Co-op Convo with Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer | Good Game | Refinery29 - video Dailymotion

Refinery29

Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer returns to Refinery29 Twitch for a special livestream with R29 Entertainment Director Melissah Yang as they play Stardew Valley while discussing how to build the world we want to live in. We cover everything from championing women’s rights to navigating the current political climate (and the actual environmental climate). Plus, expect some fun, light-hearted questions to get to know the governor. Don’t miss this unique blend of gaming and conversation!  ABOUT SERIES Good Game celebrates the women and femmes redefining what it means to be a gamer. From live-shopping to roundtable discussions and interviews, we're proving that gaming is for everyone. Catch our livestreams on Twitch every Tuesday and Thursday: https://www.twitch.tv/refinery29  ABOUT REFINERY29  Refinery29 is a modern woman's destination for how to live a stylish, well-rounded life. http://refinery29.com/  SUBSCRIBE TO REFINERY29 Subscribe to the Refinery29 channel: http://bit.ly/subscribe-to-r29 Follow Refinery29 on Twitch: https://www.twitch.tv/refinery29 Follow Refinery29 on Instagram: https://instagram.com/refinery29/ Follow Somos on Instagram: https://instagram.com/r29somos/ Follow Unbothered on Instagram: https://instagram.com/r29unbothered/

Transcript

00:00:04hello hello hello hi everyone in chat hi lisa hi carly hi kiwi song i'm a michigander and i'm so

00:00:13excited for this yes i am very i don't live in michigan i'm in california but that being said

00:00:18i'm still very very excited for this super special stream um if you can't tell by the stream title

00:00:24already we have an esteemed guest a governor the governor of michigan gretchen whitmer who is

00:00:31going to be joining us very very shortly but this is going to be super super special so make sure

00:00:36to

00:00:36stick around because we have a lot of conversations we'll be playing stardew valley yes big gretch is

00:00:41here it's gonna be incredible so what i'm gonna do now is bring in our very very very very special

00:00:48guest michigan governor gretchen whitmer hi hi i'm glad to be with you i'm nervous no it's okay

00:00:57i'm gonna be really honest i'm a little nervous too but we're gonna have so much fun um i just

00:01:03want to do a really quick intro but i feel like you don't need an introduction because who doesn't know

00:01:07who big gretch is um michigan governor gretchen whitmer is a lifelong michigander and a rising

00:01:12figure in u.s politics she first ran for state representative at the age of 29 and she later

00:01:17served in the michigan senate before running for governor in 2018. she's known for a strong michigan

00:01:23accent shark tattoo and love of fuchsia whitmer a huge sports fan originally wanted to be a sports

00:01:29broadcaster but quickly fell into the world of politics following in her parents footsteps she

00:01:34lives in lansing with her husband dr mark mallory and kevin and doug the first dogs of michigan and

00:01:39she's also the proud mother of two daughters and three step sons welcome back to your friday 29 twitch

00:01:45thanks melissa i'm glad to be with you um so last time you were here with us on twitch you

00:01:50mentioned

00:01:51that you aren't a gamer but so i'm really really truly honored and grateful that you are game for

00:01:56this special stream uh i know your team prepped you on stardew valley how are you feeling i'm feeling

00:02:03good i think this will be a lot of fun and um you know as i was prepping i told

00:02:08my older daughter

00:02:09i'm going to play stardew valley um on twitch with melissa from refinery 29 and she's like

00:02:15you need to call sydney right now my daughter sydney is like loves this game so much so i'm excited

00:02:21it'll

00:02:21be fun it's going to be great um so we're going to hop into a farm that i created which

00:02:27i named

00:02:27great lakes farm in honor of your state michigan and we're just going to tend to our crops and tidy

00:02:32up

00:02:33the farm as we have this conversation um chat if you have any questions for the governor feel free

00:02:39to drop them in chat and we'll try to get them in but we do have a very packed packed

00:02:43programming all

00:02:44right so let's hop out and see

00:03:00all right are you here governor whitmer i'm here

00:03:08all right i think you might start inside your cabin all right yep i need to get up don't i

00:03:14all right

00:03:15there you are i love your character hi should i just follow you out the door should i open this

00:03:22this package uh i think you should open it yeah oh nice you got some seeds

00:03:29all right so you can follow me outside the door all right

00:03:35i just want something there to give me some seeds yes you can actually plant them right here on this

