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The Riley Gaines Show
The “I Regret Motherhood” Lie with Brett Cooper | The Riley Gaines Show
00:55:34
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- [00:01]
A
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- [00:34]
B
If you watched the Farm vlog a few weeks ago. Today we are talking to the inspiration of that. We're talking to Brett Cooper. She's the host of the Brett Cooper show. And as I said, most importantly, she's a mom. We had a show with Isabel Brown not too long ago. Me, Brett and Isabel. We have this group chat where we, like constantly send photos and updates of our babies and what they're doing. It's really, really awesome. So excited to dive into all of that and more today with Brett Cooper. Well, Brett, thank you for joining the Riley Gaines Show. I'll tell you, my audience, when first even announcing the show, I put up this little, like, box of who people wanted to see. And like, the most common answers were like, Ali Bestucky, you, Isabelle Brown. And so I know my audience is thrilled that you're on today, so thank you very much. Lots of different things to talk about, but I actually texted you prior to this. I was like, honestly, let's just stay away from all of the political mumbo jumbo.
- [01:28]
C
Yeah.
- [01:29]
B
And I don't know if this is something you feel, but I feel like on really Monday through Friday, I try to keep my weekends off my phone, but Monday through Friday, I consume so much political media, sometimes even like involuntarily, so wanted to stay away from that. And so the first thing, the first topic that I wanted to ask you about is motherhood.
- [01:48]
C
Yes.
- [01:48]
B
Your perfect baby boy. He's just like a month older than Margo and Margot now. She's like kind of army crawling. She's like so close to being fully mobile, which is a terrifying thought. Or where are you at in all of this? How's it going?
- [02:01]
C
He's great. He is wonderful. Doing so great. He is very much my child. Like my mom, when I was pregnant, we were looking at Facebook, Marketplace and buying all these different baby things. Cause I refused to buy anything new. And she sent me this little Montessori baby climber thing that had a rock wall on the side, whatever. She was like, you should go ahead and buy this. It's already assembled. Cause it was one of Those things that was gonna take 10 hours for Alex and I to build. And she was like, just go pick this up right now. And I tried to buy it, but I was like, mom, I'm not gonna need this for, like, a year. Like, this baby is not gonna be climbing on things. This is wild. He's just gonna be sitting in one place. And she was like, no, he's your child. And at, like, six months, you were like, I would find you on top of a refrigerator, and you would be, like, climbing up your brother's bunk beds and, like, all of this stuff. And I was like, okay, well, that just still seems so far away. And now we're at six months. He can crawl. Now he's pulling himself up. I, like, went in this morning after his nap, and he was fully, like, stood up on his crib, like, halfway leaning out. I was like, okay, well, we need to lower that. So it's all just, like. It's crazy. So my entire life has just changed in the last three weeks now that he's so mobile. Like, we need to get some kind of enclosure or something for him or put, like, an airtag, because we just hear him, like, screech in, like, different parts of the house. Like, how did he get here? Yeah.
- [03:13]
B
And it is true. Like, I think once they become more mobile, it changes your life at home. Like, you have to start baby proofing everything. But even what I'm kind of nervous about is it makes travel a lot more hectic. Like, the thought of sitting on an airplane with this baby who, like, desperately wants to be crawling around. It impacts every aspect of your life. And you said, like, you. You would need it six months away. The cliche that I would roll my eyes at all the time when people told me, even when I was pregnant, like, it time flies so fast. Like, don't blink. I'd roll my eyes at this, but now, like, it's so true.
- [03:47]
C
Yeah.
- [03:48]
B
And I hate admitting that this cliche is as true. It is. But even, like, looking at her little baby clothes, or I'll find myself, like, at least once a week going through my camera roll and going back to the.
- [03:57]
C
So tiny.
- [03:58]
B
Yes. They don't even look like the same human being.
- [04:00]
C
I took a video when Alex was downstairs getting our car and we were about to leave the hospital. I took a video with him, and his face was all, like, smooshed up and looked so sweet. And I was like, all right, so this is like, we're leaving the hospital. We're taking you home. And I wanted to have that to, like, look back on. And I do look back on it, like, every single week. Because it was, like, the last time that he was actually sleepy and the last time that I was able to just, like, contain him, but he was so smushy. And it's wild how things change.
- [04:25]
B
Talk about that. Some of the. The different. We've seen, like, the woman with the list, right? Yes. All these horrible things that make motherhood so chaotic. Can you explain some of your experience with the chaotic things?
- [04:39]
C
Yeah.
- [04:40]
B
And maybe not necessarily how they have. Yes, they've changed your life, but not really for the worse.
- [04:46]
C
Yeah. Well, I think that, number one, you have to go into this knowing that it's a sacrifice. Like, I think that there's a lot of people who, you know, talk about having children, and, you know, it's the girl with the list. And all these things that can happen during pregnancy. The weird thing. So it impacts your teeth, your hair falls out. It's like all of these, like, random things that can happen during pregnancy and childbirth. And I obviously would see those videos, and I would talk to friends who had kids, talk to my mom. But underneath all of that, I still wanted to be a mom. And I knew that that was a sacrifice worth making. So I think it goes back your own values and your, you know, priorities. Yeah. What you are prioritizing. Because that was like, all right, well, that's fine. I'll live with it. It's okay. Like, if he's a great sleeper, that's awesome. If he does not sleep for a year and a half, that's okay. Because I want to be a mom. And, you know, every baby is different. Like, my oldest brother had colic and just screamed. Cried for, like, the first eight months of his life. And then I would. I, like, loved the car when I was a baby and would just sleep in my car seat for hours and hours on it. And my mom would, like, bring me in and, like, put me at the foot of the bed, and I would just be knocked out. And she was like, it's like the difference in children. Like, you'll have such a different experience. And so the sacrifices are, I think, different for each child, depending on who they are, like, how they come out being. But at the end of the day, you still are making a sacrifice to raise up this life. So it was worth making. I wasn't too worried about it.
- [06:11]
B
If you guys have watched the show for any amount of time, then, you know, I believe in the little things in your daily routine that actually make a big difference. In how you feel from how you start your morning to how you wind down at night. That is why I love what Cozy Earth is doing. Their whole mission is to elevate the everyday by focusing on the things that you use constantly. Like the socks that you put on in the morning and the comforter that you sleep under every single night. They're comforters. We have one on our bed. They are so incredibly soft. They are breathable and they are temperature regulating so you stay cool and comfortable all night long. And their essential socks are honestly some of the most comfortable I have ever worn. They're soft, they're cushioned and they're made for everyday life. With styles like calf, ankle, quarter and even no show. You can really tell every single detail in both their bedding, their pajamas, their loungewear, their socks. Even is very, very intentional. Plus the best part I think is it's completely risk free. You get a 100 night sleep trial and everything you buy is backed by a 10 year warranty. So go to cozyearth.com use my code Gaines G A I N E S for up to 20% off. And if you get a post purchase survey, be sure you tell them you heard about them from me. Experience the craft behind the comfort and make the everyday feel just a little bit more intentional. And I think in the grand scheme of things too, like you're really only in this baby, even toddler phase for such a short amount of time. In the grand scheme of life, even. So, yes, maybe you have a super chaotic, hectic, tiresome first two years, but then you're blessed with them for the rest of your life and the rest of their life, God willing. So yeah, really when you think about it, short term, yes. But even like your body, right. This is something we were talking to prior to recording something that I had said was you go through nine months of being pregnant, really 10 months. They lie to women, by the way, when they say you're pregnant for nine months, it's a lie. It's.
