Alexandra Pelosi Ventures into 'Trump Country' for New Documentary
*By Max Godnick*
Attending a Trump rally can be daunting for any self-proclaimed liberal ー even more so if your last name is Pelosi.
But an experience with her political opposites left Alexandra Pelosi, the documentarian and youngest daughter of House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, feeling hopeful.
"We all need to burst out of our own bubbles and see what the other people are thinking," Pelosi said Monday in an interview on Cheddar.
Pelosi directed, produced, and shot the entire process for her new documentary "Outside the Bubble: On the Road With Alexandra Pelosi," that follows the filmmaker and her family as they leave the confines of the Manhattan echo chamber and enter the heart of Trump country.
The trip brought her to what she called "the fault lines of cultural divide" including Charlottesville, Va., the U.S.-Mexico border, and a Pennsylvania coal mine.
"My takeaway was, it's hard to hate up close," Pelosi said of making the film.
Despite Pelosi's famous last name, which she described as a "curse word," many of her interview subjects invited her to dinner, opened their homes for the night, and ended their conversations with a "big hug."
While she tackled immigration, the environment, and the #MeToo movement, among other topics in the film, Pelosi said she was struck by most Americans' fixations on a single issue: jobs.
"It's easy to sit here and say global warming is the most important issue in the world," she said. "If you don't have food to feed your family, global warming is not the most important issue."
Pelosi is particularly concerned about the importance of having a "balanced media diet."
She banned MSNBC and CNN from her household in an effort to discourage her kids from becoming "pod people."
By watching and reading a more diverse slate of news and opinions, Pelosi thinks Americans will grow smarter and more accepting of each other's differences.
"We can't just read our New Yorkers and our New York Times and think we're fully-educated people because we're not," she said.
"Outside the Bubble: On the Road With Alexandra Pelosi" debuts Monday on HBO.
For full interview [click here](https://cheddar.com/videos/alexandra-pelosi-steps-outside-the-bubble-in-her-new-documentary).
Mayor Ras Baraka of Newark, NJ and Ayana Morris, co-director of the documentary 'Why Is We Americans?,' join Cheddar News to discuss the new documentary highlighting the impact of the Baraka family.
Former New York City mayor and lawyer to Donald Trump Rudy Giuliani made his singing debut on a taping of Fox’s The Masked Singer. However, Ken Jeong and Robin Thicke, two judges on the competition show, reportedly left in protest when Giuliani was unmasked upon being eliminated.
All Hands celebrates Black History Month by highlighting achievements in inclusivity and paying homage to those who have fought for equal rights. Rep. Maxine Waters (D-CA) joins Cheddar News to discuss voter suppression; Damali Peterman, CEO of Breakthrough ADR, elaborates on the biggest barriers for Black professionals; Andre Perry, senior fellow of Brookings Institution, dives into student loans and the racial wealth divide; and lastly, BET CEO Scott Mills discusses the company's initiatives for 2022.
All month long Cheddar News is celebrating Black History Month.
In our nation’s capital, Black history is being made right now.
cheddar's own Arielle Hixon puts the spotlight on three lawmakers making that happen, Rep. Lauren Underwood (D-IL), Rep. Cori Bush (D-MO), and Sen. Tim Scott (R-SC).
Representative Maxine Waters (D-Calif. 43rd District) joined Cheddar News to talk about the current political climate in America, including efforts to roll back voting rights in multiple states in light of Black History Month. "Why do we have to deal with those who still believe that somehow this country only belongs to the whites of the country and that somehow they have to do everything that they can to undermine our voting and do voters suppression to keep us from being influential and at the table by which to solve problems?" she asked. Waters chided "two Democrats" who she said were stymying attempts to rectify the issue and also spoke on President Biden’s promise to nominate a Black woman to the Supreme Court.
Wall Street saw another volatile day after the Federal Reserve left rates unchanged for now, with plans to raise rates in March at its next meeting in order to ease inflation. Fed Chair Jerome Powell said the Fed has not made decisions on the size of rate increases, adding that the Fed is not trying to get inflation below two-percent. Ken Johnson, CFA and Investment Strategy Analyst explains why Powell thinks that high inflation is a significant threat to the labor market.
Anu Gaggar, global investment strategist for Commonwealth Financial Network, joined Cheddar News to discuss how global supply chains could be disrupted even further by an armed conflict in Ukraine.
Solid-state battery maker Factorial Energy recently raised $200 million in a Series D round led by Mercedes-Benz and Stellantis. Factorial says the funding will be used to accelerate commercial production and deployment of its solid-state battery technology, which the company says is safer, and offers up to 50% more driving range than current lithium-ion technology. Factorial also has joint development agreements (announced in late 2021) with Mercedes-Benz, Stellantis, and Hyundai, three of the top 10 global automotive manufacturers, to commercialize its batteries. Factorial CEO Siyu Huang joined Cheddar News' Closing Bell to discuss.
