Transcript:
Colin Seeberger: Hey, everyone. Welcome back to the “The Tent,” your place for politics, policy, and progress. I’m your host, Colin Seeberger.
And as the year comes to a close, I bring the bittersweet news that this will be the final episode of “The Tent.” Y’all, we have seen some [things] over the last seven-plus years of this podcast run: two impeachments and an attack on the U.S. Capitol; political violence that threatens this great democratic experiment, life-altering policy changes to expand access to prescription drugs, upgrade our infrastructure, and grow America’s energy supply by spurring the use of clean power sources; and of course, a U.S. Supreme Court willing to rip away people’s fundamental rights and freedoms while turning a blind eye to a president’s utter lawlessness.
It’s been just a joy and real pleasure to break down the news with you each week and to be your home for all things politics, policy, and progress. I’d like to personally extend my gratitude to the many guests who joined us on “The Tent,” as well as my current and former CAP Action colleagues who helped bring the show to life, especially Daniella Gibbs Léger, Jesse Lee, Ed Chung, and Sally Tucker.
And while next year’s midterms are sure to bring a flurry of political news, we wanted to take this moment to look back at the history of “The Tent” and share some of the key lessons that we’ve learned from the hundreds of guests we’ve had over the years.
Supervising producer Kelly McCoy and I reflect on Christmas past, discussing both the history of the podcast and some of our favorite moments. We examine the present and how the last presidential election is shaping our political moment. And finally, we look to the future, and I share my thoughts on how the Democratic Party can regain its footing in 2026 and beyond.
Stick around after the interview for a moment of joy, because while Santa may be serving up coal for “The Tent” team’s football teams this year, we still have A+++++ content to look forward to in the new year.
[Musical transition]
Kelly McCoy: Hey, everyone. I am Kelly McCoy, supervising producer on “The Tent” podcast. And with me is someone who needs no introduction: our very own Colin Seeberger.
Colin, welcome to the pod.
Seeberger: Thanks so much for having me. No place I’d rather be.
McCoy: Colin, it’s unfortunately time that we say goodbye on a bittersweet note. Something that I know I haven’t necessarily been looking forward to, but, to your point, no one else I’d rather do this with. So thanks for having me for what, I think, will be a really interesting conversation.
Seeberger: I know we’re in good hands.
McCoy: Appreciate it. So before we get ahead of ourselves, I was hoping you could talk a little bit about why we started this podcast in the first place.
Seeberger: Yeah. So this podcast started shortly after Donald Trump was first elected in 2016. And I think the real impetus for the podcast was there were a lot of people on the broad center left spectrum in the country who were looking for answers to what is the Democratic Party’s way out of the wilderness, so to speak, at a time that nobody really had seen Donald Trump’s rise as likely to lead to the White House. And I think that left a lot of people asking questions about what should the party stand for; what was Trump’s arrival at the White House going to mean for our government, but also the American people and the world writ large. And really struggling to keep up with what is just an avalanche of political news following the president’s first inauguration. We covered an endless amount of material surrounding the multiple investigations, the impeachments, the administration’s handling of the coronavirus pandemic response.
And then obviously Democrats returned to power in 2020 and 2021, the transformative policy change that they were able to achieve in Joe Biden’s first half of his term. And then obviously staring down not just a return of a real dangerous, far-right authoritarian, wannabe president, but somebody who is willing to completely just turn everything on its head and throw it all into the incinerator and say the rule of law, people’s SNAP benefits, their Medicaid—the way of life for a lot of people in this country we’ve watched be completely upended. And we’ve really stayed on the beat throughout all of that.
So I’m proud of everything that this podcast has been able to achieve, and the conversations that we’ve been able to bring you with some unbelievable guests.
McCoy: Truly.
Seeberger: We’ve had vice presidential candidates. We have had—
McCoy: Governors.
Seeberger: —governors, lieutenant governors. We’ve had candidates for Senate, members of Congress, media personalities both traditional and nontraditional. We’ll talk more about that, I’m sure.
And we’ve done so while really focusing on the North Star of what we do here at CAP Action, and that is build the broadest tent possible for the center left that really is necessary in order to amass political power so that way we can make tangible change in people’s lives.
