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Speaker 1: ten on your first purchase. Welcome to Why I'm Voting,
Speaker 1: a production of I Heart Radio. Listen. You already know this,
Speaker 1: but it's an election year. You might already be tired
Speaker 1: of hearing about it. But here's the thing. Democracy doesn't
Speaker 1: work without you. I'm Holly Frying, and I'm sitting down
Speaker 1: with many of my fellow podcasters, from Will Ferrell to
Speaker 1: Stephanie Rule, as well as other luminaries, to find out
Speaker 1: about their relationships with the ballot box and ultimately just
Speaker 1: to find out why they vote. I hope you're exercising
Speaker 1: your right to vote, and if you're not, I hope
Speaker 1: that their stories inspire you. So today, on Why I
Speaker 1: Am Voting, I am joined by the fabulous and delightful
Speaker 1: Chuck Bryant host of stuff you should know, and also
Speaker 1: movie crush in general, all around guy who has kindly agreed, Uh,
Speaker 1: that should have been all around good guy, but whatever,
Speaker 1: he's definitely an all around guy, all around good guy
Speaker 1: to join us and talk about his relationship with voting
Speaker 1: a little bit, so right out of the gate, do
Speaker 1: you remember when you realized as a kid, maybe the
Speaker 1: voting was a thing and something that you could potentially
Speaker 1: participate in one day. Well, Holly, here's my story. I
Speaker 1: grew up in a house that did not really talk politics.
Speaker 1: It was a politics free zone except for the occasional
Speaker 1: grousing of my dad. I guess about something, but it
Speaker 1: was just not something that was very big in my
Speaker 1: family for some reason. And you know, of course I
Speaker 1: learned about all that kind of thing and its class
Speaker 1: and voting, but it didn't really hit home. I kind
Speaker 1: of got a late start as far as personally being
Speaker 1: involved politically. That didn't come around until until later, like
Speaker 1: towards the end of college. So you didn't register right
Speaker 1: away like when you were eighteen. I didn't, And I
Speaker 1: may have been completely wrong about this, but if I
Speaker 1: remember correctly, I think I remember that, and it may
Speaker 1: have been true, but uh that if you register to vote,
Speaker 1: you are also registered for the draft. And even though
Speaker 1: it's silly to think that there would even be a
Speaker 1: draft anymore, I think I remember at the time being like,
Speaker 1: I'm not registered for me and and I don't even
Speaker 1: know if that was true, So it was it was
Speaker 1: very shameful looking back. But I also didn't know anything
Speaker 1: about anything back then, so I don't know if I
Speaker 1: would have been a responsible voter even Yeah, I think
Speaker 1: there's no shame in acknowledging. Like when you're kind of
Speaker 1: still a dumb kid, you're not really ready to make
Speaker 1: decisions anyway, and maybe aren't ramping up to vote. Do
Speaker 1: you remember what made you finally decide to register to vote? Yeah,
Speaker 1: you know, in college, I think for a lot of
Speaker 1: people is when a lot of that stuff becomes a
Speaker 1: little more to the forefront, a little more spiritually awake
Speaker 1: and politically awake and all that good stuff. And I
Speaker 1: remember very distinctly, and I guess my sophomore year in college,
Speaker 1: maybe my second or third year, when the first Gulf
Speaker 1: War happened, and sitting around and watching that on CNN
Speaker 1: and having a roommate who was now an attorney that
Speaker 1: was pre law back then that was very political and
Speaker 1: his name was Rob Elz and Rob we're still friends.
Speaker 1: He really kind of brought politics to the apartment. And
Speaker 1: my other roommate, Eddie Cooper also we're both ahead of
Speaker 1: me politically, and that's when I first started kind of
Speaker 1: realizing that it's important to be involved and to be
Speaker 1: aware and to know what the hell is going on.
Speaker 1: Do you remember the first time that you actually voted, Like,
Speaker 1: do you have any memories of that first ballot experience?
