Episode 24 - What even is this episode?

Hey folx! This week we have Erica, Rachel, Rylie, Vanessa and Zach (a new face!) talking about what they've been up to lately, projects they're passionate about, and handies in theaters!

Learn more about this week's hosts!

Zach: https://www.linkedin.com/in/zacharyborodkin/

Rachel: https://linktr.ee/rachelhanson

Rylie: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rylie-f-7aa0528a/

Erica: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ericamvogel/

Vanessa: https://linktr.ee/vanesstradiol

Transcript

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Vanessa: 0:00

Putting on this and start the backup recording secretary and I double record everything because I be forgetful and I have messed up before. So. Okay, human. True true. Hello everybody welcome back to transcending humanity. We are currently on episode 24. I just want to remind you if you love the show on YouTube, hit that subscribe button that helps a lot. If you are on podcast platforms, follow us. Leave us a review. We're starting to we we now have two whole reviews on Apple and Apple podcasts. So yeah, anything there? I want the show to grow grow grow grow grow grow. So help us grow. Usually we put that at the end of the episode. But you know, I'm putting it at the beginning of the episode, so yeah, we're doing that. This week, we don't really have a whole plan beyond... I wanted to bring some, we have a combination of new and old, not so much old but new and repeat faces, I suppose it is. And just for people to just kind of talk about who they are what they do. Hello, everybody. Just go around and introduce yourselves in alphabetical order. So Erica? Rachel Rylie, Zach.

Erica: 1:24

Hi, I'm Erica. Erica Vogel. Nice to meet you. Was that what you're looking for? So

Vanessa: 1:34

just a quick intro on like, who you are.

Erica: 1:37

Alright, well, we'll just do a quick jump cut here. Hi, I'm Erica Vogel, I am a not an original cast member, but not too long after it launched with this wonderful podcast. I am a senior product manager in financial technology working for Capital One, and a vocal advocate in and out of the workplace. Trans. She her hers pronouns,

Vanessa: 2:03

Rachel,

Rachel: 2:04

all right. I have a tendency to interrupt folks. And so I was willing to take a beat so that I'm not cutting folks off. My name is Rachel Hanson, sight, gender woman, you she her pronouns. I'm kind of a project addict. So what I'm working on right now, outside of my regular day job. I am a Podcast Producer, I work on a couple of shows. I'm also launching a magazine that's launching on October 1 was called Sound sorceresses, which is a quarterly magazine to elevate women work working in audio storytelling. And I'm really excited about it. In my full time day job, like the one that actually gives me health insurance, and all of that really fun stuff. I'm the Associate Director for gateway Student Services at Metropolitan State University in St. Paul, Minnesota. So I'm also kind of just your friendly neighborhood. mid level university administrators, if you have questions about higher ed in the United States, then I'm your person for that.

Erica: 3:17

Right. Rylie

Rylie: 3:25

Hey, guys, so I just rarely, rarely play. And I like Erica am a not like an original cast member, but I am also a late as I kind of took a hard stealth turn for a long time after college, and so I'm just kind of in the process of learning how to be an openly trans person in the workplace. Awesome. We love that. And, Zach, it's your turn.

Zach: 4:34

Yes. So, um, first off, I want to thank you Vanessa, for having me on. So my name is Zach rockin I am a Middle Eastern male wearing a white t shirt with the words democracy for all in red letters for the organization I work for that is a that is a board seat. working rights group. And behind me is a picture of a Keith Haring painting, blue background, white dog, and my walls are, my walls are off color yellow. And what I do is, I work at a organization called Sydney, the Center for the independence of the disabled, and I advocate for the transition of senior citizens from nursing homes, back into their communities. And I coach some of those people who have transitioned about two, three months out of the nursing home, and that I also tell nursing homes about our program, open doors that helps people with disabilities, and people in nursing homes transition back into their communities. So they have they have, they can make their own decisions. Basically, that's pretty important. That's what I do. And yeah, I always like to say that I'm working with a forgotten population, because during the height of the pandemic, you heard large numbers of deaths occur in nursing homes. So there there were a largely forgotten population.

