SmartLess: "AOC: LIVE in Brooklyn"

Hey, listener, and welcome to SmartList.

Before we get into this incredible episode,

I want just a moment of your time

to set the stage a little bit.

Sean and Jason and I went on a SmartList tour last year

where we recorded 10 episodes live

in front of thousands of our biggest fans

from Brooklyn to Los Angeles, and guess what?

Right now, there are more live episodes

from our tour on Wondry Plus that you can listen to.

You can listen to these episodes four weeks early

and add free on Wondry Plus,

after which you can hear them for free

wherever you get your podcast.

Find Wondry Plus in the Wondry app or on Apple Podcasts.

All right, welcome to SmartList.

Wait, wait, wait, is the announcement over?

You know it?

No, I don't.

Oh, did he finish?

Yeah, he finished.

Okay, great.

Got me the biggest start.

It's a 10 o'clock show, 10 o'clock show, 10 o'clock show.

10 o'clock show, 10 o'clock show, 10 o'clock show, 10 o'clock show.

Do we remember what city we're in?

Do we remember what city we're in?

Brooklyn, we're in Brooklyn, we're in New York City.

New York City, 10 o'clock show.

People might be a little tight-tongued,

so that's a good energy.

Energy, vocal exercises.

Vocal exercises.

Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh.

Eye contact, eye contact.

Eye contact, eye contact.

Eye contact, eye contact.

What is the name of the show we're doing?

Well, the show is SmartList.

SmartList.

SmartList.

So this is bananas for us.

Yeah.

And so to be out here in front of you guys truly,

it is super humbling for us.

Yeah.

Thank you, thank you, thank you.

Yeah, yeah.

Thank you.

We're going to switch.

I'm sitting over there?

Yeah.

I'm sitting there.

Where do you want to sit?

I'm going to sit down.

I sit in the middle.

Because you guys are seated.

Because tonight's my guest.

So I get the couch.

Why is that good news?

You don't know.

Yeah, why is that good news?

Yeah, why is that?

I feel like, yeah.

Jason!

But I'm telling you, it's a good guest.

This is our last show here in Brooklyn.

Yes.

And I know, we're bummed to leave.

Believe me.

But wait, hang on, what are you guys doing tomorrow?

Yeah, that's a good point.

We'll do like a little matinee.

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Oh, we should have done that.

Everyone's got to rest tomorrow.

You've got to go to church.

You've got to go to...

Whatever I do.

Yeah.

I like to talk about things that we go through on tour

because we've never been on tour before.

And one of the things is like touring and traveling.

We stay in the same room, which is true.

The same suite.

Yeah, we're staying in the same hotel room.

Yeah, so by so far, everyone we've

been to, every city we've been to, out of the three rooms,

I've gotten the handicapped room.

Yeah.

And so...

By the way, true story.

True story.

It's just crazy luck.

So the shower is level with the floor,

and it's a hand thing.

I'm like, what?

Like, it's no shower head.

Which is fine.

It's just right, yeah.

He's yet to complain.

Yeah.

I saved it for here.

Right.

Yeah, so I can complain.

Why do you want to do it in front of all these thousands

of people just to make us feel bad?

Well, here's the other thing that I didn't talk about,

which is, I don't know how you guys feel, but like...

Oh, get real.

No, like, when you go out to eat at a restaurant,

and you order, oh, first of all, the waiter comes around

and he's like, would you like bottled water

or tap water or whatever?

And if I go, I'll have bottled water.

And everybody else will be like, hey, it's great.

And then he brings a glass for every single person.

Right.

And you're like, I'm not selfish, but I'm like...

There goes my bottle.

There goes my bottle of water to everybody else.

What part of that bothers you?

I want to get down.

Well, just whatever you want.

You order that drink, but know that it was the thing I ordered.

OK, I know.

But is it the money?

No, it's not the money.

It's not the money.

But here's the thing that's even worse.

If I order dessert, and these guys know, I love dessert.

Angel loves a sweet.

Yeah.

If it's the same thing with those...

So you know, like, when you're like, OK, does anybody...

And everybody's like, nah, no dessert for me.

Nah, nothing for me.

And I was like, I'll have the chocolate cake,

the oozing chocolate cake with the vanilla ice cream.

Great.

And then the waiter comes around, plate and a spoon.

Plate and a spoon.

Plate and a spoon.

Plate and a spoon.

And I was like, well, now I'm an asshole if I don't share.

And I look like a kid, like I don't want to share my food.

But then, you know, you can't win.

I...

And by the way, the point is, the point is that's happened

when the cookies came the other day.

And you're like, look, there's cookies.

And this one's like, I don't want any.

Let me have one.

So...

Right.

And the cookies were next to...

Eight plates of food.

OK.

This one.

So let's just get something clear.

So if you've listened to the podcast,

you know that Jason has a very dangerous relationship with food.

No, I just don't eat like...

I don't eat like King Arthur.

No.

No, but you don't need to talk about it all the time.

And I can't wait.

I just find it fascinating.

And I'm going to pay for your whatever, your psychiatrist,

when they deal with this, because it's so fucked up.

And we live in a world where everybody's always talking about food

and it's gluten-free and the thing and the thing

and how many calories.

Who fucking cares?

Yes, you want to know what happens when I eat gluten?

It's a disaster.

It's a disaster.

So close to tears.

