Fifty First Episodes

[00:00:00] Speaker A: Foreign. [00:00:18] Speaker B: Welcome to Uptown Chats, a podcast where we share stories about environmental justice by and for everyday people. I'm your host, Carla. Don't worry, Lonnie and Jaron are okay. In fact, they'll be joining me in just a minute for a special episode of Uptown Chats to celebrate the first 50 episodes of the podcast. But before we get there, let me share we act's mission. We act's mission is to build healthy communities by ensuring that people of color and or low income residents participate meaningfully in the creation of sound and fair environmental health and protection policies and practices. So I just. So, as I just mentioned, today we are celebrating the first 50 episodes of Uptown Chats. To do that, we'll be flipping the script a little bit and I'll be asking LJ and Jaron questions as they reflect on some highlights and lessons from the first 50 episodes. [00:01:10] Speaker A: Thanks for taking over for us, Carla. I'm actually excited to be on this end of things for once. Lonnie and I are used to being the ones asking all the questions. And I will say it's probably going to be a little bit. I think it'll be fun to reflect on all of our interviews that we've done so far. And honestly, I cannot believe that we already have 50 episodes. When Lonnie told me that and I was like, wait, What? Already? [00:01:34] Speaker C: Yeah, 50 episodes kind of goes by fast. And so I'm looking forward to the next 50. But I feel like we didn't want to cross this. This milestone unnoticed. And so luckily we have Carla here to help us reflect, who is also a fan of the podcast and an avid listener too. So it made sense because, you know, we couldn't have my grandmother shout out to my grandmother Renee, who is like our biggest fan. We could have her one day. But we have Carla. [00:01:57] Speaker A: We will. We will, Lonnie. [00:02:00] Speaker C: She will love that. But we have Carla joining us. But before we start that, I don't think people know who Carla is. So, Carla, can you introduce yourself and tell us a little bit about what you do here at we act? [00:02:09] Speaker B: Sure. So I'm Carla Cordero. I am the chief of staff for WE act. I've been here for two and a half years, and I like to believe that chiefs of staff are the bridge builders of an organization. And so I work collaboratively across all departments, making sure that our mission and vision are aligned and troubleshooting and also Jane of all trades. So I do a little bit of everything, but just really excited. I'm glad Jaron and LJ came to their senses and brought me on the podcast. So I'm so excited to talk about the last 50 episodes and get right to it. [00:02:44] Speaker A: And that means that for your homework, you just did a binge of the first 50 episodes of the podcast, right? You've just been doing that for the last three days. [00:02:52] Speaker B: As soon as LJ asked me, I went through all. No, I, I went through some, I, I, I've, I've been an avid listener, so I highlighted some of the ones that I, I, I enjoyed the most and then I went back and, and picked a couple for, for today. [00:03:06] Speaker A: Appreciate that. [00:03:07] Speaker C: It feels kind of weird to be the Carla show for a change. [00:03:13] Speaker B: I'm excited. So let's get right to it. Happy 51st episode. Yay. Congrats. [00:03:21] Speaker A: I entered the little buzzer dancer sound effect. [00:03:25] Speaker B: Congratulations on reaching this milestone and just thank you again so much for inviting me to the podcast and hoping to reflect on the journey and what you've been able to accomplish. Really looking back at the very first trailer and the episode, it's clear you both set out with intention to really bring environmental justice to everyday people. And using language we could all understand that kind of accessibility is so important for this movement. And just thank you for being innovative and keeping the podcast going and getting creative these last 50 episodes. So let's kick it off. Before we dive into some of my favorite episodes and reflect, I wanted to start with some few questions and take it back to the beginning. So do you remember for the very first episode what it felt like stepping behind the mic? [00:04:15] Speaker A: Yeah, so long ago. When I think about the first moment that we actually sat down to record us, there's so much, I felt like there was so much build up leading up to that. We'd been, Lonnie and I had been talking about this idea of the podcast for probably months leading up to that. Mostly kind of half joking at first and then, you know, kind of half seriously to Chris, you know, pitching this idea of like, hey, we actually should have a podcast and Lonnie and I would love to do it. And then accidentally just having a fun, silly conversation in front of Peggy and she was like, I love this, you guys should do the podcast. And then it all kind of materialized. So I felt like even before we actually sat down to record that first time, there was all this kind of lead up and build up. But when we, your actual, to your actual question. I remember when we actually sat down for the first time and setting up all the equipment and everything, I remember being a