← Andy Beshear Podcast
Andy Beshear Podcast
Adam Mockler, Mrs. Frazzled and Telling the Truth Online
01:15:07
This week, Andy Beshear sits down with two fearless voices in political media: YouTube star and political commentator Adam Mockler and former kindergarten teacher-turned-education-advocate Arielle Fodor, better known as Mrs. Frazzled. They dig into reaching people who have been written off, hold powerful people accountable, and keeping Americans informed and engaged in an era of rampant misinformation.
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- [00:00]
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- [00:38]
Andy Beshear
Something is shifting in American politics and it's not happening on cable news. It's happening on your phone. The people cutting through the noise right now aren't the ones with the biggest broadcast budgets. They're the ones who figured out how to tell the truth in, in a way that actually lands with clarity, with humor and without flinching. My first guest today has built one of the most watched political commentary channels in the country with over 2 million subscribers on YouTube. Yes, I'm a little jealous. He's been On CNN on PBS's Firing Line and he recently made headlines for a heated exchange with a very flustered Scott Jennings. Adam Mockler is here and he is not pulling any punches. And then my second guest started as a kindergarten teacher in Los Angeles making tiktoks about teacher burnout. And she became one of the most consequential content creators in politics. You may know her as Mrs. Frazzled. She is proof that a teacher with a platform and a sense of justice can make real change. Plus, a very special Ask Andy featuring my wife and Kentucky's first lady, Brittany, and our first dog, Winnie. Let's get to it. Our guest is Adam Mockler. He is an American political commentator, digital media creator and YouTube host. He hosts the Adam Mockler Show, a YouTube based political commentary program. His work focuses on United States politics, political media and commentary on the Democratic Party, the Republican Party and the movements surrounding Donald Trump. Mockler has appeared on national political and media programs including cnn, PBS and many more. Adam, welcome to the podcast.
- [02:24]
Adam Mockler
Thank you, Governor Beshear, for having me. You know, before we start, I just want to say I've really appreciated and looked up to your communication style among a few other Democrats who have led the way in this country on this, you know, common sense, reaching to your peers, communication. You don't care if somebody's a Democrat or a Republican. You're serving all of your constituents. And that's something that, growing up in Indiana, I've tried to embody. So I just want to say thank you so much for your leadership and I'm Excited to chat.
- [02:49]
Andy Beshear
So that's where I was going to start. I'm from Kentucky, you're from Indiana. How do you think your upbringing has impacted your style?
- [02:57]
Adam Mockler
You know, it's interesting. I grew up in red state Indiana. I grew up in northwest Indiana. So there were some, you know, liberals around me. But I had a lot of formative conversations in my youth with my friends and my friends parents. Honestly, during Trump's rise, like during Trump's rise to politics, I would go over to my friend's house and their parents would be talking about this regressive style of politics. I had one friend when I was about 11, I was in the car with his parents and he was basically saying their parents were saying that black Americans should be more grateful to be in America. And this was like a weird inversion of slavery that I never really heard before. And I tried to push back, but I wasn't really equipped at the moment. Now I know by about a decade later, this is the type of politics that Trump took advantage of. So I grew up in Indiana. I always made YouTube videos. I run a channel now that I made when I was about nine years old. I run the same channel, but I used to make Minecraft videos. Yeah, yeah. I built these skills in editing that I, that I now use every single day. But I also remember debating my teacher in fifth grade about gay marriage and getting kicked out of class for that because I was being disruptive. I probably was being a disruptive little asshole, but I got kicked out because I was standing up for what I believed in. And, and like all of these formative experiences, having a dad who's actually Syrian, a grandpa who immigrated from Syria, having immigrants in my family really has shaped my experience in a formative manner. And just growing up and watching Donald Trump as the president has really reinforced a lot of that.
- [04:27]
Andy Beshear
Well, and I'm glad we have your voice out there because I worry with Americans at a certain age, they haven't known many other presidents or noticed. My worry is that this somehow becomes normal for people.
- [04:41]
Adam Mockler
Yeah. And it's like trickle down assholery. If I'm allowed to say that. It's like Donald Trump sets the tone for not only the Republican Party, but a lot of youth in America. And then you see people on the far right copying this trickle down meanness towards other people. When America is supposed to be like an egalitarian society, a pluralist society, where a bunch of groups can, can coexist in harmony. We have Donald Trump trying to demean and attack female reporters, trying to otherize immigrants, trying to enrich himself and his buddies. And, like, I don't know. I was talking to someone earlier that's way older than me, and they told me that there's two types of successful people. Those who are successful and know that they have a duty to help those around them, and those who are successful and only enrich themselves. And I fear that right now, the main model we have in America is that second model. Elon Musk, dynamic, Donald Trump, people who just enrich themselves. Bad role models.
- [05:34]
Andy Beshear
Yeah. In many ways, I think that's the two views on masculinity which people keep talking about. And on the podcast or the online sphere, you got a lot of people that think masculinity is bullying somebody. I've always thought it's being the guy that stands in between the bully and the person they're going after.
- [05:52]
Adam Mockler
Yeah. That's the true masculine vibe, in my opinion. And that's what the Democrats have to lead with. I think that if Democrats continue to lead by example, making sure that we are sticking up for minorities, holding the line, while also taking common sense positions and not being baited into taking, you know, bad positions, then we'll always come out on top.
- [06:11]
Andy Beshear
So. So tell me about the transition from, you know, making Minecraft videos to getting into political commentary to then just taking off to where you are now.
- [06:20]
Adam Mockler
It's a really good question, Governor. Thank you. So, I mean, a lot of the skills that I use every single day were actually built when I was, like, 9 or 10 years old, editing these videos over and over and over. I unknowingly was building commentary skills, communication skills, and, like, production skills that I now use every single day. When I graduated high school, I really didn't like the school structure. I was. I was smart in high school. I was in honors classes, but really struggling. So I decided to go to college for a year, and I took a film class that reinvigorated my love of filmmaking. You know, in high school, I stopped Minecraft. I wanted to actually get girls and not be the Minecraft guy all the time. I swear. I privated the videos, and I graduated, and I realized there was a Trump rally two states away. So I grew up in Indiana, and the Iowa caucuses were going on. So I emailed, like, 30 different cameramen, and one camera guy responded and said, this is my free weekend. So I drove over, like, six hours, the longest I had driven at 20 years old three years back. And I debated these Trump supporters, but not in a way where I'm condescending. Or demeaning them. I don't think that's really. I don't think that's very productive to just condescend your fellow Americans. There's moments like if I'm on TV debating Scott Jennings, that's different, but.
- [07:26]
Andy Beshear
And we enjoy that.
- [07:28]
Adam Mockler
Yeah. Thank you. Thank you. When I'm talking to the average American who only consumes Fox News, and you know this better than anybody, Governor, I want to hear what you have to say about this. You can just say facts that disrupt their narrative. They haven't heard a lot of these basic fact patterns. There's a very viral video where somebody says, let's stop funding Ukraine and put America first. So I say, sir, funding Ukraine, in my opinion, is how you put America first. It's good for our economy. We're holding the line on a sovereign country. We're beating Russia. And, like, I reframed it economically. I said, we're sending old stockpiled military equipment and it's helping us economically. And at the end of it, he went, wow, I never even heard those talking points. I never even heard those facts before. And it works. It breaks through.
- [08:10]
Andy Beshear
So I think about some of the content you've put out there. You had one viral video. Watch elderly woman Destroy Maga, bro, in 60 seconds. Tell us a little bit about that, but also how you know you've got something that will cut through.
- [08:26]
Adam Mockler
Well, that video in particular is Nick Shirley going up to, you know, the famous Nick Shirley going up to an older liberal woman and trying to bait and trap her. And she kind of just says, I'm an American. I'm okay with immigrants. Saying next to me, I'm okay with people of different, diverse beliefs staying in this country and building in this country. And he just basically got rolled by this elderly woman. It's really, really funny. But right now, my communication style and democratic politics is focused on being precise, being a fighter, being objective, and trying to provide this firm version of liberalism that we've lost in the mainstream. The word liberal, in my opinion, has been bastardized. But it should mean a society that can live with social harmony, a society of a bunch of different types of people who can then build towards similar objectives. My Muslim grandpa, who goes to Friday prayer every Friday, passes a synagogue, a church. He's got a diverse community back in Indiana. And, you know, in Indiana, I believe 28% of the physicians are immigrants. Across America, I believe it's almost 30% of physicians are immigrants. So these people are additive and just making these points in a very common sense way. I think has been missing for a bit. It felt like the Democratic Party lost our affirmative objective. I was very supportive of Joe Biden's presidency. I still am. I'll still defend it. But there were moments where he didn't have the affirmative message needed to counter the message that Donald Trump was giving. Right.
