Alyssa Mastromonaco on discovering your political values
UnStyled
Refinery29's UnStyled
4.8 • 527 Ratings
🗓️ 30 September 2019
⏱️ 41 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Alyssa Mastromonaco didn’t exactly seek out a career in politics but, after an unforgettable college internship in the office of Bernie Sanders, turns out she was made for it. Alyssa rose in the ranks to become a true inspirational Washington insider, serving as President Barack Obama’s Deputy Chief of Staff for Operations from 2011 to 2014. Though she's no longer in the White House, she's still our go-to expert on politics—and life. Alyssa joins us in the studio to talk about how best to find your own connection to politics, why The Bachelor has somehow become the barometer on progressive America, and to reminisce with our host about some of television’s most beloved and defining shows.
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Welcome to Unstyled. I'm your host, Christine Barberick, co-founder and global editor-in-chief of Refinery 29. |
| 0:08.6 | Each week, I invite a notable person to come in and talk with us as we explore the funny, inspiring, |
| 0:14.4 | sometimes heartbreaking tales of life, work, and love, as told through the things that we wear. |
| 0:33.1 | Eight years ago, Alyssa Mastromonica was described quite aptly as one of the most powerful, |
| 0:40.6 | least famous people in Washington. Back then, Alyssa was the deputy chief of staff, serving in the Obama White House, the youngest woman to ever hold that position, and the first to sit in her office, literally next to the |
| 0:45.3 | presidents. |
| 0:46.5 | There, she held such titanic responsibilities as overseeing the nomination of cabinet |
| 0:50.9 | secretaries, negotiating presidential visits with foreign governments, |
| 0:55.0 | and running the White House military office, among many other things. |
| 0:58.9 | Of course, she wasn't famous. |
| 1:00.5 | She was far too busy leading the team of the leader of the free world. |
| 1:04.0 | But a woman who shines as brightly as Alyssa can't stay behind the scenes for long. |
| 1:08.5 | Since leaving her role as the brilliant woman behind the brilliant man |
| 1:11.6 | in 2014, she has stepped resolutely into the spotlight. Her first book, who thought this was a good |
| 1:17.5 | idea, about her time in the White House, was a New York Times bestseller, and quickly optioned by |
| 1:22.5 | Mindy Kaling. This March, she published her second book, so here's the thing, a deep and personal dive into the highs and lows of 21st century womanhood, and the lessons she's learned and the hard decisions she's had to make. |
| 1:35.5 | Perhaps most famous is her choice to live child-free, something Alyssa has long been candid about. |
| 1:41.0 | It wasn't an easy decision, nor is it easy to speak publicly about it in a culture |
| 1:45.4 | that insists women strive for motherhood. But Alyssa knows herself. She is demonstrably complete as |
| 1:51.3 | is, and there is no question her life is already full to the brim. Today, she serves as senior |
| 1:56.6 | advisor to Nairal, Pro Choice America, co-hosts an all-woman-produced podcast, and is a contributing |
| 2:02.6 | editor at Marie Claire. As a woman of seemingly limitless talent and drive, it's hard not to wonder |
... |
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