Latest / Ruining the Workplace Podcast / EP 7 Valentina Tereshkova Ruins Space
Transcript
- Jaden: I'm Jaden and this is the Ruining the Workplace podcast. Danielle: and I'm Danielle. one of the things that really stands out me is kind of ⁓ women, but maybe even just people, brought on board to make in power look better. What to mind to me yesterday was the idea, and we talk a lot about this in consulting, but like our job is to make our clients look awesome And I'm like, is that all it should be though? ⁓ is my job to make somebody look great? ⁓ Or you could take it a step further and like, as a woman, ⁓ We've kind of been conditioned to your job is to make everybody's lives easier, you notice things, you pick up on things, you're sensing things, you just see the things that need to be seen, the quiet work, ⁓ as we've about before, ⁓ and you do it, ⁓ right? And some ways, and like Valentina was that, she became what she became, but her entry to the space program was really to build up, lift up the Soviet Union, ultimately the men in power in the Soviet Union. And I feel like, What has been going on in your world? What besides us, like what has been making you smile or laugh lately? Jaden: well, shared this with you earlier, but I'll share it with everyone else. My daughter and I went and got our noses pierced over the weekend. I know it was super fun and ⁓ was like all about it. And I got mine re-pierced because I had it pierced before. But was just such a fun little ⁓ damn hurt though. ⁓ got Yeah, it really hurt. ⁓ Which did not remember. And so I was like ⁓ startled I wore. ⁓ Right. Yes. Danielle: ⁓ I love it. what we see at work is people or women specifically, like, hey, you're good at this note-taking thing or like that, right, to build somebody else up. ⁓ So, yeah, I was, I'm just curious kind of, you is there anything else that stands out to you ⁓ in terms of a modern parallel or a reaction to Really? Oh. Yeah. Jaden: my magenta the piercer guy was like, here's tissue for your tear. Because it was like ⁓ my single tear. Because yeah, I'm so badass. I only cried the one tear. But I was just like. Blah. Mm-hmm. Danielle: for your singular tear? one tear. Jaden: ⁓ my gosh, wow, and you know what? It's actually kind of cool that my eyes are tearing up because it makes my eyes really green and that just makes my mascara pop. Danielle: You're like, I did this on purpose. Take a picture. I love it. Jaden: Yeah, it looks so good. Yeah, so It was just here this weekend. How about, yeah, how about you? Danielle: my gosh, I love that. That's so fun. My weekend was very chill. Did some outside stuff ⁓ and a lot of family time. ⁓ I tried to get in good reading this weekend, I don't know if you've heard of the book, The Other Bennett Sister. It's like in... ⁓ you know it? Jaden: ⁓ I feel like I've heard this title recently. Is it because you told me about it? Danielle: Yeah, think it's, ⁓ maybe I did. I think it's getting popular. I don't know. friend had told me about it and then I started seeing it on social media, but it's basically like kind of a Pride and Prejudice retelling, but it goes on its own path because it's about the third sister, Mary, who doesn't really have much of a role in the original Pride and Prejudice story. ⁓ kind of plain. She's kind of boring and like Pride and Prejudice is about Elizabeth and then. Jaden: Mmm. Mm. Danielle: their older sister Jane But this digs deeper into what's Mary's life because she's unmarried, she's bleh. And then that time that's not cool. ⁓ It's risky. So it's really interesting. the library is going to take back from me. So I have to finish it and I needed to get some like headstown time on it. And I did. That's very good. Jaden: Yeah. Yeah. Hmm. Nice, and did you like it? Okay. Danielle: So far so good. I'm only about halfway through it, but yeah, I'm really liking it. I'm like, ooh, not where I saw this going. This is fun. And I'm like, I'm genuinely like, what is going to happen next? What, where is this going? It's really good. Jaden: Ha ha ha! I, it's funny that you bring that one up just really quick, because I was at Powell's Books over the weekend and there was a book, like a historical fiction about Anne Boleyn, But it was basically this story. I haven't read it and I want to. I should pick it up this week. I can't remember the freaking title. That's the thing. I'm like, what was the name of the book? Anyway. Danielle: Yes. ⁓ Jaden: It is about how she survives her beheading. like, yeah, yeah, yeah. And she like gets up and sews her head back on. Danielle: What? Wait. No. ⁓ lord. Jaden: And there's a whole story after that. I won't give anything else away. But I was just like, ⁓ I have to read this. This sounds amazing. Yeah. Danielle: You read