Episode 102

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Published on:

23rd Aug 2025

Beyond Dumplings & Job Myths: The Cultural Truths Most Americans Miss

Why don’t Russians put ice in their water? Why do Americans believe immigrants “steal jobs”? In this sharp, often hilarious finale, Olga and Svetlana bust open cultural clichés while unpacking why first-generation grit looks different—and why it may be the secret to America’s edge. From work ethic shocks to economic facts, this conversation reframes immigrants not as takers, but as the drivers of the American future.

Russian Walnut Shaped Cookies - "Oreshki" Recipe

Timestamps:

  • (00:00) Cultural Clash: Russian Work Ethic Meets U.S. Labor Laws
  • (00:38) Food, Family, Identity: What We Carry Here
  • (05:26) Myth-Busting: The Job-Stealing Lie
  • (08:36) Final Reflections: Why America Needs Immigrant Energy

Connect:

Olga Kay: https://mooshwalks.com/ 

Svetlana Newsome: https://thelightfreedom.com/ 


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Transcript
Alex:

"We've covered the journeys, the reforms, and the fixes—now let's

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get real about the everyday stuff

that makes America feel like home...

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or totally baffling.

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From cranberry sauce on mashed potatoes

to the myth that immigrants 'steal

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jobs,' Olga and Svetlana share the

cultural quirks, the laughs, and

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the deeper truths about fitting in.

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And wait till you hear why

they call new citizens 'super

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Americans'—it's a revelation."

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Jerremy & Svetlana: But just as

an exciting question that I think

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would be enjoyable for me and Dave

to hear what's one thing you still

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find confusing about us culture?

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Olga Kay: Eating mashed

potatoes with cranberry sauce.

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Jerremy & Svetlana: I would go with

mashed potatoes with the skin on top too.

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Okay.

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We never, ever, we had all eaten

like that are not cooked, or

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broccoli that is not cooked.

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Olga Kay: Oh, honey, on

top of fried chicken,

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Jerremy & Svetlana: Oh, first of all,

honey, on everything is amazing to be

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Dave: GRA Gravy.

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Olga Kay: I got comfortable with the skins

and potatoes because I've learned that

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there's so many more vitamins in the skin.

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So I'm like, okay, I'll deal with that.

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I'm thinking, like I'm

such an American now.

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My mom would always say, oh,

you're such an American now.

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And it's because, I prioritize work

and I like to accomplish things and

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I like certain things certain way.

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Jerremy & Svetlana: What a great

compliment to be called American.

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Olga Kay: I guess if my mom were to answer

this question, she would say, what a weird

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concept of putting ice in your water.

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No ice in water, please.

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That was the biggest thing.

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Jerremy & Svetlana: So do you still

find yourself doing that still?

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Olga Kay: I

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Jerremy & Svetlana: I.

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Olga Kay: I chill my water,

but I don't put ice in it.

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Jerremy & Svetlana: She was

like, I don't need any ice.

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I'm like, how?

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How are you drinking

this water with no ice?

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This is mind blowing to me.

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Olga Kay: Yep.

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There you

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Jerremy & Svetlana: There you

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Dave: I went the other way.

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My boo is Turkish.

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I couldn't even imagine ice

and water at this point.

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So you both mentioned food.

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What is your comfort food?

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Olga Kay: In Russia, I grew up eating

pelini, which is the meat dumplings, and I

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ate them ever since I was seven years old,

and I'm still obsessed with it in America.

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So many foods, I love Indian food.

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Is that an answer?

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That's something I could never have

in Russia, so I love Indian food.

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Jerremy & Svetlana: Yes, I feel

like everything that was made,

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like bread type of things, like

I feel like we grew up on bread.

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My grandma would be always bacon,

pieros, all kind of things.

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And so every time I am in that like

rooted, soulful energy, like I wanted

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to make something hardy and it would

have, some element of flour in it.

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So that is definitely it.

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It's just a part of a

DNA fun question for me.

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are there very few Russian restaurants.

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Olga Kay: Good

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Jerremy & Svetlana:

you, it's not that good.

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It's not,

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Olga Kay: okay and I have to

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Jerremy & Svetlana: it's the same stuff.

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It's the same stuff.

