Join Angie Austin and Jim Stovall as they explore the surprising unity that transcends political divides through the lens of the ‘Every Kid Outdoors’ law. This episode takes listeners on a journey of discovery, detailing how this amazing initiative allows fourth graders and their families free access to a multitude of national parks, fostering an appreciation for nature’s wonder and the preservation of our country’s natural treasures.
Welcome to the good news with Angie Austin. Now with the good news, here’s Angie.
SPEAKER 06 :
Hello there, Angie Austin and Jim Stovall with the good news today. We are talking about his winner’s wisdom column titled across the aisle. Hello there, Jim.
SPEAKER 03 :
Well, hello, Angie. It is great to talk with you as always. And I’ve been looking forward to this one. Um, you know, there is so much contention out there and, uh, You know, I think one thing that both sides of the aisle can agree on is that, you know, the discourse has gotten very unfriendly, very combative, and I don’t know that that serves anybody. And I get frustrated with it, as I know people do, from every political persuasion. And You know, so I went looking for a time when people agreed across the aisle. And I found a bill, a law, that Barack Obama got passed during his second term. And he thought it was a great idea. And then Trump came in in his first term, and he agreed. He thought it was such a great idea, he made it permanent. It had only been temporary with Obama, and Trump said, no, that’s a great thing, we ought to make it permanent. And the law is called… Every kid outdoors. And I had never heard of this, and I doubt if you or most of your listeners have. And I became aware of it when the executive director at the Stovall Center for Entrepreneurship at the university, Dr. Kevin Schneider, told me, he said, we’re going to be taking a couple of weeks vacation. My family’s going on vacation. I said, well, great. Where are you going? He said, my son, Kai, is taking us, the family, to three national parks. And I said, Kai’s what? Nine or ten years old? And he said, yeah. I said, okay, you’ve got to explain to me, how is Kai taking the family to three national parks? Well, this law that was passed on one side of the aisle by Obama and then made permanent on the other side of the aisle by Donald J. Trump… says that every fourth-grade kid in America during that year can take themselves and their family to national parks. They get free admission. They get free parking. They get a lot of other benefits, special tours. There’s all kinds of stuff they get. And this is available to everyone. And you can look at it at Every Kid Outdoors. And it’s just an amazing thing. And I thought, what an incredible thing when people on both sides of the aisle get together and say, hey, I got a great idea, and it really, really is a great idea.
SPEAKER 06 :
Do you remember any of the national parks that they visited?
SPEAKER 03 :
They went to Yellowstone and a couple of, I think, Grand Teton and, you know, up in that area. And they had an amazing time. And, you know, and it was fun for their kid to say, I’m taking my family, you know. So he kind of took control of the thing and studied up on it before they got there. So it really made it a good thing. And I… This column came out a few days ago, and I’ve already heard from countless people that are planning to go and do this. So if you know a fourth grader or you have a fourth grader, don’t miss this opportunity. It’s a great time, and I think it’s the perfect age when kids can do that. When you go to our national parks, you realize… I mean, this happened starting with Thomas Jefferson and then Teddy Roosevelt’s the one that really made it permanent. But it happened at a time where people were saying, well, why do we need to set aside all this land? We have unlimited land. Well, you find out pretty quick you don’t. And had they not set it aside, we wouldn’t have these treasures. And it’s really an amazing thing. You can go around the world and nobody else has anything quite like our national parks.
