Classically Abby - Elisha Krauss On Feminism, Homeschooling, And The Importance of Conservatism ⧸⧸ Ep. 9

00:00:00.000 Chatting with Alicia Krauss all about feminism, homeschooling, and the importance of conservatism,

00:00:05.520 particularly for women. All this and more on today's episode of the Classically Abbey podcast.

00:00:11.380 I'm so excited to have Alicia on the show. I'm so glad you're here. How are you doing?

00:00:33.000 Good. Long time no see.

00:00:35.040 Yeah, it feels like it's been forever. Actually, I don't know the last time we saw each other in

00:00:39.980 person, but I've known you for years. Yeah, I think it might have been I was pregnant with my third and

00:00:45.980 now I'm pregnant with my fourth. Like, oh, my gosh, fire office with your I think then fiance.

00:00:52.900 Yeah, I think you're right. I think that's exactly right. So how's LA treating you?

00:00:59.040 Good. I mean, this weird rain we're having, I told my husband the other day, I'm like,

00:01:03.580 did we just like transplant to Seattle and nobody told us?

00:01:09.980 But on my gosh, I think it's been good because the aqueducts are filling up. It's been good because

00:01:16.580 it exposes government incompetence, but it's been bad because I'm sure that you've heard in the San

00:01:21.480 Bernardino Mountains, like Arrowhead, Big Bear area. I think there's something like 11,000 residents

00:01:26.640 stranded and without power. And Gavin Newsom is sipping margaritas at a five star resort in Baja.

00:01:32.580 So that's great. Of course. Of course he is. So I'm really excited to get into it. We're going to

00:01:39.500 even talk or even going to touch on this topic on you staying in LA. And but let's get started here

00:01:44.340 because not all of my subscribers know what you do. And you have been in the conservative movement

00:01:49.680 for your entire career, kicking butt and taking names. But can you tell my subscribers how you got

00:01:56.220 started and what your mission is? Yeah, I've always been a political geek. I'm a homeschool nerd from

00:02:03.140 the Bible Belt whose mom ran for public office twice, who was the chairwoman of the GOP. She'd write 0.78

00:02:09.080 a weekly op-ed in the local newspaper tackling cultural and political issues of the week. So

00:02:15.720 that's kind of always been my environment. My paternal grandfather was a district judge. And I remember

00:02:21.480 being interested in watching the OJ Simpson trial as a little kid. I'm 37. So I'm a grandma millennial

00:02:27.360 and a geriatric pregnancy, by the way, in case you didn't know that fact. And I just remember just

00:02:33.080 being fascinated with news and politics from a very young age. So at 18, I moved to New York City to go

00:02:38.580 to college and had always had a job. So I was bored just going to school full time and Googled internships

00:02:45.280 and got started interning at WABC, which is the radio station that originally syndicated Sean Hannity,

00:02:52.720 Mark Levin, and I believe even Rush Limbaugh, and felt like always loved talk radio. And that, I don't know,

00:02:59.880 I joke, I dug my grave. So now I have to lie in it. That was at 18. And I haven't left the conservative

00:03:05.760 media world since. And I would say that I think my purpose has definitely shifted. I think in the past, it's been a

00:03:13.080 supporting role for other people and other talent, whether it was Sean or your brother. But then

00:03:18.740 weirdly being like on air colleagues with people as well, never anticipated that change. And I think

00:03:26.280 now being freelance and consulting and speaking with YAF and at conferences and stuff, I think really my

00:03:34.320 mission is to speak for those who can't speak for themselves, because college campuses specifically

00:03:40.420 in the United States are the battleground. We're seeing all of these cultural battles that we're

00:03:45.940 having to fight politically and religiously and for parental rights. And so I really appreciate and

00:03:53.480 enjoy it. When I hear from women, most of my audience is 80% women between the ages of 18 and 45.

00:04:00.860 And when I hear from them, Hey, thanks for saying that thing, because I took it to my mommy and me play

00:04:06.000 date. And I was able to like, say what you said, and be like, Hey, look at what this chick said and 1.00

00:04:11.360 open up a conversation with my liberal friend. Or Hey, can you come to our campus and talk about

00:04:15.940 these issues? Because I can't talk about it, or I could get expelled. So being a voice, I think for

00:04:22.720 the voiceless. And if little of me can do that, then I think anybody can.

00:04:28.040 That's an amazing mission. And I think that's so inspiring. I feel similarly in a lot of ways. I'm

00:04:33.760 actually speaking with YAF on a campus in a couple months, which I'm excited about. But it is,

00:04:40.580 it's so important for us to show women, college students, that there is a place for you and that

00:04:48.540 you can speak on these topics. If you're brave enough, or if you're not, if you're in a situation

00:04:54.120 where, you know, even if you were brave, it would be totally inappropriate for you to speak on it.

00:04:58.080 There are people out there who support you and who believe in what you're saying.

00:05:01.900 Yeah, there's a lot of every single time I say something like that, the mainstream would

00:05:06.440 dub as controversial, like men cannot be women. I hear from women in areas and I tell people,

00:05:12.880 I'm like, listen, if you can avoid going to politics or be a talking head, like, please

00:05:16.360 go do something else. If I were smarter, I'd be doing something else. I could go back and

00:05:21.580 change my name and, and not drop out of college. Maybe I'd be doing something else. But I'm doing what

00:05:26.620 I'm doing. And, but we need other people to be doing what they're doing. And I often hear from

00:05:31.120 women in STEM and women in tech in the Bay area that work for social media companies that are

00:05:37.420 showrunners and executive producers of mainstream content that you and I watch every single day,

00:05:44.100 people in fashion and finance that are like, Hey, I love my job. I believe like, this is my purpose

00:05:49.540 and my passion, but thank you for speaking out on this because it enabled me to go to HR and be

00:05:55.200 like, Hey, why did you have this caveat about LGBTQ stuff at the bottom of the email? Or, um, Hey,

00:06:01.600 I'm pregnant now. So could you please consider covering my maternity leave and better and alternate

00:06:07.020 maternity care for me instead of encouraging me to go get an abortion and really giving those people 0.99

00:06:12.300 the tools and the freedom to be like, they are not alone. And how important those aspects of society

00:06:18.360 society and the economy are and not underestimating people. Cause I think we can all, we're all guilty

00:06:24.420 of just getting in our own bubble, um, and being like, well, I need to be on Fox news or I need to

00:06:29.280 run for Congress in order to make a difference. And that is not the case at all. Yeah. I think that's

00:06:33.980 so true. So what makes you a proponent of conservative conservatism and traditional values?

