0:00

Support for this podcast and

0:02

the following message come from

0:04

the United States Postal Service.

0:07

Turn shipping to your advantage

0:09

with USPS Ground Advantage service.

0:12

Learn how to gain a

0:14

competitive edge at usps.com/advantage. USPS

0:17

Ground Advantage. Simple, affordable, reliable.

0:20

Hey, it's Kelly McEvers, and

0:23

this is the final episode

0:25

of Supermajority. Just

0:27

want to say a couple quick things before we get

0:30

started. At the end of the episode, we're

0:32

going to let you in on what's coming up

0:34

next on the show, so keep

0:36

listening. And also, just want

0:39

to say we do talk about gun

0:41

violence in this episode. Just wanted

0:43

to let you know. Okay, here's

0:45

Maribba Knight. In

0:48

the spring of this year, Covenant

0:50

moms Melissa Alexander and Mary Joyce

0:52

got an invitation. A

0:54

conservative commentator named Tommy Laren was

0:57

asking if she could interview them.

1:00

She was doing a special for the one

1:02

year anniversary of the Covenant shooting. They'd

1:06

met Tommy at the Reagan Day Gala

1:08

back in January, the Western

1:11

themed GOP fundraiser that we told

1:13

you about in episode two. And

1:16

it occurs to Melissa that Tommy

1:19

might be able to help them. I saw how

1:21

people approached her at the Reagan Day dinner. I

1:23

saw that they were somewhat starstruck by her

1:25

and I thought, okay, well, if someone like

1:27

this allows us to go on their show,

1:30

then maybe, you know,

1:32

this message can start kind of changing

1:35

the minds of this audience. A

1:37

national audience, they assumed, would be

1:40

much more conservative than themselves and

1:42

against any gun control. One

1:45

they wanted to reach, especially since

1:47

Melissa was considering a run for

1:49

office. But they said

1:51

they never actually watched Tommy Laren's

1:53

show before. Tommy

1:57

Laren is a well-known right-wing

1:59

media personality. She's risen to

2:02

fame in recent years, going viral

2:04

over and over again on social

2:06

media with her video series, Final

2:08

Thoughts, and as a contributor on

2:10

Fox News. And

2:12

she's said some pretty offensive stuff.

2:14

For example, she said

2:16

Black Lives Matter is the new

2:18

KKK, and she claims that queer

2:21

movements, or the rainbow mafia as

2:23

she calls them, have hijacked women's

2:25

rights. Of course,

2:27

Melissa and Mary said they

2:30

didn't know any of this at the time. They

2:35

scheduled the interview for March 22nd of

2:37

this year, which is less than two

2:39

weeks before Melissa's deadline to declare her

2:41

candidacy. When the day comes,

2:44

they're surprised to see that Tommy's set

2:46

isn't part of any news station. It's

2:49

in, um, Old

2:52

Smokey? Old Smokey? Distillery?

2:55

Wait, her set is in Old Smokey. I

2:57

guess I should have said that. Old

2:59

Smokey is a sports bar and a music

3:02

venue where they brew their own beer and

3:04

you can buy jars of moonshine. And so

3:06

we're in this, like, bar. There's tons of

3:08

people partying. It's the second

3:10

round of March Madness and Tommy's studio.

3:13

It's a small room off the side

3:15

of this raucous bar. Melissa

3:18

says she was thoroughly

3:20

confused. The producer comes out

3:22

and says, give us a few minutes and then we'll call

3:24

you in. And so we go

3:26

in the bathroom and there's, like, bachelorettes with

3:28

the white hats and they

3:31

were like, oh, I like your suit, you know?

3:33

They were, like, commenting on our outfits because we

3:35

look so out of place in this place. And

3:39

they were all pretty much drunk at,

3:41

like, 12 in the afternoon already.

3:43

And then we come

3:45

out and we're standing at the

3:47

bar waiting and we

3:49

eventually get called in. in.

4:01

But Tommy promises the full interview

4:03

will be aired uncut, which

4:05

is a relief to the women. They want

4:07

Tommy's audience to hear everything they have to

4:09

say in full. The

4:12

interview goes on for the better part of an hour.

