Normally Podcast: Friends, Phones & Far-Fetched Theories

Summary

Summary of "Normally Podcast: Friends, Phones & Far-Fetched Theories"

Podcast Information:

• Title: The Clay Travis and Buck Sexton Show
• Host/Author: iHeartPodcasts
• Description: Clay Travis and Buck Sexton tackle the biggest stories in news, politics, and current events with intelligence and humor. From the border crisis to the madness of cancel culture and far-left missteps, Clay and Buck guide listeners through the latest headlines and hot topics with fun and entertaining conversations and opinions.
• Episode: Normally Podcast: Friends, Phones & Far-Fetched Theories
• Release Date: July 3, 2025

---

Introduction to Normally

[02:50] Mary Kathryn Ham:
Mary Kathryn Ham introduces the "Normally" segment as a forum for "normalish takes" on various questions during a chill week in July, highlighting the absence of major news events as she enjoys time at the lake.

[03:10] Carol Markowitz:
Carol Markowitz joins Mary Kathryn, emphasizing that their upcoming takes will be some of their "least normalish."

---

How Mary and Carol Met

[03:22] Mary Kathryn Ham:
A listener inquires about how Mary and Carol met. Mary reminisces about their friendship beginning in the early 2000s, a post-9/11 era when both were active bloggers. She recalls encountering Carol's old blog, "Alarming News," and their occasional meetings at various events in New York City.

[04:05] Carol Markowitz:
Carol adds that their friendship blossomed during the early blogging days and shared interests, including a mutual skepticism about the institution of marriage at the time.

---

Pranking Conspiracy Theorists

[04:22] Mary Kathryn Ham & Carol Markowitz:
Mary shares a memorable prank they played on conspiracy theorists surrounding the 9/11 anniversary. They distributed pamphlets purportedly revealing the "truth" about 9/11. However, upon opening, the pamphlet confirmed the official account of 19 terrorists causing the attacks. Their intention was to confront truthers with undeniable facts.

[05:19] Mary Kathryn Ham:
Mary points out that even conspiracy theorists would have to confront the truth through their prank.

---

Podcast Availability on YouTube

[05:41] Carol Markowitz:
A listener questions why their podcast isn't available on YouTube. Carol admits they lack the expertise to upload it there, emphasizing that their current distribution method allows them to earn revenue directly from downloads. Both hosts express openness to expanding their platform in the future but cite time constraints and other commitments as barriers.

[06:23] Mary Kathryn Ham:
Mary reflects on her abandoned YouTube channel from 2007, acknowledging the potential followers she could have amassed but prioritizing efficiency and balancing responsibilities as a working mom.

---

Delving into Conspiracy Theories

[07:03] Carol Markowitz:
Transitioning back to content, Carol answers a listener's question about which political conspiracy theories hinder non-normies. She mentions former beliefs about the sun being harmful but acknowledges a shift in public perception about sun exposure.

[08:15] Mary Kathryn Ham:
Mary shares her "guilty pleasure" conspiracy theory involving the Clintons, expressing suspicions about their activities beyond public knowledge. She admits that while it may not strictly qualify as a conspiracy theory, she harbors darker thoughts about them.

[08:54] Carol Markowitz:
Carol questions whether Mary's view of the Clintons truly constitutes a conspiracy theory but doesn't contest her feelings.

---

Casting a Biopic of Trump's Second Administration

[08:54] Mary Kathryn Ham:
Mary poses a hypothetical: If they were to cast a biopic of Trump's second administration, who would they choose to play Trump?

[09:09] Carol Markowitz:
Carol suggests Norm MacDonald could excellently portray Trump, capturing his comedic essence.

[09:20] Mary Kathryn Ham:
Mary offers her casting choices, including Pedro Pascal and Emma Thompson for various roles, highlighting the challenge of encapsulating Trump's complex personality.

[10:03] Carol Markowitz:
Carol reflects on the difficulty of finding an actor who can balance Trump’s comedic and malevolent traits, critiquing Alec Baldwin's portrayal for leaning too heavily into mockery without capturing Trump's intrinsic humor.

