Fever Dreaming at DNC & Screaming on TikTok with Alex Pearlman
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Do you love reading as much as we do? Well, you're in luck because we're launching our first ever Betches Book Club in partnership with Nutella Biscuits because they know the best moments are even sweeter when you share a great snack with your friends. If you're in New York City, come hang out with us IRL at the Betches Book Club.

On October 28th, Aileen, Sammy, and I are hosting a book discussion with author Margot Harrison, where we'll be discussing her brand new novel, The Midnight Club, and snacking on Nutella biscuits. No, I won't be sharing mine because I'm truly obsessed and they're actually my new favorite snack in the world. But don't worry, there's going to be plenty for everyone to share. Head to bit.ly slash book club IRL to grab tickets for you and your friends. That's

bit.ly slash book club IRL for tickets. Grab yours before they sell out. Rise and shine, Fever Dreamers. Look alive, my friends. I'm Fee Spear. And I'm Sammy Sage. And this is American Fever Dream coming to you live from the DNC in Chicago. We are so excited to be here. It is night one. We are getting ready for the first night. We have amazing speakers tonight, one of whom is the president, who has recently...

dropped out of the race, giving us this very exciting convention vibe that we are here for. And I heard that they're going to do like some sort of ceremonial torch passing or like baton passing. Well, it's like coming off the Olympics. So I feel like, you know, so in my mind, I was thinking that they were going to be like passing a baton, like literally like Sha'Carri Richardson style. But apparently it might be more gentle than that. Literally passing the torch. Yeah, truly. OK, it's very important.

And then we introduce our very special guest that we have with us to do this introduction to the DNC. Our favorite, Alex Perlman, a.k.a. Perlmania500. Hello. He's here. We've got a fella on the show today, gals. A fella. Is this our first fella? No, we had a fella recently. Keegan. Keegan, yes. I'm the second fella, not to be confused with Doug Emhoff so far. Yes. Yeah. It is confusing, though. It is. If Doug had a little more hair, I think we'd be in trouble. Yeah. Well...

We're very excited to be here. This is the first year that the DNC is credentialing creators. So we want to talk a little bit about that experience of being the first cohort of creators to come to a Democratic or national convention. How much am I allowed to curse during this experience? All. All of it? As much as you want. This is betches, baby. Okay, good. Because motherfucker, these dumbasses, when it came to how they did this shit. I'm sorry. It's been... We've spent...

Sammy and I have become very close friends who have learned a lot. And what we've also learned is that when Sammy and I start complaining, it's a feedback loop that feeds off each other. That's how I make my friends usually. Yeah. And that complaint loop has been going on for approximately five and a half hours until we got here to finally find our friend V. But you know what? Because we complained, actually, they willingly gave us these very sold out Harris Walls hats because it took us four hours to get our credentials. Yes. I didn't get the hat. I did get the control.

credential and i didn't have to go to any kind of pier or any kind of wild goose chase but i didn't get the hat but what i will say is i was the first creator to go on what's called the creator platform which is this little area that they created for creators to make content from and i did a pep talk for some of the newer creators earlier uh in the week and told them you know if the major media approaches you or trad media tries to trip you up don't don't take any crap from them

And then I, the second News Nation was like, can I interview you? How did you get here? Folded. Folded like a cheap table. Folded a Bills game person crashing through. She's like, how did you get here? I was like, Jen Psaki started inviting creators to the White House in 2021. And this was kind of like a follow up to that. Oh, my God. It's so weak. It's so weak.

You know what I would say? I would say, well, my question is, why are you here? Because our companies get way more views. Yeah. And I think that is going to ultimately be the theme of this convention is that they're streaming this on TikTok. They're streaming this on like Twitch, on Instagram, everywhere. Yeah.

X, even X, believe it or not. And they, I think they're gonna find that the number of impressions that come from creators is going to like double potentially, or more, whatever comes from the trad media and comes from TV. - Yeah, no, I would say to how you got here,

I, my wife reminds me all the time. Mrs. Perlman, he reminds you all the time. She goes, it started with a stop sign and then a bridge collapsed. And like, you have to know what your bio is a little bit. And that is what's difficult when you're here because there's so many different things where it's like, people think the reason we're here is because of a certain like,

overarching thing. Yeah, or any of this type of stuff. And then the traditional media will have a certain way because they're trying to defend reason why they're still here. And all these different groups are trying to do that. And so at the end of the day, it's really just because in my case, I started yelling one day and people started listening. And then they started doing the math and they went, all right, well, more people are watching this guy scream about a collapsed bridge

than they are watching it on the local news or on CNN or any of these other things. So that's why we ended up being here. When you see like the breadth of the content creators that they had, because what, it's 100 or 200? I think 200. 200, yeah. I mean, people from all over the place, all over the place. And also just like right now, we have what, Fox, CNN, and a few others down there. So that's mostly New York and Atlanta. And then you have some people from LA. But like,

DadLifeJason's here. He's from Oklahoma. Like how many other Oklahoma creators are here? How many other different other people from all over? And so I think it's a better, more authentic message that's gonna get out there. But also a lot of the content creators I've been talking to, they've actually been having difficulty with being credentialed and not just physically getting the passes, which was the difficulty today, the mental difficulty of being inside the fence while you're used to being outside, like outside pissing in versus inside pissing out.

