All About The Joy
All About The Joy is a weekly hang-out with friends in the neighborhood! We share insight, advice, funny-isms and we choose to always try and find the positive, the silver lining, the "light" in all of it. AATJ comes from the simple concept that at the end of the day we all want to have more JOY than not. So, this is a cool place to unwind, have a laugh and share some time with friends!
All About The Joy
Bad Bunny, Belonging, and the American Story We Keep Forgetting
A sore back, a sleepless night, and a headline you can’t unsee - sometimes that’s all it takes to reveal what we’re really wrestling with. We open by talking honestly about pain and rest, then follow that thread into how exhaustion shapes our empathy, our media diet, and our politics. From there, we confront the Epstein files with one clear standard: accountability should be public, victims deserve priority, and sunlight is not a partisan stance. No cherry-picked clips, no shadow hearings - just cameras on and the same rules for every powerful name.
Then the spotlight swings to the Super Bowl stage and Bad Bunny. We unpack why this halftime matters far beyond pop culture: Puerto Rico is a U.S. territory, Puerto Ricans are U.S. citizens, and Spanish is an American language. We offer a simple geography guide to place Puerto Rico in the Caribbean—and a more complicated look at how “real Americans” rhetoric becomes a coded way to police identity. Global music doesn’t need translation to move us. It proves, in real time, that belonging can be felt before it’s argued.
That spirit carries us into immigration, labor, and the future we’re building. If we truly want a system that works, we expand legal pathways, shorten wait times, and enforce laws against employers who profit from exploiting undocumented workers. People migrate because humans move toward safety and opportunity—always have, always will. We talk civic courage, the threat of voter intimidation, and what preparation looks like when institutions wobble. It’s on all of us—especially those with the most privilege—to speak plainly to our own communities and to show up when it counts.
Come for the halftime hot take, stay for the deeper questions about identity, power, and the country we want to be. If this conversation resonates, subscribe, share it with a friend, and leave a review. Tell us: what does American mean to you today?
Thank you for stopping by. Please visit our website: All About The Joy and add, like and share. You can also support us by shopping at our STORE - We'd appreciate that greatly. Also, if you want to find us anywhere on social media, please check out the link in bio page.
Music By Geovane Bruno, Moments, 3481
Editing by Team A-J
Host, Carmen Lezeth
DISCLAIMER: As always, please do your own research and understand that the opinions in this podcast and livestream are meant for entertainment purposes only. States and other areas may have different rules and regulations governing certain aspects discussed in this podcast. Nothing in our podcast or livestream is meant to be medical or legal advice. Please use common sense, and when in doubt, ask a professional for advice, assistance, help and guidance.
Hey everyone. Welcome to All About the Joy. This is Culture and Consequence with Carmen and Andrea. How are you doing? I'm alright. How are you? Well, you know, it's so funny because usually I hear from you like you're like, okay, see you tomorrow. And I'm like, I know she's not up for this because she didn't even respond to the email.
Andrea:Yeah, I don't. I'm like, I actually, so my back hurts like more than normal. Wait, what do you mean? What's going on with your back? Just, you know, I don't know. I'm just old and it hurts. I don't know. I mean, did you fall? Did you No, I just it just hurts. I don't know. And it hurts like more than you know, you know, like everything kind of hurts all the time. And then there's like a thing that just announces itself more loudly on any given day. So um this week it's my back, and that's not that's not great. Have you been exercising though? Yeah, I mean I exercise, you know, often, so it's not I didn't I haven't done anything differently. I guess yesterday I did take all of my plants and take them downstairs, which was a little bit of a thing, but um, it was hurting before that.
Carmen Lezeth:So, you know, there are certain things I don't do anymore. I know it sounds really weird, but I kind of and it started when I had my hip surgery. But like I used to carry like the 35 bottles of water because I always buy those, or the 24-pack, and I would just pick it up and I stopped doing like I don't lift anything. I don't like I mean, I do the kettle weights or whatever, that's different, but I'm saying like there are just some things I've stopped doing because I know it's just going to hurt me.
Andrea:Yeah, I haven't done that.
Carmen Lezeth:I might need to, but I'm not you also have children to carry some of those things up and down the stairs or whatever, don't you? Isn't that the whole point?
Andrea:I can just imagine me like, hey, can you bring my giant plant downstairs?
Carmen Lezeth:Be like, I'm just saying, I don't know if you need to be carrying, like even that, like moving. I don't like there was a time when I would get friends. No, I just you hire movers. Yeah, so it's kind of that thing. It's like at some point you figure it out. Yeah, I don't know. I'm just I'm sorry your back's hurting.
Andrea:Yeah, I mean, like I said, it's I just sort of accept it as like I said, like things are gonna hurt, and sometimes they're gonna hurt more. Like head to toe, I probably have four different painful things right now.
Carmen Lezeth:Really?