- [09:53]
Andy Beshear
And I think the other challenge is you've got to own your success. Right. People need to see, touch and feel that their life is better. And so it's important not just to have those policies, but for you to get that communication out there that this is what happens when you elect the right people.
- [10:12]
Adam Mockler
Can I ask you, as a very popular governor of a red state, when I talk about these conversations I have, does it remind you of a lot of conversations you've had with, quite literally, people who are working every single day, normal Americans who may just have fallen victim to some of this? Trump? Yes. Is that fair to say so?
- [10:33]
Andy Beshear
When I, when I first came in as governor, I followed a guy named Matt Bevin, who was Trump before Trump. He denied the election. He tried to defund our universities, illegally tried to withhold dollars, tried to cut public pensions, tried to break unions. If all that sounds familiar, he did it before we got Donald Trump. And so in the beginning, some of the conversations were tougher. But, I mean, I remember in that race, some people refused to shake my hand, which I'm from Kentucky. We're supposed to walk up to the person we dislike and shake their hand. But what I saw is steady leadership over time that is not judgmental. I think what you're saying is exactly right. We shouldn't. I never use the phrase MAGA voters because I don't want to judge voters. I want them to come back to some level of stability. But I will judge the leader that. That's out there doing those wrong things. But I found that the more that you spoke to people, not just about your what, but your why. So here's what I'm doing, but here's why I'm doing it right. This is what drives me to make that decision. It really opened up people being willing to talk to me, even about things that they viewed very differently than I do and where we were by 24, which Kentucky went plus 31 to Trump, which I didn't like. But we didn't have the signs. We didn't have the flags. We didn't have people yelling at each other. And so I do know that a little more unity is possible.
- [11:59]
Adam Mockler
I absolutely agree. So I guess the Democratic model, something that could be successful is owning your successes. As you said, you're good at that. Zoran Ramdani is good at that. The New York City mayor, he really is good at flaunting his successes and then having a less judgmental environment where you can actually have person to person conversations, engaging, engaging conversations, talking about your lived experiences, these things and going everywhere.
- [12:23]
Andy Beshear
Right. I mean, Democrats and certainly the Democratic Party in their terms of investment, stop going a lot of places. Like I am proud of Southern Democrats because we were defunded, left out, looked down upon for so long. And today we've got three Democratic governors in Kentucky and the south. In Kentucky and Virginia and North Carolina, Georgia gave us two Democratic U.S. senators. In the South, North Carolina is going to add one. And Roy Cooper, you know, that's scrapping to have a seat back at the table.
- [12:53]
Adam Mockler
Yeah. And I think that Democrats being something that I talk about a bit is Democrats being less risk averse in the media. Now it's different when you're in a governmental position. The risks are very, very different. What you can say and what you can't and what you need to be careful saying when the federal government could come down on you at any moment. But I think that some of my problems with Democrats and some young men's problems with Democrats over the past few years has been twofold. Number one, a risk averse Democratic Party. Number two, a finger waggy Democratic Party. So think about how devastating of a combination this is. Not only do the Democrats seem a little bit lame, like they won't go in some of these cool places, I'm not trying to like overgeneralize, but overall Democrats were just a little bit lame, wouldn't go in these places. And then when you would make a mistake as a young man, there was no room for error. I had a friend who is by all accounts rather liberal. He's okay with freedom of expression. He supports gay marriage, he supports liberal economics, he's overall liberal. But he told me the Democratic Party had felt suffocating. Yeah, Sometime throughout Biden's term. And by suffocating, he just means like there wasn't a flexible enough dynamic tent in this. So I think exactly what you're saying is very true. Like nonjudgmental politics will go far away.
- [14:04]
Andy Beshear
You can't be a party where you've got 100 litmus tests where you have to use the exact right phraseology, even if your intent is the same. And if you don't do it right, you're canceled, regardless of everything else. But what I see now is that's the Republican Party. But it's one litmus test. Do you agree with everything Donald Trump said today, even if it's different than what he said yesterday? And if you don't, you're canceled and get out. That was Thomas Massie.
- [14:30]
Adam Mockler
My favorite part is during the confirmation hearings when they get asked who won the 2020 election and they can't answer. So they have to say, Joe Biden served four years as the president. It's like, dude, just say that Joe Biden won. Why do they have to dance around this? Obviously because of Trump. Right.
- [14:45]
Andy Beshear
The other point that you're making is that elections are math. If you require everyone to agree with 100% of what you do, you're never going to win an election because we're all a little bit different. Your friend may have gone through an experience that impacts one issue that just makes him view it a little differently, and we've got to be open to understanding that. My take is that if the Democratic Party will be the party of the American dream, where we want you to have a good job, where you can afford the things you need, we believe in health care, where you can see a doctor in your own community, where we're the party of safe roads and bridges, great public education and safe communities, then we can have a little disagreement on the other things. But guess what? We can better everyone's lives.
- [15:29]
Adam Mockler
Yes, sir. I think they call it super majority thinking, where if we want a true supermajority across the entire country, we need a dynamic enough tent for, you know, like minded people who might be a little bit different. I think Zoran Mamdani, the New York City mayor, is doing a brilliant job. And I also think that you as governor of Kentucky are doing a brilliant job. But if Zoran were to run in your seat, he would lose. I think that different politicians in different areas have different platforms. And as long as we have the same fundamental core basics, we need to not be so ideologically rigid, if that makes sense. Oh.
- [16:00]
Andy Beshear
I mean, it's that idea that if somebody agrees with you on 80% of things, they're a lot better than having the person who disagree, who agrees on zero with you. I think. I think we're seeing it right now. I think we had some Democrats that were looking for absolute purity from Kamala Harris, and now they've gotten somebody who disagrees with absolutely everything they stand for.
- [16:23]
Adam Mockler
Yep. And then, you know what really disgusts me? I mean, we're talking a lot about Democratic strategy on our side, but to talk a little about the news today and what's going on on the other side with their overall strategy. There is a top down effort over the past decade to undermine the sanctity in our elections. You said that the governor before you did this very same thing. So more than a decade, I guess, but lately it's again like trickle down election denial. We're seeing speaker of the House Mike Johnson, he was just walking through the halls of Congress, you know, shedding doubt on the California election results. He's basically feigning like he doesn't understand what's happening here. He's acting like he doesn't understand the election process when it's actually kind of simple. Like if you postmark your ballot by election day, you have seven days for it to arrive. There's some simple mechanisms, but they are intentionally undermining that. And to me, it's very, very despicable seeing that lack of leadership and that undermining of our institutions. We shouldn't allow for that.
- [17:16]
Andy Beshear
And it's ridiculous. They don't even believe in what they're saying because Trump voted by mail in several elections. Just amazing. One thing that you can offer so much expertise on is social media and all the various platforms. And for some of our listeners, they're on a couple, but there are just so many. And Democrats now need to communicate on all of them. Tell us a little bit about. You've got your YouTube piece, but you also are posting on the other parts. How do you tailor your message to the platform?
- [17:55]
Adam Mockler
It's not even specifically about creating a unique piece of content. And this is like me giving you advice or any other campaign.
- [18:01]
Andy Beshear
Oh, that's why I asked the question.
- [18:02]
Adam Mockler
Exactly. Okay, okay. So, I mean, I'm not going to say I'm a master, but I think that this is how you should think about it. Governor. It's not that you have to create a unique piece of content for each platform. That would be way too much. But you need to be putting yourself in situations that are clippable and distributable across all platforms. If you go on a very captivating podcast like a barstool or a Joe Rogan that reaches the general public, that is the main piece of content. Then you can distribute that across every single platform. Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, in clips. I had a friend one time say to me, clipping is the new canvassing. Canvassing is still very, very important. People should be door knocking and canvassing. It always has been. But young people now have the tools and the ability to clip things up en masse and get millions of views in doing so. So you can create your TikTok saying, hey, I'm going on this podcast. Check it out. But it's important that you get the most captivating clips across all platforms, and you don't let any gaps be out there. We have a high school intern right now who I'm really proud of, and this high school intern who is really good at social media, is posting just on Reddit for us all the time. He posts on Reddit and he pulls 10 million views a month just posting on Reddit, which is a gap that we had.
- [19:10]
Andy Beshear
Wow.
- [19:11]
Adam Mockler
So you want to be across all platforms. You don't want to leave any of these gaps, and you just want to create captivating content, go on shows, have these conversations. I mean, I would love to see a series of you just talking to MAGA or Kentuckians. I mean, Kentucky voters, but people who voted the opposite direction. Something like that would go incredibly viral.
