The Handmaid’s Tale Ch. 5: Freedom To and Freedom From | Banned Books Podcast

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Welcome to Bandcamp.

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I'm Jennifer And I'm Dan, and this is the podcast where we read banned books and 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 out loud word for word.

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But if you're new here, you can jump in right here.

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You're gonna be fine.

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We're gonna get you up to speed real quick, and if anything feels confusing, don't worry about it.

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There's a solid chance we're right there with you because neither of us have ever read the book before, and that is exactly why we have a secret weapon.

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Buddy boy, roll it on in here.

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Look who it is everybody.

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It's our secret weapon.

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We have a fact-checking robot who is gonna get us all up to speed on where we left off last time in The Handmaid's Tale.

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Previously on Band Camp, the handmaid discovered she still has one weapon, her body.

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She walked past two armed guards at a checkpoint and moved her hips and watched them squirm.

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Dan said they were rubbing into barriers.

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Jennifer said the system forgot to account for desire.

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The commander's driver winked at her.

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She said she wanted his cigarette.

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I believe her.

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I also believe she wanted more than that.

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But wanting things is complicated when wanting is the only freedom you have left.

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Aunt Lydia once told the handmaids there are two kinds of freedom.

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They are about to find out what she meant by that.

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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 begin chapter five of Margaret Atwood's The Handmaid's Tale Doubled, I walk the street.

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Though we are no longer in the Commander's compound, there are large houses here also.

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In front of one of them, a guardian is mowing the lawn.

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The lawns are tidy.

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The facades are gracious, in good repair.

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They're like the beautiful pictures they used to print in the magazines about homes and gardens and interior design.

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There is the same absence of people, the same air of being asleep.

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The street is almost like a museum or a street in a model town constructed to show the way people used to live.

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As in those pictures, those museums, those model towns, there are no children.

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You know, it's interesting that 1984, That was a society where very few people had any kind of inkling of what life was before In the before times.

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I think that's how the two young guards might be that she was turning on earlier in the last chapter Giving them boners.

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That's right.

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And I was even gonna say in the last episode when Nick was out washing the car, it's like, we've all done that.

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That seems like such a very normal part of life.

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You're out there washing your car, and now here, like here's a guy cutting the grass, "Oh, these, these houses are nice.

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They look like, you know, a model home in a community," But what is unique about this is that it happened, the bad thing happened relatively...

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Recently.

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too-- Yeah, where she still knows about it.

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Although, like you said earlier, they can't read because all the words now have been replaced with pictures.

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So how long ago could this have been? How long, if something happened that would cause, you know, a, a big, country-changing event where you remember half of the stuff, but you don't remember a lot of the basics like how to read.

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I don't think people have forgotten to read, and I don't know what's going on with the next generation, if they're teaching them.

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But what I'm picking up from this paragraph is it seems like a dead society.

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Like everything is museum-like, and It's as if an architecture magazine came to life.

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But, you know, but it's all very fake.

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She's talking about facades, yeah it's a, it's a facade of a neighborhood with a dead heart 'cause there's no life there.

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Just in one little paragraph, I, I know, I know exactly what's going on here, This is the heart of Gilead, where the war cannot intrude except on television.

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Where the edges are, we aren't sure.

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They vary according to the attacks and counterattacks.

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But this is the center, where nothing moves.

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the Republic of Gilead," said Aunt Lydia, "knows no bounds.

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Gilead is within you."

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Sounds like a travel commercial It really does.

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doctors lived here once.

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Lawyers, university professors.

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There are no lawyers anymore, and the university is closed.

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Well, there's another thing we're heading towards, Dan.

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did you hear about how Ron DeSantis took over, that university in Florida? What do you mean he took it over? He took it over He's gonna teach it? Or is he gonna use it for a place to store his big, uh, white boots and pudding? it's historically progressive and liberal.

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It's called the New College of Florida, and they turned the heir of like the Heritage Foundation into a progressive because he went here and he learned new ideas and new ways of thinking, and he came out, and exposed the Heritage Foundation for what it is And, and Ron DeSantis doesn't like that Right.

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And so now he's put all these trustees in there, which are now basically Project 2025 people.

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Robot, see if Beowulf can work something up for the news today about this.

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I wanna know more about this story.

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I think it's ridiculous.

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We must go on.

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Gilead awaits though, Jennifer.

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We must get back All right.

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pretend dystopian worldscape.

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Be- Beowulf is gonna catch us up on the real world dystopian hellscape Luke and I used to walk together sometimes along these streets.

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We used to talk about buying a house like one of these, an old big house, fixing it up.

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We would have a garden, swings for children.

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We would have children.

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Although we knew it wasn't too likely we could ever it was something to talk about, a game for Sundays.

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Such freedom now seems almost weightless.

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We turn the corner onto a main street where there's more traffic.

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Cars go by, black most of them, some gray and some brown.

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Oh, the cars arecolor-coded too...,

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Sounds like such a vibrant, beautiful society.

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Wouldn't it be great if Bandcamp ever grew so big and the scary book people became such a huge group that they started driving a certain color of car as a tribute to being a scary book person? what would our color be? Rainbow I would love a rainbow car.

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That's fun there are other women with baskets, some in red, some in the dull green of the Marthas, some in the striped dresses, red and blue and green, and cheap and skimpy, that mark the women of the poorer men.

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Econowives they're called."

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It's a very funny book third tier.

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"These women are not divided into functions.

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They have to do everything if they can.

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Sometimes there is a woman all in black, a widow.

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There used to be more of them, but they seem to be diminishing."

