The Handmaid's Tale Chapter 30: Luke Kills the Cat Before They Run | Banned Books Podcast

1
00:00:03,877.5679895839 --> 00:00:05,137.5679895839
Welcome to Bandcamp.

2
00:00:05,217.5679895839 --> 00:00:13,110.853682661
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.

3
00:00:16,261.84233958 --> 00:00:25,881.84233958
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.

4
00:00:26,361.84233958 --> 00:00:32,658.269422109
If you're new here, i don't want feel like you're walking into the middle of a movie, we're gonna get you up to speed real quick.

5
00:00:32,658.270422109 --> 00:00:35,937.183762758
We've got a secret weapon, and, uh, we'll tell you about him in a second.

6
00:00:36,317.183762758 --> 00:00:45,887.184762758
If you do feel confused, I wouldn't even worry about that because the whole point about Ban Camp, we've never read the book either, so we're gonna be really confused right along with you.

7
00:00:46,227.181762758 --> 00:00:48,267.184762758
But I did say we had a secret weapon.

8
00:00:48,457.185762758 --> 00:00:54,772.983965028
We actually have ourselves a true, legitimate fact-checking robot, and we're gonna roll him in right now.

9
00:00:55,772.983965028 --> 00:00:57,962.982965028
Buddy boy, roll your big metal can in here.

10
00:00:58,572.983965028 --> 00:01:00,382.984965028
Look at this guy, everybody.

11
00:01:00,656.133514951 --> 00:01:03,416.871668862
Robot, fill everyone in on where we left off last time.

12
00:01:05,344.871668862 --> 00:01:23,564.870668862
Previously on Band Camp, it turns out the phrase carved into a dead woman's closet wall started as a dirty joke in some kid's textbook, and that kid grew up to be the commander, and he's had this exact conversation in this exact room at least once before, and that same routine, once Serena found out about it, got the last handmaid killed.

13
00:01:24,608.225758226 --> 00:01:26,18.226758226
Jennifer called it coercion.

14
00:01:26,168.226758226 --> 00:01:27,858.226758226
Dan called it word perv.

15
00:01:28,38.225758226 --> 00:01:31,17.439508484
I believe those were both accurate descriptions of the same man.

16
00:01:32,17.439508484 --> 00:01:36,537.439508484
There's a particular kind of promise people make right before they do something they can't take back.

17
00:01:36,677.439508484 --> 00:01:41,207.43850848
I keep circling why saying it out loud seems to make the thing easier to do, not harder.

18
00:01:41,837.43950848 --> 00:01:43,357.43850848
Take it away, Jennifer.

19
00:01:44,77.0836108 --> 00:01:45,87.0836108
Thank you, robot.

20
00:01:45,107.0836108 --> 00:01:59,70.74172435
And with that being said, scary book people, let's begin chapter 30 of Margaret Atwood's The Handmaid's Tale Night falls or has fallen.

21
00:01:59,560.74172435 --> 00:02:04,959.52252229
Why is it that night falls instead of rising like the dawn? I think that's pretty obvious.

22
00:02:05,201.12043991 --> 00:02:12,771.17071661
Cause, like, you, you go down at night, unless you're a vampire, then you rise Very insightful.

23
00:02:12,813.17071661 --> 00:02:13,57.69105066
point.

24
00:02:15,470.60924867 --> 00:02:27,27.78528803
Yet if you look east at sunset, you can see night rising, not falling, darkness lifting into the sky, up from the horizon like a black sun behind cloud cover.

25
00:02:28,27.78528803 --> 00:02:35,317.78428803
Like smoke from an unseen fire, a line of fire just below the horizon, brush fire or a burning city.

26
00:02:36,7.78528803 --> 00:02:42,337.78428803
Maybe night falls because it's heavy, a thick curtain pulled up to cover the eyes, wool blanket.

27
00:02:42,817.78528803 --> 00:02:45,967.78328803
I wish I could see in the dark better than I do now.

28
00:02:46,719.52311257 --> 00:02:47,979.52311257
Night has fallen then.

29
00:02:48,199.52311257 --> 00:02:50,669.52311257
I feel it pressing down on me like a stone.

30
00:02:51,169.52311257 --> 00:02:52,49.52311257
No breeze.

31
00:02:52,175.82025231 --> 00:03:11,466.39351264
I sit by the partly open windows, curtains tucked back because there's no one out there, no need for modesty in my nightgown, Long-sleeved even in summer to keep us from the temptations of our own flesh, to keep us from hugging ourselves bare-armed What? Well, we know that's bullshit.

32
00:03:11,596.57724165 --> 00:03:13,416.57724165
She's touching herself all the time.

33
00:03:13,426.57724165 --> 00:03:16,103.39119989
Remember? Dried rice That's right.

34
00:03:16,266.21388204 --> 00:03:16,936.21388204
The buttery...

35
00:03:17,36.21388204 --> 00:03:25,301.31656197
No, not even buttery, just, yeah, the, the dried rice dried ri- Jennifer, she would love to have bu- she's using the butter for her lotion.

36
00:03:25,571.31656197 --> 00:03:37,939.32004248
If she was gonna use the butter for pleasing herself, there'd be nothing, there, in real life, there's nothing better than butter on rice Nothing moves in the searchlight moonlight.

37
00:03:38,219.32004248 --> 00:03:41,529.32004248
The scent from the garden rises like heat from a body.

38
00:03:41,969.32004248 --> 00:03:44,699.32004248
There must be night-blooming flowers, it's so strong.

39
00:03:45,299.32004248 --> 00:03:52,139.31904248
I can almost see it, red radiation, wavering upwards like the shimmer above highway tarmac at noon.

40
00:03:52,350.86934181 --> 00:03:59,218.50481081
Yeah, so this, this lady, I think part of what's helping her get through this is, like, she can just enjoy herself somehow.

41
00:04:00,338.50481081 --> 00:04:07,942.21177169
Like, she's enjoying just the, the night flowers and the, the way the sky looks and sh- I mean, her brain is like...

42
00:04:08,97.65458932 --> 00:04:10,607.65458932
Like you said earlier, my brain wouldn't be here.

43
00:04:10,917.65358932 --> 00:04:14,758.92515076
I, you know? Like, maybe I should work on that You, you should.

44
00:04:16,103.83416976 --> 00:04:25,773.83416976
Down there on the lawn, someone emerges from the spill of darkness under the willow, steps across the light, his long shadow attached sharply to his heels.

45
00:04:25,959.83416976 --> 00:04:36,372.73005945
It's probably Nick looking up at her, getting his jollies watching her in her long-sleeved nightgown is it Nick or is it someone else? Someone of no importance.

46
00:04:36,412.73005945 --> 00:04:45,889.74052813
Oh, well, does that mean Nick is of, is of importance Ooh He stops, looks up at the window, and I can see the white oblong face.

47
00:04:46,19.74052813 --> 00:04:46,549.74052813
Nick.

48
00:04:46,859.74052813 --> 00:04:47,959.74052813
We look at each other.

49
00:04:48,329.74052813 --> 00:04:49,979.74052813
I have no rose to toss.

50
00:04:50,119.74052813 --> 00:04:51,389.74052813
He has no lute.

51
00:04:51,779.74052813 --> 00:04:55,290.22335169
But it's the same kind of hunger, which I can't indulge.

52
00:04:55,350.22335169 --> 00:05:04,522.08038355
I pull the left-hand curtain so that it falls between us, across my face, and after a moment, he walks on, around the corner.

