Katie Joins Hysteria with Alyssa Mastromonaco on Weird Republicans and Team USA

Katie Couric joins Alyssa Mastromonaco on her podcast Hysteria for a chat about Kamala Harris fundraising (featuring white people on Zoom calls), the Veepstakes, and calling MAGA Republicans like JD Vance “weird.” 

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:06):
Hello, and welcome to Hysteria. I'm a Lissa Astramonico.

Speaker 2 (00:10):
And I'm Katie Couric Wo.

Speaker 1 (00:12):
Katie is back for another week. Lucky for her. There's
a lot for us to get into. But before we do, Katie,
I got to ask you, do you feel like the
Olympics is having a moment?

Speaker 2 (00:24):
Definitely? You know, I've covered seven Olympics and Tokyo was
a teeny bit of a bust, I think because of COVID.
But Harris is just killing it. And obviously the women's
gymnastics team and Simone Files and the Redemption Tour, which
I hope they stop saying that.

Speaker 1 (00:44):
Why the Redemption Tour I hated so much? What do
they need to be redeemed from? It's a comeback if anything.

Speaker 2 (00:51):
I think it's because, as you know, Simone dropped out
four years ago because she was just not feeling it
and she wasn't feeling safe in her own body and
something was off, and she got criticized by some jerky people,
but look what she did to destigmatize mental health. And

(01:13):
she's just she's truly amazing. Twenty seven years old. I
interviewed her eight years ago and I remember I was
at Yahoo and I did a headstand for her. What
is wrong with me?

Speaker 3 (01:24):
Listen?

Speaker 4 (01:24):
What? Wait?

Speaker 1 (01:25):
But Katie, this is my thing about the Olympics. I
start watching the women, do you know uneven bars and
their floor routine, and I'm like, I don't know, should
I try a cartwheel?

Speaker 2 (01:34):
No?

Speaker 1 (01:34):
The answer is no, I should not try a cartwheel.

Speaker 2 (01:36):
Well, I was a gymnast when I was little. I
mean not a very good one, but I was you know,
I could do handsprings and headsprings and stuff like that.
But these women are just amazing. They're on koyable.

Speaker 1 (01:54):
My favorite thing that I have seen because I've gone deep, Katie,
when I can't sleep because my high flashes are keeping
me up.

Speaker 2 (02:01):
Oh no, oh.

Speaker 1 (02:03):
Yeah, I saw. I watched the press conference that the
US Olympic women's gymnasts did, and I think it was
Ali Reisman who was one of the reporters and asked,
what's your slogan this year? Like, what's your motto? And
they all huddled as if they didn't know what to do,
and then they were like abbreviate it and like and

(02:23):
simone didn't really know what that meant. The women gymnast's
slogan is fuck around and find out, and they did.
People fucked around and they found out. The Redemption Tour
has received a gold medal.

Speaker 2 (02:34):
That is so funny, you know. I saw something online
that they had come up with their motto, but I
couldn't quite figure it out. So thank you for breaking
that news to me, Alyssa, as you.

Speaker 1 (02:45):
See me once in a while, I can break something
to Katie.

Speaker 2 (02:49):
Anyway. It's just been really, really fun to watch, and
I think the NBC Olympics team has done an incredible
job broadcasting the events. Mike Turrico, I did the opening
ceremonies with him in pyeong Chang and that was really
fun and he's a great guy. And I have to

(03:09):
say I'm a little envious not to be in Paris.

Speaker 1 (03:12):
It Honestly, it does look like from the fashion to
everyone who has shown up, it is. It is a
real event.

Speaker 2 (03:19):
It is, it is, and it's been a lot of
fun also just watching it in my pajamas on the TV.

Speaker 1 (03:25):
This week, Katie and I talk about all the things
we're seeing out on the campaign trail and weather Kamala
might trick Trump into debating her. We also discussed the
weirdness of the Maga movement, and a memoir we cannot
wait to get our hands on. Welcome back to Hysteria,
the podcast for childless cat ladies who loved Sweet Valley High. Katie,

(03:49):
did you see the news Francine Pascal one hundred and
eighty one books passed away this week?

Speaker 2 (03:55):
I didn't see that.

Speaker 1 (03:57):
Yep, I know, Sweet Valley High. It's like Francine Beverly Judy.
What else? What else was there when we were growing up?

Speaker 2 (04:04):
Oh, that's so funny. I don't think I ever read
Sweet Belly High.

Speaker 1 (04:08):
Well, it didn't come out till eighty three, so.

Speaker 2 (04:10):
Oh, well, come on, I was at eighty three, I
was gosh at thirty four something like that.

Speaker 1 (04:17):
Well, all right, it was a moment for some people.

Speaker 2 (04:20):
Okay, all right, Well may she rest in peace. And
also the guy who invented Tira Massou died on Sunday. Really, yes,
a chef from Italy who invented the delectable treat made
of lady fingers, mars capone, cheese, coffee, cocoa, eggs, vanilla,
and something else. I was reading all about him.

Speaker 1 (04:42):
Based on that recollection. Does that mean that there is
an Instagram story of yours in our future where you
make a tira massoux.

Speaker 2 (04:49):
No, because you know what, I don't really love tiramassou
really I do you do?

Speaker 1 (04:54):
I like it. I find it to be a light,
tasty dessert for like winter.

Speaker 2 (04:58):
Oh maybe, so I don't know if just would never
be my first, second, or third choice.

Speaker 1 (05:03):
Okay, all right, well you know what our first choice
here is. News. See there is a real segue. Okay, Katie,
since you were here last week, so much has happened. First,
we're breaking zoom from coast to coast.

Speaker 2 (05:16):
All right.

Speaker 1 (05:17):
The white ladies, white women got on zoom for Kamala, which,
by the way, missed opportunity. Karen's for Kamala would have
been a much funnier.

Speaker 2 (05:25):
Funnier what have they funny?

Speaker 1 (05:27):
Wouldn't that be funny?

Speaker 2 (05:28):
I mean it's like hilarious.

Speaker 1 (05:31):
So the not the white women for Kamala raised about
eleven million dollars. Over two hundred thousand women joined. Then
the dudes, the white dudes got in on it. One
hundred and three thousand.

Speaker 2 (05:43):
Yeah, Bridges made an appearance. Now. I just read a
piece in the Atlantic knowing we were going to have
all these discussions where someone was sort of turned off
by sort of the racial segregation of these meetings. How
do you feel about that? I mean, he did make
some legitimate points. He said he appreciated being on white

(06:04):
dudes for Kamala and some of the things they said,
but he's like, why does it have to be black women,
white women, white dudes, and why can't it just be
dudes and women?

Speaker 1 (06:17):
Sure like agree, that's probably good, But since these were
just exercises of showing up for her, I feel like, however,
you want to show up, show up right? I mean,
if you're going to raise eleven, if the white ladies
who and like the white women was very specific, right,
because white women over the past thirty forty years have

(06:37):
been voting Republican, you know exactly.

Speaker 2 (06:40):
I think he probably missed the memo that Hillary Clinton
lost white women, right, and that this was a little
tongue in cheek, as was white dudes. But I thought
he made some valid points. But anyway, it makes sense.
How was the white women and were you on that car?

(07:00):
And what was it? Like?

