Beth, your resident magazine journalist just coming on here to say THANK YOU FOR ENJOYING MAGAZINES. This year I decided to make a New Year's resolution to read the magazines I subscribe to, not just flip through them. I love reading them again, it's so nice to not have a pop up or blinking ad cover a story, or endless scrolling. It's an experience with a beginning and an end. I still have hope that print magazines as a medium will continue.
Self-care expenses I don't regret: press-on nails, my bootcamp workout membership, and our occasional cleaning lady appointment. My favorite way to spend time is riding horses, and in this season, I get to take my kids to go ride a friend's retired ranch horse gelding. The horse is 30 minutes away, but I build in a trip to my beloved grocery story HEB (which is 25 min away) and we go every other week. I would go more often if he was closer, but the absolute privilege it is to be able to have horses in my life, at no cost--I will take our biweekly visits and cherish them!
Thank you so much for having this conversation about free speech. I am a librarian and intellectual freedom is a foundation of our work, but it is honestly starting to feel like that value is no longer emphasized as much in our profession. There IS censorship coming from the left as well as the right, and as much as we may abhor certain views, they need to be allowed to exist if we want to continue to have a democracy. If a law can be made to prohibit hate speech, then laws can be made to prohibit other types of speech - it would all depend who is in power at the time.
In my profession it mostly comes up around which books are or are not in the library's collection, and the views of people presenting at library programs and events. It is not easy, but the job of public libraries is not to promote a certain view but to provide information so that people can make up their own minds. I think this has been getting lost recently as people become more polarized and everyone (and every organization) feels like they need to take a stance. I appreciate your discussion!
As a Utahn and alumnus of UVU - the entire commencement speech debacle is embarrassing and frustrating. The Lees (both Mike and Trevor) specifically, but truly our entire political body here is so biased and controlling. I've mentioned this is comments before (on the episode with Mrs. Cox, for example) how exhausting it is to try and push for change here, because voices that don't fit with the majority party are largely suppressed. But the MOST frustrating part is I see so much change happening on the micro level in my community, so many people are expressing this tension and dislike the direction our state leaders are trying to continue to steer us in, and yet the GOP/state legislature is really doubling down on their tactics. I feel like that will will fail, in the long term, but right now it seems overwhelming.
I’m sorry you’re having to witness this as an alum. I work in higher ed and am frequently involved in bringing guest speakers to campus. While I adore Sharon McMahon and think she would make an excellent speaker, I have to say I was a little surprised she was set to speak at UVU. Maybe it’s just because I follow her and am aware of how hard the right has been on her this year.
How did the school’s leadership not anticipate this reaction from the state GOP? It would be different if they were prepared to defend their choice but sadly it seems like they weren’t, which isn’t fair to her or the students. Really disheartening all around.
I agree with you! And also, this seems to represent the divide between many of the people here and our legislature, who are increasingly erratic. Not to give the benefit of the doubt if it’s not warranted, but I truly doubt UVU thought it would be such a commotion to have Sharon.
Not sure if anyone has highlighted yet, but I love the lens of self CARE vs self COMFORT. Self care is going the things that are good for us… that keep us functioning. Self comfort is the chocolate and candles that soothe us in a challenging time. We need both! But we need to notice if we are only doing self comfort and hoping it’s a long term solution. I think exercise, yoga, dental cleanings, chiropractor/massage and that house cleaner are important self CARE. My online shopping is self comfort and I need to notice when it’s trying to take the place of a daily walk with my dog.
Another great magazine - Magnolia which comes out quarterly and is part of the Joanna Gaines empire. Beautiful photos and I can always trust the recipes to be good.
I go the chiropractor monthly for maintence on low grade aging issues. I get adjusted, some time with a TENS unit and about a 10 minute targeted massage. Thankfully my insurance has always covered it.
Canadian here (who loves that we have universal health care). Massages are not covered by our government plans (at least in Ontario). Many Canadians have additional health benefits through employment and massage is often covered through those. I use mine and my husband’s massage benefits to their fullest and go once a month.
There was a very specific free speech issue we had to deal with during the Iraq War, and it was handled in a deeply American way.
Protestors from the Westboro Baptist Church would come protest at soldier's funerals with signs like "God loves dead soldiers". Obviously, this was really disturbing. The solution was to pass a law to extend the allowable protest range (## feet away from the ceremony). Americans took care of the rest. A group of motorcyclists formed the Patriot Guard Riders. Made up of many Vietnam veterans, PGR monitored the church protests and coordinated with families of the fallen. They would show up as escorts and line their bikes up to block the protestors, engines on to help drown them out.
