The Classically Abby Podcast - March 08, 2023


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


Episode Stats

Length

59 minutes

Words per Minute

177.0051

Word Count

10,597

Sentence Count

555

Misogynist Sentences

52

Hate Speech Sentences

17


Summary


Transcript

00:00:00.000 Chatting with Alicia Krauss all about feminism, homeschooling, and the importance of conservatism,
00:00:05.560 particularly for women.
00:00:07.460 All this and more on today's episode of the Classically Abbey podcast.
00:00:11.400 I'm so excited to have Alicia on the show.
00:00:30.860 I'm so glad you're here.
00:00:31.840 How are you doing?
00:00:33.040 Good.
00:00:33.600 Long time no see.
00:00:35.060 Yeah, it feels like it's been forever.
00:00:37.920 Actually, I don't know the last time we saw each other in person,
00:00:40.220 but I've known you for years.
00:00:42.660 Yeah, I think it might have been I was pregnant with my third and now I'm pregnant with my fourth.
00:00:47.940 Like, oh, my gosh.
00:00:49.180 Wire office with your, I think, then fiance.
00:00:52.920 Yeah, I think you're right.
00:00:54.820 I think that's exactly right.
00:00:56.880 So how is L.A. treating you?
00:00:59.060 Good.
00:00:59.720 I mean, this weird rain we're having, I told my husband the other day, I'm like,
00:01:03.640 did we just like transplant to Seattle and nobody told us?
00:01:07.760 Oh, my gosh.
00:01:11.140 I think it's been good because the aqueducts are filling up.
00:01:15.160 It's been good because it exposes government incompetence, but it's been bad because I'm sure
00:01:20.440 that you've heard in the San Bernardino Mountains, like Arrowhead, Big Bear area.
00:01:24.080 I think there's something like 11,000 residents stranded and without power.
00:01:28.860 And Gavin Newsom is sipping margaritas at a five-star resort in Baja.
00:01:32.860 So that's great.
00:01:34.200 Of course.
00:01:34.960 Of course he is.
00:01:37.180 So I'm really excited to get into it.
00:01:39.280 We're going to even talk or even going to touch on this topic on you staying in L.A.
00:01:42.600 But let's get started here because not all of my subscribers know what you do, and you
00:01:48.480 have been in the conservative movement for your entire career, kicking butt and taking
00:01:53.180 names.
00:01:53.660 But can you tell my subscribers how you got started and what your mission is?
00:01:59.360 Yeah, I've always been a political geek.
00:02:01.920 I'm a homeschool nerd from the Bible Belt whose mom ran for public office twice, who was the
00:02:06.880 chairwoman of the GOP.
00:02:08.140 She'd write a weekly op-ed in the local newspaper, tackling cultural and political issues of the
00:02:14.520 week.
00:02:15.300 So that's kind of always been my environment.
00:02:18.000 My paternal grandfather was a district judge, and I remember being interested in watching
00:02:23.200 the O.J. Simpson trial as a little kid.
00:02:25.640 I'm 37, so I'm a grandma millennial and a geriatric pregnancy, by the way, in case you
00:02:29.620 didn't know that fact.
00:02:30.840 And I just remember just being fascinated with news and politics from a very young age.
00:02:35.920 So at 18, I moved to New York City to go to college and had always had a job, so I was
00:02:41.980 bored just going to school full-time and Googled internships and got started interning at
00:02:46.980 WABC, which is the radio station that originally syndicated Sean Hannity, Mark Levin, and I
00:02:53.700 believe even Rush Limbaugh, and felt like always love to talk radio.
00:02:58.540 And that, I don't know, I joke, I dug my grave, so now I have to lie in it.
00:03:02.320 That was at 18, and I haven't left the conservative media world since.
00:03:08.080 And I would say that I think my purpose has definitely shifted.
00:03:11.500 I think in the past, it's been a supporting role for other people and other talent, whether
00:03:15.920 it was Sean or your brother.
00:03:17.900 But then, weirdly, being like on-air colleagues with people as well, never anticipated that
00:03:24.760 change.
00:03:25.240 And I think now being freelance and consulting and speaking with YAF and at conferences and
00:03:32.080 stuff, I think really my mission is to speak for those who can't speak for themselves because
00:03:38.460 college campuses, specifically in the United States, are the battleground.
00:03:43.220 We're seeing all of these cultural battles that we're having to fight politically and
00:03:48.420 religiously for parental rights.
00:03:50.880 And so I really appreciate and enjoy it when I hear from women, most of my audience is 80%
00:03:58.560 women between the ages of 18 and 45.
00:04:00.880 And when I hear from them, hey, thanks for saying that thing because I took it to my mommy
00:04:05.400 and me play date, and I was able to say what you said and be like, hey, look at what this
00:04:10.540 chick said and open up a conversation with my liberal friend.
00:04:13.680 Or, hey, can you come to our campus and talk about these issues because I can't talk about
00:04:18.020 it or I could get expelled.
00:04:19.220 Um, so being a voice, I think, for the voiceless and if little of me can do that, then I think
00:04:26.760 anybody can.
00:04:28.100 That's an amazing mission.
00:04:29.780 And I think that's so inspiring.
00:04:31.620 Uh, I feel similarly in a lot of ways.
00:04:33.640 I'm actually speaking with YAF, uh, on a campus in a couple months, which I'm excited about,
00:04:38.400 but, um, it is, it's so important for us to show women, college students that there is
00:04:47.040 a place for you and that you can speak on these topics if you're brave enough, or if
00:04:53.000 you're not, if you're in a situation where, you know, even if you were brave, it would
00:04:55.960 be totally inappropriate for you to speak on it.
00:04:58.120 There are people out there who support you and who believe in what you're saying.
00:05:01.920 Yeah, there's a lot of, uh, every single time I say something like that, the mainstream
00:05:06.220 would dub as controversial, uh, like men cannot be women.
00:05:09.260 I hear from women in areas and I tell people, I'm like, listen, if you can avoid going to
00:05:14.260 politics or be a talking head, like, please go do something else.
00:05:17.360 If I were smarter, I'd be doing something else.
00:05:19.740 But if I could go back and change my name and, and not drop out of college, maybe I'd
00:05:24.540 be doing something else, but, uh, I'm doing what I'm doing and, but we need other people
00:05:28.860 to be doing what they're doing.
00:05:30.000 And I often hear from women in STEM and women in tech in the Bay area that work for social media
00:05:36.300 companies that are showrunners and executive producers of mainstream content that you and
00:05:42.160 I watch every single day, people in fashion and finance that are like, Hey, I love my job.
00:05:47.840 I believe like, this is my purpose and my passion, but thank you for speaking out on this because
00:05:53.020 it enabled me to go to HR and be like, Hey, why did you have this caveat about LGBTQ stuff
00:05:59.020 at the bottom of the email?
00:06:00.240 Or, um, Hey, I'm pregnant now.
00:06:02.660 So could you please consider covering my maternity leave and better and alternate maternity care
00:06:07.880 for me instead of encouraging me to go get an abortion and really giving those people
00:06:12.320 the tools and the freedom to be like, they are not alone and how important those aspects
00:06:17.600 of society and the economy are and not underestimating people.
00:06:22.660 Cause I think we can all, we're all guilty of just getting in our own bubble, um, and being
00:06:27.040 like, well, I need to be on Fox news or I need to run for Congress in order to make a difference.
00:06:30.960 And that is not the case at all.
00:06:32.980 Yeah.
00:06:33.280 I think that's so true.
00:06:34.800 So what makes you a proponent of conservative conservatism and traditional values?
00:06:42.800 What do you think makes these things important and gives women in particular a better shot
00:06:47.880 at happiness and fulfillment through these traditional values that we're both, I think,
00:06:52.440 big proponents of?
