Normally Podcast: The Left Versus Tesla Dealerships

Summary

Summary of "Normally Podcast: The Left Versus Tesla Dealerships"

Podcast Information:

• Title: The Clay Travis and Buck Sexton Show
• Host/Author: Premiere Networks
• Episode: Normally Podcast: The Left Versus Tesla Dealerships
• Release Date: April 1, 2025
• 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.

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Hosts Introduction and Personal Updates
Mary Kathryn Ham and Carol Markowitz host the episode, beginning with casual personal updates. Mary Kathryn shares her new hobby in latch hooking, humorously anticipating her husband’s reaction to her homemade, "really ugly pillow" (03:00). Carol recounts her first experience golfing, despite the chilly weather, highlighting the challenges faced by herself and her friends (03:19).

Main Topic: Left-Wing Protests Against Tesla Dealerships
The primary discussion centers on the increasing violence and vandalism targeting Tesla vehicles and dealerships.

• Escalating Violence: Carol highlights a disturbing trend of more aggressive protests, including assaults on individuals and intentional defacement of Teslas with swastikas, emphasizing the reckless nature of these actions (04:15).
• Tesla's Security Measures: Mary Kathryn notes Tesla's proactive approach with multiple cameras to deter vandals, sarcastically applauding their efforts: “They have cameras that activate when you vandalize them. Guys, that's amazing” (05:03).
• Media and Political Responses: The hosts criticize the media’s portrayal of these protests, arguing that Democrats are largely silent or ineffective in condemning the violence. Mary Kathryn points out that prominent outlets like The Washington Post headline Trump’s escalated threats against those destroying Teslas, highlighting a biased narrative (05:13).
• Double Standards in Protest Coverage: Mary Kathryn draws parallels to past protest movements, such as Occupy and the Tea Party, illustrating perceived double standards in how left- and right-leaning protests are treated. She argues that leftist protests, despite often being violent, receive less accountability compared to conservative movements (06:45).

Critique of Left-Leaning Figures and Policies
The conversation shifts to criticizing left-leaning public figures and their handling of policy failures.

• Bill Maher and Gavin Newsom: The hosts express skepticism about Bill Maher’s recent dinner with President Trump, arranged by Kid Rock, suggesting it’s unlikely to foster meaningful dialogue. They critique Gavin Newsom’s leadership and policies, with Mary Kathryn stating, “He is not good at his job” (19:31).
• Ezra Klein’s Book and Democratic Policies: Mary Kathryn and Carol discuss Ezra Klein’s book "Abundance," questioning why liberal leaders are only now recognizing the inefficacy of Democratic policies. They emphasize that these concepts have long been championed by conservatives, lamenting the left’s delayed acknowledgment (21:46).
• NPR’s Political Bias: The hosts critique NPR’s Grace as being out of touch, highlighting her inconsistent responses to questions about white supremacy and reparations, and mocking her inability to recall past tweets (32:21).

Parenting Segment: Defying Negative Perceptions
Transitioning to a lighter topic, Mary Kathryn and Carol discuss the joys of parenting, countering prevalent negative narratives.

• Personal Joy in Parenting: Both hosts share their positive experiences with their children, emphasizing unexpected joy and daily happiness despite challenges. They contrast their fulfillment with a guest’s bleak outlook, advocating for a more balanced perspective on parenthood (41:11).
• Encouraging Authenticity in Parenting: They encourage others to embrace parenting joyfully, dismissing the notion that it is solely a source of stress and exhaustion. Mary Kathryn reflects on her initial apprehensions, stating, “I was so wrong. It is indescribable how wrong I was” (43:19).

Closing Remarks and Final Thoughts
In their conclusion, Mary Kathryn and Carol reinforce the episode’s themes, urging listeners to recognize and challenge ineffective left-leaning policies and to find joy in personal life aspects such as parenting. They advocate for consistent accountability and stronger responses to political and social issues, ending on a hopeful note about their personal lives (46:01).

Notable Quotes:

• Mary Kathryn on Tesla vandalism: “Vandalism is a very different thing. So that's not. There's a lot of stuff that's not just protesting going on here.” (05:35)
• Carol on domestic terrorism: “... domestic terrorism is just the dictionary definition of terrorism. And I think the punishments need to get severe for this because you can't have a society where people think it's okay to harm other people because they don't like a third person's opinion.” (09:14)
• Mary Kathryn on Ezra Klein: “I've been making this argument about government since I was legit 16 years old... the things we're doing to help people aren't actually helping people.” (24:07)
• Carol on Bill Maher and Gavin Newsom: “He's smart. But what is this?” (19:31)
• Mary Kathryn on parenting: “It has been an unexpected joy, I think, because it is something that you don't experience until you experience it.” (43:19)

Conclusion
"Normally Podcast: The Left Versus Tesla Dealerships" offers a critical examination of escalating left-wing protests against Tesla, highlighting issues of media bias, political double standards, and ineffective policies. Through engaging dialogue and personal anecdotes, Mary Kathryn Ham and Carol Markowitz provide insightful perspectives that challenge mainstream narratives, encouraging listeners to rethink political dynamics and embrace personal joys amidst societal challenges.

