April 9, 2024 • 29 mins
Every year, at Girls State, young women from across the country gather to form a mock government while honing their leadership skills. The new Apple TV+ documentary “Girls State” follows some of these girls from 2022’s event, documenting their triumphs, failures, tears, and breakthroughs. Co-director Amanda McBaine joins the show along with one of the film’s main subjects, Emily Worthmore. They dig into the value of crossing the aisle, and all the amazing things you can learn from young women. Plus, Danielle and Simone talk about the total eclipse, and weigh the pros and cons of IUDs. Did you watch Girls State? Let us know what you thought by sending a voice memo to hello@thebrightsidepodcast.com.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:02):
Hello Sunshine.
Speaker 2 (00:03):
Hey, besties. Today, on the bright Side, the Future is Female,
we dive into the world the new Apple TV doc
Girls State. We'll be joined by co director Amanda McBain
and a young woman from the film who might just
run for president one day. It's Tuesday, April ninth. I'm
Simone Boyce.
Speaker 1 (00:20):
I'm Danielle Robe and this is the bright Side from
Hello Sunshine. Okay, Simone, before we talk about anything else today,
please tell me about your Total Eclipse of the Heart.
Tell me about your trip.
Speaker 2 (00:35):
Well, it's true. Scientific name is a total eclipse of
the Sun. I mean, I've never seen something like it before.
The sky goes totally dark and then it comes back.
And being able to see it up close and in
person like I've seen I've seen it from far away,
but to see it this close, it was just remarkable.
Speaker 1 (00:52):
Your dad's been planning this trip for like four years.
Do you think that it was all he wanted it
to be?
Speaker 3 (00:57):
I hope so.
Speaker 2 (00:58):
I hope it was everything that my dad wanted a
lot of his cousins and brothers and sisters there, so
it was a really special time. Okay, Danielle, you know
I'm a space nerd. You know, I would go to
space tomorrow if Jeff Bezos called me and asked me
to go totally nuts. But I think he should call you.
But I think I'm not the only space nerd out there.
So for all y'all who are interested, here's a little
bit about solar eclipses. It happens when the Moon is
(01:19):
positioned between the Earth and the Sun. And there are
other types of eclipses. You've probably heard about these, like
a partial eclipse where the Moon blocks out a chunk
of the Sun. A solar eclipse like the one I
saw is actually pretty rare, and it can only happen
if the Moon aligns perfectly between the Earth and the Sun,
making them appear the same size. Fun fact, they take
place about every eighteen months, but the location changes, so
(01:42):
that's why in North America we haven't seen one in
seven years.
Speaker 1 (01:45):
I didn't know if you were speaking English or not
for the last sixty.
Speaker 3 (01:49):
Seconds, Danielle. It wasn't even that complicated.
Speaker 1 (01:52):
It really is. You lost me at moon and Sun
and stars and location.
Speaker 3 (01:56):
And yet when Channy's here, you're all ears.
Speaker 1 (02:00):
And she has something to say about what that means.
I don't know but if you didn't make the trip
like me, Apparently you can still see a solar eclipse eventually.
The next one is in twenty twenty six. I read
and you can see it in Iceland, in Portugal and Spain,
or you can wait until two thousand and thirty three,
so like nine years from now and you can see
(02:22):
it in Alaska. That would be cool. Maybe we should
plan on doing that in nine years?
Speaker 2 (02:25):
Do you want to go to Alaska? I heard Portugal,
and then I didn't hear anything else after that.
Speaker 1 (02:29):
Well, apparently if you want to see it in the
lower forty eight states, you'll have to wait until twenty
forty four. So you're right, this is a pretty rare occurrence.
Speaker 2 (02:37):
Yeah, I mean, I don't know that I'll get to
see another one in my lifetime.
Speaker 3 (02:40):
Feels like a bucket list moment.
Speaker 1 (02:41):
Yeah kay, I'm about to shift to something that's totally unrelated.
Speaker 3 (02:46):
Here we go.
Speaker 1 (02:47):
There is all of these videos on social media of
women sharing their IUD insertion stories, and it's basically this
trend where women record themselves getting their IUD insertain and
I have to tell you, at first glance, I was like, whoa,
this is very personal to see watch here, and then
I felt differently.
Speaker 3 (03:07):
Wait, they're showing what are they showing exactly? Because I
haven't seen these videos.
Speaker 1 (03:12):
They're covered by the rope, But the girls that are
sharing these are saying that they felt really unprepared for
the pain that they felt when it was inserted, and
they wanted to share with other women.
Speaker 2 (03:22):
So I've always been afraid of getting an IUD, largely
because one of my really good friends got it, and
she has had a horrible experience with it, truly a
saga to where it was problematic from the time that
it was inserted and then she had to get surgery
to get it taken out. And the thing is, I
want to be careful here because I know that that's anecdotal,
and I know that there are lots of women who
(03:45):
have great experiences with IUDs and it can offer them
freedom and liberation from other forms of birth control.
Speaker 4 (03:51):
Right.
Speaker 1 (03:52):
So, I didn't grow up taking birth control pills. I've
always wanted to limit any exposure to hormones, and in hindsight,
I'm actually really glad I didn't do that. But a
few years ago, I think it was the summer of
twenty twenty one, I had an abortion, and because of
that experience, I had an IUD inserted because I felt
(04:16):
like the risk that I was taking was too great.
It felt like I didn't want to have that experience again,
and I'd rather have an IUD. I like having it.
It's given me peace of mind and freedom, as you said,
but I don't love the idea of having something foreign
(04:38):
inside of me, or having anything hormonal inside of me.
I'd rather have nothing, But at this point in my life,
I feel like it's better than nothing.
Speaker 3 (04:46):
Do you feel it?
Speaker 1 (04:47):
I don't feel it. When I first got it, I
felt a little anxious for like a month or two,
and my doctor said there's no actual proof that that's
the case, but he has had other women say that.
But the anxiety dissipated, so I don't feel it. I
don't feel effects from it. I'm grateful for it, but
I think every women nowadays are much more thoughtful about
(05:10):
what they're taking in terms of birth control. I think
before it was kind of like just pushed on everybody.
Speaker 2 (05:15):
Yeah, I haven't taken birth control in the years because
it just does a number on my body.
Speaker 3 (05:19):
I don't like it.
Speaker 1 (05:20):
When you say a number, what do you mean just.
Speaker 2 (05:22):
Not feeling like myself. So I think that you do
have to take everything that you read on TikTok with
a grain of salt. But the mere fact that we're
having these discussions that might prompt some of us to
go have the conversations with the experts, with the doctors
to get to the truth.
Speaker 1 (05:39):
Up next, we're talking to the director and one of
the subjects of the new documentary, Girls State. The film
looks at the annual leadership event for girls and let
me tell you, the future looks bright.
Speaker 2 (05:59):
Danielle, I have been so excited about this segment because
the idea of young women becoming empowered to be leaders
is something that just gets me so fired up. And
that's what Girls State is all about. It's a week
long program for young women interested in politics, and every year,
hundreds of teenage girls gather in cities across the country
to create a mock government. At this summer camp, they
(06:21):
run for office, they debate their peers, and they even
pass mock legislation.