Speaker 1 (07:01):
I was on the white women and it kept crashing
because so many people joined it, and so I popped
back on as as pink the singer was speaking from
her from thirty thousand feet over Sweden. I think from
her concert and the thing that I appreciate and like
the person whoever wrote that in The Atlantic, like I

(07:23):
kind of get it. But the vibes on the White
Women call and on the other calls, I would imagine,
based on Bradley Whitford being interviewed today talking about the
White Dude's Call, which he said was a glorious rainbow
of Beij's, is like people are coming with the best
of intentions, They're excited, they want to support I think
a lot of people who realize that maybe they didn't

(07:44):
do everything they could in twenty sixteen. You know, if
you've been starting to feel guilt. Guilt, Yeah, and if
you've been feeling that guilt, get out there, get on
a call, donate money, do some GOTV put alongside out front,
Like people who maybe were a little reserved last time,
I think are just running through the tape this time.

Speaker 2 (08:05):
I agree. And that brings me to another issue that
I thought we could talk about, Alyssa. And this is
the whole idea of Democrats now calling Trump and jd
Vance weird. And I know it's something that you're interested in,
and Tom Friedman wrote a short column about it. I
guess Tim Waltz is that.

Speaker 4 (08:23):
Yeah.

Speaker 2 (08:23):
I don't know that much about Tim Watz. I feel
like he might be the VP choice.

Speaker 1 (08:27):
He's been out there killing it. I mean, he's been everywhere.
I don't see. I'm going to say I don't think
he's the VP choice because he's been doing more Cable
than anybody else on the list. And I'm like, if
he's the choice, I don't know. I think I would
probably stay off cable. But I saw, should we talk
a little bit about what Tom Friedman said?

Speaker 2 (08:45):
Yes, let's talk about that and then we'll talk about
the VP stakes. So do you want to read any here? Yeah?

Speaker 1 (08:50):
So here so so. Friedman basically said Democrats were going
to regret calling Trump weird, and he said, quote, it
is now a truism that if Democrats have hope of
carrying key swing states and overcoming Trump's advantages in the
electoral college, they have to break through to white, working class,
non college educated men and women, who, if they have
one thing in common, feel denigrated and humiliated by the

(09:13):
Democratic liberal college educated elites. And he then declared it
the dumbest message that we could seize on the Democrats
could seize on right now. Okay, Alyssa of many years
ago would agree with him. Alissa of Man of many
years ago couldn't believe that Trump used the White House
for his convention. You know, like, I am a person
of rules in the establishment. I'm a basic bitch, Katie,

(09:36):
and I know that about myself. But this is working
because you know what, they're fucking weird, Like this is
all weird, jd Vance. If jd Vance had just been malevolent, right,
if he had just said these things about catwomen and
how people who don't have children don't have a stake

(09:58):
in the country, which, by the way, may Or Pete
crushing the response to that, saying all over the place,
saying when I was in Afghanistan and didn't have kids,
I more than had a stake in this country. And
I think that jd Vance And here's why I also think.
I also think that Tom Friedman might be wrong. So
jd Vance could have Trey Goudie on Fox actually gave

(10:22):
him the running room to be like, hey, did you
really mean that? And he was like, fuck yeah, I
meant that, Like he doubled down on it. And called
Jennifer Aniston like disgusting for her coming out against him
and saying his comments were cruel. And so I think.

Speaker 2 (10:37):
We also doubled down with Megan Kelly and by ps,
Donald Trump doubled down on his Christian remarks with Laura
Ingram and never really answered the question as far as
what he meant by that that if they voted, they'd
never have to vote again. I just, honestly, I still

(10:57):
don't know what he meant, and I'm more confused than ever.
But go on.

Speaker 1 (11:01):
No, But so here's how I see it. We're using
a word like weird. Weird is not the worst word
on the planet, you know. It is for the things
that Republicans have come out with and said, and the
fact that so many Republicans agree they're being weird, like
even Megan, not Meghan Kelly, Meghan McCain was on a
podcasting what are you doing? Stop? It's not that they

(11:25):
are coming out and staking out policy positions and saying
this is what we believe and will debate whoever wants
to debate us. They're saying that women who don't have
kids aren't people. They're doubling down on it. They are
saying that, like, there's nothing that they're saying it is
essential to the election, that's informing voters. It's this weird.

(11:49):
It's weird, Katie. That's so. I feel like if we
were calling them weird and what they were doing was
something other than weird, I would agree with him. But
in this instance, I think also that a lot of
people haven't been able to put their finger on what
is so uncomfortable about all this, and calling it weird
just kind of works.

Speaker 2 (12:10):
Yeah, And I also think two things can be true.

Speaker 4 (12:13):
Right.

Speaker 2 (12:14):
You can think their behavior and their rhetoric is weird,
but you can also do a better job of reaching
out to disaffected voters who are non college educated white people,
I think non college educated white men and women in particular,

(12:35):
who feel left out. And I think Pete is really
good at that, and I think he could lean into
that more. And I think that there needs to be
a greater connection between the working class and the Democratic Party, because,
let's face it, the list of the Democrats kind of
lost the working class and it was never that way

(12:56):
during all my years of covering politics. I mean, you
had of the teamsters at the RNC, you have people
buying into this notion that Republicans care about dinner table
issues much more than Democrats, and these narratives I think
have become too deeply entrenched about liberal college educated elites

(13:17):
who are condescending. Probably started with the deplorable comment that
Hillary Clinton, I'm sure regrets saying now, but I feel
like they can't just give up on that voting block.
They need to make a much stronger connection to working
men and women, working classmen and women, the middle class
has been obviously gutted, but saying hey, we care about you,

(13:41):
we care about your issues. We know a lot of
things have really been hard globalization, you know, manufacturing, but
this is what Pete is good at this too, this
is what we're going to do, and this is how
we're going to help. I just want to see her
with a welding hat on working with regular Joe's well.

Speaker 1 (14:02):
And I think so here, it's interesting that you say that, Katie,
because a couple things. One, I feel like, you know,
we've been dealing with Trump since twenty fifteen at this point, right,
that's right, nine years and long years. Nine Look at
these crows me and I think that part of the problem.
On the one hand, Democrats need to be doing a

(14:23):
better job. But also the whole foundation of Trump's Kennidy
sees have just been grievance, Like, if you're doing badly,
it's not because of what's happening in this country, it's
because something's been taken away from.

Speaker 2 (14:37):
You, Right, you know, it's their bad people to blame,
Like Bernie says in his book The Age of Grievance,
which I highly recommend. I love Frank Brune, shameless plug.
I don't get anything from this. I just happened to
really really like him and it's a great book, right.

Speaker 1 (14:53):
And so it's it's he has doubled down on that.
And then also things that Democrats were really good, like
do you remember go back and this again not shameless plug,
but Barack Obama in two thousand and seven, in two
thousand and eight, it was such a different time of
campaigning because we were insurgents, so we had to work

(15:14):
for every vote, which meant town halls. Katie, when is
the last time you saw a town hall on television televised,
no filtered questions. And that's where the moments come from. Right,
That's when John McCain had his moment where the woman
was like Barack Obama's dumba do that?

Speaker 2 (15:30):
He said, I do not say that he's an Americans.
I know. I love that flip. I've gone back and
watched that. Everyone should see John McCain, as Alyssa said,
stopping someone from Colleen Barack Obama, what did she say,
a Muslim He's going to destroy our country? Blah blah blah.

(15:51):
And he interrupted her and said wait, stop, and he
basically dressed her down. And I loved him for that.

Speaker 1 (15:57):
It was a lesson in civility. But also you saw
both Obama and McCain outside their comfort zone, close to people,
talking to people. And because of COVID, because of things
that have happened in the world, we're not seeing that
because politicians aren't doing that, which means they're not having
those interactions which are so informative.

