Episode 116: 2020...What a Year

Ian: Hey everyone, you are listening to “Coffee with Gringos.” I'm Ian Kennedy.

Paige: And I'm Paige Sutherland.

Ian: And today, Paige and I decided to wrap up this crazy and wild year we've had talking about all the different things that have happened. We all know that our year has been completely engulfed and surrounded by COVID. Just kind of to take a break from that we wanted to mention all the other things that have happened this year to take our minds off of the one thing that's been happening. So, even in this crazy year that we've had with COVID, there have been a lot of other wild and crazy events. So, of course, it's important for us to cover those topics and give a good wrap up for this crazy year we've got: 2020. Listeners, as usual, if you get lost, go online and check out that audio guide and transcript. So, Paige—2020—where do we even start?

Paige: Like you said, COVID has really just dominated the whole year. I think it's all anyone will ever remember 2020 as the year of the global pandemic. And, I mean, it's fair to say it took almost 1.7 million lives, 77 million cases, so it's definitely worth talking about. But, like you said, CWG has covered it so we're going to talk about some of the other things that happened, but we had just a shit year starting in December, January with record-breaking wildfires in Australia. I remember just seeing those photos and being amazed at just how much land was on fire. Obviously, it's land, it's people's homes, it's animals’ wildlife. I think it was reported 47 million acres burned, which yeah is devastating. Also, just crazy that it's just a wildfire, that it’s just global warming.

Ian: It's crazy because we're seeing this happen more and more as the years go by. We're seeing the effects of climate change to where in California, in the last couple of years, there have been the biggest and, I think, deadliest wildfires. It's been all over the world, we're seeing all this dryness, more fires here in Santiago even in the last few years. I want to say the last five years it's been a historic drought. So, we're seeing a lot of these effects and it kicked off with the year with Australia on fire and I think it's always a bad indicator for the year when the year starts, literally, on fire, like we saw in Australia. So, it should have probably been a warning for us that bad things were coming. tr

Paige: We also had a few other events that were, again, a little sad. Kobe Bryant died which was quite tragic. Were you a big fan?

Ian: Yeah, I mean, I'm not a big basketball fan, but as far as looking at the best performers in all sports, I mean Kobe Bryant is a legend in my eyes. Probably in the top three best basketball players ever. And I remember growing up watching him play and, I think, you'd be hard-pressed to find an American who didn't know who he was, especially kids who really looked up to him in our age when he was a real star. And to hear that they had a tragic event like a helicopter crash, to hear of someone dying in a helicopter crash is such a shocking event. And especially when it's someone so loved and these are the kind of people who we think are going to be around forever. We're just going to see them in magazines and doing what they do and live a long life and so it's really crazy to see someone die at the hands of a helicopter crash. And even worse, he was with his daughter, with other families, so I think it was just a really tragic event that we also saw towards the beginning of this year.

Paige: I mean, I remember when that news came out. It was big—the whole world stopped and reacted.

Ian: Yeah, exactly. We had some other things happen as well. So, following those two tragic events at the beginning, moving more towards politics now, which we saw plenty of action in this year as well with that. So, President Trump at the time earlier in the year, he was under the threat of impeachment from Congress, right?

Paige: Sadly, there has been talk of impeachment for probably most of Trump's presidency, because of how he won in 2016. There was involvement from Russia and all of these kinds of cases against them that came up. There was one that was really viable where, basically, it was quid pro quo with Ukraine and that it was basically like, oh, we're not going to give you funding unless you do this for me kind of thing. And you just can't do that as a president and so, when that tape came out, there was a hearing of impeachment. And so that had to go through the Congress and the Senate and ended up acquitting him so he didn't get impeached. Some other big news that I think, everyone around the world cared about because everyone's obsessed with the royal family, is that Prince Harry and his wife, Meghan Markle, basically said, we don't want to be a part of the royal family anymore and just was like, “Peace!” which is very shocking. I think that made huge news.

