I'm going to try and roll through for this and just wanted to pedantically save you from some very minor jabs you'd get from locals if you say Jack's is in "downtown San Jose" like you did on the pod. It's solidly in Japantown. They neighbor each other but the distinction is important to locals!

Thanks for what you do!

Lots of NWSL! Women’s soccer is a cleanse from the toxicity of other sports lol.

I was expecting the shooter to be ex-military or something like that given that he took Kirk out in one shot. He wasn’t. Just a 22-year-old Utah Mormon kid from a gun-loving family.

I didn’t have guns in my home—my dad immediately got rid of a pistol he inherited upon his dad’s death. But I shot guns at least once a year if not more with friends and leaders in my Mormon congregation. Often, it was at sanctioned scouting events.

I don’t have a lot of commentary on the shooter other than to say his family culture around guns is unsurprising. Utah be like that.

A few hours later, my best friend texted me asking if I saw Kirk was killed on campus. I was shocked and immediately curious if the shooter was a student. The open carry laws at Utah public universities have always been super controversial. For context, I was attending when Sandy Hook happened.

I walked into to the gym on the next afternoon and saw on the TV “Trump: ‘Charlie Kirk is dead.’” I just thought Trump was denouncing Kirk over something he said. A naive assumption in hindsight, but not outside the realm of possibility.

Honestly, the only thing I knew about Kirk at the time was that he was an influential, right-wing political operative. I literally had never seen any of his content before then.

I agree it makes sense. Was just pointing out the sad contrast in expectations vs reality.

I was about to chime in about the differences between religious and a religious-based cultural identity but knew you, as a historian, clearly understood that. So I went looking for the clarifications. 😆

It’s funny how even the lack of religious belief does that! I am constantly amazed at how differently my kids see the world from how I did at their age.

Agreed. As a secular Mormon, I wish our modern temples looked more like they did in the 19th century ala Salt Lake City. Now they’re too sleek looking with no real character beyond “We’re rich and don’t know what else to do with our money.”