#america centric obviously because in other countries people get rights

[itstimeforstarwars]

It's Labor Day, where we celebrate the hard work of all working people by giving them a day off of work!*

*food service, hospitality workers, and retail not included

[waitingonthewind]

i feel like the miku trend going around at the moment is really indicative of how american-centric tumblr (and the internet at large can be

like its this whole "miku from around the world" thing and you'll see like. german miku, polish miku, british miku, etc.

and then 8000 different variants of Specific States Of America and like. i get that the american states all have different cultures but thats true of every country? and every culture?

and then they start doing specific towns and cities like philadelphia miku or whatever, new jersey miku, and because of how the internet and media just. Is, all of us are expected to know the specific intricacies of what this means and go tchyeah thats so philly

if i said adelaide miku, thatd mean Nothing to you. brisbane miku anyone? how about canberra? you see the miku with her lanyard, swipe pass, business casual attire, maybe a puffy outer jacket or jeans on a friday, i say canberra miku, we all obviously go "yeah thats so canberra miku", right??? how many of yall know what a bogan is without having to look it up aye. people in sydney could tell you which areas other people in sydney are from

this is becoming less coherent as i go on so im gonna just like stop abruptly but yeah idk

THIS POST IS NOT ABOUT MIKU THIS POST IS NOT ABOUT MIKU THIS POST IS NOT ABOUT MIKU

[alatismeni-theitsa]

I'm not sure how much you keep up with Percy Jackson and its spin-offs, personally I like the series, but my G-d it is NOT an accurate portrayal of Greek mythology whatsoever, as I'm sure you're aware! Did you know that Rick Riordan set it in the USA because of how great western civilization is and how Western countries are more relevant to modern society? I'm not even joking or exaggerating.

Honestly, I do think that putting the gods in US America can be justified for the right reasons. I don't think there's anything inherently offensive about the Underworld being under LA or Olympus being above NYC. Especially with the demigod camp being on Long Island, like, okay, you wanna keep the gods close by. It's a story about an American middle-school boy, so yeah, it'll be very American. That's fair.

But the reason the author gives for it is so offensive! If this was a story about, say, the Egyptian gods, more people would understand why "west is best" is an offensive thing to say, but I guess it doesn't matter when the gods/culture being adapted is white passing enough or whatever the fuck.

(Tbfh even if he'd said that about, say, the Norse gods, or something else that is undeniably white, it'd still be disrespectful as hell. America-centricism is so fucking exhausting!)

It's actually disappointing bc, even though the books aren't true to Greek myth (don't even get me started on how badly they portray Hades and literally blame him for WWII and imply Hitler is his son), they've gotten so many kids interested in greek mythology. Oh sure, there's some weirdos who read the books and claim to worship whoever their "godly parent" would be, but there's even more people who truly got so much knowledge and respect for actual mythology from the books! And as terrible as the Greek representation is, the other representation is done really well, especially in neurodivergency/disability. I obviously wish he'd handled race/ethnicity (and religion) better, but for all the 'offensive' stuff that exists in the books there's also so many great things. So many different portrayals of love and friendship and bravery.

It's honestly no wonder the books are still a comfort series even for those who have outgrown them, and it makes the offensive stuff even worse, almost like a betrayal in some way. It's not like Rick Riordan is going out of his way to be a fatphobic antisemitic TERF like some other YA fantasy authors out there. He's someone who seems to actually care about representation in his work, which makes it all the times more hurtful when he *doesn't* care or when he writes stuff like that.

ooooh yeaah I unfortunately know all this and have posted about this 4-5 times already 😂 An extremely imperialistic view, this author has. But in this USAmericanized world, people need to do some deconstruction to see the fucked up aspects of these books. I wouldn't be opposed to seeing the Greek gods in other countries in general but the reason they went to the US is very problematic - and I don't throw this word around easily.

As you said the series has good stuff too and it has brought joy to many kids worldwide (me included), so anyone who likes PJO don't think that I'm shitting on it too much 😄 But there are definitely some things to be addressed there and that we should discuss. Like how the attitude of the writer only continued the sense of entitlement and ownership the West has over Greek figures. And because Riordan usually cares, it's sad that he let his cultural biases define his most popular series.

[miscmeanderings]

So what do we do? Good journalism takes more money because good journalism takes more work! Think about it. How long does it take to fart out a click-bait article that's largely made up or basically fed to the writer by someone with an agenda? Or that only interviews a single source? (I'm not so sure about WaPo but NYT at least makes the effort to do it's homework and add context and more sources.)

The sad thing is ad revenue isn't enough anymore to pay for a paper's operations (or at least not whole large enough buffer to keep many of them as profitable as their owners like). There's too much competition of other spaces for eyeballs (attention). So a lot of newspapers are becoming increasingly reliant on subscriptions for money.

(there are exceptions of course - but since this was obviously American-centric like so much on Tumblr, I'm going to leave out the issue of countries where internet penetration is lower so dailies are still doing better. I'll also skip the fact that paywalls are a tiny part of the lack of thoughtful news consumption trend - the impact from the fact that most people get their fucking news from a social media post instead of long form articles is making a much worse impact. I'll skip the fact that some countries don't have a free press so hahahaha enjoy the experience of paying to read the publicly-funded public broad sheet that is STILL PAYWALLED and STILL controlled by the govt and still not even good writing. Looking at you Singapore's The Straits Times.)

There are ways around it - you can try a blend of content (more infotainment) to draw more viewer, boost ad revenue. But that's traditionally not worked very well and I'm not enough of an industry expert to know why :/ my guess is the corporate temptation to just funnel the profits into the money-making side of work to do MORE of that (entertainment) is just tough to fight.

You can go niche and small - but then you're probably not going to have a bandwidth to cover more stories. Also, lower and revenue and smaller subscriber based.

So where CAN the money come from? What could we possibly do if we feel the fourth estate is actually an important public good?

Public funding.

The Brits and the BBC got this right a long time ago. It's not perfect of course and the BBC is getting some blowback for how much it pays popular show anchors to retain them, but on the quality of news front, they're pretty good. The BBC is publicly funded but editorially independent and so their well-written, detailed articles are FREE. The only problem is because they're a British publication, their coverage of America will largely focus on the big headline events. But still pretty good.

So what can you do? Well, read BBC for US news for starters it's less horribly partisan. And if you can afford it, subscribe to the publications you like so they keep going and maybe put out more stuff for free. Or consume the media they do produce that's free like podcasts - those usually have advertising.

And support politicians in favour of higher taxes and more public goods.

[bondsmagii]

“some of the American suburbs I've seen are honest to god hostile to human life” this…. This articulates what I’ve been thinking about parts of America for a while tbh. And the worst part is most people aren’t even aware of it? Not through any fault of their own but the “America is the Greatest Place on Earth and we Must Save Everyone Else” mentality is so strong that a lot of people honestly believe it? Imagine not being able to walk 5 mins to your nearest food shop? What the fuck? I mean, parts of Essex are shit and built around cars as well but dear God. Another horrifying American thing I’ve been looking into recently is the teaching profession and how the s h i t e working conditions are driving a horrifying teacher shortage that no one seems to want to do anything about? Hospitality staff having to rely on tips to make ends meet is bad enough but needing to take on a second job when you’re a teacher with a master’s degree on top of having to pay for school supplies for your class or make an Amazon wish list… that country is a real-live dystopia ngl. I’m done with the unexpected rant you definitely didn’t ask for lol but that garage post did something to me

yeah, like... obviously I'm not going to sit here and act like this is a strictly American problem because god knows my country has issues too, but these issues combined with the whole propaganda thing? it honestly terrifies me, and I think a lot of Americans don't even realise it's happening -- at least not until they get old enough to get online and learn about how things go in other countries. a lot of Americans are becoming aware of it now, but there are still so many people of all ages who genuinely outright believe or just don't question what's being taught.

I bitch a lot about how American-centric the internet is, and with good reason. I've had Americans say very offensive things to me because of ignorance over basic facts, and I've been accused of lying because I've spelled things "wrong" or stated things that have happened that apparently wouldn't have happened in America. it's frustrating that the mere consideration that I might not be an American doesn't even cross their minds, and it's annoying that I have to censor my own language and dialect so that Americans don't ridicule me or deliberately misunderstand me so they can make stupid jokes. like, this is all valid criticism -- when I'm online, for example, I do not presume that everyone I'm speaking to is Irish. I don't even presume everyone I'm speaking to is American. it seems straightforward to me, but apparently a lot of people out there just don't bother.

however, I know that a lot of this isn't a conscious, deliberate choice to be an ass. the absolutely abyssmal public education in America is partly to blame... and to be honest, the American-centricness that these people grow up with, I think, makes it physically impossible for a lot of them to consider others. it doesn't occur to them because it's never been taught to them. now, if you point it out, and they still keep at it, that's just being a dick. but you can hardly condemn somebody for something they didn't even realise they were doing. they're literally indoctrinated from birth to accept all these absolutely insane things -- shitty public transport, no sidewalks or stores at all in their massive European-city sized neighbourhoods, terrible public education, fucking lunch debt, having to pay for something as basic a human right as healthcare, working for below minimum wage and having to rely on tips, school shootings for Christ's sake -- and because they're also told that America is The Greatest, they assume (and are often outright told) that other countries are much worse. the genuine anger, surprise, and disbelief I've seen from Americans when I've explained how things are in my country is unbelievable. once a person expressed disbelief in a story I told because it centred around the ending up in the emergency room with a friend, and he could not wrap his head around how I wasn't stressed about bills, and why I called an ambulance when technically we could have got a taxi. (hint: I called an ambulance because my friend was in agony, and you know... that's what the ambulance service is for. it never even occured to me to do anything else. at the hospital it turned out she had a broken elbow, so good call, really.) he was absolutely astounded when I told him it cost me nothing. not a single penny. he had been constantly told that socialised healthcare would never work, and when he realised that I don't even notice my taxes coming out to pay for it, he got pissed, wondering why his country couldn't do the same. it's absolutely insane, what American people are forced to live with -- and then they're lied to, straight up, and told that this is the best it gets.

to my American followers, I am so glad you're waking up to this bullshit, but you have got to keep pushing back. the world is watching your country with heartbreak and horror. to many of us, you live in hell. even with my own country's absolute bullshit (and I say this as someone who grew up in a warzone and who is now putting up with the national embarrassment that is Brexit) you could not pay me to live in America. you couldn't even pay me to visit, at this point. sincerely, wishing you a very pleasant revolution.

[midethefangirl]

Captain America: Civil War - My Thoughts

I know this is like 5 years late but for this, I’d like to resurrect a barely dead discourse that succeeded in not just dividing the Avengers but also dividing the fandom. Before we start, content warning for spoilers and let’s dive into this mess.

So, basically, the entire conflict of civil war stemmed from General Thaddeus Ross (who is a hypocritical dick, btw) coming to lecture the Avengers on being destructive despite conducting destructive experiments (ahem, the Abomination and the Hulk) but I digress. Then, Ross presents the Sokovian Accords which is really lengthy and we see Steve reading like a few chapters(?). Now, let us note that the Accords were presented to the Avengers after a mission-gone-wrong killed about 11 people in Lagos (lay-gos, not lah-gos that pronunciation gave me headaches as a Nigerian).

So, the Sokovian Accords were written by 117 countries and vetted by the UN asking for the Avengers to be under oversight (which SHIELD would have done if HYDRA hadn’t infiltrated it in the first place but it is what it is). Somehow, Steve made it about “our right to choose” (how?! Cause I’m not understanding) and decided to not sign*.

*he later got back to sign, then backed out when he learnt that Tony had placed Wanda under house arrest (even though it was for her protection. I do believe Tony should have fully informed Wanda about keeping her in the Avengers’ Tower)

My issues with the plot of Civil War are:

1. The Sokovian Accords were not read out loud or placed on some kind of PowerPoint slide for the audience to understand why Team Cap is against the Accords. No, the fandom wiki is not a source because that one is from Agents of SHIELD and not a lot of MCU fans are familiar with that show (yours sincerely included). Assuming the contents were read out loud or discussed by the Avengers, I’d have understood why Team Cap refused to sign the accords but since none of that was given, I’d remain Team Iron Man for this one.

2. The Sokovian Accords is not the American Constitution. Then again, the MCU fandom tends to be American-centric and most Americans seem to have this belief that the world revolves around them (and it manifests itself in Civil War discourse).

3. Contrary to popular opinion, the Sokovian Accords were about 117 (mostly third-world) countries asserting their sovereignty and boundaries, not taking away rights from the Avengers. If we go by what the MCU wiki claims about the accords, yes, some parts are absurd (like asking for blood samples and using trackers, why are those necessary?). However, when 117 countries state that they want you to respect their boundaries, I think it is best to comply. Unfortunately, respecting boundaries is one thing the USA has a problem complying with and guess who happens to represent America?

4. The Accords affected only their hero lives, not their lives as a civilian. I doubt the UN would limit the Avengers’ movements as civilians

5. Let us not forget how Steve and Clint protect Wanda from accountability and responsibility. Wanda in the MCU is like y/n in many fanfics where everyone (except for the “big bad villain” who in this case is Tony and 117 countries) seems to love her and want to protect her from facing the consequences of her actions. Anyone *ahem Tony* who has a bit of problem with her is suddenly the enemy. Not to mention how Wanda seems to have a knack for causing destruction in African countries (Johannesburg, Lagos, Wakanda)

6. And fandom behaviour from the Team Cap stans

7. Also, why is Civil War not an Avengers part 3? It’s better than making it a Captain America trilogy and then trying to frame Steve as being right.

8. I do believe that the accords were sped up which left little time for the Avengers to discuss and compromise on certain issues. If they were given more time to discuss, compromise and negotiate, I think the movie would have ended better than it had.

9. In addition, I also agree with Team Cap stans on how the UN arbitrarily deciding to shoot Bucky on sight is a human right violation.

10. “The safest hands are our own” why does this sound like a white saviour talk point from Steve? The accords is about 117 countries wanting you to respect their boundaries and the best you can come up with to refute that is saying something a white saviour would say?

11. “Even if the whole world is telling you to move...” just shut the fuck up, this is no way comparable to 117 countries trying to assert their sovereignty.

12. Look if I have to choose between surrendering a few rights as a hero and just dismissing that of civilians as potential damage, I’d go with the former because the people whom I’m suppose to protect come first. For me to dismiss their deaths as “we can’t save em all” is just not it.

13. “She’s just a kid”, a few years later and I still hate that term. One, it’s infantilizing an adult white woman (something white men have historically done and we all know how that went) . Two, while Tony was obviously wrong for not informing Wanda about her house arrest, he was right to keep her in the Tower when they were people who would harm her with every chance they could find. **

** after watching WandaVision, some people might find every reason to want to harm her.

14. Let us also discuss the motivation of those in Team Iron Man vs Team Cap

Team Iron Man

Tony: feels guilty for the events of Age of Ultron, believes that he’s stepped out of line and the Avengers need oversight.