Speaker 1 (06:26):
It's so cool and at its core, Girls State encourages
young women to engage politically and potentially to run for office.
And now there's a whole documentary about it called Girls State,
which you can catch on Apple TV.
Speaker 3 (06:39):
Here's what went down behind the scenes.
Speaker 2 (06:41):
Okay, So, in the summer of twenty twenty two, just
days before the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, filmmaker
Amanda McBain traveled to Missouri to attend Girls State and
to meet the incredible young women who were participating in
that year's program. Now, one of them was nineteen year
old Emily Worthmore. Both Amanda and Emily are here with
us today. Welcome to the bright Side ladies.
Speaker 5 (07:03):
Welcome, Hi, Danielle and Simone.
Speaker 4 (07:05):
Hi. Thanks for having us.
Speaker 2 (07:07):
Emily, I'd love to hear more about why you were
drawn to Girls State and politics in general.
Speaker 6 (07:13):
Yeah, so, I since the fourth grade, kind of before
I knew what politics really meant. I had ran for
mayor of my fourth grade classroom and I had won,
and that was kind of my introduction to public office,
I guess, and I decided at a very young age
that I wanted to be the president one day. That
was like my dream jobs from fourth grade forward. So
I had had time to look into the program, see
(07:35):
what it was about, and gain a lot of interest
in it. And then summer after my junior year, it
was time to go, and I was so ready and
excited for it.
Speaker 1 (07:43):
You mentioned wanting to be president since fourth grade. I
used to dress up like Hillary Clinton for every book
report in like third and fourth grade.
Speaker 4 (07:53):
Not Hillary Clinton, but I used to dress to placate
a president too.
Speaker 1 (07:55):
Yeah, but I was wondering who, because that for me
was a visible political figure that I looked up to.
But for you, who was it? Who did you look to?
Speaker 6 (08:06):
Interestingly enough, I really liked Trump's press secretary. Her name's
Kaylee mcindinney, and I really liked her because I think
that she was really good at defending somebody who isn't
necessarily the easiest to defend a lot of times, but
she was always very well educated. She attended Harvard, She
always had a million facts of her sleeve ready to
go in her binder. And I also liked that she
(08:28):
kind of looked like Barbie, and she was like this
girl who was like not only like very feminine and
beautiful that I just like admired when I was growing up,
but also she was very powerful. I thought that was
really impressive and someone that I still look up to
in politics.
Speaker 1 (08:43):
Amanda, you and your husband Jesse Moss directed and produced
a prior documentary called Boys State, which followed thousands of
teen boys attending Boys State in Texas. So what drew
you to these programs? I feel like when documentarians get
into things, it's usually because of a real passion.
Speaker 5 (09:00):
Great question, I think for Jesse and I.
Speaker 7 (09:03):
Trump's election actually and the division of our country in
twenty sixteen was so top of mind that we were
looking for some project we could get into that would
help us kind of make sense of things. And that's
when we read an article in the Washington Post that
was coverage of Texas Boys State that year had their
(09:24):
legislature had voted to secede.
Speaker 5 (09:26):
From the Union.
Speaker 7 (09:27):
And we thought that was funny but also kind of
indicative of sort of the weather vein of our country.
And a light bulb went off in our head, like, oh,
here's what we need to do. This is we want
to check out how young people are coming of age
in this moment in our country politically. And we didn't
(09:48):
know about the program before that, honestly, either Boys State
or Girls State, which has been around for eighty years
and in California too, in every state, so we called
up Texas Boy State and made that film. We always
knew we wanted to make State too, and in fact,
we're talking to Texas Girls State at the time, but
it didn't work out that session twoenty eighteen, So then
we had to spend some time figuring out where we
(10:11):
were going to go, when we're going to go, how
we're going to go to a girl State somewhere in
another state.
Speaker 5 (10:17):
But it was never a matter of why. For us.
Speaker 7 (10:20):
It was really then the question of do girls do
politics differently and what their take on the challenges of
representational democracy might be. And there are similarities and there
are differences.
Speaker 1 (10:33):
Amanda, as you were making the film, I'm so curious
as to what you learn from the younger generation about
politics and the political climate right now.
Speaker 5 (10:42):
I'd say learning still not learned.
Speaker 7 (10:46):
Part of it for me is a refresher on my patriotism, frankly,
because I think I'm so kind of traumatized by the
chaos of national politics. So these spaces are so special
because they are a place where people whose politics are
so different. Emily and I do not share the same politics,
but we can all come together in real life, right
(11:09):
not online, and have conversations about very very tricky subjects
if we respect one another and.
Speaker 5 (11:19):
Look at each other as human beings.
Speaker 7 (11:21):
When we talked to hundreds of kids before deciding who
we were going to follow, in the four or five
months before the session starts, we talked to hundreds of
kids over in Missouri, and I got a real sense
from them that they don't buy into the binaries of
Democrat and Republican. They're very all acarte with their politics,
which is really interesting. They don't identify as those parties
(11:44):
that they haven't had to right, they haven't had to
go to a ballot box and do this or that,
and so their flexibility, their elasticity, those are all things
that are really interesting about that age group. They're also
not naive, like they've watched unhealthy politics being played out
in Congress and in the adult state for a long time,
(12:05):
and I feel the optimism is married with realism and
they're not naive, which is good.
Speaker 1 (12:11):
Emily, do you feel like any of your political beliefs
shifted by being friends with these girls who have opposing
political beliefs than you.
Speaker 6 (12:19):
I would not say that any of my political beliefs
shifted so much, but I do think.
Speaker 4 (12:24):
That I have a lot of empathy.
Speaker 6 (12:27):
And I think now, you know, as years go on,
we become more educated about things, and I'd say I'm
still politically pretty similar to where I'm at, but I'm
thinking of ways to make liberals conservatives alike more happy
with the situation that we have, like things with guns
and abortion and things like that. I think that there's
(12:47):
a lot of compromise that could be done. And having
these conversations and these friends, hearing those stories really humanizes
people and makes me realize it's not as black and
white as you know, we'd like to think of it,
you know, proble life approach, like, there's so many in
between swow and I think that I'm more open to that,
(13:09):
and I continue to think about ways that we could
solve problems without necessarily changing morals.
Speaker 7 (13:16):
I think exposure matters, and that's part of the promise
of these programs is some kids who had lived in
small towns of three hundred people had never met somebody
from a big city and vice versa. And I think
that that interface actually may not change politics, but it
certainly makes you understand there's a human being who's on
(13:37):
the other side of that political position. And that's something
we can't do very much in other spaces because either
we're online and we don't bother to get to know them,
or I also want to say, there are no go
zones for me anyway. Election denying and certain like fact
distortion is not something I actually want to have a
conversation about.
Speaker 5 (13:58):
So maybe that's.
Speaker 7 (13:59):
Something that But there's common cause, you know, between Emily
and I about that, right, And there's common cause about
the lack of female representation in politics. That's something we
have common cause. And she has a giant, giant, giant
heart and I have a you know, a good sized heart.
So those are the things you lean into.
Speaker 2 (14:18):
You said that so well, Amanda. I think it's absolutely
about exposure. Emily, you are going through this mock government
process in the film and you decide to run for governor.