McCoy: Yeah. So we’ll talk a little bit more about that in a minute. And you alluded to some of this earlier. But I’m curious what some of your favorite moments on the podcast have been. And why don’t you shout out a couple of your favorite guests?
Seeberger: Yeah. This is a great question. I was looking back at all the different conversations that we’ve had throughout the years. And he’s been making the rounds at least on my social media feeds recently, but state Rep. James Talarico (D) from Texas—I am from Texas, as you all know. But he is just an incredibly smart, clear-communicating, decent person. And I think more importantly, he is a Democrat who listens rather than just proselytizes. And I think that is something that more people in the Democratic Party need to do.
And I really enjoyed having him on because he issued, I think, what was an urgent warning to the listeners of this podcast. And that was Donald Trump’s plan to pass Project 2025 if he were to regain power. We had this conversation last summer, and what I thought was so powerful about our dialogue was that he specifically spoke to how in his state of Texas, Project 2025 was already taking root on the ground. He’d seen it in the abortion bans. He’d seen it in the consolidation of power in the state, the gutting of people’s health care, the trading away their right to clean air and clean water to the highest bidder of oil and gas companies, so on and so forth. I thought that was incredibly powerful.
I thought Imara Jones, who came on earlier this year and chatted with me, talked about how the right’s attacks on transgender Americans have really aided and been a real strategy by those who are in the pursuit of turning this country into an authoritarian state. Really using the transgender community or trying to exploit the transgender community in that regard.
And then finally, I mentioned I’m from Texas. You guys are so sick of hearing me say this. But Anderson Clayton, who is the chair of the North Carolina Democratic Party, she joined us to talk about how Democrats can win in the South, which is just a major passion project of mine as we look toward the Democratic Party rebuilding itself and sustaining itself to be a competitive political force in the decades to come.
McCoy: A very important task. So a recurring theme that we’ve discussed on the pod a fair bit is the way that new media and the new media environment that we’re in has changed politics. There’s been a lot of talk about how Democrats lost their footing in 2024, especially when it comes to this fractured, evolving media ecosystem that we operate in.
So in your conversations with our guests, what have been some of the biggest takeaways you think on that front? And how do you think that Democrats can get their proverbial footing back, as it were?
Seeberger: Yeah. So one of our CAP Action board members who actually joined us on the pod maybe a year back or so, Dan Pfeiffer, I thought had some really compelling thoughts on this front. Really, what we have seen over the course of the last five years as it relates to the media ecosystem is the biggest transformational change in terms of how folks are getting their news, getting their information, since basically since televisions started to take root in living rooms all across America. So the biggest change in about 70, 75 years or so.
And at that time, folks were listening to a handful of radio stations, listening to a handful of nightly news programs. And now everybody has, to your point, a very curated slice of news and media to really speak to their personal preferences, their personal interests. They have certain hosts or creators who are delivering that content, do so through a variety of different mediums.
And so I think at a high level, Democrats obviously were very slow to catch on to or entertain this transformation in the media ecosystem. But I think even before that transformation happened, the roots of that problem existed prior to this disaggregation that’s occurred over the course of the last five years.
You see it in Democrats saying, “I have a blanket ban on going on Fox News.” Or, “I am only going to do a hit with these hosts on MSNBC instead of these hosts on MSNBC,” right? I just think you have to go everywhere. You have to speak to everyone.
There’s value, there’s utility in doing that. And damn it, you might actually learn something in the process of doing it. You actually become a better candidate. You become a better politician and better able to actually reflect what the people in this country want in navigating those experiences.
So yeah, I think at a high level, that’s the real lesson for Democrats and continues to be as we look toward the future here. You have to go to everywhere. You have to talk to everyone. And you need to do so while remaining yourself.
McCoy: Hear, hear. Well, I know relatedly you’ve worked closely with our storytellers team here at CAP Action. Can you talk a little bit about the power of real people telling their stories, especially when it comes to breaking through a constant and loud noise online?