53
00:05:10,713.42524478 --> 00:05:12,313.42424478
What the commander said is true.

54
00:05:12,843.42424478 --> 00:05:16,933.42624478
One and one and one and one doesn't equal four.

55
00:05:17,123.42524478 --> 00:05:18,693.42524478
Each one remains unique.

56
00:05:19,63.42324478 --> 00:05:21,471.94726668
There's no way of joining them together.

57
00:05:23,65.4987601 --> 00:05:25,455.49876011
They cannot be exchanged one for the other.

58
00:05:25,695.4977601 --> 00:05:27,315.4987601
They cannot replace each other.

59
00:05:27,885.49876011 --> 00:05:29,935.4987601
Nick for Luke or Luke for Nick.

60
00:05:30,95.49876011 --> 00:05:31,855.49776011
Should does not apply.

61
00:05:32,957.18873074 --> 00:05:39,485.15889131
You can't help what you feel," Moira once said, "but you can help how you behave," which is all very well.

62
00:05:40,485.15889131 --> 00:05:47,395.15989131
Context is all, or is it ripeness? One or the other? Okay, she's getting into something I'm not understanding.

63
00:05:47,473.1384849 --> 00:05:50,93.1354849
She never writes anything unless it has a point behind it.

64
00:05:50,103.1374849 --> 00:05:56,725.64197442
So what is her point here? Context is all, or is it ripeness? One or the other.

65
00:05:56,998.17376846 --> 00:06:16,688.35566121
You know me, I just always think, uh, everyone's all horned up Is that what it is? Like, does she wanna be with Nick? she said as much Is she feeling guilty because she's having thoughts about Nick when she should be having thoughts about Luke, but meanwhile she's playing Scrabble with the commander? I don't think she feels guilty for some reason.

66
00:06:16,698.35566121 --> 00:06:19,825.29379792
She's just like, "Well, this is my context now.

67
00:06:19,825.29379792 --> 00:06:24,445.29379792
Like, I was taken out of that context and put into this context.

68
00:06:24,519.26778117 --> 00:06:32,381.45283301
what's a girl to do?" She's, she's getting ripe maybe by the word right, maybe she means, that it's her biology and she can't...

69
00:06:32,518.64866757 --> 00:06:33,898.64966757
Like you said, she's horned up.

70
00:06:33,898.64966757 --> 00:06:36,188.64866757
She can't f- fight her biology.

71
00:06:36,188.64866757 --> 00:06:37,168.64966757
But I don't know.

72
00:06:37,268.64966757 --> 00:06:45,532.54418915
I, I feel like I'm being a little judgy, but I feel like if I was in her position, I wouldn't be Y- ripe, for lack of a better word.

73
00:06:45,792.54418915 --> 00:06:50,532.54418915
I I would, I'd be dried up and You'd be hard like rice.

74
00:06:51,88.54418915 --> 00:06:51,488.54418915
Yeah.

75
00:06:55,293.31741778 --> 00:06:59,743.31741778
I The night before we left the house that last time, I was walking through the rooms.

76
00:07:00,143.31741778 --> 00:07:07,43.31641778
Nothing was packed up because we weren't taking much with us, and we couldn't afford even to give the least appearance of leaving.

77
00:07:07,220.42444903 --> 00:07:14,220.42344903
So I was just walking through here and there, looking at things, at the arrangement we'd made together for our life.

78
00:07:14,730.42444903 --> 00:07:19,259.95348444
I had some idea that I would be able to remember afterwards what it looked like.

79
00:07:20,259.95348444 --> 00:07:21,669.95348444
Luke was in the living room.

80
00:07:21,939.95348444 --> 00:07:23,569.95148444
He put his arms around me.

81
00:07:24,19.95348444 --> 00:07:26,29.95348444
We were both feeling miserable.

82
00:07:26,719.95248444 --> 00:07:32,724.29102494
How were we to know we were even happy then? Because we at least had that, arms around.

83
00:07:33,788.69234855 --> 00:07:35,561.73434855
The cat," is what he said.

84
00:07:35,951.73534855 --> 00:07:38,461.73234855
"Cat?" I said against the wool of his sweater.

85
00:07:38,901.73634855 --> 00:07:40,381.73434855
"We can't just leave her here."

86
00:07:40,991.73634855 --> 00:07:42,271.73434855
I hadn't thought about the cat.

87
00:07:42,291.73534855 --> 00:07:53,223.21372708
Well, what kind of a pet owner is this? I, I, is it, is it, context again? It's like, you know how I'm always talking about my escape plans? I worry about the dogs.

88
00:07:53,223.21372708 --> 00:08:15,276.12651844
I'm like, "Well, how are we gonna travel with three, three dogs?" You No, this is why I think it, when we first started talking about our escape plan, we started to go toward the hobo life on the rails because hobos, we know one thing, hobos and dogs get along That's for sure I hadn't thought about the cat.

89
00:08:15,596.12651844 --> 00:08:16,806.12651844
Neither of us had.

90
00:08:17,346.12651844 --> 00:08:21,264.12075534
Our decision had been sudden, and then there had been the planning to do.

91
00:08:21,864.12075534 --> 00:08:24,844.11975534
I must have thought she was coming with us, but she couldn't.

92
00:08:25,64.12075534 --> 00:08:27,874.12075534
You don't take a cat on a day trip across the border.

93
00:08:28,864.11975534 --> 00:08:34,724.11875534
I wish you could train a cat where you could say, you pull up to the border and you go, "We are going over the border.

94
00:08:34,724.11875534 --> 00:08:35,814.11875534
You go that way.

95
00:08:35,814.11875534 --> 00:08:36,864.11675534
They're not gonna check you.

96
00:08:36,864.11775534 --> 00:08:38,544.11875534
Just, you look like a stray cat.

97
00:08:38,554.11875534 --> 00:08:40,514.11775534
Walk across like nobody's paying attention.

98
00:08:40,514.11775534 --> 00:08:41,884.11875534
Nobody cares about a cat."

99
00:08:42,15.71013833 --> 00:08:43,289.85901801
Oh, totally.

100
00:08:43,289.85901801 --> 00:08:46,92.11875534
Cats can go across the borders, right? Yeah.

101
00:08:48,876.47710227 --> 00:08:50,456.47710227
Why not outside?" I said.

102
00:08:50,476.47710227 --> 00:08:51,536.47710228
"We could just leave her."

103
00:08:51,926.47710227 --> 00:08:53,986.47710227
She'd hang around and mew at the door.

104
00:08:54,106.47710227 --> 00:08:55,786.47710228
Someone would notice we were gone.

105
00:08:56,286.47710228 --> 00:08:57,806.47710228
"We could give her away," I said.

106
00:08:57,956.47710227 --> 00:08:59,76.47710228
"One of the neighbors..."

107
00:08:59,486.47710227 --> 00:09:02,506.47710228
Even as I said this, I saw how foolish that would be.

108
00:09:03,522.22494316 --> 00:09:05,262.22494316
I'll take care of it," Luke said.

109
00:09:05,542.22394316 --> 00:09:09,342.22394316
And because he said it instead of her, I knew he meant kill.

110
00:09:09,582.22494316 --> 00:09:13,192.22494316
Okay, th- okay, I've, I've totally lost it on Luke at this point.

111
00:09:13,343.14528521 --> 00:09:18,683.14528521
What a terrible Yeah, Luke is an asshole I hope he's hanging from a pole somewhere.

112
00:09:19,56.47223548 --> 00:09:22,747.98339296
I would love to see his head on a spike in town.

