September 21, 2020 • 8 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
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
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 hearing 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 inspired you. Hello,
and welcome to Why I'm Voting Today. My guest is
(00:48):
Sammy j. And Sammy is one of the youngest members
of the I Heart Radio podcasting family, so she's kind
of my colleague, even though this is the first time
we get to meet. And on her show, Let's Be Real,
she talks about all kinds of people, many of whom
are famous, and part of her whole approach to that
show is pulling back the veil of celebrity and showing
them as real people and just having people relate to
(01:09):
one another. And today she is joining me, and I
am very very excited because she is a first time voter.
So Sammy, welcome, Thank you so much for joining me.
I am so happy to be here. Like I was
just saying to Um, I'm going to my senior year
of high school, I am about to turn eight. Team
to be a a first time voter. And we actually listened
(01:29):
to one of your episodes for my history class assignment.
So this is very full circle firm that is high praise. Indeed,
my first question is, and you are younger than most
of my interviewees, so you might have a closer memory
of this. Do you remember when you first realized as
a kid that you were going to get to participate
in government with your vote. I don't know if there's
(01:49):
a specific moment when I was like, oh my goodness,
I get to vote, But I think as I've gotten older,
I've just learned so much more about the government and
what's important. I took the US government classes year. I
found it fascinating and just really understanding my rights not
only as a human being, but also how effective and
how I can make change. Now because you are a
(02:12):
first time voter again, I'm so excited to be talking
to someone that is like, right here on the precipice,
I am so excited. What is your level of excitement
about getting to vote for the first time on a
scale of one to ten? Probably I have been bringing
this up. I remember right after the election I figured
out that like, oh my goodness, I'll be able to
(02:33):
vote in the next elections. And when I realized that,
I was like, oh my goodness, we got to make
this happen. And I think it's just I think this
is one of the coolest elections to be a part of. Yeah,
I mean it's great. I have been personally, I am
so inspired watching people your age get really excited and
amped up to be part of this process and to
(02:55):
make their voices heard, Like, to me, that's so exciting.
Have you thought about what it's going to feel like
to vote for the first time. Do you have any
expectations about casting your ballot? Are you nervous about it
at all? So? I think I'm nervous about and I
think with the status of the country that we're in,
I don't know how it's going to be done, because
I don't know if it's going to be done in
person or mail. I've heard some talk about that, but
(03:16):
I think it's just gonna be like a sigh of
relief to knowing that I am a part not only
doing my civic duty, but I am hope making a
change and the change that I want to see in
the world. Now, what is your research process like? Do
you have a research process that you've already started as
a voter to make sure that the candidates that you're
selecting are the ones that best match your ideals and
your goals. Yes. Actually, I've been really into politics for
(03:39):
a really long time, and especially around sixteen election. I started, well,
my mom is a news junkie, and it kind of
became our thing to talk about what's been happening with
the news. And then especially after the sixteen election, you
know New York, it's kind of a bubble. That's where
I live, and it's a very democratic state, and I realized,
you know, everyone thought that are you was going to win,
(04:01):
but then you realize we were just in a bubble.
So I've spent the past four years really trying to
learn from different news outlets here there are different perspectives,
so then I can gather my own and unfortunate where
my parents they want me to form my own opinion,
and I always ask questions, which I think is really important.
So I've definitely done research from watching different forms of
new shows with some I believe something I don't. Twitter
(04:24):
has definitely been an outlet for that, and also just
keeping a relevant topic between me and my friends. I
love hearing that your friends are talking about this too.
For the smaller elections, like your local elections county and
city and state, some of those are also going to
be on the ballot. How are you prepping for those
since they're not probably getting talked about on Twitter nearly
(04:44):
as much. Well, I think, especially with the coronavirus, this
election isn't really being talked about as much because you know,
a pandemic has hit us. So I think what I've
just been doing YouTube has been a really helpful resource
for me. I watched video elect watch congressional hearings, which
is a weird thing that I like to do. I
don't know, I just find it really interesting how the
(05:06):
process is um and so besides that, I'm also just really,
like I said, looking at the different values and really
stinking with what I believe. I think it's all nonpartisan.
If you vote doesn't matter who you vote for, then
you are doing the civic duty that you're supposed to
that we're lucky enough to do. Yeah, we are very
(05:26):
fortunate to have this as a right. This is, of course,
as you've mentioned, in pandemic years. It's a little weird.
