Howard Dean: I Have a Scream with Gareth Reynolds | 12

The Big Flop

Wondery

Society & Culture, Comedy, Business

4.6 • 884 Ratings

🗓️ 13 November 2023

⏱️ 41 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Some dreams end with a whimper, others with an impulsive and unhinged shriek. Way back in 2004, Howard Dean, the straight-talkin' governor of Vermont was making an improbable run for President. He was riling up the youth on a new thing called the internet, whipping them intro a frenzy with his anti-war rhetoric and eating sandwiches on live streams. Just when it seemed like Dean might actually have a chance at the White House, it all came crashing down. Some call it, "The Scream Heard Round the World" or the "I Have a Scream Speech"-- whatever you call it, Howard Dean was never called "President". Comedian and podcast host Gareth Reynolds (The Dollop, We're Here to Help) joins Misha to relive Howard Dean's doomed candidacy, and the birth of the first political meme.

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Transcript

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0:00.0	Wondery Plus subscribers can listen to the Big Flop early and ad-free.
0:05.3	Join Wondery Plus in the Wondery app or on Apple Podcasts.
0:14.2	Trisha Enright is having a rough Tuesday night. She's the communications director for Howard Dean,
0:25.6	who's hoping to be the Democratic nominee for president. And Dean just placed third in the 2004 Iowa
0:34.2	caucus. Enright and her fellow staffers, who are called Deanie Babies by his critics,
0:41.2	only have eight days to prepare themselves for New Hampshire. Going into the caucus, their campaign
0:48.2	had been building momentum, so the third place finish is a little disappointing, but it's still amazing for a candidate
0:55.7	who had been considered a total long shot when he first announced his run. As she talks with
1:02.5	her fellow staffers, she notices that all the TVs along the walls of the bar are showing
1:08.2	Dean's rousing speech to his supporters after the loss.
1:12.6	Dean's face is slightly flushed as he works the audience, pointing and pumping his fists,
1:18.4	cheering into the microphone.
1:20.4	We will not quit now or ever.
1:22.7	We want our country back for ordinary Americans.
1:26.6	It was a rousing speech, one that left the room and the candidate feeling energized.
1:32.4	And at first, she thinks to herself, wow, okay, clearly he made an impression.
1:38.2	But then she notices something strange.
1:41.6	The TVs aren't showing the whole speech.
1:43.7	They're just showing one brief clip over and
1:47.8	over and over. She remembers this moment in an interview for a documentary by 538. And it was at that
1:56.4	moment that I think we realized that, oh my gosh, this is a problem.
2:04.1	That problem was a scream, the Dean scream, the scream heard around the world,
	...

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