00:03:41patch right here that's been um you've got it all ready for me don't you i prepped it for you

00:03:47thank you um since we're going to be tending to our crops i want to know oh my gosh you're

00:03:53offering me some parsnip seeds thank you yes i appreciate it um are you a gardener in real life

00:04:01um no

00:04:04although it is something i aspire to be to be honest um i think it's like

00:04:10i'd love to grow oh it's out of season i can't plant my parsnip seeds right now for you

00:04:16it's okay apparently we only plant it in spring parsnip seeds ah summer right now no i do aspire

00:04:22to it i'd love to be able to grow like food and eat it fresh right off the i don't

00:04:29know right out of

00:04:29the ground where you're growing kale or strawberries or tomatoes that'd be cool do you garden at all

00:04:36i do not i live in a condo building so there's not unfortunately a lot of outdoor space but my

00:04:41dream is to have a farm like this because i feel like that's just such so much peace and joy

00:04:46in life

00:04:47which i absolutely need um all right so what we're gonna do is we're gonna harvest some of these

00:04:55flowers and crops that i have set up we have some radishes some poppies spangles and some flowers

00:05:04flowers so if you come up you can click on these crops i think you just right there you go

00:05:11nice

00:05:13oh i've got it on my head i think you're holding it up yep

00:05:19i love it i love it you have tools right governor whitmer i do yes okay awesome so if you

00:05:25click on the

00:05:26tools like one or two it might be set on and it'll bring out you have an axe a pickaxe

00:05:35a scythe uh-huh

00:05:37okay and a hoe so you click on any of those numbers it'll bring that tool up for you okay

00:05:45yeah do you want me to what do you want you want me to water some stuff um i think

00:05:51you want to not

00:05:52hold that radish anymore you can click on any of those tools oh i see okay there we go um

00:05:59so wait

00:06:01i have to ask you what is the story behind the shark tattoo well you know when i was getting

00:06:08ready

00:06:08to run for governor the first time um there was a speech coach that came to town to work with

00:06:14me and

00:06:14i love i love to learn you know new tricks of the trade or whatever and how to be a

00:06:19more effective

00:06:20communicator i'm always interested in and the speech coach said in a debate no matter who's

00:06:26debating the happy warrior always wins the debate the person who looks like they're the most relaxed

00:06:32and having the most fun almost always wins the debate regardless of what people say and he kept

00:06:37telling me remember to be a happy warrior and his trick was when you go in put a big smiley

00:06:44face at

00:06:44the top of your paper to remind you to be happy and i don't know about you but telling me

00:06:48to be happy

00:06:49doesn't make me happy it actually sometimes has the opposite effect it's irritating and so i had

00:06:53gone to this comedy show and this guy who was opening for kevin hart told this hilarious story

00:06:58about um women's empowerment and how women today are much more empowered than you know decades ago

00:07:05where they were shy to talk about being you know having their period or whatever and he was saying

00:07:10back in the day a woman if she was having her period would say you know my aunt flo is

00:07:14in town and

00:07:15couldn't even bring herself to say the words and nowadays women are so much more empowered that if

00:07:20they're having their period they'll say it's shark week mother and so um that made me laugh so you

00:07:27you're laughing it it's hilarious it's and so the um that was my thing that kept me the happy warrior

00:07:35so i

00:07:35wrote swmf on the top of my papers and so every time i do something big i'm always like it's

00:07:40shark week

00:07:40mother and so to cultivate that i had a tattoo put on my shoulder of a shark to remind me

00:07:47it's always

00:07:47shark week you weren't expecting that whole story were you uh no but i love that story because i feel

00:07:56like every tattoo always has some sort of meaning and the fact that this is what reminds you when you

00:08:00have that when you look at that shark tattoo is incredible i love that i love that it keeps it's

00:08:06funny

00:08:06and that's what it's all about women's empowerment and i thought it was hilarious so yes yes all right

00:08:12let's finish grabbing these crops so yeah you can just come over and we're just gonna finish grabbing

00:08:17these poppies now oh wait i don't want to eat the poppy it asked me if i wanted to eat

00:08:23the poppy

00:08:24you don't have to i don't got plenty of energy when people eat poppies

00:08:30i guess in the world of stardew valley you can who knew all right who knew um i want to

00:08:38kick things

00:08:38off though so i would love for you an understanding what does being an american mean to you i think

00:08:47it

00:08:47means um recognizing that we have an important leadership role in the world i think it recognizing

