Mental Self-Checkout

Summary

Podcast Summary: "I've Had It" – Episode: Mental Self-Checkout

Hosts: Jennifer Welch and Angie "Pumps" Sullivan

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1. Early Grievances: Premature Holiday Decorations and 'Favorite' Questions

Jennifer Welch (00:47): The episode kicks off with Jennifer and Angie poking fun at the early onset of Christmas decorations. Jennifer expresses her frustration about neighborhoods being decked out in Christmas lights and decorations well before Thanksgiving, disrupting the natural holiday order.

"Why are we putting Christmas before Thanksgiving? My neighborhood is full of Christmas lights. They've already been on my walk this weekend." — Jennifer Welch (01:15)

Angie introduces her pet peeve about being repeatedly asked to name her "favorite" movie, meal, or song. She criticizes the narrow-mindedness of limiting preferences to a single favorite when she enjoys multiple options equally.

"I don't have it narrowed down to a favorite. I like a bunch of different stuff. Quit asking me what my favorite is." — Angie Sullivan (02:40)

2. Political Frustrations: Navigating Trump-Era America

The hosts delve into the political landscape, particularly addressing frustrations stemming from the Trump administration. Angie emphasizes the importance of maintaining integrity and supporting those marginalized by the political shifts.

"We have to stop with the politics, integrity politics. And we need to begin the fuck you politics." — Angie Sullivan (05:04)

Jennifer echoes this sentiment, advocating for unity and community support rather than division and online hostility towards Trump supporters.

"Our focus, instead of picking on each other, needs to be picking on the person that attempted a coup." — Angie Sullivan (05:20)

3. Personal Stories: Husband's Tantrum and Listener's Bathroom Mishap

Angie's Anecdote (06:52): Kathy shares a humorous story about Jennifer's husband, Josh, who threw a mild tantrum over being seated in the backseat of Jennifer's car. Despite Josh's initial sulking while wiping the car seat, the situation resolves with playful banter, showcasing their dynamic relationship.

"As far as Josh Welch temper tantrums go, it was about a three or four." — Angie Sullivan (07:40)

Listener Email (10:54): David Holt recounts an embarrassing incident where he had an urgent bathroom mishap while listening to the podcast. His unfortunate experience is humorously tied to a previous episode's discussion, highlighting the relatable and candid nature of the podcast.

"How do you know my life? Were you in that bathroom?" — David Holt (12:40)

4. Interview with Mayor David Holt: Local Leadership and Inclusivity

Introduction (14:05): Mayor David Holt of Oklahoma City joins the podcast to discuss local governance, inclusivity, and community cohesion in a politically divided environment.

Oklahoma City as a Microcosm (19:28): Mayor Holt describes Oklahoma City as a balanced, bipartisan city, reflecting the country's political split. He emphasizes the city's diversity and the importance of pragmatic leadership over partisan politics.

"Oklahoma City is a microcosm of the country, both politically, demographically and in the way we vote in state and federal elections." — Mayor David Holt (19:28)

Inclusivity and Community Support (33:36): Addressing LGBTQ+ listeners, Mayor Holt reassures them of Oklahoma City's welcoming environment. He underscores the administration's commitment to equal opportunity and the protection of personal freedoms, fostering an inclusive community.

"All people are welcome in Oklahoma City. Everybody deserves to feel valued." — Mayor David Holt (34:08)

Pragmatic Leadership (30:45): Mayor Holt concurs with a prior guest comment that mayors are more pragmatists than politicians, focusing on effective governance and tangible accomplishments rather than performative gestures.

"Mayors are pragmatists more than they are politicians. We can't define success by a press conference or a great tweet." — Mayor David Holt (30:45)

5. "Had It or Hit It" Game Segment

The hosts engage Mayor Holt in a playful game called "Had It or Hit It," where participants decide whether they "had it" (are frustrated with) or "hit it" (agree with) various topics.

Examples from the Segment:

• Airports: Mayor Holt expresses frustration with inefficient jetbridge operations, suggesting staffing issues as the root cause.

  "These braggarts claiming that they can listen to every podcast under the sun in a record amount of time. It's impossible." — Mayor David Holt (20:26)

• Self-Checkout Tipping: The discussion touches on controversial self-checkout practices that prompt customers to tip themselves, with differing opinions on its fairness.

  "Do you think if you are doing the self checkout, you're the one working? Do you think you should get a discount?" — Angie Sullivan (43:40)

• Book Banning: Mayor Holt strongly opposes book banning, defending the First Amendment and the importance of diverse ideas in public libraries.

  "That's ridiculous. That's un-American. You can't profess your belief in the First Amendment and decide some things aren't fit for library shelves." — Mayor David Holt (44:32)

6. Promotional Segments and Wrap-Up

Throughout the episode, Jennifer and Angie incorporate promotional content for sponsors like LiveNation.com and Quince, seamlessly integrating these segments without disrupting the flow of the discussion.

"Get cozy in Quince's high quality wardrobe essentials. Go to quince.com/hadit for free shipping..." — Angie Sullivan (16:14)

The episode concludes with a tease for their upcoming live shows and a shout-out to their new podcast, "I Hip News," highlighting their continued commitment to engaging and entertaining their audience.

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Notable Quotes:

• "We have a special breed of cynicism that we can all come together and fight this together." — Angie Sullivan (13:35)

• "Equality means equal treatment under the law, equal opportunity, not equal outcomes." — Mayor David Holt (46:15)

• "Our listeners are tough. We are tough." — Kathy (13:52)

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Conclusion: In this episode of "I've Had It," Jennifer Welch and Angie Sullivan navigate through a spectrum of personal grievances, political frustrations, and community-focused discussions. The candid conversations, coupled with humorous anecdotes and insightful interviews, provide listeners with a blend of comedy and thoughtful commentary on contemporary issues. Mayor David Holt's appearance adds a layer of local governance perspective, emphasizing the importance of inclusivity and pragmatic leadership in fostering strong, resilient communities.

