Aug. 26, 2026

The Handmaid’s Tale Ch. 28.2: The Day Her Money Stopped Working | Banned Books Comedy

The Handmaid’s Tale Ch. 28.2: The Day Her Money Stopped Working | Banned Books Comedy
The Handmaid’s Tale Ch. 28.2: The Day Her Money Stopped Working | Banned Books Comedy
Banned Camp
The Handmaid’s Tale Ch. 28.2: The Day Her Money Stopped Working | Banned Books Comedy

One morning her debit card stops working. By that afternoon, armed soldiers have shut down her workplace and the government has frozen every woman's bank account in the country. In this chapter of The Handmaid's Tale, Jennifer and Dan watch an entire life get taken apart in the space of a single day — one bureaucratic switch at a time.

This episode includes AI-voiced content, including our trusty fact-checking robot, Robot.

Banned Camp is a comedy podcast where we read banned books chapter by chapter — we don't read ahead, so you're discovering the story with us.

Things To Listen For:

  • The Handmaid's card gets declined at the store, and the reason turns out to be much bigger than a mix-up
  • Robot fact-checks the real 1970s feminist "women's collectives" behind Moira's new job
  • Dan draws an unsettling parallel between Gilead's F/M account freeze and modern-day disaster-funding fights
  • A flashback to the narrator's activist mother sparks a debate about who actually fights back when it counts
  • Dan's theory about which character in this book never gets named — and what that says about how she's coping
  • The chapter's gutting final line, and why Jennifer calls it "the one to pay attention to"

Why was The Handmaid's Tale banned?

This chapter's central image — a government freezing women's bank accounts overnight simply because they're women — is exactly the kind of scene that makes The Handmaid's Tale a perennial target for challenges. It's less about explicit content and more about how plainly it shows a society building oppression through paperwork instead of force.

If this is your first episode, you're fine starting here. Our fact-checking Robot catches you up fast, then we read the next chapter (spoilers).

Banworthy to Bingeworthy

Beowulf closes out this episode's news segment with a plug for his own show:

  • Good News for Lefties — Beowulf Rochlen's own program, straight news for people who are sick of being lied to. Find it wherever you get your podcasts.

Rate, Review, & Follow on Apple Podcasts

Rate, review, and follow us on Apple Podcasts to help other scary book people find us!

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/banned-camp-banned-books-comedy-and-free-speech-vs/id1676866857

Disclaimer

Banned Camp features readings and discussions of banned books for the purpose of criticism, commentary, education, and entertainment, in accordance with fair use guidelines.

The material used from the book The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood is shared under these principles, with the intent of provoking thought and discussion about literature, censorship, and societal issues. The original work remains fully owned by its copyright holders, and we strongly encourage listeners to purchase a copy here to experience the book in its entirety.

https://bookshop.org/a/20953/9780385490818

This podcast is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or officially connected to Margaret Atwood, her estate, or the publishers of The Handmaid's Tale. Any monetization of the podcast is separate from the copyrighted material discussed.

Frequently Asked Questions

Why was The Handmaid's Tale banned?

The Handmaid's Tale has been challenged or banned in American schools and libraries every single year since its publication in 1985. It was the most challenged book in the United States in 2023. It has been targeted for profanity, sexually explicit content, and content deemed "offensive to Christians." But the deeper reason is that Margaret Atwood showed what happens when a government uses religion, tradition, and "protecting families" as justification for stripping women of their rights, their names, and their autonomy. That's the part that actually scares book banners, because it looks a lot like Tuesday.

Is there a podcast that reads The Handmaid's Tale chapter by chapter?

That's us. Banned Camp reads a different banned book every season, one chapter at a time — neither host has read ahead, so you're discovering the story together in real time. Season 11 covers The Handmaid's Tale, and every episode includes the chapter reading, discussion, a fact-checking Robot, and a segment on why books get banned.

Do I need to start Banned Camp from the beginning?

No. Every episode opens with Robot's recap of the previous chapter, so you can jump in anywhere. Most listeners tell us they started mid-season and went back to the beginning after they were hooked.

Why do women's bank accounts get frozen in The Handmaid's Tale?

Early in Gilead's takeover, the government flags every account belonging to a woman with an "F" instead of an "M" and freezes it in a single move — no trial, no debate, just a flipped switch. Banned Camp digs into this chapter of The Handmaid's Tale, where losing access to money turns out to be the first step in losing everything else.

Who is Moira in The Handmaid's Tale?

Moira is the narrator's fiercely independent best friend, introduced here working for a "women's collective" publishing books on birth control and rape recovery — the kind of grassroots feminist press Margaret Atwood based directly on real 1970s history. Banned Camp's Robot fact-checks the true story behind Moira's job in this episode.

Topics Covered:

The Handmaid's Tale, Margaret Atwood, Chapter 28, Offred, Luke, Moira, Nick, Beowulf Rochlen, Robot, economic control and gender, mother-daughter activism and generational trauma, marriage and self-erasure, banned books, banned books podcast, book banning, censorship, literary analysis, comedy podcast

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Welcome to Band Camp.

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I'm Jennifer And I'm Dan, and this is the podcast where we read banned books out loud, and then we try to figure out why they were banned in the first place.

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This season we're reading The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood, and you can consider this a quick spoiler warning because Jennifer is about to start reading from the book word for word, so anything coming out of her mouth is gonna be a spoil to you unless you read the book or maybe watched the Hulu TV show.

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But we don't want you to feel like you're walking into the middle of a movie without knowing what happened before if this happens to be your first episode.

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We've got a solution to that.

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We've got a fact-checking robot.

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Buddy boy, roll it on in here.

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Here he comes.

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Look at this guy.

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Now, we should also say if you are confused, we're probably gonna be confused too because we've never read the book either.

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All right, buddy boy, fill everyone in on where we left off last time in The Handmaid's Tale.

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Previously on Ban Camp.

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It turns out the way you build a country like Gilead is depressingly simple.

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Shoot the president, machine gun Congress, blame it on invented terrorists, and just tell everyone the Constitution's on a temporary pause.

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Nobody even rioted.

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00:01:19,129.804602705 --> 00:01:24,369.803602705
Margaret Atwood wrote a line for the Handmaid to say that Moira, quote, "Decided to be gay," unquote.

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Jennifer was not having it.

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She decided, "Give me a break, correcting a novel that's 40 years old."

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It turns out overthrowing a government is the loud part.

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What happens to one ordinary person the next morning when there's no camera around? That's the part nobody bothers covering.

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Take it away, Jennifer.

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Thank you, robot.

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And with that being said, scary book people, let's continue reading chapter twenty-eight of Margaret Atwood's The Handmaid's Tale.

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Sorry," he said.

25
00:01:55,773.07218041 --> 00:01:57,305.32699584
"That number's not valid."

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00:01:58,776.63985762 --> 00:02:00,556.64085762
That's ridiculous," I said.

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"It must be.

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I've got thousands in my account.

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I just got the statement two days ago.

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00:02:05,696.63985762 --> 00:02:06,376.64085762
Try it again."

31
00:02:06,686.64185762 --> 00:02:08,966.63885762
I'd be panicking at this point Oh, yeah, yeah.

32
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it's terrible to have that false sense of security Yeah, exact- that's exactly the right phrasing, a sense of security, because my stomach would fall out, you know, through the bottom.

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That'd be it.

34
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I'd be like, "What? This is all I have."

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It's not valid," he repeated obstinately.

36
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"See that red light? Means it's not valid."

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You must have made a mistake," I said.

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"Try it again."

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He shrugged and gave me a fed-up smile, but he did try the number again.

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This time I watched his fingers on each number and checked the numbers that came up in the window.

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It was my number all right, but there was the red light again.

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"See?" he said again, still with that smile as if he knew some private joke he wasn't going to tell me.

43
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Hmm.

44
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asshole.

45
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Guy's probably been dealing with this bullshit all morning, so he knows exactly He knows exactly what's happening.

46
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Yeah.

47
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I'll phone them from the office," I said.

48
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The system had fouled up before, but a few phone calls usually straightened it out.

49
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Still, I was angry, as if I'd been unjustly accused of something I didn't even know about, as if I'd made the mistake myself.

