SmartLess - "AOC: LIVE in Brooklyn"

Episode Date: July 27, 2023

We sat down in Brooklyn with the lovely Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez to talk Harry Potter, edible gummies, and Sean For President.(Recorded on Feb 05, 2022)Listen to “SmartLess Live” episodes four weeks early and ad-free on Wondery+See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Hey, listener, and welcome to Smart List. Before we get into this incredible episode, I want just a moment of your time to set the stage a little bit. Sean and Jason and I went on a smart list tour last year where we recorded 10 episodes live in front of thousands of our biggest fans from Brooklyn to Los Angeles. And guess what? Right now there are more live episodes from our tour on Wondry Plus that you can listen to. You can listen to these episodes four weeks early and add free on Wondry Plus that you can listen to. You can listen to these episodes four weeks early

and add free on Wondry Plus, after which you can hear them for free wherever you get your podcast. Find Wondry Plus in the Wondry app or on Apple Podcasts. All right. Welcome to SmartLess. Wait, wait, is he an announcement over?

No one out. Oh, did he finish? He finished. Okay, great. Okay, that means we can start. The tentacle show. Tentacle show. Tentacle show.

Tentacle show. Tentacle show. Tentacle show. Do we remember what city we're in? Do we remember what city we're in? We're in Brooklyn. New York City. New York City.

Tentacle show. You might be a little tight. Yeah, excellent. Good energy. You have energy. You have. Yeah, that's a good energy. You have energy. You have that. Let's make that look like a bubble. OK.

Oh! I contact. I contact. I contact. I contact. What is the name of the show we're doing? What is the show? It's SmartLash.

SmartLash. So this is, uh, uh, uh, uh, bananas for us. Yeah. Um, and so to be out here for you guys truly, it is. It is so serious. Super humbling for us. And so, to be out here for you guys truly, it is super humbling for us. Thank you, thank you, thank you. Yeah, yeah. Thank you. That's a new switch.

I'm sitting over there. I'm sitting there. Where you want to sit? I can sit down. I sit in the middle. You're not to get because you guys are seated. This is tonight's my guest. So I get the couch.

Yeah. Yeah. Why is that good news? You don't know. Yeah, why is that good news? Yeah, why is news? I feel like, yeah. Jay, but I'm telling you, it's a good guest. This is our last show here in Brooklyn. And I know, we're bummed to leave, believe me. Well, wait, hang on, what are you guys doing tomorrow? Yeah, that's good point.

We'll do like a little matinee. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Oh, we should have done that. Everyone's got a rest tomorrow. You got to go to church. You've got to go to... Whatever I do. Yep.

I like to talk about things that we go through on tour, because we've never been on tour before. And one of the things is touring and traveling. We stay in the same room, which is true. The same suite. Yeah, we're seeing the same hotel room. Yeah, so by so far, everyone we've been to, every city we've been to, out of the three rooms,

I've gotten the handicap room. Yeah. By the way, true story. It's just crazy luck. So the shower And. By the way, true story. True story. It was just crazy luck. So the shower is level with the floor, and it's a hand thing. I'm like, what? Like, it's no shower head.

Which is, yeah. What? It's just right, yeah. Yeah, it's a complaint. Yeah. I saved it for here. Right. Yeah, so I can play.

Why do you want to do it in front of all these thousands of people just to make us feel bad? Well, here's the other thing that I didn't talk about, which is, I don't know how you guys feel, but like, you're real. No, like, when you go out to eat at a restaurant, and you order, first of all, the waiter comes around and it's like, would you like bottled water or tap water

or whatever, and if I go, I'll have bottled water. And everybody else will be like, hey, it's great. And then he brings a glass for every single person. And you're like, I don't have selfish, but I'm like, you have bottled. There goes my bottle of water to everybody else. So that's what part of that bothers you. I want to get down.

Well, just whatever you want, you order that drink, but know that it was the thing I ordered. OK, I know. But is it the money? No, it's not the money. It's not the money. But here's the thing that's even worse. If I were to dessert, and these guys know, I love dessert.

Angel loves a sweet. Yeah. If it's the same thing with those, so you know, like when you're like, okay, does anyone, and everyone's like, no, no, dessert for me. Nothing for me. And I was like, I'll have the chocolate cake,

the oozing chocolate cake with the vanilla ice cream. Great. And then the waiter comes around plate and a spoon, plate and a spoon, plate and a spoon, plate and a spoon. And I was like, well, now I'm gonna ask the whole if I don't share, and I look like a kid, like I don't wanna share my food. But then, you know, you can't win.

I, um, and by the way, the point is, the point is that's happened when the cookies came the other day, and you're like, look, there's cookies, and this one's like, I don't want any. Let me have one. So, right. Then the cookies were next to.

OK. OK. Eight plates of food. OK. So, let's just guess something, Claire. So, if you've listened to podcast, you know that Jason has a very dangerous relationship with food.

No, I just don't eat like, I don't eat like King Arthur. No, no, but you don't need to talk about it all the time. And I can't wait. I just find it fascinating. I'm going to pay for your, whatever your psychiatrist, when they deal with this because it's so fucked up. And we live in a world where everybody's always talking about food and it's a gluten free and a thing and a thing and an amity calorie.

But who fucking cares? You want to know what happens when I eat gluten? It's a disaster. It's a disaster. So close to fear. Look at them. So I get some food for lunch and then... But like, say what you have ordered.

Okay, so I ordered a burger and a steak. Keep going. That's true. That's true. Just ordered. Okay, so I ordered a burger and a steak. Keep going. That's true. That's true. Just split. No, no. You ordered a hamburger and a steak and a bowl of cream corn something and a salad. And blueberry pancakes. And blueberry pancakes.

