0:00

The delicious ice cold taste of Dr. Pepper

0:02

has a lasting effect on people. Lindsay from

0:04

Sacramento said... Pro tip, 40 degrees is

0:06

the perfect temperature for an ice cold Dr. Pepper. Why

0:09

is 40 degrees the perfect temperature for Dr.

0:11

Pepper? We brought in Sue from Duluth, Minnesota to

0:13

tell us. Oh yeah, I know a thing or two

0:15

about cold. Oh, that right there is the

0:17

perfect kind of ice cold for Dr. Pepper. I'd

0:20

share that with my friend Nancy. She likes Dr.

0:22

Pepper too, you know. My coldest... Alright, that'll

0:24

be all, Sue. Having a perfect temperature for

0:26

your Dr. Pepper? It's a Pepper thing. Inspired

0:29

by Real Fan Posts. Listener

0:34

supported. WNYC Studios.

0:46

Hey, this is Kai. Every week

0:49

on this show, we ask you to

0:51

join the conversation in some way. By

0:53

email, by voicemail, on Instagram. And

0:56

the person managing all of these

0:58

various inboxes is our producer Regina

1:00

DeHear. And she joins me

1:02

once again to open the Listener mailbox.

1:04

Hey, Regina. Hi Kai. Last

1:07

time we did this, I told you that

1:09

we got our largest response to a single

1:11

episode. That was after our

1:13

show on Democratic-leaning voters who are

1:15

upset at President Joe Biden because

1:17

of Gaza. And I said that

1:19

didn't surprise me one bit. Well, I'm

1:21

sure it won't surprise you that actually, our

1:24

episode about Black voters who

1:26

are quote, Trump curious, has

1:29

surpassed that response. Of

1:31

course. We should note though

1:33

that we had that conversation

1:35

before he became a convicted felon.

1:39

But people did articulate a wide range

1:41

of reasons why they were newly

1:44

drawn to Trump at the time. And

1:46

we continue to hear responses all across

1:48

the board. Let's take a listen. My

1:52

name is Thornton. I'm interested in

1:54

Trump, but I definitely think he's racist and

1:57

I wish. he

2:00

would say something to prove differently.

2:03

And I think he would do well, but

2:06

unfortunately as of right now, I

2:09

haven't seen anything. So

2:11

that's my point of view. Yeah,

2:16

tough choices in the election.

2:19

I wouldn't vote for Trump

2:21

because he is already humiliating

2:23

immigrants of Africa, as I

2:26

am an immigrant from Africa.

2:29

And knowing him and listening

2:32

to what he says, he actually

2:34

reminds me of dictators in Africa.

2:37

This is how they start. But

2:40

the choice is so ridiculous and

2:42

we have to vote for Biden

2:44

or Trump. Voting for

2:47

Biden is like being part of

2:49

the genocide. So I

2:52

am not voting for anyone this

2:54

November. I

2:58

am Trump curious as

3:00

a black person. I am

3:03

not a single issues voter. And

3:05

I'm really disappointed in the stance

3:08

on abortion, student

3:12

loan forgiveness, which

3:14

I have not received is also one

3:16

of my issues. I

3:18

am also very concerned about

3:21

illegal immigration. Those are

3:23

my big three. And

3:25

that is what has raised my

3:27

Trump curiosity. Thank you. So

3:33

just to repeat what I said

3:35

in the episode itself, the polling

3:37

that we're reacting to here, that

3:39

polling shows black voters still overwhelmingly

3:41

support Joe Biden, but

3:44

it does also reflect a meaningful

3:46

shift towards Trump, one

3:48

that's happening in pretty much every demographic and

3:50

black people are no different. The

3:52

point is an election is close. Small shifts

3:54

are gonna mean a lot. And

3:57

speaking of Donald Trump, we

3:59

of course did a- show on his felony

4:01

conviction. Yes. Listeners had

4:03

more questions about the ramifications of that

4:05

verdict than we were able to answer

4:07

in the show itself. And

4:09

so we put some of them to our

4:11

guests, Andrea Bernstein, afterwards. A

4:14

listener texted in and asked, I'm

4:16

very worried about the jurors. Could

4:19

people in the courtroom have photographed them?