00:06:53.340 Yeah, I think, um, the ability to be created and treated as equals, um, is something that
00:07:01.320 I believe personally and professionally.
00:07:04.000 Um, and then the reason specifically with conservatism that comes in is, and I think there's a faith
00:07:09.180 component to this as well is how everyone is unique.
00:07:13.340 Uh, inserting the faith is like designed in the image of God, but even aside from faith,
00:07:18.220 no two DNAs are the same, right?
00:07:20.660 Scientifically, if you're looking at it, you and I are both female, but we are both incredibly
00:07:25.360 different in our genetics makeup.
00:07:27.200 So it's actually kind of not fair because your parents are way smarter than mine.
00:07:30.360 So I think about that genetically.
00:07:31.740 I've talked with my mom about this before.
00:07:33.620 Like every Shapiro is so smart.
00:07:35.740 Um, so, um, but I think that from the political perspective, it's understanding the beauty of
00:07:44.220 that individualism and that, um, independence and wanting everyone to have the right to make
00:07:51.300 decisions for themselves and their own autonomy and then their own core family.
00:07:56.300 And that as a society, when men and women get married, they tend to be more economically
00:08:01.260 successful.
00:08:01.980 They tend to be happier.
00:08:04.180 They tend to, um, take care of not only their selves and their families, but the community
00:08:10.280 around them because of how it affects their family unit.
00:08:13.300 And that culturally is, is a bonus.
00:08:16.100 And it's a bigger bonus when the government gets out of the way and allows people to do
00:08:19.780 that.
00:08:20.620 Absolutely.
00:08:21.460 Yes.
00:08:22.140 I, I have nothing to add to that.
00:08:24.060 I agree.
00:08:25.800 So let's talk feminism for a second, because I feel like anybody we're in a
00:08:31.960 time where it's as if feminism is supposed to be recognized as obvious, as obvious truth
00:08:38.000 by any woman.
00:08:39.200 And if you're not explicitly, I'm totally feminist, right?
00:08:43.360 Then you must be anti-woman.
00:08:45.160 So what are your thoughts on feminism?
00:08:47.500 Do you think feminist ideology helps or hurts women?
00:08:50.740 And I use the word feminism broadly here, but obviously if you want to like define it a
00:08:55.720 little differently, because there are so many different uses of that term, go for it.
00:09:00.080 Yeah.
00:09:00.320 I think it's fascinating to me that, uh, this semester with my AF speeches, I've been talking
00:09:05.740 about feminism the most in the past.
00:09:07.960 It's been about why women need guns or school choice or pro-life issues, but it's, it's interesting
00:09:14.480 because it's circling back around.
00:09:16.020 And I've seen even influencers and commentators and friends on the left that have identified
00:09:21.900 as very left-leaning feminists really taking issue with the movement as a whole.
00:09:27.620 And I love to start my speeches when I talk about feminism with the dictionary definition,
00:09:32.740 although dictionary definitions do change occasionally nowadays.
00:09:35.460 So I've screen grabbed it and saved it just in case.
00:09:37.880 Um, I, if, if, if we are looking at the dictionary definition of feminism would talk, which talks
00:09:44.600 about the equality of the sexes, sign me up.
00:09:47.700 I'm on board.
00:09:48.960 I'm 100% of feminist.
00:09:50.740 The problem is when you have planned parenthood and Nancy Pelosi and the AOCs of the world and
00:09:58.480 Michelle Williams and the women's March identifying what they think and mainstreaming their leftist
00:10:05.440 agenda of feminism, then I think that people left, right, and center view that as feminism.
00:10:11.740 And then everyone tells you, well, unless you are this, you cannot identify as a feminist.
00:10:15.780 So I know I disagree.
00:10:17.120 I think with you and even my girlfriend, Liz Wheeler, who are like, no, we're not feminists.
00:10:21.260 I actually think like, yeah, much like I want to take over and, and rebuild California.
00:10:26.600 I think we need to take over and rebuild feminism because based on the definition of feminism,
00:10:32.060 I would argue that I'm a feminist and that you are a feminist and that I'm raising feminist
00:10:36.880 daughters.
00:10:37.260 And I love to see people on the left, like, Ooh, when I say that.
00:10:41.280 Um, but I think that it actually sometimes, and it has more, more so recently opened up
00:10:47.440 constructive dialogue and debate with women on the other side of the aisle, because we
00:10:52.480 can find areas in which we agree.
00:10:54.440 And then we can, um, in a friendly way, agree to disagree on other issues because I'm not
00:11:00.440 going to budge on abortion and there may not either, but we can agree on the equality.
00:11:05.600 We can agree on things that need to change culturally.
00:11:08.620 We can agree on some things even that need to change politically.
00:11:11.660 And so when we're just like feminism bad without defining what we are against, I think that that's
00:11:17.740 a problem.
00:11:18.180 I actually agree with you.
00:11:20.400 I have been kind of, I've been trying to nail down how to approach this topic because I've
00:11:27.000 always said, or initially I said, you know, feminism is something I agree with when it
00:11:32.320 comes to the equality, right?
00:11:33.700 We have equal rights under the law, a hundred percent.
00:11:37.140 We are equal people.
00:11:38.500 I mean, we have the same worth, but men and women are different.
00:11:41.720 Now, when we move into the Christina Hoff Summers definition, I mean, that was the book that
00:11:45.660 really like clarified things for me, her book on, on feminism, um, when she started talking
00:11:50.560 about gender feminism and how there's a Marxist ideology underlying modern feminism, which says
00:11:56.700 that women are always victims and men are always oppressors.
00:11:59.820 Now we can't agree on that.
00:12:01.400 I can't agree that women are better than men.
00:12:04.500 I can't agree that men are going to always be winning.
00:12:07.580 Even when we have, you know, Taylor Swift making 300 worth $320 million.
00:12:11.660 I, I think that women should have equal rights, right?
00:12:16.840 I think that Selena Gomez has as many followers on Instagram as Cristiano Ronaldo, right?
00:12:21.600 Or I could argue that women are better at some things like, hello, having and making babies.
00:12:26.500 Men can never do that because they can't even handle a minor cold, but they also go into
00:12:30.780 battle and they spend six months on an oil rig.
00:12:33.220 That's not a job I want to sign up for.
00:12:34.880 I don't think that's a job that you want to sign up for.
00:12:37.260 Yes, exactly.
00:12:38.160 And so I think that, and that's what I talk about in my feminism speech is celebrating
00:12:42.360 the beauty and the differences and how, when we see each other as cohesive partners and
00:12:48.380 teammates, um, I mean, I feel like I'm almost talking about marriage, right?
00:12:52.620 But it's like, if men and women in society could treat each other, like you kind of have
00:12:57.020 to in a marriage, then professionally, it's going to be better.
00:13:00.080 And professionally, we want women in the workplace because men stereotypically tend to not be
00:13:05.560 very communicative or emotional creatures and women are men and women report being happier
00:13:11.400 and more successful at their jobs when they have a female boss.
00:13:14.520 Why?
00:13:15.040 Because a female boss will check in and be like, how are you doing today, John?
00:13:18.560 Everything okay at home?
00:13:19.960 Not in a nosy or inappropriate way, but making sure that if he needs to get off at three o'clock
00:13:24.660 to go to his son's basketball game, that's a possibility.
00:13:27.380 A male boss ain't going to do that or isn't going to have the same level of caring or interest
00:13:32.780 in that person like a woman is.
00:13:34.900 And I think that that's an example of like, Hey, if it's good for men and it's good for
00:13:39.900 women, it's good for the economy.
