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Media Circus On Ice: Olympic Class War

• Heather Jolley and Nicole Barr • Episode 68

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A single cry in a Detroit hallway became one of the most replayed clips of the 90s—but the loudest part of the Kerrigan–Harding saga wasn’t the baton. It was the story that followed. We open with a candid nod to Catherine O’Hara and a late love affair with Schitt’s Creek, drift through Mid‑Atlantic weather chaos and Gen X ad breaks, then lock in on the cultural earthquake that reshaped figure skating, tabloid TV, and public sympathy.

We trace Tonya Harding’s climb from public rinks and home‑sewn costumes to a history‑making triple axel, alongside Nancy Kerrigan’s artistry, endorsements, and the aesthetic that figure skating rewards. Then we map the conspiracy: Jeff Gillooly, Shawn Eckardt, Shane Stant, and Derek Smith; the corridor, the collapsible baton, the shattering glass; the instant loop of “Why?” on every screen. Results are clear—Harding’s lifetime ban, Kerrigan’s silver in Lillehammer—but the story we inherited is messier. We ask why the media crowned a “good girl” and a “bad girl” before the dust settled, and how class bias, gender norms, and tabloid incentives wrote the script.

Along the way, we connect the rink to today: Simone Biles and mental health, the economics of marketability, and the quiet power of “pretty privilege.” Butterflies versus moths, bald eagles versus vultures—same work, different welcome. The conversation isn’t about absolution; it’s about media literacy and empathy. Who gets grace? Who gets grit assigned to them? And what does that say about us?

If you love sharp pop culture analysis with Gen X spirit, true crime awareness, and a side of travel banter, you’re in the right place. Hit play, subscribe, and share this with someone who remembers Lillehammer—and tell us your clearest example of pretty privilege today.

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SPEAKER_08:

Two best friends we're talking fast. We're missing to our case, we're having a blast. Seeing these dreams leading on screens, it was all bad. Like you know, it's like whatever. Never never never laughing, daring, our story, whatever. We'll take you back, like whatever.

SPEAKER_05:

Welcome to Like Whatever, a podcast for, by, and about Gen X. I'm Nicole, and this is my BFFF, Heather. Hello. So we have to start this week with the sad news. Sad of the Sad of Catherine O'Hara. So sad. So sad. She was so young. It was so unexpected. I love her. Love her. Beetlejuice. It's just it's amazing what she's been in. Like I thought about writing something up for her, but there's been so much stuff out there about her, and there is so much stuff about her. She was amazing. I know. And she was everywhere.

SPEAKER_01:

And it was my week, and I was and Nicole was like, Hey, you get to do a tribute, but I already had something planned that it's kind of timely.

SPEAKER_05:

So Yeah. That's all right. I mean, like I said, it's been everywhere. I'm sure everybody's heard all the really good stuff about her. And I mean, Shits Creek is Yeah, so that was my way of honoring her. Shit's Creek is just one of those shows I never got to. And you know, through the years, I've I've had numerous people say to me, Of you of all people would love Shit's Creek. I can't believe you don't watch it. I just never did. There was no excuse. So I started it the night she passed away. And oh my god. That's hilarious. It's so good. She is amazing in it. She's they're all amazing. The brother and sister kill me the way they talked to them.

unknown:

Yeah.

SPEAKER_05:

And then did you know Twila, the waitress, is a levy, also? Yeah. I mean, I did uh everybody probably knew that, but I just started watching the show. So I was just kind of flipping through the script to see who everybody was, and I was like, whoa, clear levy. Yeah, yep.

SPEAKER_01:

So yeah, but very heartbreaking. Sally. She did so much, so many voices, so many cartoon voices. Amazing. Yeah.

SPEAKER_05:

And then even like back before our time, all the the um, what do I want to say? Like sketch play and stuff that she did, all the um ad lib kind of stuff. God, she was just a genius. Right, like so funny. So yeah, and the way that Hollywood has just been devastated by it. I think she was really a good person, too. Like, yeah, a lot of people are really, really upset. Of course, Macaulay Colkin was the worst with his post. Yeah, it's very sad. Yeah, so we just wanted to mention her to start out with. But then also this week, have you heard about Savannah Guthrie's mom? Yeah, not crazy. It is crazy. They came out today and said there was blood on the scene, which I figured because they'd been they've been saying very, very, very little. Yeah, but they said they it is a crime scene, and she did not leave of her own accord. And I was like, if it's a crime scene, there's blood. Well, I have watched enough true crime to think about. We know our true crime, but it's so sad, like she's like 80 some years old.

SPEAKER_01:

Well, we were just talking about it before, and around here there's been an uptick in in uh family members killing their elderly family members. Yeah. Uh I don't know if it was because they got trapped inside with the ice and they just could I don't know, but there's been a in this area? Mm-hmm.

SPEAKER_02:

Two or three in the last like three or four days. Yeah. Cabin fever is a real thing. It is.

SPEAKER_01:

I know sometimes I want to be like, uh.

SPEAKER_05:

It is crazy around here. I finally we are back together in person. Yes. Um, I man. Up where I live though, it is still bad. Like, luckily today it got above freezing for the first time in nine days. So that to see like actual puddles on the road is like, yes. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01:

Suppose the freeze tonight though. I know.

SPEAKER_05:

I know, I know.

SPEAKER_01:

It's weird how we get into a pattern. So here on the mid-Al in the mid-Atlantic, um, especially this close to the to the Atlantic Ocean, Delaware is kind of protected from everything, you know, hurricanes and everything, because we're like tucked back, and we don't really have it's a we're in a weird spot.

SPEAKER_05:

It's funny, I was thinking that on my drive down here. I was like, we live in such a unique place weather-wise. Yes.

SPEAKER_01:

We're surrounded by water pretty much. You know, the Chesapeake behind us, the Delaware in front of us. So that really plays a factor in our weather. Um like kind of like you know, lake effect snow up in in around the Great Lakes. Here it keeps us from having that kind of thing, or it socks us in. No in between. So we'll get into a one-weather pattern and it'll just do it the whole winter long. Yes. We'll have the same exact thing happen week after week after week.

SPEAKER_05:

Yeah, I mean, that's true. The the weather folks come on and they're like, yeah, well, basically the same thing has been happening. Yeah, and we lucked out this past weekend with that storm again, living by the water. We didn't know until like 24 hours before if we were actually if if it would have hit us, it would have nailed us. But instead the water carried it back out.

SPEAKER_01:

We're in one of those areas where they're like, Oh, on Monday you could have a trace of snow to 427 inches. Yes, that's literally how the weather goes here.

SPEAKER_05:

Yes, that is so true. We can have anywhere from no snow to 10 feet. There have been a number of times where I've gone to bed thinking I'd wake up to snow and there was none, or I've gone to bed like it's not gonna snow and like it's covered.

SPEAKER_01:

And here also, a mile can make all the difference.