Look at him.

So I get some food for lunch and then...

But like, you say what you ordered.

OK, so I ordered a burger and a steak.

Keep going.

That's true.

That's true.

To split.

No, no.

You ordered a hamburger and a steak and a bowl of cream corn

something and a salad.

And blueberry pancakes.

And blueberry pancakes.

No, that was a different...

It's not even the same meal.

That was a different...

No, that was a different meal.

And then these chocolate chip cookies, they said fresh.

Like, yeah, who's not going to get that?

Listen, you don't want to be rude, right?

I don't want to be rude.

Anyway, he's shamed.

He tried to shame me, which put me on the attack.

I will admit to that.

And then out of spite, he decided to eat it all.

Yeah.

And he's like, yeah, but then you ate some of it.

I had a corner of a cookie just to release the valve.

You know?

I mean, you start to look at something,

and then if you build up this...

But I honestly can't believe we're in Brooklyn

we're talking about this as well.

I know.

But you are the king, Jason.

You are the king of nothing from me.

What do you got there?

Yeah.

Right.

And Sean, on the other hand, he will go to people's houses

and bring McDonald's with him.

Absolutely.

Oh.

Sean, show him your trick if you're constipated.

I just do this.

Get up.

I do this.

This works, guys.

And then seven times and things start to come out.

So he held it at three there.

It's a whole thing, guys.

You don't want to share a room with these two, ever.

And food, it's tricky for you, because also you

get real snacky at night now.

Yeah.

Well, listen.

Well, let's go ahead.

You got me.

She heard it.

Gummy's.

Guys, it's legal.

It's legal now.

Yeah.

I mean, why do I have to hide that?

No, you don't.

You guess what?

It's like going down to the corner and buying a six-year beer.

There are more dispensaries in California than Starbucks.

Yeah, it's true.

Yeah.

Yet I still will not tell my kids that Daddy enjoys a gummy.

But don't tell them.

But it's mostly for the CBD.

Sure, sure.

It's inflammation and whatnot.

Yeah, sure.

Inflammation.

What's amazing is people used to get, like, I feel like when we were going up, people

get high.

Like, at my age, you get high and you watch, like, the song remains the same, Led Zeppelin

or you'd.

They know what it is.

Yeah.

And then like.

Yeah.

But like, Jason takes a gummy and watches MSNBC and took that.

No.

Wait a minute.

I love it.

There's something so super weird and sad about that.

I got a focus.

But Jay got me on them and they really work and they're very healthy and the only thing

is.

Stevia Sweet and gummies.

Yeah.

Oh.

And he will, the only time, the only time I will find golf interesting is he will put

it on.

And I'm like, what is this?

Blop.

10 minutes later, I'm like, this is amazing.

It's legal here.

Yes?

Yeah.

It's like, let's get on with it.

What's crazy is how much about, like, our eating habits and stuff.

They obviously know from listening to the podcast.

And so.

What else are we going to talk about?

I don't know.

We're not journalists.

No.

We're not smart.

No.

We're just people that eat and sleep like everyone else.

I know.

It's so true.

It's so boring.

Well, again, we do want to say thank you for allowing this to happen in that you guys.

And that you listen to the podcast at all for us.

Yeah.

For us, it was such a goof to do it.

And then to be able to do this, it's such an incredible thrill.

So we're really excited to be here with you guys tonight.

Thank you guys.

Very excited.

Very excited.

So speaking of smart, which we are not, ergo smart.

Sure.

Right?

So we're excited to, we decide to, every once in a while, invite somebody really, really

smart.

Yeah.

Okay.

Most of the time, they're just our fancy, famous friends that are an easy booking for

us because they're there having gummies and watching NBC with us.

But tonight, folks, dash stuff.

I need to write my intros because I'm, I'm not smart nor young.

Um, uh, listen, stuff's been a challenge for the last few years, but there are heroes

out there that are working tirelessly to try to make it better.

We got one of them here tonight.

She's one of yours, New York.

She's born in the Bronx, educated in Boston, lives a lot in DC.

And in fact, at 29, she was the youngest elected ever to the Congress.

Guys, welcome.

Alexander Acosta, a torturist.

Oh my God, oh my God.

Oh my God.

Oh my God.

Oh my God.

Oh my God.

Oh my God.

Oh my God.

Oh my God.

Oh my God.

I love you.

Oh my God.

Oh my God.

Thank you so much, guys.

Thank you so much.

This is you.

This is you right there.

My goodness.

Hi, everyone.

You come on in.

You can come on in.

Thank you.

Wow.

Wow.

Hi, goodness. Hi, everyone.

You guys are the hero. Oh, my gosh.

Oh, my gosh.

That was so good.

Right? I mean, see, this kind of stuff blows our mind.

Here we are, just three ding-dongs.

This is crazy.

You came to talk about golf with us?

Yes. I wish you brought on somebody with opinions.

Right. Golf.

We're gonna get him tonight.

We're gonna get him out of her.

I got questions and stuff like that.

Well, first of all, are you currently in town

or do you come up for this?

Or how often do you get to live in your home city

versus living in D.C.?

So this is one of the most common questions I get asked.

It depends on the year.

Off to a great start.

Tell me about your digs in D.C.

Do you guys all have to stay in the same kind of place?

Is it like dormitories?

Do you get a budget for an apartment?

