Vitamin OC Episode 1: Introduction to Vitamin OC

In this episode of Vitamin OC, hosts Joanna Weiss and Whitney Gomez introduce their podcast focused on civics and community engagement in Orange County. They discuss the importance of local issues, the need for community togetherness, and their shared passion for improving civic responsibility. The hosts emphasize that everyone can contribute to their community in their own way, without guilt, and invite listeners to join them in exploring various topics and guests that promote active citizenship.

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Transcript

Hello and welcome to Vitamin OC. I'm Joanna Weiss. 

And I'm Whitney Gomez. 

Every week we bring you your recommended dose of civics and civilization in Orange County. And today we want to provide a short introduction on what we're doing. Joanna, what are we doing? 

We are going to be bringing you each week different guests as well as information about things, ways that you can become active in your community. And we are focused on civics and civilization becausewe are here to teach people how to become better citizens, better members of their community, and also to teach them about some of the fun stuff also going on in their community, whether it's Junior Lifeguard tryouts or new restaurants, but also to bring our community together because one of the things we were both feeling was that people were feeling a little bit isolated. People were feeling a little bit like our country is more divided than ever, and we wanted to be a space where people could be brought together around their community and look out for each other and learn a little bit more about their neighbors. And what about you? 

Well, we specifically didn't use the word politics. We're using the word civics because we do think that the fabric of our local community is really important, particularly right now when the fabric of the national community for many of us feels like it's fraying. So our focus is things going on locally. It could be it could be an election and a candidate. Could be a ballot proposition, could be a new business. Could be a very, very local issue. And we may get into some more environmental, more national issues as well. But we want to focus on civics and being good citizens and really trying to bring ourselves together. Joanna, My son, is taking AP World. And I've studied with him on a couple of things before tests. And the one thing that I notice is when there are these big turning points in history. And I think we can all agree we're at a big turning point in global history.

The local part of it is so important. Right. And I think, you know, the phrase all politics is local is important. And I think that that gets lost sometimes in our national discourse where there is so much going on within Orange County in particular. We've seen that elections nationally have had the impact of our local elections really carries weight nationally. But also we have a lot of topics here within Orange County at our local school boards and our city councils where there are national issues that they're being brought to this local level, where we're finding those fights that are really resonating with our community. And so I think being a place where people can learn about how to become more active in their community is important. And I'm happy to share that space with you. 

Yes, absolutely. I guess we should introduce ourselves. I I came to you when I was thinking about dipping my toe into the political waters. You have put a foot, maybe a whole leg into political waters. Do you want to introduce yourself? 

Yeah, absolutely. So I'm born and raised in Orange County. I'm proud, proud Orange County girl. Went to UCLA and USC for law school and raised our family here in Orange County. And I'm an attorney. As you mentioned, I ran for Congress in 2024 and also founded a nonprofit political action committee. And I was so pleased to get to know you and you have an amazing background as well. 

So you're the attorney and I'm the money. I worked for 20 years in finance, 10 years in New York, 10 years in Irvine. And I also have three children just like you have also been married a long time. But an important difference, I'm a New Jersey person. I'm a transplant here. My husband and I moved here from New York City, on the last plane they would let me take when I was pregnant with our oldest child. And it was shocking to get here. I didn't know whether it was the move from New York City to California or the fact that we had a baby. So it was kind of conflating the two at the time, like everything closes at nine o'clock here. Right. Which we've learned it doesn't. So anyway, we have our differences, but we have so many things in common. And in our planning meetings for this, I mean, it's been so funny showing up in the same outfits many times, and we've just got so much in common and such a common interest in politics. 

Exactly. I think that's where we're one of the main things we share in addition to having two girls and a boy and so many of the other things, we have a shared passion for politics, but also I think an empathy for our neighbors and a sense of duty to do what we can to bring the country together. And I love having that shared passion with you and I'm really looking forward to making sure that we're imparting ways, tangible ways that our listeners and our viewers can get active in their community so that they can be part of that fabric that's weaving people together and not tearing them apart. 

Absolutely. And One thing that we found when we were talking about this podcast is the rule of thumb is if you have 10 ideas for episodes, you've got a good topic. And we sat down and we had 25, 30, 40 ideas right off the top of our heads. So we're going to be bringing you people who are active in the community on the political front, maybe some advice from firefighters about hardening your home. Fires have been such a big issue lately. Health issues, so many doctors providing resources here in Orange County. So there's a lot for us to talk about. But I want to make sure everybody knows this is a place for you to come and just be comfortable and know that other people like you are out there trying to do good things in the world. And there's no guilt. There's no, the only call to action is to really care about your neighbors, your neighborhood and your community. There's no, there's no guilt. And I when you founded WAVE, that was important. 

Yeah, exactly. We have an organization that is still a vibrant, thriving organization, Women for American Values and Ethics. And one of the tenets of it was no guilt. And people would come when they could and do calls to action when they could. I feel it's really important, especially for women, professional women, stay at home moms who are just juggling multiple things or anyone in the community - I hope we have some male listeners as well - that people understand that while we are talking about being active in your community, whatever you are able to do is okay. And that they have no sense of guilt for what they can and can't do. Some people have more time and more bandwidth and that they have the ability to be more involved. 

Well, perfect. I love it. Well, I think we'll leave it there for now. Thanks for joining us to get your recommended dose of Vitamin OC this week. 

And we'll see you next time. Thank you.