The red state, blue state divide is real. But it's driven by more than just politics
3 minutes
People move for all kinds of reasons. Some are looking for better schools or lower taxes or a place where they feel safe. Many want to live close to people who share their cultural or political values. In a country deeply divided between blue states and red states, that last trend appears to be on the rise, but as NPR's Scott Neuman reports, politics is only part of the story.
SCOTT NEUMAN, BYLINE: Three years ago, Jessa Davis (ph) was living and working in the west Texas city of Odessa. But after she came out as a trans woman, she says it became a hostile and even dangerous place for her.
JESSA DAVIS: I had a lot of close calls, a lot of threats.
NEUMAN: Davis says she remembers thinking, it's time to get out. So she sold her house and moved to Washington state, in a city considered one of the most LGBTQ-friendly in the country.
DAVIS: I chose Seattle because I thought maybe there's a new chapter for my life there. And I got here and found this incredible community, and this is my forever home.
NEUMAN: Seattle had also been Kirby Wilbur's (ph) home. But after retiring from his job as a talk show host, he and his wife, Trina (ph), were looking for a fresh start. That's when they heard about a suburb of Dallas-Fort Worth.
KIRBY WILBUR: I'd never heard of McKinney. But there were, like, 3,000 square-foot homes with a pool for $300,000.
NEUMAN: The cost of living in Texas attracted them but so did the conservative politics. Wilbur had grown up in Seattle, but the city, he says, changed around him. And then in 2020, when the George Floyd protests in Seattle turned violent, they made a decision.
WILBUR: We looked at each other - said, no. We can't live it this way. This is it.
NEUMAN: Paul Chabot is the realtor who helped the Wilburs make the move to McKinney. He runs Conservative Move, which works with people who want to relocate from blue states to red. For those who want to make the opposite move, there's a service, too - Flee Red States. Chabot's clients, he says, feel outnumbered and tired of being judged for their politics.
PAUL CHABOT: It's not like people are leaving just because they hate Democrats. They don't like Democrat policies, but they really feel like they are alone, alienated, ostracized.
NEUMAN: The geographic shift highlighted by Wilbur and Davis is part of a larger trend, something known as ideological sorting or ideological migration.
Americans are choosing communities that align with their beliefs. There's been a lot of focus on this in recent years. And while politics are often a factor, researchers say it's usually not the most important one. Steven Webster is a political science professor at Indiana University.
He says Americans do prefer to live near co-partisans, people who agree with them politically.
STEVEN WEBSTER: But the desire to live near a co-partisan is nowhere near the desire that Americans express for other things.
NEUMAN: Those other things - they may include lower taxes, a shorter commute to work, better schools and a welcoming church. Regardless of the reason for this sorting, though, it does physically divide Americans along the same lines that have already divided them politically. Again, Jessa Davis.
DAVIS: When people leave places like Odessa or are too afraid to leave their house being their authentic selves, it does insulate people from ever having to challenge those beliefs.
NEUMAN: Wilbur, too, acknowledges the lost opportunities for conversations that could heal Americans' political divisions. It's one thing they can both agree on. Scott Neuman, NPR News, Washington.
his is your summer of self-love
20 minutes
When do you feel in your bones, unmistakably, that it's summertime? Carly, we'll start with you.
CARLY OLSON: I think one of those very first hot days when you wake up, and it just smells like it's going to be a hot day, and when the sun is setting around 8 p.m., you know? Summer for me is all about being outside.
LUSE: I'm with that. I'm with that. What about you, Garrett?
GARRETT SCHLICHTE: Mine is, like, the first hot night. Like, my - summer to me is, like, hot nights. Like, you can be outside in the evening. I, like - I am in San Francisco. We get very few of those. Our summertime can be weird. The first time it's, like, still bright outside at, like, 8:30 p.m., and you can be in Dolores Park drinking, like, a warm tequila out of a plastic cup and, like, still have your jacket off, I'm like, it is summer, and we are going for it, girls.
LUSE: The puddles from the springtime rainstorms are drying up. The humidity is returning to the air. You can't deny it anymore. Summer is here. And for centuries, writers and artists of all stripes have made the connection between romance and summer, from "Grease" to "Dirty Dancing" to "Romeo And Juliet." For me, romance is the lifeblood of the summer. And I'm talking about romance in a non-dating context - the romance of being outside, of seeing and being seen, of bodies of water and fresh fruit and hot nights. These three little months tend to be when I get a lot of my travel for the year in. I'm seeing friends and family, visiting places I haven't been in a while and really investing in some well-earned me time. So what does it look like to romance oneself this summer? There are so many things you could do and so little time to do them - beach day, road trip, camping weekend. The options can be so varied, expensive and overwhelming to the point where it's tempting to just end up on the couch scrolling through TikTok.
