Normally Podcast: How to Marry, Meal Prep, and Make It Through College

Summary

Podcast Summary: "Normally Podcast: How to Marry, Meal Prep, and Make It Through College"

Podcast Information:

• Title: Normally Podcast: How to Marry, Meal Prep, and Make It Through College
• Host: Mary Kathryn Hamm and Carol Markowitz
• Publisher: iHeartPodcasts
• Release Date: July 1, 2025
• Description: Normally is a show where hosts Mary Kathryn Hamm and Carol Markowitz tackle everyday challenges with humor and practical advice. In this special Independence Day edition, listeners are invited to ask questions on a variety of topics ranging from cooking and relationships to college life.

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1. Introduction and Listener Interaction (00:03:15 - 03:37)

Mary Kathryn Hamm and Carol Markowitz kick off the episode by welcoming listeners to a special vacation week edition of Normally. They introduce a format where listeners can pose any questions, setting the stage for an engaging and interactive discussion.

Notable Quote:

Mary Kathryn Hamm (03:15): "Hey, guys. We are back on Normally, the show with normalish takes for when the news gets weird."

---

2. Cooking and Meal Prep: Family Favorites and Recipes (03:37 - 07:51)

The conversation delves into the art of meal prepping and family-friendly recipes. Mary Kathryn shares how, with four children, she often improvises with frozen foods, adding simple spices to enhance flavors. She highlights two favorite dishes:

• Middle Eastern Chicken Shawarma (04:42):

  Mary Kathryn Hamm (04:42): "Middle Eastern chicken shawarma. That is chicken thighs in the oven. Very simple, really complicated spice combination... every single kid in the family. Dad likes it, I like it."

• Egg Roll in a Bowl (05:06):

  Mary Kathryn Hamm (05:20): "Egg roll in a bowl which is just sautéed cabbage, spices and ground beef... everyone was eating it and I was like, am I hallucinating?"

Carol shares her approach to catering to picky eaters, particularly her nine-year-old son, who prefers dishes like chicken nuggets or lobster over regular meals.

Notable Quote:

Carol Markowitz (06:11): "My nine-year-old is super complicated. We say that he either is like a $90 dinner dish or like a 90 cent. It's either chicken nuggets or lobster for him."

Mary Kathryn also discusses a cherished family recipe for pimento cheese, emphasizing simplicity and texture over complexity.

Notable Quote:

Mary Kathryn Hamm (07:40): "The main thing that we do is that we grate the cheese in two different sizes so it changes the texture."

---

3. Navigating Politics in Relationships: When and How to Share Values (08:50 - 19:18)

The hosts transition to discussing the delicate balance of introducing political and philosophical values in dating and relationships. They emphasize the importance of early transparency to ensure compatibility and prevent future conflicts.

Mary Kathryn reflects on her upbringing in a liberal town where her conservative views made her an outlier, highlighting the challenges of maintaining friendships across ideological lines.

Notable Quote:

Mary Kathryn Hamm (10:55): "I think that's probably smart. I'm trying to think. I grew up in a very liberal town, and everyone knew I was the weirdo."

Carol advocates for being upfront about core values from the outset to avoid wasting time on incompatible relationships.

Notable Quote:

Carol Markowitz (09:15): "Don't want to come on too strong right away. I'm just gonna say it. You should come on strong right away."

They discuss strategies for politely steering conversations away from contentious topics, such as focusing on shared interests like barbecue or football.

Notable Quote:

Mary Kathryn Hamm (18:34): "I would just like to, you know, chat about barbecue or football. Like, that's. That would be."

The conversation also touches on setting boundaries to protect personal well-being, especially when sensitive topics like military service are involved.

Notable Quote:

Mary Kathryn Hamm (16:53): "If you're encountering somebody who thinks that that's NBD or worse, thinks it's bad, that would very quickly lead to bad interactions and lost friendships."

---

4. College Life: Choices, Challenges, and Friendships (19:18 - 27:53)

Mary Kathryn shares her college experience at the University of Georgia (UGA), explaining how she didn't apply to multiple schools due to financial constraints and focused on UGA for its journalism program and vibrant community.

