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From the Navy to Climate Activism | Megan Glancey · Follow the Leighder

• Leigh/@followtheleighder: Howdy folks and welcome back to another episode of Follow the Leighder. I'm your host, Leigh Larson, and joining me today from Austin, Texas, yeehaw folks, is Megan: Okay. Leigh/@followtheleighder: Megan Glancy. Welcome to the studio, Megan. Megan: Thank you so much. I'm excited to be here with you. Leigh/@followtheleighder: Y'all pay some respect. She's a Navy veteran, former EA18 growler, backseater, who's worked at the NSA and the White House, flew Navy jets, y'all, just like what was I doing? I wouldn't fly in Navy jets. Megan now lives in Austin, Texas, and develops renewable energy products. She's an outspoken political activist who advocates for veterans, military members and their families, working class Americans, and the preservation of democracy. Wow. Right, thank Megan: Yeah. Leigh/@followtheleighder: you for s so much of this talk to us. I mean, big life, big, big stories. what was what was your upbringing like? Were were you military exposed? Were your family activists in in their own right? What was that like for you? Megan: Yeah, not much actually. I grew up in El Paso, Texas, and my neither of my parents were in the military, although both of my grandfathers were in the Air Force, but it was not at the epicenter of my childhood, you know, just being in a military family or military background in particular. I come from very patriotic family though. My dad was known like on the fourth of July to march around the house to like John Philip Sousa like big band, you know, sounds. So we're we're a big red, white, and blue family, but grew up in Texas, pretty conservative environment relatively. And when I was thinking about the future, it was really focused on getting an education, and the Naval Academy was sort of presented to me as an option, and it seemed like the right one, and that's kind of where that story started. But as far as like openly military background family, not as much actually. Leigh/@followtheleighder: Was your family, you say they're very patriotic. How has your family looked and seen what's going on now, considering they all served? Megan: I think well, my grandfathers are both they've both passed well before this administration or this current iteration of this administration. And I didn't really get to chance to talk with either of them about their detailed political perspectives. But I think my family, my immediate family is a pretty mixed bag, which I find healthy. And we we navigate that with love and compassion. I'm very lucky to not be in a family like I know many others where their political beliefs Cause a lot of tension and heartache. And so I think most wonderfully, my parents really respect my sister and I. And so even as we've grown to become, you know, much more further left in our beliefs and our advocacy, they've always just championed any of the work that we do. And so even when the nuts and bolts of our opinions migrate, they they still are just like so loving and supportive. So I've been really fortunate in that because I understand. That there's not as many families, especially in the military setting, that come from the same background. Leigh/@followtheleighder: So then going into the navy, you you the Naval Academy specifically, did you have your eyes on being a pilot or or or or flying jets? Like what did that look like? Megan: I think I I did and I didn't. I feel very aligned with a lot of young service members who come straight out of high school, whether they enlist or go into a commissioning source, and they're children. They don't quite know what they're getting themselves into. And I felt that way for for certain. As my career grew, I my perspective changed and shifted as well, in my opinion for the better. But I think when I first showed up at the Naval Academy, I was so in awe and scared that I don't even know if I had an idea of what you know, my future could look like, but flying was was definitely on the table. My grandfather, my mom's dad flew in the Air Force. but we didn't again, we didn't talk about it as much growing up. So it was sort of in the backdrop and had an idea for it. So it wasn't until towards the end of my time at the academy where you really have to narrow down and decide what you're going to do that I settled on on aviation. I was actually I was in a relationship, a romantic relationship was at the academy, and the boyfriend that I had at the time, he really wanted to, you know, get married young and have his partner, you know, not fly and maybe go be a service warfare officer, do the what they call five and dive, get out right away. And I think I had sort of settled on like, I guess that's just what I'll do. And we broke up at the beginning of my senior year. And about three or four weeks later was the final test date for an aviation spot. And I was like, well, screw this. That's what I really want to do. So I put my name in the in the ring and got it. So it was a Good good timing, good favor situation there, I think. Leigh/@followtheleighder: Yeah. Well and it I mean it's it what an incredible job. And you got to see so much and I had someone, a a a