Transcript

[Jennifer]

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[Angie]

McDonald's, you pick a McDouble or a McChicken. Then get a small fry, a small drink and a four piece McNuggets. That's a lot of McDonald's for not a lot of money.

[Kathy]

Price and participation may vary for a limited time only.

[Angie]

So are we supposed to start the podcast?

[Kathy]

1, 2, 3.

[Angie]

Welcome to America's number one podcast. Now that we're in Trump's America, you just get to Gaslight, everybody. We are larger than Joe Rogan. We are the biggest podcasters in America.

[Kathy]

And that's why we say caw.

[Angie]

I think it's time.

[Kathy]

You think it's time to pull the whole thing out.

[Angie]

Patriots, gay triots. They triots. All right, listen up, pumps. What have you had it with?

[Kathy]

Okay, what? I've had it with which. This is annual. If you're a two year listener, you know this is my annual. Bitch. Every November. Why are we putting Christmas before Thanksgiving? My, my neighborhood is full of Christmas lights. They're already on. On my walk this weekend. We have reindeers and Santa sleighs in front yards already. It's not been Thanksgiving. Can we not have Thanksgiving before Christmas? I've had it. Not to mention the radio stations, which I never listened to, but I was flipping through with sports. They're already full blown. Christmas, I've had it. Thanksgiving is first. That's the natural order. Thanksgiving, Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas. That's how it goes. We're rushing Christmas. I've had it.

[Angie]

I have an answer for you.

[Kathy]

Okay, what is it?

[Angie]

There was a war on Christmas. And Christmas won.

[Kathy]

Christmas won.

[Angie]

Christmas time. It won and it continues to win. I even saw some stuff going up before Halloween. That's how resounding the victory has been.

[Kathy]

They have. It was a knockdown, complete knockout punch. Thanksgiving, Halloween. You're done. Yeah. Christmas is the leader.

[Angie]

Pretty soon it's going to be year round. Christmas.

[Kathy]

I'm just, I just feel like it makes things go too fast. I don't like it. I like to observe the Natural order.

[Angie]

Let me tell you what I've had it with, okay? I've had it. When people ask you a question like, what is your favorite movie? What is your favorite meal? What is your favorite song? I don't have it narrowed down to a favorite. I like a bunch of different shit. Quit asking me what my favorite is. I want to do away with this type of questioning because you it the person who has asked the question thinks, oh, I've got to give a really good answer here, right? And from now on I'm going to say that's a stupid question. There are literally millions of movies, millions of songs, and millions of different types of meals. I have lots of favorites. I have a lot of stuff that's on my preferred list, but I don't have an actual favorite. Like I. I was asked this question recently and I'm just like, this is a stupid question. What's your favorite movie? Well, I have a ton. I probably have 40 that I like equally the same. And then the same with songs and the same with meals. I don't have a favorite. I think that's a very narrow minded approach to have to life that you just have this one favorite.

[Kathy]

Okay, what about when somebody asks you that question like, what's your favorite movie? And you tell them and then they start telling you how that's a terrible movie. Like they argue with you about what your opinion is about something subjective. Have you ever had that happen?

[Angie]

Yes, which is why I'm not answering these questions anymore.

[Kathy]

It's just like, shut it down.

[Angie]

I'm going to flip the script and say, what's your favorite stupid question? Out of all the stupid questions you, you can ask somebody, what is your favorite one? That's what want to know.

[Kathy]

That's a great flip the script. I really like that.

[Angie]

Yeah.

[Kathy]

How about what's your favorite stupid question other than the one you just asked me?

[Angie]

Exactly.

[Kathy]

I like that.

[Angie]

See, that's the kind of fuck you attitude we need to bring to 2025.

[Kathy]

I like it. I'm all in.

[Angie]

Welcome to I've had it. I'm Jennifer.

[Kathy]

I'm Angie.

[Angie]

She is the star of the show. A podcaster that far surpasses Joe Rogan and call her daddy and all of those. She is the most famous woman in all of podcasting.

[Kathy]

I am so famous that I am the number one podcaster with all WWE fans and UFC fans. I'm their favorite.

[Angie]

I agree. So listen up, patriots, gay trios and natriots. All right. You know, I think everybody was paralyzed and sad Licking their wounds and moping around because of this election. And I know I sure was.

[Kathy]

Oh, gosh, yes.

[Angie]

But I want all of you to know that, number one, we are still on the right side of history. Nobody can take that from us. And number two, we have to stop with the politics, integrity politics. And we need to begin the fuck you politics. You for lying to the American public. And for all of those people that were lied to by MAGA and all of those people that are going to get marginalized by maga, do not be mean to them online, say, hey, look, dumbass, we told you he was a liar. But we're here. Our tent is big. You can come over here when the economy tanks. You can come over here when they round up immigrants and deport them. You can come over here when they make gay marriage illegal and all of these things. We're here. We tried to sound the alarm bells, but you were gaslit. And so our focus, instead of picking on each other, needs to be picking on the person that attempted a coup that lies to the religious right and tells them he's this big Christian. Meanwhile, he's fucking porn stars. That's where our focus needs to be. And we need to focus on preserving democracy and preserving our right to free speech, because we still have it. We still get to shit talk. That's what this podcast is about, is about shit talking. And we're not giving it up.

[Kathy]

I could not agree more. In fact, I have a shit talking story. Would you like to hear it?

[Angie]

Yes.

[Kathy]

Okay. It's about your husband.

[Angie]

Okay.

[Kathy]

So recently, Jennifer's husband, Josh, he needed a favor and he needed that favorite from me. And so he needed me to take him to get pick up his car that was in the shop. So I said, of course I'll help you. I would love to help you. So we go out to the car and he was going to have to sit in the backseat because Jennifer was in the front seat and he threw on a 1 to 10. 10 being the biggest tantrum ever seen by a person in the history of the world. Where would you rate his temper tantrum about sitting in the backseat?

[Angie]

As far as Josh Welch temper tantrums go, it was about a three or four.

