Lovett or Leave It - Step One: Buy Twitter

Episode Date: April 16, 2022

Choo choo! Lovett or Leave It: Live Or Else pulls into the station at Dallas’s own The Factory in Deep Ellum. Railroad Commission candidate Luke Warford and producer Kendra James unpack the only thing more harrowing than energy companies coopting Texas Republicans: The Real Housewives of Dallas. Akilah Hughes gives all of us “Daddy Lessons” on Beyonce’s best-of, and we share takes hotter than the Texas sun in July. Even the confused Lyle Lovett fans in the crowd had a great time.For a closed-captioned version of this episode, click here. For a transcript of this episode, please email [e-mail] and include the name of the podcast. 

What's the matter with me? You'd think a girl would learn If there's a pride for bad legislation Florida's already won that Disney tried to avoid damnation Chined in too late to be helpful Fuck that Who'd you think you're kidding? damnation Chined in too late to be helpful, fuck that Who'd you think you're kidding?

Sunshine say you're run by morons Try to keep it hidden Honey, get real, you can't fool John Girl, you can't conceal it You wanna make dick sucking against the law Praying

the way I can't say it, no, no You swoon for guys, why deny it? Uh-oh, I am this way, but there's words I can't say Shoo, shoo-a So Texas might think that it's better Like your governor's not the worst fool. But take a look around the state, babe.

Try to remove pride from public schools. Yeah, it seems bad all over. Love, it's here to make it lighter. Baby, smooch your neighbor. Hun, he's definitely on Grindr. We aren't all around you. You don't have to go, you.

Please just let her let us stay. Woo! Homo all day. Let me say if it sucks. They go by they. And she's butch all okay. It seems so clear. I should be able to stay.

Woo! He walks too fast. Both votes them all out, oh no habits are a tool and there's no doubt girl let's be proud let's partay, you should say gay, gay gay, gay

that's what we all can say Shoot up the gay And now, please give it up for John Lovett! Hello, Dallas! So good to see all of you tonight. Salem Moon, everybody. Amazing. We can say gay.

It doesn't matter. That's not what it's about. That's not what the law means. Shout out to producer Brian, who's developed a kind of cottage industry of very specific song parodies. Welcome

to Love It or Leave It Live or Else here in Dallas, home of cheerleaders and some sort of associated group of athletes. Connected to some sort of a football organization. Don't know much about it. If you're here to see Lyle Lovett, please raise your hand.

Did we get anybody this time? He's also playing in Dallas. We had a couple people walk out in Austin. So you're all here for this. So you're all here for this. Now will Lyle do me the same courtesy at his show? I don't think so. Toxic masculinity.

We have a great show for you tonight. Railroad Commissioner candidate Luke Warford is here. That commission stopped regulating railroads in 2005, and that's just one of many facts you'll be consuming this evening. Akilah Hughes is here. We will test

her Beyonce knowledge here in her home state. We test your knowledge on some of the villains of Texas, which you seem to be producing at an alarming rate. And we've got some hot takes for you, because everyone's got them. Oh, one thing I wanted to let you all know, which is that producer Brian wanted us to play

OK Stop with the Sabruder film. Right? Bad taste. We've also decided that anytime I say I would fuck Madison Cawthorne, he's going to slap me in the face. You keep his name out of your fucking mouth. But first, let's get into it. What a week. But first, let's get into it. What a week.

Donald Trump said he's been investigated more than Billy the Kid, Jesse James, and Al Capone combined after the New York Attorney General requested he be held in contempt until he responds to a subpoena regarding Trump Organization malfeasance. Ah, yes. Billy the Kid, Jesse James, and Al Capone, America's three most innocent men. Trump is, in many ways, a modern-day Al Capone. We can only get him on financial crimes, and he's halfway dead from syphilis already. The United Nations voted to suspend Russia from their Human Rights Council

due to the country's decision to launch an unprovoked, unjust, unconscionable war. Earth to Russia, read the UN Charter. You can't be on the Human Rights Council due to the country's decision to launch an unprovoked, unjust, unconscionable war. Earth to Russia, read the UN Charter. You can't be on the Human Rights Council while killing white civilians. It's just not done. That's the rules. Meanwhile, the federal government's student loan moratorium has officially been extended to August 31st. You feel anxious, says the federal government, holding a little whip. You feel scared that I'm going to make you feel pain, is the anticipation excruciating.

Speaking of Donald Trump, the former president also weighed in recently on White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki's upcoming move to MSNBC. And then the woman with the really beautiful red hair, she left. And she was hit so hard by the military

because they knew I was right. The military understood I was right. You know she's going to MSDNC. You know that, right? Right? They need a redhead. They don't have a redhead over there, so they need a redhead. They don't have a redhead over there, so they need a redhead.

Yuck. Trump continued, my wife and I saw you across the bar and we're really digging your vibe. Can we get you a filet of fish that I found floating in my pocket? Meanwhile, Hawaii Senator Brian Schatz

laid out his complaints regarding Senator Josh Hawley on the Senate floor. Let's watch this beautiful moment together. And this comes from a guy who raised his fist in solidarity with the insurrectionists. And this comes from a guy who, before the Russian invasion, suggested that maybe it would be wise for Zelensky to make a few concessions about Ukraine and their willingness to join NATO. This comes from a guy who just about a month ago voted against Ukraine aid. He's saying it's going too slow. He voted no. First of all, shots fired. Second, you know what's great about Brian Schatz? On top of being like an

excellent, clear, direct communicator, he's not a thousand years old. You know, I don't begrudge any specific septo or octogenarian. Some of my best friends are septogenarians. But on the whole, I don't enjoy being ruled in a gerontocracy. We need more of that. You know? And let's just sort of haggard old people being buffeted about by Ted Cruz in a hearing. What's going on? Josh Hawley and Elizabeth Holmes practice the exact same kind of deep masculine voice in the mirror, you know?

For the same reason and with the same level of believability. I don't buy either of these little performances. Oh, I'm going to really stand with the... The blood test is very good. The insurrection is good. Same fucking thing. With just one drop of blood, Joe Biden shouldn't be certified as the president of the United States.

I had no idea what Sonny Balwani was doing, and when I raised my fist, it was kind of like celebrating Christmas in a way. I'll buy your shit for a second, Josh Hawley. You're like one click more masculine than I am. Wearing a skirt in Texas. than I am wearing a skirt in Texas. In a sit-down interview with Mitch McConnell,

Axios' Jonathan Swan grilled the Senate minority leader about how he could both denounce Donald Trump for January 6th and support him as the potential Republican nominee in 2024. You are known for playing a ruthless style of politics. Where do you draw your moral red lines? I didn't realize I was known for playing a ruthless style. I thought, my wife thinks I'm a really nice guy. My kids like me. I got a lot of friends.

That's four so far, okay. Dodging the question, McConnell insists he will always support the Republican nominee no matter what horrible things they do, apparently. But when pressed, McConnell said this. But take Liz Cheney, for example. You want to spend some more time on this as well? I actually do, because I actually... No, no, I genuinely want to...

Mitch hasn't laughed this hard since he watched his favorite comedy, Manchester by the Sea. You want to waste, I'm going to go deeper. You got to go back, you got to go back. You got to go real far back. You got to go far back. You got to go as far back as you can go and then a little bit further back.

