SBCC Vaquero Voices

Episode 8 - Maureen McRae Goldberg

Episode Summary

Akil and Hong welcome Financial Aid Director Maureen McRae Goldberg to the show to talk all things financial aid, with a nod to spaghetti bolognese and Jane Austen along the way; Akil and Hong complement the episode with discussions on bagels, a spot that serves sushi and burgers under one roof, the manga of Satoshi Kon, and Cobra Kai.

Episode Notes

Mentioned in this episode:

SBCC Financial Aid Office - https://www.sbcc.edu/financialaid/?page=1

FAFSA - https://studentaid.gov/h/apply-for-aid/fafsa

SBCC Scholarships - https://www.sbcc.edu/financialaid/scholarships.php

The Smart Money - https://www.sbcc.edu/financial-literacy/index.php

Bagel Market Cafe (Mesa Bagel) - https://sbbagelmarket.com/

Trattoria Vittoria - https://trattoriavittoria.com/

King's Burger/Got Sushi? - https://www.kingsgotsushi.com/

Jane Austen - https://www.janeausten.org/

Opus - https://www.darkhorse.com/Books/25-876/Satoshi-Kon-s-OPUS-TPB

Tropic of the Sea - https://kodanshacomics.com/series/tropic-of-the-sea/

Cobra Kai - https://www.netflix.com/title/81002370

 

 

Episode Transcription

Captions Provided by Zoom

 

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Hong Lieu: Hello and welcome to another episode of SEC bucket of voices a podcast highlighting the unique voices that comprise our campus culture and how we're all working together to serve our students in the community at large, as usual. I'm joined by my co host to kill

 

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Akil Hill: Everybody

 

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Hong Lieu: And today we are honored to welcome marine McRae Goldberg to the show. Welcome.

 

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Welcome

 

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Hong Lieu: How to marine is the director of financial aid here at the school and I mean financial aid is that just busy all the time. Is there a slow or busy season.

 

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Hong Lieu: I know it's tied to the title.

 

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Hong Lieu: But I mean, students are just

 

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Hong Lieu: Always it's always on their mind. So I figured something that just kind of crazy all the time. Is that kind of correct

 

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Maureen McRae Goldberg: Um, yes, it's busy all the time.

 

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Maureen McRae Goldberg: You have the students who think in advance and get their stuff done. The students who think, oh boy, I'm gonna start school I should get things done.

 

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Maureen McRae Goldberg: And the ones that are oh my god I started school last week. I don't have any money and needs to get things done. So we get all different kinds

 

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Maureen McRae Goldberg: People handle deadlines very differently.

 

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Hong Lieu: And I mean yeah because because the FAFSA opens in October and closes in June, it kind of is kind of a going concern.

 

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Hong Lieu: The whole school year. So I guess there's no, like, There's no like rush to get it done because you have, you know, five or six months to do it. But then, there probably is a rush, because most of us will just put it off to the very end.

 

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Hong Lieu: Although money is, I guess, distributed in the order that it's received. I mean, it's better to get an early. Is that correct or is it kind of

 

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Maureen McRae Goldberg: An old assumption. Well,

 

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Maureen McRae Goldberg: Once you actually file a FAFSA form that's not the end of the actual people have to look at the FAFSA, you may be asked to provide additional data to prove the information on your FAFSA.

 

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Maureen McRae Goldberg: And those things can take time and there's only six people in the office who actually look at that. So it can get really backed up.

 

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Maureen McRae Goldberg: And it can be two or three weeks before someone can actually look at your piece of paper and move your FAFSA forward.

 

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Maureen McRae Goldberg: And then with coven happening and everybody moving to an online environment. We got even more backed up.

 

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Maureen McRae Goldberg: And then what happens is the people who submitted their documents, say, in May and haven't heard anything by June start calling us and then we can't take care of the ones

 

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Maureen McRae Goldberg: Submitted in May, because we're taking care of the phone calls and emails and chats. So it kind of becomes a vicious circle.

 

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Maureen McRae Goldberg: About the best advice I can give on with who's filing for financial aid is a good dose of patience.

 

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Maureen McRae Goldberg: Anything that's regulated by the federal government rules that make no sense to anybody. Good job security for my offer

 

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Maureen McRae Goldberg: Very difficult process for the students.

 

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Hong Lieu: So yeah, it does sound like five get file as early as possible and be as patient as you possibly can. Those are the kind of the two keys to having this process go as relatively smoothly as possible. Right.

 

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Maureen McRae Goldberg: And the other thing to remember is very rule origin and the onus of knowing the rules is on the students. So if you really want to be in on it, read our webpage. Everything you need to know is on our webpage and we send emails out to students and we don't think we get read very much

 

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Maureen McRae Goldberg: So just being a top business side of your education. It isn't going to

 

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Maureen McRae Goldberg: Blow nearly as smoothly as you want it to.

 

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Maureen McRae Goldberg: And it's probably the first a good majority of our to take care of their own finances.

 

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Maureen McRae Goldberg: While we we have what we would call late interesting students in their 20s and above.

 

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Maureen McRae Goldberg: A lot of our students are coming straight out of high school and mom and dad have always take care of everything. And now all of a sudden you're everything in office. We don't even talk to parents, you're 18 years old. You're on your own. You need to ask questions and be responsible.

 

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Hong Lieu: And I guess the other question ask is, Is there any reason for a student, not to fill out a FAFSA, like is it a good idea for most students to do that or are there certain cases where you probably don't even have to. It's not a big deal.

 

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Hong Lieu: I mean,

 

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Maureen McRae Goldberg: I've been. I've been working in financial aid offices for about 37

 

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Maureen McRae Goldberg: Almost gonna have to round up to 40 here, but, um, I used to say when I would go out and do outreach is if you can't write a check.

 

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Maureen McRae Goldberg: For the full amount of your education and if you are living at home runs the full amount of your education and City College is about 14,000 you can't write that check. Oh, well, then you should be applying for financial aid.

 

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Maureen McRae Goldberg: Good. It's a good way of thinking, you know, I can cover my jeans, so I can probably get my books. But what happens when when it comes to

 

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Maureen McRae Goldberg: Is that checks. So therefore you. So I would say yes. Everybody should file a FAFSA fact we have one program the promise program through the foundation, where all of our local high school graduates.

 

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Maureen McRae Goldberg: Get free tuition and supplies. They are mandated file effect.

 

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Maureen McRae Goldberg: It's part of program. So it's not nearly as hard as people think it is.

 

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Maureen McRae Goldberg: There a FAFSA that actual fear of

 

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Maureen McRae Goldberg: Needy July stop you from doing it, put it in there. It's

 

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Maureen McRae Goldberg: Scared enough. How much money did you make last year and the financial aid office has workshops every two weeks where you can zoom in and get help for one of our very talented staff members.

 

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That's great. It's great to know

 

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Akil Hill: I was gonna ask you one question in regards to you said that sometimes you have to provide further documentation. And sometimes, you know, I work in admissions and you know I help students and a couple of them. How is

 

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Akil Hill: How is that determine, is it like a random selection or is it something that they fill out on the fast food that is

 

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Akil Hill: Not it's conflicting information and they have to provide further proof or how do you have to provide further information after submitting the festival

 

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Maureen McRae Goldberg: Well, the first thing everyone needs to know is City College does not choose

 

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Maureen McRae Goldberg: provide more information. It's not a determination made in my office.

 

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Maureen McRae Goldberg: Supposedly, it's a random selection made by an algorithm at the US Department of Education, those of us who've been doing this stuff for a long time.

 

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Maureen McRae Goldberg: find it very interesting that this random selection seems to net. Most of the Pell grant recipients

 

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Maureen McRae Goldberg: So the algorithm. They use seems to weigh heavy on low income students. So students who are leading need grant are those seem to be most like a flag for verification

 

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Maureen McRae Goldberg: Other things that we asked you for have to do with conflicts.

 

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Maureen McRae Goldberg: You will apply to college on an admissions application and you you don't have a high school

 

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Maureen McRae Goldberg: And then you apply on your FAFSA form and you indicate that you do have a high school diploma.

 

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Maureen McRae Goldberg: Well, having a high school diploma is very important to being eligible for financial aid. So if one part of the school thing she do

 

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Maureen McRae Goldberg: And another part of the school things you don't we have to solve that conflict and unfortunately the only way to solve the conflict.

 

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Maureen McRae Goldberg: Is to get an original copy of the transcript for a school that you attended and that will either say that you graduated or you didn't graduate, but particularly during Koba with so many high schools closed on that can take a weeks if not months and disperse money until a file is complete.

 

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Hong Lieu: And you mentioned earlier how cold it is kind of delayed kind of certain things with the FAFSA in general for your office. How have you kind of had to adjust with co but I know you have live chat on the website now. But otherwise, how are things going in your department.

 

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Hong Lieu: working around the code and the campus kind of culture stuff.

 

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Maureen McRae Goldberg: Well, on Friday when we all went home and said, you get to come back the financial aid office was paper facing

 

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Maureen McRae Goldberg: Which means that everything the student turned into the financially was paper that you either had to mail fax or bring by the office and then beginning Monday we lost that ability. So the week, the financial aid office went from paper facing the complete

 

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Maureen McRae Goldberg: Which we were very proud but i i everybody saw what what a feat that actually what

 

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Maureen McRae Goldberg: We pulled up a shared file up and going got the chat bot up and going the emails up and going

 

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Maureen McRae Goldberg: And

 

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Maureen McRae Goldberg: We're all of a sudden, been able to take everything electronically. We also were in the process of moving to an electronic process.

 

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Maureen McRae Goldberg: Called a verify your FAFSA, which was scheduled before coven to begin with the academic here so that helped a lot that we were already on that road.

 

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Maureen McRae Goldberg: But being able to communicate very complex, very personal issues with students using nothing but that's an email.

 

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Maureen McRae Goldberg: Proved to be very difficult and very frustrating for our students. And as a keel knows very well we have something called for PA, which is the Privacy Act.

 

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Maureen McRae Goldberg: And we can't just give your information at anybody loves I thought our calls on the telephone. We have to verify somehow that it's you.

 

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Maureen McRae Goldberg: Because we're dealing with your parents tax returns, we're dealing with your grains. We're dealing with your socio economic status and those are all things that are protected.

 

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Maureen McRae Goldberg: So we have the double whammy of having to go from paper in person, where we asked for an ID card to being electronic without people and having no way to look at your ID card. So it's been quite a

 

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Maureen McRae Goldberg: New World for both our students who are struggling with that and the staff who are struggling with it as well. But I'll tell you, I've never seen a group of people

 

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Maureen McRae Goldberg: Work as fast or be more dedicated students they serve, than the financial aid people they know that what we do in the aid office.

 

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Maureen McRae Goldberg: Can make a difference if you make your rent, or if you're able to pay for childcare or if you're able to buy books before school starts. So the crew that works in the financial aid off stirringly dedicated

 

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Akil Hill: Yeah, I mean, you're talking about your, your crew. The crew and financial aid.

 

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Akil Hill: You know, I had the pleasure working with Agatha moist, just because they were previously in a mission and records and I know how dedicated in driven, they are and then

 

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Akil Hill: As well as everyone else in financial aid. Sometimes I have to run upstairs to give a financial aid some stuff or pre pre covert but

 

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Akil Hill: And everyone's extremely helpful extremely positive understands the big picture. So, you know, shout out to the crew and financial aid. Sometimes we you know we

 

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Akil Hill: Always. You know, focus on the outcome for the student and sometimes miss how the student was able to derive at that outcome. And a lot of it is a lot of hard work.

 

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Akil Hill: A lot of deep being detail oriented from our staff on the back end. So just want to sit send a special shout out to your crew Maureen. The people in finance traitor. Great.

 

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Hong Lieu: And the message here.

 

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Hong Lieu: Message here see definitely seems to be that folks are doing their best working as hard as they can, but the whole process has changed almost overnight, and while we've

 

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Hong Lieu: Everyone's been doing the best they can to kind of adjust, there are still some kind of kinks in the system to work out so bear with us on both sides in terms of

 

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Hong Lieu: The students are adapting to the new application process. And then on the back end processing those applications. It is some things to work through as well so

 

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Maureen McRae Goldberg: Very true. Very so

 

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Hong Lieu: So yes, apply early and also be patient. Those are the two. The two things were taken away from the conversation right now is by early. Be patient.