00:08:55that every person in this country is deserving of respect and protection under the law i think

00:09:02it means um taking pride in a country that is so young but is such great leadership and globally

00:09:13but it also means you know speaking out and protesting when our government's not doing the right thing

00:09:21so um that's that's what i think it means to me well how would you answer that question it's a

00:09:27good

00:09:27question um i think being an american is being a leader not necessarily just on the world stage but

00:09:37also within your own community and how you present and talk with others how you welcome others how you

00:09:42treat others and you know my parents immigrated from south korea in the 80s and the number one reason why

00:09:49they wanted to come here wasn't just obviously for better opportunities but they really valued the

00:09:55idea of freedom personal freedoms and that was something that they still carry to them you know

00:10:00into their adulthoods now they're retired it's something that they cherish and they've instilled that

00:10:05in me so being able to have those personal freedoms is just so important yeah i love that that's it

00:10:11it's hard

00:10:12to define what being an american is but i think all of what you said is is real for for

00:10:19so many people

00:10:20for me that's part of how i would define it that's why i love that yeah um as governor of

00:10:26michigan what

00:10:27kind of america have you tried to build and and hope to continue doing well you know when i first

00:10:34ran for

00:10:35office it was about local issues i you know was thinking about my local community i was in the

00:10:40state house and i went to the state senate um i was you know taking care of my mom at

00:10:46the end of her

00:10:46life she died of brain cancer um at the same time i was pregnant and had my first daughter sherry

00:10:52and

00:10:53you know that kind of changed everything for me it didn't change my values but it eliminated my patience

00:11:00for people who want to play games or to promote themselves like we got important issues as a

00:11:06country to to deal with and so as i think about you know what i've always tried to fight for

00:11:11i think

00:11:12about my kids and everyone in their generation you know you all have the greatest stake in in the

00:11:19decisions that we make today um and and so making sure that michigan's a place where they're respected

00:11:26and protected under the law can make their own decisions have real opportunity um and i think

00:11:31that's you know michigan's a microcosm of the country and that's i think what we should all be

00:11:36you know continuing to fight for i love that i 100 agree all right it's already 1 40 a.m

00:11:43it's way

00:11:44past our bedtime right now so what we're going to do governor whitmer is head to bed so we can

00:11:49start

00:11:49a new day so you're going to go back to your cabin here okay oh we fell asleep we didn't

00:11:56make it we

00:11:57didn't make it to bed in time it's okay that's like i'm in college i know taking me way back

00:12:04i can't

00:12:05pull those all-nighters anymore it just affects me way too much but oh oh just wait till you're my

00:12:11age

00:12:14um all right okay so we're just starting what hours do you keep melissa like what what do you

00:12:19usually go to bed and get up so i'm almost embarrassed to admit this because gamers are

00:12:25notoriously night owls i used to stay up till maybe like three in the morning and get up at eight

00:12:30for

00:12:30work but being able to operate off of five hours is no longer feasible for myself um so i usually

00:12:36try

00:12:36to get to bed by like 12 12 30. hopefully i mean that still sounds really late to me so

00:12:42i'm good

00:12:44for you what's bedtime for you governor whitmer i mean i get up at five always every day no matter

00:12:50what day of the week so you know look i still have a flower on my head um so yeah

00:12:58i'm an early bird i

00:12:59like to go to bed you know 10 and get up at five nice those are good hours that's what

00:13:04i'm hoping to

00:13:05get to soon oh i think i need to give you my flower you can oh my inventory might don't

00:13:17have

00:13:17space for it either okay let me see let me try to get rid of some stuff now i have

00:13:22a pepper on my head

00:13:24drop this off i like this game yeah it's cozy right yeah um okay you can give it to me

00:13:33now okay

00:13:37yes thank you um i'm gonna eat this um the last time that you were on refiring 29 twitch um

00:13:49it was

00:13:50in 2023 when anti-abortion groups sued the fda over its approval of the abortion pill mifepristone

00:13:55and as we know that fight ended with the supreme court restoring access to the necessary medication but

00:14:00since then we've just seen these continued attacks on the rights of people with uteruses

00:14:06extended health care providers earlier this year the first u.s doctor was criminally charged for

00:14:11providing abortion pills across state lines as an advocate a staunch advocate for women's rights and

00:14:18people's access to you know necessary health care how do we fight back where do we go from here

