The gang celebrates the holidays with a slightly disorganized episode talking about our holiday traditions and how we’re celebrating this year. Sort of featuring special guest Quinn McEben.
Link to our Bonfire shop: https://www.bonfire.com/store/national-disability-rights-network/
Stephanie Flynt McEben: Well, hello, podcast listeners of the universe. We are doing a different episode this month, which is why I chimed in before Michelle could to introduce the fun episode. So I’m Stephanie Flynt McEben. I am one of your hosts here at the National Disability Rights Network for National Disability Radio.
Michelle Bishop: Hey hey, it’s Michelle Bishop, and I am the manager for voter access and engagement here at NDRN, and one of your hosts. And I didn’t have to start the episode, so I guess I just get to retire now, guys, and this might be my last episode.
Stephanie Flynt McEben: No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, that’s not how it goes. Also I forgot to say that I’m a public policy analyst. Excuse me for butchering my title after being here for three years.
Michelle Bishop: And we also have a producer.
Michelle Bishop: I got in there with that real quick on producer.
Jack Rosen: Really, even at the holiday spirit, you couldn’t acknowledge my hosting?
Michelle Bishop: Pro host.
Stephanie Flynt McEben: Pro host.
Michelle Bishop: Pro host.
Stephanie Flynt McEben: Honestly, that sounds fancy. Like I almost like the title of pro host because it like makes you sound all like fancy and like you’ve got your s–t together.
Michelle Bishop: Pro host for the holidays.
Jack Rosen: I gotta remember to bleep that out.
Stephanie Flynt McEben: Oh, I did that on purpose.
Michlle Bishop: She gave you the ish, she said she censored herself like a rap song on FM radio.
Stephanie Flynt McEben: Exactly.
Stephanie Flynt McEben: We’re National Disability Radio, so we’ve gotta like, you know, pretend like we’re the radio.
Jack Rosen: That’s true, we don’t want the FCC to fine us. Anyway, hi, everyone, Jack Rosen here. I am NDRN’s senior digital communications specialist.
Michlle Bishop: mean, maybe the FCC should fine us. I feel like, just like, you know, no press is bad press, right?
Stephanie Flynt McEben: I feel like Jack says that like every single time we meet to discuss anything podcast related.
Michelle Bishop That we’re gonna get fine or sued in some form?
Stephanie Flynt McEben: No, that no press is bad press.
Michelle Bishop: Oh, ’cause we’re definitely eventually gonna get sued.
Stephanie Flynt McEben: Yeah.
Jack Rosen: It usually is in the context of getting sued. Look, someone’s gotta sue us eventually. That’s how we make it in the industry.
Michelle Bishop: Just you know, waiting, I mean, we keep trying. I keep singing songs we don’t have the rights to and everything, and just everyone keeps letting us slide.
Stephanie Flynt McEben: Are we seriously advocating to get sued right now? Like I do not think our legal counsel would be for this.
Jack Rosen: Look, Stephanie, if you don’t have haters, you’re doing something wrong.
Stephanie Flynt McEben: ♪ Because the haters gonna hate, hate, hate, hate, hate ♪
Michelle Bishop Stephanie, you’re my favorite.
Stephanie Flynt McEben: Thank you.
Michelle Bishop: You know this is a sad time in my life. We’re in the post “Eras” era, and that’s just a very difficult time for me, so I appreciate you being supportive.
Stephanie Flynt McEben: You mean the post “Eras”?
Michelle Bishop: Exactly, Stephanie, you just get me.
Stephanie Flynt McEben: I know, I know, we’re both each other’s translators.
Michelle Bishop: It’s true, and it’s just, you know, a holiday season without watching grainy live streams of concerts I can’t afford to attend, it is just a very daunting prospect for me right now, so I appreciate all your love and support.
Stephanie Flynt McEben: Yes, retweet, and also too, like if you also wanna share your love and support and solidarity with me and Michelle, feel free to send an email to [email protected].
Michelle Bishop: That’s right, Taylor Swift. But anyway, so Stephanie, tell us about your holiday plans.
Stephanie Flynt McEben: Oh, wow, so our-
Michelle Bishop: End of the season, I guess we don’t have seasons. End of the year episode.
Stephanie Flynt McEben: Oh my gosh, okay, is this like season two? I don’t know.
Michelle Bishop: I don’t know. I don’t think we actually have seasons. This is not the most organized podcast in the universe.
Stephanie Flynt McEben: This is like chitchat holiday edition, and like yeah, I mean, I like the seasons pun anyway.
Stephanie Flynt McEben: If you get that, feel free to email [email protected].
Michelle Bishop: If you’re listening to this episode, you must really like us, ’cause we do not have any disability rights content planned.
Stephanie Flynt McEben: No, no, we’re getting a little up-close and personal, except not that personal. Anyway-
Michelle Bishop: So tell us about Nala’s holiday plans. I mean, your holiday plans.
Stephanie Flynt McEben: Oh yeah, my mine I guess are kind of important, I dunno. I’m going to Texas to spend the holidays with my wife’s family, which that’ll be exciting. Actually, we’re recording this on Tuesday, December, oh my God, I’m gonna get the date wrong, 17th, so I actually fly out on Thursday, December 19th, which is super exciting. And we got matching Christmas pajamas for our dogs, because of course we did, and we also got matching human pajamas that coordinate with our dogs’ pajamas because of course we did, so that’s exciting.
