Normally Podcast: Back-to-School Chaos, COVID Lessons & Political Trends

Summary

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The Clay Travis and Buck Sexton Show: Normally Podcast

Episode: Back-to-School Chaos, COVID Lessons & Political Trends
Date: August 21, 2025
Hosts: Mary Katharine Campbell & Carol Markowitz
Network: iHeartPodcasts

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Episode Overview

This episode of the "Normally" podcast explores the chaos of back-to-school season, hard-hitting lessons from the COVID era, and the shifting landscape of American politics as seen in voter registration and party dynamics. Hosts Mary Katharine Campbell and Carol Markowitz mix personal anecdotes with sharp commentary on recent news stories, including the New York Times' reflections on pandemic-era policies, the current status of the American Academy of Pediatrics, Gavin Newsom's meme-tweeting, and the latest data on alcohol consumption trends in the US.

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1. Back-to-School Mayhem (03:14–04:33)

• The episode opens with Mary Katharine and Carol commiserating over the exhaustion and bureaucracy of back-to-school preparations.
• Mary Katharine calls this time of year “form filling out season,” confessing, “I am not good at form filling out. And I spend about half of every day chasing down forms for the next two weeks. But eventually it will be done. I believe in myself.” (03:53)
• The hosts joke about their shared practice of forwarding school emails and forms to their husbands as a coping strategy.
  • Carol: “I feel like you and I have the forwarding forms to husbands kind of email.” (04:03)
  • Mary Katharine: “I forward stuff to him that he then follows up on and I'm like, what are you even talking about? … It no longer existed in my universe once you had it.” (04:12)
• Despite the chaos, both agree their kids are (mostly) excited to go back to school.

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2. Revisiting COVID: The New York Times’ “Too-Late” Realizations (04:34–10:37)

• This week, The New York Times published an editorial crediting “normies” (like Mary Katharine and Carol) for having been right about the societal fallout of pandemic policies.
• The editorial acknowledged that actions like school closures, lockdowns, and relaxation of law enforcement during COVID led to real negative consequences—points the hosts argued were “obvious” at the time.

Key Discussion Points

• NYT Acknowledges Societal Breakdown:
  • Carol reads aloud: “During the pandemic, reckless driving deaths…increased. Alcohol and drug deaths also rose…It was as if many Americans took a so-called moral holiday.” (05:35)
  • Mary Katharine: “Did, did we, did we say that might happen?” (06:04)
  • Carol: “Did we say that societal breakdown happens when we encourage people to turn on each other?” (06:07)
• On School Closures:
  • “Officials at least should have put more weight on obvious costs of closures, including learning loss, social isolation and the possibility that closures contribute to crime. The obvious costs, do you say?” – Mary Katharine (06:29)
  • Carol recalls: “If you disagreed, you were a crazy person who wanted teachers to die.” (07:11)
• Erosion of Social Cohesion:
  • NYT quote: “America has much to lose when it undermines people’s connections to institutions like schools, churches, government agencies and community groups.” (07:24)
  • Carol mocks the belated revelation: “The trust fraying is bad, you say.” (07:43)
• Importance of Law Enforcement:
  • The NYT points out that relaxing enforcement on low-level offenses, like shoplifting and public drug use, was a “damaging mistake.”
  • Mary Katharine: “But it turns out they do [contribute to public safety].” (09:07)
  • Carol expresses disbelief that the NYT is just now highlighting this.
• Naming (and not naming) names:
  • Carol notes the Times blames now-out-of-office officials, sparing rising progressive stars from criticism, which she sees as political maneuvering. (09:18–09:59)
• Frustration with Lack of Accountability:
  • Mary Katharine: “The most infuriating thing about this editorial is that it notes at least twice that these were knowable facts in 2020.” (10:07)
  • Carol: “Those of us who did know, again, were treated like pariahs, like dangers to society. Because we were right a little earlier than they were.” (10:25)

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3. American Academy of Pediatrics Under Fire (10:40–15:07)

• The hosts criticize the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) for persisting in controversial COVID-related guidance, especially around child vaccination.
• Mary Katharine says AAP has become a “zombie of public trust. It just walks around in the skin suit of this organization that people used to trust, and there's no reason to trust these people.” (10:49)

