Hello, I'm Zeke, and welcome to The Zekely Podcast. Let's talk, Pennsylvania. The guest I have today lives in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, and is proof that you don't have to be a career politician to have a political voice. She's a nurse, a mom, an advocate, and the woman behind PA Moms for Change. Thank you so much for being here, Brittney Pagone.

I’m Zeke, a doctor, a Pennsylvanian and unapologetic supporter of Democratic values. You might have seen me on social media working my ass off for Democrats and meeting some pretty amazing people along the way - like President Barack Obama and Governor Josh Shapiro.

For years, I’ve knocked thousands of doors all over Pennsylvania and poured my heart and soul into supporting candidates and causes that make a difference—from local school board races to national elections. The personal is political, and I take every election in Pennsylvania personally.

Where the mainstream media has failed you, I will give you truth and independence. You’ll hear from Democratic leaders, candidates, and change-makers who are working to improve the health of the Commonwealth, and it won’t be boring as hell.

No matter where you are, I’ll meet you with hope and a plan to make your community better one day at a time. Welcome to the Zekely Podcast. Let’s talk Pennsylvania.

Thank you for having me.

Absolutely. Brittney, I remember

the first time we've only met once in person, and it was in Pittsburgh at a rally for Biden before he dropped out. And Jill Biden was there. And I turn around and you're there. I mean, we had been vibing on social media and you're posting on Twitter and and you know, Instagram and all I turn and you're there with your newborn. Like you had your newborn kid there. It was insane. And it was such a great time.

It was fun. I feel like it it just feels so long ago and I was just in that mindset, like fresh postpartum, and I'm like, how did we do all of this? But it's yeah. yeah. That was

Yeah. I don't know, but I'll tell you what, those were great times. I mi I miss

those days, Brittney. And I'm just so happy we can have this face to face again because we do so much together on social

Right. Yes.

media from far away, but we don't actually talk that often. And so we're gonna play some games, learn all about you and how it's funny. You ready?

Right. Okay.

All right. Yeah, let's do it.

Brittney, back in college, you were involved in Greek life, and eventually you

I was.

became president of your sorority, and you are actually still an advisor for your chapter to this day. So, how has being involved in a sorority helped you with handling politics?

Ugh, I think it, you know, a lot of people have opinions about Greek life. I will say that I did go to a small school, Allegheny College. It's up in it's in Meadville, so like 45 minutes south of like Erie.

just having like leadership roles, I think, helped me to learn important skills. Like just I don't know, just being like professional and like

knowing when to say things and like when to not. I feel like Greek life brought that to me. And, you know, 'cause there is some politics when you're in Greek life. There's other chapters, you know, it's like

Yeah. Mm-hmm.

obviously a little different than what we are experiencing now. But,

would have never like if you would have told me though when I was in college that I would be doing this, I would laugh at you and be like, no,

Yeah.

because I hated politics. I was someone who and I know that's a very privileged thing to say. but you know, I grew up a little bit in a bubble and I I had friends in college that were poli sci majors and they would talk politics all the time and it

drove me crazy and it's really funny how I've like morphed into into what I am now, but it's very cool.

Yeah, now I bet I bet if you ever see

your your sisters now you can talk to all those polypsci majors and really, you know,

talk the ears off.

yeah.

Well, it's funny because every once in a while I'll notice like new followers or I'll notice DMs and I have a

Yeah.

fair amount of my sorority sisters who follow me and they were like, my gosh, I thought that was you. It

Uh-huh.

is you, you know? It's really funny. So yeah.

That's amazing. Well, you were

able to handle the drama during the sorority days, and now you can handle the drama of politics at present day. Well, that's amazing.

Well, we're gonna play beer pong politics, okay? A

Yes. Exactly. gosh.

classic drinking game, 10 cups, 10 questions. No drinking required in this game, though. You can have your tea. You can have your

live tea.

your tea. That's fine. This is gonna be rapid fire, okay? So you gotta come at me quick. All right. When governor Josh Shapiro says he's a GSD governor, what does that mean?

Get shit done.

There you go. How many

years have Republicans been in control of the state Senate in Pennsylvania?

Too long. wasn't it nineteen ninety three was like the last time we had, right? For the yeah.

