In this conversation, Karol interviews Charlie Spiering, Senior Political Reporter for The Daily Mail and author of the book 'Amateur Hour: Kamala Harris in the White House.' They discuss Kamala Harris's political journey, the role of fear in society, and the importance of getting out of the house and experiencing new things. Charlie shares insights into Kamala Harris's transformation from a joyful warrior to an angry fighter and discusses the influence of conservative and liberal personalities in politics. He also emphasizes the need for politicians to inspire and encourage rather than exploit fear for political gain. The Karol Markowicz Show is part of the Clay Travis & Buck Sexton Podcast Network - new episodes debut every Monday & Thursday.
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Speaker 1 (00:07):
Hi, and welcome back to the Carol Marcowitz Show on iHeartRadio.
I'm just back from a few days in London and
Liverpool with my fourteen year old daughter. There was a
Taylor Swift show involved. It was a really great trip,
our first one just the two of us.
Speaker 2 (00:23):
She's a really great.
Speaker 1 (00:24):
Kid, so are my boys, and I want to keep
them that way. I think a big part of it
is how we let them use screens, the way that
we let them use screens. I've talked about this on
here before, but phone use is just out of control
for kids right now. I think it's far worse than
it was pre pandemic. When we talk about the problems
(00:47):
of Internet usage for young people, we really focus on
social media, but I kind of think that that's really
besides the point. I wish there was more socializing on
their social media, not what they're doing on there at all.
There's very little interaction on any of these apps that
the kids are into. Snapchat at least has some degree
(01:08):
of interaction, though a lot of the time it's just,
you know, sending pictures back and forth so you can
maintain your high snap score. But at least that involves
your friends. The bigger issue I see right now is
the constant entertainment. That's what's really destroying this generation. I
meet kids all the time who cannot hold a conversation,
(01:29):
not with adults, not with other kids, no one. They're
just fiending to get back on their devices. They kind
of have this look in their face, like these moments
I'm spending talking to you are.
Speaker 2 (01:41):
In between my phone time.
Speaker 1 (01:43):
In restaurants, you know, I'll see families where the kids
are just all on devices throughout the entirety of the meal.
Speaker 2 (01:50):
People who have TVs.
Speaker 1 (01:51):
In their cars, which is becoming, you know, quite a
big thing. Let their kids watch shows on their way somewhere.
To me, that's perfect music. It's like brainwashing time. Why
would you give that up? How are my kids going
to know the obscure music I like if I don't
play it for them when we're in the car or
even you know, not that obscure. We're going to see
a Billy Joel concert in a few months, and my
(02:13):
kids fourteen, eleven, and eight are so excited about it.
They would never have known Billy Joel's music if I
wasn't playing it on car rides, and sure it would
shut everyone up to just have a show on, you know,
but that really spoils a lot of other.
Speaker 2 (02:28):
Experiences that matter. We're not perfect.
Speaker 1 (02:31):
When the kids were little and we'd be out late,
maybe on vacation or something, we'd let them watch a
show on our phone while we wrapped up dinner to
avoid meltdowns. But this new thing is not that I
see kids hanging out with their friends and they're both
watching separate tiktoks or YouTube videos.
Speaker 2 (02:49):
It's really really wild.
Speaker 1 (02:52):
It's almost like I wish they were on social media
or interacting with their friends, or playing a game online.
None of that stuff is great. But what we have
going on right now again, that glazed over constant entertainment,
is really far worse. I wrote about this in a
New York Post article in twenty twenty two. I wrote,
I've watched families arrive at a beach, lotion up their
(03:15):
kids and then tuck them under umbrellas with their phones
to spend the day, or arrive at restaurants and hand
out iPads for the children with no expectation of any
interaction throughout the meal. A playdate at a park with
friends turns into two kids staring at iPads side by side,
But it's really really gotten worse. Kids need boredom. They
(03:38):
cannot be entertained every minute of every day. Kids who
can't be bored end up being boring. Their dull faces
become incapable of maintaining a conversation. Eye contact is impossible.
They really can't function. They're on a drug, and everyone
seems okay with it. That's the worst part to me
of too much screen time. It leads to people who
(04:00):
can't meaningfully participate in society. They don't know how to
have relationships. The phone actually stands between them and real life,
and that real life with awkwardness, tedium, and monotony, just
can't compete with the constant dopamine hits and the filters
that fix every flaw. We all know how much better
(04:21):
that imperfect reality actually is. I wrote in that piece
that the screen as a tool is one thing, the
screen as a crutch is another. And that's really the
whole ballgame to me. I'm not saying don't let your
kids veg out on screens on weekend mornings. We used
to watch cartoons on Saturday mornings. This is not wildly
different or when you're on a flight, but if they're
(04:44):
hanging out with their friends, take it away. If you're
doing something as a family, if you're taking a drive somewhere,
make it screen free. Don't let your kids use it
to just fill up time. They can't be swiping for
entertainment when they should be really creating their own I
talked about sending my kids sleep away camp a few
episodes ago and that it's hard, but I do it
(05:06):
anyway because it's good for them, and I know this.
So one side note to that is that they're really
not really There are actually no devices at sleep away Camp.
Speaker 2 (05:17):
It is a device free.
Speaker 1 (05:18):
Place the kids relearn how to exist without constant entertainment.
The update right now from my middle son's camp is
that he's most enjoying archery and playing in the creek
in the woods.
Speaker 3 (05:33):
The YouTube stars.
Speaker 1 (05:34):
That he likes to watch will be there when he
gets back. I love that they get a break from
constantly being entertained. Coming up next, an interview with Charlie Spearing.
Join us after the break, Hi, and welcome back to
the Carol Markowitz Show on iHeartRadio. My guest today is
(05:55):
Charlie Speiring, senior political reporter for The Daily Mail and
author of the book Amateur Hour, Kamala Harris in the
White House. Hi, Charlie, so nice to have you on.
Speaker 3 (06:04):
Thanks for having me. I'm glad you got the book. Still.
Speaker 2 (06:07):
Yeah, I love it.
Speaker 1 (06:09):
I actually I'm going to show it one more time.