I think I got to sit down and do it. I don't think my back can get my fucking throat far enough. I think you gotta... You want to waste time on a question like that? You know I hate Trump, but you also know that I was raised in a critical window in which my brain and the brains of my cohort were basically cold-smoked and leaded gasoline

from the formative years of my childhood all the way to the Roaring Reagan 80s. And so my frontal cortex is just a tiny bit smoother than it ought to be. And I'm sure one of them missing folds might have helped me at this moment to answer your question, but it's not there. So I'll just continue holding two completely opposed ideals in my mind at once. And baby boomers driving massive SUVs will just keep double parking and blocking exits like the world revolves around them. Because the little conference that should stop

us choked on fumes and died in 1978, said Mitch McConnell. I've got a lot of pet issues you may have noticed over the years. Your daylight savings time. The fact that Taco Bell killed the Mexican pizza. But my absolute favorite is our failure to reckon with the fact that leaded gasoline fucked up baby boomer brains

on a society-wide level. And I know, and you're a great baby boomer, and I really appreciate it. And I want you to know something. Letted gasoline did not turn good baby boomers bad. It turned bad baby boomers worse. And you're so good that you overcame all of it. You're a hero. And it's not on you to fix the problems

the rest of your cohort created. Because you're here. And you're still standing. And I really respect you. And I really want your approval. You have a great quality to you. You feel like a leader. You seem like you have integrity.

And I just want you to like me and feel good about being here. Are we good? Kisses back to you. There are so many good baby boomers. I completely agree. Is this gentleman next to you with you? It seems like you've been entertaining him

for a very long time. Over in our nation's capital. Dozens of people, including two members of Biden's cabinet, tested positive for COVID after attending the Gridiron Club dinner, a white tie event for political journalists and government officials. According to the Washington Post, some of the sketches featured actors dressed as the coronavirus. Based on the content quality, it's officially been downgraded to a mediocre spreader event.

Thank you. Will Smith has been banned from attending the Academy Awards for 10 years for slapping Chris Rock during the Oscars, with the Academy statement calling for a time of healing and restoration. I think this has all gone far enough. No more repercussions.

That's it. We're all set. 10 years? What's the logic there? Shouldn't slap people. What a made-up, dumb punishment. You don't get to come to the Oscars again until 2033. I'm not saying he should have done it, but he apologized. Should we make a list of people who

can still go to the Oscars who are absolutely much worse? And the Academy is committing what I consider to be one of the worst sins you can commit in our current society, which is denying us excellent content. Like, are you kidding me? Like, there are so few things we all do together. Nobody's watching award shows anymore. Why would we? We see celebrities all the time. They're all over our feeds. It's not as interesting as it used to be. But then Will Smith slaps Chris Rock, and we're all talking about one thing for one brief moment. Rock, and we're all talking about one thing for one brief moment. Ideological divides are scrambled. We're all having one conversation like a society again. Have him back next year. If you heard that Will Smith was back at the Oscars next year, every goddamn one of us would watch it. He should host.

He should host. That should be the fucking punishment. The punishment for slapping Chris Rock should be hosting the Oscars. Coca-Cola recently unveiled a new flavor, Coke Zero Sugar Bite, which they say brings the flavor of pixels to life in a beverage that transcends both the digital and physical realms and has a tie-in to the metaverse. This is just something fun that we're doing, said a Coca-Cola marketing executive in a Zoom eight months ago before closing her screen and walking to a bridge over the Chattahoochee River to scream at the top of her lungs for 40 solid minutes.

The new Bite flavor arrives on the heels of Coke's limited edition Starlight flavor, which was reportedly inspired by space. I don't care what people say, I think it was a great idea to put Marianne Williamson in charge of Coke's creative. Here's the thing. They already achieved the perfect flavor.

It's called Diet Coke. Drink in space, taste in pixels. Baby, I'm already there, and I'm just in the parking lot of a Del Taco. Speaking about her space, SpaceX successfully launched the first all-civilian crew to the International Space Station. Three out of the four members paid $55 million for the chance. The fourth member of the crew saw Elon's penis and agreed to sign an NDA on one condition, to go to space. According to a new study, evidence suggests that the elementary particle known as the W boson might have been significantly greater in mass than previously believed, potentially throwing off the entire standard model of particle physics.

And I, for one, am completely sick of these absurd and unrealistic mass expectations for bosons set by Hollywood and CERN. Bosons are seeing this stuff on Instagram. Two of Darwin's notebooks, believed to be stolen from Cambridge University in 2001, were found in the Cambridge Library in a pink gift bag, along with a note wishing the librarian a happy Easter. Fuck, said the librarian's husband, who got her a Cadbury cream egg. Mike Tyson cannot sell weed gummies in the shape of an ear with a bite missing due to a law forbidding edibles in the shape of body parts.

Just a surprise for me. How am I supposed to move all these edibles in the shape of Tommy's ass? He tried to get me to change it. And finally, the father of a Sarah Lawrence student who was accused of moving into his daughter's dorm room and coercing students into a cult-like group

that he controlled was found guilty of 15 federal charges including sex trafficking, extortion, and racketeering. But you can read all about it in his upcoming New York Times op-ed, I came to college eager to start a sex cult in my daughter's dorm room. I found self-censorship instead. When we come back, choo-choo, it's Luke Warford. And we're back. Texas is famous for so many amazing things.

Barbecue, chaps, assless or otherwise. Unfortunately, Texas has also become known for something way more harrowing than the idea of me and assless chaps, an incompetent government that distracts from its massive failures by, say, attacking gay and trans kids. There's no more awful and tragic and enraging example than last year's power outage that cost hundreds of Texans their lives. I know talking about energy infrastructure can be way less entertaining than laughing at Ted Cruz fleeing to Cancun before immediately throwing his daughter under the bus. But just like paying your taxes or maintaining good dental hygiene, ignoring the unsexy topics only means they'll snowball until, well, Texans are scraping snowballs off Greg Abbott's improperly winterized natural gas plants. So to help keep you focused and engaged and entertained

as we talk about the real nitty-gritty of the power gritty, it's time for a segment we call Reality vs. Reality TV. To help us understand the state of Texas' energy policies and what we need to do about it, please welcome to the stage, he's running for the Texas Railroad Commission, which is about far more than railroads, please welcome Luke Warford.

Thank you, Luke. Thanks for having me, John. What do we got here? John, I brought you a present. Oh, it's a hat that says, unfuck the grid. And I pledge to you that I will wear it. However, I don't trust my hair to survive me putting this on and taking it off.

I bet it will. All right. How does he look? He looks great. I look great. And as we learn the intricacies of what we can do to create cheaper, greener energy in Texas, it's also important that we learn about the intricacies

of the Real Housewives of Dallas. So please welcome back to the show our resident expert in this topic, producer Kendra. Hi, Kendra. We don't have to exchange pleasantries. I'm here to contribute absolutely nothing of substance, and I'm very excited. You're not doing substance. That's not your role here. Me neither. No, you're doing it. Luke, you're going to do a lot of substance. That's the beauty of this segment. Can we tell the audience where they can get one of those hats if they want one? I suppose. Where can they get the hats, Luke? They can go

to lukewarford.com slash loveit. Yeah. And get 15% off. 15% off. Just for Love It or Leave It fans. Just for our fans. To get your very own Unfuck the Grid hat. Unfuck the Grid with Luke Warford at lukeWarford.com slash love it. Thank you.

