September 14, 2020 • 11 mins
If you want to change, preserve, or build a better America, there’s one easy way to make your voice heard: Vote. This year, iHeartRadio is teaming up with over 20 incredible celebrities (plus a handful of our most popular podcasters) to get the country excited to go vote, broadcasting the personal, emotional and heartfelt stories behind why showing up to the ballot box means so much-- not just as individuals, but for our entire nation.
Thank you to our partners AXE, Knorr® & Seventh Generation
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:03):
Welcome to Why I'm Voting, a production of I Heart Radio. Listen.
You already know this, but it's an election year. You
might already be tired of fearing about it. But here's
the thing. Democracy doesn't work without you. I'm Holly Frying,
and I'm sitting down with many of my fellow podcasters,
from Will Ferrell to Stephanie Rule, as well as other
(00:26):
luminaries to find out about their relationships with the ballot
box and ultimately just to find out why they vote.
I hope you're exercising your right to vote, and if
you're not, I hope that their stories inspire you. Hello,
and welcome to Why I'm Voting. This is honestly a
(00:47):
very exciting moment for me because I have a guest
on who I have watched you a lot of amazing things.
It is Laurie Hernandez. You know her name because she
was part of the gold medal winning USA women's gymnastics
team at Summer Olympics. She also took home a silver
medal on balance beam with those Olympics, and that business
was amazing to behold um. Since then, she has competed
(01:09):
on Dancing with the Stars and One and she appeared
on a number of other television shows, but now she
is returning to gymnastics, which makes my heart very happy. Lorie,
I am so thrilled to have you, it's not even funny.
So thank you, thank you, thank you for joining me today.
Thank you so much for having me. I'm so excited
to talk with you today. I'm really really excited because
(01:29):
you have accomplished a great deal, and yet you are
just a youngster. This is actually your first presidential election
coming up. Yeah. Yeah, I turned eighteen. That was my
first time voting. But yeah, like you said, in terms
of kind of first time presidential votes, this is my
first one. I'm very excited. I'm excited for you because
(01:50):
you have been a gymnast for so long, like you
have lived a life of great focus. So I'm wondering
if you can recall pretty easily when you first learned
about vote and that you had a pretty major part
to play in the democratic process. Yeah, I mean, well,
so my parents they felt it was very important for
me my siblings to understand the gist of what's happening
(02:11):
and then allow us to kind of do our own
research and figured it out because they wanted they didn't
want it to be biased. But also they were like,
you better care about other human beings, and we were
like iconic, so we were all able to do our
own research and test things out. And sure enough, Thanksgiving
is a very enjoying time of year because we all agree.
So the envy in my heart over that statement alone,
(02:34):
I'm so sorry. I think it's great. I love that
you have that with your family. As you said, you
have voted in a local election, but this is the
first presidential On a scale of one to ten, how
excited are you, I'm I'm at a ten, just because
I think, well, here's the thing. Gen Z is seen
as kind of like not caring, apathetic, not very in
tune with what's happening around them, And I would like,
(02:59):
just genuinely everyone to take a rain check on that
and to to re reevalue reevalue that statement, only because
we're a lot more in tune with what's happening in
the world than you think, and we're finding very witty
ways to fix it, which is so exciting to watch
and be a part of. Um. Yeah, but in terms
(03:20):
of just being like a part of gen Z and
in getting to vote, I feel that we all have
a very big voice, and we plan on using it.
So that's why I'm excited. I love it now you
mentioned and it's interesting to me to think about because
I feel like for most people, their first election is
a presidential but you have done a local one, so
(03:41):
you kind of got over what I think most people
find to be the scariest part, which is like getting
in the voting booth and realizing they're all of these
little elections that you maybe didn't realize we're playing out.
You didn't know all these people. Do you have any
nervousness going into this one now that you've got like
the local one under your belt. I think the local
home was actually really helpful because it helped me understand
(04:01):
an idea of what I was walking into. Even though
I'm sure they won't you be too similar, but they
they'll have their their ties. I remember going to the
local polling place and you know, you sit in this
little like divider table, sing imagig, and I remember going
through the boxes and googling like every other word because
(04:23):
I had no I had no idea like and it
was terrifying to me because I was like, Okay, how
can I understand this in my own language while like
googling everything. So it was very important for me to
actually understand what I was checking off in the boxes.