Michelle Bishop: So you’re getting back in touch with your southern roots for the holidays.
Stephanie Flynt McEben: I am. Well, the thing is, is like, we always have to have matching pajamas. Like Nala and I have done that for a while. Hopefully we’ll get their pictures with Santa. Apparently Bailey has never had a photo with Santa Paws, so it has to be fixed, ’cause Nala gets a photo like almost every year with Santa Paws, and she’s obsessed.
Michelle Bishop: Right, the scandal. I meant you were going to Texas is getting back in touch with your southern roots.
Stephanie Flynt McEben: Oh yeah, I mean, like, I’m going to like the panhandle of Texas. Quinn, did you have something to add? I said that. My wife is making a cameo on our podcast. You’re being recorded.
Michelle Bishop: We can’t hear Quinn, we just hear you yelling at Quinn.
Stephanie Flynt McEben: I mean, that’s per, I mean, they were like, oh.
Michelle Bishop: Ah, marriage.
Stephanie Flynt McEben: ♪ Love and marriage, love and marriage ♪ ♪ Doo doo doo doo doo doo doo doo doo ♪
Stephanie Flynt McEben: Anyway.
Michelle Bishop: Tell me, what’s in the panhandle of Texas?
Stephanie Flynt McEben: Well, my wife just came in here, so maybe they can describe, what’s in the panhandle of Texas?
Michelle Bishop: Tell us about the panhandle, Quinn.
Stephanie Flynt McEben: Quinn said nothing and then walked out.
Quinn McEben: I didn’t walk out.
Stephanie Flynt McEben: Oh, Quinn didn’t walk out, yay.
Quinn McEben: Cows, oil, eggs, basically that.
Michelle Bishop: Oil, there’s oil in the panhandle?
Quinn McEben: Yeah, it’s big oil and cow, pig, and Bailey is also joining.
Michelle Bishop: Is all the oil owned or like if me and Jack show up and we start like digging, is there a chance we could make some money here?
Quinn McEben: Well, my grandparents found some on their land when they were digging. Well actually, their cattle found some, which is like perfect for this story.
Jack Rosen: So I could be a Texas oil man, because that does sound fun, and I was watching “There Will Be Blood” last night.
Michelle Bishop: You give oil tycoon a little bit.
Jack Rosen: I would love to be an oil tycoon. I could have the big hat. I could have the alligator leather shoes. That would be fun.
Michelle Bishop: You’d have a belt buckle in the shape of Texas.
Quinn McEben: When I was looking for gifts, I found this thing that you can put your cowboy hat and so you can put it on the dash of your car, and it’s like a little sucker thing, like, you know, a suction cup thing.
Jack Rosen: That is so aggressively Texas, I love it.
Michelle Bishop: Most Texas thing I’ve ever heard.
Quinn McEben: All right, I’m gonna get out of this room. I’m sorry, guys.
Stephanie Flynt McEben: No, we wanted you to make a cameo.
Michelle Bishop: Now we can advertise this episode as having special guests.
Stephanie Flynt McEben: Yes.
Stephanie Flynt McEben: See, see, there we go, thank you. Thank you, Quinn, round of, okay, anyway.
Jack Rosen: I think Quinn might be one of our most frequent guests at this point.
Stephanie Flynt McEben: That’s fair, I mean, honestly, like Quinn and Amy are like pretty rad guests if I do say so myself. But anyway, what are y’all doing this year for the holidays?
Michelle Bishop: I feel like we just learned a lot about Jack, who wants to be, secretly wants to be a Texas oil tycoon.
Jack Rosen: I mean, I’m just saying it pays a little more than working in the nonprofit world.
Stephanie Flynt McEben: Okay.
Michelle Bishop: That’s fair. I’m oddly not that surprised too.
Stephanie Flynt McEben: So Jack wants to be an oil tycoon for the holidays. Didn’t realize we were going back to Halloween. Michelle, what are you doing for the holidays?
Michelle Bishop: Baking, guys, you know that’s my thing. We did a whole election day episode of me stress baking, so that’s my jam. I’m going to be making my famous frosted rollout sugar cookies. Christmas, I believe, is my biggest collection of cookie cutters. Well, nope, Halloween might be, but they’re rivals, it’s close, and I’m going to be making, you’ll be very interested in this, Stephanie, I will be making Taylor Swift’s recipe for chai latte sugar cookies.
Stephanie Flynt McEben: Oh my God, okay, are you planning on bringing Stephanie some cookies at the beginning?
Michelle Bishop I’m gonna have to. The Taylor Swift cookies are a big hit with the family.
Stephanie Flynt McEben: I can’t bake to save my life, so I’m ready for this.
Michelle Bishop: Oh, baking, my god, I can’t cook, so I have to bake.
Stephanie Flynt McEben: Fair enough, I can cook. I think I can cook anyway, but.
Michelle Bishop: So that’s my job. I’ll be making the desserts, so I’ll be doing a bunch of baking and then, I mean, my family is local these days, so I don’t have to go anywhere. I don’t have to travel, which is the best. I spent a lot of my life trying to get between St. Louis, Missouri, and Syracuse, New York during winter holidays, and that is brutal enough to last me a lifetime. I can’t tell you the number of times I’ve been stuck in O’Hare in a snow storm in the middle of the night, trying to get there for Thanksgiving, so I-
Stephanie Flynt McEben: God. O’Hare of all places, why didn’t you go through Midway? That might have to be cut out.
