Bonus material where the friends discuss the wonderful Stacey Abrams, our favorite fighter for voting rights and fair elections. As a extra bonus, we share a surprising bit of trivia about her.

Recorded at Front Porch Studios, Berea, KY | Produced by Troy Price | Edited by Kelly Smith | Music composed and performed by Elly Green | Artwork by Jessica Holly

This week, we’re talking about our history with political action as we gear up for a big year in politics, both local and national. In upcoming episodes, we’ll be interviewing experts on the census and its importance. In the fall, we’ll interview some local candidates, and if primary season is any indicator, you’ll definitely get a chance to hear us vent about American elections. This week, we’re casting our minds back to how we all came to be fascinated by and working in American politics. Kelly and Becca both trace their involvement back to their parents. Becca was a young marcher for the ERA, and Kelly’s family brought her into the Democratic party fold in the 1970s. Katie talks about how her experience of learning from teachers like Vincent Harding who were leaders in the Civil Rights movement taught her how to be engaged and active in the struggles of her community, eventually leading her to her position today on her local school decision making council. Jenny’s experience as a rural young woman writing letters for Amnesty International brought her to her work on the Letters to Mitch project. And we couldn’t forget about the time that Kelly ran for local office, and we all got involved. Running for office isn’t for the faint of heart, so we’re dedicating this episode to Elizabeth Warren who ended her run for President this week. We were inspired by her energy, humor, hope, and compassion. So to use the phrase that’s the highest praise you can get in our Appalachian region: “Elizabeth, we appreciate you.”

#ThankYouElizabeth

Recorded at Front Porch Studios, Berea, KY | Produced by Troy Price | Edited by Kelly Smith | Music composed and performed by Elly Green | Artwork by Jessica Holly

We are all moms of boys, and talking about the challenges and joys of raising boys was one of the first things that cemented our friendship and group chat. You probably won’t see any of us breaking out the hashtag #boymom any time soon, but there are definitely some aspects of raising people of the opposite gender that we weren’t prepared for. We’re not just talking about the volume of urine that manages not to make it into the pot, but we are definitely talking about that, too. Perhaps this episode will birth our spinoff podcast about our favorite bathroom cleaning products.  As the mom of both a boy and a girl, Jenny is curious about Katie, Becca, and Kelly’s experiences as the only female in their households. We all learn there’s a lot to #relish when we’re talking about raising boys.

Recorded at Front Porch Studios, Berea, KY | Produced by Troy Price | Edited by Kelly Smith | Music composed and performed by Elly Green | Artwork by Jessica Holly

Once a month, we come to you with the recommendations of the books, tv, movies, podcasts, and music that are bringing us joy. This month, as the flu and other winter ailments make their way though Berea and through our households, we’ve had lots of time to binge watch and catch up while we’ve been waiting to feel good enough to get up off our couches and go back to work. It’s not just the watchability of Netflix’s Cheer that’s been keeping us from our desks. We promise, bosses!  Katie’s been taking pointers from Coach Monica and Kelly tries to help Becca learn to touch her toes, but Becca’s having none of it. She’s got true crime podcasts to listen to.  Kelly and Jenny are still recovering from the series finale of The Good Place while also getting over various sick days, and Jenny’s been wallowing in nostalgia -- the good kind! -- on the British show The Repair Shop and in the book Tuesday Mooney Talks To Ghosts by Kate Racculia. Looking for recommendations for your next day sick day media? Check out the rest of the friends’ picks in this week’s episode.