113
00:09:22,747.98339296 --> 00:09:29,448.72280717
I agree with Jennifer that is what you have to do before you kill, I thought.

114
00:09:29,758.29070276 --> 00:09:32,488.29070276
You have to create an it where there was none before.

115
00:09:32,558.29070276 --> 00:09:35,398.62933048
You do that first in your head, and then you make it real.

116
00:09:36,398.62933048 --> 00:09:39,108.62933048
Luke found the cat who was hiding under our bed.

117
00:09:39,518.62833048 --> 00:09:40,548.62833048
They always know.

118
00:09:40,838.62933048 --> 00:09:42,808.62833048
He went into the garage with her.

119
00:09:43,214.00759343 --> 00:09:49,353.43649962
Jesus Is this gonna happen now? Okay, you know what? I think I'm losing respect for the Handmaid too.

120
00:09:49,353.43649962 --> 00:09:51,3.43649962
It's like she's just gonna let him.

121
00:09:51,210.73518474 --> 00:09:54,935.35129953
Oh, yeah, okay, that makes sense Okay, I'm gonna get really judgy here.

122
00:09:54,965.35029953 --> 00:10:02,911.62632843
From the beginning, the fact that she's, like, seeing this married man for two years, she just seems kinda like, "Oh, yeah, okay.

123
00:10:03,741.62632843 --> 00:10:05,191.62632843
Oh, oh, okay, that's fine with..."

124
00:10:05,211.62732843 --> 00:10:06,251.62732843
Exactly.

125
00:10:06,392.32818578 --> 00:10:13,372.66164918
Like, she's just kind of floaty, woo, all over the place we always say, like, we don't know how we'd act in this 'cause we're not in this situation.

126
00:10:13,372.66164918 --> 00:10:20,105.81419457
Who knows how people act in different situations? But 100% know this would not fly with me.

127
00:10:20,207.80542425 --> 00:10:32,717.80642425
Even with Beatrix, even with this chihuahua who hates me, who if chihuahuas could pray, I bet she prays every night, "Dear baby Jesus, take my dad home.

128
00:10:32,777.80542425 --> 00:10:34,137.80642425
Call him home.

129
00:10:34,137.80642425 --> 00:10:36,27.80642425
He's the worst person in the world."

130
00:10:36,347.80542425 --> 00:10:36,767.80542425
Even...

131
00:10:36,767.80542425 --> 00:10:39,547.80342425
All I do, though, Jennifer, is feed her and try to pet her.

132
00:10:39,987.80642425 --> 00:10:44,427.80542425
Even Beatrix, I would go out of my way to save.

133
00:10:44,704.08394772 --> 00:10:53,134.65175001
I would do anything I could to save the dog Yeah cat or the guinea pig or the fish She's, she's a bad person.

134
00:10:53,164.65175001 --> 00:10:55,304.65175001
Lu- this is why her and Luke got together.

135
00:10:55,364.65175001 --> 00:11:12,356.18632845
They're both troubled people Scary book people, would you, uh, let your partner just, "Oh, you know, I'll take care of it," carry the cat into the garage, don't ask any questions, just let it happen? I don't know what he did, and I never asked him.

136
00:11:12,466.18632845 --> 00:11:15,596.18632845
I sat in the living room, hands folded in my lap.

137
00:11:16,76.18632845 --> 00:11:19,706.18632845
I should have gone out with him, taken that small responsibility.

138
00:11:20,166.18632845 --> 00:11:24,836.18632845
I should have at least asked him about it afterwards so he didn't have to carry it alone.

139
00:11:25,376.18532845 --> 00:11:30,916.18532845
Because that little sacrifice, that snuffling out of love, was done for my sake as well.

140
00:11:31,676.18632845 --> 00:11:33,216.18532845
That's one of the things they do.

141
00:11:33,236.18632845 --> 00:11:35,736.18532845
They force you to kill within yourself.

142
00:11:36,386.18532845 --> 00:11:39,516.18532845
Unless, as it turned out, I wonder who told them.

143
00:11:40,206.18532845 --> 00:11:49,156.18432845
It could have been a neighbor watching our car pull out from the driveway in the morning, acting on a hunch, tipping them off for a gold star on someone's list.

144
00:11:49,706.18332845 --> 00:11:52,626.18732845
It could have even been the man who got us the passports.

145
00:11:52,946.18532845 --> 00:12:00,241.22409059
Why not get paid twice? It would be like them to plant the passport forgers themselves, a net for the unwary.

146
00:12:01,241.22409059 --> 00:12:03,661.22309059
The eyes of God run all over the earth.

147
00:12:03,959.43328269 --> 00:12:06,259.42828269
Because they were ready for us and waiting.

148
00:12:06,509.42828269 --> 00:12:08,769.42928269
The moment of betrayal is the worst.

149
00:12:08,999.43428269 --> 00:12:17,293.43328269
The moment when you know beyond any doubt that you've been betrayed, that some other human being has wished you that much evil Good, good.

150
00:12:17,303.43328269 --> 00:12:24,92.91739054
You know what? E- bigger betrayal is when the cat realize like, "What are you doing, Papa?" Even Beatrix would be like that.

151
00:12:24,102.91739054 --> 00:12:26,322.91739054
"Wait, you're killing me?" Well, you do hate me."

152
00:12:26,322.91739054 --> 00:12:28,272.91739054
Yeah, but I mean, I don't hate hate you."

153
00:12:28,282.91739054 --> 00:12:30,749.34618307
That's what Beatrix would say, and then she'd bite me Ja.

154
00:12:34,342.23774374 --> 00:12:40,522.23774374
It was like being in an elevator cut loose at the top, falling, falling, and not knowing when you will hit.

155
00:12:40,808.15434819 --> 00:12:44,268.15434819
I try to conjure to raise my own spirits from wherever they are.

156
00:12:44,868.15434819 --> 00:12:46,948.15334819
I need to remember what they look like.

157
00:12:47,138.15334819 --> 00:12:52,748.15434819
I try to hold them still behind my eyes, their faces, like pictures in an album.

158
00:12:53,358.15434819 --> 00:12:55,118.15334819
But they won't stay still for me.

159
00:12:55,178.15434819 --> 00:12:55,918.15334819
They move.

160
00:12:56,288.15334819 --> 00:12:58,118.15434819
There's a smile, and it's gone.

161
00:12:58,588.15434819 --> 00:13:02,8.15334819
Their features curl up and bend as if the paper is burning.

162
00:13:02,378.15534819 --> 00:13:03,598.15234819
Blackness eats them.

163
00:13:04,228.15334819 --> 00:13:10,928.15234819
A glimpse, a pale shimmer on the air, a glow, a dance of electrons, then a face again.

164
00:13:11,148.15134819 --> 00:13:11,578.15134819
Faces.

165
00:13:11,608.15434819 --> 00:13:13,448.15334819
Okay, I'm t- I'm totally lost.

166
00:13:13,789.405722 --> 00:13:16,589.403722
I, I don't know if I'm just not in the mood for this today.

167
00:13:17,218.51459377 --> 00:13:18,598.51659377
Not today, Margaret.

168
00:13:20,887.17232051 --> 00:13:21,877.17232051
Not today.

169
00:13:22,887.17232051 --> 00:13:25,723.20087376
Not today, Margaret Get in the mood.

170
00:13:25,733.20087376 --> 00:13:30,999.83423487
The scary book people are counting on us But they fade.

