Theme Song  0:05  
Therapy Roulette: Consent to Vent / Trauma disguised as comedy / Therapy Roulette: Consent to Vent / If you don’t have problems, then you’re likely repressing sh*t and you should find a therapist / (Who’s not me)

Michele Baci  0:05  
Hi my name is Michele Baci and welcome to another episode of Therapy Roulette: Consent to Vent.  I am not doing that much better than I was in the last episode, just minutely, my life has improved because Joe Biden won the presidency, whoop, whoop. So we have a normal person taking office in January in America, thank God, and it only took days and days of counting votes to determine Biden could be our next president. And I'm so excited for Kamala- to have a woman, a diverse Asian black woman in the White House. It's a huge step forward for women, people of color... I am, you know, astounded that we've made any progress in 2020. Thank

God, thank you know,

whoever is controlling these things. This is awesome. Thank you for voting, and staying, sane, because I don't know how I've made it this far. myself. I have been still like working really hard. It's mostly the podcast that is causing me to miss out, lose out on a lot of sleep. Because I've been editing this podcast, and I started doing video recently, and video is hard to edit, I don't have much experience at all doing video editing. So I'm on a steep learning curve. And I'm realizing you know, I have strengths, such as working hard, and weaknesses, such as having no experience. So I'm trying to balance it and ask for help when I need it, and outsource a little bit. Hopefully, that will make the podcast a little easier to produce every week. So before recording this intro, I was doing yoga, and I found a video by, shout out to yoga with Adriene, which is the best yoga channel on YouTube these days. Adriene is the best. She's always there for me, you know. And my YouTube feed suggested I watch "yoga for when you feel dead inside." I clicked right on that video. And it was perfect. Like she had done a Halloween themed yoga video because Halloween was two weeks ago. And she started out with these gouging black circles around her eyes been like if you feel like a zombie, this yoga video is for you. And just that little sense of humor and that like notch of effort on her part to make it a funny Halloween, a gory title. I thought that was great. And it made me put me in a much better mood. And the yoga video was the perfect balance of easing into it and a little bit of difficulty with the planks and now I feel better I feel a lot better. After I take more time for myself and, and like exercise more for real because I've been running on empty as they say, and I've been sleeping like five or six hours a night if that and and Michele can't do this anymore. I'm telling you, I'm gonna just combust and you will find me shattered on the ground. And you'll be like, Oh, you know, she was okay. But that podcast oh we miss the podcast. I'm trying to keep it together though. Because I'm all about the hustle and the grind. You know, I'm from New York and people in New York, they grind until they can't anymore. And then they party hard into the night. And I tried to keep that New York semblance of work ethic alive. But I just can't do it all on my own seven days a week. So I have to remember I'm human, I have to take breaks and ask for help. I've been like so devoid of sleep that I've been acting drunk, even though I'm not drinking, like I'm not drinking at night. And then I act like I'm on, you know, hallucinogenics and seven beers deep because I'm just stumbling around the apartment running into things more so than usual because I am clumsy and I stumble throughout the day also, but I've just been acting like my brain has been turning off earlier and earlier every day and I must be good to my brain. I have to remember to take care of myself. Hope you're taking care of yourself. Because I don't know about you, but I am sick of the pandemic and I'm sick of being confined to my house even though I love being in my house. I love being home and you know, I don't really need a lot of people around me I like being mostly by myself most of the time. Or with you know, Joseph, he is he's fine by himself too. So we don't need to like be surrounded by a bunch of people all the time, but I I have been feeling Cabin Fever lately and just wanting to do something different. Like get out of the house, I want to go to a real yoga class I want to go to a coffee shop, you know, I, I miss these little things that I use to mark my weeks being like, oh, today met up with a friend and I wrote at a cafe and you know, I went to this hot yoga class where I wanted to strangle the teacher because the class was so hard. I miss having those parts of my day and just doing the same shit every day like waking up clocking into my remote job. And, you know, I'm grateful for the job and glad I can work remotely and not risk getting sick in an office. But my mental health is struggling, I'm struggling. If you have something you want to share with me or the podcasts and you want advice, or you just want to send me an email, my email address is Therapy Roulette, one word, @gmail.com. The spelling is in the podcast description and you can send me whatever and if you want, I'll read it on air. I'll keep you anonymous unless you say hey, say my name. And you can follow Therapy Roulette at Therapy Roulette pod on Instagram and Therapy Roulette on Twitter. And you can follow me on Instagram I'm Michele Baci comedy Michele with one L and on Twitter. I'm just Michele with one L Baci. B-A-C-I. And I thought on the intro today, I don't have you know, much to report for the week. So I thought I would spin the wheel and give you a random random thing about me. So let's spin the wheel and see where it lands on.

Ooh,

we haven't had this one yet. On the podcast. It landed on obsessed. What am I obsessed with? Besides Therapy Roulette? And I guess curing my Insomniac night owl lifestyle? What am I obsessed with? Hmm. I don't want to just gush about reality TV cuz I feel like I've done that on a few podcast episodes. I'm kind of obsessed with cheese. Like I've been getting really into cheese and cheese flavored snacks throughout the pandemic. And I'm glad that my boyfriend also shares a love of cheese. We have like a stocked fridge at all times because he likes to cook a lot and I cook occasionally. So we have like so much food in the fridge and our cheese drawer is like stocked to the brim. I think we're gonna we bought this one block of cheese for like a filming prop then I just ended up eating it. So I've also been getting like really back into Cheez Its I don't know if there are any Cheez-Itz fans out there. But that's my guilty quarantine snack for sure. And I got a new variety this week called four cheese and it's a little too much for me the four cheese cheese-itz but you know, it brings me a little bit of joy to test the limits of what like crunchable snack I'm reaching for this week. I don't know how are you guys doing at home are you still at home, it's hard to tell what stage of lockdown people are at because Joseph is he's going into work now every day. At least like for now he's he's always at work in the office. And I'm I'm remote until further notice I'm here all day by myself. And it's kind of nice to be my be by myself in the apartment because it's quiet. And I get more work done without Joseph around because he can be a little noisy and distracting. But it's kind of it's way more boring. To be alone all day. Even though I like having that quiet. Without another person around. I could just you know put whatever on my phone, like music or podcasts. But I do miss the company and having someone to like joke around with throughout the day. Because I'm I'm at this new day job. So I can't really let not like super close with my coworkers. So I can't really joke around with them. And also we're all virtual. So I you know, it's crazy how I've been living with Joseph this whole time and I'm starting to feel more and more like this, this effect of Cabin Fever just because he's gone sometimes for work. And also I just need to like do more stuff. I need to mix more stuff into my routine because i i think i'm just falling into these patterns and it's like, watching insanity play out on a real in front of my eyes. Anyway, I'm doing fine. Don't worry about me. This week's guest is Katy Doll. She is an actress and a comedian and she also hosts a mental health podcast called crying behind sunglasses. I'd like to welcome to the podcast, Katy dolle.

Theme Song  6:48  
Therapy Roulette: Consent to Vent / Trauma disguised as comedy 

Michele Baci  10:04  
Katy dolle. Welcome to Therapy Roulette. It's a pleasure.

Katy Dolle  10:09  
Thank you so much for having me. I love it. I love that there's someone else out there that is not taking mental health too seriously. I

Michele Baci  10:15  
know because I wanted to get into like the mental health podcasts field and then going into it. It's like experts, Brene Brown, it's a little intimidating.

Katy Dolle  10:26  
I mean, it's not it's great that there are all those experts out there, so that everybody can read their books and improve their lives. But also, sometimes you don't want to feel so heavy. You know, sometimes you don't want someone telling you everything to do with your life. You just want to like, you know, let loose.

Michele Baci  10:44  
Yeah, a little bit. And sometimes there's like too much somberness in mental health or like, looking at mental health awareness, you want to like, make it fun.

Katy Dolle  10:54  
I mean, I understand why it's like, you know, you don't get into go and get therapy unless you feel shitty. So I could get it. But also, I think that you have to figure out a way to see like, a light at the end of the tunnel, as it were so

Michele Baci  11:09  
and I've always as a fan of like, entertainment as a comic. I've always been into dark comedy anyway. So I think I've always dabbled in like, darker themes and mental health. So it just made more sense to be like, yeah, I'll just do like psychology for my podcast and go into the mind.

Katy Dolle  11:26  
Go into the mind.

Like it like you're going on into some sort of deep space adventure.

Michele Baci  11:33  
Yeah. spelunking deep into the caverns of the brain.

Katy Dolle  11:38  
Ooh,

yes. God,

I miss traveling. That's got to be one of my things with COVID that used to be so good for my mental health as I used to be able to travel. And when you said spelunking, it reminded me of like, Oh, is it almost two years ago, I went to Playa Del Carmen, which is kind of near to loom in Mexico, and they have these underwater caves that you can go in and swim around. It's pretty wild.

Michele Baci  12:00  
That sounds so beautiful. It's

Katy Dolle  12:03  
Yes, it's gorgeous. And I guess for me, one of the things that I love to do for my mental health is just have a change of scenery. Even if you don't do something as glamorous. Is that just like taking a road trip somewhere for the day?

Michele Baci  12:14  
Yeah, you know, it's like what I've been doing when I can like I went to the Grand Canyon recently, just to get out of LA and do something.

Katy Dolle  12:23  
Was that your first time?

Michele Baci  12:24  
It was my first time in a while and just being on a road trip. Even though we're driving through Arizona. It's nice to be out of the apartment, be out of the city and see a desert.

Katy Dolle  12:34  
Yeah, that's great, 

Michele Baci  12:35  
because I feel like you can't take a luxury vacation right now. It's a little hard.

Katy Dolle  12:39  
I mean, yeah. Only if you're Kim Kardashian, and you can rent out a private island for 200 of your closest friends. Yeah.

Michele Baci  12:46  
You know what, I'm glad I'm not Kim Kardashian.

Katy Dolle  12:52  
I mean, she seems like she has it all. 

Michele Baci  12:54  
Yeah, she seems super stable. I mean, good luck to her.

