Normally Podcast: SCOTUS Showdown, Birthright Citizenship Battle & Media Madness

Summary

Podcast Summary: The Clay Travis and Buck Sexton Show – "Normally" Podcast: SCOTUS Showdown, Birthright Citizenship Battle & Media Madness

Date: April 2, 2026
Hosts: Carol Markowitz (in for Normal co-host Mary Katharine Ham), with guest Bridget Phetasy
Network: iHeartPodcasts

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Episode Overview

This episode of the "Normally" podcast, hosted by Carol Markowitz and guest Bridget Phetasy, delivers a mix of political, legal, and cultural commentary with a personable, humorous touch. The central themes revolve around the Supreme Court's consideration of birthright citizenship, the role of the judiciary versus the executive, a discussion about American space exploration, and viral media scandals involving politicians. Interwoven are reflections on authenticity, media influence, and generational shifts.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. April Fool’s Day & Intro Banter ([03:27–05:32])

• The hosts discuss the perils and irritations of April Fool’s Day:
  • Bridget: "April Fool's Day is for psychopaths. I've always hated April Fool's Day with every part of my being." (03:45)
  • Carol admits she was fooled by Ajit Pai’s FCC prank.

Notable Tone: Friendly teasing, setting a light mood before delving into complex news.

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2. Birthright Citizenship & Supreme Court Showdown ([05:32–13:42])

• Trump at SCOTUS: Trump becomes the first sitting President to attend Supreme Court oral arguments, signaling how high-stakes and unprecedented this case is.

  • Carol: "He became the first sitting US President to ever attend Supreme Court oral arguments. Why do you imagine that might be?" (05:32)
  • The hosts speculate whether Trump’s presence is intimidation or seriousness.

• Executive vs Judiciary Independence:

  • Carol: "There is a long standing kind of policy to keep distance between the executive branch and the judiciary. But Donald Trump is his own ball game." (06:01)
  • Bridget: Points out SCOTUS rulings against Trump as indicators of judicial independence.

• Legal Nuances of Birthright Citizenship:

  • Carol: Shares personal experience from Russian-speaking communities seeking to give birth in the US, highlighting real incentives and abuses.
  • Carol (on policy clarity): "If you're here illegally or on vacation...then no [birthright citizenship]. And the court might have a narrow ruling..." (07:52)
  • Bridget: Introduces the quote from Ayaan Hirsi Ali: "Our constitution isn't a suicide pact." (08:21)
  • Debate about the original intent of the 14th Amendment and how contemporary circumstances (birth tourism, mass migration) differ from the 19th century.

• Political & Practical Implications:

  • Bridget: Argues for “grandfathering in” people already born here, notes the average American’s pragmatism: "The average normie... they don't want someone who is born here and doesn't speak Spanish or doesn't know anything about Nigeria to have to go back. . . But moving forward, it seems like birthright tourism should not be exactly legal." (11:00)
  • Carol: Predicts a narrow, nuanced Supreme Court ruling, setting future parameters without retroactive effect.

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3. Space Exploration as a National High Point ([17:01–21:09])

• Artemis II Lunar Mission: Four astronauts embark on a ten-day mission around the moon, exciting both hosts and their children.

  • Carol: "My kids are insanely excited...my 10 year old has been talking about nothing else for many, many days." (17:01)
  • Bridget: Shares her own passion for space, passing it on to her daughter: "It's always inspired so much wonder and awe. And it feels like that aspirational thing that...makes humanity—it gives me chills." (18:27)
  • Reflects on shared childhood trauma with the Challenger disaster, showing apprehension alongside excitement.