Recorded at Front Porch Studios, Berea, KY | Produced by Troy Price | Edited by Kelly Smith | Music composed and performed by Elly Green | Artwork by Jessica Holly

This week, we’re talking about our hero — and yours, too, probably — Dolly Parton. We talk about our favorite songs and plan a podcast trip to Dollywood. Of course, one of our songs is “Jolene,” and Kelly shares some of the backstory of that song. Who knew it was about Dolly’s husband’s crush on a bank teller? Katie did because of some recent sick day viewing of a TV movie about that crush.  Unfortunately, Becca — former bank teller — has to bring us back to earth with the reality that bank work is not all that sexy and glamorous. Maybe we’re just not living our lives right. We look to Dolly for ways to get our lives right, whether that’s through her message of love for all people (kind of like our local hero John G. Fee but with fewer pacifist fisticuffs) or through her decades-long commitment to her hometown in Sevier County, Tennessee. Join us this week as we talk about one of the most important figures in our Appalachia: Dolly Parton.

Recorded at Front Porch Studios, Berea, KY | Produced by Troy Price | Edited by Kelly Smith | Music composed and performed by Elly Green | Artwork by Jessica Holly

In this episode, we bring in our first guest, artist Jessica Holly. Jessica grew up in the Bobtown area of Madison County, attended Berea College, and now works in digital media, graphic design, and fine arts. In short, she’s the whole package and the real deal. Her fresh perspective brings Becca, Jenny, Katie, and Kelly new ideas about the role of art in communities. And of course, we can’t help but be curious about her process in designing the logo of “That’s What We said.” We learn how Jessica uses color as a springboard to meet a client’s vision for design and how free drawing keeps her creative mind active. Jessica talks about her work with local non-profits to make art that’s meaningful to the places she calls home. As the parents of young artists ourselves, we want to know about how Jessica’s family helped her develop her identity as an artist. We now have #squadgoals to be like Jessica’s grandma and do 100 toe touches every day! Be sure to check out Jessica’s solo work at http://jessicaholly.com and her collaborative project with Kevin Watts at https://www.bekindbebold.com

Recorded at Front Porch Studios, Berea, KY | Produced by Troy Price | Edited by Kelly Smith | Music composed and performed by Elly Green | Artwork by Jessica Holly

Outtake involving a buzzing phone. What's a mom to do when her son calls from college in the middle of a podcast recording session?

Join four friends — Becca, Jenny, Katie, and Kelly — who are bringing sanity-saving laughs from our group chat to you. This week, we’re talking about what our Gen X membership cards mean to us. We start by remembering our questionable college fashion choices and the messages we got as young people that our futures were ours to claim. But reality intrudes in the middle of this episode as the town emergency weather sirens interrupt our recording session. Listening to the civil defense horns leads us to memories the darker side of growing up the 80s: the threat of nuclear war and “The Day After.” Has the nihilism and cynicism of our generation equipped us to live peacefully in a place with a chemical weapons storage facility? Listeners can judge from our attitudes toward the emergency kits we all received from the county for Christmas. Finally, we answer the pressing question: Is Becca a VSCO girl?  

Recorded at Front Porch Studios, Berea, KY | Produced by Troy Price | Production support by Jeff Richey | Music composed and performed by Elly Green | Artwork by Jessica Holly

The friends toss around ideas about how to best help the Queen clean her massive handbag collection and we learn about Jenny’s dad’s war on stinkbugs.

Join four friends — Becca, Jenny, Katie, and Kelly — who are bringing sanity-saving laughs from our group chat to you. This week, we are once again talking about British royalty. Katie fills the gang in on Megxit, and then we dive into media sources and how we stay informed in the 21st century. As Gen-Xers, we came of age right as the nightly news was transforming into a 24 hour news cycle. Our Zoomer offspring seem to be able to navigate multiple narratives and take a critical view of headlines, while we often find ourselves wishing for Walter Cronkite and not just because he was a silver fox onscreen. We examine ways to keep learning and growing, but that doesn’t stop us from closing the episode with some giggles about family and terrible youtube videos.

*This episode is dedicated to Jim Lehrer who founded News Hour when we were toddlers, and so it seemed like his calm, clear voice had always been there and always would be there. We will miss him.

Recorded at Front Porch Studios, Berea, KY | Produced by Troy Price | Production support by Jeff Richey | Music composed and performed by Elly Green | Artwork by Jessica Holly