that, you let me know how it goes. ⁓ I saw something else that was kind of funny to me this weekend as I was scrolling social media, a. you know, the what is it? The Artemis space thing. They came back last week and I don't know if it was real or not because I cannot find it again. But I saw a video of like the woman. can't I don't know her name, kind of relearning how to walk. And it was the craziest thing because it's like she's on all these gymnastics mats. And then there's a person on either side of her and they're Jaden: yeah. Mm-hmm. Yeah. ⁓ Danielle: posing in such a way like, ⁓ she's gonna tip over and I will be here to catch her. And there's ⁓ on each side and they just, ⁓ we did video just so could show you like how my hands are. Cause I'm like, ⁓ will catch you if you fall. And she's like taking these wobbly steps I have not really cared too much about this. it's very cool. I'm very into space, but I am like, what are they distracting us from? with this space launch. know, I know. why now? Why do we need to go around the moon now? It very cool and I love NASA. But I saw this video and I was like, ⁓ my god, that's, you don't really think about what happens after the fact? like, again, I don't know if this was real. Jaden: ⁓ God, no! ⁓ Mm-hmm. Danielle: I don't know if you really do have to relearn how to walk. I know like if you're in space for a long time, it takes a toll on like your bone density and your muscle mass. But like, no, they weren't. So I'm like, I don't feel like she's tipping over when walking down the street. But I don't know. It was just interesting. I was like, huh, ⁓ that's fun. ⁓ I bring this up. Jaden: But like, they weren't up there that long. Yeah. Interesting. Danielle: kind of on purpose, not only because I thought it was cool and I'm like, is that real? But also I want to talk about space today. How familiar are you with the space race? ⁓ Jaden: Ooh, let's go. Well, ⁓ know that it is ⁓ ⁓ a lot of ways, ⁓ to people in governments being in charge of that sort of thing. ⁓ And political infighting seems to be such a driver for it in terms of like, we have to be the first country to do X or we have to beat this country in order to establish this. So that's kind of my general understanding of it. Danielle: Truly, yeah. Right? Mm-hmm. Yeah. Yeah, that's pretty spot on. could look at it as just like, ⁓ that's cool. But there's this whole other layer of the political infighting. ⁓ there's technological advantages to figuring out some of these things, ⁓ ballistic missiles and satellite stuff. But it's also. ⁓ Jaden: Mm-hmm. Danielle: kind of a cultural symbol for like, we are the greatest. We did this first or whatever, And it is a lot of political leaders just kind of like, in some ways, it's like a dick measuring contest. I just did. I mean, right? And like, it's all very, very cool. like, so it's 1955. And I don't know exactly what spurs it. Jaden: Hmm. Mm-hmm. It's right! You're totally right though. Danielle: Russia and the US are like, that's it. We're gonna get to space first. We're gonna do this first. Russia does a few things, Like in 1957, they launched Sputnik, which was the first successful satellite launch, right? And leading up to that, like both countries are trying to get this up there. They're launching artificial satellites and like talking big each other. And then in 1961, the Russians or Soviet Union put a person in space, Yuri Gargarin. Jaden: ⁓ yeah. Danielle: which then gets JFK to be like, that's it by the end of the decade, we're putting somebody on the moon, ⁓ There's all this posturing and like, are one-upping each other. It's, it reminds me so much of like, when you hang out with kids ⁓ or honestly, think dudes are guilty of this as well. It's just like, I know it's like, ⁓ you did that. Well, I had do this other thing. ⁓ Yes. Yes. the max. Jaden: I was just thinking that, but yeah, you said it. So like one up my chip to the max. ⁓ yeah. Danielle: So where do women come into the story, Because this is all a lot of dudes doing this stuff. They're all like, well, we're going to do this. Now we're doing this. And JFK is like, that's it. Jaden: Mm. Danielle: putting somebody on the moon, which didn't happen until 1969, However, before the US gets to the moon, the Soviet Union's like, we're sending a woman out there. ⁓ And have Valentina Tereshkova, ⁓ who the first woman to go to space in ⁓ June 1963. ⁓ She's first female, what they call cosmonaut, ⁓ the woman to go to space. ⁓ was 26 years old at the time. She orbited earth 48 times and spent almost three days in space ⁓ a solo mission Before ⁓ were sending folks to the moon and getting real crazy with it. Now the Soviet Union had sent Men ⁓ space the US had sent men to space as well. But I think it's really