Two Chuckleheads and an Actually Important Topic

"Too often we... enjoy the comfort of opinion without the discomfort of thought." 

--John F. Kennedy

Over the past several weeks the culture has seen actors, producers, politicians, and business leaders brought to task for deplorable and inappropriate behavior toward other people. Particularly, men in positions of power who, whether or not they were explicitly or conscious of doing so, using their positions of power to exploit others for sexual acts. The status quo where these kinds of things thrive in open secrecy is rightly being called out and exposed for its adherence to a culture that turns a blind eye to abuses of power. As Sarah Silverman stated in her Hulu show, "I Love You, America," this is a good thing. "It's messy and it's complicated and it is going to hurt, but it's necessary and we'll all be healthier for it."

Another thing has happened over the course of the discussions breaking out over this time. A lot of opinions and judgements are being thrown in the direction of not only those being accused of these acts but of anyone who tries to have a nuanced discussion on the matter. Many of these opinions have in common a vitriolic lack of measure or grace. They tend to amount to some version of "this person is and always have been despicable and any version of them that was publicly displayed in the past was a lie." Sometimes this sentiment might be true, but any attempt at nuanced discussion on the matter that did not start and end with complete vilification for the accused has been shot down as victim blaming or being part of the problem.

News flash: we are all part of the problem.

So, it was not without some trepidation that Seth and I set forth to record our most recent podcast episode about, as Seth puts it, the "explosion of exposure" of sexual impropriety among educators in public schools. It just so happened, or maybe it's not such a coincidence, that our episode coincided with the revelations of sexual misconduct among actors, producers, and comedians within the culture, at large.

This was not an easy topic for Seth and me. Partially because we can be mental 12 year olds, at times, but also because the subject is so touchy and fraught with land mines. Here's the thing, we recognize our own inadequacy in this area, however, we barrel through in a messy, but honest way because at our heart Seth and I believe that this is an important topic that should not simply be left to politicians and journalist to parse out in Hollywood and Washington, D.C.

Once we settle down long enough to get over how uncomfortable we are discussing a sensitive topic of this magnitude we do finally get into how difficult it can be to connect with students while also being aware of the extra scrutiny teachers are under in our culture to remain above reproach. Scrutiny that does not exist without reason, mind you. This is at the core of the episode and it should be at the forefront of your mind as you listen.

We recorded this conversation before several high profile celebrities and politicians were accused, but I could see the writing on the wall as we recorded. I had a feeling that even in the fast-paced, 24 hour news cycle this topic was not going away anytime soon and that with our 2 week lag time it wouldn't be completely irrelevant when it was published. There has certainly been lots of commentary on this topic in the interim, but we believe that you will find our conversation interesting and insightful, and hopefully, and most importantly, honest.