What A Day - Mandela Barnes Wants To Be Wisconsin's Next Senator

Episode Date: October 4, 2021

Wisconsin's 34-year-old Lieutenant Governor Mandela Barnes is one of the many Democrats running to beat Republican U.S. Senator Ron Johnson. Johnson's seat has been seen as one of the most likely to flip to Democratic hands next year. We interviewed Barnes about entering the primary with statewide name recognition and his overt effort to be the staunch progressive in next year's race.And in headlines: a 126,000 gallon oil spill hits the Southern California shores, a historically Black beach in L.A. is returned to its founders' descendants, and Ozy Media is shutting down.For a transcript of this episode, please visit crooked.com/whataday

It's Monday, October 4th. I'm Gideon Resnick. And I'm Josie Duffy Rice. And this is What A Day, the podcast that plays out of a small speaker when you walk by animatronic witches at the Halloween store. Yes, we did a deal with some Halloween people. It is certainly outside the box, but it might pay off. Pulls very well in the 10-minute monitor crowd. Certainly, yep. On today's show, a massive oil spill sludges up the coast of Southern California,

plus the mysterious media company known as Ozzy announces that it is shutting down. But first, we continue our series of conversations with political candidates around the country. the mysterious media company known as Ozzie announces that it is shutting down. But first, we continue our series of conversations with political candidates around the country. Today, 34-year-old Wisconsin Lieutenant Governor Mandela Barnes. This summer, Barnes, who has served alongside Governor Tony Evers since early 2019, announced that he was running for Senate in what will be among many closely watched races next year. He is challenging the incumbent Republican Senator Ron Johnson, who has gone on to espouse even crazier things than typical since Trump's absence from office.

Hard to do. Johnson's public statements are often conspiracy riffs on everything from President Biden's victory to the Black Lives Matter movement to the COVID-19 pandemic. He covers it all. Yes, it is a litany. And so Barnes walked into a crowded Democratic primary with statewide name recognition and this overt effort to be the staunch progressive in the race. And Johnson's Senate seat has been seen as one of the most likely to flip to Democratic

hands next year. And he remains personally undecided about whether he will actually run again. So I caught up with Barnes a few weeks after he launched his campaign, as well as a few weeks after the Milwaukee Bucks made it to the NBA finals. And I started off by asking him what made him different from everyone else in the race. I think it's the work that we've been a part of in my last two and a half years in office. And even prior to that, my work as a state representative and the experience, and not just experience in terms of the work that we've been doing, experience in terms of life. Having been born in the city of Milwaukee, spent most of my life in Wisconsin except for college,

and have been able to experience some of the best, but unfortunately, some of the worst, what this state has to offer. The things that we've had to respond to have been have run the gamut. Could be storm damage. It could be pandemic response, working side by side with the governor to make sure that there was adequate testing and also make sure that there were adequate vaccines across the state to make sure that we beat this pandemic. Right. And another thing that you had to respond to as well, that is a painful memory for Wisconsin. Last year, you were very much part of a community response to the shooting of Jacob Blake. How has the progress of the broader sort of anti-racist movement that we've seen in the country and also the lack of federal action on policing informed your choice to join the race and how you're going to sort of approach this actual campaign? Yeah, I was very much involved in it. You know, I look around, too, because there were a lot of folks who who pay more attention to issues of racial injustice,

who pay more attention to issues of police violence, but paid attention in the sense that a lot of folks didn't even realize that this was a thing until it happened in their backyard. And there was no way you could ignore it. But this is an ongoing struggle. This isn't something that started last year. This is a fight that's been going on for quite some time, especially in the state of Wisconsin with the significant racial disparities that we have in criminal justice. This could be an arrest and this could also be in terms of incarceration. So I think that we have a long way to go. But what happened was you saw so much community being built in places that aren't particularly

diverse in Wisconsin. You see individuals and organizations step up and demand more to say, you know, although this may not have happened here, although it's probably not super likely it's going to happen here, we're going to stand up to say that it will absolutely not happen here. And so that was one of the amazing takeaways from last year, despite it all, right? But in no way is the problem fixed. In no way are we far enough removed from it where we can turn the page on this chapter. We have to see this work through. And I do fully believe that getting in this race gives an opportunity to bring more attention and light to a needed conversation, because this is not just something that happens

in Wisconsin. We see, obviously, this being a pervasive issue all across the country. And if we don't have leaders who are bold enough to step up and call out wrong wherever they see it, then we aren't going to move in the direction that we need to move in. Right. What did the 2018 race tell you about the dynamics of Wisconsin, like on that political level, county by county? And what, if anything, has changed since then? Yeah, so Barack Obama was the high watermark here in Wisconsin, like many other parts of the country. But I'll say, though, another thing that happens with Democrats is we fall into this Republican trap of an urban-rural divide. Let me tell you, when I go to rural parts of the state, I have the same exact conversations that I have when I'm at home in Milwaukee.