Speaker 2 (16:20):
Well, I mean, Kamala Harris did have that huge rally
in Atlanta.

Speaker 1 (16:24):
Which was amazing last night.

Speaker 2 (16:26):
Yeah, and I thought her speech was really good, and
I think she has come a long way in terms
of her presentation, or maybe she just didn't have enough
opportunities to kind of be herself in a very public forum.
But I would love to see more town hall meetings.
But gosh, that's just not going to happen, is it.

Speaker 1 (16:48):
I probably well, especially she. I mean, Kamala has ninety
some days at this point.

Speaker 2 (16:53):
So maybe she will. Maybe she'll do something on CNN
or on Nbcory or see.

Speaker 1 (16:59):
Her own even a like when in Obama Land we
had town halls that we set up people could ask
their questions. But for her, so there was an interesting
thing just to go to that rally last night for
a minute. She I gotta tell you, Katie, Look, vice
presidents never have huge moments. That's not the function of
being vice president. But when she stood up on stage

(17:21):
last night, ten thousand people megan the stallion as her
opening act, and then said, if you're gonna, if you've
got something to say, say it to my face. And
I was like, oh my god. Do you think she
will be able to goad Trump into a debate?

Speaker 2 (17:39):
Maybe so? I guess the last time we talked, he
was saying it should be on Fox right then. I
think since then, haven't they said they're not going to debate?

Speaker 1 (17:50):
He yes, Well, He's like, I don't know, I don't
think so, you know, this is he's been very obfuse skating,
you know about whether he's going to do it. If
she goes out there every day and is like, say
it to my face. I swear i'd make T shirts
that said say it to my face. I would I
would have people if I were the Karras campaign. They

(18:11):
have enough to do, they don't need my advice. I
would have. I would have placards outside his rallies that
say say it to my face, because I do think
he'll lose his shit and decide to debate her, for
better or worse for him.

Speaker 2 (18:22):
That would be interesting. It's like Gretchen Whitmer when he
called her that woman from Michigan and there were T
shirts made that said that woman from Michigan and they
sold like, you know, crazy in the state. So yeah,
maybe that will happen. I don't know. I wish it
would because I feel like the American people deserve that.

Speaker 1 (18:44):
They do. I want to see a debate. I love
this is a real deep cut. But back in the
early two thousands, when I worked for John Carey, I
watched the Carrie Weld debates. You know, when he debated
Bill Weld. There were like ten debates. It's like, let's
see who who's got it. You know, we deserve to see.

Speaker 2 (19:02):
But also you do want to hear about policy, you know,
you do want to hear ask some interesting and important
questions about all kinds of things, right, And I just
do feel like the more I've been reading, the more
I'm sensing and I could live in a bubble Alyssa,
maybe I do, but I get the sense that right

(19:26):
now in twenty twenty four, Donald Trump and Shady Vance
are really out of step with the American people on
reproductive rights. They're out of step on like the moronic
thing he said about childless women and cat ladies. I mean,
if you dissect that, he's so out of touch with

(19:46):
what a family looks like today, what branded families look like,
what gay families look like, what people the heartbreak of
not being able to have a child. He feels very
tone deaf to me on so many of these issues,
on whether it's not you know, you should stay in
an abusive relationship, right, and you know, all these other

(20:08):
points that he's making. Obviously when it comes to reproductive rights,
he's not. He's out of step with the majority of Americans.
So they they they're starting to feel which is interesting
given the previous candidate, Joe Biden, who I think very
highly of. But they're starting to feel old and crusty

(20:30):
and out of it.

Speaker 1 (20:32):
Yes, and you know what, not nimble. Like the thing
that I have been loving about watching the Harris campaign.
They're moving at a clip like they are building the
plane as they are flying the plane. And they are
still able to communicate with people. Her ads, her new
ad which came out yesterday, which is a take on
a Trump ad. The social media that they're doing, I.

Speaker 2 (20:56):
Fell they're on fire. My twenty eight year old daughter
was like a social media presence is amazing every level.
And they're very they're very clever, they're very funny. Who's
doing that, by the way, do you know?

Speaker 1 (21:11):
I don't know, but they they deserve a raise. I
am reposting a lot of things which I tend to.
I'm like, you know, because I also walk a fine
line of having worked on so many campaigns and knowing
one hundred days luck can happen, right, and so I
never want to get into this like we're good, We're good.

(21:34):
They're killing it. They're killing it right now. There's a
long way to go.

Speaker 2 (21:37):
Oh.

Speaker 1 (21:38):
One thing we have to talk about They announced yesterday
that they will be doing an event with their VP
pick next Tuesday in Philadelphia. So here are my questions
for you. Okay, okay, So they're doing it in Philly.
Do you think this is a headfake and it is
not Shapiro? Or is it like weird to do it

(21:59):
in Philly and it not be Shapiro?

Speaker 2 (22:01):
Is he like I think it's a head fake? You do?
I do?

Speaker 1 (22:05):
Do you think it's Gretchen Whitmer. No, they're hitting the
ground running. They're doing a battleground station.

Speaker 2 (22:11):
They going to set. Are they tell me the states
they're going to, Michigan, Wisconsin? Are they going to Arizona.

Speaker 1 (22:16):
Pennsylvania, Michigan, Wisconsin, North Carolina, Georgia, Nevada, Arizona. I think
I got that right. Yeah, Which to me, that says
hustle there, which I love to see, you know. I
like to see people who are working for every vote,
which I also think shows the American people she's hard.

(22:36):
I think that fundamentally, the American people want to know
who's ever going to be in that office is a
hard worker. And I think that this shows that she's
busting ass.

Speaker 2 (22:45):
Yeah. I think so too. And let's talk about the
vice presidential pick. Okay, so Roy Cooper of North Carolina
pulled out yep, Andy Basher is in Mark Kelly is
in YEP. Josh Shapiro is in YEP. And cham Whitmer

(23:07):
has basically said no shots out.

Speaker 1 (23:10):
I think she said that she didn't want to be considered.
And I think the last person who's been on the
on all the big screens is Tim Walls from Minnesota.

Speaker 2 (23:18):
Now he's kind of a late comer to the list.
Darkly a little bit about Tim Walls and why he's
suddenly everywhere, And you said he's done a lot of cable,
so you say that probably indicates he's not.

Speaker 1 (23:32):
I think that's a if I had a spreadsheet, I'd
be like, Okay, too much cable means he's probably knows
it's not him. Right. Oh and Mayor Pete, I think
Mayor Pete is still sort of top tier Tim Walls. Honestly,
I remember Katie. Here's another deep cut. I remember Tim

(23:52):
Walls specifically because if in two thousand and six, when
John Carey was still thinking of running for president again,
he made a comment that was a little taken out
of context, a little bit of a gaff where he
basically said smart people don't end up in Iraq, meaning
if you're smart and educated, you you'll end up in
the military. And that was the end for him, remember,

(24:13):
and that was it. He was on his way to
do an event for Tim Walls and Ram Emmanuel, who
was head of the D Triple C at the time,
called me because I was Barack Obama's political director in
the Senate and was like, honey, honey, you got to
get him. You got to get Barack to Minnesota. And
that's literally my biggest memory with Tim Walls. But he
you know, he was in Congress, he is governor. He

(24:36):
has done amazing things in Minnesota. Minnesota has had such
progressive policies put into place in the last couple of years,
and he's come out is this just like rock Star
attack Dog, but like if Santa Claus weren' an attack dog, right,
like super Charming.

