Bestselling author Don Martin on book bans (Hour 1)

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It's Night Light with Pete Schwabba and Greg Bach.

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You know, I really expected more professional behavior from you.

It's news and culture without the noise.

Yeah, I'm on!

Here's Pete Schwabba and Greg Bach.

Dude!

Dude,

hey,

welcome everybody.

This is Nightlight with Peach Shwaba.

Happy Tuesday, everybody.

It is great to have you with us as we approach midweek with Valor and Courage and getting through this.

Is it another gorgeous day down in Milwaukee or Madison, you guys?

Greg Bach and Dom Lee.

It's 42 degrees and it's been raining all day on and off.

Okay.

Yeah.

That cloudy for me.

It makes you feel better, doesn't it?

Yeah.

I hate to say that.

Our bad weather makes you happy.

It makes me less sad.

I'll say that.

That is the voice of a Greg Bach, who sits downstate from Christmas City, USA here.

I am upstate and Dom Lee is Lake Michigan adjacent in Madison, holding down the fourth grade to have you with us.

And we got a great show tonight, guys.

We do indeed.

I mean,

we got a pack show, pack show.

That's what we have on the show tonight.

We have a, who's our first guest this evening?

We have author Don Martin and he is he is a uh we well here's what happened we were gonna do this fun quiz but when we got Don Martin we said we have to get Don Martin on the show

he's available tonight let's bring him in we can do the

quiz any night we'll probably bump that to later in the week so that'll be fun but we have uh Don Martin he is the author of uh Best Selling New York Times books USA Today Best Seller uh

Verity Vox and the Curse of Foxfire.

I'm gonna have to ask them what that means.

I did a little reading and also the book, Where Did Everybody Go?

Both fascinating books and they tackle interesting subject matter and we're gonna ask him about book banning.

So that will be really interesting.

And then in hour number two, my pal and soon to be Greg's pal, Ben Reiser will be on the show talking about the Wisconsin Film Festival, another great festival right around the corner starting April 9th.

in Madison, one of the best cities with one of the best film festivals.

You can't go wrong.

We'll talk all about it in hour number two at 620.

And that's a show.

We got good guests.

We got a good question.

We'll

launch other

people.

And we rounded all up with night light, or night cap.

Good Lord.

I can't get there.

Night cap.

My goodness.

You

had to drive to Brookfield last second Greg and I I don't know about you the one thing I will say about living in Christmas City, USA I don't whenever I have to go somewhere It's five minutes and I do complain still because that's in my nature But

that's a hassle that adds a lot to your day.

It's you know, it's a small price to pay It's it's what you do and and also like now I don't really drive as much anymore now.

I am

I can make a, I can make a tank.

Like this is how the, get ready.

All the folks out there listening who love a deal.

I can make a tank of gas last two weeks now.

That is especially with these prices.

The last time I filled my tank up, sorry, I burped a little there.

My friends, my apologies,

but

you're in the real life world of Greg and Pete and Dom is.

it was $50 and I know there are folks out there saying that's nothing but for me that was a lot of money in the first time in a long time because of da da da da gas prices because da da da da Iran so um it's it's it's a it's a drive but I don't mind I throw some music on or a podcast on and get it done I actually like driving I really do I just don't really like doing it

Every day there was a time and you know this there was a time when I was driving from Kenosha to Waukesha to Milwaukee back to Kenosha Multiple days a week.

So I'm thankful for what I get to do now and going to Berkfield every once in a while not a big haul

It's not too bad and I mean like I said we have we have a hybrid and then we have an

Just a archaic Toyota Land Cruiser, which gets I think at last estimate negative two miles to the gallon

You

have to you have to put gas in yourself you're like I gotta drink I gotta drink a pint of gas I gotta go to the post office.

Hold on one second here.

Oh, it's fiery

and Here to rub it in Dave from de Forest in the 608 who was originally from Christmas City, USA loves to rub it in he says

Sonny and 61 in Madison Dom, can you confirm that?

Yes, it is I'd say during the day though It was it was a lot more cloudy, but now it is much better.

It is much better.

I will

get you imagine if one of them was lying like Dave said it was Sonny and 61 and Dom's like that's not true at all No,

he's right.

He's accurate.

It is 61 and he's

a

weather liar

Brutal um, so I don't know.

What do you say guys should we get to our question of the night?

Let's get to the question of the night.

Let's do it.

Let's talk about the question.

OK, question.

Question.

Question.

