Speaker 1: My name is Alex, and even though he's not my
Speaker 1: first choice, I'm still voting for Joe Biden and Kamala
Speaker 1: Harris in election. Nor will be alright forever nor alright.
Speaker 1: So I think you guys can assume that since this
Speaker 1: is the second political episode of the podcast, I'm an expert,
Speaker 1: I'm a politics expert. Like I I am, I think
Speaker 1: I know everything there is to know. Obviously I'm joking, um,
Speaker 1: but I really did have a good time and a
Speaker 1: very educational time doing the last episode, and I'm just
Speaker 1: so happy to be back having in another episode to
Speaker 1: talk about politics. And this one's going to be actually
Speaker 1: really really important to me. I originally in this election,
Speaker 1: and you'll know if you follow me on Twitter, I
Speaker 1: was originally a massive supporter. Met the guy, enjoyed it,
Speaker 1: donated to his cause, and uh, and that person is
Speaker 1: Mayor Pete Pete Bout. I thought that when I scanned
Speaker 1: all of the presidential candidates, I I liked him a lot.
Speaker 1: I had the opportunity to meet him. I actually sang
Speaker 1: for him, which was super fun. So from that day
Speaker 1: I had always supported him. I knew it was an
Speaker 1: uphill battle supporting somebody not only who was young, UM,
Speaker 1: but was also gay and was not really was kind
Speaker 1: of the odd one out in the group of the
Speaker 1: big rat race that is becoming the president. UM. But
Speaker 1: I supported him and I liked him, and I knew
Speaker 1: that he wasn't perfect. There were some things that I
Speaker 1: wasn't super happy with, but I loved that in the
Speaker 1: debates he talked about it and he said that he
Speaker 1: had messed up and he wanted to do something about it,
Speaker 1: and there was just something about him that made me
Speaker 1: feel like he was probably the most understanding of where
Speaker 1: we needed to go as a country. None of that
Speaker 1: matters because he didn't he dropped out. Uh. He he
Speaker 1: did not make the cut and uh and ended up
Speaker 1: ultimately um pulling out of the race. And that was
Speaker 1: kind of shitty because I didn't really know where to go,
Speaker 1: you know, I didn't know who to support after that. UM.
Speaker 1: I knew that I knew there were a lot of
Speaker 1: definitely knows, you know, like there were there were a
Speaker 1: few people that I was like, man, this would really
Speaker 1: be cool, and then there was a few people there
Speaker 1: were definitely some candidates I was like, no way. I
Speaker 1: ended up gravitating towards Elizabeth Warren. Again, I didn't love
Speaker 1: some of the policies she had, but it was something
Speaker 1: that actually, uh, we talked about in the last episode,
Speaker 1: which was that you're never going to find the perfect candidate,
Speaker 1: And there was something that always resonated in my head,
Speaker 1: and it was something even then that resonated in my
Speaker 1: head that's like, look, I don't think she was the
Speaker 1: perfect candidate, but compared to everything else, I thought that
Speaker 1: she had the um. You know, she was the big
Speaker 1: the best match for where I stood again doesn't matter
Speaker 1: because she didn't make the cut. And now we're here
Speaker 1: and we're here with Um. Realistically, two people who have
Speaker 1: the chance to become the president. And it's really hard
Speaker 1: because as much as I don't love Biden as the president,
Speaker 1: as the head of our country, as the as the
Speaker 1: leader of our country, the the commander in chief, there's
Speaker 1: no way in hell that I would ever vote for
Speaker 1: somebody who you know, openly doesn't denounce racism and doesn't
Speaker 1: denounce racial injustice and obviously doesn't support so many things
Speaker 1: that in the past I've talked about that I support,
Speaker 1: from the lgbt Q plus community to global warming and
Speaker 1: climate change. But there's also no way that I'm going
Speaker 1: to throw my vote away, because if there's anything we
Speaker 1: learned from the last election is that every vote counts.
Speaker 1: Including if there's anything that we learned from the last
Speaker 1: episode on our podcast, is that every vote counts, and
Speaker 1: we're going to continue to understand that as we go
Speaker 1: forward with these political episodes. I actually had another conversation,
Speaker 1: but or we get into it, I had a conversation
Speaker 1: with a good friend of mine that that made me
Speaker 1: think about humanity. I guess I was having a conversation
Speaker 1: with a friend and this friend doesn't have the same
Speaker 1: beliefs as I do, and we stand differently on a
Speaker 1: few things, um including who we plan to vote for
Speaker 1: this election. And instead of deciding to be mad and
Speaker 1: hate this friend and called and say this friends, you
Speaker 1: know this, that and the other, I decided to try something.
Speaker 1: And that thing that I tried was I asked him.
Speaker 1: I said, let's take away the candidates. Let's take away
Speaker 1: the parties, Let's take away the name calling and slander,
Speaker 1: let's take away the fats, even, let's take away everything,
Speaker 1: and let's just say, what does this country look like
Speaker 1: in an ideal sense and other than two or three things.
Speaker 1: We actually had the exact same thoughts. But I think
Speaker 1: the thing that's interesting is that as disappointed as I
Speaker 1: am in the Democratic candidate, as disappointed as I may
Speaker 1: be in our own country, in our own government, in
Speaker 1: many ways, if we strip it all down, are we
Speaker 1: really that far off? Are we really that different? So
Speaker 1: that got me thinking, when you don't support what your
Speaker 1: party is doing, what do you do? No? Welcome back, everybody.
Speaker 1: This is Alex Iono here, this is my podcast. It's
Speaker 1: called Let's get into It and really, uh, nothing is
Speaker 1: off limits. And we proved that last week when we
Speaker 1: started talking about politics. You know me, I grew up
Speaker 1: in a family that said don't talk about politics and
Speaker 1: public but I got to follow my heart and that's
Speaker 1: actually what this whole episode is about, is voting with
Speaker 1: your heart. I have two amazing guests here. I have
Speaker 1: one is an actress, producer and the co host of
Speaker 1: the podcast Some More News and Worst Year Ever, the
Speaker 1: one and only Katie Stall. How are you, Katie? I'm good.
Speaker 1: I'm good. Alex Sorr, I'm I'm doing really really well.
Speaker 1: I'm also excited. We have the co founder of gen
Speaker 1: z go Op and the co host of the gen
Speaker 1: Z go Op podcast, the One and only John Olds. John,
Speaker 1: how are you, brother, Well, I'm really really excited about
Speaker 1: this topic. Again, I want to restate that this is
Speaker 1: by no means a debate. It's really three people who
Speaker 1: come from different walks of life with one cohesive idea,
Speaker 1: which is you have to get out and vote. You
Speaker 1: have to utilize your right to vote. Um And so
Speaker 1: we're gonna have some great topics. First, John and I
Speaker 1: are going to talk about what gen Z would do
Speaker 1: to the political right, and then Katie and I are
Speaker 1: going to talk about Bye Bye Bernie. And then lastly,
Speaker 1: all three of us are gonna talk about why we
Speaker 1: should be voting anyways, which leads me to my first
Speaker 1: question that I have for both of you. Usually I
Speaker 1: asked my guests and what are you doing to improve
Speaker 1: yourself this week? But because we've been having these election
Speaker 1: lead up episodes, the question has changed and it has
Speaker 1: become why do you vote? It's a loaded question. I've
Speaker 1: answered it a bunch of different times, but this one specifically,
Speaker 1: I vote because with the news of Brianna Taylor case
Speaker 1: and and the outcome of that, with none of the
Speaker 1: police officers being charged for the murder itself and one
Speaker 1: in one of the police officers only being charged with
Speaker 1: endangerment of the neighbors. It really sparked a fire under
Speaker 1: me and inspired me even more that I have to
Speaker 1: get out there and if I want to make a change,
Speaker 1: the best way that we can make a change as
Speaker 1: a citizen in the United States is to vote. That
Speaker 1: being said, John, do you have an answer for us? Yeah?
Speaker 1: So I like your first question, what are you doing
Speaker 1: to improve yourself? This week I went back on the
Speaker 1: keto diet. No um, so that you would be surprised
Speaker 1: that's actually been an answer. Really, Keto is fine anyway.