a naval was she a pilot or she was a backseater like but but she just talked about how much it changed her to spend so much a air time or just like how like you don't not seeing borders or just w yeah, how how you when it's you spend so much time thinking about interconnectedness really and distance and and psychologically and that's cool you got to do that and have that experience. What was it like being in the military institutionally, being a being a woman, being from I mean El Paso is is not a small town small town America, but but but what was your experience serving? Megan: El Paso feels like small town America, I will say, just because it's a very like it's a border town and everyone feels like family. it's a very heavily like Mexican American community, and so does still feel like small town America despite being a massive international crossing. but yeah, I mean, being in the military, I think for many years I tried to downplay the role. that my gender had in my service experience because I was taught to, frankly. I I even saw women senior to me who did the same and and probably for the same reasons or maybe their own reasons. And I really thought to myself, okay, well, these other women that I'm around, they have a stiff upper lip and they don't let they don't seem to let these you know, dynamics get to them and I want to do the same. I want to try not to rock the boat in that sense. No pun intended, I was in the Navy. But I I really tried to kind of bottle that the response that I had to this very male saturated environment for quite a while in especially at the academy and even through most of flight school. And it wasn't until after I got my wings that I kind of felt like I could take a little bit of a sigh of relief. It was like this significant marker of legitimacy in my career. most naval officers are when they're really junior, they're kind of fighting for their pin, their qualification pin. And so that's that's what the wings are in our community. And until you have your wings, you sort of aren't valued as highly, and for understandable reasons, you haven't qualified in the in the community you're in. So after that. that point, I think once I got to what we call the the FRS, the Fleet Replacement Squadron, and I was training in the Growler for the first time was also simultaneously 2016 and you know the first Trump election was was occurring and my voice, my feminism, my political perspective and opinions started to surface much more sharply in that environment. And I was met with you know some dissent to that and and it was very uncomfortable but I I tried to just remain true to who I was and who I was becoming. but yeah, I would definitely say being a woman in the military is challenging. I I have many stories, but just on a broader, broader spectrum, I think that's that's what my arc looked like. Leigh/@followtheleighder: I'll never forget a fellow chaplain candidate getting reamed for her jean shorts on a free day and like publicly. Like this this supervisor chaplain just went after her. And her shorts weren't even like they were like at least fingertip. Like which we're and I'm not even gonna go down that route of Defending, but she at the end of the day, she is a pastor. Like she's not it's not daily I like I don't and And and and so I was sitting there like what I was like, those aren't even bad. anyway, sorry. But Megan: No, I identify with that so much. Leigh/@followtheleighder: And he well and and she called someone she called a a chaplain and mentor that she had a fellow another female and was like, What do I do about this? I'm humiliated, blah blah blah and they were like nothing. Like they're there that's like until you have higher rank, and it was a lot because of our rank too. They were like, You don't get to that's it. Like you're and and she was like, They can just do this? And they're like and I I I'm I'm so sorry to hear that you yeah, the the bottling it up, just make it through, get that legitimacy, try and c climb the ranks, and then there is that question of like, will we ever be legitimate in their eyes? Yeah. Megan: It's tough too because I know I've I've been out for a couple of years now. I got out in fall of 2022 and some of my other girlfriends that I flew with are also starting to get out in different waves. Some of them are still in, but very few of us. And when I when I got to the RAG, when I got to the FRS in Woodby Island, Washington, we had the largest female class, like the largest class of of female aviators that the FRS had, I think, ever seen. That's what I recall. And it was it was contentious. It was not at least on my end, you know, a socially pleasant experience. And I also take accountability for the fact that I was developing a chip on my shoulder being in that environment. And so I put my own social walls up. certainly, but you know, I think to a degree the men in that environment, they're not necessarily incentivized to try to help you lower those walls and include you and and foster that environment for you. And so I both understand why you don't receive that energy from from men in those environments, but I also you know. I lament it as well because I I wish that I could have the brotherhood that the men that I worked with