Natasha: believes that the Avengers should listen to the public and the UN after all, if they had one hand on the wheel, they can still steer.

Vision: believes that the Avengers as a whole bring challenge which brings conflict and then catastrophe.

Rhodey: a soldier; believes in following orders especially when it is from the UN and 117 countries.

T’Challa: dude is just there to kill Bucky. I’m sure if Bucky was on team Ironman, my guy would have joined team cap, lmao 😂.

Spider-Man: not really there for a reason except to bring in Steve to Ross. I do agree that Tony shouldn’t have dragged him to the fight without Peter making an informed decision.

Team Cap

Steve: didn’t want to sign because it takes away his “right to choose”. Idk what that means or how it is relevant to the Sokovian Accords but okay. However, I understand his mistrust considering a few movies ago, we found out HYDRA had infiltrated SHIELD and as much as I believe governments are corrupt and the UN is shit, you cannot just enter a country anyhow without warning ahead of time.

Bucky: was his motivation given? I mean, I believe he joined Steve’s side to stop Zeno from unleashing the other winter soldiers. Not that that’s a bad reason, it isn’t.

Sam: again, I don’t think the movie gave us a reason for him being against the Accords. Did he also believe it was taking away his “right to choose”?

Wanda: undecided as of moment of discussion. Joined team cap because Tony placed her on house arrest. While I agree that Tony should have informed her that he was putting her under house arrest and stated the reasons why, I believe it was for good reasons especially when some people might decide to carry out witch hunts (you get it, witch hunts? 😅)

Clint: only joined because Wanda was placed under house arrest. We aren’t given any reason why he would oppose the Accords.

Scott: fan boy of Captain America, need I say more?

15. Also, to Team Cap stans blaming Tony Stark for Team Cap being imprisoned, grow the fuck up. The people in Team Cap are all adults who made their own decisions yet Tony is to blame for them breaking the law (because they did break the law), wtf.

16. “Are you capable of letting go of your ego for one damn second?” Like Steve’s ego didn’t play a part in all this too, lmao.

17. Okay, the final battle was intense and while I believe Bucky was also a victim, I can understand why Tony lashed out at him. The one to blame here is Steve because even if he had no clue Bucky was responsible for the Starks’ death, he still lied to Tony by not telling him who was responsible. It is more appalling to learn that Steve, in an attempt to “protect Tony and Bucky”, was actually covering for HYDRA!

Also, the way Steve stood emotionless while Tony watched a footage of his parents being killed. Yet, he could shield Wanda from watching the news because of how it affected her, okay.

“I can do this all day”, fuck you, Steve

18. Clint exploding at Tony is so fucking hilarious. Tony is right, Clint has a family yet he decided to fight in a war that didn’t concern him. Also, his comments about breaking backs is so tone deaf after Rhodey just broke his back!

19. If Sam was Captain America, I think Civil War wouldn’t have happened at all, from the dialogue in the Raft.

20. Overall, this movie is a fucking mess and I hate it for dividing both the Avengers and MCU fans.

Before I close with this, I want to add that I am not anti-Steve but Civil War really made me hate him. I get, Steve is supposed to be a Boy Scout and shit like that, but he’s a Gary Stu in the MCU, let’s be honest about it. Civil War should have been an Avengers movie, rather than a part of the Captain America trilogy. The Avengers should have been given more time than three days to discuss the Accords and make necessary amendments; after all that went down in Lagos, Wanda should have been made to sit out missions and maybe we could have had someone like Doctor Strange help in training her; Crossbones would have made a great villain but it is what it is; Peter’s introduction to the MCU could have been as him actually interning for the Stark Industries and forming a kind of acquaintance with Tony Stark before Tony finds out that he’s Spider-Man; Steve should have told Tony about HYDRA‘s hands in his parents’ deaths. Anyway, I’ll go read Civil War fix-it fanfics and fanfics where the Avengers are more like family. Fuck Civil War and I’m outta here.

Edit: okay this was a thought I had when I was trying to sleep but it was too good to ignore. Rhodey has a point about Steve arrogance (if that’s the correct term) in saying “the safest hands are our own” and here’s why:

Like he stated “this is not the World Security Council...neither is this SHIELD nor HYDRA” (paraphrased). This is the UN as well as 117 countries. Look, I am as anti-government as one can go and I don’t believe that the UN are reliable (plus, if we really want to go by the AoS version of the Accords, the Accords are flawed and they need amendments), however, given the US records on disrespecting boundaries in many third world countries, I can understand why 117 countries are wary about a bunch of superpowered Americans entering their country.

To us, the Avengers are saving the world. To these 117 countries and the people who have families who were killed in the crossfire (Zemo is a good example), the Avengers are a bunch of nuisances who leave destruction wherever they tread.

I am still neutral on the whole Accords as I don’t know exactly what it entails but for Steve to go “we are surrendering our rights to choose” (again, how is the Accords threatening the Avengers’ right to choose?) when asked to be under oversight is tone deaf.

[itsclydebitches]

Is it weird I'm just kind of not into Pride? I'm a non binary pan person who lives with a conservatives family with no chance of actually being able to be open. Seeing corporations support Pride here in America where it's safe, but still do business with countries that hate us all. That would kill us even. I'm not able to be out and proud. This month sucks if you don't live in a big city that accepts you. Can't wait to hear about how the (insert f slur) are ruining this country in my area.

Let me start off by saying that I'm so sorry you're dealing with that, anon. I can't personally speak to being in a position where it would be impossible/dangerous for me to come out (at least, I hope not), though I do know the feeling of people just... ignoring it? The liberal acceptance of, "We won't actively harm you, but we're also not going to acknowledge this part of your identity in any way. Everything's fine provided you don't bring it up ever again :)" sort of deal. There are many different ways - many different reasons - for being in the closet and all of them are valid, from the horrific "I will literally not be safe" to simply "I'm not ready to come out yet. Maybe I never will be. That's for me to decide." Despite the strides we've made, I think it's worth acknowledging that this progress - acceptance in some places, some queer couples in media, the pressure for corporations to at least pretend like they don't hate us, etc. - comes with a newfound pressure to be out and to be out in a particular way. We're loud, we're proud, and we're going to risk it all to be ourselves! ... which means that when someone can't risk everything, or simply won't, there's this idea that you're doing queerness wrong. I'm not risking alienating my family to push for more acceptance. I don't currently have the means to get myself to protests or parades. My ability to support queer movements depends a lot on funds that I also don't have. In some respects, Pride (month) has been simplified down into this sterilized, celebratory narrative that can, paradoxically, make a lot of people feel unwelcome. What if it's not safe for me to walk out bedazzled in rainbows? What if I don't want to be grateful to these corporations using my identity for clout? What if even my own community still doesn't think I exist? What if, while social media is bombarded with everyone celebrating themselves, the most I can do is air grievances anonymously?

That's okay. Far more than being okay, that's a part of Pride. Pride isn't just a celebration, Pride is a battle. An ongoing one, despite what some would have us believe. We're all allowed to be angry during Pride. Disappointed. Frustrated. Scared. Just plain, fucking tired. That pressure to not just be out, but to be out "correctly" and to be out loudly can become its own kind of exhausting performance. Hell, I'm about to get my hair cut soon and I honest to god was worrying about whether I could get something that "looks queer" because right now I "look too straight" and that's apparently a problem because I've internalized a bunch of nonsense about how we do and do not perform queerness, especially during the month of June. That's obviously an incredibly minor non-problem compared to what others are going through, though the point I'm trying to make through my own, subjective experiences is that none of us need to pretend to be 100% ecstatic about queer politics for the next 28 days. Because it does suck when you don't feel like you have a reason or a means to celebrate, but those feelings themselves are an important part of Pride; one of the reasons that battle exists. It doesn't alienate you from the community (despite how much it might feel that way at times), but rather makes you a crucial part of it.

Idk, I apologize if this response is rambling and too "me" centric. I have trouble working through such complex, delicate subjects, especially during a time when I'm already overthinking them 24/7. I guess what I'm trying to say is that, in as much as our personal situations may differ, I understand those feelings. As much as I'm actually full of pride during Pride, reblogging all the queer memes and sending rainbows to my friends, I'm still equally scared, furious, and disheartened by how far we still have to go and sometimes that translates into just... not wanting to celebrate. None of these feeling are necessarily independent of each other. We can take pride in our identities while also, simultaneously going, "Yeah, this stuff still really sucks." We wouldn't be fighting if it didn't.

[yourtoradorasextendedwarranty]

Let me put this into an understanding you can grasp. That's not me being rude but you missed my point entirely.

White culture as a concept is false. Why? Because "White" isn't a thing. Russians are "white", Spaniards are "white", Polish are "white", Swedes are "white", some Hawaiians are "white", Canadians are "white". None of those places have a uniform culture.

What's more, Haitian Americans, Nigerian Americans, etc live by a lot of these same ideals. None of it is strictly even Americans either. Asian and Middle Eastern countries often also live by similar system ideals. So while the poster itself does not mention white supremacy, it is very much views that white supremacists would agree with.

As to this

And the examples you gave before that are interesting. You're talking about them as if they're inherently better, which in a lot of cultures... they're not seen that way. Being on time is something desi's as a whole are notoriously "bad at" and we (brown people) joke about it, but the fact is that not keeping to a schedule isn't truly considered bad in desi culture. No one's gonna get mad if you show up two hours late to a party because everyone does and it's fine. Obviously we're not physically incapable of keeping time but the culture around time keeping is just different

I think you misunderstand. This poster isn't just talking about casual gatherings. It's talking about jobs, meetings, appointments etc. And this poster was made in tandem with modern leftists not just people that are non white either.

But the implications of the poster isn't good. "It's a tenant of whiteness to have a family" is one of these, now sure it says nuclear family but that's a strawman because most people don't live by the idea of "Husband, wife, daughter, son, dog" Was that TV for a long time? Yes, but most just view the nuclear family as having a family with kids at all. Many cultures also value this. Even ones that are not white. Hell a lot of Asian cultures are very family oriented. HELL I'd argue that having families is more a Mexican thing than it is a white thing. Considering they are a LOT more anal about families.

The poster makes out like the things listed are uniquely things to "white" people. You are trying to take the most good faith approach to this but this poster is not made in good faith. This poster was likely made by marxists. People whom are against the family, against every system that is not "for their system".

As to the Objective rational thinking thing. Most cultures value that. It's not strictly a "Whiteness" thing. But the way this poster is framed, is as if every culture on earth was just indoctrinated by "white culture" and the people that made this poster hate white people. That's not a guess. The people that talk like this think that. And then will have to nerve to say that, "White people don't have a culture" in the same breath that they quote stuff off of this poster.

Hell this right here:

This doesn't even bare need to mention. People learn about their own countries in general. And the amount they learn about the history of the world will depend greatly on where they go to school and how much that school cares about world history. Like I learned about the Pyramids, I learned about Alexander the Great. The Chinese and the great wall. And varying other large scale events around the world. If you were to say, "The Russians learn their history as based on northern european immigrants" then the answer to that is "No actually they don't.

The people that made this poster are America-Centric people specifically neo liberals, and neo progressives, that have a hate for "whites". But they often ignore the fact that people that are "white" exist outside of the US or that there are other NON white nations on earth that have had similar histories.

And then you have this travesty:

Competition has existed since the dawn of time, and has existed in almost every single culture since said dawn. The desire to win in these competitions "at all costs" is unique only among the most competitive, and is not a staple of how everyone feels in any culture about competition. Winners and losers in competition exist. Losing is not indicative of failure depending on who you are. For some it's about trying to be first.

"Must always do something about a situation" this one is stupid to because this is a nature thing not a culture thing. When you see something wrong in most places of the world, you have one of three thoughts. "I need to help", "I want to help but I can't", or, "It's not my problem". Again this is not specific or you unique to "whites".

Aggressiveness is a weird and stupid one because aggression kind of just exists. Even in cases of competition. Everywhere. Decision making is one that feel like a middle finger because not only does it make zero sense here, but feels a lot like, "Other cultures don't participate in decision making in competition" which is one of the most dumb things I've ever heard in my life.

Then finally, my favorite, "Majority rule, when whites have power" IN WHAT F*CKING WORLD!?! The US is run as a Constitutional Republic. We have people of varying ethnicities in control of varying seats of power. HELL look at the East Coast. In most of their states, Non whites are 80%-90% of all public office holders. I don't see anyone complaining or bitching about it. Except for the residents and it has nothing to do with skin color and everything to do with their public office holders doing F*ck all to make the communities better.

So not only does that last point make zero sense, that sentiment isn't a thing in the US except maybe among less than a percent of the populace. But Majority rule, funny enough is Democracy. Which is not uniquely white either. Any culture that has had systems of voting on anything has participated in forms of Democracy.

My over arching point is that you might have taken that poster as good faith. But to anyone outside looking in, that poster feels a lot like White Nationalist propaganda. Because it very much reads like, "These things are inherently white" Which by proxy means that they are not things inherent to other ethnicities or cultures. Because if that's not the case in their reasoning, why make the poster at all? To my understanding, after backlash from non whites and moderates in the states, the Smithsonian actually took the poster down because they found it to be insulting.

I FIND IT to be insulting. This poster is Anti Christian, Marxist Propaganda. And all under the guise of, "Hey everyone, look how the white man brainwashed us". And I'll quote them:

This paragraph here means exactly what I just said. And it makes an inference to say that "These values ARE white dominant culture". But that's not really true. A lot of the listed "White cultural norms" are not unique to "whites" and not only that, specifically within the US we have adopted a lot of cultural norms outside of "white" stuff. Like Cinco De Mayo, or St. Patrick's Day, (Which is a cultural idea from a different country). We even celebrate Jewish holidays in the US. And the left tells me they don't really view Jews as "white" but that's only true when it's convenient for them.

Look. I've done research on all of this. I understand what the people that hung this up meant with it. I know because I know that types that put this up. I know that have racial hatred in their hearts, and they seek to push racist ideals in the softest way possible.

How do I know? Look at how they acted with affirmative action. Almost every single person on the left that was angry was like, "OMG WHAT OF THE POOR DUMB BLACKS!". They might not have said it like that, but that sure as hell is what they meant. Because you know what they didn't say? "Won't someone think of the (insert literally any other ethnicity here)". White liberals think black americans are stupid, incompetent, and unable to succeed without their help. They might not believe that when you ask them like that, but if you ask if blacks can succeed in the US they'll tell you, "Well sometimes but we need to make changes so they can succeed more."

