Lovett or Leave It - Donate to Get Mitch

Episode Date: September 19, 2020

Devastating news about RBG on Friday night kicks of a fight over the future of the Supreme Court. Then we go to a pre-recorded show with guests Hari Kondabolu, Varshini Prakash from the Sunrise Movement, and a legend: Jane Fonda.http://votesaveamerica.com/getmitch

Hey, it's Friday night, and we just learned about an hour ago that RBG passed away. And it's hard to say that without losing it. Took a couple of shots at it. To be honest, for your sake, we recorded the show you're about to hear Thursday night, a different time that was already awful enough. The news is overwhelming. And of course, this important, serious, somber news with vast implications is fed into the mental meat grinder of Twitter,

and already there are people who know what will happen and why nothing ever matters. I can go there too. I was just visiting that place for about an hour. Hope is annoying because it makes demands of you. I don't know what this fight looks like yet, but I know it's a fight and nothing is a foregone conclusion until the moment we accept that it is. No, Mitch McConnell doesn't give a shit, but that's the beginning of the story, not the end. RBG's dying wish was that her seat be filled by the next president. And while this is a shock, her seat was always on the line, always. The stakes keep getting higher. The work keeps getting more urgent and important.

It is 45 days until the election. It is 123 days until inauguration day. If you're upset, if you're mad, if you're scared, if you don't know how much more unfairness you can take, join the club and figure out a way to put that towards helping. Okay, that's enough from me. Enough blah, blah, blah before we start the show.

It's actually a great one. I got to talk to Hari Kondabalu and Varshini Prakash from the Sunrise Movement and Jane fucking Fonda. So enjoy the show. Welcome to Love It or Leave It Home Stretch Now we're coming to the home stretch Where it all goes down Start right now, do your part Show a little faith and have a little heart. JBJ, yeah. Don't wait for a miracle. Start today, yeah. Go to vote, save America. Don't delay. No, That amazing song was sent in by Jacob Sigmund.

Fantastic. And by the way, what an improvement over the horseshit Travis screeched into a voice memo. You know what I mean? Can I just say that? I can. Great job. If you want to make a home stretch song, shut up. Home is a home stretch.

Terrible. Send it my way to leaveit at crooked.com. L-E-A-V-E-I-T at crooked.com. And maybe we'll use yours. We only have seven shows before the 2020 election, and we are officially in the homestretch. That means each week we will be hyper-focused on doing what we can do to win this election on November 3rd and keep ourselves upbeat and motivated during the process.

At the beginning of each show, we'll be doing something called Homestretch Homeroom, where I'm going to give you a weekly syllabus of what you can do to help defeat Trump. This week, we have a simple task. It's to check if you are registered. All across the country, voters are being purged. Registrations are changed. Addresses are wrong. Even if you think you're registered, it's free to check. Double check today. Make sure your friends check at votesaveamerica.com. Then, after you and your friends and family have confirmed your registration, we need your help to register young voters in 11 states. On Tuesday, September 22nd. We have a National Day

of Action, where we contact and register as many voters as we can. Go to votesaveamerica.com slash everylastvote to sign up. And while you're there, you can donate to the Every Last Vote Fund. We had a goal of $750,000 to raise funds for PowerPack, which helps make sure that marginalized communities get registered and that their votes are protected. We were supposed to raise $750. I think we crossed well over $850, might have got to $900. So we're now in this Every Last Vote Fund. The next group we're raising for is a group called Register to Vote. They are registering voters in Michigan, Pennsylvania, Texas, and Wisconsin. For every $2 donated, we reach one potential voter. So it really makes a difference. And we're trying to get 250K to get voters registered in these four key states. Later in the show, we'll be joined by

Jane Fonda, wild, Varshini Prakash from the Sunrise Movement. And we talked to some listeners who shared some very funny stories about phone banking. But first, he's a comedian, writer, and co-host of the podcast Politically Reactive with W. Kamau Bell. The third season is coming back the first week of October. Please welcome back Hari Kondabalu. Good to see you, John. You know, we were just talking before. You know, there's the kind of the catch-up now that is sort of reality of our of the world is sort of baked into the way we ask the questions.

Imagine when you said, how are you doing? I said, never been better. Well, see, if you said I'm doing great, I'm like, oh, OK, that's the answer. If you're saying never been better, I know you're a liar. It's just it's too extreme a position to take. Or I'm a sociopath. Right. Sadistic sociopath. This is the best time of my life.

Yeah. More like this, please. I've always wanted to go down and take everyone with me. Oh, man. All right. Well, on that note, let's get into it. What a week. On Sunday night, Trump held an indoor rally in Las Vegas in which thousands of mostly mask-free attendees ignored Trump's own social distancing guidelines. It may seem crazy to

attend an indoor rally for Trump, but to be fair to the attendees, a few lucky members of the crowd will win a chance to meet Herman Cain. a few lucky members of the crowd will win a chance to meet Herman Cain. Stop it. You're encouraging me. Louis DeJoy gave the Trump campaign and the RNC more than $600,000 in the weeks after the postmaster general job became available. Real subtle, Louis. It's like, oh, grandpa fell down again,

and now everyone's been bringing him soup and talking about how much they love the lake house. Good. I like that one. I like that. Do you have a lot of listeners who have money coming to them? Do you feel like that's part of your demographic? Wealthy parents or grandparents?

That's a very good question. That'll hit home. That'll really hit. Yeah. Yeah. No, that's where we were like, that's where some trust fund kids we're like that is funny because it's true that is my lived experience finally something that speaks to my reality all the other stuff i get that i could sympathize with i empathize with that joke and my name is joeyVos. The Department of Health and Human Services.

I'm going to chalk this shit up to the fact that you just had a baby and you haven't slept. I don't know what's funny anymore. The Department of Health and Human Services Communications Chief Michael Caputo made a bizarre Facebook Live video this week in which he spread conspiracy theories and warned of violent insurrection if Biden becomes president. He's taking a leave of absence, which must be very annoying for his colleagues, who will have to not only do their own jobs, but also fill in for him by being huge assholes. He's kaputo. Kaput. Yeah, yeah, kaputo. No longer. Yeah, kaputo. No longer. Yeah. Caputo.

It's good. It's good, yeah. Is it good? Just days after, it's fine. Just days after Trump congratulated JPMorgan Chase for reopening its offices in the midst of a global pandemic, the bank had to send some Manhattan traders home after an employee tested positive for COVID. But to be fair to those traders,

it's really hard to snort Adderall while pulling your mask down. Wait, I fucked it up. I faked it up. I still laugh. It's really hard to snort Adderall without pulling your mask down. Oh, that's good.

It's impossible with your mask up. That's good. That's good. I like it. That joke 30 years ago is a cocaine joke, but you updated it with Adderall. Well done. You got to update it.