[Kathy]

You think it was. It was more of a passive aggressive. So he starts wiping the seat down, which to his credit, I do have a Siberian husky that gets hair on it. But he's like wiping the car and he's sulking and he's huffing and he's puffing. And I said, josh, just let Me get in the back seat? I'll just get in the back seat so you don't have to worry about it. So he gets in the back seat or he gets in the driver's seat. He's driving my car. So then I'm in the backseat and I said, we need to stop and get gas. And he goes, well, can't. Can't you get it after you drop me off? And I said, josh, I'm sitting in the backseat of my own car because you're such a titty baby. So I think that you should be in charge of getting the gas. So anyway, he gets the gas, I drop him off, and we're getting out of the car, and he actually says to me, when he gets out of the driver's side and I get around from the back, he goes, you look really cute today, except now you have dog hair all over the back of you. And I looked at him and I go, fuck you. The best part about Josh is as annoying as he is, that story tickled me for two or three days. I thought it was hilarious.

[Angie]

I mean, so in that vein, listener, and going back to where we are, if you have people in your lives that voted for Trump and then they are upset because they start to realize they were lied to, you can say, you, I'm here for you. But you. That's the lesson. You do not have to say you. You get what you deserve, right? You say, you, I'm here for you. I know you were lied to. I know you bought into it. I know you went down a conspiracy rabbit hole. But we here at I've had It are here for you, and our community is here for you. But listen up, listener, this is going to be a tough fight. It's going to be an ugly fight. It's going to be a brutal fight. But we still have the First Amendment, and for us here, I've had it. The First Amendment is shit talking. The First Amendment is telling Josh Welch. Yeah. So that's where it is. That's where we are. Now, if some of you have tightened your circle because you just can't be around Trump supporters, I get it. I've been doing that for a very long time because it's difficult to face people that. There's different levels of Trumpers, but especially the ones that, you know, feast on the racism and feast on the cruelty. You can have a boundary with them. You don't have to actively scream fuck you to them. But every single day, we have to come together and form communities and support each other. And remember that in all of these big economic centers, they're overwhelmingly blue. We have power and we still have it. And we have to stay together to fight this cause together. And that's why in this podcast, each and every Tuesday and Thursday, we're gonna laugh, we're gonna say you, and we're gonna have fun. Kathy, our producers here. Kylie. Kathy, what's going on?

[David Holt]

I have an email to read you. Speaking of shit talking, she said, hi. Gin and pumps. I've been meaning to write this to you for more than a year. But after election day, I thought this story might raise your spirits. Who doesn't love a literal shit show? To give you some background, I started teaching at a new school. And my biggest issue with this new school is that the only staff bathroom was a prison style gang bathroom with 25 stalls and zero privacy. Well, on October 10, 2023, I was standing talking to a colleague when all of a sudden I felt like maybe I needed to use the bathroom. Before I could take a step, something inside of me burst and I had diarrhea running down my legs. I sprinted to the bathroom and went to the furthest stall. Pretty sure I left a trail into and out of the bathroom. I then sprinted out of the building to my car and called the office to say I was sick and was leaving immediately. I put an old beach towel down on the car seat and started my 35 minute drive home.

[Kathy]

Oh, no.

[David Holt]

You may be wondering what this has to do with you. Well, on the day in question, you had just released a new episode and I put it on in the car to distract myself from the smell. Unfortunately, that episode included a long discussion of the Delta shitter who trailed diarrhea down the aisle of an airplane en route to Barcelona. I was screaming answers back at you as you talked about all the questions you had. Like, what did you eat? A frozen burrito? What were you wearing that it just spilled right out on the floor? A dress. I eventually made it home, threw out the towel, dress, shoes, and even my bra, which was technically unaffected but still somehow complicit. But the question still haunts me. How do you know my life? Were you in that bathroom? What the fuck? I've had it.

[Angie]

Oh my God. That's just.

[Kathy]

I've been there. I have been her. I mean, it is the absolute worst. I mean, and then you have to. Not only did you shit all over yourself in a public place, which that's the worst. Like you. You think that I can't get any lower than that. But then the next Thing, you know, you're having to hide the evidence in a public restroom and then you're having to slink to your car. Then your car's just a disaster area. No, I've been there. I feel her pain. I get it. Completely get it.

[Angie]

Yeah. I mean, that's. Those are the stories that are going to keep us going. Yeah, that's right. You know, if she can push through her explosive diarrhea, if pumps can shit in a styrofoam cup on the side of the highway, we can get through four years of Trumpism.

[Kathy]

That's right.

[Angie]

I mean, we can do it.

[Kathy]

We can do it.

[Angie]

We can do it. We have together special breed of cynicism that we can all come together and fight this together.

[Kathy]

Our cynicism collectively equips us to deal with what's about to come.

[Angie]

Our listeners are tough.

[Kathy]

We are tough.

[Angie]

Yeah. She. She fought through the explosive diarrhea and made it home.

[Kathy]

What I love the most is she's answering questions back while she's driving.

[Angie]

All right, listener, today we have a very special guest, and he has been a friend of mine for a very long time, and he is the president of the National Mayors association, and he is the mayor of our great city. And his name is Mayor David Holt and Oklahoma City. You might be thinking, why are you having a mayor on? Oklahoma City is like a 50, 50 city. 50% voted red, 50% voted blue. So let's ask Mayor Holt, what the. How do we do this? And I'm asking for leadership on a local level. We're going to start local. Yes, yes.

[Kathy]

Just my micro starts. Build to the macro.

[Angie]

And we have. I have a lot of questions for him surrounding airport management that I want to address.

[Kathy]

Right.

[Angie]

So without further ado, we're gonna have to do a little switcheroo in the chairs for our YouTube viewers. Pumps is gonna have to come over here next to me. And let's welcome Oklahoma City Mayor David Holt, listener. This may come as a total shock to you, but Pumps and I have not always been this pulled together and rock solid. In fact, we used to be rather screwed up.

[Kathy]

When you say pumps, I would say damn near psychotic.