- Mm-hmm. - Wait, like explain like where would the conflict come from? - Well, it's just because like when I'm sitting at home and I'm screaming about Wolf Blitzer, right? We saw Wolf Blitzer. - We just saw him in the elevator. - Yeah, getting on the elevator. I'm sitting at home like, "Fuck you, Wolf Blitzer." And now there's Wolf Blitzer. Should I say fuck you to Wolf Blitzer? Not really. We're two guys just waiting for an elevator.

You know, or that the same thing is going to come with any of the politicians. And some people will believe from seeing content over the years of, oh, the second he sees this person, like, honestly, I would love to scream at Donald Trump in the face if I saw him. But I don't know if I would physically during that moment or if I saw Rudy Giuliani at the airport. Like I did yesterday. And if my Uber had come quicker, I would have yelled at him about there are like five different things I had in my mind to yell at him about. But I didn't have the courage in the moment.

Yeah. I'm picking up what you're putting down. I mean, even I feel just like so scared kind of an out of place because when we're making our content, we're largely alone in our homes and we're talking to a camera that's full of people that we know and love. And then here it's like, I,

I don't know. I feel like a show and tell. I'm like, let me pull up my account for you and show you what I do because I am feeling the vibes of like, you don't think this is real journalism. You think that that floor space should have been given to somebody else. What are we trying to prove? And then on top of it, are we remaining objective? Like, is it okay to be excited for Kamala? Like there's a lot,

going on. And as you're saying, the traditional media is also trying to defend their spot here at the same exact time. I mean, we have how many cable networks are down there right now, right? How many of those eventually would be a Twitch streamer who, or, you know, Aiden Ross meeting with Donald Trump got more views than Donald Trump going on Fox. So which one is going to actually matter at the end of the day and what's going to do that? So, I mean, you could eventually have a Kai Sinat or a Hasan Piker live streaming from down there and

I think the other difference, too, we're going to tonight because Under the Desk News is backstage at the DNC. And I'm one of the I'm the only creator that will be backstage to interview people right when they come off. That typically would be AOC speaking, walking off stage, coming up here to the third floor, going to the MSNBC decision desk and speaking from there. Well, now I'm going to get her before she even makes it up the stairs. And I think that the weight of that just hit me. But no, it's OK. You got this. You got this.

We need to find you a desk. We need to find you a desk to climb under it. Get under the desk. But it is really cool. And the fact is, like, we all did earn our place in a way where where there wasn't a traditional path. We made one. And I think tonight is going to be about feeling like we earned it and we own it. And tomorrow night, I think we'll see a lot of creators more unleashed. Yeah.

And I think tonight's going to be a good night and we'll understand where our audiences stand on these things as well. And also in general, kind of feeling that out because there's some people who are our core audiences and creators know this a little bit more. There's core audiences and then there are people around who show up in comment sections and things like that. They see a video hits the front page of Reddit and then they go and they look for you on Twitter. That type of feeling is a different thing. And the biggest difference though between the cable networks and you. Ooh.

is you are you. When Anderson Cooper speaks to AOC, they know that Anderson Cooper may have written a couple of those questions, but there were also a producer. There's also a director. There's an editor. There's a camera person. You were doing everything. So people have an assumption of what, when you ask a specific question, a specific way that is coming from your brain and your bias versus CNN or Fox news or MSNBC. Well,

Well, it's just something that you're saying, A, about your bias versus CNN's bias. CNN's bias, and I don't mean this as an insult to just CNN, but the bias of the corporate media is money. So actually, they do have a bias. It's just more blanket, and it's more built into the way people view it. It's subtle, and it's spread out. That's the thing. It's much more spread out. And the thing is, is I actually prefer...

to get uh my news from individual creators especially ones who are primary sources like you're gonna you're gonna be a primary source tonight yeah i know yeah yeah do you have a wikipedia page yet i do oh i gotta check that out oh my god um and not a single blue link under your parents name no and that's how you know that they deserved it yeah um but no but the difference is in those moments it's like i

I want to hear it from you because I know you're going to have a specific background and I know where your voice comes from and I know what your history is and I know who you are as a person. And then also your audience knows who you are and where you come from and the people who have seen you over time. And so like that to me is going to be more valuable.

Folks listening to the show of course know me, but there are a bunch of creators here that I'm not sure that either one of you guys know that I'm excited to see down there. So I wanted to do like a temp check on some of the creators that are here and see what you think. There's one more thing I just want to say about what you said earlier that you grew your following by yelling on the internet. And you say that as almost like self-deprecating. And you do too. I'm doing all this myself.