And there's a moment in the film when another citizen
of Girls State tells you don't feel like you have
to be so perfect, and it brings tears to your eyes.
(14:39):
Do you put that pressure on yourself or do you
feel like you have something to prove to everyone else?
Speaker 4 (14:44):
I think that I.
Speaker 6 (14:46):
Think it might be an internal pressure just and don't
I don't I wouldn't consider myself a perfectionist, and I
think that internally now I want to succeed. I think
that's a pretty natural reaction. But I think since then
I've learned to be a little less perfectionistic and more messy.
Speaker 4 (15:04):
And I think that it's really good.
Speaker 6 (15:06):
But the moment that her name's Charity, the girl that
had that conversation with me in the hallway, I think
that moment right before you're about to cry, when you're
holding in tears and then somebody says something nice to you,
like it's okay, and then you're just like.
Speaker 4 (15:17):
Oh, and I'm really gonna cry. Yes, that was one
of those moments. So I think it's so funny that
it was.
Speaker 6 (15:22):
You know, captured on camera because it's like that choking
feeling in your throat when you're like trying not to
cry and it burns and then like you like really
are trying to hold it in. That was like one
of probably the highlights of the film for me is
seeing like just somebody who was actually running against me
feeling be so kind.
Speaker 4 (15:38):
I just it's so beautiful to me.
Speaker 2 (15:41):
Big girls do cry, right, Danielle, Yeah, I like I'd
say at least once a week at work.
Speaker 1 (15:48):
I agree, you know, at least once to at least
if you're not crying, do you really have feelings?
Speaker 3 (15:53):
That's how you know you're human.
Speaker 1 (15:55):
Amanda Is, you were making this film and observing these
kids govern them, were there any moments that struck you
as particularly powerful?
Speaker 7 (16:04):
I think to watch all the girls that have been
finally made it through the very long, arduous task of
even getting a position on the Supreme Court and girls state.
So those seven girls they hold hands and they give
each other affirmations before they head on stage to hear
the privacy case. And then to watch them listen to
(16:30):
this privacy case, which had a lot of resonance at
the time because it was a week after this leaked
Dobb's opinion had come out. It was, you know, abortion
politics was top of mind for a lot of kids,
regardless of where you landed on the spectrum of pro
choice pro life. To have that case be argued by
two women in front of an audience of women.
Speaker 5 (16:52):
Was very, very powerful because I was watching.
Speaker 7 (16:57):
Young women in the state of Missouri, where there's a
trigger law that they all know is going to go
to and go into effect in a week. Making abortioning
legal to watch them take ownership of that conversation in
a really smart way too. This is not a moral conversation,
This is not do you believe in this? It was
a legal conversation. It was a constitutional conversation. To watch
(17:18):
them take ownership of that, if only for a brief moment,
was very powerful for me to witness.
Speaker 2 (17:25):
Spoiler alert ahead, turnback if you don't want to understand
the ending of this film, Emily, your journey inspires me
so much because you're going through this mock government process.
After you lost that governor's race. That was a really
tough setback, but you make the most of the week
and end up winning a full scholarship to Lyndenwood University.
(17:48):
Looking back, how did that rejection motivate you?
Speaker 6 (17:51):
I mean, I had been one of those front runners
for every election of my high school. Then you go
into a place where nobody knows you and you have
less than a week to make an impression.
Speaker 4 (18:02):
It's a lot of pressure.
Speaker 6 (18:03):
And then to lose, which wasn't the end of the world,
and I knew that going in, but it still stings
a little bit. And then the scholarship was really like
the cherry on top, because now my life.
Speaker 4 (18:16):
Is so different than it could have been.
Speaker 6 (18:18):
So overall, I owe a lot to Girls State, and
I'm just so thankful for that.
Speaker 1 (18:23):
Emily, after you lost the governor's race, you didn't give
up on Girls State. Instead, you switched to your other passion, journalism,
and you were able to uncover a major story that
ultimately led to your scholarship. What did you write about?
Speaker 6 (18:37):
Yeah, So the reason I actually went into writing the article,
I throughout the week everybody was talking about dress code
and about you know, the boys have time for athletics
and we don't, and just some different disparities. And for
me personally, I wasn't necessarily too interested in the they
get to wear whatever they want and we don't. That
wasn't just the top of my list because it made
(18:57):
sense to me, Okay, we're at a professional camp. It
makes sense we're going to dress professional. Like I love craptops.
I'm wearing crop top right now. But that wasn't my
big concern during the week. I was more annoyed with
how it felt like they were having a less sugar
coated political experience than we.
Speaker 4 (19:12):
Were, and I really wanted that.
Speaker 6 (19:14):
So that's what I was looking for when I first
started writing it, but I covered everything just for the
sake of being fair and balanced. I wanted, you know,
dress code, I wanted the gym things. And then I
was curious about the money that goes into both programs,
because that's like an interesting you know, that's the way
you start something necessarily is look at how much funding.
And so I went online and basically what I found
(19:37):
out is they're funded by two different organizations. One's the
American Legion and then Girls State is the American Legion Auxiliary.
So that limits kind of where Girls State can pull
funding from versus Boys State.
Speaker 4 (19:49):
And obviously there's not a ton.
Speaker 6 (19:50):
That we can do about that because they do are
funded by separate organizations. But if anybody would like to
help or contribute, anybody can donate to the American Legion Auxiliary
for Girls Missouri Girls State and have that directly impact
our program.
Speaker 4 (20:04):
But it was just so I mean, I thought, at first,
while we're being ripped.
Speaker 6 (20:07):
Off, and it just felt very wrong. But now I
understand why it's happening. But it still is an ideal obviously.
Speaker 7 (20:15):
To watch Emily's pivot to leaning into her journalistic talents Frankly,
she's a great listener, which is what made her a
good candidate, but makes her a great journalist. And when
she's investigating the funding disparities between the two programs, she
knows that it could potentially jeopardize her getting this scholarship
(20:40):
because she is writing an article that's critical and who's
that going to rub the wrong way? And she does
it anyway, and I think that that kind of risk,
high risk, high reward is a testament to her. But
to then have her publish this article, but then also
when the scholarship was just a great surprise but also
(21:05):
not a surprise, It's exactly what should have happened.
Speaker 1 (21:08):
We're going to take a quick break and we'll be
right back. We're back with Amanda McBain and Emily worthmore
from the New Girl State documentary, which you can catch
on Apple TV. Amanda, you have two teenage daughters. How
(21:28):
did they shape the way that you and your husband
thought about this film and how did it compare to
your prior film Boys Date.
Speaker 7 (21:35):
I think we are sensitive to how coming of age
during this moment is particularly challenging because the world feels
very binary. You're there in this camp or that you're
either in this gender or that gender. I mean, there's
just so many like make a choice, pick a side,
and I don't think that's a good place to be
(21:57):
when you're young, because you should be trying on all
the things.
Speaker 5 (22:02):
I think we're also particularly sensitive to.