You got to update it. You got to update. Adderall is, you know, it's cocaine that went to Dartmouth. Again, that's the same audience from earlier, the Trust Fund kids. They're going to love that. I guess I could have said UConn. Fine, whatever. Bad words.

Now you just related to a different demographic. NASA Community College. Hey, NASA Community, that's my home turf, NASA Community College. Hey, NASA Community, that's my home turf, NASA Community College. Are you from NASA County? Yeah, Syosset. Where are you from?

Oh, I grew up in Floral Park on the Queen's side, on the border of NASA County. Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Okay. That's a real, yeah, that's Hatfield-McCoy type stuff right there. Exit 41.

PlayStation 5 pre-orders started this week, and it's a shit show. Pandemonium on the internet. Retailers at random intervals popping up with pre-sale for like 30 seconds. And Hari, I got one. I grabbed it. I pounced like a cat.

A cat with $500. I popped in. I grabbed one. I say this only because on November 3rd is the election, obviously. November 12th is the launch date of the PlayStation 5, and so we have to win. I like the fact that you said that you pounced on it like a cat

because cats have nine lives, and if you're pouncing on that, you have no lives. Eat shit, gamers. Hari thinks you're at it he's a he's gamers you losers i have a kid now also this week kanye west tweeted a video in which he appeared to urinate on a grammy award that was in the toilet then he tweeted a video of a plumber saying, ah, there's your problem. It's a weird thing because on one hand, that's a really funny joke.

On the other hand, this man clearly has mental health issues. So it's that weird, like, ah, it's funny objectively, but man, that guy is out of his mind. Yeah, so here's my feeling on it. I feel that this joke is fine because it's more of a joke about what would happen if you had a Grammy in your toilet. That's a good point. It's not. I feel I agree with you.

Like, I do think that, like, generally as a society, we're not giving Kanye as much attention as I think we would have in a previous time. So I think there's some growth, like with the pandemic, with the election, with the fact that he's trying to get on the ballot, with the fact that it's clearly some kind of an episode. Wait, is he still trying to get on the ballot? Is that still a thing? I think he's trying and maybe on the ballot in a few states, I think.

I think that like Iowa, I think on Minnesota, I think a few states, he may have successfully been put on the ballot by cynical Republicans taking advantage of someone clearly going through something, while at the same time, people going through something are also people with agency and making decisions as well. So it's complicated and it makes me feel bad.

Is he able to put old Kanye West on the ballot? Like, I think he'd get more votes if he wrote Kanye West college dropout era. And then I think that would get more votes than current Kanye West. I don't know if you can do that. There's a key pivot point where Kanye West broke the production of live events to insult George W. Bush. And when he broke live events to take an award from Taylor Swift. That hinge moment before, the one that's attacking George W. Bush, like, okay, fine. That's like, oh my God, you're a hero. And now it's like, oh my God.

Here's the thing, it's not great. No. Oh man. A Maine wedding has now been linked to more than 175 coronavirus cases and the death of seven people, none of whom were attendees. When reached for comment, the couple said, not now, our gender reveal brush bomb is about to explode.

It's a boy and jumping the fire line. The motto for Maine is the way life should be. Ironic now, isn't it? Those people, they entered the state reading the way life should be and they died. And the people that died didn't even go to the fucking wedding. They're just around. The way life should have been. More like live free and die next door.

That's New Hampshire. In New Hampshire. New Hampshire. Live free and die. Yeah. Because of you're not doing the things you need to do to take care of your community. Kind of being anti-citizens, hurting people, causing this whole horrible period to last longer

out of your own selfishness, callousness. How about that on the back of a quarter? That's good. This is good. John, it turned into like a performance art at the end. I like that. I like the unexpected twist. Thank you. It's good. Thank you.

On Wednesday, Dr. Robert Redfield, who Trump appointed to be the director of the CDC, testified in Congress that the general public likely wouldn't see a benefit from a coronavirus vaccine until well into 2021, and that masks might be considered better protection against the disease. Tough shit, said an asshole sitting in the front row of a school board meeting in Tucson. I'm a no on both. That's it. Tucson, I'm a no on both. And I loved how Trump came on right after and castrated the man in front of everybody. Just came out and said like, oh, that's interesting, sir. Snip. He meant the opposite. Say you meant the opposite. So Trump then, you know, attacks Redfield, says actually everything you're saying is wrong. The vaccine will be announced and could be announced in October. It'll be available immediately. And I just think

nothing instills confidence in an experimental vaccine like Donald Trump says, shut up, doctor, roll up your sleeves. Get those sleeves up, America. Dr. Trump's coming in. All right. It's clear. It comes out of a needle and it's going in your body. I'm sure there was a Trump med school pitch at some point in one of his rooms. There's no doubt it's like one of his boardrooms, somebody up on a med school. Oh, man. Bill Barr is under fire for wanting to charge Black Lives Matter protesters with sedition and wanting to arrest the mayor of Seattle for allowing the autonomous zone near downtown to exist, a policy dispute that people of Seattle were more than capable of litigating locally. Barr also compared career prosecutors

to preschoolers when discussing how political interference by the attorney general in investigations is actually good and normal. So let's just see where we're at. Directing political prosecutions, charging protesters and political enemies with sedition, arresting left wing politicians with trumped up charges, creating a climate of fear around socialism and lawlessness, stoking resentments based on ethnic divisions during a time of cultural and economic discord. I know I've heard of that happening in the past, but I can't quite put a furor on it.

That's a leading question. People know that's a rhetorical question. Just can't quite put a furor on it, you know? Like, furor. Furorical question. Just can't quite put a Fuhrer on it, you know? Like, Fuhrer. Fuhrer. Hitler! Yeah, the OG. Fuhrer.

Can't quite put a Fuhrer on it. Trump participated in a town hall moderated by George Stephanopoulos. He was faced with tough questions by voters and was fact-checked in real time by George. Trump had a harder time grasping for facts than he does grasping for Melania's hand. Can't get it.

He's in a bad marriage. He's in a bad marriage. She signed a contract. She signed a contract. She's stuck with him for at least another year, potentially four more, depending on whether the contract's extended. I think it's a mutual option, technically. I don't know if it is a mutual option. I feel like she would have, I don't know, the money. It might be a mutual option with a big, big, big payday,

you know? Right. And also, she might have to return some of the signing bonus if she leaves early. Right. She might not have fully vested. Correct. Good news. For the first time in the magazine's 175-year history, Scientific American has endorsed presidential candidate Joe Biden. Bad news, it was their fossil issue. I'm sorry about that joke. I did that. Honestly, I'm pandering to my DSA pal, Hari, here. I like it.