Ian: Yeah, and it was big because who would give up a life of royalty to just be regular people? But we talked about, in an earlier episode, about the whole “Megxit” thing and I'm sure they're going to be fine. I'm sure they have plenty of money still. They're going to still have plenty, do their own thing, they just won't be living in the castle. And, honestly, they might actually have some more leeway to do what they want and live their lives a little bit more normally. So, I don't fault them for that, especially if they're getting a lot of money. So hard to feel sorry for them, but yeah, that's interesting. Are they living in Canada, like we thought?

Paige: I mean, obviously, with the pandemic who knows what's permanent or not. But last time I checked, I think they're in the California area, and that they signed on, I think with Gimlet or Spotify to do a podcast. They're going to be in the media but on their own terms. I think they're going to push out a lot of reality type products. The big reason they wanted to get out of the royal family is they wanted to be able to live where they want to live and, I think, they wanted a little less eyes on them. Because when you're in the royal family, twenty-four-seven coverage. I think, in, at least from my perception of it, it seems like in the UK, the tabloids are a little stronger there where here, we kind of laugh and stuff, and not a lot of people read them. But the kind of stuff that came out about Prince Harry and Megan were just really awful and I think they were just sick of that. It was toxic all the time. Like, if she wore high heels, she was a slut. Or if she was just like, so constant I think they just were like, “No, thanks.”

Ian: Sure. Yeah, I get that. I don't blame them for that at all. Speaking of other things that have happened this year, another kind of a dark thing was we saw the Harvey Weinstein criminal cases, the criminal trials. Which, for those of you who aren't familiar with Harvey Weinstein, he was a big, famous, powerful Hollywood producer and it was found out that for years and years he was sexually harassing and sexually violating—assaulting—different women. Which is crazy because he's such a famous and well-known person and especially, in that world. And so, to think he's doing all these terrible things, it’s absolutely awful to hear from everyone, and just shone the light on how often this happens and these people that are in positions of power, they really exploit that power sometimes. So, it was a pretty big deal to hear about all those cases.

Paige: Well, I think the big takeaway was that he was held accountable. I think there's no surprise that there's a lot of people that are sexually assaulted and especially people that are empowered, money, it's not like, “Oh my god, big surprise!” But I think he was made an example. It's like here's this rich guy that really crossed the line with so many women and finally, now we'll go to prison. And I feel like that was really powerful for the “Me Too” movement is that just because you have a lot of money doesn't mean you won't be arrested and held accountable. And I think a lot of people worried about that because he went his whole life. There were police reports about him, people knew in the industry that he was sexually assaulting women. It’s just he had enough money to get away with it. So, I think this year with him actually getting sentenced to jail time, it was a big step in the movement of like, okay if you're rich and powerful, that's it. You're not getting away with it anymore. You will go to jail.

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Paige: And, like you know, I'm no longer in Chile but while I was there, obviously, there was a huge social uprising and the referendum got moved from April to October. You were there, that was a huge step. Tell us a little bit about that.

Ian: Yeah, so for those who aren't aware, the social uprising here in July started back in October of 2019 and, like you mentioned, there was supposed to be a referendum vote in April to amend, to change, the constitution. Due to the craziness of this year, with COVID, they got moved to October. And so, October of this year, Chile finally voted on whether to amend the current constitution which is the same version that existed under the Pinochet era—that dictatorship—which was really awful time in history here. So, a lot of people had the feeling, we need to get out of that dark period, we need to make life better for the citizens, for the people here. And so, in October, this vote happened and with some incredible results. Almost seventy percent voted to pass the referendum to change, to amend, the Constitution. There were wild celebrations, as you can imagine. I went out in the city that night and it was amazing to see everybody out celebrating, with music, with fireworks, with flags with all this great culture and great excitement for improvement, for the improvement of people, so that there's more equity among people with opportunity, a better life. And it was great just to see the hope and everybody say, alright, we are making changes, maybe we can pull ourselves out of this dark history that we’ve had.  So, that was a really important moment for the Chilean people here this year, and we'll see what happens next year with the next steps in the voting process. But that was a big start with a lot of things culminating after a year of protests, of violence, of social repression. So, big event down here in Chile.