little like Nervous. I was like, all right, things are plugged into things and I think the microphone's recording. I think we probably did like 16 different tests, test recordings. And I do have a little bit of background working with sound equipment, so I sort of knew what I was doing. Lonnie and I both read a book, you know, to do some research. Like, we tried, like, we came from zero knowledge, basically. And so it was a little bit uncertain, a little bit nerve wracking at first. But I think Lanya and I also had to get used to hearing our own voices at first. I think we both probably had a little bit of, like, apprehension of what's that gonna feel like. But then just by the nature of our friendship, within about five minutes of us having a microphone in front of us, we're just making jokes, making weird sounds, and all the things that you do when you, like, start recording. Even if it's not for a podcast, if you have a microphone in front of yourself, you tend to do silly stuff. So we were pretty, I think we were pretty off to the races pretty quickly once we got. Once we knew that we were actually being recorded. And then I think the nerves caught up with me again a little bit when we actually finished that first episode and I was going to share it with people and I was like getting ready to actually, like publish it. I was like, oh, gosh, we have like an episode now. People are gonna listen to it. But, you know, I shared it around with the REACT team and folks loved it. So that was reassuring and it gave me some peace of mind. Okay, we can make content that people actually want to listen to, so that's good to hear. But that was for me. [00:06:32] Speaker C: Yeah. And I think for those who don't know, Jared actually edits the podcast as well. And so I think there were so many other things kind of riding around all of this. Even before we stepped behind, like you said, there was so much build up. How are we getting guests? You know, I kind of handled that piece to getting guests and having interviews and what is that going to look like? And before we even get to what we would sound like, which I thought also had the same thing of getting used to hearing your voice, because it's different to be someone who public speaks often, but being behind a microphone and doing it in a podcast kind of way, it's. It's different. But one of the things that made me much more comfortable is after I heard him edit for like the first time, and I was like, oh, that's right, we can edit this. So we can just make mistakes. There is so much material that doesn't make it to the actual final podcast that it would be kind of hilarious if some of those things, well, some of those outtakes probably can't even be published. But there's. It was like that comfort there too, of knowing that, okay, we can talk through this naturally. And we have such a natural rapport as being very good friends. And so our conversations and stuff like that are relatively natural. And I think our chemistry helps make things feel like they flow. It's not like someone's putting me in front of a stranger. [00:07:39] Speaker B: Yeah, absolutely. And you feel that when you listen to both of you doing the podcast and speaking to all your guests, there's a lot of synergy, there's a lot of energy, and it seems like it's just seamless for you both when you're doing it. So I think it's enjoyable for us as, as viewers as well. What hopes did you have for the podcast back then? [00:07:58] Speaker C: I mean, I'll start with this one. I think one of the things that we really wanted to find way to continue to educate community members and I feel like podcasts are, have become like a newer medium for people to learn things. As someone who listens to like nerdy political podcasts and things like that with a lot of commentary. One of the things that I was thinking first, I was like, I'm not qualified to do this. But we kind of read the book, you know, everyone has a podcast and like, legitimately, anyone can do this. And we thought it would be great to have this as a new way of educating people and community members about things that are going on around them. And we also did a little bit of a survey of kind of this, the podcasting space. And even if there are green or environmental or climate podcasts, none of them centered environmental justice as their, their lens is the way that they see everything. And there might be like an episode here or there or a few seconds or a minute to mentioning environmental justice, but it's never been a sense of every single guest comes on all the questions that we think about, we think about it through the lens of environmental justice and how that impacts communities of color and low income communities. So I think that was kind of like one of the main goals for us and to kind of close that gap from talking to experts and having to read research and higher level things that are a little bit more confusing. And how do we kind of bring that down to, to the ground for the everyday conversation for like at the park or if you're at a barber shop or if you're getting, you know, if you're doing anything kind of like that, you can have these same conversations and they're making a little bit more approachable. [00:09:27] Speaker