What Happened When Van Lathan Called Out Theo Von

Summary

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Episode Overview

Theme:
This episode of The Bulwark centers around Van Lathan’s perspective on recent political developments in Louisiana, especially in light of the state’s controversial voting rights decisions and their historical implications. The episode explores contemporary setbacks in civil rights, generational impacts, and the cultural complexities of the South, all delivered with candid commentary and personal anecdotes.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Van Lathan’s Introduction and Background

• Van Lathan is introduced with humor and camaraderie, setting an informal, engaging tone.
• He describes himself:

  “I do a podcast. I also have had one too many hennies and Cokes... I'm the co-host of Bars and Opening podcasts... We talk about political stuff and black stuff.”
  (B, 00:39)

• Highlights his participation in the Ringer Podcast Network and specifically shouts out the Higher Learning podcast.

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2. Cultural & Political Movie Rewatches

• Favorite political movie:

  “The best political movie is one called the American President... He’s having dates and all of this stuff. So that's the best one to rewatch.”
  (B, 01:14)

• Least favorite:

  “Distinguished Gentleman with Eddie Murphy, which was kind of a miss. You like it? You like it? It's not my cup of tea, but the American President is.”
  (B, 01:35)

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3. The Gutting of the Voting Rights Act in Louisiana

• The host frames the discussion as a personal and communal “emotional roller coaster” reflecting the ups and downs of live shows and real-world politics.

  “They gutted the Voting Rights Act. And it started on my adopted home state, your native home state of Louisiana... I just kind of want your take on the implications writ large.”
  (A, 01:55)

• Van Lathan reflects on historical and generational pain:

  “You’re absorbing so many body blows right now that everything kind of slides off of you... This assault on voting rights started actually before the MAGA movement... with Shelby versus Holder, way back in 2013.”
  (B, 02:30)

• He shares a personal story about his grandmother’s hopes and the generational trauma of seeing those hard-won rights eroded:

  “My grandmother thought she had defeated that. She was proud of the fact that she had sacrificed... to deliver to me a world that at least could recognize that was wrong... It was tough watching her come to terms with the fact that that battle wasn’t over. And not only that, but she might have lost it. And that's hard.”
  (B, 03:07 – 04:16)

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4. Contemporary Political Outrage and “Cheating”

• The host does not conceal frustration with Louisiana politics, drawing parallels to national trends:

  “They fucking cheated to do it, too, of course... Trump wins with the minority of the vote, and then... they steal a Supreme Court seat and then they fucking cheat, right?”
  (A, 04:39)

• Details the recent incident where the governor invalidated an election mid-process, stripping Baton Rouge (a majority-Black city) of representation:

  “Jeff Landry, the governor of Louisiana, decides in the middle of an election... I'm going to cancel the election... and we're going to take away one of your seats. We're going to take away the Baton Rouge seat now. So the Baton Rouge doesn't have any fucking representation anymore, just like they did up in Memphis...”
  (A, 05:05)

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5. The Impact and Importance of Representation

• Van Lathan highlights the human stakes in losing representation:

  “We're talking about people... who got throat cancer at 15... environmental justice... violence... mass incarceration. We're talking about people who need representation in order to move their society forward... They're struggling right now... They thought that they had won.”
  (B, 05:39 – 06:31)

• The host shares the anger and disbelief at the situation:

  “The sickest part about it is that little fucking midget that took their representation away, like our governor... He signs an executive order, he cancels their votes. We had the election anyway... but it doesn't count...”
  (A, 06:31)
  “Right after he does that, he goes to fucking Greenland... getting kind of yelled at by the little kids in Greenland.”
  (A, 07:07)

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6. Cajun Culture and Political Identity

• Van Lathan discusses the stereotype and nuance of Cajun identity, drawing a line between authentic and “bad Cajun” leadership:

  “Y’all getting to see bad Cajuns... the version of Cajuns that y’all get are the Cajuns that we fuck with. And we love them... But when you get a bad Cajun, that's like Deliverance, motherfucker... And now we got a bad Cajun, kind of a fake Cajun and in control of the state...”
  (B, 07:22 – 08:13)

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On generational disappointment:

  “It was tough watching her come to terms with the fact that that battle wasn’t over. And not only that, but she might have lost it.”
  (B, 04:16)

• On political manipulation:

  “The sickest part about it is that little fucking midget that took their representation away... signs an executive order, cancels their votes... it's on the ballot, but it doesn't count.”
  (A, 06:31)

• Cultural snapshot:

  “We love them, right? Like the water boy shit like that... But when you get a bad Cajun, that's like Deliverance, motherfucker.”
  (B, 07:22 – 07:43)

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Timestamps for Key Segments

• 00:39 — Van Lathan’s introduction and description of his podcast and background
• 01:14 – 01:52 — Political movie favorites and least favorites
• 01:55 – 04:16 — The Voting Rights Act discussion and Van’s family history
• 04:39 – 06:31 — The host and Van’s frustration with Louisiana electoral manipulations
• 06:31 – 07:20 — Baton Rouge’s lost representation and governor’s Greenland trip anecdote
• 07:22 – 08:13 — Cajun culture discussion and political identity in Louisiana

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Summary

This episode delivers a poignant, unfiltered look at the cyclical nature of political struggles in the South, resonating on both systemic and personal levels. The conversation is rich with historical reflection, biting cultural commentary, and raw emotional honesty—punctuated by memorable stories and a camaraderie that softens the sting of political realities. Anyone interested in the real-life implications of voting legislation, Southern identity, and intergenerational dreams and disappointments will find this episode especially impactful.

Transcript

[A]

I prepared a five minute monologue about why I like the Oval Office decor. No, I'm gonna bring out my boy, Van Lathan. What's up? Come on, Van. What's up? You all know Van Lathen. Stand up, give him some love. See you. How's it going? All right. A lot of famous people out here in la. A lot of people wanna get to a show. You wanna invite Doug, you wanna invite Kamala? First call I made was Dan Lathan. I was like, we're gonna do a little Louisiana shit over here, all right? For people that don't know, give them a little update on who the hell you are.

[B]

I do a podcast. I also have had one too many hennies and Cokes, right? So I don't know how unhinged I want to be. But I'm the co host of bars and opening podcasts. Everybody else wants to go Ringer podcast network. We talk about political stuff and black stuff.

[A]

Political stuff and black stuff.

[B]

So you guys look like you.

[A]

So we're gonna talk about you. Check out Higher Learning. We're gonna talk about political stuff, black stuff, LA stuff, and a little bit of Lane Kiffin. And then we're gonna bring out the rest of the P.O. dan and the Rewatchable.

[B]

Appreciate that, my man. Look at that.

[A]

What's the best and worst political movie to rewatch?

[B]

Oh, okay, so the best political movie is one called the American President, and it's this huge scandal. The president starts dating, which seems quaint now, but then it was a huge deal. He's having dates and all of this stuff. So that's the best one to rewatch. The worst one, unfortunately, is one called Distinguished Gentleman with Eddie Murphy, which was kind of a miss. You like it? You like it? It's not my cup of tea, but the American President is. Oh, and then Dave. Remember Dave David sick.

[A]

Dave David sick.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

All right, I want to start by getting your take. Sorry. We're going to bring you down for a second. We're going to bring you down and then bring you back up. That's what happen of the live shows. You know, it's an emotional roller coaster. You gotta feel all the feelings. There's laughter, there's tears, there's anger, there's happiness. They gutted the Voting Rights Act. And it started on my adopted home state, your native home state of Louisiana. And you know, the Calais ruling was. It's just a fucking disaster for the Deep South. I had Justin Jones on the pod this week. We talked about what's happening in Tennessee, but I just kind of want your take on. On the implications writ large.

[B]

You know, I feel like. Like a lot of you guys probably feel is you're absorbing so many body blows right now that everything kind of slides off of you. And you knew that this was coming for a while. You could read the tea leaves. This assault on voting rights started actually before the MAGA movement started with Shelby versus Holder, way back in the day. I think it was like 2013. And then I had a conversation that changed my perspective on. And that conversation was with my grandmother. My grandmother is 88 years old. And if you guys have never been to Baton Rouge, Louisiana,

[A]

wow.

