In this holiday rerun, Farai Chideya brings back some of the best interviews of the year. First, Representative Lauren Underwood of Illinois on her personal and professional connection to the maternal health crisis, and what she thinks politicians can and should do about it. Author Carmen Maria Machado shares how her gay memoir found itself at the center of a controversy in a Texas school district over what to teach students. Educator Lydia X.Z. Brown explains their perspective working within and without institutions as an activist in the disability justice movement. On Sippin’ the Political Tea, Farai discusses how moms are faring with their mental health during the Covid-19 pandemic, with the co-hosts of The Double Shift podcast, Angela Garbes and Katherine Goldstein.EPISODE RUNDOWN0:50 Representative Lauren Underwood on maternal health in the U.S.12:33 Author Carmen Maria Machado on the power of a moral panic18:38 Educator Lydia X.Z. Brown on embracing different ways of learning31:18 Sippin’ the Political Tea: the co-hosts of The Double Shift come on to talk to Farai about the mental health of moms during the Covid-19 pandemic