your opinion.
Your voices are a reminder that thoughtfulness is not weakness, that empathy is not naïveté, and that democratic values are sustained through care and persistence, not just outrage. You remind me that it’s still possible to be thoughtful when everyone around us is shouting, to care deeply without hardening, and to stay connected to our values without losing our humanity. That’s no small thing, especially right now.
I promise that it’s not all an amen chorus, as one of you said, “If I’m only hear for the echo chamber - I got other places for that.”
Also, some of you asked for help, and I wanted to share a few resources that you may have missed and that we’re working on for you:
Using Substack:
We’re working on building out a customized help document for Pantsuit Politics for our community. The Substack help center is pretty helpful, but we wanted to create a resource for our Pantsuit Politics specific needs. This is a work in progress, but please know that we are here to help you navigate this platform.
I really am willing to hang in with you and help through any issues at maggie@pantsuitpoliticsshow.com
If you’re an elder millennial1: You may have better luck navigating and finding what you’re looking for (especially Good Morning and More to Say) on the desktop/web version of Substack. You can visit us at www.pantsuitpoliticsshow.com. If you’re already subscribed, you can choose to ‘read without subscribing’ and then log in to your account, and the site is a little easier to navigate.
Content Archive: We have a library of almost everything we’ve ever made at Pantsuit Politics (free episodes, premium episodes, and many many issues of our newsletter) using a spreadsheet software called Airtable. You can search by topic, access transcripts, and links to episodes in our archive. It’s a great place to search “have Sarah and Beth talked about this?”
Episode Transcripts: If you prefer to read through a transcript of our episodes, we post them by noon most days on our episode page. You can find all of our episodes on this page of our website. You can also access auto-generated transcripts of Good Morning and More to Say on the desktop version of Substack.
Listening to Premium Episodes in Your Podcast Feed: If you’d like to listen to Good Morning, More to Say, and our Spicy Bonus episodes in a podcast player, there are instructions on how to do that here (specifically: you can listen to Premium Content on Spotify)
p.s. Sarah started recording Good Morning in her podcast studio late last year and the audio is SO MUCH BETTER than it used to be.
Merch: We use a print-on-demand service most of the time for our merchandise shop. That means if something is missing that you like need (I get it), please feel free to ask and we’ll work on getting a design up for you.
Plus - we also just added a collection of designs from our listener Lauren that you might love as much as we do.
Talking to People Who Disagree with You: We’ll definitely talk about this more throughout this year, but Sarah and Beth have written two books about talking through political disagreement generally and specifically in the context of our relationships. (Shameless plug: the audio books are like an extra-long podcast with Sarah and Beth).
I Think You’re Wrong (But I’m Listening): A Guide to Grace-Filled Political Conversations
Now What?! How To Move Forward When We’re Divided (About Basically Everything)
What We’re Reading This Week
Sarah: Lessons from My Me Too (Brooke Nevils | The Cut)
Beth: I just finished Nicole Baart’s novel Where He Left Me, which I really enjoyed. And she has written the account of a young man who was detained by ICE that is a must-read.
Next Week on Pantsuit Politics: while we’re on retreat next week, we’ll share Sarah and Beth’s recent conversation with Jane Perlez, a long-time reporter about the relationship between the US and China. She joined us for a conversation last year, and we’re excited to share the follow up with you next week.
I don’t claim to speak for all elder millennials. I’m just speaking my truth that sometimes things are easier for me on the big computer
Indignant Lady! 🤣💀
Gotta get that mug! Put it in my veins