• Space as National Unifier:

  • A clip (quoted/paraphrased) discusses NASA’s power to unite Americans: "This is a unifying moment for the nation. We can all unite behind going back to the Moon." (20:28, paraphrasing NASA’s Bethany Stevens)

• Cultural Digression: Joking about conspiracy theories and “green screens” for moon missions:

  • Bridget: "Depending on what part of the Internet you're on, it could be our first time." (21:09)
  • Carol: "We really are all Alex Jones now." (21:24)

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4. Political Scandal: Kristi Noem’s Family Drama ([21:27–26:22])

• The Noem Family "Low" in the News:

  • Carol: Discusses photos surfacing of Kristi Noem’s husband in cross-dressing/bimboism attire, and how quickly the story became unavoidable online: "His fake boobs were all up in my face." (22:11)
  • Bridget: Jokes about Noem’s recent controversies: "Well, now I know why Christy was shooting dogs." (22:11)

• Speculation on Leak’s Origin:

  • Carol: Skeptical of claims that an illegal immigrant leaked the photos for revenge; suspects political maneuvering possibly linked to Noem’s own controversies (23:55).
  • Both hosts focus sympathy on the family’s children and the human fallout from Internet media storms.

• TMZ in D.C.—the "Hollywoodization" of Politics:

  • Bridget: "It's not weird because politics is entertainment now. And Hollywood is dead, by the way." (24:19)
  • Examination of how scandal coverage is shifting from Hollywood to politicians, reflecting societal changes about who the “stars” are.

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5. Media, Influence, and Generational Drift ([29:55–37:54])

• Bridget’s Viral Essay – "Leave Me Behind":

  • Carol: Highlights Bridget’s essay on generational influence and media trends: "Whatever's going on in new media reminds me a lot of what happened with old media 2015–2021. Everyone is in some weird bubble and meanwhile normal people are looking around going, am I crazy?" (30:34)
  • Bridget: Explores frustration with media figures chasing younger audiences versus holding authentic values; addresses “pivoting” to popular positions without core beliefs.

• Influence & Authenticity:

  • Bridget: "Influence doesn’t work by, like, trying to be cool." (36:58)
  • Carol: Compares adults chasing youth culture/opinions to parents dressing like their kids—"Everybody sees through it. Just stop it." (37:05)
  • Conversation about how Gen X was neglected but not placated, and how it's healthier for older generations not to pander to the young.

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Notable Quotes & Standout Moments

• On SCOTUS and Policy:

  • "Our constitution isn't a suicide pact." (Ayaan Hirsi Ali, quoted by Bridget, 08:21)
  • "If you're here illegally or on vacation...then no [birthright citizenship]. And the court might have a narrow ruling..." (Carol, 07:52)
  • "The average normie...they don't want someone who is born here and doesn't speak Spanish or doesn't know anything about Nigeria to have to go back." (Bridget, 11:00)

• On Space Exploration:

  • "It's always inspired so much wonder and awe. And it feels like that aspirational thing...makes humanity—it gives me chills." (Bridget, 18:27)
  • "This is a unifying moment for the nation. We can all unite behind going back to the Moon." (20:28, paraphrasing NASA’s Bethany Stevens)

• On Media Influence:

  • "Influence doesn’t work by, like, trying to be cool." (Bridget, 36:58)
  • "Everybody sees through it. Just stop it." (Carol, 37:05)

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Important Timestamps

• April Fool’s Day banter: [03:27–05:32]
• SCOTUS birthright citizenship case: [05:32–13:42]
• Space mission discussion: [17:01–21:09]
• Kristi Noem family scandal & TMZ in DC: [21:27–26:22]
• Bridget’s "Leave Me Behind" media essay: [29:55–37:54]

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Tone and Style

Warm, candid, and witty conversation that balances serious analysis with moments of humor and lived experience. The hosts bring in personal anecdotes and cultural observations, keeping difficult political or legal topics accessible for the audience, especially self-described “normies.”

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Summary Takeaway

This episode offers insightful, ground-level perspectives on some of America’s most charged debates—Supreme Court immigration rulings, what it means to be a citizen, the value and peril of media influence, shifting political celebrity, and the rare moments (like a moon mission) that can bring the country together. Featuring memorable quotes and thoughtful, relatable analysis, the show is a timely mix of news, societal trends, and personality-driven commentary.

Transcript

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[Carol Markowitz]

Hello and welcome. Welcome to normally the show with normalish takes for when the news gets weird. I am Carol Markowitz. Mary Kathryn Hamm is on vacation, and I've got the amazing Bridget Fedesti sitting in with me today. Bridget is a writer, comedian, host of the shows Dumpster Fire and Walk Ins. Welcome. And. And these are her words because.