 

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Akil Hill: Yeah, and then I'm gonna say one more point about the festival because I def the festival, but the FERPA

 

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Akil Hill: I, you know, working in admissions it's you know it's you're absolutely spot on with that worrying about just how sometimes that I can just be

 

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Akil Hill: You know such a an issue with students because they think that you're trying to prevent them from

 

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Akil Hill: You know, getting what they're trying to get accomplished. But in that, in actuality it's really to protect them, you know, and that's something that they really need to

 

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Akil Hill: You know, recognize it's like, look, if you would. You want us just to be so laissez faire with your information and that we know the tax information. There's some serious stuff on that so

 

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Akil Hill: I can relate when you said FERPA, I'm like, yeah, that's usually that means, kind of get your gloves on home sometimes

 

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Hong Lieu: It's true. Yeah. Because when the parents call in, you know, they're, they're like, oh, you know, well I I'm used to helping me still well you know at this point it's for your own child safety.

 

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Hong Lieu: And privacy that you you can't help in this process, they have to call in, they have to provide some verification or, you know, some sort of information to get that information out of them.

 

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Hong Lieu: Now another another aspect of your office, besides the financial aid FAFSA stuff is you also handle scholarships for the school.

 

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Hong Lieu: And so can you touch a little bit on that in terms of scholarships that might be available for students or just the kind of the rough overview of the scholarship aspect of financially.

 

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Maureen McRae Goldberg: Well, we have a wonderful woman in the office named event, who runs the scholarship program for us. He runs that in conjunction with the NSPCC foundation

 

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Maureen McRae Goldberg: The scholarships for the most part, that she handles do not belong to City College. They belong to this private foundation, but we run them on their behalf.

 

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Maureen McRae Goldberg: The scholarship book for the 2021 year is posted on the scholarship website. So we've already started gearing up for the next scholarship cycle. It's my understanding that event is going to dawn her mask and come to campus and drop scholarship booklets in places like the food bank.

 

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Maureen McRae Goldberg: And this library and the see our RC CL RC.

 

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Maureen McRae Goldberg: Cartwright center and different places where students are able to be in a spot more than a couple of minutes on campus right now.

 

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Maureen McRae Goldberg: And students then have the option of perusing the book, and we encourage them to apply for his knowledge ships as they possibly can. We have over a million that get dispersed.

 

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Maureen McRae Goldberg: The deadline, I believe, is early March and decisions are made by the end of the year.

 

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Hong Lieu: Yeah, I remember event always booked a conference room kind of next my office for like a week straight. So it always see here in there deliberating and kind of evaluating deciding

 

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Hong Lieu: So it was always like you can mark a separate calendar by window when it comes in comes into the conference room for a week to kind of vet and look through the applications, but it's a it's a labor intensive process because

 

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Hong Lieu: She really does take a lot of care in terms of evaluating applicants and going through everything. And it's a it's a big responsibility to kind of lead to Kenny award these scholarships to folks. So she does take it very seriously and shout out to Vienna for doing all that work, but

 

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Absolutely. It's

 

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Maureen McRae Goldberg: It's a campus wide effort and then is in there with volunteers from all over the campus reading those applications and selecting

 

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Maureen McRae Goldberg: I used to read scholarship applications for an association.

 

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Maureen McRae Goldberg: Involved in and you get 30 applications one award and if aside all my all of these people deserve this money. So it's very difficult, but the shout out goes to all of those city Barbara City College employees that volunteer time during it. We couldn't get through.

 

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Hong Lieu: Yeah, it is. It is a revolving door in their social everyone that helps with the process much much appreciated.

 

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Akil Hill: Yeah, I remember on a couple of times is kind of hit me up about hey you're gonna you're going to read, they're going to read you know

 

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Akil Hill: And so I from everyone from everyone that I've spoken with that actually has, you know, volunteered to read, I believe, George, I think.

 

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Akil Hill: In our office he read and, you know, everyone has such great stories about. It's a good way of really connecting with obviously don't see the student, but understanding

 

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Akil Hill: The certain obstacles and problems that students are facing with and the fact that you're, you have the pleasure of kind of reading something that

 

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Akil Hill: Is, you know, somewhat intimate about one's journey and why they're trying to apply for it. I've noticed people say that it's it's it kind of gives you

 

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Akil Hill: Or makes you a little bit more appreciative of your job and how you're actually here to serve the students to help the students reach what their goals are so

 

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Akil Hill: Hopefully I can, at some point, get around to reading as well because I really feel that you become rejuvenating once you start to see and understand the whole picture with a student and what they're going through.

 

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Maureen McRae Goldberg: The challenges that our students face are just amazing. It's always so satisfying to see them graduate, because you know everyone that walks across that stage has a different story.

 

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Yeah.

 

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Hong Lieu: Yeah. And as someone who personally benefited greatly from financial aid going for my for my education because I you know I came from a low income very poor family.

 

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Hong Lieu: We had no way of knowing how I was going to pay for college, but through grants or scholarships and and just, you know, the Cal Grant Pell Grant all the low income stuff.

 

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Hong Lieu: I was able to go to school for five years and I didn't really have to work too much. I mean I got jobs, mostly for

 

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Hong Lieu: For personal expenses as opposed to school expenses. Those are all covered, including part of room and board coveted financial aid so

 

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Hong Lieu: If you're really on the fence about applying for financial aid or not sure. It really is where they just apply and see what they give you, because you can always decline the award. If you don't want it.

 

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Hong Lieu: But but along those lines. On the flip side, are there sort of kind of any deadlines or pitfalls of getting financial rewards like like that people should be aware of in terms of

 

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Hong Lieu: Folks that just get financial aid and blow it on a material goods or whatever and don't and don't focus properly kind of the spending of the money or they're kind of pitfalls of folks fall into on that end that we should be aware of or

 

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Maureen McRae Goldberg: That the, the topic is holes and financial aid.

 

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Maureen McRae Goldberg: First is

 

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Maureen McRae Goldberg: The awareness that this is money that's being given to you some and as taxpayers.

 

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Maureen McRae Goldberg: And that there are things that go on with that nobody's standing on a corner passing out dollar bills.

 

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Maureen McRae Goldberg: So if you are a financial aid recipient which like Hong. I was a financial aid recipient Pell grants and Cal grants and loans and all of that.

 

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Maureen McRae Goldberg: If you are taking financial aid money to pursuing your education. There is an expectation that you will complete your education and that comes in two different ways that that is measured in a

 

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Maureen McRae Goldberg: Is you are expected to stay in school. So we released the first batch you financially 10 days before school starts

 

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Maureen McRae Goldberg: Did you stay in school and come this semester. If you don't complete at least 60% or your Oh, some of that money back.

 

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Maureen McRae Goldberg: And students are always very surprised by this

 

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Maureen McRae Goldberg: That you will. Oh, part of the money back. Now don't give enough money out that is living well. And by the time 60% of the semester is gone by, you've spent all your financial aid on living and books and educating yourself, but you still have to pay it back.

 

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Maureen McRae Goldberg: And you won't be able to enroll in the next semester until you pay it back. So dropping out of class or taking W's can really have a detrimental effect on your ability to move forward.

 

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Maureen McRae Goldberg: The other thing that happens is if you

 

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Maureen McRae Goldberg: Chronically drop out of all of your classes get grades below CS so your GPA is below 2.0

 

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Maureen McRae Goldberg: If you take too many classes you're supposed to be able to get an associate's degree within about 16 units we don't start

 

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Maureen McRae Goldberg: Asking what you're doing, until you get 20 units, but once you get above 90 units, your GPA is below 2.0 you're not completely 67% of your classes.

 

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Maureen McRae Goldberg: Then the federal government using the aid office as their emissary will say you're not getting anymore until you explain to us why you're doing this and you have to go through what's called Satisfactory Academic Progress appeal.

 

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Maureen McRae Goldberg: And that happens all four semesters. So someone's spring and fall that if you fall into any one of those categories, you're not going to get more financial aid.

 

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Maureen McRae Goldberg: Until you have successfully appealed to a chemical team members that you understand where you've made your mistakes and you understand how to correct those mistakes and we'll move forward.

 

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Maureen McRae Goldberg: And this is something that surprises students every semester.

 

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Maureen McRae Goldberg: But it's on the web page. Are we do tell you about it. We send emails about it.

 

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Maureen McRae Goldberg: But it's not something people really want to think about

 

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Maureen McRae Goldberg: Right now we are just completing the fall financial aid appeal season, as we call it, we've probably had more than 500 people appeal and every appeal is read by

 

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Maureen McRae Goldberg: Myself, at least, and by the financial aid committee. So it's very timely process. We look very closely at what you're doing, where you're going, how you got there.

 

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Maureen McRae Goldberg: And we decide whether or not you're going to be able to continue to receive financial aid. So those two things are extremely important.

 

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Maureen McRae Goldberg: If you, if you think about it, some pain paying you to go to school, just like somebody was paying you a job and you don't expect to continue to get paid and her to stop doing the work. Well, you can't expect to continue to get financial aid if you stopped doing the work.

 

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Hong Lieu: Yeah, that's a good way to think about it.

 

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Akil Hill: Yeah, I mean, I mean, I remember when I was in school and it's so interesting too because, you know, we talked about people that are kind of on the margins and

 

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Akil Hill: You know, they, they're either told you know either. You got to get a job or you got to go to school. And so in out of fear of not wanting to work when you're 18 years old.

 

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Akil Hill: You know, they, you know, they go to college and and honey and maybe you know some people when you were in school and college to as well that were like this where they financially, they would receive the financial aid.

 

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Akil Hill: And they would just spend it on stuff that you know to mean like they shouldn't be spending it on and a lot of it to me like obviously looking back now since I'm in my 40s.

 

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Akil Hill: You know, the, the piece of being financially literate and how a lot of these students don't come from that space. And so they get the money.

 

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Akil Hill: And they're like, Hey, you know, I need, I need some new shoes. Right. And so I just as there ever been, or do you have any advice like if

 

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Akil Hill: If you're in that situation or that's kind of been in your upbringing, how would you approach being, you know, financially responsible with your money marine or what do you have any suggestions.

 

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For the students

 

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Maureen McRae Goldberg: We have a really good

 

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Maureen McRae Goldberg: Series of web pages, called the smart money.

 

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Maureen McRae Goldberg: On a website that helps

 

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Maureen McRae Goldberg: Students with budgeting gives him exercises about how to think about money, how to set aside money.

 

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Maureen McRae Goldberg: Gives them ideas about whether or not they should borrow money.

 

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Maureen McRae Goldberg: Borrowing money when you're 18 years old and you don't really know what you're going to do with your life can be a scary and often dangerous thing to do. So if you were to go on.

 

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Maureen McRae Goldberg: Main Santa Barbara City College website and type in the smart money, you will have come along these pages that are just fantastic to help students

 

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Maureen McRae Goldberg: answer some of those questions, again, it's a matter of getting students to take the time

 

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Maureen McRae Goldberg: And really take a couple hours to invest in their future.

 

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Hong Lieu: Yeah, and it's and it's a lot of stuff there deals with, you know, like basic, basic credit information borrowing, you know, kind of

 

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Hong Lieu: Kind of money basics that that are good just good to know. No matter what. I mean, some folks come across those as they grow up, but some folks, you just never have to think about it. So it is kind of a nice little recap.

 

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Hong Lieu: Of kind of basic money management kind of advice.

 

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Hong Lieu: For in terms of personally meet the things I would see with with

 

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Hong Lieu: Folks, I went to school with and growing up. It's the two sides. It's like you said, the folks that will blow the financial aid money on stuff that's not school related and they're a little short when the quarter end

 

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Hong Lieu: And then the other side. I knew a lot of folks that would just do financial aid and do a little bit of school.

 

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Hong Lieu: So they do some units couple classes here a couple classes there. And then they run out of financial aid before they've got their degree.

 

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Hong Lieu: So I mean that's that's the one where is it, there's all these are a cap of years in terms of how long you're eligible for financial aid marine or is it just

 

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Hong Lieu: In terms of okay

 

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Maureen McRae Goldberg: Yeah, there is for city college are supposed to be finished with your degree either A or a transfer within 90 units.

 

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Maureen McRae Goldberg: Okay, so that if you go above the 90 units and it's 90 attempted units not 90 completed units. And if you go above that you have to go through the progress policy.

 

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Maureen McRae Goldberg: But let's say that the appeals committee agrees with you, you know, you have to start with a low level math and now you're up and you're doing really well, and you're going to graduate. Within a year.

 

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Maureen McRae Goldberg: It's going to take you three years instead of two, but you're going to be ready to transfer on the problem is is when you get to your four year institution.