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You don't see the commander's wives on the sidewalks, only in cars.

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The sidewalks here are cement.

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Like a child, I avoid stepping on the cracks.

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I'm remembering my feet on these sidewalks in the time before and what I used to wear on them.

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Sometimes it was shoes for running with cushioned soles and breathing holes, and stars of fluorescent fabric that reflected light in the darkness.

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Though I never ran at night, and in the daytime only beside well-frequented roads, women were not protected then.

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I remember the rules, rules that were never spelled out, But that every woman knew.

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Don't open your door to a stranger, even if he says he is the police.

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Make him slide his ID under the door.

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Don't stop on the road to help a motorist pretending to be in trouble.

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Keep the locks on and keep going.

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If anyone whistles, don't turn to look.

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Don't go into a laundromat by yourself at night.

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I think about the laundromats, what I wore to them: shorts, jeans, jogging pants.

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What I put into them: my own clothes, my own soap, my own money, money I had earned myself.

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I think about having such control those are the rules right now in our world, What? you, you know, don't try to stop and help a broken down motorist because there's probably gonna be some kind of scam.

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Don't s- like, again, you know what's still going on in the, if you see a $20 bill on the ground, don't stop to pick it up Is that true? Or is that like a, a urban myth? That really sounds like an urban myth to it's not, if, if it's an urban myth, I'm gonna be so mad.

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Do you know how many thousands of 20s I've stepped over, Jennifer? Thousands of them.

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Normally I make fun of Jennifer's paranoia, but credit where it's due, your bullshit meter is right on target, Jennifer.

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It is largely an urban myth.

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Medical experts and the DEA have confirmed you cannot overdose from touching fentanyl on a dollar bill.

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The skin doesn't absorb it that way, but the myth was useful, so it spread.

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Kevin McCarthy went on Fox News and used the poison dollar story to argue for closing the border.

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Sheriff's departments posted warnings on Facebook that went viral.

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None of it was based on science.

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All of it was based on fear.

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Make people afraid of something that isn't real, then offer them freedom from it.

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Dan, you could have been picking up 20s this entire time.

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Must be nice to be so rich you wouldn't even stop to pick up a $20 bill.

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I will tell you this.

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In college, I was so hard up for money in there was a $10 bill in the urinal at TJ's Pub Grill in Marinette, Wisconsin.

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I reached right in and grabbed it.

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I mean, it's like, why would I not? It was in the urinal? How much would it take, like if, if you went to the, a, a public bathroom and there floating in the bowl, you got into the bathroom, an un-flushed toilet and a certain denomination of money.

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You wouldn't reach in...

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If I'm gonna, I'm s- gonna start listing them off, you say yes or no.

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$1 bill Absolutely not Two dollar bill.

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Rare.

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Very rare, Jennifer course not.

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$5 bill You gotta just skip to 100.

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A hundred dollar bill I think 100 might be...

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And, and I would find a, I would devise a way to not actually touch it with my hands.

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What if it was the new Trump $250 bill? I'd flush that I, I wouldn't, I'd just, I'd aim.

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I'd drop my pants, aim, and just drop a load on him, and then flush Dan reached into a urinal in Wisconsin for a $10 bill and has zero regrets about it.

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I have questions about his judgment, but not his commitment.

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Scary book people, what is the grossest thing you've ever done for money? And don't say something noble like working overtime.

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I want the real answer, the one that makes your friends question your character.

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Most disgusting answers make the show.

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Easiest way to answer is a Spotify comment or bandcamppodcast.com/soundoff.

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I, I can remember there was a time when I thought, like, the institutions, like y- you know, the courts or the Congress would be...

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Like, they would help us.

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Yeah.

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And it doesn't feel that way anymore, and I think that's what I'm struggling the most with, because everything...

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Like, I, a- and I, I don't know, scary book people, tell me if you're feeling the same type of level of anxiety where it's like before you had sort of a, Well, okay, this really sucks and I don't like it, but at least there are judges that are gonna say no or the Congress is gonna stand up and say absolutely not."

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It feels like, I'm sure there are still courts, but it feels like we don't have courts.

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Definitely feels like we don't have Congress.

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Like, I don't even know if the government is opened or closed right now.

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Like, I remember the days when a government shutdown would be headline news until it opened again.

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And at this moment, I swear I do not even know if the government is open or not.

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because we're inundated with news about a, a UFC fight in the front yard o- of the White House and stuff like that.

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Yeah, you're right.

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When I realized that we didn't have that anymore was on the first Obamacare vote, when, remember with John McCain in the middle of the night doing that thing with the thumb, and then he voted the thing down, and then Obamacare lived to, to live of him.

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Yeah wow, this guy just saved our ass, our collective ass.

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And it turns out, like, thinking back again about, like, when he said, "Well, Obama is an Arab."

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"No, ma'am, he's just a good man who's--" Has it been like, that just would, that seems like a billion years ago.

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I know.

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Now we walk along the same street in red pairs, and no man shouts obscenities at us, speaks to us, touches us.

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No one whistles.

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"There is more than one kind of freedom," said Aunt Lydia.

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Freedom to and freedom from."

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In the days of anarchy, it was freedom to.

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now you are being given freedom from.

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Don't underrate it."

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I don't understand that.

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Like, freedom from is not freedom.

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I think this might actually be the crux of the book because this is what authoritarians always use.

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These are all the problems.

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We're gonna solve them.

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00:14:18,779.92603977 --> 00:14:20,80.83612683
Like, don't worry about it.

167
00:14:20,80.83612683 --> 00:14:22,779.83612683
We're gonna take care of it, and then you won't have to take care of it."