Do you have any idea how patronizing that is? And worse, this sentiment is only EVERY presented towards Black Americans. Not Mexicans. not Asians, not even Middle Easterners. And if you'd like to know why they overwhelmingly vote for one side, it's because they've been taught their entire lives that the other side of the fence wants them in chains. Which isn't even remotely true. At all. But do you know how you bring down a house in the most effective way possible? From the inside. And despite the fact this line can't be fully confirmed it is disputed back and forth as to if it was said, but given Johnsons stance on Blacks in the US I'd sooner believe it than not:

And this in respect to the idea that if you can't beat them and keep them down and separate, we might as well convince them to vote for us instead.

And every SINGLE policy choice made in bulk by the Blue side has destroyed more and more non white communities over time. It's a concept idea called a silver tongue. On top of a lot of projection. The Dems created the KKK. Several current members of the current Dem establishment were friends with very well known members of the KKK. Hell current president Biden didn't want his kids going to school with kids that were not white. Hillary Clinton notoriously referred to Black Americans as "Super Criminals". Bernie Sanders, slipped up and corrected himself after he said it but it was too late, "Poor kids are just as smart as white kids".

Democrats and a large bulk of the left (not all on the left) tend to believe that Black Americans are lesser than, and they need help from said white Dems and leftists. IE: White Savior Complex. It's also why you hear EXTREME racist rhetoric from leftists when they don't vote left. Like so:

The Democrats think they OWN Black Americans. There's a reason the term "The Democrat Plantation" was coined.

Anyways I've ranted long enough. I understand you want to take the poster in good faith but I promise you it was not made in good faith.

So.....Yeah

I saw this on YouTube shorts. Interesting thing about this. This rhetoric gained popularity when it got posted in the Smithsonian as "A tenant of whiteness". Along side having a family, being civil, and other remarkably normal things.

Fact is, you believing being on time is "white supremacy" tells me a few things. It tells me you are lazy. It tells me your love make excuses. It also tells me that you enjoy actual white supremacist talking points.

What do I mean. Well let's go back in time a little shall we.

This was the poster put up in the Smithsonian.

Now let's look over a few of these shall we.

*Planning for the future* *Following a schedule* *Hard work is good* *Self reliance*

All of these things are things that white supremacists throughout history have claimed that non white either can't do, don't do, or don't do well. So in saying that these things are white supremacy you are actually making the claim that those white supremacists were right, and that your can't or shouldn't be expected to do these things because they are somehow white supremacists ideals.

In short you're caving to their ideals. What's more let's look at another thing on this list.

"objective, rational linear thinking".

Do you know what the opposite of rational is? Irrational. Do you know what actual real life white supremacists have claimed about non white for years? That they are not rational. So again, in claiming it's white supremacists or in the case of this poster "a tenant of whiteness", what you're actually saying is that these ideas and concepts are correct and that being rational is a white thing. Being on time is a white thing. Having a dynamic family is a white thing. Hard work is a white thing.

What are the opposite of those things? "Being late, being lazy, being irrational. All things that make you non white." That's quite literally what white supremacists believe and you're saying that they are right. How did progressive thinking go so far, it arrived right back at the 1800's South.

Frankly? At this point I have to believe the progressive left has been taken over by actual racists. Why? They've convinced American non white's that white people are the most powerful people on earth. They've convinced American non white's that being rational is a thing that makes you white, therefore being irrational is the only way to be non white. They've convinced American non white's that having no family makes you who you are. And to top it off they've managed to convince American non white's that they are so much lesser than that they can't succeed without a white savior.

This is literally text book white supremacist bullshit and it's now "progressive" talking points. It's sad that these people, like this girl from the top picture, have adopted white supremacy ideals thinking that those narratives are actually "progressive". These youths are brainwashed. So much so they don't even realize what's going on.

[autumn-foxfire]

Afraid this might sound offensive, but it seems to me most ppl who bring politics into MHA are Americans who lack actual understandings of the problem, because those are the US issues that are receiving a lot of media attention right now. I wanna scream to their face that the world is NOT the USA, so stop projecting your f**king issues onto everything you consume from Japan or any other country for that matter. You literally are looking like f**king colonizers who want ppl from other countries to agree to your every word like some mindless puppets. Instead of looking like some altruistic, wise activist, you are just some pathetic bigots without realizing it. I have no say in how you Americans deal with your politics and I don't want to, but don't f**king act like America-centric self-absorbed lunatics.

Of f**king course ppl would prefer the heroes, American cops are the worst so other places' cops obviously have to be better, why tf do you expect ppl to think like you do? And being an American isn't an excuse for that kind of thought anyway, it's IDIOTIC and UTTER BS in every place, because we don't live in a world where terrorism is endorsed. Who tf are you to call a Japanese author immoral because he doesn't write the characters HE created the way you want and according to your political agendas? Who tf are you to force your political views onto someone from another country and vilify that person when you didn't get what you want? Who tf are you to tell the world to politicize EVERY SINGLE SMALLEST THING like you do? Write some f**king hundred pages of big words about oppression and the like, will you ever take the time to look at yourself and who you REALLY are? I guess not, you are some of the best mental gymnasts in the entire world, you are always right, you are never wrong, you are the good ones, everyone has to agree with everything you say otherwise they are inhumane foolish degenerates, isn't it?

So the LoV are a group of victims villainized by an immoral, bootlicking author, is that it? So the heroes are corrupt cops that is adored and biased by this inhumane author and fans, and the victims are being ignored. So the author and his protagonists are supporting systemic violence, so he is writing a copaganda. So ppl are supporting police brutality by loving and cheering for the heroes? So what? SO WHAT? Go live in your delusion. Go cry and scream to the void or to each other like the noble snowflakes that you are, the world won't care. They. Won't. What are you gonna do about it? #boycottMHA? #boycottHorikoshi?#boycottmanga? #boycottJapan? #boycotthumancivilization? #boycottEarth? Go on, it's your loss. Ppl still enjoy the story and still have common sense and can tell right from wrong, and without you it'll be much better to do it.

End rant. I'm sorry you have to bear this but it's getting so frustrating in this fandom. I have never seen any fandom as stupid as this one (except maybe Naruto). I know this is just a faction of Americans and considering 80% of Tumblr and Western Twitter are maniacs on high horse, it's a given, but what they say are outrageous beyond human reason, and that pisses me off. So, so much. I hope you understand, this is not to vilify all Americans, as this kind of ppl are just the minority no matter how much they convince themselves they are the majority and in the right.

Well, I did always say my ask box was open for people to rant in :p

And as a British person who’s tired of seeing American politics shoehorned into a Japanese manga, I strongly agree.

If people draw such massive issues with BNHA then really they should stop reading and supporting Horikoshi, especially if he’s as immoral as they claim.

[primordialnyx]

eyo ma lemme rant for a bit

there was this article that talked about an american woman who lived in Bali for an extended amt of time due to teh pandemic (lol its recent relax but if anyone wants the article here it is)

feel free to ignore but i have a rundown here lol

BUT ALSO if you end up reading this, I have a little thing to ask of you at the end:

you dont wanna read the article? lemme give you the rundown:

woman travels to bali for fun for 6 months. pandemic said you sure you wanna come back? *covid bitch* so the indonesian gov. allowed foreigner to extend their stay despite higher and higher cases of covid rising right? okay all good right... except american women decides to LITERALLY SELL A BOOK ON HOW TO GET THAT GOOD LIFE IN BALI.

is getting that good life controversial? whyy ? well im glad you asked! in her book/ebook, she gives ppl tips and tricks on how to bypass government visas and restrictions, quoting that its the most queer-friendly place ever for cheap and all that.

ppl BIG TIME MAD (shuu they should be ok) because the dripping privilege. but like the hilarious thing is... people are getting big mad in like 2 different ways:

 Indonesians are bigmad because being queer in any case is still punishable, encourages gentrification of an already heavy-tourism arae (Bali yall is hEAVY on tourism which is ok until it pushes out locals) and she wasn’t paying taxes in Bali and only in the US (bruhhh how you live in a different countryyyy howww -- also the US and Indonesia have a tax treaty to avoid double taxing).

The rest of the group (ie not indonesian) are mad because they thing its a race thing and this American woman is only targeted because she’s Black. Citing that everyone else is doing it but when she does it, it blows up to bigger proportions

Can I just? I just need to rant because this hits a bit personal for me (I mean.. having identifying as a first gen Indonesian-America, hell fucking yeah it hits different). But I will address said anger based on those two bullets above:

- Indonesians? Getting mad at tourism? In Bali? The most heavily touristy place in Indonesia?

Hell yeah they got every fucking right. Indonesia just made it off the thirdworld country list <10 years ago. There area still places that barely have running water. Which.. you know... US people you understand right? Remember Michigan? So when an American citizen overstays their visa and writes a damn book about it, promoting all BS, you gon feel some type of way.

That BS about the LGBT stuff? It’s so close to being fake news. Indonesia as a country is ranges from anti-gay to homophobic (this is very important because there are literally laws that punish queerness with death and then there are societal situations where its known but often ignored or shunned away-- can’t believe those are the only two options). Bali? Nah son her saying Bali is LGBT friendly is like saying only Brooklyn is LGBT friendly. It doesn’t make sense and frankly, its pretty fucking insulting to those who aren’t able to come out (!!! death !! yall remember!!) or are but are completely shunned from their friends and family.

ITS A RACE THING YALL BEING RACIST

I... oh god. If you are American and you said this than you’ve failed to consider that not everything is about America. Let me just say that racism obviously is a real thing but ask any Indonesia person about race and they, for the most part, don’t really fucking care. You want them to care though? Flaunt that BLUE passport. Hell pop out a RED if youre British. Watch them start caring. Your passport -- ie a visual representation of your privilege signified by your ability travel to a different country -- is the real mealticket here.

As an Indo-American who has gone back to her country, I can tell you for a fact that this is an unfortunate truth. Your passport carries your privilege. This woman got flaunted that-- she was literally able avoid paying Indonesian taxes. You know what white people do that’s also really fucking annoying and really shouldn’t be legal? Buy up land and push our the natives. Ahh but youre right, the natives should be fighting back. Mmm except... huh recently got off teh thirdworld list, barely enough clean water, little land to shelter .... I suppose they should definitely retaliate.

This American citizen wasn’t making “bank”. Like she’s not a billionaire, she just made enough to buy tix to Bali for 6 months. She wasn’t an entrepreneur of any sorts but a good, decent business woman right? She still broke the law and flaunted that and encouraged others to do so.

And.. That is why I don’t see it as a race thing. It doesn’t even make sense because there’s a whole different culture, environment, society, politics and government at hand. You cannot compare it to American environments  - its a whole different playing field. When its racially induced, its fucking racially induced. South east Asian as a whole has always had this issue - colorism and what not. But..like yall..... someone tried to bring up the Malaysia incident and I’m like yeah you do realize Indonesia =/= Malaysia right? like you do understand that they are two different countries right? wtf you bringing up malaysia when the issue occured in the Indonesia?

ANYWAY UM. Please don’t reblog to add your own two cents on why I was wrong or whatever. If you have additional information that I should be aware of, message me (I’ll have anon off). I’m an adult and you are too and I welcome a civil but informative discussion on views. If you believe XYZ, I will honestly be open to answering back (mark * if you want private and itll continue to be private) without malice. I truly want to understand perspective but as I said before, I am biased as an Indonesian American who’s seen firsthand the power of someone’s passport. I merely offer than rant (lol horrendous man omfg) as an alternative to an American-centric view.

tdlr: don’t be a dick if you wanna have an open discussion with me

[ckret2]

So I’ve got a Spotify playlist consisting of the compiled contents of 81 different Alastor-centric playlists, like I just copied the contents of every single playlist I could find with no cultivation, no filtering, and no censoring. The one limitation I put was no duplicates of the same song—although multiple versions of the same song off different albums was allowed.

And since then I’ve been listening to this all-packed-together playlist on shuffle. It’s brought up several comments/questions. Highlights include:

- To every single person that includes a romance song with lines like “baby you’re my angel” or the like: are you a Radiodust shipper actually referring to Angel, or are you a Charlastor shipper referring to Charlie’s “fallen angel” heritage?

- One of you included an entire creepypasta story about the devil talking a man into killing his ex-wife and her lover as part of a 500-step-long plan to conceive the Antichrist and I’m not quite sure why it was on an Alastor playlist but I appreciate the characterization of the devil in it. I guess a creepypasta is kind of a radioplay of sorts? Maybe more Alastor playlists should just have random radioplays mixed in.

- To the person who included half a Kidz Bop album on their Alastor playlist: I’m not judging, I just wanna know why. I want to understand. I really want to understand.

- I respect all you people that included song covers by Scott Bradlee’s Postmodern Jukebox and I understand where you’re coming from, but like, if you’re not familiar with music genres from before 1990, I suggest you look up which genre a given PMJ cover is trying to emulate, because if you’re stuffing PMJ covers on a playlist specifically to make them “sound like” Alastor’s era or because you’re going for “songs Alastor would like because they sound like what he’s used to,” then a PMJ cover that makes a 1990s song sound like a 1970s song isn’t quite in the right neighborhood.

- There are different philosophies that go into making a character playlist. Some go “the genre has to fit the character’s era and/or personal tastes, whether or not the lyrics do.” Some go “the lyrics have to fit the character, genre be damned.” Some go “these songs were big/popular when I was into this character so that’s what I associated with them.” Some go “these songs are really out there for the canon character but fit my headcanons.” Some people may have totally different criteria I haven’t even thought of! Anyway the point is: when you mix over eighty playlists together, you get every single playlist-making philosophy mixed together, and it’s an exciting experience to listen to.

- And on that note: every single genre on the planet is on this playlist. We’ve got Britney Spears, we’ve got Vocaloid, we’ve got Thomas Sanders (we’ve got a LOT of Thomas Sanders), we’ve got My Chemical Romance, Two Steps from Hell, Barry Manilow, Oingo Boingo, Within Temptation, Madonna, Kesha, Hans Zimmer, ... we’ve got the poppiest pop, emo, metal, electronic, folk, rap, rock, movie soundtracks, TV soundtracks, classical, disco, country, KPop, Carrie Underwood, every single decade for the last 150 years... and I’m deliberately leaving out all the jazz, swing, electroswing, and musicals, because those are a given for Alastor. Obviously those ones dominate the playlist but it’s amazing how much variety there is outside them.

- I’m frankly amazed by how much of this playlist is Thomas Sanders and Bendy and the Ink Machine. Like. It’s a notable quantity.