Seeberger: Yeah. I mean, I think it’s a political imperative for the left right now. Because while there are lots of leaders in the Democratic Party, there’s no Trump competitor, right? There’s no singular figurehead that is driving the conversation for the left. And in order to cut through the noise, as you said, honestly, it’s the testimonials, the experiences, the vulnerability of real people sharing oftentimes, what’s their pain, oftentimes what their fears are.
That becomes the gripping message that’s actually going to not just resonate with but stay with people. Yeah. And we’ve seen it, I’ve seen it, in recent days relating to like the [Affordable Care Act] premium tax credits that are about to expire.
One of our storytellers came in town last week from Wisconsin and was appealing to her senator, Ron Johnson (R), and saying, “Hey, my health insurance premiums are set to go up $18,000 next year. $18,000! I can’t afford that. Will you please extend these enhanced premium tax credits?” He ended up voting no, of course.
But I think being able to put a human face on what the cost of this Republican sabotage and antipathy toward everyday people and the economic anxieties that they’re struggling with every single day is incredibly powerful. And I think back to the Big Beautiful Bill.
We had mom Nancy Baker Curtis and her son Charlie who had never left the state, was born with developmental disabilities, hop on the plane, come out to D.C., is in his wheelchair as they stroll in to Sen. [Joni] Ernst (R-IA)’s office, appealing to wanting to talk to her about cutting Medicaid, and the disastrous impact that could have on people like Charlie. And the senator’s team is like, “Yeah, she’s busy. She doesn’t have time.” And meanwhile, she’s walking through the hallway right behind them.
McCoy: You need to go to a softball game, right?
Seeberger: Yeah. I mean, Kelly, why care? We’re all going to die, as Sen. Ernst would say.
McCoy: Yeah. A real “let them eat cake” moment.
Seeberger: Yeah. And I think what was incredibly powerful about the work that we did on that front and the vulnerability of these people stepping forward, sharing their stories, is we were seeing—not just in the content that we were putting out—we were seeing it reflected in the comments that people would leave on Sen. Ernst’s social media posts for days and weeks after we would release some video on this front.
And it just really speaks to the organic penetration of just how powerful, just how sticky one individual person’s story using their voice, being vulnerable, can be in actually changing the conversation.
And you know what? The Big Beautiful Bill? It’s 20+ points underwater. Republicans don’t want to talk about it at all. And they really enter a midterm cycle having basically nothing to show for, or—excuse me—wanting to talk about basically nothing that they’ve been able to get done. Because they don’t want to talk about the big ugly bill.
McCoy: Yeah, it’s been really remarkable. I mean, to your first point, I do think that authenticity really shines through in a remarkable way, just given how, to your point, there’s so many different places that people can get information. And something that really seems to shine through and break the mold is when people have an authentic story to tell about their own lived experience. And some of the cruelty that you’re alluding to is really—you can’t rationalize it away. It’s pretty remarkable.
Seeberger: Yeah. I mean, I think it is also like, honestly, the most revealing moments of a politician’s career is when they are captured interacting with constituents.
McCoy: Right.
Seeberger: When you’re telling a mom who’s sharing with you that her child was born and had to spend months in the NICU, and they were able to make it work because they had Medicaid, and she’s expressing concern to you about cutting Medicaid, and you’re like, “That’s great.” I mean, that’s insane. And you know what? That’s why Joni Ernst is also not running for reelection.
McCoy: Right. And I wouldn’t be surprised if there were a few more who come to a similar conclusion.
Seeberger: Think that’s right.
McCoy: Yep. Speaking of which, a big part of Democrats getting their mojo back will be regaining ground they’ve lost with younger voters.
Seeberger: Yeah.
McCoy: Something that I have been heartened, at least, to see this year is reporting and polling showing that despite this common argument last year that younger Americans were shifting farther and farther to the right, Trump’s approval with Americans under 30 has dropped 60, six zero, points in a year, which is I don’t think anything I’ve seen certainly in my lifetime.
We know a lot of these younger people are getting their information on new platforms and have shifted away from the traditional news media sources that we were talking about before. So what do you think is important for Democrats to keep in mind as they try to capture back some of these voters? I know you’ve got a background working with these groups, so interested to hear more.