4:21

Or could people have followed them to where they live? What

4:24

kind of assurances do they have of protection from

4:26

people who want to harm them, or

4:29

their family, or people in their workplaces?

4:32

People in America need to feel that it's OK

4:34

to serve on a jury. And

4:37

here's what Andrea had to say. And

4:39

the judge is also concerned about the

4:42

protection of the jurors and has

4:44

taken steps, some public, some

4:46

not, that we just don't know about

4:49

to protect them. Their identities were kept

4:51

anonymous from the public. We don't know

4:53

their names. The lawyers

4:55

do know their names. But one of

4:58

the big motivations for the gag order

5:00

in this case was for

5:02

the former president to not

5:04

be attacking jurors. And

5:06

in fact, when he was cited

5:08

for the 10th time for contempt

5:10

of court for violating his gag

5:12

order, the 10th time was indeed

5:15

casting aspersions on the impartiality of the jury.

5:18

And that gag order, as of now, is still in

5:20

effect. There is no end date on it. You

5:23

can find more of those

5:25

questions and Andrea's answers on

5:28

our Instagram at noteswithkai. OK,

5:31

asked and answered. What's next? Well,

5:33

we also heard from a listener,

5:35

Alon, from Fort Collins, Colorado. He

5:38

left us a voicemail after listening to

5:41

our Passover episode, where we spoke with

5:43

Harvard scholar Noah Feldman about what it

5:45

means to be a Jewish American since

5:48

October 7. Here's

5:50

what Alon told us after the show. In

5:54

Fort Collins, there's not a particularly

5:56

large or organized Jewish community, and

5:59

by virtue of that, of that fact, I have

6:03

not had much in-person or

6:05

conversational interaction with other Jews

6:07

since October 7th, and since I've been

6:09

living here. And as such, the

6:12

interaction that I have had with my

6:14

fellow Jews has mostly been over social

6:16

media, where the people who share

6:19

their opinions are ones that are

6:22

on more extreme

6:24

ends of a spectrum.

6:27

And I just wanted to share

6:29

my gratitude for this conversation, where

6:32

the people calling in, many of

6:34

them are so much less sure

6:36

about their feelings, about

6:39

what's going on, than

6:41

so many people that I see sharing on

6:44

social media. And

6:46

I just am so grateful to

6:48

hear Jews being

6:50

able to share confusion and grief

6:53

and sadness for Palestinians and for

6:55

other Jews, for Israelis. Openly,

6:59

I long

7:01

so much for more of this kind

7:03

of conversation in Jewish space than by

7:05

virtue of my location. I

7:07

don't feel I have or I'm not aware of

7:09

the opportunity to have in person. So I just

7:11

wanted to call to say thank you for

7:14

this conversation. Thank you. And

7:17

thank you, Alon, for listening. A

7:20

lot of what we do here is

7:22

try to create space for real conversations

7:24

that get crowded out in the noise

7:26

of media these days. So I'm

7:29

glad we did that for you. Yes, thank you,

7:31

Alon. We'll take a break

7:34

and then hear what you've told

7:36

us that's not about thorny political

7:38

debate. That's just ahead. Thank

7:53

you. Samuel Miller, 40 acres

7:55

on Edisto. Fergus Wilson, 40 acres

7:58

on Sapelo Island. Morrison, 40

8:01

acres on Edisto. More than 1,200

8:03

formerly enslaved people got land from

8:05

the federal government, and

8:07

then had it taken away. This

8:10

was a betrayal. I'm

8:12

Al Letzen, host of the Reveal Podcast.