Vanessa: 6:17

That's something that I think a lot of us don't think about. But you know, already that population is can be forgotten about by even their own family members. And when the pandemic hit, and people weren't going anywhere, and especially like, for health lockdown sets at just didn't even cross my mind so that bringing people back into the world is that that is an amazing service you're providing. That's like, seriously go you. We definitely want to hear more about that. So, and everyone knows me, I'm Vanessa, I'm the host, I am the person that does the editing and stuff in social media and whatever. So proud, trans woman, so she kind of spur off conversations. Last week, we talked about some current events. And this week, there's less trans news, which is it's always good when there's no trans news, unless it's good translators. But we have the whole Lauren Beaufort thing going on with a family values party of the Republicans, and it's one of those things where you know, she got caught in not only vaping in front of kids in the theater, but getting a little frisky with her democratic date. Who owns a binding a

Erica: 7:45

little giving a little handy in the middle. Yeah,

Vanessa: 7:47

giving you a handy with her with a democratic date who owns gay bar? Or maybe not, maybe not so much a gay bar. I don't I don't want to say that incorrectly. But they do hold it is gay friendly, and they hold drag shows. So this woman who campaigns against drag and saying that drag is grooming and descending, the other is committing a sex crime. Theater. So that's right. Peewee Herman went down for doing that. Around adults. Yeah, quite a few people. So I'm really, really hoping that she has held accountable for it. Do I think it's going to happen? Fuck no. But it'd be really nice if it would imagine if a Democrat did that, you know, people use AMC as an example, if she was in the theater doing that, like she would be hung up by her toenails by the Republican Party. But Republicans they just kind of brushing it off. They're more worried about John Fetterman wearing a hoodie and on the floor of the Senate. So

Erica: 8:53

yeah. Problem. Yeah, like Obama's tan suit. The big it's a big crisis.

Vanessa: 9:00

I loved his tan suit. He looks upon this. Yep. Everybody in that family. It's just like, amazing. Holy, and the people are just jealous because they have what? The turtle and the just creepy old, whatever. So that's what's been going on. If you're listening to this in the future. That's what's been going on this week. In Ohio, we are getting closer, I'm starting to see the signs for it. The Republican Party here tried to change the state constitution to make it so voter led citizen led initiatives would have to have a 60% vote to pass minority rule instead of majority rule. And they also added on a bunch of other like things just to make it even harder to get those citizen led initiatives was even on the ballot. And that failed spectacularly spectacularly. So now it's still 50% plus one, in the reason that went on there is for our November ballot, which is going to be the abortion rights in Ohio. Other states have put it on the citizen ballots as well. And the people, overall, the majority of people support abortion, the woman's right to choose bodily autonomy. And Republicans are terrified. That's why they put this entire thing on the ballot in August was to stop it because it's probably going to pass at about 55 56% in Ohio, so pretty red state, but that's a pass. And they they knew that that's why they put the 60% thing. So that's occurring events here in my state. It's gonna be very interesting to see what happens. I live in a very rich area. So I see a bunch of vote no on issue one. It's gonna be issue one on the November ballot, issue, one on the August ballot. So in August, you have to vote no. In November, you have to vote yes. So but it's yeah, that's what's going on my state what's going on? Anything. Interesting, wild, annoying been going around with any of you in where you live? Or any news that you've seen? That's really kind of like, peeking your interest?

Zach: 11:29

So I was it a bill signing ceremony today? Where Governor Kathy Hall signed three bills to expand voting rights. What state are you in? New York,

Vanessa: 11:40

New York. Awesome. Awesome. That's huge. Yeah.

Zach: 11:46

Really, the bills emphasize civic education. They emphasize voter registration and issues with absentee ballots. So it was a good day for democracy. I don't want to call it a rare day. But it was a good day for democracy.

Vanessa: 12:08

We need wins. And that is definitely specially with across the country where voter rights are being suppressed left and right. So it's, it's terrifying. So thank you, Zach, that's amazing is it's good to have some good news here. Yeah.

Rachel: 12:22

So in a perhaps, odd twist. I think sometimes good news, at least where I met in Minnesota is that nothing happened. The county that I live in, is having kind of an increased homeless population of folks who are there. So I'm also an elected official through the end of the school year on my local school board. So as a school board member, I get really excited when people are coming to our community for our schools. If they are experiencing homelessness, right, like that's a cool reputation to have somebody, right? Like, hey, these guys can help me get stability. That's where I'm going to go. But my spouse actually works for county administration where we live. And they were entertaining. A proposal to increase like long term housing spaces for unhoused families. And a bunch of NIMBY folks showed up at the board meeting. For folks who maybe are not familiar with the acronym right, NIMBY is not in my backyard. Right? Like, I support the homeless. I don't want them here with me, though. Like, no way. So a bunch of those folks showed up, but used they're, like, kind of Vanessa, we were talking about right wing family values. To say, Well, I'm a Christian, but I just write the crime. You guys think about the crime. And to me very gratefully, our county commissioners opted to not vote it down, but to table it, and to also call citizens out on weaponizing the Christianity in such a disgusting fashion. And I was really excited about the sometimes the No, right tabling something is the best thing that you can have happen. Yeah, so that was pretty