Transcript

[Mary Kathryn Ham]

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[Carol Markowitz]

And I am Carol Markowitz. How are you doing Mary Kathryn.

[Mary Kathryn Ham]

I am. All right. You know, I've taken up some crafting. How do you. Yeah, I'm doing. What kind of crafting? I learned how to latch hook, which is, like, the super tacky 70s form of, like, embroidery that's, like, real fuzzy, like a shag carpet. And I'm gonna make myself a really ugly pillow, and then I'm gonna put it on my couch, and my husband's gonna be like, why? And I'm gonna be like, that is homemade. Yeah, bespoke.

[Carol Markowitz]

He's gonna learn to love it. He's going to learn to love it. I golfed this weekend for the first time ever.

[Mary Kathryn Ham]

I saw that.

[Carol Markowitz]

Have you golfed?

[Mary Kathryn Ham]

I do not golf. I kind of wish I could, but I've never really taken it up, so.

[Carol Markowitz]

It was my first time. I had a really fun time. And I know we joke about me being soft in the Florida weather, but I was, like, in a little outfit, and it got, like, 70 degrees and windy, and I had to. I had to leave. I had to leave the course because I was so cold, like, through my bones cold. I'll just say I was with some northern friends who were visiting, and they were cold, too. Just so everybody knows. I'm not.

[Mary Kathryn Ham]

The wind will get you. I am.

[Carol Markowitz]

It really will.

[Mary Kathryn Ham]

Jonathan Haidt would be proud of both of us for doing offline activities.

[Carol Markowitz]

Yes.

[Mary Kathryn Ham]

Look at us.

[Carol Markowitz]

We touched some grass.

[Mary Kathryn Ham]

We did. I'm gonna touch my shag pillow soon. It's gonna be great. I'll show you guys when I'm done.

[Carol Markowitz]

Love it. So over the weekend, there was also some more Tesla violence.

[Mary Kathryn Ham]

I saw some more offline activity.

[Carol Markowitz]

More offline touching grass, but in the violent sense, activity. These protesters are getting progressively more violent. And of course, all the Democrats are calling them out on this because that's. Sorry, I couldn't even finish that thought. Obviously, no Democrats are calling them out on this, or very, very few are, in any case, but I saw an old lady get assaulted. I've seen multiple Teslas get defaced and keyed and that kind of thing, which is. It's sort of getting to where these people might just be really dumb because Teslas have eight cameras on them, and every one of these incidents is being, like, videoed from multiple angles.

[Mary Kathryn Ham]

So they have a. They have cameras that activate when you vandalize them. Guys, that's amazing. Like, hi, we're checking on who's doing this.

[Carol Markowitz]

It's so good.

[Mary Kathryn Ham]

It's great stuff.

[Carol Markowitz]

But, yeah, it's getting bad and scary, and the media is also, I can't even deliver the joke that they're on it because instead they're largely saying that Tesla's wearing a real short skirt. The Washington Post had a headline, trump escalates threats against those who destroy Tesla. Trump is escalating the threats. Trump.

[Mary Kathryn Ham]

There's also this straw man that like, hey, Elon Musk can't expect to be incendiary and political. And by that I mean not literally incendiary, like the things that people are throwing at his cars and not expect people to have an objection. I'm like, I don't care about an objection. I don't think Elon Musk cares about protests or boycotts. Right. Those are within your rights. Vandalism is a very different thing. So that's not. There's a lot of stuff that's not just protesting going on here.

[Carol Markowitz]

That's right. And look, I have boycotted companies in the past. I haven't firebombed anybody. I haven't assaulted anybody. I haven't even cursed at anybody in the street who was using the product that I didn't like. Because that is a crazy thing to do.

[Mary Kathryn Ham]

It's a crazy thing to do.

[Carol Markowitz]

Right? And they just think they're so right. It's really crazy. I'm nervous because this kind of thing obviously can spiral out of control. Somebody can actually get very badly hurt and then we're all going to be like, wow, this. We saw this coming the whole time and nobody did anything. And so I am worried about it.

