Relatable with Allie Beth Stuckey - Ep 535 | Are Schools Secretly Vaccinating Kids? | Guest: Bethany Mandel

Episode Date: December 8, 2021

Today we're covering several topics, starting with the story of Lia Thomas, a transgender college swimmer who was a decent athlete as a man, but has been dominating the competition since deciding to identify as a woman. Then, we discuss New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio's new vaccine mandate, which would force kids 5-11 to take the COVID vaccine and be prepared to show their papers to participate in society. Lastly, we talk to conservative writer and mother of five Bethany Mandel, editor for the "Heroes of Liberty" children's book series, which aims to give objective, historical accounts of conservative icons like Ronald Reagan and Thomas Sowell. --- Today's Sponsors: Cozy Earth is made from super-soft viscose from highly sustainable bamboo. And Cozy Earth's bedding & loungewear are also temperature regulating so you'll sleep comfortablyy year-round. Right now, save 35% on Cozy Earth bedding & loungewear at CozyEarth.com & use promo code 'ALLIE' at checkout! Good Ranchers delivers boxes of American meat that's steakhouse quality & it's a great gift idea for everyone on your list! Go to GoodRanchers.com/ALLIE to get $20 off & free express shipping on your order. Your order keeps local, American farms & ranches open & donates 10 meals to people who would otherwise go hungry. Dwell has built a beautiful listening & reading experience for the Scriptures. With over a dozen new recordings of the Bible, they've hand-picked voices that will engage & inspire you, plus it features a new read along experience which lets you read big, bold text accompanied by beautiful background art while you're listening to it being read at the same time. It's time to get in the Word! Go to DwellApp.io.RELATABLE to get 10% off a yearly subscription, or 33% off Dwell for life! --- Show Links: The Washington Times: "Transgender Swimmer Lia Thomas Smashes Women's Records, Stokes Outrage" https://bit.ly/3GoNBOK Duke Law: "Comparing Athletic Performances: The Best Elite Women to Boys and Men" https://bit.ly/3lNU91p "Heroes of Liberty" book series: https://heroesofliberty.com/ (use promo code 'Allie' at checkout for a discount!) Fox News: "California School Offers Boy Pizza to Get Vaccinated, Tells Him Not to 'Say Anything,' Mom Says" https://fxn.ws/3dvxVg3 --- Past Episode Mentioned: Ep 335: Understanding the Biblical Telos of Gender https://apple.co/31xgeux --- Buy Allie's book, You're Not Enough (& That's Okay): Escaping the Toxic Culture of Self-Love: https://alliebethstuckey.com/book Relatable merchandise: https://shop.blazemedia.com/collections/allie-stuckey

Hey, this is Steve Day. If you're listening to Allie, you already understand that the biggest issues facing our country aren't just political. They're moral, spiritual, and rooted in what we believe is true about God, humanity, and reality itself. On the Steve Day show, we take the news of the day and tested against first principles, faith, truth, and objective reality. We don't just chase narratives and we don't offer false comfort. We ask the hard questions and follow the answers wherever they leave, even when it's unpopular. This is a show for people who want honesty over hype and clarity over chaos. If you're looking for commentary grounded in conviction and unwilling to lie to you about where we are or where we're headed, you can watch this D-Day show right here on Blaze TV

or listen wherever you get podcasts. I hope you'll join us. Hey guys, welcome to Relatable. Happy Wednesday. Hope everyone has had a wonderful week so far. We're going to talk about a few things today. We are going to talk about this transgender swimmer, so-called transgender swimmer, whose name, name is Leah Thomas, who is smashing women's swimming records. Surprise, surprise. We are also going to talk about New York City mandating vaccine passports for kids as young as five. Also in LA, apparently kids are getting bribed with food like pizza and tacos to get the vaccine without parental consent. We're going to talk about that. And then we're going to get reaction to this pediatric

coerced vaccination and vaccination verification program from Bethany Mandel. She is a mom of five. She homeschools three of those kids. She's a writer. She is an editor at ricochet.com. She is a contributing writer for Desert News. And she is also the editor of the Heroes of Liberty series. And we are also going to talk to her about that.

