Thirsty Topics podcast

Legacy And Lessons: Remembering Jesse Jackson for 2/19/26

• Lawrence Elrod & Meryl Klemow

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We honor Jesse Jackson’s legacy with empathy and nuance, unpack the weight of Olympic pressure on a 21‑year‑old star, and examine how bystanders can act wisely when racism erupts mid‑flight. We balance hard news with media literacy, community care, and a TaskRabbit love story.

• Jesse Jackson’s civil rights impact and human side
• mourning without erasing complexity
• history’s urgency in schools
• Olympic pressure, choking, and mental skills
• compassion for invisible battles online
• racist incident on a flight and de‑escalation
• bystander steps that prioritize safety
• Cobain case talk, conspiracy vs evidence
• music industry power and masters ownership
• Rhode Island rink shooting and media framing
• centering victims and avoiding scapegoating
• TaskRabbit romance and modern serendipity
• upcoming show details and listener support

We appreciate you watching us and listening to us and telling everyone else who we are and you know sharing


Tired of surface-level inspiration? This raw, transformative documentary digs deep into turning pain into purpose. Mainstream platforms wouldn't touch these powerful stories of resilience, but you can access them now on elrodvnetwork.com.

Tired of surface-level inspiration? This raw, transformative documentary digs deep into turning pain into purpose. Mainstream platforms wouldn't touch these powerful stories of resilience, but you can access them now on elrodvnetwork.com.

Tired of surface-level inspiration? This raw, transformative documentary digs deep into turning pain into purpose. Mainstream platforms wouldn't touch these powerful stories of resilience, but you can access them now on elrodvnetwork.com.

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Hello, and thank you for listening to Thirsty Topics podcast! I'm Lawrence Elrod, and every week Meryl Klemow and I dive deep into the stories that matter, the conversations that shape our world."

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SPEAKER_00:

Hello everyone, welcome to this week's episode of Thirsty Topics. Hey Merrill, how are you?

SPEAKER_03:

Hey, hey, hey, I'm so good. I can I just heard myself breathing and I'm I just gave myself the ick. It's creeping me out, but yeah, besides that, I'm really good. How are you?

SPEAKER_00:

I am doing great. I'm doing great. I can't complain. Did you have a good weekend?

SPEAKER_03:

I did. Everyone's been nice to us since last week, right?

SPEAKER_00:

Yes, everyone's been nice. Okay.

SPEAKER_03:

I told everyone, I'm gentle parenting everyone that if you got a problem, take it to me, not Lawrence. I was like, I was on a walk, and I'm like, if they only knew that Lawrence is the sweetest person to ever live, no one would ever write anything mean.

SPEAKER_00:

I appreciate that, Merrill. Well, I'm going to start off uh unfortunately with some sad news. Um the famous civil right uh out uh icon Jesse Jackson has passed away at the age of 84.

SPEAKER_03:

Wow.

SPEAKER_00:

Um the Reverend Jesse Jackson, a towering civil rights leader whose moral vision and fiery or uh oratory reshaped the Democratic Party and America, has died at age 84. His son Jesse Jackson Jr. told CNN that his father's greatest contribution was giving light to people who found themselves in dark places. Some of the tributes that came in, uh President Donald Trump praised him as a force of nature like few others before him, while former President Barack Obama described him as a true giant. In other tributes, civil rights activists Reverend Al Sharpton described Jackson as his mentor and a movement unto himself. While Bernie's King posted a photo of Jackson alongside her father, Reverend Martin Luther King Jr. with the words both now ancestors.

SPEAKER_03:

Aw, I mean, I feel like he accomplished more in one lifetime than most like ten people do put together.

SPEAKER_00:

I agree. And and you know, the thing is that um, you know, basically a piece of history has left us. Um you know, a lot of people forget, and most young people don't know that um when Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated, um Jesse Jackson Jr. was on the balcony with him next to him.

SPEAKER_03:

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00:

And you know, he obviously started Operation Push. Um, he also, you know, headed a lot of different programs that helped a lot of people. Uh, he ran for for the president's um position back in the 80s. Um, one of the things I would say is that you know, the Reverend Jesse Jackson was not a perfect man. Obviously, he's made mistakes just like all of us. Um, and and the reason I'm highlighting on this is that um most of the tributes that I've seen online have been very, very, very um, very supportive. Uh condolences to the family. But every so often I've seen post about well, Jackson made these comments about Barack Obama. I didn't like that.

SPEAKER_02:

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00:

But you know, the thing is is that everyone makes mistakes.

SPEAKER_02:

Right.

