Call Her Madam Vice President: Kamala Harris Interviews on “Call Her Daddy”
On Oct. 6, “Call Her Daddy” Podcast Host, Alex Cooper, did something she has never done before: published an interview with a politician. She dared to host not just any politician, though. Alex Cooper shocked her viewers by interviewing the vice president of the United States, Kamala Harris.
“Call Her Daddy” is a household podcast name in this day and age. It was originally started by Cooper and her former roommate, Sofia Franklyn, in 2018. While the podcast today primarily includes Cooper interviewing different pop culture celebrities on a variety of topics, it began with simple conversations between Franklyn and Cooper, mainly about relationships, exes, dating in your 20s, and of course, their world-renowned sex advice.
Yet, there is one common factor of this podcast that has always been maintained: conversations surrounding women.
When giving the disclaimer for her interview with Harris, Cooper wanted to stress her apprehensiveness of recording this episode. “I do not usually discuss politics or have politicians on the show because I want ‘Call Her Daddy’ to be a place where everyone feels comfortable tuning in,” explained Cooper, while adding that “I am so aware I have a very mixed audience when it comes to politics” and her “goal today is not to change your political affiliation”. She even went as far as to share that she invited former President Donald Trump to speak with her, adding that if “he also wants to have a meaningful, in-depth conversation about the women’s rights in this country, then he is welcome on ‘Call Her Daddy,’ anytime.”
Nevertheless, Cooper has faced backlash from many of her following, some of which have taken to TikTok to announce their displeasure. After posting clips from the interview, the comment sections are filled with users sharing messages such as “No thanks,” “I am NOT with her,” “Bad decision” and “not here for it. Ridiculous.”
While it’s easy to see how any interview regarding politics can lead listeners to believe there is a second-hand agenda behind it, especially with the looming election in November, Cooper did her best to vocalize that swaying her listeners’ political opinions was not her intention. It was clear to see that conducting this interview was not an easy decision for her to make.
As an aspiring journalist, I can empathize. I was even hesitant to write this article, solely for the reason that I don’t want to share my own political beliefs through my writing and didn’t want people to think I am discrediting their political ideations. I believe we are all entitled to our own opinions, no matter how different they are. However, when covering politics, it can be difficult to not let bias guide your work. That being said, my experience in journalism makes me applaud Cooper more than anything else. Her disclaimer was clear about her intentions of this interview, her questions centered around topics she felt she was qualified to have conversations about and she took an incredible leap in her career as a journalist when interviewing the vice president.
After listening to this episode, I realized the conversation wasn’t about politics. It was about women, which was exactly what Cooper set out to do.
When speaking about preparing for this interview, Cooper outlined the different lanes she could see the interview taking: “Do I talk about the economy? Do I talk about border control? Do I talk about fracking?” After her own self-reflection, Cooper landed on the simple fact that the main topic she felt qualified to speak on was not fracking, but “the one surrounding women’s bodies and how we are treated and valued in this country.” “Call Her Daddy” has always centered on women, it’s just covered in a different light, now.
Harris and Cooper’s conversation covered a wide array of topics under the umbrella of women’s rights. Listeners learned about what drew Harris into becoming a prosecutor specializing in sexual assault, hearing how Harris “decided at a young age” that she “wanted to do the work of protecting vulnerable people.” We hear about the treatment of women in the workplace, today, and how their work ethics are often called into question. Cooper stated her thoughts that “as a woman, we have to work 10 times harder, we gotta play the game to even get our foot in the door sometimes.” When asked about what people’s doubts ignite in Harris, she shared the simple solution: “I don’t hear no.” Harris shared how throughout her career, she’s been told she was too young to do things that no one has done before, or that it would be too much hard work for her to handle. “As though we don’t like hard work,” Harris quipped, adding that she urges “all the Daddy Gang, don’t hear no. Just don’t hear it.”
In this day and age, it is a sad part of reality that any serious conversation regarding women will eventually land on the topic of sexual assault. Yet, the depressing aspect of this fact does not take away from the importance of having conversations on the topic. Cooper shared how her DMs are filled with women writing that they don’t know what to do or who to tell following a sexual assault “because of the shame and the terror” they experience. Harris’ response began with one of the most important things all sexual assault victims should remember: “You have done nothing wrong and don’t let anyone convince you you have.” She shared her belief that “there are people that want you to be safe and will want to protect you,” and that they “have a right to live in a place where you feel safe and are actually safe.”
The conversation surrounding sexual assault had an emotional light instead of a policy-based one, which was an intelligent move on both Cooper and Harris’s part. With Cooper’s aim to keep “Call Her Daddy” a platform where all listeners want to tune in, despite their political beliefs, speaking on too much political strategy could have brought more backlash. By focusing on the emotional protection and validation of sexual assault victims, Cooper and Harris were able to direct the conversation away from policy and keep it on the rights of women.
This part of the interview sparked an important conversation surrounding the power that speaking out against stigmatized issues has. Regarding sexual assault, Harris shared that “part of the issue is that people don’t talk about it. And I don’t mean the survivors of it, I mean nobody does.” Referencing back to the many women that reached out to Cooper following their attack, Harris shared how “the more that we let anything exist in the shadows, the more likely it is that people are suffering and suffering silently.” Public conversations that are shared with a large platform, like “Call Her Daddy” show that speaking out against things can often be one of the first steps to creating a change. “The more we talk about it, the more we will address it and deal with it, the more we will be equipped to deal with it,” Harris shared, leading to Cooper’s addition regarding her belief that “the power that we have is through our voice.”
This is an incredibly important election with stakes we have never seen before on both the Republican and Democratic side. There is a whole new generation of voters that the majority of were not able to vote in the last election. Women’s reproductive rights under federal law are now called into question for the first time since 1973. On both sides of the political spectrum, voters are feeling the heightened tension that is overshadowing our country, leading to each person’s individual vote holding importance. Just as a voice holds power, voting does, too. Harris believes that the beauty of democracy comes from everyone having the power to weigh in, sharing how she says to everybody, “However you vote, don’t let anyone take your power from you.”
By interviewing Harris, Cooper brought one of the most important conversations regarding this election to the younger generation of voters in a modern way. Cooper identified herself as “a woman who is talking about her experiences on my podcast,” sharing how she has millions of women that listen to her episodes, aiming to connect with her and the person she is speaking to.
For the first time in my life, I am seeing a pop icon I have listened to since I was 17 dive into deeper issues like she has never gone before. As an aspiring journalist, I am moved by Cooper taking this huge step in her career. I am excited to see that in the future, I can talk and write about the things that I care about, hold my own ideals, stay myself and can still be respected in my career field.
The podcast episode ends with Cooper thanking Harris for coming on “Call Her Daddy” and Harris thanking Cooper for her voice. This lasting note truly shows the power that, not just journalists, but all American citizens have today: their voice. How fitting that this podcast, where Cooper established a level of journalistic integrity she has never seen before, ended with the very thing that began her story and continues it today.
We all have the power to form, dictate and share our opinions. The things we have to say, especially as women, matter now more than ever before, and our voices are the key to seeing the changes we want to make in our lives. When it comes to the things you believe in, speak up, speak loud and speak proud. With conversation comes awareness, and with awareness brings change. We all have the power to aid in the changes we want to see; we just have to be brave enough to voice it.
Strike Out,
Ann Harper Covington
Editor: Anna Kadet
Strike Athens
Works Cited:
https://open.spotify.com/episode/4B9WOUCWY8qY0f9MMjOSXa?si=6efb18f866d34a1c