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0:00:19[Music]
0:00:22hello hi John
0:00:25hi Merlin how's it going good boy it's
0:00:29late is it it's late
0:00:32Shh late the Sun is the sun is in the
0:00:36sky not like when we normally record
0:00:39when the Sun is just peeping up over the
0:00:41horizon displays in Addis just mocking
0:00:43mocking our existence
0:00:45oh that's son that that darn son
0:00:48ya hoo happy happy easter thank you uh I
0:00:53do feel happy about it you doing special
0:00:57com easter was you know Easter isn't
0:01:01like one of the main holidays in my
0:01:04culture and tradition it's a it's a it
0:01:07is a holiday course I remember my sister
0:01:10when she was a little girl she and I we
0:01:15had our own bedrooms but we also had a
0:01:17bunk bed and sometimes the bunk bed was
0:01:18in my room and sometimes it was in her
0:01:20room and when the bump it was in my room
0:01:23she never came in and slept in my room
0:01:26but when the bunk bed was in her room
0:01:28sometimes I would go in and sleep in her
0:01:29room to like just comfort her and I
0:01:33remember one Easter morning we were
0:01:36sitting on the top bunk together looking
0:01:38out the window and my sister swears now
0:01:41she was just a child
0:01:43I mean I was probably seven she was four
0:01:47or five
0:01:49she swears that we saw the Easter bunny
0:01:52Oh in the backyard and she swears to it
0:01:54to this day my memories are unclear
0:01:58about whether or not I saw the Easter
0:01:59Bunny or whether I just in a big
0:02:02brotherly fashion reinforced that she
0:02:05had seen the Easter Bunny uh huh you
0:02:07know it's it's it was a long time ago of
0:02:11all holidays
0:02:12it feels like it has the biggest net
0:02:15disconnect between why we theoretically
0:02:17observe it and then what we actually do
0:02:20I moving great with Christmas even if
0:02:22you're like a secular person you
0:02:24probably still have a certain amount of
0:02:25like like Christian like Christmas
0:02:29carols playing and stuff like that but
0:02:31like for for not observing people easter
0:02:33is really about candy this is a very
0:02:36like the thing is my daughter's an age
0:02:38where now everything is about candy is a
0:02:40candy lawyer
0:02:41she's constantly negotiating the candy
0:02:43like all day and today has been nothing
0:02:44but a long series of negotiations about
0:02:47candy
0:02:47yeah fortunately my child is still sort
0:02:52of pre candy who I won't last forever
0:02:56you get a bunny
0:02:57uh I have you know frankly on a full
0:03:02disclosure who have not seen her today
0:03:05yeah because she went to battling him
0:03:07we're grandparents live
0:03:09that's nice and they are having a full
0:03:11day where the Easter dress at church and
0:03:13all the wonderful American holiday
0:03:15traditions and I have been kind of
0:03:19running around like a crazy person
0:03:21yeah it getting ready to really nail
0:03:23down now the easter evening holiday
0:03:25celebration
0:03:26uh no in fact I've been running around
0:03:28like a crazy person because I and I have
0:03:31kind of a surprise
0:03:33it's something like to share with our
0:03:35listeners have a little bit of surprise
0:03:37that i wanted that I want to reveal to
0:03:39our listeners that I want to share with
0:03:40you
0:03:41Merlin my close personal friend I can't
0:03:43wait to hear already i think i'm ready
0:03:45and as ready as I'm gonna be
0:03:46ru ru when you're ready chair and got
0:03:51the bail Reddy better earn it tomorrow i
0:03:56am declaring my candidacy for seattle
0:04:00city council
0:04:01that was kind of a muted bell well you
0:04:04know there's a lot to talk about
0:04:05haha we don't have time to let it ring
0:04:08as much as that's right we should get
0:04:10right on it as much as you europe europe
0:04:12political now John you gotta go right to
0:04:14the brass tacks so true I i need to
0:04:17learn how to give a concise interview
0:04:22oh I gotta write this one down right
0:04:24concise interview I need to be able to
0:04:26say what my policies and plans are in a
0:04:29very short a truncated sort of sound by
0:04:34the way which is intrinsically a method
0:04:37of speaking that I distrust and uh and
0:04:42yet it is the way of that this business
0:04:44is conducted sometimes ideas can be a
0:04:47little bit like having nausea we feel
0:04:48like you're not done until they're all
0:04:50out and you know what i mean i'm not i'm
0:04:52not really done here
0:04:53I mean I'm taking a break nice-looking a
0:04:54lot to get out of here to start a new
0:04:57list here it's called John's
0:04:58opportunities for growth and the first
0:05:001i have is a concise interviews concise
0:05:02interviews this is that this is a growth
0:05:04opportunity a steak for me and so so as
0:05:11as you may or may not know a the the way
0:05:14that this campaign is going to run there
0:05:17is a primary that happens in august and
0:05:20in some ways August seems a million
0:05:24miles away but of course i will be doing
0:05:26lots and lots of going to BBQ news and
0:05:31kissing babies and saying what my ideas
0:05:34are over and over so there's plenty of
0:05:36opportunity between now in august for me
0:05:38to get my ideas out there right but the
0:05:42challenge for me is going to be to not
0:05:45want to tell everyone all my ideas the
0:05:47first time that I meet them or talk to
0:05:49them right and also i am running on a
0:05:54premise that I am listening to your
0:05:58ideas you citizens of Seattle and you
0:06:01people who are listening who are not
0:06:02citizens of Seattle who would who feel
0:06:04like they are in some way a global
0:06:09citizen of Seattle I want to hear other
0:06:12people's ideas right i mean that the
0:06:13being on city council is
0:06:15about your ideas it's about it's about
0:06:17the city's ideas
0:06:18it seems like a road down and not bad
0:06:21went down and dirty kind of job there's
0:06:22a lot of things with get millage you got
0:06:24zoning you got parking I don't know
0:06:26anything about this but i'm just
0:06:27guessing there's a lot of like how the
0:06:29city actually functions that second I
0:06:32know about me
0:06:33that is exactly right as you know about
0:06:34me i am fascinated by all those things
0:06:37you love infrastructure i do i love the
0:06:39ins and outs the ups and downs i love
0:06:41what's under manhole covers that I love
0:06:43what's on top of telephone poles and so
0:06:46the job is ideal for me I i will 3i will
0:06:49relish it
0:06:50I will relish sitting at a dais and
0:06:53listening to people talk about zoning um
0:06:56but but the challenge in getting there
0:06:58is that in our country we have a we have
0:07:03a concept of who it is that that
0:07:06occupies these rolls right uh people
0:07:11that go into government are a certain
0:07:13kind of person and we typically think of
0:07:18them as either lawyers or people who
0:07:21have sort of been professional activists
0:07:24their whole career and they kind of earn
0:07:27the job and then they think of it as a
0:07:32professional job that they are
0:07:33professional legislature and the thing
0:07:37about me is that I'm an actual a
0:07:39Democrat in the sense that I think that
0:07:42citizens should be involved in
0:07:43government my farmers used to just be in
0:07:45office for a while and then they go back
0:07:46to farming thank you
0:07:48m-my since we're figuring out how to
0:07:50push books off the shelf right down
0:07:52going into the tesseract that is through
0:07:55a black hole and we don't touch today
0:07:56but I tried to watch it i try to watch
0:07:58it we got a single back i want to talk
0:07:59about it I really do i I want to hear
0:08:01your thoughts on my car hey but listen
0:08:05so I'm so I'm trying to convince the
0:08:07city of seattle not just that i will be
0:08:09a great person on this city council but
0:08:11also that it is not that dangerous to
0:08:14elect somebody who is talking about art
0:08:18as a civic virtue and not every city
0:08:22come in every city councilperson in
0:08:24seattle has generally the same ideas
0:08:26I mean because Seattle is a liberal
0:08:28utopia we all think that there should be
0:08:30more transit we don't think there should
0:08:32be affordable housing right there's it's
0:08:34not like there's somebody running for
0:08:35seattle city council who thinks that the
0:08:37earth was created in seven days and who
0:08:39wants a blood wave to sweep away that
0:08:43same-sex marriages or whatever the hell
0:08:46the platform he would be very unusual
0:08:48here know everybody here is a liberal
0:08:51and that's a wonderful opportunity and
0:08:54my challenges that i'm going to go in
0:08:55front of the city and say listen there's
0:08:58never been an artist on city government
0:09:00and that is precisely what we need and
0:09:04that is precisely where we go next
0:09:08it's time to take a big leap forward and
0:09:10some of that big leap forward is a is a
0:09:13stretch of the imagination that we not
0:09:15keep putting like people who are down in
0:09:20the weeds are in a in positions of power
0:09:24on city government because there's no
0:09:25reason to think that they are going to
0:09:26stay in the weeds right but that's a
0:09:30challenge right out there a lot of the
0:09:31people that are the gatekeepers between
0:09:33me and the citizens of Seattle the only
0:09:36way they have to compare candidates
0:09:37against one another is this is this
