Checkmate! 😂 (HAPPY BIRTHDAY BRI ❤️‼️)

June 27, 2020·45 min·2 clips

Elijah McClain played violin for shelter cats before police stopped him for matching a description.

The episode opens with hosts Kay and Mar explaining they are recording before a birthday celebration for their friend Brie, already drinking strong Long Island Iced Tea slushies from a place called Gecko. Kay celebrates National Beautician's Day by noting she is a licensed cosmetologist who does waxing, lashing, and facials but not hair. The hosts briefly discuss National Take Your Dog to Work Day and office perks like alcohol vending machines. Kay gives a shout-out to 16-year-old Terry Booth, who traveled from Pittsburgh's north side to Monroeville with a younger companion to raise money for a landscaping business, and expresses sharp anger that a local barbershop laughed at the boys rather than supporting them. The hosts discuss influencer Be Simone's repeated controversial statements, this week focusing on her use of the word 'training' to describe transgender friends and her joke about LGBTQ standing for 'lettuce bacon tomato,' arguing she has become too comfortable and careless with her platform. They then turn to Elijah McClain, a 23-year-old who played violin for cats at an animal shelter and wore a ski mask due to anemia, who was stopped by police, physically restrained despite identifying himself, lost consciousness, and was then sedated by EMTs before dying. The hosts express grief and anger, connecting his case to the broader pattern of police violence including Breonna Taylor's killers remaining free. Mar recounts the story of a Mississippi woman who went Facebook Live while driving on a freeway with her two young children, intending to crash after discovering her boyfriend of two children was secretly married. The woman crashed after dropping her phone, everyone survived, and she returned to social media the next day denying any intent to harm her children. Both hosts agree the children must be removed from her care while also acknowledging her mental health crisis requires serious intervention. The hosts clarify the viral photo of a Black boy hugging a white police officer, identifying him as Devonte Hart, whose two white foster mothers drove him and four other foster children off a cliff. They note the children were being starved, his body was never recovered, and the family had previously been reported to social services and evaded scrutiny by moving and homeschooling the children. They mourn the death of rapper Huey, known for 'Pop Lock and Drop It,' who was shot and killed at age 31. The hosts discuss Florida and Texas closing bars due to COVID-19 surges and react with disbelief to Donald Trump's suggestion that reducing testing would lower case numbers. They briefly touch on celebrity sexual harassment allegations including claims involving Chris Brown and a tattoo on his face that some interpret as a pedophile symbol, which the hosts debate as either a legitimate concern or a reach. The episode closes with a hypothetical about choosing between living in a simulation or being thrown into an unknown dimension, and a lighthearted debate about whether a man liking photos on Instagram constitutes cheating.

As heard by us

Slushies, birthday teasing, and a hard turn into a story that lands with weight.

Kay and Mar open in full girls-night mode, with strong slushies, birthday love for Brie, and the kind of loose banter that keeps drifting from petty jokes to beauty talk and sharp side comments.

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Why you'd press play

You want a birthday pre-game that starts silly and then turns into a hard-edged argument about a serious situation.

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