Speaker 1: So why do I vote? The simplest answer is, there
Speaker 1: are so many candidates out there, um And we talked
Speaker 1: so much about the presidential race and maybe senate races,
Speaker 1: but there are so many different leaders. There are so
Speaker 1: many like service oriented people, and I think we do
Speaker 1: them a disservice when we don't vote. When we don't,
Speaker 1: you know, engage with them and and get involved on
Speaker 1: the local level, because that's where ultimately so much of
Speaker 1: the change is needed that will actually affect our lives.
Speaker 1: So that's why I vote. H I love that Katie
Speaker 1: what do you have to add to that? Actually, my
Speaker 1: answer is is very much in line with John's. I
Speaker 1: vote because it's the first step in taking control. And
Speaker 1: if you're feeling powerless, if you're feeling overwhelmed, if you're
Speaker 1: feeling like this is not right, that you want to
Speaker 1: see some actual changes in your life, the very first
Speaker 1: step is showing up and doing this and voting for
Speaker 1: the candidates that you think reflect what you want to see.
Speaker 1: And I agree with what he's saying about the local level.
Speaker 1: It's I think we'll get into this later on when
Speaker 1: we talk about the election more, but it's about so
Speaker 1: much more than the presidential election. The vast majority of
Speaker 1: improvements you're going to see in your life are happening
Speaker 1: at the local level. You want to talk about how
Speaker 1: your city is handling climate change, that's star with your
Speaker 1: city council representatives, and it's so easy to overlook that.
Speaker 1: It's so easy for that to get lost in the shuffle.
Speaker 1: I mean, partly because they don't have as much attention
Speaker 1: and funding, so you know, they slipped through the cracks
Speaker 1: and we show up and we don't know who we're
Speaker 1: voting for. But if we can get engaged on that level,
Speaker 1: you can start to see tangible differences being made in
Speaker 1: your community. I love both of your answers because I
Speaker 1: think it plays perfectly into today's episode, which is Voting
Speaker 1: with your Heart. Katie will talk with you in just
Speaker 1: a bit, but John, it's time for us to go
Speaker 1: one on one. I want to start off. We did
Speaker 1: a little bit of research off of your podcast and
Speaker 1: the gen Z go Op um. You've said before you
Speaker 1: feel politically homeless, and I think that that's a great
Speaker 1: place for us to start. I just would love to
Speaker 1: hear more about you and why it is you feel
Speaker 1: that way and why it is that in turn helped
Speaker 1: you start something like gen z go Op. So when
Speaker 1: when we started gen z go Op, we basically realized
Speaker 1: that there were two things going on at once and
Speaker 1: we needed a way to kind of harness them together.
Speaker 1: So the first is that Republican Party is sort of
Speaker 1: gone off its moorings from where it used to be
Speaker 1: the party of John McCain, the party met Romney, and
Speaker 1: it's no longer that's the party Donald Trump. And this concurrently,
Speaker 1: gen Z was disaffected by both major parties. You know,
Speaker 1: most gen Z people when they registered to vote they
Speaker 1: register is unenrolled. They don't choose the Republican or Democrat.
Speaker 1: And we said to ourselves, you know, there are a
Speaker 1: lot of issues that are important to gen Z, whether
Speaker 1: it's racial justice, whether it's income inequality, whether it's climate change,
Speaker 1: and there's only one party that's talking about them. So
Speaker 1: we said, you know what, we need to change the
Speaker 1: course of our party. At the same time, harness the
Speaker 1: apathy and the disaffectiveness of the gen Z voters and
Speaker 1: kind of bring them into a party that they can
Speaker 1: be proud to be a part of. I mean, I
Speaker 1: think that that's so incredible getting gen Z, you know,
Speaker 1: on this show, and I can't say it enough. Go vote.
Speaker 1: Go if you're listening to this podcast right now and
Speaker 1: you're not registered, vote, Literally pause this podcast and go
Speaker 1: and register. Register while you're listening to the podcast. That's cool.
Speaker 1: This election, the Pew Research Centers told us twenty four
Speaker 1: million teams will be voting for the first time, making
Speaker 1: them ten of eligible voters. On top of the basics,
Speaker 1: right on top of like you mentioned climate change and
Speaker 1: racial justice. Why do you think it's important for gen
Speaker 1: Z to be paying attention to politics so much so
Speaker 1: that you you started a gen z g OP, so
Speaker 1: this answer should start with a little bit of context.
Speaker 1: I come from Massachusetts, which is a very dark blue state,
Speaker 1: and I'm a Republican in Massachusetts. So part of what
Speaker 1: we have done to help Republicans get elected in Massachusetts
Speaker 1: is instead of using the word conservative, using the word competence.
Speaker 1: You know, Republicans need to be about results, not necessarily
Speaker 1: about partisan ideology. We've talked on a couple of episodes
Speaker 1: on our podcast about the deficit for example, and why
Speaker 1: America being in such bling debt is actually super important
Speaker 1: for young people because it might not affect them up front,
Speaker 1: but it's going to affect them down the road if
Speaker 1: certain entitlement programs aren't there. So we need to get
Speaker 1: our for example, are spending under control. But what I
Speaker 1: was talking about earlier about results and Republicans being about
Speaker 1: the party of results, like that's where we need to be.
Speaker 1: The environment is not a partisan issue, but if you
Speaker 1: have one group that might have a plan for it,
Speaker 1: but it might not be politically tenable. But then you
Speaker 1: have the Republicans that have hypothetically they could have a
Speaker 1: plan that actually gets results to lower emissions and clean
Speaker 1: the water and clean the air. That's what we need
Speaker 1: to be about. So gen Zars, I actually think they
Speaker 1: do care about a lot of things. They care about
Speaker 1: the issues that I mentioned earlier. I don't think there's
Speaker 1: a sense of apathy there, but there's a lack of
Speaker 1: results coming from our leaders on those issues, and Republicans
Speaker 1: need to be the ones to provide those results. I
Speaker 1: love that. There's a lot that I in my re
Speaker 1: search of of you and gen z Gop. You know,
Speaker 1: even in an article in Newsweek, you and some of
Speaker 1: the co founders are actually wearing masks. Why do you
Speaker 1: think it's important for you as as the people of
Speaker 1: the party, especially the young people of the party, to
Speaker 1: stick with science and speak out about it, even though
Speaker 1: the party doesn't typically stand behind those things. So number one,
Speaker 1: to your point about masks, I mean, I know that's
Speaker 1: become a partisan thing, but it's honestly the least you
Speaker 1: can do. Like, I mean, for God's sakes, Like I
Speaker 1: can't believe we're still talking about this. It's just so ridiculous,
Speaker 1: Like come on, Like, no one likes to wear the mask.
Speaker 1: It's obviously an inconvenience, but I'd rather have things be
Speaker 1: open and wearing a mask than not wear a mask
Speaker 1: and have everything to be closed. But okay, climate change
Speaker 1: and environmental issues. You know, everyone talks about it like
Speaker 1: it's some sort of liberal dog whistle that you must
Speaker 1: be some sort of quasi communist if you care about
Speaker 1: the environment, which is just such an absurd logical leap, right.
Speaker 1: You know, when I think of cleaning up the environment,
Speaker 1: I think it actually really runs quite in line with
Speaker 1: what I would consider traditional Republican and conservative ideals. You know,
Speaker 1: think about what's gonna reduce emissions At the end of
Speaker 1: the day, it's going to be the use of cleaner energies,
Speaker 1: and whether we like it or not, we will get
Speaker 1: to that renewable energy future faster if those energy sources
Speaker 1: are competitive, if they're cheap, and if they're efficient, and
Speaker 1: that's going to be driven by the market. That's going
Speaker 1: to be driven by the free market. So I don't
Speaker 1: understand why Republicans are so averse to this issue, because solar, wind, nuclear, hydropower,
Speaker 1: geothermal energy, all of those are huge job creators, and
Speaker 1: we need to equip our workforce to actually get those
Speaker 1: jobs and bolster those sectors. But that's all the free
Speaker 1: market that's all capitalism, that's creating jobs. Those are all
Speaker 1: things the Republicans up until apparently the environment gets involved,
Speaker 1: they love. And we need to really focus on that
Speaker 1: because the next generation of engineers, the next generation of
Speaker 1: workers in the energy sector, they're going to be focused
Speaker 1: on renewables. So we need to be making sure that
Speaker 1: the American energy sector is a part of the twenty
Speaker 1: one century and has a skilled workforce that's ready to go.