- [08:02]
C
I got to 42 weeks and I was like, this is not nine months.
- [08:05]
B
No. Yeah, yes. So you change in that regard. But even now, being five months postpartum myself, you over six months now, like even breastfeeding, like my body is just not the same and that's hard for me to like really adapt an athlete.
- [08:19]
C
It's totally different. Yeah.
- [08:20]
B
I've always had control over like how I look and my fitness level and my energy level and now suddenly like it's zapped from me and it's given to this little bitty, tiny human who my husband. Like, it's so funny. Like, she'll be breastfeeding. And he calls her a boob barnacle, which I'm like, that's the most accurate description of what is happening right now. Um, you mentioned your mom, too. Has she been a big help? She recently moved. That's amazing.
- [08:45]
C
Yes.
- [08:45]
B
Here to Tennessee, right?
- [08:46]
C
Yeah. So she moved to Middle Tennessee. She's amazing. She's been so helpful. And I mean, even like, okay, so we were talking about motherhood and sacrifices. Like, those sacrifices do not end if you are. If that's what you're prioritizing. Like, my mom had her, what we call her third act. My parents got divorced, which was a good thing for both of them. They're much happier. But she moved to Idaho and she created this farm and she built this community here. And she spent years, Four. Four years investing in creating, like, the most beautiful property. And the idea was that I was still going to be in Los Angeles because at the time, when she bought the property, I was going to go to law school there, stay in la. My brother was. He was in the military at the time and was thinking of moving to an Air Force base up in, like, Washington. Spokane area. So we were all going to be, like, close to Boise, Idaho. It was going to be great. And then my brother never moved, and I got the job at Daily Wire and moved to Nashville. And so she was, like, out on the West Coast.
- [09:36]
B
Totally, by the way.
- [09:37]
C
Yeah, exactly. And then my brother Chase decided to stay there. It's like, year after year, he was like, no, I'm not moving. I'm not moving. So she was holding out hope. And Alex and I got married. And then I remember facetiming her and telling her that I was pregnant. And she was like, well, I guess I gotta, like, get my ass up and move. So she. But it's incredible. She sacrificed this incredible property, this life that she had built, and she's completely starting over again to be near us. Like, building a farm up from the ground up again. Started on a property with, like, nothing. Like, did not move into a property with any kind of infrastructure, which is what happened in Idaho is starting everything brought all of her animals. It was like, oh, my gosh.
- [10:11]
B
Absolutely. Long way.
- [10:13]
C
Yes. And it was a long. It was a long move. A huge move. Moves are just awful in general, especially if they're cross country. But if you're moving, like, 12 animals,
- [10:20]
B
what does she have? She has cows.
- [10:22]
C
Yeah, she has. She has dairy cows. So she has three Jersey cows, two in milk right now. They. She has multiple Jersey steers that are on those moms. And a Galloway, a Belti that's on one of the other ones because we lost one of her babies. So we bought a bottle baby to put on this mom. She has one beef cow. She has a full size highland bull, like with the whole horns like you have. And then heritage turkeys, geese, and then sheep. She does like, hair sheep. So those are meat sheep. And I mean, they're just frolicking all over the pasture. And then she has like 5 million dogs, cats, everything.
- [11:02]
B
Well, the thing I love about you is, like, you could get a text and it could be an update of your. Your little baby or it could be like, oh, hey, like, my mom is like delivering and I'm helping deliver this little baby silver cow. I didn't even really know they had silver cows.
- [11:17]
C
Last night we. Our bull accidentally got in with her white charolais beef cow, and nine months later, we have a full silver Galloway charolay cross. But he is. Yeah, totally. Or she. It's ever full belt, totally silver. So it's. No, it's just so much fun. And she, like, she is so busy doing all of her farm stuff, but she is, like, always at our house. She's helping us build up our farm because she's been doing this longer than we have. But it really is like, you never stop making sacrifices for your kids. And she sacrifices every day being here. And I know it was so hard on her to move and leave the friends that she had created. And it just means so much that she gets to be here and see our baby and be with us.
- [11:56]
B
But I bet she did it without complaining at all.
- [11:59]
C
Oh, yeah, she was so happy to do it. Yeah, she was excited to. She wasn't happy to move, but she was happy to be here with us,
- [12:04]
B
which I think is incredible. My mom says all the time, because my older sister, she has a baby that's a year and a half old. And so this was her first granddaughter, but her second grandbaby. And she says all the time, like, oh, my gosh, being a grandmom is so much better than being a mom because you get to give them back when they cry, you know, so that's special that she gets to be around and so see him growing up and you evolving too, as a mom. Do you feel like. Because for me, I feel like my view of the world has shifted entirely. Like my perspective on things has shifted on things that I never. Let's, I guess to Put it this way. Things that I never cared about, now I care very deeply about. And things that, at one point I cared about, they don't matter to me at all. And so have you found that in you, like, over the past six months or maybe even before that, when you found out you were pregnant?
- [12:56]
C
Yeah. I think the thing that I keep going back to is I give less of a crap about things now. Like, everything that I care about is, like, way more heightened. I think with both me and Alex, it's like, the way that we look at the world now, we're looking at it through the lens of we want to make sure that this. We live a great world for our son. And so I care a lot less about offending people. I care a lot less about, like, tiptoeing around issues. I. Yeah, you're right. There are some things now that I'm like, okay, I don't even care about that. Like, I'll think about. And I also think this goes back to the time that I spend away from my child. So I'm now doing four shows a week instead of the 10 that I was doing when I was at Daily Wire. Cause I was doing two times a day. It was a lot. We were talking about this before we started recording, too, that it's often when you're doing so much content, you're like, oh, gosh, I need to kind of, like, make a story, and I need to hit this quota. And now I think about it through the lens of, like, okay, if I'm gonna go spend 35 minutes away from my child, recording, it should mean something. Like, I don't want to just be sitting in front of a camera like, bleh. About, you know, some idiotic thing, because I need to check something off. Like, I want to make sure that I'm saying something that matters, that hopefully, you know, leaves people changed in a way. Even if it's something that's, like, funny and lighthearted, but has a good message at the end, because we need a break from the insanity of, like, the political stuff. I want to make sure that I'm putting something meaningful into the world because that's, you know, 35 minutes of recording, an hour and a half of prepping the show that was not, like, solely focused on on him. And so that's totally changed for me. It's just, like, the amount of time that I dedicate to things. It's like, what really is the priority,
- [14:29]
B
which is a good thing.