Seeberger: Yeah. I’ve got lots of thoughts. But I think the most important thing to remember is when you’re talking to young folks, this is the generation that has the most to lose, right?
They are the most cash strapped. They’re starting out their careers, either having left high school or left college. Maybe they’re carrying a few tens of thousands of dollars of student loan debt. And they are particularly vulnerable in the middle of a high-cost-of-living crisis in this country.
I think until you have had to worry about how many times do you have to divide up the DiGiorno pizza to make it last throughout a week, you’re not actually clocking where young people are in terms of thinking about how they’re going to get ahead. So I would be starting things from that respect.
But I think, too, another thing, it’s not just the affordability crisis, which of course is the top of the list of concerns. But look at abortion rights that are under attack in this country. And we saw in both the Virginia and New Jersey gubernatorial contests from this fall that while they were not the primary messages of those campaigns, they did make up for about 17 percent, 16 percent of the paid media attacks against the Republican opponents and specifically being critical in underscoring the extremism of those Republican opponents.
And I think that’s why we saw a massive, massive surge of support for the Democratic candidates in those contests, particularly among young women. The margins exploded off the chart. And I think that happened because Republicans are out of step on that issue.
And so I think it is a combination here. It’s affordability crisis front and center. But it is also highlighting the rights and freedoms that are under attack by Republicans all over this country. And so I think it can be an important—again, secondary—but an important assist in defining your opponent as extreme.
McCoy: Yeah. It’s so clear to me that people regardless of age just desperately want change. Right?
Seeberger: Yeah.
McCoy: I think it’s why you’ve seen these one-term presidencies, and the midterms shaping out the way that they have for the most part. I think that fundamentally, a lot of people want change and have this sense that the system is rigged and the American dream is harder and harder to grasp.
So in the short term, I think that there’s a lot of potential for Democrats to capitalize on and really motivate voters against this profoundly outrageous backdrop, at least coming from Washington.
Seeberger: I think that’s right. And I think that Democrats can’t just be an oppositional party.
McCoy: Of course.
Seeberger: They have to be for something. And so focusing on those pocketbook issues as people are feeling squeezed is going to be the best, most reliable path to power.
McCoy: Yeah. So you’re beating me to my next question, but—
Seeberger: All right, hit me.
McCoy: So we’ve talked about some specific issues and areas that Democrats should focus on next year, but I wanted to more firmly give you the floor with big elections coming up. I’m curious what you think that Democrats should do to win in next year’s midterms in 2026.
Seeberger: Yeah. I’m afraid I scooped you on that one.
McCoy: You did.
Seeberger: So yes, again, pocketbook issues. But let’s break this down a little bit. We did some polling, some surveying, immediately on the heels of the Virginia and New Jersey contests, looking at what is it that drove voters to support Mikie Sherrill and Abigail Spanberger. And what our survey data indicated was Democrats in Congress enjoy an advantage over Republicans on every cost of living issue right now.
However, it varies quite dramatically in terms of what Democrats’ partisan advantage over Republicans is on the issue of utilities. So utilities is a very hotly contested issue. It’s quite close. Whereas Democrats enjoy a larger partisan advantage on the issue of health care, on the issue of groceries. It’s right in the middle on housing.
And so these are really the four pocketbook issues that folks seem to be most anxious about. And I think that if Democrats are going to have success, they’re not just putting forward solutions on these different issues. They also have to be really strategic about how they are navigating, particularly, the utilities issue. I think really being on the offensive foot there, just as Mikie Sherrill was in New Jersey, promising to call a state of emergency to cut people’s utility bills—really showing people that they have a commitment and a passion to deliver on these topics.
And then finally, I would just say on the issue of health care, I think Republicans have set themselves up for a real disaster electorally. That they’ve refused to do anything—even as tens of millions of Americans are about to see their premiums on average double—is cuckoo bananas political strategy.
But the last thing that I’ll say is that Democrats in tackling the housing affordability crisis, I think, policymakers often talk about this so one-sided from a, how do we help people own homes? And that is very important. Don’t get me wrong. But a lot of people in this country, a lot of the people who are the most persuadable, too—so younger people, Latino voters, Asian American voters—a lot of them are renters.
