If you hear a pop, you should probably stop :D

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While we’re at it, I think this is a good opportunity for a face swap

A little late, but if you have ppl over her head that have a positive opinion of your work, and the hiring manager is looking for info on your work, you could just explain the situation to the hiring manager and ask if one of the even higher ups opinion would be acceptable? If no, gonna have to play very nice with the old manager, and I still might recommend explaining the situation to the hiring manager in case of a bad reference behind your back

Second this.

My read on it was that there’s a chance OP is a little over sensitive to the news cycle - happens sometimes. For me, it was the fear of Russia launching a war into N America in the next couple of years, and my family and I getting drafted. Real possibility, low likelihood.

Solution: disconnect from the news for a bit and reconnect with the ppl around you. We aren’t that important on a broad scale, unless one is in an overtly totalitarian country (then ignore my comment lol)