0:09:40model a lot like well your your your
0:09:43opponent says that there should be more
0:09:44buses and trains what do you say i also
0:09:47think there should be more buses and
0:09:48trains well how is that different than
0:09:50your opponent frankly it's practically
0:09:52not different because the truth is we
0:09:56need more buses and trains and I mean
0:09:58there's no why would anybody have a
0:10:00different attitude right nobody would so
0:10:03how do you differentiate between us and
0:10:05the differentiation becomes a question
0:10:07of who can tell who can tell this story
0:10:10to the citizens of Seattle and make
0:10:13people invested in doing what is
0:10:16ultimately the hard work of building a
0:10:18better place
0:10:19that's good that was good oh thank you
0:10:21well practicing I have to just do this
0:10:23now every day for the next six months
0:10:25right and then then everybody then
0:10:28people will then there's a popularity
0:10:30contest where they decide which
0:10:33candidate is appeals to them more i
0:10:36think a lot of voters pick the one whose
0:10:38hair looks better before I do
0:10:41happen I do have good hair so in that
0:10:44yeah but you got farm-to-table hair
0:10:45you've got locally-sourced like you
0:10:47literally cut your own hair and how many
0:10:49other candidates are gonna be able to
0:10:50say that my man i cannot tell you last
0:10:52night i'm writing my platform speech and
0:10:57what did i do I decided that I needed to
0:11:00give myself a haircut two o'clock in the
0:11:03morning i'm standing in the mirror and
0:11:04I'm cutting my hair and of one of the
0:11:06very one of the clearest voices in my
0:11:08head is telling me idiot
0:11:10do not cut your hair right now if this
0:11:14could go a lot of ways and I lobby
0:11:16vision though it sometimes you have to
0:11:18know how to make that vision being
0:11:20implemented in ways that may seem
0:11:21non-obvious right right but and and
0:11:24luckily in this case i did a pretty good
0:11:26job of cutting my hair looks pretty good
0:11:28but I'm you know what it means is that I
0:11:30walk out the door the next morning not
0:11:32full of hair confidence i walk out the
0:11:35door with a little bit of hearing
0:11:36society because I cut it in the middle
0:11:38of the night with a pair of construction
0:11:40paper so that and now I'm walking out to
0:11:44stand in front of the city and say I am
0:11:47an American and also someone who is not
0:11:49a lunatic and i propose to represent you
0:11:53well and effectively in city government
0:11:55and i cut my hair last night
0:11:58any questions hello you there for those
0:12:01of you who throws you don't know me I am
0:12:03gonna rock your next city councilman mm
0:12:05well I like the sound of that so and of
0:12:08course one of the challenges for me is
0:12:10that this podcast for instance here's
0:12:13the thing that I cannot imagine
0:12:15sacrificing and this podcast is not
0:12:19something that any of the other
0:12:21candidates for City Council have like a
0:12:24similar podcast compared to who
0:12:27right it's not there isn't a precedent I
0:12:29don't think and then it's I think fairly
0:12:31rare in government that someone is
0:12:35proposing to be in government and also
0:12:37once a week talk to his friend with the
0:12:40utmost candor
0:12:41uh-huh about what's happening in their
0:12:43lives and so it shows that you're not
0:12:45afraid to discuss the difficult issues
0:12:47well let's let's hope I mean this is the
0:12:49thing we we talk about politicians in a
0:12:51certain way we want them to be a certain
0:12:54way
0:12:55but the only people who run for office
0:12:56are people with unrealistic hair under
0:13:01some of them have unbelievable hair and
0:13:03who tell us you know who do that thing
0:13:07where they convince us that they
0:13:09actually do have a foolproof plan and
0:13:13the only people who really believe they
0:13:15have a foolproof plan are our other
0:13:17fools who have not who don't have enough
0:13:20information to know how wrong they are
0:13:22or sociopaths the reality is if you go
0:13:27into public office what you should say
0:13:28first and foremost is I am going into
0:13:30this job to listen to people and and
0:13:33here every side and and I mean somebody
0:13:36has to choose and that's who you're
0:13:38pointing you elect people to office to
0:13:41choose on your behalf but what makes
0:13:44that person a good chooser is not that
0:13:47they go into office already with it with
0:13:49it like an unshakable faith in their own
0:13:52ideas right it's what makes them a good
0:13:54choosers that they are that they're good
0:13:56listeners that they are thoughtful that
0:13:59they have a bra breadth of knowledge and
0:14:02then you empower that person to choose
0:14:04for for you and you have your faith in
0:14:08them you trust that they're going to
0:14:09choose based on what they have learned
0:14:11not based on what they already know her
0:14:15based on what they think they know are
0:14:16based on what they've known since they
0:14:18were five because everything they ever
0:14:20needed to know they learned in
0:14:21kindergarten
0:14:22yeah especially for a job or you know
0:14:24what to say at this level
0:14:25what I mean is that it is a again I
0:14:28don't know anything about politics but
0:14:30it strikes me that is a very it's it's a
0:14:34job where there's lots of where the
0:14:36decisions that you make have a
0:14:38potentially fairly short path from
0:14:41hopefully seemed like a good idea to
0:14:43being something that's doable to being
0:14:44something that can be implemented
0:14:45whereas you could run as 11 could run as
0:14:49an outsider in a presidential race
0:14:51mostly just stir things up and change
0:14:53the kinds of conversations that people
0:14:54have but you know there's obviously
0:14:56there's no evidence that that person
0:14:58necessarily gonna be great being
0:14:59president but it would become clear if
0:15:01they if they didn't have the gust 0 to
0:15:03jump into
0:15:05so what I'm trying to avoid what my wife
0:15:09about the issues like what
0:15:11Johnson's doesn't hate bureaucracy and I
0:15:13like actually John does not hate
0:15:14bureaucracy because he does not consider
0:15:15bureaucracy to be a bad word
0:15:18not in the sense of being like busywork
0:15:20or deliver push back to make government
0:15:23opaque and we have that episode we
0:15:25talked about Romania where they don't
0:15:27have any they don't have as so much of a
0:15:29bureaucracy
0:15:30I'm gonna get you trouble I don't you
0:15:32gotta remain in lobby there but
0:15:34specifically that you'll be driving down
0:15:35the street and someone is just
0:15:36necessarily there has been that way for
0:15:38months and it's a bureaucracy that
0:15:39enables you to have that sort of stuff
0:15:41happened
0:15:42having the right people make those
0:15:43decisions make sure that the sore loser
0:15:45in place right
0:15:46I write an effective bureaucracy is
0:15:48incredibly civilizing technology
0:15:53yeah and again a bureaucracy is another
0:15:55thought technology that it's it's it's
0:15:58our invention and if it works well my
0:16:01goodness you have you have someplace to
0:16:03go to file a complaint
0:16:05I mean think about it and expect
0:16:07something might actually be done about
0:16:08right file a complaint and somebody
0:16:09actually takes your complaint and then
0:16:11something changes right so no i mean i-i
0:16:14love that function of of local
0:16:16government and the thing about the thing
0:16:19about it here is that we really are what
0:16:22what's what's so fantastic about this
0:16:24moment is that I think nationwide
0:16:28there's this tremendous frustration we
0:16:30feel like nothing is working now that
0:16:32you know it's never been worse than it
0:16:34is now you hear people say that all the
0:16:36time people people young people kind of
0:16:38saving up asking as your grandparents
0:16:40about that all right hand and a certain
0:16:43level you know because because things
0:16:46like Ferguson happening because there's
0:16:48there's a greater wealth inequality than
0:16:51there's ever been to be at least in
0:16:53people's immediate lifetimes they feel
0:16:56like all these problems are
0:16:57insurmountable and it's know and i'm
0:16:59giving up hope and I'm a cynic it's
0:17:01there's no chance for us but in fact
0:17:03things have never been better than they
0:17:06are now there's never been more justice
0:17:09than there is now there's never been
0:17:10more quality than there is now like we
0:17:12have succeeded so much and now we're out
0:17:16on the car
0:17:17sip of making a giant stride people we
0:17:21have the technology to do it we have the
0:17:23consensus it at least in our cities that
0:17:27mean seattle is a liberal uh it's like
0:17:31us like a giant city where over the
0:17:35course of decades a pretty radical
0:17:39liberal consensus has settled in to
0:17:41place like even the Chamber of Commerce
0:17:45in seattle is liberal deeply liberal and
0:17:50this is this is an incredible
0:17:52opportunity but the thing about the
0:17:54thing about us is liberals have always
0:17:56felt persecuted they felt persecuted by
0:17:58the FBI and the police that the FBI was
0:18:01was wiretapping Martin Luther King like
0:18:04we're used to being in the opposition
0:18:07and so in a city like Seattle it's very
0:18:11hard for the Liberals here to recognize
0:18:12we are in charge here we this is a
