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[0:37] Laura Camien: Welcome to The Spark File, your one stop summer breeze for creative inspiration.

[0:42] Susan Blackwell: I'm Laura Camien.

[0:43] Susan Blackwell: And I'm Susan Blackwell.

[0:44] Laura Camien: If you're an OG listener, welcome back, Sparkler.

[0:47] Laura Camien: If you're joining us for the first time, welcome.

[0:49] Laura Camien: You may be asking yourself, what exactly is a spark file?

[0:52] Laura Camien: Where do I get one?

[0:53] Laura Camien: What do I file in it?

[0:55] Laura Camien: These are good questions, and we have got answers.

[0:58] Susan Blackwell: A spark file is a place where you consistently collect all your inspirations and fascinations.

[1:03] Susan Blackwell: Here's the deal.

[1:04] Susan Blackwell: We are makers who make all kinds of things.

[1:07] Susan Blackwell: If you're like us and you're making stuff all the time, or want to be making stuff all the time, you know the wellspring of inspiration can run a little dry.

[1:15] Susan Blackwell: So we're on the lookout for fresh ideas, images, and inspiration that spark our creativity and pique our curiosity.

[1:22] Susan Blackwell: Things that inspire us to get up off of our asses and make things like this podcast.

[1:27] Susan Blackwell: Or a reflection on life during the end times.

[1:31] Laura Camien: Oh God, Kimmy.

[1:34] Susan Blackwell: Or a fearless act of documentation that tells the power structure we're watching you.

[1:41] Laura Camien: Oh.

[1:43] Susan Blackwell: Every episode, we're gonna reach into the spark file and exchange some sparks.

[1:47] Susan Blackwell: And from time to time, we're gonna talk to some folks who spark us too.

[1:51] Susan Blackwell: And if you're not careful, you might just make bravery your default setting.

[1:55] Laura Camien: So without further ado, let's open up the file.

[2:01] Susan Blackwell: Suze, I'm really excited to hear what yours is.

[2:04] Laura Camien: That sounded so good.

[2:06] Susan Blackwell: Cammy and I'm so I I am so excited to share this spark today.

[2:11] Susan Blackwell: Uh it's not an easy spark, but it's a it is a good spark.

[2:18] Laura Camien: Really?

[2:19] Susan Blackwell: Oh my god.

[2:20] Susan Blackwell: That's just that little description, that little teaser.

[2:23] Susan Blackwell: I got real excited.

[2:25] Laura Camien: I heard it in your voice, Katie.

[2:27] Susan Blackwell: I know I really, really like came to life.

[2:29] Susan Blackwell: I was like, oh man, I'm really fighting a little low energy thing today.

[2:34] Susan Blackwell: And then you said your your like teaser.

[2:36] Susan Blackwell: I was like, oh, it's a good I'm alive.

[2:40] Laura Camien: I'm scared of yours.

[2:41] Laura Camien: I'm scared of your spark.

[2:44] Susan Blackwell: Really, you don't have to be.

[2:45] Susan Blackwell: Yeah, don't don't be afraid.

[2:49] Susan Blackwell: Um, I'm gonna jump right into it if you're ready.

[2:52] Laura Camien: I'm ready, I'm ready.

[2:54] Susan Blackwell: Yeah, okay.

[2:55] Susan Blackwell: Um, I'm gonna say we've talked a lot of times, many times about the benefit of like a news break, a social media break.

[3:04] Laura Camien: Oh, news diet.

[3:06] Susan Blackwell: Yeah.

[3:07] Susan Blackwell: Relief from this relentless cycle of doom and yeah.

[3:12] Susan Blackwell: There's just so much negativity, and it feels like it's the end of the world, it's the apocalypse.

[3:18] Susan Blackwell: In fact, here are a few apocalyptic headlines I've come across recently.

[3:24] Laura Camien: We were talking about this the other night.

[3:27] Susan Blackwell: Were you really?

[3:28] Laura Camien: Oh my gosh.

[3:28] Laura Camien: Oh, I can't wait to.

[3:29] Laura Camien: Does any of do any of your headlines refer to locust?

[3:33] Susan Blackwell: No, no, but that's a good one too, because that's oh, I read about this though.

[3:38] Susan Blackwell: There were the fires in Australia.

[3:41] Susan Blackwell: There was a locust um thing somewhere else in the world, and now there's coronavirus.

[3:47] Laura Camien: So that's right.

[3:48] Laura Camien: There's a there's swarms of locusts devastating India.

[3:52] Susan Blackwell: India, yes.

[3:53] Susan Blackwell: That's right.

[3:54] Susan Blackwell: Yes.

[3:55] Susan Blackwell: So here are some of the headlines.

[3:57] Susan Blackwell: The coronavirus is not our first apocalypse.

[4:00] Susan Blackwell: That was cross-cut on March 24th, 2020.

[4:05] Susan Blackwell: This is not the apocalypse you were looking for.

[4:08] Susan Blackwell: Wired March 30, 2020.

[4:11] Susan Blackwell: Were we looking for a zombie apocalypse?

[4:13] Laura Camien: That's right.

[4:14] Susan Blackwell: That's what we prepared for and we got COVID 19.

[4:17] Susan Blackwell: We are living in an apocalypse American magazine, April 30, 2020, after the COVID apocalypse, Wall Street Journal, May 27, 2020.

[4:28] Laura Camien: Oh, there's a lot of it.

[4:30] Susan Blackwell: Um, according to a CNN article titled Coronavirus is bringing a plague of doomsday predictions on March 23rd.

[4:40] Susan Blackwell: There was a book published in 2008 by an elderly woman named Sylvia Brown.

[4:46] Laura Camien: Have you heard about Sylvia?

[4:48] Laura Camien: I know Sylvia Brown.

[4:50] Susan Blackwell: Sylvia Brown is a do you do you know who Sylvia Brown is?

[4:54] Laura Camien: She's a psychic.

[4:55] Susan Blackwell: Yes.

[4:55] Susan Blackwell: Is that the same woman?

[4:57] Laura Camien: Same woman.

[4:57] Susan Blackwell: She was on a lot of talk shows when we were growing up.

[5:01] Laura Camien: And do you remember Sylvia Brown on talk shows?

[5:04] Susan Blackwell: I do.

[5:05] Susan Blackwell: Yes.

[5:06] Susan Blackwell: Yes.

[5:06] Susan Blackwell: She was, I would say she was one of the first.

[5:09] Susan Blackwell: You know, now there are all, you know, the Long Island medium and all the, you know, all of that.

[5:14] Laura Camien: Yes.

[5:14] Susan Blackwell: John Edwards and people like that.

[5:16] Susan Blackwell: Crossing over.

[5:17] Laura Camien: Yeah, but I feel like she was kind of the the first.

[5:20] Susan Blackwell: She's the OG of those TV.

[5:22] Laura Camien: Yes.

[5:23] Susan Blackwell: I just did not make that connection.

[5:25] Laura Camien: I didn't.

[5:26] Susan Blackwell: Sylvia Brown.

[5:27] Susan Blackwell: Uh-huh.

[5:27] Susan Blackwell: Well, what we know about Sylvia Brown is that she was a psychic, and she claimed that she had been receiving premonitions since she was five years old.

[5:36] Susan Blackwell: The book that she wrote in 2008 was called End of Days: Predictions and Prophecies About the End of the World.

[5:45] Susan Blackwell: And in this book, she made this claim.

[5:48] Susan Blackwell: In around 2020, a severe pneumonia-like illness will spread throughout the globe, attacking the lungs and the bronchial tubes and resisting all known treatments.

[6:01] Susan Blackwell: The book went on to say almost more baffling than the illness itself will be the fact that it will suddenly vanish as quickly as it arrived, attack again 10 years later, and then disappear completely.

[6:18] Laura Camien: Huh.

[6:19] Susan Blackwell: Huh.

[6:20] Laura Camien: That's right.

[6:20] Susan Blackwell: Huh.

[6:21] Susan Blackwell: At the time, a few people buzzed about it, but then the prediction faded away, as many of them do.

[6:27] Susan Blackwell: And Sylvia died in 2013.

[6:31] Susan Blackwell: But of course, now with the arrival of coronavirus, there's newfound attention on the book.

[6:36] Susan Blackwell: And apparently, according to CNN, the book has shot up to number two on Amazon's nonfiction chart.

[6:43] Laura Camien: And physical copies are now selling for hundreds of dollars on eBay.

[6:47] Susan Blackwell: Okay.

[6:48] Susan Blackwell: Right.

[6:51] Susan Blackwell: So granted, many people are predicting and have been predicting the end times on the reg, right?

[6:59] Susan Blackwell: It's like, I don't know, it's one of those sort of like it's five o'clock somewhere kind of ideas, right?

[7:06] Susan Blackwell: It's it's always like it's an apocalypse somewhere, right?

[7:10] Laura Camien: Yeah.

[7:11] Laura Camien: I don't, you know, as you're talking, I will say I just want to interject one moment.

[7:15] Laura Camien: I don't even know what the definition of apocalypse really is.

[7:19] Laura Camien: Like, well, that word obviously has been thrown around so much, but I don't even know if somebody pressed me to define it.

[7:19] Laura Camien: I don't even know what I would say.

[7:27] Susan Blackwell: I can't even tell you how excited I am to hear you say that because of what I'm about to share.

[7:33] Susan Blackwell: Like, I was the definition of the word apocalypse.

[7:35] Laura Camien: Is this gonna be is this gonna be one where you're like, uh yeah?

[7:39] Susan Blackwell: Um, I will get there.

[7:41] Susan Blackwell: But first I will say this.

[7:42] Susan Blackwell: Like, I personally I had not really been thinking of this time as an apocalypse.

[7:47] Susan Blackwell: I don't typically think like that, but something happened for me this week, and I came across one of those mind-bending perception shifting, like plate tectonic level adjustments in my brain that really yes.

[8:06] Susan Blackwell: I was like, what?

[8:08] Susan Blackwell: What just happened?

[8:10] Susan Blackwell: I would like to share it with you now.

[8:12] Laura Camien: I can't wait.

[8:14] Susan Blackwell: This week I discovered what the word apocalypse actually means.