And I hope that whoever's listening, I encourage you to, like,
(04:45):
just if you don't know something, take the time to
look at it. Don't just fill it out because you
want to be done with filling it out. Like actually
understand what you're voting for, you know, like take a stand,
don't pull an air and Burton. Now I'm kidding, I
love Hamilton's, but yeah, I'm just saying, like, in terms
of making that you understand what you're checking off, I
was terrified of that, but I got through it. I'm alive,
so perfect. I will say. At my polling place, they
(05:09):
don't let you take your phone in, Like you have
to turn it off. So you gotta be a little
ahead of the game and get a sample ballot and
look that stuff up beforehand because they will dog you
for the phone. It's happened to be before you know.
I think, did I fill out? There was one that
I had to fill out at home, and then one
(05:29):
that I did at the polling place. The polling place
they took my phone. The one that I took at home.
I was googling everything and I had my parents on
speed dogs. But that's great. That's like turning to your
resources to get the information you need. That's exactly what
a voter should do. How are you prepping for the
local elections on the ballot this time? Are you basically
like looking ahead and getting all the information? Now? Are
you doing a mail in? And you're kind of going
(05:51):
to do the same you know, open book version a
little bit of both. I'm keeping my eye out, you know,
in the city that I live, and I'm in New
Jersey right now, but i live in California, So I'm
keeping an eye out for everything that's happening out there
and making sure that I'm at least in tune with
like all the stuff that I need to be in
tune for. But then, especially when it comes time to vote,
that's where the Google kind of slips on in. I
(06:12):
love it. Now, I am maybe guessing that you are
probably mailing in this time or are you going to
actually get to go on election day and do the
thing festival style? Festival style, like the way you said that,
it sounds like a music festival, but it's politics. Um. Yeah,
I'm definitely gonna be doing vote by mail just because
it's Yeah, but seeing everything that's happening with the post office,
(06:37):
and that's just all terrifying to me. So I have
to double check my resources in this sense of making
sure that where I'm putting my vote by mail ballot
is actually going to get sent to the right place
and it's not just going to be tossed to the side.
I'm pretty terrified of that. For those who aren't aware,
vote early, Vote early, give them time to route that stuff.
(06:59):
Vote early, that's the best. Yeah. Do you have any
plans to celebrate your first big election experience? Oh? I mean,
I'm one to celebrate all the things, like, oh man,
I got a new pair of shoes. I guess we
all have to have some people over like, so I
wouldn't be surprised if we had like a mini voting
(07:20):
party or something. I mean, me and my friends have
been talking about doing theme parties for a while, so
who knows. I hope you have a huge blowout and
you send me pictures, because I'm sure it is going
to be a blast when it comes to election day.
Are you going to be glued to the television watching
or you more the kind of person that's like I
did my part. I will find out when all of
the votes are counted. I hate my answers neutral again,
(07:40):
but yeah, a little bit of both. I'm probably going
to be glued to the screen knowing me. But with
social media nowadays, which a lot of it is, but
for the most part, you can be informed if you
can fight the right sources and you understand, you know,
the truth behind them, as long as you're looking into
that and looking for that. Yeah, a little bit of both.
I'll be tuned into that and making sure I'm checking
into social men because I know a lot of people
(08:01):
have either got awful opinions or really great opinions and
I want to see it all. So you know you'll
be getting them in real time if you just keep
an eye on social media. So you're all set for
my last question. As you said, like your age group
is actually very very active and motivated, despite what people
(08:21):
in my age group might sometimes think, which is incorrect.
But I'm wondering if you encounter someone who is, you know,
a peer of yours who is maybe like, maam, I'm
not going to do this voting thing. What is the
one thing you would hope to convey to them that
would maybe get them inspired to make that effort to
mail in that ballot or to get to the polling booth.