And as they’re thinking about the housing solutions, housing messages that they are taking to voters next year, I think really speaking to what their plans are to support renters is going to be crucial in actually connecting with the electorate.
McCoy: Yeah. I will underscore and star that one, Colin.
Seeberger: Yeah. It doesn’t matter whether you live in Washington, D.C., or you live in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, or Montana. People are dealing with the same sorts of issues. Because as Chad Maisel, our colleague who was on last week was talking to us about, we just have too few houses in this country. And because of that, it increases cost for renters. It drives up list prices. And it snowballs from there, right?
McCoy: Yep. So curious for your thoughts, too, on how Democrats win in tough places, looking ahead to 2028 and beyond. I know you touched on some of this a little bit. I don’t know if people know you’re from Texas, Colin, but—
Seeberger: You may have heard, yeah.
McCoy: —there are places like Georgia and North Carolina in addition that are going to be holding important Senate races. So, talk a little bit about how Democrats should approach elections in those states. And then again, bigger picture, winning in tough places. It only gets, unfortunately, harder after a census that comes down the pike in a few years. So curious for your thoughts on all that.
Seeberger: Yeah. And this is a real passion project of mine. Because of not just where I’m from, but also because Democrats are basically politically irrelevant come the political landscape post the 2030 census, if they are not serious about winning states like North Carolina, Georgia, Nevada, in addition to what folks have conventionally referred to repeatedly as the blue wall states—which don’t look so blue—of Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, and Michigan. And the reason for that is because Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, and Michigan, Democrats could sweep them. Throw in Nevada, and they still don’t have 270 electoral votes.
McCoy: This is after the census?
Seeberger: After the 2030 census. That’s right.
McCoy: Yeah.
Seeberger: And so the only path to getting 270 electoral votes involves winning one or multiple of these southern states. So my thinking on this is that Democrats’ best way to break into this new frontier is to look at how they actually were able to do that in places like Arizona. You look now, and Arizona has two Democratic senators, a Democratic governor. Well, they had two Republican senators for literally decades. They had a Democratic governor, Janet Napolitano, in the mid-2000s.
But really how Sen. [Ruben] Gallego, Sen. [Mark] Kelly, Gov. [Katie] Hobbs—really the way that they were able to win statewide in a place like Arizona that has a lot more Republicans than Democrats, a really sizable number of Independents and some Democrats, is they had to sweep the table with the Democrats. They had to win a lot of those Independents. And they had to win some of those Republicans. There just aren’t enough Democrats in a place like Arizona or, let’s look elsewhere, a place like North Carolina or Texas or Mississippi or Georgia in order to be able to get to 50 plus one.
So I think going everywhere, talking to everyone, not taking any constituency, any geography either for granted or writing them off, and I think really taking serious the obligation that somebody who wants to win statewide in one of these places has to both turn out voters as well as persuade. I think that’s the secret sauce.
McCoy: You heard it here first, folks.
Seeberger: Yeah.
McCoy: So Colin, I want to thank you for the thoughts that you shared both today and over the lifetime of this little podcast that could. Do you have any final words of wisdom you want to leave with our listeners?
Seeberger: OK. That’s a great question. I think that the most important thing that Democrats can do in this moment is—I shouldn’t even say Democrats, just the broad center left—is a few things.
One, create space for people to change their minds and welcome them if and when they do.
Two, I think that we on the left, myself included, all of us need to be much better listeners. We need to stop telling people what they should care about. And instead, listen to and respond to people based on what they’re saying.
And three, I think we need to fight like hell every day. I think that there’s a lot of leaders in this country who have been happy to tuck their tails, write a check, and bend the knee to Donald Trump and his cast of characters over at the White House.
McCoy: That’s putting it nicely.
Seeberger: Yeah. Or across the country in Silicon Valley. And I think that we have learned so much over the course of this year in particular about just how important staying in or—folks, if you feel out of it right now—getting in the fight is critical. It is, I think, a crucial part of inspiring people who are unhappy with the status quo to be part of your movement. I think it gives you power in moments of weakness to define the terms of our politics.