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It's same ingredients, which

just mixed up in a different way.

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Olga Kay: mayo

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Jerremy & Svetlana: A different way.

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Olga Kay: I don't know.

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I have to disagree a little bit because

I love Russian food, but my partner is

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American and he is I cannot have this.

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This is, it is just,

everything is mixed with Mayo.

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I just cannot have this couple

of things he enjoys, but he would

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never wake up in the morning.

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He's Hey, we should go out tonight.

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Let's go to a Russian restaurant.

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That would never happen.

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Jerremy & Svetlana: She's

never requested that.

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Exactly.

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It's never once.

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Olga Kay: Here's what happens to me.

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I do crave Russian, especially

when I got pregnant.

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I was like, oh, I wanna do is eat Russian

food and I would order all this Russian

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food and then it would come to me, and

then I would say I could make it better

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and then I just end up making it at home.

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But I don't make it it is just

a special occasion for me where

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I'll make all the Russian food.

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However, during Christmas in Russia,

we would always make oreshki.

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Let's see.

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Yeah, so it's like a really it looks

like a walnut and it's a cookie that

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is filled with boiled condensed milk.

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It's delicious.

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So every Christmas now I make

this, and my partner is obsessed.

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And yes, Jerremy, you have to try.

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Jerremy & Svetlana: I would like

a delicious cookie for Christmas.

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That sounds great.

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Oh my goodness.

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That's not what I get.

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That's not what he gets.

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Nope.

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I get herring under the

fur coat for Christmas.

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Olga Kay: no.

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Jerremy & Svetlana: He

does every Christmas.

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I make that beautiful

salad that he is oh my God,

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Olga Kay: Yeah.

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Yeah.

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Jerremy & Svetlana: I love it.

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Olga Kay: And we, I live in Los Angeles,

so we do have a few Russian restaurants,

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but not a lot of them survive long term.

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And I remember one of my favorite

restaurants in New York, it was

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Ukrainian restaurant, and it went out of

business as well, but it was the best.

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And they had every single flavored

vodka you could think of, and

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experience was incredible.

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And they still shut down because

not a lot of people like it.

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Jerremy & Svetlana: Yeah.

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Unless if it's a Russian

restaurant, unless you are Russian,

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Ukrainian, like Soviet Union,

you're not going to go there.

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Olga Kay: Yeah.

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Jerremy & Svetlana: As you said,

like you're not going to wake

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up and say, I'm going to go to

Russian restaurant for experience.

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You might do it once.

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You'll taste their foot and

you're like, I will be just fine.

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I'll open this question up for Dave

also or anyone who wants to answer.

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What's the biggest myth Americans

believe about immigrants?

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That we are taking their jobs.

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Okay.

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I feel it is a crazy myth.

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A lot of those jobs that I've been right

now done by immigrants, most of the

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immigrants that do not speak the language,

Americans don't wanna do those jobs.

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Like Americans are privileged.

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They want things easy.

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They do not want to

work more than 40 hours.

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They do not want to work three jobs.

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And they also very entitled and feel

like they do just the best job ever

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they didn't actually see other jobs.

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And yes, a lot of times we have to

do those jobs because Americans don't

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wanna do those jobs and those are

the only jobs that are available.

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when I was illegal, I was putting

flyers, pizza flyers at 6:00 AM

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in someone else's apartments.

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Like what American Wakes up was like,

this is my job, don't take my job.

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Please take it fine.

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Olga Kay: I also

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Jerremy & Svetlana: yes, go ahead.

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Olga Kay: for your previous question.

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You said the culture shock, what was

the biggest thing where you're like, oh,

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you in America now, like what happened?

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I was in a circus.

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I was 16.

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We were rehearsing our show and I remember

we're in the middle of rehearsing one of

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the acts and something was not working.

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We just had to figure out

how to fit it into the show.

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And I remember somebody walks in and

goes, okay, it's lunch everybody.

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And my mind was blown.

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In Russia, you don't take lunch.

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You work until you fix the problem.

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Where in America you have labor laws

and you have to stop, and you have to

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let people go, have lunch, and then you

come back and you start over, which a

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lot of times it'll take you longer to

get going, but that's just how it goes.