But I wonder if you just had a choice, would
you rather do mail in early voting or voting day
of or have you thought about that Since you don't
have experience under your belt, you may not have a
solid feeling. I don't really have a solid feeling. I
do like the idea of mailing in votes. With everything
(05:49):
that happened with you know, interference in our last election,
I feel much safer things being done by paper instead
of electronics. Since you are as excited as you are,
which I cannot again applaud you enough for your I
don't think you understand how excited I am. I have
a sense of it, like I'm very excited. Do you
(06:09):
have any plans to celebrate this first voting experience or
are you like making plans for what you're going to
do on election day? I don't really have any plans specifically.
I know like election day it's going to be a
day filled with anxiety for me because you know, the
ballots can go in late. So though I'm gonna I
kind of just want to have the day remain the
same for me because I feel like the pent up
(06:32):
anxiety of it will just be too much for me
to handle. Because again, this is a very important election.
No matter who you vote for, it is a very
important election with everything going on in our country. So
I'm just gonna try. I'm going to get the sticker.
I'm going to post in the sticker that I voted.
I think that's what I'm most excited for, and I'm
just gonna go about my day and just try and
keep it as normal as possible. So wise for your
(06:54):
age if you could tell someone and you may encounter
this in your day to day life, particularly like people
in your age group who are not as enthused about
this whole process as you are at using their opportunity
in their right and if you could tell them one
thing to convince them like you really need to activate
and go do this, what would that be? Well, I'd
say a few things. Not only are we lucky enough
(07:15):
to be able to vote and have the freedom that
we do in America, I think especially for women this
selection is really important because it's a huge factor and
what's going to happen to our rights personally. And if
you look back at, you know, the nine twenties, I
believe when you know women were protesting, they fought for
their lives. They risk their lives to give us a
(07:35):
chance to be able to use our vote. So if
you're not going to do it, if you think it's boring,
just do it for the people that have fought for
you to be able to history reference. I love it, Sammy.
Thank you so much for spending time with me today
and for sharing your passion, because it is so thrilling
to know that, like the people coming behind us are
(07:56):
carrying the torch. It's really really marvelous. Thank you, thank you,
thank you well, thank you for having me on your show.
I'm really excited, like you know, about this election. But
also I think my generation is really cool and I
think we're gonna make a big impact, and if we
get everybody to understand that, I think we'll make a difference.
I concur and I hope that this conversation has maybe
(08:17):
inspired a few people on the fence to get out
there and take advantage of their right to vote. Thank
you again, absolutely, thank you. 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
(08:38):
where you are, check out a nonpartisan registration voting site
like head count dot org or fair vote dot org.
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 hearing 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 inspired you. Hello,
and welcome to Why I'm Voting Today. My guest is
(00:48):
Sammy j. And Sammy is one of the youngest members
of the I Heart Radio podcasting family, so she's kind
of my colleague, even though this is the first time
we get to meet. And on her show, Let's Be Real,
she talks about all kinds of people, many of whom
are famous, and part of her whole approach to that
show is pulling back the veil of celebrity and showing
them as real people and just having people relate to
(01:09):
one another. And today she is joining me, and I
am very very excited because she is a first time voter.
So Sammy, welcome, Thank you so much for joining me.
I am so happy to be here. Like I was
just saying to Um, I'm going to my senior year
of high school, I am about to turn eight. Team
to be a a first time voter. And we actually listened
(01:29):
to one of your episodes for my history class assignment.
So this is very full circle firm that is high praise. Indeed,
my first question is, and you are younger than most
of my interviewees, so you might have a closer memory
of this. Do you remember when you first realized as
a kid that you were going to get to participate
in government with your vote. I don't know if there's
(01:49):
a specific moment when I was like, oh my goodness,
I get to vote, But I think as I've gotten older,
I've just learned so much more about the government and
what's important. I took the US government classes year. I
found it fascinating and just really understanding my rights not
only as a human being, but also how effective and
how I can make change. Now because you are a
(02:12):
first time voter again, I'm so excited to be talking
to someone that is like, right here on the precipice,
I am so excited. What is your level of excitement
about getting to vote for the first time on a
scale of one to ten? Probably I have been bringing
this up. I remember right after the election I figured
out that like, oh my goodness, I'll be able to
(02:33):
vote in the next elections. And when I realized that,
I was like, oh my goodness, we got to make
this happen. And I think it's just I think this
is one of the coolest elections to be a part of. Yeah,
I mean it's great. I have been personally, I am
so inspired watching people your age get really excited and
amped up to be part of this process and to
(02:55):
make their voices heard, Like, to me, that's so exciting.