- [19:28]
Andy Beshear
It's not hard. I can walk down the street. So, yeah, speaking of captivating, you debated Mike Lindell.
- [19:36]
Adam Mockler
Yeah. That's a deep cut. That's an old one. Wow. You know, you want to hear about that?
- [19:39]
Andy Beshear
I do.
- [19:40]
Adam Mockler
Okay, Listen to this. This is a crazy one. We were in.
- [19:43]
Andy Beshear
Yes, that is a crazy human being.
- [19:46]
Adam Mockler
It was, like, less than a year into my career. We were in Wisconsin, and I used to go to Trump rallies, and I approach in good faith, but with someone like Mike Lindell, you kind of got to change your strategy a little bit. If I was going to be good faith, I'd get rolled. This dude, Mike Lindell, he starts. We start off with a normal interview, and then I start to push back in a very, very, you know, affirmative way. And I'm saying, listen, there's no evidence of election fraud. And he gets a crowd of Trump supporters around us. If you scroll through that video, by the end of it, there's a crowd of 40 Trump supporters. And. And then Mike Lindell is basically like, this guy works for Dominion. This guy works for smartmatic Voting and wants to rig the pointing at me. And then they're all, like, booing and everything. The weird part is, even in that moment when Mike Lindell was trying to stir up a MAGA crowd around me, I still understood that even though we were slightly in danger, these were also humans voters who genuinely weren't going to hurt me. Like, there was somebody to my left a few feet away who was trying to calm down the crowd. It was very clearly, like a father of some. I could tell he was Just a father. And he was like, guys, guys, let the kid ask the questions. Don't be harassing him like that. The crowd started chanting the word libtard at me. It's controversial and mean or whatever. But then I'm, like, sitting there debating Mike Lindell and he's trying to stir everybody up. A wild, very formative experience. And these people need to stop spreading election fraud lies. It's like mass psychosis.
- [21:08]
Andy Beshear
Well, but you know you're winning when they turn to lying. Yeah, it was like I. I remember watching my Mike Pence on Meet the Press, and I keep talking about this because he wouldn't criticize Donald Trump who sent a mob to hurt him. But every time he got a question that he couldn't answer because it would have required him to talk about Donald Trump, he talked about abortion. Wow. Right.
- [21:34]
Adam Mockler
Pivoting to his strong issues. I guess I'm just going to start using that every single time I go on cnn, and I don't want to answer a question. I'm just going to talk about something I'm really passionate about. Go to, like, institutions.
- [21:44]
Andy Beshear
That is how we ought to close out. Because you have had some great appearances on CNN where you've destroyed another guy from Kentucky named Scott Jennings, someone that goes on and will defend anything the President does or says, regardless of how shameful, will say virtually anything. So tell our audience what it's like to own Scott Jennings.
- [22:13]
Adam Mockler
It's not even about owning him, even though it's fun to do. I think the most offensive part of Scott Jennings career, the most offensive part of all of it, is how little he is bound to the truth or reality in any way. He will go on television and demean himself and the audience day by day by lying about the Iran war, lying about the objectives achieved. He's not bound to any timeline. He's not bound to reality. He'll even sit there and condescend, mainly women on the panel. He'll condescend people. And then when I'm the one that pushes back in a firm manner and tries to get an answer out of him, he'll act like I'm the one who's breaking some wild norm, Right?
- [22:50]
Andy Beshear
Yes.
- [22:50]
Adam Mockler
So think about this dynamic that we have in the media right now where Republicans can go on TV and lie over and over and over. And then the moment we try to push them a little bit too hard, we see fragility in action. And they say, wait a minute, Don't. Don't you put your finger in my face.
- [23:04]
Andy Beshear
Don't you Put your finger in my face, dude.
- [23:07]
Adam Mockler
Maybe if he had an answer to the question, he could have answered the question. But he didn't. They have no answers. And it's interesting, after that moment, he actually began to tone down his confidence about the Iran war. The next week he was like, if I may add something to this conversation, I talked to some generals. He's never been this uncertain before. And maybe don't back yourself into corners with awful, awful positions.
- [23:28]
Andy Beshear
Sorry. So tell our, tell our listeners how to follow you on YouTube and any other platform.
- [23:34]
Adam Mockler
Yeah, go look up Adam Mockler on YouTube, Instagram, Twitter. Continue to watch Governor Bashir's podcast. It's obviously it's a really solid work and we're all pushing in the right direction. I just want to say thank you. With a bunch of like minded individuals together, we're definitely going to build a better country.
- [23:52]
Andy Beshear
It's been outstanding to have you on the podcast. Thanks for coming on.
- [23:55]
Adam Mockler
Thank you, Governor. I appreciate it.
- [24:03]
Andy Beshear
And now on the Andy Beshear podcast, our guest, Mrs. Frazold. Mrs. Frazold is a former teacher turned education advocate who breaks down complex education policy and political issues with humor, clarity and honesty. Her work explores the intersection of public education and politics, highlighting the real world impact on families, educators and communities. She is the host of Teacher Quit Talk, a comedic commentary podcast spotlighting the nationwide teacher exodus and what it will take to bring educators back into the classroom. She also writes frazzled about education on Substack, offering in depth analysis on education policy, news and history. Her insights have been featured by Rolling Stone, the New York Times, BBC News, CNN, Adweek, PBS and more. Very impressive. Mrs. Frazold, welcome to the Andy Beshear Podcast.
- [24:58]
Mrs. Frazzled
Thank you so much for having me. Hi.
- [25:01]
Andy Beshear
Well, I am thrilled to have such a strong public education advocate on the podcast. I am the product of public schools, would not be here without it. And I'm proud that in Kentucky we have pushed back and defeated every voucher push that would have taken money out of public education.
- [25:22]
Mrs. Frazzled
Yes. And thank you for doing that. I have noticed and it makes me very happy because, you know, sometimes politicians don't always invest in public education outside of when they're hitting the campaign trail. And you have been literally putting in the work constantly and we see it and we appreciate it. So thank you.
- [25:40]
Andy Beshear
Well, thank you. Now you going from teaching kindergarten to theater and improv to TikTok. Tell us about this journey. There's a pill version of Ozempic. Hello, I'm Ozempic and I'm other GLP1s kind of like him. Hey, did I hear there's a pill version of Ozempic? Yep, you sure did. Ask your doctor about which FDA approved uses of the Ozempic pen or pill may be right for you. Call 1-833-OZEMPIC or visit ozempic.com to view the medication guide and learn more about ozempic semaglutide tablets 9 milligrams and ozem semaglutide injection, 2 milligrams. There's a pill version of Ozempic.
- [26:21]
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- [26:52]
Mrs. Frazzled
I mean, it's been a crazy journey, but I always say that I don't think any of my education or experiences have been wasted. I feel like it's all gone to serve me where I am now. And I started, yes, as like a theater kid, and then I became a theater teacher. And I it came after the 2016 election. I thought, you know what? I really want to be involved in my community. And the way that I wanted to do that was through teaching. I wanted to be a part of my community in the classroom. So I got my teaching credential. I started teaching kindergarten. And then when I went home for lockdown, the COVID lockdown, boredom got the best of me. And I downloaded TikTok. And that creepy little algorithm right away was like, here are some teachers on your for you page. And I was like, oh my gosh, there's teachers here. And I just loved how authentic TikTok was compared to other social media at the time. And I thought, why not? I'm gonna, like, make some videos about my learnings in the classroom, what's going on in the world. And it was quite odd. I was teaching kindergarten on Zoom, which the kids had, you know, thank goodness, been with me for a few months to learn how to use their Chromebooks. But the media was very interested in that. And of course, because I am who I am, I started talking about politics and it just kind of snowballed from there. I've been doing it Ever since, even after I had my first baby, I left the classroom, but I kept talking about education online, kept talking about politics online, and it's been a wild ride.
- [28:26]
Andy Beshear
What was the moment when you went from, I'm doing this because I'm a little bit bored during COVID to wait a minute, I can make a real impact and have a real following.
- [28:40]
Mrs. Frazzled
I started thinking about my impact. I would say the summer of 2020, you know, we saw all of the Black Lives Matter protests. We saw a lot of things being discussed in the social justice space. At the time, the far right was talking a lot about, like, oh, there's critical race theory in our schools. And I was like, no. And actually, it's a lot of inclusion, and including everybody doesn't mean that anybody gets excluded. It's all good. It all.
- [29:10]
Andy Beshear
Amen.