So the way this works, Luke, is I'm going to ask you about what you see as the biggest hurdles for Texas' energy future, then to maintain the very limited attention span of our social media adult listeners, by which I mean myself, I'm going to ask Kendra about reality TV. Does that make sense to you? That works. Let us begin. Luke, what is the Texas Railroad Commission? Who is on it? How many trains are we talking about? A lot of trains. Okay. Believe it or not, the Texas Railroad Commission actually has nothing to do with trains anymore. It used to years ago, but they got rid of them in 2005. There's no more trains. No more trains, not a single train. I know. It's very sad. But what the Texas Railroad Commission actually does is it regulates Texas's

oil and gas industry. Oil and gas is huge in Texas, right? And that makes it one of the most important elected offices in the state for our economy, for the environment, and for our ability to keep the lights on and the grid failure last February. and for our ability to keep the lights on and the grid failure last February. Kendra. Yes. What was the Real Housewives of Dallas? Who was on it and how many trains did it have?

I'm so excited that you're asking me about this because I know that you care. There are no trains, I'm so sorry. No trains on Real Housewives of Dallas. So we had D'Andra Simmons. I'm told Simmons is a big last name in Dallas. If there is any gossip that anyone wants to hand me, I'll trade you for Real Housewives of New Jersey gossip. I know a lot of people in Tenafly just like Teresa. Next, we have Cameron

Westcott. Again, another big name, I'm told, in Dallas. These are both Highland Park residents. Does that mean anything? Oh, yeah. All these people voted for Trump. And every city in this country has that neighborhood, you know? You know what I mean? So, yeah, you've got your Cameron Westcott. She kind of looks like Nicole Kidman if, like, Nicole was dead behind the eyes. Then you've got Tiffany Moon, Dr. Queen legend.

She's an anesthesiologist. Her husband owns that JW Marriott downtown. Then you've got Carrie Brittingham. Very boring. Husband hates her. Does have one of the most beautiful houses in Mexico that I have ever seen in my life. Stephanie Holman, locker magnet. Every locker room in the country is apparently built by her husband. She also bought a house with a pool in the foyer. She has small children. I questioned that decision. And then we have Brandy Redmond, who is a former Dallas Cowboys cheerleader. And there's not much to say about her because I hate to call people dumb or stupid, but as Ari said to me like, the bones of that house are not quite sturdy. Like, there's like some things going on there. And then the last person I wanted to bring up was one of my favorites, Leanne Locken, a former carny with a mean streak. I don't think we're allowed to say carny anymore.

Oh, are we not? They say it on the show all the time. Luke, back to business. Texas has the largest gas and oil output in the country. What can addressing Texas's problems teach the rest of the country about how to tackle the issue of energy? Where do I begin, John? Where do you begin? You tell us. In most states in the country, when the temperatures drop, the lights don't go out, right? I think a lot of folks, you know, maybe have been to New England or Wisconsin, and temperatures drop, power doesn't go out. Here in Texas, that's not the case. And largely, that's because the Texas Railroad

Commission didn't do its job. We had a major winter storm, actually, back in 2011. Maybe folks will remember it. And during that storm, the grid here in Texas almost failed. It was pretty similar, actually, to what happened in 2021. And after that, there were all of these recommendations coming out about how our gas producers needed to prepare to operate in cold weather. And it was the Texas Railroad Commission's job to hold those companies accountable, to actually make them prepare. But they didn't do it, right? Mostly, you know, either out of incompetence or corruption. And, you know, we'll talk more about that. And then essentially what happened last February happened, right? Millions of people

were without power for days, billions of dollars in damages, hundreds of Texans literally froze to death. I know this is a lighthearted segment, but that's not very lighthearted. And so I actually don't think other states in the country should look at that experience and want to copy that. I think we should be making sure that in the energy capital of the world in 2021, our lights can stay on. Luke, can I ask you a question that I actually have been struggling to understand since this happened? Yes. Which is, how is it even a question about whether these people get to stay in power? How is it that after something like this happens, there isn't a clear decision on the part of the people of Texas to say, this is completely unacceptable? Like, what is the disconnect right now that is making this such a hard fight just to

get people to understand how completely unnecessary and unforced that crisis was. One of the problems is that the Texas, you know, we're joking about the Texas Railroad Commission's name, right? Because it's misnamed. But, you know, if you ask yourself, why is it misnamed? It's because some people are benefiting from the confusion, right? They're benefiting from operating in the shadows. And I think when we think about what happened last February, people are upset, and we do have a chance. Everyone in this room has a chance to hold our elected officials accountable this November because the Texas Railroad Commission was to blame,

and we can and should vote them out of power. Kendra. Yes. Real Housewives of Dallas was the first Real Housewives franchise to be canceled, sorry, suspended indefinitely for racism. What happened there? And if we're being honest, how is it the only one to be suspended for racism? Yeah, so it does have the dubious distinction of being the first one suspended for racism. The other one, I'm not sure if DC ever was officially

canceled either, but once you sneak into the White House and start tangling with the Secret Service, that's a problem. But with Dallas, yeah, what ended up happening was they bought on Tiffany Moon, who I mentioned. She was the first woman of color, an Asian woman, to be on Real Housewives of Dallas. The trouble started during a Lunar New Year party where Cameron Westcott, the aforementioned Nicole Kidman with the dead eyes, she did not want to be even in the same room as a chicken foot and really made a huge deal about it, like was insulting cultural food, cultural traditions, norms. So that happened. And then later on in the season her husband whose name is court uh and

his brother whose name is chart c-h-a-r-t nope that's wrong yeah cancel it is that is that real that's real chart and court chart and court westcott see it's not weird to me i went to boarding school um so they got online, or Chart got online specifically, and accused Tiffany Moon, or insinuated, that maybe while she was practicing anesthesiology, she was drunk with her patients. It's not great. This woman graduated medical school at the age of 23.

She knows what the fuck she's doing. Anyway, they couldn't really square the circle on that one, so that show is gone. New York, on the other hand, coming back, we're getting a segregated and integrated edition, and I'm real excited. It's a galaxy of stars over there. I thought the reality TV part was supposed to be the lighthearted part of the segment. It's very dark. Yeah, that's a really good point, Luke.

