The Art of Petty with Prop & Amanda Nelson

Summary

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Podcast Summary: It Could Happen Here

Episode: "The Art of Petty with Prop & Amanda Nelson"

Release Date: February 12, 2026
Guests: Amanda Nelson (@AmandasMildTakes)
Host: Prop
Network: Cool Zone Media & iHeartPodcasts

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Episode Overview

This episode of It Could Happen Here features a lively, incisive conversation between host Prop and guest Amanda Nelson (creator of @AmandasMildTakes and the viral "Pettysburg Address"). The discussion explores the intersections of humor, history, and political engagement in Amanda's online work—especially how "pettiness" can be wielded as a tool of resistance. Through candid storytelling and sharp wit, Prop and Amanda delve deep into American political culture, internet discourse, male fragility, and the power of making complex history accessible (and funny).

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. The Origin & Power of "The Art of Petty"

• Amanda’s Last Name & Meme-Reality Fusion
  Amanda shares the story behind the episode’s title: “Petty” is her real last name, leading to plays like "Pettysburg Address"—a witty reworking of serious politics through humor ([02:26]–[03:19]).

  • "As a child, it used to bother me. As a grown up, I’m like, nah, that sounds about right." — Prop [02:26]

• Accessible, Relatable Political Education
  Both host and guest stress that understanding history and politics doesn't require an academic tone; real talk and humor make daunting topics approachable.

  • "History’s actually not that difficult to grasp if you just speak like a regular ass human." — Prop [03:19]

2. Amanda’s Background, Identity & Political Awakening

• Growing Up Multiracial in the Conservative South
  Raised in Virginia by "very conservative white people" with Filipino roots, Amanda shares the experience of not fitting neatly into local racial categories ([08:24]–[11:06]).

  • Her confusion about others’ reactions to her appearance led to a fascination with understanding history and the South's legacy.

• Radicalization via Exposure, Not Crisis For Amanda, leaving her insular hometown for college and activism opened her mind:

  • “The thing that radicalized you was… just exposure.” — Prop [10:23]
  • Amanda emphasizes her organizing work, such as volunteering for campaigns, being an abortion clinic escort, and working with the ACLU ([09:48]).

3. Humor, Defiance & Permission Structures

• Strategic Meanness & Breaking Respectability
  Amanda leans on humor—sometimes sharp-edged—to challenge authority and social norms, especially the American reverence toward power figures.

  • “He looks, he’s the color of a rusted out horse trough. The [expletive] do I care?” — Amanda on the President [14:04]

• Empowering Others, Especially Women Amanda’s playful, biting “pettiness” is a tool for inspiring others (especially suburban white women)—offering them “permission” to stand up, speak out, and get a little rowdy.

  • “It’s almost like providing an example, especially for women who are a little younger than me, how to detach themselves from the value assigned to them by random men.” — Amanda [29:16]

4. Engaging Male Fragility, Trolls & Commenters

• Consequences for Online Misogyny
  Both speakers reflect on the importance of “roasting” or dragging inappropriate commenters—especially men who are unaccustomed to accountability.
  • “If you’re a 50 year old white man, you have never experienced a consequence for running your mouth. And I’m gonna be that consequence for you.” — Amanda [23:00]
  • Amanda reveals she gets criticism from women for “caring about men”—but, as a mother of twin boys, she’s invested in not letting them fall into the traps of toxic masculinity ([22:12]).

5. Process, Research, and Standing Apart on the Left

• Dedication to Fact-Checking & Accuracy
  Amanda’s online content (like the “Monday Whiteboard” series) is rooted in dogged, behind-the-scenes research—the opposite of many right-wing grifters or emotionally sensational left content:

  • "It matters a great deal that I am right in the things that I'm saying… if they don't trust me, they're not going to… get involved in the places I tell them to get involved." — Amanda [31:59]

• Values Over Clout
  She has no interest in “a media career” or working on a big campaign; her mission is community education and resistance to rising authoritarianism, not attention-seeking ([31:27]).

6. Lessons from American History—Parallels & Resistance

• Don’t Default to Nazi Germany References
  Amanda urges people to learn from U.S. history—especially Reconstruction, Jim Crow, Black Panthers, the Gilded Age, and labor movements—rather than reaching for European analogies:

  • "If you’re going to study Nazi Germany but not look at the Black Panthers, civil rights, Reconstruction… you’re not going to come up with any viable solutions." — Amanda [37:37]
  • U.S. resistance comes from Black, Indigenous, Latino, and labor communities; solidarity and learning from “our own people” is critical ([38:00]).

• Mistakes of the Past: Exclusion & Segregation
  The American pattern of “leaving people behind,” as in the Gilded Age and with segregated labor unions, must not be repeated.

  • “We have… like momentum, we like progress, and we leave behind all these people who’ve been oppressed and marginalized, and we… just ignore them.” — Amanda [39:52]

7. Re-Embedding Marginalized Histories

• Critique of Black History Month & Curriculum “Carve Outs”
  The hosts critique the “trivia” approach to Black or Indigenous history—advocating instead for their full contextual integration throughout all of history.
  • "We were there the whole time. We're in every chapter… and it's just like, so we're just gonna not point at the Black people for the rest of the year?" — Prop [43:41]
  • Amanda: Policies that help marginalized groups actually help everyone (“A rising tide truly does raise all of the ships.” [46:28])

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• "If you're going to be out there, especially right now in the world as a woman, you have got to learn how to tell somebody to fuck off... in a way that they will hear." — Amanda [28:47]
• "You don't dish out what you can't take." — Prop [23:35]
• "I'm telling you what's happening, how it's rooted in American history and what you can do about it." — Amanda [33:51]
• "Our curriculum is always trivia—carve out, afterthought. But... we were in every chapter... I would love to have the dignity of being there the whole time." — Prop [44:46]
• "Spanish has been spoken in this country longer than English—policies that benefit marginalized communities benefit everyone else." — Amanda [46:18]

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Timestamps for Key Segments

• [02:26] — Introduction & origin of "The Art of Petty"
• [03:19] — Making history and politics accessible
• [08:24] — Amanda's upbringing, racial ambiguity, and history obsession
• [14:04] — Using “pettiness” as a political tool
• [22:12] — Why Amanda “cares about men” and her approach to online trolls
• [28:47] — Teaching women to clap back
• [31:27] — The importance of research and Amanda's process
• [37:37] — Parallels from American history, not just Nazi Germany
• [43:41] — Black/Indigenous history “carve outs” and the case for integration
• [47:26]–[51:00] — Election predictions and speculation
• [52:32] — Critique of political leaders’ performativity & closing thoughts
• [53:05] — Where to find Amanda Nelson online

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Tone & Style

The episode is bold, irreverent, and deeply informed—a blend of jokey kinship (“you little cupcake ass… like you ain't got no flavor, cuz” [24:04]), sharp social critique, and educational earnestness. Both host and guest speak with the cadence of activists who have seen a lot—and take none of it, or themselves, too seriously.

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Final Thoughts

Amanda Nelson’s political activism and online presence are dissected not as just “content,” but as part of a lineage of practical resistance—a blending of humor, historical rigor, and everyday radicalism to demystify power for “regular-ass humans.” The episode is both a roadmap for engaged citizenship and a permission slip—especially for women and the historically marginalized—to be loud, smart, and, where necessary, gloriously petty.