interesting that they're like, that's it. It's time. We're doing a lady ⁓ going up there ⁓ so want to talk about Valentina today because I think it's really interesting from a couple of different angles, which I will not share yet because I want to get your take So a little bit of story, kind of pre-space adventures of Valentina. She ⁓ grew up in the Yaroslav region of what is now ⁓ around 1937 when she was born. Her father was a driver. ⁓ and her mom was a textile factory worker. In the Soviet-Finnish War of 1940, her father died, ⁓ leaving her mother to raise three on her own. So they moved. Her mother starts working in the textile factory and taking care of the kids. ⁓ When Valentina graduates high school, she starts working the textile factory, but also takes correspondence courses. ⁓ and graduates from what's called the Light Industry Technical School in 1960. She also had from a young age, a keen interest in parachuting. She joined a local parachuting club and was as a competitive parachutist, taking her first like big jump at the age of 22. ⁓ Yeah. Jaden: I'm out. What? Okay, I feel like this is so Sophie Blanchard coded. Danielle: ⁓ my God, yeah. That's right, yes. ⁓ So when I was this, I'm like, ⁓ it feels so random just be like, ⁓ by the way, it's like ⁓ 1950s, 1960s, and she's into parachuting. Like, ⁓ wait, what? Apparently. Jaden: First, arrow knot, and now we have first, cosmonaut. I love this, Yeah. Danielle: skydiving was a very common hobby or activity for the youths in the Soviet Union. It was encouraged by the Communist Party as a thing for people to get into because there was increased interest in aerial military activity leading up to World War II. So it wasn't just a casual thing she probably stumbled across. It was in some ways probably fed to her, It's like, hey, this is a we do here. You should do it. It'd be line dancing where I'm or something. ⁓ Jaden: So it's just sort of like everyday culture almost. Or it's just kind of a ⁓ normal piece of like, they're like, ⁓ yeah, people do, that's just what we do. Like, yeah. Danielle: I guess, yeah. That's just what we do, right? Yeah. And I think there's like a whole layer of communist undercurrent in all of this. feel like where it's, you know, this is what we do and it's for this purpose. It's for the country and we do it together and it's very important. So I it's a hobby. She is very into it. And I also wonder what was the advertising or coaching or you know what I mean? So that's ⁓ now that come back from that journey. So she's really into skydiving. She's working at this textile factory. It's speculated that her background of loss, like losing her father and the deprivation that her family had to go through with the loss of her father and then her mother kind of working to support everybody along with her skydiving skills are likely what set her apart from other women who were trying to get into the Russian space program. It's also speculated that her family background made her kind of a good story, quote unquote, with her father dying, defending the country, ⁓ mother persevering and pulling them up by the bootstraps like Jaden: Mm-hmm. Danielle: Wow, what a great patriotic story that we have here. And all of that potentially contributed to her the ideal candidate for her trip to space. some say was by Yuri Gargarin's trip space. Jaden: Mm-hmm. Danielle: I'm going to use Russia and Soviet Union fairly interchangeably here. Feels worth noting because. ⁓ Jaden: Okay. Danielle: That's what I know that's Russia to me, Jaden: Yeah. Danielle: was like, ⁓ my gosh, I want to that. And that she wrote a letter to the Russian authorities asking to join the cosmonaut program. Others say she had no interest in space and was really just recruited because of her skydiving skills. So that's not quite clear kind of what drew her to it, although she, you know, after her trip. she stays very interested in the space program. Jaden: Did they also, maybe you're going to get into this, you her image was part of this. Clearly that is tied to the politicizing ⁓ of kind of a thing. Is that the other underlying reason? Yeah. ⁓ Danielle: Yeah. For sure. Yeah. Yup. I think so, right? Yeah, I think that that's part of it of like, well, in some ways, it's propaganda. Like, we're doing it and look at we're such a strong culture and strong people and look at who's doing it for us. Yeah, and that I think that continues to be kind of a thread through her story of being used a representative for the country and for the culture through this space experience. Jaden: Mm-hmm. Yeah. Danielle: around this same time where she's like getting really into ⁓ competitive parachuting ⁓ the US is sending people ⁓ to space as well, There's a lot of guys going up there, ⁓ And a