All About The Joy
All About The Joy is a weekly hang-out with friends in the neighborhood! We share insight, advice, funny-isms and we choose to always try and find the positive, the silver lining, the "light" in all of it. AATJ comes from the simple concept that at the end of the day we all want to have more JOY than not. So, this is a cool place to unwind, have a laugh and share some time with friends!
All About The Joy
Respect, Accountability, and the Politics of Fear: From U.S. Elections to Honduras
What if respect isn’t something we owe to power, but something power owes to us? We start with a listener’s challenge - “say one nice thing about Trump” - and follow the thread through the messy intersection of office, behavior, and accountability. Titles don’t launder harm, and a single human moment can’t offset a pattern of contempt. From there, we look at how policy choices reveal priorities: a proposed five‑year social media review for visa waiver travelers as North America prepares for the World Cup and the Olympics. The contradiction is stark - inviting the world to celebrate while signaling suspicion at the border - and it raises real questions about free expression, privacy, and soft power.
We also zoom in on shifting political ground at home, from Miami’s new Democratic mayor to a heavyweight Texas primary shaped by gerrymandering and court decisions. Then we widen back to Central America, where Honduras faces a pivotal choice between corruption and hardline order. We talk candidly about security, due process, and the risks of letting fear do the policymaking. Power without guardrails breeds hypocrisy; pardoning a convicted trafficker while pushing extrajudicial force is the definition of mixed signals.
Underneath these stories runs a deeper current: empathy fatigue. A San Diego freeway closure for a suicidal man triggered more outrage over delays than concern for a life in crisis. We connect that brittleness to our unprocessed pandemic grief and the way social media rewards performative cruelty as often as it amplifies care. And because joy is part of the antidote, we end with a Hallmark curveball - yes, a firefighter, two cats, and a soft landing. Comfort isn’t an escape from seriousness; it’s fuel for showing up with more humanity the next day.
If this resonates, share it with a friend, hit follow, and leave us a review with one takeaway you’re still thinking about. Your notes shape what we explore next.
Thank you for stopping by. Please visit our website: All About The Joy and add, like and share. You can also support us by shopping at our STORE - We'd appreciate that greatly. Also, if you want to find us anywhere on social media, please check out the link in bio page.
Music By Geovane Bruno, Moments, 3481
Editing by Team A-J
Host, Carmen Lezeth
DISCLAIMER: As always, please do your own research and understand that the opinions in this podcast and livestream are meant for entertainment purposes only. States and other areas may have different rules and regulations governing certain aspects discussed in this podcast. Nothing in our podcast or livestream is meant to be medical or legal advice. Please use common sense, and when in doubt, ask a professional for advice, assistance, help and guidance.
Hey everyone. Welcome to All About the Joy. This is Culture and Consequence with Carmen and Andrea. No, no, no, you're fine. You're fine. I can hear you. I can hear you. I just want to do a test. You know what I mean? So that is a really interesting background. Yeah.
Andrea:It looks like a trollist, right? I I mean, I hadn't really noticed it until I saw it on camera.
Carmen Lezeth:I was like, I I don't understand. I mean, I guess it's whatever you think it is.
Andrea:So I just do this.
Carmen Lezeth:I mean, I you know, I might delete all this, but it is an interesting yeah.
Andrea:It's like a Rorschach test, right? Where it's like, what do you see? There's a dragon. I don't know. There's a mustache right there.
Carmen Lezeth:I don't know. I might leave this part in. It's kind of funny. It's um so yeah, you're visiting from an undisclosed place. An undisclosed location. We're going to imagine it's an island off the coast of Italy or something.
Andrea:Are there islands off the coast? I'm dressed for an island, as you can see.
Carmen Lezeth:Wait a minute. Did did I just fuck up and say an island off the coast of Italy? Like what the fuck?
unknown:I think.
Carmen Lezeth:There are multiple islands off the coast of Italy.
Andrea:Are there? I'm getting confused. Oh, right, right. The boot, right, right. Okay, there's Capri. There's yeah.
Carmen Lezeth:Yeah, I'm jealous. So yeah.
Andrea:Yeah, that's not where I am. I know, but come on, I'm trying to give the illusion.
Carmen Lezeth:I'm trying to give the illusion. Um because if you were, first of all, you'd be like, Carmen, I ain't got time for this book. I would not be doing this right now. Right, right. But as my friend, you'd be like, all right, I'll do it from the beach.
unknown:You know what I mean?
Andrea:Like I said, my like umbrella cocktail instead of my hot latte.
