Tonight’s a little different.

This isn’t the episode I planned, and honestly, I almost didn’t hit record at all. But I felt like I needed to speak, not as a host, not as a commentator, but just as a person sitting in the dark with way too many thoughts.

So here goes.

When I was younger, I genuinely believed the future would look like Star Trek. Not in the shiny-uniformed, warp-speed kind of way, but in the spirit of it. I thought we were moving toward something better. A society where we’d finally learn from our mistakes, take care of each other, explore, evolve, grow.

Instead... we’ve regressed.

We live in a time where facts are debated, empathy feels endangered, and hatred is somehow louder than hope. And I don’t mean online arguments, I mean in policy, in leadership, in the way people look at each other across the street. The dream of progress? It feels like a memory.

Sometimes I look around and I don’t see the future. I see fear. I see division. I see people clinging to power with both hands and no concern for who they hurt. And I feel this deep, gnawing ache, because we could be so much more than this. We were supposed to be.

And I’ll say something hard here:
I’m white. And lately, that’s felt... complicated. Because being white in this country means being part of a system that’s hurting people, whether I want it to or not. Whether I like it or not.

It’s not about guilt. It’s about responsibility. It’s about asking, what kind of ancestor do I want to be? What kind of voice am I going to lend to this moment?

I don’t have clean answers tonight. I’m not here to teach or preach. I’m just sitting with the same sadness and frustration so many of you are. But I do believe in naming the weight we carry, because when we name it, we stop letting it fester in silence.

So, if you’ve been wondering where the future went...
If you’ve felt tired, disappointed, even heartbroken at the state of things...
You’re not alone.

We’re still here.
And we still have choices.