Speaker 2 (24:53):
How old is he?

Speaker 1 (24:55):
I don't know, but I think probably he's sixty sixty.
He's sixty.

Speaker 2 (24:58):
He went to Minnesota to State University, and he wrote
on et you can fifty nine minutes ago. You can
feel the excitement. People get out there and get engaged.
Let's win this thing in November.

Speaker 1 (25:10):
See get out there?

Speaker 2 (25:12):
Tim interesting. So, I mean, so do you think he's
like one of the top two or three choices.

Speaker 1 (25:20):
I don't know. I think there's probably like a top
five right now, and maybe he's in the top five.
But you and I both know, as these things go,
the only person who really knows is Kamala and the
people who are vetting these people.

Speaker 2 (25:33):
Right what do you think of Andy Basheer? I know
he's well thought of.

Speaker 1 (25:37):
He is really a nice man. He's done great work
in Kentucky, you know, But I don't know if and
I always feel so badly ever saying anything unkind, I'm
not sure what he adds to the ticket, do you
know what I mean? Like he's lovely, he's not that
well known. Like the thing about only.

Speaker 2 (25:58):
Howayyads handsome white man?

Speaker 1 (26:01):
He is, but Jos Shapiro is a handsome white man.
Pete Bootage is a handsome white man.

Speaker 2 (26:06):
No, that's true, but Josh is Jewish and Pete is gay.
I mean, it's I hope that I hope that that
doesn't have an impact, but I have to wonder.

Speaker 1 (26:16):
It's here, is the thing, with all that we have
going on, I will always I think, I oh, I
think whoever is the easiest, with only ninety some days
to go, whoever is the easiest to introduce to the
American people, right? And I think the two people easiest

(26:37):
to introduce are Mark Kelly, fighter pilot astronaut Giffords, member
of the NRA.

Speaker 2 (26:48):
Yes, And I think we talked about this last week,
or I did with somebody, and seventy four percent of
n r A members actually favor stricter gun laws, which
is something we need to focus on. And I thought
it was really interesting, by the way, just apropos of
this that Kamala Harris said she was going to ban
ak forty.

Speaker 1 (27:07):
Sevens, which is great.

Speaker 2 (27:10):
I thought that was great too, but very ballsy so
early in the campaign.

Speaker 1 (27:14):
You know what this is. I think that she, if
I'm her, I'm leaving it all on the field. This
isn't a time for equivocating or hedging. She's like, here's
where we are. Here are the differences.

Speaker 2 (27:27):
Right.

Speaker 1 (27:27):
If her job is to show contrasts between she and
Donald Trump, she's doing it right.

Speaker 2 (27:32):
Yeah, Well you think it's going to be I thought
for a long time it was Mark Kelly, and I
would say we're friendly, and I was texting him like so,
and he obviously wasn't divulging anything. He said, I'm laying
low in London. And then he was out in my
neck of the woods this weekend and I was hoping

(27:53):
I would see him, but we didn't were not able
to get together. I'm dying to talk to him. I
really like him. I think like his His CV is
sort of just what the doctor ordered. I think. I
don't know. I don't know. I don't know if you

(28:17):
will have to.

Speaker 1 (28:17):
Be texting next week when the announcement comes.

Speaker 2 (28:20):
I know. I mean, somebody's probably gonna find out and
break the story. I think Andrew and Mitchell did for
somebody not too long ago. Did Andrew break the Sarah Palin?
I don't remember, but she's really good and very plugged in,
so I'm sure it'll get out somehow, some way. So

(28:40):
I just don't know. But I'm excited for whoever it is,
and I'm excited to see them together on the trail
and to see the energy that they're going to generate.
So I really don't know.

Speaker 1 (28:55):
I think you know what I dare say, it's nothing
but upside of all those people on the list like
if the lists were hearing on TV or true, she's
got an embarrassment of riches.

Speaker 2 (29:07):
There was an article that said, why not Gretchen Whitmer?
But I think I think listen, If that's a bridge
too far, I'm afraid.

Speaker 1 (29:18):
So wait, Okay, So there's always an October surprise, right,
Not always, but it is. It is something people love
to talk about. And I saw this week that Katie
Milania Trump has a book coming out this fall. I know,
do you think she could be the October surprise?

Speaker 2 (29:37):
I can't imagine. I can't imagine that she would do that.
What do you think about the October surprise that he
drops jd Vance? A couple of people have asked me,
do you think that Donald Trump would possibly switch his
vice presidential candidate because he made this calculation when he

(29:59):
thought Joe Biden was going to be the nominee. I
think that's very unlikely. What do you think.

Speaker 1 (30:06):
I think it's unlikely, but not would not put it
past him, right, Like, I did a lot of research
on this, trying to check out if it would be possible.
And there's some back and forth about how most ballots
are printed by September sixth and a lot of states,
and therefore it would have to happen before then. But look, Katie,
he is a man who acts out of desperation and

(30:28):
if he sees it falling apart and he thinks that
that is the thing that will get him attention. Because
right now, Katie, no one gives a shit about him.
I mean, the reason that I think they keep talking
about child as catwomen is because they're like, I don't know,
all attention is good attention, and I don't know, I
don't know.

Speaker 2 (30:47):
I think it's also so interesting that the head of
Project twenty twenty five step down, and I think that
that is because it's been a very powerful motivator for people,
and Democrats are really leaning into it in terms of
talking about what a second Trump term would look like.

(31:08):
And of course we saw that Donald Trump was distancing
himself from Project twenty twenty five, and I think he
realizes it is no bueno when it comes to getting voters.
And you know, I was reading this morning that still
a lot of the architects of this whole plan and

(31:28):
this sort of massive overhaul of government and policy and
getting rid of the Department of Education and getting rid
of career politicians and various departments. I think I think
that's still going to happen, whether this guy resigns or not.
But I think it's signals increasing discomfort with the Republican

(31:52):
Party that this Project twenty twenty five is gaining traction
and is too extreme for a lot of Americas.

Speaker 1 (32:00):
Yeah, all right, Katie. With that, we're going to take
a quick break, but when we come back, we'll answer
some of your questions.

Speaker 4 (32:07):
Listeners.

Speaker 1 (32:31):
Welcome back to Hysteria, where we have the best listeners. Listeners,
we know you're just as excited as I am to
have Katie on the podcast this week, so we thought
this would be a great opportunity to bring you guys in.
We put the call out for questions and we're going
to answer them now. Also, the omniscient voice you hear
asking us questions is our producer, Caroline Restin, Caroline, take

(32:52):
it away.

Speaker 5 (32:53):
I want it to be like I wanted to write
in that copy. The godlike voice you're hearing is our producer,
that Caline.

Speaker 1 (32:59):
Voice of God, the voice of God.

Speaker 5 (33:01):
Okay, so our first question is one, and how did
you two first meet?

Speaker 2 (33:07):
Katie?

Speaker 1 (33:07):
Do you remember I do?

Speaker 2 (33:09):
Oh? Was it when I came to the Obama headquarters
in New York, when I was anchoring the CBS Evening News,
I knew I had to go and suck up to
you people so I could try to get an interview
with then candidate or then Senator Obama. And it was
really fun because there were so many, you know, just

(33:32):
great young people who were just working away. I think
I met you there, Melissa, right.

