Wednesday, September 23, 2020

this week

What I Saw:

Hot Coffee. At first glance this is a documentary about the lady who sued McDonald's after spilling coffee on herself, but really it is about tort reform. Prior to watching this I couldn't have told you what tort reform meant, but now I know it is proposed changes to the civil justice system that aims to reduce a victim's ability to sue or to reduce the amount of damages they can receive. Takeaway for me; Lots of people know this Hot Coffee story or at least they know the story that was in the media which played this off as a frivolous lawsuit, when in reality the victim had been significantly injured and McDonald's had a very "oh well" attitude about the whole thing.


What I Heard:

The Office Ladies Podcast - The Benihana Christmas episode. We are hardcore Office fans in this house! We have watched this series many times over, both British and American. My daughter and I are listening to this podcast together and then watching the episode discussed afterwards. There is no real major takeaway from this episode, but I do enjoying hearing about the behind the scenes stuff for each episode. 

Gordon Keith on the ArmChair Expert Podcast. I had never heard of Gordon Keith before this episode. He is a radio host on an AM radio station in Dallas, Texas. First off I have to say I am a big fan of the long form interview, which is why I enjoy this podcast so much. I will say this particular episode is a little spicy, but if you've listened to this podcast before you know there isn't much they won't talk about. This one is a bit of a wild ride. It starts as a couple of guys just telling stories and shit talking each other, but surprisingly it has a very deep reflective center to it. Takeaway for me: The complicated relationships between parents and children and how you often don't need forgiveness from others, you just need to forgive yourself. There was also a great conversation about the balance between justice and mercy and shades of grey. 


What I Read: 

Part of the Hot Coffee documentary dealt with binding arbitration and in particular the story of Jamie Leigh Jones and her allegations of rape and sexual harassment while working in Iraq for a contractor. Part of Jones' employment contract included a mandatory arbitration clause that was preventing her from suing the company. This was also a big news story at the time and the end of the documentary let the viewer know that Jones would finally get her day in court. Stephanie Mencimer (she was also featured in Hot Coffee) wrote a lengthy article about the trial for Mother Jones. Takeaway for me: I love documentaries, but I can appreciate that they often only tell one side of the story. This was an excellent follow up to the story begun in the doc and also an interesting commentary/lesson on the kinds of stories that find their way into the news.


What I Follow:

Humans of New York on Instagram or Facebook. My gosh, they have a series going on there at the moment telling the life story of Stephanie who has led the most interesting life and we aren't even half way through the tale. Takeaway for me: Hearing other people's stories reminds me that people are never only one thing and that helps me keep my compassion engaged.

2 comments:

Maria said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
Lynn said...

I'm late to this party but wanted to say a) wasn't Stephanie's story on Humans of NY FABULOUS? I can't wait to get my hands on his new book. And also b) I'm obsessed with the McD's coffee lawsuit and often correct people about it at parties, much to their dismay. I'm off to watch the doc so I can gather more facts for fun party times!