00:14:25well i mean it is it's a really troubling time you know we had such great strides with the fall

00:14:32i mean

00:14:33when the fall of bro happened it it encouraged people to dig in to fight to protect these rights

00:14:40at the state level really important but you know i am sad to say that this is an ongoing worrisome

00:14:48situation where you've got a supreme court that has upended the law you've got states who are going

00:14:55forward and making it harder to be a woman in their states and cutting off access to health care so

00:15:00i

00:15:01think it's important that young people are know the laws where they choose to live that they vote with

00:15:07their feet as well as you know at the ballot box but also to stay engaged to support organizations that

00:15:13are helping women get access you know there's at this moment we can't change what happened at the

00:15:19supreme court but we can the community level make a difference and i think it's important not to tune

00:15:25out but to to tune in and to stay engaged and and to do things that you can feel are

00:15:30making a difference

00:15:31you know after the election i'll tell you i i kind of tuned out for a while i watched a

00:15:37lot of dexter

00:15:38stories i don't know about stardew valley maybe i'd have spend my time here um but i also know about

00:15:45myself though when i do that i feel worse i feel more anxious i can feel my stress build so

00:15:50i got to

00:15:50be in it and i got to help people and i think every one of us can do that it

00:15:54looks different for all of

00:15:56us but um it's important not to disengage yeah i think that's been really really tough um for me

00:16:05as well i mean during the first trump presidency i was actually working at cnn so you can imagine

00:16:11uh how much of a weight that was on just living it day to day and it's been it's been

00:16:18i'm gonna

00:16:18be honest it's been tough to continue to stay plugged in um with everything that's going on

00:16:24but i think you know having even just moments like this where we're gaming and talking about

00:16:28these things there's ways to stay engaged that feel still right and cozy for you um so i

00:16:35appreciate that that call to action that we definitely need to um i mean just this last

00:16:39week we had mass protests across the country um you know people demonstrating with hands-off rallies

00:16:46what are your thoughts and seeing that you know huge response from everyday americans i'm encouraged

00:16:53by it you know when you see cory booker you know take a stand on the u.s senate floor

00:16:59um when you see the close margins and a lot of these races when you see what happened in wisconsin

00:17:03last week in the election you know we have to engage in a way that um makes sense that wherever

00:17:11we call home and it looks different for everyone and that's why i say you know that there are a

00:17:16lot

00:17:16of people who want to say you all need to do it this way or that way no every one

00:17:21of us can

00:17:22participate in whatever way makes the most sense wherever whatever ground we're fighting for at

00:17:27wherever we are and i think that's that's something to really um to take uh i think some inspiration

00:17:34from how we've seen people find ways and i gotta tell you some of the signs at those protests show

00:17:42that the the metal that people still have the the level of engagement and the you know the the

00:17:51creativity that our our fellow americans who are in this fight have and i think that's that alone i

00:17:57found inspiration on this past weekend when i saw definitely i want to take you somewhere special on

00:18:03this farm really quickly if you would follow me okay yes we're gonna head over here to our chicken coop

00:18:10we're gonna pop in

00:18:13so we have a couple chickens

00:18:17if you right click on the door you'll come in

00:18:19oh okay thank you yeah it took me a minute too to realize that okay so here's our chicken coop

00:18:26i have

00:18:26two chickens which i've named kevin and doug after your dogs and you if you right click on them you

00:18:33can

00:18:33pet them

00:18:40ah kevin looks really happy today yes and they've also laid some eggs for us so we can if you

00:18:46want

00:18:46to right click these you can pick them up

00:18:51or maybe it's left cuck i'm not sure there you go

00:18:58oh i just pulled out my axe my pickaxe i don't want to do that no we can't break the

00:19:03eggs

00:19:03we can't break the eggs i know we can also leave them we can grab them later

00:19:10i have too much stuff in my head okay i'll have a flower on my head too so we can

00:19:16be in solidarity

00:19:20um i did want to ask you about you know getting more women involved in politics whether it is in

00:19:27an elected office or in grassroots levels you know there are currently 12 state governors who are

00:19:33women 13 if you count puerto rico 18 states have never had a woman governor what do you think is

00:19:40preventing women from reaching the executive level in state politics

00:19:44well you know it's interesting um we have eight democratic women governors right now that is a

00:19:50historic high high watermark same for having 12 total four republican governors in addition to the eight democrats

