Speaker 1: You and Me Both is a production of I Heart Radio.
Speaker 1: I'm Hillary Clinton and I'm America Ferrera and together we're
Speaker 1: bringing you a very special edition of You and Me Both.
Speaker 1: It's a companion guide, you could call it for election Day.
Speaker 1: I am thrilled to be here with America. You probably
Speaker 1: know her as the Emmy Award winning actor for Ugly Betty,
Speaker 1: and you're probably watching her amazing show Superstore, but you
Speaker 1: may not know she's a triathlete, which just blows me away.
Speaker 1: And she's someone who I first met on the campaign
Speaker 1: trail back in two thousand and eight, and I've been
Speaker 1: honored to have her support and friendship in the years since.
Speaker 1: I was so excited to be having this conversation with
Speaker 1: you because I have a number of text chains that
Speaker 1: started on election night and have persisted it for four years.
Speaker 1: And here we are, four years later at this presidential election,
Speaker 1: and what everyone around me is sensing is so much anxiety,
Speaker 1: so much fear. I mean, I feel it taking a
Speaker 1: toll on me physically, mentally. I'm literally wearing bright colors
Speaker 1: just to stay hopeful. I'm like, I have to do
Speaker 1: everything in my power to like stay above this this,
Speaker 1: you know, and I don't use this term lightly because
Speaker 1: I know that it's serious. But I think we have
Speaker 1: collective PTSD. Yes, I know we do. I am so curious,
Speaker 1: what are you going to do on election Day? Like,
Speaker 1: how are you going to get through it? Because I
Speaker 1: have no idea what I'm gonna do. You know, I'm
Speaker 1: anxious because this time four years ago, I thought I
Speaker 1: was going to win, and that's what, you know, it
Speaker 1: appeared to be. So when it comes to election day,
Speaker 1: for the longest time, I thought I would vote early.
Speaker 1: But then I've been wondering, well, what will I do
Speaker 1: on election How will I organize my time if I'm
Speaker 1: not like planning to go vote and standing in line
Speaker 1: and doing what you do when you go to vote.
Speaker 1: So I don't know yet, America. I'm trying to be
Speaker 1: as calm and focused as I can, and right now
Speaker 1: I'm going to practice a lot of deep breathing. I
Speaker 1: think that would be the best way to get through
Speaker 1: the next few days. Reminder, so here's our game plan
Speaker 1: for today. You can get all the election related punditry
Speaker 1: you want. You can look at all the polls till
Speaker 1: your eyes cross. You can do that NonStop over the
Speaker 1: next or who knows how many hours this is not
Speaker 1: that let me let me be right up front with you. Yeah,
Speaker 1: and thank God for that. Instead, America and I are
Speaker 1: introducing you to people across our country who are working
Speaker 1: their hearts out for this election, all in different ways. Yeah,
Speaker 1: we're talking to a candidate for the state House in Tennessee,
Speaker 1: and a first time voter in North Carolina, and a
Speaker 1: seventeen year old and Georgia who is too young to
Speaker 1: vote but has put everything she has into getting other
Speaker 1: people to participate in the elections, and a veteran organizer.
Speaker 1: And we also get to check in with some of
Speaker 1: our favorite pals out there doing incredible work, Kalpenn, Zelina
Speaker 1: Maxwell and the fabulous gillin In Doyle. So we're gonna
Speaker 1: take a little time to breathe together. We helped to
Speaker 1: have a few laughs together and to be inspired together. Ready, America,
Speaker 1: I am so ready. Let's do this. First up, I
Speaker 1: want to introduce Mallory Rogers. Now. Malory is a seventeen
Speaker 1: year old high school student in Rome, Georgia, and even
Speaker 1: though she can't vote yet, she is very involved in politics. Hey, Mallory,
Speaker 1: are you hi? Hi? I am so great, and it's
Speaker 1: a thrill to be talking with you today. You're doing
Speaker 1: what I wish every young person, everybody in high school
Speaker 1: would do, and that's getting involved in our elections and
Speaker 1: politics right now. I think it's so inspiring, and I
Speaker 1: would love for you to tell me, you know how
Speaker 1: you got involved and what you've been doing. I actually
Speaker 1: got involved with our local League of Women Voters. They
Speaker 1: asked me to sign up to be a poor worker,
Speaker 1: and so I did. And then after that I kind
Speaker 1: of kept getting involved and went support of elections meetings
Speaker 1: and registered voters and doing everything I can to make
Speaker 1: democracy work. I love that you got involved through the
Speaker 1: League of Women Voters, a group that I am a
Speaker 1: huge supporter of, and you started your high school's first
Speaker 1: political club called the League of Young Voters. Tell me
Speaker 1: about that. So we actually it's the first political club.
Speaker 1: Like you said, we're non partisan, so we we don't
Speaker 1: pick side either way. That way we can get more done.
Speaker 1: I feel like it's easier to get stuffed on human Yes,
Speaker 1: and so we um had a voter registration drive on
Speaker 1: National Voter Registration Day, which was difficult with COVID, but
Speaker 1: we still we got thirty when people registered, which was exciting. Yes,
Speaker 1: and we've been doing community drives and I think we
Speaker 1: have eleven or twelve people who have signed up to
Speaker 1: work the polls from the club, and these are people
Speaker 1: most people in the club can't actually vote, but we're
Speaker 1: over sixteen so we can work the poles in Georgia.
Speaker 1: You're doing something really important because, as you know, given
Speaker 1: COVID nineteen, there's a major shortage of poll workers since
Speaker 1: historically poll workers have been retired people you know, who
Speaker 1: could spend the whole day at the polls. We can't
Speaker 1: have free and fair elections without poll workers, and so
Speaker 1: you have really been on the front lines. How did
Speaker 1: you even know about this back in June and sign
Speaker 1: up to do it? I was sorry. I actually signed
Speaker 1: up when our primary is supposed to be in March.
Speaker 1: So I was sixteen when I first signed up, and um,
Speaker 1: it was the League of Women Voters. But after I
Speaker 1: worked in June, I got my friends to work in
Speaker 1: August because they needed even more people because there was
Speaker 1: a shortage, like you said, for COVID nineteen. So eight
Speaker 1: of us worked in August and that was a really
Speaker 1: rewarding experience to work with my friends and we actually
Speaker 1: pushed to get bilingual poll workers here in Floyd County
Speaker 1: because when I started, they had no bilingual po workers
Speaker 1: at all, and we have a large Spanish speaking population
Speaker 1: here in Floyd County. So two of my friends who
Speaker 1: are bilingual signed up, and then I think we had
Speaker 1: two more of my friends who are bilingual sign up
Speaker 1: for November, so we'll have four bilingual poll workers, which
Speaker 1: is not a lot, but it's better than none. I
Speaker 1: think that is terrific that you you saw need. I
Speaker 1: love this about you, Malory. You saw need and you
Speaker 1: decided that you were going to help meet it. You're
Speaker 1: going to solve the problem. So when you've been interacting
Speaker 1: with your community, have you had any memorable encounters or
Speaker 1: conversations as you're registering voters or checking in people as
Speaker 1: a poll worker. Yes. So we had one voter registration
Speaker 1: drive where we had a lady come up who was
Speaker 1: a felon, and so we asked her if she was
Speaker 1: off paper, because you can register TOBOT after you're off paper,
Speaker 1: and she said she was as of a few months ago.
Speaker 1: So we started to sign her up and she registered,
Speaker 1: and it was such an exciting experience because she gets
Speaker 1: to vote again, and she didn't know that she could
Speaker 1: register again. She thought that she would never be able
Speaker 1: to vote again. So she was so excited, and we
Speaker 1: had all these people who were hoping to register her,
Speaker 1: like a league of women voters and some people from
Speaker 1: a Black Lives Matter protest, and we were just all
Speaker 1: there together celebrating her voting again. And that was That's
Speaker 1: a really rememberable experience for me. So what are your
Speaker 1: plans for election day? You're gonna be at the polls?
Speaker 1: What time in the morning, Yes, ma'am, I will be
Speaker 1: there at six am with a cup of coffee. And
Speaker 1: are you signed up to be there the whole day? Yes.