- That said, actually the playlist doesn’t quite include every single genre. Like, for example: I can tell y’all want to lean into Alastor’s New Orleanian/Louisianan/Creole roots from how many songs I’ve seen that include words like voodoo, Creole, New Orleans, bayou, uhhhh The Princess & the Frog, etc... And yet aside from a few New Orleanian jazz artists so far I have crossed paths with very little Louisianan music compared to, say... Undertale songs. So here. Start with some Cajun, try some Mardi Gras songs, I’m not totally sure how much of this playlist is “actually from Louisiana” and how much is “other people making songs that they think are Louisianan” but try this one anyway, and once you’ve oriented yourself a bit dig in here. I wanna see ten Alastor playlists with one song that includes “Zydeco” in the title or album name, stat. Sure, we know Alastor’s all jazz and swing and musicals, but I sure don’t listen to only three genres, you probably don’t listen to only three genres, and Mr. Radio Guy Whose Public Title Includes The Word “Radio” Who Likes Bursting Spontaneously Into Musical Numbers probably listens to more genres than you and me combined, and those genres probably started with what was local & accessible & common around where he grew up.

- Then again I haven’t listened to this whole playlist yet, sometimes I put it on shuffle and sometimes I put it in alphabetical order to try to slowly work through it from top to bottom (I’ve made it mostly through the C’s) so maybe y’all hid the Cajun & Creole music down in the D’s. But lemme say this: while randomly shuffling through the playlist, I’ve randomly run into multiple Irish drinking songs & shanties, and randomly run into zero zydeco, so like from those of you who follow the “music that sounds like what the character listens to” philosophy of playlist-making, non-jazz Louisianan music could use a lil more representation. If there’s room for twenty-six Billie Eilish songs there’s room for one BeauSoleil song. (I’m partial to “L’ouragon,” but you do you)

- Somewhere in this massive mixed playlist there are three parody medleys of Disney songs rewritten to be like “here are grimdark edgy lyrics about all of the terrible real-world things happening to the cultures depicted in these Disney movies!” and like, okay, I can see why that merits inclusion in an Alastor playlist, his big moment in the pilot was “take an optimistic song worthy of a Disney princess and rewrite it with grimdark edgy lyrics,” but those three songs still annoy the hell out of me because the specific way they frame the concept of their songs is that Disney movies/songs are “full of lies” and these songs reveal the lies. And then it’s things like... “Aladdin got captured and interrogated by the CIA,” which is definitely a thing that happened to a character living in an ambiguous time period that predates the existence of the United States, much less the CIA, much less the CIA’s meddling in the middle east, by several centuries. Disney was definitely lying about the reality of Aladdin’s day-to-day existence by not depicting American imperialism that predates America. Or “the characters in The Princess & the Frog have to deal with the fallout of Hurricane Katrina,” like, yeah, Disney sure is pulling the wool over our eyes by dishonestly denying the devastating consequences the 2005 hurricane had on 1920s New Orleans. Listen the lyrics are clever and all the things they discuss are real salient social issues but it still drives me nuts that the songs are framed like they’re revealing “lies” being told when half of the movies are taking place in (fantasy versions of!) time periods or locations where the issues they’re discussing didn’t apply, if they’d just framed that one line differently— Okay, okay, I’m finished, I’m done, I’ve got it out of my system

- Every single love song makes me go “are you imagining this song with a ship (and if so which ship) or do you just think Alastor would be into this song?” The question goes double for songs from the 20s/30s, because the odds that they added it to their playlist just because they think Alastor would like the song increases.

- On the other hand, if whoever added “A Formidable Marinade” isn’t a Charlastor shipper I will eat my hat. Also nice work on the gory cannibalism sex song.

- Every once in a while I’ll run into a song that makes me go, now how the heck did you end up on an Alastor playlist? Does this song line up with someone’s very specific headcanons and/or fanfic plot? Do they think Alastor would like this song? Did they happen to like the song and like Alastor at the same time and so they associate them with each other? Examples: “I Got You (I Feel Good)”, “iRobot” (is it the emotionlessness of being post-death?? do they headcanon that he’s got radio hardware replacing his guts?? is it a post-breakup ship song??), “Greensleves”, “Barbra Streisand” (the song, not the singer), “Jolene,” “The Last Steampunk Waltz,” “Seven Nights in Eire,” “Cruel Angel’s Thesis,” and the person who included half a Kidz Bop album, please, I just wanna talk—

- Every time I hear a song that includes the words “hell,” “sinner,” “smile,” or “radio,” I go, “Haha. Nice.”

- An incomplete list of songs that amused me for how on point they are: “Hotel California” (how often do you have a fandom where “Hotel California” is actually very blatantly fitting without having to twist through an extended & convoluted metaphorical interpretation?), “The Hunting Song,” “The Axeman’s Jazz,” and “Time Again”

- I sort of hate whoever put “Circus” by Britney Spears in their playlist and made me realize that lyrically it’s a perfect Alastor song because it is.

- *scrolls past six versions of “I’m Always Chasing Rainbows”* Haha. Nice.

- *scrolls past five versions of “It Don’t Mean A Thing (If It Ain’t Got That Swing)”* Haha. Nice.

- *scrolls past a song from Bambi* Haha. Nice.

- *scrolls past five versions of “You’re Never Fully Dressed Without A Smile”* Haha. Nice.

- *scrolls past eleven versions of “Sing Sing Sing”* Haha. Nice.

- What’s with those of y’all putting steampunk songs in Alastor playlists? Listen, listen: steampunk vibes are for Sir Pentious. Swing vibes are for Alastor. Don’t cross the streams. Take your steampunk songs and make Sir Pentious playlists with them. He could use more playlists.

- The playlist includes 39 songs that include “smile” somewhere in the title.

[eldritchsurveys]

740.

How many walls are in your bedroom? >> Six, because the closet juts out from one of the corners. What do you think about Fall Out Boy? >> I enjoy their music quite a bit, especially Save Rock and Roll and Mania. Do you know where Guatemala is? >> Generally, yes. Specifically, nope. Do you find musicians attractive? >> I think being skilled in an art form -- but especially music -- is attractive, but not, like, “I want to sleep with you”-attractive, which is what I think people mean by this question. Just... I like art, I especially like music, by extension I’m interested by people who make art and especially music. Do you like hard boiled eggs? >> Yeah.

Do you know anyone named Hector? >> I used to, but we didn’t really call him that, we called him Luis. Would you move to another country for the one you love? >> I’ve moved across country for someone, but emigration is a lot harder than that, so I don’t know. I think what’s more important is whether I could even emigrate in the first place, seeing as the process is difficult even for people with money and marketable skills... Do you own an instrument? >> No. What do you usually have for lunch? >> I don’t usually eat a lunch, per se. I kind of graze for most of the day. The most organised thing I might make is a sandwich or some microwave thing. Ever had a pregnancy scare? >> Yes. What do you think about the Purple People Eater? >> I don’t really know what it is, if I’m honest. I’ve heard the song and I’ve heard references to it, but that’s it. Are you pale or tan? >> Dark-skinned. I’ve seen complaints about the America-centric lines of questioning in surveys, but can we talk about the whiteness lmao... What’s the weather like right now? >> Cloudy and chilly. I don’t know where Lady Spring is, but someone please tell her that I am dying. Do you like cats? >> Not especially. I can live with one if I must, obviously, since I do; but I’m not really interested in his existence or anything. I’m kind of turned off by people going apeshit about cats all the time, if I’m honest, but it’s hard to be honest about that without people taking offense. It’s not you, it’s me, etc etc. (It’s probably because I’m a spider and everyone hates spiders.) What’s the best part about Wal*Mart? >> I don’t know, I’m not terribly fond of Wal*Mart myself. Do you think Akon is amazing or annoying? >> I haven’t heard his name in years, lmao. Also, I have no opinion. Do you like the buzz cigarettes give you? >> Yeah, which is the reason I pick up a clove every now and then. Sometimes I just want to get into that headspace. Are you a practical joker? >> No. Do you like pop? >> Not the Pepsi and Coke kinds. I like “weird” sodas, I guess. And ginger beer, which is sort of like a soda. What are you looking forward to? >> Hmm. Oh, Sparrow is going back to work on Monday, apparently! Out of context it sounds like I hate her or something, probably, but it’s not that at all. She’s the only person I can bear being quarantined with. But like, I just like being in the apartment alone for a while. I feel... constricted when someone else is around all the time, and while that’s lessened with her it isn’t nonexistent lmao. I just need time where I’m left to my own devices without being observed by other people, any other people, it’s a weird need but it’s mine and I’ll be glad to have that need met again. Have you ever laughed so hard you couldn’t breathe? >> Yeah. What’s your favorite band? >> The Receiving End of Sirens is one. Do you feel stupid when you spill things on yourself? >> Yeah. Are you excited for summer? >> I would be, under normal circumstances! Now I just dread having to be stuck inside for the whole thing. I’m going to try walking trails and stuff, just to... be the fuck outside, but still. Have you ever snuck out? >> No. When’s the last time you were kissed? >> Oh, I don’t know. Would you ever eat popcorn & salsa? >> No, thanks. Do you sleep with the television on? >> Nope. I require silence. The only exception is, say, I’m in a motel room and other guests are being rowdy. Then I’ll put on something to, like, have a controlled and constant sound going as a counter to their chaos. Would you ever want to be able to be invisible? >> I mean, sure, there are situations where I could see that being advantageous. What does your favorite shirt look like? >> I don’t have one. What’s your favorite scent? >> ^ Skype, Msn, Aim, or Yahoo? >> Discord. What’s your favorite time of the day? >> I like dawn. I also like dusk, but only in the summer. Summer dusk is a beautiful thing. Do you hate the phrase “love ya” when coming from a boyfriend/girlfriend? >> No...? What do you do when someone in the room has b.o.? >> Distance myself as much as possible, as discreetly as possible. I don’t want to embarrass them, I just don’t want to deal with sensory overload. What movie would you like to see right now? >> Oh, stuff. How many times a day do you shower? >> It depends on the day. Some days, zero. Some days, once. What do you think of the name Chloe? >> It’s all right. I wouldn’t give it to a character, but it’s all right. Do you like Hollister? >> I’ve never even been inside one. (I’m pretty sure that’s one of the stores that they spray fragrance throughout, like Abercrombie, so that’s all the reason I need to never go inside.) What’s your favorite alcoholic drink? >> Absinthe. Do you like 80’s music? >> Sure, some of the music I like was made in the eighties. Do you have to wear glasses or have contacts? >> No. Do you play Halo or Gears of War? >> I played Gears with a friend years ago. I don’t play it now, though. That kind of game is pretty much only enjoyable for me with a friend, so. How do you feel about cleaning? >> I hate it, but I love the results. What do you think of emo kids? >> I appreciate them. Do you like the movie Grease? >> I haven’t seen it since I was a teenager, probably, so I don’t really remember it. I just have a vague recollection of a couple of the songs, and I remember what the main characters looked like. I’d probably like it if I watched it again; my thing for greasers is still alive and kickin, after all. Do you like singing? >> Sure do.

What’s your favorite Jim Carrey movie? >> The Number 23! I love that movie so much. Now I want to rewatch it.... I’m going to rewatch it. I’m going to spend four dollars to rent it on YouTube as soon as I’m finished with this smh, I can’t resist. It just hits me right where I live,  something about it is so intensely relatable for me, I don’t know. Probably because I’m haunted by a number, too. Runner-up for fave Carrey flick is Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. There’s a knock at your door at 4 in the morning; what do you do? >> Nothing. Whoever it is, we have no business with them. Do you like peaches? >> Sure. Ever lost a best friend? >> No.

Ever heard of a town called Wadena? >> No. Have you ever been to a funeral? >> Yes. What’s your favorite sport? >> Figure skating. What do you think about homeschooling? >> I’m interested in it, and the ways in which it can be implemented. I’m also pretty against a lot of things about public schooling in America, so, you know. What do you think about French people? >> I don’t have any opinions about French people. Do you like your parents? >> They don’t like me, which I think settles the issue right there. What do you think about Minnesota? >> I don’t have any thoughts about Minnesota. Do/did you like high school? >> I did not. Do you have any Asian friends? >> I’m acquainted with a few Asian people. Is it cold where you live? >> Yes, still. I fucking hate it. Do you find accents attractive? >> I mean, not as a rule. I find the mechanics of language interesting, so that attracts me, I guess. Do you hate it when people make spelling mistakes? >> No. Would you ever let your boyfriend/girlfriend do your makeup? >> Sure. She knows more about it than I do. Do you like to shop? >> No. How long are you on the computer during a 24 hour period? >> For just about the entire time I’m awake, nowadays. When I’m not in quarantine, then it depends on what else is happening that day. Is money really that important? >> I mean, sure it’s important. I can’t believe that would ever be in question. Wars are fought over it, people suffer and die because they don’t have enough of it, and people lose their whole sense of compassion and empathy when they have too much of it. It’s important, all right. Have you ever broken a bone? >> Nope. Who is your favorite family member? >> --- What size bed do you have? >> Twin, because it’s the only size that would fit in this room without making it utterly claustrophobic. I bark my elbow on the wall and accidentally knock shit off my nightstand all the time, but at least it’s a real bed that belongs to me, for once. What age do you want to be married? >> Well, I was 32, so.

What’s the last thing your wrote? >> Like, longhand? I have no idea. What do you think of your town? >> I don’t care for it. When’s the last time you played hide & go seek? >> Thanksgiving or some holiday like that. I played with Edward, who is a toddler. I always play with him when we see his parents on holidays, even when it makes me tired (where do kids get all that energy???), because I like him.

[whorchataaa]

Podcast: It’s See You Later, Not Goodbye

  All good things must come to an end. And today is one of those days. In this episode of The Not Crazy Podcast, we say a sad farewell to our amazing cohost, Jackie Zimmerman. Tune in, as Jackie and Gabe reminisce about the good old days, ponder the fate of podcasts, and discuss Jackie’s decision to leave. They also introduce you to Gabe’s new cohost, Lisa, who just happens to be his ex-wife. Yep! You heard that right! Will this divorced duo be an absolute train wreck (as most divorced cohosts would be) or an inspiration to all? You’ll have to stick around to find out.

Join us for a sweet farewell to Jackie and a warm welcome to Lisa. We also give instructions on how you can sign up to hear the upcoming podcast called Not Crazy 2.0.

(Transcript Available Below)

SUBSCRIBE & REVIEW

About The Not Crazy Podcast Hosts

Gabe Howard is an award-winning writer and speaker who lives with bipolar disorder. He is the author of the popular book, Mental Illness is an Asshole and other Observations, available from Amazon; signed copies are also available directly from Gabe Howard. To learn more, please visit his website, gabehoward.com.

        Jackie Zimmerman has been in the patient advocacy game for over a decade and has established herself as an authority on chronic illness, patient-centric healthcare, and patient community building. She lives with multiple sclerosis, ulcerative colitis, and depression.

You can find her online at JackieZimmerman.co, Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn.

    Computer Generated Transcript for “Jackie’s Finale” Episode

Editor’s Note: Please be mindful that this transcript has been computer generated and therefore may contain inaccuracies and grammar errors. Thank you.