00:06:42.260 What do you think makes these things important and gives women in particular a better shot at 1.00

00:06:48.080 happiness and fulfillment through these traditional values that we're both, I think, big proponents

00:06:53.040 of? Yeah. I think, um, the ability to be created and treated as equals, um, is something that I believe

00:07:01.680 personally and professionally. Um, and then the reason specifically with conservatism that comes in

00:07:07.480 is, and I think there's a faith component to this as well is how everyone is unique. Uh, inserting the

00:07:14.620 faith is like designed in the image of God, but even aside from faith, no two DNAs are the same, 0.99

00:07:20.140 right? Scientifically, if you're looking at it, you and I are both female, but we are both incredibly

00:07:25.340 different in our genetic makeup. So it's actually kind of not fair because your parents are way

00:07:29.460 smarter than mine. So I think you got that genetically. I've talked with my mom about this

00:07:33.220 before. Like every Shapiro is so smart. Um, so, um, but I think that from the political perspective,

00:07:41.500 it's understanding the beauty of that individualism and that, um, independence and wanting everyone to

00:07:50.360 have the right to make decisions for themselves and their own autonomy, and then their own core family.

00:07:56.280 And that as a society, when men and women get married, they tend to be more economically successful.

00:08:01.960 They tend to be happier. They tend to, um, take care of not only their selves and their families,

00:08:09.580 but the community around them because of how it affects their family unit. And that culturally is,

00:08:15.200 is a bonus. And it's a bigger bonus when the government gets out of the way and allows people 1.00

00:08:19.480 to do that. Absolutely. Yes. I have nothing to add to that. I agree. So let's talk feminism for a 1.00

00:08:28.260 second, because I feel like anybody we're in a time where it's as if feminism is supposed to be 0.99

00:08:35.100 recognized as obvious, as obvious truth by any woman. And if you're not explicitly, I'm totally

00:08:42.100 feminist, right? Then you must be anti-woman. So what are your thoughts on feminism? Do you think

00:08:48.220 feminist ideology helps or hurts women? And I use the word feminism broadly here, but obviously if you

00:08:54.580 want to like define it a little differently, because there are so many different uses of that term,

00:08:58.540 go for it. Yeah. I think it's fascinating to me that, uh, this semester with my AF speeches,

00:09:04.820 I've been talking about feminism the most in the past. It's been about why women need guns or 1.00

00:09:10.080 school choice or pro-life issues, but it's, it's interesting because it's circling back around.

00:09:15.980 And I've seen even influencers and commentators and friends on the left that have identified as very

00:09:22.440 left-leaning feminists really taking issue with the movement as a whole. And I love to start my 0.99

00:09:29.120 speeches when I talk about feminism with the dictionary definition, although dictionary

00:09:33.520 definitions do change occasionally nowadays. So I've screen grabbed it and saved it just in case.

00:09:38.920 I, if, if we are looking at the dictionary definition of feminism would talk, which talks about 1.00

00:09:44.800 the equality of the sexes, sign me up. I'm on board. I'm 100% of feminist. The problem is 1.00

00:09:51.980 when you have Planned Parenthood and Nancy Pelosi and the AOCs of the world and Michelle Williams and

00:09:59.980 the Women's March, identifying what they think and mainstreaming their leftist agenda of feminism.

00:10:07.500 Then I think that people left, right, and center view that as feminism. And then everyone tells you,

00:10:13.320 well, unless you are this, you cannot identify as a feminist. So I know I disagree. I think with you

00:10:18.100 and even my girlfriend, Liz Wheeler, who are like, no, we're not feminists. I actually think like, 0.90

00:10:22.880 yeah, much like I want to take over and, and rebuild California. I think we need to take over

00:10:27.940 and rebuild feminism because based on the definition of feminism, I would argue that I'm a feminist and 0.55

00:10:34.040 that you are a feminist and that I'm raising feminist daughters. And I love to see people on the 0.89

00:10:39.360 left like, Ooh, when I say that. Um, but I think that it actually sometimes, and it has more, more so

00:10:45.880 recently opened up constructive dialogue and debate with women on the other side of the aisle, because we

00:10:52.440 can find areas in which we agree. And then we can, um, in a friendly way, agree to disagree on other

00:10:59.360 issues because I'm not going to budge on abortion and there may not either, but we can agree on the 0.97

00:11:04.940 equality. We can agree on things that need to change culturally. We can agree on some things

00:11:10.140 even that need to change politically. And so when we're just like feminism bad without defining what 1.00

00:11:15.760 we are against, I think that that's a problem. I actually agree with you. I have been kind of,

00:11:22.560 I've been trying to nail down how to approach this topic because I've always said, or initially I said,

00:11:29.000 you know, feminism is something I agree with when it comes to the equality, right? We have equal rights, 1.00

00:11:34.940 under the law, a hundred percent. We are equal people. I mean, we have the same worth, but men

00:11:40.200 and women are different. Now, when we move into the Christina Hoff Summers definition, I mean, that 1.00

00:11:45.060 was the book that really like clarified things for me, her book on, on feminism. Um, when she started 0.86

00:11:50.320 talking about gender feminism and how there's a Marxist ideology underlying modern feminism, which

00:11:56.440 says that women are always victims and men are always oppressors. Now we can't agree on that.

00:12:01.240 I can't agree that women are better than men. I can't agree that men are going to always be

00:12:07.080 winning. Even when we have, you know, Taylor Swift making 300 worth $320 million. I, I think that

00:12:14.140 women should have equal rights. Right. I think Selena Gomez has as many followers on Instagram as

00:12:19.900 Cristiano Ronaldo. Right. Or I could argue that women are better at some things like, hello, having and 1.00

00:12:25.520 making babies. Men can never do that because they can't even handle a minor cold, but they also go

00:12:30.540 into battle and they spend six months on an oil rig. That's not a job I want to sign up for. I don't

00:12:35.060 think that's a job that you want to sign up for. Yes, exactly. And so I think that, and that's what I

00:12:40.080 talk about in my feminism speech is celebrating the beauty and the differences and how, when we see each 0.99

00:12:45.960 other as cohesive partners and teammates. Um, I mean, I feel like I'm almost talking about marriage,

00:12:52.180 right? But it's like, if men and women in society could treat each other, like you kind of have to

00:12:57.180 in a marriage, then professionally, it's going to be better. And professionally, we want women in the 1.00

00:13:02.060 workplace because men stereotypically tend to not be very communicative or emotional creatures. And

00:13:08.040 women are men and women report being happier and more successful at their jobs when they have a female

00:13:13.780 boss. Why? Because a female boss will check in and be like, how are you doing today, John? Everything 0.55

00:13:18.940 okay at home, not in a nosy or inappropriate way, but making sure that if he needs to get off at three

00:13:24.360 o'clock to go to his son's basketball game, that's a possibility. A male boss ain't going to do that or

00:13:29.520 isn't going to have the same level of caring or interest in that person like a woman is. And I think that 1.00

00:13:35.500 that's an example of like, hey, if it's good for men and it's good for women, it's good for the economy, it's good

00:13:42.000 for the cultural environment. Why would we separate them? And so I think left, right and center, there's

00:13:49.400 definitely moves that can and should be made. But thank God we're in the United States because women 1.00

00:13:55.460 here are a heck of a lot better off than in any other nation in the world. Absolutely. Yes. So

00:14:02.140 you're a mama to three girls with another baby on the wave. I don't know that I don't know the gender

00:14:07.800 of your baby yet, but we'll have to wait and see. I haven't announced yet. It's going to be lots of

00:14:11.940 fun. You're constantly working in the movement, including travel for speeches around the country

00:14:18.700 with Young America's Foundation, as we talked about. So how do you balance all of your responsibilities

00:14:23.860 as a wife, mother, and conservative commentator? I think that's like the top question that I get from

00:14:30.420 my subscribers when they listen to my podcast. I'm talking to all of these incredible women who are 0.98

00:14:35.280 doing these incredible things who are also mothers. And they're kind of like, how do you do all of it?

