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All Podcasts Best of In the Bubble: Put on Pants Every Day (with Tina Fey)

Best of In the Bubble: Put on Pants Every Day (with Tina Fey)

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Description

Enjoy this Best of In the Bubble episode where Tina Fey joins Andy to talk about comedy during Corona-times and other unfunny periods in recent history. They chat about stuck-at-home life (with a cameo from Tina’s daughter), SNL in isolation, and how American culture is being re-shaped. Then, Andy shares fresh polling from leading health care pollster Mollyann Brodie about how Americans are really feeling.

 

Keep up with Andy on Twitter @ASlavitt and Instagram @andyslavitt.

 

In the Bubble is supported in part by listeners like you. Become a member, get exclusive bonus content, ask Andy questions, and get discounted merch at http://lemonadamedia.com/inthebubble/

 

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Check out these resources from today’s episode: 

 

 

To follow along with a transcript and/or take notes for friends and family, go to www.lemonadamedia.com/show/in-the-bubble shortly after the air date.

 

Stay up to date with us on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram at @LemonadaMedia. For additional resources, information, and a transcript of the episode, visit lemonadamedia.com.

Transcription

SPEAKERS

Andy Slavitt, Tina Fey, Zach Slavitt, Molly Bodie

Andy Slavitt  00:00

Hey guys, it’s Andy. Production team is off this week. So they asked me to pick my two favorite episodes, which I find impossible, it’s like picking your favorite children, but I decided to pick one from earlier in the year that many of you may not have a chance to hear. It’s a really funny, great conversation with Tina Fey who is kind enough to talk to us. This just when we were reacting to kind of what the heck is going on here. And I was so grateful she was on the show. She’s really funny, even funnier than I am, here she is.

Tina Fey

I know a lot of us are feeling anxious. And we’re asking ourselves like, what can I do? I’m just one person, what can I do? And so I would urge people this Saturday, instead of participating in the screaming matches and potential violence, find a local business you support maybe a Jewish run bakery or an African-American run bakery. Order a cake with the American flag on it, like this one. And just eat it.

Andy Slavitt

Hi, it’s Andy Slavitt and Zach Slavitt. Welcome to IN THE BUBBLE. Got an amazing episode today, you’re going to get to hear me talk to the person whose voice you just heard. Tina Fey, if you don’t recognize that clip, it’s a clip that she did on Weekend Update for SNL right after the rally in Charlottesville in 2017, that was a tough time for the country. And it was really difficult to imagine how to make somebody laugh. And it’s one of the things that I want to ask Tina about when we talk.

So look, it is not so easy all the time IN THE BUBBLE. There are certainly challenges as the weather gets nicer, as many of us feel the financial hardship, it’s not so hard to look outside and say, Are things really that bad? Is it really necessary for us to stay inside, and all of us have probably fantasies of breaking out and ending this kind of stir-crazy feeling. But on the other hand, it’s working, it really is, for maybe the first time and America’s collective memory, we are largely acting in unison to save lives, and to get through this crisis.

02:20

And there’s a lot of evidence that people are really supporting their neighbors, and really helping each other through this. We’re going to hear from the principal pollster from the Kaiser Family Foundation at the end of the episode, she’s done some really interesting work into that question of how are Americans doing? What are we feeling? How long can we stay at this, and she really has some stunning results. But I think the question that is going to be foremost in this episode, is this question that we’re gonna explore with Tina Fey.

Which is how is our culture changing, what’s happening differently. And Tina is not only someone who is one of the funniest people in the world, as I think you’ll hear, but she’s also very in touch with the mood of the country. I know that in the Slavitt bubble, things are changing. On the one hand, there’s more togetherness. On the other hand, there’s more togetherness, different things are occurring over the last five or six weeks that I don’t think ever would have occurred, otherwise.

A lot of the things I would have been traveling for, we’re doing on Zoom. And they’re kind of working or working well enough. So there are things happening, that are unusual, some are good, some are bad. But all of them are things that we’ll see how they play out over time as we get through this kind of cultural phenomenon. One really important cultural phenomenon that I think you all know about is Zach’s facts. It’s become a critical part of landscape and part of many of your podcast comments.

So fortunately, Zach is here again today to share some facts with us. Hey, buddy.

Zach Slavitt 

Hey, for today I got some kind of under the radar news from Japan. So apparently, Japan is approving a former Ebola drug remdesivir to be used in early May. And this is like the first country to allow it on, like people outside of a trial. So it’s kind of big news.

