Here at Fuse 8 n' Kate, I'd like to clarify a few points before we start to discuss today's podcast. First and foremost, this podcast was recorded approximately two weeks ago, well before the events in California right now started to occur. It would not, in a million years, have occurred to us that a discussion of the events that take place in Smoky Night would have had any bearing on the current political situation. To be perfectly frank, more than anything else I wanted to talk to Kate about the book within the context of #MeToo. After all, with the recent discussions of Neil Gaiman and whether or not to strip him of his Newbery Medal following his own recent allegations, it seemed timely to consider our other cancelled children's literature award winner. In this podcast we attempt to delineate, as clearly as possible, the difference between a riot and a protest. We discuss whether or not this was a book that was trying to be Do the Right Thing for kids, and whose lens this story is shot through in the end. You can find the full Show Notes here: https://afuse8production.slj.com/2025/06/16/fuse-8-n-kate-smoky-night-by-eve-bunting-ill-david-diaz/