 

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Maureen McRae Goldberg: You still have the same limit on financial aid, which is 150% of an education. So at that City College. If it takes 60 units will give you 90

 

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Maureen McRae Goldberg: And then at a four year college takes 120 units. So they'll give you. Oh, don't make me do the math in my head. They'll give you I think 60 units above that and then your Pell Grant will run out.

 

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Maureen McRae Goldberg: You won't have any more. Your Cal Grant can only be used for four years of full time study

 

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Maureen McRae Goldberg: So if you're not on top of getting your units completed, you can get all the end of your degree be a semester before you graduate and literally have no money to complete the degree. So you really do have to plan it very carefully.

 

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Hong Lieu: Yeah, and, and those are things that kind of

 

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Hong Lieu: Get glossed over not mentioned that often. So, those, those are though that's the real key advice there, knowing that there are there are caps on both sides.

 

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Hong Lieu: I mean the apply early, be patient is one thing in terms of getting awarded the money, but once you're awarded many money. It is a great responsibility to kind of

 

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Hong Lieu: Be an end in terms of asking young kids today to be responsible like that about money. I mean, I remember how I wasn't

 

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Hong Lieu: As mentioned in previous episodes, if not for my older sisters. I just be the best i mean i i was a kid. When I was really young was just subscribing to magazines.

 

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Hong Lieu: And invoices would come in and throw them in the garbage and my family like what are you doing, it's like they're sending me the magazines. What do I care.

 

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Hong Lieu: And they're like, we don't you know about credit and like I didn't. I had no idea about credit and anything like that. I was just like,

 

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Hong Lieu: You know so. So those kinds of things kind of luckily through me older siblings. But in terms. If you don't have access ladder. You don't have peers who are kind of keeping you on the up and up with things of that sort.

 

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Hong Lieu: Then it's good to know that SPC does provide some resources in terms of the advice that reads mentioned today the smart money website and as she said everything is

 

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Hong Lieu: On the financial aid website, it can be a lot to go through, you know, there's a lot of. There's a lot of text is a lot of requirements, but that's just how it is written, I mean we have to write it that way to be kind of like

 

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Hong Lieu: Like legally informative. So it's one of those things where if you need help, cutting through all the text and figuring out what's what. And what's going on.

 

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Hong Lieu: Then definitely reach out to the financial aid office, give them a call stop by, send them an email or hop on the live chat and get that information because financial aid is very important to

 

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Hong Lieu: You know your educational journey, but it is not just free money, so that's that's the kind of the key takeaway here.

 

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Yeah.

 

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Hong Lieu: I mean, I try cuz i mean i tried it. Like, I still have a lot of friends. You know that I talked about what money matters and things of that sort. Because

 

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Hong Lieu: I've kind I was. I mean, I've kind of come on the other side of that. And luckily escaped relatively unscathed. But there were a lot of opportunities I had you know where it's like my friend when he was like 19 I want to buy Harley. You want to co sign. And I'm like, Sure.

 

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Hong Lieu: Someone has to hit someone had to hit the brakes, for me, you know, like Earth.

 

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Hong Lieu: Wait a minute, you should think about this, where I'm thinking, I want to be a good friend. I want you know I'm the homie. I got it. I gotta do this.

 

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Hong Lieu: And then, you know, like when you when you break it down now looking back on it like that would have just been, you know, that would have been terrible, I would

 

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Hong Lieu: You know, because the thing about those kind of situations bad credit and this net. It's getting into it is very easy digging out is the hard part. You know, because it's like

 

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Hong Lieu: Seven years you know automatically before you can any sort of bankruptcy or foreclosure. I mean, there's all these little things.

 

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Hong Lieu: Like all these little technicalities and things written into how things work.

 

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Hong Lieu: That that aren't exactly jumping out you know in when you read documents. So it's just kind of things to be aware of and that the thing that you highlighted about, you know, six years or

 

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Hong Lieu: 150% of the units that stuff that never I was never aware of. Now it's going to school. I just kind of, you know, lucked out because it took me five years to get a philosophy degree.

 

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Hong Lieu: So I was probably bumping up against that limit and just wasn't even aware of it. And imagine if I was had to take an extra quarter.

 

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Hong Lieu: On top of the extra quarters. I was already taken and and I ran out of money.

 

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Hong Lieu: I mean, then you walk away with no degree. And then, where am I at, you know, so it's, it's, there's a lot of little things where I looked out and I

 

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Hong Lieu: Just nice to get to kind of get the word out like don't don't don't chance it to luck. Just know what you're getting into. And I'm not saying plan things out all the way through, because I'm terrible the following plans myself.

 

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Hong Lieu: But at least have an idea just like kind of like, you know, I at least eyeball things. Now you don't have to like measure out completely, but just be somewhat aware these kinds of things.

 

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Maureen McRae Goldberg: Well, if you think about it, if somebody's willing to give you money for free. I want to know what the cat.

 

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Hong Lieu: Yeah, Debbie.

 

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Hong Lieu: And and it is it is all about. Yeah, it is all about individual Richmond. But yeah, there's definitely definitely aren't some catches there.

 

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Hong Lieu: So, um, I know that you mentioned you've been in you've been worked in in financial aid offices for 3730 some odd years say

 

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Akil Hill: 3740 3737 so

 

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Hong Lieu: So that's what brought us PCC. What, what kind of path, did you take to land on our shores.

 

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Maureen McRae Goldberg: Well, I actually, I started in financial aid as an undergraduate in a federal work study job and I really took to it and

 

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Maureen McRae Goldberg: My academic interests at the time were women's studies and history and it was the end of the reagan recession and there weren't any Women's Studies in his screen jobs to be found.

 

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Maureen McRae Goldberg: So my boss and the financial aid office at the University of Redlands where I attended found me a job and I been working in financial aid ever since. And I, I really can't see myself doing anything different.

 

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Maureen McRae Goldberg: There is such a sense of pride. Knowing every day that the work you are doing is making a difference in individual lives.

 

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Maureen McRae Goldberg: You know, every time we do the check run you know there's 500 more people whose lives just got a little bit better.

 

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Maureen McRae Goldberg: Because the work that we do and you go to the graduation ceremonies and there are lives that are better for the work that you did. And so it feels really, it feels really good. I

 

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Maureen McRae Goldberg: I was up in the Bay Area working in graduate schools and came down south and worked at Glendale Community College.

 

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Maureen McRae Goldberg: And then got the opportunity to work at Occidental College and Los Angeles, which is probably best known for being where Brock Obama went to school for his first two years of college.

 

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Maureen McRae Goldberg: And then I fell in love with a man living in Santa Barbara, and after commuting for a couple of years tween Santa Barbara and La

 

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Maureen McRae Goldberg: I was finally able to land the position at City College and I do not miss my commute. It was two and a half hours each direction.

 

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Maureen McRae Goldberg: I do you miss my students, and then this oxy can't be somewhere 18 years and not not be committed to the place, but the work in financial aid where you are really helping students make direct dramatic changes in their lives is done in the community colleges.

 

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Maureen McRae Goldberg: At a school like Occidental is a private selective school. It's in itself is very well known for its diversity for moving the needle with people from all different backgrounds, but they were people who had academically already proven that they could move that needle.

 

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Maureen McRae Goldberg: When you get to a community college you're with diamonds in the rough and you're dealing with people that need more help.

 

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Maureen McRae Goldberg: From those who've already been through the system. And so there's this there's the sense that you're really changing the direction of the world when you work in the community college

 

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Maureen McRae Goldberg: And so I I truly love it here.

 

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Maureen McRae Goldberg: It's very different than working in a small private liberal arts college, the federal regulations are all the same. But this is a state school

 

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Maureen McRae Goldberg: State regulations. I got to learn as well. And there are so many students that need help, and we're only a staff of 10 so we have to try to do an awful lot of work.

 

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Maureen McRae Goldberg: With very little resources and get those students served

 

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Maureen McRae Goldberg: But it's a challenge. And it's one that I enjoy

 

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Hong Lieu: Yeah, yeah. Well, well, said in terms of the different community colleges and the place like Occidental did he, did you get a chance to sample all the waiters and Eagle Rock or you are an Occidental I did you go to Casa Bianca, and

 

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Maureen McRae Goldberg: Dr.

 

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Hong Lieu: Kyle Mexico test in

 

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Maureen McRae Goldberg: Your bar and auntie em.

 

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Hong Lieu: Oh yeah, they closed a couple years ago, she was, she was in a punk rock band and this

 

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Maureen McRae Goldberg: Is an interesting character.

 

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Maureen McRae Goldberg: Yeah, but I actually lived nearby. So I was able to enjoy Los Angeles quite a bit.

 

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Hong Lieu: Yeah. Eagle Rock is, you know, kind of near Pasadena, not too far from LA. And it's a

 

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Hong Lieu: Nice little hub, along with Glendale to Glendale has like some of the best kebab in the country. So definitely, definitely had it, you had a good nice full of LA. And now you're, you're a got another nice enclave here in Santa Barbara, in terms of

 

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Hong Lieu: The types.

 

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Maureen McRae Goldberg: I grew up in a little town in North County of

 

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Maureen McRae Goldberg: San Diego called Cardiff by the sea.

 

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Maureen McRae Goldberg: Which is above Del Mar and below ocean side and it is like the twin sister Tucker from Korea. So in a lot of ways, I come home.

 

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Hong Lieu: And so

 

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Hong Lieu: Yeah, as someone who grew up in LA has come to the coast, like the living by the beach and just living costly. It's just, it's just natural naturally distressing.

 

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Hong Lieu: Yeah, it's, it's the breed gentle breeze coming in, instead of the crushing humidity. I mean there's so there's so many things about living in Santa Barbara. I mean, like I said, I'll never feel local because I bet like folks that are local like more folks coming from LA. Yeah.

 

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Akil Hill: Yeah, that's me.

 

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Hong Lieu: So I'll never I'll never get that like local

 

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Hong Lieu: Badge and I'll be the hang tight, but at least you know like I do understand and appreciate the area, you know, deeply deep, deep love for there. Yeah, but yeah.

 

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Maureen McRae Goldberg: You're sad on via local

 

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Hong Lieu: Yes, I'll the anchor anchor baby son. That'll give you that local parish.

 

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Akil Hill: He was

 

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Hong Lieu: He was born here, I swear. Where were you born Portland, Oregon. Yeah, oh la

 

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Yeah.

 

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Akil Hill: It's funny i mean i i live in carb and sometimes people will tell like they'll ask you, I was over at one of my friends house who also lives in car.

 

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Akil Hill: And he was giving his phone number out to someone who's from car like Karpas runs deep by three, four generations and

 

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Akil Hill: And so he was given this one over to him and he was like three window and then he's like, he kind of pause. He's like, Oh, so you're not

 

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Akil Hill: Local, you don't mean like it's just that small town. Everyone knows everyone, or at least seen everyone you know. And yeah, so it's, I'm a, I'm a big fan. I'm a big fan of Carpinteria I think it's one of those small places that

 

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Akil Hill: gets overlooked in in a lot of ways, which is good because Santa Barbara. So close. You know what I mean. So everyone just drives through carb and kind of like, yeah, we would send a barber but yeah carbs, one of those places where it's definitely a, it's a gym, you know,

 

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Maureen McRae Goldberg: We're really enjoying it.

 

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Hong Lieu: Yeah. And speaking of local gyms and food. Food things or on to our next section which is food. A. Anyone want to start. I can start. I guess it's time because I never really start

 

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Hong Lieu: I'm going to keep it very simple this week for my food choice go into something that I eat a lot of lately being at home BAGEL AND CREAM CHEESE.

 

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Hong Lieu: Very simple, very basic, but it's for me like it's there's I like you know quality, the bagel and and quality countries etc is somewhat important.

 

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Hong Lieu: But it's for me it's all about the topics. So I'm I like you know I just do the regular Philadelphia cream cheese but I get the flavor. I get a salmon flavor ice cream cheese.

 

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Hong Lieu: So toasted bagel with cream cheese. I do some fresh garlic and then I do tomato, onion and spinach. If I had capers. I would do tapers too because I know that some of the more traditional kind of bagel topic.

 

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Hong Lieu: But I've been eating. I try to do at least one every morning when I can get around to it. Sometimes I worked a little too much and I missed my bagel joint and it ends up being cereal instead

 

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Hong Lieu: But it's been really nice, a nice routine to get into somewhat healthy. I know cream cheese is not the best for you. But it's reasonably healthy compared to what I was eating before and

 

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Hong Lieu: It's just really good and it makes me happy when I eat it. So my wife can tell like I'm smiling alive, like I need a bagel to know thanks to you, like, Haha, yeah, mission accomplished because he's trying to

 

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Hong Lieu: You know, she doesn't, it's not as car centric as I am. So, but I do kind of forced our hand in terms of bagels around here. I like the word the mesa bacon, which is kind of your SPC

 

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Akil Hill: Oh, yeah.