A: Yeah, I think Lonnie said it. Well, I don't have too much to add. I think that when we were getting ready to record and kind of thinking about what's, what's the vibe of our show, you know, what's, what's kind of the. Cause there's lots of different podcasts out there that even if they're talking about the same content, the way they go about it is different. And for me, most of the podcasts that I listen to are a little bit more on the relaxed side. They're very kind of light and humorous and fun to listen to. And so I definitely wanted to capture that spirit, which wasn't hard because that's just how our conversation dynamic is. That's just how we talk about things, even really heavy and intense things. Like we have some levity there with, you know, acknowledging the seriousness of it, but making it not feel so heavy, which a lot of this, A lot of this content can, content can feel that way. So kind of having that, that framing and that mindset, but then also having a little bit of an action oriented framing. So trying to end every episode with, okay, what can people go out and do now? You know, we talked about the issue, what's going on, what's the situation? Trying to keep it local, especially in New York. But then what's that? What's the action? What can people go out and do and get involved with this, this worker, this campaign? So I like, I like always trying to end with that. It's sometimes it's a challenge because it's not always clear, but we always try to end with that. [00:10:51] Speaker B: That also resonates another question about the guests and the speakers that, that you all bring to the podcast. Has anyone had unexpected personal impact on you, hearing them speak or just lear anything you want to share with the listeners? [00:11:09] Speaker C: Yeah, I'll start with this one. I think I'm going to hone in on the word unexpected in terms of personal impact. I think for me that was the former EPA Region 2 Administrator Lisa Garcia. When we did that interview, I think it was December of last year. We were post election, there's about to be a whole new administration coming through that is relatively hostile to the movement and the work that we do. And I was just kind of like nervous having her own, because I was like, well, what is she going to say EPA might not exist anymore, like, what's going on? And I think there was something reassuring about having her on there. And she talked a lot about, well, this movement and environmental justice has been around for. Forever, right? For. Not forever, but for quite a long time. And it has endured many administrations, some hostile, some not, some even the complete opposite in being really embracing of environmental justice. And I think that brought me some type of comfort and relief going into the new year, knowing that there's going to be a new administration. So I think that was unexpected to have that kind of feeling, that personal feeling when it came to the movement itself and to environmental justice. So I was really. I felt really reassured after talking to her and having that interview. [00:12:21] Speaker B: How about you, Jaron? [00:12:22] Speaker A: Yeah, I definitely remember that feeling too, Lana. It's always nice when you leave either a regular conversation or a interview feeling like, ah, I feel reassured. That was nice. And honestly, I feel that way every time we talk to Renice Miller Travis, we've had on the show so many times, and she's just like such a great speaker, such a great storyteller, such a great human being. And I think probably the episode that I was the most surprised, I guess, land on me in a certain way, was our women of color. And E.J. i was like, I could not be farther away from this as a topic, but just a. I think we did a really good job. We really wanted to focus on different generations of women at all different stages of their career. I guess for me, just seeing both the variety of experience and just how the approach to the work has evolved over time, but how some of it still kind of is at the core of it. And I think the thing that stood out to me from that conversation, pretty much every conversation we have with Renice is just how much of the personal connection to the place that you live, work, and, like, spend time is that. Is that. Is that the core of why so many people are involved in the environmental justice movement is at the end of the day, it's about this community that I live in that I care about, the people that I. That I am surrounded by, that I care about, that I want to. That I want to see them have a better life. And I think she. She always captures that. That. That part of it so well. And I feel like that that resonates with me every time. You know, I hear that as, like, yes, it's a. That's really what it's all about. At the end of the day, when we do all this work, it's like, it's so that people can have a better life. And so I just remember, you know, I think between that episode and then, you know, we had her back for the holiday special, I think between. I can't remember which one. It was one of those. But she got a little emotional. I was like, man, you're gonna make me cry in the podcast. It's not supposed to happen. [00:14:21] Speaker C: I think you