Speaker 7 (22:05):
How girls are very hard on themselves in a way
that I was not surprised to see. At Girls State,
girls give amazing speeches and then walk off stage and
itemize how they had not done everything they wanted to
do on stage and criticize their own performance. I had
(22:25):
not seen that. At Boy State. I'd seen Wow, I'd
seen a lot of okay speeches. I mean, I'm a mom,
so I believe in everybody's speeches, but some of them
were okay and not great. And then a guy would
get off stage and he'd go nailed it, and I
was like, that's awesome that you have that much confidence.
I kind of love it, But I'm also like, where
(22:45):
can I get some of that?
Speaker 5 (22:46):
You know what I mean? I would love some of.
Speaker 1 (22:48):
That, Amanda, how are girls responding to the movie?
Speaker 7 (22:51):
In sharing this film on stage, We've sometimes had very
young kids in the audiences, like Emily, I don't even
remember there was a ten year old in the audience
in Missouri who came up to the mic afterwards to
make a statement that she just loved seeing all these
seventeen year olds kicking butt and doing amazing things in
leadership roles, but also that they'd shared how afraid they were,
(23:14):
or how much how sad they were, or how hard
it was to do that, and that she felt seen
and that she saw herself in these girls. And I
think even just that as a storyteller, I'm like, I
have done here if we just connected with this ten
year old and she saw something that inspired her in
that way and felt better about herself for that moment,
(23:37):
I was like, great.
Speaker 6 (23:38):
That's my favorite part too, is hiring little like young
people in the audience, and like, I think everybody young
is like that really makes me happy to see younger
people seeing this just if anything to be like an
encouragement of like, you can fail, you can go for
big things, especially like little girls like I'm just like,
oh my goodness.
Speaker 4 (23:58):
You know, it's the sweetest thing ever.
Speaker 6 (24:00):
And I just hope that a lot of young, young
girls and young people get to see the film.
Speaker 1 (24:05):
You know, there's so much rhetoric around the things that
are facing us that feel so imminent. There's climate change,
there's reproductive rights, there's gun laws, and so often I
hear adults talking about how well, hopefully the younger generation
(24:26):
will fix this mess. Do you feel inspired by that
or do you feel frustrated by that?
Speaker 4 (24:33):
I think that's frustrating, because I mean, even though I
do it to.
Speaker 6 (24:35):
Myself a lot, where I procrastinate issues that are maybe smaller,
like homework, and I'll say this is for tomorrow me
to handle, I think that it's a whole different ballpark
when we're talking about climate change and things like that
that are very big, and it's not necessarily fair to
push it onto your children. So obviously it'd be great
if we could find solutions now to work towards, because
(24:57):
things only get worse as they get put off and
for procrastinated. But I do think that my generation, I
think that they are very active in politics, regardless of
the side of the aisle, So I do think that
if worst comes to worse, it does get pushed onto us.
We're more likely to find a solution then perhaps older
generations are. But I think it'd be better if we
(25:18):
could all kind of start now and work together and
maybe have those mentors guide us while we're so young.
Speaker 2 (25:24):
I think everyone should watch this movie because it gave
me a lot of hope for the future. The fervor
and the determination in these women. It really inspired me
and moved to me. Emily, you've got aspirations in politics
and journalism. You're a college student right now. What's next
for you after Girls' State?
Speaker 6 (25:45):
Well, currently, I'm a freshman majoring in broadcast, so I'm
focusing on that journalism side. I would love, ideally to
go into political journalism and then run for maybe Missouri
House of Representatives or wherever I end up living.
Speaker 4 (26:00):
That'd be the dream.
Speaker 6 (26:01):
I don't know if that'll be what happens, just because
everything's very unpredictable and so whatever doors open for me,
I'll jump down them and see I'll see what's there.
So if you guys ever need a third podcast host,
let me know.
Speaker 3 (26:16):
She's hustling. She's hustling.
Speaker 7 (26:18):
I mean, I also want to say, just like, as
an aside, Reese Witherspoon was all over this film on
some level because Tracy Flick, because Elle Wood's because sort
of female centered stories, Like she's someone I evoked in
my head. So an inspiration obviously in all all ways.
So it's extra special talking to you guys. And I
(26:41):
love the work she's doing. You guys are doing, so
go team.
Speaker 2 (26:45):
I'm so glad that you brought that up, because there
were several Legally Blonde mentions in the film. But also
as I was watching, I saw the nods to election.
I don't know if that was intentional or not, but
hanging up the posters in the.
Speaker 3 (26:57):
Hallway, Emily hands are up in the air.
Speaker 2 (27:00):
Yes, and even the music that you used it it
felt like an homage to election in a small way.
Speaker 4 (27:08):
I've never seen Election before.
Speaker 6 (27:11):
Fun fact, and I love Reese Witherspoon because I love
Legally Blonde so much. Definitely one of my favorite movies
growing up. Actually, you asked me who my political role
model is, it's uh, legally Blonde, Ellwoods.
Speaker 5 (27:23):
No.
Speaker 6 (27:23):
But a lot of articles have been comparing me to
Tracy Flick, and I read like every article that comes
out about this movie, because I'm just that person. And
so I googled like Tracy Flick Election and it says antagonists,
but then it said Rees Witherspoon, and I'm like, if
it's somebody played by Reese Witherspoon.
Speaker 4 (27:40):
How bad can they actually be?
Speaker 6 (27:41):
Like, I'm okay with being compared to an antagonist if
it was played by Reese.
Speaker 2 (27:45):
Witherspoon, But I do wonder if Election came out today,
if people would be viewing Tracy Flick as an antagonist.
I don't think she's an antagonist. I just think she's
a complex woman. And I also think that we weren't
ready to handle an ambition woman like her back then.
Speaker 4 (28:01):
So I need to watch Election.
Speaker 5 (28:03):
You absolutely do. I want to watch it with you.
Speaker 7 (28:05):
But also, like, I love that Tracy Flick and el
Woods very very different people, very different complicated female protagonists.
And that's sort of the joy of Reese too, is
that there's so many different ways to be a strong woman.
Speaker 4 (28:21):
Please tell her, I said, Hi, we will.
Speaker 1 (28:24):
Emily, Amanda, thank you so much for joining us on
the show. We really appreciate your time.
Speaker 5 (28:29):
Thanks so much for having us.
Speaker 4 (28:30):
Thank you so much meeting you.
Speaker 2 (28:36):
If you haven't seen it yet, Girls State is available
on Apple TV right now. Amanda McBain is the film's
co director, and Emily Worthmore is currently a college student
and who knows, maybe future president.
Speaker 1 (28:53):
Before we go. We want to leave you with a
lesson that we learned today from Emily. Can't let the
things that get you down take you down. We can
always find a way to pivot from those defeating moments
and walk away with a different kind of win. We've
actually learned from so many of our interviews that there's
no such thing as failure. It's only a pivot.
Speaker 3 (29:16):
That's all for today's show.
Speaker 1 (29:17):
We'll be back tomorrow, same time, same place.
Speaker 2 (29:20):
Listen and follow the bright Side on the iHeartRadio app,
Apple podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts so you
never miss an episode.
Speaker 1 (29:27):
And if you're enjoying the show, please please show us
some love in the reviews.
Speaker 3 (29:32):
I'm Simone Voice.