Have you thought about what it's going to feel like
to vote for the first time. Do you have any
expectations about casting your ballot? Are you nervous about it
at all? So? I think I'm nervous about and I
think with the status of the country that we're in,
I don't know how it's going to be done, because
I don't know if it's going to be done in
person or mail. I've heard some talk about that, but
(03:16):
I think it's just gonna be like a sigh of
relief to knowing that I am a part not only
doing my civic duty, but I am hope making a
change and the change that I want to see in
the world. Now, what is your research process like? Do
you have a research process that you've already started as
a voter to make sure that the candidates that you're
selecting are the ones that best match your ideals and
your goals. Yes. Actually, I've been really into politics for
(03:39):
a really long time, and especially around sixteen election. I started, well,
my mom is a news junkie, and it kind of
became our thing to talk about what's been happening with
the news. And then especially after the sixteen election, you
know New York, it's kind of a bubble. That's where
I live, and it's a very democratic state, and I realized,
you know, everyone thought that are you was going to win,
(04:01):
but then you realize we were just in a bubble.
So I've spent the past four years really trying to
learn from different news outlets here there are different perspectives,
so then I can gather my own and unfortunate where
my parents they want me to form my own opinion,
and I always ask questions, which I think is really important.
So I've definitely done research from watching different forms of
new shows with some I believe something I don't. Twitter
(04:24):
has definitely been an outlet for that, and also just
keeping a relevant topic between me and my friends. I
love hearing that your friends are talking about this too.
For the smaller elections, like your local elections county and
city and state, some of those are also going to
be on the ballot. How are you prepping for those
since they're not probably getting talked about on Twitter nearly
(04:44):
as much. Well, I think, especially with the coronavirus, this
election isn't really being talked about as much because you know,
a pandemic has hit us. So I think what I've
just been doing YouTube has been a really helpful resource
for me. I watched video elect watch congressional hearings, which
is a weird thing that I like to do. I
don't know, I just find it really interesting how the
(05:06):
process is um and so besides that, I'm also just really,
like I said, looking at the different values and really
stinking with what I believe. I think it's all nonpartisan.
If you vote doesn't matter who you vote for, then
you are doing the civic duty that you're supposed to
that we're lucky enough to do. Yeah, we are very
(05:26):
fortunate to have this as a right. This is, of course,
as you've mentioned, in pandemic years. It's a little weird.
But I wonder if you just had a choice, would
you rather do mail in early voting or voting day
of or have you thought about that Since you don't
have experience under your belt, you may not have a
solid feeling. I don't really have a solid feeling. I
do like the idea of mailing in votes. With everything
(05:49):
that happened with you know, interference in our last election,
I feel much safer things being done by paper instead
of electronics. Since you are as excited as you are,
which I cannot again applaud you enough for your I
don't think you understand how excited I am. I have
a sense of it, like I'm very excited. Do you
(06:09):
have any plans to celebrate this first voting experience or
are you like making plans for what you're going to
do on election day? I don't really have any plans specifically.
I know like election day it's going to be a
day filled with anxiety for me because you know, the
ballots can go in late. So though I'm gonna I
kind of just want to have the day remain the
same for me because I feel like the pent up
(06:32):
anxiety of it will just be too much for me
to handle. Because again, this is a very important election.
No matter who you vote for, it is a very
important election with everything going on in our country. So
I'm just gonna try. I'm going to get the sticker.
I'm going to post in the sticker that I voted.
I think that's what I'm most excited for, and I'm
just gonna go about my day and just try and
keep it as normal as possible. So wise for your
(06:54):
age if you could tell someone and you may encounter
this in your day to day life, particularly like people
in your age group who are not as enthused about
this whole process as you are at using their opportunity
in their right and if you could tell them one
thing to convince them like you really need to activate
and go do this, what would that be? Well, I'd
say a few things. Not only are we lucky enough
(07:15):
to be able to vote and have the freedom that
we do in America, I think especially for women this
selection is really important because it's a huge factor and
what's going to happen to our rights personally. And if
you look back at, you know, the nine twenties, I
believe when you know women were protesting, they fought for
their lives. They risk their lives to give us a
(07:35):
chance to be able to use our vote. So if
you're not going to do it, if you think it's boring,
just do it for the people that have fought for
you to be able to history reference. I love it, Sammy.
Thank you so much for spending time with me today
and for sharing your passion, because it is so thrilling
to know that, like the people coming behind us are
(07:56):
carrying the torch. It's really really marvelous. Thank you, thank you,
thank you well, thank you for having me on your show.
I'm really excited, like you know, about this election. But
also I think my generation is really cool and I
think we're gonna make a big impact, and if we
get everybody to understand that, I think we'll make a difference.
I concur and I hope that this conversation has maybe
(08:17):
inspired a few people on the fence to get out
there and take advantage of their right to vote. Thank
you again, absolutely, thank you. 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
(08:38):
where you are, check out a nonpartisan registration voting site
like head count dot org or fair vote dot org.
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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