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Amanda Nelson on Socials:

• Everywhere as @AmandasMildTakes (except BlueSky)

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This summary excludes advertisements and sponsorships, focusing only on original content.

Transcript

[Amanda Nelson]

This is an iHeart podcast.

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[Podcast Host]

A fire inside you you can't ignore.

[Amanda Nelson]

Stand still.

[Podcast Host]

Not a chance.

[Tara Davis Woodhull]

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[Podcast Host]

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[Amanda Nelson]

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[Amanda Nelson]

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[Amanda Nelson]

Coal Zone Media.

[Podcast Host]

All right, so, ladies and gentlemen, we going to dive in. Hood politics prop. This is special for me. We're calling this the Art of Petty. And the play on words you may or may not know is that Petty is actually my last name. And like, like, literally, government, it's my last name. And as a child, it used to bother me. As a grown up, I'm like, nah, that sounds about right. So what made us start, first of all, was the bio says the writer of the Pettyburg address. Yeah, that's one of the funniest things. It makes me mad because it's my last name. And I'm like, why did I not think of that? Like, it's so brilliant. Amanda Nelson, welcome to the show.

[Amanda Nelson]

Thank you. Thank you so much. And thank you for appreciating my ridiculous Abraham Lincoln joke.

[Podcast Host]

It's brilliant. I and super producer Ian separately came across your content, like, at the same time. I know when I first hit the follow, within a day or two, Ian was like, have you heard of. Have you heard of this person? And he just sent me the link. I was like, dude, I just started following and it's. And I think there's a. There's a kindred spirit in the sense of, like, history being actually not that difficult to grasp if you just speak like a regular ass human, you know what I'm saying? And politics the same. Like, you know, the premise of the whole show is that, like, if you understand inner city living, you understand politics. Like, if you grew up in and around our streets, it's really not that different. You know, even whether you was like a nerd, you know, running as fast as you can to the library, you still knew, I better not go down 7th street because, say, like, you still know how this works, you know what I'm saying? Or whether you were completely outside, like, you know, stealing people's bikes, like, you get it, you know, so what we appreciated about what you do is, is the accessibility of it. So thank you.

[Amanda Nelson]

Thank you. Well, thank you. That's. That was the goal from the beginning. Especially the. You know, on Mondays, I do a series called the Whiteboard, which is literally just a whiteboard with a bunch of sticky notes on it.

[Podcast Host]

Yeah.

[Amanda Nelson]

Where I track congressional legislation as it moves its way through Congress or doesn't, as is more often the case. Yeah. And that was one of the first things I started doing when I started making content and people were so appreciative of it in a way I found surprising, I thought people would find it nerdy and boring and silly.

[Podcast Host]

Yeah.

[Amanda Nelson]

But it's such an unnecessarily complicated process and explaining it in ways that people can grasp that there's been a lot of appreciation for. Which I love.

[Podcast Host]

Yeah. Which leads me to the next question which would be like, okay, so your formal training, your upbringing, like I need to know the origin story of the nerdery. But before that, this is the week of the super bowl. So I'm just wondering, as a Latina who's not a Latina, who I just found out an hour ago is not a Latino. Have you recovered from Benito's performance?

[Amanda Nelson]

I am not a Latino. That is true. And I just. When I was talking about it, when I was talking about it online about the, about Bad Bunny's halftime show, I got so many people asking me, wait, you're not Latina? So apparently I, I am presenting, which is nice.

[Podcast Host]

Yes.

[Amanda Nelson]

I have recovered because after the halftime show I went to bed. So I was in bed playing like 9:30. It was such a boring game. Like I'm not going to sit here.

[Podcast Host]

The game was trash.

[Amanda Nelson]

Four hours of friggin field goals. But then of course I went to bed and it, it get spiced up.

[Podcast Host]

A little bit and then it became a game.

[Amanda Nelson]

Right. But it didn't matter.

[Podcast Host]

Yeah. So you're on the east coast then.

[Amanda Nelson]

I am. I'm in Virginia. Yep.

[Podcast Host]

Yeah. No, that's. That's absolutely hilarious. We are on the west coast to which the game starts at 3pm but definitely my wife was like ready to go after the. After that. My wife is a first gen Latina and she was just like wait, there's more game. I was, do we have to stay? She's being silly. But yeah, do we have to stay? We're at my sister in law's house and she was just like we're good. Unless you want to stay. You know, since I'm a Cali native, I'm like, I really don't care about either of these teams and Same.

[Amanda Nelson]

Yeah.

[Podcast Host]

And my, I mean down to my mitochondria. Like I cannot ever cheer for a New England team. Yeah, I can't just the Celtics, the Boston thing. As an LA boy, I can't anybody remotely close to that. I just can't cheer for.

[Amanda Nelson]

I think I have like 2010s PTSD for having to constantly listen to the Patriots be oh for sure in everything. And So I have an ingrained bias. Also their owner's like a weird maga dude and I.

[Podcast Host]

You weirdo.

[Amanda Nelson]

Yeah, he's weird, so. And Tom Brady is also weird. Like, he's a weird guy.

[Podcast Host]

He weird man. Did you see his roast?

[Amanda Nelson]

Yes, Yes.

[Podcast Host]

I was like, yeah, you weird, bro.

[Amanda Nelson]

Like, and I can't decide if like Giselle leaving made him weirder or if he was weird and she left because of that. I can't figure it out. I don't care that much.

[Podcast Host]

But I honestly. That's a good thought, man. Like, because I've. I've considered that a few times because I'm like the level of competitive you have to be to be someone like a Tom Brady, like a Michael Jordan, like a Tony Hawk, like, you have to be insufferable with your will and drive to be as good as you are. And now my wife has a PhD in ED policy. She's one of the most self driven people I know. Even with her just doctoral nerdiness. There's a level of like, will you chill? Like about, you know, certain stuff. But. But we're both like, we're both nerds. You know what I'm saying? So we're both nerds in a lot of ways. But like, I can imagine. I can't imagine being married to someone where you're just like, can we talk about anything? Anything but this? Yes.

[Amanda Nelson]

Anything else?

[Podcast Host]

Yes.

[Amanda Nelson]

The answer is no.

[Podcast Host]

No. Yeah. So, okay, so tell me about. Okay. Formal training and upbringing. Like, why are you like this?

[Amanda Nelson]

Why am I like.

[Podcast Host]

Yes.

[Amanda Nelson]

Well, I have a history degree, an undergraduate history that I got. How do I explain why I'm like this? That's such an interesting question. So I was raised in south by very conservative white people.

[Podcast Host]

Okay.

[Amanda Nelson]

And I did not understand why. I was kind of singled out a lot growing up. Like, as we said at the beginning, I am not Latina. My grandmother's from the Philippines. And so that was like enough. Like, enough one dropness to make all the white people around.

[Podcast Host]

Yeah, one drop will do you.

