Pete Buttigieg | SmartLess

Who speaks in this episode?

• Pete Buttigieg (Guest)

What is discussed, and when

1. 0:00 – 10:00: LA, Massage, Pete Buttigieg, Afghanistan
2. 10:00 – 20:00: Afghanistan, World War II, Air Force, America
3. 20:00 – 30:00: America, Washington, D.C., Chicago, Afghanistan
4. 30:00 – 40:00: Pete Buttigieg, America, World War Z, World War Z
5. 40:00 – 50:00: Michigan, Positive Sean, Artificial Intelligence, California
6. 50:00 – 1:00:00: America, Abraham Lincoln, Abe Lincoln, Americanore
7. 1:00:00 – 1:04:03: Pete Buttigieg, Michael Grant Terry, SmartLess, SmartLess

Notable quotes from "Pete Buttigieg | SmartLess"

• Get there, I have to come back. So, I'm driving around like 20 minutes trying to kill time. Right. So, when you're driving, you don't pull in somewhere.

  about Positive Sean · at 1:18

• Came home, he split his time between serving in Afghanistan and mayor at 29. Oh, I know this fella. He's since served four years as United States Secretary of Transportation…

  about Pete Buttigieg · at 6:31

• Because his brother, my grandfather, was also an officer. He was a doctor actually. He was an army doc. and at a I guess there was a prisoner of war camp in I think New Mexico…

  about World War II · at 13:14

• Differences in values, but there's also Yeah. You look at a lot of the biggest issues, there's like 60 70% of Americans who agree on what to do about it.

  about America · at 21:42

• Consultant firm. but what at what point did you think I might want to go into politics? Yeah. So, I finished up at Oxford, got a job in Chicago at a consulting firm, but I the first is that right? Is that where you were? Yeah.

  about Chicago · at 24:54

• Matter of fact, I drive past one almost every day here in Michigan that I remember signing off on that's that's now actually now everybody's grumbling about it because.

  about Michigan · at 42:15

• Freedom in this country. and I've I've been very outspoken about that. I'm I'm also very concerned about what could happen with AI. and I don't just mean like the extinction…

  about Artificial Intelligence · at 48:38

• He says, Oh, you think your country is divided? Wow. Okay. he was in charge when half of the country broke off and declared war against the other half, mainly for the purpose…

  about Abraham Lincoln · at 56:23

Who and what is mentioned in this episode?

People

• Pete Buttigieg — Person · Main guest · 5 mentions · first at 6:40
  Primary interviewee; discussed his background, service, role as U.S. Secretary of Transportation, policy views on infrastructure, AI, and civic service
• Positive Sean — Person · Host / Co-host · 3 mentions · first at 0:04
  Co-host conducting interview, sharing personal anecdotes and asking questions of Pete Buttigieg
• Abraham Lincoln — Person · Referenced historical figure · 3 mentions · first at 38:16
  Referenced by Pete Buttigieg as a historical example to consult about national division and leadership
• Abe Lincoln — Person · 3 mentions · first at 38:16
  The highways you know are built on that spirit and so is the idea of preparing. it was Lincoln who said give me six hours to chop down a tree and I will spend the first four…
• Ronald McDonald — Person · 1 mention · first at 57:36
  And then Ronald McDonald. So, listen.
• Michael Grant Terry — Person · 1 mention · first at 1:03:48
  Smart less. Smartless is 100% organic and artisally handcrafted by Michael Grant, Terry, Rob Armcharve, and Bennett Barbco. Smart less.
• Anton Buttigieg — Person · 1 mention
• Brad Pitt — Person · 1 mention
• Chasten Buttigieg — Person · 1 mention
• Chef Boyardee — Person · 1 mention
• Jason Bateman — Person · 1 mention
• Will Arnett — Person · 1 mention

Companies & orgs

• Harvard — Company · Educational background · 2 mentions · first at 6:20
  Mentioned as part of Pete Buttigieg's educational background and achievements.
  He went on to graduate college magnaumla and that would be from BTUB Harvard.
• Notre Dame — Company · Educational institution · 1 mention · first at 25:26
  Mentioned in the context of South Bend's history and Pete Buttigieg's mayoral campaign.
  Of people know that Southbend, Indiana is where Notre Dame is. Yeah. what a lot of people don't realize is Notre Dame's actually across the street from Southbend, Indiana. It's…
• Mackenzie — Company · Early career · 1 mention · first at 25:07
  Pete Buttigieg's first job post-Oxford, mentioned in passing
  Consultant firm. but what at what point did you think I might want to go into politics? Yeah. So, I finished up at Oxford, got a job in Chicago at a consulting firm, but I the first is that right? Is that where you were? Yeah.
• Etsy — Company · Referenced company · 1 mention · first at 33:43
  Used by hosts as example in discussion about mailing small business items and hazardous materials (nail polish example)
  Hazardous materials. Asking for a friend, but people that's the thing people don't know like if you're like on Etsy, selling custom nail polish, you don't think of yourself as…
• Air Force — Company · 3 mentions · first at 11:36
  To me and u Did you ever consider g getting your pilot's license and joining the Air Force instead of the Navy? So, I discovered some things about my eyesight that meant that I…
• Naval Academy — Company · 1 mention · first at 14:18
  Got to Oxford, a lot. Often some of the road scholars are graduates of the militarymies, West Point Naval Academy, and my class had quite a few and I respected those guys so…
• West Point — Company · 1 mention · first at 14:18
  Got to Oxford, a lot. Often some of the road scholars are graduates of the militarymies, West Point Naval Academy, and my class had quite a few and I respected those guys so…
• Institute of Politics — Company · 1 mention · first at 20:02
  I know that's where a lot of people get their information. I've been teaching one day a week at the Institute of Politics in Chicago, at the University of Chicago there. And…
• University of Chicago — Company · 1 mention · first at 20:03
  Their information. I've been teaching one day a week at the Institute of Politics in Chicago, at the University of Chicago there. And one of the things I do is I'm always…
• Studebaker — Company · 1 mention · first at 25:38
  Was completely built around the auto industry. It was the company town for Studebaker. Studebaker was headquartered in Southbend, Indiana. Wow. And even though that company…
• Maritime Administration — Company · 1 mention · first at 30:28
  Everything from commercial space travel safety to the Great Lawrence Seaway to the Maritime Administration to just so many things. and the budget is the size of a mid-size…
• British Air Force — Company · 1 mention · first at 39:03
  That's where she met her husband, my grandfather, because he was in the British Air Force. classic Yeah.
• Ray and Al's — Company · 1 mention · first at 47:46
  To offer? No. Raina, my one of my best lives there, Raina lives, she has a restaurant there called Ray and Al's, and it's one of the greatest restaurants. So, you check it out.…
• Americanore — Company · 1 mention · first at 53:42
  Properly. same thing with service. I mean right now they're cutting Americanore as we record this.
• SmartLess — Company · 1 mention · first at 1:03:45
  Smart less. Smartless is 100% organic and artisally handcrafted by Michael Grant, Terry, Rob Armcharve, and Bennett Barbco. Smart less.
• AmeriCorps — Company · 1 mention
• Army Air Corps — Company · 1 mention
• Democratic Party — Company · 1 mention
• Fox — Company · 1 mention
• G7 — Company · 1 mention
• McKinsey & Company — Company · 1 mention
• United States Armed Forces — Company · 1 mention
• University of Oxford — Company · 1 mention
• WWE — Company · 1 mention

Products & tech

• Massage — Product · 5 mentions · first at 3:24
  Sitting there with my hazards on. And then I finally cuz I'll be damned if I didn't make to my massage. So I got to my massage. That was your That was your appointment. That was my appointment was cuz I hadn't had one in like a year.
• Bullet train — Product · 2 mentions · first at 36:02
  This great meeting and but yes kind of saw that up close. Got to ride the bullet train and be on the fronts in the bullet train which is an incredible experience. and but…
• World War Z — Product · 2 mentions · first at 39:25
  Shot there. Yeah. Yeah. In fact, I was there. I was with a friend and we stumbled onto the set of World War Z because you know it's it's tiny Mediterranean country which means…
• Chili Cornbread Casserole — Product · 1 mention · first at 0:20
  [ __ ] ruthless with yourself right now. Totally. I'm going to have I'm not even kidding. I'm going to have a chili cornbread casserole right when this is over. No, no, no. But tell us something unusual that you're going to do.
• Electric car — Product · 1 mention · first at 1:27
  Yeah. You're just burning fossil fuel because it because well it's an electric car. All right. It's an electric car. It doesn't charge for free, you know. Go ahead. Okay. So…
• Little Miss Sunshine — Product · 1 mention · first at 12:18
  A thing you've got headphones I've got headphones too that's crazy that's a whole subplot in what's the little miss sunshine right there's a whole subplot that's very good so…
• Uncle Sam poster — Product · 1 mention · first at 13:56
  Uniform kind of staring right at you. And I felt like it was kind of my family's version of the Uncle Sam poster, saying Why not you? Why aren't you serving your country? I want you. And I think that was in the back of my.
• Nail polish — Product · 1 mention · first at 33:12
  Know, we learned things like there was a cottage industry of custom kind of homemade nail polish, which sometimes is using compounds that were unsafe to put in the mail. Again…
• Culvert — Product · 1 mention · first at 34:27
  Famously swim upstream and if a road is built through a stream or a river and you don't put the right kind of culvert, so the water can go under it, it blocks the fish passage. And it turns out a lot of roads were built in the 60s and 70s.
• PowerPoint — Product · 1 mention · first at 34:54
  Communities, but also just in general. So I wound up having, I was in PowerPoint briefings on the difference between anadramous fish, which swim upstream, and I think catadimas, I think, is the word for the ones that fish go downstream. And.
• Popeye — Product · 1 mention · first at 39:19
  Incredibly strategic and rich in history and a great filming location, right? The Great Popeye was shot there. Yeah. Yeah. In fact, I was there. I was with a friend and we stumbled onto the set of World War Z because you know it's it's tiny.
• Gladiator — Product · 1 mention · first at 39:37
  Especially lots of places in the Middle East or North Africa. I think they used it for gladiator. but they just changed the signs and they could make like I think a lot of the…
• Munich — Product · 1 mention · first at 39:43
  Changed the signs and they could make like I think a lot of the scenes in Munich whether it was in Lebanon or Greece or Israel Palestine like a lot of that was shot in Malta.…
• Peanut M&M's — Product · 1 mention · first at 58:54
  Didn't want to say anything, but I put my hand in my pocket during that interview and I still have two peanut M&M's in it. Oh my. What? From last night's rave. No, tonight.…
• Carbon copy flight plan — Product · 1 mention
• Etsy — Product · 1 mention
• Floss — Product · 1 mention
• Humvee — Product · 1 mention
• Toyota Highlander — Product · 1 mention
• Toyota Hilux — Product · 1 mention