No, that was not even the same meal. That was a different, no. That was a different meal. And then these chocolate chip cookies, they said fresh, like, yeah, who's not gonna get that? Listen, you don't want to be rude, right? I don't want to be rude. Anyway, he's shame, he tried to shame me,

which put me on the attack. I will admit to that. Yeah. And then out of spite, he just ideed it all. Yeah. And he's like, can't get it. But then you ate some of it. I had a corner of a cookie just to release the valve.

You know, I mean, you start to look at something and then if you build up this... I honestly can't believe I heard in Brooklyn we're talking about this as well. I know, but you are the king. Jason, you are the king of... Not for me. What do you got there?

Yeah. Right. And Sean, on the other hand, he will go to People's Houses and bring McDonald's with him. Absolutely. Oh. Oh.

I hope... Sean, Sean, you're a trick if you're constipated. I just do that. Get up. I do this. This works, guys. And then it is... Seven times and things start to come out.

So you held it at three there. That's a... It's a whole thing, guys. You don't want to share a room with these two, ever. And food, it's tricky for you, because also you get real snacky at night now. Yeah. Well... Well, listen. Well, let's go ahead.

You got me. She heard it. Got me. Guys, it's legal, let's go ahead. You got me, she heard it. You got me, I mean, well, guys, it's legal. It's legal now. Yeah. I mean, why do I have to hide that? No, you don't. You guess what? It's like going down to the corner and buying a six-year repair.

There are more dispensaries in California than Starbucks. Yeah. It's true. Yet I still will not tell my kids that daddy had choice to come but like, don't tell them. But it's mostly for the CBD. You know, it's inflammation and whatnot. Yeah, inflammation. What's amazing is people used to get,

I feel like when you're going up, people get high. Like in my age You get high and you watch like the song remains the same Led Zeppelin or you'd they know what it is. Yeah, and then like Yeah, the only but like he just takes a gummy and watches MSNBC and I love something so super weird and sad about that. No, but Jay got me on them and they really work and they're very healthy.

And the only, the stevia sweeten gummies. Yeah, stevia, and he will, it's the only time, the only time I will find golf interesting is he will put it on, and I'm like, what is this? Bluff, 10 minutes later, I'm like, this is amazing. Huh. Huh. Um, is it legal here, yes?

Yeah. That's like, let's get on with it. What's crazy is how much about our eating habits and stuff? They obviously know from listening to the podcast. What else are we going to talk about? I don't know. Journalists, we're not smart, we're just people that eat and sleep like everyone else.

It's so true. It's so boring. Well, again, we do wanna say thank you for allowing this to happen in that you guys. Yeah. Yeah. And then you listen to the podcast at all. For us, for us it was such a goof to do it.

And then to be able to do this, it's such an incredible thrill. So we're really excited to be here with you guys tonight. Thank you guys. Very excited. Very excited. So speaking of smart, which we are not, air go smartness, right? We decided to, we decided to, every once in a while,

invite somebody really, really smart. Okay, most of the time they're just our fancy, famous friends that are an easy booking for us because they're there having gummies and watching NBC with us. But tonight, folks, dash, stuff, I need to write my intros because I'm not smart nor young. Oh, listen, stuff's been a challenge for the last few years. But there are heroes out there that are working tirelessly to try to make it better. We got one of them here tonight. She's one of yours, New York. She's born in the Bronx,

educated in Boston, lives a lot in DC. And in fact, at 29, she was the youngest elected ever to the Congress. Guys, welcome, Alexandra Acosta, and Alexandra Acosta. Oh my God. Oh my God. Oh my God. Oh my God. Oh my God. Oh my God. Oh my God. Oh my God.

Oh my God. Oh my God. Oh my God. Oh my God. Oh my God. Oh my God. Oh my God. Oh my God.

Oh my God. Oh my God. Oh my God. Oh my God. Oh my God. Oh my God. Oh my God. Oh my God. Oh my God. Oh my God. You can't let us all know. Oh my God.

You are. Oh my gosh. Oh my gosh. Oh my gosh. That was so good. Right, I mean, see, this kind of stuff blows our mind. Here we are, just three dendons. It's crazy.

You can talk about golf with us. Yes. I wish you brought on somebody with opinions. Right. Right. Go. We're going to get him tonight. We're going to get him out of her. I got questions and stuff like that.

First of all, are you currently in town or do you come up for this? Or how often do you get to live in your home city and versus living in DC? So this is one of those common questions I get asked. It depends on the year. Off to a great start. Oh.

All right. What it would tell me about your digs in DC. Do you guys all have to stay in the same kind of place? Is it like dormitories? Do you get a budget for an apartment or? OK. So if you're a normal person. See, guys, I'm going to ask shit you you never even thought to ask a congressman

Do you take the express train to do you see it's gonna be better are you on a gummy I don't know but are you It's like a semi legal in New York. God be okay. Oh, is it is it really only semi legal? Yeah, yeah, it's decriminalized legal in New York. Got me. Is it really only semi-legal? Yeah. Yeah, it's decriminalized. Well, so what does that mean?

It's decriminalized. It's medically legal. And it's like on the way to becoming. So wait, but so you can buy it legally if you smoke it at illegal? No, no, you can own it. Can you use it? You can use it.

It's decriminalized, but decriminalized. You can't buy it in a shop yet. All right. All right. But we're on our way. Yeah, I know. You can buy it in an alley. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

We're apart. We're apart. We're apart. We're apart. We're apart. We're apart. We're apart. Okay, so your place in DC, you do get a budget for housing

or you gotta stand at yourself. Okay. No, this is not. No, no, no, no. I want to know too. So, your place in DC, do you get a budget for housing or you gotta stand at yourself? No, this is not a special thing. No, no, no, no, no. I want to know too. I have 10,000 questions I could ask you. Because I'm the dumbest person. Well, no, it's, wait in line.