For an apartment?

Okay, so if you're a normal person...

See, guys, I'm gonna ask shit you.

Never even thought to ask a congressman.

Do you take the express train to D.C.?

I don't know. It's gonna be better.

Are you on a gummy?

I don't know.

But are you?

It's like semi-legal in New York.

Got it.

Is it really only semi-legal?

Yeah, it's decriminalized.

What does that mean?

Yes, it's medically legal

and it's like on the way to becoming.

So wait, but so you can buy it legally

if you smoke it, it's illegal?

No, no, you can own it.

Can you use it?

You can use it.

It's decriminalized, but decriminalized...

You can't buy it in a shop yet.

Oh, right.

But we're on our way.

You can buy it in an alley.

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Or a park.

Or a park.

Okay, so your place in D.C.,

do you get a budget for housing

or you've got to spend that yourself?

No, this is...

I want to know, too.

I have 10,000 questions I could ask you

because I'm the dumbest person.

The detail, like, it is crazy.

It's really interesting because most people

who get elected to Congress

are independently wealthy before they run.

I want to get into that, too.

So if you're a normal person

and you get elected,

there's no housing allowance,

so you have to pay two rents.

And...

Your place at home and your place in D.C.

Yeah, or, like, when I got elected,

my job right before,

was I was bartending, and there's...

What was a bar? Shout-out, too?

Shout-out to the Taco Shop

on Union Square, which is still there.

Really?

Hey, some people know it!

So you have to pay for two places,

and you're doing it...

When you go there, you're doing it

on a bartender's salary

with the last salary you...

Yeah, so basically, there's kind of this weird period

where after you get elected,

your first paycheck comes...

Congress, you get paycheck monthly, okay?

You get paid once a month.

And so your first paycheck comes

at the end of your first month in Congress.

So, like, how do you

tide yourself over?

Yeah, like, these are things that...

And a lot of your colleagues, like, don't have to think about it.

Right.

So they're, like, these interesting little challenges.

And are you...

But I rent. I rent in New York and in D.C.

I'm a tenant, okay?

And you're not allowed to take money

from constituents

to help you out.

I think I'm putting in terms of, like,

college athletes and stuff.

Like, you can't take money from sponsors

and alumnus and things like that in Congress.

In theory, you're not.

Exactly. All right.

And do you have to drive yourself?

I drive, yeah.

Or sometimes I'll fly, too.

Or sometimes I'll take the Amtrak,

which is what I do a lot, too.

Now, what about...

Shout out to Amtrak back there.

Good for you.

Now, what about...

And Metro North, too, while we're at it.

Yeah!

I mean,

fuck it.

Um...

All right, so now,

did you want to do this

from an early age?

No.

When you were working with the Bernie Sanders campaign,

you saw some stuff

that you thought, well, maybe that's...

Yeah. Well, you know,

I never thought that I would be elected

to public office.

I also didn't think that

someone like me

or with a background like mine

could really get elected to public office.

And that young, too, at 29,

that's the youngest ever, right?

It's the youngest woman ever.

I mean, you had, like...

Yeah.

I mean, how old were you

when you started to get involved

and you did your first primary or whatever?

You were, like, 27?

I was 27 when I started running.

That's crazy.

27, Sean, you were making millions of dollars a year

You know, like, everybody's got humble beginnings, right, Sean?

Yeah, and by the way,

and still renting.

No, no.

No, you blew through it all.

Oh, I blew through it, yeah.

Wait, I want to know, like,

I don't know how any of...

Like, I'm the, like I said, the dumbest person in the world,

and how...

You're... Nobody disagreed.

I know.

Higher audience.

Nobody...

Now, I'm probably jumping way ahead,

but I just want to get there.

No, please, let's get all over the place.

All we get from the TV and whatever,

wherever we get our news,

whatever you watch or read or whatever...

YouTube!

Is that it's always at a standstill.

Nothing gets accomplished,

and we hear the same thing,

and how long is this going to go on?

When are we going to find somebody or something

or anything that can make us meet in the middle?

I think both sides are sick and tired of it.

Well, I mean,

I think the thing is,

is what we need to take a look at

is that there's a lot

of meeting in the middle.

It's just about the things that we don't like.

So there's a lot of bipartisan consensus

about militarism

and around Wall Street bailouts

and around, you know,

helping out corporations and shorting

the middle and working class.

There's a lot that goes on

that passes that gets done

to advance that.

But isn't newsworthy or something?

If we do hear about it,

we don't like it.

But there's a lot that goes on

that I just don't think...

It's really about, like,

what are we doing to affect people's lives

and to improve people's lives in a way that's felt.

And now, a word from our sponsor.

If your business earns millions

or tens of millions of revenues,

stop what you're doing and take a listen

because NetSuite by Oracle

has just rolled out the best offer

we've ever seen.

NetSuite gives you the visibility

and control you need to make better decisions faster.

And for the first time in NetSuite's 25 years

as the number one cloud financial system,

you can defer payments

of a full NetSuite implementation

for six months.

That's no payment and no interest for six months,

and you can take advantage of this special

financing offer today.

NetSuite is number one because they give your business

everything you need in real time

all in one place to reduce manual

process, boost efficiency,

build forecasts, and increase productivity

across every department.

Look, having all

of your information in one place

is kind of the name of the game,

and that's what NetSuite has.