Concepts & topics

• Artificial Intelligence — Concept · Core topic · 1 mention · first at 48:43
  Discussed in the context of its potential impact on jobs and society, including both risks and opportunities.
• United States Secretary of Transportation — Concept · Referenced position · 1 mention · first at 6:38
  Mentioned as a past position held by the guest, Pete Buttigieg, discussing his experience and insights.
  Came home, he split his time between serving in Afghanistan and mayor at 29. Oh, I know this fella. He's since served four years as United States Secretary of Transportation…
• Inland Transportation — Concept · Referenced concept · 1 mention
  Appeared in entity list; relates to transportation domain discussed by Buttigieg but not explicitly unpacked in transcript
• Hazardous materials — Concept · 2 mentions · first at 33:26
  Can't you mail anything? how do you how do they find out? Not hazardous materials. Asking for a friend, but people that's the thing people don't know like if you're like on Etsy, selling custom nail polish, you don't think of yourself as a.
• Anadromous fish — Concept · 2 mentions
• Intelligence Officer — Concept · 1 mention · first at 9:54
  Of course he was in he was in something that you would never get assigned to. He was an intelligence officer. Okay. Yeah.
• Airline Pilot — Concept · 1 mention · first at 10:29
  No, there's no way. When I was 15 in high school, all I wanted to be was an airline pilot, which I still think is an amazing job. I respect pilots so much, by the way. It's a…
• Reserve Unit — Concept · 1 mention · first at 14:31
  And so I entered the reserve once I got back and kind of started my professional life. I joined a reserve unit and we you know it was one weekend a month, two weeks a year, but…
• Democrat — Concept · 1 mention · first at 26:56
  We had a lot by the way was super bipartisan. You know I ran as a Democrat but we had a lot of independents Republicans who supported it and then they put me in charge of the city and then it was you know put up or shut up. Was.
• Independents — Concept · 1 mention · first at 26:57
  Bipartisan. You know I ran as a Democrat but we had a lot of independents Republicans who supported it and then they put me in charge of the city and then it was you know put up or shut up. Was that as frightening as getting the.
• Republican — Concept · 1 mention · first at 26:57
  Bipartisan. You know I ran as a Democrat but we had a lot of independents Republicans who supported it and then they put me in charge of the city and then it was you know put up or shut up. Was that as frightening as getting the.
• Lake Effect — Concept · 1 mention · first at 27:32
  Issue obviously where you are, but right in the lake effect zone, a lot of snow, and it's kind of the test of the classic test of a mayor. So, right away there's this trial by fire, just making sure that we.
• Commercial space travel — Concept · 1 mention · first at 30:24
  But as secretary of transportation you got 55,000 employees. you oversee everything from commercial space travel safety to the Great Lawrence Seaway to the Maritime…
• Tribal communities — Concept · 1 mention · first at 34:49
  Of the funds in the infrastructure package. Huge deal for the Pacific Northwest, especially for tribal communities, but also just in general. So I wound up having, I was in PowerPoint briefings on the difference between anadramous fish,.
• Dividend — Concept · 1 mention · first at 51:32
  Job that is available maybe through the advancements? I just mean money actually like a dividend. because the you know remember the taxpayer created a lot of this value like the internet was literally a federal research project in the 60s.
• Parenting — Concept · 1 mention · first at 53:36
  Economy and a society we don't show a lot of regard for the work that goes into parenting. We definitely don't you know compensate that kind of work properly. same thing with…
• First-class honours — Concept · 1 mention
• Magna cum laude — Concept · 1 mention
• Mayor of South Bend, Indiana — Concept · 1 mention
• Philosophy, Politics, and Economics (PPE) — Concept · 1 mention
• Rhodes Scholarship — Concept · 1 mention
• services — Concept · 1 mention
• Uber (military Uber) — Concept · 1 mention
• Valedictorian — Concept · 1 mention
• Writers' strike — Concept · 1 mention

Places & events

• Afghanistan — Place · Setting for military service · 5 mentions · first at 6:32
  Pete Buttigieg's service in Afghanistan is discussed, providing context for his experiences and perspectives
  Graduated first class honors in philosophy, politics, economics. Then he came home, he split his time between serving in Afghanistan and mayor at 29. Oh, I know this fella.…
• South Bend — Place · Background / origin · 1 mention · first at 25:24
  Buttigieg's mayoral city; central to his early political narrative and civic revitalization work
  To study at Oxford. So he did that, graduated first class honors in philosophy, politics, economics. Then he came home, he split his time between serving in Afghanistan and…
• America — Place · Topic / geographic reference · 8 mentions · first at 13:28
  Referenced in broad discussion about national goals, politics, and public policy
• Harvard — Place · Background / affiliation · 3 mentions · first at 6:20
  Referenced in describing Buttigieg's education (attended Harvard College)
  Will Sean. Okay, I'm working on this guy was named validictorian in high school, voted most likely to become president.
• Oxford — Place · Background / affiliation · 3 mentions · first at 6:24
  Referenced as Buttigieg's Rhodes Scholarship study location (Oxford University, PPE degree)
  Graduated first class honors in philosophy, politics, economics. Then he came home, he split his time between serving in Afghanistan and mayor at 29. Oh, I know this fella.…
• Michigan — Place · Setting · 5 mentions · first at 24:13
  Mentioned as Pete Buttigieg's current residence and in the context of local infrastructure projects.
• LA — Place · Setting reference · 4 mentions · first at 1:10
  Sean recounts driving and car incident in LA (Wilshire Blvd, Beverly Hills) which sets up discussion
  Know because I don't know if this has ever happened to you, but two days ago, I'm in my car and I'm on Wilshire Boulevard in between appointments because I if I drive home, by…
• World War II — Event · Historical context · 2 mentions · first at 13:25
  Mentioned in the context of family history and military service, providing background on Pete Buttigieg's family.
• Chicago — Place · Professional background · 2 mentions · first at 20:03
  Pete Buttigieg's early career location post-Oxford
• Las Vegas — Place · Project reference · 1 mention · first at 42:36
  Referenced as endpoint in a federal-supported high-speed rail project (Las Vegas to Southern California)
  A lot of the dollars to the table and partnering with the state of Nevada to get it done. that if they hit their marks, it'll be going before the end of this decade. And just…
• California — Place · Future infrastructure project · 1 mention · first at 42:38
  Mentioned as the starting point of a planned high-speed rail project
  Things going on. One I'm excited about is a highspeed rail connection from Las Vegas to Southern California. And it was a public private partnership. We funded it with federal…
• Malta — Place · Personal background reference · 4 mentions
  Buttigieg references Maltese ancestry on his mother's side and childhood visits; cultural anecdote
• Traverse City — Place · Current residence · 1 mention · first at 24:21
  Pete Buttigieg's current home, mentioned in the context of family life
  My grandmother or my mother, their grandmother lives here in Traverse City now. we moved here largely because Chasson's parents, my husband's parents are here. that's where…
• Notre Dame — Place · Educational institution · 1 mention · first at 25:26
  Mentioned in relation to South Bend, Indiana, where it is located, contrasting the city's identity with the university.
  Because I was being paid to care about, but because it was really important to me. And meanwhile, yeah, I South A lot of people know that Southbend, Indiana is where Notre Dame…
• G7 — Event · Referenced event · 1 mention · first at 35:47
  Mentioned in the context of international meetings and discussions on transportation and infrastructure.
  Transportation. But they also have a culture of taking care of things that I think we could learn from. I went there because they hosted the G7 all the transport ministers from…
• Southern California — Place · Project endpoint / region · 1 mention · first at 42:38
  Target region for the Las Vegas high-speed rail connection discussed by Buttigieg
  Highspeed there a few highspeed rail things going on. One I'm excited about is a highspeed rail connection from Las Vegas to Southern California. And it was a public private…
• Notre Dame — Place · Regional context · 1 mention · first at 25:24
  Referenced while describing South Bend's geography and the relationship between the city and the university
  Of people know that Southbend, Indiana is where Notre Dame is. Yeah. what a lot of people don't realize is Notre Dame's actually across the street from Southbend, Indiana. It's…
• G7 — Event · Referenced international meeting · 1 mention · first at 35:53
  Mentioned in passing when discussing transport ministers' meeting hosted in Japan; context for seeing Japanese transport systems
  Culture of taking care of things that I think we could learn from. I went there because they hosted the G7 all the transport ministers from the G G7 countries get together and…
• Britain — Place · Background reference · 1 mention · first at 39:03
  Mentioned in passing in relation to Buttigieg's grandfather's service in the British Air Force / Malta connection
  That's where she met her husband, my grandfather, because he was in the British Air Force. classic Yeah.
• Washington, D.C. — Place · 3 mentions · first at 22:46
  Grocery, walking the dog, like and Yeah. I think we really miss that at the national level. Washington has its version of that because you like run into other political…
• Wilshire Boulevard — Place · 2 mentions · first at 1:10
  Know because I don't know if this has ever happened to you, but two days ago, I'm in my car and I'm on Wilshire Boulevard in between appointments because I if I drive home, by…
• Beverly Hills — Place · 2 mentions · first at 1:37
  Somewhat. Okay. Go ahead. So, I'm in the center lane on Wilshire Boulevard in Beverly Hills and the car goes dead and I have plenty of battery and I'm freaking out and the…
• Hollywood — Place · 2 mentions · first at 38:44
  Once read that you are a maybe the most prominent Maltese American figure in Hollywood. And I wanted to know that's the country my dad immigrated from. I'm just kidding. Have…
• Santa Monica — Place · 1 mention · first at 5:26
  I was like Wilshire like just off of Santa Monica and like you know Rodeale like in the middle of that section. Oh, in Beverly Hills. Yes. On in the middle lane. You didn't get much. Oh, your so your fancy car breaks down on Wilshire.
• New Mexico — Place · 1 mention · first at 13:25
  Actually. He was an army doc. and at a I guess there was a prisoner of war camp in I think New Mexico where World War II prisoners would interact with American officers. And he…
• Rust Belt — Place · 1 mention · first at 26:00
  Inhaling this idea that success meant getting out. a lot of kids in, the so-called rust belt and in rural America grow up with this message, right? If you want to make something of yourself, get out, right?
• Great Lawrence Seaway — Place · 1 mention · first at 30:25
  Got 55,000 employees. you oversee everything from commercial space travel safety to the Great Lawrence Seaway to the Maritime Administration to just so many things. and the…
• Oval Office — Place · 1 mention · first at 31:08
  Needed to be confined for 14 days just in case. so the first time I participated in an Oval Office meeting, they wheeled a television into the Oval Office so that I could…
• Pacific Northwest — Place · 1 mention · first at 34:40
  Right way or they've failed over the years and it was screwing up fisheries, especially in the Pacific Northwest, but this is happening all over the country. And so we started…
• Netherlands — Place · 1 mention · first at 37:34
  You've seen those videos be I'm sure of when they decide to rebuild a bridge a small bridge in the Netherlands on a highway and they do it in 48 hours because they don't want…
• Southern California — Place · 1 mention · first at 42:38
  Things going on. One I'm excited about is a highspeed rail connection from Las Vegas to Southern California. And it was a public private partnership. We funded it with federal…
• Nevada — Place · 1 mention · first at 42:47
  There's also a private company bringing a lot of the dollars to the table and partnering with the state of Nevada to get it done. that if they hit their marks, it'll be going…
• I-15 — Place · 1 mention · first at 42:59
  This decade. And just zip down a lot of it as actually straight down the median of I-15. That's how they solved the puzzle of getting the Yeah. Because one of the hardest…
• Canada — Place · 1 mention · first at 54:08
  Society. Well, Pete, Pete, I made that and I was quite flippant about it when I made the comparison to Canada and the US in terms of a sense of social consciousness, but and…
• Bagram Airfield — Place · 1 mention
• Galien, Michigan — Place · 1 mention
• Great Lakes — Place · 1 mention
• Japan — Place · 1 mention
• Kabul — Place · 1 mention
• Malta — Place · 1 mention