Question.

Question.

OK, I have a question.

Questions.

This question.

Question.

Questions.

OK, tonight's question, I omitted something from the question that I think could have enhanced interaction a little bit.

But the question of the night is, who is your favorite or least favorite prom date?

Sometimes I put a celebrity in front of there, which people have more fun with it But a couple people actually talked about her prom dates, which is fine, too There are no right or wrong answers ever on the question of the night But tonight says who is your favorite or least favorite prom date?

So you

can

yeah Was the original intent to ask who which celebrity we take to prom?

Yes, like who

who do you get excited like who would you want to take like I know Dom takes Sidney Sweeney?

Whoa, he thinks she's a great actor.

Well, not yeah, that's true

She's not a bad actor.

I don't

know.

Was that an assumption, or are you just making fun of Dom right now, or are you just?

No, I'm saying

Dom, Dom, Dom.

Talking about Dom Rosen.

I'm talking about Dom and his, we met Dom's girlfriend.

He's a wonderful taste, but I'm just saying you could have fun with this.

You could say a horrible, you could say Dennis Hopper.

You could say Gary Busey if you're a woman.

You could say Taylor

Franky.

Gary Busey if

you're a man.

Or if you're a man, you could say.

Well said.

There are no right or wrong answers.

That's the beautiful thing about the question of the night.

I said, I had Taylor, Frankie, Paul, the reality show trailer.

The reality show?

That person who just got her show canceled?

Yeah, she's my least favorite.

Oh, Lisa.

OK.

I was like, wow, you have a weird... Like, you want to have a wild night, don't

you?

I'm all about chemistry.

and crazy begets crazy.

No, and then I said, Rebecca Ferguson, the actress.

So, but folks, you can share your actual prom dates.

You could say your wife.

I think I even added an aside from my wife, if she didn't want to go with me, you know, these are the people I would take or not take.

So have fun with the question.

You can let us know at 855-752-4842-855-75 Civic.

You can also text us on the Civic Media app, which I'm sure all of you have from the contest.

You got to have the app to play.

And you can also drop us a stream comment if you're watching the radio on YouTube, Facebook, or ex Twitter.

Be part of the show, please.

It's

always

more fun when you guys participate.

Yes, we love to hear from people.

We love to make you a part of the show.

Absolutely.

I've always said it like that.

That's very announceery.

I have kind of a weird thing I'd like to share with you guys briefly before

we go to our

news stories.

Okay, so when I lived in LA, this is timely.

My wife was a teacher with the LAUSD and I mentored a couple kids that were in her class.

They didn't have father figures, that kind of thing.

So I would go to the school for half hour, once a week and sit with them and talk and that kind of stuff.

Well, one of the kids, his name was Roger, said his mom was Arnold Schwarzenegger's house cleaner.

And I thought, oh, that's kind of cool.

So he gets these great Christmas gifts from Arnold Schwarzenegger.

She brings them up.

Fast forward, like 16 years, I'm sitting in Marinette, Wisconsin, and it comes out that he had an affair with this kid's mom and they had a baby together.

And that kid is Joseph Boena, who is now in his mid 20s.

And he is a bodybuilder.

He's also an actor.

He's following in the footsteps of his dad.

I guess they have a good relationship.

It worked out okay.

But it's one of those weird life moments.

And I thought of it because I wrote in the Hollywood beats for tomorrow.

That was one of my Hollywood beats was that Arnold Schwarzenegger has this son who's following in his footsteps.

Yeah,

yeah,

yeah.

I didn't go into all the backstory, but it's kind of a nice story.

It worked out well that they have a good relationship and, you know, he's a bodybuilder.

He just

won these

gold medals.

I mean, hey, he's doing great.

Don't beat me up.

You're doing wonderful.

I love your journey.

Please don't come find me and beat me up.

I'm fine.

It's great.

But what is with Schwarzenegger, still

with

that

accent?

It's been 50 years.

You

speak English no better?

Did you just say that sentence while saying, do you speak English no better?

Like, did you just criticize a man's accent in English and then say you don't speak English no better?

You don't speak

English, I should have said any better.

That would have been

the... Listen, I'm no genius.

That's obvious.

My brain box is not full, but that's not the point.

But

the accent, what is with that accent?

He's gotten no better.

It just still sounds the same as it did in the 70s.

I

think he's just doing

that.

Well, I mean, yes, he is doing that.

That's how he speaks.