Michelle Bishop: We’re gonna get sued by O’Hare Airport. Of all the things we could have gotten sued by, we’re gonna get us sued by an airport. That’s so boring.
Jack Rosen: Hey, we’ve been doing a lot of work around antagonizing the airline industry lately. I just see this as an extension of that.
Michelle Bishop: It’s true, it’s a culmination of months and months worth of work.
Stephanie Flynt McEben: Fair enough, fair enough, oh my goodness. Okay, so do y’all have any funny stories? I know this is kind of weird, but like, do y’all have any funny stories from the holidays that like y’all wanna share with the people? I told ’em we were getting personal.
Michelle Bishop: Ooh, that’s a good question. Jack, do you have a story?
Jack Rosen: It’s less a story, more of a tradition. Most years we spend it with these family friends of ours, and it’s very sweet, the mom refers to me as her Jewish son and I get my own stocking, but usually it’ll be like, she’ll find like a star of David one or a Hanukkah themed one, and it’s really sweet, and we just spend it with them.
Michelle Bishop: That’s super cute, Jack. You know, for a while my family used to, we have some little kiddos back in the family again, you guys both know I have very young niece and nephews, but when we were just a bunch of adults celebrating Christmas, we did the grand tradition of ordering Chinese food and going to the movies on Christmas Day, and I feel like that’s gonna resonate with you.
Jack Rosen: Okay, so I’m trying to find a Chinese place in DC that’s open on Christmas day.
Michelle Bishop: They’re not open?
Jack Rosen: I’ve not had any luck. Literally my next call after this is calling up Chinese restaurants to see who’s open because I can’t find anything on OpenTable.
Michelle Bishop: I’m so sorry, that’s terrible. Are there at least good movies opening on Christmas day? Are you going to a movie?
Jack Rosen: My dad’s coming down, so maybe we’re thinking of watching the Bob Dylan movie, but decent chance we end up just watching football.
Michelle Bishop: Mm, do they play football on Christmas day?
Stephanie Flynt McEben: Oh God.
Jack Rosen: Yeah, actually Netflix got the rights to it this year.
Michelle Bishop: Netflix shows football?
Jack Rosen: They’re showing two games this year, and they’re making a big production out of it.
Michelle Bishop: Please do not send us angry emails just because I don’t know anything about football. I’m sorry, I apologize. I realize it’s incredibly un-American of me, but I’m not, I don’t watch football.
Stephanie Flynt McEben: I know about football tailgate food.
Jack Rosen: Oh wait, no, y’all should watch because the halftime show for the Ravens Texans game is Beyonce.
Stephanie Flynt McEben: Ooh.
Michelle Bishop: Oh, is she doing Christmas day? I thought she was doing the Super Bowl. Who’s doing the Super Bowl?
Jack Rosen: Kendrick Lamar is doing the Super Bowl.
Michelle Bishop That’s right, Kendrick Lamar, and he’s probably just gonna do “Not Like Us” six times in a row or something, which is not a complaint from me. That’s kind of what I’m hoping will happen. Okay well, then I’ll definitely put on Beyonce on Christmas day, I’m down.
Jack Rosen: I’m going to his tour with SZA, and I need to hear him do “Not Like Us.”
Michelle Bishop: He’s touring with SZS, that’s gonna be amazing.
Jack Rosen: Yes, though I’m so annoyed because the local DC show is at, I don’t know what it’s called, it’s FedEx Field, but they changed the name and-
Stephanie Flynt McEben: Oh, did they?
Jack Rosen: Yes, it’s Northwestern now, I think.
Stephanie Flynt McEben: Oh God.
Jack Rosen: But they were charging more than the other stadiums, and it was so annoying to go to that like crappy venue.
Michelle Bishop: That’s weird.
Jack Rosen: You know what, FedEx Field, you can sue us. I will stand by what I said, It’s a bad venue.
Michelle Bishop: Whoa, whoa, this episode took a turn real fast. Little-known fact, NDRN staffer Corey Bernstein, big SZA fan.
Stephanie Flynt McEben: Who is SZA?
Michelle Bishop: Oh, Stephanie.
Stephanie Flynt McEben: Yeah.
Michelle Bishop: Stephanie.
Stephanie Flynt McEben: Is it SZA or SZER?
Michelle Bishop: Oh my God, Stephanie.
Jack Rosen: She’s really good. She’s like R&B and pop, like.
Michelle Bishop: Oh, her album’s a masterpiece.
Stephanie Flynt McEben: Okay, I will look up SZA after this.
Jack Rosen: Oh my God, I saw her last year at a music festival, and I was like, “Oh, I don’t really know her music,” and then she’s doing her headliner set, and I’m like, “Oh wait, I know every single one of these songs.”
Michelle Bishop: Yeah, you know her whether or not you think you do, for sure. She’s everywhere, her music’s incredible.
Stephanie Flynt McEben: The more you learn.
Michelle Bishop: Don’t hurt us like this on the holiday episode, Stephanie.
Stephanie Flynt McEben: I’ll try not to, oh my goodness. Jack, do you have any funny Christmas, oh, sorry, Jack already went, oops. Michelle, do you have any funny Christmas stories?
Michelle Bishop: Do I have any funny Christmas stories?
Stephanie Flynt McEben: That’s the question.