00:13:41.560 It's good for the cultural environment.
00:13:44.020 Why would we separate them?
00:13:46.140 Um, and so I think left, right, and center, there's definitely moves that can and should
00:13:52.080 be made, but thank God we're in the United States because women here are a heck of a lot
00:13:57.020 better off than in any other nation in the world.
00:14:00.080 Absolutely.
00:14:00.940 Yes.
00:14:01.760 So you're a mama to three girls with another baby on the way.
00:14:06.240 I don't know the, I don't know the gender of your baby yet, but we'll have to wait and
00:14:10.000 see.
00:14:10.220 I haven't announced yet.
00:14:11.120 It's going to be lots of fun.
00:14:13.840 You're constantly working in the movement, including travel for speeches around the country
00:14:18.720 with Young America's foundation, as we talked about.
00:14:21.000 So how do you balance all of your responsibilities as a wife, mother, and conservative commentator?
00:14:27.200 I think that's like the top question that I get from my subscribers when they listen to
00:14:31.780 my podcast.
00:14:32.720 They, I'm talking to all of these incredible women who are doing these incredible things
00:14:36.520 who are also mothers.
00:14:37.720 And they're kind of like, how do you do all of it?
00:14:40.680 Um, you don't do it all.
00:14:42.420 Uh, I'm in my mostly completely renovated kitchen.
00:14:46.780 That's taken a year and a half to do.
00:14:49.100 Um, my husband helped me with the tech setup because I'm not tech savvy, uh, but he would
00:14:54.460 never want to be on camera.
00:14:55.400 I said last week, and I'll say again, this week at a YAP speech that I could not be on
00:15:00.640 the road if it weren't from my husband being an engaged father at home.
00:15:04.800 Uh, right.
00:15:05.560 I have the freedom to do that because we're a team.
00:15:10.240 Uh, he, unlike the stereotype, I'm currently barefoot, pregnant in the kitchen.
00:15:15.560 He's a much better cook than me.
00:15:17.260 Like if ask our girls any night of the week, they prefer daddy's food over mommy's food.
00:15:22.140 Um, but it takes teamwork.
00:15:25.000 Uh, I feel for incredible single mothers.
00:15:28.160 And I think in that case, it really takes a village.
00:15:31.040 And in, I mean, even in circumstances where I think it's amazing when religious organizations
00:15:37.540 or churches or friend groups get together to help those single moms in those scenarios.
00:15:43.220 So they can work and they can engage with their kids and they can pursue their dreams because
00:15:47.100 I think it's really important for kids, boys and girls to see their mom and dad, um, not
00:15:55.280 struggling per se, but really sacrificing for one another and sacrificing for the family.
00:16:00.680 To showing them like what it takes and that one day they can and should do the same for
00:16:06.180 their family.
00:16:06.860 I loved what Rihanna said, um, when people were like, Oh, are you sure you want to like
00:16:11.220 do the Superbowl halftime show?
00:16:12.800 Like right after having a baby, cause her baby wasn't even a year old.
00:16:16.640 And of course she knew she was pregnant.
00:16:18.360 Nobody else knew she was pregnant.
00:16:19.480 She was like, no, that's exactly what I want to be doing.
00:16:21.520 Cause I want my son to see that even after becoming a mother, it actually empowers me to do
00:16:27.040 more and I'm impassioned to do more.
00:16:30.120 And so I would just encourage those women.
00:16:32.380 It sometimes the laundry has to wait because you have to go do something.
00:16:37.160 And then sometimes you need to like really learn to prioritize your time.
00:16:41.740 And I've been married for almost 14 years and we have number four on the way.
00:16:45.260 And I still feel like it's something I'm learning.
00:16:46.960 So it's giving yourself some grace.
00:16:49.460 My girlfriend, Mary Catherine Ham says this so well, she says, give yourself grace, but
00:16:53.420 don't make excuses.
00:16:55.280 And I think when you kind of take that through life day in and day out, especially as a woman,
00:17:01.480 because we are different and we have like mom guilt and bog ourselves down.
00:17:06.320 There's also this element.
00:17:07.580 And I used to say this on our lady brains podcast when we had it of like, when you're at home,
00:17:12.480 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?
00:17:19.320 And I think that feeling, I don't know if it ever goes away, but I've learned how to
00:17:25.660 process it and kind of self-diagnose it and be confident and like letting my yes be yes
00:17:32.040 and my no be no and not wasting the time that I have in both of those spaces.
00:17:37.740 Yeah.
00:17:38.100 I think that that's been something I'm learning with only one, one little baby that it's just
00:17:43.000 all about prioritizing time management and trying to be, find those people that you're
00:17:50.020 like, you know what, if my baby can't be with me today, at least he's with his grandma
00:17:54.800 or he's with his dad.
00:17:56.440 And that's for me, I'm like, you know what?
00:17:58.660 It's actually a good thing though.
00:18:01.080 Not that I'm, you know, I generally am home, but for me, like right now, my mom put down my
00:18:06.820 son for his nap.
00:18:08.300 And for me, it's like, you know what?
00:18:09.760 That's not a bad thing.
00:18:10.940 It's good for him to create a relationship with people outside of his mom.
00:18:16.000 And even though he knows that he has a secure attachment with me, because I'll always be
00:18:19.960 there at the same time, it's not just me.
00:18:22.600 And that's a really beautiful thing for him is that he has a whole group of people who
00:18:27.400 love him and care about him and want to take care of him.
00:18:30.140 Well, and my kids are kind of social like me, go figure, but each of them is different
00:18:36.920 in how they interact with people or how they get to know people and how they engage.
00:18:40.460 And I think that as a parent too, it is incredible to see from the moment that they're born, the
00:18:45.380 differences of those personalities where my oldest, I could hand her to a stranger on
00:18:50.340 the corner and she would be like, Hey, what's up?
00:18:52.140 And smiling at six weeks old.
00:18:53.600 But my middle like hated strangers for the first year of her life.
00:18:57.820 And if you were a man without a beard, because my husband has a beard, it's like, do not
00:19:01.180 even look at her or she'd scream in your face.
00:19:04.780 And she did that to Michael Knowles once.
00:19:06.380 I felt kind of bad.
00:19:07.840 But, and so, but, but now she like runs her little class and, and the teacher's like,
00:19:13.280 Oh, she is such a leader.
00:19:14.460 And like, everybody loves her.
00:19:16.020 Um, and that you, so the scenario that you're surrounded saying with your mom is like when
00:19:21.240 kids have a healthy home life and they can see the confidence and comfort that their parents
00:19:26.620 are displaying, um, around other people, whether that's an auntie or a neighbor or a Sunday school
00:19:33.520 teacher or grandparent, then it creates a safe environment for them to understand.
00:19:39.180 Okay.
00:19:39.420 Here's my mom and dad.
00:19:40.400 This is the hierarchy, but these other people are trustworthy as well.
00:19:44.180 And my husband and I talk about this all the time, especially as our kids are getting older,
00:19:47.240 because we have an almost 10 year old now.
00:19:48.660 And I'm like, before we know it, she's going to be like a preteen.
00:19:51.620 And then she's going to be a teenager.
00:19:53.540 And we need to have people in our lives that we trust that she can trust because even the
00:20:00.200 good kids like reach a point where they don't want to talk to their parents about everything.
00:20:03.820 Right.
00:20:04.180 And so you need to have those people in your community and in your life that you can lean
00:20:10.620 on as a parent, but that your kids can eventually lean on as well.
00:20:14.160 Yeah.
00:20:15.120 I think that's definitely true.