Speaker 1: We actually worked for fifteen hours in August, so I'm
Speaker 1: hoping that it only goes till seven this time and
Speaker 1: we have no technical difficulties, but I'll be there the
Speaker 1: whole day. Well, I am very grateful that you and
Speaker 1: and thousands of you know, young people like you are
Speaker 1: showing up to work at the polls because that's the
Speaker 1: only way we can run our elections. Now, let me
Speaker 1: ask you this, Malory. I'm really impressed by you. Also,
Speaker 1: you said a picture of yourself when you were five
Speaker 1: years old wearing a pin supporting me and the two
Speaker 1: eight presidential campaign. So you've been on the front lines
Speaker 1: of caring about politics literally your entire life. What are
Speaker 1: you interested in doing after high school? That is a
Speaker 1: great question. I've always thought that I would do STEM
Speaker 1: because I'm really interested in math, But after getting involved
Speaker 1: with politics recently, I really am interested in public policy
Speaker 1: and possibly working on a campaign or maybe going into
Speaker 1: politics myself, I have but I have no idea at
Speaker 1: the moment, so we'll see. Well, one thing I would
Speaker 1: suggest is someone who is interested in STEM, and particularly
Speaker 1: someone who likes masks like you just said, don't lose
Speaker 1: that because we need people in public life where they're
Speaker 1: they're elected officials or working in government in some way
Speaker 1: who have those skills. So I hope that you'll be
Speaker 1: able to put to work the skills that you have
Speaker 1: in STEM. But I just want to tell you how
Speaker 1: proud I am of you, and I hope more young
Speaker 1: people who hear this podcast or are told about it
Speaker 1: will think about being poll workers too. Thank you, yes, man,
Speaker 1: I hope said to you. Thank you so light. I
Speaker 1: love the fact America that Malory is going to be
Speaker 1: a poll watcher to make sure that our elections work
Speaker 1: the way they should. Yeah, Malory is so incredibly impressive,
Speaker 1: And what I was thinking listening to your interview with
Speaker 1: her was just I feel passionate that young people across
Speaker 1: this country should, all of us, should have opportunities like
Speaker 1: Mallory early on to really get involved. And I just
Speaker 1: think it's so inspiring when young people have that opportunity,
Speaker 1: which brings us to, you know, our our next young
Speaker 1: person who is also really looking forward to this election.
Speaker 1: Those of you listening, you may not know his name,
Speaker 1: but chances are you've heard his story. His name is
Speaker 1: Justin Blackman, and he became an activist two years ago
Speaker 1: after the tragic school shooting at Marjorie Stoneman Douglas High
Speaker 1: School in Parkland, Florida. And a month after the shooting,
Speaker 1: survivors of that shooting organized a national walkout at schools
Speaker 1: across the country. And here was Justin in Wilson, North Carolina.
Speaker 1: On the day of this national walkout, he walks out
Speaker 1: of his class and finds himself standing completely alone in
Speaker 1: his school's parking lot, and no one else walked out
Speaker 1: with him. He was on his own, and he recorded
Speaker 1: a short video and the video went viral, and this year,
Speaker 1: Justin is eighteen, so he gets to vote, so we
Speaker 1: really wanted to check get with him and see how
Speaker 1: he was feeling about this election. Hey Justin, Hello, Hi,
Speaker 1: I'm doing all right. How are you doing? I'm doing fine,
Speaker 1: just hanging in there, you know. You know, before we
Speaker 1: jump into kind of this moment in this election, I
Speaker 1: would love to hear you talk a little bit about
Speaker 1: what happened back in eighteen when you were the only
Speaker 1: student in your school to join the National walkout Day
Speaker 1: in support of the many students who had experienced gun
Speaker 1: violence in their schools. Tell me the story about that day.
Speaker 1: So I remember, like the start of that day, I
Speaker 1: came into school thinking, Okay, this is going to be
Speaker 1: a different day from anybody else because we have a
Speaker 1: walkout day because of the shooting that took place on
Speaker 1: Valentine's Day, I believe, and on that day seventeen people died,
Speaker 1: so we had to walk out for seventeen minutes of silence.
Speaker 1: So I did that at my school, and I was
Speaker 1: the only one to do it at my school, and
Speaker 1: then I made like a little but thirty second video.
Speaker 1: I was expecting nobody to see it because at the
Speaker 1: time on Twitter only had like the hundred followers, and
Speaker 1: then literally did I know that that video grew to
Speaker 1: I think six points something million views, and ever since then,
Speaker 1: I've been on and off talking around activism for gun
Speaker 1: violence and other things. Did you think of yourself as
Speaker 1: a particularly engaged active citizen before that day or did
Speaker 1: that day change something for you? I do feel like
Speaker 1: I'm pretty active in communities, but not necessarily on social media,
Speaker 1: like to help a lot. I like to do a
Speaker 1: lot of community work, but it wasn't never really two
Speaker 1: years ago, before this happened, I wasn't the person to
Speaker 1: say go vote because I wasn't allowed to vote myself,
Speaker 1: and to be quite frank, I wasn't necessarily thinking about
Speaker 1: that at that age. But now that I am at
Speaker 1: the age, I'm planning on going with a couple of
Speaker 1: friends to help them vote for the first time. And
Speaker 1: is that is that? Like, what is the response you're
Speaker 1: getting from your friends, who your age, who you're talking
Speaker 1: to about voting. Do you feel like they are aware
Speaker 1: of what's happening in this moment and what's at stake
Speaker 1: in this moment. I feel like the majority is they
Speaker 1: understand that we need people to show up at the
Speaker 1: polls rather than just retweeting a tweet or reposting something
Speaker 1: on Instagram. There's a thirty percent that say, oh, my
Speaker 1: vote doesn't count. Whoever wins is gonna win with screwty
Speaker 1: either way. But that's if you have that mindset. Then
Speaker 1: we were we were. We lost in the beginning before
Speaker 1: we even started. And do you think you've managed to
Speaker 1: change anybody's mind, any of your peers, any of your friends.
Speaker 1: I definitely did. I have a couple of friends that
Speaker 1: didn't want to vote at all, and they're now going
Speaker 1: to vote. Some that plan on voting for a candidate
Speaker 1: I don't necessarily believe in. But it's better than nothing
Speaker 1: at all, in my opinion. And have you voted yet? Actually?
Speaker 1: Did I have my pen right here? If you voting,
Speaker 1: then that is a snazzy voting that What are your
Speaker 1: what are your plans for election day? So I would
Speaker 1: have I'd have one friend come pick me up and
Speaker 1: then we're going to be all meeting at the election
Speaker 1: spot and we're going to just go together. Obviously I
Speaker 1: can't go in because I already voted, but I'm going
Speaker 1: to meet them on the other side. And after that,
Speaker 1: I'm pretty sure we said we're going to go and
Speaker 1: get some food, which is a reason why I feel
Speaker 1: like a couple of them are going to go. But
Speaker 1: I mean, as long as we're getting them to vote,
Speaker 1: that's all that matters. Yeah, And I guess my last
Speaker 1: question is this is your first year voting. Do you
Speaker 1: think that you're going to be a lifetime voter? Do
Speaker 1: you think you'll always vote? Yes, as long as I'm
Speaker 1: able to vote, I will definitely use my rights because
Speaker 1: I'm voting for the people that look like me, like
Speaker 1: couldn't vote before me, and I don't know, I feel
Speaker 1: like it's just very disrespectful to not vote, So I'm
Speaker 1: going to be voting every time I can. Well, that's
Speaker 1: great to hear. I'm glad and thank you for the
Speaker 1: work that you're doing to talk to your friends, because
Speaker 1: I really do think that there is so much power
Speaker 1: in that every single one of us has influenced with
Speaker 1: our friends, with our family, with the people we know,
Speaker 1: to make this process personal and to encourage the people
Speaker 1: we know to get out to vote. The fact show
Speaker 1: that you justin are going to be much more effective
Speaker 1: at getting your friends out to vote than any candidate,
Speaker 1: than any celebrity, you know, than any campaign. You taking
Speaker 1: the time to speak to your friends about what's at
Speaker 1: stake and why it matters for them to vote is
Speaker 1: real power, and I thank you so much for using it,
Speaker 1: and I can't wait to see what your future holds.
Speaker 1: Thank you so much. You know, talking to Mallory and
Speaker 1: Justin really gives me hope. And someone who understands the
Speaker 1: power of young people in politics is our next guest,
Speaker 1: Cal Pen. Now you may remember Cal comedian and actor
Speaker 1: for his roles in Harold and Kumar Go to Whitecastle
Speaker 1: and the TV show House. Well you may not know, though,
Speaker 1: he went on to be actively involved in democratic politics
Speaker 1: and actually worked in the White House during the Obama administration.
Speaker 1: And in the last six weeks leading up to this election,
Speaker 1: Cal did an amazing thing. He put out a weekly
Speaker 1: show called Cal Penn Approves This Message. We all know
Speaker 1: that line from candidates ads, but what he was doing
Speaker 1: was trying to educate and mobilize young people to vote.