Main Arguments

• US Outlier on Child Vaccination:
  • Mary Katharine: “No other country has a blanket recommendation for healthy infants to get a COVID vaccine. Not even like, Canada.” (11:38)
  • Carol: “We had myocarditis issues in teenage boys that other countries did not have…The CDC at the time released the data, including girls, so it didn’t seem that bad. But, you know, now we know that it was.” (12:18)
• Call for Accountability:
  • Carol: “With something like COVID, where the vaccine does not stop spreading…the benefits to children never made sense. Kids had a zero chance of a negative effect from COVID... zero cannot be reduced any further through vaccines…” (12:57)
• Long-Term Trust Damage:
  • Mary Katharine: “When this inevitably leads to people having less trust for other treatments than AAP suggests. Physician, heal thyself, literally, because you have caused the problem.” (13:19)
  • Carol points out AAP reversals and self-contradictions regarding school reopening and masking.
• Media and Medical Expert Disconnect:
  • Mary Katharine criticizes medical experts quoted in the Washington Post for advocating ongoing boosters for children: “That’s actually insane…This is a fantasy world that you have created, but you’re a pediatric infectious disease specialist.” (14:48–15:07)

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4. Political Trends: Gavin Newsom’s Meme Strategy & Democrat Registration Woes (19:21–28:51)

Gavin Newsom Embraces "Mean Tweets" (19:21–22:23)

• Newsom’s team is leaning into provocative, meme-driven social media tactics, hoping to mimic Trump’s online engagement.
• Carol: “Trumpian rhetoric and strategy rarely works for anyone but Trump. So the question remains for Newsom and crew...are they picking the right fights?” (19:50)
• The hosts are skeptical, referencing Meghan McCain’s quip: “Let’s do the exact same thing next. Plus mean tweets.” (20:23)

Notable Quote:
Mary Katharine: “Isn’t the argument against Newsom just a point at the state that he governs?...California’s system makes it nearly impossible for businesses to succeed.” (20:43)

• They cite Marcus Lemonis’ statement about not opening stores in California as evidence of Newsom's failed governance.

Voter Registration Shakeup (22:29–28:51)

• Alarming new data: Democrats are losing registered voters across all tracked states, Republicans are gaining.
• Carol: “Pennsylvania…the Democrats had a 517,000 advantage in 2020, only a 53,000 DEM advantage now.” (23:32)
• Mary Katharine: “Bucks County, a competitive Philadelphia suburb, tilted Republican registration for the first time since 2000. I think he’s gonna…This is a big deal.” (23:55)
• The big takeaway: Traditional Democratic coalitions (including young and minority voters) are slipping.
• New York Times quote highlighted: “You can’t register a young Latino or young black voter and assume that they’re going to know it’s Democrats that have the best policies.” (26:17)

Newsom’s Justification for His Posts (25:01–25:40)

Quote:
Newsom: "I hope it's a wake up call. The President, United States. I'm sort of following his example. If you've got issues with what I'm putting out, you sure as hell should have concerns about what he's putting out as well." (25:08)

• Carol lampoons Newsom’s logic: “It’s always like, this is so bad that we gotta do the bad thing to show you how bad it is.” (25:48)
• The hosts agree—demographic shifts are serious and social media bravado can’t address deep losses.

Final Word on Democrats’ Troubles:
Mary Katharine: “Any hope that the drift away from the Democratic Party would end organically with Mr. Trump’s election has been dashed...There are now roughly 160,000 fewer registered Democrats than on election day 2024. And 200,000 more Republicans. Quote, it’s going to get, it’s going to get worse before it gets better. Yeah, clock’s ticking.” (28:08–28:39)

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5. American Drinking Trends: Headlines vs. Reality (33:01–37:39)

• Discussion centers on new Gallup poll data about drinking in America, 1939–2025.
• Carol laughs at the survey question’s antiquated phrasing: “‘Do you have occasion to use alcoholic beverages such as liquor, wine or beer, or are you a total abstainer?’ …I don't know that I do have occasion, but I do it anyway.” (33:33–33:47)
• In 1939, 58% drank; in 2025, 54%. They question headlines claiming a crisis or collapse—pointing out post-COVID rates were actually higher.