4:15

The women talk about their children's trauma,

4:17

the gun control policies they support.

4:20

At the end of the interview, I was thinking, she's

4:23

going to get a lot of flack from her

4:26

audience for letting us speak so long on this

4:28

topic. I mean, a lot

4:30

of the interview was counter

4:32

to what her audience wanted to hear. When

4:36

the interview is over, Mary and Melissa

4:38

take a picture with Tommy, and they

4:40

post it to their Instagram accounts with

4:42

a caption that says, thank you, at

4:44

Tommy Laron, for having us. Then

4:47

they go to the bar at Old Smokey and

4:49

order a beer. And

4:52

that's when the comments start flooding in.

4:54

We just were just not aware of

4:59

the ramifications of what we had done.

5:03

The end of the legislative session

5:05

is fast approaching. But this

5:07

interview with Tommy Laron, it

5:09

threatens to upend everything the women have

5:11

worked for, Melissa's potential run

5:14

for office included. It also

5:17

threatens to splinter the bonds they've formed

5:19

with one another over the past year.

5:22

And all of that makes them question

5:25

the way they'd been going about fighting

5:27

the Republican majority. Has it

5:29

been all wrong? And if so,

5:31

what do they do about it? From

5:35

NPR's Embedded and WPLN in

5:37

Nashville, I'm Mera Benite, and

5:40

you're listening to the final episode of

5:43

Supermajority. This

5:51

message comes from NPR sponsor BetterHelp.

5:54

Social media makes it easy to

5:56

compare your life to everyone else's,

5:58

but therapy can help. help you

6:00

focus on yourself instead so you

6:03

can live your life to the

6:05

fullest. If you're considering therapy, give

6:07

BetterHelp a try. It's entirely online,

6:10

designed to be convenient, flexible, and

6:12

tailored to your schedule. Visit

6:15

BetterHelp at betterhelp.com/NPR to

6:17

get 10% off

6:19

your first month. This

6:21

message comes from NPR sponsor,

6:23

Anthropic. Meet Claude, the AI

6:25

assistant by Anthropic. Claude can

6:27

help with any project, from

6:30

brainstorming your campaign to building

6:32

software. Join teams around the

6:34

world working with Claude. Learn

6:36

more at anthropic.com/team. This

6:39

message comes from NPR sponsor, Midi Health.

6:41

If you're a woman over 40 dealing

6:44

with hot flashes, insomnia, weight gain, or

6:46

brain fog, you don't have to accept

6:48

it as just another part of aging.

6:51

The clinicians at Midi Health understand what

6:53

you're experiencing and know how to help.

6:55

Midi Health provides specialized care for perimenopause

6:58

and menopause covered by insurance. Book your

7:00

visit today at joinmidi.com. That's joinmidi.com. This

7:05

message comes from NPR sponsor, Warby

7:07

Parker. Their glasses start at $95, including

7:11

anti-reflective scratch-resistant prescription lenses that block

7:13

100% of UV rays. Try

7:16

five pairs of frames at home

7:19

for free. Go to warbyparker.com/covered. When

7:23

Melissa and Mary posted their selfie

7:25

with Tommy, they said the initial

7:28

comments were positive, supportive. People

7:30

were like, I'm so proud of you. This

7:33

is incredible that she had you on her show.

7:37

And then there was a commenter

7:40

that I

7:43

didn't know who they were and they just

7:45

started like really getting upset with

7:47

us. It

7:50

just kind of spiraled out of control. The

7:53

interview hadn't aired yet, but within days

7:55

of posting the photo, the criticism took

7:58

on a life of its own. still

10:00

helping their children heal. Everything

10:03

still feels pretty tender from like the

10:05

last year and then what we're putting

10:07

together and putting back together in our

10:10

families with our children because

10:12

it, that wound is

10:14

like open and we're still trying

10:16

to figure that out. Mary

10:19

and Melissa's kids were in the area of

10:21

the school that the shooter targeted that day.

10:24

Mary's daughter had been shot at.

10:26

Three of her classmates were killed.