Media & podcasts

• World War Z — Media · Referenced media · 2 mentions · first at 39:25
  Mentioned as a movie filmed in Malta, where Pete Buttigieg has family connections.
  Greece or Israel Palestine like a lot of that was shot in Malta. But yeah, World War Z was going on. I didn't know what that was, but I was I was walking with a friend and we…

Sponsors

• SmartLess — Sponsor · 1 mention · first at 1:03:45
  Smart less. Smartless is 100% organic and artisally handcrafted by Michael Grant, Terry, Rob Armcharve, and Bennett Barbco. Smart less.

Full transcript with timestamps

0:04 Sean, good morning. I know that this is it's a it's a weekend morning. I know it doesn't line up with what, you know, the episode people are about to listen to, but it's an actual Saturday when we're recording this. That's correct. Be honest. Your plan for the day. Go be [ __ ] ruthless with yourself right now. Totally. I'm going to have I'm not even kidding. I'm going to have a chili cornbread casserole right when this is over. No, no, no. But tell us something unusual that you're going to do. Welcome to

0:42 SP smart. Oh, Sean, get a good stretch in. You like a little kitty cat stretching. Wait, listen. I have a story to share with you all. Here we come. Is that why you had to stretch for your story? Yeah. Is that what just happened? Did you write notes or are you just going to kind of free it? Oh, no. This is serious. Look at the look on his face. I know because I don't know if this has ever happened to you, but two days ago, I'm in my car uh and I'm on Wilshire Boulevard in between appointments because I if I drive home, by the time I get there, I have to come back. So, I'm driving around like 20 minutes trying to kill time. Right. So, when you're driving, you don't pull in somewhere.

1:24 Yeah. You're just burning fossil fuel because it because well it's an electric car. All right. It's an electric car. It doesn't charge for free, you know. Go ahead. Okay. So, it does mitigate it somewhat. Okay. Go ahead. So, I'm in the center lane on Wilshire Boulevard in Beverly Hills and the car goes dead and I have plenty of battery and I'm freaking out and the display on my dashboard says neutral. Uh, is your is your key in the car? That's what it said. And you're wondering what neutral means? Stupid ass. I was like, "You're going nowhere." First of all, by the way, first of all, have your has your car ever broken down in the middle lane and like a busy like it the stress is crazy. Yeah. Um and I got out and tried to start pushing your car. No, but I freaked out. I I put on my hazards.

2:08 Everybody's driving by like, "Fuck you." And I'm like, "What am I supposed to do? My car died." Then it says the key the the thing on the display on the dashboard said, "Is your key in the car? If so, hold it up to the designated area." And I'm like, "What's the designated area?" Anyway, I was freaked out. So, I take the I take this is the longest story in the world. I took the um manual out and while people are driving past me like crazy. Oh, so you weren't alone. Manuel was with you. Is he in the back seat? But you took him out, right? So, he was must have been in the trunk. So, he let out. Yeah. And I asked him what was wrong. So, you're reading the manual and meanwhile you're screaming, "Guys, stop honking. It's not my fault." Have you ever had that happen? I I was so stressed out. And so I'm I have my head down. I'm looking at the manual looking for like keys or whatever like key fob

2:58 and they say anyway so I anyway I panic and I call Scotty. Scotty's like what do you want me to do about it? And so I with a tone I'm freaking out and I find a YouTube video of a guy who went through the same thing the same kind of car and he's like you got to put it in the cup holder. I'm like the cup holders? So I put the key in the cup holder and I hit it again. And thank God it started. But that was like 20 minutes sitting there with my hazards on. And then I finally cuz I'll be damned if I didn't make to my massage. So I got to my massage. That was your That was your appointment. That was my appointment was cuz I hadn't had one in like a year.

3:30 Sounds like a real busy day. Middle of the day massage. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Middle of middle of a workday massage. Okay. So, and you give me [ __ ] JB for not have going to the office. This guy's doing middle of the day weekday massages. Wait, this is the end of the story. [ __ ] living like a [ __ ] Saudi prince over here. So, wait, the end of the story is I get out of my massage. I just passed the front desk cuz I already paid and she goes, "Oh, wait." And she could tell she was too embarrassed to say the word husband. So, she goes, "Your friend dropped off a spare key." And so, I used my spare. He dropped Scotty drove all the way to the thing to drop off a spare key that I didn't even know I had while you were getting your roommate. Your roommate came by. your roommate. I know that you're a confirmed bachelor and your roommate came. The guy in the other room.

4:22 Yeah. Oh, poor Sean. Oh, god. That was the worst. Has anything ever happened like that? I mean, well, I I I have had that issue. Yeah, it's called a car breakdown. But I have that key where like it has to be it's not being recognized, but usually I just usually just move it around to different points of the car. And who But who would they don't tell you that? Like how is supposed to know? There's a picture. Usually it shows like a little picture somewhere on your on your your your screen where where to stick it. But anyway, anyway. Yeah. Great story. Did anybody Did anybody stop for a selfie with you?

4:58 No. I had my head down so far. Did Did you think that maybe you should pop the trunk or the hood so that no one rear ends you or honks at you and just Well, I had my hazards on. didn't work. You have one of those like little like like triangular uh uh orange reflecting things in the trunk of your car set on the road. Do you snap a flare off? Hey, where whereabouts in Wilshire? By the way, I was I was in the thick of it. I was like Wilshire like just off of Santa Monica and like you know Rodeale like in the middle of that section. Oh, in Beverly Hills. Yes. On in the middle lane. You didn't get much. Oh, your so your fancy car breaks down on Wilshire in Beverly Hills on your way to your massage. Yeah, you did well in the war theater. Hey, listen, man. And the price of eggs must be crushing you right now.

5:46 You're just going nuts over this, right? Guys, it's it's a great segue. I I've got a guest that can answer a lot of uh high stress driving uh questions for you. Um, today we've got a guest that's going to prove to you too that hard work can bring great results. Fellas, if you just show a little discipline and focus, read a book for God's sakes and apply yourself, you can reach great heights, will Sean. Okay, I'm working on this guy was named validictorian in high school, voted most likely to become president. He went on to graduate college magnaumla and that would be from BTUB Harvard.

6:24 Then he was awarded a road scholarship to study at Oxford. So he did that, graduated first class honors in philosophy, politics, economics. Then he came home, he split his time between serving in Afghanistan and and mayor at 29. Oh, I know this fella. He's since served four years as United States Secretary of Transportation and hopefully his high school class is right. And he'll be our president one of these days. It's an honor to have on Smart List, Mr. Pete Buddha Judge. Hi there. Now, so can you explain to Sean because in Afghanistan you were you were d you were you were driving, were you not? Uh yeah. Yeah, it was a big part of my job over high stress driving.

7:05 And so what would you suggest to him there on Wilshire and Rodeo? Should he pop his trunk so he doesn't get rear ended, right? Well, in Afghanistan, you definitely would not want to open any part of the vehicle. This happened one time. Um pop a flare perhaps. actually knocked a uh knocked a mirror off the first time I was driving and uh yeah got got in big trouble because you couldn't like just you know stop and pick it back up. Great. And you know, Wilshshire Boulevard much like central cobble I imagine is very similar. Thank you for dangerous. But JB but but as but as as secretary of transportation you might have some advice for for people like Sean who's That's right. Poor down. It's amazing how many people just don't want to stop and help. No. Exactly. Maybe they got to look at you now. Do the up armored Humvees even have hazard lights?

