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Speaker 1: Hey, what's up everybody.

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Speaker 2: I'm Jamel Hill and welcome to politics and iHeart podcast

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Speaker 2: and Unbothered network production.

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Speaker 1: Time to get spolitical.

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Speaker 2: The whole reason I wanted to dose politics is because

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Speaker 2: I wanted to explore and examine the relationship between sports

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Speaker 2: and politics. One thing we don't pay enough attention to

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Speaker 2: is how our political leaders use sports to influence diplomatic, social,

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Speaker 2: and political relationships. The term for this is called sports diplomacy,

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Speaker 2: but it's a little more complicated than that. Governments across

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Speaker 2: the world use sports to create better relationships between nations,

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Speaker 2: but they also use it to change their image. Sometimes

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Speaker 2: this diplomacy can morph into sports watching, where sports is

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Speaker 2: used to cover up an ethical and moral behavior. Now

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Speaker 2: here's a few examples of both the good and the

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Speaker 2: bad of sports diplomacy. One of the most famous examples

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Speaker 2: of sports diplomacy is how Pink Pong helped to change

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Speaker 2: the United states frosty relationship with China in the early

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Speaker 2: nineteen seventies.

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Speaker 3: In nineteen seventy one, America feared the largely unknown communist giants.

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Speaker 4: Communist China seeks to spread its own brand of global revolution.

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Speaker 3: But that's when a long haired American ping pong player

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Speaker 3: missed his team bus in Japan and befriended the world's

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Speaker 3: number one Chinese player.

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Speaker 5: The American team, while traveling through Asia, was invited by

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Speaker 5: primaries Joe and Life to play against the Chinese team.

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Speaker 5: That team was the first group of people in twenty

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Speaker 5: one years that had set foot in China.

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Speaker 6: Mao's offer conveyed the regards of the Chinese people to

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Speaker 6: the American people. The televised tour showed the new friendly

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Speaker 6: face of China to the world.

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Speaker 2: Time magazine called this historic event the ping pong heard

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Speaker 2: around the world. By the time the American table tennis

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Speaker 2: team finished their historic visit to China, United States President

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Speaker 2: Richard Nixon announced he was easing travel bands and trade

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Speaker 2: embargoes against China. A year later, in nineteen seventy two,

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Speaker 2: Nixon visited the People's Republic of China, the first time

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Speaker 2: in history an American president visited the Chinese mainland. On

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Speaker 2: the wrong side of history, there was the nineteen thirty

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Speaker 2: six Olympics in Berlin, which some historians referred to as

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Speaker 2: the Nazi Olympics because the Germans tried to use the

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Speaker 2: Olympics to soften their image.

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Speaker 7: They were days of glory and gold.

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Speaker 4: If I could use a single word to describe Berlin

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Speaker 4: during that period of time, the word would be cannibal.

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Speaker 7: As US sprinter Marty Glickman remembers, the view was ground

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Speaker 7: for those two weeks in August of nineteen thirty six,

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Speaker 7: as Berlin hosted the world's greatest athletes for the eleven

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Speaker 7: Olympic Games. International visitors were warmly welcomed. Behind the pomp

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Speaker 7: and pageantry were ominous songs.

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Speaker 4: The swastika was all of them. On virtually every other

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Speaker 4: banner we saw, there was a swastika.

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Speaker 7: The benefit of hindsight and history helps us see these

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Speaker 7: were more than just games.

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Speaker 8: These weren't the Berlin Olympics. These were the Nazi Olympics.

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Speaker 7: They were also an opportunity for the regime to create

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Speaker 7: the illusion of a new Germany on the world stage,

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Speaker 7: but the reality was quite different. Jews were excluded from

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Speaker 7: all German sports teams and clubs, but the Nazis put

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Speaker 7: Jewish international track and fields dark Redelbergmann on the Olympic

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Speaker 7: roster to fend off international critics. Removed from the German

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Speaker 7: team at the last minute. Margaret Lambert as she is

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Speaker 7: now known, recalls her reaction.

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Speaker 9: I would have been a loser either way, because had

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Speaker 9: I won, there would have been such an insult against

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Speaker 9: the German Psyche. How can the Jew be good enough

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Speaker 9: to win the Olympics that I would I've had to

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Speaker 9: be afraid from my life, I'm sure, and had I lost,

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Speaker 9: I would have been made as a joke.

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Speaker 2: At the same time, the Nazis were trying to impress

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Speaker 2: the world with the Olympics, they had already begun persecuting Jews.

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Speaker 7: By nineteen thirty six, Germany's Jews and other minorities had

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Speaker 7: been stripped of their civil rights, even their citizenship, and

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Speaker 7: the Nazi regime had already opened its first concentration caps.

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Speaker 8: Everybody knew. Everybody knew early on exactly the kind of

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Speaker 8: regime Nazi Germany was, so much so that for the

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Speaker 8: first time in the history of the modern Olympic Games,

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Speaker 8: there was talk about boycotting these games.

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Speaker 7: The debate raged, They're all trying to decide what to do.

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Speaker 1: Should they go? Did that mean that they.

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Speaker 10: Would be somehow winning a stamp of approval on a

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Speaker 10: regime that many people felt was abhorrent, or was it

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Speaker 10: just a sporting contest.

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Speaker 2: That was the Olympics that belonged to Jesse Owens, who

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Speaker 2: won the gold and the one hundred two hundred long

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Speaker 2: jump and four by one hundred meter relay, all while

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Speaker 2: Adolf Hitler was watching. Even though there were rumors for

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Speaker 2: years that Hitler shook Jesse Owen's hand, the Owens family

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Speaker 2: said that never happened. One of Hitler's confidants, Albert Spear,

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Speaker 2: wrote in his memoir that Hitler was quote highly annoyed

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Speaker 2: by the series of triumphs by the marvelous colored American

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Speaker 2: runner Jesse Owens. People whose antecedents came from the jungle

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Speaker 2: were primitive, Hitler said, with the shrug. Their physiques were

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Speaker 2: stronger than those of civilized whites, and hints should be

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Speaker 2: excluded from future games. So for all of y'all who

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Speaker 2: kept promoting this dumb ass idea that Hitler fucked with

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Speaker 2: black people, he absolutely did not, not as a staff,

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Speaker 2: a record label, or a crew. Even though the United

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Speaker 2: States government had a pretty substantial history of using sports

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Speaker 2: and athletes to foster in broaden relationships and change perceptions,

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Speaker 2: the American government didn't formally create the Sports Diplomacy Division

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Speaker 2: until two thousand and two. The division was created after

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Speaker 2: nine to eleven, with the gold being to try to

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Speaker 2: connect with young people in the Middle East through soccer.

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Speaker 1: The division has four primary divisions.

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Speaker 2: The Sports Envoy Program, which sends athletes, coaches, and other

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Speaker 2: sports educators abroad to lead sports clinics, speak at universities,

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Speaker 2: and speak to officials in other countries about the transformative

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Speaker 2: power of sports. There's the Sports Visitor Program, where athletes

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Speaker 2: and coaches from other countries come to the United States

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Speaker 2: to engage with their American counterparts. There's the International Sports

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Speaker 2: Programming Initiative, a grant based program that allows American nonprofits

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Speaker 2: to engage with underserved youth sports officials and coaches from

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Speaker 2: other countries. And the Global Sports Mentoring Program that pairs

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Speaker 2: international leaders with American sports executives to promote.

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Speaker 1: Inclusivity and gender equality.

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Speaker 2: Now, the current budget for the program is six million,

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Speaker 2: and its funds are appropriated by Congress by government standards,

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Speaker 2: that's not a lot. We've all seen the power that

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Speaker 2: sports can have when it comes to bridging communities and

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Speaker 2: promoting inclusivity and change. Many other countries have similar divisions,

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Speaker 2: but as unifying as sports can be it also can.

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Speaker 1: Come up a larger stench now.

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Speaker 2: Jesse Owens gave the world a historic moment, all while

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Speaker 2: Jim Crow and segregation were the standard in his home country.

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Speaker 2: Owens was thrown a ticker tape parade in New York

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Speaker 2: after his Olympic accomplishments, but when it came time for

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Speaker 2: him to attend a reception in his honor at the

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Speaker 2: Waldorf Astoria Hotel, he had to ride the freight elevator

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Speaker 2: to the reception because he was black. Owens said, although

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Speaker 2: I wasn't invited to shake hands with Hitler, I wasn't

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Speaker 2: invited to the White House to shake hands with the

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Speaker 2: president either. This sports washing has been an issue in

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Speaker 2: recent years too. Katar being awarded the twenty twenty two

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Speaker 2: World Cup despite this abysmal record on human rights issues

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Speaker 2: and inhumane treatment of workers who built the World Cup venues,

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Speaker 2: received a serious side eye. When the Olympics are on

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Speaker 2: US soil in twenty twenty eight, there will be plenty

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Speaker 2: of conversations about America's behavior as well, especially now that

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Speaker 2: the United States has elected a president who has promised

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Speaker 2: mass deportations. Was the architect of a Supreme Court that

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Speaker 2: disa mantle women's reproductive rights and is seeking to dismantle

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Speaker 2: trance rights. Now, certainly sports can bring people together, but

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Speaker 2: sports shouldn't become a blanket to cover up the ugliness.