Luke, what are the steps that you'd be taking to make sure that what happened in February doesn't happen again, given that they're not taking the actions they need to take right now? Number one is we need to make sure that our gas producers are prepared to operate in cold weather, right? We need a weatherization rule that requires them to prepare for cold weather so that what happened last February never happens again. Yeah, y'all can clap for that. John, so I do this thing when I've been traveling around the state a lot, and in every room I'm in, I ask the audience, how many of y'all lost power during the grid failure last February

or know somebody who did? Can I do that here? Please. So how many of y'all lost power or know somebody who did? Wow. Yeah, and what was that like? I think they got the sense that everyone raised their fucking hands. The reason I bring that up is because, you know, that's true all across this state. Right. And I

think when we think about the Texas Railroad Commission, we think about the grid failure. People, you know, rightfully so are like, can we win this seat, right? Can we win? And it's, you know, not just Democrats, right? It's not just the Pod Save America crooked audience that is pissed off about this. Everyone's pissed off about Republicans, independents, Democrats. They know that we need to require gas companies to prepare to operate in cold weather. We need to identify which companies are critical to the system so that those producers don't lose power when it gets cold. These are basic things that work in almost every other state,

and it's just such a massive failing of our public servants, right? Like, it's really unconscionable, and I think, like, people outside of the state miss that sometimes, right? Like, their grid failure just is dumbfounding. Like, it's so fucked up. Like, how literally people froze to death side of the state miss that sometimes, right? Like their grid failure just is dumbfounding. Like it's so fucked up. Like how literally people froze to death because we couldn't keep the power on. Obviously those are the steps you would take to prevent that kind of incredibly terrible crisis from happening again. What are the things you would do that aren't just about undoing the failures, but actually kind of doing some good in this role that's not happening right now?

So the Texas Railroad Commission, the other thing that's incredibly important about it is that it's been called the most important climate election in the country, right? And the reason for that is because it regulates the Texas oil and gas industry. Oil and gas is the largest greenhouse gas emitting industry in the country. And Texas is the largest greenhouse gas emitting state in the country. So in other words, the Texas Railroad Commission regulates the highest emitting industry in the highest emitting state in the country. And the thing that's not happening right now is there's all these regulations on flaring and venting, which is a process that is the cause of so much of the emissions that are happening. And the current commissioners simply aren't enforcing the existing regulation, right? It's

not even about making new policy. It's about they grant thousands of exemptions a year. They're totally bought and paid for by the people they're supposed to be regulating. And that results in millions of tons of unnecessary methane and carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gas emissions. And so, you know, I've talked to folks outside of Texas about, you know, they're frustrated about the federal government. They're frustrated about the lack of action on climate. And like, we don't need to wait for Joe Manchin to have a come to Jesus moment. We can make a difference on climate right here by winning this seat in Texas. Kendra.

Yeah. Why did you watch The Real Housewives of Dallas? It sounds absolutely heinous. Is there anything that you could show us or explain to us about it that would help us understand why you found it so captivating? Yeah, absolutely. So if you're familiar with Real Housewives of Salt Lake City, us about it that would help us understand why you found it so captivating. Yeah, absolutely. So, if you're familiar with Real Housewives of Salt Lake City, you might think that Lisa Barlow had the definitive hot mic moment. You know, calling your best friend of decades a whore who slept with

all of New York, including Harry Dubin, that's really something. But what I'm about to show you is the definitive Bravo hot mic moment from one Leanne Locken, the former carnival worker. Thank you. Brian, you can you can go. Her husband gets his dicks sucked in the ground. I know the boys who did it. I love that bitch. She's terrible.

She's terrible. She's so racist. She's horrible. She had so much stuff to say about one cast member from Mexico. It was terrible. But that is just iconic. It's iconic. Before we go, Luke, what can people do in Texas and people listening across the country to get involved and help right now? There's two things. The first thing you can do is tell your friends about this race, because I genuinely think it's one of the most important elected positions, not only here in Texas, but because of the climate implications around the country. But it's misnamed. People always say

it's like the most important election you've never heard of. But that's a problem. And so genuinely, everybody in the audience, everyone listening at home can have a huge impact just by telling five people about the race. We've got a great launch video that's like tagged at the top of our Twitter at Luke Warford TX. It's 60 seconds long. It's fun and weird and different than sort of your typical political ad. So number one, you can tell five people about the race. The second thing is, of course, donate to support our campaign, right? Go to lukewarford.com, chip in whatever you can. Our opponent is funded, 70% of his campaign contributions come from the oil and gas executives he's supposed to be regulating, including like

$100,000 campaign contributions, right? So we're going up against this elected official, Wayne Christian, who's totally bought and paid for by oil and gas execs. And so it's going to take a lot of people. Right. We're building a grassroots campaign here in Texas to fight back. But it's going to take support from a lot of people. So if people are willing to donate, they should go to Luke Warford dot com. Everybody, give it up for producer Kendra for sharing if anyone wants to tell me where the roundup is I want to know she wants to know where the roundup is

one more time for Luke Warford and Kendra when we come back assholes are bigger in Texas hey don't go anywhere there's more of Love It or Leave It coming up and we're back Hey, don't go anywhere. There's more of Love It or Leave It coming up. And we're back. I love visiting Texas.

I don't want to come in too hot, all right, alienating everyone, acting like, oh, I'm from California, and every Republican politician in charge of your state is a soap opera villain. That's rude. But it's true. And if you don't believe me, it's time we play a game called Dallas Liars Club. Would someone out there like to play the game?

Kendra's out in the audience. Kendra, I know about the piece! He did it. He got it done. He got it done. Sir, the mic is yours. Hi, sir. What's your name? Trenton. Trenton, where are you from?

I'm from Austin. Great. Trenton, here's how it works. You're going to hear quotes. In order to anonymize them, all quotes will be read by a puckish coastal bisexual, also known as Producer Brian. I've asked him to use the gayest version of his voice.

No code switching tonight. And after each quote, you will then tell us which Texas villain said it. Senator Ted Cruz, Governor Greg Abbott, Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick, Senator John Cornyn, or J.R. from the iconic CBS soap, Dallas. Are you ready, Trenton?

I'm ready. You know, there's a big, on a bridge in Trenton, New Jersey, it says, Trenton makes the world takes. Did you know that? I did not. I think that's a fun thing for you to start saying. I'm telling you. If you go into a Zoom meeting or something,

or you go into a big room of people, just start by saying, I'm Trenton, I make, and the world takes. I think that's a cool thing to start saying. That's some late-stage capitalism right there. You bet it is. Yeah. You bet it is. All right, you ready? I'm ready.

All right, first quote. Having spent the last month in D.C., it's really great to be back in America. Who said it? Ted Cruz. Correct. Next quote. Once you cross the Travis County line, it starts smelling different.

And you know what that fragrance is? Freedom. It's the smell of freedom, and it does not exist in Austin, Texas. That's got to be Greg Abbott, right? Correct. Yeah. I don't get ulcers. I give them.

What is it, Trenton? I feel like Ted Cruz has given plenty of ulcers to other senators. Incorrect. It was J.R. I understand that some people have different opinions on rape and incest, but that child is still born in the image of God. Dan Patrick. Yes, in a lieutenant governor debate.

It's really rough. There are more important things than living. There are more important things than living. Which one of the villains of Texas said that? Greg Abbott? No. It was Dan Patrick explaining that seniors must sacrifice themselves for the economy

during the pandemic. Yikes. By the way, just exactly the energy I anticipated. Just, this is Dallas energy. Just chaotic, but confident, taking up twice as much space as you should. Just classic Dallas in all the best ways.

Never underestimate the elderly. Never underestimate the elderly. I would assume Dan Patrick. J.R. Trenton. It's J.R. from Dallas. Who. J.R., Trenton. It's J.R. from Dallas. Who is J.R.? Oh, my fucking God. Are you kidding me?