00:19:58and it is really kind of stunning when you think about michigan's had two women governors kansas has

00:20:04had a number of women governors same with um arizona but there are some states like uh california that's

00:20:12never had one or florida some big states and so i think um you know like every like so many

00:20:19male dominated

00:20:20um arenas there are certain there were certain barriers that had been erected over years that

00:20:26were trying to knock down and pull more women in um we've got a a women's fund to help women

00:20:32who are

00:20:32running because um our experience is that of over 50 of the population and we need to be at all

00:20:40tables where

00:20:41important decisions are being made whether it's in corporate america or in public life like like i am or it

00:20:48is in

00:20:48gaming right as creating games and and participating i think it's really important so um historic

00:20:56barriers are are real in all of these realms and that's why you know i recognize i benefited from

00:21:02those who came before me and i have a responsibility to those who come after to to you know prop

00:21:07that door

00:21:08open not just walk through it myself 100 yeah i hear you i mean i live in california so the

00:21:15fact

00:21:15that we've never had a woman as governor is honestly kind of wild to me um but hopefully you

00:21:21know things like this streams like this conversations like this will encourage more women to pursue you

00:21:27know political careers again whether it's for elected office or you know working behind the scenes working

00:21:32on campaigns even just volunteering in elections too it's important that we all really participate in

00:21:37really what is our civic duty um at least that's my opinion on things um let's yeah let's pop out

00:21:43of the

00:21:43chicken coop we'll leave kevin and doug um i'm gonna go ahead and feed them first though so they don't

00:21:49go hungry oh oh good idea yeah we don't we don't want them to go hungry okay let's pop out

00:22:00okay um i'm coming you got this i also appreciate that your character is designed like how your headshot is

00:22:11i know fuchsia is like your favorite color well you know it's uh it's fun this is hilarious i just

00:22:20it's

00:22:21a nice wholesome game i'm all for it a lot of gamers love starter valley because it's i don't know

00:22:26if

00:22:26you're familiar with the term cozy gaming or cozy games but it's the idea that you know gaming can be

00:22:31really helpful for people's mental health where they can be able to relax um just take some time away

00:22:36from the craziness or disruptiveness of their day-to-day lives um i would love to actually pick

00:22:42your brain a little bit about issues that gamers care about um you know we are on twitch which is

00:22:50primarily for gamers so that's why this conversation is important our internet laws are sorely outdated

00:22:58specifically when it comes to data privacy what are your thoughts on how lawmakers whether on the

00:23:04state level or on the federal level um how can they address these concerns what should we be doing

00:23:11yeah no it's it's a really important question i'd not heard the phrase cozy gaming but i love it and

00:23:16i think of like watching um the great british baking show during colvin was like my cozy viewing um

00:23:23invite you know as you think about you know all the information that is online and all the different

00:23:31ways that people are abusing that information you know we put it on and thinking that there's some level

00:23:38of trust or confidentiality and there's not and all the ways that people are making money selling our

00:23:43information and and um all the different ways that it can be abused i think it's really uh important

00:23:50that we have you know it'd be great if we could get it done at the federal level because having

00:23:54a

00:23:54patchwork of states try to figure this out isn't going to be really effective because the internet

00:23:58doesn't stop it at state lines most of us have no idea where the company that we're even sharing

00:24:04information with is is based so it it's really i think driven needs to be driven by the by the

00:24:11federal

00:24:12level um but you know as as i just look you know i get notices all the time when people

00:24:17try to access

00:24:18my health care records it happens all the time i don't know what people are looking for um but it's

00:24:26it

00:24:26doesn't matter that's my private information and um it's really egregious what how vulnerable we all are

00:24:34and that's why i think we do need to have a lot of more protections when it comes to our

00:24:39our online

00:24:40security and and data privacy yeah definitely

00:24:47i wish there was something we could do at the state level you know i i really do it's it's

00:24:51frustrating and

00:24:52you know i i'm always talking to my own kids about you know information that we're putting online and

00:24:58you know they sometimes just i feel like have the attitude well it's already out there like it's

00:25:04what can be done now you know and um i hate to think that that could be a prevailing attitude

00:25:11from anyone much less in my own household we have to take measures to protect ourselves but we also should

00:25:17count on regulators and and our leaders to to do their part too definitely let's move up towards

00:25:24the campfire so we can have a little little light on ourselves oh i think it's time to go to