 

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Hong Lieu: I don't know if their name is may sebago. I don't know what they're called.

 

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Oh, yes.

 

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Hong Lieu: If you Google Mesa bagel. They cut. They come up, but it's a donut shop. I mean that the donuts and bake in there, don't. It's a pretty good too.

 

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Hong Lieu: But so I'll go and get a couple dozen from them and then just keep them in the freezer or keep a few out and keep the rest of the freezer. And then, you know, toast them up, we have a nice toaster oven cream cheese, garlic, onion, tomato, spinach,

 

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Akil Hill: So you get

 

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Maureen McRae Goldberg: Me hungry.

 

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No.

 

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Akil Hill: Way so you get the salmon cream cheese.

 

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Hong Lieu: Yes, because I like the I like locks you know the smoked salmon bagel. Yeah.

 

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Hong Lieu: When you buy like the smoked salmon bagel. It's a lot because they put like half a flavor. Sam it on there, you know, so it's like

 

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Hong Lieu: I i'm I'm frugal, I guess you can say cheapskate but I'm a frugal, so I don't need to be spending 11 you know 10 $11 on one bagel.

 

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Hong Lieu: I received see me like flying that thing and like eight pieces of the last the whole week.

 

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Hong Lieu: But, so I guess I just want the flavor. So they fill it up with cheese makes a salmon. Salmon flavor cream cheese. I'll throw that on there. It gives me enough of that flavor. I mean, how much of it is real salmon i don't i don't care to ask, but

 

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Hong Lieu: It gives me the sadness labor, the salmon sent along with the cream cheese. So then when I throw the other ladies on there. It just gives you that extra

 

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Hong Lieu: Little bit of umami, and that extra bit of hardiness that I'm looking for. Because, because for me like eating this sometimes psychological like my eat a bunch of popcorn.

 

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Hong Lieu: I know that that's nothing. So I just. It's like eating nothing. I'm hungry. Afterwards, you know, so, but that little taste of salmon and stuff gives me a little protein.

 

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Hong Lieu: sensory receptor, where it's like, Okay, I was a full meal.

 

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Hong Lieu: Whereas you know a couple years ago, like there was no meat on that you need to get something else. And then I'd go get like a plate of bacon or something, then, then we're what I be, you know, like so. Yeah, this is much, it helps it helps my sensory receptors.

 

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Akil Hill: Okay, so I'm going to tell you, it just a small plug for Trader Joe's. If you next time you're unsure Josie have really good smoked salmon. Super. It's pretty inexpensive, not too expensive for someone who's frugal

 

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Akil Hill: Yeah, you want to probably look, look. They have a pastrami smoked.

 

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Akil Hill: Salmon, which, in which is cool, is they cut it up in small pieces. So you can just throw maybe one slice or two slices on there and you'll be set but

 

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Hong Lieu: I will definitely look into that because that's

 

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Hong Lieu: Yeah, that's right. A man and I go there for the everything bagel seasoning to the Trader Joe's everything bagel seasoning.

 

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Hong Lieu: Yes, excellent.

 

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Hong Lieu: Oh, yeah, yeah.

 

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Akil Hill: They also have everything. They also have an everything salmon smoked salmon. So it's basically everything that that that seasoning. They put it on the salmon.

 

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Akil Hill: So you have like so you can have two options. That was the pastrami and everything salmon.

 

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Hong Lieu: Okay.

 

312

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Akil Hill: So def definitely

 

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Hong Lieu: That's what this show is good for you know like I thought, I thought my bill game was evolved and you just were able to kind of take it and twist it and add that extra like that extra elevation. So I feel like

 

314

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Hong Lieu: I feel like that's something to strive for. Now, that's, that's my new highest mountain climb where I get all that big O stuff and then throw the actual smoked salmon on top. Oh.

 

315

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Yeah.

 

316

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Hong Lieu: I was excited about it. Yeah.

 

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Hong Lieu: Alright, Marina. How about you, what do you, what do you, what do you think in terms of food and eating.

 

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Maureen McRae Goldberg: Um, well, I have an interesting story about my life with spaghetti.

 

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Maureen McRae Goldberg: I love Spaghetti Spaghetti bolognese. In particular, there's a joke in my family that I only married my husband for his mother sauce.

 

320

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She said,

 

321

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Maureen McRae Goldberg: We went back to Italy. She's quite elderly and we wanted her to see the old country. One more time. And we went back to Italy, we just we were there two weeks and every night at dinner, I had spaghetti bolognese.

 

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Maureen McRae Goldberg: All of the food that I could have eaten in Italy, and I had the same thing every night and I thoroughly enjoyed myself.

 

323

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Maureen McRae Goldberg: Different restaurants do it differently. The South was different than the north, it was, it was fantastic. So my, my family makes fun of me, but when I find something that I like I stick with it. I found a couple of here in

 

324

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Maureen McRae Goldberg: Santa Barbara Victoria pretty darn good.

 

325

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Hong Lieu: Spaghetti bowling. Oh, yeah.

 

326

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Hong Lieu: Yeah, and they're kind of like a certificate secret.

 

327

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Maureen McRae Goldberg: cava.

 

328

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Akil Hill: Oh yeah, that one's good is

 

329

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Maureen McRae Goldberg: That if I really need a spaghetti hit. I just go down to my mother in law's

 

330

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Maureen McRae Goldberg: nothing quite like it.

 

331

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Akil Hill: Yeah, we had, I think our was our first episode with Rocco. He's his family's from Italy as well the athletic director

 

332

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Akil Hill: And so you guys

 

333

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Akil Hill: He was talking about having this Sunday.

 

334

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Akil Hill: So gravy gravy. Yeah. So you guys if you ever see him in passing, that's probably a conversation worth having with them, you know,

 

335

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Maureen McRae Goldberg: Your whole family's

 

336

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Maureen McRae Goldberg: Oh yeah, like

 

337

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Maureen McRae Goldberg: Irish one out.

 

338

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Hong Lieu: A lot, lot of family secret sauce. I don't know if any information, where should be exchanged, but I'm sure you have

 

339

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A healthy

 

340

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Hong Lieu: And you know that the restaurants that you picked for your golden age choices are kind of

 

341

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Hong Lieu: Their kind of little nice little tucked away spots that you might not know some first clients like trattoria Victoria's right next to Qatar. Yo, you know, the street.

 

342

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Hong Lieu: But it's like a lot of people overlook it. But if they do solid, solid, you know, Italian fair in there and it's a nice atmosphere. I mean, I haven't seen it recently, but I'm sure it's still gonna be a nice atmosphere. When it fully reopens and the food is always excellent there.

 

343

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Akil Hill: Yeah, Victoria is kind of that streets, kind of like, I mean, obviously we Santa Barbara. It's not like we have Little Italy but like you said that street has a few good Italian restaurants.

 

344

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Akil Hill: Is a Dar, you could

 

345

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Akil Hill: I mean, could do the pizza is even really good too as well so

 

346

00:51:12.690 --> 00:51:17.340

Akil Hill: Maria Do you so do you make you make homemade spaghetti or bonis

 

347

00:51:18.120 --> 00:51:21.240

Maureen McRae Goldberg: And I used until I met my mother.

 

348

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Hong Lieu: Differ

 

349

00:51:24.900 --> 00:51:25.380

Yeah.

 

350

00:51:27.690 --> 00:51:29.070

Maureen McRae Goldberg: It's not worth the risk.

 

351

00:51:31.050 --> 00:51:38.070

Hong Lieu: So do you do go to Italy, a lot or detail because I haven't been yet and that's probably one of our next kind of I ever wanted. When I go back to Europe.

 

352

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Hong Lieu: France and England and both are really nice. And I was always hesitant to go to Europe because of the long plane ride, but it wasn't that bad. And I'm looking to go back, but it is Italy, a nice kind of travel experience was is really nice for you. I mean, besides the bone is being excellent

 

353

00:51:57.600 --> 00:52:10.980

Maureen McRae Goldberg: We went in the middle of August, which I would never recommend anybody to go to Europe in August. It's too hot, especially for us. Santa Barbara, because we are rather weather wusses

 

354

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Maureen McRae Goldberg: But I did have

 

355

00:52:14.850 --> 00:52:21.810

Maureen McRae Goldberg: The great fortune to live in England for about three years. And I will do that again in a heartbeat.

 

356

00:52:23.250 --> 00:52:24.480

Maureen McRae Goldberg: I just think that

 

357

00:52:25.680 --> 00:52:37.980

Maureen McRae Goldberg: If you get the opportunity to truly live in another country and explore a different culture and people think the Americans in the English are the same. They are not

 

358

00:52:39.540 --> 00:52:44.580

Maureen McRae Goldberg: That we could we could have world peace if we just got to know each other better

 

359

00:52:47.160 --> 00:53:00.060

Maureen McRae Goldberg: We all had to go spend six months somewhere else and really actualize ourselves to, you know, the way they do things the way they eat. I will. Number one of the first days I was there, I was

 

360

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Maureen McRae Goldberg: On what's called a home study program where they used to put juniors in college with a local family and they made made me ironically spaghetti bowl and eggs.

 

361

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Maureen McRae Goldberg: Because they wanted to see how I would eat it was only one hand

 

362

00:53:22.890 --> 00:53:28.290

Maureen McRae Goldberg: So really think about that Americans eat with one hand and the bridge sheet with two hands.

 

363

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Maureen McRae Goldberg: And after seeing me eat the first meal with one hand they concocted having spaghetti, so they can see how to possibly eat spaghetti with only one hand

 

364

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Hong Lieu: Now, I'm wondering how do you deal with two hands. Do you use the other hand is like a support hand for the dangling noodles or what what is the other hand do

 

365

00:53:48.390 --> 00:53:48.870

Hong Lieu: Not, I mean,

 

366

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Akil Hill: He's this film.

 

367

00:53:52.620 --> 00:53:53.280

Akil Hill: Yeah.

 

368

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Hong Lieu: Yes, I'm chopsticks. I'm one hand is like, that's the way the world to me. I mean, I can, I can cut with those chopsticks. I can pick stuff up. I can you know

 

369

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Maureen McRae Goldberg: Yeah well most of Europe uses a knife and a fork to eat.

 

370

00:54:06.480 --> 00:54:08.070

Maureen McRae Goldberg: And I never done that in my life.

 

371

00:54:10.710 --> 00:54:11.220

Maureen McRae Goldberg: Things.

 

372

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Akil Hill: I think, I think you're pretty that's spot on marine and and I've traveled pretty extensively, you know, and

 

373

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Akil Hill: That point can't be understated. You know, like, just being able to be in a different country or different culture and see how people live their lives and how you fit in.

 

374

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Akil Hill: And, you know, also what I learned from just traveling different places, is that it gives you

 

375

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Akil Hill: A true appreciation of where you live and where you're from, you know, we like to think that you know we live in the greatest country on earth and

 

376

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Akil Hill: But you don't really appreciate it, or you really can't fully appreciate it unless you actually travel outside of it right so it's like that saying it's through opposites. Do you come to know a thing.

 

377

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Akil Hill: So if you travel and you see the world and how people live their lives. There's a greater appreciation that you find yourself having for where you live, you know, and you know, I was in Africa for for a little while I was in the middle of been in the Middle East has been a turkey, so I

 

378

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Akil Hill: Always feel like when I'm coming back from trips I appreciate where I you know I appreciate America a whole lot more, you know,

 

379

00:55:24.750 --> 00:55:29.760

Hong Lieu: Yeah, definitely. YOU'RE ALWAYS GLAD YOU'RE ALWAYS GLAD TO LEAVE. But then you're always glad to come back. I did.

 

380

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Hong Lieu: I did, I haven't. I've only been abroad, a few times. Like I said, with the England went to Paris. I've been, you know, Canada and Mexico.

 

381

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Hong Lieu: But I've done a lot of traveling in the country. I've been on two road trips, one for three weeks where we went from LA to Toronto.

 

382

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Hong Lieu: And then one for two weeks where you would lie to Vancouver and it was, it was like you said, we're just seeing how other folks live even in this country.

 

383

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Hong Lieu: There are just a multitude of perspectives and just seeing how how how different a life is for someone in one area of the country versus another country. Another part of the same town.