Andy Slavitt  04:20

So why is it big news is that because you think this drug works? Do you have like stock in this company or something?

Zach Slavitt 

It seems like nobody really knows whether or not it works yet, because the initial trials don’t come back for a couple more weeks. But Japan is kind of going to serve as a much larger sample where we can see how it works in Japan. And there has been promise, but there’s also been similar treatments like Hydroxychloroquine, which were somewhat disproven. So this will be good opportunity to see how well it works.

Andy Slavitt

So you’re excited for the data, not necessarily because you believe this is going to be the drug?

Zach Slavitt

It’ll tell us whether or not it is a drug, hopefully.

Andy Slavitt 

Is it available here in the US if it works?

Zach Slavitt 

I think it will become more available in the US. Although there have been talks about expensive prices from Gilead, which is the pharmaceutical company that makes it.

Andy Slavitt

Got it. So we’ll know we’ll learn soon whether that treatment works and other treatments. So that’s positive. We’ll have some data so you make sure to report back when that study comes in.

Zach Slavitt 

Yeah.

Zach Slavitt 

All right. Thanks, Zach. excited to hear from Tina Fey today? All right. Well, let’s get to Tina Fey. So welcome to Tina Fey who I think the best way to introduce her as literally everybody’s favorite person.

Tina Fey 

No. That’s very kind.

Andy Slavitt 

That’s the reaction I’ve been getting is I told people I was talking to you today. Flattering kinds of reactions, and you must get that everywhere you go.

Tina Fey 

That’s so nice. I’m quarantine with three people who would love to see anyone else. They would love to see literally anyone else.

Andy Slavitt  06:05

So my first question for you is an obvious one, which is how do you think Sarah Palin’s dealing with this whole Coronavirus thing?

Tina Fey 

I haven’t heard from her. She emerged. I haven’t heard from her.

Andy Slavitt

I thought you know.

Tina Fey 

I don’t…

Andy Slavitt

You’re not as close as you used to be?

Tina Fey 

I don’t keep tabs on the former governor. But hopefully she’s you know..

Andy Slavitt

You think she’s abiding by the stay-at-home quarantine rules?

Tina Fey 

I certainly hope so, yes. I hope they’re all well.

Andy Slavitt

Not willing to speculate?

Tina Fey 

Not willing to speculate. No.

Andy Slavitt 

Got it. What your former colleagues at SNL are putting on this kind of masterful at home show. That kind of really seems to work. What was that be like?

Tina Fey 

I’m so impressed with what they’ve done these first two shows and the kind of escalation in production value between the first week which was really fun and entertaining. And the second week, which was even better, and just so great to see the production value go up, you know, somebody, somebody mailed that wig to Brad Pitt, and he got it on. He dressed it himself. He looked great. And I think it’s very, very meaningful for people to have that normalcy and that like to have SNL to turn to it’s something that we’ve always had to check in, you know, at times.

And like, it’s just so nice. I watched the first one live with my 14-year-old and we were just so happy it was on and I remember seeing Mary Ellen Matthews is the amazing photographer who does all the hosts photos and what they call the bumpers, which are the little things between that say SNL the kind of the pictures that come up before a commercial or after a commercial, you know. And I was like, Oh, Mary Ellen’s making these bumpers from home, I can tell that she’s just making these in what must be her house.

And to see something artistic and finished, like Mary Ellen’s bumpers, just gave me such a tremendous amount of hope and joy that like, it’s hard to look at the Zooms after a while and I was like, I’m just happy to see someone finishing something and having the artistic follow through. And so I think it’s very comforting for people. I know, it was comforting for me to see them. I just also as soon as I heard that Tom Hanks was gonna come and do the monologue.

08:11

I was like, This is what we all need. This is just to, to see that man and see that he’s okay. And in the same way they say like, stick to your routine, and like put on pants every day. Like having SNL on Saturday is a part of the American routine.

Andy Slavitt

Yeah, I had this reaction that’s like, we must still be whole. And in some sense, though, the world fell upside down. But there’s some things that are not. Is it hard to be funny during a pandemic?

Tina Fey

I mean, I haven’t tried to write anything for SNL. But I would imagine it has its challenges, but at the same time, sometimes what makes you angry or what scares you can be a great source of comedy because it comes or even just what frustrates you because it comes from such a real place. It’s maybe for a certain kind of comedian. Easier to have something to say then when everything’s going well.