---

Favorite Entertainment and Quotable Moments

[11:48] Carol Markowitz:
Carol asks about the hosts' favorite entertainment sources that bring them joy.

[11:55] Mary Kathryn Ham:
Mary highlights reading to her children as a primary source of joy, reading classics like "The Secret Garden" and "Pride and Prejudice," and engaging in discussions to enhance their comprehension.

[12:42] Mary Kathryn Ham:
Mary mentions her love for "What We Do in the Shadows," appreciating its humor and escapism, contrasting it with more serious TV shows.

[13:04] Carol Markowitz:
Carol shares her penchant for reading fiction, currently enjoying "Go on Pretending" by Alina Adams, and mentions her goal to read more despite time constraints.

[14:26] Mary Kathryn Ham:
Mary discusses her family's favorite quotable movies, including "Monty Python and the Holy Grail," "Second City TV," and "Friday," noting how these films have become ingrained in her household's daily conversations.

---

Political Discussions: NYC Mayoral Election

[20:29] Carol Markowitz:
Switching to politics, Carol addresses questions about the new Democratic nominee for NYC Mayor, Zoran Mamandi. She expresses concern over his potential election and suggests that the Trump DOJ stripping him of citizenship would backfire by making him more popular.

[21:00] Mary Kathryn Ham:
Mary echoes the sentiment that interfering with a fair election undermines democratic principles. She criticizes attempts to unelect candidates post-election, likening it to the actions taken during the first Trump administration to overturn election results.

[21:46] Carol Markowitz:
Carol supports Eric Adams as the best candidate for NYC Mayor, describing him as competent and "normal" enough to avoid the pitfalls of extreme political ideologies.

[22:32] Mary Kathryn Ham:
Mary discusses the importance of voting for candidates like Eric Adams despite controversies and indictments, prioritizing stability and moderate leadership over radical alternatives.

---

Banning Cell Phones in Schools

[23:54] Mary Kathryn Ham:
Mary introduces a listener's concern about banning cell phones in schools. The listener fears that without phones, teachers might not be accountable for alleged far-left indoctrination, especially after experiences with camera use during remote learning via Zoom.

[24:17] Carol Markowitz:
Carol responds by discussing the effectiveness of enforcing phone bans. She critiques public schools for their lack of rule enforcement, suggesting that without proper enforcement, bans are ineffective. She advocates for a structured approach where rules are clearly stated and consistently enforced to maintain discipline.

[26:14] Mary Kathryn Ham:
Mary agrees, emphasizing the benefits of reduced screen time for children's behavior and cognitive development. She acknowledges the challenges schools face in enforcement but maintains that the advantages of banning phones outweigh the drawbacks.

---

Anecdotes from Past School Experiences

[27:09] Mary Kathryn Ham:
Mary and Carol delve into nostalgic anecdotes from their school days in the 1980s and 1990s, sharing memorable and sometimes extreme disciplinary practices.

[28:04] Mary Kathryn Ham:
Mary recalls the existence of wooden paddles in North Carolina public schools, which were never used but served as a deterrent against misbehavior. She shares a legend about paddle design intended to maximize pain without actual use.

[29:05] Carol Markowitz:
Carol reflects on her own schooling in Brooklyn, describing a teacher whose passionate yet volatile teaching methods left a lasting impression, teaching her writing while simultaneously making her fear for her safety.

[29:44] Mary Kathryn Ham:
Mary shares another school rule from her middle school in North Carolina: if temperatures reached 98 degrees for three consecutive days, the fourth day would be a day off. She marvels at the resilience required to endure such extreme heat without modern air conditioning.

---

Closing Remarks

[30:15] Mary Kathryn Ham:
Mary concludes the episode by thanking listeners and reiterating the unique blend of humor and seriousness they aim to provide through their discussions.

[30:34] Carol Markowitz:
Carol wraps up with information on where to subscribe and how to connect with the podcast, encouraging listeners to reach out via their provided email.