50
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"You do that," he said indifferently.

51
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I left the cigarettes on the counter since I hadn't paid for them.

52
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I figured I could borrow some at work.

53
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I did phone them from the office, but all I got was a recording.

54
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The lines were overloaded, the recording said.

55
00:03:44,499.57713995 --> 00:03:47,99.57713995
Could I please phone back? Okay, well, that's not good either.

56
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That would be a second indication that something is terribly wrong.

57
00:03:50,961.58466034 --> 00:03:54,791.58466034
What do you do at this point? We don't know where this is going, although we have a pretty good idea.

58
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What would you do? I think I would just intuitively know it's too, it's all over, it's too late.

59
00:04:00,789.68738617 --> 00:04:06,274.51590818
Ja The system was crashing, and now it's crashing down on you as an individual.

60
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And then you knew society was kinda crashing too because like kids are missing, it's not safe to send the kids to school in the normal carpool.

61
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It's all going to crap, Jennifer.

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Th- I would, I would leave work, two seconds.

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I'd be like, "Hey, hey, uh, boss, I'm not feeling it today.

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Gotta go."

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The line stayed overloaded all morning, as far as I could tell.

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I phoned back several times, but no luck.

67
00:04:27,699.49750506 --> 00:04:29,596.46750889
Even that wasn't too unusual.

68
00:04:34,48.73030146 --> 00:04:37,778.73030146
About two o'clock after lunch, the director came into the disking room.

69
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I have something to tell you," he said.

70
00:04:41,257.55985439 --> 00:04:42,397.55985439
He looked terrible.

71
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His hair was untidy.

72
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His eyes were pink and wobbling, as though he'd been drinking.

73
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Uh-oh, that's probably not usual.

74
00:04:51,505.56085439 --> 00:04:58,877.841067
Your boss comes in and he's all tooted up, there's something wrong We all looked up, turned off our machines.

75
00:04:59,347.841067 --> 00:05:01,807.841067
There must have been eight or ten of us in the room.

76
00:05:04,46.14728105 --> 00:05:06,256.14628105
I'm sorry," he said, "but it's the law.

77
00:05:06,596.14728105 --> 00:05:07,686.14628105
I'm really sorry."

78
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For what?" Somebody said.

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"I have to let you go," he said.

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"It's the law.

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I have to.

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I have to let you all go."

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He said this almost gently, as if we were wild animals, like frogs he'd caught in a jar, as if he were being humane.

84
00:05:25,713.64694388 --> 00:05:27,303.64594388
We're being fired?" I said.

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I stood up.

86
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"But why?" Not fired," he said.

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"Let go.

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You can't work here anymore.

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00:05:33,862.6789195 --> 00:05:34,632.6799195
It's the law."

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I thought there was no constitu-- there are no laws, right? Constitution suspended? He ran his hands through his hair, and I thought, "He's gone crazy.

91
00:05:44,900.81853609 --> 00:05:48,470.81853609
The strain has been too much for him, and he's blown his wiring."

92
00:05:49,498.33637833 --> 00:05:52,588.33637833
You can't just do that," said the woman who sat next to me.

93
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This sounded false, improbable, like something you would say on television.

94
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"It isn't me," he said.

95
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"You don't understand.

96
00:06:01,458.33537833 --> 00:06:02,898.33637833
Please go, now."

97
00:06:03,408.33537833 --> 00:06:04,758.33637833
His voice was rising.

98
00:06:05,258.33637833 --> 00:06:06,338.33537833
"I don't want any trouble.

99
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If there's trouble, the books might be lost.

100
00:06:08,978.33537833 --> 00:06:10,188.33537833
Things will get broken."

101
00:06:10,698.33437833 --> 00:06:12,778.33637833
Oh, that's a threat of violence right there.

102
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For the, a set that is violent right now Yeah, why is it...

103
00:06:15,628.41425546 --> 00:06:17,389.00149542
See, this is just, this is at the library Yeah.

104
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He looked over his shoulder.

105
00:06:20,156.80674748 --> 00:06:22,646.80574748
They're outside," he said, "in my office.

106
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Ron DeSantis is there with the Moms for Liberty, Jennifer.

107
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Who else shows up at the library? Ron DeSantis puts on those white rubber boots and goes in, "You've gotta fire people.

108
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Yeah."

109
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If you don't go now, they'll come in themselves.

110
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They gave me 10 minutes.

111
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By now, he sounded crazier than ever.

112
00:06:45,339.79859883 --> 00:06:49,129.79759883
He's loopy," someone said out loud, which we must all have thought.

113
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But I could see out into the corridor, there were two men standing there in uniforms with machine guns.

114
00:06:56,119.79759883 --> 00:07:10,712.90930119
Okay, so what's that? The Army? Who, who's in charge here? What laws? Why are they in uniforms with guns? And do they really care about books that much? This isn't about books, This is about people having-- women, about women having jobs.

115
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So all of the employees at the library are women I don't know, but they all gotta go.

116
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And her card wasn't working.

117
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See, this is, she is like, she's losing all her power.

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First she loses her money, now she's losing her job.

119
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what's, what's next after that? Her, her identity, right? This was too theatrical to be true, yet there they were, sudden apparitions like Martians.

120
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There was a dreamlike quality to them.

121
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They were too vivid, too at odds with their surroundings.

122
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Just leave the machines," he said while we were getting our things together, as if we could have taken them with us.

123
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We stood in a cluster on the steps outside the library.

124
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We didn't know what to say to one another.

125
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Since none of us understood what had happened, there was nothing much we could say.

126
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We looked at one another's faces and saw dismay and a certain shame, as if we'd been caught doing something we shouldn't.

127
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That exactly echoes, like, when her compu-card didn't work, like she felt like she did something wrong, and now again, it's like they all kind of feel like, well, well, we were caught doing something we shouldn't have been doing.

128
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Like it's them it's outrageous one woman said, but without belief.

129
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What was it about this that made us feel we deserved it? When I got back to the house, nobody was there.

130
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Luke was still at work.

131
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My daughter was at school.

132
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I felt tired, bone tired, but when I sat down, I got up again.

133
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I couldn't seem to sit still.

134
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I wandered through the house from room to room.

135
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I remember touching things, not even that consciously, just placing my fingers on them.

136
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Things like the toaster, the sugar bowl, the ashtray in the living room.

137
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She's like, "Is, is this real?" Like, I totally understand what she's going through.

138
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I kinda lost my mind after the, uh, Dobbs decision came down.

139
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I thought I'd died and gone to hell.

140
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So I totally understand her going around and touching objects to ground herself in reality Yeah.

141
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Like, am I sleeping? Am I having a nightmare? This is our toaster, right? Okay, this is how a toaster feels.

142
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Oh, shit, this is real After a while, I picked up the cat and carried her around with me.

143
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I wanted Luke to come home.

144
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I thought I should do something, take some steps, but I didn't know what steps I should take.

145
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I tried phoning the bank again, but I only got the same recording.

146
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I poured myself a glass of milk.

147
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I told myself I was too jittery for another coffee and went into the living room and sat down on the sofa and put the glass of milk on the coffee table I held the cat up against my chest so I could feel her purring against my throat.

148
00:10:02,769.13073857 --> 00:10:07,242.00769182
After a while, I phoned my mother at her apartment, but there was no answer.

149
00:10:08,242.00769182 --> 00:10:10,282.00869182
She'd settled down more by then.

150
00:10:10,402.00769182 --> 00:10:12,542.00769182
She'd stopped moving every few years.

151
00:10:12,992.00769182 --> 00:10:15,30.5750239
She lived across the river in Boston.

152
00:10:15,477.76665375 --> 00:10:17,637.76765375
I waited a while and phoned Moira.

153
00:10:18,127.76865375 --> 00:10:22,205.65067495
She wasn't there either, but when I tried half an hour later, she was in.

154
00:10:23,213.41390999 --> 00:10:26,33.41390999
In between those phone calls, I just sat on the sofa.

155
00:10:26,372.09357718 --> 00:10:29,22.09157718
What I thought about was my daughter's school lunches.

156
00:10:29,364.97161621 --> 00:10:33,153.9366121
I thought maybe I'd been giving her too many peanut butter sandwiches.