Speaker 1: I do. The first election I participated in was my
Speaker 1: final year in college because I spent six years. There
Speaker 1: was the nineties six election, which I guess was Bill
Speaker 1: Clinton Part two I'm remembering, right, Yeah, yeah, that track
Speaker 1: and that wash. I think you know Nader was involved
Speaker 1: back then. I think Ross Perrot was having his second
Speaker 1: go around. And that's when I cast my first vote,
Speaker 1: as you know, as a Democrat, and I've been a
Speaker 1: lifelong Democrat since then. What is your research process like
Speaker 1: or do you research for elections like I know for me,
Speaker 1: like some of the local politicians like they're not getting ads,
Speaker 1: I gotta do some some legwork to make sure I
Speaker 1: know who I'm voting for what is your process? Like? Well,
Speaker 1: I mean you and I are both sort of professional researchers,
Speaker 1: so we know our way around the internet when it
Speaker 1: comes to finding the good research. I like to think,
Speaker 1: you know, with with the presidential candidates and all, it's
Speaker 1: the way it's constructed in this country. You kind of
Speaker 1: have a choice of one or two things usually, and
Speaker 1: that's always easy for me. But as you go down ticket,
Speaker 1: I do research. I just try to you know, Facebook
Speaker 1: a lot of times is where not what people are
Speaker 1: saying it people linking to some good information is a
Speaker 1: good place to get stuff. I always try to read
Speaker 1: up on the measures, the local measures that are going
Speaker 1: to be on the ballot, whether it's can you drink
Speaker 1: on Sundays in Georgia too, things that are a little
Speaker 1: more substantial. But I try to kind of investigate and
Speaker 1: I ask around to people that are smarter than me.
Speaker 1: I don't think there's any shame in seeking out opinions
Speaker 1: of people that really know their stuff. You know. Yeah,
Speaker 1: this kind of brings up the things. So you do,
Speaker 1: obviously vote down ticket, but do you make sure that
Speaker 1: you hit like the local elections that maybe aren't part
Speaker 1: of a bigger, you know, every four every two year situation.
Speaker 1: I do now and for the past probably fifteen years
Speaker 1: or so. Because I got a late start. I thought,
Speaker 1: you know, you go in and and you vote for
Speaker 1: the president, and that's doing your civic duty. And then
Speaker 1: the more I grew up and became a you know, sentient,
Speaker 1: responsible adult, you realize, I think, like we all do,
Speaker 1: and like you probably have, that a lot of those
Speaker 1: local elections really really matter as far as what impacts
Speaker 1: you and the people that you love and people in
Speaker 1: your community. So that is definitely something that came on
Speaker 1: later in life, but now those are very important elections
Speaker 1: for me. My husband and I always make voting a date.
Speaker 1: Oh that's fun, where we always like go to breakfast
Speaker 1: or we go have lunch afterwards, whatever our schedule will permit.
Speaker 1: Do you have any rituals around voting. Well, I try
Speaker 1: to vote early, um in the pre voting, just because
Speaker 1: I don't like standing in lines and stuff. Although I
Speaker 1: will say I've had some great experiences standing in long
Speaker 1: lines to vote, some great feeling of community, because I
Speaker 1: think that's one of the kind of the fun things
Speaker 1: about voting is you vote in your district and you're
Speaker 1: voting with your neighbors. And I live in a very
Speaker 1: mixed race neighborhood in Atlanta, and going in to vote
Speaker 1: and standing in those lines to vote for President Obama,
Speaker 1: it was a great feeling and you could you could
Speaker 1: feel it in the air, and there was just a
Speaker 1: good spirit of community and friendliness. And so I don't
Speaker 1: mind those lines because it can make me feel closer
Speaker 1: to my my fellow person in my neighbor. But um,
Speaker 1: I also do like to try and early vote as well,
Speaker 1: just to get in and out. It sort of depends
Speaker 1: if I missed my window. It's not like, you know,
Speaker 1: I don't hang my head. I just go like, all right,
Speaker 1: I'll go stand in line. Yeah. I like the line too,
Speaker 1: because I feel like it makes you remember that you're
Speaker 1: not just voting for yourself, You're voting for the well
Speaker 1: being of everyone in your community. Totally. That's a great
Speaker 1: way to look at it. Now. You like me, came
Speaker 1: to voting a little bit later. You weren't right out
Speaker 1: of the gate at eighteen. But I feel like kids
Speaker 1: today are better informed certainly than I was at that age.