Katy Dolle  12:59  
I don't know I don't have any criticism of her. I do feel bad that she's married to Kanye because he's off the rails and running. You know, he

did the whole presidential campaign. And then when, when it was clear, he wasn't gonna win. He I don't know if you saw his tweet, he said he's gonna run and it's gonna be Kanye. 2024 

Michele Baci  13:15  
I heard 2024. Yeah. 2024 is a new outlook for Konya. But I can't take him. The Kardashian West family seriously. I mean, with Kim doing that birthday on the island, I've just been like, I'm not going to be like that not try to plan a vacation go to a party and not going to be ridiculous, obviously. No, I

Katy Dolle  13:35  
get it. Yeah, I haven't really done much. And if I do see friends it's been with masks are outside. And like, I think there was one or two times that I actually like, planned ahead to like, hang out with someone without one mask, but it was like, Okay, let's get tested.

You know, 

Michele Baci  13:53  
yeah,

Katy Dolle  13:53  
 like, I

went out to Joshua Tree in August to visit a friend of mine. And we both got tested. And I was like, Alright, well, you know, I can hang out in this house for the weekend with my friend. And this feels like a nice little piece of somewhat normal

Michele Baci  14:06  
Yeah, that's the best, like when you trust someone and it's not, you know, some giant indoor space or whatever. Totally, I went to Joshua Tree in July, also, also to get away thinking like outside desert, totally safe. And then it was the hottest part of the summer and I really did not have the best time and a lot of stuff was closed, but I could see like, when you're going when things are open, it's not a pandemic, like what were things open when you when

Katy Dolle  14:33  
they were actually Yeah, um, it was like, just the main drag. And like poppies, Pappy and Harriet's was open. And he went there. Yeah, I mean, I always have to like just stop by to see what's going on. I think there's a history there and a lot of nostalgia for me. I actually. I mean, I've been to Joshua Tree so many times, and I also filmed there's a short film that I did called will never make it that's out on Amazon actually right now. Shameless plug. But we filmed a lot of it in Joshua Tree and we filmed part of it at Pappy and Harriet's. So that's a lot of cool memories there.

Michele Baci  15:08  
Yeah. For anyone who doesn't know Pappy and Harriet's is like a huge rock and roll bar. It seems like a live music venue and a restaurant.

Katy Dolle  15:15  
Yeah, yeah. And it's connected to pioneer town, which is like an old Western town. That looks like something that was built for the movies, but all of the stores that are there are actually functional. So it's pretty cool. That's awesome.

Michele Baci  15:28  
What's the name of the short film again?

Katy Dolle  15:31  
It's called we'll never make it. And I wrote it directed it started it, edited it.

Michele Baci  15:39  
did all the work. And

Katy Dolle  15:41  
yeah, but I mean, you know, it's okay. It's my It was my baby. Um, and basically, it's about a young woman who gets stuck on the side of the road with her crazy Jewish grandma and brother on the way to a family wedding, loosely based on my life, because I do have my brother has autism, and my mom, my grandma is

totally

neurotic and Jewish. Um, and, yeah, it was really fun. It was really fun shoot, and what I am so passionate about that I was able to achieve that film is just a better representation for people with disabilities. Because I've seen a lot of representation representations in the media of people with autism. And there are so many times that they just have a neuro typical actor playing someone who is on the spectrum. Yeah. And I was really conscious of that. So I wanted to cast someone who actually is on the spectrum to play my brother. And I was able to do that. So that was really cool. And also that the story is just kind of like a Little Miss Sunshine, fun, weird family comedy. The whole story isn't just about his disability. He's just like, Oh, this is my brother. He happens to have this thing. We barely even talk about it. He's just functioning as you know, as he does. 

Unknown Speaker  16:58  
Yeah, the person he is with autism. Yeah,

Katy Dolle  17:01  
yeah. And so I feel like that normalizes it a lot more instead of like, oh, every time you have someone who with a disability in a TV show, or movie, you have to, like, really call it out. And that's not always necessary. Yeah, in my opinion,

Michele Baci  17:14  
because in the past, that's like what the norm was, but I feel like, in the past year, maybe a little bit more, but I there's a lot of like autism, educational content on Netflix right now. Like I watched love on the spectrum, which I thought was amazing.

Katy Dolle  17:28  
Oh, my God, if your listeners if you haven't watched this movie, or the movie started series, if you watch this series before, it's the best. It's, it was so heartwarming for me, I have to say, Michelle, because growing up with my brother who is on the spectrum, he's never had a girlfriend, and my mom and I have always, like, wished that he could date someone who's like him, or someone who understands him. And that may never happen. But getting to watch all those people find love, or at least even tried to date it was just so sweet.

Michele Baci  18:05  
They were like the cutest, most genuine people. And you could tell like, they were working so hard on themselves and so hard on like, finding a partner or someone to like, get along with and try to date and try to fall in love. And they I don't know, there were so much like realness to them that I really got into the

Katy Dolle  18:21  
show. Yes, well, and it was fun because I, I'm a huge fan of the bachelor confession. I mean, anyone who looks me up on the internet wouldn't be surprised about that. I used to bachelor recaps on my YouTube channel. But this The thing about that show versus love on the spectrum is that those people are so polished and Botox and like, Instagram ready, right. And they all know the perfect thing to say, and they're playing a game versus like, love on the spectrum. These people are just they don't have a filter. They also like they acknowledge the look at the camera sometimes and be like, Oh, hey, it's weird that you guys are here.

Michele Baci  18:58  
Like, like, they don't ask for privacy. They're like, I'm done with you now camera crew.

Katy Dolle  19:04  
Yeah, yeah. And like real people will do that. But like, not real. Like, like,

like, like 

Michele Baci  19:08  
big stars

Katy Dolle  19:09  
reality stars stars.

Yeah. Like, like a typical reality show star would say that they would pull that shouldn't be. Don't look at me right now. But they do it for dramatic effect. You know, whereas these people were like, I'm having a moment. And this is real fucking awkward. Can I just be by myself? Because genuinely, I want to be alone, because I just got, like, stood up on the stage or whatever happens.

Michele Baci  19:29  
Yeah, like all the feelings are coming out. They don't want it to be broadcast, or they don't even want to be around their people. And they're just open about it. There's no filter. They're like, this is what I need. This is what I want. This is how it is.

Katy Dolle  19:42  
The other thing you know that I remember about that show, which I loved, and I wish more people would do on dates. Was everyone one of their opening questions, they would ask where it was, what are your hobbies and what are your ingest?

Michele Baci  19:55  
Okay, so I was watching it with my boyfriend and he's great. He's very smart. I was like, Look, you can learn a lot about conversation from watching love on the spectrum, because they really put effort into their conversations. It's like, it's not even just speed dating. It's like, no, this is what people want to talk about. They want to talk about themselves, and they want more questions.

Katy Dolle  20:14  
Right, but it's not just generic questions like, oh, what do you like? What are you looking for in a man? Or like, what's your favorite food? They're like, No, I want to know, like, what books are you reading? What movies? Do you like? What are your hobbies? What does a regular day look like? For you? Yeah, you know, and I feel like you don't hear those conversations on dating shows at all. Now,

Michele Baci  20:33  
I always hear like, contrived questions like very, like, you hear the same stuff over and over again, when you're dating or on an app. So they really, they I feel like the people on that show really got to the bottom of the dates, they were going on, like, Oh, you like anime? Tell me more about anime, and like, really delve into their interests?

Katy Dolle  20:51  
Yeah, they worked really hard. And then I think also, this is the thing I can say this with a lot of confidence just because my brother and also a lot of his friends that I've met, people who are on the spectrum, they usually have something they're very obsessed with, like way more so than regular people, you know, so because their focus is really intense. So they like hyper focus on a certain thing, right? And that's their deal. Like, for example, my brother, he is really into calendars, and maps. So with the calendars memorize the perpetual calendar, if you met him, he would ask you what your birthday is. And he could tell you what day of the week it's on. And, like, that's pretty amazing. So like, for example, I was born on a Monday, like, if you told him when you were whatever,

Michele Baci  21:36  
based on the year you were born, he could tell you.

Katy Dolle  21:39  
So you would tell him the day. And he would tell you the day of the week you were born, he has a wow, calculated in his head.

Like, it's a pretty fun 

Michele Baci  21:46  
Like a rain man with calendars.

Katy Dolle  21:48  
Yeah. And then he also, um, I don't know if anybody remembers the Thomas guide, because people just use maps on their phones now. But back in the day, they had a thing called the Thomas Guide, which they still publish every year, which is a road map of California. My brother gets it every year and memorizes all the new roads, Oh, my God.

Michele Baci  22:08  
He's like, very skilled at two things. I have no knowledge. Okay, I can barely follow my own calendar. And then don't ask me to read a map.

That's awesome. 

Katy Dolle  22:20  
Yeah, it's pretty cool.

He's like a human GPS. So he, he knows all roads. And anyway, so I guess I says, I'm bringing all of that up to say that, like, the people who are on the spectrum are asking about these hobbies. That is, they I would say a lot of them identify with their hobbies, whether it's like the maps the calendars or anime or playing a musical instrument, like they get very deep into it. Because their social skills and their ability to communicate, it's not as much so they get really into this internal world of whatever it is they're obsessed with.

Michele Baci  22:51  
Right? And that's almost like a gift that they have, because then they can really focus on like talking about their interests more so than small talk or like, more like superficial things.

Katy Dolle  23:02  
Yeah, yeah, totally. I mean, in a lot of ways, I would say, with my brother and a lot of other people I've met with developmental disabilities. It's not always it can go one way or the other. But a lot of times they seem happier. Yeah. Because they're not as caught up in all the, like, social norms and bullshit that we have to worry. There's so much. I don't know, maybe we need to let go of that. You know,

Michele Baci  23:29  
I think, for me, I have to care us, you know, ever so slightly, but I try not to overthink it

too much. 

Katy Dolle  23:35  
Yeah,

Michele Baci  23:36  
but it is dumb. Like, you have to say hello, you have to ask how people are like, usually my first question on the podcast is how are you just because like, it's a natural opener to a conversation.

Katy Dolle  23:47  
I mean, how are you doing?

Michele Baci  23:49  
I am very tired. I've been editing a podcast episode. With any free time today. And I'm, I'm burnt out, but we'll sleep pretty soon.

Katy Dolle  24:01  
Yeah, I know how that goes. I think with editing the podcast, it's, it's hard. Because you get into like, trying to micromanage every little moment and not sure where to like put the flow of conversation and then you've heard it so many times. You're like, is this even cool? Yeah.

Michele Baci  24:18  
It just are. In my case, I like mess up, mess up, mess up a file, and then it goes live. And then I'm like, Oh, no, it wasn't supposed to go live. So I had to like backtrack quickly, but it was the middle of the day. It's all good.