I mean, there are folks out there who can lose their accent if they so choose to, but I think that his accent is part of the brand.

When we do an Arnold Schwarzenegger impression, we're not saying, hello, my name is Arnold Schwarzenegger.

I play the Terminator.

We're like, nah, get to the top.

His accent is part of the joke and part of the brand.

If he lost that accent, I think it would be, at this point, it would be odd.

Like Amel Gibson, when he came, like he was born in America,

a long time in Australia, and when he came here after Mad Max, and you listened to like those 80s movies, those mid 80s movies, he still has an Australian accent.

And then he eventually lost it.

And if Arnold Schwarzenegger, I mean, if he would have done that in the 80s, it may have helped him, I don't know.

But at this point, can you imagine if Arnold Schwarzenegger walked into a place for an interview or like some big Hollywood event, he goes, good evening, everybody, it's great to be here.

People would probably lose their mind.

Maybe like, what's happening right now?

I'll be back.

I'll be, I shall return.

Thank you for indulging my Arnold Schwarzenegger obsession.

All right, we've got some new stories we have to get to.

Dom, if you please.

The first big story.

This is, you know, a pretty big story.

Greg, we're

going

back to Iran with one of our big stories.

Trump says that President Trump says they are about to start.

about to start negotiations again with Mohammed Golibov.

I think I'm saying that right, Golibov.

And Iran is kind of accusing the US or this administration of trying to kind of rig the markets with all the information they're putting out there.

So that's strange.

And they don't seem to be backing.

It seems like there's bad blood, but we're supposed to be led to believe there is negotiation happening.

And I don't see it going anywhere.

I don't know because he said things are, holy, this is a man who said, we've won the war.

There's been regime change.

They're saying, nope, nothing's happened.

This man doesn't know what he's talking about.

It says in this article on ABC, he says, we have complete regime chains now.

So the Ayatollah is not in charge.

Like I feel like that would be a story we'd know about.

If all of a sudden the Iranian government said, oh yeah, the Ayatollah who is believed to be picked by God is no longer in charge.

I don't know if you guys know this Iran.

Very religious come country and I just personally believe like if the if the Ayatollah or who's in charge or you know, it's the He's in charge, but his father was in charge like a month ago.

If anything would change like that.

We know about that.

He says but he says that more moderate and more reasonable even though Parliament Speaker Mohammed Galli Baff Galli Baff is quoted as he is

Taunton, they called him a person who is a hard line.

Yeah, he is close to tied to the Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.

I don't know how, you know, modern and more reasonable that is, but from what I understand, the Ayatollah is still in charge.

So once again, this is Donald Trump saying, this is what's happening.

And a lot of people, you know, people in Iran are like, no, it's not.

And

then

Trump said, basically, we like to negotiate in good faith.

But if you don't, we'll drone strike you.

He

said,

we know where you

live.

That's not really a negotiation.

Yes, he says, now that we have a different group of people and they are in control, but they are much more moderate, I think, much more reasonable.

Who is in control?

Because I'm pretty sure the Itola is as well.

I have no idea what he is talking about.

But then again, when do we ever?

All right, we have a couple more talking points we want to get to after the news.

One of them involves Robert Richie, you might know him.

This is rock, can't wait.

This

is Pete Schwabba and Greg Bach.

This is Nightlight on the Civic Media Network.

Welcome back.

Hey, Don, I couldn't tell if you were snapping your fingers or pointing repeatedly.

I don't know what I was doing there.

Yeah, that was a, I don't

know.

Don Lee,

folks, working the board in Madison, IMP Schwabba, sitting upstate from Greg Bach, who is in Kenosha.

We are joining you live here on the Civic Media Network tonight on a Tuesday.

And we were just getting through some news stories that sometimes, man, it's just like, like the CPAC, oh.

I should, we should do our introduction.

I got a little excited there.

So this past weekend, we talked about the fact that there was the no Kings rally.

And what I, one thing we didn't discuss yesterday was the fact that it wasn't just in America, there was a big rally in London as well.

So a lot of people showed up for a no Kings rally.

And as I think Stephen Colbert put it, very awkward to have a no Kings rally in England.

The one thing we didn't,

Not talk about was the fact that the CPAC convention took place this past weekend the conservative political action conference puts on their year they're yearly like Dog and Pony firework show where everybody shows up and this is where this is where Elon Musk showed up with a comically large You know chainsaw I just said churn saw I don't know he's very weird, but this was my favorite part of the entire thing at one point

somebody got on stage.