---

Notable Quotes:

• Mary Kathryn Ham [05:24]:
  "Truthers themselves would be confronted with the truth."

• Carol Markowitz [08:37]:
  "I'm not even sure that's a conspiracy theory."

• Mary Kathryn Ham [11:55]:
  "I read classics with them... Pride and Prejudice... we're able to talk them through it."

• Carol Markowitz [16:13]:
  "The funniest line from any movie... 'They have us working in shifts.'"

• Mary Kathryn Ham [21:03]:
  "It's un-American to deport him simply because he's a bad choice for this city."

---

Conclusion: In this episode of "Normally," Mary Kathryn Ham and Carol Markowitz engage in a candid and humorous discussion covering a range of topics from personal anecdotes about their friendship and schooling experiences to deeper dives into political issues like the NYC mayoral election and the implications of banning cell phones in schools. They blend lighthearted banter with thoughtful commentary, providing listeners with both entertainment and insight into their perspectives on contemporary issues.

Transcript

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[Mary Kathryn Ham]

Hey, we're back on Normally, the show with normalish takes for when the news gets weird. And today we have normalish takes on all your questions. Because it's a chill week. It's July. There's no news. I'm at the lake, as you can tell, because if you see this on video, I'm like, basically a billboard right now with all my gear. I am Mary Kathryn Ham.

[Carol Markowitz]

And I am Carol Markowitz. And I would say these are gonna be our least normalish takes.

[Mary Kathryn Ham]

Maybe. So shall we get.

[Carol Markowitz]

Let's do it. Yeah.

[Mary Kathryn Ham]

One listener asks, how did you two meet? It seems like you've been friends for a while. Thanks for the show.

[Carol Markowitz]

We have been friends for a while. Like, a really long time. But I would say we met somewhere in the early 2000s. It was post 9 11. I had a blog. Were you at Hot Air when we met?

[Mary Kathryn Ham]

Possibly, or even maybe slightly before that. I had sort of done things affiliated with Hot Air but wasn't necessarily employed with them. So a lot of people knew me from that. But yeah, I think it was just the early blogging days. And I noticed your old blog. Alarming news.

[Carol Markowitz]

Alarming news, that's right.

[Mary Kathryn Ham]

And we would see each other at various events and also hang out sometimes in New York City back when the two of us were just like wild single gals skeptical about the institute of marriage and institution of marriage and whether we would enter into said agreements in the future.

[Carol Markowitz]

Funny, right, that we were kind of like, I don't know about this.

[Mary Kathryn Ham]

I mean, I think it's a. I think it's a testament to how when you meet the right person, I was.

[Carol Markowitz]

Going to say that, yeah, we were dating the wrong people. Let's be real here. They were very nice. They were very nice people, but they were not the right people for us. One of the cool things that we did together was we saw the 911 conspiracy theories start to develop. And we. We did kind of a prank on one of the anniversaries of 911 where we printed pamphlets that said the truth about 9 11. And then when you opened the pamphlet, it was like the story that is the official truth of 9 11. Because that's actually what happened. 19 terrorists boarded planes and crashed them into our buildings. And that's the story of 9 11. So. Yeah, but, you know, people would be, like, annoyed and be like, you know, walking by us, and we'd be like, you know, read the truth about 9 11. And then we'd be like, read it. Go ahead and read it.

[Mary Kathryn Ham]

Yeah, Truthers themselves would be confronted with the truth.

[Carol Markowitz]

Right.

[Mary Kathryn Ham]

They would think we were on their side. Gosh, that is a vintage.

[Carol Markowitz]

That is. There's a video of that somewhere. There's definitely video of that exists somewhere in the universe.

[Mary Kathryn Ham]

Yeah, I'm sure I have it. But because of my, like, probable adhd, I would never be able to find it. It's just somewhere in my many, many files.