 

384

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Hong Lieu: I mean, there's a lot of economic stratification in this country and stuff like that, where

 

385

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Hong Lieu: If you don't have a grasp of those perspectives. Because at this point lived experiences are so different. It's harder to find those commonality, the commonality consensus, you always you always talk to people and tell them

 

386

00:56:13.350 --> 00:56:20.100

Hong Lieu: I'll try to, you know, try to find some things you to have in common, you know, but if you if your life experiences are so different that you have almost nothing in common.

 

387

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Hong Lieu: Then without that kind of experience and traveling and just just kind of absorbing it that way.

 

388

00:56:25.740 --> 00:56:30.960

Hong Lieu: Then finding those commonalities and find that consensus becomes more difficult. So it's a this idea of traveling

 

389

00:56:31.230 --> 00:56:41.430

Hong Lieu: And getting more perspectives. I mean, it's, it's very important in seems to be becoming more important as we become so kind of at our own life becoming so like enclosed into our little internet bubbles.

 

390

00:56:41.640 --> 00:56:45.630

Hong Lieu: Where the algorithm is feeding us the things that appeal to us and that we know about.

 

391

00:56:46.110 --> 00:56:51.090

Hong Lieu: I mean, finding those things that we don't know about. And that might not appeal to us that we might not be prepared to see

 

392

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Hong Lieu: I mean it's becoming more and more difficult to do and traveling is really a nice shortcut i mean it's it's a it's a meaningful shortcut. A lot of shortcuts, or like a like a cheating.

 

393

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Hong Lieu: Step. This is a meaningful shortcut where you're getting these these kind of free perspectives and free alternative viewpoints that you wouldn't have access to otherwise. So, so the traveling is definitely

 

394

00:57:09.930 --> 00:57:12.990

Hong Lieu: Very important in our lives now and

 

395

00:57:13.560 --> 00:57:19.770

Maureen McRae Goldberg: It can't travel seeking out people who travel. Here is another way of doing it.

 

396

00:57:20.700 --> 00:57:29.760

Maureen McRae Goldberg: You know, if you if you can host a family or are still a high school and college places where you can host and you can learn

 

397

00:57:30.390 --> 00:57:44.550

Maureen McRae Goldberg: You can experience learning someone else's culture as they try to climb the ties to yours. And there's a lot of that that can go on to, but we really are very small place that we really should be treating each other much nicer.

 

398

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Akil Hill: Absolutely, absolutely.

 

399

00:57:47.250 --> 00:57:56.970

Hong Lieu: A small place in and you don't realize how how short. Our history is in terms of, you know, a couple hundred years and thousand years without with indigenous folks but art that history has been wiped, you know, with

 

400

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Hong Lieu: So yeah you getting to see recorded history that has been properly maintain that goes back thousands, you know, many hundreds, thousands of years. It's just properly maintained doing that research. I mean, it's, it's very, very meaningful.

 

401

00:58:12.930 --> 00:58:31.680

Akil Hill: Yeah, I remember when I was in Turkey, I was a was about a year this October and just it was just interesting looking at things from like like 12th century 13th century, you know, just just an amazing amount of history and

 

402

00:58:32.790 --> 00:58:48.150

Akil Hill: And like even water fountains like older than America, you know, it just puts it just puts a lot in into perspective and and you know i mean i think i don't want to, you know, beat a dead horse, but if if people can travel, you know,

 

403

00:58:50.070 --> 00:58:52.440

Akil Hill: You know, post coven and once things kind of like

 

404

00:58:53.760 --> 00:59:04.110

Akil Hill: You know, return back to what the new normal will look like. I would have to urge everyone to get out and travel and see the world is just you know it's it's just really important

 

405

00:59:05.010 --> 00:59:05.850

Maureen McRae Goldberg: I would agree.

 

406

00:59:06.750 --> 00:59:09.420

Akil Hill: What they say you don't learn, you don't know so until you travel with them.

 

407

00:59:11.820 --> 00:59:12.360

Hong Lieu: The truth.

 

408

00:59:13.980 --> 00:59:14.670

Akil Hill: And so that's

 

409

00:59:14.700 --> 00:59:22.590

Hong Lieu: And that's where as a as a younger person. It was a bit hard for me to travel because you know like certain lesser little comforts that i was i had i you know get myself used to

 

410

00:59:23.220 --> 00:59:28.620

Hong Lieu: Overcoming would would have been tough for a long time ago. Now I'm definitely ready and kind of, you know, you can to explore

 

411

00:59:30.210 --> 00:59:36.780

Akil Hill: So I guess I'm up and for my pic. And since we're kind of talking about traveling, I

 

412

00:59:38.040 --> 00:59:45.600

Akil Hill: I'm going to pick a spot. It's in Los Angeles, or actually the valley received a, it's a place called

 

413

00:59:47.400 --> 00:59:49.230

Akil Hill: King burger and sushi.

 

414

00:59:50.550 --> 00:59:58.290

Akil Hill: And it. Yes. That name is correct, King burger and sushi. So it's a restaurant, it's really

 

415

01:00:00.330 --> 01:00:03.690

Akil Hill: It looks like it was an old, old Taco Bell.

 

416

01:00:03.870 --> 01:00:17.580

Akil Hill: And what they did was they totally regarded it super nice in there but half of the restaurant is burgers and the other half of the restaurant is sushi.

 

417

01:00:19.020 --> 01:00:45.900

Akil Hill: So I'll start with the sushi side of it. I'm a little biased and my outlook from being born in Japan. I, I love sushi, but the sushi. The quality of the sushi is it's phenomenal and it's kind of like, I guess, the closest place in town. I would maybe compare it to is

 

418

01:00:47.460 --> 01:00:50.220

Akil Hill: Maybe the quality is similar to Arigato.

 

419

01:00:51.300 --> 01:00:59.910

Akil Hill: But it's not. It's, it's not good of a sushi quality of sushi and it's just amazing how it's right next to, like,

 

420

01:01:00.960 --> 01:01:10.050

Akil Hill: A grill and people are making pastrami burgers. So it's just, it's really a great place to go. Some of the

 

421

01:01:11.340 --> 01:01:36.210

Akil Hill: Things that were popular on the menu is they had a fireball salmon roll. My personal favorite is the spicy halibut roll. It's like 10 poor white fish think it's asparagus avocado and she so which I don't know if you know she so Hong, but that that flavor is is I think it's so good and

 

422

01:01:36.720 --> 01:01:39.060

Akil Hill: The she said Lisa leaf. Yes, yes.

 

423

01:01:39.510 --> 01:01:44.700

Akil Hill: And then it's it's towards with like halibut yuzu and

 

424

01:01:46.530 --> 01:01:57.750

Akil Hill: Some soy in it like a soy paper app. But that's my personal favorite, but, uh, if you are ever down in receipt and you find yourself.

 

425

01:01:58.710 --> 01:02:07.410

Akil Hill: needing something to eat, or it's one of those places I would even say it's almost make it a weekend a destination spot because it is that good. Maybe post coven

 

426

01:02:08.100 --> 01:02:15.690

Akil Hill: Where you can go sit down and eat. But you know when the Jones comes down on you, though, I'll be eating the parking lot. I just go get it.

 

427

01:02:16.710 --> 01:02:20.310

Akil Hill: And you know the valley, a couple times. I think the last time I was down there maybe a few weeks ago.

 

428

01:02:21.390 --> 01:02:23.970

Akil Hill: The temperature was like it was like 100. It was like 100

 

429

01:02:25.350 --> 01:02:28.530

Akil Hill: You know, three, but I still had to stop and get

 

430

01:02:30.000 --> 01:02:41.610

Akil Hill: Sushi. I got some fries. I didn't do both, you know, but I did get some fries and then on the burger side. I guess the burger side, they're really known for the pastrami.

 

431

01:02:42.420 --> 01:02:51.840

Akil Hill: So that's a must try and then that they actually have a pastrami burger, where they obviously top, the top of the burger. Those two are probably the top to sellers so

 

432

01:02:52.860 --> 01:02:54.420

Akil Hill: That is my pick for the week.

 

433

01:02:55.530 --> 01:03:13.980

Akil Hill: In regards to food but yeah you know it's really interesting to though I'll say this, this is worth mentioning, like how sushi in America is far different from it is in Japan, like all the roles and all these different flavors and like that's not common in Japan, you know,

 

434

01:03:15.900 --> 01:03:27.360

Akil Hill: You won't find all these like creamy sesame sauce and all these kinds of things. They're really hard to find in Japan. That's not a traditional like California roll and all that. That's all new that's not

 

435

01:03:28.500 --> 01:03:30.510

Akil Hill: Traditionally a part of Japanese cuisine.

 

436

01:03:32.010 --> 01:03:37.950

Hong Lieu: So did. Did you ever have you had a combo with a burger and sushi on the same plate. I mean, I can see them going well together, you know,

 

437

01:03:37.980 --> 01:03:39.210

Hong Lieu: But have you have you done that.

 

438

01:03:40.500 --> 01:03:41.040

Akil Hill: No.

 

439

01:03:41.970 --> 01:03:44.760

Akil Hill: I'd honestly I either do sushi or I do the burger.

 

440

01:03:45.150 --> 01:03:52.050

Akil Hill: But, uh, you know, just because I, I just, I don't know, I just haven't mixed them yet, but

 

441

01:03:52.590 --> 01:03:53.010

The word

 

442

01:03:54.480 --> 01:04:04.650

Hong Lieu: Yeah, like a warm role is like you know you have some WARM, WARM rice or the warm me but then it can be just a little coldness to to with the the seaweed and this and that. So I can see where a burger has the same thing with like a warm

 

443

01:04:05.370 --> 01:04:15.060

Hong Lieu: Warm bite and developed and cold things like I can see there's a similar could be a similar amount field there. I mean, it does seem like a weird disconnect, but I definitely does sound appealing to me.

 

444

01:04:16.980 --> 01:04:25.320

Akil Hill: Yeah i mean it's it's like I said that I think the further. So I ventured out was I got some roles and then I got some french fries.

 

445

01:04:26.460 --> 01:04:32.880

Akil Hill: And so that was like their first of this I ventured out with in terms of merging the two, but maybe next time.

 

446

01:04:34.500 --> 01:04:35.070

Akil Hill: I'll try to

 

447

01:04:36.120 --> 01:04:42.570

Hong Lieu: Live on the website. Yeah. Cuz I mean I can see where they might have had patties. Because if you do, like if you have curry on the menu, then you

 

448

01:04:43.560 --> 01:04:49.650

Hong Lieu: Carry over a burger patties just so good. So you may get, you know, like, or maybe they were burger joint first decided to do sushi, but

 

449

01:04:50.280 --> 01:04:58.290

Hong Lieu: I don't know that that definitely sounds kind of kind of cool appealing to me because I love just looking at the picture of the place. It does look like it looks more like a burger joint in a sushi place.

 

450

01:04:58.650 --> 01:05:04.470

Hong Lieu: But I love those classic kind of burger joints like you know chili, fries and all that pastrami.

 

451

01:05:05.400 --> 01:05:10.380

Hong Lieu: I. That was one of my first favorite American meals was, you know, the hamburger fries and coke.

 

452

01:05:10.890 --> 01:05:16.560

Hong Lieu: So the first any chance, like I had to get out of house and get food. It was hamburger fries and hamburger fries and

 

453

01:05:17.280 --> 01:05:30.510

Hong Lieu: So now as I began to throw sushi. On top of that, that just like steps. It sounds too good. Although the idea of eating sushi in a hot car does not sound that good to me. But like you said once once dining rooms reopened like that. Yeah, sounds awesome.

 

454

01:05:32.310 --> 01:05:34.020

Hong Lieu: And I will put a link in the show notes.

 

455

01:05:34.740 --> 01:05:35.130

Great.

 

456

01:05:37.530 --> 01:05:41.310

Hong Lieu: Alright, moving on now to our culture section and

 

457

01:05:42.630 --> 01:05:44.550

Hong Lieu: Marine, do you want to start us off with this section.

 

458

01:05:46.110 --> 01:06:01.740

Maureen McRae Goldberg: Well, I was asked by you two gentlemen to bring my favorite book. Yeah, to talk about. And I'm I have been reading since I was about three years old. And so one of the great

 

459

01:06:02.940 --> 01:06:06.300

Maureen McRae Goldberg: Highlights of my life. I absolutely adore reading

 

460

01:06:07.740 --> 01:06:12.630

Maureen McRae Goldberg: I have four children. I managed to pass the reading gene down to only two of them.