- [29:11]
Mrs. Frazzled
A rising tide lifts all boats. Yeah. So I started talking about that, and I was having a little bit of a hard time because people, as your following grows when you're a teacher online, people will start to call your school and kind of act strangely. So when I went home on maternity leave, I realized that I had a real opportunity now to be very candid. I could really talk about the challenges facing educators without fear of backlash from the far right extremists or anybody like that. And then I was a parent, so I also could talk about things, thinking about my child's future and the kind of world that I want my child to grow up in. So it was really kind of a natural progression. But it's been really freeing and really exciting to be able to speak up for a version of myself that couldn't speak up in the past.
- [30:03]
Andy Beshear
So on that Teacher Quit Talk built on that simple, devastating premise that teachers are leaving the classroom. And I know there are lots of reasons for it. For me, I think a lot of it starts with pay. I mean, we ask people to do an incredibly difficult job. They shouldn't have to live in poverty to have it. But then you've got kids coming into the classroom that just have a higher level of trauma than we've ever seen. We have the impact of social media, which you use for good, but also has its drawbacks. Talk a little bit about Teacher Quit Talk.
- [30:39]
Mrs. Frazzled
When I started Teacher Quit Talk, it was really just because of what you said, where there were so many reasons that people were leaving the field, and I didn't feel that they were really understood in the general public. So my co host and I misredacted, as she goes, because she's still a teacher so she is locking down that identity. But she and I, we started to interview people that we knew who had left and wanted them just to share their stories. And that really quickly evolved into asking other people for their stories. Submit us a story. Tell us what happened to you at your school. And there was such an energy for it because I think there's this innate feeling that teachers don't always feel heard because of course, I think in the area of pay in particular, I think if we listened to teachers, we wouldn't be in quite the situation that we are in now with education. But a lot of things in education happen to teachers without their input. And you're right, it's such an incredibly demanding job and something I knew. But I was really glad to be able to get it down in a medium where we could share it out with a broader world. And we wear so many hats. And it seems like more and more a lot rests on teachers shoulders. You know, there's a lot of talk about a mental health crisis. Well then teachers are expected to pick up the slack. And we watch this, you know, administration in power right now who is cutting things like mental health grants or delaying sending them out and all kinds of things. And you know, we have a lot of talk about parental control and giving states their rights. But then we see that only applies if you align with what the administration wants to happen. And it's really frustrating for teachers. So again, going back to like being able to be that voice is just like a privilege of mine. And we paused, teacher quit talk for a bit, but only because we need to rethink how we're going to, with these new attacks on public education, launch it so that we can again make the most impact possible by having teachers have their voices heard.
- [32:51]
Andy Beshear
So let's either pretend or assume that a whole bunch of policymakers listen to or watch the Andy Beshear podcast, give us the prescription for fixing the teacher exodus.
- [33:05]
Mrs. Frazzled
I think number one is making sure that you always have teachers at the table making decisions with lawmakers every time there's something that will affect a school. And the tricky part of that is that everything that shows up in society shows up in schools in some way. But we really do have teachers who have this wealth of knowledge, this historic historical knowledge and this expertise and treating them as the professionals and experts that they are is going to go so far because not only will they feel heard, but also that's just good policy. That's just how you're going to get the most effective things possible because you have people who are in it every single day sharing all of their best practices with you so that you can skip the middle step where it's like, okay, we tried this, it didn't work. Tried this, it didn't work. Let's try to go together to a better collaborative future. I think that's the biggest advice I could give.
- [34:04]
Andy Beshear
Talk to us about the danger of these voucher schemes, some of which are entirely uncapped that are hitting all around the country.
- [34:17]
Mrs. Frazzled
It is driving me absolutely insane. Because they poll so poorly. You know this in Kentucky.
- [34:24]
Andy Beshear
Yes.
- [34:24]
Mrs. Frazzled
They fail over and over again and then they just change the darn name of them and they're like, oh, we're going to try it this way or we're going to do it through a tax credit. We're going to have people opt in and they just do the sneakiest things possible. And it is so frustrating because it feels so predatory to me because they're banking on people not understanding what is being pushed. And no matter what they're called, when you take money out of public schools, they do poorly because the budget doesn't shrink, it just takes the money away. And schools are expected to do more with less. More gets put on these teachers backs. We see more teachers leaving and all of that leads to a decline in the quality of a child's neighborhood school. These schools that serve 90% of kids, public schools. And it's very frustrating when then that data, that is a self fulfilling prophecy in a way. They point to that data and they say, see, public schools aren't working. You need a voucher to get you out of that failing school.
- [35:35]
Andy Beshear
But they don't collect the same data from the school that the voucher goes to so that you could even compare.
- [35:42]
Mrs. Frazzled
Governor drives me crazy. It's like I learned and taught in kindergarten that you cannot measure one object with two different units of measurement. And that's what we're seeing happen here. They're even going so far as to say, oh, you know what? Private schools can use these entirely different standardized tests.
- [36:02]
Andy Beshear
Yes.
- [36:03]
Mrs. Frazzled
Well that's not easy. Even better than them using no test at all. It's all bad. It's just so manufactured. And it's something that really frustrates me now as a parent too because I think there's this preying on parents fears.
- [36:18]
Andy Beshear
Yes.
- [36:19]
Mrs. Frazzled
That things are bad for their kids or we're going to mess up our kids somehow. That's a very like instinctual fear. And it breaks my heart to watch the right weaponize that in a way that like they know that if they can capture education and a parent's fear and love for their child and turn it against the public school system, that they can really control the future because they control how people are taught and where they're taught and how they're taught. It drives me bonkers. But all of these voucher schemes are absolutely ridiculous, and they have to be stopped.
- [36:57]
Andy Beshear
What do you think it means when a presidential administration puts a wrestling executive in charge of education? I'm going to admit something, and I think my podcast family knows this. I grew up watching wrestling, but I still don't think you put a wrestling executive in charge of public education.
- [37:19]
Mrs. Frazzled
Yeah, it took me a while to really wrap my mind around it, and then I realized something in one of her recent hearings. I realized that they did it because they're looking at her as a brand and franchise business owner. And that's exactly what they're trying to do to public education. They're trying to privatize it and make it into a business, which time and time again, we've seen that that does not work. Education is infrastructure. Education is a public good, and it goes to serve everyone the best if it's treated as such. And it is so, like, it was this horrible light bulb moment for me where I was like, of course they want somebody who ran a franchise because they're trying to privatize education. And it's just such an insult. And it's so horrible to watch those hearings. I mean, I don't know if anybody's a nerd like me and watched the last one, but she's how many months, over a year now into this job, and she is getting people handing her cue cards with answers on them. I'm like, linda, we. We have to be learning something along the way, like, what's happening. It drives me crazy.
- [38:33]
Andy Beshear
Yeah, I think Trump was really mad when someone did that to Mitch McConnell, but we can have different rules for different folks. As a. As a mom, what do you want for your child, both in terms of education and the future for this country?
- [38:49]
Mrs. Frazzled
I would love if we had a future where it was okay and encouraged to be kind. Across both sides of the aisle, I see a lot of talk about empathy as weakness or education being something that is like indoctrination. All of these things that I really value teaching my children, like, it feels like is under attack. And, you know, I don't think to be kind, you have to be a doormat. I think there's a difference between being nice and being kind. But I do think that There is a real venomous nature in the way that people talk about education and school schools. And it worries me that my kids are going to go into their school and hear stuff like that and start to like doubt the system that they're in. And I think sometimes we've seen that turn into people watching maybe podcasts that aren't so good for their brain that tell them that, you know, just whatever, whatever the podcast manosphere men are saying to the right. But it freaks me out. And I just, all the time I think that education is the answer and I think that public schools are the answer because you have to go into public schools and you have to be with everybody. I mean, again, 90% of kids are there. So that's where you're going to learn to hear people who have different perspectives than you. You're going to learn how to get along with them and exist alongside them in a world where things are very polarized and intentionally so. So, you know, all of these things that I'm doing, I really hope go to just make that environment better for my kids so that their futures in general are better.
- [40:47]
Andy Beshear
With a 16 about to be 17 year old son having those conversations about masculinity. And I've said this before on the podcast, what I try to teach him is that masculinity isn't being the bully, it's being the person standing in between the bully and who they're going after. And thankfully he's huge. He's like 6, 3, 200 and something pounds. So he's very effective at that. Tell me where Miss Frazzled came from.
