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).
Later today House Republicans will grill Snap, Tiktok and Youtube on how their products affect the mental health of teenagers. It comes after a report revealed that Facebook's photo sharing platform, Instagram, can be harmful to teen's mental health. Rishi Bharwani, Director of Partnerships and Policy, Accountable Tech joined Cheddar's Opening Bell to discuss.
As the White House and Congressional leaders work towards finalizing the legislative framework of the Build Back Better budget deal, paid family leave, one of the hallmarks of President Joe Biden's Social Safety Net agenda, still stands in flux. Molly Day, Executive Director, Paid Leave for the U.S. joined Cheddar's Opening Bell to discuss why the finalization of this bill is imperative.
Marjorie Mesidor, Esq., Partner, Phillips and Associates, PLLC and Dr. Anthony Santela, professor of health administration and university covid coordinator at the University of New Haven join J.D. Durkin and None Of The Above to talk about the expected fallout from New York City's vaccine mandate.
Leaders around the world have come together to discuss plans to bring action towards the Paris Agreement along with solutions on how to solve the evolving climate change crisis at the COP26 Summit. President and CEO of Center for International Environmental Law Carroll Muffett, joined Cheddar to discuss more.
Rachel Cleetus, the policy director and lead economist of the climate and energy program for the Union of Concerned Scientists, joined Cheddar to break down some of the key goals from the COP26 summit and why leaders must focus on the science of climate change instead of getting bogged down by petty politics and the fossil fuel industry. "The main thing they have to do, make sure we're cutting our emissions sharply within this decade because the science shows that we have to cut global emissions in half by 2030 if we're going to meet our goals of averting some of the most catastrophic impacts of climate change," she said.
Carlo and Baker cover the big races to watch on this off-cycle Election Day, the concrete pledges starting to come out of COP26, Jeffrey Epstein keeps causing CEOs to lose their jobs, and Ryan Murphy's TV hit that wasn't.
The Dow, S&P, and Nasdaq begin November by not only ending Monday's session higher but with a record close as well. Melissa Armo, Founder and Owner of The Stock Swoosh, has her eye on major economic storylines and joins Cheddar News' Closing Bell to discuss what role the news could play on Wall Street.
The UN climate change conference kicked off on Sunday with about 120 world leaders and delegates gathering in Glasgow, Scotland this week, as experts continue to warn about the harms of heightened emissions and the effects on climate change. The topic of ESG investing is expected to be a top priority at the summit. Jefferies global head of ESG and sustainability research Aniket Shah joined Cheddar News' Closing Bell to discuss.
Gifted and talented education programs in schools throughout the United States are falling under greater scrutiny as the race and class divide in the programs remain wide. Marcia Gentry, a professor of educational studies and the director of the Gifted Education Research and Resource Institute at Purdue University, joined Cheddar to weigh in on if advanced tracking for students can also be equitable for lower income students and students of color.
The Supreme Court is now weighing in on one of the nation's most restrictive abortion laws. The Texas law, which was enacted on September 1, bans abortions after six weeks of pregnancy. In addition, it allows any private citizen to sue anyone who helps a woman get an abortion. Jimmy Hoover, Supreme Court Editor-At-Large at Law360, joined Cheddar News to discuss more.