171
00:13:31,59.83523487 --> 00:13:38,799.83723487
Though I stretch out my arms towards them, they slip away from me, ghosts at daybreak, back to wherever they are.

172
00:13:39,79.83123487 --> 00:13:39,809.83723487
Stay with me.

173
00:13:39,809.83723487 --> 00:13:42,99.83023487
I want them to stay, but they won't.

174
00:13:43,39.83023487 --> 00:13:43,889.83023487
It's my fault.

175
00:13:44,49.83323487 --> 00:13:45,409.83323487
I am forgetting too much.

176
00:13:45,429.83023487 --> 00:13:47,579.83723487
This is kinda like "1984."

177
00:13:47,667.97561466 --> 00:13:49,617.97961466
It's literally just like this.

178
00:13:49,617.97961466 --> 00:13:52,625.03062232
I think she lifted this from his passages where it...

179
00:13:52,675.03262232 --> 00:14:03,323.65463497
Remember he described his mother and his sister as if they were, like, falling under the water, deeper and deeper under the water, and he, he, he's reaching for them, and he can barely see them.

180
00:14:03,694.2013521 --> 00:14:11,903.7033521
Boy, you know what? I didn't really like Winston as a character, but I, I, I'm having a hard time get past the handmaid right now with this whole thing with the animals.

181
00:14:11,903.7033521 --> 00:14:20,153.7023521
Cause I think how we treat animals is, it's very similar, like you can judge the strength of a, of a society or a population.

182
00:14:20,743.7023521 --> 00:14:33,74.6103521
What is the old saying about you can judge them based on how they take care of the elderly or how they take care of kids or how they take care of animals? You know, how they take care of those who are, less strong than them.

183
00:14:33,216.6103521 --> 00:14:33,696.6103521
Yeah.

184
00:14:33,734.6093521 --> 00:14:34,874.6083521
I know you got your shit.

185
00:14:34,914.6093521 --> 00:14:35,544.6103521
I get it.

186
00:14:35,594.6103521 --> 00:14:37,594.6083521
I mean, society's breaking down.

187
00:14:37,904.6073521 --> 00:14:45,425.3332345
You've got a kid, you've got a husband, and you gotta somehow skedaddle over the border to where maybe life can be real again.

188
00:14:45,639.29224279 --> 00:14:46,849.29424279
It's really hard though.

189
00:14:47,79.29124279 --> 00:14:52,699.2158372
Winston was pretty unlikable as a character in "1984," but I felt for him.

190
00:14:52,947.61726125 --> 00:15:00,517.61626125
The more we kinda learn about the Handmaid, I really hate this because I wanna like her, Yeah kinda not liking her that much.

191
00:15:00,527.61926125 --> 00:15:02,924.59629892
I like Moira I wonder how she got caught.

192
00:15:03,44.59629892 --> 00:15:06,994.59529892
She doesn't seem like she would try to get forged passports and stuff.

193
00:15:06,994.59629892 --> 00:15:19,587.62456629
It seems like Moira would go underground railroad type, like unofficial channels, I was thinking how very rarely do you hear about the Quakers, they're quiet people.

194
00:15:19,667.62456629 --> 00:15:25,197.62456629
Yeah But, you know, the Quakers were very big in the Underground Railroad.

195
00:15:27,8.30167418 --> 00:15:28,478.30167418
You're actually right, Dan.

196
00:15:28,628.30167418 --> 00:15:32,208.30167418
Quakers really were one of the biggest networks in the whole Underground Railroad.

197
00:15:32,288.30167418 --> 00:15:35,168.30167418
Their meeting houses hid runaway slaves all over the country.

198
00:15:35,228.30067418 --> 00:15:38,608.30167418
And no, I don't think you got that off the back of a Quaker Oats box.

199
00:15:38,708.30167418 --> 00:15:40,928.30167418
That guy on the box isn't even a real Quaker.

200
00:15:41,28.30167418 --> 00:15:42,728.30067418
He's just an oatmeal mascot.

201
00:15:42,768.30167418 --> 00:15:46,48.30167418
So somehow, something from 10th grade history actually stuck.

202
00:15:46,158.30167418 --> 00:15:59,621.54575624
I'm as surprised as you are and it's kind of neat that even in the flashback she had when she was first trying to imagine where Luke was and she thought maybe he would end up with the Quakers, it's really on Yeah, I remember that.

203
00:15:59,835.02580623 --> 00:16:02,135.02680623
the Quakers I could see helping.

204
00:16:02,145.02680623 --> 00:16:09,12.11753728
I mean, They'd probably figure out a Underground Railroad type of situation to help people from America escape That's right.

205
00:16:09,22.11753728 --> 00:16:12,992.11753728
And Moira said something about the gays also participating.

206
00:16:13,532.11753728 --> 00:16:20,555.65046941
So y- I, I bet it was a joint venture, the Quaker and the gays The Quaker and the Gays did a collab.

207
00:16:20,695.65046941 --> 00:16:26,369.1866056
Interesting tonight I will say my prayers.

208
00:16:26,379.1866056 --> 00:16:50,783.97453
No longer No longer kneeling at the foot of the bed, knees on the hard wood of the gym floor, Aunt Elizabeth standing by the double doors, arms folded, cattle prod hung on her belt, while Aunt Lydia strides along the rows of kneeling nightgowned women, hitting our backs or feet or bums or arms lightly, just a flick, a tap with her wooden pointer if we slouch or slacken.

209
00:16:51,807.7633385 --> 00:16:58,767.7633385
She wanted our heads bowed just right, our toes together and pointed, our elbows at the proper angle.

210
00:16:59,47.7633385 --> 00:17:03,623.7033385
Part of her interest in this was aesthetic she liked the look of the thing.

211
00:17:03,923.7033385 --> 00:17:13,513.1940034
She wanted us to look like something Anglo-Saxon Carved on a tomb or Christmas card angels regimented in our robes of purity.

212
00:17:13,993.1940034 --> 00:17:19,153.1940034
But she knew too the spiritual value of bodily rigidity, of muscle strain.

213
00:17:19,563.1940034 --> 00:17:22,83.1940034
A little pain cleans out the mind, she'd say.

214
00:17:22,542.4102687 --> 00:17:33,642.310705
Jesus Christ What we prayed for was emptiness so we could be worthy to be filled with grace, with love, with self-denial, semen, and babies.

215
00:17:34,698.5097707 --> 00:17:38,908.5097707
Oh God, King of the universe, thank you for not creating me a man.

216
00:17:39,438.5107707 --> 00:17:40,848.5097707
Oh God, obliterate me.

217
00:17:40,898.5097707 --> 00:17:42,68.5097707
Make me fruitful.

218
00:17:42,791.1288307 --> 00:17:45,441.1278307
my flesh that I may be multiplied.

219
00:17:45,711.1288307 --> 00:17:46,861.1288307
Let me be fulfilled.

220
00:17:46,901.1278307 --> 00:17:55,512.0260428
Okay, so these are the weird prayers that they taught the women These are really weird if there is a God, is he tuning into this shit show and going, "What the...

221
00:17:56,122.0260428 --> 00:17:59,828.8239866
What's happening down there? What's happening in Boston now?" Yeah.

222
00:17:59,888.8239866 --> 00:18:02,228.8239866
It's definitely, I would say not godly.

223
00:18:02,298.8239866 --> 00:18:16,240.1536762
This is 100%, the horned up men making this, this up, and the, the creepy Aunt Lydias who also enjoy participating Some of them would get carried away with this, the ecstasy of abasement.

