Speaker 1: Hi everyone, I'm Kitty Kuric and this is next question.
Speaker 1: You know, it's hard to believe, but Julia Louis Dreyfus
Speaker 1: has been in the public eye for more than forty years.
Speaker 1: What the hell it's been forty years? Yes, it has,
Speaker 1: and I for one have loved every minute of being
Speaker 1: entertained by her. In fact, she's kind of my girl crush.
Speaker 1: She started out on SNL back in the early eighties
Speaker 1: and became a household name on Seinfeld as the quirky,
Speaker 1: adorable and feisty Elaine Bennis, which was epic. Of course.
Speaker 1: She went on to star in the New Adventures of
Speaker 1: Old Christine before becoming the hapless Selena Myers in Veep,
Speaker 1: one of my all time favorite shows. Oh and she's
Speaker 1: also made a couple dozen movies, including her latest You
Speaker 1: Hurt My Feelings. In this movie, Julia plays a writer
Speaker 1: who discovers that, despite his claims her her husband really
Speaker 1: doesn't like her second book, a novel. So we see
Speaker 1: a side of Julia we often don't, vulnerable and confused
Speaker 1: and not quite sure of herself.
Speaker 2: It explores the idea of self worth and work and
Speaker 2: how are they connected? If they are connected? The character
Speaker 2: that I play Beth, her self worth plummets.
Speaker 1: Julia and I sat down to gab about the highs
Speaker 1: and lows of her four decade career, her new movie,
Speaker 1: her new hip podcast, and what she's learned about maintaining
Speaker 1: a healthy relationship with her own self worth. I'm really
Speaker 1: happy to see you, Julia. How are you.
Speaker 2: I'm well, thank you. I'm so happy to see you
Speaker 2: with your nice blown out hair.
Speaker 1: Thank you very much. Yes, we've been discussing our hair,
Speaker 1: and you know, there's nothing like a fresh blowout, is there.
Speaker 2: It's a very good feeling. It's like it's like a
Speaker 2: you get a full tank of gas from it.
Speaker 1: Right anyway, But I'm happy to see you because we
Speaker 1: have a lot to talk about. First of all, welcome
Speaker 1: to our little podcast. Next question, and I'm excited to
Speaker 1: talk about your podcast. But first I want to talk
Speaker 1: about your new movie, which I love and you know
Speaker 1: I love everything you're in. Julia.
Speaker 2: Oh, Katie, thanks, It's true.
Speaker 1: It's true. Do you like doing interviews about your work
Speaker 1: or do you feel like I have to do this.
Speaker 2: I sort of have a mixed relationship with my with
Speaker 2: doing press, Like sometimes it feels like it's like either
Speaker 2: all or nothing. Yeah, And so when there's a tonage,
Speaker 2: it can get a little bit. It's sort of like
Speaker 2: running for office, you know, you have your stump speech.
Speaker 1: Very Selena, Yeah.
Speaker 2: Very Selena. But then there are circumstances in which I
Speaker 2: really do and I mean I'm very happy to be
Speaker 2: talking to you, or I'm happy to be talking to
Speaker 2: you know, like if I'm doing Fresh Air or something
Speaker 2: like that, right, more of an in depth conversation, and
Speaker 2: I'm happy to do that. And in this case because
Speaker 2: I'm proud of the movie, so I feel a sense
Speaker 2: of you know, ownership about it, and I want people
Speaker 2: to see it.
Speaker 1: Right, And you have to get the word out, Julia, right,
Speaker 1: I mean there's so much content out there now.
Speaker 2: Well, there's not a lot of content like this, that
Speaker 2: is to say, indie films in theaters. You know, since
Speaker 2: the pandemic, the indie film market has taken a big hit.
Speaker 2: And so I'm very pleased that it's done as well
Speaker 2: as it has, so all the more reason to get
Speaker 2: the word out.
Speaker 1: Well, let's talk about the movie. You've teamed up once
Speaker 1: again with your friend Nicole holl Off center and you
Speaker 1: all met when you made the movie enough, said James
Speaker 1: Gandalfeeni's last film, which I love too, and that was
Speaker 1: ten years ago. So how much fun did you have
Speaker 1: working with her again? And how did this project come about?