Katy Dolle  24:33  
It happens to everyone. You know, it happens to literally everyone. You know, I've had an interview on my podcast, which by the way, I guess I haven't really mentioned I have a I also have a funny mental health podcast called crying behind. So

Michele Baci  24:45  
I know we didn't give you a proper introduction. So Katie doll, host of the mental health podcast crying behind sunglasses, which is similar sister fields to Therapy Roulette and urine after it You're a Are you a comedian?

Katy Dolle  25:02  
I am. Yes. 

Michele Baci  25:03  
Yeah. Go ahead. Continue it for me.

Katy Dolle  25:06  
Oh, it's

totally fine. I mean, um, I was just bringing that up because you were talking about things that happen. I just started the podcast this year. I mean, prior to that, I was doing acting and filmmaking comedy. And so I thought to myself, which maybe you thought this as well

Michele Baci  25:21  
everything in LA, you do it all

Katy Dolle  25:23  
Yeah, yeah. But I thought when I started the podcast, maybe you thought this as well that like, Oh, it's just audio, I'll just record a thing once a week and then throw it on the internet. It's gonna be so easy. Yeah. You know, not have any work at all. And then I'm like, oh, wait

a minute. No.

I mean, you know,

Michele Baci  25:42  
the whole editing process is like, a whole episode. I feel like I'm living another lifetime, just editing. Like, it's, it's so long. It's so involved. And I am a perfectionist, and I'm trying to make it less perfect. But it's hard to break out of that. So it's, it's been a hard, long road, but it is worth it.

Katy Dolle  26:01  
Yeah, I mean, I think if you believe in what you're doing, um, I know, like, I'm very passionate about just like D stigmatizing mental health. And I think you are as well. And that's, usually if I'm getting down in the dumps, I just try to think about like, the bigger purpose or the bigger reason behind whatever it is that I'm doing. Yeah. And that kind of helps me to look at that big picture, instead of getting so bogged down in all the tiny details and thinking this not perfect, you know, like I had, I had a whole interview one time that I did that got deleted. Yeah,

Michele Baci  26:30  
I almost I feel like that'll happen to you.

Katy Dolle  26:33  
Yeah, no. And you know, it's so funny, as I called a bunch of other friends who are podcasters. And I was like, Oh, my God, this happened to me. How do I get there? Like, it's okay. It happens to everyone. It happens to you once, and never again. It'll never happen again.

Michele Baci  26:47  
That's so true. I mean, even even today, I screwed up by my final, like, mixed out of buy audio. And then I was like, Well, I have like three duplicates, because I've been working on it all day. So I, at least I'm learning as I go along.

Katy Dolle  27:01  
Yeah, there you go.

Michele Baci  27:02  
But even when you delete something like, ah, ideally could get that person on again, and you know, it's not going to the world's not going to burn down if you lose an episode.

Katy Dolle  27:12  
I mean, that's what you that's what people might be rioting in the streets. If they don't get their episodes on. That's true.

Michele Baci  27:19  
I mean, as a fan, I would probably do that. But in COVID, I try to be understanding.

Katy Dolle  27:25  
Right? Absolutely.

Michele Baci  27:27  
So are you in therapy right now? Or what's your like present day therapy experience besides the

Katy Dolle  27:32  
podcast? Sure. Well, I mean, I can't pretend that my podcast is like, I'm just like, a weird. I'm like, a therapist that's bringing people into my office.

Michele Baci  27:43  
Like, a cathartic type of art.

Katy Dolle  27:47  
Oh, totally. I mean, I talk about my own sh*t on there, too. Um, but yeah, as far as my therapy goes, um, I have been seeing the same therapist. Since I think January or February, okay. And she's really great. And we were seeing each other in person before COVID happened. And it's so funny, because I remember the final day before locked down, I was in therapy, and I remember her telling me, like, Katie, you know, this pandemic, seems like it's really bad. And I just want to let you and all my other clients know that I might be going to do a virtual session starting next week, and I remember being like, I was very polite to her. I was like, okay, leaving and be like, that bitch

she's just being crazy. Like, she

doesn't know she's being overly cautious. Whatever, that night. That night, Tom Hanks got diagnosed with COVID. And, um, uh, what else happened? Oh, the NBA season got canceled. And then nothing was ever the day immediately was locked down. And I was like, wow, I guess my therapist was right. It

Michele Baci  28:55  
went from leaving a therapy session. Thank you like my, but my therapist might be a little too paranoid. And then like, within 24 hours, you're like, nevermind.

Katy Dolle  29:06  
Oh, no, within like, six hours. Like all that, like I saw her at 4pm got out at like five and then like that night, all that news came out and I was like, cool. Okay, well, there goes my regular life. At least

Michele Baci  29:18  
you know, she's like with it. She's smart. She's on top of the news.

Katy Dolle  29:22  
Oh, yeah. No, she's super with it. She's younger. She's like in her 30s. I think I don't try to ask her too many questions about her personal life. Yeah.

Michele Baci  29:32  
From what you can deduce, superficially.

Katy Dolle  29:34  
Yeah, sure, sure, sure. But yeah, I mean, I've bounced in and out of therapy. Throughout my life. Just, uh, you know, I bring the car into the shop when it's making noise as it were. Yeah. And I think that this year, yeah, I was said I got around January, February, and then COVID hit and I was like, well, I need a lot help now. So I just been sticking with it most of the year. Although recently I went to Instead of seeing her every week, I've been seeing her every other week. So we'll see how that goes just because I felt like okay, I'm getting to a point where I'm feeling more stable. And maybe I don't need these sessions every week. Yeah. So we'll see. I think it's, it's a journey. And also, as far as like, going to the same therapist forever, I don't think that's for everyone. You know, sometimes you get to a plateau with a certain therapist, and you're like, Alright, maybe I need someone else who does a different technique. You know,

Michele Baci  30:30  
I think I recently quit therapy after being in it since February. So I was like, kind of on the same timeline as you and then I had been so overwhelmed lately. I was like, I'm not really putting much effort into therapy and not getting a lot out of it. So I was like, I'll just stop it for now. But with COVID, it's been so helpful, like, I already miss it. And it might like, I feel like a better approach would have been like, oh, let me lessen my frequency of going and like, not just cold turkey go away from therapy, but I'll try that next time. For now.

I'll be fine.

Katy Dolle  31:03  
Yeah, yeah, it's funny. I think it is a little bit of a different situation with COVID. Because we get so little human interaction other than the people we live with now. So it was like, my therapist was just like a actually like a random friend. I could talk. Yeah.

Michele Baci  31:17  
And an unbiased, like,

a professional.

So she's giving you all this great suggestions. Great advice.

Katy Dolle  31:23  
Right, exactly. So it's, uh, you know, I don't discount that as, as well as like actual medical therapy advice, you know, for all my random shit

Michele Baci  31:33  
that I write. And then I just want to ask you some wondering how people are paying for therapy. Do you pay with insurance if you're comfortable talking about it?

Katy Dolle  31:42  
Oh, sure. No, I think that all conversations around money should be out in the open

Michele Baci  31:49  
It'd be nice.

Katy Dolle  31:50  
Well, it just normalizes it, but I'll get more on that later

Michele Baci  31:53  
especially women, I feel like women because I live with my boyfriend since COVID. Started so I've been hearing him talk to his male co workers, and they just talk about money all the time. They like constantly ask each other how much they make, how much they should ask for a raise. And women I feel like never do that.

Katy Dolle  32:08  
Right. But then, you know, why are we making 79 cents on the dollar that men are making? We need to start talking

Michele Baci  32:15  
about money. Yeah, like some machine under the rug is not polite. Yeah.

Katy Dolle  32:20  
Anyway, that was not the answer to your question. How do I pay for therapy, I have insurance. I'd be nice. I'm a freelancer. So I've been buying my own health insurance for literally forever. Just because I don't want to have to rely on like booking enough acting gigs or getting random jobs to like, give me the insurance, you know, I'd rather just have it. So I always make sure to sign up for a plan that has mental health benefits, you know, and preferably like a low copay because I know for me, like, if I have to pay more than 40 bucks to go to therapy, I'm just not gonna Yeah, and I know, it sounds cheap, but I just know myself. Whereas like, if the copay is low enough that I won't think about it, and I'll just go

Michele Baci  32:59  
Yeah, that's definitely. I feel like Figg relatively affordable for most people. That's awesome.

Katy Dolle  33:05  
Yeah. Yeah. And I ended up paying like, because I have a PPO. So I do pay a little bit more like as far as my premium, you know, every month, but for some reason, that doesn't bother me as much like but

Michele Baci  33:19  
then you get more options when you're looking for a doctor.

Katy Dolle  33:21  
Yeah, yeah. And like I go to acupuncture Also

Michele Baci  33:26  
Nice. I used to go before the COVID I would go like our Yeah, it was such a nice like, ritual.

Katy Dolle  33:34  
Yeah, every week. That sounds great. Yeah, I go. Like, I guess I'd love to go like every other week. But I end up getting busy. I usually go about once a month, but I started going because I have carpal tunnel and then also just for anxiety stuff.

Michele Baci  33:48  
I didn't know and help with carpal tunnel.

Katy Dolle  33:51  
Yeah, if you have an acute injury Actually, it's very helpful. That's why I started going because I had carpal tunnel from doing too much video editing.

Michele Baci  33:59  
And that could what's happening to me, I don't know. I've been just having like spasms in my arms and I'm like, you know what, I'm gonna ignore it. But maybe acupuncture is don't go

Katy Dolle  34:11  
well, I don't know. I mean, this is their This is a therapy podcast. So I don't know your sports injury healing, but I'll give you a quick um, if you put ice and then he alternate those like every 10 minutes a few times like for in the night, and also doing like a little bit of self massage wearing a brace. I wear a wrist brace which when I first bought it, I remember being so sad and feeling like I was a grandma but I wear it. I'm just like, if I'm having a flare up, I'll wear it to go to sleep. You know, that's it because it just keeps it straight. Or if I know that I'm going to have a really long day of editing. I'll just wear it while I'm doing it. Do

Michele Baci  34:49  
you have the pain in your wrist?