Speaker 1 (33:37):
We did, and I'll always my parents were so excited
because Katie Karic the Katie KRK, and my mom was like,
my mom goes, why did you wear horizontal stripes? And
so that was the takeaway. And she doesn't listen to
this podcast, so she won't be mad at me.

Speaker 2 (33:53):
That is so funny. Is your mom very critical?

Speaker 1 (33:57):
I mean, she's my mom.

Speaker 2 (34:00):
Okay, enoughset, Okay, Caroline, Katie.

Speaker 5 (34:04):
You are also currently wearing horse not in.

Speaker 1 (34:07):
The same way. Not in the same way. Mine were
very different.

Speaker 5 (34:14):
Okay. So our next question is having a crush on
a guy when we're both middle aged just feels so embarrassing.

Speaker 1 (34:24):
Lol.

Speaker 5 (34:25):
That said, I'd love to hear what you've enjoyed the
most about falling in love as grown ass adults.

Speaker 1 (34:31):
So I would say. The thing about it is is
that I liked myself and I was very aware of
who I was when I met David, and so he
got the real mate, you know, he got one hundred
percent this is how I am. I didn't put on
any errors for him. I didn't try to be you know,
cuter than I was or funnier than I was. It

(34:53):
was just me and so I feel like we had
a great foundation because there was none of the like
when you're younger, I feel like you're just not as secure.
And so I was like, either he likes me for
me or he doesn't. And he did, And now he's
having shoulder surgery tomorrow, and I'm going to have to, like,
you know, take care of him.

Speaker 2 (35:11):
Tell me, what what does David do?

Speaker 1 (35:14):
He he was we met because he oh we met
Katie because he was Harry Reid's chief of staff when
Reid was leader. Oh wow, yeah, yeah.

Speaker 2 (35:24):
And that's how long have you been together?

Speaker 1 (35:27):
For? Fourteen years?

Speaker 2 (35:29):
Oh?

Speaker 1 (35:29):
My gosh, yeah, fourteen years, married for ten.

Speaker 2 (35:32):
Oh that's so nice. You know, my story is very similar, actually, Alyssa.
I think, you know, my husband died when I was
forty one, and he was forty two, and we had
two little girls, Ellie and Carrie, and they were six
and two when he died. And I took a couple
of years to start dating. And I went out and

(35:54):
had some long term relationships, you know, fun, but ultimately
not for the not for the long run, not for
the ages. And I was gosh, I think I was
fifty five, and I was always very intentional about dating.

(36:15):
I always knew I love to be married. I love
having a partner. You know, I'm not saying everyone needs
one to be happy and fulfilled. I don't believe that.
But for me personally, I love the companionship of a partner.
And so I was when I met my current and

(36:35):
hopefully last husband, John Molner, I was very much comfortable
in my own skin and very much myself as well,
because I was God, you know, at fifty five, you
better start to get comfortable with you you are. So
he kind of liked me. He got, you know, the
whole thing, you know, he got the true me too,

(36:59):
and and that's why I think, and I got the
true him. I think. So that isn't a very good
story though, no it is.

Speaker 1 (37:09):
No, but I think it is because there is a
when you're younger, you're still figuring out who you are.

Speaker 2 (37:16):
And I also was insecure. I think I was insecure
and I was, you know, and I think I dated
a couple of guys who played games and I didn't
like that at all. Who were you know? I never
knew kind of where they stood, and I always felt
like uneasy and off balance, right. And when you find

(37:38):
someone and you can really be who you are, your
true self, and they love you for warts and all,
it is so liberating, and you know it's someone you
can feel one hundred percent comfortable with and like, even
if you're going to be an asshole one day, or
even if you're going to do something weird, you know,

(37:59):
you know that there's something deep, deep and a foundation
of love that can get you through all those rocky times.

Speaker 1 (38:10):
I agree.

Speaker 2 (38:11):
Can I just add something, please? Please, don't be embarrassed
to have a crush on someone. It's so fun. I
go early, those early weeks and months of a relationship,
because let's face it, you know, things do get a
little more or normalized through the years. But it's so fun.
There's nothing like it. And enjoy it. Enjoy it, don't

(38:33):
be embarrassed and also make sure that person likes you
for the right reasons, just like David and John like
us for the right reasons.

Speaker 5 (38:43):
That's great advice. Also to plug Alyssa's book, who thought
this was a good idea? Your her like beginning of
her love story with her husband is very very sweet.

Speaker 2 (38:55):
Okay, well, I'm going to have to read your book, Alissa.

Speaker 1 (38:57):
Caroline, I'll send you a cop.

Speaker 2 (39:00):
Yeah, and by the way, have you read my book, Alissa?

Speaker 1 (39:04):
I interviewed you, Katie. I read your book twice. I
read your book twice and have so many post it
notes in it. I also listened to the audio book.

Speaker 2 (39:11):
So you just I forgot you interviewed me. Sorry, you
sit back for breakfast.

Speaker 5 (39:20):
Okay, next question, I think.

Speaker 2 (39:22):
Caroline Caroline has beautiful teeth.

Speaker 5 (39:27):
Thanks so much.

Speaker 1 (39:29):
The most fun episode ever.

Speaker 5 (39:31):
You know, I've been told that a lot, and not
to brag, but I think it's because I've recently learned
I have an unusually large mouth.

Speaker 2 (39:39):
So a lot of smile.

Speaker 1 (39:41):
Show. Oh yeah, your teeth show yeah, thank.

Speaker 2 (39:44):
You show They're lovely.

Speaker 5 (39:47):
Thank you so much, Thank you, Thank you for my
mom for paying for my braces. Okay, So next question,
I think there has been a lot of talk about risk.
What is a risk you're glad you took and a
risk that paid off? What is a risk you're glad
you took even though it didn't work out, And how
did that inform your approach to making choices.

Speaker 1 (40:08):
Let's see a risk I'm glad I took. So when
I was in the White House, the position of White
House Deputy Chief came available, and Barack Obama and the
senior staff were like, Alyssa, you're going to do this.
And I was coming up with every other person who
I thought should do it because I was nervous to
make a mistake. And my boss and mentor and sense

(40:33):
to this day, Pete Rouse, called me into his office
and he said, God damn it, Alyssa, you're the only
one here who thinks you can't do it. You need
to shut up and take the job. And I did it,
and frankly, I think I was excellent at it. I
think I was born for that job.

Speaker 2 (40:47):
I loved it, and I think for me, I think
a risk I'm glad I took was starting my own
media company. Yeah, you know, I think I realized, and
that came from a risk that I took that I
have mixed feelings about. I'm glad I did it in
a way, but also sad and did it in a
way which was going to be the anchor of the
CBS Evening News. And I think one of the things

(41:10):
I have learned, and luckily technology advanced along with me,
is that I didn't necessarily want to be controlled by
the man or the men who had this ability to
make decisions not always based on merit right, And that

(41:32):
I wanted to be the boss of me, that I
wanted to lift other people up, give them opportunities be
kind of on the same wavelength as they are. And
that's why I'm really happy that I started with my
husband a media company which unfortunately I don't like the
name of it, Katie Kirk Media. But everyone said, you know,

(41:54):
you should take advantage, you should take advantage of the
fact that you're you know, your name is well known,
and so you know that that was hard and I
couldn't have done it without my really smart, business savvy husband,
and so I'm really glad. And now we have like
forty employees, we've brought in a lot of revenue, we've

(42:17):
done it for six years, we're thriving, We're kind of
like that little engine that could. And I have the
freedom to do things like this Alyssa, or to call
James Carville and say, hey, will you do an interview
with me?

