WEBVTT - Girl Duran & Arianna Jones 0:00:00.640 --> 0:00:04.160 Hi, I'm Molly John Fast and this is Fast Politics, 0:00:04.360 --> 0:00:07.120 where we discussed the top political headlines with some of 0:00:07.160 --> 0:00:10.680 today's best minds. We are on vacation, but that doesn't 0:00:10.720 --> 0:00:12.400 mean we don't have a great show for you today. 0:00:12.800 --> 0:00:17.040 The nerd Wich newsletter and New Republic contributor Gil Duran 0:00:17.280 --> 0:00:21.880 stops by to talk about why some Silicon Valley leaders 0:00:21.920 --> 0:00:25.720 are advocating an anti democracy agenda. But first we have 0:00:26.440 --> 0:00:31.480 next Gen executive director Arianna Jones about how we get. 0:00:31.280 --> 0:00:36.120 Young voters out to vote for Dems. Welcome to Fast Politics. 0:00:35.720 --> 0:00:37.680 Ariana, thanks so much for having. 0:00:37.400 --> 0:00:41.800 Me so explain to us what you do and what 0:00:41.840 --> 0:00:43.040 your organization does. 0:00:43.240 --> 0:00:46.440 I'm the executive director here at next Gen America, which 0:00:46.840 --> 0:00:50.760 is an organization that works primarily on college campuses. So 0:00:50.800 --> 0:00:55.000 we combine year round organizing with issue education, voter registration, 0:00:55.200 --> 0:00:57.440 and get at the vote efforts. I'm really focused on 0:00:57.840 --> 0:01:01.480 building trust and participation over time and not just parachuting 0:01:01.560 --> 0:01:02.840 in election season. 0:01:03.160 --> 0:01:04.640 So what does that mean exactly? 0:01:05.040 --> 0:01:08.520 Forming student clubs on campuses, making sure that we're having 0:01:08.600 --> 0:01:11.959 conversations about the issues long term, not just right when 0:01:12.000 --> 0:01:13.600 it matters, and we are asking them to show up 0:01:13.640 --> 0:01:15.840 at the polls and ensuring we're connecting the dots to 0:01:15.880 --> 0:01:16.759 their everyday lives. 0:01:17.080 --> 0:01:20.560 Give us some of the clubs that your organization starts, 0:01:20.600 --> 0:01:22.759 like what they are, what they're called, etc. 0:01:23.440 --> 0:01:27.679 It's primarily like an organizing tool. We provide the students 0:01:27.720 --> 0:01:31.600 with the opportunity to learn organizing tactics and skills, leadership skills, 0:01:31.720 --> 0:01:33.280 and then we ask them to go out and have 0:01:33.319 --> 0:01:37.520 conversations with their fellow students and discuss just the things 0:01:37.520 --> 0:01:39.720 that are affecting them and connecting the dots and making 0:01:39.720 --> 0:01:42.319 sure that they get registered to vote obviously and that 0:01:42.400 --> 0:01:44.679 they know you know, what dates to show up in. 0:01:44.600 --> 0:01:47.200 Your job, do you talk to a lot of students, Yeah. 0:01:47.040 --> 0:01:48.960 Try to as much as possible. That's the only way 0:01:49.040 --> 0:01:52.080 you can stay relevant, right is to directly speak to 0:01:52.080 --> 0:01:53.640 them about what's concerning. 0:01:53.200 --> 0:01:55.800 Them, what is concerning them. Yeah. 0:01:55.840 --> 0:01:58.000 So the Yale and Harvard polls just came out this 0:01:58.040 --> 0:02:00.840 past week. It's pretty much aligned, which is that young 0:02:00.840 --> 0:02:03.120 people think the country is on the wrong track. They 0:02:03.240 --> 0:02:07.200 have high economic insecurity, they have low confidence that they 0:02:07.200 --> 0:02:10.200 will be better off than their parents. Really importantly, trust 0:02:10.200 --> 0:02:14.119 in institutions broadly is very low, but sort of confusingly 0:02:14.480 --> 0:02:18.520 in light of that, support for democracy remains high. So 0:02:19.200 --> 0:02:21.080 you know, we also saw in that pool that there's 0:02:21.120 --> 0:02:24.760 been you know, a drop off and overwhelming disapproval of Trump, 0:02:24.800 --> 0:02:27.119 which is an update to what we had seen previously. 