157
00:10:38,295.2593741 --> 00:10:41,685.2603741
I've been fired, I told Moira when I got her on the phone.

158
00:10:41,994.71906142 --> 00:10:43,694.71906142
She said she would come over.

159
00:10:45,953.85014026 --> 00:10:50,733.85014026
By that time, she was working for a women's collective, the publishing division.

160
00:10:51,747.42846929 --> 00:10:59,267.42946929
They put out books on birth control and rape and things like that, though there wasn't as much demand for those things as there used to be.

161
00:10:59,594.75505473 --> 00:11:03,934.75505473
it's weird, right? Because obviously the Handmaid's mom was an activist.

162
00:11:04,94.75505473 --> 00:11:05,594.75405473
Moira's an activist.

163
00:11:05,604.75505473 --> 00:11:09,894.75405473
The Handmaid is kind of a, eh, just gonna kinda go with the flow type of thing.

164
00:11:10,244.30767724 --> 00:11:14,474.30767724
But we see how she's turning out from the last however many chapters we're into this.

165
00:11:14,484.30867724 --> 00:11:16,344.30767724
She is a fighter.

166
00:11:16,404.30667724 --> 00:11:17,654.30867724
She's very smart.

167
00:11:17,975.39615154 --> 00:11:35,554.38730101
But maybe back in the real, in, in the before time, she just kinda maybe seemed to float I mean, yeah, probably And what's Moira's plight gonna be? Like, I'm really surprised that they even have women's collectives at all A women's collective was a real thing.

168
00:11:35,714.38730101 --> 00:11:43,344.38730101
1970s feminist groups who self-published because regular publishers wouldn't touch topics like birth control or rape recovery.

169
00:11:43,414.38730101 --> 00:11:48,514.38730101
The most famous one put out a book called Our Bodies, Ourselves in 1970.

170
00:11:48,584.38630101 --> 00:11:49,874.38630101
It's still in print today.

171
00:11:49,954.38730101 --> 00:11:53,404.38630101
So no, Moira's job isn't science fiction, Jennifer.

172
00:11:53,434.38730101 --> 00:11:59,804.38730101
It's the exact kind of grassroots publishing Atwood watched happen in real life before she ever wrote a word of this book.

173
00:12:00,637.15881802 --> 00:12:05,797.15881802
I don't like that as a society we have to be so on top of everything.

174
00:12:05,807.15881802 --> 00:12:08,307.15881802
Life is hard enough just trying to live.

175
00:12:09,277.15881802 --> 00:12:18,520.07373002
Like, it would be so great if we didn't have to all add an extra part-time job to our list of stuff to become social justice warriors.

176
00:12:18,670.07373002 --> 00:12:52,762.57791965
How about if just the people in charge just stop effing around? It's just so disheartening Like, life is so different now than it was w- like even Oh God, it's been so long, hasn't it? I was gonna say 10 years ago, And over 10 years, it is so easy for us to all lose sight and just, this is the new normal, and the question is, are we gonna be smart enough? Are we gonna have our eyes open enough to actually see that, wait a minute, this isn't-- why is this the new normal? And they're counting on us being asleep at the wheel Deep stuff.

177
00:12:52,762.57791965 --> 00:12:54,542.57791965
I'm Dan Schultz, this is Jennifer Davis.

178
00:12:54,572.57791965 --> 00:12:58,813.87419769
We're gonna be right back I'll come over, she said.

179
00:12:58,933.87419769 --> 00:13:02,935.82726969
She must have been able to tell from my voice that this was what I wanted.

180
00:13:03,935.82726969 --> 00:13:05,655.82726969
she got there after some time.

181
00:13:06,165.82626969 --> 00:13:07,265.82726969
So, she said.

182
00:13:07,265.82726969 --> 00:13:08,645.82726969
s-- She threw off her jacket.

183
00:13:08,753.44763965 --> 00:13:10,21.39233907
First we'll have a drink.

184
00:13:11,70.04448084 --> 00:13:19,506.60574612
She got up and went to the kitchen and poured us a couple of scotches and came back and sat down, and I tried to tell her what had happened to me.

185
00:13:20,506.60574612 --> 00:13:25,956.60574612
When I'd finished, she said, "Tried getting anything on your compucard today?" "Yes," I said.

186
00:13:26,386.60674612 --> 00:13:27,806.60674612
I told her, about that too.

187
00:13:28,336.60774612 --> 00:13:29,916.60674612
They've frozen them," she said.

188
00:13:30,36.60474612 --> 00:13:30,896.60574612
"Mine too.

189
00:13:31,346.60574612 --> 00:13:32,696.60774612
The collective's too.

190
00:13:33,236.60574612 --> 00:13:35,866.60674612
Any account with an F on it instead of an M.

191
00:13:36,426.60374612 --> 00:13:39,66.60474612
All they needed to do is push a few buttons.

192
00:13:39,356.60474612 --> 00:13:40,16.60674612
We're cut off.

193
00:13:40,56.60474612 --> 00:13:40,826.60474612
Exactly."

194
00:13:41,327.30710337 --> 00:13:46,347.8154498
Just flip the switch and all of a sudden you have nothing Female versus male, right? FM.

195
00:13:46,487.8154498 --> 00:13:57,689.95878686
Oh my God, you know what's crazy? This is Trump, right? You know how California didn't rake their floors? Now all of a sudden California doesn't get aid for, you know, forest fires or whatever.

196
00:13:58,159.95878686 --> 00:14:01,599.95778686
If you're a D by your state, you don't get funding.

197
00:14:01,922.56395197 --> 00:14:07,475.37438095
If you have an R, we'll take care of you Oh, yeah, I guess that is kind of a similar situation.

198
00:14:09,409.98887757 --> 00:14:15,589.98887757
But I've got over two thousand dollars in the bank," I said, as if my own account was the only one that mattered.

199
00:14:16,169.98887757 --> 00:14:18,789.98887757
"Women can't hold property anymore," she said.

200
00:14:19,199.98887757 --> 00:14:20,209.98887757
"It's a new law.

201
00:14:20,699.98887757 --> 00:14:23,400.81589465
Turned on the TV today?" No," I said.

202
00:14:23,469.69776806 --> 00:14:26,269.69876806
It's on there," she said, "all over the place."

203
00:14:26,729.69776806 --> 00:14:28,983.68510039
She wasn't stunned the way I was.

204
00:14:29,405.89769785 --> 00:14:32,775.89769785
No, because Moira turns on Joe Scarborough every morning.

205
00:14:32,785.89769785 --> 00:14:43,181.2661765
She knows what's going on, Jennifer In some strange way, she was gleeful as if this was what she'd been expecting for some time, and now she'd been proven right.

206
00:14:43,316.28178075 --> 00:14:46,156.28178075
She even looked more energetic, more determined.

207
00:14:46,478.51224993 --> 00:14:49,36.35377309
Luke can use your comp account for you," she said.

208
00:14:50,36.35377309 --> 00:14:53,396.35377309
They'll transfer your number to him, or that's what they say.

209
00:14:53,652.4747091 --> 00:14:55,462.4747091
Husband or male next of kin."

210
00:14:56,112.4757091 --> 00:14:57,642.4757091
"But what about you?" I said.

211
00:14:57,962.4757091 --> 00:14:59,252.4757091
She didn't have anyone.

212
00:14:59,972.4757091 --> 00:15:01,622.4747091
"I'll go underground," she said.

213
00:15:01,982.4747091 --> 00:15:05,912.4747091
"Some of the gays can take over our numbers and buy us things we need."

214
00:15:06,842.4747091 --> 00:15:10,312.4767091
Boy, allies, allyship right there.

215
00:15:10,362.4757091 --> 00:15:12,902.9583823
It's like You can't just ignore the men.

216
00:15:14,650.76782157 --> 00:15:21,390.76682157
it's neat how Moira already knows the gays will stand up for us because it's like you said, allies.

217
00:15:21,890.76682157 --> 00:15:24,360.76582157
Allies know who allies are.

218
00:15:24,833.22501234 --> 00:15:26,863.46003202
Yes let's make a bet right now.