There are issues with health care in urban areas where health care could be, you know, accessible because there's a hospital right around the corner. It's not always affordable in rural areas where, you know, someone may actually have health insurance, but it's inaccessible because you got to drive like 45 minutes to an hour just to get to an appointment. And another issue as well is whether we are preparing to keep the next generation of farmers on the land, especially as health care becomes increasingly more expensive and out of reach for so many families. That's one of the main conversations I have besides climate change with farmers is the fact that, you know, if we don't get some form of universal health care, then we are going to be in trouble. We are going to continue to lose our family farms. And I'm talking about creating an economy that works for everybody.

That's a conversation I have in Milwaukee. That is a conversation I can have in Platteville. And we have to explore new thinking, especially in respect to a green economy here in Wisconsin. I think we've been missing out because we haven't had the leadership. We were eight years dormant with Scott Walker in terms of addressing the climate crisis and also in terms of embracing the green economy. The time is now for us to think bold and be incredibly imaginative. That is the approach that people are looking for, regardless of what part of the state you're in. And am I saying we're going to win every part of rural Wisconsin again? No, I'm not saying that. But I'm saying we don't have to get blown out 70 to 30 every time. Right. You know, we can we can we can

shrink those margins. We can make inroads. But that starts by having good conversations with people. That means having candidates who are not going to be afraid to talk about what needs to be talked about. Yeah. And you're talking a lot about climate and health care, which I think is interesting. More broadly, what do you think right now these midterms are going to be about on a national level? And what about in Wisconsin? Is it going to be the same issues? Is it going to be a mixture? How are you viewing that right now? Look, we're in a period of recovery. And as much as we like to feel that we're almost out of it, we're not. A lot of folks still are having problems putting food on the table. There's still so much uncertainty. A lot of people left a job that isn't there for them when they will attempt to go back. And we've been through this before. We've been through this time

and time again with offshoring. We've been through this time and time again with the recession of 2008. And the reality is there are some folks in communities all across Wisconsin, like much of this country, who have not even recovered from the 2008 recession yet. And they went into the pandemic. And for the people who already had it, you know, had a quite difficult experience in living with living in America, it became that much worse. So the work that we have to do must include uplifting all communities. And that is I mentioned health healthcare and climate change. I keep talking about those. And I talk about climate change because there's such an opportunity for us. There's such an opportunity for us to not just do right by the environment, but to create jobs,

to create good paying jobs, jobs that will last, union jobs. And we can't forget that because those are the bread and butter issues, the putting food on the table. You can't have kitchen table issues if you don't have food on the table to even have these conversations. And so we have to make sure that quality of life is front and center for people. You know, the health care part, it manifests in so many different ways because health care isn't just health insurance or going to see a doctor. It is what food is available for a person to eat. You know, what is their community structure? Are there safe, walkable routes that, you know, don't include vehicle traffic? Is there mass transportation to get people from point A to point B, to get people to and from the jobs, to get people to and from recreation, to get people to and from the opportunities? You know, we have, you don't have many opportunities, many, many

chances to create that ideal society that we will all like to live in. But in this moment, when there's so much despair, there's no way we can let this moment go by the wayside. We have to take full advantage of it. Yeah, that is my conversation with Mandela Barnes, who is running to replace Republican Ron Johnson. And you can stay tuned for a couple other clips on the What A Day feed coming soon. And a very, very, very, very, very critical reminder, local elections like this one are more important than ever. So be a part of Cricket's campaign, No Off Years, to get connected with groups on the ground working on political races near you. Just head to votesaveamerica.com

slash nooffyears. And that's the latest for now. We'll be back after some ads. Let's wrap up with some headlines. Headlines. A pipeline breach caused over 126,000 gallons of crude oil to flow into the water off of Southern California's Orange County this weekend, closing miles of coastline and killing wildlife in the Pacific Ocean. The resulting oil slick spanned a full 8,320 acres, unreal, stretching from Huntington to Newport Beach, and reports say that scores of dead fish and birds are already washing up on shore. It originated at an oil rig operated by the company Beta Offshore. The pipeline had stopped leaking as of Sunday afternoon, and Huntington Beach officials

deployed floating barriers called booms to try and contain the spill and protect sensitive wildlife areas. The extent of the environmental damage is still coming into focus, but the Huntington Beach spill is about twice as large by volume as one that happened in San Francisco Bay in 2007, which caused the documented deaths of nearly 7,000 birds. Dear Lord. Yeah, it's awful. On the more positive side of California beach news, which the show is all about, Governor Gavin Newsom signed a bill last Thursday that authorized the return of property known as Bruce's Beach to the descendants of a black couple that was effectively run out of town nearly 100 years ago. According to the L.A. Times, in 1912, Will much more along the beach, which became known as Bruce's Beach, and it attracted more Black families to the Bertraman community.