Speaker 1: And each episode focused on a specific issue like climate
Speaker 1: change or human rights or education and looked at how
Speaker 1: we got where we are. So I wanted to talk
Speaker 1: to Cal about the years he has spent helping young
Speaker 1: voters make their voices heard, and that's where we started
Speaker 1: our conversation. I am very happy to see you, Cal,
Speaker 1: and I'm particularly interested in what you're doing trying to
Speaker 1: mobilize young people. Do you think that there's a real
Speaker 1: hunger among young people to be more involved and to
Speaker 1: maybe work through for themselves where they stand on these shoes.
Speaker 1: I think so. I think it seems like young voters
Speaker 1: today are are less party conscious, They're less affiliated. Um,
Speaker 1: I would imagine that that's gonna mean that changes that
Speaker 1: each major party is going through is probably going to
Speaker 1: continue for quite some time. But I also see that
Speaker 1: as an opportunity. Like I remember just thinking about when
Speaker 1: you know, I was at the White House when don't
Speaker 1: as Don't Tell got repealed, and I had a very
Speaker 1: small part. I was a very small part of the
Speaker 1: outreach team. But I remember thinking that took so long,
Speaker 1: and the different iterations of what had to happen for
Speaker 1: this policy to first get enacted and then get repealed,
Speaker 1: and all along the way it was viewed as this
Speaker 1: is the right thing to do at the time. So
Speaker 1: those benchmarks over time are such an interesting thing that
Speaker 1: I think if you're young now, of course you look
Speaker 1: at that and you think, well, don't don't tell you
Speaker 1: that got repealed a long time ago, you know, and
Speaker 1: it's it gives me hope. I I don't know how you.
Speaker 1: I would actually love to know your thoughts on this.
Speaker 1: It seems like younger voters sit there and they go, oh, Obama, Clinton,
Speaker 1: They're so moderate, And I'm like, are you kidding me? That?
Speaker 1: What a place of luxury? Actually, like, you know how
Speaker 1: hard people had to fight for you to think that
Speaker 1: Barack Obama and the Clinton's are moderate. Like, maybe they
Speaker 1: are moderate by today's youth standards. That's a good thing,
Speaker 1: because that's a benchmark of progress to me, Like, how
Speaker 1: do you view because I assume you hear that all
Speaker 1: the time too, Well, yes, I I have heard that,
Speaker 1: and I've laughed about it with Barack because it is
Speaker 1: a matter of perspective. It's it's like what you just
Speaker 1: said about the repeal of Don't Ask, Don't Tell. If
Speaker 1: you think about it, in the number of years that
Speaker 1: most young people have been alive, it seems like it
Speaker 1: took forever. If you think about it, in the great
Speaker 1: sweep of historic change. It was lightning fast to move
Speaker 1: toward eliminating barriers to the LGBT community being fully participants
Speaker 1: in every aspect of American life, to gay marriage. I
Speaker 1: mean that was warp speed. But you're also very a
Speaker 1: student saying but people sort of take that for granted. Okay, fine,
Speaker 1: thank you very much. What's next? Because part of the
Speaker 1: fight over Don't Ask, Don't Tell and gay marriage was
Speaker 1: to keep it alive and not let the opponents literally
Speaker 1: in shrine opposition in the constitution. So everything is a
Speaker 1: trade off. And when you say, well, you know you're
Speaker 1: a moderate, I like to say I'm a progressive who
Speaker 1: likes to get things done, and very often it's supposed
Speaker 1: to be in a democracy that you push as hard
Speaker 1: as you can for the maximum outcome that you are seeking,
Speaker 1: but along the way you probably are going to have to,
Speaker 1: you know, compromise. It's an ongoing debate, and it's a
Speaker 1: good debate because I think you want to push the
Speaker 1: system as far as possible, but don't get discouraged when
Speaker 1: the other side pushes back, because if you get discouraged,
Speaker 1: that just plays right into their hands. That is literally
Speaker 1: one of the undercurrents of our entire series is that
Speaker 1: you know, oftentimes the system is designed to make you
Speaker 1: feel powerless, to make you feel like, well, my vote
Speaker 1: doesn't matter, so why bother. And then one of the
Speaker 1: things we're just trying to explain is just think about
Speaker 1: this for a second, that if your vote really didn't matter,
Speaker 1: why would they go through that much effort to prevent
Speaker 1: showing up. It's because they're scared of your power, and
Speaker 1: in particular young people. Wow, they really don't want young
Speaker 1: people to vote. This was a huge issue in the sixties.
Speaker 1: And when you get that right and then people basically say, oh,
Speaker 1: thank you very much, but I'm not interested, you get
Speaker 1: a little bit agitated because you know what a difference
Speaker 1: it would make if you if you had the percentage
Speaker 1: of young people voting, say under twenty five, that you
Speaker 1: have a people over seventy are politics would look really different,
Speaker 1: and a lot of issues like climate change or free
Speaker 1: tuition for public colleges and universities, those would be accomplished
Speaker 1: because people in public life listen to those voices that
Speaker 1: they think are going to either keep them in office
Speaker 1: or take them out. And one of my friends has
Speaker 1: often said, you know, we're always talking about the youth vote.
Speaker 1: And at the very end of every campaign, where does
Speaker 1: the attention go at tension goes to people over sixty.
Speaker 1: Why because despite our hopes, we really, really, really know
Speaker 1: that those folks are going to turn out. I'm always
Speaker 1: fascinated by, you know, every demographic group except for young people.
Speaker 1: So African American vote, Irish American vote, South Asian vote,
Speaker 1: whatever you measure them in every four year period, and
Speaker 1: with the exception of expanding the electorate within those communities,
Speaker 1: they're generally the same humans were showing up. But youth vote,
Speaker 1: it's not the same human beings in those four year
Speaker 1: periods because you age out of the demo. We're talking
Speaker 1: about a totally new set of people. So while it's amazing,
Speaker 1: like I'm very hopeful by the fact that mid terms
Speaker 1: of the highest you vote in decades, but two years
Speaker 1: worth of those people our first time voters, now they
Speaker 1: weren't even there. So it's it's this weird thing where
Speaker 1: I feel like we're chastising somebody who just turned eighteen
Speaker 1: for the twenty year old two years ago. Um, And
Speaker 1: to your point, like any way to encourage that and
Speaker 1: set the stage of here's what progress looked like it
Speaker 1: took decades of young people to get the voting age
Speaker 1: to eighteen. It took decades of young people to get
Speaker 1: some sort of a recognition for Sudan and South Sudan.
Speaker 1: Imperfect solution, obviously, but it was faith groups coming together
Speaker 1: with college campuses over a period of years and years
Speaker 1: and years to draw attention to genocide. That's what what
Speaker 1: fueled so much of that. It was slow, Yeah, it is.
Speaker 1: It's painfully, painfully slow, but you got to believe change
Speaker 1: is possible even if you get your heart broken because
Speaker 1: it takes so long. I mean, ten years ago, if
Speaker 1: you and I had been talking, I don't think either
Speaker 1: one of us would have realistically expected. We might have
Speaker 1: hoped for having the daughter of two immigrants on the
Speaker 1: ticket as the next vice president of our country, and
Speaker 1: we would have been kind of probably kidding or saying, oh, yeah,
Speaker 1: I'll never happened, you know, given all the other problems.
Speaker 1: But it is happening, So cal Pen, thank you so
Speaker 1: much for spending this time talking to me about a
Speaker 1: lot of the things that are really critically important to
Speaker 1: our democracy that you are determined to make accessible and
Speaker 1: entertaining an educational to your viewers, especially young people. Well,
Speaker 1: let me thank you also just for sharing all of
Speaker 1: your incredible experience and stories. We've looked up to you
Speaker 1: for quite some time, and I appreciate it very much.