8:02 I didn't even get a Humvey. It was It was a slightly uparmored uh uh Toyota truck. It was a Highlander, I think. That's kind of cool. Yeah. Well, that's all they drive there, right? Pickups. Uh yeah, they they love their Hiluxes. That that's kind of the go-to vehicle out there, or at least it was in my day. I don't know that I'm not familiar with that term, Hilux. Yeah, I think they only sell those abroad, but uh it's uh it's really big over there or I mean there's nothing there's nothing like seeing a a pickup a Hilux storming your way with like 12 guys in the back and a and a and a 50 cal mounted roughly on the in the you know but that but dangerous. It's dangerous. Yeah, it gets your blood flowing. Sure. Sure. And now and so you were driving top speed looking out for for the for the the the the road mines um on your way to uh reconnaissance and things like that. And that sounds very stressful. Uh yeah.

8:53 Yeah, it was pretty stressful, but you know, the folks I was with were really good at their jobs. I was well trained in my job. Um so we we called it military Uber. Basically making sure people in and gear could get to where they need to go. Would you ask your passengers to rate you favorably? Uh, you know, I should have. Yeah. So, you know, I'm getting reacquainted with Uber now because I uh uh you know, for the last four years, I I would still drive like if I was dropping off the kids at school or something like that, but the most time most of the time I was, you know, being driven. That's how it works when you're in the cabinet. So, I had to get Uber back on my phone and get uh get used to all that. It's uh it's changed a little bit since I remember. You got more options now. Yeah. But you nobody can accuse you of being of being high flutin considering you know we mentioned your service in in the in the arms

9:38 forces like you what an incredible career you've had. I'm I'm really impressed that you went to Harvard you're a road scholar and are you impressed by it will I mean did you hear of course he was in he was in something that you would never get assigned to. He was an intelligence officer. Okay. Yeah. What does that mean? So you he's going to tell us right now. Well I could tell you but then I'd have to you know Yeah. Then you'd have to Oh, please kill him. Um wait. So, on the podcast, the ratings would be phenomenal. Peter, if you uh um but what what an unbelievable When you were sort of 15 in high school, you couldn't have imagined the the the sort of the the trajectory your life was going to take, could you?

10:25 No, there's no way. When I when I was 15 in high school, all I wanted to be was an airline pilot, which which I still think is an amazing job. I respect pilots so much, by the way. It's a great job. It it pays very well. And uh and it's very in demand, but I just I thought that was the coolest thing ever. My dad would go on business trips sometimes. And uh they they would have um on the on the like widebody planes that would that would fly uh over the Atlantic, they used to have this custom where they'd they'd pin up a carbon copy of the flight plan. I don't know if you ever saw this. It'd be wow uh about the size of a small poster and they would stick it to the wall in the back of the plane. I think this was before they had monitors where you could see where the plane was. So it would show the track of where the plane was supposed to go in this this kind of carbon line on this on this map. And he anyway he if you asked

11:18 they would give it to you and so he would bring them back for me when he came back from a trip and I just wallpapered my room with them. I was I was so I knew the names of the pilots that had signed uh uh signed the things like you know they were like celebrities to me and u Did you ever consider g getting your pilot's license and and and joining the Air Force instead of the Navy? So, I discovered some things about my eyesight that meant that I was not going to be a candidate for uh for military aviation. But, uh um uh color blind, right? Oh, that was the reason.

11:48 Yeah. Wait, hang on. Hang on a second. Sorry. Sorry, Mayor Pete. Um so, Sean, um your your kind of fuzzy vision derailed a long career as an aviator. No, I thought you were going to to you you're color blind because you can't be a pilot if you're color blind and I'm color blind. Yeah. No, it just had to do with how near side I think now it's not such a big deal but I was so nearsighted uh that and a stigmatism you like at least in the '90s like you didn't uh look forward to a career no color that's a thing you've got headphones I've got headphones too that's crazy that's a whole subplot in what's the little miss sunshine right there's a whole subplot that's very good very good so then all right so then your vision kept all right so then it but what what about now there wasn't both of your parents are um are academics and educators um But there's no Is there military in your family at all? What what got you to to lean that?

12:38 Yeah, there is. Yeah. Not not at my uh not my parents generation, but before that there a lot in my family were career military. Matter of fact, when I was growing up, we had a we had a portrait painting in the living room uh of this army officer. And we were, you know, I mean, my parents were professors, middle- class neighborhood Indiana. We were not like a portraits of ancestors on the wall kind of family. So, it always stood out to me and I I asked about it. And the story, it turns out it was my it was my greatuncle uh who died in a plane crash in 1941, but he was an Army Airore officer, which was the the predecessor to the Air Force.

13:12 And the reason that painting exists is because his brother, my grandfather, was also an officer. He was a doctor actually. He was an army doc. and at a I guess there was a prisoner of war camp in I think New Mexico where World War II prisoners would interact with American officers. And he got to know uh uh an officer who could uh who could paint and asked him if he would paint from a photograph this portrait of um of his brother who had been killed. Uh and and he did. Um, and uh, and so I grew up with this uh, he's he's kind of sitting in a classic World War II style army uniform kind of staring right right at you. And and I felt like it was kind of my family's version of the Uncle Sam poster, you know, saying like, "Why not you? Why aren't you serving your country? I want you." And and I think that was that was in the back of my mind. It's a big part of why why I wanted to serve, you know, and then like

14:08 a lot of people my age, 911 had a big impact on me. Um, yeah. And then when I got to Oxford, uh, a lot. Often some of the road scholars are graduates of the militarymies, West Point Naval Academy, and my class had had quite a few and I I respected those guys so much. Uh it was it was one more reason I wanted to serve and uh um so I entered the reserve once I got back and kind of started my professional life. I uh joined a reserve unit and we you know it was one weekend a month, two weeks a year, but then part of the deal is if if they call you up, you go. And uh I got called up while I was mayor actually. So, I I put my mayoral uh service on hold. I I took a leave. Uh had a deputy mayor who who stepped in for me for the time I had to go and uh went off to Afghanistan. Is there any part of it you missed? Like Yeah, actually. Yeah. I mean, the people most of all like I the people I served

14:57 with and they were totally different from each other and from me um in every way, different, you know, politics, different different upbringings, but um you know, we all just really trusted each other and looked out for each other. And it's something uh yeah I wish you know obviously the military is not for everybody but I I think a moment like this is one where it would be great if more people had some experience of doing something hard together with other people that that just builds that kind of trust that we don't seem to have enough of right now. Can you talk about that moment um uh to to to the extent you're comfortable when you got that call that you actually were going to go overseas and serve because I'd imagine uh a lot of folks join the service and they it's during it's not during wartime and they they they never get uh in in combat and you but you were going over like is that's got to be somewhat

15:49 frightening. Um what can you talk about that? Yeah. or first day like or that that you're going to go time to pack your bags. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, you you know, you take a deep breath and and it's it's sobering, but it's also, you know, it's a big part of why you serve. I mean, of course, if if you're agreeing to put on the uniform, you're putting your right hand up and and taking that oath, that means you're the whole idea is you're going to be there if your country needs you. And you know, I had I had one tour in Afghanistan. I spent a little time also in Afghanistan and Iraq as a as a civilian economic adviser.

16:21 But, you know, I was with people who served four, five, six tours. It was incredible how many, you know, my generation, how many tours some of them did. And uh uh so I I was really humbled to see how much other people had served. And yeah, you know, that's one of the other things that made me want to do in the first place was seeing a lot of other people in my generation rogering up to go and thinking at a certain point like when's it my turn? But is there does fear enter into it? Oh, of course. Yeah. the the first night I was there, uh, you know, they train you for what a rocket alarm sounds like, obviously, you know, what to do if you hear the alarm that says incoming. I started out at Bram Bram airfield and then later on was was reassigned to Kbble, the the capital. Um, but that first night at Bram, there was a uh there was a rocket attack and I just remember um just my blood running cold when I heard that

17:12 that sound. It's the same sound, by the way, as uh uh I think it's called There's an iPhone alarm that's the exact same. Oh, the that kind of thing. Yeah, it would be a great idea to just never use that. No kidding. On on your iPhone. Um at least if you're around somebody who might have memories around that. But yeah, my first day there was a rocket attack. My last day there was a rocket attack. Wow. It's probably a different sound than when my massage is over. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. A little gong. Yeah. Yeah. And then probably more fear than like JB when you got the call to that you were going to be in heart to heart secrets of the heart the TV movie.

17:50 Like that must have been when I'm asked to force my call tomorrow. You know it's going to mean Yeah. Yeah. Um but well listen uh uh Mayor Pete, thank you. Thank you for your service. It's pretty it's really really impressive. Um, now, uh, your with your father, uh, being a professor of literature, did did that I mean, were you stupid question, but I mean, I'm just I'm I love listening to you talk. And by the way, I do too. And and I love anytime you're on any news channel, anything, anywhere, I'm like, you're the smartest person in the room. I love watching you debate. I love watching you debate. I mean, and because you make debating not seem like debating. You just boil it down and you and you take you take the contention out, which is really well. A lot of debating now isn't actually debating. It's it's like a media opportunity, right? It's just people kind of uh saying they're like canned things and and but your ability

18:47 to shape um a a thought uh your opinion um to just to make it kind of tangible for folks. Uh I appreciate cuz me not smart. Um, but I love that you I love that you spend time on on Fox, too. And um, you know, that that that there's an ability to, you know, cuz we all need to kind of stop talking across one another and talk together and and so it's I love that that you spend some time over there. Um, is there a reason why why more Democrats aren't talking uh over there? Are they not invited or they not want to go? I just wish they'd do it more. Yeah. I think I'm both. Yeah.