Michelle Bishop: I can think of a couple things. Well, Jack was talking about stockings and it reminded me we still do stockings with our family and everyone has their own stocking, and the biggest stocking in the house by far, it’s ginormous, belongs to Mason the Yorkiepoo.
Stephanie Flynt McEben: Yes.
Michelle Bishop: Yes, the dog has a ginormous stocking with his name and his face on it because he is by far everyone’s favorite member of the family.
Stephanie Flynt McEben: I love that so much.
Michelle Bishop: There’s no competition. There will be treats in that bad boy on Christmas morning, I promise you. But okay, a funny story, I was thinking about this when you asked it. So I’m a youngest child, which I assume all of you know, because even if you haven’t heard that, I feel like it’s incredibly evident in my personality that I am a youngest child. You don’t talk this loud for no reason. So growing up, Christmas Day used to be me and my older brother and my parents, like in the morning, right? We come down and we do gifts and everything, and then we’d see like, you know, the rest of our family later in the day, and we’d see them on Christmas Eve. So Christmas morning, so first of all, it somehow became my job to hand out everyone’s gifts, like it just became a thing, I don’t know why. So I’d put on this like little, you’d love it, Stephanie, little sequin-covered Santa hat.
Stephanie Flynt McEben: Oh my gosh, yes.
Michelle Bishop: I still have it, and I would hand out all the gifts, and one year, we’re sitting there and I kid you not, I’m like 27 years old at this point, and this is not like a childhood memory, I’m an adult, guys. I have a job and a 401k and health insurance and everything. I had to fly in for the holiday. We’re opening gifts, everyone has a gift that’s, you know, from Mom and Dad, from Chris, that’s my brother’s name, whatever. Every single one of my gifts is from Santa. I was an adult, guys, I was an adult. I was like, literally, not only do my parents still give me gifts from Santa as an adult, but my older brother still gives me gifts from Santa.
Stephanie Flynt McEben: That is wild. That actually makes me think of what my dad has been doing for the past five years when he wraps gifts. So like, he just puts like random people on there, like from George Clooney. Like he got me a Nespresso like a couple years ago, and so he put from George Clooney.
Michelle Bishop: Oh, he does ads for Nespresso, I think.
Stephanie Flynt McEben: Yeah, I think so. But like he will put like different politicos, and yes, he does both sides of the aisle. I’ve gotten a present from Trump. I’ve gotten a present from Joe Biden. I’ve gotten a present from, oh gosh, Paris Hilton, I think. And then I got a present from, oh God, what is his name? Or I don’t know, anyway, my dad like does, oh, and of course the Santa presents, but yeah, no, nobody gets presents from like people, but celebrities in our house now, which is so funny.
Michelle Bishop: I mean, it’s not like I get like some presents that are from Mom and Dad and then some from Santa. Every single one of them is from Santa.
Stephanie Flynt McEben: Yeah, that’s wild.
Michelle Bishop:: Every single one of ’em, and the best part is the ones that are from my older brother, it’s like, it’s one thing when it’s from my parents and it’s beautifully wrapped and it has a little gift tag on it that’s like to Michelle from Santa. It’s another thing when you get one that’s like wrapped in an old page of a desk calendar with some of his old appointments on it, and he wrote from Santa in a Sharpie on it. That just doesn’t, it doesn’t.
Jack Rosen: That’s hilarious.
Michelle Bishop: It’s not giving Santa Claus.
Stephanie Flynt McEben: From Santa, the accountant. I don’t know what your brother does, but.
Michelle Bishop: He’s a graphic designer.
Stephanie Flynt McEben: Okay, from Santa, the designer.
Michelle Bishop: It’s really hilarious stuff on his old desk calendars. But so the morning it happened, like Christmas morning when we finally realized, I was like, “Guys, where are all my presents from Santa?” And I was holding a gift from my older brother and I looked down it and I said, “Actually, I think this one is from Sarta,” because that’s how bad his handwriting is. So to this day, I’m not 27 anymore, I’m not gonna tell you how old I am, but I am no longer 27, to this day, I get at least one gift every year of something incredibly random from Sarta, who labels the gift in a Sharpie.
Stephanie Flynt McEben: That is so funny.
Michelle Bishop: That is a long running-family tradition. I mean, short-running family tradition, ’cause obviously I’m not 27, but you know, I’m not like a day over like 32, right? So.
Stephanie Flynt McEben: I was about to stay. Yeah, aren’t you like 30, flirty, and thriving or something?
Michelle Bishop: Right, just kidding, this all happened like last year, ’cause I am so young, but.
Stephanie Flynt McEben: I love this so much. Oh goodness, speaking of presents, I’ll never forget when I was in the ninth grade. So I really love playing piano and have been playing piano since I was four, and so I opened a Christmas present from my parents in the ninth grade, and I was looking at it, I’m like, “What is this?” Now, to describe it, I’m gonna try to describe it as best as I can without completely and totally giving it away. But there was like this lever that went up and down and up and down and I’m like, “Did they seriously just give me a lever?” Like I’m about to throw it back. Some of my millennial, my like millennial, early Gen Z people are gonna get this. But like, gave me a lever, like it was “The Emperor’s New School,” like pull the lever, Cronk, or whatever, and so I was just like, “They gave me a lever,” and then I continue to look, and I’m like, “This thing has a chord in the back.” I’m like, “What is this supposed to do?” And so like, I’m literally playing 20 questions, trying to figure out what this is, and finally like my parents give up, or my mom specifically gave up and was like, “Just come into our room.” And I was like, “Oh my God, am I in trouble for not being able to guess like what this is?” And so I go in there, and y’all, it’s like an electronic Yamaha keyboard. They wrapped up like a keyboard pedal for me for Christmas and confused the helicopter out of me. So yeah that was a thing. Blindness Christmas moment, if you will. ’cause I’m pretty sure it had Yamaha on like the bottom of the pedal
Michelle Bishop: Did it like, was it like ingrained or didn’t stick out? Could you figure out it’s in Yamaha? You can’t give part of a gift to a blind person, I feel like.