[8:20] Laura Camien: Hell yes, Camille, right on time.

[8:23] Susan Blackwell: Right?

[8:24] Susan Blackwell: The word apocalypse, I mean the origins of the words, it's not how we use it now, but the origin of the word is derived from the Greek words apo, which is un and kalouptine, which is to cover.

[8:40] Susan Blackwell: Said another one of those pronunciations.

[8:43] Susan Blackwell: Apocalypsis, apsocalypsis, which became apocalypse.

[8:49] Susan Blackwell: Uncover, to uncover or to reveal is what it means.

[8:55] Laura Camien: Really?

[8:56] Susan Blackwell: Yes.

[8:57] Susan Blackwell: And of course, I was like, well, maybe this is obvious to everyone else, but I had always and only learned the word in relation to revelations in the biblical sense.

[9:07] Susan Blackwell: And I'm embarrassed that I hadn't really thought about the word in a deeper sense.

[9:12] Susan Blackwell: I just always associated it with like fire and brimstone.

[9:16] Laura Camien: The plagues and all plagues.

[9:19] Susan Blackwell: Yeah.

[9:19] Susan Blackwell: And so of course it's being tossed around in this time of like disease and illness.

[9:25] Susan Blackwell: But it needs to uncover.

[9:28] Susan Blackwell: To uncover.

[9:30] Susan Blackwell: It is a revelation.

[9:32] Susan Blackwell: It's a reveal to reveal the unveiling or unfolding of things not previously known.

[9:40] Laura Camien: I had no idea.

[9:42] Susan Blackwell: I had no idea.

[9:43] Susan Blackwell: I mean, that's the origins of the word.

[9:44] Susan Blackwell: Obviously, it has taken on additional meanings.

[9:49] Susan Blackwell: But now I am thinking of this time as an apocalypse.

[9:54] Susan Blackwell: It is a reveal for me.

[9:55] Susan Blackwell: It had now this like has shifted my mind to start thinking like what has this nearly three-month pause, this break from routine, this time of new fears and old fears revealed to me.

[10:10] Susan Blackwell: Like, what have we uncovered on a personal level, on a collective level, nationally, globally?

[10:16] Susan Blackwell: I am super sparked by this new perspective.

[10:18] Susan Blackwell: So for my spark this week, I'd like to share a few things that this apocalypse has revealed to me personally and what I think it's uncovering collectively.

[10:29] Laura Camien: So uh huh.

[10:31] Laura Camien: So yeah, I'm suddenly like just sparked by the word because I'm first of all, I would have just never associated, I just I don't go there typically.

[10:40] Susan Blackwell: So now I'm like, Yeah, oh, let's look underneath.

[10:44] Susan Blackwell: Like, what's yeah, what is it uncovering?

[10:46] Laura Camien: So, all right.

[10:47] Susan Blackwell: So, here's a few things.

[10:49] Susan Blackwell: So, on a personal level, I have mentioned before that my therapist has said issues that we had before a pandemic are only heightened by a pandemic.

[10:59] Laura Camien: Yeah.

[11:00] Susan Blackwell: So, for a variety of reasons, I've been thinking a lot about my mom recently.

[11:05] Susan Blackwell: I think I've mentioned we had a complicated relationship.

[11:09] Susan Blackwell: Um, I love her very much.

[11:11] Susan Blackwell: But I've been very aware for some time now that she definitely had unprocessed trauma in her own life that she struggled with for decades.

[11:23] Susan Blackwell: But I said to my therapist recently, um, I told her like it was always very confusing for us kids because I knew my mom was in therapy.

[11:35] Susan Blackwell: Like she really worked on breaking cycles of abuse and trauma, and we knew she was trying.

[11:41] Susan Blackwell: Wow.

[11:42] Susan Blackwell: Certain things didn't seem to evolve.

[11:44] Susan Blackwell: Like there were key struggles that lasted her entire lifetime.

[11:48] Susan Blackwell: In fact, I said to my therapist that we would sometimes joke lovingly, of course, but we would joke that my mom seemed to have just enough self help knowledge and therapy to like explain her behavior, but not enough to change her behavior.

[12:04] Susan Blackwell: To change it.

[12:05] Laura Camien: Oh my God.

[12:06] Susan Blackwell: Right.

[12:07] Susan Blackwell: So we would say, like, well, she's had enough self help, just enough to be dangerous, um, but not actually to, you know, evolve.

[12:16] Laura Camien: That's fucked up.

[12:17] Susan Blackwell: Oh god.

[12:19] Susan Blackwell: You, I really think you're going to love this next part.

[12:22] Susan Blackwell: My therapist said something to me so revelatory.

[12:26] Susan Blackwell: I will not go back and see things the way I used to see them.

[12:30] Laura Camien: An apocalypse.

[12:32] Susan Blackwell: I'm apocalypse.

[12:33] Susan Blackwell: Is it a verb?

[12:34] Laura Camien: Can we call it a verb?

[12:35] Susan Blackwell: I've been apocalypse.

[12:37] Susan Blackwell: I've been apocalypse.

[12:38] Susan Blackwell: She said, another thing to consider is the time frame when my mom was getting therapy.

[12:46] Susan Blackwell: Because of course, uh the therapy itself has evolved.

[12:51] Susan Blackwell: But at the time, at the time that my mom would have been getting professional help, at that in that moment, the major focus was on insight.

[13:03] Susan Blackwell: Gaining insight was everything.

[13:05] Susan Blackwell: And of course, insight is important for sure, but it's cerebral, it gives logical explanation, it connects the dots and helps you understand a behavior or an impulse on an intellectual level, but it doesn't go deep.

[13:22] Susan Blackwell: It doesn't address emotion.

[13:25] Laura Camien: And we now know that the field, yes, exactly.

[13:29] Laura Camien: Awareness is an action.

[13:31] Susan Blackwell: Awareness is awareness, and action is action.

[13:33] Susan Blackwell: That's right.

[13:34] Susan Blackwell: And that like the field of psychology and psychiatry has now put more emphasis on the need to connect insight to the emotional and the physical.

[13:52] Susan Blackwell: That you not only see and understand the connection between the old wound and your current behavior, but you can allow yourself to feel the emotion, which we talk about all the time.

[14:03] Laura Camien: Feel the emotion, you can identify the feeling in your body in order to learn how to respond differently.

[14:10] Susan Blackwell: But my mom didn't get that training in her years and years of therapy.

[14:15] Laura Camien: It was staying on the surface level, like in the realm of understanding only.

[14:21] Susan Blackwell: And in retrospect, I can see that it frustrated my mom as well that she could understand things, but it wasn't enough to fully process it.

[14:30] Laura Camien: Like it wasn't enough to release it because she wasn't allowing herself to have the emotion or to feel anything.

[14:37] Susan Blackwell: Yeah, it's almost like she just was like step one, step one, step one.

[14:43] Laura Camien: Just like living in step one without advancing on to step two.

[14:48] Susan Blackwell: That's step three.

[14:49] Laura Camien: But therapy at that time was only step one.

[14:53] Susan Blackwell: Exactly.

[14:54] Laura Camien: That's what's amazing.

[14:55] Susan Blackwell: Is that like decades of her therapy?

[14:58] Laura Camien: And it was like, great.

[15:00] Susan Blackwell: So now you understand why this causes you to um do this.

[15:07] Laura Camien: And then and that's it.

[15:09] Susan Blackwell: Yeah, that's amazing.

[15:11] Laura Camien: This was an amazing revelation for me.

[15:14] Susan Blackwell: I can't even begin to tell you.

[15:17] Laura Camien: Over here in my apocalypse, I'm uncovering even more compassion for what my mom went through in her lifetime and how she even like sought help to process it, but the help itself was limited.

[15:31] Susan Blackwell: Wow.

[15:32] Laura Camien: I mean, for me, it this like changes so much.

[15:37] Susan Blackwell: And it makes me just want to put my arms around her and hug her and say, I can't, I can imagine how frustrating that was for you because you need to feel things, you need to go ahead and let yourself feel those things.

[15:52] Laura Camien: Feel it. Can I ask you, like, in your in her absence, are you able to take that information and activate it in yourself so that you can like not to make therapy like Super Mario Brothers, but so that you can sort of like advance to the next level to the next screen.

[15:52] Susan Blackwell: Are you able to sort of activate something in yourself with that awareness so that you can move forward?

[16:20] Laura Camien: 100%.

[16:22] Susan Blackwell: And the first thing is doing exactly what we talked about, which is feeling that.

[16:27] Laura Camien: Like, so how does that feel? Like to make this revelation and not have my mom here to be able to talk to her about it.

[16:36] Susan Blackwell: Like that is a feel a very deep feeling of sadness and loss.

[16:40] Laura Camien: And I'm still grateful for the shift in mindset for me on this my remaining years on this earth.

[16:48] Susan Blackwell: Yeah.

[16:48] Laura Camien: Um, to have like a new understanding for sure, for sure.

[16:53] Susan Blackwell: And it's funny that you called it like um up leveling, like a video game because I was joking around with my therapist, and I was like, I'm really winning at this therapy game.

[17:05] Laura Camien: She goes, she goes, You are winning.

[17:09] Susan Blackwell: She's like, I never would tell. She's like, I don't say that to people, but but she's like, you're willing to do the work.

[17:15] Laura Camien: But I think it on the inside.

[17:17] Susan Blackwell: Yeah.

[17:17] Laura Camien: She's, I mean, she's honest.

[17:19] Susan Blackwell: She's like, some people like want to be in therapy, but then they resist doing the work.

[17:23] Laura Camien: Yeah.

[17:24] Susan Blackwell: And I'm like, you know, through my tears, I'm like, I'm 100% here.

[17:28] Laura Camien: I'm doing it.

[17:29] Susan Blackwell: Uh so doing the work, doing the work.

[17:33] Laura Camien: But um, yeah, that was a big, big revelation.

[17:36] Susan Blackwell: Um, another thing I'm uncovering and really examining is the fact that I think I'm a workaholic.

[17:44] Laura Camien: And I have really been looking at that and how like throughout my life I've thrown myself into work always.