So I may or may not will not confirm or
(08:45):
deny that. On my private story on Instagram and Snapchat,
I put like, if you register to vote, I'll I
will literally buy you coffee. And so I got a
bunch of that. I got a bunch of people swiping
and sending me screenshots of their voter registration for this year,
and I was like, well, I guess you get free
coffee now, congrats, like and you know, I just was
(09:07):
hoping that's like it's another one was like I have
a really close friend of mine who's just kind of
very easy going about it, and I'm like, come on,
you have to and she's like, you know, I don't know.
And I was like, I will literally buy you dinner
for a week, please do it. Like I'm just trying
to pull a teeth at this point, my goodness. But
I guess, uh, you know, if buying dinner isn't enough
(09:30):
to convey, then uh, let's look at the very small
fact that our country and the people inside of it
are relying us to do the right thing. So you know,
just that small little detail. Yeah, you guys are the future,
so you want to build the future that you want
to have. It's more important than anything. I think. We're
people who are just now at that precipice of being
(09:50):
active voters to really get engaged. So I appreciate that
you are out there proselytizing and encouraging your friends and
bribing them with treats buying. Listen, bribery isn't the worst
thing sometimes. In this case, we'll just call it like
reward motivation. That sounds a little better and less dicey.
(10:11):
I think reward motivation. Oh, my therapist would be so
proud of me. Right now. It's just a little, you know,
a little nudge in the right direction. That's of it.
So there you have it. You have been nudged by
Laurie Hernandez, So get out and vote because she says so,
and she'll buy you coffee. I'm gonna owe so much
(10:32):
coffee to the world, right, You're just gonna have to
buy like a blanket amount of coffee from every major
coffee vendor in the country and be like, wow, there
will be a code you'll distribute. I'm sorry that I've
accidentally set you up for doom, but Laurie, thank you
so much for chatting with me about this. You are
so delightful and this has been just like the funnest
interview every Thank you so much. Who knew talking about
(10:56):
vote and could be so much fun? Hey? Are you
not registered to vote yet? But you think it's something
you want to do? You may still have time. Voter
registration deadlines vary by state, so to find out the
scoop for where you are, check out a nonpartisan registration
voting site like headcount dot org or fair vote dot org.
(11:19):
Why I'm Voting is an I Heart Radio production. For
more podcasts from I Heart Radio, visit the I Heart
Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever it is you listen
to your favorite shows.
Welcome to Why I'm Voting, a production of I Heart Radio. Listen.
You already know this, but it's an election year. You
might already be tired of fearing about it. But here's
the thing. Democracy doesn't work without you. I'm Holly Frying,
and I'm sitting down with many of my fellow podcasters,
from Will Ferrell to Stephanie Rule, as well as other
(00:26):
luminaries to find out about their relationships with the ballot
box and ultimately just to find out why they vote.
I hope you're exercising your right to vote, and if
you're not, I hope that their stories inspire you. Hello,
and welcome to Why I'm Voting. This is honestly a
(00:47):
very exciting moment for me because I have a guest
on who I have watched you a lot of amazing things.
It is Laurie Hernandez. You know her name because she
was part of the gold medal winning USA women's gymnastics
team at Summer Olympics. She also took home a silver
medal on balance beam with those Olympics, and that business
was amazing to behold um. Since then, she has competed
(01:09):
on Dancing with the Stars and One and she appeared
on a number of other television shows, but now she
is returning to gymnastics, which makes my heart very happy. Lorie,
I am so thrilled to have you, it's not even funny.
So thank you, thank you, thank you for joining me today.
Thank you so much for having me. I'm so excited
to talk with you today. I'm really really excited because
(01:29):
you have accomplished a great deal, and yet you are
just a youngster. This is actually your first presidential election
coming up. Yeah. Yeah, I turned eighteen. That was my
first time voting. But yeah, like you said, in terms
of kind of first time presidential votes, this is my
first one. I'm very excited. I'm excited for you because
(01:50):
you have been a gymnast for so long, like you
have lived a life of great focus. So I'm wondering
if you can recall pretty easily when you first learned
about vote and that you had a pretty major part
to play in the democratic process. Yeah, I mean, well,
so my parents they felt it was very important for
me my siblings to understand the gist of what's happening
(02:11):
and then allow us to kind of do our own
research and figured it out because they wanted they didn't
want it to be biased. But also they were like,
you better care about other human beings, and we were
like iconic, so we were all able to do our
own research and test things out. And sure enough, Thanksgiving
is a very enjoying time of year because we all agree.