I like it. Joe Biden's an alternative fuel source, everybody. He's a goddamn fossil. Hari and I both know we gotta get this guy in, alright? Yeah, he's kinda old, but so is Trump. We're just having fun. We're just having some fun. I mean, I would vote for fossilized

Joe Biden at this point. I don't think there's really, uh, this is an obvious, yeah. Are there undecided people still? There are. We just actually, good chance for a plug, Hari. There is that, we, Crooked just put out a poll. You go to crooked.com and read it.

We polled 3,000 low propensity marginal voters, people who have either not voted in the past or perhaps only voted in 2016, voted third party, are not sure they're going to vote or are undecided in their vote, I mean. And what we found was that the vast majority have a plan to vote and are planning to vote this year. And they are mostly leaning towards Biden, but they actually tend to either not like either candidate or need more information about Joe Biden. There's this big pool of people

that don't like Trump and actually really do just want to learn more about Joe Biden, and they haven't done that yet. Wait a second. So from learning more information, are they leaving the possibility that what they learn about Joe Biden is far worse than what they have seen Trump do at this point? Yes. I think they want to know about his policies, but here's the good news. When you share with these voters Joe Biden's positions on health care and the economy compared to Trump, they're very, very persuadable. I just think there are a lot of people out there right now. Look, they're just in a different media environment. And they just don't sort by party. They don't come to it with as much predisposition,

I guess. And so there is just this big pool of people that are just gettable and they're persuadable to vote for Joe Biden. So there is a world and this is, again, coming from New York. There is a world where that the media that they are watching has given them no indication that there have been any weird occurrences in the presidency of Donald Trump. Like somehow. That's not what it is. They don't like Donald Trump. But when you ask them about Joe Biden, they just don't know anything. They just, they are predisposed. They are gettable. They just don't know about Joe Biden. So they consider

themselves undecided. The most common word people gave when asked about Joe Biden, like, what's your one word thing about every, what's something you know about Joe Biden? The most common response was nothing. Like there's just a lot of people out there that just haven't heard, they've heard a ton about Trump. They don't like Trump. They just haven't heard about Joe Biden yet. Biden was vice president for eight years. They knew he was vice president, right? Listen, you got to talk to them individually. There's 3,000 of them. We're going to get you connected to them. Like, look, do I wish that these individuals had gathered a bit more intel before the poll reached them? Sure I do. Sure I do. But the good side of it is they're gettable. Okay. We can get them. We can get them. Are they all in

Florida, Ohio, or Pennsylvania? They're in, we, I think these, I think this was mostly in swing states that we were checking. Yeah. Okay. All right. One final joke on Monday. Listen, I, the biggest divide is not just between Democrats and Republicans. It's between people paying attention to people who don't. It's a huge, gaping fucking chasm. Different language, different ecosystem, different world. On Monday, Chris Evans finally addressed the photo of his penis that he accidentally shared with his Instagram followers, tweeting, Now that I have your attention, vote November 3rd.

I just hope he's not voting in sweatpants. To vote in person safely, Hari, please wear a mask and stay at least one Chris Evans penis apart in line. I would have expected that from Chris Pinae. Did I pronounce his name wrong? Is that right?

I think it's penis. Pinae. Well, if you have two of them, it's two Chris penis. It's Chris Helmsworth, Chris Evans, Chris Pinae. P-N-A. Well, if you have two of them, it's two Chris penis. It's Chris Helmsworth, Chris Evans, Chris P-N-A. P-N-A. Yeah, P-N-A.

You got it. It doesn't sound wrong. It sounds right. It's complicated European names, man. I don't know. It's P-N-A. It's P-N-A. P-N-A.

Okay. Anyway, the point is... That tracks. P-N-A. Chris P-N-A. Enthusiasm problem, Hari? Doesn't look like it. That's my last Chrisris evans joke for you he's packing he's packing harry kondabalu everybody thank you so much for joining

us this was very entertaining thank you john i'm so happy for you and the new baby creating life way to go thank you more humans More humans. Continuing the species. Thank you. And a big thank you to the Ritz-Carlton in Honolulu. Okay. Thank you to Hari Kondabalu for joining us. That was an absolute delight. When we come back, Jane Fonda is here.

We had a great conversation. Very charming. Very intimidating. Very funny. What a delight. We are back. Hey, don't go anywhere. There's more of Love It or Leave It coming up.

And we're back. She is an actress, activist, and author of the new book, What Can I Do?, which urges people to take action against climate change and join her in protest. Please welcome Jane Fonda. Thank you so much for being here. Thank you for inviting me, Sean. So there's this video that's been circulating on Twitter, and it's a moment of you being interviewed in, I believe, the 70s. And you're asked by a vaguely patronizing questioner

about gay rights. And he basically asks if you're being used by the gay rights movement. And then he asks, do you think that gay people are still discriminated against? And you have this look on your face like, are you out of your fucking mind? And it's clear in that moment that this is, I think the reason people are sharing that video is because it's a moment where you see somebody

just ahead of the curve. Just somebody who understands an issue with forward thinking that a lot of other people at the time might have missed. And what I think is interesting is it seems like you've been able to kind of maintain that energy throughout your career, even now as you're protesting and even being arrested in protesting against climate change. And then you see others who, you know, comics that were once legends become kind of soggy, worry about cancel culture. You see baby boomers at Trump rallies desperate for some kind of restoration as to how things used to be.

You seem able to stay at the front of things. What's your secret to doing that? Why is it that you haven't gotten stodgy? You haven't you haven't gotten stuck in your ways. You're learning new things. What are you doing? What's the trick? I would have answered it very differently, except that you used the word soggy. And I just realized, 1980, I think, I produced a movie called On Golden Pond, and it

had my dad and Katharine Hepburn in it. And I was scared to do a backflip and I would practice and practice and practice. Katherine Hepburn must have known I was scared. And when I finally managed to do it, I crawled up on the shore and she'd been hiding in the bushes watching me. And she walked up to me and she said, you taught me to respect you, Jane. You have to stand up to your fears or you'll get soggy.

You don't want to be soggy. That's why I'm doing all this. John Lovett exposed to me the real reason. It's because of Katharine Hepburn. I don't want to be soggy because I know she's looking up at me from hell and saying, don't get soggy, Jane. I didn't know I was going to get a Katharine Hepburn impression. I didn't know that that was coming. It was very, very exciting. Was it? It was a very good impression. That was a great impression.

Clearly doesn't take a lot to excite you, John. Let me ask you this. Let me ask you this. Did you know Ted Turner was obsessed with Gone with the Wind before you married him? And if so, do you feel any way ashamed of him? Why did I marry him? Yes, I did. And I thought that it was kind of strange and charming.