Announcer: You’re listening to Not Crazy, a Psych Central podcast. And here are your hosts, Jackie Zimmerman and Gabe Howard.

Gabe: Welcome, Not Crazy fans. I would like to introduce my co-host, Jackie.

Jackie: And my co-host, Gabe.

Gabe: And we have some sad and, you know, Jackie, we have good news and bad news. Which do you want first?

Jackie: We have like a shit sandwich, right?

Gabe: Right. Well, except that no, no, we don’t have a shit sandwich. Well, I don’t even understand what that means.

Jackie: Isn’t it like two pieces of bread with like shit in the middle, so like two good things surrounded by shit?

Gabe: Is this a millennial thing?

Jackie: I know this was a derby thing anyway. We have good news and also some bad news.

Gabe: I asked you a simple question, do you want the good news or the bad news?

Jackie: Good news.

Gabe: The good news is the show is going to continue. You have to go over to PsychCentral.com/NotCrazy and re-subscribe as Not Crazy 2.0 is rising from the ashes of, and now we’re getting into the bad news.

Jackie: This is my last episode. Wah, wah.

Gabe: Jackie is leaving. I feel like all of my co-hosts leave me.

Jackie: Maybe it’s you.

Gabe: I mean, I am the only constant. Even the name has changed. I can’t even blame it on the name. I just I don’t know what’s happening.

Jackie: Super sad.

Gabe: Ok. Look, I recognize that everything is on a spectrum except for maybe spectrums. Are spectrums on a spectrum?

Jackie: I have no idea, this is, but this is not sad. Can we talk about what’s allegedly said?

Gabe: Oh, what is allegedly sad is America’s lack of knowledge about the basics of science, which has probably gotten us into this entire COVID-19 debacle.

Jackie: Yeah.

Gabe: But also Jackie is leaving us.

Jackie: Well, when you say it like that, it sounds sad.

Gabe: See, everything’s on a spectrum. I feel like we need to give context in a way that we generally don’t on the show. Right?

Jackie: Yes. Yes,

Gabe: Yes.

Jackie: I agree.

Gabe: Ok.

Jackie: Yeah.

Gabe: If you go back and you listen to the great episode that came out after Christmas where I said, hey, Jackie, how was your Christmas, going to let you in on a little secret. We recorded that in November. So Christmas hadn’t happened yet. So Jackie had to guess that she had a good Christmas. In fairness, I love I’m blaming you. You asked me how my Christmas was and

Jackie: Right.

Gabe: I had to guess as well.

Jackie: You, lied.

Gabe: Yeah.

Jackie: You didn’t know.

Gabe: Yeah. I mean, our predictions were very good. We said we had a good Christmas. And hey, lo and behold, we had a good Christmas. All the people who I said annoyed me. They did, in fact, annoy me. So this is going to air in like the middle of May, but it’s actually the middle of April. We’re still under quarantine. I’m in Ohio, which is shelter in place. Jackie is in Michigan, which is shelter in place. And everybody hates her governor. And there’s riots on the streets, except they’re wearing the masks. So it’s really like a cognitive distortion of the highest order where

Jackie: It’s just.

Gabe: The virus is both fake, but they still wear a mask to protect themselves from it. So it’s weird. That’s what’s happening as we’re recording this.

Jackie: Do you remember the movie Idiocracy? Right, everybody, right. Here’s the thing, though. This is worse than Idiocracy. We watched that movie and we were like, ha ha, that’s a stupid. People are so dumb. Whenever anybody does something dumb, we call it Idiocracy. But like, this is like if Idiocracy was like times ten is what these people are doing. Anyway, I digress.

Gabe: But we’re bringing this up because we can’t predict the future.

Jackie: Right.

Gabe: You know, normally we can. You know, how’s your summer going, Jackie? How were your holidays? And. You know, we touch on the basics because we know that there’s a four week lead time, but there’s a four week lead time. So, yeah, I don’t I’m going to pretend the quarantine is over and that neither Jackie or I have corona and that we’re safe and healthy and that I’m back to sitting in McDonald’s because I’m trying to have, for the first time in my bipolar life, an optimistic outlook.

Jackie: Solid.

Gabe: Jackie, where do you think we’ll be in a month?

Jackie: Well, my hope is that that my business is still doing really well because that’s one of the contributing factors here, too, is I am one of the fortunate people in this time who’s actually doing very, very well. I’m super busy and I hope that that continues. So a month from now, I hope I’m just, you know, rolling in the dough like a Quentin Tarantino movie minus the murdery parts, but just the money parts.

Gabe: The murdery parts, I think, are the coronavirus.

Jackie: Yeah, yeah. So I don’t want

Gabe: I mean.

Jackie: Those parts.

Gabe: It’s we don’t want those parts. Yeah.

Jackie: I just want the money parts and the busy parts and the like maybe. I don’t know. I don’t even want to say that I hope that we’re out of our houses in a month because I can’t confidently say that I think that that’s a good idea. So I just hope that I’m still in business making money. That’s what I’m going to say.

Gabe: The coronavirus impacted a lot of things in ways that we just can’t even imagine. Obviously our ability to travel around the country, book speaking engagements is, I use the word decimated, which I have been told is just a very extreme word for postponed. But I feel like it’s been decimated. I feel like the thing that you know what it is, Jackie, this isn’t just my job. It’s my purpose. I do make money off of it. It’s how I eat. It’s how I buy nice things. It’s how I go on vacation. But the reason that I do this is because it’s my thing. It’s my purpose. So, yeah, the money is gone for me, but the the purpose is gone. And yes, yes, I believe that it will come back, but it’s necessitated just just an incredible number of changes in just in the way things work. You know, podcast traffic, surprisingly and shockingly or maybe not surprisingly and not shockingly is down. It’s down a lot. The way that people consume podcasts is a somewhat unique.

Jackie: I find this whole point that you’re about to make to be incredibly interesting because you have proclaimed that you do not listen to podcasts, so you predicting podcast behavior is bizarre.

Gabe: I’m explaining poorly, Jackie. You are correct. I am looking at stats and I subscribe to a tracking service as most high end podcasts do that look at trends across the industry. And across the industry, podcast traffic is down because of the way people interact with podcasts. Podcasts are a very intimate medium, but even though they’re a very intimate medium. People still want to be driving to work. They still want to be going to the gym. They still want to be cleaning their house. Most people are not sitting perfectly still listening to the show and doing nothing else. They’re listening while they do something else.

Jackie: Yeah.

Gabe: That’s that. But people aren’t doing a lot of other things right now. Even the people who are stuck at home, they can’t listen to a podcast because their kids are underfoot or their spouses are underfoot or their roommates are underfoot. Or like me, they’ve just given up and decided to stop cleaning.

Jackie: Underfoot, Grandpa Gabe. Underfoot, really?

Gabe: What would you say? You correct that sentence in cool Aunt Jackie speak.

Jackie: Their kids are annoying, their spouses are annoying. They’re in the way. They’re the worst. That’s

Gabe: Oh, my. Oh, my.

Jackie: Ok, but I do listen to podcasts a lot. And when we were talking about kind of watching the numbers and seeing them kind of dip a bit, I realize I’m not listening to podcasts. I’m definitely. I don’t even commute to work anymore. But when I did, I listened to a lot of podcasts on my commute. I listen to a lot of podcasts when I drive to the doctor or wherever I’m going. And, you know, sometimes like here and there when I’m cooking, but I’m not doing any of that anymore. One, Adam is home all the time. So he cooks everything because I’m very lucky and I’m not driving anywhere. And even if I am right now, like, I don’t really want to listen to a podcast. You know, like it. This is what we talk about all the time now is what’s happening in the world. And I’m living it every day. So I don’t necessarily want to talk about it anymore than I already have to.

Gabe: And just like our podcast did a lot of shows on corona, on quarantine, on anxiety, on our feelings, on the mental health surrounding it. It’s hard to produce this content in a timely manner. As we said, it’s about four weeks from recording to airing. In a perfect world, you can get that number down. If you spend, you know, more time, more money. But like anything, once you start rushing things, well, you start rushing things.

Jackie: Mm hmm.

Gabe: It’s fascinating to me, Jackie, because so many people are like, wow, I don’t know why it’s so hard. You just record like a half an hour a week, right? Your podcast is a half an hour time commitment, right?

Jackie: LOL.

Gabe: Look. Yeah. Yeah. One, no, just going to hard stop that right there. No.

Jackie: For what it’s worth, we’ve officially been recording for 12 and a half minutes. But we have been on the call for over an hour.

Gabe: Right. And that’s the time we spend together. So usually there’s 45 minutes to an hour before we start recording. Then there’s the recording time. But before that, there’s the e-mails back and forth. What’s this week’s topic going to be? And then once we land on a topic which, you know, texts, e-mails, maybe a conversation, etc., then we both go our separate ways. And obviously, since we’re doing a farewell episode and talking about, hey, you know, I’m gonna miss you, Jackie.

Jackie: Oh, well that’s cute.

Gabe: Notice she didn’t say, I’m going to miss you, Gabe.

Jackie: I.

Gabe: I just. Why? Why? Why do my co-hosts hate me?

Jackie: False. Your co-hosts do not hate. I mean, I as the only co-host I can actively speak for, which is myself. I do not hate you at all. And I will miss recording this podcast. I do enjoy doing it. It’s a boatload of work. Like we just talked about. But I do like doing it. It’s something that’s fun to do. But it’s not. It’s not all the glamorous-ness that everybody thinks it is. You know, it’s there’s a lot of back end work that goes into making this thing come out for 30 minutes every week.

Gabe: And before coronavirus, that work was paying off. It was trending in that direction. The numbers were fantastic. The emails were fantastic. The bookings were fantastic. You know, we launched the Psych Central Podcast Live campaign like two weeks before the shit hit the fan.

Jackie: Of course we did.

Gabe: Did you guys remember that?

Jackie: Of course we did.

Gabe: Did anybody know that there was a, there’s a whole Web site and there was a public relations campaign and all of that time and energy is going to have to be duplicated, repeated, repackaged at some point in the future. And that point is probably a year from now. And I’m not trying to throw you under the bus, Jackie, but the Not Crazy 2.0, I’m still going to be on and you’re not, so Jackie jumped ship. She just she left. She’s like, oh, my God, I can’t put another year into the build up because she has another business. She has other things to do. And, you know, in this way, we everybody is focusing on COVID-19 in the worst possible light. And death is very, very scary. I’m not minimizing that in any way, but I don’t think people are talking about some of the secondary effects. You know, things like people losing the businesses that they’ve built up for a long, long time. Some people their entire lives. They’re not talking about people who miss their senior year of high school. And I understand that compared to death, this isn’t that big of a deal because, yeah, I would miss my senior year of high school to bring back any member of my family for five minutes. For five minutes. Yes. But this still does represent a loss. And this is one of those losses.

Jackie: Yeah, it is. And to your point of businesses going under. And, you know, let’s say really fun hobbies that are also kind of like a business kind of going under. That’s why right now, like, I can’t slow in my business, you know, like I can’t say that we’re gonna, we’re gonna work to rebuild this up because I have business. So I have to make sure that I’m like putting everything into it, because not everybody has that right now. And I want to make sure that I can hold on to that as long as I can, because small businesses are just dwindling every day and I don’t want to be one of them.

Gabe: You know what I’m most sad about? Adam never wrote us a rap song.

Jackie: Adam is a retired rapper, Gabe. He’s retired.

Gabe: Listen. I am 43 years old. And would you like the list of all of the musical people who have retired and went on a farewell tour that then came back again? I have been to KISS farewell tour like six times.

Jackie: Yeah. But they’re bad. And Adam is really good. So.

Gabe: See that, so he is primed. He had, remember when Michael Jordan retired? Michael Jordan came back. I’m just sayin.

Jackie: Yeah.

Gabe: I’m just sayin.

Jackie: Well.

Gabe: Do you want a podcast now and release the episode on time? [singing]

Jackie: Yeah. I mean, you could write it. Why don’t you write it? You could be a rapper.

Gabe: No. Don’t say that anybody can be a rapper.

Jackie: I didn’t.

Gabe: That’s like how everybody thinks that they can be a podcaster right now.

Jackie: I did not say anybody could be a rapper. I said, you already have a beat and a song. And so you could rewrite it. But, you know, this is digressing quite a bit.

Gabe: Because I’m all about that cast, about that cast. [singing]

Jackie: The cast?

Gabe: Yeah, because it’s like base. I don’t know what to put for treble? Like no static? I’m all about that cast, about that cast.

Jackie: Ok, maybe you can’t be a rapper because that was, oof, that was pretty bad. Anyway.

Gabe: Well, this is, this is getting. This is getting bad.

Jackie: So the point that you were.

Gabe: I’ve lost my co-host. The whole world is quarantined, maybe. Or maybe it’s over. I don’t know. I don’t know where we are going to be in the future.

Jackie: The point you’re trying.

Gabe: Maybe aliens have landed?

Jackie: The point you’re trying to make is that while I will be running my little tail off, trying to be a business person, the show will go on.

Gabe: We’ll be right back after these messages.

Announcer: Interested in learning about psychology and mental health from experts in the field? Give a listen to the Psych Central Podcast, hosted by Gabe Howard. Visit PsychCentral.com/Show or subscribe to The Psych Central Podcast on your favorite podcast player.

Announcer: This episode is sponsored by BetterHelp.com. Secure, convenient, and affordable online counseling. Our counselors are licensed, accredited professionals. Anything you share is confidential. Schedule secure video or phone sessions, plus chat and text with your therapist whenever you feel it’s needed. A month of online therapy often costs less than a single traditional face to face session. Go to BetterHelp.com/PsychCentral and experience seven days of free therapy to see if online counseling is right for you. BetterHelp.com/PsychCentral.

Jackie: We are back for my last episode and discussing Not Crazy 2.0.

Gabe: The show is, what do kids call it? Rebooting? It’s rebooting as Not Crazy 2.0. The same title, same general theme. It is moving feeds. You have to go over to PsychCentral.com/NotCrazy and re subscribe on the new i-Tunes feed and the new Spotify feed. Well, just all the new feeds.

Jackie: All the feeds.

Gabe: It’s very, very important that if you think that you are going to hear Gabe and his new co-host on this feed, you’re not. So, please, please, please head over to PsychCentral.com/NotCrazy and click all the little buttons to sign up on whatever podcast player you have been subscribing to. But, Jackie, do you want to introduce the new. I mean, she’s not here,

Jackie: No.

Gabe: But she is well known to the show.

Jackie: I feel like the best way to introduce her is just to say this, sorry, Lisa. Sorry. Sorry, Lisa.

Gabe: Yeah, like so many wait, like we’ve been apologizing to Lisa since the beginning of the show and we thought it was for like all the edits and post-work that she was going to have to do. But it turns out that you’re apologizing for dumping her on a show with her ex-husband after you left.