Katy Dolle  34:52  
Yeah, it's Well, it depends. It shifts all around, but in my wrist in my elbow, or like here. Sometimes like in that little part between my thumb and my index finger, okay,

Michele Baci  35:04  
okay, that's in like, but so I just been doing exercises off YouTube and like using CBD cream, but it's not fixing it. So I got to do more 

Katy Dolle  35:13  
well, yeah, the so the acupuncture, the way it works that I've been told, because I thought it was woowoo. But I was at the end of my rope, I'd spent like a good six months suffering like trying a lot of different things to get rid of the pain. So basically, when the acupuncture is put the puts these tiny needles into an area that is injured. The needles are so small, so they don't actually injure you, but it sends a signal to your brain that you're injured. And so then it sends white blood cells to that area to accelerate the healing process. Okay, so that's like kind of the science behind it, which is really interesting. And it makes sense. I mean, so it really helps to accelerate the healing process for when my wrist is flaring up. And I mean, eventually, I don't know if I'll have to have surgery on it. But I know that like I've been doing acupuncture for about four years now on it. And it just it really helps because I can actually use it and I don't have like days where my wrist is burning or anything anymore.

Michele Baci  36:18  
Yeah, that's awesome. I'm gonna look into it cuz I was going for my jaw like having TMJ, and my back and my shoulders and then the arm carpal tunnel stuff. That's all new. So got to get on that one.

Katy Dolle  36:31  
I mean, yeah, I don't know, the wish. Also, when you go, they'll probably do a thing where like, they do this weird thing where they tap on your arm to test to see if you actually have it or not. So you gotta keep me posted on your journey. Let me know well, if you actually thought you know, maybe we're carpal tunnel sisters. Also, we can

Michele Baci  36:50  
share Hot Tips.

Katy Dolle  36:52  
Hot Tips. Yeah, I got a lot of Hot Tips. I had many moons ago, I used to teach yoga. So I know a lot of different stretches and things you could do as well. That's awesome.

Michele Baci  37:02  
Yeah, thank you for the brief acupuncture rendition?

Katy Dolle  37:06  
I don't know. I mean, you might edit it out but I think it's interesting.

Michele Baci  37:09  
I think it's good. I think people will be into it

Do you do you mind talking about like, what general things brought you to therapy? Or like what you currently are working on in therapy? Is it anxiety or something else?

Katy Dolle  37:22  
Sure. Sure. Um, so I guess. I don't know what initially do you mean? Like the first time in my life?

Michele Baci  37:30  
I went to therapy or just just like what you're working on recently. Currently, you're going oh, what's what's pressing right now in your therapy? life?

Katy Dolle  37:38  
Sure, sure. Well, I just went through a big lot of big life changes recently. And in general, I just I have anxiety and panic disorder. And so that's like a thing that I have to manage. I meditate every day I journal, I go to therapy, I work out, you know, there are a lot of different things I do to cope with that and to manage it.

Michele Baci  37:54  
Tell me what panic disorder involves, because I've never really I've never heard all the things that that would fall into.

Katy Dolle  38:03  
Um, so basically, just if you have panic attacks frequently, you know, and by frequently, like a normal person might have a panic attack, like, once a year or like, once in a blue moon, you know, because it is a normal human reaction if you are under major distress, like you're in a life and death situation. However, if you have a panic disorder, you get triggered by stuff. And then your body goes into this insane like life or death fight or flight response. And it's just this big downward spiral your heart rate. Like goes up a lot. I mean, different people have different things that goes on for them. For me. It's usually like, my heart race will go up a lot. I'll be hyperventilating. Depending on what it is that set me off. I might be like crying. Yeah, really intensely.

Michele Baci  38:54  
Or like a debilitating kind of crippling panic attack that happens frequently.

Katy Dolle  39:02  
Yeah, I mean, panic disorders. I mean, I don't know the DSM definition I have in front of you. It's basically just that like, you have those but you have them. You know, enough to where it impacts your daily life or you think about it a lot. You're like, Oh, I'm afraid I'm gonna have another Yeah.

Michele Baci  39:15  
Yeah. chronically sounds like or like Tony Soprano, and Season One of the sopranos.

Katy Dolle  39:22  
Yeah, yeah. So um, yeah. And I didn't realize that I even had that problem until the end of college was when I first had it. And what's crazy and a lot of people will tell you this, if they have a problem with panic attacks is that if you don't know what it is, you feel like you're dying. You feel like you're having a heart attack. And that's what I thought and I ended up calling the ambulance and like going to the hospital because I literally I was like, I don't like I think I'm dying. And then learning what it was and getting into therapy that was really important for me and my journey. And I think as far as this year, like I said that the pandemic, the election. A lot of life changes. I mean, I just moved in with my boyfriend about a month ago. And, like, at the beginning of this pandemic, I broke up with someone right before 

Michele Baci  40:11  
oh my God.

Katy Dolle  40:12  
So there's just been, it's been a roller coaster.

Michele Baci  40:14  
I mean, the pandemic's been so long so that it makes sense.

Katy Dolle  40:18  
Yes, No, it doesn't. It doesn't. But I think that um, I also just deal with the stress of being a freelancer, you know, in the entertainment industry, there were a lot of ups and downs as far as I'm pretty much every field I'm in

Michele Baci  40:31  
yeah, because you, were you acting full time before all this happened?

Katy Dolle  40:35  
Um, I mean, I was doing a lot of comedy shows. And then I was also I'm trying to think what, God it's hard. It's so hard to think even before it's like, there was nothing before,

Michele Baci  40:45  
like, crazy to think of how Los Angeles has been impacted. Like, I know, it's not the biggest, it's not a big issue in the grand scheme of the country in the world. But Los Angeles has kind of been like, silence. Yes. Yes. We can't make stuff the way we used to.

Katy Dolle  41:02  
Yeah, yeah. So I do um, other than like, acting, I make films and I also do video editing is like a quote unquote, day job. So yeah, pre pandemic, I was like, producing and editing for people and acting and things here and there doing comedy shows, you know, living my vibrant la life. And people.

Michele Baci  41:26  
people seeing an audience.

Katy Dolle  41:28  
Yeah, yeah. And now it's, um, I do I think that I have an improv team that is still performing on zoom, like once or twice a month. Yeah. So that's kind of weird and fun. But other than that, I've just been doing my podcast just have been a great way to channel my creativity. But it's been very different and difficult to deal with a lack of structure. And the lack of direction, it's not like cuz I don't have a nine to five job. You know what I mean?

Michele Baci  41:57  
Yeah. It's almost like you're creating a whole new daily life for yourself. So you're really like getting into a new, you know, this is Katie. Now, this is what we're doing now.

Katy Dolle  42:07  
Right? Like, all the auditions are on zoom, which is like, it's good and bad. Because, like, driving all over town three to five times a week was exhaust. Yeah. So it is kind of nice to be able to do it from here. But also you do miss being able to see someone's reaction in the room, or, like, interact with the other actor or get direction, right.

Michele Baci  42:31  
Yeah. And also how we were talking about before recording, like the tech setup, and just making things making like the room look good.

Katy Dolle  42:38  
Yeah, I mean, that I was familiar with, because I had already been doing self tape auditions before the pandemic, but it was like, Oh, I would only have to do like, one or two a month. Most of them were in person. And now it's like, everything's on the online. So it's just it's an adjustment. But I think that I've noticed probably since about August or September, things have been starting to pick up again.

Michele Baci  43:04  
Good. I know where I've been lucky getting back on set with like, COVID testing and COVID safe sets.

Katy Dolle  43:10  
Yeah, yeah, I've done. I've been on set twice since like, because I basically didn't want to work on any of the sets until after like June or July. It was just too freaked out. And then once I understood it more and understood that it was possible to have a safe Saturday, everybody follows the rules. I was like, Okay, I'm ready to go back. Yeah.

Michele Baci  43:28  
And that's the best approach sure to be like, okay, but what are you doing to make it safe? Like you want a question and make sure you know what you're signing up for?

Katy Dolle  43:37  
Oh, totally, totally. So yeah, I don't, actually I've done I've done a few different commercials during the pandemic, two of them were onset. And then two of them were at home. That I shot my I filmed myself, and then they just use that, you know, which is kind of weird. Also new thing. It's like, actors have never had to like, usually film themselves before. And then the production uses that as like, volcom. Yeah. It's cool, though.

Michele Baci  44:02  
I like how people are adapting so quickly with it.

Katy Dolle  44:06  
Oh, totally. Yeah. And I mean, my dog Actually, we, yeah, we got to do two different commercials for canine science. dog dog food. Oh, nice. So now my, my dog thinks that she's like, you know, she needs to get an agent and she's just just yeah.

Michele Baci  44:20  
And you can probably get her one so sure. I feel like Hollywood's a little empty right now. So get your dog an agent.

Katy Dolle  44:26  
Oh my god. You're right. All the other dogs move back to wherever they were from 

Michele Baci  44:30  
Nebraska, or something like that. Where are you from?

Katy Dolle  44:35  
I'm in LA. Oh, nice.

Michele Baci  44:38  
That's where I grew up. A rare thing. I feel like

Katy Dolle  44:41  
we are the few the proud the brave.

Michele Baci  44:45  
Standing strong in Studio City.

Katy Dolle  44:49  
Absolutely. Well, yeah, I mean, I like to say that I'm a unicorn because people think that I don't exist. Yeah.

Michele Baci  44:54  
I know because I know a people from the area but usually not LA. It's like Somewhere I don't know how to get to like far out past Santa Clarita or something like okay, I'll never go there. But let's see. Oh, it's great that you have the roots.

Katy Dolle  45:09  
Yeah, yeah, I did live. I went to college in New York. I went to NYU. So I did live in New York for few years as I haven't been stuck here my whole life. But, you know, I feel like I grew up here. I'm in the film industry, my whole family's here. It's kind of like, Okay, this is home base. I mean, my dream would be to be bicoastal. Because I love New York so much. So like, what I'm really balling, you know, like, that's really going to happen for me, which I'm hoping you know, 10 years or something five years? Who knows, but

Michele Baci  45:38  
I always say, I'm from New York. I've been out here for three years. Okay, so where were you always, like, someday I'll have that apartment in New York somewhere. And the place in California somewhere? I was in Brooklyn and Williamsburg for a few years. 

Katy Dolle  45:54  
Oh, so fun.

Michele Baci  45:56  
Yeah. Life. I can't imagine New York now, like, so different with the outdoor bars and the jerky on the streets. And that's like all they got going on right

now.