SPEAKER_05:

Yeah, we're in the same state, tiny little Delaware, and down here it looks like you had a little bit of snow.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah, and even we're at my mom's house, which is like 10 minutes, 15 minutes from my house, all my snow is gone. It's been gone all week.

SPEAKER_05:

Um, yeah, nothing has budged up where I am. And until today, when it got above freezing, it was just literally ice. There was everybody's like bitching about the roads and kids being out of school and all this. I'm like, there's nothing you it's like concrete. It's terrible.

SPEAKER_02:

There, no one can clear it. It's it's hard to navigate.

SPEAKER_01:

It is weather. And so we're now in this pattern of cold weather. Like a couple winters ago, I don't think it ever got below 40 anytime. Very, very mild. Yeah, we had a very mild, so it's this is just same shit, different week, I guess, until spring.

SPEAKER_05:

So it's about freezing today, and you can feel it. Yeah, it feels like it's tropical, balmy out here, and then this weekend's gonna get awful again, but I will be in the Caribbean, so yeah. She's leaving.

SPEAKER_02:

Sorry, she's out of here. Sorry. She's going on backyard. Ugh, I can't wait. I'm so jealous. I know. My vacay was too short. Yeah. And I didn't do anything. Yeah.

unknown:

Whatever.

SPEAKER_05:

Well, I did the same staycation you did, and I'm still going on vacation.

SPEAKER_01:

No, that's why I'm even more jealous. It's so weird because so I have two days off a week as I'm a government worker. So we are supposed to take two days. Well, it's complicated, but I have two days off a week. One of which is Sunday, and then my other one is Wednesday. Um, but if you work your wet your it's called a K-day. If you work your K-day, it's mad money. Like just ridiculously mad money. And because I'm a rural carrier, we get paid different. We don't get paid hourly, we get patted salary, blah, blah, blah. So it's I get the full pay no matter how many hours I work. So I try and haul ass. But anyway, I'm not working my K-day, and I have now gotten used to not working my K-day. So when I actually do have to work, I'm like, ugh, what in the hell? Two whole all week I have to work.

SPEAKER_05:

Yeah, you'll never catch me signing up for extra work.

SPEAKER_02:

It's just not gonna happen. It's just so much money.

SPEAKER_01:

You don't even know how much money it is. Yeah. So much money.

SPEAKER_05:

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01:

I don't know. So much money.

SPEAKER_05:

So yeah, so I've been watching Shits Creek. So that is on another channel that I didn't have, but now I have. Um they have a lot of commercials. Yeah. Um, and I had an idea. I think you should be able to like go into your settings and choose companies you don't want to hear from.

SPEAKER_01:

Right.

SPEAKER_05:

Like, and there's gotta be a way to work out how they pay for all that. Because most people want to see Amazon. I don't order from Amazon. I don't want to see their, I don't order from Walmart. I don't need to see their commercials. I want to see commercials for things that I'm actually going to utilize. So, yeah, if you're listening to streaming services, they are. But then my other thing is too, like, kind of like these um um less uh subscription fees if you get with commercials. Like I feel like jokes on them with Gen X because we already lived it. We grew up with com commercials are when you run and pee, go get a snack, go grab a sweater, extra pair of socks if you're cold. Like that's I don't mind commercials at all. Like I never I mean, with Shits Creek, it was getting crazy, but it feels like the more I get into watching it, the less commercials it runs. Maybe I'm just used to them. But um What channel? What streaming service is it on? Disney.

SPEAKER_01:

Oh remind me to do that here. I need to do that here. Okay, the Bruce Springsteen movies on it too.

SPEAKER_02:

Oh have you watched, I think I haven't. Okay, but I know the lady downstairs the lady downstairs, the lady downstairs want to see.

SPEAKER_05:

Oh, did you watch the Grammys? Nope. You didn't. Nope. Why?

SPEAKER_02:

I don't know.

SPEAKER_05:

I thought for sure you would watch them. Man, that sucks. It was actually very, very good. I know. Well, I'm more into modern music than you are, but but still like Tyler the Creator, who I love. Don't even know who that is. My daughter got me into when she was in her mid-teens. Um we went and saw Tyler the Creator in concert. It was amazing. And his was awesome. And then they did a tri did you see they did a tribute to Ozzy? Nope. You didn't even see that in the news. Nope. So that was pretty good. They had Slash on Guitar. Um God, I can never remember his name, but the drummer for the Red Hot Chili Peppers. That looks like Will Farrell. Yeah. But I can never remember his name. I can't remember his name right now either. And they had um uh Post Malone sing, and you would be shocked how good he did. Sharon, the kids, everybody was bawling, they were all there.

SPEAKER_02:

Did they sing Mom, I'm coming home? Good.

SPEAKER_05:

No. Shit. I can't remember now. But he did an excellent job. I thought that was good.

SPEAKER_02:

Maybe I'll look quiet.

SPEAKER_05:

I don't know. Your boyfriend was in the audience.

SPEAKER_02:

Yeah, I love him. I don't really even know anything about him other than Well, that's how I feel about Bad Bunny.

SPEAKER_05:

I didn't I don't listen to his music. I couldn't pick a song out, but my God. I think I think he's plenty old enough for me to say he's hot too. I think so. Yeah, he's he's gorgeous. He is nice like a man. I cannot wait to see him at the Super Bowl. Oh my gosh.

SPEAKER_02:

I'm probably not gonna participate in halftime.

SPEAKER_01:

I'm gonna I'm gonna go on look at the uh Erica Kirk.

SPEAKER_05:

I was gonna say if you don't want to watch the um Super Bowl one, um Kid Rock's gonna some country singers I've never heard of before in my life. Yeah, yeah, that's what I'm gonna do. Yeah. All right, no puppy bowl.

SPEAKER_01:

Nope.

SPEAKER_02:

Fuck them puppies. I'm gonna watch. You're going right for the halftime show. Yeah. Yep, yep, yep. Yeah. That's that's I'm gonna give Erica Merk Kirk more money because she probably needs it, you know. Dear God.

SPEAKER_05:

Yep. I almost said something. I really shouldn't, so I'm glad I caught myself. That's what editing is for. Sometimes I forget that we're mic'd, and I just think it's you and me talking. Yeah, but I caught myself. But other good news um, the dad and the little five-year-old boy that's been in federal prison with a little hat. God damn. Jesus. That doesn't rip your heart out. All right.

SPEAKER_02:

I know. But they're home. People have no hearts.

SPEAKER_05:

They're home.

SPEAKER_02:

Good.

SPEAKER_05:

Finally.

SPEAKER_01:

There was a lady here in Salisbury that got detained. And her son died of cancer while she was in there. Oh, yeah.

SPEAKER_02:

And then they let her go.

SPEAKER_05:

Yeah. You almost made me start crying when you're.

SPEAKER_02:

I'm so sorry. Yep.

SPEAKER_05:

This shit is awful. I just never I used to think this when I was in school when we were learning about slavery. Like, how can anyone see someone is so much less than them? It doesn't make any sense to me. Humans are terrible. We're just not built that way. I don't know what the dinosaurs did to piss Mother Earth off, but humans have got to be close.

