Hello. Welcome to It's Open with Alana Glazer. It's me, Alana Glazer. Hi, how are you? Really good? Things are so crazy. Like things are so insane in our country. Oh my God, it's so crazy. So I was out of the city this weekend and I ran into this guy named Gus. He was saying, I love the podcast. And I was like, oh my God, thank you. I like took both his hands like Oprah but it's like so moved because this project means so much to me. Such a fucking dork, but it does. It really does. And like, it's like, um, it just feels so good. You know, my production company star picks were like a tiny, but mighty fucking team of mostly brilliant women and queer people. It feels good to have a space in which like no one else is controlling the message, but, and it's not even me fully controlling the message. You know, it's like my group of people. And then your feedback like really means something to not just me, to all of us. So I don't know. It's just, it's fucking popping off. Just one little note. If you are enjoying this show, It's Open with Lana Glazer, subscribe. If you're following on the Instagram of It's Open and you like these little clips, go on to the YouTube page, subscribe, join the community, be a part of this. Subscribe. You know, I have a large scope of the world, being a working mom, being a comedian, talking to all different types of people all the time. But then also I'm such a provincial New Yorker. Like, you know, I just, I'm always like, I always see myself marching into Fran Lebowitz's form. You know, it's just like this, like sort of narrow New York bubble, but my bubble was popped and I was sliding around in a soapy puddle when I went on my first ski vacation with four other families um I had never gone skiing before I like went to the mountain with like on on a holiday weekend which was like it was so crazy and it's like you know Jews can hinge from Jewish Ashkenazi Jews can hinge from Jewish to white person to Jewish to white person. I was a Jew among whites on this weekend. It was honestly scary and it was also intimidating. It was intimidating. And there were non-white people. This was a more diverse population skiing than I expected. But when you're skiing, you're not even a race. You're a skier. It was like, it was a people. It was a people. So the whites and others under the race of skier are ascending the mountain. And it's pure chaos. It's pure chaos. There's no wayfinding anywhere. So I'm among these skiers and they look through you to the mountain. It was like so it was intense. And I was like, imagine if this energy was like applied to communal rights. So while my kiddo was having a ski lesson, I myself took a ski lesson. Yikes. Fully. Yikes, dude. The guy who taught me was really sweet. We had like a lovely day. And, you know, my personality, I'm like, are we on a date? You know what I mean? Like halfway through, I'm like, there's like a lovely date. And I'm suddenly I'm 60 as well, like this guy. so I I'm like pretty good at the bunny hill and it's like you know the the the ski poles nonsense like you don't really use them you use them to like balance in a moment of need but they're like pretty much unnecessary chopsticks you know nothing it's like you could just be carrying chopsticks and like get them in the snow if you almost fall that far like that's it's, it's like you could carry two sticks. You don't really even need ski poles. It's like, it's kind of bizarre. And, uh, I skied down that bigger bunny hill beyond the initial learning bunny hill. Like this is like the real bad bunny hill. So I'm skiing down the bad bunny hill, like two or three times. And I was like, I'm pretty fucking good. Okay. I do bad bunny hill for like three times. And then he's like, you want to go in the chairlift? I'm like, fuck yeah I want to go on the chairlift so the chairlift is fucking bonkers like violent chair lifts are violent like and by the way it's like a you're like scary metal scooping you up like fucking you're like whoa and suddenly you're 10 12 15 feet off the ground and you have to rely on others or yourself to bring the like seat belt down. I'm chatting it up with Richard and he kind of like forgets to warn me about getting off the ski lift. It's terrifying, terrifying. He's like, okay, go, go, go. And I'm like standing up, shooting up and totally out of balance. Don't have my fake, like fake helpful poles ready. And I, um, like I lean back and I'm going so fast. Then I crouch down. I'm like zooming, crouching on skis. So then I go down like a real mountain and it was really fucking scary and crazy. Really crazy. I'm brave. I'll tell you this. I'm fucking brave and strong. I'm not afraid to bail. I bailed a few times just being like, I'm done. Just like playing dead like a dog playing dead. It's a holiday weekend. And skiers are zooming. And these skiers are zooming. They're the beginners. I'm on a green mountain, which is like the easiest. They're the beginners. It was, I got up there and I was like, I'm in too deep. I'm in too deep. This is insane. It's a real, it's insane. I don't know if it's dangerous as much as it is like genuinely so athletically intense. It's incredible. Skiing is incredible. If you can ski, holy fucking shit, incredible. And skiing as an adult, like learning as an adult is fucking crazy. I just haven't learned a new thing in a while. I've been doing comedy. I've been this person like slowly building toward the life that I live now for 20 years. I'm 38. I came to the city at 18 and I knew I wanted to pursue comedy, which I started at age 19. And I'm just like, I really haven't learned a new thing. I don't have hobbies. I don't have fucking hobbies. And like, I'm so full as a comedian. And my work is so