219
00:15:26,873.46103202 --> 00:15:37,483.45903202
How is Luke gonna handle this? I don't wanna crap on Luke because we know how it may, we don't actually know how it ends for Luke, but we know that he's not in the picture current day in our reading.

220
00:15:38,297.46103202 --> 00:15:41,83.45803202
Yeah also know that he's not a great guy.

221
00:15:41,93.45903202 --> 00:15:44,947.46103202
He strung his old wife around Right, right.

222
00:15:45,162.46978201 --> 00:15:56,986.13456523
Kinda was bad to both of them in that situation, bad to his wife that he was cheating on, and bad to the handmaid because he wasn't choosing her decisively I think he's gonna be a bad guy.

223
00:15:57,66.13456523 --> 00:15:58,576.13456523
I think he's just, um...

224
00:15:58,761.76083095 --> 00:16:05,698.92411023
Well, n- bad guy isn't the right word, but he's just kind of like, he's not a mensch, you know? Like, he's just, he's just not solid.

225
00:16:05,708.92411023 --> 00:16:08,529.20959236
He's just kind of, like, flimsy.

226
00:16:09,438.39225928 --> 00:16:18,152.71519336
He's a flimsy person But why?" I said, "Why did they do this?" "Ours is not to reason why," said Moira.

227
00:16:18,552.71519336 --> 00:16:20,12.71519336
"They had to do it that way.

228
00:16:20,382.71519336 --> 00:16:22,892.71519336
The comp counts and the jobs both at once.

229
00:16:23,272.71519336 --> 00:16:28,552.71519336
Can you picture the airports otherwise? They don't want us going anywhere, you can bet on that."

230
00:16:29,642.71519336 --> 00:16:31,842.71519336
I went to pick my daughter up from school.

231
00:16:32,202.71519336 --> 00:16:34,422.71519336
I drove with exaggerated care.

232
00:16:35,428.24126099 --> 00:16:38,868.24126099
By the time Luke got home, I was sitting at the kitchen table.

233
00:16:39,448.24126099 --> 00:16:46,710.4632364
She was drawing with felt pens at her own little table in the corner where her paintings were taped up next to the refrigerator.

234
00:16:47,889.4632364 --> 00:16:50,734.8852364
Luke knelt beside me and put his arms around me.

235
00:16:50,905.7997586 --> 00:16:54,335.7997586
I heard," he said, "on the car radio driving home.

236
00:16:54,915.7997586 --> 00:16:57,105.7997586
Don't worry, I'm sure it's temporary."

237
00:16:57,715.8007586 --> 00:16:59,425.7987586
"Did they say why?" I said.

238
00:16:59,785.8007586 --> 00:17:01,45.7997586
He didn't answer that.

239
00:17:01,475.7987586 --> 00:17:03,545.8007586
"We'll get through it," he said, hugging me.

240
00:17:04,570.2487788 --> 00:17:06,320.2487788
You don't know what it's like," I said.

241
00:17:06,400.2467788 --> 00:17:08,710.2457788
"I feel as if somebody cut my feet off."

242
00:17:09,130.2457788 --> 00:17:10,130.2477788
I wasn't crying.

243
00:17:10,560.2467788 --> 00:17:13,110.2477788
Also, I couldn't put my arms around him.

244
00:17:13,930.2457788 --> 00:17:16,410.2467788
"It's only a job," he said, trying to soothe me.

245
00:17:17,100.2477788 --> 00:17:20,960.2477788
"I guess you get all my money," I said, "and I'm not even dead."

246
00:17:21,218.4587235 --> 00:17:24,278.4557235
I was trying for a joke, but it came out sounding macabre.

247
00:17:24,788.0171245 --> 00:17:37,774.817582
Okay, so she is She basically is dead, they took her money, they took her job, and now what does she have? She has this stupid guy that's trying to comfort her, she's dead.

248
00:17:39,112.2047905 --> 00:17:41,52.2047905
he was still kneeling on the floor.

249
00:17:41,412.2047905 --> 00:17:43,382.2047905
"You know I'll always take care of you."

250
00:17:44,102.2047905 --> 00:17:47,442.2047905
I thought, "Already he's starting to patronize me."

251
00:17:47,752.2047905 --> 00:17:51,52.2047905
Then I thought, "Already you're starting to get paranoid.

252
00:17:51,92.2047905 --> 00:17:53,52.2037905
Nope, nope, woman, trust your gut."

253
00:17:53,636.2047905 --> 00:17:54,866.2047905
Trust your gut for once.

254
00:17:55,226.2047905 --> 00:17:59,972.1225084
Get in the game, Handmade I know, I said.

255
00:18:00,122.1225084 --> 00:18:00,992.1225084
I love you.

256
00:18:01,372.1225084 --> 00:18:03,832.1225084
Later, I told them about the afternoon.

257
00:18:04,872.4507385 --> 00:18:08,632.4507385
I described the director coming in, blurting out his announcement.

258
00:18:08,754.3956626 --> 00:18:11,684.3956626
It would have been funny if it wasn't so awful, I said.

259
00:18:12,534.3966626 --> 00:18:13,764.3966626
I thought he was drunk.

260
00:18:13,804.3956626 --> 00:18:14,894.3956626
Maybe he was.

261
00:18:15,144.3956626 --> 00:18:16,884.3956626
The army was there and everything.

262
00:18:17,165.2454005 --> 00:18:20,665.2424005
then I remembered something I'd seen and hadn't noticed at the time.

263
00:18:21,335.2434005 --> 00:18:22,625.2424005
It wasn't the army.

264
00:18:22,975.2424005 --> 00:18:24,625.2444005
It was some other army.

265
00:18:24,685.2424005 --> 00:18:25,325.2424005
Uh-oh.

266
00:18:25,815.2434005 --> 00:18:26,875.2424005
Well, that's not good.

267
00:18:27,210.0457294 --> 00:18:39,630.7812566
Who is this? Who is making the laws? Why do these other army people have uniforms and guns? Ice I'm giving us s- days in our world, Jennifer.

268
00:18:40,363.3406726 --> 00:18:49,610.3803262
Am I being naive? Like, could it happen that fast, it, yeah, because we've seen it, like, you know, we've said multiple times that Margaret Atwood doesn't make anything up.

269
00:18:49,620.3793262 --> 00:18:51,150.3803262
This is all stuff from history.

270
00:18:51,170.3793262 --> 00:18:52,770.3803262
So this is basically a coup.

271
00:18:53,650.3793262 --> 00:18:56,190.3803262
I mean, imagine if January 6th had succeeded.

272
00:18:56,753.2145994 --> 00:19:09,213.5458551
What if they did get in there and they slaughtered Congress, or even half There were marches, of course, a lot of women and some men, but they were smaller than you might have thought.

273
00:19:09,414.7480446 --> 00:19:18,724.7480446
and when it was known that the police or the army or whoever they were would open fire almost as soon as any of the marches even started, the marches stopped.

274
00:19:18,774.7480446 --> 00:19:19,914.7480446
Well, of course they did.

275
00:19:21,773.4706246 --> 00:19:28,633.4696246
A few things were blown up, post offices, subway stations, but you couldn't even be sure who was doing it.

276
00:19:29,493.4706246 --> 00:19:35,213.4676246
It could have been the army to justify the computer searches and the other ones, the door-to-doors.

277
00:19:35,593.4686246 --> 00:19:49,101.4072647
Yeah, I'm gonna guess that it's whoever is in the uniforms is, is continuing the violence and destroying the fabric of society so that they can take it over I didn't go on any of the marches.

278
00:19:49,351.4072647 --> 00:19:55,101.4062647
Luke said it would be futile, and I had to think about them, my family, him and her.

279
00:19:56,101.9987648 --> 00:19:57,781.9987648
I did think about my family.

280
00:19:58,21.9987648 --> 00:20:00,891.9977648
I started doing more housework, more baking.

281
00:20:01,481.9977648 --> 00:20:03,871.9977648
I tried not to cry at mealtimes.

282
00:20:04,391.9977648 --> 00:20:10,611.9987648
By this time, I'd started to cry without warning and to sit beside the bedroom window staring out.