Speaker 2: I mean, honestly, Nicole and I have been searching for
Speaker 2: a project to work on together in those ten years,
Speaker 2: and projects would come up, but because of my schedule
Speaker 2: or her schedule or whatever, we could never line up
Speaker 2: quite right. But we have always stayed in touch with
Speaker 2: one another. And we were having lunch one day and
Speaker 2: she said she had this germ of an idea about
Speaker 2: a woman who was a writer who had written her
Speaker 2: second book, and she's in a long term, happy marriage,
Speaker 2: and her husband has told her how much she loves it.
Speaker 2: He loves it, he loves it, and then she overhears
Speaker 2: him saying that he hates it. And she told me
Speaker 2: that premise, and I just about fell off my chair
Speaker 2: because I immediately understood what that devastation might feel like
Speaker 2: and saw it as a devastation and an interesting way
Speaker 2: to investigate a relationship. And so then she wrote it
Speaker 2: and it was it's just a beautiful script from the
Speaker 2: get go, and awfully went.
Speaker 1: I love the way it feels like you're a fly
Speaker 1: in the wall in a family that you can imagine.
Speaker 1: You know, now that I live in New York and
Speaker 1: the movie takes place in New York, you think, oh,
Speaker 1: these might be my neighbors. And totally what I loved
Speaker 1: is the dialogue, because I thought it was so interesting, Julia,
Speaker 1: when you'd be having a conversation and I'd sort of
Speaker 1: laugh because I think, this is such a natural conversation.
Speaker 1: This is the way a conversation would go in real life.
Speaker 1: For example, when you're talking to your son Elliott about
Speaker 1: something very serious and then he says, Mom, do we
Speaker 1: have any bagels?
Speaker 2: Right?
Speaker 1: And I thought, this is actually real life and the
Speaker 1: way people talk in real life.
Speaker 2: Yes, yes, it's true. And that's a credit to Nicole's
Speaker 2: writing and her voice. That's what she's trying to capture,
Speaker 2: and she does so elegantly in her work.
Speaker 1: The movie, to me, Julia, is about sort of the
Speaker 1: lies we tell each other in order to spare people's feelings,
Speaker 1: the things that we do and say that aren't necessarily true.
Speaker 1: But I'm curious what you think the movie is really
Speaker 1: about and some of the things that it opens up
Speaker 1: about relationships and families and marriage, et cetera.
Speaker 2: Well, I think the movie's about a multitude of things
Speaker 2: because the character that I play, Beth, when she hears
Speaker 2: her husband saying how much she doesn't like her book,
Speaker 2: and she questions her self worth, and she questions the
Speaker 2: past and what she's written in the past, and so
Speaker 2: her confidence is at an all time low. And by
Speaker 2: the way, she's not the only character who's questioning. There
Speaker 2: are multiple characters in the movie who are having tiny,
Speaker 2: little crises with their work. Actually, all of the characters,
Speaker 2: pardon me, every single character is her sister, Sarah is.
Speaker 2: She's an interior designer. She's questioning the value of her work.
Speaker 2: Her brother in law is an actor, he's questioning whether
Speaker 2: or not he wants to be an actor. And her
Speaker 2: husband is a therapist and is beginning to wonder if
Speaker 2: he actually is a good therapist.
Speaker 1: And her son and her son.
Speaker 2: Yeah, and her son is like trying to find his
Speaker 2: way and working in a pot store but wants to
Speaker 2: be a writer and trying to figure that out. So
Speaker 2: it's these all these little internal struggles that are well
Speaker 2: they're little, but they're also pretty big. So the movie's
Speaker 2: about that, and it's also about trust and love and
Speaker 2: honesty and communication.
Speaker 1: Also about parenting you're parentinge of Elliott, but also Jeanie Berlin,
Speaker 1: who plays your mom, Yes, the parenting you experienced with
Speaker 1: your mom, and also your father, who berated you and
Speaker 1: who was verbally abusive and who obviously planted the seed
Speaker 1: of self doubt and insecurity. I love Jeanie Berlin. Oh
Speaker 1: my god, I can't even tell you. I loved her
Speaker 1: so much in The Heartbreak Kid. I was sitting at
Speaker 1: that diner eating the egg solid sandwich and chewing with
Speaker 1: her mouth full. Oh, I just and Charles Groden's expression, oh,
Speaker 1: how can you ever forget that? But I love seeing
Speaker 1: Jeanie Berlin kind of having a renaissance right now. But
Speaker 1: it's in some ways a quiet movie because obviously it's
Speaker 1: not about superheroes, it's not action packed. It's a quiet
Speaker 1: movie based on relationships and dialogue. And these movies are
Speaker 1: hard to get made, aren't they, Julia?