Carmen Lezeth:Exactly. So I thought we would start. I I'm gonna read. I I know I didn't tell you this, but I'm gonna read. We got a few emails as we do, and I thought I would start with an email. And again, we don't have to go too long on this. We'll just whatever. So the subject line they wrote was just a thought about respect. You already know that where this is going. Okay. Hi there. I tune into Culture and Consequence most weeks, but I gotta say, every time Donald Trump comes up, it feels like the tone turns sour right off the bat. Now, I'm not blind to the man's faults, but he is the president of the United States. Where I come from, you don't have to agree with somebody to show a little respect for the office they hold. So here's my question. Can you name one nice thing about him? Maybe his toughness, maybe the way he speaks to folk who feel overlooked. Something. Because when it all, because when it's all negative, it starts to sound less like conversation and more like piling on. I'm not asking you to change your politics. I'm just saying balance matters. Debate is healthy, but so is recognizing the good where it exists. Anyway, that's my two cents from down here. I'll keep listening, but I hope you'll think about it. Regards uh mid Midwest South. I'm not gonna put their name. Okay, so thoughts, Carmen? Well, I mean, I, you know, I think I'm trying to hold back and um I, you know, I think you can tell how I feel about it. Look, it we do get, I'm gonna say this, we do get a lot of people who are liking and disliking our show. I think that's good. It means people are watching. It seems like to be the same people because it's the same numbers. I can't tell who, like you can't tell on the stats where, you know what I mean? So unless someone sends me an email, but I think it's good because people are watching. And even if you hate watch it, that's fine. So I feel like here's how I'll say it. If if I'm in a school yard and there is a bully, and the bully keeps picking on kids over and over and over again and beating them up or whatever, but then the bully comes into the classroom and gives the teacher an apple or a present, that doesn't change that it's a bully. And that's how I feel about it. I feel like I I honestly can't name one thing that I think he's done. The things that he is credited for, like in the first administration, he keeps getting credited for having a great economy before COVID. I'm sorry, you can go back to the eight years of Obama to see that through line. You know what I mean? So he's always being credited with stuff that's on the whitehouse.gov website that I can easily explain. I easily, and I say that because I'm not a political aficionado on everything, but if I can easily explain it away, you know, a lot of it is just BS trying to pump him up. And when I can only find a reference from the whitehouse.gov, which is a website that they control, I know it's not as evidence-based as I would like it to be from three different sources, and that I can dismiss it away pretty easily with my own information based on what I know about politics in the small way that I do. Does that make sense?
Andrea:Yeah, um, I also truly, truly cannot think of one good thing to say about this human being. And I will say I I show him, I would say, the same amount of respect, possibly more, that he shows other people. That he would show me, for example, or my husband, for example, or a reporter who is simply asking him a question and happens to be a woman or a woman of color or whatever it might be. So I don't subscribe to the idea that someone deserves your respect for nothing. Right? I mean, I am respectful of other people, you know. I just went down and had breakfast and I was very respectful to a person I didn't know, you know, who served me my food and sat me to my seat and all of those kinds of things, but um it's it's earned. And especially, especially I would say for politicians, you are essentially my employee. Yes, that is what you are, and when I see the damage that you are doing to people, making people feel heard, I I don't like, yeah, I guess if you're like a racist, then you know, okay, yeah, I'm glad that you are being heard by this person who is espousing your beliefs off out into the world and turning them into policy. Good for you. I don't respect that. Yeah, so that's kind of like I understand the need to be respectful of other people. I don't think this person does. This person meaning the president. Yeah, I don't know.
Carmen Lezeth:I I don't know. I mean, I look at I appreciate the emails, I appreciate the comments, or it's fine. They don't mind, and I get it. Respect isn't a given. You get it at the beginning, and then you show yourself. I just had a whole conversation with a conservative on in the private lounge that people saw and with Blake Fisher, and it was an interesting conversation. And the two of us were very respectful to each other because it was our first meeting, and he showed me respect in the conversation, and I showed him respect. If he started calling me names or whatever, it would be done. You know, it's kind of the same thing. Um, I I can name one moment where I am going to say was a like I it's the only thing I remember of Donald Trump that was at least a little funny and joyful. And it was in the first administration, and I don't know what he was doing, but it was like in the middle of the night, and it was when Twitter was Twitter. And he wrote, he was trying to he wrote Kofeife. And remember, he did Kofeifei? It it was not only was it hilarious, but even his reaction to it was so human. Because he turned around and and he kind of he he did like a smile and a laugh, and he said, Yes, it's a secret thing, but it clearly it was that one that is the only moment I remember thinking, like, oh my god, that's so hilarious. Because then it was all the memes that happened afterwards, and all the people were like, you know, trying to decide what Kofeife was or whatever it was. That's the only, that's pretty sad that I can only remember that one thing, and that's not a good thing that he did, it's just a moment of of funniness and humanness and joyfulness, you know, that wasn't about bravado and bullshittery, you know. He's been in the public, at least that I know of.
Andrea:I've known about who he was since like the mid-80s. Yes, and it's like really, as you were reading that, I'm like, you know, going through, granted, my memory is not what it was, but I'm like searching back. Like, is there one thing I can point to where I can say that was funny, that was human, that was respectful. I mean, I guess he's respectful to like Putin. Um, you know what I mean? Like I I got nothing. I got nothing.
Carmen Lezeth:Yeah. And look at this show isn't meant to be about being mean to Donald Trump or or being lovely to Donald Trump. It's about our conversations of whatever it is we're talking about. Yeah, trying to be like, oh my god, that's a good one. Yeah, this is not that show. So I I appreciate it. Uh, I think for me, the goal of this show is just to share our conversations that we usually have by ourselves because we think we're so funny. No, I'm just gonna pick that up, but we do. But also because I think we also learn from each other. And I thought there were so many times that I listened to people on both sides that are talking about stuff they know nothing about. And that was, you know what I mean? Like, and and my thing is like, I'm okay with you talking about whatever it is you're talking about, but when you make a mistake, then come to the table and say you made a mistake. And you all know, because you've seen it, every time we make a mistake, I write it at the bottom after I go into editing. And I realize, like, oh, we got that stat wrong or we did whatever. And we're never off the cuff so bad because both of us don't talk about what we don't know. Sorry, I don't mean to speak on your behalf, Andrea. No, 100%. I don't talk about what I don't know, and it's the line that will probably be on my grave site. I mean, I don't want that to be the line on my gravesite, but I say it all the time, don't I? I do.
Andrea:Yeah. I think we like number one, if we do be like, I actually don't know what I think, right? You know, or I I've read this somewhere, but I'm not really sure, or whatever, you know, but that's again, like you said, like this is if we weren't recording right now, that's exactly the way that we would talk to each other.