Initially, there were racist threats against community members from the Ku Klux Klan, and later, city officials seized the properties through eminent domain. They said at the time that they needed the land for a public park, but the lot actually remained vacant for many decades after. Anthony Bruce, the great-great-grandson of Willa and Charles Bruce, was at the press conference where Newsom signed the bill. He recently told NBC News that even after all these years, he thought the Bruce family would face similar racism should they return to the area.

I believe if Anthony Bruce or anybody else in the Bruce family comes back here, we're gonna see the same exact thing. I don't think it's changed, Harry. the Bruce family comes back here, we're going to see the same exact thing. I don't think it's changed, Harry. I think it's still here. And that's why we're not rushing to set up shop again. Advocates are hopeful, though, that the move by California lawmakers to return Bruce's Beach can set a precedent to give back other properties that non-white residents were forced out of by white communities. The estimated value of Bruce's Beach is $72 million.

Now we want to take a second to put a curse on ourselves by joking about the downfall of one of our fellow digital media companies. The enigmatic startup called Aussie Media announced a shutdown last Friday after valuing itself at $159 million last year. I also value myself at $159 million. We talked about Aussie last week. The company's rapid collapse began when the New York Times published allegations that the company's co-founder impersonated a YouTube exec on the phone to win over potential investors at Goldman Sachs. It turns out that call filled just one slot on Aussie media's stacked lineup of primetime deception. To cite just a couple of examples,

they also told employees a show of theirs would air on A&E when A&E had already rejected it and when it was really headed for YouTube. And they once attributed a glowing review of their programming to the trade publication deadline when really it came from their own co-founder. Advertisers pulled their support for Aussie shows towards the end of last week. The chairman resigned and the board of directors subsequently decided to close up shop.

After the company announced its closure, one former Aussie reporter said, quote, we were all devastated by the amount of deception that was going on by leadership, but I would 100% stand by the journalism that was done there. Yeah, I mean, I would be devastated too. It's completely devastating. Yeah, I mean, I would be devastated too. It's completely devastating.

Yeah, absolutely. An investigation called the Pandora Papers has exposed a vast and secretive offshore system where global elites have shielded billions of dollars from tax officials, creditors, and more for decades. Every day I come into work wearing AOC's dress from the Met Gala, but today it feels more relevant than ever.

First reported yesterday by more than 150 news outlets, including the BBC, The Washington Post and more. The papers implicate people like former British Prime Minister Tony Blair and Colombian Prime Minister of Dancing Shakira. One story says that King Abdullah II of Jordan used various shell companies to feed his addiction to, quote, luxury homes and spent more than $100 million on several properties in Malibu, California. Another says that in 2003, an offshore company happened to buy a $4.1 million home in Monaco for a Russian model, who was rumored to be in a years-long relationship with Vladimir Putin and just happened to give birth to a child weeks before moving in. Ooh, interesting.

In total, the Pandora Papers has nearly 12 million records on more than 330 politicians and 130 Forbes billionaires. It's a problem that there's that many in the first place. But don't let that convince you to start writing off fun dinners as business expenses where you are going to spend the rest of your life on the run from the IRS. I have to say, I wish that I could do something about my addiction to luxury homes. You know, there's really not much I can do to fulfill that addiction. You know, we can all dream. We can all dream.

And those are the headlines. One more thing before we go. Don't miss out on the final episode of This Land that is out now. You can follow along from the beginning as Rebecca Nagel uncovers a string of custody battles over Native American children, all leading back to powerful conservative forces quietly trying to dismantle American Indian tribal rights. To hear how it all ends, listen to all eight episodes of This Land wherever you get your podcasts. Yes, highly recommend. It's really incredible. That is all for today. If you like the show, make sure you subscribe, leave a review,

pay taxes so billionaires around the world don't have to until your friends listen. And if you're into reading and not just tales of new media intrigue like me, what it is, also a nightly newsletter. Check it out and subscribe at crooked.com slash subscribe. I'm Josie Duffy Rice. I'm Gideon Resnick. And listen for us at the Halloween store. Yeah.

Yeah, I'm very famous there. I sound just like a witch. What A Day is a production of Crooked Media. It's recorded and mixed by Charlotte Landis. Jazzy Marine is our associate producer with production help from Jossie Kaufman. Our head writer is John Milstein and our executive producers are Leo Duran and me. Our theme music is by Colin Gilliard andashaka.