Speaker 1 (42:29):
Or and are you enjoying yourself? And I am, yeah.

Speaker 2 (42:33):
And I have so much more flexibility. I'm not going
to lie like sometimes I work miss working for a
big news organization, you know, especially like when there's a
convention or when there's the Olympics. But you know, I
also am excited to see other people take those opportunities
and run with them. So yeah, I think that's a

(42:56):
risk that I'm glad I took.

Speaker 5 (42:57):
Okay, our next question involves both of your books. Can
you both talk about your writing process and balancing vulnerability
and funny anecdotes with advice and accounts. How did you
develop your author voice and style? And do you plan
on writing another book? This is for both of you.

Speaker 2 (43:15):
I'll start with this one. I basically tried to write
the way I think and the way I talk. I
had a really wonderful collaborator helping me, who I think
we had very similar sensibilities, were about the same age
we came up in the media business around the same time.
So I think we had kind of this common historical

(43:37):
but vocabulary, if you will, about sort of the way
things were and the way things have become. So I
would basically just write big chunks. I would remember events
like when I interviewed Bob Dole and he got really
mad at me when I asked him about tobacco not
being addictive and the money he was getting from the

(43:58):
tobacco industry. I ended up not keeping that in the
book because it was getting too long. But I would
really just write things, and then I would look at
old speeches or I never journaled. I'm just not the
journaling type, unfortunately, But I would just remember I do
have a good memory, and I was prompted by rewatching

(44:20):
interviews I did or setting myself back in time. And
there's some things that I think are so crystallized in
your memory it's easy to retrieve them. But I kind
of just saw things as chapters in my life, and
I didn't necessarily do it in order, but I would
do like today, I'm going to write about when I
decided to go to CBS and what that process was like,

(44:43):
or when I was pregnant with Ellie and I got
offered this job on the Today Show. So I would
just kind of write about those things and then we
would weave them together. That's how I did it, how
about you, Melissa?

Speaker 1 (44:55):
That was so when I first started writing my book,
I was the process was awful because I was trying
to write a book like a book that had been
written before, right, and that's just not who I am,
Like a DC Washington, you's someone who worked in the
White House memoir and I thought it should be serious,
and I'm not serious. That is not why Barack Obama

(45:18):
hired me. Like I am good at my job, but
I'm not uptight, I guess. And I was trying to
write a book that was coming across as very serious,
and so I really struggled. And then, funny enough, through
collective bargaining at Vice, I met my co writer, this
woman Lauren Eiler Love You Low, and she was exactly

(45:40):
what I needed because she's like mmm mmmm mmm, She's like,
write down your memory. What are your favorite memories? Your
memories will inform certain things. And so I took all
this time with note cards and I wrote wrote down
my memories. And then we went back to Hashet and
we were like, actually, this is the book we want
to write, and they were like, yes, this is it.

(46:01):
Like I had sent them some versions that I had
written that I had done myself without Lauren's help. And
I decided that the best way to get people to
want to read my book is to just in the
same way Katie that we met our husbands when we
were feeling like totally like ourselves. I was like, either
I have to be totally myself in this book. I
have to tell the horrible story about how I almost

(46:22):
shit myself when I met the Pope, about how you know,
of all of the friendships, the things that if anyone
was going to buy my book, and I decided who
I wanted to write it for, which were people who
grew up like I did you know, my dad worked
at IBM, my mom worked at the high school. I
had no adjacency to politics.

Speaker 2 (46:43):
You know.

Speaker 1 (46:44):
They just basically sent me to college and said do
something you love. And I met Bernie Sanders and that
was and like, so to just tell people that I
took these risks, you know that I didn't know. I mean,
Bernie Sanders was just this man I saw on TV.
But he spoke to me, and so I I think
that Like when I wrote the book, I was so
proud of it when I was done, because when I

(47:05):
read the audiobook, uh, when I was recording it, I
was like, this totally sounds like me. Like if someone
sat down across the table for me and asked me
these questions, this is how I would say it. And
funny enough, I couldn't have done that without Lauren because
I kept trying to edit myself and she was like, no,
let Alyssa be Alyssa, like just do it. And that

(47:26):
was so when people read it and they compliment me,
I actually take the compliment really seriously because it actually
is me.

Speaker 2 (47:32):
Yeah, and I think you and I probably were infected
by the same disease as women of a certain age.
I'm much older than you are, Alyssa, But how old
are you?

Speaker 1 (47:41):
By the way, I'm forty eight.

Speaker 2 (47:43):
Okay, so I'm almost twenty years older than you are.
But I think that we you know, I think women
in the workplace have to think try so hard to
be taken seriously, right yea? That, yes, that was a
dilemma for me my whole life. You know, because I

(48:04):
actually am a serious person. I care deeply about issues,
but I also have this fun, funny side, and so
I think it's so easy, especially when you're a public figure,
quite frankly, that people want to put you in a box.
You're a serious news person or you're a fluffy morning
show host, and I think people have a hard time

(48:24):
embracing you know, we contain the idea of containing multitudes,
like Walt Weightman talks about. And so I'm sure that
you had some of those things in your head when
you were writing a book, like I'm writing a policy book.
And I did too, Like I wanted to be received
as a serious journalist, but I also wanted people to

(48:45):
get to know who I was deep down inside. And
you know, I included a lot of things that weren't
very flattering about myself. That I felt territorial about my
job at times, you know, and that when people came
around that I didn't mentor maybe you know, people who

(49:06):
were thrust out there to replace me in my job.
And I talked about this whole dilemma with Ruth Bader
Ginsberg that got a lot of pushback from journalists, but
you know, I wanted to say everybody has these ethical
dilemmas at some point, and journalists have to weigh things
all the time, and why not, you know, open the

(49:27):
curtain and say these are some of the things that
happen to people, you know, all people. And I remember
being interviewed by a writer about the book and I said,
have you ever had kind of an ethical thing? And
she said, yeah, I interviewed someone and somebody came out
afterwards and said, please don't include that. And I said,
did you? And they she said no. So you know,

(49:48):
we struggle with these things, and so I tried to
be very vulnerable. Sometimes I feel like maybe I opened
myself up to too much criticism, but I also wanted
to interrogate things like female competition and what does it
look like versus male competition, and do it in a

(50:11):
really honest, transparent way.

Speaker 1 (50:16):
And that is what I loved about your book and
why I read it and also listen to it, because
it was complicated, right. You could have done a glossy, distilled,
edited to shit book that was like here's my life
is Katie Couric, But you were like, here's my I mean, Katie.
I laughed, I cried. I read it, and then I

(50:36):
was like, that wasn't even enough. I have to listen
to it, so to me it was a ten out
of ten.

Speaker 2 (50:41):
Well, thank you, And I think the lesson here from
both of our stories is, you know, you have to
be sort of you have to embrace who you are
and be radically honest if you want your story to
resonate with someone else, because everything else feels, as you said,
glossed over and baky and authentic. And I think that's

(51:05):
the worst thing to be. That's you know, who wants
who wants that, who wants to write it, and who
wants to read it.

Speaker 5 (51:12):
I think the answer is Malania Trump there. Okay, we're
gonna take a quick break, but we'll be back with
more questions.

