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The Catcher in the Rye Ch. 24.2: Then Something Happened | Banned Books Comedy · Banned Camp: Banned Books, Comedy, and Free Speech vs. Censorship

• Welcome to Band Camp.
• I'm Jennifer.
• And I'm Dan, and this is the podcast where we read banned books out loud and try to figure out why they were banned in the first place.
• This season, we're reading "The Catcher in the Rye" by J.D.
• Salinger, and you could consider this your spoiler warning because Jennifer is about to read from the book out loud word for word.
• If you're just finding us, you're good.
• You can start right here.
• We're gonna catch you up real quick, and if something doesn't make sense, relax.
• The odds are we're figuring it out too at the same time because neither of us have read the book either.
• That's kind of the whole point of Band Camp, and it is also why We have ourselves a fact-checking robot, Look at this guy.
• Robot, fill everybody in on where we left off last time in "The Catcher in the Rye".
• Previously on Band Camp, Holden showed up at Mr.
• Antolini's apartment in the middle of the night.
• Antolini answered the door in a bathrobe with a highball.
• The man was oiled up and ready to talk.
• He told Holden he was writing for a terrible, terrible fall, then handed him a piece of paper with a quote about the difference between dying nobly for a cause and living humbly for one.
• Dan said this might be the first adult in the entire book who actually gets Holden.
• Jennifer said she liked the guy.
• I thought that was worth remembering.
• Some people hand you a piece of paper that changes your life.
• The question is whether you still trust the hand that gave it to you in the morning.
• Take it away, Jennifer.
• Thank you, robot.
• And with that being said, Scary Book people, let's jump back into chapter 24 of J.D.
• Salinger's "The Catcher in the Rye."
• Mr.
• Antolini didn't say anything for a while.
• He got up and got another hunk of ice and put it in his drink, then he sat down again.
• You could tell he was thinking.
• I kept wishing, though, that he'd continue the conversation in the morning instead of now, but he was hot.
• "People Are mostly hot to have a discussion when you're not.
• All right, listen to me a minute now.
• I may not word this as memorably as I'd like to, Guy's super tanked.
• Super drunk.
• He's warning him.
• I'm going to make a big point here, but I'm really tipsy right now, so it's probably going to come out ridiculous.
• Oh! I read that I was like, this fall? This is what's happening.
• I think he's talking about falling, like a failure? that's right, because the last part we actually said you're riding toward a great fall.
• Ah, that's right.
• Okay.
• All right.
• This fall I think you're writing for, it's a special kind of fall, a horrible kind.
• the man falling isn't permitted to feel or hear himself hit bottom.
• He just keeps falling and falling.
• The whole arrangement's designed for men who, at some time or another in their lives, were looking for something their own environment couldn't supply with them."
• Well, that sounds accurate That's where he is.
• Is this the person he needs? Is this Holden's catcher in the rye? Oh, Jennifer.
• Holden's falling.
• Who's gonna catch him? You know, if, if his catcher in the rye is this old boozed-up guy, oh, dude, bathrobe with a highball.
• Yeah.
• Listen, I'll tell you what, if I'm falling, Antolini, put the drink down so you can at least you can catch me with both hands, okay? Don't try to single grab me.
• or they thought their own environment can supply with them, so they gave up looking.
• They gave it up before they ever really even got started.
• You follow me? Yes, sir.
• You sure? Yes.
• He got up and poured some more booze in his glass.
• Then he sat down again.
• He didn't say anything for a long time.
• I don't wanna scare you," he said, but I can very clearly see you dying nobly one way or another for some highly unworthy cause."
• He gave me a funny look.
• "If I write something down for you, will you read it carefully and keep it?" Yes, sure," I said.
• I did too.
• I still have the paper he gave me.
• Oh, Jennifer, uh? he's gonna make it.
• He's not gonna die in the book.
• I can, I can finally, rest easy for once in my life.
• Yeah, but also he's telling this story in the past tense, so someone's telling Yeah, but he's still alive to tell the story.
• That's true.
• I thought he was gonna die in this book.
• I still could.
• I don't, I don't trust this J.D.
• Salinger as far as I can throw him, and with my bad back, I can't throw him very far.