- [14:31]
C
Yes. Yeah. So I want to make sure that
- [14:32]
B
it's, you Mentioned Alex.
- [14:34]
C
Yes.
- [14:35]
B
What's it been like watching him become a dad? Because for me, I mean, of course, I have loved Louis for a very long time, but it really is like a different kind of totally different. And watching him now in his fatherhood role.
- [14:51]
C
Yes. There was something I saw on TikTok where a girl said, marry the man who wants to be a dad and not just have kids. And I think that's an important distinction. Like, Alex has always wanted to be a dad. He didn't wanna just, like, have children and have a big family and like, whatever the lifestyle or the look, whatever it is. Like, from the day I met him, our first date, he was like, my number one priority is to be a father. To be a dad. To be like, I want to be that role, not just have a bunch of kids around me. And so he's so engaged. He's so active. Like, the way that his eyes light up when he sees this baby, it is the most special thing. And it is a totally different kind of love. But I will say it took a second. Oh, my gosh, it took a second to get there because I had the most, like, insane postpartum, like, hormonal, like, craziness. And so I remember being in the hospital and seeing him hold this baby. I was like, this was perfect, like, special thing. And I got home and I had this insane hormone crash. Like, standing in the shower, crying, being like, what have I done? My body feels so different. Like, everything is just all over the place. I'm so out of whack. I feel, like, squishy, yet tight and full and all of these things. And I was, like, so angry for, like, two weeks where I was like. And he would come up and try to, like, comfort me and be like, don't even touch my face. Like, can't even do it. But. And so that was, I think, the hardest part of the adjustment, honestly, was the marriage aspect. Because you go from just being the two of you and having total freedom to do whatever you want and go out to dinner and just be the two of you and watch a show on the couch. And it was like, for those first three weeks, I was like, I literally have not even, like, touched you. We have not spent a second alone. We have not even talked about anything other than, like, poop and snot and all of these things. And then I was, like, so anxiety ridden and angry. I think just because of all those hormones that it took me a second to get back to. Like, this is, like, really magical and wonderful. But again, it's all just like the sacrifices you make. But the redeeming part throughout that entire experience was he was so engaged and so helpful and 150% in on everything and was just like obsessed with this child from day one. So if I was in the shower, like crying over this, he was like outside, you know, having the best time. So that made it really special.
- [16:58]
B
Well, it gives. I'm sure he had like this level of grace with you, but it was hard too. I. I didn't really experience that postpartum, but I had like a good four day crash out. I remember it so vividly when I was pregnant where I'm. I mean, I imagine it's. The hormones are everywhere and I knew I was being irrational.
- [17:17]
C
Yeah.
- [17:17]
B
But that made me even more upset that I couldn't do anything about it. I'm like, okay, I know I'm being angry and upset and emotional, but there's nothing I could do. And it was making me, those emotions that I was exhibiting, like, even more heightened. So that's hard. And you hear about pet rage too, where women get like mad at their pets or their dogs or whatever it is.
- [17:39]
C
I will say I haven't had that. But it is crazy how you go from. Because we have four dogs as well. You have four, right?
- [17:45]
B
Yeah, we have three.
- [17:46]
C
Three. And you know, they're your whole life and they're so sweet and they're in bed with you or whatever. And now I'm like, cookie, if you get in this freaking bed, I'm like, get out. I'm like, get away from the baby, whatever. And it's all really sweet and they want to be near him or whatever, but it's like, you know, Alex would let the dogs out of the mudroom and they would run towards the bed
- [18:03]
B
and be like, alex, my dog. Yes, let's do the baby.
- [18:06]
C
So it's just totally different where your priorities just completely shift and it's wild to watch. So thankfully I've not had pet rage, but I know women who do experience it and it's so. Again, it's the irrationality of. You're like, I know that this isn't right and I know that I'll get over this, but you just have to
- [18:20]
B
ride for it in the moment. Yeah, that's hard. You mentioned Alex, like wanting to be a dad.
- [18:26]
C
Yes.
- [18:27]
B
There was an article that came out recently. I think the headline was like, I regret having children.
- [18:34]
C
Yes. From the cut.
- [18:35]
B
Oh my gosh. Let's talk about this. Have you in your day to day life, maybe the People you interact with, even online. Is this something you come across a lot like women who express outwardly and publicly and, and seemingly like these women in this article, like without shame that they had children that, that they wish they didn't have?
- [18:55]
C
Not in my personal life, but it is a bigger, I think, growing trend on online and social media. And I think it's probably part of this whole societal idea of, you know, speak your truth and like, just focus on you. Like you're the main character. Practice self care. There's so much like where we need to validate all of your feelings and all this stuff. It's like something said we shouldn't be said. Like, that's fine. But one thing that was interesting about that article is I actually think that New York Magazine and the Cut did a real disservice even to the women in the article. Because if you read their tweet and you read their headline, they framed it as like, I think their tweet actually said you have to give up your slow mornings and your weekends and like dates out with the girls playing pickleball. It was like really ridiculous, superficial, vapid stuff. And it's like at some point in your life, you have to decide whether you're gonna give that up and be a mother. And then the headline was, I regret mother and I regret my child. So I went into this, I was seeing everybody's comments. I like bookmarked it cause I'm gonna do my episode on it tomorrow. I was like, ugh, these people are ridiculous. I looked at it and then I get into the article and it's a bunch of women who have had no support postpartum. And number one, all the, like, common denominator in all of their. The three stories that they talk about are the man wanted to have children. They knew that going into the relationship dating. They were like, you know, my now husband really wanted to have kids. And I was like, okay, maybe number red flag, don't marry him. If you like, don't do that to him. Don't put him in the relationship.
- [20:20]
B
There's really like foundational.
- [20:21]
C
Yes.
- [20:22]
B
Differences.
- [20:22]
C
And it's like, if you're not ready to make that call yet, let him move on. Maybe, maybe you'll find your way back. But don't put him now in a situation where he's dealing with a woman who regrets having these children that could have been dealt with, you know, 10 years ago or whatever it is. But in reading all of these stories, these women are. Have no support. Had like a month long maternity Leave and had to go back to work immediately, had no childcare. You know, one of them was talking about how her mother in law, her mom was pressuring her to have kids. And then the mom doesn't want to be bothered to help out with the baby after all. So she was like, I thought that I was going to have all this support and now I don't. There. One of the women was talking about how she went to the doctor for postpartum depression and the doctor just like waved her away and was like, oh, you'll figure it out. And it's like, so it's.
- [21:06]
B
Yeah. What's. It's almost as if that's to be expected.