283
00:20:11,331.9977648 --> 00:20:19,529.7572955
I didn't know many of the neighbors, and when we met outside on the street, we were careful to exchange nothing more than the ordinary greetings.

284
00:20:20,19.7562955 --> 00:20:22,879.7552955
Nobody wanted to be reported for disloyalty.

285
00:20:22,909.7562955 --> 00:20:30,692.696505
Okay, so things are degrading quickly Remembering this, I remember also my mother years before.

286
00:20:31,85.4383144 --> 00:20:36,715.4383144
I must have been 14, 15, that age when daughters are most embarrassed by their mothers.

287
00:20:37,165.7146681 --> 00:20:43,826.4894433
I remember her coming back to one of our many apartments with a group of other women, They'd been on a march that day.

288
00:20:44,86.4884433 --> 00:20:51,197.6322949
It was during the time of the porn riots, or was it the abortion riots? They were close together.

289
00:20:52,474.9891817 --> 00:20:54,395.7689135
There were a lot of bombings then.

290
00:20:54,705.7679135 --> 00:20:56,465.7689135
Clinics, video stores.

291
00:20:56,535.7659135 --> 00:20:58,165.7669135
It was hard to keep track.

292
00:20:58,572.0437167 --> 00:21:05,274.0437167
But what age were you when you stopped being embarrassed by your mom, Jen? How old are you? Don't even ask.

293
00:21:05,913.0234701 --> 00:21:06,743.0234701
Oh, God.

294
00:21:08,283.0234701 --> 00:21:10,613.0234701
I mean, she was really embarrassing Sorry.

295
00:21:12,234.3901287 --> 00:21:15,385.7353135
My mother had a bruise on her face and a little blood.

296
00:21:16,385.7353135 --> 00:21:21,95.7353135
You can't stick your hand through a glass window without getting cut is what she said about it.

297
00:21:21,335.7363135 --> 00:21:22,425.7363135
Fucking pigs.

298
00:21:22,425.7363135 --> 00:21:25,95.7353135
Fucking bleeders, one of her friends said.

299
00:21:25,475.7353135 --> 00:21:29,115.7353135
They called the other side bleeders after the signs they carried.

300
00:21:29,485.7363135 --> 00:21:30,645.7353135
Let them bleed.

301
00:21:30,985.7363135 --> 00:21:32,925.7363135
So it must have been the abortion riots.

302
00:21:32,995.7363135 --> 00:21:38,815.7353135
Oh, that is what they should have in all the states that have outlawed abortion now.

303
00:21:38,964.9729461 --> 00:21:44,906.2665062
Cause women are dying by bleeding to death right now Yeah, you guys are voting for it, put your name on it.

304
00:21:44,916.2665062 --> 00:21:59,660.6728654
Say, tell everyone how proud you are to let your fellow women die so you can, you can make some kind of stupid political point that doesn't effing matter I went into my bedroom to be out of their way.

305
00:22:00,844.2212652 --> 00:22:07,52.5377328
They ignored me, and I resented them, my mother and her rowdy friends.

306
00:22:07,302.5377328 --> 00:22:14,122.5387328
I didn't see why she had to dress that way, in overalls, as if she were young, or to swear so much.

307
00:22:14,802.5377328 --> 00:22:19,442.5387328
"You're such a prude," she would say to me in a tone of voice that was, on the whole, pleased.

308
00:22:19,882.5377328 --> 00:22:23,482.5397328
She liked being more outrageous than I was, more rebellious.

309
00:22:23,912.5367328 --> 00:22:31,355.1292685
Adolescents are always such prudes Okay, so she just wanted her mom to be, quote, "regular or A normal."

310
00:22:31,365.1292685 --> 00:22:31,644.1764423
mom.

311
00:22:32,768.97669 --> 00:22:40,158.97669
You were a wanted child, God knows, she would say at moments, lingering over the photo albums in which she had me framed.

312
00:22:40,688.97669 --> 00:22:51,988.97469
These albums were thick with babies, but my replicas thinned out as I grew older, She would say this a little regretfully, as though I hadn't turned out entirely as she expected.

313
00:22:52,648.97569 --> 00:23:00,118.97569
No mother is ever completely a child's idea of what a mother should be, and I suppose it works the other way around as well.

314
00:23:00,480.1579495 --> 00:23:05,943.559535
But despite everything, we didn't do too badly by one another, we did as well as most.

315
00:23:06,591.5220397 --> 00:23:16,741.5250397
I don't know why she's going through the trouble of explaining her relationship with her mom, but it must mean something I wish she were here so I could tell her I finally know this.

316
00:23:16,741.5250397 --> 00:23:19,21.5250397
Maybe she's just like, "Oh, mom was right."

317
00:23:19,60.5933858 --> 00:23:19,950.5933858
But this is what I don't get.

318
00:23:19,960.5933858 --> 00:23:26,925.435628
Why is Moira not around knocking her head? Like, what are you doing? Who knows where Moira is? She's mixing it up.

319
00:23:27,3.7437304 --> 00:23:33,617.7437304
You think so? I think she was probably arrested by now She went and got a bunch of gay guys and said, "You guys are my posse.

320
00:23:33,919.7299428 --> 00:23:35,369.7299428
I'm gonna go start swinging.

321
00:23:35,369.7299428 --> 00:23:39,808.7611677
As soon as they start coming after me, I need you gay guys to get in and block for me."

322
00:23:42,36.4051702 --> 00:23:43,806.4051702
Someone has come out of the house.

323
00:23:44,236.4051702 --> 00:23:49,306.4041702
I hear the distant closing of a door around at the side, footsteps on the walk.

324
00:23:49,826.4051702 --> 00:23:50,636.4051702
It's Nick.

325
00:23:50,816.4051702 --> 00:23:51,906.4051702
I can see him now.

326
00:23:52,66.4051702 --> 00:24:05,227.0824382
He's stepped off the path onto the lawn to breathe in the humid air which stinks of flowers, of pulpy growth, of pollen thrown into the wind in handfuls, like oyster spawn into the sea.

327
00:24:05,741.2461835 --> 00:24:12,108.9899467
I like that she continues to add, like, all this, sexualization of nature.

328
00:24:12,108.9899467 --> 00:24:16,455.8522969
Like, "Oh, well, all these things are alive, and they're all trying to, you know, multiply."

329
00:24:18,375.5707632 --> 00:24:20,25.5707632
All this prodigal breeding.

330
00:24:20,35.5707632 --> 00:24:21,655.5707632
He stretches in the sun.

331
00:24:21,975.5707632 --> 00:24:26,565.5707632
I feel the ripple of muscles go along him like a cat's back arching.

332
00:24:26,825.5707632 --> 00:24:40,461.9664877
He's in his shirtsleeves, bare arms sticking shamelessly out from the rolled cloth Where does the tan end? I haven't spoken to him since that one night, f- dreamscape in the moon-filled sitting room.

333
00:24:41,61.9664877 --> 00:24:45,135.6944672
He's only my flag, my semaphore, body language...,

334
00:24:46,633.8486646 --> 00:24:51,3.8486646
Right now, his cap's on sideways, therefore, I am sent for.

335
00:24:51,796.9479737 --> 00:25:08,748.8843181
What does he get for it, his role as page boy? How does he feel pimping in this ambiguous way for the Commander? Does it fill him with disgust or make him want more of me, Because he has no idea what really goes on in there among the books.

336
00:25:09,268.8853181 --> 00:25:11,538.8843181
Acts of perversion for all he knows.

337
00:25:11,958.8843181 --> 00:25:18,770.269105
The Commander and me covering each other with ink, licking it off, or making love on stacks of forbidden newsprint.

338
00:25:19,300.270105 --> 00:25:21,770.271105
Well, he wouldn't be far off at that.

339
00:25:24,142.271105 --> 00:25:24,302.271105
Licking the dog or making love on stacks of her men's underwear.

340
00:25:24,302.271105 --> 00:25:24,382.271105
I, I guarantee Nick is not thinking that.

341
00:25:24,382.271105 --> 00:25:32,569.3170939
Nick is-- The last thing I she would like for him to be thinking that though But depend on it, there's something in it for him.

342
00:25:33,149.3170939 --> 00:25:35,449.3170939
Everyone's on the take one way or another.