- [41:13]
Mrs. Frazzled
I was, you know, everybody's fans of the Magic School Bus, I think, and Ms. Frazzle was, you know, amazing. But I was thinking, I think I saw a meme in like 2019, like I'm a little more Ms. Frazzled than Ms. Frizzle. And I thought, I think the Internet needs more of that, you know, like more authenticity and more like showing that teaching isn't perfect. There's a lot that goes into it. I didn't know how much paperwork there was before I started, for example. So, you know, showing that less than glamorous side online, I think to make people feel like it's okay to be a little frazzled sometimes. And you know, it just stuck. It just stuck. It just works.
- [41:58]
Andy Beshear
So we've got a lot of teachers that follow the podcast. What do you want to say to them?
- [42:05]
Mrs. Frazzled
Thank you for what you're doing. We need you so bad. You're the backbone of this country and I also think it's worth noting that if you are burnt out, it's okay to take a hiatus, take a little sabbatical, a DIY sabbatical. Teaching will always be there, and we need you so, so much. But you can do so many things and teaching will always be there. And never feel like you're stuck. Never feel like you have to be exactly where you are. I know some people that have gone to, like, do gym class for a year, you know, bounce around, try different things. It's all. It's all connected. And I know it's hard right now, so I never want you to feel like you have to be there. But honestly, those of you who are there, thank you. I love you, and I will keep telling everybody what's up. You just DM me, let me know what you need.
- [42:57]
Andy Beshear
So that's the positive side. If there's another side, let's assume that Donald Trump is listening. What do you want to tell him?
- [43:06]
Mrs. Frazzled
Go take a nap. Get out of here. I mean, go. Go have a big.
- [43:10]
Andy Beshear
He takes a number of naps.
- [43:11]
Mrs. Frazzled
He takes a lot of naps. You know, I can never take that many naps when I'm at work. But whatever. I digress. And I had nap time, but whatever, you know, just. He needs to go. Just get out of here. I have nothing else to say. I have nothing nice to say.
- [43:31]
Andy Beshear
Well, in the south, when we run out of that, we just look at someone and say, bless your heart.
- [43:36]
Mrs. Frazzled
Exactly. Bless your heart.
- [43:39]
Andy Beshear
So finally, what about Democrats that are being wooed or looking at some of these voucher schemes? What do you say to them?
- [43:50]
Mrs. Frazzled
Do not cave. Do not take the bait. I think it's tempting to listen to them tell their lies and spin their webs about it, especially with this tax credit. They are like, oh, just opt in. It's donor money. It's donated. It's not actually free from the school. That is a bunch of baloney. It's a tax credit. They're taking money, tax dollars, away from public schools. Do not let them gaslight you. And you know, there's some elections coming up. Think about what your people want. Think about what the people that hired you want. And over and over again, we see that is not vouchers. So stand strong. You could do it.
- [44:34]
Andy Beshear
Tell our listeners how to follow Mrs. Frazzled.
- [44:38]
Mrs. Frazzled
You can find me on Mrs. Frazzled. Anywhere you scroll, I am there. So, yeah, I'll see you around.
- [44:46]
Andy Beshear
And if they are going to go and there is one video or clip that you think they should watch first, That'll show them exactly who you are and what the channel's like. What should they watch?
- [44:57]
Mrs. Frazzled
I think you should go to my Gentle Parenting Politicians series. It is political commentary, but it's things that you wish you could say to politicians when they're acting like kindergarteners. Of course, that's a particular side of the aisle, but it's really nice. And sometimes you can try it, too, at home in the mirror, and you're gonna be like, wow, that felt really good. So those are everywhere, and I think you'll really like them.
- [45:24]
Andy Beshear
So that post is almost a Bless yous Heart.
- [45:26]
Mrs. Frazzled
It is, exactly. It has the bless your heart energy. Exactly.
- [45:32]
Andy Beshear
Well, Mrs. Frazzel, thank you so much for joining the Andy Beshear Podcast, and keep up your great work.
- [45:39]
Mrs. Frazzled
Thank you so much.
- [45:47]
Andy Beshear
And now on the Andy Beshear Podcast, our latest version of Ask Andy. But, oh, no, it gets better than that, because this is the return of Ask Andy and Brittany Matt. Mainly where my wife makes fun of me through the questions and the answers, but we thought we'd spice it up just a little bit more. All of our questions today are asked by viewers or listeners to the podcast, so make sure that you go on our YouTube channel, Andy Beshear Podcast. Subscribe and leave us comments or questions. All right, Brittany, are you ready?
- [46:21]
Brittany Beshear
Yes. But I just want to put in a little caveat that it's not making fun of Andy, if it's just the facts.
- [46:26]
Andy Beshear
Fair. For Those watching on YouTube, we are joined by another guest, the mascot of the Andy Beshear Podcast, our dog Winnie, who is taking up over half of the tiny couch. I'm sure John McConnell is jealous. All right, Brittany, are you ready?
- [46:43]
Brittany Beshear
Absolutely.
- [46:44]
Andy Beshear
All right, so, Tracy, one of our listeners, says, what are some things you two do in your marriage to keep each other calm in these uncertain times?
- [46:54]
Brittany Beshear
That's a really good question, I think. Well, first of all, we're funny. We think we're funny.
- [47:00]
Andy Beshear
We think we're funny.
- [47:00]
Brittany Beshear
We entertain ourselves immensely just talking with each other. But I think I hear talking is good in marriages, you know, depending on what you're talking about, I guess. But I think you and I have always loved to play cards together. And so we'll play a game of gin, or we'll even get our kids involved and play a game of hearts. And I also think we were given a gift, a game called Trominos, years ago that we just.
- [47:29]
Andy Beshear
It's like dominoes.
- [47:30]
Brittany Beshear
Yeah. Except it's a triumphal.
- [47:32]
Andy Beshear
Exactly.
- [47:33]
Brittany Beshear
But hence the name. Hence the name. But I Think those are some things that we enjoy doing that just kind of, you know, get us. Get us away from thinking about politics,
- [47:43]
Andy Beshear
which is necessary and.
- [47:44]
Brittany Beshear
Yeah, good. Good, healthy thing to do.
- [47:48]
Andy Beshear
All right. Suzanne says, who cooks? And second, what is the worst meal your partner cooked for you? Yeah, that's kind of setting us up.
- [47:57]
Brittany Beshear
I think I put that in my contract that I wasn't gonna say.
- [48:00]
Andy Beshear
Yeah. Now, on an early. If only there was a contract on. On an early date when we were living in D.C. i was gonna cook for you in the apartment, the basement apartment that I had. And you went over and turned on the oven. What you didn't realize is I also stored all the oven mitts in the oven. And so that first time I tried to cook for you, it started with a mild fire.
- [48:28]
Brittany Beshear
It gave whatever you wound up cooking a nice charred taste.
- [48:33]
Andy Beshear
Well, I mean, we hadn't put the
- [48:34]
Brittany Beshear
actual food in yet, so maybe it's the worst thing that ever happened in the oven in which you were about to. To bake.
- [48:42]
Andy Beshear
Maybe.
- [48:42]
Brittany Beshear
I don't know. But yeah.
- [48:45]
Andy Beshear
And then what about chili when you were pregnant?
- [48:47]
Brittany Beshear
Oh, my gosh. Okay. Well, it wasn't that the chili was bad, but it was that I was newly pregnant, and certain things just. All of a sudden, it was just not happening. And I remember my mom was visiting, and it was fall, and we had spent all day making this really great pot of chili. And it, like, tasted great. It smelled great. All day. We sit down to eat it, and I said, I can't do it. And you and my mom, you know, it's okay. It's okay. We'll just, you know, clear the table. I cannot have this in the house. And they offered to freeze it. The thought of it being.
- [49:23]
Andy Beshear
Because I hate to throw anything away.
- [49:25]
Brittany Beshear
Yes, yes.
- [49:26]
Andy Beshear
It's. On this last trip that I did, I had to leave a perfectly good hanger that I'd brought with me, and it's still eating me.
- [49:32]
Brittany Beshear
Yeah. I think we actually gave the whole pot of chili to the neighbors, because I could not. Just the thought of it being in the house was too much. It took me years to eat chili again.
- [49:40]
Andy Beshear
Now, chili is also what you always make on election night.
- [49:44]
Brittany Beshear
Yes, well, your mom actually started that tradition. She used a really good chili recipe, but it seems a little counterintuitive. You know, usually you're trying to do little finger foods. No, the Beshears are rolling with a full, hearty pot of chili.
- [49:58]
Andy Beshear
All right, Kristen says, what are Winnie's favorite treats? Virtually anything.
- [50:05]
Brittany Beshear
Food off the table. Not that we try to give. She sometimes will jump up.
