Senses Working Overtime with David Cross - Nelini Stamp

Episode Date: October 10, 2024

Nelini Stamp (Working Families Party) joins David to discuss the upcoming election, organizing, and more. Catch all new episodes every Thursday. Watch video episodes here.Guest: Nelini StampSubscribe and Rate Senses Working Overtime on Apple Podcasts and Spotify and leave us a review to read on a future episode!Follow David on Instagram and Twitter.Follow the show:Instagram: @sensesworkingovertimepodTikTok: @swopodEditor: Kati SkeltonEngineer: Nicole LyonsExecutive Producer: Emma FoleyAdvertise on Senses Working Overtime via Gumball.fm.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

This is a HeadGum Podcast. I'm just a little bit of a little bit of a little bit of a little bit of a little bit of a little bit of a little bit of a little bit of a little bit of a little bit of a

little bit of a little bit of a little bit of a little bit of a I'll sit here then? Yeah, yeah, yeah, that's great. How's Marlo doing? She's good. Yeah, getting ready for school. Next week?

Yeah. Nalini Stampp, why don't you introduce yourself to everybody? Yes. My name is Nalini Stampp. I think I established that. All right. I'm originally from Brooklyn and Staten Island, New York. Wu-Tang forever. I have to note my love for Staten Island. And I'm an activist and organizer, and I work at the Working Families Party, my day job. Okay, cool, and then, and I know you through my wife,

who's a factivist, which is a feminist activist, I just coined that guy's, factivist, if you'd like it. T-shirts, put on T-shirts. Well, you gotta clear it through me, but, Femactivist or Factivist? Factivist, I think is better. So my wife is a Factivist, but you're more of an activist.

You're more active. More active. Yeah. On the scale of, yeah. Like you actually, your day job is to? Day job is to organize people to work in politics specifically, to recruit and find new candidates and to get more people involved in movement and politics. And Working Families Party is national.

Yep. Not just here in New York. Yeah, we're a national organization. We're in about now 20 states, which has grown from our New York origins in 1998. When did it start? 1998. In June of 1998, the goal was to raise the minimum wage,

because it was 515 at the time, federal. Crazy. Yeah. And we got it up to $7. $7.15, yeah. $7.15, we got it up to $7. And7.15, yeah. $7.15, we got it up to $7. And it stood that way federally. It's really, I know, you know, Bernie Sanders, who I was a big supporter of, and I think

my wife would have liked him if he were a woman, but he's not a woman, he's a man. So let's put policies aside. Let's go with the gender and But he was always it's amazing to me that some of these Simple basic truths undeniable Didn't resonate more like the idea that there are there is a well-oiled, well-funded machine that's been in place for literally hundreds of years,

that's only gotten stronger, where extremely rich people can convince struggling people that it's in their best interest not to get more money. Yep. Because they need, it's amazing that it works. And convincing them that the problem is someone who maybe doesn't look like them as opposed to.

That's a separate thing. That's a different, yes, you're right, but that is a different thing from going to somebody in Macon, Georgia and saying, do not vote, don't raise the minimum wage because it's gonna make things more expensive and the Chick-fil-A's are gonna have to close down. Eggs are gonna be expensive. Eggs are gonna, you know, and it's just garbage.

It's a lie, it's just not true. And if you wanted to make those things less expensive, you could make those things less expensive. And it's worked. It's worked for generations. 100%. I mean, this is, you know. Bernie Sanders was always mentioning that,

but it just never really resonated with the right people, with the machine, the democratic machine. Yeah, with the machine. I mean, I think it resonated with a lot of folks, which is why they were frustrated in 2016, and some people stood out, some people thought that Trump was the solution, because he had a message that resonated with working class people, even if it was lies.

And so, yeah, and it sucks, and also, I think that we've seen some shifts, which have been good. Some shifts have not been good in people's perception of class. Like I remember I was a part of Occupy Wall Street and people were like, y'all are insane. There's not a problem with the economy.

Like the 1% is fine. Like all of these things. And then, you know, years later to have people talk about a $15 minimum wage to talk about. Well, who was saying, who, be more Well, who was saying who, be more specific with who was saying Occupy Wall Street was. I know that there were some issues, but I felt, do you ever hear Doug Stanhope's bit?

It's absolutely brilliant. It is one of the best bits in a world of great, clever, smart takes on things. His whole bit about Occupy Wall Street is spot on, and I urge you to listen to it. Doug Stanhope. Genius. of the issue and this was fed by and it bled over into journalists who were writing about, well, what's your, what do you want? What's your point? You know, because you're about, you got about four or five days left to goodwill and then you guys are going to really overstay your welcome, right? That kind of feeling. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, I think it's, yeah, I think that there was that part and that was definitely a huge argument. Like what are your demands? What are your, you

know, what are your goals? What are you here for? But a lot of folks also, when... What were the answers to that? Because outside of a handful of things, there weren't real practical answers. That's right. Yeah, I mean, I think that there was, well, one, practicing democracy when none of us are really taught that way and we're dealing with the problems of the world, like gender, all different dynamics, race, is really hard. And we didn't know how to do that.