[Amanda Nelson]

Yeah, like, very weird. And I didn't get it. And as I grew up and I realized more about. I understood more about the south and about Virginia specifically, which is the capital of the Confederacy and all that. Yeah, I got kind of obsessed with history. Like, why are these people like this? Yeah, so I've always been into history. I got a history degree and then I became, you know, kind of actively once I got out of my parents house, to be honest. And they're not conservative anymore. But once I Got out of my parents house and discovered like a world of activity. I went to college, which is the case with so many kids who grew up in, you know, the rural South. I went to college, discovered activism and organizing and people with different opinions. Yeah. And. I don't know, a whole world opened up for me and I got involved. I've been politically involved ever since. I've done all kinds of things. I volunteered for campaigns. I've been a clinic escort. Yeah. An abortion clinic here in town. All. All kinds of different. I've worked for the, with the aclu. So I am like this, I suppose, because my family is strange.

[Podcast Host]

I respect it.

[Amanda Nelson]

Or maybe not strange, maybe just normal for where they're from.

[Podcast Host]

Normal for where they are from. No, I respect that. In your defense, the Philippines, y' all are the black and Latinos of Asia.

[Amanda Nelson]

Oh, the Asian, yes. The Mexicans.

[Podcast Host]

So you guys the Pacific. Yeah. You're the Mexicans and the black people. That's what's. That's what sucks about being. Or what's great about being Filipino. Y' all get to be black and Latino and Asian. It's not fair. My stepmom's from the Philippines, so, like, I have this affinity because. Raised by a Filipino woman. Well, I was raised by a black woman and a Filipino woman. Long story. The point is that. That makes a lot of sense, dude. Like, that thing that radicalized you was. I'm using radicalized as a stand in word. But just exposure. Right. Like, that's super interesting to know that. Like, not even the awareness of. Because like you said, like, you existed in this white space and you like. I don't understand why y'.

[Amanda Nelson]

All. Exactly.

[Podcast Host]

Yeah. What's. What's the problem?

[Amanda Nelson]

Yeah. Yeah.

[Podcast Host]

What did I do? It's like, it's because you're kind of not. You're like. Well, but yeah, I am. Right. Like, it was. It was kind of, kind of one of those scenarios. Or like. Or did you kind of. Like, I may be putting a little more on. Like you. Like you said you weren't aware of your, your presenting, but did you. Did you feel sort of culturally that, like, I. I feel like I belong here. Is that was. Is that true?

[Amanda Nelson]

Yeah, I mean, I didn't understand. I understood that I looked a little bit different than everybody around me. Fine. Yeah, a little bit. Not a ton. Like I'm not, you know, like I'm. I'm a quarter of a Filipino. Like, it's not. I understood that I looked a little bit different. I did not understand why that Mattered word for a really long time. And then, like, the older I got, the more it would be. Like, I go out into school and the sort of racism that I would get would be when people mistook me for being Latina or when people mistook me for being black. That's when I would get, like, act, like, really bad. Because where I'm from in Virginia beach is the largest Filipino population on the East Coast. So Filipinos being around people were kind of used to. But it was when people thought that I was not just other, but a whole other other, you know, than what they were used to.

[Podcast Host]

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Amanda Nelson]

And I didn't. I didn't understand, like, I was born into this household. Like, yeah, I grew up with. We've all watched the same fogging NASCAR races. We eat the same.

[Podcast Host]

Yeah, totally.

[Amanda Nelson]

We listen to the. I have to listen to your stupid ass Rush Limbaugh. So, like, why am I. Yeah. Different. It doesn't make sense to me.

[Podcast Host]

That's so interesting. I love that. My undergrad was going to be history, but it kind of switched to, like, intercultural studies. I was just more interested a little more like sociology. I majored in illustration and because I wanted to do art and cultural studies and then did social science for, like, grad school. Mine was a little different in the sense that listeners know. But, like, my father was a. My father was a Black Panther, you know, I'm saying. And, you know, we, you know, we grew up in the space and it wasn't sort of like, like you said, like, this, like, light bulb was not my experience. My experience was like, this is necessary for our survival.

[Amanda Nelson]

Yeah.

[Podcast Host]

And I think I was more thrown back because. Which is, again, what I want to get to about, like, kind of the way that you present this stuff is like, I feel like this information is available for all of us. Like, it didn't take a lot of digging for you to, like. I feel like it was not really. I loved even. Even you talking about your. Your experience in, like, working in politics and organizing and volunteering, where it's like, a lot of times we feel like the access to entry is much harder than it actually is. You could just go there, just go over there and just be like, yo, can I help? And it's like, it really be that easy, you know, and people will be.

[Amanda Nelson]

So happy to have you.

[Podcast Host]

Yeah, yeah, yeah. But, yeah, I just feel like especially your. Your I'm jumping around. But like, you're. You're Trump's L's for the week are like. I mean, it's right there. Like, you know what I'm saying? Like, he just be saying them. It don't take a lot of work, you know what I'm saying? Like, but obviously us as like, you know, having formal training and research and fact checking and double checks. Like, you know, like having the formal training definitely helps me, you know what I'm saying? But, but besides that, sometimes I'll be like, well, this is just, I mean this is what he said he was going to do and then it didn't happen. So I'm like, that's an L, ain't it? Like, I just don't. It don't be that hard. Okay, now the next question is about your sense of humor. So like why are you so funny? Like what, why are you like that?

[Amanda Nelson]

I mean, I love it. I mean to people you're not supposed to be mean to. Like, you know, there's such a. Americans. Let me rephrase this. White Americans have such an ingrained like inherent respect for positions of authority. Like the, like the President. Like, how can you talk shit about the president? You know, I don't care because he trash. Because he's garbage. I don't give a shit. Like he looks, he's the color of a rusted out horse trough. The fuck do I care? Yeah. So I have no problems being, being mean. And I mean in ways that give people like permission to be a little like.

[Podcast Host]

Yeah.

[Amanda Nelson]

Thrilled by it or a little delighted by it. And that provides, I think, an entryway for people to learn a little bit of defiance.

[Podcast Host]

I love it.

[Amanda Nelson]

I don't know. America, we're not, we're not great at. Again I should clarify, White America specifically, especially my people.

[Podcast Host]

I was like, oh no, man, whoever. Really. Yeah. But anyway, yeah, you're right.

[Amanda Nelson]

Yeah. Like the people that I speak to are a lot of like suburban moms. Right. I'm a 41 year old mom. And they are not used to middle fingers up at all. Especially. Yeah. Recently, you know, like Biden got in office and everybody kind of fell asleep.

[Podcast Host]

Yeah.

[Amanda Nelson]

Democratic party white people fell asleep. So being mean and just pulling out some claws, it's both like funny and fun for me, but it's also strategic because I do want there to be. I want to present a permission structure for people to start learning to have a bit more backbone.

[Podcast Host]

I love that. I love that. I love that, like you said, the term you use is permission and that's what, what I enjoyed. I think that, yeah, like knowing that like you're from the south and that like adds even more of a a color to what's happening here. It makes me like it even more.

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[Tara Davis Woodhull]

This is US Olympic gold medalist Tara.

[Hunter Woodhull]

Davis Woodhull and I'm US Paralympic gold medalist Hunter Woodhull.

[Tara Davis Woodhull]

As athletes, our lives are about having.

[Hunter Woodhull]

A clear path and a team that you can absolutely trust.

[Tara Davis Woodhull]

So when it came to getting the.

[Hunter Woodhull]

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[Tara Davis Woodhull]

PennyMac is proud to be the official mortgage provider of Team USA and you.

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[Amanda Nelson]

Wasn't that delicious?