[B]

I'm glad you guys survived. So if you've never. If you've never been to Baton Rouge, Louisiana City Park, I'll give you an example of something real quick. Baton Rouge, City Park. There's City park, and it's like, right off the. Of Highland or like, whatever down there. And everybody goes down there, hangs out. Well, there's a part at City park that's up at the top. And so when I was a kid, I asked my mother, I was like, why do we go up here to, like, barbecue and have a good time and go up there? My mom said, well, we're used to going up there because that's the only part of City park that we used to be able to go to. So up the hill at City park is where all of the black people used to go. I went to McKinley High. It used to be called the Colored High School of Louisiana. Right. One of the oldest. And my grandmother thought what she believed is over generations, she thought she had defeated that. And she was proud of that. Yeah, she was proud of the fact that she had sacrificed and she had marched, she had raised people, and she had, you know, been dedicated enough and focused enough to deliver to me a world that at least could recognize that was wrong. And it was tough watching her. And she's going to be with us for a long time. She's going to live to 250. But it was tough watching her come to terms with the fact that that battle wasn't over. And not only that, but she might have lost it. And that's hard.

[A]

Yeah, man. Dude, I hear that. And it's one of those things where, like, they fucking cheated to do it, too, of course. You know what I mean? Like, it'd be one thing. Like, obviously it'd be bad, right? It'd be one thing if they lost the battle, because it was like, you know, the people just decided that they didn't want you to have rights anymore. And they voted, you know, that way. Like, what actually happened was, like, Trump wins with the minority of the vote, and then he wins, barely. And then they steal a Supreme Court seat and then they fucking cheat, right? And, like, what happens is that they pass, they rule on Calais. And Jeff Landry, the governor of Louisiana, decides in the middle of an election when people are already fucking voting, 40,000 people have already voted. He goes, I'm going to cancel the election. Like, the election's already started. I'm going to fucking cancel it. And we're going to change the rules and we're going to take away one of your seats. We're going to take away the Baton Rouge seat now. So the Baton Rouge doesn't have any fucking representation anymore, just like they did up in Memphis, right?

[B]

And you know, it's a Black city, it's 55% Black. And the power base of Louisiana, we're talking about people. And I really don't want to bring things down too much, but the issues of my home state, these are issues, capital I issues we're talking about for me, growing up with people who got throat cancer at 15. We're talking about environmental justice, we're talking about violence, we're talking about mass incarceration. We're talking about people who need representation in order to move their society forward, right? And so. And by the way, these are people, you know them, they're full of life. They love to have a good time. Nothing can get them down. They have a smile on their face. But they're struggling right now. They're struggling with a lot of black people in Louisiana with how you can move forward or believe in this. Because once again, they thought that they had one.

[A]

Yeah. And the sickest part about it is that little fucking midget that took their representation away, like our governor in Louisiana, this little fucking prick. So what he does is he signs an executive order, he cancels their votes. We had the election anyway. I went to vote, like last, just whatever, a couple days ago. And it's on the ballot. Like the congressional seat's on the ballot, but it doesn't count. Like they're canceling that vote because they're gonna steal the seat. And right after he does that, he goes to fucking Greenland. Yeah, that little son of a bitch has been in Greenland all week after he canceled our vote. Walking around, talking his dumb ass fake accent and, like, getting. The funny part is he's been getting kind of yelled at by the little kids in Greenland. You see the video where he asked the kid, he was like, do you want to. Would you like to get a picture?

[B]

Right?

[A]

And the kid goes, no, get the

[B]

fuck out of my face. You know, I'm glad you guys are getting to see Landry, because y' all getting to see bad Cajuns. Like, see, the version of Cajuns that y' all get are the Cajuns that we fuck with. And we love them, right? Like the water boy shit like that. And they're really cool. Like, you out hunting and you fishing, and you see the game warden, you're like, ah, shit, this is the end of the day. But you see some coon asses, they might come clean the fish for you and cook it right there on the bank. And you like, it's cool. But when you get a bad Cajun, that's like, Deliverance, motherfucker. You don't know how you gon escape the Chafa Live basin. And now we got a bad Cajun, kind of a fake Cajun and in control of the state. And so now I want you all to see how we felt. 85, 86, 87. When we saw somebody rolling up, we

[A]

didn't know, you know, he's coming.