00:25:28sleep

00:25:29though it's okay we'll have one thing i want to read a comment in chat kia girl 99 says governor

00:25:34whitmer it is so great to see you and listen to you really admire what you have done and how

00:25:38you have done

00:25:38in is important for young girls to see women in powerful positions to see what they can aspire to

00:25:43you project both strength and compassion also love your first dogs thank you that's so nice

00:25:53um you mentioned that you were watching dexter which i think is a very interesting choice as your like

00:25:59comfort tv show is is that correct am i categorizing that characterizing that correctly i don't know if

00:26:06dexter it's like dexter would be a comfort tv show i would say it's it's i i gravitate to things

00:26:13that

00:26:14are are drama um because it kind of takes me out of my day-to-day job which is drama

00:26:19that was just kind

00:26:20of ironic right but it's not crime so i guess that's the that's the hook but no i love um

00:26:26like the great

00:26:28british baking show like that is cozy fun it's good real reality television where there's so much toxic

00:26:34reality television and you know my daughter and i just finished watching white lotus so there's that

00:26:40too astro oh my gosh did you love this season it was a wild i love walton goggins i love

00:26:47him so much

00:26:49so yeah great a great group i thought it was fun he's great lucius malfoy too right uh jason isaacs

00:26:56i

00:26:56actually interviewed him um for your job i did and i just let him know i was like hey i

00:27:01just want

00:27:02you know i'm a huge fan and i was i think people he's used to people recognizing him for you

00:27:07know

00:27:07being lucius malfoy for harry potter but he just has done great work and he was very kind so that's

00:27:13cool is he where is he from or is he english yes he is okay he did that that south

00:27:21carolina accent so

00:27:22well i wasn't sure oh it's morning it is morning it is also the start of a new season so

00:27:29it's going to be

00:27:29fall everything's going to look a little different oh all right i can just over uh all of our summer

00:27:38crops have um sadly passed which is totally fine um so we can try to maybe digs let's maybe just

00:27:48clear

00:27:49it so if you um if you equip your axe or pickaxe do you see it yeah you can clear

00:27:57some of these fields

00:27:59so yeah started valley has a different season so depending on what season is uh determines what

00:28:05kind of crops you get to plant oh this is fun um i bear with me governor wimmer i do

00:28:18want to ask this

00:28:19uh you know michigan became the 10th state to legalize recreational marijuana in 2018 just before

00:28:25you took office hypothetically speaking who would be in your dream blood rotation

00:28:33um snoop dogg and willie nelson for sure for sure sorry yes snoop i think so i think seth rogan

00:28:43would be a riot too to be honest i feel like women yeah i feel like i should have a

00:28:52woman in my in my

00:28:54rotation who would it be who would you choose who would i pick um i would pick obama because i

00:29:01think

00:29:01it'd be just really interesting to pick his brain um i would also of course pick snoop that's just a

00:29:08given and honestly i would pick you i would love to have an off-stream conversation with you um

00:29:19um maybe under some sort of influence but uh yeah that would be i think a dream combo

00:29:26all right i figured i'm i'm down i'm in my last term so what the hell

00:29:32well now that you bring that up um i honestly didn't realize that this was your second and final

00:29:40term as the governor to the state of michigan until i was you know doing my prep time is flying

00:29:45by

00:29:46it feels like just yesterday that you were elected to the governorship how are you feeling

00:29:52you know it's it it's bittersweet um as hard as my job has been at times and you know we've

00:30:00had

00:30:00so many crises to confront just this last weekend we had this massive ice storm in northern michigan

00:30:06and i mean it was just brutal and showing up and trying to help people it's hard but you also

00:30:12see some

00:30:13the best in people during the hard times you know communities coming together people helping each

00:30:18other out like it's it's the inspiration this job that i love and that i i don't i will not

00:30:24miss

00:30:24crises but that's the kind of fulfillment that you get even in hard times so that's something that i

00:30:30loved about the job and i got a incredible team around me um the team that prepped me to do

00:30:36this with

00:30:37you by the way um amongst a much broader team and um so i've i've loved i love the job

00:30:44love what i've

00:30:45been able to do i'm proud of what we've been able to get done i've still got a year or

00:30:49nine months so

00:30:49i'm not slowing down but um it is kind of kind of a strange thing to be in my seventh

00:30:55year as governor

00:30:56um but you know i think term limits are not a bad thing in these jobs either you know four