19:30 Look, there's a lot of reasons to hesitate, right? If you're going into a place that, you know, is not ideologically friendly or not aligned with you. Like there there's reasons to think twice about it. And I think a lot of a lot of people in my party do, but my my take on it is you can't you can't blame somebody for not embracing your message if they've literally never heard it. And a lot of people will never hear what we have to say if we're only talking to people who are friendly to us. And it's not just TV. I mean, it's also, you know, I'm doing uh uh more podcasts, more digital stuff, just cuz I I know that's where a lot of people get their information. I I've been teaching one day a week at the uh Institute of Politics in Chicago, at the University of Chicago there. And one of the things I do is I'm always asking my students whenever we sit down, a lot of times I'll I'll do a show of hands. You know,

20:11 where do you get your news? The number of students who raise their hands when I ask how many of them get their news from television was zero. Like literally zero. They might see a clip from TV if it like goes into their Tik Tok feeds or or Instagram or something like that. But yeah, you know, I don't think of myself as that much older than them, but I grew up in a world where like you you watched a TV story about some controversy. You heard the conservative opinion, you heard the liberal opinion, and maybe hearing the other side made you feel the way you feel even more strongly or maybe it made you change your mind a little bit or ask another question. But like the point is you'd think about it. You like stop and think about it. And it's very hard for that to happen now the way our media works. So, I'm trying to I'm trying to cut through some of those categories. Well, glad you're doing it.

20:56 We'll be right back. And now back to the show. I think one of the tricks that they've done on on e on both sides and and this is what has sort of made me I think a lot of other people check out from the entire process is is that the truth is we all want a better system. We all want a better country. We all want a better America. Everybody wants everybody to have be better fed and all etc. Just go whatever the the issue is everybody wants that. And somehow we've been convinced by a few people that we are at odds with each other. I think that everybody is actually a lot more aligned. I think so too than we think. I think so. And that's I I truly believe that. Yeah. Yeah. Look, obviously there's some serious disagreements and differences in values, but there's also Yeah. You look at a lot of the biggest issues, there's like 60 70% of Americans who who agree on what to do about it.

21:49 And and if you look at the overlap, you know, that might not be the same 70% from this issue to that issue, but like the big things that people want out of everyday life and the big things people want their government to do for them to have stuff work, you know, clean, safe drinking water and clean air and uh roads that that don't have a hole in them and transit that gets you to where you need to go and an economy where you can afford stuff and enough housing. Like these are these are things that everybody wants and we've gotten into this mode where politics is treated like a basically like a wrestling like death match.

22:19 It does I think turn a lot of people off. But you know my experience and maybe it's cuz I came up locally and and local politics by the way is as everybody knows can be very very rough and tumble. But there's this sense you know in a community you're a little more it's a little clear to everybody that everybody wants the community to do well. Well, and you also have to answer to each other face to face dayto day. Yeah. Yeah. You see each other at the grocery, walking the dog, like and and Yeah. I think we really miss that at the national level. You know, Washington has its version of that because you like run into other uh you know, political figures, but it's not um it's not like being part of the same. Yeah. But it's but it seems to me, and again, this is forgive me for sort of boiling it down like this, but it does seem to me that Washington politics are a lot like the WWE. It's like everybody goes and and

23:04 puts on their on their their game persona and then back in the locker room they're like, "Hey, that was a pretty good one." "Yeah, there's a good one by you, too." And they all know, everybody knows each other, right? You know what I mean? I think it was like that. I think that's changed a lot in the last few years. If you talk to people who just some of the things that are really dark, January 6, that kind of stuff where people, you know, were really fearing for their lives. I think I think has has shifted that a little bit. But but yeah, there you could definitely feel, you know, we spent uh almost four years. I wasn't living in Washington the whole time, but but most of the time I was serving, we lived there. And uh Oh, there's a headline. He Buddha Judge admits he wasn't living in Washington the whole time. Here we go. No, you know what it was is we I was traveling so much like I was traveling a day or two a

23:45 week minimum for uh for work and then you know cuz my job was to partly to to go around the country and look at the projects we were working on. Uh you know, you're in charge of transportation obviously you're you're you're traveling a lot. I went to every single state at least once. Wow. Um, and then I, you know, there were times I was traveling a lot for campaign stuff, too, and began to realize that that it was for our family, it was more economical for me to stay in a hotel the days I was in Washington, um, than to pay rent there and mortgage here in in in Michigan where we live, right? Um, and it it was important to us for the kids to be around their uh, their grandparents. So, my grandmother or my mother, their grandmother lives here in Traverse City now. Uh, we moved here largely because Chasson's parents, my husband's parents are here. Uh that's where uh uh they where he grew up and it's made all the

24:31 difference in the world to have the kids close to their parents. Yeah. Yeah. Well, what what what what made you think that you could become a a mayor and get into politics at at that early age? You became mayor at at 29, I think. Like so so coming coming back from Afghanistan. Well, no, this this is before you went to Afghanistan, but but coming back from Oxford. Um you'd go you work for the consultant firm. Um, but what what at what point did you think I might want to go into politics? Yeah. So, I finished up at Oxford, got a job in Chicago at a consulting firm, but I the first is that right? Is that where you were? Yeah.

25:07 Mackenzie. Yeah. Um, and I learned a lot there, but I also figured out pretty quickly that that client service wasn't for me. There were just I just didn't care enough about it. I wanted to work on something I cared about. Um, not just because I was being paid to care about, but because it was really important to me. And meanwhile, yeah, I South A lot of people know that Southbend, Indiana is where Notre Dame is. Yeah. Um, what a lot of people don't realize is Notre Dame's actually across the street from Southbend, Indiana. It's not it's not a college town that way. And and the city was completely built around the auto industry. It was the company town for Studebaker. Studebaker was headquartered in Southbend, Indiana. Wow. And even though that company went out of business in the '60s, when I was growing up in the 80s and 90s, the city was still trying to recover from that. uh lost a bunch of its population, vacant

25:52 abandoned houses, collapsing factories everywhere. And so I grew up kind of inhaling this idea that success meant getting out. I mean, a lot of kids in, you know, the the so-called rust belt and and in rural America grow up with this message, right? If you want to make something of yourself, get out, right? Which is pretty much what I did. I went to the East Coast, then I got even further away going to the UK to to study when I got the scholarship. And but then I started to realize the further away I got, the more I realized that I was I was actually from somewhere. Yeah. and started to feel this like almost militant like pride in in in where I was from and and what it could be. And I found that a lot of people I grew up with felt the same way that that like our city could be more than it was and could have a different future. And you know the the right around the time I got in the race for for mayor, there was a

26:38 national write up of our city that called it one of America's 10 dying cities. And we hated that so much and and didn't believe it. And and so uh you know I found that that there were enough people who felt the same way that we could we could build this campaign. Um we had a lot by the way was super bipartisan. You know I ran uh as a Democrat but we had a lot of independents Republicans who who supported it and um and then they put me in charge of the city and then it was it was you know put up or shut up. Was was that as frightening uh as getting the call up to to go overseas? I mean, you know, you get all that responsibility.

27:12 You know, I took office on New Year's Day and it was snowing and one thing I knew a lot about was you're hung over. I um you know, one thing you definitely need to be on top of as mayor is snow plowing. Uh maybe not not as much an issue uh obviously where you are, but um uh you know, right in the lake effect zone, a lot of snow, and it's kind of the test of the classic test of a mayor. So, uh, you know, right away there's this trial by fire, just making sure that that we were okay dealing with this the snow and, uh, yeah, it's everything from, yeah, I worked on everything from, you know, police and fire to streets and, uh, you know, to the zoo, like we were in charge of the zoo. Anything surprising about a mayor job that that that would would um that would surprise people? Something something you didn't you didn't expect, you know? Um, I was surprised to be in charge of the zoo. It just wasn't something I thought about

28:06 when I was campaigning. Um I didn't know I'd be dealing with golf courses as much. We had city golf courses that I was managing and and we we didn't like I don't even golf. Um uh and then things that like you hear about, but I didn't really think much of it until I did it. Like you get to marry people, right? You you you are I feel justice. And I remember one time I came in, I was really early. I was the first person in uh so my staff weren't around and uh I stepped out of the elevator in the hallway that leads to the mayor's office and this other couple this these two other people stepped out of another elevator and said oh mayor we were hoping we'd find you here like just who we were hoping to see and I thought okay I hope I'm ready for whatever they're going to ask cuz I'm I'm all alone up here. And then they explained uh she was super pregnant and uh they said, "Well, uh we're on our way to the

28:57 hospital. We're going to have a C-section and by the time we tell uh her parents that they're grandparents, I want to make sure we're actually married. So, could you uh marry us?" Wow. And it's timesensitive. Like now. Yeah. Yeah. Like right now. So, uh you know, I don't know everything about their story. And you're like, "Yeah, I could, but I've assigned all marriages to the zoo, so we got to get to the zoo real quick. Um, so we did it. Like I went through my drawers and I found like somewhere in there from the last time I did this, I had, you know, a copy of the the the protocol, the things I was supposed to say and uh my my staff trickled in uh uh while we were u putting that together and we I found a piece of pipe cleaner we were able to use just as a makeshift ring and they ran down and got the certificates and I signed off and uh Wow. Uh yeah, by by the time they you know got got them married and squared

29:46 away and then they went off and I mean was she in labor while you were giving I like was she like breathing whatever that is like was she about to go into it? I'm not sure I would have been able to handle that. Yeah, that would have been crazy. Now how does that differ from your first day as transportation secretary? What what what was what was that like? Was it what what is day one like when you're handling that large uh uh department? Um well it's I mean it's a huge leap. So as mayor at about a thousand employees and about a $300 million organization. So not small but but as secretary of transportation you got 55,000 employees. Uh you oversee everything from commercial space travel safety to uh the Great Lawrence Seaway to uh the Maritime Administration to just so many things. Um and the budget is the size of a mid-size country. Um it's about $150 billion or at least it was once we got the infrastructure

30:39 package through. Wow. So, um it's pretty daunting. The the really daunting thing was it was it was deep COVID and I couldn't be in a room with most of my staff. Um and and then you know that was the time when the protocols were extremely uh um intense. I I got exposed to I was in a room with somebody who had had COVID and it was decided that I needed to be confined for 14 days just in case. Um, so the first time I participated in an Oval Office meeting, they wheeled a television into the Oval Office so that I could participate by Zoom from this apartment where I was locked up. Um, Wow. and uh and and join remotely. So, it was a very strange uh introduction to the job. It was a very strange introduction to my own team. Um, but you know, gradually we we built a um a really good chemistry with a really good team full of But the irony that you're you're now the secretary of transportation, but you can't go