More than 36,000 companies

have already upgraded to NetSuite,

providing visibility and control over the

financials, inventory, HR, e-commerce,

and more.

If you've been sizing NetSuite up to make the switch,

then you know this deal is unprecedented.

No interest, no payments.

Take advantage of this special financing offer

at netsuite.com

slash smartlist

netsuite.com slash smartlist to get the visibility

and control you need

to weather any storm.

netsuite.com

slash smartlist.

Smartlist is brought to you in part by

Liquid IV.

So, guys, everybody needs to hydrate, right?

It's so important. It's the worst thing to be

dehydrated. It's not healthy.

You have to hydrate all the time.

I'm doing a show, as you all know, on Broadway,

I sweat like a pig when I'm on stage,

and so I need to rehydrate.

I need to get all my electrolytes

so that I can continue to keep performing, right?

It's just really, really important.

Liquid IV, the number one powdered

hydration brand in America,

is now available in sugar-free.

Years in the making, hydration multiplier

sugar-free uses a proprietary

zero-sugar hydration solution

with no artificial sweeteners.

With three times the electrolytes of the

leading sports drink, plus eight vitamins

and nutrients for everyday wellness,

Liquid IV hydrates two times faster

than water alone.

Keep your daily routine exciting

with three new flavors, white peach,

green grape, and lemon lime.

I kind of like anything grape,

so I really, really like the green grape one.

Liquid IV believes that equitable access

to clean and abundant water is the foundation

of a healthier world.

They partner with leading organizations to fund

and foster innovative solutions that help

communities protect both their water

and their futures.

Real people, real flavor, real hydrating,

now sugar-free.

Grab your Liquid IV hydration multiplier

sugar-free in bulk nationwide at Costco

or get 20% off when you go to liquidiv.com

and use code SMARTLESS at checkout.

That's 20% off anything

you order when you use promo code

smartless at liquidiv.com.

And after 17 years,

a kidnapping, and the uncovering

of a secret love triangle,

the truth would finally be revealed.

Enjoy Over My Dead Body

Gone Hunting on the Wondery app

or wherever you get your podcasts.

You can listen to Over My Dead Body

early and add free on my channel

so you don't miss out on any of my

new videos.

Thanks for watching.

I'll see you next time.

So then let's say there's a subject

that you would like to

pull one of the Republicans over

and meet in the middle

and have some bipartisan consent on

and then have a piece of legislation.

How does that happen?

Do you call somebody who you think

might be the most pliable on the other side

and say, hey, let's have coffee?

Or do you text?

Or do you text?

Or do you text?

Or do you text?

How does this part work?

Let's meet in the middle.

A little bit of all of it.

Do you say try this gummy

and then let's talk about it?

A little bit of all of it.

Sometimes there are group chats.

Really?

Oh, yeah, that's a thing.

Put me in one.

I just, how bad would you love

to just infiltrate and just start

loving Ron?

Wait a minute.

That's a dick pic.

Yeah.

But sometimes, you know,

the house floor

that you see on C-SPAN

or at the State of the Union,

that's where we go to vote every day.

And so it is kind of like a high school

cafeteria.

When you see you guys talking next to one another,

you're not talking about sports or whatever.

You're saying, hey, I want to talk to you about this.

You're talking about policy and things you're trying to do

and maybe you should make it more like a musical number.

Make it, you know what I mean?

In the cafeteria.

5, 6, 7, 8.

Well, make it Bill!

Okay.

Anyway, any time.

You don't have to ask him twice.

So,

so then it's,

do you have to worry about the texting

being possibly exposed

by somebody?

Like, is there an encrypted chat

thing for congressmen?

I mean, I feel like

some folks,

they'll use,

they use the same things that everybody uses,

you know?

They'll use

they'll either use iMessage,

Signal, WhatsApp,

like whatever it is people use.

Or again, it is like a high school cafeteria

where sometimes you're talking to somebody

and someone will be like, well, you know who you should talk to.

That guy over there.

And it's very

informal in that way.

Is it as rough?

What's that?

The informal part?

I think I do really well there.

I think you would.

Informal, and then you're on group chats.

You know what I mean?

It really is a lot of schmoozing.

A lot of schmoozing, Jason.

What is it? Can I do it?

So,

when people are trying to sort of like

figure out since it's every

two years for Congress,

as opposed to six years Senators,

yes? Okay.

And four years for President, right?

Oh my God.

I'm Canadian and I know that.

It's a constant turn over,

so how do you keep track of who might be

a pliable member of the other side

and the sort of long-winded question

which I'm prone to do

associated with this is

tuck in.

Just lay back.

It's a long question.

Just ask her a simple question

and then let her answer it.

When you got there,

it was so exciting

for a lot of people

for many, many reasons.

Did you find that

you were either really embraced

or not based on all the press

coverage that you got the second you got there?

Was it helpful or hurtful?

In terms of internal dynamics,

it's actually hurtful

because what happens is that

you're sitting right next to a person

and it's a really bizarre experience

because so there's something called

a cloak room. Oh, here we go.

And...

Harry Potter! Yes!

There's a lot of Harry Potter elements.

It's not Harry Potter shit.

But he's right. It does sound dope as hell.

So you have the house floor,

like what you see in the State of the Union,

but there are these rooms attached

to the house floor.