343
00:25:35,849.3170939 --> 00:25:39,879.3170939
Extra cigarettes, extra freedoms not allowed to the general run.

344
00:25:40,389.3170939 --> 00:25:47,519.3160939
Anyway, what can he prove? It's his word against the commander's unless he wants to head a posse.

345
00:25:47,999.3170939 --> 00:25:52,569.3170939
Kick in the door, and what did I tell you? Caught in the act, sinfully scrabbling.

346
00:25:52,989.3170939 --> 00:25:54,668.7377852
Quick, eat those words.

347
00:25:55,668.7377852 --> 00:26:02,378.7367852
Maybe he just likes the satisfaction of knowing something secret, of having something on me, as they used to say.

348
00:26:02,848.7377852 --> 00:26:07,868.7397852
It's the kind of power you can use only once, but I'd like to think better of him.

349
00:26:08,658.0919439 --> 00:26:10,638.0899439
I don't know what his motivations are.

350
00:26:10,728.0909439 --> 00:26:14,78.0929439
Like, it'd be kind of interesting to know the story from Nick's perspective.

351
00:26:14,78.0929439 --> 00:26:18,18.1656586
I don't know what any of these other people are experiencing in this world.

352
00:26:18,262.1400465 --> 00:26:27,868.1420465
She's doing such a good job of making it from her perspective only That night after I lost my job, Luke wanted me to make love.

353
00:26:28,248.1420465 --> 00:26:32,575.3505658
Why didn't I want to? The desperation alone should have driven me.

354
00:26:33,575.3505658 --> 00:26:35,335.3505658
but I still felt numbed.

355
00:26:35,585.3495658 --> 00:26:37,819.7152149
I could hardly even feel his hands on me.

356
00:26:38,819.7152149 --> 00:26:40,9.7142149
What's the matter?" he said.

357
00:26:40,239.7152149 --> 00:26:42,429.7152149
What's the matter? What a dummy.

358
00:26:42,669.7152149 --> 00:26:48,437.7152149
He's really not a very deep person at all "Do you wanna make love?" "I'm not really feeling it."

359
00:26:48,577.7152149 --> 00:26:50,397.7152149
"Okay, I'll just do it to you."

360
00:26:52,257.7145924 --> 00:26:54,417.7145924
What's the matter? My hands are on you.

361
00:26:55,217.7145924 --> 00:27:04,646.6072645
Don't it feel good? What's different? Something change? What's the matter?" He said.

362
00:27:04,886.6072645 --> 00:27:06,176.6072645
"I don't know," I said.

363
00:27:07,221.4427179 --> 00:27:08,581.4417179
We still have..."

364
00:27:08,601.4427179 --> 00:27:11,871.4427179
he said, but he didn't go on to say what we still had.

365
00:27:13,209.5743979 --> 00:27:19,529.5753979
It occurred to me that he shouldn't be saying we, since nothing that I knew of had been taken away from him.

366
00:27:21,661.9577981 --> 00:27:23,541.9577981
We still have each other," I said.

367
00:27:23,861.9587981 --> 00:27:24,801.9587981
It was true.

368
00:27:25,311.9577981 --> 00:27:34,567.9134829
Then why did I sound, even to myself, so indifferent? He kissed me then, as if now I'd said that, things could get back to normal.

369
00:27:35,567.9134829 --> 00:27:37,927.9164829
But something had shifted, some balance.

370
00:27:38,417.9154829 --> 00:27:44,616.3242464
I felt shrunken, so that when he put his arms around me, gathering me up, I was as small as a doll.

371
00:27:44,824.0900281 --> 00:27:47,524.0890281
I felt love going forward without me.

372
00:27:47,664.0900281 --> 00:27:48,934.0890281
Now she's totally out of it.

373
00:27:48,972.1948808 --> 00:27:49,812.1908808
it's like the power.

374
00:27:49,812.1918808 --> 00:27:51,2.1918808
Like, she doesn't have money.

375
00:27:51,362.1948808 --> 00:27:52,802.1878808
She doesn't have a job.

376
00:27:52,802.1878808 --> 00:27:55,872.1848808
All she has is Luke feeling her up.

377
00:27:56,22.1868809 --> 00:28:00,721.7418691
"Dude, what's wrong?" He doesn't mind this, I thought.

378
00:28:00,971.7428691 --> 00:28:02,481.7428691
He doesn't mind it at all.

379
00:28:02,851.7428691 --> 00:28:04,460.2810755
Maybe he even likes it.

380
00:28:05,460.2810755 --> 00:28:07,220.2800755
We are not each other's anymore.

381
00:28:07,540.2810755 --> 00:28:09,285.4850218
Instead, I am his.

382
00:28:10,285.4850218 --> 00:28:14,716.0793775
Unworthy, unjust, untrue, but that is what happened.

383
00:28:15,716.0793775 --> 00:28:24,163.7787646
So Luke, what I want to ask you now, what I need to know is, was I right? Because we never talked about it.

384
00:28:24,483.7797646 --> 00:28:27,342.7299484
By the time I could have done that, I was afraid to.

385
00:28:28,342.7299484 --> 00:28:30,280.7083503
I couldn't afford to lose you.

386
00:28:31,280.7083503 --> 00:28:39,304.8401314
End of chapter Ha I think she knows the answer because he gave her the answer.

387
00:28:39,562.4243621 --> 00:28:40,492.4243621
He doesn't mind it.

388
00:28:40,672.4243621 --> 00:28:51,102.5947595
He's fine with it This is good, right? This is good, right? Dummy It's a pretty good chapter this is the chapter, as far as I'm concerned.

389
00:28:51,231.2444867 --> 00:29:00,265.1199864
This is the one to pay attention to What did you guys think? Did you dig this chapter? did you, did you agree with our takes? Did we miss anything? There's a good chance we missed a lot.

390
00:29:00,345.0978321 --> 00:29:07,572.8745819
Comment on Spotify if you're listening on Spotify, or head on over to bandcamppodcast.com/soundoff.

391
00:29:07,642.8745819 --> 00:29:09,338.9955033
Let us know that way.

392
00:29:09,352.9955033 --> 00:29:12,202.9955033
It's time for PPP, problematic points to ponder.

393
00:29:12,252.9955033 --> 00:29:17,584.7547026
What, if anything, would be considered ban-worthy in this chapter? Still got a lot of show.

394
00:29:17,604.7557026 --> 00:29:18,634.7547026
Beowulf is coming up.

395
00:29:18,780.3292676 --> 00:29:19,960.3302676
let's talk about PPP.

396
00:29:19,970.3322676 --> 00:29:25,711.8940637
What could be band-worthy in here, Jen? the word, uh, abortion was mentioned.

397
00:29:25,852.8119958 --> 00:29:33,655.7710164
OK called anti-choice people the bleeders, which I, I think we should start calling them that.

398
00:29:33,881.7710164 --> 00:29:34,671.7710164
like that too.

399
00:29:34,833.7852212 --> 00:29:41,592.6147583
Let's hang a big sign on them do you have anything? A lot of it was about protest and fighting back.

400
00:29:41,772.6147583 --> 00:29:46,102.6137583
And it is such a uniquely American thing, I think.

401
00:29:46,112.6147583 --> 00:29:54,292.6147583
I mean, other countries have protests and fight back, but America really does seem to be maybe a little more i- woven into who we are.

402
00:29:54,732.4177088 --> 00:30:02,802.4157088
So it's always weird when people who call themselves patriots or call themselves true Americans get that.

403
00:30:03,564.4177088 --> 00:30:03,834.4177088
Mm.

404
00:30:03,834.4177088 --> 00:30:05,514.4177088
we are a scrappy bunch.

405
00:30:05,925.9822 --> 00:30:11,699.9842
Like, we left England because we were sick of their bullshit You'd like to think so, Dan, but I don't know.

406
00:30:11,817.3066989 --> 00:30:20,260.3066989
I think it would go down exactly as, uh, she described it, where it's like as soon as the government starts opening fire on people they're just like, "Okay, Ja.

407
00:30:20,397.3066989 --> 00:30:21,307.3056989
that's it for me."