Jackie: Well, OK, so for those who don’t know what we’re talking about, Lisa is our editor. She also just happens to be Gabe’s ex wife, who he somehow maintains a very solid friendship with. So when we screw up, which happens all the time, there are recordings of us saying, sorry, Lisa. I think she’s used them as outtakes. But Lisa is going to fill in this role. And I actually think this is going to be really great, because not only does Lisa have the perspective of living with mental illness, but she’s also been a really amazing care partner. Right? She’s watched you go through the depths of being bipolar. She’s super educated. She’s very involved in the mental illness community. Lisa has a very unique perspective and.

Gabe: And she’s mean. She’s super mean,

Jackie: Well, and she kind of.

Gabe: Like you’re trying to avoid it. She’s super mean.

Jackie: Eh, she love hates you a little bit, but like, I mean, she’s super mean. No, she’s not. I don’t think Lisa’s super mean.

Gabe: We’re codependent, we’re codependent as hell.

Jackie: Yes.

Gabe: Remember when you first met Lisa and you said, you know, Gabe, I think that you and Lisa might be a little bit codependent. And I said, you think? You think? You know, I thought you were smarter, Jackie. We are totally codependent. And the fact that you can’t figure that out really makes me think less of you. Do you remember that conversation? It was at Roosters when we were watching UFC.

Jackie: Oh, I actually totally don’t remember that conversation. But I mean, like.

Gabe: It was an awesome conversation. We laugh about it every day.

Jackie: I can confirm that you are definitely codependent, so look forward to episodes about that in the future.

Gabe: We are both happily remarried to other people and there’s

Jackie: Well.

Gabe: Nobody would bat an eye at the friendship that Lisa and I have  if she was male, if we were the same sex. So it’s interesting. I don’t think that our friendship could exist 40 years ago. So it’s cool.

Jackie: Well.

Gabe: It’s cool that in 2020 you can be friends with members of the opposite sex because it really did give way for us to find where we actually belong because we don’t belong as a married couple.

Jackie: Well, and I will say that when I first found out that Lisa, who I only knew as our editor, who I only knew through emailing at the time, was your ex-wife, I was like, whoa, whoa, whoa. I need the story on this. What? Come again one more time. And you told me what happened. And I was like, no, no, no. But like, you guys are still friends. OK. So your wife must hate her, right? And she doesn’t. Like well, her husband must totally hate you. And he doesn’t. So then I was like, OK, but like, that’s just what you say. And then I saw you guys all in person. And it’s true. There’s no, like, weirdness. There’s no like kind of like bitchy side eyes. Like you guys are all just buddies. And it is so bizarre, but also very cool.

Gabe: I think one of the perspectives that Lisa will bring, aside from her own perspective. I mean, I do not want to discount that Lisa is her own person, has her own perspective, and she can hold her own in an argument, discussion, debate with anybody in the world. It’s one of the cool and awful things about Lisa. So I don’t want to make Lisa all about Gabe. I want to be very, very clear that Lisa is her own person with her own thoughts and opinions. But Lisa has also known me for 20 years. And I know that Lisa, as my editor, she’s listened to hundreds of shows, podcasts, videos and things that I’ve made because she edits them all to make me sound just fantastic. And the number of emails that I get from her where she’s like, hey, Jackie asked you what your favorite color was and you said, purple, you know, that’s not true. You like red. And you told me that you like red. Do you remember that when red happened and blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. And it’s interesting because she’s known me for so long that it’s fascinating how often she calls me out on my bullshit, not because she suspects it, but because she was there when it happened. And she remembers it from her perspective. And I remember it from my perspective. And I think it’s going to make for some very unique conversations. Jackie was not there when I went to the psychiatric hospital. So just imagine that conversation with instead of Jackie asking me how I felt if the person asking me the questions was there. I’m kind of excited for that because I can only see things through the eyes of somebody who is in crisis with bipolar disorder. Lisa sees that whole story through the eyes of the person who tricked me to get in a car and save my life.

Jackie: Well.

Gabe: That’s a very different perspective.

Jackie: And Lisa’s perspective and her experience is one that one no one who knows you has ever heard. Right? Like it’s not like you throw her up on a stage and you’re like, Lisa, tell me what that was like. And also, it’s not one we hear a lot in general, you know, we hear about care partners. A lot of times, though, it’s parents of children. We don’t often hear a lot about what happens when you have to go. OK. This is not going well. And you’re right. How do I trick him into getting care? I, for one, am fascinated and cannot wait to hear that.

Gabe: We are sincerely hoping that this provides a unique voice in this space. And you’re right. We see a lot of, you know, mom and dad, husband and wife, parent and child, extended family. You see like sibling teams. I can’t think of a single ex husband and ex wife mental health team, because usually when the divorce happens, when the breakup happens, the hurt feelings are so tremendous, there’s nothing to salvage. And there’s a ton of hurt feelings. Those are gonna be my favorite shows, all the hurt feelings. But usually those people can’t work together, so they end up telling the story away from each other. I would tell the story about my ex spouse who left me and she would tell the story about her mentally ill ex spouse who screwed it all up and we couldn’t interact. I’m just saying, generally speaking, people who break up don’t rehash their relationships publicly.

Jackie: No.

Gabe: And if they do rehash them publicly, not in a healthy way.

Jackie: No. No. And they definitely don’t do it like, you know, for less than a billion dollars on a reality TV show.

Gabe: So listen up, reality TV show hosts, for a billion dollars, I would do The Amazing Race. I mean.

Jackie: I mean, the reality is nobody’s getting paid a billion dollars on reality TV. They get like six hundred dollars an episode.

Gabe: Wait, what? They get $600 an episode? That’s a lot.

Jackie: I think they get like between six and whatever, it doesn’t matter. That’s off the point. The point is.

Gabe: Wow. That’s not, that’s not podcast money, that’s good money.

Jackie: Lisa’s gonna be the new co-host. She’s Gabe’s ex-wife. She knows a lot about mental illness. And I think that it’s gonna be a great show.

Gabe: Jackie, obviously I agree that Lisa and I are going to work well together, and it’s we’ve reached the point in our relationship where we can do it. We’ve obviously worked on the podcast with Lisa behind the scenes for a number of years. I think people would really be surprised at how long Lisa has been around. This is the first time she asked to be on the microphone. So I don’t know what changed in her life, but hey, she’s getting braver or she’s just got like a lot of trauma that she wants to air publicly. And I’m about to, I’m about to hit a firestorm of awful. But either way, I think it’s going to be fun. But listen, you need to go to PsychCentral.com/NotCrazy and re subscribe to all the new feeds. PsychCentral.com/NotCrazy. Jackie. I am going to miss the hell out of you. I only have one question left. It’s sort of become a tradition whenever one of my co-hosts leaves me to ask this question, which is why we put it all the way at the end. But before I ask, do you have anything to say? What do you want to say to the listeners?

Jackie: Honestly, it’s really hard to come up with something like poignant and awesome on the spot to say to people who are important to you and our listeners are important to me. So I don’t have like a very eloquent, like, here’s my parting wishes for all of you. Instead, I’ll say I’m still online everywhere, all the places, my Web site is JackieZimmerman.co. I have all the social things. You can find me everywhere if you ever need like a Web site or an email campaign. Like, I could totally do that for you, too. I don’t know. I think our listeners are great. We’ve gotten a lot of really great emails and feedback and well-wishes and and me too’s. And that’s been a really, really cool thing from being a part of this podcast.

Gabe: Obviously, you can go to Jackie’s Web site. JackieZimmerman.co to email her. You can also e-mail to show@PsychCentral.com and we will forward it over. So I promise that any nice thing that you say to Jackie, she will get. Jackie, I have one more question.

Jackie: Hit me.

Gabe: What advice do you have for my new co-host?

Jackie: I think that it would be impossible and maybe downright irresponsible for me to try to give a person who’s known you for 20 years, who’s been married to you and has like supported you through your whole life, any advice about working with you. She knows everything. I got nothing that she doesn’t already know.

Gabe: She knows everything, that’s like super scary. Like I’m, as you said that, I was like, does she know everything? And then I thought, wow, she knows like my banking passwords.

Jackie: [Laughter]

Gabe: She’s the person that if I die, is going to come clear my browser history. I mean, she has a very important role.

Jackie: The only advice that I would give to Lisa is that when you’re recording, don’t hit your desk because Lisa gets really pissed off about that when she’s editing the podcast.

Gabe: What are what are the things that she, she hits us up every week. Don’t hit your desk. Don’t smack your mic. You’re getting better on verbal crutches or you’re getting worse on verbal crutches.

Jackie: Your sniffling is too much.

Gabe: Remember when we both had the cough? I thought she was going to quit that week. That was it. I think this is gonna be great. But remember, you’re not going to hear any of it if you don’t go to PsychCentral.com/NotCrazy and sign up for the new feed. Jackie, first off, will you come back? I mean, you’re going to come back as a guest from time to time, right? There’s gonna be something that you want to talk about and you will come and debate it with us because you’re not dying. You’re just, you’re just busy.

Jackie: But of course, yes.

Gabe: Excellent. What you have a standing invitation to be on Not Crazy 2.0 whenever you want to come back. So I hope you will be here. My final question, and I know I promised the other question was final, but I just, I just have to know. I’ve wondered really since we started working together. The blue hair. Is that your natural hair color? Or do you dye?

Jackie: Wow. Well, in case you can’t tell, we have been quarantined for well over a month now. And the roots are not blue, so no.

Gabe: Jackie, that’s awesome. All right, listen up, everybody. Here’s what I need you to do. I need you to go over to PsychCentral.com/NotCrazy. There’ll be a whole bunch of buttons there to sign up for the new feeds. Not Crazy. 2.0 is gonna be awesome. Lisa’s gonna be there. I’m going to be there. We’re gonna do really, really, really, really, really cool things. But of course, you won’t hear any of it if you don’t subscribe over on PsychCentral.com/NotCrazy. We’ll see everybody in the brave new world. I hope you all are doing OK.

Jackie: So long and farewell,

Gabe: I like that.

Jackie: I’m so good at this now.

Gabe: Aww, that sucks, just when we got it.

Announcer: You’ve been listening to Not Crazy from Psych Central. For free mental health resources and online support groups, visit PsychCentral.com. Not Crazy’s official website is PsychCentral.com/NotCrazy. To work with Gabe, go to gabehoward.com. To work with Jackie, go to JackieZimmerman.co. Not Crazy travels well. Have Gabe and Jackie record an episode live at your next event. E-mail show@psychcentral.com for details. 

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[ashley-unicorn]

Podcast: It’s See You Later, Not Goodbye

  All good things must come to an end. And today is one of those days. In this episode of The Not Crazy Podcast, we say a sad farewell to our amazing cohost, Jackie Zimmerman. Tune in, as Jackie and Gabe reminisce about the good old days, ponder the fate of podcasts, and discuss Jackie’s decision to leave. They also introduce you to Gabe’s new cohost, Lisa, who just happens to be his ex-wife. Yep! You heard that right! Will this divorced duo be an absolute train wreck (as most divorced cohosts would be) or an inspiration to all? You’ll have to stick around to find out.

Join us for a sweet farewell to Jackie and a warm welcome to Lisa. We also give instructions on how you can sign up to hear the upcoming podcast called Not Crazy 2.0.

(Transcript Available Below)

SUBSCRIBE & REVIEW

About The Not Crazy Podcast Hosts

Gabe Howard is an award-winning writer and speaker who lives with bipolar disorder. He is the author of the popular book, Mental Illness is an Asshole and other Observations, available from Amazon; signed copies are also available directly from Gabe Howard. To learn more, please visit his website, gabehoward.com.

        Jackie Zimmerman has been in the patient advocacy game for over a decade and has established herself as an authority on chronic illness, patient-centric healthcare, and patient community building. She lives with multiple sclerosis, ulcerative colitis, and depression.

You can find her online at JackieZimmerman.co, Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn.

    Computer Generated Transcript for “Jackie’s Finale” Episode

Editor’s Note: Please be mindful that this transcript has been computer generated and therefore may contain inaccuracies and grammar errors. Thank you.

Announcer: You’re listening to Not Crazy, a Psych Central podcast. And here are your hosts, Jackie Zimmerman and Gabe Howard.

Gabe: Welcome, Not Crazy fans. I would like to introduce my co-host, Jackie.

Jackie: And my co-host, Gabe.

Gabe: And we have some sad and, you know, Jackie, we have good news and bad news. Which do you want first?

Jackie: We have like a shit sandwich, right?

Gabe: Right. Well, except that no, no, we don’t have a shit sandwich. Well, I don’t even understand what that means.

Jackie: Isn’t it like two pieces of bread with like shit in the middle, so like two good things surrounded by shit?

Gabe: Is this a millennial thing?

Jackie: I know this was a derby thing anyway. We have good news and also some bad news.

Gabe: I asked you a simple question, do you want the good news or the bad news?

Jackie: Good news.

Gabe: The good news is the show is going to continue. You have to go over to PsychCentral.com/NotCrazy and re-subscribe as Not Crazy 2.0 is rising from the ashes of, and now we’re getting into the bad news.

Jackie: This is my last episode. Wah, wah.

Gabe: Jackie is leaving. I feel like all of my co-hosts leave me.

Jackie: Maybe it’s you.

Gabe: I mean, I am the only constant. Even the name has changed. I can’t even blame it on the name. I just I don’t know what’s happening.

Jackie: Super sad.

Gabe: Ok. Look, I recognize that everything is on a spectrum except for maybe spectrums. Are spectrums on a spectrum?

Jackie: I have no idea, this is, but this is not sad. Can we talk about what’s allegedly said?

Gabe: Oh, what is allegedly sad is America’s lack of knowledge about the basics of science, which has probably gotten us into this entire COVID-19 debacle.

Jackie: Yeah.

Gabe: But also Jackie is leaving us.

Jackie: Well, when you say it like that, it sounds sad.

Gabe: See, everything’s on a spectrum. I feel like we need to give context in a way that we generally don’t on the show. Right?

Jackie: Yes. Yes,

Gabe: Yes.

Jackie: I agree.

Gabe: Ok.

Jackie: Yeah.

Gabe: If you go back and you listen to the great episode that came out after Christmas where I said, hey, Jackie, how was your Christmas, going to let you in on a little secret. We recorded that in November. So Christmas hadn’t happened yet. So Jackie had to guess that she had a good Christmas. In fairness, I love I’m blaming you. You asked me how my Christmas was and

Jackie: Right.

Gabe: I had to guess as well.

Jackie: You, lied.

Gabe: Yeah.

Jackie: You didn’t know.