It is a series of kids' books with amazing illustrations about American heroes like Ronald Reagan, Thomas Sol, Amy Coney Barrett. And so we're going to talk about that with her. I'm really excited for you to hear about that because it's such an awesome project that you guys are going to benefit from and love. But first, I want to talk about this story about, well, actually, before we get into that, let me just say, for those of you who are watching or listening yesterday, yesterday, and if you follow me on Instagram, you might have seen, you might have seen that I said this, that I was not feeling well yesterday. I don't know what it was, but if you go back and you watch, Yesterday's YouTube video, like I am looking rough because I was feeling rough. And thankfully, Owen Strand is an amazing guest and he can just talk by himself. He could have just hosted relatable. And I didn't have to say anything. And he could totally carry the conversation and that's exactly what I needed.

Praise the Lord because I wasn't feeling well. I don't know what it was, but I am totally fine now. I woke up this morning feeling fine. But if yesterday, if I seemed, Owen definitely didn't. but if I seemed a little bit low energy and a little bit like I was struggling, that's because I was. But today, I'm back with a vengeance and I've got all of the enthusiasm and the energy needed to make up for yesterday. So let's talk about, let's talk about Leah Thomas, this transgender swimmer who, according to the Washington Times, is smashing women's records and is stoking outrage because of that. Now, let me make a note.

On pronouns. I always make this note, but I think it's important so people don't just think that I am being purposely inflammatory. When I use he, him, his pronouns for a man, it is not because I am trying to be purposely offensive. It's not because I want to make this person Leah Thomas angry or upset or self-conscious or anything like that. That is not my purpose.

My purpose is to speak that, which is true. Language matters. and language is supposed to speak to reality. It's supposed to indicate that which is true. And what I know is biologically true is that this person, Leah Thomas, is a man. He has male chromosomes. He was a male from the moment of conception. And because pronouns have always indicated that reality, I see no reason to change my language in order to conform to

to a lie. And because I believe it's so important, especially now, to live not by lies and to double down on that which is true while still trying to be as loving and as kind as possible, I will use he-him pronouns for men. And this person is, I don't even think it's accurate to say transgender, whatever that means, as if that was a possibility. But this person, is a man who identifies as a woman. So I think that the most accurate and therefore the most loving thing that I can do is to speak that which is true. God is love. First John 4-8, the God who says that he is love, that embodies love that defines what love is says in Genesis 1 that he made us male and female. Biologically, he made us male and female. And in his image, he created men as

male and female. So to be male and female is to be made in the image of God and to deny the reality of male and female biology is to not only deny the nature of humanity, but also to deny what God says is to be made in the image of the divine. And I'm just not willing to do that. So if God says something, the God who is love says something is true, then the most loving thing that I can do is to agree with God. That is why I will use accurate pronouns to talk about a man or a woman, just FYI. I urge other outlets to do the same thing. Unfortunately, even allegedly conservative outlets have given in and have started to speak absurdities

by using pronouns that don't actually correspond with a person's sex. And just a reminder, gender identity as something that is detainable. from sex was it was originated in the 1960s by a pervert named Dr. John Money. You can read all about that. We've talked all about that on this podcast that is not a real category. And for anyone who says, well, what about intersex? Intersex people. They are people made in the image of God.

Obviously, they have a genetic anomaly often or some kind of hormonal anomaly, less than one percent of the population actually has an intersex condition. That does not rewrite the rule of male and female in the same way that they're maybe babies that are born with one arm or one leg. That doesn't mean that human beings aren't bipeds. So exceptions do not rewrite the rules. So that's what I'll say on that. All right, I had to give that. I had to give that preamble because you never know this could be the first time you're listening to this podcast or hearing someone like me talk about the subject, so I wanted to try to give you a foundation for why I talk about this the way that I do. So, again, according to the Washington Times, collegiate swimmer, Leah Thomas is shattering

women's swimming records this season. And critics say there's a reason. She says the Washington Times. I hope someone from the Washington Times listening to this. Why are you giving it into the absurdity? She used to be a man. Well, actually, he is still a man. That is the most accurate way to say this.

The University of Pennsylvania swimmer continued. I'm going to put in my own pronouns here since they use female pronouns. Um, his dominant Saturday at, uh, 2021 Zippy Invitational in, uh, in Akron, Ohio with the first place finish in the 200 yard freestyle setting a pool program and meat record with the time of 141.93. He won the race by, or she won the race by, uh, nearly seven seconds. And her time was the fastest in the country. The PIN Sports Information Department set. in a press release.