So the envy in my heart over that statement alone,
(02:34):
I'm so sorry. I think it's great. I love that
you have that with your family. As you said, you
have voted in a local election, but this is the
first presidential On a scale of one to ten, how
excited are you, I'm I'm at a ten, just because
I think, well, here's the thing. Gen Z is seen
as kind of like not caring, apathetic, not very in
tune with what's happening around them, And I would like,
(02:59):
just genuinely everyone to take a rain check on that
and to to re reevalue reevalue that statement, only because
we're a lot more in tune with what's happening in
the world than you think, and we're finding very witty
ways to fix it, which is so exciting to watch
and be a part of. Um. Yeah, but in terms
(03:20):
of just being like a part of gen Z and
in getting to vote, I feel that we all have
a very big voice, and we plan on using it.
So that's why I'm excited. I love it now you
mentioned and it's interesting to me to think about because
I feel like for most people, their first election is
a presidential but you have done a local one, so
(03:41):
you kind of got over what I think most people
find to be the scariest part, which is like getting
in the voting booth and realizing they're all of these
little elections that you maybe didn't realize we're playing out.
You didn't know all these people. Do you have any
nervousness going into this one now that you've got like
the local one under your belt. I think the local
home was actually really helpful because it helped me understand
(04:01):
an idea of what I was walking into. Even though
I'm sure they won't you be too similar, but they
they'll have their their ties. I remember going to the
local polling place and you know, you sit in this
little like divider table, sing imagig, and I remember going
through the boxes and googling like every other word because
(04:23):
I had no I had no idea like and it
was terrifying to me because I was like, Okay, how
can I understand this in my own language while like
googling everything. So it was very important for me to
actually understand what I was checking off in the boxes.
And I hope that whoever's listening, I encourage you to, like,
(04:45):
just if you don't know something, take the time to
look at it. Don't just fill it out because you
want to be done with filling it out. Like actually
understand what you're voting for, you know, like take a stand,
don't pull an air and Burton. Now I'm kidding, I
love Hamilton's, but yeah, I'm just saying, like, in terms
of making that you understand what you're checking off, I
was terrified of that, but I got through it. I'm alive,
so perfect. I will say. At my polling place, they
(05:09):
don't let you take your phone in, Like you have
to turn it off. So you gotta be a little
ahead of the game and get a sample ballot and
look that stuff up beforehand because they will dog you
for the phone. It's happened to be before you know.
I think, did I fill out? There was one that
I had to fill out at home, and then one
(05:29):
that I did at the polling place. The polling place
they took my phone. The one that I took at home.
I was googling everything and I had my parents on
speed dogs. But that's great. That's like turning to your
resources to get the information you need. That's exactly what
a voter should do. How are you prepping for the
local elections on the ballot this time? Are you basically
like looking ahead and getting all the information? Now? Are
you doing a mail in? And you're kind of going
(05:51):
to do the same you know, open book version a
little bit of both. I'm keeping my eye out, you know,
in the city that I live, and I'm in New
Jersey right now, but i live in California, So I'm
keeping an eye out for everything that's happening out there
and making sure that I'm at least in tune with
like all the stuff that I need to be in
tune for. But then, especially when it comes time to vote,
that's where the Google kind of slips on in. I
(06:12):
love it. Now, I am maybe guessing that you are
probably mailing in this time or are you going to
actually get to go on election day and do the
thing festival style? Festival style, like the way you said that,
it sounds like a music festival, but it's politics. Um. Yeah,
I'm definitely gonna be doing vote by mail just because
it's Yeah, but seeing everything that's happening with the post office,
(06:37):
and that's just all terrifying to me. So I have
to double check my resources in this sense of making
sure that where I'm putting my vote by mail ballot
is actually going to get sent to the right place
and it's not just going to be tossed to the side.