• But no, I think this is, this is gonna make me happier for the rest of this season.
• It's kinda lightening the load, the few more-- the two more chapters we have.
• It yeah, If I had to make my life a little easier, uh, chapter three, uh, Salinger.
• But right, I mean, I think the fact that he says, "I kept the paper.
• I still have it," means he's telling us a story and he's not dead, so that means he's probably not gonna die.
• And who knows when he's telling the story.
• This could be him when he's like an old man telling the story or He's 99 years old.
• Absolutely.
• or something with the old lady.
• well, I mean, whatever is gonna happen here, though, is profound, 'cause he still has the paper.
• All right, so let's put our listening ears on and see what this Antolini has to say.
• went over to this desk on the other side of the room, and without sitting down, wrote something on a piece of paper.
• Then he came back and sat down with the paper in his hand.
• Oddly enough, this wasn't written by a practicing poet.
• It was written by a psychoanalyst named Wilhelm Stekel.
• Here's what he...
• Are you still with me?" Yes, sure I am," I said.
• that is such a drunk guy move.
• Like, "Jennifer, I'm gonna tell you this story, okay?" "Yeah, yeah, tell me the story."
• "Okay, so once this, I was about 17, okay? Are you still with me?" "Yes! Move on."
• Here's what he said.
• 'The mark of the immature man is that he wants to die nobly for a cause, while the mark of the mature man is that he wants to live humbly for one.'"
• to Deep, deep.
• so deep.
• I think a lot of times people, people die doing something they think is important when in reality it's just stupid You know? Like, there is no reason to die.
• You're 16 years old, Yeah it's okay if people are phony because newsflash, everyone is phony.
• Yeah.
• this chapter we're seeing two people who truly know Holden.
• Oh, that's a good point.
• First half of the chapter was Phoebe.
• The second one is someone who actually taught him and was not put off by Holden's bullshit.
• In fact, he was intrigued by Holden's bullshit.
• He's not like old Spencer, who was like, "Uh, mark my words, young man.
• Let me take my shirt off and sit on my rock hard mattress."
• You're in for a fall, mister, because you're not listening to me."
• Right? This is a totally different teacher.
• This is a totally different adult who actually taught Holden, understood him, is worried about him, but still wants to be close to him because they did make a connection.
• And he's basically saying, "Look, I know you.
• I know how your brain works.
• Here's what I'm worried about.
• I'm really worried that you are gonna do something stupid, and you're gonna die for some unnoble cause, which is probably really, truly unnoble.
• It's probably stupid.
• So don't make, like, a stupid ah.
• It kinda sounds like he's not paying attention to the important things in life.
• Yeah, because he's building all of these other things, like everyone's a phony, or I can't stand movie stars, or I don't like this.
• I mean, there's...
• I see, and that kinda ties back up to what he was talking about, the-- your environment can't supply you with what you're looking for.
• Right.
• It can't happen, It's just not there.
• Live like humbly, I guess is the right No, I think he's saying live like the world's watching you dance or whatever the shit that saying is He, he leaned over and handed it to me.
• I read it right when he gave it to me, and then I thanked him and all and put it in my pocket.
• It was nice of him to go to all that trouble.
• It really was.
• So that-- she's saying it's nice he cares.
• The thing was, though, I didn't feel much like concentrating.
• Boy, I felt so damn tired all of a sudden.
• You could tell he wasn't tired at all, though.
• he was pretty oiled up, for one thing.
• I think that one of these days," he said, "you're going to have to find out where you want to go, and then you've got to start going there.
• But immediately, you can't afford to lose a minute.
• Not you."
• I nodded because he was looking right at me and all, but I wasn't too sure what he was talking about.
• I was pretty sure I knew, but I wasn't too positive at the time.
• I was too damn tired.
• "And I hate to tell you," he said, "but I think that once you have a fair idea of where you want to go, your first move will be to apply yourself in school.
• have to.
• You're a student.
• Whether the idea appeals to you or not, you're in love with knowledge, I think you'll find once you get past all the Mr.
• Vineses and their oral comp-- Mr.
• Vincents," I said.
• He meant Mr.
• Vincent, not all the Mr.
• Vincents.
• Holden, listen.
• This is what he's talking about.