Like, we didn't actually know how to discuss and debate in a constructive way. Well, all right, so let me ask, do you think in retrospect, I don't wanna make this a binary choice, but the idea that perhaps, I mean, we, Occupy Wall Street was good because it stimulated a conversation and showed this thing could happen but perhaps it was prematurely done.

I think about this like daily. This is like a thing that lives rent free in my head of like, what if it would have been four years later? Right? No, no. How much rent would you charge for an idea? That seems crazy to me. What is the payment and how does that work?

I mean, this idea is just, it's always there. So it lives rent free. No, I understand the words you said, but when you- But how, well- What's the- I think I charge probably an average of like $5 for an idea. To your own idea. And then do you pay yourself?

Yeah, in my imaginary imaginary bank Yeah, you have a magic piggy bank. Is it like a Venmo thing or is it just no? No, it's just like an actual big piggy bank that like is like a piggy bank like from when I had when I was a kid But it's a huge one lives in my head, but I think that if it was four years later like Things could have been a lot different. I do think that for a lot of people,

when I meet people these days in movement who maybe joined afterwards, whether it was from Ferguson and Michael Brown shooting, or whether it was Women's March or stuff, a lot of people say, I didn't get Occupy then, but I get it now. Right. I actually encounter a lot of people.

I got the anger and the sentiment, but I just thought it was aimless. Yeah, it was. And what was because it was so distributed, some people did make aims. Like Occupy our home saved about 20 people, still not a lot, but from home foreclosure in Minnesota and in Georgia, where they were really successful

at actually going up against SunTrust, going up against the big banks that were home to those states. And so there was, and then we also had- Georgia was, sorry to interrupt, but along that path of discussion, there was an act, I'm not gonna remember the name, a company that was buying up housing.

Blackstone. Blackstone, okay. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. And just booting people out. Yeah, Blackstone, yeah. It was, and of course it's highly unethical, but it's perfectly legal. I mean, that's how America works.

And if you wanna do that, you can do that. And those are the people who are saying, don't try to raise the minimum wage. You guys are gonna screw yourselves. All right, do you like ranch Doritos? Because those are going away, my friend. Right, they have corporate lobbyists who are talking to the Democratic machine

and Republican machine. And they're like, hey, no, no, no, you can't do this. You can't do a rent freeze. You can't do eviction, like eviction freezes, especially during the pandemic. They were the first ones, because they wanted to take advantage of people, even their homes, because they couldn't afford it.

Because of the height of the pandemic, we're still in a pandemic, obviously, but the height of it in 2020, when we were inside a lunch, people couldn't afford. And even the most conservative governments, like to be like the Tories in the UK, the conservatives, they gave people like eight months pay. Well, but I mean, America's the only one who doesn't.

Yes, yes. I mean, I was having this just- Their standards are different. Yeah. Yeah, but I mean, America is the only one who doesn't do that. Yes, yes. I mean, I was having this. Their standards are different. Yeah. Yeah, the bar is a different bar. They have an NHS. I know they're trying to get rid of it, the Tories are. They will not be successful. And I'm not a huge Starmer fan, but he's certainly better than, well, Corbyn just dropped the ball in numerous ways. Yeah. And he, you know, it's like one of those things where he just, he, the press in England or the UK is even worse than it is here. 100%.

It's bad here. Yes. But it's really bad there. And he just, they walked all over him. They dictated every motherfucking thing. I know this is, to a lot of people listening or watching, this is the most minutiae. I'm invested, I'm a, you know,

somebody who enjoys and avails themselves of news about politics and things like that. I mean, I hate most of the politicians and the whole way it works, but I'm fascinated by it, have been since I was young. And then I lived in the UK for several years and just immersed myself in that stuff. And it just in the way that I would. I'd read the paper, read the internet, whatever. And I just, that's where I was living. Those are choices that affected me. And so I, you know,

I just, I have followed it and continue to follow it. But yeah, Corbyn just really just let the press dictate every fucking thing about him. Yeah, I got to spend a lot of time there. We had a bunch of exchanges with folks who were in Momentum, which was the group that got Corbyn elected within the Labor Party. And we were just trying to show lessons learned,

because then after we had the Bernie Sanders moment, and we were, you know, working families had endorsed Bernie Sanders in 2016, and so we were having these like, crossed, like, cross the special relationship, but on the left we would say. And it was just, there was just such momentum and such grassroots, like people were so excited. People had never volunteered before

and it just kind of went, pfft. Yeah. And that was really sad to see. Well, there was also the legitimate, I mean, it needed context, but the anti-Semitic stuff is in and people in his cabinet, you know, the, it's not a cabinet there. It's the shadow government. Shadow government, yeah.

