A Day in the Life of Marlon Bundo

A children's book, written by John Oliver, about Mike Pence's bunny wanting to get gay bunny married. Mike Pence, as a stink bug, is displeased.

So, like the Anti-Racist Baby book and the “this is the Buddha” board book, this is one of those heavy agenda books where I feel self-conscious just kinda gracelessly promoting my values. I mean, yeah. I'm the parent. I will be explicitly and implicitly promoting my values for the next 18+ years. But I do feel like these books should be “showing” more, “telling” less. So being like, here's this stink bug, named after a politician who will probably be dead or like 90+ by the time you're voting, and he was an asshole, about this thing that people cared about a lot back in my day, but is now much more normal... It just seems like: outdated? Like the corduroy bellbottoms of “progressive” messaging? I just imagine (and hope) that my kid will roll their eyes and be like “yeah mom okay I know”. What would I feel like, reading a book like this about, say, how Henry Kissinger was an asshole? It just feels like this stuff will - and I really hope it will - be ancient history by the time my kids are of voting age.

I know, I know. Some of America's bullshit - racism, the patriarchy, homophobia - has been going on forever, for generations upon generations. That is so depressing. And so maybe, in 18 years, my kids will be facing the same bullshit homophobia that Mike Pence traffics in. I sincerely hope not. But I also kind of... optimistically think not? Like, just in the last 20 years, the whole “renegotiation of gender” (using Howard Dean's words - heya, there's another old timey politician, eh) what with the 2013 Supreme Court decision re: gay marriage, the #MeToo movement, and the growing visibility and acceptance of transgender folks, a lot has changed! In my lifetime! Like, when I was 15, being gay or lesbian was very progressive and different (and, in some parts of America, lethally dangerous). Corporate pride parades would have been unfathomable to me. So I do really hope - and expect! - my kids to be facing a very different and better gender world.

Anyway, with all that ADULT SOCIO-POLITICAL BAGGAGE out of the way, this is a kids book! How does my kid actually like it! So I think the illustrations are gorgeous, and this has actually been in heavy rotation for the last couple weeks.