Notable Quote:

Mary Kathryn Hamm (20:31): "I did not apply anywhere else. My senioritis extended to applying to college... I wanted big. I was comfortable with that."

She recounts the initial struggle of making friends during her first semester, leading to a brief consideration of transferring before ultimately finding her community through the lacrosse club.

Notable Quote:

Mary Kathryn Hamm (23:05): "That first semester at school is very, very tough on folks."

Carol contrasts her experience by discussing how her best friend and high school boyfriend attended college with her, which limited her opportunities to meet new people once they both left Boston.

Notable Quote:

Carol Markowitz (24:16): "My best friend went to another school in Boston and my high school boyfriend went to school with me... then I was all by myself in my sophomore year."

Mary Kathryn highlights how maintaining a job and a rigorous workout routine helped her stay focused and manage the challenges of her freshman year without friends.

Notable Quote:

Mary Kathryn Hamm (24:50): "I had a very early morning job... and the other thing I did was work out. And so I came home different than my peers after."

Carol reflects on the lack of guidance for making friends in college, especially for first-generation students.

Notable Quote:

Carol Markowitz (24:20): "I always say immigrant parents, they really did not know what they were sending me into."

---

5. Memorable College Stories and Professors (27:53 - 30:26)

Mary Kathryn shares a poignant story about Conrad Fink, a revered journalism professor at UGA who was also a Vietnam vet and former newspaper editor. Fink's straightforward and no-nonsense approach left a lasting impression on her.

Notable Quote:

Mary Kathryn Hamm (25:07): "He was such a 1985-1995 left of center guy... he was straight talker."

Carol and Mary Kathryn discuss how Fink's teaching style would interact with today’s college environment, contemplating whether his methods would resonate with current students.

Notable Quote:

Mary Kathryn Hamm (26:34): "He was such a 1985-1995 left of center guy that... his way of dealing in the world would not have been welcomed by many Gen Z and Gen Alpha students."

Mary Kathryn also recounts being recommended for a role at the Augusta newspaper's op-ed page by Fink, illustrating the opportunities and challenges faced in her early career.

Notable Quote:

Mary Kathryn Hamm (27:28): "He recommended me for the Augusta, Georgia newspaper's op-ed page as an assistant editor... but I was like too young for what they were looking for."

---

6. Closing Remarks and Final Thoughts (30:26 - End)

As the episode wraps up, Mary Kathryn addresses a listener's concern about navigating political discussions in a liberal environment, particularly when supporting a deployed military son. The hosts provide empathetic advice on setting boundaries and maintaining supportive relationships.

They briefly touch upon the possibility of touring live shows, expressing enthusiasm for engaging with audiences in person.

Notable Quote:

Mary Kathryn Hamm (16:53): "I would advise... to have your solid group of gal friends either online or in person who do share those values."

Finally, Carol hints at future episodes focusing more on political topics, encouraging listeners to subscribe and stay connected.

Notable Quote:

Carol Markowitz (19:18): "We'll be back with the next episode will also be some ask us anything questions and we' to get into some more political topics next time."

---

Conclusion: In this engaging episode of Normally, Mary Kathryn Hamm and Carol Markowitz provide heartfelt insights into balancing family life with meal prep, navigating political conversations in relationships, and overcoming the social challenges of college life. Their candid discussions, enriched with personal anecdotes and practical advice, offer valuable guidance for listeners facing similar experiences.

Transcript

[Mary Kathryn Hamm]

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[Mary Kathryn Hamm]

Hey, guys. We are back on. Normally, the show with normalish takes for when the news gets weird. This week, a special vacation week edition Independence Day edition where you guys get to ask us whatever you want. I am Mary Kathryn Hamm.

[Carol Markowitz]

And I'm Carol Markowitz. I'm so excited for this. I love hearing what our listeners kind of think of us.

[Mary Kathryn Hamm]

Good, bad, and ugly.

[Carol Markowitz]

So we were saying this before we started rolling, but there are a lot of cooking questions. I feel like people think that we are capable in the kitchen.

[Mary Kathryn Hamm]

That's nice of them.