That is okay. I have been working in media since I graduated from college. Like this is, and I have watched over the years, people who were like, you know, we won't work with a company that's called Betches. A few years later, all those people are like, wait, we got this. We got to work with Betches. So tonight they have six, room for six creators on the creator platform. And it's very heavily regulated. But what you're saying is like, Hasan Piker could have his own because ultimately he is probably

probably getting more views than like five of these little rooms on the third floor where you have all the different studios. And the thing is that you yelling into your phone, I think they're finally realizing, is actually more like the way regular voters interpret and experience the news. It's this weird situation where like the people who have actually more influence are not given the spots to create the content that would go further.

I mean, look, I think they've done a great job overall in terms of bringing

bringing creators in at all and making it a big feature of this convention but they could have gotten more out of it i do think that but it's a testing year it's a testing year and they're going to learn a lot they're learning a lot today i guarantee you that our experience today is not going to be the experience we have by thursday because they have to and if it is then i'm voting for rfk i'm telling you that right now if i have to brain worms 2020 yeah you and like the three people at his protest i know there were three there were three protesters outside of that it was like it was my

It was about 20. It was about 20. But they were like all in charge of the protest. Like it was like all the 20 protest organizers. Yeah. And they all had RFK flags. All the veterans don't believe in a hierarchy and neither do the independents. So they're all the boss and none of them are the boss. Yeah. Now let's hear this game. Okay. So the game is Do You Know? Okay. And so some of the creators that are here, I love their content because I...

as a means of relaxing, scroll through Drama TikTok and you will find some of these creators on Drama Talk and I'm really excited about it. So the first one, lovely gal, her name is Avery Cyrus. Do you know who Avery Cyrus is? - So here's my problem I have immediately. - I don't know the faces. - I need the face. - I need the face, but I don't know, what's, what's, like a big video from them.

So Avery Cyrus is famous for renovating a series of apartment buildings with her dad. Okay. And that is her second rise to fame because in Gen Z, you could have multiple peaks and valleys. Her first was being Jojo Siwa's girlfriend. Oh! So I have...

I have seen her. Let me just say, if she's renovating the houses, this is great for the housing policy that the vice president has proposed tonight. And I think that that would make a great site for some content. That's what I told her. She said, I don't know anything about politics. I was like, you absolutely do. You're creating affordable housing. I have a question.

Why isn't Jojo Siwa's ex-girlfriend on this podcast as the perfect guest? Like, why? Perfect guest for my podcast? Oh, my God. Because she's such a sweet girl. And I honestly, like, I talked to her about every single thing except for Jojo on purpose because I was, like, trying to be chill. No, but then you get her in this chair. Yeah, no, tomorrow. And then you're like, all we're talking about is Jojo. We'll try to get Avery Cyrus for tomorrow. Another creator that's so fun is Maddie Westbrook. Do you know who Maddie Westbrook is? I know that name. I don't know if I would, like,

put the name and the face together, but I definitely know the name. - Yeah. - So Maddie Westbrook is famous on the internet for talking about her religious trauma initially, and coming out of a Catholic upbringing, and her coming out story gave people a lot of just direction and place, made a lot of folks feel really seen. Once she went through that trauma on the internet, which is how so many people do get famous, she is also now known for being Carter's roommate. So her and Carter make a ton of content with those little dolls that you unbox.

I don't know. Now you got me. You got me. Yeah, I don't I don't have that one offline for this.

Not even though. Also here, one of my favorite reporters from Mother Jones magazine. You've got Garrison. I actually don't know his last name. We were just with him. His last name's Hayes. He's so here and so professional. He's awesome. He's so cool. He's so awesome. And every time he's around, I'm like, I'm like trying to like up my aura points to be as cool as him. But yeah. You know, I know you mean like executive presence. I think that that's actually, and I was, I got this phrase from,

Actually, I think it was a piece about Kamala Harris and how she would teach people in the DA's office to have more, tell them no matter where you come from, you want to bring this executive presence. And I think that's maybe what the creators, and do we want to have that? Do I want to feel that way? No, but I think that that's maybe why people feel a little bit like

oh, I'm not like the ones in suits down at CNN. Well, and that specific thing, that's the part where I've had the most difficulty is going from just an open mic Philly guy from literally, I would say when they first, a year ago, it's a year when the 95 bridge collapsed and everything. And I got interviewed by the newspaper and I just kept saying, I'm just some fucking guy. Yeah. But,

My account has now grown where in some people's mind, I'm a brand. And like that mix between the two and trying to figure those things out and the expectation versus still like having joy during it and still like, like, cause I was, when we were going for our badges today and when it was our sixth line after about four hours, I may have yelled and Sammy may have recorded me as I was screaming into my phone. I could be watching this on C-SPAN with my eight month old son on my fucking knee. And now I'm,

waiting in my sixth line. And that difference is like, that's the hard part I'm trying to get over. - I know what you mean. It's like, I'm important enough to be here, but yet no one has that, has no record of me. Like the guy at the Secret Service line recognized Alex by face, but could not let him in to one of the other checkpoints because he didn't have an email.

that the congratulations email that he had been credentialed. And it's like, why are we looking at our congratulations email when he knows his name? And I had to go and I had to be checked in with a different computer. And my name's not on your computer. It felt very catch 22. I'm sorry. I think today's going to be a special day in the fact that like, I I'm used to looking like this. This is actually the most dressed down I've ever been. Cause I thought I was going to have to go on a boat. And so I have on like a t-shirt instead of a dress shirt. And then you have on a suit. I'm my fanny pack though. Yeah.