SPEAKER_00:

And we've all make mistakes, me included. Uh, I don't think this is the time to start nitpicking at his life. Um, I think overall he has a great heart and he's done a lot for humanity, not just African Americans, but humanity as a whole. I mean, what do you what do you think, Merle?

SPEAKER_03:

I think you're right. And I I do also think that um just because people are in the same party, they also can like criticize each other as long as it's done respectfully and maybe looking back, it could have been done a little bit differently. But I do think that like no one is a sellout or a traitor if they call someone out that they feel like maybe things can go differently or they can just state their honest opinion and it doesn't have to be perfectly lined up like with what everyone wants them to feel. You know, a lot of I know a lot of people got flack for like towards the end, kind of saying, no, I don't think Joe Biden should be president anymore, and they were kind of seen as like traitors to the Democratic Party and everything, but I think we should give people the space, and especially someone like Jesse Jackson, who was in it for so long and has seen so much, and like he knows things that we may not or that we definitely don't know, you know, and so it's like his perspective is probably so much different than we can imagine that um I think you're right to look at like the sum of a whole, does this person mean well? What are their actions? Like, you know, where where do they put their money? Where do they put their like you know, their family and everything? So um, yeah, I think it's very sad.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah, I agree. And um uh I know that his his children gave a press conference earlier today, and um, you know, the things that stood out to me was he was a great icon, um, a leader uh for civil rights. A lot of people kind of forget sometimes that you know he has a father too, and you know, his kids are you know, to the whole world, he's a civil rights icon, but to them, he's just dad. And you know, something that stood out, and I don't remember which one said this, but they had stated that they honestly didn't think their father was gonna live past 35. Wow. And to put that into context, if you think about what his life was dedicated to, um, you know, protesting for rights, um, being heard, civil rights. You know, back in the era where he was in his 20s and 30s, even younger, you know, people that look like me get hurt or killed. It's a whole different situation. So I understood what they meant when they said that statement. So um to live through what he lived through um and still had a great life, um, and gave so much to all of us, I think is a blessing for everyone.

SPEAKER_03:

I do too. And especially how you said when he was growing up, it was like that. But even now, now we know there's so much weirdness and hatred in the world that even as like in his 60s or 70s, his prop his kids were probably still um nervous about him making public appearances, and you know, especially how things have been for the past couple of years of just being worried about any type of activist being in danger, you know, when they go out, and especially like he unfortunately he had to endure so much hate, so definitely an icon.

SPEAKER_00:

And you know, the thing is too, is I think it's so important not to forget history. You have to remember history in order so you don't repeat it.

SPEAKER_03:

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00:

Because this country does not want to go back to where we were decades ago. And if you think about it, you know, Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated a year before I was born. So if you put that into context, that wasn't that far ago. That the long ago that it was in that bad situation. And you know, the things that he's done as far as you know, one of his famous sayings is you know, to tell people, tell yourself, I am somebody. And to me, that that's a strong statement because he's a man that believed in the rights of people, especially the rights of his is his people, and he wasn't afraid to stand up and deal with any kind of consequences that came his way for being the man he was. And you can't, you know, you can't do anything but respect that.

SPEAKER_03:

Yep, absolutely. He was authentic till the very end.

SPEAKER_00:

Yes, definitely, definitely. So um again, um, I do want to give my condolences to the family, uh, his friends, and uh, I also want to touch on something too, which kind of surprised me. But Jesse Jackson's neighbors would say how you know he would, you know, come out to you know, block events and stuff like that. And like his neighbor likes to barbecue, so he would come over and get some barbecue, and he joked that well, even if he's not supposed to have it, you know, he would come over a plate, you know, and it was it was kind of a chuckling of it because it's a different side to him. Yeah, as this very powerful, serious figure, but you know, he was human too. You know, he liked the guy that barbecue, yeah.

SPEAKER_03:

That's my kind of person, by the way, too. I'd be right there with him.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah, and you know, it to me it's kind of a shame, and I've said this before, that a lot of times you don't get to know about these these icons until after they pass away, as far as things that you wish you had known when they were there, uh, when they were still alive. But you know, he was a a a well-rounded person. Yes, he had a very serious mission of what he did, but he also knew how to enjoy life. And I think that was a good thing to hear.

SPEAKER_03:

Yeah, me too. I'm I'm sure there are probably like scholarships left in his name, and like if people wanted to either donate or like I'm sure his his financial memory lives on in many different ways, whether it's like programs or foundations or scholarships kind of thing. I'll have to check that out too.

