Sometimes when we talk, we don't know what the fuck, so we have to call and ask,

so we have to call and ask a friend. I want to know the things you know

It'll make a better show

You're the one on whom we all depend

I Welcome to the second of our new periodic unfucking series PhoneA Friend, where we interview authoritative voices, authors, and policymakers.

And today, unfuckers know, is very special

because we are speaking with Lily Geismer, the author of Left Behind the Democrats' Failed

attempt to solve inequality. And as unfuckers know, this was one of the primary sources that we

used in our three-part series on the Clinton years, and it turned out to be an

indispensable resource for us. So Lily is an associate professor of history at Claremont

McKenna College, the prestigious college that's part of the Claremont system out in California.

She researches and teaches about recent political and urban history in the United States

with a focus on liberalism and the Democratic Party. She is also the author of

Don't Blame Us, Suburban Liberals and the Transformation of the Democratic Party. She's written for a few

tiny publications you might have heard of over the years like, I don't know, The New York Times,

Wapo, New Republic, Jacobin, among others. Lily is originally from Massachusetts, but sadly, she abandoned her

East Coast roots in favor of a Hollywood lifestyle. Lily Geismer, what is up? It is such an honor

to have you on the show. Oh, thank you so much. It's such an honor to be here, and I'm so

grateful for that very kind introduction. It sounds like my life is far more

glamorous than it is living in Hollywood, but I don't live at Hollywood. Well, I'll tell you,

you did the work, you did the hard work. This book was just an unbelievable resource, and our audience

knows that because the series and the feedback that we actually got from the series, in particular,

...