Katy Dolle  46:06  
It seems like it's a good place to be just because I'm from what I'm hearing from my friends there. Most people are following the rule. Yes. They don't have a lot of anti maskers or people like that. So that's kind of nice. And I think that New York in general is used to kind of banding together through crisis, whether that's like Hurricane Sandy or 911, or things like that. Like I think that the sense of community there I found, I don't know if you would agree. It was very strong. Yeah.

Michele Baci  46:35  
And I think that's so right. Like no one in New York is an anti masker, not in the city. Like if you get outside the city, I'm sure But

Katy Dolle  46:42  
no, but like, if you're in Manhattan proper, like

Michele Baci  46:46  
you're trying to stay alive and keep your you know, the people who are literally always centimeters away from you, like that city is so crowded, you're trying to keep everyone alive. Whereas in LA people are like, I haven't seen anyone sick, and they just pretend they can do whatever they want.

Katy Dolle  47:02  
I don't know. Yeah, it's it's, it's not good. We get that we, that's the thing that I don't love about LA is that I love people watching I thrive off of the energy of that, you know, and everyone here, it's like, okay, you're in your house bubble, then you get into your car bubble, and then you drive through your selected work or restaurant or whatever bubble and it's like, you don't interact with all the people along the way. Whereas like in a city like New York, or some other places that have more foot traffic and more public transportation, you are able to see people outside of your little boat Yeah, more often and just see more diversity and chance meetings and things like that.

Michele Baci  47:42  
Yeah, it's kind of nice to have both. That's why I like the bike coastal dream is so real. Because in New York, I lived in the I lived in Brooklyn for like five years after hitting your five or like, toward the end of that I was like, so done with people. I just wanted to get out I wanted to get in a bubble. I wanted to live in a car just like get out of the city. And now having been here for a while now I miss it. So you need I think I need a little bit of both every once in a while. Well, you

Katy Dolle  48:08  
know what, let's go in on it. So this is the we're gonna we're gonna both be really successful. Okay. And then we're gonna find like a townhouse or a loft or apartment, whatever, it'll be for sale. Get

Michele Baci  48:22  
out. It's getting affordable.

Katy Dolle  48:24  
Yeah, so we'll buy the real estate and then we'll go in on it like you mean maybe a few other people that we trust. And then I have a friend actually this is not not I'm not making this up. One of my best college friends who still lives in New York as a real estate agent there and she manages Airbnb s and she told me that if I bought a place in New York, she would manage it for me I was like that's fucking because then then you don't have to pay the mortgage you just like you know

Michele Baci  48:48  
or you do but like your rents getting paid for you know, my friend lives there but she Airbnb is I feel like weekends, occasional weekends, and then she goes to their parents or something. And it seems like such a good deal just to, you know, get in a couple extra dollars for rent and then you're, you know, you're good.

Katy Dolle  49:05  
I did that a little bit while I lived alone out here, not like weekends or anything, but it was like I had a few like, Last summer I went to Israel for two or three weeks, and I was traveling for a month total. I went to New York and then to Israel. And yeah, just subletted my place for a month. And I was like, that's great. So what else payment?

Michele Baci  49:24  
I'm gonna leave the country but it's smart to do that. While you're not living there. Why not make some bank? Yeah, we'll talk more. talk more about that New York dream. Yeah, put a pin on it. Go back to it.

Katy Dolle  49:37  
Hey, I'm there.

Michele Baci  49:39  
I would love that though. But you were telling me that you manage like the the politics the election anxiety pretty well. Can you share with us how to do that sides do not manage it well at all?

Katy Dolle  49:53  
Yeah,

I think what we ultimately have to realize is that at this point We have all cast our votes. And now there is nothing we can do to control the outcome. 

Michele Baci  50:06  
We could like

fight a Trump, if he, if he could test the outcome, I guess we can protect the results or the integrity of it. But you're right.

Katy Dolle  50:16  
But if they're now little overweighting things, they're just counting things. And it's taking longer because this election, unlike any other one in recent history is mostly or not mostly, but a lot of mail and ballots. And it's a normal election, they don't have that many. And so they'll count all the in person ballots, and then the mail in ballots. Usually, it's like they get counted later. But there's not that not enough of them to make a difference. This election, it's very close. And there are a lot of mail in ballots, so they can't not count them. They have to do it. And they are just doing that at the normal pace that they would they would normally do it. But they have I don't forget the percentage, every state is a little bit different, but double triple the time. Like our sorry, they have like double or triple the amount they would normally Yeah.

Michele Baci  51:09  
And then certain states have laws like Pennsylvania, where they couldn't even start counting them until Election Day or the fourth like they couldn't. They couldn't early. Yeah, then like other states could. So people are behind states are behind. And these are all the swing states where we're like, oh, we would like to know who won. So I just been going crazy, like, trying to speed up the future. Just know who's winning the election and trying not to get into a GM spiral?

Katy Dolle  51:38  
Well, okay, Biden is as of this podcast recording. He's at 264

Michele Baci  51:44  
Yeah. 

Katy Dolle  51:44  
Okay. It's like you literally only needs to win

one other state. That's true. It's

Michele Baci  51:50  
According to the Associated Press. He's a 264. But then the New York Times says 253, and I'm like, What's the story? Yeah,

Katy Dolle  51:59  
I know. I'm just saying like, I'm not pretending that I can be a political pundit. But I can guess I guess what, how to avoid election anxiety. I think the other thing that really helped me to was, like, on election night, this year, I had like, a few different plans of things that I was going to do with my friends online that night, so that I wasn't just watching the results. So I think planning to do things that are not related to the election, like I had, was gonna say, Oh, one of my friends, organized a zoom call where we all just watched like, silly nostalgic movies together, and we played jackbox games fun, you know. So that was really great. We watched one of the Muppet movies, I don't remember which one, but they were like, Bert Berg, they were burglarizing a museum. So just like things that are distraction tactics, but also I think, just letting go of control, which is the most difficult thing to do, but at some point, you just say, well, like, we we've done everything we can do, and we just have to sit here and wait. I'm not saying that people shouldn't take political action and volunteer and donate, obviously, obviously, they should. But like, as far as the election goes, like it happens, like, you know, and the other thing to focus on is the small wins that we have had, as far as looking at different local elections and all the different diverse people that have been elected to the Senate, and to the House of Representatives, there are a lot of small wins that have

Michele Baci  53:28  
occurred. I mean, I'm so constantly impressed by like the change we've made as a country as a society since March, like in the most recent months, just people coming together and really like banding together for Joe Biden, who like, none of us were really excited for it. But you know, we got behind him. And so many people I know have been like politically active for maybe the first time in their lives. And I you know, I think we're really growing. And there is a lot to celebrate, but I also the anxiety just builds so I need to do some more stuff in my day. That's not the news and political podcasts. 24 seven.

Katy Dolle  54:05  
Yeah, just distraction. Other things, interact with animals. I think that's really important.

Exercise.

I think that's a good way to let off rage and stress

Michele Baci  54:17  
is I forgotten how to exercise I need to make more time for it.

Katy Dolle  54:21  
Even just taking a walk, you don't even need to like get anything intense. Just going outside. Yeah. Yeah. I'm trying to think, trying to think what else I've done as far as like, trying to get away from politics, also setting boundaries, because I think there are certain people in my life that really just want to keep talking about it. 24 seven, and I have to say at some point, if it's triggering me, I just say, you know what, I really appreciate that. You want to tell me about that. But this is causing me a lot of anxiety. Can we change the subject? Yeah,

Michele Baci  54:50  
that's a good nice, rational thing to say. I would like to employ it in my life. I just, you know, it's so much easier to say than to do it. 

Katy Dolle  55:00  
Absolutely. When you're in the moment, you're just like, hmm.

Michele Baci  55:02  
And I always I want to talk about it. I'm like, yeah, let's talk about it. And then it gets triggering and intense, then I'm like, I want to stop talking about it. But the feeling like I'm always like, built up, the feelings are like spilling over. I'm always like, what are you eating?

Katy Dolle  55:17  
What are the... So? So what's the downward spiral? Are you worried that we're gonna devolve into a civil war? what's what's what are you? What are your thoughts?

Michele Baci  55:24  
Yeah, I think a civil war could break out, which is scary, just because like the country is so polarized, and Trump supporters who are in the media, like blocking bridges and screaming out, whatever they're screaming now, like, count the votes, and don't count the votes, like, they're literally saying two different things, depending on what state you're in. So it's just too much noise. It's too much contradictions coming at me. I get in a lot of fights with my boyfriend. Just because he sees differently than I do not even like, on a conservative side, but more of like, a neutral side. And I'm like, why aren't you as heated and like, passionate, I just get frustrated when people don't see exactly what I'm trying to say. So maybe it's a natural thing. Or maybe it's a lack of, you know, outlets and like knowing what to do when you feel helpless?

Katy Dolle  56:17  
Do you have other friends that are like, more politically aligned with you that you can just like call and you guys can like bitch to each other? Yeah, I

Michele Baci  56:25  
think. I think it's like all my friends who are like, I don't even have to check the news the past day or two. Because if people are just texting me like what's happening, like, Okay, cool. I don't have to check. 530 I can just open my phone.

Katy Dolle  56:37  
There you go. I mean, that's good. Yeah. And, um, I think we also have to remember that like, I mean, I who knows what's going on? I know, I hesitate to say anything too optimistic. But, you know, he was wondering four years ago, and we're still here. I mean, obviously, COVID happened. And a lot of people are not here. But like, I think that like, as far as my day to day life, like, yes, it's been impacted negatively, in certain ways, but then in other ways, it has gotten better. So, you know, I don't know, I don't know where I was going with that. Oh, no, doesn't say, I'm gonna go back. Four years ago, when Trump was elected, the something that I heard Gloria Steinem talk about, because people were really upset, including me, you know, I voted for Hillary. And we all felt like, Oh, my God, we got this in the bag. This is great. We had our first black president, we're gonna have a first female president, etc, etc, then we didn't get it. And I remember the day after the election, that was like, being punched in the stomach. It was terrible. You know, I woke up and I felt like what the fuck kind of nightmare scenario Did I wake up in. And she was saying that America was in an abusive relationship, relationship with patriarchy. And a lot of times, if someone's in an abusive relationship, it has to get really, really bad before we can leave out, right. And so the progress had been pushed forward so far, that basically, we elected someone who is the complete opposite of all that progress, just to show us and mobilize us, so we could continue fighting to the end. And I do think, even though he is the worst person on the planet, um, all of the protests and the political action and the progress that has been made, I don't know if that much progress would have been made. If it wasn't for how upset we all are. Yeah.