[17:53] Susan Blackwell: And in retrospect, I think I've probably used work as an excuse to like avoid going deep into relationships or used it as a way to protect me from the vulnerabilities of creating and putting my creative work out there.

[18:08] Laura Camien: And I think I've gotten a lot of like positive external validation from being a workaholic.

[18:14] Susan Blackwell: Like we obviously live in a culture where busyness and overworking are celebrated and valued.

[18:20] Laura Camien: Yeah.

[18:21] Susan Blackwell: It's like the one form of addiction that that often comes with praise and accolades.

[18:26] Laura Camien: Even when people tell you that, you know, you should find some life balance.

[18:29] Susan Blackwell: Typically, they still want you to accomplish everything they're accustomed to you accomplishing.

[18:34] Laura Camien: That's right.

[18:35] Susan Blackwell: That's right.

[18:36] Laura Camien: Like yes, the very people that want you to achieve life balance.

[18:40] Susan Blackwell: And I'm guilty of this too.

[18:42] Laura Camien: Like, I'm like, Nathan, I need you to, I really want for you to be able to like relax, take a day off.

[18:49] Susan Blackwell: But can you do that thing for me that I need it done?

[18:52] Laura Camien: I'm guilty of that.

[18:54] Susan Blackwell: That's right.

[18:55] Laura Camien: Yeah.

[18:55] Susan Blackwell: I just think we're, you know, we just live in that culture.

[18:59] Laura Camien: And I I just am acknowledging, I'm just uncovering it.

[19:04] Susan Blackwell: And I've seen it in myself before, but it's been real easy to be like, I yeah, I see that, but I'm just put a little blanket over that and do that later.

[19:14] Laura Camien: Kick a kick a little dirt over that.

[19:18] Susan Blackwell: Just some dry leaves.

[19:19] Laura Camien: Yes.

[19:19] Susan Blackwell: Oh my god.

[19:21] Laura Camien: But I think also I have a fear of dying penniless and alone.

[19:24] Susan Blackwell: So work always seems to be why that made me laugh.

[19:28] Laura Camien: No, it's true.

[19:28] Susan Blackwell: It's like, I wish I could even say that that's like um a unique fear.

[19:32] Laura Camien: It's not, I I know it's like it lives somewhere in many, many, many people.

[19:38] Susan Blackwell: This idea of like, oh no.

[19:40] Laura Camien: But you were saying that you think the solve for that, the antidote for that is work.

[19:44] Susan Blackwell: Like in your book, yeah.

[19:46] Laura Camien: It's a temporary anecdote.

[19:48] Susan Blackwell: I know that.

[19:49] Laura Camien: Um, but I will go to it to try to like alleviate whenever that fear comes up.

[19:55] Susan Blackwell: I'm like, oh, but I could work harder and I could make more money and I could be okay.

[20:00] Laura Camien: Um when in actuality it's just workaholism.

[20:06] Susan Blackwell: So at this time, when there's like no distinction between work and personal life, working at home, it's been very revealing to me.

[20:16] Laura Camien: Like I can work, I can and will work from like 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. at night easily, unless I force myself to stop.

[20:25] Susan Blackwell: Yeah.

[20:26] Laura Camien: That's just like a regular average day.

[20:28] Susan Blackwell: That's not like I totally get when you're on deadline and you're like pushing through and all that.

[20:33] Laura Camien: Yeah, that's not even that.

[20:35] Susan Blackwell: It's and I'm I'm frustrated by it, obviously.

[20:39] Laura Camien: But I I am frustrated with this in myself too, because I'm sort of like when I I'm tired, honestly.

[20:49] Susan Blackwell: Like I'm the same, you know.

[20:51] Laura Camien: I'm similar, I'm very similar, and I'm tired, but I'm sort of like, well, if I want to get all the things done that I want to get done, if I want to make all the things that I want to make, if I want to make sure that I'm keeping my financial commitments, then I have to.

[21:08] Susan Blackwell: I know.

[21:10] Laura Camien: And I'm like, what have what have I set up for myself?

[21:13] Susan Blackwell: What is this life?

[21:15] Laura Camien: Well, it's something to examine.

[21:19] Susan Blackwell: You know, it's just that like I the I ask myself the same thing of like, well, what would I give up?

[21:27] Laura Camien: Um, and and there's not an easy answer for that, but I definitely want to keep an eye on investing in the relationships that mean so much to me.

[21:41] Susan Blackwell: You know, I just I guess I'm I just want to look under this rock a bit more closely and see what else I have to learn from this.

[21:48] Laura Camien: And maybe it is a lesson in delegation.

[21:51] Susan Blackwell: Maybe it is a lesson in um, you know, working more efficiently.

[21:56] Laura Camien: Um as opposed to just working more.

[22:00] Susan Blackwell: I don't know.

[22:01] Laura Camien: I don't know.

[22:02] Susan Blackwell: So while we're apocalypsing, I also uncovered, like what I realized like I'm uncovering during this time is just an even deeper love and appreciation for my darling Wesley.

[22:17] Laura Camien: Don't be embarrassed that I said this, but um, but he has surprised and impressed me over and over during this pause.

[22:24] Susan Blackwell: And we've been together like 15 years now.

[22:27] Laura Camien: And I want to like continue to delight in this human being.

[22:32] Susan Blackwell: Ah, and I just feel grateful to share this experience.

[22:36] Laura Camien: I won't like bore you with any more gushiness about him, but suffice to say, my appreciation and adoration for him just knows no limits.

[22:45] Susan Blackwell: I love that.

[22:46] Laura Camien: And that has been uncovered during this crazy time.

[22:49] Susan Blackwell: So those are just a few of my personal revelations that I've had during the apocalypse.

[22:55] Laura Camien: But I think I'm not the only one making discoveries.

[23:00] Susan Blackwell: And I've also been thinking about the things that we've uncovered collectively.

[23:07] Laura Camien: Here are just a few.

[23:09] Susan Blackwell: First, I think this pandemic is revealing inequities in a really, really God.

[23:19] Laura Camien: Oh my God.

[23:21] Susan Blackwell: Yes.

[23:22] Laura Camien: I mean, say more.

[23:24] Susan Blackwell: We can't stop talking about it in this house.

[23:26] Laura Camien: We cannot stop talking about it.

[23:27] Susan Blackwell: It's so much.

[23:28] Laura Camien: And what I'm gonna say is just is super generalized because we don't have uh all the time in the world on this podcast.

[23:36] Susan Blackwell: But first of all, I think we can clearly see the inequities in our healthcare system.

[23:41] Laura Camien: I think it's revealed more obviously why we need it, why we need to make it more accessible to everyone.

[23:48] Susan Blackwell: I think having it linked to our jobs is really tough at a time when so many people, a million people have lost their jobs due to a public health crisis, and on top of that, they have to worry about losing their health insurance.

[24:01] Laura Camien: I mean, it's infuriating.

[24:03] Susan Blackwell: Yeah.

[24:03] Laura Camien: I think we're exposing the inequities in our financial system and in our economy, how so many people will benefit and make money from this health crisis, how corporations will take advantage of the bailouts, how poor communities will be hit harder, how people who are fighting for like universal $15 an hour minimum wage became essential workers.

[24:29] Susan Blackwell: We have relied on them to survive, and we can't even value the work they do enough to pay them $15 an hour.

[24:36] Laura Camien: Yep.

[24:37] Susan Blackwell: Teachers, how much have we learned about what they do for our children everywhere?

[24:43] Laura Camien: And they fight year after year for a decent wage.

[24:47] Susan Blackwell: I think it's just become so clear that our economy as it's set up now does not allow everyone the ability to cover their basic human needs.

[24:56] Laura Camien: And I think it's becoming more visible throughout this pandemic.

[25:00] Susan Blackwell: Someone posted on Facebook, I think we've mentioned this before, but we didn't really go into detail.

[25:05] Laura Camien: But this idea that we're not all in the same boat, we are in the same storm.

[25:10] Susan Blackwell: But the circumstances play out very differently for people based on age, race, location, housing conditions, transportation options, financial security, health insurance, your employees to technology, the internet, the access, access of all kinds.

[25:29] Laura Camien: It's so much.

[25:31] Susan Blackwell: So I think it's been incredibly revealing.

[25:34] Laura Camien: And I can just hope that we will be willing to do something about it, you know, when we go to vote or make decisions about our tax dollars and how they're used.

[25:49] Susan Blackwell: Yeah.

[25:50] Laura Camien: I mean, I just hope it's not all for naught.

[25:53] Susan Blackwell: Yeah.

[25:53] Laura Camien: The one we can't stop talking about in this house is um all of the aforementioned and how there are, you know, it was all decided, well, school's going to go online now.

[25:53] Susan Blackwell: School's going to go online.

[26:07] Laura Camien: And if you're if you don't have readily available access to like rock solid internet connectivity.

[26:17] Susan Blackwell: If you don't have a device, if you don't have a cell phone, if you don't have a Chromebook even, like there are students who are just shut out of completely shut out.

[26:28] Laura Camien: The opportunity to learn.

[26:29] Susan Blackwell: That's right.

[26:30] Laura Camien: And then without school, um, parents like they can't go do their jobs.

[26:36] Susan Blackwell: So are we forcing a decision?

[26:38] Laura Camien: If if school stays online, you're forcing a decision to like have to give up a job that your household might need so that someone can stay home with the with your children.

[26:49] Susan Blackwell: It's it's crazy.

[26:52] Laura Camien: Yeah.

[26:53] Susan Blackwell: Um, another thing I think that we are uncovering is the importance of true leadership, genuine, knowledgeable, experienced leadership.

[27:06] Laura Camien: And this is true, like on the macro level, the highest level of government, but also true local government.

[27:13] Susan Blackwell: It's true in each industry that you see, like who's leading the way on our industry.

[27:18] Laura Camien: It's true on each individual company that you may work for.

[27:23] Susan Blackwell: And it's even true in the way you run your household right now.

[27:27] Laura Camien: Like the need for clarity of communication is being revealed.

[27:31] Susan Blackwell: Yes.

[27:33] Laura Camien: No other reason than our freaking nervous systems need to rest.