[Angie]

Totally. And we have written a cell phone expose. One could even say it's a manifesto. And the book title is Life is.

[Kathy]

A Lazy Susan of Shit Sandwiches.

[Angie]

In all sincerity, we share a lot of our struggles that led us to this grand stage where we can talk about petty grievances. You can click the link below in the show notes to pre order order your copy. Now, I am so happy that the temperature is cooling. As you walk down the street, your feet are crunching in the leaves. But what really is the cherry on top of all of this is a Mongolian cashmere sweater from Quince and they start at just $50.

[Kathy]

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[Angie]

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[Kathy]

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[Angie]

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[Mayor David Holt]

I am wonderful. This is a huge honor because many of your listeners may not realize, but you two are the pride of Oklahoma City.

[Kathy]

And I don't know about that. I think maybe you think we're the.

[Angie]

Pride of Oklahoma City. Per the last election results, 50% or 49% may think we're the pride.

[Kathy]

Right? The other might think we are the devil.

[Angie]

But Oklahoma City is really purple, isn't it?

[Mayor David Holt]

Yeah, I mean it's, I often say it's kind of by the way we should probably establish, we are in Oklahoma City right now. I don't know that everybody listening to this knows this, but. But yes, Oklahoma City is really a microcosm of the country, both politically, demographically and in the way we vote in state and federal elections. And that, that sometimes is lost because people think of Oklahoma.

[Angie]

Right.

[Mayor David Holt]

But Oklahoma City is very different than Oklahoma. And yes, the county last week that makes up 80% of Oklahoma City voted 49, 48. Yeah, I mean, it's basically, as I said, a microcosm of the country.

[Angie]

Exactly. All right, Mayor, what have you had it with?

[Mayor David Holt]

I've had it with people who listen somehow some way to like 20 podcasts every single day. And because I'm going to tell you, like, I'm going to listen to this. Yeah, it will take me two to three months to get through, to get through this 30 minute podcast. I mean, I don't understand. I will talk to people and they're like, oh my gosh, you got to listen to this podcast. I'm like, you know, okay, I'll try to block out some time sometime in January to do that for you. But. But you will talk to people. And I'm sure you now you're in like, really deep in the podcast world. You know, I'm sure you talk to people who listen to like, what seemingly seems like 40 podcasts a week. And I know the games of like, you know, speeding it up and all that to try to make it more efficient. But again, I have no concept for how people do that. And I live in a city where I'm in the car, obviously all the time and we're always driving. And yet still, somehow that does not work out for me. So I've had it with these braggarts claiming that they can listen to every podcast under the sun in a record amount of time.

[Angie]

Yeah, quit overachieving listener. Only listen to. I've had it.

[Kathy]

There's one podcast.

[Angie]

Who do you listen to?

[Kathy]

Okay, so I watch podcasts at night on YouTube instead of like TV. Okay, so I probably do. I probably do five or six a day now. I'll fast forward.

[Mayor David Holt]

I've had it with you. See, I've had it with you.

[Angie]

That's what I'm saying.

[Mayor David Holt]

You're full of it. You're totally making that up. You're reading the synopsis.

[Kathy]

No.

[Angie]

Are there synopsis? I guess there are, yeah. In the YouTube notes.

[Kathy]

Yeah, no, I watch them online on YouTube. That's what I do primarily. And then I ride around the car with like one or two, depending on how much I'm in the car.

[Mayor David Holt]

This would stress me out. This would be saying, like, I want to try to read six newspapers a day or something. Like, it can't be done. What you're doing is impossible.

[Kathy]

Well, what's.

[Mayor David Holt]

Aren't you a lawyer, too?

[Angie]

Like, yeah, she's America's greatest. Yes. I'm starting off Oklahoma City.

[Kathy]

Meemaw me curtains. Oklahoma City, here we go.

[Angie]

Okay, we have a question for you and a lot of our listeners. Everybody has the most grievances during air travel. And so I want to know who is the boss of Will Rogers Airport? That's our airport in Oklahoma City. Who's the boss?

[Mayor David Holt]

Well, I mean, so the airport is owned by the city.

[Angie]

Okay.

[Mayor David Holt]

It has a director. He answers to a board.

[Angie]

Okay.

[Mayor David Holt]

A trust, technically. And I appoint all the members of that trust.

[Kathy]

Perfect.

[Mayor David Holt]

I was afraid that was what you were.

[Angie]

This is this listener. We are about to impact micro change right there. Okay. So we have some grievances.

[Mayor David Holt]

Okay. Should I have brought a notebook?

[Angie]

No. You can forward the podcast to your friends that listen to 40 podcasts, right?

[Kathy]

Yes.

[Mayor David Holt]

Yeah. Could you transcribe this for me?

[Angie]

All right. The first. The first question is, who is the jetbridge operators?

[Mayor David Holt]

We are really getting into the weeds.

[Angie]

We gotta get into the weeds because these are things that I think we can impact change in people's lives that are nonpartisan. I think both sides of the aisle can come together for this. So when you have a city like Oklahoma City, that's not like O'Hare.

[Mayor David Holt]

Sure, sure.

[Angie]

You pretty much know what's arriving, what's leaving. There's not a whole lot of planes. When a plane arrives on time and the jet bridge operator takes about 10 minutes to connect the jet bridge to the plane. Okay, where do we complain? To whom do we complain? Is that you? To the.

[Mayor David Holt]

So you're saying you're parked, you're at. We're parked, you're at the termin. But there's that you feel that there's a ten minute gap.

[Angie]

Correct.

[Mayor David Holt]

Is it possible that your concept of time is just actually a little off?

[Angie]

It's always possible that we're the problem.

[Kathy]

Always. Never rule that out.

[Angie]

But we travel a lot for this podcast. And I will say that sometimes even the pilot says, well, folks, I don't know, we're waiting on a jet bridge operator.