had. I wish that I could have that same level of bond that I could see them easily forming. And I'm I'm certain that they had to sacrifice things within themselves in order to achieve that too. And that probably goes unspoken as well. But I do think that female service members tend to have to sacrifice big parts of their personality. I would say more that from my perspective. Yeah. Leigh/@followtheleighder: for sure. Well, and especially yeah, in order to keep themselves safe, just still I mean, I think about even as a form like I I've worn this lipstick. Like I I remember specifically putting on lipstick as a form of a like self in that military Megan: Yeah. Leigh/@followtheleighder: uniform. Like I was like, I have to But like also being concerned that it could be sexualized. But I was like, no, like you have stripped me of self. And I just want to be a human female that like goes to work and wears lipstick. And I and I just distinctly remember that. And but also even you talking about how female how women have to adapt and change when they're in that environment in order to survive and have a like sisterhood can either happen, you can bond with other women in that, or it can get nasty and Megan: Mm-hmm. Leigh/@followtheleighder: and and and real real tough. And and women just fight differently than men. and and and conduct themselves differently. And I I've seen that too in in My professional experience, family, personal, even I mean, even I've done humanitarian experience abroad and that's also it can get female dominated, typically responding to a patriarchal event like war, like rape, like domestic violence, right? And like so it's Megan: Right. Right. Leigh/@followtheleighder: like it's all like my gosh. And and and seeing how like groups of women act in times of fear and that can be very Very toxic and dangerous too. And s Megan: It can be, yeah. And I don't know if there's like this Darwinian or like psychosocial explanation that I'm just not smart enough to define out there. But I think, you know, when you're when there's so few of us and you're back into a corner and it is a competitive environment, especially in the aviation community within the navy, you know, you are continuously being evaluated on your flight performance, your brief and debrief performance, you know, your general knowledge, you're in simulators and ground school. So it's a continually evaluated community and and your work is continually evaluated. And then you are scored and ranked amongst one another, which is normal to the military, but I think that even goes beyond the the standard, you know, annual eval periods. And and so there's when there's only so so many women in an environment the microscope is on you to perform and to be better than your male counterparts for out of fear of not being respected. And so if you in inject a few more other women to kind of compete for that role yeah I I I definitely understand where that competition could have and in times did breed you know, toxic environments. But I take some comfort in the fact that majority of the women that I flew with and that I served with, over time we have grown into what I consider to be a very warm, welcoming, supportive friend group, even even when we're deployed across the world or, you know, stationed in different places or myself being off active duty and and see them as frequently, you know, they've we stayed connected in different ways. And that is the the version of our maybe post professional selves that I that I tried to try to cling to. So Leigh/@followtheleighder: And that's so special. The the the like you when I was saying like sometimes the sisterhood just works and sometimes it can just go south and when it goes in, like you said, it's like long term, the bonds so Megan: Yeah. Leigh/@followtheleighder: special. You can just call and pick up and years have gone by and and it's really cool too. You can trust them. There's like this whole unspoken unspoken thing that you you you have with them. Can you can you talk about we've talked about some of the pain points you've experienced from some of the men, some some of the women, from just like just the journey you've had. did you have the opportunity to to meet with with chaplains or what was did you see like what was the chaplain see role in in for you during the service, your service? Megan: I did. I had a few interactions with chaplains throughout my time on active duty. I was actually talking with a friend of my one of one of my girlfriends that I flew with the other day and she we don't know what prompted it, but she texted me and said, What was that chaplain's name at the academy who used to stand out on the run course when we would do our like regimental runs or the PRT, and he would bang a tambourine to keep pace and just like cheer us all on. And I want to say his name was Rabbi Phillips. And he was an incredible source of joy and and light, I think, for the Brigade of Midshipmen when we were there. I'm sure there's other Academy grads that were there during my period of time who will recall his engagement with us. There were a few chaplains there that were really wonderful I was very active in the faith communities at the Naval Academy while I was there. so I I got a