[Mary Kathryn Ham]

And well, you and I have lived through various right leaning protest movements that are treated completely differently than lefty protest movements. If you just take the Tea Parties versus Occupy. Occupy had no permits to be anywhere, was living in parks for months on end. There were sexual assaults and other assaults happening on the grounds pretty frequently. Even some deaths, huge crimes happening. Just people living in parks all around this great nation. And that was like beautiful and empowered. Right? But Tea Party folks go out to an event and like clean up after themselves and right. The Republic is going to fall. And so the difference in treatment is really bad. Another example is the 2020 protests. So people who protested lockdowns by driving their cars around capitols and honking their horns because they were still abiding by the basic rules of like, we're not going to congregate. Those were the end of the Republic. But the George Floyd movement became riots. A. Okay. And wonderful.

[Carol Markowitz]

Like it is mostly peaceful. Right?

[Mary Kathryn Ham]

Wild how they're treated. I just want to give you a stat real quick. I was reading an NPR story entitled From Seattle to Miami. Anti Musk protesters gather at hundreds of Tesla locations. Can you guess for me what paragraph this piece addresses the violence?

[Carol Markowitz]

Never.

[Mary Kathryn Ham]

It does actually. Get to it.

[Carol Markowitz]

Good, good, good.

[Mary Kathryn Ham]

20Th paragraph. 20th paragraph. Some of the anti Musk backlash has been violent. Tesla vehicles, dealerships and charging stations across the US and in Europe have been the target of arson and vandalism. Some have taken to spray painting swastikas on Tesla sedans and cybertrucks. It then goes on. Wait for it. It then goes on to make sure that they make the leaders of these protests the victims. Because Musk, by objecting to the violence, has raised the cost for the organizers of these protests because some people might think they're involved in the violence. And if those specific people aren't involved in the violence, then he's being irresponsible and he has caused problems for them.

[Carol Markowitz]

His skirt really is that short.

[Mary Kathryn Ham]

I mean, the reversing victim and offender is like, amazing. Pretty priceless on this one.

[Carol Markowitz]

And yeah, like, the thing is that the Trump administration keeps referring to this as domestic terrorism. I want to get rid of the word domestic. It's just plain terrorism. It's trying to get a political outcome through violence, through violence, intimidation. Very standard definition of terrorism. When we say domestic terrorism, it makes it sound like not as bad. It's not foreigners trying to hurt us. It's internal. It's literally just the dictionary definition of terrorism. And I think the punishments need to get severe for this because you can't have a society where people think it's okay to harm other people because they don't like a third person's opinion. I just think we've gone to a crazy place and this needs to be cut off at the knees.

[Mary Kathryn Ham]

Yeah, I agree. I saw someone objecting because Florida categorized some vandals vandalism as a felony. And it's like, well, see, when that happens, fewer people do the very expensive vandalism in the future. That's how that works. And by the way, it's not just the cars. They're going after the owners of the cars.

[Carol Markowitz]

Yeah, who.

[Mary Kathryn Ham]

I don't care if they're liberal. A lot of them are. You shouldn't be assaulting them or coming at them in public.

[Carol Markowitz]

You don't get to just be a little angry child either yelling or hitting people in the street. I'm sorry. We have a society. There are rules. So. Yeah. And I think the more we accept, the more we get bad behavior. So this really needs to be a strong message needs to be sent. This is unacceptable. This is terrorism. This is something that is going to be stopped and I hope the Trump administration does that. We're going to take a short break and come right back with Normale.

[Mary Kathryn Ham]

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[Carol Markowitz]

Ooh, the lefties, they are so close. So close, so close to getting it, but never really quite. There's lefties gone wild.

[Mary Kathryn Ham]

Or is it lefties gone right? That's kind of what it feels like in a couple of these situations.

[Carol Markowitz]

Yeah, that's it. And we're not going to be bitter about it, Mary Katherine much. We're not going to be bitter much that they are saying all the same things we've been saying for like generations. But let's start with your buddy Bill Maher. You're on his show sometimes and you guys have a cute relationship. I think you're, you have a friend, friendly back and forth in general. And I look, I'm a fan. I enjoy watching him. I think he's smart, I think he says smart things. He's going to have dinner with President Trump and apparently Chris Rock set this up, which is.

[Mary Kathryn Ham]

It was Kid Rock.

[Carol Markowitz]

I'm sorry, not good.

[Mary Kathryn Ham]

Sorry.

[Carol Markowitz]

Yes, Kid Rock set this up. No, Chris Rock had nothing to do with it. Sorry, Chris. Kid Rock set this up. And it's kind of cool that they're getting together. Trump, however, had some things to say about it.

[Mary Kathryn Ham]

Yes, he has a truth post where he says, I got a call from a very good guy and friend of mine, Kid Rock, asking me whether or not it would be possible for me to meet in the White House with Bill Maher, a man who has been unjustifiably critical of anything or anyone.