Vanessa: 14:30

cool. If you don't say anything at all, I suppose. Right? Right. Like,

Rachel: 14:35

I don't know, man, right? Like, if you're saying, Oh, I have Christian values, but well then know that. No, you don't.

Vanessa: 14:45

It is. It is pretty much the opposite of Christianity to not wanting to help the homeless. I'm pretty sure that's what Jesus was all about.

Rachel: 14:54

But if you think you might be right.

Vanessa: 14:58

And your neighbor whisked That's an update on something weird with like the Supreme Court there where they're trying to oust the justice. So So past

Rachel: 15:06

Yeah. So yep. I believe that this is also related to abortion rights. Yeah. There's a new justice on the Wisconsin Supreme Court. Who was right, like democratically appointed using the credit process all the, you know, blah, blah, blah, all those things. But this justice did replace a left and not a left sorry, a right leaning justice. The new what is left is starting to look like Wisconsin might be moving a little bit more towards like purple. Right, with abortion rights. And another thing that's big in Minnesota that used to be big in Wisconsin and start new, more, is organized labor and labor unions. And they're kind of moving back towards like state employees being in a labor union that actually could do something to protect you. And yeah, folks in power are not happy about it. Right? Like, why would you want people to have fair employment and control over their bodies that we're just

Vanessa: 16:25

not has control? Republicans won control? I swear, they

Rachel: 16:31

run it. I don't know that they'll be successful. But yeah, it's a little bit weird to be living right next door to that, right.

Vanessa: 16:40

I swear to the Republicans have like, some, like, trolls locked up in a basement somewhere that are just thinking of the most devious, just shit to just throw in the population and see what sticks. And it's just because things like that, like, oh, no, we no longer have the majority on our Supreme Court. So let's find a way to flip her out of there, even though she was democratically elected.

Rachel: 17:09

Right, it also the guy that they were proposing, did not have a law degree criminal Accredited Law School, so he couldn't have been appointed anyway.

Vanessa: 17:20

I just don't care. They just don't care. It's nothing. Truth just doesn't matter to them. Well, truth matters to them and what they say, but I don't know. I'm not going to soapbox. But yeah, I just, I remember seeing that. And since you're so close to Wisconsin, I had to get your input on it. So

Erica: 17:39

it's relatively quiet here in the area surrounding the nation's capitol where I live. I live in Northern Virginia, Virginia is a purple state with Richmond and Nova, as we call it being blue, recent events to report is, I think, all most of the counties in Northern Virginia, their school boards have refused to enact the governor's anti trends, anti trans school board legislation, forcing them to outs, trans students, all of that same nonsense we're seeing all over the country. So it's really nice to see, especially as a person who has a student who has a child that is a student and one of these counties to know that people like me are welcome, as well as young people that might identify as trans or non binary or might already know that they're gay or lesbian, being able to be out and open at school. So even though the state is actively working against that, that does not mean that your local county has to follow through. And that's pretty much all I have the report from the district area.

Vanessa: 18:52

Common sense does, you're starting to see that the stories popping up across the country where these states are enacting laws to suppress trans people to forcibly opt them to their parents to endanger the lives of trans kids, honestly. I mean, I know I've said it over and over again that if I would have come out with my dad was alive, he most likely would have shot me. So and you have that with a lot of kids too, which is just absolutely horrible. We're born this way. Yes, like having blue eyes or black or brown eyes. You know, it's just part of life.

Erica: 19:27

You cannot legislate us away. No, I'm gonna change

Vanessa: 19:31

even if you eradicated all of us. More will be born. You just I don't know.

Erica: 19:37

I know that. Straight people want to stop having LGBTQ kids. They should stop reading.