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Speaker 2: I'm Jamel Hill and I approved this message. Up next,

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Speaker 2: on politics, I'm going to continue this conversation about sports

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Speaker 2: diplomacy with a congresswoman who is not only my district representative,

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Speaker 2: but she serves on the House's Foreign Affairs and Natural

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Speaker 2: Resources committees. Recently, she led a bipartisan letter that urged

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Speaker 2: the State Department to develop a strategy to advance American

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Speaker 2: diplomacy goals through sports, especially with the stream of major

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Speaker 2: international events that will be on American soil over the

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Speaker 2: next decade. Coming up next on his politics, Representative Sidney

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Speaker 2: Komlicker does.

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Speaker 11: Well.

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Speaker 2: Representative, thank you so much for joining me. I know

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Speaker 2: you have a lot of very serious and busy things

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Speaker 2: to do, so I appreciate the time. I want to

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Speaker 2: start though this podcast the way I start every politics episode,

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Speaker 2: and that is by asking my wonderful guest name an

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Speaker 2: athlete or a sports moment that made them love sports.

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Speaker 1: So what is that for you?

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Speaker 11: Well, because I'm from Chicago, I'm tempted to say any

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Speaker 11: and all things Michael Jordan, but the more truthful answer

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Speaker 11: is going to the racetrack with my dad. I love horses,

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Speaker 11: so I was fascinated with the pedigree and just how

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Speaker 11: beautiful they were. But I learned that you have to

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Speaker 11: know what you're talking about if you're going to be

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Speaker 11: successful in this game. So the statistics, the pedigree of

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Speaker 11: the horse, the jockey, what kind of turf they did

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Speaker 11: better on, all of these things came became very important

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Speaker 11: to making the right bets. And then I have come

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Speaker 11: to understand and appreciate the work that people like you

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Speaker 11: do and other folks are who are looking at statistics

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Speaker 11: and who are understanding the journeys of athletes and many

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Speaker 11: of the sports games. So I'm going to go with that, okay.

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Speaker 2: Well, being that I'm from Detroit, I can't say that

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Speaker 2: there's any love loss with Michael Jordan's totally respect him

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Speaker 2: as being the greatest basketball player ever. But there's a

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Speaker 2: long history thereally Detroit Chicago as it relates to the

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Speaker 2: Bulls and the Pistons, So I don't care the same

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Speaker 2: affection as you do necessary the Lions, Lions and the

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Speaker 2: Bears that also a very developed rivalry.

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Speaker 1: Now, one thing that I noticed, and we're gonna in a.

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Speaker 2: Moment, we're going to talk about a very important sports initiative,

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Speaker 2: bipartisan effort that you're a part of. That I think

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Speaker 2: is going to be very fascinating for people, because I'm

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Speaker 2: not sure if they knew what this exist, that this existed,

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Speaker 2: and why it exists, even though I've actually had some

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Speaker 2: friends who have been sort of in the diplomacy program,

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Speaker 2: and so it's been interesting asking about their their work,

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Speaker 2: you know, kind of off air.

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Speaker 1: If you will.

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Speaker 2: But before I get to that, one thing that was

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Speaker 2: that is probably obvious in our politics is that sometimes

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Speaker 2: a lot of folks don't know exactly.

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Speaker 1: What politicians do or how they operate.

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Speaker 2: You know, for those who are listening, Representative Kamu or

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Speaker 2: Dove is my actual representative, and this is the first

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Speaker 2: time I'm meeting her.

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Speaker 1: So I had never met you before.

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Speaker 11: That's true.

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Speaker 1: This is very true. I never met you.

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Speaker 2: So I truly evaluated you based off your policies and

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Speaker 2: your positions, and you did you want you earn my vote?

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Speaker 11: You did?

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Speaker 1: It is absolutely true. I saw him as.

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Speaker 2: Interviews, did all my research all that kind of stuff.

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Speaker 2: But a lot of people they don't have time. Some

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Speaker 2: people are not inspired to do this level of research.

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Speaker 2: So as a district representative, as a as a congress person,

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Speaker 2: can you sort of give us the boiler plate and

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Speaker 2: explain what your job is.

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Speaker 11: Yeah. So I live in the district. I represent seven

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Speaker 11: hundred thousand people, including you and your family, and every

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Speaker 11: week I fly from my district to Washington, DC to

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Speaker 11: do the people's work. And what does that mean. I'm

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Speaker 11: going to committees and talking about issues that impact all

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Speaker 11: of us, like clean water and making sure that the

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Speaker 11: government can't sell land that it's not supposed to. I

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Speaker 11: go on the floor and I debate, and then I

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Speaker 11: vote on bills. We've had bills to protect laundry rooms

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Speaker 11: and dishwashers, but not necessarily students and women. I vote

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Speaker 11: on the budget, and the budget is what we use

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Speaker 11: when states have money, and counties have money, and cities

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Speaker 11: have money. Oftentimes they're getting it because we have appropriated

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Speaker 11: dollars for it. And then I give money to my

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Speaker 11: districts so that I can help nonprofit organizations and little

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Speaker 11: cities do the work that they need to do. And

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Speaker 11: then I make sure that if you, as a constituent

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Speaker 11: have a problem and you call me, I help you

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Speaker 11: solve it.

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Speaker 1: Seems pretty clearcut.

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Speaker 2: But I think there, especially now given some of the

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Speaker 2: things that have already been proposed out of the president

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Speaker 2: elects cabinet or not cabinet but administration that he's putting together,

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Speaker 2: that there's this sort of burn it all down mentality

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Speaker 2: that people are latching on to, especially as it relates

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Speaker 2: to this new efficiency Department. Not sure what to call

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Speaker 2: it because it's not a government body with Elon Musk

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Speaker 2: and Vivid Ramaswami who are promising to slash two jillion

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Speaker 2: dollars from the budget, which sounds to a lot of

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Speaker 2: people like, yes, this is a great idea. Slash, lash, slash,

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Speaker 2: because people, I think are as aware of how government works.

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Speaker 2: So where do you stand when it comes to this

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Speaker 2: sort of idea that by reshaping government, we need to cut, cut,

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Speaker 2: cut and slash, lash slash, Like, what are your kind

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Speaker 2: of thoughts and opinions on that? Because it feels like

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Speaker 2: a message that resonates.

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Speaker 1: A lot with the public.

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Speaker 11: Well, I am not for the doge. I think it's

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Speaker 11: a rouge, and I have said these are fake people

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Speaker 11: in a fake position. I'm talking about things of which

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Speaker 11: they do not know. Tell me how Elon Musk has

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Speaker 11: ever produced or made anything that has made any money,

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Speaker 11: And in fact, he has been one of the biggest

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Speaker 11: beneficiaries of government subsidies. I certainly agree we always should

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Speaker 11: be finding ways to be more efficient, but I actually

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Speaker 11: think a way to make government work better is to

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Speaker 11: resource it is to hire more people. Because I don't

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Speaker 11: know about you, but I hate when I have a

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Speaker 11: question or a concern I need something solved and I

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Speaker 11: pick up the phone and I have to wait for

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Speaker 11: a long ass time, or I have to leave a

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Speaker 11: message or wait for somebody to get back to me

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Speaker 11: or get in that queue, or its press one, press one,

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Speaker 11: press one, and I'm like, well, cant I just answered

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Speaker 11: this fucking phone and help me. Well, if we had

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Speaker 11: more people, if we hired more people, then everything wouldn't

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Speaker 11: be so automated. And if you have more folks, then

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Speaker 11: you're able to be more efficient. I do a lot

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Speaker 11: of interviews, and the reporter is also the producer is

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Speaker 11: also the edit is also the sound tech. And I

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Speaker 11: don't think that is a sustainable formula. So why don't

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Speaker 11: we hire more folks to clean the parks and to

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Speaker 11: the phone to.

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Speaker 1: Help you with your tech.

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Speaker 11: That's how you actually address waste and fraud and even abuse.

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Speaker 2: Speaking of which, there's an important initiative you're working on

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Speaker 2: in terms of encouraging the government and particularly this new administration,

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Speaker 2: to continue to put a lot of resources and effort

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Speaker 2: behind the State Department's Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs.

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Speaker 2: Now why this is important is because underneath that bureau

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Speaker 2: is something that goes under their umbrella of sports diplomacy.

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Speaker 2: As you pointed out in a recent letter that you

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Speaker 2: signed off on to sort of facilitate more funding and

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Speaker 2: emphasis on this is the fact that the United States

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Speaker 2: will be hosting a lot of sporting events over the

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Speaker 2: next ten plus years that are international. The twenty twenty

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Speaker 2: six World Cup, the Summer Olympics of course right here

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Speaker 2: in Los Angeles in twenty twenty eight, and the Paralympics

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Speaker 2: Winter Olympics. I mean, we have a ton of international events.

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Speaker 2: So Lord helped, Yes, I know, right, especially here.

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Speaker 1: In Los Angeles.