[Carol Markowitz]

Yeah, it is nice of them. I look, I love to cook, actually. But yeah, I love to cook and I love that that comes across to be real. So, yeah, let's get into it. All right, Mary Kathryn, what's the meal most requested in your homes? And what do you enjoy making for with your family for dinner?

[Mary Kathryn Hamm]

Okay, so I would have to say, and I know this does not put me solidly in the Maha coalition, is that oftentimes because I have four children, I am not so much a cook as an improver of frozen food. Like, that's really my. I'm like, oh, here's some frozen broccoli. But I put like a little bit of spice. Spice, right. But there is a running list of things that I make that every single person in the house eats and enjoys. Because that's big.

[Carol Markowitz]

That's really big. I was trying to think of something like that. And I don't know that I have one, you know?

[Mary Kathryn Hamm]

Yeah, there's only a couple for us. And one is this like, like Middle Eastern chicken shawarma. That is chicken thighs in the oven. Very simple, really complicated spice combination. Which is why it's wild that everyone eats it. Every single kid in the family. Dad likes it, I like it. So that's one. Found it on Instagram. Thanks, Instagram.

[Carol Markowitz]

Amazing.

[Mary Kathryn Hamm]

And then we had one the other day that was egg roll in A bowl which is just sauteed cabbage, spices and ground beef. Sauteed and like, you know, you dress it up a little bit.

[Carol Markowitz]

Sure.

[Mary Kathryn Hamm]

Like everyone was eating it and I was like, am I hallucinating? You're eating peppers, cabbages and beef. Okay.

[Carol Markowitz]

Amazing. Yeah. In my family I would have to parse something out for someone and it's super annoying. I think the thing I came up with is I make a roast, just a Korean style roast with like Asian spices and people in the family all eat it to varying degrees. My 9 year old is super complicated. We say that he either is like a $90 dinner dish or like a 90 cent. It's either chicken nuggets or lobster for him. There's really no in between. What regular people eat is not of interest to him at all. So he. A lot of the times will have the chicken nuggets or a corn dog as we have. The four of us have dinner without him.

[Mary Kathryn Hamm]

We have one of those as well where she's like either very, you know, she eats what we put in front of her. Cause that's basically required in our house for the most part to like give dinner a try. You have to give it a try.

[Carol Markowitz]

Sure.

[Mary Kathryn Hamm]

But she definitely prefers like very bland kid foods until you put a very expensive steak in front of her. She's like, absolutely.

[Carol Markowitz]

Same here. Yeah. The nine year old is also all kinds of wagyu. Everything for sure. Oysters. But not like grilled chicken. Cause that's crazy, you know?

[Mary Kathryn Hamm]

Yeah.

[Carol Markowitz]

Mk, when will you share your pimento cheese recipe?

[Mary Kathryn Hamm]

Oh yeah. I know a lot of people think I'm gatekeeping on this.

[Carol Markowitz]

Yeah. Why are you gatekeeping?

[Mary Kathryn Hamm]

I don't mean to gatekeep, but it is my father's family's recipe. So I should technically ask him before I put it out to everyone. Because it's sort of like a friend do our gatekeeping. I know. Well, I have to ask him first. That's all I'm saying. I think he would be like, yeah, that's fine. I just would run it by him. And I haven't done that. But it is a five generations old South Georgia recipe. And here's the thing, it's not complicated at all. It is that people get a little too fancy with the pimento cheese and they think they have to do a lot of things to it. You don't have to do a lot of things to it. The main thing that we do is that we grate the cheese in two different sizes so it changes the texture.

[Carol Markowitz]

Texture, right. Yeah.

[Mary Kathryn Hamm]

That Is my only.

[Carol Markowitz]

You send me that recipe right after this.

[Mary Kathryn Hamm]

I will, and I will clear it with my dad. And then when I tell you guys, you're gonna be like, that's just very easy. Yep. But it's a crowd pleaser.

[Carol Markowitz]

Yeah, for sure. Another food question. Biscuitville versus Bojangles.