Key Insights

• Generational Differences:

  • Mary Katharine: “Maybe let them [Gen Z] have a couple of kids and see what they do after that.” (34:53)
  • Carol: “I don’t drink nearly as much as I'd like to…in my old age I can really only have maximum two drinks when I go out…can we split it?” (35:50–36:15)

• Social Benefits of Moderate Drinking:

  • Mary Katharine highlights a Reason magazine article, "What Old Time Saloons Tell Us About the Pandemic’s Damage," making the case that social drinking fosters innovation, community, and open discussion: “Loose social connections that you get in a bar, that you get over drinks lead to innovation, to ideas, to hashing things out.” (37:05)
  • The hosts advocate for the social function of bars and pubs, noting the decline in in-person gathering during COVID as an intangible loss.

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Notable Quotes & Moments

• On COVID Policies:
  • Carol: “Those of us who did know, again, were treated like pariahs, like dangers to society. Because we were right a little earlier than they were.” (10:25)
• On the AAP:
  • Mary Katharine: “AAP…walks around in the skin suit of this organization that people used to trust, and there's no reason to trust these people.” (10:49)
• On Gavin Newsom’s Strategy:
  • Meghan McCain via Carol: “Let’s do the exact same thing next. Plus mean tweets.” (20:23)
• On Drinking & Society:
  • Mary Katharine (quoting Reason): “Loose social connections that you get in a bar, that you get over drinks lead to innovation, to ideas, to hashing things out.” (37:05)

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Timestamps for Key Segments

• Back-to-School & Parenting Chaos: 03:14–04:33
• NYT COVID Policy Reflection & Social Cohesion: 04:34–10:37
• American Academy of Pediatrics Critique: 10:40–15:07
• Gavin Newsom, Memes & Democrat Registration Crisis: 19:21–28:51
• Alcohol Consumption Trends: 33:01–37:39

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Conclusion

With a blend of humor and pointed critique, Mary Katharine Campbell and Carol Markowitz decode the biggest news stories impacting everyday Americans and call out political, medical, and cultural institutions for their COVID-era missteps and ongoing fallout. They cut through trending narratives—be it political memes or health headlines—urging listeners to see the deeper stories behind the noise while always striving, when things get weird, to “act normally.”

Transcript

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I'm Glenn Washington, the host of Snap Judgment from kqed. Every week we don't just tell stories, we drop you inside them. Real people, real voices, real moments that split a life in two. What do you believe? What do you risk?

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[A]

Hey guys. We are back on normal, the show with normalish takes for when the news gets weird. I'm Mary Catherine Campbell.

[D]

And I'm Markowitz. Wrapping up summer over here. Mary Catherine. The kids go back to school. Finally. Finally. I know, I know it sounds crazy to those of you up north. Up a little north. But yes, when you get used to school starting after Labor Day, obviously it's crazy for them to go back in August, but they have been home for so long that you're like, how much longer? How much longer can they just hang around the house?

[A]

And my mine is excited. They're excited to be back in school. I am not excited because this is what I like to call form filling out season.

[D]

Yeah.

[A]

And I am not good at form filling out. And I spend about half of every day chasing down forms for the next two weeks. But eventually it will be done. I believe in myself.

[D]

I feel like you and I have the forwarding forms to husbands kind of email.

[A]

Yeah.

[D]

Forwarding emails to husbands kind of husband.

[A]

I, I forward stuff to him that he then follows up on and I'm like, what are you even talking about? And then he tells me it's from the email and I'm like, I didn't read that before I forwarded it.

[D]

Yeah. And I took it off my plate as soon as I forwarded it to you. It no longer existed in my universe once you had it.

[A]

Yeah. The thing you're following up to. Gone.

[D]

Yeah, Gone.

[A]

God bless them.

[D]

Yeah. Well, talking about following up a few years after some news. We are still mad, bro. And we normally save the we are still mad, bro. Especially where Covid is concerned. Concerned for the last segment. But today we're going to lead with it because it's just that egregious.

[A]

Well, and the New York Times is sort of leading with it.

[D]

Right.

[A]

Because they are just intent on being our content provider.

[D]

They really are. They're like, how can we help those girls out?