Speaker 2: They are? They are? Katie?
Speaker 1: And why is that?
Speaker 2: Well? As I said before, I think the landscape has changed.
Speaker 2: The pandemic really hit the independent film industry really hard.
Speaker 2: I'm not smart enough to sort of hypothesize about the
Speaker 2: ins and outs of the business of film, but I
Speaker 2: do know that that's a fact.
Speaker 1: But you know, Nicole said that this was based on
Speaker 1: a real fear of hers that the people she loved
Speaker 1: the most would not respect her or her work. And
Speaker 1: I'm wondering if that is something that has eaten at
Speaker 1: you through your life, especially because you and Brad obviously
Speaker 1: have been married for a long time. He is in
Speaker 1: the same business. He's in showbiz, as they say, And
Speaker 1: has that ever been something that you've thought about or
Speaker 1: worried about.
Speaker 2: I've certainly been really lucky, Katie, but I've had a
Speaker 2: few things that didn't work quite as well as I'd
Speaker 2: hoped that were disappointments. I don't know. I rely on
Speaker 2: the people very close to me whose opinions I respect.
Speaker 2: I rely on there put and then everything outside of
Speaker 2: that for me anyway is I don't give too much
Speaker 2: way too, you know, And I try to work really
Speaker 2: hard on that, both positively and negatively, because you can't
Speaker 2: just say I'm not listening to the negative things I
Speaker 2: think that the you know, like with reviews, for example,
Speaker 2: I really try to put distance between myself and criticism. Yeah,
Speaker 2: just so I can focus.
Speaker 1: On work, And do you feel like Brad is honest
Speaker 1: with you? If he would he say, oh honey, this
Speaker 1: is a stinker, I don't think you should do this,
Speaker 1: or gosh, it didn't really turn out as we were
Speaker 1: hoping it would.
Speaker 2: Yeah he's honest. Yeah, Yeah, he's honest. And I feel
Speaker 2: like I'm honest with him, and sometimes that can be challenging.
Speaker 2: I mean, I'm sure you have that in your relationship, right,
Speaker 2: I mean, who doesn't. But I think the key is,
Speaker 2: of course, kindness.
Speaker 1: And knowing that person always has your back, you know,
Speaker 1: even if they are critical, or even if they're honest.
Speaker 1: And it hurts your feelings, if it comes from the
Speaker 1: right place.
Speaker 2: If it comes from the right place, there's space for recovery. Yeah,
Speaker 2: and there's also space to hear it too.
Speaker 1: How does Julia keep a healthy separation between her work
Speaker 1: life and personal life. We'll find out right after this
Speaker 1: we're back with Julia Louis Dreyfus, who has a new
Speaker 1: film called You Hurt My Feelings. You know, I'm curious
Speaker 1: about how you handle your sense of worth connected to
Speaker 1: your work, because I think I felt that for so
Speaker 1: long and when I stop being on TV every day,
Speaker 1: it was a real struggle for me because my identity
Speaker 1: was so associated not only with the persona I had
Speaker 1: and the job I had, but also the cadence of
Speaker 1: my life that existed when I did those jobs. How
Speaker 1: do you separate yourself from your work and not let
Speaker 1: it consume you.
Speaker 2: Well, I don't always do it successfully, but I think
Speaker 2: something that I am pretty good at doing is compartmentalization.
Speaker 2: And also, I have to say something else too. When
Speaker 2: I was in seinfeld back in the day, and that
Speaker 2: was obviously the first really big, huge hit I'd ever
Speaker 2: been a part of. I had both of my kids
Speaker 2: at that time during the run of that show, and
Speaker 2: it really slammed priorities into place. And I think they've
Speaker 2: been in place ever since. I mean, I don't mean
Speaker 2: they weren't in place prior to that, but there was
Speaker 2: something bigger and more critical to focus on. That was
Speaker 2: a good life lesson.