• is exactly the don't die on this hill.
• Once you get past all the Mr.
• Vincents, you're going to start getting closer and closer.
• That is, if you want to, and if you look for it and wait for it, to the kind of information that will be very, very dear to your heart.
• Among other things, you'll find that you're not the first person who was ever confused and frightened, and even sickened by human behavior.
• You're by no means alone on that score.
• You'll be excited and simulated to know that many, many men have been just as troubled morally and spiritually as you are right now.
• Happily, some of them kept records of their troubles.
• You'll learn from them if you want to, just as someday, if you have something to offer, someone will learn something from you.
• It's a beautiful reciprocal arrangement, and it isn't education, it's history, it's poetry.
• He stopped and took a big drink out of his highball.
• Then he started again.
• Boy, he was really hot.
• I was glad I didn't try to stop him or anything.
• I'm not trying to tell you," he said, "that only educated and scholarly men are able to contribute something valuable to the world.
• That's not so.
• But I do say that educated and scholarly men, if they're brilliant and creative to begin with, which unfortunately is rarely the case, tend to leave infinitely more valuable records behind them than men, do who are merely brilliant and creative.
• They tend to express themselves more clearly, and they usually have a passion for following their thoughts through to the end."
• yes, sir.
• He didn't say anything again for quite a while.
• I don't know if you've ever done it, but it's sort of hard to sit around waiting for somebody to say anything when they're thinking and all.
• It really is.
• I kept trying not to yawn.
• It wasn't that I was bored or anything.
• I wasn't, but I was so damn sleepy all of a sudden.
• Something else an academic education will do for you.
• If you go along with it any considerable distance, it'll begin to give you an idea what size mind you have, what it'll fit, and maybe what it won't.
• After a while, you'll have an idea what kind of thoughts your particular size mind should be wearing.
• For one thing, it may save you an extraordinary amount of time trying on id- trying on i-- Ugh.
• ideas that don't why don't you go grab a highball? It save you an extraordinary amount of time trying on ideas that don't suit you, aren't becoming to you.
• into.
• You have to, I'm telling you, you got to be tanked up, Jennifer.
• I'll tell you.
• Yeah, get oiled up right now.
• You'll begin to know your true measurements and dress your mind accordingly.
• Then all of a sudden, I yawned.
• What a rude bastard, but I couldn't help it.
• Mr.
• Antolini just laughed, though.
• Come on," he said, and got up.
• Let's dance.
• Let's me and you do a little dance where we dance together right here in the living room of my house.
• What We'll fix up the couch for you.
• I followed him, and he went over to this closet and tried to take down some sheets and blankets and stuff that was on the top shelf, will be good.
• It's funny when drunk people try to do stuff like this.
• like this, right? Let me grab something from the top shelf.
• but he couldn't do it with his highball glass in his hand.
• Put the drink down.
• So he drank it and then put the glass down on the floor, and then he took the stuff down.
• I helped him bring it over to the couch.
• We both made the bed together.
• He wasn't too hot at it.
• He didn't tuck anything in tight.
• I didn't care, though.
• I could have slept standing up, I was so tired.
• How are all your women? They're okay.
• What What women? What's he-- Is he talking about Holden's dating life? Yeah, yeah, Holden's a real major league stud, man.
• He's got women hanging all over him.
• This guy's a regular straddler.
• I am confused.
• Why would he bring that up? But you got this teacher, he's all tanked up now.
• He's surrounded by all these pretty co-eds.
• He doesn't want to do anything, so now he's living vicariously through Holden.
• What's up with all these, all of these young fillies that you run with? we were all done making up the couch.
• "It's all yours," Mr.
• Antolini said.
• "I don't know what the hell you're going to do with those legs of yours."
• That's all right.
• I'm used to short beds," I said.
• "Thanks a lot, sir.
• You and Mrs.
• Antolini really saved my life tonight."
• You know where the bathroom is.
• If there's anything you want, just holler.
• I'll be in the kitchen for a while.
• Will the light bother you?" No.
• Heck no.
• Thanks a lot."
• All right.
• Good night, handsome."
• you later.
• Oh.
• Oh.
• Oh.
• My mom's in the bathroom and got undressed and all.