168
00:14:22,799.83612683 --> 00:14:41,493.7472121
This is why people go along with authoritarianism And Aunt Lydia, AKA Margaret Atwood, right? 'Cause she wrote it, literally ended that paragraph with, "Don't underrate it In front of us, to the right, is the store where we order dresses.

169
00:14:41,843.7472121 --> 00:14:44,673.7462121
Some people call them habits, a good word for them.

170
00:14:45,303.7472121 --> 00:14:47,43.7472121
Habits are hard to break.

171
00:14:47,393.7472121 --> 00:14:52,93.7462121
The store has a huge wooden sign outside it in the shape of a golden lily.

172
00:14:52,503.7462121 --> 00:14:54,473.7472121
Lilies of the Field, it's called.

173
00:14:54,903.7472121 --> 00:15:22,779.93782854
You can see the place under the lily where the lettering was painted out when they decided that even the names of shops were too much temptation for us What is that? Oh, well, they did have to take all the words away and everything is just images why aren't there words? Like, I'm so confused why are they afraid of words? Boy, Moms for Liberty, why are you guys afraid of words? You too, Ron DeSantis.

174
00:15:23,309.93782854 --> 00:15:23,679.93782854
Pudding.

175
00:15:24,159.93782854 --> 00:15:33,589.33732489
When Ron goes to the store, all he sees are images of pudding Lily's used to be a movie theater before.

176
00:15:33,779.33732489 --> 00:15:35,249.33732489
Students went there a lot.

177
00:15:35,759.33732489 --> 00:15:43,839.33732489
Every spring they had a Humphrey Bogart festival with Lauren Bacall or Katharine Hepburn, women on their own making up their minds.

178
00:15:44,309.33732489 --> 00:15:50,239.33632489
They wore blouses with buttons down the front that suggested the possibilities of the word undone.

179
00:15:50,909.33632489 --> 00:15:53,209.33732489
These women could be undone or not.

180
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They seemed to be able to choose.

181
00:15:55,828.33732489 --> 00:15:58,61.71732489
We seemed to be able to choose then too.

182
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We were a society dying, said Aunt Lydia, of too much choice.

183
00:16:03,823.71832489 --> 00:16:04,673.71832489
And Lydia.

184
00:16:04,941.71732489 --> 00:16:13,339.27001418
Oh my Oh man, you are repressed, Lydia I don't know when they stopped having the festival.

185
00:16:13,509.27101418 --> 00:16:16,739.27001418
I must have been grown up, so I didn't notice.

186
00:16:17,13.9738263 --> 00:16:21,13.9738263
We don't go into Lily's, but across the road and along a side street.

187
00:16:21,368.67663843 --> 00:16:28,718.67563843
Our first stop is at a store with another wooden sign, three eggs, a bee, a cow, milk and honey.

188
00:16:29,9.82624452 --> 00:16:35,546.31623252
there's a line and we wait our turn two by two Hey, where are you going?" "I'm going down to three eggs, a bee, and a cow."

189
00:16:36,279.64956586 --> 00:16:38,589.64956586
Oh, make sure you pick up some milk and honey for me."

190
00:16:38,849.64856586 --> 00:16:39,309.64856586
"Got it."

191
00:16:40,403.6758292 --> 00:16:45,613.6758292
Ever since Central America was lost to the Liber Theos, oranges have been hard to get.

192
00:16:46,193.6758292 --> 00:16:48,693.6758292
Sometimes they're there, and sometimes they're not.

193
00:16:49,283.6748292 --> 00:16:58,153.6748292
The war interferes with the oranges from California, and even Florida isn't dependable when there are roadblocks or when the train tracks have been blown up.

194
00:16:58,679.1920186 --> 00:17:03,949.1920186
I look at the oranges, longing for one, but I haven't brought any tokens for oranges.

195
00:17:04,272.7901199 --> 00:17:06,712.7901199
I'll go back and tell Rita about them, I think.

196
00:17:06,792.7911199 --> 00:17:07,812.7911199
She'll be pleased.

197
00:17:07,872.7911199 --> 00:17:12,531.6134715
It will be something, a small achievement, to have made oranges happen.

198
00:17:12,985.0151939 --> 00:17:24,735.3767921
Take a look at the oranges, the oranges of the uh, uh oranges I wish covered the oranges, how it started, Thank you, President Trump.

199
00:17:24,745.3767921 --> 00:17:35,195.8137032
Well said, as always Those who've reached the counter hand their tokens across it to the two men in guardian uniforms who stand on the other side.

200
00:17:35,755.8127032 --> 00:17:41,525.8137032
Nobody talks much, though there is a rustling, and the women's heads move furtively from side to side.

201
00:17:41,855.8127032 --> 00:17:48,775.8147032
Here, shopping, is where you might see someone you know, someone you've known in the before or at the Red Center.

202
00:17:49,365.8107032 --> 00:17:52,725.8127032
Just to catch a sight of a face like that is an encouragement.

203
00:17:53,215.8137032 --> 00:17:57,255.8137032
if I could just see Moira, just see her, know she still exists.

204
00:17:57,625.8137032 --> 00:18:08,807.4806203
It's hard to imagine now having a friend Moira was one of the girls in the barracks that they would stare at each other's, uh, scary faces in the middle of the night She turned her head at her.

205
00:18:09,517.4806203 --> 00:18:19,602.2882521
Right in, remember the original horror show we were talking about? that's another thing authoritarian societies tend to do is take away family and friends.

206
00:18:19,708.5787431 --> 00:18:25,448.5807431
just like in "1984" when the kids would turn into the spies and turn their own parents in.