Speaker 1: Cal Pen approves. This message wrapped up last week, but
Speaker 1: you can still watch all of it on Hulu, and
Speaker 1: I recommend it as a timer for issues we need
Speaker 1: to think about all the time, not just during an election. Yeah,
Speaker 1: I couldn't agree more. And I think what Cal's doing
Speaker 1: is so important and part of what we all should
Speaker 1: be thinking about. I can't think of anything more important
Speaker 1: and more vital to the health of our democracy than
Speaker 1: us finding ways to make our system feel accessible and
Speaker 1: so the plainist language that we can find to engage
Speaker 1: people and help them understand, you know why the city comptroller,
Speaker 1: like you know, matters in you know, to you, that's
Speaker 1: the work that needs to be done right now. I
Speaker 1: just I'm so inspired by what Cal's doing. And you know,
Speaker 1: I'm I'm a dork for these things, which is evident
Speaker 1: by the fact that I've spent twelve years, you know,
Speaker 1: on the trail for Canadas who I am inspired by
Speaker 1: and I love being on the campaign trail this year
Speaker 1: looks really different out there. Yes, so I wanted to
Speaker 1: hear from a seasoned organizer who I know. You know, Hillary,
Speaker 1: and I know because I met her in Nevada working
Speaker 1: for you. And I wanted Emmy Louise, this incredible long
Speaker 1: time organizer, to talk to us about what it looks
Speaker 1: like on the ground this election season. Emmy is such
Speaker 1: an amazing human being. She is, as you said, a
Speaker 1: longtime organizer, but in my view, one of the best
Speaker 1: in the entire country. Yeah. Well, he lives in Austin,
Speaker 1: Texas with her wife and her two and a half
Speaker 1: year old son, Henry. She has been working tirelessly toward
Speaker 1: this election day for the past four years, working to
Speaker 1: help grassroots organizations and candidates. She's a partner at New
Speaker 1: Coo Strategies, this political consulting firm she started, and she
Speaker 1: helps run Onward Together. Well, that's the group I started
Speaker 1: after the election to lift up groups and organizations to
Speaker 1: support candidates and causes. And of course I immediately asked
Speaker 1: Emmy to be involved. Well, she seems tireless and like
Speaker 1: she's out there, you know, fighting the good fight for
Speaker 1: all of us. So I wanted to check in with
Speaker 1: her and see how she was feeling heading into these
Speaker 1: final hours before the election. I'll start with, how are
Speaker 1: you how how are you doing today? I'm great, you know,
Speaker 1: I'm really optimistic. I think people are out there organizing,
Speaker 1: people are out there voting, and that is good. Right.
Speaker 1: The art of a campaign is you really want to
Speaker 1: get to the morning after and say I did everything
Speaker 1: I could to turn out voters, to mobilize people, to
Speaker 1: inspire people, to lay out our agenda. And I feel
Speaker 1: like that's being done. And you're in Texas and all
Speaker 1: eyes are on Texas right now. What does it feel
Speaker 1: like to be in Texas right now? What's the energy like? Well,
Speaker 1: the energy is interesting because you know, we're in a pandemic,
Speaker 1: so traditionally you might be able to be around a
Speaker 1: lot of people around the campaign bustle and hustle on
Speaker 1: the campaign office, and so it is a little different.
Speaker 1: But I will tell you I think that the arc
Speaker 1: of Texas has been moving in the right direction for
Speaker 1: a few cycles. Now. I mean Hillary Clinton actually did
Speaker 1: better in Texas than in places like Ohio. Then you
Speaker 1: saw about the works race in uh and now I
Speaker 1: mean we're looking at double digits of congressional races that
Speaker 1: are toss ups that have never been toss ups before.
Speaker 1: Pile that on the work that's been done for more
Speaker 1: than a decade by organizations like Texas Organizing Project, Battleground Texas,
Speaker 1: the Texas Democratic Party Annie's List. I mean, this work
Speaker 1: has really been a long time coming. The first three
Speaker 1: counties in the nation to surpass total turnout are in Texas,
Speaker 1: right one, just just south of Austin, in Hayes County,
Speaker 1: which is home to Texas State, where my few is
Speaker 1: actually a student. And you know, there were organizations like
Speaker 1: Move Texas who fought to the nail to make sure
Speaker 1: that there was voting sites on campus, and that was
Speaker 1: actually the first county in the nation to see this
Speaker 1: record breaking turnout. And so there's a lot of activity
Speaker 1: out there, and it's a really exciting time. I want
Speaker 1: to talk to you about the Latin X vote because
Speaker 1: for me, you know, I got engaged in the same
Speaker 1: year you did, oh wait, and and in the exact
Speaker 1: same place. And Nevada was my first time on the ground,
Speaker 1: you know, volunteering for a campaign getting out the vote,
Speaker 1: and there were certainly experiences and interactions where I learned
Speaker 1: so much about Latin X voters and getting them to
Speaker 1: engage and be mobilized. What have you seen change in
Speaker 1: the Latin X community with Latin X voters. You know,
Speaker 1: I think what I have seen RelA shipping evolved throughout
Speaker 1: the years is really the engagement of young people. Right
Speaker 1: in two thousand nine, ten, two thousand eleven, I think
Speaker 1: a lot of us will remember. I don't want to
Speaker 1: say the emergence because for me, they were in emergence
Speaker 1: of when the Dreamers really started pushing the Obama administration.
Speaker 1: That's when you really saw off for example, United we
Speaker 1: dream really come to prominence. And I feel like there
Speaker 1: were many Dreamers across the country who took that lead.
Speaker 1: There were a lot of high school students in Nevada
Speaker 1: and across the board that we're beginning to get involved.
Speaker 1: And now I believe that you're seeing a lot of
Speaker 1: young Latin X voters that are really pushing our party,
Speaker 1: that are really pushing candidates toward a more progressive agenda.
Speaker 1: And so I think that that has been one of
Speaker 1: the more beautiful things out there. I mean, you see AOC,
Speaker 1: you see Jessica Cisneo's on the Texas border. You see
Speaker 1: Astrid Silva and Nevada. I mean, there are so many young,
Speaker 1: incredible latin X leaders that are really showing us away.
Speaker 1: You know, A great onward together group that's doing this
Speaker 1: work in Arizona is Mooch Arizona led by at the
Speaker 1: Moss and Alex who again are just these very I
Speaker 1: think young visionary leaders right who are not taking no
Speaker 1: for an answer and really thinking through. You know, these
Speaker 1: are the big challenges. How are we going to do
Speaker 1: this by mobilizing and building people's power. Yeah. Well, one
Speaker 1: of the things that is already being talked about is
Speaker 1: the record number of young voters who are already turning
Speaker 1: out in this election. And it gives you hope, almost
Speaker 1: gives me hope, and then makes me scared that I
Speaker 1: have any hope because we're also deeply draumatized. But have
Speaker 1: you voted yet? Yes? I voted last week. I voted
Speaker 1: last Friday. And what was that like? It was really awesome.
Speaker 1: What are you voting for this year? You know? I
Speaker 1: voted for a few things. I voted, you know, number
Speaker 1: one for my son, who is a young boy. He's
Speaker 1: two and a half years old, and he was a premium.
Speaker 1: He was a Nickey for three weeks, and you know,
Speaker 1: we didn't really have to worry a whole lot because
Speaker 1: he had every privilege afforded to him. And I want
Speaker 1: to make sure that every kid out there has the
Speaker 1: same opportunities. And you know, I think in and beyond,
Speaker 1: we've met a lot of stories out there, including this
Speaker 1: one little girl, Capita in Nevada, who many people might
Speaker 1: remember from the Brave Ad with Hillary Clinton, whose parents
Speaker 1: were undocumented. And there are a lot of people like
Speaker 1: her who have suffered greatly over the last four years.
Speaker 1: And so I'm voting for them and also voting for
Speaker 1: Hillary because you know, in her most difficult moment and
Speaker 1: our most difficult moment as organizers, she told us to
Speaker 1: keep going. And I believe many people have kept going,
Speaker 1: many new people have joined in, and we wouldn't even
Speaker 1: be here. I think I certainly wouldn't be here. We're
Speaker 1: not for her. That's awesome, man. What's your plan for
Speaker 1: election Day? Um? Needle a lot of pizza. I think
Speaker 1: I'm going to volunteer all the that's what do we do.
Speaker 1: I would find a good local campaign going open some
Speaker 1: doors in COVID responsible way and help turn out voters.
Speaker 1: There is nothing more important to do on election day
Speaker 1: than turning out voters up until the last moment, until
Speaker 1: the polls closed, until every vote is counted. We'll be
Speaker 1: right back. This is about a lot of different people.
Speaker 1: It's about organizers like Emmy, it's about voters like us.
Speaker 1: But let's pivot now to the person on the ballot.
Speaker 1: I had a chance to talk to Brandon Thomas, who
Speaker 1: is running to represent District forty nine in Tennessee's State
Speaker 1: House of Representatives. We were introduced to him by a
Speaker 1: group that I really love that Onward Together support. It's
Speaker 1: called Run for Something, which helps young people like Brandon
Speaker 1: run for office, and so that's what he's doing. Brandon,
Speaker 1: it is so great talking with you. Um, I really
Speaker 1: appreciate you joining me as we're racing to the finish
Speaker 1: line of this election. It's um coming right on us.
Speaker 1: How are you feeling anxious? Very anxious? Well, I would
Speaker 1: be very surprised if you were not. You know, Brandon,
Speaker 1: you're running in a traditionally Republican district, which makes for
Speaker 1: a hard campaign but also an impactful one. And I
Speaker 1: learned that this is your second time running in this district.
