( BAND PLAYING ) ( CHEERS AND APPLAUSE )
>> Stephen: HEY, WELCOME BACK, EVERYBODY!
LADIES AND GENTLEMEN, MY NEXT GUEST IS A NATIONAL
CORRESPONDENT FOR "TIME" MAGAZINE WHOSE NEW BOOK IS
CALLED "THE ONES WE'VE BEEN WAITING FOR."
WELL, WAIT NO FURTHER.
PLEASE WELCOME, CHARLOTTE ALTER!
♪ ♪ ♪
>> Stephen: NOW, THE NAME OF THE BOOK, WE'VE GOT IT RIGHT
HERE, AS I SAID BEFORE, IS "THE ONES WE'VE BEEN WAITING FOR."
AND IT'S-- CORRECT ME IF I'M WRONG HERE-- IT'S ABOUT THE
LEADERS OF THE MILLENNIAL GENERATION THAT HAVE EMERGED IN
OUR POLITICS.
YOU'VE BEEN COVERING POLITICS FOR "TIME" MAGAZINE.
YOU'VE WRITTEN A BUNCH OF COVERS.
WE'RE ONLY 30 YEARS OLD YOURSELF.
YOU'RE ONE OF THE YOUNG PEOPLE WHO HAS COME TO REPLACE ALL OF
US OLDIES RIGHT NOW.
>> NOT YOU.
>> Stephen: NOT ME?
>> NO, NO.
>> Stephen: WHO MADE THE CUTS OF "THE ONES WE'VE BEEN WAITING
FOR" IN THE MILLENNIAL GENERATION.
HOW DID YOU CHOOSE THE PEOPLE WHO ARE IN THIS BOOK?
>> I WAS SPECIFICALLY LOOKING FOR ELECTED LEADERS WHO WERE
BORN BETWEEN 1981 AND 1996 -- >> Stephen: IS THAT
MILLENNIALS?
>> YES, THAT'S MILLENNIALS, WHOSE LIVES HAD INTERSECTED IN
SOME FUNDAMENTAL WAY WITH THE MAJOR HISTORICAL EVENTS OF THAT
TIME.
SO I WAS LOOKING FOR PEOPLE WHO HAD SERVED IN THE WARS IN IRAQ
AND AFGHANISTAN OR WHO HAD BEEN IMPACTED BY THE FINANCIAL CRISIS
OR WHO HAD EXPERIENCED CRUSHING STUDENT DEBT, OR WHO HAD
PARTICIPATED IN BLACK LIVES MATTER OR OCCUPY, BECAUSE THE
POINT OF THIS BOOK IS TO SHOW HOW THOSE FORCES HAVE SHAMED THE
LIVES OF THE PEOPLE WHO ARE GOING TO BE IN CHARGE IN OUR
FUTURE.
>> Stephen: AND NOT JUST DEMOCRATS.
THERE ARE DEMOCRATS AND REPUBLICANS IN THIS BOOK.
>> DEMOCRATS AND REPUBLICANS.
I MEAN, MILLENNIALS DO LEAN TO THE LEFT.
THEY VOTED FOR DEMOCRATS BY ROUGHLY TWO TO ONE IN THE MOST
RECENT MIDTERMS, BUT THERE ARE MILLENNIAL REPUBLICANS.
AND THIS BOOK INCLUDES THREE OF THEM.
>> Stephen: WHERE DID THE TITLE COME FROM?
WHAT'S THE REFERENCE TO?
>> IT COMES FROM A 2008 SPEECH BY BARACK OBAMA WHERE HE SAID,
"WE ARE THE ONES WE'VE BEEN WAITING FOR."
AND IN A LOT OF WAYS THIS BOOK IS ABOUT OBAMA'S LEGACY.
IT'S ABOUT HOW HIS PRESIDENCY INSPIRED THE YOUNG PEOPLE WHO
HELPED MAKE HIM PRESIDENT AND HOW THEY'RE TAKING THE LESSONS
OF HIS PRESIDENCY INTO THE FUTURE, INCLUDING SOME OF HIS
SHORTCOMINGS.
>> Stephen: OKAY, BUT IF MILLENNIALS ARE SO INSPIRED BY
BARACK OBAMA, THEN HOW COME MILLENNIALS DON'T VOTE MORE?
>> THAT'S A GREAT QUESTION.
IN SOME WAYS IT'S--
>> Stephen: THANK YOU.
THEY'RE APPLAUDING-- THEY'RE APPLAUDING MY QUESTION NOW.
>> YEAH.
WELL, IN SOME WAYS, OBAMA'S PRESIDENCY WAS ALMOST A VICTIM
OF ITS OWN SUCCESS.
BECAUSE HE WAS SO TRANSFORMATIVE FOR SO MANY YOUNG PEOPLE, AND
MANY MILLENNIALS CAST THEIR FIRST PRESIDENTIAL VOTE FOR HIM.
AND SO IT SET THIS STANDARD OF PEOPLE NOT FEELING LIKE THEY
REALLY WANTED TO VOTE FOR SOMEBODY WHO THEY DIDN'T TRULY
LOVE OR TRULY BELIEVE IN.
AND OBAMA MAYBE INADVERTENTLY MADE VOTING INTO SOMETHING THAT
YOU DO OUT OF LOVE, NOT OUT OF DUTY.
AND THAT'S WHY IT'S REALLY HARD FOR MANY YOUNG PEOPLE TO KIND OF
GET THEMSELVES EXCITED ABOUT VOTING FOR SOMEONE THEY DON'T
FEEL LIKE REALLY REPRESENTED THEM.
>> Stephen: ANOTHER SO THAT BRINGS ME TO, SAY, OUR DEBATE
LAST NIGHT, OR FOR LACK OF A BETTER WORD, BERNIE.