0:18:16liberal utopia that is on the cusp of
0:18:19happening and we just have to we have to
0:18:22recognize that we are the establishment
0:18:24now and we can make a radical liberal
0:18:29agenda happen
0:18:31we just have to first of all recognize
0:18:34that we are not we're not proposing a
0:18:37violent revolution against ourselves
0:18:39like where the establishment we can put
0:18:41our policies into place and I really do
0:18:45believe more than ever before that who
0:18:49were on the verge of a technology
0:18:50revolution
0:18:51we've talked about this you and me so
0:18:54much but like we are in the next five
0:18:58years going to see technology transform
0:19:01cities like that the promise of the
0:19:04internet me no matter how II is sitting
0:19:07in his driveway trying to get his garage
0:19:08door to open from his phone and we laugh
0:19:11but the reality is that is the way that
0:19:15it's going and that is going to
0:19:17transform our urban life and that's
0:19:21incredibly exciting and nobody in city
0:19:24government here or in san francisco or
0:19:27really anywhere is
0:19:29trying to say listen in the next 10
0:19:31years a lot of these 20th century
0:19:33problems are going to change radically
0:19:35and seattle is still trying to build a
0:19:39highway tunnel under the city to solve a
0:19:43twentieth-century traffic problem
0:19:45uh-huh okay you know what I mean yeah
0:19:47yeah but the 21st century solution is
0:19:51like it's it's almost here
0:19:53the thing is we can't quite see it right
0:19:55Elon Musk is developing it in his garage
0:19:58but it's actually real you know and
0:20:02we're gonna have we're gonna have a real
0:20:06switcheroo in terms of what what are
0:20:10open
0:20:11what are benign toolboxes so anyway we
0:20:16have in seattle at least we have a
0:20:17little a general liberal consensus we
0:20:19have we're on the cusp of this
0:20:21technology wave and we also like San
0:20:24Francisco have this prosperity wave
0:20:27there's so much money right and it's
0:20:33just time to turn that money into cool
0:20:36things you know school city thing the
0:20:38thing is how he strikes me I always um
0:20:41like what our current president was
0:20:44running for president I was one of those
0:20:46people that one of those very relatively
0:20:48few people most of my friends were like
0:20:50that guy seems amazing he's certainly a
0:20:53great speaker
0:20:53he's obviously got a great heart but I
0:20:56was always a little more than a little
0:20:58bit resistant although I was resistant
0:21:01to him being marketed in terms of the
0:21:03word hope but I was downright cynical
0:21:05about how much I felt like people who
0:21:07should know better
0:21:08didn't understand what's really involved
0:21:10in being the president and I don't even
0:21:12talk about it today because you know i
0:21:14think the guy still does a pretty great
0:21:16job but at the same time you know those
0:21:18posters probably seemed a little bit
0:21:19weird i mean if you if you like Martian
0:21:21Selma oh my god talk about hope I mean
0:21:24what what could be a greater thing i
0:21:26would not in a million years but I think
0:21:27it's important that instance to separate
0:21:29the the amazing historical shift then
0:21:32specifically and having the block IB
0:21:34president it's huge but I the things we
0:21:38always go through my head
0:21:39this for his job and even more so maybe
0:21:41for your job is like how much of your
0:21:43day
0:21:44maybe that's not strictly true but how
0:21:46much of your day you end up having to
0:21:48decide who's gonna be disappointed by
0:21:50what you decide what you decided i don't
0:21:52know how much you get to decide but by
0:21:54how much has to be implemented in a
0:21:56certain way for the greater good or
0:21:58whatever that's the part that I that I
0:22:00find so for me also unappealing about a
0:22:02job like that i wanna be loved
0:22:04yeah and I would find it so difficult to
0:22:06know what you I mean anybody's you
0:22:08you've had to run a band out of a van
0:22:10and you know what it means when you say
0:22:12no we can't take a pee break now and no
0:22:14you can't have french fries
0:22:15he's not in the budget it's not fun but
0:22:18I i wonder how you feel about that
0:22:19because it just seems like no matter
0:22:22what job you take in politics setting
0:22:24aside all the optics of how you end up
0:22:25looking a certain way to somebody it
0:22:27seems like a block of your job has to be
0:22:29saying no or maybe at times it would be
0:22:32nice to be able to just always say yes
0:22:33when this is the this is the reason that
0:22:36we have such a struggle with with people
0:22:39that hold public office is that every
0:22:42single situation involves somebody
0:22:46making a compromise and we keep
0:22:49collecting people who are dishonest
0:22:52about that and who say we can have
0:22:56everything we can have our cake and eat
0:22:57it too
0:22:58everybody wins and making sacrifices
0:23:02isn't bad like it's part of living in a
0:23:06city it's part of its part of being part
0:23:09of a family right you make sacrifices
0:23:11and there's something incredibly noble
0:23:15about that and the problem with our
0:23:17culture is that we we are afraid to say
0:23:20that and so we lie about it and then
0:23:23when the sacrifices come people feel
0:23:24betrayed the what we need are people who
0:23:30go up to public office and say listen
0:23:32everybody's going to have to pitch in
0:23:33here and that's a wonderful thing that's
0:23:36a wonderful business and a and the
0:23:39people that have the opportunity to
0:23:41pitch in or the or the
0:23:43who have the prosperity the kitchen a
0:23:46little bit more right like here's how
0:23:48and we welcome your contribution and you
0:23:51know so often from the left there's this
0:23:54sense of of saying like well income
0:23:56inequality is uh is this intolerable
0:24:00thing which it is but what that means is
0:24:02that the rich are enemy and the only way
0:24:06that we will redistribute the wealth is
0:24:08that we go to war with the rich and
0:24:12that's very galvanizing it makes people
0:24:16feel like boy you've really got a plan
0:24:18and where we've got we're going to take
0:24:20some action here also that you're not
0:24:22afraid to tell me the thing I kinda was
0:24:24expecting to hear and wanted to hear
0:24:25yeah right you're not which is very very
0:24:27simple tell me the exciting thing that I
0:24:30already thought but it's very different
0:24:33to say like you know the people
0:24:35certainly the people in Seattle who are
0:24:37the most rich and the most famous you
0:24:41know there are people that had an idea
0:24:43and they turned it into a business in
0:24:44them then American capitalism took that
0:24:46business and turn it into an enormous
0:24:48pile of money but they are not our enemy
0:24:53they are as people who need to be
0:24:55encouraged by our culture and by I mean
0:24:59select I mean selective judicious
0:25:01application of laws and regulation but
0:25:04also a community commitment to say hi
0:25:08you are super rich you live in this town
0:25:11we know you want to help
0:25:13here's how you can help we're going to
0:25:15do a public-private partnership that
0:25:17funds our transit with the funds of the
0:25:20construction of rail and that rail is
0:25:23going to go right through the
0:25:24neighborhoods where you build your
0:25:25business so it's going to serve you and
0:25:26it's going to serve your your companies
0:25:29and we need a little help in the form of
0:25:31your contribution because when you built
0:25:36this business here you stressed the
0:25:38infrastructure of the city and that's
0:25:40great that's growth and that's how it
0:25:41works but now it's time to give back and
0:25:43i don't mean give back by just paying
0:25:47your income tax I mean recognize that
0:25:50you you need that you need to step up
0:25:52and be be actually a corporate citizen
0:25:55and take some responsibility
0:25:57and that kind of you know and that
0:26:01includes like oh did you move to seattle
0:26:03are because you got a really high-paying
0:26:05tech job and now you're living in a cool
0:26:08off downtown and you have a BMW 740i and
0:26:13then the biggest TV that you can buy and
0:26:15now you still have more money than you
0:26:17know what to do with well great
0:26:18here's an opportunity for you to also be
0:26:21part of civic life and put a little bit
0:26:23of that money into making the city a
0:26:25better place for people that don't start
0:26:27making that kind of cash and that
0:26:30conversation which is not about passing
0:26:32laws as much as it is about saying in
0:26:37cities like Seattle we do business a
0:26:38different way and we're not just going
0:26:41to default to Wall Street values or
0:26:46cupertino tech bro values you know we're
0:26:51gonna we're gonna not default we're
0:26:54going to assert our values which are
0:26:58actually progressive urbanist and and
0:27:02there's a higher income you know doing
0:27:03business in seattle has a lot of
0:27:04incentives it also comes with an
0:27:06additional opportunity to put your money
0:27:11where your mouth this you know i mean
0:27:12Jeff Bezos is a liberal and he wants to
0:27:16do a good job
0:27:18i mean i-i think about Bill Gates Bill
0:27:21Gates was the richest man in the world
0:27:22for 15 years and he never gave away a
0:27:24penny until will warren buffett called
0:27:29him and said hey hey it's an
