V127: The Thought Leaders Issue With Ilana Glazer

Comedian and co-founder of Generator explains ‘Cheat Sheet for the Voting Booth’ series and true feelings towards presidential candidate Joe Biden.

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  • VLM STUDIO KIM POLLOCK (AGENT) JODOKUS DRIESSEN (LIGHTING DIRECTOR) MARC KROOP (STUDIO MANAGER) BRIAN ANDERSON (DIGITAL TECHNICIAN) VLM PRODUCTIONS TUCKER BIRBILIS (PRODUCER) EVA HARTE (PRODUCTION COORDINATOR) JOHN NADHAZI (PRODUCTION MANAGER) JOE HUME (PHOTO ASSISTANT) RETOUCHING STEREOHORSE

V127’s Thought Leaders Issue is available for pre-order now.

“Voting is hard, and it shouldn’t be hard. If we can order alcohol, food, and sex toys to our door on the phone, why can’t we register to vote on our phone? It’s so fucked up that voting is made so confusing and so hard. They want us to feel so ashamed—to be shamed out of participating in the system. [But] I refuse to feel stupid…So, we created a web series called ‘Cheat Sheet for the Voting Booth,’ which was basically a COVID-friendly version of the work I’ve been doing since 2016, when I co-founded a non-profit for voter empowerment called Generator. ‘Cheat Sheets’ is a web series where I interview actors, musicians, athletes, etc., who have authentic connections to swing states. The first episode was with my partner, Abbi [Jacobson], who is from Pennsylvania. Her family is there, her childhood memories are there…And we just talked it out. We went down the ballot, shining a light on candidates who are fighting for basic human rights. Most of them just want more access to affordable health care; more money in the public education system.

“In Pennsylvania, [they’re] talking about environmental protection and providing clean drinking water for Pennsylvanians. It’s pretty, ‘Duh,’ you know? And to see how winnable these races are…it’s, like, [a difference of] 100 votes. A PTA meeting or Sunday church congregation’s worth of votes. That’s how winnable these races are. It was really powerful to see Abbi’s love for Pennsylvania growing [as we went through] these races.

“And we talk about top-ballot, too. We talk in a real way, you know? I am not trying to just reduce the situation to something that is not true. [The truth is] I am not stoked for Joe Biden. I am not trying to fool anyone like, ‘Biden is my guy, I love him! Joe Biden is perfect.’ But he is very, very good in comparison to the other ticket. I am not stoked, but I am down as hell to vote for Joe Biden and Kamala Harris. Because another four years of Trump is a matter of life or death. Another four years of Trump is leaning toward the death part. The death of so many people and our planet.”

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