fulfilling to me, but it's really like you got to do new shit sometimes to learn about yourself from a different angle. I still feel like skiing is so goyish, although I saw some Jews on the mountain. I was like, whoa, these are some like skiing Jews. But like it's just the joy of it, the taking the earth in a way of it was like it just it blew me away. Also, multifamily vacations feels goyish to me. It feels like joyous and pleasure centric in a way that we didn do as like quiet humble nerdy jews growing up you know this is a group of um families who are like we're really close here in new york city and you know text each other about school and schools out or on or their school sing-along or whatever and you know after school activities are opening up for this thing you know it's like we rely on each other in a particular way but to be like um witnessing each other parenting in a home setting was so interesting and I was really nervous about it beforehand like I didn't want to be witnessed you know I didn't want to be um judged or but really like it wasn't like others it was more me prejudging myself uh it was that was another like aspect of a new experience that was like teaching me something about myself. Um, but it's so like, it's so delicious and magic the way that people just come together and fill in, Oh, you know, I'm up early and the kids can just hang or I'll, I'll clean up, you know, you cooked, I'll clean up. Like everybody just kind of fits together seamlessly. And there's like, there's definitely like communication that it requires, but it, it also just happens. It was really, really nice. Okay. So I could talk about dumb shit all day. I really could. I'm it's my career. But I'm now going to turn to Minnesota. Oh, my God. It's so terrifying. Terrorizing. And disturbing what's happening in Minnesota. Oh my God. It's like I'm just, I'm verklempt. I'm like welled with emotion because it's, you can see and feel the horror, the pain, the fight that American citizens in Minnesota are putting up against government agents who have masks on, who won't even reveal their faces for what they're doing. They're specifically attacking Latino immigrants, but really targeting people of color, going into their houses, marching door to door. Videos from here in New York, from people who come from Minnesota, getting videos from their neighbors, it's so much worse than what is being shown on the news. It is so scary. And some, you know, some particular killings and kidnappings and cruelty of ICE have pierced through the mainstream discourse. The killing of Renee Good, a mom who was smiling moments before she was shot in the head, I believe, three times in broad daylight. That being a white woman made the mainstream consciousness of this happening shift. And then Alex Pretty, who was a white man, an ICU nurse, who specifically treated veterans, who was legally carrying a gun, but as we can see in the footage, not brandishing it. He was holding a phone when he was killed in broad daylight. Oh, fuck. That has shifted the conversation. Um, because then the administration and the whole hate filled messaging machine started blaming guns, which was their whole thing. I mean, it's, it's so twisted and it's a snake eating its own tail. Um, which would be fine if people weren't fucking dying and being deported to countries they haven't lived in in years or never lived in or being deported to, uh, enslaved labor camps, which is what's also happening. And then Liam, there's a little five-year-old. I might whisper it because it's so horrible. This little boy, Liam, was used as bait to bait his own family to, it's impossible. It's fucking impossible to bait his own family to trick them to come out of their home and be taken away, disappeared by ICE agents. And he was sent to a detention center. Any footage from outside this detention center in, I believe it is Dilley, Texas, is the stuff of nightmares. Just the stuff of nightmares. a detention center for children a prison for children the people of minnesota like what they're doing they are they are holding vigils they are singing outside of a hilton right now where ice is staying hilton is um housing ice agents um there was a general strike on friday People are understanding financial boycotts against companies that are paying for ICE, profiting from ICE, housing ICE. These things are working and they're sending a message. So I was signed up to do this virtual Zoom with an organization I love called Moms First. That organizes for moms and families and policy to help moms. When Zoran Mamdani signed universal child care into New York's policy and Governor Kathy Hochul, that was incredible and so exciting. And the result of years and years of coalition building and Moms First was a big part of that coalition. So when I was on this call, we heard from three moms in Minnesota. And to hear the actual nuts and bolts, the bones of what's happening there, the organizing that moms are doing on the ground was illuminating. scary, but a different kind of scary than seeing the sobs here, seeing the videos from outside the detention center in Dilley, Texas, and the sobs of children that you, God knows fucking what is happening on the inside. That's a particular type of scary that makes me feel helpless and disempowered. What I learned on this call was a scary that helped me know and feel like I can actually help But the picture being painted by these moms was crazy They are working in groups to get their children to the bus safely watching all their children get on the bus. And then some moms are receiving kids at the school or watching kids from outside the school because ICE is stalking schools in Minnesota, waiting outside of schools. like