SPEAKER 06 :
You know, and… I’ve been I mean, there are so many and I have been to many. But when you go through the list, it’s pretty mind blowing. Some of my favorites and it’s kind of a goal of mine with my husband. I want to do like state fairs and national parks and like an RV event. You know, we’re pretty close, like a year and a half from our last kid being in college. But years ago, I did Badlands, of course. And then I also really love Rocky Mountain National Park, where I go to see the elk every fall. And then if you’ve never been to Moab and seen Arches National Park, the beauty is mind-blowing. The colors and the arches and the stones and the rock formations. I mean, like if you don’t believe in God and you go there, you’ll believe in God. You know what I mean? Like it is so unbelievably beautiful. And then Yosemite is like breathtaking in California. And then I also love Yellowstone, but it’s been a while since I’ve been there. And then maybe you don’t think of this one as a national park, but Alcatraz. I think I’ve been three times, but the last time I almost went, we were in San Francisco about a month or two ago and it was just pouring rain and I really wanted to go again. But I wanted to take a different tour and there’s two tours I’ve never taken. I’ve just done the daytime ones and then you get to listen to former prisoners if you want on an audio tour and you hear about what it was like to listen to the fireworks while they were in their cells and they could hear like the sounds of San Francisco celebrating and. You know what it was like that one of them had like a pet rat or something. And there was a mobster that stayed there. And anyway, you make a long story. And then you see, oh, also where the three prisoners escaped, how they dug out with a spoon and then left a fake head in the bed and, you know, made their escape. They still have the fake head or what appears to be. Um, in the bed and then, um, but they have a behind the scenes Alcatraz tour and they have a nighttime Alcatraz tour. So I thought either of those might be really fun to do next time. And then I also liked the one up in Maine. I mean, there’s so many great Acadia national park, but as I was going through Jim, I found like, um, Five, eight, ten more that I want to go see that I’m like marking already. There’s Adams National Park where John Adams and his family apparently lived. And then I’ve been to the Abraham Lincoln Birthplace National Historical Park. But there’s so many.
SPEAKER 03 :
Oh, yeah. You know, you could just make a project of it for the rest of your life. And, you know, and it’s just one of the things our country has done well. And it has support from both sides of the aisle. So, you know, I just I am so impressed that, you know, our leaders in bygone eras saw fit to preserve this stuff for us. And, you And you’ve got to go do it. You’ve got to go do it. And it’s just an amazing, amazing experience.
SPEAKER 06 :
Do you see this very often? I remember once you were telling me you did some government contracts and you were kind of told, like, well, even if you don’t need the amount of money that they’re giving you, you have to use it all because that’s just the way it is. You’ll mess it up for people in the future if you don’t use all the money that they give you. And you’re like, well, but it won’t cost me that much to fulfill this contract. And they’re like, no, no, no, no, that’s not how it works. Yeah. You have to spend it all, and you were kind of perplexed by that idea in dealing with government. Do you ever run across things when working with government or when just watching politics in general where you see much coming together across the aisle?
SPEAKER 03 :
Not nearly as much as I’d like to. I never thought I would get reprimanded for being – ahead of schedule and under budget, but they don’t like that in the Beltway, in D.C. But the times I most remember was right after 9-11. My senator at that time, James Inhofe, was considered the most conservative senator in Washington with his voting record. And right after the bombing, the senators gathered outside on the steps and held hands and sang God Bless America. And there was my senator holding hands with Hillary Clinton, and they are singing God Bless America. And I thought, you know. Yeah, that’s us. I mean, we can disagree, but when an outside force or enemy comes in, you know, we pull together. And I just, I hope that, you know, we can disagree without being disagreeable. uh… you know free speech extends to stuff that i don’t like and it has to other otherwise we don’t even need a law for free speech if it was just stuff i liked it then uh… we wouldn’t even need that but um… you know we we’ve got to do that in and we get to the best of everything when we get both sides that’s uh… you know i remember the old regis philbin show who wants to be a millionaire and if you didn’t know they would let you call the smartest guy you knew and he could tell you the answer Or they would get rid of two of the four answers and get it down to you just pick one of the two. And even with those two, your third option was poll the studio audience. And the studio audience was right far more often than the smartest guy you know.
SPEAKER 06 :
You know – Just jumping back just over back over to the national parks, because now you’ve got me so intrigued. It gets me excited to take these little adventures. I think I told you that there was one I hadn’t seen until real recently. Saguaro National Park. Do you remember me telling you about the Saguaro? Oh, my gosh. The cactus. Yeah.