[Carol Markowitz]

Trump.

[Mary Kathryn Ham]

I really didn't like the idea much and don't like it much now, but thought it would be interesting. The problem is, no matter how much he likes your favorite president, me, he will publicly proclaim what a terrible guy I am, et cetera. Very much like the Democrats at my recent address to the joint session of Congress where I stated correctly that no matter what I said or did, they wouldn't stand, they wouldn't applaud, they wouldn't smile or laugh, and certainly they wouldn't be in any way nice. Who knows though, maybe I'll be proven wrong. He says, anyway, I'm doing favor for a friend, so they're going to get together. I, I do like Maher because I feel like he is one of the lefties in the Hollywood constellation who is still like a left leaning guy for sure, who says common sense things. And that has made him a pariah to many of them. I like that he is unpredictable. You don't exactly know where he's going to fall on anything, which makes him much more like a normie voter, actually. And taking a moment to spend time with the President of the United States to probably have some vigorous debate, I think is totally worth doing and something Democrats should have done since 2016.

[Carol Markowitz]

Yeah, what drives me a little crazy about Bill Maher is that he's, he is very tied to his identity as a lefty. And I guess that, look, I'm very tied to my identity as a conservative. If I had, if the conservative world went the way that the liberal world went in the last Few years and I had to kind of face that I couldn't stand with these people anymore. And I still had the same beliefs, but I could no longer exist with them. I think I'd be challenged by that, too. So I get it. But he's always like, so close, but never quite there. We're gonna play a clip of him talking to Gavin Newsom. Let's roll that.

[Mary Kathryn Ham]

Given that we are in this dire situation, I feel like we don't have time anymore for the old bullshit. You know, the old. Are you running for president? Well, you know, there's an exploratory committee, and I'm looking at it.

[Carol Markowitz]

I'm happy with my job as governor. I mean, your future is not in California.

[Mary Kathryn Ham]

Your future is in Iowa. Let's dispense with the bullshit. We need someone who's gonna be the champion.

[Carol Markowitz]

Are you gonna do it or not?

[Mary Kathryn Ham]

Just come on, tell us. We don't have time for the bullshit. No, by the way, I deeply respect that. I can't stand the bullshit as well. And I mean that. So. Look, but this is not my purpose or passion. It's not my meaning. It's not. Not everything, the cynicism that's out there, that every move he's making is some move to some longer term strategy or short term strategy. You're a guy who could. Who could do it, who could get it done, who could win. I deeply respect that. I like the question, but I don't have any grand plans as it relates to that. I'm trying to do best I can. I also trying to be accountable, by the way. You want things to change, you got to change. And that's what the podcast is about. That's my recognition of where we're weak. Can I do it? You got to call balls and strikes.

[Carol Markowitz]

Talking Gavin Newsom into running for president because they need somebody to, like, lead the charge. Gavin Newsom. Bill Maher spends a lot of time talking about what a hellhole California has become. And now he wants the guy who really turned it into that to run for president. I just, I. I like him. He's smart. But what is this?

[Mary Kathryn Ham]

No, it's one. Yes. At any point has Bill Maher been like, hey, this guy's really good at his job.

[Carol Markowitz]

Right?

[Mary Kathryn Ham]

I don't think he thinks he's good at his job. I think he has a plausible chance, in our sort of ridiculous way we pick leaders, and Democratic Party in particular in this case, to end up in that spot. Right. But he's not good at his job.

[Carol Markowitz]

No.

[Mary Kathryn Ham]

And despite whatever changing he's trying to do, he announces in that clip, and I think it's a symbol for Gavin Newsom that he doesn't like BS and then dispenses with tons of BS directly after. In fact, the exact BS that Marr said he wasn't looking for Newsom was like, let me give it to you. It's really amazing.

[Carol Markowitz]

The language that Newsom uses drives me absolutely bonkers. We're gonna have another Newsom clip later, so I'll save this for then. But wow, his like synergy, you know, mendacity, blah, blah, blah, blah. I just, he is the absolute worst. I worry about him. He's a threat and a danger and I could see him slithering his way into office.

[Mary Kathryn Ham]

So not a fan.

[Carol Markowitz]

Yeah, well, so speaking of lefties who are facing some amount of reality, Jon Stewart was on with Ezra Klein who has a book out called Abundance. This book is like everywhere right now. And Democrats are talking to him about it as if the concepts in it are new kind of hearing about it for the very first time. And you know, the book has a lot of stuff like it's a, it's a wake up call, right? It's this, it's this Democratic policies aren't working. Wake up call for the left. And I am enjoying Democrats kind of being faced with this. But like, how is this all news to them? It's, it's kind of baffling. So let's roll part of a clip where Ezra talks to Jon Stewart and he spends five minutes explaining how states could participate in Biden's build back better funding plan and how impossibly difficult that was. We're only going to play the last min or so of the clip, but just imagine four more minutes of this. These bureaucratic rules that make no sense.