Speaker 1: You ran for this seat back in ran alongside remember
Speaker 1: that very well, So what made you decide to run
Speaker 1: the first time? And then what made you think, Hey,
Speaker 1: I'm going to do this again? You know, Well, actually
Speaker 1: in year old at the time, and I had actually
Speaker 1: came back from working on an issue campaign in Iowa,
Speaker 1: and so we were trying to get folks to sign
Speaker 1: up get everything in the Democratic platform to have you know,
Speaker 1: fair wages and paid family leave and stuff that's kind
Speaker 1: of stuff. And when I came back home, there was
Speaker 1: a week before the filing deadline, and you know, I
Speaker 1: was like, why can't we just do that here? And
Speaker 1: so that that's what made me run in sixteen. You know,
Speaker 1: I didn't think about it. It was just like an
Speaker 1: urge to do something to do good for my community.
Speaker 1: This cycle, I was very reluctant to do it again.
Speaker 1: Uh you know in seen we managed to get thirty
Speaker 1: eight percent of the first time, Yeah, exactly, exactly. Some
Speaker 1: people rounded up to forty So I'm not mad at him.
Speaker 1: But yeah, so we we ran that campaign the way
Speaker 1: we did, but this time it was very thought out. Um,
Speaker 1: you know, I have a two year old son. Now
Speaker 1: makes a big difference, doesn't it. Yes, yeah, and to
Speaker 1: see how things have not changed in the past four years. Um.
Speaker 1: Even just this past session, our state legislature took money
Speaker 1: out of public schools to give the private schools, and
Speaker 1: they promised teachers a pay raise and that didn't happen.
Speaker 1: It's stuff like that, like this is going to be
Speaker 1: affected my son's life when I think about what it
Speaker 1: was like for my races for the Senate or for president.
Speaker 1: The last week was just frantic running around, going as
Speaker 1: many places as possible. But you're campaigning in the middle
Speaker 1: of a pandemic, so you had to get a little
Speaker 1: creative to reach people. What have you been doing? Um?
Speaker 1: So you know, one thing I'll be doing a lot
Speaker 1: is on slack. It's like an organizing channel. And so
Speaker 1: we have a Slack channel. So that helps us kind
Speaker 1: of like filter out what we're gonna do since we
Speaker 1: always can't be doing webcams and we face to face,
Speaker 1: it's the next best thing. Also, we got on TikTok,
Speaker 1: so we did the whole Okay, so we're doing that
Speaker 1: um and it actually became a really good tool because
Speaker 1: my the person I'm running against, he's a character and
Speaker 1: he tries to be like this folksy character. But when
Speaker 1: you ask him questions like was a Civil War thought
Speaker 1: over slavery, he doesn't know how to answer. He can't answer.
Speaker 1: So we made that into a TikTok. We did a
Speaker 1: Sarah Cooper and you know it's me as the reporter
Speaker 1: asking the question and me being him holding up frocks
Speaker 1: and everything. So we used it that way. And also,
Speaker 1: you know this is a hot race, but you know
Speaker 1: it's a hot race when you get negative mail and
Speaker 1: so so we got negative mail on us, and so
Speaker 1: we used that as an opportunity to TikTok. So, yeah,
Speaker 1: there was a digital ad that had me and Bernie
Speaker 1: together with the red filter. Basically, this black guy and
Speaker 1: this Jewish guy are going to take your money and
Speaker 1: raise taxes, right and um, we just heard We made it.
Speaker 1: We made fun of it. We put it on his head.
Speaker 1: People laugh sometimes that's the best way to make them think. Well,
Speaker 1: you know, you really have a shot at making history
Speaker 1: in this election, not only because you're a Democrat, which
Speaker 1: hasn't been the trend in these counties that you're seeking
Speaker 1: to represent, but you are African American. You'd be the
Speaker 1: first African American representative for your county. You are gay,
Speaker 1: you'd be the first gay representative. How do you hope
Speaker 1: your county and state will look different as your two
Speaker 1: year old son, Ezra grows up there? You know, I
Speaker 1: hope it looks like the community. Hope elected officials look
Speaker 1: like the community and they understand the struggles people are
Speaker 1: going through. I think what we see right now that's
Speaker 1: not happening even down to like the school board level. Uh,
Speaker 1: we start talking about this pandemic again, and they were
Speaker 1: talking about how to reopen schools and this and that,
Speaker 1: and there was nobody that looked like me or it
Speaker 1: looked like my family that understood it. If you reopen
Speaker 1: these schools and you know, if children are carriers or not,
Speaker 1: and they bring that back to their grandparents, does that mean,
Speaker 1: you know, do these schools have the resources they need?
Speaker 1: We know they don't in the state of Tennessee. So
Speaker 1: I would like to see representation that looks more like
Speaker 1: the community. And that means folks gotta vote and they
Speaker 1: have to run like you have, you know, the guts
Speaker 1: to do. How are you feeling about the race and
Speaker 1: these final hours? I am anxious. We have just got
Speaker 1: some numbers that showed like, oh, you know that we
Speaker 1: may be behind by like three percent, but we could
Speaker 1: make it up. And um, so that that's just really
Speaker 1: anxious inducing. Well but that but that's a great result.
Speaker 1: In the district that you're in. People are not used
Speaker 1: to voting for Democrats, so that's good news. How are
Speaker 1: you going to spend election day? Election day, I'm probably
Speaker 1: still want to be trying to get those straggler voters
Speaker 1: out to vote. And then because it's literally gonna come
Speaker 1: down to the wire where you know, we know that,
Speaker 1: and you know, after seven o'clock, I've been joking with people,
Speaker 1: I'm gonna turn my phone off. It sounds like people
Speaker 1: are saying, no, you can't do that, that's not gonna happen.
Speaker 1: So well, let's let's cross our fingers. And so I
Speaker 1: have to end by asking you, Brandon, what are you
Speaker 1: gonna do if you wake up or you probably won't
Speaker 1: have gone to sleep, But if you if you get
Speaker 1: word that you have one and you're the new representative,
Speaker 1: what are you looking forward to do as the new representative? Well,
Speaker 1: you know I would probably cry it's a minute, a
Speaker 1: year's work of just hard work. Um uh, you know
Speaker 1: I would want to get to work in ensuring we
Speaker 1: fund our schools and getting Medicaid expansion and paid familyly.
Speaker 1: Those are the things. But immediately right what we could
Speaker 1: do is expand Medicaid. That's just you know, that's a
Speaker 1: that's getting the votes. I think that's that's like number one.
Speaker 1: We gotta get people healthcare during the global tan slutely,
Speaker 1: I just want to thank you Brandon Thomas. Thank you
Speaker 1: for running, thank you for being determined, getting back up
Speaker 1: and making sure that your voice was going to be heard.
Speaker 1: And I think your hope for your family and particularly
Speaker 1: for your two year old son, Ezra, is something that
Speaker 1: everybody can relate to. So I got my fingers and
Speaker 1: toes crossed for your branded good luck, Thank you, thank you.
Speaker 1: Well to shift a little bit. You know, we've been
Speaker 1: talking about everyday voters, and we've been talking about candidates
Speaker 1: and what their days look like on election day, but
Speaker 1: such a huge component on election day are our journalists,
Speaker 1: the people who are you know, trying to help us
Speaker 1: get the information we need to understand what's going on.
Speaker 1: And so I thought i'd check in with Zerlina Maxwell,
Speaker 1: who is a veteran of several presidential campaigns, including President
Speaker 1: Obama's and she worked for you, Hillary, and yes she did.
Speaker 1: Zerlina is just a force of nature. She served as
Speaker 1: director of Progressive Media for my campaign in She has
Speaker 1: an incredible amount of energy and commitment. I'm really proud
Speaker 1: of her. And now she's gone on to be in
Speaker 1: the media herself. Yeah, that's right. She has a show
Speaker 1: with Just McIntosh called Signal Boost on Sirius X, and
Speaker 1: she recently launched a TV show called Zerlina on Peacock
Speaker 1: And this is her first presidential election at the news
Speaker 1: desk and I had an amazing time catching up with her.