I actually what I really like about it is, I
mean it's a deep dive, obviously, but I like that
you kind of like she used to be kind of different,
and I think you've traced her path to who she
is today. You describe her at one point like she
tried to be a joyful warrior, and I saw her
(06:31):
like that.
Speaker 2 (06:31):
Also.
Speaker 1 (06:32):
I remember writing a column during the time of twenty yeah,
the twenty twenty election, and I said that Elizabeth Warren
was unlikable, but Kamala Harris was not.
Speaker 2 (06:44):
She was actually quite likable. She was funny, she was
you know, I like hearing the babies.
Speaker 1 (06:50):
I'm very pro that, seriously, but she was, you know,
she was kind of like a real person.
Speaker 2 (06:56):
So what did you find in your research of her?
Speaker 4 (07:01):
Yeah, someone who basically once her star kind of rose.
And I think a lot of Democrats fought with this
during the Trump era. Once Trump was elected, she kind
of seized on the sort of the angry fighter character creature.
She was one of the resist leaders in the movement,
you know, in the Senate. I really saw that as
a way to propel her political future and just you know,
(07:23):
by being the most, the most angry, the most outraged,
the most person, you know, the person who would just
these sort of anti Trump superhero they kind of pursued
that is the way to political future, instead of focusing
on who you are, who your moral center, you know,
what your moral center is, rather than running around being
(07:44):
outraged the whole time, I actually have an idea of
what you believe in, how you're going to make things
better instead of just anti Trump.
Speaker 1 (07:52):
How did you get into political journalism?
Speaker 4 (07:56):
Yeah, it's actually kind of funny certainly growing up in Whyming,
I was you know, the farm, right, Yeah, we grew
I grew up on a farm in Wyoming, and so
not too many opportunities to get involved in politics there.
But it definitely a lot of time spent on the
tractor and a lot of time just you know, talking
and writing and thinking about politics. So you know, back
(08:19):
then we didn't have podcasts, excellent podcasts like this one
and so many others. You know, it was just literally
talk talk radio and NPR. It's a little bit of
balance on both sides, and a lot of hours just
listening to the day to day news and politics. I've
found that fascinating. And you know, granted we did tune
into the country station and listen to some music and
(08:40):
you know, the classic rock station. There was not that
much up, not that much available, but certainly we had that.
And then my parents, my grandparents lived close to us,
so growing up long history of they had always had
news magazines and newspapers laying around, and every time I
went there, I would, you know, read those you know,
(09:00):
US News and World Report and the local news and
national news, and just very much enjoyed journalism in general.
It was It's funny because when I first went to
Washington as an intern to get started on this career,
I wasn't necessarily a fan of political journalism, right, so,
(09:23):
but one of my mentors quickly made it clear, like
if eighty ninety percent of all journalism is politics, so
if you're not interested in politics, this might not be
the career.
Speaker 3 (09:33):
For you, right.
Speaker 1 (09:36):
It's that's so funny because I try to write about culture.
Speaker 2 (09:39):
I mean, I love politics. I'm a politics junkie.
Speaker 1 (09:42):
But I tried not to write about politics, and it's
so hard because you know when I do write political
columns that they get all the hits. That's like what
everybody wants to read. So do you go back to
Wyoming a lot?
Speaker 3 (09:56):
Yeah, we try to make it back every summer.
Speaker 4 (09:58):
It's it's it's still a hard thing to do because
we're not you know, I have six kids and so
we don't really it can't really afford to take planes anymore,
and so we just we actually invested in an RV,
so we take we get in the RV and then
we drive cross country back to Wyoming pretty much every summer.
(10:21):
Try to make it out for the fourth of July.
It's really the best time in Wyoming. That's when summer
finally starts in Wyoming, when temperatures finally get above eighty
and everything's it's really delightful out there at that time
of year. So and it's so good to get back
on the farm and have the kids experience that that
piece of my heritage without having to give it up completely.
Speaker 1 (10:44):
So, now that you've written this book about Kamala, what
do you enjoy writing about politically now?
Speaker 3 (10:50):
Yeah, it's interesting.
Speaker 4 (10:52):
It was such a huge part for me to sort
of separate from the day to day political noise and
focus on a long term project. So certainly looking at
the news now, it's I definitely want like looking at
any sort of.
Speaker 3 (11:09):
Long form future lists, looking journalism.
Speaker 4 (11:13):
You know, so much of covering With my previous job,
I covered the White House, and you can really get
sort of lost in the day to day grind of that, right,
and so it's it's been great to sort of focus
on sort of long term, interesting, deep dive stories that
you know, just so much of the day to day
is typically covered by social media now. So anything that
(11:34):
I can add to the conversation that's not just here's
what happened today, I think is definitely what I'm focused
on more in these days.
Speaker 1 (11:42):
What's your favorite big picture stuff to cover or do
you have like a lane that you think of for
yourself or.
Speaker 4 (11:48):
You just do it all well, Certainly, Kamala Harris, I
think we're going to be friends for a while. I'm
going to continue to watch her career and then the
way you know her frequent her frequent reboots have then
become a topic of conversation.
Speaker 3 (12:04):
She's in the middle of one.
Speaker 4 (12:05):
Now she's constantly going to try to remake that image
that you know, struggled so hard in her first year.
It really defined her as a vice president, and so
chronicling that ongoing struggle to redefine herself to American voters
is going to be an interesting story and it's useful to,
you know, when tackling any story about Kamala Harris. Having
(12:28):
that rich background and understanding of who she was, who
she is now, and how she got to where she's
going to be. I'man yeah, going to be focusing on
that a lot, and also just be focusing on so
many of the conservative personalities that have sprung up and
really have become quite influential online.
Speaker 3 (12:49):
I'm probably not one of those people.
Speaker 4 (12:51):
I just don't have like a huge following, a huge podcast,
and a very fast paced Twitter feed that everyone's focusing on.
You know, yeah, I think I'll be keeping an eye
on those people, find out who they are, what motivates them,
and their relationship with each other.
Speaker 3 (13:08):
I think the sort of the conservative influencer movement.
Speaker 4 (13:11):
Is very interesting and I definitely have done a couple
articles on that and on the left as well. You
certainly see a lot of young Democrats who at least
Democrats understand that they need to get these people involved
and motivated and engaged, or they're just not going to
win anything anymore.