The detail, like it is crazy, it is really interesting because most people who get elected to Congress are independently wealthy before they run. I want to get into that too. And so, if you're a normal person and you get elected, like, there's no housing allowance, so you have to pay to rents. And, uh...

You're placed at home and you're placed in the studio. Yeah, or like, when I got elected, my job right before was that I was bar-tending. And there's... What was a bar, shout-out to? Shout-out to the Taco Shop on Union Square, which is still there. Really?

Hey, some people know it! So you have to pay for two places. Yeah. And you're doing it when you go there, you're doing it on a bartender salary with the last salary you... Yeah, so basically there's kind of this weird period where after you get elected,

your first paycheck comes at Congress, you get paycheck monthly, okay? You get paid once a month. Yeah. And so your first paycheck comes at the end of your first month in Congress. So like how do you tide yourself over? You last that first month.

Yeah, like these are things that, and a lot of your colleagues like, don't have to think about it. Right. So it's, there's like these interesting little challenges. And are you, but I rent, I rent in New York and in DC. And you're not allowed to take money from constituents

to help you out, I'm thinking I'm putting in terms of like college athletes and stuff like you can't take money from sponsors. Yeah. Yeah, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, What I do a lot to now what about shadow to amtrak back there Good for you now what about And Metro North too while we're at it I mean Bucket All right, so now did you did you want to do this from an early age? No.

Or was it when you were working with the Bernie Sanders campaign, you saw some stuff that you thought, well, maybe that's... Yeah, well, you know, I never thought that I would be elected to public office. I also didn't think that someone like me, or with a background like mine, could really get elected to public office. I also didn't think that someone like me, or with a background like mine, could really get elected to public office. And that young, two, 29, that's young to suffer, right?

It's the youngest woman ever. I mean, you had like... Yeah. Yeah. I mean, how will three of you, when you started to get involved in your first primary or whatever? You were like 27? I was 27 when I started running.

That's crazy. Yeah. I mean, 27, Sean, you were making millions of dollars a year on willing grays. You know, like everybody's got humble beginnings, right, Sean? And by the way, and still renting. Yeah. No, no.

No, you blew through it. Oh, I blew through it. Oh, I blew through it. Yeah. Wait, I want to know like, I don't know how any of it. Like, I'm the, like I said, the dumbest person in the world. And how, how, there is nobody disagreeing. I know.

Higher audience. No, there's always, always get from, whatever news source we get is how I'm probably jumping way ahead, but I just want to get this. No, please, let's get all over the place. Yeah, all we get from whatever news source we get is how I'm probably jumping way ahead, but I just wanna get to it. Please, let's get all over the place. Yeah, yeah, all we get from the TV and whatever,

we get our news, whatever you watch or read or whatever. You too. Is that, it's always at a standstill. Nothing gets accomplished, and we hear the same thing, and how long is it gonna go on? When are we gonna find somebody or something or anything that can make us meet in the middle? I think both sides are sick and tired of it.

You know, like what is that thing? Yeah. Well, I mean, I think the thing is, is what we need to take a look at, is that there's a lot of meeting in the middle. It's just about the things that we don't like. So there's a lot of meeting in the middle, it's just about the things that we don't like. So there's a lot of bipartisan consensus about militarism and around Wall Street bailouts

and around helping out corporations and shorting the middle and working class. There's a lot that goes on that passes that gets done to advance that. That doesn't, isn't newsworthy or something, or we don't hear about it. I think, I mean, we don't, if we do hear about it, we don't like it.

But there's a lot that goes on that, you know, I just don't think, it's really about like, what are we doing to affect people's lives, and to improve people's lives in a way that's felt. Yeah. And now, a word from our sponsor. SmartLess is supported by NetSuite by Oracle. If your business earns millions or tens of millions of revenues, stop what you're doing and take a listen because NetSuite by Oracle has just rolled out the best offer we've ever

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Chapman 3-pointer outside! I played for four teams over 12 years in the league, alongside so many incredible players. But, no matter where I went, there was one guy on every team who was totally untouchable. That was the owner. Plenty of fans don't even know who owns their team, who's making the backroom deals and moving players

around like pieces on a game board? But every week on OLD, we're going to take the fancy elevator sneak pass security and find out what it means to be a power player in the big leagues of pro sports. I said I keep giving the money but they keep getting the same result. The families like the wealthy but on sexy Kardashians. Follow OLD wherever you get your podcast. You can listen early and have free on the Amazon Music or Wondry app. And now back to the show. So then let's say there's a subject that you would like to pull one of the Republicans over and meet in the middle and have some bipartisan consent on and then have a piece of legislation.

How does that happen? Do you call somebody who you think might be the most pliable on the other side and say, hey, let's have coffee or is it, or do you text? Yeah. How does this part work? Like, let's meet in the middle. A little bit of all of it.

You say, do you say try this gummy and then let's talk about it. A little bit of all of it. Sometimes it's, sometimes, you know, there are group chats. Like, that's, oh yeah, that's a thing. Oh, put me in one. Yeah. Oh. I just, how bad would you love to just infiltrate and just start loving that?

Wait, a minute. It's sometimes like that. That's a dick pic, yeah. Yeah. But sometimes, you know, the house floor that you see on C-SPAN or at the state of the union, that's where we go to vote every day. And so it is kind of like a high school cafeteria.