0:27:32embarrassment really true
0:27:34yeah Wow called him and said listen
0:27:36you're the richest man in the world you
0:27:37need to have a foundation you start
0:27:39giving your money away to not do it is
0:27:40an embarrassment and Bill Gates heard it
0:27:44and started the Gates Foundation which
0:27:46is an incredible asset to the world
0:27:48right but nobody passed the law that
0:27:52forced bill gates to redistribute his
0:27:55income somebody called him and said hey
0:27:58Kai you want to do a better job than
0:28:00this and you need to do it and Bill
0:28:04Gates was a human being and he heard
0:28:06that message and he and you know and
0:28:08that isn't that's not naive to
0:28:11talk about from the standpoint of of
0:28:13somebody running for office
0:28:15it's you can't go through life saying
0:28:18everybody that that has more money than
0:28:20me is morally suspect the the the real
0:28:26job is to say listen we're all in this
0:28:28together
0:28:29it's hard on everybody and like don't
0:28:34you want to help and that applies to
0:28:36people that are making $50,000 to we
0:28:40want to make it we want to make this
0:28:41city a better place
0:28:42ok everybody pick up a shovel right
0:28:45Graham and that is that is that that is
0:28:50the difference between like running for
0:28:51office and saying here's my three-point
0:28:53plan to pass laws to to penalize
0:28:56developers and to create a you know
0:28:59purple carp and it's like great every
0:29:01one of those laws that you pass creates
0:29:04a cascading wave of problems you didn't
0:29:07anticipate you need to pass laws pretty
0:29:12judiciously and you need to think about
0:29:15all the potential problems you know
0:29:16before you just start saying alright our
0:29:18new law is because we've seen we've seen
0:29:21that countless time so it happens every
0:29:24year there's a new law
0:29:25Oh hundred thousand new problems but
0:29:29there isn't there is nothing naive or at
0:29:35and i think it is the purview of some of
0:29:37somebody on something for instance like
0:29:39a city council to say hello Seattle we
0:29:43have we have to we have to evolve a
0:29:46different way of doing business here and
0:29:48that can be exciting for us that can be
0:29:51that is absolutely the way this
0:29:55conversation should happen and I don't
0:29:59you know I don't know if Jeff Bezos is
0:30:01listening to reach pretty sure that you
0:30:04know sometimes you should just in that
0:30:06is so Jeff just speaking to you directly
0:30:08this is a fantastic opportunity and I
0:30:10have some ideas about affordable housing
0:30:12to build down in the neighborhood around
0:30:15amazon and I have some clear ideas about
0:30:18transit ticket those many workers in and
0:30:20out of your campus
0:30:22and its really in the long run not going
0:30:24to cost that much
0:30:26mmm yeah already getting good at this
0:30:29right see all right here's the thing
0:30:31about a pivot I want to hear
0:30:34okay i want to come out against are
0:30:35gonna talk about your new way of cooking
0:30:36chicken or we find out early for the
0:30:38next few months I won't have time to do
0:30:40you know how many people I can help you
0:30:45have any idea its they could not be any
0:30:47simpler and people are not going to go
0:30:49to hear about until late November what
0:30:51would i would go you chicken thing
0:30:52chicken thing
0:30:53no you know what we're going to do is
0:30:55going to be operated thing about equal
0:30:56time John equal time about this podcast
0:30:58is that it cannot be just about making
0:31:04Seattle a better place to live it has to
0:31:06be about making the world a better place
0:31:07to making the world a better place and
0:31:09making and revolutionize and everybody's
0:31:11chicken cooking techniques
0:31:13alright and say that feels really
0:31:15piddling stuff it's an amazing thought
0:31:16technology and maybe next this episode
0:31:19of Roderick online is sponsored by slack
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0:32:45for supporting Roderick on the line
0:32:46there's a pivot that I think first of
0:32:48all I don't know why at the 30-minute
0:32:51mark I feel the need to say this I like
0:32:53to point out is not a prefers this is
0:32:54real John is actually doing this like
0:32:56you you know people are going to ask
0:32:58yeah well I'm and one of the things
0:33:00about one of the things about my
0:33:03candidacy is that it is an unusual thing
0:33:06for somebody like me to run for public
0:33:08office and and so yeah they're going to
0:33:13be people who are like can this can this
0:33:15be real and so you got you got Peter
0:33:17Garrett you got jello biafra you got Tom
0:33:20Ammiano you got all kinds of people from
0:33:21the arts moving into politics you got
0:33:23that the ronald reagan ronald reagan
0:33:25that's right he moved from the arts into
0:33:27politics and brought his brought this
0:33:29classic artistic sensibility to what we
0:33:32look for direct knowledge pick the
0:33:34conduct of his office both as governor
0:33:36of california and president
0:33:38yeah you really wanted to do to San
0:33:40Francisco with highways who dr. well he
0:33:43you know Reagan is the one who took art
0:33:45who defunded art right he's the one that
0:33:48defunded the Arts in America because
0:33:50Robert Mapplethorpe did some to add some
0:33:55naked pictures yeah yeah and you know
0:33:58and that is that's a legacy that we are
0:34:03still suffering from ok so here's a big
0:34:05thing on during our the big pivot is I'm
0:34:09curious the questions i have I think
0:34:11we'll have plenty of time to hear about
0:34:12your platform
0:34:13haha i've had had a good three years of
0:34:17hearing about your platform already
0:34:18oh you wanna hear about my platform
0:34:20gonna call you after we get done with
0:34:21this podcast and i've been napping on
0:34:23your platform from us and the past
0:34:26supertree but we're going here goes
0:34:29so the I don't know um i guess i'm
0:34:33curious about their students i can go
0:34:35and you can pick which one of these you
0:34:37want but the the the what kind of
0:34:39question i'm super curious about is how
0:34:41does this change stuff in your in your
0:34:43your life and you talk about it anyway
0:34:46you want the other thing i'd like to
0:34:48talk about is what do you think it's
0:34:50gonna be most difficult about this you
0:34:51can take the second question first if
0:34:52you want i want i mean what's difficult
0:34:55about this not just in terms of making
0:34:57it happen what's hard for you what do
0:34:58you have to sacrifice one of the things
0:35:00you're most on the bubble about either
0:35:01in terms of concern or worry or
0:35:04sacrifice that like you kind of go now
0:35:06I'm gonna miss that being that way
0:35:08other things like that there you go like
0:35:10well I'm gonna set these kinds of things
0:35:12aside
0:35:13yeah but in the run-up to this I talked
0:35:16to a lot of people in the professional
0:35:18political class and they all gave me
0:35:20very good advice it was all super good
0:35:22advice but and and over the course of
0:35:26several weeks of thinking about it all
0:35:28that advice creek caused a lot of
0:35:30anxiety in me because the way that
0:35:33people in the professional political
0:35:34class imagine it is that you run
0:35:36somebody for office is that they have a
0:35:39plan of a certain way of doing things
0:35:41and your plan should have a certain
0:35:43number of points I understand
0:35:44well it's but the thing is it's very
0:35:46interesting listicle for politics
0:35:48it really is right but it is very
0:35:50analogous to what happens when you're a
0:35:52brand new band and you're about to put
0:35:54your record out everybody that you
0:35:56talked to in the music industry has a
0:35:58very clear idea about what you need to
0:35:59do next and they are more than happy to
0:36:03tell you about what you need to do and
0:36:06the problem is that that's all true
0:36:08until a man comes along that doesn't do
0:36:10any of those things and becomes the
0:36:11biggest band in the world right and so
0:36:13this was when i joined the music
0:36:15business
0:36:16everybody said I mean that seriously I
0:36:18and I know you remember this
0:36:19people said oh don't go on the internet
0:36:21and talk to your fans right they don't
0:36:23you know you need to maintain an air
0:36:25mystique that's just rock and roll and
0:36:28they say oh you need to you know don't
0:36:30waste your money releasing vinyl nobody
0:36:32buys vinyl anymore
0:36:33save that money to spend on opening
0:36:37weekend to try and get your record in
0:36:39the top 10
0:36:41I'll say that for pitch for cats right
0:36:43but you know or just like or you know
0:36:45get it on myspace or whatever I mean
0:36:47everybody knew exactly what you were
0:36:49supposed to do until until the game
0:36:53changed and that wasn't how you did it
0:36:55anymore
0:36:56so in the run-up to this people were
0:36:59giving me a lot of advice and what they
0:37:00were trying to do was either put me into
0:37:02a box where I was claiming to be a
0:37:06social activist or I was claiming to be
0:37:09a you know like up like that music had
0:37:14been this hobby but really i'd been a
0:37:16secret politician the whole time and at
0:37:19a certain point a few weeks ago I i said
0:37:22to this group of advisors I was like
0:37:24listen okay you know what this is this
