For the thought exercise I’d live in New Zealand. My sisters family lives there and we visited in December. I’d have family there and cousins for my kids to play with. It’s a lovely country. My sisters family lives walking distance to multiple beaches. The South Island has the mountains. The people are lovely. There are no predatory animals. No gun issues. Dads seemed super involved either way their kids there. It didn’t feel so consumeristic. They speak English. The elementary school my niece and nephew go to is amazing. The food just seemed so much more real and less processed. I could go on and on. And maybe if things keep going so downhill I’ll really do it.
When I heard Sarah's cities, I just stressed out about the cost. Even Dublin is very expensive now, with a two-bedroom costing about $4,000 a month. A friend recently moved from the Dublin suburbs to Washington DC, and her cost of living is less than in Ireland. But at least since Brexit, London is now cheaper than NYC.
I would either pick Canada, where half my relatives live, or someplace cheaper than where I live now and with good public transit. There are lots of depressed cities in the UK where it is fairly easy (although expensive) to get to London, and I already know English, so maybe one of the non-tourist UK cities.
I really want to visit China! I want to go to Guangzhou and Shanghai. I want to tour big factories and watch street life. And ever since I watched Caught by the Tides, I've wanted to visit Yichang.
The manufacturing infrastructure there is almost unfathomable and unmatchable. The U.S. can't pivot to that and I'm not sure that is communicated to the population here. In some countries, competition comes from doubling down on handmade and artisan items; you pay more, but the quality is exponentially higher than anything mass produced. That model can barely work here because Americans are used to cheap goods: fast fashion, fast furniture, fast everything. Workers here expect a good wage and quality of life, things a Communist government doesn't care about.
Thank you for the thought exercise, Sarah and Beth! I wasn't surprised by either of your answers. lol I would pick London, probably, for myself. Or Sydney, but the time change and murder animals make that less attractive.
Great episode. I am admittedly uninformed on most other countries. I have a hard enough time trying to keep up with this one.
I don't know how we'd turn the heat down in our politics when we haven't been able to do it within our own families. I hear a lot of people expressing a desire for politics to get better but I get the sense what they really mean is they just want the other side to change. Our current system does not need us to work together, so we of course take the path of least resistance.
Wouldn't it be great to have some really talented mediators permanently stationed with congress, and for congress to HAVE to reach compromises. Right now the priority is to maintain a majority and effectively eliminate about half of our representation. We're so stuck.
I'm with Beth. We lived in Madrid, Spain for 3 years and I loved it but missed America more. I couldn't live in another country forever, but if I had to choose, I would also pick Canada. Honestly though, I can't even imagine living in a different region in the United States 😆 travel is one thing, living is another.
I learned a lot from this conversation about China. I have to admit, the topic has felt very overwhelming to me.
I just listened to another interesting conversation regarding China on the "Life After MLM" podcast. They discussed Shen Yun and the Falun Gong group/cult. Growing up in a conservative Christian household there was always a sense of malice towards China because of the atheism and Christian persecution. I am constantly working on unlearning my biases. Conversations like this definitely help!
My husband has a colleague from China. She and at least some of her family still living in China are Christians. She will not talk about her family unless we are in the private home of someone she trusts. She may be overly cautious, but just the fact that she fears for their welfare so much was eye-opening to me.
I was very relieved to hear about the deal to not have AI in control of nuclear weapons! Hopefully that will be followed up on and remain true (and that other countries agree to the same? Having AI control nukes seems like a terribly disastrous idea)
There’s a Behind the Bastards episode about nuclear weapon command and control, and… let’s just say it didn’t help me sleep better! I can totally see the people they talked about embracing AI and blowing up the world.
This weekend I saw the documentary Mr. Nobody Against Putin. (highly recommend, and I have no idea how they got the teacher and his footage out of Russia). Since the invasion of Ukraine, Russiahas been talking about its nuclear arsenal more, which is scary.
Heated Rivalry has definitely elevated Canada on the list of places I'd love to live. I'd go to the cottage any time of year. Also Chad speaks French?!?! Please tell me more. Do Chad and Sarah have French class together??
I cannot wait to listen to this episode. I’m always more focused on east Asia than anyone else I know so this was such a pleasant title to see. Looking forward to the interview- China is something that in the first term trump got somewhat “right” but I don’t think that’s how it’s going this time around.
Same. My husband spent most of his career in Navy intelligence in the Pacific, which means most of his career dealt with how the US handles China. For me, we can't talk about America's national security, or our global identity, without talking about China.
Trump has been taking a wrecking ball to everything American but his attack on our standing in the world probably tops the list for me. Our government has never been perfect, or the perfect neighbor, but we used to be more reliable, more generous, more compassionate, and a whole lot more competent. I want that leading the world again, not Putin's Russia and not the Party's China. I'm not a nationalist - I'd prefer free movement among all countries - but given the world as it is, I'd rather Trump not trade our power away for his own gain.
And on that note, I think PP is a fine model of a nation without borders. Sarah and Beth don't need a country for their "headquarters." The world is their headquarters! But I knew Sarah would pick France.
For the thought exercise I’d live in New Zealand. My sisters family lives there and we visited in December. I’d have family there and cousins for my kids to play with. It’s a lovely country. My sisters family lives walking distance to multiple beaches. The South Island has the mountains. The people are lovely. There are no predatory animals. No gun issues. Dads seemed super involved either way their kids there. It didn’t feel so consumeristic. They speak English. The elementary school my niece and nephew go to is amazing. The food just seemed so much more real and less processed. I could go on and on. And maybe if things keep going so downhill I’ll really do it.