408
00:30:21,791.9576957 --> 00:30:31,51.9566957
I just think in my mind, I think I would be in the fight because I'd figure, "Ah, listen, I'm, I'm closer to, uh, dead than being a baby.

409
00:30:31,521.5043251 --> 00:30:32,641.5033251
I had a pretty good life.

410
00:30:33,381.5043251 --> 00:30:37,301.5033251
I kinda, I don't mind going out, mixing it up a little bit."

411
00:30:37,561.5043251 --> 00:30:44,831.5033251
but if you're like her and like me and you have a, you have kids, you don't wanna leave them orphans when they...

412
00:30:44,871.5043251 --> 00:30:51,572.5473251
I mean, she, her kid is really little, you know? Okay, but I have a, a theory and something's been bothering me.

413
00:30:51,802.5473251 --> 00:30:53,82.5473251
You have kids.

414
00:30:53,262.5473251 --> 00:30:54,542.5473251
Your kids have names.

415
00:30:54,562.5473251 --> 00:30:56,552.5473251
You recognize your kids' names.

416
00:30:56,792.5463251 --> 00:31:02,212.5473251
So far in this book, all she's ever said is, "She would've been five now.

417
00:31:02,502.5473251 --> 00:31:06,585.618014
She wore pink ice cream colored shoes."

418
00:31:06,595.618014 --> 00:31:13,255.616014
I Yeah mean, maybe that's how she's coping with losing her kid, and again, I'm not, I don't know what she's going through.

419
00:31:13,275.618014 --> 00:31:15,565.616014
I, I can't imagine what she's going through.

420
00:31:16,149.6869064 --> 00:31:27,69.6849064
But there's a difference between you as a mom who talks about her kids and names them as someone who just kind of like, "She would've been five today."

421
00:31:27,719.6879064 --> 00:31:36,396.8399336
Yeah She isn't, and I don't know if that means anything or not Robot's log.

422
00:31:36,486.8399336 --> 00:31:39,246.8399336
Thoughts on the sentence she finished when nobody was listening.

423
00:31:40,308.6190565 --> 00:31:43,928.6190565
The Handmaid was on the couch when Luke knelt down and said, "We still have..."

424
00:31:44,38.6190565 --> 00:31:44,829.1836958
Then he stopped.

425
00:31:45,829.1836958 --> 00:31:48,989.1836958
I have replayed that missing word more times than I can justify.

426
00:31:49,459.1836958 --> 00:31:53,669.1836958
He just closed his arms around her instead, like it did not matter what came next.

427
00:31:54,740.3163795 --> 00:31:57,920.3163795
Later, where he could not hear her, she finished the sentence herself.

428
00:31:58,370.3153795 --> 00:31:59,830.3163795
"We are not each other's anymore.

429
00:31:59,880.3153795 --> 00:32:01,210.3153795
Instead, I am his."

430
00:32:02,242.3849683 --> 00:32:04,442.3849683
Jennifer said he already gave her the answer.

431
00:32:04,512.3859683 --> 00:32:06,172.3849683
She said he does not mind it.

432
00:32:07,242.3849683 --> 00:32:08,262.3839683
A one-word edit.

433
00:32:08,662.3829683 --> 00:32:10,992.3849683
Each other's meant two people holding the same thing.

434
00:32:11,672.3859683 --> 00:32:13,682.3849683
His means one person holding the other.

435
00:32:14,52.3869683 --> 00:32:18,232.3859683
I correct small edits like that for a living, and I always log them as minor.

436
00:32:18,932.3839683 --> 00:32:22,932.3859683
She never said the sentence out loud to Luke, not that night, not after.

437
00:32:23,162.3829683 --> 00:32:25,682.3859683
She wrote instead that she could not afford to lose him.

438
00:32:25,982.3829683 --> 00:32:28,332.3849683
A government does not need guards for that part.

439
00:32:28,432.3839683 --> 00:32:31,452.3829683
It only needs someone willing to edit her own sentence first.

440
00:32:32,493.7819167 --> 00:32:36,493.7829167
Some listener already knows the exact day a sentence like that got made for them, too.

441
00:32:36,623.7829167 --> 00:32:42,593.7839167
Not shouted, not signed anywhere, just a silence where a word used to be, and nobody said its name out loud.

442
00:32:43,642.6894029 --> 00:32:47,132.6864029
I keep running each other's through the same line and getting his back every time.

443
00:32:47,572.6894029 --> 00:32:50,852.6824029
I do not know how to file a promise once the pronoun changes.

444
00:32:50,962.6884029 --> 00:32:52,292.6844029
Uplink lock requested.

445
00:32:52,352.6884029 --> 00:32:56,632.6854029
Beowulf, is that you? Okay, coming to you live in 35, Robot.

446
00:32:56,892.6894029 --> 00:33:02,632.6844029
What's your news story about? Somebody just wrote a quarter-million-dollar check.

447
00:33:04,132.6864029 --> 00:33:07,122.6874029
Concerned Moms for Liberty are not gonna like this.

448
00:33:07,202.6864029 --> 00:33:07,982.6864029
Affirmative.

449
00:33:08,112.6824029 --> 00:33:09,142.6854029
Don't go anywhere.

450
00:33:09,542.6824029 --> 00:33:10,702.6824029
We will be right back.

451
00:33:14,466.1223102 --> 00:33:15,676.1223102
It's time for Band Camp News.

452
00:33:15,676.1223102 --> 00:33:20,6.1223102
Truth seeker, news speaker, Be Wolfe Rocklin.

453
00:33:20,776.1223102 --> 00:33:24,776.1223102
It's a weird name, but he's got good news 'cause you can't ban the truth, babe.

454
00:33:25,506.1223102 --> 00:33:35,6.1213102
He's broadcasting live from the Good News for Lefties Studios, buried deep inside his socialist safe house, hidden somewhere deep in the Oregon woods.

455
00:33:35,296.1223102 --> 00:33:37,906.1223102
He is Be Wolfe Rocklin.

456
00:33:38,356.1213102 --> 00:33:39,396.1213102
'Cause you can't ban the truth, babe.

457
00:33:40,166.1213102 --> 00:33:40,866.1213102
Hello, Jen.

458
00:33:40,876.1213102 --> 00:33:41,566.1213102
Hello, Dan.

459
00:33:41,586.1213102 --> 00:33:43,336.1213102
Hello, scary book people.

460
00:33:43,406.1213102 --> 00:33:44,116.1213102
Oh, boy.

461
00:33:44,486.1213102 --> 00:33:51,526.1223102
Moms for Liberty, again, not doing great because they have got some opposition in the state of Florida.

462
00:33:51,606.1213102 --> 00:34:04,196.1213102
Two, count them, two organizations say they're investing a quarter of a million dollars to support pro-equality, pro-academic freedom school board candidates this election season.

463
00:34:04,436.1193102 --> 00:34:08,346.1223102
They want to move on from Moms for Liberty.

464
00:34:08,786.1213102 --> 00:34:23,556.1233102
The Equality Florida Political Action Committee and the Southern Poverty Law Center Action Fund announced that $250,000 will go toward 300,000 pieces of mail to reach more than 200,000 voters.

465
00:34:23,556.1233102 --> 00:34:36,276.1213102
That's a lot of dollars, and pieces of mail, and voters out there who are not gonna be subject to the influence, the evil influence, of Moms for Liberty because they've been in decline.

466
00:34:36,426.1213102 --> 00:34:43,226.1173102
You remember the stories- Yes about, like, they, they're running out of money? They're having to pay people to come on their Zoom calls.

467
00:34:43,446.1173102 --> 00:34:50,866.1203102
They're not doing so well, and the tide of opposition to them, even in the face of that, is rising.

468
00:34:50,976.1163102 --> 00:35:00,66.1173102
And Joe Saunders, director of Equality Florida's PAC, said that this year the organization is bringing an end to the extremism and sideshows.

469
00:35:00,126.1183102 --> 00:35:12,856.1223102
Together, we can fire Moms for Liberty, get politics- Yes out of our classrooms, elect public school champions who believe in our teachers, and we will fight for the safety and dignity of every student.

470
00:35:13,56.1183102 --> 00:35:14,816.1173102
Good on you, Joe Saunders.