Speaker 1: So if there are any people out there, whether they're
Speaker 1: young or even older that maybe aren't using their right
Speaker 1: to vote. If you could tell them one thing, what
Speaker 1: would it be. Well, I feel like subsequent generations behind
Speaker 1: us are more politically active than we were, maybe, But
Speaker 1: then I also sometimes see the voting numbers and see
Speaker 1: things like, you know, the younger generation isn't voting like
Speaker 1: they should. So I'm not quite sure how to reckon that.
Speaker 1: I would say, you know, take a look at the
Speaker 1: world around you, and if you don't like what you see,
Speaker 1: it's kind of one of the only things that we have.
Speaker 1: We can protest, and we can petition, we can lobby
Speaker 1: and make calls to congress people and senators, but your
Speaker 1: vote is really the only thing where you know that
Speaker 1: you're on record of having cast your official say on something. Uh,
Speaker 1: And that's important, you know. I don't want get sidetracked
Speaker 1: about the electoral college and some states people might not
Speaker 1: think they're vote counts, but it does, especially because of
Speaker 1: the ballot measures and the local elections and council elections
Speaker 1: and stuff like that. It always counts. It's your duty.
Speaker 1: And lastly, you know, as we go forward and we're
Speaker 1: getting older and maybe becoming jaded old hags, at least
Speaker 1: I but I wonder what it is that keeps you
Speaker 1: motivated to vote knowing that, like, it's not the same
Speaker 1: as when you're a kid and you're predicting or or
Speaker 1: determining your future for quite as long a run, Like,
Speaker 1: what is it that keeps you mailing in that ballot,
Speaker 1: are going to the polls even when it's a pain
Speaker 1: in the butt. I have a daughter now, a five
Speaker 1: year old daughter, and that's a big part of it.
Speaker 1: I want to ensure her rights to have control of
Speaker 1: her own body. I would feel, you know, the same
Speaker 1: way if I had a son, obviously, but it does
Speaker 1: hit home a lot more when you have a daughter,
Speaker 1: I think. So a lot of this is to set
Speaker 1: an example for her, to take her with me if
Speaker 1: you know, she's getting to the age where obviously not
Speaker 1: during a pandemic, but she'll be going to vote with
Speaker 1: me the next time it's safe to do so. And
Speaker 1: I want to teach her about that kind of stuff
Speaker 1: because I wasn't really taught that stuff. So I think
Speaker 1: it's a very selfish thing to only think about while
Speaker 1: I'm here. Let me vote for the things that are
Speaker 1: important to me. It's it's about the future and making
Speaker 1: sure the planet's taken care of and making sure that
Speaker 1: everyone has their rights enshrined and into law. And uh,
Speaker 1: to not vote is um, it's lazy. It's cynical, I think,
Speaker 1: and I'm trying to rid myself of that cynicism, which
Speaker 1: is tough as you get older. But to set an
Speaker 1: example for my daughter, I guess it's the easiest answer,
Speaker 1: perfect one. In my opinion, You're continuing the chain of voters.
Speaker 1: I love it. I'm trying to chuck. Thank you so
Speaker 1: much for chatting with me today, but also just thank
Speaker 1: you for voting. Thank you, And I wear that sticker
Speaker 1: all day, I know. Uh, that's a big part of it.
Speaker 1: That Georgia peach it is. It's cute. You got to
Speaker 1: post it on one of the social meds as well. Yes,
Speaker 1: that's how people know. So thank you, Holly. It was
Speaker 1: a pleasure to talk to you again. It's always a
Speaker 1: delight for me. I feel spoiled I've gotten to do
Speaker 1: to chat with you recently. Let's keep it up and
Speaker 1: let's keep voting everybody. Yes please, Hey, are you not
Speaker 1: registered to vote yet, but you think it's something you
Speaker 1: want to do, you may still have time. Voter registration
Speaker 1: deadlines vary by state, so to find out the scoop
Speaker 1: for where you are, check out a nonpartisan registration voting
Speaker 1: site like head count dot org or fair vote dot org.
Speaker 1: Why I'm Voting is an I Heart Radio production. For
Speaker 1: more podcasts from I Heart Radio, visit the i Heart
Speaker 1: Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever it is as you
Speaker 1: listen to your favorite shows