Andy Slavitt

So talk about that sheet cake thing and how that tapped into how you even thought about how to come out and talk about a topic is just awful in a way that had people not only laughing but just feeling better.

Tina Fey

I’m like most things SNL it was extremely short notice I think I was in California doing something I live in New York, but I was in California at the time flying back on I want to say like the Thursday with my kids flying home to my husband. And Lauren had called knowing that I had gone to the University of Virginia saying, you know, if you have something that you’d like to respond to this on Weekend Update, you know, you’re welcome to come on.

And so I thought, well, I felt like I had a responsibility to try. And so on the plane ride back, I sat as the kids watched a movie and tried to come up with something and it yeah, it starts from like, what am I enraged about? And how can I articulate it? And what is that, like? What might other people feel in common with that feeling. And so I guess it was trying to channel you know, my anger at these people who had come into this city that I have affection for who had come from out of state to try to influence the local people who had voted to take down a statue.

10:27

Which is how our country works, the people who live there get to vote. And these people were coming to spread their ignorance. And then I, you know, seeing that the President was saying that there was some good people do like trying to find a way to express that anger in a way that feels like a relief that feels like helping other people seeing it have some kind of relief. And the thing about eating the cake was just about feeling like we had no control over the situation and kind of a guess, like a physical realization of that.

Andy Slavitt

Right, right. I mean, you, you brought it all the way to sheet cake, and people no longer have to have a birthday to get a sheet cake.

Tina Fey 

I hope so. I hope if nothing else,

Andy Slavitt

Telling people that it’s okay to laugh and experience joy, even when other people are hurting, feels really important, because I think we have this guilt that we know people are suffering, people are suffering in lots of ways. And I feel like people, they almost apologize sometimes for saying something funny or doing something frivolous and joyful, when I have just got to imagine I mean, who knows how we’ll feel about this time after we get through it. But I’m just gonna imagine that we will regret not finding those moments during the process.

Tina Fey

Well, it’s a coping mechanism, you know, and to find something to laugh about, doesn’t negate your empathy or your understanding of all the dark things that are happening. You know, I had the experience of working at Saturday Night Live right after September 11. And it was a similar conversation of like, what, what is okay? Because you’re, you don’t want to belittle the situation that’s happened at the same time, there’s just a human need for some kind of relief.

12:11

And I remember at that time, one of the first people to crack like, what it was okay for us to laugh at was Will Ferrell, who, within a week or two of us being back on the air, wrote a sketch about casual Fridays at his office, and he wanted to express his patriotism by wearing American flag Speedo at the office. And it was, it was really funny sketch. And it was like, one of the first times that we I remember feeling the audience being like, Okay, this is okay, this is okay for us to laugh at.

Andy Slavitt

You know what I find harder, I find harder watching. Like there’s a news channel that has a promotion, where they show the anchor, like sitting there and they’re playing this sort of very somber music and she takes this massive deep breath, and then they just cut to this is who we are talking about freaking people out. I mean, how is that helpful?

Tina Fey

Yeah, I agree. I think that some of my kids too, my older daughter was very aware of like, it’s too many commercials with somber music with brands being like, we’re here for you. I’m like, great, you know, Gatorade Ice is here for us or whatever. There’s not that but like, she’s very aware of it’s just manipulative, and it just increases sadness, as opposed to, I don’t know. Also, like, every musical artist is like, hey, I want to help out. Let me find one from a list of 100 of the saddest songs in the world and play them for you on a bad speaker.

Andy Slavitt

Exactly. Exactly. Exactly. I got to say I have a lot of admiration for the people who work in ad agencies who like the day after Coronavirus, possibly like Okay, we got we got to sell Honda’s a new way. No one’s gonna buy a Honda the current way. So can you spit ball some ideas on how people might buy a Honda during a Coronavirus?

Tina Fey

Yeah, I like to look at those commercials too. And really think about how that the footage they’re using was all shot for a regular commercial. It’s just like a lady postal carrier delivering mail. But now it’s got sad music on it. It’s like have you ever seen those things where they recut the trailer for the shining to be like a comedy?

Andy Slavitt  14:09

Yes.

Tina Fey

It’s that basically, ad agency doing that.

