This week we were not able to do a regular episode due to the storms across the country. Here in Texas things degraded quickly. We talk about our experiences (we were lucky), state leadership, and ways we can all help. Below are links referenced in the episode.

Some ways to help if you can:

Submit your public comment on the statewide power outage. You can share your experience and opinions to the Texas House of Representatives concerning a hearing they will have on statewide blackout factors and responses:  https://comments.house.texas.gov/home?c=c450&fbclid=IwAR0nda65ry50zIKFO0RcjOlmPLYBrmTTZXTALLJc66NZX9pW-dm2hyWCLuw

Volunteer to check in on people to see if they are ok and have power, water, and food. Powered by the People, Travis County Democrats, and other political parties across Texas are organizing these phone banking efforts. You don’t have to be a Texas resident or have any specialized knowledge to make calls.

Places to donate:

Any location: This is a google sheet started by Sharon McMahon where people can share their needs and people can venmo them help. Direct support person to person. https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1b8mJoo9CXtZ3OLKweLbRr0ubTBl7vM1dRp9xu3JTWf4/htmlview?pru=AAABd-Bp350*w_ZR9F4umpdseTrfHD1ybA

In Waco: 

Waco Foundation in partnership with the City of Waco, launched the Winter Storm Community Relief Fund to receive contributions and provide support for individuals and families who were significantly impacted by Winter Storm Uri and do not have resources for basic needs and vital home repairs. To seek or give support: wacofoundation.org/winterstorm

Mission Waco: https://missionwaco.org/donate/ (Write “Meyer Center” or “cold weather” in the comment section)

St. Alba's has now closed their centers and outreach. 

In Austin: Austin Mutial Aid. Venmo- austinmutualaid

Austin Area Urban League: aaul.org

In Dallas: Feed the People Dallas Mutual Aid. Venmo- feedthepeopledallas. Cashapp- $feedthepeopledtx

DFW Mutual Aid. Venmo/Cashapp- dfwmutualaid

In San Antonio: Trinity Mutual Aid. Venmo- @Trinitymutualaid

Para Mi Gente. Venmo/Cashapp: pmgmutualaid

In Houston: Houston Mutual Aid: mutualaidhou

Houseless Organizing Coalition. Paypal.me/hochtx

This week we chat about the rifts in the GOP, Marilyn Manson, DACA, and the minimum wage. We also began recording on Wednesday nights, so our new release time will be Friday evenings.

This week, as we record on the day before the inauguration of the 46th President of the United States, we reflect on the attack on the Capitol, how we got here, impeachment, and the final days of the Trump presidency. We also look to some of the things that keep us hopeful. 

In our first episode of 2021, we chat about our intentions for this year, what we binged over the holidays, the Georgia run-off elections, the phone call between Trump and the Georgia Secretary of State, and the future of the Republican Party and politics in general. 

Note: We recorded this episode on Tuesday 1/5, the day before the attack on the United States Capitol. We are angered and saddened along with most of the rest of the country. 

This week we are joined by Dr. Kristina Mitchell, an expert in curriculum and publishing, instructor of political science, and former boss lady of Rebecca at Texas Tech. She joins us to talk about equity in higher education. We chat about parental leave, evaluations, and best practices. Content Warning: sexual assault is discussed briefly in the episode.

This will be our final episode of the year. We are grateful to our guests who shared their time and expertise with us and to our listeners for supporting us as we tried to stay connected and engaged this year. Thank you for listening! 

This week we talk PhD programs and vaccine hopes. We keep it a bit lighter by chatting about what we’ve been watching, including Fargo, the Mandalorian, and the transformative experience of Selena.

This week we talk about our voting process, the transition of the presidency, Covid-19 spikes and vaccines, and the early days of party in-fighting.

This is an impromptu, unedited episode to discuss our take on the week of election results, where we are, and where we go from here. 

This week we are joined by Dr. TJ Geiger, an Assistant Professor of English at Baylor University. He joins us to talk about inoculation in political arguments, religious rhetoric, maintaining the humaneness in education, and hope. 

This week we are joined by Dr. Erik Bucy, a Marshall and Sharleen Formby Regents Professor of Strategic Communication at Texas Tech University. He joins us to talk about media participation, how to have better political discourse, the primacy of visuals in presidential campaigns, and real leadership vs. visuals of dominance.