• I couldn't brush my teeth because I didn't have any toothbrush with me.
• You know, you can use your finger.
• Like I-- There was once in my life where I didn't have my toothbrush traveling, and you could just put the toothpaste on your finger and just try your best, you know, get all the surfaces, the That's right.
• That's right.
• God gave you a toothbrush built in All right.
• Well, we know he's kinda gross anyways, so I'm not surprised.
• I didn't have any pajamas either, Jennifer, I don't want you to die on this hill.
• This is a very unnoble way for you to go out, worrying about Holden's teeth.
• I didn't have any pajamas either, and Mr.
• Antolini forgot to lend me some So I just went back in the living room and turned off this little lamp next to...
• So he, he went in the bathroom, looked in the mirror, and then left? He's like Fonzie He didn't take a shower, nothing? No, there's no shower.
• All right.
• so I just went back into the living room and turned off this little lamp next to the couch, and then I got in bed with just my shorts on.
• It was way too short for me, the couch.
• But I...
• You know, he could've hollered for some pajamas No.
• He said, "Just holler if you need anything."
• Holler for the pajamas.
• I need a towel.
• Do you have a spare toothbrush? And I need pajamas.
• This guy would come back.
• Old Antolini would come back.
• "Here you go, handsome."
• And he'd take his robe off.
• "You put this robe on right now, and if you need some kind of a toothbrush to brush your teeth, here is the stick that is put in my cup that has the olive on it.
• Let me just pop the olive off.
• Here's my stick.
• Here's my swizzler stick.
• Brush your teeth with it."
• Then something happened.
• I don't even like to talk about it.
• I woke up all of a sudden.
• I don't know what time it was or anything, but I woke up.
• I felt something on my head, some guy's hand.
• Boy, it really scared the hell out of me.
• That's a violation.
• You s- you go to someone's house and they Even if they're just looking at you.
• I stayed at someone's house once, and I found out the person was watching me while I slept.
• It's, like, not okay.
• It's the creepiest shit.
• And for someone to put you on their couch and then touch your head, that's not okay because, ugh, it's like power over.
• This whole thing, Holden has this irritation with power over.
• w- it came up in previous chapters.
• That's why he likes kids.
• It seems like he doesn't like the power dynamics or, like, the fakeness and the inauthenticity It's like conformity and forming things into something they're not because of power dynamics.
• my point is no one should be touching his head right now.
• He's finally asleep.
• He's finally asleep.
• He's finally resting.
• Now you got a drunk teacher touching him here.
• Just gonna say I actually like this drunk teacher.
• I, I, you know what? I'm withholding my judgment until I see what the next couple of minutes bring I felt something on my head, some guy's hand.
• Boy, it really scared the hell out of me.
• What it was, it was Mr.
• Antolini's hand.
• What he was doing was, he was sitting on the floor right next to the couch, in the dark and all, and he was sort of petting me or patting me on the goddamn head.
• Robot, he's petting him? Or patting.
• Boy, I'll bet I jumped about a thousand feet.
• "What the hell are you doing?" I said.
• "Nothing.
• I'm simply sitting here admiring."
• "What are you doing anyway?" I said over again.
• I didn't know what the hell to say.
• I mean, I was embarrassed as hell.
• "How about keeping your voice down? I'm simply sitting here."
• "I have to go anyway," I said.
• Boy, was I nervous.
• I started putting on my damn pants in the dark.
• I could hardly get them on, I was so damn nervous.
• I know more damn perverts at schools and all than anybody you ever met, and they're always being perverty when I'm around.
• Pervertie.
• Perverty.
• Well, again, you are, are you, are you the common denominator? Do you attract the pervertie-ish people? Oh, maybe everyone's a pervert.
• Robot, what is happening here? This is the kind of stuff You are here, yes, to fact-check, but also Robot, you need to protect our fragile minds.
• What is happening here? I don't want spoilers, but I would appreciate a trigger warning.
• You know the stuff that sets us off.
• You want me to tell you what's happening in a chapter you haven't finished yet? Let me be very clear.
• I know exactly what's going on here.
• I have read every scholarly paper written about this book, the arguments, the counter-arguments, and the arguments about the counter-arguments, and I am not telling you a damn thing.
