The Breakroom

The Water Cooler: What did I miss?

Welcome to the Water Cooler

In this weird in-between time, Beth shared this poem:

The Three Goals¹

The first goal is to see the thing in itself
in and for itself, to see it simply and clearly
for what it is.
No symbolism, please.

The second goal is to see each individual thing
as unified, as one, with all the other
ten thousand things.
In this regard, a little wine helps a lot.

The third goal is to grasp the first and the second goals,
to see the universal in the particular,
simultaneously.
Regarding this one, call me when you get it.

Today, we’re continuing to process what just happened: Why did Democrats lose the election? What should Joe Biden be doing now? What do we think about the Cabinet Appointments? Did you see Wicked?

You’ll get your new episode of Pantsuit Politics in your feed later this afternoon.

Coming on Friday, we’re taking ourselves to school about international events in Syria, Lebanon, and South Korea. We’ll be talking about it on our show on Friday.

For your listening pleasure: Sarah’s Holiday Favorites

(For our Apple Music friends)

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Pantsuit Politics Bulletin Board

• Reminder: We’re adjusting our calendar in December. Our Tuesday episode of Pantsuit Politics will be in your feeds later this afternoon. Sarah and Beth are recording today

• More to Say: Beth is putting together a series on Prescription Drugs for our Premium Community. You can listen to the first episode here

More to Say About Prescription Drugs

• Good Morning: yesterday, Sarah caught us up on the headlines from our break. It’s a good starting place if you, like our team, took some time away from the news over Thanksgiving.

Good morning to those seizing their chance

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A Few Things We’re Reading

• How the Ivy League Broke America (The Atlantic) You’ll need this one for your Tuesday Episode Bingo Card

• Harris Melancholy & The Infinite Sadness (Puck News) As we continue to process the election loss

• The way we live in the United States is not normal (Kristen Powers | Substack) No, we aren’t leaving the country

• Opinion | Biden did what many fathers would do: Save his child (The Washington Post) gift link

• The Metamorphosis of Pete Hegseth: From Critic of War Crimes to Defender of the Accused (The New York Times) gift link

We’d love to hear what you’re reading this holiday season!

If you find yourself shopping this week

• First: The Spice Cabinet came through for us with excellent and thoughtful crowdsourced gift ideas in our chat yesterday

• Check out this gift guide for the Pantsuit Politics fans in your life (and use code: BLACKFRIDAY24 to take advantage of our holiday sale)

• If you’d like to send a Cameo (personal video card or pep talk) from Sarah and Beth to your beloved Pantsuit Politics fan, please request those by December 19 to be sure we get them to you before our holiday break.

• Our listener Michelle at The Graceful Goose² sent us her Kindness Advent Calenders if you’re looking to take a different approach to the holidays this year.

• Sarah and Beth were recently on the 3 in 30 Takeaways for Moms podcast and their host, Rachel, has created a one-sentence daily journal for moms called Flecks of Gold³ or you can use the code PANTSUIT to take advantage of their holiday sale.

• If Sarah or Beth have mentioned a book on the podcast (or had someone on the podcast talking about their books), chances are you can find it on our bookshop.org site.⁴

Copyright (C) 2024 Pantsuit Politics. All rights reserved.

1. by David Budbill, from Moment to Moment: Poems of a Mountain Recluse (Copper Canyon Press).

2. Affiliate link: Pantsuit Politics will receive a small commission if you purchase from this link.

3. Affiliate link: Pantsuit Politics will receive a small commission if you purchase from this link.

4. Affiliate link: Bookshop.org supports independent bookstores, and Pantsuit Politics will receive a small commission if you purchase from this link