[27:37] Susan Blackwell: We need our adrenal glands to get a break from the up and down and the stress of not knowing like what's the what are we supposed to be doing?

[27:44] Laura Camien: What's the right thing to do?

[27:46] Susan Blackwell: What matters, and why are we arguing over unnecessary bullshit?

[27:50] Laura Camien: Cams, you and I were talking the other day about how um, like I will just speak for myself.

[27:56] Susan Blackwell: In our house, I feel super fortunate because everybody who is living here right now and quarantining right now in this house is on the same page.

[28:09] Laura Camien: That's right.

[28:10] Susan Blackwell: We are all in agreement about the way we're going to adhere to the CDC guidelines and the way that we're going to conduct ourselves.

[28:20] Laura Camien: Even interpersonally, we're all on the same page.

[28:24] Susan Blackwell: And we all have a similar commitment to keeping the house like safe and peaceful and happy when we can.

[28:31] Laura Camien: Yes.

[28:32] Susan Blackwell: And that is not the case in everybody's house.

[28:35] Laura Camien: No.

[28:36] Susan Blackwell: And then to go back to the first thing about inequities, there are households that just don't have the luxury of making a choice between keeping their whole house quarantine or having a job.

[28:50] Laura Camien: Right.

[28:51] Susan Blackwell: That like that creates a tension point.

[28:55] Laura Camien: Yes.

[28:55] Susan Blackwell: And another layer of stress.

[28:58] Laura Camien: Yes.

[29:00] Susan Blackwell: But then I think even within, you know, so some things are outside of your control, but then some things are in your control, and people just simply don't agree.

[29:09] Laura Camien: And just having the clarity, I think, within your household and making those decisions and sticking to them is huge because we all I feel are craving some kind of clarity in like I guess our behavior, our new norms for the time being, even if they're temporary.

[29:36] Susan Blackwell: Can we all agree on these things?

[29:40] Laura Camien: And I think we find frequently that the answer is no.

[29:45] Susan Blackwell: And we're getting mixed messages constantly too.

[29:48] Laura Camien: So correct.

[29:49] Susan Blackwell: It's all over the map.

[29:51] Laura Camien: And then, and then people's individual companies are making decisions that are either in line with or not in line with other recommendations.

[30:01] Susan Blackwell: And we just I think we're craving really strong leadership.

[30:07] Laura Camien: Yeah.

[30:08] Susan Blackwell: On every level.

[30:09] Laura Camien: And some states have it.

[30:11] Susan Blackwell: I feel like New Yorkers are happy with like Cuomo.

[30:15] Laura Camien: I don't know if you get Cuomo's like nightly email, but I do.

[30:19] Susan Blackwell: I subscribe to it.

[30:20] Laura Camien: And um it's super clear.

[30:22] Susan Blackwell: It's usually like point one through six.

[30:25] Laura Camien: And then there's like a refreshing moment of um deep breath moment or something.

[30:31] Susan Blackwell: And um it's consistent, it's clear.

[30:35] Laura Camien: The like the clarity of what will it take to reopen?

[30:41] Susan Blackwell: What are the benchmarks we need?

[30:43] Laura Camien: Yes.

[30:44] Susan Blackwell: What is everyone supposed to be doing?

[30:46] Laura Camien: It's very clear.

[30:48] Susan Blackwell: Um, so leadership was another one on a more positive note.

[30:53] Laura Camien: Um one of the biggest happy revelations I think we've uncovered or rediscovered is a vital need for fresh air, trees, time in the sun.

[31:06] Susan Blackwell: Like if we ever took for granted previously, this this apocalypse has revealed a primal need to be outdoors more often, I think for a large number of people, this desire to commune with nature has has been revealed in this time, like to take in the silence to commune with you know, the trees, the animals, the wind, the breeze, all of it.

[31:33] Laura Camien: Um it's also shown that decreasing our admissions from cars and planes and cruise ships can make a difference in just a few months' time.

[31:44] Susan Blackwell: Yeah.

[31:45] Laura Camien: Hopefully, it's made it more visible, like the direct connection between man's behavior and climate change.

[31:51] Susan Blackwell: Yeah.

[31:52] Laura Camien: Since cities have shut down, we've seen populations of various species rebound.

[31:57] Susan Blackwell: We've seen animals roaming the newly open spaces.

[32:01] Laura Camien: According to Forbes magazine, studies have shown that within 30 years, much of the ocean could be restored to full health.

[32:09] Susan Blackwell: That's like less than one generation if we actually decided that that was a priority.

[32:17] Laura Camien: Wow.

[32:18] Susan Blackwell: Yeah, I really think and hope that people have uncovered a need for a deep and meaningful connection to nature.

[32:25] Laura Camien: And hopefully that will play out in a newfound commitment to protecting our land, like the Amazon, like our national parks, all of that.

[32:35] Susan Blackwell: I'm hopeful about that.

[32:37] Laura Camien: And I think people have also revealed a stark reminder of how short life is and that nothing is guaranteed.

[32:49] Susan Blackwell: And that's right.

[32:50] Laura Camien: I think I'm seeing a collective reorganization of priorities.

[32:56] Susan Blackwell: Our health, our relationships, our family and friends are like rising to the surface.

[33:01] Laura Camien: Yes, careers are essential.

[33:03] Susan Blackwell: Money is essential.

[33:05] Laura Camien: But seeing how quickly entire industries can be taken down, you realize like you can't build your entire foundation on climbing a career ladder.

[33:14] Susan Blackwell: And I think this time alone has given people the ability to take some space and contemplate what principles and priorities they've built their life on.

[33:25] Laura Camien: And they're re-evaluating how to make space or how to reorder where they put their energy, you know, in order to prioritize what is truly important.

[33:35] Susan Blackwell: Yeah.

[33:37] Laura Camien: So there's many, many more things being uncovered to say the least.

[33:41] Susan Blackwell: But these are some of the observations that stood out to me.

[33:45] Laura Camien: Um now I must ask, of course, what do we make of it?

[33:49] Susan Blackwell: First of all, I'm super curious to know what everyone is uncovering about themselves and their own lives.

[33:57] Laura Camien: What a good question.

[33:58] Susan Blackwell: What are you apocalyptic about yourself?

[34:01] Laura Camien: What are you apocalypse during this time?

[34:05] Susan Blackwell: Um, and I think what we make of it will grow from there.

[34:08] Laura Camien: You know, personal revelations can lead to really profound creative work, but collective insights can guide us all to make changes in our lives and get involved in new ways.

[34:20] Susan Blackwell: As a culture, we can decide we don't want to rebuild everything to look exactly the same way it looked before.

[34:27] Laura Camien: Right.

[34:28] Susan Blackwell: A famous quote and famous moment from the film Apocalypse Now says, someday this war is gonna end.

[34:38] Laura Camien: And it's true.

[34:39] Susan Blackwell: This too shall pass.

[34:41] Laura Camien: And one day we'll look back at this great pause, and I wonder what will we think it revealed to us.

[34:51] Susan Blackwell: Is it the literal end of the world?

[34:53] Laura Camien: Probably not.

[34:55] Susan Blackwell: Likely it's more what REM thinks about the end of the world as we know it.

[35:01] Laura Camien: But now that we've revealed what's underneath, we can determine to reset our priorities and build a better world for all of us.

[35:09] Susan Blackwell: Like maybe the things we're uncovering and discovering will help light the way to recreate our lives the way we want them to be, filled with more light, more love, more belly laughs and church giggles, more art, more understanding, more equity, more safety, more easy breathing, more peace and more harmony.

[35:32] Laura Camien: I sound like a hippie.

[35:35] Susan Blackwell: But I'm okay with that.

[35:38] Laura Camien: I'm okay with that.

[35:40] Susan Blackwell: I love it.

[35:42] Laura Camien: I love that spark.

[35:43] Susan Blackwell: And I'm just sitting here, my mind is just spinning on the possibility of it.

[35:47] Laura Camien: Um, I was speaking with a friend recently who was saying people talk about like when we get back to normal, when we get back to normal, and it was like, uh-uh, it's gonna be a new normal.

[35:59] Susan Blackwell: Like if we're not going back to the way things were before, some things potentially, maybe there's gonna be a new normal and a lot of um growth that's gonna come out of this time.

[36:13] Laura Camien: And I'm so number one, curious what the world will look like because I do think we will, you know, when we ask guests to divide their lives between like, is there a demarcation line from your personal life?

[36:26] Susan Blackwell: I divide my life before this event and then after this event.

[36:30] Laura Camien: And for so many people, I include myself in this, I will view my life before the pandemic.

[36:38] Susan Blackwell: Yes, some a little bit of during, and then a lot of hopefully if I live long enough, a lot of after.

[36:44] Laura Camien: Yes, and I'm like, what is it gonna look like?

[36:47] Susan Blackwell: And here's what I'm thinking.

[36:49] Laura Camien: Yeah, I really want to impact and make choices and influence as much as is possible.

[36:54] Susan Blackwell: Some things are out of our hands, but I want to influence what I want my life to look like.

[37:01] Laura Camien: Yes, yes.

[37:02] Susan Blackwell: That is exactly my hope in writing this spark, Suze, because I think we can be proactive in determining our priorities and determining what we want the world to look like instead of like waiting at home and being like, well, I hope someone's gonna tell me what the world's gonna look like.

[37:22] Laura Camien: That's why I get so I get frustrated with people when they say I'm gonna wait for direction and then I'm gonna activate.

[37:32] Susan Blackwell: And part of me is like, that makes sense because you have to figure out what the parameters are with that you're working with.

[37:37] Laura Camien: Sure, I get that.

[37:38] Susan Blackwell: Yeah, I get that.

[37:39] Laura Camien: Yeah, I feel slightly differently.

[37:43] Susan Blackwell: I'm sort of like, okay, it's a little bit of a free-for-all right now.

[37:47] Laura Camien: Wow.

[37:48] Susan Blackwell: So what so what do I want?

[37:50] Laura Camien: I'll tell you one of the things that has um has revealed itself, has uncovered itself, has apocalypse itself to me.

[37:59] Susan Blackwell: Is I have craved for a long time, and now I'm getting and I'm loving location flexibility.

[38:07] Laura Camien: Yes, I love it.