Speaker 2 (29:33):
You can find me at Simone Voice, on Instagram and TikTok.
Speaker 1 (29:36):
I'm Danielle Robe and you can find me on Instagram
and TikTok at Danielle Robe. That's ro Bay.
Speaker 2 (29:43):
We'll be back tomorrow with more culture conversation and inspiration.
Keep looking on the bright side.
Hello Sunshine.
Speaker 2 (00:03):
Hey, besties. Today, on the bright Side, the Future is Female,
we dive into the world the new Apple TV doc
Girls State. We'll be joined by co director Amanda McBain
and a young woman from the film who might just
run for president one day. It's Tuesday, April ninth. I'm
Simone Boyce.
Speaker 1 (00:20):
I'm Danielle Robe and this is the bright Side from
Hello Sunshine. Okay, Simone, before we talk about anything else today,
please tell me about your Total Eclipse of the Heart.
Tell me about your trip.
Speaker 2 (00:35):
Well, it's true. Scientific name is a total eclipse of
the Sun. I mean, I've never seen something like it before.
The sky goes totally dark and then it comes back.
And being able to see it up close and in
person like I've seen I've seen it from far away,
but to see it this close, it was just remarkable.
Speaker 1 (00:52):
Your dad's been planning this trip for like four years.
Do you think that it was all he wanted it
to be?
Speaker 3 (00:57):
I hope so.
Speaker 2 (00:58):
I hope it was everything that my dad wanted a
lot of his cousins and brothers and sisters there, so
it was a really special time. Okay, Danielle, you know
I'm a space nerd. You know, I would go to
space tomorrow if Jeff Bezos called me and asked me
to go totally nuts. But I think he should call you.
But I think I'm not the only space nerd out there.
So for all y'all who are interested, here's a little
bit about solar eclipses. It happens when the Moon is
(01:19):
positioned between the Earth and the Sun. And there are
other types of eclipses. You've probably heard about these, like
a partial eclipse where the Moon blocks out a chunk
of the Sun. A solar eclipse like the one I
saw is actually pretty rare, and it can only happen
if the Moon aligns perfectly between the Earth and the Sun,
making them appear the same size. Fun fact, they take
place about every eighteen months, but the location changes, so
(01:42):
that's why in North America we haven't seen one in
seven years.
Speaker 1 (01:45):
I didn't know if you were speaking English or not
for the last sixty.
Speaker 3 (01:49):
Seconds, Danielle. It wasn't even that complicated.
Speaker 1 (01:52):
It really is. You lost me at moon and Sun
and stars and location.
Speaker 3 (01:56):
And yet when Channy's here, you're all ears.
Speaker 1 (02:00):
And she has something to say about what that means.
I don't know but if you didn't make the trip
like me, Apparently you can still see a solar eclipse eventually.
The next one is in twenty twenty six. I read
and you can see it in Iceland, in Portugal and Spain,
or you can wait until two thousand and thirty three,
so like nine years from now and you can see
(02:22):
it in Alaska. That would be cool. Maybe we should
plan on doing that in nine years?
Speaker 2 (02:25):
Do you want to go to Alaska? I heard Portugal,
and then I didn't hear anything else after that.
Speaker 1 (02:29):
Well, apparently if you want to see it in the
lower forty eight states, you'll have to wait until twenty
forty four. So you're right, this is a pretty rare occurrence.
Speaker 2 (02:37):
Yeah, I mean, I don't know that I'll get to
see another one in my lifetime.
Speaker 3 (02:40):
Feels like a bucket list moment.
Speaker 1 (02:41):
Yeah kay, I'm about to shift to something that's totally unrelated.
Speaker 3 (02:46):
Here we go.
Speaker 1 (02:47):
There is all of these videos on social media of
women sharing their IUD insertion stories, and it's basically this
trend where women record themselves getting their IUD insertain and
I have to tell you, at first glance, I was like, whoa,
this is very personal to see watch here, and then
I felt differently.
Speaker 3 (03:07):
Wait, they're showing what are they showing exactly? Because I
haven't seen these videos.
Speaker 1 (03:12):
They're covered by the rope, But the girls that are
sharing these are saying that they felt really unprepared for
the pain that they felt when it was inserted, and
they wanted to share with other women.
Speaker 2 (03:22):
So I've always been afraid of getting an IUD, largely
because one of my really good friends got it, and
she has had a horrible experience with it, truly a
saga to where it was problematic from the time that
it was inserted and then she had to get surgery
to get it taken out. And the thing is, I
want to be careful here because I know that that's anecdotal,
and I know that there are lots of women who
(03:45):
have great experiences with IUDs and it can offer them
freedom and liberation from other forms of birth control.
Speaker 4 (03:51):
Right.
Speaker 1 (03:52):
So, I didn't grow up taking birth control pills. I've
always wanted to limit any exposure to hormones, and in hindsight,
I'm actually really glad I didn't do that. But a
few years ago, I think it was the summer of
twenty twenty one, I had an abortion, and because of
that experience, I had an IUD inserted because I felt
(04:16):
like the risk that I was taking was too great.
It felt like I didn't want to have that experience again,
and I'd rather have an IUD. I like having it.
It's given me peace of mind and freedom, as you said,
but I don't love the idea of having something foreign
(04:38):
inside of me, or having anything hormonal inside of me.
I'd rather have nothing, But at this point in my life,
I feel like it's better than nothing.
Speaker 3 (04:46):
Do you feel it?
Speaker 1 (04:47):
I don't feel it. When I first got it, I
felt a little anxious for like a month or two,
and my doctor said there's no actual proof that that's
the case, but he has had other women say that.
But the anxiety dissipated, so I don't feel it. I
don't feel effects from it. I'm grateful for it, but
I think every women nowadays are much more thoughtful about
(05:10):
what they're taking in terms of birth control. I think
before it was kind of like just pushed on everybody.
Speaker 2 (05:15):
Yeah, I haven't taken birth control in the years because
it just does a number on my body.
Speaker 3 (05:19):
I don't like it.
Speaker 1 (05:20):
When you say a number, what do you mean just.
Speaker 2 (05:22):
Not feeling like myself. So I think that you do
have to take everything that you read on TikTok with
a grain of salt. But the mere fact that we're
having these discussions that might prompt some of us to
go have the conversations with the experts, with the doctors
to get to the truth.
Speaker 1 (05:39):
Up next, we're talking to the director and one of
the subjects of the new documentary, Girls State. The film
looks at the annual leadership event for girls and let
me tell you, the future looks bright.
Speaker 2 (05:59):
Danielle, I have been so excited about this segment because
the idea of young women becoming empowered to be leaders
is something that just gets me so fired up. And
that's what Girls State is all about. It's a week
long program for young women interested in politics, and every year,
hundreds of teenage girls gather in cities across the country
to create a mock government. At this summer camp, they
(06:21):
run for office, they debate their peers, and they even
pass mock legislation.
Speaker 1 (06:26):
It's so cool and at its core, Girls State encourages
young women to engage politically and potentially to run for office.
And now there's a whole documentary about it called Girls State,
which you can catch on Apple TV.
Speaker 3 (06:39):
Here's what went down behind the scenes.