[Mayor David Holt]

It could be less. More like a staffing issue, probably. It's not necessarily that the guy or gal is there like, and just the jetbridge is banging against the building. They don't know what they're doing. It may be that, like, there's only so many drip bridge operators, and we'd love to have more, but, I mean, I find in lots of things, and I'm sure you're having the same experience, we're all understaffed. You know, that would be my first hypothesis. Obviously, I can run this, try to run this down for you.

[Angie]

Can you troubleshoot this for us? Workshop it. Tell them about what happened the other day.

[Kathy]

Okay, so we arrive in Oklahoma City. We're on time, and as you know, it's not a booming, like 50, 60, 70 planes landing at the same time. So we pull up and park just away from all the gates. And they said, our gates not ready for us yet. So we sat for 20 minutes waiting for a gate while there were at least 10 to 15 other gates, free.

[Angie]

Gates that were available. American, American.

[Kathy]

But we were like. So we, she and I, of course, were bitching to each other, like, why wouldn't we go to another gate? This seems so inefficient. Blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. And this guy turned around and goes, I think it's going to be real soon. Like, he was trying to put a pacifier in our mouth.

[Angie]

A passenger, a fellow Passeng yellow passenger.

[Kathy]

Was just like, these ladies are gonna go bananas.

[Angie]

Yeah, well, but here's my point is the ability in business to improvise. So you pull up and the pilot's like, well, folks, looks like this plane's delayed pushing off, blah, blah. Why didn't people within the airport say, let's just push them to gate six? Because we were supposed to go to gate five or whatever it was.

[Mayor David Holt]

Or, like, let's just open the emergency exit and throw the inflation slide down or something.

[Angie]

That's. Now you're talking.

[Kathy]

I would have loved that.

[Angie]

That would have been fascinating.

[Mayor David Holt]

With their day, they got podcasts to listen to. They don't have time for this crap.

[Kathy]

Can you tailor the airport for us?

[Mayor David Holt]

Yeah, you know, on. Well, I don't know. Your. Your viewers and listeners right now are like, well, I think I'll just catch the next podcast. I think this one's gone a little too far into the airports for me. But no, I think, you know, you also have to consider that some gates are controlled by different airlines. And, like, all the gates are not necessarily available to an American Airlines flight.

[Angie]

Gotcha. Okay, that makes sense.

[Mayor David Holt]

They have kind of their little world, you know, when you walk to the airport, like, there's United, there's Delta, there's Southwest, Right. So, anyways, I'll take all this under advice.

[Angie]

One final grievances regarding the airport, and then we're going to move on to something else. But one final thing. If y'all ever remodel the airport, if you notice when you walk down to the gates, like if you're heading down to the very end of the airport, tile floors with grout and roller bags.

[Mayor David Holt]

Yeah, I know. Keeps you awake.

[Angie]

Yeah. I think the.

[Mayor David Holt]

It's like those rumble strips on the side of a highway.

[Angie]

Exactly. Terrazzo, I think. I know it's expensive, but I think Terrazzo is more. We're not going to have that many gates. I think our city always invests in spending in the city. I think a nice smooth terrazzo to replace that tile floor with all that grout because it's awfully noisy.

[Mayor David Holt]

My wife says the same thing.

[Angie]

Okay.

[Mayor David Holt]

I. I think this has been a great advertisement for Oklahoma City. I think that people who come, I want them, as they roll their bag through our airport upon their arrival to visit, because they want to see the hometown of this podcast. And they. And then suddenly when they hear that, they'll go, oh, that's it.

[Kathy]

That's it.

[Mayor David Holt]

That's what she was talking about. And I think. I think actually it may become more of our. More of an identity for us.

[Angie]

Maybe we can make it go viral.

[Kathy]

Right.

[Angie]

Clicking. What airport am I in? Click, click, click. And everybody puts on their TikTok and Instagram, and everybody knows by the sound that they're in okc. See, I like where your head's at. You should be in charge of the city. Okay, all right. I want to move on to something else. So listener. Oklahoma City has been going through a bit of a renaissance, and everybody votes to invest in the city. We have this all star basketball team, the Oklahoma City Thunder. There's a lot of beautiful development going on in downtown Oklahoma City. And there is a. An art installation in downtown Oklahoma City. It is a ring. It's a circle.

[Mayor David Holt]

Even taping this. Or was this. You just needed a meeting with me.

[Kathy]

Is this actually real?

[Mayor David Holt]

Is this real?

[Angie]

It's real.

[Mayor David Holt]

It's even a.

[Angie]

It's real. Hello. Is this thing on? Okay. It's a listener. It is a circle that's in, like, a median. And if you think about the way OKC spelled. No, it's like an art circle. Okay, okay, okay. And it says okc. Okc. OKC all over it.

[Mayor David Holt]

Familiar. I can't believe you're not using the.

[Angie]

And then it's spelled. If you think about It C, O, C, K. C, O, C, K. And it's the shape of a ring. And Mayor, I apologize for my language, but somebody else put this there. It's. It's called the cock rings.

[Mayor David Holt]

I'm familiar with this landmark.

[Angie]

Okay, Okay. I want to know who cleared this.

[Mayor David Holt]

Yeah, great, Great question. I think it came in just before I took office.

[Kathy]

Had to have been.

[Mayor David Holt]

And yes, it is definitely one of those things. It was more private sector driven. There's actually like some sort of air conditioning units or something that it's blocking that are inside of it.

[Angie]

Okay.

[Mayor David Holt]

Yeah, I think it's one of those things where it's like it kind of happened and once it had. It's. It's very expensive and probably not worth it to undo, but a little. Yeah, a little bit. One of those things where you thought nobody said anything. I think it's actually a great case study and sort of human behavior, because there probably were people who noticed it. But, like, how do you say that out loud? How do you say out loud at a planning meeting?

[Angie]

You know, exactly. Or I mean, is this.

[Mayor David Holt]

And you're probably like, oh, this is so childish. I can't. Nobody will ever say, right.

[Kathy]

No one will ever think that. And then everybody immediately goes, oh, my gosh, it's a cock. Crane. Oklahoma City. How's.