Yeah, shadow government, yeah. But anyway, you know, the same difference. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah, but here they tell us, you know, and you know with occupy like it's to me again I think it was it was a little bit too premature and I Still glorify and the things that we were able to do which is shift conversations Yeah, and inspire like we inspired the fast food workers for organizing they they started downstairs from we had this office and in on Nevin Street and

in Brooklyn in Brooklyn and upstairs far away from Wall Street from, we had this office on Nevin Street. In Brooklyn. In Brooklyn, in Brooklyn. And upstairs. Far away from Wall Street. Yes. Yeah, I'll occupy it, but I'm not gonna occupy it. Yes, exactly. Like I'll occupy it, but like come on,

we're on flat push to Nevin Street here. And you know, and downstairs is an organization that still exists in New York communities for change that came from roots of Acorn years ago and they Another Like they managed to shut down Acorn. That was our office the video that that was filmed in. Oh, I didn't know that. Yeah, it was downstairs where Project Veritas got all that footage. Yeah, completely I mean the guy's in,

is he in jail or has he's been? No, no, he was saying he was at the, I mean, Project Veritas is not a thing anymore, so that collapsed, but James O'Keefe. Yeah, but didn't he, he was found guilty of a couple different things, or am I thinking of probe, the other guy, Jack Probosec or whatever?

I think you're thinking about Jack Probosec. Yeah, I mean, there's- They're all, but it's all bullshit. Yeah, it's all bullshit and it's all spliced and it's all false information. And that happened, yeah, that happened below. I mean, that was my like- But it worked!

Second year in politics and it worked. Dirty, dirty, dirty, dirty. It worked. I mean, there was one here I had to sit in the- Lee Atwater is smiling from, and he's in heaven. I know people think he's in hell, but he's in heaven. Oh no. Not Lee Atwater in heaven.

Yeah. He's looking down, thumbs up, smiling. He's like, good job, everyone. You've completed my legacy. Keep going, keep going. It's a different kind of heaven. He's- What kind of heaven is?

They're multiple heavens. He's fucking Bea Arthur. It's a different kind of heaven? He's, he's... What kind of heaven is? He's, he's fucking Bea Arthur. Uh, it's a, we, it's a different kind of heaven. Some people's heaven, some people's hell, whatever. Yeah, there was a moment where in that year I had to sit in front, we could not let anybody into our building without checking them and making sure that they were in, they were,

they were meant to be there and looking for people because we just had, because that came and it just, everyone just went, let's try to destroy Acorn and I was in the office. And a localized activist thing helping people, not with nothing. My aunties got their home because of mutual housing. And there'd be like, shut it down.

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah, we don't want more. It's funny because sometimes the Democratic machine or corporations are like, we want people to buy stuff. No, no, no, but not that way, right? Not with help, not with actually looking at the law and seeing which things that will aid you. They just want people to buy stuff.

Yeah, well, it's American. And that's the... Were you part of the faction at the DNC that subverted Bernie's chances and shifted everything to Hillary Clinton? In 2016? Yeah. No, we were, I mean...

I'm kidding. I was like, no, no, no, no, we were kidding Like a lost child in 2016, you know, what's really funny is like and I don't think I've ever I think I told Amber The story once but when I first met Amber, I was like Cuz she was such a Hillary person You know, I'm sure she told you about some of the fights we had. I mean, serious, serious arguments. I met her in 2017 at the Women's Convention. And I've had my own things with like Women's March and just like feminist spaces in general

because I just, it's so devoid of class politics in a lot of ways, like modern feminist base. Like there's no dialogue to really actually talk about class. And to me, I just. Which is more important than anything globally. In the whole world. It's, yeah. The whole world would be better off. And that includes women.

Yep. Children. People of color. I mean, if a candidate who truly that was, they were passionate about that and weren't beholden to other strings, the whole world would be better off. The things that you want will happen, but not through this lady. You're not going to happen with this lady. I know. And I remember, I think think she said I thought this was

A Hillary convention and I went ah And then I thought that I got to it like actually be fun to her years later, and I was like you know Oh my god, we would have it fucking out and I'm sure and and I she never took the bait on this, but I would say, especially when they're friends. And when I was out on tour and she was doing a accompanying book tour, so any of the cities I was scheduled in to do shows, she would, her book had come out and she would schedule out stuff.

So we were on tour together, which was awesome. It was really, really nice. And then, you know, she knows everybody. So, and I'm, you know, anti-social and grumpy. Totally nice. And then she knows everybody. And I'm anti-social and grumpy. And so we'd go somewhere, it didn't matter where, Richmond, Virginia, or... She knows everyone there. And also people who were friends of friends who were working to register voters

or anything kind of, you know. Civic engagement. Denying innocuous things, whatever. And by far, I'd say nine out of 10 of them were Hillary supporters. And I was very vocal about not, and I didn't like Hillary Clinton. I mean, I did not like the Clintons.

I'm not a neoliberal, I don't believe those are good policies. Nassau is one of the worst states that happened. For sure. And also she's a war criminal, I believe. I think, I feel very, very strongly. It hasn't gone away since, you know, after 9-11, but the people who knowingly voted to go to war in Iraq, knowing that all that stuff was bullshit,

as we all knew. Well, all of us didn't know, but most people, you know, have blood on their hands. Innocent, also women. Yeah, American women didn't die, but I mean, unless they served, but plenty of other women and children died. So anyway, I'm going off, I'm digressing. But so I would say in these conversations, I'd go, because I would say, oh, I'm a social Democrat.