0:37:27is causing me a lot of stress because
0:37:29I'm not either one of those things i am
0:37:31an artist and I made a life for myself
0:37:33as an artist and I believe in the
0:37:35transformative power of art and if i can
0:37:38get elected to the seattle city council
0:37:39up with that then I can then i will run
0:37:44because i believe it and I believe that
0:37:49that art is a is one of the pillars of
0:37:52civilization if you are telling me that
0:37:55the only way I can get elected to the
0:37:57seattle city council is that I pretend
0:37:58that I've been a housing activists this
0:38:01entire time or that I that I portray
0:38:03myself as a as like a legal expert on
0:38:09local government then there's no point
0:38:12there's no point in me lying to people
0:38:14because every other candidate is
0:38:16portraying themselves in a certain light
0:38:18and I'm just I have to just be myself
0:38:20and I do believe that I can get elected
0:38:23by doing that but it requires that we
0:38:26that we change people's expectations i
0:38:31guess but so that is the that's the
0:38:34thing that's caused me the most stress
0:38:36and it is the thing that is maybe going
0:38:38to be the most difficult um you know for
0:38:43me personally I have I relish my free
0:38:50time and I relish the fact that i don't
0:38:53have to wake up at the crack of dawn but
0:38:55I wasn't gonna bring it up and this is
0:38:58going to require that I that I change
0:39:01that about myself but you know that is
0:39:06very very do
0:39:08global that is a you know those are
0:39:10luxuries that by afforded myself but
0:39:14I've said on this podcast and you and I
0:39:16have talked for years about the fact
0:39:18that you have to set that you have to
0:39:23set your aspirations for yourself
0:39:25somewhere and you get to be 45 years old
0:39:29and there's a tremendous pole to set
0:39:33your aspirations for yourself right
0:39:34about where you're at right
0:39:37oh you know what my aspirations are to
0:39:38just keep burbling along like I'm doing
0:39:41there's a lot less disappointing right
0:39:43right because it's so scary to be 45 and
0:39:45to do something that puts you right back
0:39:49in a place where you don't know what's
0:39:50going to happen next
0:39:51it's much better to be like I know the
0:39:53band's I like and I know the
0:39:54neighborhood I like to go to and I and
0:39:56I'd I go to the pub and they know me by
0:39:58name and and I'm doing pretty good but
0:40:04but that isn't that isn't enough for me
0:40:06and never has been in and so you know do
0:40:09I have to get up in the morning in order
0:40:11to do this I I absolutely do
0:40:14and do i have to learn to love it i'm
0:40:18not sure if that's possible but it is
0:40:21you know I am galvanized by a desire to
0:40:25do something you know to take the
0:40:28privilege that Seattle has afforded me
0:40:30and and turn that back into sacrifice
0:40:36yeah but like specifically candidate
0:40:40like what it what do you what do you uh
0:40:43what I realize this is gonna be a crazy
0:40:45process and there's a lot of sugar be
0:40:48learning about and reacting to as it
0:40:49comes along but you know do you have in
0:40:51mind are there things that you know
0:40:52already where you go well that's the
0:40:54thing i'm just not gonna be able to do
0:40:56or the way that I like or at all or in a
0:41:00different way
0:41:01I mean obviously there's a thing of like
0:41:03you know being able to talk in the way
0:41:04that you might like on the show I mean I
0:41:06know you're not a man whose necessarily
0:41:07I don't think you somebody who purchases
0:41:09what you say too much to begin with but
0:41:12I mean like is there like as far as time
0:41:13and stuff to you talk last year I'm
0:41:15gonna get a refresher or
0:41:17refer the gentleman to your earlier
0:41:19remarks that you want to do my
0:41:20songwriting this year and I guess this
0:41:22probably came up in the interregnum but
0:41:24what's the kind of stuff where you go
0:41:25like that's gonna just have to be okay
0:41:27for me to not do this particular thing
0:41:29for a while other things like that
0:41:31well you know this is absolutely going
0:41:34to change my parenting
0:41:36um I've had the opportunity to spend the
0:41:40first four years of my daughter's life
0:41:41kind of a at my leisure with her and now
0:41:45i have to do what every parent has to do
0:41:48which is learn to budget my time better
0:41:49and learn to budget my time in such a
0:41:53way that the last thing that suffers is
0:41:56my daughter and that is going to require
0:41:58a lot of a lot of additional effort and
0:42:01thinking on my part to make sure that
0:42:03she doesn't see less of me and yet I am
0:42:08also doing all this new and additional
0:42:11work who that you know the work that I
0:42:15do now is real work it often looks like
0:42:18sitting and staring at the wall it also
0:42:21often looks like dreaming but that is
0:42:24real creative work
0:42:26the thing about this undertaking is that
0:42:29the work that I need to do often just
0:42:31looks like being there you know it means
0:42:34getting up and getting in the car and
0:42:35being there on time
0:42:37listen to people takes a lot of time it
0:42:39does not become not being silly i mean
0:42:40making yourself available just 22
0:42:46I mean I I'm just to my own completely
0:42:48non political experience and just the
0:42:50number of people that have my email
0:42:51address and can't one can email me or
0:42:53text me like I don't always want to have
0:42:55to talk to people all the time and it
0:42:56seems like you're gonna have to have an
0:42:59amount of on the one hand access
0:43:01different than probably ever before that
0:43:04you welcome and embrace but also that
0:43:06there's going to be a lot more stuff i
0:43:08mean look at the last couple what the
0:43:09last week set aside being second easter
0:43:11just how many times we have to change
0:43:12the scheduling just good stuff that's
0:43:14that's happened that's it that's going
0:43:15to become like a thing you're going to
0:43:16have to like be okay with how often
0:43:19circumstances require you to do
0:43:21something differently
0:43:22yeah I i do have to and I have to be I
0:43:25have to be there in a way but you know
0:43:29it's funny I was doing a photoshoot
0:43:30tonight
0:43:31downtown getting some pictures you know
0:43:35up for the launch and i'm standing on
0:43:40the street corner and a group of women
0:43:42comes by and they're like hey you're
0:43:44John Roderick and I go yeah hi
0:43:46and they go what are you doing why you
0:43:47standing you're getting your picture
0:43:48taken you know they're all their little
0:43:49bit older than me they're also women in
0:43:51their early fifties and I said guess
0:43:54what I'm running for City Council and
0:43:56they were like oh my god that's
0:43:57fantastic and we stood and we talked
0:43:59about the city for a minute
0:44:01we talked about what they perceive to be
0:44:03the problems in the city and then they
0:44:06were very content to say fantastic
0:44:10we are so glad that you're running you
0:44:13have our vote and then we all took a
0:44:14picture together and then they were like
0:44:17goodbye because there's a different way
0:44:20of there's a different way that people
0:44:22want to talk to a candidate if you know
0:44:25if I had been like I'm just standing out
0:44:27here thinking about some songs and
0:44:29talking about some songs they would have
0:44:31said great let's all what let's stay
0:44:33here together for an hour and a half but
0:44:35I'm a candidate for political office and
0:44:37there's something in that where people
0:44:38recognized I mean your most people
0:44:40normal people recognize that you go
0:44:43great let's get a picture you have our
0:44:44votes goodbye and I'm standing there
0:44:47having had this wonderful experience
0:44:49with these people
0:44:50I'm thinking well this is interesting
0:44:51that was a that's they knew me as a
0:44:54musician but when i said that i was
0:44:57running for office all of a sudden we
0:44:59had a very different conversation it was
0:45:00yeah I read about that it's gonna be
0:45:01real different
0:45:02it was very enjoyable to like they were
0:45:05excited i was running they offered their
0:45:07support
0:45:08he may be found a new way to make people
0:45:09afraid of talking to you well so when I
0:45:12would love to get a course on that so I
0:45:14walked down the street about half a
0:45:16block and there's another group of like
0:45:18five people standing there there are a
0:45:20couple of families they have a couple of
0:45:22little kids and they're like hey uh
0:45:24you're John Roderick and I go yeah hello
0:45:28and I'm thinking to myself from this is
0:45:29interesting like ever all the sudden i'm
0:45:31walking down the street doing a
0:45:33photoshoot and everybody in the world
0:45:35knows who I am what but it's very
0:45:37unusual right to see somebody standing
0:45:39there getting their picture taken on the
0:45:41sidewalk
0:45:43and so this group of people says hi you
0:45:44know what are you doing and I say oh I'm
0:45:47running for public office and they said
0:45:48we just overheard you talking to those
0:45:50people and we wondered if that was what
0:45:51it was and I said yes I'm running for
0:45:54City Council we talked for a few minutes
0:45:57they told me what they thought needed to
0:46:01happen in the city and they said we're
0:46:03so excited for you you have our vote