[A]

So they put up this editorial this week from the editorial board, not from an opinion writer called Crime keeps falling. Here's why. First of all, the only reason they're bringing us up is to say that crime is falling so they can say, boo Donald Trump.

[D]

Right.

[A]

Because you're doing something about crime. But inside this editorial in some frankly shocking and enraging ways. Yeah, they just say normies like Carol and Mary Catherine were right the whole time.

[D]

Right. I feel like they should have said our names, but they didn't. I mean, so many things in this article. I love the way that they just kind of of throw this in. During the pandemic, reckless driving deaths from car crashes and road rage incidents increased. Alcohol and drug deaths also rose. Even little things like people using phones in movie theaters seemed to worsen even after Covid receded. It was as if many Americans took a so called moral holiday. Yeah, we noticed. We saw that.

[A]

Did, did we, did we say that might happen?

[D]

Right? Did we say that people calling the police on their neighbors, having an extra person in their backyard was going to be a problem going forward? Did we say that societal breakdown happens when we encourage people to turn on each other the way they were encouraged to do? I think we may have said that once or twice.

[A]

Here's another good line. In 2020, policymakers played a direct role in accelerating anomy this breakdown of standards by shuttering services that promote social cohesion. Consider school closures. Consider that having to keep schools closed after the initial months of pandemic was a difficult decision. I dispute that. But officials at least should have put more weight on obvious costs of closures, including learning loss, social isolation and the possibility that closures contribute to crime. The obvious costs, do you say?

[D]

Were they obvious?

[A]

I feel very much that the New York Times did not think they were obvious at the time and in fact vilified anyone who suggested they were.

[D]

Yeah, I remember this. I vaguely remember the New York Times not thinking those costs made any sense. And if you disagreed, you were a crazy person who wanted teachers to die.

[A]

Yeah. Another quote. Social cohesion is both valuable and delicate. Carol, just a breaking news. America has much to lose when it undermines people's connections to institutions like schools, churches, government agencies and community groups.

[D]

Would you look at that when the trust phrase marry Catherine and everyone for himself mentality, the kind you often see in post apocalyptic fiction, can take hold. The trust fraying is bad, you say.

[A]

But I know you'll really love the second lesson they took from the pandemic. The first was like public trust and cohesion are important. Okay, that's number one second revelation in the year 2025. The second lesson involves the importance of law enforcement.

[D]

I mean, who could have seen that coming? You know, it's times like this that I miss living in leftist Brooklyn because Are they putting like fund the police signs in their windows now that the New York Times says so? Because they had the defund police signs in their windows in 2020 when the new York Times.

[A]

I think what they're probably actually doing is that all the ones who haven't moved to Florida are so in the bubble that they're just canceling their New York Times subscriptions because of this piece.

[D]

Right. Just not left enough. Yeah.

[A]

It says among the most damaging mistakes was the belief among Democratic officials that enforcing the law could be counterproductive when it involved low level offenses such as public drug use, shoplifting, and homeless encampments. Some Democrats believed enforcement of these laws disproportionately hurt minority groups and did not contribute much to public safety. But it turns out they do.

[D]

Oh, look at that. That's a twist I did not see coming.

[A]

And they also are approved over all socioeconomic and racial groups.

[D]

Funny, people like police. Who knew? It's also interesting that in that same second lesson, they name a few names of prominent Democrats and they name then Senator Kamala Harris of California, Representative AOC of New York, and then Mayor Eric Garcet of Los Angeles. What's interesting about this is they don't say Mamdani, who's in pole position to become the next New York City mayor, I think because they don't want to cause a rift with him in advance of that, you know, election win. So they picked two people who are not in public office anymore, and AOC who should really be watching her back when the New York Times is concerned.

[A]

No, it's. It's very interesting, as. As usual. Yes. You don't want to hold anyone to account who might actually have currently.

[D]

Right.

[A]

Just like, by the way, that happened. I think the most infuriating thing about this editorial is that it notes at least twice that these were knowable facts in 2020.

[D]

Knowable.

[A]

It's like. I mean, I. Like, we kind of knew this. Did you?

[D]

Yeah.

[A]

Because you certainly acted like you did it.

[D]

Right. And those of us who did know, again, were treated like pariahs, like dangers to society. Because we were right a little earlier than they were.