I mean, truly, he was obsessed. He purchased two million acres of land because in Gone with the Wind, Scarlet's father says to her, Scarlet, it's the land. It's the only thing that matters because it's the only thing that lasts. So that's why he bought all this land. And that famous portrait of Vivian Leigh as Scarlet that hung in the living room

and Colette Gable eventually threw a glass at it. There must've been two of them because one got shattered. Ted owns the other one. It's hanging been two of them because one got shattered. Ted owns the other one. It's hanging in the living room of one of his homes. He looks kind of like Rhett Butler. I mean, maybe if you squint and have a bit of a fantasy, you know what I mean? I do both. I squint and I have fantasy, so I'm a winner. I mean, I got to say, I barely give permission to gay men to be obsessed with Scarlett O'Hara because of the fashion.

But if he loves Gone with the Wind and it's not about the fashion, that makes me very concerned. Makes me very concerned. It's about land. It's about land. It's about land. Let me ask you this. You've had a lot. You have these famous marriages, these big, larger-than-life personas.

I'm currently engaged to Ronan Farrow. He's a pretty big persona. You have these famous marriages, these big larger than life personas. I'm currently engaged to Ronan Farrow. He's a pretty big persona. That's right. Any tips for what we should do after we get divorced? I have a crush on him. You do? You have a crush on Ronan? Oh, my God.

He is the most adorable human being. Yeah, he's very handsome. He's also a very good writer. He is a great writer. And a brave writer. He's also a very good writer. He is a great writer. And a brave writer. I remember watching him interview Chelsea Handler

at the 92nd Street Y. I was with a friend and I kept saying to her, "'Who does he look like? No, but who does he look like?' I'm not gonna say it out loud on the show, should I? I shouldn't say it. Mia Farrow. He looks like Mia Farrow.

Okay. Okay. Okay. Say hello for me. We've spoken. I will. I will say hello to him. I will say hello. We met that night after he finished. Yes. Yes. He mentioned that, that he mentioned that you had met. He mentioned that you had met. You were, you have been an activist throughout your entire career. It does seem like there's been this change, which is that you faced a lot of blowback for being an activist. You faced a lot of heat for being an activist. Now there's a little bit of activism chic. It's cool to be an activist. It's cool to be involved. Do you think that that's a good thing? Do you think that's true? Do you think that there has been a change

in the way public-facing people like yourself are treated when they get involved in politics? Yeah, I just think, you know, when you hit bottom, everybody knows you got to go to AA or something. You have to start going to a program in the new world. Reality activists are just working the program. I mean, we got to get out of this. And hopefully we got to get out of it alive on a planet that is somewhat healthy. And it's not going to happen unless everybody, all hands on deck, gets involved. And then that includes celebrities and plumbers and dentists and lawyers and everybody has to get involved. And I think that, you know, except for really sick people, there's more understanding now of why civilians have to rise up and take matters into their own hands. Plus

social media. Yeah. This makes a huge amount of difference. And it's not just that it's much easier to organize a demonstration because you can, you know, spread the word real fast. because you can, you know, spread the word real fast. It's easier with social media to try different messages. You can try out your messages and get feedback so much faster about what works. You know, in the old days, it'd take a few years to find out that wasn't the right message, you know. So that makes a difference too. What have you learned in coming out with this book about climate? What have the lessons been so far now that you sort of put this book out there about your climate activism, about trying to get other people involved in the fight? Sort of what have you taken away from,

what have you learned as a climate activist in the years since you've been sort of taking this on as your main focus? The Yale Project on Climate Communication says there are 23 million Americans who know there's a climate crisis, know it's caused by people, human beings, but they haven't done anything about it because nobody's asked. So our goal, when I say our, me and Greenpeace, me and Annie Leonard, who's the director of Greenpeace, we were aiming to reach the great unasked, asking them to do something that they maybe had never done before, come to a rally, engage in civil disobedience, and risk getting arrested. We weren't sure it would work, but it did. They came from all over the country, and some came back two, three times. I would ask them,

have you ever done this before? They hadn't. I would ask them how it made them feel to do something they'd never done before, having Ziploc handcuffs put on and get taken away by the police, losing control. They used words like untransformed. When you put your whole self, your whole body being online with your values, something we don't do often, it's extremely empowering. It's weird. Even though you're giving up your power to the police, it's very empowering and it wakes you up. It makes you up. You know, I don't know. You just change as a person. It happened to my celebrity friends and

it happened to everybody that came that I spoke to. So that's what I learned is that we'd hit something. We'd hit a nerve that was important because what we have to do is rouse the 23 million people, that sleeping tiger in the United States. It's the numbers of people. We have the smarts. We have the money. We have the technology. We have the science. We know what to do.

We have everything we need. We just need people power. So that was our goal is to start getting people. And then I wrote the book because people wanted to start doing Fired Real Fridays where they live. This was before the pandemic. So I thought if we write a book, then that will give them some, I don't know, it's a good organizing tool and it's really informative and tells people what they can do.

And then we were going to tour the country before the election and Get out the climate vote and then kovat happened. Yeah, so we fired real Fridays now virtually and Since July we've had four million people following us. It's pretty amazing. Yeah, that's amazing Yeah, you know the other person we're talking to during in this episode is Varshini Prakash Who is this young founder of the Sunrise Movement. Have you found that as you've taken on this issue that you've been like, look, you know, I've I've I read a bunch of interviews you get. You always you're constantly saying in interviews that you're 83. You're constantly saying your age. You're just so good. So like I am 83.

I am going to do this and you're going to own it. Yeah. How does it how has it been to be in your 80s and taking on that issue that connects with so many of the youngest people that are being active in our society? What have you learned from just connecting with this youngest generation? That older people have to wake up. We're responsible for what's happened, but we're not responsible. The fossil fuel industry is responsible. They knew what they were doing 40, 50 years ago

and they did it anyway and they lied to us and they're killing us. It's the young people's future that we've put in danger and they're scared and they're angry and they're carrying grief. They're mourning what's been lost and what will continue. Birds are falling out of the sky here

in the West Coast and the Southwest, dying, dropping from the sky. Birds. I mean, our sky is orange. Florida's underwater. I mean, young people understand what's at risk. They're giving up careers to fight the climate crisis. And they're saying, we can't vote. Where are you guys? Come on. and they're saying, we can't vote. Where are you guys? Come on. And so, yeah, I've been deliberate about saying how old I am, first of all, because it's no secret. Everybody else, I might as well say it before you do. But also because I want people to say, well, geez, if her at 82 years, if she can do it, I can do it. Right? Yeah. Yeah. Well, Jane, thank you so much for your time. Now, I asked before we started if you would help me do something, which is that now I haven't been able to see my mother for a while because of COVID. And you graciously agreed to just give her a call and surprise her because she's a huge fan. So, Alisa, can we call my mother and surprise her with a hello from a living legend? Jane. Jane, yes. I know. Thank you. I haven't forgotten you. I was deciding what kind of what kind of compliment to provide in that moment.