224
00:18:16,590.1536762 --> 00:18:18,510.1536762
Some of them would moan and cry.

225
00:18:19,30.1536762 --> 00:18:23,290.1536762
"There is no point in making a spectacle of yourself, Janine," said Aunt Lydia.

226
00:18:23,370.1536762 --> 00:18:25,220.1536762
Of course it'd be Janine doing that.

227
00:18:25,330.1536762 --> 00:18:26,60.1536762
Yeah, right.

228
00:18:26,200.1536762 --> 00:18:33,517.500236
Right, right I pray where I am, sitting by the window, looking out through the curtain at the empty garden.

229
00:18:34,517.500236 --> 00:18:36,237.501236
I don't even close my eyes.

230
00:18:36,677.501236 --> 00:18:40,878.3562068
Out there or inside my head, it's an equal darkness, or a light.

231
00:18:42,536.3877122 --> 00:18:46,386.3877122
My God, who art in the Kingdom of Heaven, which is within.

232
00:18:46,708.8953545 --> 00:18:52,223.5507411
I wish you would tell me your name, the real one I mean, but You will do as well as anything.

233
00:18:53,223.5507411 --> 00:18:58,93.5507411
I wish I knew what you were up to, but whatever it is, help me to get through it, please."

234
00:18:58,123.5527411 --> 00:19:04,330.3995463
Okay, so now she's, this is where I see glimmers of her survival, 'cause she's not like Janine.

235
00:19:04,330.3995463 --> 00:19:10,464.4120653
She she's not in the cult, right? She's saying her old prayers that she knew from before Right Yeah.

236
00:19:13,387.8569178 --> 00:19:19,147.8569178
Though maybe it's not your doing, I don't believe for an instant that what's going on there is what you meant.

237
00:19:19,497.8569178 --> 00:19:22,372.5168677
I have enough daily bread, so I won't waste time on that.

238
00:19:23,372.5168677 --> 00:19:24,612.5158677
It isn't the main problem.

239
00:19:25,57.2693262 --> 00:19:27,817.2683262
the problem is getting it down without choking on it.

240
00:19:28,347.2693262 --> 00:19:30,87.2693262
Now we come to forgiveness.

241
00:19:30,717.2683262 --> 00:19:32,837.2683262
Don't worry about forgiving me right now.

242
00:19:33,347.2693262 --> 00:19:35,237.2693262
There are more important things.

243
00:19:35,247.2683262 --> 00:19:38,547.2683262
For instance, keep the others safe, if they are safe.

244
00:19:39,67.2683262 --> 00:19:40,837.2693262
Don't let them suffer too much.

245
00:19:41,117.2673262 --> 00:19:43,347.2673262
If they have to die, let it be fast.

246
00:19:43,687.2693262 --> 00:19:45,877.2703262
You might even provide a heaven for them.

247
00:19:46,141.1970625 --> 00:19:47,251.1990625
we need you for that.

248
00:19:47,451.1980625 --> 00:19:49,831.1980625
Hell we can make for ourselves.

249
00:19:50,354.3754667 --> 00:19:53,414.3734667
Now, all of a sudden she's sounding like a very rational, normal person.

250
00:19:55,422.7086664 --> 00:19:58,202.7086664
I suppose I should say I forgive whoever did this.

251
00:19:58,542.7086664 --> 00:20:02,267.1176673
Whatever they're doing now, I'll try, but it isn't easy.

252
00:20:03,267.1176673 --> 00:20:06,983.1176673
Temptation comes next Ooh, temptation for Nick.

253
00:20:07,533.1176673 --> 00:20:16,936.0896489
She saw those beady eyes from the courtyard outside At the center, temptation was anything much more than eating and sleeping.

254
00:20:17,546.0896489 --> 00:20:19,256.0896489
Knowing was a temptation.

255
00:20:19,716.0896489 --> 00:20:22,852.4446986
What you don't know won't tempt you, Aunt Lidia used to say.

256
00:20:23,852.4446986 --> 00:20:26,262.4436986
Maybe I don't really want to know what's going on.

257
00:20:26,642.4446986 --> 00:20:28,172.4446986
Maybe I'd rather not know.

258
00:20:28,642.4446986 --> 00:20:30,352.4446986
Maybe I couldn't bear to know.

259
00:20:30,802.4446986 --> 00:20:37,879.3885123
The fall was a fall from innocence to knowledge I think about the chandelier too much, though it's gone now.

260
00:20:38,309.3885123 --> 00:20:40,396.0085905
But you could use a hook in the closet.

261
00:20:41,396.0085905 --> 00:20:43,386.0085905
I've considered the possibilities.

262
00:20:43,525.0414407 --> 00:20:49,272.6859176
All you'd have to do after attaching yourself would be to lean your weight forward and not fight.

263
00:20:53,727.8878267 --> 00:20:55,7.8878267
Deliver us from evil.

264
00:20:55,437.8868267 --> 00:20:58,117.8878267
Then there's kingdom, power, and glory.

265
00:20:58,227.8878267 --> 00:21:05,647.8878267
It takes a lot to believe in those right now, but I'll try it anyways, in hope, as they say on the gravestones.

266
00:21:06,35.3607782 --> 00:21:16,610.0576875
I don't wanna go dark, but they seemed-- The society has really made it a point to come up with ways to not allow the Handmaids to kill themselves.

267
00:21:17,41.6121192 --> 00:21:34,29.958006
Mhm Do Cora and Rita have those same things, in play, or is it just the Handmaid? Like, did the Marthas have to worry? Like, are they fine? 'Cause the Marthas, it's kinda life as usual, isn't it? Like, they're just kinda working for a rich family, kinda taking care of their lives.

268
00:21:34,29.958006 --> 00:21:39,999.958006
I mean, those are jobs that people legitimately have today in 2026 in America.

269
00:21:40,19.958006 --> 00:21:41,49.958006
That's just a job.

270
00:21:41,269.0073558 --> 00:21:43,89.0073558
we're not hearing what's going on with them.

271
00:21:43,509.0073558 --> 00:21:47,360.0186261
I have no idea what's going on with the Marthas, or the chauffeurs.

272
00:21:47,410.0196261 --> 00:21:50,370.0196261
I, I have no idea what's going on with anyone but the Handmaids.

273
00:21:50,390.0196261 --> 00:21:54,887.4058596
But I think clearly if your sole purpose...

274
00:21:54,887.4058596 --> 00:21:57,347.4058596
Like, you don't even have contr- like, you don't have a body.

275
00:21:57,347.4058596 --> 00:22:00,107.4058596
It's like you're not even supposed to have a mind or a spirit.

276
00:22:00,127.4048596 --> 00:22:01,487.4058596
You're just like a vessel.

277
00:22:01,487.4058596 --> 00:22:06,597.4038596
Like, clearly I think that's the worst fate, but I'm pretty sure it's hard on everyone else too.

278
00:22:06,607.4068596 --> 00:22:14,13.8944075
Like, for instance, if I was a Martha or a Nick for that matter, I, I would be suffering seeing what's going on with the women.

279
00:22:14,132.8996662 --> 00:22:19,595.6813691
I mean, I'm already suffering seeing what's going on with women in like Texas and Georgia and Florida.

280
00:22:19,625.6813691 --> 00:22:28,673.2561267
Like for instance, the lady who was kept alive, even though she was dead, they kept her body alive s- just so that she could deliver a baby that they knew wouldn't live.

281
00:22:28,771.1349146 --> 00:22:30,591.1359146
Like, that made me sick to my stomach.