And there is a Democrats cloak room

and there's a Republican cloak room.

And so you go in

through the cloak room

and there's like, you know,

there's rules about being on the house floor.

You can't wear coats

and so you put your...

Chewing gum!

Chewing gum!

Why can't you wear a coat on the center floor?

Or on the house floor?

There's pretty strict dress codes.

Yeah, you can't wear a coat.

Why?

You can't wear a coat.

You can't wear denim.

Until very recently, women could not wear sleeveless dresses.

Yeah, it's just, you know,

it's old school like that.

And so they have these things called

their cloak rooms where back in the day,

kind of, you know, in the 1800s and whatnot,

members of Congress, they would drop their cloaks there.

There used to be chests

where you put it up and you pull out

huge bottles of booze and put the booze

in the thing

before you went on the house floor.

They don't have those anymore.

Booze cubbies.

But that's how it was.

And so that's like this informal

socializing space.

Well, Jimmy Jordan must love

the house floor.

Can guys

go sleeveless?

That's a good question.

Sorry, that's a question from our friend Justin Thoreau.

Asking for a caller

JT from New York.

We get it, man.

Your arms are really good.

All right, now, so again, jumping all over the place.

You talk about the floor

and then the rooms off to the side.

It makes me think about, I want to go to

January 6th for one second.

I have a question about why did

they all leave once they got in?

Is it because they couldn't find

you guys?

There were places where

you guys were shuttled off to.

They were hiding in the cloak room.

Drinking the booze.

Was that because

obviously old Mr.

What's-his-face never called them off.

So they didn't leave because of that.

Did they leave because you guys were properly

stowed away?

Well, the thing that's interesting

about the architecture of the capital

is that

it's like Harry Potter.

Like Hogwarts.

It's very Byzantine.

It's actually really hard to navigate.

And so they couldn't

find the halls

and the places

that you needed to navigate

to where member offices were.

And so they kind of like

busted in

and they found some of the main

offices like Pelosi's office

and House leadership's offices there.

And so everybody was gone. Everybody was

taken away. Like that, to me,

that's the unsung heroic

story of all this. Because

somebody, and it was probably the

Capitol Police, did great work

of putting everybody away.

And it was like

people like went into Robba Bank

and somebody hid all the money and they were like

well fuck it, I guess let's go home.

There's no money here.

That was a crazy, crazy date.

Oh, was it Will?

Well,

we all remember where we were that day.

Jason, do you remember where you were?

I was with you on the golf course.

Why'd you tea yourself up

with something newly-

Well because you said it was a crazy day.

Like, well we did it.

It's funny that

you talk about it because

and it's funny that you bring it up kind of after

you know discussing relationships with

with members and Republicans

because right before I left,

so

Congress was in session this week and so

right before I left

they literally had the last vote of the week

and

I was just you know filling something out so

most of the

folks were kind of fouled out and

some Republicans,

I mean members of Congress in general

are kind of funny people.

Are they?

Pretty unusual. Are they aware of that?

Yes.

And so the thing that's interesting is like

some Republicans are just like

the reality in front of them

is like completely divorced

from the rhetoric and like

all this other stuff that sometimes they go on TV

and say it's really weird.

And does it feel a little high schoolish

where like you know

there are people there that are

obviously I know

you don't get along with, they don't get along with you

they can go nameless but I mean like

what happens when you pass her in the hallway

you know like I mean

yeah but I mean is it

is it really not so

dissimilar from high school where you either choose

to pretend they're not walking by

or is there

something, is there a snotty

look, is there a snotty

aside, is there ever like

hey you know what let's hang out

this weekend let's like we can fix this

together and you know.

