Hello from British Columbia! 

This week, [4:15] we start with the latest concerning video of Mitch McConnell and whether the conversation around fitness for office can (and should) cut across party lines. [21:45] Next, we talk about the Korean fine-dining wave in NYC, the effect of soft power, and why you won’t see us at Naro anytime soon. [45:05] In our final segment, we discuss the Serial podcast “The Retrievals,” which explores questions of gendered pain and corrupt healthcare through the true stories of women deprived of pain medication during IVF. Jay takes us BTS of this caliber of narrative podcast. 

In this episode, we ask: 

Is it reasonable to expect basic verbal competency from our elected officials?

If you’re a leftist, are there some luxuries (like dining at $$$$$ restaurants) that should be off-limits? Or is that a needlessly moralistic stance? 

Why is women’s pain continually dismissed, and what’s the right punishment for the infliction of non-lethal harm? 

For more, see: 

* The older and more recent videos of Mitch McConnell, and some doctors’ hypotheses about the cause

* Pete Wells’s article about How Korean Restaurants Remade Fine Dining in New York 

* The Times investigation into A Deadly Epidural, Delivered by a Doctor With a History of Mistakes 

* Books on pain and how it’s addressed: Sick: A Memoir, by Porochista Khakpour, and The Body in Pain, by Elaine Scarry

* Past TTSG episodes we refer to: 

* A recent discussion on Asian food trends in the U.S., from June

* Lux magazine and lockdowns with Sarah Leonard, from December 2020

We’ll be off next week as our hosts attend to other business (their full-time jobs), but watch out for a non-audio note! 

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