So I'm here with Garrett Schlichte, author and chef, and Carly Olson, freelance journalist covering architecture design and business, for some tips from two tried-and-true summer enthusiasts on making ourselves the star in our own summer rom-com, whether you have someone special or not. Carly, Garrett, welcome back to IT'S BEEN A MINUTE.
OLSON: Hello.
SCHLICHTE: Hi. I'm so happy to be back.
LUSE: I am so happy to have you both back. I'm so excited to be talking about this.
LUSE: Hello, hello. I'm Brittany Luse, and you're listening to IT'S BEEN A MINUTE from NPR, a show about what's going on in culture and why it doesn't happen by accident.
LUSE: And a reminder - if you love IT'S BEEN A MINUTE, which from the sweet comments y'all have been leaving, it sounds like maybe you do, be sure to follow or subscribe to the show on your favorite podcast app. That way, you get new episodes the moment they drop.
OK. So we have established how summer feels for all of us. But I wonder, how do you define summer romance?
SCHLICHTE: Oh, my God. I think summer romance for me is - it's a lot about smells, to be honest. I spent a lot of summers on farms.
LUSE: Ooh.
SCHLICHTE: And I think, like, the smell of, like, that tent on the side of the road, and they're selling, like, stone fruit and tomatoes - it makes me fall in love with everything I see when, like, it just smells like that. And I think that's, like, a big part of it for me.
LUSE: Oh, I love that.
SCHLICHTE: (Laughter).
LUSE: I love that. I love - it's like - oh, I'm a big farmers market gal, especially in the summer. It's almost obscene when you can really smell the peaches when they're ripening.
SCHLICHTE: Like, that's, like, the kickoff of the summer romance. And then it's like, every person I see is beautiful. Can we hold hands on the beach?
LUSE: (Laughter).
SCHLICHTE: And, like, that's what, like, floors it into high drive for me, is that it is, like, the first, like, smell of summer, and then you're in love with everything.
LUSE: Oh, I love that. It's like Charli XCX. Let's fall in love again and again.
SCHLICHTE: And again and...
LUSE: Again and again.
SCHLICHTE: Everything is romantic.
LUSE: Everything is romantic.
OLSON: (Laughter).
LUSE: What about you, Carly? How do you define summer romance?
OLSON: I think romance is a little bit about feeling irrational and kind of letting, like, the excitement take over you. Even if, you know, you're just going to the farmers market, going to the beach, like, how can we make this a main character moment for the summer? Are we wearing something a little extra cute? Maybe we have a bandana on. You know, maybe we're drinking, like, our signature summer cocktail. Just, like, how are we kind of adding those extra touches to be the main character?
LUSE: I love that main character energy. It's like I just see myself, and I'm like, she's in the market. She's leaning over. She's smelling the fresh mint (laughter).
OLSON: Yes.
SCHLICHTE: She's putting flowers in her bag. They're standing out. People are looking at her. She's making eye contact.
LUSE: And she's running into a friend. She's waving. They're hugging.
SCHLICHTE: (Laughter).
LUSE: I love that framing of being the hero and being the main character of your own story. And I definitely feel that energy in the summer, just - like, the sun is shining just for you (laughter).
OLSON: Yes.
LUSE: But talk to me more about, like, what it looks like to embrace summer romance outside of our love lives.
OLSON: I think turning, like, little everyday things into something special, like having a summer soundtrack, like making a playlist. And every time you're, like, driving around in the car in the summer, you put on your summer playlist and you're adding songs. And I also love that you can then listen to that playlist later.
LUSE: And that was the summer - yeah.
OLSON: And you're remembering, like, all the memories that you created over the summer. That was this, like, Brat Summer. You know, every time I hear that, I'm going to think about that summer. Or, like, a signature drink that you're drinking all summer. A few summers ago, mine was, like, a Miller High Life with a splash of Aperol, which I think is called a Spaghett if you also add lemon and class it up a little bit. But again...
LUSE: Hold on. We breezed past that too quickly. You said that it is a Miller High Life, the champagne of beers...
OLSON: It's so good.
LUSE: ...With a little bit of Aperol.
OLSON: Yep. You just take, like, a sip out of the glass and then sprinkle in a few dashes of Aperol. It's, like, sweet and refreshing. You can just sip them by the pool all day - so good.
LUSE: You have changed my life. (Laughter) You've changed my life.
OLSON: (Laughter) Brittany, you're going to love it.