[Angie]

Or is this the gay agenda working in secretive ways? Did these gays install a ring in the middle of the heartland? I don't know. I mean, these are just questions that I think are just asking questions. We'll put the picture of the ring for our YouTube watcher so you can see it. But anyway, listen, listener, it isn't a beautiful little intersection of all of this development that's going on in downtown Oklahoma City, but you are the boss of all the mayors, right?

[Mayor David Holt]

Well, I will be. I'm the vice. And that's not necessarily how I would describe it, but I understand what you're referencing. I am the vice president of the US Conference of Marriage. I will be the president in June.

[Angie]

Oh, that's so amazing. So we were on. We were in Pennsylvania and we were in Scranton. And their mayor comes up, introduces herself to us, Paige. And she immediately says, do you know David Holt? And I said, I do know David. I know him very well. We took a selfie and sent it to you. But you're very popular among other mayors.

[Mayor David Holt]

Well, we love each other. We're all very popular amongst our class. You know, I think that we all feel that mayors get things done, that we work together well across bipartisan. Lines that we really take pride in the effectiveness that, you know, the effective government that's happening in a lot of cities, maybe in some contrast to the state and federal level. So, yeah. Paige Cognetti, Scranton, Pennsylvania. I'm sure now she's gotta put in the investment of time to listen to this podcast, right?

[Angie]

That's right. She got a shout out, add it to her schedule.

[Kathy]

One thing she said, and I wanted to see what you thought about this, she said mayors are pragmatists more than they are politicians. Would you agree with that?

[Mayor David Holt]

Oh, absolutely, yeah. No, I mean, like, we can't define success by a press conference or a great tweet. You know, like, we have to get things done. And too often it seems, especially in legislative bodies at the state and federal level, it's like, yeah, people just. They've lost sight of what actually an accomplishment looks like.

[Angie]

Right.

[Mayor David Holt]

Doing something right. And mayors don't have that option because a lot of what we do is absolutely integral to your daily life. Like, you know, if we treat the job like performance art, you know, your trash isn't going to get picked up, your water's not going to come out of your faucet, your police and fire protection isn't going to arrive when you need it. And so, like, we have to take this deadly seriously. And we often, you know, represent communities like Oklahoma City that are like 50 50. So we can't say, well, we're just going to side on every issue with the Republicans or the Democrats. We got to find ways to work together. So, yeah, no, I think we're very pragmatic, and so sometimes we upset the extremes. But a lot of times mayors are elected as they are in Oklahoma City in a system where everybody can vote. This is really important to, I think, to an effective electoral system where everybody can see all the candidates and all the candidates have to face all the voters. And that's what we do in Oklahoma City. And a lot of cities, we don't go through a closed partisan primary. So I can build a coalition of normal Republicans, Democrats and independents. Really, the 70% of Americans in the middle who just want to work together to get things done. That group doesn't really have a mechanism to speak with one voice in most other races, but they do in Oklahoma City. And so we just govern differently. We govern for the normal people, the two thirds in the middle. And we see it through the continued passage of initiatives like you just referenced that have made the city a better place.

[Angie]

The cock ring.

[Mayor David Holt]

Yeah.

[Angie]

Just kidding.

[Mayor David Holt]

Not a. Not a maps Project.

[Angie]

No, but the map. But. But right now, you know, I think a lot of people, half the country, half of your city, are feeling really sad and isolated and maybe like they don't fit in, maybe like they don't belong. And as mayor, I follow you on all the social media, and we've been friends for a long time, since before you were mayor. You always make a point, if it's Gay Pride Month or the Pride Parade, to be inclusive and to say, I, as your mayor, I'm here to celebrate with you. If it's Ramadan, you send out a tweet, and if it's some of the Jewish holidays, the Christian holidays, you always make a point because you realize that so many of your citizens of this city are not the exact demographic and sexual preference and gender and all of the stuff that you are. And I think that that's a really important component that's going to help people get through this, is to know that on local levels, people that actually live around you, accept you.

[Mayor David Holt]

Yeah.

[Angie]

And want to see you as being equal and want to see your life as being fair to everybody else's. So what can you speak to a lot of our listeners who are, I mean, literally in the fetal position, terrified, because we have a lot of LGBTQ plus listeners, and they feel like they're going to be even further marginalized. What do you, as a mayor of a 5050 city, what message do you have for these people that feels so forgotten about and marginalized, both from the electorate and from the incoming administration?

[Mayor David Holt]

You know, certainly here in Oklahoma City, you know, I think my message is, as it has been for the six years I've been married, that all people are welcome in Oklahoma City. And as you said, I have and will continue to go out of my way to make sure that they see that tangibly. And as you said, it's not just like historically marginalized populations. I also wish everyone a Merry Christmas and a Happy Easter. You know, I mean, like, it. Everybody deserves to feel valued in Oklahoma City. And I can't. I can't necessarily extend that influence any farther than the city limits of my city, but I've always viewed in life that I'll just try to control what I can control and try to, you know, set a good example in my backyard, and that's not going to change. And as I said earlier, I mean, here in Oklahoma City, we've found a way to work together. I mean, the last election in Oklahoma City, the last presidential election, was 4,948, actually. We've had two straight 4,948 elections in Oklahoma county, the largest county in our city. And, you know, that came 11 months after Maps 4 got 72%. This election came 11 months after a major plan to keep our city a major league sports city got passed by 71%. So, like, we keep showing that even as we're voting in a divided way on federal officials, we are uniting on key issues to our city. So I think we'll keep trying to do that. I can't control everything. But we have managed to hold this together in the face of nearly a decade of national division. And part of it is built on this idea that everyone has value. And, you know, I ran on and have served under this ethos of one okc, and that's what that means to me, that we all should be part of our city's narrative. And certainly we maybe had overlooked that in the past. We're a very diverse city under the age of 18, and our city is 60% non white. So. And we have people from every corner of the world and every religion. And, yeah, we. I just. I just will always. I don't want to serve if I have to do it in a bigoted way, you know, or an exclusive way, you know, I want to serve in a way that appreciates all our residents and truly all our residents. Sometimes people that kind of swing the pendulum the other way, they're like, well, I just only want to represent the marginalized populations. Right. I mean, that's not right either. Right. I mean, it's got to be for everybody. And that's the way I view it.