[Podcast Host]

So good. Your bill ladies.

[Tara Davis Woodhull]

I got it.

[Amanda Nelson]

No, I got it. Seriously, I insist. I insisted first. Oh, don't be silly. You don't be silly.

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[Podcast Host]

Okay. Rock, paper, scissors for it.

[Amanda Nelson]

Rock, paper, scissors. Shoot. No.

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[Podcast Host]

Yeah, I don't have no second thoughts about dragging a public figure, a politician. Like, I don't have no second thoughts about it because again, like, you asked for this, you know what I'm saying? Like, you, you, you signed up for this. You said you was gonna be this. Like, all right, I'm about to get real black. But like, there's parts of me that's just like, okay, are you a bitch ass nigga? You know what I'm saying? Like, And I'm like, there are ways for me to be able to know if you are. You presented yourself like you a real one. And I'm like, okay, well, there's qualifying entry points for me to do that. You know what I'm saying? Like, we learn. I'll respect. In our culture, you respect your elders for their position as elders, but do I respect that person as a person? No, you gotta earn that. But authority figures are different. You're in a corrupt system. Like, this system already don't like me. And you're applying for a job, and the job you applying for is governance. So I'm like, I don't give fuck about you. Like, you know what I'm saying? Like, no, but there is something unique, I think about your particular intersections as ethnically ambiguous, from the south, highly educated, you know, and unfortunately, in a patriarchal, misogynistic world, a female. Right, which I already know greats at so much, which I think I appreciate probably the most. When you have time to drag a commenter, obviously men are not okay. We know that ship has sailed. We're not okay. You know what I'm saying? Part of me feels like now this is like, as much as I've evolved in my feminism in, you know, I'm the father of two daughters and, you know, I've learned to like, really not understand how I was the problem, to become. To understand that I'm the problem, you know, even in just my ways of communicating, my advocacy, stuff like that, my blind spots and all that. And I'm with, you know what I'm saying? I have nephews. I don't have, like I said, I don't have sons, but I have nephews who I've like, realized that I carried a lot of ways for which I thought I was supposed to talk to my daughter versus talking to a son, you know what I'm saying? And I'M like. And I used to say, well, I'm gonna talk to my daughter the way I would talk to my son, you know, and just stupid, you know what I'm saying? And then. But even just being like, man, like, sometimes my nephew could use, like, a gentle voice. Like, you know, a man just like him, that could just be real gentle. You know what I'm saying? Like, bro, like, man, I'm sorry. You sick, man. It sucks when you get your feelings hurt. Like, I get it. You know what I'm saying? Like, being able to be gentle with him, too. That said, I feel like I come from an era where words have consequences, you know, you say something to somebody, they might slap the shit out of you.

[Amanda Nelson]

Yes.

[Podcast Host]

You know what I'm saying? So, like, you watch your mouth. You know what I'm saying? Cause, like, now, granted, like I said, I've grown to where that, like, I don't know who the fuck you think you talking to? Like, I don't say that no more. You know what I'm saying? Where it's just like, okay, I have learned that that's not the person I need to be. However, I feel like a lot of these young men, especially in your comment sections, like, they didn't have no big homies. Like, I did. That would be like, boy, if you don't shut. You know what I'm saying? Like, you know, and just being like, son, like, yes. So you can't just be talking. And I come from a city where she might slap the shit out of you.

[Amanda Nelson]

She will.

[Podcast Host]

You know what I'm saying? It's not just like, you know what I'm saying? What I'm saying? So I'm like, bro, you can't just be talking. So anyway, that's a long preamble to say. I appreciate when you take the time to drag a comment.

[Amanda Nelson]

Thank you. I do.

[Podcast Host]

So please tell me. Please tell me the origins of that.

[Amanda Nelson]

Yeah. So I have two sons.

[Podcast Host]

Okay.

[Amanda Nelson]

They're twins. They'll be 15 in a few weeks. And I care a lot. Actually. I get a lot of shit for this from people on the left, from liberals as well, especially from women. But I care a lot about men. And, yeah. Them not being okay. You know, I care.

[Podcast Host]

Yeah. They're not okay. Yeah.

[Amanda Nelson]

Because I have two boys, and I don't want that to be them. I see the traps.

[Podcast Host]

Yeah.

[Amanda Nelson]

That are waiting for them out there, that are being placed on purpose for sure. By bad actors.

[Podcast Host]

Yeah.

[Amanda Nelson]

So I want policy and conversations and acceptance and help for the men and the boys.

[Podcast Host]

Yeah.

[Amanda Nelson]

And also when it's almost always, you know, like some republican mouth breather who follows a bunch of AI porn bots gets into my comments to talk to me some kind of way. I decided that I was going to make an example of them because these are people who have never experienced a consequence.

[Podcast Host]

Yes.

[Amanda Nelson]

Ever.

[Podcast Host]

That's what I'm saying.

[Amanda Nelson]

Like if you're a 50 year old white man, you have never experienced a consequence for running your mouth.

[Podcast Host]

That's what I'm saying.

[Amanda Nelson]

And I'm gonna be that consequence for you. You're welcome. Yes.

[Podcast Host]

Thank you.

[Amanda Nelson]

And it's, it just disgusts me because again, they're almost always following like a bunch of teenagers AI bots, you know, all of these just.

[Podcast Host]

Yeah.

[Amanda Nelson]

It's completely inappropriate behavior. They do not understand the concept of matching energy. They're completely shocked when they come into the my comments and give me. And then I match their energy. They're always gassed that like how dare I. Well, you dared first. What?

[Podcast Host]

I'm just like, yeah. Like for somebody who swear they so like you so tough and hard. I'm like, man, you little cupcake ass. Like one of the earliest, I mean, I'm telling you, the earliest lesson I got as a child and I still say it to my kids, you don't dish out what you can't take. Like you don't. Don't put it out there if you can't handle it, you know. So if you gonna get jokes and that person wrote you back, I come from. That's our culture. It's like even, even around family, it's just like, bro. I was having a conversation with one of the parents like because I have the type of job I have, I do a lot of the, the pickups, the after school pickups.

[Amanda Nelson]

Yeah.

[Podcast Host]

You know, so I was talking to.

[Amanda Nelson]

One of them as a chauffeur.

[Podcast Host]

Yes, yes. So I was talking to one of the moms just about like nicknames growing up, whatever, right. And my mother, biting sarcasm, super funny, brilliant, but like fire baptized, speaking in tongues, praying the house down. She says a biting sarcasm and I was like. She used to call me the before picture. She just, just cold as ice. And I was just like dang. But again, it's like she could, she could always give it back. You know what I'm saying? So like we. You just. So you just knew like if you was gonna get your feelings hurt, I don't know if you can handle that, you know? And even like specifically with the young ladies, it's just like, bro, like, I like you following porn bots. Like, part of me, like, again, in the most misogynistic possible is like, because, nigga, you ain't got no flavor, cuz. Like, right? You're weirdo. Like, that's why you doing this. Yeah.

[Amanda Nelson]

And they claim, like, this is a group of people, you know, whatever. Conservative Gen X men.

[Podcast Host]

Yeah.

[Amanda Nelson]

Who claim a level of cultural dominance that. That's what they're expressing when they come into my comment section to yell at me. This, like, cultural dominance they think they have, and it's completely manufactured.