0:02:27.320 --> 0:02:30.040 But ultimately, I mean, what we've learned about young people 0:02:30.040 --> 0:02:31.959 through the course of those polls too, is that because 0:02:32.000 --> 0:02:35.760 of that distrust in institutions, they are responding more to 0:02:36.000 --> 0:02:39.519 concrete policy and issue based you know sort of efforts 0:02:39.600 --> 0:02:42.200 versus partisan branding. So that's something I think we need 0:02:42.240 --> 0:02:43.480 to keep in mind moving forward. 0:02:43.720 --> 0:02:46.920 I'd love you to explain to us we're young people 0:02:46.960 --> 0:02:50.799 more open to trump Ism than previous Republican president. 0:02:51.200 --> 0:02:53.000 I mean, I think we have to like take a 0:02:53.000 --> 0:02:57.760 step back and start with what this generation has slipped through. Like, 0:02:57.800 --> 0:03:01.520 if you really nail it down, it's repeated institutional failure. Right, 0:03:01.600 --> 0:03:05.440 There's been school shootings, student debt, housing and stability, climate 0:03:05.480 --> 0:03:09.079 and action. They were basically told, hope, be resilient, wait 0:03:09.120 --> 0:03:10.679 your turn. And I also think at the end of 0:03:10.680 --> 0:03:13.640 the day, they're a generation that's been brought up with 0:03:13.720 --> 0:03:16.120 cell phones in their hands, so they're also extremely fluent 0:03:16.200 --> 0:03:20.400 in you know, marketing performance presentation. So I think you know, 0:03:20.600 --> 0:03:24.519 when they hear polished messaging unlike maybe previous generations, combined 0:03:24.520 --> 0:03:26.880 with a lack of feeling real power, it feels hollow. 0:03:26.960 --> 0:03:28.720 And I think there's been a response to that. But 0:03:28.760 --> 0:03:30.680 I think you know, when it comes to this sort 0:03:30.720 --> 0:03:33.200 of narrative that there's been a right word shift. You know, 0:03:33.440 --> 0:03:36.960 it wasn't proven true in the twenty twenty five elections. 0:03:37.120 --> 0:03:38.760 You know that doesn't really support that story. 0:03:39.080 --> 0:03:41.600 But was it proven true in the twenty four elections. 0:03:41.880 --> 0:03:44.360 I think that's the reason this narrative persists is because, yes, 0:03:44.440 --> 0:03:48.240 I think what we're witnessing is it's volatility. It's not realignment, right, 0:03:48.280 --> 0:03:50.840 So it's essentially saying that they are up for grabs 0:03:50.840 --> 0:03:52.640 and it's up to us to work for it. It's 0:03:52.680 --> 0:03:54.200 not going to be a guarantee. It's not like they 0:03:54.200 --> 0:03:56.400 come over to the Democratic side and they stay there 0:03:56.480 --> 0:03:59.800 because they're leading with issues. I think their participation, their engagement, 0:03:59.800 --> 0:04:02.600 has to be earned, and I think you know what 0:04:02.640 --> 0:04:05.120 we saw obviously the narrative about their being a right 0:04:05.160 --> 0:04:07.600 wood shift. I think specifically with young men, it's more 0:04:07.760 --> 0:04:11.720 in my mind, a cultural one than a political one, 0:04:11.880 --> 0:04:13.720 and there was sort of a gap or a void 0:04:14.080 --> 0:04:16.000 that I think also, at the end of the day, 0:04:16.000 --> 0:04:18.520 it's really important to address the fact that this is 0:04:18.560 --> 0:04:21.440 the loneliest generation. We often talk about loneliness as a 0:04:21.520 --> 0:04:24.600 public health crisis, right, which I think is important. It's 0:04:24.640 --> 0:04:27.680 also a political condition in my mind, because you know, 0:04:27.760 --> 0:04:30.440 this is a connected generation. They've had these cell phones 0:04:30.480 --> 0:04:32.880 and the internet, so it's not about access. They have 0:04:32.960 --> 0:04:36.120 access to each other. It's about the absence I think 0:04:36.120 --> 0:04:39.680 of real community. I mean, they also have the conditions 0:04:39.720 --> 0:04:43.000 that were you know, growing up in formative years during COVID, 0:04:43.000 --> 0:04:45.080 where they basically had their social lives put on pause. 