[Angie]

Well, I think it's really important that you say that, because I think right now, leadership, even though you only represent Oklahoma City, we've had, you know, Senator Bernie Sanders on, and he only represents Vermont. But the messaging, because of how close we all are now through social media and the instant delivery of news and of people's opinions, there are people outside of Oklahoma City. There are little. You know, we have a lot, again, a lot of LGBTQ plus people that live in these rural areas. And hearing somebody say, hey, you're accepted, I. I don't think you're any different than me. I think you have the same value as me goes an incredibly long way. Because sometimes I think these communities feel like, you know, the bullying gets. It starts local and then it gets national. And so I've been thinking a lot about you because listener David is a Republican. You're the only Republican I've ever voted for in my life. Same ever well, no, that's not true. And when it comes down to it, I vote for you because you're so inclusive. And in being so inclusive, you don't really lose that many votes from the other side either. It's a position that brings people together. And I think when you look at. You were talking about the Maps project and Listener, that's where our city votes for tax increases to enhance the city. And when you think about. Anytime these issues are brought up on any ballot anywhere, if it's legalizing marijuana, if it's raising the state minimum wage, typically these ideas, when they're brought without any personality representing them, people typically vote for security and the advancement of our species, like advancing together. And I think that the instance of you being a mayor of a city that's 50, 50, and everybody's pretty united. Of course, you've got, you know, you know, a few jerks over here that are like, oh, he's too woke, and some over here saying, you're not woken up. And that's just always what it is. But I think when you. Most recently.

[Mayor David Holt]

I said 70. I didn't say 100. Yeah, I'm saying, like, that's. That's kind of like that. 70 leaves room for that 15 and 50.

[Angie]

That's right.

[Mayor David Holt]

Kind of on the extreme. So you just can't ever be satisfied.

[Angie]

Yeah, sorry, go ahead. No, but I. I think that there's a big message in here for. As we look forward to something beyond partisanship and building consensus. And we start with a default setting of just, everybody's welcome here and don't go crazy. I'm not talking about immigration, all that. I'm talking about people that live in the cities they live in and live in this country right now. We need to be welcoming, accepting, and loving to all, don't you think?

[Mayor David Holt]

Right. And that's what freedom is supposed to be about. You know, I'm a. As you said, I'm a registered Republican. I served as a Republican in the state Senate. Part of what drove me early in life to that perspective was a strong belief in personal freedom. And freedom isn't freedom if you're expecting everybody to live their life exactly like you live yours. That's not freedom. You need to protect the ability of your friends and neighbors to live differently, and that's freedom, you know, and so anyways, I think. I think that's ultimately what drives me. And that. And also just a belief in equal opportunity and that everybody's. Everybody's a human in this. In this city and deserves equal opportunity. Doesn't mean equal outcomes, but they certainly deserve equal opportunity. And that's not going to come if we're not, you know, welcoming and inclusive.

[Angie]

Pumps. Our ability to suck and then wake up the next day and suck more right than the previous day is undefeated.

[Kathy]

It's unparalleled. We are the champions.

[Angie]

If you would like to see how bad we suck, please join us in New York City in November for, you know, just some world class shit talking.

[Kathy]

That's right.

[Angie]

Live.

[Kathy]

Live and in person.

[Angie]

That's right. Pumps. Our dog's diet is so important to us and making sure that they have food that they find to be delicious. And I want to know that it's healthy as well. I cannot begin to tell you how happy I am with my subscription with sundaes. Sundaes is a delicious dog food that my dogs love and it doesn't have to be stored in the refrigerator or freezer. It's air dried and so. And it has like a resealable bag. Chacha and tubs cannot get enough of it.

[Kathy]

The best part about Sunday's food for dogs for me is that it's 90 meat and 10% superfoods and zero synthetic nutrients.

[Angie]

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[Mayor David Holt]

Okay.

[Angie]

Oh, my God. Welcome to had it or hit it. I would hit it.

[Mayor David Holt]

Had it.

[Kathy]

Had it.

[Angie]

I hit it every day, sometimes twice a day. Had it or hit it. Podcasts.

[Mayor David Holt]

Oh, man. Like, will I even be? Will this even air?

[Angie]

If I don't say?

[Mayor David Holt]

If I don't say.

[Kathy]

You'll be censored if I don't say hit it.

[Mayor David Holt]

Reality has had it. But hit it.

[Angie]

Okay. Had it or hit it. The Oklahoma City Thunder.

[Mayor David Holt]

Oh, hit it. Yeah, yeah. No, we're very excited for the Thunder as we sit here. There's been some injuries just in the last few days, but you know, it's okay. Playoffs aren't till April. We'll get it together. And the season started very strong. Oklahoma City Thunder could be on a championship run this year.

[Kathy]

People could be visiting to watch the Oklahoma City Thunder and get the click, click, click, click, click.

[Angie]

That's right. That's right. And I can assure after this podcast episode, the jet bridges and the gate situation, I think that's all going to be fixed. You just got to get that Terrazzo. Okay. Had it or hit it? Self checkout.

[Mayor David Holt]

Oh, I was like. I was like thinking of that from like a mental health standpoint. Self checkout? Really? We should all engage in some self checkout. No. You mean. Actually, I'm good with self checkout. What's. Is this a controversial issue?

[Angie]

Sometimes.

[Kathy]

Sometimes it is when they want you to tip yourself. I don't like that. Do you. Have you had that?

[Mayor David Holt]

No. You mean like. Well, I was thinking like Walmart or something, but you mean like when they tilt the screen towards you? That's a tipping point.

[Kathy]

No, no, no, no, no, no. Like at cvs. If you go to CVS right now and self checkout, it'll ask you if you want to leave a tip.