I am rocking the fanny. You had to keep the fanny pack on just to keep, so your authenticity is tucked in here. It is. And I'm sure by tomorrow, Alex is going to be back in his t-shirts and his dad jeans because I think today we're all trying to fit in, but tomorrow we're not going to try to fit in. We're going to make a commitment to not fit in. We're going to be our own rainbows tomorrow. I'm going to tell you. Negative presence tomorrow. Bye.

Down. Yeah. Sammy's here in a short dress and a Tim Walz hat. She's a romper. Serving. She's a romper. I want to be very clear about one thing. The only reason I'm wearing this suit is for you. I appreciate it. I put on, because you said, you guys asked if I'd be on the podcast. I feel like we're going to a baptism or something. No, I know. I know. But I, you asked me to be on the podcast and I had a suit because I didn't know if I would need it for anything. Yep. And I had this suit in my bag and I was like, if I'm going to finally do content with V after all,

of these years, after all of the accusations and conspiracy theories, here we are with the DNC sign in the background. There is literally they are testing the mics for Joe Biden. Could not be more. Yeah. Yeah. Could not be more. Yeah. Right there. But I just want to say thank you to you and thank you, Sammy, so much.

for all of the, just everything. You guys have been such rock stars since I first met you. And to all of your listeners, this is one of my favorite podcasts to listen to while I am on the, the elliptical. I'm an elliptical man because I don't trust my knees anymore. I know, same. Yeah. Well, we better wrap it up because I've got to start the live stream pretty soon. Can I plug all my stuff? Yes, Alex Blankenship

Plug your pluggables. Okay, yep. So you can find me on all social media on Pearlmania500, but I also have a podcast I do with my wonderful wife, Mrs. Pearlmania, and that is called Too Many Tabs. But if you just look up Pearlmania500, click on the link in my bio, there is a list of everything, including a bunch of shows that I'm doing. Jersey City. Jersey City. I'm doing Jersey City on September 14th. I'm going to be in Philadelphia for two shows on the 21st and 22nd, and then I'm going to be in St. Louis and Indianapolis. Just go check it out, and thank you so much for having me. Yeah, of

course we are gonna get ready to start the live stream make sure you're following at betches at betches underscore news at under the desk news at sammy at sammy for all mania 500 mania 500 for all of your behind the scenes dnc content tonight we know the speaker is going to be president biden and there's others aoc we've got aoc also jeffrey crockett sean fain

And hopefully we'll hear some policy points. I think she might be tonight. Tonight's theme is everyday people. And so I think we're going to hear from some everyday people. That's why they have us regular degular old bitches here. I'm a coastal elite. I'm not a regular person. I'm a coastal elite. I'm a regular degular. You are. You're good at pretending. I am. Well, because I worked in catering. I can mimic. You actually are.

I can mimic it. I have not. I always had rich friends, you know, I had a friend whose dad had a boat. That's the key. I know how to act right. Boats are a really stupid purchase. I'm just going to say it's a depreciating asset.

Do you want to stay up to date on the news but find it stressful and also you don't have any time? We got you. The Morning Announcements is a daily podcast from Betches Media that's here to help you make sense of the chaotic world and its non-stop headlines. I'm Sammy Sage and I'll fill you in on the biggest news of each day, delivered to you in five minutes with some light, snarky commentary. The Morning Announcements was also the winner of the People's Choice Podcast Award for News and Politics in 2023, so tap the banner to listen to new episodes of The Morning Announcements on Spotify.

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Oh, it's such a clutch off-season pickup, Dave. I was worried we'd bring back the same team. I meant those blackout motorized shades. Blinds.com made it crazy affordable to replace our old blinds. Hard to install? No, it's easy. I installed these and then got some from my mom. She talked to a design consultant for free and scheduled a professional measure and install. Hall of Fame's son? They're the number one online retailer of custom window coverings in the world. Blinds.com is the GOAT!

Shop blinds.com right now and get up to 45% off select styles. Rules and restrictions may apply. We just finished the first night. We want to recap the speeches and talk about some of the big features at night one.