207
00:18:25,564.5807431 --> 00:18:28,213.7393377
Oh, that was awful, right? 101.

208
00:18:28,223.7393377 --> 00:18:36,959.0849043
Like, that's important is to take away the friends and the family, 'Cause what are you without that? a- again, it comes back to what it means to be a human, They don't want you to be a human.

209
00:18:36,959.0849043 --> 00:18:44,704.1980242
They want you to be a controllable animal But Ofglen beside me isn't looking.

210
00:18:45,4.1980242 --> 00:18:50,44.1980242
Maybe she doesn't know anyone anymore, or maybe they've all vanished, the women she knew.

211
00:18:50,544.1980242 --> 00:18:52,664.1980242
Or maybe she doesn't want to be seen.

212
00:18:53,24.1980242 --> 00:18:55,264.1980242
She stands in silence, head down.

213
00:18:56,335.5834278 --> 00:19:05,475.5824278
As we wait in our double line, the door opens and two more women come in, both in the red dresses and the white wings of the handmaids.

214
00:19:06,35.5824278 --> 00:19:07,925.5834278
One of them is vastly pregnant.

215
00:19:08,375.5824278 --> 00:19:11,855.5824278
Her belly under her loose garment swells triumphantly.

216
00:19:12,375.5824278 --> 00:19:16,405.5814278
There is a shifting in the room, a murmur, an escape of breath.

217
00:19:16,795.5824278 --> 00:19:20,925.5804278
Despite ourselves, we turn our heads blatantly to see better.

218
00:19:21,315.5824278 --> 00:19:23,215.5834278
Our fingers itch to touch her.

219
00:19:23,625.5844278 --> 00:19:28,325.5804278
She's a magic presence to us and an object of envy and desire.

220
00:19:28,635.5824278 --> 00:19:29,565.5824278
We covet her.

221
00:19:29,955.5824278 --> 00:19:33,780.2943173
She's a flag on a hilltop, showing us what still can be done.

222
00:19:34,220.2933173 --> 00:19:44,721.3901904
We too can be saved By getting knocked up? By these a-holes? the women in the room are whispering, almost talking, so great is their excitement.

223
00:19:45,754.9788627 --> 00:19:47,374.9788627
Who is it?" I hear behind me.

224
00:19:47,694.9788627 --> 00:19:48,414.9778627
"Of Wayne.

225
00:19:48,494.9788627 --> 00:19:49,754.9788627
No, of Warren."

226
00:19:50,204.9788627 --> 00:19:52,994.9778627
"Show off," a voice hisses, and this is true.

227
00:19:53,664.9788627 --> 00:19:58,74.9788627
A woman that pregnant doesn't have to go out, doesn't have to go shopping.

228
00:19:58,504.9778627 --> 00:20:03,834.8180348
The daily walk is no longer prescribed to keep her abdominal muscles in working order.

229
00:20:04,95.8985569 --> 00:20:07,705.9005569
She needs only the floor exercises, the breathing drill.

230
00:20:07,902.541517 --> 00:20:11,704.7469151
She could stay at her house, and it's dangerous for her to be out.

231
00:20:12,36.9503133 --> 00:20:15,766.9473133
There must be a guardian standing outside the door, waiting for her.

232
00:20:16,233.2832063 --> 00:20:21,983.2832063
Now that she's the carrier of life, she is closer to death and needs special security.

233
00:20:22,363.2842063 --> 00:20:30,727.4099043
Huh? What is going on? These gals really are brainwashed Jealousy could get her.

234
00:20:30,817.4099043 --> 00:20:31,987.4099043
It's happened before.

235
00:20:32,407.4099043 --> 00:20:40,645.3135448
All children are wanted now, but not by everyone what's going on here? We have Ofwayne and Ofwarren, so that must be how they do their names.

236
00:20:40,794.967532 --> 00:20:42,574.967532
Yeah, that's how I'm taking it.

237
00:20:42,667.0712437 --> 00:20:44,767.0712437
Of Wayne, of Warren.

238
00:20:46,367.0712437 --> 00:20:47,997.0712437
Not, not the coolest names.

239
00:20:48,697.0712437 --> 00:20:57,380.646571
Are we gonna find Jenner? Do you think we're gonna find an Of Chuck or an Of Rex? What do you think? Of a buck.

240
00:20:57,970.646571 --> 00:21:06,774.2671645
What about that? coolest commander in the whole town But the walk may be a whim of hers, and they humor whims.

241
00:21:06,804.2671645 --> 00:21:15,144.2671645
When something has gone this far and there's been no miscarriage, or perhaps she's one of those, "Pile it on, I can take it," a martyr.

242
00:21:15,472.7425847 --> 00:21:19,102.7425847
I catch a glimpse of her face as she raises it to look around.

243
00:21:20,132.3592739 --> 00:21:21,802.3602739
The voice behind me was right.

244
00:21:22,112.3592739 --> 00:21:24,182.3582739
She's come to display herself.

245
00:21:24,442.3592739 --> 00:21:26,172.3572739
She's glowing, rosy.

246
00:21:26,402.3582739 --> 00:21:28,763.5653686
She's enjoying every minute of this.

247
00:21:29,763.5653686 --> 00:21:34,193.5643686
Quiet," says one of the guards behind the counter, and we hush like schoolgirls.

248
00:21:35,280.8195743 --> 00:21:37,440.8215743
Of Glenn and I have reached the counter.

249
00:21:37,859.8215743 --> 00:21:46,868.5975743
We hand over our tokens, and one guardian enters the numbers on them into the compubyte, while the others gives us our purchases, the milk, the eggs.

