In this episode of Being Different, I sit down with Michaela Barnett for one of the most honest political conversations I have had on this podcast.

I have voted Republican my entire adult life, but lately, I have felt increasingly frustrated, politically homeless, and ready to question the people and systems I once supported without hesitation. Michaela is a Democrat running against Congressman Tim Burchett, and while we do not agree on everything, I wanted to hear directly from her about why she is running and what she believes needs to change.

We talk about what she witnessed while working in Washington, why Congress struggles to accomplish even the things most Americans agree on, and whether leaders can ever put the people they represent ahead of their party. We also get into term limits, corporate PAC money, campaign finance reform, foreign wars, AI regulation, hyperscale data centers, job displacement, and the very broken state of healthcare in America.

This conversation did not magically answer every question I have or change every opinion I hold. But it reminded me that it is possible to disagree about the solution while still recognizing the same problems—and that our leaders should have to earn our votes instead of simply assuming they have them.

Michaela and I had far more to discuss than we could fit into one conversation, so I have already asked her to come back. For now, this is a candid conversation about political frustration, finding common ground, and whether meaningful change is still possible.

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Being Different with Liz Durham is a Palm Tree Pod Co. production

In this episode of Being Different, I’m revisiting the infamous summer packet.

Last year, I got a lot of people fired up when I said I threw Mac’s kindergarten summer packet in the trash. So today, I’m talking through what I meant, what I still stand by, what I probably could have said better, and how I’m thinking about it now that he’s heading into first grade.

This isn’t about doing nothing all summer. It’s about asking what actually matters for our kids. For me, that looks like reading books they’re interested in, learning how to help around the house, cooking, gardening, taking care of animals, practicing independence, and giving them space to follow their curiosity.

I also talk about what I liked in this year’s packet, what I’ll probably skip, why I still don’t love busywork. Plus, why I think kids need more autonomy, more outdoor play, and more room to be different.

And yes, I also share one of my finer parenting fails involving Charlie’s eyebrow. So there’s that too.

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Liz Durham Instagram | Website
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Being Different with Liz Durham is a Palm Tree Pod Co. production

This week, I sat down with two of my very good friends and two longtime Knoxville real estate agents, Debaran Hughes and Lucas Haun, to talk about how much the real estate business has changed—and what has not changed at all.

We talk about the old days of magazine ads, postcards, and cold calls, the rise of social media, the Selling Sunset-ification of real estate, and whether AI is going to change the way people buy and sell homes. Spoiler: it already is. But this conversation is really about something much bigger than marketing.

Debaran and Lucas get honest about what actually makes someone good at this job: relationships, experience, availability, hard conversations, knowing the market, and being able to handle the messy stuff before it turns into a disaster. We also talk about pricing homes in a changing market, why not every agent is equipped for this business, and why the human piece still matters more than any drone video, Instagram reel, or AI-generated listing presentation.

Plus, we get into work-life balance, motherhood, mentorship, my strong feelings about realtor content, and a few real estate stories that probably explain why I needed to have this conversation in the first place.

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Liz Durham Instagram | Website
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Being Different with Liz Durham is a Palm Tree Pod Co. production

This week I sit down with my friend Taylor Brasel for an honest conversation about dating, marriage, motherhood, careers, and the pressure our generation feels trying to “have it all.” Taylor is getting married in just a couple months, and hearing her talk about planning for the future with intention honestly gave me hope.

We talk about the conversations nobody really prepares women for, what happens when you have kids, whether you’ll want to keep working, the financial realities of modern life, and why so many couples feel trapped by the lifestyles they’ve built. We also get into daycare, the loss of community, social media’s influence on motherhood, marriage advice we’ve learned the hard way, and why neighbors used to matter a whole lot more than they do now.

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Liz Durham Instagram | Website
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Being Different with Liz Durham is a Palm Tree Pod Co. production

It’s just me this week, and after a complete disaster of a Mother’s Day morning, I had a lot to think about. Between Cooper dumping red dye all over the house, Charlie secretly cutting hair, missing church, and me and Luke ending up in a screaming match over a mattress and some rugs….I realized how much of our stress as parents comes from caring way too much about stuff that doesn’t actually matter.

I talk about the pressure social media puts on moms to have the perfect white house, the perfect kids, the perfect routines, and why I think so much of it is making us miserable. I also share what I’ve been learning from our chickens, our new bees, and why calmness, not control, is probably the thing I need most as a mom right now.

This episode is messy, honest, and probably a little too personal, but if you’ve ever felt like motherhood is exposing every flaw and attachment you have, welcome to the club.

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Liz Durham Instagram | Website
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Being Different with Liz Durham is a Palm Tree Pod Co. production

I’ll be honest. I never paid much attention to school board races until I had kids. Then suddenly it hit me that these decisions actually matter, and I probably needed to stop pretending I had no reason to care.

In this episode, I sit down with Ashley Sartelle, who is running for Knox County School Board, to ask the questions I actually wanted answered. What does the school board really do? Why are reading scores still so low? How much power does the board actually have? And why are our kids spending so much time on Chromebooks?

We get into reading proficiency, technology in the classroom, teacher burnout, parent accountability, standardized testing, school budgets, and the very weird reality that some kids can just not turn things in until the end of the semester. This conversation made me realize how many pieces of the education system most of us do not understand, and how much we should probably be paying attention.

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Liz Durham Instagram | Website
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Being Different with Liz Durham is a Palm Tree Pod Co. production

I’ve never paid much attention to a sheriff’s race before…until now.

So I sat down with Brent Gibson, who’s running for sheriff here in Knox County, and asked him everything I actually wanted to know, not the polished campaign answers, the real ones.

What does a sheriff even do day to day?
What’s actually happening with homelessness?
Are we safe?
And how much of what we see online about policing is even accurate?

We get into all of it.

Brent brings over 25 years in law enforcement, from SWAT to training to leadership, and what stood out to me most wasn’t just experience, it was how much of this job comes down to people, trust, and showing up in the community.

What stood out to me is how much of this job comes down to people, not politics.

If you’ve ever wondered what’s actually happening behind the scenes in your community, this is a real conversation about it.

Support Brent: https://www.electbrentgibson.com/
Facebook | Instagram

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Liz Durham Instagram | Website
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Being Different with Liz Durham is a Palm Tree Pod Co. production

Angie Lawless and I go way back. She was my co-host on a previous podcast before life got busy and we both went in completely different directions. But we made time to catch up again to talk about how she’s running for office in Nashville!

So we sat down and talked through everything. How she got here, what finally pushed her to jump in, and what she’s actually seeing behind the scenes. We get into what campaigning actually looks like, what people in her district really care about, and why so much of politics feels disconnected from real life.

We do not agree on everything, and we don’t try to pretend we do. But the conversation doesn’t fall apart because of that, which honestly feels rare nowadays.

If you’ve ever wondered what it actually takes to run for office, or what’s happening behind the scenes of a campaign, this is a real look at it.

Angie is the democratic candidate for TN State House 59 and Election Day is August 6th. Be sure to follow along with Angie on Instagram @angielawless4tn and support her campaign at angielawless.com.

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Liz Durham Instagram | Website
Subscribe Apple Podcast | Spotify

Being Different with Liz Durham is a Palm Tree Pod Co. production