00:14:40.780 You don't do it all. I'm in my mostly completely renovated kitchen that's taken a year and a half

00:14:48.080 to do. My husband helps me with the tech setup because I'm not tech savvy, but he would never

00:14:54.620 want to be on camera. I said last week, and I'll say again this week at a YAP speech that I could not

00:15:00.140 be on the road if it weren't from my husband being an engaged father at home, right? I have the freedom

00:15:07.100 to do that because we're a team. He, unlike the stereotype, I'm currently barefoot pregnant in the

00:15:15.280 kitchen. He's a much better cook than me. Like ask our girls any night of the week. They prefer daddy's food

00:15:20.840 over mommy's food. Um, but it takes teamwork. Uh, I feel for incredible single mothers. And I think in 0.71

00:15:29.180 that case, it really takes a village. And in, I mean, even in circumstances where I think it's

00:15:35.780 amazing when religious organizations or churches or friend groups get together to help those single

00:15:42.160 moms in those scenarios. So they can work and they can engage with their kids and they can pursue their 0.99

00:15:46.200 dreams because I think it's really important for kids, boys and girls to see their mom and dad, um,

00:15:54.060 not struggling per se, but really sacrificing for one another and sacrificing for the family

00:16:00.660 to showing them like what it takes. And that one day they can and should do the same for their family.

00:16:06.840 I loved what Rihanna said. Um, when people were like, Oh, are you sure you want to like do the Superbowl

00:16:11.860 halftime show? Like right after having a baby, cause her baby wasn't even a year old. And of course she

00:16:17.520 knew she was pregnant. Nobody else knew she was pregnant. She was like, no, that's exactly what I 1.00

00:16:21.020 want to be doing. Cause I want my son to see that even after becoming a mother, it actually empowers me

00:16:26.660 to do more and I'm impassioned to do more. And so I would just encourage those women. It's sometimes

00:16:33.220 the laundry has to wait because you have to go do something. And then sometimes you need to like

00:16:39.280 really learn to prioritize your time. And I've been married for almost 14 years and we have number

00:16:44.620 four on the way. And I still feel like it's something I'm learning. So it's giving yourself

00:16:48.440 some grace. My girlfriend, Mary Catherine Ham says this so well, she says, give yourself grace,

00:16:53.140 but don't make excuses. And I think when you kind of take that through life day in and day out,

00:17:00.400 especially as a woman, because we are different and we have like mom guilt and bog ourselves down. 0.96

00:17:05.560 Um, there's also this element. And I used to say this on our lady brains podcast when we had it of

00:17:10.580 like, when you're at home, sometimes like struggling to feel like you should be working.

00:17:15.000 And then when you're in work mode, struggling and feeling like, should I be at home?

00:17:19.760 And I think that feeling, I don't know if it ever goes away, but I've learned how to process it

00:17:26.540 and kind of self-diagnose it and be confident and like letting my yes, be yes. And my no, be no,

00:17:33.120 and not wasting the time that I have in both of those spaces.

00:17:37.440 Yeah. I think that that's been something I'm learning with only one, one little baby that

00:17:42.480 it's just all about prioritizing time management and trying to be, uh, find those people that you're

00:17:50.000 like, you know what, if my baby can't be with me today, at least he's with his grandma or he's with

00:17:55.640 his dad. And that's for me, I'm like, you know what? It's actually a good thing though. Not that

00:18:01.480 I'm, you know, I generally am home, but for me, like right now, my mom put down my son for his nap.

00:18:08.200 And for me, it's like, you know what, that's not a bad thing. It's good for him to create a

00:18:13.120 relationship with people outside of his mom. And even though he knows that he has a secure

00:18:18.220 attachment with me, because I'll always be there at the same time, it's not just me. And that's

00:18:23.280 a really beautiful thing for him is that he has a whole group of people who love him and care about

00:18:28.240 him and want to take care of him. Well, and my kids are kind of social like me, go figure,

00:18:33.960 but each of them is different in how they interact with people or how they get to know people and how

00:18:39.840 they engage. And I think that as a parent too, it is incredible to see from the moment that they're

00:18:44.800 born, the differences of those personalities, um, where my oldest, I could hand her to a stranger on

00:18:50.320 the corner and she'd be like, Hey, what's up? And smiling at six weeks old. But my middle like hated

00:18:55.500 strangers for the first year of her life. And if you were a man without a beard, because my husband

00:18:59.880 has a beard, it's like, do not even look at her or she'd scream in your face. Um, um, she did that 1.00

00:19:05.460 to Michael Knowles once I felt kind of bad. Uh, but it, and so, but, but now she like runs her little

00:19:11.200 class and, and the teacher's like, Oh, she is such a leader. And like, everybody loves her. Um,

00:19:16.660 and that the, so the scenario that you're saying with your mom is like, when kids have a healthy

00:19:22.500 home life and they can see the confidence and comfort that their parents are displaying, um,

00:19:28.940 around other people, whether that's an auntie or a neighbor or a Sunday school teacher or

00:19:34.140 grandparent, then it creates a safe environment for them to understand, okay, here's my mom and dad,

00:19:40.360 this is the hierarchy, but these other people are trustworthy as well. And my husband and I talk

00:19:45.400 about this all the time, especially as our kids are getting older, cause we have an almost 10 year

00:19:48.320 old now. And I'm like, before we know it, she's going to be like a preteen and then she's going

00:19:52.420 to be a teenager. And we need to have people in our lives that we trust that she can trust because

00:19:58.580 even the good kids like reach a point where they don't want to talk to their parents about everything.

00:20:03.780 Right. And so you need to have those people in your community and in your life that you can lean

00:20:10.600 on as a parent, but that your kids can eventually lean on as well. Yeah. I think that's definitely

00:20:16.720 true. So I wanted to talk about homeschooling a little bit with you because I am, as my son is

00:20:23.900 growing up and getting older, I'm getting more interested in the possibility of homeschooling

00:20:28.580 as an option. And I know you grew up in Oklahoma, you were homeschooled. So what was your experience

00:20:35.080 with it? Did you like it? Did you not? And what do you think are the benefits or maybe not the

00:20:40.940 benefits? Do you have any tips or anything like that? Any thoughts you could share?