SPEAKER_00:

Sure. I'm I'm quite sure they're probably gonna make an announcement or something because I know as of this morning, um, they haven't announced the formal arrangements yet. Um I believe his body may be um uh lay at state um at the um at the Rainbow Bush Bush um headquarters. Um again, nothing has been settled yet. It's probably gonna come out sometime, maybe this evening or maybe tomorrow. But um, you know, just honor honor people that are here, you know. I believe that giving people their flowers while they're here where they can still, you know, exactly.

SPEAKER_03:

And remembering that for the most part, all of these people are fathers, sons, brothers, you know, they're actual real people. And I always try to think about that where I'm like, okay, if this was my mom or dad, like how would I want to have that, you know, that how would I want to treat that person? So yeah.

SPEAKER_00:

Oh, yeah. And you know, the thing is is that they did state that they knew this was coming, it wasn't a surprise to them, but it's still hard because it's it's their dad, you know.

SPEAKER_03:

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00:

So um let's definitely keep them in our prayers and our thoughts.

SPEAKER_03:

Absolutely, and I hope they continue to teach about what he did too in school, because I feel like that's also so important. Because like I'm sure a lot of my friends' kids that are now like five or six, like if they're not taught about it, this is not stuff that will be like in the you know, in the mainstream public, basically, they'll have to find it. So I hope it still stays at the front of like what we all know.

SPEAKER_00:

That is so true. Very good point, Merle. Very good point.

SPEAKER_03:

Um, okay, well, this next story has so many like different parts to it. We can talk about we can talk about all of them. But basically, um skater uh Ilya Molinan uh admitted he was not ready to ham handle the Olympic pressure. Now, a few days ago, um, so he basically he entered the 2026 Winter Games under an intense spotlight. His nickname was Quad God because he was so good at doing like the quad, um, the quad flip surf, you know, spins that they named him this. Uh, he was heavily expected to win gold, but a shocking performance left him off the podium entirely. Uh, he gave one of the most, as I said, like shocking. I don't want to call it a flop, but I mean it was really like in in comedy we call that bombing, which I've done many times, but you know, he this is a little bit different when you're on the stage of the actual Winter Olympics. Um as I mentioned, he he was heavily expected to win, and then he was deducted 72 points during a mistake-filled free skate. Uh, he was like a lot of his quads that people know him for, he turned into just like single loops, basically. And then you can see right when he was done, his face is just like totally crestfallen. I mean, you can tell it's probably a mix of disappointment, shock, you know, it's like your worst, your worst nightmare coming true. Um, so in the subsequent days, what has passed, kind of what I want to bring up now, is like, you know, and this is a young person, a 21-year-old, that has had to deal with all of this mental load of like being the the number one fan favorite, then failing in front of people, and then all of a sudden people want like, what have you learned and reflected on? And it's only been like two days and everything. But I think this young man has done an amazing job of like uh he's already reflected and kind of come back from it with the mindset of like, you know, the pressure wasn't right for me, and this is I'm learning, I'm young, I'm still like, you know, just learning how to handle all of it. Um, and yeah, I mean, he's also the first skater ever to land seven quadrums in a single program. So it was almost like he he girl bossed too high to the sun, you know, he got too close to basically like being perfection, and then understandably he got like nerves and nerves just got the best of him. But I still think like overall, this is a good tale because this person has overcome so much, probably embarrassment and just being mad at his own self that I feel like he's going to be unstoppable because he'll probably work with like the athletes all do, he'll work with like psychology conditioning coaches and like he'll get this, you know, squared away basically. And I think it's just a very interesting story about pressure and choking and coming back.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah, and you know, the one thing I want to tell people, remind him he's only 21 years old. I mean, he's still really a kid, okay. So, and you know, it was probably one of those things, and I'm I'm just assuming here the pressure probably got to him. He realized he made a mistake or was about to, and everything just kind of went downhill. That's not the end of his career, you know, things happen, okay. Yeah, you know, people need to understand that someone who's 21 is a different person than they are at 25. Those are different breaks in life. So the way you handle pressure and and different things are going to be different. So, you know, I would tell people they should not freak out. You know, stuff happens, he'll be back, you know. So I would just say, you know, I tip my hat off for everything he's accomplished, and I don't think we're we're done seeing what he he's capable of doing in the future.