Gabe: Yeah. I mean, our predictions were very good. We said we had a good Christmas. And hey, lo and behold, we had a good Christmas. All the people who I said annoyed me. They did, in fact, annoy me. So this is going to air in like the middle of May, but it’s actually the middle of April. We’re still under quarantine. I’m in Ohio, which is shelter in place. Jackie is in Michigan, which is shelter in place. And everybody hates her governor. And there’s riots on the streets, except they’re wearing the masks. So it’s really like a cognitive distortion of the highest order where

Jackie: It’s just.

Gabe: The virus is both fake, but they still wear a mask to protect themselves from it. So it’s weird. That’s what’s happening as we’re recording this.

Jackie: Do you remember the movie Idiocracy? Right, everybody, right. Here’s the thing, though. This is worse than Idiocracy. We watched that movie and we were like, ha ha, that’s a stupid. People are so dumb. Whenever anybody does something dumb, we call it Idiocracy. But like, this is like if Idiocracy was like times ten is what these people are doing. Anyway, I digress.

Gabe: But we’re bringing this up because we can’t predict the future.

Jackie: Right.

Gabe: You know, normally we can. You know, how’s your summer going, Jackie? How were your holidays? And. You know, we touch on the basics because we know that there’s a four week lead time, but there’s a four week lead time. So, yeah, I don’t I’m going to pretend the quarantine is over and that neither Jackie or I have corona and that we’re safe and healthy and that I’m back to sitting in McDonald’s because I’m trying to have, for the first time in my bipolar life, an optimistic outlook.

Jackie: Solid.

Gabe: Jackie, where do you think we’ll be in a month?

Jackie: Well, my hope is that that my business is still doing really well because that’s one of the contributing factors here, too, is I am one of the fortunate people in this time who’s actually doing very, very well. I’m super busy and I hope that that continues. So a month from now, I hope I’m just, you know, rolling in the dough like a Quentin Tarantino movie minus the murdery parts, but just the money parts.

Gabe: The murdery parts, I think, are the coronavirus.

Jackie: Yeah, yeah. So I don’t want

Gabe: I mean.

Jackie: Those parts.

Gabe: It’s we don’t want those parts. Yeah.

Jackie: I just want the money parts and the busy parts and the like maybe. I don’t know. I don’t even want to say that I hope that we’re out of our houses in a month because I can’t confidently say that I think that that’s a good idea. So I just hope that I’m still in business making money. That’s what I’m going to say.

Gabe: The coronavirus impacted a lot of things in ways that we just can’t even imagine. Obviously our ability to travel around the country, book speaking engagements is, I use the word decimated, which I have been told is just a very extreme word for postponed. But I feel like it’s been decimated. I feel like the thing that you know what it is, Jackie, this isn’t just my job. It’s my purpose. I do make money off of it. It’s how I eat. It’s how I buy nice things. It’s how I go on vacation. But the reason that I do this is because it’s my thing. It’s my purpose. So, yeah, the money is gone for me, but the the purpose is gone. And yes, yes, I believe that it will come back, but it’s necessitated just just an incredible number of changes in just in the way things work. You know, podcast traffic, surprisingly and shockingly or maybe not surprisingly and not shockingly is down. It’s down a lot. The way that people consume podcasts is a somewhat unique.

Jackie: I find this whole point that you’re about to make to be incredibly interesting because you have proclaimed that you do not listen to podcasts, so you predicting podcast behavior is bizarre.

Gabe: I’m explaining poorly, Jackie. You are correct. I am looking at stats and I subscribe to a tracking service as most high end podcasts do that look at trends across the industry. And across the industry, podcast traffic is down because of the way people interact with podcasts. Podcasts are a very intimate medium, but even though they’re a very intimate medium. People still want to be driving to work. They still want to be going to the gym. They still want to be cleaning their house. Most people are not sitting perfectly still listening to the show and doing nothing else. They’re listening while they do something else.

Jackie: Yeah.

Gabe: That’s that. But people aren’t doing a lot of other things right now. Even the people who are stuck at home, they can’t listen to a podcast because their kids are underfoot or their spouses are underfoot or their roommates are underfoot. Or like me, they’ve just given up and decided to stop cleaning.

Jackie: Underfoot, Grandpa Gabe. Underfoot, really?

Gabe: What would you say? You correct that sentence in cool Aunt Jackie speak.

Jackie: Their kids are annoying, their spouses are annoying. They’re in the way. They’re the worst. That’s

Gabe: Oh, my. Oh, my.

Jackie: Ok, but I do listen to podcasts a lot. And when we were talking about kind of watching the numbers and seeing them kind of dip a bit, I realize I’m not listening to podcasts. I’m definitely. I don’t even commute to work anymore. But when I did, I listened to a lot of podcasts on my commute. I listen to a lot of podcasts when I drive to the doctor or wherever I’m going. And, you know, sometimes like here and there when I’m cooking, but I’m not doing any of that anymore. One, Adam is home all the time. So he cooks everything because I’m very lucky and I’m not driving anywhere. And even if I am right now, like, I don’t really want to listen to a podcast. You know, like it. This is what we talk about all the time now is what’s happening in the world. And I’m living it every day. So I don’t necessarily want to talk about it anymore than I already have to.

Gabe: And just like our podcast did a lot of shows on corona, on quarantine, on anxiety, on our feelings, on the mental health surrounding it. It’s hard to produce this content in a timely manner. As we said, it’s about four weeks from recording to airing. In a perfect world, you can get that number down. If you spend, you know, more time, more money. But like anything, once you start rushing things, well, you start rushing things.

Jackie: Mm hmm.

Gabe: It’s fascinating to me, Jackie, because so many people are like, wow, I don’t know why it’s so hard. You just record like a half an hour a week, right? Your podcast is a half an hour time commitment, right?

Jackie: LOL.

Gabe: Look. Yeah. Yeah. One, no, just going to hard stop that right there. No.

Jackie: For what it’s worth, we’ve officially been recording for 12 and a half minutes. But we have been on the call for over an hour.

Gabe: Right. And that’s the time we spend together. So usually there’s 45 minutes to an hour before we start recording. Then there’s the recording time. But before that, there’s the e-mails back and forth. What’s this week’s topic going to be? And then once we land on a topic which, you know, texts, e-mails, maybe a conversation, etc., then we both go our separate ways. And obviously, since we’re doing a farewell episode and talking about, hey, you know, I’m gonna miss you, Jackie.

Jackie: Oh, well that’s cute.

Gabe: Notice she didn’t say, I’m going to miss you, Gabe.

Jackie: I.

Gabe: I just. Why? Why? Why do my co-hosts hate me?

Jackie: False. Your co-hosts do not hate. I mean, I as the only co-host I can actively speak for, which is myself. I do not hate you at all. And I will miss recording this podcast. I do enjoy doing it. It’s a boatload of work. Like we just talked about. But I do like doing it. It’s something that’s fun to do. But it’s not. It’s not all the glamorous-ness that everybody thinks it is. You know, it’s there’s a lot of back end work that goes into making this thing come out for 30 minutes every week.

Gabe: And before coronavirus, that work was paying off. It was trending in that direction. The numbers were fantastic. The emails were fantastic. The bookings were fantastic. You know, we launched the Psych Central Podcast Live campaign like two weeks before the shit hit the fan.

Jackie: Of course we did.

Gabe: Did you guys remember that?

Jackie: Of course we did.

Gabe: Did anybody know that there was a, there’s a whole Web site and there was a public relations campaign and all of that time and energy is going to have to be duplicated, repeated, repackaged at some point in the future. And that point is probably a year from now. And I’m not trying to throw you under the bus, Jackie, but the Not Crazy 2.0, I’m still going to be on and you’re not, so Jackie jumped ship. She just she left. She’s like, oh, my God, I can’t put another year into the build up because she has another business. She has other things to do. And, you know, in this way, we everybody is focusing on COVID-19 in the worst possible light. And death is very, very scary. I’m not minimizing that in any way, but I don’t think people are talking about some of the secondary effects. You know, things like people losing the businesses that they’ve built up for a long, long time. Some people their entire lives. They’re not talking about people who miss their senior year of high school. And I understand that compared to death, this isn’t that big of a deal because, yeah, I would miss my senior year of high school to bring back any member of my family for five minutes. For five minutes. Yes. But this still does represent a loss. And this is one of those losses.

Jackie: Yeah, it is. And to your point of businesses going under. And, you know, let’s say really fun hobbies that are also kind of like a business kind of going under. That’s why right now, like, I can’t slow in my business, you know, like I can’t say that we’re gonna, we’re gonna work to rebuild this up because I have business. So I have to make sure that I’m like putting everything into it, because not everybody has that right now. And I want to make sure that I can hold on to that as long as I can, because small businesses are just dwindling every day and I don’t want to be one of them.

Gabe: You know what I’m most sad about? Adam never wrote us a rap song.

Jackie: Adam is a retired rapper, Gabe. He’s retired.

Gabe: Listen. I am 43 years old. And would you like the list of all of the musical people who have retired and went on a farewell tour that then came back again? I have been to KISS farewell tour like six times.

Jackie: Yeah. But they’re bad. And Adam is really good. So.

Gabe: See that, so he is primed. He had, remember when Michael Jordan retired? Michael Jordan came back. I’m just sayin.

Jackie: Yeah.

Gabe: I’m just sayin.

Jackie: Well.

Gabe: Do you want a podcast now and release the episode on time? [singing]

Jackie: Yeah. I mean, you could write it. Why don’t you write it? You could be a rapper.

Gabe: No. Don’t say that anybody can be a rapper.

Jackie: I didn’t.

Gabe: That’s like how everybody thinks that they can be a podcaster right now.

Jackie: I did not say anybody could be a rapper. I said, you already have a beat and a song. And so you could rewrite it. But, you know, this is digressing quite a bit.

Gabe: Because I’m all about that cast, about that cast. [singing]

Jackie: The cast?

Gabe: Yeah, because it’s like base. I don’t know what to put for treble? Like no static? I’m all about that cast, about that cast.

Jackie: Ok, maybe you can’t be a rapper because that was, oof, that was pretty bad. Anyway.

Gabe: Well, this is, this is getting. This is getting bad.

Jackie: So the point that you were.

Gabe: I’ve lost my co-host. The whole world is quarantined, maybe. Or maybe it’s over. I don’t know. I don’t know where we are going to be in the future.

Jackie: The point you’re trying.

Gabe: Maybe aliens have landed?

Jackie: The point you’re trying to make is that while I will be running my little tail off, trying to be a business person, the show will go on.

Gabe: We’ll be right back after these messages.

Announcer: Interested in learning about psychology and mental health from experts in the field? Give a listen to the Psych Central Podcast, hosted by Gabe Howard. Visit PsychCentral.com/Show or subscribe to The Psych Central Podcast on your favorite podcast player.

Announcer: This episode is sponsored by BetterHelp.com. Secure, convenient, and affordable online counseling. Our counselors are licensed, accredited professionals. Anything you share is confidential. Schedule secure video or phone sessions, plus chat and text with your therapist whenever you feel it’s needed. A month of online therapy often costs less than a single traditional face to face session. Go to BetterHelp.com/PsychCentral and experience seven days of free therapy to see if online counseling is right for you. BetterHelp.com/PsychCentral.

Jackie: We are back for my last episode and discussing Not Crazy 2.0.

Gabe: The show is, what do kids call it? Rebooting? It’s rebooting as Not Crazy 2.0. The same title, same general theme. It is moving feeds. You have to go over to PsychCentral.com/NotCrazy and re subscribe on the new i-Tunes feed and the new Spotify feed. Well, just all the new feeds.

Jackie: All the feeds.

Gabe: It’s very, very important that if you think that you are going to hear Gabe and his new co-host on this feed, you’re not. So, please, please, please head over to PsychCentral.com/NotCrazy and click all the little buttons to sign up on whatever podcast player you have been subscribing to. But, Jackie, do you want to introduce the new. I mean, she’s not here,

Jackie: No.

Gabe: But she is well known to the show.

Jackie: I feel like the best way to introduce her is just to say this, sorry, Lisa. Sorry. Sorry, Lisa.

Gabe: Yeah, like so many wait, like we’ve been apologizing to Lisa since the beginning of the show and we thought it was for like all the edits and post-work that she was going to have to do. But it turns out that you’re apologizing for dumping her on a show with her ex-husband after you left.

Jackie: Well, OK, so for those who don’t know what we’re talking about, Lisa is our editor. She also just happens to be Gabe’s ex wife, who he somehow maintains a very solid friendship with. So when we screw up, which happens all the time, there are recordings of us saying, sorry, Lisa. I think she’s used them as outtakes. But Lisa is going to fill in this role. And I actually think this is going to be really great, because not only does Lisa have the perspective of living with mental illness, but she’s also been a really amazing care partner. Right? She’s watched you go through the depths of being bipolar. She’s super educated. She’s very involved in the mental illness community. Lisa has a very unique perspective and.

Gabe: And she’s mean. She’s super mean,

Jackie: Well, and she kind of.

Gabe: Like you’re trying to avoid it. She’s super mean.

Jackie: Eh, she love hates you a little bit, but like, I mean, she’s super mean. No, she’s not. I don’t think Lisa’s super mean.

Gabe: We’re codependent, we’re codependent as hell.

Jackie: Yes.

Gabe: Remember when you first met Lisa and you said, you know, Gabe, I think that you and Lisa might be a little bit codependent. And I said, you think? You think? You know, I thought you were smarter, Jackie. We are totally codependent. And the fact that you can’t figure that out really makes me think less of you. Do you remember that conversation? It was at Roosters when we were watching UFC.

Jackie: Oh, I actually totally don’t remember that conversation. But I mean, like.

Gabe: It was an awesome conversation. We laugh about it every day.

Jackie: I can confirm that you are definitely codependent, so look forward to episodes about that in the future.

Gabe: We are both happily remarried to other people and there’s

Jackie: Well.

Gabe: Nobody would bat an eye at the friendship that Lisa and I have  if she was male, if we were the same sex. So it’s interesting. I don’t think that our friendship could exist 40 years ago. So it’s cool.

Jackie: Well.

Gabe: It’s cool that in 2020 you can be friends with members of the opposite sex because it really did give way for us to find where we actually belong because we don’t belong as a married couple.

Jackie: Well, and I will say that when I first found out that Lisa, who I only knew as our editor, who I only knew through emailing at the time, was your ex-wife, I was like, whoa, whoa, whoa. I need the story on this. What? Come again one more time. And you told me what happened. And I was like, no, no, no. But like, you guys are still friends. OK. So your wife must hate her, right? And she doesn’t. Like well, her husband must totally hate you. And he doesn’t. So then I was like, OK, but like, that’s just what you say. And then I saw you guys all in person. And it’s true. There’s no, like, weirdness. There’s no like kind of like bitchy side eyes. Like you guys are all just buddies. And it is so bizarre, but also very cool.