Yeah, over thirty years. Yeah, over

thirty years. What is the current minimum wage in Pennsylvania?

I should know this. Is it eight seventy five or seven seventy? It's something. seven twenty five. Why did I think it was eight seventy five? Bad. It is not high enough. The answer.

Seven dollars and twenty-five cents. Yeah. I don't know, you're inflating it. Does fully fund it is not high enough. Does

does fully funding public schools increase or decrease your property taxes? Very good. Who became

Decrease. Yeah.

the first black woman in Pennsylvania history to become Speaker of the State House? Absolutely, Democrat. who recently

Joanna McClinton. Yeah.

became the first Latino state senator in Pennsylvania history?

Give me a hint. Is it a man or a woman?

It's a man.

James Mull wait. Really? I did not know that about him. Huh. He I did not know that. All right. Well that's even more impressive. That yeah. That area.

You got it. Yeah, James Malone. Yeah. Yeah, there you go. You got it. Woo. You pulled that out of n yeah. Democrat. I know. Amazing. Okay.

By how many seats do the Democrats control the Pennsylvania state house?

isn't it two right now? Yeah. Right? Yes. Yes.

It is two right now. Shout out to Brandon Dukes, right? Who just won the special election last month. Amazing.

okay, here two more or three more. as attorney general, how many cases did Josh Shapiro successfully win in regard to the twenty twenty election?

lot. I don't like forty something. Okay, that's kind of what I was thinking, but yeah.

He did. Forty three. All forty three of them he won.

All forty three.

How many seats do Democrats need to gain to flip the Pennsylvania state Senate on November third?

So flip it completely three. Yes.

That's right. If

Pennsylvania has a Democratic majority in the state Senate, state house, and a Democratic governor, what is that call, Brittney? Try fucking Fecta. And we're gonna get it this November third. Well, we're gonna get it.

Democratic trifecta. Yes. We are. This is the year to do it. Yep. If there was ever

a time it's this year. We have the momentum

That's right.

Well, thanks for playing beer pong politics

So yeah.

with me. You can tell your sorority sisters about that, okay?

That was a game that I was never good at. So I

Yeah, me neither.

was more of a flip cut person.

yeah, that's a that's a good one too. That's a good one too.

Brittney, like me, you are a former Republican.

You were raised in a very conservative family. You had Fox News on constantly, and your mom and grandma would listen to Rush Limba with you in the car. How

In the car.

did becoming a nurse make you question things about politics?

you know, seeing different people and taking care of them and learning about their lives, like

hearing their stories about how hard it is to get help when they're really struggling. Like I it opened my eyes a lot and I was like, wow, this is really

Different than what I was like brought up to believe. And I was like, wow, like these systems that we have to try to help people, like aren't actually super helpful to people. Like it's really hard for people to

stabilize themselves. so

I would say here in Pittsburgh, we have a really we have really bad statistics in Allegheny County with black moms.

and their health outcomes and like working in the NICU here, I definitely saw that. And you know, that just added to it. I'm like, this is not okay. Like we need to fix this. Like actually seeing like the inequities in healthcare was really yeah like it got me fired up and opened my eyes. So

you know, the way that this administration has handled health care and public health is just absolutely insane. Yeah.

I know, I know. It's atrocious. They're not

handling it. They're they're br they're kicking it on the floor and just beating it to death. They're not they're not handling it at all.

Yes. Right.

Do you find that anyone in your family who used to really, you know, talk a lot in that conservative fashion, seeing what you do and your experiences, have they kind of come over to the democratic side at all? There's still very much a divide in your family.

you know, there is a divide and there's the other people in my family that I don't think will ever change their minds. But I'm lucky that I have I have three younger sisters and

Mm-hmm.

we're all huge Democrats. Which, you know,

Good. Love it.

makes some people, you know, mad. But

I will say that doing this work and like being vocal about things.

There are certain people in my family that know better to like

they know not to say things in front of me because they know that I'll fight back.

yeah. yeah. No. Yeah,

yeah, you definitely can't you can't let people get away with that kind of shit. But but Brittney, you're an amazing person, you're an amazing

Right. Yeah. Thank you.

nurse, and you're a better nurse because you are a democrat and you have those democratic values. You're welcome.