Stephanie Flynt McEben: I know, it just seemed, I mean, like, I don’t remember if it did. If it was engraved, I didn’t see it, but like, I can also, like, I could also see if it was like, you know, printed on a sticker at the bottom or something, and I just didn’t know it was there. So yeah, that was a weird Christmas, but.
Michelle Bishop: They got you pretty good with that one.
Stephanie Flynt McEben: Yeah, I still have that keyboard.
Michelle Bishop: Fabulous, wait, you have to play something for us.
Jack Rosen: Yeah, when are we getting the jingles, Stephanie? You’ve been-
Stephanie Flynt McEben: Oh no, oh, the jingles.
Stephanie Flynt McEben: Here we go.
Michelle Bishop: It starts.
Stephanie Flynt McEben: I’ll work on the jingles.
Michelle Bishop: You have been promising to write jingles-
Stephanie Flynt McEben: I know.
Michelle Bishop: For like how long has it been now, Jack? It’s been a while. He’s been very anxious for the jingles. It’s a whole thing.
Stephanie Flynt McEben: It really is, though. Okay, I will work on that in the new year.
Michelle Bishop: And it’s your fault you brought up the keyboard.
Jack Rosen: Think about how much money we could save if instead of having to pay for a music library, all of our podcasts, videos, et cetera, just have jingles done by Stephanie.
Stephanie Flynt McEben: I didn’t realize we had to pay for a music library. That’s kind of annoying.
Jack Rosen: We do, or otherwise we’d be using copyrighted music and getting sued.
Stephanie Flynt McEben: Oh, well you wanna get sued, so.
Jack Rosen: In that case, we’d be too guilty. I don’t wanna get sued for that one.
Michelle Bishop: Yeah, it’s gotta be something we can potentially defend ourselves and get out of it. We have to come out vindicated.
Stephanie Flynt McEben: Selected suing or selective suing.
Michelle Bishop: Yeah, we have to get sued by somebody really, really big, and then we win, and we come out of it looking like “The Karate Kid,” you know what I’m saying?
Stephanie Flynt McEben: Fair enough, fair enough.
Michelle Bishop: Gotta give it, it’s gotta be like underdog vibes, and then we’re vindicated in the end.
Stephanie Flynt McEben: I love that.
Michelle Bishop: And then when they make a movie or a Netflix short series about us, we come out victorious in the end.
Stephanie Flynt McEben: I love that, National Disability TV.
Michelle Bishop: Oh, we should have a TV show. Jack, can we do a TV show?
Jack Rosen: Honestly, yes, I’m on board for that one.
Michelle Bishop: Oh, I really thought you were gonna say no.
Stephanie Flynt McEben: Yeah, me too.
Michelle Bishop: Caught the holiday spirit.
Jack Rosen: That one’s, I’m on board. The only condition is you get to be the one to pitch Marlena on that.
Stephanie Flynt McEben: Wait, who is the you?
Jack Rosen: I’d guess either of you.
Stephanie Flynt McEben: Oh, come on, Michelle.
Michelle Bishop: Nah, it’s Stephanie, I said not it.
Stephanie Flynt McEben: Yeah, but like remember when you guys pitched the documentary? Like you have a golden streak so far.
Michelle Bishop: Yeah, but I said not it, though. I feel like that’s the rules.
Stephanie Flynt: Fake news.
Michelle Bishop: Yeah, I did a preemptive not it, so that’d definitely be you.
Stephanie Flynt McEben: Fine, all right, I’ll be it.
Michelle Bishop: Show up with Nala.
Stephanie Flynt McEben: Oh, y’all can hear Nala’s collar jingling in the background?
Michelle Bishop: No, but that’s amazing. I was just thinking bring Nala into that meeting when you pitch the idea.
Stephanie Flynt McEben: Yep, there you go. I mean, I’ll just let Nala pitch the idea. I’ll put like a sticky note on her collar that says TV show with a question mark.
Michelle Bishop: I feel like that would work, actually.
Stephanie Flynt McEben: Yeah, low key. If anyone has any other ideas on how to pitch a TV show, please feel free to email [email protected].
Michelle Bishop: You’ve been really pushing that email pretty hard.
Stephanie Flynt McEben: Yeah, ’cause you know, we gotta let the people know how to contact us if they think we’re cool cats.
Michelle Bishop: Or if you also, you know, I’ve like topics for episodes that are actually about disability rights stuff.
Stephanie Flynt McEben: Yeah, that’s I guess a thing too, right? Because-
Jack Rosen: Or if you want to give NDRN money and want to make us look good in the process.
Stephanie Flynt McEben: Oh yeah, that reminds me.
Michelle Bishop: Do they know about the store? Do they know about the store, Jack? Have we told ’em about the store?
Stephanie Flynt McEben: I was gonna say. This reminds me today’s sponsor.