[Mary Kathryn Hamm]

Okay, here's the thing. Biscuitville, if you're not familiar with it, Carol, Which I'm not. Yeah, it is another regional chain that serves biscuits. I had one, like, three and a half blocks from my house growing up, and I swear that establishment was never open. Now, this is possibly because it was only open for breakfast. And, like, all the, like, people who are productive and get up in the morning, go eat there. Like, construction workers would go have Biscuitville and then be off. But I found that in my teenager experience, which is mostly what I experienced around Biscuitville's, they weren't open when I needed them to be open. Whereas Bojangles.

[Carol Markowitz]

Yeah, you need a reliable. That's like, you know, most of the game with fast food. It has to be reliable. You can't, like.

[Mary Kathryn Hamm]

But really, really, really good grits, very good biscuits, solid food, just. I was never able to land on a biscuit bill that was there when I needed it.

[Carol Markowitz]

Yeah. And that's really the most important part. Look, switching from food to politics and dating. At what point in getting to know someone should politics or general philosophy be brought up? I know that it wouldn't work to be with someone that doesn't have matching values, but don't want to come on too strong right away. I'm just gonna say it. You should come on strong right away.

[Mary Kathryn Hamm]

It's probably a good filter.

[Carol Markowitz]

Yeah, yeah. Just don't waste your time. It's really. It's not about them. It's not about what they think of you. It's about what you think of them. And I think you just get it out really early and see what happens. You know, I was a conservative in Brooklyn, and that was an unpopular thing to be. So I would find a way to bring it up very early in conversations with new friends, with anybody, just because I didn't want to trick anybody into spending time with me. And if you don't like that, that's your problem.

[Mary Kathryn Hamm]

Yeah, I think that's. That's probably smart. I'm trying to think. I grew up in a very liberal town, and everyone knew I was the weirdo. So it just. It was kind of out there. Yeah. There were so few conservatives that it was like, oh, well, she's the one who does the weird thing. She's the aberration. Right, but. And so everybody kind of knew it going in. However, in new situations, I do think it's harder now for people. So I'm very, I'm sympathetic to the idea that you're kind of dancing around it because I get being delicate. I've tried to maintain many a friendship with many liberals, mostly successfully over the years, and it does require a dance. But those are friendships, right? So in a dating to marriage scenario, I think you want to be pretty careful about what is worth the trade off and what is not. And you also don't want to get in too deep and then find out some values are not a lot that will go badly for you. You don't have to be a jerk face about it, but you can make clear who you are.

[Carol Markowitz]

Right. I fully agree. I actually. A friend's daughter is a very traditional girl. She's in her early 20s and she's looking for someone to marry. And I said to her, I think you should put like looking to be a trad wife in your bio so that there's no, there's no mistake. There's no like, you know, confusion about who you want to be and what you want. And if you're not in the political world, terms like that, you know, might not mean anything to you, but it just, it signals what you're looking for.

[Mary Kathryn Hamm]

I think I was in college and shortly after I was always very clear about my faith and that that was important to me. And honestly it was a very good jerk filter for sure.

[Carol Markowitz]

Right?

[Mary Kathryn Hamm]

Because there are like, people do the calculation and they're like, hmm, yeah, is this not what I'm looking for? And if it's not what he's looking for, move along, move along. So I do think that can be helpful for filtering for who you want.

[Carol Markowitz]

We'll be right back on normally this.

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[Mary Kathryn Hamm]

Okay, this says hi ladies. Love the podcast. My son just deployed on the USS Gerald Ford. He is 27 years old, an F18 pilot. Woo. Thank you for his service and awesome. This is his first deployment. I live in super liberal Loudoun County, Virginia. I am super sensitive about politics right now and don't want to have any political discussions with any libs. What can I say other than I don't discuss politics because I can't handle anyone else's opinions right now that are not pro military. Preferably a two to three sentence hack for this. Thanks. Yeah, let me repeat thanks to your family and him for his service. Yeah, I can understand this being sensitive because you have a person who's in the line of duty at this moment and willing to put his life on the line for others. And so if you're encountering somebody who thinks that that's NBD or worse, thinks it's bad, that would very quickly lead to bad interactions and lost friendships, I think.

[Carol Markowitz]

Right.