Paige: I was sad to not be there, especially because I'm a reporter. So, I was there covering the social uprising in October of 2019 up until I left that March, and it was kind of sad not to be there for that historic vote. But it was great to see that, the vote had such support because, during the gold pandemic, the movement really stalled. I mean, they had such momentum, and then everyone was quarantined for months. So, the fact that they were still able to get that high of a vote during a global pandemic where people weren't able to protest or spread awareness, I thought was really great and just shows how much there's a need for change. Speaking of protests, it was funny, I left protests in Chile and then I came home to the US to more protest. But in the US, it was racial, Black Lives Matter protests, police brutality, which are issues that are not new in the US. But there were just a lot of cases this year that really put the spotlight on how difficult it is to be a Black American here, and how police see you differently, and how they treat you. And, unfortunately, a lot of times that results in deaths. Black people dying for no reason. And so that was really historic. I mean, I think almost every city in the US, there were widespread protests and we were still going through a global pandemic too. So, it also shows how important this issue is that people still flooded the streets, even though it wasn't really safe to do so.

Ian: Yeah, and I think, with the George Floyd killing that happened in June that was, it was pretty much the straw that broke the camel's back in terms of the racial tensions that exist in the US. And, like you mentioned, it's not something new. It's pretty common, unfortunately, to see in the news that a black person was killed by police or something really petty or nothing at all. And so, I think, the way that the George Floyd killing happened on video—a really clear video—the way he was killed, the way the police officers acted, and the way that people reacted watching the video, and the whole timing of everything; it's in the middle of the pandemic, people had been in quarantine for weeks and it just exploded into the streets—this violence, these racial tensions—and really this problem that, not with just black people and the police, but, citizens and the police have never had a great relationship. And so all of this came to a head because of all these elements, the way it all came, and so it's kind of like a ticking time bomb that just happened to go off right in the middle of a pandemic. And I remember back in June just thinking, what in the hell is happening? We have a global pandemic, like you said, almost every city in the US had major protests, and I just thought, if we're only halfway through 2020 and thinking ahead with the elections, with everything, I was pretty worried, I’m not going to lie, back in June about how things are going to go. So, I think, the Black Lives Matter was a really big pillar of this year, a big point of the news, and has really shaped a lot of changes that we're seeing happening now, and we're going to continue to see happening in the coming years as well. So, Paige, to wrap up the end of the year, the craziness that we've experienced in 2020, let's finish it off with talking about the US presidential elections that happened in November.

Paige: That was quite a rollercoaster. I mean, obviously, we've never had a presidential election in the US during a global pandemic so a lot of people were voting by mail, a lot of people were voting early. It was just such a shit show, the first time that we really had an election not be called the night of or the day after. The election was on a Tuesday, there wasn't official results of a winner until that Saturday, and that was still being contested, I think, until very recently. There might even still be states that are being looked into by the Trump administration on whether the votes were valid or not. So, it was a wild ride but Trump lost Biden won, and allegedly, it seems like the election is called, and that January 20th, we'll have a new president. It has been weird to have a president that's like, “I’m not going to leave.”

Ian: Yeah, right. And we've talked about in earlier episodes as well, just about how a lot of people were worried about what happens if he loses and it's really close and he doesn't concede. What if he refuses? Are we going to have a civil war? We're going to have Republicans against Democrats. So, a little bit of paranoia sunk in for some people, myself included. So, I think it was not surprising but it was something that we were all ready to see the result. And so those four or five days when we didn't know what was happening, everyone was just super anxious to know what was going to happen. So, like you mentioned, it looks like now Trump lost fair and square. If all things go according to plan, at the end of January, we'll have a new president. And that will kick us off for the start of 2021, which, after living through 2020, I think we've hit almost rock bottom. I don't want to say that, but I think we have a lot of room for improvement for 2021 and so I'm staying positive.  I think that things are going to get better, even though we're in this strange time, and hopefully, we can just look towards 2021 is a chance to improve ourselves. 2020, a year of many lessons learned,

Paige: I agree. I mean, I think 2020 will always be remembered as the year of the global pandemic, but hopefully, 2021 will be the year that we beat it. So, I think a lot to look forward to for the upcoming year, but I am glad that it's over.