I thought maybe you forgot who your guest was. Where is she? Is she on the phone? She's in Florida. We're going to get her on the phone. OK, what's her name? Her name is Fran. Fran.

Fran. And Zoe. So here, look, I'm going to there's Harvey Milk. Wow. wow you see harvey i do that's great yeah i could have right there i swear john i could have flipped him he was this if he just lived a little bit longer you could have had him you could have had him you're very charming you're very charming you know people have had him. You're very charming. You know, people talk about the beauty, but also famously charming. The beauty plus the charm. You could have gotten them.

We liked each other. There's no question about it. It would have been, you know, here's the thing. Why not give it a shot, you know? Because he's dead. Well, now, obviously, now he has. Yeah, he's dead. That's why.

Now. I'm talking then. Now, yeah. Now it doesn't make sense. Well, then's dead. That's why. Now. I'm talking then. Now, yeah. Now it doesn't make sense. Well, then, no. But I see. I believe in moving slowly. But then he got killed.

Yeah, you were playing hard to get. Just, you know, take it one step at a time. That's all. I mean, you know. Get him comfortable with the idea. Coax him like a panda. Yeah. I guess we didn't get my mom hard Yeah I guess we didn't get my mom I guess we didn't get your mother

Is it going through to voicemail? Well rub it in man Let her know what she missed I'm calling her right now I'm calling her on my phone She's not answering We missed it, we tried Jane Fonda

Mom, hi, I tried to call. I did my best. So did John. We'll do it one day, but I'm sorry we missed it today. I wanted to thank you for giving birth to such a wonderful son. You must be so proud of him. And how are you doing? Uh-huh. Okay. Are you wearing your mask? Good. All right. I'll talk to you soon again. That was incredible. We got a Katharine Hepburn impression, full-on one-sided conversation with my mother, Jane Fonda. What a legend. What an icon. What a pleasure. Thank you so much for taking the time to talk to us. Thank you, John. It's been a pleasure. Say hi to your partner. I will. I will. Could I flip him? I could be his grandmother. Stepmother. You could be, you're old enough to be his stepmother. That's what I would say.

Okay. Thank you so much, Jane. This was great. Bye-bye. When we come back, we called listeners to hear their stories about what it's like to phone bank, to encourage you to get in there and start making some calls, even if you haven't done it before and you're not sure how it's going to go because once you start, you'll realize it's not just the right thing to do. It's great. You know, that's the goal. It's fun. Don't go anywhere.

This is Love It or Leave It, and there's more on the way. And we're back. This week, we are encouraging everyone to finally get out of their bed and start making some phone calls. Honestly, if you want to stay in your bed, that's great. That's fine. It doesn't matter. You can do this from basically anywhere. You don't even need to be clothed. But calling people on the phone can be a little bit intimidating, especially if you haven't done it before or done it very much. I totally understand that. But for the most part, it's easy. It can be really rewarding. And sure, some people hang up and some people don't answer. But you also get to have some pretty incredible conversations. So to encourage you all to get going on these phone banks,

especially because we're doing so much politics from home and we're not able to knock on doors in the same way that we otherwise would have, we wanted to talk to a few volunteers who have had positive experience while chatting with voters so that you could hear what it's like. You know, let's go to the phones, as they say. Hello. Hi, is this Jared? Yeah, this is Jared. Hi, Jared. My name is John. I host a podcast called Love It or Leave It, and we're calling to talk to you about your experience phone banking. Oh, yeah. Yeah, I know who you are. Okay. So, you know, what we say here is it's going to happen. I'm going to say it. You're on with John. Oh.

And I just want to say that, I just want to say, you know, it's been a tough road for people named Jared. It's been a tough couple years. Yeah, I'm not a huge fan of the name anymore. So you've been doing some phone banking and you have a kind of positive experience you thought you could share with people. Yeah. Tell us about it. Tell us about it, Jared. you have a kind of positive experience you thought you could share with people. Yeah. Tell us about it. Tell us about it, Jared.

You know, about a month ago, I decided to sign up through Votes Save America and Adopted Arizona and have been doing phone banking every Saturday. And about two weeks ago, I had a relatively long call. I know we're not supposed to have super long calls with folks, but I had a long call with a voter who was severely impacted by COVID and was about to be evicted from his apartment. And I had kind of an understanding that maybe he maybe there was an eviction moratorium in his state. I don't live in Arizona. I live in California. And while I was on the phone with him, I did some research and found the governor's website and saw that the eviction moratorium had been extended.

And so I texted him that. But then I also felt like he might need additional support going forward. So I also gave him the contact information for his state legislators, who I thought might help him with a landlord who was not following kind of their eviction moratorium. And it seemed like hopefully it helped him out. I haven't been able to follow up, but it was nice to feel like, you know, these calls not only are helping do the thing that I want to happen in November, but, you know, help somebody right now. That's awesome, Jared. That's great. Thank you for doing that. Brass tax. Did you get a fucking vote or not? Yeah. So he said he was going to vote for Joe Biden no matter what. But then when they nominated Kamala, he was he was in all the way. So I think we're pretty set with a vote there. OK, OK. So that's great. Jared, that's such a

nice story. So you're in California. Where are you in California? I live in Sacramento. So not a lot of not a lot of opportunities to do anything as much here, although I am volunteering for a couple of ballot measures here, too. That's great. And how's the air today? Breathable. Okay. Breathable, that's what we're looking for. It's the best we can do. Jared, thank you so much for telling that story.

Thanks for listening and for volunteering on Votes of America. Of course. Thank you so much. Hello? Hi, is this Erin? It is. Well, you're on with John. Hi, is this Erin? It is. Well, you're on with John. This is Love It or Leave It.

We're calling because you've got a story about phone banking that you wanted to share. How you doing? Is this John Lovett on the blower? Yes, it is. That's right. This is me. I'm on the horn. I'm on the blower.

You got me. You're on the horn? Oh, my God. That's so exciting. Hi. Hi. Hi. You want on the horn? Oh my God. That's so exciting. Hi. Hi. So. Hi. You want me to share my story? Yeah. Share your story. Where are you, by the way? What part of the world are you in right now? I'm in the San Francisco Bay Area. Oh man. South of San Francisco. Oh man. Yeah. How's that? The air is a little bit better. That's what, you know, we just talked to somebody from Sacramento. They said the same thing. I'm glad the air is a little

bit better today. Yeah. What are you, let me ask you this before we get to your phone call. What are you streaming? What am I streaming? I'm so glad you asked. I have gotten obsessed with this show. It sounds like you're going to make something up. It sounds like you're stalling to try to come up with something. No, I want to make sure to explain it properly because I'm super excited about it.