[Mary Kathryn Ham]

States must run a competitive sub granting process. Oh my fucking God. At step 12 by after all this has been done. Yeah, none of that could have happened along the way here. We have now lost 17 more applicants. So now 30 of 56 have completed step 12. Step 13. States must submit a final proposal. All the proposals weren't enough to NTIA. Now that goes to 3 of 56. So we've gone in the last couple steps from 56 had gone to this point to 3 of 56. Step 14, the NTIA must review and approve the state's final proposal. And that is three of the 56 jurisdictions and states are there. In summary, colonial states are nearly at the finish line. And it says to stop their progress now, or worse, to make them go backwards would be a stick in the spokes of the most promising broadband deployment plans we have ever seen. End scene. Yeah, so I'm speechless, Ezra. Honestly, like, it's a far worse than I could have imagined. But the fact that they amputated their.

[Carol Markowitz]

Own legs on this is what's so stunning. So, for those listening to this only on audio, Jon Stewart's freaking out throughout this whole clip. He's clutching his head, he's walking around, he's, like, slamming things. He has never heard of this ever before. And Jim Garrity tweeted this clip with the comment, a key part of being a conservative is not being wrong, but being right too early before it is socially acceptable. That gets really old. We laugh at the now it can be told, and we do laugh about it, and we try to find humor in the fact that we're right about things, you know, years ahead of the left. But the left goes through this every single time, and it's just tiresome. Like, you just learned that government is a wasteful boondoggle just now on this. On your show.

[Mary Kathryn Ham]

Yeah, Like, I. I do think that they truly believe when you name something build back better or inflation reduction or Affordable Care act, many of them just.

[Carol Markowitz]

Think that's good enough.

[Mary Kathryn Ham]

Done and done. Now we have Affordable Care. Whereas another instance of being right ahead of the curve, I was like, yeah, this Obamacare thing isn't going to work out great for people like me who are in this actual market because of these various very clear economic incentives. And then they're like, oh, yeah, that's exactly what happened. So we need more subsidies to fix the problem that we created. Right. Like, it just always ends up going this way. It feels like. And then Klein is a bona fide, recognized, prestigious liberal thought leader.

[Carol Markowitz]

Sure.

[Mary Kathryn Ham]

And yet he's always a decade or two behind us on these things. Because I've been making this argument about government since I was legit 16 years old. I looked around me and there's the.

[Carol Markowitz]

Reagan line, like, we're from the government and I'm here to help are the scariest words in the English language. Like, how did I not know this?

[Mary Kathryn Ham]

I saw it in my own life. I looked around me and was like, I think the things we're doing to help people aren't actually helping people. And that is how I became conservative. And if you haven't looked at these programs, which you, by the way, if you're an Ezra Klein or one of these folks, Jon Stewart included, you cheerleaded the whole time without saying this is how it should work to actually help people. There's another one, by the way. The Harris broadband rollout. The Wall street journal famously covered $42.5 billion subsidy zero things built.

[Carol Markowitz]

Right.

[Mary Kathryn Ham]

And I think the thing they're missing that they can't admit about their side and this is like the USAID problem and all of the DOGE stuff. The job was to get these people paid who stand in the way of getting things built.

[Carol Markowitz]

That's right.

[Mary Kathryn Ham]

And when they did that, everybody was happy.

[Carol Markowitz]

Yep. And nothing else needed to happen because that was the whole goal.

[Mary Kathryn Ham]

Yep.

[Carol Markowitz]

Yeah. I don't know. I'm trying to give them grace for finally getting there because there's so many people still haven't. But you just know the next time Democrats are in charge, they're going to revert right back to form. And yes. And we don't even have to wait for Democrats to be back in charge of the country. Here's a clip of Ezra Klein. He went on Gavin Newsom show so to bring this full circle to talk about the bad policies in blue states. And he still ends up being very gentle with Gavin Newsom and saying, you know, as he basically says to his face, that Gavin Newsom's policies are a failure. But he's also giving him kind of leeway to say, well, this does happen in red states too. Let's roll the clip.