[Carol Markowitz]

I mean, it might be on YouTube or something, but. Yeah, well. So somebody actually asks, why is your podcast not on YouTube or listed on YouTube? Podcast search finds nothing. And I will be real with you. We don't know how to do it. The thing is that this pays us, that when you download our podcast, we get paid. I personally, and Maybe I think, M.K. you're in the same boat. I just don't know how to get it started on YouTube and elsewhere. Maybe we will in the future, but we're both fairly jammed and have a ton of things going on, and we can't kind of learn this new skill that we've maybe should be learning.

[Mary Kathryn Ham]

Sometimes I think back about my old YouTube channel, which I started in, like, 2007.

[Carol Markowitz]

Yeah, you could be rich right now.

[Mary Kathryn Ham]

If I just stuck with that, I would have many, many, many followers now, subscribers now. But, yeah, I think one of the things about being a working mom who loves to hang out with her kids is Carol and I are always looking to do. Biggest bang for your buck. Right. So what's the thing that's working? What's the thing that we can do and also do all the rest of the things we're doing, and this turns out to be the best way to do it for us.

[Carol Markowitz]

Right? Yeah.

[Mary Kathryn Ham]

But, yes, I'm open to it, as my MK Hammer channel from 2007 attests. But.

[Carol Markowitz]

Right. Well, we kind of tried it when we first launched. Normally we did clips on YouTube and on Rumble, but unless you're posting like, you know, kind of like the. The really catchy titles and the. And you get, you know, the cliffhanger episodes, it just. It doesn't quite work. People aren't looking to, like, maybe they are, but we just didn't do it. Right. I don't know. But we just didn't have the. You'll never believe what happens Next. You know, so that's not ours. No, it's really not. But going back to conspiracy theories, somebody asks of all the political conspiracy theories, which are usually the currency of the non normies, from JFK being assassinated by the Mafia to chemtrails, which causes you actual pause. I don't know. I used to say I was a Sun Truther. Like, I thought, you know, for a long time it was like, sun is very, very bad for you. And I was like, is it though? And I. But I feel like people have. That's been kind of. It's caught up. Like, I. I'm no longer a sun truther. We're all sun truthers now. People. People know that being out in the sunshine is actually not terrible for you. Yeah. Yeah. Do you have any?

[Mary Kathryn Ham]

I. I would say that the one. The one that I sort of like is my guilty pleasure, is that I think the Clintons are up to way worse than has been publicly exposed just all the time. My, My, My default assumption is that those two are just up to pretty good. Worst. Up to the worst.

[Carol Markowitz]

Yeah.

[Mary Kathryn Ham]

So I would say that that's the one I could be convinced on, you know, when people.

[Carol Markowitz]

For sure. I'm not even sure that's a conspiracy theory.

[Mary Kathryn Ham]

No, it might not even be a conspiracy theory, but I have darker thoughts about them than the publicly approved version.

[Carol Markowitz]

Yeah.

[Mary Kathryn Ham]

Can I. Can I ask this one? Did you see this one? You're in charge of casting a biopic of the Trump second administration. Who do you cast as Trump? Rubio, Hegseth, Wiles, Gabbard Kennedy, etc.

[Carol Markowitz]

Man, that's tough. I. Oh, do you have some good ones?

[Mary Kathryn Ham]

I saw this one and I. It actually came to me pretty quickly. I don't have a Trump yet, which obviously is very important.

[Carol Markowitz]

Let me give you a Trump. Even though this person's not alive, I just feel like Norm MacDonald would have done a fantastic Trump. I could just see him nailing that role.

[Mary Kathryn Ham]

Okay, I'm gonna give you a couple of my thoughts, and they are not, you know, political ideology does not require to be anything. I'm just looking it up.

[Carol Markowitz]

Yeah, yeah.

[Mary Kathryn Ham]

So Rubio, Pedro Pascal Hegset's gonna be so happy with this. Glen Powell.

[Carol Markowitz]

I don't know who that is.

[Mary Kathryn Ham]

Glen Powell is the. The Iceman ish character in Top Maverick.

[Carol Markowitz]

Oh, okay. I didn't see it.

[Mary Kathryn Ham]

The twisters guy.