Vanessa: 19:42

I know. I mean straight people should stop reading anyways because we are way over popular. Wait, but

Erica: 19:47

we do need it. Don't need some of that but

Vanessa: 19:52

not as much, you know. But you're because it's been so. Next plus It's sorry listeners, I'm really not that horrible of a person. I'm just a moderately horrible person. So, Rylie I saw you waving your hand you got something.

Rylie: 20:09

Sorry, my my speakers and my bluetooth is my Mac and so it's been plugged in now and I've had to reconnect it a couple times.

Vanessa: 20:18

Do you think fun going on in Cincy?

Rylie: 20:21

Nothing too exciting right now. I mean, i i Being part of the museum environment i i can talk a little bit about like how my boss went to like so my company does. Museums, aquariums, zoos and things like that. So the American Zoological Association had like their whole gathering, I guess, like their annual gathering in Columbus last week. And so like, bunch of my bosses went up there for that. So I know Columbus is a huge LGBTQ friendly area. And I was actually kind of hoping that was going to get asked to go to that but and spend some time up in Columbus and see what was going on there. But, you know, maybe next year. Okay. Say especially because Columbus I think is like considered in like the top five or so. pride events

Vanessa: 21:19

you chaired? It's huge. I've heard it's absolutely huge. So read, I haven't been to it. I need to. I mean, it's for both of us. It's like little over an hour away. So yeah, it's not that far. No, Zach, I'm gonna put you on the spot. I want to hear more about what you do and more about everything. So since you're new here, we're gonna kind of just kind of laser in on you. And because what you were telling us, I mean, one you have a Keith Haring poster behind you, which I'm talking about Keith Haring. And, I mean, a lot of us are going to closer explains it all generation two. So we have that going on. But talk to us more about, like what you do and the impact in all that wonderful stuff that your organization does, because this is seriously cool.

Zach: 22:05

Yeah, so my background is in is in advocacy. And I started in college volunteering for candidates, local candidates, so I volunteered for people like Bill de Blasio when he was running for mayor back in the day, I volunteered for people like Cory Johnson when they were running for representative of a third district. And they actually represented Chelsea which is, which has always been a very LGBTQ type of area. But then I started volunteering for people like AOC, I started, my first job was with a nonprofit called Disability Rights in New York. And aside from making sure elections were accessible for people with disabilities, one of the things I did was started a program called change begins at home, which was about voting rights, disability, and anything from anything from the African American community, to the Asian American Pacific Islander community, to the LGBTQ community, a representative from those communities, being an activist, be a business owner, being a congressional representative, would come on, and we will discuss the barriers not only to being LGBTQ, but but the voting rights they they face, they're in line with, with their with who they are as as a trans person, so they face they face. They face a double reduction in rights, if you will, because there are trends and you know, because because that's, you know, that's just what they're going through. And this gave people a chance to have a platform to discuss their personal experiences. And it would lead to different collaborations. So it will lead to collaborations on legislation, it will lead to collaborations on projects within the companies and things of that nature. And it still continues today.

Vanessa: 24:25

A lot of intersectionality sounds like yes, which is very important. I mean society, a society in general is extremely ablest and I know I myself am very guilty of being ablest I'm sure everybody is at 1.1 time or another in their lives. So and in that in my case, and that I just don't think about it enough. So it's wonderful to have. I mean, people shouldn't have to call it out for people to understand to understand that but it's it's society for you. Bye So having ways to get people to have their voices out there, you're doing some amazing work. And yeah, I roots. It's like kind of gives me shivers, so, and some major volunteer things too, which is, which is cool. So, but

Zach: 25:20

I will also part of the March on Washington, I really well with my with generation vote, which is what the shirt I'm wearing. That's the name of the organization I'm working with

Vanessa: 25:34

trying to get people to actually show up to the polls. Yes. That's our thing. Gen X, millennials, and Gen Z. We are all seem to be a little bit more hesitant to get to the polls than the boomers, we know the boomers gonna vote. And we know a lot of them are gonna vote red. I am very confident I think we've talked about this before, Eric, I think is you and I that we could flip this country pretty easily if people showed up. Because the other side don't quite have the numbers that they think they do. So I had recently, if anyone follows my Instagram, I'd recently kind of called out some realtors for being rather bigoted. One of them saying oh, there's nothing wrong with a confederate flag. She's like, it's our it's based in history. And you know, people fly it for you know, Southern pride and like, it is a flag that is based around slavery and racism. And then another one, like, call me a bigot for calling out people for being bigots like this. I just hold on said at this point, if you still support Trump, you're bigoted. And she's like, Well, you're a bigot for calling us bigots like, Okay, well, that doesn't work that way. How that works. Now, it's not. I don't know where I was going with this. I just kind of tangent at it did tng tension tip is if even word

Rachel: 27:13

I don't know.