Speaker 1: I think the other thing that's interesting is that you
Speaker 1: know the current lawmakers right now, they're not going to
Speaker 1: see the worst effects of the climate change if we
Speaker 1: continue on the path that we're on. Uh, it's more
Speaker 1: people of our age group. And again I'm going to
Speaker 1: come back to this gen Z group, who are going
Speaker 1: to really have to be dealing with it. What do
Speaker 1: you think we can do right now to make our
Speaker 1: voices heard? What do you think we can do to
Speaker 1: get that voice in their heads saying, Hey, you guys
Speaker 1: might not have to deal with it, but we are
Speaker 1: and we want to make some real change. Yeah. So
Speaker 1: number one, you should go to gen Z GOP dot
Speaker 1: organs to be a part of our organization. We're trying
Speaker 1: to create this plat form and there are a number
Speaker 1: of organizations just like it on the right and on
Speaker 1: the left where it's so incredibly important that you get
Speaker 1: involved with these organizations. And you know, this is something
Speaker 1: that I've spent the better part of my summer working on.
Speaker 1: But other people, you know, go to like a meeting
Speaker 1: a week, or spend a couple hours on a Friday
Speaker 1: afternoon before you go out with your friends, or go
Speaker 1: on your Zoom happy hour or whatever it is. There
Speaker 1: are so many ways to get involved. Uh, and it's
Speaker 1: not really that hard. The second thing I'll say, and
Speaker 1: I have to give credit to my friends on the
Speaker 1: left for doing this. They've created a lot of organizations
Speaker 1: to actually get people to run for office. It doesn't
Speaker 1: have to be the Senate or the House. It could
Speaker 1: be a state legislative seat, it could be a city
Speaker 1: council seat, it could be a selectment race, and and
Speaker 1: those races, as we mentioned earlier, are so important and
Speaker 1: it's a way for us to have our voices be
Speaker 1: heard directly. You know, if you have a message that
Speaker 1: you believe in, like you should stick your neck out. Basically,
Speaker 1: what I'm trying to say is that for three years
Speaker 1: basically since I was so frustrated with what was going
Speaker 1: on in my party, and I said to myself, well,
Speaker 1: I could just scream into the void on Twitter or Instagram,
Speaker 1: or I can vent to my my buddies about how
Speaker 1: terrible things in the Republican Party are. But at the
Speaker 1: end of the day, I wasn't doing anything. So that's
Speaker 1: why we started gen z GOP because we wanted to
Speaker 1: stake our claim in this on this So you, you
Speaker 1: and your organization, you guys have actually been really really
Speaker 1: opening open about like you just were, about the shortcomings
Speaker 1: of the current president and your party. Um, and you've
Speaker 1: gotten involved with down ballot campaigning. I'm not gonna lie.
Speaker 1: I don't know what that is, and I think a
Speaker 1: lot of my listeners don't know what that is. And
Speaker 1: so I would love for you to tell us a
Speaker 1: little bit more about that. In the importance of down
Speaker 1: ballet campaigning, Well, I personally have gotten involved. I think
Speaker 1: we should make that distinction. So, for example, part of
Speaker 1: being home during the quarantine and in the COVID crisis,
Speaker 1: you know, I go to school at George Washington University.
Speaker 1: I'm now back in Boston on a whim, you know,
Speaker 1: locked in my house. In April, I sent a Facebook
Speaker 1: message to my state rep who I had kind of
Speaker 1: known but not super well, and ultimately we got connected
Speaker 1: and he goes, do you want to manage my reelection campaign?
Speaker 1: He's my state legislator, and I'm sure i'd be honored.
Speaker 1: And for the last six months, five months, I guess,
Speaker 1: I've been running my state representatives reelection campaign. And he's
Speaker 1: a Republican in Massachusetts running for re election in a
Speaker 1: district that's pretty competitive, and he is kind of an
Speaker 1: example that there are Republicans out there that are talking
Speaker 1: about issues that matter to young people. He's got a
Speaker 1: great environmental record cleaning up the river, making sure that
Speaker 1: the water treatment plants upriver aren't dumping raw sewage into
Speaker 1: the river. Yes, that's a real thing that happens. So
Speaker 1: what I'm trying to say is to circle back to
Speaker 1: your point about down ballot campaigning. There are so many
Speaker 1: races that never make the news that are competitive, and
Speaker 1: it might be in your backyard, and it's so important.
Speaker 1: You know, I got lucky. I happened to be politically connected,
Speaker 1: and I had certain privilege in that in that regard
Speaker 1: that I got to manage a campaign. But these campaigns
Speaker 1: are looking for volunteers to go door to door, to
Speaker 1: make phone calls, to write letters to the editor, and
Speaker 1: that's down ballot campaigning. That's really cool. I mean, I
Speaker 1: really like again, and I said it in my earlier episodes.
Speaker 1: I didn't grow up super politically educated, and so a
Speaker 1: lot of these things are really new to me. And
Speaker 1: so getting to use this podcast not only as a
Speaker 1: platform for us to spread information about this election and
Speaker 1: about voting, but also I get to just like learn
Speaker 1: new things, which is which is really really cool. So
Speaker 1: it seems right now that that the right is at
Speaker 1: a turning point and you have Trump supporters and you
Speaker 1: have Republicans, and that's kind of like increasingly becoming two
Speaker 1: different things. What does that say to you? How do
Speaker 1: you feel about that concept? I wish I had a
Speaker 1: better answer for you, because we're trying to figure out ourselves.
Speaker 1: No matter what win or lose, the Republican Party is
Speaker 1: going to have to figure out where it's going to
Speaker 1: go after November three, and that's the point of our organization.
Speaker 1: We're trying to get our party to change its course
Speaker 1: a little bit, to be a party that's going to
Speaker 1: be competitive in the twenty one century because we're increasingly
Speaker 1: becoming the party of old white men. And I know
Speaker 1: that might sound rich coming from me, who is a
Speaker 1: straight white guy, but it's important for us to be
Speaker 1: a part of that debate for where we're going because
Speaker 1: you better believe this, the Republican Party has and I'm
Speaker 1: not saying this as an oxymoron, there's an intellectual Trumpism
Speaker 1: that's like waiting in the wings. You see it with
Speaker 1: Senator Tom Cotton of Arkansas, you see Josh Holly of Missouri.
Speaker 1: These are kind of more populous Republicans. They don't really
Speaker 1: even call themselves conservatives. They call themselves market skeptic conservatives,
Speaker 1: and they're very socially conservative. And I think that. You know,
Speaker 1: as a young person, I say, I know what people
Speaker 1: in my high school and my university want to hear
Speaker 1: from their leaders, and it's definitely not that. So we
Speaker 1: need to be involved with this debate for where the
Speaker 1: party goes because we're loose, We're gonna have that debate. Well, John,
Speaker 1: I really appreciate all of your your your candor throughout
Speaker 1: the whole situation. Uh. I love what you're doing with
Speaker 1: getting gen z involved and staying educated and fighting for
Speaker 1: causes that in reality we're going to have to deal
Speaker 1: with as the young people as this ten percent of
Speaker 1: eligible voters. What would you tell somebody who just thinks
Speaker 1: that they're too young to get involved? I mean, you
Speaker 1: and I are both. I'm right on the cusp of
Speaker 1: being gen z um, but I'm I'm a millennial, but
Speaker 1: I too feel like, man, I'm too young. Like you
Speaker 1: mentioned this is it feels like we aren't being represented
Speaker 1: as clearly as we could be. So sometimes it feels
Speaker 1: like it's not our play. So what would you tell
Speaker 1: to somebody who feels like that it feels like we're
Speaker 1: too young to get involved in politics? Well, you're not.
Speaker 1: Sometimes that's kind of that, you know, like part of
Speaker 1: something that I don't know if this is a gen
Speaker 1: z characteristic or just certain people that they construct these
Speaker 1: barriers for themselves, like, oh, I can't do this because X,
Speaker 1: And there's literally no justification for that reason other than
Speaker 1: like they've mentally put it up in their head. And
Speaker 1: I think that sometimes it really is just that simple.