Ian: Yeah, exactly. I'm sure all of our listeners listening right now are feeling the same way. Let’s not forget 2020, because we learned some new lessons, but let's put it in the rearview mirror and focus on 2021 and try to make things better. So, listeners, thanks for tuning in with us. We covered a lot of these crazy topics, these events that happened in this year of the global pandemic. Again, if you get lost, go online, check out that audio guide and transcript. Thanks for listening.

Paige: We'll see you next time.

Paige: “Coffee with Gringos” was brought to you by Dynamic English, where you can learn English simply by using it. If you’re interested in taking classes or just want to learn more, go to our website at dynamicenglish.cl. Thanks for listening.

Key Vocabulary, Phrases & Slang:

 1.     to wrap up (phrasal verb): to summarize.

a.     It’s time for us to wrap up what happened this year.

2.     to engulf (verb): to completely cover or surround.

a.     2020 was engulfed by crazy events all year long.

3.     devastating (adjective): causing distress, shock, and grief.

a.     This has been a devastating year for many reasons.

4.     drought (noun): a period of low rainfall, leading to water shortage and dryness.

a.     Droughts contributed to the terrible fires in Australia and California.

5.     to kick off (phrasal verb): to start.

a.     Let’s kick off the summary with the first topic of the year.

6.     tragic (adjective): terrible; devastating.

a.     Kobe Bryant’s helicopter crash was such a tragic event.

7.     hard-pressed (adjective): difficult.

a.     It would be hard-pressed to find someone who didn’t know what happened.

8.     impeachment (noun): a charge of misconduct against the president which could result in a resignation.

a.     Trump has been under the threat of impeachment many times.

9.     viable (adjective): possibly successful; feasible

a.     It was a truly viable option for us to consider.

10.  quid pro quo (noun): a favor or advantage expected in return for something; exchange; tradeoff.

a.     The quid pro quo between the politicians kept their relationship strong.

11.  to acquit (verb): to declare someone not guilty of a criminal charge.

a.     He was acquitted because there wasn’t enough evidence to support the claim.

12.  peace (expression): informal expression used to say “goodbye”

a.     I have to go home. Peace!

13.  leeway (noun): an amount of freedom to do something.

a.     Politicians are always giving leeway to their powerful friends.

14.  tabloids (noun): newspaper or magazine which has rumors and gossip stories.

a.     The tabloids in the UK are absolutely brutal.

15.  high heels (noun): shoes with tall, thin heels.

a.     The princess was seen wearing high heels to the dinner.

16.  slut (noun, slang, insult): a woman who has many casual sexual partners.

a.     The tabloids called her a slut any chance they could get.

17.  accountable (adjective): responsible.

a.     Everyone should be held accountable for their own actions.

18.  to culminate (verb): reaching a climax or point of highest development.

a.     The year culminated in the historic voting that we saw in Chile and the US.

19.  stalled (adjective): momentarily stopped or paused.

a.     The protest efforts were mostly stalled during the quarantine.

20.  spotlight (noun): a big light used to show or give attention to something.

a.     The media put COVID in the spotlight every chance that it was possible.

21.  the straw that broke the camel’s back (idiom, phrase): the final action that causes a strong reaction.

a.     George Floyd’s killing was the straw that broke the camel’s back for the Black Lives Matter movement.

22.  petty (adjective): minor; unimportant.

a.     The petty actions of the government made the citizens angry.

23.  rollercoaster (noun): something that goes through wild and unpredictable changes.

a.     This year was quite the rollercoaster with everything that happened.

24.  shit show (noun, slang): a disaster; a mess; an unorganized situation.

a.     This year has been a total shit show.  

25.  allegedly (adjective): something believed to be true but cannot be proven.

a.     He allegedly committed the crime that they are trying to solve.