 

461

01:06:15.150 --> 01:06:17.910

Maureen McRae Goldberg: They their readers to

 

462

01:06:19.980 --> 01:06:28.140

Maureen McRae Goldberg: My, my very favorite book of all time is a very obscure book called yonder.

 

463

01:06:29.280 --> 01:06:33.690

Maureen McRae Goldberg: Which is why oh in D, er, like, way over yonder.

 

464

01:06:35.100 --> 01:06:40.380

Maureen McRae Goldberg: But I don't even think it's in print anymore. I may have the only three copies of it.

 

465

01:06:41.550 --> 01:06:49.710

Maureen McRae Goldberg: I bought them for my children so that they would be able to read mom's favorite book. It's an interesting story set in the

 

466

01:06:50.970 --> 01:06:56.490

Maureen McRae Goldberg: About a woman whose mind is mentally stuck in a day.

 

467

01:06:57.810 --> 01:07:19.950

Maureen McRae Goldberg: Oh, sorry, I would make a great movie. But if, but if I had to talk about genre or a series of books. I would have to say that Jane Austen is probably the person that introduced me to find literature above and beyond anything else she

 

468

01:07:21.360 --> 01:07:25.080

Maureen McRae Goldberg: turned me on to loving England as a country.

 

469

01:07:26.130 --> 01:07:39.930

Maureen McRae Goldberg: Not what necessarily England has become but the fantasy of England as seen through its great literature Pride and Prejudice Emma Northanger Abby.

 

470

01:07:42.180 --> 01:07:57.540

Maureen McRae Goldberg: Just if I need to escape coven or the federal government's regulations or that one student that got to me. And then my go to is always going to be a Jane Austen novel.

 

471

01:07:59.430 --> 01:07:59.970

Akil Hill: Nice.

 

472

01:08:02.070 --> 01:08:12.210

Hong Lieu: And in terms of Jane Austen is a good entry point not to, you know, to, to just how folks lived in that particular. It's a great time capsule for that period of time in English.

 

473

01:08:12.240 --> 01:08:13.500

Maureen McRae Goldberg: The Regency area.

 

474

01:08:13.590 --> 01:08:24.360

Hong Lieu: Yeah for social mores and customs and all the things that you read down. You're like, they didn't like that they did this really worried about this. It's crazy. But, but it is kind of a good snapshot and

 

475

01:08:25.560 --> 01:08:29.250

Hong Lieu: And Pride and Prejudice is that the, you know, particularly

 

476

01:08:30.930 --> 01:08:41.940

Maureen McRae Goldberg: Best known book, and I believe it's her best written book on the story cohesive very well together. But Jane Austen is as the character was

 

477

01:08:43.080 --> 01:08:47.550

Maureen McRae Goldberg: As a person was a trailblazer for her age.

 

478

01:08:48.720 --> 01:09:03.120

Maureen McRae Goldberg: If you study her from a historical perspective at that point in time, she was not allowed to write books under her own name her books are published under an English lady.

 

479

01:09:04.200 --> 01:09:17.970

Maureen McRae Goldberg: She could not sign contracts in her own right, her brother had to do that for her. It was not seem to be lady like to want to work or what to have a career.

 

480

01:09:18.420 --> 01:09:39.240

Maureen McRae Goldberg: So in a lot of way. Is she is very much one of those first feminists who were using a battering ram against the conventions of the day while she was writing about them and poking fun at them at the same time. So she she and a lot of ways is

 

481

01:09:40.290 --> 01:09:42.660

Maureen McRae Goldberg: Very early Ruth Bader Ginsburg.

 

482

01:09:44.010 --> 01:09:50.400

Hong Lieu: I mean, yeah, there are some certain themes like Pride and Prejudice idea of having to marry for wealth versus love and how she pushes against that.

 

483

01:09:50.790 --> 01:09:52.230

Hong Lieu: Yeah, then a book like man's

 

484

01:09:52.290 --> 01:10:01.950

Hong Lieu: Mansfield Park where a family has to send you know a daughter away because they can't afford to take care of her. So she goes to live with her wealthy aunt and uncle, so

 

485

01:10:02.370 --> 01:10:11.790

Hong Lieu: I mean just kind of social customs like that and things of that sort. That might be familiar to folks today. It's a good time capsule into that and how far we've come in terms of that so it's

 

486

01:10:12.480 --> 01:10:19.650

Hong Lieu: All of her books are really kind of not to say breezy, but they're they're they're fun to read. You know, like so. So they're

 

487

01:10:20.340 --> 01:10:33.930

Hong Lieu: They're the pros is good, they, they, the beat the plot beats move pretty well. I mean, she's just not only accessible very kind of intellectual too. So it's a good combination and her books are good. I mean, I've always I've always lived in Austin.

 

488

01:10:34.650 --> 01:10:38.970

Maureen McRae Goldberg: Well, if you can, if you compare her to like the brawn days, who

 

489

01:10:38.970 --> 01:10:39.480

Maureen McRae Goldberg: Are very

 

490

01:10:39.510 --> 01:10:48.240

Maureen McRae Goldberg: Dark and very hard to get through. They're very Victorian she is much lighter. She is much more of the Regency period.

 

491

01:10:50.970 --> 01:10:56.400

Hong Lieu: Yeah, I mean I do love weathering heights, a little too much. But yes, in terms of reading, we read

 

492

01:10:56.580 --> 01:10:56.970

Akil Hill: In terms of

 

493

01:10:57.000 --> 01:11:05.940

Hong Lieu: Way reading rereading something like that versus going through Sense and Sensibility Pride and Prejudice Emma Mansfield Park. You know, those, those books are just you.

 

494

01:11:07.230 --> 01:11:07.920

Hong Lieu: Know, I didn't

 

495

01:11:09.780 --> 01:11:12.840

Akil Hill: I didn't realize she had passed away so young to as well.

 

496

01:11:13.410 --> 01:11:14.520

Maureen McRae Goldberg: She's already lunch.

 

497

01:11:14.520 --> 01:11:16.800

Akil Hill: Was like, what's he like 41 yeah yeah

 

498

01:11:17.850 --> 01:11:22.470

Maureen McRae Goldberg: They believe she had Addison's disease, which was the same thing john f kennedy huh

 

499

01:11:23.160 --> 01:11:23.760

Huh.

 

500

01:11:25.290 --> 01:11:29.190

Hong Lieu: Huh. I didn't know john f kennedy had Addison's disease and

 

501

01:11:30.900 --> 01:11:34.680

Hong Lieu: I knew about the polio, but I didn't know about, you know, interesting.

 

502

01:11:37.800 --> 01:11:38.280

So,

 

503

01:11:39.750 --> 01:11:47.850

Hong Lieu: Excellent pick. I mean, is there is there a book that you would recommend first or is this Pride and Prejudice. The one or maybe like Emma for more kind of, you know,

 

504

01:11:49.860 --> 01:11:50.640

Maureen McRae Goldberg: To get a

 

505

01:11:51.960 --> 01:11:56.310

Maureen McRae Goldberg: An easy introduction into Jane Austen would be Pride and Prejudice.

 

506

01:11:58.950 --> 01:12:04.800

Maureen McRae Goldberg: It's a, it's a more concise story and the characters in some ways.

 

507

01:12:06.000 --> 01:12:07.920

Maureen McRae Goldberg: They're more black and white.

 

508

01:12:09.240 --> 01:12:25.620

Maureen McRae Goldberg: Emma, for example, is is very fluid and it might you might need to know more about the Regency period to understand Emma, whereas Pride and Prejudice, you can understand those characters they could be current they could be

 

509

01:12:27.330 --> 01:12:35.370

Maureen McRae Goldberg: 200 years ago and it just they're, they're much more everyday people floundering about trying to make it through the world.

 

510

01:12:37.020 --> 01:12:48.630

Hong Lieu: Yeah Emma's my go to, because most folks have seen clueless. And the coolest film. It's like a loose adaptation of Emma very, very loose adaptation, but the the major beats and themes are there. So, yeah.

 

511

01:12:49.170 --> 01:12:50.400

Maureen McRae Goldberg: And as an ally girl.

 

512

01:12:51.420 --> 01:12:52.530

Akil Hill: Yeah, exactly.

 

513

01:12:52.890 --> 01:13:07.650

Hong Lieu: And she and she's but she's able to kind of like infiltrate various social circles and she's you know like she's, she's in she's within crash, he's able to kind of like cross cross cultural groups and kind of communicate with everyone. So that's, you know, yeah.

 

514

01:13:08.700 --> 01:13:13.650

Akil Hill: And then also between. I was like, thinking like geez between like she dropped

 

515

01:13:14.730 --> 01:13:21.330

Akil Hill: Sense and Sensibility Pride and Prejudice and Emma on a pretty relatively short period of time. Right.

 

516

01:13:21.750 --> 01:13:25.800

Akil Hill: Yes, like WAS THAT LIKE SHE WAS BUSY. Yeah.

 

517

01:13:26.490 --> 01:13:27.840

Maureen McRae Goldberg: all done by hand.

 

518

01:13:27.870 --> 01:13:30.810

Maureen McRae Goldberg: Remember, no typewriters, she wrote these as

 

519

01:13:30.810 --> 01:13:31.440

Akil Hill: Well check

 

520

01:13:33.390 --> 01:13:46.560

Maureen McRae Goldberg: No spell check. I actually visited the house or she wrote the books and saw the table that she wrote them on. It was just little what we would consider a small coffee table.

 

521

01:13:47.250 --> 01:13:58.410

Maureen McRae Goldberg: That she wrote her books on in the middle of a busy household with all those distractions around her. But had she married and had children. She would never been able to do it.

 

522

01:13:58.980 --> 01:14:06.870

Maureen McRae Goldberg: The fact that she remained single all of her life allowed her the luxury of time that most women would not have had

 

523

01:14:09.540 --> 01:14:15.420

Hong Lieu: Yeah, I think, I think about Mary Shelley that way where Mary Shelley hadn't gotten him with that that CAD Percy

 

524

01:14:17.670 --> 01:14:19.260

Hong Lieu: She would have been much more pro Jesus

 

525

01:14:19.290 --> 01:14:20.400

Akil Hill: Yeah yeah

 

526

01:14:21.360 --> 01:14:23.880

Maureen McRae Goldberg: Although if you're going to write one right. A good one right

 

527

01:14:24.810 --> 01:14:26.550

Hong Lieu: Right, right, right. One that creates a genre.

 

528

01:14:26.580 --> 01:14:27.300

Yeah, absolutely.

 

529

01:14:28.860 --> 01:14:30.480

Hong Lieu: So yes, great pick grapes.

 

530

01:14:31.020 --> 01:14:32.970

Hong Lieu: Excellent. All right, I'll go next.

 

531

01:14:34.110 --> 01:14:40.410

Hong Lieu: Mine, as we mentioned comic books, last week, so I wanted to kind of go on the other side of that and talk about manga for a little bit manga are

 

532

01:14:41.700 --> 01:14:52.860

Hong Lieu: Japanese comics. You know, so I guess there's probably more in depth definition, but generally speaking Japanese comics and or the Japanese style these because there are American manga now so

 

533

01:14:53.940 --> 01:15:03.450

Hong Lieu: My main topic for this week is man Satoshi con who's on more known for anime. Usually the film's Japanese animation films as opposed to the books.

 

534

01:15:03.870 --> 01:15:13.020

Hong Lieu: But he was a manga artist and writer before he got really in the film some as well as well known films, if you if your enemy at all perfect blue paprika.

 

535

01:15:14.220 --> 01:15:20.400

Hong Lieu: Millennium actress Tokyo godfathers they're all excellent filmed if you if you prefer animated and I'm definitely not the film's but

 

536

01:15:21.450 --> 01:15:28.170

Hong Lieu: He was an assistant artists on Akira manga, which is you know the the like tent pole anime, manga work is Akira

 

537

01:15:29.070 --> 01:15:39.540

Hong Lieu: The manga is amazing. The movies good too. But the mangoes like 8 million times better. But he after he did worked on Akira he did a couple mango of his own. Are you going to films. One's called Opus

 

538

01:15:40.260 --> 01:15:55.410

Hong Lieu: Which is about kind of a writer. And it's kind of the his works. Always deal with like mystical supernatural kind of things. So it's like a Opus is about a writer, working with things and then tropic of the sea is another kind of fantastical story about a

 

539

01:15:56.430 --> 01:16:05.850

Hong Lieu: Man who meets a mermaid and is given neg every regular period of time and how that evolves. So yes Satoshi con all of his work is good.