chance to meet a few of them. But I also, you know, my last most memorable experience with a chaplain was while I was on deployment. I was in the South China Sea, I believe, at the time. We we did a world round the world deployment. So I was there and in the Persian Gulf and and did some combat flights over Iraq, Afghanistan, and Syria. But at some point in the ocean, my my dad's father, my grandfather, had passed away while I was on deployment. And it was a very interesting experience for me because my dad was trying to get in touch with me to let me know that that had happened. But we were under what's called MCON conditions, which is essentially like a black curtain. We were trying not to be detected. And so it had very limiting capabilities for us to connect off board. And so he had to send a Red Cross message to the ship. And the chaplain and my commanding officer called my stateroom at what must have been like three o'clock in the morning to say, you know, there'd been a death in the family and to come to the ready room and and I could take a call. And that's what they told me over the, you know, onboard pots line had happened. And for about 10 to 15 minutes, I was like frantically putting shoes on and like running all Leigh/@followtheleighder: Right. Megan: the way. aft on the ship to my ready room and I had this kind of messed up Russian roulette in my head of, Well, who is it? I hope it's not this person or this person or this person in my family, and having no no knowledge of who that message would be, but the chaplain that met me in the ready room with my commanding officer and my XO and R CMC. he sat with me for about an hour or so and kind of prayed with me and just was there as a as a comfort, which was very nice. And I always encouraged my my sailors to seek out the the chaplain core where it felt appropriate for them in moments like that. And so I think that's one thing that gets maybe misconstrued in the in the military space is that they're chaplains serve a very unique role. Beyond just faith leader, because there are these moments in a sailor's life or service member's life that can be very disconnected from any faith experience at all, but they need a a trusted and safe person that they can maybe just share that moment with. And so that was that was my last sort of chaplain experience, which is Sad, of course, but I'm grateful to him for being there for me in the middle of the ocean, wherever we were. Leigh/@followtheleighder: I'm so sorry about the the entire experience of of your grief. I'm thankful they were there. he was there and I'm thankful yeah, the chaplain was there because like you said, what a what a very strong fifteen minutes you explained, like of Megan: Yeah. Leigh/@followtheleighder: just that window and all and you're tired like in in all of this too. I don't think a lot Megan: Yeah. Leigh/@followtheleighder: of Americans understand. Like you don't even really know where you are, what day it is. You're just responding to the clock and a superv like a person above you. Like it is just so machinery. And then to have a massive human moment like that, like you're in this Megan: Mm. Leigh/@followtheleighder: almost like a an exhausted flow state, like of just like wake a groundhog day type thing. And to have such like a massive human moment. That's that's what the Chaplin Corps is intended to be, is is to be the human in a very in a military environment that doesn't that would prefer everything to be weaponized, actually be be a machine, be a tool. and don't have feelings, lose yourself, don't be feminine, like in fact, just be a robot. And that's that's not how humans work. And and it's just like the yeah, it it it it's not about f faith indoctrination and worship services or anything like that. Did you ever see any of that in all in your service, being at the academy and Megan: My personal faith story was probably open to it if it did exist while I was on active duty. I grew up in a Christian home. my father's Catholic and my mom's Methodist. So I was child baptized as Methodist and then went to Catholic school growing up, but later in high school of my own volition, I sort of chose and got embedded into the evangelical Christian faith. And that was a very active part of my life for many years, including essentially the entirety of my active duty service. So I I was very active in those faith communities to include spaces that, you know, Perhaps we're a bit on on the lean of of indoctrination. And I I think at that chapter in my life I probably wasn't as aware of it. It really wasn't until I got back from deployment that I was still very active. I was a I was a youth leader for my local church in Washington and was a Bible study leader for women, mostly some spouses of men that I flew with, also in Washington. And coming back from deployment and having a little bit of s of separation from that day-to-day environment or that week by week faith environment, with the backdrop of our political moment allowed me to sort of redefine what faith looked like for me going forward. But I certainly know and have seen what you have obviously discovered through your experience in the Chaplain Corps as a candidate. And it's it's definitely more real now than I think