00:20:45.620 Yeah, I am. And the older I get and the more children I have, the more I think that there is

00:20:51.760 no one size fits all for a family when it comes to education. Our two oldest are currently in the

00:20:58.880 same school. And I'm like, this is amazing. It's easy. They seem to be doing well, but I've

00:21:03.220 kind of seriously joked that this is a test year because I homeschooled our oldest and our niece

00:21:08.760 for two years during COVID. And so it was a, my oldest, like I said, she's, she's such a people

00:21:16.940 person. She's missed congeniality. She could run for president one day. She has the ability to 1.00

00:21:20.720 remember names and details. Like everybody says Bill Clinton did. Like she's incredible at that.

00:21:27.260 And she gets good grades. So she's my kid that I've been able to see now through third grade

00:21:31.700 of being like, Oh, maybe she's kind of the child that was made for the classroom.

00:21:35.640 We did fine homeschooling, but I don't know how much longer based upon her learning ability and

00:21:41.940 my teaching ability that I could have taught her maybe past like fifth or sixth grade. Cause I just

00:21:46.120 taught my niece up to that level. And after that, I'm like, this gets a little more difficult and I'm

00:21:50.460 not great at the math. Um, my middle, our youngest will have to wait and see. Um, they're all summer

00:21:58.680 babies too. So I've held them back, but my personal experience with homeschooling, I absolutely loved

00:22:03.780 it. Uh, of the three girls, I'm the only one that my mom homeschooled all 12 years. It worked for us

00:22:10.340 because we were in a rural area with really crappy schools at the time. My dad was a commercial airline

00:22:15.360 pilot. So he had really weird hours where we'd take family vacation in November and he'd be home

00:22:21.420 Sunday through Wednesday and then gone the rest of the week because of his, you know, travel and flight

00:22:25.500 schedule. And so it really enabled me to have the freedom at 14 to get a job. And I always loved

00:22:32.540 working and making my own money and, um, taught me a lot of like time management skills, but I think

00:22:39.260 then helped me when I went to college and entered a professional career because it kind of forced me

00:22:44.200 to self-start and it forced me to time manage and instead of just being like told what to do. Uh,

00:22:50.840 and so I think that those are huge benefits that it had. And because it gave me the freedom of time

00:22:57.740 to travel with my parents, to be on the campaign trail with my mom, to not be stuck in a school

00:23:04.400 room, to excel in English and history and literature and be held back a little bit. Cause I wasn't great

00:23:10.700 at algebra, right. Um, that you don't typically get in a school environment. And so I think I just tell

00:23:17.620 any parent good for you start with preschool, like you can get a little curriculum for when he turns

00:23:23.580 three, three and a half, four, understand that he's a boy. So he's going to be different than if you had

00:23:28.400 a little girl who will sit there and like color and trace and be all excited. Like my three and a half

00:23:32.420 year old does. Right. Um, and kind of just see how it goes. See if you are both thriving, um, because

00:23:39.620 you want and need to be thriving and know that when you homeschool, there's going to be really awesome

00:23:44.360 days where you're like, yeah, we did it. We checked all the boxes. We did all the subjects

00:23:48.600 and we did the extra science project. Um, and then there will be other days that you're like,

00:23:53.240 you know, this site word, why are you not saying it? When I hold up the card, um,

00:23:57.720 because they are human too. And just like you and I have good days and bad days or good night's sleep

00:24:05.160 and bad night's sleep. So will they, and that affects their performance and their demeanor and how

00:24:10.580 they learn. Um, but I think, yeah, and I think that it's so important based off what you're saying.

00:24:15.760 I really like the idea just, and it's true of parenting generally of just going off of your

00:24:20.740 child, understanding your child's personality, what they need. Some kids, like you said, thrive

00:24:26.020 in a school environment and other kids really don't. And don't, I know a few people who, whose parents

00:24:33.060 took them out of school to homeschool them because they found that they had lost a love of learning.

00:24:37.660 And so I think it really just depends on the kid and that's important to keep in mind. Not

00:24:43.260 everything is just going to be, okay, here's your path because this is the path everybody says,

00:24:47.580 and we're done. Like, no, you reevaluate and you go off the kid's personality.

00:24:53.020 Yeah. And I think this is why I'm such an advocate for school choice, because I don't think even in

00:24:57.840 one family, if you have three kids, every kid is going to need the same level of education or

00:25:03.700 retention or environment to learn. Um, and I think that for some kids, it's a competitive nature,

00:25:10.200 right? For some kids like my oldest, it's a congenial nature. Uh, it could be for some kids,

00:25:15.700 they just like learn very well between these specific times and checking the box of their

00:25:20.640 projects where other kids might need more ebb and flow and need to go into the woods to do science

00:25:25.240 versus just reading about it in a textbook. Um, I often think, and, and I don't know,

00:25:30.640 cause we don't have boys, but I look at boy moms that I know. And I'm like, somebody needs to start

00:25:34.800 like a wilderness school for little boys, because I don't think that a kid under the age of like

00:25:40.100 seven or eight years old, like a boy, like you have belong in a classroom because it just is not a 0.96

00:25:46.740 very conducive environment to just their personalities at that. And they're the way that

00:25:52.240 they like need to touch and feel and play and wrestle and learn. Um, I totally agree with you.

00:25:58.900 And I think it's really sad that in American society, we strictly determine, uh, a child's

00:26:05.740 educational future, which will then turn into and positively or negatively affect their future

00:26:12.420 financial success based on where their parents can afford to live. And I don't see that as a

00:26:19.300 partisan issue. I think that that's an issue that every mother in the country should be able to agree 1.00

00:26:24.280 on. And I've often said if the California GOP wanted to start winning, this is an issue that

00:26:28.620 they would run on because, uh, data shows that over 70% of even liberal minority mothers in the 1.00

00:26:35.160 state of California are pro school choice. I believe it. I totally believe it. And it's like,

00:26:40.780 for me, I just think to myself, and again, I don't know the stats on this, but just the number of

00:26:46.300 boys who are told they have ADD, ADHD, it may be accurate, but it seems high based off of kids just

00:26:53.780 not being able to sit in a classroom because they're boys and they want to move. Like I just,

00:26:59.800 I don't want to ever put, you know, that, that situation that worries me for my son is that he

00:27:05.880 would be in a situation where people are thinking, Oh, he has some sort of attention deficit disorder

00:27:10.660 when it's really just, he's a boy and he's a kid and he wants to move.

00:27:13.560 And then the bigger problem of that is, is then they want to drug him or they want to punish him

00:27:19.320 or they want to delay him or put him in a special needs class because maybe they're getting an

00:27:24.540 additional government grant for every seat and that special needs class that's filled.

00:27:28.640 My mom is ADD. My older sister has ADD. Um, they've coped with it and lived with it for a very

00:27:34.860 long time. And I mean, it gets on my nerves cause she like sits there and like taps her fingers

00:27:38.900 while you're talking and she's, but she can be extremely focused and extremely successful as

00:27:45.700 a politician and small business owner. Uh, when she's like geared toward doing something that 0.99

00:27:50.760 she is interested in, she's incredible and can do numbers in her head that I cannot do.

00:27:55.780 And remember stats that I cannot remember. Uh, and it's really honing that. And she always tells

00:28:00.700 young moms that come to her, whether their kids are homeschooled or in public school.