Speaker 2 (06:41):
Okay, So, in the summer of twenty twenty two, just
days before the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, filmmaker
Amanda McBain traveled to Missouri to attend Girls State and
to meet the incredible young women who were participating in
that year's program. Now, one of them was nineteen year
old Emily Worthmore. Both Amanda and Emily are here with
us today. Welcome to the bright Side ladies.
Speaker 5 (07:03):
Welcome, Hi, Danielle and Simone.
Speaker 4 (07:05):
Hi. Thanks for having us.
Speaker 2 (07:07):
Emily, I'd love to hear more about why you were
drawn to Girls State and politics in general.
Speaker 6 (07:13):
Yeah, so, I since the fourth grade, kind of before
I knew what politics really meant. I had ran for
mayor of my fourth grade classroom and I had won,
and that was kind of my introduction to public office,
I guess, and I decided at a very young age
that I wanted to be the president one day. That
was like my dream jobs from fourth grade forward. So
I had had time to look into the program, see
(07:35):
what it was about, and gain a lot of interest
in it. And then summer after my junior year, it
was time to go, and I was so ready and
excited for it.
Speaker 1 (07:43):
You mentioned wanting to be president since fourth grade. I
used to dress up like Hillary Clinton for every book
report in like third and fourth grade.
Speaker 4 (07:53):
Not Hillary Clinton, but I used to dress to placate
a president too.
Speaker 1 (07:55):
Yeah, but I was wondering who, because that for me
was a visible political figure that I looked up to.
But for you, who was it? Who did you look to?
Speaker 6 (08:06):
Interestingly enough, I really liked Trump's press secretary. Her name's
Kaylee mcindinney, and I really liked her because I think
that she was really good at defending somebody who isn't
necessarily the easiest to defend a lot of times, but
she was always very well educated. She attended Harvard, She
always had a million facts of her sleeve ready to
go in her binder. And I also liked that she
(08:28):
kind of looked like Barbie, and she was like this
girl who was like not only like very feminine and
beautiful that I just like admired when I was growing up,
but also she was very powerful. I thought that was
really impressive and someone that I still look up to
in politics.
Speaker 1 (08:43):
Amanda, you and your husband Jesse Moss directed and produced
a prior documentary called Boys State, which followed thousands of
teen boys attending Boys State in Texas. So what drew
you to these programs? I feel like when documentarians get
into things, it's usually because of a real passion.
Speaker 5 (09:00):
Great question, I think for Jesse and I.
Speaker 7 (09:03):
Trump's election actually and the division of our country in
twenty sixteen was so top of mind that we were
looking for some project we could get into that would
help us kind of make sense of things. And that's
when we read an article in the Washington Post that
was coverage of Texas Boys State that year had their
(09:24):
legislature had voted to secede.
Speaker 5 (09:26):
From the Union.
Speaker 7 (09:27):
And we thought that was funny but also kind of
indicative of sort of the weather vein of our country.
And a light bulb went off in our head, like, oh,
here's what we need to do. This is we want
to check out how young people are coming of age
in this moment in our country politically. And we didn't
(09:48):
know about the program before that, honestly, either Boys State
or Girls State, which has been around for eighty years
and in California too, in every state, so we called
up Texas Boy State and made that film. We always
knew we wanted to make State too, and in fact,
we're talking to Texas Girls State at the time, but
it didn't work out that session twoenty eighteen, So then
we had to spend some time figuring out where we
(10:11):
were going to go, when we're going to go, how
we're going to go to a girl State somewhere in
another state.
Speaker 5 (10:17):
But it was never a matter of why. For us.
Speaker 7 (10:20):
It was really then the question of do girls do
politics differently and what their take on the challenges of
representational democracy might be. And there are similarities and there
are differences.
Speaker 1 (10:33):
Amanda, as you were making the film, I'm so curious
as to what you learn from the younger generation about
politics and the political climate right now.
Speaker 5 (10:42):
I'd say learning still not learned.
Speaker 7 (10:46):
Part of it for me is a refresher on my patriotism, frankly,
because I think I'm so kind of traumatized by the
chaos of national politics. So these spaces are so special
because they are a place where people whose politics are
so different. Emily and I do not share the same politics,
but we can all come together in real life, right
(11:09):
not online, and have conversations about very very tricky subjects
if we respect one another and.
Speaker 5 (11:19):
Look at each other as human beings.
Speaker 7 (11:21):
When we talked to hundreds of kids before deciding who
we were going to follow, in the four or five
months before the session starts, we talked to hundreds of
kids over in Missouri, and I got a real sense
from them that they don't buy into the binaries of
Democrat and Republican. They're very all acarte with their politics,
which is really interesting. They don't identify as those parties
(11:44):
that they haven't had to right, they haven't had to
go to a ballot box and do this or that,
and so their flexibility, their elasticity, those are all things
that are really interesting about that age group. They're also
not naive, like they've watched unhealthy politics being played out
in Congress and in the adult state for a long time,
(12:05):
and I feel the optimism is married with realism and
they're not naive, which is good.
Speaker 1 (12:11):
Emily, do you feel like any of your political beliefs
shifted by being friends with these girls who have opposing
political beliefs than you.
Speaker 6 (12:19):
I would not say that any of my political beliefs
shifted so much, but I do think.
Speaker 4 (12:24):
That I have a lot of empathy.
Speaker 6 (12:27):
And I think now, you know, as years go on,
we become more educated about things, and I'd say I'm
still politically pretty similar to where I'm at, but I'm
thinking of ways to make liberals conservatives alike more happy
with the situation that we have, like things with guns
and abortion and things like that. I think that there's
(12:47):
a lot of compromise that could be done. And having
these conversations and these friends, hearing those stories really humanizes
people and makes me realize it's not as black and
white as you know, we'd like to think of it,
you know, proble life approach, like, there's so many in
between swow and I think that I'm more open to that,
(13:09):
and I continue to think about ways that we could
solve problems without necessarily changing morals.
Speaker 7 (13:16):
I think exposure matters, and that's part of the promise
of these programs is some kids who had lived in
small towns of three hundred people had never met somebody
from a big city and vice versa. And I think
that that interface actually may not change politics, but it
certainly makes you understand there's a human being who's on
(13:37):
the other side of that political position. And that's something
we can't do very much in other spaces because either
we're online and we don't bother to get to know them,
or I also want to say, there are no go
zones for me anyway. Election denying and certain like fact
distortion is not something I actually want to have a
conversation about.
Speaker 5 (13:58):
So maybe that's.
Speaker 7 (13:59):
Something that But there's common cause, you know, between Emily
and I about that, right, And there's common cause about
the lack of female representation in politics. That's something we
have common cause. And she has a giant, giant, giant
heart and I have a you know, a good sized heart.
So those are the things you lean into.
Speaker 2 (14:18):
You said that so well, Amanda. I think it's absolutely
about exposure. Emily, you are going through this mock government
process in the film and you decide to run for governor.
And there's a moment in the film when another citizen
of Girls State tells you don't feel like you have
to be so perfect, and it brings tears to your eyes.
(14:39):
Do you put that pressure on yourself or do you
feel like you have something to prove to everyone else?
Speaker 4 (14:44):
I think that I.