[Bridget Fedesti]

Hi.

[Carol Markowitz]

We're about the same age. A geriatric mommy. Hi, Bridget. So nice to have you on. Why do you have to make us a geriatric mommy?

[Bridget Fedesti]

It's a medical term. I didn't make it up. You have at least children that are teens, right?

[Carol Markowitz]

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Bridget Fedesti]

Mine's four. I'm like a legit.

[Carol Markowitz]

You know, I. I think it keeps you youthful, and it totally does.

[Bridget Fedesti]

Yeah, I'm just owning the term. I'm just. I'm just taking it back.

[Carol Markowitz]

Yeah, that's right. You're. You're recuperating it from the people who misuse it against you. So we're recording this on Wednesday, April 1st. It's April Fool's Day, like, the worst day of the year on social media. Have you fallen for any April Fool's jokes today?

[Bridget Fedesti]

No, I think April Fool's Day is for psychopaths. I've always hated April Fool's Day with every part of my being, and anyone who partakes in it is a psychopath. That's my kind of general theory.

[Carol Markowitz]

All right. I mean, I fell for one. Ajit Pei said he was going back to the fcc, and I was like, that's awesome. You were so good at it. And he was like, sorry, it was an April Fool's prank. Yeah, yeah. And he's not a psychopath, but I hear you. I hear you.

[Bridget Fedesti]

No, he's not.

[Carol Markowitz]

Well, I think it's also.

[Bridget Fedesti]

I think it's also a time for just men to make jokes and. And women. People can kind of say what they want to Say, but they can't say it on this day. So I'll give people a pass for that or, or people to make, you know, kind of offensive or, or lewd jokes and be like, oh, what, it was just April Fool's Day.

[Carol Markowitz]

Right. I mean, I see people doing that on non April Fool's Day. But may, maybe, maybe you're right. Maybe people lose their day to be

[Bridget Fedesti]

like, oh, I guess you just hate April Fool's Day.

[Carol Markowitz]

All right, well, we're going to get to the news. We're going to open it up with the birthright citizenship case that is in SCOTUS right now. Today, Trump showed up to the proceedings. He became the first sitting US President to ever attend Supreme Court oral arguments. Why do you imagine that might be?

[Bridget Fedesti]

I don't know. That's. I mean, it's crazy to me that no one's ever attended before.

[Carol Markowitz]

I almost feel like I would attend if I was president.

[Bridget Fedesti]

I would want to know.

[Carol Markowitz]

Yeah. So, you know, of course, the people who don't like him say it's because he wanted to, you know, kind of threaten him. Threaten them with his presence. The people that do like him say, well, he's just taking this super seriously and he wants to be there. There is, you know, a long standing kind of policy to keep distance between the executive branch and the judiciary. But Donald Trump is his own ball game. He's like, I never even heard of that. Norm, what are you guys even talking about?

[Bridget Fedesti]

Oh, that's interesting. I mean, I guess I can kind of understand it, but this court has proven over and over again that they're an independent entity. Yeah, they voted against his tariffs.

[Carol Markowitz]

Right. And look, the swing votes on this case look like it's going to be, I mean, Amy Coney Barrett almost certainly, and she's a Trump nominee. So, you know, we'll see what happens with this. But it is kind of a big deal. It will change the way that we grant citizenship in this country. I'm really of mixed opinion on it, although I lean in the Trump administration direction because I do see a lot of abuse of the system where, I mean, I'm on all these, like, Russian speaking Facebook boards where people are constantly posting like, hey, where's the easiest place to fly in? Have a baby and like, have it all go, all go well. So I see this happening in real time, but there is something to the whole thing that in America, you're born here and then you're American and that's not the way it is anywhere else. You could live in Japan your whole life and never be Japanese, et cetera. So I'm mixed but leaning towards the Trump position on this.

[Bridget Fedesti]

So you are of the opinion that illegal or not, if you're born here, you should be granted citizenship, right?