And perhaps most importantly, it gets us through to a better day. Right? Things are not going to be this dark forever. We’re going to do big, amazing, beautiful things—should I say, we’re going to do big and beautiful things in this country in the days and years ahead. And getting out of the fight is how the forces that want to stop progress in this country win. And I just think that we can’t let that happen.
McCoy: I think you can also start small, too. It doesn’t need to be some big, gargantuan thing that you need to take on. But there’s lots of people out there who are looking for help in their school boards and their local communities. So it does not need to be a big, herculean task, but getting involved in—
Seeberger: That’s right.
McCoy: —however way you see fit and works in your life is important.
Seeberger: Yeah, that’s right. And I think about it this way: I think every single day that I get up, I want to fight in some capacity. And some days, it may be that I got enough in my tank to send out a post on social media. Another day it may be in my personal capacity making a contribution to a political candidate. Another day it may be talking to a relative and having a tough conversation. But every day, we can all do something. And if we all do something, those somethings together is really an unstoppable force. And it’s how we’re going to make this country a better place.
McCoy: Plus one to that, Colin. Anyone on this podcast specifically you’d like to give a shout out to?
Seeberger: Well, you, Kelly.
McCoy: You don’t say?
Seeberger: Yeah, you. I have to shout out Mishka Espey. They have been an incredible booking producer bringing on just unbelievable guests. I’ve been astounded at how they’ve been able to get some folks on here. Like, we had Gov. Tim Walz [D-MN] this year after he was just the VP candidate. We had Tom Colicchio, who I’ve long been a fanboy of. And I just have been so impressed by their dedication.
Muggs Leone, who has done yeoman’s work on the scripting, making sure that we’re penetrating our audience online, on social media.
By the way, I should use this moment to say, folks, go make sure that you are following all of CAP Action’s social media channels. You can find us on Twitter @CAPAction, on Instagram and TikTok at @FightForProgress.
And then finally, I have to also shout out our amazing video team. Toni Pandolfo, Olivia Mowry, Hai Phan have been such an awesome crew to collaborate with and bring this show to an even wider audience.
McCoy: Who knew that we could look this good?
Seeberger: I don’t know about that, Kelly. I don’t know about that. But sometimes we’ve done these interviews, and it’s a little bit early in the morning, and I may still be shaking off some cobwebs—
McCoy: But it doesn’t show thanks to them.
Seeberger: You’re too kind. Yes, they’re very talented indeed.
McCoy: Yeah. Well, that is going to do it for us, folks. Appreciate all of you listening to us all along the way. As Colin alluded to, please go make sure you continue to follow us on all of the various social channels. There’s going to be a lot of important work we have coming up ahead. And I don’t think this will be the last time you hear from us. So, stay tuned, folks. And I have really enjoyed you listening and watching along the way.
Seeberger: Thank you.
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Seeberger: All right, folks, that’s going to do it for us this week. I have nothing more to share with you other than the fact that you have to go back and you have to check out all the episodes, OK?
Here, though, to talk about an end to a terrible, terrible NFL season and what we’re going to do since our teams are both out is Kelly McCoy. Kelly, the Dallas Cowboys flaming out in the most pathetic fashion.
McCoy: Well, worse than the Commanders? Because that has been just a remarkable—I was going to say, like, flush ‘em down the toilet, fall from grace, insert whatever analogy you want. It has been miserable.
Seeberger: It’s kind of tough for you, given the high that the Commanders were on coming out of last season.
McCoy: That’s what I mean.
Seeberger: But at least you got relieved of your misery a little bit earlier in the season. I have been living the last few weeks being like, “The Cowboys could still do this. They could still do this.” Well, you know what, folks? They can’t anymore.
McCoy: Yeah, I mean, the only thing that I take solace from is that a lot of the top teams are also having a bad year. This is such a peculiar season. Like, up is down and right is left.
Seeberger: Yeah. But we also have the Patriots back on top, too, in the AFC. So things change. Things go back to being as they ever were. I will say that the Patriots winning after Bill Belichick moves on is also kind of hilarious.