00:20:17.500 So I wanted to talk about homeschooling a little bit with you because I am, as my son
00:20:23.780 is growing up and getting older, I'm getting more interested in the possibility of homeschooling
00:20:28.600 as an option.
00:20:29.260 And I know you grew up in Oklahoma, you were homeschooled.
00:20:32.740 So what was your experience with it?
00:20:35.540 Did you like it?
00:20:36.320 Did you not?
00:20:37.160 And what do you think are the benefits or maybe not the benefits?
00:20:41.600 Do you have any tips or anything like that?
00:20:43.940 Any thoughts you could share?
00:20:45.640 Yeah, I am.
00:20:47.060 And the older I get and the more children I have, the more I think that there is no one
00:20:52.340 size fits all for a family when it comes to education.
00:20:56.660 Our two oldest are currently in the same school.
00:20:59.580 And I'm like, this is amazing.
00:21:00.940 It's easy.
00:21:01.520 They seem to be doing well, but I've kind of seriously joked that this is a test year
00:21:06.240 because I homeschooled our oldest and our niece for two years during COVID.
00:21:11.080 And so it was a, my oldest, like I said, she's such a people person.
00:21:17.440 She's missed congeniality.
00:21:18.520 She could run for president one day.
00:21:19.860 She has the ability to remember names and details like everybody says Bill Clinton did.
00:21:23.520 Like she's incredible at that.
00:21:27.240 And she gets good grades.
00:21:28.400 So she's my kid that I've been able to see now through third grade of being like, oh,
00:21:32.840 maybe she's kind of the child that was made for the classroom.
00:21:35.520 We did fine homeschooling, but I don't know how much longer based upon her learning ability
00:21:41.680 and my teaching ability that I could have taught her maybe past like fifth or sixth grade.
00:21:45.640 Cause I just taught my niece up to that level.
00:21:47.560 And after that, I'm like, this gets a little more difficult and I'm not great at the math.
00:21:51.580 Um, my middle, our youngest will have to wait and see, um, they're all summer babies too.
00:21:59.360 So I've held them back, but my personal experience with homeschooling, I absolutely loved it.
00:22:04.040 Uh, of the three girls, I'm the only one that my mom homeschooled all 12 years.
00:22:09.160 It worked for us because we were in a rural area with really crappy schools at the time.
00:22:13.500 My dad was a commercial airline pilot.
00:22:15.740 So he had really weird hours where we'd take family vacation in November and he'd be home.
00:22:21.580 Sunday through Wednesday, and then gone the rest of the week because of his travel and flight
00:22:25.520 schedule. And so it really enabled me to have the freedom at 14 to get a job.
00:22:31.280 And I always loved working and making my own money and taught me a lot of like time management
00:22:37.920 skills, but I think then helped me when I went to college and entered a professional career
00:22:42.680 because it kind of forced me to self-start and it forced me to time manage and instead of just
00:22:48.640 being like told what to do. Uh, and so I think that those are huge benefits that it had. And
00:22:54.980 because it gave me the freedom of time to travel with my parents, to be on the campaign trail with
00:23:01.700 my mom, to not be stuck in a school room, to excel in English and history and literature and be held
00:23:09.260 back a little bit. Cause I wasn't great at algebra, right. Um, that you don't typically get in a school
00:23:14.320 environment. And so I think I just tell any parent good for you start with preschool. Like you can get
00:23:21.760 a little curriculum for when he turns three, three and a half, four, understand that he's a boy. So
00:23:27.120 he's going to be different than if you had a little girl who will sit there and like color and trace and
00:23:30.820 be all excited. Like my three and a half year old does. Right. Um, and kind of just see how it goes.
00:23:36.460 See if you are both thriving, um, because you want and need to be thriving and know that when you
00:23:42.680 homeschool, there's going to be really awesome days where you're like, yeah, we did it. We checked all
00:23:47.040 the boxes. We did all the subjects and we did the extra science project. Um, and then there will be
00:23:52.120 other days that you're like, you know, this site word, why are you not saying it when I hold up the
00:23:56.760 card? Um, they are human too. And just like you and I have good days and bad days or good night's
00:24:05.020 sleep and bad night's sleep. So will they, and that affects their performance and their demeanor
00:24:09.500 and how they learn. Um, but I think, and I think that it's so important based off what you're saying.
00:24:15.780 I really like the idea just, and it's true of parenting generally of just going off of your
00:24:20.760 child, understanding your child's personality, what they need. Some kids, like you said, thrive in a
00:24:26.900 school environment and other kids really don't. And don't, I know a few people who, whose parents
00:24:33.080 took them out of school to homeschool them because they found that they had lost a love
00:24:37.120 of learning. And so I think it really just depends on the kid and that's important to
00:24:42.460 keep in mind. Not everything is just going to be okay. Here's your path because this is
00:24:46.340 the path everybody says, and we're done. Like no, you reevaluate and you go off the kid's
00:24:51.780 personality. Yeah. And I think this is why I'm such an advocate for school choice because
00:24:56.620 I don't think even in one family, if you have three kids, every kid is going to need the same
00:25:02.340 level of education or attention or environment to learn. And I think that for some kids, it's
00:25:09.360 a competitive nature, right? For some kids like my oldest, it's a congenial nature. It
00:25:14.500 could be for some kids, they just like learn very well between these specific times and
00:25:19.600 checking the box of their projects where other kids might need more ebb and flow and need to
00:25:23.720 go into the woods to do science versus just reading about it in a textbook. I often think,
00:25:29.460 and, and I don't know, cause we don't have boys, but I look at boy moms that I know and
00:25:33.620 I'm like, somebody needs to start like a wilderness school for little boys, because I don't think
00:25:38.300 that a kid under the age of like seven or eight years old, like a boy, like you have belong
00:25:43.440 in a classroom because it just is not a very conducive environment to just their personalities
00:25:50.600 at that. And they're the way that they like need to touch and feel and play and, and wrestle and
00:25:55.800 learn. Um, I totally agree with you. And I think it's really sad that in American society, we strictly
00:26:03.540 determine, uh, a child's educational future, which will then turn into and positively or negatively
00:26:11.100 affect their future financial success based on where their parents can afford to live.
00:26:16.360 And I don't see that as a partisan issue. I think that that's an issue that every mother in
00:26:22.940 the country should be able to agree on. And I've often said if the California GOP wanted to start
00:26:27.260 winning, this is an issue that they would run on because, uh, data shows that over 70% of even
00:26:33.260 liberal minority mothers in the state of California are pro school choice.
00:26:36.900 I believe it. I totally believe it. And it's like, for me, I just think to myself, and again,
00:26:43.100 I don't know the stats on this, but just the number of boys who are told they have ADD, ADHD,
00:26:49.580 it may be accurate, but it seems high based off of kids just not being able to sit in a classroom
00:26:55.720 because they're boys and they want to move. Like, I just, I don't want to ever put, you know,
00:27:01.300 that, that situation that worries me for my son is that he would be in a situation where people are
00:27:07.580 thinking, Oh, he has some sort of attention deficit disorder when it's really just, he's a boy and he's
00:27:12.580 a kid and he wants to move.
00:27:13.980 And then the bigger problem of that is, is then they want to drug him or they want to punish him