Andrea:And my back is just the one that's like hurting the most right now. Yeah, but like literally my shoulder hurts just being here right now. If I do this, it doesn't hurt. Hanging it down by my side is actually painful.
Carmen Lezeth:Should we do the show like this, both of us on opposite sides? Jazz hands, yeah. Yeah. Well, I I told my my thing right now, I like this is gonna be a show about AARP or something, like the old people show. I think the big thing I'm having right now is the hands thing, which we talked about last week. But I don't, I feel so much better now that I'm sleeping. I'm so happy that I'm sleeping through the night most nights. I mean, not gonna. It's not every night, but this is like a big huge thing to me. So um sleep is a big deal. It's so pathetic that I'm even saying it that way, but I don't know.
Andrea:Man, I think a lot of people, a lot of people are, you know, trying the function on a daily basis with not enough sleep. And it shows.
Carmen Lezeth:You know, that you have to get eight hours of sleep since I was a kid. It's just the way you said that. I've always heard about this thing that other people do called sleep. I'm not involved, but no, no, no. And and like I totally get it. I've also never been someone like, you know, I don't drink and drive. I don't can't sleep and drive. Like I've been to your house. I've been other where I'm like, I can't, I don't drive at night. Like I've always understood my limitations because I don't sleep well. But it's also a really easy thing to say you should sleep more and not understand why you're not sleeping more is really the problem. It's not easy, it's not like like I don't think people are on purpose trying not to sleep. I don't agree. You know what I mean? I do think there are people who are overworked, and especially like when you think of people like truck drivers, you truck drivers need to be sleeping. They need to be sleeping. But like I always think about those people who are just doing those late or people who have those what's it called when you work at night and not during the day? Graveyard shift. Yeah, the graveyard shift people or whatever. I think that's where it becomes a really difficult thing, you know. But I think it's this is just my experience. I've never been someone who sleeps eight hours just my entire life, never. Maybe when I was a kid, maybe back when I was a child before my mom passed away. I probably slept pretty well. But I and I'm not blaming my mom. It sounds so mean. But I'm just saying I don't ever remember being someone who could solid solidly sleep. Um, but I don't sleep in hotels, I don't sleep at people's homes. You know what I mean? Like I'm just I've never been that person. Yeah. So whatever. She's so snooty because she sleeps like eight, 10 hours a night. Whatever.
Andrea:No, I told you last time that I'd been having some problems sleeping recently, but we're back on track.
Carmen Lezeth:Whatever. Okay, let's talk about the news. Okay. It's not even the news because I don't think I can talk about the Epstein files. I think I'm just disgusted. And unfortunately, I think I made the mistake, and it was a mistake, that I saw a picture and then I clicked on the whatever social media content, and it was a disturbing picture of Epstein and a kind of fogged-out picture of a child. And I was like, you know what? I I'm disgusted by all of this. I am happy to say that Hillary Clinton and Bill Clinton are going to go in front of Congress, right? They've been called. They want it to be, and I think it should be public. You know what I mean? But now I guess Trump is freaking out a bit because it's setting a precedent.
Andrea:Well, and it highlights all of the people who are not willing to do that.
Carmen Lezeth:Yeah. And I I think it's an interesting thing. I also want to stress that there are no illegal aliens, as people like to call them, in the Epstein files. I just don't mind. There are no transgender people that I can tell in the Epstein Files. I haven't seen that reported anywhere either. Right. Right, right, right.
Andrea:Yeah. People that we're so afraid of sharing a bathroom with and those sorts of things. Don't you appear?
Carmen Lezeth:I was just listening to Trevor Noah. You know, he, you know who he is, right? He's the comedian, but he's he was on the uh Jon Stewart show or whatever, but he's also a comedian. And he was making this point. I just watched this like a few minutes ago. Who's ever had that problem where you go to walk into a public bathroom and you start screaming because you can tell someone is transgender, like and you see their genitalia, whatever? And you're like, get out, get out. He's like, it's never happened zero times. But what has happened is they they they have gotten us consumed with this story, right? This idea of transgender people, and it deflects from what the real stories are that are going on about corporate America or whatever it is, inflation or whatever. And I was like, it's such a great point. I've never I've never had a friend come to me and be like, girl, you won't believe what happened today in the bathroom. I was at the airport, and you would be like, never not once.
Andrea:And I look, I mean, it's the bathroom. I want people to use the bathroom. Please, for the love of God, go to the bathroom. Like, in what world do we want to stop anyone from using the bathroom? I don't understand it at all. I don't understand it at all either.