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Speaker 2: I'm like, I don't know how this Olympus is gonna go,

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Speaker 2: because I think Los Angeles would do great.

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Speaker 1: Like I'm not saying that, but ooh, that's going to

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Speaker 1: be a time.

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Speaker 2: But nevertheless, sports has played an important role in government

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Speaker 2: and promoting American idea, promoting to diplomacy.

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Speaker 1: Why do you think sports is such a valuable tool

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Speaker 1: for the government.

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Speaker 11: So, you know, much like food and arts, sports I

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Speaker 11: think has an enormous potential to uplift and inspire folks.

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Speaker 11: We see it all the time. I think athletes are

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Speaker 11: some of the best and most underutilized ambassadors. And when

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Speaker 11: we think about diplomacy, I think we often think about old, tired,

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Speaker 11: stuffy white men with briefcases that are you know, dudu

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Speaker 11: and talking about policies. But really diplomacy is about connecting,

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Speaker 11: building relationships, finding bonds. And you see that all the

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Speaker 11: time when you're watching athletes and when you're watching sports.

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Speaker 11: These folks who've come together, they are playing, they are competing,

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Speaker 11: they are following certain rules, they are making money, and

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Speaker 11: the sports, the game becomes this bonding agent between opponents.

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Speaker 11: And it also allows you to speak a universal language

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Speaker 11: that is nonpartisan. It's no color red or blue, it's

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Speaker 11: non religious. And that's how you're able to build community.

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Speaker 11: And so I want the State Department to invest as

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Speaker 11: much in sports diplomacy as they do in other spaces,

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Speaker 11: so that we can use this universal language to help

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Speaker 11: bring peace. I know it sounds kind of you know,

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Speaker 11: crazy or maybe even too idealistic, but if you can,

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Speaker 11: I think about people like Matumbo, you know, from the

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Speaker 11: Congo basketball player, and he used his fame to actually

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Speaker 11: help raise money to build a hospital in Kinshasha where

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Speaker 11: he was from, because people were dying and the average

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Speaker 11: family was earning like thirty seven dollars a month. And

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Speaker 11: he used his fame to help people learn about his

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Speaker 11: country and see what his people were having to face.

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Speaker 11: And so that is actually sports diplomacy, and that's what

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Speaker 11: I want to support.

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Speaker 1: Yeah.

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Speaker 2: And one thing that you know, you pointed out in

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Speaker 2: this in this letter that you and several other lawmakers

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Speaker 2: that you all signed on and that was given to

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Speaker 2: Secretary of Lincoln, you know, in the spirit of again bipartisanship.

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Speaker 2: One thing you pointed out is the number of international

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Speaker 2: students who are student athletes here in the States, and

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Speaker 2: of course the number of American players who are playing

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Speaker 2: you know, overseas, and how that's like a natural kind

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Speaker 2: of bridge for both. Now, given the I guess the

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Speaker 2: best way I can put it, to be honest representative

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Speaker 2: is given the hostility that the president elect has shown

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Speaker 2: toward immigrants and shown towards you know, we just saw

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Speaker 2: as of the recording of this podcast, he had some

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Speaker 2: comments where he pretty much made it clear that he

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Speaker 2: wanted to end birthright citizenship.

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Speaker 1: So, given that the president has.

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Speaker 2: Used our relationships with foreign countries in a very hostile way,

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Speaker 2: how does this marry with what you're attempting to use

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Speaker 2: sports to do?

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Speaker 1: I hope this question makes sense. It's like, yeah, it

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Speaker 1: does it.

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Speaker 11: You know, I am going to learn how to fix

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Speaker 11: my face when talking about the president elect right and

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Speaker 11: really work on you know, the policies rather than his

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Speaker 11: you know, this personality and temperament. And I have so

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Speaker 11: many things coming through my brain. Right A, he's married

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Speaker 11: to a woman who's an immigrant, be his bestie. Maybe

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Speaker 11: the shadow president, Elon Musk was an illegal, you know,

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Speaker 11: immigrant right from South Africa who hadn't gotten his papers

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Speaker 11: for a really long time. Look at the NBA, Look

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Speaker 11: at the NFL. They are recruiting constantly from other countries.

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Speaker 11: I think the NBA, what the twenty twenty four picks?

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Speaker 11: I think the first round five of them were from

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Speaker 11: a foreign country. The NBA is also actually what I

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Speaker 11: think in conversations with FIBA about increasing the number of

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Speaker 11: games that they're going to play overseas. The NFL they

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Speaker 11: do international games, so in my mind is like a

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Speaker 11: bunch of bullshit because there are games that we are watching.

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Speaker 11: I mean, look at the World Cup. Soccer is one

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Speaker 11: of the biggest sports internationally. And I don't know about you,

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Speaker 11: but it is crazy when you were driving down King

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Speaker 11: Boulevard to get downtown and there is a game happening

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Speaker 11: at the Birds Nest in South LA. When we played,

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Speaker 11: they had a game at Sofa and I think it

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Speaker 11: was Brazil and Columbia we're playing, and they didn't even

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Speaker 11: have enough seats and they had to move it from

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Speaker 11: one stadium to sofar. So the immigrant community is incredibly

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Speaker 11: important to the world of sports, and we can see

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Speaker 11: that the leagues are making adjustments because they're trying to

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Speaker 11: connect to these world markets. I also think people forget

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Speaker 11: that when you're talking about immigration, you're actually talking about growth,

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Speaker 11: because you're talking about there's so much demand that we're

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Speaker 11: actually wanting to bring more people into it to make

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Speaker 11: sure that the supply is meeting the demands. So I'm

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Speaker 11: hoping that he finds a way to do some better

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Speaker 11: math to see that diversity and immigration are actually good

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Speaker 11: for the economy and for sports.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, because I know, and especially if you fast forward

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Speaker 2: a little bit and we're thinking about the twenty twenty

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Speaker 2: eight Olympics here in Los Angeles. As we've seen in

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Speaker 2: many Olympics, that has also been a platform in which

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Speaker 2: some athletes have chosen to use that to speak out

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Speaker 2: about social injustice, about various issues that impact their communities,

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Speaker 2: our world. And I'm wondering, especially under an administration that

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Speaker 2: seems to not take criticism very well and has almost

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Speaker 2: made it seem as that any and has obviously clearly

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Speaker 2: had an authoritarian tone to how they to how they

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Speaker 2: want to deal with things. As to how that might

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Speaker 2: play out on the world stage here in Los Angeles,

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Speaker 2: I don't know how much you have thought about that

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Speaker 2: or just generally how this is going to change the

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Speaker 2: tone of our country as we are being showcased before

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Speaker 2: the world.

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Speaker 11: So I think back to when the Dodgers won the

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Speaker 11: World Championships. Hey now and we have operation and the

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Speaker 11: President said this was great for the Dogs and for

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Speaker 11: la but he also said it was great for Mexico,

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Speaker 11: the Dominican Republic, for South Korea, and for Japan because

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Speaker 11: we have players on the Dodgers a roster from all

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Speaker 11: of those countries. I think about going to Japan with

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Speaker 11: the State Department to talk about peace and security and

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Speaker 11: women playing a role in peace and security discussions and

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Speaker 11: in those leadership roles, and we were able to get

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Speaker 11: additional meetings and support from the Japanese government. Why because

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Speaker 11: I brought Dodger gear with me and the Defense Minister

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Speaker 11: was so excited to get something from Shoeotani and from

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Speaker 11: the Dodgers that they said, Okay, let's continue to talk

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Speaker 11: about how we can work together to promote peace and

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Speaker 11: security with women. And then I think about the fact

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Speaker 11: that this new next president likes to win, win, win, win,

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Speaker 11: and you don't want to have a losing Olympic, which

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Speaker 11: is a national event, even if it is going to

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Speaker 11: be in Los Angeles and in parts of Oklahoma, because

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Speaker 11: the administration isn't supporting what we need to put our

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Speaker 11: best foot forward and host the largest piece gathering event

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Speaker 11: that the world has ever seen, or that it's able

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Speaker 11: to see. Every two and for you.

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Speaker 2: A lot of people have mixed opinions about whether or

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Speaker 2: not sports and politics should mix. Obviously, clearly I think

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Speaker 2: they mix all the time. And it's why I wanted

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Speaker 2: you to come on and be a guest to sort

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Speaker 2: of explain the diplomatic relationship. Going a little bit deeper

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Speaker 2: into that, how do you see sports as a useful

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Speaker 2: tool politically?

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Speaker 11: Well, I know there are people that say just shut

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Speaker 11: up and dribble or shut up and play, and I say, no,

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Speaker 11: play and talk and share your story.

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Speaker 1: You know.

