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Today, Explained

Nancy Pelosi explains her optimism

Today, Explained

Vox

Politics, Daily News, News

4.310.3K Ratings

🗓️ 21 March 2026

⏱️ 29 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Nancy Pelosi, the longtime speaker of the House, plans to retire later this year at age 86 after trailblazing a path for women in Democratic politics. This episode was produced by Jesse Ash, edited by Miranda Kennedy, fact-checked by Andrea Lopez-Cruzado, engineered by Shannon Mahoney and hosted by Astead Herndon. Rep. Nancy Pelosi marking the five year anniversary of the Jan. 6th attacks at the US Capitol. Photo by Al Drago/Bloomberg via Getty Images. You can also watch this episode on video at youtube.com/vox. Listen to Today, Explained ad-free by becoming a Vox Member: vox.com/members. New Vox members get $20 off their membership right now. Transcript at ⁠vox.com/today-explained-podcast.⁠ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Transcript

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0:30.2

So question, who's the most consequential American elected official over the last, say, 25 years?

0:36.8

Donald Trump is the obvious answer.

0:38.8

But you could say Barack Obama, Mitch McConnell, but I'd argue Nancy Pelosi, the former House

0:45.0

Speaker and Congressional Leader of Democrats who shepherded countless legislation over the Obama

0:50.3

years and some during the Trump years. She's about to turn 86 next week, and her fingerprints are all over the most consequential

0:58.1

legislation that have passed through Congress over the last couple decades.

1:02.2

Now, Pelosi is set to retire after this midterm elections, but before that, I had the chance

1:07.1

to talk with her at this year South by Southwest Conference. And I wanted to put in

1:10.9

front of her all the questions that I had. What made her stick around Congress after she almost

1:16.0

was going to retire in 2016? How would she define her legacy? And of course, considering the political

1:22.3

violence that she's been around, from January 6 to what happened in her own family, how does she retain

1:28.3

faith in an electorate that seems to consistently be letting her down? I asked her that and more

1:33.8

in front of a packed house in Texas. Let's dig it.

1:37.0

We are so grateful that Speaker Pelosi has come to South by Southwest to talk with us at Today Explain.

1:52.8

Now, I'm so excited for this conversation, not just because of the long legacy that you have in Congress in San Francisco, but also to really get a sense of how you view that legacy yourself, you won your first seat at 47.

2:04.6

You kind of mentioned this towards the end, but I know there's a lot of people here at South by that, you know, are in their 20s and 30s are looking to make, are eager to make an impact.

...

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