Speaker 1: I feel like I've known you for a while and
Speaker 1: since those days, Katie Ye Seinfelds and I have always
Speaker 1: admired your ability to build a rich and fulfilling life
Speaker 1: outside of your work.
Speaker 2: But I think the same is true of you too, Katie.
Speaker 2: I mean, you've been your focus on your family and
Speaker 2: you've had, you know, your huge share of challenges along
Speaker 2: the way, and you strike me as somebody who sort
Speaker 2: of knows to the grindstone when it comes to priorities
Speaker 2: and focus. And I see that. I think that's actually
Speaker 2: why we're friends outside of this podcast. I mean, I
Speaker 2: think we have that connection with one another.
Speaker 1: Right, Yes, I think so too. I think we're kind
Speaker 1: of two peas in a pod that way.
Speaker 2: Yeah, yeah, I do too. And having said that too,
Speaker 2: at the same time, I would also add that being
Speaker 2: a mother who is working outside the home is a
Speaker 2: bitch and very difficult to do both well, you know.
Speaker 2: I mean, it's an incredibly daunting task we have as
Speaker 2: women working outside the home women, right and I anyway,
Speaker 2: that's another little piece I'll throw in.
Speaker 1: I also get the sense, and you can correct me
Speaker 1: if I'm wrong that Brad was a very involved parent
Speaker 1: and is very much an equal partner.
Speaker 2: You know.
Speaker 1: Now my girls are older, so I don't really need
Speaker 1: it with John so much, but Jay was very much
Speaker 1: an equal parent to me, and that makes a huge difference.
Speaker 2: Huge huge. Yeah, you're not shouldering at all yourself.
Speaker 1: Let's talk about beet for a second. Just because I
Speaker 1: still watch it when I just you're it's sort of
Speaker 1: comfort food for me to watch a beef that and
Speaker 1: Sex and the City. Do you miss doing that show, Juliet.
Speaker 2: I'll do, Katie, I really do you do?
Speaker 1: Was that your best TV experience? You think?
Speaker 2: Yes it was?
Speaker 1: And what was it about that? I mean, obviously Seinfeld
Speaker 1: was kind of your breakout role as Elaine, but with
Speaker 1: Beep you were front and center. What was it that
Speaker 1: special kismet of Beep that made it just such a
Speaker 1: perfect place for you for those years?
Speaker 2: Gosh, it was so many things, but you certainly touched
Speaker 2: on one, which was it was absolutely the most extraordinary
Speaker 2: ensemble of actors, and it was a big ensemble, and
Speaker 2: then additionally it was an incredible group of writers, so
Speaker 2: it felt like a big team. And I also felt
Speaker 2: like we were playing in an area that hadn't been
Speaker 2: played in before, and I had a real, you know,
Speaker 2: a pride of ownership about that show. And then the
Speaker 2: other thing is is that towards the end of Veep,
Speaker 2: I got breast cancer, as you know, and we had
Speaker 2: to shut down for roughly a year a little under
Speaker 2: and so going back to Veep after having gone through
Speaker 2: those travails was particularly cherishable.
Speaker 1: It must have been so moving when you got that
Speaker 1: first day back on the set. Can you describe it?
Speaker 2: It was like coming home. It was very familiar, yes,
Speaker 2: and trying not to cry a lot, of course, because
Speaker 2: we're trying to be We're trying to do a satire.
Speaker 2: It was a very uh close nick group of people,
Speaker 2: and I was I was proud of the fact that
Speaker 2: so many people got to shine and excel and it
Speaker 2: was just great. It was just like a great mash
Speaker 2: up of everything was It was a dream. It was
Speaker 2: a dream. Gig.
Speaker 1: Tell me about how you're feeling now. Of course, I
Speaker 1: was diagnosed with breast cancer gosh about a year ago,
Speaker 1: which seems insane. And I didn't have to have chemotherapy.
Speaker 1: I was diagnosed at stage one A. I think you
Speaker 1: were stage two, so you did have to go through chemotherapy.
Speaker 1: And I'm assuming you're feeling great. Are you on those
Speaker 1: goddamn aromatase inhibitors like I am?