McCoy: Not only moves on, but then goes and coaches at the collegiate level.
Seeberger: Yeah.
McCoy: I mean, even worse than the Commanders, certainly the Cowboys, totally has had a miserable experience, which then begs the question: Is he actually a good coach, or was Tom Brady carrying him the entire way? Which, I think it’s pretty clear what the answer is.
Seeberger: A thousand percent.
McCoy: Yeah.
Seeberger: Yeah. Brady, Gronk, all of them.
McCoy: Yeah.
Seeberger: Well, since we are not going to be tuning into football—
McCoy: That’s right.
Seeberger: —too much over the course of the coming weeks, we’re desperately needing some A+++++ content as we look toward the new year. I am super excited for “The Traitors,” for one.
McCoy: Oh, yes.
Seeberger: Lots of really amazing personalities. Speaking of football, we’ve got Donna Kelce, mama Kelce.
McCoy: Mama Kelce.
Seeberger: We’ve got some good Bravo-lebrities like Kristen Kish, host of “Top Chef.” We’ve got Lisa Rinna, Dorinda—
McCoy: The gang’s all back together, Colin.
Seeberger: —from “The [Real] Housewives.” We even also have Johnny Weir and Tara Lipinski, who I think are going to be just a hoot.
McCoy: Right?
Seeberger: I cannot wait to watch them. Speaking of Johnny Weir and Tara Lipinski, I’m also looking forward to the Olympics, which are now just about two months away.
McCoy: I am extremely excited for it.
Seeberger: Yeah. What’s your winter sporting event? Curling?
McCoy: That would be a curve ball. I love watching skiing.
Seeberger: Yeah?
McCoy: I ski myself.
Seeberger: Scares the crap out of me.
McCoy: I am, as you say, mid at best.
Seeberger: Yeah.
McCoy: But I have a healthy respect for it. And I definitely, speaking of healthy respect, love ice skating. I do not understand how it’s like three spins on ice with these really hard skates. I just—mad kudos to them.
Seeberger: They are magicians on the ice, in the air. No doubt, no doubt.
Well, we are coming up on the end of an era here at “The Tent.” I also know that you, our in-house Taylor Swift correspondent—
McCoy: Yes.
Seeberger: —have been very excited about “The End of an Era” documentary series as well.
McCoy: Yes, fitting. Fitting.
Seeberger: Yeah.
McCoy: They definitely planned it around the end of this podcast, that’s for sure.
Seeberger: I think that’s right.
McCoy: I will say—so, I’ve seen the first two episodes.
Seeberger: Yeah.
McCoy: It has actually really—not that my faith in Taylor ever waned, but it is such a great look behind the curtain at the very human Taylor. Now, she’s letting us in on what she wants us to see, of course.
Seeberger: Sure.
McCoy: Right? But the camaraderie with her and the dancers, and there’s a bit on Cam and Cam’s mom. And not me actively sobbing while they’re talking about the tour and how much it’s meant in his life. It’s great. So it’s definitely brought me back. And I was like, man, I miss the Eras tour. What a special moment in time.
Seeberger: Still living on our collective high from the Eras tour. And, oh, living on the high of doing this podcast with you, all of our CAP Action colleagues over the past many years. Thank you, Kelly, for everything you have done for me, for this show, for being our in-house Taylor Swift correspondent.
And thanks to you all for listening. It has been a real joy to talk with you every single week. And I know that we have a lot of big fights ahead of us. So I hope you get some rest over the course of the holiday season, and we’ll talk to you soon.
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Seeberger: “The Tent” is a podcast from the Center for American Progress Action Fund. It’s hosted by me, Colin Seeberger. Muggs Leone is our digital producer, Kelly McCoy is our supervising producer, and Mishka Espey is our booking producer. Hai Phan, Olivia Mowry, and Toni Pandolfo are our video team.
Views expressed by guests of “The Tent” are their own, and interviews are not endorsements of a guest’s perspective. You can find us on YouTube, Apple, Spotify, Google Play, or wherever you get your podcasts.