Andy Slavitt 

I mean, they’re killing it because there there’s a whole genre. I mean, speaking of which do you expect like in the next couple of years, you’ll get like dozens of scripts for Coronavirus movies and Coronavirus shows and that there’s gonna be a whole new category on iTunes or they’re probably already is I guess, but like an ongoing thing. I guess what I’m really getting at in it try to be a little bit cute about it is how this changes our culture and how we experience culture.

Tina Fey 

Yeah, I think it’ll be interesting to see. The one thing I’ve been telling myself and my family in terms of like people saying like, will it ever be normal again, I was like you guys you read. We’re now hearing the learning a lot about the Spanish flu. And you know, it came a couple years later the roaring 20s, the roaring 20s. So yes, at some point we will be able to go back into a restaurant together. But in a way, I kind of hope that the way our culture has changed, I hope we are a little less enamored of celebrity and influencer culture.

Like it’s just been so wonderful and clarifying to see who’s really essential in our society. And it’s not the people who make lip kits. It’s the people who are nurses and doctors and in New York City, it’s food delivery people and people who work at Duane Reed and doorman and there’s a lot of people in our society, myself chiefly among them who are overvalued and it would be nice to see that readjusted there was a really funny, I think it’s just some kid on TikTok. Ask Doc, if he saw this video, but there’s this kid who did a really funny TikTok video about like.

Tina Fey

Where you go to college and what it says about you. And it’s basically I’m going through like, you went to Harvard, you thought you were best school in the country. Now you go to online school, just like how the great equalizer is like. And so and Cornell, you thought you were like not as good as Harvard, but pretty good. But now you go to online school, and it was just like, yeah, everyone’s going to online school. It’s really funny.

Andy Slavitt  16:12

That’s good. You know, the years leading up to this, we’re not so normal either. And so I wonder if like, you’re exactly right, that they will look back and go. Yeah, the Coronavirus period was obviously distinctive and sad. I mean, there’s always going to be a very sad period in our history. But there were so many other things before it, that were kind of going haywire, whether it’s culturally or politically or what have you, that we don’t come out of this going.

You know, what, there’s maybe three things that matter and here’s what they are. And our priority is changing. We take fewer things for granted. I know I used to get pissed off if I used to go to the store. I’m serious about this. And they did to have a very special brand of toothpaste that I like. And we didn’t have it. I would just be like this store has serious problems.

Tina Fey 

Now I want three guesses to try to guess the toothpaste that you like. Is it Sensodyne?

Andy Slavitt 

It’s not, it’s the opposite. Go ahead.

Tina Fey 

Is it like a fancy like Dr. so and so’s?

Andy Slavitt 

They go way too TMI with this audience, but I have inflamed gums.

Tina Fey 

Okay.

Andy Slavitt 

So there’s this special toothpaste for people that have slightly inflamed gums and so it’s like $1 more and they rarely have, it’s called Biotene.

Tina Fey 

Okay.

Andy Slavitt 

And you know, when they don’t have it, I’m like, Oh my god, they don’t have Biotene at the, at the Jerry’s supermarket. What kind of what are they thinking here? Of course, like I probably the only person there buys that damn thing.

Tina Fey 

Yeah, it’s gonna be fascinating. You know, my parents were a little older. So they grew up in the depression. And so like I at least had some of that understanding of that of like…

Andy Slavitt  18:05

And the overhang.

Tina Fey

Yeah. It’s like you don’t waste food. You know, you reuse a paper bag, like that kind of stuff that it’s been hard to impart to my children. And now I feel like they get it a little more of like, oh, yeah, that thing you wanted, like, you can’t have it now. And you can’t have it indefinitely. And you know, in many ways, I think that is a good thing to learn to. Not that they were the worst, most consumerist kids but like, that’s a wrap on that.

Andy Slavitt 

No, but we all we’re.

Tina Fey 

We all we’re.

Andy Slavitt 

I mean, it’s true. Because when Lana was like hey, Lana’s my wife and also an enormous fan of yours, too. And she’s like, you know, let’s not use the plastic baggies. Let’s use Tupperware because there may never be any more plastic baggies on the planet. And then Zach, who’s a teen says, guess what, guys, the planet after a month of this is in much, much better shape. And so you know, you kind of do a little bit of your head spins around on its axis. And I think some of these kids must be looking at us to go great. You’re going to cure the Coronavirus, so y’all can get back to wrecking the planet again for us.