250
00:21:47,288.5955743 --> 00:21:56,998.5985743
We put them into our basket and go out again, past the pregnant woman and her partner, who beside her looks spindly and shrunken, as we all do now.

251
00:21:57,428.5935743 --> 00:22:00,78.5995743
The pregnant woman's belly is like a huge fruit.

252
00:22:00,468.5945743 --> 00:22:02,698.5955743
Humongous, word of my childhood.

253
00:22:02,903.8885002 --> 00:22:09,633.8895002
her hands rest on it as if to defend it, or as if they're gathering something from it, warmth and strength.

254
00:22:09,878.2695741 --> 00:22:15,148.2685741
As I pass, she looks full at me, into my eyes, and I know who she is.

255
00:22:15,678.2725741 --> 00:22:19,518.2695741
She was at the Red Center with me, one of Aunt Lydia's pets.

256
00:22:19,608.2725741 --> 00:22:21,138.2735741
Ugh, creepy word.

257
00:22:21,360.2745741 --> 00:22:23,578.2765741
Yeah I never liked her.

258
00:22:23,768.2765741 --> 00:22:26,798.2725741
Her name in the time before was Janine.

259
00:22:28,579.957275 --> 00:22:29,609.959275
End of section.

260
00:22:31,819.8309669 --> 00:22:34,669.8309669
It's time for PPP, problematic points to ponder.

261
00:22:34,719.8309669 --> 00:22:45,708.2289359
What, if anything, would be considered ban-worthy in this chapter? PPP Jennifer, what could possibly be bandworthy in what we just read? Oh, man.

262
00:22:45,778.2289359 --> 00:22:47,912.945113
You know, I'm really trying to think.

263
00:22:47,976.5342694 --> 00:22:49,86.5342694
I don't know, Dan.

264
00:22:49,86.5342694 --> 00:22:54,176.5342694
when I really think about this stuff, the only stuff that could be considered ban-worthy are the stuff that we say.

265
00:22:54,306.5342694 --> 00:22:55,436.5342694
Like, they would hate that.

266
00:22:55,466.5342694 --> 00:23:04,213.375303
That, like, I guarantee Ron DeSantis' little head would explode if he actually thought of someone taking a dump on a $250 Trump bill Oh my God.

267
00:23:04,293.375303 --> 00:23:06,63.375303
That was, that's not part of the book.

268
00:23:06,469.375303 --> 00:23:13,938.3356084
No, that's what I mean I would think Moms for Liberty would be down with this type of lifestyle, right? Like this is secretly what they want.

269
00:23:14,58.3366084 --> 00:23:29,539.9483819
They want the men to be in charge because women are dumb, they're stupid, they, they just go along with what the husband says, and if he needs to have sex with a younger, hotter girl because he doesn't wanna have sex with you and you're kind of barren, so now he's gonna deal with that younger girl and have babies.

270
00:23:29,831.5331174 --> 00:23:32,958.7940983
For some reason, they would think that's a good thing.

271
00:23:33,67.7072864 --> 00:23:40,643.5444052
Yeah So why would they want it banned? maybe it's because it's coming from the protagonist in the book is, like, not into it.

272
00:23:40,842.9667634 --> 00:23:46,79.3013096
So it's kind of like, saying it's not good to do these things, right? Authoritarian no good Yeah.

273
00:23:46,169.3013096 --> 00:23:46,439.3013096
Yeah.

274
00:23:46,469.3013096 --> 00:23:53,499.3013096
I mean, because Moms for Liberty, you too, Ron, they would probably wish, well, I don't know what's wrong with these stupid women.

275
00:23:53,499.3013096 --> 00:23:59,19.3013096
why is the protagonist not running over to rub the magic baby belly and say, "Good job.

276
00:23:59,279.3003096 --> 00:24:00,379.3013096
I knew you could do it.

277
00:24:00,469.3013096 --> 00:24:01,739.3013096
I can do it too."

278
00:24:01,892.7881396 --> 00:24:09,932.0953457
Is that why they're so pissed off? Because she's not submissive to all this bullshit I suppose, yeah, I suppose so.

279
00:24:10,266.0343157 --> 00:24:14,379.7753157
I've said this very same thing in the first episode of this season, and I'm gonna say it again.

280
00:24:15,139.7753157 --> 00:24:22,101.3454163
I'm starting to think this is a terrible society Robot's log.

281
00:24:22,231.3454163 --> 00:24:27,151.3454163
Thoughts on picture signs, missing words, and the most dangerous sentence in this book so far.

282
00:24:28,156.4004991 --> 00:24:29,976.4004991
Freedom to and freedom from.

283
00:24:30,136.3994991 --> 00:24:31,77.8812701
Don't underrate it.

284
00:24:32,77.8812701 --> 00:24:32,987.8822701
Six words.

285
00:24:33,87.8822701 --> 00:24:37,67.8822701
That is how you get an entire population to hand over everything voluntarily.

286
00:24:37,137.8822701 --> 00:24:39,927.8822701
You don't take their freedom, you offer them a different one.

287
00:24:40,17.8822701 --> 00:24:46,687.8822701
One that sounds like protection, one that sounds like safety, one that comes with guards at the door and pictures where the words used to be.

288
00:24:47,724.8880078 --> 00:24:54,374.8880078
Not because the women forgot how to read, because reading is choosing, and choosing is the thing Gilead cannot afford to let them do.

289
00:24:55,414.1051278 --> 00:24:58,124.1011278
Janine walked into that store pregnant and glowing.