it was when I was on Act service, which is unfortunate. Leigh/@followtheleighder: So when you made the transition to to leave the to to to sever from the military, you know, the the other side about flying jets and and and doing all the the really cool stuff is that you see a lot of also you see a lot of waste. And I'm wondering if that ever like sits with you when you think about your climate change activism as a former jet fighter. and I'm saying that because we did a lot of things too as chaplains and chaplain candidates that were like cool. And I was like, This is this is also wasteful. and so Megan: Ha ha ha Leigh/@followtheleighder: like I'm this is super cool. And also, so I just I we I don't want to get too much in the details, but I am curious, like, do does the military, does war, how does that impact your your climate advocacy? Megan: it is at the epicenter of my climate advocacy. I remember being in in Whitby training in the growler for the first time and we I was learning the limitations of the jet to include certain fuel limitations and and practices. And Whidby Island is in Washington State, which is a very environmentally conscious and you know progressively left state politically compared to the rest of the country. And so there was a lot of local activism both in support of our presence there in Whitby and some in opposition to. And I didn't really get it at first. I was sort of like, why are you upset about us flying around? We're doing our job. And I attended a couple of meetings locally just out of curiosity, you know, I sat in the back And I heard several mistruths about certain environmental impacts that the aviation community has on the local environment. And then I also heard very few you know, minorly informed points that I realized, yeah, they're right. And this is probably never going to go away. But what is the opportunity we have for change here. And that really circled around when I was getting off active duty, my awareness of just every day for years, I was burning thousands of pounds of JP5 fuel. And I had to. That was part of the job. And it was a necessity. It was a huge part of our safety. It was critical to our mission. And that was the only solution we had to be a part of this, you know, defense system. And so the question I really started with was, are there alternative solutions out there? Could you could you put something else in that jet and it would still fly around? Could you do that, you know, even outside the military? Could Boeing do that? Could who whoever fly a plane? without that sort of harm on our environment. And I started to uncover the answer was yes. There had been tested and tried options that didn't fully resolve that carbon footprint issue, but started to minimize it and started to think smartly on it and address it. And so then my next question was, well, why are we not doing that everywhere? Wholesale. Let's go. And I I think that just kind of opened this can of worms for my overall climate activism because I realized that it had very little to do with, you know, maybe even political will. And it had everything to do with corporate greed. And so a big part of what I talk about now is how the defense industry should be a public good. It should be something that is providing for the American people, something that is a necessity for us and not something that is overtly harming the American people due to its overuse. Whether that is in the fuel burn of an F-18 that I am still going to snap a picture of every time it flies above me, or, you know, endless wars abroad. So I think it's it's definitely an issue that the defense industry has is overuse and overexpense. Leigh/@followtheleighder: And and that's sustainable aviation fuel, like you said. thank you for for being one of the drivers on that. And and 'cause it like you say, I mean, it is that I just I was thinking as you were talking, you were burning thousands of pounds. Just you. But like you add that up and like that's still go and you like, Yeah, and then I used to do this, and I was like that, like they just put someone else in your spot, like that's still happening. Megan: Mm-hmm. Leigh/@followtheleighder: Like it's just like and and and and that's what I don't know. It's it's something also to make all these minor changes, to make it more efficient, to make it and and and just because we can doesn't mean we should. And so Well, tell Megan: I I think to like your earlier question about just sort of my faith and the environment, they've that is what has morphed for me over time. There's the overlap there of, you know, I was living in Colorado for a couple of years and I sort of self described it as a I was living in my hole because it was right after I got off active duty and I just sort of pulled away from social life and just kind of regrouped. I'm sure a lot of veterans can Commensurate without experience where they just have to have like this recharge phase and and isolation is a was a was a part of my story, and I've heard from others that it is part of theirs as well. And a big part of how my faith transformed was my experience in nature there. I got a beautiful taste of it living in Washington State, hiking in the North Cascades, and just being in awe of our