The 22-year-old Thomas swam on Penn's men's team from 2017 to 2020 as Will Thomas. Okay, so this person actually swam for Penn from 2017 to 2020. And his name was Will. Oh, my goodness. So a man, his whole life, just decided to identify his woman in the past year, placing second in the Ivy League championships in three freestyle events and making second team all ivy in the 2018 to 2019 season. Thomas also won the men's 500 freestyle against Villanova in the 2019 to 2020 season. Since transitioning to female and joining the women's team,

however, Thomas has gone from being a solid college swimmer to a dominant one. Penn today reported in June that Thomas took a year off during the pandemic and will swim for the Penn women's team in her senior year. That's according to Penn today. Being trans has not affected my ability to do this sport and being able to continue is very rewarding. You're darn right. It hasn't affected your ability in a negative way. Actually, it hasn't affected your ability at all. That is correct. The problem is that you are still a man. And so you are able to swim as a man is able to swim, and women are never going to be able to keep up with you because men have more testosterone, which means they have more solid bone density, which means they have greater muscle mass.

We're not talking about someone who tried to transition several years ago and has been on estrogen for several years. Even then, what happens during puberty for a boy or a girl, it's really irreversible. And that is part of what makes a boy and then a man so much stronger and so much faster than a girl or a woman, but it's actually also what happens in the womb. A boy is born with so much more testosterone than a girl is born with. And so really, that is irreversible. And it's just amazing. It's amazing how the patriarchy is dominating in the name of inclusion, even in the name of women's rights, because you hear this ridiculous maxim that trans women are women, which really doesn't

mean anything. It's just the perfect propaganda phrase. And so in the name of women's rights, a man is actually dominating a female sports. And see, what happens, I'm sure, in the minds of these female swimmers, even if they are totally on board with it, even if they're like pro trans, whatever it is, you know in their minds that every time they are thinking about what place they got in a particular competition, they're excluding this guy. Like they're saying, okay, yeah, I did lose to so-called Leah Thomas, who was just, who was Will just last year. year. I did lose to him, but hey, I got second place, which means I really got first place. And that's what everyone else is thinking, too. Like, no one is thinking, wow, this wonderful, you know, this wonderful, delicate woman is such a good swimmer and is the best female swimmer ever. Even everyone who is pro trans and pro trans rights, whatever, they're all thinking the same thing.

They're thinking that this person is an exception, that this is not actually a woman swimming, and that everyone else who is swimming behind this person, they're actually competing against each other, and this person is in basically a league of his own. And, hey, if you want to have a separate league for transgender people, then do that. I mean, whatever, if that's fine, I have really no opinion about that. Really, I think that people should be competing against those who share their biology. Or you could just mix it up all together and just watch every woman lose almost every event. But this obviously is not fair.

And it should not be a position of bigotry. You shouldn't be accused of being some kind of fob for simply saying that you care about fairness in women's sports. Every time a man takes a position on a female sports team, you are taking that. position away from a qualified woman. And if you actually care about equality, if you actually care about female success, then you should care about that. I mean, this is just absurd. It's just absurd. And anytime anyone on the left talks about people on the right, not caring about truth, or not caring about reality, or just feeding into propaganda, I just want to remind you guys that you actually believe that a man can become a woman and can compete against women and that's

that's fair. I just want to remind you guys that that's like a position that you guys hold and until you renounce that position, you don't have any moral foundation to stand on whatsoever to talk about the dangers of propaganda or misinformation. I mean, not to mention the million other things that we talked about on this podcast that I think is misinformation that comes from the progressive side of the aisle. We'll remind you and just that just. just a second of the Duke law school study that we have cited in the past that talks about the incontrovertible differences between men and women. Hey, this is Steve Day.

If you're listening to Allie, you already understand that the biggest issues facing our country aren't just political. They're moral, spiritual, and rooted in what we believe is true about God, humanity, and reality itself. On the Steve Day show, we take the news of the day and tested against first principles, faith, truth, and objective reality. We don't just chase narratives and we don't offer false consequences. comfort, we ask the hard questions and follow the answers wherever they leave, even when it's

unpopular. This is a show for people who want honesty over hype and clarity over chaos. If you're looking for commentary grounded in conviction and unwilling to lie to you about where we are or where we're headed, you can watch this D-Day show right here on Blaze TV or listen wherever you get podcasts. I hope you'll join us. Okay. So this Duke Law School study that we have cited before, let me read to you from that

amazing study comparing female. male track athletes and what they found. Let's see, I believe this was just in 2020. I believe it was. No, well, I think it came out in 2020, but I'm pretty sure that they were studying men and women and boys and girls in the year of 2017. So this is what Duke Law School found in their extensive study. And I will link this in the description to this episode. quote, if you know sport, you know this beyond a reasonable doubt. There is an average 10 to 12% performance gap between elite males and elite females. The gap is smaller between elite females and non-elite males, but it's still insurmountable, and that's what ultimately matters.