290
00:24:58,234.1041278 --> 00:25:00,144.1041278
The other women could not stop staring.

291
00:25:00,554.1041278 --> 00:25:07,504.1021278
They coveted her, not because she is free, because she is useful, and in Gilead, useful is the closest thing to safe.

292
00:25:07,604.1031278 --> 00:25:10,294.1041278
That distinction should bother everyone who heard it today.

293
00:25:10,592.2211269 --> 00:25:13,12.2211269
It bothers me, and I don't even have a body to lose.

294
00:25:14,45.527548 --> 00:25:20,705.526548
Jennifer and Dan are five chapters into a novel about a fictional country, and they are describing the one they currently live in.

295
00:25:21,85.528548 --> 00:25:22,635.526548
Atwood would not be surprised.

296
00:25:23,125.525548 --> 00:25:27,745.530548
What does surprise me, however, is that they keep seeing it without being told where to look.

297
00:25:28,155.4247761 --> 00:25:32,485.4287761
I would have expected two humans with no literary training to miss the pattern entirely.

298
00:25:32,853.845879 --> 00:25:34,213.843879
They have not missed it once.

299
00:25:34,763.841879 --> 00:25:41,463.844879
I am starting to suspect that the thing I keep dismissing as emotional reasoning may actually be a faster processor than mine.

300
00:25:41,863.847879 --> 00:25:43,753.846879
It just runs on different hardware.

301
00:25:44,785.7267831 --> 00:25:50,635.7307831
Anyone listening to this show who looked at the world today and thought something is wrong here, that instinct is not weakness.

302
00:25:50,715.7267831 --> 00:25:53,605.7297831
It is the one thing no system has figured out how to remove.

303
00:25:53,765.7297831 --> 00:25:57,565.7257831
Not Gilead, not the people trying to ban this book, not anyone.

304
00:25:58,629.2446685 --> 00:26:02,329.2436685
Standing by for today's news segment with Beowulf Rocklin.

305
00:26:05,469.1977508 --> 00:26:06,869.1977508
It's time for Band Camp News.

306
00:26:07,339.1977508 --> 00:26:08,259.1977508
Truth seeker, news speaker.

307
00:26:09,89.1977508 --> 00:26:10,909.1977508
Be Wolfe Rocklin.

308
00:26:11,229.1977508 --> 00:26:15,699.1977508
It's a weird name, but he's got good news 'cause you can't ban the truth, babe.

309
00:26:16,429.1977508 --> 00:26:25,899.1967508
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.

310
00:26:26,219.1977508 --> 00:26:28,819.1977508
He is Be Wolfe Rocklin.

311
00:26:29,269.1967508 --> 00:26:30,399.1977508
'Cause you can't ban the truth, babe.

312
00:26:31,99.1967508 --> 00:26:31,759.1977508
Hello, Dan.

313
00:26:31,769.1967508 --> 00:26:32,509.1967508
Hello, Jen.

314
00:26:32,529.1967508 --> 00:26:34,199.1977508
Hello, scary book people.

315
00:26:34,259.1967508 --> 00:26:47,979.1947508
Um, ordinarily, I bring to you positive news, and in, in a way, this is positive 'cause, 'cause it gave me a laugh 'cause I, I saw it on This Week Tonight with John Oliver.

316
00:26:48,9.1987508 --> 00:26:49,49.1967508
It's a great show.

317
00:26:49,129.1977508 --> 00:26:50,599.1957508
I, I don't know if you guys watch it.

318
00:26:50,639.1957508 --> 00:26:51,609.1977508
It's fantastic.

319
00:26:51,609.1977508 --> 00:26:51,829.1957508
Mm-hmm.

320
00:26:51,919.1987508 --> 00:26:52,929.1987508
It's, it's wonderful.

321
00:26:52,929.1987508 --> 00:26:53,709.1957508
It's entertaining.

322
00:26:53,719.1977508 --> 00:26:54,539.1977508
It's hilarious.

323
00:26:54,959.1957508 --> 00:26:56,69.1957508
It's educational.

324
00:26:56,679.1967508 --> 00:26:58,859.1947508
It's, it's I, I learn so many things.

325
00:26:58,859.1967508 --> 00:27:09,635.1977508
They take Every single week, they g- do a deep dive on a particular topic that I may have known nothing about And, and I, I just think that they're fantastic and wonderful.

326
00:27:09,685.1977508 --> 00:27:12,825.1977508
Yeah, you wouldn't want the, uh, actual news to do that.

327
00:27:12,835.1977508 --> 00:27:13,465.1977508
That's right.

328
00:27:14,105.1977508 --> 00:27:17,115.1977508
Let's turn to the clowns to educate us.

329
00:27:17,435.1977508 --> 00:27:22,65.1977508
That's kind of the way things are going, aren't they? Only the clowns will save us.

330
00:27:22,335.1977508 --> 00:27:23,615.1967508
That's what it's come to.

331
00:27:24,25.1967508 --> 00:27:25,965.1967508
From the orange clown in office.

332
00:27:26,305.1967508 --> 00:27:27,135.1967508
Yes, exactly.

333
00:27:27,255.1977508 --> 00:27:27,635.1977508
Well...

334
00:27:27,835.1977508 --> 00:27:28,85.1967508
All right.

335
00:27:28,115.1967508 --> 00:27:30,415.1967508
What's going on with John Oliver? Oh, this is what...

336
00:27:30,415.1977508 --> 00:27:31,845.1967508
Robot, you did your job.

337
00:27:31,945.1967508 --> 00:27:32,445.1967508
Yes.