Michelle Bishop: Hello, if you haven’t finished your holiday shopping.
Stephanie Flynt McEben: Thank you, NDRN’s new merch store for sponsoring this episode. We’ve got lots of T-shirts, we’ve got some Nala merch. We’ve got a mug that says Protect, Advocate, and Caffeinate, which I desperately need to get. Y’all know that I, you know, need coffee on an IV drip.
Jack Rosen: Yes, and you can find our store at…somewhere. I’m trying to find it.
Stephanie Flynt McEben: Bonfire.
Jack Rosen: It’s at Bonfire.
Stephanie Flynt McEben: We’ll put a link in the show notes.
Jack Rosen: It’s something, it’s somewhere.
Michelle Bishop: We might have to edit this part. We might have to take this out and put in a clip of you sounding very confident about where to find our store.
Jack Rosen: Okay, it’s at bonfire.com/org national-disability-rights-network-inc-592333653.
Michelle Bishop: Is there a possibility of making a URL that redirects to that?
Stephanie Flynt McEben: Right.
Jack Rosen: It’ll be in the show notes.
Stephanie Flynt McEben: I was gonna say, yeah, that’s like a very intense URL.
Jack Rosen: And I’m only 70% certain I got the number of threes right.
Michelle Bishop: It didn’t sound that confident. What’s the name of the website that hosts the store?
Jack Rosen: It’s Bonfire. If you look up National Disability Rights Network on Bonfire, you’ll find us. Yeah, we have a Nala mug. We have a tote bag featuring Nala that says may contain treats. We have a shirt that says The Future is Accessible. We’ve sold a few of those. Oh, and my personal favorite, for our mobility aid users out there, we have one that says Don’t Make Me Roll Over Your Foot.
Stephanie Flynt McEben: We need a cane one.
Michelle Bishop: I have actually seen the Don’t Make Me Roll Over Your Foot one posted on TikTok.
Jack Rosen: Wait, really?
Jack Rosen: Did you post it on TikTok?
Michelle Bishop: I never post on TikTok. I’m not trying to get roasted by children. Literally never posted on TikTok in my life. I think it might have been one of the P&As. I’ll find it, Jack, I’ll find it.
Stephanie Flynt McEben: (Inaudible) In the tote bag.
Michelle Bishop: Should have sent it to you before. But if you haven’t finished your holiday shopping, you can still order from our new store at Bonfire, the single best Childish Gambino song ever released.
Stephanie Flynt McEben: Who’s that?
Michelle Bishop: Don’t hurt me like this, Stephanie.
Jack Rosen: That, oh, now I gotta think about what my favorite Childish Gambino song is.
Michelle Bishop: Definitely “Bonfire.”
Jack Rosen: “Camp” is his best album.
Michelle Bishop: “Camp” is his best album for sure.
Stephanie Flynt McEben: You guys keep me young, as Regina George’s mom says.
Michelle Bishop: That’s hilarious.
Jack Rosen: Stephanie, this album came out like 12 years ago.
Michelle Bishop: Yeah, this is not a new album.
Stephanie Flynt McEben: Oh.
Michelle Bishop: I know, Stephanie, Stephanie.
Stephanie Flynt McEben: I just, I don’t even know who Childish Gambino is.
Michelle Bishop: Donald Glover.
Stephanie Flynt McEben: Who’s that?
Stephanie Flynt McEben: Okay.
Jack Rosen: He was in “Community.”
Stephanie Flynt McEben: What’s that?
Jack Rosen: He was in “30 Rock.”
Michelle Bishop: Stephanie.
Jack Rosen: He did “Atlanta.”
Stephanie Flynt McEben: Atlanta?
Michelle Bishop: The TV show.
Stephanie Flynt McEben: There’s a TV show called “Atlanta”?
Michelle Bishop: Stephanie.
Stephanie Flynt McEben: I watch “Live PD” and “The Golden Girls.” I should get credit for that.
Michelle Bishop: You know, if there’s a spectrum of television shows, “The Golden Girls” and “Atlanta” are shockingly at opposite ends of the spectrum and surprisingly similar.
Stephanie Flynt McEben: Yeah, in case you have a guess, Stephanie has really bad knowledge.
Michelle Bishop: I feel like anyone who listens to this podcast enough knows.
Stephanie Flynt McEben: Well, we have to make sure that people have a definitive answer to this.
Michelle Bishop: It’s good that you’re admitting it.
Stephanie Flynt McEben: I’m trying, I’m trying to be more honest with the people.
Jack Rosen: Stephanie, I just have a question about your pop culture knowledge.
Stephanie Flynt McEben: Oh gosh.
Jack Rosen: Since it’s been out half a year, Have you listened to “Brat”?
Stephanie Flynt McEben: Oh, no, I need to do that. That’s the Charli XCX album, right?
Michelle Bishop: I haven’t listened to it either, I’m gonna confess.
Jack Rosen: You guy’s missed “Brat Summer”
Michelle Bishop: I did, I missed “Brat Summer.”
Stephanie Flynt McEben: I know the like, I don’t know, there was some sort of “Brat” thing going around social media.
Michelle Bishop: My musical tastes are a little bit more sad girl autumn than they are “Brat Summer.”
Stephanie Flynt McEben: The, like Maggie Rogers and-
Michelle Bishop: I love Maggie Rogers, Stephanie.
Stephanie Flynt McEben: Yes.