When you see you guys getting talking next one, you're not talking about sports or whatever. Like, you're saying, hey, I want to talk to you about this. I miss a little bit of this. You sign up, policy, and things you're trying to do. And maybe you should make more like a musical number. Like, make it to talk to you about this. I'm a little bit of this. You sign up policy and things you're trying to do, and maybe you should make more like a musical number. Like, make it, what do you know what I mean? In the cafeteria.

5, 6, 6, 7, 8. Well, make it, Bill! Oh! Oh! Oh! Oh! So wait, wait, any time. Yeah.

You don't have to ask him twice. So then, it's, do you have to worry about the texting being possibly exposed by somebody like is there an encrypted chat thing for congressmen? I mean I feel like some folks they'll use they'll use, I mean they use the same things that everybody uses you know. They'll use, I mean, they use the same things that everybody uses, you know? Yeah. They'll use, they'll either use iMessage, Signal, WhatsApp, like whatever does people use. Or again, it is like a high school cafeteria where sometimes you're talking to somebody

and someone be like, well, you know who you should talk to. That guy over there. And it's very informal in that way, right? Is it as right? Because I would think they're really well there. What's that? Is that the informal part? I know, I think I do really well there.

I think it was in informal. I think it would. Informal, and then you're on group chats. Yeah. And you know what I mean? It really is a lot of schmoozing. It's a lot of schmoozing, Jason. No, wait, what is it?

Can I do it? Yeah. So when people are trying to figure out since it's every, excuse me, every two years for Congress as opposed to six years senators, yes. OK, and four years for president, right? Yeah. Oh, God.

I'm Canadian and I know that. I know, I know. It's a constant turnover. So how do you keep track of who might be a pliable member of the other side? And the sort of long-winded question which I'm prone to do associated with this is, tuck in.

Just lay back. Why are you answering your own question? Well, it's a thing. Just ask her a simple question and then let her answer it. When you got there, it's a thing. Just ask her a simple question and then let her answer it. When you got there, it was so exciting for a lot of people for many, many reasons. Did you find that you were either really embraced or not based on all the press coverage that you got the second you

got there? Was it helpful or hurtful? It was in terms of internal dynamics. It's actually hurtful, because what happens is that you're sitting right next to a person. And it's a really bizarre experience, because so there's something called a cloakroom. Oh, here we go.

And... Harry Potter! Yes! There's a lot of Harry Potter and Harry Potter stuff. It's not Harry Potter show, either. No, but he's right, it does sound dope as hell. So you have the house floor, you know, like what you see in the state of the Union.

But there are these rooms attached to the house floor. And there is a Democrat's cloakroom, and there's a Republican cloakroom. And so you go in through the cloakroom and there's like, you know, there's rules about being on the house floor, you can't, you can't wear coats, and so you put your back in the day, but you can't go.

But you can put, I mean, back at chewing gum. Wait, wait, wait, why can't you wear a coat on the center floor, on the, on the, on the house floor? There's pretty strict dress codes. Yeah. You cannot wear a coat. Yeah, you can't wear a coat. Yeah, you can't wear a coat. Why?

You can't wear a coat? You can't wear denim. Until very recently, women could not wear sleeveless dresses. Oh, my God. Yeah, it's old school like that. And so they had these things called cloak, their cloak rooms, where back in the day, kind of, you know, in the 1800s and whatnot,

members of Congress, they would drop their cloaks there. There used to be chests where you put it up and you pull out huge bottles of booze and put the booze in the thing before you went on the house floor. They don't have those anymore. They don't have those anymore, but. Booze cubbies.

Yeah, I was like little cubbies. But that's how it was. And so that's like this informal socializing space. Well, Jimmy Jordan must love the house floor. Can guys go sleeveless? That's a question. That's a question from our friend Justin Theroux. Asking for a caller, JT from New York.

We get it, man, your arms are really good. All right, now, so again, jumping all over the place. You talk about the floor, and then the rooms off to the size of it makes me think about, I want to go to January 6th for one second. I have a question about, why did they all leave once they got in? Is it because they couldn't find you guys? That you, that there were places where you guys were shut a lot of time. They were hiding in the cloakroom.

They were in the cloakroom. No, but like, like, the balloons. Was that, was that because obviously, old mister, what's his face, never called them off? So they didn't leave because of that. Did they leave because you guys were properly stowed away? Well, the thing that's interesting about the architecture of the Capitol is that like Harry Potter. Yep, like Hogwarts. It's very Byzantine. It's actually really hard to navigate and so they couldn't find the halls and the places

that you needed to navigate to where member offices were. And so they kind of like busted in, and they found some of the main offices, like Pelosi's office and House leadership's offices there. And so- Everybody was gone, everybody was gone. Everybody was taken away. Like to me, that's the unsung heroic story of all this.

Yeah, yeah. Because somebody, and it was probably the Capitol Police, did great work of putting everybody away. Yeah. And it was like, people went into rob a bank, and somebody hit all the money, and they were like, my fuck it, I guess, let's go home. We didn't know money here.

Yeah, I knew. That was a crazy, crazy day. And I think we all were. Or was it, will? We all remember. Oh, was it, will? Well, we all remember where we were that day, Jason. Do you remember where you were?

I was with you on the golf course. Oh, God. Why'd you tear yourself up to something new? Why'd you get on your head? I knew it. You were so bad at it with me. Well, why'd you get on your head? You were so bad with me. Well, because you said it was a crazy day.

Well, we get it. It's funny that you talk about it, because, um, and it's funny that you bring it up kind of after, you know, discussing relationships with, uh, with, with members and Republicans and Democrats, because it right before I left, so, uh, Congress was in session this week. And so right before I left, um, they literally had the last vote of the week.