Tina Fey

Yeah, I hope that people see how much stuff they don’t need, and how it wasn’t that hard to be a little bit greener and to use less gas and to go fewer unnecessary places. I hope that sticks with us. Also, the other thing I hope is like, let’s go back to everyone believing in science. None of this cute, I might know more than scientists baloney. Like this stuff of like, I think the thing always cracked me up about the kind of environmental stuff is like, big business is telling us that these scientists are probably trying to trick us into believing global warming. I was like how does that who is probably trying to trick us the scientists or the big businessman?

Andy Slavitt 

Well, I think it’s like which one of you is willing to tell me I don’t have to sacrifice.

Tina Fey 

Yeah.

Andy Slavitt

Okay, you sound most credible. I realized how wired we are to hear things that meet narrative.

Tina Fey  20:00

Oh, yeah.

Andy Slavitt

Right? And like if we have a narrative which says, You know, I don’t really want to change a lot in uncomfortable ways for something that might or might not happen in two generations or 100 years, then, you know, maybe I’ll find people who sound credible or who can make the people who say that sound not quite so credible. And that wishful thinking, like I do it.

Tina Fey 

That confirmation bias?

Andy Slavitt

Yes! Anything you want to believe you can confirm, you want to believe that we’ll never get a vaccine, I can tell you 10 articles, you want to believe we’re gonna have a vaccine in three months, I can show you 10 articles. And so we’re not good at having the patience to say, gosh, we don’t know, we’re just getting started here. And there’s a lot of uncertainty.

Tina Fey 

Yeah. You know, and I have in, you know, in recent last couple weeks have also kind of hit a level of frustration with like, MSNBC with constant like, breaking news, breaking news. I’m like, it’s not all breaking news, guys. It’s you winding people. Like, I do really think you know, the healthiest course of action is like read the paper, listen to Governor Cuomo. Turn it off for a few hours. Because otherwise, the just gonna keep agitating for ratings. At the same way like it’s both sides, but I don’t watch the other side. But it’s a business.

Andy Slavitt 

Sure. Well, it’s addictive when you get when people are paying attention because you do a, then you just do a lot more of it. And but you’re right, I think people if they just listen to the scientists, maybe listen to their local health commissioner watching movie, listen to a good podcast or to, you know, I’m just saying, and then play with your family do stuff like that.

Tina Fey

Yeah. Because they create this those kinds of cable news. 24-hour news cycle creates this thing of like, this is what’s gonna save me. If I don’t watch this all the time. I’m gonna miss something. And it’s gonna cause my demise.

Andy Slavitt

That’s right. Now what people who are consumers of what you do in entertainment, and we see this very finished product with these people that are very famous like yourself, and Alec Baldwin and others don’t really realize how many people..

Tina Fey

Hold on. Hi. I’m taping a podcast. Yes, where’s.. Is that Daddy has access to the parent portal…

Tina Fey 

Sorry, school.

Andy Slavitt

Those words are spoken all over America.

Tina Fey  22:22

Oh, Daddy, I told daddy how to do it.

Tina Fey

That is the thunderous crawling of an eight-year-old. Go, close the door

Tina Fey

We’re all going crazy. Yes, school is taking all day. I like school, so I don’t mind doing it. And then I’ll have a day where I feel like we really got you know what we achieve so much today. We did some laundry and we did all of school. And then I remember that I also have a job at like four. And I’m like, oh God. What about my job?

Andy Slavitt 

I like how parents are combining tasks or they’re like, okay, count the number of socks in the laundry. And that’s your math class today.

Tina Fey 

Yeah.

Andy Slavitt 

Like, oh, how does that work? Right?

Tina Fey 

We’ve definitely had days where PE was shooting nerf arrows inside the house, had a foam wig head.

Andy Slavitt

I love it. I love it. Where I was going was there’s a lot of people who do the work to make a show. And a lot of those people don’t have work right now. And while we tend to think of people who work in entertainment as people who have no need to worry about money, that’s not true. There’s writers there’s producers or strikers all people on the set I’ve had the privilege of coming to see SNL in person before and there’s just lots and lots and lots of jobs. How are those folks doing? And is there anything you could suggest to this audience who wants to help people who are going through that?