Speaker 1: I got involved in politics because I had a place
Speaker 1: Matt at my table when I was five, and it
Speaker 1: had all the president's faces on it, and I memorized them,
Speaker 1: and I just kind of caught the bug. And I
Speaker 1: remember going to my library when I was a kid
Speaker 1: and there was this wall of books just about current
Speaker 1: events in politics. I don't know why they had it,
Speaker 1: but it was some sort of section in the library.
Speaker 1: I remember getting them, taking out a couple of books
Speaker 1: at a time. I'd skim them, I'd read parts of them,
Speaker 1: return them, rinse and repeat, and you just kind of
Speaker 1: catch the bug. And then I went to school in
Speaker 1: Washington got involved that way. Politics yearns for normal people.
Speaker 1: I think what turns off a lot of people is
Speaker 1: that some of the activists that you might hear the
Speaker 1: loudest voices in the room, like when you drill down
Speaker 1: to it, politics is all they have. Part of what
Speaker 1: we're trying to do with gen z GOP. We're people
Speaker 1: that have interests other than politics. And I think that
Speaker 1: people don't recognize that it's okay to like sports, or
Speaker 1: to like hiking, or you can be artistic and also
Speaker 1: be into politics. They're not mutually exclusive. A lot of
Speaker 1: people can do politics as a hobby. A couple hours
Speaker 1: a week. You make phone calls for your local legislator,
Speaker 1: you write a letter to the editor. These are things
Speaker 1: that don't take a long time. But you also don't
Speaker 1: have to be yelling and screaming and trying to make
Speaker 1: a headline every every five seconds. Well, thank you so much,
Speaker 1: John for coming on here and and talking to me
Speaker 1: about this and educating me more about politics. I really appreciate.
Speaker 1: We're gonna take a break and when we come back,
Speaker 1: I'll be talking with Katie about some real, real fun
Speaker 1: and sad moments of the Democratic Party. We'll be back.
Speaker 1: Al Right, we are back. This is let's get into it.
Speaker 1: And uh and we're here with Katie Stole and we're talking.
Speaker 1: I don't know, I don't know why. I think it's
Speaker 1: so funny, Katherine that you've made this segment by by
Speaker 1: Bernie and I want you to put this in the show.
Speaker 1: I have to give a shout out to Catherine for
Speaker 1: coming up with a funny asked name for this segment. Um, Katie.
Speaker 1: At first, I want to talk about your podcast. You
Speaker 1: you celebrated one year since the launch of your political
Speaker 1: podcast called Worst Year Ever, So congratulations. Um. Also, do
Speaker 1: we have you to blame for everything that's actually made
Speaker 1: this year worse, like are you and are you predicting?
Speaker 1: I had no idea how much weight, uh, the universe
Speaker 1: puts into my words and my time. No. Actually, Robert,
Speaker 1: my co host, Robert Evans, was the one that originally
Speaker 1: pitched the title. We all fussed with it and landed
Speaker 1: on that. But I think that the blame if anything
Speaker 1: goes with him. Yeah, you guys started, you guys started working,
Speaker 1: You started worst year ever and the world said, hold
Speaker 1: my beer, Like that's really just what that's like? What
Speaker 1: that's what happened? Well, Katie, I'm so happy that you're here.
Speaker 1: And while this section isn't all about Bernie, even though
Speaker 1: Catherine made the title by by Bernie Um. He stands
Speaker 1: for the ideals that a lot of more progressive voters
Speaker 1: wanted for this election and the drastic countermeasures that a
Speaker 1: lot of people that support him think that we need.
Speaker 1: Just to give people an idea, so that as we
Speaker 1: dissect this this segment, where do you fall in that
Speaker 1: spectrum of of progressivism, of your progressive ism? I would
Speaker 1: call myself very progressive, maybe not as much so as
Speaker 1: my co hosts perhaps or other people you know that
Speaker 1: I but that mostly comes down to I do believe
Speaker 1: in working that we have to work within this system.
Speaker 1: I'm not someone that's like you, voting third party is
Speaker 1: going to be effective. I understand that the desire to say, like, no,
Speaker 1: I don't support either of these candidates because nothing ever changes,
Speaker 1: and I want to make a stand. But I understand that,
Speaker 1: but I don't think that that's our way forward. I
Speaker 1: was a big Bernie supporter. I was also a big
Speaker 1: Warrant supporter. Slightly less progressive, but I saw her as
Speaker 1: somebody that could work with people across the board, you know,
Speaker 1: to some degree. But I loved her and I loved
Speaker 1: Bernie both because they both represented the things that I
Speaker 1: want to see happening in this country and within our party.
Speaker 1: I want to talk about that specifically, because as we
Speaker 1: all know, neither of them are the democratic of them
Speaker 1: are the candidate. So before we get I still want
Speaker 1: to talk more about your beliefs and how it flows.
Speaker 1: But I think this would be an interesting time for
Speaker 1: us to start unwrapping how you felt when you realized
Speaker 1: that Biden was going to be the candidate, and if
Speaker 1: Kamala made any of that a consolation or made it
Speaker 1: made it feel any better. Um um, how did I feel?
Speaker 1: You know, it was the first hard blow was when
Speaker 1: it was clear that Warren wasn't going to get any
Speaker 1: traction and I voted for Bernie. I did, but that
Speaker 1: was prior to us a Super Tuesday. They were both
Speaker 1: my candidates, and I was going back and forth between them.
Speaker 1: But I really responded to Warren, and it felt like
Speaker 1: a real deep grief being misunderstood by the world. I
Speaker 1: eat out that there's there's lots of questions about whether
Speaker 1: a woman is a viable candidate in our country. In
Speaker 1: in I was happy that Bernie was still in the race,
Speaker 1: so there was some consolation for that I could pivot
Speaker 1: all of my energy to supporting him. It was depressing.
Speaker 1: It was a really hard a couple of weeks during
Speaker 1: those primaries, and it was hard also because it coincided
Speaker 1: with the beginning of the pandemic, so it was really
Speaker 1: difficult for me to wrap my mind around, Okay, we're
Speaker 1: gonna support Joe Biden went to me, the answer to
Speaker 1: a global pandemic is the person that is promoting Medicare
Speaker 1: for all, that wants to do something about income and equality,
Speaker 1: who is consistently saying the things that need to be
Speaker 1: said and showing up in the ways we need our
Speaker 1: leaders to show up. And so that was a really
Speaker 1: difficult period for me. But it's not the alternative. You know,
Speaker 1: a lot of people point to saying, um, Joe Biden
Speaker 1: is the most progressive Democratic candidate we've ever had, and
Speaker 1: in many ways that's true. In many ways that's not
Speaker 1: true because the country keeps growing and we keep in
Speaker 1: generally becoming more progressive. So what is your benchmark here?
Speaker 1: But at a very basic level, I also could understand,
Speaker 1: after I gave myself just a little bit of space
Speaker 1: from it, I can understand why, in this specific moment, uh,
Speaker 1: he seemed like the safe choice for a lot of people.
Speaker 1: And I know intellectually that just because I leave something
Speaker 1: with my whole being doesn't mean that I'm going to
Speaker 1: make you believe everything with your whole being. And that
Speaker 1: is part of the beauty and flaws of this system
Speaker 1: is that we have to work together. As much as
Speaker 1: I might think the other guy's wrong, we have to
Speaker 1: we have to work together. So I really came back
Speaker 1: to that, and as things have progressed right now, I
Speaker 1: keep coming back to that and thinking, yeah, perhaps this
Speaker 1: is the way that it needs to be right now.
Speaker 1: But you know, especially the way our media works and
Speaker 1: twists things and and obvius skates things, that the person
Speaker 1: that we have known the longest and appeals to the
Speaker 1: broad swath of the voting populace might be a better
Speaker 1: bet for us. The thing that that makes me nervous
Speaker 1: right now that everybody seems so disillusioned. The other night
Speaker 1: I saw Bernie put out a really great response to
Speaker 1: I believe it was the Brianna Taylor situation with the
Speaker 1: rulings that came into, you know, the charges that are
Speaker 1: not being brought, and I thought, what, I still wish
Speaker 1: that that was the person that I was voting for.