Night one was a fever dream for those of you who weren't watching. Although I hope that you were watching. This is the most accessible political convention in history. Truly. It's streaming everywhere from X to TikTok. It's late and we've, we've got brain rot from being at the convention all day, but I mean, truly incredible. And one thing I'll say about being on the floor of the DNC, everybody is nice. Everybody who has come to this convention has a smile on

And the heart of a joyful warrior. It is a positive place. Definitely a positive place. Definitely a very busy place. I've been describing it to people like if Coachella had Secret Service security. So it's very convenient to get around. It's not at all trouble to find somewhere to record your podcast. Yeah, it's definitely VidCon for nerds. 100%. Better. It's better. I think it's like a little more...

I don't know, but it's very interesting. Like I walk around, I'm like, who are all these people? Like, what is your role? Is what I really wonder. Cause like, there's obviously so much press here. There's obviously like,

hundreds of thousands of delegates. There's thousands of delegates. So there's those people and their teams. And then you have like every elected official in the Democratic Party, all in all the states, in all the, it's really just a madhouse. And one thing I will say is that they made it look really grand on television. And I think the way that they've choreographed it

kept it moving. You know, the speeches were like not too long. I mean, there were, there's a lot of them, but not each one was not too long. And I thought that the lineup of speakers was really strong tonight. It was incredible. And I've got a couple of them written down here that just stood out. But quite honestly, everyone is bringing their best to this. Even Kathy Hochul had a banger of a speech and she's a hit or miss, you know, not everybody likes her all the time. She did not get the super warm welcome that some of the other speakers got, but

But she gave it to hell and we love her for it. But my personal favorite, I'm going to start with my gold medal. Okay. Straight off the top. Yeah. Sean Fain of the UAW. When he came out and like Hulkamania style, basically took his shirt off and underneath it was the shirt that said, Trump is a scab, vote Harris. I thought that was the coolest, sexiest moment in politics. Beautiful stagecraft. I mean, there was something like,

Like I noticed that he started when he started talking, he was wearing a jacket. And then like, I feel like I turned around and I was like, where did jacket go? Like he's wearing a t-shirt all of a sudden. He did like a Hulkamania thing. Like he literally did like what Hulk did, except it actually looked cool and sexy. And people were, you thought people went crazy for that Harris Walls camo hat. People are going to be nuts for the Trump is a scat. Oh, I want that. I definitely want that. As someone who studied labor unions in college, I need that. No, first of all, the Harris Walls hat,

So I was gifted one of those rare Harris Walls camo hats that no one could get because apparently everyone who ordered it, even if you order in like 30 seconds, it still doesn't come yet.

It won't come until October. I was given one as a gift, as a consolation, a pity hat. And everyone has come up to me and asked me about it. A Newsweek reporter photographed the hat. Someone from the Wall Street Journal wants to talk to me about the hat. I don't want to be like, I don't want to give these secrets away about the hat. I gave my hat to a guy on the street because I am a weirdo. Because they gave us...

Yeah. The steel union. And he was really wanted Sammy's hat. And I had one in my bag and I was like, you know what? Who has a higher likelihood of getting another Harris walls hat? Probably me. So let me get my guy. There's one per podcast apparently. And Sammy has ours right now. That is so, I mean, you had, you had one. I mean, I feel really bad. That was very nice of you. He did. He gave us the overall solidarity. It's true. It's true. I was busy looking for our Uber. I was like, where did you, you just gave him the hat out of like, well, I was like,

Running across the street. I had a bag full of merch. I had this that I got on the street. It's like a jersey. That's cool. Yeah. Jersey that says Kamala on it. I've got the Madam President t-shirt. I've got the Protect Our Freedoms hat. We're getting more merch tomorrow. It's literally like VidCon. We're getting more merch tomorrow at Hotties for Harris. Everyone's talking about they got to go to Hotties for Harris. Like this party is very... After party. I don't know.

I don't know how I'm going to make it. I don't know how I'm going to stay awake. Maybe I need some of what they gave Joe to do his speech. A secret, just for the American Fever Dream listeners, a secret is that me and Sammy left early tonight so that we could do the recap for you guys. We left when Senator Warnock was on so that we could get our cab so we could run back here. And then we watched Joe Biden and the First Lady and Ashley, which was a choice. Interesting. I still lost on her speech. Me too.

Me too. Also because you left the Uber when it was halfway through. So I missed like three minutes of it. So I don't know. It never got better. I mean, like, you know, she's not a politician, but I didn't understand her accent. I couldn't really place like, I'm not sure she was the power player to like introduce the president, but you know. I didn't understand why Jill didn't just introduce him. Jill, first of all, Ashley Biden has a straight up mid-Atlantic accent. I don't know how she maintains that, but.