did tear up. I think I remember that, actually. I think you did. [00:14:25] Speaker A: And I don't tear up. I was like, come on, Bernice. I can't. I got to edit this out. But it was. Yeah, just. She's just such a great speaker. And I just. Yeah. And I think to this day, it's still one of our most listened to episodes. So that really says a lot. It really resonated with a lot of people. So I think that, yeah, that was. That was. That was a good one. So if you haven't listened to that, go back and listen to it. It's great. Episode number three, I think the Vernice. [00:14:45] Speaker B: Effect, definitely, in person, it's even more. More impactful. Thank you both for sharing those perspectives. And I think this is a good time to just segue and talk a little bit more about some of these episodes. I tried to pick a few. There's 50, so I couldn't do all 50, especially, you know, given our time constraints. But I tried to look at ones that resonated for me, but also try to be a little bit diverse. I want it to be well rounded, so I'll go right to my favorite ones. I am a huge history fanatic. Lonnie knows this about me. We talk about biographies and history books all the time. So some of my favorite episodes have been the ones that really dig into the roots of the movement, like a react story. The holiday special with our co founder, Vernice Miller Travis and our board member Everett Goldstein, as well as honoring Cecil Corbin Mark with our illustrious executive director, Peggy Shepard. Hearing Cecil's story through their eyes made me think about my own role here at WEAct and the impact on the environmental justice movement. But I'd love to hear from either one of you or both. How did learning about Cecil's work from their perspectives help you reflect on your own contributions to our work? [00:16:00] Speaker C: Yeah, I think for me, one of the things that always comes to mind is the metaphor standing on the shoulder of giants. And I feel like Cecil's reputation, like, precedes him everywhere he goes. Whenever you talk about we act, Cecil is we act and we act On a lot of different ways, same situation. When you. When you mentioned Peggy shepherd and we act. And it's like building on that foundation that I think he was very instrumental in creating that foundation. And I wanted to find ways to think about how am I not just continuing that legacy of bringing people into the environmental justice movement and also educating people on what's going on within their own communities and in their own neighborhoods and explaining how to mobilize folks. Right. Which is the piece that I'm not necessarily the best at, but we have a whole team. We have other folks here at we act that are dedicated to those things, and that's how we kind of all bring our. All our work together is really mobilizing the community and making sure that they're educated and informed and can take action when they need to take action to do that. And so I do like to think that the way we're contributing to that legacy and that work and continuing it is through the podcast and kind of having this new medium and new way to reach new generations who want to be a part of this movement or who don't even know that this movement exists. And they're like, there's this thing that's happening in my own neighborhood that I heard about on the podcast and, like, I should get more involved. How do I do that? I go to react and I join working groups and I go to membership meetings, and I figure out how to take action. I go to City hall with them. I go to Albany with them. And so I feel like that alone is kind of like one of the things that I think of when I think of this podcast. And I think of Cecil as, like, continuing the legacy of keeping us as grounded in the community as possible and the work that we're doing here. [00:17:47] Speaker B: Yeah, I agree. I think, again, I love hearing Peggy and Vernice and everybody talking. It's just like I feel like I want to listen. I always feel what they're feeling or what they felt going through the motions and just grateful for their leadership. We'll transition a little bit from some of our history to present day. So you both launched a miniseries within the podcast, both the wrong and right direction. What inspired you both to focus on how US Federal energy policies are impacting EJ communities? And was there a specific moment that you felt it was urgent to spotlight this and spend a big chunk of episode time of the podcast time to do these miniseries? [00:18:35] Speaker A: Yeah. So first about, you know, the inspiration for the miniseries. So we did the wrong direction miniseries first, which was the motivation for the Right Direction miniseries later. But we actually got the idea for the Wrong Direction miniseries from an existing campaign from WEX federal policy team called the Wrong Direction. And. And we'd done a couple interviews before that that was kind of like kind of approaching that space. And we just thought, you know, the messaging was important. We hadn't really focused specifically on federal policy much up to that point. And then just in terms of timing, by the time we were thinking about it, the timing for when we would be launching, it would be coming out, you know, in the summer