Tina Fey

That’s a great question, Andy. I think you know, there’s so many different layers of out, you know, that’s another reason I’m so thrilled to see SNL doing their show, because you can see even the first show to the next. I feel like that whole crew is working like clearly, editors are working hard, graphic designers. You know, I hope they’re finding a way to use the camera crew remotely. That’s a massive organization. A lot of really talented people make that show. You know, we were in the middle of just begun shooting a TV show called Mr. Mayor with Ted Danson out in California. We only got about three and a half episodes and before the shutdown and that.

24:24

Yeah, those guys, those men and women on that crew, I think they were able to get a little bit of severance from Universal and then they’re just waiting for us to go back, you know, and hopefully, there have strong unions that are helping them. We have a Mean Girls musical on Broadway that and on tour, both of which are paused now and those actors yeah, we were. I think we were able to pay them for like two more weeks. And then like all the actors on Broadway, they’re kind of collecting unemployment, I hope and those crews are enormous too.

There is something called the Actors Fund. that people can donate to if they want to help people. And we’ll put a link, right. And that, you know, that doesn’t just help actors that helps all the people who work in theaters, dressers and stitchers. And wig makers and lighting guys and stage managers and everybody. Yeah, I think that’s, you know, I was joking that, you know, under 10, people are overvalued. And I do mean that about like, celebrities, celebrities, but the people who actually make TV and film every and you think now how much we’re all sitting inside, and binge-watching stuff for comfort, like, all of the people that work on the cruise of those shows, are out of work and need us to remember them.

Andy Slavitt

We’ll put a link up. And I want the audience to know that many of these folks, not just the well-known folks, but many of the people who are writing have been in their spare time, trying to do things to help without getting paid. And they’re just rolling up their sleeves and trying to help. And I find that just one of the many amazing things that I’ve experienced.

Tina Fey

Yeah, that’s how you and I met, it was on a Writers Guild of America East or both East and West, I guess, call of people trying to figure out the best way to help and a lot of things have come out of that some PSAs I think some live events, we’ve been trying to figure out what to do. And one thing I remembered that you had said on that call, Andy was that, you know, there’s going to come a time that people are going to be quarantined for a while and then they’re going to get fatigued of being quarantined, and they’re going to be like, I did it already, I want to go outside now. And that now may be a time to remind people that it does suck, but we have to keep abiding by it and help it keep working.

Andy Slavitt  26:31

Well, it’s so great to have you as America’s favorite person to join our podcasts. And I really think that you’d win that vote pretty easily. You mentioned Tom Hanks, I think he would have won like a decade ago. But I think you’re..

Tina Fey

I would just be like on a shortlist of his vice person.

Andy Slavitt

So what’s the most surprising positive thing that’s happened to you, most joyful, funny, fun or positive feeling in the last six weeks that surprise you?

Tina Fey

The good thing inside all this terribleness I think for me has been just the amount of time with my family with my immediate family and the kind of forced stillness, you know, I think that my eight-year-old who was in here, is very happy that we’re always there to put her to bed. Now, that said, it’s happening at 10 o’clock at night instead of eight. And I don’t know how to fix that. But the eight year old and the dog are so happy that we’re here.

And then I would say that the other moment that I find to be the most uplifting is in Manhattan in our neighborhood is the seven o’clock scream, which is hearing everybody open their windows and come together and bang on pots and cheer and yell for the first responders.

Andy Slavitt 

Well, I’ve got to imagine if I put myself in the shoes of your eight-year-old, that she’ll remember this as a great time that she got to spend with her parents stay up late, do the scream. And I think we should all feel really good about the fact that for all of the horrible things that are going to come out of this. Some really great memories are too. And so I think that’s I think it’s nice. It is nice to have that.

Tina Fey  28:11

Yeah.

Andy Slavitt

Well, thank you so much, again, for making the time to be on it was really delightful to talk to you.

Tina Fey

It’s nice to talk to you again, Andy.

Andy Slavitt 

Thanks, Tina.

Tina Fey 

Bye.

Andy Slavitt

Okay, so that was great, hard to say that I have a favorite episode of the show, given all of the great people that have been kind enough to come on and talk. And of course, we have some amazing guests next week. But talking to Tina Fey was just amazing. I just love how she looks at things, and the sort of perspective she has. And she’s so right about the amount of normalcy that both we have, and that we’re going to be able to see going forward. So I’m really grateful she came on. Now as we move into segment three, which is officially my third favorite segment.