SPEAKER_03:

Exactly. And he in his Instagram post, people were a little bit worried because he definitely was posting kind of serious stuff, understandably, but he's also 21. So imagine what we were posting back then when we were in our fields, you know. But he he mentioned um kind of keep in mind that people are fighting invisible battles that you don't know. And then he even mentioned he was going through insurmountable pressure. Um, he said it all builds up as these moments flash between your eyes, resulting in an inevitable crash. So I feel like, you know, knowing that this is a 20-year-old boy, what we don't need to do is like make him feel terrible or make jokes about it or whatever. You know, it'd be one thing if he was like, oh my gosh, I messed up, but he seems to like he's literally saying I'm going through some battles and this pressure got to me. So it just reminds me of like when ballet people, you know, are perfect to every T and they are on their tippy toes and they're just like perfect, and then one day they snap and they just I mean that's what the whole movie Black Swan is about and stuff, but but it's like these positions where you have to be like you can't have a hairpin of a difference or make like a 1% mistake. It's sometimes people just go a little, you know, have a meltdown afterwards.

SPEAKER_00:

That is true, that is true, and you know, he he realizes that hey, you know, he messed up and that he was off his game, you know, and you know, unless he tells you something differently, I I wouldn't look at it as any more than that.

SPEAKER_03:

No, this also like sets him up in a in a strategic way for if down the road, like it makes his name more recognizable if he was going to write a book, or like not only now can he talk about being the quad god and like being an Olympic athlete, but now he has this whole story of like the texture of basically what happened at the 2026 Olympics and how he overcame it. And I just think like he may not realize it, but that may have been like one of the best things to ever happen to him in his like later later on in life.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah, it's gonna make for one hell of a storyline, huh?

SPEAKER_03:

Exactly. I'm of course I'm in Hollywood. I'm like, I see movies, I see books, I'm like, let's monetize his nervous breakdown.

SPEAKER_00:

Well, I can't wait to see that movie come out.

SPEAKER_03:

Exactly. Yep.

unknown:

Wow.

SPEAKER_00:

Don't know if you're gonna be smiling or upset at this, but uh just when we thought we've seen it all in the airlines, um, a brawl breaks out on a flight. So a violent brawl broke out on a jet two flight from Turkey to the UK on February 12th, uh, which is you know maybe about a week ago, causing emergency diversion to Brussels. Passengers engaged in physical in a physical fight in aisles, prompting the police to remove two individuals, both passengers involved in the altercation were banned for life by the airline. I took a look at this video, Merle, and literally it was something that you would think was in a movie. Everybody oh, it was so many people in the in the aisles just fighting and throwing fists like, oh, okay, everybody really lost it now. Okay, we're done, we're gonna cross it line.

SPEAKER_03:

Well, it's also maybe this has nothing to do with it, but like Turkey is a destination where a lot of men go to get their like hair transplants uh replaced. So, like, imagine if people are getting on a fight and they're like they have like a fresh new toupee, basically, and people are like ripping it off.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah, now I I took a look here, and and from what I see, um the incident reportedly started with a passenger making a racist comment, escalating into a physical fight. Oh my gosh, of course, I do not encourage violence um in any way, but as a person of color, I do understand.

SPEAKER_02:

Yes, of course.

SPEAKER_00:

Sometimes people push it too far. Most people can turn the other cheek, not everybody. Sometimes those comments come with instant uh ramifications. Um again, it's a shame that this happened, but I also understand too. What do you think, bro?

SPEAKER_03:

Um, like truthfully, what I think is I feel like the technical term is ass whooping, and I feel like people do deserve that. Like it, but but not on a plane. I feel like there's just because I mean, obviously, I've said this a million times, like as a nervous flyer, I don't understand how people can act up at all on a flight because it takes me courage even just to like stand up to go to the bathroom, and especially with turbulence and everything, I don't understand, and all the crazy flight, like you know, how flights just will like descend, you know, out of nowhere recently in the news. So I don't understand how people can have the like balls slash insanity to even get into a fist fight. All that being said is that of course, if someone is saying a racial slur or something like terrible, it like absolutely I feel like the right thing to do is to tell, to like, you know, gather everyone around you to basically be witnesses and then tell the person, but like make sure that it's dealt with immediately after, and whether that's like calling for the ground security to be right there when they land, or you know, telling the airlines like what can we do about this, or even just trying to get their information so that you can even like press charges down the road if there's some if it can be like a legal thing. But I just think it's it's so dangerous for everyone involved when you start to bring in fist fighting, you know, like mothers of children and older people next to you, and like the air the and the port airline attendance now, it's like you have to just think of people around you, and that sucks so bad that the person said something, but I feel like there's smarter ways to kind of get back at them.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah, I mean, obviously, if they had made the the flight crew aware of what was going on, um, that passenger will have would have been dealt with very severely when I played. Yeah. Um, exactly, depending on on what was said, and again, I'm not justifying it. But I kind of understand too.