They were doing a, you know, doing, doing their talk and whatnot.

And they said, they said, quote, this man named Schlapp.

I don't know his first name.

Uh, let's see here.

Maybe it says, Oh yeah, Matt Schlapp.

Matt Schlapp.

Love saying that Matt Schlapp, chairman of the conservative political action conference, goes up to the microphone and says, how many of you would like to see impeachment hearings?

And the crowd started cheering.

Like yeah, and he said quote no that was the wrong answer So it begs the question my friends Does Donald Trump really have the the the loyalty of this group anymore if unless they thought he unless for the first time ever conservatives were trying their their hand at satire

and nailing it, but they didn't nail it because when he said it, do you want impeachment hearings?

They're like, yeah.

And he's like, wrong, shut up.

So, I don't know.

I don't know what that really says because, you know, we had like a million plus more people and no Kings March people day and like day in and day out or getting sick and tired of what's going on.

So is, were people at the CPAC conference?

Like, yeah, we're done.

I

mean, you have to kind of be tired of Trump because just because he brings so much drama, even if you like his politics, you might be tired of him.

So when this guy, Matt Schlapp, asked that question, he asked it again, Greg, and he got a lukewarm kind of a tepid half and half response.

So those people didn't misunderstand the question.

Yeah.

And my question is, if you're Matt Schlapp, I'm going to say that name as much as possible.

Why would you ask that?

Matt slap yeah, like are you not reading the room?

Are you clueless or you passively?

Aggressively aggressively wanting them to respond that way.

It's a really weird thing that happened there.

I personally believe that these higher-ups in this organization the mega organization people who are who are far in a way distance from regular folks because Whatever their position is in this in this organization, they really do not have

any sort of clue.

They truly think that MAGA is a locked, loyal, ready to go.

Let's do this.

Every voice is cheering full-throatedly for us.

And when things like this happen, which I think should be played on repeat once every hour,

It's like, you guys will like to see impeachment hearings.

Ha!

Nope.

Wrong answer.

That should be played just to show them that this is not where, where it's going is not where they think it is, I believe, because you're seeing people get very upset about oil prices very, still very upset over the Epstein files and grocery prices as well.

So this, you know, kind of got folded into the news cycle.

It's kind of funny, but I think it's also very telling.

And I feel like it should be talked about more because I'm wondering,

everyone who is at that conference in six months, where will they be personally as well?

Cause I feel like you can go there every time.

And there's, and even said that the CPAC conference this year, actually CPAC is redundant.

CPAC conferences, the word conferences in the thing, that's not the point.

The point is, is that even this last one, they said, yeah, it wasn't, it wasn't that great.

It was kind of like, you know, it feels like there's a bit of a lagging attitude towards it.

So I don't know, match slap.

Big fail, in my opinion.

Big fail, match lap.

I'm sure he heard about it from somebody.

Match lap, then?

Don't make a mistake.

Yeah, match lap.

We're talking about match lap.

Match lap?

Match lap.

Match lap.

A text from 414.

This is Todd or Billy from Billy.

Did Henry Kissinger's accent ever get better?

I don't think so.

No.

He was no dummy.

Listen, I'm not saying, I think Schwarzenegger is probably a brilliant guy.

He's mastered three different huge professions.

I'm just saying, I think, and maybe Henry Kissinger kept it on purpose too, because it makes him sound the best piece of

God.

He's like, I am an absolute monster who destroys millions of lives.

So I just would keep this and people would love me even when I'm dead.

So.

I was

on the Simpsons once.

All right,

we have one more.

Gross.

Greg,

Kid

Rock is back in the news.

Oh, thank God.

Yeah.

Old man rock you

mean?

Old man rock?

Okay, cool.

Go, go, go, go, go, go, go.

I will never forgive him for sampling warrants even.

But anyway, an Apache helicopter flew up to his pool on his, he has a big mansion like the White House on the side of the hill in Nashville.

And an Apache helicopter flew right up there.

Instead, I would be freaked out if that were me.

He's pumping his fist next to his fake lady Liberty and saying, and then he went to social media saying, that's why this country is so great.

Because they found you, like, that's a weird thing.

And now the two pilots

are being suspended.

That was, here's the thing I don't, I want to know really quick, is if his house is a replica of the White House, does that mean he demolished his East room too?

Is he swing?

Is that gone now?

You know, is it, is it, is

he building

his own ballroom?

His baller, his baller room it would be.