Vanessa: 27:16

10 Gentle Thank you see. But yeah, whatever I was talking about is that that's the point I was trying to make. And I have no clue my maybe it's all the payments. I don't know. And sitting in this chair. So uncomfortable. Because, yeah.

Erica: 27:35

But I will say, as like the resident southern gal, on this podcast, I believe I am, I am from Atlanta, I grew up in the South. I'm sure there is a whole culture, a whole kind of good old boy culture going on down there that is, on some some level innocuous, but if you are flying the Confederate flag or the rebel flag, you cannot divorce yourself in that flag from the history that it represents, especially in a city that houses I think, one of the largest monuments to MLK, for example. You can't grow up there without knowing about the civil rights movement. You can't grow up there without knowing the Confederate generals and what they did flying, that you know what flying that flag means, regardless of how you dress it up. And if you need to come up with excuses to fly a flag that the end of the day promotes racism, owning people as human capital, you got a lot of deep work going if you don't think that you're aligned with that. That's what you're representing. You can be a person who lives in the South that enjoys pickup trucks and certain kinds of beer without displaying racist images and supporting that lifestyle. You can it's a choice.

Vanessa: 29:00

I mean, did the competitor see surrender in Atlanta?

Erica: 29:04

I believe that was the seat of government at the time. Yeah,

Vanessa: 29:08

yeah. So I mean, what brought that up up here was someone that posted a picture in on the west side of Cleveland, which Cleveland has a pretty pretty blue area. But someone posts a picture of a house that had an American flag and the Confederate flag. And they asked, Would you want to move in next door to this house? And, you know, buyers don't want it. It's my point. What I come in at then is bigotry, lowers property values, because people don't want to move in next to that. And I'm willing to bet that. I obviously haven't seen a study on that, but I'm willing to bet that a study that went on to looking at bigoted propaganda in property, those lower property values because A lot of people don't want to move in next door to that there was a house right down the street from me. I live in a place where houses usually sell in three to four days. It's because our school district here is amazing. It's one of the ones that like, you want to move into the school district. And there's a house a couple of doors down, that was for sale for about nine months. There's nothing wrong with the house, it was priced accordingly. But next door was a giant Trump flag. And it is the only house in the neighborhood that would not sell. It took nine months for it to sell. So it's like, things that make me go. I wonder. I wonder.

Erica: 30:35

So things that make you go? Yeah, yeah.

Vanessa: 30:39

So anyone have any exciting projects coming up that they want to talk about stuff they want to plug?

Erica: 30:47

Obviously continuing to be a regular on this podcast is one of my favorite things. I do a lot of work locally to support Well, locally and nationally. As a person in tech, I am a member of the out in the tech community as a mentor to college students that are part of the LGBTQ community, and those early in the workforce hope helping them find their way. You know, it's a part of workplace equity. Right. So if you are in tech, and you are out, I would recommend and joining that organization might have me as a mentor. I'm also working on a book right now. I'm about halfway through that third of the way through the first draft. It's called advice from your trans auntie, because I get so many so many questions about life as transgender. So I decided that I should just write about it. Other than that, I stay pretty busy amount of work with workplace equity, as I call it out, I just came back from well, virtually attending the outs in equal Conference, which is an amazing, it's the largest workplace equity conference for the LGBTQ community in the world with over 5000 attendees. And it's really, it's a great experience. If your company is not affiliated with a partner with them, you should be aiming towards that. Right. They will help you set up your ERGs. They will help you set up affinity groups, they will help you with trainings whether it's bringing in people from PFLAG or whatever to help educate your fellow employees on how to create equitable spaces for the LGBTQ community. And there's a couple other projects I'm working on that I can't quite say yet. I'll be able to announce those in about two weeks.