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Dave: I think my answer depends

on where you're at, right?

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I think, you know, I grew up in

Washington, DC and I think if you're

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in an urban environment, I think one

of the biggest myths that you have

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are immigrants are really great.

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And the reality is, is immigrants are just

immigrants and they're just people, right?

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And I think if you live outside of

urban environments, immigrants are

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really scary and they're othered.

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And then I've seen it in communities

where maybe agricultural communities,

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immigrants are just integrated.

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So I think it really just sort of

depends, you know, like there, there

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seems to be like odd black and white.

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Mentalities around things.

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And when we remove those barriers

you know, like, it's like, wow, these

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are just people and they just are,

they're just from someplace else.

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But then again, you know, like if

you spend any time in America, you

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are from someplace else, right?

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Like, I'm, I'm from Washington, I lived

in San Francisco, I lived in Miami.

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Like, I'm from somewhere else.

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And it's just, it's just people.

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So that's what I think the myths

around immigration are, is that

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it gets black and white and it's

like, nah, people are people.

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Jerremy & Svetlana: People are people.

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That is a statement from DC Dave Conley.

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Very accurate as well.

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All good.

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Just wanna say thank you so much

for taking your time to be here

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and share with us your stories.

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Share with us your victories of how

you overcame and how you are now just

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such a rockstar American who creates

value for people all over the world.

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And it's Ana.

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Thank you for sharing with us different

opinions, beliefs, thoughts on how we can

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collaborate and come together as humans,

as citizens to embark on love and healing.

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It's gonna be an incredible episode

for every single person to listen.

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And please feel free to share this

episode with any of your friends

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if they are immigrants or not.

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We would love a five star review

and they can share this episode.

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They can tag us, solve USA Pod on

X, or Solving America's Problems.

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on Instagram, Olga Solana.

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you so much for your time.

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Thank you for having us.

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. Jerremy: What did we learn, Dave?

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What did we learn?

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Dave: What did we learn?

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Jerremy: One thing that I

definitely learned is the rhetoric.

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The advertisement that come to America.

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We have everything that you want,

your dreams, the opportunity

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that's still very much alive and

probably has been and probably will

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continue to be for a very long time.

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This is another statement by

you that we as a country have.

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The best immigration policy process,

although it's still flawed and it's

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still archaic and still muddied at times,

comparatively, we're still nailing it.

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We're still doing quite well.

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And that brings me hope because there,

there can certainly be changes, there

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can certainly be shifts, and I think

Solana in this episode said that

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really the mindset probably could,

that could shift into is just one of.

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Abundance, one of opportunity,

one of prosperity.

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One that saying, Hey,

there's plenty to go around.

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There's more than enough.

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We can figure this out.

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It's okay for us to do that, right?

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It's okay for us to go, Hey,

listen, we need more immigrants.

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We want more people.

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This is going to be something that's gonna

provide more versus take away from, right?

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That scarcity mindset of if immigrants

come into this nation, then.

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If Americans aren't gonna have any

jobs, I think you need to be worried

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a lot more about robots and AI taking

your jobs than you do immigrants.

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That's actually happening for sure.

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So we need to continue

to figure out a way.

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To build together, to create

more, to scale more, to entertain

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more, to have more, right.

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That's really the mindset of abundance,

and I think that the right people

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in place, the right policy changes,

the right metrics and the right

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discussions, the right stories, the

right conversations and communications,

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I think would create space for that.

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And I also learned that in probably

about six of our overall general topics.

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Police reform being one of them, and

now immigration, that it's the legal

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process that is one of the largest

bottlenecks and probably the thing

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that needs to get solved the fastest.

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What did you learn DC.

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Dave: I learned that

immigrants are tough as nails.

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They're.

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Bad asses.

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Jerremy: Bad.

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Dave: I hear people complaining

about their coffee, right?

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And the hoops, the bureaucracy the fear.

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I don't think that the vast

majority of people, certainly

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the vast majority of Americans.

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Would put up with any of that.

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If we had anything that we had to

do as native born Americans, that

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was a of what immigrants have to go

through, we would lose our minds.

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There would be riots in the streets.

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Every politician would be thrown

out like it would be bedlam.