[Carol Markowitz]

I really have to see that movie.

[Mary Kathryn Ham]

Yeah, yeah. Glen Powell. Who else do I have? Susie Wiles, Emma Thompson.

[Carol Markowitz]

Hmm.

[Mary Kathryn Ham]

That's good.

[Carol Markowitz]

Yeah.

[Mary Kathryn Ham]

I mean, and then I think for Gabbard, I had maybe Gal Gadot. Who's that bad?

[Carol Markowitz]

Yeah, yeah, I could see that. Kennedy. Anybody for Kennedy?

[Mary Kathryn Ham]

I didn't have a Kennedy one.

[Carol Markowitz]

Yeah. I'm trying to think. I'm just so. I'm. I don't watch movies, but yeah, Kennedy, he's. He's sort of a funky character. I could see, like, I got. I guess I just know comedians more than anybody else, but like a Seinfeld, almost.

[Mary Kathryn Ham]

Can you.

[Carol Markowitz]

Can you see Jerry playing.

[Mary Kathryn Ham]

Yeah, my. My casting. Straight casting. And I like yours, like, almost like Spaceball's version of Trump for Kennedy. I mean, this is. This is too predictable. But a Clooney could play a Kennedy.

[Carol Markowitz]

Oh, yeah.

[Mary Kathryn Ham]

That some same sort of weathered looking older guy feel.

[Carol Markowitz]

Absolutely. Yeah.

[Mary Kathryn Ham]

But Trump is tricky because Trump is a comedic force. So you.

[Carol Markowitz]

Right. That's the thing. I feel like it has to be somebody who gets that. And I just feel like. Yeah, even Alec Baldwin, when he played him, and he gets it, but he doesn't. He kind of is more about making fun of him. He doesn't get the. Trump is funny also.

[Mary Kathryn Ham]

He was my first thought, but I thought there's too much of that and there's too much, like in his heart, he thinks he's so malevolent, that he's gonna be. He's gonna be intent on either playing him very stupid or very evil. And I think there's just like a. It'd be hard to find somebody who could do it.

[Carol Markowitz]

What do you watch, listen to, or read that's purely for entertainment purposes? What brings you joy?

[Mary Kathryn Ham]

This is a great question. And sometimes I'm like, I wish I had more time for such things. I think the thing that brings me really a lot of joy, and I'm going to sound like such a goody goody two shoes here, is reading to my kids.

[Carol Markowitz]

Yeah.

[Mary Kathryn Ham]

So I read classics with them. So we'll do children's classics like the Secret Garden or even right now I'm reading Pride and Prejudice to them, which is a little above their level, but I'm able to talk them through it. And we talk about what the sentences mean and the language, and they'll probably pick up some of it as they go. So I've been reading that to them. I'm told that now might be a good age for the Hobbit. And I've never done Tolkien before, which I know is like such a. So terrible on my track.

[Carol Markowitz]

I've never read it either. Yeah.

[Mary Kathryn Ham]

So I might.

[Carol Markowitz]

I'm not a fantasy, but I would give that a shot.

[Mary Kathryn Ham]

Yeah. So that might be our next one after Pride and Prejudice. We also read, like, more contemporary stuff.

[Carol Markowitz]

That's amazing. That's really cool. I feel like I should do that, but I might have missed my window.

[Mary Kathryn Ham]

Yeah. Well, it ends up being my only fiction reading because I think that falls off for me. I'm trying to read fiction while I'm on vacation this week.

[Carol Markowitz]

I read a lot. Not a lot, but my whole thing is I try to read fiction, and I'm reading right now. Go on Pretending by Alina Adams. She's one of my favorite writers. She just writes really, really beautiful fiction.

[Mary Kathryn Ham]

I always take recommendations from Carol because I feel like we're on the same wavelength when it comes to fiction.

[Carol Markowitz]

I'm going to. I publish a list at the end of the year where I kind of feel disappointed with how little I read or, you know, it's not bad. It's more than, I think the average person, but it's still, like, not where I want to be. And then I'll have, let's say, 15 books for the year, and my. My daughter will be like, oh, here's the 150 I read.