31:34 anywhere. Yeah. Yeah. You know. Yeah. And and and Pete, instead of asking you what we would never know, like what we could never guess about the transportation, like safety, like I don't think I could handle that answer. I don't want to know what I don't know. So, I'll just say what is the most interesting thing that you learned that you could share with us about how it all works because it is kind of fascinating. Um yeah, I don't want to know about safety stuff. I think I I wouldn't be able to sleep. You want to Oh, the safety stuff should be reassuring though. Uh, all right. I mean, one thing that people don't think about is how incredible of a civilizational achievement uh our overall aviation safety record as a country is. There was a terrible crash this year. There was 15 years with no fatal crashes. Yeah. Um, wow. And that doesn't just happen, right? I mean, think about what that takes, right? Uh,

32:27 I wish we had that on auto safety. We don't. Like on on the ground, like in cars, we lose more than 100 people a day in this country. is one of the big things I worked on. Uh we finally got the numbers starting to go down again uh on my watch. Are those numbers are a lot of those numbers still uh uh uh the result of people being intoxicated? Is that still there or is it a lot of texting? Both. Yeah, distracted driving is a huge deal. I mean, I cannot I cannot emphasize enough how important it is to just put down the phone. Just don't. It can it can it can wait. Uh but but anyway, the the work that goes into making sure people are safe. Uh and stuff I never thought about uh in shipping like um making sure that things that go into packages are are safe. You know, we learned things like there was a cottage industry of custom kind of homemade nail polish, which sometimes is using compounds that were unsafe to put

33:16 in the mail. Again, not on my bingo card for things I would be dealing with, but uh it was a thing. But um yeah, because can't you mail anything? I mean, how do you how do they find out? Not not hazardous materials. Asking for a friend, but people that's the thing people don't know like if you're like on Etsy, you know, selling custom nail polish, you don't think of yourself as a person who ships hazardous materials, right? You think of yourself as a small business. And so, uh, you know, trying to to do that without, you know, overregulating everybody to where nobody could do anything. Jason, quick, do you know what Etsy is? Uh, she she's Sean's cat. Thank you so much. All right. Sean's cat. Come here. Um, so Sean, did you get enough of an answer there for a friend about how to properly mule something? Yeah.

34:01 What to look for, how they can, right? No, I always thought that because you know, like gummies are legal, but you can't mail them. Here we go. Right. You know what else I learned a lot about? Fish. Fish. I w up having to learn more than I thought I would about fish. Why? Why? Because um a lot of fish, you know, famously swim upstream and um if a road is built through a stream or a river and you don't put the right kind of culvert, so the water can go under it, it blocks the fish passage. And it turns out a lot of roads were built in the 60s and 70s.

34:35 Uh the culverts either weren't built the right way or they've failed over the years and it was screwing up uh fisheries, especially in the Pacific Northwest, but this is happening all over the country. And so we we started working on fixing it uh with with some of the funds in the infrastructure package. Huge deal for the Pacific Northwest, especially for tribal communities, but also just just in general. So I wound up having, you know, I was um in PowerPoint briefings on the difference between uh anadramous fish, which swim upstream, and uh I think catadimas, I think, is the word for the ones that fish go downstream. And um and it's not just salmon. I mean, there's there's a lot of fish related things that turn out to be at stake. which but Pete, you know, the the like like you look at I've never been to Japan, but everybody I know that's been to Japan is like every street is flawless,

35:19 everything is clean, every like road and and it's Sean, you would love Japan for real. I I I I know I really want to go, but you go, God, there's like you just said the budget like how is it and I can only speak to Los Angeles. Every road I drive on has massive potholes all the time. Like what's going on? Yeah. So some of it is you you you get what you pay for and that's a country that just really invests in its in its uh transportation. But they also have a culture uh of taking care of things that I think we could we could learn from. I went there because they hosted the G7 all the transport ministers from the G G7 countries get together and it was their turn to host and um we had this this this great meeting and uh but yes kind of saw that up close. Got to ride the bullet train and and be on the fronts in the bullet train which is an incredible experience. Uh, and uh, but there's a culture like it's um, uh, like

36:11 you don't eat while you're walking in Japan. Um, a couple of us made this mistake uh, and and learned very quickly you're not supposed to do that. Uh, like you don't just walk down the street with an ice cream cone or because which is um, it's just you're supposed to stop and eat at a table and then they give you uh, if you get something to go, they give you a little bag uh, to put your trash in that you take with you. Um, wow. It's incredible. You're supposed to look after your own trash. So there's just this like culture of cleanliness and taking care of things that well we've first of all I I think that it might go beyond I don't want to go too deep on this but as a Canadian it goes beyond a little bit just a culture of of cleanliness and it is a culture there is a thing that is lacking this idea that we have to lift each other up and be responsible to the greater good. I um I once said to my dad and I don't know if

36:58 I've shared this on the on the show before. I said why didn't you move to the states when I was younger. I said he was a lawyer for many years and he went into business. I said, "You could have made way more money." He said, "Because I have an obligation to the system that brought me up and he came from nothing." And that I don't think that that exists uh as much in this country. There's much more of a [ __ ] you, I'm getting mine. Um which fine, you know, it is the land of opportunity, but but there is to answer Sean your question, I think that there is a little bit of that that kind of bleeds into everything. And you look at you've seen those videos be I'm sure of uh when they decide to rebuild a bridge a small bridge in the Netherlands um on a highway and they do it in 48 hours because they don't want to disrupt the whole system. Really? So everybody they they prep prep, they shut it down and

37:47 they quite literally build the bridge in 48 hours. That's all hands on deck. No, that's it's it's incredible. We we worked on ways to to uh emulate that. But I think I I half agree with you, but I think there's a deeply American tradition around that too. It it's always kind of in a bit of a push pull with the the uh you know the individualistic tradition, but you know a lot of the great infrastructure we count on the the aviation system, the the the highways um you know are built on that spirit and and so is the idea of preparing. You know, it was Lincoln who said uh give me six hours to chop down a tree and I will spend the first four sharpening my axe. And I think about that a lot because if we apply that to infrastructure, we'd be better off. Hey, I got to ask, speaking of speaking of fathers, um uh there's something I've always wanted Jason to ask you about, which is that a shot at Sean. Um no, I I

38:39 once read that you are a um uh maybe the most prominent Maltese American uh figure in Hollywood. And I wanted to know that's the country my dad immigrated from. I'm just kidding. Have you ever been there? Like do you have a connection to Maltese culture? I went there when I was a little kid. Um, yeah, my actually my it's my mother's mother that was uh that was from Malta and that's where she met her husband, my grandfather, because he was in the uh British Air Force. Ah, classic uh Yeah. Classic thing that happened a lot in that in that generation. Yeah. Yeah.

39:09 Yeah. Yeah. It's it's a what an what an interesting uh little island out there. Incredibly strategic and and rich in history and and a great filming location, right? The Great Popeye was shot there. Yeah. Yeah. In fact, I was there. I was with a friend and we we stumbled onto the set of World War Z because uh you know it's it's tiny Mediterranean country which means it can be made to look like lots of places especially lots of places in the Middle East or North Africa. I think they used it for gladiator. Um but um they just changed the signs and they could make like I think a lot of the scenes in Munich whether it was in Lebanon or Greece or uh or Israel Palestine like a lot of that was shot in Malta. But yeah, World War Z was going on. I didn't know what that was, but I was I I was walking with a friend and and we just suddenly like the signs uh on the like businesses switched to Hebrew and there was this

39:59 overturned tank and we had maybe like wandered past the stansion and didn't notice cuz cuz they were taking a break and then this this bus pulled up and a bunch of zombies got out and uh and it's really unnerving. You looked at your drink. You know what was really unnerving was not to see zombies but to see zombies acting not like zombies, right? extras. I think they were malties extras. They were waiting for, you know, talking. Yeah. There's like a zombie smoking a cigarette. There's like a zombie like checking his phone. There's a zombie with a bottle of water. It that was almost more unsettling than seeing a bunch of Then you saw Brad Pit walk by and you just passed out completely.

40:36 Yeah. Yeah. He sadly was not uh was not present. Um, have you been there recently? Uh it's been a few years, but uh but I'm hoping soon to be able to take uh our kids there because I want to introduce them to I want them to know like the one place in the world where their last name is a common name. I want them to like you know meet their cousins and is that true? Is that is that is that quite a that's like Smith over there. I mean you there was a statue to uh Anton Buddhajed who was the president of Malta and a great poet and like we're not even related. Um they were they were like I think like he was like neighbors with my great-grandparents or something like that. I mean, but it's an incredible It's a fascinating place.