I remember after the Pulse Nightclub shooting on Orlando, protestors from Westboro were going to come and protest at victim’s funerals, and people signed up to line the streets dressed as angels to block the family’s view of the protestors. So many more people showed up to counter-protest that the Westboro people left, but the people in their “angel” outfits stayed. I still cry thinking about it.
There are other groups, too, who have showed up to block Westborough from funeral protests and have also benefited from limits on protest areas.
We also do this on college campuses by having designated free speech areas. They annoy a lot of people, but prevent disruption of educational activities. And time/place/manner designations went a long way during the Gaza protests that happened on public campuses and left private campuses scrambling to justify uneven treatment.
Abortion clinic buffer zones are now the frontline of exercising free speech because some protesters want to be able to approach patients and block them from entering.
I think the most persuadable voters are the ones who are not old enough to vote yet, but really are starting to care about social and political issues. And the brand new voters.
They tried to gerrymander in Maryland too. For one freaking seat. I don't like the guy either but Maryland doesn't need to become California. It wouldn't work for us. I'm glad it didn't pass. What a crappy message.
Honestly, just do the damn work and stop cheating. Get to know the people if you want their votes. Have some principles. Real ones, not specially crafted and tested political bullshit.
I don't agree with the argument that we need to disenfranchise voters because the other side started it. If you can be human beings and actually connect with the 40% of people who opt out of voting because they're tired of this political bullshit, you can probably win no matter how the districts are drawn. No one likes politicians. The stump speeches and code words are so obvious and off-putting. We the people are done. Gerrymandering is a signal to me that neither party is pro-democracy. It hits me like all the megacorporations merging together and effectively canceling what few choices we had. Every time a politician talks I feel the same way I do about getting a spam call. Not interested ::click::
BE REAL!!! BE HONEST!!! ENOUGH WITH THE CORRUPTION!!! The ends do not justify the means just because you think you're the good guys. Same goes for the selective free speech enforcement. It's just going to keep wildly swinging if we don't take our country back - the PEOPLE, not the democrats. I'd rather see a real human conservative in office than another crooked politician. Give me more oyster farmers and waitresses, please!!! I want to feel good about my vote again! 😭
Regret leisure - wake & watch. If I start bingeing a show early on in the day, my body won't stop. I'll feel like shit but can't pull myself away.
Never regret paying: therapy and monthly membership for my local yoga studio. It's not just exercise, it's community and supporting a local family. 🧘♂️
I've never had a massage, manicure, pedicure, face scrub, or the other spa things... and I've been tasked by a friend to do a full spa day this year. I'm supposed to be looking forward to it but I'm not comfortable with strangers touching me soooooo... more therapy first? 😆🫠
Could any Australians weigh in on the Bondi beach arrest Sarah referenced? I suspect there’s a bit more to that story than imprisonment re: speech, but happy to get more context from those at home (I’m living in Asia atm so a bit behind on Aust news)
Yeah I’ve read a few articles but from the Australian context there seems more to it than just the speech; eg he was already on parole, not just drunk but deeply affected by drugs, First Nations background, etc. It feels too simplistic to say a man in Australia was arrested for being drunk and saying dumb things. More to it than that?
A few years ago I did a pretty intense hike in Kauai and the next day my back went out. I got a massage when I came back home and haven’t stopped going. My back hasn’t gone out since. I can’t afford to do it all the time but try and do it every other month and it’s still super helpful.
I agree that after 15 minutes of scrolling my brain turns to mush and it’s no longer decompressing and becomes more harmful.
Some other things I do for self care that I’ve been more intentional about is getting together with friends. Tonight I had a mahjong night with people in my neighborhood. We do that monthly. I have started having a monthly set time to get together with some of my college friends. I have some less frequent get togethers with high school friends and other groups.
I’m pretty sure a mom of some of my students organized the we love Sharon McMahon billboards in Utah so I want to ask her about that next time I see her. We have some super frustrating politicians here. Why we keep electing Mike Lee is beyond me.
Massage is absolutely health care. I have gotten massages since I was in my 20s, and even during my most difficult times financially, I scraped together enough to get one at least once in a while.
Self care I don't regret....
I recently separated from a terrible relationship and person. Walking into a peaceful, quiet, clean, safe home each day is rebuilding my spirit.
Cutting flowers from the garden or the flowering weeds and making random water bottles into vases for the week
Following along with Sarah and Beth❤️
Playing card games - online and IRL, alone or with others
Expending my creative energy every day
Mattress warmer for my bed for the cold season
I finally took the plunge and signed up for acupuncture, so I'll let you know how that goes!
Beth, your resident magazine journalist just coming on here to say THANK YOU FOR ENJOYING MAGAZINES. This year I decided to make a New Year's resolution to read the magazines I subscribe to, not just flip through them. I love reading them again, it's so nice to not have a pop up or blinking ad cover a story, or endless scrolling. It's an experience with a beginning and an end. I still have hope that print magazines as a medium will continue.