10:29

Mary tells me her daughter often asks

10:31

if they can install bulletproof glass in

10:34

their home and she still

10:36

insists on sleeping in her parents bed at

10:38

night. Melissa's son Oscar

10:40

had huddled in his classroom while he

10:42

heard gunfire just outside the door. As

10:46

recently as this past Mother's Day, Melissa

10:49

realized that he was also really

10:52

still struggling. My

10:54

husband was cleaning up after Mother's

10:56

Day lunch and he

10:59

had made fresh squeezed orange juice and

11:03

we have this like squeezer and so it like holds

11:05

the pulp in the thing. Then he

11:07

had like taken it and like

11:09

banged it on the trash can really loud, like back

11:11

and forth to get the pulp out of it. And

11:15

Oscar was in the other room finishing

11:17

a book for school and he

11:19

ran in the room and he was,

11:22

his eyes were all welled up and he said,

11:24

you have to stop doing that. That, that can't

11:26

handle that noise. And he was,

11:28

I guess it just scared him because if you

11:30

think about it, he was, um,

11:34

you know, they were locked down in the classroom, but they heard everything going

11:36

on. And so he was in the other room and he heard that, um,

11:39

that really upset him, like hearing that

11:41

sound and reliving, you know, what happened.

11:45

A few days after the women posted the picture

11:47

with Tommy, which by the way, they've since deleted,

11:50

there was one person who emerged as particularly vocal,

11:54

calling the women out in a video. on

12:00

Instagram. You absolutely have to

12:02

have conversations with people. I don't think you

12:04

should be having conversations with white supremacists like

12:08

Tommy Lauren or however you pronounce her name.

12:11

Shannon Watts is the founder of

12:13

the grassroots gun control organization Moms

12:15

Demand Action. And she wrote

12:17

a book, Fight Like a Mother. She

12:20

has a pretty big following, more than 140,000

12:22

on Instagram. So

12:25

this criticism really put Melissa

12:27

on blast. These Republican white

12:29

women saying that somehow they

12:31

can change the hearts and

12:33

minds of extremists or

12:36

that we can somehow make the best of

12:38

these lawmakers in office. And it simply is

12:40

not true. Melissa

12:43

was particularly unsettled, an

12:45

attack like this coming from one of

12:48

her political allies. What in

12:50

the world, like I didn't, these are people

12:52

on the same side of the issue. Like

12:56

why, why, why is this continuing to happen?

12:59

Woman to woman and advocate

13:02

to advocate, like please, please

13:04

don't, please stop. But

13:07

then it kept on. Over

13:09

the next few days, Shannon releases

13:12

one video after another about Melissa

13:14

and Mary, about how they

13:16

never should have talked with Tommy Lauren and

13:18

how their efforts were misguided. When

13:21

I reached out to Shannon to ask

13:23

why she made these videos, Shannon told

13:25

me, if you decide to be a

13:27

public activist, then you have to be

13:29

able to accept the criticism you get.

13:33

But on top of that, she

13:35

said she hadn't seen an evolution in

13:37

these women, that they seem too fragile

13:39

for this kind of work. Shannon

13:43

Watts has since removed all of her

13:45

videos. The

13:49

stress of all of this, the criticism,

13:51

the upcoming anniversary of the shooting, her

13:53

decision about whether she was going to

13:55

run, it really got to

13:57

Melissa. She says she stopped

13:59

eating. stopped sleeping, she began

14:01

to worry about the safety of her family. And

14:04

I was like, man, people

14:07

can be so hurtful. And

14:14

it's just overwhelming. She

14:17

also was dreading the release of the

14:19

Tommy Laron episode, which still hadn't been

14:22

published. And on the anniversary

14:24

of the shooting, an emotional day for all

14:26

of the women and their families. Tommy

14:29

released a short promo teasing the

14:31

interview. It promised the

14:33

episode would be a deep dive into

14:36

the Covenant shooting to go beyond the

14:38

headlines. But the promo itself

14:41

fixated on almost every hot-button

14:43

issue associated with the shooting.