Thank you. That's what I

yeah. There's there's nurses are a tough crowd, you know. There's

They are.

we're very diverse in in many ways, but you know, in political views it

Yeah. Mm-hmm.

Well, we're gonna get to that. And we're gonna get to that. So stay tuned, okay? gonna we're gonna get to that.

it can be Yeah. Yes. Okay.

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Brittney Measles cases in Pennsylvania and around the country are on the rise due to vaccine hesitancy, which is being amplified by Trump, his cabinet, and Republican politicians at all levels of government, including in Pennsylvania. But thankfully, thankfully we have Governor Josh Shapiro who trusts the science.

But what do you think we can do as healthcare providers to convince people that vaccines are safe and effective?

it's a a tough battle to try to get through to some people. but for those who are not completely over to that side of things, I think just like

Yeah.

trying to educate people, and that's what I try to do on my platform, especially with these kinds of things. Like, I really try to educate people and say, like, these are the facts, you know?

Yeah.

We know that they're safe. We know that they're effective. We have had vaccines. Some of these vaccines have been around for decades. Like the measles vaccine

I know.

Mm-hmm. Yeah.

It's well studied. We know that it is safe and effective. And the fact that, you know, the numbers of people vaccinating their kids with it are just slipping and it

it's mind-boggling. And then we have this outbreak and it's just

It's terrible. It's terrible. I know.

yeah. I think education is key.

but there are definitely some people that are a little bit harder to educate than others. And I mean, you know that from working in healthcare. Like it's yeah, like

I do. I do. It's very frustrating. I mean, I think at

this point, at this point, you know, for people who lived through a pandemic, right? Who who saw the death, you know, that was there. And now seeing cases of measles rise and all this, I don't think you can reach some people with facts. I think honestly, you know, the stance of being anti-vax is rooted in selfishness.

and I think that's kind of what we have to focus on. I don't th I'm not saying I'm good at it. I I don't think I'm good at reaching those people, but I think we have to find out why they feel so selfish and kind of chip away at that. I don't know, maybe it's fear, maybe it's lack of trust with the medical profession. Yeah, I don't know. You know,

I think there's a lot of fear, yeah. Yeah.

I I

just think it's one thing to not care if you die from a preventable illness, but it's another to not care if someone else dies. Right. Like I think that to me is the selfish part. Like if you if

Yes.

you don't care if you die or not, okay. I I understand that, I guess, but

Right.

To not

care if other people die around you, that's where the selfishness comes in.

you know, public health is like a team sport. Like we need

Yeah.

everyone to care. Like it's not like you can just make decisions and not impact

Right.

other people. That's not how it works.

All right.

And people, yeah, people just don't wanna understand or I don't know. Yeah, there's

No, I think

you hit I think you hit it on the nose. When you're in a community, you have to care about other people and that for means you have to be unselfish to live in a community, right? And so I think that's what we have to get the core of. We have to get the core of the selfishness that is going on in

Yes.

this country.

Doesn't help that we have like one of the most selfish people in charge right now. You know?

Yeah, it does not help at all,

Brittney. Not not one bit.

Britney, why are you a Democrat?

I feel like I've never agreed with the ideals of the Republican Party. I feel like I was kind of like tricked into, you

Yeah.

know, being part of it. I remember like I turned 18 and I, you know, registered and I was like, I'm a Republican because that's what my parents were. And it's just like, Why? Why?

Yeah. Mm-hmm.

yeah, I think a lot of what speaks to me from like our platform is just like things like accessible and affordable healthcare, things like,

Women having a, you know,

autonomy over their own bodies, like kids

Yeah.

going to schools no matter where they are, like they should all have a high quality school.

I would say the crux of it I think is just like being a huge empath and caring about a lot of people.

Yeah, no, I think that's great.

I mean, look, when like Maya Angelou said, when you know better, you do better. And

Mm. Mm-hmm.

I'm just glad that we share those same democratic values and we're working on this together in Pennsylvania. Thank goodness.

Yeah, yes,

Brittney, what do you say to people who think medical providers should just stay in their lane?

I've told people like being a nurse is political.