Carmen Lezeth:So, well, whatever. Okay. And then the other thing I wanted to talk about with the Epstein files, and then we can move on to what I really want to talk about. But this is me being really fucking petty. Uh, I just want to say that the new it is. I'm being petty. I know it's astounding to you, right? The New York Times found that there were more than 38,000 references to Trump, Melania, and Mar-Lago. 38,000 in just the files they've sent out recently, right? The batch of files that we have, not all of them. So Jesus or Jesus Christ or Christ or the Lord Jesus, all those names is mentioned in the Bible only 1,300 times. I just I'm sorry, I'm being fucking petty.
Andrea:Oh God, that's really funny. Isn't that I was wondering where you were? I was like, are they mentioning Jesus in the Epstein files?
Carmen Lezeth:But um No, that's what I because so many people are so okay with kind of dismissing that Trump and his family are in these files. You know what I mean? And they tend to be people who are very biblical, very religious, very Christian. I just I'm just saying, I'm just saying it's an interesting difference. Um so yeah, that's where I'm going with that. How are you feeling about the Epstein files? Which is a weird thing to say.
Andrea:Uh it illustrates something that I think any of us know, which is this kind of uh protected class of people exist and the way that they talk about, think about, you know, and behave with regards to normies is really you know, it's it's illuminating, I guess.
Carmen Lezeth:Yeah. Hillary Clinton's tweet this morning, February 5th this morning, was so let's stop the games. If you want this fight, Representative James Comer, who is a representative from Kentucky, she says, let's have it in public. You love to talk about transparency. There's nothing more transparent than a public hearing. Cameras on. We will be there.
Andrea:Well, and that's the woman who knows how to testify in front of Congress.
Carmen Lezeth:Let's just testifies February 26th, and Bill Clinton, president, former president Bill Clinton, testifies February 27th. Uh, but the Republicans, because he's the ranking member, he gets to decide whether or not cameras are going to be on or not. And here's where it got a little twisted. All of a sudden now he wants to videotape it, and she's saying, if you want to videotape it, we need to do this in public. Yeah. And you know why they want to do this, right? Because they want to use the clips to then say, see, Hillary said this, Bill said this, and that is therefore they were the really bad people, but not Donald Trump. Right. Such a cheesy, pathetic kind of. I want it on camera. I want to watch it live. I want to see what's going on. And then I want every other person to be brought in in front of Congress, and I want to hear everything that they have to say. And I want Donald Trump to be also, yeah, that's what I want. Okay, that's my ending on the Epstein files, unless you have anything else you want to talk about.
Andrea:I have nothing else to say on that, except for I hope that the victims are doing well.
Carmen Lezeth:I know. They have been really, really strong. I don't think I could handle it. I would not be, I I don't know. Yeah, I don't know that I could either. I don't know. I don't know how they're doing it. And um, yeah, and there's a couple of them who have been very vocal and are out there and they're doing interviews, and I'm like, oh my god, like you're I don't know how you're doing this. Like that's a trauma that is, anyways, yeah. So God bless them. And I hope at the end of this we find justice for them, but also for all of us having to endure this idea that this was even happening. It's disgusting on so many levels. Okay. So um I I sent you an email and I was like, I feel like we need to have a geography lesson or whatever, because Bad Bunny is going to be playing on Sunday at the Super Bowl. First, let's say you, I don't know if you still are, but you were a huge football fan back in the day, right? Are you still a big football person?
Andrea:I was, and then I sort of dropped off, but I my daughter is really into football. We actually went to a game this year. Not that really yeah. Um, so I've been very checked in this season.
Carmen Lezeth:Okay, so I'm sure you're really excited because the Patriots are going to be hey, I'm originally look at here's here's what I'll tell you. I you know I know this much about football, right? But when you're born in Boston, it doesn't matter. You follow your teams, whatever. You're it's the they I think they actually put it, they implant you when you're born with a DNA thing. Because whether or not you're into sports, you know your teams, you know who you cheer for, whatever. But I have to tell you, I was having a panic attack when it was the Rams. I was like, please, somebody, please let the Rams lose because there's no way I was gonna live in this town with LA and New England battling it out. I'm just saying. So I was a little grateful for that.
Andrea:I'm sure you're hating me saying that, but I was going for Seattle, so I don't care. But um, okay, whatever. So and I mean, literally, only people from that area are going for the Patriots. Everybody else hates them with people who don't even know anything about football are literally calling themselves anti-Patriots fans. So whatever happens for them to lose is what we need to happen. But so yeah. And I believe correct me if I'm wrong, I don't know for sure about this, but I believe Tom Brady will be calling the game, which like God help us all. I every week I have to listen to that guy, and I'm like, make it stop, please. Make it all just come crashing down and stop. So watching him call the game with the Patriots and it is like a yeah, haters gonna hate.
Carmen Lezeth:I don't know what to say. So I don't have any love for Tom Brady, so I don't really. I mean, I you know, uh for me, I I loved back in the day when there was loyalty to teams. I say this more about basketball. Like I remember growing up, and you know, you had the Celtics and you knew Larry Bird, and you you know what I mean? Like you understood, you knew who Magic Johnson was, the Lakers, but they were solidly with their teams. And then, of course, Michael Jordan, you know, at the Chicago Bulls. Like there was there was a commitment to a team.