Speaker 1: I'm worried that the ground game isn't mobilizing enough, that
Speaker 1: people are feeling just so disaffected right now, and that
Speaker 1: we're going to have a repeat of That's the thing
Speaker 1: that's interesting is I feel like I feel like we
Speaker 1: spent the last four years constantly talking about how and
Speaker 1: why Republicans have been disillusioned again and again and again
Speaker 1: with Trump. Why do you think that now we're here
Speaker 1: and a lot of Democrats feel disillusioned by the lesson
Speaker 1: effective choices that the left is made well. I think
Speaker 1: on a basic level, Biden isn't inspiring to people in
Speaker 1: a this role way. He's not going up there saying, um,
Speaker 1: suggesting a bold response to all of the problems, you know,
Speaker 1: And I think that for a lot of people it's
Speaker 1: just um, they just feel a little deflated right now,
Speaker 1: you know, and exhausted just across the board, exhausted by
Speaker 1: the onslaught. You said also that you referred to Biden
Speaker 1: as the safe choice, and I think that that's a
Speaker 1: very kind I think it's a very kind thing to say, honestly,
Speaker 1: Like I think he is that, you know, he's that
Speaker 1: safe choice. He doesn't want to He's trying to ruffle
Speaker 1: as little feathers as he can to try and come
Speaker 1: in as the anti problem. We got so many problems though,
Speaker 1: you know. We have climate change on the brink of
Speaker 1: being irreversible. We have racism that's costing lives, a growing
Speaker 1: death toll because of coronavirus. Do you think that a
Speaker 1: candidate like that, who doesn't want to ruffle feathers, do
Speaker 1: you think that they can actually do enough in time
Speaker 1: to make a big difference. I'm like, what's what's the
Speaker 1: I'm still trying to still trying to be optimistic about
Speaker 1: the honest one or the hopeful one. I mean, I think,
Speaker 1: I think, I don't. I don't think. I don't think
Speaker 1: that UM coming in with a milk toast compromise solution
Speaker 1: is the answer to our problems. I think a milktoast
Speaker 1: compromise platform probably appeals to more people in order to
Speaker 1: do the the first step of getting Donald Trump out
Speaker 1: of office. So I see the argument for that. Also,
Speaker 1: we just can't do public compearences right now because of
Speaker 1: the coronavirus. But there is also something to be said about, Okay, well,
Speaker 1: then there's not as many gaffs, and that is not
Speaker 1: a position that we want to be in. We do
Speaker 1: not want to be thinking that about our candidate. But
Speaker 1: but but but but but but I do think that
Speaker 1: it's better than nothing. I do think that it gets
Speaker 1: us closer to where we want to be. I do
Speaker 1: think that we put pressure and we continue to be
Speaker 1: as engaged as we are now and say no, your climate,
Speaker 1: this isn't good enough, This response to the last unions
Speaker 1: isn't good enough. I don't know how much power, how
Speaker 1: much traction, that actually gives us. I don't know how
Speaker 1: much tangible change that we see from that, but I
Speaker 1: do know that we continue to normalize our opinions during
Speaker 1: that time. We continue to point out what's wrong, why
Speaker 1: things aren't working, and then we get more power. More
Speaker 1: of us get involved on a local level, more of
Speaker 1: us start doing things, not just because Trump is in office,
Speaker 1: but because we care about them, and we see that
Speaker 1: it's vital, and things start to change and we chip
Speaker 1: away at it, and then hopefully the next administration is
Speaker 1: someone that can do a broader, more comprehensive approach to things.
Speaker 1: This is not the best answer, it's not my ideal situation,
Speaker 1: but we got to work with what we got. That's
Speaker 1: kind of how I see it. That's the thing that's
Speaker 1: That's the thing that's interesting to me is, you know,
Speaker 1: I just had a conversation with John Olds, and now
Speaker 1: we're having our conversation. And while the parties are completely
Speaker 1: in different places, right, both parties I think are at
Speaker 1: a bit of a turning point. You know, a lot
Speaker 1: of people don't think somebody who is down the center
Speaker 1: like Biden will do enough. Whereas there you know, there
Speaker 1: are a group of Republicans who are at a turning point,
Speaker 1: saying that we've strayed so far away from the Republican Party.
Speaker 1: What are you making out of these these splits? Are
Speaker 1: you thinking that there could be, you know, party splits.
Speaker 1: Do you think that it's just an uprising of the
Speaker 1: new generation of Democrats and Republicans? What do you take
Speaker 1: from all that? Yeah? I think it. I think there's
Speaker 1: like ideological wars happening in each party, and ideally we
Speaker 1: end up in a place where we have not a
Speaker 1: two parties system. The vast majority of people that I
Speaker 1: know do not cleanly fit in to their party's ideology,
Speaker 1: and it is a shifting of the old guard. There
Speaker 1: are people, you know, John had mentioned in his section
Speaker 1: the Republican Party is the party of old white men,
Speaker 1: a lot of old white men, and the Democratic Party
Speaker 1: as well, and that's changing because Democrats more closely aligned
Speaker 1: with the values of progressivism. Um, but it's not good
Speaker 1: enough for a lot of us. So I don't know
Speaker 1: what the future holds in terms of if we can
Speaker 1: break free of the two parties system. It will take
Speaker 1: a long time, involves a lot of different tricky things.
Speaker 1: But I do see more and more that the progressive
Speaker 1: faction within the Democratic Party is growing and and and
Speaker 1: it comes back to also, yes, young people getting involved
Speaker 1: and saying I'm going to get involved, and people in general,
Speaker 1: but young people especially and for Trump, for Republicans, I
Speaker 1: just called them all Trump. Um, I don't know what
Speaker 1: happens there. You know. I am thrilled to see people
Speaker 1: like John you know, representing a different kind of Republican youth.
Speaker 1: But there's a lot of people that have drank the
Speaker 1: kool aid, so to speak, and they're all in, and
Speaker 1: they're really dug in. And I'm not sure how those
Speaker 1: things reconcile because of as of right now, the people
Speaker 1: in power are allowing this this new ideology to take
Speaker 1: the reins. So I'm not really sure how that looks.
Speaker 1: I do know that Joe Biden more closely resembles a
Speaker 1: classic Republican than Donald Trump does. I want to care
Speaker 1: about moving the needle on the issues that are important.
Speaker 1: I want to start normalizing medicare for all. I want
Speaker 1: to normalize the conversation around policing and and racism, systemic racism,
Speaker 1: you know, anyway I can ramble about I literally was
Speaker 1: about to say I need you to say that one
Speaker 1: louder for the people in the back, because I know
Speaker 1: personally there are that there are some people who need
Speaker 1: to hear that one right there, that Biden bodies and
Speaker 1: bodies a Republican more than Donald Trump does. That's insane. Uh,
Speaker 1: You've been such an amazing guest. I love having guests
Speaker 1: on who have their own podcasts because it just makes
Speaker 1: my job so easy. Thank you so much for coming on.
Speaker 1: I have one last question. I think that this one
Speaker 1: is very very important because I know a lot of people.
Speaker 1: I a lot of my friends even who were so
Speaker 1: excited about Elizabeth Warren, specifically for my friends. I had
Speaker 1: a lot of friends who are very Warren meaning um.
Speaker 1: And then you know yourself, like you mentioned, you loved Warren,
Speaker 1: you loved Bernie, you got Biden. You know, I feel
Speaker 1: like you you went to the you went to the
Speaker 1: vending machine and you put in C seven and instead
Speaker 1: of getting your Snickers bar, you ended up getting milk duds.
Speaker 1: And that's where we are. No hates anybody who likes
Speaker 1: milk duds. They just they get stuck in your teeth.