[Mary Kathryn Ham]

Localism is determinative and you pick on understandably San Francisco. But you can look at almost any city, including Republican held city like Huntington beach, and these same rules and restrictions apply there and the same frustrations. So from the prism of left versus right, you take the shot against liberals. But can't we argue that there is sort of quality of consideration nimbyism that persists in rural and red parts. Well, let me as well, let me flip this because to shadowbox around the fact that you know more about California governance than I ever will in a thousand years of doing this would be ridiculous. Why is it easier to build homes in Texas and California? They have. Well, you establish that in the book. In Houston you make the point. I think it was 70,000 permits in 2023, just 7,500 in a much smaller city, San Francisco. But understandable. Contrast a city with more demand. More demand. And it's simply because they have no zoning. They have land use considerations. But Austin has zoning. Yeah, but not Houston. In the context of that frame. The thing I'm getting at here, which I really would like. Your. The thing you just said. Right. About localism, it's so important and like this is so much the conversation I'd love for us to have here because the texture that you have been grappling with of why do things that you want to have happen, not happen is I think a really interesting thing to add to it. But when you're saying, well, you know, is this really a problem for liberals? It's easier to build in Texas and Florida than not just in California, but in California or New York. Right, right. The cost of living crisis is worse in blue states. And a little bit of that is blue states are a place a lot of people want to live. But you should be able to in places where you're governing for the working class in theory. And your point is a point just to level set. So people listening completely agree. This notion of the supply demand imbalance, I mean you're making an econ one on one argument and that supply demand imbalance is next level in the state of California. We're simply not building enough housing. And that goes to, I mean, and you correctly identify a nimbyism and people, you know, incumbent protection racket, so to speak.

[Carol Markowitz]

When Ezra Klein says to him that, that the things that Gavin Newsom want to happen are not happening, that's bad policy. What he is describing are policies that don't work. And they could talk whatever they want around the subject. They could pretend that it's just a coincidence. Oh, it's just because people really want to live in blue states and that's why they don't have enough housing. It's just like supply demand, Econ 101 problem. Red states saw far more internal migration from other from blue states during the pandemic than the other way around. So spare me the supply demand. Red states figured out a way to provide that supply. Your policies are bad, your ideas are bad. You need to move on from the things that don't work.

[Mary Kathryn Ham]

Can I just throw so many BS Liberalspeak on this? Like localism is determinative and level set. And my favorite, which is like Klein euphemizing what he's dealing with, when you're dealing with the texture, it's not texture. You've made decisions that have been bad that have created this problem. And look, I do appreciate that someone like Klein is looking at the situation and going, oh, even though I'm sort of arguing against interest and against my party, the thing we are meant to be doing is fixing the cost of living is building housing that, that we purport to want is to build house houses so that people can have places to live and it can be more affordable. And we are not doing that thing emphatically. He's, he's communicating that over and it's making a lot of people on the left mad. Yes, he's very late to it and yes, he cheerleaded for many of these things, including the regulations. But like the way they're having this conversation.

[Carol Markowitz]

Yeah.

[Mary Kathryn Ham]

Totally ignores the fact that we're having a national conversation on the right and inspired by the actions of. Oh, that's right. Doge, that's conceding the same thing and trying to fix it by doing an audit of these federal programs. And they are so up in arms about it.

[Carol Markowitz]

Right.

[Mary Kathryn Ham]

Bret Baier on Fox News did a long form 30 minute interview with the Doge guys who I think should have been doing. They should have been doing their rollout this way earlier, just having these very sober, calm engineers and billionaires talk about what they're doing because it inspired some confidence and it makes the pitch just as Ezra Klein is making, that if these programs don't work because they're big and misused, you get worked over. And we don't want that. So this is what we're doing to fix it. I think they should invite Ezra to be part of doge.

[Carol Markowitz]

That would be a twist.

[Mary Kathryn Ham]

Just invoke that language and be like, you know what? I think we have an ally here.

[Carol Markowitz]

Right? Right. Oh, yeah.

[Mary Kathryn Ham]

Oh, my goodness.

[Carol Markowitz]

Our last clip in this section, we can't not play it, but Katherine Mayher, she. I think that's how she pronounced.

[Mary Kathryn Ham]

Oh. Is it really Mar?

[Carol Markowitz]

I'm not, I'm not sure, but it's not, it's not Mar like Bill Maher, but it's all the same. Okay, sorry if I'm getting that wrong, but she is the CEO of NPR or the head of npr. I don't know if they call it the CEO. And she was grilled by Congressman Brandon Gill from Texas. And let's roll that clip. In case you haven't heard it yet.

[Mary Kathryn Ham]

Do you believe that America is addicted to white supremacy? I believe that I tweeted that. And as I've said earlier, I believe much of my thinking has evolved over the last half decade. It has evolved. Why did you tweet that? I don't recall the exact context, sir. So I wouldn't be able to say, do you believe that America believes in black plunder and white democracy? I don't believe that, sir. You tweeted that in reference to a book you were reading at the time. Apparently the Case for reparations. I don't think I've ever read that book, sir.