SPEAKER_03:

Yeah, oh definitely. Like at baseball games when that when fights break out because of that type of stuff, I understand because it's like you know, you're emotional, like you just want to, you know, I get it.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah, that's true. I mean, I hated that uh the person um who uh was on the the receiving end of this got banned as well, too. But I know it's I don't know, it's it's just crazy how people have gotten these days, you know. I just hope they've seen it's really not a good scene the way the world is coming to these days, you know.

SPEAKER_03:

I know, and I really do think there should be more consequences if someone does say a racial slur, and but but it's tough because like in the in a plane, like I don't want to see any violence, you know what I mean? Like I want them to get I want them to either like lose their job or have financial consequences or just like public shame. But I think in a flight situation, like it's already so high stakes to me, like that I don't want any punching or anything.

SPEAKER_00:

That's true, that's true. So uh if you're on a plane and you start seeing them fight, just you know stay in your seat, don't don't jump into it, okay?

SPEAKER_03:

Exactly. I know totally. And if I'm one of the people, like if like as a white person, not to get into a whole big thing, but like if I was there and I saw that saw that happen, like uh of course I would not want to be part of the physical fight, but I would absolutely be there for that person in like if they needed a witness or if they needed someone else to like back them up as they're talking to an airline person. Like, I feel like you definitely do like feel free to reach out to the people around you, and hopefully, people won't be dickheads and they'll be nice and helpful.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah, hopefully there'll be a lot of people that will speak up. That's what we need.

SPEAKER_03:

Exactly. I would probably like it's like also with on flights, you never know if there's like a secret air marshal or not. So I feel like I would go back and ask the flight attendants and just like calmly almost just say, This is happening. I'm I'm keeping my cool. I really want to fight this person, but I'm not. And like, what can we do together? Because like this is going to be a big situation in about four minutes if you can't help me. And you know, they might have like someone on the flight already that's like a plain clothed police person.

SPEAKER_00:

That's true, and and you know, the other thing too, Meryl, is um unfortunately, flight attendants are now being trained um to deal with unruly passengers, both verbally and physically, which is a shame because really that's not their job. But with everything going on, they have to be ready for pretty much anything, and that's that's a hell of a lot to ask for for a flight crew to have to deal with that nonsense.

SPEAKER_03:

Yep, exactly. And I just think I I agree, like there should be no nothing bad said to anyone, like slur-wise or racialized, and when you're in a public, like a bus, a plane, a subway car, we just have to think of like everyone's safety. And what if someone gets out a knife or you know what it like? It's just it's it's too scary and sad. So yeah. That's true.

SPEAKER_00:

That's true.

SPEAKER_03:

Oh, oh, okay. My next one, you guys, I promise not to conspiracy us up this whole time. All I'm going to say is that I'm I feel like I'm doing a very good job of not gloating too much to the fact that uh I felt like everything that I was telling my friends in 2016 that they called me crazy for is now correct. And so there's only been one of my friends that has texted and literally said, hey, everything that you said is like now true. And so to that friend, I love you. But anyway, um, this is one of the things that kind of conspiracy people, we've been new, as the kids say, we knew about this. Um, but obviously someone's death is the subject, so it is a serious subject. Where now uh a team of independent forensic scientists are calling for a fresh investigation into the death of Kurt Cobain uh after an exhaustive look at the late Rocker's autopsy led them to believe that one or more individuals may have been involved in his death. So obviously, like, you know, what we were told is that uh the 27-year-old Nirvana Frontman died, unfortunately, as a result of a self-inflicted gunshot wound. Now, there's been rumblings for a really long time. What maybe, like, was Courtney Love involved, was someone else, and it was Dave Girl involved, you know, like all these kind of just speculations that it may have not been. Um, I even heard one theory that he actually had like really bad like gluten stuff and he didn't know and that was his pain. And like that's crazy. That just that may have been like his stomach issue, and he just didn't, he wasn't like diagnosed properly. Um, you know, I don't know if we know that even. But now they're saying that this is going to be uh opened possibly back up. The agency left the door open, a crack to reinvestigate the case. Um, but I think police are also kind of saying everyone settle down. Like it's the case isn't as open as the media is making it feel, because of course this announcement put like struck a whole big uh fanfare with people. And so the police are just kind of telling everyone, like, settle down. You know, if we're gonna do anything, it's gonna be privately through an agency.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah, um, you know, the crazy thing is that um there was a lot of questions when he when he died, and you know, these days, bro, you just don't know, you know, you really just don't know. Yeah, and again, we don't know, but what if it's a situation where his death is reclassified as a homicide?

SPEAKER_02:

Um, that changes the game big time. Exactly.

