David Sedaris is Mostly Bark, Some Bite
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What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
Welcome to Pod Save America. I'm John Lovett.
What is David Sedaris's new book about?
I just wrapped a great conversation with the writer David Sedaris, who's out with a new collection of essays called The Land and Its People. We talked about his father's support for Trump, why no one cared when David was bit by a dog, what you can't talk about in a healthy relationship, Moby Dick, International McDonald's, the word queer punching down, why he avoids pride parades and what he fears most about getting old. And speaking of pride, over on the Love It or Leave It channel, this week we are doing a pride special with Marcin Delicato from Hacks, Drag Race winner Mikey Meeks, Otsko, Kotska, and the legend himself, Bruce Valanche, plus many more guests. Check out Love It or Leave It every Wednesday and Friday on YouTube or wherever you get your podcasts.
All right, now let's go to my conversation with David Sedaris. David Sedaris, so nice to meet you. So nice to have you here. Oh, thanks so much for having me.
How does David Sedaris view his father's support for Trump?
Ten years ago, after Trump won the first time, you wrote an essay for the Paris Review about arguing with your father over whether Trump is an asshole. And then the next day, your dad says to you, so are you still talking to me? And I thought that was interesting because he didn't say, I'm not talking to you. He said, are you still talking to me? And I often feel like with, especially inside of a family, when you're arguing about Trump, There's this understanding that whether it's admitted or not, you know he's a bad person and there's something a little bit wrong with voting for him. And people are looking for some kind of forgiveness or lack of judgment, even though they know they did something wrong.
And I'm wondering if you felt that when you were talking to your father, other people in your life that voted for Trump.
Well, with my dad, it started... Really, he was like a Republican, like just wanted to keep more of his own money. And then he voted for Jesse Helms, which was a thing, because Jesse Helms, we grew up in Raleigh, and he was on the... He did editorials on the news.
What unique experience did Sedaris have with a dog bite?
And even as a kid, you were like, wow, that guy's really severe, you know? And then he ran for office, and it really... So it really, when he voted for Jesse Helms, it just became a different thing. And then conservative radio came along and then he started listening to Rush Limbaugh and then Fox News came along. And so then he was just in it all the time. He was in it in his car and he was in it at home. And it was on all the time like a rage machine, you know. And then when he moved into an assisted living when he was like 95, and he didn't know how to work the TV. And for the first time, he wasn't up. He wasn't being agitated every minute. And toward the end of his life, he regretted. He told me he regretted voting for Trump, which was interesting to me.
But I have a friend in England who is a politician, and he and I pick up trash together, right? When I first moved to the countryside in England, my boyfriend Hugh wrote a letter to the council saying like, what's going on with all this trash on the side of the road? And they invited us to the clean and tidy advisory board, right? To a meeting. So we met this guy who's a local politician and he goes and picks up trash himself. And so I do it myself every day between four and six hours. And sometimes he comes with me, right?
What are Sedaris's thoughts on being labeled 'queer'?
And he was a Tory, but now he's reformed. Now he's Nigel Farage. And he said, you're not going to want to talk to me anymore. And I said, oh no, that's not the case at all. I would never stop talking to him over that. He answers any question I ask him. And I appreciate that. I'd like to know why he feels the way that he does. We've never raised our voices to each other. I think it's a great relationship.
What relationship advice does Sedaris offer?
And when my dad was like, you're right. Well, I think part of it too, I mean, my dad, North Carolina, gay marriage was illegal in North Carolina. And then they introduced like a resolution that would make it extra, extra, extra, extra illegal. And my dad was so happy to tell me he voted for that.
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Chapters
8 chapters
1
What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
0:20–0:22
2
What is David Sedaris's new book about?
0:22–1:10
3
How does David Sedaris view his father's support for Trump?
1:10–2:20
4
What unique experience did Sedaris have with a dog bite?
2:20–3:44
5
What are Sedaris's thoughts on being labeled 'queer'?
3:44–4:17
6
What relationship advice does Sedaris offer?
4:17–5:34
7
How does Sedaris reflect on aging and its challenges?
5:34–7:12
8
What does Sedaris learn from international McDonald's experiences?
7:12–1:07:37