Kimberly Carpenter received a complimentary text recently from a dear friend.

“Congratulations on running the whole country. Good for you guys!” her friend wrote.

She was referring to Republican vice-presidential nominee J.D. Vance’s disparaging comments about “childless cat ladies” taking over the country. Carpenter, who works in insurance operations in St. Louis, is childless and a proud cat owner. Her immediate response was to laugh at Vance’s idiotic commentary, but she also found it deeply hurtful.

CNN reported that Vance has a long history of offensive commentary about people without children. He’s called Democratic leaders “childless sociopaths” who “don’t have a direct stake in this country.” While running for senator in 2021, his campaign sent fundraising emails referring to the “radical childless leaders in this country.” This was after his appearance on “Tucker Carlson Tonight,” during which he said, “We are effectively run in this country via the Democrats, via our corporate oligarchs, by a bunch of childless cat ladies who are miserable at their own lives and the choices that they’ve made and so they want to make the rest of the country miserable, too.”

He has since tried to back off the comments, which have elicited the ire of millions of potential voters, including typically nonpolitical celebrities like Jennifer Aniston. In a recent interview with Megyn Kelly, he said he was referring to Democrats as “anti-family,” adding that he doesn’t have anything against cats.

Vance may not have anything against cats, but he has a serious problem with women. His worldview bases the value of a woman on her ability and desire to reproduce. Vance, who converted to Catholicism, may be appealing to a base that shares the ideology that women belong at home raising children -- but this extreme view is far removed from the reality and values of most people.

All of us know someone who is childless -- either by choice or circumstance. Women who struggle with infertility or those who have not met the right partners or those who want to dedicate their lives to careers and communities are no less valuable or worthy than any parent.

Carpenter says it’s outrageous to suggest she isn’t invested in the future or in other children’s lives because they are not her own.

“I care about what this world is like for all of them,” she said. Her sentiments were shared by several other childless women I spoke to about Vance’s comments.

Hollie Brubaker, a television producer, made an independent film about her family’s journey with infertility. She spent two years on medications trying to conceive. Eventually, she and her husband decided their lives were full and complete without raising their own children. They love their nieces and nephews, and Brubaker is the emergency contact for her best friend’s kids.

“I have children in my life, and I am helping support other people (as they) raise their children,” she said. Moreover, she realized that she contributes a lot to her community and society regardless of her ability to reproduce.

Tracy Bednarick-Humes, an educational administrator, said Vance’s remarks reflect the rising movement in the government controlling how and when women should reproduce, like the abortion bans in place in many states after the Supreme Court overturned the protections of Roe v. Wade.

The bigger issue is about how women should lead their lives and who should control their decisions.

Julie Bauman, who works in project management and runs an animal rescue program, points out that childless people pay taxes that contribute to public schools. She said she is insulted that she even has to justify her worth in the world in light of Vance’s appalling, repeated attacks on the childless. She also wonders if the insults he lobs at women also apply to the countless childless men -- like George Washington -- who have led this country.

Dana Watkins Mullins, who works as a massage therapist, is as deeply invested in her community and the world as any mother.

“I’m not breeding stock,” she said. “I do a lot in my community ... I think me not having kids is one of the least selfish things I could have done.”

Elaine Vydra, who works in digital marketing, agrees: “For me, the more selfish thing would be having a child to make other people happy.”

Vydra had read Vance’s book, "Hillbilly Elegy," years ago, and said she found parts of his story -- where he describes overcoming a difficult childhood -- interesting, and that she had empathy for his struggles. So it was even more disappointing that he would make such harsh judgments about childless women and show a complete lack of empathy for others’ circumstances.

Carpenter ended up responding to her friend’s text on behalf of all childless cat ladies: “I didn’t know our plans for world domination were going so well.”

The new Democratic presidential candidate arrived on the scene accompanied by a meme and music unfamiliar to many likely voters.

Vice President Kamala Harris, 59, straddles a thin line between young boomer and older Gen X. But it was Gen Z that crowned her "Brat” after British pop icon Charli XCX’s newest album.

For the generations who automatically think of a brat as a spoiled child, a number of news outlets offered explainers on the Gen Z connotations of the word. The Independent defined it as “an icon; an embrace of authenticity and confidence in oneself.”

The Brat meme flashed hot and bright on social media. It has likely already faded, given the fleeting half-life of a meme. Harris has undeniably energized the electorate, with her campaign raising more than $120 million since its launch.

But more than fuel for content creators and internet warriors, she’s given a shot of hope to the demographic of women closer to her age.

Electro-dance pop is meaningless to us. Give us the iconic, rebellious and raw female power of Joan Jett, 65, and Alanis Morissette, 50, currently on tour together.

Morissette, who has won seven Grammys and sold more than 75 million albums, put on a show at the Hollywood Casino Amphitheatre in Maryland Heights, Missouri, that flashed powerful feminist graphics on every screen.

“No country has achieved gender equality,” appeared on the screen while she belted the lyrics to “Hand in my Pocket.”

That message resonates differently when America has the chance to elect its first female president after Hillary Clinton, who won the popular vote, lost the Electoral College in 2016.

That was before the protections of Roe v. Wade fell, an era when our daughters still had the rights our mothers and grandmothers fought for.

Everything is different now.