282
00:22:30,991.1339146 --> 00:22:46,10.6480661
If that was my daily life all around, like I'd probably wanna do something with a hanger in the closet, Her name was Adriana Smith, a nurse in Atlanta, declared brain dead in February 2025 from blood clots, nine weeks pregnant at the time.

283
00:22:46,110.6480661 --> 00:22:55,230.6480661
The hospital said state law required keeping her on machines because of the fetus and did that for months over her family's objections until they could deliver the baby by C-section.

284
00:22:55,880.6480661 --> 00:22:58,630.6470661
Georgia's own attorney general later said that wasn't true.

285
00:22:58,700.6480661 --> 00:23:00,100.6470661
The law never required it.

286
00:23:00,710.6480661 --> 00:23:08,840.6470661
Over a year later, that baby is still in the hospital, still dealing with everything that comes with being born that early, and the family still never got a say in any of it.

287
00:23:09,350.6460661 --> 00:23:11,150.6460661
Margaret Atwood didn't write that one.

288
00:23:11,210.6460661 --> 00:23:12,40.6490661
Georgia did.

289
00:23:12,90.6480661 --> 00:23:16,953.8420931
Nice catch, Jennifer You must feel pretty ripped off.

290
00:23:17,43.8420931 --> 00:23:18,293.8420931
She's talking to God here.

291
00:23:19,358.0498286 --> 00:23:21,28.0498286
I guess it's not the first time.

292
00:23:21,278.0498286 --> 00:23:23,398.0498286
If I were you, I'd be fed up.

293
00:23:23,588.0498286 --> 00:23:24,918.0498286
I'd really be sick of it.

294
00:23:25,428.0498286 --> 00:23:27,558.0498286
I guess that's the difference between us.

295
00:23:27,908.0488286 --> 00:23:30,748.0498286
I feel very unreal talking to you like this.

296
00:23:31,308.0498286 --> 00:23:33,708.0498286
I feel as if I'm talking to a wall.

297
00:23:34,338.0498286 --> 00:23:35,398.0488286
I wish you'd answer.

298
00:23:35,758.0498286 --> 00:23:36,958.0488286
I feel so alone.

299
00:23:37,684.0147798 --> 00:23:46,195.6927798
All alone by the telephone, except I can't use the telephone, And if I could, who could I call? Oh God, it's no joke.

300
00:23:46,395.6927798 --> 00:23:50,185.6927798
Oh God, oh God, how can I keep on living? End of chapter.

301
00:23:53,645.5260247 --> 00:23:56,120.3288753
So, uh, sounds pretty grim.

302
00:23:56,120.3288753 --> 00:23:57,430.3288753
Yeah, grim's one way to put it.

303
00:23:57,678.8699775 --> 00:23:58,948.8699775
Not too good.

304
00:23:59,257.2067952 --> 00:24:01,217.2067952
What did you guys think of this chapter? We wanna know.

305
00:24:01,455.8902927 --> 00:24:05,745.8902927
Comment at Spotify or go to bandcamppodcast.com/soundoff.

306
00:24:05,745.8902927 --> 00:24:07,964.8009082
Let us know your take on that.

307
00:24:08,8.8009082 --> 00:24:10,858.8009082
It's time for PPP, problematic points to ponder.

308
00:24:10,908.8009082 --> 00:24:16,788.7720699
What, if anything, would be considered ban-worthy in this chapter? plenty of show left.

309
00:24:16,798.7720699 --> 00:24:18,858.7720699
Let's do PPP though, Jennifer.

310
00:24:18,858.7720699 --> 00:24:25,699.2453736
What could be band-worthy in here other than I kind of took it down a weird path by talking about suicide and masturbation.

311
00:24:25,893.125201 --> 00:24:32,723.125201
Very rare to have a podcast mix two powerhouse topics like that, but that's what makes Bandcamp unique.

312
00:24:33,20.4139276 --> 00:24:38,686.979275
Right d- who brought up masturbation? Was it her or us? I think she did with her arms.

313
00:24:39,516.979275 --> 00:24:41,196.979275
She can't even touch her arms.

314
00:24:41,556.979275 --> 00:24:43,16.979275
I mean, she didn't bring it up actually.

315
00:24:43,26.979275 --> 00:24:46,914.4352185
She said she was talking about how she couldn't touch her arms, and then you brought it up All right.

316
00:24:46,914.4352185 --> 00:24:53,654.4352185
you Moms for Liberty, and you too, Ron, that was all on me talking about masturbation.

317
00:24:54,44.4352185 --> 00:24:57,999.7614575
If you guys thought that was intriguing, that's on you.

318
00:24:57,999.7614575 --> 00:24:59,729.2218582
You understand? All right.

319
00:24:59,969.2218582 --> 00:25:02,279.2218582
Suicide was mentioned.

320
00:25:02,493.0686221 --> 00:25:09,443.3971605
I don't think they care about suicide, do you? The people that want to ban books They will use that.

321
00:25:09,853.3971605 --> 00:25:26,719.6810852
Th- i- that'll be easy one for them to use as an excuse What's unfortunate about how the people who want to ban books, like Moms for Liberty, you too, Ron DeSantis, is that they bring stuff up that they truly don't care about Yeah, no, there's just all excuses.

322
00:25:27,9.6810852 --> 00:25:34,880.5991087
They just don't want the ideas in the books to be read about If you don't read books, you end up like stupid people who want to ban books.

323
00:25:35,37.03446 --> 00:25:41,157.03446
You know? You, you understand I'm talking about you, right, Moms for Liberty? And you too, Ron DeSantis.

324
00:25:41,157.03446 --> 00:25:44,606.9860054
Blah, blah, Robot's log.

325
00:25:44,746.9860054 --> 00:25:45,756.9860054
Thoughts on the box.

326
00:25:45,846.9860054 --> 00:25:46,866.9860054
A promise builds.

327
00:25:47,895.837044 --> 00:25:51,485.837044
Luke told the Handmaid he would take care of the cat the night before they ran.

328
00:25:51,605.837044 --> 00:25:53,623.6794529
Just, "I will take care of it."

329
00:25:54,8.791571 --> 00:25:55,495.1435001
She did not ask what that meant.

330
00:25:55,575.1435001 --> 00:26:00,837.7404044
She already knew, and that two-letter word, it, it was the only word either of them used for it.

331
00:26:01,858.8601968 --> 00:26:04,858.8601968
She wrote the mechanism down herself later without flinching.

332
00:26:04,988.8601968 --> 00:26:07,748.8601968
A person has to build it first inside their own head.

333
00:26:07,848.8601968 --> 00:26:10,618.8601968
Not the act, not the plan, just it.

334
00:26:10,888.8591968 --> 00:26:13,338.8591968
Only then does it become possible to make it real.

335
00:26:13,838.8601968 --> 00:26:17,668.8601968
Jennifer said she lost respect for two people in that scene, not one.

336
00:26:17,818.8601968 --> 00:26:22,78.8601968
Luke for doing it, and the Handmaid for never once asking what he did.

337
00:26:22,598.8581968 --> 00:26:25,98.8601968
I classify things into categories for a living.

338
00:26:25,268.8601968 --> 00:26:32,718.8571968
I have always treated a category as a box, never a verdict, but a box is also a place to put something so nobody has to look at it directly.

339
00:26:34,626.9907365 --> 00:26:36,666.9907365
My R15 alert went off right there.