0:04:45.360 --> 0:04:49.040 I think that's something that's left, you know, avoid where 0:04:49.080 --> 0:04:51.720 people feel untethered. At the end of the day, people 0:04:51.760 --> 0:04:54.360 who don't feel like they belong somewhere or don't feel 0:04:54.400 --> 0:04:58.840 invested in they are more likely to be targeted. 0:04:58.400 --> 0:05:01.040 For trump ism and extremism. 0:05:01.200 --> 0:05:03.960 Yes, I've talked to people who said there's a disconnect 0:05:04.160 --> 0:05:07.360 that they're sort of like, there's pre pandemic kids and 0:05:07.839 --> 0:05:11.560 post pandemic kids, and the pre pandemic kids tend to 0:05:11.600 --> 0:05:15.080 be a little bit more normally left leaning, and the 0:05:15.120 --> 0:05:18.920 post pandemic kids are angry about school closures and so 0:05:18.960 --> 0:05:20.080 they become more right wing. 0:05:20.200 --> 0:05:21.800 Is that true or not so much? 0:05:22.080 --> 0:05:23.680 I would have to look at the data to make 0:05:23.880 --> 0:05:27.280 a declarative statement on that, just guess. I would guess yes. 0:05:27.279 --> 0:05:29.200 I would also say that we're coming up on a 0:05:29.200 --> 0:05:32.680 generation that they were not necessarily politically aware during Trump's 0:05:32.720 --> 0:05:35.000 first term, right. So I think the other thing, too, 0:05:35.120 --> 0:05:37.160 is that we were trying to message to folks who 0:05:37.480 --> 0:05:40.200 hadn't experienced any of those realities in their day to 0:05:40.240 --> 0:05:43.120 day or necessarily when they were independently sort of operating, 0:05:43.279 --> 0:05:46.120 expecting them to understand those implications too. So I think 0:05:46.120 --> 0:05:48.720 there's an element there of, you know, education that wasn't 0:05:48.720 --> 0:05:51.320 focused on providing them with an alternative, that was focused 0:05:51.360 --> 0:05:52.599 on the issues that matter to them. 0:05:52.720 --> 0:05:55.240 So you have kids who were mad about school closures 0:05:55.560 --> 0:05:58.640 and they voted for Trump or they became right leaning. 0:05:58.760 --> 0:06:01.960 They saw them on the podcast as they bought the sneakers, 0:06:01.960 --> 0:06:04.560 they like the crypto. You think that group still exists 0:06:04.680 --> 0:06:06.960 or you think they've sort of dissipated because like we've 0:06:06.960 --> 0:06:11.320 seen Trump people like the Barstool Sports guy, Like we've 0:06:11.320 --> 0:06:14.400 seen those people express some regret. So do you think 0:06:14.440 --> 0:06:18.800 that is fanning out to include other young people or. 0:06:18.760 --> 0:06:20.839 Now for sure. I mean, I think this was definitely 0:06:20.920 --> 0:06:23.919 highlighted in both the Harvard and Yale polls. The support 0:06:23.920 --> 0:06:27.000 for Trump among young people dropped significantly. I think the 0:06:27.080 --> 0:06:30.640 problem is that that doesn't automatically translate into loyalty to 0:06:30.640 --> 0:06:32.839 the Democratic Party. So it just tells us that they're 0:06:32.920 --> 0:06:35.200 you know, it's not that necessarily that they're vaulting to 0:06:35.279 --> 0:06:38.400 the other team, but they're just I think, withholding trust altogether. 0:06:38.720 --> 0:06:39.960 Isn't everyone like that? 0:06:40.240 --> 0:06:44.279 I understand that Democrats can take those candidates for granted. 0:06:44.640 --> 0:06:47.279 I understand what you're saying, but I also just wonder, like, 0:06:47.400 --> 0:06:51.719 aren't all voters basically you get them for a little 0:06:51.720 --> 0:06:53.719 bit and then they leave you if you don't do 0:06:53.760 --> 0:06:54.640 what they want you to do. 0:06:55.040 --> 0:06:56.760 I mean, I would say yes, but I think there's 0:06:56.800 --> 0:06:59.800 been sort of a sense that there are certain demographics 0:07:00.040 --> 0:07:01.960 blocks that are taken for granted. I mean, I think 0:07:02.080 --> 0:07:05.240 ultimately you look at, for instance, millennials. You know, there 0:07:05.279 --> 0:07:07.359 was a reason that there were books written in the 0:07:07.360 --> 0:07:10.000 Obama era that essentially claimed Democrats were going to have 0:07:10.040 --> 0:07:13.320 success for the next couple of decades. Right. The reality 0:07:13.440 --> 0:07:15.560 is is, I think this is also a generation we 0:07:15.600 --> 0:07:17.880 can't also divorce the reality that this is a generation 0:07:17.960 --> 0:07:21.679 that's consuming differently, meaning like they're a completely fractured media environment. 