But it's there. And yeah, I wasn't really sure why. I thought Jill's speech was was good. You know, I thought she was you know, I thought she was solid and that she I'm going to say it. It's awkward because everything that came before the Biden farewell moment was like a lot of people in the crowd shouting. We love you, Joe. A lot of people thanking Joe for his service, including Hillary Clinton and different folks we'll talk about. By the time it got to the Biden family, it

It was every bit of like 1030 at night. It was late. Chicago time. Chicago time. And people were pretty exhausted already. And I felt like it was a little bit difficult to get that lift. Yeah. I know that they put like, you know, they put like Kathy Hochul and Gina Raimondo and like Sean Fain. Those people should be earlier. They should be at like six. Yeah.

And then you should have like AOC and Warnock and Jasmine Crockett at like eight. Yep. And then by 9 p.m. the latest. Right. I don't know. OK, we'll talk about Hillary and them after. But I mean, I guess I don't know. They're they're doing the Biden thing. They're letting him rant. But you also have to have the every night. It has to be like the best person of the night last. So.

Okay, let's talk about, let's just go through a few of them. Hillary. Her face looked good. Her face looked good. You could have bounced a quarter off that tight ass cheek of hers. That was a beautiful face. She was giving. Did you notice that she looked like she did at the first debate? She did. She did. First of all, isn't it like Hillary Clinton to wear white to someone else's wedding? Why? I love her. I hope you all laughed at that. It was meant to be a joke.

She looked great. I thought that her, whoever did work on her looked incredible. Pelosi looked incredible tonight too. The hair and makeup was, was outstanding tonight. And I thought her speech was great and,

I thought going through the history of the different times that they, that women have broken this glass ceiling and now Kamala Harris will be the one to, you know, be the president was interesting, but I am so sick of the phrase highest, hardest glass ceiling. That is my biggest pet peeve in her speech, but I actually thought that the rest of it was, um,

Very good. Like the way one quote I like. Yeah. She said that Kamala Harris will be a president for the last, the least and the lost. And I was like, that was good. Yeah. She was also very I mean, people started chanting, lock him up.

She let them. Okay. I mean, she wasn't going to shut them up personally. She sort of gave it like a little shimmy and they went insane. Insane, this crowd. When she gave the permission to shout a little bit more, they really went crazy for that. I think Hillary, I would love to see just like Hillary unleashed.

She did her on this show to I feel like we could get her on this show. Yeah, I think we should. I want like honest Hillary. I want to know what was is she going walking in after Hillary? Yes, exactly. I mean, look, we big fan.

Okay, so Hillary, Jamie Raskin was also wonderful. He is really one of my top five people in Congress. He is so smart. I mean, he has so much to talk about when it comes to democracy. Just the, that is his...

his beat. He was saying like, welcome. He said kind of cheeky things. He said like, welcome to the democracy convention. There was something else that he said that was like really sarcastic. That the Republicans took president Lincoln's party and made it into a monstrosity. Look what you did to our president Lincoln's party. He really rubbed salt in that wound. He really did. He, I'm a big fan of Jamie Raskin. I'm still watching TV. Doug looks like he's going to fall asleep.

I mean, they... He nodded off a second there. It sucks. Like, the cameras on them. It's late. There were... Again, I think there were a few too many speeches.

It was ambitious. I mean, the thing is we're lucky we have enough people that are worth listening to. There wasn't anyone who was like, why are they giving this person a spot? I will say that. So it wasn't like, right. Each was great on its own. It's just that they let, they went long just to give context in between the speakers. They, so that each speaker would go, you know, five to 10 minutes and then they would play an

ad. They would dim the lights. You all think Beyonce's coming on, but they're just playing an ad on the screens. The ads are very good. And one of the things that they did was they played an abortion ad, which I think was the very best that

That they showed tonight. And then after that, they had three people who were telling their stories. One of them was a couple. It was Amanda Zyrowski and her husband who spoke about how they lost their daughter, Willow. And she wasn't able to get a miscarriage and was very, very sick because of it. It was upsetting. Yeah.

Very upsetting. The second was a woman named Caitlin Joshua from Louisiana who also spoke about how she was unable to get an abortion because of their laws. And the third was Hadley Duvall who she's kind of more recently become an activist. And this was like a real gut punch trigger warning.

Her stepfather raped her when she was 12 and she became pregnant with his baby. And so she just told that story, like I think two years ago and bro was overturned and has now become an activist because she would have had to carry her stepfather's childhood.

to term. And she said, she was like, it is perverse. It is sick that you would allow a child to carry their parents' child. And just the room was like, everyone in the room was like,

I mean, you couldn't, you could hear a pin drop for her to get on stage to tell a story to 22,000 people or how many people were on that floor. She's like 18. Incredible courage too. And such a deeply personable, vulnerable thing. And like she said, and I'm not alone in this and I'm telling my story because I know that there are people out there right now that are hearing this and thinking that's me too. And like what we need.

to do is ensure that people have access to choice. And she fortunately did have access to choice, a choice she no longer would have access to in the state of Kentucky had it not been for champion of women's rights. And I thought she was going to be so funny.