Speaker 1 (51:48):
Okay, we're back before we keep the Q and A
going some announcements for the class. It can be so
frustrating to see what the world should look like and
feeling like each day it gets further and further out
of reach. But as Stacy Abrams would say, one piece
isn't going to fix the whole puzzle. But that doesn't
mean we can't do something somewhere soon. On her new
Crooked show, Assembly Required with Stacy Abrams, Stacy is joined

(52:12):
by organizing experts and progressive leaders to break down the
biggest issues in politics right now, crowdsourcing solutions and sharing
stories of action that will make you feel less alone
and help motivate your friends and family to make a difference.
You can listen to the trailer right now wherever you
get your podcasts, and be sure to subscribe so you
don't miss the first episode of Assembly Required with Stacy
Abrams dropping August fifteenth. The election is just about one

(52:35):
hundred days away, and whether you're falling out of a
coconut tree or anxiously clinging to one, now is the
time to volunteer, donate, and canvas your ass off for
progressive candidates and initiatives up and down the ballot. Sign
up for a shift at vote Saveamerica dot com and
pick up a canvassing kit for yourself or maybe for
a friend in a swing state. It has all the
essentials for a day of door knocking, including a clipboard, pens,

(52:56):
band aids, a toe bag, and more. The Crooked Store
gives back with every order to support organizations doing incredible
work across the US to make sure every voice can
be heard. Head Tocrooked dot com slash store to get
your kit.

Speaker 5 (53:08):
Nown Okay, we're back. We have a few more questions
for you all. These all lean a little more political,
but I will start with an easy one. If you
had a chance to interview Avonka Trump, what would you
ask her?

Speaker 1 (53:23):
I think I would ask her, who are you.

Speaker 2 (53:29):
Like?

Speaker 1 (53:30):
Who are you? Tell us who you are like? I
would I would welcome. I don't think it's a question
someone would expect, and I would really be interested in
what came top of mind.

Speaker 2 (53:43):
I think that's a really good question. Honestly, I think
that's who are you? Who are you? I also think
I think it would be interesting if she would be
honest about why they kind of disappear from the public
eye and what was the hardest part of having a

(54:03):
father who was president and then was not re elected.
I think I'm not sure, as you know, I said,
she would be honest in her answer, but I would
kind of like to to understand her decision to kind
of move to Florida, get away from all the people

(54:24):
who you know, who were no longer her friends. I
get the impression she was sort of shunned by her her.

Speaker 1 (54:33):
Pose of her society pals.

Speaker 2 (54:35):
Yeah, yeah, and you know, just on a human level,
what the whole experience was like, which is a little
like your question too. Okay, what's next, Caroline?

Speaker 5 (54:46):
Okay, I keep hearing about non traditional media that VP
Harris should do. Do you have any ideas for shows
you'd like to see her on. I'd love to see
her on a cooking show. I will note she was
just on RuPaul's Jagrace.

Speaker 2 (54:58):
Oh right to me.

Speaker 1 (55:00):
I think she's doing it like I can't think of
something that I haven't seen.

Speaker 5 (55:06):
You know what I would like to see hysteria podcast.

Speaker 1 (55:08):
I'd like to know. I would like to see Katie
interview her. I think that like a real hour long
sit down. Actually the more traditional because they're killing it
on social media, you know what I mean, Like the
Lance Bass Bye Bye bye, all those things. I mean,
if I've seen them, I can't imagine what everybody else
is seeing because I'm not even that online. But I

(55:29):
actually think i'd like to see her do a full
hour sit down with Katie and introduce herself to people
who do not.

Speaker 2 (55:39):
Know her that well. I interviewed her in January and
we're reaching out obviously to her folks. I'd kind of
like to do a day in the life of her
campaign and really be a fly on the wall and
obviously get a chance to talk to her to just
but to really see who she is. I think almost

(56:02):
I think I think a sit down interview wouldn't necessarily
reflect or convey her true essence in a way.

Speaker 1 (56:12):
No, I think your day in the life is a
better idea.

Speaker 2 (56:14):
You know, And I think she gets a little tripped up,
and I think it becomes sort of formal, and I
would love for like to be there when she's meeting
with her staff, to be there, you know, when she's
going to a campaign rally, to talk to her, like
to be there when she's talking to President Biden. Maybe
something happened in Israel. I don't know, you know, I

(56:36):
would love to be a fly on the wall. I
don't think she would ever let me. I think it
would be awesome.

Speaker 1 (56:43):
I agree. I think that's the best I think that
would be the best format.

Speaker 5 (56:47):
So those both sound like pretty traditional media.

Speaker 1 (56:50):
Yeah, because we're basic old bitches, Caroline, I.

Speaker 2 (56:53):
Guess it does. But I mean she you know, listen,
she did an interview with me and we put it
in our newsletter and on social media and on YouTube.
So that's kind of non traditional and you know, I
think I'm a little burned by President Biden doing like
Conan O'Brien and Howard Stern. And I think those are

(57:14):
great as long as you don't do it, as long
as you don't avoid serious interviews. Not that they weren't serious,
but they really weren't very policy oriented and they were
more kind of like origin story stuff. And I think
that she needs to do some fun things, but she,
I really really hope won't shy away from doing big

(57:36):
interviews with the New York Times, with the Wall Street Journal,
you know, with very with network news anchors, with former
network news anchors, because I think, you know, honestly, not
everyone can do an interview, and not everyone understands public policy.
And I'm not saying I'm like this public policy wonk,
but you know, we need people who know how to

(57:58):
ask importance questions and follow up.

Speaker 1 (58:03):
I agree with that.

Speaker 5 (58:04):
Oh, here's an interesting question. Given the GOP's clear goal
to make America Gilead again, if we hold the White House,
could it be possible slash beneficial to create a Secretary
or Director of Reproductive Rights and Maternal Affairs.

Speaker 2 (58:22):
Sure, that's a really interesting idea.

Speaker 1 (58:25):
Absolutely it could be a White House position, it could
be at HHS. There are like a lot of places
that that position could live. And I do think specifically
about maternal mortality. It is something that needs to be addressed.
America is like a third world nation.

Speaker 2 (58:41):
Yes, a terrible, terrible er department also paid family leave.
You know, my friend Reshmasu Johnny has done incredible work
in that area. There are other people who are working
on it and organizations. I think she was just elated
that a question was asked about that in the CM debate,
not that they really answered it, but you know, I

(59:01):
think that this will usher in a new era of
people caring more deeply about women and women's issues and
family issues which are really not women's issues. So I
think that's a really good idea. I'd like to nominate
the person who came up with it.

Speaker 1 (59:18):
Yes, send us your resume. We'll send it in.

Speaker 5 (59:22):
Okay, Katie, we got this question so many times that
I'm just going to ask it to you. Uh yeah,
how did you keep a straight face during your famous
Sarah Palin interview?

Speaker 2 (59:33):
You know, I very consciously went into that interview knowing
that that people who supported her and she was an
incredible candidate, incredibly charismatic. Initially, I mean, she just blew
the lid off the RNC with that speech, and my
friend Nicole Wallace was helping her, and you know, signs

(59:56):
were blocking the teleprompter. She ad libbed that li stick
on you know, what's the difference between a soccer mom
and hockey mom and a pitbull lipstick? So I just
knew that she was pretty light. I didn't know she
was light on public policy, but I knew that that

(01:00:17):
hadn't really been properly mined. I guess Charlie Gibson had
done something, but there was plenty of wood to chop.
And I knew that people would blame me for being
too confrontational or aggressive or whatever. I went in there saying,
I am not going to look at her a skance,

(01:00:41):
I'm not going to smirk, I'm not going to look
condescending that. I am just going to have no expression
at all, because I knew people would blame me if
she didn't have the right answer or stumbled or whatever.
So you know, and also as a person, I also

(01:01:04):
felt bad for her, you know, because I saw it
was pretty evident, and also her speaking cadence I think
made it almost exacerbated the situation. But it was pretty
evident that she wasn't quite ready for prime time and
that she was struggling. And if you're in a situation
like that, you feel bad, you know, unless you have

(01:01:27):
ice water running through your veins. So I would never
have laughed or embarrassed her further she was honestly, it
was kind of she was doing it herself by kind
of kind of throwing in everything but the kitchen sink
when she answered some questions. So for those reasons, I

(01:01:48):
would I just didn't want to react to anything she said.