[Mary Kathryn Hamm]

I would advise. I mean one of the things that I do because I live in a very liberal area too and I'm happy to have liberal friends. But not all of them are liberal. Right. Because sometimes you want to be connected with other folks. I think you got to have like your solid group of gal friends either online or in person who do share those values, who you can have those conversations with so that you can skip it elsewhere. But Carol, what is your take on a nice way to skip it?

[Carol Markowitz]

Yeah, you know, I don't know about a nice way to say it, but I'll just echo what we said to the dating thing is that you don't want anti military, you know, people in your life, in your life while your son is serving. That's, you know, crazy. I look, I have topics that I think are touchy if you want to bring down America. I'm just, I can't be friends with you. Like there are some lines like if we have differences on tax policy, fine. But if you're like, America shouldn't exist. I mean, we just, we can't be friends. So I see that in the same place, I don't think you need to worry about what to say to them. I think you don't need those people and if they are anti military, they're ultimately just not for you. Again, I'm big on cross ideological friendships, but there are lines and there are some lines that I just don't think we should be willing to cross.

[Mary Kathryn Hamm]

Also, you could sort of speak the language of. If you, if you wanted to head something off at the pass and you're just like, you know, it may be somebody who's just like medium lib, but isn't being careful about the way they're going to talk about this. And you can, can you use therapy, speak on them and just be like, you know, I'm really. I have a lot of anxiety about.

[Carol Markowitz]

My son's daughter and I like turning that around.

[Mary Kathryn Hamm]

Yeah, I would just like to, you know, chat about barbecue or football. Like, that's. That would be. That would be my take. And if someone's just bent on discussing. I actually don't love that kind of relationship. If you're really, really dedicated, discussing politics with me in a casual setting where we're doing other things, that's actually not a good relationship for me.

[Carol Markowitz]

Yeah, that's right. That's exactly it. And that goes for conservatives too. If we're like, oh, yeah, no, I mean both, you know. Yeah, both ways for sure. But yeah, I don't think you need to put up with people who are wishing ill to your child, really. I think that's pretty clear.

[Mary Kathryn Hamm]

Yeah.

[Carol Markowitz]

Will you be going on tour at some point? Please come to Dallas. I'll just say that if we are going on tour at some point, we will be starting with a Dallas Cowboys game. Yes.

[Mary Kathryn Hamm]

How dare. I'm good with Dallas. I would love to come to Dallas, by the way. Yeah.

[Carol Markowitz]

Have you been to Dallas?

[Mary Kathryn Hamm]

Yes, but only few. Only a few times for too short a period of time. So I don't get to see a ton of it.

[Carol Markowitz]

I really like it. I love Dallas.

[Mary Kathryn Hamm]

It's fun seeing a Cowboys game as it is an American spectacle.

[Carol Markowitz]

That's right. It's America's team. You could say it.

[Mary Kathryn Hamm]

I don't know about all that.

[Carol Markowitz]

MK is shaking her head in disgust.

[Mary Kathryn Hamm]

Let's not go too far. But you know, it is, you know, big and.

[Carol Markowitz]

Yeah, it is. Yeah.

[Mary Kathryn Hamm]

Yeah. Also, we have no plans. But also, I do love doing things live and they are so fun for audiences. So we would certainly consider it.

[Carol Markowitz]

And we'll wear the Florida and Bojangle shirts in real life that we have in the baby pictures. All right, mk, we all know you attended the University of Georgia. What college university was your second choice and why?

[Mary Kathryn Hamm]

So, fun story. I did not apply anywhere else.

[Carol Markowitz]

What? Are you serious? Wow. She's like, I'm either going here or I'm not going to college.

[Mary Kathryn Hamm]

No, actually it was just that my senioritis extended to applying to college. And I liked the University of Georgia. It had a decent journalism school, it had a decent football team, it had a lot of people, which was something I was looking for because I felt that at a small liberal arts school I was maybe not going to find my pool that I clicked with. So I wanted big. I was comfortable with that. And part of it was economic, which was I knew I was probably going to end up at a state school. In my family. I kept my grades up because knowing that my younger brothers were probably not going to get scholarships and I was trying to keep the overhead low for the whole family.