[A]

Yeah.

[D]

A lot earlier. Let's be real. Yeah.

[A]

Another thing I'm still mad about is the American Academy of Pediatrics, which continues to disgrace itself.

[D]

Yeah.

[A]

It has not yet made a turn, like the New York Times, to say, like, oh, by the way, maybe some of the decisions we made in Covid were bad. It's just barreling straight on through. And I think I referred to it As a zombie of public trust. It just walks around in the skin suit of this organization that people used to trust, and there's no reason to trust these people. Case in point, the American Academy of Pediatrics said that children ages 6 months to 23 months should receive a COVID 19 vaccine, in contrast with federal health officials. Now, of course, to mainstream news like abc, this means that AAP is correct and the federal government is wrong. But what they don't point out is that no other country has a blanket recommendation for healthy infants to get a COVID vaccine. Not even like, Canada.

[D]

Nobody.

[A]

Germany.

[D]

Yeah, no one.

[A]

This is important information to tell your readers, but they're not interested in telling their readers that.

[D]

No, they're not. And they're not worried about the kind of blowback here. Right. They think that they're the authority, and that's it. But we are, like you said, an outlier when you look at any other country, and we were even during the pandemic, during the pandemic, when things were still kind of, you know, hot, other countries decided not to give the vaccine to healthy children. America plowed ahead with it anyway. Absolutely had some problems because of that. We had myocarditis issues in teenage boys that other countries did not have. David Zweig had that great piece about myocarditis and how they literally lied about how bad it was for boys. The CDC at the time released the data, including girls, so it didn't seem that bad. But, you know, now we know that it was. So look, especially with something like Covid, where the vaccine does not stop spreading, it's a question of the benefits and the drawbacks and the benefits to children never made sense. Kids had a zero chance of a negative effect from COVID As we've always liked to say, zero cannot be reduced any further through vaccines when they were given out. And the idea was, we'll stop spread with this. It didn't stop spread. We have to learn some lessons. And the fact that AAP won't be held accountable for pushing just nonsense like this is. It's sort of sad. And I hope that they don't get, you know, the kind of prestige and press that they inevitably will get.

[A]

Yeah, I know. I hope. I mean, certainly parents are turning away from them.

[D]

Yeah.

[A]

And by the way, when this inevitably leads to people having less trust for other treatments than AAP suggests. Physician, heal thyself, literally, because this is. You have caused the problem. And they caused the problem starting way back in 2020 when they recommended that schools open. And then Trump says school. Schools should open. And they were like, nevermind, schools should not open.

[D]

Right. And not to mention they recommended that they said that masks did not harm the speech development of children and they had to delete things off of their website where they literally previously said that kids need to see mouths for speech development.

[A]

Right.

[D]

Yeah. I look forward to the New York Times article wondering what happened to the ap. Five years, seven years. Right.

[A]

Can I point out also just how insane the experts continue to be. My friend Kelly, kga, Kelly, Georgia, she's fantastic. But she flagged in the Washington Post about silly story about a summer surge and how schools would be affected by a summer surge. In that article, a pediatric infectious disease specialist at John Hopkins says that the reason that kids need not just a vaccine for Covid but an updated booster is that they play a key role in giving a child's body a robust immune response so that they don't die or get severe illness.

[D]

Yeah.

[A]

That's actually insane.

[D]

Yeah.

[A]

To look at the data on children and conclude that they need continued boosters to prevent death or serious disease from.

[D]

COVID which they're not getting already.

[A]

This is a fantasy world that you have created, but you're a pediatric infectious disease specialist.

[D]

Yeah.

[A]

That's why I won't be listening to you.

[D]

Well, we'll be right back on Normally where we're going to talk about some other things that are happening around the country. Like Gavin Newsom has decided mean tweets are the way to go. We'll be right back.

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[D]

Welcome back to Normally, where Gavin Newsom is having some fun on the Internet and hoping to rile up Donald Trump and his base. And I don't know, I'm fine with that. You go ahead, you have your good time.

[A]

Yeah, look, I actually think some of it's funny. Right, right. I think it loses its luster pretty fast. But they are correct in that, like, well, you can't really object to this if you love Donald Trump's tweets.

[D]

Right?