8:15

Our new series, 40 Acres and a

8:17

Lie, is available now. Subscribe

8:19

to Reveal wherever you get your

8:22

podcasts. Okay,

8:34

Regina, what have listeners been talking

8:36

about that is not politics and

8:39

war? Definitely The Wiz. Of

8:41

course. We've talked about the

8:44

Broadway revival and the history of The

8:46

Wiz in two shows, and

8:48

we're still getting reactions. Here's

8:51

one listener story about a chance

8:53

encounter she had while she was

8:55

herself easing on down the

8:57

road. This is Jane Allen.

9:00

I was traveling through rural North

9:02

Carolina on my way from Queensborough

9:05

to Tyler City, and it's a

9:07

really, really rural area where there

9:09

are no stores, no lights. I

9:12

was really lost. My GPS had gone out,

9:14

and it was dark. I

9:16

saw a bunch of bright lights reflecting in the

9:18

fog, and I thought, I'm just going to go

9:21

where these lights are, and maybe there will be

9:23

people there. I got there,

9:25

and it was the outdoor drama, the

9:27

snow camp outdoor drama. Snow

9:30

camp, I should tell you, is a

9:32

community that was a Quaker community in the

9:34

1700s, and it's still a Quaker

9:36

community. It

9:39

was a stop on the Underground Railroad, and

9:42

people that were enslaved that were

9:44

escaping and gaining their freedom, they

9:47

passed through there. It was snow camp at the

9:49

site of where the outdoor

9:51

drama was, and the production

9:54

was The Wiz. They

9:57

were doing right there in the middle of nowhere,

9:59

North Carolina. but a very significant

10:01

middle of the nowhere, right

10:03

there with Underground Railroad passed through,

10:06

they were forming the wind. And I thought

10:08

that's so incredibly wonderful and

10:10

appropriate. And I wanted everybody in the

10:13

world to be there at that

10:16

moment. So thank you for this opportunity to

10:18

share that experience. Aw,

10:20

thank you for sharing that history and

10:23

for sharing your story, Jane. And

10:26

actually, the whole outdoor theater vibe of

10:28

it makes me think about

10:30

a conversation we wanna have with all

10:32

of you this summer. So

10:35

for me, summer is a season of

10:38

opportunity. You got the

10:40

long days, maybe you get a vacation

10:42

from work and obligation. I mean, you

10:44

literally get more time. And

10:47

I find that that makes me

10:49

more open to try new

10:51

things or rediscover old things that I've

10:53

lost touch with over the years. And

10:56

sometimes that's just like remembering, I have not

10:58

danced in a long time. Let me get

11:00

up and move at this party. Or

11:03

sometimes it's a profound life

11:05

change, just unexpected encounters that

11:07

open new chapters of life.

11:11

And it strikes me that this kind

11:13

of openness, this is what is essential

11:15

for living in a plural society, being

11:17

ready to meet new things, maybe

11:20

challenge you and embrace them. So

11:23

listeners, we wanna hear about

11:25

your summer stories, moments

11:28

big or small, when you have opened

11:30

yourself up to unexpected new things. What

11:32

happened to you that summer and how

11:35

has it shaped the way you see

11:37

the world? Living in

11:39

a plural democracy, again, it really means encountering

11:41

a lot of new people and a lot

11:43

of difference and being open to it. And

11:46

I just wonder how much summer can facilitate

11:48

that. Well said, Kai.

11:51

And the other day, I connected with a

11:53

listener who has the perfect example of

11:55

the kind of experience we're looking for.

11:58

Lily is a young professional. based

12:00

in Philadelphia, where she lives with her

12:02

partner Des. She and Des

12:05

started dating in September, so

12:07

this will be their first summer together. And

12:09

for both of them, this time together goes

12:12

a lot deeper than just some fun in

12:14

the sun. Here's why. My

12:17

grandparents bought this

12:20

tiny trailer right outside of

12:22

Ocean City, New Jersey in the summer

12:24

of 1999, and I was born in December of 1998.