0:46:05let's get a picture
0:46:07goodbye and I was like what is this this
0:46:12is a very different as soon as your
0:46:14candidate people are talking to
0:46:15differently so it is about being there
0:46:18it's about talking to people but also
0:46:20it's a completely different conversation
0:46:23than the way people want to talk to
0:46:25their favorite musician
0:46:27Wow and so it's so you know quite
0:46:33candidly I was energized by both
0:46:36exchanges and and that was exciting to
0:46:40me now i know that running for public
0:46:43office there's gonna be somebody that
0:46:44wants to talk to me about chemtrails for
0:46:46an hour and a half but little do they
0:46:49know that i am an expert on chemtrails
0:46:51but also you might you might want to
0:46:53have a blue ribbon panel but here's the
0:46:54thing i am i'm gonna i'm gonna have a
0:46:58campaign manager who's standing next to
0:46:59me with some kind of a large phone and
0:47:05that camp and i already have this person
0:47:07my campaign manager already is a person
0:47:09who actually has a large phone
0:47:11Wow see that was that smart staffing mhm
0:47:13and this campaign manager it is good
0:47:15question do you have a large phone
0:47:16yes a large fuckin I see it can IC you
0:47:19operate and but but then the person the
0:47:22person is gonna come up and say what I'm
0:47:24going to do about chemtrails and mine
0:47:26and of course I'm gonna go let me tell
0:47:28you about my policy about chemtrails and
0:47:32my campaign manager with my with the
0:47:34large phone is going to lean in and i'm
0:47:36going to say mr. Roderick we have to go
0:47:38and I'm gonna go you don't want I don't
0:47:40want I want to engage you on chemtrails
0:47:42I really do but we're going to table
0:47:44this until I see you next and i will not
0:47:47be lying
0:47:48yeah but also i will be able to get away
0:47:51because i have somebody whose job it is
0:47:53to recognize the tin foil hat
0:47:56even with a year about the even when
0:48:01they're under a different kind of hat so
0:48:04anyway so that is good you know my life
0:48:07was my life is going to change it really
0:48:09is and a lot of it is going to be
0:48:10availability to people accessibility but
0:48:13you know there's another thing which is
0:48:15I realized as going into this I don't
0:48:19want to run against the other people who
0:48:22are campaigning for the seat
0:48:23it sounds like what you described I mean
0:48:25private i guess but you sound like you
0:48:27have a lot of respect for the people
0:48:28were running i have absolutely nothing
0:48:30against my opponents I think anybody
0:48:33that wants to having just even entered
0:48:35into the process as much as I have I
0:48:37have tremendous respect for anybody that
0:48:39runs for office it is excruciatingly
0:48:41difficult and it really is sacrifice you
0:48:44know it when we talk about we think
0:48:46people for their service who have served
0:48:49in the military i heard they don't like
0:48:51that I interesting that you know they
0:48:54they think they think each other for
0:48:56their service
0:48:57uh-huh it thinking somebody for their
0:48:59service where it feels gratuitous or it
0:49:01feels like it's some kind of way to pat
0:49:04yourself was like me talking to Ramona
0:49:06in the last day of the cruise it's a
0:49:07little condescending right you don't
0:49:09want to condescend to somebody who
0:49:10actually has who has done some heart
0:49:13literally risk their life for several
0:49:15years and then you get to be you get to
0:49:17congratulate yourself because you thank
0:49:19them for their service great they can
0:49:21smell that I think but the reality is
0:49:24that public service takes a lot of forms
0:49:26and one of those forms is engaging in
0:49:28your is participating in your government
0:49:30so I don't want to die I don't have no
0:49:33desire to run for this office by
0:49:36denigrating my opponents or by a by
0:49:41saying you sir are no Jack Kennedy or
0:49:43whatever maybe what I mean I'm you
0:49:47haven't asked if you want some help
0:49:48coming up with singers like that I'd be
0:49:49happy to write well you know what i have
0:49:51i have lloyd bentsen on my speed dial
0:49:52[Music]
0:49:54haha i but but
0:49:58and so in the end of the fact is i do
0:50:00not know at some point in this election
0:50:03and I'm absolutely sure it will happen
0:50:04that somebody will say something really
0:50:08nasty about me
0:50:09no I think it's something i don't think
0:50:10it's gonna happen i think well you know
0:50:12it's hard to know it depends really its
0:50:13early days it's early and it probably
0:50:15won't happen tomorrow but somewhere
0:50:17along the line I do everything right and
0:50:20cha but somebody's gonna take a shot at
0:50:22me and of course as you know those of us
0:50:25who spend all our time on the internet
0:50:26we do not want people to yell at us a
0:50:30and part of this job is putting yourself
0:50:34out there and inviting at least
0:50:38affording people the opportunity if they
0:50:40want to yell at you
0:50:41here you are I would go further than
0:50:42that it's part of your job to take out
0:50:45that's right it's it's it's not optional
0:50:47right and so that is that will require a
0:50:51kind of a well you know what ultimately
0:50:54i think a kind of humility and as you
0:50:58know I've been trying to learn and
0:51:03embrace humility for a long time and
0:51:08even gearing up this much to run for
0:51:10office like the humility opportunities
0:51:15come every day on a big platter and if
0:51:20you run for office like full of
0:51:22arrogance its it's here it's a gross to
0:51:28a service or a gross miss apprehension
0:51:29of what the job is
0:51:30and I really do feel like the humility
0:51:36of standing there and letting people
0:51:38take shots at you and and then and and
0:51:44and you keep standing and you keep
0:51:45talking about what you think matters is
0:51:48something that I I've been practicing
0:51:51for it for a long time and you know i
0:51:53don't think anybody looks forward to it
0:51:56but it's really going to change it for
0:51:58me and particularly you know I mean I
0:52:01have a kid I don't want she can't read
0:52:03the newspapers yet but one day she will
0:52:06she'll be sitting in the library stacks
0:52:08looking at a microfiche uh-huh and
0:52:11she'll be reading the newspaper accounts
0:52:12on her microfiche because even though
0:52:15the internet is going to transform urban
0:52:17life
0:52:18yes still students will read microfiche
0:52:20absolutely it's part of the core
0:52:21curriculum that father what did you do
0:52:23during the chemtrails force
0:52:24yeah and she'll be there looking at the
0:52:26microfiche and there will be some
0:52:27newspaper article where somebody says
0:52:29have I have you ever really listened to
0:52:35the supertrain episode of their podcast
0:52:37that's nothing
0:52:40haha that's that that's a romp that
0:52:43one's that one's I think that one's
0:52:45actually that would bring a lot of
0:52:46people into your big tension if I could
0:52:48you think so yeah oh yeah that's not I'm
0:52:50not gonna I'm not gonna help that i'm
0:52:51not gonna help the competition by
0:52:52picking out upset but you did you think
0:52:54it will bring all the boys to the yard
0:52:55make it sure could
0:52:57mm ah but you this is gonna be your job
0:53:02now
0:53:02yeah right i mean let's be clear here
0:53:05you need to campaign for are the primary
0:53:08and then if and when you succeed that
0:53:11you go onto the election where this is
0:53:14going to be your job at least through
0:53:15the summer
0:53:16yeah right and and that and they'll
0:53:18here's the worst part we haven't talked
0:53:19about this up fundraising yeah yeah yeah
0:53:24the whole game is is asking people for
0:53:27money thing that we all hate to do right
0:53:29and so asking people for money is and
0:53:34the thing is asking them for money and
0:53:35then they go okay with what we sure will
0:53:38support you and then you ask them again
0:53:41hey remember when you said you supported
0:53:43me we will give me that money and
0:53:44they're like okay we sure will thanks
0:53:45for calling again and then you look and
0:53:48you see that they didn't give you the
0:53:49money and then you call him again you go
0:53:50hey just me calling to check in like
0:53:52it's the worst and you do that until
0:53:56they either give you money or they say
0:53:58listen don't ever call here again and
0:54:00even then I think you have to call them
0:54:02against AI know that you told me not to
0:54:04do this but the so the advantage is that
0:54:08the way that seattle City
0:54:09elections work the maximum amount that
0:54:12anybody can donate to use seven hundred
0:54:14dollars so there is at least a ceiling
0:54:19where if somebody has given you seven
0:54:21hundred dollars you just can't take any
0:54:23more money from them
0:54:23compile and make the whole soccer team
0:54:25give you money or something like that
0:54:26well there are a lot of ethics rules
0:54:28about that if it ever if everybody that
0:54:31works for paul allen gives you seven
0:54:32hundred dollars the ethics committee is
0:54:34going to is going to take some of those
0:54:35people aside and say Colin make you do
0:54:39this and if they say yeah he kind of did
0:54:41then that's our that's a super violation
0:54:44of this is gonna be so crazy right it's
0:54:47gnarly anything so many times you seven