SPEAKER 03 :
Amazing.
SPEAKER 06 :
Amazing. yeah and how old they are and how they have so many holes in them from the birds living in them and how they still survive all that and you know and what you know can kill them but the age of these cactuses is just mind-blowing to me but I’ve never seen like a sea of them like that you know and I took my kids the first time oh and the other thing I’ve never seen in person before that is so big down there and a And very scary, by the way, Jim, the javelina. Have you seen a javelina?
SPEAKER 03 :
Yes, I have. Those are scary little guys, and they are, I mean, a group of those can really ruin your day.
SPEAKER 06 :
You know, I have a girlfriend that has just moved down there, and they’re attacking the golfers and the people walking in their neighborhood. So I convinced her to get one of those horns that you blow that’s really loud, the air pressure horn or whatever it’s called. Yeah. And then it sounds kind of like a foghorn or whatever. And then and like like a bear type spray, because they’re literally they attack two people in her golf neighborhood. And oh, and my brother just did the Tucson 100 mile race or trek or tour or whatever it was. And he wiped out on a bad road and broke his shoulder. But he said a couple of the other guys hit javelinas and wiped out. Wow. Yeah, so anyway, just a little Javelina mishap for the bikers and the Javelinas. Everyone survived, but I’m sure there were lots of bruises for all in those excursions.
SPEAKER 03 :
See, you only get this kind of stuff from Angie Austin. You don’t get Javelina updates anywhere else.
SPEAKER 06 :
I’m just terrified by them. I think they’re like something that should be in a horror movie. But anyway, yeah, I got an up-close look last year, and yeah, I was a little too close for comfort for me. And my daughter’s terrified. She’s like, are they going to get in the living room? I’m like, no, they’re not coming in the living room. You know, they just walked by like our patio or whatever. But OK, so what’s your takeaway on this? My takeaway, I’ll give you mine first, is just, you know, never turn down. I like the across the aisle part, but I also took away from this. Never turn down an opportunity for a really great adventure. I just was posting about our cruise that we’re taking soon. And I got some really great ideas from people for some of the excursions that I wouldn’t have thought of had people not told me that there’s like on the ABC Islands where we’re going, that there’s like… golf cart rental and the different places you can go in the turtle place and the stingray place and the horseback riding on the beach. And somebody suggested the ATV ride where someone really takes you like out on an ATV. That’s probably not my cup of tea, but I’m sure my kids would like that. But I already signed up for the golf cart adventure to take all around, you know, and snorkel and do all that stuff. So I guess what my takeaway is never turned on an opportunity for an adventure and those Those parks are very inexpensive, and they’re just a diamond in the American landscape.
SPEAKER 03 :
Yeah, and, you know, they’ve done studies, what makes people happy after they spend their money. And, you know, everybody thinks, well, I’m going to buy stuff, a diamond ring, or I’m going to buy a new car, whatever. But long term, what makes people happy is either giving their money away or spending it on an experience that will stay with you for the rest of your life. And there’s no better way to do it than the national parks. And it’s really cool if you’ve got a fourth grader. Yeah.
SPEAKER 06 :
Yes, and they’re all free.
SPEAKER 03 :
I hope a lot of people will go. Yeah, I hope so. Excellent.
SPEAKER 06 :
Well, I’m excited for our next family adventure, and I believe in experiences over stuff any day. Thank you, JimStilwell.com. Thanks so much, friend. Thank you. Be well. You too.
SPEAKER 02 :
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SPEAKER 06 :
Golden is listening to the mighty 670 KLT Denver. Well, if you are just joining us, this is Angie Austin with the good news. And this is quite a timely topic. I hope it is for you, too. We were just talking to our daughter at college about how much money she spent on fast food this semester. And she has the full eating plan, like literally 21 meals a week that includes Chick-fil-A five times a week. So today, we are going to help these kids and help ourselves help them to build smarter money habits for the holidays and beyond. Joining us again is Lindsay Bryan Podvin. Lindsay is a financial therapist, and she is also the author of The Financial Anxiety Solution. Welcome back, Lindsay.