00:31:02years terms

00:31:03take a toll and if you're lucky enough to do two of them like i am um it's uh you

00:31:09know it it's it's

00:31:10sometimes good to have turnover i think maybe our friends of the federal government um should keep

00:31:15that in mind too not that i'm trying to push any in particular person out it's just you know youth

00:31:22and

00:31:22energy and new ideas and new perspectives i think are are a healthy thing i agree i think it says

00:31:29something

00:31:29where you know the majority of our federal lawmakers are still baby boomers and we don't have gen x

00:31:36millennials even gen z's could be you know in office now i just yeah it's definitely something to uh be

00:31:43in

00:31:43mind keep in mind of um jordan 313 says as a michigander we are so proud and grateful for all

00:31:49the work

00:31:50that you've contributed to michigan and our government thank you jordan

00:31:56um i would love to know what's been your proudest accomplishment so far um in your tenure and

00:32:04what's one thing that you still hope to achieve as governor of michigan you know it's hard to point

00:32:09to one thing right um whether it is in our ability to um codify reproductive rights and to take down

00:32:19barriers you know all the trap laws that were on the books i'm really proud of that

00:32:22i'm proud that i signed the bill to expand full civil rights protections to the lgbtq community with my

00:32:29daughter sherry who's a gay woman by my side like that was one of those moments like as a mom

00:32:35and as

00:32:36a leader i something we fought for for so long so proud of that um but you know serving all

00:32:431.4 michigan

00:32:44kids breakfast and lunch at school free of charge is like it's life-changing for so many so those are

00:32:51just a few examples um i still got a lot of things i want to get done you know i

00:32:55we've fixing the dam

00:32:57rose is something i ran on we've made a lot of good headway on that but we haven't fixed the

00:33:03real

00:33:03problem yet so it's something i want to get done before i'm done and um you know continuing to to

00:33:11build up manufacturing in michigan is something that's really important in today's economy but also

00:33:16for the long-term security of of my state's economy of our state's economy i know you live

00:33:22in california now but i'm still claiming you i actually grew up in illinois so i i am a midwestern

00:33:29girl when i was a kid and i would often go to michigan um during my winter vacations with my

00:33:35with

00:33:35my family to do a little skiing in michigan so uh yes please claim me i'm i'm happy i'm happy

00:33:41to be

00:33:42claimed um let's empty our inventory because we're just carrying a lot of stuff so if you come up here

00:33:48to this box that will open up and right click it it'll bring up your inventory menu and you can

00:33:55just

00:33:56sort of throw in all those flowers and veggies and kind of clear up some space

00:34:05would that help a little bit

00:34:12yep okay awesome and then let's go over to the left and we're gonna clear some trees and rocks

00:34:19make some more space for our crops

00:34:29are you good to go governor okay okay yep okay sorry take my second no you're totally fine i mean

00:34:35i'm here as your stardew valley guide i'm the tour guide okay thank you you're a great guide

00:34:41all right so we're gonna go over to the left

00:34:46nice and then maybe bring out your axe the axe is going to cut down trees the pickaxe is going

00:34:55to

00:34:55break stones and the scythe is going to clear all of that grass so depending on what you're facing

00:35:01you can kind of clear the way yep i'm not very good at shopping down a tree oh watch out

00:35:13i'm good i'm good i'm good i'm good i think i read somewhere i need to take the stump out

00:35:21too there

00:35:21we go all right i cleared it nice i don't think our tools are strong enough to break this i

00:35:26could be

00:35:27wrong though oh your axe is not strong enough to break this stump all right you are correct it's

00:35:32okay um we have a question from kiwi song governor whitmer american or lafayette detroit coney dogs

00:35:40i grew up going to lafayette so lafayette that's the choice well how i wonder how i wonder how they

00:35:49would answer the question kiwi what's your pick while kiwi writes i would love to also ask um do

00:36:00you have a spotify wrapped if so who was in your top five artists last year

00:36:07i don't i'm so well how about this who's on your playlist who do you love to listen to

00:36:16what's your go-to song when you want to just like pump yourself up and get yourself motivated for the

00:36:21day i mean i am so uh gen x so my go-to song when i need to like fire

00:36:28up or i'm getting ready for a

00:36:29hard day is welcome to the jungle by guns and roses so anyone who's watching their parents probably know

00:36:37what i'm talking about but you know it's it's a good like loud pumping song um that you know