SCHLICHTE: Wait. Can I offer a new version of that? I'd become obsessed with this woman. She calls it a Sturdy Shirley, and it is a beer that she drinks a little bit out of it then puts pomegranate molasses in because a Shirley Temple is grenadine, which is pomegranate-flavored, but a little bit of that and then just, like, a maraschino cherry in.
LUSE: Oh, my God.
SCHLICHTE: And I was like - I mean, I literally commented. I was like, you have invented the drink of the summer.
LUSE: Y'all have shifted things for me right now. Now I know I'm about to drink after work today.
OLSON: (Laughter).
LUSE: Today.
SCHLICHTE: And that is how you romanticize them. You know what I mean? And I'm like, also to Carly's...
OLSON: Yes.
SCHLICHTE: ...Point, it's like...
LUSE: Yeah.
SCHLICHTE: ...You're getting a domestic cheap beer, and you are, like, jazzing it up just a little bit. And then, like, suddenly, you're in Sicily or, like, on the Amalfi Coast. But, like, you're actually in the back seat of, like, your friend's car, kind of driving down the Pacific Coast Highway, having a good time.
LUSE: (Laughter) I love this. I love this so much. I mean, it's really about, like you said, sort of taking these moments that I think maybe might otherwise feel ordinary or could slip by as ordinary, and you're historicizing them for yourself. You're choosing to make it a moment, which makes me think about, like, I think, another big aspect of summer.
I think I've definitely been in this position myself where it feels like the summer has slipped by and I haven't, like, done what I wanted to do, or I haven't, like, followed through on some of the stuff that I hoped to get to.
I think people underestimate how much planning it can take to have a great summer, to have a truly enjoyable summer experience and to, like, actually set the stage for a good time or create special moments with yourself or with others. What are some items that people should consider incorporating into their summer tool kit that they might not be thinking about?
SCHLICHTE: Living in San Francisco, like, we all have, like, an earthquake go bag, you know? And I'm like, I think people need, like, a summer go bag.
LUSE: Having a go bag for something that feels fun - I love it (laughter).
SCHLICHTE: To, like, what you said, it's like, do I have a towel? Do I have sunscreen? Do I have this thing? And I'm like, it's a lot to get that together, and then suddenly, you're leaving for the beach or the park or whatever an hour later than you were going to.
OLSON: Yes.
SCHLICHTE: I buy, in the fall, a big beach towel. I buy two big beach towels 'cause I need one for my body and one to put on the sand. But then, like...
LUSE: OK. I never think ahead like this. Yeah.
SCHLICHTE: A couple things of sunscreen, a disposable camera so we can stay off our phones, like, something to capture the moment, and I keep it all in one big bag. And then when my friends are like, are you ready to go to the beach, I'm like, I was ready five minutes ago. And then you have your spots on the way to the beach, like the little bodega that you go to or the little sandwich shop, and it's just - like, you know the directions and you have it planned ahead of time.
LUSE: (Laughter).
SCHLICHTE: So a go bag is the it-girl accessory of the summer.
LUSE: (Laughter).
OLSON: Yeah. I'll add to the go bag a beach umbrella because you're not going to be able to have those long beach days that you want if there's no shade. I got one a couple summers ago, and it changes everything when you can, like, have a shade-sun combo day. Otherwise, you're kind of tapping out after a couple of hours.
I'll also add a picnic blanket. I always have my picnic blanket in my car for, like, an impromptu, like, let's go to the park and, like, bring some snacks. Let's hang out.
It's just so nice to have in the car, and you can also use it for the beach. And mine comes, like, in a little drawstring bag, so it's cute and very portable. And to Garrett's point about sunscreen, I have so many friends who still don't wear sunscreen.
SCHLICHTE: Bad.
OLSON: It blows my mind.
LUSE: Some of them make me look like the Blair Witch. So...
(LAUGHTER)
OLSON: Yes. The white cast is real. But, like, ask one of your, like, chic girlfriends what sunscreen she's using and just, like, get one of those because we're wearing sunscreen this summer.
SCHLICHTE: Yes. Oh, my God. Yeah. One of the final essential parts of a go bag is having a bottle opener and a lighter, like one of the bottle openers you get at the corner store that has the beer side and the wine key on it, and then just, like, any lighter because everybody forgets them on the beach. Your friends forget them.
You don't want to have to, like, put a wine bottle in a shoe and try and hit it. You're not trying to, like - God forbid somebody gets a little too drunk and then tries to open a beer with their teeth. And it's like that - we can't - we're not going to the dentist this summer. We're staying - yeah, we're staying...