Yeah well I think a lot

of it is like high school

and the reason for it is I think there's just a certain dynamic

when you get like 400 people

in like a similar space

and like they're literal bells

when the votes call the bells ring

it's like

high school in a lot of ways

like just structured that way

so some people really operate that way

High school, yeah, so high school is

is this place

is it up a few floors

why do they call it high

they don't have time but we're gonna

and so some people conduct themselves

that way some people

like actually want to get to know each other

but yeah I mean some

I mean listen

but like a high school if it was

a person X and person Y that everybody

knew they didn't like each other

and then if on Monday

everyone came back to school and the word

got out like oh you know over the weekend they talk

and they're all good it would blow

the high school's mind and everybody

would come back together so I'm just saying I mean

I don't know was you know it

a really cool thing I you know

I know you're willing

what would you say what would you I always

hear this well if you don't like something call your congressman

yeah does that really happen

do you guys have like voicemail that

you know every day it actually

okay it depends on who the member

is some of them don't care

but some of them really really do

especially members

of congress who are in swing seats

they're actually very sensitive

to

the volume of those calls except it has to be

from their constituents so if you're just

calling somebody somewhere else they're like

I don't care what someone from so-and-so

thinks I'm I'm I they're really

resonant with their voters so if

their voters are really upset

and flooding their phones

that's that is something

especially if you're in a tough seat that

does really resonate with

some of them but others they I mean

and senators I don't even

but if you get a call from seven one eight

you're answering yes seven one

eight three four seven

four seven two one twos maybe if you move

nine one seven nine one seven

nine one seven

um so cool

what is it about

something I have not really understood

is a lot of these

folks that are in

positions like yourself could

make a whole hell of a lot more money

back in the private sector

okay um are

and yet to keep their

seat of obviously talking

about a lot of folks on the other side to

keep their seat they have to twist themselves

into these ethical knots

to hold the party line

when you can kind of tell they probably

wouldn't want to like you were saying earlier they say privately

like so why

are they staying there

earning what I think it's

the way senators make

all members of congress make

$174,000 a year

right and I bet you a lot of those

who are a lot of them very skilled attorneys

could make you know X number of millions

a year so are they really

staying there and holding their job because

they have some

ideology that they're so passionate

about or they are so

altruistic they want to help you know

the public I

don't get the sense that a lot

of them do on the other side I'm sorry

to say and so why are they there

when they could be making all this money

back in their district well a lot of them

still do make a ton of money because there's a lot

of insider trading that goes on in congress

there we go and

okay you're not supposed to

I'm not supposed to like say that

term see she's having some of the

scotch guys we're getting it now

here's what I'm gonna say the spirit

like you know

because technically folks will say

you know technically this is not a crime

technically it's not in spirit

it is like it should not

exist because they're privy to some

information that's coming down the pike and they buy

stock exactly and so

it is legal

as a member of congress it is currently

leave and I've been trying to change this

it as

a member of congress it is currently legal

to I can I

have access to classified briefings

you can get things down the

line and you can buy

stock in individual

companies and it can be

within the purview of

the committee that you sit on I mean

it's bonkers so it should

not be legal and we've been working

to make it illegal and I actually think

the increased public attention

very recently is gonna get

a some traction on this issue knock on

what yeah how is that still there

that's crazy and and so

not only that but a there's

that be there are

there are plenty of members who are

so wealthy

and get elected that

they don't have to like a salary is nothing

to them it's it's really there's

no trade off here

I find the psychology of it very interesting

to because I ask myself the same question

like because the thing is like

it's a real pain in the butt you know you

lose your anonymity there's it can be

grueling people are yelling at you

so if you have so your life

is threatened I mean why

do this because you walk into

a restaurant they're like right this way

and I do think no but

like I think that there

is a psychology to that

where there's a certain

kind of power and influence that

money can't buy and there's

like a prestige

that I think money can't buy that is

part of the psychology of some people not

not everybody there are

legitimately

plenty of members of congress are just

salt of the earth incredible

amazing human beings Jamie Raskin

Mark Takan love Jamie Raskin

like wow

amazing so you know it's not everybody

but they're

absolutely is that

that out to it so you're spending

99% of your time being

super duper smart being

incredibly generous with

your time and your occupation

and everything what do you do to be

dumbass what what is like

are you watching below

deck are you

are you chewing

gummies like

crazy what do you do

what do you do to be stupid okay

so I you know because work

is so crazy and and like

emotional etc I

have to watch like

dumb television yeah what's

your favorite dumb please say Ozark

when you say that

you know

like

fun funny stuff

and I play you know Murderville

though is a new show

I'm actually excited about

that no I legitimately

I saw the first commercial for like a

day or two ago and I'm like oh this looks

really funny that shows rad no by the way

seriously watch Murderville

very good don't watch it

streaming on Netflix right now it's not

a big deal really

really good it is good

it is good thank you you see the way

I take the high road I know yeah

um so she's

gonna answer what her favorite dumb show

is okay

um oh man well I

don't know I mean I've I've watched like

covid

selling sunset was one of

us selling

selling sunset I also play

video games

PC games so

League of Legends

nice like yeah no one

knows what that is um

and we will be right back

he's a suave billionaire owner

of the Dallas Mavericks and the

sharkiest shark on Shark Tank yes I'm talking

about Mr. Business himself Mark Cuban

and our smart list interview with him is

available now four weeks early on Wondery

Plus Mark unravels the secrets behind

the phenomenal success and recounts the

moment when he became a member of

the billionaire club our interview

with Mark Cuban was recorded live in Chicago

in front of thousands of our biggest fans from

our smart list tour this is the seventh

of ten interviews with new episodes