 

540

01:16:06.300 --> 01:16:19.560

Hong Lieu: But particularly I want to highlight is manga side this week because it's lesser known side of his and it's worth kind of seeking out. I'll put a link to Opus and tropic of the sea and the show notes. And I'll link to his Wikipedia as well.

 

541

01:16:21.510 --> 01:16:25.260

Akil Hill: Great mangoes huge you know I always remember one of

 

542

01:16:26.490 --> 01:16:26.970

Akil Hill: One of

 

543

01:16:29.010 --> 01:16:31.740

Akil Hill: All over Japan, like on the trains everyone's reading them.

 

544

01:16:33.000 --> 01:16:34.230

Akil Hill: And just

 

545

01:16:35.970 --> 01:16:42.630

Akil Hill: Always every time I see it or just it just, it just instantly transports me back to the trains.

 

546

01:16:42.690 --> 01:16:48.420

Akil Hill: In Japan, where people are reading sitting down people reading them standing up.

 

547

01:16:48.900 --> 01:17:03.930

Akil Hill: Which is really interesting too because we're in such a digital age where people, you know, everyone has their phones. But something about still holding on to the actual book itself. I still think it carries a lot of weight in Japan at least

 

548

01:17:05.250 --> 01:17:19.800

Akil Hill: The last time I was there. And you know the times. Prior to that, I mean, I think the last time I was there was maybe like three years ago, four years ago, but um yeah i mean i i've never been a big comic book person, but maybe I should start getting into

 

549

01:17:19.950 --> 01:17:21.030

Akil Hill: Into into manga

 

550

01:17:21.330 --> 01:17:23.130

Akil Hill: You may, you may have persuaded me on

 

551

01:17:23.160 --> 01:17:31.680

Hong Lieu: I feel like digital reading is always hard to encapsulate the physical aspect of it. Just because physical reading is to panel. So you have two pages know it's like a reading both pages.

 

552

01:17:31.920 --> 01:17:38.460

Hong Lieu: But just having that like read one page and lead right into the next one. The, the segway between turning pages in a digital book.

 

553

01:17:38.820 --> 01:17:45.360

Hong Lieu: Is a little jarring because, you know, you hit next and go right to the next page. It's like that interrupts the sequence, whereas when you're reading a book.

 

554

01:17:45.660 --> 01:17:54.210

Hong Lieu: You go one page to the next page. And the quick page, turn the heat on the next page. I mean, it just feels more seamless to me. I mean, it's something where if I only have a digital video or something. I'll definitely read it that way.

 

555

01:17:55.110 --> 01:17:57.990

Hong Lieu: I much prefer the physical version. And the thing about manga is because it's

 

556

01:17:59.190 --> 01:18:03.000

Hong Lieu: Written in Japanese. Originally, it is read left to

 

557

01:18:03.330 --> 01:18:04.140

Hong Lieu: Right to left.

 

558

01:18:04.290 --> 01:18:07.980

Hong Lieu: Instead of left to right, you go right to left. So you start at the end of the book for us.

 

559

01:18:08.220 --> 01:18:10.380

Hong Lieu: And you flip it backwards and you read the panel's

 

560

01:18:11.580 --> 01:18:19.710

Hong Lieu: Right page first and the left page and you flip it right page left page and then you, you read any story, top to bottom, but that that kind of adjustment to is is

 

561

01:18:20.700 --> 01:18:29.760

Hong Lieu: Was interesting at first, but it also, it's pretty seamless. Once you get in the groove of things. Yeah. The hard part of a manga for most manga. It's the same with comic books is the stories never end.

 

562

01:18:30.360 --> 01:18:36.690

Hong Lieu: So, these, these kind of self contained stories like the subtle Chicago and there are other other manga works that are kind of one shot.

 

563

01:18:37.080 --> 01:18:45.900

Hong Lieu: The one shots are easier because you have the beginning in the end of that you read all like one piece and all these go on forever even not at all, which has ended, but it's

 

564

01:18:46.290 --> 01:18:53.220

Hong Lieu: Just it's just huge. So it feels inaccessible at times because you feel like, oh, I'm just gonna, like, I'll never be able to catch up on that.

 

565

01:18:54.090 --> 01:19:05.730

Hong Lieu: Which is why a lot of folks, Japan, we'd like to shown in jump and stuff that are just like anthologies which kept, you know, the big take up the most recent issue of four or five titles and put it in one magazine. You can buy it that way and keep up that way.

 

566

01:19:06.900 --> 01:19:11.130

Hong Lieu: But yeah, in terms of if you're trying to get into manga or comics, for the first time, I would always say

 

567

01:19:11.550 --> 01:19:24.120

Hong Lieu: Aren't stories that have a beginning and an end because the stories are just keep going, keep going. There's so much lower. And so much depth now that if you if you're worried about not being to keep up or getting lost. Yeah, it's definitely a valid concern.

 

568

01:19:25.530 --> 01:19:30.600

Akil Hill: My daughter shoot who's half Japanese like this past summer.

 

569

01:19:31.740 --> 01:19:32.940

Akil Hill: For she started back to school.

 

570

01:19:34.200 --> 01:19:42.480

Akil Hill: She was on a whole anime train. I was like burning the she's over here. She's like, I still am.

 

571

01:19:45.210 --> 01:19:55.740

Akil Hill: But she was burning the candle lights, man. Are those late night early mornings Washington animation come downstairs, your eyes are bloodshot Mike, what's going on, you know,

 

572

01:19:56.100 --> 01:20:00.840

Hong Lieu: And and enemies. The same way certain shows have like 400 300 400 episodes.

 

573

01:20:00.930 --> 01:20:05.400

Hong Lieu: Yeah and there's other shows like two seasons in a season can be 26 episodes. It can be 13 episodes.

 

574

01:20:05.790 --> 01:20:16.020

Hong Lieu: And and that's that's kind of the most successful way the enemy films are nice, but sometimes they try to like cram a lot of stuff into a film like the Akira film. People always hail is a masterwork of animation. It's incredibly well animated

 

575

01:20:16.320 --> 01:20:24.360

Hong Lieu: But trying to follow that story is tough, you know, it's good to try to cram like six manga, you know, trade paperbacks worth of story.

 

576

01:20:24.870 --> 01:20:29.880

Hong Lieu: Actually the first three but into a two hour film, which is impossible. It's the same happens with book to movie I patients.

 

577

01:20:30.240 --> 01:20:39.420

Hong Lieu: You know where the law of the nuances and details. Last but especially with a visual medium. You know, it can be even more so. So yeah, finding those series that are good, but then also end

 

578

01:20:39.840 --> 01:20:46.050

Hong Lieu: They will you get some closure that that goes a long way. Kind of fostering you know like that spark.

 

579

01:20:46.500 --> 01:20:53.910

Hong Lieu: Where you can kind of come back and then once you're into it a little bit, then you can explore the really long ones if you have the time as a young person you have the time, I could

 

580

01:20:54.270 --> 01:21:06.270

Hong Lieu: You know, play video games for 70 hours and finish them. I could read books all day and watch movies all day now. Is someone with a kid get time is a premium I need the short and sweet beginning middle and end. Yeah, absolutely.

 

581

01:21:10.500 --> 01:21:10.800

Akil Hill: Well,

 

582

01:21:11.580 --> 01:21:12.420

Maureen McRae Goldberg: For children.

 

583

01:21:13.890 --> 01:21:17.040

Hong Lieu: Yeah, that's the thing. It's not, it's not like times two times three, it's

 

584

01:21:17.040 --> 01:21:18.060

Hong Lieu: Exponential, it's like

 

585

01:21:18.060 --> 01:21:20.130

Maureen McRae Goldberg: Squared, the Richter scale.

 

586

01:21:22.290 --> 01:21:34.080

Hong Lieu: Absolutely. That's, that's where do you ever think about having a yeah I thought about it. But yeah, I don't. I don't. I mean, you know, I know. I don't know. Hey, yeah, that's it. Yeah, that reset button to

 

587

01:21:35.430 --> 01:21:35.850

Hong Lieu: Have another

 

588

01:21:36.870 --> 01:21:38.850

Hong Lieu: That's another episode altogether, I guess.

 

589

01:21:42.870 --> 01:22:04.380

Akil Hill: Well, I wish I could you know say my my choice or pick for culture. This week is as profound and thought provoking as what you to just have made mentioned that, but I'm going to, I'm going to kick it in the slums for this episode and my choice is Cobra Kai

 

590

01:22:06.270 --> 01:22:07.200

Akil Hill: On Netflix.

 

591

01:22:08.820 --> 01:22:09.570

Akil Hill: Last night.

 

592

01:22:10.620 --> 01:22:15.750

Akil Hill: My wife and I were a little later than usual. But we were watching a credit kid.

 

593

01:22:17.340 --> 01:22:17.730

Akil Hill: Too.

 

594

01:22:18.570 --> 01:22:20.010

Akil Hill: Oh yeah, it's just us.

 

595

01:22:20.040 --> 01:22:34.950

Hong Lieu: What slept on Karate Kid. I love that Karate Kid. And then, and this is where I disagree with you because Karate Kid was I mean landmark huge huge deal for me as a kid and watching Cobra tie in every all those sweet spots for me. So, yeah.

 

596

01:22:35.010 --> 01:22:36.660

Akil Hill: We keep, you know,

 

597

01:22:36.780 --> 01:22:44.310

Akil Hill: But listen, absolutely. Cobra. Kai, did I think they did a brilliant job at that. Because if all the nostalgia was coming back.

 

598

01:22:44.910 --> 01:22:56.370

Akil Hill: We actually been watch Cobra. Kai, a couple weekends ago and and so then it got us all hyped up to start watching the credit kids series. Again, just because

 

599

01:22:56.790 --> 01:23:11.760

Akil Hill: All the the the nostalgia, the music, the, you know, seeing, you know, Daniel Russo as a grown man and him and Johnny still having beef with each other and training students and it's

 

600

01:23:12.540 --> 01:23:25.080

Akil Hill: It's on Netflix. I think there's there's two seasons that are out on Netflix. And I think the third one I read that they've already. It's already been recorded, so we're just waiting for that to actually to be to to drop

 

601

01:23:25.530 --> 01:23:38.880

Hong Lieu: And I'm pretty excited because I mean I don't know how where they go from the end of that second season. I'm not gonna, I'm not gonna let the plot points go no spoilers here. But the way that second season ended. I don't know where they're going. Where do they go in the third season because

 

602

01:23:40.560 --> 01:23:43.470

Akil Hill: You don't know. I have an idea. But I'm not gonna say anything.

 

603

01:23:43.770 --> 01:23:46.530

Hong Lieu: Can you can you mention your idea. Without getting too spoiler you like it.

 

604

01:23:46.650 --> 01:23:47.340

Akil Hill: Yeah yeah

 

605

01:23:47.460 --> 01:23:50.310

Hong Lieu: You're gonna tell like nurse, a nurse them back to health, or I mean

 

606

01:23:51.750 --> 01:23:56.880

Hong Lieu: Like no, he becomes the mentor and just like teachers like while he's recovering. I mean, you know,

 

607

01:23:57.840 --> 01:23:59.460

Akil Hill: I think, Okay, one is

 

608

01:24:00.990 --> 01:24:02.970

Akil Hill: I don't know if this is a spoiler bombs going to say it.

 

609

01:24:04.590 --> 01:24:08.730

Akil Hill: I think he's gonna come back into the show because she hasn't

 

610

01:24:09.480 --> 01:24:11.010

Hong Lieu: Oh yeah, that's right, yeah. So

 

611

01:24:11.040 --> 01:24:19.230

Akil Hill: She's gonna come back in for season three, and then I'm not gonna say anything more than that because I what else I'm thinking would definitely be a spoiler so

 

612

01:24:19.890 --> 01:24:32.340

Akil Hill: I'm just gonna say it will probably appear in season three. That's what I'm looking for. And it appears to be that Daniel and Johnny may be, you know,

 

613

01:24:35.490 --> 01:24:40.950

Akil Hill: becoming friends that that's what I think is going to happen. That's just my two cents. But I don't want to spoil it more than

 

614

01:24:40.950 --> 01:24:41.430

Akil Hill: That but

 

615

01:24:41.460 --> 01:24:53.310

Hong Lieu: That would be nice. Yeah. Because yeah I mean for me. Karate Kid. I grew up watching Kung Fu movies like a Hong Kong cinema was my first, you know, first the first films. I watch for Hong Kong films. So Kung Fu movies were like

 

616

01:24:53.850 --> 01:24:58.890

Hong Lieu: I love. I lived breathed and you know he woke up watch movies when

 

617

01:24:58.920 --> 01:25:00.000

Hong Lieu: You're watching Kung Fu movies.