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And we kept on going and we did it.

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I am blown away about,

their bravery and the grit.

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And I don't think that story is

heard about immigrants because

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their story is not unique.

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Their story is pretty typical,

even easier in some ways.

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One of the big things I've

learned through this series is.

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America is so good at this

and equally awful at it.

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And the immigrants who go through

this process and become American

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citizens are like super citizens.

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Like they are patriotic

and they are proud.

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And they are strong and they're tough.

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And like they come here and they

succeed over and over again.

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That's what I learned,

like it sucks and they are.

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Amazing.

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Just truly amazing.

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Jerremy: That part I do love.

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Yeah.

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When, if you come here and

most people come here, I think

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Phila brought this point.

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They come here, they really wanna be here.

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They probably good chance

they're risking their life.

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Or, danger, physical danger 'cause it's

not easy to get here from another nation,

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FYI, so it's probably gonna be very hard.

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They wanna be here.

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You mentioned this in another place,

they had to skip all the other countries

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that they could have easily gone to.

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It probably would be

almost if not as safe.

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They're skipping them.

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They just go, they keep going.

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They keep walking through

all the different countries

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and borders to get here.

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So the people that do make it

really wanna be here, and they're

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not gonna give it up easily.

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And so they're gonna try, they're

gonna produce, they're gonna provide,

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they're gonna create, and they're really

going to be a bedrock of this nation.

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They're gonna be your school teachers.

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Janitors, they're gonna be

your construction workers.

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They're gonna be your individuals

that are building this country from

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the inside out, the people that we

might not give a lot of credit to

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they're gonna win because they have to.

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It's no longer a for them, it becomes a

must, and that must becomes a standard,

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and that standard dictates their life.

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I also learned, Dave, that I think

that we got some solutions, man.

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I think we're getting to a point where

a lot of immigrants really like the

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idea, and I do as well along with the

immigration attorney, like some type

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of checklist credit, credit score esque

type of approach where it's like proof

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to us have the system in place that you

can, build live here, maintain, create.

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It's trackable.

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It's 2025, right?

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Like we can easily build something that's

trackable, that's replicatable, that's

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easy, that's simple to install, that

people can willingly sign up for and be a

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part of where they can pay into a system.

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They can be a part of the system

where we do make it faster, easier,

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quicker to be a citizen here.

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Dave: So our.

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This is our final episode.

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We'll have a wrap up.

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That'll be our next one from this.

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But I want you thinking about this.

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Okay, this is my thought experiment

between now and when we do

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our, what did we, our overall,

what did we learn in this?

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Because I keep hearing this

one thing, which is, it was

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hard and I'm better from it.

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I'm curious on the solution side, if.

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' cause we've also heard, it's

oh, let's make it easier.

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Let's make it faster.

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Let's make it, and I'm wondering if no.

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We keep it hard, we just take

all the stupid out of it.

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Like we keep, we pull out the

bureaucracy, we pull out the confusion

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and the fear and the uncertainty.

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But it, it's still hard, right?

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Like maybe it still is

this trial in a sense.

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I don't know if that's right or

not, but I wanna think about it.

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Because.

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There is some value to that.

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I don't know if maybe it's not fair.

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I don't know that's what

I'm gonna be thinking about.

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I ask that maybe you do too.

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Or maybe ask your lovely wife.

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Jerremy: In our next episode, ladies

and gentlemen, it's gonna be an absolute

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doozy where both Dave and myself discuss

are we removing the greatest gifts that

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immigrants give themselves, that America

gives them as well the challenge to

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create and the obstacle to become better.

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We'll see you in the next episode

of solving America's Problem.

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About the Podcast

Solving America's Problems
Solving America’s Problems isn’t just a podcast—it’s a journey. Co-host Jerremy Newsome, a successful entrepreneur and educator, is pursuing his lifelong dream of running for president. Along the way, he and co-host Dave Conley bring together experts, advocates, and everyday Americans to explore the real, actionable solutions our country needs.

With dynamic formats—one-on-one interviews, panel discussions, and more—we cut through the noise of divisive rhetoric to uncover practical ideas that unite instead of divide. If you’re ready to think differently, act boldly, and join a movement for meaningful change, subscribe now.