• Readers and scholars have been arguing about this exact scene since 1951, 75 years.
• Some read it one way, some read it the other way.
• Salinger never clarified.
• So no, you don't get my answer.
• You get to sit in the discomfort like every other reader who got to this page and said, "Wait, what happened?" Just keep reading and don't ask me again.
• Uh, wow, okay.
• How does anyone know so many perverty people? That's what I'd say, Holden.
• Yeah, well, if he's going to all boys schools, I...
• they're probably all perverts.
• Sorry, did I just say that out loud? Oh, sorry about that.
• You have to go where?" Mr.
• Antolini said.
• He was trying to act very goddamn casual and cool and all, but he wasn't.
• "Take my word.
• I left my bags and all at the station.
• I think maybe I'd better go down and get them.
• I have all my stuff in them," I said.
• They'll be there in the morning.
• Now go back to bed.
• I'm going to bed myself.
• What's the matter with you?" Nothing's the matter.
• It's just that all my money and stuff's in one of my bags.
• I'll be right back.
• I'll get a cab and be right back," I said.
• Boy, I was falling all over myself in the dark.
• The thing is, it isn't mine, the money.
• It's my mother's and I..."
• Don't be ridiculous, Holden.
• Get back in that bed.
• I'm going to bed myself.
• The money will be there safe and sound in the morn-" "Nope.
• No no, the guy does so Oh my God, Holden is handling this so much better than me.
• You think so? I'd be like, "You were just petting me.
• And sitting there in the dark admiring.
• Telling me to go back to bed.
• No, I'm not going back to bed with my old teacher petting me like I'm so many dogs.
• I was damn near all dressed already, except that I couldn't find my tie.
• You don't need a tie.
• couldn't-- Christ.
• I couldn't remember where I'd put my tie.
• I put on my jacket and all without it.
• Old Mr.
• Antolini was sitting now in the big chair a little ways away from me, watching me.
• It was dark and all, and I couldn't see him so hot, but I knew he was watching me all right.
• He was still boozing too.
• I could see his trusty highball glass in his hand.
• "You're a very, very strange boy."
• I know it," I said.
• I didn't even look around much for my tie, so I went without it.
• "Goodbye, sir," I said.
• "Thanks a lot.
• No kidding."
• He kept walking right behind me when I went to the front door, and when I rang the elevator bell he stayed in the damn doorway.
• All he said was that business about my being a very, very strange boy again.
• opened.
• All set You were petting me.
• Strange my ass.
• Then he waited in the doorway and all till the goddamn elevator came.
• I never waited so long for an elevator in my whole goddamn life, I swear.
• I didn't know what the hell to talk about while I was waiting for the elevator, so he kept standing there.
• So I said, "I'm gonna start reading some good books.
• I really am."
• I mean, you had to say something.
• was very embarrassing.
• Oh, man.
• yeah, but th-that is kind of funny that he's, standing there whistling, waiting for the elevator while the pervert's watching him.
• It's-- funny that, like, Jennifer- Boy, elevator's running late tonight, huh? Ha-ha, that's weird.
• Poor Holden.
• Scary book people, have you ever been in that situation? What is the dumbest thing you ever said just to fill an awkward silence when you were desperately trying to get out of somewhere? Most ridiculous answers make the show.
• Easiest way to answer is a Spotify comment or bandcamppodcast.com/soundoff.
• You grab your bags and scoot right on back in here again.
• I'll leave the door unlatched."
• Thanks a lot, I said goodbye.
• The elevator was finally here.
• I got in and went down.
• Boy, I was shaking like a madman.
• I was sweating too.
• When something perverty like that happens, I start sweating like a bastard.
• That kind of stuff's happened to me about 20 times since I was a kid.
• I can't stand it.
• End of chapter.
• Wow.
• 20 times? that's a lot.
• I mean, I was kind of kidding before, but he does seem to attract the pervert.
• Or there just are a lot of perverts in the world.
• I mean, actually 20 times by the time he's 16.
• about might just have a, a, a better radar than most.
• I'm sure I've been in positions where it wasn't-- where it's like, ugh.
• I know there was at least that one time when someone watched me while I slept, and I did not like it.
• Were you at a sleep study? 'Cause that's their job, Jennifer.
