00:00If she were having a conversation with Donald Trump,
00:02how would that conversation go?
00:04It would be so fun to just wipe the floor with him.
00:15We have a television post as president.
00:18I'm sorry.
00:19Oh, my God.
00:21Oh, God.
00:22I don't even know how to answer that.
00:24The Kardashians and the Squid Game had a baby
00:28and it was The Sopranos,
00:29and they're addressing him like he's on the West Wing.
00:32Like, it's complete crazy town.
00:36That was a very diplomatic answer.
00:37It's very apt.
00:38A terribly flawed woman is now the president,
00:41and only we know just how flawed.
00:43What's it like stepping back into this sort of political space,
00:46and how do you think shows like this have to adapt
00:49to reflect the current climate?
00:50You know, I think it's a fascinating question.
00:53I always make the dark joke,
00:55the power of storytelling,
00:56how, you know, West Wing just sort of fixed political discourse,
01:00which is obviously not true.
01:03And now we're living in this world
01:04where it seems, you know,
01:06like the Kardashians and the Squid Game had a baby
01:10and it was The Sopranos,
01:12and they're addressing him like he's on the West Wing.
01:14Like, it's complete crazy town.
01:18You know, it's scary to me.
01:20I'm sure it's scary for the rest of the world
01:22because it's a level of craziness that I don't think is sustainable.
01:28And, you know, we have a television host as president.
01:32I'm sorry.
01:33But underneath it, the stakes,
01:35it's not a stankin' television show.
01:39The stakes are high and the consequences are real.
01:42The president is about to do something that is apocalyptically dumb.
01:46Alison, you previously said that you loosely modeled Grace Penn on Hillary Clinton
01:50just because of how kind of seasoned and experienced she is.
01:53If she were having a conversation with Donald Trump,
01:56how would that conversation go?
01:57And how do you think she would navigate that?
01:59Oh, my God.
02:04Well, it would depend.
02:05I understand that he's a very different man privately than he is publicly.
02:12You know, to debate him, it would be so fun to just wipe the floor with him.
02:21The things that come out of his mouth,
02:23she's so much smarter and more capable than he is.
02:27I mean, I don't want to, God, this is hard to talk about
02:31because I don't want to talk about that man.
02:33When all the facts are on the table, I don't look so bad.
02:37Respectfully, you look very bad.
02:39Do you make sure to keep yourself up to date
02:41with the current kind of political climate and the news cycle,
02:43or is it an intentional decision to keep that separate from the work?
02:47I do think it has raised my interest in all things politics, for sure.
02:54In light of everything going on in our country, anyway,
02:59I am grateful and I feel proud that our show illustrates and shines a light
03:05on these public servants who run these institutions
03:09that are being shut down in our government.
03:12You know, and we get to tell some of their stories
03:14and they do really incredible things for people in our country
03:19and in really difficult situations.
03:22And any way we can show respect to them or glamorize them,
03:27tell their stories, I'm all here for it.
03:31That was a very diplomatic answer.
03:32It's very apt.
03:33Are we having fun?
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