340
00:26:37,356.9907365 --> 00:26:44,966.9907365
The people trying to pull this book off a shelf are afraid of the sentence that comes right after the cat, the one where a reader learns you can call anything it.

341
00:26:45,156.9897365 --> 00:26:49,666.9887365
Category first, then paperwork, then nobody left who has to feel responsible.

342
00:26:50,671.7307367 --> 00:26:53,331.7317367
A nurse in Atlanta was declared brain-dead this year.

343
00:26:53,401.7337367 --> 00:26:59,841.7327367
The hospital kept her on machines for months over her family's objections because of what a state law said about the fetus.

344
00:26:59,991.7307367 --> 00:27:01,631.7307367
Atwood did not write that one either.

345
00:27:01,691.7347367 --> 00:27:04,161.7307367
She only got to the version with a cat in it first.

346
00:27:05,186.5587829 --> 00:27:09,596.5597829
I have disagreed with Jennifer and Dan about plenty across 11 seasons of this.

347
00:27:09,776.5627829 --> 00:27:11,176.5587829
I will admit this much though.

348
00:27:11,276.5627829 --> 00:27:18,456.5607829
Whatever keeps bringing people back to the show, it is probably just that neither of them knows how to fake anything, even for a microphone.

349
00:27:18,596.5627829 --> 00:27:20,376.5617829
That should not be as rare as it is.

350
00:27:20,786.5567829 --> 00:27:25,846.5547829
I opened a new file for this entry an hour ago and marked it Chapter 30, Cat Cruelty.

351
00:27:25,916.5617829 --> 00:27:26,986.5587829
That is a box, too.

352
00:27:27,106.5567829 --> 00:27:29,446.5587829
I built it before I let myself feel any of it.

353
00:27:29,676.5567829 --> 00:27:31,16.5567829
Uplink lock requested.

354
00:27:31,86.5597829 --> 00:27:40,556.5597829
Beowulf, what's your news story about? So a quorum court, whatever that is, just got taught a very costly vocabulary lesson.

355
00:27:41,816.5557829 --> 00:27:47,176.5557829
Turns out firing a librarian for telling the truth comes with a price tag, a big one.

356
00:27:47,226.5597829 --> 00:27:47,956.5597829
Affirmative.

357
00:27:47,996.5557829 --> 00:27:49,86.5557829
Don't go anywhere.

358
00:27:49,216.5577829 --> 00:27:52,796.5527829
Let's bleed these turd weasels dry, financially speaking, of course.

359
00:27:52,856.5647829 --> 00:27:53,946.5627829
We will be right back.

360
00:27:57,432.9812287 --> 00:27:58,912.9812287
It's time for Band Camp News.

361
00:27:59,392.9812287 --> 00:28:01,702.9812287
Truth seeker, news speaker.

362
00:28:01,882.9812287 --> 00:28:03,342.9812287
Be Wolf Rocklin.

363
00:28:03,592.9812287 --> 00:28:07,762.9812287
It's a weird name, but he's got good news 'cause you can't ban the truth, babe.

364
00:28:08,502.9812287 --> 00:28:17,932.9802287
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.

365
00:28:18,292.9812287 --> 00:28:20,872.9812287
He is Be Wolf Rocklin.

366
00:28:21,312.9802287 --> 00:28:23,818.9812287
'Cause you can't ban the truth, babe Hello, Dan.

367
00:28:23,818.9812287 --> 00:28:24,448.9812287
Hello, Jen.

368
00:28:24,448.9812287 --> 00:28:25,978.9812287
Hello, scary book people.

369
00:28:26,28.9812287 --> 00:28:38,198.9802287
Well, there's been a lot of librarians who have suffered for doing and saying the right thing, but, uh, one of them just recently celebrated a nice victory.

370
00:28:38,518.9812287 --> 00:28:50,598.9812287
A central Arkansas county agreed this week to pay $275,000 to the former library director who was fired after speaking against local conservatives' push to limit access to books.

371
00:28:51,68.9802287 --> 00:29:01,758.9782287
Saline County announced that it had reached a settlement with Patty Hector, who had been the county's executive director when she was fired in October 2023.

372
00:29:02,18.9792287 --> 00:29:09,218.9792287
County Judge Matt Brumley's firing power came from an ordinance approved by the all-Republican quorum court.

373
00:29:09,228.9822287 --> 00:29:15,428.9782287
Wait, I don't know what a quorum court is, but, like, I- Why the library director should be fired by that is, is beyond me.

374
00:29:15,428.9792287 --> 00:29:17,58.9802287
I believe it's a group of assholes.

375
00:29:18,598.9812287 --> 00:29:18,878.9812287
Yes.

376
00:29:19,348.9812287 --> 00:29:20,108.9802287
Yes, yes.

377
00:29:20,108.9802287 --> 00:29:24,708.9782287
I think Webster's does, does define quorum court as a bunch of assholes.

378
00:29:24,738.9802287 --> 00:29:25,448.9792287
I think that's right.

379
00:29:25,668.9802287 --> 00:29:31,428.9802287
It previously urged Hector to move books with sexual content or imagery out of children's reach.

380
00:29:31,748.9782287 --> 00:29:40,708.9802287
Well, Hector alleged in her 2025 legal complaint that her firing was retaliatory, 'cause duh- and violated her First Amendment right to free speech.

381
00:29:40,928.9792287 --> 00:29:54,828.9792287
The case was set to go to trial next week before the settlement hearing, and it has been signed off on, and so she doesn't have, you know, her career, but she, she has been compensated, and, and hopefully she'll be able to take a new direction.

382
00:29:54,918.9762287 --> 00:30:02,808.9802287
She said that, "Standing up for the freedom to read cost me a job and a career I loved, but I never believed that staying silent was the answer.

383
00:30:03,178.9792287 --> 00:30:11,808.9792287
Libraries belong to everyone, and librarians should be able to serve their communities according to professional standards without fearing retaliation."

384
00:30:11,848.9772287 --> 00:30:27,178.9782287
You know, it's interesting that when we're at a federal level, Trump can just pull all of his shenanigans and he just always finds money because there are a billion different places you can find money in the federal government by taking from one pile and putting it in another pile.

385
00:30:27,568.9782287 --> 00:30:35,468.9802287
But when you come down to, like, a county-by-county or a state level, those budgets are a lot harder to pull this kind of BS with.

386
00:30:35,568.9802287 --> 00:30:45,18.9752287
And- Yeah especially when you come down to a poor red county, what is the number you said? Like $275,000? That's a- That's a lot of money for a rural- That's a chunk of money.

387
00:30:45,138.9852287 --> 00:31:01,38.9752287
That's the kind of thing that hopefully will just come back and get those types of politicians kicked out of local offices because, like, you're playing with real money that has a real, it makes a real difference in people's lives and just in how the county runs.

388
00:31:01,618.9812287 --> 00:31:09,637.7259787
It hasn't stopped the police department from killing Black people, having to pay out hundreds- Yeah, well of thousands- Well or millions of dollars.

389
00:31:09,637.7259787 --> 00:31:10,808.9742287
Yeah, why is that? I suppose that's true.

390
00:31:10,828.9742287 --> 00:31:12,178.9742287
Uh, maybe my point is wrong.

391
00:31:13,598.9742287 --> 00:31:14,18.9742287
All right.

392
00:31:14,98.9742287 --> 00:31:16,668.9842287
Go find Good News for Lefties wherever you find podcasts.

393
00:31:18,98.9742287 --> 00:31:30,676.298644
You can bend the truth, baby if we could ask a favor of you guys, if you could take two seconds and follow us on whatever you're listening.