Andrea:So when Tom Brady would stay together, so you'd have the same players on the team for year after year after year, and that just doesn't that's it doesn't happen anymore.
Carmen Lezeth:So when Tom Brady went to fucking Florida, Florida, right? I was like, dude, I'm out, I'm out, like, yeah, yeah. Okay, you know how you feel about Gavin Newsom with the cheese factor? That's how I feel about Tom Brady.
Andrea:Okay, yeah. I mean, I can buy that.
Carmen Lezeth:Yeah, you know what I mean. However, you can't take away from his talent and greatness. Like you can't, you know what I mean? But you can't, you can't, you know what I mean? But he just sucks. Anyways, that's not why we're talking, like, we weren't going to have a commentary about football either. This is so funny. We're actually here to talk about Bad Bunny, and one of the things that has just stunned me, and I actually got okay, so I posted on Facebook just a post that said this is a good time to remind people that America is a continent, it is not the United States. Andrea, people actually emailed me trying to correct me. Number one, one of them was I'm like, oh my god, I can't. I I couldn't even answer them because I what I wanted to say is you're so stupid. Okay, I just said it. You're so stupid. Like you could Google this shit. But also just I realize people don't know where Puerto Rico is. So I I just wanted to have a conversation and first wanted to start with what you think about Bad Bunny playing at the Super Bowl on Sunday at the halftime show.
Andrea:I you know, I what do I want to say about that? Um you could say you don't care. Yeah, I mean, I guess I kind of don't care. I understand the importance of it. You know, um, like I don't really care who plays, like, I'm watching the game.
Carmen Lezeth:Right.
Andrea:That's what I'm there for. I don't even really care about the commercials or any of that kind of stuff. So for me, it kind of doesn't matter, but I understand the importance of it, and obviously I'm, you know, understand what the you know controversy is about it and all of those kinds of things. And I think it's in this moment in time, I'm really, really happy that it's him.
Carmen Lezeth:Yeah, I am too. I am too. And I think he's absolutely lovely. I mean, I think um, you know, it and I want to be clear. He's a good guy, but I want to be clear. I'm not like, you know, look, I I wear a prince, uh, you know, people know I love Prince and George Michael and Freddie Mercury and Aretha Franklin and Whitney, right? Those are my people, right? That's my music. And then you could throw in YouTube Bono and sting or whatever, but that's my generation, that's my thing. But Prince and George Michael are my be all end all. Um, and so I'm not gonna sit here and pretend like, oh my god, I've listened to Bad Bunny forever, and I'm not gonna sit here and sing every song, although I'm ready. But the idea, again, it's gonna go back to this other thing that as people in the United States, we have so centered ourselves as the most important, as the best, as the almighty, as the great, that we really don't have an understanding of a global superstar. You know, he has always been for a long time a global superstar. You know, it's kind of like this idea, and I hate to keep throwing in sports here, but like, you know, this idea that soccer was kind of like it's just not really that important because we do football here.
Andrea:Like the the rest of the world is functioning soccer, everybody, Asia, Middle East, Latin America, Europe, Africa, everybody else plays football. Right. And we play soccer, and it's not really that important.
Carmen Lezeth:Right, exactly. So the reason why I think it's actually really important, I think there's a couple things. I wish, as Americans, United States Americans, uh, citizens or whatever, people who live here, we would stop. Like, this is the good time to start re-educating who we are in the world, because clearly we have been, um, I just want to say, kind of lied to. And here's the thing that's interesting. Why we call ourselves Americans, right? Even though America is a continent and it there's 35 countries that make up America. I didn't know it was 35. Like if that was on a test, I would have failed. 35 different countries that make up the continent of America. And to give you an example, people always think Africa is a country. Africa is a continent also made up of various different countries. America is the same way. We have North America, and that includes Canada and us, and then we have Central America, which I know Mexico gets upset if we put them in the some, it depends on who you're talking to. But even if we don't talk about Mexico so much, but Central America includes El Salvador, Honduras, right? I mean, we can go down the list. Um, and then there's South America, which has all these other countries, right? So I wanted to talk about that. The reason why United States people call themselves Americans is branding and it's power and it's habit. I thought that was an interesting, you know, I went down the rabbit hole of trying to figure out when this started. It just makes us seem so dumb.
Andrea:Well, and um dismissive of everyone else. Yes. Right? When I I first learned Spanish in Spain, and you know, one of the things that you do is you learn, you know, what other countries are called and what people from those countries are called, and it was Estados Unidencia. I don't know if I can't I'm not saying it right. Estados Unidos? Well, to say American. Estados Unidencian. This was in Spain. Right. And I I remember thinking, well, that's weird. We don't call ourselves like United States in. You know what I mean? Like as uh but but it did like, and I think I even talked to the teacher about it, and it was like, well, you it's not you can't say American because it involves everybody.