SPEAKER_01:

I mean, you don't know. There could have been a Dino Hitler.

SPEAKER_05:

He couldn't have been any worse than anything that's going on now.

SPEAKER_01:

T-Rex Hitler. T-Rex Mussolini. Stallinosaurus. I don't know.

SPEAKER_05:

Yeah, they could have talked for all we know. Alright.

SPEAKER_01:

We don't know what they did. We do know they had feathers.

SPEAKER_05:

I knew you were gonna say that. I'm a real stickler about that. Oh man. Yeah, a lot, a lot going on. I am I am not trying to rub it in, but I am looking forward to five days in Punta Cana with no news, no responsibilities, no cold. It's gonna be like 82 during the day and 75 at night. All right. Well, I did hear they have sand fleas on the beach. There is a downside.

SPEAKER_02:

Everything's got a bad side. But we got bug spray, so we should I don't know that that will help, but did you Google that?

SPEAKER_05:

Because I plan on being bougie. Excuse you. Like I got obnoxious, sheer, long cover-ups, a big hat.

SPEAKER_01:

Golden glue going golden girls on us, huh?

SPEAKER_02:

Yes. All day long. I can't wait. Good. I'm happy for you.

SPEAKER_01:

Did I say that nicely? Did that knock them out very well?

SPEAKER_05:

I caught the drift out.

SPEAKER_01:

No, I'm just kidding, because I would not want to go there.

SPEAKER_05:

No, you wouldn't. It's not my cup of tea.

SPEAKER_01:

No.

SPEAKER_05:

But you do want to go on vacation.

SPEAKER_01:

I do. That's why I say I I don't even care where. Although 85 is a little warm for me.

SPEAKER_07:

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01:

That's a bit a bit much. Yeah. Alaska. I'll go to Alaska. Not right now, because that seems counterproductive. Like a crazy idea. That seems counterproductive. I'm already there.

SPEAKER_02:

Yeah, but I would do it again and again and again.

SPEAKER_05:

You need to go to like Finland or Switzerland would be nice.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah. Any of those places anywhere but here would be great. Canada. Yeah. We're getting a new cruise line out of Philadelphia, though.

SPEAKER_02:

I think I heard that. That would be interesting. Yeah. It goes north. Oh. Yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Canada. There you go.

unknown:

Yep.

SPEAKER_01:

I already looked into it. I love it. It's very expensive. It must be a small ship.

SPEAKER_02:

Mm-hmm.

SPEAKER_01:

Anyway, I love cruising. I like structure my vacation.

SPEAKER_05:

I've never been on a cruise.

SPEAKER_01:

I do not like willy-nilly vacation time.

SPEAKER_05:

I like planning to get there, but I like going there with an open agenda.

unknown:

Yeah, no.

SPEAKER_05:

Yeah, I know. I'm a planner. Like when I went last year to Brazil with my mom, obviously some things were planned, the game. And you know, they the package that we had took us to a restaurant run one night, the whole all the Eagles fans. Yeah. Um things like that. But I like having open time because I like to go out and explore and just see what's what.

SPEAKER_01:

I like my agenda to be tight. I do schedule in this for my sister because she has told people that I'm the only one that when we go on a family vacation, literally no one else is like, oh, whatever. What does it say? And no, I have it all ready to go. This is and I will announce, make the announcement in the morning today. And usually it's a Disney trip. So it's like today we'll we we will be going to the Magic Kingdom because it opens early and we can go. Da-da-da-da-da. And everybody's like, whatever. And that's why then nobody plans because they're like, well, she got it. So yeah. But I do schedule in free time. She told somebody that once. She was like, Oh yeah, she plans the whole thing. And they're like, Oh, that sounds like fun. And she's like, Oh no, she schedules in free time. Now, this is a time where you can do whatever you want for the next 45 minutes. Be sure to meet us back here. Yes. I should have been a cruise director.

SPEAKER_05:

I'm hoping to get sleepy in the mid-afternoon and go back to my room and leave the doors open and let the breeze come through and take a nap. I'm not a napper, so that's probably not gonna happen. I have trouble napping. Yeah. Especially there, because the reason I can't nap is because I'm laying there thinking of other things I could be doing instead of napping. And down there for sure, I'm gonna be like, why am I laying in this bed when I have all these cool things around me? But we'll see. But that's the that's the vibe I want to go with is that just relax. Yeah. So we'll see. So like, share, rate review, please. Uh you can find us wherever you listen to podcasts. All the places. All the places. You can find us on all the socials. All of them. And like rate review there too. Like I'm trying, man. Yeah. Um, you can find us at our website at likewateverpod.com. Uh you can email us at likewhateverpod at gmail.com. Yep. Was that it? Yep. Okay.

SPEAKER_00:

Hey there, like whatever gen X friends. Pat Green here. Do you remember making mixtapes and cruising to the mall with your friends? My new novel is all about that 80s feeling. In Hearts of Glass, Fade Away and Radiate, I weave a story of first love and found family in late 80s suburbia. You meet teens, Ford, and Cassie at their local mall, facing heartbreak and healing together. It's a bit like a John Hughes movie wrapped in an 80s soundtrack, both nostalgic and heartwarming. I poured all of those big emotions into these pages. If you crave the warm nostalgia of mixtapes and mall dates, this book might feel like your own high school story. Head to Pack Greenauthor.com or Barnstormer Publishing.com to grab Hearts of Glass in ebook, audiobook, or paperback. I'd love for you to join Ford, Cassie, and the whole gang. Consider it a trip down memory lane with a story you won't forget. Stay totally awesome, stay true to you.

SPEAKER_01:

So because the Olympics start, I believe, Friday, to the day this is airing. Dropping whatever happens with podcasts.

SPEAKER_04:

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01:

Go go Marica. Yeah, Marica. So I decided that today we will fuck around and find out about Tanya Harding and Nancy Kerrigan.

SPEAKER_06:

Yes. Yay!

SPEAKER_05:

I did actually know this one ahead of time, and my roommate always asked me, like, what the topic. She knows that you don't tell me ahead of time, but she can't keep track of whose week it is. And um I was like, no, I actually know this week. And I was like, it's Tanya Harding. And she was like, you know, I know what she did was bad, but I always just really wanted to punch Nancy Kerrigan in the face. I was like, alrighty then.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah. Yep. Alrighty then. Alright. So the Harding, Kerrigan, oh wait, uh Britannica.com, ESPN.com, and the New York Times. Okay. And the oh, I the I Tanya. Uh okay. The movie. The movie. Okay. The Tanya Harding Nancy Kerrigan scandal occupies a central place in the late 20th century American cultural history, occurring at the intersection of elite athletes, class tensions, and the rise of tabloid media. The incident transformed two figure skaters into enduring cultural symbols. The attack on Kerrigan on January 6, 1994, and the subsequent investigation into Harding's entourage. Reshaped public perception of figure skating and influenced media practices for decades. Tanya Maxine Harding was born on November 12th, 1970, in Portland, Oregon. She grew up in a financially unstable household marked by alleged physical and emotional abuse. Her father worked a series of odd jobs while her mother, Lavana Golden, sewed her skating costumes and struggled to support the family. Harding began skating at age three under coach Diane Rawlinson and dropped out of high school to pursue the sport full-time.