- [21:09]
C
Yes. And I think it's hard because now we have this society that is so anti motherhood in many ways. And I'm sure that the women in this story are 30 year old, you know, cosmopolitan women. This is not their community. They don't have a village, they don't have women that they can share this experience with. Like their friends are not having babies, I'm sure. And so obviously it feels like you're on this island alone, your hormones are crashing now you've sacrificed your career where you, you know, feel like you got value out of it. And I'm like, obviously you're gonna be angry if that's. And if you have no support. And so when looking at those stories, it's like, yes, obviously they're saying that they regret motherhood. And that's an issue in and of itself. Don't say that out loud. Your kids are gonna read that one day. But like the cut in the New York magazine, they had the opportunity to make this a discussion about why are we not supporting mothers and why do we not have better policies in place to support these women? And maybe have the cultural attitudes that you've been promoting for the last 15 years only hurt women because now they have no support. But instead they were like, oh, they regret it. They can't play pickleball on the weekend.
- [22:10]
B
Yeah, well, I have the like little subtitle here. Sooner or later, everyone has to decide whether to give up lazy weekends, disposable income, and overall peace of mind to have a baby instead of. For many of those on the fence, one anxiety looms large. What if I make the wrong choice? It does seem like lazy weekends, disposable income, overall peace. Yeah. What a silly, what a silly thing. And you're right, like there are conversations to be had even in talking about maternity leave. Yeah, my sister, she went back to her job full time. I think at six weeks, she had to go back in the office for two weeks. She got to go in, like, part time. So maybe like Monday, Wednesday, Friday she had to go in. But I mean, six weeks. Her husband actually got 12 weeks, so he got 12 weeks off work. She got six weeks and then full time back downtown Nashville, from where we live for, I mean, probably like an hour drive some days. That's a long time away from your baby. So there is a need to have these conversations. And you're right, they totally missed the mark. Did you watch Love is Blind?
- [23:09]
C
Okay, I haven't watched it, but I know what you're gonna bring up.
- [23:11]
B
Okay. Emma.
- [23:12]
C
Yes.
- [23:13]
B
She's a girl on the show. And, like, she was very upfront, which, like, respect to her, very upfront from the very beginning in the pods. Right. The premise behind the show, if you haven't seen it, is you're in these pods, you don't know what anyone on the other side of the wall looks like. You have conversations, you decide if you're gonna get engaged. I mean, I think it's like 10 days of filming. So 10 days behind a wall talking to, like, 20 different men. You pick your person, you get. You get engaged, decide if you want to get married. I think two or three or four weeks after you meet their family, live with each other. Yes.
- [23:42]
C
And the point is that you're removing the, like, physical and, like, even sexual chemistry. Like, the point of being in the pods is that you have the really hard conversations.
- [23:52]
B
Yes.
- [23:52]
C
You lay it out. You know exactly what you're getting into. No physical whatever, mumbo jumbo.
- [23:58]
B
And she was very honest, like, I don't want kids. Which, again, that's her prerogative. She doesn't want kids. I mean, you can't really fault her for it. And I think, honestly, she had pretty valid reasons. Like, she was adopted. She didn't know much about her family. I think she was from China. She didn't know much about her family. Like, if there were any sort of genetic things, she had birthmarks all over her body that she had to be removed, and she was scared of passing that along to a child. So I think if you're going to have reasons for not wanting to have a child or at least being unsure, I think those were relatively valid reasons. Anyway, she was upfront about that. But the guy that she ended up getting engaged, she was upfront from the beginning that he did want kids. Anyways, they decided to go fully along with it. But there's this moment in the show where it's Emma's family. And again, she's adopted, so Emma is Chinese. All of her family, it's. It's these white people and the sis. I think it's Emma's sister.
- [24:44]
C
Yes, it's her sister.
- [24:45]
B
She's. Or she's talking to Emma about this and. And her then fiance, like, okay, well, you know, kids are really hard. I have kids, and if I had the opportunity now, I wouldn't have them.
- [24:55]
C
Yeah.
- [24:56]
B
And I listened to that, and I was like, oh, my gosh. Like, you just said, like, her kids are going to. I imagine, watch that at one day. I cannot imagine hearing my mom say, like, oh, like, if I could do this again, I just simply would not have you or your siblings. That's a really hard, like, thing to chew.
- [25:13]
C
And it's one thing again to, like, have conversations about what makes it hard and how to better support moms and that kind of thing. And even with the women in the cut, they were anonymous, but still, it's like, you're putting that out there. But no, she was like, so brazenly, like, yeah, if I did it over, I would have it. And the interesting thing about that conversation was that I think the guy's name was Mike. Right. I said Mike was the fiance, and
- [25:35]
B
Mike was together in my mind, because they all literally look the same.
- [25:37]
C
Yes. And so Mike was pressuring Emma's sister and was like, and this is why it's so wild, me going back to this whole idea of don't marry somebody who you're not aligned with. He was sitting there with his fiance that he's known for 10 days, and he was like, no, but Emma's sister, you would. You don't regret it. Like, maybe it's hard, but you don't regret it. Look, Emma, she doesn't regret it. And then her sister's like, no, essentially I do. And it's like, why are you fighting with her sister over this? Like, she's being upfront. And again, you might think that her reasons are ridiculous. Maybe you think they're valid, but it's not worth it. Like, there's too many other people in the world. And I get the. Dating's hard these days, but, like, this is too big of a gamble because people's lives are at sake number one. The rest of your life, if you don't want children and your kids are at sake, and then you're bringing life into the world, that's too big of a risk to be sitting here arguing with your fiance's sister over whether you should have kids. It's ridiculous.
- [26:25]
B
I initially didn't like her in the show, maybe because of what I could assume to be her views on certain things, which maybe isn't a very fair thing, but I initially didn't like her. But I think she grew a lot throughout the show and towards the end of it, actually, she got to the altar. Spoiler. If you haven't seen the season finale yet, don't listen to this, but she got to the altar and she actually said yes in saying, like, look, I maybe am not there yet, but I do see that future with you. And the. The option's not off the table. And he actually said no because he was like, I want children.
- [26:57]
C
Like, with respect to him.
- [26:59]
B
Exactly.
- [27:00]
C
Because that's what every woman in those stories in the cut, they were saying. Like, I didn't really want it, but I thought maybe. Maybe I would change. And we were high school sweethearts, and I just thought, you know, maybe by 25, I'll be ready. And we just put it off a couple of years. It's like, if you're going to make that commitment to somebody and if you actually believe in marriage as it should be, not just in some, like, partnership that you're coming in and out of, that you can throw away, but if you are, you know, till death do us part, you have to be aligned.
- [27:27]
B
When it goes back to what you said about Alex, where he wanted to be present, he wanted to be a dad, not just have kids. And I think that's what Mike was showing, too, and what these women were lacking. And speaking of Alex, again, I asked, you know, if he was coming with you today. We could go eat some, like, dinner after this. And he said no. Alex is actually, like, onto this next new hobby.
- [27:49]
C
Oh, yeah.
- [27:50]
B
Can you tell us what this is? I think this is so cool.