When I heard Sarah's cities, I just stressed out about the cost. Even Dublin is very expensive now, with a two-bedroom costing about $4,000 a month. A friend recently moved from the Dublin suburbs to Washington DC, and her cost of living is less than in Ireland. But at least since Brexit, London is now cheaper than NYC.
I would either pick Canada, where half my relatives live, or someplace cheaper than where I live now and with good public transit. There are lots of depressed cities in the UK where it is fairly easy (although expensive) to get to London, and I already know English, so maybe one of the non-tourist UK cities.
I started listening to Jane Perlez’s podcast after you had her on the show last time, and I’m so glad she came back for more discussion here.
I really want to visit China! I want to go to Guangzhou and Shanghai. I want to tour big factories and watch street life. And ever since I watched Caught by the Tides, I've wanted to visit Yichang.
The manufacturing infrastructure there is almost unfathomable and unmatchable. The U.S. can't pivot to that and I'm not sure that is communicated to the population here. In some countries, competition comes from doubling down on handmade and artisan items; you pay more, but the quality is exponentially higher than anything mass produced. That model can barely work here because Americans are used to cheap goods: fast fashion, fast furniture, fast everything. Workers here expect a good wage and quality of life, things a Communist government doesn't care about.
Thank you for the thought exercise, Sarah and Beth! I wasn't surprised by either of your answers. lol I would pick London, probably, for myself. Or Sydney, but the time change and murder animals make that less attractive.
Loved hearing from Jane and found this to be helpful to catch up on China. Thank you!
Great episode. I am admittedly uninformed on most other countries. I have a hard enough time trying to keep up with this one.
I don't know how we'd turn the heat down in our politics when we haven't been able to do it within our own families. I hear a lot of people expressing a desire for politics to get better but I get the sense what they really mean is they just want the other side to change. Our current system does not need us to work together, so we of course take the path of least resistance.
Wouldn't it be great to have some really talented mediators permanently stationed with congress, and for congress to HAVE to reach compromises. Right now the priority is to maintain a majority and effectively eliminate about half of our representation. We're so stuck.
I'm with Beth. We lived in Madrid, Spain for 3 years and I loved it but missed America more. I couldn't live in another country forever, but if I had to choose, I would also pick Canada. Honestly though, I can't even imagine living in a different region in the United States 😆 travel is one thing, living is another.
Great thoughts! The unwillingness to compromise is definitely at the heart of many political issues.
I learned a lot from this conversation about China. I have to admit, the topic has felt very overwhelming to me.
I just listened to another interesting conversation regarding China on the "Life After MLM" podcast. They discussed Shen Yun and the Falun Gong group/cult. Growing up in a conservative Christian household there was always a sense of malice towards China because of the atheism and Christian persecution. I am constantly working on unlearning my biases. Conversations like this definitely help!
My husband has a colleague from China. She and at least some of her family still living in China are Christians. She will not talk about her family unless we are in the private home of someone she trusts. She may be overly cautious, but just the fact that she fears for their welfare so much was eye-opening to me.
I was very relieved to hear about the deal to not have AI in control of nuclear weapons! Hopefully that will be followed up on and remain true (and that other countries agree to the same? Having AI control nukes seems like a terribly disastrous idea)
There’s a Behind the Bastards episode about nuclear weapon command and control, and… let’s just say it didn’t help me sleep better! I can totally see the people they talked about embracing AI and blowing up the world.
This weekend I saw the documentary Mr. Nobody Against Putin. (highly recommend, and I have no idea how they got the teacher and his footage out of Russia). Since the invasion of Ukraine, Russiahas been talking about its nuclear arsenal more, which is scary.
Oh dear🤦🏼♀️
Same!!
Heated Rivalry has definitely elevated Canada on the list of places I'd love to live. I'd go to the cottage any time of year. Also Chad speaks French?!?! Please tell me more. Do Chad and Sarah have French class together??
Sarah STEWART Holland, I cannot believe you dismissed hypothetical living in Scotland so quickly! I am revoking your Scottish ancestry 🤣🤣🤣🤣
🤣🤣🤣 FAIRRRRR
🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣
I cannot wait to listen to this episode. I’m always more focused on east Asia than anyone else I know so this was such a pleasant title to see. Looking forward to the interview- China is something that in the first term trump got somewhat “right” but I don’t think that’s how it’s going this time around.
Same. My husband spent most of his career in Navy intelligence in the Pacific, which means most of his career dealt with how the US handles China. For me, we can't talk about America's national security, or our global identity, without talking about China.
Trump has been taking a wrecking ball to everything American but his attack on our standing in the world probably tops the list for me. Our government has never been perfect, or the perfect neighbor, but we used to be more reliable, more generous, more compassionate, and a whole lot more competent. I want that leading the world again, not Putin's Russia and not the Party's China. I'm not a nationalist - I'd prefer free movement among all countries - but given the world as it is, I'd rather Trump not trade our power away for his own gain.
And on that note, I think PP is a fine model of a nation without borders. Sarah and Beth don't need a country for their "headquarters." The world is their headquarters! But I knew Sarah would pick France.