SPEAKER_05:

It's really cool that her parents didn't have the means, but they did what they could to try. I mean, it's not cool they abused her, but at least they were trying to help her. I don't know.

SPEAKER_01:

Parents are weird. So her early life included hunting, uh, auto mechanics, and uh she would drag race. Sounds about right. Uh she claimed long-term physical and psychological abuse from her mother, uh, which her mother partially acknowledged. A turbulent family a turbulent family environment, including the molestation and later death of her half-brother, Chris Davidson. So her skating career, she rose rapidly through U.S. figure skating. She climbed the national ranks from 86 to 89. She won the 1989 Skate America. She became 1991 U.S. champion and 1991 World Silver Medalist. She became the first American woman to land a triple accent axle in competition in 1991. Her athletic, powerful style contrasted with the sport's traditional emphasis on elegance. Media often cast her as the outsider or helion compared to Kerrigan's polished image.

SPEAKER_05:

You know what? If you look at the two of them, Mo, Harding much more had the body for it, I think. Like she's built like your niece. Yeah. Like stocky, a little shorter, built. Yeah. Just where Nancy Kerrigan was long and lean, which looks pretty on the ice, but I'm sure your center of gravity is better if you're a little closer to the ground. More rounded, I guess. Yeah, it makes sense that she was so good though. And it's I love hearing stories like that too, where people who are coming up from nothing still make it. Like you don't necessarily have to because a lot of these athletes have come from well-to-do families and have ways that they can make it easy. But yeah, good for her. Yeah. You're gonna have me like Antonia Harding by the time we're done here. That's the goal.

SPEAKER_01:

Harding married Jeff Galooli in 1990 at age 19. That was a mess. The marriage was volatile and ended in divorce in 1993, though they continued seeing each other. She later later married twice more. Nancy Kerrigan, Nancy Ann Kerrigan, was born October 13th, 1969 in Stoneham, Massachusetts. She grew up in a modest working-class family. Her father worked multiple jobs and even drove the Zamboni at the local rink to pay for her lessons. She began skating at age six, won her first competition at nine, and trained under coaches Teresa Martin and later Evie and Mary Scottvold. She steadily climbed the national and international ranks. She won a bronze at the 91 World Championship, a bronze at the 92 Winter Olympics, silver at the 92 Winter World Championship. In 93, she was a U.S. national champion, and she is known for her artistry poise and strong jumping ability. Her marketability led to major endorsements: Reebok, Seiko, Avion, Campbell's soup.

SPEAKER_05:

See, that's another difference between looking like Tanya Harding and looking like Nancy Kerrigan. Like Nancy Kerrigan was pretty and everybody wanted them in their commercial.

SPEAKER_01:

As we'll see through this, because I really did want to emphasize. Am I jumping ahead? No, you're fine. Uh-huh. I did want to emphasize the unfair situation.

SPEAKER_05:

Because Tanya Harding was a little rough looking. Yeah. A little rough around the edges. Yep. Alright. So my my uh roommate wasn't really off by that much so far.

SPEAKER_01:

Um they really kind of made her into the bad guy here.

SPEAKER_05:

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01:

Um, so the other players in this is Jeff Galouli, uh later Jeff Stone. Uh he was born September 15th, 1967, in Portland, Oregon. Grew up in a low-income household and did not attend college. He married Tanya Harding in 1990 and financially sported her skating career. Their relationship was volatile, marked by breakups and reconciliation.

SPEAKER_05:

What year was he born? 67.

SPEAKER_01:

67. Right. So he's I don't know.

SPEAKER_02:

Four years older. That's a lot of math. Yeah, never mind.

SPEAKER_01:

Yep. Um, he was the primary architect of the plot to injure Kerrigan. He paid Shane Stant and Derek Smith$6,500 to carry out the attack. He worked closely with Sean Eckert to plan logistics. He played guilty to racketeering and served two years in prison. After prison, he changed his name to Jeff Stone, worked low-profile jobs, including car sales, and has largely avoided public attention. Sean Eckert, well, as Tanya Harding's self-styled bodyguard and longtime friend of Jeff Galouli. He ran worldwide bodyguard service out of his parents' home in Oregon and was known for grandiose fantasies about espionage and counterterrorism.

SPEAKER_05:

So he was a conspiracy theorist.

SPEAKER_01:

Former classmates describe him as a blowhard with James Bond delusions. I think we've all met this guy. Um, his role was he co-planned the assault, claimed he had connections who could uh take care of Kerrigan in air quotes. Helped hire Stant and Smith, played tapes of the conspiracy to a minister, which helped expose the plot, play guilty to racketeering and served 15 months in prison. Uh-huh. So yeah, I was gonna say something about it. Oh, if you're gonna commit a crime, maybe don't have so many people involved because they will rat you out.

SPEAKER_05:

They will. And man, I was watching a true crime story recently, and I know I'd like to tell you well, you already know it all, but things to not do when you murder somebody or things to do when you murder somebody. And I had one this weekend now, I don't remember, but when I think of it, I'll bring it up.

SPEAKER_01:

Okay. Don't murder people unless you absolutely have to.

SPEAKER_05:

Well, I mean, firstly, don't murder somebody you know.

SPEAKER_01:

That's your first problem. Yeah. Never go to the second location, die on the street. Yes, fight to the death.

SPEAKER_05:

Yes.

unknown:

Yeah.

SPEAKER_05:

Yeah, exactly. I mean, once you're in the car, you're done. Yep.

SPEAKER_01:

And if somebody jumps you and you can get them into your house.

SPEAKER_07:

About that. That's my dream.

SPEAKER_01:

Uh um, Shane Stant, age 22 at the time, was hired to physically assault Kerrigan. He grew up in an abusive household in Hawaii where he suffered severe physical and emotional trauma. He later described his upbringing as a major factor in his vulnerability to criminal involvement. Initially, he attempted to locate Kerrigan in Massachusetts, but failed. Followed her to Detroit for the U.S. Championship. He struck Kerrigan on the knee with a collapsible baton. He fled through a glass door and escaped. Uh, he was paid approximately$6,500 to$6,800, and he served 15 months in prison. He has expressed deep remorse, stating he is a different person and now runs a delivery company in Southern California.

SPEAKER_05:

That's what they all say. Yeah. Somebody go offer him$6,500 to break somebody's knee. See what he says. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01:

His story is featured in the documentary, My Hero's Shadow.

SPEAKER_05:

It yeah, and all that stuff I said about Hoity Toity Nancy Carrie. Yeah. She didn't deserve to get her. Important Tanya, Tanya Harding, and all that. That's a horrible thing. I mean, those athletes work so hard to get to the Olympics, like literally their entire lives, and you have such a short window where you're actually able to do that, and they're only every four years. So it really was a very, very horrible thing. It is.

