Today’s show was just me — hair unbrushed, tea in hand — because
was out taking care of his mom after her breast cancer surgery. And the very best news is that she’s okay. She’s home. She’s recovering. He’s exactly where he should be, and the chat immediately wrapped her in a giant blanket of love the second I mentioned it.It set a kind, relieved tone for the whole hour.
Once we settled in, I talked about my latest essay, My 14 Year Old Once Called Me Transphobic. She Wasn’t Wrong. I first wrote about this incident two years ago on Medium (here), and I thought I understood what the moment meant. Spoiler: I did not. Rereading it now, in 2025, I realized how much had changed since that car conversation, and what my daughter was actually trying to protect. So I revised it before posting it to Substack, and I’m so glad I did.
What I realized in taking on this rewrite is that the issue wasn’t about sexual preference or semantics. It was about harm. It was about humanity. My daughter wasn’t scolding me; she was modeling the moral clarity this generation carries so naturally. And I finally caught up to her.
Then we got into Medium, and I spilled the tea on some observations I had around how it monetizes. TL;DR: if you have a story boosted on Medium, don’t share it on social media until after the boost has had a chance to earn. External traffic is a boost killer, at least in my experience. It completely tanked my story from last week, Facebook’s Dating AI Tried to Send Me on a Date With a Man Who Didn’t Exist.
(So hey, if you’re a Medium member, please click through and read/comment on it!)
Today’s collective conclusion: Medium boosts are a mysterious, fragile ecosystem and I have absolutely learned my lesson. The chat comforted me the way only this community can, with equal parts empathy, righteous annoyance, affirmation. and a few jokes at Medium’s expense.
Running a livestream alone could feel like talking into the void… except today it didn’t at all. It felt like sitting in a room with friends. Even though it was “just me,” it never felt like just me. The chat kept me company. You all kept me company.
Lawrence will be back tomorrow. His mom is okay. I’m grateful Thanks to all of you who showed up so it didn’t feel like I was broadcasting to my own living room wall.
Thank you
, , , , , and many others for tuning in.Love you, mean it!