14:45

One year ago today, a

14:47

28-year-old self-proclaimed transgender carried out

14:50

her plan to murder innocent

14:52

Christians at the Covenant school

14:54

here in Nashville, Tennessee. It

14:57

zeroed in on the shooter's gender

14:59

identity, using she-her pronouns even though

15:01

police say the shooter likely identified

15:03

as a trans man. Tommy

15:06

suggests the shooter being trans

15:08

somehow motivated the violence. The

15:11

leaked pages reveal the trans shooter sought

15:13

to hunt down white people of privilege.

15:15

That motive and mindset is becoming all

15:17

too common these days, and it's not

15:20

hard to figure out why. The promo

15:22

also emphasizes the shooter's writings. The

15:24

police had found journals and scattered notes

15:27

while searching the shooter's home. Some

15:29

news reports later called them a

15:32

manifesto, and Republican lawmakers called

15:34

for their release. The

15:36

school kind of went to lengths

15:38

to keep this manifesto, these journalings,

15:40

whatever you want to call it,

15:42

hidden in private. Please explain

15:44

why. I

15:46

wanted to know. I want to

15:48

read every single page. And

15:53

this part of the promo really got

15:55

Melissa's attention, because it suggested

15:58

that she, too, was calling shooting

26:00

and how they'd be heroes,

26:02

my children know exactly what

26:05

happens. It's

26:07

nothing like what legislators

26:09

imagine. The

26:12

bill goes to the Senate first. On

26:14

the day of the vote, the three women take

26:17

a seat in the front row of the gallery,

26:19

watching the debate. I sit behind

26:21

them. Under this legislation,

26:23

our parents notified if

26:26

a teacher in their child's school is

26:28

carrying a weapon. Senator

26:31

Bailey to respond. Thank you Mr.

26:34

Speaker. That information is kept confidential.

26:39

Right before the vote, the crowd begins to

26:41

get restless. The scene reminds me

26:43

of the special session and the

26:46

women are looking on quietly while

26:48

the rest of the gallery erupts

26:50

in protest. The Senate

26:52

Speaker bangs his gavel, telling troopers

26:55

to clear the gallery. We're

26:57

trying to get everyone to go this

27:00

way. I understand. I understand,

27:02

but I'm doing my job like y'all are.

27:04

You know what I'm saying. But this time,

27:06

Mary and Melissa, they don't want to leave.

27:09

They start waving their arms, trying to get

27:11

the attention of the speaker. We've

27:13

been quiet, they mouth. Can we stay?

27:16

He nods, signaling to the trooper to

27:18

let them stay in their seats. As

27:22

I rise to leave, I see Sarah

27:24

also talking to a trooper. We

27:26

play by the record every single

27:28

time. We don't open our mouths.

27:32

My supervisor's asking me to come

27:34

out. Mary tells Sarah and the

27:36

other moms the news. So

27:38

I just asked him over the balcony

27:40

here and just begged and he

27:42

said, you can stay. We

27:45

can stay. Because we can stay. Are they going

27:47

to do this now? Are

27:52

they going to hate us now, Melissa asks? Worry

27:55

that the other protesters getting kicked

27:57

out will resent them. I

28:01

don't know. I don't know, Sarah replies. Sarah

28:05

looks worried. A trooper comes

28:07

to tell them that they need to leave,

28:09

but they can come back. Some

28:11

of the other observers, he says, they

28:14

won't leave. Because they're refusing to

28:16

leave because you ain't leaving. So

28:19

I know what will end up happening. Sarah

28:22

shakes her head. She says she wants to

28:24

stay with the other activists. It doesn't feel

28:26

right to be let back in if others

28:29

won't be. I don't

28:31

want to start a fight with people, Sarah says.

28:33

I don't want to start a fight with people.

28:35

They pay the same tax dollars as us. That's

28:38

not fair. It's privilege. We

28:42

are parents of mass shooting survivors. For

28:44

those people who are children.