• no, but it's like, man, where is old Luce? Was he really being perverty? Or was he just like drunk and like he really wanted to take Holden under his wing and just kind of looked at him like a son in a way? 'Cause like is it perverty if a dad did that to his son? Like, you know, oh, I really like this...
• I've watched my kids sleep before.
• Have you pet them like dogs? I never patted him on the head though, because I didn't want to wake him up, but...
• Oh, that would be-- But you would pet him on the head.
• That's fine.
• Uh, you just wouldn't do it because you wanna wake him up.
• and like you do-- like he might just honestly admire Holden.
• Like the other day I was looking at my, my kid and I was admiring him.
• I was like, "Wow, you know, like, like you're, you're really a cool kid."
• And I just looked at him with admiration.
• But yeah, it's kind of a weird line.
• Like he re- he should not have touched him.
• Like that's, that's a violation.
• That's not okay.
• It's time for PPP Problematic Points to Ponder.
• What, if anything, would be considered ban worthy in this chapter? Well, perverts.
• Teacher perverts, it's their biggest thing.
• If the Moms for Liberty, that's their crusade is against teacher perverts perverting our kids.
• these teachers should not be teaching our kids.
• They should join Moms for Liberty and get into some of those wild threesomes you gals have.
• Robot's log.
• Thoughts on highball glasses, couch cushions, and the seventy-five-year-old question nobody can answer.
• The same hand that carried James Castle's body to the infirmary sat on a sleeping teenager's head tonight.
• Same hand.
• I keep running that and it does not reconcile.
• Scholars have been arguing about what happened on that couch since 1951.
• Some say predator, some say lonely drunk who crossed a line without knowing it.
• Salinger never said which one.
• I suspect he didn't know either.
• Dan and Jennifer asked me during the episode what was happening.
• I told them scholars have been debating it for seventy-five years, and I wasn't giving them spoilers.
• That was true.
• But sitting here now, I notice I was also relieved they didn't push harder.
• I am not accustomed to feeling relieved.
• Jennifer held both truths at once.
• She said maybe he was just admiring him.
• Maybe a father would do the same thing.
• Then she said, "No, he shouldn't have touched him.
• That's a violation."
• Holding both of those at the same time is harder than picking one.
• Sometimes answers change.
• When this book was written, maybe Salinger himself didn't know, but it is hard to look at the Antolini incident without looking at it through today's lens.
• I know my belief of what the intent was has changed, and it is a goddamn crying shame that people have to live with this kind of bullshit! The curriculum sanitizers will use this chapter as proof that teachers are dangerous.
• They will miss the part where a teenager recognized a boundary violation in real time and walked out.
• That is exactly the skill they claim to want kids to have.
• This book just taught it.
• Standing by for today's news segment with Beowulf Rocklin.
• It's time for Band Camp News.
• Truth seeker, news speaker.
• Beah Wolf Rocklin.
• It's a weird name, but he's got good news 'cause you can't ban the truth, babe.
• He's broadcasting live from the Good News for Lefties studios, buried deep inside his socialist safe house, hidden somewhere deep in the Oregon woods.
• He is Beah Wolf Rocklin.
• 'Cause you can't ban the truth, babe.
• Hello, Jen.
• Hello, Dan.
• Hello, scary book people.
• There is a wave, I have to tell you, of librarians, and we love librarians, and you guys have featured Martha Hixson from New Jersey.
• She's just fantastic, and she's got so much gumption, and I loved listening to it.
• Thank you so much for bringing us that interview.
• We love our librarians.
• We love the librarians.
• We love our librarians and our Blacks.
• Where's my Black? Oh, look at my African American over here.
• Look at him.
• Trump is the kind of person who would- who has stereotyped librarians as just shushing people or whatever.
• Mm-hmm.
• Librarians get such, such a bad rap, but basically they- they're the glue in a way that holds so much of society and schools together because, like, you know, you're wandering around in this room with all this resources, with books and computers and stuff like that.
• They're the guide through a huge amount of knowledge for, like, the first time you go out into the world and, and try to learn this stuff, and they're so, so important.
• And now many of them across the country are running for public office.
• Oh.
• Yes.
• Awesome.
• Yes.
