Wow you guys spruced up the place since the last time
I was here.
They're doing-- doing pretty good over here.
Yeah, I mean it's--
Come a long way.
I mean, I would say so.
If you watch some of the old episodes,
you could see light switches.
You really created this whole idea of--
[applause]
--comedy news.
You know?
Did you know how groundbreaking that would be at the time?
Well, I knew that the media was
consistently disappointing, and so it
seemed like low hanging fruit.
[laughter, applause]
Especially when the show caught on.
And instead of the media being, like, maybe we should really
be really investigating stories,
they were, like, funny graphics!
That's what the public wants!
They stole the wrong thing.
So you founded Abortion Access Front?
I did!
Thanks!
Do you see this as a kind of a natural evolution
from "The Daily Show" for you?
100%.
Well, because they explain what it is.
But they deal with abortion with humor.
Yeah.
I mean the truth is whether it was this show, whether it was
Air America Radio, wherever I went,
it's like knowing that you can expose hypocrisy with humor,
and knowing that done well you can make change.
It kind of was a natural evolution.
Because no one was talking about abortion.
People siloed it, they weren't talking about it.
And so the reason I created it was because I wanted
to speak truth to power.
Also, if everybody felt freaked out when Roe v. Wade fell,
like what do I-- did all you feel like, what do I do?
I wanted to give people an answer to that question.
So with Abortion Access Front, we
decided what we want to do is create programs
that folks can jump into.
We'll meet you where you are.
If you have 10 minutes, an hour to give,
we have fun things in the streets.
We can help you legislatively.
We have this great program called
Operation Save Abortion.
It's pretty simple.
It's a five-part series.
Get together your friends, do it,
and learn how you can actually do more than just march.
Because that just feels like you're an anger
fluffer at that point, right?
Where's the release?
Anger fluffer.
So, you know, I feel like people
really want to get involved.
And so with us, it's like--
I mean, we just watched the Super Bowl.
$100 million ads by people who are
funding anti-abortion garbage.
And we're having bake sales to try to get
people to get services, right?
So I'm not going to say you should donate,
but you should donate.
So you started Abortion Access Front,
also known as Abortion AF.
Yes.
We have very cool shirts, if you want to really go in hard.
Yeah, so you founded that in 2015.
Yeah.
What did Lizz Winstead in 2015
think abortion rights would be in 2023?
Well, I mean, Lizz Winstead-- we
kind of lightly started this.
And you were there in, like, 2014.
Because I knew it was going to get worse.
You know.
I've been sounding this alarm forever because it
was happening in the states.
And nobody seemed to understand state politics.
Nobody understood that, like, the reason Roe v Wade
fell is because an abortion case in Mississippi
made it to the Supreme Court.
Now, if you don't think Mississippi should be deciding
how you live your reproductive life,
then you have to get your shit together
and start paying attention.
And so for me, it was always that.
And--
I mean, I will say this, and we have to wrap it up.
But when shit started happening in Georgia, in Hollywood,
well-meaning coastal elites were, like, I'm pulling
my production from Georgia.
I'm not going to play in Georgia.
And you brought three abortion providers--
Yeah, reproductive justice activists.
Yeah.
--in from Georgia to Los Angeles
to sit down with these people.
And they said, please don't take your productions away
from Atlanta.
Right.
Please, this is what's giving people jobs
and bring in influx of all this wonderful stuff for people.
The people shouldn't be punished.
If you want to stick up for the people of Georgia,
then boycott the giant donors that
are giving these politicians money to make these laws.
And I thought that was very--
If we're going to ask the people who are living
in the places, and center the people who are most harmed
all the time, then they'll give you
the answers to help you be a better activist
and make the world better.
Yeah.
A lot of people are seeing their rights
being stripped away.
And it's really scary.
What can people do?
I mean, I'm just going to say if you go to aafront.org,
we can guide you--
locally and nationally-- to where you need to be.
We are connectors.
We're unifiers.
And we're the people who are out there who really
want you to do something.
We'll help you figure out what that something is.
I will say I was in Atlanta two nights ago.
And I went to Starbucks and there was a woman working
there who saw a pin on my backpack that said,
keep your laws off my body.
And she was so moved by it, and so angry to be in a place
where it is not legal to make your own decisions
over your body.
And the first thing I did was text Lizz
and say, what can I give her?
What can I give?
And she gave me an email address,
said, give this to her.
And this woman will tell her where in her area
she can become active and what she can do.
So thank you so much for everything you do.
I love you.