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00:24:53,680 --> 00:24:58,840
Speaker 11: I think about Roberto Clemente, one of the best, biggest

442
00:24:59,359 --> 00:25:03,480
Speaker 11: beastly you know, baseball players of all time, and he

443
00:25:04,240 --> 00:25:08,200
Speaker 11: was engaged in sports diplomacy because he was trying to

444
00:25:08,280 --> 00:25:12,080
Speaker 11: get supplies to his people, right, And he said, these

445
00:25:12,200 --> 00:25:16,160
Speaker 11: planes that are delivering supplies to help our folks post earthquake,

446
00:25:17,720 --> 00:25:21,200
Speaker 11: they were being stolen by a corrupt government. And the

447
00:25:21,400 --> 00:25:24,000
Speaker 11: only way that he knew that his people would get

448
00:25:24,000 --> 00:25:26,080
Speaker 11: the help they need was if he flew in the

449
00:25:26,160 --> 00:25:29,719
Speaker 11: plane and went over there with them. That was because

450
00:25:29,840 --> 00:25:34,040
Speaker 11: he was such an internationally known player that he knew

451
00:25:34,119 --> 00:25:36,560
Speaker 11: doors would open to allow him to do what he

452
00:25:36,640 --> 00:25:39,320
Speaker 11: wanted to do, which was to help save people. I

453
00:25:39,480 --> 00:25:44,320
Speaker 11: talked about Matumbo, We've talked you know, there's all kinds

454
00:25:44,320 --> 00:25:49,960
Speaker 11: of stories, right, you know, Jackie Robinson, and in pushing

455
00:25:50,160 --> 00:25:54,000
Speaker 11: forward not through talking about politics, but actually through playing

456
00:25:54,080 --> 00:25:58,000
Speaker 11: the game to allow folks to maybe put some of

457
00:25:58,119 --> 00:26:03,000
Speaker 11: their biases aside and connect with the humanity of this

458
00:26:03,200 --> 00:26:07,240
Speaker 11: particular person who also is an athlete. And that's really

459
00:26:07,320 --> 00:26:11,040
Speaker 11: what sports diplomacy is all about. Politics is in everything

460
00:26:11,119 --> 00:26:13,840
Speaker 11: we do. It is in where you sit at the

461
00:26:13,960 --> 00:26:16,480
Speaker 11: table during Thanksgiving. You know, are you going to sit

462
00:26:16,600 --> 00:26:19,320
Speaker 11: next to the mother in law or the sister. I

463
00:26:19,400 --> 00:26:21,840
Speaker 11: mean that's politics, right, what kind of gift you buy

464
00:26:21,960 --> 00:26:26,639
Speaker 11: for someone during the holidays. So we should disabuse ourselves

465
00:26:26,720 --> 00:26:30,040
Speaker 11: of thinking that we need to separate politics from sports,

466
00:26:30,400 --> 00:26:34,480
Speaker 11: and we need to actually lean into how powerful sports

467
00:26:34,640 --> 00:26:37,920
Speaker 11: can be. I have worked with the State Department on this,

468
00:26:38,359 --> 00:26:42,159
Speaker 11: and you know, look, Norm Nixon, Norm Nixon and Debbie

469
00:26:42,200 --> 00:26:46,080
Speaker 11: Allen would go to other countries with the State Department

470
00:26:46,160 --> 00:26:49,280
Speaker 11: and talk about sports and talk about the arts, and

471
00:26:49,400 --> 00:26:51,840
Speaker 11: they he would use Norm was telling me he used

472
00:26:51,840 --> 00:26:55,920
Speaker 11: the power of the ball to actually connect with folks

473
00:26:56,000 --> 00:26:58,920
Speaker 11: in other countries and then use that to talk about

474
00:26:59,000 --> 00:27:01,800
Speaker 11: issues that we're really important to both countries, like making

475
00:27:01,880 --> 00:27:04,359
Speaker 11: sure that you have food, making sure that there are

476
00:27:04,400 --> 00:27:08,520
Speaker 11: places for young people to go, making sure that maybe

477
00:27:08,800 --> 00:27:11,280
Speaker 11: young folks were able to play a game instead of

478
00:27:11,440 --> 00:27:14,480
Speaker 11: maybe being you know, pushed into being child soldiers. So

479
00:27:14,680 --> 00:27:19,399
Speaker 11: that's how sports diplomacy actually looks in the real world.

480
00:27:20,760 --> 00:27:23,400
Speaker 2: You mentioned that politics is and everything. Something I tell

481
00:27:23,440 --> 00:27:26,560
Speaker 2: people as well, and especially sports fans. It's like, you know,

482
00:27:26,640 --> 00:27:28,439
Speaker 2: the moment you go to an arena or a stadium

483
00:27:28,840 --> 00:27:31,560
Speaker 2: that's hugely taxpayer funded, so like, your politics are in

484
00:27:31,640 --> 00:27:34,600
Speaker 2: your sports watching, not to mention the military displays all

485
00:27:34,600 --> 00:27:37,639
Speaker 2: those sorts of things. With that being said, we just

486
00:27:37,720 --> 00:27:41,680
Speaker 2: finished a national election where ninety million or so people

487
00:27:41,760 --> 00:27:45,800
Speaker 2: did not vote. When you think about voter engagement and

488
00:27:46,480 --> 00:27:50,720
Speaker 2: how that has been a struggle, particularly for the Democratic

489
00:27:50,800 --> 00:27:52,680
Speaker 2: Party in this election, even though it was by the

490
00:27:52,760 --> 00:27:54,960
Speaker 2: narrowest of margins, this is the first time in a

491
00:27:55,000 --> 00:27:58,240
Speaker 2: while that a Republican president has won the popular vote.

492
00:27:58,920 --> 00:28:03,639
Speaker 2: That being said, what is your analysis about what is

493
00:28:03,800 --> 00:28:09,119
Speaker 2: missing from getting people more engaged politically and inspiring them

494
00:28:09,160 --> 00:28:09,560
Speaker 2: to vote.

495
00:28:09,880 --> 00:28:14,520
Speaker 11: Well, what's interesting to me is that Trump actually talked

496
00:28:14,960 --> 00:28:18,640
Speaker 11: a lot about democratic values, but he's co opted them

497
00:28:18,800 --> 00:28:21,679
Speaker 11: under his little maga thing, right, how can you make

498
00:28:21,760 --> 00:28:26,000
Speaker 11: government work for you? How can you help working people?

499
00:28:26,080 --> 00:28:28,280
Speaker 11: I mean, these are things that Democrats have been fighting

500
00:28:28,359 --> 00:28:31,520
Speaker 11: for and talking about, and in fact they're policies that

501
00:28:31,680 --> 00:28:37,920
Speaker 11: we've actually passed into law under a democratic administration. What's

502
00:28:38,080 --> 00:28:41,320
Speaker 11: missing is this authenticity. You know, you can have some

503
00:28:41,560 --> 00:28:45,240
Speaker 11: f bombs. You can say you were for something and

504
00:28:45,320 --> 00:28:49,080
Speaker 11: then because of circumstances or changes in behavior or time,

505
00:28:49,520 --> 00:28:52,560
Speaker 11: you're shifting to something else. You can say I'm not

506
00:28:52,640 --> 00:28:55,520
Speaker 11: going to focus on all of these purely social issues

507
00:28:55,600 --> 00:28:59,680
Speaker 11: and not talk about economics. But you know, you can

508
00:28:59,760 --> 00:29:02,640
Speaker 11: do all of those things and still be a Democrat.

509
00:29:02,800 --> 00:29:06,160
Speaker 11: So I hope that one of the things we've learned

510
00:29:06,800 --> 00:29:08,720
Speaker 11: is to a listen to people and to use the

511
00:29:08,840 --> 00:29:13,440
Speaker 11: language that they're using to connect with them, and to

512
00:29:13,640 --> 00:29:16,840
Speaker 11: not judge. You know, I try not to judge people,

513
00:29:16,840 --> 00:29:19,920
Speaker 11: because I surely don't want people judging me. But what

514
00:29:20,080 --> 00:29:22,560
Speaker 11: I want to do is connect and make sure that

515
00:29:22,680 --> 00:29:26,000
Speaker 11: people see that I'm relatable and that regardless of if

516
00:29:26,040 --> 00:29:27,760
Speaker 11: I agree or not, I'm still going to try and

517
00:29:27,840 --> 00:29:29,400
Speaker 11: work with them to find a solution.

518
00:29:30,920 --> 00:29:31,520
Speaker 1: He's not going to.

519
00:29:31,560 --> 00:29:34,320
Speaker 11: Solve any problems. He's going to make everything I think

520
00:29:34,680 --> 00:29:38,520
Speaker 11: a lot messier. But people believe him if you can

521
00:29:38,640 --> 00:29:42,280
Speaker 11: believe that, and so I think that's something we have

522
00:29:42,480 --> 00:29:43,600
Speaker 11: to take into account.

523
00:29:44,880 --> 00:29:49,880
Speaker 2: Do you buy the theory that Democrats have lost the

524
00:29:50,000 --> 00:29:51,040
Speaker 2: working class voter?

525
00:29:52,080 --> 00:29:54,040
Speaker 1: Yes, okay, I think.