And I was just, you know, feeling something out. So most of the folks were kind of filed out. And some Republicans, I mean, members of Congress in general, like kind of funny people. Are they? Pretty unusual. Are they? Um, pretty usual. Are they aware of that? Yeah.

And so the thing that's interesting is like, some Republicans are just like, the reality in front of them is like completely divorced from the rhetoric and like all this other stuff that sometimes they go on TV and say, it's really weird. And does it feel a little high school-ish where like, you know, there are people there that are obviously, I know, you don't get along with,

they don't get along with you, they can go nameless. But I mean, like, what happens when you pass her in the hallway, you know? Like, I mean, yeah, but I mean, is it, but is it really not so dissimilar from high school where you either choose to pretend they're not walking by, or is there something, is there a snotty look, is there a snotty aside?

Is there ever like, hey, you know what, let's hang out this weekend, let's like, we can fix this together. And, you know? Yeah, well, I think a lot of it is like high school. And the reason for it is I think there's just a certain dynamic when you get 400 people in a similar space.

And their little bells, when the bells call, the bells ring. It's like high school in a lot of ways, like just structured that way. So some people really operate that way. In second high school. Yeah. So high school is this place?

Yeah. Is it up a few floors? Why do they call it high? We don't have time, but we're gonna. Bubble back. And so some people conduct themselves that way. Some people actually want to get to know each other. But yeah, I mean, some, I mean, listen.

But like a high school, if it was a person X and person Y, that everybody knew they didn't like each other. And then if on Monday, everyone came back to school, and the word got out like, oh, you know, over the weekend, they talked, and they're all good. It would blow the high school's mind, and everybody would come back together. So I'm just saying, I mean, I don't know.

It would be a really cool thing. I know you're willing. What would you say? I always hear this, well, if you don't like something call your congressman. Does that really happen? Do you guys have like voicemail that go through every day? No, it actually, okay, it depends on who the member is.

Some of them don't care, but some of them really, really do. Especially members of Congress who are in swing seats, they're actually very sensitive to the volume of those calls, except it has to be from their constituents. So if you're just calling somebody somewhere else, they're like, I don't care what someone from so and so things. I'm, they're really resonant with their voters. So if their voters are really upset and flooding their phones,

that's, that is something, especially if you're in a tough seat that does really resonate with, with some of them. But others, they, I mean, and senators, I don't even know. But if you get a call from 718, your answer. Yes. 718, 347. 470. 212, maybe if you move. Your answer, amen. Yes, 718, 3, 4, 7, 2, 1, 2, 1, 2, 1, 2, 1, 2, 1, 2, maybe if you move. 9 was 7, 9 was 7, 9 was 7.

9 was 7. 9 was 7. That's so cool. What is it about something I have not really understood is a lot of these folks that are in positions like yourself could make a whole hell of a lot more money back in the private sector. Are and yet to keep their seat, obviously talking about a lot of folks on the other side,

to keep their seat, they have to twist themselves into these ethical knots to hold the party line. When you can kind of tell they probably wouldn't want to, like you were saying earlier, they say privately, like, were saying earlier, they say privately, like, oh, blah, blah, blah. So why are they staying there, earning, I think it's, it's, the way senators make... I mean, all members of Congress make $174,000 a year.

Right, and I bet you a lot of those who are, a lot of them, very skilled attorneys, could make, you know, X number of millions a year. So are they really staying there and holding their job because they have some ideology that they're so passionate about or they are so altruistic, they wanna help, you know, the public,

I don't get the sense that a lot of them do on the other side, I'm sorry to say. And so why are they there when they could be making all this money back in their district? Well, a lot of them still do make a ton of money because there's a lot of insider trading that goes on in Congress.

There we go. And okay, you're not supposed to. Not on my wife. I'm not supposed to like say that term. See, she's having some of the scotch guys. We're getting it now. Here's what I'm gonna say, the spirit. Like, you know, because technically folks will say,

you know, technically this is not a crime. Technically it's not. In spirit, it is. Like it should not exist, you know? Because their privy disinformation is coming down the pipe and they buy stock in that company. Exactly. And so it is legal.

As a member of Congress, it is currently leaked, and I've been trying to change this. Yeah. It, as a member of Congress, it is currently legal, and I've been trying to change this. Yeah. It, as a member of Congress, it is currently legal to, I can, I have access to classified briefings, you can get things down the line, and you can buy stock in individual companies. And it can be within the purview of the committee

that you sit on. I mean, it's bonkers. So it should not be legal, and we've been working to make it illegal. And I actually think the increased public attention very recently is gonna get us some traction on this issue, knock on one. Yeah, how is that still there?

That's crazy. And so not only that, but A, there's that B, there are plenty of members who are so wealthy and get elected that they don't have to, like, a salary is nothing to them. It's really, there's no trade-off here. I find the psychology of a very interesting, too, because I ask myself the same question.

I'm like, because the thing is, like, it's a real pain in the butt. You lose your anonymity. There's, it can be grueling. People are yelling at you. So if you have so much... Your life is threatened. I mean, why do this?

Because you're walking to a restaurant, and they're like, right this way. And I do think, no, but I think that there is a psychology to that where there's a certain kind of power and influence that money can't buy. And there's like a prestige that I think money can't buy that is part of the psychology of some people. Not everybody.

There are legitimately plenty of members of Congress who are just salt of the earth, incredible, amazing human beings, Jamie Rask, and Mark Takon. You love Jamie Rask. You know, like. Wow. Yeah. Amazing.

So, you know, it's not everybody, but they're absolutely is that out to it. So you're spending 99% of your time being super duper smart, being incredibly generous with your time and your occupation and everything. What do you do to be a dumbass? What is like, are you watching Below Deck? Are you chewing gummies like crazy? What do you do to be stupid?