00:28:04.480 And they're like, what should I do? My seven-year-old, the teacher says he's a problem child

00:28:08.760 and he won't ever want to do his homework. And she's like, cut out the sugar, make sure they're

00:28:13.900 getting enough sleep at night and make them run around the yard for like 30 minutes before you

00:28:19.000 sit them down to do like school that they have to be physically kind of like get through that energy

00:28:23.900 before they can tune into that like mental part of their brain because the physical at that age is

00:28:30.180 just so it's normal. And it's really sad that our education system in this country is so

00:28:34.460 geared towards that perfect little five-year-old girl that's going to sit there in her uniform and

00:28:38.380 you know, do her, her ABCs, like trace them just fine. Not every kid is like that, but we especially

00:28:45.080 see a difference there between boys and girls. Absolutely. So I am so glad we got to do this 0.94

00:28:51.220 interview. So now let's move into our faith talk. This week's Torah portion is Titzaveh, which means

00:28:58.280 command. The Torah portion also is the Parsha in Hebrew. So in this week's Parsha, Chabad.org says,

00:29:06.100 God tells Moses to receive from the children of Israel pure olive oil to feed the everlasting flame 0.61

00:29:11.460 of the menorah, which Aaron is to kindle each day from evening till morning. Now here's where we get

00:29:17.060 into the meat of the Torah portion. We're talking about the priestly garments and everything that the

00:29:23.480 priests wear in the tabernacle. So the priestly garments to be worn by the Kohanim, that's the 1.00

00:29:29.620 priests, while serving in the sanctuary are described. Al Kohanim wore the katonet, which is a

00:29:36.900 full-length linen tunic, linen breeches, a linen turban, a long sash wound above the waist. In addition,

00:29:44.220 he also wore an apron-like garment made of blue, purple, and red-dyed wool, linen, and gold thread,

00:29:49.260 a breastplate containing 12 precious stones inscribed with the names of the 12 tribes of

00:29:54.100 Israel, a cloak of blue wool with gold bells and decorative pomegranates on its hem, and a golden

00:29:59.440 plate worn on the forehead, bearing the inscription, Holy to God. There's also a section including

00:30:06.180 the detailed instructions for the seven-day initiation of Aaron and his four sons into the

00:30:11.200 priesthood, and for the making of the golden altar on which the incense was burned. So this is the

00:30:18.160 portion of the Torah. We're kind of going through a couple sections in Exodus that are much more

00:30:23.000 law-focused and a little bit less story-focused. So my question is, why is there an entire Torah

00:30:30.200 portion dedicated to what the high priest wears? Why are his clothes important? Who cares?

00:30:36.880 Why did it even matter? Because it did matter. If he didn't wear the right clothing in the Holy Temple,

00:30:43.160 he could be killed when he entered the Holy of Holies. Like, it was possible that God would be like,

00:30:47.580 okay, you're done. So why is that? So this to me relates a lot to what I talk about on my channel

00:30:54.720 regarding modesty. Our bodies are not entirely separate from our souls. Sometimes people think

00:31:01.180 that our bodies hold us back or that the physical world inhibits our holy ascendance and closeness to

00:31:07.460 God. But the truth is, is that our bodies are the gateway to being able to experience God's presence.

00:31:13.520 By dressing in the holiest of garments when working in the tabernacle, as close to God as any person

00:31:20.040 could be, the high priest is elevating his soul through what he wears. So what can we learn from

00:31:27.060 this? What we wear matters. Wearing clothing that glorifies the body as separate from our souls or

00:31:33.380 focuses on the sexuality of our body rather than its beauty as gifted by God takes us further from

00:31:39.960 God's presence. When we dress modestly and beautifully, we are glorifying God's name.

00:31:46.000 We are using our physical presence on earth to bring us closer to God. And that's a huge blessing.

00:31:50.680 But I'm interested to hear your thoughts because modesty is a little bit of a touchy subject nowadays.

00:31:56.480 And I also am very clear on my, on my, you know, channel, on my podcast, that modesty for me,

00:32:03.600 what it looks like for me as an Orthodox Jew is very different than what I expect from like the 1.00

00:32:08.900 average person. I'm just like, if you can cover your cleavage, covered the bottom of your butt cheeks 0.97

00:32:13.800 and cover your midriff, we're good. Like you're doing good. But I'd love to hear your thoughts on 0.92

00:32:19.300 modesty. And I mean, if it relates to faith for you.

00:32:23.640 Yeah. I think there's a, much like my political views, there could be the religious perspective

00:32:29.780 and then like the scientific, like cultural perspective. And I think culturally for young

00:32:35.220 women specifically, and there's this mom that I follow on Instagram. She had this whole thing 1.00

00:32:41.020 about, cause her son like went to an eighth grade, like homecoming dance. And she's like the way that

00:32:45.160 some of these girls were dressed and then how the mothers are like, oh, you know, well, everybody's 0.99

00:32:49.520 doing it. So how do I tell her no? And she, so then she started posting like all these pictures

00:32:54.660 of like Chippendales type people. And she's like, is this who you want to roll up and be like, well,

00:32:59.360 you know, my son's in a thong because everybody's doing it. And like, if boys were doing the same

00:33:03.960 thing, how would people react? Right. They'd be like, oh, they're so creepy. They're so predatory.

00:33:09.440 But like when young women do it, it's like supposedly no big deal when we over-sexualize them. 1.00

00:33:14.740 Um, so I think that secularly and culturally, we have studies that show that women who are

00:33:22.560 promiscuous, that women that dress a certain way, um, net have negative experiences with their own

00:33:28.520 self-esteem, their own self-worth, their self-consciousness, like so many things, depression,

00:33:34.320 anxiety, they tend to be more promiscuous. They tend to have then more physical and emotional

00:33:39.720 ailments from, from that like activity and secular studies showing like that is not good for women.

00:33:47.640 Um, and I love that, even though I would take it from the Christian perspective of, um, being complete

00:33:53.920 in Jesus and our body being a temple and my mother, like kind of hounding that into me as a kid of like,

00:34:00.840 it's not just your outward appearance that, that you're exuding and representing, you know,

00:34:05.600 your faith and your family, but it's like what you choose to put in and do with your body as well.

00:34:11.200 Like, um, whether that be destroying your lungs through smoking or using recreational drugs or

00:34:17.400 overusing alcohol or choosing to be morbidly obese, one of the seven deadly sins, right.

00:34:23.260 Um, of how we are supposed to take care of our temple. And that includes like what we're putting

00:34:29.440 out in the world. And I think that I like to look nice. I want to look like sexy for my husband and

00:34:36.300 pretty on camera, but there's like a lot in between in there that it's possible to be feminine and 0.99

00:34:43.980 attractive and classy and not dress like, you know, people that you see on only fans.