Here are the things that I believe are the best policies for America and the world. And I'd say, oh, well, you know, Amber is a neoliberal centrist. She's more of a centrist. She never took the bait. I probably tried it 20 times. Never took the bait. I probably tried it 20 times. Never took the bait. Never. But I was like, well, I mean, yeah, you're voting for a centrist, you know, whose, you know, policies have ruined lives. But yeah, I'm more of a social democrat. Spread stuff around.

Spread stuff around. Never took the bait? Never took the bait. Not once. Oh, wow. I mean, she's good like that. Yeah. I mean, you know,. I mean, she's good like that. Yeah. I mean, you know, eventually I stopped, but I kept trying. You're like, I'm going to keep trying. Keep trying. Yeah. I mean, I think that, you know, this is, I mean, this is the future of like what we're talking about. And even this whole, you know, obviously things have changed and a lot of things have changed. And July was a full month of things. It was, I felt like it was 10 years and just.

It was, I mean, you cannot dismiss, regardless of what you think of Harris or, and a lot of this is only because of the rival candidate. So if it was, you know, Romney, whatever. He'd be like, boy, that's weird. Okay, I guess. But the fire it lit under a lot of people who were, what it did is it's like any scene in a movie

where people are coming out of a, the government has drugged him and people start, it's like coming out of Logan's runt. Remember when they come out and they're like, oh, what? It's like they're all waking up going, oh shit, I feel better now. And you know, it's not the solution,

but it just made people who were like, oh fuck. And I did a podcast with, what was the guy's name from a pod, Save America? John? Favreau? Oh, I love it? Yeah, John Lovett. Very nice guy, enjoyed.

There's a little bit of a conflict. I didn't know who he was. And I think he was like the first guy I had on that I had, or maybe the second person that I don't really know. And we were talking about, this is before the Harris switchover. I had been at the White House. I was I went there as went to Washington as part of the creative coalition, which you can't say lobbies because that has a legal. So we were

advocating different representatives of Congress to fund the arts. And we went to specific, it was great. I'm so glad I did it. It was, everything surrounding it was kind of goofy and I'm not a big, you know, I was invited to the DNC and I said, no, I'm not, this is not my thing. I just can't, I was getting really anxious to a level where like I

something's Wrong, you know with me And I've had that before and I'm going to therapy and medication, but I was starting to get really really like Anxious about this is I'm gonna I'm gonna I'm gonna drink too much and I'm gonna fucking Subvert myself I'm gonna do something stupid and say I'm going to fucking subvert myself. I'm going to do something stupid and say something dumb because I don't like this. I don't like these people and I feel weird and it is creepy to me. And you're all a bunch of fucking ass. So I didn't go.

I said no. But the creative coalition, the thing that that that was. There was a purpose and it was a good thing that I was doing and it actually worked. You know, it was, you know, we were able to change some minds and it was great. I'm glad to be a part of it and I would happily do it again. This was more about like,

hey, take a picture with Tobias, you know, and I had no interest in that. But yeah, so I was there. And while we were there, and there weren't a lot of people, I'm going to say, I'm going to guess like 30 ish, maybe. And we were in one of the color rooms, like the green room, whatever, which are small, you know, and President Biden came in and we're like, hey, President Biden's here. And it was, you know, not maybe three times the size of this room was small. And he starts talking, and I was talking to John about this,

and I talked to some other people too afterwards who all had internally, all of us, had the same experience like, oh my God, stop talking, stop talking. You're going to say something really, like you could see he was on the verge of the thing that people were scared of. He's old and his brain is not as sharp.

His ideas are fine. His ability to get that from inside to outside is Concerning and he even like for something Had something to do with Iraq war that he said and we were like Does he mean I ran or like it was it was like a thing really? yeah, and and I'm just sitting there going and I'm You know mere feet away from him and I'm going inside. I'm just going stop talking stop talking. Please stop talking stop talking Yeah, I know when I watched the debate I kind of I had I was with a group of people We were in LA at a retreat and so we were like, let's go into the room and watch it

I'm just like immediately that's really where you should watch all presidents of debates is retreats right retreats and and I'm gonna be totally honest I like I appreciate your honesty he started and I took like I had like a mushroom chocolate and I took a little bit of it because that was the only way I was gonna get through watching it and I just was like and then I was like you guys is this my mushrooms or is he actually and they're like no this is bad and it was and I just was like, and then I was like, you guys, is this my mushrooms or is he actually? And they're like, no, this is bad. And it was so, I just, it was,

and it wasn't just the debate. There was lots of things that just added up to it. And at the moment I was like, I also feel that, because even folks that I did not like, like Dianne Feinstein did not like her policies, but sometimes I'm like, is this elder abuse? Like, why are we keeping, like, why? No, I mean, she stayed in on her own accord.