[Carol Markowitz]

That's so older sibling.

[Mary Kathryn Hamm]

So I was always keeping those grades up and I had the goods to get into uga and I didn't have a lot of money to be applying a bunch of places that I wasn't going to end up being able to go. So there was part of me that for pride's sake, wanted to be like, I got into Georgetown, I got into Duke or whatever.

[Carol Markowitz]

Right, right.

[Mary Kathryn Hamm]

It was 60 to 75 bucks an application. I know, Yeah.

[Carol Markowitz]

I was telling this to somebody recently. I'm like, you know how you kids apply to like 50 school? Like I applied to 4 and that was expensive. It was like a lot of money to do that. And so, yeah, I wasn't, I wasn't looking to spend all that cash on applying to schools. That's crazy.

[Mary Kathryn Hamm]

Same. And so, yeah, did I lose out on some of those bragging rights? Yes, I did. And I made the best decision, one of the best decisions of my life, which was to go to uga. They gave me some scholarships, which was great. I graduated with no debt. Did not realize that that basically made me a 22 year old millionaire compared to my peers.

[Carol Markowitz]

Right.

[Mary Kathryn Hamm]

And I had a fantastic time. So there really wasn't a second choice. I did get homesick at one point in my first semester at school because everybody was like, aren't you scared to go somewhere where you don't have any friends? I was like, nah, because I don't think about you before they happen.

[Carol Markowitz]

Yep.

[Mary Kathryn Hamm]

And then I got there and I.

[Carol Markowitz]

Was like, oh, I don't have any friends.

[Mary Kathryn Hamm]

So I did apply for transfer to UNC at one point. I did not take it, and I'm very glad that I didn't.

[Carol Markowitz]

Wow. Imagine if you went to unc. I just can't picture it.

[Mary Kathryn Hamm]

Neither can I.

[Carol Markowitz]

So it was Georgia all the way.

[Mary Kathryn Hamm]

Yeah. That first semester at school is very, very tough on folks. And I. I didn't find my people until second semester. I played lacrosse with them second semester. I landed on that club team and found all my people and loved my life there. But, man, that first. That first semester was tough.

[Carol Markowitz]

Yeah, definitely. I had a kind of a flip side of that where my best friend and my boyfriend both came to college with me. Basically. My best friend went to another school in Boston and my high school boyfriend went to school with me. That also wasn't great because I didn't meet a lot of people and I didn't try at all. And then the next year, when both the boyfriend and the best friend decided not to come back to Boston, I was all by myself in my sophomore year where everybody already had solidified groups of friends. It was tough. It's the hard way to do it. But I, you know, I feel like I didn't have any advice on how this is supposed to go and when you're supposed to meet friends. And I don't know, I always say immigrant parents, they really did not know what they were sending me into.

[Mary Kathryn Hamm]

They just throw you into the deep end.

[Carol Markowitz]

Good luck, right?

[Mary Kathryn Hamm]

Yeah. No, I found the one thing that I did benefit from is that because I had no friends first semester and I was trying to keep my grades up, I had a very early morning job. I delivered papers. So I would get up at 3:30 or 4 every morning seven days a week and deliver papers. And as a result, my grades did stay up. And the other thing I did was work out. And so I came home different than my peers after.

[Carol Markowitz]

No, that was another way that. That first semester was definitely tough. That freshman 15. Oof. Yeah.

[Mary Kathryn Hamm]

I went the other direction because I just went to the gym for like several hours a day.

[Carol Markowitz]

Smart.

[Mary Kathryn Hamm]

Which is its own kind of issue, but, yeah, that worked out for me.

[Carol Markowitz]

Somebody else asks, while at uga, did you take classes with Fink?

[Mary Kathryn Hamm]

Oh, I did.

[Carol Markowitz]

And what's your best Fink story?

[Mary Kathryn Hamm]

So Fink is a Conrad Fink was his name, and he was a professor at the University of Georgia of newspaper journalism. And he was at one point the head guy at Upi which was the main competitor to the ap. So the Associated Press is like the go to wire now. But for a long time UPI was the. I think it's United Press International was the competitor to ap. So they were almost of equal size and scope back in the day. So he ran one of those. And he was, I believe, a Vietnam vet, crusty old Marine guy, turned newspaper editor. I would say, like kind of.