group of women, ⁓ 13 women, are trying to to NASA that they send them. Like, hey, ⁓ we're ladies, we'd like to go space, we think we can do it. Here's all these reasons why. And NASA was like, nah, because they don't have military training. the US was like, no, we're going to do it. And while this is happening, the head of the cosmonaut training program in the Soviet Union heard ⁓ America's thinking about sending some women to space? We gotta do this, guys. We gotta get on this. Jaden: And I think we should just be like really clear. And when we say we're, they're sending women to, it was not a Katy Perry situation. Danielle: No. Yeah, whatever. ⁓ No, this is legit like space flight, like days in space. I'm glad you bring that up. Jaden: Mm-hmm. That was very embarrassing for everyone. Danielle: Yeah, it's not that it's not announcing your tour or your album. It's actually going to space for science. So they're, they're people truly up into space ⁓ and ⁓ Soviet union is like, well, they can't send women first. And this guy is like, this is a quote from him. says, we cannot allow that the first woman in space will be American. This would be an insult to the patriotic feelings of Soviet women. So he has this huge PR stunt facing him. he sends out recruiters to their aviation clubs around ⁓ Soviet Union to find women who. ⁓ are somewhat fearless and could possibly withstand the rigor of their training and ultimately go into space. Valentina becomes one of 400 women who were selected as possible candidates. Jaden: That's actually interesting. I mean, that's impressive. That many women. Yeah. Danielle: It's impressive, yeah, it's kind of a lot. And they're like, hey, we wanna do this. It's not 13 women approaching them. And they're like, no, you can't. You don't have military experience. They're no, we really wanna do this. the group eventually gets whittled down to five women, one of which is Valentina. Jaden: Yeah. Danielle: and they spent several months in training, including weightless flights, isolation tests, centrifuge tests, 120 parachute jumps, and then also pilot training. And after they passed their final exams, I think four of them were commissioned as lieutenants in the Soviet Air Force. Valentina is still considered like the first civilian in space because it's kind of an honorific lieutenant position. Like you're not really in the Air Force, but you're in the Air Force. Jaden: Mm. Okay. Danielle: So they've passed the program. They start preparing for a trip to space, So in 1963, Valentina gets selected to go on a solo flight, but it's a part of a joint mission. So the way that the spacecrafts in the Vostok Jaden: Mm. Danielle: program worked in Russia at the time was that they were pods that were big enough for one person. So even the people who'd gone before went on their own in these little pods. occasionally, I think there were maybe two or three missions that were considered joint missions where two spacecraft were launched into orbit together, allowing the cosmonauts to communicate and operate near one another. Jaden: Mmm. Danielle: Valentina was paired with a man who was launched on June 14th and then two days later she was launched under the call sign the seagull. ⁓ know, isn't that fun? And apparently she's space. guy is also in space. They can talk with each other. And at one point it said they were like three miles apart from each other, but they weren't really sure. ⁓ Jaden: Seagull. Danielle: if they were seeing each other, It's like, ⁓ I might see something, but I don't know if it's them. After her launch, she radioed down to the command center. It is I, Seagull. Everything is fine. ⁓ I see the horizon. It's a sky blue with a dark strip. how beautiful the earth is, everything is going well. Jaden: The seagull has landed. Danielle: The seagull has landed. I love that quote because ⁓ it's so similar like ⁓ everything that we from astronauts around. It's just so beautiful and how amazing to see the earth. And it really is like when you see their space photos, it's quite breathtaking. it feels like the great uniter in some ways of like you get up there and you see it you're like, we don't fucking matter. Look at this. Like we're all in this shit together. Even though Jaden: Mm-hmm. Hmm. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Danielle: She's literally in the middle of a fight over who's the coolest in space. Jaden: So was she the first woman in space? ⁓ my gosh. Danielle: Yes, she was the first woman in space. Yeah. she's up there for almost three days. She orbits the Earth 48 times. As she's up there, she's maintaining her flight log and what's going on up here, what's it like. And she's performing various tests and taking pictures. A lot of the information she was gathering was on how her body was reacting to spaceflight. And because she's the first woman, it's all new data. Jaden: Ooooo Mmm. Danielle: it's a whole new data set, which is really valuable. ⁓ Jaden: all really interesting. just the lead up, I think, is kind of the most fascinating because it's just sort of this it's the fascination to the boldness to basically I want to use this thing that I do ⁓ as something bigger than me, you know, just really interesting. I love that kind of growth moments, know. Danielle: Yeah. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Yeah. What's really cool, because it feels kind of random. Like you're into skydiving. Do you want to go to space? Like, it does. Jaden: Mm-hmm. Well, it makes sense because it's like you have to, not a person who wants to skydive or go to space. ⁓ So as know, I don't even really like riding on roller coasters. I would imagine that like, especially back in the times where this is really new exploration, you know, we have science that's fairly... Danielle: Same. Yeah, no thank you. Hehehehehe Yeah. Jaden: new things that haven't been tested and all those things are just being figured out. think that they have to have people who are fearless and that's what is that's like the word I think that's coming up for me through all of this. lady just seems like a baddie. She's totally fearless. She's like I'm gonna go get it. I love that. Danielle: Mm-hmm. Right? Yeah. ⁓ my God. That's spot on. That word hadn't popped into my mind as I was like preparing this or even as we're talking about it. But now that you said it, I'm like, that's spot on. Because you have no idea really what you're getting into. And she's like, I got this. Right? I'm going to do it by myself. that's insane. Like, you're going to go up in this little pod by yourself. Jaden: Mm. Mmm. I like, no, I'm gonna do it. I wanna do it by myself. Which is crazy. Yeah. Danielle: That's crazy. Have you seen also like what these flight crafts look like? mean. Jaden: I saw the one that the Artemis folks came back in and... No, thank you. That's claustrophobia to the max. can't. Mm-hmm. It honestly makes my skin crawl. Danielle: No. And this is even smaller. Like, imagine it's an even smaller pod and it's just you. I know, it's like, gosh, I could not. And you're floating, I mean, you're driving, whatever, for like three days. Jaden: Yeah. Yeah. So didn't she, when she came back down, so it's the reason that they wanted people to know or they were interested in parachuting experience because of the descent back to earth? Was that a part of it? ⁓ Danielle: Yeah. Yeah, that was a big part of it. Yeah. So when she, when her pod gets back into earth's orbit and she's so many miles above earth, she launches herself out in a parachute. I know. And, there's some reports that she said, like, I was having a little bit of trouble, like getting it to ⁓ ⁓ worked out fine. She landed in like a farm field. and. Jaden: Mm-hmm. Yeah. Danielle: a family found her and like they took her in and like fed her and she had just like a scrape on her nose or something. Like it worked out fine. But yeah, the appeal was, well, these people will know how to get back on the ground and they're not afraid of heights, right? Because you have to go so far up Jaden: Yeah. Danielle: ⁓ comes back. lands from her parachuting out of space She has, she had a great time. She's, she loved her time in space. She thought it was just super cool. and seems like she wanted to continue to pursue being a part of the space program and like future trips into space, but her superior years had other plans for her and they were political. so she was appointed leader of all of these different committees, some of them against her own wishes. She's like, I don't really want to be the leader for the committee for Soviet women, but Jaden: Mmm. ⁓ Ow. Mmm. Danielle: okay. And she is kind of sent across the world to represent the Soviet Union. it's very common for astronauts to kind of go on a tour and meet dignitaries. And they're very popular, people are just enamored. ⁓ she was kind of like one of the most popular Soviet Union people because she was the first woman. ⁓ it was very inspiring to women not only in the Soviet Union, but in other countries within Europe and that part of the world. Jaden: Nah. Mm. Mm-hmm. Danielle: So she was well known and she was pretty well received around the world as like this almost a dignitary, right? From the Soviet Union. And then in 1969, the female cosmonaut group was dissolved. So she had wanted to keep doing this. They were like, no, you're a political pawn now. Yeah. And then they dissolved the program. A woman did not go back into space again. Jaden: But no. Danielle: until 1982. That's like 19 years later. That was