Okay. You know. I don't know if it was a- Oh, yeah. It was our team's thing, but- Oh, no, I mean, both. Yeah. But, yeah, there really does. This is, and I'm glad it happened, because it is a thing that we need to discuss,

especially we as a country, especially with the Supreme Court, is you shouldn't, yeah, 90 year olds shouldn't, Biden, I was pleasantly surprised by a bunch of his policies that I truly, I didn't see them happening, especially with such a tight Congress. And the ability, yeah, of mansion and cinema, and then, you know, things were decided

sometimes by the vice president, single vote, that he was still able to get through. I mean, I think time will be very friendly to him. I really do. Especially what he inherited and then with COVID and all that shit. And it's a shame because the ideas are good, but he is not the right person. And then, and you could, the relief that also immediately translated to kind of a optimism

and spark was, I mean, it was unlike anything I'd ever seen. I remember the closest I could say was, at least from a left's perspective, was Obama beating Hillary. And I think that was a surprise. And like, oh, great, because he's a really good dynamic speaker. So yeah. Yeah, no, I mean, it was, I just felt a sense of relief

like on every call that I was on afterwards too. Like there was just, cause it just, I mean, everything happening, then the shooting happening, it just like, everybody. How, the, if you were to script this thing. Oh my God. And then there's some kid, and the kid didn't even have an allegiance to anybody.

He was a school shooter guy. Yeah. He's like an incel, I'm just gonna kill people. The lone wolf, I'm reading too much shit on the internet. That is probably false information. And he looked up both, and just went to the nearest one. I don't even know if it's about, I don't, from the little I know, I don't think he was radicalized so much as,

but his whole thing was school shooter, fuck you, I don't think he was radicalized so much as, but his whole thing was school shooter, fuck you, I can't get laid, I'm gonna take everybody out. Yeah, yeah, which is still on the internet, that's what I just mean, I don't think it was like, he was, you know, cause he looked up both of their addresses and was like, this is the closest one.

Literally that's what happened, this is the closest one. You cannot, you cannot script this. The whole thing is so mind boggling. And then, and then to have the RNC come after it, they make it all about Biden. And then just, it just. And here's the thing, I don't feel, I would, what's the word, not, I wouldn't feel sorry for them, but I would understand and empathize with their frustration. I mean, what happened was perfectly legal

in this country and the way it works. But I can understand going like, what the fuck? We spent all this, now you're gonna switch it up? All of our campaign plans are about this. But they had been saying for, I mean, months, like, oh, you know, Biden's not even gonna make it, the old man's not gonna make it, they're probably gonna have to replace,

they've been saying this for months, so they should have had a plan in place, and it's shocking that they had, that it happened and they've, they're still, they're still like, trying to throw out nicknames and see what sticks. Yeah, yeah. You know, it's amazing they had no, they had no plan for the thing they had been saying

is going to happen. Have been saying this, like they'd be like, oh yeah, he's not gonna even make it. Well, we'll even see who it is. Like, you know, they have to do this, they have to do that. And then all of a sudden, and then still to this day. I don't feel bad.

I mean, the shred of empathy I'd have for like, man, that's a tough situation to be in. I don't like your guy, but that's kind of fucked up. Tough situation. No, that's all, I mean, I don't have to. And also I don't think that they realized the Project 2025 stuff was gonna hit. Yeah.

Because that also was hitting at the same time And so they got they got completely flat-footed and it's still like I mean look it is still gonna be I Mean it's it's nothing is guaranteed zero zero zero And we have it's an electoral. Yeah, you know if it was popular vote. I'm just like last time. Yep We're the last two times, I should say. Nothing is guaranteed. And if we're looking at everything, especially the past 10 years, we do not know if there's going to be one judge somewhere.

I don't even want to say things because, right? So nothing is guaranteed. seen, but to see them so flat footed, to see them even just like the, you know, in my mind, another rent free image is just JD Vance with like, he had Kamala behind him, but it said something like negative about her. And Ayatzee was like, this is why you have Ayatzee. Because they had, they basically only said, it looked like he was rallying for Kamala, but it said something bad about her underneath. Just like, you can't make this stuff up. That continues to happen.

And they, I mean, they look flat-footed, but again, nothing is guaranteed. So I'm just, you know, and they're like- No, they've already got things, and have had things in place. Yeah, and October surprises happen, and I'm just- Oh, forget that. It's all about the statewide, forget federal, the statewide election certification.

Yep, certification. Yep. And so December is going to be, ooh, December is going to be a- Yeah, it's going to be ugly. It's going to be a month. It's going to be a month and I'm just, my biggest thing is just fireworks. Whatever happens. Look, I got dual citizenship. I'm out of here. Oh, that's nice. Yeah. That's real nice. I should have got it when I had the chance.

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And Harris is a panacea, but it's just not this. The other thing that's so shocking to me, I shouldn't say shocking, it's infuriating because people ascribe him with this kind of manly macho thing, and he's the biggest pussy whining little bitch I've ever ever seen in politics. 100%. On local level, national level, he's a fucking whiny little bitch.

I mean I grew up with him here in New York as a figure, you know, and I was just like who is this? The guy wears a fucking spray tan, he has flats. The comb over. He has a comb, I. He has flats. The comb over. He has a comb, I mean he's the most. He's the opposite of this thing, this tough guy. And you know, they'll make memes

and he's a superhero and he's Rambo and like, no he's not. The gold statues of him. I'm like, what are you doing? Whiny little bitch. He's so whiny and he complains about everything and anything is, oh, well, they didn't do that.