- [27:52]
C
Yes. So for those of you who do not know my husband, he is a serial hobbyist, and he gets really, really great at things and then moves on to the next thing. He just likes to, like, master it. Yes. Master his move on. Yeah. Like, we did. We had a whole period of our relationship before he got married where he was, like, really into baking. And every single weekend, he baked a new thing. Like, he was making, like, brioche and all of this stuff. And then he was like, all right, I gained 15 pounds. I'm over it. And then he, like, hasn't baked since. He'll bake when we're baking together, but he loves mastering things. He wants to know, like, a Lot about a lot of different things. So the newest thing that he is doing, because we're starting a big garden this year, which he's always wanted to do. So we're gonna do vegetables, and we're gonna have a cut flower garden, all that stuff. And we're sitting at dinner with him and my mom, and he's like, I'm gonna grow tobacco. And my mom are like, tobacco?
- [28:38]
B
What? That doesn't sound like an easy thing to grow.
- [28:40]
C
No. And none of us smoke. He will, like, smoke a cigar like, four times a year, essentially. He can't even, like, do Zinn, essentially, because it gets him all wired up and he doesn't enjoy it. So I'm like, why are we doing this? He was like, cause it just seems like a cool thing to do. Tennessee is known for tobacco, and I'm gonna grow it and I'm gonna figure it out. So he ordered these specific seeds that grow well in our area. And when I found him last night, I was putting the baby to bed, and I was like, where are you? Cause we had gone out to dinner with everybody, and he was like, I'm up in the guest house, and I'm, like, putting my little seed propagation together. So we bought this, and he, like, I sent him a picture of what my mom has for her, and he was up in front of a window building this entire thing and setting up his lights. And he was now. Yeah, he's at home right now putting all of his seeds in the little.
- [29:26]
B
This is so funny.
- [29:27]
C
I've never even done that. I plan on getting for our garden the starts that somebody has already done the hard work and already done all the seeds, but he is going to do it from seedlings. Yeah. That's what he's into now.
- [29:37]
B
That is so funny. I remember when you were building your fence and he was, like, researching, like, the best way to, like, set the post in the ground. Like, do you, like, kind of put it all together before and then just, like, lean it up? Like, all of these different crazy things? So a certified, like, hobbyist.
- [29:53]
C
Yeah. He's.
- [29:54]
B
Louie calls himself, like, a YouTube.
- [29:56]
C
Oh, I saw that on your vlog. Yeah.
- [29:57]
B
Oh, my gosh, Louis.
- [29:58]
C
Everything.
- [29:59]
B
Louie is the exact same way. Where if he doesn't know how to do something, he will look it up. Yeah. Make sure he knows how to do it and not just do it, like, do it really well.
- [30:07]
C
Yeah.
- [30:08]
B
Which I find to be amazing because I'm very much not that person, and
- [30:10]
C
I don't have the patience to sit through any, like, YouTube tutorials or anything like that. A great example is buying cars. I don't know anything about the specs of my car. I've never been interested. When I bought my 4Runner with my mom a few years ago, I walked onto the lot, and I was like, boom. Great forerunner. I've always wanted a 4Runner that's perfect and that. I know nothing about it. And when we were buying my mom car and Alex was getting his truck for the farm, I mean, it was, like, hours of YouTube videos. He was like, I'm not gonna have any regrets. I'm gonna know everything about it. And I just don't have the patience, don't have the time. But he will learn anything. The other thing he's been doing now is he's buying hard copies of everything in case the grid goes down or, God forbid, like, something insane happens. So we have, like, gardening books, canning books. Oh, I love this, like, mechanic. Something like how to work on our tractor. He's, like, stockpiled all these things. Has he read them? Absolutely not.
- [30:57]
B
Is he a doomsdayer at all?
- [31:00]
C
I would say vigilant. He's not going so far where we're, like, completely off.
- [31:06]
B
Like a pantry in the basement. Right.
- [31:07]
C
He's just, like, ready to. If, like, he. I think, sees, like, a grid going down in the future, it's. Even if it's just for, like, a few days. And so he's gonna have, like, 50 books.
- [31:17]
B
Well, that huge ice storm here in Nashville. I know it. I think there was, like, even two weeks after. There was, like, still a hundred thousand
- [31:25]
C
homes, which is crazy.
- [31:26]
B
Totally without power.
- [31:27]
C
We were so prepared. This man, like, spent two weeks, like, I've never seen him so excited for this. I mean, it was, like, all of his training, we were. I mean, we had the generator up and running, and he was like, practice running. You have to do, like, one cycle beforehand. It was, like, every day. It was like a new grocery run. And he was pulling out all the cankes and all this stuff. We never lost power.
- [31:48]
B
Oh, no.
- [31:48]
C
We were, like, one of the only houses that didn't. And we were sitting there, and he, like, had the, you know, generator ready to go. He had chopped firewood for days and days and days, and it was, like, sitting outside, and so we barely even started a fire because he was like, I don't want to run through all of our firewood in case the power goes out. And we have this baby, and we need to be able to, like, keep the house warm. And. And so we barely even Had a fire and then we got to the end of it and we had, I'm not kidding, like hundreds and hundreds of logs outside the house. Now it's chopped and now. Yeah, and now it's hot outside, ready
- [32:15]
B
for the next snowstorm, which in Tennessee weather could happen literally at any time.
- [32:21]
C
We'll probably have something. I think our last frost date is April 15, so I'm sure we'll have something before then.
- [32:25]
B
Yeah, good. Okay. You mentioned your mom too, like going to Idaho, having this farm. Did you grow up like that? Because now we've talked about what you've got going on.
- [32:34]
C
Yeah.
- [32:35]
B
Talk about the animals.