Michele Baci  58:31  
About who isn't. It has sparked, and, you know, a motivation, like it's ignited the US it's ignited a lot of more apathetic people to really get involved. So that's awesome. It sucks that we had to have a reality star president to do it, but I am glad like it, I'm glad the motivations there to, you know, let's actually, like fix the country and get Biden elected. So we have, you know, an intelligent human in office. But yet, and I think I just get frustrated that we're not doing enough. We're not, we don't know what's gonna happen. So just the question mark, that bothers me.

Katy Dolle  59:06  
Well, I got a surprise for you. Never gonna know what happens in your life.

Michele Baci  59:11  
I know, but I want to know.

Katy Dolle  59:15  
Like, you don't even know what I'm about to say. No,

Michele Baci  59:17  
I don't. I was probably gonna ask you a question. But I don't know what you're gonna say. So,

Katy Dolle  59:22  
no, I don't I don't have anything. I don't even have anything in my pocket. I just thought I was like, Yeah, all of life is just improv. Yeah, you know, we're all just making it up as we go.

Michele Baci  59:32  
It's true. And that's like, a big thing I was talking to my therapist with the past few months is like, what if I make this decision and it's wrong? And what if I regret it immediately? And you know, what if what for that and she's like, just do it and you'll figure it out. Like, if you make a decision, you can always change your mind. And I'm like, No, I can't. Like it's just that it's the moving forward or the jumping into an unknown. It's like terrifying.

Katy Dolle  59:58  
Yeah, no, I agree. It is always really scary to leap into the unknown. But I've found that most of the good things that have happened in my life have been right when I decided to take a leap like that, you know, and there hasn't really been much good, that has come out of just saying no to opportunities or trying to choose a safe

Michele Baci  1:00:19  
choice. That's true. And then, you know, I feel like we need to take more risks, or you jump into more unknowns, it usually gets you somewhere faster. So I'm trying to embrace it more, as hard as it is.

Katy Dolle  1:00:32  
Yeah, yeah, I understand that what kind of what was something recently that you took a big risk with?

Michele Baci  1:00:39  
Well, even like, a, that you might relate to, like starting the podcast, and being like, I'm just gonna start doing it. And I'm not ready. Like, I didn't have episodes. backlog, like I wanted, I was just like, I recorded one or two, and I have to start putting them out, because otherwise they're gonna get stale. So just kind of jump in before I was ready to like, make a career, like a career change was scary.

Katy Dolle  1:01:03  
Yeah.

But that's, um, but you learn as you go, and it's exciting. And one of my favorite quotes ever, from Amy Poehler, she says, great, people do things before they're ready. It's true, and it's true. And you just have to jump in with both feet. Because you're not like, ever going to be 100% ready for like, a job that you've never had, or a project you've never done. Like, you're just gonna figure it out as you go. And that's what's been fun for me along my journey is like learning to just really trust my gut instinct and trust that I'll figure it out. Yeah, you know, like, just like, Okay, I'm a cat. I'm like, a cat throw me I'm gonna land on my feet. Like, it's gonna be fine.

Michele Baci  1:01:44  
That's a good way to do it. I feel like I used to be like that. So I would like to trust my instinct more.

Katy Dolle  1:01:51  
Yeah. 

Michele Baci  1:01:52  
Good, good advice, Katy

Katy Dolle  1:01:53  
Well, you know, life knocks you down. Thank you.

I mean, like, life knocks you down enough. I understand. It's, it can be tough to put yourself back out there. 

Michele Baci  1:02:01  
Yeah, a pandemic hits in your life changes. And then you're like, Who am I? I, ya

Katy Dolle  1:02:07  
know, I get that I look in the mirror and think about that all the time. I'm like, Who's

that girl?

Where did you come from?

How did you? How did your life change so much? In less than a year?

Michele Baci  1:02:18  
Do you?

Do you worry about what's going to happen if we have like, Biden for president or trump for president, how it's gonna affect you as a woman?

Katy Dolle  1:02:27  
I do. I'm not about Biden, because I feel like he's on our side. I mean, but if Trump were to get another four years, I do worry about it a lot as far as reproductive health, or just health insurance in general. Because regardless of what he says publicly, his all his policies are against the Affordable Care Act, and that's how I get my health insurance. That's how I have such a nice plan is because it's subsidized. Yeah, you know, if if I had to pay out of pocket 100% for my own health insurance, I might not have any, you know, or I might have a really shitty plan where I don't get therapy, or I have to pay like, the full hundred 50 a session that you might have to pay. So, um, yeah, I am very worried about it. I mean, if I'm being totally honest, I and if this is an overshare, that I know,

Michele Baci  1:03:21  
please go ahead.

Katy Dolle  1:03:23  
I'm getting so like, I have an IUD that is due to be replaced. And I thought like, oh, I'll wait until like next year, I don't really have to replace it right away. But because my doctor said that I could wait if I wanted to. And so I was just like, okay, cuz it's really painful. You know, it's just like,

Michele Baci  1:03:38  
when if you're putting your doctor a is your doctor Nancy masquerade and Trump supporter? Like, who's telling you to wait?

Katy Dolle  1:03:44  
No, well, no, it's just medically not necessary. Like there's a there's a two year window in which I can do it. I don't have to do it. Got it. It's it's not like there's a, I don't know, it doesn't matter. It's a paragard IUD. So it lasts for a really long time. So I was going to wait until maybe next year, just because I was putting it off. And then when I saw that Amy Coney Barrett was confirmed to the Supreme Court, I booked my up getting it replaced before the end of the

Michele Baci  1:04:13  
I'm glad you jumped on it. Because I was

Katy Dolle  1:04:16  
just kind of like, oh my god. Like if at that point the the election hadn't really started yet, you know, as far as results coming in, so I didn't have any reassurance that Biden would do well at all. I mean, I was hoping

Michele Baci  1:04:29  
Yeah, I mean, we still you know, so don't know what's happening although he's doing good as of Thursday, but who knows,

Katy Dolle  1:04:36  
and then I'm choosing I'm choosing to be optimistic good. I think with with a very conservative senate and a conservative court it's like they could you know, overturn Roe v Wade or things but I think and Coney

Michele Baci  1:04:50  
Barrett was confirmed in in like, what few weeks she was thrown right in there.

Katy Dolle  1:04:55  
It was awful. There was no

Michele Baci  1:04:57  
timely book, your OBGYN appointment. You had to Be on top of your shit and be like, I don't want a baby in the spring like I, you know, I would like to control my own body.

Katy Dolle  1:05:08  
I know. I mean, a lot of people have been getting pregnant during COVID. That's like, I feel like,

Michele Baci  1:05:13  
everyone if you want a baby, that's a great time. I feel like if you're trying to start a family, we got the time right now.

Katy Dolle  1:05:19  
We got the time. Yeah, yeah, I feel like it's good. If you already have the baby. pregnant. It's just like, okay, I don't need to be home. I've been who knows I've never had a baby. Totally wrong. But I feel like, I don't need to hide in my house for nine months long, right? Yeah, once the baby's there. It's like, Oh, yeah, I have this human who's relying on me 24 hours a day, I could see how being home would be helpful for that. So it's true.

Michele Baci  1:05:42  
Yeah. But then if I was a mom right now, I would want to be like, getting my kids to the park and like getting them to run around. And then in COVID, it seems so hard to do anything out in public. So I'm grateful. I'm not No. starting a family. I'm grateful. I'm a single woman who's like just trying to get along with my boyfriend. But you know, more power to the parents out there and the pregnant ladies. Oh,

Katy Dolle  1:06:05  
yeah. No, I can't imagine. I think that the difficult. The most difficult thing that I've heard from my friends is trying to keep their children entertained. While they are working remotely from home. It seems like a completely impossible task. depending on the age of the children,

Michele Baci  1:06:20  
you know, you can only watch so many movies in a day, then you're like, I feel like I'm not raising the kid. Right? Like you feel like you have to educate them and entertain them. And you are like, there's so much you want to do. And then if you're working, I don't know how parents are doing it.

Katy Dolle  1:06:35  
I mean, I feel like I'm being a bad dog, you know, half the time. So

we'll see what happens. 

Michele Baci  1:06:41  
Yeah, the dog looks a few commercials, and you're like you're good for a while. What do you think of the electoral college? Do you think we need it? Or should we get rid of it?

Katy Dolle  1:06:53  
No, um, I think that the Electoral College is a very outdated system based on I don't have it in front of me. So I don't want to pretend that I know exactly what it based on. But the Electoral College is a very outdated system based on not on population. Yeah. And so I don't see why someone times, like, who

Michele Baci  1:07:13  
knows where it came from,

Katy Dolle  1:07:15  
I think that it was either having to do with slave owners or landowners, something like that. But regardless, it's an outdated system that's not based on current reality. And the only reason we still have it is because the voters who live in states whose votes count four times as much as mine, do, they have let go of that power? Right? Because if they got rid of it, and it was just a popular vote, the idea of Red Lake red states and blue states would really go out the window, you know, it would just be like, Oh, where's the most populated? What do they think, instead of people who live in states that have very few people, but suddenly they have all the power it just, to me, it doesn't make any sense?

Michele Baci  1:08:01  
Yeah, we'd have to, if we got rid of the Electoral College, which we should, in my opinion, we'd have to end voter suppression and gerrymandering, like make it more accessible for everyone to vote and for everyone's vote to be more equally weighted, because you know, Biden's win and winning by like millions of votes right now. But still, the race is neck and neck. So it's just mind-boggling

Katy Dolle  1:08:23  
Yeah, like Hillary, Hillary Clinton won the popular vote by three in 2016, and it didn't matter. Because she didn't play. She didn't play the game, right? Yeah. Because she didn't go to the right states.

Michele Baci  1:08:34  
just crazy.

Katy Dolle  1:08:35  
Well, she went, I'm sure she went to all of them. Okay. Like, our girl didn't try.

Michele Baci  1:08:41  
I forgot which one she might not have, like spent a lot of time adding was Wisconsin or like one of the swing states. Okay, still, like you're winning by three mil 3 million votes, you would think that would hold up a little? Yeah.