They didn't do this. And it's just like, it's like a bad Rodney Dangerfield skit. Like it's just like, he's just so, it's just so, it's terrible. It's like. So where do you, where do you go from here, regardless of what happens? I mean, look, at the end of the day, I want the best organizing terrain for organizers and for people because just because someone wins, especially when they have a D next to their name, doesn't mean that we're going to get.

Oh, no. Right? That's why I was saying, I was kind of politely surprised that a lot of these things that Biden actually got done, like, again, it's not, and there's always gonna be people and corporations that try to subvert things and then Supreme Court actions that subvert those things that, hey, look what we're gonna do. But I do think that it was on all fronts,

like coming into politics in 2008, everybody was just kind of like a lot of organized forces, whether it was organized labor or stuff. Everybody was kind of like healthcare. Healthcare is the thing. And so there wasn't a lot of attention to all these other issues that because of the financial crisis, because of the Great Recession, were unfurling, like housing. And so everybody was so focused on healthcare, but in 2020, so many people were focused on

so many things and that organized force continued. And so that's also why there was also an organized force still advocating for climate, for, you know, for police reform, for all of that stuff. After Biden got elected, which gives you space as a politician to move things, right? When you have organized people who are demanding more, who are demanding these demands, when you have labor saying we want to protect the right to organize act to be able to organize more labor unions in this country, you might not get that. We haven't got that yet, but you get a better NLRB, right? The National Labor Relations Board. You get rules changes to actually make it so that labor can advocate more. And so I think to me, the biggest thing is,

is that I fundamentally believe that like, if, you know, hopefully when, you know, Vice President Harris wins, then we- Well, you know. I said hopefully, but you know. Well, you said hopefully win. When we hopefully win, we continue to put pressure and organize.

And if unfortunately she loses, we need to, I mean, I think there's a lot of things that we need to take a look at, but also we still need to stay organized. And what I think is really important is that we don't make it, I think in 2016, one of the biggest mistakes the movement made was that it became all about identity and we did lose class again. Oh, for sure. It's just like all of these things that popped up. Oh, man.

Oh, yeah. And I really felt like a lost case. Don't get me started, Lainey. Yep. It's just like, I was like, what is everybody doing? Like, and it's not that, yes, of course, like my dad's an immigrant. He was not, you know, he didn't have papers. Of course I care about these things. I'm not like, right? It's not that, yes, of course, like my dad's an immigrant. He was not, you know, he didn't have papers.

Of course I care about these things. I'm not like, right? It's not that I don't care, but if we, if we, if we just do the, we're just playing into what the right wing uses to divide us. We are playing into- 100%. What millions of people, and the reality is, is like,

we even did like a study that we saw, we did a working class study, and that most people care about housing right now. Yeah. In this country. So, like, if I mean, I will lose my actual shit if if everybody starts to like, that's what I'll really be like, I don't have the power, but I'm canceling you. I will like when you say so, like diarrhea or when you. I think my head might actually combust.

Like I might spontaneously combust. Like, I just. I don't think that's gonna happen. I can't, I cannot, I cannot. I can't go back to that. I can't go back to just like identity issues and parades. Like I just can't go back to that. Oh man, that should be a bumper sticker. Identity issues and parades. Like I just can't go back to that. Oh, man, that should be a bumper sticker.

Identity issues in parades. 2024. I'm going to make a little lawn sign for my lawn down. But I can't go back to that. OK, so let me let me. So what does that mean? You can't go back. What does that mean for you and the people like you and the activists, which there are many? I mean, right now is like,

what I'm doing is anything in my power and working families power and the communities that I also organize with outside of that to elect Harris and also to plan. Like scenario plan. What I'm saying is, should that not happen, what does I'm over it mean to you? Oh yeah, well to me, it just means that like,

actually having those hard conversations with people and being like, no, like, we gotta, like, class is the thing and also, if they steal it, if they, that like, ready to just do things that are probably more radical in action. Take up arms. Oh, no. I mean, I can't I just well, they will. So you better. I know. I know they will. Um, um, you know, I think that for me, it's we got a preview. Not too long. I know. I know we got a preview. I mean, look, I definitely have gone to the,

I'm a good shot. I got to the shooting range. And you know, the years that I lived in Georgia, it taught me, taught me I needed a- Where'd you live in Georgia? I lived in Atlanta. I lived in Lakewood. Oh, okay, that's where I'm from.

Not Lakewood, but- For a couple, yeah, no, I know you are. For a couple years, I lived down there in 2014. And- Can I, if things are really sketchy, bad, whatever, can I make a recommendation? Sure. And I don't just say this to you.

I say this to everybody. Go to officialdavidcross.com and check out my tour, which is called the end of the beginning of the end tour. All the dates will be there. Got 44, I believe, cities, towns in America, Canada, and then Canada, then Europe, UK, and then back here for some more. So there'll be about a hundred shows.