I feel like Kid Rock would have a baller room full of Bud Light and guys who look like my uncle.

And Robert Kennedy

doing so in jeans.

We are coming right back folks.

Tonight's question is who would you like to take to the prom or least like to take the prom?

It could be a celebrity.

It could be someone you know.

Just be part of the fun.

We're coming right back with author Don Martin.

This is Pete Schwabba and Greg Bach on the Civic Media.

That was more decisive that time.

I like that.

That was a serious point.

Hey, welcome back to Nightlight.

I'm Pete Schwabba, sitting upstate from Mr. Greg Bach, who is live in Kenosha and Dom Lee worked in the board.

I am in

Racine.

But

you

live in

Kenosha.

Yes.

Okay.

I'm in Radio Park.

You know how you make me say Christmas USAville?

Which you never get right, by the

way.

It's fine.

It's Holiday Fest.

Maybe it just gave a little more effort.

I want to believe in you giving yourself a nickname, but I really can't do that right now.

All I'm saying is I'm in Racine.

Respect Racine.

I don't think...

It's that big of a difference, really.

I'm scared you

guys are

fighting.

Oh, man.

Let's keep that

tension, Greg,

for our next guest.

Well, ladies

and

gentlemen, our next guest is the New York Times and USA Today best-selling author of books like Variety, Fox, and The Curse of Foxfire, and Where Did Everybody Go?

It's my pleasure to welcome our next guest here at Night Light, Don Martin.

Hi, Don.

Hi, Pete.

Hi, Greg.

Thanks so much for having me.

Hi, Don.

Hi, also, Don.

Hello.

Hi, everybody.

This is the Yatterhey Triangle, one of

our

listeners called it, because we're sort of in different spaces.

But it's great to have you here, Don.

How are you tonight?

I am doing really well.

I very much appreciate the invitation getting to chat with you all.

I also appreciate, Pete, the specificity with which you were trying to call out Greg's home address.

It's like, oh, you're not.

You're not a Racine.

You're, you're next to that Duncan donut.

You know the one on the corner.

It's like, it's like he's trying to dox you live

on air.

I appreciate

it.

His address certainly isn't 3842 happy street.

I'm just putting that out there.

That would be funny if there actually was someone at that particular.

No, not trying to dox anyone.

We're all friends here and now you're our new friend Don.

Do you have, before we jump into some of your amazing work here, do you have a preferred prom date?

Could be a celebrity or a real life person or someone you absolutely would not want to go to prom with?

Oh yeah, well absolutely.

I graduated high school in 2004.

So like everybody with a pulse, I wanted to go to prom with Tom Welling.

Superman.

From Smallville.

Early 2000s, Tom Welling.

I feel like I'm some kind of missionary in the church of early 2000s, Tom Welling.

I enter a room.

St.

Thomas.

Yeah, just St.

Thomas of Abbs.

You probably have a better chance now.

I'm

guessing back then his dance card was pretty full.

I don't know if Tom Welling is still quite hot.

And I don't know that any prom is going to invite me.

But if I do ever get a chance to go to a prom and Tom Welling is down, my husband said it was OK.

Oh, nice

fall pass.

Nice.

That's a great

answer.

Let's talk about, boy, I don't even know where to start here.

Let's talk book banning because this is something that is being you know people are using ruses and there's all these kinds of did you see the movie the librarians?

Sure sure and I've seen Footloose and I've read 1984 and I've read you know all of them you know you read all of them and it's and it's something that you feel like well that's isn't that awful that we did that in the past and that's

Isn't that awful that those crazy people, 80 years ago, those weird people with their tiny brains?

Of course, those people were into book banning, not like us evolved people now.

It's not a ban, it's a challenge.

We're doing it something different.

We're not the bad guys.

It's because of...

The kids.

Oh my gosh.

Man alive.

The Simpsons had it right.

Won't somebody think of the children?

Yes.

There is nothing that people love more than using children as a shield.

But right now, I mean, it just seems like.

Because of everything, when we're talking about the Epstein files, Iran, we're talking about the bill, the budget that passed last year, everything that's happening compounds upon each other.

And something like HR 7661, which is introducing this book ban, it flies under the radar.

People don't know about it.

And not because they're bad people or because it's just so much

news happening.

There's so much going on.

And the problem, you know, meta just lost a lawsuit.

And so now there's a bunch of words that if you say,

your video, your content gets you can't be seen.

So talking about a bill like this that is specifically going to target trans and queer stories.