SPEAKER_00:

And and I I guess the question is is that if they reclassify it, you know, who would be the people they look at? You know, I don't know. What do you think, bro?

SPEAKER_03:

I mean, I think if something really happened, then of course we want like like him and his close family and whoever was involved, and his legacy too, should should like have justice, you know, if like he really didn't do that to himself, just like the way that any even like any civilian person, if if there was not truth around their passing, they have the right or like they have the you know, it would be nice to have that be remembered in the right way, or just people to have answers to it. Um so yeah, I mean it definitely seems it seemed fishy for a while, but it's also during that time, you know, like the whole 27 club, he was part of that where it's a lot of people for one way or one reason or another, like drugs, self-infliction, you know, all that stuff. A lot of people didn't make it past 25 when you were in the music industry. So um it will be interesting to to see.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah, and you know, unfortunately, there's been very high-profile celebrity deaths that's happened over the last few decades where conspiracy theorists, you know, jump out and say, Well, this didn't really happen. It's the music industry, you know, they wanted to get their masters or what they wanted to break away.

SPEAKER_03:

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Oh yeah.

SPEAKER_00:

That has surfaced multiple times over the years.

SPEAKER_03:

Oh, yeah.

SPEAKER_00:

And um you know, let's face it, the music industry is a vicious, vicious company, vicious industry. So you really have to be strong and know what you're doing when you deal with them. And you know, sometimes you do kind of wonder because you know, when Prince um rebelled against his label and he changed his name from Prince to the symbol or the man formerly known as Prince, or the artist formerly known as Prince, you know, he was fighting to get his masters. And that's I think when things started to turn, where we started to learn how the industry really works. Because when you look at these huge, huge stars, how over their career they never owned their masters, and the publicers assumed that their music was theirs, and it wasn't the case.

SPEAKER_03:

Exactly. And like I feel like most of our listeners, even if it's even if they're like, no, it probably was self-infliction. I think most people nowadays would agree that like with the Michael Jacksons and the Princes and maybe the Kirk Cobains and even like the Whitney Houstons, the event obviously is real. Like, we know the event unfortunately of them passing is away, but I but everyone would agree where that we don't know everything, and there's probably pieces of information we're not privy to one way or another that may or may not change the story, you know. So I think most of us now, especially how you said with the music industry, whether it was like Aliyah or you know, whatever, the whatever there's there's situations where it's like things probably happen, but we I don't know if we'll ever know the exact actual real story. We probably won't.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah, fortunately, you're right, Meryl. And I I would just tell people, um, you know, before you jump on the bandwagon on, yeah, yeah, he was murdered. Yeah, he's just, you know, until there's evidence or something strong coming out, you know, just kind of leave it as a wait and see, or just wait till facts come out. Um, because we've all seen how a story from the right person will take on a life of his own, especially on social media.

SPEAKER_03:

Yeah. Like it's so funny because I I hate to be this person where I'm like, I listened to the band last last decade, but it's crazy for me to like be at comedy shows and be out and about and hear people that are now like reciting these things that like 10 years ago we were being told, like, you're crazy. And I don't know, it's just so weird. It's so weird. But anyway, the fact that like one of my friends who's like a mom in Michigan was basically saying, Oh, I won't say it completely because I want to, I don't want us to get whatever, but like the Ellen set is known to look like a certain island that's been brought up a whole bunch to the point where it's pretty ridiculous of like the colors and the everything. And I've been talking about this since 2016. And so, like, to hear my mom of two friends be like who like works in accounting to be like, you know, I think you're on to something here. It's so crazy.

SPEAKER_01:

You know, I don't know. You you may have a uh a vision that we don't know about.

SPEAKER_03:

I know, maybe it's just called it's called Reddit, it's called being on Reddit since 2016, but yeah.

SPEAKER_00:

Well, my final topic for today um is um a sad situation. Uh shots rang out at a high school hockey game. So uh a suspect in the Rhode Island hockey shooting killed his ex-wife and his son. Uh two victims shot dead at a high school hockey game in Rhode Island have been identified as a success the suspect's ex-wife and his son, uh, stated by police on Tuesday. Robert Dorgan, who police uh said also went by the names Roberta Esposito, and Roberto Dorgan was found dead inside the Dennis M. Lynch Arena in Kentucky on Monday, apparently from a self-inflicted gunshot wound after what authorities said was a targeted attack. Dorgan's ex-wife, Rhonda Dorgan, and adult son, Alan Dorgan died. Rhonda's mother and father, along with a family friend, were injured. All three were in critical condition at the hospital. Police have not given a motive but said it appeared to be a family dispute.

SPEAKER_02:

Oh my god.