[38:09] Susan Blackwell: I love like I love zooming to class.

[38:13] Laura Camien: We we're taking a class right now, and I love attending via Zoom conference.

[38:17] Susan Blackwell: Um, I don't have to commute to that class, I can just like go soak up all the yummy educational goodness, and it just like I love it from the from the comfort and safety of my own home.

[38:17] Laura Camien: I love it.

[38:31] Susan Blackwell: Yeah, um, I I love being in the same room with you.

[38:36] Laura Camien: I also love there's a certain ease about being like, let's meet at two o'clock and we'll podcast.

[38:42] Susan Blackwell: Sometimes there's technical difficulties, but there's technical difficulties when we're in the same room.

[38:46] Laura Camien: That's right.

[38:46] Susan Blackwell: That's right.

[38:47] Laura Camien: So I don't want to be a complete hermit, but I do love location flexibility.

[38:51] Susan Blackwell: And I hope I want to make a life where there's uh more of that, maybe less getting on planes, less getting on trains.

[39:00] Laura Camien: Yes.

[39:00] Susan Blackwell: And so that's one thing that I've learned of many.

[39:04] Laura Camien: Suze, I love that.

[39:06] Susan Blackwell: And that clarity, I think is like the gift that we can take.

[39:10] Laura Camien: If we're looking for it, what's being uncovered?

[39:13] Susan Blackwell: What's being revealed to us right now?

[39:16] Laura Camien: And what are we going to do about it?

[39:18] Susan Blackwell: So if an inequity is being revealed right now that you cannot tolerate, what can we do about it so that the decision just isn't uh rolled out to us at some point?

[39:32] Laura Camien: We're like, oh, I guess this is how things came to be.

[39:36] Susan Blackwell: Yeah.

[39:36] Laura Camien: Um the one that's really really lighting me up right now is the piece around is there anything I can do to contribute to the conversation or contribute to the solution around equity and access for all students.

[39:54] Susan Blackwell: Yeah.

[39:55] Laura Camien: So that they can get a good quality education.

[39:58] Susan Blackwell: Because if you think about it, if they have great internet and the right device and a safe place to be, that's right.

[40:09] Laura Camien: They could drop into school any school.

[40:12] Susan Blackwell: They could be educated on the highest levels if they're able to like pass through the gate.

[40:20] Laura Camien: And the gate is great internet access, uh, some uh a solid device to work on and a safe environment in which to work.

[40:28] Susan Blackwell: And you're bringing up an amazing point that people will need to keep an eye on.

[40:33] Laura Camien: And if you're not hearing about it, you need to look into it.

[40:36] Susan Blackwell: Because what's happening right now is that obviously tax dollars have been cut, uh have been reduced enormously because people aren't spending money in cities.

[40:48] Laura Camien: And so the places where they have to balance a budget like New York City, um, the education system is going to be cut by millions of dollars.

[40:59] Susan Blackwell: Their budget will be cut by millions because they just don't have it.

[41:03] Laura Camien: And it was already so low.

[41:05] Susan Blackwell: So what will happen and how will that money be distributed fairly?

[41:11] Laura Camien: Um, so that the students who were already struggling to have access to what they need are not struggling even more.

[41:20] Susan Blackwell: Yeah, I mean, I think that education piece is the center of has the potential of being at the center of so much positive change.

[41:29] Laura Camien: Yeah.

[41:30] Susan Blackwell: But if you, you know, if if we are not voting and putting our money there, then we are continuing a broken system.

[41:41] Laura Camien: That's right.

[41:42] Susan Blackwell: I mean, if we think we're gonna just kind of go back to what wasn't working in the first place, I mean, there really is, I know it's like at this point it's trite to say, but with every crisis, there's opportunity and the opportunity in education is to finally reimagine it the way we have been talking about doing for years and years, decades.

[42:06] Laura Camien: Yeah.

[42:06] Susan Blackwell: Yeah. Cams, this is a good. I love this spark. I love it because these are hard fucking times, and this is all about possibility.

[42:17] Laura Camien: Ah, thanks, Suze.

[42:19] Susan Blackwell: Thanks.

[42:19] Laura Camien: Yeah. I'm trying to, you know, just keep my eyes open for things that are revealing themselves because there is a temptation for sure for me to be like, can I take a nap and then wake up when someone's figured this out? And then I realize, like, oh, I have to figure it out.

[42:37] Susan Blackwell: Yeah. But look at you, keeping your eyes open, looking for sparks.

[42:41] Laura Camien: Looking, seeking, scanning, scanning.

[42:45] Susan Blackwell: I love it. Should we take a little breaky?

[42:47] Laura Camien: Let's do it.

[42:50] Susan Blackwell: Okay. Cammy.

[42:52] Laura Camien: Yes.

[42:52] Susan Blackwell: I just want to say the spark is an intense spark.

[42:58] Laura Camien: Okay.

[42:59] Susan Blackwell: This is your trigger warning.

[43:01] Laura Camien: Okay.

[43:01] Susan Blackwell: This is your content warning.

[43:03] Laura Camien: Okay.

[43:04] Susan Blackwell: So do what you have to do to take care of yourself. Listeners. Cams, I'm sorry you're in it for the ride with me.

[43:09] Laura Camien: I'm in it.

[43:10] Susan Blackwell: Um, thank you. This week, like pretty much every other week in recorded history, brought us more stories of racism and violence towards people of color.

[43:20] Laura Camien: If it was a different week or even a different day, there would be a different name.

[43:24] Susan Blackwell: But this week we saw racism fatally unleashed on a man named George Floyd, who was killed by a Minneapolis police officer who suffocated George Floyd by kneeling on his neck.

[43:37] Laura Camien: George Floyd's alleged crime.

[43:40] Susan Blackwell: His alleged crime was trying to make a purchase at a convenience store with a counterfeit $20 bill.

[43:48] Laura Camien: Allegedly.

[43:49] Susan Blackwell: Allegedly. The officer who killed George Floyd has been fired and charged with murder.

[43:55] Laura Camien: Finally.

[43:56] Susan Blackwell: Finally. The arresting.

[43:57] Laura Camien: Finally.

[43:57] Susan Blackwell: The arresting officers who were present claimed that George Floyd resisted arrest, but footage taken by several cameras at the scene from several different vantage points are telling a different story.

[44:09] Laura Camien: And as of this recording of this podcast, there are more recordings that haven't been released, more pieces of footage that haven't been released.

[44:18] Susan Blackwell: And if I understand correctly, authorities have not released the body cam footage from the officers.

[44:23] Laura Camien: And they have asked the convenience store owner not to release their footage.

[44:29] Susan Blackwell: Whoa. People of color have been targeted in this country for centuries.

[44:36] Laura Camien: And let's be real.

[44:37] Susan Blackwell: If this is what cameras are capturing, I hate to think about what isn't being captured on film and what has gone undocumented for centuries before cameras were so ubiquitous.

[44:49] Laura Camien: That's right.

[44:50] Susan Blackwell: All of this reminds me of another man of color and his relationship to cameras.

[44:56] Laura Camien: And that man is my spark for today.

[44:58] Susan Blackwell: And that man's name is Russ Ewing.

[45:02] Laura Camien: My sources are Wikipedia, an article from the Chicago Sun Times by Maureen O'Donnell, an article by Herbert G. McGann for the Associated Press, The Intercept Podcast, and the main source for My Spark Today is the amazing podcast, Criminal, hosted by the wonderful Phoebe Judge.

[45:20] Susan Blackwell: If you don't know Phoebe Judge and you don't know all of her work, you're in for a treat. And I want to say that again, her podcast was the principal source for My Spark Today. Her awesome journalism, her awesome storytelling.

[45:33] Laura Camien: So if you like the spark, go listen to Criminal, especially the episode called Call Russ Ewing.

[45:39] Susan Blackwell: Which leads me back to my spark, Russ Ewing.

[45:39] Laura Camien: Russ Ewing.

[45:43] Susan Blackwell: Russ Ewing was born in Chicago in 1923. And at the age of seven, he was orphaned. He was first taken in by an aunt and later adopted by a neighboring family who he referred to as his aunt and uncle.

[45:57] Laura Camien: He said that he met his wife Ruth in kindergarten.

[46:01] Susan Blackwell: She worked as a high school librarian. I mean, as an adult, not when she was in kindergarten.

[46:06] Laura Camien: That's gonna be impressive.

[46:10] Susan Blackwell: Or he was in kindergarten and she was the high school librarian. It was very inappropriate.

[46:13] Laura Camien: Also awkward.

[46:15] Susan Blackwell: Yeah. No, no, no, no. Let me clarify. He met his wife, Ruth, when they were both in kindergarten. She grew up and worked as a high school librarian.

[46:24] Laura Camien: Nice.

[46:24] Susan Blackwell: Um, Russ was a gifted piano player. And in the 80s, he even headed up the Russ Ewing trio. He didn't pursue music professionally because he said he didn't like that nightlife scene.

[46:37] Laura Camien: But in the 1950s, Russ Ewing became one of the city of Chicago's first few black firefighters.

[46:45] Susan Blackwell: He described getting to the scene. This story is insane. He described getting to the scene of a house fire, and the white woman who owned the house said she wouldn't let Russ and other black firefighters extinguish the fire.

[47:00] Laura Camien: And apparently, as a reward for her racism and bigotry, that woman's house burned down.

[47:06] Susan Blackwell: Good. Cams, how fucking racist would you have to be to let your house burn down while able-bodied people are standing there fully suited up and ready to help you?

[47:17] Laura Camien: Fucking believable.

[47:18] Susan Blackwell: It's so ignorant. It's so idiotic.

[47:22] Laura Camien: I mean, it's a good idea.

[47:22] Susan Blackwell: It leads to the game. How racist are you?

[47:26] Laura Camien: Like it is insane.

[47:28] Susan Blackwell: So racist that you would let your house burn down. I feel like that's the definition of cutting off your nose to spite your face. I feel like that's the definition of karma and getting what you deserve. Congratulations, you bigot.

[47:42] Laura Camien: Okay.