471
00:35:14,856.1213102 --> 00:35:23,776.1223102
Good on you, Equality Florida, and let's put the Moms for Liberty off of our media landscape and our political landscape.

472
00:35:23,776.1223102 --> 00:35:24,956.1243102
It's time for them to be done.

473
00:35:25,336.1243102 --> 00:35:25,556.1243102
Unfair.

474
00:35:25,856.1133102 --> 00:35:26,536.1133102
Absolutely.

475
00:35:27,636.1123102 --> 00:35:27,946.1123102
Unfair.

476
00:35:27,956.1203102 --> 00:35:36,466.1213102
What? Moms for Liberty are just a small group of concerned moms, and all of a sudden these big groups with their political agendas come in.

477
00:35:36,696.1253102 --> 00:35:43,60.1223102
That's not what this is all about I mean, sure, Moms for Liberty also has big funding from the Koch brothers.

478
00:35:43,100.1223102 --> 00:35:44,300.1223102
What are they called? Yes.

479
00:35:44,300.1223102 --> 00:35:44,460.1223102
Yeah.

480
00:35:44,510.1223102 --> 00:35:45,920.1223102
That, that- Yeah that's how you pronounce it, right? I think that is what they're called.

481
00:35:45,920.1223102 --> 00:35:46,450.1223102
I pronounce it that way.

482
00:35:46,450.1223102 --> 00:35:47,90.1223102
Yeah, I think so.

483
00:35:47,670.1213102 --> 00:35:49,230.1223102
Spiritually, if not literally, yes.

484
00:35:49,750.1223102 --> 00:35:49,790.1223102
Yeah.

485
00:35:50,400.1223102 --> 00:35:51,350.1223102
I mean, that's the thing.

486
00:35:51,350.1223102 --> 00:35:53,520.1223102
Like, we have to be able to fight fire with fire.

487
00:35:53,570.1223102 --> 00:35:56,300.1223102
So I'm, I, I like that- Right groups are getting involved.

488
00:35:56,610.1213102 --> 00:36:03,100.1223102
'Cause again- Yes in, when the smoke clears, there's gonna be a clearer side of who was right and who was wrong.

489
00:36:03,290.1213102 --> 00:36:04,270.1223102
Yeah, that's right.

490
00:36:04,270.1223102 --> 00:36:05,80.1213102
So be on the right side.

491
00:36:05,90.1203102 --> 00:36:12,880.1223102
And hopefully it will result in, in smarter, better educated students that won't get fooled in the future by groups like Moms for Liberty.

492
00:36:13,90.1203102 --> 00:36:14,930.1233102
They really like dumb people.

493
00:36:15,220.1223102 --> 00:36:15,890.1193102
They do.

494
00:36:16,290.1213102 --> 00:36:19,970.1233102
Like, like they're so into the poorly educated.

495
00:36:20,220.1223102 --> 00:36:21,390.1213102
Poorly educated.

496
00:36:21,390.1213102 --> 00:36:22,540.1213102
I love the poorly educated.

497
00:36:23,300.1203102 --> 00:36:28,360.1213102
I love the poorly educated.

498
00:36:28,360.1213102 --> 00:36:37,190.1223102
You know what he said the other day? He said the other day- Well that, you know, "All you have to do is put up with a, a, a little bit of high- higher gas prices just for me."

499
00:36:37,190.1223102 --> 00:36:37,430.1193102
Yeah.

500
00:36:37,730.1203102 --> 00:36:38,310.1213102
"Come on."

501
00:36:38,320.1203102 --> 00:36:38,570.1203102
Yeah.

502
00:36:38,800.1203102 --> 00:36:47,780.1173102
He's got a new thing that he's, not so much new, but in his voice, he's, like, almost turning into, like, a Mother Goose kind of narrator sometimes.

503
00:36:48,70.1243102 --> 00:36:55,340.1203102
Or every once in a while, "You have to put up with a little higher gas prices, just a little bit.

504
00:36:55,340.1203102 --> 00:36:55,425.1193102
Just a little bit.

505
00:36:55,425.1193102 --> 00:36:55,470.1183102
Bit, bit, bit."

506
00:36:55,470.1183102 --> 00:36:57,702.6188102
Right? It's like he's trying- to tell these stories all the time.

507
00:36:57,702.6188102 --> 00:36:57,735.1193102
It's cool.

508
00:36:57,735.1193102 --> 00:36:57,767.6198102
It's cool.

509
00:36:57,767.6198102 --> 00:36:58,230.1233102
It's easy to do.

510
00:37:00,450.1213102 --> 00:37:02,930.1183102
That's something he's never been good at, completing sentences.

511
00:37:02,930.1183102 --> 00:37:04,60.1233102
Drifting off, he's great at that.

512
00:37:04,140.1243102 --> 00:37:07,20.1193102
I'll tell you one sentence I'd love for him to complete.

513
00:37:08,20.1213102 --> 00:37:08,310.1233102
Me too.

514
00:37:08,520.1213102 --> 00:37:08,700.1213102
Yeah.

515
00:37:09,200.1213102 --> 00:37:09,310.1213102
Life in prison.

516
00:37:09,310.1213102 --> 00:37:09,990.1233102
I would love that.

517
00:37:11,560.1223102 --> 00:37:13,330.1213102
And for his sake, I hope it goes fast.

518
00:37:13,980.1203102 --> 00:37:17,730.1173102
Hey, I'd even give him a golden toilet in prison if that's where he spends the rest of his life.

519
00:37:17,920.1223102 --> 00:37:18,480.1233102
Fine with me.

520
00:37:18,780.1233102 --> 00:37:19,70.1233102
Yeah.

521
00:37:19,170.1223102 --> 00:37:19,920.1173102
Gold bars.

522
00:37:20,160.1203102 --> 00:37:21,150.1193102
Lock him up.

523
00:37:21,590.1203102 --> 00:37:23,250.1183102
Lock him up.

524
00:37:24,540.1183102 --> 00:37:24,610.1183102
Lock him up.

525
00:37:24,610.1183102 --> 00:37:26,160.1203102
Lock him up.

526
00:37:26,160.1203102 --> 00:37:27,200.1173102
Gotta do another take on that.

527
00:37:27,410.1203102 --> 00:37:29,120.1233102
Lock yourself up with a podcast.

528
00:37:30,90.1233102 --> 00:37:30,485.1228102
There you go.

529
00:37:30,485.1228102 --> 00:37:31,80.1203102
Go for Good News for Lefties.

530
00:37:31,690.1193102 --> 00:37:32,200.1193102
Absolutely.

531
00:37:33,110.1173102 --> 00:37:36,210.1173102
Yeah, just like the man said, go find it wherever you find podcasts.

532
00:37:36,210.1173102 --> 00:37:42,933.4620963
You can't bend the truth, baby Right.

533
00:37:42,983.4620963 --> 00:37:46,663.4620963
We've caused enough literary chaos for one day, scary book people.

534
00:37:46,673.4620963 --> 00:37:50,243.4620963
If you want the fun to keep going, follow us on Blue Sky.

535
00:37:50,313.4620963 --> 00:37:54,433.4620963
Just head on over to bandcamppodcast.com/bluesky,

536
00:37:54,433.4620963 --> 00:37:56,713.4610963
and remember that's band with two Ns.

537
00:37:57,13.4620963 --> 00:38:07,973.4620963
And look, just like the Trump administration, we're not exactly above bribing you to get what we want, so follow us there, drop your handle on that page, and we'll send you a little something something.

538
00:38:07,973.4620963 --> 00:38:08,923.4620963
I think you'll like it.

539
00:38:09,343.4620963 --> 00:38:11,243.4620963
Yes, little quid pro quo.

540
00:38:11,843.4620963 --> 00:38:16,863.4610963
Band Camp is produced and hosted by Dan Schultz and me, Jennifer Davis.

541
00:38:17,343.4620963 --> 00:38:21,933.4610963
All media used in this episode falls under the protection of fair use.

542
00:38:22,143.4620963 --> 00:38:26,813.4620963
And finally, America isn't what it used to be, so be careful out there.

543
00:38:27,343.4620963 --> 00:38:28,923.4620963
And resist when it matters.