environment. and the earth that we have. the honor of living on. And that only just grew during my time living in Colorado. Only in that chapter I wasn't on active duty. I wasn't racing back from a hike to catch a late night flight. I was just with myself and nature. And so I I saw my faith transform into, you know, the God that I was raised on, the faith that I was raised on glorifies this. And if I have any, you know, tether to to those beliefs, then I should be doing everything to continue that glorification in my work now as as an environmentalist. So yeah. Leigh/@followtheleighder: And you and you certainly have. I mean you've won what you you've you've published in advance again, going back to like you driving this too, publishing graduate research with Johns Hopkins about energy security, climate responsiveness, national security. It is a national security issue. Megan: It is. Leigh/@followtheleighder: can can you talk a little bit about that research? Megan: Yeah, it was a fun project for me. I know not everyone would maybe find that fun, but I think I'm a lifelong student. And that experience at Johns Hopkins was perfectly timed because I was getting ready to come off active duty. I'd sort of made that decision for myself. And I got a master of arts in government political communication. And my advisor kind of gave me carte blanche to just really dig into any topic that our government has a hand in that I had an interest in commenting on and potentially finding a solution on. And that so this cross section is where I landed, which is, you know, I have all this experience in the military. I had been working at the NSA at the time and in in national security settings and and intelligence settings. And I wanted to see if there was a n a new messaging platform that could reach climate denialism. that could reach the fossil fuel industry, that could reach, you know, the the military industrial complex. Was there another reason that we could give people to care? about our environment, to care about the climate crisis. And the answer is yes, because the climate crisis is a national security crisis. I started with investigating climate migration. And you know this is well ahead of the modern day ice raids that have devastated communities like El Paso where I'm from and and you know all across the country. But it was intended to be kind of a an investigation on how people move due to climate in you know climate induced weather phenomena and it is happening at a large scale across the world. and so that was sort of the the starting point and I had also followed Senator Elizabeth Warren's campaign for presidency and she had talked a lot about The Green New Deal alongside other political leaders, but then she'd also proposed a Blue New Deal, which was a oceanography focused proposal in in tandem with the Green New Deal. And so I just got really policy wonky in in that proposal and tried to find where the US Navy and the defense industry at large has played a role in the messaging of climate as well as the ad adaptation mitigation needs for our climate and so lots of juicy stuff in there if someone is bored late one night but yeah really really interesting information Leigh/@followtheleighder: I I'm curious how like that all unfolds then is how you got to be the the military social aid to to President Megan: Yeah. Leigh/@followtheleighder: Biden. I mean your story every every time I'm like, and then so how did that leave because it's just and I know everything makes sense, but it's like it it's really beautiful to see all of this build and and and again you continuing to use your voice at every step. It's like, I'm going to make this change, I'm gonna do this thing, I have to use it, and it's very s It's scary. It's scary to take that on as a woman and I and and so thank you. what Megan: Thank you. Leigh/@followtheleighder: you went from military to to Johns Hopkins to to White House. What was that like? Megan: So I was actually on active duty for all of that time and really I was just doing things at once, which is kind of crazy. That chapter when I was living in DC, I was simultaneously working for the NSA in a signals intelligence policy role. I was a social aide to President Biden. part-time and I was in grad school writing and defending my thesis. So I I did all of that at the same time. it was in the same chapter. But the the White House opportunity, my goodness, I I could not have ended my naval career with a more interesting space. And I was fortunately put up for the opportunity. I had a colleague at the NSA who had heard of other regional military officers who'd been invited to or, you know, put their name in to work in the White House. And he was like, You would be great at this. You should go you know, you should go try. And so I did. I jumped through all their hoops and a couple of months later you know, showed up in my dress uniform and was given a an agulette to put on my shoulder and told, Okay, stand at the bottom of the stairs in case a guest of the president walks by and they need to find the bathroom. And I was like, Okay, I'm so honored to be here and, you know, it starts like that and there's I'm not just the only one, but the there's a decent group of of joint military officers