[Angie]

Cvs? Yeah. Are you sure it's not the donation? The forced philanthropy?

[Kathy]

100% sure it's 100% sure.

[Mayor David Holt]

No, I think, I think I'm. I think I'm. Hit it. But, you know, you've given me some food for.

[Angie]

Let me ask you this.

[Mayor David Holt]

Yeah.

[Angie]

Do you think if you are doing the self checkout, you're the one working. Do you think you should get a discount?

[Mayor David Holt]

Well, I mean, honestly, I think you are. Because they could no longer afford all of the employees in order to keep. You know, I think you're essentially getting that benefit of fewer employees through probably not necessarily price decrease, but probably a lack of a price increase. We're really getting into like econ and capitalism here. But, you know, I think you essentially are getting some sort of financial benefit for the fact that you're checking yourself out. You just want to see it more directly.

[Angie]

User is. I would. I would probably say the board is. But I don't think the end user is getting some sort of benefit. But that's a whole nother podcast that we can add to the 40 that you're going to start listening.

[Kathy]

Right.

[Mayor David Holt]

For that one.

[Angie]

That's right. That's right. Okay. Had it or hit it. Book banning.

[Mayor David Holt]

Oh, had it. No, this is ridiculous. That's un American. You know, you can't ever profess your belief in the First Amendment or the contest of ideas and think that some things are simply not fit for our library shelves. I understand. I mean, reasonable Conversation you can have about age appropriateness, that's a different issue and a reasonable one. But just the idea that you would just say this book shouldn't even exist in the world to the extent that we should actually throw it on a fire, I mean, that's. That has never ended well. And it has never been something that we've looked back on with pride.

[Angie]

So, I don't know.

[Kathy]

History's never kind to the book banners.

[Angie]

Okay. Had it or hid it. Selfies.

[Mayor David Holt]

You know, I'm pretty big selfie guy sometimes that's. You just don't have a staffer nearby to take your pictures, so you just gotta do it yourself, you know, So I don't have a problem with that. And, I mean, I'm kind of a human selfie stick, you know, I mean, I'm the one when it's. And it's a group, I'm the one. I'll get on the right and I'll do it, you know, because, like, I'm the one with the long arms. And. Yeah, so I'm. No, I got. I got no problem with that. You know, people think sometimes politicians take too many selfies, but, you know, we got to show we were there. It's all about, you know, holding up the. Celebrating, whatever it was, who or place that we were at.

[Angie]

You know, I think politicians right now need to be anywhere, everywhere, all of us. I think you just. I think you got to do. I think you got to flood the zone. You got to do podcasts, you've got to do newspaper, You've got to do all of it. I think the media has changed, and the way people get their news, and a lot of that is generationally. And so I think. Selfie it up. Okay, last one. Had it or hit it. Equality.

[Mayor David Holt]

Oh, yeah, yeah. Hit it. Yeah, for sure. Yeah. And as I said earlier, like, this is a society in a country that doesn't necessarily guarantee equal outcomes, but it absolutely guarantees equal treatment under the law, equal opportunity, economically and in every other way. And so, to me, that's what defines equality. And I'd like to think that as long as I'm the mayor of Oklahoma City, that's an ethos that will come from the very top every day consistently.

[Angie]

Well, Mayor Holt, thank you so much. Do you have a question? I could talk.

[Kathy]

No, I was just sitting here thinking I could talk to you forever. Like, I kind of feel better after I talk to you.

[Mayor David Holt]

Wow. Well, that's very.

[Kathy]

I mean, yeah, because I've been kind of on a downhill slide.

[Angie]

I'm not going to lie.

[Kathy]

Mayor Holt. Been rough?

[Mayor David Holt]

Well, you know, I wrote a piece this weekend for the Oklahoman that Oklahoma City, and maybe this is going to be translatable to a lot of other communities. You know, there's so many good things happening here and like, I know the frustrations and disappointment that people might have about national politics. But like, this is where your life is lived and if you've got something good that you can work with other people on in your own communities, you know, find that as your outlet and your place for solace, I think right now. And we certainly have that in Oklahoma City. So, you know, I encourage everybody in Oklahoma City, regardless of who they voted for, for president, to keep finding ways to work together here and let's get good things done in our community. And I think that's a statement that could be made in every city across the United States.

[Angie]

Mayor Holt, thank you so much for joining us on Oklahoma City's hit podcast.

[Kathy]

Yes, Pride of Oklahoma City.

[Angie]

The pride. The pride of Oklahoma City.

[Mayor David Holt]

No, we are very proud of your, of your accomplishments in this arena and I'm sure it will last for years to come and I've enjoyed watching it and I'm just so grateful to sit here now today and one last very selfish shout out. I'm very well acquainted with two of your biggest fans. My wife Rachel, who runs United Way here in Oklahoma City, and also her cousin Christopher Carroll in PA who is a huge fan and will now just. We'll squeal with delight with that. His name was just mentioned on this pod.

[Kathy]

You got some street cred.

[Angie]

I love that. I love that. All right, listener, thanks so much for listening. Come see us in New York City at Town Hall Theater this Saturday a matinee because we care about your sleeping schedule. Pumps.

[Kathy]

Tell em we will see you next Tuesday and Thursday. I'll tell you what I've had it with.

[Angie]

I've had it with that. Listen up patriots Gay triots. We have a new podcast that has dropped. It's called I Hip News. Monday through Friday. Every day, 15 to 20 minute hot takes on the political landscape of the United States of America. Always served with a side of petty grievances.

[Kathy]

We are on all the available platforms, Apple, Spotify, Google, whatever you get, your podcasts and YouTube.

[Angie]

Please go, rate, subscribe and review so that we will chart upwards with America's greatest legal mind. Pumps. Pumps. What does an eagle say? Caca. A little bit more enthusiasm.

[Kathy]

Caca.

[Angie]

That's it. That's. That's caca. That's the patriotism that this country needs right there.