Speaker 2: I sure fucking am. Yeah.
Speaker 1: I feel like we need to talk more about that
Speaker 1: for other women, because I think it takes a toll
Speaker 1: on us. I mean, I love estrogen. I miss estrogen.
Speaker 1: It's actually a mood elevator that helps your skin. It
Speaker 1: keeps you moist everywhere, correct, all of it.
Speaker 2: It's like the most fabulous hormone unless you get cancer
Speaker 2: and then it's not right.
Speaker 1: And now you have to take these things to suppress
Speaker 1: any estrogen in your body because it might feed any
Speaker 1: cancer that might be floating around, which is tough. How
Speaker 1: are you doing on them, and how are you feeling
Speaker 1: sort of in general.
Speaker 2: I'm feeling really fine. I'm feeling really well. I'm like
Speaker 2: six years out now, which is fantastic. Touch wood, and yeah,
Speaker 2: my life is sort of I'm going to say, back
Speaker 2: to normal, with the exception of my body. It's a
Speaker 2: little bit different because of those drugs that we're both on,
Speaker 2: and there are drawbacks to them. And you know, I
Speaker 2: can definitely tell that I've aged more in the last
Speaker 2: six years, like I'm seeing it, and I'm sure that's
Speaker 2: because of estrogen. You know, I can see it in
Speaker 2: I can see it my skin, you know. Yeah, but anyway,
Speaker 2: you know better that than the other thing.
Speaker 1: Well, I'm glad you're feeling well.
Speaker 2: Thank you. I'm glad you're feeling well too.
Speaker 1: And of course this is something I'm working on is
Speaker 1: to make sure that women of all socioeconomic backgrounds have
Speaker 1: access to the kind of superb medical care we have
Speaker 1: access to. And I'm working very hard on getting legislation
Speaker 1: passed on Capitol Hill that will require insurance companies to
Speaker 1: pay for breast ultrasounds or MRIs for women with dense breasts.
Speaker 1: And that's forty five percent of women who are forty
Speaker 1: and over. And I don't know about you, but I
Speaker 1: kept thinking as I was going through this, I'm so
Speaker 1: lucky that I have access to this high quality healthcare.
Speaker 1: And I actually felt guilty and terrible that just too
Speaker 1: many women don't. And that is criminal.
Speaker 2: It's criminal. And I had exactly the same reaction when
Speaker 2: I was diagnosed, which was Jesus Christ, this is terrifying.
Speaker 2: But I have health insurance. If I didn't, right, what
Speaker 2: if I didn't? And by the way, even with health insurance,
Speaker 2: it's still a bit of a trick sometimes to get
Speaker 2: certain things covered. And I know a lot of women
Speaker 2: who have health insurance. For example, if they get a mastectomy,
Speaker 2: reconstruction isn't necessarily covered by the insurance.
Speaker 1: What the hell, I know, it's crazy.
Speaker 2: Yeah, So I'm really glad that you're doing what you're
Speaker 2: doing to help get legislation through, because it's inhumane not
Speaker 2: to have the coverage.
Speaker 1: When we come back, this funny lady actually gets teary
Speaker 1: eyed when talking about interviewing her all time favorite comedian
Speaker 1: Carol Burnett. If you want to get smarter every morning
Speaker 1: with a breakdown of the news and fascinating takes on
Speaker 1: health and wellness and pop culture, sign up for our
Speaker 1: daily newsletter, Wake Up Call by going to Katiecuric dot com.
Speaker 1: You're doing a podcast which I'm so excited about, called
Speaker 1: Wiser Than Me. And I know that you thought, why
Speaker 1: don't we hear from some of these older women so
Speaker 1: often they are pushed aside, but you wanted to talk
Speaker 1: to women who are incredibly accomplished, continuing to thrive and
Speaker 1: contribute to the world. And you've interviewed people like Ruth
Speaker 1: Reichel and also is a well Allende, thank you, fran
Speaker 1: Leebowitz and Dion von Furstenberg depending on how you pronounce
Speaker 1: her me. But what if you out Jane Fonda, obviously,
Speaker 1: because I know the documentary about Jane Fonda really inspired
Speaker 1: you to do this podcast exactly.