41:13 It's just beautiful. And how old are your kids, by the way, now? Uh, they're three. They're turning four this summer. That's great. That's so cool. Boy and a girl, twins. Fun age. That's great. And we will be right back. And now back to the show. Hey, I want to get back to infrastructure for one second. You guys, you guys got that huge bill passed and um and got a lot of great stuff started. I'm assuming a lot of that stuff is still happening and and and marching forward and and if the answer to that is yes, uh are there are is there anything you can talk about that maybe we might not know about that you're super excited about that is that is that is still you know a couple of years away from being completed because a lot of these things are obviously long long-term builds but like you know you said like bullet train in in Tokyo like like stuff like that is that what what's coming down what's

42:06 coming down yeah there's a bunch so we funded about 70,000 projects. Roughly 20,000 of them are done, but but yeah, most of them, you know, by their very nature, they take years and years to do. Uh matter of fact, I drive past one almost every day here in Michigan that uh uh that I remember signing off on that's that's now uh actually now everybody's grumbling about it because it's, you know, uh it's in construction and blocking traffic, but eventually it's going to be great. Um redesigning the road there to make it safer. But, uh yeah, there's uh you know, there is a highspeed there a few highspeed rail things going on. One I'm excited about is a highspeed rail connection from Las Vegas to Southern California. And it was a public private partnership. We funded it with with federal dollars, but there's also a private company bringing a lot of the dollars to the table and partnering with the state of Nevada to

42:49 get it done. Um that if they hit their marks, it'll be going before the end of this decade. And uh just just zip down a lot of it as actually straight down the median of I-15. That's how they solved the puzzle of getting the Yeah. Because one of the hardest things when you're building a railroad is to put together the the right of way, right? To get the land lined up course. And so there was a big portion where they were able to take advantage of the right of way that's already there on the interstate. So that's one that I'm excited about. How long would that take, do you think, to get from Vegas to to LA? Uh I know it's dramatically quicker than driving. I think uh I got to look it up, but uh definitely under the because it's hours and hours. Um I like the idea of the train of like the one like going to Vegas. That train is filled with happy, excited people and coming back it's all somber and hung over. I'd rather walk

43:34 home. Everybody's broke up, you know. Totally. No, it what excites me is the idea that like instead of going to Japan and coming back and talking about how amazing it would be uh you know to to have something like that like we'd see that somewhere in the US cuz I think if people experience that like somewhere in the US then then people are going to want it everywhere. And it's you know it's it's Yeah, I'm looking it up now. It's two two hours and 10 minutes is what they're shooting for. Gotcha. Wow. That's pretty cool. What did you push forward uh stuff that we can expect to see a bunch of cars driving around without drivers behind it or trucks without drivers? Is that stuff coming as well? So, yeah, we worked on that. You know, we we don't the industry is is creating that. That's the private sector, but but uh but our job was to kind of work on the policies to make sure it was safe and to try to uh

44:17 support some of the pilot programs that were going on. I I actually really believe in the potential of this technology. I know it's spooky uh for people. You see a car, there's nobody behind the wheel. It's definitely, but as you mentioned earlier about, you know, distracted drivers and stuff, that takes the main cause of of of danger out of it. Exactly. No, it's it's definitely possible to envision a future where people are shocked that that that we drove our own cars, right? But but but I I have to say though because I just actually I was just talking to you Jay and Will at the Yeah. I was talking about Whimo, which is a self-driving car. And I've dri I've been in one before, but I'm like, of course, I'm a catastrophic thinker, so I think of all the bad parts and all the bad things that could happen. So, I'm like, well, this is a terrorist dream to have. I mean, there's so many scenarios I could

45:02 come up with. I could tell you right now about how to use self-driving cars in a horrible way. Well, just one. Give us one. Well, maybe you'd be late for a daytime massage. Start there. Imagine that. It wouldn't have it wouldn't it didn't need to know to put the key in the cup holder. You know what I mean? No. How many billion Pete How many billions did you guys put towards Yeah. Know that's the kill switch. You take you take the key out of the cup holder and then you don't have a problem. Yeah. Yeah. No. But my but my thing is Sean, as I said too is like I'm worried about cars showing up at restaurants with people who have reservations and it shows up at valet as just like a dead person in the back. You know what I mean? Like they had a heart attack on their way to Yeah. Or or that. Yeah. Or that. Well, I will admit I I never thought of that when we were talking about a million times and all of

45:49 a sudden. So, uh well, Pete, you've got you've got such a um you know, you you seem to ve treasure like we all do our our our private life and I would assume that your your your incredibly um you know accomplished career in public life uh has has made that difficult to maintain. Was that was that a part as we all try to battle with it? Is that a part that you are comfortable um maintaining? Do you do you guys uh do you find the ability to to be private or you are you guys because I you must get stopped all the time on the street and and is that tough for the kids and Yeah, I definitely think about it different like it's one thing to like you know take a selfie with somebody at the airport or at a restaurant when I'm just doing my thing. It's another if if I feel like somebody might be like taking pictures of our kits or, you know, we're, you know, just pretending to be reading an email. Yeah. I mean, I'm sure

46:44 you've had this experience where like people go through all kinds of links to look like they're not taking a picture when they're taking a picture. I'm usually pretty oblivious to this. Chaston Chaston detects it and then usually takes a picture back at them or or teases them about it. But it's like, you know, just says like I do real loud, "Did you get it? Ask for a picture. It's fine." But yeah, you obviously you think about those things differently with your kids. But I'll say like the community we're in in Michigan is is really great, really warm, welcoming, supportive. Um, and they know you're there. So, yeah.

47:12 And generally when when we're out and about, I mean, people people understand that that we have a family. But yeah, you you think about this differently. You know, they're three, so they're not old enough to really notice or uh or care um about, you know, stuff that goes with being high-profile right now. But it it uh yeah, it definitely changes the stakes, I think, for anyone who's in public life who's thinking about what to do next. Go ahead, John. I was just say, have you ever heard of a place uh called Galen, Michigan? Yeah, it's a really small farm from South End, I think.

47:41 Okay. So, you got a time share you want to offer? No. Raina, my one of my best lives there, Raina lives, she has a restaurant there called Ray and Al's, and it's one of the greatest restaurants. So, you check it out. Good to know. All right. Thank you. Caller, thank you. Good plug for Raina. For Ray and Well, no. I didn't know if you want to Galen. Galen. Galen. If you're in Galen, Michigan, go Ray and L's and say Raina and say hi. Say you Sean sent you 10% off your appetizers. Exactly. Exactly. So, listen, you don't have to answer this, but I would love if you ran for president. And then second, um, is there something because Jason kind of asked what your Well, what are you worried about the most in the future, in the near future, and what are you most hopeful about? Well, uh, obviously like politically, I think my my worries about the political scene here are, I imagine, pretty obvious. I'm concerned about, uh,

48:36 the the things that are happening to freedom in this country. Um, and and I've I've been very outspoken about that. I'm uh I'm also very concerned about what could happen with AI. Um, and I don't just mean like the extinction scenarios and all the crazy stuff. I'm talking about something a little closer to home and I think quicker than people realize which is how many uh jobs are at risk. Stuff that we thought would happen in like a hundred years and it could happen by the end of this decade and just really really profoundly changing everything. Pete Pete, we were having a discussion about this the other day because we were talking about the idea of bringing manufacturing back to the US which we all could agree would be fantastic, right? If we could if we could create more jobs, jobs that were lost over decades and decades. Um and uh a lot by and and by the way, a lot of those jobs were farmed out and sent over

49:24 there by the very same people who were saying, "Hey, what the hell?" Um how did we do this? Well, we didn't do it. You guys did it because it was saving you a lot of money. However, we we can all agree it would be fantastic to bring more jobs. There's no argument there. But one of the things we were talking about the other night is this idea that now and you brought it up AI when you combine that with you know advancement in robotics we have the potential to really decimate uh the workforce here in this country uh on a on a pretty massive scale and as you pointed out quite quickly. Yeah. And not just manufacturing workers or warehouse workers. We're talking about doctors, lawyers, investors. Like it's you know Yes. All of it. I mean Hollywood was ground zero for some of this right with the with the the writer strike. And that shows just how big a range of uh of people are impacted. So, but that

50:11 brings me to maybe the hope side, which is I think if we get it right, there's also enormous potential here. But but like our politics has to be lined up the right way and we have to line up our economy the right way. And what I mean by that, I take the example of the self-driving cars, right? There's all kinds of nightmare scenarios. There's also a chance to eliminate one of the leading causes of death in this country, which is the kind of murderous track record of of of human drivers. We lose 40,000 people a year. And more generally like the same uh AI systems that could cause huge disruption could also help us cure cancer and solve climate change and all all these other things. I think the biggest question is do we have a political system that makes sure that the enormous wealth that's being created by this technology flows through to the people or does it get concentrated? Oh, for sure we do. Pete, I'm not worried

50:58 about that at all. Okay. Well, I'm glad you're not worried. No, no, no, no. I'm I'm really excited about Are you guys excited about the new robotic AI version of Will and Grace? How good would that be? Hey everybody, it's just Jack. It's me. It's just I already We already saw it. Um but but Pete, when you say flowing back through the people, does that would that be in the shape of perhaps training the workforce that would be without a job to to better transition into into a job that is available maybe through the advancements? Uh I just mean money actually um like like a dividend. Um because uh the the you know remember the taxpayer created a lot of this value like the internet was literally a federal research project in the 60s funded by the American taxpayer. So to me it's only fair that uh Americans see more of the income generated by it. But also the thing with training is this isn't just about getting people their

51:54 income back. I've seen this where I come from in the industrial Midwest. Somebody's been working in a machine shop for for 18 years and then uh that machine shop is is closing down. And they come along and say, "Well, do this retraining program, same education, you get the same income, you just got to be a nurse's aid." And that's a perfectly like worthy job. But this guy does not that job wasn't just his his income. That was his identity. And if you're not speaking to that, then we're going to have all kinds of social upheaval as we already are. Uh but it's going to get worse. So then what would be the answer then? you know, getting back to your your point about maybe training for transitioning into into another uh available occupation. If that occupation is not aligned with somebody's passion or dreams or identity, what would the answer then be to how to use the the um the newfound funds? Well, I I think and

52:42 again, I think some of the funds should just direct we should have a tax structure where those funds are directly flowing to people more. But but in terms of what we do, I think we we as a society don't know what to do with ourselves sometimes if we're not uh if we're not putting it all into our jobs. And I'm I'm somebody, you know, I'm guilty of that. Like I'm I have meaningful work and I've I've thrown myself into my jobs. Uh and and that can be a very good thing. But there's so many other sources of meaning that can be connected to service. They can be connected to a lot of things that used to be considered maybe more conservative coded. I think I think my party should pay more attention to them like like family and faith uh that that can bring meaning to a lot of people. Um local involvement like shaping your community like things where human uniquely human skills are absolutely needed that we

53:30 could show more regard for like as an economy and a society we don't show a lot of regard for uh the work that goes into parenting. We definitely don't you know compensate that kind of work uh properly. Um same thing with service. I mean right now they're cutting Americanore uh as we record this. They're cutting all kinds of service things that that actually in a world where AI generates more of the value and productivity like we could, you know, a lot of people could have uh a a uh a shorter work week, more money in their pockets and a chance to do things in their community that would absolutely be a source of pride and meaning and I want to live in that kind of that kind of society. Well, Pete, Pete, I I made that and I was quite flippant about it when I made the comparison to Canada and the US in terms of uh a sense of social consciousness, but and because I do agree with you. I do agree that there is

54:17 a long history of it in this country and that there is still a vein of that. Uh I think that we've been maybe potentially distracted is the word that I'll use. Uh and and maybe in certain areas gotten off the path and focused more on our differences and also focused more on ourselves. But I think you're right. I think that if potentially we can all start and and I I mean all of us, I mean me too. If we can all start thinking about somebody, we're so hung up on our own condition. Mhm. And if we could start thinking about other people, it's a really simple concept that if you think about somebody else and you think about helping somebody else, you actually your own situation improves immed Well, it does your own situation does improve because it changes your vibration to sound too woo. I totally agree with all that. Absolutely true.