526
00:29:54,560 --> 00:29:58,440
Speaker 11: I mean when I looked at the challenges that people

527
00:29:58,520 --> 00:30:01,680
Speaker 11: in the labor community we have, some people were voting

528
00:30:01,800 --> 00:30:05,080
Speaker 11: for Trump, endorsing Trump, and then some were not. That

529
00:30:05,280 --> 00:30:08,080
Speaker 11: gave me pause because I come from a family where

530
00:30:08,400 --> 00:30:10,800
Speaker 11: so many of my relatives were in labor unions and

531
00:30:10,880 --> 00:30:13,400
Speaker 11: it was all about folks who were doing the best

532
00:30:13,480 --> 00:30:16,120
Speaker 11: they could and figuring out how to survive and move

533
00:30:16,160 --> 00:30:18,480
Speaker 11: into the middle class. And thank God for the union.

534
00:30:20,040 --> 00:30:23,840
Speaker 11: I think we have to do a better job about

535
00:30:23,920 --> 00:30:26,360
Speaker 11: talking about what we're fighting for. How all of a

536
00:30:26,400 --> 00:30:33,200
Speaker 11: sudden Democrats have become sanctemonious and elite doesn't jibe with me,

537
00:30:33,400 --> 00:30:36,960
Speaker 11: because even me, even me third week of the month,

538
00:30:37,200 --> 00:30:39,520
Speaker 11: I'm counting pennies trying to figure out where I can

539
00:30:39,600 --> 00:30:43,520
Speaker 11: go where eggs are less than four dollars. And so

540
00:30:43,640 --> 00:30:46,480
Speaker 11: I have to share that story so that people say, yeah,

541
00:30:46,600 --> 00:30:49,760
Speaker 11: she is like me, we have the same troubles. I

542
00:30:49,840 --> 00:30:52,320
Speaker 11: think it's strange that you can earn over one hundred

543
00:30:52,360 --> 00:30:54,880
Speaker 11: thousand dollars in the city of Los Angeles and you're

544
00:30:54,880 --> 00:30:57,640
Speaker 11: still struggling, And we need to talk about that, and

545
00:30:57,680 --> 00:30:59,040
Speaker 11: we need to talk about how to fix it.

546
00:30:59,480 --> 00:31:02,680
Speaker 2: Even though with that being said, this is this is

547
00:31:02,760 --> 00:31:05,560
Speaker 2: the part of the analysis where I get a little confused,

548
00:31:05,960 --> 00:31:08,680
Speaker 2: is that in a lot of states, we saw people

549
00:31:08,840 --> 00:31:13,080
Speaker 2: vote for very popular democratic policies. We even saw them

550
00:31:13,160 --> 00:31:17,160
Speaker 2: vote for, you know, for politicians that were Democrats that

551
00:31:17,280 --> 00:31:21,680
Speaker 2: you know, state senators and representatives that were very defined Democrats.

552
00:31:22,200 --> 00:31:24,640
Speaker 2: And in these same states, we saw them vote Donald

553
00:31:24,640 --> 00:31:28,000
Speaker 2: Trump as president. And so I'm trying to figure out

554
00:31:28,520 --> 00:31:32,520
Speaker 2: where is the disconnect happening, Because clearly some Democrats are

555
00:31:32,680 --> 00:31:34,880
Speaker 2: relating to the working class people because they're still voting

556
00:31:34,920 --> 00:31:36,920
Speaker 2: for them some of them, and some of them are

557
00:31:36,960 --> 00:31:39,719
Speaker 2: not and overall as a power as a party, despite

558
00:31:39,840 --> 00:31:43,560
Speaker 2: having the more popular policies for the last fifty years.

559
00:31:43,760 --> 00:31:45,239
Speaker 1: So what are we missing here?

560
00:31:45,560 --> 00:31:48,480
Speaker 11: Well, as you're asking me this question, I am looking

561
00:31:48,560 --> 00:31:50,880
Speaker 11: at the two of us and I'm like, hmm, what

562
00:31:51,040 --> 00:31:57,760
Speaker 11: do we have in common with the Vice president? Yeah? Sisters,

563
00:31:58,040 --> 00:32:01,880
Speaker 11: you know, sisters. People are ill afraid of the black woman,

564
00:32:02,560 --> 00:32:05,239
Speaker 11: and that played a huge role in it. I mean,

565
00:32:05,400 --> 00:32:07,800
Speaker 11: she was given one hundred and seven days to run

566
00:32:08,640 --> 00:32:13,160
Speaker 11: essentially a special election and introduce herself to the American people.

567
00:32:13,800 --> 00:32:16,960
Speaker 11: She was, you know, in a partnership essentially a VP

568
00:32:17,120 --> 00:32:19,680
Speaker 11: and a president kind of married and so I don't

569
00:32:19,680 --> 00:32:22,960
Speaker 11: know about you, but I don't go out and talk

570
00:32:23,080 --> 00:32:25,480
Speaker 11: shade about my husband and air the dirty laundry in

571
00:32:25,560 --> 00:32:27,800
Speaker 11: my family, you know what I mean. So she didn't

572
00:32:27,800 --> 00:32:32,040
Speaker 11: want to do that with her her political partner, Biden.

573
00:32:32,840 --> 00:32:34,960
Speaker 11: And then you have all this shit jumping off all

574
00:32:35,040 --> 00:32:38,040
Speaker 11: over the world, and you have this guy that people

575
00:32:38,680 --> 00:32:42,360
Speaker 11: have decided they're going to allow him to operate with

576
00:32:42,680 --> 00:32:46,200
Speaker 11: you know, impunity and say whatever he wants to say

577
00:32:46,240 --> 00:32:49,080
Speaker 11: because he keeps it real. And she was a professional,

578
00:32:50,240 --> 00:32:56,800
Speaker 11: dignified woman, elected official, you know, trying to say that

579
00:32:56,920 --> 00:33:03,120
Speaker 11: this is a country for all of us, and it's it's, it's.

580
00:33:01,840 --> 00:33:02,640
Speaker 1: It's, it's.

581
00:33:02,840 --> 00:33:06,080
Speaker 11: I'm still emotional about it because I saw the sister

582
00:33:06,200 --> 00:33:10,960
Speaker 11: work her hardest, and I also saw Democrats just not

583
00:33:11,280 --> 00:33:13,520
Speaker 11: want to feel her, you know, and have something to

584
00:33:13,560 --> 00:33:17,200
Speaker 11: say about everything that was her, who she was married to,

585
00:33:17,560 --> 00:33:20,640
Speaker 11: what she looked like, how she laughed, and you know,

586
00:33:21,440 --> 00:33:25,440
Speaker 11: and then you think about athletes, and you know, it's like,

587
00:33:26,320 --> 00:33:28,840
Speaker 11: that's how they treat female athletes, but they don't really

588
00:33:28,960 --> 00:33:32,560
Speaker 11: do it for the male athletes. There's so much bandwidth

589
00:33:32,680 --> 00:33:37,160
Speaker 11: that we give men that we don't give women, and

590
00:33:37,680 --> 00:33:40,160
Speaker 11: we have to deal with it. So it was misogyny

591
00:33:40,680 --> 00:33:43,560
Speaker 11: and racism and confusion.

592
00:33:43,760 --> 00:33:44,640
Speaker 1: All bottled up.

593
00:33:44,840 --> 00:33:48,000
Speaker 11: It became combustible, and now Democrats are going to have

594
00:33:48,080 --> 00:33:52,040
Speaker 11: to work three times as hard because the American people

595
00:33:52,080 --> 00:33:55,120
Speaker 11: actually still want us to work to help make government run,

596
00:33:55,520 --> 00:33:57,000
Speaker 11: and we're saying, well, we're going to have to do

597
00:33:57,080 --> 00:33:59,280
Speaker 11: it with hands tied behind our back because we got

598
00:33:59,760 --> 00:34:03,800
Speaker 11: this Senate and the White House and just a tiny

599
00:34:03,880 --> 00:34:07,600
Speaker 11: bit of Congress being run by Republicans.

600
00:34:08,120 --> 00:34:11,400
Speaker 2: One of the things that Trump has promised is to

601
00:34:11,760 --> 00:34:14,320
Speaker 2: end the Department of Education. Actually, before I get to

602
00:34:14,360 --> 00:34:16,160
Speaker 2: that question, let me just say this in response to

603
00:34:16,239 --> 00:34:18,440
Speaker 2: what you said, because I know that people are going

604
00:34:18,520 --> 00:34:21,759
Speaker 2: to hear what you say, because you said racism and misogyny,

605
00:34:21,840 --> 00:34:23,920
Speaker 2: that they're going to as they have been doing, minimizing

606
00:34:24,000 --> 00:34:26,399
Speaker 2: the impact of that. And the reason why I think

607
00:34:26,400 --> 00:34:30,840
Speaker 2: it's important that we discuss that in that manner is

608
00:34:30,960 --> 00:34:34,839
Speaker 2: because the reality is this is that I don't buy

609
00:34:35,000 --> 00:34:37,839
Speaker 2: that Democrats have lost a working class voter. I don't

610
00:34:37,840 --> 00:34:39,799
Speaker 2: buy that at all. And the reason why I don't

611
00:34:39,840 --> 00:34:42,800
Speaker 2: know is because of black people. Black people are working class,

612
00:34:43,080 --> 00:34:46,040
Speaker 2: black people are live in rural communities. Black people check

613
00:34:46,080 --> 00:34:48,640
Speaker 2: all these boxes that they say that the Democrats don't fit,

614
00:34:48,760 --> 00:34:52,600
Speaker 2: and yet when it comes to the voting block, they

615
00:34:52,640 --> 00:34:56,320
Speaker 2: are decidedly have supported Democrat. They have not done this

616
00:34:56,560 --> 00:35:00,279
Speaker 2: despite what people say out of some blind illusion about

617
00:35:00,280 --> 00:35:03,240
Speaker 2: who the Democratic Party is. No, they've done it because

618
00:35:03,239 --> 00:35:06,440
Speaker 2: they realize their pathway is better through that party, and

619
00:35:06,520 --> 00:35:08,319
Speaker 2: that is it. And if there was an alternative, if

620
00:35:08,320 --> 00:35:11,440
Speaker 2: the Republicans presented that, black people would support that right.