Vanessa: 32:38

Minecraft and Mario Okay. Minecraft and Mario

Erica: 32:41

Kart. Yeah, that was a fun conversation we were having. That is not I mean, while I am spending time in Minecraft in Mario Kart with my kiddo and on my own, I am actually working on something pretty cool that I can talk about soon

Vanessa: 32:53

is our super secret public conversation. So

Erica: 33:00

I have had decided NDA so it could not stop. This is as much as I can say,

Vanessa: 33:05

that's we shall not pray any further. But I without brown nosing up to you too much. I know if it's something that you're involved in, it's going to be amazing, because I have so much respect for you here. Well, you're a human that I respect more than most other humans. So

Erica: 33:22

Well, I I certainly appreciate that. Thank you for that. Yeah, it's it's, it's, it's a pretty good thing. And I'm sure many, many people in the community will be interested in supporting it. I am at risk of saying too much schizophrenias will be on the internet. Yeah, stay tuned, you'll find out more

Vanessa: 33:42

awesome. I am actually looking at turning transcending humanity into an LLC. And just waiting to get some more work so I can actually afford to pay for the LLC. But hoping to do that starting in October. And I'd be able to the podcast will still be the podcast but I asked someone to turn it into a consulting company or the EI trans focused, be it small business, large business, whatever I have so much. I have so much life experience that I've working with, with a with a staffing group that's like you really need to do this and we'd like to work with you on it and help you expand so transcending humanity might here be becoming a legitimate company here soon. So we just kind of

Erica: 34:32

I'm sure you'd apply all that good knowledge through getting familiar things. New Book. Yes. Yeah, I deconstructed

Vanessa: 34:37

Erica posted that she bought losings book ti dei deconstructed and like, oh, you know, I should probably buy that too, especially if I'm going to be getting into this stuff because literally he knows no one really knows the AI so I want to talk about it.

Erica: 34:55

Maybe just

Vanessa: 34:58

me and reading you Like, I have books, like just stepped up over, I have my offer on the table next to me, I have my dilators and I have books, and

Erica: 35:10

they go together, you gotta lay there and do the thing you might as well read

Vanessa: 35:14

and a PlayStation controller. So I need to read that. That's my point is it like, I used to love to read. And now I just, I have I have the the white women book that I need to finish. I have a book that Taryn that Taryn told me about that I need to finish. And now I have that word. I didn't even start actually, I have that. But I'm so scatterbrained, I, I keep blaming everything on my three year old, but the only person I can blame, it's myself. So because I have plenty of free time at night. And instead, I downloaded boulders, gate three. And that's what I spent time designing a new character on that. And

Rachel: 35:52

though, like those long term brain impacts of sleep deprivation are super real. I also used to love reading before I had kids, and now I can't, it takes me years to finish the most basic novels, so I only

Vanessa: 36:06

get four and a half hours of sleep a night. So okay, maybe, maybe sleep deprivation is a thing. So like, be

Rachel: 36:12

kind to yourself. I don't like having little kids has a really

Vanessa: 36:19

I'm so hard on myself.

Rachel: 36:20

So don't get off, be nicer to yourself.

Erica: 36:25

And to build on that, like a lot of stressors in your life. If you're dealing with a lot of stress, you know, the things that you do to take care of yourself or fall by the wayside. I just come through a very stressful two or three years with my job and I stopped reading because I didn't have the mental capacity to do it. So you know, you got to make space for it. If you're not, and you want to let yourself off the hook. It's okay. You're not It's not like you're never going to read a book and get in your life. It's okay. There's a lot of factors that go with feeling like you have the space to do it.

Vanessa: 36:53

Yeah. That's actually a question I have for you all. I don't know. It was listening to something or hearing something or something about how the fact that books have endured throughout the ages. And I mean, for like, hundreds and hundreds of years books in been still been one of our primary sources of information. And despite all of the gadgetry and everything, people still read books. And I I personally, but like I don't really, I don't have much experience with audiobooks, because my attention span just is never there. And I have no interest in an e reader. I like actually holding a physical book and training the pages. Am I crazy in that? Or is that something that you guys kind of are into as well.

Erica: 37:45

I am an audiobook person. I've got like a huge library of audiobooks because I like listening to books while I drive or you know, at on walks or running or whatever. But I also have a stack of books on my bedside table. Right? There are things that I'm slowly getting through. I like reading a book. But I as like a person in tech, I spend my all day staring at a screen reading emails, Slack, all that stuff. The last thing I want to do is do more of that, frankly, and so e readers are just something I can't I can't do it and can't do it.

Vanessa: 38:24

I can get that. Yeah. The rest of you books or e readers or audio.