Speaker 1: She's in Virginia where she's staying with family during this pandemic. Heiser, Lena,
Speaker 1: so nice too. How are you. I'm okay. I'm grateful
Speaker 1: that I'm healthy, my family healthy. I feel like it's
Speaker 1: almost the Hillary Clinton anser after the election. You know,
Speaker 1: I'm okay, but I'm worried for the country. Where are
Speaker 1: you going to be an election day? I'm gonna be
Speaker 1: in the house because I can't go outside. Um, you know,
Speaker 1: we have Just McIntosh. You were sat next to me
Speaker 1: and worked with me on Hillary's campaign. She's my coast
Speaker 1: for my morning show on Serious Sex Them, so we'll
Speaker 1: be up doing signal boost and we'll probably give a
Speaker 1: like a rara even if you voted like go make
Speaker 1: sure everybody did you know? Gr t V kinda lay
Speaker 1: in the land morning show. And then I have a
Speaker 1: show on Peacock as well, which is the streaming network
Speaker 1: from NBC and MSNBC, and so I'll be a part
Speaker 1: of that coverage at some point. I don't know exactly,
Speaker 1: but I think for me, I'm going to be in
Speaker 1: the house, which feels weird. All of this, this whole
Speaker 1: year is so different that it was supposed to you know,
Speaker 1: supposed to be for everyone. So I don't get to
Speaker 1: do the thing that I normally would do on an
Speaker 1: election night, which is help whichever you know Canada, and
Speaker 1: I'm working for wins. That's really hard, but I'm gonna
Speaker 1: try to at least use my platforms to amplify the
Speaker 1: good stuffing. You're speaking all the time too, people from
Speaker 1: all kinds of different backgrounds and getting so many perspectives
Speaker 1: and and you know, so much information and so many
Speaker 1: different analyzes. What in all of that helps you find
Speaker 1: hope and helps you stay positive? Is there a conversation
Speaker 1: that you've had recently that like you hold on to,
Speaker 1: like how do you stay positive. There's something that has
Speaker 1: happened in quarantine where I sort of like a It
Speaker 1: gave us all a moment to pause, and then I
Speaker 1: was like, Okay, was there anything that I was doing
Speaker 1: that was making me unhappy happy? You know, Like I
Speaker 1: did all of that processing, and then I was also
Speaker 1: able to sort of prioritize what I was really truly
Speaker 1: grateful for as well. And one of the things I'm
Speaker 1: really grateful for is the time I'm getting with my mom,
Speaker 1: because you know, she got ill in and I was
Speaker 1: always like flying back, flying back, flying back, and now
Speaker 1: I just get to be here every day. So in
Speaker 1: the midst of like all the terrible I still get
Speaker 1: that I will never not have that, so that's super cool.
Speaker 1: But also my mom literally is the daughter of a
Speaker 1: civil rights activist who marched in Selma with my aunt.
Speaker 1: And one of the things that happened recently is I
Speaker 1: was thinking about my grandfather because there's a photo of
Speaker 1: him in the house and it just so happens to
Speaker 1: be that it's right behind my head where I sit
Speaker 1: now to host the show I do every day, and
Speaker 1: so I can't but help the optimistic because I just
Speaker 1: think about like everything he did, then everything my aunt did.
Speaker 1: She was seventeen when she marched in Selma, you know,
Speaker 1: and to think about the people who truly sacrificed to
Speaker 1: get us to this point. It would be a real
Speaker 1: shame for me to be like, oh, it's gonna be
Speaker 1: too hard. I don't think I can do it. I
Speaker 1: you know, I think we should all give up every nothing.
Speaker 1: There's no hope. Imagine how we sound saying that, you know,
Speaker 1: to somebody who sacrificed so much. So I just feel
Speaker 1: like I lead with the gratitude of like, Okay, this
Speaker 1: moment does pretty much stuck. We could go outside, like,
Speaker 1: you know, like there obviously are very pressing reasons why
Speaker 1: people should be filled with sense of urgency, But to
Speaker 1: feel optimistic is a choice. It's like, I know the
Speaker 1: next moment is going to be better. It just has
Speaker 1: to be better, because if I think about what other
Speaker 1: people went through, like they obviously pushed through to the
Speaker 1: next moment, otherwise none of us would be here. And
Speaker 1: you know, I'm in Virginia, which also makes me think
Speaker 1: about history a lot, because you know, literally, I can
Speaker 1: not that I go anywhere, but if I did, I
Speaker 1: could drive past a literal cotton field. And so I
Speaker 1: think about the fact that, like, I'm only here because
Speaker 1: you know, the people in my ancestry they survived, they
Speaker 1: survived a worst moment, So I'm going to survive this
Speaker 1: one because it's definitely not as bad as that. So
Speaker 1: that's where I'm going to target any of like the
Speaker 1: cynical feelings that pop up, so that I can maintain
Speaker 1: that optimism that's so beautiful and so grounding and so
Speaker 1: empowering to use our connection to history to ground us
Speaker 1: and give us courage and moments that feel terrifying. So
Speaker 1: there's a high chance that on election day you're just
Speaker 1: going to be stuck in front of your laptop talking
Speaker 1: to people about what's happening and what's going on. How
Speaker 1: does that work logistically? Like when do you plan your
Speaker 1: pee breaks, when do you remember to eat something like
Speaker 1: are your snacks at hand, you know, at at arm's length?
Speaker 1: How are you going to get through it? Well, I
Speaker 1: definitely look at what I do almost like an athlete.
Speaker 1: It's just sort of like making sure I have enough water,
Speaker 1: making sure I have you know, lemon and honey for
Speaker 1: my throat, you know, having all of those kinds of
Speaker 1: things with the snacks things that's hard for me. I
Speaker 1: literally write down on my schedule because I write it
Speaker 1: out the night before. I write down, like where I'm
Speaker 1: going to eat, because if I don't put it there,
Speaker 1: it that happened. I actually don't eat, and then I'm like,
Speaker 1: I feel a white head. Oh right, So I write
Speaker 1: it down and I make sure, like I have a
Speaker 1: protein shake that has all my vegetables, so I'm not
Speaker 1: going to eat them. But I think as far as snacks,
Speaker 1: like I'm definitely not like a healthy snacker, Like the
Speaker 1: last week has been of chocolate, Like I was like
Speaker 1: literally scouring the house for chocolate yesterday. So it'll be
Speaker 1: like my energy drink, my protein jake. But I recommend
Speaker 1: putting it on your schedule otherwise on an election day
Speaker 1: like this one, you might forget and do you have
Speaker 1: a mantra to get through election day? Like is there
Speaker 1: something you're going to keep coming back to? It's gonna
Speaker 1: be fine. I mean honestly, like that one gets me
Speaker 1: through a lot, because I don't know I even in
Speaker 1: the most serious situations, like even when my mom was
Speaker 1: like in the hospital, I would just sit and I
Speaker 1: would stare at the sky and I'd like, it is
Speaker 1: going to be okay. She's going to be okay, Like
Speaker 1: she's going to be okay. This is she's gonna be
Speaker 1: And even if she's not, I'm going to be okay.
Speaker 1: So you know, that's what kind of keeps me pushing,
Speaker 1: even if like I'm not okay for a little bit,
Speaker 1: which I think, you know, it's so you know, insane
Speaker 1: to think of the steaks, but they are that high.
Speaker 1: But it's going to be okay. I'm so glad I
Speaker 1: got to speak to you. I feel like I'm going
Speaker 1: to be thinking about your Madra. It's going to be okay.
Speaker 1: I think that's a very good one. And I'm going
Speaker 1: to be thinking about this moment, this election as part
Speaker 1: of a much bigger history and that we're connected to
Speaker 1: people before us and those who are coming after us.
Speaker 1: And thank you for these amazing pearls of wisdom. You're
Speaker 1: awesome and I loved talking to you. We're taking a
Speaker 1: quick break, stay with us. I gotta tell you, I
Speaker 1: teared up maybe like five times in this conversation with
Speaker 1: Zerlina and to be able to speak so frankly with
Speaker 1: her about how we stay above the darkness, you know,
Speaker 1: because it has been dark. There have been some really,
Speaker 1: really dark and terrifying moments in the last few years,
Speaker 1: and I think it's important that we be honest about that,
Speaker 1: honest about how hard it can be sometimes to wake up,
Speaker 1: get out of bed and put one foot in front
Speaker 1: of the other. You know. I think we're all feeling
Speaker 1: excited about election Day, but I think we're all also
Speaker 1: feeling a little bit terrified, yes, and that is why
Speaker 1: I wanted to talk to glenn and Doyle. I have
Speaker 1: followed Glennon for several years. Many of you listening may
Speaker 1: also have followed her. She has a almost unique ability
Speaker 1: to capture feelings. She's written several books, including her latest Untamed,
Speaker 1: which I thought was brilliant and moving and really provocative
Speaker 1: in making people think about, Okay, what are the tough
Speaker 1: moments in my life that I have to come to
Speaker 1: grips with. And she's the founder and president of Together Rising,
Speaker 1: which is a nonprofit and in the countdown to the election,
Speaker 1: Glennon has been posting daily updates about actions her followers
Speaker 1: can take to help elect Democrats. The series is called
Speaker 1: and I love this. We can do hard things. I
Speaker 1: am just incredibly happy to have you here today. I
Speaker 1: guess I should start by asking how are you feeling
Speaker 1: as we head into this momentous election day? Feeling feeling um, well,
Speaker 1: I think for the last four years, and honestly maybe
Speaker 1: for the last forty years, I have felt like I
Speaker 1: am walking on a path, just trying to stay study
Speaker 1: on the path, and there's a cliff to the left
Speaker 1: of me, and it is a pit of despair and
Speaker 1: fear and rage and terror right and I'm just trying
Speaker 1: not to fall off that cliff. And then now going
Speaker 1: into the election, it feels like there's another cliff on
Speaker 1: the right, and that cliff is hope. And this is
Speaker 1: new to me, this absolute refusal to even allow hope
Speaker 1: near my me right now. I don't know what it is.