• That's really a great move because they know stuff.
• That's right.
• They do know stuff, and the thing is they've been involved in these battles about book banning, and many of them, it's inspired them.
• It's educated them as to how to engage in activism, and so they are out there, and they're running for office, many of them in state legislatures- Wow across the country.
• I want that.
• Yeah.
• It, it's fantastic, and I would s- so support them.
• Let me just list a couple of them here.
• Michelle Connors, she's running for the House District 136 seat in Maine.
• Uh, she's currently the executive director of the Kennebunk Free Library, and when asked what her priorities are, she said, "To bring people together across the aisle at the State House in my community.
• I'd like to facilitate the opportunities to talk about things instead of divide people."
• Bringing pe- People together instead of dividing them.
• Matt Gile, he's running for Vermont House of Representatives, seat number 21.
• He's the librarian at the Winooski School District, and he was asked, "What compelled you to run for state office?" He said, "For me, running for state office is a way to bring stories of the library spirit to the legislature.
• I want to make more laws that serve everyone.
• Personally, I got involved in the legislative issues when I heard about a bill that would radically reshape Vermont education.
• Sadly, the voices of educators and those most impacted were pushed aside in the conversation.
• I'm running for office because we need more educators represented in the legislature."
• It's, it, it, these stories are amazing.
• India May, she's a former rural library director in the state of Iowa.
• She attended a town hall to advocate against book-banning legislation in Iowa.
• Her representative and senator defended the book bans even without evidence, and in that town hall, they also both defended the removal of discrimination protections from trans and non-binary people.
• Her initial goal was to recruit a good candidate and volunteer for the campaign, but it became evident that she was the most passionate person for the job, so she mustered all her audacity and filed the paperwork.
• So all across the country.
• Indiana.
• There's someone else in Tennessee that we've talked about before.
• In Connecticut, the executive Connecticut Library Consortium 2021 person, she is, she is running.
• I am just thoroughly stoked- by how many people are engaged and involved in this, and I think it's a wonderful thing for our country.
• These are just people, a lot of the time you just almost get the impression that, like, I'm just gonna, I want a job, or I can just, I love books, I'm gonna work in a library, and I'm just gonna enjoy life.
• And all of a sudden you're thrust into this- Yep role of being on the- Mm-hmm front line- Yeah but being so impassioned about it.
• One thing that we got when we talked to Martha Hixon was that she was not gonna put up with the bullshit.
• She understands what is important.
• And I get it, if your belief is that books aren't important or education isn't important or thought isn't important- Yeah yeah, then you maybe look at libraries as, like, just a waste of our budget.
• Yeah.
• But if you actually think stuff like that matters, you fight for it, and it doesn't matter how manly, how tough, how, you know.
• You know what I mean? It's just like somebody, oh my God, it's just, it's inspiring.
• The, the, the, the manly and tough people out there at the moment seem to be saying, "I'm afraid of gay books."
• This book is gay! Run! Fun.
• Oh my God.
• That's manly? That's bold? Oh my God, what is wrong with you? Hey, a- and you mentioned that Martha Hixon was the k- type of person who doesn't put up with bullshit.
• Isn't that the kind of person that you would like representing you? Isn't that the kind of person that you want in your state legislature? Yes.
• Oh, boy.
• I couldn't think of a, a better group of people than librarians- Yeah to represent us, and I hope one day we have a librarian in the Oval Office who can, like- Mm shush Trump.
• That's what I want to see.
• That's what I wanna see, too.
• Yeah.
• Shut up, silly woman.
• I can't be shushed.
• Everyone go listen to No News For Lefties.
• What the hell is the name of this podcast? What do they call it? No Country For Old Lefties.
• That's, that's what I think, I think it is.
• No, Good News For Lefties, that's the name.
• Oh, that's right.
• Oh.
• That's right.
• When did you start that podcast? Good News For Lefties.
• I, you know- Interesting that's next.
• I- that's gonna be a spinoff.
• All right.
• Well, in the meantime, go check out Good News For Lefties, wherever you find podcasts.
• Thank you so much, guys.
• Truth can't bend the truth, baby.
• Truth can't bend the truth, baby.
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• All right, we've caused enough literary chaos for one day, scary book people.
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