0:54:49hundred dollars and then they then they
0:54:52are also give you like a silver
0:54:55candlestick and they say here's a
0:54:57candlestick use it for your election the
0:54:59value of that candlestick has to be
0:55:02computed into the amount they have given
0:55:06you and if they've already given you
0:55:07seven dollars they can't give you the
0:55:09candlestick you have to give it back all
0:55:10you love candlesticks like 910 and the
0:55:13thing is if you're running a campaign of
0:55:14course you want a big table and you want
0:55:16some candlesticks on it and that's a
0:55:18huge differentiator there was AI episode
0:55:20of fresh air the other day which is
0:55:21where I learned everything and i think
0:55:26it was i was on a mission to remember
0:55:27right it was a David being cruelly in
0:55:29for dave davies in for terry gross haha
0:55:31was apparently away and now that was a
0:55:35great interview with this woman let me
0:55:37get her name judge to bail cop and she
0:55:39was the former I think she's the Chief
0:55:42Justice of Alabama and was intimated you
0:55:46should hear that it was amazing
0:55:47interview because now that she's out of
0:55:48office she's advocating strongly for the
0:55:51idea that judges should not be elected
0:55:54positions that it's very unusual like
0:55:56internationally there are not that many
0:55:58good first world countries where you
0:55:59elect judges and that the whole idea of
0:56:01like having to do elections is such as a
0:56:05judge and having to see people come
0:56:06before you right now that how insanely
0:56:08but i guess not
0:56:09I mean that angle is interesting but the
0:56:11way she handles it she's really honest
0:56:13about it and talks is really and I feel
0:56:14like I have no way of knowing but I felt
0:56:16like she was very honest about talking
0:56:18to you feel her discomfort about the
0:56:20basic process where she had to get
0:56:22somebody on the phone
0:56:23and and like get up to the point of
0:56:25asking for money and basically say can I
0:56:27have my finance person contact you
0:56:28the thing is and what she's exactly as
0:56:31clear she's about that and the pain of
0:56:32that she's exactly as clear saying i
0:56:33could not have been elected if I hadn't
0:56:35done that
0:56:35yeah yeah yeah it's in everything that
0:56:37she did was ethical she didn't do
0:56:39anything wrong nobody was nothing
0:56:40anybody anything wrong except that the
0:56:42institution of what makes those kinds of
0:56:44things legal is is difficult for
0:56:46everybody it is and the problem with it
0:56:48is that somebody gives you a some money
0:56:50and then there is just inherent in that
0:56:54a lot of expectation when I gave you
0:56:56that money and somebody like me i have a
0:56:59tremendous advantage which is that I'm
0:57:01not beholden to anybody right I didn't
0:57:04come up out of the union's I didn't come
0:57:07up out of the prosecutor's office right
0:57:09i am a completely free agent who also
0:57:13like knows every nook and cranny of
0:57:15Seattle and so I go into this able to
0:57:19say i am i'm clean and I'm also like I
0:57:25have a have a moral compass I'm not
0:57:27liable to a to have somebody sidle up to
0:57:32me and hand me a briefcase and somebody
0:57:34just gives you a candle get write it
0:57:35down
0:57:36well there's only free to get back to me
0:57:38on that if you need me know I i went and
0:57:40had a long meeting with the with the
0:57:42Seattle elections ethics office where
0:57:46all of that was it was talked about and
0:57:49there are really clear rules for
0:57:51everything you know but they aren't they
0:57:53are clear they're not and I was no
0:57:55they're not good and if you take money
0:57:56from somebody you need to have been
0:57:58their name and address and phone number
0:58:00two I mean you can't just if somebody
0:58:02walks up and says here seven hundred
0:58:03dollars in a paper bag good luck
0:58:05you have to hand it back to them you
0:58:08have to say you need to fill out a form
0:58:10right that allows us to know that you
0:58:12gave me this money but this becomes
0:58:13that's gonna have to be a big part of
0:58:15what you do for the next few months
0:58:17writing especially first was getting I
0:58:19don't know anything about anything but
0:58:21only part of it is like getting that
0:58:22money from other people show 0 serious
0:58:25and then absolutely
0:58:26ok we are early money is like yeast
0:58:28right like you start getting that and
0:58:29then people want to give me more
0:58:31it's the way you communicate to the
0:58:33professional political class
0:58:35no journalists and the people who are
0:58:37watching the race it's the way you
0:58:38communicate that you are contender is
0:58:40strictly that you have money and that's
0:58:43why you end up with people running for
0:58:46office who are already millionaires and
0:58:48they just use their own money and that's
0:58:50why we're taking those people seriously
0:58:51because they have money and and it
0:58:53doesn't mean that they are actually
0:58:56serious people or good people
0:58:58it just means that they start out with
0:59:00the advantage of having the money to run
0:59:02a campaign that the advantage that i
0:59:06have that the other candidates don't is
0:59:09that I'm not struggling for name
0:59:11recognition and also there's nobody else
0:59:15running for City office who lives on the
0:59:19internet the way I do
0:59:21who and so I've never you know I've
0:59:24never gone to the internet and ask them
0:59:26for anything all i do is give to the
0:59:29internet you know this about me I do
0:59:31know that I leave until my eyeballs hard
0:59:35about whether you even want to
0:59:36participate once you did you just open
0:59:38those gates and just all your gifts just
0:59:40came flowing out one way one way John
0:59:41that's right I said internet here take
0:59:43it all
0:59:44you know I i'm basically the giving tree
0:59:46of the internet who didn't get chopped
0:59:51down
0:59:52yeah he does for others and you know
0:59:54what I've been chopped down but I got up
0:59:56again I think
0:59:56again I think
1:00:00those guys are anarchists who know they
1:00:02are yesterday number Wamba Wamba Wamba
1:00:04are anarchists they lay our collective
1:00:06an anarchist collective I'm gonna go
1:00:08read up on this I remember Peter Garrett
1:00:10Peter Garrett was one of the government
1:00:12oil right didn't he actually did he
1:00:14actually win in his election give it
1:00:16back
1:00:18wow he did when he was a very effective
1:00:22politician hell of a dancer too
1:00:24he said he's an extraordinary man and i
1:00:26think i think in Australian he's hot
1:00:28held in fairly high regard they have an
1:00:30unusual I've seen remember reading
1:00:32overhearing one another all guys running
1:00:33for office they have don't they have
1:00:35kind of a wackadoodle with all respect
1:00:36to our fuzzy friends the kind of a
1:00:38wackadoodle way of doing national
1:00:40elections where it's I guess someone
1:00:43electoral in nature or something where
1:00:45like an outsider can can actually have a
1:00:46chance or something like that i don't
1:00:47know i don't know it's been interesting
1:00:48my understanding about Australian
1:00:50elections is that they put a marble in a
1:00:52conch shell and then they put the conch
1:00:55shell at the bottom of a reef who and
1:00:57that it's out of pillar at the bottom of
1:00:59a reef they don't say which reef and
1:01:01they get half a map to give each
1:01:03candidate a knife and let them and they
1:01:05have to carry the knife in their mouth
1:01:06yeah and then they ask you is that a
1:01:08knife and then you have to answer as a
1:01:10dog that's your makeup that's not a
1:01:13solenoid oh do ya I think they do things
1:01:18very differently there and I think in
1:01:21New Zealand right don't you just you go
1:01:23to the top of a volcano and throw
1:01:24somebody in and the and the family is
1:01:27something like that name but they scream
1:01:29on their way down there may be answers
1:01:31that you not confuse it with the
1:01:32Australian Way of doing elections
1:01:34they're very sensitive about that let's
1:01:36you know what enough said
1:01:37yeah about the Kiwis versus the also
1:01:40what he's gonna miss when you get a
1:01:41minute here again I mean like you you
1:01:42gotta miss let's be honest you're gonna
1:01:43I'm guessing you're gonna miss like
1:01:46having your time be your own such as it
1:01:48has been that that's got to be one
1:01:50well it yes it i will but I also you
1:01:56know you stand at the threshold of
1:01:58something and you cannot take a step
1:02:02forward if you are consumed with
1:02:04thinking about what you're going to miss
1:02:05like what I don't know about what the
1:02:09future holds about what my life is going
1:02:11to look like is everything I do
1:02:13don't know anything about what is going
1:02:15to happen next and that's thrilling and
1:02:20I just have to step into that what I
1:02:23will you know when when before my
1:02:26daughter was born a lot of people said
1:02:27aren't you gonna miss your freedom and I
1:02:33said well you know I've had a lot of
1:02:35freedom
1:02:36I've been to a lot of plays and dance
1:02:42recitals and bars and rock shows and in
1:02:45fact for many years I would go to three
1:02:47or four rock shows a night
1:02:48um I'll i have lived I have sucked the
1:02:52marrow out of life who once my daughter
1:02:56was born I realized that whatever