621
00:35:12,000 --> 00:35:15,520
Speaker 2: So if they maintain the same messages that Democrats are

622
00:35:15,560 --> 00:35:19,120
Speaker 2: sending our reaching black people, there's only one group of

623
00:35:19,120 --> 00:35:21,680
Speaker 2: people we're really talking about, because white people have not

624
00:35:21,840 --> 00:35:24,800
Speaker 2: voted for a Democratic presidential nominee.

625
00:35:24,840 --> 00:35:26,919
Speaker 1: The majority of white people have not done this since

626
00:35:26,960 --> 00:35:29,440
Speaker 1: Linda B. Johnson. So have the Democrats been losing the

627
00:35:29,480 --> 00:35:30,480
Speaker 1: working class voter for.

628
00:35:30,880 --> 00:35:33,920
Speaker 2: Fifty sixty years? Because really, who you're talking about is

629
00:35:34,120 --> 00:35:36,040
Speaker 2: how have they lost all the white people? That's the

630
00:35:36,120 --> 00:35:39,160
Speaker 2: real conversation. And so people would rather sort of dance

631
00:35:39,239 --> 00:35:41,440
Speaker 2: around that as opposed to be like we got to

632
00:35:41,520 --> 00:35:43,960
Speaker 2: name it what it is. It's like it's one very

633
00:35:44,040 --> 00:35:47,479
Speaker 2: specific voter that has not shown up for the Democratic Party.

634
00:35:47,680 --> 00:35:48,399
Speaker 1: And as white folks.

635
00:35:48,480 --> 00:35:51,879
Speaker 11: So I think we do have a true, true, true,

636
00:35:52,520 --> 00:35:56,720
Speaker 11: and we have a challenge because black folks are now feeling,

637
00:35:58,320 --> 00:36:02,120
Speaker 11: you know, some kind of way. Black folks, I think

638
00:36:02,160 --> 00:36:04,439
Speaker 11: are in our feelings because we're like, we have gone

639
00:36:04,520 --> 00:36:06,880
Speaker 11: ten toes down for you multiple times, and then you

640
00:36:07,040 --> 00:36:09,680
Speaker 11: kind of shit over us and take us to branding

641
00:36:09,960 --> 00:36:13,239
Speaker 11: and we're tired. And then young black people are like, well, hey,

642
00:36:13,920 --> 00:36:15,920
Speaker 11: you know, maybe I need to look at my options

643
00:36:16,360 --> 00:36:18,680
Speaker 11: and you and then we have to say, well, hey,

644
00:36:18,760 --> 00:36:22,279
Speaker 11: now it's all sounding good until you get to the

645
00:36:22,400 --> 00:36:26,279
Speaker 11: race part, and then they just won't let go of

646
00:36:26,480 --> 00:36:30,120
Speaker 11: Jim Crow, you know. But you have to remind young

647
00:36:30,160 --> 00:36:33,640
Speaker 11: people of that so that I don't think we've we've

648
00:36:34,320 --> 00:36:37,880
Speaker 11: lost the working class, but I do think we have

649
00:36:38,160 --> 00:36:42,440
Speaker 11: taken huge pockets of that base, for granted, and we

650
00:36:42,600 --> 00:36:44,120
Speaker 11: have some making up today.

651
00:36:44,440 --> 00:36:49,239
Speaker 1: Okay, And that's why you're the politician, and listen.

652
00:36:49,280 --> 00:36:50,400
Speaker 2: I don't want to I don't want people to get

653
00:36:50,400 --> 00:36:54,040
Speaker 2: the wrong idea, like I definitely think that the messaging no, no,

654
00:36:54,280 --> 00:36:56,200
Speaker 2: could be a lot better. But what I am saying

655
00:36:56,320 --> 00:36:58,920
Speaker 2: is that, like, you know, we cannot avoid this discussion

656
00:36:59,000 --> 00:37:02,759
Speaker 2: without discussing the impact of racism and misogyny because.

657
00:37:02,480 --> 00:37:06,319
Speaker 1: It was deeply there and maybe yeah, it was simply there.

658
00:37:07,560 --> 00:37:09,680
Speaker 11: You see it in the sports too. Yeah, you see

659
00:37:09,719 --> 00:37:12,560
Speaker 11: it in how the NCAA, which I continue to call

660
00:37:13,200 --> 00:37:20,080
Speaker 11: a plantation operation, how they treat men's versus women's sports.

661
00:37:20,239 --> 00:37:23,759
Speaker 11: You know, how they doubled down and helping, you know,

662
00:37:24,000 --> 00:37:26,840
Speaker 11: not helping black athletes enough. I mean, you see it

663
00:37:26,920 --> 00:37:30,120
Speaker 11: play out in so many different industries and it's real.

664
00:37:30,200 --> 00:37:32,320
Speaker 11: And so if folks want to say, oh, we have

665
00:37:32,440 --> 00:37:35,480
Speaker 11: to be color blind, that's when you have to go

666
00:37:35,640 --> 00:37:37,840
Speaker 11: back to the one on ones with them because they

667
00:37:38,000 --> 00:37:39,600
Speaker 11: just don't want to talk about things that are real.

668
00:37:40,320 --> 00:37:42,640
Speaker 2: So getting back to where I was going was Trump

669
00:37:42,680 --> 00:37:45,799
Speaker 2: has promised to end the Department of Education. Title nine

670
00:37:45,920 --> 00:37:49,279
Speaker 2: is under the Department of Education, which obviously has been

671
00:37:49,560 --> 00:37:53,600
Speaker 2: for female athletes, the single most important piece of legislation

672
00:37:53,800 --> 00:37:57,399
Speaker 2: probably ever created. It wasn't initially thought that this would

673
00:37:57,400 --> 00:38:00,200
Speaker 2: be the access point for women in athletics, but that's

674
00:38:00,239 --> 00:38:03,279
Speaker 2: what it became because of the brilliance of Title nine.

675
00:38:03,880 --> 00:38:06,840
Speaker 1: Is this possible shutting down the Department of Education.

676
00:38:07,480 --> 00:38:11,000
Speaker 11: No, because that is an Act of Congress. An active

677
00:38:11,080 --> 00:38:14,840
Speaker 11: Congress is the only thing that can make that happen. However,

678
00:38:15,200 --> 00:38:18,680
Speaker 11: you can cripple the Department of Education, and that's something

679
00:38:18,760 --> 00:38:20,880
Speaker 11: that he can do. So you can have like the

680
00:38:20,960 --> 00:38:25,000
Speaker 11: lady who's with the wwe be named the secretary for

681
00:38:25,080 --> 00:38:29,799
Speaker 11: the Department of Education. You can limit resources that you're

682
00:38:29,840 --> 00:38:33,120
Speaker 11: giving to the Department of Education. You can say, hey,

683
00:38:33,239 --> 00:38:34,640
Speaker 11: we're not going to do these We're not going to

684
00:38:34,760 --> 00:38:37,319
Speaker 11: keep these programs under the Department of Education. We're going

685
00:38:37,400 --> 00:38:40,640
Speaker 11: to move them to state or labor or commerce or whatever.

686
00:38:41,120 --> 00:38:44,200
Speaker 11: And then it looks like you are shrinking the department.

687
00:38:44,320 --> 00:38:48,200
Speaker 11: That's part of the DOGE rules. And then you can

688
00:38:48,280 --> 00:38:52,000
Speaker 11: get rid of all accountability and enforcement. So if you

689
00:38:52,239 --> 00:38:55,080
Speaker 11: have athletes that want to file a claim, or if

690
00:38:55,160 --> 00:38:58,680
Speaker 11: you have athletes that are being sexually abused, they won't

691
00:38:58,760 --> 00:39:01,399
Speaker 11: find any help in the Department of Education because those

692
00:39:01,480 --> 00:39:04,680
Speaker 11: programs won't be available anymore. Or maybe instead of having

693
00:39:04,760 --> 00:39:07,000
Speaker 11: like five or six people in them, they might only

694
00:39:07,080 --> 00:39:10,160
Speaker 11: have one person in part time. So you can do damage,

695
00:39:10,440 --> 00:39:11,440
Speaker 11: but you can't get rid of it.