Self-care expenses I don't regret: press-on nails, my bootcamp workout membership, and our occasional cleaning lady appointment. My favorite way to spend time is riding horses, and in this season, I get to take my kids to go ride a friend's retired ranch horse gelding. The horse is 30 minutes away, but I build in a trip to my beloved grocery story HEB (which is 25 min away) and we go every other week. I would go more often if he was closer, but the absolute privilege it is to be able to have horses in my life, at no cost--I will take our biweekly visits and cherish them!
Thank you so much for having this conversation about free speech. I am a librarian and intellectual freedom is a foundation of our work, but it is honestly starting to feel like that value is no longer emphasized as much in our profession. There IS censorship coming from the left as well as the right, and as much as we may abhor certain views, they need to be allowed to exist if we want to continue to have a democracy. If a law can be made to prohibit hate speech, then laws can be made to prohibit other types of speech - it would all depend who is in power at the time.
In my profession it mostly comes up around which books are or are not in the library's collection, and the views of people presenting at library programs and events. It is not easy, but the job of public libraries is not to promote a certain view but to provide information so that people can make up their own minds. I think this has been getting lost recently as people become more polarized and everyone (and every organization) feels like they need to take a stance. I appreciate your discussion!
As a Utahn and alumnus of UVU - the entire commencement speech debacle is embarrassing and frustrating. The Lees (both Mike and Trevor) specifically, but truly our entire political body here is so biased and controlling. I've mentioned this is comments before (on the episode with Mrs. Cox, for example) how exhausting it is to try and push for change here, because voices that don't fit with the majority party are largely suppressed. But the MOST frustrating part is I see so much change happening on the micro level in my community, so many people are expressing this tension and dislike the direction our state leaders are trying to continue to steer us in, and yet the GOP/state legislature is really doubling down on their tactics. I feel like that will will fail, in the long term, but right now it seems overwhelming.
I’m sorry you’re having to witness this as an alum. I work in higher ed and am frequently involved in bringing guest speakers to campus. While I adore Sharon McMahon and think she would make an excellent speaker, I have to say I was a little surprised she was set to speak at UVU. Maybe it’s just because I follow her and am aware of how hard the right has been on her this year.
How did the school’s leadership not anticipate this reaction from the state GOP? It would be different if they were prepared to defend their choice but sadly it seems like they weren’t, which isn’t fair to her or the students. Really disheartening all around.
I agree with you! And also, this seems to represent the divide between many of the people here and our legislature, who are increasingly erratic. Not to give the benefit of the doubt if it’s not warranted, but I truly doubt UVU thought it would be such a commotion to have Sharon.
Self care I don't regret, facials! Since turning 40 I get them every other month instead of doing Botox. Yes, expensive but it's worth it!
I need to know all the details about Beth’s conspiracy theory party! That sounds like fun.
Someone planned a graduation event. I want to let them do that.
Not sure if anyone has highlighted yet, but I love the lens of self CARE vs self COMFORT. Self care is going the things that are good for us… that keep us functioning. Self comfort is the chocolate and candles that soothe us in a challenging time. We need both! But we need to notice if we are only doing self comfort and hoping it’s a long term solution. I think exercise, yoga, dental cleanings, chiropractor/massage and that house cleaner are important self CARE. My online shopping is self comfort and I need to notice when it’s trying to take the place of a daily walk with my dog.
This is a super oldie podcast episode that has been formative to me in understanding the distinction: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/sorta-awesome/id983378923?i=1000419733099
Another great magazine - Magnolia which comes out quarterly and is part of the Joanna Gaines empire. Beautiful photos and I can always trust the recipes to be good.
I go the chiropractor monthly for maintence on low grade aging issues. I get adjusted, some time with a TENS unit and about a 10 minute targeted massage. Thankfully my insurance has always covered it.
Another example of Canada getting it right - their socialized health insurance includes massages
Canadian here (who loves that we have universal health care). Massages are not covered by our government plans (at least in Ontario). Many Canadians have additional health benefits through employment and massage is often covered through those. I use mine and my husband’s massage benefits to their fullest and go once a month.
Interesting - i was having a convo with a Canadian friend and this came up but didn’t realize it wasn’t through the gov’t plan
There was a very specific free speech issue we had to deal with during the Iraq War, and it was handled in a deeply American way.