[Carol Markowitz]

He tweeted about it.

[Mary Kathryn Ham]

You said you took a day off to fully read the case for reparations. You put that on Twitter in January of 2020. Apologies. I don't recall that I did.

[Carol Markowitz]

Okay.

[Mary Kathryn Ham]

I. No doubt that your. Your tweet there is correct, but I don't recall that.

[Carol Markowitz]

Okay.

[Mary Kathryn Ham]

Do you believe that white people inherently feel superior to other races? I do not.

[Carol Markowitz]

You don't.

[Mary Kathryn Ham]

You. You tweeted something to that effect. You said, I. I grew up feeling superior. Ha. How wide of me. Why did you tweet that? I think I was probably reflecting on what it was to be to grow up in an environment where I had lots of advantages. It sounds like you're saying that white people feel superior. I don't believe that anybody feels that way, sir. I was just reflecting on my own experiences. Do you think that white people should pay reparations? I have never said that, sir. Yes, you did. You said it in January of 2020. You tweeted, yes. The North.

[Carol Markowitz]

Yes.

[Mary Kathryn Ham]

All of us. Yes. America. Yes. Our original collective sin and unpaid debt. Yes. Reparations. Yes.

[Carol Markowitz]

On this day.

[Mary Kathryn Ham]

I don't believe that was a reference to fiscal reparations, sir. What kind of reparations was it a reference to? I think it was just a reference to the idea that we all owe much to the people who came before us. That's a bizarre way to frame what you tweeted.

[Carol Markowitz]

It is a bizarre way to frame what she tweeted. We all know what she was doing. We all know that she could just say 2020 was a crazy time. But she's not. She's saying. And her mannerisms are like, who would believe this ridiculous stuff that you're saying?

[Mary Kathryn Ham]

I know. By the way, girl, you believed it. It'd be one thing if she was like a 20something when she tweeted this, and now she's a 40something CEO. Whatever. Even then I'd be like, they're kind of stupid and you should answer for them. But she was 39.

[Carol Markowitz]

Yeah.

[Mary Kathryn Ham]

I think when she tweeted, this is.

[Carol Markowitz]

Half decade, half decade, she was like.

[Mary Kathryn Ham]

Between 37 and 39 years old. Okay. And she's like, oh, gosh, where. Where did that come from? I mean, it is wild. I would say it is peak liberal white lady to say in January of 2020 that you're taking the day to fully absorb an important book about reparations and then have to admit under oath you did not read that book at all.

[Carol Markowitz]

Amazing. Yeah. I've not even read the books. Come on. Like.

[Mary Kathryn Ham]

No, that's what I said. The books were for the zoom background. They were not for reading and they were for signaling. She was signaling at that time. It was advantageous to signal that. And now it's become crazy to signal that. So she has to signal something different. And she just wants to skip over her own reparations for the fact that she was a crazy person in 2020 and now is trying to act like. By the way, the other thing she said was that NPR has absolute. She's never witnessed political bias in selection of stories at npr. And someone confronts her with Yuri Berliner who left NPR for Free Press with his stat that 87 of the D.C. based editorial positions were Democrats 0 Republicans. And she persisted in saying she did persist.

[Carol Markowitz]

Yeah.

[Mary Kathryn Ham]

Nonetheless, there was no bias. And that is just impossible. Incredible. Not worth listening to.

[Carol Markowitz]

In five years she's going to be like, who said that? What? That was half a decade ago.

[Mary Kathryn Ham]

These are supposed to be the thought leaders, right? That's the thing that they pile on top of this that makes me so angry is that they're still sitting there like, well, well, well. In the pristine timing of a lefty, I have come to the same conclusions that you came to with the very obvious evidence in front of you five years ago. Whether it's lab leak theory or regulation or biased NPR or the stupidity of 2020. And they're like, now it can be told. And even though you were right five years earlier, I still think you're stupid and baloney. I don't appreciate it.

[Carol Markowitz]

I don't appreciate it. I think that again, we'll laugh it off, but it's wrong. It's wrong.

[Mary Kathryn Ham]

Yeah.

[Carol Markowitz]

We'll be right back on Normally.

[Mary Kathryn Ham]

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[Carol Markowitz]

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[Mary Kathryn Ham]

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[Carol Markowitz]

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[Mary Kathryn Ham]

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[Carol Markowitz]

All right, let's wrap up with a little bit of a lighter, A little bit of a lighter segment.

[Mary Kathryn Ham]

Chapel Ron, we're gonna bring it up. We're gonna cheer everybody up.