Rylie: 38:30

Personally, I do audio for a lot of my stuff like I do a lot of podcasts that I listen to mostly but like I do still enjoy the physical book over the e reader I have had a Kindle and it wasn't like horrible by like it wasn't like my go to I definitely like definitely like having a physical copy. I like being able to like I know it's not great for the spines but like wrapping the paperbacks around the cover and be able to like manipulate it however I'm laying so I can read the most comfortably

Vanessa: 39:09

that's that's definitely a thing. I I'm a savage. I dog eared pages. Oh, yeah, I know, I'm a horrible person. I'm gonna burn but I also kind of like it makes

Rachel: 39:27

the risk of losing a bookmark is real significantly. Yeah, little people in your home will see

Vanessa: 39:33

there you go. So and it's my book to talk here. So I don't hear it. But it's I like I would love to get more into audiobooks, but like because I listen to podcasts a lot when I drive, but the problem is is I'm one of those people that you don't want to be driving around because I'll be driving like I'll be in Akron and all of a sudden I'm home and Maslen And then like, where was I during that entire period? Like, I miss like a half hour of the casual criminalists that I was listening to. And like, what was I doing just on autopilot? So it's great. There she goes. But so yeah,

Erica: 40:17

I do have to say that I have sort of rules for audiobooks, because I do listen to them when I'm doing it. I don't just sit around listening to an audio book, typically usually doing something out. So it has to be something that like, if I'm not exactly following it word for word, it's fine. Like I'm in the car. So I tend to pick like, books for fun, you know, sci fi fantasy thrillers, whatever, like where it's just like, you know, you miss like, it's fine. Typically, when I'm reading the books that are read, like, I'm actually reading a book, I'm the kind of person that will read something like, Wait, let me go back. And I need to go back and forth a couple of times, and like, really want to like, be able to quickly go back to a reference point for something that was mentioned earlier in the book. And so things that are not necessarily for fun, I, I tend to actually read those books because I, I It's too hard to go track something down on an audio book.

Vanessa: 41:10

Definitely, definitely Sorry to keep muting my mic, because my dogs Bring a chair. Well, we are down to pretty much the end here. Because I know Erica, and I both have to go, does anyone else have anything that that you want to just talk about plug anything really quick, at the end of the show? I know, it's kind of this is kind of a different show. And we're gonna have a shorter one than usual, but just wanted to get some faces on here. So,

Zach: 41:31

yes, so um, I mean, I guess I'm doing a lot. You know, I was also on a podcast about working out or, you know, fitness and having a disability. And on there, I talked about how I started rock climbing as a hobby. Which is going very well. You know, and then, so that's just something I do on the side, and then you know, I cook. But yeah, that's pretty much those are the things I do on the side as, as hobbies. But other than that, you know, my background remains in activism. And I want to continue working with as many groups to, to, you know, try and at least give tools to the next generation to fix the problems that are beyond fixable for my generation at this point.

Vanessa: 42:35

Where can people follow you?

Zach: 42:37

So my only social media handle is LinkedIn is LinkedIn. And LinkedIn is actually why I'm on this podcast in the first place is because you always post such interesting articles or clips on LinkedIn. So I just had to come on your show, and I had to meet you and talk to you.

Vanessa: 43:04

We are so happy to have you. So. All right. Well, we are out of time. Thank you, everyone for joining us. No idea what next week is going to be news topic, whatever. I do want to have a drag episode soon. So I need to reach out to Lena and read and

Zach: 43:23

I actually have a story. If you actually want to do the episode. I actually have a story because my experience with that was early in life. A drag experience. Yeah.

Vanessa: 43:33

Oh my. Yeah,

Zach: 43:34

I live in Chelsea. And there was a place called lips and my parents took me to get a friend there when I was like 910 years old.

Vanessa: 43:42

Okay, yeah. Well after that story for that episode, so Well, thanks again for joining us and transcending humanity. We'll see you next week. And don't forget like comment, subscribe, all that stuff to help us boost the show. Share stuff, follow us on the on the socials share that we have a Patreon. Yes, we have. You can you can donate either through Patreon or through Buzzsprout. Our website has options for both Yeah, yeah, donate. Thank you, Rachel for reminding about the Donate thing you know, I'm always like, I need money. Tell me what I need money. I need money. And yeah, send us money asking

Rachel: 44:23

for money is hard. It is sighs hard.

Vanessa: 44:26

We do need money. Money. Send money now. Now. All right. Thank you, everybody. Have a great week and we'll see you next week.

Unknown: 44:59

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