55:01 and and being of service is super super important. And if everybody did it a little bit, the shift would be absolutely I know, but how do you get people to do it? I don't know. Put a little incentive there. Um, yeah. I mean, it's really, if you boil it down, if you're feeling bad just on a dayto-day, if if you're if you wake up today, if I feel bad today, if I go out and do something for somebody else, I will immediately alleviate that and raise my own uh uh um vibration. Again, it sounds very woowoo. I'm not Well, is this something that you're tracking on your aura ring on the app itself?

55:39 Jason, this concept is tough for him. doing something for somebody else. How would it Let me look at slower pictures. Pictures. Pictures are better. Pictures are better. Um Pete, before we let you go, I would love to hear from you. Who if you could travel back in time, who would you love to sit down, have a coffee with to get to get some tips from on how to address this this I would I guess I shouldn't say uniquely challenging situation we find ourselves in because we seem to cycle through moments like this. But who do you who'd you love to talk to right now to do Well, I can definitely imagine and I know it's maybe a little obvious to the point of cliche, but I I can picture like if I get to have a coffee with Abraham Lincoln and I'm saying like, "Look, our country is divided. It's pol he says, "Oh, you think you think your your country is divided?" Wow. Okay. You know, I mean, he was in charge when half

56:29 of the country broke off and declared war against the other half, mainly for the purpose of being able to continue enslaving people, right? So for a little perspective around our problems, I think he would be a really good person to talk to and also somebody who was unflapable in so many ways and and like for somebody who has the ambition to become a president and a wartime president. Um surprisingly low ego. There's a famous anecdote where one of his generals was getting out of hand and and his adviser said, "You got to cut this guy down to size." And he said, "I would I would hold his horse if he could win uh this this battle for me." and just attributes that I would like to see a little more of. So, I know I know it's a little obvious, but um I can't think of like in the political space, I can't think of somebody you'd more want to consult than Lincoln. No, it's good to answer. And I

57:16 asked I had asked Sean about a week ago that same question. You get you know he said he'd like to sit down. Chef Boyardd. What? Yeah. Really? Just as you just said a nice meal. It's just hard. How did that number two? The colonel. Yeah. Number two, the colonel. Yeah, absolutely. How do you make it? And then Ronald McDonald. So, listen. Uh Pete, thank you so so much for coming on and Yes. Don't ever stop talking and going on these shows. I mean, it's just it's you're just amazing and thank you for all that you do. Hey, thanks for having me. I really enjoyed it. Yeah.

57:53 Yeah. All right. Looking forward to seeing more of you uh in the very near future. If you know, I'll be around. I'll be there. Thank you. Okay. Good. I'll be around. Good. See you later. Thank you very much. Thank you so much. Love to you and Chaston and the kids, too. Thanks so much. Okay. Bye. Bye. Take care. There you I felt weird calling him Pete. Um I know it. Did you start calling? It kind of it came out by accident and I felt like that was maybe disrespectful, but I know. Was it? I don't think he would have minded. I I I have had a dinner with him a couple times.

58:27 Secretary Buddhaj Judge. Is that what we should have said? Mr. Secretary. Mr. Secretary. Well, but he's not that anymore. He's No, but I think you get to carry that for you. Okay. I don't know. As a coach, Sean, will you write him something nice and apologize for us, you know, and just say that you had started it and you feel bad that the other Could you mail it with some hazardous materials just to test his theory out? Just to test his theory. By the way, I didn't want to say anything, but I put my hand in my pocket during that interview and I still have two peanut M&M's in it. Oh my. What? From last night's rave. No, tonight. This morning I put them in there. Oh god. Because you Hang on, hang on, hang on, hang on. It's It's 10:30 in the morning. You put two peanut M&M's in before 9:30. Yeah. Well, just in case you're thinking, "Well, maybe I can earn these at some point today." Yeah. No, I had a bunch of them

59:16 and I ate them all, but I thought I ate them all and there's two left in there. What time did you have your first M&M today? 9 9 left. What's the matter with you? Did that come out of the candy bowl there in the living room? Yes. You know it very well. You know, you won't eat them if you don't have a candy bowl. Uhhuh. Wait, can you write that down? Yeah. How often do you go to the dentist? I just went yesterday. And everything's great. I It's not like I don't brush. I don't I don't eat candy and then close my mouth. Do you floss?

59:44 Yeah, every day. Truly, I do every single day. Why would And that's morning or night? I do morning. And if I ate something like a steak or something that gets between your teeth, I do like I'll do another floss. I'll do a second floss. And you do the little swords or do you do the the old No, I can't do the swords because they make your gums bleed because you put them down so hard. You know what I mean? Well, why don't you be nicer to yourself and you won't bleed, you know? Go. But you don't have a choice cuz you got to get They're not as good. They're not as good as a as actual floss either. I They're good in a paint.

1:00:13 You can control the floss, you know. Yeah. But they're a cheat and they're not as good and it makes you a lesser person. Weren't we just talking about the Secretary of Transportation, Pete Buddha Judge? And now And now I brought us into floss. I apologize. How great is he? You you by the way you both asked all the questions I would have wanted to ask and um I did I didn't he didn't answer the thing about the president. I mean do you think he'll run? Well we I I didn't ask him. You said I know we didn't want to ambush him with that too early. That's right. I just kind of glazed over it. But I I wonder You didn't ask him for any theater stories.

1:00:46 I I didn't I didn't ask him for anything. You know what I liked about him? He's he's a he's he he speaks very soberly. And I do like the idea I like the idea that he goes on and and he goes on to other shows. He goes on to shows across the political spectrum. And I think that's really important because as you both know, we we all have we have a lot of people in our lives, friends and family who live across that same political spectrum, right? And we all find ways to meet in the middle and talk about stuff and we all want the best for each other. And I like the idea that he goes and he does that very same thing. I don't feel as divided as a lot of people do from the people on other ends of the spectrum. I think it's important that we all continue to talk cuz we're all in this together. That's right. Yes. I agree. Amen. 100%. And he checks a lot of boxes that you'd think would would please both sides. Yeah. I agree. And

1:01:32 there are a lot of things that that make sense that that a lot of people say, you know, and and there are some sometimes the message is harder for people to digest and I get or not the message, the delivery and the approach. But, you know, we do have a lot of stuff that's that's common ground. And JB, I know you're looking for He has a nice way about him. He does have a really nice way. Nice way about him. A very nice speaking voice on him. Yeah, he does. And I meant when he says he takes the contention out of it, right? He's like, I'm not here to argue. I'm just here to talk. And you know, let's all feel like we're getting Sean's thinking of a one of you doing a massive Google search right now. I mean, this is you know, I think a lot I think up a lot of them in between like during the week and then I forget them. That's a good story. You should you know a bison I heard you know would be a good one to work in. We did

1:02:23 that a million times. Yeah. It's such a stupid thing that we're doing. What you've been saying it's stupid since day one. But every single time we get to it. It's it's insane to me and it's now it's just ironic, you know, that we're that we're doing like it's so dumb that we're that that we just decided well so dumb. Let's just still do it, you know. And should we not So you want to do it? By the way, we don't have to think of a word. We could just say goodbye. Yeah. How would how would you how would you wrap this thing up without I have one that would work for you make your situation Listen, we're in a situation that you don't like and you feel you you you don't like that we're in this situation and Jason I'm going to put golf terms I'm going to put in golf terms want to change it. So sometimes you hit you hit a good drive and you go down the middle of the thing, but you know it's a little bit and you know what

1:03:09 you can always do? You can always improve your life. No, not cutting it. Okay, that I was going to say I was going to say, wait, it's right there. It's right there. He's Pete Buddha Judge. He was in He was in office. He was He reached across the aisle. He He was very He was very very bipartisan. Bye. See you next week. Smart less. Smart less. Smartless is 100% organic and artisally handcrafted by Michael Grant, Terry, Rob Armcharve, and Bennett Barbco. Smart less.

Questions about this episode

Who speaks in "Pete Buttigieg | SmartLess"?

Pete Buttigieg (Guest).

What is discussed in "Pete Buttigieg | SmartLess"?

In order: 0:00 LA, Massage, Pete Buttigieg, Afghanistan; 10:00 Afghanistan, World War II, Air Force, America; 20:00 America, Washington, D.C., Chicago, Afghanistan; 30:00 Pete Buttigieg, America, World War Z, World War Z; 40:00 Michigan, Positive Sean, Artificial Intelligence, California; 50:00 America, Abraham Lincoln, Abe Lincoln, Americanore; 1:00:00 Pete Buttigieg, Michael Grant Terry, SmartLess, SmartLess.

What is mentioned in this SmartLess episode?

125 people, works and ideas are mentioned, including Pete Buttigieg, Positive Sean, Artificial Intelligence, Afghanistan, South Bend, America. Each one on this page links to its own page with every episode that mentions it.

How long is "Pete Buttigieg | SmartLess"?

The episode runs 1 h 4 min; the transcript is about 13,813 words in 86 timestamped sections.

More from SmartLess

• All analyzed episodes
• Books mentioned on SmartLess
• People mentioned on SmartLess
• Sponsors mentioned on SmartLess
• Topics mentioned on SmartLess