Carmen Lezeth:You know what I mean?
Andrea:Like everyone else is American as well. And it I mean, I was in my 20s, I think, and I was like, oh yeah, yeah. So I do try to be really cognizant of referring to the United States as the United States versus America, you know, but we don't have enough names for ourselves.
Carmen Lezeth:But but but it's on everything, it's not even like we are also like it's also branding because it's everything that is published or done. We are seen as Americans, even though we are United States citizens of America. America. But here's the other part of this, too, because that's not the only reason why Bad Bunny is American. It's not just because we're we're confusing, it's also because Puerto Rico is part of the United States. It is a territory of the United States. He carries a U.S. passport, he is legally a U.S. citizen. And I wanted to explain to people where Puerto Rico is because I don't think people know it. Oh my God. Can I tell you, it's not that I'm trying to test people. I think what bothers me is we've lost the ability, or maybe we never had it, to be curious. We just believe what we believe or what we think we believe, and then we spew it out. And it's like, it's way too embarrassing for me nowadays to hear people question things to me when Google is at your fingertips. No, but you know what, Andre? I'm not even trying to be mean about it. I'm like, you can just Google things, start questioning everything you think you know. So I'm gonna explain it this way: if you have a uh a map of the United States and you fixate on that bottom tip of Florida, when you look down past Florida, you'll see islands. I like islands. Uh, the first one you hit across would be Cuba, Cuba, right? After that would be Haiti and the Dominican Republic. They're kind of right next to each other. And then after that, to the right a little bit, is this stretch of island, which is 100 miles by 35 miles. That is Puerto Rico. So I think it's important that we start learning where things are in relation to us and what it means. And Bad Bunny is an American. And I know that there is a another, um, and and Andrea, you you may want to write this down. There is another halftime show being played for real Americans. And it's being sponsored by a group I will not mention on here, but you can imagine, and their starting or their star person is going to be Kid Rock. I know you're thinking, bad buddy, Kid Rock, who am I gonna watch? When we say you are racist, and I'm gonna say it this way, this is what we're talking about. Real Americans. What do you mean by that?
Andrea:Yeah. Why do you feel the need to do that this year?
Carmen Lezeth:And not the years that had performers like Bono, U2, during uh 2002, Ireland Ireland. Who?
Andrea:Is it Prince, greatest halftime show ever? Yeah, yeah, but he's American. I know, I'm just saying.
Carmen Lezeth:You're just throwing that in there for why didn't we ever discuss the problem of you know not having a real American when we actually had people like Shania Twain who performed, and she's an American in North America, but she's not a U.S. citizen, you know what I mean? So she's Canadian. Um, Rolling Stone. I know, I know. England, they were 2006. I mean, there's so many. So when I say you're being racist, this is what we're talking about. Yeah. Okay, I'm sorry, you were talking about Prince.
Andrea:I just had to, I really did just have to throw that out there. That, you know, although I said I didn't care about the halftime show, that lives on in my memory as one of the greatest performances.
Carmen Lezeth:Yeah. No, Princess was definitely the greatest performance. But I'm look at Kendrick Lamar last year was just Chef's Kiss brilliant, and I was shocked by it. I also enjoyed Beyoncé and Bruno Mars, even though they were just guests of Coldplay. Cold play also. Not from the United States.
Andrea:Um well, they had to have the real Americans.
Carmen Lezeth:Well, right, right, right. But I don't know, they're black. I don't know. I don't know, it depends.
Andrea:Yeah, I mean, look, to go to, you know, back to your point. It's there's no nuance here. There's none.
Carmen Lezeth:Right.
Andrea:They there's a a a brown person who's going to sing in Spanish, you know, performing at the Super Bowl, so they need to have a white halftime show. Because people are butthurt that they didn't have the smarts to learn a foreign language when they were in school. I don't know.
Carmen Lezeth:I just miss, but look at me, you don't have to know the language. It's just so I I was saying this early on Facebook. Thane, who's a Facebook contact, uh, wrote something and I responded and I said, you know, one of the things I miss about being young and I guess naive basically was this idea that I that we were inclusive. I remember as a kid fighting about whether or not the United States was a salad bowl or a melting pot, right? Because I refused for it to be a melting pot. Like I remember having, I don't know if you had that conversation or but as a like a teenager, I remember this being like a robust conversation. Like, do we assimilate and lose our identity, or are we more like a salad bowl? Like, I'm a tomato and I'm gonna stay a tomato and you a lettuce, and you know what I mean, but but we make a great meal. Like, and I remember believing in this country in such a way that there was, I don't know, a hope, an ideal, a this I I and I know as I'm saying it, I want to be so sad, you know what I mean? Because I realize how idealistic it was and how much of a lie it is, you know, but I still want I want my country back. I want, is that weird that I just said that it feels weird to say it. I want my country back. I don't know what the goofy, weird backcountry crap shit is you guys believe America is, but you know, the United States of America, but I have an idea, and it's what every other person who comes to this country looking for, right? This idea of you come here and you're treated with respect and dignity, and if you work hard, you can be anything. And as that's coming out of my mouth, I know that's bullshit, but I'm just saying.