i'm like for what i i had to put the pieces together for staff for children to do what they did to liam who if you didn't see there's pictures of him in the detention center um because his lawyer and uh an elected official visited and were able to see him take a picture and get the word out and he obviously uh is not well looks looks deeply unwell so ice is standing outside of homes. Moms talking about groups organizing to make sure children are getting to and from where they need to safely to get to school in the middle of planning dinner, doing bedtime. I don't know how the fuck these people are sleeping. I really don't. While it was scary, I felt energized because I knew what I could do, which was start organizing with other moms. And this campaign that I'm starting to formulate at first was called Moms and Friends for Safe and Fair U.S. Midterm Elections 2026. It's pointedly not sexy. It's pointedly not branded. It's pointedly specific and specifically de-escalating, anti-inflammatory. So it started as moms and friends, but now I'm thinking moms and neighbors. And if you align with being a mom and neighbor who believes strongly that we should have a safe and fair U.S. midterm election in November, 2026, then you fall under this category. And basically, it's going to be about volunteering to poll watch. I think that the one thing that we could do this year is make sure that we have safe elections where every vote is counted fairly. That we don't have masked federal agents outside of our polling places, certain polling places. That is not how we vote in this country. And we have to make sure that the votes are counted safely and fairly, counted fairly, because the people know what they want. The people have spoken this past November in the special elections. And this is the make or break moment of the United States of America. This is the election that decides whether we have any more elections. And this administration and, I mean, every level of this administration has been telling us that they don't want more elections. They don't want safe and fair voting. They don't. And this is a tenet of the United States. This is like, you know, I don't care if you're a Republican or a Democrat or have considered yourself a moderate or conservative, like you want to vote, right? So by the way, if you don't know what to say when you call Senate and Congress, you can just call and say, stop business as usual. We are in a crazy time. And you can also say, what are you, congressperson or senator, planning to do to make sure that we are voting safely and fairly in November? Moms and neighbors for safe and fair U.S. midterm elections, 2026. I've never been prouder to be so nerdy. Listen, I was the president of my class, 11th and 12th grade. I'm a student council bitch. I was aiming for office in National Honor Society. Chill, you fucking nerd. I was in jazz band, bitch. I'm a nerd. This is the power, the power of nerds, not the power of vengeful nerds who didn't fuck as much as they wanted in college. So now they're hoarding wealth and putting it behind Gestapo-like organizations to make their own wealth grow to what fucking measure? No, I'm talking true ass fucking nerds, nerds who love people and want people to be safe. We have been so separated by categories and the way that they chop it up and chop it up and chop it up. At first it was black and white. Then it's black and brown and white. Then it's, you know, then it's, uh, it's men and women. And then it's gay men and gay women and trans women and trans men. They just chop it up. Jews and Muslims and Christians and this and that, like these fucking checklists that, you know, sometimes the progressive side has to claim it to make it make sense. But, you know, most people like on the progressive side, like just want to fucking live, just want to fucking live. It's, it's the conservative side that's making us check boxes and talk about it in this way. That's like, so unsexy, just let everybody's magic swirl, but they can't, They want to capture it and own it because they can't access their own. And they want our attention because attention is love. This is the only way they know how to get our attention because they're not so good at music. They're not so funny. They're not such great actors, the conservative side. If you're filled with hate, the camera sees your fucking eyes. You're not so creative. This horror, this is made up Mishagas nonsense. Mishigas, here's another Yiddish word for you, just nonsense bullshit. And so we better stick together and organize for our own and each other's basic human rights. And one of those rights is the right to a safe and fair election. because we deserve to be elected by people who represent us. And we deserve taxation with representation. That's what this country was founded upon. Even if you're not part of an activist group, just being a part of your community and feeling your humanity and your family's humanity and your community's humanity, that's resisting the horrible dystopia, okay? While that is all being said, Democrats were putting forth a bill to unmask ICE. If ICE had to unmask, 75% of them would drop out. That is remarkable. That tells you that there is still a moral compass within these people doing terrible, violent unthinkably destructive things to their fellow American citizens And this tells you that human opinion human public opinion community opinion matters. Even to these people who are anonymously hiding from their fellow Americans while they torture their fellow Americans, it actually tells you that those people care about the people around them, care about their communities and what they think, and wouldn't do this even to strangers if they had to unmask. There