00:27:19.360 or they want to delay him or put him in a special needs class because maybe they're getting an additional
00:27:24.900 government grant for every seat. And that special needs class that's filled. My mom is ADD. My older
00:27:31.100 sister has ADD. Um, they've coped with it and lived with it for a very long time. And I mean,
00:27:36.620 it gets on my nerves because she likes it's there and like taps her fingers while you're talking and
00:27:40.120 she's, but she can be extremely focused and extremely successful as a politician and small
00:27:46.740 business owner. Uh, when she's like geared toward doing something that she is interested in,
00:27:52.300 she's incredible and can do numbers in her head that I cannot do and remember stats that I cannot
00:27:57.480 remember. Uh, and it's really honing that. And she always tells young moms that come to her,
00:28:02.740 whether their kids are homeschooled or in public school. And they're like, what should I do? My
00:28:06.580 seven-year-old, the teacher says he's a problem child and he won't ever want to do his homework.
00:28:11.120 And she's like, cut out the sugar, make sure they're getting enough sleep at night and make
00:28:16.560 them run around the yard for like 30 minutes before you sit them down to do like school that they have
00:28:21.060 to be physically kind of like get through that energy before they can tune into that, like mental
00:28:26.880 part of their brain because the physical at that age is just so it's normal. And it's really sad that
00:28:32.700 our education system in this country is so geared towards that perfect little five-year-old girl
00:28:36.560 that's going to sit there in her uniform and, you know, do her, her ABCs, like trace them just fine.
00:28:42.600 Not every kid is like that, but we especially see a difference there between boys and girls.
00:28:46.860 Absolutely. So I am so glad we got to do this interview. So now let's move into our faith talk.
00:28:54.660 This week's Torah portion is Titzaveh, which means command. The Torah portion also is the
00:29:01.200 Parsha in Hebrew. So in this week's Parsha, Chabad.org says, God tells Moses to receive from the children
00:29:08.480 of Israel pure olive oil to feed the everlasting flame of the menorah, which Aaron is to kindle each day
00:29:14.220 from evening till morning. Now here's where we get into the meat of the Torah portion. We're talking
00:29:19.800 about the priestly garments and everything that the priests wear in the tabernacle. So the priestly
00:29:26.780 garments to be worn by the Kohanim, that's the priests, while serving in the sanctuary are described.
00:29:34.200 Al Kohanim wore the katonet, which is a full-length linen tunic, linen breeches, a linen turban,
00:29:40.700 a long sash wound above the waist. In addition, he also wore an apron-like garment made of blue,
00:29:46.960 purple, and red-dyed wool, linen, and gold thread, a breastplate containing 12 precious stones inscribed
00:29:52.580 with the names of the 12 tribes of Israel, a cloak of blue wool with gold bells and decorative
00:29:57.600 pomegranates on its hem, and a golden plate worn on the forehead bearing the inscription,
00:30:02.560 Holy to God. There's also a section including the detailed instructions for the seven-day initiation
00:30:09.140 of Aaron and his four sons into the priesthood and for the making of the golden altar on which
00:30:14.140 the incense was burned. So this is the portion of the Torah. We're kind of going through a couple
00:30:20.580 sections in Exodus that are much more law-focused and a little bit less story-focused. So my question
00:30:27.760 is, why is there an entire Torah portion dedicated to what the high priest wears? Why are his clothes
00:30:34.940 important? Who cares? Like, why? Why did it even matter? Because it did matter. If he didn't wear
00:30:41.320 the right clothing in the holy temple, he could be killed when he entered the holy of holies. Like,
00:30:46.240 it was possible that God would be like, okay, you're done. So why is that? So this to me relates a lot to
00:30:53.360 what I talk about on my channel regarding modesty. Our bodies are not entirely separate from our souls.
00:30:59.700 Sometimes people think that our bodies hold us back or that the physical world inhibits our
00:31:05.640 holy ascendance and closeness to God. But the truth is, is that our bodies are the gateway to
00:31:11.500 being able to experience God's presence. By dressing in the holiest of garments when working in the
00:31:17.440 tabernacle, as close to God as any person could be, the high priest is elevating his soul through what
00:31:24.100 he wears. So what can we learn from this? What we wear matters. Wearing clothing that glorifies the
00:31:31.480 body as separate from our souls or focuses on the sexuality of our body rather than its beauty as
00:31:37.280 gifted by God takes us further from God's presence. When we dress modestly and beautifully, we are
00:31:44.080 glorifying God's name. We are using our physical presence on earth to bring us closer to God. And that's
00:31:49.940 a huge blessing. But I'm interested to hear your thoughts because modesty is a little bit of a
00:31:55.040 touchy subject nowadays. And I also am very clear on my, on my, you know, channel, on my podcast,
00:32:02.040 that modesty for me, what it looks like for me as an Orthodox Jew is very different than what I expect
00:32:07.860 from like the average person. I'm just like, if you can cover your cleavage, covered the bottom of
00:32:13.180 your butt cheeks and cover your midriff, we're good. Like you're doing good. But I'd love to hear
00:32:18.380 your thoughts on modesty. And I mean, if it relates to faith for you.
00:32:24.520 Yeah, I think there's a, the, much like my political views, there could be the religious
00:32:29.240 perspective and then like the scientific, like cultural perspective. And I think culturally
00:32:33.920 for young women specifically, uh, and there's this mom that I follow, uh, on Instagram. She had this
00:32:40.440 whole thing about, cause her son like went to an eighth grade, like homecoming dance. And she's like
00:32:44.660 the way that some of these girls were dressed and then how the mothers are like, oh, you know,
00:32:48.640 well, everybody's doing it. So how do I tell her no? And she, so then she started posting like all
00:32:54.100 these pictures of like Chippendales type people. And she's like, is this who you want to roll up and
00:32:58.820 be like, well, you know, my son's in a thong because everybody's doing it. And like, if boys were doing
00:33:03.640 the same thing, how would people react? Right. They'd be like, oh, they're so creepy. They're so
00:33:09.020 predatory, but like when young women do it, it's like supposedly no big deal. Um, when we over
00:33:13.900 sexualize them. Um, so I think that secularly and culturally, we have studies that show that women
00:33:22.020 who are promiscuous, that women that dress a certain way, um, net have negative experiences with
00:33:28.140 their own self-esteem, their own self-worth, their self-consciousness, like so many things,
00:33:33.580 depression, anxiety, they tend to be more promiscuous. They tend to have then more
00:33:38.760 physical and emotional ailments from, from that like activity and secular studies showing like
00:33:45.360 that is not good for women. Um, and I love that, even though I would take it from the Christian
00:33:50.620 perspective of, um, being complete in Jesus and our body being a temple and my mother, like
00:33:57.680 kind of hounding that into me as a kid of like, it's not just your outward appearance that, that
00:34:03.360 you're exuding and representing, you know, your faith and your family, but it's like what you
00:34:08.400 choose to put in and do with your body as well. Like, um, whether that be destroying your lungs
00:34:14.300 through smoking or using recreational drugs or overusing alcohol or choosing to be morbidly
00:34:20.740 obese, one of the seven deadly sins, right. Um, of how we are supposed to take care of our temple.
00:34:27.500 And that includes like what we're putting out in the world. And I think that I like to look nice.