Carmen Lezeth:Yeah, because we're ridiculous. But, anyways, okay, so yeah, so I thought I would just read that. And um, and look at, I'm sorry that you think I don't respect the president of the United States. I don't. Yeah, I'm not sorry. It's not a question. I don't respect him. Um do something. Now that I said that, but now that I said that, um, Terry Moran, I don't know if you know who he is. I think if you saw his face, but for those of you who don't know, he's a veteran journalist who spent nearly three decades at ABC News as a correspondent and anchor. I think everybody would know his face.
Andrea:Yeah.
Carmen Lezeth:Um, he was terminated in June 2025 after social media posts criticized, uh he was criticizing the Trump administration. Um, and then he quickly launched on Substack, which a lot of journalists have gone to Substack to kind of reinvent their wish they'd go somewhere else, but whatever. There's not a lot of platforms that do that where they can write. But anyway, so I I follow him on Substack and I I listen to him. And um, so okay, so he wrote an article today. I'm just gonna read it. Andre, I know I didn't tell you about it, but this is what I'd be telling you on the phone. Um, the New York Times has reported that travelers visiting the United States from countries like Britain, France, Germany, and South Korea could soon have to undergo a review of up to five years of their social media history according to a proposal filed on Tuesday by the U.S. Customs and Border Protection Agency. The change would affect visitors eligible for the visa waiver program, which allows people from 42 countries to travel to the United States. They're going to be checking people's social media. We love you, Donald Trump. I'm so sorry.
Andrea:Can you imagine that's where we're at? Yeah, um, that's fucking crazy and just so dictatorial. Um I mean, like, you know, we grew up in the 70s and 80s, and I just remember that feeling that we had about like the Iron Curtain and how locked down everybody was, and and like, you know, they couldn't leave. Remember, people had to like be here for something else and they would defect, and it was like this huge deal. And that I think I told you way back when is like my one of my personal biggest fears about this is like what happens if we don't get to leave, which is kind of what happened, you know, with a lot of these iron curtain countries. Um and I feel like this is in some ways I don't want to say a first step, but a step towards isolating us. Yeah, you don't let people in, you don't let people out. Yeah, and you have your little serfdom, you know. And also, I just want to say, as we know, Trump got the you know coveted FIFA Peace Prize last week.
Carmen Lezeth:That was so odd and uncomfortable on so many levels.
Andrea:I mean the levels of embarrassment just wash over you at this point. Like you can't even, anyways, so um why did he get that? Because the world world world cup is coming to North America next year, which one would think means people will be traveling into the country from all of the other countries where football is a huge, huge priority.
Carmen Lezeth:But you what we mean by football is soccer because Americans don't know the difference, right?
Andrea:And so if you're putting these restrictions on people coming in from those countries, I'm guessing that they're probably not gonna want to come in.
Carmen Lezeth:Well, people don't want to come anyways, let's just be honest.
Andrea:Yeah, people don't want to come anyways, but like there are some who will come for the World Cup because that is a priority for people, although the tickets are out fucking rageous, but whatever. Um, because we did look at some.
unknown:I noticed it.
Carmen Lezeth:And I also saw your your your your lover on tennis. He re he uh retired, right? Don't you a couple years ago? No, no, I just saw some. Oh, who I you know, maybe I'm confused. Nadal, who's Nadal? Rafael Nadal. Yeah, Rafael Nadal. He retired two years ago, I think. Oh, why did I just see something the other day? I almost reached out to you. There was something, a whole article.
unknown:Okay.
Carmen Lezeth:There was something about him the other day, and I was like, oh, that's Andrea's lover. She loves actually now you're confusing me.
Andrea:No, it was 24. He retired in 24. Um, and then they had a big to-do in Paris for him, I think this past year, which was lovely.
Carmen Lezeth:But oh, that's what I was probably reading. Something that's in like May. Like tennis is Okay, but uh, look at I was thinking of you. Can't you see that part? I was like, oh, that's that's Andrea's lover. You know what I mean? Like, I mean, again, I I don't watch tennis, so you know.
Andrea:See, there were so many things about us that's my favorite athlete, not my lover. Lover who got me into tennis.
Carmen Lezeth:Okay, wait, is he not your path?
Andrea:Is he not my path? Well, I mean, if we had a path today.
Carmen Lezeth:All right, I'm sorry. I'm I you know, I'm just talking. I'm just you know, we're gonna get to your Hallmark lovers in a moment. Like, okay, let's go on to um I did we finish that? Yeah, we did, I guess. The soccer thing.
Andrea:And we were talking about like okay, so you have people theoretically traveling into the country, and then two years after that, you have the Olympics here well there in LA.
Carmen Lezeth:Let me tell you, I keep wishing that they would just all cancel. Oh my god. Olympic soccer, just just stop it. Don't come here. I'm embarrassed. Yeah, don't come here.
Andrea:Do not support this. We I know that sounds mean. I didn't want the Olympics in LA anyway, because it's always an absolute disaster for the city that has it.
Carmen Lezeth:Okay, here's the thing. I wanted it here because I wasn't here. I'm gonna go.
Andrea:Don't get me wrong.
Carmen Lezeth:That's what I'm saying. Like, and I want to volunteer, I want to be a part of it, but I wasn't here the first time when we had it before. When was it? It was like 1984, girl. But we still have all the stuff, you know what I mean? Like you can sometimes drive around and be like, oh, yeah, that's the stadium, blah, blah, blah, whatever. You know what I mean? So, but I yeah, it was 1984 because I remember I was in love with Greg Luganus.