That's it. That's it. Kendra, Kendra, take the mic. Take it. Take it. You're done. You're done. You are up.

Get up. You're in. You're in. Shutting it down. You are all correct. Trent up. You're in. You're in. Shutting it down. You are all correct. Trenton, I love you, but read the goddamn room. Trenton takes. Sometimes.

Hi, what's your name? Hi, my name's Erin. Hi, Erin. Where are you from? Dallas. Welcome, Don. Thanks are you from? Dallas. Welcome, Don. Thanks. Great to be here. Aaron, next question. The world is on fire. Yes, your world is on fire.

What are my choices? Your choices are Ted Cruz, Dan Patrick, Greg Abbott, John Cornyn, or J.R., who is a famous character from a show called Dallas that aired on CBS from 1978 to 1991. What a time span for a show and a remake, but we don't talk about that. We don't talk about it. I'm going to go with J.R. It was, in fact, Ted Cruz to a three-year-old. Fuck Ted Cruz. He said it to a three-year-old.

Next up. Never tell the truth when a good lie will do. Come on. J.R. You got it. Let me be clear. He may be a rat, but I have no desire to copulate with him. Yeah. Let's game it out.

It makes us uncomfortable. It's someone speaking in a kind of stilted way, trying to be funny, but failing because they don't know how to relate. Ted Cruz. You got it. The problem is not guns. It's hearts without God. That sounds like all of them.

It does sound. Unfortunately, it does sound like all of them, but it is one of them. Aaron. John Cornyn. So close. But it was Greg Abbott during the NRA convention. Well, you know, that's the problem in America.

We're always having elections. We haven't said them yet. Cornyn. You got it. The most important thing about barbecue is the sauce. Dan Patrick. No, it was Greg Abbott. It was Greg Abbott.

Once you get rid of the integrity, the rest is a piece of cake. This is your last one. Once you get rid of integrity, the rest is a piece of cake. This is your last one. Once you get rid of integrity, the rest is a piece of cake, Aaron. Also describes all of them. It does, but it's very well written. Ted Cruz. That's why it's J.R. Guys, give it up for Aaron and Trenton.

I swear to God. I swear to God, I swear to God, honestly, interrogate that desire to boo someone who's not from here and think about what's going on in this country right now. Give it up for Trenton. When we come back,

another segment. And we come back, another segment. And we're back. Believe me when I say I would love to just open my mouth and scream and scream to the uncaring ear of God about Texas's abominable treatment of gay people, trans children, women, unhoused people, and anyone who doesn't want to be accidentally shot by a stranger. Should be a lot of people in that category. However, our producers have informed me that this is still a comedy show, so here to help us celebrate our arrival in Beyonce country, ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the stage, a complete delight, author and comedian, returning champion, Akilah Hughes. Look at this. Look at this.

Look. Look at it. I want to... A little commotion for the dress. Come on. Thank you. Look at it. We tried.

We tried. I love it. These are not cowboy boots. These are Beyonce homecoming boots. But the dress. Come on. Music notes on the sleeve. Also, this is just so people know because they're going to ask.

It's a Trixie Mattel dress from Fashion Brand Company. Go get it. So cute. So, so cute. Trixie Mattel, acknowledge my existence. Really? I send it out into the world. Acknowledge me.

Notice us, please. Hi, Kayla. Hey, John. We're in Texas. We are. I'm having the best time. You guys got good energy. I'm sorry. Hi, Kilo. Hey, John. We're in Texas. We are. I'm having the best time. You guys got good energy. I'm sorry.

It's good energy. Oh, my God. My baby. My dog, Fauci. I'm sure the epidemiologist is great, too. My dog is wonderful. We're in Texas. Yes, John.

Beyonce's home state. Yes. Technically from Houston. Yeah. H-Town coming down. But that's fine. Akilah. Yeah.

Can you talk a little bit about the place Beyonce has in your heart and life? I mean, how much time do we have? Can we do like a spinoff podcast just me talking about how great Beyonce is? Beyonce is the blueprint. All right. This is a person who had four people in her group and was like, you're not good enough,

and kicked two of them out. Then just found a gospel singer and was like, you can do like two seconds in each song. And she was fine with it. She was like, at least I get to be in a picture with Beyonce. You know, I just remember like my early like sort of, okay, I don't want to date myself, but I was in elementary school and you know,, bills, bills, bills come out and I'm like, okay, Beyonce is it. And like Adele said, she's the artist of my life. Anything she does, I'm going to be like, I don't care if it's bad or not. It's fucking great. But it's all wonderful. And yeah, I actually sewed my own homecoming costume for Halloween one year. It was really bad. I can't sew. I used a needle and thread. I didn't use a sewing machine. So it unraveled.

But in any case, Beyonce's still wonderful and alive. So that's great. I mean, I could keep going. So like her hair, can we talk about how she's just like setting every trend? Look, the Oscars, a lot happened. But Beyonce performed. We're not talking about it enough. It was wonderful.

I think, you know, there were a lot of important things that happened. That guy from BTS, which like not talking about it enough I think you know There were a lot of important things That happened That guy from BTS Which like not to be shady I just didn't I wasn't paying attention I was in the other room

Being like oh my god Will Smith smacked somebody He said after Will Smith Smacked somebody That his favorite musical Movie musical Was Aladdin Like not the cartoon one

Like the one with Will Smith Like is that a musical Or a movie I thought it was just like A promotion for Disneyland But anyway No that That live action Aladdin is a cursed text. Yeah, I think.

It shouldn't be. And yet it is. Unpopular opinion. All live action Disney should have just been the original. But I'm just saying, unless they want to cast me in the new Hercules, I would love to be muse number 17 who doesn't sing but stands there and is just like. All right, Akilah, you've stalled long enough. I know. I'm nervous.

Here's how this works. You know, you know the A signs, you know the B signs. I do. All right. It's time for a Beyonce off. Are you familiar with Hurdle? This is where you play Wordle, but it's for songs. It's the only one I play because I'm very good at it. So now here's how we're going to do it tonight. We're going to play as little of a song as we can get away with it without Beyonce's lawyers coming down on us like McDowell's and

coming to America. Okay. You know what I mean? How much lighter an example was that? Good save. Thank you. The people at home have no idea what's happening. For people listening at home, I made an unfortunate analogy that once I said it, we all

collectively decided was too glib for this moment. So here's how it works. We're going to pay just a hint of a song and Akilah has to tell us the song. Wait, before we start, just really quick. I don't know that we named this segment, but Akilah and the Bee was right there. So now

it's time for a game we call Akilah and the Bee. Thank you. Perfection. All right, here we go. Your first song. Let's hear a note. Blue Ivy was singing. Blue Ivy was singing.

What was her debut song? That's not her at her youngest. Okay, this was like in her Lion King era. Blackest King was on Disney+. I want to say it's probably that song that was nominated for the Oscar which was called wait, no.

Was this Brown Skin Girls? Yes! Yes! Thank you. Yes, thank you. I loved watching neurons connecting to the wrong neurons, turning back, looking for other neurons.