leading up to the 2024 election, which felt timely. It felt like a good time to be talking about things that, at that level for people, you know, to our. To our point before, about staying informed, getting the information that they need to make to make an informed decision. But also it ended up, once we actually got to it, feeling a little bit weird and, you know, maybe slightly unsettling as some of the politics played out, but also just important and felt like we were doing an important thing by making sure that there's information out there about what. What's going on at the federal level and how can people make. But, you know, a funny side note that Lonnie and I joke about all the time is that the Wrong Direction miniseries turned into a very not so miniseries by the time we finished it, because we had so many topics that ended up falling under that umbrella and also full transparency. We had some scheduling issues, so we had to fill in some extra content in there. But I think by the time we finished that mini series, we knew that we wanted to do a Right Direction miniseries as well, because we had spent so much time talking about the problems and the stuff that we don't want to see, especially at the federal level. And we thought it was important to also spend equal or close to the same amount of time talking about the solutions and stuff that we do want to see. So once we. Once we were committed to the Wrong Direction miniseries, I think we knew that we needed to cover the other side of it. And especially I think when one of the interviews we had talked about the idea of a just transition, and that felt like a natural key point to include in the Right Direction miniseries. So it kind of felt like a very yin yang energy. [00:20:48] Speaker B: All right, so I'll transition on to one of another favorite of my episodes, which is our homes under our control. So, Annie, one of our former weak staff members, highlights the connection between historic housing justice leaders and current campaigns. How important was having that historical context to the overall narrative of the Episode. [00:21:08] Speaker C: Yeah, I think we definitely got to give credit to Annie for bringing that historical context in there, because I think we sometimes forget that these movements aren't new in the different spaces that we work in. There's been some form of iteration of this work done at some point in time, and a lot of it is foundational. And it's really important to kind of go back to that foundation and understand, well, what was this built off on? What was the motive, what's the objective and the kind of the goals. So as you build a new campaign, which is kind of what Annie did here at we act with our homes at our control, was putting together two different pieces of policy that we were working on together that go together. But I don't think a lot of people think of, let's say, energy affordability or kind of the transition off of fossil fuels in their homes to kind of housing justice. And I think kind of putting those two things together and using the foundations of the housing justice movement and then bridging it with the environmental justice movement and thinking about those leaders who have done both of those things before were really important and impactful for us to do that. We always have to think about the work that has been done before in order for us to move forward and to continue that work to get to the greater goal. [00:22:15] Speaker B: So beauty justice, this one is a big one for me. I use a lot of personal care products. I have curly hair, so I use lots of curly products. And so this is one of those episodes, or there are multiple episodes that really had me question and rethink what I use and make better decisions as a consumer. But I was curious to learn from either one of you is if after researching and recording that episode of the New York Beauty justice episode, if you find yourself reevaluating products that you personally used or. Or just changing habits. [00:22:51] Speaker A: Absolutely. I would say to your question earlier about, you know, an episode that unexpected, unexpected personal impact. This is the other one for sure. I think every time I go to. I mean, first of all, I don't use. I don't use a lot of products. You know, I say that as, you know, my. My white male privilege as someone who, like, doesn't have much of a skincare routine. Most of my skincare routine nowadays is courtesy of Lonnie. And so it's very, very curated. But I. I definitely find myself anytime I'm, like, at the store or like, you know, looking online for. For a product, I just have Yua's voice in the back of my head just telling me about how lackadaisical and how little regulation there is about all these products. And I'm like, oh my God. And then I'm just thinking about all the, luckily the different apps and websites that are out there to look up this information. And so at this point, I refuse to. Unless it's from Lonnie. I refuse to take any products as a gift from people because I just assume that they haven't done their due diligence. And if they do, I look it up and I'm like, nope, sorry, I can't use this product. I am very, very gracious that Lonnie does that research for me anytime