[Podcast Host]

Yeah.

[Amanda Nelson]

You dominate no one. No one look at you. Like, and that's kind of the point. That and I. Yeah, part of me is like, well, maybe I'm being too mean. But also I feel like I'm doing them a favor.

[Podcast Host]

Like, you really are.

[Amanda Nelson]

You have no actual self esteem. You have. No self esteem is built by doing esteemable things. And when you spend all of your time online just yelling at women.

[Podcast Host]

Yeah.

[Amanda Nelson]

There's nothing esteemable there.

[Podcast Host]

It's so silly, man. Like, I mean, we're totally off the rails here. But I love this because it's very important to me because I'm just like, when my. My oldest was in, like, junior high, like, I was trying to tell my wife, like, I was like, the thing is, we have been experiencing rejection since fifth grade, and it's because we're planning this all week to go actually approach Natasha. Like, you've been thinking about it all week. I'm gonna wear the right outfit. I'm gonna do this. You go over there, you say something to her. She giggles to all her friends and runs away and says, ew. It's just like, okay, that's the first time you got your little heartbroken as a little boy. Right? So fast forward to middle school. Oh, my God. Will you dance with me? Ew. No. Okay, you did it again. By the time these dudes are in the club, and it's like, hey, hey, Red jeans, red jeans, red jeans. You want to dance? No. Or whatever. Fuck you. You know what I'm saying? It's just like, you know, you go through this, but all that to say, hopefully if you have a healthy sense, you start learning. Like, hey, man, you catch more bees with honey, bro? Like, or, you know what I'm saying? Like, maybe there's a better way to communicate with people and you just got to understand that. Like, I just think you don't know how to talk to people. Like, you don't know. Like, she got the right to be like, no, thank you. And you got to be like, okay, word. You know what I'm saying? You shot your shot. Like, I'm trying to be, like, as bland as possible. Look, you shoot your shot. You don't. You don't make every shot. Yeah. You know what I'm saying? Like, you don't make every shot. You gonna hit one of them. You know what I'm saying? Somebody gonna want to dance with you, and you're just like, okay, great. You know, it was a good time. You know, hey, can we. No. Okay, cool. You know what I'm saying? It's just. It is what it is. To your point, I think. Either. I don't. It's so weird to me. Explain. Cause I just. I don't relate to it. I don't relate to somebody who doesn't understand that, like, bro, you're a total stranger. Like, I don't care about your opinion, number one. And why do you feel like you have the right to, like, what is you doing? Like, it's just. It's embarrassing, bro. Like, yeah, like, so anyway, I enjoy it, but I think. I think you brought up something that I would love to hear you talk more about. Like, all this to say, like, this is the note I wrote. It's like, I feel like this type of dragging is not only needed, but I think it's holy. Right. And I think it's a divine, sacred work to, like, truly roast a person. And I think when it comes to you and politics, it's because you know what you're talking about, it makes it even more important. But I guess my question is, like, do you think that there is something greater than just, this is funny going on there?

[Amanda Nelson]

Oh, yeah, for sure. I know it seems like it's for the lulz or whatever or the views of the click or the engagement or whatever, but there's very little that I do on my. In my content that's not strategic. Yeah. And again, it goes back to permission. Like you said, these men don't know me.

[Podcast Host]

Yeah.

[Amanda Nelson]

I don't care what they think about. About me. I'm doing great. You know? You know, you're free to hate me. I don't. I don't care. But I want to, again, provide a permission structure, especially for other women who exist online and who in this moment especially, want to start raising their voices.

[Podcast Host]

Yeah.

[Amanda Nelson]

To learn how to clap back. Like, you have got to learn. If you're going to be out there, especially right now in the world as a woman, you have got to learn how to tell Somebody to fuck off for sure in a way that. That matter. That they will hear, you know, Because a lot of times men won't hear no. We know that the president doesn't know what the word no means, but if you can say it artfully.

[Podcast Host]

Yeah.

[Amanda Nelson]

And mean it with your whole chest, oftentimes it will work. So it's. It's. It's almost like providing an example, especially for women who are a little younger than me because I'm in my 40s now.

[Podcast Host]

Yeah.

[Amanda Nelson]

How to detach themselves from the value assigned to them by random men.

[Podcast Host]

Yeah.

[Amanda Nelson]

Who gives a fuck for show?

[Podcast Host]

And like, the seasoning on top of that is just corny ass men. Like, just. You are a cornball. Like, that's where it's like, it's not the problem, but it's the part that just, like, gets under my fingernails is like, you're so fucking corny. Like, you know what I'm saying?

[Amanda Nelson]

You're holding a fish.

[Podcast Host]

Yes. I'm like, why are you doing this? Like, you're the same guy, bro.

[Amanda Nelson]

It's the same guy every time.

[Podcast Host]

Why are y'.

[Amanda Nelson]

All.

[Podcast Host]

Who. Where's this aesthetic? And then I'm just like, speaking your language. Like, I don't know a single female that likes this.

[Amanda Nelson]

Nope.

[Podcast Host]

Like, who? Anyway, let's go back to the professional. Even though I do love that that's a part of the thing. Like, you mentioned before, formally trained in history. You know, your whiteboard stuff. Like, you're obviously very well researched and I have my cynical answer to this. But, like, it's just so bizarre to me how specifically, if we're going to use these binaries of, like, right wing and left wing, especially, like, content creation, to where I'm just like, okay, we know that that's a grift. We know that's a hustle. We know you doing that. But like. But even with that, I'm just like, they just be factually wrong to where. I'm just like, I'm not even, like, I'm not even worried about your position. I can't even get to your positions yet. I'm just saying, like, you ain't doing no homework. I can't square that circle to me. But, like, what you do, and I know what I do too, is because I guess, because I guess we care about reality is like, I mean, do a lot of homework. You know what I'm saying? So, like, I would love to know a little bit about your process as far as, like, your homework, your research, maybe what some tools you use. Before you even put it on. Like, I mean, there's been times I've had to be like, hey, guys, Hey, I fucked up. I thought it was. You know what I'm saying? Like, I'll come back and fact check myself, but I'll just be like, I don't understand fact check at all. Like, I feel like I don't even. That's why I won't do, like, jubilees or any debate. I'll be like, man.

[Amanda Nelson]

Oh, I refuse. No, absolutely not. I'm never.

[Podcast Host]

I don't do no homework. Like.

[Amanda Nelson]

Yeah, I'm not doing that. Yeah, no, that's not my actual nightmare.

[Podcast Host]

Yes, exactly.

[Amanda Nelson]

Stress. Dream of being in a jubilee.

[Podcast Host]

Yeah.

[Amanda Nelson]

Yeah. I think that the way that, like you were saying, the way that it's approached makes a difference. So, like, I'm not here for a media career. I'm not here to make a bajillion dollars and become an influencer and go work on Chuck Schumer's reelection campaign. I don't give a shit about any of that.

[Podcast Host]

No, thank you.

[Amanda Nelson]

I am here. I don't fuck with Chuck Schumer.

[Podcast Host]

Yeah, yeah. No, thank you.

[Amanda Nelson]

I am here with a mission. And my mission is to help people who are probably just getting plugged in or even people who've been plugged in for a while and are getting tired understand how power operates in America politically.