Okay, so I, you know, because work is so crazy and like emotional, et cetera, I have to watch like dumb television. Yeah, yeah, what's the favorite dumb? Please say Ozark when you sit up. Oh! Oh! No, right.

Oh, two. Fun, funny stuff. And I play... You know, Murderville though is a new show. No, I'm actually done, funny stuff. And I play... You know, Murderville, though, is a new show. I know. I'm actually excited about that. No.

I legitimately, I saw the first commercial for like a dare to ago and I'm like, oh, this looks really funny. That shows rap, by the way. Yes, seriously watch Murderville. Very good. Don't watch it streaming on Netflix right now. It's not a big deal. It's really, really good.

It is good. It is good. Thank you. You see the way I take the high road guys? I know. Yeah. Jay, is there. So she's going to answer what her favorite dumb show is.

OK. OK. Um, oh man. Well, I don't know. I mean, I've watched like COVID selling sunset was one of the selling sunset. I also play video games, PC games, so League of Legends, League of Legends, nice.

Like, yeah, no one knows what that is. And we will be right back. Since his death in 2009, the world has struggled with how Michael Jackson should be remembered, as the King of Pop, or as a monster. I'm Leon Nefak, the host of Fiasco and the co-creator of Slow Burn. And I'm Jay Smooth, a hip-hop journalist and cultural commentator. Michael Jackson was accused of child molestation for the first time in 1993. Our new podcast Think Twice, Michael Jackson, is the story of what came before and what

came after. Throughout the podcast, we explore what makes Michael Jackson seemingly un-cancelable, and we dig into the complicated feelings so many of us have when we hear Billie Jean at the grocery store. Through dozens of original interviews with people who watched the story unfold firsthand, think twice as an attempt to reconcile our conflicted emotions about Michael Jackson, the man with our deep-seated love of his art. Listen to think twice, Michael Jackson, wherever you get your podcasts, or you can binge

the entire series at free, unaudible, or the Amazon music app. And now back to the show. Sometimes I like to watch great comedies. One of my favorite is a film they made a few of that one of my friends, a mutual friend of ours, is in. No, no. And this guy who is in one of my favorite comedy movies, comedy trilogies, it's not him. Oh wait. But they must thank him anyway.

Alright. It is him. Ladies and gentlemen, our friend wanted to say hi and we're only in town to do. All right, so. So, I think you're very much. His move is, his move riding is an electrician. By the way, Jay, I have no idea. I have no idea. I do, I do. No idea You're doing well. I have seen you touching my work. You're doing well. Come on. So Bradley called and he said, he said, I hear, he said, he said, I hear you guys are coming to town. Let's all hang out because he's were all the four of us are very very good friends

And we said well, we're only in town for a few minutes. He said well, let me come by and say hi before the show And I said well no, then they're gonna know the guests. I said the only time we got is on stage So please come out and say hi I just want to say one thing and then I'll leave. You're not leaving anywhere. You're not going anywhere. I've known all of these people. I met Will in 1998, and then I met Sean through Alias in 2000, and then I met Babin.

And these guys have all been gun slingers for 20 years. You know what we say? Who's the quickest guy in the room, we say like, who's the quickest guy in the room? Jason Bayman, who's the funniest guy in the world? Will or not, who's the funniest guy ever, Sean Hayes? So I've been you for 20 years. I've been you for 20 years. So it's so unbelievable that they're sharing their skill set with you. How lucky are we?

It's just the truth, man. Well, and I've lived together in Venice, California, and it was like, I used to watch this every day. It's like crazy. So, let's get into that part of the story. So, you're gonna find this interesting. So, listen, tell us about you two living together, and Venice, what was that all about?

So, Bradley lived in the back of this property. He lived in the back house. How old were you? We were 10. We were very young. I mean, I play 38 now, so. To the math, at the most. At the most.

23. I remember the first time I met him was at your place, at your apartment. Playing cards. Yeah, playing cards at your apartment, and that's when you lived in the back. And I was like, you were like, me, my friend Bradley, and you answered the door with boxes on it.

I was like, hello. That was like, but that's how you always answer the door, right? Hello. Hello. And so Bradley lived in the, we had this building in the back and we had our friends, we lived with Ron Rifkin, and I lived with my brother. And then Bradley and I so Bradley lived in the, we had this building in the back and we had our friends. We lived with Ron Rifkin. Ron Rifkin was right in the back of the house.

And then Bradley and I shared this building. And the back and our doors were connected. We're open. And we overlooked. There's a property we overlooked at the top of his house. Yeah, old boy. And we used to see him sometimes in the alley. That's right.

Driving that old Jaguar. And then it was so, it was California, man. Come on. And then we were doing a rested at the same lot that you were doing, kitchen confidential. Kitchen confidential. But the other thing is we've all been through it together. That's really the thing. We were started out. We used to talk about our dreams, and we'd

never be able to fulfill them. And he and I, I mean, it's actually very emotional. We were backstage just thinking, you know, to fulfill them. And he and I, I mean, it's like, it's actually very emotional. We were backstage just thinking, you know, if you just take the time and you work hard, it can happen. It is possible.

And the best part about it though, is when you do it with people you love. And that's was just so gratifying. I proudly say this story a bit, right? I mean, you did it. Yes, but it's true. 100% way. So, I proudly say this story. He was at my Yes, but sir. 100% way. I mean, it is so, uh.

I'd probably say this story. He was at my house. This is years and years and years ago. And he's like, hey, I got called to do this musical on Broadway, where you play through the songs for me. And I was like, sure, what are you doing in musical on Broadway for? He's like, I don't know.