he gives me new products as my skincare consultant. But I would say, yeah, it's. It's the wild, wild west out there when it comes to products. And I think about that every time I go to put something on my skin, especially things that like, every day, like sunscreen. As a very pale person, you know, me and sunscreen, we have a very close relationship. So I need to have a good, A good product that I know it's not gonna do any damage. So I think that, yeah, websites like the, I think the Environmental Working Group, they have a skin deep database that I look at frequently. And yeah, anytime before I buy a product, I need to know what's going on, what's in there? And fragrance. And definitely the fragrance thing I'm looking out for. [00:24:43] Speaker C: That was literally what I was going to leave with, with that piece there. But I'm going to go back to as a person who has had a skincare routine for quite some time. I've been through evolutions of products and I think I've gotten better and better at, you know, picking those things. But I remember earlier on, before even that episode or be, before joining, we act or being a part of the beauty just work that we are, that we were doing. I fell for the greenwashing of like, clean. And I was just like, oh, we're good. They labeled it clean. I'm good to go. Let's go and let's have it. But then you read the back label and you're like, none of this is actually clean. And there's like one or two things that are clean or whatever the case may be, or using products that just are saying that they're organic, but that's like one or two organic things that are in there. And there's like everything else is just horrible for you. And so I think that was one thing too. And fragrance was the one thing that I think I Learned to be a little bit more mindful of because some will disclose kind of what the actual fragrance is, their source of their fragrance, which sometimes can be essential oils, which is a little bit better or like natural things. Like, it's like crushed rose petal something. If you know, I love a good rose scent. But then there's other. That just don't disclose it on. I just kind of avoid those, those products for me and Jaren because obviously I am the one who purchases his skincare routine or tells him what to buy and what not to buy. But I think you've got. I think you've branched out on your own a little bit now. I think you, you've developed your own. [00:26:00] Speaker A: I just by the steps you tell me, Lonnie. I just, it's all the same stuff. I just don't. Don't reinvent the wheel. You did all the work for me. I appreciate it. [00:26:08] Speaker C: But I will say one other thing with the beauty justice episode is my mother and sister and grandmother were all kind of hair relaxing type of women for the longest. And I, my mother was very much inspired by Yua's interview and was like, all right, I got to go ahead and make this transition. And any black women out there know what that, what that looks like and means, and there's a lot of prep involved. There's a lot of things that have to go into it. Luckily, I have a. I keep my hair completely short and Jaron has. I have just a little bit more hair than Jaren does on his head. But, like, so I don't have to think about those kind of things. But it was just, it was kind of cool to see the impact of, like, even within my own family, of someone listening to that episode and saying, like, oh, I should rethink this. Like, this is much worse than I thought it was or were led onto. And then also around that time, too, there was a lot more studies coming out, bills being passed that we were working on, and things like that that I think were really, really impactful. I think for a lot of people, particularly black women as well, and then the black men who have black women in their lives as well. So I think it was a very impactful episode in that. In that way. [00:27:15] Speaker B: Yeah, for sure. I think it was one of my favorite episodes again. Right. Because it's so personal and it's related to my day to day practices. All right, so I think we're almost there. I have two more questions looking towards the future. How do you both envision the podcast evolving in the next 50 episodes. And are there new directions you want to explore? [00:27:41] Speaker C: I'll let you start. [00:27:43] Speaker A: I know I had to think about this one a little bit, but I will say my biggest hope over the next 50 episodes is to solicit more questions and topic ideas from listeners over the next 50 episodes. I think Lonnie and I, we're squeezing those creative lemons, getting all the juice out, all those creative juices. And we always like to get topic ideas and suggestions from listeners. I think so far we've had one or two topics that were suggested from listeners, one of those being rats. And starting the year off last year, I think this year, last year talking about rats and the war on rats. It was a lot of fun. Lonnie and I fell into the Quiznos rats rabbit hole digging that back up. [00:28:22] Speaker C: If only we had the rights to that stupid song, it would have definitely been played. [00:28:28] Speaker A: Yeah, but stuff like that, you know, it's just kind of fun. It gives us an excuse to kind of dig