00:34:33.800 I want to look like sexy for my husband and pretty on camera, but there's like a lot in between in
00:34:39.700 there that it's possible to be feminine and attractive and classy and not dress like,
00:34:49.060 you know, people that you see on OnlyFans.
00:34:52.860 Right. Exactly. And it's so sad because it's like Instagram and OnlyFans in many ways are
00:34:58.020 indistinguishable except one is free and one is not. Yeah. I mean, if, if you look at like,
00:35:03.980 when I remember like reading about the description of OnlyFans and what people wouldn't, would not be
00:35:08.180 doing over there and like Bella Thorne and some other people were like, well, I'm going to go over
00:35:11.760 there. Cause at least I can make money. And I'm like, how is that any different than like what their
00:35:15.580 car, car Jenners do? I mean, how is it any different than, you know, what a lot of celebrities are
00:35:20.980 posting on their Instagram. And by the way, they're still making money for it because
00:35:24.960 as Chris Rock said in his latest special, that's the number one way to make money is show your
00:35:30.240 yeah. Yeah. Yeah, exactly. No, it's funny. I have a friend on Instagram who has talked to me. We've
00:35:38.200 talked to each other about this because we're both more like traditional. We both are modest on our
00:35:43.020 Instagram posts. And we've said, you know, if we just did this, if we just exposed one area of our
00:35:50.020 bodies, we would go up 200,000 followers the next day, like, but we would never do it because to us,
00:35:56.720 it's not, it's a hundred percent not worth it, obviously. But even more than that, it's just not,
00:36:01.480 it's not good for you as a person and people who, you know, look, I am very used to being sexualized
00:36:09.440 on the internet at this point. It really doesn't matter what I post, but at the end of the day,
00:36:13.240 yeah, it doesn't matter what I post. It doesn't matter how covered I am. It doesn't matter.
00:36:17.760 But at the end of the day, the people who are going to sexualize me, who are choosing to
00:36:22.580 sexualize me, the trolls would sexualize me no matter what. But that doesn't mean that I have
00:36:27.760 to then lean into it and give them an opportunity to see things that are to me, precious and to my
00:36:34.060 husband, precious. And private. Yeah. And private. And it means that that's what I don't get about the
00:36:39.880 Emily Ratajowskis or, um, you know, even like the Lena Dunham's of the world. They're like, well,
00:36:45.520 it's my body. And I, if I control what's out there, then I have control. And, and it's like,
00:36:52.320 but then why are you revealing that intimate part of yourself? Like why it's just like revealing
00:36:57.100 intimate information. Right. Um, and another thing that, you know, Chris Rock said in his special,
00:37:02.440 it's like, well, I can do this in like this, uh, sex act on somebody and not have not never call her
00:37:08.360 back. I mean, it's crap, but it's funny because it's true. But he's like, I remember how many women
00:37:13.580 whose hands I've held. Right. And it's almost like if I were a public school teacher teaching
00:37:19.520 sex ed, I would just like clip that and be like, so yeah, maybe you should be careful of who you're
00:37:24.900 engaging with and who you're showing your body to and who you're giving yourself to, because no
00:37:30.380 offense to men, they really don't care and have one track minds and they will remember whose hand
00:37:35.980 they held or who they told they loved for the first time. Um, but they're not going to remember
00:37:40.660 for you for the hot bikini shot, other than it being a brief moment of like sexual pleasure for
00:37:46.300 them. Yeah. Yeah. And I think that right there is exactly it. And the thing that we should all
00:37:52.860 keep in mind moving forward. So now let's move into my premium subscriber questions. If you are
00:38:00.420 interested in becoming a premium subscriber to my sub stack, make sure to head over to
00:38:04.320 classicallyabby.substack.com where you'll get access to a ton of exclusive content, including my book
00:38:09.820 club, as well as weekly exclusive articles and being able to submit questions for podcasts just
00:38:15.900 like this. So let's head into question number one, which is, it seems like women are being erased.
00:38:22.320 What are the best ways to fight back? Um, I would say my daily motto of, of what we tell our girls to
00:38:30.920 be is strong, sweet, and smart. And when you are a strong, sweet, and smart woman, you cannot be erased
00:38:36.900 even as much as society tries to tell us that men transitioning to women are better at being women
00:38:41.740 than we are, which I find really personally insulting for women everywhere. Uh, and, and I think
00:38:48.100 really just being confident, a part of that inner strength is being confident in like your purpose
00:38:53.400 and, and your calling. And like that helps you move through every single day. It helps you move
00:38:58.980 through every moment, uh, whether it's good, bad, or ugly, it helps you move through a week. It helps you
00:39:04.160 move through a month and like plan for the future. And when you have a trajectory that you are confident,
00:39:09.380 um, in pursuing and know that you're on the right path, people can try to tamp you down and can try to
00:39:16.540 erase you and try to highlight masculinity over femininity or men trying to be feminine and culture
00:39:24.680 currently lauding that. But I don't know. I think that that's going to crumble and it already is
00:39:30.020 crumbling. And this too shall pass when it comes because when even feminists on the left are like,
00:39:35.440 Hey, this isn't what I signed up for. You know, the, the left has a problem in this battle that
00:39:40.920 they've so chosen. Yeah. I think that really, it starts with being brave enough, which is a ridiculous
00:39:48.160 thing to say, but it's being brave enough to say, yes, men and women are different. Men cannot become
00:39:53.920 women. That's it. Let's start there. And if we can just say, men are not women, they are not the same,
00:40:01.280 then you can be confident in you as a woman and what being a woman means because it means so much.
00:40:08.580 Yeah. And, and I think that it's important. I sometimes women on the left criticize me of like,
00:40:13.420 Oh, well you only value womanhood if that means making babies. And I'm like, no, it doesn't because
00:40:18.280 I have many friends who literally cannot bear their own children. I have many friends who are
00:40:23.780 single by choice or childless by choice. And the individual freedom part of me is like, Hey,
00:40:29.680 being a mother was like the greatest blessing that I've happened upon. And, and I would, and I hope
00:40:35.000 that others want to pursue that as well. I think it's good for them individually and as society,
00:40:38.720 but I don't have a problem with women who choose not to, or cannot to follow that same like
00:40:45.040 path for a family and what a family may or may not look like to them. There are so many other
00:40:50.700 intricacies of who women are other than just being these childbearing things. And it's so funny that
00:40:56.740 women specifically, and even men on the left. Sorry, we have a crying baby. Quick interruption
00:41:05.340 for my baby who just woke up from his nap, very angry that I wasn't the one to pick him up, but his
00:41:11.240 grandma picked him up. So he's okay. So go ahead and continue from where we left off.
00:41:15.640 My three-year-old's probably currently getting hangry while she hangs out with her Mimi.
00:41:21.080 I think it's fascinating though, that that argument tends, even though the left likes to label like
00:41:26.120 rich white Republican men as the ones that want us to be the baby bearers that, you know, live in this
00:41:31.980 society, like handmaid's tale. It tends to be the people on the left that are arguing with me as a
00:41:39.960 working wife and mom and kind of doing it all right. And I say doing it all in quotations because