So take a look, you know, it's a, I'm not cheating anybody out of it. I don't go up there and do 48 minutes and walk off. I'm doing a full show. I got special guests. Yeah, you did a good one. Did you go to a show? Yeah, I went with Amber and,

Oh, that's great. Yeah, Philly, the last one. Oh, that was a bad show. That was not a good show. Oh, really? Philly's not great. Philly is. I've done a number of shows over the years,

over the decades, and Philly's not. Philly's just never the hit. It's just. All right, I gotta see you in a different, okay. You tell me where this time. Wait, yeah, cause we went to that place that, oh wait, wasn't that where the, what do you call it? The swingers couple, the porn guys?

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, there was like this whole big guy. It was all. That guy's story was fucking fascinating. He was a military guy. And his girlfriend or wife, I don't remember, they were young, oh God, I've only got little pieces of it. It was it was quite the night. But

his because he that's he's like a sex worker guy. And and then his girlfriend, they do stuff to get it's like they like they can not get contracted together, but they'll do work together. Yeah. Yeah. And but his whole story was fascinating. Oh, and he wanted he wanted to do work together. Yeah, yeah. Yeah. And, but his whole story was fascinating. Oh, and he wanted to do standup. He was curious about doing it in a show. And I was like, fuck yeah, man. If you did a one man show about this, this would.

Yeah. I mean, just what you've told me. And then you get somebody to help you punch it up. I mean, you've put this together. I mean, this will be a really amazing show and you'll do, I think, very well, but who knows where he is now. Probably.

If you're out there. Probably going down on somebody. Who knows? I don't know. Look, it's work, right? Yeah. In this economy? Exactly.

So, yes, I do remember hanging out. There was, was Clark there? This Clark? No. Clark. Clark. Is Clark still there? Oh, he's running here. How's it going? Good. All right. Are you guys on air still? Yeah. Yeah. Are you guys on air still? Yeah. Yeah. We were just talking about, I met the leaning through my wife and they were at a show, not a good show, Sean Patton and I did in Philly and then we were talking about the people who were there and I was like, was Clark there?

No. No, she already said no. Well, nobody gives a shit about that. That wasn't a question. That was not, okay, great. Now what? All right, thank you. You need a water?

No, I'm good, I got a. Thank you. But wait, you didn't finish, so go to your show. Go to my show. Oh, regardless of what happens. Yeah, and you'll feel better for at least, you know, 90 minutes, if not longer. You'll forget about your cares, you'll laugh.

Oh, I love that. And part of $2 from every ticket goes to, I always do a donation thing. Last time it was, what was it last time? Justice for people who are wrongly accused. That's a clunky way of, but this one is for Check My Ads. Are you familiar with them? No.

Oh, they're great. Check My Ads? Check My Ads is, they are working to make these huge companies, right? Google and all of the search engines and all the people and meta and and put advertising to make sure they're aware of and to stop these awful sites that are on there that are just, you know, spew hatred, anti-Semitism, you know, neo-Nazis, right-wing people who advocate, people who advocate abusing women.

And so a lot of these companies are not aware through the algorithm of what that, and these companies are like Nabisco. Like, do you want to be affiliated with literally the clan? Neo-Nazis, yeah. And so they're very good at cracking through the algorithm and pointing that out. Because then they've been very effective

where people like, you know, they're somewhat behind the, hey, just so you know, you know, Sleepy's Mattresses are advertising on Tucker Carlson's other page, which he, you know, whatever the thing is about the- Right, right, right, whatever, however they, yeah, yeah, yeah. And it's linked to this, which is linked to that, which is linked to that.

So just so you know, you guys are helping support what, you know, whatever the thing is. So check my ads. That's great. And they're total, just started with two women. And let's not hold that against them. They were born the way they were, okay? And we all can't be men who are smarter and stronger.

Oh, God. These two really great women who, and now they've got like, you know, more of a staff and stuff. That's great. And they could use the help, but they're great. What they do is really great. That's awesome.

I mean, that's super needed. Another reason to go through, officialdavidcross.com has all the dates. Check it out, the end of the beginning and the end tour. Nalini, is there anything you'd like to send people to? Yeah, I mean, look, check out workingfamilies.org. You can find out, because I think one of the big things too,

we've talked a lot about, but local politics is really, really important. Who you're city council, who your mayor is. Think globally, really important. Who your city council, who your mayor is. Think globally, act locally. Act locally. And so, so you can, next week after the Labor Day holiday, we will have our- Well, let's not tell, we don't, I mean,

this is a magical thing where we don't know when it's happening. Oh yeah, sorry. I forgot about that. Could be happening right now. It could be happening right now. Cause Labor Day was awesome. What'd you do for Labor Day? I went to the West Indian Day Parade when it's happening. Could be happening right now. It could be happening right now. Cause Labor Day was awesome. What'd you do for Labor Day? I went to the West Indian Day Parade, it was great.

So yeah, check out workingfamilies.org. We will have, if you put in your zip code, you will find out all of our locally endorsed candidates and also ballot initiatives, cause those are important too. Abortions on the ballot in a lot of states and reproductive freedom as well. But also there are so many local elections.

So if I go, there's a ballot with, and if I tick off one of the boxes, I can have an abortion? You know, you have to consult your doctor with that. Oh, really? Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Seems like an extra step. I mean, maybe a state senator will join you in your doctor appointment, you know. Absolutely. I like that.