[A]

Now, here's the question. As we've noted in the past, Trumpian rhetoric and strategy rarely works for anyone but Trump. So the question remains for Newsom and crew outside of attention, which they are indeed getting for this.

[D]

Yeah.

[A]

Are they picking the right fights? Are they making progress, changing the tides for the Democratic Party? Is he just goofing enough to make himself the at least attention economy frontrunner for the Democratic nomination in 2028?

[D]

That's exactly right. I liked Meghan McCain posted this. It's hilarious that Democrats just lost nominating a lifelong career progressive politician from San Francisco with a shitty governing record and six months later are like, wait, let's do the exact same thing next. Plus mean tweets.

[A]

Yeah, like, I don't, I'm not sure it's gonna work.

[D]

Right.

[A]

And you, you have other larger problems here, including in California. Someone, I can't remember who it was, someone joked the other day, like, isn't there? I think it might have been. Frank J. Said, isn't the argument against Newsom just a point at the state that he governs? And in fact, that is a good point because just today Marcus Lemonis, who heads Bed, Bath and Beyond, put out a statement saying that they will not open retail stores in California. This isn't about politics, it's about reality. California's system makes it nearly impossible for businesses to succeed. And I won't put our company, our employees or our customers in that position.

[D]

Doesn't sound like a win for California. Although, you know, Newsom tweeted out a meme that calls it the free state of California. And all the Comments were predictably like.

[A]

Bro, going back to our first story of the day, you surveilled people who went to church.

[D]

You arrested a man in a kayak.

[A]

Unbelievable stuff.

[D]

Yeah, it's interesting because Democrats are super excited about this and they're mostly super excited about Republicans getting mad at it. But I honestly don't see people getting mad. I see people kind of laughing at it and saying like, all right, if this makes you feel better, you go ahead and do that, you crazy kids.

[A]

Well, and I think like, we've been in this position before where much of the party and the party base was like, I just want you to fight. I want you to fight. Whether it was like Obamacare repeal, which wasn't gonna happen at the time, but you wanted. People wanted to see life from these people and they wanted to see them. I get it. We've been in that position. But fight, fight, fight. Doesn't always win battles.

[D]

Sure doesn't. Sure doesn't. So how are the numbers looking for the Democrats?

[A]

Well, this is the problem, right? Like you got a deeper issue here than memes are going to solve. Although I hesitate to say that because Trump is really a meme heavy operation and it won the presidency. So, okay, just like stipulated. But they have a deeper problem here. The New York Times reported on new data. The Democratic Party faces a voter registration crisis and it's pretty devastating. This piece is in depth. The basics are of the 30 states that track voter registration by political party. Democrats lost ground to Republicans in every single one between the 2020 and 2024 elections, and often by a lot. The New York Times terms it a stampede away from the Democratic Party. Now, Democrats still lead overall, largely because some big blue states like California do party specific registration and Texas for instance, doesn't. So they still like technically got an edge here. The trajectory in every state where you can track this is turrible, as Charles Barkley would say.

[D]

Uh huh. I love that word. Yeah, terrible is a great word to describe this. Pennsylvania, the Democrats had a 517,000 advantage in 2020, only a 53,000 DEM advantage now. And of course, obviously Trump won Pennsylvania. So I don't even know what that 53,000 advantage necessarily means for them.

[A]

Well, and there's one thing they noted in here, which is the Bucks county switch, which is one of those color counties outside Philadelphia. This is really important for winning Pennsylvania. It's the kind of county that had swung blue during the Obama years pretty hard. And I remember, thanks partly to Pressler, who is out there doing the hard Work of registering people. I remember seeing that stat last summer, that Bucks County, a competitive Philadelphia suburb, tilted Republican registration for the first time since 2000. That when I saw that stat, that was the moment that I was like, I think he's gonna. This is a big deal. He's on track here.

[D]

The question becomes Democrats must be looking around and thinking, you know, we need some energy. And Gavin Newsom has some kids in his office tweeting out as him and, and being Brett, as. As the kids said last summer. And I think that that's why they're so excited about this. But then when you actually hear from Newsom on it, he doesn't quite kind of align with what his online personality is saying. Let's roll this clip of news from talking.

[A]

What's going on with those posts on X that are clearly trolling the president? Can you just talk about that? Is that like a strategy?