But if you think it's going to stop there, I have a bridge in a fictional town, I would love to sell you.

Trying to talk about that at all automatically gets your content suppressed.

So it's it's far less likely that people know about it.

But the thing is, to me, this isn't a question like one.

It's the first time we've ever had a nationwide book ban, the potential to have a nationwide book ban.

Up until this point, the Supreme Court has ruled multiple times in multiple different cases, and it's been upheld repeatedly in courts that children don't leave their civil liberties at the schoolhouse door.

They carry them with them into the classroom.

They have a right to read.

They have a right to learn.

So barring the fact that this is the first of its kind nationwide book band, the other thing that this is doing that I really want to stress to parents, to educators, to librarians, to anybody who might be hearing about this for the first time is that this is the federal government telling you what your children can and cannot read.

And that is what I think the most important talking point is here because here's the thing.

Let's say you don't want to read books like mine.

Let's say that you think books like mine shouldn't be in front of kids.

Let's say that you think any trans or queer author, any authors of any kind who are in any part of the rainbow spectrum, those books shouldn't be available to kids for whatever reasons you're going to make up and tell yourself to help you sleep better at night.

When eventually we've got a Democrat in the White House.

When eventually we have a Democratic majority in the House and or the Senate which could happen this year.

I mean, hey, you know your terms Do you want if you are on the opposite side of the aisle for me if you are ideologically opposed to me?

Do you want the Democrats telling you in your?

You know deep red household what your children can and cannot read because that's the precedent

we are about to set.

And that's the president Republicans, for some reason, seem to be endorsing.

It's not, hey, let's take a look on a case-by-case basis as to whether or not this particular book is actually age-appropriate.

Let's take off the table.

Oh, I'm not going to let school boards decide.

I'm not going to let states decide.

We, the federal government,

are paternalistic we know better than you what your child should and should not read so we are going to make that decision for you and once that precedent is set it is very very difficult to roll it back and it's very easy for it to become

overgeneralized, hyperbolic, and start having a lot of other kinds of books, a lot of other kinds of voices, a lot of other kinds of stories shoved into it.

Well, I think a lot of people don't understand.

Greg, you brought up a very good point.

There's a lot of stuff happening right now, the Epstein files.

People are very concerned about the predators that are in office, the predators that are in the White House, all of that kind of thing.

This bill passes.

You are making easier prey for predators because it doesn't just

ban books regarding transgender and queer stories, it also would ban books with sexual content.

Sexual content includes sex ed.

Sexual content includes books that teach kids what good touch and bad touch is, what it means to consent, what the proper names are for their bodies, and if children are robbed of that language.

They are robbed of the ability to advocate for themselves.

They are robbed of the ability to go to a trusted adult and say, hey, I was touched by so-and-so.

I didn't want that.

I didn't like it.

This is where they touched me.

This is how they touched me.

and you are making a predator's job much easier.

That's not something the left is looking for.

That's not something the left wants.

We want to make predators jobs a lot harder.

We don't want predators to have easy prey.

We want kids to have language.

We want kids to be able to advocate for themselves.

That's a great point.

It's a fantastic point.

And really quick, I just want to say this really quick out loud.

HR 7661 is named very, you know, very moderate.

This stops sexual, stop the sexualization of children act, which they love to throw those words out there to make people go, Oh, well, and this is, and this is the thing.

This is the thing, Don.

And we see this right now in Wisconsin.

We have an amendment for a constitution that will get rid of DEI, essentially, for the most part.

And what they do is they couch it in language and a concern that, well, don't you want your children to be safe?

Don, Pete, Dom, everyone out there, don't you want your children be safe?

And folks out there who are good folks, just, well, of course they do.

I want that, of course, but they don't read the fine print.

They don't read what it's about.

And then before they know it, like you said, things are taken

away.

They don't read the fine print and they don't like in that HR, uh, seven, six, six, one, it was Mary Miller from Illinois in the 15th concept congressional district who

my state gets to own that job, Illinois.

That's another thing.

Yeah.

People that live in blue states, like to pat themselves on the back and say stuff like, Oh, well, you know, those red states, they got what they voted for.

Baby doll, sugar, honey, bumpkin on a log.

This book banning legislation came from a deep blue state.

You go 15 minutes south of Chicago.

It's Alabama, honey.

It can come from anywhere.

None of your blue states are as blue as you think they are.

And the inverse is true as well.