[Carol Markowitz]

Yeah, yeah, we're gonna do it. Chapelron had some comments and I think we're gonna roll that clip. All of my friends who have kids are in hell. I don't know anyone. I actually don't know anyone who's like happy and has children at this age. I have like, like a one year old, like three year old, four and under, five and under.

[Mary Kathryn Ham]

I don't.

[Carol Markowitz]

I literally have not met anyone who's happy. Anyone who has like light in their eyes, anyone who has. Who has slept. I mean, maybe they're not sleeping, but the rest of it is just. I, you know, I just don't get it because I heard this. I also. I was her. I even looked a little like her. I would say I believed that having kids was a dead end and that it would be insane to have children. Who would want to do something like that on purpose? Like that's insane. It's crazy. Obviously it's so much better not to have kids. I was so wrong. I was so wrong. It's indescribable how wrong I was. How I have three kids. I wish we had had four. We just literally ran out of time. And it's. You know, I can't say every single day is full of happiness, but every single day is full of joy.

[Mary Kathryn Ham]

Yeah, I know. I wanted to talk about this because I feel like you and I can be good poster children for the fact that this is fun and that neither one of us coming up in our 20s and early 30s was some sort of trad wife aspirant. Quite the opposite. I always thought I would have kids. I always sort of planned to as a default just cause I loved Growing up with my brothers and I always wanted kids and them to have siblings. But it has been an unexpected joy, I think, because it is something that you don't experience until you experience it. And I think a lot of people say it's hard but rewarding, and that's true, too. But I don't want to miss the part where I just have a ton of fun with my kids.

[Carol Markowitz]

Right.

[Mary Kathryn Ham]

I mean, they are hilarious and I enjoy hanging out with them. I took them to the zoo this weekend. Took them to Mount Vernon last weekend.

[Carol Markowitz]

I love Mountain.

[Mary Kathryn Ham]

Just let them run around in a field and be outside and. And I hate that people like Chapel Roan aren't seeing that in their lives. And that the folks who listen to Call Her Daddy, which is the podcast this was on.

[Carol Markowitz]

Right.

[Mary Kathryn Ham]

Will hear this from a very influential podcaster. You know, podcast session with a woman that they look up to. I just don't feel like they have the full information about the fact that it can be just not just rewarding and selfless, which it is. And that's a good lesson to learn. But beautiful and fun and joyful.

[Carol Markowitz]

Right. She's 27. She could clearly change her mind. At 27, I was very. I'm never getting married or having kids. I had this whole image of myself that I was going to be a fancy old lady who wore false eyelashes and smoked long cigarettes in hotel bars.

[Mary Kathryn Ham]

You can still be that. You can have it all, Carol.

[Carol Markowitz]

I know. It turns out I could totally do that. I could do that after the kids go to college. Like, it's gonna be fine. I think Chapel Rome, let yourself change your mind if that's the way you go. Don't hold on to beliefs so strongly that you have when you're young, because things can change at any time.

[Mary Kathryn Ham]

Yeah. Oh, I wanted to say I saw a piece in the Atlantic, like, two weeks ago that was entitled and I think is one of the problems with modern parenting and puts people in this place. It was entitled, like, I tried baby led weaning and it almost destroyed my life. And this is just a philosophy about how you get your kid from formula or breast milk onto solid foods. Okay? It's not that big a deal. You're overthinking it, Right? If something like that almost destroyed your life, I would say stop letting those decisions destroy your life. Just do it or don't do it.

[Carol Markowitz]

Right?

[Mary Kathryn Ham]

That's it.

[Carol Markowitz]

Not that big a deal. It's a few weeks of your life. I don't even remember when people are like, oh, did you do baby led weaning. I'm like, I don't even know. Is that what it was called? I don't know. At one time I just started feeling feeding them like baby food and that's, that's what happened there.

[Mary Kathryn Ham]

So yeah, no, I just think people really get so in their heads and modern parenting is so the demand is that you be so hands on at all times and entertaining them and like a pretty good dose of 80s 90s mom is what a lot of kids need.

[Carol Markowitz]

Free range parenting. Make it happen. Well, 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.

[Mary Kathryn Ham]

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[Carol Markowitz]

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[Mary Kathryn Ham]

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[Carol Markowitz]

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[Mary Kathryn Ham]

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[Carol Markowitz]

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[Mary Kathryn Ham]

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[Carol Markowitz]

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[Carol Markowitz]

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[Mary Kathryn Ham]

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[Carol Markowitz]

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[Mary Kathryn Ham]

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[Carol Markowitz]

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[Mary Kathryn Ham]

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[Carol Markowitz]

You can trust to get started on your next building project. Visit mortonbuildings.

[Mary Kathryn Ham]

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[Carol Markowitz]

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[Mary Kathryn Ham]

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[Carol Markowitz]

Com.