SPEAKER_01:

And when I go into my social commentary on the situation, I do want to make it known that it is a horrible thing that happened to Nancy Kerrigan. She did not deserve that. They do spend the majority. I mean, I have an athlete in my family who lives gymnastics, eats, breathes, sleeps. Exactly. And has her entire life.

SPEAKER_05:

And could have potential to make it to the Olympics. If she had tried on the hard, yeah, I was gonna say broke her elbow a couple times. Well, and that's it. Like her dream was kind of shattered with things that went wrong with her body, and she also became a teen and had better things to do. She got a boyfriend and all that. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Kids.

SPEAKER_01:

So oh, Derek Smith was the getaway driver and co-conspirator. Derek Smith, uncle of Shane Stant, was recruited by Sean Eckert to assist in the attack. He drove the getaway car. He was paid$6,500 for his role, and he quickly confessed to the FBI after the attack. Smith's involvement was logistical rather than conceptual, but he played a crucial role in enabling Stant's escape. Um, alright. You want to do your Yep. Hold on, let me stop.

SPEAKER_02:

I haven't found the page yet. Let's play some music. Doo doo doo.

SPEAKER_08:

Because I repeat your life, block and through her teenage bike.

SPEAKER_05:

Alright, so I think I'm on the right date. It's Sunday, April 15th. Yes. Okay, very good. I thought so because last week we went to the old time tavern and I've been thinking about that meal ever since. So all right, Sunday, April 15th. We are on Easter break. Um, by the way, this is Nicole's 1984 diary segment, in case you are a first-time listener. Um, all right, so today we got up and we had breakfast. And when I woke up, my brother and sister were playing Gofish on cards. Oh. I don't know how she would play it, but um, after breakfast, not then, you can't play it on the meat and my stepbrother played cards. And I told you about them cards, man, with the kitty faces. Yeah. Um, and we each took a bath. Um today we had to go home. So after dinner we loaded the car, and about 15 minutes later we left. Um, we went to pick up Cleo at the vet. So when um my dad and stepmom when I was 11, obviously, um they somehow came into possession of these two beagles, and one of the beagles was pregnant. And I don't remember if they because animals have a tendency to find my parents because they are very, very animal friendly.

SPEAKER_02:

Your parents had beagles when I met them. They were probably the same. I was gonna say they were so in '84.

SPEAKER_01:

No, because it was like 92, eight years later.

SPEAKER_02:

That's all. Yeah. Um, yeah, they had Theo and Cleo.

SPEAKER_01:

I don't remember their names, but I remember there was be they were they had beagles.

SPEAKER_05:

Yeah, so I guess there were actually three of them because man, she probably got them from somebody at work. Like they are such softies for animals. Because I remember there being three, because there was Theo, Clio, and Bio. As M B O. Uh-huh. Um, and somebody adopted Bio and they kept Cleo and Theo, and Cleo was pregnant. So I have to tell you that because next is uh she had had eight puppies. Oh. Um uh let's see. And wait, she had eight puppies and died. I don't think she died. I know some of the puppies died. I cried, and when we got back to the yellow house, I cried a little more. Uh, me and my sister had a snack, watched TV, and went to bed. But I know Cleo didn't die. Because you met Cleo. I mean, Cleo and Theo got old. I don't remember what the names of the I. I must have meant to write the puppies because I remember that some of the puppies died.

SPEAKER_02:

Well, that was a sad turn of events.

SPEAKER_05:

I know. Wait a bring us the diary really let us down this week. It goes with the theme though. Yeah. Kind of kind of morbid. Yeah. Sad. Yeah. So that's that's this week in my diary. Diary.

SPEAKER_01:

Okay, let's go back to 94.

SPEAKER_05:

Yes, please.

SPEAKER_01:

Um, before Detroit, Stant attempted to locate Kerrigan at her home rink in Stoneham, Massachusetts.

SPEAKER_05:

It's super creepy that this guy stalked her, too, like all over the country. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01:

He was unable to find her schedule and abandoned the attempt. Stant and Smith then traveled to Detroit, where they surveilled the arena, identified entrances and exits, and tracked Kerrigan's practice schedule. Their goal was to injure her enough to prevent her from competing in the championship and the Olympics. Oh, look at that. We're just a few minutes I put even put in here. Tell Nicole to do. Damn, I was like, oh paragraph. Too early. Son of a bitch. Nancy Kerrigan competed her on ice practice session shortly after 2 p.m. She left the ice and walked through a narrow corridor behind a curtain toward the dressing rooms. The arena the area was accessible to coaches, athletes, and credentialed personnel, but security was minimal. Shane Stant waited in the corridor, having gained access by posing as a journalist or photographer, accounts differ, but he carried a camera case to appear legitimate. He positioned himself near the exit route skaters used after practice. He carried a 21-inch collapsible baton, chosen because it could be concealed and quickly deployed. At approximately 2 35 p.m., as Kerrigan walked past the curtain, Stant approached and struck her once on the lower right leg. His stated intention was to break her landing leg to prevent her from competing. The blow caused Kerrigan to fall to the ground, crying out in pain. The moment was captured on video by a camera crew preparing for interviews, and her anguished cry Do you remember what it was?

SPEAKER_06:

Why?

SPEAKER_05:

Why? I was gonna say that. Yeah, and it's funny because while you were reading that, I was like, I swear that was recorded on video, but am I just remembering that or have I seen reenactments of it? But I swore, because even when you said the right knee, I was like, Yep, I can picture the whole thing, her standing there, her coming up and whacking it. Like I remember the whole thing.

SPEAKER_01:

It became one of the most replayed clips of the decade.

SPEAKER_05:

Mm-hmm.

SPEAKER_01:

And that was before social media, so she was helped by coaches and event staff to the medical area. Medical personnel quickly arrived. She was taken to a training room for evaluation. It was determined she had no broken bones but significant bruising and swelling. She was forced to withdraw from the competition.

SPEAKER_05:

It was very well planned out, though.

SPEAKER_01:

Stance flight from the scene. He ran down the corridor. He attempted to exit through a locked glass door and shattered it with his shoulder.

SPEAKER_04:

Nice.

SPEAKER_01:

He escaped the building and met Derek Smith in the getaway car. The two drove away from the arena and left Detroit shortly afterward. Because the attack occurred at a major national sporting event with cameras already present. News spread instantly. The footage of Kerrigan crying on the ground aired repeatedly on national television. Within days, the FBI received tips linking the attack to Eckert, Galooli, Stant, and Smith. Every time I see Galoli, I know what his name is. I know how to say it, but looking at it, it just looks weird.

SPEAKER_05:

Yeah, it's really hard when you're doing this podcast and reading the script to get a name right.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah, and you're like, I know it's Golouli. I know who he is.