None of your red states are as red as you think they are.

Texas has been purple for decades.

It's just been gerrymandered

all

the hell.

There's so many states out there that people think are safe.

It's not we've seen this we saw in the last election the rust belt can go those you know died I'm from West Virginia my book Verity box in the Curse of Fox fires about its fictional town in West Virginia That was a diehard blue state for decades Decades and decades why because of the labor movement because of unions because we used to advocate for people to have labor rights and equity

And then we forgot about those people.

And then coal stopped being a thing.

And then there wasn't any industry to replace it.

And a lot of people said, hey, I bet that's an easy target.

We can go in there and we can make them think that we value them instead.

And it's easy to turn things.

There's no such thing as a, you know, it's an always blue, always red.

Yeah.

So I think that there's so many people out there who rest on their laurels and just kind of assume, well, my state will always be blue.

My state will always be red.

There's no sense in voting.

There's no sense in getting involved.

Your involvement, your vote absolutely matters.

If we've seen nothing else in the last 15, 20 years, it's that any state can flip.

Any state can flip.

And legislation like this can also come from any state.

That is Don Martin, best-selling author.

He's our guest right now on Nightlight.

And we are talking about book banning.

And here's what I love about that is she said,

It called for a strip, Mary, this is Mary Miller, called for a ban that strippers can't strip in schools.

Now, okay, I think she puts that in there to make it sound like, okay, this is happening and people want to believe that, but to clarify, they can still serve hot lunch and be hall monitors, I think.

I'm just saying.

America.

Keep their clothes

on.

Yeah, we do love a straw man argument.

We love inventing something that, you know, kids are pooping in litter boxes.

All those, all those furry children are pooping in litter boxes.

But that's not, but that's

not true.

But that's not true.

It doesn't matter if it's true.

I said

it.

So

therefore it's, it's, I got to say a thing.

Cause I

always love when people bring stuff up like that.

Oh, all this stuff is happening in schools.

Aren't you terrified?

I'm like.

Every kid has a whole recording studio.

They record themselves walking to and from everywhere.

They record every thought that is in their head.

You think that if there was a kid wearing cat ears, pooping in a litter box in the middle of a classroom of 35 children, that that wouldn't be on TikTok within the middle of a second.

Where is the content?

Where is the proof?

Where is the video?

These kids die to go viral.

You're telling me that they're going to miss that opportunity?

Absolutely not.

That's fake.

It's fake news.

It's made out.

Well

said.

Let's pick up there.

We've got to do a very quick break.

Best selling author, Don Martin is here.

We'll have him for another segment after this really quick break.

Don't go anywhere, folks.

This is Pete Schwabba and Greg Bach and Nightlight on the Civic Media Network.

You're listening to Civic Media.

Find the latest news, information, and archives of all your favorite shows on the Civic Media website, civicmedia.us.

Welcome back to Night Light with Pete Schwabba and Greg Bach here on the Civic Media Network.

I am Greg Bach, coming to you live from Racine at Radio Park.

And up there in Christmastown, USA in Marinette, Wisconsin is...

Peachwaba over in Madison is Mr. Dominic Lee.

We are the Yatterhay Triangle.

And we are talking to Don Martin, who is a New York Times USA Today and independent bestseller author of Verity Vox and the Curse of the Fox Fire as well as Where Did Everybody Go?

We're talking about a

book band legislation that has been, has been passed, HR 7661.

If you want to listen to that part of the, if you're just joining us and you want to listen to that entire conversation, go to civicmedia.us slash shows, look for nightlight, download today's episode and go back and listen to it as a podcast.

Love to have you catch up with this interview because it's a great discussion done.

Something I wanted to bring up because some, you know, we had been, we had been discussing this book, Verity Vox and the curse of the Fox fire for some time now as an

alternate to Harry Potter and today is International Transgender Day of Visibility and I think it's important to have this conversation now and every day.

I'm someone who watched and read Harry Potter.

I love the books.

I love everything about it.

I love the conversations I've had with people.

There's a TV show coming out in December, but I despise everything JK Rowling stands for and I don't want to give her my money.

And I along with other folks struggle with this thing of like, do I watch?

Don't I watch?

Am I a bad person if I do?

I mean,

It's, it kind of sounds like a first world problem, but it's something people struggle with because it, for a lot of individuals, this is big portions of their childhood.

And what do you say to people in a way that makes, you know, like, I don't want to say to them like, you're terrible if you watch it, but I also understand the struggle.