So that is the conclusion, basically, to their study. The Duke University researchers report that in 2017, Tori Bowie, she is an Olympic champion in the 100 meter dashed three-time Olympic medalist, that her lifetime record in the 100 meter dash was beaten by men and boys over 15,000 times in 2017 alone. So that is her lifetime record. She is an Olympian was beaten by men and boys, non-elite athletes over 15,000 times in 2017. The same is true for Alison Felix, who is another Olympic champion.

Her 400 meter dash record was beaten over 15,000. times by non-elite, non-professional, and professional, men and boys in 2017. So men and boys, that means, according to this study, that means that boys 18 and up and 18 and under. So men 18 and up and boys 18 and under, that's how they're defining those categories. They compare the track times for a variety of events of the world's best, fastest woman to the times of the fastest boys under the age of 18. in every single category, 100 meter dash, 400 meters, high jump, triple jump, the world's fastest adult

women were beat by what would be high school boys. So boys under the age of 18. The times of the fastest high school boys, according to the study, were faster than the times of female adult Olympic athletes. For every single women's record for a track event, there are often hundreds of under 18 boys who beat record, who beat that. record and hundreds, if not thousands of men who beat that record, there's not a track of it out there where women beat men or where a single woman beats the majority of men. Here's what the study concludes, quote, this differential between men and women, boys and girls and even boys and women, this differential isn't the result of boys and men having a male identity, more resources,

better training, or superior discipline. That's what you hear a lot from the pro-trans lobby. It's because they have an androgyized body. The results make clear that sex determines win share. Female athletes here defined as athletes with ovaries instead of testes and testosterone levels capable of being produced by the female non-androgenized body are not competitive for the win against males. Here to find as athletes with testes and testosterone levels in the male range. The lowest end of the male range is three times higher than the highest end of the female.

range. Consistent with females far lower T levels, the female range is also very narrow while the male range is broad. That just can't be overcome. It can't be overcome with estrogen therapy. It's not going to be overcome with surgery because testosterone during a child's life determines very often most of the time, the vast majority of the time, that's going to determine things like I said, bone density, muscle mass, anaerobic, aerobic capacity, all things that determine your success in athletic events, whether it is running, whether it is swimming, whether it is even golfing. That doesn't mean that there won't be the exceptional woman that can beat, you know, a mediocre man in a sport. Of course, that is true. Like if you take the most unathletic guy and you take a super

athletic and strong elite female athlete, like she's probably going to be able to beat him in running or something like that. But that's not what we're, that's not what we're talking about here. That's not what happens at athletic events. You're talking about male athletes who are training for a particular event and a female athlete who are training for a particular event.

They're simply not competitive against one another. Again, there are exceptions to that rule, but as a rule, because of biology, the very science that the left says that they like, they are simply not able to compete against one another fairly. And that's not just because of the test. testosterone levels that increase so much during puberty, during those preteen and teenage years for boys, but also the testosterone that boys are born with, that is so much higher than what

girls are born with. So the differences between boys and girls actually happen inside the womb and are ultimately insurmountable no matter if you change your identity. So of course, this is unfair. This is absurd female athletes. It doesn't matter what side of the aisle that you're on. you should continue to speak up about this kind of stuff. You should push back. Yes, people are going to call you a bigot. Yes, people are going to say you're hateful. Yes, you are going to get a lot of pushback for it. People are going to threaten you. It's going to be really difficult. But you're not just standing up for yourself. You're standing up for the young girls who are coming after you who deserve to be able to play fairly, who deserve to be able to have a fair shot at elite status, at scholarships of just

winning a particular event. So you're not just standing up for you. You are standing up for younger generations for people who don't have the same voice that you do. Parents, the same goes for you. You need to be sticking up for your kids. You need to be standing up in the name of other parents who may be in the same position as you now or later. This stuff matters because truth matters, reality matters. And not only fairness for girls, but we're also thinking about safety for girls, forcing girls to have to share private space with boys and with men. I mean, that's a form of harassment. That's not fair.