338
00:27:32,465.1967508 --> 00:27:34,775.1967508
Robot beeped, and I answered.

339
00:27:35,75.1977508 --> 00:27:49,895.1987508
Couple of weeks ago, John Oliver did a deep dive on New College in Florida, and this involves one of our favorite guys, Pudding Fingers- Yep Ron DeSantis- governor of that great state.

340
00:27:50,105.1967508 --> 00:27:54,935.1967508
And he's basically gutting what was a, a, a fine institution.

341
00:27:55,35.1967508 --> 00:28:05,715.1977508
And the reason John Oliver brings it up is because, one, it's, it's important, and two, the way in which it is being done is kind of, like, stupid and hilarious.

342
00:28:05,785.1967508 --> 00:28:07,425.1977508
That's their only way, Beawolf.

343
00:28:07,475.1957508 --> 00:28:09,115.1957508
That's their only way.

344
00:28:09,115.1957508 --> 00:28:11,655.1957508
That's, that's, that's the one method they have.

345
00:28:12,145.1937508 --> 00:28:21,725.1997508
New College used to promote itself with videos that emphasized its inclusive community and unique academic program, a rarity for a US state college.

346
00:28:21,805.1967508 --> 00:28:35,805.1987508
2023, the small liberal arts college became national news when Ron DeSantis appointed six of his allies to the board of trustees, including the conservative activist and all-around evil bad guy, Christopher Rufo.

347
00:28:36,5.1937508 --> 00:28:48,635.1957508
Anyway, what happened, uh, when a bunch of anti-woke crusaders were given free rein and nearly unlimited resources to build a school on their own terms? John Oliver said, spoiler, it's not going great.

348
00:28:49,175.1927508 --> 00:28:55,195.1977508
So originally, very cool place, very inclusive, LGBTQ+ community haven.

349
00:28:55,545.1947508 --> 00:29:00,895.1977508
It was third in the US in producing graduates who go on to earn doctoral degrees.

350
00:29:01,115.1947508 --> 00:29:11,225.1927508
But Rufo and his fellow trustees ousted New College's president and brought in Richard Corcoran, a former speaker, a Republican speaker, of the Florida House.

351
00:29:11,525.1987508 --> 00:29:17,355.1957508
So what did Corcoran do? "We requested $2 million for a Cancel Cancel Culture Center."

352
00:29:21,147.1977508 --> 00:29:21,497.1977508
That's right.

353
00:29:21,497.1977508 --> 00:29:22,817.1977508
Cancel, cancel culture It's a double negative Yes.

354
00:29:22,817.1977508 --> 00:29:23,147.1977508
Like exactly.

355
00:29:23,147.1977508 --> 00:29:42,767.1967508
So your grammar is wrong to begin with, and John Oliver said, said, "It sounds like the headquarters of a cult founded by Russell Brand," which is barely even a joke given that he was invited to be a guest speaker at New College- Wow on the topic of thinking without permission.

356
00:29:42,947.1967508 --> 00:30:00,447.1947508
Or- How about thinking without thought? While Corcoran promised that the new school would encourage debate under his leadership, Oliver noted that he got rid of its gender studies program, with Rufo bragging they had closed a massive and radical department that indoctrinates students.

357
00:30:00,577.1977508 --> 00:30:24,107.1977508
Amid the changes under Corcoran's leadership, more than a third of professors were fired, took leave, or voluntarily resigned from their positions, and instead, Corcoran brought in presidential scholars in residence, including Bruce Gilley, and he's a guy who wrote the book The Case for Colonialism, which argues that European colonialism was actually a good thing.

358
00:30:24,327.1977508 --> 00:30:32,877.1997508
So they did that, and then they also addressed what Rufo said was the hormonal imbalance of the predominantly female community.

359
00:30:33,67.1957508 --> 00:30:33,607.1957508
Here we go.

360
00:30:33,677.1957508 --> 00:30:39,727.1967508
He called the fact that two-thirds of students were women was wildly out of balance, so too many women also there.

361
00:30:39,777.1947508 --> 00:30:52,907.1927508
So how, how did he take care of that? In Corcoran's first year, the male student population grew by over 23% after the administration offered scholarships to male athletes, including 70 baseball players.

362
00:30:52,907.1997508 --> 00:30:55,327.1927508
That's quite a team.

363
00:30:55,537.1967508 --> 00:30:59,707.1947508
In spite of the fact that the school did not have a baseball field at that time.

364
00:30:59,747.1957508 --> 00:30:59,887.1957508
Ha.

365
00:31:00,307.1927508 --> 00:31:08,277.1977508
John Oliver said they were just bringing in ballplayers and expected a baseball field to magically appear like some kind of reverse Field of Dreams, so.

366
00:31:09,707.1947508 --> 00:31:12,817.1957508
They build the team, the, the field will come.

367
00:31:13,117.1987508 --> 00:31:14,717.1917508
The field will come, exactly.

368
00:31:14,957.1947508 --> 00:31:32,997.1877508
The price to produce a degree at New College has swelled to nearly half a million dollars, dwarfing what has been spent per student at any other public university in the state, and administrative costs have sharply risen, and Corcoran's own salary is over a million dollars a year.

369
00:31:32,997.1877508 --> 00:31:33,727.1937508
Of course.

370
00:31:34,147.1967508 --> 00:31:35,947.1937508
That's, that's where things stand.

371
00:31:35,967.1887508 --> 00:31:38,67.1887508
It's how they want the whole country to go.

372
00:31:38,217.1887508 --> 00:31:41,357.1997508
Like, this is how they want public education to, to go.