[Podcast Host]

Yeah.

[Amanda Nelson]

Historically and now. And that takes a lot of digging and a lot of research and a lot of fact checking, as you were saying. So I need people to trust me, because if they don't trust me, they're not going to. To take my advice. They're not going to get involved in the places I tell them to get involved. There's not going to be any strategy to the ways that people are formulating their resistance or their opposition to rising authoritarianism. So it matters a great deal that I am right in the things that I'm saying and that it's accurate at least. I mean, I'm not saying my takes are always right. And of course, like you said, I make mistakes sometimes and I will go back and correct myself. But I mean, you know, I've. I've been an American history person for 20 years now, so I do have a pretty big base of knowledge.

[Podcast Host]

Decent. Yeah.

[Amanda Nelson]

But I am going to go back before I say a word and, like, double check my dates. Double check. Like, was this person in the House or the Senate? You know, what was the bill number? Like? I am going to do all of that, and that takes a lot of digging. Like, I don't, I don't think it's on purpose necessarily, but going through congressional records is. Everything is very scattered. Nothing is in one place. You're checking 14 different, you know, resources, congress.gov and all these other things. And I have to collate all of that and put it together. And it takes hours, you know, Hours. Yeah, but it's my full time job now, so. Yeah, that's fine. But when I was working full time, when I had like a corporate job, I was in big tech up until June of last year.

[Podcast Host]

Wow.

[Amanda Nelson]

So it was, it was just a lot of hours. It was 18, 19 hour days. I slept almost zero. I mean, it's better now, but.

[Podcast Host]

Okay.

[Amanda Nelson]

But yeah, I mean I am very dedicated to making sure that the thing that I'm putting out there is trustworthy, is not emotionally reactive. Like I'm. I think that is something that separates me from other creators, especially on the left is I'm not trying to get a rise out of you. I'm not trying to make you.

[Podcast Host]

That's so dope.

[Amanda Nelson]

Panic. I'm not doing that. Like that should terrify every American. I'm not doing that shit. You're an adult. If you want to be terrified, be terrified. I don't care. Like your feelings are your own problem.

[Podcast Host]

Yeah.

[Amanda Nelson]

I'm telling you what's happening, how it's rooted in American history and what you can do about it and like what people have done about it in the past. When similar things have happened, something similar has probably happened. And so like, yeah, that's my strategy.

[Podcast Host]

Yeah, again, very much so. Like a kinsman. Like, like spirit in that. Yeah, like I'm not, I'm, I'm ultimately an educator, you know, I'm saying. And I'm like, I'm really just trying to onboard you to be like, hey bro, like these people aren't smarter than you, you know?

[Amanda Nelson]

Yes.

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[Amanda Nelson]

Wasn't that delicious?

[Podcast Host]

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[Podcast Host]

Okay? Rock, paper scissors for it.

[Amanda Nelson]

Rock, paper scissors. Shoot.

[Podcast Host]

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[Podcast Host]

Lastly, like, I would ask because you kind of just brought it up like some sort of like, historical parallels as far as like lessons from, from the past. Like, do you have any that like, come to mind? Like, off the head?

[Amanda Nelson]

Oh, yes. How much time do you have? No, I know people always, always, always want to talk about Nazi Germany right now. And like, I get it, okay? I'm not saying that there are no commonalities. Of course there are. It's so important to me that we focus on the commonalities that we have in American history because we are so different From Germany.

[Podcast Host]

Yeah.

[Amanda Nelson]

Germany was like very ethnically homogeneous. It's a tough. It's a small country compared to ours.

[Podcast Host]

Yes.

[Amanda Nelson]

They don't have the same issues that we had. They had. They, you know, Nazi Germany came out of a very particular time, place and people. We are a different time, place and people. So there's that like study Nazi German if you want. I'm not saying don't. But if you're going to study Nazi Germany, but you're not going to look at the Black Panthers and you're not going to look at the civil rights movement and you're not going to look at Reconstruction and you're not going to look at Jim Crow reconstruction.

[Podcast Host]

Yes. Yes.

[Amanda Nelson]

You're not going to come up with any viable solutions.

[Podcast Host]

Yes.

[Amanda Nelson]

Because resistance in Germany came from the Soviet Union coming in with the Soviets. Right. You know, but resistance in America comes from black and indigenous and Latino people.

[Podcast Host]

Yes. And we did it. Yeah.

[Amanda Nelson]

Yes. And labor movements and all. It. So you have got to become more familiar with your own people. With your own people. And that's a little difficult in America. Right. Because we're like, you know, we're not really a melting pot. We're more of like a weird mixed chopped salad.

[Podcast Host]

Yes.

[Amanda Nelson]

But we tend to be in our little on purpose, our separated, segregated neighborhoods and our segregated schools and we don't associate with. And we do like Black History Month and then we forget to read about any other point of black history outside of that.

[Podcast Host]

Yeah.

[Amanda Nelson]

And we'll do like Indigenous Peoples Day on Columbus Day.

[Podcast Host]

Yeah.

[Amanda Nelson]

And never read another piece of history. And all that is, is a disserv. Because those are the effective resistance methods that we can take and carry forward as we move through this administration. And we will, we will come out on the other side.

[Podcast Host]

But like, I love it.

[Amanda Nelson]

Even something like the Gilded Age. Right. Like that, I think is one of the most important historical analogs the late 19th century. Because in the Gilded Age we had an oligarchy. There was no income tax. Like, yeah. The Rockefellers. There was so much corruption at every level of government.

[Podcast Host]

Yeah.

[Amanda Nelson]

Jim Crow was on the rise. Was being born out of that era.

[Podcast Host]

Yeah.

[Amanda Nelson]

Labor unions were coming online and all of that. Like if there's so many parallels, but we made so many mistakes then. We made so many. We let the Klan come back. Our labor unions were segregated.

[Podcast Host]

Yes.

[Amanda Nelson]

Purposefully segregated.

[Podcast Host]

Yes.

[Amanda Nelson]

We got lots of things like the FDA and government regulations and things like that that were born out of all this corruption. But then we went way too far into scoldy Moralizing and got Prohibition, which was a terrible idea. So we need to avoid that. We need to avoid leaving behind people like we did during the Gilded Age, because that's what Americans tend to do. We. We have. We like momentum. We like forward. We like progress.

[Podcast Host]

Yeah.

[Amanda Nelson]

And we leave behind all these people who've been oppressed and marginalized, and we. We just ignore them. So we need to. We need to look at our own history and learn not just from the effective resistance of the past, but the mistakes we made in the past. And we can't really do that looking at Nazi Germany because that ended with.

[Podcast Host]

Those weren't our mistakes. Yeah, exactly.

[Amanda Nelson]

I. Like, he killed himself, and then we, you know, set up Naito and left. Yeah, yeah, yeah. And that's not what we need to do here.

[Podcast Host]

My biggest gripe was like, yeah, like. Especially with, like, the leftover Nazis was like, we didn't go hard enough on, you know what I'm saying? Like, we should have, like, really stamped it out, but you really cook him in. Like, I mean, you already nailed it, I see. Yeah. Gilded Age slave catchers. Like, to me, this is like, this some Dred Scott shit to me.

[Amanda Nelson]

Yes.

[Podcast Host]

You know I'm saying. And. Yeah. All that. Like, because that was like, we're saying, okay, who's a citizen?