696
00:39:11,800 --> 00:39:14,080
Speaker 2: Yeah, and I think a lot of times to what

697
00:39:14,239 --> 00:39:16,799
Speaker 2: I noticed in that was that a lot of people

698
00:39:16,840 --> 00:39:20,320
Speaker 2: were unclear about the difference between the Department of Education

699
00:39:20,560 --> 00:39:22,000
Speaker 2: and the State Board of Education.

700
00:39:22,480 --> 00:39:25,200
Speaker 1: So a lot of people's issues are actually with.

701
00:39:25,280 --> 00:39:28,080
Speaker 2: The Stakeboard and they don't realize that's not under the

702
00:39:28,200 --> 00:39:35,160
Speaker 2: purview of the Department of Education. Before I get you

703
00:39:35,239 --> 00:39:39,160
Speaker 2: out of here and again, thank you again for your time.

704
00:39:39,760 --> 00:39:42,880
Speaker 2: I usually end the podcast by asking my guests a

705
00:39:43,120 --> 00:39:43,799
Speaker 2: messy question.

706
00:39:44,520 --> 00:39:48,319
Speaker 1: So I have a let's get to some controversy. Representative,

707
00:39:48,360 --> 00:39:50,000
Speaker 1: I got a messy question for you because.

708
00:39:49,760 --> 00:39:53,040
Speaker 11: I know you Okay, I am Yeah, I'm messy.

709
00:39:54,840 --> 00:39:56,560
Speaker 1: All right, here's the messy question.

710
00:39:57,520 --> 00:40:02,279
Speaker 2: Should Vice President Kamala Harris run for governor of California?

711
00:40:03,120 --> 00:40:03,319
Speaker 1: Yeah?

712
00:40:03,480 --> 00:40:03,960
Speaker 11: Why not?

713
00:40:07,480 --> 00:40:10,799
Speaker 2: Now, just so people know, Governor knew some his time

714
00:40:10,880 --> 00:40:13,520
Speaker 2: as governor will be up right at the end of

715
00:40:13,560 --> 00:40:16,399
Speaker 2: this particular term. So I'm not suggesting he gets pushed

716
00:40:16,400 --> 00:40:18,480
Speaker 2: out of his job right at this you know moment.

717
00:40:19,040 --> 00:40:22,839
Speaker 2: But she can run, and for people who can run,

718
00:40:22,960 --> 00:40:26,279
Speaker 2: she can run. And there has never been a black woman,

719
00:40:27,600 --> 00:40:29,319
Speaker 2: There's never been a black woman governor in.

720
00:40:29,360 --> 00:40:32,279
Speaker 1: The history of this country. So you think that she

721
00:40:32,719 --> 00:40:34,280
Speaker 1: should do it. I think she should.

722
00:40:34,400 --> 00:40:37,560
Speaker 11: She's got a lot of capital still, California loves her.

723
00:40:37,880 --> 00:40:40,080
Speaker 11: She obviously can raise money. She has a ton of

724
00:40:40,120 --> 00:40:44,640
Speaker 11: support in all parts of the state. Now I will think,

725
00:40:44,800 --> 00:40:46,440
Speaker 11: I do want to say, I think we'll turn into

726
00:40:46,480 --> 00:40:48,560
Speaker 11: a shit show because there are people who have already been,

727
00:40:48,760 --> 00:40:51,640
Speaker 11: you know, running already, and so some of those folks

728
00:40:51,680 --> 00:40:52,839
Speaker 11: will probably bow out.

729
00:40:53,160 --> 00:40:56,600
Speaker 1: But if she wants to do it, she should do.

730
00:40:56,880 --> 00:40:58,480
Speaker 1: How about that already?

731
00:40:59,440 --> 00:41:02,640
Speaker 2: Well, thank you so much for joining me and for

732
00:41:02,760 --> 00:41:06,319
Speaker 2: more importantly shedding light on how important sports diplomacy will

733
00:41:06,360 --> 00:41:09,920
Speaker 2: be over this next decade. And something I failed to

734
00:41:10,000 --> 00:41:12,560
Speaker 2: mention that I should definitely mention is that I believe

735
00:41:12,640 --> 00:41:16,279
Speaker 2: when Trump, when his administration was previously in office, he

736
00:41:16,440 --> 00:41:20,000
Speaker 2: tried to cut these state departments a Bureau of Educational

737
00:41:20,040 --> 00:41:23,239
Speaker 2: and Cultural Affairs significantly. I don't know what those cuts

738
00:41:23,280 --> 00:41:25,520
Speaker 2: wound up being, but I know initially he tried to

739
00:41:25,719 --> 00:41:27,040
Speaker 2: cut it by like seventy five percent.

740
00:41:27,200 --> 00:41:28,600
Speaker 1: Is that correct? Yes?

741
00:41:28,880 --> 00:41:31,040
Speaker 11: Yes, I mean this is something that we are very

742
00:41:31,120 --> 00:41:34,440
Speaker 11: concerned about. So I will say LA twenty eight is

743
00:41:35,000 --> 00:41:36,520
Speaker 11: going to be in Los Angeles, but they are also

744
00:41:36,560 --> 00:41:39,240
Speaker 11: going to be games in Oklahoma. And so I'm working

745
00:41:39,360 --> 00:41:44,520
Speaker 11: with Republican colleagues from Oklahoma to help them see the

746
00:41:44,600 --> 00:41:47,839
Speaker 11: benefits of bipartisanship because we all need to be working

747
00:41:47,920 --> 00:41:52,520
Speaker 11: together to make sure that these games are really successful.

748
00:41:53,120 --> 00:41:56,040
Speaker 11: I will also say that I've been in Congress just

749
00:41:56,120 --> 00:41:57,759
Speaker 11: one term and we've been able to get a couple

750
00:41:57,800 --> 00:42:00,319
Speaker 11: of pieces of legislation passed, and they have all been

751
00:42:00,360 --> 00:42:06,160
Speaker 11: by partisan. So I am hopeful that he and Marco

752
00:42:06,239 --> 00:42:10,080
Speaker 11: Rubio or whatever happens with the State Department, understand that

753
00:42:10,600 --> 00:42:16,320
Speaker 11: we can have a unifying message when it comes to sports.

754
00:42:16,400 --> 00:42:18,880
Speaker 1: All right, let's hope that they received that message.

755
00:42:19,040 --> 00:42:22,319
Speaker 2: Well, keep repreencing, Yes, small ways, that's what it's got

756
00:42:22,400 --> 00:42:24,680
Speaker 2: to be about in this time. Well, keep repping our

757
00:42:24,719 --> 00:42:28,719
Speaker 2: hood representative. I really appreciate you and all the work

758
00:42:28,800 --> 00:42:30,520
Speaker 2: that you are doing. And by the way, you should

759
00:42:30,600 --> 00:42:33,760
Speaker 2: know give your staff some kudos because I believe recently

760
00:42:34,000 --> 00:42:37,200
Speaker 2: it was a big budgetary, something big, big and budgetary

761
00:42:37,280 --> 00:42:40,000
Speaker 2: came up for our area, and your staff called me

762
00:42:40,120 --> 00:42:42,759
Speaker 2: twice in one week. They didn't not mean just as

763
00:42:42,800 --> 00:42:45,040
Speaker 2: a regular constituents to make sure that I knew about

764
00:42:45,080 --> 00:42:45,480
Speaker 2: this vote.

765
00:42:45,520 --> 00:42:47,200
Speaker 1: They were just like, do you know what's going on?

766
00:42:47,320 --> 00:42:48,359
Speaker 1: Blah blah blah blah blah.

767
00:42:49,080 --> 00:42:50,759
Speaker 2: And it was some meeting that I think you were

768
00:42:50,800 --> 00:42:53,320
Speaker 2: having or something that was coming up soon. But they called.

769
00:42:53,480 --> 00:42:56,960
Speaker 2: They were persistent, very nice to talk to. So thank

770
00:42:57,000 --> 00:42:59,640
Speaker 2: you for continuing to connect with their constituents.

771
00:43:00,200 --> 00:43:02,560
Speaker 11: Oh, thank you. Well, see that is a great example

772
00:43:02,719 --> 00:43:06,600
Speaker 11: of government working and why something like doge makes absolutely

773
00:43:06,719 --> 00:43:10,320
Speaker 11: no sense. And to your point, two trillion dollars, we

774
00:43:10,360 --> 00:43:13,640
Speaker 11: don't even have two trillion indiscretionary money to cut. So

775
00:43:13,840 --> 00:43:16,040
Speaker 11: if they did cut two trillion, they would be cutting

776
00:43:16,120 --> 00:43:20,759
Speaker 11: social Security and Medicare and Medicaid, and then Granny is

777
00:43:20,880 --> 00:43:21,399
Speaker 11: going to die.

778
00:43:21,680 --> 00:43:23,839
Speaker 1: So we don't want that to have, yes, and they've

779
00:43:24,160 --> 00:43:25,080
Speaker 1: already made that clear.

780
00:43:25,200 --> 00:43:27,440
Speaker 2: So for people who think that you're just being alarmist,

781
00:43:27,960 --> 00:43:30,840
Speaker 2: Elon Musk has already said that, Okay, they're going to

782
00:43:30,880 --> 00:43:33,720
Speaker 2: come for veterans' money, they're going to come for social Security,

783
00:43:33,920 --> 00:43:35,719
Speaker 2: all of the social safety net programs.