SPEAKER_00:

I just I mean, I I know that things happen within families, but to kill your family members and then do it in a public setting like that. I don't know, Mira. What do you think is going on today?

SPEAKER_03:

Is this the one too that like the the person is that you said did go through like a gender reassignment and they look kind of like they're blonde and like look, I don't I don't know, a nice way to say it, but basically I think this is the one I'm thinking about in the news where they keep on showing like a blonde person that seems to be transgender.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah, okay.

SPEAKER_03:

Yeah, I mean this it okay, yeah. This that's that's what I was thinking because I've it felt like not funny, but it's it's I I saw the video of people at the hockey game because a lot of people were just filming it was a normal game, and then you see shots rung out, and and at first, like anyone would do, people can't believe it at first. You know, everyone's in shock, and then you see people that we've had to do all too well, which is like spring into action and run away from where we think everything's coming from, um, which is terrible. And then now, like, I feel like so much of the story is becoming more about the that the fact that this person had gone through a gender reassignment, and it's like unfortunate for this whole story that the person looks like the way that you would think Facebook haters would have like feast upon basically, you know, how they look. Um, but I think the main point of this is that it's like people died and it's really, really sad, and it's just another another big tragedy.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah, I'm really hoping that um that part of the story doesn't take on a life of its own. Um, because of the fact that, you know, if even if he is transgender, he's a person that killed their family that happens to be trans transgender, not a transgender person that cared, uh killed his family. So exactly, exactly. Yeah, so I'm I'm hoping it doesn't take that narrative. Um, because again, we don't know what happened. I mean, it may have been a situation where maybe they didn't accept the way he wanted to live his life. We don't know, okay? Yeah. I don't think it's fair to speculate, and I don't think it's fair to even, you know, look at whether or not he's a put like this if he's trending transgender, straight, gay, it doesn't matter. He murdered family members and put right all the family members in a hospital. I think that's what I'm concentrating on.

SPEAKER_03:

Yes, I agree. Yeah, I saw this and I'm like, oh no, this is what is going to be talked about a whole bunch because I've already seen like pictures obviously positioned a certain way to make it look a certain way, and it's that's just that's just so sad. And that's and it's like once again, I I think about like transgender people and how now like they should not be afraid to just walk down the street like an innocent, nice person that's just you know going to the grocery store or something, maybe targeted because of the way that they're painting this whole situation out.

SPEAKER_00:

So, um, so yeah, yeah, I I I agree with you. I mean again, I I I don't know how bad it was, but I just I I just don't understand killing your family. I really don't. I mean like as low as low can get, you know.

SPEAKER_03:

Yeah, absolutely. Yep, yep. That's I mean, that's definitely that's like next level psychosis, I think. You know, that's just I think it's like the exact opposite of how nature intended us to be. So you really have to be like just beyond off of your rocker for it.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah, I mean, one of the things I've always said, Merle, is that a person that will harm their own family purposely will do anything to you.

SPEAKER_03:

Oh, yeah, absolutely. Yep, and they really are like a a danger to society because if you I feel like if you hurt your own little like tribe or clan, that's just so unlike how nature wanted us to be that you know that's just like so against it, especially parents hurting their children.

SPEAKER_00:

That's so true, that's so true. So um, I hope that uh the family members in the hospital um recover. And um, you know, of course, they're gonna need some some therapy on this because um this is the the the the physical wounds will heal, um, but the mental trauma is a whole nother conversation.

SPEAKER_03:

Yeah, absolutely. Um, okay, I'm gonna I'm gonna switch up my topics, I'm gonna keep things fresh here. And my last one, uh, because I I have one for our next taping that I want to take a big chunk and talk about, but for our next one, I thought this was pretty ridiculous and cute. Um, have you ever used the the app Task Rabbit? No, I haven't. You haven't? Okay. I I have oh that I have a funny story, but basically it's like a uh it's almost like handyman, like you can or handy men, handy women, and so Task Rabbit is pretty much like an app um that if you need furniture put together or if you need chores or like painting, you know, you can it's you can look and book someone on demand. I've had it before someone helped me put together uh furniture. My boyfriend was taking too long to put together like a shoe rack, and I called the Task Rabbit guy, and he came to our house while my boyfriend was sitting on the couch. And I'm like, oh, this is Jeff. He'll be putting together the shoe rack that's been taking you five months. Because like I stopped nagging and nagging, and then I just finally literally paid some some man to come to my house and do it. But anyway, while I'm still in love with my boyfriend, this woman, a new york woman, fell in love after hiring her future fiance on Task Rabbit. Um, Haley Milstein first laid on his on her future fiance, uh Jaime Towell, right before right before Valentine's Day in 22, 2022. She saw his profile on Task Rabbit while searching for a handyman to put together a dresser for her Soho apartment. Uh, he had like, she said that he had a professional headshot, he was a nice Jewish boy. Uh, he came over and fixed it and then just thought, you know, there was a traction, and basically now they're uh engaged. And I think that is so cute. And I have to say that like the two or three times I've hired someone off of Tassgrab, they've all been extremely cute.