is still a pulse. There is still a heart beating in the people of this planet. And while authoritarian regimes are rising up all over the world, so are the people organizing and resisting against them to live safely and freely. We have to be organized and repeat this messaging and get the narrative out that our elections are not necessarily going to be safe and fair. And if it's not already obvious, for black people, for Native Americans, elections have not been safe and fair. For the entire duration of this country, that has been being fought for and organized for and earned. Earned. It really was already deserved. But so now we are all under this threat. And that's what we have to do. Okay. so um i asked on it's open pod instagram um any questions for me and i'll answer them so for lauren at lp zanich 17 she asked in these dark times what are some things you do that bring you joy lately i've been like doing like 90s phone gabbing like 1990s gabbing on the phone with my best friend Eden. We've been cracking up. Oh my God. And we also took a day, uh, in early, early January to like get stoned and just take a day. We took a day to get stoned and like walk around and we were cracking up. We went into a restaurant that we could not stay in. I was too high. Sat, got menus. We were like, bye-bye. Thank you. Um, just getting a little too high. and during the day. I've really been, I'm like at night, I can't be on my phone. I don't know, sometimes I can't even be stoned at night. But like day, day stony baloney is nice, just a little bit. Okay, Mia at Mia Tortilla underscore, how as a person do I keep myself informed about what's happening in the world while my mom heart breaks for the children and families who continue to suffer? I feel guilty using my privilege to ignore the reports of suffering, but I am unable to help people who suffer. Find one thing you can do. Find one thing you can do. Send mutual aid to Minnesota. Call Senate and Congress and simply say, stop doing business as usual, this is crazy. Or say, how are you going to ensure that we have safe and fair elections in November? And do something in your community. Also, help someone who's suffering in your community. That you can do. uh, Kara or Kara at Kara underscore Rhodes asked what brought you joy or wonderment this week? Holy shit. My daughter had a performance for her theater class. This theater class, for some reason, it's only her and her best friend. So it, it, the performance was a two women show. This was not a class performance. This was a two women show. And it was, it was incredible it was in incredible they were so good just you know it's like this class and they're like pretending to be pop stars and they're dancing to taylor swift and chapel rhone and they like wrote a story with the teachers they storyboarded it like incredible and they were the characters they wanted to be and it was like both um act it was a musical I suppose it was acting and then songs and dance and like her watching the teachers moves you know it was like that just brought me the most joy we filmed it and it was like I just keep watching this like 10 minute performance every day it was so funny and so good and so sweet that brought me full wonder full wonder and finally Sarah at Sarah Chandler asked did you always want to be a mom or did your feelings change as you got older and got married I always wanted to be a mom that's just me everybody's different but damn I always wanted to be a mom I started babysitting when I was nine years old I was mother's helper I do this bit in my last stand up hour that I like got big titties young so I looked like I was like 15 I was nine and they were like yeah you can babysit my kid I was like nine years fucking old but the mom was home but drunk so I was like fully babysitting and fully responsible for these twins anyway um but since nine years old I've been babysitting I just I just love kids I just love them so much I think it's so fun I and I babysat from nine to like through you know I was like making Broad City the pilot and still nannying in the city so to actually have experience providing child care through the different phases of my life is like a very very important aspect of my identity to me. But then being an actual mom and not just, not, not just, but not, not caring, not providing childcare, but rather being a mom myself. Holy fucking shit. I see God. I see God. I see fucking God. It's like, oh my God. I'm just obsessed. Obsessed. Obsessed. which, uh, if you come see me do standup, I'm building my latest hour and, uh, starting to put some dates together. I'll tell you about it soon, but I'm talking a lot about it. And I like talked about becoming a mom in my last special, but I'm like, I guess this is, this might be the framework for, for me for a fucking while. Um, because it's still blowing my mind and that's it for me listen take care of yourselves we're gonna stay in touch and keep organizing our human magic to propel us forward into a better world and um that's it okay thanks talk to you next time thanks so much for joining me on it's open with alana glazer this has been a star picks production i want to thank my creative producers david rookland anika carlson madeline kim glennis Mehar and Kelsey Kiley. I want to thank our editor Tova Leibovitz and I want to thank the people who made this look and sound so good. Lexa Krebs, Nicole Wappin and Kevin Deming. I also want to thank Ramon Ventura for the graphics and the branding and the intro musical sting as well as Don Hur. Thank you for this awesome outro music. I love your music. Subscribe to the channel, join the community and I really look forward to seeing you next time. Take care of yourself. Bye.