Speaker 6 (14:46):
Think it might be an internal pressure just and don't
I don't I wouldn't consider myself a perfectionist, and I
think that internally now I want to succeed. I think
that's a pretty natural reaction. But I think since then
I've learned to be a little less perfectionistic and more messy.
Speaker 4 (15:04):
And I think that it's really good.
Speaker 6 (15:06):
But the moment that her name's Charity, the girl that
had that conversation with me in the hallway, I think
that moment right before you're about to cry, when you're
holding in tears and then somebody says something nice to you,
like it's okay, and then you're just like.
Speaker 4 (15:17):
Oh, and I'm really gonna cry. Yes, that was one
of those moments. So I think it's so funny that
it was.
Speaker 6 (15:22):
You know, captured on camera because it's like that choking
feeling in your throat when you're like trying not to
cry and it burns and then like you like really
are trying to hold it in. That was like one
of probably the highlights of the film for me is
seeing like just somebody who was actually running against me
feeling be so kind.
Speaker 4 (15:38):
I just it's so beautiful to me.
Speaker 2 (15:41):
Big girls do cry, right, Danielle, Yeah, I like I'd
say at least once a week at work.
Speaker 1 (15:48):
I agree, you know, at least once to at least
if you're not crying, do you really have feelings?
Speaker 3 (15:53):
That's how you know you're human.
Speaker 1 (15:55):
Amanda Is, you were making this film and observing these
kids govern them, were there any moments that struck you
as particularly powerful?
Speaker 7 (16:04):
I think to watch all the girls that have been
finally made it through the very long, arduous task of
even getting a position on the Supreme Court and girls state.
So those seven girls they hold hands and they give
each other affirmations before they head on stage to hear
the privacy case. And then to watch them listen to
(16:30):
this privacy case, which had a lot of resonance at
the time because it was a week after this leaked
Dobb's opinion had come out. It was, you know, abortion
politics was top of mind for a lot of kids,
regardless of where you landed on the spectrum of pro
choice pro life. To have that case be argued by
two women in front of an audience of women.
Speaker 5 (16:52):
Was very, very powerful because I was watching.
Speaker 7 (16:57):
Young women in the state of Missouri, where there's a
trigger law that they all know is going to go
to and go into effect in a week. Making abortioning
legal to watch them take ownership of that conversation in
a really smart way too. This is not a moral conversation,
This is not do you believe in this? It was
a legal conversation. It was a constitutional conversation. To watch
(17:18):
them take ownership of that, if only for a brief moment,
was very powerful for me to witness.
Speaker 2 (17:25):
Spoiler alert ahead, turnback if you don't want to understand
the ending of this film, Emily, your journey inspires me
so much because you're going through this mock government process.
After you lost that governor's race. That was a really
tough setback, but you make the most of the week
and end up winning a full scholarship to Lyndenwood University.
(17:48):
Looking back, how did that rejection motivate you?
Speaker 6 (17:51):
I mean, I had been one of those front runners
for every election of my high school. Then you go
into a place where nobody knows you and you have
less than a week to make an impression.
Speaker 4 (18:02):
It's a lot of pressure.
Speaker 6 (18:03):
And then to lose, which wasn't the end of the world,
and I knew that going in, but it still stings
a little bit. And then the scholarship was really like
the cherry on top, because now my life.
Speaker 4 (18:16):
Is so different than it could have been.
Speaker 6 (18:18):
So overall, I owe a lot to Girls State, and
I'm just so thankful for that.
Speaker 1 (18:23):
Emily, after you lost the governor's race, you didn't give
up on Girls State. Instead, you switched to your other passion, journalism,
and you were able to uncover a major story that
ultimately led to your scholarship. What did you write about?
Speaker 6 (18:37):
Yeah, So the reason I actually went into writing the article,
I throughout the week everybody was talking about dress code
and about you know, the boys have time for athletics
and we don't, and just some different disparities. And for
me personally, I wasn't necessarily too interested in the they
get to wear whatever they want and we don't. That
wasn't just the top of my list because it made
(18:57):
sense to me, Okay, we're at a professional camp. It
makes sense we're going to dress professional. Like I love craptops.
I'm wearing crop top right now. But that wasn't my
big concern during the week. I was more annoyed with
how it felt like they were having a less sugar
coated political experience than we.
Speaker 4 (19:12):
Were, and I really wanted that.
Speaker 6 (19:14):
So that's what I was looking for when I first
started writing it, but I covered everything just for the
sake of being fair and balanced. I wanted, you know,
dress code, I wanted the gym things. And then I
was curious about the money that goes into both programs,
because that's like an interesting you know, that's the way
you start something necessarily is look at how much funding.
And so I went online and basically what I found
(19:37):
out is they're funded by two different organizations. One's the
American Legion and then Girls State is the American Legion Auxiliary.
So that limits kind of where Girls State can pull
funding from versus Boys State.
Speaker 4 (19:49):
And obviously there's not a ton.
Speaker 6 (19:50):
That we can do about that because they do are
funded by separate organizations. But if anybody would like to
help or contribute, anybody can donate to the American Legion Auxiliary
for Girls Missouri Girls State and have that directly impact
our program.
Speaker 4 (20:04):
But it was just so I mean, I thought, at first,
while we're being ripped.
Speaker 6 (20:07):
Off, and it just felt very wrong. But now I
understand why it's happening. But it still is an ideal obviously.
Speaker 7 (20:15):
To watch Emily's pivot to leaning into her journalistic talents Frankly,
she's a great listener, which is what made her a
good candidate, but makes her a great journalist. And when
she's investigating the funding disparities between the two programs, she
knows that it could potentially jeopardize her getting this scholarship
(20:40):
because she is writing an article that's critical and who's
that going to rub the wrong way? And she does
it anyway, and I think that that kind of risk,
high risk, high reward is a testament to her. But
to then have her publish this article, but then also
when the scholarship was just a great surprise but also
(21:05):
not a surprise, It's exactly what should have happened.
Speaker 1 (21:08):
We're going to take a quick break and we'll be
right back. We're back with Amanda McBain and Emily worthmore
from the New Girl State documentary, which you can catch
on Apple TV. Amanda, you have two teenage daughters. How
(21:28):
did they shape the way that you and your husband
thought about this film and how did it compare to
your prior film Boys Date.
Speaker 7 (21:35):
I think we are sensitive to how coming of age
during this moment is particularly challenging because the world feels
very binary. You're there in this camp or that you're
either in this gender or that gender. I mean, there's
just so many like make a choice, pick a side,
and I don't think that's a good place to be
(21:57):
when you're young, because you should be trying on all
the things.
Speaker 5 (22:02):
I think we're also particularly sensitive to.
Speaker 7 (22:05):
How girls are very hard on themselves in a way
that I was not surprised to see. At Girls State,
girls give amazing speeches and then walk off stage and
itemize how they had not done everything they wanted to
do on stage and criticize their own performance. I had
(22:25):
not seen that. At Boy State. I'd seen Wow, I'd
seen a lot of okay speeches. I mean, I'm a mom,
so I believe in everybody's speeches, but some of them
were okay and not great. And then a guy would
get off stage and he'd go nailed it, and I
was like, that's awesome that you have that much confidence.
