James Talarico

So I hit the parent lottery, the jackpot.

I owe everything to both of them.

And so thanks for asking about him.

It's just true.

My mother's a remarkable person, and I already said I would not be here if it wasn't for her and her act of heroism and...

But I feel like my dad gave me so many gifts, taught me so much about responsibility.

Here, let me just tell you this.

Like I told you, my mom has a rebellious streak, and I told you I have the same one.

And when I was younger, that very much manifested, and you're not going to believe this, but I was like a...

a problem kid at school.

Like I acted out a lot.

I talked when I wasn't supposed to, I talked back when I wasn't supposed to, um, got in trouble with authority figures a lot, got in trouble a lot, was in detention and, um, you know, and all that stuff.

Uh, and I feel like it was my dad's leadership as, as my father, as, as, um, as the person to kind of, um,

reign some of that in, um, because every kid needs that.

Uh, and, um, and so I feel like that structure, um, that example is what allowed me to kind of harness some of those impulses and channel them in more productive ways.

Right.

Cause now I take that impulse of speaking truth to power and I do it on the house floor on behalf of my constituents, right.

Calling out big pharma, calling out, you know, a billionaire mega donors.

Like I'm able to do that because, um, I've channeled

that trait into something that's useful and productive for the world.