Andy Slavitt 

It’s really not it’s a great segment. I want to actually get to some of the information, the factual information about how it is we’re doing, what’s changing about our culture, how are Americans feeling? And for that, we’re going to bring up the best pollster when it comes to topics of healthcare, Molly Brodie from the Kaiser Family Foundation. So let’s dial her up.

Andy Slavitt

Molly, it’s Andy Slavitt. You’re on our podcast.

Molly Bodie 

Hi, thanks for having me.

Andy Slavitt

We’re thrilled to have you, Zach, in particular because he likes data.

Molly Brodie 

Well, data we have plenty of and I’m happy to share it with him at any time.

Andy Slavitt

Excellent. So let’s start with this. Americans have been on some form of stay-at-home program for a number of weeks. How’re they doing? What are Americans attitudes towards it?

Molly Brodie  30:03

You know, I think one of the things that is most fascinating when you look at the polling data is what a shared experience we are all having. The universality and responses is really something I’ve never seen in 25 years of asking the American public questions, I think, at the moment, you know, 84% of us say that our lives disrupted, right? And that’s up from 40%, just a few weeks ago, 8 and 10 say that they are abiding by the strict social distancing measures.

And 8 and 10 say they can keep doing it for at least another month, 8 and 10 tell us that the social distancing measures are important. And they’re important to stay in place to be able to protect people, more so than the 2 and 10, who say that they’re become a burden. And then it’s time to let them go, you know, three quarters of us have bought or made a protective mask.

I mean, these kinds of universal experiences are just not things I’m used to seeing, in fact, 4 and 10 of us know somebody, personally, who has been affected by the virus. So what the data is showing us is that Americans are in it together. But there’s a lot of underlying problems and challenges that are really emerging for people. And I want to make sure that we talk about that, too.

Andy Slavitt

Okay. Wow, that’s a great, fascinating insight, that it’s the most collective experience that you’ve seen in all your years of research. So can we keep at it? and for how long can we keep at it?

Molly Brodie

You know, right now, Americans think they can keep at it, they’re telling us that they can, as I mentioned, about 8 and 10, say they can do it for at least another month, about a third say they can do it for six months or more. So certainly people recognize that this is working and that it’s the right thing to be doing. On the other hand, there are real economic impacts and real mental health and physical impacts happening to families.

32:00

And in our data, about 55% of people who are working on February 1st, now have some sort of change to their employment situation. That is they’ve either lost their job, or they’ve been furloughed, or their salary has been cut back. And those folks in particular having real challenges, and among that group, about 45%, is having trouble paying their bills already. And this is real early on, if you look at what some of the experts are predicting.

Andy Slavitt 

So are Democrats and Republicans looking at this any differently in terms of the severity of the crisis and their reaction to it?

Molly Brodie

Yes, we are seeing some political polarization in terms of particularly what should be done going forward with this epidemic. So in terms of whether the strict shelter in place restrictions are doing more harm than good, Democrats are more likely to say that we should keep them in place. So 94% of Democrats say yes, keep them in place. Only 5% say they’re doing more harm than good. Independence, it’s 84% to 16%. But among Republicans, 61% of Republicans do still support the shelter in place orders. But 38% now are saying that they’re doing more harm than good.

We’re seeing those things rise in another question that we asked about whether the worst is yet to come or whether the worst is behind us. We see that Republicans are now in a position to believe that the worst is behind us. About half 53% of them say the worst is behind us. That compares to 21% for Democrats and 31% for independence.

Andy Slavitt

What do you think accounts for the differences by and large, the Trump administration and democratic governors, they’re not that far apart on their messaging, there may be some implied differences, and you’ve tracked different questions by political party, is this a wide gap? And why do you think it exists?

Molly Brodie 

It is definitely a gap. I mean, I’ve seen wider gaps, particularly on all my polling on the ACA. But the polarization is definitely there. And it’s there more in terms of attitudes than it is an experience. There’s much more shared experiences between people among parties, because, of course, the virus isn’t it affecting one political party different than another political party, but their opinions are different. And I think it comes both from, you know, just fundamental, underlying beliefs about the role of government and about, you know, individual liberty and those.

Molly Brodie  34:33

You know, things that sort of initially attract people to one party versus another party. But I think it also is coming from the differences in the messaging that’s coming from the top and from the leaders of the party. And I think there’s been some analysis that’s been looking at people who are getting most of the information from one news source versus another and you can really see differences and how those opinions are developing. I think one of the things that was interesting in our project is that when we looked at people’s willingness to maintain the shelter in place rules.

