We Live Here Now

The lack of editing in episode 4 made me nauseous - why on earth would the editor not have removed her swallows, etc?!

I think the several poor reviews of this really excellent podcast illuminate how polarized the topic and also our communities are… that people are still so angry that they don’t want to hear something that may cause them to empathize with someone else’s very different perspective. Acknowledging the humanity behind opposing political views and actually listening is how we’re going to move forward. I found this to be a very important story and am grateful it was told.

This is a full on must for anyone who wants to see progress on the social issues Trump is threatening to demolish. Getting to know Ashley Babbit’s mother Mickey will help navigate the years ahead and the need to win back US voters who have been seduced by the Big Lie and Trump’s radical approach. We need to understand why folks hate government so much. The way Mickey was ignored by the DC police and leading Democrats, plus the folly of creating the so called “Patriot” pod in the city jail are two crucial facts to know to stop alienating the people of this country.

I’m positive there is a sensitive, caring, emotive audience that adores this exploration of the feelings and emotions of the January 6th insurrectionists (the “J6” is the hip term here). The podcast gives us a tour of the emotional world of the mother of Ashli Babbitt, the woman who was shot and killed breaking into the Speaker’s Lobby as part of an action to violently overturn the 2020 election. There are interesting aspects of this limited, through-the-keyhole glimpse behind the door of present day right-wing extremism: an introduction to the “Eagles Nest” (Washington DC home of Ashli’s mother and other protesters); a visit to the nightly vigil outside the DC jail; but it’s brief and unsatisfying. The focus here is on emotions as the hosts befriend Ashli’s mom and a desire to feel her loss and extending empathy. I think it’s a worthy perspective to cover and one that I’m not insensitive to—I was moved—to a point. But the empathy is relentless and just kind of melts the podcast down into a sticky-sweet emotional stew that is wearisome, feels directionless and out of balance in its rush to love and forgive and be good neighbors and can’t we all just getting along.