28:46

Mary is saying, we are

28:49

parents of mass shooting survivors,

28:51

as if to say, but

28:53

we're different. We deserve to

28:55

stay. To which Sarah

28:57

responds, some of those people are

28:59

too. The

29:03

tension between them is palpable, but

29:05

it's also confusing. Because Sarah

29:08

ends up staying behind for a few

29:10

extra minutes after everyone clears

29:12

out. A photo later

29:14

emerges of her holding her covenant mom

29:16

for firearm safety sign in the middle

29:19

of an empty gallery. Meanwhile,

29:22

Mary and Melissa do walk out, worried

29:24

they may be arrested if they didn't.

29:26

And they find themselves with other activists

29:28

in the rotunda, watching the

29:30

votes play out on a large TV screen.

29:33

Mary admits that in the end,

29:35

staying felt like the wrong move. We

29:38

are using our typical strategy of just staying

29:40

very quiet and respectful. And

29:43

he agreed to let us stay. Which

29:46

in the end just felt kind of gross,

29:48

because it's like, well, we're colouring within the

29:50

lines of what they want us to do.

29:54

The bill passes in the Senate. 26

30:01

to 5, and quickly makes headlines.

30:04

Soon, teachers in Tennessee may not have

30:06

to lead their guns at home when

30:08

they go to work. A bill allowing

30:10

our state's educators to be armed in

30:12

the classroom is advancing in the state

30:15

legislature. Now

30:20

that it's through the Senate, the women have about

30:22

two weeks to try to stop the bill from

30:24

passing in the House, too. Sarah's

30:27

letter opposing the bill, the one she

30:29

distributed to school staff around the state,

30:31

is gaining steam. She

30:42

circulates it to House members in a last-ditch

30:45

effort to get them to vote no. Melissa

30:48

and Mary try another tactic.

30:51

Feeding the entire House breakfast tacos, a

30:54

sort of attempt to win their votes

30:56

through their stomachs. They're

31:00

set up in the Capitol's legislative

31:02

lounge with a big catered spread.

31:04

Chorizo tacos, just plain

31:07

egg tacos, an excellent bacon. And

31:09

please help yourselves. Talk

31:11

with coffee, just themselves. It's striking

31:13

how many relationships they now have.

31:16

They arrived here nearly a year ago,

31:19

knowing nothing. And now,

31:21

Democrats and Republicans are both approaching

31:23

them, cracking jokes, thanking them for

31:26

their service this session. Of

31:42

course, they're there to do business, too,

31:44

intercepting Republican lawmakers as they make their

31:47

way to the Taco Buffet, flattering

31:49

them, thanking them for coming out

31:51

against the bill. Oh, I

31:53

saw your video. Thank you so much. Absolutely.

31:55

I watched it this morning. I'm

32:00

a teachers and I was like

32:02

so awkward. We're begging

32:04

them to reconsider him. Hard

32:07

time. I mean, obviously I've hard-knailed

32:09

one. We'll have some questions. The

32:13

bill is scheduled for a vote in the House on April

32:15

23, just two days

32:18

before the end of session. This

32:20

is the bill's last hurdle before it goes

32:22

to the governor's desk for his signature. Mary

32:25

and Melissa can't be there. They have work.

32:28

But Sarah is, and I meet

32:30

her in the Capitol Rotunda. So

32:32

you got child care? Uncle

32:35

Adam? As in my husband's

32:37

working from home with our children. Oh,

32:40

no, yeah, no. This

32:42

is Seth's role in advocacy. Yes.

32:45

I sit next to her in the gallery,

32:47

in their usual front row spot, as

32:50

she sends 11th-hour emails to lawmakers.

32:53

Earlier today, I sent Leader Lambert one

32:55

that was just Sumner County and Rep

32:57

Williams Sarah

32:59

isn't fooling herself. At this

33:02

moment, she knows the bill will almost

33:04

assuredly pass. But she's going

33:06

to work as hard as possible to stop

33:08

it, even going so far

33:10

as to try to text a lawmaker on

33:13

the floor as they debate the bill.

33:15

Text him or me. Text him or me.