[Carol Markowitz]

I love people like that, by the way. Those are my people.

[Mary Kathryn Hamm]

Fantastic. Like had no. Would take no guff off of anyone. Had no hair on his head and eyebrows out to like four inches from his face. A. No, no. I think he passed away several years ago. We stayed in touch. He passed away several years ago and I had emailed him in between a little bit here and there. I don't know how he would have done in the current era of college students. Because he was straight talker.

[Carol Markowitz]

Yeah.

[Mary Kathryn Hamm]

And he was a. He was certainly a left of center guy, but he was such a 1985-1995 left of center guy that.

[Carol Markowitz]

Right.

[Mary Kathryn Hamm]

His way of dealing in the world would not have been welcomed by many Gen Z and Gen Alpha students.

[Carol Markowitz]

Gen Z in particular sounds like that. Right.

[Mary Kathryn Hamm]

But I loved him. He actually recommended me for a job that I didn't get one time. But it was very kind of him to think of me. By the way, this is a very sliding doors moment. He recommended me for the Augusta, Georgia newspapers op ed page as an assistant editor. But I was like 24 years old and I probably wasn't really qualified for this. But the op ed page was. The editorial page was conservative and there are so few of those and there were so few of me in the news business that he was.

[Carol Markowitz]

How are you not the natural fit? Right.

[Mary Kathryn Hamm]

He was like, hey, this is Conrad. Do you think you want to try this out? And so I went and interviewed and it went pretty well. But I think I was just too young for what they were looking for. Didn't get that job, ended up coming to D.C. so the rest is history. But I always appreciated him thinking of me and knowing this could be a fit and that he wasn't condescending or a jerk about my politics. He just knew that I thought differently.

[Unknown]

Love it.

[Carol Markowitz]

All right, we're gonna wrap it up with one last question about college related stuff and I'm gonna punt this to you because I really don't know what this means. Does Florida State belong in the sec? What's funny is when I read it, I was like, are they challenging whether Florida State is in the sec and then I googled it.

[Mary Kathryn Hamm]

Okay.

[Carol Markowitz]

I actually be nice, be nice to my Florida, whatever it is.

[Mary Kathryn Hamm]

This is one of those things. I have to be nice because two of my really good friends went to Florida State, including Shannon Bram is a Nolan. So I have to be kind about it. I'll give a disappointing answer, which is that the ever changing tides of who belongs to what conference is a sports story that does not interest me in the least. I get overwhelmed by it because I'm trying to keep track of Big Ten, which is now Big 17 and everybody's alliance.

[Carol Markowitz]

I'm just gonna nod like I know what I'm talking. Like, oh yeah, of course.

[Mary Kathryn Hamm]

Here's where Florida State lost me. And this is an, this is an action that was taken against the University of Georgia Bulldogs is that they basically checked out of the post season game when they had a perfect season and they didn't get awarded a birth to the playoffs. I know you're nodding still.

[Carol Markowitz]

Yeah, yeah, yeah. Nodding and like drifting off. This is college football, right?

[Mary Kathryn Hamm]

They basically were like, you know what, I'm not even going to tell this story because I don't know if I'm getting the details right and it's boring you anyway. But they basically said like not interested in this postseason game because we're too good for this.

[Carol Markowitz]

Wow.

[Mary Kathryn Hamm]

And a lot of people didn't play. Blah, blah, blah. Anyway, you lost me there. Like it's a, it's a moment where you just have to rally.

[Carol Markowitz]

Anyway, sure. Yeah, I, you know, I'm going to just say I agree. They should have rallied.

[Mary Kathryn Hamm]

That season was 2023. It was the undefeated season, by the way.

[Carol Markowitz]

Amazing. Well, we're going to be back with the next episode will also be some ask us anything questions and we' to get into some more political topics next time. But 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.

[Unknown]

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[Riley Herbst]

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[Carol Markowitz]

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[Unknown]

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[Mary Kathryn Hamm]

This is an iHeart podcast.