Speaker 1 (13:28):
I'm sure you know, but being popular on Twitter does
not translate to anything in the real.
Speaker 2 (13:34):
World, right, right, or very very little, you know.
Speaker 1 (13:39):
It's always just funny when I'm sure you get this,
Like when you go home to Wyoming and you tell
them about the latest Twitter controversy or whatever. Nobody knows
anything about it, right, It's not like it does not
go It does not seep into the rest of or
reality anymore. Like I don't know even you know, when
Candice Owens leaving Daily Wire, mind like more normally, friends
(14:01):
had no idea first of all who she was or
or what happened or you know, they just didn't have
any of the details about it.
Speaker 2 (14:10):
If they knew what she was, it was just like, oh,
what happened with Candice and Daily Wire. It's a whole thing,
you know, It's like a long story.
Speaker 4 (14:18):
But yeah, there're not many people are very aware of
the personalities in politics. However, these personalities can drive narratives
that do seep out into the normal world, which is
which as I find fascinating, you know, just picking and
choosing the right narrative and and you know, figuring out
where that narrative came from, who was the first person
(14:39):
that talked about it and why. I think that's very
That sort of thing is very powerful in politics, and
any examples of that are just generally the one that
comes to mind. I guess as Tucker Carlson, you know,
he famously took this sort of opposition view on issues
(14:59):
like Ukraine, and it really sort of spread a little
bit of really spread wide to a lot of conservatives
who felt like, you know, for so long Republicans were
the sort of the pro Ukraine party, and I think
for Tucker Carlson to actually look at, you know, an
opposing position on that kind of resonated in the movement
(15:21):
that I haven't seen before. You know, typically, we sort
of thrived, You saw conservatives sort of thrive on this
issue of you know, making the world a better place
and being there in all these moral conflicts.
Speaker 3 (15:34):
And Tucker Carlson was the first person to sort of
challenge that, like, yeah, no, wait, why why are we
doing this right? It doesn't look like it's going to succeed.
So why are we engaged in this and why did
we why did we fail to stop this conflict from
happening in the first place. I think that was one.
That's one example.
Speaker 1 (15:55):
My kind of only disagreement with that would be the
Republicans voted for the Ukraine package anyway, So it's like,
you know, good for Tucker for getting that, you know,
message out, but it's it's not really what ended up
having any influence, right, And again, I don't know that
the average voter or the average person who is not
(16:16):
super engaged with what's happening in the world, I think
they would still be like, yeah, you know, I'm supportive
of Ukraine, or even beyond supportive.
Speaker 2 (16:24):
I think supportive is an easy call.
Speaker 1 (16:25):
But like the I think the average Republican voter would
still be like, yeah, I think sending money is not
a bad idea. It's just I feel like there's such
a disconnect between what we think is important on Twitter
and what.
Speaker 2 (16:39):
Actually would people actually vote on or what they care about.
Speaker 1 (16:42):
Also, I would say that the Ukraine thing not to
get us too far off track, because you know, I
was like, this is not a political show's talk about politics.
Speaker 2 (16:49):
The whole time. Yeah, you know, because we are political people.
Speaker 1 (16:53):
But I would say that a big part of that
is how bad things are going in America, and it's
not It's less about Ukraine or maybe Israel and more
about like, wait, I I'm having trouble paying for groceries.
Why are we sending money elsewhere? So I don't know
that's the I use Twitter all the time.
Speaker 2 (17:12):
I love it.
Speaker 1 (17:12):
I'm a complete addict, but I actually don't think it
matters very much anymore, and depressingly for me.
Speaker 4 (17:20):
Yeah, yeah, it's good not to spend too much time
feeling it. Yeah, keep an eye on it so you
know what's going on and where it's coming from.
Speaker 3 (17:28):
But don't let it consume you.
Speaker 4 (17:31):
Those of us who adopted it from the beginning have
sort of seen that its usefulness rise and fall exactly,
and it.
Speaker 2 (17:38):
May rise again, you know, who knows.
Speaker 1 (17:40):
We're going to take a quick break and be right
back on the Carol Markowitch Show. So a question that
I ask all of my guests is what do you
think is our largest cultural problem? And I know you
cover so many things it might be hard to pick
just one.
Speaker 3 (17:56):
Yeah.
Speaker 4 (17:57):
I did think about this quite a bit and I
think ultimately it comes down to fear is our biggest
societal problem. I think that, you know, it's kind of
crippling our society, the fear of every young person, even
every person my age, and so many others.
Speaker 3 (18:14):
It's, you know, the idea that.
Speaker 4 (18:16):
You can't you can't get married, you can't have a family,
you can't start a business. I think that fear is
kind of crippling our society, and it's definitely a product
of what happened during COVID.
Speaker 3 (18:29):
So many people.
Speaker 4 (18:30):
Sort of really embrace that fear and let it control them,
and so there's there's some people are now getting out
of that that fear and sort of throwing it off
and moving forward.
Speaker 3 (18:42):
So that's encouraging to see.
Speaker 4 (18:44):
But what's disappointing is to see so many politicians weaponize
that fear and for political gain. We used to have
politicians that sort of spoke about inspirationally encouraging Americans not
to be afraid, right, encouraging that you know, we're America.
Speaker 3 (19:02):
We're not worried.
Speaker 4 (19:03):
About the Russians or the Soviets. You know, we're America.
We're not going to let the you know, the Great
Depression define us. We're going to rise up, We're going
to get out of this. But yeah, when you look
at what Democrats in the Biden, what Biden did during COVID,
we're just really feeding off of that fear and that
frenzy for political gain and he's still doing it. Just
(19:26):
going back and looking at it at his commencement speech,
you know, at a black college where he's telling black
people that Republicans are going to throw them in jail,
that they don't want to see them succeed, that, you know,
just sort of still running with that message, and like
that's how to press it for a commencement speech, Like
you're supposed to be inspirational and not sort of doing
your whole you know, put they're going to put you
(19:48):
back in chains routine that he's been doing for so long,
and he's still doing it. And really that's all he
has right now, talking about how devastating the country is
going to be if Donald Trump wins the president see again,
and you should be very afraid of that happening.