There's a lot

Yeah.

of p any any healthcare professional, like

if you can't look at

your job and realize that there's ties to politics,

you need to do some self-reflection. Just because, you know, like the food insecurity and like,

I totally agree. Yeah.

yeah, there's so many inequities and healthcare with like racial

Yeah.

disparities and stuff, like there's there's so much that ties to politics and

There there are a lot of I will say there are a lot of nurses that do not look at it that way and it it frustrates me. and

Yeah, yeah.

I don't know how to get them

to,

realize that. And again, it's just

I know.

like trying to educate people

Yeah, no, I look, I'm totally aware that there are people within the medical field who are very good at their jobs from from a procedural standpoint, providing medical care, and yet they support Trump and conservative

Yeah. Yeah.

policies. But honestly, Brittney, I don't think those people are living the human experience. you know, I I've seen medical providers do amazing things.

but there are other things in the world that can do marvelous acts that don't feel anything. And those are called machines. You know, you know, they

Okay. Yeah.

they're tools. They don't have any awareness. They can't love, they can't feel anything, they can't think for themselves. You know, they have to have someone program them. And so I think you and I choose not to be a machine, you know, to to live the human experience fully, and that requires you to feel things, you know, and and when I feel pain or someone else's, that requires action. And I think we both agree that's our lane.

Our lane is the action to our pain and someone else's pain. So yeah, I think people who don't realize that are not living the true human experience. And I hope that they get there someday.

Brittney, we're gonna play switching lanes, okay? I wanna know if you weren't a nurse and you woke up as one of these professions, what would you do? Okay. If you woke up tomorrow and you were you were a real estate magnate, what would you do?

I don't know I if I if I was like buying able to buy up a bunch of stuff.

Yeah, I mean you are you are you let's say you like own half of Manhattan, okay? Like you're

Yeah.

j you wake up tomorrow and you realize you are a gazillionaire because of because of real estate. What what

Yeah. Right.

what's what are you gonna do?

I mean, I would try to make like affordable housing for people and, you know, give people a place to live where they could

be struggling and make sure it wasn't like a dump. I feel like that's right. Yeah. Wouldn't be like

You wouldn't jack up their you wouldn't jack up their rates and, you know, do all do all that kind of stuff.

was it? They call him like a slum slum lord or whatever.

Slight

yeah, you wouldn't you wouldn't be like the Jeffrey Yaz wherever you are and just, you know, try and help all the Republican politicians get elected. You wouldn't do that? No? Well good. I'm

Yeah.

I'm happy to hear that. Good. All right. What about if tomorrow you woke up and you were the CEO of a news station, a very large news station?

I really hate what has happened to CBS.

Yeah.

So Barry Weiss is from Pittsburgh, she's an embarrassment to us.

it's terrible. She's terrible. Yeah. Mm-hmm.

so I would take it in the other direction and I would

Yeah.

just be like, we're going really liberal here, really progressive. Yeah. You did not. That's what I was yeah.

perfect. Perfect. And I I I didn't prep you with any of these these props. Okay, so you're you're just falling right into the lane I'd

like you to fall into. Okay, here's the last one. You wake up tomorrow as a pop icon.

I'm thinking yeah. Yeah.

Like Taylor Swift Beyonce level icon, Brittney Pagone.

I mean, I would donate tons of money like those women do, to causes, you know,

probably a lot of women and children. just because that's like

my career at the bedside was like with

Mm-hmm.

that. schools, yeah, like I would I would donate a ton of money.

I feel like you'd be a Dolly Parton. Okay, you'd be you'd be a Dolly Parton, okay? May she rest in peace.

Yes. She yeah. Sh I'm so very upset

She was one and only, you know. She she really was.

She yeah, truly one of a kind,

like one of the best humans. Yeah. Like ha yeah. I would try to do

Mm-hmm.

donations to all of those kinds of things. But yeah, and just trying to speak out my

Good. Yeah. They wouldn't be vandalizing your star on on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

I I sometimes I get the TikTok videos of like Trump's star that's constantly being vandalized and it's

Hm. Yes.

falling apart. And then Dolly Parton's star which had like flowers around it and everything. I mean, it's just, I know. Ugh, we lost a good one.