33:18

Predictably, Republicans are, for the most

33:20

part, expressing support for the bill,

33:22

while Democrats use their floor time

33:24

to speak against it. This

33:27

is the first major piece

33:29

of gun legislation that

33:32

we've addressed since

33:34

the Covenant tragedy. Just

33:38

think about that. This

33:40

is what we're going to do. This

33:42

is our reaction to teachers

33:45

and children being murdered in

33:48

a school. Our

33:50

reaction is to throw more

33:52

guns at it. What's

33:55

wrong with us? Then

33:59

it's time to go. time to vote on the bill. Sarah

34:02

stands up, peering over the

34:04

railing. All those in favor of

34:06

Senate Bill 1325 as amended, vote aye when the

34:08

bill rings. Those opposed vote no. As

34:11

every member voted, as every member has changed their

34:13

vote. All

34:18

around Sarah, the gallery

34:20

erupts. Blood on your hands,

34:22

they out, over and over.

34:26

Aye 6828 nays, two present, all voting. Senate

34:28

Bill 1325 every receive a Constitution Majority. I

34:32

declare pass with objection. The motion to

34:34

reach Sarah's table. Shame

34:41

on you. That

34:43

was Sarah. I'd been following

34:45

her for almost a year and I've never seen

34:47

her yell like this before. Not from the gallery,

34:50

but she does, again,

34:52

rising up and yelling the names

34:55

of the six covenant victims, Evelyn.

35:06

State troopers rush into the gallery,

35:08

removing the crowd. Sarah

35:10

lingers, eventually making her

35:12

way out as another activist approaches her.

35:15

I'm not done incredibly

35:17

brave and it wouldn't work. And it's

35:19

not enough. You've

35:22

done incredibly brave and important work and

35:24

it's not over. She tells Sarah. They

35:28

embrace and Sarah begins to cry.

35:34

Sarah walks down the stairs and into

35:36

the capital Rotunda, where a protest is

35:39

in full swing. She

35:41

stands back, watching. A photographer

35:44

comes up, posing her in front of the

35:47

crowd and snaps her picture. She

35:50

looks weary, teary eyed, ready

35:52

to go home to her children. The

36:00

arming teachers bill was an epic defeat for

36:02

the women and their efforts on gun control.

36:05

It was the opposite of what they'd been

36:07

fighting for. Now teachers

36:09

and school staff across the state

36:11

can volunteer to be armed if

36:14

they undergo training and

36:16

parents won't be able to find out

36:18

which teachers have guns and which don't.

36:21

Tennessee by the way is not alone.

36:24

About half of states, Republican and

36:26

Democrat, allow teachers to be armed.

36:29

But people paying attention, especially

36:31

the women, were surprised

36:34

by what happened next. In

36:37

the weeks after the vote, school districts

36:39

declined to arm their staff, one

36:42

after the next after the next. At

36:45

the time of this recording, at least 50 districts

36:47

have said no, they won't be

36:50

arming their teachers. So

36:52

far, officials in just two districts have

36:54

said they're open to the new law,

36:56

but they haven't moved forward on it.

37:01

The women had helped get

37:03

three bills passed this session,

37:05

bills they'd pushed hard for,

37:07

lobbying, testifying, including one they

37:09

actually helped write. It

37:11

distributes an annual report on child

37:13

deaths, the leading cause of

37:15

which is firearms. To every

37:18

school system and the state's chapter of

37:20

the American Academy of Pediatrics, the

37:23

women hope that these groups will pass

37:25

the report on to parents and

37:27

shake people awake with this dark

37:30

reality. I

37:33

was there with Melissa and Sarah the day this

37:35

bill was passed in the house. Unanimously,

37:37

by the way. Look

37:39

at that. Unanimous.

37:44

She'd arrived at session, her eyes bloodshot

37:47

from crying into her lunch salad. This

37:50

was right in the middle of her week from hell. We

37:52

did it. We passed our first piece of legislation

37:54

in the house. We passed a bill. We step in a third and

37:57

final, and it's going to be a great deal. comes

40:00

from NPR sponsor, Mint Mobile. From the

40:03

gas pump to the grocery store, inflation

40:05

is everywhere. So Mint Mobile is offering

40:07

premium wireless starting at just $15 a

40:09

month. To get your new

40:11

phone plan for just $15, go

40:14

to mintmobile.com/switch. and

44:00

they've landed where they began, appealing

44:03

to other women who were once just like them,

44:06

politically uninvolved and somewhat timid to

44:08

assert their views and opinions. We

44:11

can maybe make an impact and

44:13

make other women in Nashville, in

44:16

Tennessee, in our country to feel safe to stand

44:18

up and say, wait a second, that's not right.