[Mary Kathryn Ham]

If I read half as much as my children. Yeah, a much better person.

[Carol Markowitz]

Same. Same. Yeah. But also, it's hard. It's hard we. Easier on ourselves. Yeah.

[Mary Kathryn Ham]

The very, very silly thing that I watch that makes me happy every time I turn it on is what we do in the Shadows, which is a, I don't know, vampire based mockumentary.

[Carol Markowitz]

Okay.

[Mary Kathryn Ham]

Fantastic. It's fantastic. The comedic actors are fantastic. The plots are ridiculous. It's all just so silly that you don't have to worry about it. Right. It's like, I like that I have trouble sometimes gearing up for very serious TV programs. This I don't have to be in any mood for. Just turn it on.

[Carol Markowitz]

Right. I find it very hard to watch tense shows, especially at night, which is the only time we have time to watch anything. We're watching the Bear right now, but we're only in the first season. It has tension, Like, a little bit too much tension. Like, when things go wrong at the restaurant, you're like, why do I. Why am I stressing about their lives? I like comedy. Yeah. Yep. Same funniest line from any movie. I was thinking about this. I don't know if this is the funniest line, but this is the line that we use the most in our household. It's from Big Lebowski, where he has his car stolen and he has a clearance Clearwater tape in there. And the police officer is. He asked the police officer like, do you think you're gonna find my car? And the police officer's like, I don't know. And then Lebowski is like, but what about my Credence Clearwater tape? And the cop is like, oh yeah, they have us working in shifts. So they have us working in shifts is a line that we use around the house when, like, are we gonna do blank? Like something that's just, you know, too difficult and too time consuming. We're like, they have us working in shifts.

[Mary Kathryn Ham]

I love it. I would say the most quotable movies in my family and my family of origin and my immediate family now are like Monty Python stuff. Probably Monty Python, the Holy Grail was a go to when we were, when we were kids. I feel like my dad really got us into like comedy nerd space. So we watched a lot of Second City TV and all of the like Ed Grimley and all the SNL characters from back in the day. Those are very quotable in my house. Ricky Bobby.

[Carol Markowitz]

Oh yeah, Ricky Bobby for sure. Yeah.

[Mary Kathryn Ham]

The Billy Madison era for me. Still. I quote things that my kids have no idea what I'm talking about, by the way. And Friday might be my most favorite quotable movie of all time.

[Carol Markowitz]

Oh, that's really good. I mean by Felicia from Friday.

[Mary Kathryn Ham]

Well, there are so many things that are so embedded in cult that are from Friday that people don't even know they're from Friday. But that was really in my formative years. Friday was a go to.

[Carol Markowitz]

Yeah.

[Mary Kathryn Ham]

So those have been just stuck in my brain ever since.

[Carol Markowitz]

We're gonna take a short break and come right back with normally.

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[Carol Markowitz]

All right, switching gears a little bit to politics. We had got a few questions about the new Democratic nominee for mayor of New York City. I think Zoran Mamandi is. Frankly, it's scaring people that someone like this can get so close to being the mayor of New York. He's in pole position to win. So somebody asks, should the Trump DOJ make a move to strip Zorin of his citizenship and deport him? Only if you want to make him super popular and definitely going to win the election.

[Mary Kathryn Ham]

Is one of those things.

[Carol Markowitz]

Yeah.

[Mary Kathryn Ham]

This is one of those things that conservatives should not get into, that liberals have been into in the past, which is the idea that when someone wins an election fair and square, that you can unelect them. Right. Like you get a shot at it. You had the shot.

[Carol Markowitz]

Yeah. And you have another shot in November.

[Mary Kathryn Ham]

Just as the entire first Trump administration, they were going to get their shot in 2020, but they insisted on trying to unprecedent the president. And that's not how democracy works. Even though they want to claim that they're the guardians of democracy. So don't do that. You have to fight on fair ground with this guy. It's un American to deport him simply because he's a bad choice for this city. He is a bad choice.