I mean, we're sacrificing our most vulnerable population for the whims of a tiny part of the population who would be much better served through more compassionate care and in helping them deal with the reality of them being male or female. now. All right, we're going to shift gears. We're going to continue to talk about the younger populations and being sacrificed on the altar of progressivism in just one second. Okay, so let's talk about this ridiculous mandate in New York City. This is according to NBC, New York. NYC vaccine requirement for kids ages 5 to 11 starts next week, what to know. So this is a la Bill de Blasio, world's worst mayor. And that's saying a lot in a world where Lori Lightfoot

exists. But he is a terrible mayor. And you can ask the people of New York, they don't like him as a mayor. I mean, he's on his way out. And so maybe he has hopes for a political future. But he's just doing what he thinks he needs to do, I guess, to please the radical progressives in the city. So here's what he is doing, according to NBC, New York. All a private sector workers in New York City will be subject to the mayor's vaccine mandate starting December 27th, affecting 184,000 businesses while vaccine proof for indoor dining, fitness, and entertainment will be required for children ages 5 to 11. I mean, how sad is this that they're not going to be able, parents aren't going to be able to

take their kids to all the places where they are typically able to take them to museums and places of entertainment and all of that, especially around Christmas time, when kids ages 5 to 11 don't need this vaccine. Maybe there are some high-risk kids that do and parents should be able to have that choice. I believe that parents love and know their children the best, but to have this be mandated, to have to show proof of vaccination for a five-year-old who has almost no chance of dying from this disease or even getting serious illness from this disease, like who are you protecting? If everyone else also has to have vaccine verification, so everywhere you're going, every adult is vaccinated, why did the kids have to be vaccinated? Who are you protecting?

Is it just because there are some super scared and paranoid people that are still afraid that they're going to get this highly survivable virus from a kid? Is that where we are? We're seeing kids as these as just vectors of sickness, vectors of virus, and we are sacrificing them on the altar of our wants. This is the exact opposite of how we're supposed to be treating children, by the way. Like, we don't sacrifice the health of children or the well-being of children for the sake of the old and the infirm. I'm sorry, you just don't. That's not how you're supposed to structure your society. And there are real potential side effects that come with this vaccine for children, especially, for adolescents.

There is risk of myocarditis. There are other unknown risks that we don't know, especially. if you have a kid that maybe has a medical condition that puts them in a higher risk category for this particular vaccine, in no world should this be mandated for anyone, but in particular for children. Let me remind you that the American Academy of Pediatrics says that among states reporting children were 0.00%. Did you hear that number? 0.00% to 0.28% of all COVID-19 deaths and six states reported zero child deaths. In states reporting 0.00% to 0.03% of all child COVID-19 cases resulted in death.

Okay, so at most, at most, 0.03. Like, how can I emphasize this more than I have been for? the past year. At most, your child has a 0.03% chance of dying from COVID. And probably the 0.3% of kids, this is people under the age of 18 that died from COVID probably had a comorbidity. Now, all of those lives matter. 100%. We're not saying that they don't, but when we're talking about public policy that affects people, that affects people's lives and affects people's livelihoods. I mean, this is going to affect the businesses in New York City because parents just aren't going to do it. They're going to move out or they're just not going to

comply. When you're talking about policy that affects people, you have to look at the numbers. You have to look at the likelihood. Your child is much more likely to die in a car wreck. Your child is about just as likely to die from a lightning strike or to be struck by lightning than they are to die from COVID. This is absurd. This is. This is a absurd. And I saw someone say online, this is just about keeping kids healthy. No, it's not. There is a real risk of adverse reactions to these vaccines for kids. And you're not protecting anyone. You're not protecting them, obviously, because they're already protected. And actually, according to the financial times, unvaccinated kids, unvaccinated people under the age of 17 are

less likely to die than a fully vaccinated, whatever that means, since apparently you have to get two booster shots to be considered fully vaccinated. Spoiler alert, that's going to keep going on and on as long as it makes these vaccine distributors money, manufacturers money. But they are, they are less likely to die from COVID, unvaccinated kids, than fully vaccinated 50-year-olds. And even people in their 40s, people in their 40s who are fully vaccinated in their 50s and 60s who are fully vaccinated are more likely to die from COVID, which is still very unlikely, than the unvaccinated child. So this just makes no more sense. This is paranoia. We shouldn't be policymaking based on paranoia. Again, for the very people who say that they

care so much about the science, they care so much about truth and right-wing misinformation and propaganda. I'm sorry, you guys, you guys jumped the shark a long time ago. You guys stopped believing in real science a long time ago. When fear and paranoia is involved, that's what when people stop actually caring about the facts. And when you have someone like Anthony Fauci saying that he is science and opposing him, is opposing science itself, like he has some kind of source of all truth and reason, you know that this has become more of a religion for people than a pursuit of actual truth and good policy. I mean, this is insane. Sacrificing the young for the old, which by the way, even trying to sacrifice the young for the old isn't going to work.