Andrea:I mean, it's not complete bullshit. A lot of people, my husband included, make a fantastic life here. They come here from somewhere else with a, you know, a couple of dollars in their pocket in a dream. I mean, you know, it sounds cheesy, but it does happen. It can happen.
Carmen Lezeth:No, but a lot of people came to this country, especially in like people always talk about Ellis Island. They did it right. Oh my God. Do you know how different I know?
Andrea:This that uh that just makes me insane. As someone who is intimately familiar with the immigration process, uh you know, the way to stop illegal immigration is to make it easier, to let more people in legally, to make it faster, to make it less expensive, and to make it easier. We want these people here.
Carmen Lezeth:We do. Well, we're finding out how much we're gonna lose because they're being taken out and people aren't working on it.
Andrea:Your social security, our social security. Like we need these people here. I just read yesterday the prime minister of Spain is uh legalizing 500,000 um, you know, undocumented people. Why is he doing that? Because they need the tax base. Yeah, their country, I believe, I don't know how many years ago, but not that many, you know, was in trouble in the same way with Greece and Italy. Like they needed to borrow money from the EU. They are now thriving. Why? Because they are welcoming the immigrants who are already want to be there.
Carmen Lezeth:But isn't that a weird concept, even to begin with? Like, like I keep thinking if an alien came from another planet, all of a sudden we'd all be earthlings, right? We'd all be like to fight the plan. I don't know, maybe I watch too much sci-fi, but there's a part of me that always feels so weird about this. Like, like, even as I just said what I said, a part of me wanted to be like, I was born and raised in Boston and my mother was a citizen. Like, because I don't want anyone to be confused as to who I am. And it's like, why would you want to otherise human beings who are coming to this country? And I'm gonna disagree, not disagree with you, but I'm gonna add a little caveat to something you said. If you really wanted to deal with immigration, illegal immigration, you would not just make it easier, not even easier, just have a plan, you'd actually go after the corporations and the businesses who are exploiting these people. Yeah. And not paying them. The reason why there are jobs here is because they're underpaid, they're paid under the table, they don't, you know what I mean? Like employers don't want to do the work to help people become actual citizens because then they'd actually have to pay them at least minimum wage and give them health insurance.
Andrea:And they would have all of the protections that you know, uh a normal citizen worker would have, which they don't want them to have. Yeah, there are a lot of ways to deal with this that are not the things that we're doing.
Carmen Lezeth:Right. That is not exactly going after individual people who have been in this country for years who are good, decent, hardworking, human. You know what? I don't even care if they're not decent, they're not working, I don't, they're human beings. Human beings.
Andrea:And I another thing that just uh I feel like I really want to say is um human beings are wired to migrate. We will always go and search, we will leave our families and everything that we know and go in search of better opportunities, better food, better, you know, trap, whatever it is, um, or just out of curiosity. Right. This is who we have been since we have been on this planet, otherwise, we would all be concentrated in the same space.
Carmen Lezeth:Right, exactly.
Andrea:I mean, like, really, you cannot legislate or criminalize or concentration camp your way out of the fact that people are going to move around this planet. They are going to.
Carmen Lezeth:Why? And when did this become? I mean, I know this is a whole other history thing, but I just I don't know why anyone would treat other human beings and be okay with it. Like it's not even just about ice and this year, although I'm cracking up at all the stuff I'm reading about. So many, like the morale is so low with ice. Quit then, quit. And they're not getting their bonuses. I'm like, did you are you gonna be happy about it? Like, wait, wait, they didn't read the fine print that the bonuses weren't gonna be like a $50,000 check.
Andrea:It was like over five years or something, and we we know how good Trump is at paying his you know contractors. And here's never getting that money.
Carmen Lezeth:Yeah, like why would you ever want to be someone who hates on other people just because they're not born in your I just don't understand the concept of being angry with human beings who want a better life. I I don't know if I'm missing something. And don't come at me with criminal shit. Fuck you. We have enough criminals in the United States who are actually citizens that we don't go after, and one of them is in the motherfucking White House. I'm sorry, that had to be said.
Andrea:Absolutely, absolutely. There's no question, obviously, they're not going after criminals. And you know what? We have plenty of militarized police departments to do that already.
Carmen Lezeth:Yeah.
Andrea:So we don't need an extra, you know, Gestapo force to do that. And they're not, that's not what they're doing. That's not who's in the concentration camps right now. It's my children.