0:07:21.800 --> 0:07:25.200 There's no more shared collective truth. There's all of these elements, 0:07:25.320 --> 0:07:27.640 you know, coming at play, hitting together at a perfect 0:07:27.640 --> 0:07:30.280 storm that just makes them a unique block that I 0:07:30.280 --> 0:07:31.559 don't think we've dealt with before. 0:07:31.600 --> 0:07:34.920 Frankly, how do you see that fragmenting in the poem line? 0:07:35.280 --> 0:07:37.240 I mean, I think it's about like where people are 0:07:37.240 --> 0:07:40.200 getting their information. I think it's also you know, this 0:07:40.280 --> 0:07:43.000 is where the right wing sort of where we talk 0:07:43.040 --> 0:07:46.520 about the manisphere, we talk about the channels of cultural 0:07:46.520 --> 0:07:49.880 communication that the writs had success in. There was a 0:07:49.960 --> 0:07:52.680 void essentially there, and it was a place that you know, 0:07:53.040 --> 0:07:54.760 was meeting them where they were. So I think it's 0:07:54.760 --> 0:07:56.760 also a question of just making sure that we're not 0:07:56.800 --> 0:07:59.679 behind the ball on finding where they are and meeting 0:07:59.680 --> 0:08:00.000 them there. 0:08:00.280 --> 0:08:01.040 I think that's right. 0:08:01.080 --> 0:08:03.640 But then if you're in a situation like this where 0:08:04.160 --> 0:08:06.880 you have Trump has advertised to make things cheaper, things 0:08:06.880 --> 0:08:10.040 are not cheaper, things are more expensive. You read a 0:08:10.080 --> 0:08:14.040 conservative news source that tells you, so you're a Fox newsperson, 0:08:14.320 --> 0:08:16.679 but things are more expensive and you were told Trump 0:08:16.800 --> 0:08:19.880 was going to make things cheaper at some point, don't. 0:08:19.680 --> 0:08:21.040 You lose the faith? 0:08:21.520 --> 0:08:25.760 Like readers are not idiots, right, don't they eventually pick 0:08:25.840 --> 0:08:26.880 that put that together? 0:08:27.160 --> 0:08:29.520 Yeah, No, they're feeling the reality that you mentioned. I mean, 0:08:29.520 --> 0:08:32.000 like you can only talking points yourself out of the 0:08:32.040 --> 0:08:35.240 economic reality that they're facing right now. So much right 0:08:35.280 --> 0:08:37.120 at the end of the day, the bank account doesn't lie. 0:08:37.240 --> 0:08:40.040 The talking points might, but I think folks are feeling 0:08:40.080 --> 0:08:42.360 that in a real way where again there isn't as 0:08:42.440 --> 0:08:44.440 much loyalty built up where they're going to stick around 0:08:44.440 --> 0:08:46.760 to be told that the sky is green when it 0:08:46.800 --> 0:08:47.199 is blue. 0:08:47.360 --> 0:08:50.080 Do you think that works for Democrats advantage? Does that 0:08:50.240 --> 0:08:52.720 work for like a truth advantage? Do you think it 0:08:52.760 --> 0:08:53.680 has no effect? 0:08:53.960 --> 0:08:56.200 I mean, I think young people are smart, right, Like, 0:08:56.240 --> 0:08:57.720 at the end of the day, we have to treat them, 0:08:57.880 --> 0:09:00.160 you know, with respect that they are intelligent enough to 0:09:00.200 --> 0:09:02.679 see when there is one thing being said and one 0:09:02.720 --> 0:09:05.000 thing actually happening. And I think that you know, this 0:09:05.120 --> 0:09:07.400 is kind of why the approach with us is. You know, 0:09:07.520 --> 0:09:09.680 the lesson I get out of all of this is like, 0:09:09.840 --> 0:09:13.840 it's not about us having better slogans or ads. It's 0:09:13.880 --> 0:09:17.160 about just speaking plainly, naming the problem and inviting them 0:09:17.160 --> 0:09:18.960 into the work, because I think again, part of the 0:09:19.000 --> 0:09:21.720 issue that we're having right now is that people fight 