Mm-hmm, mm-hmm. All right, next song. You know, it's only like the biggest hit of our generation. I'm going to say that's Single Lady. Correct. Two for two. A perfect dance. Let's hear it.

This is fun. I like this game. If you're a lawyer from Beyonce's legal firm, this is commentary. Please, please, the First Amendment, please. We're having a lot of fun. We're so harmless. This isn't YouTube. This isn't YouTube. Leave us be.

It's all respect. It's always fine. And love for be. Song number three, next song. Oh, okay. I know this one. You may remember. See, I often think that this is what opens Lemonade, but it's not.

There's actually like a sort of overture before this. But this is Hold Up from the Lemonade soundtrack. Amazing. Yeah, man. It's amazing. This is cool to watch. She's so great. This is so fun. God, Beyonce, if you're out there, I love you, man. It's amazing. I love her. This is cool to watch. She's so great. This is so fun.

Beyonce, if you're out there, like, I love you, girl. I love everything you're doing right now. Anyway. Let's hear another. Can we do this in Houston? Like, can we just do every city in Texas as well? We're already here. You got, like, an extra day?

Let's do it. You coming? We have, like Grateful Dead. What are they called? They're just behind. I just want to hear what's happening. Do the Senate Judiciary Committee again. Rant wheel.

All right. Next song. Oh, come on. These are all the hits. I don't even know what banter to put here, but I did see her perform this live. She's only performed it live I think one time.

She performed it in Brooklyn with Nicki Minaj, which was very rare. It was the only song she did. It was some title thing, and I was like, boo, I don't care about this. Just bring out Beyonce. Anyway, this is feeling myself. Wow, we are four for four. They look great.

What a good time for them. Look at that. We were all so much younger before the pandemic. Look at these graphics. Colors. I haven't seen colors in years. It's very dark in our lives. Next song.

No, don't do this to me. I have no clue what the fuck that was. Oh, my God. This is the song that they say Texas in the beginning I put it all over my Instagram story all week if you watched next song it's time let's hear the next song oh come on we love this song

also if you look up any version of her performing this song live it'll make you cry because it's always to some like very sweet kid with like terminal. And the song to bring it back up is Halo. Nice. Next song. For sure

a guitar that I heard. Somebody saying something. Can somebody cough it? Yes. Wow, I did it. You just tell with my eyes. Are we're gonna talk about his outfit that's what i'm about to talk about so here's what i want to say we are doing a good job as a society from moving beyond the 90s by reckoning with the mistakes of that era yeah but whenever i see like a female performer dressed at like a fucking 10 out of 10. And then I see like Ed Sheeran.

I know. Who looks like he just sort of like grabbed things at an Urban Outfitters that was closing. Yeah. Forever. Yeah. Frustrates me. Feels like some 90s got on my 2020s, you know?

I will add Seth Rogen once commented on this because I don't know? I will add, Seth Rogen once commented on this, because I don't know if we've all noticed Seth Rogen's glow up, but he looks so good. And he did an interview with GQ, and he was like, yeah, after I saw that picture of Ed Sheeran with Beyonce, I hired a stylist because I can't be that guy. So, you know, this is good inspiration for us all. Like, don't be that guy.

All right, let's do two more. Okay. I mean, this is, this is, your boy. That was a terrible impression. Cut it. No, leave it in. Leave it in. We love a bad impression.

I told John just the other night, all my impressions were just me loud or quiet. So that was just loud me. That was Crazy in Love starring Beyonce's husband. Let's do one more now. All right. Let's do one more. I should say, this one, just Just gonna say That this one's tricky Oh yeah

This gotta be We're your dream girls Okay but What's the song That's the song Yeah okay However However

Do I need to know the song This is a trick question Because this is the original Broadway cast of Dreamgirls Why You wanna get hit by them For a DMCA too? And that was Cheryl Lee Ralph,

recently appeared on a show called Keep It. It's called Synergy. Wow, alright. I have to say, Akilah. Trick questions all around. You don't want me to win? That's alright. I'm going to win anyway. That was an incredible performance.

Akilah Hughes won the game Picking out these things on a note That was amazing Thank you, thank you John Akilah's going to stick around for hot takes I sure am And we'll be right back

Don't go anywhere This is Love It or Leave It And there's more on the way And we're back Don't go anywhere. This is Love It or Leave It, and there's more on the way. And we're back. Love It or Leave It is on the road in Texas. We will be next heading out to Portland, Maine, and Boston. And we added a bunch of new shows at Dynasty Typewriter in L.A.

Tickets are available. Find your city and date at crooked.com slash events. Also, have you ever heard of Better O'Rourke? If you text loveit, which is my name, to 20377, text loveit to 20377, you can find out ways to help

Better O'Rourke and the O'Rourke campaign in this governor's race, which, you know, we should do everything we can. They're trying to register a lot of people. It's good to do. All right. Friends, it is time for a segment we call Hot Takes. Here's how it works.

For real, we have not seen this. And we will be presented with a take, and we will have to defend it for one minute. I will kick us off. What do you got, Brian? Mission Impossible Ghost Protocol is the best Mission Impossible. I'm sorry, I know where that came from. I know, that came from Kendra.

Mission Impossible Ghost Protocol is the best Mission Impossible movie. Here's why why reason number one you and I cannot remember the villain that's how you know it was a great movie two my favorite kind of action movie is an action movie where the heroes create 100% of the problems

that they later have to go on to solve a classic example of this is Raiders of the Lost Ark where Indiana Jones leads Hitler to the ultimate source of power in the universe only to later help Hitler find it when he's lost it

and then again help Hitler recover it and then when Hitler's people open up the fucking thing and die anyway, it renders Harrison Ford literally useless, whose only role in the final climactic moment is to keep his fucking eyes shut. Ghost Protocol is worse

because they literally almost cause a nuclear holocaust, which is why I love it. Excellent, wow. We I love it. Excellent. Wow. We love that movie so much. Ghost Protocol. Let's see what these villains have in store for Akilah. I'm nervous. Best animated soundtrack of

all time is Phil Collins' Tarzan. Okay. 60 seconds on the clock. It slaps. Phil Collins didn't have to do all that for a movie about a bunch of apes, I want to say. Are they apes? Are they gorillas? They're gorillas. They're whatever. You know, we got

Justin Timberlake on it. No, that's not it. Rosie O'Donnell sings a whole song and we're like, good for you. I mean, I'm thinking of songs from Mulan, like truly not ranking for me. However, You'll Be in My Heart, definitely heartfelt.

Son of Man, I heard a man singing that out loud at a Lowe's. I don't know why it was playing over the loudspeaker, but he knew every word and he was not especially young. So like this is a soundtrack that endures. Tarzan Tuesdays. Every Tuesday we like to listen. Go off, Phil Collins. And Lily Collins, you're great too, sure.

All right. Tarzan Tuesdays. It's Tarzan Tuesdays. Yeah, every Tuesday get a little drunk and listen to Tarzan. Let's see what's up next. Alaskans are so lucky that they give up for strong women like Sarah Palin and Lisa Murkowski. I'll take it. I'll take it.

I'll take it. Lisa Murkowski is good. She actually is good. Because this is a person who has taken some really hard votes on principle, got fucking lost, and then won in a write-in. I think that's cool. I also appreciate strong women like Sarah Palin. And let me tell you why.