 

618

01:25:00.360 --> 01:25:03.150

Hong Lieu: And then when I wasn't watching Kung Fu movies. I was playing conclude my friends and

 

619

01:25:03.330 --> 01:25:13.680

Hong Lieu: We're kicking punching each other to death. So Karate Kid having a product in last dragon both of those were like those crossover martial arts films where I finally there was more common ground.

 

620

01:25:14.010 --> 01:25:16.230

Hong Lieu: For other folks to get into the same stuff that I was

 

621

01:25:16.260 --> 01:25:25.110

Hong Lieu: Really into so I mean it just, it just expanded reach in terms of folks I could play Kung Fu with so that episode just. Just that alone was a lot of, you know,

 

622

01:25:25.860 --> 01:25:30.570

Hong Lieu: Was really big and in terms of in terms of expanding my reach. Because I knew kung fu, but I didn't know karate.

 

623

01:25:30.930 --> 01:25:36.480

Hong Lieu: So going from the Chinese style of martial arts to more Japanese martial arts and learning about karate judo

 

624

01:25:36.840 --> 01:25:46.200

Hong Lieu: You know, in jujitsu and stuff like that, where I just knew you know Wing Chun Tai Chi Kung Fu and just knowing that it's not a lake. It's an ocean like the world of martial arts is so vast and there'll

 

625

01:25:46.200 --> 01:25:46.380

Akil Hill: Be

 

626

01:25:47.040 --> 01:25:48.090

Hong Lieu: A martial arts is so vast,

 

627

01:25:48.420 --> 01:25:50.760

Hong Lieu: And just that, you know, the Karate Kid story is just, you know,

 

628

01:25:50.820 --> 01:26:02.820

Hong Lieu: Overcoming the odds in the long shot, but that the way Cobra Kai twist that and then turns the once you know the ones favorite Johnny into the long shot, he becomes a long shot, and Daniel the Russo becomes i mean

 

629

01:26:03.210 --> 01:26:07.620

Hong Lieu: It's just, I thought it was brilliant. I thought it was very well done. I watched it when I was on YouTube, you know,

 

630

01:26:08.100 --> 01:26:14.580

Hong Lieu: I guess no one, no one that usually movies netflix which is great for the show because, yeah, I thought it was in terms of those retro revival things

 

631

01:26:14.880 --> 01:26:17.400

Hong Lieu: A lot of them are kind of just milking the nostalgia and cashing in

 

632

01:26:17.640 --> 01:26:26.490

Hong Lieu: I felt like this was very well done. And they cared a lot about the movies that came before like they brought they brought back a lot of the old students from Cobra Kai. To be the old guys know when the winepress over, they go camping.

 

633

01:26:26.850 --> 01:26:36.090

Hong Lieu: Yeah, rather back and one of them passed away recently. So, even me having a, you know, one of the final film role and stuff. And so they. There's a lot of knots old movies, which is great, but the story.

 

634

01:26:36.630 --> 01:26:46.470

Hong Lieu: On it stands on its own so well for the new stuff that you if you don't know anything about the other movies they tell enough of the story and flashbacks and stuff. You can get right in and it's you know it's pretty well done.

 

635

01:26:47.400 --> 01:27:01.500

Akil Hill: Yeah i mean i i you know for me to like what you're saying. You grew up and doing kung fu. And I was actually the opposite. I grew up doing karate, and my, you know, my parents lived in Japan for about seven years and

 

636

01:27:02.670 --> 01:27:03.900

Akil Hill: You know, my parents both

 

637

01:27:05.460 --> 01:27:10.200

Akil Hill: Became black belts in karate. And then so when we returned back to the States.

 

638

01:27:11.220 --> 01:27:20.460

Akil Hill: They opened up a dojo in the height of karate like the EDS Karate Kid, everyone was doing karate in the in the Haiti, so

 

639

01:27:20.880 --> 01:27:33.690

Akil Hill: It just for me it's like it's a movie, but it's even more than that because it takes me back to growing up in the dojo training with my mother, my father, my sister and, you know, so it's such a it's such a good

 

640

01:27:35.940 --> 01:27:39.300

Akil Hill: It's just, well done. It's just I think it's done brilliantly.

 

641

01:27:39.840 --> 01:27:43.830

Akil Hill: And it's been in the top 10 on Netflix for probably, I don't know how long it's been there but every time.

 

642

01:27:44.220 --> 01:27:47.790

Akil Hill: I go to Netflix. It's in the top 10 still like this, it's still up there.

 

643

01:27:48.030 --> 01:27:48.480

Hong Lieu: Yeah, that's

 

644

01:27:49.290 --> 01:27:49.590

Akil Hill: That

 

645

01:27:49.650 --> 01:27:56.790

Hong Lieu: That tells you how few folks subscribed to the premium YouTube service because it was on YouTube, like couple years ago. And the second season was like last year's let me so

 

646

01:27:57.120 --> 01:28:01.080

Hong Lieu: A lot of folks are seeing for the first time and just like whoa, where was this and it's like, yeah, it was buried in YouTube.

 

647

01:28:01.860 --> 01:28:16.320

Hong Lieu: Well, yeah, so it was. I mean it. Yeah, my wife actually was it grew up in Lancaster, the Antelope Valley and she did karate and their and their style is called open ality so it was, you know, kind of how in karate and shows you that reach in terms of folks, you know, and

 

648

01:28:17.760 --> 01:28:24.570

Hong Lieu: Since it was a black man Richard triplet and just the folks that went to Japan to learn karate, and you know that just how how big that karate boom was in the 80s.

 

649

01:28:24.660 --> 01:28:25.440

Akil Hill: And it was so

 

650

01:28:25.500 --> 01:28:29.160

Hong Lieu: Nice. In general, and it's really good. I mean, I learned a lot about discipline.

 

651

01:28:29.610 --> 01:28:41.430

Hong Lieu: And about, you know, repetition and practice doing something over and over again to you. You're better at it, get it right. You know, like it's those kinds of things. We don't have that many outlets for that anymore. It's basically sports at this point sports and video games so

 

652

01:28:42.000 --> 01:28:42.810

Maureen McRae Goldberg: And books.

 

653

01:28:42.990 --> 01:28:49.350

Hong Lieu: And books. Yes, you can become a better reader. I just kind of practicing and rebooting. But in terms of reading

 

654

01:28:50.250 --> 01:28:56.250

Hong Lieu: I guess it's a good question for you, Maria, how would you practice reading to become a better reader, because I feel like for me I it's hard for me to

 

655

01:28:56.610 --> 01:29:01.470

Hong Lieu: Kind of instruct my son how to become a better reader, because I feel like, for me, it was just like a light switch that flipped.

 

656

01:29:02.070 --> 01:29:11.610

Hong Lieu: Whereas with karate, you can kick, kick, kick. And you can feel the little nuances like your toes curl a little better things that sort of, how would you improve like teach someone to improve the reading skills.

 

657

01:29:12.750 --> 01:29:22.770

Maureen McRae Goldberg: Well, I think one of the things that's very important on reading skills now is to find a quiet place reading is not something you can multitask with

 

658

01:29:24.060 --> 01:29:30.330

Maureen McRae Goldberg: You can be eating dinner or watching TV and reading a book at the same time, you'll lose the beauty of the book.

 

659

01:29:31.020 --> 01:29:46.410

Maureen McRae Goldberg: So having a beanbag chair with your soft lanky in it and just giving yourself permission to be quiet for half an hour to enjoy your book is very important and we often don't give ourselves permission to be quiet.

 

660

01:29:48.360 --> 01:29:58.290

Hong Lieu: Yeah, and and for my, my son is used to, you know, YouTube pokey and Adam and people going wild and slapstick comedy is I guess that is the key. And I didn't even think about that. That's a good very good punch.

 

661

01:29:58.830 --> 01:30:01.770

Akil Hill: Or did you just listen to that she just dropped a dime on the show right

 

662

01:30:02.040 --> 01:30:08.490

Hong Lieu: That was gold again. That was totally missing. I didn't even think about that aspect of it. I was thinking about the skill set aspect of it like

 

663

01:30:08.730 --> 01:30:15.750

Hong Lieu: You know phonics and the snap a note that the ability to focus and kind of concentrate on what you're looking at, will make you a better reader. You're absolutely correct.

 

664

01:30:17.250 --> 01:30:17.520

Yeah.

 

665

01:30:19.530 --> 01:30:34.290

Maureen McRae Goldberg: And then I was a little girl. My father bought me a great big yellow plastic beanbag chair that became my reading chair for years, I'd love to be able to curl up in that chair again.

 

666

01:30:35.970 --> 01:30:39.810

Hong Lieu: Yeah, my son's those opportunities. I feel like a minor a long ways off.

 

667

01:30:41.760 --> 01:30:43.260

Hong Lieu: Maybe one day, but yeah.

 

668

01:30:45.780 --> 01:31:01.440

Akil Hill: I'm going to recommit to that marine. I think that's there's so much wisdom in that statement that just having a certain location or area, our space that's just dedicated just for that. And then, like you said, I think it was brilliantly stated when he said

 

669

01:31:02.550 --> 01:31:12.210

Akil Hill: giving yourself permission right to just give yourself completely to the book and be present in one thing and that is just to read, you know,

 

670

01:31:13.320 --> 01:31:18.930

Akil Hill: So thanks for the wisdom on that I'm taking that to heart. I'm going to make it a point to try to

 

671

01:31:20.460 --> 01:31:30.450

Akil Hill: Read dedicate myself to reading a little bit more because I will. That's something that I've always wanted wanting to do and I keep saying, I got it. I want to read a little bit more but I'm feeling pretty inspired by by the conversation.

 

672

01:31:32.340 --> 01:31:40.020

Maureen McRae Goldberg: I will tell you when I was commuting from Santa Barbara to LA by the train. I have an awful lot of good reading time

 

673

01:31:42.480 --> 01:31:48.930

Hong Lieu: Yeah, when I was doing my two hour commute. I had to listen to news radio because I wasn't driving. But if I wasn't driving. I would have been reading for sure.

 

674

01:31:49.920 --> 01:31:53.010

Maureen McRae Goldberg: audio books are the way in the future. Yes.

 

675

01:31:53.610 --> 01:32:01.050

Hong Lieu: Very true. And, and on and on. All that all that good advice. Good advice. You gave us earlier about financial aid and about managing money.

 

676

01:32:01.350 --> 01:32:13.140

Hong Lieu: To the good advice about being a better reader funding and quiet place to concentrate. Then I can't think of a better way to wrap up the show and and thank you for, you know, coming on and

 

677

01:32:13.860 --> 01:32:14.940

Akil Hill: Just thank you so much.

 

678

01:32:15.780 --> 01:32:18.210

Maureen McRae Goldberg: My pleasure. Now I want to go eat a bagel.

 

679

01:32:20.160 --> 01:32:22.650

Hong Lieu: Absolutely. If any of you ever need any I can send you some because I got

 

680

01:32:22.710 --> 01:32:24.540

Hong Lieu: A few dozen in the freezer right now so

 

681

01:32:26.280 --> 01:32:28.530

Akil Hill: You want you don't want to give up astronomy burger with sushi.

 

682

01:32:29.700 --> 01:32:30.120

Akil Hill: I could

 

683

01:32:30.240 --> 01:32:32.040

Maureen McRae Goldberg: I could lose the sushi, but it

 

684

01:32:32.580 --> 01:32:34.380

Maureen McRae Goldberg: Was strongly abroad burger for sure.

 

685

01:32:36.810 --> 01:32:44.610

Hong Lieu: I mean, I will definitely have to have it will have a web a live stream or we go eat Bergen sushi, Akil that'll be that'll be nice return normalcy for us to so

 

686

01:32:46.320 --> 01:32:47.820

Akil Hill: Let's do it. Yeah.

 

687

01:32:48.090 --> 01:32:52.920

Hong Lieu: But, uh, for everyone. Listen show. Thank you again for tuning in. Thank you again for coming on the show and

 

688

01:32:54.150 --> 01:32:56.070

Hong Lieu: Until next time, we'll see y'all again.

 

689

01:32:57.030 --> 01:32:57.780

Akil Hill: Thanks, guys.

 

690

01:32:57.840 --> 01:32:58.710

Maureen McRae Goldberg: Thanks a lot.

 

691

01:32:59.280 --> 01:33:00.570

Akil Hill: Thank you. Bye bye.

 

692

01:33:00.840 --> 01:33:01.230

Bye.