[Carol Markowitz]

No, no, I should, I should clarify if you're here illegally or on vacation, which again is a certain segment of the population, then no. And the court might have a narrow ruling on this and rule that some people, like if you're here legally and you have a child and you follow the process, then that child is a natural born American. But they may say that people here on vacation or people here illegally, it doesn't apply to them.

[Bridget Fedesti]

Yeah, because now you have these crazy stories of, you know, like Chinese billionaires bringing their sperm over, which is not like. Ayaan Hircali was on my podcast actually this week, it'll drop Thursday. And she said something that stuck out to me. Our constitution isn't a suicide pact. So it shouldn't be that we just get to have all of these values weaponized against us all the time. And as I understand this, the, the Trump administration or the Trump lawyers or who, whoever is arguing for Trump are, are trying to say that the 1890s ruling was the correct interpretation.

[Carol Markowitz]

Right.

[Bridget Fedesti]

But the other side has got a good argument in that they're saying. But it's been interpreted in the looser interpretation many times since then.

[Carol Markowitz]

Right. Can you imagine in like 1868 they thought they could imagine that people would come here and have children specifically on vacation for those children to be American or that we would have the deluge that we had at the border. I think that that is another part that, you know, gets forgotten in this. The people who wrote these policies were not thinking about an open border where everybody could come in and everybody had the ability to, I think that they just couldn't imagined that at the time. So, yeah, I don't know. I don't know where this is going to go. Do you have any predictions for us? Do you think the court.

[Bridget Fedesti]

I don't know. My feeling too, just the kind of normie feeling that I have is a tip. Leave aside the open border immigration people who are walking around protesting no kings while the Supreme Court votes against the king. Likely their whole thing is like no king, no kings but us. That's what's so frustrating. Yeah. They even looking at this is what's so crazy to me. You look when I look at this, say that they do vote, you know, 5, 4, 6, 3, whatever it is in against Trump on this one and voted against him on the tariffs, proving that they are an independent entity that will vote against the quote, unquote King. That doesn't even register to the Democrats at all. They will still get power back, probably eliminate the filibuster, pack the court because they don't want an independent entity. And that's what just keeps sticking out to me about looking at the, you know, zooming out and looking at the, at the big picture.

[Carol Markowitz]

Right.

[Bridget Fedesti]

Small picture. I think it's interesting because I think the average normie, they're, they don't want someone who is born here and doesn't speak Spanish or doesn't know anything about Nigeria to have to go back. So it does feel like, and maybe this is something they address in this, in this ruling if they were to vote in favor of Trump. I still think you have to grandfather in all of the 20 million people who were born here and to illegal immigrants and don't have any connection to where they're actually from. Basically, I think the average person is like, well, we don't need to send them back. They don't even know that the language. But moving forward, it seems like birthright tourism should not be exactly legal.

[Carol Markowitz]

And these are just obvious things. Like you say, you know, the normies understand all this kind of stuff intrinsically, it's just us on the Internet who are arguing this ridiculous kind of minutiae. Of course, people who don't live here shouldn't get to be American citizens if their kids are born here. Like, what? Obviously, I think if I had to make a prediction, I think it's going to be a narrower ruling. It's not going to be all encompassing. It's going to have some parameters around it. And again, that would be my preference anyway. So maybe I'm just rooting for that.

[Bridget Fedesti]

Yeah, I don't know. We'll see. I kind of feel like it's always, I feel like I should pay more attention to the Supreme Court because once I actually dig into it, it's so fascinating. Yeah, I love it. I like that. I like the, and I do pay attention to it when I hear, you know, yesterday's ruling was really fascinating about, especially, especially like my husband's a therapist, so this is something that we were paying attention to. But I, I, I, at one point in my life I wanted to be a lawyer and I went to and law and justice and so I can totally tweak out on this. And, and I like, I think both sides in this case have a good argument. What bothers me is people are saying, oh, the Supreme Court's ruling against Trump saying that he doesn't have the power to do that. But that's not even what this case is.