That's okay.

We lost a good one. Well, I'm glad. You would do all good things if you had a

Yes.

ridiculous amount of money. So good job, Brittney. Good job.

Brittney, back in August, Governor Shapiro signed an executive order to remove AI data center projects from Pennsylvania's permit fast track program and impose new transparency and community requirements. And the governor's office literally used your words when promoting its new data center policy. That's amazing.

I saw that the other day. I was like, huh, all right.

Yeah, that's awesome.

I mean,

I'm very thankful that he did that.

because like no one else has done that across the country. Like no one else has tried to put in guidelines like that, restrictions. and it, you know, it gives power back to the people, like the people of Pennsylvania. They can go locally, which many people have been, locally to their towns and saying, like, we don't want this. And

Yeah.

if that's what they're doing, then

They're not gonna get the permitting. Like they're not gonna be able

Right.

to

to make them. So I truly appreciated

that whole like announcement that like made my day when that came

Yeah.

out. Just because it's like it's such a big deal and it's such a bipartisan issue. Like people from all ideologies are like, we don't want these data centers. So

Yeah. Well, I mean,

if you're not in elected office, it might be bipartisan, but in the actual state legislature in Pennsylvania, the Republicans

Yes.

are not passing shit. The the Republicans

Right.

who control the state senate, they're not clamoring over themselves to

yeah.

pass anything, even though the state house controlled by the Democrats have. So yeah, it is not bipartisan when the rubber meets the road in Harrisburg. But I I am grateful that Shapiro did something

Right here. Yes.

and you know, because Stacy Garrety, the side my

yeah, she would just

sh crazy

You know, she is right cozyed up with Trump

Mm-hmm.

and she you know, Trump loves data centers. He's constantly,

Mm-hmm.

you know, posting on Truth Social, you know, air quotes Truth Social about data

Well, yeah.

centers and you know, Stacy Garrety would totally just let them do whatever they wanted in Pennsylvania if she won. But she's not gonna win. She's not gonna win. Governor Josh Pierre's gonna win again.

For sure. No. no.

I think he's gonna wipe the floor with her. But

Yeah.

honestly, I mean, this issue with data centers,

it's even more reason we need that trifecta. Because if we would get it, then the state senate

a hundred percent. Mm-hmm.

could actually,

you know, get

Pass laws, yeah.

some legislation. And that's

That's something that a lot of people don't understand. And I had a thread about

the governor's doing what he can in the executive branch of like PA

Yeah.

government. He's using what he, you know, his his power that he has to try to in,

you know, influence this piece.

Yeah.

But like if we would get the trifecta, then we could do something with the legislative piece. Cause he he

Right.

himself cannot just be like,

No data centers ever. You know, like he ha we would have to have legislation for some more of the like

bigger actions that some people would like to see. So

Yeah. Yeah.

and that's I tell people in my comments, I'm like, I better see you out there helping get a state senator, like flip a seat.

Yeah.

So

And then who knows, when they write a law, they might be putting your verbiage in that as well. So stay tuned.

No, no.

We will see. But

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Brittney, your master's work at Thomas Jefferson focused on improving sepsis outcomes through data analytics.

has that work helped you with your messaging when you have to take something complicated, translate it, and make ordinary people care?

Yes, because so my master's is in nursing informatics. And so yeah, that was like my capstone. basically when you work as like a clinical informatics nurse, you are the translator between

doctors and nurses and anyone in healthcare that's using the computer and the people who build and like code everything. And

Mm-hmm.

so yeah, like being in that.

role. You just you learn how to break stuff down so you can explain it to like both sides and try to like work with them and get projects done. So I would yeah, I would definitely say that my, you know, education and my experience working in informatics definitely helps with like trying to pare things down.

It's just yeah. Yeah.

Well, I'm glad. I mean, it's obviously serving you well because when you talk to

people who don't understand these somewhat complex, nuanced political issues, you can you can lay it out for them. And you that's why people are listening to you. Now you're doing a great job.

We're gonna play a game called messaging, okay? I don't know

Right. I try my best. Thanks. Okay.

if you follow Joshua Doss online. He's a content creator, and and he made a great post about messaging and how to frame

Mm. Mm-hmm.

it. And he said, in order for a message to be effective, you need to do four things, okay?

