Well… surprise. I’m pregnant with baby number four.

After taking about a month and a half off from the podcast because I’ve been exhausted, nauseous, and generally useless, I’m finally back with a solo episode and a lot to catch you up on.

I’m sharing the very unexpected way I found out I was pregnant, why this pregnancy has kicked my ass compared to the others, how we basically survived the summer on The Lion King, and why by your fourth kid you realize you probably don’t need 90% of the baby crap people try to sell you.

Then I get into something else I’ve been talking—and admittedly ranting—about for a long time: school.

Last year I pissed off quite a few people with my opinions about homework, summer packets, overscheduled kids, and the fact that young children desperately need more time outside and more time to just be kids. I was told to calm down, be patient, and understand that change takes years.

Well… some things actually changed.

Mac’s school implemented TimberNook, homework is now optional, and I want to talk about what I learned from the whole experience—because sometimes being the squeaky wheel works.

I also talk about why family dinner matters so much to me, my ongoing hatred of how insane kids’ sports culture has become, why I’m considering keeping Cooper home until he’s six, and some of the parenting decisions I wish I could go back and do differently.

This one is basically a very honest life update on pregnancy, motherhood, school, advocating for your kids, admitting when you got things wrong, and refusing to accept “this is just how we do it” when you genuinely believe something could be better.

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In part two of my conversation with Michaela Barnett, we go straight into some of the most complicated and divisive issues in politics—and somehow manage to have a real conversation about them.

We talk about immigration, ICE, border security, homelessness, addiction, affordable housing, artificial intelligence, rural healthcare, abortion, Gaza, vaccines, and the ideological inconsistencies that exist on both sides. Michaela shares how her experience working in Congress and navigating the immigration system with her husband has shaped her views, while I explain why I feel politically homeless and increasingly frustrated with both Republicans and Democrats.

I also ask Michaela what she could realistically accomplish in Congress, rather than what simply sounds good on campaign material. She shares why she believes AI regulation and expanding rural healthcare could receive bipartisan support—and why politicians need to start solving the smaller issues Americans agree on instead of constantly using controversial topics to divide us.

By the end of the conversation, Michaela asks me directly whether she has earned my vote. My answer is honest, complicated, and probably not what everyone expects.

We do not agree on everything, but that is exactly why conversations like this matter. We need to be able to sit across from people who see the world differently, ask hard questions, listen to their answers, and look for the places where we might actually agree.

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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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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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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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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