Sarah Palin is a great cautionary tale because Sarah Palin genuinely is, I think, a sincerely, like I sincerely believe this, an incredibly sharp and smart person. And she was presented with two paths, one in which she opened the binder with facts about foreign policy, and one in which she didn't.

Sadly, she chose the wrong path. But I think that's a lesson for all of us. Because she is a good example of what happens when someone really smart doesn't read anything for a really long time. And that's a lesson. That's okay. Reading is the real enemy.

That's the problem. Remember how good she was in 2008? Sure don't. All she had to do with, she was a great speaker and she has a great, she has charisma. I mean, she said words. She has all the things a person needs except integrity or discipline. And those are

obviously important to us as Democrats. Not as important on the other side. Yeah, alright. Yeah, listen, you did that. I'm proud of you. That's my job. It was a hot take. Yeah, you know what? It's the game. I'm proud of you, man. Don't hate the player. Love on top is a skip.

Akilah, you think love on top is a skip, so tell us why. You know, love on top is a skip. Akilah, you think Love on Top is a skip, so tell us why. You know, Love on Top is a skip, but only so you can skip to other Beyonce songs. I mean, this woman has like thousands of good songs. You think it's only a few. It's not. Every album has, I would say, 80 to 90 percent, you know, must listen to if it comes up on Shuffle.

It doesn't matter if it's Christmas. Like, we're listening to Six Inch. It's happening. The bass alone. But, you know, Love on Top 2, I think you want to sing along to Beyonce's songs. Her voice is so beautiful, and you're just like, I want to be there with you.

But I can admit my limitations. Those key changes, she loses me around three. I'm like, I'm an alto lady. Like, I'm down here like, we put my love on top. You're pregnant. We love this performance at the VMAs. We love it.

So I just think that for the sake of the party vibe, you want to put something on like, get me bodied, kitty cat. I don't know. I mean, single ladies, there's so many things to choose from. Why limit yourself? You can always come back to it on your own. But at a party, you got to skip it. Sorry.

We love love on top, but you got to bounce. Wow. I'm sorry, Beyonce. If you're listening, I don't know why I really think she's listening. It's probably the alcohol, but if you're listening, Beyonce, I love all your songs. Even the ones that like I couldn't name the title of, I still sort of sway in my seat. Hell yeah. Let's do one more. The chillest people own exotic animals. All right. Okay, sure. God gave man dominion over the beasts.

Strong. They belong to us. They are created for our sustenance and amusement. And I think someone with absolutely zero knowledge about animals should be able to go on a kind of website that was not made by a professional and use a little drop-down menu to send an email saying they would like a cheetah. I think that's a good thing for all of us

that random people in every town, the weirdest, worst person who went to your high school has some kind of endangered bird in their house. I think that's good. And I'm glad it's happening. I think you're house. I think that's good. And I'm glad it's happening. I think you're right. I think you're right. It might eat them.

Including certain people who work on this show and may or may not have a tortoise in their home. And I'll leave it at that. I'll leave it at that. And that's Hot Takes. Get it. And I'll leave it at that. I'll leave it at that. And that's how it takes. Give it up for Akilah Hughes.

Hi. Thank you so much. When we come back, we'll end on a high note. Thank you, Akilah. Of course. And we're back. Now it's time to end on a high note. If you have a high note to share about something that gave you hope, please line up in front of producer Brian and producer Kendra

who are out there in the house. Hi, what's your name? Hi, I'm Sierra. Hi, Sierra. Hi. What's your high note? I got into grad school this week. Congratulations.

That's great. What are you going to study? Public policy. Great. That's awesome. Give it up for Sierra. That's great. What are you going to study? Public policy. Great. That's awesome. Give it up for Sierra. That's cool. Hi, what's your name?

Hi, I'm Paige, and I'm here with my 17-year-old daughter who turns 18 next month. And on the way here, we put her voter registration, her first one, into the mailbox. Awesome. Thank you, Paige. That's great. We put her voter registration, her first one, into the mailbox. Awesome. Thank you, Paige. That's great. Hi, what's your name? Hi, I'm Ellie.

Ellie? Yeah. And what's your high note? Very similar. Because of the Vote Save America Twitter feed, I remembered to register to vote right before, like the same day, so I'm able to vote in the May 7th election. Yes! Yes. That's cool. like the same day, so I'm able to vote in the May 7th election. Yes! Yes. That's cool. I'm glad.

You gonna vote to legalize weed? Sure. Great. Don't tell my mom, but she's probably gonna listen to this, so... Don't tell her mom. That's a deal. I won't. Great. Hi, what's your name? Hi, I'm Sarah. Sarah, what is your high note? I am starting a new job

on Monday, and it's supposed to have a better work-life balance. Like, the millennial that I am, I value those things. And I've taken the last week off work, which I've never been able to do in my entire life, and it has been so great. And this is the best way to end it. So thank you for everything up until today

because I couldn't have gotten through without Crooked. So thank you for saying that. And good luck with the new job. Hi, what's your high note? Hi, my name is Sophia, and I'm going to study Peace and Justice Studies at Wellesley College in the fall. Wellesley College, that's great.

Hillary Clinton's alma mater. Congratulations. Thank you. That's great. Hillary Clinton's alma mater. Congratulations. That's great. Hi, what's your name? Jennifer. Jennifer. And what is your high note, Jennifer? Kendra's gorgeous hair, Akilah's outfit, her perfect lipstick, my friend Tia, who works here, and finally having a date night with my husband. No. And by the way, when the skirt was messed up, you were still working it. It looked good. I had to ask about it, though. Cut Jennifer's high note.

Cut it right out of the show. Hi, what's your name? Hi, my name is Katie. Katie? Yes. And my high note is I found out yesterday that I passed my master's thesis, so I get to walk in May. What are you a master of?

You're going to love this because of your comment from your Austin show, but there are Jews in Texas. It's a master's in Jewish professional leadership and nonprofit management. That's cool. One thing I think Jewish professionals aren't doing enough of is making golems. That's what I said, and that's what my thesis is on. Your thesis is on making, using mud and doing an ancient ritual to bring alive an evil creature to help you achieve things that will ultimately redound to your destruction? And Greg Abbott. And Greg Abbott. Thank you. Hi, what's your hi-no? What's your name? My name is Nathan. And yeah, I'm, I mean, it's been a rough week, dude, because, you know,

I'm a teacher. I teach AP World History and AP Human Geography, and I teach it in Texas, where, you know, man, they really want us to teach history. They don't. They're not interested. Yeah, I think they're going to cut that and just say it was all high fives throughout most of it. So, at any rate, this week, I did actually make a really cool lesson I'm excited about. You know, it's called the Angry City Council Meeting of the City of Porquet. The kids are going to be organized into different neighborhoods. I've given them propositions that they have to

get up and yell about. I'm hoping it's really fun and they don't get really dark with it. That's great. That's great. Thank you for teaching history. We need people to keep doing that. People need to find out what happened between 1776 and 1965

as much as people in Texas government aren't interested in those specific periods. Hi, what's your name? Hi, I'm Claire, and this is my best friend, Julie. Hi, what's your high notes? So our high note is that I actually got into a doctoral program, so I get to move back into the best city with Julie Who bought me the tickets to be here And she got surprised because I'm moving back to be her best friend again

That's great And my high note is Claire's been working for the past two years in Texas To vaccinate, I don't know, hundreds of people with COVID-19 vaccines And she has pushed through a lot and it's really amazing That's so nice with COVID-19 vaccines, and she has pushed through a lot, and it's really amazing. That's so nice. Hi, what's your high note? Hi, I'm Frank.

