So many present-day corollaries here too, right?

The first thing I started thinking about as we were looking into this was how interesting it is to think about the history of debating who gets honored by the federal government and sort of what level you have to ascend to in a democracy to receive that tradition because as you read this, that sounds like the stuff of countries that operate under monarchies, right?

Of course, the private citizen should be eligible for this kind of honor, but it's just interesting to think through that.

This is Sarah Stewart Holland and this is Beth Silverce.

Thank you for joining us for Pantsy Politics.

Hello and welcome to another five things you need to know.

Episode of Pantsy Politics.

We prioritize learning and curiosity here.

The Pantsy Politics and these episodes are a chance for us to learn.

We're going to really start with a blank sheet of paper and understand topics we think we know well or topics we've never really understood and today we're going to talk about the upcoming federal holiday commemorating the birth of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

But before we get started, Beth, you have some news.

Sarah and I were invited to speak as part of Calvin University's January series, which was a tremendous honor.

So delighted to receive that invitation and to be part of that event and responsibly when we arrived at Calvin, after a long day of travel where I experienced staffing shortages firsthand with an unexpected and lengthy delay.

We were greeted with rapid tests and in my hotel room at about 11 o'clock at night, I tested positive for COVID.

And then I immediately spent the rest of the night worrying about the fact that I had just tested positive for COVID.

And what I realized, here's one thing I learned, it's not good to worry alone.

It's just not great to hold on to worry alone, but I didn't want anybody else to be powerless at 11 at night with me.

So I went through all of that the next morning.

I got a second test. I was positive.

Again, Calvin was lovely. They pivoted so well, unbelievably. Well, it is one of the best tech teams we have ever worked with.

So I was able to speak with Sarah on a screen remotely.

I started feeling tired about nine days ago and thought that I had the cold of doom.

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