44:21

So they're keeping up their outreach, their

44:24

social media presence, demystifying

44:26

the role of an activist. Melissa

44:29

and Mary are also headed back to

44:32

Washington, D.C. to lobby yet

44:34

again for gun control on the national

44:36

level. On their last

44:38

visit, they even met President Biden. Sarah

44:42

has been busy getting the word

44:44

out about local races. I

44:46

don't think that there's one right way to do this

44:48

work. I think you honestly need all the approaches. She's

44:51

thrown her support behind a number

44:53

of activists turned candidates, running

44:55

for house seats and national office,

44:58

all are Democrats. I think if

45:00

we all went out at one way, it'd be easy to

45:02

take us all down, and that'd be easy for the legislature.

45:05

If we're hard doing things differently, they don't know what to

45:07

expect. A

45:14

couple weeks before the end of session,

45:16

Melissa is at the Capitol for a

45:18

press conference and to meet with some

45:20

lawmakers about the arming teacher's bill, which

45:23

at that point hadn't yet passed. Her

45:26

son, Ozzy, is out of school, so she

45:28

brings him along. After bouncing

45:30

in and out of a couple lawmakers' offices,

45:33

Melissa and Ozzy step outside, standing

45:35

on the steps of the Capitol

45:38

as a student protest is underway. Just

45:41

looking around, I am sure that every single

45:43

one of us here is either personally affected

45:45

by or has seen the effects of gun

45:48

violence in our community. Melissa

45:50

and Ozzy look on as she tells

45:52

me. We don't

45:54

typically stand in protest. We watch

45:56

them and appreciate them, but we

45:58

typically don't protest. participate in them?

46:02

Moments before, though, Sarah had

46:05

taken up a bullhorn herself and

46:07

addressed the throng of students. I'm

46:10

Sarah Sukhmanan. I'm a parent from the

46:12

covenant school. My mother's

46:15

shooting happened. He knows what an

46:17

assault rifle is when he doesn't know how to tie his

46:19

shoes. The

46:21

crowd, mostly high schoolers, held signs

46:23

that read, hear our voice and

46:26

am I next? Let

46:28

them know your voice matters. Let them

46:30

know you will vote. Let them know

46:32

you will take action and you won't

46:34

forget about this. Let

46:43

them know you will take action, she told

46:45

them, and you won't forget about this.

46:51

All the women tell me they will be

46:53

back next year, not as

46:55

a unit, but still here, watching

46:58

from the galleries, pulling lawmakers

47:00

aside for quick meetings, working

47:03

amendments, tallying votes. How

47:05

could they not? They've all

47:07

seen too much. They've heard too

47:09

much. They know too much.

47:14

Their work, they tell me, is

47:16

not done. This

47:32

has been the final episode of Supermajority from Embedded,

47:34

a collaboration with WPLN News in Nashville. Stay

47:38

tuned until after the credits for a sneak

47:40

preview of our next series. This

47:43

episode was produced and sound designed

47:45

by Ariana Lee with

47:47

help from Dan Germa. Our

47:49

senior producer is Adelina Lancian

47:51

Neeves. She and Alex

47:53

Kotlowitz edited the series. Additional

47:56

reports include the film production

48:00

help from David Goodhurtz, along

48:02

with WPLN's Blaise Ganey and

48:05

Rose Gilbert. Robert

48:07

Rodriguez mastered the program, fact-checking

48:09

by Katie Doggert and Rachel

48:11

Brown. Liana

48:13

Simstrom is our supervising senior

48:15

producer, Katie Simon is our

48:18

supervising editor, and Irene Noguchi

48:20

is our executive producer. The

48:23

embedded team also includes Luis

48:25

Treas, Alison McAdam, Abby Wendell,

48:27

Andrew Mambo, and Rayna Cohen.

