Feeling Political Transcript: Episode Zero - Introduction

Feeling Political is a podcast series I've launched on emotions, politics, and actions. The podcast is released weekly every Wednesday morning until the Inauguration. Episode Five drops tomorrow, but transcripts have been slow in coming. I've fallen behind on this, but better late than never. Expect a rush of transcripts over the next week or so.

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FEELING POLITICAL - Episode Zero, Introduction
Released: November 29, 2016
Length: 6:29 minutes
By Daniel Horowitz Garcia, The Alternative Historian

TRANSCRIPT

I’m not sure if I should be crying.

I admit I’m surprised, and I called it wrong. And I’m taking time to figure out what this new reality means for me. And, I don’t know. But I have some ideas.

The immediate future is going to be horrible. And it’s going to be horrible because people are going to be hurt and killed. That truth almost moves me to tears. 

Almost.

If things had turned out differently the immediate future would still be horrible. And for the same reason. People would be hurt and killed. In this alternate reality the hurt and the killed may be a different group than the one we’re going to be looking at, but maybe not. Maybe less people die in that alternative reality, but that’s not a sure thing.

Maybe those deaths would be harder to see, harder for me to see. The fact is the coming deaths will be difficult to miss.

Would I have wept if things had come out differently? 

Would I have breathed a sigh of relief because the numbers of dead wouldn’t be as many? Or would I just feel better because I wouldn’t have to see it.

Don’t those lives deserve tears?

Nah, if things had turned out differently I don’t think I would have wept, so I don’t think I’m going to cry now. And that leaves the obvious question: what do I do?

I don’t know about you, but I’m feeling political.

This is a podcast series about emotions and politics and the actions we take. Or the actions we think we should take. Or the actions we wish we could take. I'm talking to people about how they feel and what they want to do based on those feelings. And I need your help. I’d like you to use the voice memo app on your phone and record a 3 minute answer to 3 questions:

• Tell me how you want to be identified;
• Tell me how you're feeling in this political moment;
• And tell me your advice to someone who wants to know what to do. 

Email the clip to me at daniel@alternativehistorian.com. Some of these clips will be played on the podcast along with interviews from organizers and thinkers from around the country.

I’ll also be featuring the audio you send me. This selection is from Sam in New York. You’ll notice the quality of the recording isn’t high, and that’s fine. I’m not looking for polished radio personalities, although feel free to submit if you are. What I am asking is that you openly and honestly answer the questions, the best way you can. Even if you don’t have an answer, answering with “I don’t know” counts.

So as our first example, here’s Sam.

Sam Audio

My name is Sam. I live in New York City.

For many years, activism or sort of revolutionary work was kind of a major part of my life. But when I became a father all of that got put on the back burner while I focused on supporting my family and just being a good dad. I for sure had righteous anger over the years but kind of stopped putting my money where my mouth is, so to speak. The results of the 2016 Presidential election kind of changed that. I came out of activist retirement a little bit.

What scares me about Trump winning has less to do with Trump and more to do with the very active segment of his supporters that have somehow managed to rebrand themselves as the Alt-Right. In my day we just called them neo-Nazis or white nationalists. These people who were always there but stayed in the shadows. And now just feel emboldened by this Trump victory, and we’ve seen the results of that. Violence and hate-speech graffiti. That kind of thing.

My advice to someone who wants to do something about it is to look beyond the same old thing. Don’t look to the Democratic Party or any of these mainstream liberal organizations to save us. These groups don’t have a real understanding of the threat or what is necessary to fight it. They kind of facilitated us getting to where we are. I think it’s important to…Of course it’s important to find ways to support and join groups fighting against racism and sexism and all these kinds of things. It’s just as important to join together with people who are looking beyond the system, who have a radical critique of this system, and know that this is where the system leads us. The only way we’re really going to fight this is to look beyond it. That would be my advice.

Narration
That was Sam in New York with the first submitted clip. You can submit your audio. Use the voice recording app on your phone to answer three questions:

• How you want to be identified;
• How are you feeling in this political moment;
• Your advice to people who want to know what to do right now.

Email that to daniel@alternativehistorian.com. Maybe you’ll be on future episodes. 

You might be afraid right now. Or depressed or confused or outraged or all of these things. I’m hoping this series gets you motivated. It’s done that for me already.

Thanks. I’m looking forward to hearing your story.