Speaker 1: It's like every time I hear someone speaking hopefully, it
Speaker 1: makes me angry. Yeah, it's just this vulnerability. If I
Speaker 1: will not open myself up to hope again right now,
Speaker 1: I will not allow myself to get crushed again. And
Speaker 1: also we don't have time for it. We have a
Speaker 1: lot of work to do. Yeah, So I'm trying to
Speaker 1: stay on the path, Secretary Clinton, and that path, you know,
Speaker 1: that path leads right to your voting. You know, you
Speaker 1: know this discuss and we're having is going to drop
Speaker 1: on November two, the day before election day. So I'd
Speaker 1: love knowing what your plan is and how you intend to,
Speaker 1: you know, spend election day. Well, my plan for election
Speaker 1: day is to be able to look at myself in
Speaker 1: the mirror. You know, I will never ever forget the
Speaker 1: night of the two thousand sixteen election. You might remember it, yes,
Speaker 1: I do, yes, yes, And I will never forget the
Speaker 1: feeling of knowing that I did not do everything that
Speaker 1: I could do, that I took for granted your win.
Speaker 1: First of all, the amount of women that I have
Speaker 1: talked to who had that feeling that's sinking despair on
Speaker 1: that night, our legion, and I deeply apologize to you
Speaker 1: for that. And the memory of that feeling has become
Speaker 1: the resolve that I have going into this election. Forty
Speaker 1: days ago, my sister and I just looked at each
Speaker 1: other and thought, well, we will not have that feeling again.
Speaker 1: We cannot control the outcome, but we can control our input,
Speaker 1: and we are going to use every bit of our voices,
Speaker 1: of our platform, of our privilege, every bit of it,
Speaker 1: to make sure that every single person that we know
Speaker 1: and that we don't know is voting. So that's what
Speaker 1: we've been doing these forty days of outraged to action,
Speaker 1: just trying to get people to, you know, just demystify
Speaker 1: this purposefully confusing. Yes, yes, I'm so glad you said that,
Speaker 1: because I have to underscore that point. The other side
Speaker 1: wants to make this confusing and overwhelming and create this
Speaker 1: cognitive dissonance inside people's heads. There's just, you know, so
Speaker 1: much at stake, and I love what you said about
Speaker 1: you and your sister being absolutely committed. I've heard that
Speaker 1: from countless women who feel exactly the same way, and
Speaker 1: I think listeners would love to have a peek inside
Speaker 1: your day. Okay, so it's election day. What happens in
Speaker 1: your household? All my household? Usually I wake up much
Speaker 1: earlier than Abby and by the time she's gotten up,
Speaker 1: I've had much too much coffee already. I'm actually Secretary
Speaker 1: Quinton woken Abbey up with an easel and the ten
Speaker 1: steps that day we're taking to crush the patriarchy. So
Speaker 1: it's a lot, it's a lot to wake up. In
Speaker 1: our home. We call it Coffee and Revolution. I love
Speaker 1: that that's the next book, Glenn and Revolution. I love
Speaker 1: that they go together. They go together because by noon,
Speaker 1: Secretary Clinton, it's just I'm my hope is just dreamed.
Speaker 1: So I have to get it all done in the morning.
Speaker 1: So on election day, what I plan to do is
Speaker 1: when I start to think of myself and how I
Speaker 1: will feel that day, I start to short circuit. So
Speaker 1: what I'm going to do is I'm going to continue
Speaker 1: to lead this community. I think of leadership as this
Speaker 1: kind of balance between a challenge and comfort and knowing
Speaker 1: when to do both and when to do each one.
Speaker 1: And you know, during this forty days, we have been
Speaker 1: challenging and challenging and challenging. And so what I see
Speaker 1: as my space on election day will all be in
Speaker 1: different places. Will be probably in a corner with a
Speaker 1: candle praying for me, Chase, my son is working at
Speaker 1: the polls. My daughters will be watching me carefully. So
Speaker 1: I have to be I don't know, I have to
Speaker 1: pretend that everything's gonna be okay either way. I don't know.
Speaker 1: So what I'm gonna do is I'm going to be present,
Speaker 1: and I'm going to be reminding my community that what
Speaker 1: democracy looks like will be making sure that every damn
Speaker 1: vote is counted, and that anyone who calls this election
Speaker 1: before every vote is counted is doing that strategically in
Speaker 1: order to steal the election once again. So I think
Speaker 1: I'll be comforting, I'll be educating. I will be trying,
Speaker 1: secretary and to keep a lot of people on that
Speaker 1: narrow path between clifs. Well, now, how are you actually
Speaker 1: going to physically vote? Are you mailing it in? You've
Speaker 1: already voted? Okay, so you're affirmations And I love your
Speaker 1: Instagram series called we Can Do Hard Things. You're gonna
Speaker 1: be keeping people motivated tuned into how they can make
Speaker 1: sure Joe Biden wins. You know, I love that we
Speaker 1: can do hard things? Where did that come from? That mantra?
Speaker 1: So I got sober when I was twenty six years old.
Speaker 1: I've been lost to addiction for a very long time,
Speaker 1: and I was teaching. I started as a teacher. I
Speaker 1: really think of myself as still and their great teacher
Speaker 1: on hiatus. That is my happy plays. And I used
Speaker 1: to I had such a painful time getting sober and
Speaker 1: each day I would make my kids walk the long
Speaker 1: way to lunch because my my friend Josie, who taught
Speaker 1: second grade, had a big sign above her window that said,
Speaker 1: we can do hard things, And so every day I
Speaker 1: would walk by that classroom just as a reminder. It
Speaker 1: was something about the idea that, oh, life isn't hard
Speaker 1: because I'm doing it wrong. It's it's hard often for
Speaker 1: people who are doing it right, who are exactly showing
Speaker 1: up and risking and being vulnerable and trying and and
Speaker 1: failing and trying again. And I guess holding onto this
Speaker 1: hope that's so scary and right. And then this we
Speaker 1: part was so important to me, This idea that the
Speaker 1: existential drama of being human is that we have to
Speaker 1: do it alone, but that we're doing the hard thing
Speaker 1: of being human alongside everybody else. Right, this idea that
Speaker 1: we're totally alone but together. So listen, it's all over
Speaker 1: my house. My children. I mean, they don't even want
Speaker 1: anyone to say we can do hard things in their
Speaker 1: vicinity because we not got it enough with that. But
Speaker 1: I mean, when I was trying to listen figure out
Speaker 1: democracy real quick, I couldn't use some help from you.
Speaker 1: But a team kept saying that be the idea that
Speaker 1: this is purposefully confusing, that we are smart women. We
Speaker 1: can do this, we can figure this out. If we
Speaker 1: can put together Ikea bookshelves, we can think you're out
Speaker 1: voting that's right. We can be determined that you know,
Speaker 1: the other side is not gonna, you know, discourage us
Speaker 1: and send us screaming because it's so hard. And you know,
Speaker 1: when I think about your audience, I mean I discovered
Speaker 1: you originally when you were speaking to not primarily but
Speaker 1: a lot of women, moms who really identified as Christians,
Speaker 1: who had a sense of their faith which motivated them,
Speaker 1: guided them, but often was not enough. I mean it
Speaker 1: was hard. Now your community is so much bigger, Glennon,
Speaker 1: I mean, you have this amazing reach of young people
Speaker 1: LGBT q UH and a lot of them are what
Speaker 1: you know posters call white suburban women who get up
Speaker 1: early and drink a lot of coffee, who have to
Speaker 1: figure out how they're going to manage all of the
Speaker 1: incoming that everybody's life is filled with. Based on what
Speaker 1: you're hearing in this big community that you now helped
Speaker 1: to lead and motivate, what's on the minds of people
Speaker 1: in that community as they're thinking about voting, or if
Speaker 1: they already have voted like you did, what's on their minds.