Speaker 3 (20:03):
So that's kind of and I think that, you.
Speaker 1 (20:05):
Know, how do we overcome that, how do we become
the fear?
Speaker 4 (20:10):
Well, I think for people of faith, that kind of
have a cheat code, right, Faith is sort of the
answer to everybody's fears. But even if you're not religious,
you know, finding that faith in yourself, faith in the
people around you, finding people who have faith in you
and encourage you to succeed.
Speaker 3 (20:28):
I think that's a huge help.
Speaker 4 (20:29):
And I think I think our and you know, like
I said, if we have politicians that you know, try
to encourage people instead of you know, play on their fears,
I think that that will go a long way in
making our country really revive great again. Yeah, if you
want to make your country great again, you know, stop
putting your faith into politicians and put a little faith
(20:52):
into yourself or you know, or in your God. You know,
this is this is sort of what makes our country great?
Is Is that not not to old politicians who are
long past their prime.
Speaker 2 (21:05):
What's it like to have six kids?
Speaker 5 (21:07):
Switching topics, Yeah, that also has a lot to do
with fear, right, because you know, having raising so many,
so many people, young people and having an.
Speaker 4 (21:19):
Influence on them is certainly a scary proposition. But yeah,
it's been it's been really great having the flexibility to
raise them and it's been awesome. My wife is a
huge part of that as imagined. She's really helpful with everything,
and it's it's been fun. And now that I've got teenagers,
(21:42):
now that's been that's been really good. My oldest daughter
is fifteen and so not quite the driving stage yet,
but we're getting close to that, and she's definitely a
huge help. You know, everything they say about having older kids,
they're really such a blessing to have, you know, they
they already start to give back and you know, emotionally, physically,
(22:07):
just there are a huge asset to help to raise
younger siblings and it's such a it's so encouraging to
see the younger siblings and the older siblings interact and
care for each other.
Speaker 2 (22:19):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (22:19):
I always say that if we didn't have our daughter first,
she's fourteen now, probably.
Speaker 2 (22:25):
Wouldn't have had our third kid.
Speaker 3 (22:28):
She owes her his life.
Speaker 1 (22:31):
Because she's so helpful and you know, just I also
think having a I mean, you know, we're not supposed
to talk about different sis between girls and boys, but
I think a girl a girl first, is it makes
a big difference.
Speaker 4 (22:43):
Yeah, they're they're pretty responsible and very very helpful.
Speaker 3 (22:48):
My family.
Speaker 4 (22:49):
I am the second oldest and I had a very
very bossy, very older the best, very helpful, the older sisters.
So yeah, that was definitely huge help in our family.
Speaker 1 (23:01):
So you have six kids, you have this excellent political
reporting career, you're very well respected, a great book Amateur Hour,
Thank you check it out.
Speaker 2 (23:11):
Do you feel like you've made it?
Speaker 4 (23:13):
Yeah, that's such a great question, and I haven't necessarily
heard all the answers that from all the great people
you've had on your podcast, But I think there's something
about the past tense of that word that gives me pause.
You know, with someone with six kids that you've never
truly you're never truly done. You're constantly making it every
single day. You're trying to make it every single day.
(23:35):
Some days you're not making it. But any sense that
you certainly want to be grateful, you know, of the
career any journalist or writer that you know can have
a successful career at this point, is you want to
be super grateful. It's not always easy, it's not always possible,
but it's certainly not ready to rest on any laurels yet.
(23:57):
There's still a lot of work to do.
Speaker 1 (23:59):
It's interesting nobody's ever commented on the past tense of
that that's that's a very good observation.
Speaker 2 (24:05):
And I do get a wide range of answers.
Speaker 1 (24:07):
I mean a lot of people say yeah, they've made
it and say they haven't, and it has almost nothing
to do with their professional success or any of that.
Speaker 2 (24:16):
So yeah, I agree. I think we need to be
making it all the time.
Speaker 1 (24:21):
And I always say also, I you know, I try
to answer my own questions all the time as well,
and it changes. Yeah. Sometimes I feel like, yeah, I've
totally made it. Not other times I have not made
having a not No, I.
Speaker 2 (24:34):
Have not made it day to day.
Speaker 1 (24:35):
So I think your past ten is going to keep
working on it. Well.
Speaker 2 (24:40):
I love talking to you. This has been great.
Speaker 1 (24:42):
And here with your best tip for my listeners on
how they can improve their lives.
Speaker 4 (24:48):
Oh yeah, this one is definitely something I try to do.
But it kind of goes back to my thing about fear.
Always be ready, find find ways to get.
Speaker 3 (24:58):
Out of the house.
Speaker 4 (24:58):
I think that yeah, exactly as the kids say, yeah,
get out of the house, go do something. You know,
home is a safe place and we all learn to
love our homes during COVID or and so it's and
there's always a certain fear that will keep you from
leaving the house, like what if what if it rains?
(25:19):
What if what if my kids cranky? What if you know,
what if they hate where we're going. What if it
turns out to be a disaster, what if it's too expensive?
I think that I think very much in your personal life,
find ways to leave home to travel, and then when
you come back, even if you don't have a very
happy time away, if you come home, you can appreciate
(25:42):
your home a little better and learn to love. Learn
to love your home again, learn to love everything about it.
And you know, it's very much a something we try
to do in our families. Get out of the house,
go places, travel, don't don't let fear and comfort you
stock right.
Speaker 1 (26:01):
It's so easy to forget that. I feel like, I
don't know, I was saying, I'm not like I'm feeling
just like today, and it definitely is probably because I
didn't leave the house yesterday. So I'm going to go,
you know, try to touch grass today. I'm going to
listen to.
Speaker 2 (26:14):
Charlie and.
Speaker 3 (26:17):
When we can get out and get sunshine, that always.
Speaker 1 (26:20):
Helps, right, And that's the thing. I don't maximize my
outside this here, because every day is a beautiful sunny day,
so I just got tomorrow. Yeah, he is Charlie Spearing.
His book is Amateur Hour.