It's a show that was originally out of Norway called Scam. Have you heard of it? No. Okay. It's a Norwegian show about Norwegian teenagers. And the third season is about this homosexual relationship between these two very handsome young men. So far, so good. I love it.

So I've been watching that. Yeah, I think you'd be into it. So I've been watching that. It has words on the bottom, huh? It does. You do have to read it. Nice try. Yeah.

All right, Erin, what's your story? All right, Erin, what's your story? So I've been, I adopted Arizona for Adopt-A-State because my mother-in-law lived there. And for the very first time was making calls two weeks ago. And most of the calls were either hangups or they would say, oh, I can't talk right now. I'll call you later. And I got a couple of people who are super excited about Joe Biden and Mark Kelly. So that was great. But the last call that I had was a guy picked up and he said, you know, I only have a few minutes.

I'm at lunch right now waiting for my date to show up. And I was like, OK, great. I launch into my spiel about how important the election is and is he excited to vote for Joe Biden? feel about how important the election is and is he excited to vote for Joe Biden. And before I could even get through that, I overhear the waiter come over and he says, you know, I'm sorry, sir, but you've been here half an hour. We've got people waiting. So you just have to want to make sure that you order something. Can you just order something? And the guy's like, I'm waiting for my date. She'll be here any minute. But yeah, OK, I'll order some drinks. So he orders the drinks. The waiter leaves.

And he comes back on. And he's like, I'm sorry about this. I'm so excited for this date. I finally got the nerve out to ask this woman out at the yoga studio. But she's half an hour late. And I'm like, OK, great. Good for you. So we wait.

Back to Joe Biden. And then before I could, again, get through my spiel, he comes back. The waiter comes back and says, you know, I just talked to my manager. My manager says, it's great that you order drinks, but we actually need you to order some food because we have people waiting. We need to move this along. And the guy says, I'm really sorry. She's on her way. I swear she is. OK, I'm going to order some food. So he orders food and I'm just listening the whole time. And then eventually devolved into the waiter coming back saying, listen, dude, I don't think she's going to show up. It's,

how long has it been? Oh, it's been half an hour. Well, where did you meet this girl? It's like a play. It's a play. I'm just listening to it. Like an old-timey radio show. I love that. And so I'm enthralled at this point. I don't even care about trying to get them to commit to vote for Joe Biden or Markelly. I'm glad you could admit that. I mean, I care.

I'm glad you could admit that, yeah. I care, but I'm like just entranced. Sure. So eventually it ends up the waiter asks the guy I called, you know, where'd you meet this, this woman? And he said, Oh, I met her at this yoga studio on whatever street. And the guy said, Oh, my girlfriend goes to yoga there. Oh yeah, it's great. You should try. He's like, well, wait a minute. What's your girlfriend's name? And the waiter says, it's Tatiana. And I'm just like, Oh no. And then the guy I called said, wait a minute.

The girl that I'm waiting for is Tatiana. No. No. Yes. Yes. So I'm just, I start, I'm at that point. I'm like, this has to be a bit, this can't be real. So I just start listening and I start cracking up and the waiter's like, that's my fiance. And there's like back and forth. And I'm just, I'm laughing so hard at that point. I'm like, okay, I'm going to say that you're voting for Biden. So I'll talk to you later. I just hung up because it was too good. So yeah, so many questions. One one where is this hustling and bustling restaurant in the midst of

a pandemic that's got to clear the tables out that's my first question second question uh is tatiana trying to send a message to her fiance because even if she's trying to blow off the guy if you tried to blow off somebody that was hitting on you at a yoga studio and you said, fine, I'll go on a date with you. It seems insane to make the fake date at the restaurant where your real fiance works. Right. So my my take on this is that this was just a bit that these guys do. And it wasn't real. So you think that's that's how I'm processing it. Right. So I just the name Tatiana has a vaguely dumb comedy bit vibe as well. But so they're just waiting for phone banking people to call.

Well, that I don't know. I mean, it is a swing state. So maybe they're just getting so many political calls that they're just like, oh, I know how to deal with this. Or they're, I don't know, actors just trying to make bits. I have no idea, John. I wish I had more of a window into what actually happened. Did you hear the ambient sounds of plates and cups and bustle and restaurant noise or no? No, not really. And what was also odd and made me doubt it was how clearly I could hear the waiter. You know what I mean? So I see. I see. That made me think it was on speaker rather

than just some guy actually holding it up to his ear. I don't know if it was real. That's amazing. But I just thought my very first day ever of phone banking and this, I get this like performance art as my last call of the day. It was amazing. Well, Erin, what a story. Yes, John. What a tale. Thank you for sharing that with me. Thank you for making a suggestion that I watch handsome Norwegian gay relationship dramas, though, given the fact that it is subtitled in the current sort of 60% capacity of my brain.

I will say they're short, so that's something. And let me tell you, John, these young men are chef's kiss delicious. So give it a try. Give it a try. Well, look, you're making the best case possible. But if I have to read the show, I can't play Catan on my phone. Erin, thank you so much for being here. John, can I say something really quick before you go? First of all, thanks for

calling. But I want to say quickly on a personal level, last year I was dealing with a lot with my parents. They were kind of falling apart physically and mentally. And so on the weekends, I would go visit them and help them with shopping and life stuff. And my reward for myself when I was coming home was always to listen to Love It or Leave It on Saturdays. So thank you for that. It made a lot of difference to me. for that. It made a lot of difference to me. Well, Erin, thank you. That means a lot. Thank you so much. And thank you. Thank you for listening. And thanks for sharing that. I mean, you know, you know, especially lately, we put these shows out, we do it over the internet. And, you know, I miss the audience reaction to feed both my ego and my sense of what's working and what's not. So it means a lot. So thank you so much. Thanks, John. Thanks for everything you guys are doing to at Posse America and love it or leave it and getting everybody motivated. It's it's the kick in the ass a lot of us need. So thanks for

that. Good. Well, thanks for sharing your story. I think it'll give other people inspiration to get involved to really appreciate it. I hope so. I hope so. Thanks, John. Take care. Bye. Bye. When we come back, I'm joined by Varshini Prakash. We had a great conversation about the climate change we're seeing with our own eyes every single day and what's been happening in the fight to make sure we not only elect Joe Biden, but put in place the progressive climate plan that we need. Hey, don't go anywhere. There's more of Love It or Leave It coming up. And we're back. She is the co-founder and executive director of the Sunrise Movement. Please welcome Varshini Prakash. Varshini, it's good to talk to you again. How you doing?