- [32:36]
C
Yes, so we have. I did not. So I did not grow up like this. I always grew up on land. But my mom was never in a position with her two marriages to have a farm, but she had always wanted it. So, like when she was growing up in Atlanta, Georgia, which was when she's where she spent most of her like adolescence and teen years, she would like beg my grandmother to let her join ffa, which is the future Farmers of America in their Dunwoody neighborhood. She was like, just let me put like a sheep in the front yard. And my grandmother was like, absolutely not. So she's always wanted this. And she would always get our family to like a location where we could have animals. So at one point before I was born, they were living in like Walnut Creek, California, which is a really rural. I think that was where they were, rural area. And they bought, you know, a house with six acres. And then her first husband died of cancer. It's the father of my brothers and he got terminally ill. And so she was taking care of him and the three boys and so was not in a position to even have chickens or anything like that. Married my dad. We moved to Orcas Island, Washington, which is where I was born. And it's this like beautiful rural island off the coast of Washington. I think we have like 15 acres and like a bar and all of this stuff. No animals. My dad was like, not into it. It's. We have too much going on. I don't want to do it. So she was like, okay. Moved to Tennessee, had like five acres, never even had chickens. There was a lot going on in their marriage and our family. My brother died around that time, so it was just like never. She never had the run up opportunity. And she always put our family and her marriages before this like lifelong dream that she's had. And so after Chattanooga, then she was in California with me because I was acting. You're not gonna have goats in your, like, Los Angeles, like, tiny little house you have on the corner. And so when I graduated college and when she and my dad finalized their divorce again, she was like, I picked Boise on a map 45 minutes from LA via plane. So she youtubed her way through it and learned how to do this. So the long story is no, but because this has been a passion and an interest of hers, literally, since she was a little girl, she made sure that all of us had exposure to it. And so we had friends that had a huge highland cow ranch way before it was even, like, a big thing. Yeah, it was like, when I was, like, 8 years old, they had one up in Kentucky, and so we would go up there and spend a couple weeks at a time and help them castrate all the bulls and sort everybody and do that kind of. And we saw their pigs and just really, like, sunk our teeth in. And I rode horses from a really young age. My brothers would always, like, spend a couple weeks a year at different, like, camps in Colorado and Texas, like, learning how to rope and do rodeo stuff. So she always wanted us to have that, I guess, appreciation and interest in it, even though we didn't actually get to have that at our home. And I think part of it was, like, she wanted to live vicariously through us and support us in that way. So when she finally had that freedom again, third act, all the kids out of the house, she went and did it, and literally just gritter teeth figured out. Like, we. I remember we got to Idaho, because at this point, I was like, I'm getting out of la. We landed in Idaho. Three weeks later. She had found her first milk cow on Craigslist.
- [35:40]
B
Oh, my gosh.
- [35:41]
C
We had. Yeah, we had no trailer, no anything, no bar. And my mom was like, we just have to do it. Which, when Alex and I bought our property, we had a very serious case of the, like, we're not ready yet because we didn't have the right barn. We bought land that used to be a cattle ranch, but, I mean, it had been, like, decades and decades and decades. So the. All the fencing was falling apart. The barn literally kind of still is sliding off a hill. So we're trying to fix that and didn't have anything prepped, But I remembered my mom and I going and picking up this cow in the back of my, like, Kia hybrid that I had at the time. And I was like, we're just gonna go, like, buy pigs. I remember I texted you, like, two summers ago, and I was like, we Just did it. I went and I just picked up pigs and I got this like electric fencing and just put it in a random spot, which now we actually have proper fencing for them. But I was like, we just have to just do it. Rip off the band aid and.
- [36:32]
B
Which was like the motivation, truthfully that I needed because similar where kind of ish grew up around animals. We had horses growing up. Honestly, they kind of just sat on the 20 acres. We didn't do a ton with them, but I was actually the president of FFA at my. Oh, I didn't know that. Oh my God, that's fun. It was the same where I was like, I want to do this. I remember in fifth grade being so upset when the. The 4H people came to our school.
- [36:57]
C
Yeah.
- [36:57]
B
In my fifth grade class, they were offering like chicken eggs and I took the sheet home to my mom. I'm like, mom, can we please get chickens? We live in like a neighborhood where you could not have chickens. And my mom was like, absolutely not. It broke my heart. So I became best friends with the girl who did get chickens and we're still best friends to this day who did get to take the 4H chickens home. But even in high school, like when my older sister went to college, we still lived in the same home. Again, not conducive for farm life. When my older sister went to college, I went to tractor supply on my own actually. It was on the way home from swim practice one day. And I bought the little chickens, you know, having no idea anything, and I put them in my sister's room. I was like, my parents will never know.
- [37:36]
C
That's hilarious.
- [37:36]
B
We had bird dogs. So the bird dog, like the pointers are outside the door. Like you hear the serpent barking? They gave me away. Little brats. Anyways, so was always like wanting to get involved. I didn't really know where to start either. So you texting me that was like, Louie, look like Brett did it. We can do it too. And like you have been like our motivation and really more so the inspiration for us. So. So what do you have now animal wise?
- [38:01]
C
We have. Okay, currently in our garage we have 29 chicks.
- [38:07]
B
The garage. So they're babies.
- [38:09]
C
Little chicks.
- [38:09]
B
Yes.
- [38:09]
C
We have chicks. So we are doing meat birds for the first time this summer. So they're going to be pasture raised. We have a chicken tractor that's almost finished being built and they're going to be like pulled around to a fresh patch of grass for the next four months once they feather out. And then they have a Butcher date, June something.
- [38:25]
B
So is that how that works? So you have to, like, get them a butcher date? Yes.
- [38:30]
C
So you have to schedule it in advance, usually. Especially for, weirdly, poultry. There are not many poultry processors in middle Tennessee. And so you got to get on the schedule. So we are. Yeah, so we scheduled in advance. And then. So we have 20. We have 25 meat birds. And then I got four blue egg layers at tractor supply just on a whim, because I was like, what's four more if we already have 25? Let's just throw a couple more in there. So we have those in the garage.
- [38:53]
B
And what do you plan to do with them? Like sell them?
- [38:56]
C
We are. We don't really have a plan. We're just doing it for the experiences of now. If we want to sell, we have to establish our farm and get like usda, you know, it has the whole thing. And the government has to come out and like, look at how they're get
- [39:09]
B
a lot of tax write offs, though.
- [39:10]
C
Yes, you can. But we just have not jumped through all of those hoops yet. So as of now, these are chickens that if you want some chicken, you can come over and you'll get some pasture chicken. It's basically just for, like, friends and family and feeding our family. So we are putting in our barn, we're going to get a bunch of like, commercial freezers. Because right now we are, like, outgrowing our garage. We'd have like random various, like, freezers of different sizes that we just like, throw stuff in. So we're going to make it have like a legit thing where people can come and shop, essentially. So it's like if Amir wants to buy half a cow, then he can go get his half a cow and get whatever.
- [39:43]
B
Yeah.
- [39:44]
C
So, yeah, so that's what we're doing with the meat birds. And then we have 12 hens that we get eggs from. We have.
- [39:52]
B
And you eat the eggs?
- [39:53]
C
Yeah, we eat the eggs. We have three African geese that help protect the rest of the birds. So we eat their eggs. Alex had a scrambled goose egg for breakfast this morning.
- [40:01]
B
Which are like, what do these ones look like? They're the white ones with like.
- [40:05]
C
Those are. My mom has those. The one that look like a pocket lake.
- [40:08]
B
Oh, I love.
- [40:08]
C
With a little, like, fuzzy. Okay. So she has those. We have African geese. Not as cute and they're very loud. But they do their job of protecting the rest of the flock. So they're like a deterrent from aerial.
- [40:19]
B
Probably like even coyotes too, because they're pretty Hardy these.