LUSE: I was going to say, especially not on the weekend, baby. You will be having that chipped tooth till Monday. Yeah.
SCHLICHTE: We're staying at the beach. And it's also just, like, a great way to make friends. Like, inevitably, somebody needs to light something with a lighter on the beach. And if you're the person that has it, you've made friends.
And then suddenly, they have, you know, some delicious grapes that, like, they're going to give you, and then you've, like, made some friends at the beach.
I think it's just a great way to, like, be out and be useful to other people. And then it's like, oh, my God, you were the girl that had the lighter. And it was like, yeah, you had the grapes. And then you're friends. You're - they're your summer beach friends.
LUSE: Yeah. It's kind of like the club bathroom moment where it's like, we're bonding 'cause someone's got a tampon or somebody has, like, a hair tie. And it's like, oh, my God, we can live to fight another day (laughter).
SCHLICHTE: We can live to fight another day. You know what I mean? It is. It's literally that. And it's like, these are - they're the essentials that just kind of get forgotten.
And then when you're the friend that has it, they're like, oh, my God, what would we do without you?
OLSON: Yeah. I think sometimes people think planning is so unglamorous and they resist it at all costs. But a little bit of up-front planning, I find, can, like, give you the freedom to actually enjoy the experience. Whether it's, like, planning for a trip or planning for your summer, just a little bit of up-front planning goes so far.
LUSE: Coming up after the break...
OLSON: If you want a romantic summer, you have to understand, like, part of romance is the unknown, and that is part of what makes it exciting.
LUSE: Stick around.
LUSE: Summer is a season where there's both a lot of excitement but also a lot of pressure about how we think we should look. I wonder, how do each of you approach your own summer style?
OLSON: I think, like, having a few essential pieces in your summer tool kit is all you need - just a few things that you feel good about and you feel good in, like a good pair of pants or a short, a cute little dress to throw on and, like, a cute blouse in natural fibers.
Like, I love linen and, like, cotton poplin, like, that really crisp cotton for the summer. And you can wash those fabrics, and, like, they still look great years later.
And I don't think summer is about, like, getting tons of new clothes.
I think when you're not feeling yourself, it's easy to just say, like, oh, I need to go to the mall. I'm going to buy whatever I see. I'm, like, so confused. But just getting a few pieces that you feel good in that are not, like, digging into your body - you don't want anything digging in the summer, like, let's be honest - will set you up for success more than a whole new wardrobe.
LUSE: Not everybody has the same situation that I have going on physically, but, oh, my God, a bra in the summer...
OLSON: Right.
LUSE: It really feels like a death trap sometimes. It's like, you want to turn around? Am I being stabbed? What's going on?
(LAUGHTER)
LUSE: Am I being stabbed with the world's sweatiest curved knife? What's happening? Like, just actually thinking about how you want to feel is such a big sort of paradigm shift.
And also, like, the ease - like, what you're talking about - having a few things that you know. You're like, I like this. This feels good. I like this. This is functional.
This is fun for me, and I'm happy to put it on. That's a totally different sort of frame of thinking about how to look in the summer versus, like, having, you know, the dreaded bikini body.
SCHLICHTE: I mean, I agree with all of that. And I think summer is, like, a great time to become a cartoon character. And I'm like, they - "Hey Arnold!" was wearing the same thing every single day, and that was just fine.
LUSE: (Laughter).
SCHLICHTE: And I'm like, I think summer's, like, a great time to have, like, that one dress that you always wear to the park. Or, like, I have, like - I've had a series of summer shirts where my friends were like, you were always in that shirt this summer. And I was like, yeah, and I looked cute, and I was comfortable. And that's fine, you know? Like, I know that I'm going to look good in this.
LUSE: Real.
SCHLICHTE: I know it's going to be hot. They're - I don't need a new shirt every time we do this. I just need to know that I look good. And then I'll get a new one every couple of years. This is my, like, button-down patterned, loud summer shirt, and I can wear it to the beach.
And if we finish at the beach and then we want to go get oysters at the little restaurant up the street, we can also do that, and it transitions, and you can wear it everywhere. And then maybe you'll see it again in six months from the now.
(LAUGHTER)
LUSE: I wonder also, like, how can we use summer, or in what ways can we use summer - or even thinking about summer style as an opportunity to connect with our bodies. 'Cause I think there's a lot of ways in which thinking about how to style ourselves can really cause us to want to flee from them as quickly as possible.
How can we think about summer as an opportunity to - or summer and summer style to - thinking about those as an opportunity to connect with our bodies and like them instead of feeling like, you know, contempt.