To make sure that everything is really good. Let's get the gay guy from Montana in there. Larry Craig. There you go. Was that his name? Oh, I forgot his name. The wide stance guy? Yeah.

I have a wide stance. Wide stance. But yeah, you know, you go onto the website and you will find, you put in your zip code and you'll find all of our endorsed candidates and ballot initiatives and find out what it is, yeah, locally that's going on because you're gonna hear so much noise

about presidential, you know, and there's just so much that you can decide on locally, and those are really by a few votes. It doesn't have to do with electoral college. You're not dealing with that. Those are really decided by a few hundred votes. So please. It's the down ballot.

Down ballot, down ballot. Down ballot, I feel like we need to like rename it though, because down just seems like. Not degrading. Yeah, it's degrading. It seems lesser than. It's down upon you. Lesser than the other ballot degrading. Yeah, it's degrading. It seems lesser than. It's down upon you. Lesser than the other ballot.

Yeah. Yeah. But it also is literally down at the end. It literally is, yes. So maybe. Well, actually some places. I guess if you have enough and then you turn the page. Yeah, in California there's like 15 different.

Up ballot, up at the top. Yeah, California. Page two. Don't folks like vote in like 50 pages because they vote for everything in California. But California, like, so I was. I've never voted in California, so that's fine. I did.

And it was open primary, open party. So I was registered as an independent. And it's one of those things when I moved to New York and I, in order to vote in the primary, had to register as a Democrat and it just, it still bothers me because I'm not a fucking Democrat, and it just, it still bothers me, because I'm not a fucking Democrat. You're like, it's still a little fairy dyes inside.

Yeah, like, but in order to, you know, try to get Bernie Sanders on the. Yeah, yeah. Didn't do a lot of good. Yeah. And I also vote in Upstate in Sullivan County, where my vote goes a little further. Yes, we love that. Okay. Lovestate in Sullivan County where my vote goes a little further. Yes. We love that.

Okay. Love a good Sullivan County. Nalini Stamp, thank you and yours. Now I end every podcast by asking a question from my daughter Marlo. Oh, okay. And here is- She called me a makeup artist the last time I saw her and I was very, I was very, I was very- A makeup artist. She said, are you a makeup artist? And I said, her and I was very, I was very, I was very. A makeup artist. She said, are you a makeup artist?

And I said, no, she was like, your makeup looks very pretty. I was like, whoa. That was a very big compliment. Clark. Clark. Where is he? I don't know.

There he is. Hey, so my daughter complimented the last time she saw Nalini on her makeup. What do you think of her makeup? I think it looks great. Really? Yeah. You don't have to say that. Okay.

I know I don't. I wouldn't have to. Okay, guys. Okay, what's the question from Harlow? I'm going to ask you too, Clark. Step in. I end every podcast with a question from my daughter, who's seven. And I'm going to allow you to jump in here. Wow, we're running. Okay. Here's your question from Marlo. Why is lightning attracted to metal? She wants to know.

Ooh. Why is lightning attracted to metal? Why is lightning attracted to metal? Good question and I failed science. You failed lightning school? I failed lightning school. Clark, you got a? Harry Potter, I'm lightning school. Clark, you got a Harry Potter. I'm just kidding. What are you doing? Where are you? I'm reading something because I know it's also

attracted to water. So I'm currently trying to find out what's in there. Yeah, that's what sand makes. What does metal and water have in common? Oh. Not to answer the question with another question. Well, a lot of the same letters. You got a T and E and A. Is there an E? In metal? Oh, no, I thought you meant metal and water. Yeah, sorry. And what are those?

Why is it attracted to metal? A, T, and E are your common letters. That's T or 8, right? Or your ETA. ThatTA, estimated time of arrival. So let's go, let's do the QAnon thing. So you got eight, T, and estimated time. So what time are you going to eat your T? T is also a euphemism for like 60s cannabis. So what time are you getting high?

After this, I don't know. Well, there's your answer. 5pm tonight. There's your answer. I will tell you this, I discovered recently that lightning is not attracted to metal. Metal is a conduit which makes it spread quickly and it doesn't seek metal out. It will seek whatever's right there. Metal is a conduit which makes it spread quickly.

And it doesn't seek metal out. It will seek whatever's right there, whatever the tallest thing is. So that is a bit of a myth buster. Whack! I always do the lightning and the sand thing. That makes glass. Yeah, that was my fun fact when I was a kid. All right, guys.

Thank you, Clark. Thanks so much. It was a pleasure to have you in this room. Your presence was felt, your absence was felt even more. Don't be here. Don't, enough. It's not your mic. And we'll see you all next time here on Sense.

All right, bye. Bye. Sense is Working Over Time is a Headgum podcast created and hosted by me, David Cross. The show is edited by Katie Skelton and engineered by Nicole Lyons with supervising producer Emma Foley. Thanks to Demi Druchin for our show art

and Mark Rivers for our theme song. For more podcasts by Headgum, visit Headgum.com or wherever you listen to your favorite shows. Leave us a review on Apple Podcasts and maybe we'll read it on a future episode. I'm not gonna do that. Thanks for listening. That was a Headgum Podcast.