- [40:22]
C
Yeah. And they just squawk all day long, so, like, nobody wants to touch them. And then we have 10 ducks. I believe we have Muscovies, which are essentially some kind of, like, mixture between a goose and a duck. But you don't. They don't have to have a pond, and they, like, lay a ton of eggs. So we have duck eggs, goose eggs, chicken eggs. And then we're putting in a garden this year right now, we have. We just sold off all of our piglets from our last litter, but we have. We saved one pig from our litter before that one. And so she's pregnant, so she's about to have piglets, and then we have her parents. So right now we have four pigs. About to have more in the next month whenever she has piglets. And then I don't even remember how many cows we have. Now we have a bull. We have two steers and a heifer that I'm not going to breed. That will be freezer beef. She doesn't have the full belted Galloway belt, so I don't want to breed her again because if you're doing breed standard. And then we have four cow, five cows, and then one new little heifer, so even know how many that is? We're at, like, 13, 14. And then two mules.
- [41:31]
B
And your four dogs.
- [41:32]
C
And our four dogs.
- [41:33]
B
That's a lot.
- [41:34]
C
And two cats.
- [41:35]
B
Oh, my gosh.
- [41:36]
C
Yeah.
- [41:36]
B
Is it hard knowing, like, one of your animals is going to be ingested? Like, I would have a hard time it.
- [41:45]
C
I think it will be harder for us with the cows. We have not processed any cow yet that. Or steer yet that we have, like, birthed on our property that we have raised. And so I think that might be different. But I've also seen my mom do it many times now, so you.
- [42:01]
B
Yeah. And probably if you go into it knowing that that's their purpose.
- [42:06]
C
Yeah. I mean, like, one of our series is named Sirloin.
- [42:09]
B
Okay.
- [42:09]
C
So we, like. We put it out.
- [42:11]
B
We know you are.
- [42:12]
C
Yeah, you're Sirloin.
- [42:13]
B
Actually. Sirloin.
- [42:14]
C
My mom always does that. She had, like, Stewie was her last year, and she has two Jersey steers right now who are Cheese and Crackers. It was Cheeseburger, Cheese and Burger, but she changed it to Cheese and Crackers. So she, like, put. Gives them food names. So we know.
- [42:29]
B
Yeah.
- [42:29]
C
Um, but we have processed a few of the pigs. But the pigs are kind of nice, though, because they're really cute when they're little, and they're very smart and they're very precious. And then when they get to be about nine months, which for Idaho pasture pigs is when they usually get to the right weight, they are obnoxious. Like, they are biting your ankles. They're destroying everything. They can break through any kind of fencing. The electric fence does not deter them. So when we hit nine months, Alex was like, get them the hell off.
- [42:53]
B
Get them on the.
- [42:54]
C
Get them. Yeah, we are going. And we enjoy that sausage every day.
- [42:59]
B
I love that.
- [42:59]
C
Yeah.
- [43:01]
B
I'm going to show Louie this. This part of the episode for sure. Louie, we need. Aren't the piglets.
- [43:05]
C
Yes. Okay. You do, because we'll have more and I'll give you some. Yes, but. So you have a bull and you have.
- [43:11]
B
We've got a bull.
- [43:13]
C
Are you breeding?
- [43:14]
B
That is the goal, actually. The female Highland is pregnant.
- [43:18]
C
Great.
- [43:18]
B
Yes. Where we got her from, they didn't tell us how, like, far along she was. They didn't even tell us for sure. We actually need to, like, have someone come out and, like, do an ultrasound, make sure. But they said, like, there was no problems with the bull and they made sure he's good to breed. They said she's. There's a high likelihood she's pregnant, so I'm assuming she is. Their gestation period is, what, like, 11 months or something? I think it's like.
- [43:44]
C
No, I actually think it's closer to ours. It's like 10 months.
- [43:46]
B
Oh, wow.
- [43:47]
C
I might be, like, totally crazy, but I'm pretty sure I have it as, like, 10 months or so.
- [43:50]
B
So hopefully we have a little baby Hyland cow at some point.
- [43:52]
C
That'd be great.
- [43:53]
B
And then we have two other little he. And they're. They're so teeny and cute.
- [43:57]
C
Yeah.
- [43:57]
B
I just, like. It's. They're little bitty.
- [43:58]
C
Yeah.
- [43:59]
B
And then we have four alpacas, three donkeys, which. The donkeys are mini, too.
- [44:03]
C
Okay. And it's one of the alpacas pregnant.
- [44:05]
B
Yes.
- [44:05]
C
And you didn't tell Louie. Yes. It's the black one.
- [44:08]
B
Yes.
- [44:08]
C
Yes. Okay.
- [44:09]
B
She's so cute. She has like. Like, she's so different than all the other ones. Like, her hair, like, the texture and, like, the length of it is, like, just different. I know. Yeah. She's so cute. So hopefully.
- [44:19]
C
Are you going to shear them yourself?
- [44:21]
B
That's the goal. Have no idea. But again, YouTube exists.
- [44:25]
C
One of Alex's ideas when we bought the farm was he wanted to make a homemade Sherpa jacket. But I have not wanted to get alpacas or sheep. My mom has Hair, sheep. So those you don't shear, like, they are like dogs. Their hair just naturally, like falls out. So we don't have any animals we could actually shear. And I was like, I do not want to have to deal with that if we're dealing with all of these other animals. But he wants to make a leather jacket out of one of the hides from our cows.
- [44:52]
B
Okay, well, so we can take the
- [44:54]
C
wool and we can. Yes, exactly.
- [44:56]
B
Perfect. Yeah. Oh, my gosh. Well, amazing. Okay, I have like a rapid fire thing for you here to. To end off. Actually, one more question I had for you unrelated to any of the topics that we've talked about.
- [45:07]
C
Yes.
- [45:07]
B
But in watching your show, I was curious, like, where do you consume your media? Do you get stuff from X?
- [45:13]
C
Yes, I think so. It's a combination of things. I usually cross pollinate. So if I find something that is being talked about on X, I usually try to link it to something like I pull from various sources. So if there's like a discourse going on on some social, cultural subject on X, I then go to TikTok and I see if people are talking about it there. Instagram, whatever. I think a good story in my eyes is if there's multiple cultural events that I can bring together to like, make my point, or if I see a conversation kind of happening in parallels on X and TikTok, then I bring it together to kind of like flesh out a whole, like, narrative and story
- [45:51]
B
that I can tell people that makes sense. And it's totally different than obviously news, like your standard mainstream media, legacy media. So I think that's cool. And to use TikTok too. There's not a lot of people who do.
- [46:04]
C
Yeah.
- [46:05]
B
Okay. Rapid. Rapid fire for you. First one favorite cabinet member.
- [46:10]
C
Oh, gosh. I was about to see my favorite congressman. So now I need to, like, temperature.
- [46:16]
B
Oh, he rock.
- [46:17]
C
Just love him. I was about to say, but he's not in the cabinet. But my mind went to him. Tulsi Gabbard. I love her.
- [46:25]
B
She's awesome. Isn't she?
- [46:26]
C
And I like.
- [46:26]
B
She's so, like, diplomatic.