Andrea:Oh, yes, Greg Luganus.
Carmen Lezeth:Wasn't that here? Was that here?
Andrea:I don't know if that was here.
Carmen Lezeth:No, no, no, it wasn't. It wasn't because I had to get up at three in the morning or something to watch him. No, no, no, no, no, it wasn't here. But I loved Greg Luganus. Do you remember him? That has nothing to do with the Olympics in LA. But yeah. And then to find out he was gay, clearly I have a type. George Michael, Greg Luganus. You know, I'm totally in love with Jonathan Bailey now, his interview with uh David Cornsweat. You know, I don't know if you saw that, but I was like, clearly, I have a type. They're all gay. Oh my god. Yeah, I don't know. I don't think I think they're more in touch with who they are, is what it is. Yes, yes, whole other company. The authenticity. The authenticity, right? So um, all right, so good news for South Florida, Miami. They um, I don't know if you know this, but they just uh witnessed a political shift last night. For the first time in 30 years, Miami has elected a Democratic mayor with former Miami Dade County Commissioner Eileen Higgins defeating the Trump-backed person whose name I choose not to remember or look up. So I just thought that was pretty awesome. And I thought I'd give a shout out because everyone knows how much I hate Florida more than I hate Texas. So I'm very proud of that. Yeah, those are those are the two states that I I'm just disappointed in on every level. So, and you heard about Jasmine Crockett, right? I did. I did. Yeah. Okay, can we talk about how we're a little bit sad though that those two great Democrats are gonna be fighting against each other for the Senate?
Andrea:Wait, who is she fighting?
Carmen Lezeth:Who's she Okay, it's gonna be Representative Jasmine Crockett of Dallas and State Representative James Tallerico of Austin. And actually, he he's actually pretty he's a pretty cool guy. He's also a Democrat. I don't know that much about him. All you need to know is let me just see if that's him. He built a reputation on around education, policy, and progressive legislative initiatives. I think if you saw his face, you would know who it is. Yeah, maybe but I I think what's kind of sad and great is that we have these two really amazing qualified people. Running. She got X'd out of her district because of the damassery of the governor of Texas and now the legisl the judicial people in the state have it. Was it federal who now said that it's okay for them to have their gerrymandered bullshittery?
Andrea:Yeah, the Supreme Court. Okay, that's it.
Carmen Lezeth:Was it the Supreme Court?
Andrea:Yeah. The Supreme Supreme. You know what? Fuck you, Supreme Court. What the fuck? Are you serious? Yeah. I think it was either late last week or I don't even know what day it is, but yeah, it's it's done.
Carmen Lezeth:That's why she's okay. So that makes more sense. Yeah. Okay. But you know what? What the fuck is with the Supreme Court? Was it wasn't unanimous, it was Republican versus like the six.
Andrea:You know, they're bought and paid for. They're so, you know.
Carmen Lezeth:Okay. I'm just gonna move on to the next one.
Andrea:I'm so sad. I want to just bring up just regarding elections, just to this has kind of been happening in my house. So Honduras had their elections last week, their presidential elections.
Carmen Lezeth:And people who don't know where Honduras is, it's Central America.
Andrea:Central America. Um, some people might know because Honduras was in the news just before their election, because um our dear respectful president uh Trump pardoned the former president of Honduras, who is a convicted drug trafficker, drug drug trafficker. And when I say drug trafficker, I'm not saying like he had a couple of joints in his pocket. I'm talking like hundreds of pounds of coke regularly coming through the United States. So he was in prison here in the United States. And, you know, I know that we are murdering people who are theoretically drug trafficking in the Caribbean, but for whatever reason, we decided to pardon this person. Um, so in the Honduran election, there was a gentleman who was of the same party as this guy, and then there was another guy who's kind of, and that's like the more of a like a socialist party, I believe. All the ins and outs. But anyway, so then there was another guy who was a little bit more of a hardliner, kind of similar to the guy from El Salvador. And so I said to my husband, I was like, Well, that's not good. I don't think that guy is great. You know, like why do we want someone that's the same as that? And he said, Because the country is kind of overrun with gangs. You know, you can't have a business. People, you know, this is why people come here, because their children get kidnapped and held for ransom and you know, all this kind of stuff with the gangs.
Carmen Lezeth:A lot of corruption, right?
Andrea:A lot of corruption, tons. And so this other guy, the guy who was not in the same party, said, you know, I'm gonna crack down, I'm gonna go totally hardline on it, and I'm gonna get rid of the gangs. But the guy who was in the same party is the one that was um as the guy who was just gonna, you know, essentially be sort of a yes man and continue with the ongoing corruption um, you know, that that I guess Trump is completely okay with. Um, so this election was a week ago Sunday. Number one, very enlightened to have it on a day off. Thank you very much. Like, yes, have it on a Sunday, lines of people out the door. Um they still don't have the results.
Carmen Lezeth:Right.
Andrea:Why? Because it looks like ballot boxes are being stuffed, right? That's and but it's like we are so involved in that election. We meaning Trump. Is not did he not only did he just pardon them, but he specifically said that he will either continue or you know, grant more aid to the country if they elect this person in this particular party. And it's just I don't think people really understand sometimes sort of the how deep our fingers are into the workings of other countries, and it's it's just it's so frustrating. And I think that certainly here it seems he has whatever the opposite of the Midas touches this year, anyway, as far as elections go.
Carmen Lezeth:Um because he keeps losing.