releasing every Thursday we're talking with

celebrities and icons like the great will

Farrell Conan O'Brien Kevin Hart Jimmy Kimmel

and so many more and it wouldn't be smart

list if Scotty and I didn't take the opportunity

to pitch Mark Cuban our new idea

will we land a deal of a lifetime you'll

have to listen to find out we call that a

business you can listen to these episodes

four weeks early and add free with

Wondery Plus find Wondery Plus in the

Wondery app or on Apple podcasts

and now back to the show

sometimes I like to

watch great

comedies one of my favorite

is a film they made a few

of that one of my

friends a mutual friend of ours

is in

and this guy

who is in one of my favorite

comedy movies comedy trilogies

it's not him

oh wait

but what's Duncan anyway

it is him

ladies and gentlemen our friend

wanted to say hi and we're only

in town to do this

friendly Cooper

all right

get in

sit out

sit out

sit out

sit it down

oh my god

alright so

so

so I have to fix the light

alright thank you very much

his mood is

so

by the way

no idea

did you know

settle

no I saw

that was perfect

oh my god

it works

testing my work

okay

so Bradley

Bradley called

and he said

he said I hear

he said

I hear you guys are coming to town

let's all hang out because

we're all the four of us are very

good friends

we're only in town for a few minutes

he said let me come by and say hi

before the show and I said well no

they're gonna know the guest

so please come out and say hi

wow

I just

I just want to say one thing

and then I'll leave

you're not going anywhere

you're not going anywhere

I've known all of these people

like I met Will in 1998

and then I met

I met Sean through alias

in like 2000 and then I met

and these guys have all been

gunslingers for 20 years

you'd always say like who's the quickest guy in the room

Jason Bateman who's the funniest guy in the world

Will Arnett who's the funniest guy ever Sean Hayes

so I've been you

for 20 years

I've been you for 20 so it's so

unbelievable that

they're sharing their skill set with you

how lucky are we

it's just the truth man

Will and I lived together in Venice, California

and it was like I used to watch this

every day it's like

well hang on let's get into that

pardon us

you're going to find this interesting

so listen

tell us about you two living together in Venice

what was that all about

so Bradley

lived in the back of this property

he lived in the back house

we were 10 we were very young

we I mean I play

38 now so

through the math

the most

23

I remember the first time I met him

was at your place at your apartment

playing cards at your apartment

and that's when you lived in the back

and I was like you were like me and my friend Bradley

and you answered the door with boxers and I was like hello

and I was like

but that's how you always answer the door

right hello

and so Bradley lived in

we had this building in the back and we had our friends

we lived with Ron Rifkin

and Ron Rifkin

and then Bradley and I shared this building

in the back and our doors were connected

we're open and we overlooked

there's a property we overlooked at

Dennis Hopper's house

and we used to see him sometimes in the alley

that's right

driving that old Jaguar and then

it was California man

come on

and then we were doing

on the same lot that you were doing

kitchen confidential

but the other thing is like

we've all been through it together

that's really the thing

we were started out, we used to talk about our dreams

and when we ever be able to fulfill them

and he and I, it's actually very emotional

we were backstage just thinking

if you just take the time

and you work hard it can happen

it is possible

and the best part about it though

is when you do it with people you love

and that was just so gratifying

Bradley's thinking this story

100%

Bradley's thinking this story

he was at my house

years and years ago and he's like

hey I got called to do this musical on Broadway

will you play through the songs for me

and I was like sure what are you doing a musical on Broadway for

he's like I don't know, you got 18 movies coming out

he's like I don't know if any of them will work

blah blah blah

so we're working on this stuff and he's singing

and I'm like this is great, we ate lunch and everything

and then like a month later the hangover came out

I'm like you're such an asshole

yeah

yeah it's funny

you know because we do get to do like

this is so bizarre that we're doing this in this way

but it is all about those

we were talking backstage about remembering

where you came from and how hard it was

and all that kind of stuff

and Bradley he directed

A Star is Born

incredible

and we were in Vegas and Bradley was unveiling

the trailer and I was on stage

and I got to introduce him

he was the emcee for all of the Warner Brothers media

which is the hardest job

and Bradley came out and we did this thing

and he played this trailer

we sat there with this crowd

not unlike this and we sat at the edge of the stage

and this trailer played

it was emotional man

it was really wild and it's so great to be able to do that

with people you love

well I can only imagine

and that's how a bill becomes a law

yeah

I can only imagine

how fulfilling

how much deeper

and gratifying it is

to be able to celebrate a friend's victory

when you know

what they went through to get that

you're not meeting someone at the peak

when you've met someone

when they were just

at their lowest sometimes

I'm glad you mentioned Teen Wolf 2 because

I took a lot of guts

Will

she never said that

she didn't say it

I auditioned twice for that movie

I got a callback

Sean turned it down twice

who are some of your gal pals

in DC

like we were coming up

that you're now pals with

you guys are coming up

as young politicians that you hope to

grow old with there

I want to know that answer

and then who's your favorite Republican

okay okay

I like that question

so

I mean of course there's Ayanna Press

Lee, Rashida Tsleid

like just absolutely incredible

but also

a lot of my friends

from when I was working in

restaurants and bartending

downtown

like those are

my ride or die as well

and

those are still the people around me that are

most

important people to me

if you were going to go out in DC and really release the valve

because it was a tough week

who's the first call

okay

release the valve

I had some addiction problems

guys

so I think

another congressman from New York

Mondair Jones

he's really fun

you know there's just

there's just a lot of folks who are

what would be the most likely to give you a high five

high five

I bet it's a Republican

yeah I think Republicans

because Mitch McConnell seems

super easy

he does seem like a fun guy

yeah yeah

so as far as Republicans go

high fivers Tim Burchett of Tennessee

he's a high fiver

there's some folks who are

who's the hugger

oh hugger

I'm a hugger

you're allowed to though

I always you know make sure I do the

vibe check before a hug

Bradley would you could you ever run for office

yes come on come on

no

it's funny you say that because

I was going to maybe say that we had a chance to talk but

what you've decided to do

really what you've decided to do with your life