SPEAKER 04 :
Thanks so much for having me again.
SPEAKER 06 :
You are welcome.
SPEAKER 04 :
It kind of goes counter to a lot of the messaging we’ve heard for the past few years, which is that older folks are more likely to be scammed. But what this Cash App Payments Intelligence report found was that millennials and Gen Z are being scammed at basically double the rate of baby boomers. And there are a few different reasons for this. One is, as you mentioned, it’s the holiday season and people are just moving a little bit faster than normal. They’re not slowing down. Shopping for the holidays is already emotional and scammer. thrive on emotional urgency. And then the other thing to keep in mind about why younger folks might be falling victim to these scams online is that they’re simply online more. Whether it is doing their homework assignments online, shopping online, or staying in touch with their family and friends on social media, they simply are digital natives and they’re online more. And 24% of Gen Z scam victims say that they were targeted On social media. So it’s the place that they go hang out to blow off steam to get entertainment. So scammers go where people go.
SPEAKER 06 :
Lindsay, I’m telling you, the one that infuriated me on social media recently would have definitely gotten my girls because we’re animal lovers. And it was this old couple and they were rescuing puppies. And oh, it was so touching. These old people didn’t have enough money to feed them. but he could make really special puppy lamps, right? So he was selling these puppy lamps so that he could get enough money to feed the animals. So of course I like snoped it, right? Like I checked it out and it was a total scam. Like they are preying on us to try to get us to buy this stupid lamp that ended up being like some plastic lamp from China that old man Bob didn’t really hand make in his barn. You know, I was like, so irritated that they were preying on a fake dog rescue facility with little old people running it. It was ridiculous. So I can see why these kids are falling for this stuff because that one almost got me, but I started to research it. Okay, so what are some of the biggest red flags that we as parents and also teens should be watching out for when shopping online and just on social media in general? Because my kids are buying all kinds of like TikTok stuff now, which I was just super suspicious of at first.
SPEAKER 04 :
Yeah. So, Angie, I mean, what you’re talking about with the example you gave is something that scammers do. They hit our emotions. A lot of them, you know, try to hit those soft spots like the scam you mentioned. I’m a dog lover and I can imagine myself, you know, watching that video and being tempted to buy something. But the other thing is this urgency. So, If you’re getting DMs or direct messages from somebody, especially if it’s from, you know, a celebrity or a brand or a big influencer account that’s saying something like, oh, Angie, this deal is just for you. And if you pay me right away, I’ll give you X, Y, Z thing. Other things to look out for are, you know, high pressure messages, actions. now, buy within the next 10 minutes. If you don’t send money now, then this deal will go away forever. And with the money piece, too, it’s requests to pay for things in non-secure ways, like paying with gift cards. And then finally, the classics that come up all the time are typos, weird grammatical errors, or websites that have extra numbers or letters in the URL. So it might be a brand name, but then there are two or three O’s. in the name with a couple of random numbers, those are all things that can be a red flag that parents and teens need to be aware of. And, you know, I can’t remember if you said with the scam video that you saw, whether you saw it or whether your daughter saw it, but the right thing to do is exactly what you did which is slow down take a screenshot google really quickly what it is plus the word scam so in this instance it would have been whatever name of that account was that was you know talking about the dogs they needed to take care of plus the word scam to see what comes up um just take an extra second get an extra set of eyes on it and go back to this You know, if it seems too good to be true, it probably is. Or in today’s age, if it seems too weird to be true, it probably is.
SPEAKER 06 :
Now, in terms of setting spending limits and things like that this time of year, how can we work with our kids to get them to have better control?