into topics that we wouldn't think about normally or just that to know that folks want to hear about it is always encouraging. So we'll say it again at the end, but I'm gonna plug it here, too. But if folks have ideas for things that, you know, they want us to talk about, reach out to us. Email [email protected] please. We want to get more topics from listeners. We love to do those topics. [00:28:53] Speaker C: Yeah, we're going to always continue certain things. It's like keeping up with the campaigns and the things that we act are working on directly. But I think one thing that gives us a nice, a little bit of leeway with the podcast is that there are things that we act are not directly working on. And we're not necessarily the experts in that space, but we may support other organizations and other leaders in those spaces. So it's a nice opportunity to have people come on and talk about things that we're not, you know, we don't necessarily dive as deep into in terms of our own personal advocacy at WEAct, but it's really nice to hear about what's going on in certain places. Like, I know we have some thoughts about talking about plastics and chemical recycling and things that we know are a part of the environmental justice and climate justice movement. But we don't necessarily work on them as closely at we act as some other folks do. And I think people really want to learn about some of those other things that are going on outside of their. I will also plug this, too. I don't know what Jaron thinks about this, but we had a two part book club kind of style episode with Diana Hernandez and I think that was very, very popular and I enjoyed that a lot too of kind of reading through a book and kind of talking to the author in that space. So I'm thinking, I'm wondering if there's some expansion from there too as well. And Carla likes to read, so. And Carla sounds like she's either coming from one of our spots, so I think if we make a space for her specifically in that world, I think maybe we'll hear more from Carla. But I think the book club kind of concept was kind of fun as well. [00:30:24] Speaker B: I love it. Any final thoughts or messages you want to share with our with your listeners? [00:30:32] Speaker A: I just want to say thank you to our listeners for staying engaged with the show. We've been doing this for, you know, almost three years now, 50 episodes in. So a special shout out to those folks who send us suggestions for topic episodes. We really appreciate that and just like really staying engaged and liking and you know, promoting things on social media just or and just sharing it with people that you know. I've heard from a couple of my friends who like I really like the show. I listen. You know, I shared it with my, my mom or my grandma or my aunt or you know, friend or whatever. So just helping the show grow and get reach folks who, who are interested in hearing and learning about environmental justice. Lonnie and I both love doing the shows and knowing that folks tune in every month and listen to our voices, you know, sometimes twice a month really means a lot. And also thank you to all of our guests who really are the core of the show. Why don't I just ask questions and you know, make a couple jokes here and there. But they're really the ones with all the information and you know, we couldn't do the show without them. So I'm grateful that we have so many different guests with all these different expertise who come on the show and at all different levels to help us make this show. [00:31:41] Speaker C: And I'll extend those thank yous to Peggy. And we act and being supportive of letting us two guys who had an idea who just wanted to talk and be on a podcast and making it something that, I mean this is probably one of my favorite things about the work that I do is actually being able to come in and talk and be on the podcast. So I think thanks to we act for supporting this and you know, we've been very well supported internally. So I thank everyone who's involved with that, but definitely Peggy for that green light to let us do this. But yeah, we both love doing it. So I think that's the the last thing and I hope everyone is getting as much out of it as we are. [00:32:20] Speaker B: Well, thank you both. I know I'm looking forward to the next 50 episodes. I've made my husband a follower so he, he listens in as well. Thanks for allowing me to join you both today on this episode and and. [00:32:31] Speaker C: Asking some questions and thank Carla. This is awesome. [00:32:35] Speaker A: Thank you, Carla. You're great. You're a great coast. We're adding you to our rotation. [00:32:40] Speaker C: If we need to take vacations, we know what to do. Now we just let Carla take the lead. [00:32:45] Speaker A: Carla Show. [00:32:48] Speaker B: Thanks for listening. If you like this episode, make sure to rate and review the show on whatever platform you listen on. If you have thoughts about the show, we encourage you to reach out to us with your thoughts and [email protected] check out react on Facebook @weact4ej w e a C T F O R E J Instagram, Blue sky and YouTube at weact4ej. W E A C T number 4ej and check out our website at weact.org for more information about environmental justice.