I've been waiting a really long time for something good to happen, and you're here. And what's going to happen is that I'm going to be a grandpa, and I'm here with my daughter, who's going to be due in the fall. Congratulations. Hi, what's your name? My name is Roy. I'm a middle school orchestra teacher.

And this high note for me was, at my campus, the highest award is called the Viking Leadership Award. And one of my students won that award. And during the speech that he had to give to win that, he had this whole spiel on me and saying how much I inspired him. And I can't talk too much about it because I'll get too emotional. But afterwards, we had a whole pep rally for him. And I can't talk too much about it because I'll get too emotional.

But afterwards, we had a whole pep rally for him. And he came up and he hugged me. He was like, I just want you to know that you've really been a big inspiration to me. And everything you do has made me become the person I am today. And it just made me melt. That is so nice. Thank you for sharing that. Hi, what's your high note?

Hi, I'm Kyle. And I'm also a teacher. And my high note is that no matter what Greg Abbott is up to, including sending out a letter that called teachers and librarians pornographers recently, teachers are still showing up for kids every day, and we're not pulling up with that bullshit. We're there for our kids,

including I cannot walk into a classroom that does not have a trans ally sticker on their door. A black history is world history. Bulletin boards are everywhere and we're just not going to put up with it. So that's my high note. Hi, what's your name and what's your high note?

Hi there, I'm Allison and my high note is after planning my 40th birthday party for about the last 18 months, that was always the goal to get through the pandemic and be able to safely gather together. And we were able to do that last weekend, and it was wonderful. That's great. Happy birthday. Hi, what's your name? Hi, I'm Vicki. What is your hi what's your name hi I'm Vicky

what is your high note well I am a cantor which is like a singing rabbi for those who may not know you might know but some others might Temple Emanuel so I did not know

that my congregants were here hi friends so I'm actually on Wednesday I'm going to I'm a Russian and a Ukrainian native speaker and on Wednesday I'm flying to Poland Wednesday, I'm going to, I'm a Russian and a Ukrainian native speaker, and on Wednesday I'm flying to Poland to work with Ukrainian refugees.

And I'm going to lead a Seder on Friday night in a hotel with about 100 women and children, and I'm just going to bring a lot of energy and support. And may I ask for a donation? Sure. Okay. If you would like to make a donation, whatever money you donate will go directly. I'm going to be in Poland.

I'm going to buy supplies there and pass them out to women and children, as well as I'm going to be closer to Ukraine, so there's going to be some direct shipping. So you can go to tedallas.org and you can find the Disaster Relief Fund. So tedallas.org

the Disaster Relief Fund, and thank you. And you're a cantor. Can you give us one line from a, without, you know, obviously we're not going to take the Lord's name in vain, but like, give us one bit of cantering. Ilu hotzi hotzi anu hotzi

anu mimitrayim hotzi anu mimitrayim dayenu. Thank you. Fantastic. Hi, what's your name? Hi, I'm Michaela. Michaela, what is your high note? So a few months ago, I came out as a lesbian

Yeah, thank you, it's great I'm very happy, I have a wonderful girlfriend who I love But unfortunately that meant that I had to end my marriage of seven years But my high note is that we're still best friends And he still loves me, and he's actually here with me tonight. So hi, Daniel. Wow. Thank you for sharing that.

Thank you. Thank you so much. Welcome. Love to have you. Hi, what's your name? Hi, I'm Val. What is your high note? This is my best friend, Frances,

and she volunteers her time to register kids to vote in underserved community high schools. Yay, Frances! Thank you, Frances. That's great. Hi, my name's Megan. I'm from Houston, Texas. All these things are so beautiful, all these high notes, and this one's not that great, but I made my boyfriend very happy and that's all i want to do uh he loves you he adores you i adore ronan but you know so we meet in the middle so all right what's the fucking high note good point so he turned 40 i bought him tickets for us to come up here and an hour before the show started we realized we didn't bring our vaccination cards, and you can't get in. So the high note is my friend that drove an hour to our house and used questionable methods to get

into it to take copies of the vaccine cards so we could go because I didn't want him to miss the show. Oh, that's so nice. That is so nice. Hi, what's your name? Hi, my name is Gabby. Gabby, hi,

how you doing? I'm good, how are you? I'm great. I've never seen Kendra intimidated before. I didn't mean to like completely take the mic from her.

No, no, it's fine. I think it's awesome. Your energy, your energy just made her just like, Gabby,

you're in charge. I'm so sorry, Kendra. Gabby, what's your high note? I'm finally starting to see the first little bit of progress in my small business that I started in August. And I'm super stoked about it. That's great. Yeah. Congratulations.

Thank you. I'm super stoked about it. What is the area of your small business? I'm a wedding florist. That's great. Yeah. That's cool. Thank you. I just started my business and I've gotten a couple of people inquiring me for the last couple of weeks

over the summer. So I'm super stoked about it. That's awesome. Yeah, thank you. Thanks, Gabby. All right, one more high note. Hi, what's your name? Hey, good evening. Daniel Church from Dallas. And I'm also happy to be the last person here. Not happy, just I am the last person. You sure are. What's your high note? So my nephew, who is, I think, just turned four, he was the other day at a local park and saw a husband and a wife getting their wedding photos getting taken. And he looked at my sister and he said, why is she wearing a dress? And my sister explained, you know, well,

well, you know, she's getting married. They're doing wedding photos. And he said, well, Uncle Jeff and Uncle Daniel didn't wear a dress. And he had never been to like a hetero to a heteronormative wedding and it blew his mind. That's cool. And it was just amazing to experience that. What a perfect place to end because this is the future liberals want. And that is our show.

Thank you, Dallas, so much. What a blast. Thanks to everybody who shared in the high notes. If you, Dallas, so much. What a blast. Thanks to everybody who shared in the high notes. If you want to leave us a message about something that gave you hope, call us at 213-262-4427. Thank you all so much for coming out. Thank you to Akilah, to Luke Warford, and to Salem Moon. There are 206 days until the 2022 midterm elections. Thank you, Dallas.

And have a great weekend. Good night, everybody. produced by me, John Lovett, and Lee Eisenberg. Kendra James is our senior producer, and Brian Semmel is our producer. Hallie Keeper is our head writer, and Jocelyn Kaufman, Poulavi Gunalan, and Peter Miller are the writers. Bill Lance is our editor, and Kyle Seglin is our sound engineer. Our theme song is written and performed by Sure Sure. Thanks to our designers, Jesse McClain and Caroline Haywood, for creating and running all of our visuals, which you can't see because this is a podcast. And to our digital producers, Norma Elkonian, Milo Kim, Mia Kelman, and Matt DeGroote for filming and editing video each week so you can.