I go, you got like 18 movies coming out. He's like, I don't know if any of them will work, blah, blah. And like literally, I said, we're working on this stuff. And he's singing. And I'm like, this is great, we ate lunch and ever. And then like a month later, the hangover came out. I'm like, you're such an asshole. Ty, yeah.

Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, it's funny, you know, because we do get to do, like this is so bizarre that we're doing this in this way. But it is all about, you remember, we were talking backstage about remembering where you came from and how hard it was and all that kind of stuff.

And Bradley, he directed a star's born. And I mean, incredible. And we were in Vegas and Bradley was unveiling the trailer. And I was on stage and I got to introduce him. He was the MC for all of the Warner Bros. media, which is the hardest job. He was like, yeah. And Bradley came out and we did this thing and he played this trailer. We sat there with this crowd, not unlike this, and we sat at the end of the stage.

And this trailer played and it was emotional, man. It was really well. And it's so great to be able to do that with people you love. Yeah, yeah, yeah. So yeah. Well, I can only imagine. And that's how a bill becomes a law. Yeah. Yeah.

Oh. Yeah. Woo! Woo! Woo! Woo! Woo! Woo!

I can only imagine how fulfilling, like, how much deeper and gratifying it is to be able to celebrate a friend's victory when you know like how, what they went through to get that. You know, you're not meeting someone at the peak when you've met someone when they were just, you know, at their lowest sometimes. I'm glad you mentioned Teen Wolf 2 because... LAUGHTER LAUGHTER I took a lot of guts.

She did. Will. Will. She never said that. She didn't say it. Oh, okay, I didn't say it. Forget it, forget it, forget it, forget it. I auditioned twice for that movie.

You did it. I got a callback. I got a callback. I'm gonna go back. I'm gonna go back. I'm gonna go back. I'm gonna go back. I'm gonna go back. I'm gonna go back. I'm gonna go back. I'm gonna go back.

I'm gonna go back. I'm gonna go back. I'm gonna go back. I'm gonna go back. I'm gonna go back. I'm gonna go back. I'm gonna go back. I'm gonna go back.

I'm gonna go back. I'm gonna go back. I'm gonna go back. I'm gonna go back. I'm gonna go back. I'm gonna go back. I'm gonna go back. I'm gonna go back. I'm gonna go back. I want to know that answer, and then who is your favorite Republican? Okay, okay. Good question. I like that question, yeah.

So I mean, of course, there's Ayanna Pressley, Rashida Tzli, like just absolutely incredible. But also, you know, a lot of my friends from when I was working in restaurants and bartending downtown, like those are my ride or die. my friends from when I was working in restaurants and bartending downtown. Like those are my ride or die as well and those are still the people around me that are most some of the most important people. If you were going to go out and DC and really release the valve because it was a tough week, who's the first call? Okay. Release the valve.

Okay, I think he's another... I had some addiction problems, guys. So I think another congressman from New York, Mondair Jones. Yeah. He's really fun. You know, there's just... I mean, there's just a lot of folks who are...

Well, it would be the most likely to give you a high five? High five. Who's a high five? I bet it's a Republican. Yeah, I think a Republican. Because Mitch McConnell seems super easy. Yeah. He does seem like a fun guy.

Yeah, yeah, yeah. So as far as Republicans go, high fivers, Tim Birchett of far as Republicans go, high fiverr's Tim Birchett of Tennessee, he's a high fiverr. Mm-hmm. There's some folks who are high fiverr. Who's the hugger? There's a whore.

Whoa, hugger. I'm a hugger. You're a hugger? You're allowed to. I try not to be a, I always, you know, make sure I do the vibe check before I hug. Yeah, I do not talk. Bradley, would you, could you ever run for office?

Yes, come on, come on. Come on. It's funny you say that because I was going to maybe say if we had a chance to talk, but what you've decided to do, really, what you've decided to do with your life is the most selfless thing one can do. Everybody talks about it. That's not true.

No, but what you can be talk about, how much we believe in something, and we talk to our friends who will agree with us, but to get out there and say, I'm going to sacrifice my life, my privacy, my well-being potentially, for what I believe in the greater good of all of our in our country, it's like,

this is it, that's it. That's it. So. Yeah. Having said that, what are your favorite movies? I have to say to that. And start with his, and then we're gonna go all the way around. And feel free to go with you guys.

I have to say, though, we kicked off this whole tour in DC, and, you know, again, I bet, yeah. And, you know, I went there once with my husband, Scotty. We just were there so super fast. We didn't get to see anything, but this trip with these guys, we actually walked around and we got those little bird bikes that we drove around like idiots and, and, and, and, there's shooters not as good as, there's shooters, shooters, shooters. And so, you know, again, idiot, I was just like, wow, I was so humbled to be, I'm sure everybody says this, but just not being there, not visiting

and not knowing anything about it, is like, wow, there's so much history, and so much respect once you go there and see it and see it in your hands. Yeah, man, it's the capital, it's just incredible. No. Sean kept going, he kept going, he's on his way. So what is this place?

This is where they make the laws. Wait a second. This is where they make, and he's like, literally, they make the laws there. They make the laws there they make the laws Right the guys we're like yeah, we know man. I like this And the story you'll see it in the dark you'll see that and I literally is like oh look at that and then a wall No, I just wanted it could Could you ever run for office?

Look at me, of course. LAUGHTER By the way, I'm sad. I'm sadly, sadly, by the way, I saw... I've been alive now for, I don't know, five or six presidents. And one particular president, I won't say who it is, I saw a win in an election. I was like, if that guy can win, I literally can win.