Speaker 2 (26:32):
It's on Kamala Harris. It's so good. Please get it.
Thank you so much for coming on, Charlie. This is great.
Speaker 3 (26:37):
You bet, Carol, thanks so much for having me.
Speaker 1 (26:39):
Thanks so much for joining us on the Carol Marcowitch Show.
Subscribe wherever you get your podcasts.
Hi, and welcome back to the Carol Marcowitz Show on iHeartRadio.
I'm just back from a few days in London and
Liverpool with my fourteen year old daughter. There was a
Taylor Swift show involved. It was a really great trip,
our first one just the two of us.
Speaker 2 (00:23):
She's a really great.
Speaker 1 (00:24):
Kid, so are my boys, and I want to keep
them that way. I think a big part of it
is how we let them use screens, the way that
we let them use screens. I've talked about this on
here before, but phone use is just out of control
for kids right now. I think it's far worse than
it was pre pandemic. When we talk about the problems
(00:47):
of Internet usage for young people, we really focus on
social media, but I kind of think that that's really
besides the point. I wish there was more socializing on
their social media, not what they're doing on there at all.
There's very little interaction on any of these apps that
the kids are into. Snapchat at least has some degree
(01:08):
of interaction, though a lot of the time it's just,
you know, sending pictures back and forth so you can
maintain your high snap score. But at least that involves
your friends. The bigger issue I see right now is
the constant entertainment. That's what's really destroying this generation. I
meet kids all the time who cannot hold a conversation,
(01:29):
not with adults, not with other kids, no one. They're
just fiending to get back on their devices. They kind
of have this look in their face, like these moments
I'm spending talking to you are.
Speaker 2 (01:41):
In between my phone time.
Speaker 1 (01:43):
In restaurants, you know, I'll see families where the kids
are just all on devices throughout the entirety of the meal.
Speaker 2 (01:50):
People who have TVs.
Speaker 1 (01:51):
In their cars, which is becoming, you know, quite a
big thing. Let their kids watch shows on their way somewhere.
To me, that's perfect music. It's like brainwashing time. Why
would you give that up? How are my kids going
to know the obscure music I like if I don't
play it for them when we're in the car or
even you know, not that obscure. We're going to see
a Billy Joel concert in a few months, and my
(02:13):
kids fourteen, eleven, and eight are so excited about it.
They would never have known Billy Joel's music if I
wasn't playing it on car rides, and sure it would
shut everyone up to just have a show on, you know,
but that really spoils a lot of other.
Speaker 2 (02:28):
Experiences that matter. We're not perfect.
Speaker 1 (02:31):
When the kids were little and we'd be out late,
maybe on vacation or something, we'd let them watch a
show on our phone while we wrapped up dinner to
avoid meltdowns. But this new thing is not that I
see kids hanging out with their friends and they're both
watching separate tiktoks or YouTube videos.
Speaker 2 (02:49):
It's really really wild.
Speaker 1 (02:52):
It's almost like I wish they were on social media
or interacting with their friends, or playing a game online.
None of that stuff is great. But what we have
going on right now again, that glazed over constant entertainment,
is really far worse. I wrote about this in a
New York Post article in twenty twenty two. I wrote,
I've watched families arrive at a beach, lotion up their
(03:15):
kids and then tuck them under umbrellas with their phones
to spend the day, or arrive at restaurants and hand
out iPads for the children with no expectation of any
interaction throughout the meal. A playdate at a park with
friends turns into two kids staring at iPads side by side,
But it's really really gotten worse. Kids need boredom. They
(03:38):
cannot be entertained every minute of every day. Kids who
can't be bored end up being boring. Their dull faces
become incapable of maintaining a conversation. Eye contact is impossible.
They really can't function. They're on a drug, and everyone
seems okay with it. That's the worst part to me
of too much screen time. It leads to people who
(04:00):
can't meaningfully participate in society. They don't know how to
have relationships. The phone actually stands between them and real life,
and that real life with awkwardness, tedium, and monotony, just
can't compete with the constant dopamine hits and the filters
that fix every flaw. We all know how much better
(04:21):
that imperfect reality actually is. I wrote in that piece
that the screen as a tool is one thing, the
screen as a crutch is another. And that's really the
whole ballgame to me. I'm not saying don't let your
kids veg out on screens on weekend mornings. We used
to watch cartoons on Saturday mornings. This is not wildly
different or when you're on a flight, but if they're
(04:44):
hanging out with their friends, take it away. If you're
doing something as a family, if you're taking a drive somewhere,
make it screen free. Don't let your kids use it
to just fill up time. They can't be swiping for
entertainment when they should be really creating their own I
talked about sending my kids sleep away camp a few
episodes ago and that it's hard, but I do it
(05:06):
anyway because it's good for them, and I know this.
So one side note to that is that they're really
not really There are actually no devices at sleep away Camp.
Speaker 2 (05:17):
It is a device free.
Speaker 1 (05:18):
Place the kids relearn how to exist without constant entertainment.
The update right now from my middle son's camp is
that he's most enjoying archery and playing in the creek
in the woods.
Speaker 3 (05:33):
The YouTube stars.
Speaker 1 (05:34):
That he likes to watch will be there when he
gets back. I love that they get a break from
constantly being entertained. Coming up next, an interview with Charlie Spearing.
Join us after the break, Hi, and welcome back to
the Carol Markowitz Show on iHeartRadio. My guest today is
(05:55):
Charlie Speiring, senior political reporter for The Daily Mail and
author of the book Amateur Hour, Kamala Harris in the
White House. Hi, Charlie, so nice to have you on.
Speaker 3 (06:04):
Thanks for having me. I'm glad you got the book. Still.
Speaker 2 (06:07):
Yeah, I love it.
Speaker 1 (06:09):
I actually I'm going to show it one more time.
I actually what I really like about it is, I
mean it's a deep dive, obviously, but I like that
you kind of like she used to be kind of different,
and I think you've traced her path to who she
is today. You describe her at one point like she
tried to be a joyful warrior, and I saw her
(06:31):
like that.
Speaker 2 (06:31):
Also.
Speaker 1 (06:32):
I remember writing a column during the time of twenty yeah,
the twenty twenty election, and I said that Elizabeth Warren
was unlikable, but Kamala Harris was not.