What do you say to the conversations that happen when it comes to things like this?

I was 11 years old when that first book came out.

I was 11.

Harry was 11.

Every single year a book came out.

Harry grew up.

I grew up.

I grew up right along with Harry.

And they formed a big part of my worldview.

They formed a big part of why I loved fantasy, the idea of an escape.

But they also, of course, formed an idea of community.

We're all searching for community.

We're searching to connect with other people like us, other little weirdo kids who felt like they were the kid under the stairs, right?

The thing about it is, though, I'm not 11 years old anymore.

I understand that my comfort and nostalgia shouldn't come at the safety of other people.

We know that every single penny that is put into JK Rowling's pocket is turned around and put directly into organizations that are specifically intended to harm trans people, not just trans people, like all women.

I think people forget that, that legislation that harms trans people harms everyone, like the IOC, the International Olympic Committee, just put in a rule that says that all women are going to have to be genetically tested to ensure that they have XX chromosomes.

That's supposed to be like an anti-trans thing, right?

We're trying to root out the trans...

But now every single female athlete in the world has to undergo this extra testing and prove themselves.

Anti-trans legislation harms everyone.

I don't want to be a part of harm.

Here's the thing, those books.

Those worlds have been around for decades, for decades.

You probably already own the movies.

Nobody's coming into your house and saying, you can't watch a movie that came out 20 years ago.

Nobody's coming into your house and saying, you can't reread the books that came out in 1997.

Go reread your old books, go watch your old movies.

Nobody's saying that.

People are just saying, hey, maybe don't put new money in that woman's pocket.

Yeah.

Maybe don't use your public platform to say, hey, Harry Potter is my life.

The other thing that people don't seem to understand is there are so many other worlds out there.

Worlds like mine, Verity Vox and the Curse of Foxfire is the first of a trilogy.

You want a magical book for magical kids.

You want to reignite that spark of nostalgia, that spark of magic, that spark of whimsy and wonder.

In a world that's a little bit more inclusive, a little bit more welcoming, that has more modern sensibilities, my world is there for you.

But there's so many other worlds as well for kids and kids at heart, kids of all ages.

There's The Marvelers by Daniel Clayton.

There's Witchlings by Clara Bella A Ortega.

There's The Sunbearer Trials by Aidan Thomas.

There are so many other books, so many other authors, so many other worlds.

And the great thing is, they're all series.

They all have merch.

They all have communities.

They all have fandoms you can be a part of.

And that's what I think people are missing.

You know, I did also write a book called Where Did Everybody Go?

about the Loneliness Epidemic and a big

part of why people feel so disconnected is we lack that sense of community.

There's a lot fewer places to bond with other people.

So fandom feels like a place, even though it's not a place, where we can bond with others.

Occasionally we can go to fan conventions.

Occasionally we can go, you know, do all those kinds of things.

And the thing about...

fandom is that it is a connective tissue.

It can bind us to other people.

If I don't, if I haven't met you before, but I see, you know, that little mocking J pin or something, I have a connection with you.

I feel less alone in the world, but people are so afraid to give up that connection.

I promise those other worlds, Verity Vox is here for you.

Other worlds are out there for you.

Yeah.

And if you have to

Rent Harry Potter go to the

library.

Hey, we just go to the library.

Give libraries a reason to continue existing and receiving funding.

We love libraries.

I want to say something really quick to the whole discussion about JK Rowling is the fact that if you if you go on YouTube and you just type in JK Rowling and Shane is his name, Sean.

S-H-A-U-N.

He does a great long breakdown of

her, her politics, and the fact that the people that she is supporting, these women's groups that she's supporting, are actually sidling up to groups that are white supremacists, essentially.

I just want to say one quick thing, Greg.

You said that HR 7661 has passed.

The good news is it came out of committee, but it hasn't passed the health.

Oh, my

apologies.

We are expecting a vote all the way as early as April 13th.

So it is important for everybody listening now that cares about this, no matter which side of the aisle you're on, call your representative today.

And people do seem to be rallying around libraries, which is good.

So hopefully there's hope there.

But thank you so much, Don.

This has been great

getting to know

you.

Thanks

for

having me.

Great conversation.

All right, we are coming back after the news folks.

We're going to read some of your texts.

And then Ben Reiser is here to talk about the Outstanding Wisconsin Film Festival.

That's an hour number two.

This is Beach Wamba and Greg Bach and Nightlight on the Civic Media Network.

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