Listen to Olivia and Clark catch us up on how this winter was so different for them since they moved from the deserts of Nevada to the constant rainy air of Seattle, Washington. They also share what they have learned over the last year working with elementary school aged children. We talk about the importance of playgrounds and hugs! Finally, we reflect on accountability and the power and harm of shame.

Listen to Jamie share details about how library services have changed over this first year of the pandemic. From what is needed to become a librarian to what the general day to day work looks like, Jamie shares 20 years of experience with us. We talk about daily word capacity limits, color based book sorting, and just what a "librarian's nightmare" would look like. Finally, we hear the details about Jamie's recent engagement which involved Christmas decorations and lots of gestures of love that won't soon be forgotten.

Listen to Michaela share in detail a retrospective analysis of just what it has taken to finally get to a point in the pandemic where things feel "manageable" as a college student in their junior year. What roles do being independent and good mental health practices play? She shares the ways in which her college experience has been effected by the pandemic as well as her post college plans. Who could've predicted how much our personal schedules and lives would be effected by not physically moving as much as we did before the pandemic?!

Listen to PaKou share about the hardships of parenting pre-teens during a global pandemic. What counts as "normal" during "abnormal" times? We talk about how to mourn those we've lost while also celebrating what and who is still here. And we talk about how being dedicated to self care usual comes with a fair amount of personal sacrifice. Finally, we have some unsolicited This Is Us (TV Show) loyal fan feedback for the writers.

Listen to Danielle's final thoughts as we conclude the first year of the pandemic. We talk about the power of what we call events as they happen or in hindsight. And we get in to a deep debate about the differences and relationships between an uprising and a coup. Finally, we talk about the importance of relationships during hard times and that includes one's relationship with themselves. All in all the true summary of this interview comes down to this: When it comes to how you live your life, are you a bubble blower or a kite flyer?

Listen to Patrick share his final reflections on this personal and social learnings of the last year. We talk about the many challenges of working and living mostly online; the blurriness between week days and weekends, how we talk more frequently with loved ones who we used to only see a few times a year- if that, and how our laptops and smart phones are more like vehicles to work and school then our actual cars, bikes and feet are. Finally, we talk about the irony behind over half a million people dying this first year from Covid-19 meanwhile the US just successfully launched and landed a robot with a camera on to the planet Mars.

Listen to Kimi share her reflections on recent events that she is deeply and personally connected to as an Asian American living in the Bay Area of Northern California. From the coup in Burma (where her parents migrated to the US from) to the violence against the Asian elders in Chinatown, we talk about the systemic historic causes and roots. It's a reflection conversation about what we can literally sit with and the importance of not seeing justice as a destination but instead as a practice that you seed and water.

Listen to LJ really good deep and expand on describing both the individual and systemic ways in which mutual aid is really political powerful building work. We break down each word one at a time to really analyze what they mean and what they look like in reality - "mutual" and then "aid." Ultimately, it's a rich conversation about relationships and how building them and cultivating them is how we really become "disaster prepared."

Listen to Harley share what it's like to currently have one of your parents struggling with Covid19. How do you take care of loved ones while also protecting yourself? We get the details! Then we hear an overview about what it's been like to be a high school athlete during the first year of the pandemic; playing volleyball, basketball, going to school in person and working in the service industry all while wearing a mask. Which mask wearing time is the hardest? You may be surprised to hear the answer.

Listen to Dante update us on who in his family has been able to get the vaccine and the status of a working prototype to his smart phone app for mutual aid work. We discuss when or under what condition Dante may ever travel by plane again. It becomes a deep conversation about risk assessments, the role it has in our decision making and how it has changed under this first year of the pandemic.