784
00:43:35,760 --> 00:43:38,120
Speaker 1: So yes, he has said it. So this is all

785
00:43:38,160 --> 00:43:38,520
Speaker 1: a fact.

786
00:43:38,880 --> 00:43:42,080
Speaker 2: Anyway, Thank you, Representative, I appreciate you, and good luck

787
00:43:42,160 --> 00:43:42,600
Speaker 2: going forward.

788
00:43:44,480 --> 00:43:46,520
Speaker 1: One more segment to go, and you guys know what

789
00:43:46,640 --> 00:43:47,040
Speaker 1: that means.

790
00:43:47,160 --> 00:43:51,680
Speaker 2: I got questions to answer up next. Your viewer slash

791
00:43:51,920 --> 00:43:56,160
Speaker 2: listener questions, and I have plenty of answers coming up

792
00:43:56,440 --> 00:43:58,480
Speaker 2: next on the final segment of Politics.

793
00:44:06,600 --> 00:44:07,680
Speaker 1: As always, before.

794
00:44:07,480 --> 00:44:09,880
Speaker 2: I close out this episode of Politics, time for an

795
00:44:09,920 --> 00:44:13,080
Speaker 2: audience question, which comes from Spartan Lawrence via Blue Sky.

796
00:44:13,520 --> 00:44:16,640
Speaker 2: Spartan Lawrence asked, what are your thoughts on cities continuing

797
00:44:16,680 --> 00:44:19,879
Speaker 2: to provide major tax breaks to professional sports teams? If

798
00:44:19,960 --> 00:44:22,520
Speaker 2: tax subsidies were banned, how do you think that would

799
00:44:22,560 --> 00:44:26,399
Speaker 2: impact outcomes of these teams? I hate billionaire welfare. Buying

800
00:44:26,440 --> 00:44:28,440
Speaker 2: a sports team is a luxury item. It is not

801
00:44:28,560 --> 00:44:31,040
Speaker 2: a need, It is a want. If you can't afford

802
00:44:31,080 --> 00:44:33,719
Speaker 2: that luxury item and all that comes with it, then

803
00:44:33,800 --> 00:44:35,520
Speaker 2: perhaps you shouldn't own a team.

804
00:44:35,960 --> 00:44:37,040
Speaker 1: But here's what happens.

805
00:44:37,320 --> 00:44:40,320
Speaker 2: Every time a pro sports owner wants a new stadium,

806
00:44:40,760 --> 00:44:43,800
Speaker 2: they threaten to leave play on the public's emotional attachment

807
00:44:43,880 --> 00:44:47,439
Speaker 2: to their team, and politicians usually cave because they don't

808
00:44:47,480 --> 00:44:51,279
Speaker 2: want to be the person responsible for the team leading. Now,

809
00:44:51,360 --> 00:44:53,640
Speaker 2: what the billionaires tell the city and thus the fans,

810
00:44:53,719 --> 00:44:56,040
Speaker 2: is that a new stadium or an arena will bring

811
00:44:56,080 --> 00:45:00,640
Speaker 2: in new businesses, spur development, provide employment opportunity, and make

812
00:45:00,719 --> 00:45:04,200
Speaker 2: that city an attractive option for tourists and major events,

813
00:45:04,680 --> 00:45:08,040
Speaker 2: but in most cases the promises don't match the reality.

814
00:45:08,520 --> 00:45:11,880
Speaker 2: Between nineteen seventy and twenty twenty, state and local governments

815
00:45:11,960 --> 00:45:16,040
Speaker 2: devoted approximately thirty three billion and public funds to construct

816
00:45:16,200 --> 00:45:19,200
Speaker 2: major sports venues in the United States and Canada. Now,

817
00:45:19,239 --> 00:45:22,360
Speaker 2: while the amount of public funding for stadiums has decreased

818
00:45:22,440 --> 00:45:25,240
Speaker 2: from nearly one hundred percent in the early nineteen seventies

819
00:45:25,320 --> 00:45:28,120
Speaker 2: to an average of about sixty percent, a twenty twenty

820
00:45:28,160 --> 00:45:30,920
Speaker 2: two review of the impact of professional sports venues on

821
00:45:31,040 --> 00:45:35,280
Speaker 2: local economies revealed that quote often the only economic benefit

822
00:45:35,480 --> 00:45:38,880
Speaker 2: occur near the stadium and fall far short of expectations.

823
00:45:39,280 --> 00:45:42,680
Speaker 2: State and city governments are subsidizing development within a single

824
00:45:42,719 --> 00:45:45,759
Speaker 2: neighborhood with no tangible benefits for the rest of the

825
00:45:45,840 --> 00:45:49,080
Speaker 2: city or state. That survey also concluded that, and this

826
00:45:49,200 --> 00:45:52,759
Speaker 2: is another direct quote, the empirical evidence shows repeatedly that

827
00:45:52,880 --> 00:45:56,840
Speaker 2: stadium subsidies failed to generate new tax revenue and new jobs,

828
00:45:56,960 --> 00:46:00,200
Speaker 2: or attract new businesses. Now, despite all of this, I

829
00:46:00,280 --> 00:46:03,680
Speaker 2: don't expect much to change. People are emotional about sports.

830
00:46:03,840 --> 00:46:06,480
Speaker 2: Owners also have shown in recent years they are more

831
00:46:06,520 --> 00:46:08,560
Speaker 2: than willing to move if they don't get what they

832
00:46:08,640 --> 00:46:11,600
Speaker 2: want see the Oakland A's relocating the Las Vegas the

833
00:46:11,760 --> 00:46:15,319
Speaker 2: Chargers coming from San Diego to Los Angeles. They are

834
00:46:15,440 --> 00:46:18,920
Speaker 2: often rewarded for this extortion because there's always another city

835
00:46:19,280 --> 00:46:23,160
Speaker 2: so desperate to have a sports team. Consider having professional

836
00:46:23,239 --> 00:46:27,000
Speaker 2: sports in Las Vegas was once unthinkable, but now it's

837
00:46:27,040 --> 00:46:30,640
Speaker 2: become the epicenter of professional sports. And even though Nevada

838
00:46:30,719 --> 00:46:33,720
Speaker 2: as a state ranks forty six in the country in education,

839
00:46:34,000 --> 00:46:36,520
Speaker 2: the city chose to pony up seven hundred and fifty

840
00:46:36,640 --> 00:46:39,719
Speaker 2: million in public subsidies to build Allegian Stadium where the

841
00:46:39,800 --> 00:46:43,480
Speaker 2: Raiders play. And unfortunately, the exploding cost of these venues,

842
00:46:43,719 --> 00:46:46,520
Speaker 2: which leads to ticket prices and sports experiences that the

843
00:46:46,640 --> 00:46:49,880
Speaker 2: majority of sports fans cannot afford. None of that is

844
00:46:49,920 --> 00:46:53,799
Speaker 2: a deter Thank you Spartan Lawrence for your question. Now,

845
00:46:53,880 --> 00:46:55,480
Speaker 2: if any of you listening would like to ask me

846
00:46:55,560 --> 00:46:58,680
Speaker 2: a question, I'm at Jamel Hill Across all social media

847
00:46:58,760 --> 00:47:04,239
Speaker 2: platforms Instagram, Blue Sky, and threads, please use the hashtags politics.

848
00:47:04,480 --> 00:47:07,120
Speaker 2: You also have the option of emailing me at Spolitics

849
00:47:07,160 --> 00:47:10,000
Speaker 2: twenty twenty four at gmail dot com. You can also

850
00:47:10,120 --> 00:47:12,560
Speaker 2: send me a video of your question, but please make

851
00:47:12,640 --> 00:47:15,720
Speaker 2: sure it's thirty seconds or less. Don't forget to follow

852
00:47:15,880 --> 00:47:19,200
Speaker 2: and subscribe to Spolitics on iHeart and followspolitics pod on

853
00:47:19,280 --> 00:47:25,319
Speaker 2: Instagram and Tiktokspolitics is spelled s PO l I ti CS.

854
00:47:25,800 --> 00:47:28,600
Speaker 2: A new episode of Spolitics drops every Thursday on iHeart

855
00:47:28,719 --> 00:47:32,799
Speaker 2: podcast or wherever you get your podcasts. This is politics

856
00:47:32,960 --> 00:47:37,560
Speaker 2: where sports and politics don't just mix, they matter. Spolitics

857
00:47:37,680 --> 00:47:40,760
Speaker 2: is the production of iHeart Podcasts and The Unbothered Network.

858
00:47:41,200 --> 00:47:45,120
Speaker 2: I'm your host Jamel Hill. Executive producer is Taylor Shakoigne.

859
00:47:45,560 --> 00:47:48,880
Speaker 2: Lucas Hymen is head of Audio and executive producer. Megan

860
00:47:49,000 --> 00:47:53,319
Speaker 2: Armstrong is associate producer. Original music for Spolitics provided by

861
00:47:53,400 --> 00:47:55,160
Speaker 2: Kyle Visz from wiz FX