We have a special guest on this week's episode, and we couldn't be happier about it. Sharon McMahon (@sharonsaysso) has taken Instagram by storm over the last few months - she is a funny, wise, non-partisan former government teacher - and she has created such a beautiful online community. Melanie and I have gotten such a kick out of following her and learning from her, so when it worked out for us to get to actually talk to her, we couldn't say "yes" fast enough.

And listen - we cover a lot of ground. We talk about Sharon's informational, non-partisan approach to teaching people about government and democracy, we talk about how Sharon shattered Melanie's lifelong belief about Texas' ability to secede from the union, and we talk about how important it is to really listen to one another so that we can understand one another better - especially when we disagree (my favorite quote of Sharon's: "We cannot work for each other's mutual destruction"). We're also going to talk about make-up, and if you've seen Sharon's eyeshadow skills on Instagram, you'll understand why. 

We'll also have our usual round of Five Favorites at the end of the episode (it's my turn this week!), and we'll be back next Monday with a new Five Questions (featuring our literary agent, Lisa Jackson) and our usual brand of shenanigans next Thursday on episode 230.

Enjoy, everybody!

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