Speaker 1: It's a little they do. They can pull out your feelings,
Speaker 1: but they're delicious. They are delicious. Back to my question,
Speaker 1: kids don't have feelings. My question is back to my question,
Speaker 1: um for voters who were excited just like you about Warren,
Speaker 1: about Sanders, what should they do when Biden is their
Speaker 1: only choice? They should vote for him. It's tough. I
Speaker 1: I understand if you're I I intellectually I get it
Speaker 1: if you're like, I'm not voting for somebody a lesser
Speaker 1: of two evils, or a lot of people don't see
Speaker 1: him as a lesser of two evils looking at his
Speaker 1: track record, And I get that. That's hard. That's a
Speaker 1: hard thing to reconcile. And I hate to say it's
Speaker 1: better than nothing. But if you believe, if you believe
Speaker 1: so firmly in all of these these issues that drove
Speaker 1: you to support them in the first place, you have
Speaker 1: we have to make peace with the fact that we're
Speaker 1: not going to be getting any closer to any of
Speaker 1: that with another four years of Trump. In fact, we're
Speaker 1: going to regress. We're gonna be even more dug in,
Speaker 1: We're gonna be even more we're gonna be even farther
Speaker 1: away from the truth from addressing climate change. It's not
Speaker 1: too late. We can do stuff, but it's got to
Speaker 1: happen immediately. So if you believe in all of these things,
Speaker 1: not voting isn't the answer. It's voting and not giving
Speaker 1: up once your vote is cast. It's not going back
Speaker 1: to Obama era politics where we just assume the guy's
Speaker 1: got things on lock and has things under control. As
Speaker 1: much as as as good of a president as Vamba was,
Speaker 1: lots of shady stuff happened under him as well. You
Speaker 1: know a lot of people don't know that kids started
Speaker 1: being detained under him. It was different. The policy expanded
Speaker 1: under Trump and has become far less humane, but the
Speaker 1: original things started then, for example, drone strikes. And I
Speaker 1: understand that there's a lot of pressures on a president
Speaker 1: that I do not I can't conceptualize. But I'm just
Speaker 1: saying we didn't know that because we weren't paying attention,
Speaker 1: and that era has to be gone. We do not
Speaker 1: survive as a species. And I do not mean to
Speaker 1: be alarmist, but we don't survive or as a country.
Speaker 1: By going back to that, as as appealing as at
Speaker 1: night sound, there will be balance, but we need people
Speaker 1: to triage the current wound and then continue to do
Speaker 1: rehabilitation and not just check out, is I guess is
Speaker 1: my my pitch to everybody. I think accountability at this
Speaker 1: point is the only way that we can continue progressing.
Speaker 1: And that I wanted to just say that popped into
Speaker 1: my head right now real quick. If you're not pumped
Speaker 1: about Biden, there are lots of people you can get
Speaker 1: pumped about. We've mentioned local downballot races. If you're in
Speaker 1: Los Angeles, for example, Nititia Rahman, an amazing progressive candidate
Speaker 1: and on a city council level, can do actual change
Speaker 1: that you see in your life. In the next several years.
Speaker 1: You can see those things actually happening if we get
Speaker 1: some people like that elected. And there are people all
Speaker 1: over the country that are running. And so if you
Speaker 1: need something to get fired up about, another reason to
Speaker 1: go to the polls on election day, it's to go
Speaker 1: to the polls and supported them and then also vote
Speaker 1: for Joe Biden while you're there, and while you're there,
Speaker 1: while you're there to take on the old mark for
Speaker 1: Mr Biden. Katie, thank you so much for your views,
Speaker 1: really with you and John, and I'm so excited for
Speaker 1: this next segment because I know that something rate we're
Speaker 1: gonna be talking about some great stuff. But I'm really
Speaker 1: grateful that both of you guys came on, especially you
Speaker 1: and your story. You know, when you're at this lesser
Speaker 1: of two evil situation, where do you stand? Where should
Speaker 1: you stand? How should you act? So thank you for
Speaker 1: giving some clarity on that. We're gonna be taking a
Speaker 1: quick break. When we come back. We're having our big
Speaker 1: round table talking about why you should vote and why
Speaker 1: you should vote with your heart. Don't go anywhere. Al Right,
Speaker 1: we are back. This is let's get into it. I
Speaker 1: got Katie Stolen, John Olds here with me, and we're
Speaker 1: talking about why it's so important to vote, not only vote,
Speaker 1: but vote with your heart. But before we get into
Speaker 1: the heart part, we've spent the last two segments talking
Speaker 1: about why each party has disappointed huge swaths of their supporters.
Speaker 1: But all of that being said, it's still incredibly vital
Speaker 1: to vote, and as we learned in our last episode,
Speaker 1: every vote does count. We've all heard the never ending
Speaker 1: list of excuses why people refuse to vote, whether it's
Speaker 1: we're confined to a two party system and it doesn't work,
Speaker 1: so why should we vote. I don't like my candidates,
Speaker 1: so many people vote mine doesn't make a difference. Even people,
Speaker 1: especially in California, talking about, oh, well, we already know
Speaker 1: who's going to get elected, you know, out here, so
Speaker 1: it's not that important to vote. What would you say
Speaker 1: to somebody who's still, even with everything that's happened in
Speaker 1: our country for the last four years, still is saying
Speaker 1: they don't want to vote, they don't plan on voting.
Speaker 1: I would say that nothing changes until you take that
Speaker 1: initiative for yourself, and that it can be easy to
Speaker 1: feel like it doesn't matter. You mentioned California, but as
Speaker 1: you know, John and I both have spoken about it's
Speaker 1: about way more than just the presidential election. It's about
Speaker 1: all of the other candidates that need us to show up,
Speaker 1: and we talk about being disaffected, and nothing ever changes.
Speaker 1: You know why, because people don't vote. The vast majority
Speaker 1: of citizens do not vote. They are tired of the
Speaker 1: status quo. They're tired of the system. We don't have.
Speaker 1: We don't have election day a holiday, so a lot
Speaker 1: of people have to choose between making a livelihood or
Speaker 1: showing up to do their civic duty, you know, childcare,
Speaker 1: they're all sorts of different things. But that changes when
Speaker 1: we show up in numbers, and also just this whole
Speaker 1: idea that your vote doesn't matter. You can look at
Speaker 1: so many elections, especially like midterm races. Let's say where
Speaker 1: these races are called with a matter of like a
Speaker 1: hundred votes, it literally is imperative that you show up
Speaker 1: and exercise You're right, it can make all the difference.
Speaker 1: And and I mentioned control. Well, I don't know about you, guys,
Speaker 1: but I feel just so overwhelmed and inundated. And the
Speaker 1: one thing that's a through line is that I get
Speaker 1: to show up and officially say I stand for this,
Speaker 1: and that means something. I know a lot of your
Speaker 1: listeners are younger, and you know, you talked about why
Speaker 1: young people might not want to get involved, and I
Speaker 1: get it. When you're younger, you don't quite have the
Speaker 1: same perspective. That's not a dis It's like you've got
Speaker 1: a whole bunch of other amazing qualities, but sometimes you
Speaker 1: don't realize the importance of a single action, you know.
Speaker 1: And I know so many people in my peer group
Speaker 1: I'm a little bit older than you, just a little bit,
Speaker 1: who have deep regrets for not getting involved sooner, when
Speaker 1: they had the energy, when they had more time at
Speaker 1: their disposal. Uh, you know, less bogged down by family
Speaker 1: obligations and crazy work days. So this is the time
Speaker 1: to show up and learn these lessons. It's a great answer, John,
Speaker 1: Do you have anything that you want to add to that?
Speaker 1: So do you ever remember I don't know if they
Speaker 1: do this or where you live, but your energy bill
Speaker 1: and they kind of audit your energy use and they
Speaker 1: compare it to the energy uses of like your five neighbors,
Speaker 1: and you either get a smiley face or a frowny face,
Speaker 1: or like, oh, you know you're showering for too long,
Speaker 1: use less heat. I'm of the opinion that if we
Speaker 1: did that for voting, we would get far more people
Speaker 1: to turn out because think of it this way. If
Speaker 1: I know my neighbors are voicing their opinions and I
Speaker 1: either agree with them or disagree with them, no matter
Speaker 1: what I would say, well damn I should probably voice
Speaker 1: my opinion too. So that's number one. As Katie mentioned,
Speaker 1: there are barriers to voting and that that's a separate discussion.