SPEAKER_05:

Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_01:

Eckert, known for bragging and exaggerating, had told multiple people about the plot. One of them contacted the authorities. That's what I'm trying to say. If you're gonna commit a crime, you gotta do it by yourself because other people will rat you out.

SPEAKER_05:

They will, especially if they get brought in and think they're gonna get in trouble. Fuck that.

SPEAKER_01:

And that's my thing about like all these conspiracy theories involving the government and blah, blah, blah. How can you keep that many people? Like September 11th, there's no way you can keep that many people quiet. Yes. The moon landing. There's no way you could keep that many people.

SPEAKER_02:

Yep.

SPEAKER_01:

No way. Yep. Look at the aliens. People coming out all the time saying, yeah, they went. Yep. It's because you can't, it's impossible to keep that many people quiet. It is. You're right.

unknown:

Anyway.

SPEAKER_05:

Um but he was also the hitman, which is the OG person's stupid move. You never pay somebody to do it.

SPEAKER_01:

You gotta do it yourself. That yep.

SPEAKER_05:

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02:

Because again, if you want something done right, you got to do it yourself.

SPEAKER_05:

But again, once they're gonna get in trouble for what they did, but if you can get in less trouble by saying somebody paid me to do this, you're good.

unknown:

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01:

Eckert confessed first, providing detailed information. Stant and Smith were arrested and admitted their roles. Galouli eventually accepted a plea deal and implicated Harding. Harding denied prior knowledge, but later pled guilty to hindering prosecution. Harding did win the nationals with Kerrigan unable to compete. Um, she won the U.S. championship. Kerrigan recovered in time for the 94 Winter Olympics, where she won silver. Um, Harding competed amid intense scrutiny and finished eighth. I do remember she did not do well. I do remember that.

SPEAKER_05:

Um Well, part of the has to be psychological. Yeah. And you're not in a good space.

SPEAKER_01:

No.

SPEAKER_05:

So maybe you haven't gotten to this part yet, but did Harding know that they were plotting to do this? Or is that are you not there yet?

SPEAKER_01:

I'm not not because now I go into social care. No. I I don't know that she's ever said one way or the other. She pled guilty, but that could just be because they had enough.

SPEAKER_05:

I feel like she'd have to know. Like, why would her husband do all that if she didn't want it done? Unless she Like, what does he care if she wins? Yeah.

SPEAKER_01:

And where'd the money come from? And Yeah. I don't know if maybe it was like a yeah, we should do that, and then this everybody else took it seriously because they thought maybe she would get more money if Kerrigan was out and she won something more at the I I don't know. Who knows?

SPEAKER_05:

I mean, that's another thing about crime that I've learned with true crime murder and all the rest. Like, what do you think's gonna happen? Like, a lot of these people do these crimes. I'm like, where did you think this was gonna end up? Especially husbands. Man, I've been watching a lot of like middle-aged, like maybe a little older than middle-aged, 50, 60-year-old husbands murdering their wives that they have grown kids with because they have a girlfriend. And you know they always look at the husband first. Like, even if you didn't do it, they're gonna find evidence that says you could probably have done it.

unknown:

Yep.

SPEAKER_01:

The Murdoch murders, I mean That dude. That dude that is just decades of being able to do whatever the fuck you want and getting away with it. It's sickening. Yeah, that not just decades, like just generational.

SPEAKER_05:

Oh, it was generational, yeah, because his family going back like six or ten generations were the judge for that town. Like, you are untouchable, and those kids acted like it. Yep.

SPEAKER_01:

My uh last podcast on the left just did a uh three-part series on the Murdoch.

SPEAKER_05:

Yeah, the thing that pisses me off the most about that is that poor little girl that lost her life on that boat because that kid was being a drunk asshole.

SPEAKER_01:

Um did you know that? Uh my uh last podcast on the left is on um Netflix now.

SPEAKER_05:

You did tell me that, and I saw them on there. I went on and looked. Yeah, it's interesting.

SPEAKER_01:

Um also um um buried bones. Paul Holes is fucking hot. I don't care. Oh I don't know who he is. Oh, he's the one that he's the one that solved the um the Golden State killer. Oh, yeah. He was one of the ones responsible for that. He's like he's been he's like him and um Patton Oswald's wife. Yeah. We're very close because she was trying to solve that. And she was awesome. Yeah, and they were very close. I'm telling you, look him up. Okay, fucking hot.

SPEAKER_05:

I've probably seen him before because I've watched literally everything that's you recognize him instantly from his voice.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah, he was in um, I guess it's the San Francisco area. Mm-hmm. He was a uh detective there for a long time. And yeah, he does buried bills. Jones and him and I can't, her name is escaping me right now. But she does all old crimes. It's none, I don't think any of it is prior to like 1980 or after 1980 that they do. And she goes back to these and has him use his modern day expertise in helping to solve it's a really good buried bones. Check it out, check it out. I will. Um okay. Tanya Harding pled guilty to hindering prosecution and received three years probation, five hundred hours of community service, a hundred and sixty thousand dollar fine, and a lifetime ban from the U.S. Figure Skating Association. And that effectively ended her competent competitive skating career. Nancy Kerrigan recovered in time to compete at the 94 Winter Olympics in Lillehammer, where she won the silver medal. She was later inducted into the Figure Skating Hall of Fame in 2004 and continued to appear in televised skating events and Olympic broadcasts. And I imagine we will see her next week. See, because I think we all forget that there was a time before 24-hour in your face all the time. News. That was wild. Remember when you could when remember when the TV just stopped making TV at like midnight and they played the national anthem and you just went to snow.

SPEAKER_05:

Yeah. Just like in poltergeist.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah. It's crazy, right? Yeah.

SPEAKER_05:

And I used to love to read the paper. Like that's how you found stuff out. Yeah, I like the paper.

SPEAKER_01:

It's dying. Yeah. Um the incident influenced the blending of sports journalism with entertainment media, uh, public conversations about class, gender, and the policy of femininity, the policing of femininity. Later cultural works, including the 2017 biopic Itanya, which reframed Harding's story and challenged earlier portrayals. The scandal remains a touchstone in discussion of media ethics, athlete privacy, and the construction of public narratives. As of 2025, Kerrigan is 55. She has largely retired from competition. She has appeared on Dancing with the Stars and The Bachelor Winter Games. She has served as a special correspondent during several Olympic broadcasts. She has been married to her former agent, Jerry Solomon, since 1995, and they have three children.

SPEAKER_05:

How old is he? How much older is he than her? I don't know.