Back in January, a friend offered me a ticket to see “Jagged Little Pill” with her. My brain miscalculated that as going to a Morissette concert, which I had never seen, rather than a Broadway musical. My husband informed me of my misunderstanding the morning of the show after he read a preview of the jukebox musical in the paper. I had time to course correct before I showed up among the well-heeled theater crowd in my distressed jeans.

When I learned that the Morissette tour was coming to St. Louis, it felt like kismet. I hadn’t thought much about her in decades, but we’re both in a milestone year as the country faces a crossroad -- an election that will define us for generations.

Maybe I needed to revisit her discography, a soundtrack from my college days. The breakout hit from the JLP album, "You Oughta Know," is a scornful, seething and vulnerable message to a former lover. Over the course of decades, many of her original listeners have settled into stable relationships. We may find that the drama from the outside world is louder and occupies a larger space than the personal minefields of our 20s and 30s.

The political has always been personal. But lately, it’s become so pervasive, angry and unsettling that it’s hard to escape. We’ve been riding an emotional roller coaster in a tumultuous election cycle unlike those many of us have ever witnessed.

It was another Alanis classic that captured the political moment for those of us in this cycle of life. "You Learn" is a compassionate reflection on dealing with the bad cards life deals you. Through living, loving, crying, losing and bleeding, you learn.

“Throw it down (The caution blocks you from the wind)

Hold it up (To the rays)

You wait and see when the smoke clears”

In the days right after President Joe Biden gave up the presidential nomination, we were all waiting for the smoke to clear. I could sense how radically the political energy had shifted in recent days.

The vibe at the concert -- an embrace of unapologetic and fearless women -- reflected a changing political mood.

I decided to test the waters by wearing a T-shirt I purchased days after the Supreme Court’s flagrantly political decision on presidential immunity. It’s a solid gray shirt with a quote by Justice Sonia Sotomayor written in a white font: “With fear for our democracy, I dissent.”

I wanted to make a subtle statement appreciable by news junkies and political nerds to see if anyone understood what I was trying to convey. How many people at a rock concert would take the time to read an entire sentence on a stranger’s shirt?

At least one did.

An exuberant blond woman in the row right in front of me, who danced through Jett’s rock anthems, made eye contact and pointed at my shirt. I pulled it down to straighten it, so she could read the words.

She smiled, nodded approvingly and raised her hand-horns in a rock 'n' roll salute. Message delivered -- Rock on, sister.

We’ve screamed, we’ve learned.

When I was asked to give a keynote talk to more than 100 high schoolers attending a recent journalism summer camp, the director requested that I avoid dwelling on the gloom and doom in the industry.

Past speakers had mentioned “no money” and called journalism a “sad industry” in their remarks, which isn’t the message the Media Now camp at Drake University tries to give aspiring young journalists.

Most working journalists are painfully aware of the lack of money and stability in our profession. There’s also the ongoing proliferation of misinformation and deliberate disinformation -- along with the looming threat of AI stealing our work. Most people like to stay in their information bubbles, which confirm what they already believe.

Plus, everyone hates “the media.”

I’m a part of “the media,” and I often rail against the problems I see in news coverage. But I also know how most good-faith journalists operate: They seek out compelling information, do their best to verify it and share it with others.

I’ve talked to colleagues who will privately admit that they find it difficult to rally young people to jump aboard an industry fighting for its life. But even though I recognize the news media’s significant challenges and failures, I love helping people work on their writing. Any career path -- from scientist to entrepreneur -- benefits from good writing skills. I told the campers about my unexpected path to the newsroom and encouraged them to be open to adventure and taking some risks.

Looking back, I wish I had shared a more important message. Even for the students who may never step foot in a newsroom or publish a single story, learning how the work happens -- fact-finding, researching, interviewing, verifying and writing -- is more vital than ever in this media landscape.

Many adults cannot distinguish between real and fake information online. The altered images, conspiracies and alternative facts have gotten much harder to spot.

When my small group of students was working on a design for our class flag, I shared a favorite quote that's often attributed to Nathaniel Hawthorne: "Easy reading is damned hard writing." It was painted on a pillar I sat near in the old Post-Dispatch’s fifth floor. When I would get stuck while writing, I would look up at it. It felt like Hawthorne was speaking directly to me.

One of the students asked if we could put the quote on our flag, but I was worried that the camp directors might frown upon us flying a flag with a curse word painted on it.

The students ended up painting a quill instead. Interesting that they chose a writing relic from the past.

During the four-day camp, the students in our writing class worked on two stories. From interviewing to workshopping their first drafts to polishing their revisions, I saw their work improve.

It’s been a while since I spent so much time in the company of so many high schoolers. It has a way of making you feel young and old at the same time. I overheard a colleague make a reference to Lassie; none of the students had any idea who or what a "Lassie" was.

My colleague described it as a helpful dog on TV.

The student said, “Like 'Blue's Clues'?”

Obviously, different generations have different cultural markers. I didn’t realize ours had faded so far into oblivion.

During one class, I mentioned that newspaper journalists think about the length of their stories in inches rather than word count. A student asked why. "How many of you have ever seen an actual printed newspaper?" I asked. Every student raised their hand, which was more than I expected. I told them about column inches.

That may be as relevant to their future careers as a quill.

The tools may change, but the quest for truth and good storytelling lives on. I'm glad that there are young people still willing to join it.