[Amanda Nelson]

Yeah.

[Podcast Host]

You know what I'm saying? That was the Dred Scott question. Right. Or just like, you know, states rights versus federal rights, Marlboro versus Madison. Like, all this stuff, like you said, like, we've already fleshed out. That in my mind is playing. But I. But the Gilded Age thing is, like, nah, dude. Like, you cooking. Because, man, you got me all excited. My history bag. I'm excited now. I wish you could see my toes tapping. But, like, yeah. Because I'm like, okay, you think I like the Pinkertons? You think about, like, the ways for which a collective movement being broke in the sense that, like, you had these, you know, steel workers in Pittsburgh that would strike, and then they would just go get freed slaves to be like, well, y' all could go do this, and it's like, man, what the hell you want me to do, dog? You know what I'm saying? Like, like, exactly.

[Amanda Nelson]

Yes. I mean, like, you had any choice.

[Podcast Host]

I don't have no choice. You know what I'm saying? It's like, to the regime, like, touche. Was a really good move. You know what I'm saying? As somebody trying to hold on to a regime. But, like, what? Like, to your point, like, it's. It's always like, and this is the hard part for me, even talking about black history, which is something I want to come back to with, like, the cost of this is different for, like, African American communities. This. This costs us more, you know what I'm saying? It's going to, in the long run, cost us all, don't get me wrong. But what you're asking, especially at that moment, going back to the gilded days, what you're asking me to step into, we're not ponying up the same amount of money here, you know what I'm saying? So I just wonder, like, you said, like, what are those lessons? Me living in Los Angeles, like, you know, with the ice rage, being a part of, like, deeply student in the Latino community, like, what's the strategic. Because, you know, black people get out there, police open fire, you know what I'm saying? Like, they gonna kill us, you know what I mean? So, like, yeah, 100%. Is this strategic by us? Like, kind of like, well, we'll be in the back row, like, what's happening here? You know I'm saying, like, so what are those lessons? What are ways for which we can, like, like you said, like, look at how America has responded to its, you know, hydra. That's. That's rearing itself again, is an interesting thing. But I think the last thing before I ask you about predictions is this thing about. About black history, this being Black History Month.

[Amanda Nelson]

Hmm.

[Podcast Host]

So the hard part for me is like, especially with, like, children, like, I taught high school for six years, you know, when. When discussing blackness or like you said indigenous day or whatever. Like, it's this carve out, right? That is, you know, a corrective force. Right. But the carve out a lot of times tends to just be like, trivia, like vocabulary, like, oh, did you know that this person. Did you. Do you know what I'm saying? And it's like, of course, because you're trying to, like, I get it, you're trying to whet the appetite, you know what I'm saying? But it's a carve out. To me, that's not in the context. It's not context embedded. It's not a part of history. It's this carve out that's taught as trivia, you know what I'm saying?

[Amanda Nelson]

And like an afterthought. Yeah. Or an add on.

[Podcast Host]

It's like an afterthought. But then, like you said, but then never talked about again. As if, like, well, it's like, well, we were there the whole time. We're in every chapter we're in, we're in all the semesters you're about to talk through. Like we was at all of them, you know what I'm saying? And it's just like, so we're just gonna not point at the black people for the rest of the year when you talk about this while there needs to be. And of course I'm a product of it, like the specificity of a moment to say, I just wanna stop right here and say that this person was this. You know what I'm saying? But like, what are ways for which we can re embed the female voices, the indigenous voices, the black voices back into just the curriculum period, which is bastardized by what maga's trying to say, you know what I'm saying? Like the, like of the, the bastardized version of that, that is clearly obviously racist, you know what I'm saying? It's like, which, so like a lot of times we start talking about this, they'd be like, you know what? That's our point. And I'm like, hold up. Cause that's not your point. Joe said, that's not the point you making. Right. The point I'm making is saying we were there the whole time.

[Amanda Nelson]

Yeah.

[Podcast Host]

And, and I would love to have the dignity of being there the whole time, you know what I'm saying? So I, so I, I say that to echo your point about, like, we're just gonna stop talking about natives after indigenous. Like they was there, you know what I'm saying?

[Amanda Nelson]

Like, yeah. And it matters.

[Podcast Host]

Yeah.

[Amanda Nelson]

Today, like, I, Yes, I just got into it on threads or Instagram, whatever, some platform with some leftist. Which is, I'm not, it's not a criticism of leftism. Yeah, but he was saying, like, he was criticizing Kamala Harris's campaign. Fine. I, I don't care how you talk about Kamala Harris, but he was a white guy and he was saying she kept making pitches about what she could do for the black community, but she never said what she could do for white people. And I was like, my good bitch, you made that up. Like, she went on all black podcast once and you mean that she didn't care about white people? Yeah. Yeah. And like, second of all, what part of like first time home buyer tax credit signals to you? I only care about black people.

[Podcast Host]

Yeah.

[Amanda Nelson]

Like the idea that policies or history books or whatever that have black people in them or that would benefit black people only benefit black people is, is one of the reasons why we're in this stupid situation that we're in now. Because.

[Podcast Host]

Yeah. It's bizarre.

[Amanda Nelson]

The recognition of how black and indigenous and Latino people have been in this country since the beginning. The Spanish have been here longer than the English. Ye. Spanish has been spoken in this country longer than English.

[Podcast Host]

Yeah.

[Amanda Nelson]

To put a pin in that. That raises everyone's boats. Like policies that benefit our marginalized communities.

[Podcast Host]

Yeah.

[Amanda Nelson]

Benefit everyone else.

[Podcast Host]

Yeah.

[Amanda Nelson]

Like the rising tide truly does raise all of the ships.

[Podcast Host]

Yeah.

[Amanda Nelson]

And we. We can't get to an understanding of that without understanding the history. Because, like, take for example, what we're dealing with right now, mostly direct attacks on the 14th Amendment, which is a Reconstruction era amendment.

[Podcast Host]

That was because of us, guys.

[Amanda Nelson]

Yes. And.

[Podcast Host]

Yeah.

[Amanda Nelson]

And attacks on the Voting Rights act of 1965, which was. Which was passed to make. To ensure that all black citizens could vote for us. So the things that are fucking up white people right now are because you don't understand why we got them in the first place.

[Podcast Host]

Yes.

[Amanda Nelson]

That's my rant.

[Podcast Host]

You. You cooking. No, you nailed it. That's. That was my exact point. You're making my exact point. Or I'm just like, no, this is like, we were here. We're part of the country. So last thing is, like, besides the prediction of not counting Trump going to try to cancel the midterms. Which is like. I was like, I don't know why we talking about midterms. He gonna try to cancel. But besides that, like, who should we. Who should we have our eye on? What do you think?

[Amanda Nelson]

Oh, for the midterms. Over 28 midterms. Okay. I think we're gonna win the midterms.

[Podcast Host]

Okay.

[Amanda Nelson]

I think that the decentralization, the. The federalization of elections, the way that every state runs their own elections, I don't see a logistical way for him to prevent that from happening, period. He could tell.

[Podcast Host]

Yeah.

[Amanda Nelson]

States not to have elections. I suppose the only ones that would obey him would be red states, in which case we would have a congressional election of only Democrats that go to the Hill.