[Carol Markowitz]

Right, right, right, right. Yeah. I could totally see Bridget the lawyer, by the way. I could see a second career, third career. I don't know.

[Bridget Fedesti]

I'm not combative enough.

[Carol Markowitz]

No, I see it. I don't think you need to be combative. I think you' and, you know, have an eye for detail.

[Bridget Fedesti]

I could see it. Thank you.

[Carol Markowitz]

But maybe after the, you know, the four year old goes to college.

[Bridget Fedesti]

No, their lawyers are going to be replaced by Claude.

[Carol Markowitz]

All right, I could see you looking up your cases on the Internet and reading about them on AI. So. All right, we're going to take a short break and be right back with more on Normally

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[Carol Markowitz]

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[Carol Markowitz]

we are back on normally where we're going to do a segment on highs and lows in the news right now. Today as we record this, four astronauts are heading out on a 10 day journey around the moon. Reid Wiseman, Christina Koch, Victor Glover and Jeremy Hansen are doing this 10 day trip. They'll be testing life support systems and navigation and spacecraft controls to prepare for a future moon landing in 2028. My kids are insanely excited about like my 10 year old who we thought has no interest outside of football has like been talking about nothing else for many, many days.

[Bridget Fedesti]

Yeah, it's, it's. I get, I couldn't sleep last night. I was so excited and nervous. Wow. I just get so there. I don't know. I come home when I get home really late from comedy, I always stop and look up at the sky and my daughter has been obsessed with space since she was born. She, when she was really little she told me she was gonna live on Earth and Mars which very funny. And she could name the planets in the sky. When she saw. She was just obsessed with it. And it inspired, it's always inspired so much wonder and awe. And it feels like that aspirational thing that, you know, there are these moments where you look around and I used to have these moments even at music festivals, which sounds silly.

[Carol Markowitz]

No, I get it. Yeah.

[Bridget Fedesti]

You know, where you, you hear the music and you're seeing people and they're dancing and everybody's just driving and getting along and, and the music is playing. Or you're at a really amazing concert in the Disney hall and this amazing, beautiful architecture and you're like, this is stuff that humans do well. This is what makes humanity. It gives me chills. It makes me. I'll get emotional thinking about it. And I feel like this is another one of those moments where we can all join together and be hopeful and aspirational and even in the. Having seen it with like what Elon's doing in the private sector, having these rockets take off more than once and it's, It's a crazy time in a new space race. And.

[Carol Markowitz]

Yeah, this is.

[Bridget Fedesti]

I mean, every time I fly I get this, like, how this is crazy.

[Carol Markowitz]

So cute. I had no idea you were so, like. I don't know, is it optimistic? It's not even optimistic. It's like you're just full of heart. I really love that. Truly love.

[Bridget Fedesti]

I'm so, I'm just so excited about this. I can't wait to. I, I'm excited and fearful because I was also a child in 1986.

[Carol Markowitz]

Yeah.

[Bridget Fedesti]

And so I have the, the like deeply ingrained trauma of life.

[Carol Markowitz]

Of course I was worried about talking about this in advance of it on the show today, but I was like, okay, we're gonna do it. It's. It's a high point for, for America. It's a, like you said, a point of something to unite us. And I, I just love that. About clip of NASA press secretary Bethany Stevens talking about the launch and that power to unite Americans. Let's play that. I was wondering about this because there

[Ad Host]

is a level of national pride in something like this.

[Carol Markowitz]

You know, you see NASA astronauts circling around the moon for this 10 day mission and everybody gets excited about it. It's something that could even bring a country together.

[Ad Host]

So if you could talk a little bit about that. And outside of the space element and

[Carol Markowitz]

the science element of this, what does this do for the country?

[Bridget Fedesti]

Absolutely. I think you're incredibly right. This is a unifying moment for the nation. We can all unite behind going back to the Moon, as we've mentioned several times, it's been over half a century since we've been there. Under the Obama administration, moon landings were canceled and every single president for 35 years has vowed to get back to the moon under President Trump. We're going to make that dream a reality.

[Carol Markowitz]

Well, we will be watching later this evening and then in 10 days time

[Ad Host]

we will be watching the descent as well.