Carmen Lezeth:You know what I'm afraid of? And I know it's gonna happen once we find out how these people are being treated in those camps, you know, in these horrible places. I it just it burns my soul that we are even doing this, but yeah, it's um I'm sure it's worse than we even think it is, which is pretty bad.
Andrea:Yeah. Um, and you you like how do you come back from that? As it like, like you said, the soul, you know, so you use the phrase, the soul of the nation, right? Uh that we're allowing this to happen.
Carmen Lezeth:I mean, we're I think people are trying to fight, and I mean that's part of why we're doing our show too, right? I mean, and everyone's fighting in the way that they can to do the right thing. I think for me, it feels sometimes they feel really so sad in who we've become as people in this country because I had an idealized view of who we could be, who I thought we were. And then sometimes, especially like you were mentioning this, and and I'm gonna say it again, watching white men in Minnesota. You didn't say the white part, but men in general. Oh, you did? Okay, okay. I've had arguments with men in my life who are white, who have always been the right kind of people, right? Who have always been open and loving and kind, but they never want to do the work of speaking to other white people about what is going on. And it's been my biggest argument and fight with people that you have to. I black people have been trying to explain this over and over and over again. But only white people can talk to other white people about the problem that's happening. You're gonna hear it differently if it's coming from somebody that you believe looks like you. You know what I mean? Like, especially if you're institutionally racist. Like, I don't know how else to explain it, you know? And so I've been impressed with especially some of the Gen Z young independent journalists and podcasters and the who are also doing this work. And my God, they're so fucking smart. And I don't know why, I'm not trying to be mean, but I'm just like they know so much information, you know, and I'm just so it's the thing, it's the sliver of hope, right? It's the sliver of hope.
Andrea:Yeah, and we do have to hold on to that and highlight it. I think there are a lot of people putting in the work. Yeah. Uh not enough, but there are a lot.
Carmen Lezeth:I think it's getting stronger every day. I'm more worried now because uh Trump, of course, he always says exactly what he wants to do, right? Now he's saying that at the midterms there's going to be ICE agents at the voting booths or whatever. I forget exactly what he said, but and I'm like, okay, so now they took all the voting records from 2020 because he will not let it go, that he lost that election. And there, and look at I know people are like, no, there was something wrong. No, there wasn't. There wasn't. He actually lost by a lot. It wasn't just Georgia. Like, but they went and took the voting rules and uh because he wants to relitigate the 2020 election. My God, what a small, tiny man he is.
Andrea:Yeah, I mean, look, I think it this is existential for a lot of them, not just him, but a lot of those folks that are involved in his administration, you know, they they have to win, or else things, bad things are gonna happen to them, right? Um, and so I think we have to be mentally, emotionally, spiritually, physically prepared for them to do whatever it is they're gonna do. Right.
Carmen Lezeth:Well, Steve Bannon, so so the people you need to really be paying attention to, you know, Trump is really just out there. So I just anything he says, I kind of listen to, but the people I really listen to that that scare me are uh Steve Bannon, who is just out there saying everything that they're going to do in order to make sure they win, uh, because he doesn't want to go to prison, basically. And also, what's that Stephen Miller? Oh my god, I can't stand that man. Stephen Miller, who I hope I live long enough to see him pay for every one of his crimes. And I hope it is harsh and painful and in depth and live. I'll fucking pay for any streaming service. I swear to God, I hate that man, you know, especially because he's from Santa Monica. And it's a big deal here that he's from here and he's from a Jewish family who basically are stunned by what he's doing. Yeah, they've like disowned him. Yeah. Well, it's a whole other issue, but yeah.
Andrea:I mean, like they're not they're broadcasting what they plan to do. And so I think it it's it's on us to be prepared for that, to know um what our plans are then, um, and to you know, prepare for that and and help to get out the vote in such a way that they're they it literally can't be denied.
Carmen Lezeth:Yeah. I I hope there are people smarter than me, and I know that there are people smarter than me that are working on this. I don't know what to do at the at the polls to fix that part where they're going to have, you know, um ice agents. Seriously, all ice agents need to just quit. I swear to God. I don't know how else. If you just started in the past year or two, like you need to just you need to quit and find a new job. And I know it's a hard time, but you are going to deal with the wrath of what's going to come down because Trump is not going to be in office. He's not, and neither are his minions. I know they think they are. Nope. I'm sure Hitler thought he was gonna be, and I know people get upset, but we are it, this is where we're at. This is where we're ever.
Andrea:There's not a question about it at all. So, yeah, I mean, I agree, like it's we don't know what they're uh, you know, how how do you fight that? I mean, I know the sort of common phrase is there's more of us than there are of them. You know, is it are there more of us who are actually gonna stand up and be there? And you and I have said it before. I there will probably be violence. Um, I don't I don't want that. I wish it wasn't true, but I believe that there will be more violence.