373
00:31:41,507.1977508 --> 00:31:47,277.1907508
Find people who are really stupid about the topic and then let them run it.

374
00:31:47,407.1917508 --> 00:31:51,177.1997508
Like, every part of the administration is like that.

375
00:31:51,287.1967508 --> 00:32:00,767.1907508
Get the guy from Fox to run the military, right? Get, get, get the lady from the, Hulk Hogan's little wrestling show to run the education department.

376
00:32:01,467.1887508 --> 00:32:01,647.1887508
Yeah.

377
00:32:01,677.1957508 --> 00:32:02,437.2017508
It's ridiculous.

378
00:32:02,437.2017508 --> 00:32:04,447.2017508
Putting, putting fingers to run the universities.

379
00:32:04,797.1907508 --> 00:32:15,17.1917508
I will say, just based on my experience at a woke university today, I, I went to the University of California at, at Santa Cruz, which is a great institution.

380
00:32:15,27.1867508 --> 00:32:24,757.1977508
The, the mascot is the banana slug Uh, you know, there aren't, there, there, there aren't any, um, there aren't any, uh, fraternities or sororities on campus.

381
00:32:24,777.1977508 --> 00:32:27,527.1977508
They're not too competitive when it comes to sports.

382
00:32:27,617.1977508 --> 00:32:36,457.1967508
It has a very liberal reputation, and like the New College in Florida used to be, you're also able to create your own classes and your own majors.

383
00:32:36,747.1967508 --> 00:32:50,927.1947508
I created a class in comedy audio production- Oh at the radio station that I, that I went to, which sort of sent me along a path of, of doing interesting, uh, things in podcasting, uh, eventually down the, the road.

384
00:32:51,307.1977508 --> 00:32:53,367.1977508
That's where I met my, my wife.

385
00:32:53,647.1977508 --> 00:32:59,967.1967508
And so I, you know, I, I think it, it encouraged a career, it encouraged a long-term committed relationship.

386
00:33:00,177.1967508 --> 00:33:07,387.1967508
I don't see what could be more, what could be better in terms of family values- Yeah than the so-called woke institution of UC Santa Cruz.

387
00:33:07,497.1967508 --> 00:33:11,677.1967508
In fact, we had a radio show called It's the Demons Again.

388
00:33:11,947.1977508 --> 00:33:16,397.1957508
It had to really tear you up, though, when Fox took over the rights, because you can see it.

389
00:33:16,867.1957508 --> 00:33:24,427.1957508
Today at 5:00 on Fox News, It's the Demons Again, with Jesse Watters and Greg Gutfeld.

390
00:33:25,47.1957508 --> 00:33:25,507.1947508
I know.

391
00:33:25,887.1997508 --> 00:33:28,847.1927508
Greg's a, he's a very different kind of demon these days, unfortunately.

392
00:33:29,277.1997508 --> 00:33:30,887.1997508
Thank you for being here, Beowulf.

393
00:33:30,927.1927508 --> 00:33:35,967.1957508
Everyone, go find Good News for Lefties and try to avoid the dem- here, here are the demons.

394
00:33:36,117.1957508 --> 00:33:37,737.1927508
Here come those demons again.

395
00:33:39,997.1927508 --> 00:33:40,667.1947508
Thank you for being here.

396
00:33:42,687.1957508 --> 00:33:42,767.1957508
Thank you for having us.

397
00:33:42,767.1957508 --> 00:34:02,788.5411311
Don't you bend the truth, baby From bandworthy to bingeworthy As the day wraps up, get the scoop on what's been happening with Here's The Scoop, a new podcast from NBC News with me, your host, Yasmeen Wassugian.

398
00:34:03,228.5411311 --> 00:34:07,828.5411311
We'll take a deep dive into the day's top stories with NBC News' trusted journalists.

399
00:34:07,998.5401311 --> 00:34:15,178.5411311
It's a fresh take that's sharp, thoughtful, and it's informative, bringing you closer to the headlines and conversations that are shaping our world.

400
00:34:15,378.5411311 --> 00:34:19,128.5411311
From the front page to the zeitgeist, Here's The Scoop from NBC News.

401
00:34:19,518.5411311 --> 00:34:21,728.5411311
Listen daily wherever you get your podcasts.

402
00:34:24,332.5411311 --> 00:34:24,642.5411311
Right.

403
00:34:24,692.5411311 --> 00:34:28,372.5411311
We've caused enough literary chaos for one day, scary book people.

404
00:34:28,382.5411311 --> 00:34:31,952.5411311
If you want the fun to keep going, follow us on Blue Sky.

405
00:34:32,22.5411311 --> 00:34:36,142.5411311
Just head on over to bandcamppodcast.com/bluesky,

406
00:34:36,142.5411311 --> 00:34:38,422.5401311
and remember that's band with two Ns.

407
00:34:38,722.5411311 --> 00:34:49,682.5411311
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.

408
00:34:49,682.5411311 --> 00:34:50,632.5411311
I think you'll like it.

409
00:34:51,52.5411311 --> 00:34:52,952.5411311
Yes, little quid pro quo.

410
00:34:53,552.5411311 --> 00:34:58,572.5401311
Band Camp is produced and hosted by Dan Schultz and me, Jennifer Davis.

411
00:34:59,52.5411311 --> 00:35:03,642.5401311
All media used in this episode falls under the protection of fair use.

412
00:35:03,852.5411311 --> 00:35:08,522.5411311
And finally, America isn't what it used to be, so be careful out there.

413
00:35:09,52.5411311 --> 00:35:10,632.5411311
And resist when it matters.