SPEAKER_01:

She has spoken publicly, it didn't say, about experiencing six miscarriages, which strained her marriage. She recently released a children's book, Stronger Than She Thinks, about a young skater's resilience. Her public image remains largely positive, and she continues to be associated with perseverance, family life, and advocacy. Harding is 54 years old. She continues to deny involvement in planning the attack, but has expressed guilt about the overall situation. She struggled for years with addiction, mental health challenges, and legal issues, including arrests and a suicide attempt. She married Joseph Jens Price in 2010, and they have a child together. She has largely stayed out of the public eye, but re-emerged during the release of Itanya in 2017, giving interviews about her portrayal and the media's treatment of her. Harding's legacy remains complex. She is viewed simultaneously as a cautionary tale, a victim of media sensationalism, and a figure of enduring cultural foundation. The media backlash that followed the '94 attack on Nancy Kerrigan cannot be understood without examining the starkly different social backgrounds of the two skaters. The scandal unfolded not merely as a story of athletic rivalry or criminal conspiracy, but as a cultural drama shaped by deeply embedded American ideas about class, femininity, and moral worth. The press did not simply report the story, it constructed it. And here's why I actually wanted to do it, because I am a big believer in that these two women were pitted against each other. Mm-hmm. Yeah. Not just because they were rival skaters, but because they were. From the moment the attack footage aired, the media framed the incident as a morality play. Nancy Kerrigan with her poised skating style, mid-class upbringing, and polished public image, was cast as the good girl, the innocent victim whose grace and composure aligned with figure skating's traditional ideals. Tanya Harding, by contrast, was quickly positioned as the bad girl. Her working class background, turbulent family life, and athletic less ballet balletic skating style made her an easy target for media machine eager for contrast. The press leaned into stereotypes. Harding was portrayed as rough, volatile, and unrefined, while Kerrigan was elevated as elegant, disciplined, and sympathetic. This was not accidental. It was a product of the media's long-standing tendency to simplify complex women into digestible archetypes. You know it's so funny how I just keep coming back to the same thing on all of these episodes. I have an agenda or something. Figure skating has historically been associated with affluence, expensive coaching, travel, costumes, and ice time. Kerrigan's family was not wealthy, but her public image aligned with the sport's aspirational aesthetic. She fit the mold of what figure skating was supposed to look like. Harding did not. She sewed her own costumes. She trained in public ranks. She came from a background marked by poverty and instability. The media seized on these differences. Harding's class structure, Harding's class status became shorthand for deviance. Her mother's fur coat, her husband's mullet, her own blunt speech patterns all became symbols used to reinforce the idea that she was an outsider, someone who didn't belong in the pristine world of Olympic sport. The backlash against Harding was not only about the attack, it was about her perceived violation of figure skating's unspoken class code. In the early 90s, marked the rise of tabloid television, hard copy, inside edition, a current affair. These programs thrived on sensationalism, and the Harding Kerrigan scandal was their perfect storm. It had violence, rivalry, beauty, class conflict, a clear victim, and a messy, complicated antagonist.

SPEAKER_05:

Yeah, it is really sad that because she had to work like ten times harder than everybody else. And that's what I get saying. And then for that to be used against her, like how she overcame this.

SPEAKER_01:

And it it is true because they did play her before this even happened. I mean, she she should have been the you know like wow give.

SPEAKER_05:

Look how far she came.

SPEAKER_01:

She came, she did it on her own. She came. This is what you natural talent. You should have exactly born to do it. You should strive to do this. She she had anybody can do it. She did what she needed to do to get there. And unfortunately, she wasn't. She was portrayed as the loudmouth bad girl that you know, and it's yep.

SPEAKER_05:

And by the way, I looked it up. He's 15 years older. She was 25 and he was 40 when they got married.

SPEAKER_02:

Well, that happens.

SPEAKER_05:

It just sounds like a um person of power taking advantage of somebody younger than me, but I mean yeah, you know. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01:

The media's hunger for spectacle, but the nuance disappeared. Harding's background was mined for ridicule. Kerrigan's pain was replayed endlessly. The scandal became entertainment, not journalism. The tabloidization shaped public perception for decades. The backlash also reflected gendered expectations. Figure skating demands a specific kind of femininity. Graceful, delicate, composed, Kerrigan embodied this ideal. Harding did not. Her athleticism, strength, and bluntness challenged the sport's norms. The media punished her for it. Harding's femininity was scrutinized, mocked, and contrasted with Kerrigan's. The scandal became a referendum on what kind of woman the public public was willing to sympathize with. In the years following the scandal, Kerrigan largely retained her public goodwill. She continued to appear in Olympic broadcasts, reality shows, and public events. Her narrative remained one of resilience and grace. Harding, meanwhile, struggled with poverty, addiction, and public scorn. Her attempts to rebuild her life, boxing matches, odd jobs, small media appearances were often treated as punchlines. Only with the release of Itanya in 2017 did the public begin to reconsider the media's role in shaping her downfall. The film highlighted how class bias, domestic abuse, and media sensationalism contributed to Harding's vilification. The backlash she endured was not simply about the attack, it was about who she was allowed to be. The Harding-Kerrigan scandal is remembered not only because of the violence, but because of the way the media transformed it into a cultural parable. The backlash against Harding was amplified by class prejudice, gender norms, and the emerging tabloid culture of the 90s. Kerrigan and Harding were not just athletes, they became symbols onto which the media projected narratives of innocence, ambition, deviance, and class. The story endures because it reveals as much American society as it does about the two women at its center. Boom.

SPEAKER_02:

Yay!

SPEAKER_01:

Stop pigeonholing people.

SPEAKER_05:

Yeah, which can be said for so many stories, so many scenarios, so many people. But this is a perfect example. And it really was the start of Hard Hard Copy Inside Edition. And I'm sure Tanya Harding did hate Nancy Kerrigan. Like I mean, if you really there's also not that But it was inspired by the way she was the difference in the way they were being treated. She probably didn't hate her personally, it was just the idea of her. Yeah, I don't feel like there's any way she didn't know. Maybe they talked about it casually and the husband was like, I'll take care of it, and she was like, All right, whatever.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah, it just didn't occur to her, or I I I don't know. Yeah. But I liken it also, the the media. Um when Carrie Strugg completely different sport, I get it. But when Carrie Strugg hurt herself, she was, you know, because she continued on and she really shouldn't have. But she was pushed to do it, but she's cute and she's you know, blonde, and she's a girl is a cute white girl. Meanwhile, Simone Biles removes herself from a competition because she knew her mental she wasn't mentally into it and that she could hurt herself if she didn't also because and she got a lot of shit for it, like just drug through the media because she's not cute. Oh, she is cute, actually. She's really cute, but she's not a blonde white girl. Yeah, she's not a blonde white girl. Right. Um what she did was remove herself from a competition in which she is judged on a different level than everyone else because of who she is. So she removed herself because in a um in the team competition, your scores affect everybody. So when you drop out, you're no longer affecting them. So the fact that her scores have to be higher because of who she is and how they would judge her, but she got raked across the coals for it when actually she was sacrificing herself and it was her mental. It's the same, it's the same shit.

SPEAKER_05:

Yeah, I love that mental health is being brought to the forefront more, but we do need to work on it like so, so much more.

SPEAKER_01:

We just need to learn how to deal with women athletes. Yeah. I think you can be, you can be cute. Some of you can be cute. Some of you are cute. My niece is fucking cute as a little bug in a rug. She's a powerhouse. She will kick your ass six ways to Sunday. Uh, she is probably capable of killing you without even thinking about it. Um she's she, you know, she's got both. But not everybody does, and and it's you know, we need to stop. We need to stop hitting the cute one against this one, and well, well, this one that it's they're all women, they're all in it together.