You need to define the problem, present

Mm-hmm.

an alternative vision of the future if the problem was solved, detail policies that achieve the vision, and then articulate the plan to enact the vision. So I'm gonna give you some problems. Okay, I'm gonna give you one, and you're gonna give me the other three parts. And I can remind you what they are if you forget, okay? Okay, that's fine.

I was gonna say you have to remind me 'cause my brain

So here's the first problem. Okay, child care costs way too much in Pennsylvania.

yeah.

Okay, so.

Present an alternative vision in the future if it was solved. What's your al what's if you could fix it? What would be what was your vision?

If I could fix it, I would make more childcare centers to you know, so that they're more accessible and then obviously more affordable because the costs

More affordable.

are too high. And then yeah, the the workers in the childcare centers definitely need

more resources, like I don't know, like better pay and things to keep them there. Cause that's I know that's

Mm-hmm. Yeah.

like a struggle too.

Yeah. And so let's what what are some policies that might achieve that vision?

I'm assuming we could do stuff with the budget and try to allocate money for you

Mm-hmm. Right, right, right.

know, you can make like a program where you

put

more childcare facilities

Mm-hmm.

in the areas that really need them. I

Right.

f I don't know. You'd have to like look at the statistics and see like who

Yeah. Right.

but yeah, like pass some bills,

Pass some bills.

you know, related to that. Yeah.

Right. And you have to give maybe tax breaks to people in Pennsylvania. So that the tax credits and all that, right? Okay. Now

Yes. Yeah, the tax credits. Yeah, that's always a good thing. Yep.

four, how do you enact that vision? How are you going to get those things?

I feel like we need to expand the house and let the Senate get that trifecta if we're ever gonna do it. So yes, yeah. 'Cause it's yeah. Yes.

I feel like I I feel like you're there you go, right? There you go. Okay. We need the trifecta to get that stuff done, right? Great.

Okay. You just dude one, two, three, four. Okay. Here's another one.

Phew.

In twenty nineteen, a law was passed in Pennsylvania that if you were the victim of child abuse in Pennsylvania, you could sue your abuser for justice up until the age of fifty-five. However, before twenty nineteen, it was only up to the age of thirty.

two, what's an alternative vision to solve that problem?

Well, how would we we would need to go about like changing that law?

Okay.

you should be able to like get justice no matter how old you are. That's insane. So

There you go. Right. Okay.

but yeah, and again, it's like, how are you gonna achieve that though? I mean, the people who are

How are you gonna achieve it?

currently in office, you know, some of the people, the Democrats are, you know, trying to push for this, but I don't see Republicans trying to help. So more reason for that trifecta. Yep.

Mm-hmm. Right. Right. They don't. So we need the we need the trifecta, right? Yeah, we

need the trifecta because Governor Josh Shapiro has begged people to pass a law to address this very big problem, right? We have child abuse victims who want justice. And I had Katie Muth on as my previous guest, and

Yes.

she said it's terrible listening to the victims in Pennsylvania who cannot get justice. And so

Can't yeah, I can imagine. Yeah.

Get the trifecta, get more Democrats, they will pass policies to get that done.

Here's the last one.

you can be arrested in Pennsylvania for partaking in recreational marijuana. That's the problem. Okay. What would be the future in your mind?

that we legalize that. Legalize recreational marijuana.

Okay, fine. So that's okay,

so that people are not being arrested for that. Okay, fine. So what is a detailed policy that we could do for that? What would you need to do?

we need to pass some bills about that in the House and the Senate. And

Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.

the House has done that, right? Like multiple times. But the Senate just will not yeah. Senate here will

It has done that. Why has the house done that? Why has it done that? Because

not get on board. So yeah, we gotta get that trifecta. Get the people up.

There you go. That's number four. We need the trifecta

because Democrats have already passed multiple laws

Yeah.

to legalize recreational marijuana. And you know, Republicans say that they'll do it sometimes, but they always tie it to voter suppression laws, right?

Mm-hmm.

I mean, they literally would not pass a law to help child abuse victims unless

It's

it was tied to voter suppression laws. It's just it's just so disgusting. It's so disgusting. Yeah. I know it's it's gross.