[47:43] Susan Blackwell: So as a firefighter, Russ Ewing had this firsthand inside look at the way black firefighters were being treated in Chicago in comparison with other white firefighters.

[47:55] Laura Camien: In addition to the racism of the people they were charged to serve, like that bigoted lady, at that time, fire stations were segregated and black firefighters were rarely being promoted.

[48:07] Susan Blackwell: And white firefighters who behaved badly or were alcoholics were sent to work with the black firefighters as punishment.

[48:15] Laura Camien: So yeah.

[48:16] Susan Blackwell: So Russ started exposing this information in a local black newspaper called The Chicago Defender.

[48:23] Laura Camien: Go.

[48:24] Susan Blackwell: And at first, yes, the bravery.

[48:24] Laura Camien: The bravery.

[48:28] Susan Blackwell: So at first he wrote under pseudonyms, and then he began identifying himself.

[48:34] Laura Camien: And as a result of that, other media outlets reached out to him.

[48:38] Susan Blackwell: And as a result of that, in the mid-60s, Russ Ewing got his first job in television at WMAQ in Chicago.

[48:46] Laura Camien: And originally he was hired to be a film courier, but he also pitched stories.

[48:51] Susan Blackwell: And he was then promoted to write copy.

[48:54] Laura Camien: Yes.

[48:55] Susan Blackwell: And then he appeared on camera first in 1967 when he was promoted to become an on-air reporter.

[49:03] Laura Camien: Oh my God.

[49:04] Susan Blackwell: Yeah. So he was.

[49:06] Laura Camien: Yeah, he was only one of a small handful of black employees at the station.

[49:10] Susan Blackwell: But it was important at that time to have black reporters and black cameramen, etc., because a black news crew could go into a neighborhood that a white news crew could not easily access.

[49:22] Laura Camien: So he would go into a black neighborhood, and people would be so ready and willing to talk to him and get other people to talk to him that he could get all the footage he needed for a news package in like 15 minutes.

[49:35] Susan Blackwell: Oh my God.

[49:36] Laura Camien: Yeah, that's incredible.

[49:38] Susan Blackwell: So Russ is out in the field working as a journalist, doing these investigative stories that exposed abuses at Chicago's animal shelters and exposing discriminatory lending practices by Chicago area banks.

[49:53] Laura Camien: And then his work took a surprising turn.

[49:57] Susan Blackwell: So on the podcast Criminal, they play this great interview. It's this recording of Russ Ewing in a 1992 interview with the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation.

[50:08] Laura Camien: And he tells the story about how he was on the scene covering a breaking story about a person, it was a man with mental illness who was holding his own mother and some young children hostage.

[50:20] Susan Blackwell: And the police were surrounding the house where this hostage crisis is unfolding. They don't want to rush the house out of concern for the safety of the hostages.

[50:29] Laura Camien: And after it had been going on for a long time, Russ says to the police, let me see if I can talk to the guy.

[50:36] Susan Blackwell: And the police say, Well, go ahead and get your head shot off. We can't stop you.

[50:40] Laura Camien: I mean, Camille, I know this was a different time, of course, but I swear, if I saw that in a movie, I wouldn't believe it.

[50:49] Susan Blackwell: No.

[50:49] Laura Camien: Do you know what I mean?

[50:50] Susan Blackwell: Yes, you would be. This like that's really, they let the reporter into the house, like resolve the hostage situation.

[50:57] Laura Camien: So so, but they said, go ahead, go ahead.

[51:00] Susan Blackwell: So Russ gets up near the door of the house, and the guy recognizes Russ from TV and he lets Russ in.

[51:07] Laura Camien: Oh.

[51:08] Susan Blackwell: And they talk.

[51:10] Laura Camien: And Russ said he didn't talk about surrendering. He just talked about the philosophy that any kind of living is better than any kind of dying.

[51:19] Susan Blackwell: So they talk for a while. Some accounts say a few minutes, some say they talk for an hour. And then the man who was holding the hostages put the gun down.

[51:29] Laura Camien: And Russ Ewing and that man walk out arm in arm.

[51:34] Susan Blackwell: And that was the beginning of Russ Ewing exercising his superpowers to de-escalate hostage situations.

[51:43] Laura Camien: Wow.

[51:44] Susan Blackwell: Yeah.

[51:45] Laura Camien: Yeah. You doing okay over there?

[51:46] Susan Blackwell: Uh-huh.

[51:47] Laura Camien: Uh-huh.

[51:47] Susan Blackwell: Okay. Got me. That just really got me because that is a skill.

[51:54] Laura Camien: That is a superpower.

[51:56] Susan Blackwell: Two connections.

[51:57] Laura Camien: It is a superpower.

[51:59] Susan Blackwell: Heart to connect with people.

[52:01] Laura Camien: In the midst of that.

[52:02] Susan Blackwell: Yeah. And in the midst of very heightened situations, to be so calm that you instill calm in other people.

[52:10] Laura Camien: Amazing.

[52:11] Susan Blackwell: Amazing. Truly amazing.

[52:13] Laura Camien: So in 1976, two men robbed a currency exchange office, and they took two people hostage.

[52:20] Susan Blackwell: They fled to a nearby apartment. They broke in. They barricaded themselves and the hostages inside the apartment.

[52:27] Laura Camien: They were surrounded by police force and they refused to come out and said they didn't trust the police.

[52:32] Susan Blackwell: And when the police asked who they did trust, the men said, Russ Ewing.

[52:38] Laura Camien: No way.

[52:38] Susan Blackwell: So, yep, the police contacted Russ Ewing.

[52:42] Laura Camien: And according to a cameraman who was present, what finally swayed the two men to surrender was Russ's assurances that they wouldn't be shot.

[52:51] Susan Blackwell: And by Russ saying, if they shoot you, they'll have to shoot me. And that was the beginning of Russ Ewing exercising his superpower of keeping people, especially people of color, safe when they surrendered to the police.

[53:06] Laura Camien: Oh God.

[53:08] Susan Blackwell: And the next week, another call came in for rescuing.

[53:12] Laura Camien: And after that, the calls kept coming in for rescuing.

[53:16] Susan Blackwell: That's crazy.

[53:16] Laura Camien: But are you doing okay over there, Kim?

[53:20] Susan Blackwell: I am.

[53:20] Laura Camien: I'm just yeah, I'm holding that together, but that's amazing.

[53:25] Susan Blackwell: It's it's I'm telling you, superpowers.

[53:30] Laura Camien: Superpowers.

[53:32] Susan Blackwell: But to understand why Russ Ewing was so in demand, you have to know a bit more about Chicago at that time.

[53:40] Laura Camien: And I just want to say again, this next part describes acts of intense violence.

[53:46] Susan Blackwell: So please, if you're listening, use your discretion.

[53:51] Laura Camien: In Chicago at that time, there was a detective commander named John Burge.

[53:57] Susan Blackwell: According to the Intercept podcast, John Burge grew up on the southeast side of Chicago in a changing neighborhood. He flunked out of college and became a military police officer, a sergeant in Vietnam in a POW camp where it was later demonstrated that they were practicing torture during interrogations.

[54:19] Laura Camien: And after he left Vietnam, John Burge came back to Chicago where he became a police officer.

[54:26] Susan Blackwell: And then he quickly became a detective.

[54:28] Laura Camien: And he came to manage an entire detective division on the far south side of Chicago, which was a predominantly black part of the city.

[54:38] Susan Blackwell: And John Burge used the dehumanizing torture tactics that he had learned in Vietnam to interrogate people who were suspected of committing serious crimes.

[54:50] Laura Camien: So John Burge and some of his detectives were known as the Midnight Crew or Burge's ass kickers.

[54:59] Susan Blackwell: And they would identify a suspect.

[55:01] Laura Camien: Cammian, this gets really tough.

[55:05] Susan Blackwell: They would torture that suspect into confessing to those crimes.

[55:09] Laura Camien: And by torture, I mean beating, I mean burning, I mean suffocating, I mean mock executions, I mean shocking suspects with what was essentially a homemade torture machine.

[55:26] Susan Blackwell: And according to firsthand accounts of people who experienced this torture, Burge himself would put a bullet in a revolver, spin the cylinder, put it to the temple of the suspect, and play Russian roulette.

[55:41] Laura Camien: Oh my God.

[55:42] Susan Blackwell: Cammian, it's so extreme and it's so hard to take in, but like the videos that we're seeing of these people of color who are being what is essentially like it's important to look at it and killed.

[56:07] Laura Camien: Well, to know how long this has been going on.

[56:12] Susan Blackwell: Yeah.

[56:12] Laura Camien: How and you know, there have been times in our history where it has been more um covert, like undercover, like behind closed doors.

[56:26] Susan Blackwell: Yeah.

[56:26] Laura Camien: And um, but not that it has gone away. Not that it hasn't happened, but there have been times that it has been hidden.

[56:34] Susan Blackwell: And then these times where it's like in broad daylight, knowing that there are phones uh recording you, uh, the uh I I just can't, I you know, I just can't. But I wish we could point to a time in our history when this wasn't happening.

[56:50] Laura Camien: But we can't.

[56:55] Susan Blackwell: Because it doesn't exist. So on Criminal, they share a recording of a Chicago public defender named Mary Jane Plasic, and she tells a story of a time she was working on a death penalty case as a public defender, and she produced a picture of a holding cell bench in a jail, and the suspect had scratched into the holding cell bench.

[57:19] Laura Camien: This is an oak bench scratched into the surface of the bench.

[57:24] Susan Blackwell: They're torturing me. And that was why the suspect gave a confession. According to the criminal podcast, things got so out of control that the Cook County Public Defender's Office in Chicago wrote to the U.S. Attorney General about the systematic torture of black male suspects in order to coerce them into making confessions.

[57:47] Laura Camien: And according to a former Chicago TV reporter named Charles Thomas, there were people who spent 25 or 30 years in the penitentiary on charges that they confessed to because they were being tortured.

[58:01] Susan Blackwell: So it wasn't just a uh a singular, terrifying, terrible, torturous, traumatic event in somebody's life. It led to the false convictions of people who were coerced into confession.

[58:18] Laura Camien: Oh my God.