00:34:53.320 Right, exactly. And it's so sad because it's like Instagram and only fans in many ways are

00:34:57.980 indistinguishable except one is free and one is not. Yeah. I mean, if, if you look at like when

00:35:04.200 I remember like reading about the description of only fans and what people wouldn't, would not be

00:35:08.160 doing over there and like Bella Thorne and some other people were like, well, I'm going to go over

00:35:11.740 there. Cause at least I can make money. And I'm like, how is that any different than like what their

00:35:15.560 car car Jenners do? I mean, how is it any different than, you know, what a lot of celebrities are

00:35:20.960 posting on their Instagram. And by the way, they're still making money for it because

00:35:24.960 I, as Chris Rock said in his latest special, that's the number one way to make money is show

00:35:29.940 your. Yeah. Yeah, yeah, exactly. No, it's funny. I have a friend on Instagram who has talked to me.

00:35:38.020 We've talked to each other about this because we're both more like traditional. We both are modest on

00:35:42.820 our Instagram posts. And we've said, you know, if we just did this, if we just exposed one area of

00:35:49.840 our bodies, we would go up 200,000 followers the next day, like, but we would never do it because

00:35:56.220 to us, it's not, it's a hundred percent not worth it, obviously. But even more than that, it's just

00:36:00.960 not, it's not good for you as a person and people who, you know, look, I am very used to being

00:36:08.840 sexualized on the internet at this point. It really doesn't matter what I post, but at the end of the

00:36:12.780 day, yeah, it doesn't matter what I post. It doesn't matter how covered I am. It doesn't matter.

00:36:17.720 But at the end of the day, the people who are going to sexualize me, who are choosing to

00:36:22.560 sexualize me, the trolls would sexualize me no matter what. But that doesn't mean that I have

00:36:27.740 to then lean into it and give them an opportunity to see things that are to me, precious and to my

00:36:34.020 husband, precious and private. And it means that that's what I don't get about the Emily Ratajowskis

00:36:41.100 or, you know, even like the Lena Dunham's of the world. They're like, well, it's my body. And I,

00:36:46.880 if I control what's out there, then I have control. And, and it's like, but then why are

00:36:53.280 you revealing that intimate part of yourself? Like why it's just like revealing intimate

00:36:57.540 information. Right. And another thing that, you know, Chris Rock said in his special, it's

00:37:02.600 like, well, I can do this in like this, a sex act on somebody and not have not never call 0.98

00:37:08.160 her back. I mean, it's crap, but it's funny because it's true. But he's like, I remember 0.99

00:37:12.700 how many women whose hands I've held. Right. And it's almost like if I were a public school

00:37:18.680 teacher teaching sex ed, I would just like clip that and be like, so yeah, maybe you should

00:37:23.620 be careful of who you're engaging with and who you're showing your body to and who you're

00:37:27.940 giving yourself to, because no offense to men, they really don't care and have one track

00:37:33.460 minds. And they will remember whose hand they held or who they told they loved for the first

00:37:38.200 time. But they're not going to remember you for the hot bikini shot, other than it being

00:37:44.280 a brief moment of like sexual pleasure for them. Yeah. Yeah. And I think that right there

00:37:49.220 is exactly it. And the thing that we should all keep in mind moving forward. So now let's

00:37:56.920 move into my premium subscriber questions. If you are interested in becoming a premium subscriber

00:38:02.220 to my sub stack, make sure to head over to classicallyabby.substack.com where you'll get

00:38:07.160 access to a ton of exclusive content, including my book club, as well as weekly exclusive articles

00:38:12.320 and being able to submit questions for podcasts just like this. So let's head into question

00:38:18.520 number one, which is, it seems like women are being erased. What are the best ways to fight 1.00

00:38:24.080 back? I would say my daily motto of what we tell our girls to be is strong, sweet and smart.

00:38:32.780 And when you are a strong, sweet and smart woman, you cannot be erased, even as much as society tries

00:38:38.420 to tell us that men transitioning to women are better at being women than we are, which I find 1.00

00:38:43.220 really personally insulting for women everywhere. And I think really just being confident, a part of

00:38:50.720 that inner strength is being confident in like your purpose and your calling. And like that helps you

00:38:56.340 move through every single day. It helps you move through every moment, whether it's good, bad, or ugly,

00:39:02.140 it helps you move through a week, it helps you move through a month and like plan for the future. And when

00:39:07.220 you have a trajectory that you are confident in pursuing and know that you're on the right path, people can

00:39:14.020 try to tamp you down and can try to erase you and try to highlight masculinity over femininity, or men trying 0.91

00:39:22.760 to be feminine, and culture currently lauding that. But I don't know, I think that it that's going to

00:39:28.940 crumble, and it already is crumbling. And this too shall pass when it comes because when even feminists 1.00

00:39:34.540 on the left are like, hey, this isn't what I signed up for, you know, the left has a problem in this

00:39:40.420 battle that they've so chosen. 0.80

00:39:42.720 Yeah, I think that really, it starts with being brave enough, which is a ridiculous thing to say,

00:39:48.860 but it's being brave enough to say, yes, men and women are different, men cannot become women.

00:39:54.620 That's it. Let's start there. And if we can just say men are not women, they are not the same, 0.58

00:40:01.240 then you can be confident in you as a woman, and what being a woman means, because it means so much.

00:40:08.540 Yeah. And I think that it's important. I sometimes women on the left criticize me of like, 0.93

00:40:13.400 oh, well, you only value womanhood if it means making babies. And I'm like, 0.82

00:40:16.760 no, it doesn't. Because I have many friends who literally cannot bear their own children. I have

00:40:22.340 many friends who are single by choice or childless by choice. And the individual freedom part of me

00:40:28.660 is like, hey, being a mother was like the greatest blessing that I've happened upon. And I would and I

00:40:34.580 hope that others want to pursue that as well. I think it's good for them individually and as society,

00:40:38.700 but I don't have a problem with women who choose not to or cannot to follow that same like 0.99

00:40:45.000 path for a family and what a family may or may not look like to them. There are so many other

00:40:50.660 intricacies of who women are, other than just being these childbearing things. And it's so funny that 0.99

00:40:56.700 women specifically and even men on the left. 0.92

00:41:00.080 Sorry, we have a crying baby. Quick interruption for my baby who just woke up from his nap,

00:41:07.680 very angry that I wasn't the one to pick him up, but his grandma picked him up. So he's okay.

00:41:12.820 So go ahead and continue from where we left off.

00:41:15.920 My three year old is probably currently getting hangry while she hangs out with her Mimi. 0.99

00:41:21.060 I think it's fascinating, though, that that argument tends, even though the left likes to label

00:41:25.520 like rich white Republican men as the ones that want us to be the baby bearers that, you know,

00:41:30.980 live in this society like Handmaid's Tale. It tends to be the people on the left that are arguing with

00:41:39.220 me as a working wife and mom and kind of doing it all right. And I say doing it all in quotations

00:41:44.860 because can't ever do it all or have it all that they're attacking me for my life choices,

00:41:51.300 doing what I want with my body, using an argument that they say the other the bad guys use.

