Hey, it's Manou Shire. We have got a little something extra for you in your podcast feed this week.

The runoff senate elections in the state of Georgia have been huge news,

and while she's not on the ballot this time, a driving force behind the scenes for Democrats

has been Stacey Abrams. She lost her run for governor a couple years ago,

but that did not slow down her efforts. In fact, she seemed more determined than ever to get out

the votes in her home state. And when I got the chance to interview Stacey a couple months ago,

I wanted to understand how she kept up that mental momentum as a politician and as an African-American

woman. We included parts of that conversation in our Ted Radio Hour episode at the time.

But you know what? Everything Stacey said was so interesting that we thought you'd want to hear

the whole conversation, especially in light of the headlines. Because I interview a lot of

inspiring people, but Stacey is one who's at the top of my list. Here is the entire conversation I

had with Stacey Abrams with just a few edits for pacing and clarity, and you might also occasionally

hear the pitter-patter of little feet above my makeshift home studio. Making it work people, enjoy.

Would you mind please introducing yourself, tell us your name and what you do.

My name is Stacey Abrams. I am the founder of Fair Fight Action, which works to protect the right

to vote. The founder of Fair Count, which works to protect the census, and the Southern Economic

Advancement Project I serve as the founder and the executive director, which works to build economic

power in the South. So Stacey, do you mind just briefly telling us a bit about your childhood,

your upbringing? You were pretty good at school. I was very good at school. I didn't do a lot

else. I'm the second of six kids, and I was introverted, or I am introverted. I wasn't shy, but

I didn't see the point of spending a lot of time running around other people. I spent more time

reading and playing with my siblings. I sort of had a built-in family-slash friendship pod,

...