Hey, John. Good to be here. Thanks for having me. It feels so small to say this, but climate change is on a lot of our minds this week. Hopefully more than this week too. Yeah. But well, you know, we're hearing, I'm in California where we're confronting smoth. We have five storms now in the Atlantic. We've just seen incredible storms ravaging the Midwest. There was a derecho that did incredible damage to Cedar Rapids. Climate change is here. It's here in a profound way. And perhaps, you know, we'll see in the next couple of weeks that it may begin to reshape public opinion again in surprising ways. But right now, this is being seen virtually entirely through the political lens. We've seen Trump talking

about climate change. We've seen Joe Biden give a speech about climate change. I think we know where Trump is on this issue. I want to talk about Biden specifically. I want to I basically want to divide into three pieces. I want to know if you think he's saying the right things. I want to know if you think he's going to do the right things. And then I want to talk about what each of us can do in this fight. So let's start with his speech. What did you think of Joe Biden's speech on climate that he gave in Delaware? What were your reactions to it? I thought this was one of his best speeches to date. I thought he effectively communicated the damage of the crisis on so many people's lives, you know, millions of acres of land and homes lost, like lives that have been

ruined, burned. And I appreciated the way that he connected the triple impact of economic downturn, the health pandemic and the climate crisis on families kind of collectively. You know, so he was really good at talking about the devastation. You know, so he was really good at talking about the devastation, but actually what I found to be the most compelling and inspiring about the speech was the way in which Biden conveyed the ultimate opportunity that is inherent in tackling the climate crisis, right? I think for so long we have posed this issue as something that is like taking away things from Americans, taking away things that is like punitive in some kind of way, or just about like clinging on to

some semblance of normalcy and life. Like that's depressing. I think we could be talking about this. And I think Joe Biden did a really good job of this a couple of days ago about an investment, an investment in essentially like a prosperous future for America. He detailed creating an extensive workforce, like millions of good paying unionized jobs as part of one of the largest green jobs and infrastructure plans in recent memory. You know, making sure that no mom has to bathe her baby in water that could contain methane or lead, lowering energy bills, increasing quality of life, getting super cool and fast public transportation. The fact that he focused both on shared pain, but also shared possibility, that to me is a winning message for Joe Biden. And it was exciting to see. It was interesting.

winning message for Joe Biden. And it was exciting to see. It was interesting. What I was thinking about when I saw the speech is, you know, we've been talking about the harms of climate change and what they might be for a long time. We've even begun talking about how people might feel them. But what was striking is I think for the first time, I think in a long time, Americans generally are kind of confronting how the world can change, right? I mean, they're just seeing it and feeling it in real ways. And what he did that was interesting that no one was in a position to do before because we haven't been in a pandemic before is he connected, Donald Trump won't make you safe in this pandemic because he won't listen to science. I think a lot of people have seen the pandemic as an analogy to the climate, but he made the climate an analogy to the pandemic. I agree in terms of reframing this

around the opportunity. How important do you think it is? How big of a deal do you think it will be that people are seeing the harm? Do you think that that's breaking through even though so much of it is happening in, say, California state that's already pretty democratic? No, absolutely. I think it's essential. And I mean, as you pointed out at the beginning of the show, it isn't just California. Yes, it is egregious. It is terrifying. It's like, you know, we're hearing stories about mobile morgues and things like that that the governor of Oregon is having to implement to collect bodies. I mean, it is really terrifying stuff. It's literally hell on earth.

But it's like we're seeing, you know, storm after storm after storm that is hurting communities in the Gulf South. Some of these communities like Southwest Louisiana have been one of the worst for COVID rates around in the Gulf South. Some of these communities like Southwest Louisiana have been one of the worst for COVID rates around in the entire country. You're seeing, you know, storms in Brooklyn, you're seeing derechoes inland in Iowa. And I mean, there are probably just millions of acres of farmland that will never be recovered as a result of the climate catastrophes that have taken place. You know, not just in California, although I think we should care about those people too, even if it doesn't matter for the

electoral map. It's wild that we have that conversation. Like, you know, you bet it's wild. It's wild. And so, you know, I think there's three reasons why it's happening. One, the just visceral, immediate impacts of the climate crisis are like right in front of our faces. It's impossible to miss it. And now I think media is starting to catch up with it as well. And, you know, we're seeing the climate crisis as like front page news in so many publications across the country. Two, we're seeing a lot of both insurgent candidates, but also candidates like Jay Inslee and Elizabeth Warren really prioritizing this issue. And I think elevating the issue on the campaign trail, but also you're seeing a ton

of down ballot champions as well. And then three, of course, the piece that I'm very excited about is we have an activated, mobilized base of young people, but also just people across the country that are ready to throw down and who are saying, you know what, like defeating people, but also just people across the country that are ready to throw down and who are saying, you know what, like defeating Trump, that's just the first thing that we have to do. After that, it's like day in and day out, we're going to have to battle the fossil fuel industry and a climate denying GOP to ultimately manifest many of the campaign promises that Joe Biden has made in the last few months. All three of those pieces together are what's ultimately shifting public opinion. And I think making this a priority in the nation moving into this election. So let's talk about Joe Biden on policy. One thing that was striking,

right, that one difference, I actually talked to Jay Inslee about this when he was on Love It or Leave It, that Joe Biden had actually set the same targets, but was avoiding committing, right, to some of the intermediate steps, because that required a little bit more political pain and required a little bit more of an admission about some of the trade-offs that are inevitable in any kind of climate discussion. political and moral imperative of addressing climate change, both wanting to have Sunrise Movement working and fighting for him and believing that he is the right person to win, while at the same time recognizing the crisis, while trying to manage, I think, real legitimate political questions about how climate change can be used as a weapon by the Republicans against Joe Biden. He's now put out a revised plan that speaks to some of those intermediate steps, I believe. You can tell I if I have anything wrong. How do you feel about where Joe Biden is right now?

How effective do you think the activists have been in moving him? And where would you want to see him go next? Yeah, he has improved by leaps and bounds from where we were just three months ago or four months ago. In large part, I think what is exciting about this moment, and I think what is the critical difference between Joe Biden and Donald Trump, I mean, there's a lot, obviously, but like one of them is that Joe Biden has shown that he is movable, that there is actually space to contest and move and shape the democratic establishment and sort of his administration,

shape the democratic establishment and sort of his administration should he win in November. And so, you know, we saw movement from a 2050 target around decarbonizing the power sector, moving that up to 2035, which is a 15 year timeline increase and means that he actually has to move on some of those promises in this cycle, not a decade from now. We saw him move from a $1.7 trillion climate plan that he unveiled in 2019 to now a $2 trillion green jobs and infrastructure plan and a commitment that 40% of that investment will directly go to low-income communities, marginalized communities, communities of color, et cetera, who have historically been left out of economic prosperity in this country. I could go on for a while about the different improvements, but I think it's sort of a bittersweet moment. One, I do think that Joe Biden has moved considerably.