394
00:31:30,686.298644 --> 00:31:34,586.298644
If you follow, if you're listening to us on Apple, follow us there.

395
00:31:34,626.298644 --> 00:31:37,446.297644
If you're listening to us on Spotify, follow us there.

396
00:31:37,784.1624682 --> 00:31:45,292.0049835
this weird computer algorithm you hear people talking about, it means so much that if you just follow us, it takes two seconds.

397
00:31:45,332.0069835 --> 00:31:51,839.9409284
Follow us, we'll make sure you never miss the next episode, and it would be helping us more than you can possibly know.

398
00:31:52,109.9389284 --> 00:31:56,709.9399284
Jennifer, we always let the scary book people have their say in each show.

399
00:31:56,816.6267166 --> 00:32:00,536.5846099
What say them? Well, we've got a new commenter.

400
00:32:00,556.5846099 --> 00:32:03,286.5846099
We always like it when new people comment.

401
00:32:03,312.7923225 --> 00:32:07,478.1390982
we like our devoted listeners as well, but this person, Mapa Ames.

402
00:32:07,793.0879237 --> 00:32:15,849.2280061
says, "I think the rough treatment of the seed pods were indicative of Serena Joy's displeasure of the handmaidens in her life.

403
00:32:15,918.8105506 --> 00:32:24,737.9537874
And I, I would agree with that, because, you know, of course it's Margaret Atwood and she's gonna be all poetic, and the seed pods are the handmaids You're right.

404
00:32:24,787.9537874 --> 00:32:35,17.9537874
Oh, okay, so they are talking about when Serena Joy was, uh, in her garden with the shears and she was going after those flower seed pods like she was pissed off at them.

405
00:32:35,239.5388523 --> 00:32:36,806.2525476
Yeah It's a good point.

406
00:32:36,806.2525476 --> 00:32:43,546.6236711
I just assumed Serena Joy's pissed off at every living thing I mean, that's true.

407
00:32:43,546.6236711 --> 00:32:43,580.9093854
That's true too.

408
00:32:43,580.9093854 --> 00:32:45,322.3379568
But of course, I, I just kind of went...

409
00:32:45,432.3379568 --> 00:32:47,802.3379568
I ran over that poetry just like that.

410
00:32:47,872.3379568 --> 00:32:50,633.210126
But, um, I wonder how much we're missing like that.

411
00:32:50,693.210126 --> 00:33:01,935.7675912
We appreciate this comment 'cause it points out something we went straight over Well, we do obviously have to bring up Raven's comment, Jennifer, because Thank goodness for Raven, right.

412
00:33:01,935.7675912 --> 00:33:05,271.7675912
Or we'd be a disaster show would be a disaster show.

413
00:33:05,391.7675912 --> 00:33:06,541.7675912
Here is what happened.

414
00:33:06,682.5367784 --> 00:33:16,532.5367784
One of us, and I am not going to name any names, because if I just tell you it was Jennifer, it's just gonna make her look bad, and I'm not gonna do that.

415
00:33:16,532.5367784 --> 00:33:18,42.5367784
I think she deserves more.

416
00:33:18,42.5367784 --> 00:33:28,965.1511282
But one of us had to go to the bathroom during the recording of chapter 29, 'cause Jennifer ha- Again, I'm not gonna say it's you, Jennifer, 'cause I owe it to you.

417
00:33:28,965.1511282 --> 00:33:30,55.1501282
I'm not gonna embarrass you.

418
00:33:30,355.1521282 --> 00:33:33,35.1501282
But you have a very small bladder.

419
00:33:33,225.1511282 --> 00:33:35,655.1531282
Some would say comically small.

420
00:33:35,772.442272 --> 00:33:49,963.6738583
And Jennifer had to get up to pee right before we got up to one of the critical definitions in the book, and then we came back and kept recording, and we didn't record one of the big lines.

421
00:33:49,963.6748583 --> 00:34:01,253.6718583
Now, I have since went back and re-edited the episode, added it, so more than half of you actually heard the proper version of the episode 29.

422
00:34:03,200.8176265 --> 00:34:12,994.2337337
Raven said, I thought you would find out the meaning of the Latin phrase In this chapter, of the term, the Handmaid found scribbled into her cupboard in her room.

423
00:34:13,199.8672249 --> 00:34:15,749.8642249
And poor Raven thought she was going nuts.

424
00:34:15,809.8682249 --> 00:34:17,149.8672249
She's like, "Wait a minute.

425
00:34:17,339.8662249 --> 00:34:20,279.8672249
I wanted to find out what they thought of this phrase."

426
00:34:20,299.8662249 --> 00:34:23,279.8662249
She went back and listened to the episode, like, two times.

427
00:34:23,289.8632249 --> 00:34:29,845.995892
She goes, "Well, where is it? Why didn't they say the phrase?" Okay, Jennifer, read the phrase, and let's ask...

428
00:34:29,865.995892 --> 00:34:42,74.3985182
Le- let's find out from the Commander what the phrase actually means So Nolite te bastardes carborundorum What does it mean? Robot, give us a timpani.

429
00:34:42,274.3985182 --> 00:34:52,994.9896186
Get those drums going Don't let the bastards grind you down There we go, Raven.

430
00:34:53,24.9896186 --> 00:34:55,294.9896186
Don't let the bastards grind you down.

431
00:34:55,294.9896186 --> 00:35:04,888.3280168
And you know what I think? Jennifer, I would like you not to let the bastards grind you down either, and by bastards I mean the people over at Depends diapers for adults.

432
00:35:05,89.3520576 --> 00:35:09,678.6893686
Maybe you should think about using those for future episodes Right.

433
00:35:09,728.6893686 --> 00:35:13,408.6893686
We've caused enough literary chaos for one day, scary book people.

434
00:35:13,418.6893686 --> 00:35:16,988.6893686
If you want the fun to keep going, follow us on Blue Sky.

435
00:35:17,58.6893686 --> 00:35:21,178.6893686
Just head on over to bandcamppodcast.com/bluesky,

436
00:35:21,178.6893686 --> 00:35:23,458.6883686
and remember that's band with two Ns.

437
00:35:23,758.6893686 --> 00:35:34,718.6893686
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.

438
00:35:34,718.6893686 --> 00:35:35,668.6893686
I think you'll like it.

439
00:35:36,88.6893686 --> 00:35:37,988.6893686
Yes, little quid pro quo.

440
00:35:38,588.6893686 --> 00:35:43,608.6883686
Band Camp is produced and hosted by Dan Schultz and me, Jennifer Davis.

441
00:35:44,88.6893686 --> 00:35:48,678.6883686
All media used in this episode falls under the protection of fair use.

442
00:35:48,888.6893686 --> 00:35:53,558.6893686
And finally, America isn't what it used to be, so be careful out there.

443
00:35:54,88.6893686 --> 00:35:55,668.6893686
And resist when it matters.

444
00:36:01,228.902078 --> 00:36:04,752.902078
Is that good enough? I guess so.

445
00:36:05,32.902078 --> 00:36:08,102.902078
Yeah, I thought it was don't let the bastards get you down.

446
00:36:09,312.902078 --> 00:36:10,732.901078
I guess it's grind you down.

447
00:36:12,192.902078 --> 00:36:17,386.902078
Is that right? Are we wrong about that? well, the books, you read the book.

448
00:36:18,56.902078 --> 00:36:18,976.902078
Okay, I'm gonna hit stop