Carmen Lezeth:Yes, more, yeah. I know, I know. They're not not laughing about it. I'm just like, it's not like you know, you say there's going to be violence. I'm like, we're seeing this on the streets. I mean, and we have to give a shout out to you know, Minneapolis and Minnesota. Just always. I mean, as much as we dealt with whatever we dealt with here in LA and what happened in Chicago, and you know, all blue states, by the way, just wanna again speaking to all those Christian right Trump supporters. It's interesting that the states that have more people that could possibly be criminals if they are, who are illegal. You guys use that term, but I say undocumented, uh, are red states like Texas, but we don't see this happening there. And then somebody said, Well, they're cooperate. No, stop, stop talking. You like to you you hear the words that you want to hear, and then you hold on to those words, and then you spew that bullshittery. No, they are not doing the same thing here.
Andrea:Correct me if I'm wrong, but law enforcement is was cooperating here in Los Angeles, so sadly, yes. More than we would ever hope that they would. You know, they still are. There's they're still here, they are still terrorizing Los Angeles. It looks different, maybe, than it does in Minneapolis because Los Angeles looks like a different city, but they are all over Southern California still doing this.
Carmen Lezeth:I think the only, and they're not law enforcement, but like you know, I said the other day if something were to ever happen, I'm not I I would even before this, I wouldn't call the police. I call the fire department if I need something. I don't and I have them on speed dial, you know, not that I've Ever bothered, but I mean I have the number. Hey, it's Carmen. What's up, Bo? How you doing? You guys okay? I do. I stop by the Santa Monica fire department every once in a while, just like I bought t-shirts. I ain't stupid. I'm not my shit. Yeah, but be you know, it's just that it's because the police department it, I don't know. They say they're not helping ice, but I don't know what they're doing. They hundred percent are. Yeah.
Andrea:Even in even in uh Minneapolis, they are. It's definitely in Chicago.
Carmen Lezeth:Well, just because they put out a press release saying that that's not what they're here to help with safety, if you're not intervening when somebody in a mask with no badge and no no judicial warrant, no warrant whatsoever, is actually taking people out of their cars with a knife and taking out their seatbelts and putting them in a van. I if I in the past, I think police would have been like, whoa, this is not correct. Who are these hoodlums? But that's not what you're doing.
Andrea:Oh, girl, they would not have done that in the past either.
Carmen Lezeth:Well, not for me for sure, but for you, blonde and pretty blue-eyed girl, probably. Yeah, I don't know. I don't know. Smart enough. Thank God we never have to find that out. So whatever. I'm just saying that is the idea of the police department, right? That they would protect you. Protect and serve, right?
Andrea:Protect who and serve who.
Carmen Lezeth:Oh, yeah. All right. Well, on that note, like anyways. All right. Well, um, you are watching the Super Bowl though, right?
Andrea:I am actually traveling, so I might really um I didn't even put it together, but um, I believe I will be at my hotel around the time it starts, but you know.
Carmen Lezeth:You'll be able to watch the Patriots win, is what I'm hearing. So not in this lifetime. I think it might happen. I don't even know. I just I want them to win just because I am in LA. I don't care. I couldn't name one person on the Patriot. Like I couldn't name one person.
Andrea:I I just my the first game I saw the Patriots play was that game, whatever, you know, the championship or whatever game. Um, so I don't know anything about them, but I've been I've been on the Seattle train for a while, so that's gonna be my team. I believe I'll be able to watch unless things go wonky with my phone.
Carmen Lezeth:Well, please make sure you watch the halftime show and support Benito. Um, and he's gonna sing Titi Me Pregunta, which I can't wait. The music, you don't have to know the words. The music is gonna be so good.
Andrea:Well, that's another thing. It's like, can we just enjoy some creativity? Like, why does it have to be like you know, he's not white, he's singing in another language. Like, okay, so what?
Carmen Lezeth:Well, I was I was cracking up because there's a comedian. I forget his first name, but his last name was Johnson. He's so funny.
Andrea:Oh, I know who you're talking about.
Carmen Lezeth:I've been talking about, and yeah, you know what I'm talking about, right? He's so good, and he was so funny because he was like, white people were like, okay, you you had your black, like it was the blackest, blackity. Did you see that? He was like the blackity, blackest, like rapping. Like, now it's our turn, right? And then he goes, Yeah, yeah, hold my bear basically. Now it's gonna be no English. See how much you can take. Anyways, everyone, thank you so much for hanging out. Watch the halftime show, be a better American from the United States than we've ever been. Be curious. And I remember at the end of the day, it really is all about the joy. Bye, everyone. Thanks for stopping by, All About the Joy. Be better and stay beautiful, folks. Have a sweet day.
Podcasts we love
Check out these other fine podcasts recommended by us, not an algorithm.