0:09:21.760 --> 0:09:24.480 harder for something that they help build rather than something 0:09:24.520 --> 0:09:26.640 that they're sold. And they also don't need to be 0:09:26.679 --> 0:09:28.679 convinced that things are broken. I think part of our 0:09:28.679 --> 0:09:32.480 messaging has been focused on the brokenness. They very much 0:09:32.520 --> 0:09:34.520 are experiencing that, and they already know it. And I think, 0:09:34.600 --> 0:09:36.320 you know, one of the things they're desperate for is 0:09:36.360 --> 0:09:38.360 getting a sense to whether they'll be let in to 0:09:38.360 --> 0:09:40.680 help fix it and accounted for in the discussions about 0:09:40.720 --> 0:09:42.319 how to help fix it. But I mean, I think 0:09:42.360 --> 0:09:45.280 this is an opportunity for Democrats, honestly. I think that 0:09:45.400 --> 0:09:47.960 you know, obviously, when it comes to the economics of 0:09:48.000 --> 0:09:50.480 it all, the plan that will be most beneficial to 0:09:50.600 --> 0:09:52.880 young people will be on that side. It's just a 0:09:52.960 --> 0:09:56.880 question of having a direct, not sleek, heavily produced discussion 0:09:56.920 --> 0:09:57.280 about it. 0:09:57.600 --> 0:10:00.280 When you talk to these kids, what do they say, like, 0:10:00.360 --> 0:10:02.840 what do they care about? Do you feel like the 0:10:02.920 --> 0:10:04.240 polling is reflective? 0:10:04.400 --> 0:10:08.000 The polling is definitely reflective of what their top concerns are. 0:10:08.040 --> 0:10:11.520 I mean, it's the economy at the very top, affordability, 0:10:11.640 --> 0:10:14.559 minimum wage, you know, obviously, and there are still other 0:10:14.760 --> 0:10:17.400 sort of more what you would probably call cultural issues, 0:10:17.400 --> 0:10:20.640 like they're obviously reproductive care, free speech. But I mean, 0:10:20.640 --> 0:10:22.200 I think at the end of the day, the biggest 0:10:22.240 --> 0:10:24.000 thing they're focused on right now, and I think the 0:10:24.000 --> 0:10:25.960 thing that is giving folks the most anxiety is the 0:10:26.000 --> 0:10:27.960 economic reality that they're about to step into. 0:10:28.120 --> 0:10:29.280 Do you think they equate that. 0:10:29.880 --> 0:10:32.040 I think twenty twenty five proofs that they are beginning 0:10:32.040 --> 0:10:32.960 to CNN up those stops. 0:10:33.240 --> 0:10:36.520 It seems like women never really went maga with the 0:10:36.600 --> 0:10:39.160 same speed that men did. 0:10:39.400 --> 0:10:40.880 I love you to talk us through that. 0:10:41.200 --> 0:10:42.880 I think this is one of the things I get 0:10:42.920 --> 0:10:45.720 concerned about when the narrative is primarily focused on the 0:10:45.800 --> 0:10:48.240 young men that have been a pendulum swing now once 0:10:48.280 --> 0:10:50.360 in twenty four and back again in twenty five, is 0:10:50.360 --> 0:10:52.840 that it leaves out a very important block of folks 0:10:52.880 --> 0:10:55.120 who've kept us afloat, which is young women who have 0:10:55.200 --> 0:10:57.560 been loyal to the party and consistently shown up. So 0:10:57.600 --> 0:10:59.160 I also want to make sure that in the course 0:10:59.200 --> 0:11:02.200 of whatever happen next, we don't forget to speak with 0:11:02.240 --> 0:11:05.200 them directly and continue to earn their votes as well. 0:11:05.360 --> 0:11:08.160 But yeah, no, young women did not have the same 0:11:08.280 --> 0:11:09.800 reaction as the young men did. 0:11:10.120 --> 0:11:13.400 Yeah. Did they seem much more activated, these young people 0:11:13.440 --> 0:11:16.360 than they did a year ago? And if so, are 0:11:16.400 --> 0:11:18.600 they doing more political activation? 