Molly Brodie

People living in states with Democratic governors and Republican governors felt the same about them. So even though we’re hearing somewhat different messages from some Republican governors than we are from some Democratic governors, the folks living in their states have much more shared visions on that front.

Andy Slavitt

I’m fascinated as you are, and find it really promising this idea of a shared experience between Democrats and Republicans, because certainly, we know that the dialogue between Democrats and Republicans can often be strained. But a shared experience is something to build on. Are there any clues in here or in your mind about how to bridge the gap and how Democrats and Republicans can talk to one another, whether in their own families or neighbors, in ways that keep the response aligned to the experiences that people are having and take down the party barriers?

Molly Brodie 

Yeah, that’s a tough one. You know, it’s to the extent that they can keep the conversation on public health and the public health implications and the healthcare implications as opposed to the political implications, to the extent that you can focus on the economic hardships, and have real compassion and an understanding for people who are in such different economic situations, the folks who are paycheck to paycheck, who might be forced to take the risk to go back and put themselves in harm’s way.

36:29

Because otherwise they can’t put food on the table versus people who are in better economic situations who have the luxury of being able to take measures. I think those are the sorts of conversations that can be shared. I think we’re going to see continued partisanship is on, you know, what are the solutions? What are the how long, and it’s another area where your underlying sort of beliefs about the role of government really do impact your views on things like that as well.

Andy Slavitt

Is there any evidence that people are responding differently based upon income? In other words, are people at higher incomes, more likely to be unquestioning about the need to put their health and safety first, whereas people with lower incomes, as you said earlier, people who are working paycheck to paycheck are having less tolerance and are more eager to dismiss some of the public health warnings and get back to work?

Molly Brodie

Yeah, you know, actually, we haven’t and Philip Bump from the Washington Post actually did a great piece today looking at our data in exactly that manner. And it’s really interesting that people who are at either the lower ends of the income distribution or the you know, looking at it by people who have lost their job, or had some sort of economic hardship hit already, are as likely as anybody else to think that the stay-at-home measures are really important, and we still need to abide by them for a while.

One of the things that I do think is important about this group, though, that is, for me, the biggest concern, and the thing I want to keep the closest eye on going forward is that the group of people who have already had lost jobs or lost income, they’re incredibly optimistic that they’re going to get those jobs back and their income back within six months. And that’s something that is really disconcerting for me. listening to the experts, and listening the economic experts, I think that it’s just unknown, we don’t know when the economy will come back.

38:27

And when those people can expect to get their jobs and their income back. And the idea that their current expectation is that this is a very short-term thing, I think is very disconcerting. And the one sort of real note of caution in this whole survey that I want to keep an eye on.

Andy Slavitt

Well, Molly, thank you for doing that really important research. It sounds like Americans have a lot to be proud of. And there really is a lot of good news in the unity that people are feeling even as you’re going through this. But also, as you say, a lot of warning signs that might not last as things play out over the next few months. Thanks so much for joining us.

Molly Brodie 

Thank you for having me. And we’ll keep tracking this. So I’ll keep letting everyone know what we find.

Andy Slavitt

Thanks to Molly, and thanks also to Tina Fey. And thanks, of course to you Zach, for the extraordinary fact that you shared with us. I’m pretty sure that for many people, your facts will be the highlight of the show, although I got to tell you, Molly was pretty darn good. And Tina Fey she’s top shelf. So you and I both need to keep working at it to get to their level.

CREDITS

Thanks for listening IN THE BUBBLE. Hope you rate us highly. We’re a production of Lemonada Media. Kryssy Pease and Alex McOwen produced the show. Our mix is by Ivan Kuraev. My son Zach Slavitt is emeritus co-host and onsite producer improved by the much better Lana Slavitt, my wife. Jessica Cordova Kramer and Stephanie Wittels Wachs still rule our lives and executive produced the show. Our theme was composed by Dan Molad and Oliver Hill and additional music by Ivan Kuraev. You can find out more about our show on social media at @LemonadaMedia. And you can find me at @ASlavitt on Twitter or at @AndySlavitt on Instagram. If you like what you heard today, most importantly, please tell your friends to come listen, but still tell them at a distance or with a mask. And please stay safe, share some joy and we will get through this together. #stayhome

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