SPEAKER_00:

Okay, so mental note, my wife would not be using Tassra. No, I'm just kidding.

SPEAKER_03:

And it's funny here in LA because a lot of people do it to supplement their like acting or modeling career. And when we first moved into our house, I had this like literally Italian male model come in and who was like putting together our IKEA bed. And I I felt like the weird, like 40-year-old woman lurking around just being like, Do you need 118? So we didn't get engaged, but I think this story is very cute. And uh, I just think obviously, too, it's okay it's important for women to be safe or anyone to be safe if you're hiring someone to come over and you don't know this person. Um, the good part about TaskRabbit is that I think you have to like upload your credentials and your license, and you have to have like an actual photo of you. But um, I just think this is the sweetest thing. And I mean, when in doubt, just hire someone to do it. You may meet the love of your life.

SPEAKER_00:

You know what? You you can meet people doing anything. And to me, some of the best relationships are when you meet people in I wouldn't say weird places, but places you wouldn't expect. Um it used to be weird to meet someone in the grocery store, but you know, that's a thing now to go to the grocery store to try and meet someone. But you know, you can meet someone on the bus, you can meet someone in a um, you know, let's say if you're at the DMV, you know, there's a whole different way of meeting people because you know the club scene isn't working too much for most people anymore. So exactly, you know, I tip my height off to her. If it's working for them, you know, and they're in love, hey, by all means go for it.

SPEAKER_03:

Exactly. I had someone hire a task rabbit to stand in line for them, which is that's the height of just ridiculous like bouginess. But I think they had to wait in line for some like brunch that was three hours, and they literally hired a task rabbit to go and like stand in line and make ninety dollars just standing in line.

SPEAKER_00:

Oh, he made how much?

SPEAKER_03:

Uh so how much I think he was like$30 an hour. Exactly. That's what I was like. Yeah, exactly. So I'm like, and he didn't I mean he didn't get to eat with them or anything, but he just stood there for three hours, probably on his phone or you know, doing whatever he's doing and just made ninety dollars. 30 bucks an hour, that's actually not bad. Exactly, exactly. Just to stand there, like why not?

SPEAKER_00:

I'll stand there, make sure my phone is all charged up, I'm good to go.

SPEAKER_03:

Hey ex I'll bring a lawn chair and just camp out and read a book.

SPEAKER_00:

There you go. Well, this was a very, very, very good uh episode. Um Wow, we went over a lot of stuff.

SPEAKER_03:

I know, I know, and tune into next week because I'm already I'm excited about next week's topics too.

SPEAKER_00:

Oh yes, it's gonna be real fun. There's a lot of good stuff on there. Well, Meryl, what do you have coming up?

SPEAKER_03:

Oh my goodness, I have so much fun coming up. Um actually uh the show I was supposed to have actually tonight in Santa Barbara was um postponed because of flooding in our area. So, so March Wednesday, March 25th, I will be back at the um, it's called like the speakeasy Santa Barbara, and it's a beautiful new club in Santa Barbara. I will be there with some of my really good friends. Um, it's a great lineup. So that's Wednesday, March 25th. And I was extra props to the club for like canceling, you know, because I'm I'm about two hours away from Santa Barbara, and I thought that was really awesome that they just canceled the whole show because they wanted everyone to be safe. So I think that's like very cool that a business was able to just think of everyone's safety first.

SPEAKER_00:

Oh, absolutely. And thank goodness they wait till the last minute and you have you out on the road having to turn around.

SPEAKER_03:

Exactly. But I love doing it so much I would I would row in a boat, I would hire a task rabbit to row me in a boat.

SPEAKER_00:

Well, everyone, make sure you go out and support Meryl, put that on your calendars. Um, we appreciate your support. We appreciate you watching us and listening to us and telling everyone else who we are and you know sharing. I'm Lauren Selbrat.

SPEAKER_03:

And I'm Merrill Climo.

SPEAKER_00:

Have a great day, everyone.

SPEAKER_03:

Bye-bye.

unknown:

Bye-bye.

Head Shot

Lawrence Elrod

Host
Head Shot

Meryl Klemow

Co-host