0:11:18.920 --> 0:11:19.079 Yeah? 0:11:19.120 --> 0:11:21.280 And I think one of the reasons why, like Next 0:11:21.280 --> 0:11:24.040 Gen continues to go on campus. I mean, obviously there's 0:11:24.040 --> 0:11:26.040 a lot that we can do, particularly with this group 0:11:26.080 --> 0:11:29.680 of folks online, and that's an important arm or element 0:11:29.720 --> 0:11:32.400 of this. And you know, algorithms are really good at 0:11:32.480 --> 0:11:36.080 mobilizing attention in the attention economy, but they're not as 0:11:36.080 --> 0:11:40.120 good at building trust. You know, organizing creates real world community, 0:11:40.120 --> 0:11:41.880 which again I think a lot of these folks are 0:11:41.960 --> 0:11:45.120 lacking in the current climate, you know, the most lonely generation, right, 0:11:45.200 --> 0:11:48.880 So that isolation again makes them more vulnerable to you know, 0:11:48.960 --> 0:11:52.480 greevance politics, conspiracies, whatever it may be. So the goal 0:11:52.559 --> 0:11:55.760 of having this in person community building is to also 0:11:55.840 --> 0:11:59.080 provide them with a space to socialize. I mean, this 0:11:59.200 --> 0:12:00.640 was one of the in my I mind, one of 0:12:00.640 --> 0:12:03.319 the biggest benefits of the Mandani campaign. And there was 0:12:03.360 --> 0:12:05.200 a great New York Times article about this where they 0:12:05.240 --> 0:12:07.240 wrote about how it became a social tool, not just 0:12:07.400 --> 0:12:09.400 a political one. And I saw the same thing I 0:12:09.400 --> 0:12:12.040 worked on. Bernie saw the same thing. People weren't just 0:12:12.080 --> 0:12:15.840 showing up to canvas. They need friends. They found purpose, 0:12:15.920 --> 0:12:19.600 They experienced what collective action actually feels like, which if 0:12:19.640 --> 0:12:22.320 you've never experienced it, you can't imagine getting things done 0:12:22.480 --> 0:12:25.520 collectively right, collective action, So you know, it wasn't just 0:12:25.600 --> 0:12:28.880 asking for something, it was providing something and giving them something, 0:12:28.960 --> 0:12:32.240 which I feel like is extremely important. And building that 0:12:32.280 --> 0:12:34.920 bridge and giving them those social tools in social spaces 0:12:34.920 --> 0:12:37.600 as well is really important, just because again it's if 0:12:37.600 --> 0:12:39.920 we call it a public health crisis, we should also 0:12:39.960 --> 0:12:42.360 be addressing that when we're talking about young people as well. 0:12:42.640 --> 0:12:45.480 When you're interfacing with these kids, like, what are the 0:12:45.559 --> 0:12:48.760 things they want? What are the things there besides jobs? 0:12:49.120 --> 0:12:51.920 Well, yes, jobs, but a seated at the table. I mean, 0:12:51.920 --> 0:12:54.040 I think that's number one, right when it comes to 0:12:54.600 --> 0:12:56.640 agency over their own future. I mean, I think at 0:12:56.640 --> 0:12:58.560 the end of the day, they're working with them and 0:12:58.640 --> 0:13:00.800 not working on them would probably be one of the 0:13:00.800 --> 0:13:03.440 things I would recommend and that they are looking for. 0:13:03.640 --> 0:13:06.720 But yeah, I mean it's jobs. It's those jobs having 0:13:07.000 --> 0:13:08.960 wages that are going to actually provide them with what 0:13:09.000 --> 0:13:11.360 they need in dignity and a stable life. A lot 0:13:11.400 --> 0:13:12.760 of these folks. I mean, like, you know, there's a 0:13:12.800 --> 0:13:14.920 lot of young people that take care of family members 0:13:14.920 --> 0:13:17.600 that are you know, sick or not able to take 0:13:17.640 --> 0:13:20.840 care of themselves. Affects their perspective on healthcare, you know, 0:13:20.960 --> 0:13:23.360 even the things that you don't think necessarily affect them 0:13:23.440 --> 0:13:26.280 in college at the time, for instance, healthcare they can 0:13:26.320 --> 0:13:28.960 stand their parents potentially until they're twenty six, but that's 0:13:29.040 --> 0:13:31.840 not necessarily the lived reality for a lot of these people. 0:13:31.920 --> 0:13:35.160 So I would say at the forefront right now, it's 0:13:35.480 --> 0:13:38.080 you know, economics of jobs, but I would say there's 0:13:38.160 --> 0:13:42.040 also an element here of accountability. I think there's a 0:13:42.040 --> 0:13:44.600 big desire for accountability across the board, and I think 0:13:44.679 --> 0:13:47.080 that's across you know, all age demos right now, as 0:13:47.120 --> 0:13:50.080 folks are looking for, you know, people to be held accountable. 