12:29

So literally my entire life, every

12:32

single summer I've gone down to this little trailer

12:34

and they've built additions onto it

12:36

and I've gotten to personalize it and

12:38

as I've gotten older, you know,

12:40

I've gotten to add decorations and got

12:43

my own key and now I buy things for

12:45

the house and I go down and open it

12:47

up. But it's really like I've moved around so

12:49

much in my life that the shore is the

12:51

only house that I consider my home. So it

12:53

got to a point where I think I was

12:55

like 22 or 23 and said realistically

12:58

my hometown is Ocean City, New

13:00

Jersey. But this summer

13:02

is particularly different for me

13:04

because it's the first summer that I'm in a

13:07

relationship. My partner, he's actually

13:09

from New York and he

13:11

is a trans man and I feel like

13:14

he doesn't, he's like it doesn't mean

13:16

much, but I feel like it adds so much

13:18

to his story in how he grew up and

13:20

who he is and especially going to the beach

13:22

and because now he's in a place where

13:24

he's had top surgery, he likes going to the

13:27

beach and like he's more comfortable taking his

13:29

shirt off. He

13:31

never got the childhood of being a little

13:33

boy and going to go fishing

13:35

with his dad and so now that he has

13:37

the time to go fishing,

13:39

I see these little moments of

13:41

little inner child Desmond pop out

13:44

and the little moments of joy that

13:46

he never got to get because he was forced into

13:48

wearing dresses and all these things. So

13:58

both Lily and Des are

14:00

gearing up for this very special summer

14:03

in which she's gonna share her childhood

14:05

home at the beach with her new

14:07

partner. And they expect it

14:09

will be full of new experiences for both

14:11

of them. It's so sweet. It

14:14

really is. And we'll check in with them

14:16

when they get back. And

14:18

we also wanna hear from you. So

14:21

tell us your story about a

14:23

summer in which you opened yourself

14:25

up to something new, maybe something

14:28

challenging and different, and it

14:30

made an impact on yourself or

14:32

a community or a relationship,

14:34

whatever. Just sometime we're saying

14:36

yes, when you normally say

14:39

no, created some sort of change.

14:42

Call and leave us a voicemail at 844-745-8255. That's

14:48

844-745-TALK. You

14:51

can also record a voicemail on

14:53

your phone and email it to

14:55

us at notes at wnyc.org. Again,

14:58

that's notes at wnyc.org. Either

15:02

way, be sure to include your contact

15:04

information so Regina can get in touch

15:06

to learn more about your story. We're

15:08

gonna build a whole episode from these

15:10

later in the summer. So do send

15:13

them in. Send them in. And

15:15

before we go, I'd love to

15:17

leave you with this last word from Lilly

15:20

about what summer means to her. Summer

15:23

is kind of like just the mandatory

15:25

break. Like when I go down the

15:27

shore, it's the five months a

15:29

year where on the weekends I have to turn my brain

15:31

off. Like I don't worry about work when

15:33

I'm down there. And it's the time of year where I

15:35

can just take a break from life and

15:38

kind of be a little bit more okay

15:41

with myself. I feel like it's, people talk

15:43

about new years, new things, but like summer

15:45

is when I accept myself again. Notes

15:54

from America is a production of WNYC

15:56

Studios. Follow us wherever you get podcasts

15:58

and on Instagram. at Notes with Kai.

16:01

This episode was produced by Regina DeHear. The

16:04

music and mixing by Jared

16:06

Paul. Our team also includes

16:09

Katerina Barton, Karen Froman, Suzanne

16:11

Gabor, Varshita Korapati, Matthew Miranda,

16:13

Daniel Perez, Siona Petros, and

16:15

Lindsay Foster Thomas. And

16:17

I'm Kai Ray. Thanks for spending time with us. I'm

16:20

David Ramnik, host of the

16:22

New Yorker Radio Hour. There's

16:45

nothing like finding a story you can really

16:47

sink into that lets you tune

16:49

out the noise and focus on what matters.

16:52

In print or here on the podcast, the

16:54

New Yorker brings you thoughtfulness and depth and

16:56

even humor that you can't find anywhere else.

16:59

So please join me every week for the New Yorker

17:01

Radio Hour, wherever you listen to podcasts.