00:41:45.120 can't ever do it all or have it all that they're attacking me for my life choices, doing what I want
00:41:53.040 with my body using an argument that they say the other, the bad guys use. So I just always find that
00:41:59.000 laughable. Yeah. And I think fair enough. I mean, my take on, on womanhood is that womanhood is more
00:42:08.280 is in our nature and then whether or not we can have children, you know, that is still going to
00:42:16.040 be expressed in ways that we don't necessarily expect. Right. So being nurturing is so inherent
00:42:22.120 to womanhood that even if you don't have children, you're going to end up being nurturing in other ways
00:42:27.340 that are really important. Feminine strength is so beautiful and it's not only shown through
00:42:32.300 motherhood, it's just exemplified in motherhood. Yeah, I would agree. And there's areas in which
00:42:38.640 like if you even look statistically at the types of jobs that women tend to go into and excel at
00:42:45.040 compared to the types of jobs that men go into and excel at, that is a perfect example of how it
00:42:51.540 speaks to our nature, uh, and our innate abilities and skills and differences that I think are a
00:42:58.400 beautiful thing. Yeah. Yeah. So question number two is I've seen on your Instagram, you talk about
00:43:05.860 being a doula and a big proponent of home births. Can you talk more about that? Yeah, this will be my
00:43:11.840 fourth home birth, uh, with my midwife who's amazing. And if you're in LA, DM me and I'll send you
00:43:18.260 her info. Uh, and I just have like doula for a handful of friends and taken an online course and,
00:43:27.260 uh, really just kind of happen where friends are like, can you be there to support me? Most special
00:43:31.680 is probably being there for my little sister for the birth of my first nephew. She just had her
00:43:35.540 second nephew and they're just so cute. Um, and I think that it is such a beautiful thing because
00:43:41.680 it really, I always joke, like I am not a sports person when everybody compared, uh, labor and
00:43:47.860 delivery to running a marathon. I was like, but I hate running. Um, and I always tell people,
00:43:53.960 I'm like, I'm the biggest wimp on the face of the planet. And if I can do it, anyone can do it.
00:43:58.140 Uh, but this has really, I think this experience and then other health experiences that I've had in
00:44:03.340 the last year or two have really opened my eyes to the lack of informed consent when it comes to
00:44:09.000 women's health in the country, uh, whether it's birth control or the COVID vaccine or abortion
00:44:14.440 or a whole bunch of other issues. Uh, I really just want women to be completely informed and to
00:44:21.260 be their own advocates. And we have to be our own advocates when it comes to our full mental,
00:44:27.080 physical, emotional health, because the medical community as a whole in the United States,
00:44:31.420 ain't good at representing our best interests. I mean, even up until what, like 70 years ago,
00:44:37.700 they were just doing studies on men and thought like the male liver and the women's liver,
00:44:42.060 like we're totally the same or the brain, our brains were totally the same. Like turns out
00:44:46.980 they're not, and our hormones are not. And we got other parts that they don't, um, hence why they
00:44:51.600 can't become us. And so I also give this example and had some leftists in a recent speech actually
00:44:58.300 be like, Oh, we agree with you on that point. Because I was like, if the left truly cared about women,
00:45:02.980 uh, then they would be advocating for as many studies to be done about pregnancy challenges,
00:45:08.800 specifically when it comes to minority groups in the country that are really mistreated by the
00:45:14.160 medical community and not listened to and not advocated for. Um, and they would be spending,
00:45:19.140 uh, I don't know, maybe more than $10 million a year looking at pre-menopausal menopausal issues
00:45:25.000 that affect every single woman in the world compared to the $90 billion that they choose to spend on
00:45:30.460 erectile dysfunction medication and studies. Um, so I, it's where my, I kind of become like a hippie.
00:45:37.540 Um, and anti I'm not anti doctors. I'm not anti like science. God bless them. It's needed. It's
00:45:45.100 necessary. I'm just pro women being their own advocate and becoming informed and choosing a
00:45:51.120 practitioner, whether that's birth center hospital or home that is going to serve them and their
00:45:58.520 medical needs. And while they enter into like one of the most challenging and beautiful days of their
00:46:03.740 lives. I love that because I feel like it is, I feel like I'm not always, uh, one of many when I'm
00:46:14.620 like taking a huge interest in the process of birth, pregnancy, labor, all of that, because I think it is
00:46:22.160 fascinating. And so I think it's really important for women, as you say, no one is going to be a better
00:46:27.640 advocate for you than you. Your doctor is not always going to be the best at making a tailor-made plan
00:46:33.800 for you, as opposed to just the patients he sees. And that doesn't mean he's a bad doctor. It just means
00:46:39.460 that if you don't know enough to ask the right questions, you may not get the care you wanted. And if
00:46:47.000 you want to have a great birth experience, then being more informed can only help. It can't hurt.
00:46:53.740 Yeah. And any doctor or midwife or nurse, midwife or nurse or anybody who questions you,
00:47:01.320 that's your sign to get out the door. I think that's a good piece of advice.
00:47:07.980 So as a mom of three daughters, what are some lessons you want to teach them about navigating
00:47:14.220 the modern world? Oof, uh, try to keep them off a cell phone as long as possible.
00:47:20.540 Oh my gosh. Yes. That's like something I'm going to teach them about the modern world.
00:47:25.220 Um, I think it's so interesting. Like every age has its different questions and challenges. And
00:47:31.260 even from the time that they were like one asking why, you know, your son's going to start that soon.
00:47:36.520 It's like mama, dada, and why are like the, oh, and no, um, words that they tend to like spew first.
00:47:43.380 I would be like, no, ask a complete question or ask a complete sentence. And it's amazing and fun to see
00:47:49.020 the things that they observe in the world. And then the questions that they come up with.
00:47:53.780 So I feel inadequate 90% of the time to answer those questions, but really, uh, thinking about
00:48:01.160 how I answer them and answering them in an age appropriate, but detailed way. So they're never
00:48:06.860 doubtful of me or their dad having the answers to like what's happening in the world and life's
00:48:12.680 problems. And, you know, living in Los Angeles, you see homeless people on the street. Well,
00:48:17.560 why is that person, you know, asking for money? Why, why do we give that person fruit? Like,
00:48:22.640 why does he, his sign say he's hungry? Um, why do so-and-so and such-and-such have a baby and
00:48:28.140 they're not married? That's just, those questions are just going to naturally come up when you're a
00:48:33.080 parent. And sometimes you like can mentally prepare for them and sometimes you can't. And,
00:48:38.540 and so I think that my biggest thing though, is obviously we're instilling in them Judeo-Christian
00:48:44.320 values, but I don't talk to them about politics. I don't, um, really, they know that mommy's on TV
00:48:51.760 sometimes and travels for speeches, but I don't even know if they know what they're about. And I
00:48:57.140 would love it if I could keep it that way for as long as possible. And for them to come to their
00:49:01.820 own independent conclusions on like what their core beliefs are just based on how
00:49:07.360 they see their father and I operate in our everyday lives. That's beautiful answers the question.
00:49:14.740 You know what? I like it. And then to me that that's exactly what it should be is, you know,
00:49:20.880 I think often we see people kind of inculcating values in their children without giving them