00:41:56.820 So I just always find that laughable. Yeah. And I think fair enough. I mean,

00:42:02.580 my take on on womanhood is that womanhood is more is in our nature. And then whether or not we can

00:42:12.640 have children, you know, that is still going to be expressed in ways that we don't necessarily

00:42:18.100 expect. Right. So being nurturing is so inherent to womanhood that even if you don't have children,

00:42:25.260 you're going to end up being nurturing in other ways that are really important.

00:42:28.760 Feminine strength is so beautiful. And it's not only shown through motherhood, it's just 0.81

00:42:33.320 exemplified in motherhood. Yeah, I would agree. And there's areas in which like if you even look

00:42:39.540 statistically at the types of jobs that women tend to go into and excel at compared to the types of jobs 0.56

00:42:46.560 that men go into and excel at, that is a perfect example of how it speaks to our nature and our

00:42:55.080 innate abilities and skills and differences that I think are a beautiful thing.

00:42:59.780 Yeah. Yeah. So question number two is I've seen on your Instagram, you talk about being a doula 0.98

00:43:06.580 and a big proponent of home births. Can you talk more about that?

00:43:10.220 Yeah, this will be my fourth home birth with my midwife, who's amazing. And if you're in LA,

00:43:17.440 DM me and I'll send you her info. And I just have like doula for a handful of friends and taken an 0.98

00:43:25.720 online course and really just kind of happened where friends were like, can you be there to support me?

00:43:31.160 Most special is probably being there for my little sister for the birth of my first nephew. She just

00:43:35.140 had her second nephew and they're just so cute. And I think that it is such a beautiful thing because

00:43:41.720 it really, I always joke, like I am not a sports person. When everybody compared labor and delivery

00:43:48.160 to running a marathon, I was like, but I hate running. And I always tell people, I'm like,

00:43:54.440 I'm the biggest wimp on the face of the planet. And if I can do it, anyone can do it. But this has

00:43:59.680 really, I think this experience and then other health experiences that I've had in the last year or two

00:44:04.000 have really opened my eyes to the lack of informed consent when it comes to women's health in the

00:44:09.860 country, whether it's birth control or the COVID vaccine or abortion or a whole bunch of other

00:44:16.120 issues. I really just want women to be completely informed and to be their own advocates. And we have

00:44:23.340 to be our own advocates when it comes to our full mental, physical, emotional health, because the

00:44:29.240 medical community as a whole in the United States ain't good at representing our best interests. I

00:44:34.480 mean, even up until what, like 70 years ago, they were just doing studies on men and thought like the

00:44:40.660 male liver and the women's liver, like we're totally the same or the brain, our brains were totally the 0.97

00:44:45.820 same. Like it turns out they're not and our hormones are not. And we got other parts that they

00:44:50.200 don't, hence why they can't become us. And so I also give this example and had some leftists in a

00:44:56.840 recent speech actually be like, oh, we agree with you on that point. Because I was like, if the left

00:45:01.740 truly cared about women, then they would be advocating for as many studies to be done about 0.82

00:45:07.680 pregnancy challenges, specifically when it comes to minority groups in the country that are really

00:45:12.960 mistreated by the medical community and not listened to and not advocated for. And they would be

00:45:18.620 spending, I don't know, maybe more than $10 million a year looking at pre-menopausal menopausal

00:45:24.680 issues that affect every single woman in the world compared to the $90 billion that they choose 0.93

00:45:29.800 to spend on erectile dysfunction medication and studies. So it's where my, I kind of become like

00:45:37.000 a hippie and anti, I'm not anti doctors. I'm not anti like science. God bless them. It's needed.

00:45:44.780 It's necessary. I'm just pro women being their own advocate and becoming informed and choosing a

00:45:51.080 practitioner, whether that's birth center, hospital or home that is going to serve them and their

00:45:58.500 medical needs. And while they enter into like one of the most challenging and beautiful days of their

00:46:03.700 lives. I love that because I feel like it is, I feel like I'm not always one of many when I'm like

00:46:14.800 taking a huge interest in the process of birth, pregnancy, labor, all of that, because I think it

00:46:21.960 is fascinating. And so I think it's really important for women, as you say, no one is going to be a 1.00

00:46:27.460 better advocate for you than you. Your doctor is not always going to be the best at making a tailor

00:46:33.020 made plan for you, as opposed to just the patients he sees. And that doesn't mean he's a bad doctor.

00:46:38.800 It just means that if you don't know enough to ask the right questions, you may not get the care you

00:46:45.400 wanted. And if you want to have a great birth experience, then being more informed can only help. It

00:46:53.080 can't hurt. Yeah. And any doctor or midwife or nurse, midwife or nurse or anybody who questions you,

00:47:01.280 that's your sign to get out the door. I think that's a good piece of advice.

00:47:06.740 So as a mom of three daughters, what are some lessons you want to teach them about navigating

00:47:14.200 the modern world? Try to keep them off a cell phone as long as possible.

00:47:20.980 Oh my gosh. Yes. That's like something I'm going to teach them about the modern world.

00:47:25.380 I think it's so interesting. Like every age has its different questions and challenges. And even from

00:47:31.940 the time that they were like one asking why, you know, your son's going to start that soon. It's

00:47:36.660 like mama, dada, and why are like the L and no words that they tend to like spew first. I would be

00:47:44.020 like, no, ask a complete question or ask a complete sentence. And it's amazing and fun to see the things

00:47:49.700 that they observe in the world. And then the questions that they come up with. So I feel

00:47:55.160 inadequate 90% of the time to answer those questions, but really thinking about how I answer them and

00:48:02.780 answering them in an age appropriate, but detailed way. So they're never doubtful of me or their dad

00:48:09.140 having the answers to like, what's happening in the world and life's problems. And, you know,

00:48:13.740 living in Los Angeles, you see homeless people on the street. Well, why is that person, you know,

00:48:19.260 asking for money? Why, why did we give that person fruit? Like, why does he, his sign say he's hungry?

00:48:24.400 Um, why do so-and-so and such-and-such have a baby and they're not married? That's just, those questions

00:48:30.700 are just going to naturally come up when you're a parent. And sometimes you like can mentally prepare

00:48:35.900 for them and sometimes you can't. And, and so I think that my biggest thing though, is obviously

00:48:42.480 we're instilling in them Judeo-Christian values, but I don't talk to them about politics. I don't,

00:48:48.860 um, really they know that mommy's on TV sometimes and travels for speeches, but I don't even know

00:48:54.340 if they know what they're about. And I would love it if I could keep it that way for as long as

00:48:59.960 possible. And for them to come to their own independent conclusions on like what their core

00:49:05.540 beliefs are just based on how they see their father and I operate in our everyday lives.

00:49:11.640 That's beautiful. I don't know if that really answers the question.