Andrea:Because he keeps losing, yes, you know, and knock on wood, he loses over there, but it's just crazy. It's just crazy.
Carmen Lezeth:I mean, I think this goes back to the conversation of respect, right? I mean, I love that you brought this up. I kind of didn't want to bring it up at all. I I was trying to stay away from the whole Pete Hegseth killing people in boats thing. But you know, if we go back to the respect thing of Donald Trump, like the only reason why he's involved is because he wants to continue having power over as many countries as possible, over as many people as possible. Why else would you, why would you pardon somebody if you're so against drugs and that's your argument for killing people in the Caribbean in boats with no due process whatsoever? And don't come at me with what the fuck due process is. You know what due process is being a good, decent human being. I just get pissed because people are like, that's how they for citizens. Fuck you, no, it's not. And secondly, if you're a good human being, you're always gonna find out information first before you kill people. What has happened to us that we are willing to kill people? I'm sorry, I digress. My point is the whole thing with Donald Trump, it's all about having as much power as possible. Because why else would you pardon someone who is who's been convicted of, it's been proven that he was bringing in tons of drugs into this country. But you pardon him. But they, you know what? It's not like I feel like I'm preaching to the choir on the one hand, right? People who watch our show are like, yeah, you girls are crazy. You know what I mean? Like, whatever. It's funny to just listen to you. But the people who are the hardcore Trump people, they don't want to see it. They don't want to see the contradictions. No, and they, I mean, there are so many of these shows where there are young men um who are like, you know, Gen Z, brilliant, like the Aaron Parnesses, and I know you don't watch TikTok and stuff, but and they have Trump supporters on, and they're not even they're not even trying that hard to make them look stupid, they're just trying to have a conversation, and Trump supporters have no answers, nothing to back up the bullshittery that they claim to want to, and it's so maddening because there are no answers because that's why there are no excuses, there are no answers, there are no facts that they have to back them up because it's lies and you know, smoke and mirrors.
Andrea:Who does your husband want to win? Um, he I can't clearly I want to say his name is Salvador. I can't he wants to win. That's right, I'll look it up. I'll look it up. But I mean he wants to confirm that guy. Yeah. And like I said, I you know, I was like, I don't really, you know, like I'm not really down with like a hardline person or whatever. So you don't want the yes man to Trump. Right. Well, and also he was like when you live in it, I mean you and I have had this conversation before. Like, when you grow up in a country that's cor like that's corrupt like that for generations, like this, yeah, yeah. Yeah, I guess, right? But you have you have no expectation that it's going to be good, that it's going to go in your favor, that anyone is actually going to try to do well for you, right? So there's just a different feeling about it. It's not even cynicism, as much as like, my expectation is that the person or people in power are trying to harm me. He wants the hardline guy because this guy's like, I've had enough. Get the gangs off of our streets. I will throw them all into a nasty prison and make it really, you know, unpleasant and uncomfortable to be associated with that. And so there's that part of me that's, you know, little lefty that's like, well, human rights, you know. And so Walter was like, yeah, he addressed that and said, hey, if you want them to have human rights, you come and take them. I will give them to you, and you can go and give them their human rights. But I'm gonna get them off the streets and make it really, really.
Carmen Lezeth:I know, but for me, it's even it's so much simpler. The line, I just I don't want anything, it's so sad that I feel this way. Like, like I can never leave the country until somebody else comes into power. But because I'll never be let back in because my social media will be fucked. But here's the thing like, I don't want Donald Trump to have power over the president of Honduras. Right, I just don't. I because I don't trust him. So I'm with and I'm with Walter. I get it, but it's kind of that weird thing where we're just in this bad space, you know, and I don't trust, I do not trust our government, I don't trust our Congress, I don't don't trust our Supreme Court, I don't trust the checks and balances because they've been broken. You know, I don't know. So I have another thing that kind of made me sad. This is more local, and but it goes into who have we become. So the San Diego Tribune, and I know you don't know this, but the commuters demanded an explanation after police closed Interstate 5 in San Diego County for eight hours on Friday to negotiate with the man threatening to jump from an overpass. Okay, so there was somebody who was going to commit suicide. The police closed off interstate, which is just it was just bad timing on so many levels. Eight hours. And there was like people couldn't go to the bathroom, so they did on the highway. There were kids who were just out of their minds in cars, and and but clearly it was badly done. I mean, I don't know why they would have that. That's a huge highway. They could have done something, it's the only way really in and out of that particular area. But I'm confused why all the lanes were anyway. There was something happened because usually they could do like the first two lanes or something around wherever he was gonna jump or whatever it is, it was just badly done. But when I was reading some of the things people were saying, and and you can tell me if I'm wrong, I almost want you to tell me I'm wrong. We are so we don't care about life anymore. The way people were talking, they were like, I missed my Christmas party, I had to go back because me and my wife were going to the company Christmas party, and and they were so angry about it. And I'm like, okay, but they saved a guy's life. But I mean, but I wasn't there, and then people, it's just the way in which people are talking about it with no compassion or empathy, or I can understand being like, you know what? We we missed our Christmas party and it it was horrible to be there, and the they they did it the wrong way, you know, where where were the police or something? But it's the crassness in the disinterest in the fact that somebody was about to kill themselves. Okay, I'm ready to hear what you're about to say because I know it's gonna be.
