Happy Spring, everybody!
It's been a bit of a frantic week here at Boredwalk HQ, but we're hoping we can catch our breath a little this weekend. If you've had a hectic few days yourself, here's hoping you can enjoy a breather, too. If you're just here for the podcast, scroll on down to the bottom! If you'd like to kill a little more time, read on...
As you can see above, I still had time to work on a new design inspired — both visually and thematically — by "the personal is political" slogan popularized by the second-wave feminist movement of the 1960s. It's pretty groovy, and very fitting as we continue celebrating Women's History Month!
I wish we had some rad historical tidbits to share from previous incarnations of March 22nd, but the "best" I could come up with was that on this day in 1972 the U.S. Senate passed the Equal Rights Amendment...which to this day has not been ratified.
I won't get into the particulars of the proposed amendment itself, but I did learn some pretty interesting things about its stalled ratification:
• 37 of the 50 states have ratified the amendment. To be enshrined in the U.S. Constitution, amendments must be ratified by 3/4 of the states. What is 3/4 of 50? 37.5. So close, right?! Not so fast...
• Two of those 37 states waited until after the March 22nd 1979 deadline to ratify it — Nevada in 2017, and Illinois in 2018. Even if a 38th state comes on board, you can bet there will be a legal fight over the validity of Nevada, Illinois, and #38 triggering Constitutional ratification.
• Legislation was enacted to extend the 1979 ratification deadline to June 30th 1982, but not all states recognized this extension, and some of the states that had previous ratified had done so with the understanding that if Constitutional ratification failed by the original deadline they would fall off the list of ratifying states (looking at you, South Dakota.)
• Four of the 35 states that ratified the amendment before the deadline passed legislation later on to rescind their ratification: Nebraska, Tennessee, Idaho, and Kentucky. There's debate as to whether that's something that has legal standing, but until a 38th state comes on board it's kind of moot. Speaking of potential 38's...
• Seven other states have passed legislation in one of their two houses ratifying the ERA, but not in both. Depending on your point of view, this is one of the problems with bi-cameral legislatures. To learn about how the other 1/50th lives, re-listen to our interview with Nebraska state senator Megan Hunt to hear all about Nebraska's uni-cameral legislature!
So even if a 38th state joins up and pushes the ERA over the 3/4 precipice, it may actually only be considered the 33rd if the (almost 100% guaranteed to happen) ensuing legal fight determines that Idaho, Kentucky, Nebraska, South Dakota, and Tennessee were all within their legal rights to rescind their initial ratifications.
Legislation is weird, wild stuff!
Moving on, in this week's podcast we chat with comedian Darren Carter! We talk to Darren about his career in comedy, his creative process, how he's using his YouTube channel and his own Pocket Party podcast to reach new fans, how the time of day can really make certain musical instruments sound terrifying, and he and Meredith geek out about their mutual love of boxing. It's fun! You'll love it!
We'll be back next week with fresh designs, a new podcast episode, and in case you missed it in Tuesday's email, we'll be a LOT closer to the drawing of this month's giveaway winner! If you'd like a chance to win, go enter here!
The prize package includes:
• $100 gift card from Boredwalk (that's us!)
• $100 gift card from Plum Deluxe (they make awesome teas, and their founder Andy is a swell dude! Meredith and I are partial to their Peaches & Cream Oolong, Sugar Plum, and Apple Cinnamon Warmth blends!)
• $100 gift card from Olga's Organics (Olga makes all-natural, organic, animal-friendly beauty products for guilt-free pampering!)
• $200 worth of stunningly designed and naturally-scented candles from Embla!
We hope you have a wonderful weekend! Let us know how you're spending it — we'd love to hear from you! Until next time...
Peace, love, and tacos,
Matt
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