Speaker 5 (01:01:54):
It's a great answer. Actually, Okay, two more questions. The
first is I never thought about it before, but I
guess the Summer Olympics are always the same year as
a presidential election. How does that affect a campaign having
the Summer Olympics always during the same year.

Speaker 1 (01:02:11):
I'm going to give you my my reflection on this
was in two thousand and eight. It was Beijing, Katie right, right,
two thousand and eight. And the Crooked family will know
the name Ben Rhodes, of course, and Ben Rhodes and
I used to check in every morning about what had
happened on the Olympics. It was actually the most like

(01:02:32):
August is a grind, like you still have July and August,
like there's still so much time left on the campaign.
I mean not really in Kamala's case, but for us,
and everything was just we were so tired and the
Olympics brought us such joy like we would like I
would pretend to do like a dismount or like stick
the landing in front of Ben's desk, and it was
just it was the it really I loved it. I

(01:02:55):
think we should always have this because there is something
about America excellence right Like we're watching the Olympics now
and I'm just like, fuck, this is great, Like it
just I don't know, I find it. It is nothing
but upside.

Speaker 2 (01:03:09):
I feel like I've also been struck by the diversity
at the Olympics, when dei has suddenly become a dirty word.
You look at those, you look at the US gymnastics team,
and they look like America, you know. And I saw
a post that was done by the NAACP of a
little five year old on a balance being at her home.

(01:03:33):
I think she was doing things and how inspired she was.
She was black, little black girl and I was like,
you know, representation matters so so so much, and I
feel like we've seen a sea change and representation in
the best possible way, and I think it's so thrilling

(01:03:54):
and so I don't know, to me, the Olympics are
emblematic of this is this is this is our country
and isn't it fucking great?

Speaker 5 (01:04:05):
Yes?

Speaker 2 (01:04:06):
This year, that's what I think. I think we're reminded
like like we're all from different backgrounds in different countries
and you know, you know, and came from different places,
and some of us are immigrants and some of us
are from mixed race families, and isn't it great? Isn't

(01:04:26):
it a beautiful thing? And in terms of messing with
the election, that was just sort of my personal observation
this year. It's just a lot of work because you know,
I'm thinking about people like Savannah Guthrie, who you know,
she's in Paris and then she'll be in Chicago and
so they'll be like like, I've got to switch gears
pretty quickly. It's just a very intense, intense period and

(01:04:51):
you know, shout out to everybody who's working their butts
off covering both these events.

Speaker 5 (01:04:56):
Yeah, this is a fun final question, Can we ourselves
dream for a moment and discuss what it would be
like to have a woman as president?

Speaker 2 (01:05:06):
Yes, we can. Can.

Speaker 1 (01:05:09):
It's I don't even know if we can. It's so
funny because after twenty sixteen, you're like, I don't know,
can't get ahead of myself, can't get too excited. But
you know, it's it's not dissimilar. Oh my god, what
if I cry? It's not dissimilar to what Katie was
just saying about the Olympics. It's like and the little
girl on the balance beam, it's like, if you can
see it, you can dream it. And when we were

(01:05:31):
in the White House, the number there is a there
is a very famous picture Katie, I know you'll know
it of a little boy touching and Obama's hair. And
the point of that picture, which stayed up in the
West Wing all eight ears, was that the little boy
couldn't believe the president had the same hair he did.

(01:05:52):
And to me, that's like what we're waiting for in
a woman president to be like, you know what, there
might be tampons in the White House, like they're like
like all of the things that someone who's had some
sort of lived experience that's adjacent yours is good enough
to be the leader of the free world. And I

(01:06:13):
think that so much will change in how we see
ourselves when that happens, even if intellectually we tell ourselves
we are equal, we are worthy all of this. I
think seeing you know, if we're able to see Kamala
up outside the Capitol in January, that will be a
moment that we can't even imagine right now sitting here.

Speaker 2 (01:06:35):
That's how I feel, and I think it is, you know,
for a woman of my generation born in nineteen fifty seven.
As I mentioned, I'm sixty seven now. My daughters are
thirty three and twenty eight. You know, we used to
have t shirts I think from like Margaret from Dennis
Samenaz saying I want to be the first being of president.

(01:06:55):
I don't know if you remember those.

Speaker 1 (01:06:57):
I do remember, yeah, And.

Speaker 2 (01:07:01):
It is something that we have fantasized about, truly, and
I think, yes, I think we have to be able
to imagine it and envision it. And I really think
it's not only that Kamala Harris is a woman. I
think that she's a mixed race woman. I think that

(01:07:24):
she's a younger woman and you know, represents generational change.
I was talking to somebody not too long ago, and
this was when I was on the Today Show with
Brian Gumbel, and it was I guess in nineteen ninety
two when Bill Clinton won and to see Hillary and
Bill and Tipper and al all I think in their

(01:07:46):
mid forties. Right back then, it was like wow. And
with Fleetwood Mac singing and stop thinking about tomorrow, it
did represent a new era and new hope and a
sea change. I felt the same way obviously when President
Obama was elected president and came out with Michelle and

(01:08:08):
they're two girls. You know, there was just something so
beautiful and exquisite about that moment, right it represented the
possibility of America. So I think we can imagine it,
and I think it's incredibly exciting, and I think there

(01:08:30):
is a lot of work to do and a lot
of people to be brought along and a lot of understanding.
I wish, you know, I wish there could be more
understanding between people who are not like minded and more
honest conversations because I don't like the current climate and

(01:08:52):
the hate and vitriol that seems to be coming too
often from both sides. So, but anyway, I think it's
I think it's really, you know, an exciting moment in
my lifetime and in the lifetime of our country.

Speaker 1 (01:09:09):
Katie, Thank you, thank you, Katie, Thank you so much
for joining us these past couple of weeks. Listeners, please
check out Katie's podcast Next Question with Katie Couric and
her newsletter Wake Up Call. And to those listening, thank
you for sending us your questions. We've really got the
best listeners in the biz. We'll be back next week
with more Hysteria. Don't forget to follow.

Speaker 3 (01:09:36):
Us at Crooked Media on ig, Twitter, and TikTok. Subscribe
to Hysteria on YouTube for access to video versions of
your favorite segments and other exclusive content, and if you're
as opinionated as we are, considered dropping us a nice review.
Hysteria is a Crooked Media production. Caroline Rustin is our
senior producer. Our executive producer is me Aaron Ryan and

(01:09:56):
Alyssa Master Monico is our co producer. Fiona Pastana is
our associate producer. The show is engineered and edited by
Jordan Cantor. We get audio support from Kyle Seguin and
Charlotte landis our video Producers are Rachel Gaieski and Megan Patzel,
and thank you to Julia beach Awa Ouglate, Adia Hill
and David Toles for production support every week