Getting a kid vaccinated is not going to protect anyone. It's wrong. It's immoral. And I'm sad about this. I'm super sad about this for kids. I'm super sad about this for parents, for people who can't move out of New York. This is insane. Not to mention all the insane things that are going on in the rest of the world who are still trying to put onerous, traconian restrictions on their people who are vaccinated or on.

vaccinated in several countries. This is not about your health. How do you not see that by now? This is not about your health. There was this other story that I thought was just nightmarish coming out of Los Angeles. This mother, according to Fox News, said that her son was vaccinated in exchange for pizza without parental consent. So this is, that's what a Los Angeles mother said.

Her 13 year old son received as part of his school's COVID-19 vaccination incentive program. The transaction, however, allegedly happened without parental consent. The lady that gave him the shot and signed his paper told my son, please don't say anything. I don't want to get into trouble, said Maribel Duarte, who claimed her son was vaccinated without anyone informing her according to a report. Duarte's son is a student at Barack Obama Global Prep Academy. is super fitting. The district would not confirm the incident or the details behind it, including what kind of pizza the student was supposedly offered or what pizzeria it came from. With the January 10th, 2022, student vaccination deadline approaching the district to introduce

the safe schools to Safe Steps incentive program throughout Los Angeles Unified Schools. The program offers incentives to families who upload proof of their vaccine, have an approved medical exemption, or have conditional. admissions and Los Angeles unified school district spokesperson told the Washington Examiner. So this is actually from the Washington Examiner, not Fox. The school has an overall vaccination rate of over 80%. Wow. And we'll continue to work closely with its community for all eligible students to meet the vaccination deadline. Vaccinations are essential for the district students, the spokesperson added. But it's not. It's not. Again, this is not scientific at all.

This is about coercion. This is about control. This is a bunch of, this is about a, bunch of super paranoid scared adults whose fears are not grounded in statistical reality whatsoever. It's really sad. But I guess a country that constantly is sacrificing thousands of children on the altar of progressivism in the name of abortion, it shouldn't surprise me that we don't put the best interests of kids who are outside of the womb at heart. All right. I'm going to get Bethany Mandel, mother of five, her reaction to that in just a second.

And we're also going to talk about that Heroes of Liberty. Bethany, thank you so much for joining us. First, I want to get your reaction about this story about New York City, the mayor of New York City mandating vaccine verification for children as young as five years old. What do you think about that as a mother of five young kids? So as a former New Yorker and someone who was literally born and somewhat raised in New York, I'm really sad. I grew up going to the Met and going to the Museum of Natural History and restaurants. New York, especially around Christmas time, is a really magical place. And my kids for, you know, I don't know how long, we'll never experience that. There's no basis in science for this. This is something that the FDA panel, when they were discussing approving these vaccines really specifically advised against. They said, just because we're approving these doesn't mean that these should be mandated. They should be available for children who are high risk, but that doesn't mean that they

should be forced upon every child. And that's exactly what Bill De Blasio in New York City are trying to do. You are one of the most pro-vaccine people that I know. You are a very outspoken advocate for vaccines and for pediatric vaccination. So this obviously isn't something that you are opposing per se. Obviously, you don't oppose vaccines. And you might not even, it sounds like, oppose the COVID vaccine for kids who may need it, but you are opposing these kinds of restrictions, correct? Yeah, absolutely. I have written about pediatric vaccines for literally every major newspaper in the country. The New York Times, the New York Post, the Washington Post. Like, you do not get more pro-vax than I am. But I also spent eight hours watching the FDA panel

discussion about approving these vaccines. And the headline of that approval process was that it was totally approved by an anonymous vote. But when you actually watch all of these doctors and these panelists discussing the decision, there was a lot of nuance. And over and over and over, they said, we do not want this to lead to mandates. We do not mean that this should be forced upon every child. This is still emergency use for a virus that they are just not in danger of severe illness or death. This makes no sense. And now over the last, I would say, couple months, we've seen a lot of data starting to roll in about what has happened with teen boys specifically with heart conditions, with a swelling of the heart called myocarditis. And we're only seeing that data

now, but they've been vaccinated for the last several months. And so, I mean, my perspective as a parent as well is, let's slow down a little bit and see what the data is. But Bill de Blasio and the people who are making these mandates also in San Francisco are not allowing parents the grace to wait for that data, which is a very very big. pro-science position. Right. And we actually just talked about not just in San Francisco, also in LA. Apparently, according to one mom, she says that her son was vaccinated in exchange for pizza and tacos without parental consent. And her son was actually vaccinated, not just bribed in this way, but kids came home with their little vaccine card showing their parent, hey, I've been vaccinated