We all champion of women's rights, Andy Beshear. And I don't know why I have to tell you, it gave a little comedic levity to the moment because nobody was expecting her to say a man's name. Right. I mean, yeah, exactly. Like the way she's like setting it up the way because she was introducing Andy Beshear, who was one of the later speakers. And this was kind of at the time where everyone's like, all right, like,

When is Jill coming to introduce her husband? Although there was still Ashley in between that. We didn't realize that that would be the schedule. That was a shocker. Andy Beshear is, you know, a lovely, a lovely member of the party. But I was not expecting him to be the one who she was talking about as the champion for for women's rights, though, the fact that he is.

in Kentucky and the governor and he's religious. He talks about his faith a lot and he talks about how being pro-abortion or pro-choice is aligned with that faith and with his conservative, like he's a Democrat, but with

classic conservative values. So he was, you know, he was pretty good. People chanted for Andy. They also chanted for AOC when she came out. A chant of AOC, AOC broke out for a good solid minute, which was, I thought she was really taken aback by. You could see that that meant a lot to her. She told a really interesting story too about how her dad had unexpectedly passed away and the financial hardship that comes with a death like that. And I think this was

part of the Democrats crafting this narrative of being the everyday person. The fact that she was called to service in Congress because she wanted to be a part of writing laws that would ensure that like

things that happened to her family wouldn't happen to other families, that families wouldn't be experiencing hardship simply because somebody died. The whole family all of a sudden can't function. And I thought that she did a great job of telling a new story for being a politician that we think we know everything about. That's very true. I think, you know, a lot of time you kind of hear this similar anecdotes from from certain people. And she was fresh. She was interesting.

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Every night is themed. They do this at all the conventions. And this is the theme of tonight was of Monday night was the everyday person. And I mean, that's not really a mantle that the Republicans can try to claim, but they will. They will try. It does seem like they were trying to encourage the speakers to talk about like personal anecdotes that made it seem more personal and more relatable to the average person. Yeah.

Jasmine Crockett got up there and cried. Yeah. Jasmine Crockett, I think, was the most powerful speaker of the night. I think so, too. Raphael Warnock was also really great, but he's always really good. So it was sort of just like a classic, really good Raphael Warnock speech. Right now, Kamala and Doug are joining Jill and Joe on the stage, and they're really being very cute together.

They are. One of my favorite parts of the night was when Kamala Harris showed up on stage unexpectedly in a tan suit. She sure did at that moment. Okay. First of all, it was like WWE, right? Because you got all these different speakers coming out and she came out early and you started to hear the freedom music, the Beyonce freedom song. And I was like, Oh my God, that's her walkout music. And then she came out and just kind of like,

mothered, just kind of arrived and like was like, hey, kids, thanks for coming. Snacks are in the fridge. She's great. I mean, she's such a natural. Going back to Jasmine Crockett, she did cry. And I loved that because I also cry a lot when I give speeches and things, because when you're just an authentic person,

These are real feelings. Not everybody's so stoic all the time. And sometimes you do cry because of what you're saying is so powerful and important. And she was talking about how she was like, didn't always feel included. And Kamala Harris is one of the people who made her feel included. And it just, it means something. I think we came out of this knowing that Kamala Harris is a whole person.

She has a family. She has colleagues and coworkers and a history and a sister. And like, there was just a lot to her that made her a whole person. Yeah. And she had a friend come out tonight as one of the speeches. That I thought was a power move in a subtle way, because the first thing I said to you when I turned to you, I was like, Donald Trump doesn't have any friends.

He has Tom Barrett. Who's his friend? But who's his friend for real? This is no one who doesn't have business. Pictures of them from high school and talking about like stories that happened in high school and her always having the sense of vigilante justice and like wanting to do right. And I'm like, she has friends. She has people who have been in her life a long time. Donald Trump doesn't have a single real friend. And I think that tells you something about a person. Absolutely. And there's like,

Like, you can't imagine Donald Trump having, like, a hobby or, like, going to a concert or, like...

seeing a play with like his family or like he's not a whole person. Yeah. Right. That's what Jasmine Crockett said in her speech that I thought was so wonderful is she came towards the end. And after she had her zingers and talked about how, you know, Kamala has got a resume and he's got a rap sheet. She said, Kamala Harris is the only candidate in this race who is capable of empathy. Yes. And the, the big, there's a very strong mood based contrast between,

I would say, I remember when we were watching the RNC, we were noting that it was very well executed. We absolutely, that was something that we were thinking at the time. This is both well executed. I mean, it's kind of hard to see, to compare apples to oranges because like you're there. So you see the crowds, you see the lines, like you see everything.

I'm not actually watching what people are watching on TV, so I don't know what they're seeing. But what I do feel comes across is there was a strong feeling of community and personal relatability and personal stories. And I think it speaks to something bigger that the Democrats are probably trying to are trying to champion, which is that.