00:49:13.920 You know what? I like it. And then to me that that's exactly what it should be is,

00:49:20.100 you know, I think often we see people kind of inculcating values in their children without

00:49:25.600 giving them necessarily the basis or understanding for why they have those values. They're just like,

00:49:31.860 this is what it is. And this is what's right. And it's, it's a dangerous game to play when they

00:49:38.140 get to college and all of a sudden they're being faced with something that's entirely different than

00:49:42.140 what they grew up with. And they don't know necessarily why they're believing what they

00:49:45.780 believe as opposed to, Oh, I saw everything around me. I asked questions. I learned about

00:49:51.920 where I stand. And that is why I believe what I believe. Yeah. And I think that there are things

00:50:00.080 that, and my parents did a really good job of that. And even though I was in this like Bible

00:50:04.460 belt bubble, we still traveled. We still knew people that thought and lived their lives

00:50:10.460 differently than us. And my parents did engage me and it wasn't often that they were like,

00:50:15.180 because I said, so sometimes as a parent, you do have to say that. But why don't we jump on the

00:50:20.480 couch? Because I said so, but, but I think it is so important. And even at 18, I joke that I've spent

00:50:28.520 all of my adult life in liberal Meccas, but I think that it's like much like conservative students on

00:50:33.100 college campuses today. It really homes you and challenges you in those personal beliefs and can build on what

00:50:40.020 your parents taught you or, or an example of to you. And it doesn't mean that it'll be easier to come

00:50:46.880 to those conclusions. It doesn't mean that it'll be easier to live your life in that way with those

00:50:51.900 core principles and morals. But I think it helps you have a better foundation for that future and for

00:50:58.640 those struggles and those questions that you'll be asked, not just asking yourself, but complete

00:51:03.400 strangers asking you as well. Yeah, I think that's, that's definitely true and accurate. So the last

00:51:11.480 question that we've got here is, uh, we kind of touched on it at the very beginning. So now we're

00:51:17.300 round, we're coming all the way back, which is you've been vocal about staying in Los Angeles and

00:51:22.960 fighting the good fight. What makes you think you should stay as the state is, it feels like is

00:51:28.180 turning bluer and bluer. Yeah. And my husband and I have been here for 10 years now, which is crazy

00:51:33.900 to think about. Um, we, uh, have like a small community of people. There's all, once again,

00:51:41.320 like most of my answers, there's like the mainstream kind of like secular scientific answer and then

00:51:46.300 political answer. And then there's like the faith answer. So my first answer would be the more political

00:51:50.680 one, which is, as our, uh, four time infamous former governor, Jerry Brown often said, as goes

00:51:57.660 California, so goes the nation. Um, whether there's a Republican in the white house and holding the

00:52:02.760 house in the Senate, or whether that's, uh, held by Democrats, you see the leaders of California become

00:52:09.100 the leaders of the left and the leaders of think tanks and the leaders of, uh, PACs and democratic

00:52:14.660 party at all different levels of bureaucracy and government on the federal level. And you see the bad

00:52:20.500 ideas that were implemented here trickling down to even the reddest of states like Texas, Tennessee,

00:52:26.180 and Florida. Um, and some of those states, you guys have better ability to fight it, but it's still

00:52:32.300 happening. Um, additionally, I think the culture war from a political perspective is important and

00:52:38.900 it's really been interesting since COVID and since, uh, friends like I teased Dave and Dave Rubin for

00:52:46.060 abandoning us and, you know, doing the New York Jewish thing and like relocating to South Florida, 0.59

00:52:50.440 like what New York, who doesn't do that. Right. Um, but, and your brother and others, but, um, I,

00:52:57.580 I, on a serious note, it's been really interesting to see libertarian, independent thinking, even like

00:53:04.380 classical liberal minded people come out of the woodwork and I meet them at events or functions

00:53:09.140 that are not like FOA conservative type gatherings, right? They're not like flag waving anti-vax,

00:53:15.160 um, rallies, uh, cocktail parties and screenings and, uh, you know, lunches out, uh, in Beverly

00:53:23.140 Hills where people were like, thank you for not leaving. Thank you for fighting. Cause I felt so

00:53:27.380 abandoned and I'm finding more people like me in the industry that work for Apple TV, that work at

00:53:33.900 Netflix, that work at Google that are kind of like open to having a discussion and we're not okay with

00:53:40.860 the wokeism that's happening. And we know that if it happens at these corporations here, and if we

00:53:45.000 don't put a stop to it here, it's going to be affecting like the small businesses and other

00:53:49.760 corporations all over the country. So that's like my political answer to that. My religious answer

00:53:55.300 is, um, you know, when in the old Testament, God is talking about, uh, like when he's dialoguing and I

00:54:02.900 just went blank, it's not Joshua, but, um, you know, Sodom and Gomorrah, like God, how many people

00:54:08.020 will it take and, and how many people will it take to save a city? And I am a, not perfect.

00:54:16.500 You're one of the 10.

00:54:18.420 Yeah, I was at the 10. And I wouldn't even say, I would not be vain enough or self-righteous enough

00:54:23.220 to say that I'm one of the 10. But I guess my question from a religious perspective is like,

00:54:27.080 who are we to say there's no one left here to save? Um, and that's not my position to say that.

00:54:33.580 And it's not my position. I don't think to abandon the people that are here that need to be saved.

00:54:39.640 And, uh, we have friends on the mission field in other countries, and we have friends that are on

00:54:44.700 the mission field here and we cannot forget the mission field here. And my husband and I, for

00:54:50.220 the 10 years that we've lived here every year, every few months are like, we good, we going to

00:54:55.140 stay, how we doing, what are we supposed to do? And during COVID, when everyone was leaving and

00:55:00.640 there are post-apocalyptic skies because of fires and helicopters because of the riots,

00:55:05.480 I remember having a kind of like internal freak out moment of like, is this like, should we like

00:55:10.340 pack up and go to a cabin in the woods? Like what the heck? And he was like, we're not going to flee

00:55:14.320 in fear, but we're not going to stay because of pride. And so for us, I think that's where we try to

00:55:20.460 step in day in and day out of like, we're not going to stay because of pride, but we're not going to

00:55:25.460 flee in fear. And like, what's our individual purpose? And then what's our family purpose? And until we have

00:55:30.060 a different answer from God of what that is, we're staying.

00:55:36.080 Well, I'm glad that you are. I'm glad that we've got somebody back there

00:55:39.540 fighting the good fight. It's important. Well, thank you so much for coming on my podcast.

00:55:46.000 Thank you for having me. It's been a lot of fun.

00:55:48.380 Tell us where we can find you, where we can follow you, all the places.

00:55:52.680 Well, just on social media, your brother once told me I have a Jewish dude's name. So it's

00:55:56.900 T-L-I-S-H-A-K-R-A-U-S-S. And that's where I am on Instagram, Twitter, my website. Yeah. So

00:56:05.000 if my Instagram stories are like my brain, I actually find that Instagram is my favorite

00:56:09.640 platform. I'm like, nah, on Twitter, even before Elon bought it. So, but you can find all my thoughts

00:56:16.440 there. And I usually post all my interviews like this there as well.

00:56:20.080 Perfect. So everyone give Alicia a follow and we will, I will see you in the next episode. Bye.

Classically Abby - March 08, 2023

Elisha Krauss On Feminism, Homeschooling, And The Importance of Conservatism ⧸⧸ Ep. 9

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