twice. And their parent didn't know. I mean, my thing is, are the T-Brived? teachers who are coercing and bribing these kids, are they going to be the ones to take the child to the doctor to the hospital if they do come down with something like myocarditis? They're not the ones that have to live with the potential risks of this. The parents do. So shouldn't they get a say in what kind of medical treatment or medical procedure their child undergoes? Yeah. I mean, this is LA better hope and pray that no kids that they vaccinated in this way come down with myokyditis. because whoever that happens to, that family will own the Los Angeles School District. And they darn will should. Well, I hope that that doesn't happen. But if that does happen, I do hope that, like you said, that some kind of justice will be seen because of that. All right, let's shift gears.

I want to talk about this really exciting project that you've been a part of. I've loved everything I've read about it. You've been posting about it. And that is this Heroes of Liberty series. Tell us about the series, what it is, and why you guys. involved in it. Yeah, absolutely. So we were joking before we went on air that I own like a bazillion T books. These are all my children, sorry, this side. This is all just my children's books. So I am a huge fan of children's literature and I think I'm an expert at this point. I've read all of those books a lot. Oh, this one. So when they contacted me, they said, you know, we're sort of, we're developing this biographical book series for children and about Amy Coney-Barrant and

Thomas Sol and Ronald Reagan. And I was like, okay, that's not interesting. Like, those are three interesting figures. But I was a little bit nervous about it being brainwashing. And so they said, that is not what this is. We're going to send you the books and tell us what you think. And I was so enthusiastic. They're so well illustrated. They're so well written. I immediately sort of jumped on board. And now I'm editing all of the future books. And I'm doing press for it as well, because I'm really passionate about it. That is awesome. I especially I especially loved the parts of the Thomas Soul book that I've seen. I mean, talk about an underreported, under-talked-about figure that has been so monumental when it comes to the field of economics and just our understanding of politics and the why behind the philosophy of politics.

He's really not discussed. Same thing with Walter Williams and a lot of black conservatives. And so I love that you guys have provided the material for parents to teach their kids in a really fun and engaging way about people like him. I've also been told that they're never seen before illustrations of Alexander Hamilton that I think that we can pull up. Can you talk about that one? Can you talk about that particular book? So it was interesting. When we were trying to find illustrators for these books, we approached the best illustration.

illustrators in America, and they were all afraid of getting canceled after hearing some of the people that they would be potentially illustrating. And so they said, no, sorry, pass. And so we started going to illustrators around the world. And the amazing thing, I mean, this guy should not be illustrating children's books. Like, what is he doing? I'm not going to tell him to get another job because we really love him a lot. But it's just absolutely incredible. He does such incredible work. And this is something that I talk about, yeah, they're really incredible. And so something that I talk about a lot is the most important thing in a children's book is not necessarily words, but it's the illustrations. And so I really loved that the folks who sort of founded Heroes of Liberty had the same perspective. And they were like, we are going to throw as much money as we need to into getting the best illustrators and the best illustrations because that makes or breaks a children's book. I think a lot of parents are rightfully concerned, not just about the progressive brainwashing that they read in a lot of books that are just presenting. ideas and moral values that they don't agree with, that they don't want to confuse their child with, but also the lack of creativity and imagination, originality, and, you know, just even anything intellectually stimulating, it seems like is lacking in a lot of new children's books today.

Yes. And I think a lot of parents, they're missing that. And so you hear a lot of parents saying, I don't let my kids watch shows that were produced after 2010. I don't let my kids read books. that were written after 2010, which is really sad. But it sounds like with this series, they can feel comfortable knowing that their kids are going to be challenged in a good way.

Yeah, and that's exactly it. I mean, when we were sort of reading through the books, I was like, oh, wow, these are actually advanced vocabulary. Something that was interesting that I read about Alexander Hamilton, sort of in my own research as we were doing these books, is that when he went to Princeton, the requirements of getting into Princeton as an undergraduate, are higher than they are now to graduate with a PhD from Princeton.

Wow. You had, it's crazy. You had to be able to read and write Greek and Latin. You had to have an understanding of Shakespeare. And that's something that kids now will never have, unless, honestly, their homeschooled or go to a really challenging private school that prioritize sort of the, the academics instead of the wokeism, which is happening in a lot of private schools.