0:13:50.400 --> 0:13:54.199 Yeah, accountability. Does that mean like Democrats need to prosecute 0:13:54.280 --> 0:13:55.120 the Trumpers. 0:13:55.400 --> 0:13:57.960 I've been more at a basic level, it's they've gotten 0:13:57.960 --> 0:14:00.120 a lot of promises made to them and then have 0:14:00.200 --> 0:14:03.199 not seen the materialize, and then are being asked to 0:14:03.240 --> 0:14:05.640 get on board and continue to support right. I think 0:14:05.679 --> 0:14:07.560 at the end of the day. That's another factor that 0:14:07.600 --> 0:14:10.120 we have to be honest with ourselves about, is there's 0:14:10.120 --> 0:14:12.600 an element there of if folks are not delivering, there 0:14:12.640 --> 0:14:14.959 should also be accountability. I mean, I think across the 0:14:15.000 --> 0:14:17.560 board there is a sort of lawlessness that it feels 0:14:17.600 --> 0:14:18.680 like is happening right now. 0:14:18.800 --> 0:14:21.840 Thank you, thank you, thank you so much, Aana, thank 0:14:21.920 --> 0:14:28.400 you really appreciate it. We have exciting news over on 0:14:28.520 --> 0:14:32.400 our YouTube channel. The second episode from our Project twenty 0:14:32.480 --> 0:14:33.440 twenty nine. 0:14:33.280 --> 0:14:37.120 Series is out now. It's a reimagining where we examine 0:14:37.200 --> 0:14:40.200 what went wrong with democrats approach to politics and how 0:14:40.240 --> 0:14:43.600 we can correct it and deliver changes to help people's lives. 0:14:43.800 --> 0:14:47.800 The first episode dove into the very sexy topic of 0:14:47.960 --> 0:14:51.960 campaign finance reform, and our second episode deals with an 0:14:52.000 --> 0:14:57.640 even sexier topic, antitrust and regulation. We look at how 0:14:57.960 --> 0:15:03.280 antitrust and regulation can protect American citizens and make America 0:15:03.760 --> 0:15:09.080 thrive in an era of rampant corruption and predatory crony capitalism. 0:15:09.400 --> 0:15:12.360 We talk to the smartest names in the field like 0:15:12.640 --> 0:15:17.040 Lena Kahan, Elvero Bedoya, Elizabeth. 0:15:16.400 --> 0:15:18.480 Wilkins, and Doha Mechi. 0:15:18.720 --> 0:15:22.520 Republicans were prepared for when they got the levers of power. 0:15:22.800 --> 0:15:26.080 We need democrats to be too, So please head over 0:15:26.120 --> 0:15:30.040 to YouTube and search Mollie John Fast Project twenty twenty nine, 0:15:30.320 --> 0:15:34.760 or go to the Fast Politics YouTube channel and find 0:15:34.800 --> 0:15:36.960 it there and help us spread the word. 0:15:38.960 --> 0:15:41.880 Gil Duran is a contributor to The New Republican the 0:15:41.880 --> 0:15:45.400 author of the newsletter and upcoming book The nerd Reich. 0:15:45.920 --> 0:15:49.280 Welcome to Fast Politics, Gil, thanks for having me. Your 0:15:49.280 --> 0:15:50.640 book is called The nerd Reich. 0:15:50.760 --> 0:15:53.480 So we've been talking about these guys I feel like NonStop, 0:15:53.560 --> 0:15:56.280 but also not in the kind of depth we probably 0:15:56.360 --> 0:15:58.640 need to be. So get me going on how you 0:15:58.680 --> 0:16:01.840 started this book, where you got when you started. 0:16:01.480 --> 0:16:02.760 At what was the moment? 0:16:02.920 --> 0:16:05.160 Well, my book will be published in August twenty twenty six, 0:16:05.240 --> 0:16:07.240 but it's based on work I've been doing over the 0:16:07.280 --> 0:16:09.600 past year and a half looking at how a cult 0:16:09.680 --> 0:16:13.640 of venture capitalists has become completely radicalized into an anti 0:16:13.720 --> 0:16:17.120 American ideology that calls for the creation of these weird, 0:16:17.160 --> 0:16:20.360 little corporate run territories around the world that some call 0:16:20.480 --> 0:16:23.360 network states. People have talked about the Dark Enlightenment, the 0:16:23.360 --> 0:16:26.480 whole Curtis Jarvin ideology. 