Smartless Interviews Stacey Abrams
Jason Bateman, Sean Hayes, and Will Arnett have already perfected the art of good timing, flow, and delivery in each of their respective careers. More importantly, they know what makes a good interview, having been subject to thousands. Smartless combines the best elements of culture and conversation in hour long segments.
Multiple podcast hosts can be a tricky format, but the show manages a balance of intimacy and familiarity without overwhelming the listener. There’s just enough self-effacing humour and good natured ribbing to keep you entertained while still keeping things professional. Smartless masculine without being toxic. These guys have settled into the last half of middle age with the quiet self-confidence one might acquire from surviving an 80’s era road trip with Leif Garrett.
In short, it’s unexpectedly sophisticated and every episode is just long enough to leave you wanting more.
The most recent episode features Stacey Abrams. Cue the admiration from Sean,Jason, and Will.
“Tighten up,men, okay?’’ Jason quips.
“Stacey… obviously you’re doing the country an enormous service with the amount of work you’re doing on giving people the sense that all their votes are going to count…Can you give a brief explanation about … trying to eliminate voting suppression?
Stacey Abrams is smart. She can break down a box with more precision and in less time than most of us can recite the alphabet. You can’t fool her and she doesn’t pull any punches about what’s going on.
“It looks different from state to state because we do not have a single democracy in America. We’ve got 50 different iterations where each state gets to decide how to administer elections.The constitution says you have the right to vote but it delegated to each state the ability to vote…”
Her organization, Fair Fight, has been keeping tabs on voter suppression efforts around the country. In her discussion with the Smartless hosts, she details how the primary election revealed the many issues voters had in getting their votes counted.
“…we’ve got to figure out for each election what the suppression looks like….In Nevada, we know that the Secretary of State shut down every single voting precinct except for one per county….”
Ms. Abrams’ own 2018 campaign for Georgia governorship lost by 50 thousand votes just as 1.4 million voters were being purged from voting rolls. Her competitor, Georgia’s Sec. of State Brian Kemp, faced numerous accusations of voter suppression with his ‘exact match’ policy, which incorrectly flagged thousands of Georgia voters as non-citizens, and was subject to three federal lawsuits. Despite being discontinued in 2019, those U.S. citizens still face obstacles at the voting booth, with their registrations either on hold or cancelled until they can prove citizenship. 70% of those people are Black Americans.
Abrams goes on to break down the history of voter suppression beginning with the 1965 Voting Rights Act, explaining that people of color, young people, immigrants, and women are all subject to disenfranchisement efforts as they become more significant portions of the voter block.
Stacey Abrams isn’t just making idle claims about voter suppression. She has a litany of people, dates, and organizations that have participated, laying out some astounding figures. It’s not all doom and gloom,though. For each issue raised, Ms. Abrams is able to relay the steps she and her organization, Fair Fight, are taking to ensure fair and equal election procedures, working hard on your behalf and encouraging others to do the same.
“…I don’t want people to think that because it’s not solved that they shouldn’t vote. That’s the point…the point is to make you believe your vote doesn’t count… we only get the change we’re willing to fight for…”
Overall, the Smartles panel asks some really great questions. I love how they don’t try to talk over guest or compete for the audience’s attention. The interview with Stacey Abrams was a great example of how well that approach works.
I would be remiss if I didn’t also mention the paid advertising, which I usually try to skip. Can you name any other scenario in which Jason Bateman and Sean Hayes would do an Autozone commercial? Will handles all the men’s natural enhancement commercials with his trademark bedroom voice and then sells you on food delivery service in the next episode. The advertisers definitely got lucky on this one.
Smartless is the standout podcast for this season. I’m a fan of any show involving just one of these three professionals. Having all three together is a real treat.
You can listen to Smartless here: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/smartless/id1521578868