[58:19] Susan Blackwell: Because they were being tortured. It's crazy. And they like just singled out by these guys either out of convenience or out of like intentional takedown. You know, we're going to bring this guy in for this crime. It seemed like when they had it in their, they were like, that's the guy that they would stop at nothing to torture these confessions out of people.

[58:46] Laura Camien: And there were people that were again wrongly charged.

[58:51] Susan Blackwell: By the time they were done with him, they were like, I'll confess to anything.

[58:55] Laura Camien: My God, yes.

[58:57] Susan Blackwell: Yes. But remember, remember, Camien, this was before everyone was walking around with a portable film camera in their pocket. Russ Ewing was a trusted black man moving through Chicago with a camera.

[59:13] Laura Camien: And he was doing his work in the midst of all of this extreme abuse of power and corruption in the Chicago criminal justice system. Russ Ewing and his cameramen would use their news cameras to take head-to-toe pictures of a suspect who was surrendering to make sure there were no bruises on them when they were delivered to the police.

[59:33] Susan Blackwell: And in this way, the police could not claim that a suspect had pre-existing injuries on their body before they surrendered themselves into police custody.

[59:44] Laura Camien: My God, that is just that is one of those like, well, what when you're feeling helpless, like what part can I play in a solution for this? And for him to realize this is one thing I can contribute to. I can't see this image.

[1:00:01] Susan Blackwell: Oh my God.

[1:00:02] Laura Camien: That's exactly right. Reporter Charles Thomas is quoted on the criminal podcast. It was well known that if the cops were looking for you, whether you did it or not, and you went to Russ, Russ would ensure that you would be turned in and that you wouldn't be beaten or tortured at the hands of the police.

[1:00:20] Susan Blackwell: Russ Ewing and his cameramen would document your surrender and they would put it on the evening news, and that would create public proof that if you ended up with a broken arm later, that arm was broken in police custody.

[1:00:34] Laura Camien: Oh my God.

[1:00:36] Susan Blackwell: Yeah. Yeah. Russ Ewing was showing the police and the public that someone was watching what was going on. Someone was watching what they were doing. And because the authorities knew he was watching and would follow up, it prevented misconduct by the judges, by state's attorneys, and by the police.

[1:00:53] Laura Camien: Yes.

[1:00:54] Susan Blackwell: Yes. This person, this bravery, this this like it's so fucking smart. It's just so smart.

[1:01:05] Laura Camien: It's I have my eyes on you.

[1:01:07] Susan Blackwell: It's I have my eyes on you. Because our eyes on you. We are watching you. So once word got around that you were safe with Russ, that you could tell him anything, that he could keep a secret, he became this trusted go-to. And sometimes the suspects' families would contact Russ because they knew that in his hands their loved ones would be delivered safely into custody.

[1:01:30] Laura Camien: He would talk gently with suspects. He would, he would affirm that they were not a pariah, even though they may have done something egregious. He would touch their hand during their surrender. He would walk with them arm in arm all the way. He would promise that police would not use handcuffs. He would stay very physically close. He would even ride in the police car with the suspects when they were afraid of being alone with the police.

[1:02:02] Susan Blackwell: Yes, that's exactly right. I feel like what John Burge and those detectives were doing was so dehumanizing.

[1:02:09] Laura Camien: Yes.

[1:02:10] Susan Blackwell: And what Russ Ewing was doing was exactly that, Camien. It was humanizing people. And the people could, they knew it. They could feel it from him.

[1:02:20] Laura Camien: So over a decade's long career, first at WMAQ, NBC 5, and then at WLS ABC 7, Russ Ewing helped more than 100 people wanted by the police to turn themselves in. Some counts have it at about 115 wanted suspects who volunteered themselves into the custody of Russ Ewing.

[1:02:44] Susan Blackwell: A fellow journalist said no one else could do what Russ Ewing was doing. This was Russ's world. He could provide people with safety and dignity even during a surrender.

[1:02:59] Laura Camien: Another news colleague named Pat Arnold said that while his fellow reporters could comprehend what Russ was doing was dangerous. Russ didn't seem to vibrate any fear or anxiety. He just took it all in stride. And as a result, his colleagues did as well.

[1:03:18] Susan Blackwell: And I'll go one step further and say, as a result, the people that he was working with felt it and it de-excited their nervous systems as well. Do you know what I mean?

[1:03:30] Laura Camien: Yeah.

[1:03:30] Susan Blackwell: Yeah. To be around that calm.

[1:03:33] Laura Camien: It's calm.

[1:03:33] Susan Blackwell: It's leadership. It's it's like it is. It is.

[1:03:38] Laura Camien: It's trust.

[1:03:39] Susan Blackwell: It's trust. It's trust. Um, there was an ABC 7 camera operator named Ken Bedford who said Russ was unflappable. Even when he picked up this, he picked up a suspect who had a very large gun collection. And Russ called out, bring the weapon with you that you used to shoot the person.

[1:03:58] Laura Camien: And then somebody yelled back, which one? It's just like unfucking flappable. Uh during an uprising at a maximum security Indiana State Prison, inmates requested Russ Ewing's help in negotiating peace.

[1:04:14] Susan Blackwell: Oh my God.

[1:04:16] Laura Camien: In a 1995 Sun-Times interview, Russ recalled one of his scariest surrenders this way. This guy who had shot a couple of people in Gary called, wanting to turn himself in. He was hiding out in an old water-soaked shack. I went up and he's sitting there with a bottle of Jack Daniels and a 357 Magnum fully loaded. And he said, Russ, I'm going to prison for the rest of my life. I want to shoot my gun before I go.

[1:04:41] Susan Blackwell: And Russ asked, You got anybody in mind? So he said, They talked, they laughed, and the this guy got the gun and he fired three shots into the ceiling of the shack, and plaster was falling every place. And Russ Ewing looked at him and said, Hey, that looks like fun. Let me try that.

[1:05:00] Laura Camien: The guy gives Russ the gun. Russ fired three shots into the ceiling. Uh-huh.

[1:05:06] Susan Blackwell: And he said to the guy, You got any more bullets? And the guy said, No. And Russ said, I was happy as hell. So this is amazing to me. Russ gets this suspect to hand over his gun. He discharges all of the remaining bullets into the ceiling. He makes himself safe. He makes the situation safe. He really had this way with people, this superpower.

[1:05:32] Laura Camien: So after this very, very full career, Ewing said he informed his bosses at WLS of his plans to retire. He said, because a guy has moved into my house and I can't get him out. And when they asked him who, Russ said, father time.

[1:05:49] Susan Blackwell: Oh during during his career, Russ Ewing won nine Emmy Awards, a Chicago Headline Club Peter Lissager Award for exemplary journalism, and two medals of merit from the city of Chicago. In 1997, he was inducted into the Chicago Television Academy Silver Circle. And in 2003, the Chicago Association of Black Journalists created the Russ Ewing Excellence in Journalism Awards and Scholarship Presentation.

[1:06:17] Laura Camien: I feel like that doesn't even begin to cover.

[1:06:20] Susan Blackwell: I know. It's lovely journalism awards, but it's like there's so much more.

[1:06:26] Laura Camien: Yeah.

[1:06:26] Susan Blackwell: I know. Russ Ewing died on June 25th, 2019, at the age of 95 years old in his home in Pawpaw, Michigan. And after his death, ABC 7 reporter Paul Mikey said he was unafraid of just about anything. He wasn't flashy, he wasn't flamboyant, he was just meat and potatoes. He was earthy and honest.

[1:06:52] Laura Camien: And when you watch him, Cammyon, and when you listen to him, you're like, yeah, yeah.

[1:06:58] Susan Blackwell: He it was so straightforward. It was so calm. It was it was amazing.

[1:07:06] Laura Camien: So what do we make of it?

[1:07:10] Susan Blackwell: I'll tell you, one of the things that I'm making of it is fuel. I am using Russ Ewing's story as fuel to continue educating myself about racial injustice and inequalities and about abuses of power that are hard to look at.

[1:07:26] Laura Camien: As a white woman, I feel like I have this privilege that others don't. It's easier for me to just tuck myself away and look away from what's going on, but that's not a privilege that everyone in the world has.

[1:07:46] Susan Blackwell: And especially not just the people who are the victims of this inequality and of this racism and of this violence. But Russ Ewing is evidence that one person can make a huge difference. And I feel like his work reminds me that we have to keep trying.

[1:08:19] Laura Camien: We can't that we can challenge ourselves, we can educate ourselves, we can understand hard truths of what's happening in the world and expand our understanding and our empathy towards people who we feel are different from us.

[1:08:34] Susan Blackwell: I also another what can we make of this for me is I'd like to work on making myself more fearless. And I'm not, I don't I don't think I'm as brave as Russ. I don't, I don't want to put myself in harm's way. But if the moment arises, I want to stand up, I want to challenge violence, I want to challenge racism, I want to challenge corruption, and I want to be brave.

[1:09:02] Laura Camien: And through it, like Russ, I would like to be able to. This is a, I don't know if I can live up to the spark, but to be able to do so and not vibrate fear or anxiety.

[1:09:18] Susan Blackwell: That's, I mean, there's no bravery without fear, right? If if uh if you weren't, if you didn't have fear, you wouldn't need to be brave. Um so uh, you know, I think moving through that fear and doing it anyway is really uh best case scenario. What we can hope for, but I see I see something in him where he was one of those people that could come into a situation.

[1:09:46] Laura Camien: When people talk about Jesus Christ, I always think, oh, this is what Jesus was doing.

[1:09:52] Laura Camien: He was going to these situations and he was able to calm people, he was able to bring peace to situations. And I feel like this was a gift and a superpower that Russ Ewing had as well. He was able to go into situations, not like jack them up with more adrenaline, but de-escalate, de-excite other people's nervous systems because of where he was coming from. I think he was able to connect with people in a very human way and to instill in them a sense of safety and trust. And I, as a I I just think even in small ways, even if we're not like face to face directly with violence, even in small ways, in a classroom, for instance, to be able to instill that sense of safety and let people know that they can be themselves, that they can tell their truths. That's just one example.

[1:10:52] Susan Blackwell: Right.