is the most selfless thing one can do

you know everybody talks about

how much we believe in something

and we talk to our friends who will agree with us

but to get out there

and say I'm going to sacrifice my life

my privacy

my well-being potentially

for what I believe in the greater good of all of our

in our country it's like

that's it

so

having said that what are your favorite

movies

I have to say to that

and start with his

all the way around

and feel free to come back around

and get the favorite movies

start here to move

I have to say though

we kicked off this whole tour in DC

and you know

again I but yeah

and you know I went there once

with my husband Scotty we just were there so super fast

we didn't get to see anything but this trip with these guys

we actually walked around

and we got those little bird bikes

that we drove around like idiots

scooters not bikes

scooters scooters scooters

and so you know again

I was just like wow I was so humbled to be

I'm sure everybody says this but just not being there

not visiting and not knowing anything about it

is like wow there's so much history

and so much respect once you go there and see it

and experience it

it's just incredible

Sean kept going he kept going

this is where they make the laws

this is where they make

and he's like literally they make the laws there

they make the laws

right they make

guys we're like yeah we know man

I'm like this

totally true story

you'll see it in the dock

and I literally was like oh look at that and then a wall

no I just wanted

could you ever run for office? look at me of course

by the way

I'm sadly

by the way I saw

I've been alive now for I don't know

five or six presidents and one particular president

I won't say who it is I saw

win an election I was like if that guy can win

I literally can win

yeah

yeah yeah

I mean I'd vote for Sean

let's go Sean for president

somebody needs to make

please one of you make hats

that say I'd vote for Sean

I know I'm Canadian

that was so accusatory

I'm both by the way

so suck it

smarty pants over here

oh boy don't get him riled up guys

he's been really well behaved

I could feel it though

rocks to a nice fight over here

what is the one

law that you're working at

or one that you more than anything

that you're passionate about

that you really want to see go through

I mean there's so many

Medicare for all is a big one

I mean

this like

janky healthcare system that we have

in the United States

the fact that we are you know

so called most developed

wealthiest country in the world

and we also have the highest

maternal mortality rate of the developed world

I mean this is ridiculous

it absolutely is embarrassing

and I think COVID also showed a lot of that too

like the whole rest of the world is like

y'all live like that

it's exciting though

when you see something get done

that's immediate either through executive action

or something similar to

speaking of which

how did you get

over a billion dollars

was sent to reimburse

the families of people who lost somebody

during COVID for the funeral costs

like

you were behind that

like that's incredible

and it was done like that

that was really gratifying

and I think it's a perfect example

of

governance and public governance

working the way that it should work

so when COVID first hit

it hit New York City

New York City was one of the first

places that got hit super intensely

and out of all of New York City

and out of the entire country

out of the top 10

most impacted

most hit zip codes in the country by COVID

five of them were in my district

and this was at the

onset of the pandemic when people still didn't even know

what was going on we didn't know

how it spread

we didn't know anything about it

and what we saw was that there was a neighborhood

in

our district in our community

in Elmhurst in East Elmhurst in Queens

and they were saying

this is hitting us really hard

and it's hitting

frontline workers harder

it's hitting

people whose jobs are public

facing food service workers

hospital workers, retail workers

it's hitting us hardest

we can't even afford to bury the people

I don't believe it happened

what?

and I guess probably a lot of people want to know

also

is the baby real

in the hangover sorry this is for Bradley

in the hangover

American sniper

why would you bring that up?

I like both

I didn't have money for the baby

I don't want to tell you

I moved his hand

but you recognize that

you put it up front

and got it done

so folks in our community they said listen

this is like a huge

loss and we're going to need help

and so we took that

I brought it to

the House Democratic Caucus I brought it to the Speaker

I brought it to our Senator Chuck Schumer

to like anyone who was listening

I was like we need to do this

and it took a little while

it wasn't immediate it took a lot of work

but we were able to authorize

in total

$8 billion

to reimburse any funds

unbelievable

everybody who lost someone to the COVID

it's not means tested

there's no like crazy

there's no income thresholds nothing

this is impacting all of us

we're all in this together we're all going to help each other

no questions asked

we don't want to take any more of your valuable time

you can continue

please the incredible work

that you're doing

thank you for taking a little time out

hanging out with us

ladies and gentlemen

thank you for having me

thank you

thank you

bye bye

thank you

thank you

you guys AOC

AOC

should we

you can go too

you can go too

stay here

we have an announcement to make

SmartList is now four people

come on

I mean

we couldn't make his deal

but he did say he'd stop by

Radley

you could do it

you're very familiar with the show now

I love this show

you've just gotten caught up on all the episodes

of Murderville

of Murderville

you guys

thank you

were you done Angel

I was

talking to

Radley

where are you going

go ahead

it's gotta be good

I wanted to say

about AOC

first of all I can't believe you got her

Jason to come down and chat with us

yeah

I mean

she's a game changer

a one of a kind

like you said in your intro

I got nervous meeting her

because she's super smart

and I didn't want to ask them questions

but I did anyway

but she wasn't judging you

she's doing that back there right now

you think so

she's

we're very like look

whether you agree with her or disagree with her

you know

people as Bradley you said

that are taking their time

and choosing to spend their

like frontline workers

which I think we have some here tonight

yes

I mean

it's like

thank you guys

and you know

we know that we're

a safe distance from smart

and we're just doing

what you guys enjoy listening to

when you're in the middle of doing

stuff that's really important

so

yeah

we do this as a goof

we started this as a goof

and we're so lucky that you guys

listen to us on a weekly basis

and you know

we can have people like our guests

no matter where you fall

on either side

we can all come together

bye

bye

bye

thank you Bradley

come on

Bradley come on

SmartLess is 100% organic

and artisanly handcrafted

by Bennett Barbaco

Michael Grant Terry

and Rob Armjurf

Machine-generated transcript that may contain inaccuracies.