Politics is just about getting everyday people involved in running their community. And sometimes that community is like super local. Sometimes it's the federal government or you're representing your community in the federal government. But ultimately, it's just about being motivated to get out there because you saw something that you wanted to fix, that you wanted to be better. And.

you know, Jasmine Crockett wasn't even in the House of Representatives in 2022. And here she is giving the most powerful speech of the night. Yeah. The speech of the night. I think that's the one like there were while I was watching, I was like saying I was thinking like, this is a really good speech. This is a really good speech about a lot of them. But hers is the one that I think I'm going to like walk away with a

visual memory of and the way that and the three stories that were there together. Yeah, those two moments were extremely effective. And we're only on that one. Now, I did think there was one fail. Did you catch this? It was very early. What was it? It was a little bit of prop comedy at the DNC. Michigan State Senator Mallory McMorrow said,

tried to throw the book at Donald Trump by literally hoisting an oversized copy of Project 2025 at the lectern and then quoting portions of it. And I love camp, but I do think that this

like on the night of authenticity and tears and deep vulnerability it was a little it was a little out of place she must have missed rehearsal because it was like very awkward oh my god okay I missed that because I think I was like relocating during that so early but I was so early but right so I saw she had this giant book right up there with like

Clint Eastwood talking to the chair. It was a little bit of a flop. Honestly, I don't think that anybody's even really going to talk about it. No, because you forgot. So many good things happened. But on the night of authenticity to have this like comically large prop book was a little bit cringe. Okay. I saw her take a giant book off the stage. I thought that was the party platform. I thought she was like the forebearer of the platform. I was like, why don't you have a giant book?

Okay. First of all, let me just say Mallory and Gamora is going to be on this show later this week. We have a pal with her on Thursday and we love her. We'll have to ask her. It was, it was like too meta. You know what I mean? When you really want to like nail your speech. And I, I love her for this. She could have just done a speech. She's great. You want to nail it. And you're like, I have to do something that's going to stand out. And it just, it, in the context of,

It was goofy. Let's just say the fact that she even has such a prime, like that she has a spot. She's a state Senator for Michigan. Like not every state Senator or state representatives of anything are getting that. She is a really powerful speaker and a really powerful surrogate. And I am excited for her. No, one's going to remember this. Cause I didn't, you know, it is very Clint Eastwood in the chair. But,

But yeah, she's going to be on the show. We'll have her on and talk about it. I just, I think you got to be able to laugh at yourself sometimes too. And it just, that was the one thing. The only thing that turned out a little bit goofy to me was that. Yeah. It was a great night. They also honored Reverend Jesse Jackson.

Yes. That was very early in the night. I was on the creator platform for that. It was kind of just like they wheeled him out. Everyone clapped. I was like, okay. All right. You know, it was important to do, but there was a couple of moments that were maybe could have been a little better, but overall, like, honestly, I think that was early enough. I think that was early stuff was goofy. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. The early stuff is interesting because it's like, there's not a crowd.

But they're like filing into the room. Yeah. It's a very, it's a very unique experience. I would love to know what everyone else wants to hear from us about the rest of the week.

Do they want to hear more? The attendees. I think I saw so many crazy things. Like there was this woman who had like a full light up jacket that said women for Harris in Florida kind of thing. And then the whole Alabama delegation has flashing. I was about to have a stroke.

cowboy hats and they flash the whole time in Alabama. Don Lemon setting up his own private studio in the creator space that had the background as that was sort of interesting. Yeah. So like interesting stuff just going on all around us. Yeah. And we're going to keep showing it. We're going to keep showing it on social. We're going to keep telling you about it here. And it's

been a good time. We're going to try to do a few more man on the street interviews tomorrow and the next day. And, you know, we were just getting our bearings today. Tomorrow we are going to have another episode for you. Similar. It'll be another recap. Potentially we will have a guest on. It depends. Are we able to find recording space? That is kind of the biggest issue. Look, we can't all have a decision desk inside the convention center paid for by a giant conglomerate.

I do the live stream every day from 4.30 to 5.30, right? And they make it like so perfect. And then they're like, okay, that's it. That's the only quiet time you get. So yeah, sorry, you can't use them. We're going to finesse them into giving us more space. It's tough. It's there's getting around. You need like 75 badges or an escort or a badge and an escort. It's a lot, but it's exciting. And we're going to keep bringing it to you. We're going to keep telling you about it, showing you more behind the scenes.

We talked a little bit about that situation with Alex. We'll probably be back with more of that tomorrow as well. Every day is a new adventure. But for now, it's time to go to sleep. And have our American fever dreams. Sweet fever dreams to you. Until tomorrow, I'm Bebe Spear. I'm Sammy Sage. And this is American Fever Dream, live at the DNC. American Fever Dream is produced and edited by Samantha Gatzik. Social media by Candice Monega and Bridget Schwartz.

Be sure to follow us on Instagram and TikTok at Betches News and follow me, Sammy Sage at Sammy and V at Under the Desk News. And of course, send us your emails to AmericanFeverDream at Betches.com.