Hi, I'm Anna Marie Cox. Welcome to with friends like these. If you're the kind of person

listening to this show, you've probably seen the documentary Boys State. It was well

reviewed and a lot of people I know talked a lot about it and it is up for an Oscar.

It's about a summer camp of sorts where male high school students have a mock election

for office from mayor up to governor and a lot of reviewers found Boys State uplifting.

Not because of what actually happens in the movie, but because it features a few kids

who you really root for. And the idea that they might stay involved in real politics gives

some people hope. One of those kids, one of those good kids, Stephen

Garza is our guest this week. He's now a student at the University of Texas and he joins

me to talk about the movie and all the publicity afterwards and which experience is a better

preparation for running for office. There is a girl's state if you are wondering. But

my talk with Stephen Garza of Boys State comes up in just a minute.

Stephen, welcome to the show. Hi, thanks for having me. I'm really happy to be here.

The movie's been out for a while, so it's an opportunity to talk a little bit about

what the reception of the movie was, which is really interesting to me. A lot of reviews

held that it was an encapsulation of our politics, right? That the movie sort of reflected the

way our politics as a whole is today. Do you think that's a good analysis? Do you think

that analogy works? I do. In some ways, it is kind of an encapsulation

of what politics is, what has become, how the current generation of young people view

what politics is and they don't see it as this kind of, what the thawing father is

imagine of, this civil debate, this gladiatorial bloodbath where you need to attack your opponent

and smear them and do this shock and all carol robe, Donald Trump kind of type of campaigning

...