Speaker 2 (06:44):
She was actually quite likable. She was funny, she was
you know, I like hearing the babies.
Speaker 1 (06:50):
I'm very pro that, seriously, but she was, you know,
she was kind of like a real person.
Speaker 2 (06:56):
So what did you find in your research of her?
Speaker 4 (07:01):
Yeah, someone who basically once her star kind of rose.
And I think a lot of Democrats fought with this
during the Trump era. Once Trump was elected, she kind
of seized on the sort of the angry fighter character creature.
She was one of the resist leaders in the movement,
you know, in the Senate. I really saw that as
a way to propel her political future and just you know,
(07:23):
by being the most, the most angry, the most outraged,
the most person, you know, the person who would just
these sort of anti Trump superhero they kind of pursued
that is the way to political future, instead of focusing
on who you are, who your moral center, you know,
what your moral center is, rather than running around being
(07:44):
outraged the whole time, I actually have an idea of
what you believe in, how you're going to make things
better instead of just anti Trump.
Speaker 1 (07:52):
How did you get into political journalism?
Speaker 4 (07:56):
Yeah, it's actually kind of funny certainly growing up in Whyming,
I was you know, the farm, right, Yeah, we grew
I grew up on a farm in Wyoming, and so
not too many opportunities to get involved in politics there.
But it definitely a lot of time spent on the
tractor and a lot of time just you know, talking
and writing and thinking about politics. So you know, back
(08:19):
then we didn't have podcasts, excellent podcasts like this one
and so many others. You know, it was just literally
talk talk radio and NPR. It's a little bit of
balance on both sides, and a lot of hours just
listening to the day to day news and politics. I've
found that fascinating. And you know, granted we did tune
into the country station and listen to some music and
(08:40):
you know, the classic rock station. There was not that
much up, not that much available, but certainly we had that.
And then my parents, my grandparents lived close to us,
so growing up long history of they had always had
news magazines and newspapers laying around, and every time I
went there, I would, you know, read those you know,
(09:00):
US News and World Report and the local news and
national news, and just very much enjoyed journalism in general.
It was It's funny because when I first went to
Washington as an intern to get started on this career,
I wasn't necessarily a fan of political journalism, right, so,
(09:23):
but one of my mentors quickly made it clear, like
if eighty ninety percent of all journalism is politics, so
if you're not interested in politics, this might not be
the career.
Speaker 3 (09:33):
For you, right.
Speaker 1 (09:36):
It's that's so funny because I try to write about culture.
Speaker 2 (09:39):
I mean, I love politics. I'm a politics junkie.
Speaker 1 (09:42):
But I tried not to write about politics, and it's
so hard because you know when I do write political
columns that they get all the hits. That's like what
everybody wants to read. So do you go back to
Wyoming a lot?
Speaker 3 (09:56):
Yeah, we try to make it back every summer.
Speaker 4 (09:58):
It's it's it's still a hard thing to do because
we're not you know, I have six kids and so
we don't really it can't really afford to take planes anymore,
and so we just we actually invested in an RV,
so we take we get in the RV and then
we drive cross country back to Wyoming pretty much every summer.
(10:21):
Try to make it out for the fourth of July.
It's really the best time in Wyoming. That's when summer
finally starts in Wyoming, when temperatures finally get above eighty
and everything's it's really delightful out there at that time
of year. So and it's so good to get back
on the farm and have the kids experience that that
piece of my heritage without having to give it up completely.
Speaker 1 (10:44):
So, now that you've written this book about Kamala, what
do you enjoy writing about politically now?
Speaker 3 (10:50):
Yeah, it's interesting.
Speaker 4 (10:52):
It was such a huge part for me to sort
of separate from the day to day political noise and
focus on a long term project. So certainly looking at
the news now, it's I definitely want like looking at
any sort of.
Speaker 3 (11:09):
Long form future lists, looking journalism.
Speaker 4 (11:13):
You know, so much of covering With my previous job,
I covered the White House, and you can really get
sort of lost in the day to day grind of that, right,
and so it's it's been great to sort of focus
on sort of long term, interesting, deep dive stories that
you know, just so much of the day to day
is typically covered by social media now. So anything that
(11:34):
I can add to the conversation that's not just here's
what happened today, I think is definitely what I'm focused
on more in these days.
Speaker 1 (11:42):
What's your favorite big picture stuff to cover or do
you have like a lane that you think of for
yourself or.
Speaker 4 (11:48):
You just do it all well, Certainly, Kamala Harris, I
think we're going to be friends for a while. I'm
going to continue to watch her career and then the
way you know her frequent her frequent reboots have then
become a topic of conversation.
Speaker 3 (12:04):
She's in the middle of one.
Speaker 4 (12:05):
Now she's constantly going to try to remake that image
that you know, struggled so hard in her first year.
It really defined her as a vice president, and so
chronicling that ongoing struggle to redefine herself to American voters
is going to be an interesting story and it's useful to,
you know, when tackling any story about Kamala Harris. Having
(12:28):
that rich background and understanding of who she was, who
she is now, and how she got to where she's
going to be. I'man yeah, going to be focusing on
that a lot, and also just be focusing on so
many of the conservative personalities that have sprung up and
really have become quite influential online.
Speaker 3 (12:49):
I'm probably not one of those people.
Speaker 4 (12:51):
I just don't have like a huge following, a huge podcast,
and a very fast paced Twitter feed that everyone's focusing on.
You know, yeah, I think I'll be keeping an eye
on those people, find out who they are, what motivates them,
and their relationship with each other.
Speaker 3 (13:08):
I think the sort of the conservative influencer movement.
Speaker 4 (13:11):
Is very interesting and I definitely have done a couple
articles on that and on the left as well. You
certainly see a lot of young Democrats who at least
Democrats understand that they need to get these people involved
and motivated and engaged, or they're just not going to
win anything anymore.
Speaker 1 (13:28):
I'm sure you know, but being popular on Twitter does
not translate to anything in the real.
Speaker 2 (13:34):
World, right, right, or very very little, you know.