[Carol Markowitz]

He is a bad choice.

[Mary Kathryn Ham]

Like a disastrous one.

[Carol Markowitz]

Yeah.

[Mary Kathryn Ham]

There's actually a clip floating around now from 2021 where he's like, well, the object is to seize the means of production.

[Carol Markowitz]

Right. Yeah.

[Mary Kathryn Ham]

The thing is, I think people, not productivity, I. Modern therapy, speak to the. The new language.

[Carol Markowitz]

I think what people can take away from that is we should be more careful about who we let into the country. They should align with our values. They shouldn't want to bring down capitalism. All of these things are. It's okay to monitor people's social media or find out what they really, really care about and want to do here. And it's fine to say no people like this.

[Mary Kathryn Ham]

Yeah.

[Carol Markowitz]

No.

[Mary Kathryn Ham]

I think it's also just so gross to have this rich kid doing the thing that rich kid revolutionaries always do, which is, let me not let anyone else get rich and demonize anyone who's working hard and moving up and creating products for a bunch of people and getting rich that way. And Also, let me take all your money. But you're awful and evil. It's just the whole thing is so gross. Please vote for Eric Adams. I guess.

[Carol Markowitz]

Yeah. Well, that's the follow up question somebody else had was should everyone who's not a socialist in New York City just commit to voting for Eric Adams? Right now there's some controversy around this. People are like, well, why not Curtis Lew or the Republican? I just think that Eric Adams is the best option here. I think he's got the biggest shot to win. I like Curtis a lot. If I were living in New York, I would want people to put all of their chips behind Eric Adams because I think that he's currently mayor. He has some advantages because of that. And he's normal enough is really what we're going for here. He's not amazing. He's just good enough. He's not communist.

[Mary Kathryn Ham]

And the less you coalesce, the more.

[Carol Markowitz]

Chance, the more likely. Yeah.

[Mary Kathryn Ham]

I would also say I have read through quite a bit of the indictment of him because this is like a vote for the criminal. It's important situation.

[Carol Markowitz]

It's important. Yeah.

[Mary Kathryn Ham]

But I will, like, I think you can. You might have swayed yourself a bit on that front if you read the indictment, which is a little like, I'm sure there may be more stuff there. Yeah, A little like, oh, he got his flights upgraded and I'm supposed to be very concerned about that.

[Carol Markowitz]

Right.

[Mary Kathryn Ham]

I'm not sure how concerned I am about that compared to seize the means of production.

[Carol Markowitz]

That's really the thing that there's questionable stuff around Eric Adams. I wrote out all of his problems in a Washington examiner piece before he was actually indicted, when it was like he was going to be indicted. He's got a lot of shady. He had a lot of shady people around him that he didn't fire. He's pledging to do better. Let's see if he does. But again, when you compare it to straight up communism, it's kind of an easy choice.

[Mary Kathryn Ham]

What do you think of banning cell phones in schools? This person notes, which is a great point, I can see why they're doing it, but they're worried that if you take them out, then teachers won't be at all worried about being documented doing the things that have ticked off parents this far left indoctrination over the last couple years. And of course, a lot of that was brought to light by zoom. Right. And by having cameras in the classroom.

[Carol Markowitz]

Yeah. Well, I would say that they still will have cameras in the classroom. These kids are all using Chromebooks now, which is a separate question of whether that should be the case. Right. Should kids be using screens in schools? Pretty much, you know, at every level at this point. My 4th grader doesn't have screens, but my older kids do. And so you'll still have that. You know what the problem is? If you have a school that has enforcement of the rules, then it won't matter to ban phones or not. You could just say you're not allowed to use your phones in class and that's it. But the real issue is that public schools across the country do not enforce any of the rules. They do not suspend anybody. They certainly don't expel anybody. There's no risk to these kids to just not follow the rules at all. So if you have a rule following school, you could have phones that you're just not allowed to use at certain times. That's not what we have, unfortunately.