I kind of love it, But I'm also like, where
(22:45):
can I get some of that?
Speaker 5 (22:46):
You know what I mean? I would love some of.
Speaker 1 (22:48):
That, Amanda, how are girls responding to the movie?
Speaker 7 (22:51):
In sharing this film on stage, We've sometimes had very
young kids in the audiences, like Emily, I don't even
remember there was a ten year old in the audience
in Missouri who came up to the mic afterwards to
make a statement that she just loved seeing all these
seventeen year olds kicking butt and doing amazing things in
leadership roles, but also that they'd shared how afraid they were,
(23:14):
or how much how sad they were, or how hard
it was to do that, and that she felt seen
and that she saw herself in these girls. And I
think even just that as a storyteller, I'm like, I
have done here if we just connected with this ten
year old and she saw something that inspired her in
that way and felt better about herself for that moment,
(23:37):
I was like, great.
Speaker 6 (23:38):
That's my favorite part too, is hiring little like young
people in the audience, and like, I think everybody young
is like that really makes me happy to see younger
people seeing this just if anything to be like an
encouragement of like, you can fail, you can go for
big things, especially like little girls like I'm just like,
oh my goodness.
Speaker 4 (23:58):
You know, it's the sweetest thing ever.
Speaker 6 (24:00):
And I just hope that a lot of young, young
girls and young people get to see the film.
Speaker 1 (24:05):
You know, there's so much rhetoric around the things that
are facing us that feel so imminent. There's climate change,
there's reproductive rights, there's gun laws, and so often I
hear adults talking about how well, hopefully the younger generation
(24:26):
will fix this mess. Do you feel inspired by that
or do you feel frustrated by that?
Speaker 4 (24:33):
I think that's frustrating, because I mean, even though I
do it to.
Speaker 6 (24:35):
Myself a lot, where I procrastinate issues that are maybe smaller,
like homework, and I'll say this is for tomorrow me
to handle, I think that it's a whole different ballpark
when we're talking about climate change and things like that
that are very big, and it's not necessarily fair to
push it onto your children. So obviously it'd be great
if we could find solutions now to work towards, because
(24:57):
things only get worse as they get put off and
for procrastinated. But I do think that my generation, I
think that they are very active in politics, regardless of
the side of the aisle, So I do think that
if worst comes to worse, it does get pushed onto us.
We're more likely to find a solution then perhaps older
generations are. But I think it'd be better if we
(25:18):
could all kind of start now and work together and
maybe have those mentors guide us while we're so young.
Speaker 2 (25:24):
I think everyone should watch this movie because it gave
me a lot of hope for the future. The fervor
and the determination in these women. It really inspired me
and moved to me. Emily, you've got aspirations in politics
and journalism. You're a college student right now. What's next
for you after Girls' State?
Speaker 6 (25:45):
Well, currently, I'm a freshman majoring in broadcast, so I'm
focusing on that journalism side. I would love, ideally to
go into political journalism and then run for maybe Missouri
House of Representatives or wherever I end up living.
Speaker 4 (26:00):
That'd be the dream.
Speaker 6 (26:01):
I don't know if that'll be what happens, just because
everything's very unpredictable and so whatever doors open for me,
I'll jump down them and see I'll see what's there.
So if you guys ever need a third podcast host,
let me know.
Speaker 3 (26:16):
She's hustling. She's hustling.
Speaker 7 (26:18):
I mean, I also want to say, just like, as
an aside, Reese Witherspoon was all over this film on
some level because Tracy Flick, because Elle Wood's because sort
of female centered stories, Like she's someone I evoked in
my head. So an inspiration obviously in all all ways.
So it's extra special talking to you guys. And I
(26:41):
love the work she's doing. You guys are doing, so
go team.
Speaker 2 (26:45):
I'm so glad that you brought that up, because there
were several Legally Blonde mentions in the film. But also
as I was watching, I saw the nods to election.
I don't know if that was intentional or not, but
hanging up the posters in the.
Speaker 3 (26:57):
Hallway, Emily hands are up in the air.
Speaker 2 (27:00):
Yes, and even the music that you used it it
felt like an homage to election in a small way.
Speaker 4 (27:08):
I've never seen Election before.
Speaker 6 (27:11):
Fun fact, and I love Reese Witherspoon because I love
Legally Blonde so much. Definitely one of my favorite movies
growing up. Actually, you asked me who my political role
model is, it's uh, legally Blonde, Ellwoods.
Speaker 5 (27:23):
No.
Speaker 6 (27:23):
But a lot of articles have been comparing me to
Tracy Flick, and I read like every article that comes
out about this movie, because I'm just that person. And
so I googled like Tracy Flick Election and it says antagonists,
but then it said Rees Witherspoon, and I'm like, if
it's somebody played by Reese Witherspoon.
Speaker 4 (27:40):
How bad can they actually be?
Speaker 6 (27:41):
Like, I'm okay with being compared to an antagonist if
it was played by Reese.
Speaker 2 (27:45):
Witherspoon, But I do wonder if Election came out today,
if people would be viewing Tracy Flick as an antagonist.
I don't think she's an antagonist. I just think she's
a complex woman. And I also think that we weren't
ready to handle an ambition woman like her back then.
Speaker 4 (28:01):
So I need to watch Election.
Speaker 5 (28:03):
You absolutely do. I want to watch it with you.
Speaker 7 (28:05):
But also, like, I love that Tracy Flick and el
Woods very very different people, very different complicated female protagonists.
And that's sort of the joy of Reese too, is
that there's so many different ways to be a strong woman.
Speaker 4 (28:21):
Please tell her, I said, Hi, we will.
Speaker 1 (28:24):
Emily, Amanda, thank you so much for joining us on
the show. We really appreciate your time.
Speaker 5 (28:29):
Thanks so much for having us.
Speaker 4 (28:30):
Thank you so much meeting you.
Speaker 2 (28:36):
If you haven't seen it yet, Girls State is available
on Apple TV right now. Amanda McBain is the film's
co director, and Emily Worthmore is currently a college student
and who knows, maybe future president.
Speaker 1 (28:53):
Before we go. We want to leave you with a
lesson that we learned today from Emily. Can't let the
things that get you down take you down. We can
always find a way to pivot from those defeating moments
and walk away with a different kind of win. We've
actually learned from so many of our interviews that there's
no such thing as failure. It's only a pivot.
Speaker 3 (29:16):
That's all for today's show.
Speaker 1 (29:17):
We'll be back tomorrow, same time, same place.
Speaker 2 (29:20):
Listen and follow the bright Side on the iHeartRadio app,
Apple podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts so you
never miss an episode.
Speaker 1 (29:27):
And if you're enjoying the show, please please show us
some love in the reviews.
Speaker 3 (29:32):
I'm Simone Voice.
Speaker 2 (29:33):
You can find me at Simone Voice, on Instagram and TikTok.
Speaker 1 (29:36):
I'm Danielle Robe and you can find me on Instagram
and TikTok at Danielle Robe. That's ro Bay.
Speaker 2 (29:43):
We'll be back tomorrow with more culture conversation and inspiration.
Keep looking on the bright side.
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