MESSY THOUGHTS 28. This week on Messy Thoughts, BJ and LeBron are taking a messy, funny, and surprisingly reflective trip back to 2020 — the year of quarantine, masks, Zoom happy hours, six-feet-apart stickers, empty Austin streets, PPP loans, unemployment chaos, cancelled birthday plans, and everybody suddenly becoming very aware of who was in their “pod.” Before the time machine really gets going, the episode kicks off with Drag Race finale thoughts, Myki Meeks' win, Nini Coco’s performance, All Stars 11 excitement, and a very important public service announcement: maybe ask people who they voted for before you hook up with them. Then the conversation turns deeper as BJ and LeBron reflect on the murder of George Floyd, the rise of Black Lives Matter protests, Blackout Tuesday, performative allyship, protest fears, and how 2020 created a rare moment where people had the time, attention, and collective outrage to actually respond. They also revisit the weird little details we’ve all half-blocked out: birthday parties alone, masks under noses, COVID tests, vaccines, work-from-home setups, looting your office supplies when the company told you to “take what you need,” Austin bars that didn’t survive the pandemic, and the strange intimacy of pandemic friend groups. To close things out, LeBron responds to a recent racist video involving a Houston police officer and delivers a pointed reminder about racism, accountability, and believing people when they show you who they are. Messy, nostalgic, political, chaotic, and deeply 2020 — this episode asks: what did we learn, what did we forget, and why does everything still feel so messy? Hosted by BJ Burgess and LeBron Huggins. Produced by Keller Davis. www.messythoughts.com #MessyThoughts #GayPodcast #BlackPodcast #QueerVoices #Pandemic