It's so gross. Like, what is it? It's like, come on. I I I hate when they

do that. I hate when they like tie in things and like they do it at the federal level too. They're all like with the

Yeah. Yeah.

what

you call it? Reconciliation budget thing. Yeah. And you're like, can we not like so I

Yeah, the reconciliation bills. I know, it's terrible. I know.

All right. Well, we're going to use this messaging from now on and see how far we get, okay?

Yeah.

Yeah.

Brittney, sometimes social media can get pretty nasty. how do you deal with negative comments?

I try to not get too bothered by them. Just because half the time I'm like, I don't even know if you're a real person.

I

know. I I honestly assume that most people are bots and I just I'm very quick with my block hand. Like I'll just block people left and right.

Yeah, yes.

I like the blocking. I

I don't know. I try to give people a chance. I think it depends on like how negative it is. Like if it's

Yeah.

just like a little bit negative and just like constructive criticism or whatever, I'm like, whatever.

Yeah.

But yeah, when it's like calling me like the B word or worse or just like a lot of the R word sometimes I get on there. Yeah, no, they

Yeah, slurs. Yeah. Yeah. I know, I hate that.

instant block.

like block and restrict.

Yeah.

I do not feel bad about that.

Yeah.

But yeah, like a lot of times when I look at them, I'm like, I I'll like click on their profile and I'm like, you

I know.

have no posts, but you follow all these people and you have like five people that follow you. Like I I don't know if you're a real person.

I know.

I I honestly I I at least so I sleep at night, I like to believe that most of them are bots because they

Yeah.

just post the same thing over and over again. And yeah, I just feel like I want to try and create a safe space, like in my

Yes.

social media universe that I create for people.

Yes.

And so, you know, if a post I I make goes super viral or something, I can't keep up with like all the negative comments. But you

Mm-hmm. it's yeah.

know, if I if it's, you know, a couple hundred I try and go through and mill them out or something over time. And I find that

The more you block people, it actually goes down the number of negative comments you get. Like I don't get n I don't get nearly as much negative comments on TikTok as I used to. I would say Facebook actually right now is a hotbed. A hotbed right now when I post. Yeah.

Interesting. Yeah. Facebook. It's so bad. That's it. Mine

actually got messed up. I need to put in like a ticket or whatever, but my Instagram, I have like a Facebook connected to it and somehow it got

Mm-hmm.

unconnected.

which I'm kind of okay with right now because I've heard this

Yeah.

from other creators that Facebook is like really wild and like I mean I knew that

It's bad.

going into it, but

Well, protect your mental health, Brittney. You know, I 'cause I

yeah, that's it.

I mean I used to like go down and like argue with people back and forth you know, back I th I don't anymore. I don't anymore.

Mm. I still do that sometimes when I think they're a person. When I think I'm like,

I think you're not a bot. I'm gonna depending on my mood. But yeah.

Now yeah, most

of the I might post like a one liner or something every once in

Yeah.

a while, but honestly, like I just I I don't think that it's a good place to have a conversation on social media. You know, it's just like a one liner and it's just there's no nuance. It's whatever. So for me, social

It is not. Yes. Yeah, it's like short form. Yep. Short form content. Small. Yeah.

media is my message out to the universe. And if you want to like have a conversation, come find me or make your own page and make your own discourse, you know.

That's someone got all nasty with me a couple of weeks ago and they're like, Well, I don't want you telling me why I why or how I should support

someone in our state. And I'm like, Okay, but like make your own account then. Like I'm here to

Okay. All right, got Fuck off. Yeah, like make your own content.

promote Democrats. Like, get out of here then. You're on the wrong page. Yeah.

People are crazy. With our chest. With our with our chest, right?

That's right. No shame in our game.

But yeah.

Brittney, what gives you hope?

I mean going out on the doors the past couple weekends and talking to people and

hearing that they're on board to help get that trifecta gives me a lot of

Yeah.

hope. I would say that my kids give me a lot of hope though, too. Like,

I don't know, just knowing that we're pushing for a better world for them and just some of the things that my daughter says. She's like nine and

I feel like she realizes how wild things are. And we even try to like not talk about stuff in front of her. but

Yeah.

the vibes are changing. I f I feel like people are realizing that we're living in like the upside down and that

we need to really get it together and come together as a nation and say enough

Yeah.

in

you know this November but also like going into twenty twenty

you know, we're such a big swing state. I don't know about like where you live, but like where I live, it's very purple. So that definitely plays into it. So yeah. Yeah.