[Carol Markowitz]

It's really cool. I'm, you know, looking forward to seeing that them go up today and I hope everything goes safely and everything works out okay. And we're talking about this tomorrow, about how amazing everything went and how cool it was to see it.

[Bridget Fedesti]

I mean, depending on what part of the Internet you're on, it could be our first time.

[Carol Markowitz]

I mean, if it's already our first time, these people are not going to believe it's happening anyway. Green screen. Like a really, really good green scre.

[Bridget Fedesti]

Oh boy. We're all Alex Jones now.

[Carol Markowitz]

We really are. So the lows of what's going on in our news. Christy Noem's husband, Brian Noem, was exposed yesterday as a cross dressing fetishist who's into, I don't even know, something called bimboism. It's bizarre and weird and a picture of him or many pictures have surfaced of him, but he's into in these like prosthetic boobs that are all misaligned and the nipples are pointing in every direction. I just don't want to be on this part of the Internet. I did not want to see that. I did not have any interest in this. And yet his fake boobs were all up in my face.

[Bridget Fedesti]

Well, now I know why Christy was shooting dogs.

[Carol Markowitz]

Have you seen the joke that was like, you know, knowing what we know now, maybe the dog shot itself.

[Bridget Fedesti]

Oh, no, I saw one that was a Pl play on the Game of Thrones and it was a dog. Yes, Brian, it was me. Yep, Christy, it was me. There. There was. But wasn't it allegedly some illegal immigrant who leaked this?

[Carol Markowitz]

Do not buy that story.

[Bridget Fedesti]

Okay, I don't.

[Carol Markowitz]

I mean, I know that that is what that is what they're saying. I. Look, my poker spidey sense is like, I call. There's no way that that's really what happened. Look, is there a legal immigrant maybe involved?

[Bridget Fedesti]

Sure.

[Carol Markowitz]

But that they figured out that he was Kristi Noem's husband and then got revenge because of Kristi Noem's DHS policies, Like, it just seems like a little far fetched to me. I don't want to say that the most obvious explanation is the right one, which is that Krissi Noem was famously fired from her role at DHS on March 5 after she was unable to answer whether she was having an affair with married top aide Corey Lewandowski at a congressional hearing. Now, this was like the most open secret in D.C. ever, right? Everybody knew that Kristi Noem and Corey Lewandowski are having an affair. Allegedly. So now that she says that these photos have devastated her. The family was blindsided by this and they asked for privacy and prayers at the time. I just don't buy any of that. I do not buy that she didn't know. My guess is that she had something to do with these pictures leaking to get the pressure off of her and Corrie. It's ugly. It really is. These poor kids and grandkids.

[Bridget Fedesti]

Yeah. Yeah, that's what I was thinking of. It's. I feel bad for the kids and grandkids. It reminds me too, of how TMZ is now chasing down all the senators and representatives and they're in. In Washington D.C. and they've got a new office, which. I was joking today. It's not weird, though, because it's. It's not weird because politics is entertainment. Now we have.

[Carol Markowitz]

Yes.

[Bridget Fedesti]

And Hollywood is dead, by the way.

[Carol Markowitz]

That. That point that you made is really the real one. Hollywood is dead. There's nothing to see there, so. And. And they're showing us everything on their own social media sites anyway, so.

[Bridget Fedesti]

Right.

[Carol Markowitz]

Yeah. You gotta. TMZ exists to uncover secrets and things that people don't want exposed. And Hollywood has exposed everything and there's no shame left. So, yeah, let's go after the politicians. But it's weird because DC was always Hollywood for ugly people. So TMZ is kind of lowering itself a little bit here, of course, in pursuit of this.

[Bridget Fedesti]

Yeah.

[Carol Markowitz]

Yeah. I don't know. I mean, I'll be reading it.

[Bridget Fedesti]

I was like, all the time.

[Carol Markowitz]

Having said all that, I will be clicking over. I mean, Drudge Report used to exist for this kind of thing, but he was just an aggregator. I think TMZ will be really looking into different stories and pursuing leads. Yeah, we'll see how that goes down.