SPEAKER 04 :
So, of course, make sure that this time of year you’re talking to them about how you’re setting your own holiday budget around holidays. what you’re going to spend on and what you’re going to skip out on. But when it comes to building up that financial management muscle, it’s so important to give teens supervised access to tools that can help them build up their confidence. So Cash App families let parents or sponsors of accounts for 13- to 17-year-olds get access to some of Cash App features with the benefit of parental oversight. So parents can do things like approve contacts, set limits and get notified of new requests or purchases. And this really helps your team understand like, hey, you’re in the driver’s seat, but I as a parent am going to be the co-pilot. And this isn’t me saying, I don’t trust you. It’s me saying, let’s Build up this confidence. Let’s get you used to managing money. Let’s help you understand how to use these tools so you aren’t managing money for the very first time when you move out of the house, right? It’s learning while they’re in your care.
SPEAKER 06 :
Yeah, like two of our kids have gotten it. The one at college I just mentioned doesn’t quite have it yet. Where do we go for more info?
SPEAKER 04 :
Sure. So people can visit cash. app and if you’re interested in the families part of it because you’ve got a 13 to 17 year old and you’re interested in some of these tools you can visit cash.app slash families and of course cash app is in your app store excellent thanks for coming back and joining us again my pleasure angie have a good holiday season you too
SPEAKER 06 :
All right, changing gears, if you are just joining us, this is Angie Austin with the good news. You know, we’re talking a little bit about money and shopping, and as live shopping surges in popularity, Whatnot, the largest live shopping platform in North America, has released its 2026 Shopping Trends Report, revealing how shared passions are transforming the retail landscape. Now, here to give some insight and perspective about these trends is digital lifestyle expert Shira Lazar. She’s back. She’s the host of What’s Trending. Welcome back, Shira.
SPEAKER 05 :
Thanks for having me. I’m so glad to be back, Angie.
SPEAKER 06 :
All right. So I go to these thrift cons because my son has a business called Legend Vintage. And so there’s like whatnot stars there. And I’m like, what is a whatnot star? And so my son has filled me in on all of this because he’s like 20. And so I’m like the only soccer mom walking around like the coolest place with all of these young people in the most outrageously cool outfits. And they have people that sell so much on whatnot that they’re like their social influencers. They’re like kind of famous.
SPEAKER 05 :
So funny. I know I love that you’re all into it already. I mean, you know, it’s trending clearly.
SPEAKER 06 :
Well, let’s talk about that. What is the overall trend for consumers and this new kind of live shopping thing?
SPEAKER 05 :
Yeah, you said it. I mean, it’s booming, right? And it’s more than just a trend. It’s a whole new way to shop, even building influencers, as you mentioned. And we’ve got platforms like Whatnot that are leading the charge. And the numbers are incredible. I That is double 2024, and users are spending an average of 80 minutes a day on the app. So I’m not surprised when they become, like, close with the sellers, right? They become like they’re celebrities. What is moving this trend, though, is really community, right? People are discovering products in real time through these live shows hosted by sellers who share their passion and who are really authentic and engaging.
SPEAKER 06 :
Yeah, and they are engaging. Those events are fun when I get to meet some of them, their characters. All right, so what are some of the items that are proving to be really popular? I know about the vintage, but what else is really up there?
SPEAKER 05 :
Yeah, and we’ll get to that too, but yeah, nostalgia is playing a major role in what people are buying. Childhood favorite toys like Calico Critters, Littlest Pet Shop, Lollaloopsie, and Furby are making a huge comeback, which is interesting. What’s old is new again because, you know, maybe they’re bringing comfort, familiarity. We love a good throwback. Now, on the beauty side, it’s all about bold and expressive looks. So people are getting into glitter, press-on nails, rich eyeshadow palettes. And sweet and fruity scents like vanilla and cherry are popular in beauty.
SPEAKER 06 :
Cool. All right. Any hot categories that are just starting to emerge for next year?