But yeah, I mean, it's really challenging, wonderful, engaging words and material along with beautiful illustrations. Heroes of Liberty. And people can go to Heroes of Liberty.com slash discount slash alley. And you get a discount on those books. This would be a really great Christmas present, not just for your kids, but also for nieces and nephews. I'm super excited to get the books and read to my kids about Ronald Reagan and Tom the Soul and all the figures that are in this series. What I want to end on is you are

a mom of five and you are a homeschool mom of your older three kids. And I want you to give encouragement to parents out there because I get messages all the time. My kids aren't school age yet so I can't necessarily give encouragement from personal experience. People say, I just don't think that I can do it or I am afraid of giving up, you know, my one income and all of the different fears that some people who want to homeschool but feel like they can't have, can you dispel those fears from your personal experience and just give encouragement to moms and dad to maybe feel like they're not equipped, but they maybe want to take on the challenge of homeschooling one day. So it is the biggest blessing in our family, and I could talk about it until I'm blue in the face.

It is 11.13 right now. My kids are almost done with school for the day, and we started at 9.30, and I'm obviously taking a pretty long break to talk to you right now. And school today consisted of reading Psalms. I'm like looking at our homeschool area, reading Psalms, reading a book about Harriet Tubman, reading a book about the Emperor Penguin in Antarctica, and that was school today. And then we'll do a little bit of math manipulate, math manipulatives and that's it. And, you know, it depends on your job. Obviously, if you're a nurse, it's, I mean, there's a lot of jobs, honestly, that you could do well homeschooling because you can take different shifts as a nurse. But I still work. I mean, this is me working right now. But school

takes not a lot of time. It's a beautiful sort of bonding experience with my kids. And, you know, a lot of people say, well, I want my kids to have the social experience of school. And for me, I have five kids and they have friends because they do homeschooling. Taekwendo classes and art classes and everything. But at the end of the day, do I still talk to the people I went to elementary school with? Not really. Who do I want my children to have the strongest relationships with each other? And that's what they have. They have each other. They're downstairs playing right now. And I'm looking at them. And it's such a beautiful, slow, gentle experience for everyone involved. And it's so individualized. And there's so many resources

out there that you can really make your homeschool into whatever you imagine it to be. And, I mean, I went to public school and it doesn't get much worse than some of the people I had teaching me, to be honest. But the difference is I know my kids really well from day one. And so I know that my kid is really strong in these areas and weak in other areas and we can run out of the gate, doing everything that is optimized for them. I was a fifth grade teacher 12 years ago, and I liked my kids a lot, but I can tell you from the perspective of a former classroom teacher, I didn't love my children the same way that I love my

actual children. Yeah. And my commitment to bettering myself as a teacher and bettering their learning and optimizing our experience is much stronger as their parent than as their teacher. So, I mean, I'm, I could talk. this was like the worst possible question for you to end with because you're just going to have to shut my camera off. I,

everyone should follow you. Everyone should follow Bethany on Instagram because that's where you talk about a lot of this stuff. You talk about it on Twitter too, but we really kind of get a glimpse into your day to day, all of the trips that you take. I mean, guys, Bethany, I don't even know how you do what you do with the five little kids that you have. But I've met three of them.

And just from what I see on Instagram, I mean, they are brilliant, sweet kids. And I just love, I just love kind of going along for the Instagram ride and watching what you guys do and how engaged you are in your community and how engaged you are in their education too. It's not just sitting down and, you know, doing math problems, although that's important. But you're going to like Colonial Williamsburg, right? and like learning history that way, which is so fun, which is so fun and amazing. All right. That's all we have time for. But thank you so much.

Thanks for coming on. And everyone can follow you and go to Heroes of Liberty.com slash discount slash alley. And can check out. Oh, go ahead. Go ahead. What did you say? You can just type in Allie with a capital A and it works that way too. Okay.

Perfect. Well, thank you so much, Bethany for coming on. Thank you. Hey, this is Steve Day. If you're listening to Allie, you already understand that the biggest issues facing our country aren't just political. They're moral, spiritual, and rooted in what we believe is true about God, humanity, and reality itself. On the Steve Day show, we take the news of the day and tested against first principles, faith, truth, and objective reality. We don't just chase narratives and we don't offer false comfort.

We ask the hard questions and follow the answers wherever they leave, even when it's unpopular. This is a show for people who want honesty over hype and clarity over chaos. If you're looking for commentary grounded in conviction and unwilling to lie to you about where we are or where we're headed, you can watch this D-Day show right here on Blaze TV or listen wherever you get podcasts. I hope you'll join us.