[C]

I hope it's a wake up call. The President, United States. I'm sort of following his example. If you've got issues with what I'm putting out, you sure as hell should have concerns about what he's putting out as well.

[D]

President.

[C]

So to the extent it's gotten some attention, I'm pleased. But I think the deeper question is how have we allowed the normalization of his tweets through social posts over the course of the last many years to go without similar scrutiny and notice?

[D]

Yeah, there's been no scrutiny of Trump's mean tweets at all. I haven't read a single article about it. What is this even all about?

[A]

I loved it. Also, it's always like, this is so bad that we gotta do the bad thing to show you how bad it is.

[D]

Right. But that's the thing. It's like, are you saying it's bad and you're doing it to just show him, or are you saying it's bad and you're going to be like him because, you know, Charlamagne tha God, for example, was like, yeah, I think that, you know, when they go low, we go to hell. That's not the same thing as like, oh, wait, I want to teach Trump a lesson to be better. That's not the same thing at all.

[A]

I also do sort of prefer them owning that they're gonna go low instead of the fake Michelle Obama thing, which is, when they go low, we go high. It's like, ma', am, ma', am, y' all are not. Yes, but. So I kind of appreciate the honesty on that front, but will it work for any of these New and young voters who are moving away from Democrats. That's the question, right? They have all this ground to make up. They note in this New York Times piece, in 2018, Democrats accounted for 34% of new voter registrations nationwide, while Republicans were only 20. Yet by 2024, Republicans had overtaken Democrats. And there's so many great quotes in here. Quote, you can't register a young Latino or young black voter and assume that they're going to know it's Democrats that have the best policies. They go on to bemoan that Democrats have this huge infrastructure of nonprofits that just register voters. Now, those are considered left leaning nonprofits because they were in the business of targeting young first time new voters, minority voters in cities. And it turns out now those aren't Democrats. They're registering too many Republicans when they go to the people that they've been going to for all this time. Oops.

[D]

Yeah, whoopsie on that one. I think that the idea that they can't rely on young voters anymore, that, I mean, obviously that should be the all alarm bell. And I just don't think that Gavin Newsom's imitating Trump is going to move the needle with those young people. They are concerned about things and they don't see either party kind of speaking to those interests. I think that they're going to be malleable in a way that they haven't been in the past. We'll see. I wish Gavin Newsom the best with making people laugh with his tweets.

[A]

Hey, you know what? We're not mad at entertainment usually. So can I end with one more quote from this piece? This is the last two paragraphs. Any hope that the drift away from the Democratic Party would end organically with Mr. Trump's election has been dashed by the limited data so far in 2025. There are now roughly 160,000 fewer registered Democrats than on election day 2024. And 200,000 more Republicans. Quote, it's going to get, it's going to get worse before it gets better. Yeah, clock's ticking.

[D]

Yeah, it's gonna get worse before and by the way, better.

[A]

All this comes from the topics in our first segment. Right? Like you are reaping what you sow. That's what's happening.

[D]

We really are. And enjoy that. We'll be right back on normally to talk booze and why people aren't drinking more of it. Be right back.

[E]

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[F]

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[B]

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[G]

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[D]

Welcome back to Normally where alcohol use maybe is down. Maybe. I don't know. We're gonna have to look at this chart and see what it actually says. It's from a Gallup poll that everybody's talking about and it's called Americans Use of Alcoholic Beverages 1939-2025. The question is this, and I kind of dare you to ask this question to the average person on the street and see if they know what the hell you are talking about. Do you have occasion to use alcoholic beverages such as liquor, wine or beer, or are you a total abstainer? Do you have occasion? I don't know. I don't know that I do have occasion, but I do it anyway.

[A]

That is a strange wording, right?

[D]

So I don't know. I feel like they should change the wording, but I think they've been asking the same question since 1939, so now they don't want to change it, but I don't think they'll talk like this.

[A]

They haven't adjusted for literacy levels of the American public. Sorry, but.

[D]

So look, when they first started asking this question in 1939, that number was 58% and now it's 54. So has there been a collapse in drinking? I. I don't know necessarily that that's true in 2022 once again going back to the COVID years and maybe some bad things that happened during that time. That number was 67%. I think I've mentioned the story on the show before but I remember my currently she's 15 year old daughter then she was 10 in 2020 walking into my husband and I having online drinks, FaceTime drinks with our friends and being like is alcohol use up around?