BECAUSE--
>> Stephen: THERE'S A MILLENNIAL HERE.
YOUNG PEOPLE, MILLENNIALS, OVERWHELMINGLY, LIKE, 60%, FOR
BERNIE.
WHY DO MILLENNIALS LIKE THE ALTACOCKER?
WHY DO THEY LIKE THE OLD GUY?
>> THIS BOOK EXPLAINS WHY.
IF YOU LOOK AT THE EVENTS THAT HAVE SHAPED THEIR LIVES-- AND,
AGAIN, ONE OF THE THINGS I FOUND IN REPORTING THIS BOOK IS THAT
THERE'S THIS MYTH THAT YOUNG PEOPLE ARE ALWAYS LIBERAL AND
OLD PEOPLE ARE ALWAYS CONSERVATIVE, AND IT'S JUST NOT
TRUE.
IN FACT, PEOPLE SHAPE THEIR POLITICAL ATTITUDES IN THE
RESPONSE TO EVENTS OF EARLY ADULTHOOD, LIKE THEIR LATE TEENS
THROUGH THEIR 20s.
AND IF YOU LOOK AT THE EVENTS THAT SHAPED MILLENNIALS' EARLY
ADULTHOOD, IT WAS CRUSHING STUDENT DEBT, THE FINANCIAL
CRISIS-- WHICH REALLY SHAPED A LOT OF THEIR ABILITY TO FIND
JOBS THAT WOULD PROVIDE THEM WITH THINGS LIKE EYE DON'T
KNOW-- HEALTH INSURANCE.
THAT'S WHY MILLENNIALS ARE HALF AS LIKELY TO HAVE
EMPLOYER-SPONSORED HEALTH INSURANCE AS THEIR PARENTS,
WHICH MIGHT MEAN THAT THEY WERE REALLY ATTRACTED TO SOMEBODY WHO
WANTS SOMETHING LIKE MEDICARE FOR ALL.
MILLENNIALS ARE THE-- MILLENNIALS ARE ONE OF THE
GENERATIONS WHON THEY ARE GOING TO HAVE TO DEAL WITH THE IMPACTS
OF CLIMATE CHANGE, WHICH IS WHY THEY SEEM TO BE REALLY ATTRACTED
TO A CANDIDATE WHO IS RUNNING ON A GREEN NEW DEAL.
SO IF YOU LOOK AT ALL THE EVENTS THAT HAVE SHAPED HOW MILLENNIALS
THINK ABOUT POLITICS, IT ACTUALLY MAKES A LOT OF SENSE
WHY THEY WOULD BE GOING FOR SOMEBODY LIKE BERNIE SANDERS
YOU.
>> Stephen: HAVE A CHAPTER HERE-- YOUR SECOND CHAPTER IN
THE BOOK IS CALLED, "HARRY POTTER AND THE SPAWN OF THE
BOOMERS."
( LAUGHTER )
AND HARRY POTTER?
BECAUSE THERE'S A LOT OF INFLUENCE.
>> THERE'S A LOT OF INFLUENCE.
SO, I FIRST STARTED NOTICING THE SCOPE OF THIS INFLUENCE WHEN I
INTERVIEWED THE PARKLAND KIDS AFTER THE SHOOTING IN PARKLAND,
FLORIDA, THE "MARCH FOR OUR LIVES" TEENAGERS.
AND I NOTICED MANY OF THEM, INDEPENDENTLY, BROUGHT UP HARRY
POTTER AND WERE COMPARING THEIR QUEST TO DEFEAT THE N.R.A. TO
HARRY POPTER AND HIS FRIENDS' QUEST TO BEAT VOL MOR.
AND AS SOON AS I STARTED SEEING IT, I NOTICED IT IS EVERYWHERE.
IT IS ALL OVER ALEXANDRIA OCASIO-CORTEZ'S INSTAGRAM.
WHEN MICK MULVANEY TOOK OVER THE C.F.P.B., THERE WERE A GROUP WHO
CALLED THEMSELVES DUMBLEDORE'S ARMY.
IN ORDER TO UNDERSTAND THIS, YOU HAVE TO REALIZE THAT HARRY
POTTER WAS AN UNPRECEDENTED CULTURAL PHENOMENON, LITERALLY
UNPRECEDENTED IN HUMAN HISTORY.
MORE PEOPLE CONSUMED HARRY POTTER IN THE TIME THAT IT WAS
BEING CREATED THAN DICKENENS, OR SHAKESPEARE OR NEARLY ANY OTHER
GREAT WORK OF LITERATURE THAT YOU COULD POSSIBLY IMAGINE.
SO IT HAS FUNDAMENTALLY SHAPED HOW MANY OF THESE YOUNG PEOPLE
SEE THEIR ROLE IN THE WORLD, AND ALSO SEE THEIR RESPONSIBILITY IN
TERMS OF WHAT IS GOOD AND WHAT IS EVIL.
HARRY POTTER IS A STORY ABOUT AUTHORITARIANISM.
IT'S A STORY ABOUT YOUNG PEOPLE BANDING TOGETHER TO FIGHT AN
AUTHORITARIAN RULER WHO WAS ENABLED BY FECKLESS ADULTS WHO
DON'T WANT TO STAND UP TO HIM.
AND SO IN SOME WAYS IT'S REALLY RESONANT TO WHAT WE'RE SEEING
RIGHT NOW.
>> Stephen: WELL, THAT STORY AND THIS ENTIRE BOOK GIVES ME
HOPE.
SO THANK YOU FOR WRITING IT.
( CHEERS AND APPLAUSE ) AND I RECOMMEND-- I RECOMMEND IT
HIGHLY.
"THE ONES WE'VE BEEN WAITING
IT'S CHARLOTTE ALTER.
WE'LL BE RIGHT BACK.