Andrea:Well, I have a couple of things, some of which I'm sure you'll disagree with, but yes. Number one, people are broken. We we and I thought this a few years ago. Everything that happened with COVID, like, you know, you do you remember in uh I guess it was like 2021, I guess it was twenty-one, when when Biden was elected, it may have been like the inaugural thing, and it was like people came in cars or something to the inauguration, and people were masked up. I I'm just having like a really big memory of it, but yeah, we lost a lot of people around the world, but obviously in this country as well, and there was no collective mourning of that. We have memorials every year for 9-11, we have you know other types of memorials for things. There was nothing that was really done to, you know, for us collectively to say there was a lot of loss, not just of life, but just of a way of life in many ways that we all experience and we've kind of just like shoved it under the bed. And I I think that those kinds of things, those kinds of rituals are really important for helping people move on. It just turned into this really political like mask, no mask, you know, vaccine, no vaccine. It just turned into something completely separate than like people died, and people died alone. People died in really ugly, painful ways. Uh, you know, remember people couldn't have funerals. I mean, it was hard. It was really hard, and we never, I think, reckoned with that. And I think it I really believe that it just did something to people, like it kind of turned us in a way.
Carmen Lezeth:I would even, I mean, I I I agree with you. I think um what I was more surprised at, and it's only I think it's only because I have such a good friend who is Asian. I mean, I have more than one of them, but Mia is one of my you know best friends. Um, I was shook by people arguing about masks. That's when I started seeing the crassness of the human spirit, because everyone was obsessed with how wearing a mask is going to hurt and bother them, right? Like instead of what a lot of people, um, Asian in Korean culture is like, I have a sniffle, I don't want to get my neighbor, I don't want to get my co-workers sick. So they like wearing a mask, and I'm not blanketing all Asian people, but I understood this immediately, especially after talking to Mia. Like, it's part of the culture that you are compassionate and considerate of. So it wasn't even about COVID. If they had a sniffle, they would wear a mask. It was a normal part of who, way pre-COVID. Yeah, wait, wait, wait. I mean, it's just part of the case. It's about respect, being respectful. But here in the United States, all these people were just so just anti-wanting to be helpful and kind and considerate, and you know what I mean? And I I am grateful because that's when I had to have my operation, and that's when I had to um go in for all that therapy for six months before my operation. And I we we had to wear masks. Um, and I'm just grateful because if I had known how hot my surgeon was, I probably would have been like a little. It's so true though, right? It always comes back to Dr. Garrett. Just take off your mask for one time. We did get to see it after. So weird. Hello, Doctor. It's so funny because that's what I remember most about COVID. I wonder why. Not not the fucking the stupid surgery, but just that like I never saw his face in a way. I think it was good. Because I'd be all like, even in pain, I would have been all like, hi, Dr. Gill. I would have been working my magic, but anyways. Um but I yeah, I I I think seeing the United States be what it is now, and being able to kind of go back and see where it all began, it's we are just such a we we don't care about each other, and maybe we never I don't know what it is. Like it makes me really sad. Um, because you're right, you're right about COVID. I do remember that they had Biden had, and it wasn't enough. I know what you're saying, but remember they had like at the Lincoln um uh I forget, you know, they had all the candles and the whatever, and it was televised.
Andrea:I was thinking of, yeah.
Carmen Lezeth:Yeah, yeah, and they had all the whatever, and I was like, okay, but I still felt like as a country, we did not do justice to the people that died, and it was a lot of people, more than 1.1 million people have died from COVID in the United States since the pandemic began. Yeah. Peak year, we had 467,000 in 2021. That was the peak year. It's terrible.
Andrea:I mean, because it was awful. You remember in New York they had the like refrigeration trucks, and I mean people who obviously couldn't go in and be with their loved ones when they were sick.
Carmen Lezeth:But I think this is this is kind of what we're talking about, is we we have become a country. I don't know if it's globally or whatever, but I feel like we don't we don't care about it.
Andrea:Okay, so this is the other thing I was gonna say, and this is the thing that I know. Huh? About the San Diego thing? No, about this, but about this topic. I believe that part of that, a big part of it, is due to social media and the fact that you are encouraged, it's it's you get you know uh affirmation from being shitty on social media. And I think you know, people want to like out snark the other and those kinds of things. And I think I think that has a huge plays a huge, huge role.
Carmen Lezeth:I'm gonna disagree with you because I think for all of that, there's also the other side of it, right? There's first of all, most things that I watch and listen to on social media are not that because you make choices on how to use social media. So I hear you, but I think if we had social media or not, I'm just gonna say this. I still think we'd be here. That's why Donald Trump is in the I disagree.
Andrea:I just don't, I don't think we would be here at all. And I agree, like you're not seeing that because you use social media a certain way. A lot of other people don't.
Carmen Lezeth:No, no, no, I know, but we need to learn. We're going back to the conversation we have. We need to learn how to use social media, but that's not the tech's fault. That's because people don't use social media.
Andrea:I'm not saying it's the tech's fault. I am saying that, yeah, because of the way people are on social media, that plays, in my opinion, a huge, huge role in this lack of care and this crassness and this lack of empathy and all of that. Because it's I think we'd be hearing something.