Speaker 2: That's what did it.
Speaker 1: Yeah, So what have you learned from all these women
Speaker 1: and what has it been like talking to them?
Speaker 2: Well, first of all, it's much more work than I
Speaker 2: ever thought. It would be no surprise to you, of course,
Speaker 2: because you do this kind of thing. I don't mean
Speaker 2: just podcasts, but just yeah, journalistically, because it's not a
Speaker 2: podcast where we're just sitting around shooting the shit. This
Speaker 2: is a podcast in which there's a real lens through
Speaker 2: which we're having a conversation. It has been very inspiring
Speaker 2: to me personally to meet these women, and there's a
Speaker 2: common thread here with these women, and there's something about
Speaker 2: the fact that they're older now. They're all in there,
Speaker 2: you know, essentially over seventy. And Carol Burnette, by the way,
Speaker 2: was our last guest and she's ninety.
Speaker 1: How was that?
Speaker 2: Can I tell you something? It was sublime. I was
Speaker 2: so to It was. All of these podcasts that I've
Speaker 2: done have been on zoom, like we're doing it right now,
Speaker 2: but in the case with Carol, because of various circumstances,
Speaker 2: we did it in person.
Speaker 1: What a treat.
Speaker 2: Oh God, Katie, Katie. I was so overcome that I
Speaker 2: started to cry as I introduced her. Yeah, it was
Speaker 2: so embarrassing, but I couldn't. Even as I'm telling you this,
Speaker 2: I'm starting to tear up. I was so moved to
Speaker 2: have the opportunity to be in her presence and to
Speaker 2: talk to her about what she's gleaned in her life,
Speaker 2: and to tell her what a profound impact she had
Speaker 2: on my own. And I became even more aware of
Speaker 2: it doing the research leading up to our conversation, because
Speaker 2: I realized that, without my even realizing it, what she
Speaker 2: was doing got into my bones and I picked up
Speaker 2: on it. And that is to say, a woman at
Speaker 2: the head of a show, who's a part of an ensemble,
Speaker 2: who's obviously having a very good time, who clearly has
Speaker 2: a very strong sense of not only comedy but herself. Anyway,
Speaker 2: the whole thing was just an absolutely cherishable afternoon that
Speaker 2: I spent doing this with her. But what I was
Speaker 2: also going to say was, what's so nice about these
Speaker 2: conversations is these women are at a certain age now,
Speaker 2: but it's like they don't give a shit. They're happy
Speaker 2: to tell you. They're happy to talk about things that
Speaker 2: maybe they might not have wanted to talk about thirty
Speaker 2: years ago. There's a kind of like they're liberated, and
Speaker 2: it speaks well of aging. And I find it personally
Speaker 2: inspirational because it was born out of a desire of
Speaker 2: my own. And now what's so funny is that people
Speaker 2: have really responded to it. I think there's a need
Speaker 2: for this. I think that people are very curious about
Speaker 2: what these older women have to say and what tidbits
Speaker 2: life tidbits they can give us that might help us out.
Speaker 1: I'm sure you've learned a ton from each one of these,
Speaker 1: and I don't mean to mush them together, but has
Speaker 1: there been a common thread in terms of how to
Speaker 1: live a full and rich life?
Speaker 2: As you aid, I think gratitude and human connection. And
Speaker 2: I know that sounds like we're at a self help
Speaker 2: retreat right now, but in fact, that is the common
Speaker 2: denominator for all of these women. They have a sense
Speaker 2: of gratitude, and they have connections with other people that
Speaker 2: are meaningful, and they haven't shut down. They've kept themselves
Speaker 2: open even through the hard stuff.
Speaker 1: What about purpose? You know, a raison detra if you will,
Speaker 1: And I'm curious how much that informs their attitudes and
Speaker 1: their jois de vive. I don't know why I'm suddenly
Speaker 1: speaking French to you, Julia.
Speaker 2: Well, it really really looks good on you anyway.
Speaker 1: How much did that come up? I imagine a lot.
Speaker 2: Well, yes, because all of these are women who have
Speaker 2: engaged in their life, and I would say some of
Speaker 2: them have more of a philanthropic bent than others. But
Speaker 2: they've all engaged, you know, They've all stayed present, and
Speaker 2: I think they've all worked to try to make the
Speaker 2: world a better place. I think they have that in
Speaker 2: common too. Yeah, I really do think so. I really
Speaker 2: do think so. So it's been a treasurable thing to.