- [50:10]
Andy Beshear
She loves all the pup cups. But the problem is, if you pull up to a drive through, Winnie basically runs through you. This is a 65 pound dog, and if you're driving, you better have a strong grip on that steering wheel because she's coming through.
- [50:24]
Brittany Beshear
Yeah. So our daughter, as she's been learning to drive, will drive over to seven Brew. And Winnie now knows when we're turning into seven Brew and starts whining in the backseat to get out the window for the pup cup.
- [50:36]
Andy Beshear
I'd say when you're making a sandwich, too, is when she's there and she knows there's gonna be just a little bit of turkey.
- [50:41]
Brittany Beshear
Yeah. Oh, yeah.
- [50:43]
Andy Beshear
All right, this next person, Kim, says, what do you call a sheep that does karate? She responds, lamb chop. Have a great day. Thanks, Kim.
- [50:55]
Brittany Beshear
Say shish Kepov. That's not right.
- [50:57]
Andy Beshear
All right. Lisa says. Oh, I know this. Lisa, what is your favorite thing to do in Frankfurt when you have some free time? Favorite restaurants or parks?
- [51:06]
Brittany Beshear
Oh, my gosh. We love.
- [51:08]
Andy Beshear
This is our councilwoman.
- [51:10]
Brittany Beshear
Hey, Lisa.
- [51:11]
Andy Beshear
Good question.
- [51:12]
Brittany Beshear
We love living in Frankfurt. It's been. It's a small floor, friendly, welcoming community. I think some of our favorite restaurants have always been sage for lunch and brunch. Yep. Bourbon on Main has the best burgers for takeout.
- [51:27]
Andy Beshear
Simply Thai.
- [51:28]
Brittany Beshear
Simply Thai. We love.
- [51:31]
Andy Beshear
Oh, I'm sorry. Thai Smile.
- [51:32]
Brittany Beshear
Thai Smile.
- [51:33]
Andy Beshear
Simply Thai is in Louisville.
- [51:34]
Brittany Beshear
That's right. Which was also amazing. The coffee trees got great coffee in the morning. I mean, we're really fortunate. So we love just walking downtown.
- [51:43]
Andy Beshear
And of course, I'm a big Andy's Bakery guy.
- [51:45]
Brittany Beshear
Andy's Bakery.
- [51:45]
Andy Beshear
I did a shift there once, and I called myself the other Andy.
- [51:48]
Brittany Beshear
Yep. And also Bees Bakery. And what's really great is Andy's Bakery is more of like a. Like a European artisanal bread and bees bakery. If you have a sweet tooth, head on down.
- [52:00]
Andy Beshear
Favorite parks. We like to do the hike up Fort Hill. This was. Frankfurt was the only Union capital taken by the Confederacy during the Civil War. And this is where the battle happened, where the Confederacy was installing a Confederate general that would have given it control over Kentucky's military. And so the Union came back in and swept them out of town.
- [52:22]
Brittany Beshear
Yeah. And that feels right. You know, I think they were on break or something.
- [52:28]
Andy Beshear
You know, an inauguration interrupted. All right here, Jay Combs says, what do you feel has been your defining moment as governor? And is there talks of possible Senate or representative aspirations if you don't run for president.
- [52:46]
Brittany Beshear
That's a lot in one question.
- [52:48]
Andy Beshear
That's a big question.
- [52:49]
John Rabinowitz
So.
- [52:50]
Brittany Beshear
Wow. Well, I think there's. There've been moments that have kind of defined you as a governor and as a human being. I think Covid being one of them because you led with kindness and humility and you were right there with every single person in case Kentucky.
- [53:04]
Andy Beshear
I mean, it was hard for all of us.
- [53:06]
Brittany Beshear
Yeah. But you got on TV every day and just talked to people because everybody was scared. Nobody knew what was going on but you and the kids. And I watched you every day. That was part of our routine.
- [53:17]
Andy Beshear
But then I got to come home to y' all after.
- [53:20]
Brittany Beshear
Yeah, but that like the chalk art pictures, the. The pictures of people, you know, meeting relatives through windows.
- [53:29]
Andy Beshear
How about walking through Dawson springs after the F4 tornado took out what, 70%? All the buildings killed 81 people in Western Kentucky. And this was a place that my dad's from that I knew all those blocks. It was hard.
- [53:43]
Brittany Beshear
Yeah, I think those moments are hard. But when it's personal and you're leading through opens your eyes in a different way. That maybe I think you always have had that empathy, but it felt even deeper to you. And so not only were you able to help Dawson Springs through, but you've been able to help and come up with some really amazing ways to prevent tragedy like this from. Well, not TR those things are going to happen, but like for example, your high ground communities so that people don't have to live in floodplains anymore. That's huge.
- [54:19]
Andy Beshear
And I just add, I think where our economy in Kentucky is right now compared to where we started. 70,000 new jobs, $50 billion in new investment. We're getting looked at for projects that in the past wouldn't have looked at Kentucky. We're building the most sophisticated advanced manufacturing facilities in the world, and it's happening right here. And just from someone who has ag sued all the opioid manufacturers, the fact that we've had overdose deaths go down four years in a row says there is a light at the end of the tunnel in this fight we've been fighting. As to the other question, I don't have any announcement on this week's episode of the Andy Beshear podcast. Tune in later. But my parents always told me, don't apply for a job you don't want. And being a congressman or a US Senator just isn't in the cards for me. I really respect the people that do that. But I always talk about the why that you've got to have that burning reason that you jump out of bed every day, that you're willing to fight with the toxicity that is politics. And those jobs just aren't for me. I get to actually do something really tangible on the ground with the people I care about as governor every day. And I wouldn't give up one day as governor for a whole term in those other areas. So what do you think about this fully crowdsourced segment of Ask Andy and Brittany?
- [55:43]
Brittany Beshear
You know, I love those questions. And this is not one of the questions asked, but it did bring to mind something really funny in the food question, and that was right after Will was born. Our friends next door, John and Lisa, had a membership to Sam's Club, and we needed all the diapers, the wipes, I mean, all the things you need with a newborn. So you and John go off to Sam's club Club for baby things. You come home good little Sunday with one box of diapers and a thing of Kraft Parmesan cheese that was this big.
- [56:19]
John McConnell
Oh.
- [56:19]
Andy Beshear
Oh, it was. And remember, some people just listen and aren't watching. It was the size of a small trash can easily. And I think it lasted us two decades.
- [56:28]
Brittany Beshear
Yeah, we might still have it. I don't know.
- [56:30]
Andy Beshear
Yeah, if. If we would have stored it, we would have still had it. Maybe it's in storage with our furniture.
- [56:35]
Brittany Beshear
Did you think?
- [56:36]
Andy Beshear
I don't think you have to refrigerate it.
- [56:37]
Brittany Beshear
No, you sure don't. And, like, what was that instead of baby powder, we were going to use Parmesan cheese?
- [56:43]
Andy Beshear
I don't know. It just seemed like a deal. And, you know, if I love one thing, it's a deal. All right, let's close out with this question, because I love when our young people are interested in politics. Daniel says, what advice do you have for me? I want to become an elected official and an attorney. Then he says, hope you run in 2028. I appreciate that. I don't have an announcement today.
- [57:06]
Brittany Beshear
Yeah, I think there's a couple things I've noticed with you. Does he want to be a lawyer and also be in politics? Was that.
- [57:14]
Andy Beshear
I think so.
- [57:15]
Brittany Beshear
I think for you, first got to go to law school.
- [57:18]
Andy Beshear
So that's helpful.
- [57:19]
Brittany Beshear
That's helpful. But. But I think one of the things that you had early on was you got to try different parts of the law within the firm you were working in. So you could see. I mean, you always had an interest, but I think you got to work on some cases in the healthcare area, and you got to, you know, like, work with Being a litigator with some different things. And you did some foreign policy things at your first law firm. And so I think that kind of helped you figure out what area was really of interest to you. And then I think for politics, I think you, you have said, you know, what was my why. And I think as you have progressed as, as a person, your why you knew you wanted to run to me.
- [58:04]
Andy Beshear
I progressed as a person.
- [58:05]
Brittany Beshear
You heard it here first.
- [58:07]
Andy Beshear
When your wife says that about you, you're smiling pretty big if you're watching YouTube.
- [58:11]
Brittany Beshear
Yeah, but I think, I think that you, you, you always had your why, but you weren't out necessarily able to put it into words in a way that you wanted it to come across as. And I think that has just always been a foundational truth for you.