Carmen Lezeth:I mean, unless we, I mean, we'll never know. But here's the thing I think as a country, when you will when you are able to elect someone like Donald Trump, it says so much about you. And I don't think that's about social media because I think that's more about television, if you want to really talk about it. I mean, you know, like if you want to lump in television and streaming, we can do that. And that I would agree with, like being able to watch him come down that escalator and look at all the gold and look at and all the and the personification of what they made him. I mean, I think that has more to do with it than social media. I we're all you and I are always gonna disagree on social media. My thing is, is I am on it all the time, and I'm not devoid of all the negative stuff, but I feel like when this, when we have this argument or conversation about social media, I feel like I have a different viewpoint because I'm in it. Um, and I think you know, we can and we're gonna talk about something better after this. But I think the problem with social media is that people don't take it seriously enough that it's it's not like real life at all, but it is a different life. And if you're gonna be on it, you need to be able to understand that there are good places to go, there are bad places to go. There's Good ways to have conversations, there are bad ways to have conversations. But net, net, it's not negative, not to me, because I feel like I've learned so much because of social media and I've connected with so many people. And I wouldn't want to get rid of social media. I know you're about to jump through the screen and beat the fuck out of me, but I get it. I think they're, you know, you and Alden have the same kind of feeling about it. And I get it. Um, the problem is social media isn't going anywhere. So people need to learn how to do it. No, I know.
Andrea:I'm just saying, I'm, you know, uh, I think you are rewarded for being an asshole on social media, and that's a huge part of where why I think you're rewarded to be an asshole whether you're on social media or not, because we are a crap.
Carmen Lezeth:We've we've rewarded one of the biggest assholes with being a king. I know I'm I'm never leaving the country until we have a dealer. They're gonna be like, we don't even need five years of your social media comment. We just need to be like just the last three weeks. Just the last week, you out. I always look at I look at you and I, we're we're always gonna have this conversation about social media. I think what we can agree on, it's not going anywhere. And that's what scares me is that people keep either avoiding it completely. Um, and you know, and that's although there are stats that just came out on AARP and LinkedIn, I just read it this morning that uh actually more people over 50 are much more tech savvy than they thought, which I thought was an interesting um stat uh because you know, we always think it's the younger generation that is so up on everything. And the other thing is, I think I I'm on social media. We're doing it right now. You know what I mean? I can't like not use it. I just think people are leaning more towards being self-absorbed, inconsiderate, selfish as all hell. And I don't know why. I don't think it's social media. I think it's a much bigger problem than social media. I just do I know. Agree to disagree. I said agree to disagree. Okay, all right. Well, all right, whatever. Fuck you. No, I'm just gonna like I hate you, whatever. Yeah. All right, let's talk about your favorite movie that you talked about the other day. Not your favorite movie, that's that maybe okay. Uh, we're just gonna do our little snippet on Hallmark.
Andrea:Yep. You I just want to say, I wanna say about social media. I am absolutely thrilled to report that my hotel TV has the Hallmark channel.
Carmen Lezeth:Okay, I was like, we're not gonna talk about social media again, are we? Okay, so all right, you text me the other day. I just want everyone to understand that Andrea is not this person at all. So the fact that you're texting me, uh, The Nine Lives of Christmas, which was made in 2014.
Andrea:Um, it's about now. I have to tell you. I'll I wrote it out.
Carmen Lezeth:I wrote it's about a handsome firefighter named Zachary who adopts a straight cat Ambrose and through that unexpected champion uh companionship opens his heart to love. He meets Marley, Marilee, a veterinarian student, and the story blends cats, romance, and holiday spirit. The two actors I want to give them their names is Brandon Routh and Kimberly Sustad, who are in that. Uh and we forgot what's his name from because I that's what I said. I said the thing that's great, Gregory Harrison. Oh, yes, yes, Gregory Harrison, yeah, old school actor from I forget what chief like the old like fire chief or whatever. Yeah, he plays the captain. The old fire chief.
Andrea:I love it.
Carmen Lezeth:Not like clearly you don't watch 911 or any of the shows to know that he's the captain, not the chief. That's just kidding. I'm just messing with you. I'm just messing with you. Um, okay, what did you like about it?
Andrea:I well, it was like a slightly different story. Obviously, I'm an animal lover. I love my cat. So I like that there was like a little, it was like a little romance between the cats as well. Yeah. So I kind of that was sort of fun for me. I was like, oh, this is kind of different. And um, what else did I like about it? I don't know. I just like I got invested, and then there was something like I was gonna have to get on a call or whatever. And luckily, thank God, you taught me how to record. So I was like, oh, I'm gonna want to watch this again. Like, I'm invested. I need to know how this ends. So I like recorded the last hour because I couldn't record from the beginning for whatever reason. Um, so then I went back and watched the end. So cute. Oh my god, that's hilarious.
Carmen Lezeth:And then you told me there's a sequel, yeah. And you'll have to, you'll, you'll watch it. That I and I don't want to be so mean, but it doesn't work because they're older and he doesn't look as charismatic as he does.
Andrea:I'm so kind of like I wrote to you, I was like, I don't need a sequel for any of these, they are their own contained unit, which is perfect, and I just want it to be that.
Carmen Lezeth:I I will say this. I was thinking about why I do like Hallmark, like without being funny and cheesy about it, whatever, like why we do watch it. I think it's also the women and the men are all age appropriate. You know what I mean? Like they tend to be age appropriate, even if you think that there's one actress there, and I'll just say she is the queen of indicating. I will tell you off-screen who she is. I bet you can guess. There's one actress there that looks, she looks really young, but she's actually like 50 years old. So she just has a very youthful look and she's very tiny and the whole bit, you know what I mean? But that's the only one where I'm always like, you know, but then I realize she's actually a woman, and that's really on me, thinking that she's too young. But um so I think that's one of the things I like is that everybody's age appropriate, is what I'm saying. I I like that, and also I love that you got kind of you were talking about the clothing and the costuming. No offense, but whoever does all the clothing and costuming for Hallmark does a really bad job. And then it's also a good job because Andrea thought that one of the shows that is out today was out in like you were like the 1990s or something. She's like, I was looking at I think it was back in the 90s. I was like, baby, that was this year. 2025.