Speaker 1: But I think saying I don't want to vote and
Speaker 1: I can't vote are very different things. So do the
Speaker 1: people who say I don't want to vote? There are
Speaker 1: quantifiable results from your apathy. You know, there are so
Speaker 1: many candidates out there right now on both sides of
Speaker 1: the aisle that one person wants to divide, one person
Speaker 1: wants to bring people together, one person wants to get results,
Speaker 1: and the person wants to disagreement to the void. And
Speaker 1: I think that by not voting, we don't choose the
Speaker 1: person that wants to get results. We're in a time
Speaker 1: of crisis. This is a pandemic and an economic crisis,
Speaker 1: and you're gonna stay home when we're choosing the people
Speaker 1: who are going to deal with that. Like, that's a problem. Yeah,
Speaker 1: And I think. You know, my nephew is eighteen and
Speaker 1: I'm having a hard time convincing him to vote. You know,
Speaker 1: he's pretty dug in in the fact that it doesn't
Speaker 1: make a difference, that it doesn't even matter which party
Speaker 1: you know who it is, that they're all politicians. And
Speaker 1: I get that. I get that feeling. But the first
Speaker 1: step is still to show up and vote and to
Speaker 1: move the needle in the direction that you want. The
Speaker 1: second step is to get involved. As you mentioned earlier, John,
Speaker 1: you can get involved. You can show up to your
Speaker 1: city council, you can run for city council. You would
Speaker 1: be surprised at how much easier it is to gain
Speaker 1: entry to this private club. And you know what happens.
Speaker 1: Then you get to actually enact change. We don't get
Speaker 1: to move on past this point through apathy. We get
Speaker 1: to move forward by by stay ending up and doing something,
Speaker 1: physically doing something. And that is not possible for everybody.
Speaker 1: Not everybody can run for office. But you can be involved.
Speaker 1: You can support the people, You can pay attention and
Speaker 1: you can see who reflects your values. You can do
Speaker 1: mutual aid, you can get involved in different grassroots organizations,
Speaker 1: and all of that is about being politically active, and
Speaker 1: all of that is about changing your future. And your
Speaker 1: future is the most important one because you're going to
Speaker 1: be here the longest. You know, we're still here, but
Speaker 1: like you're gonna have to carry the torch. I at
Speaker 1: this point, if you're listening to this podcast, you haven't
Speaker 1: been convinced to vote yet. I don't know what else
Speaker 1: we can say it we got to We got two
Speaker 1: people just ripping you up, so please again. I mean,
Speaker 1: I I know that we all learn our lessons in
Speaker 1: the time that we learned them. But one thing that
Speaker 1: I hope this intense time of social economic upheaval can
Speaker 1: can show you is that the impossible is absolutely possible,
Speaker 1: and it is happening. It doesn't go away by ignoring it.
Speaker 1: So so now that we've hopefully convinced everybody listening this
Speaker 1: to vote or to register to vote, UM, I want
Speaker 1: to talk about the part about voting with your heart. UM.
Speaker 1: I think it's important to note that an enthusiastic vote
Speaker 1: counts just as much as an unenthusiastic vote. And so
Speaker 1: I have a question for both of you guys who,
Speaker 1: throughout this podcast we've seen have shown frustrations with your
Speaker 1: own parties. Should you vote with your party even if
Speaker 1: you can't stomach the candidate that you're saddled with? Do
Speaker 1: you think that there's a better alternative? What are your
Speaker 1: thoughts here, John, Well, that's pretty subjective, Like I don't know.
Speaker 1: I I feel like you can dislike a candidate and
Speaker 1: still vote for them, but it depends on the level
Speaker 1: of dislike that in distaste that you have for that candidate.
Speaker 1: I don't know. I don't vote the party I like to,
Speaker 1: you know, think about who I'm going to vote for.
Speaker 1: I mean, full disclosure. I've I've actually voted for one
Speaker 1: Democrat in my life. I'm not going to say who,
Speaker 1: but I voted for one scary but I didn't like
Speaker 1: the Republican running and so I cast my ball for
Speaker 1: the other person. That aside, you gotta evaluate the candidates
Speaker 1: on their merits, and you know, sometimes you might have
Speaker 1: a personal disagreement. I also, this is going to be
Speaker 1: a terrible answer because I'm in a tough spot. No,
Speaker 1: not if you if you feel like you're in a
Speaker 1: tough spot, you gotta do with it. I think you
Speaker 1: gotta evaluate the person on their merits, and if the
Speaker 1: personal distaste for that person outweighs how much you like
Speaker 1: their policies, and you know it's a gut feeling, you
Speaker 1: know that you just can't do it, that you can't
Speaker 1: stomach a vote for that person, then you gotta either
Speaker 1: leave it blank or vote for the other guy, or
Speaker 1: I don't know, it depends. Yeah, that's ticky. I think
Speaker 1: that the question, it absolutely is very subjective. It depends
Speaker 1: on the situation, but it's it's for me. There's like
Speaker 1: a hierarchy of stuff like, Okay, what are their policies,
Speaker 1: what are they promoting them? On a personal level, what's
Speaker 1: at stake if I choose not to vote, So what's
Speaker 1: the other option, the alternative what happens if I don't
Speaker 1: support this person and the other guy wins? And all
Speaker 1: of that has to inform like, I can't sit here
Speaker 1: and tell you absolutely should only vote for Democrats versus Republicans,
Speaker 1: because I don't think that that is that's not sincere
Speaker 1: and honest. It's it's pretending that Democrats are infallible or
Speaker 1: that our guy. It's it's very hyperpartisan. However, right now
Speaker 1: things are hyperpartisan. I look at that, and look, Hillary
Speaker 1: Clinton not an ideal candidate in any capacity. I get that.
Speaker 1: I was befuddled, And this is no, I don't need
Speaker 1: to know how you voted John In or your family
Speaker 1: or anything like that. But I was very confused on
Speaker 1: a personal level for people that I know and love
Speaker 1: that are conservative who didn't seem to care that he
Speaker 1: has a long track record of very valid sexual assault claims.
Speaker 1: And it hurt me in my core that political differences
Speaker 1: aside that my my childhood best friend who has little girls,
Speaker 1: that that didn't bother them. And that's a perfect example
Speaker 1: of the kind of thing that you should sit down
Speaker 1: and really consider, like what are your values here? But
Speaker 1: then there's also the whole thing of like like, look
Speaker 1: at the other side, what's at stake? And it's a really,
Speaker 1: really tough position to be in, and it is definitely
Speaker 1: a burden that we have to carry. But again it
Speaker 1: all comes back to if you don't like the options,
Speaker 1: we start getting involved now so that in the future
Speaker 1: we have better options. But the answer in the moment
Speaker 1: isn't to just say burn the whole system down. I think, um,
Speaker 1: I want to change the tone a little bit because
Speaker 1: I want to end on a very positive note, because
Speaker 1: I really do think I'm gonna lie when I when
Speaker 1: we first started talking about having a Republican and a
Speaker 1: Democrat and me on a podcast, I got a little
Speaker 1: nervous that we would end up it would end up
Speaker 1: in a fiery debate. But what I love the most
Speaker 1: is that the both of you would have found such
Speaker 1: great common ground. And I think that there are some
Speaker 1: some areas in which Democrats and Republicans at at their heart,
Speaker 1: Like you both have said, it's a there's a difference
Speaker 1: between what the party says and does from the top
Speaker 1: and how you kind of act and feel with your heart.
Speaker 1: How can we continue to build on that? How can
Speaker 1: we continue to build on finding common ground? I personally
Speaker 1: think that that's the only way that we can start
Speaker 1: kind of joining together is by not doing us versus
Speaker 1: them type of situation, but really seeking to understand each other.
Speaker 1: Granted the very clear things like racial justice and gender
Speaker 1: equality and all of the equality bits we need to
Speaker 1: all agree on specifically, But outside of that, how do
Speaker 1: you guys both feel, and this is the last question
Speaker 1: before we close out, how do you guys both feel
Speaker 1: we can continue building on that common ground and really
Speaker 1: start searching for a little bit more of a better relationship.
Speaker 1: I'd say, well, so I can kind of give you
Speaker 1: an answer. Well, first of all, I don't bite believe
Speaker 1: the big bad Republican is here. It goes back to
Speaker 1: my comment that I made earlier. And I don't mean
Speaker 1: to be like off color or inarticulate about this, but
Speaker 1: when normal people talk about politics, it is like de
Speaker 1: facto civil See, here's the problem. Our political system rewards
Speaker 1: people that throw rocks and yell and scream, and if
Speaker 1: you want to get anything done, you have to go
Speaker 1: to the people that have the power to make the
Speaker 1: change or you try to become the people with the power,
Speaker 1: and people in power do not respond to yelling and screaming.