Michelle Bishop: Why have we not talked about this before?
Stephanie Flynt McEben: I don’t know.
Stephanie Flynt McEben: We really should like swap playlists.
Michelle Bishop: I love Maggie Rogers, also just like “Folklore,” “Evermore” kind of vibes.
Stephanie Flynt McEben: Yes, I completely agree.
Michelle Bishop: Yes, yes. People think being a Swifty means you like dance around your house to “Shake It Off,” and it more often means lying face down on your bed crying to “Champagne Problems.”
Stephanie Flynt McEben: Basically. People don’t get it. Or like, crying because of, what is that song? Oh, “Nothing New,” goodness.
Michelle Bishop: Surprising amount of anxiety, depression, murder, and suicide in her music.
Stephanie Flynt McEben: Yeah, mm-hmm, fair enough.
Michelle Bishop: A truly shocking amount if you haven’t listened to the full catalog.
Stephanie Flynt McEben: Yeah, no, fair enough. I will say this, “Nothing New” makes me feel like really ancient whenever I listen to it, because like, I’ll go on the Hill, and there are all these like early 20 something staffers, and I’m like, “Oh my gosh.”
Michelle Bishop: I’m sorry for what I’m about to say to hurt your feelings, Stephanie, but when I went to “The Eras Tour,” at MetLife, night one, Phoebe Bridgers came out and they performed that song together.
Stephanie Flynt McEben: That’s not fair.
Michelle Bishop: It was amazing.
Stephanie Flynt McEben: I’m upset, what? I love Phoebe Bridgers, though.
Michelle Bishop: Well, Phoebe Bridgers was the opener for that show.
Stephanie Flynt McEben: I’m so sad.
Michelle Bishop: It was amazing, I’m sorry you weren’t there. You should have come.
Stephanie Flynt McEben: I’m sorry I wasn’t there.
Michelle Bishop: You and Nala should have been right there with us.
Stephanie Flynt McEben: Gosh, Nala just heard her name, and her little ears perked up.
Michelle Bishop: ‘Cause that’s my bestie.
Stephanie Flynt McEben: Mm-hmm.
Michelle Bishop: Sorry, Nala’s like, “That’s right. I should have been there.” Oh, can you see Nala with little friendship bracelets on her little paws?
Stephanie Flynt McEben: Oh my gosh, yes.
Stephanie Flynt McEben: Like around her collar or something.
Michelle Bishop:: We could have dressed her up in a little themed outfit. They actually do make dog collars that look like big friendship bracelets.
Stephanie Flynt McEben: Wait, for real?
Michelle Bishop: In case anyone’s looking for a last minute holiday gift for Stephanie.
Stephanie Flynt McEben: Yes, we also take gifts, but we don’t take solicitations.
Michelle Bishop: So the second we started talking about Maggie Rogers and Taylor Swift, Jack just went on mute.
Stephanie Flynt McEben: Oh. Jack, we can talk about Chappell next. Wait, did that get him?
Michelle Bishop: He just went off mute as soon as you said that.
Jack Rosen: Look, I don’t know if I could talk about Chappell. I’m still sad about not getting to go to the tour.
Stephanie Flynt McEben: I feel this on a spiritual level. Oh yeah, if anybody wants to buy me and Jack Chappell Roan tickets.
Jack Rosen: Listeners, it’s really bad. Stephanie and I at one point talked about flying to Iowa to see her.
Stephanie Flynt McEben: Yeah, like, you know it’s bad.
Jack Rosen: And the problem was that we couldn’t get tickets, not that it was a terrible idea.
Stephanie Flynt McEben: Right.
Jack Rosen:: But the tickets sold out.
Michelle Bishop: I went to Europe for “The Eras Tour” twice, so you know I don’t think there’s anything outrageous about going to Iowa for a concert. I fully support this idea.
Stephanie Flynt McEben: Yeah, I just wanna see her so bad.
Jack Rosen: I know, and now I feel like it’s gonna be a whole different thing for the next album because she’s doing the country thing.
Stephanie Flynt McEben: I know.
Michelle Bishop: She’s doing a country album?
Stephanie Flynt McEben: Yeah, we’ve gotten some teasers.
Michelle Bishop: It’s probably gonna be really good.
Stephanie Flynt McEben I could totally see that.
Michelle Bishop: I can see it.
Stephanie Flynt McEben I mean, it’s Chappell.
Michelle Bishop: So maybe the moral of this episode is that Chappell Roan needs to do a concert for us as a holiday gift.
Stephanie Flynt McEben Oh my gosh.
Michelle Bishop: If someone can just get this into her hands, please. Thank you.
Stephanie Flynt McEben I would, oh my gosh. I have the biggest smile on my face right now. I’m like imagining this, and like, my heart is so happy and full.
Jack Rosen: Chappell, come on, you know Tiny Desk? We have something similar called Tiny Conference Room where you perform in our conference room.
Stephanie Flynt McEben: Right, very tiny conference room, and we even have complimentary coffee.
Michelle Bishop: You could do like Tiny Accessible Desk, where we have those desks that can be raised or lowered for wheelchairs.
Stephanie Flynt McEben: Yes.
Michelle Bishop: We should start hosting Tiny Accessible Desk concerts. We’re definitely gonna get sued if we take that. We’re definitely gonna get sued if we do our own version of Tiny Desk concerts, right? That seems problematic.
Jack Rosen: That one might be pushing the line, but let’s see.
