It's the end of a season, and it's the end of a year. A+A get cozy and reflect on haunted calendars, open-door pooping, being more woo-woo, the true meaning of christmas morning, and what happens when people assume we're regular straight marrieds. All along the way it becomes clear how much our guest interviews this season keep resonating in our day-to-day lives. All that plus some lengthy and revealing updates on "dating while platonically partnered".

If you have your own reflections on season 2 (and what you want to hear more of in S3), we'd love to hear them!

Keep up with us (and get in touch) at EmergencyContacts[dot]substack[dot]com

We cannot pursue radical ideas of friendship, co-living, and community without talking about HOUSING.

It's been the unspoken elephant in the room in some of our past episodes on group living, platonic life partnerships, aging, and queer chosen family. You might have listened to those episodes thinking, okay, this is great. But literally HOW?

The logistics of making a life are difficult right now. Housing is a mess even doing things the "conventional" way...much less trying NEW ways to build a chosen family, maintaining proximity to your friends, and keeping loneliness at bay. Our guest Michael Freedman-Schnapp is a housing policy expert who walks us through the social trends and policy changes that got us here, and some of the possible solutions to a very complex set of problems.

More episode notes and reference links to the studies and books mentioned in this conversation at: https://emergencycontacts.substack.com/p/we-solved-the-housing-crisis

Our special guest, writer and activist Sarah Schulman, joins us to discuss the practical realities of building community from her perspective as an activist, community organizer, and artistic mentor!

This season, we have explored the ways we can forge friendship and chosen family. One angle we haven't yet examined is the the power of rallying around a shared cause. This, too, is a form of community, and of family.

We were honored to speak with Sarah about so many things -- her writing, her time in Act Up, her opinions on group unity and successful advocacy, and her thoughts on today's political climate. We also discuss her artistic achievements: building spaces for queer experimental filmmakers; being a generalist; and the legacy of mentoring younger generations of writers.

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Follow Amrita & Andrew at emergencycontacts.substack.com

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The books by Sarah Schulman that we mention in this episode include:

Let The Record Show: A Political History of Act Up

Conflict is Not Abuse

After Delores