That is what all the stories, the right wing stories are about. It's an invasion on our borders. It's an invasion on our lifestyle

It's an invasion on our religion and the invasion is in our sense of reality

And that's why the lies don't matter. That's why they're okay with George Santos and Donald Trump and all the rest of them that lie through their teeth.

Hello and welcome to the Politics Girl podcast. I'm your host, Lee McGowan. Let's get into it.

Today's pod is a candid conversation with Oscar-nominated filmmaker Matthew Cook. And you might think, well, what does an Oscar-nominated filmmaker have to do with politics babe? And I'd say, well, you don't know what kind of films he makes.

Along with producing and editing deliver us from evil, the award-winning expose on the sex abuse crisis in the Catholic Church.

He directed How to Make Money Selling Drugs with Eminem Susan Sarandon and the Survivors Guide to Prison, which are both advocacy pieces on reforming our criminal justice system.

Matthew created some of the most watched videos of the Bernie Sanders 2016 campaign, including Bernie's Biopic with Mark Ruffalo.

And he's been a formative part of the political social media culture since he released How to Survive a Crazy Cop and Race Spading 101.

Both videos that went viral reaching over 35 million views. You probably know him best from his wake-up call to Republicans, or his other short pieces that now have hundreds of millions of views advocating for human rights, shared values,

and a better understanding of the world around us.

Matthew's films have been featured in festivals like Sundance, Tribeca, and Toronto. But I'm having him on today to talk about his new project, a podcast called American Origin Stories,

that covers the narratives that shape our collective reality of our country.

So many of us don't even know our true history. And with education and critical thought under increasingly hostile attack, these lessons into our past, our real past, couldn't come at a better time.

And his podcast, just like the country itself, is at once fascinating and heartbreaking and inspiring.

Plus, Matthew just knows how to tell a good story. He's the teacher we all wish we had.

So without further ado, please welcome my guest, documentary filmmaker, writer, and social media superstar storyteller, Matthew Cook. Welcome, Matthew.

Thank you. It's so nice to be here.

Thank you for joining me. I know we've never met, but I feel like we have a real kinship, right? I mean, along with your obvious passion for political commentary, and you're sort of drive to connect with people and inform people about their country, which is obviously something we both do.

You also got self-proclaimed cabin fever during the pandemic, and you created a project with your wife.

And I also went a bit stir crazy during the pandemic, and I started this project with my husband.

So despite his real job, he's still stuck with me doing this. So we're either sadist, or we really like our spouses.

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