Svetlana. I'm not even going to try her last name because I just don't want to ruin it. But Svetlana went in 1982. Valentina's life in space is done. Like she did her three days. She becomes a colonel in the Soviet Air Force. She earns her doctorate in aeronautical engineering, which Jaden: Ooh. Okay. Danielle: re-qualified her for space flight, but for whatever reason she did not go, she became an instructor at the Yuri Gargarin Cosmonaut Training Center. She continued to be heavily involved in politics. And then today she serves as the seventh state Duma. I don't know exactly what that is. ⁓ But ⁓ unfortunately, ⁓ due to her support of the Russian invasion of the Ukraine. That's the unfortunate part that she supported that. She has been added to the specially designated nationals and blocked persons list ⁓ has sanctions placed against her by the EU. ⁓ of a, yeah, I know. ⁓ like very cool, very cool, very cool. Not cool, Valentina, girl. I know, I know. Ends on a bummer. Jaden: ⁓ my god. Wow. ⁓ geez. Wow. Danielle: ⁓ she never made another trip to space, although she has been said that she would like to go to Mars, even if it's a one way trip. Jaden: so she's still alive? ⁓ well, she must be really quite older. Danielle: Yeah She is still alive, yeah. Just, she's old, yeah, she's old. It's a journey, right? It's a journey. Yeah, that is the story of Valentina and her trip to space. Jaden: It is such... Wow, nice pun. ⁓ So I think we know that if she was like an American woman, she wouldn't have gone to space because they were like military or nothing. But, you know, like, it's just interesting that that sort of was such a moment in time. And then all of a sudden, it's like, why does it take another 20 years for another woman to go up there? Danielle: Right. Right. Yeah. as I was like digging this and thinking about exact question of like, how could it possibly take another 20 years? That's insane. Like people kept going to space. ⁓ It's not like we stopped doing that. ⁓ I think got the PR that they needed out of her trip ⁓ and ⁓ were Jaden: Ha ha. Mm. Mm-hmm. Danielle: I don't know, like just like not necessary. don't, yeah, I don't know. Jaden: Hmm. So, huh, that's yeah, that is weird. It feels like it's just sort of support from the male counterparts, but it really was still seems like not serving her agenda. It's serving someone else's. I mean, you you described pretty well already, but just to drive the point home, I think, you know, it was less about her ⁓ being a woman in space and like Danielle: Right, Jaden: first and it was just like, ⁓ no, this is a political project that we're constructing and using this person because they fit the mold we want. Oof. Danielle: Right, exactly. Yeah. Right, right. Jaden: she is sort of at this point, she's an older lady, she is from ⁓ everywhere. Do we know what she's doing now? Danielle: is. Right. She is serving as something called the seventh state Duma. It's ⁓ like a parliament seat, I guess, is the best comparison I can make in Russia. So she works closely with Putin. And yeah, yeah. I know. ⁓ It's what I was expecting. ⁓ Jaden: Okay. Wild. Danielle: As I was into the story, I'm like, ⁓ this lady is such a baddie. This is so cool. And it is cool. And then you get to the end, it's like, ⁓ Come ⁓ Valentina. Gosh. Jaden: Yeah. why'd you do that, Valentina? Whoa. So like, do think that that piece, ⁓ the modern headline of it being extended to like Putin's rule, you know, and just her getting involved or maybe she was involved in that, but do think that overshadows the accomplishment that she had of like being this first woman in Spain? It seems like it. ⁓ Danielle: Mm-hmm. Yeah. Jaden: Maybe that's silly question, but yeah. Danielle: I think it will start to. I Yeah, I think it will start to, I would imagine. ⁓ And interesting because I'm sure it's like, well, where? ⁓ It depends where, right? ⁓ I would in the US, ⁓ it ⁓ Yeah. Jaden: Mm. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Probably yes. But then in Russia, would guess, oh, actually, this is another question I had. I'm like, how does the Russian media portray her now? Or do they? Is she still a figurehead? And I'm curious, how was it different back when she was going into space and during the Soviet era? Danielle: button. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, she was like beloved during that era because, you know, she's like this beacon of, innovation and the future and ⁓ like being than everybody else. Right. It's like ⁓ we, right. Cause we're this race to space. Jaden: Mmm. Mm-hmm. Innovation, exploration. Yeah. Danielle: know, ⁓ US and Russia are trying to like outdo each other time after time after time. And so we weren't then, right? But we can think about the the cultural impact that that has on just the citizens of like, ⁓ my gosh, we're doing it. it's happening, you know, even just now with the Artemis thing, it was like people were glued to that shit. And it is very exciting. ⁓ Jaden: Yeah. Mm-hmm. Danielle: So you can just imagine if you're also in competition, with your like enemy, ⁓ who's going to be cooler, you know, it really hypes people up. So I that's partially why, you know, they went with a woman and why she was chosen because she could be this beacon of hope and this symbol of progress and superiority for ⁓ the Soviet Union. Like look at her dad fought for his country. Jaden: Right. Danielle: Her mom picked herself up. She's going to fucking space. Nobody sent a woman to space. We're obviously better. So she was really highly revered. Statues were put up of her. Streets were named after her. Jaden: Mmm. Ha ha! And now. Russia, ⁓ is an interesting one because it really is the biggest takeaway is like, whoa, and then, ⁓ you know. ⁓ Danielle: I know, know. Yeah. Jaden: So what do think the modern parallel of this is? I think there's a lot, but I'm curious what you think. Danielle: I think there's a lot. I Jaden: Yeah, yeah, that makes sense. And I think just the sort of long tale of having all these great accomplishments and then just being like really influential. ⁓ And then literally that moment that can make or break anybody ⁓ where it's like, ⁓ you voice support or maybe disdain in other cases for something that's like really politically charged. And then it's over, you know, it's like, ⁓ wow. Danielle: Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm, right. Jaden: I just cut off everything except for one. And I imagine that's an interesting thing for her to grapple with. Now, maybe she's not because she's on the side of Russia. And that kind of politics seems very, well, complicated. So maybe she doesn't care or she's like, well, I'm not affected. But it is interesting because. Danielle: Yeah. Yeah. Right. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Right. Jaden: You know, it's almost like a story where this woman had an opportunity that was the only one. And then she basically was like a chess piece after that. And she was put in places that other people decided for her ⁓ and she had to go with it. And then it just turned into whatever it is now. Danielle: Right. Yes. Right. that out to me as well of like, I don't think that she is victim. Jaden: Mm-mm. Danielle: And also she was shoved into some roles that like, she didn't want to be the leader of the committee for the Soviet women. I don't know. She's very involved in the Communist Party even before space stuff. So I don't know like where all of her ideology is. You know what I mean? So I don't want to excuse anything that she's done recently. Like we can't do that. But it is interesting to think about like, Jaden: Ha ha! ⁓ okay, yum. Yeah. Mm-hmm. Danielle: If she had just been living her life and not made an example of for space flight, who knows? Jaden: Yeah. Right. Well, Valentina, you are a mystery, kind of. Danielle: Yeah. Girl. Yeah, it's wild. her story is very, very interesting to me. And I also think there's the flip side of it of. Jaden: Ooh. Danielle: why ⁓ let some women go also? ⁓ Jaden: Well, yeah, clearly that still seems like a problem to me, but. Danielle: I don't know. It is. Jaden: just Danielle: I would love to see though, like if part of Valentino's research was to document like the effects on her body, it would be really interesting to see like what was the difference between her experience and the guy who went up at the same time she did. Jaden: Mm-hmm. Yeah, yeah. if that amount of time really makes a difference, or if it's temporary, ⁓ Danielle: That would Right, right. she have to learn how to walk again when she came back? ⁓ circle. Woo, ⁓ a flight we have been on. Yeah, yeah, this was a wild one. ⁓ all I got. ⁓ Jaden: coming back to the beginning. Full circle. ⁓ man. Well that's really interesting. ⁓ Thank you for sharing that. Is that all you got? Are you ready for your ruining the workplace tip of the week? Danielle: Absolutely. Jaden: This one's gonna be really easy. It's gonna be very simple, okay? We're gonna take a deep breath and let it out. And we're not gonna let idiots ruin our day. Danielle: I love that. Jaden: That's it. That's the post. Danielle: Beautiful. I Don't let them get you down. Jaden: Yeah, don't let them get you down. It's just not that serious. we're not Valentina Tereshkova out here being the first woman in space. We're just doing a podcast and working our computer jobs. you know what? I don't have room for idiots to ruin my day. So I won't. Danielle: That's a good one. Yeah. No ma'am, no. All right, bye. ⁓ Jaden: ⁓ Until next time, bye.