OLSON: If you have things in your closet that were for, like, a past version of your body or something that doesn't feel true to you anymore, like, summer is a good time to just, like, purge all of those things and just kind of wear what feels good to you now.
Going on Instagram, there's a lot of pressure to wear certain things for the summer and certain things for certain seasons that, like, might feel too revealing for what you're comfortable with or just not in alignment with who you are. You don't need to fall victim to any of those pressures at all. And maybe it's, like, a time to log off a little bit in the summer.
No matter what size you are, like, you can find clothes that feel comfortable for you. And I think, like, that is the most important thing.
I feel like whenever I feel most connected to my body and most comfortable, I'm almost, like, not even aware of my body anymore. I'm able to, like, be in the moment with the experience that I'm having because the foundation of what I'm wearing is comfortable, and I've picked it out for myself.
I've picked it out based on my style, my size, like, how I'm feeling about myself. And I'm able to, like, experience the moment rather than thinking, like, is this something that feels true to me? How am I looking? How am I compared to other people?
SCHLICHTE: Yeah. I mean, I grew up in Florida. I went to a private Catholic school. I wore uniforms. And in the dead of August, I would still wear uniform pants instead of shorts because I was, like, even as a child, like, so afraid of my body, like, did not like my body.
I've always been a little bit bigger, and I spent a lot of time covering myself up in the hottest place in the world. And I think in the last couple of years - I don't know if it's, like, getting older or figuring out actually, like, whatever body positivity means to me - but I have just kind of got to a place of, like, I love being alive, and I need to be enjoying myself at all times. Like, I - to quote Kim Cattrall, I don't even want to be in a situation for one moment where I'm not having a good time (laughter).
LUSE: I'm not enjoying myself. (Laughter) Exactly. Exactly.
SCHLICHTE: And that, like, so includes clothes. And I did not always used to be in that place, but summer's, like, such a good forcing function for that where I'm like, I need to be in shorts. I need to have my legs out. I need to - to your point, Brittany, like, I want to put on a T-shirt, and I want my whole arm to come out unsheathed from the other side. Yeah, I'm not thinking about what I look like.
I'm thinking about what I feel like. And I want to do what makes me feel good in my body with my one wild and precious life (laughter).
LUSE: Oh, my gosh. I got one last question. OK. There's this, like, idealized version of summer that feels similar to, like, New Year's Eve.
You're trying to have the perfect night. You're trying to have the perfect year. You're trying to have the perfect summer. You're trying to plan.
You're trying to do a lot. We talked a lot about how people can sort of, like, plan and prepare for fun and program fun into their summer, but how can people let go of expectations around summer shoulds and lean into the spontaneity of the season?
OLSON: If you want a romantic summer, you have to understand, like, part of romance is the unknown, and that is part of what makes it exciting.
So you can plan, but also lean into, like, maybe I'll text somebody that I met at, like, the bar last weekend who I thought was really cool that I might want to be friends with, or let's be open to, like, a camping trip, even though I've never been camping.
I think having that attitude is part of having a romantic summer alongside the plans that you've made.
SCHLICHTE: Yeah, and I think, like, for me, the - truly, the idea that, like, there are other fish in the sea. The beautiful thing about life is that it is long. We've all had bad breakups.
We've all fallen in love with another person pretty soon after that. You know, we've all paid for a dinner that we didn't really like and then gone and gotten burritos after, and it fixed everything. I think, like, there is no...
LUSE: (Laughter) Yeah.
SCHLICHTE: There is no shortage of life to be lived, and there is no shortage of, like, summers to be had. And I think that, as every Italian nonna on Instagram has proven, like, the longer we're alive, the better our chances are of getting it right.
And summer's just a time to keep trying until you get it right. And there is always next summer.
(SOUNDBITE OF FOAM COLLECTIVE'S "CUE THE BARB")
LUSE: Oh, my gosh. Garrett, Carly, thank you both so much for joining us again. I mean, like, before, you told us what to do at dinner parties.
Now you're telling me how to live my summer. I need to - I need for y'all to go ahead and just write the books.
SCHLICHTE: (Laughter) I am ready when you are, Carly.
OLSON: Let's do it.
SCHLICHTE: Awesome.
OLSON: Thank you, Brittany.
(LAUGHTER)
SCHLICHTE: Thank you.
LUSE: That was Garrett Schlichte, author and chef, and Carly Olson, a freelance journalist covering architecture design and business.
This episode of IT'S BEEN A MINUTE was produced by...
COREY ANTONIO ROSE, BYLINE: Corey Antonio Rose.
The White House's new site about 'aliens' has nothing to do with UFOs
3 minutes
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