[Bridget Fedesti]

I still think there's plenty of corruption and stuff in Hollywood, but I don't know that it's a kind that TMZ could expose because it's more. It would be more like how things like the Academy are skewed to present movies that nobody actually likes or watches.

[Carol Markowitz]

Everyone. What is this? Right.

[Bridget Fedesti]

Yeah. Or how people in writers rooms are kind of forced to get, you know, staff their rooms a certain way because of DEI policies. Like how, how is, how is TMZ gonna cover that?

[Carol Markowitz]

And to make certain comments on the shows and to, to pitch it from a certain perspective.

[Bridget Fedesti]

All of that. Yeah.

[Carol Markowitz]

Also TMZ is also on the left, so they wouldn't even, they wouldn't even see a problem with that. They'd be like, right? Yeah, obviously they have DEI and they have to push a certain perspective. Don't we all?

[Bridget Fedesti]

Yeah, but are they going to investigate like Ilan Omar's, you know, marriage?

[Carol Markowitz]

That'd be interesting. All right, we're going to take a short break and be right back with one more segment of Normally with guest host Bridget Fedese.

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[Carol Markowitz]

we are back on normally where Bridget just had a really blockbuster piece called Leave Me Behind. If you haven't read it, I highly highly recommend it. It's just the pursuit of the audience and shifting your opinions and trying to fit in with the kids is also embarrassing and those of us in Gen X fully understand that. Bridget tweeted today over a million views on my Leave Me behind piece here. That is crazy. Whatever's going on in new media reminds me a lot of what happened with old media 2015-2021. Everyone is in some weird bubble and meanwhile normal people are looking around going tell us about it. What was the piece like to write?

[Bridget Fedesti]

It's so funny because I wrote it. I had I'VE had these pieces just lying around. I had one a couple weeks ago that was about just a love letter to Normie women for holding it down. Because I feel like there's not much.

[Carol Markowitz]

We talked about it on this show on normally.

[Bridget Fedesti]

Okay, so there's. Then this one was also just lying around. I Sometimes when I warm up, so I'm writing a book, which I can't talk about, but when I warm, sometimes I'll sit down and I won't be ready to write the book. And then I'll have something else in my mind. And now I'm just like, just write it. Just get it out. Sometimes I have a column at Spectator and I have a substack, so I can put it there. So I'll just let myself get it out of the way. And I had these pieces just lying around. And this was really born out of just the frustration I was feeling, but also I started feeling like that person that I was in 2015-2021 when people started kind of whispering to me, like, what happened to so and so? What's going on with so and so? Am I crazy? And so normal people are watching and they see these huge platforms going in one direction. A lot of it, I think, is probably Astroturf too. I don't even trust those numbers. Yeah, normal people are saying, much like in 2015-2021, when the left started losing their mind, they're going, am I crazy? Am I the crazy one? And I think what always surprises me is that I write this thing and it's very blog. It's bloggy. It's a little bit.

[Carol Markowitz]

I love blogging.

[Bridget Fedesti]

Navel Gazy and I had been reading the War of Art, and it was really something just to ground me in what I was doing. Because there is so much pressure when you're in the media space to try and chase the numbers. And I have to always remember one it's not about me. It's about connecting to people, which is always what I'm trying to do endlessly and imperfectly. Making sense of the world very publicly is not easy when you're making sense, trying to make sense of the world publicly. And there are all of these other incentives, like money involved and like just the power, numbers and analytics. It can feel very hopeless and frustrating. And then I. I would see these influencers and they were all saying, which to me undermines their own influence by saying, oh, we see where the under 40 population is going on XYZ topic, usually Israel. And to me, I say, well, then do you not have any influence at all.

[Carol Markowitz]

Right?

[Bridget Fedesti]

So you're just gonna pivot in that direction because you think they're right or you're saying that that's what's popular. Do you know how many things have been popular throughout history that were wrong?

[Carol Markowitz]

So we're just.

[Bridget Fedesti]

You don't have. And then it makes me question, do these people believe anything at all?

[Carol Markowitz]

Right.