Protestors from the Westboro Baptist Church would come protest at soldier's funerals with signs like "God loves dead soldiers". Obviously, this was really disturbing. The solution was to pass a law to extend the allowable protest range (## feet away from the ceremony). Americans took care of the rest. A group of motorcyclists formed the Patriot Guard Riders. Made up of many Vietnam veterans, PGR monitored the church protests and coordinated with families of the fallen. They would show up as escorts and line their bikes up to block the protestors, engines on to help drown them out.
Free speech preserved, honor & respect preserved.
https://youtu.be/X37u7GTQ-GA?si=7KP2iPHu4jm7Dfft
I remember after the Pulse Nightclub shooting on Orlando, protestors from Westboro were going to come and protest at victim’s funerals, and people signed up to line the streets dressed as angels to block the family’s view of the protestors. So many more people showed up to counter-protest that the Westboro people left, but the people in their “angel” outfits stayed. I still cry thinking about it.
There are other groups, too, who have showed up to block Westborough from funeral protests and have also benefited from limits on protest areas.
We also do this on college campuses by having designated free speech areas. They annoy a lot of people, but prevent disruption of educational activities. And time/place/manner designations went a long way during the Gaza protests that happened on public campuses and left private campuses scrambling to justify uneven treatment.
Abortion clinic buffer zones are now the frontline of exercising free speech because some protesters want to be able to approach patients and block them from entering.
I think the most persuadable voters are the ones who are not old enough to vote yet, but really are starting to care about social and political issues. And the brand new voters.
They tried to gerrymander in Maryland too. For one freaking seat. I don't like the guy either but Maryland doesn't need to become California. It wouldn't work for us. I'm glad it didn't pass. What a crappy message.
Honestly, just do the damn work and stop cheating. Get to know the people if you want their votes. Have some principles. Real ones, not specially crafted and tested political bullshit.
I don't agree with the argument that we need to disenfranchise voters because the other side started it. If you can be human beings and actually connect with the 40% of people who opt out of voting because they're tired of this political bullshit, you can probably win no matter how the districts are drawn. No one likes politicians. The stump speeches and code words are so obvious and off-putting. We the people are done. Gerrymandering is a signal to me that neither party is pro-democracy. It hits me like all the megacorporations merging together and effectively canceling what few choices we had. Every time a politician talks I feel the same way I do about getting a spam call. Not interested ::click::
BE REAL!!! BE HONEST!!! ENOUGH WITH THE CORRUPTION!!! The ends do not justify the means just because you think you're the good guys. Same goes for the selective free speech enforcement. It's just going to keep wildly swinging if we don't take our country back - the PEOPLE, not the democrats. I'd rather see a real human conservative in office than another crooked politician. Give me more oyster farmers and waitresses, please!!! I want to feel good about my vote again! 😭
Regret leisure - wake & watch. If I start bingeing a show early on in the day, my body won't stop. I'll feel like shit but can't pull myself away.
Never regret paying: therapy and monthly membership for my local yoga studio. It's not just exercise, it's community and supporting a local family. 🧘♂️
I've never had a massage, manicure, pedicure, face scrub, or the other spa things... and I've been tasked by a friend to do a full spa day this year. I'm supposed to be looking forward to it but I'm not comfortable with strangers touching me soooooo... more therapy first? 😆🫠
Could any Australians weigh in on the Bondi beach arrest Sarah referenced? I suspect there’s a bit more to that story than imprisonment re: speech, but happy to get more context from those at home (I’m living in Asia atm so a bit behind on Aust news)
https://www.newcastleherald.com.au/story/9229934/man-jailed-for-mimicking-gut-wrenching-bondi-shooting/
Yeah I’ve read a few articles but from the Australian context there seems more to it than just the speech; eg he was already on parole, not just drunk but deeply affected by drugs, First Nations background, etc. It feels too simplistic to say a man in Australia was arrested for being drunk and saying dumb things. More to it than that?
A few years ago I did a pretty intense hike in Kauai and the next day my back went out. I got a massage when I came back home and haven’t stopped going. My back hasn’t gone out since. I can’t afford to do it all the time but try and do it every other month and it’s still super helpful.
I agree that after 15 minutes of scrolling my brain turns to mush and it’s no longer decompressing and becomes more harmful.
Some other things I do for self care that I’ve been more intentional about is getting together with friends. Tonight I had a mahjong night with people in my neighborhood. We do that monthly. I have started having a monthly set time to get together with some of my college friends. I have some less frequent get togethers with high school friends and other groups.
I’m pretty sure a mom of some of my students organized the we love Sharon McMahon billboards in Utah so I want to ask her about that next time I see her. We have some super frustrating politicians here. Why we keep electing Mike Lee is beyond me.
Massage is absolutely health care. I have gotten massages since I was in my 20s, and even during my most difficult times financially, I scraped together enough to get one at least once in a while.
Also also- Sharon was not charging a fee