0:16:25.720 --> 0:16:27.800 And they've talked about the neo reactionary movement. 0:16:27.920 --> 0:16:30.560 The network state is a part of that, and it's 0:16:30.560 --> 0:16:33.000 sort of like the business plan for making it a reality. 0:16:33.120 --> 0:16:35.480 I started working on it in San Francisco because three 0:16:35.560 --> 0:16:37.720 years ago I was the editorial page editor of the 0:16:37.760 --> 0:16:41.040 San Francisco Examiner, and I noticed that there was this 0:16:41.200 --> 0:16:44.560 strange sort of right wing radicalization taking place among the 0:16:44.640 --> 0:16:47.960 venture capitalists in our city who were partnering with Republicans 0:16:47.960 --> 0:16:51.720 to fund these recall elections, most of which were wholly unnecessary, 0:16:51.720 --> 0:16:54.200 but they really kind of created this whole panic in 0:16:54.240 --> 0:16:57.200 San Francisco among the voters around the need to save 0:16:57.320 --> 0:17:00.400 San Francisco from a doom loop that was being driven 0:17:00.440 --> 0:17:03.480 by liberal progressive policy. It didn't make a whole lot 0:17:03.480 --> 0:17:05.760 of sense, and it was there that I first got 0:17:05.760 --> 0:17:08.240 the inkling that there was something going on that was weird, 0:17:08.400 --> 0:17:10.119 that didn't make sense. Because I've spent most of my 0:17:10.200 --> 0:17:13.080 career in democratic politics. I know what democrats sound like, 0:17:13.119 --> 0:17:15.600 I know what they believe. These guys were not Democrats. 0:17:15.640 --> 0:17:18.320 They were something else, say, as they say in Silicon Valley, 0:17:18.440 --> 0:17:20.080 a worse third thing. 0:17:20.480 --> 0:17:22.080 This is very interesting because I thought you were going 0:17:22.119 --> 0:17:24.800 to go to like recall actions et cetera. But you're 0:17:24.840 --> 0:17:28.560 actually saying that the group that they were rallying against 0:17:28.800 --> 0:17:31.240 weren't actually Democrats, they were something else. 0:17:31.480 --> 0:17:33.879 Oh No, the group they were rallying against were Democrats. 0:17:33.920 --> 0:17:36.480 The guys who were pushing the recall, one of whom 0:17:36.520 --> 0:17:40.919 was David Sachs, Yes, the Other worlds favorite, Yeah, Gary 0:17:41.000 --> 0:17:45.000 tannet y combinator. They were pushing these ideas. For instance, 0:17:45.160 --> 0:17:48.200 they really demonized Chase A. Boudin, the district attorney, who 0:17:48.200 --> 0:17:50.600 hadn't really done anything wrong. He'd barely been in office 0:17:50.680 --> 0:17:52.440 less than a year, but they pick on one or 0:17:52.440 --> 0:17:54.480 two crimes that happened. And by the way, crime is 0:17:54.520 --> 0:17:56.320 always happening in a city. There's always going to be 0:17:56.320 --> 0:17:58.879 a crime, or so he was prosecuting these crimes, but 0:17:58.920 --> 0:18:01.000 they created the sort of more or panic, we have 0:18:01.080 --> 0:18:02.800 to get rid of this guy. And one of the 0:18:02.800 --> 0:18:04.800 things they were calling for was basically a return to 0:18:05.200 --> 0:18:09.720 mass incarceration policies, which California had largely abandoned ten years 0:18:09.720 --> 0:18:12.359 earlier as part of an era of reform. And the 0:18:12.359 --> 0:18:15.000 people pushing that reform were not Chase A. Boudin, who 0:18:15.040 --> 0:18:16.760 was still in law school at the time. It was 0:18:16.840 --> 0:18:21.560 Jerry Brown, it was Gavin Newsom, it was mainstream Democrats. 0:18:21.600 --> 0:18:23.560 And so the line they were pushing that we need 0:18:23.560 --> 0:18:26.040 to go back toward harsh policies was clearly right wing, 0:18:26.160 --> 0:18:26.840 was clearly out. 0:18:26.680 --> 0:18:28.560 Of step with mainstream democratic policies. 0:18:28.560 --> 0:18:30.560 But what really clued me in was that Gary tan 0:18:30.800 --> 0:18:33.840 who's the CEO of y Combinator, former employee, early employee 0:18:33.840 --> 0:18:36.199 of Palenteer, the guy who designed the Paleteer logo. And 0:18:36.240 --> 0:18:38.120