LAUGHTER Yeah. Yeah, yeah. I saw a win in an election. I was like, if that guy can win, I literally can win. Oh. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, I'd vote for Sean. Let's go. Sean for president. Somebody needs to make, please, one of you make hats that

say I'd vote for Sean. I know I'm Canadian. That was so accusatory. You could have on both, by the way, so suck it. They were all suck it. Smarty pants over here. Oh boy, don't get them riled up, guys. I have one.

He's been really well behaved. I know. I could feel it, though. I could be a rock stew with a foot over here. What is the one law that you're working on or one that you more than anything that you're really, really passionate about that you really wanna see go through?

I mean, there's so many. Medicare for all is a big one. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, this like, janky healthcare system that we have in the United States, the fact that we are so-called most developed, wealthiest country in the world,

and we also have the highest maternal mortality rate of the developed world. I mean, this is ridiculous. It's kind of embarrassing. It absolutely isn't embarrassing. And I think COVID also showed a lot of that too. Like, the whole rest of the world is like, y'all live like that?

Like, really? It's exciting exciting though when you see something get done that's immediate either through executive action or or or or or something similar to how did you have speaking of which how did you get she's response to get over a billion dollars was sent to reimburse the families of people who lost somebody during covid for COVID for the funeral costs. Yeah. Like, you were behind that.

Like, that's incredible. And it was done like that. Yeah. I mean, that was really gratifying. And I think it's a perfect example of governance and public governance, working the way that it should work. So when COVID first hit, it hit New York City, it was one of the first places that got hit super intensely.

And out of all of New York City, and out of the entire country, out of the top 10 most impacted, most hit zip codes in the country by COVID, five of them were in my district. And this was at the onset of the pandemic when people still didn't even know what was going on. We didn't know how it spread.

So it's great. We didn't know anything about it. And what we saw was that there was a neighborhood in our district, in our community, in East Elmhurst, in Queens, and they were saying, this is hitting us really hard. And it's hitting frontline workers harder, it's hitting, you know, people whose jobs are public facing,

food service workers, hospital workers, you know, retail workers, like it's hitting us hardest. And we can't even afford to bury the people that have- I don't believe it happened. I don't believe it happened. What? But this is, and I guess probably a lot of people

want to know also, was the baby real. And the hangover, sorry, this is for Bradley. Are they men? They hangover. They're men American sniper. American sniper. Why would you bring that up? Why would you bring that up again?

I like both. I like both. Can't get over it. I love Americans. I'm building that. I'm gonna have money for the baby. You know, I don't want to tell you. I moved his hand. I mean, I made it work.

I moved it to that. But you recognize that you put it up front and got it done. Yeah, so folks in our community, they said, listen, this is gonna, this is like a huge cost, and we're gonna need help. And so we took that, I brought it to the House Democratic Caucus, I brought it to the speaker, I brought it to our center, Chuck Schumer, to like anyone who was listening.

I was like, we need to do this. And it took a little while. It was an immediate. It took a lot of work. But we were able to authorize in total $8 billion for rent to reimburse any funds. I'm unbelievable. Unbelievable.

For anybody who wants someone to go COVID. I'm amazing. It's not. Unbelievable. Unbelievable. For anybody who wants to go COVID. Amazing. It's not means tested. There's no like crazy, you know, there's no income thresholds, nothing. Like this is impacting all of us. We're all in this together. We're all going to help each other.

No questions asked. Well, we don't want to take any more of your valuable time. You can continue please the incredible work that you're doing. Thank you for taking a little time out, hanging out with us. Ladies and gentlemen, you can continue please the incredible work that you're doing. Thank you for taking a little time out, hanging out with us.

Ladies and gentlemen, Alexandra Acacia Cortez. Thank you for having me. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you, Senator. Thank you.

Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you, everyone. Thank you. Wow. You guys, AOC! AOC! You can go too. No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no,

No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no We have an announcement to make. Smartlis is now four people. Yeah. Come on. I mean, we couldn't make his deal, but he did say he'd stop by. Bradley, you could do it.

You're very familiar with the show now. I love the show, you know. Right, you've just gotten caught up on all the episodes. Yeah. Oh, murder bill. Oh, murder bill. Oh, murder bill. Oh! Oh!

You guys thank you for, were you done, Angel? No, I don't think so. I was just talking to Bradley. Oh, good. To Bradley. I got a heart out. Where are you going? Go ahead.

It's better be good. I wanted to say about AOC that it was, first of all, I can't believe you got her Jason to come down and chat with us. Yeah. And yeah, I mean, she's a game changer. I want to be kind, you know, like you said in your intro, just a one-of-a-kind.

And I got nervous, meaning her, because, you know, she's super smart, and I didn't wanna ask them questions, but I did anyway. Yeah. But she wasn't judging you. I thought that you were doing that back there, right? You think so? Yeah.

Yeah. No, she's, we're very, very like, look, whether you agree with her or disagree with her, it's undeniable that the people, as Bradley, you said, that are taking their time. choosing to spend their, like, frontline workers, which I think we have some here tonight, perhaps, yes. Yeah. I mean, it's like, thank you guys.

And, you know, we know that we're, you know, a safety sense from smart. And we're just doing dumb chat crap that hopefully you guys enjoy listening to when you're in the middle of doing stuff that's really important. So, you know. Yeah, no. Yeah, we do this as a goof. We started this as a goof, and we're so lucky that you guys listen to us on a weekly basis.

We feel, and even we can have people like our guests tonight, and no matter where you fall on either side, we can all come together on a night like this in a... Bye! On a day! Bye! Woo! Thank you very much. Smart. Smart. Smart. Smart. Smart. Smart.

Smart. Smart. Smart. Smart. Smart. SmartLess is 100% organic and artisantly handcrafted by Bennett Barbaco, Michael Grant Terry, and Rob Umbjerf. Smite, loss.