SPEAKER_05:

But unfortunately, that's life everywhere. It is. If you're pretty in life, you're going to have an easier time. It's the pretty privilege. It is. And if you're pretty and white, you got the pretty and the white privilege.

SPEAKER_01:

You know what is the ultimate um pretty pretty privilege of anything? And it's the best way to describe white men. No. Pretty privilege. When a moth flies at you, you freak the fuck out and kill it. When a butterfly flies at you, you're like, oh, look at that, it's a butterfly. It's the perfect example of pretty privilege. Yep. So if you ever need to use an example, you're you're welcome. Because that's the it is. It is. Butterflies are pretty, so we let them land on us. Moths are ugly, so we were like, ooh, gross.

SPEAKER_05:

Yep, yep. You are a hundred percent right. You could say that with rats and mice versus guinea pigs. Yep. Like they're cute. Rodents. Hamsters, they're cute.

SPEAKER_02:

Because they don't have a tail.

SPEAKER_05:

I had so many hamsters as a kid. Me too. And they would always break out of their cage, too. Did yours break out?

SPEAKER_01:

I don't know how. He would get out. Here's my the best part. He would get out and he would go into my closet and he would leave food there. And they would come back and get back in his cage and sleep in the little corner. He would just get out and move food. He was preparing for next time.

SPEAKER_05:

I guess for when he does his big escape. It was a prison breakup.

SPEAKER_01:

Henry. His name was Henry. I know. I lived in a by-level.

SPEAKER_05:

I lived in a by-level house. So we had the double stairs that went down into the basement. And mine, uh my bedroom was in the back of the other end of the house. He would get out, he would get through the whole house, go down all the steps, and hide in the basement. I I don't know how I found him down there. Like, I think he wanted to be found, but I think they do. I think they do he would always be down in the basement. I'm like, did you roll down the steps and then you were just stuck? Like, I don't know what happened. They just like to go on adventures.

SPEAKER_01:

And and you know what else? I have a lovely bird. I know we all know about my bird. I love my bird. She's cute. She's a she's just the cutest thing. Turkey vultures, ugly as fuck. And I would not want one.

SPEAKER_05:

Well, you know what? That's the thing. That is another good point from what you said. Bald eagles and vultures are essentially the exact same bird. Yep. They just have different heads. Yep. And you know, ever since I've heard that, the funny thing is I appreciate vultures a lot more. Like, I love to sit and watch a vulture because we have a lot of open fields here, watching them just glide, especially on a windy day, just enjoying themselves up there. Like, I don't, I don't see ugly.

SPEAKER_01:

Everything is beautiful in God's eyes.

SPEAKER_05:

No, seriously. I I never I mean, I was always fascinated with them because we have a lot of roadkill here too. So you get to see them up close and personal. Sure do.

SPEAKER_01:

Um remember that we had that one at the restaurant that had a broken wing? Yeah. And we would feed a shouldn't feed things, but we did.

SPEAKER_05:

Um yeah, but I I've always thought they were pretty cool, but now I actually see them as pretty and elegant. Like if you watch them fly, they're very graceful.

SPEAKER_01:

They're a little unnerving when they come out in the morning and they sun themselves. Like, I I oh I love that. When they put their wings out. Okay, so right behind my mom's house, there's this big bay. And um, but she's like back in its wetlands right here. I guess this is where they sleep. There's a tree over here that well, when I lived here, when you get up early in the morning to take the dog out, there's probably like 50 of them to 75 of them in the tree, and they're all sunning themselves trying to get cold, trying to get warmed up. It's a little unnerving.

SPEAKER_05:

I saw one on Route One the other day up on one of the real tall light poles, and he was sitting right up at the top with his wings just full. I was like, man, do you they are good? They're big, they're big birds, they're huge. Yeah, and that, but that's again pretty privilege. Yeah, exactly. Bald eagle's our national bird, and everybody hates vultures.

SPEAKER_01:

They're probably the closest to T-Rex. That's what they think.

SPEAKER_07:

T-Rex anyway, we should not go back into T-Rexes, they think, have redheads.

SPEAKER_03:

Oh gingers?

SPEAKER_01:

Like a vulture. Because, yeah. They also think that much like the bald eagle, they were both a carnivore and an opportunist. Because bald eagles will swoop in and take anybody's dead thing. Yeah.

unknown:

Yeah.

SPEAKER_05:

You need to figure out how to make dinosaurs gen X, because I mean, I think we all will. You need to do an episode on it.

SPEAKER_01:

Just dinosaurs. I don't it's my fucking podcast. And if I want to do an episode on fucking dinosaurs, like sure can.

SPEAKER_05:

Yeah, yeah, that is actually 100% true.

SPEAKER_01:

Yes, you are right. And just put it on Duraskork.

SPEAKER_05:

There we go.

SPEAKER_01:

Anyway, that was my social commentary on the situation.

SPEAKER_05:

Um, very good.

SPEAKER_01:

I don't know whether or not she had anything to do with it, but it is just, you know, the difference in how the media portrayed it.

SPEAKER_05:

Even if she did have something to do with it, I could see where she would be pushed to feel like she wanted to get some sort of vengeance on this woman. Yeah. Because Nancy Kerrigan wasn't any better of a skater than she was, but she was pretty.

unknown:

Yep.

SPEAKER_05:

And that's gotta make you angry and a little vengeful.

SPEAKER_01:

You still shouldn't.

SPEAKER_05:

Absolutely not. But people do far fucking worse. You shouldn't kill her. Yeah, exactly.

SPEAKER_01:

Like that one mom with the cheerleaders.

SPEAKER_02:

Oh yeah.

SPEAKER_05:

Where she killed the the the competition of her daughter? Yes. You know what documentary I can't wait for, and may they rest in peace. But the wife and her dentist husband that was killed by her surgeon husband, that's gonna be a good documentary. Yeah. Cause what the fuck? Because she and her husband have been ex-husband, have been divorced for like 10 or 12 years.

SPEAKER_02:

Something's you know, we never know what goes on in people's heads. No, no, yeah.

SPEAKER_05:

Anyway, now I want to go home and watch ID channel. Not that I would do anything else when I got home, but right.

unknown:

Okay.

SPEAKER_05:

Let's end this shit. Anyway, yes.

SPEAKER_01:

Um, so like, share, rate, review. Please. Thanks for listening. Thank you. Find us where you listen to the podcast. Um, follow us on all the socials.

SPEAKER_03:

Please. At Like Whatever Pod.

SPEAKER_01:

You can send us an email about what your favorite example of pretty privilege is. Ooh. To likewhateverpod at gmail.com or don't like whatever.

SPEAKER_05:

Whatever. Bye.

SPEAKER_08:

Whatever will take you back.

Contributor

Heather Jolley

Host
Contributor

Nicole Barr

Host