Speaker 1: I mean, I think COVID has brought to the surface,
Speaker 1: or just exacerbated, all of the trauma that is a
Speaker 1: part of a woman's life every day. I mean, we
Speaker 1: were already taking care of our older parents, but now
Speaker 1: we're scared for their lives and their safety. We were
Speaker 1: already trying to do our best to educate our children,
Speaker 1: but now we're trying to do it in our freaking
Speaker 1: houses with no I mean we you know, just all
Speaker 1: of those We were already stressed out about work, but
Speaker 1: now so many of us have had to drop out
Speaker 1: of careers that we love. You know, we were already
Speaker 1: stressed out about health care, we were. My hope, my
Speaker 1: hope is that women are just really, really angry. I
Speaker 1: hope so too. I hope so too, because in this case,
Speaker 1: it didn't have to be this bad, did not. And
Speaker 1: so we have an opportunity, I believe, to not only
Speaker 1: reclaim our country, but for those of us who you know,
Speaker 1: are Christians, to reclaim our religious faith as well. You know,
Speaker 1: we're going to have I'm sure some uncertainty about the
Speaker 1: results come Tuesday. I think we're all going to have
Speaker 1: to just get prepared to stick it out. What's your
Speaker 1: advice to the rest of us as people? Either I
Speaker 1: have friends who say they're going to bed at seven
Speaker 1: o'clock on election night and hopefully not waking up until
Speaker 1: it's done, and I keep saying it may not be
Speaker 1: done for days. You're gonna have to get out of
Speaker 1: bed at some point. And then I have friends who
Speaker 1: are so obsessed they're gonna be screaming and tweeting and
Speaker 1: crying about every report that they get. How are you
Speaker 1: going to get through this? Do you think? Well? I
Speaker 1: think I don't know. First of all, I never know
Speaker 1: till the day of. I think that one of the
Speaker 1: things I'm gonna do is try to avoid this purposeful
Speaker 1: idea of uncertainty that I think is mostly coming from
Speaker 1: the Trump's side, right, that actually, actually there is no
Speaker 1: uncertainty here. There is a very very reliable system for
Speaker 1: mail in ballots that Trump has started discrediting months and
Speaker 1: months ago as a purposeful strategy, knowing that most of
Speaker 1: the mail and ballots would be democratic right, and has
Speaker 1: over and over again disparaged that even though he and
Speaker 1: his entire administration votes by mail and ballot, and we
Speaker 1: know that, right. So I do think that some of
Speaker 1: the uncertainty is just sown and that we need to
Speaker 1: reject that and say, actually, this is just what democracy
Speaker 1: looks like in two thousand twenty. That we might have
Speaker 1: to wait. And I like that a lot, Right, That's
Speaker 1: not uncertainty, that's just the process. That's just not cheating, right,
Speaker 1: waiting and being patient so that every vote counts. So
Speaker 1: we're gonna have to be bold and strong in that waiting, right,
Speaker 1: But I don't think that we have to call that
Speaker 1: waiting uncertainty. We are certain. I like that a lot.
Speaker 1: It is a process. It is a process. And then
Speaker 1: once we know and I am actually quite geared up
Speaker 1: for good news both from are you are you? Am?
Speaker 1: I am? So I'm just going to fight till the
Speaker 1: very end. I'm I'm absolutely totally committed to that. And
Speaker 1: when you said a few minutes ago that you know,
Speaker 1: you wake up in your house and it's coffee and revolution,
Speaker 1: I thought about the only time I personally heard Dr
Speaker 1: Martin Luther King Jr. Speak And I was a young
Speaker 1: teenager and my church took me to hear him speak
Speaker 1: in downtown Chicago. So we all go down there, go
Speaker 1: to Orchestra Hall in Chicago, and we hear Dr King speak,
Speaker 1: And the name of his speech, which he gave more
Speaker 1: times than just that once, was called staying awake during
Speaker 1: the revolution, and I've always thought about that. Stay awake,
Speaker 1: don't pull the covers over your head, drink a lot
Speaker 1: of coffee, but be ready to stay awake fighting speaking
Speaker 1: out during the revolution because regardless of what happens, there's
Speaker 1: a lot we have to do. But I also think
Speaker 1: we're going to have to try to figure out how
Speaker 1: do we heal our country. I mean, there's so much
Speaker 1: pain and fear and anger. How should we go about
Speaker 1: doing that on a person to person level and nationally? Yeah,
Speaker 1: I think about that too, although that feels a little
Speaker 1: bit too much like hope, So I feel scared about it,
Speaker 1: like when my brain goes to that, like, but I
Speaker 1: have allowed myself to think, Okay, what if we win?
Speaker 1: Then as a leader of my community, my family, my
Speaker 1: my job will immediately be to decide how we win.
Speaker 1: And that feels very important to me in this moment,
Speaker 1: because there is a way to win that we have
Speaker 1: been seeing that is so infantile and so braggadocious and
Speaker 1: so mean spirited, and so that all it does is
Speaker 1: deepen the divide. That all this does is cause more
Speaker 1: pain and anger. And then I feel like I just
Speaker 1: want I want to win the selection, and I want
Speaker 1: to win with dignity and class, and I want to
Speaker 1: celebrate in a way that invites people who think differently
Speaker 1: than I do, that invites, you know, the two sides
Speaker 1: together a little bit over time, right, I want to
Speaker 1: leave room for reduction. I want to leave room for
Speaker 1: coming together. And so I'm glad you brought that up
Speaker 1: because it just feels like if I allow myself to
Speaker 1: go there, I know that I want to win differently. Yes,
Speaker 1: I like that a lot onned Blow did that resumeate?
Speaker 1: Oh my goodness, listening to Glenned and really listening to
Speaker 1: all of these incredible people who are out there doing
Speaker 1: the work is helping me today. It's helping me get
Speaker 1: through today. You know, when you talk to people like
Speaker 1: the people we were able to speak with, it does
Speaker 1: give you grounds for optimism. We've got amazing people in
Speaker 1: this country, and you know we need to be lifting
Speaker 1: up the positive ent g not getting dragged down by
Speaker 1: the negative. So we need to keep reminding ourselves there
Speaker 1: is something that every one of us can do, and
Speaker 1: right now, the most important thing we can do is vote.
Speaker 1: And also, you know, we are going to have to
Speaker 1: stay focused and breathe just to make sure that every
Speaker 1: vote is counted, right, it's not like a valid and
Speaker 1: go back to scrolling on Instagram. We got to stay
Speaker 1: awake and alert and know that no one person, no
Speaker 1: one candidate is going to come make everything better. That's
Speaker 1: our job, that's our amen, amen, And that is at
Speaker 1: the core of the American spirit. We are people who
Speaker 1: are supposed to be involved and participate and make a difference,
Speaker 1: and you've done that. And I'm so grateful to you
Speaker 1: for joining me today to talk to these amazing guests
Speaker 1: and to reflect a little bit about what America. The
Speaker 1: country needs from people like you and me. America. Yeah, well, Hilary,
Speaker 1: I mean you know, every single time I get to
Speaker 1: speak to you, I have to pinch myself. I couldn't
Speaker 1: be more thankful to you for who you have been
Speaker 1: in the world and what an inspiration you've been to me.
Speaker 1: So thank you. Last week I had an amazing conversation
Speaker 1: with Share a wonderful friend, someone I adore and you know,
Speaker 1: someone whose music has really meant a lot to me
Speaker 1: over the years, and as she often does, I think
Speaker 1: Share put it best, think of it as life and
Speaker 1: yad this is the most important thing to do for men,
Speaker 1: for women, for LGBT people, for people of color. I mean,
Speaker 1: you think it's gonna get better if he gets a
Speaker 1: second term? Get his ass out? Well, that's yeah. For
Speaker 1: this week's show, You and Me Both is brought to
Speaker 1: you by I Heart Radio. We're produced by Julie Subran
Speaker 1: and Kathleen Russo, with help from Whoma Aberdeen, Nikki e Tour,
Speaker 1: Oscar Flores, Brianna Johnson, Nick Merrill, Lauren Peterson, Rob Russo
Speaker 1: and Lona Valmorrow. Our engineer is Zack McNeice and the
Speaker 1: original music is by Forest Gray. Our podcast is recorded
Speaker 1: on the Riverside platform and a big thanks to the
Speaker 1: Riverside team for they're helping make a podcast during a pandemic.
Speaker 1: If you like this episode, how about telling someone else
Speaker 1: about it or tweet about it or posted on Instagram.
Speaker 1: That would be a big help in getting the word out.
Speaker 1: And you can subscribe to you and Me both on
Speaker 1: the I Heart Radio app, Apple podcast or wherever you
Speaker 1: get your podcasts, and while you're there, please leave us
Speaker 1: a review. We'd love to hear from you, unders your questions,
Speaker 1: your comments, or your best fashion advice. Do You and
Speaker 1: Me both pod at gmail dot com and come back
Speaker 1: next week when we'll be on the other side of
Speaker 1: this election with Ari Berman and Jennifer Cone. Happy voting everybody,