Normally Podcast: 2028 Presidential Showdown, Wes Moore Under Fire & Conservative Celebrity Scandals

Mary Katharine Ham (0:04)

Hey, guys, we are back on Normally the Show with Normalish Takes for When the News Gets Weird. I am Mary Katharine Ham.

Karol Markowicz (0:09)

And I'm Karol Markowicz. How are you, Mary Katharine?

Mary Katharine Ham (0:11)

I'm doing all right. Just got a couple speaking gigs lined up this week, giving people the bad news.

Karol Markowicz (0:18)

Oh, yeah.

Mary Katharine Ham (0:19)

Of this election. They're like, help us understand. And I'm like, well, great timing for that. I guess.

Karol Markowicz (0:27)

I love it. In slightly happier news, you didn't like that I told you that Thanksgiving is two weeks away.

Mary Katharine Ham (0:33)

Yeah, it's true. It's very soon.

Karol Markowicz (0:36)

It is. It's you know, this episode airs on Thursday and Thanksgiving is two weeks from today.

Mary Katharine Ham (0:41)

When I was a child, the time between Halloween and Christmas was in time.

Karol Markowicz (0:47)

Years.

Mary Katharine Ham (0:50)

It might as well be several years from now. And now Halloween to Christmas is the blink of an eye.

Karol Markowicz (0:56)

Yep. I was in various stores the day after Halloween. I was in CVS and I was in TJ Maxx and they were all already playing Christmas music and it was here. It was on and happening.

Mary Katharine Ham (1:09)

We went to the National Harbor today and rode the big Ferris wheel, which was very cool. But all over National Harbor, it's all already Christmas decorated. It's very pretty.

My oldest is losing her voice a little bit this week. She was out with us nonetheless and she had a notebook and she said, Tis not the season. I love her. Comedy.

Karol Markowicz (1:35)

She has always been just the most expressive child ever.

Mary Katharine Ham (1:41)

She's a funny, funny child.

Karol Markowicz (1:44)

Yes, yes.

Mary Katharine Ham (1:45)

Oh my goodness. I'm not ready for that, but I understand that other people like to do it early.

Karol Markowicz (1:50)

Yeah. Look, I love Christmas music and I was like, actually when I heard it in the stores, I said, oh, this is great. Then I was like, they're going to have to listen to it for one.

Mary Katharine Ham (2:01)

The people who work in the stores. Yes.

Karol Markowicz (2:05)

That's quite a lot.

Mary Katharine Ham (2:07)

All right.

Karol Markowicz (2:08)

Okay. Fine. Let's talk about 2028, I guess.

Mary Katharine Ham (2:14)

It sounds crazy to say that the news is slow, but we covered so much the other day. So we're doing a little look forward today in this way, because I noticed that a couple of stories we're breaking about one, Governor Wes Moore of Maryland, who is one of the guys who Democrats see as their up and comers. He obviously has 2028 presidential aspirations.

He is a veteran. He's a good looking black guy, governor of a small state, but nonetheless on the East Coast. He's got a book out now.

That book is called Repair. We're going to play his little pitch for it. Then I'm going to tell you a little bit more about Wes Moore, because I want you guys to be informed about these folks before we get into the thick of it.

Karol Markowicz (3:04)

It's a big day today. My new book, Repair, is available for pre-order.

Mary Katharine Ham (3:09)

So we all know that things in this country feel pretty broken right now. So this book invites us to together solve the hard question.

Karol Markowicz (3:17)

What do we do about it? It's an honest look about where we're at, about what we need to do to rebuild, but differently, and what we need to protect at all costs.

Mary Katharine Ham (3:27)

So you can order your copy now. I can't wait to hear what you think.

Can you wait to hear what I think, Wes Moore? Because here's what I think.

Karol Markowicz (3:37)

Tell us what you think.

Mary Katharine Ham (3:39)

The Francis Scott Key Bridge, you will remember in 2024, March of 2024 in Baltimore, got hit by a giant tanker and collapsed. Tragically, people died in this accident who were working overnight, construction workers on the bridge. Since then, the state of Maryland and the governor of Maryland, has written a book since then called Repair.

Karol Markowicz (4:03)

Yeah, has he repaired that bridge?

Mary Katharine Ham (4:06)

You know what? He hasn't, Karol. In fact, as of August, the state of Maryland was still accepting bids for the last segment of demo. No, no, no, no, not rebuild accepting bids. Demo bids in August of 2026, hoping to be done with demo of the old bridge parts. By the end of this year, we are now two and a half plus years, if they finish by the end of the year. Yeah.