1:02:59whatever I no longer could do because of
1:03:03my daughter what that did not feel like
1:03:07a sacrifice at all right I couldn't go
1:03:10out and see rock shows anymore because i
1:03:12was at home with my beautiful daughter
1:03:15who you know looking into her eyes is
1:03:19like a kind of drug that i never knew
1:03:21existed and so I don't I mean only
1:03:25somebody that doesn't have a kid would
1:03:27ask you aren't you worried about losing
1:03:29your freedom because when you're when
1:03:31you lose your freedom you do it
1:03:33voluntarily and you say farewell to to
1:03:38you my freedom I mean hopefully you do
1:03:41at least i did i said i do not need to
1:03:44go to see spoon tonight although I want
1:03:48to because i'm here with my daughter
1:03:50which is something I want to do more and
1:03:53so in looking at my myfuturelife a
1:03:58running for office first which is a very
1:04:01different job from holding office second
1:04:03i can only hope and expect that
1:04:10that the sacrifice of giving up my
1:04:14ability to go down to portland this
1:04:17afternoon because I want to talk to
1:04:19somebody about a hamburger and then once
1:04:23I'm down there maybe I'll you know do it
1:04:26like jump up at their show and play
1:04:27guitar solo like losing the ability to
1:04:31do that because I have to hear I hear
1:04:35that you have to be here the following
1:04:36morning to hear about how work we're
1:04:39going to redo our sewer system to
1:04:41accommodate wet wipes um I can only hope
1:04:46that and I and I do expect that I will
1:04:49be so invigorated and thrilled by the
1:04:52opportunity that i won't look at it as a
1:04:54sacrifice
1:04:56that's a good answer now yeah and I and
1:05:00I and I can't imagine i can't imagine
1:05:02looking at the next 40 to 50 years of my
1:05:07life on this planet and thinking about
1:05:09it in in any terms other them that you
1:05:13know I have to just keep stepping
1:05:14through that door every time and and you
1:05:21know that because the alternative is to
1:05:22just come to a doorway one day where I
1:05:25go well that's sad it's one door way too
1:05:28many I'm not stepping through this one
1:05:29I'm just I'm fine here and that doesn't
1:05:33feel like it would you know that's not
1:05:38what I've been working toward movement
1:05:42and hopefully you know I don't come to
1:05:44some doorway and have somebody say like
1:05:47well if you step through this doorway
1:05:48there's either a lion or a beautiful
1:05:54princess in a lady or a tiger which is
1:05:57it gonna be huh you know is that what
1:05:59i'm gonna do is i'm gonna i'm going to
1:06:01open both doors at the same time because
1:06:02I'm i got long arms
1:06:06yeah this is gonna be a ride you know
1:06:09what and the thing is like we're going
1:06:11to talk about some stuff some weird
1:06:13stuff on here i'm not going to continue
1:06:15can't continue to monopolize our mutual
1:06:18podcast that we love so dearly
1:06:21is that a commitment that's campaign
1:06:23promise what this is my commitment to
1:06:25you and I would like I would like if you
1:06:29will if you will allow us who I would
1:06:31like to close out this announcement
1:06:34podcast with your new thought technology
1:06:37about cooking chicken
1:06:38thank you John first of all I'd like to
1:06:40say thank you for the opportunity to
1:06:41appear here tonight and have an
1:06:43opportunity to share
1:06:44I thought technology that I think many
1:06:46of you will enjoy but not innocent dogs
1:06:48emphatically a lot of people like to eat
1:06:50chicken crowd goes wild
1:06:54I read about this in a book and a recent
1:06:58book
1:06:59yeah i read it back meditated on the
1:07:00internet and printed out a little for a
1:07:02new way to cook in China can talk about
1:07:03this this is this is the in the middle
1:07:05of your portent I can't come out and
1:07:06drop a chicken recipe your you tell you
1:07:08you just said this is the problem this
1:07:10is the problem what you're worried that
1:07:13we're gonna lose all the great chicken
1:07:14recipes because of the great chicken
1:07:16because suddenly were suddenly were
1:07:18operating on a higher level with well
1:07:19this is special this is a special
1:07:20edition
1:07:21yeah i don't know if i want to sell it
1:07:22with my chicken okay well you know the
1:07:24thing is I want I want I want to give
1:07:26that chicken time to first of all
1:07:28marinate that's a good question if
1:07:31anything I feel like it's too easy of a
1:07:33recipe other any other questions do any
1:07:35closing remarks today we'll talk about
1:07:37the chicken next time but you've got
1:07:38this is gonna I just what I guess I this
1:07:40is a good place to to set a few things
1:07:42straight in as much as we can which is
1:07:44we're gonna keep doing the show that's
1:07:45right that we we hopefully our hopefully
1:07:49our schedule not become too erratic but
1:07:50that's a little out of our control and
1:07:52it would be bad overcommit that's right
1:07:54but we're going to continue to do this
1:07:55show because that is our commitment not
1:07:58only to you the listener who
1:08:01Sorry Sorry breaking the fourth wall i
1:08:02know we don't do that our community but
1:08:06also Marlon our commitment to one
1:08:08another if it were not for you my friend
1:08:11Marilyn man who I would be less of a man
1:08:16that I am today
1:08:17and you have you have you have made me
1:08:21more of a you have made me more of an
1:08:23adult
1:08:24oh you have been the you have been the
1:08:28little pill flavored like a turkey
1:08:30dinner that has enabled this space
1:08:32program to make this mission to Mars
1:08:36success
1:08:36oh this podcast has been the wall in
1:08:38front of your 55 inches away from your
1:08:41face as you go into death can hurtling
1:08:43into space that's right
1:08:44this podcast has been the whopper which
1:08:50both starts a global thermonuclear war
1:08:55uh-huh and also recognizes that the only
1:08:57winning move is not to plant arrest
1:09:01congratulations welcome my candidacy
1:09:04thank you it's a whoo boy it's gonna be
1:09:07it's gonna be fun i hope that everybody
1:09:08follows along
1:09:09listen a vote Roderick com who well is
1:09:15the website vote Roderick calm down on
1:09:18it it's going to be on the internet vote
1:09:19Roderick calm and I mean basically my
1:09:24expectation is that everybody listen to
1:09:25this podcast will go there and
1:09:26immediately donate the maximum amount of
1:09:28money they can sure i mean i think it
1:09:30was that saying yeah unfortunately we
1:09:32cannot accept money from the United
1:09:34Kingdom New Zealand Australia Germany
1:09:36Finland or actually any country other
1:09:41than America really got a vet that huh
1:09:43you cannot give money to the campaign if
1:09:45you do not live in America and I'm sorry
1:09:48to all of our own no one problem at a
1:09:50time John one problem at a time but if
1:09:52you do live in America if you live say
1:09:54for instance in Kansas City Kansas or
1:09:56Kansas City Missouri URL City New
1:10:00Hampshire if you live in Kansas City New
1:10:02Hampshire i would love to get a map of
1:10:05your town because it's what I don't have
1:10:07in my collection but you can give money
1:10:09to the campaign from anywhere in America
1:10:11because of course Seattle is one of
1:10:13America's top cities and if Seattle goes
1:10:16so too does America go right as seattle
1:10:22moves America moves and so it is not
1:10:26unreasonable to think that people who
1:10:28live elsewhere
1:10:29want to see Seattle move move
1:10:32wait and and so yes that is the
1:10:35opportunity boat rod or you know i'm
1:10:37going to say that and i'm sorry/not not
1:10:38dot org although don't we do also have
1:10:40dot org Roderick com Roderick com
1:10:43anybody in the u.s. they just jump in
1:10:45that's right in the end anything that
1:10:47you talked about that on here
1:10:49how do you mean i don't know i mean like
1:10:51it's okay it's okay that's for money
1:10:53right well i mean i know that's what the
1:10:55best thing that we have to and and you
1:10:57know I think there's that there is a
1:10:59desire
1:11:01well first of all as we said already
1:11:02everybody on this podcast will
1:11:04automatically give the maximum but then
1:11:06they have to go to their friends and
1:11:08family for in the united states in the
1:11:10United States and say and those of you
1:11:12live overseas who have friends and
1:11:13family in the United States you can
1:11:15absolutely call them and send them
1:11:16emails believe no donor behind and and
1:11:19ultimately to spread the word and I what
1:11:22I'm talking about is one of these things
1:11:24these internet things I don't want to
1:11:26say it I don't want to curse it but to
1:11:29spread the word where this is this
1:11:31candidacy is recognized as representing
1:11:34all of us
1:11:36icymi haha
1:11:40in case you missed it
1:11:43ding listen I'm going to march music
1:11:47here
1:11:47mm okay we're marching you apparently a
1:11:51better future moving Seattle within the
1:11:55constraints of the election laws but mom
1:12:00find a friend in Germany know as them to
1:12:03tell someone in the United States ok yes
1:12:07you know I'm just workshopping at this
1:12:08point if you find a friend in Germany
1:12:10and tell them to call the united states
1:12:12that is one method collection scheisse
1:12:16congratulations son
1:12:19thank you thanks mer