- [46:27]
C
Yes. And I like that she is sort of saying behind the scenes because I think my issue right now is a lot of the, like, bad publicity and PR snafus. And I feel like she's able to just like she just keeps her head down and she does her job. Job. Happy to be there.
- [46:42]
B
The bad pr, especially when there's very few, like, good, strong female, like, leadership positions. And the ones that are, especially right now.
- [46:54]
C
Yeah.
- [46:54]
B
Are being like Totally.
- [46:56]
C
Just ice Barbie.
- [46:57]
B
Yes. Yes. Which I just hate it. Which she's had several of those in
- [47:01]
C
her time, so I respect Tulsi for head down, just working, do her job.
- [47:06]
B
That's it. Okay. If you had to get rid of all your farm animal species but one, which one are you keeping?
- [47:10]
C
We'd keep the mules.
- [47:12]
B
Oh, that's interesting.
- [47:13]
C
Yeah.
- [47:14]
B
Because they really don't provide, like.
- [47:15]
C
No, but they're sweet.
- [47:17]
B
Oh, I love that.
- [47:17]
C
I think it would be mules or chickens. You keep those? Yeah.
- [47:22]
B
Okay. If you could add one species to your farm that you don't already have.
- [47:26]
C
Oh, gosh. We're talking about mini donkeys right now. Because we know. That's why I texted you, I texted Riley and I was like, do you want some mini donkeys? Because I know somebody's selling them.
- [47:33]
B
So do you want more?
- [47:35]
C
Exactly. So maybe, maybe mini donkeys. Just for fun.
- [47:40]
B
Okay, what's your political hot take?
- [47:43]
C
Like, I get confused with hot takes because I say everything that I think on my show and I think that it's all, like, really rational. So I'm trying to think of something that's like, crazy to me. Oh, well, this isn't a hot take, but it's something that's relevant right now. I think that we need to primary and get out of office. Every single Republican Congressmember who is voting to provide liabilities to Bayer and Monsanto.
- [48:02]
B
It seems like the most, like, entry level thing.
- [48:07]
C
Well, yeah, it's like you have an entire country that voted for Making America Healthy Again. The Making America Healthy Again coalition was one. I think one of the driving factors in getting people to, like, nervous voters, people who were not conservative Republican, were not Trumpers, to like, dip their toe over and be like, all right, we're going to be part of this, like, you know, unity party. We're bringing everybody together. We care about our kids and our families. And to see these elected officials just spit in people's faces also. While then, like, waving little, like, distractions in people's faces, like, oh, we like, redid the pyramid, which is great. But then if the same people who are cheering that on are behind the scenes, like, taking money from lobbyists from Roundup and are voting in favor of these bills in, you know, Tennessee and Florida, wherever it is, it's like, you don't. You're not actually representing your constituents, which is an issue just across the board.
- [48:58]
B
But yeah, that's a partial ish win here in Tennessee, where they kind of just tabled it. So it's a Win for now, but not necessarily long term. But even President Trump has signed some executive orders that RFK has come out and said, look, we're working through it. See the problems. We're working through it. We're doing what we can. So I totally agree with you there, as do most. As you said, I think, especially independents, moderates who supported President Trump and support the America first agenda, this is still a priority for them. So I absolutely agree.
- [49:28]
C
I think it's sort of like the Epstein files in a way, because it's less about. Well, it is about the specific issue, but it's also like, no promises made, promises kept across the board. Like, when we said we wanted transparency, that wasn't just for, like, vibes and, you know, shits and giggles. We actually wanted the files. We actually wanted the transparency. And when we said make America healthy again, and, you know, we saw on your website that it said, we're going to hold these, you know, pesticide companies accountable, we weren't just, like, joking about, like, we actually did care. So we want to see that.
- [49:55]
B
Yeah. Not just the slogans, which the other side does very well, all the slogans, and they do, but we're different from that, clearly. Okay. Most underrated issue that conservatives should be talking about right now that they're not. Which, honestly, I think the one that you just mentioned is, is it because, again, these things matter. And a lot of people, especially if you don't own a farm, which not many people do, especially an operating one, you don't really know that these things are going on or that it even affects you, but it certainly is.
- [50:23]
C
Lizzie DeSantis did great work in Florida when she. They tested various grocery products, and there was this whole sheet that went viral from all the bread companies that people just buy in grocery stores and the glyphosate levels in all of those, even organic breads that people are buying. Dave's Killer Bread had one of the highest levels of glyphosate. And you buy that thinking, oh, I'm getting some sort of good. And it's healthy, cleaner and all great and whatever. And so it's not just if you live near a golf course or live near a farm and farmers are spraying. It's in the food that you're ingesting every single day.
- [50:55]
B
Okay, last thing for you. Tell us about, like, your. Any tours coming up. I know you've been doing, like, some standup comedy sort of.
- [51:03]
C
Yeah, it's really. It's, like, very awkward for me to say that, but yes. So I am doing Shows at Zany's here in Nashville basically every month, so you can come and see those. But hopefully in the fall, I'll be going back on the road again. But it's like a live version of my show, which is just, like, fun, and I get to talk to the audience and connect with people. But I'm like, a theater kid at heart, so being able to be on stage and tell stories in that medium and connect with people in that way is, like, so special. And also seeing when you spend, you know, however many years it was when I was at Daily Wire and you see, you know, view counts and subscribers and that sort of thing, but you're never out in person.
- [51:40]
B
Right.
- [51:40]
C
Like, I'd never done a speaking engagement before I left, and I had, like, not gone on tour or anything like that. To me, yeah, like, America was my first one. And being able to, like, I remember doing that meet and greet at AM Fest, and it was the first time that in a lot of ways, like, I had met people who watched my show and had been impacted by it. Like, I would run into them, like, see them at the antique mall or whatever it is and be able to talk with some folks. But to really be able to go out and meet people, literally where they're at in their hometowns and bring the show on the road has meant so much, and it's. It's just so much fun. And I get such a kick out of the live audience and having people, like, shout things out, and we get to just. It's just, like, so much fun.
- [52:20]
B
That is fun. Yeah. Okay, well, I'm coming to Zany's to watch you, so you're the best. Thank you for coming on the show.
- [52:26]
C
Happy to be here.
- [52:27]
B
We always appreciate you and we love you.
- [52:28]
C
Yay.
- [52:30]
B
Thank you, guys for tuning in to the Riley Gaines show. Be sure to follow us here on YouTube.com RileyGaines you can subscribe. That way you never miss an episode. You can follow us over on Instagram rileygainshow. We'd love to hear from you. You can leave comments here. You can DM us over on Instagram. We want your feedback. We want to know what you want to hear about. We want to know what guests you want to see on the show. Be sure to share these episodes far and wide. It helps tremendously when you do. You can share it with your friends or your parents or your neighbors. Heck, why don't you share this with that liberal in your life? You know the one I'm talking about? Share it with the person who needs to hear this message the most. We'll see you guys later.