SPEAKER 05 :
Yeah, I love this. Women’s sports memorabilia because I’m all about sports. Yes, go ladies. It’s really taking off with WNBA merch growing about three times faster than NBA merch. on whatnot this year. How interesting is that, right? People are buying signed WNBA items, jerseys, sports cards. And on the style side, 2026 is shaping up to be all about texture, comfortability. People are prioritizing sustainability, great fit, moving forward. away from minimalism. And as you noted, trends like vintage fashion, natural fabrics are gaining momentum as shoppers, according to this report, are looking for pieces with more personality and craftsmanship.
SPEAKER 06 :
Yes. And something, you know, my son just wrote a paper about this last night. I was proofreading it about like sustainability and these kids that are buying a lot of that, you know, used clothing stuff that the quality is something that like, you know, from 20, 30 years ago, the quality is so much better.
SPEAKER 05 :
Yeah, that’s awesome. That’s good to know. No, I love this trend, and I think it’s so important. I’m also into secondhand and vintage as much as I can. So I love that there’s an app also that you can find this and then also bid on it live, which continues better purchases, which is really important right now.
SPEAKER 06 :
And, you know, and this has turned into, you know, I mean, my son has a legit business. He just bought a house. He’s 20 years old. And this kid, Jacob, that’s big on whatnot. I just looked at his thrift row, Jacob. He sold over 20,000 items and he has 55,000 followers. It’s like, that’s crazy to me. Like a kid is making like, I mean, a real business, like making a real income, you know, selling things on whatnot that he picked up in thrift stores. I mean, it’s really cool because it’s doing so much for our environment as well.
SPEAKER 05 :
I love people who are making money, helping the environment. I love how you know all this stuff.
SPEAKER 06 :
It’s really impressive. Well, you just read a paper last night, and I’m at all these rip cons. I remember there was some video that came out, and it was like, who’s this mom that’s got it going on in her outfit? Because I had candy dunks on or something, and my son was laughing that somebody took it. thought that his mom had a cool fit on or whatever, right? So silly. But I want to know, like, which cities are really driving this? Because when we go around the country to all of these different, I have to help him because he can’t even rent a car yet. So when we fly into a city to do ThriftCon, some cities are really hopping and some are not. So which cities do you think are really driving the live shopping experience?
SPEAKER 05 :
Yeah, well, according to this, five cities emerged as trendsetters for live shopping. Atlanta, Chicago, Dallas, Miami, and Phoenix. So there are those. And we went even deeper and could see the purchases across those cities. So the top purchases in Atlanta were WNBA cards. Miami with Labubu. Phoenix was K-Beauty and DIY Beauty with Press on Nails. Dallas was Plus Size Fashion. And Chicago, Precious Metals.
SPEAKER 06 :
Oh, interesting. That is interesting. Interesting. All right. Any other insights or anything else you want to share with us before we go? And then, of course, where we go to get more info?
SPEAKER 05 :
Yeah, of course. Well, I think it’s just important to note that Whatnot was once a marketplace for niche collectibles and has evolved. As you even mentioned in your personal experience, it’s moved into a dynamic e-commerce engine across many different categories, fashion, beauty, sports cards, sneakers, coins, plants, and more. And it has emerging categories also that are seeing triple growth from vinyls to antiques. So I think that’s really important to note that you could really find anything on Whatnot, as well as the vintage trend, which a lot of us are trying to get into, and it makes it easy to find that. And to learn more and get started with live stream shopping, if you’re not as much of an expert as you, Andy, you can go to Whatnot.com or download the app.
SPEAKER 06 :
Yeah, and just check it out and see how they do it. I think it’s cool that these kids don’t have to get a storefront, that they can have a virtual business and use Whatnot to sell all their wares. So it’s economically feasible for them to get rolling, too. So thank you so much. You’re a really cool segment.
SPEAKER 05 :
Yeah, I appreciate it. And keep going. I love your relationship with your son. It’s so sweet.
SPEAKER 06 :
It’s fun. Thanks, honey.
SPEAKER 01 :
Thank you for listening to The Good News with Angie Austin on AM670 KLTT.