Speaker 1 (13:39):
It's always just funny when I'm sure you get this,
Like when you go home to Wyoming and you tell
them about the latest Twitter controversy or whatever. Nobody knows
anything about it, right, It's not like it does not
go It does not seep into the rest of or
reality anymore. Like I don't know even you know, when
Candice Owens leaving Daily Wire, mind like more normally, friends
(14:01):
had no idea first of all who she was or
or what happened or you know, they just didn't have
any of the details about it.
Speaker 2 (14:10):
If they knew what she was, it was just like, oh,
what happened with Candice and Daily Wire. It's a whole thing,
you know, It's like a long story.
Speaker 4 (14:18):
But yeah, there're not many people are very aware of
the personalities in politics. However, these personalities can drive narratives
that do seep out into the normal world, which is
which as I find fascinating, you know, just picking and
choosing the right narrative and and you know, figuring out
where that narrative came from, who was the first person
(14:39):
that talked about it and why. I think that's very
That sort of thing is very powerful in politics, and
any examples of that are just generally the one that
comes to mind. I guess as Tucker Carlson, you know,
he famously took this sort of opposition view on issues
(14:59):
like Ukraine, and it really sort of spread a little
bit of really spread wide to a lot of conservatives
who felt like, you know, for so long Republicans were
the sort of the pro Ukraine party, and I think
for Tucker Carlson to actually look at, you know, an
opposing position on that kind of resonated in the movement
(15:21):
that I haven't seen before. You know, typically, we sort
of thrived, You saw conservatives sort of thrive on this
issue of you know, making the world a better place
and being there in all these moral conflicts.
Speaker 3 (15:34):
And Tucker Carlson was the first person to sort of
challenge that, like, yeah, no, wait, why why are we
doing this right? It doesn't look like it's going to succeed.
So why are we engaged in this and why did
we why did we fail to stop this conflict from
happening in the first place. I think that was one.
That's one example.
Speaker 1 (15:55):
My kind of only disagreement with that would be the
Republicans voted for the Ukraine package anyway, So it's like,
you know, good for Tucker for getting that, you know,
message out, but it's it's not really what ended up
having any influence, right, And again, I don't know that
the average voter or the average person who is not
(16:16):
super engaged with what's happening in the world, I think
they would still be like, yeah, you know, I'm supportive
of Ukraine, or even beyond supportive.
Speaker 2 (16:24):
I think supportive is an easy call.
Speaker 1 (16:25):
But like the I think the average Republican voter would
still be like, yeah, I think sending money is not
a bad idea. It's just I feel like there's such
a disconnect between what we think is important on Twitter
and what.
Speaker 2 (16:39):
Actually would people actually vote on or what they care about.
Speaker 1 (16:42):
Also, I would say that the Ukraine thing not to
get us too far off track, because you know, I
was like, this is not a political show's talk about politics.
Speaker 2 (16:49):
The whole time. Yeah, you know, because we are political people.
Speaker 1 (16:53):
But I would say that a big part of that
is how bad things are going in America, and it's
not It's less about Ukraine or maybe Israel and more
about like, wait, I I'm having trouble paying for groceries.
Why are we sending money elsewhere? So I don't know
that's the I use Twitter all the time.
Speaker 2 (17:12):
I love it.
Speaker 1 (17:12):
I'm a complete addict, but I actually don't think it
matters very much anymore, and depressingly for me.
Speaker 4 (17:20):
Yeah, yeah, it's good not to spend too much time
feeling it. Yeah, keep an eye on it so you
know what's going on and where it's coming from.
Speaker 3 (17:28):
But don't let it consume you.
Speaker 4 (17:31):
Those of us who adopted it from the beginning have
sort of seen that its usefulness rise and fall exactly,
and it.
Speaker 2 (17:38):
May rise again, you know, who knows.
Speaker 1 (17:40):
We're going to take a quick break and be right
back on the Carol Markowitch Show. So a question that
I ask all of my guests is what do you
think is our largest cultural problem? And I know you
cover so many things it might be hard to pick
just one.
Speaker 3 (17:56):
Yeah.
Speaker 4 (17:57):
I did think about this quite a bit and I
think ultimately it comes down to fear is our biggest
societal problem. I think that, you know, it's kind of
crippling our society, the fear of every young person, even
every person my age, and so many others.
Speaker 3 (18:14):
It's, you know, the idea that.
Speaker 4 (18:16):
You can't you can't get married, you can't have a family,
you can't start a business. I think that fear is
kind of crippling our society, and it's definitely a product
of what happened during COVID.
Speaker 3 (18:29):
So many people.
Speaker 4 (18:30):
Sort of really embrace that fear and let it control them,
and so there's there's some people are now getting out
of that that fear and sort of throwing it off
and moving forward.
Speaker 3 (18:42):
So that's encouraging to see.
Speaker 4 (18:44):
But what's disappointing is to see so many politicians weaponize
that fear and for political gain. We used to have
politicians that sort of spoke about inspirationally encouraging Americans not
to be afraid, right, encouraging that you know, we're America.
Speaker 3 (19:02):
We're not worried.
Speaker 4 (19:03):
About the Russians or the Soviets. You know, we're America.
We're not going to let the you know, the Great
Depression define us. We're going to rise up, We're going
to get out of this. But yeah, when you look
at what Democrats in the Biden, what Biden did during COVID,
we're just really feeding off of that fear and that
frenzy for political gain and he's still doing it. Just
(19:26):
going back and looking at it at his commencement speech,
you know, at a black college where he's telling black
people that Republicans are going to throw them in jail,
that they don't want to see them succeed, that, you know,
just sort of still running with that message, and like
that's how to press it for a commencement speech, Like
you're supposed to be inspirational and not sort of doing
your whole you know, put they're going to put you
(19:48):
back in chains routine that he's been doing for so long,
and he's still doing it. And really that's all he
has right now, talking about how devastating the country is
going to be if Donald Trump wins the president see again,
and you should be very afraid of that happening.
Speaker 3 (20:03):
So that's kind of and I think that, you.
Speaker 1 (20:05):
Know, how do we overcome that, how do we become
the fear?