Speaker 1: Do this, and I think it's been really helpful to
Speaker 1: a lot of listeners, and as you said, I think
Speaker 1: it's really filled a void. I hate to end on
Speaker 1: this note, but I feel like part of your purpose
Speaker 1: has been to speak out about things you really care
Speaker 1: deeply about. And I always have respected you so much
Speaker 1: for that climate change and upholding our democracy, little things.
Speaker 2: Like that, yeah, and little nothing burgers.
Speaker 1: Yeah. I'm curious how you're feeling right now.
Speaker 2: Well, actually I'm feeling let me tell you something. This
Speaker 2: is what I'm going to say. I'm feeling optimistic. Okay,
Speaker 2: I'm feeling optimistic because that's the choice I've made for
Speaker 2: starters and also because it's based on few realities. There
Speaker 2: was recently a very important election in Wisconsin that was
Speaker 2: a resounding turnout and stamp of approval for abortion rights
Speaker 2: and for supporting those candidates that are in favor of
Speaker 2: Can you even believe we're talking about this but abortion rights.
Speaker 2: I think the Dobbs decision is going to has and
Speaker 2: will continue to bring out the vote. And I think
Speaker 2: the Republicans fucked themselves real bad when that happened. That's
Speaker 2: what I think. So I'm hopeful about the next big
Speaker 2: election we have coming up, and I think people are
Speaker 2: waking up to the critical realities of statewide elections, state legislatures,
Speaker 2: and that people are beginning to have a better understanding
Speaker 2: of how important those elections are and are coming out
Speaker 2: to them as a result, you.
Speaker 1: Know, state and local elections, right, That's right.
Speaker 2: Yes, completely, So that's so I'm not going to be
Speaker 2: pessimistic about it.
Speaker 1: So you're optimistic about the next election? Are you optimistic?
Speaker 1: And I'm curious, since you're so involved with environmental issues,
Speaker 1: how are you feeling about the future of the planet.
Speaker 2: Well, I'm worried. I'm worried I think we're all worried.
Speaker 2: We're certainly reaching the tipping point. And I'm not a scientist,
Speaker 2: so I can't rattle off all the numbers and so
Speaker 2: on in terms of carbon levels, but you know, I
Speaker 2: do serve on the board at the end r DC,
Speaker 2: and thank God for them because they're on the front
Speaker 2: lines of defending the Earth and and trying to keep
Speaker 2: us from this climate crisis. But the climate crisis is
Speaker 2: upon us. It's here. It's not something that's coming. We
Speaker 2: are now living in. I mean, I'm grateful that we
Speaker 2: have a president who's put forward the most aggressive climate
Speaker 2: legislation in presidential history. I think that's huge, and hopefully
Speaker 2: we'll elect somebody who sort of carries that forward and
Speaker 2: makes it even bigger.
Speaker 1: Well, I love seeing you and talking to you, me
Speaker 1: to you, Katie, and I'm really excited about about your movie,
Speaker 1: which is called You Hurt My Feelings, which I love
Speaker 1: the title too.
Speaker 2: Isn't that funny?
Speaker 1: Yeah? I love it all right, lots of love. Okay,
Speaker 1: thank you, Julia, Thank you Katie. Thanks for listening everyone.
Speaker 1: By the way, if you have a question for me,
Speaker 1: a subject you want us to cover, or you want
Speaker 1: to share your thoughts about how you navigate this crazy
Speaker 1: world reach out. You can leave a short message at
Speaker 1: six h nine five P one two five five five,
Speaker 1: or you can send me a DM on Instagram. I
Speaker 1: would love to hear from you. Next Question is a
Speaker 1: production of iHeartMedia and Katie Couric Media. The executive producers
Speaker 1: are Meet, Katie Kuric and Courtney Ltz. Our supervising producer
Speaker 1: is Marcy Thompson. Our producers are Adrianna Fazzio and Catherine Law.
Speaker 1: Our audio engineer is Matt Russell, who also composed our
Speaker 1: theme music. For more information about today's episode, or to
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