[Podcast Host]

Yeah.

[Amanda Nelson]

Fine.

[Podcast Host]

Yeah.

[Amanda Nelson]

Sounds good to me. That's how we got the Reconstruction era amendments was the conservatives in the south stayed home.

[Podcast Host]

Yeah.

[Amanda Nelson]

And didn't go to Congress. So.

[Podcast Host]

Fine.

[Amanda Nelson]

But I don't think that's going to happen because there are too many Republicans in red states who want to run for governor, who want to be senators, and they're already having fundraisers. So I do think we're going to have the midterms, and I think we're going to win. And I'm basing that on the special elections that We've been having, for sure.

[Podcast Host]

Yeah.

[Amanda Nelson]

Since January of last year. And it's not just, you know, I mean, special elections are different. We've. We're like plus 13 on average over performance in special elections. That's not going to replicate itself in the midterms because special elections tend to be, like, very partisan. People are very dedicated to coming out. But in the last couple of special elections that we've had in Texas, New Jersey, Louisiana, Republicans have flipped.

[Podcast Host]

Yeah.

[Amanda Nelson]

And that is where I'm like, oh, it's in the back. Like, maybe the majority won't be huge. I don't know that it's going to be a landslide because they're going to fuck with it. Whatever. Voter suppression is real. But I do think that at least the House, we're going to win and the Senate, I'm looking at. I think Alaska is super interesting. Ohio, North Carolina for sure. Everybody loves Roy Cooper in North Carolina.

[Podcast Host]

Yeah.

[Amanda Nelson]

Texas, whether you like Jasmine Crockett or Talarico, either one of them are interesting. You know, Texas could be interesting. So. Yeah, I think it's.

[Podcast Host]

Love it.

[Amanda Nelson]

If I were a Republican, I would be very nervous.

[Podcast Host]

You better be, because, like, you can't pretzel yourself any worse. Like, I think people forget that, like, ambition didn't die when Trump became president. People still are ambitious. And at some point you gonna realize, like, shit ain't working, homie. Which brings us to the last one, if we got time. Yeah. Let me ask you about 20, 28. What do you think? Third term?

[Amanda Nelson]

It's too. No. God, no. He's not gonna make it that long.

[Podcast Host]

I was like, he's gonna. I keep telling all my friends. I was like, I think you have to accept that he's gonna die in office anyway. But yeah.

[Amanda Nelson]

Yeah, he's not gonna make that. It's gonna be. It's gonna be Vance. Although I think he'll have some competition, maybe from Marjorie Taylor Greene. I think she's gonna try to run.

[Podcast Host]

I think Marjorie's running. What about Tuck, about Tucker?

[Amanda Nelson]

I think he might go for, like, a cabinet position.

[Podcast Host]

You think so?

[Amanda Nelson]

He's like a stupid little bow tie. I don't think anybody would vote for him. I don't know.

[Podcast Host]

I really don't like him. But. Yeah.

[Amanda Nelson]

He's so unlikable. So on the. But so is J.D. vance, to be honest. Anyway, on our side, you know, it's so early.

[Podcast Host]

Yeah.

[Amanda Nelson]

And I think that there are people who are starting to poke their heads up now. Like, I think Osof in Georgia is starting to be a little. And he's the best fundraiser in the Senate. So the two best fundraisers are actually a ticket I would really be interested in, which is Ossoff and aoc. They're the two best fundraisers losing the party. And that's a ticket I would not be upset about.

[Podcast Host]

You know, damn, AOC ticket would be crazy.

[Amanda Nelson]

I'm not necessarily on the Newsom train. I'm not going to lie. I'm not really on the Newsom train, sister.

[Podcast Host]

Tell you a little secret about how California feels about Newsom.

[Amanda Nelson]

I know, I know.

[Podcast Host]

Which is not so much of a secret.

[Amanda Nelson]

Yeah, not so hot.

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Now.

[Podcast Host]

We'd definitely be looking at our, like, our, like red. Our orange counties are our red states. And they'd be like, Gavin Newsom. We're like, yeah, no, yeah, yeah, sure.

[Amanda Nelson]

Hard agree.

[Podcast Host]

Yeah, no, for real. Same hard agree. Yeah.

[Amanda Nelson]

Anyway, I appreciate that he was one of the first high profile Democrats to stand up to Trump in this administration. I appreciate that. That's not good enough reason for me to make you president.

[Podcast Host]

Not the president. Yeah. I'm like, you're not. Yeah. You're not a flaming bag of shit.

[Amanda Nelson]

It.

[Podcast Host]

I got it.

[Amanda Nelson]

Yeah.

[Podcast Host]

You know what I'm saying? Like, you're a decent human.

[Amanda Nelson]

You're not a fascist.

[Podcast Host]

Yeah, you're not a fascist. Like, okay, but you willing to get on a podcast because for some reason you want, like, I don't understand where your, where's your code? You know? And also I'm like, I don't know, man. You know, a grown man like that still slicking his hair back is. It's just odd to me.

[Amanda Nelson]

That's gonna do it for some like 60 year old ladies in the suburbs though. He's gonna have like a Kennedy thing, you know, like, oh, he's so handsome. But that's. But so is Ossoff. Ossoff's handsome.

[Podcast Host]

Yeah. Maybe go with that guy. I don't know, bro. Yeah. Now you just. I feel like you like, I feel like here's the thing. Here's the thing about, about. We need to end this. But the thing about Gavin to me is I'm like, there's this just like sheen to where it's just like, oh, you need to be liked. And like, you know, it's this whole like LA transplant thing. Like, you know, where everybody's like, oh, it's so Hollywood. And we're like, natives are like, those are all transplants. We're not like that. You know what I'm saying? So. But to me, he just has that to where I'm just like, oh, you need to be the prom king. You need to like, oh, you need this too much. You feel me? Like. And to me, I'm like, ooh, I don't. I can't. I can't ride like this. You need, you. You need. You need to be popular too much.

[Amanda Nelson]

Yeah, I prefer a president.

[Podcast Host]

I can't trust you.

[Amanda Nelson]

Yeah, they need to resent being there a little bit. I feel like it needs to feel.

[Podcast Host]

Like you got to like, you got to kind of be like, I'll be all right if it don't work out.

[Amanda Nelson]

Yeah. You know, there needs to be a sense of service, not a sense of entitlement.

[Podcast Host]

Man, my camera turns off every half hour. I don't know why I still have to figure that out anyway, but that's a good sign for us to wrap this up. Please, can you drop all the mentions for your stuff so that these people can enjoy what I enjoy.

[Amanda Nelson]

It's Amanda's mild takes everywhere. Except not Blue Sky. I can't deal with that. But everywhere else.

[Podcast Host]

Yeah, Amanda's mild takes with the Petty's burg address. It's brilliant. Thank you so much for your time.

[Amanda Nelson]

Thank you.

[Podcast Host]

We appreciate it. Y' all go, please. You know she'll be over there dropping gems. It's just a good time.

[Amanda Nelson]

It could happen. Here is a production of Cool Zone Media. For more podcasts from Cool Zone Media, Visit our website coolzonemedia.com or check us out on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you listen. Listen to podcasts. You can now find sources for it could happen here listed directly in episode descriptions. Thanks for listening.

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[Amanda Nelson]

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[Podcast Host]

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