00:49:26.580 necessarily the basis or understanding for why they have those values. They're just like,
00:49:31.760 this is what it is and this is what's right. And it's, it's a dangerous game to play when they get
00:49:38.340 to college and all of a sudden they're being faced with something that's entirely different than what
00:49:42.280 they grew up with. And they don't know necessarily why they're believing what they believe as opposed
00:49:46.640 to, Oh, I saw everything around me. I asked questions. I learned about where I stand. And that
00:49:54.300 is why I believe what I believe. Yeah. And I think that there are things that,
00:50:00.880 and my parents did a really good job of that. And even though I was in this like Bible belt bubble,
00:50:05.560 we still traveled. We still knew people that thought and lived their lives differently than us.
00:50:11.460 And my parents did engage me and it wasn't often that they were like, because I said so sometimes as a
00:50:16.560 parent, you do have to say that. Um, but why don't we jump on the couch? Because I said so,
00:50:21.620 but, but I think it is so important. And even at 18, I joke that I've spent all of my adult life in
00:50:29.520 liberal Meccas, but I think that it's like much like conservative students on college campuses
00:50:33.800 today. It really hones you and challenges you in those personal beliefs and can build on what your
00:50:40.260 parents taught you or, um, or an example of to you. And it doesn't mean that it'll be easier to come
00:50:46.900 to those conclusions. It doesn't mean that it'll be easier to live your life in that way.
00:50:50.900 Uh, with those core principles and morals, but I think it helps you have a better foundation for
00:50:57.780 that future and for those struggles and those questions that you'll be asked, not just asking
00:51:02.220 yourself, but complete strangers asking you as well. Yeah. I think that's, that's definitely true
00:51:08.140 and accurate. So the last question that we've got here is, uh, we kind of touched on it at the very
00:51:15.900 beginning. So now we're round, we're coming all the way back, which is you've been vocal about
00:51:21.300 staying in Los Angeles and fighting the good fight. What makes you think you should stay as the state is,
00:51:27.220 it feels like is turning bluer and bluer. Yeah. And my husband and I've been here for 10 years now,
00:51:33.240 which is crazy to think about. Um, we, uh, have like a small community of people. There's all,
00:51:40.780 once again, like most of my answers, there's like the mainstream kind of like secular scientific answer
00:51:45.880 and then political answer. And then there's like the faith answer. So my first answer would be the
00:51:50.180 more political one, which is, as our, uh, four time infamous former governor, Jerry Brown often said,
00:51:56.840 as goes California, so goes the nation. Um, whether there's a Republican in the white house and holding
00:52:02.540 the house in the Senate, or whether that's, uh, held by Democrats, you see the leaders of California
00:52:08.660 become the leaders of the left and the leaders of think tanks and the leaders of, uh, PACs and
00:52:14.120 democratic party at all different levels of bureaucracy and government on the federal level.
00:52:18.660 And you see the bad ideas that were implemented here trickling down to even the reddest of states like
00:52:25.080 Texas, Tennessee, and Florida. Um, and some of those states, you guys have better ability to fight
00:52:30.900 it, but it's still happening. Um, additionally, I think the culture war from a political perspective
00:52:37.500 is important and it's really been interesting since COVID and since, uh, friends, like I teased Dave and
00:52:45.300 Dave Rubin for abandoning us and, you know, doing the New York Jewish thing and like relocating to South
00:52:50.160 Florida, like what New York, you doesn't do that. Right. Um, but, and your brother and others,
00:52:56.060 but, um, I, I, on a serious note, it's been really interesting to see libertarian, independent
00:53:03.400 thinking, even like classical liberal minded people come out of the woodwork and I meet them at events
00:53:08.440 or functions that are not like FOA conservative type gatherings, right? They're not like flat waving
00:53:14.440 anti-vax, um, rallies, uh, cocktail parties and screenings and, uh, you know, lunches out, uh,
00:53:22.620 in Beverly Hills where people were like, thank you for not leaving. Thank you for fighting. Cause I felt
00:53:27.100 so abandoned and I'm finding more people like me in the industry that work for Apple TV, that work at
00:53:33.920 Netflix, that work at Google that are kind of like open to having a discussion and we're not okay with
00:53:40.880 the wokeism that's happening. And we know that if it happens at these corporations here, and if we
00:53:45.040 don't put a stop to it here, it's going to be affecting like the small businesses and other
00:53:49.780 corporations all over the country. So that's like my political answer to that. My religious answer is,
00:53:56.020 um, you know, when in the old Testament, God is talking about, uh, like when he's dialoguing and I
00:54:02.940 just went blank, it's not Joshua, but, um, you know, Sodom and Gomorrah, like God, how many people will it
00:54:08.460 take? And, and how many people will it take to save a city? And I am a not perfect person.
00:54:16.520 You're one of the 10?
00:54:17.920 Yeah, I was at the 10. And I wouldn't even say, I would not be vain enough or self-righteous enough
00:54:23.260 to say that I'm one of the 10. But I guess my question from a religious perspective is like,
00:54:27.100 who are we to say there's no one left here to save? Um, and that's not my position to say that.
00:54:33.600 And it's not my position. I don't think to abandon the people that are here that need to be saved.
00:54:39.660 And, uh, we have friends on the mission field in other countries, and we have friends that are on
00:54:44.720 the mission field here and we cannot forget the mission field here. And my husband and I, for
00:54:50.240 the 10 years that we've lived here every year, every few months are like, we good, we going to stay,
00:54:55.520 how we doing, what are we supposed to do? And during COVID, when everyone was leaving and
00:55:00.660 there are post-apocalyptic skies because of fires and helicopters because of the riots,
00:55:06.060 I remember having a kind of like internal freak out moment of like, is this like, should we like
00:55:10.380 pack up and go to a cabin in the woods? Like what the heck? And he was like, we're not going to flee
00:55:14.340 in fear, but we're not going to stay because of pride. And so for us, I think that's where we try
00:55:20.260 to step in day in and day out of like, we're not going to stay because of pride, but we're not going
00:55:25.400 to flee in fear. And like, what's our individual purpose? And then what's our family purpose? And until we
00:55:29.720 have 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
00:55:39.560 fighting the good fight. It's important. Well, thank you so much for coming on my podcast.
00:55:46.040 Thank you for having me. It's been a lot of fun.
00:55:48.400 Tell us where we can find you, where we can follow you, all the places.
00:55:52.700 Well, just on social media, your brother once told me I have a Jewish dude's name. So it's
00:55:56.940 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
00:56:05.020 if my Instagram stories are like my brain, I actually find that Instagram is my favorite
00:56:09.660 platform. I'm like, nah, on Twitter, even before Elon bought it. So, but you can find all my thoughts
00:56:16.480 there. And I usually post all of my interviews like this there as well.
00:56:20.100 Perfect. So everyone give Alicia a follow and we will, I will see you in the next episode. Bye.
00:56:50.100 Bye.
00:56:50.600 Bye.
00:57:20.100 Bye.
00:57:21.100 Bye.
00:57:22.880 Bye.
00:57:46.820 Bye.
00:57:47.320 Bye.
00:57:49.580 Bye.
00:57:50.100 Thank you.
00:58:20.100 Thank you.
00:58:50.100 Thank you.
00:59:20.100 Thank you.
00:59:50.100 Thank you.