[Bridget Fedesti]

And, but then instead of looking outward, I always have to look inward and say, what is my purpose? What do I value? What do I believe? My transition from being very liberal to where I would say probably center right at this point, I didn't just react to the left. I was very, very intentional in making sure that I wasn't only just reacting to the left. And I engaged with a lot of right wing media and I think a lot of people who came from the left just reacted and didn't necessarily engage with it. So I really remember, I remember a long time ago, Ben Shapiro actually had something where he said, what are your values? And I was like, values, huh? Like, what are my values?

[Carol Markowitz]

Ben Shapiro always making you think about it.

[Bridget Fedesti]

Values. What a strange and interesting concept. And what are my values in relation to. What is this amazing thing? Like, I read the Federalist papers, which I hadn't read probably since high school. I just, I just went back into the, the great gift we were given in this country and under. Trying to understand what conservatives were trying to conserve. Also living through the Never Trumpers, pushing back against Trump. And it was, it's been a, it's been just very interesting and confusing and I've been wrong about a lot of things and I will continue to be wrong about more. But I have found that that kind of Spidey sense of saying, you're not alone and you're not crazy, that instinct is usually, usually I tap into something way bigger than I even expected to when I put a piece like that out.

[Carol Markowitz]

And you won't be chasing the opinions of children, probably.

[Bridget Fedesti]

I mean, it's, it's funny because we were all neglected by our parents. Like, who are we?

[Carol Markowitz]

Even are our parents?

[Bridget Fedesti]

And so it's like, people are like, you know, I, we, we had. I, I don't feel like the older generation chased our opinion at all. They just kind of looked at us and let's hear. Because they were just neglecting us completely for many of us. So they didn't, they, they didn't, they were old enough to understand that you. Okay, I was young. I was a hippie. I was, I thought all these things now I got older. I have bills to pay. I'm. I think you change. And I can let the 20 year olds be 20 year olds, but I don't, I don't need to. I don't need to chase them. I can listen to what they're saying and try and hear them and try and understand them. And I can try and urge them to resist the instinct to become a victim because I've also been there. And I can teach them what I know about recovery and being a, you know, wild child. We'll say, I guess politely that I. And trying to make sense of America right now. But they're gonna.

[Carol Markowitz]

They're not.

[Bridget Fedesti]

I'm. That's not how influence works. You know, influence doesn't work by, like trying to be cool.

[Carol Markowitz]

Yeah. There's no way to actually be cool. So don't. I think the same with people who are chasing the young people and trying to cater their opinions to them. I see them as the same as like the people who try to dress like young people. Like, everybody sees through it. Just stop it.

[Bridget Fedesti]

It's like the mom trying to be cool for her kids.

[Carol Markowitz]

Yeah.

[Bridget Fedesti]

Like you're being a bad parent. Right.

[Carol Markowitz]

And also the kids do not think that's cool. They think it's cringe. Very, very cringe.

[Bridget Fedesti]

And the kids see through it.

[Carol Markowitz]

Absolutely. Yeah. The kids are not like, oh, my mom is so cool wearing the same outfits as me. Not at all. Not at all.

[Bridget Fedesti]

No. Most kids would rather have their parents be really annoying dorks.

[Carol Markowitz]

Yeah, definitely.

[Bridget Fedesti]

Even if they are like, oh, mom, you're such a dork. It's better than like, they love that, like smoking cigarettes with their kids or whatever.

[Carol Markowitz]

Yeah. Thank you so much for coming on Bridget. She is Bridgette Fetissee. Check her out on walk ins. Welcome and dumpster fire. Thank you. Bridget, you are awesome. We talk about you a lot on Normalely. Oh, thank you.

[Bridget Fedesti]

I love you.

[Carol Markowitz]

Best host with me today.

[Bridget Fedesti]

Thank you for having me. It's always a pleasure to catch up with you.

[Carol Markowitz]

Normally airs Tuesdays and Thursdays and you can subscribe anywhere you get your podcast. Get in touch with us@ normallythepodmail.com thanks for listening. And when things get weird, act normally.

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