Yeah. I'm spoiled. I'm spoiled. I live in a very blue area in Montgomery County. So I want to

protect my democratic, you know, safety

Right.

net. but yeah, I'm sick and tired of Pennsylvania being a swing state. I'm sick of it. You know, we are the OG state, right? We are the original, the keystone state, and we should be leading

I know. We need to get blue. Yep. Yep.

the charge for protecting democracy. And so I I think that I think that, you know, this November third we're gonna do it again.

I agree.

Brittney, my last question for you is what are your plans to get you through these next few years in America?

I I don't know. I I am flying by the seat of my pants. You know, like and that's you have three kids too, right? Yeah.

I know. Yeah. I have three kids, yeah.

Like it it's just insanity. I'm just like, I I have like a to-do list for content and then I like a personal one. And I every day I'm just like, okay, what am I gonna do?

Yeah.

but yeah, I mean, I'm gonna keep fighting and

For me personally, like, you know, my youngest is two and she starts preschool next week, which is exciting. It's only a couple days a week for a couple hours, but like it's going to give me more time that I can try to dedicate to doing my work on, you know, PA moms for change. so I think that in these next couple years, like I'll have more time to dedicate to either doing content or like

Yeah.

going

out and volunteering or whatever however I can help.

I really do, like I said, like I do feel like the vibes are changing in our state. And I think people are angry. And I it's something that we can capitalize on. Like

Yeah.

as creators, I do think that that is becoming more obvious to like even some of the candidates. And like the PA Dems have been great about

connecting creators with, you know, people and information and it's really nice to see that. I think that gives me hope as well. because

it does feel like we're organizing better. Like I feel like we are rowing in the same direction. Like we are getting some, you know, I think

Yeah. Yeah. Mm-hmm.

we can definitely improve. We can always improve.

yeah.

I am gonna keep flying by the sea of my pants, but you know, I'm gonna try to be a little more organized and keep going. And, you know, it's been hard for me to think about like long term recently just because I'm so obsessed with like getting the trifecta and this whole measles thing has like

Yeah. I know.

I've been fixating on that. But I think we have a lot of a lot to look forward to in Pennsylvania.

I mean, look, people like you give me the energy that I need. people like Eugene

Water. Yeah.

Di Pasquale, who's doing an amazing job as a chair of the PA Dems. I mean, every election is the

Mm-hmm. Yes, he's great.

most important election. And you you hit the the nail on the head early when you said, let's focus on November third. Let's focus, let's get this done. Let's get the trifecta in Pennsylvania and show the rest of the the country that we can get shit done when we row

Yes.

in the same direction. Let's give Governor Josh Shapiro

Well, Brittney Pagone,

Yes, we will.

mother, nurse, social media influencer. I mean, you're such an amazing person. I wish we could see each other more often. I mean, Pennsylvania is so damn big. But it's good to see your face. It's good to hear your voice. I love collaborating with you on social media.

I know, that's it. Yes. Yes, likewise. Yeah.

And I just look forward to our relationship moving forward. I think we're gonna do

Thank you.

great messaging because.

Again, the mainstream media is failing this country and it is gonna take people like like us to really get out the truth, the truth and the messaging, and to get

Yep. Yes. Yeah.

people to get on the right page in history. So, Brittney, I I just

Hungary.

really appreciate you and I can't wait to celebrate with you in November.

Likewise, we're we're gonna do this. And we have

We're gonna do it.

so many good people. Pennsylvania has like an awesome group of creators. We're gonna

Yes.

do it.

And you're one of them. And if you don't follow Brittney already, she is at PA Mom's 4 Change, the number 4 change on Instagram. So go check her out.

Yep.

Thank you.

Well, thank you so much for joining me here on the Zeekly Podcast. Stay hopeful and get involved. And until next time, let's keep building a stronger Pennsylvania together.