Speaker 4 (20:10):
Well, I think for people of faith, that kind of
have a cheat code, right, Faith is sort of the
answer to everybody's fears. But even if you're not religious,
you know, finding that faith in yourself, faith in the
people around you, finding people who have faith in you
and encourage you to succeed.
Speaker 3 (20:28):
I think that's a huge help.
Speaker 4 (20:29):
And I think I think our and you know, like
I said, if we have politicians that you know, try
to encourage people instead of you know, play on their fears,
I think that that will go a long way in
making our country really revive great again. Yeah, if you
want to make your country great again, you know, stop
putting your faith into politicians and put a little faith
(20:52):
into yourself or you know, or in your God. You know,
this is this is sort of what makes our country great?
Is Is that not not to old politicians who are
long past their prime.
Speaker 2 (21:05):
What's it like to have six kids?
Speaker 5 (21:07):
Switching topics, Yeah, that also has a lot to do
with fear, right, because you know, having raising so many,
so many people, young people and having an.
Speaker 4 (21:19):
Influence on them is certainly a scary proposition. But yeah,
it's been it's been really great having the flexibility to
raise them and it's been awesome. My wife is a
huge part of that as imagined. She's really helpful with everything,
and it's it's been fun. And now that I've got teenagers,
(21:42):
now that's been that's been really good. My oldest daughter
is fifteen and so not quite the driving stage yet,
but we're getting close to that, and she's definitely a
huge help. You know, everything they say about having older kids,
they're really such a blessing to have, you know, they
they already start to give back and you know, emotionally, physically,
(22:07):
just there are a huge asset to help to raise
younger siblings and it's such a it's so encouraging to
see the younger siblings and the older siblings interact and
care for each other.
Speaker 2 (22:19):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (22:19):
I always say that if we didn't have our daughter first,
she's fourteen now, probably.
Speaker 2 (22:25):
Wouldn't have had our third kid.
Speaker 3 (22:28):
She owes her his life.
Speaker 1 (22:31):
Because she's so helpful and you know, just I also
think having a I mean, you know, we're not supposed
to talk about different sis between girls and boys, but
I think a girl a girl first, is it makes
a big difference.
Speaker 4 (22:43):
Yeah, they're they're pretty responsible and very very helpful.
Speaker 3 (22:48):
My family.
Speaker 4 (22:49):
I am the second oldest and I had a very
very bossy, very older the best, very helpful, the older sisters.
So yeah, that was definitely huge help in our family.
Speaker 1 (23:01):
So you have six kids, you have this excellent political
reporting career, you're very well respected, a great book Amateur Hour,
Thank you check it out.
Speaker 2 (23:11):
Do you feel like you've made it?
Speaker 4 (23:13):
Yeah, that's such a great question, and I haven't necessarily
heard all the answers that from all the great people
you've had on your podcast, But I think there's something
about the past tense of that word that gives me pause.
You know, with someone with six kids that you've never
truly you're never truly done. You're constantly making it every
single day. You're trying to make it every single day.
(23:35):
Some days you're not making it. But any sense that
you certainly want to be grateful, you know, of the
career any journalist or writer that you know can have
a successful career at this point, is you want to
be super grateful. It's not always easy, it's not always possible,
but it's certainly not ready to rest on any laurels yet.
(23:57):
There's still a lot of work to do.
Speaker 1 (23:59):
It's interesting nobody's ever commented on the past tense of
that that's that's a very good observation.
Speaker 2 (24:05):
And I do get a wide range of answers.
Speaker 1 (24:07):
I mean a lot of people say yeah, they've made
it and say they haven't, and it has almost nothing
to do with their professional success or any of that.
Speaker 2 (24:16):
So yeah, I agree. I think we need to be
making it all the time.
Speaker 1 (24:21):
And I always say also, I you know, I try
to answer my own questions all the time as well,
and it changes. Yeah. Sometimes I feel like, yeah, I've
totally made it. Not other times I have not made
having a not No, I.
Speaker 2 (24:34):
Have not made it day to day.
Speaker 1 (24:35):
So I think your past ten is going to keep
working on it. Well.
Speaker 2 (24:40):
I love talking to you. This has been great.
Speaker 1 (24:42):
And here with your best tip for my listeners on
how they can improve their lives.
Speaker 4 (24:48):
Oh yeah, this one is definitely something I try to do.
But it kind of goes back to my thing about fear.
Always be ready, find find ways to get.
Speaker 3 (24:58):
Out of the house.
Speaker 4 (24:58):
I think that yeah, exactly as the kids say, yeah,
get out of the house, go do something. You know,
home is a safe place and we all learn to
love our homes during COVID or and so it's and
there's always a certain fear that will keep you from
leaving the house, like what if what if it rains?
(25:19):
What if what if my kids cranky? What if you know,
what if they hate where we're going. What if it
turns out to be a disaster, what if it's too expensive?
I think that I think very much in your personal life,
find ways to leave home to travel, and then when
you come back, even if you don't have a very
happy time away, if you come home, you can appreciate
(25:42):
your home a little better and learn to love. Learn
to love your home again, learn to love everything about it.
And you know, it's very much a something we try
to do in our families. Get out of the house,
go places, travel, don't don't let fear and comfort you
stock right.
Speaker 1 (26:01):
It's so easy to forget that. I feel like, I
don't know, I was saying, I'm not like I'm feeling
just like today, and it definitely is probably because I
didn't leave the house yesterday. So I'm going to go,
you know, try to touch grass today. I'm going to
listen to.
Speaker 2 (26:14):
Charlie and.
Speaker 3 (26:17):
When we can get out and get sunshine, that always.
Speaker 1 (26:20):
Helps, right, And that's the thing. I don't maximize my
outside this here, because every day is a beautiful sunny day,
so I just got tomorrow. Yeah, he is Charlie Spearing.
His book is Amateur Hour.
Speaker 2 (26:32):
It's on Kamala Harris. It's so good. Please get it.
Thank you so much for coming on, Charlie. This is great.
Speaker 3 (26:37):
You bet, Carol, thanks so much for having me.
Speaker 1 (26:39):
Thanks so much for joining us on the Carol Marcowitch Show.
Subscribe wherever you get your podcasts.
Host
Karol Markowicz
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