In this impromptu solo episode of Taboo Talk with Sarah, Sarah Jordan-Ross reflects on a powerful insight shared by a recent guest, Tyler Schwab of Libertas International. What unfolds is a thoughtful and provocative exploration of how cultural context shapes what we react to—and what we overlook. From mass shootings and media numbness to reclaiming meaningful outrage, this episode asks: What are we really offended by, and is it the right stuff?
✔️ Cultural Contrast in Reactions – Why Australians and Americans get offended by very different things
✔️ Numbing Through Repetition – How frequent exposure to violence dulls our ability to feel it
✔️ Selective Outrage – Challenging what we normalize vs. what we react to
✔️ Historical Context of Gun Control in Australia – A reminder of the post-Port Arthur reforms and their impact
✔️ Language, Intent & Impact – Why the words we use matter, but so do our actions
🗣️ “We get numb to the things we see all the time.”
🗣️ “Maybe we should start getting offended by things that are actually worth being offended by.”
🗣️ “Just something to think about—where are we getting our knickers in a twist when it really isn’t that important?”
⏱️ 00:00 – Intro & unexpected solo episode
⏱️ 01:00 – A survivor’s insight: Australians vs. Americans on offense
⏱️ 03:00 – Recalling Australia’s rare mass shootings & gun amnesty
⏱️ 06:45 – Guns, rights, and historical context
⏱️ 09:00 – The F-word vs. the real problems
⏱️ 11:20 – When are we offended—and why does it matter?
⏱️ 13:00 – Final reflections & an invitation to dialogue
💬 Join the conversation—What are YOU truly offended by? And is it the thing that really deserves your voice, your energy, your action?
💜 Share this episode with someone who’s feeling overwhelmed by the world and needs a moment of reflection.
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Sarah Jordan-Ross (00:00) Hey everyone, welcome back to Taboo Talk with Sarah, the podcast that fosters hope, breaks silences and talks about tough stuff so you never have to feel alone. Now, I was scheduled to do an interview now, but I'm thinking there's been a bit of a time conversion issue. But I thought seeing as I'm sitting here anyway, I may as well take the opportunity to talk to you.
Partly because an interview that I did recently for an upcoming episode got me thinking. Now Tyler who rescues people out of out of sex trade and out of slavery does some amazing work with Libertas International but he said he told me something that one of his survivors talked about with him.
and she's now living in Australia. And it was, Australians. Americans get really upset about the use of a certain swear word. I'm pretty sure you can figure out which one.
Australians don't care so much if you use that word. They don't get offended by it. But what they do get offended by is mass shootings and school shootings. And it got me thinking. Yeah, it's all a matter of perspective, but also of what your experience has been. And as Tyler added, you are so used to seeing.
that kind of violence happening that you've kind of become numb to it. Where here in Australia, we haven't had a mass shooting incident in a very long time. In fact, in my lifetime, I'm nearly 50. I can only remember three.
There was the Hottel Street massacre that happened in Melbourne. There was the Milpera massacre in Sydney. And there was Port Arthur in Tasmania. Now they're the only mass shootings I remember. But what I also remember is Australia having a huge gun amnesty and everybody who didn't need to have one, who didn't have a legitimate reason,
to have a firearm, handed them back in to police no questions asked.
and we tightened up our gun laws so that now unless you've got a darn good reason to have one, you don't get to have one. Now, okay, that does not take care of the black market. And yes, we still have things or we have more of an issue with knives down than with guns, but we're gonna... And again, we don't have that pesky little amendment to...
the constitution that gives everybody the right to. But my thought on that one is I'm pretty sure the founding fathers were not thinking machine guns in cars mowing down children in drive-by shootings or people taking a weapon into a school and opening fire.
They were thinking the right to defend your own property and your own person.
That's maybe just something to think about of the things that we get annoyed about, the things that we argue about. Maybe we should stop and think if they are things that are worth getting offended and upset about.
as in the earlier example of using particular swear words. my kids will tell you if I drop an F-bomb, they think the world is ending. If they were to ever hear that other word come out of my mouth, they'd probably be stunned. But the reason for that is that I use expletives very sparingly and with a purpose. So they get the impact that they're meant to.
And because they don't hear it all the time, that is what shocks them. And that tends to be how we do most things. Those things that we see happening all the time, we get numb to them. It's only when something is brought to our attention that it's not like that everywhere or that it doesn't have to be that way that we start thinking about it. Just...
my two cents and something to think about. Where are we getting offended rightly? And where are we getting our knickers in a twist when it really isn't that important? And maybe we should start focusing on getting annoyed about the things that are worth being annoyed about and looking at those things that offend us and are they.
worth being offended by and if you are offended by them what are going to do about it? I would love to hear anyone's thoughts and comments on that and until next time take care of yourself take care of each other and please keep sharing your stories and your ideas because they really do matter.