Speaker 1: People want to have a dialogue. People like if you
Speaker 1: were to talk to your neighbor about a political issue,
Speaker 1: you probably wouldn't scream and yell at them and speak
Speaker 1: and say ound bites. You probably ask questions, why do
Speaker 1: you think that if we talk about politics like normal people. Yeah,
Speaker 1: you know, I have a slightly different the yelling and
Speaker 1: the showing up in the voice of your opinion. I
Speaker 1: think that there is definitely, um, a time and a
Speaker 1: place for that when when things are intense. You know,
Speaker 1: I believe in the power of protests. I think that
Speaker 1: a lot of stuff is getting skewed right now and
Speaker 1: it's a bit out of control everything. We don't need
Speaker 1: to get into that about the efficacy of protests right now,
Speaker 1: but I believe in them deeply. But I do subscribe
Speaker 1: to that myself. And it's hard right now when everybody
Speaker 1: is just so amped up to the you know, they're
Speaker 1: at full throttle one. We're we're so busy saying our
Speaker 1: opinion that we're not listening. Um. When I've done I've
Speaker 1: done a lot of campaigning for people or you know, volunteering,
Speaker 1: showing up, knocking on doorsteps, and it comes down to that.
Speaker 1: It comes down to saying like okay, well, uh, how
Speaker 1: about this specific issue and having a general conversation, and
Speaker 1: that's how you find common ground. Um. I said this
Speaker 1: on a break to John, but I really respect hearing
Speaker 1: him talk about where where he's coming from and what
Speaker 1: he's doing because you know, so much of my exposure
Speaker 1: to you know, young uh Republicans has been a bit
Speaker 1: of more of the Trumpett brand where it's it's it's
Speaker 1: you know, there is a faction of people that are
Speaker 1: manipulating truth to serve their own narratives. And right now
Speaker 1: we have a disagreement across the board about what truth
Speaker 1: is and and we're all so dug in. But if
Speaker 1: we can come together and have actual conversations, like you
Speaker 1: were saying, you start to see the through lines. You
Speaker 1: see where we agree and you see where we disagree,
Speaker 1: and we can learn from each other. You know, I'm
Speaker 1: not always right about everything, But there's a lot of
Speaker 1: stuff that's trial and error. A lot of stuff is
Speaker 1: us saying like we haven't tried this, let's try this.
Speaker 1: You know, we've tried this system. We haven't and there
Speaker 1: might be mistakes that are made. But if we've come
Speaker 1: together and we act actually learn how to listen to
Speaker 1: each other and learn from each other, that's a vastly
Speaker 1: different political landscape, if I may. Um. So, I just
Speaker 1: want to be clear. When I talk about yelling and screaming,
Speaker 1: I mean it in a sense that anger is not
Speaker 1: a bad emotion. In fact, some of the most just
Speaker 1: and productive things that we can do in the world
Speaker 1: are born out of anger, right, So I'm not saying
Speaker 1: that necessarily. What I'm saying is that yelling for, you know,
Speaker 1: to be self aggrandizing to yourself rather than a cause
Speaker 1: that you believe in. Like, there are a lot of
Speaker 1: people grifting, yeah, you know, profiting off of me. We've
Speaker 1: got them on the left and the right. Oh, believe me,
Speaker 1: I'm well aware. And and and it's such a problem.
Speaker 1: So that's the kind of yelling and rancor that I'm against.
Speaker 1: I'm not necessarily, not necessarily against. And I didn't think
Speaker 1: that you said that, but that was just where my
Speaker 1: mind went, and just in case, and but he was
Speaker 1: thinking that, Like I'm I'm an advocate of protests, but
Speaker 1: I also think that there is a respectful way to
Speaker 1: have a conversation. And sometimes sometimes that's hard, especially when
Speaker 1: people aren't coming to the to this stage with a
Speaker 1: good faith argument, when they're not actually listening to the
Speaker 1: words you're saying, or they're drawing on the facts, and
Speaker 1: we are all both sides have people that are guilty
Speaker 1: of it, and I try to bring that to my work.
Speaker 1: But and this is what we're trying to talk about
Speaker 1: that you mentioned. We don't have a common set of facts,
Speaker 1: Like we're squabbling over what is the truth, Like, Okay,
Speaker 1: you have climate change, we have X amount of emissions,
Speaker 1: it is a measurable thing. We're going to say that
Speaker 1: that's not real. I can I can say I think
Speaker 1: that we should have market based climate solutions, and that
Speaker 1: I think nuclear energy is a good thing, and that
Speaker 1: the regulatory environment shouldn't be so complex for people. And
Speaker 1: you might disagree with that. If we're discussing what is real,
Speaker 1: having that common set of facts is something that we're
Speaker 1: trying to bring to the table that you know, we
Speaker 1: can disagree about things, but we at least have to
Speaker 1: be talking in the same universe. So I would literally listen,
Speaker 1: I could listen to you guys talk back and forth
Speaker 1: because it is, like you said, very very calm. It's
Speaker 1: a regular conversation with your neighbors. Unfortunately, we're running out
Speaker 1: of time. Um and before we end, I want to
Speaker 1: give you guys, because both of you have such strong
Speaker 1: voices and so I want you both to do some
Speaker 1: shameless promo. John, I want you to to promo everything
Speaker 1: you can places that people can find you and listen
Speaker 1: to you more if if they if they're really feeling
Speaker 1: the gen z go op vibes. Yeah, the gen z
Speaker 1: Gop podcast we do three episodes a month. You can
Speaker 1: find us on Twitter at gen z gop pod or
Speaker 1: gen z gop org the pod. The pot account is
Speaker 1: just for our podcast. For on Spotify, SoundCloud, Apple Podcast.
Speaker 1: You can go to gen z gop dot org and
Speaker 1: sign up to you either become a member or you
Speaker 1: can submit a resume to become a part of our team.
Speaker 1: We're looking for new and excited voices to come to
Speaker 1: our movement. And then also I'll plug my own personal
Speaker 1: Twitter for some hot take, current events and Boston sports.
Speaker 1: It's at John olds m A love it. I love
Speaker 1: it well, John, Thank you so much for coming on.
Speaker 1: Thank you for sharing your voice in your opinion and
Speaker 1: and I really appreciate it. All Right, Katie, where can
Speaker 1: everybody find you? Oh? You can find me in a
Speaker 1: variety of places. I'm also on Twitter at Katie Stole.
Speaker 1: I co host Worst Year Ever, which is a podcast
Speaker 1: with I Heart Radio as well with Robert Evans from
Speaker 1: Behind the Bastards and Cody Johnston that was originally supposed
Speaker 1: to be all election related, but you know, things have
Speaker 1: changed since we launched that podcast, and so you know
Speaker 1: we're we're talking about ah a lot, a wide a
Speaker 1: wide range of topics. Oh, we keep been interesting. We
Speaker 1: could get interesting guests. Uh. You also can check out
Speaker 1: my other podcast, Even More News, that I co host
Speaker 1: with Cody Johnston that is a companion to our YouTube
Speaker 1: channel Some More News, Uh, and it's a lot of
Speaker 1: deep dives looks at honestly all the stuff that you
Speaker 1: would expect us to be covering, and we do. Our
Speaker 1: videos range from twenty minutes to an hour. Some of
Speaker 1: them are long, but you know you've got time to
Speaker 1: kill right now. Nice. Well, you guys know you can
Speaker 1: always find me at alex Iono on all platforms. That's
Speaker 1: the best part about having a weird last name, it's
Speaker 1: a I O n Oh. Please make sure you rate
Speaker 1: and subscribe to this podcast. That is how we grow
Speaker 1: and I thank you so much for coming through today.
Speaker 1: We'll talk to you guys next week and until then, peace.
Speaker 1: We really want you to get the help you need,
Speaker 1: so if you need help, please seek independent advice from
Speaker 1: a competent healthcare or meant a health professional. The views
Speaker 1: and opinions expressed in this podcast are solely those of
Speaker 1: the podcast author or individuals participating in the podcast, and
Speaker 1: do not represent the opinions of iHeartMedia or its employees.
Speaker 1: This podcast should not be used as medical advice, mental
Speaker 1: health advice, counseling, or therapy. Listening to the podcast does
Speaker 1: not established doctor patient relationship with hosts or guests of ALEXIONO,
Speaker 1: Let's Get Into It or I Heeartmedia. No guarantee is
Speaker 1: given regarding the accuracy of any statements or opinions made
Speaker 1: on this podcast. Who if That's a Doozy