Katy Dolle  1:08:54  
Yeah, no. So it's upsetting that it's this like, gamified thing, where, like, we live in California, for example, and a lot of people who are voting in California, we feel like our vote doesn't matter, at least on the federal level, it obviously matters on the more local level as far as like our government and our city council, and the propositions that are in California, but on the presidential level, a lot of people are just like, it doesn't matter if I vote because this is a blue state. Yeah. And also says our

Michele Baci  1:09:20  
way of thinking because what if you move someday or what if California eventually, or what if we get rid of blue and red states and you have to get to know your voice matters no matter what.

Katy Dolle  1:09:31  
Yeah, but I think that it's Yeah, that system really needs to change from the inside out. But the problem is that um,

Michele Baci  1:09:39  
and there is so much on the ballot, like local elections, like props, you have to, you know, go go choose something for your community.

Katy Dolle  1:09:47  
Yeah, but if the people in power are benefiting from the Electoral College, there's no reason they would want to change it. You know, but if the people in power just got there, by sheer force of will and not trying to game the system that maybe they would be more interested in helping to change it. Because then I would also favor a lot more people of all different backgrounds be able to have their voice actually hurt. Yeah.

Michele Baci  1:10:14  
equality. Mitch McConnell's like, No, I'm just going to keep my hands purple and gray and you know, free to keep things the way they are. Just

never change. Yeah.

Katy Dolle  1:10:26  
Yeah, never changed. Mitch.

Michele Baci  1:10:29  
Just, you know, go ahead and rot while we're in recess right now. Do you have any tips for dealing with anxiety or managing anxiety?

Katy Dolle  1:10:40  
Sure, um, my main tips for managing anxiety would be to remember that it's not your fault. You're not a bad person. Because you react differently to the world and other people. I know that sometimes, it can feel like, oh, why am I so sensitive? Why is the sky always falling for me, but like, your brain is wired differently. And that's okay. And it can be managed doesn't mean that you are a bad person, you know. So, um, the main things that I do to manage my anxiety other than therapy, which we already talked about, I am very into meditation, I meditate every single day, in the morning, usually at least 10 minutes. And if you're just getting started, you don't even have to do 10 minutes, you don't want a minute, you could even just do five deep breaths and

Michele Baci  1:11:33  
how to do it, do you watch video G's an app, do you do it with your own, like, calm space.

Katy Dolle  1:11:42  
Um, so most of the time, I use the insight timer app, which I highly recommend to people because they have a million different guided meditations. And you can search based on the length of the meditation and the theme. So for example, you can look for something that is going to give you confidence or be focused on gratitude, or something that is specific to anxiety or depression or anger, whatever it is, you're going through, they have a meditation for that. And then they also have this timer function where you can put a timer and you can kind of DJ your own meditation. So like, you can choose either music or chanting or river, or rain, or silence, whatever. And then you can put in different kinds of gongs at different intervals if you want, like, you can really go for it if you want to. It's nice, very relaxing. So yeah, I do that, um, if occasionally, I'll just put a timer on and just meditate by myself. But I find that I really enjoy the guided meditations, because then I don't have to hear my own thoughts. I can just listen to someone else and try to concentrate on what they're saying and let go of what I'm doing. And they can kind of also walk me through. Um, sometimes they'll do like a body relaxation, where we'll talk about each part of the body and breathing into it and letting it go. So yeah, meditation is my main thing. I love journaling. I've been like a lifelong journaler. I find it That's like my own little personal therapy session where I'm kind of giving therapy to myself, you know, or venting, or especially in quarantine, I found journaling to be amazing. Like, I've gone through so many journals this year. And normally, it takes me a while to get through them. But I feel like because of the isolation, I just need to get it out.

Michele Baci  1:13:25  
So have I been like journaling more and also writing artists pages or mourning pages based on the artists way? Have you? That's Yeah, that's because my therapist recommended that. So I've been like alternating that with journaling, which is more like, I guess, like, not trauma focused, but more like problem focus. And then the artist pages which are like, kind of a to do list and kind of more whatever's going on that day. But the journal entries early days apart. Like I just wrote this in here two days ago, and I'm back at it. Wow. And it's good to get it all out of your brain.

Katy Dolle  1:14:02  
No, it's good. Yeah, the morning pages is amazing. I actually I did that artist way a long time ago. And it was really life changing. For me. I think it's a great way to help discover your artistic voice, as well as just kind of like reevaluating everything in your life and trying to get to know yourself. Yeah, you know,

Michele Baci  1:14:18  
I have to do it more freely. Because I think that's another thing. I'm like a too much of a perfectionist about where I'm like, let me write a to do list of 100 items I would like to accomplish soon. So I micromanage myself, even when I'm trying to like free right. So I have to get more free. I think meditating would be good for me.

Katy Dolle  1:14:38  
Yeah, yeah. I mean, if you're trying to get out of your head, something else that really helped me is especially if you're creative person is to do something artistic that you're not good at and just like let yourself be bad. Yeah. let yourself have fun with it. So like, like, like painting for example. Like I'm not a very good artist, like you know, just grab some paints just start fingers painting, or I have a guitar, you know. So like I learned how to play guitar in high school, but I've never been an expert. I just know enough to play a few chords at a party maybe. And I found a lot of help doing that because I was having a little bit of writer's block. I was working on a screenplay, and I just couldn't wrap my brain around it. I was overthinking it. And everything I was writing was just yeah. And I started playing guitar and singing badly and it just like it opened up this other channel. 

Michele Baci  1:15:30  
And I mean, even just saying that, sounds so freeing to be like, I decided to do this art playing guitar, which I know I'm not great at. And it helps you loosen up a little bit.

Katy Dolle  1:15:41  
Well, because I did it. And then I was like, Well, that was fun. That was fun. Because I didn't care about being good. Okay, maybe I should write that. And so then I when I went back to my script, I intentionally I was like, I'm going to give all the characters really stupid names, like the lead characters name that I had, which I switched out now because I finished it but was Toronto.

Michele Baci  1:16:00  
Which is so ridiculous.

Katy Dolle  1:16:03  
Like Charlotte and Veronica and Charlie. Yeah. And I intentionally was like, Okay, I'm gonna write a really bad version of script like terrible writing, and just get it out.

Michele Baci  1:16:12  
But Toronto could be a character like think of Topanga on Boy Meets World that went forever?

Katy Dolle  1:16:18  
It did. That's like a cuter name.

Michele Baci  1:16:20  
Yeah. And it's like California. There's some Topanga Canyon, right.

Katy Dolle  1:16:25  
Yeah, love Topanga Canyon. It's

Michele Baci  1:16:26  
gorgeous place. Yeah. You could mix up the letters and tropica come up with something different.

Katy Dolle  1:16:31  
Oh, okay. Well, I'll get back

with the next episode of the Churonica chronicles. I'll let you konw if I've changed her name.

Michele Baci  1:16:39  
I like that advice, because I painted a crappy picture the other night for like a work thing. And I was really proud of it that like, showed it to my coworkers, and they like quickly looked away. They're like, Oh, no, but I know I finished the picture, which is more than I do with a lot of a half assed art projects that I start. So just doing something I think does help, like get your cogs turning.

Katy Dolle  1:17:02  
Yeah, yeah. I've got like, adult coloring books. That's really relaxed. 

Michele Baci  1:17:06  
Colored pencils

Katy Dolle  1:17:09  
Yes, yes. Absolutely. 

Michele Baci  1:17:11  
Very Nice

Katy Dolle  1:17:11  
I think a

Just letting yourself kind of play. I think that's something that we miss as adults is we don't get that taught that play. Yeah. You know, we're just always expected to be like everything scheduled everything serious all the time. And like, we just finished our work and then flip on the TV and we're not the ones that are doing the playing. We're just watching other people have fun.

Michele Baci  1:17:32  
Yeah. Especially now when we're not living our social lives like we used to, or doing comedy shows, like you see, like having more play time mixed in with the work. Now it's kind of been it's been very much like work, work work. Go to sleep.

Katy Dolle  1:17:47  
Yeah, yeah, absolutely. 

Michele Baci  1:17:49  
Very nice. I like the advice. Do you want to spin the roulette wheel and get a random question?

Katy Dolle  1:17:54  
I'm so excited! spin the wheel, baby. 

Michele Baci  1:17:57  
Get it? in front

of the camera. It just a bunch of more generic topics 

Katy Dolle  1:18:01  
Oh my god. This is cute. Wait, show me. 

Michele Baci  1:18:05  
I'll give it a whirl

Katy Dolle  1:18:06  
Okay, I love it.

Michele Baci  1:18:10  
What did we get? 

Katy Dolle  1:18:11  
what does it say? 

Michele Baci  1:18:12  
A fact

few people or no one knows about you. What's something a lot of people don't know about you, Katy?

Katy Dolle  1:18:21  
I used to do trapeze when I was a kid 

Michele Baci  1:18:24  
when you were a kid?

Katy Dolle  1:18:26  
Yeah. I went to circus camp. And I did. I walked on school. I did the tightrope. I did the lira, which is like a Cirque du Soleil thing where you like spin around upside down from your ankle, and I did trapeze. So I almost ran away to join the circus.

Michele Baci  1:18:42  
That sounds really fun for a kid. Did

you?

Were you good at it? Or did you like not care? Did it matter?

Katy Dolle  1:18:50  
I loved it. It was great. Because the camp was actually like a performing arts camp in upstate New York. Shout out to French Woods festival. That's up near like with the original Woodstock. Okay, so it's like out out in the boonies. But yeah, it's a theater camp. And they have like all different kinds of theater. You can do musicals out there. That is the main draw. 

Michele Baci  1:19:09  
I've been up there. That is the boonies it's like, foresty grassy type area.

Katy Dolle  1:19:13  
Yeah, it's gorgeous, though. Um, and but yeah, it was a theater camp. And then they they also had a circus there. And so yeah, I had a lot of fun with it, because I'm not a great singer. So with the musicals, I would always get like small roles because I wasn't a great singer. But in the circus I could be the star because I was like, flexible and athletic. And I loved it. And I guess I'm not I'm weirdly not afraid of heights at all. Um, I don't know if that's just like born into me or because I did all these weird circus acts.

Michele Baci  1:19:47  
It could be a

causation and whatever the other one is correlation.