Stephanie Flynt McEben: Just apparently wanna get sued. ♪ We apparently want to get sued ♪ ♪ We apparently want to get sued ♪ ♪ We apparently want to get sued ♪ ♪ And we made it clear this episode ♪
Michelle Bishop: The number of times we told Stephanie she cannot sing Christmas carols on this episode.
Stephanie Flynt McEben: Hey, at least I didn’t do the 12 days of the P&As.
Michelle Bishop: Do not do it.
Jack Rosen: I was really hoping you had that ready for us.
Stephanie Flynt McEben: ♪ On the first day of Christmas ♪ ♪ NDRN gave to you ♪
Stephanie Flynt McEben: Oh, wow, y’all are actually listening. The people actually want this. I can’t remember what the first line was.
Michelle Bishop: I mean, it’s your moment. We both literally were just quiet, we were listening. We were gonna let you do your thing.
Stephanie Flynt McEben: I know, but like, y’all have been discouraging this since like day zero.
Michelle Bishop: And that’s because I’ve heard the lyrics and they weren’t great, but we were gonna let you do your thing.
Stephanie Flynt McEben: ♪ A membership organization ♪ ♪ On the second day of Christmas ♪ ♪ I need to find some words ♪
Jack Rosen: All right, maybe we can have this ready by next year’s Christmas.
Stephanie Flynt McEben: Yeah, no, that’s totally fair, that’s totally fair. I feel like at some point we should probably end the episode because, you know.
Stephanie Flynt McEben: People might be annoyed with us. But we hope you enjoyed this fun Christmas special and getting to know us a little bit more, and yeah, we’ll be back with our regularly scheduled programming come January, am I right, guys?
Michelle Bishop: Wait, Stephanie, do you have a holiday joke?
Stephanie Flynt McEben: Oh, I have an encore joke.
Michelle Bishop: Okay, do it.
Stephanie Flynt McEben: All right, what do you get blind people for Christmas? There are listeners who probably have heard this if you’ve been an OG, longtime listener, but don’t ruin it for those of us who are new.
Michelle Bishop: And if not, we wanna remind you that Stephanie is blind and it’s okay for her to make blind jokes.
Stephanie Flynt McEben: Oh yeah, that’s a thing. I’m a blind person, so yeah. What y’all gonna get me for Christmas?
Jack Rosen: What are we gonna get you, Stephanie?
Stephanie Flynt McEben: Candy canes.
Stephanie Flynt McEben: Blind people use candy canes.
Michelle Bishop: I asked for this.
Stephanie Flynt McEben: Yes, you did. It’s all right. Anyway, Jack, do you wanna tell the people where they can follow us?
Jack Rosen: Yes, you can follow us on Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram, Threads, Bluesky, YouTube, and the TikTok that we do not and will never use. I think they’re banning TikTok, so I finally outlasted you guys asking me to make TikToks.
Stephanie Flynt McEben: Okay, how many followers do we have on our TikTok? Before we go, do the people know?
Jack Rosen: I do not know if we have any.
Stephanie Flynt McEben: Okay, well, fair enough. Yeah, go follow us on TikTok so we have at least like two followers. Anyway, y’all, until next time.
Jack Rosen: And Stephanie, where can they email us?
Stephanie Flynt McEben: Oh yeah, I haven’t said that enough this episode, [email protected]. That is [email protected].
Michelle Bishop: Look at Stephanie taking the lead on this whole episode. I’m totally retiring after this, bye.
Stephanie Flynt McEben: Nope, nope, you’re not.
Michelle Bishop: No, I’m out, I’m out.
Stephanie Flynt McEben: Nope. Remember, you’re voter access and engagement manager, manager.
Michelle Bishop: It’s been fun, guys, oh, it’s been so lovely. I’ll be a listener in 2025.
Stephanie Flynt McEben: And you’ll continue.
Jack Rosen: You know, Stephanie, just yesterday, someone was telling me about an accessible audio editing software. I think you’ve got this from here.
Michelle Bishop: Oh, so are you gonna retire too, Jack?
Jack Rosen: Oh yeah, I’m retiring.
Stephanie Flynt McEben: Oh my God.
Michelle Bishop: All right.
Stephanie Flynt McEben: No.
Michelle Bishop: Stephanie, we’re so excited for you to have your own podcast.
Stephanie Flynt McEben: This is not the Stephanie Show, I object.
Michelle Bishop: Oh, we can call it the Stephanie Show and everything. I can’t wait to listen to the Stephanie show in 2025.
Stephanie Flynt McEben: Oh, that’s cute. Stephanie’s retiring if it becomes the Stephanie Show.
Michelle Bishop: It’s just gonna be Stephanie singing for you and making up jokes.
Stephanie Flynt McEben: ♪ On the first day of Christmas ♪
Stephanie Flynt McEben: Yeah, no, the people do not want that.
Michelle Bishop: You can’t even stop yourself.
Stephanie Flynt McEben: I know, but the people do not want that. We have to give the people what they want, and that is the pro host, that is Michelle, and that is me-ish, kind of. I don’t know, people probably think I’m a ding-dong, but anyway.
Michelle Bishop: So we just wanna say Happy Holidays to all of you, no matter which of the million holidays you celebrate between November and January, and the Stephanie show coming to you in 2025.
Stephanie Flynt McEben: No, NDRN is, or NDR is staying a thing. Anyway, until next time y’all, bye.