Andrea:It's like that was new this year. With the eyebrows and the scars, like I don't understand, you know, what is going on here.
Carmen Lezeth:Yeah, I think they try to make everything very neutral, very bland, very supposed to be sort of timeless-ish, unless it's always present.
Andrea:Which I also like. I really enjoy those. You do, I do, yeah.
Carmen Lezeth:I don't like those. Yeah, I I I hate those. I don't like those. I don't like the princess things.
Andrea:Yeah, yeah, I'm not into the princess ones. I don't want to say, I don't know the name of it, doesn't matter, but it was kind of funny because it was like making fun of itself.
Carmen Lezeth:Okay, which one was it? What's that? Which one? Like, what tell me what it was about? I didn't know.
Andrea:It was like this woman who wanted to have a great Christmas and she had a checklist, and then there was like a a lady who had a TV show, and she somehow like through magic, Christmas magic, she came through off of the screen and came to help this lady have her like magical Christmas with her family, but she had this book that was like all of the holiday movie tropes, right? And so she'd be like, rule number 35 says that there has to be a magical moment when you discover that you're in love, or whatever it might be. Like it was it was kind of funny that way. Um, because it was she just had all of the things that we talk about, right? Part of the tropes, and it was in her magical little Christmas book.
Carmen Lezeth:Oh, I don't know that one. That's so funny. I don't know that.
Andrea:It was on really late.
Carmen Lezeth:Well, I'm laughing too because I'm like, because I am the hallmark of a Shanado, I guess. Like I just I do know a lot of them though. I do watch them. So I you know, we've talked about this again. They're just kind of that soothing background thing, but I loved that you text me that for so many reasons. Oh my god.
Andrea:Well, I mean, what's not to love about a firefighter? Let's start with that.
Carmen Lezeth:And he's a good looking man, and actually, at one point I think he was up for being Superman at one point. Yeah, well, I mean, doesn't he look like it?
Andrea:He could she seemed really normal again. I always have a problem with the makeup. I'm like, can what's happening with the eyelashes?
Carmen Lezeth:She's a constant, she's a she's a constant actress on Hallmark.
Andrea:Yeah, I'm just I just get judgy about that kind of stuff because I'm like, why would she have false lashes on right now?
Carmen Lezeth:I know, but we've always done that. We've done that. Okay, one of my favorite things about me and Andrea, I probably shouldn't share this because it makes us look small, but we would watch politics together or we would text. Well, at first we would do it together because we would hang out, right? We would always hang out, whatever. And we we we would go like I think one of the things I remember with you most is going to Al Gore's um speech here at UCLA. Do you remember that? I do, I do, but we would always talk about politics or text each other during debates or whatever, and the topic, like if anyone stole our shit then was never about whatever the issues were, it was always about what is with her hair. I don't know. Like, what is that tie is not working for me? Whatever. Like, yeah, I mean, we were but we were kind of mean about it, but it was fucking funny as all of them. Or I love when we would be texting and it would be the same thing that we're both texting at the same time about whatever there's total substantive politics, um, and also someone needs to powder his nose because I expect that's time for one more second. And it's so petty, but it was hilarious. And I said the other day we should watch Hallmark together and talk about yeah, it's so wrong. I still want you to watch the ones that I sent you, but I just don't see them coming on anytime soon. So there's one that you said was on YouTube, so I might be able to catch that, but no, no, like I want the one with you know our man, um, which again I'm always gonna do this, always gonna do it.
Andrea:Who's that again? Hi.
Carmen Lezeth:It's Warren Christie.
unknown:Oh my god.
Carmen Lezeth:You know what? It's so funny because last week I did um, I I, you know, because I go in and I edit, so you should go and look at it because I put two different pictures up. But I you know, I wanted to make sure people got the full flavor.
Andrea:You know what I mean there's one guy, I don't know his name. We'll have to talk about this after the show. Who you think he's hot? It's just no, it's uh I'm like, well, please stop.
Carmen Lezeth:Please oh, there's a there's a lot of them. There's like two of them that I'm like, how are you working? How are you working as a romantic lead? How are you doing this? Yeah, and I'm like looking up, are you related to somebody? You know, because I gotta be like he's the producer's nephew or something like that. There's nothing I can't figure it out, so yeah, there's a couple of those that'll just happen. But but I can can I just give people the inside joke about Warren Christie? That's what my surgeon looked like, kind of sort of. There's that, yeah, that's what happened. But imagine he has a you know mask for six months, right? And you can't see anything but his eyes, and sometimes he'd come in with the head thing. What do you call it? This when you surge when you do surgery thing, yeah, so it only see like this much, and then when he revealed, they'll be like, Ala, instantaneously, but still wrong. Oh my god, it's a miracle I can walk. I'm so drunk out right into your arms. You know what was so weird was afterwards when I had to go see him, like it was so embarrassing. I mean, you know me, I had my face on, like, I'm not gonna, but down inside I was dying, you know. But I loved him. I told him I loved him, he knew it. It was fine, whatever. Okay, and I'm sure his wife was happy about that too. So, anyways, but girl, this was fun. Thank you so much, as always. Um, how long are you away for? I mean, no, don't tell us that. We'll talk about it later. Um, on your island retreat. Uh, enjoy, and I'll see you when you get back. And remember, everyone, at the end of the day, it really is all about the joy. Thank you, everyone. Bye.
Andrea:Bye.
Carmen Lezeth:Thanks for stopping by. All about the joy. Be better and stay beautiful, folks. Have a sweet day.
Podcasts we love
Check out these other fine podcasts recommended by us, not an algorithm.