[A]

And we were like smart girl.

[D]

Why do you ask? So yes, it was up and now it's back down. Really don't see a dramatic change. I don't know why all the headlines are like Gen Z doesn't drink. Maybe not yet. Maybe let them have a couple of kids and see what they do after that.

[A]

Yeah, I feel like my, my drinking bell curve is on its downslope, you know where like the amount that I pay for each drink is so much higher at this. So I'm certainly down on the curve from 2020. But I think one of the things that's part of this discussion is a lot of people saying, arguing, well, moderate drinking is in fact good for you. Right. It has many social benefits. It has even if you're talking about heart health. I think with wine and like I'm not going to get into the statistics on this but like you know, this can be a non evil thing. Right. And then there are other people who are like contraire, even moderate drinking is terrible for you. And I think one of the things that during COVID we lost is that we ended up having to do drinks on Zoom instead of drinks in person. And drinks in person is very important to society.

[D]

Right? Right, exactly. Face to face interactions are important, friendships are important. Sometimes alcohol is the lubricant for that. I, I don't drink nearly as much as I'd like to is what I always say about it. But in my old age I can really only have maximum two drinks when I go out. And two drinks is like really on the border. Like one and a half. I like to say like my second drink with my husband, I'll be like, can we split it?

[A]

Yes.

[D]

Old age, man, it's tough.

[A]

It's tough.

[D]

You youngsters listening out there, you don't know, you don't sleep after two drinks.

[A]

No. I want to shout out a piece from 2022 that I just loved. It was one of my favorite pieces. Reckoning with Pandemic era policies. It was by Peter Suderman in Reason magazine. It was called what Old Time Saloons Tell Us about the Pandemic's Damage. And he basically said, look like saloons are where the ideas that would define America were first hashed out. There's this, you know, back and forth. There's this freewheeling debate that you can have in these kinds of places. And when you take that away, you lose something. And he actually, he found research from an economist at the University of Maryland that showed that in places where that. Where Prohibition had been very harshly enforced versus those that had remained a little bit wet.

[D]

Yeah.

[A]

Patents went down increasingly in places that were dry versus those that it was not as impactful or not as impacted. Basically the idea that these loose social connections that you get in a bar, that you get over drinks lead to innovation, to ideas, to hashing things out. And I just love the idea that somebody actually tried to reckon with what you lose when we do that. So I would just caution, like, he's a great writer. Even if you're sticking to two drinks, like, the society doesn't have to lose it all together.

[D]

Right.

[A]

Like, there's real good there.

[D]

Yeah. Try to have them out with your friends and talking to people instead of like talking to your AI at home. Yes, kids, thanks for joining us on Normally. Normally airs Tuesdays and Thursdays and you can subscribe anywhere you get your podcasts. Get in touch with us@ normallythepodmail.com thanks for listening. And when things get weird, act normally.

[E]

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[B]

The song stands about an obsessed fan.

[A]

Who'S taking me too literal from Eminem.

[F]

And The producers of 8 Mile never.

[A]

Seen anything like Eminem fans.

[E]

This is the story of a fan base.

[A]

I had to look in the mirror.

[E]

And be like, am I one of.

[F]

These crazy Stans that created a culture?

[D]

I do have an addiction to Eminem.

[B]

I travel the world for him.

[D]

Without Eminem, I wouldn't have the life.

[F]

I have right now.

[B]

What's your first question?

[F]

Stans new documentary streaming August 26th on.

[E]

Paramount plus.

[C]

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[E]

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[G]

In flames, primals will fall and from the blood and ash new gods will rise. Poppy was never meant to awaken and consequences are devastating, stirring ancient powers from their slumber, transforming Castile and Kirin in ways the fates couldn't foresee. The Great Conspirator has returned to stop the Primal of Death. The gods have awakened harboring blood soaked secrets and every choice can undo everything. The Primal of Blood in both perfect for fans of Sarah J. Maas and Rebecca Yarros Available September 23rd pre order today.

[A]

This is an I Heart podcast.