[Mary Kathryn Ham]

Yeah, I think, I think. I tend to think the benefits of no phones are probably greater than the downsides of not having them.

[Carol Markowitz]

Yeah.

[Mary Kathryn Ham]

Just for instruction. I think, you know, we. We try to keep our kids fairly screen free. Not, you know, not totally crunchy, but.

[Carol Markowitz]

Right.

[Mary Kathryn Ham]

I find that their behavior is better. Their ability to problem solve is better. Their desire to read books is better when they do not have access all the time. And so in a school setting, that would obviously help students. But I do think what you're saying, Carol, is what they're doing is when they take the option away entirely, it obviates the need for them to jump in on a case by case basis because they've shown not willing or able to do that. And parents will fight them tooth and nail. That's part of it. Right? Parents will fight over this.

[Carol Markowitz]

Exactly.

[Mary Kathryn Ham]

Adjudication. And so they're just like, nah, we're done.

[Carol Markowitz]

So, yeah, yeah, that's, that's the problem here.

[Mary Kathryn Ham]

Can I ask one question? Okay, so you went to 1980s, 90s New York public schools.

[Carol Markowitz]

I went, I went to. I went to Jewish schools, but yeah.

[Mary Kathryn Ham]

Okay, So I went to 80s 90s public schools in North Carolina. What's the wildest old school, 80s anecdote from your schools? Like something that Gen Z would be like, they did what? Do you have any.

[Carol Markowitz]

You know, I had a really incredible teacher in high school. I went to a small private high school in Brooklyn and I had this like, really, like one of those teachers straight out of the movies, like, who inspire you and, you know, whatever. But those teachers are always a little crazy. And he used to do stuff like he'd get really angry and throw a desk out the window. It was just like he, he taught me how to write. But I also feared for my life.

[Mary Kathryn Ham]

So, yeah, you know, a little from.

[Carol Markowitz]

Column, a little from column B.

[Mary Kathryn Ham]

We've, we've had those. We're like. I remember in my public schools, like, enforcement by teachers was somewhat rougher than would be allowed now. And I would argue that in the cases where I saw that it was warranted, like physically restraining students. But one of two of my favorite ones, one, when I first came to my elementary school, which would have been mid 80s ish, no one was paddled in our public schools, but there were paddles. So it was like we had just amazing. We had just gotten past that. But a couple of old school teachers, they would hang on the wall and they were sort of legendary as this unspoken threat that something could happen to you if you got out of hand. And the legend I remember was that like there were holes drilled in a wooden paddle. And I was like, why would that be? And the rumor was, I don't know if this is true. Older people than I can say is that that makes it more like cuts through the wind so you can go faster.

[Carol Markowitz]

Wow. They needed it to be worse. They needed it to really hurt.

[Mary Kathryn Ham]

That makes sense though. Nothing actually happened, but it was like the, the threat. And then the other one was my middle school did not have air conditioning in North Carolina.

[Carol Markowitz]

No, none of our schools had air conditioning. Yeah.

[Mary Kathryn Ham]

And the rule was, I remember that. I don't know who wrote this rule. The rule was if it was 98 degrees for three days in a row, we would get the fourth day off. Like even my children, who I think I've toughened up a little more than the average kid this age, if I asked them to be in a school building in 98 degree heat for 10, three days.

[Carol Markowitz]

Yeah, I don't think they'd make it.

[Mary Kathryn Ham]

I don't think they'd make it. Yeah, society would lose its mind, Right?

[Carol Markowitz]

We were like in New York like two weeks ago, my 15 year old, my husband and I, and they were having like a heat snap. And I know I live in Florida, so I like heat, I assure you. But the problem was that everywhere in New York felt really under air conditioned compared to Florida. Like Florida, you walk into a restaurant, you're like, brrr. You know, in New York it was like, why am I still hot? What is this? My 15 year old was like, oh, like, how do they live like this.

[Mary Kathryn Ham]

This is not cutting right.

[Carol Markowitz]

Not at all this was so much fun. 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.

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