48:30

Our interns are Alex Evert

48:32

and Laura Rojas Aponte. With

48:35

WPLN News in Nashville, Mac Linebaugh

48:37

is our vice president of audience

48:39

engagement, Tony Gonzalez is our news

48:42

director, and Rachel Yacovoni is our

48:44

director of multi-platform publishing. Thanks

48:47

to our managing editor of Standards

48:49

and Practices, Tony Kavan, and to

48:51

Micah Ratner for legal support. Our

48:54

visuals editor is Emily Bogle. Original

48:57

photographs by Kevin Wurm. Special

48:59

thanks to Kelly McEvers, Luis

49:02

Treas, Rylan Barton, Samantha Maxx,

49:04

Sergio Martinez Beltran, Lauren Chulgin,

49:07

and NPR's senior vice president

49:09

for podcasting, Colin Campbell. Our

49:12

appreciation also to all of the

49:14

political scientists, journalists, and other experts

49:16

who took the time to speak

49:18

with us and whose research informed

49:20

this series, including Anne

49:22

Applebaum, Ari Berman, Phillip

49:24

Bump, John Greer, Jacob

49:27

Grumbach, Alex Hirtel-Fernandez, Nathan

49:29

Kelly, Molly Pratt, and

49:31

George Uribe. I'm

49:33

Maribba Knight, and this is

49:35

Embedded from NPR. Now

49:40

the Covenant moms say their time in the

49:42

State House isn't over, but this is where

49:44

my time with the men's, where of course

49:46

the series ends. The good news

49:48

is that if you like Super Majority, you're

49:50

going to love the series that's coming next

49:52

from Embedded. Starting next week, July 15th, I'm

49:55

passing the mic, the baton,

49:58

the torch to Rose, Evelyn. Rose,

50:00

help me out here. Yeah,

50:02

the baton is right. The baton is right. The hardest

50:04

part of a relay, some people say. Just

50:06

in time for the Summer Olympics, Rose

50:09

is hosting our new series. It's called

50:11

Tested and it's a collaboration with CBC.

50:13

Rose, please tell us what to expect. Sure.

50:16

So Tested is a six episode series

50:18

about female athletes around the world who

50:21

sports authorities say have an unfair advantage,

50:23

in part because of the amount of

50:25

testosterone their bodies produce. So

50:27

I'm a science reporter. I'm also a sports

50:29

lover. I've been paying attention to this really

50:31

controversial topic for a while now. And

50:34

these women that I've been following

50:36

are being asked to prove that

50:38

they're women in order to compete,

50:40

to manipulate their biology medically or

50:42

sometimes even surgically against the

50:44

advice of most doctors. Suddenly

50:46

somebody from some big office in Europe

50:48

will decide that she's a man. And

50:51

in order to be a woman, she must do this and

50:53

that, which is totally unfair for me. They're

50:55

being forced to make this choice. Do I

50:58

comply with those rules or do I give

51:00

up on racing? So

51:02

sacrifice your career or your body?

51:05

Yeah, it's a really tough choice. You

51:08

know, I see so many similarities between

51:10

my reporting for Supermajority and your reporting

51:12

for Tested. You have women in this

51:15

space where mostly men are making the

51:17

rules and we're not following

51:19

those rules could cost them everything. Yeah,

51:22

absolutely. One of the women

51:24

in my story is an Namibian runner named

51:26

Christine Bulma. A

51:34

couple of years ago, she kind of burst

51:36

onto the scene. She won the 200 meters

51:39

in Tokyo. To some people came out of

51:41

nowhere and became this teenage phenom winning the

51:43

silver there. For

51:47

Namibian, I feel good. I

51:49

forgot about things people say to me

51:51

or things that are happening to me.

51:57

And after that, Christine was, you know,

54:00

This. Message is brought to you by

54:03

Npr sponsor Lisa and collaboration with

54:05

West. Down discover the new natural

54:07

hybrid mattress expertly crafted from

54:09

natural latex and certified say

54:11

foams designed with your health

54:13

and the planet in mind.

54:14

In mind, visit leesa.com

54:17

to learn more.