- [58:28]
Andy Beshear
But also on a future episode, I will tell you a story that is in the book. Go and do likewise. Available for pre order wherever you pre order your books. A sneak peek about being in an elevator and having a woman walk in. And it told me that you can do really important things in government. It helped establish my why. Y good reason to pre order that book.
- [58:50]
Brittany Beshear
Yeah. And I think the other main, main thing and really no matter what job you do is be yourself. If you are not authentic to who you are, you. You are not going to either like your job, be good at your job, or you're just. You're in it for the wrong reason.
- [59:06]
Andy Beshear
So, Daniel, here's what I'd say. I'd say make sure you can finish this sentence. It's I want to be an elected official because. And it can't just be to be an elected official. What is that part after the. Because that gets you excited, is you're willing to deal with difficulty. You're willing to work at something for years that people say isn't possible. Just finish that sentence and you'll be successful. Thanks for coming on, Brittany.
- [59:34]
Brittany Beshear
Yeah, thanks for having me.
- [59:36]
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- [60:44]
Andy Beshear
Now on the Andy Beshear podcast, My conversation with the Johns. This is when I talk to John Rabinowitz, an attorney and small business owner, and John McConnell, a small business owner. These guys helped me start the podcast and our goal was always to have a conversation between friends where we process all the difficult news that hits us minute after minute, week after week, and to try to give some both facts and analysis that hopefully helps you work through it as well. Guys, it's been a busy week. First thing we've discussed the last several episodes is what is crushing the wallets of the American people. Skyrocketing gas and diesel prices caused by this war of choice by Donald Trump in Iran. So we filmed this on Monday. Yesterday. On Sunday he announced right before his UFC birthday match, not that he was in it, that an agreement, and he even said a final agreement, which I don't think is accurate, had been reached with Iran and that the Strait of Hormuz was going to be open but not until Friday when they would sign it in person. The details are just starting to come out. But my starting point is the lack of urgency is even here now. I mean, Americans are struggling and you say I've got this thing resolved and we'll do it on Friday.
- [62:15]
John McConnell
Well, do you think they have like a button there at the White House that just says we have a deal, that they pressed. It just says it out loud every time time they say they have a deal.
- [62:23]
John Rabinowitz
I'll tell you in thinking about this, it does concern me a little bit about who's in control if we're not dictating the exact terms. I will say this in my mind, if we truly have negotiated a deal or a memorandum of understanding and the straits going to open up and the blockade is going to be lifted and prices are going to go down. This is a great thing, the end
- [62:44]
Andy Beshear
of any conflict, especially one that we started and that it does not appear we're going to get a very good resolution for the United States. But the end of any conflict is a good thing. But with the terms that are starting to come out first, it doesn't appear that this is the end. It will start a 60 day negotiating period which is not a final agreement. But the other piece that's now starting to come out is on Iran's agreement on its nuclear program. And this is what President Trump has been saying since, oh, about day four. Remember, day one was regime change. And now he claims that there's been regime change, even though it's the son of the last guy who hates us more because we killed his dad. That's not very good. Regime change, let's be clear.
- [63:30]
John Rabinowitz
I mean, yes, regime change, but not really regime change.
- [63:33]
Andy Beshear
Right.
- [63:33]
John Rabinowitz
And that's not a focus. Now, if you listen to what he's saying.
- [63:36]
Andy Beshear
And I want to get into the terms, but I think we've got to be honest that we're going to come out of this with a stronger Iran than when we went into it. We're going to have a more hardened regime that now knows their leverage on the Strait of Hormuz. And they might be getting millions or billions of dollars that were otherwise frozen. But I want to make sure we talk about the terms on nuclear arms, because to give credit to Morning Joe, they read out what the language and the Memorandum of understanding says, and it's something along the lines of.
- [64:06]
John Rabinowitz
So it has been released to the public. Yes, I did not know that. Everything I read said it had not
- [64:12]
Andy Beshear
what we think are the terms that are out there. And they read it out and said they wouldn't build. There was another term. Or acquire.
- [64:20]
John Rabinowitz
Yeah. Procure.
- [64:21]
Andy Beshear
Yes. And then they read out the 2017 agreement that Donald. I'm sorry, the agreement from the Obama administration that Trump ended in 2017. And the language is the same. In other words, we just went to war claiming that we didn't have enough assurances that they wouldn't have a nuclear weapon. And we're going to end up with the exact same assurances.
- [64:42]
John Rabinowitz
Listen, I do think it's a little early to define whether this is going to be looked at positively in the legacy of Donald Trump or negatively. I think negatively, the way it's headed. But I hope for goodness sake, after all we've been through, there are some significant, there's some significant movement on that front, on the nuclear front, like they can't have the ability to procure, acquire, purchase nuclear weapons.
- [65:09]
Andy Beshear
Well, John McConnell, as I look at this, this is the worst handling of an international conflict that I've certainly ever witnessed. But you know, in the south, we try to find nice things to say other than bless his heart, if they do get out now, as Opposed to, you know, a longer term involvement like we saw in Iraq and Afghanistan. At least they said, we're in the bottom of a deep hole, let's stop digging.
- [65:37]
John McConnell
Yeah, well, and, you know, 60 days is still an awful long time for this administration to be involved. And I think the rest of the world is pushing for this thing to end as well. I noticed that, what was it, uk, France, Germany, Italy, they're ready to lift their sanctions if this continue to go. I think there's a lot of people saying, please stop, Andy.
- [65:54]
John Rabinowitz
We are kind of avoiding the elephant in the room. And the elephant in the room is Israel's not accepting these terms.
- [66:02]
Andy Beshear
So the terms appear to require the end of the Israel Lebanon conflict, and that doesn't appear that Israel has agreed to that. So there's already a question, right, of whether that this is a deal, even if they sign it on Friday, will be achieved or go into effect on Saturday.
- [66:26]
John Rabinowitz
What's your gut say, John? Do you think this is the end of the war?
- [66:30]
John McConnell
I think every time they say this war is about to end, someone else shoots a missile or a rocket somewhere else and all of a sudden you shoot back and then you say there's still a ceasefire and then you say it's over. I hope for the rest of the world and our country that this does come to an end.
- [66:49]
John Rabinowitz
Let's say it does come to an end. Do you think this will fundamentally transform the Middle East?
- [66:54]
Andy Beshear
No.
- [66:54]
John Rabinowitz
In any way.
- [66:55]
Andy Beshear
I think we have a stronger Iran than when we started. Remember, we'd said no nuclear weapons, though. It may be that they have the same stockpiles that they used to have and then we monitor them just like we used to. They said we were going to take out all their ballistic missile systems. We haven't. They still have a significant number of drones and now they know that they can shut down that strait and impact the world when in the past that was a step that they wouldn't take.
- [67:25]
John Rabinowitz
So they probably thought this would end up like Venezuela, this war.
- [67:28]
Andy Beshear
That's exactly what Trump thought. And that means he didn't spend the time or do the readings or read the reports to understand that there is a huge difference between the way that government and religion in the military are connected in Iran versus Venezuela. But let's transition now to the guy who started this war and at least the whispers and maybe the things people are saying out loud is he's bungling this so badly because he's getting older. Cognitively, he's not the same as he was before. He's fallen asleep a lot though. That happens to all of us from time to time.
- [68:11]
John Rabinowitz
Listen, I'm not hating on that.
- [68:12]
Podcast Advertiser
Yeah.
- [68:13]
John McConnell
I'm not going to throw any stones after having a birthday.
- [68:16]
Andy Beshear
None of us have done it during a press conference.
- [68:18]
John Rabinowitz
That is true. So Trump or at a basketball game, potential. Maybe so.
- [68:22]
Andy Beshear
So Trump just turned 80 on Sunday. Worries about his health or his cognitive ability.
- [68:31]
John McConnell
Well, in this, does this make him the second oldest president that we've had sitting in office? I think the first being Joe Biden.
- [68:40]
Andy Beshear
Okay, so who Trump said was too old.
- [68:42]
John McConnell
Yeah, There was a big election about him being too old. And now we have Trump who has turned 80 in office, you know, and we all forget things and it doesn't get better typically with time. So I'm going to have to assume that just because you're 80, just like everybody who's got a grandfather who's 80, they're probably not going to be as sharp as they were when they were 70.
- [69:06]
John Rabinowitz
Average life expectancy is what, 76, 77.
- [69:09]
John McConnell
Yes.
- [69:09]
John Rabinowitz
Right. Here's an 80 year old president who is, by the way, still taking questions from the press daily. May not be answering the questions,
- [69:20]
John McConnell
but
- [69:20]
John Rabinowitz
is taking the questions. He like is flying to France after being at ufc.