in that group and I, you know, the more time you're there and the more seniority that you get, you you get invited to be in the room with the primaries and and be a part of some really historic moments at the White House. And so we're we're at once, you know, the the tour guide and the historian and then also the the ones that are helping to prevent, you know, unruly guests from getting unearned time with very high stakes individuals. So Leigh/@followtheleighder: yeah. Megan: it's it was a very interesting space to be in. I was there for Medal of Honor and Medal of Freedom recipients and Kennedy Center honors, legislative signings, all all sorts of events, even the turkey pardoning and the Easter egg roll. So it was it was just very cool to be a fly on the wall. Leigh/@followtheleighder: Yeah. And you get to I think that's really special and I think it's something that as we advocate and fight against this administration or just just at large, but is to remember why we love the United States. Like that to me is important and I understand I I it very there's a lot of grief, but a lot of anger. And and and and that it is so, so valid. And then there's also like that feeling you get when you're in Washington D C and you see like those those columns. Like I was there last spring and I've written so many papers I don't know, challenging or working with or navigating the attention of Thomas Jefferson and early American founders. And then you're I I was still just standing at that memorial, just like, man. Like it there's just like it there's just something to that space of I maybe it's like the sacredness of the ideals that it's supposed to promise or something. Megan: Yeah. So Leigh/@followtheleighder: Like it's it's it's not the monument. I'm not like, like I love marble. It's like it's like this whole other it's this is what we're supposed to be, this is what we're striving to be. Yeah. Megan: I've learned a lot about my patriotism since coming off active duty because in a way I almost feel my patriotism was not earned while I was in service because it was assumed and now not wearing the uniform. You have to work a lot harder to be patriotic, even without the backdrop of this current political climate. And I I do not say this to invalidate anyone's very real fears that they're experiencing right now, or to invalidate the very diverse experience of being an American, especially for communities of color and and other minority groups. But I do think that cynicism is in some forms cowardice because when we get so locked on that doomsday mentality that we can never see the tomorrow that we were promised, we nearly lock in that future for ourselves. And so I think that the effort of being hopeful and the work that's required to keep going and stay the course is the most patriotic thing that you can do and requires all communities with all definitions of being an American. And so I try really hard to remain tethered to that hope and that effortfulness and that, you know, just tenacity really because I you know regardless of standing on the mall in DC or on a mountain in Colorado I I see the America that we can be and I will not let her go. Leigh/@followtheleighder: It's so beautiful. Megan, I know we were getting close to the top of the hour. Can you talk to us? Can you tell us where can we follow and learn more about you? Your climate advocacy, your military advocacy, and and your voice online. please tell us where we can find you and what things on the horizon do you have? Megan: Yeah, absolutely. I am on all platforms at Megan.glancy. So just first name, last name, easy to find. and you know, on the horizon, I am just going to be staying the course. You will see me in rural communities trying to bu build utility scale wind projects and trying to find new opportunities to remain engaged with my local community. So I'll be sharing as much of that as I can along the way. Leigh/@followtheleighder: Thank you so much, Megan, for being here. Y'all, let me know in the comments what you thought of this conversation. This has been really, really special. We're every time I see I've watched several of your videos. And again, I love the way you per present things. I'm like spinning in this chair. Sorry. It Megan: Yeah. Leigh/@followtheleighder: really was it was like an Austin Powers like kind of scene. Sorry. Come Megan: Yeah. Leigh/@followtheleighder: back. but You know, I I I I really want you to to come back so we can do a deep dive and and listeners, please let me know in the comments or my, you know, on this. what other questions can we ask you about climate advocacy, about military? That is a very specific it's not say it's very large, but but my gosh, I mean, like you said, it was a full-blown research project that you took on. that you could still write books on. I you that like and and expanded. Megan: Many of the pound brains out there have written books on them. So I'm grateful for their for their efforts as well that I can draft off of. Leigh/@followtheleighder: Absolutely. Well, Megan, thank you so much for for coming out coming by and hanging out with me today. Folks, this has been another episode of Follow the Leighder. I'm your host, Leigh Larson, and until next time, see ya. Megan: Yeah.