Gabe: I think one of the perspectives that Lisa will bring, aside from her own perspective. I mean, I do not want to discount that Lisa is her own person, has her own perspective, and she can hold her own in an argument, discussion, debate with anybody in the world. It’s one of the cool and awful things about Lisa. So I don’t want to make Lisa all about Gabe. I want to be very, very clear that Lisa is her own person with her own thoughts and opinions. But Lisa has also known me for 20 years. And I know that Lisa, as my editor, she’s listened to hundreds of shows, podcasts, videos and things that I’ve made because she edits them all to make me sound just fantastic. And the number of emails that I get from her where she’s like, hey, Jackie asked you what your favorite color was and you said, purple, you know, that’s not true. You like red. And you told me that you like red. Do you remember that when red happened and blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. And it’s interesting because she’s known me for so long that it’s fascinating how often she calls me out on my bullshit, not because she suspects it, but because she was there when it happened. And she remembers it from her perspective. And I remember it from my perspective. And I think it’s going to make for some very unique conversations. Jackie was not there when I went to the psychiatric hospital. So just imagine that conversation with instead of Jackie asking me how I felt if the person asking me the questions was there. I’m kind of excited for that because I can only see things through the eyes of somebody who is in crisis with bipolar disorder. Lisa sees that whole story through the eyes of the person who tricked me to get in a car and save my life.

Jackie: Well.

Gabe: That’s a very different perspective.

Jackie: And Lisa’s perspective and her experience is one that one no one who knows you has ever heard. Right? Like it’s not like you throw her up on a stage and you’re like, Lisa, tell me what that was like. And also, it’s not one we hear a lot in general, you know, we hear about care partners. A lot of times, though, it’s parents of children. We don’t often hear a lot about what happens when you have to go. OK. This is not going well. And you’re right. How do I trick him into getting care? I, for one, am fascinated and cannot wait to hear that.

Gabe: We are sincerely hoping that this provides a unique voice in this space. And you’re right. We see a lot of, you know, mom and dad, husband and wife, parent and child, extended family. You see like sibling teams. I can’t think of a single ex husband and ex wife mental health team, because usually when the divorce happens, when the breakup happens, the hurt feelings are so tremendous, there’s nothing to salvage. And there’s a ton of hurt feelings. Those are gonna be my favorite shows, all the hurt feelings. But usually those people can’t work together, so they end up telling the story away from each other. I would tell the story about my ex spouse who left me and she would tell the story about her mentally ill ex spouse who screwed it all up and we couldn’t interact. I’m just saying, generally speaking, people who break up don’t rehash their relationships publicly.

Jackie: No.

Gabe: And if they do rehash them publicly, not in a healthy way.

Jackie: No. No. And they definitely don’t do it like, you know, for less than a billion dollars on a reality TV show.

Gabe: So listen up, reality TV show hosts, for a billion dollars, I would do The Amazing Race. I mean.

Jackie: I mean, the reality is nobody’s getting paid a billion dollars on reality TV. They get like six hundred dollars an episode.

Gabe: Wait, what? They get $600 an episode? That’s a lot.

Jackie: I think they get like between six and whatever, it doesn’t matter. That’s off the point. The point is.

Gabe: Wow. That’s not, that’s not podcast money, that’s good money.

Jackie: Lisa’s gonna be the new co-host. She’s Gabe’s ex-wife. She knows a lot about mental illness. And I think that it’s gonna be a great show.

Gabe: Jackie, obviously I agree that Lisa and I are going to work well together, and it’s we’ve reached the point in our relationship where we can do it. We’ve obviously worked on the podcast with Lisa behind the scenes for a number of years. I think people would really be surprised at how long Lisa has been around. This is the first time she asked to be on the microphone. So I don’t know what changed in her life, but hey, she’s getting braver or she’s just got like a lot of trauma that she wants to air publicly. And I’m about to, I’m about to hit a firestorm of awful. But either way, I think it’s going to be fun. But listen, you need to go to PsychCentral.com/NotCrazy and re subscribe to all the new feeds. PsychCentral.com/NotCrazy. Jackie. I am going to miss the hell out of you. I only have one question left. It’s sort of become a tradition whenever one of my co-hosts leaves me to ask this question, which is why we put it all the way at the end. But before I ask, do you have anything to say? What do you want to say to the listeners?

Jackie: Honestly, it’s really hard to come up with something like poignant and awesome on the spot to say to people who are important to you and our listeners are important to me. So I don’t have like a very eloquent, like, here’s my parting wishes for all of you. Instead, I’ll say I’m still online everywhere, all the places, my Web site is JackieZimmerman.co. I have all the social things. You can find me everywhere if you ever need like a Web site or an email campaign. Like, I could totally do that for you, too. I don’t know. I think our listeners are great. We’ve gotten a lot of really great emails and feedback and well-wishes and and me too’s. And that’s been a really, really cool thing from being a part of this podcast.

Gabe: Obviously, you can go to Jackie’s Web site. JackieZimmerman.co to email her. You can also e-mail to show@PsychCentral.com and we will forward it over. So I promise that any nice thing that you say to Jackie, she will get. Jackie, I have one more question.

Jackie: Hit me.

Gabe: What advice do you have for my new co-host?

Jackie: I think that it would be impossible and maybe downright irresponsible for me to try to give a person who’s known you for 20 years, who’s been married to you and has like supported you through your whole life, any advice about working with you. She knows everything. I got nothing that she doesn’t already know.

Gabe: She knows everything, that’s like super scary. Like I’m, as you said that, I was like, does she know everything? And then I thought, wow, she knows like my banking passwords.

Jackie: [Laughter]

Gabe: She’s the person that if I die, is going to come clear my browser history. I mean, she has a very important role.

Jackie: The only advice that I would give to Lisa is that when you’re recording, don’t hit your desk because Lisa gets really pissed off about that when she’s editing the podcast.

Gabe: What are what are the things that she, she hits us up every week. Don’t hit your desk. Don’t smack your mic. You’re getting better on verbal crutches or you’re getting worse on verbal crutches.

Jackie: Your sniffling is too much.

Gabe: Remember when we both had the cough? I thought she was going to quit that week. That was it. I think this is gonna be great. But remember, you’re not going to hear any of it if you don’t go to PsychCentral.com/NotCrazy and sign up for the new feed. Jackie, first off, will you come back? I mean, you’re going to come back as a guest from time to time, right? There’s gonna be something that you want to talk about and you will come and debate it with us because you’re not dying. You’re just, you’re just busy.

Jackie: But of course, yes.

Gabe: Excellent. What you have a standing invitation to be on Not Crazy 2.0 whenever you want to come back. So I hope you will be here. My final question, and I know I promised the other question was final, but I just, I just have to know. I’ve wondered really since we started working together. The blue hair. Is that your natural hair color? Or do you dye?

Jackie: Wow. Well, in case you can’t tell, we have been quarantined for well over a month now. And the roots are not blue, so no.

Gabe: Jackie, that’s awesome. All right, listen up, everybody. Here’s what I need you to do. I need you to go over to PsychCentral.com/NotCrazy. There’ll be a whole bunch of buttons there to sign up for the new feeds. Not Crazy. 2.0 is gonna be awesome. Lisa’s gonna be there. I’m going to be there. We’re gonna do really, really, really, really, really cool things. But of course, you won’t hear any of it if you don’t subscribe over on PsychCentral.com/NotCrazy. We’ll see everybody in the brave new world. I hope you all are doing OK.

Jackie: So long and farewell,

Gabe: I like that.

Jackie: I’m so good at this now.

Gabe: Aww, that sucks, just when we got it.

Announcer: You’ve been listening to Not Crazy from Psych Central. For free mental health resources and online support groups, visit PsychCentral.com. Not Crazy’s official website is PsychCentral.com/NotCrazy. To work with Gabe, go to gabehoward.com. To work with Jackie, go to JackieZimmerman.co. Not Crazy travels well. Have Gabe and Jackie record an episode live at your next event. E-mail show@psychcentral.com for details. 

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[princessnijireiki]

anyway in case y'all are wondering, bc I mentioned it

back in the '90s people were already debating on "latino" vs. "hispanic" bc "hispanic" was an imposed label in the us (not unlike "colored"), and felt both exclusionary in terms of referring to spanish-speakers/hispanophones only— which excluded brazil* for speaking portuguese & speakers of indigenous languages— and was a spanish-centric label, by which the defining characteristic of our cultural identities was still implied to be spain, as if latin americans weren't their own thing

* haiti was not on the radar in most of these conversations; I will honestly leave it up to haitians & haitian-americans how they wanna self-id and if they wanna get in on this or not, but historically, haiti was not classified in the same way the us treated non-black latinxs from elsewhere… that's its own whole mess too ofc, and all of this speaks to, like, the antiblackness of all parties involved. but even though the dr is right there, those are distinctions people have been making for decades if not centuries, and it makes no sense, but that's just the way it is on this bitch of an earth.

now keep in mind: both "hispanic" & "latino" are just not actually concepts within latin america in the way they're used here, because why the fuck would you need to make that distinction, right? like obviously it's not needed as a thing bc it is a cultural label of asserting identity in contrast with a diff majority culture + was imposed and/or reclaimed as a marker of ethnic/cultural/racial "otherness" that is just not a status all latinxs necessarily hold in sourceland countries & cultures.

but by that same turn, spaniards are not hispanic or latino/latinx/etc.— it is an ethno-cultural** identity speaking to a new-world experience as peoples of latin american descent, bc the spanish always just got to be spanish. spaniards & latinxs of pure european descent have been treated differently in the us than latin american people of color; and even going back to the age of enlightenment casta charts from spanish conquest in the americas, there was a strict hierarchy in which european born spaniards were ranked above latin american born spaniards, who were ranked above mixed people, who ranked above indigenous peoples, who ranked above black folks. the spanish are spanish. although they can also face victimization from anti-latinx sentiment & racism, this word is still not for them.

** ethno-cultural identities mean that race, ethnicity, nationality, and cultural heritage all function in different ways. people who grow up within a culture or trans-racial adoptees can claim cultural heritage. people with racial ties to a community can claim heritage. people of different races with national ties can claim heritage. ethnicity as a label is an umbrella that can cover a lot of that stuff all at once. latinos can be any race & speak any language & come from anywhere as long as there are biological or cultural ties (or both!) to an american latino or latin american community.

sort of like how jewishness is a religious identity AND/OR a cultural identity AND/OR a racial identity, or some combination therein… that's what "ethnicity" actually means, which some of y'all seem not to know tbh. it's part of why anyone could be latinx, but not everybody is, and why it's still gross to scavenge bits & pieces of our cultures and histories using that "anyone can be _____!" thing as justification, because part of what unifies us is otherization and histories of oppression, fyi. like this is not a free pass to be a creep about it.

also, "latino" & "hispanic" function as ways of expressing the identities we inhabit as people with these heritages/histories who travel in an anglocentric or otherizing sphere, and ways in which we as american latinos can also be distinguished from sourceland latin americans (in the same way as "black" can be a racial descriptor meaning "of the african diaspora" in contrast with a white-centering norm— but can also specifically mean "a black american descended from afrodiasporan survivors of american enslavement," which contrasts with afro-caribbeans, afro-latinxs, black canadians, etc., who may share elements of history in terms of ties to slavery, but not shared history or culture here; and which contrasts with black people who were never from enslaved diasporas, who are immigrants, who are from african nations, etc.).

like it's a very specific concept being described. spain is never included. brazil is contentious with some people! and I've literally never seen or heard anyone outside the internet refer to haitians as latinxs.

and then even with "hispanic" vs. "latino"… preference depends on who you ask! on paper, the words are quite literally interchangeable. I prefer "latina/latinx." it can be a generational thing, especially because to a lot of people "hispanic" feels dated & conservative. and some people just don't care! it's irrelevant!

so yeah, I know it's complicated and all, but I'm tie-yerd of seeing these fucking venn diagram posts being circulated around labeled with these gringo-energy americanisms like "latines" & "latinoamerica" and saying the word "hispanic," a former political & still politically-charged label that is literally also the root of a slur, can be used for white europeans who had nothing to do with it in the first place.

some of y'all genuinely do mean well, but a lot of you are expressing it by speaking over people & experiences & histories you actually don't know jack-shit about in the process, which is honestly offensive & its own kind of ~liberal~ racism paved with "good" intentions.

[bondsmagii]

I mean. Maybe Ireland doesn't have those problems, but given the current explosions and protests across Europe about racism, including the UK (I know Ireland isn't the UK), isn't it a little presumptive to say 'we don't have these issues'? Europe may not have the same reasons, but there are plenty of first hand sources of abject racism happening outside of the US, to native born citizens and all. Plenty of people being murdered for not being Enough Of The Right Citizen.

I’m not saying Europe doesn’t have racism, because fuck knows that’s not true and it annoys me no end when people (usually Americans or ignorant Europeans on their high horse) get on like Europe is some socialist utopia free of race issues. I’m saying we don’t have race issues like in America. we don’t have that history and we don’t have that solid black people vs white people attitude. many Europeans doesn’t even classify themselves as “white”; they’re more likely to define themselves by country, ethnicity, or religion before skin colour (and no, not all Europeans are pasty-white skinned, so anyone thinking it wouldn’t occur to us because we’re all white is incorrect). in fact, even the term “Caucasian” might mean something different here, because that word could be used to mean “people from the Caucasus” -- an area occupied by the countries Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, and part of Russia (a place which straddles Asia and in some areas has a majority Muslim population). 

I can only speak for Ireland and the UK, but here at least racism is directed more towards Arab people and Polish people (and, to an extent, other Eastern Europeans). obviously racists are gonna be racist, so I doubt they’d be polite to black people, but graffiti on the streets and racial abuse on public transport etc is more directed at Arab and Eastern European people. again, that’s not to say this never occurs to black people, but it’s much more frequent and overt toward Eastern European and especially Arab people.

when I say “we don’t have these issues” I was talking about a post saying about how cottagecore was inherently racist because it was basically a bunch of white people romanticising running away from the problems white people caused by going into the country, which apparently is insensitive to the history of stealing indigenous lands. I was specifically calling out a) the American classification of black vs white in the context of their history of slavery and segregation, and b) the American context of stealing indigenous land from Native American tribes. neither of these historical contexts happened in Ireland (the country I’m specifically referring to, as I’m Irish), so I was simply asking why it made me racist if I, an Irish person, wanted to fuck off to the Irish countryside. I was attacking the American-centric lens the post was coming from, not denying that Europe doesn’t have its own issues.

tl;dr I wasn’t saying Europe doesn’t have issues, I was saying Europe doesn’t have those particular issues, and it’s annoying to see aggressive posts assuming that we all have an identical history and identical prejudices when some of the things these kinds of people yell about are perfectly fucking normal in other countries.