Katy Dolle  1:19:54  
Yeah,

I don't know. But like I it didn't freak me out at all. And I've always had a really good sense of balance, like I remember, I learned With still walking, it took a lot of the kids a really long time to figure it out. But I figured it out within like, a day or two. So then like, every time that I would have to go there to practice, I would just like me and one of the random counselors, they were all Australian for some reason. I

Michele Baci  1:20:15  
like a study exchange program,

Katy Dolle  1:20:18  
probably. And we would always I would just like walk around the camp of myself and he would like walk with me and I would just sit on top of one of the bones. Just like hang out, but I found it really exhilarating. Um, especially like,

Michele Baci  1:20:32  
was it a sleepaway camp?

Katy Dolle  1:20:34  
Yeah, it was a sleepaway camp. But there's something about doing circus acts when you're holding your entire body weight up high. It's like you really have to trust yourself, you know that you're not going to fall and that you're holding yourself and it

Michele Baci  1:20:45  
seems very, like very in the moment, like not life or death, but it seems very, like you really got to be there and holding on.

Katy Dolle  1:20:53  
Yeah, especially if you're working with other people like I had one that I did was a triple trapeze, where it was like me and two other girls on three trapeze is connected to each other. And so I was the girl in the middle that would get like they would do they like flip me around. You know, you really have to trust Yeah. You really have to focus you know, like, where different people's hands and feet. Oh, that's so cool. I

Michele Baci  1:21:13  
wish I did something like that as a kid.

Katy Dolle  1:21:16  
Yeah,

I mean, it's, it's fun. And I think as many hobbies as we can give kids just to kind of like, play and figure out what life is about. 

Michele Baci  1:21:28  
Go explore your

creativity and do something athletic while you're doing it. Yeah, let's spin One more. 

Katy Dolle  1:21:36  
One more. 

Michele Baci  1:21:36  
Give it a big spin for you.

Katy Dolle  1:21:38  
I'm excited. Big money. Big money. Big money.

Michele Baci  1:21:42  
This is Vegas now.

Katy Dolle  1:21:44  
Yeah. Okay. What does it say again? 

Michele Baci  1:21:46  
No, it's the same one. 

Katy Dolle  1:21:47  
Okay, okay. Forget it. One more time. Big money.

Big money. Big money. Yeah,

Michele Baci  1:21:52  
that question is just popular people like the podcast wants to know, secrets. Okay, this one is relevant. If you became president tomorrow, what would you do? What's the first thing you would do?

Katy Dolle  1:22:04  
Oh, my goodness.

This is a really heavy question. Heavy if you want it to be. No, it's not heavy. It's just so wide, right? Yes. It's like, what do I want to deal with first? Like, racial inequality, women's rights, the environment? Like everything?

Michele Baci  1:22:22  
the electoral college, like what to? 

Katy Dolle  1:22:24  
The electoral college is so...

Michele Baci  1:22:24  
Should we get rid of Florida? I don't know.

Katy Dolle  1:22:28  
No, I mean, there's some good parts. I love Miami. What is the first thing I would do? Wow, I've never thought about that. And I really, um,

Michele Baci  1:22:40  
it's even like you're being given all this power.

Katy Dolle  1:22:44  
The first thing I would do is I would pack the courts, because right now we have a very in unequal Supreme Court

Michele Baci  1:22:51  
Get back, fight 'em with fire.

Katy Dolle  1:22:53  
I would pack the courts with like, I think three more seats. And also, I would end I would give term limits to all those judges. Because I think that there's a trickle down effect, where the Supreme Court

Michele Baci  1:23:04  
get a term limit on Amy Coney Barrett ASAP.

Katy Dolle  1:23:08  
Not just her. But everybody. I think that like once you hit like 75, you should be automatically retired.

Michele Baci  1:23:14  
Or even if you've served like however many years like do you really have to be there more than 20 years?

Katy Dolle  1:23:19  
I don't know. But I'm saying at the at the current state of affairs, it's a lifetime suggestion. So even putting a cap on it at a 75 year old seems like I don't know, at least that's something right. So putting some sort of limit on it. And also, I would, yes, I think RBG like, she was such a hero of mine. And it made me so heartbroken when she passed away. And her dying wish was that she would not be replaced until a new president was elected. He went completely against that. So that and then I would do whatever I could to solve COVID.

Michele Baci  1:23:56  
That's the other thing. That's the biggest problem in our country. Let's make the judicial system a little bit more fair between the two parties. And let's end the virus that has been killing us since March.

Katy Dolle  1:24:09  
Yeah, yeah. And then also like, I think that the other thing that would be really great is just doing something to end the homelessness crisis. And I don't know what that would be. But especially in Los Angeles, we seem to have a really big problem with not having enough affordable housing not having enough resources for these people, whether that's mental health or you know, drug rehabs or whatever it is that they Yeah, resources to be able to get job training and jobs. Those are definitely things that could be solved. And I mean, the other thing, which is not really a policy related just more like a Kumbaya is like hearing out how to bring everybody together to be like, okay, we're all in one country. Let's not kill each other, like the guns. Let's get out of here.

Michele Baci  1:24:59  
I don't worry strict gun regulations, maybe like some checks and balances in the news and journalism like have, can we get rid of fake news and have like a news source where we like, know real information's being shot out. So I feel like that would really help the divide in the country.

Katy Dolle  1:25:18  
It would be nice, I don't know. But the problem is that Trump has taught people to not trust the news. And once people stopped trusting the news, then it just became, you know, it became a really big problem. So I think that in a, on a bigger scale of things, I'm really hoping that Joe Biden will be able to bring the country together, because I think that's something that a lot of presidents have been good at doing, regardless of which party they represent. Once they become president. They say, you know what, we're all Americans. I'm here to serve all of you. And because Trump has completely put that on its head by saying he's only serving the people who voted for him. And that's not how this works.

like, all of us have to listen.

Michele Baci  1:25:57  
He's only serving Donald Trump the whole time.

Katy Dolle  1:25:59  
Sure, but I'm saying he's claiming to represent a certain faction of people and to help a certain faction of people. Right. And yeah, that's his weaponizes platform. And

Michele Baci  1:26:08  
then Biden's already come out being like, you know, I'm gonna be here for all of you whether or not you voted for me. So he's already trying to unite the country. somewhere. Yeah,

Katy Dolle  1:26:17  
yeah. Because, because that's what we need. It's really terrible that like, we have to be in a situation where people's families are being torn apart by all these politics, and we should be able to disagree with each other without completely wanting to kill each other

you know,

Michele Baci  1:26:37  
because it, it just hits you in the heart when someone's like, no, I actually believe in the opposite of that. And that's my like, political stance, it really cuts you deep. And when you don't know how to debate it, or argue against fake news. You're kind of you're left feeling gaslit the whole time. You're like, Am I crazy? Did, you know, did I make this up? And what like, why am I so passionate about this when these the MAGA hat people are like, behind this guy who thinks that Coronavirus is not a big deal and climate change isn't real? You just feel you feel crazy when it's so divided?

Katy Dolle  1:27:11  
Yeah, no, absolutely.

Michele Baci  1:27:13  
I think those are great ideas, though. And shout out to RBG. I'm glad her granddaughter is a lawyer. So I think, you know, she left behind a great legacy.

Katy Dolle  1:27:22  
She did. No, I mean, she is an icon and will always go down in history, as you know, one of the most important women that has affected the feminist movement and the moving forward of just women in this country in general, like, when she like a lot of the things that she's done, she made it so that women can get a loan. Women can have their own bank account, you can buy a car, you can make your own decisions about your life. Those are things that were not always afforded to us. We also didn't always have the right to vote. That wasn't something she did. But I'm just saying, I think a lot of people take these things for granted. They don't realize how hard people like Ruth Bader Ginsburg had to fight for all these things for women to be treated equally. 

Michele Baci  1:28:05  
How strategic she had to be. She had to be she had to like pick her cases, like so carefully to get any progress accomplished. She had to go after paternity leave before she got you know, women equality, because, you know, the men get all the attention. And she did it brilliantly. And she never took a break. So I admire her.

Katy Dolle  1:28:24  
No. Yeah, yeah. And her workout routine!

Michele Baci  1:28:26  
I know. That's my inspiration, you know, throughout the most like, recent years, but especially during COVID. I'm like, RBG is still going to her trainer. I got to keep working out because you know, she's putting me to shame.

Katy Dolle  1:28:42  
Yeah, because it's not even really just about aesthetics. It's about

Michele Baci  1:28:47  
health

Katy Dolle  1:28:48  
health and mental health. Yeah, you know,

Michele Baci  1:28:50  
and just being able to show up for your job and fighting the good fight and being the best, healthiest version of yourself. She really led an example on everything. 

Katy Dolle  1:29:00  
Yeah. 

Michele Baci  1:29:01  
To the end. Is there anything you'd like to promote or share with the audience before we go?

Katy Dolle  1:29:06  
Oh, yeah, absolutely. Well, um, I would just love for people to come join me on crying behind sunglasses. You can check it out at crying behind pod on Instagram. Or check me out at Katy Dolle - K-A-T-Y D-O-L-L-E. I put out new episodes every week and I interview comedians about their mental health issues, we find a way to laugh about it. And I also have a private Facebook support group of the same name crying behind sunglasses that we've been running throughout the pandemic. That's been really great just to have that community showing up for people and supporting each other. So yeah, if anybody wants to hop on over there, I'll be doing that for

a while I

I'm really it's interesting because I've had that idea to do that podcast forever. And I just so happened to decide to do it this year. And then when COVID hit, I feel like the entire world is in a mental health crisis. So now is the time for us. To be talking about this 

Michele Baci  1:30:00  
Yeah,

Katy Dolle  1:30:00  
you know 

Michele Baci  1:30:01  
It's the

Yeah, there's never been a more perfect time. So I think it's so awesome. you're offering that space and that support to people. I'll link it all in 

Katy Dolle  1:30:08  
thank you

Michele Baci  1:30:08  
episode details description, but check out crying behind sunglasses and Katy Dolle

on the internet. 

Katy Dolle  1:30:16  
Yes, thank

you so much for talking to me. 

Michele Baci  1:30:18  
It's been a pleasure. This has been Therapy Roulette: Consent to Vent. If you liked this episode, be sure to subscribe. leave a review if you can and tell your friends! I'll be back with a new episode next Thursday. 

Theme Song  1:30:48  
Therapy Roulette: Consent to Vent / Trauma disguised as comedy / Therapy Roulette: Consent to Vent / If you don’t have problems, then you’re likely repressing sh*t and you should find a therapist / (Who’s not me)