Two, we are in a race against time for the viability of human existence as we know it. We kicked the can down the road for 40 years and now this thing is a full blown emergency. And the problem is when you start seeing the manifestations in a really visible way of the climate crisis, that means we are getting extremely, extremely close to the point of no return where some of these, you know, feedback loops just get thrown into motion and it's very, very difficult to correct course afterwards. So what we could have done in 40 years, we have now got to do in five to 10. And I think that means that movements and politicians and everybody out there has got to keep pushing to ratchet up ambition constantly, because you

better believe like the other side is out there trying to water down these policies as you experienced firsthand in the administration. So Biden has moved to the left, or at very least he has embraced goals to make some of the targets he had set possible and some of the Green New Deal targets possible. At the same time, it does seem that he feels that there's a political imperative around saying things like, I won't ban fracking, right? Things like that. What do you make of that? Like, what is your reaction when you see that kind of a statement from Vice President Biden? It's a political calculation. As somebody who knows that we needed to have stopped burning fossil fuels like yesterday, it is a terrifying notion that people in high leadership in the Democratic Party believe

that we can continue to burn natural gas or even continue to validate ridiculous positions like it being a bridge fuel. That is just simply not true. And so, you know, we're going to continue to advocate and say that we've got to get off of fossil fuels fast. I think the first step of that is getting the guy in office. And then on day one, after we elect him, pushing hard to not only have him make good on the campaign promises he's already made, but also further a lot of his goals. And I think fossil fuels are definitely on that list. With each passing day, the climate emergency feels both more real, and also harder, right? As you're saying, right, with each passing day, the climate emergency feels both more real and also harder, right? As you're saying, right, with each passing day, the problem gets more difficult. With each passing day, we don't make

progress towards reducing our use of fossil fuels. The faster we'll need to reduce it, the more immediate break we'll have to make. What is your advice to people listening to stay in the fight? And what do you think is the most helpful thing people listening can do right now that are working to help elect Joe Biden, but also want to know what they can do specifically to be good climate advocates. When I think about the kind of movement that we need in the United States of America to ultimately contest and win, to potentially pass literally dozens of pieces of legislation at the federal level. And like, you remember how hard it was to pass one piece of legislation that was, you know, whatever, like, it is almost unfathomable for me growing up at the

time that that we're growing up in, to imagine the level of policymaking that is essential to tackle the climate crisis. But we've got to do it. We have no other choice. The buck doesn't stop with defeating Trump. We then have to actually act upon everything that we are advocating for on the campaign trail. So I would say if you are looking for something to do, join a movement, join an organization that has a plan to build power long term. actually engaging people in grassroots movements and organization that is leveraging that collective power at the local level or the state level or the federal level. It doesn't have to just be national politics. It could be your local city council or it could be a state level race or legislative fight, whatever it is. We are going to need a movement of literally millions and millions of people who are fighting this day in and day out. And I really believe that it is possible. If you look at some of the most far reaching environmental policy that was passed in the United States, like the creation of the EPA,

the Clean Air Act, the Clean Water Act, the Endangered Species Act, all of that happened under President Nixon. And it happened because obviously there was, you know, organizing happening far before this, but on the first Earth Day in 1970, 20 million people participated and rallied and organized and got engaged. I know a lot of people are thinking, you know, am I the right person? Am I smart enough? Is this my place? Like, I don't know if I want to get involved. Um, you are exactly who we need and we need want to get involved. You are exactly who we need. And we need you to get involved right now because it is our very lives and our very futures and the very existence of humanity on this planet that is at stake. Yeah, beautifully put. It's also worth remembering,

too, right, that that movement was also born of an emergency. People saw environment degradation before their eyes. They saw rivers catch fire. They saw the Grand Canyon filled with smog. They saw California covered in smog in a way that was deeply, deeply unhealthy and people rose up. Totally. And you know, we can talk about how hard it was to pass say Waxman Markey through the house. But the one thing Waxman Markey didn't have is they didn't have the sunrise movement. Not yet. Exactly. That's what Ed Markey says too. Varshini Prakash, thank you so much for your time. It was so good to talk to you

and stay safe out there. Yes, same to you. Thanks, John. Thanks to Varshini Prakash for joining us. When we come back, we'll end on a high note. Don't go anywhere. This is Love It or Leave It

and there's more on the way. And we're back. Because we all need it this week, here it is, the Homestretch High Note. What a rebrand. Submitted by you, the listener. Hey, this is Gwen in North Carolina, Wilmington.

I'm calling with a low note and a high note at the same time. I just found out about RBG. I am devastated. I've already been texting for Biden. I have been sending letters through Vote Forward. And I just talked to a friend of mine who is heartbroken and said she didn't know what she could do to help. So I got her to sign up at Vote Save America. And she is fund banking for Detroit tomorrow.

So we got this. We got this. Hey, John. My name is Jamie, and I live in New Mexico. And my high note this week was that my senator, Senator Martin Heinrich, asked me to testify before a subcommittee in the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee. And despite my incredible anxiety, I did it, and it was just really cool to do. Have a great one.

Hey, Lovett. I'm calling from one of the many smoky towns in Oregon. My personal highlight this week was finding out that my parents' home is still standing after my entire hometown was burned down, along with my dad's shop. My political highlight this week, though, is that my dad put the Joe Biden sign on a metal pole so no one could mess with it. And we found out that also survived. So there's a lot to be sad about and a lot to be grateful for. Thanks, guys. Hey, love it. This is Ellen Heenan. I'm a high school teacher in Santa Barbara.

And my high note this week was that I was asked by students to be the Gay Straight Alliance club advisor via Zoom, of course. This is the greatest honor of my five-year-long career. And I'm so happy that in the dark void that is Zoom school, I'm fortunate enough to have this new thing to look forward to and lucky enough to work with these students. Thanks so much for bringing me so many smiles on my walks with my dog. Thanks, everybody who submitted those high notes. Thanks so much for bringing me so many smiles on my walks with my dog. hold the House, win back the Senate, and elect Democrats up and down the ballot. Thank you to Hari Kondabalu, Jane Fonda, Varshini Prakash, and all of the listeners who dialed in. Thank you to everyone out there volunteering and calling and texting and donating and spending every moment you can trying to win this election. Thank you to the campaign staffers who can't sleep and the nonprofits and the PACs and the interns and the tireless, thankless staffers of every Democratic

candidate up and down the ballot. What you're doing is important. There are 45 days left. Let's go win this thing. And, you know, if there's time, have a great weekend. Love It or Leave It is a Crooked Media production. It is written and produced by me, John Lovett, Elisa Gutierrez, Lee Eisenberg, our head writer, and the person whose gender reveal party started the fire, Travis Helwig. Jocelyn Kaufman, Pallavi Gunalan, and Peter Thank you. for creating and running all of our visuals, which you can't see because this is a podcast, and to our digital producers, Nar Melkonian and Milo Kim, for filming and editing video each week so you can.