[1:10:53] Laura Camien: Yeah. But but there are ways of I think moving through the world and letting people know that I am a human being, you are a human being, and we can we can connect in that space. Um I also think Russ Ewing would be the subject of a phenomenal documentary. And from what I can tell, I don't think that exists. I also think this would make a hell of a screenplay. If Paul Winfield was still alive, he would be perfect in the role of older Russ Ewing. But you know who would be great as young Russ Ewing?

[1:11:30] Susan Blackwell: Who?

[1:11:30] Laura Camien: Donald Glover.

[1:11:32] Susan Blackwell: Donald Glover.

[1:11:33] Laura Camien: Wow. Go get yourself an Oscar. I'm telling you, I'm telling you, this would be a oh my God, it would be such a good incredible.

[1:11:42] Susan Blackwell: Yeah.

[1:11:43] Laura Camien: I feel like if people like a lot of people listen to criminal and she's done a lot of the like the legwork on this. Oh my gosh.

[1:11:50] Susan Blackwell: It's right.

[1:11:51] Laura Camien: Oh my gosh. Yes. It's it needs to be told.

[1:11:55] Susan Blackwell: Yeah. It is an amazing story. And uh other sparks include, I I'll just say I don't want to give this person too much airtime because he's such a fucking piece of shit. But John Burge, John Burge is uh, I mean, talk about uh antagonist in a story. Holy shit. Did he get uh does he like what's his what's the end of his tale?

[1:12:23] Laura Camien: I'll tell you, Cammy. Um by the time John Burge.

[1:12:30] Laura Camien: Nope. By the time John Burge was dismissed in 1993, he and some detectives under him had allegedly tortured more than 100 people in the 70s, 80s, and 90s. The full extent of his misconduct didn't become known until later. So in 1993, he was fired, but he continued to collect a pension. And sidebar, I am so fucking sick of hearing about these people who commit heinous crimes, and then they because of either a loophole or be or or not a loophole, they continue to collect a pension. If you haven't seen the HBO movie Bad Education, it'll make you want to punch your TV. But um, by the time the criminal investigation of John Burge and his crew occurred, the statute of limitations on torture had passed. But he was later convicted on federal charges of obstruction of justice and perjury because he lied under oath that he he said that he hadn't tortured suspects.

[1:13:31] Laura Camien: Okay. And but listen to this, he was only sentenced for all his heinous crimes. He was sentenced to four and a half years in prison. I feel like for what he did, he should have been kept out of society for the rest of his life.

[1:13:45] Susan Blackwell: 100%.

[1:13:48] Laura Camien: In 2016, the city of Chicago paid nearly $5.5 million to 57 victims who had been tortured by John Burge and his so-called midnight crew. And that was in addition to the more than a hundred million dollars the city of Chicago had already paid in reparation settlements and legal fees stemming from police abuse. He ended up dying, John Burge ended up dying in Florida in 2018. But it enrages me that taxpayer money, taxpayer money, solved the salaries, right, the pensions, and then like solved the legal disputes of these buckers. It's enraging to me.

[1:14:27] Susan Blackwell: It's not enough money.

[1:14:38] Laura Camien: Yes.

[1:14:40] Susan Blackwell: And the lives of the people that loved them. John Burge had a boat, and he took that homemade torture machine and like took it out on the boat and sank it because it was evidence. He like took it out in the middle of water and like sank it to hide it.

[1:14:56] Laura Camien: Allegedly, allegedly.

[1:15:12] Susan Blackwell: That's right. Um other sparks from this. So even though I'll say this, even though he's absolutely reprehensible, it's interesting subject matter. It's interesting subject matter to write about, to base characters on. When we talk about like the sparks, the things that make you angry, make you cry, make you like want to punch your TV, those are sparks that's like go right to that source because you know, a story where that man gets his retribution, where he gets what's coming to him, can be a very like ultimately gratifying story.

[1:15:52] Laura Camien: Yeah, yeah.

[1:15:53] Susan Blackwell: And just even if the the story isn't told that he gets retribution to know the story, to tell the story in a way so people can take it in and educate themselves, I think is equally as important.

[1:16:04] Laura Camien: That's true.

[1:16:05] Susan Blackwell: Um, other sparks. Phoebe Judge, the work that Phoebe Judge is doing on Criminal, the podcast This Is Love. Uh one of my favorite sparks I've ever done uh was sparked by the podcast This Is Love that Phoebe Judge and her team make. And it was the story about Lynn Cox swimming with Grace and the Whale.

[1:16:25] Laura Camien: Yes.

[1:16:26] Susan Blackwell: Which is one of my favorite sparks I've ever done. That was sparked by a Phoebe Judge podcast called This Is Love. She also has a great series that she's been doing since uh the pandemic struck called Phoebe Reads a Mystery, where every day she reads a chapter from, for instance, an Agatha Christie mystery or a uh Arthur Conan Doyle mystery. Right now I'm in the middle of her reading one of the first detective novels, which is called The Moonstone. She's great, she's such a spark. Um I also want to share some sparks that have been fanned into flames and shared with the world, and that is art that has been made to honor George Floyd and to protest his murder. A group of five artists created a mural at the location where George Floyd was murdered.

The mural is located at the corner of 38th Street and Chicago Avenue South in Minneapolis. The group started working on the mural on Thursday morning and finished it within 12 hours. And I think that is that is a spark.

[1:17:24] Laura Camien: That is a spark.

[1:17:30] Susan Blackwell: And also there's a Chicago-based artist with the Instagram handle at Sherrian.creates. It's S-H I R I E N dot creates. And Sherry and Creates did a beautiful piece honoring George Floyd. Their Instagram bio says infusing design slash illustration and my passion for social justice and healing to imagine and create new possibilities.

[1:17:58] Laura Camien: Yes.

[1:17:58] Susan Blackwell: Yeah, I just love that Instagram bio. So that is my spark for the day. I know it's a heavy spark and an intense spark. It's an important spark. It's an essential spark. Honestly. It's essential. These apocalypse times are tough. I mean, when you were talking earlier about the headlines between the pandemic and racially charged incidents like this and the locusts and all of it, it's it's a lot.

[1:18:28] Laura Camien: It is a lot.

[1:18:29] Susan Blackwell: It's a lot. Because there, because it's very real, all of this is happening and it it adds to our feeling of helplessness to, you know, how to make a difference and how to change when it feels all so overwhelming. Um but it the answer is in the Russ Ewing of the world. It is find one way you can make a difference. Fully commit to it, you know, like there are ways. And you know, Russ may not have been touted, like we don't know his name, like a household name. Um, but thanks to Phoebe Judge's work, more people will. Um, but he's Donald Glover, get on it, get on it. Inspiration. Um, yeah. But it's uh the thing, what I where I'm coming out at the end of the recording of this podcast is we have to keep our eyes open. We have to keep educating ourselves. If we have to take a break for a short time to like pull ourselves back together, then we do it. We feel our feelings, and we decide how we're going to use them as fuel to pick that thing we want to work on.

[1:19:43] Laura Camien: That's right.

[1:19:44] Susan Blackwell: And we have to keep working on it and keep take action.

[1:19:48] Laura Camien: Yeah.

[1:19:48] Susan Blackwell: Take action to back to your spark to take action. But I feel like the like keeping our eyes open, continually looking for those sparks and not shutting down, not shutting down. It's essential not to shut down, obviously. And and to um not be passive about it, you know, all of the everything that's happening with George Floyd, like it is also a part of this. Like, can we decide how we want to rebuild the world? What is the world we want to live in and what will it take for us to create that? Let's not sit back and wait until someone gets that done or someone tells us.

[1:20:33] Laura Camien: Yes, or someone tells us how it's gonna be.

[1:20:35] Susan Blackwell: I'm like, I wanna I want to help decide how it's gonna be. I want to influence that conversation, but in order to, I feel like influence that conversation, we have to keep our eyes open.

[1:20:39] Laura Camien: Yeah.

[1:20:39] Susan Blackwell: We have to keep our eyes open and we have to keep seeking ways, those rust youing ways, like seeking ways that we can be the change we want to see in the world, essentially, Gandhi. Like I think that's what it's all about.

[1:20:58] Laura Camien: Yeah. So true.

[1:21:01] Susan Blackwell: Oh, Cammy. Suze, that was an amazing spark. That's one that's gonna just stick with me and give me a lot to think about after this. I can't recommend the criminal podcast, especially the up. It's it's a great podcast through and through. But if you want to hear more, the episode with the title call rescuing is a great place to start.

[1:21:27] Laura Camien: Great.

[1:21:28] Susan Blackwell: I guess that's it. Friends, I hope this put another bunch of sparks in your file. Or maybe it made you want to take a nap. That's cool too. That's all right. Listen, if there's a spark you'd like us to explore, or if you've taken a spark, here's what I mean. When we say that, if there's a spark you'd like us to explore, this is what we're looking for. As you move through the world with your eyes open, if you encounter something that makes you feel something, tell us about it. Tell us about it. We want to hear about it. If you've taken that spark and you've fanned it into a creative flame, we want to hear about that too. You can email us at the sparkfile at gmail.com or submit it through our website, thesparkfile.com. We'll even take your feedback.

But as you know, the price of admission, first you gotta share a creative risk that you've taken recently. We hope you'll follow us at the spark file on social media and be sure to subscribe, rate, and five star review this podcast. If you like it, we hope you'll share it with people that you love. And if you didn't like it, we don't take it personally.

[1:22:34] Laura Camien: We don't.

[1:22:35] Susan Blackwell: If something tickles your fancy and gets your creative juices flowing, we are writing you a forever permission slip to make that thing that has been knocking at your door. It's your turn to take a spark and fan it into a flame. You gotta bake a cake for your sweet tooth or make some noise in a recording booth. Make some art from things that break your heart, then tell the world your truth. And make it.

[1:23:06] Laura Camien: Suze, that was beautiful. I like that one.

[1:23:11] Susan Blackwell: I love you.

[1:23:12] Laura Camien: Love you too.

[1:23:13] Susan Blackwell: When I bope into something that inspires me, I dump it in the spark files. Spark could be something that I wanna pick or how I wanna be. I'll pump it in the spark files. Spark. I jump into my spark files. Let's open up the spark file.