- [69:25]
Andy Beshear
That's a really good point in that he's trying to project energy. But is that catching up with him? And will, what happened to Biden where he aged really quickly? Is Trump putting himself in that position by what he's trying to show?
- [69:40]
John Rabinowitz
Well, you would know better than any of anyone, quite frankly, the job that you guys are in as CEO of a state or CEO of a country, I can't imagine the toll that takes on you as a person.
- [69:51]
Andy Beshear
It ages you in dog ears.
- [69:53]
John Rabinowitz
Yeah, there's no question about it with you never know what's going to happen every day where you're going to wake up to. But I'm not going to hate on this guy because he seems to be everywhere at times. And I like to go to bed by 9:30 or 10 if I can. So I'm not going to yell at him.
- [70:08]
Andy Beshear
But it would be nice to have a president that slept a little bit more and didn't spend tonight on truth social putting out absolutely crazy things and memes of himself as Jesus.
- [70:19]
John McConnell
Yeah. And having the UFC fight and these other things at the house, what does that cost?
- [70:25]
Andy Beshear
Let's make sure our listeners know we're talking about this UFC fight. It was at the White House. It was on Flag Day is what they said, which is also Trump's 80th birthday, but he didn't have to walk that far for appears to have cost about 60 something million dollars. And from my perspective, that's my concern. We've all been to a UFC fight before. I'm not going to criticize them for going to one. We go to them. I grew up watching wrestling. This is. The Democratic Party should not be anti ufc. People enjoy it. It's a real sport. My question is the cost of it. If it was a, a vanity.
- [71:07]
John Rabinowitz
You know what I was surprised by? It wasn't on. Like, it wasn't readily accessible. You couldn't get it on NBC, CBS or abc. You had to have Paramount plus to be able to watch it. So I was, I was actually telling my wife last night, I'm like, this is weird.
- [71:21]
Andy Beshear
Was it Paramount plus or plus plus?
- [71:23]
John Rabinowitz
Oh, that I have no idea.
- [71:24]
Andy Beshear
And, and didn't they just approve a purchase by Paramount?
- [71:28]
John Rabinowitz
I, I knew it was in the works.
- [71:29]
Andy Beshear
Yeah.
- [71:30]
John Rabinowitz
But I. Anyways, that's a. Did you watch it at all?
- [71:33]
John McConnell
No, I didn't even know it was actually happening.
- [71:35]
John Rabinowitz
It actually was surreal. They were warming up in the White House. There were actual like rubber mats in one of the rooms when they were like shadow boxing.
- [71:43]
Andy Beshear
So we didn't watch it because last night we did a birthday dinner for Will, who just turned 17 today. Except will wasn't there because Will knocked in the go ahead runs to make the finals in a tournament, continuing the Wilbur baseball tradition. So will is 17 as of when this comes out. And Lila, this Thursday, if you're downloading it on the day it comes out, will be 16.
- [72:09]
John Rabinowitz
And you want to talk about feeling old.
- [72:11]
Andy Beshear
Yeah.
- [72:12]
John Rabinowitz
How does that make you feel?
- [72:13]
Andy Beshear
I will almost as old as John McConnell.
- [72:16]
John Rabinowitz
I mean, you're just sitting right there. Put the ball on the tee for him.
- [72:19]
Andy Beshear
All right, we'll go, we'll go from Trump's failed war to Trump's age to Trump's former buddy. Then they broke up and maybe they're back together. Elon Musk, the now first trillionaire in world history.
- [72:36]
John McConnell
Oh, he'll make up with. He's a trillionaire.
- [72:37]
John Rabinowitz
Did you invest in that? Did you get any shares of SpaceX?
- [72:40]
John McConnell
I did not. Listen, I did not.
- [72:43]
John Rabinowitz
God bless capitalism. How many millionaires were made that day that were in the company? Yeah, I mean, self made with some help, probably, but. But it's amazing. Like, it's just remarkable that anyone can become that wealthy.
- [72:56]
John McConnell
Yeah, well, and to have an IPO launch and get that much excitement built around it and don't you wish that
- [73:04]
Andy Beshear
the first trillionaire in history would have been a better person. I mean, listen, like, couldn't it have been Sam Walton?
- [73:11]
John Rabinowitz
I mean, somebody that gave. I don't know how much he gives back. You don't really hear a ton about that. If anything, like you're looking at me that probably not.
- [73:18]
Andy Beshear
I think we can all agree that Elon Musk isn't a great person. I mean, you just look at his actions and what he says, the family life that we used to expect from people. My concern is there's only a certain amount of money in the world. I'm a capitalist. I want everybody to be able to live that American dream. But when suddenly someone has a trillion dollars, what does it do for the ability of people that are out there, you know, working a job from nine to five to try to get ahead? Is there enough left? Is it adding to the system or is it just pulling it out to just one source? You know, people use that term income inequality, and a lot of times that's viewed as something from the far left. But I think we. I think we do need to be talking about the fact that there's only a certain amount of money in the system. And if people believe that they can't live their American dream because of where it's now all sitting, then we have some challenges.
- [74:19]
John Rabinowitz
I mean, we had a discussion last week where it seems like the hardest paying jobs in the world are paid the least. And you think about the police and teachers and people you would hope would be millionaires, but they're just barely getting by. And of course, back to the economy not helping it.
- [74:37]
Andy Beshear
And we say we can't afford pensions for them, but we have a trillionaire.
- [74:40]
John McConnell
Yeah.
- [74:41]
Andy Beshear
In the world.
- [74:41]
John Rabinowitz
Yeah.
- [74:42]
Andy Beshear
So.
- [74:42]
John Rabinowitz
And Big John's almost a trillionaire. Right, John?
- [74:45]
Andy Beshear
All right, all right, let's.
- [74:47]
John McConnell
Am I that old? Is that what you're trying to say? Let's.
- [74:48]
Andy Beshear
Let's end on. On something fun. I think the whole country got Knicks fever watching the, the New York Knicks. And I think it's because it was almost a team of underdogs that scrapped it out, that got on that role. I mean, Jalen Brunson for the NBA is what, like five foot five when you think about. But he goes up against these giants and he makes those layups that you wonder how on earth could he get it off. And then you got Carl Anthony Towns from University of Kentucky, who we were all big fans of while he was here getting that ring and having lost, what, his mom, if not his mom, and dad in the pandemic, you know, just a good day for him.
- [75:33]
John Rabinowitz
It was incredible. And it seemed like they were always coming back at the end. They were never out of the game. Yeah, they were behind 20 and they came back and would win it.
- [75:40]
Andy Beshear
It felt like they were never ahead, but still you knew they were going to win.
- [75:44]
John McConnell
Yeah. And one thing, Jalen, that got me. And of course, I have a friend who's a lifelong Knicks fan, so I got to watch part of the game with him is that when he came out to his press conference, first thing he does is he talks about young man that he had met with magical weather wish who had passed away. And he talks about the family and be thinking about them. So.
- [76:02]
John Rabinowitz
And how cool is it that his dad's a coach on the team?
- [76:04]
Andy Beshear
I still remember when. When they signed him to that enormous deal, I. I thought it was a mistake. It's not. I mean, he's a winner. And. And how do you put a value on a guy that can lead a team? And is that clutch?
- [76:17]
John Rabinowitz
I'll tell you what I didn't understand is the. The celebrating after in New York City with stuff being caught on fire, buses being tipped over. I still never get that. How many couches did you set on fire, John?
- [76:27]
John McConnell
At least. At least one. Mainly because.
- [76:29]
John Rabinowitz
Can we talk about this tiny couch?
- [76:31]
Andy Beshear
I mean, I think there's a statute of limitations on his actions in his late teens or early 20s, thankfully.
- [76:38]
John McConnell
And I'm thinking I'm excited because someone 5 foot 5 can play in the NBA. So I'm still thinking there's a hope for me. That's what I'm thinking.
- [76:45]
Andy Beshear
So what we've learned on this episode of the Andy Beshear Podcast is there is Hope for John McConnell's NBA career. That'll give you a laugh if you've ever watched us YouTube. But in all seriousness, a lot of things going on out there, a lot of news that's hitting you hard. Make sure you take care of yourself. And we'll be back next week to talk about what happens between now and then. I'm grateful to both of them for their time today and honestly for the work they do every single day to keep people informed and engaged when it would be a lot easier to look the other way. If this conversation meant something to you, share it, Send it to someone who's feeling checked out or overwhelmed, and subscribe so you never miss an episode. I'm Andy Beshear, and I'll see you next week.
- [77:37]
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