I'm pretty terrified of that. For those who aren't aware,
vote early, Vote early, give them time to route that stuff.
(06:59):
Vote early, that's the best. Yeah. Do you have any
plans to celebrate your first big election experience? Oh? I mean,
I'm one to celebrate all the things, like, oh man,
I got a new pair of shoes. I guess we
all have to have some people over like, so I
wouldn't be surprised if we had like a mini voting
(07:20):
party or something. I mean, me and my friends have
been talking about doing theme parties for a while, so
who knows. I hope you have a huge blowout and
you send me pictures, because I'm sure it is going
to be a blast when it comes to election day.
Are you going to be glued to the television watching
or you more the kind of person that's like I
did my part. I will find out when all of
the votes are counted. I hate my answers neutral again,
(07:40):
but yeah, a little bit of both. I'm probably going
to be glued to the screen knowing me. But with
social media nowadays, which a lot of it is, but
for the most part, you can be informed if you
can fight the right sources and you understand, you know,
the truth behind them, as long as you're looking into
that and looking for that. Yeah, a little bit of both.
I'll be tuned into that and making sure I'm checking
into social men because I know a lot of people
(08:01):
have either got awful opinions or really great opinions and
I want to see it all. So you know you'll
be getting them in real time if you just keep
an eye on social media. So you're all set for
my last question. As you said, like your age group
is actually very very active and motivated, despite what people
(08:21):
in my age group might sometimes think, which is incorrect.
But I'm wondering if you encounter someone who is, you know,
a peer of yours who is maybe like, maam, I'm
not going to do this voting thing. What is the
one thing you would hope to convey to them that
would maybe get them inspired to make that effort to
mail in that ballot or to get to the polling booth.
So I may or may not will not confirm or
(08:45):
deny that. On my private story on Instagram and Snapchat,
I put like, if you register to vote, I'll I
will literally buy you coffee. And so I got a
bunch of that. I got a bunch of people swiping
and sending me screenshots of their voter registration for this year,
and I was like, well, I guess you get free
coffee now, congrats, like and you know, I just was
(09:07):
hoping that's like it's another one was like I have
a really close friend of mine who's just kind of
very easy going about it, and I'm like, come on,
you have to and she's like, you know, I don't know.
And I was like, I will literally buy you dinner
for a week, please do it. Like I'm just trying
to pull a teeth at this point, my goodness. But
I guess, uh, you know, if buying dinner isn't enough
(09:30):
to convey, then uh, let's look at the very small
fact that our country and the people inside of it
are relying us to do the right thing. So you know,
just that small little detail. Yeah, you guys are the future,
so you want to build the future that you want
to have. It's more important than anything. I think. We're
people who are just now at that precipice of being
(09:50):
active voters to really get engaged. So I appreciate that
you are out there proselytizing and encouraging your friends and
bribing them with treats buying. Listen, bribery isn't the worst
thing sometimes. In this case, we'll just call it like
reward motivation. That sounds a little better and less dicey.
(10:11):
I think reward motivation. Oh, my therapist would be so
proud of me. Right now. It's just a little, you know,
a little nudge in the right direction. That's of it.
So there you have it. You have been nudged by
Laurie Hernandez, So get out and vote because she says so,
and she'll buy you coffee. I'm gonna owe so much
(10:32):
coffee to the world, right, You're just gonna have to
buy like a blanket amount of coffee from every major
coffee vendor in the country and be like, wow, there
will be a code you'll distribute. I'm sorry that I've
accidentally set you up for doom, but Laurie, thank you
so much for chatting with me about this. You are
so delightful and this has been just like the funnest
interview every Thank you so much. Who knew talking about
(10:56):
vote and could be so much fun? Hey? Are you
not registered to vote yet? But you think it's something
you want to do? You may still have time. Voter
registration deadlines vary by state, so to find out the
scoop for where you are, check out a nonpartisan registration
voting site like headcount dot org or fair vote dot org.
(11:19):
Why I'm Voting is an I Heart Radio production. For
more podcasts from I Heart Radio, visit the I Heart
Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever it is you listen
to your favorite shows.
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