00:36:44gets me ready for a fight yes i saw i mean i saw guns and roses at coachella axel was

00:36:49in a in a chair

00:36:50i think because i think you broke his leg so uh i thought you're gonna say broke a hip yeah

00:36:57makes me feel really old but yeah no he's still he's still going i mean they're they're good they're

00:37:03really they're fun so yes i'm very 80s i like big hair i like bright lipstick and leather jackets so

00:37:10it's still very 80s i love it i love it um is there a fashion trend that you are excited

00:37:19to see

00:37:20again come back i mean you talked about the big hair and the lipsticks 80s was very big when i

00:37:24was

00:37:24you know in my i'll call it early 20s uh in the 2000s and 2010s um and i remember the

00:37:35shoulder pads and

00:37:36the hair and all that coming back is there a fashion trend that you would love to see come back

00:37:43um not shoulder pads and um you know i gotta tell you i've got mixed feelings about the mustache coming

00:37:49back you know there are a lot of young men who are rocking mustaches now and um that was that

00:37:59was like

00:37:59a little bit right before my time so it's it's kind of funny to to see it i'm not saying

00:38:05they don't look

00:38:05good it's just a i i'm not sure how i feel about it makes me think of my father got

00:38:13it got it um all

00:38:15right let's clear some more of these grass it's getting dark though night time

00:38:23uh you might want to switch to your site yes

00:38:29there you go yep

00:38:38all right i want to hurt you i feel like i'm dangerous with this thing start i don't think

00:38:43there's a friendly uh friendly fire in this uh in this game okay i don't think we should use our

00:38:50size this late at night 940. that's true this is probably uh osha's gonna have some thoughts about

00:38:57this one um i this is the when i was thinking about this interview and a question that really

00:39:08captures sort of i think my political feelings and my political mood right now um this is sort of

00:39:14where i landed you know we've heard countless politicians um we've heard from countless politicians

00:39:20that our country has never been more divided polarized these are divisive times and it's gotten

00:39:26to a point that for so many of us these words have almost lost meaning but it is true and

00:39:32i'm

00:39:32curious to know your thoughts what advice do you have on how to approach tough conversations with

00:39:38people who don't share the same political views and also when is it worth reaching across the aisle

00:39:44to work together and was it when is it important to draw a line in the sand

00:39:50i think it's almost always worth trying to find common ground you know i mean unless someone is

00:39:58diametrically opposed to you and and so dug in and you know that you're just gonna be wasting your

00:40:03energy right like like the like the farm you can't just waste your energy you it's a precious finite

00:40:10resource right as an as are the hours that we have on this earth um that being said if we

00:40:17don't talk to

00:40:18each other you're guaranteed never to find common ground and so i always try to engage in a conversation

00:40:25sometimes it's just at the most basic level of like hey you're a michigan state spartan fan you know

00:40:32how can we find something that we have common ground on and then to expand on that to find something

00:40:38else that that we can talk about um it's not you're not able to do that with everybody you shouldn't

00:40:43try to do that with everybody but where it matters or where it can make a difference it's almost always

00:40:48worthwhile it doesn't mean you ever sacrifice your values um it means like if you can uh find

00:40:56something to work on together that's great it's better than not talking and never knowing and not

00:41:01getting anything done so it's a really hard time right now to find that where that sweet spot is you

00:41:08know um you know i talked to you a little bit about we had this big ice storm in northern

00:41:14michigan

00:41:15rural parts of the state um a lot of a lot of people who don't have a lot of resources

00:41:20and who are struggling who still don't have power by the way and they're over a week into it

00:41:25we're trying to you know called out the national guard to clear the road so that the utility companies

00:41:30can get in and do their jobs but i mean this was like a climate event unlike anything we've ever

00:41:35seen

00:41:36before which we've heard over and over again because we know climate change is real and it's

00:41:39it's wreaking havoc on our lives um but you know i've got to be able to talk to the president

00:41:48who

00:41:48i worked really hard to defeat kamala harris supporter and i worked really hard to try to help her get

00:41:53elected but i got to talk to president trump about this community that needs help and so

00:42:00i can't not have that conversation and fail the people of michigan i've got a duty to try

00:42:06and so i think you know that's my political side that's my professional side my personal side is i

00:42:13you know i've all i can see sometimes are the differences where we're not going to find common

00:42:18ground but i have a duty to try to help people that i care about that i represent even if

00:42:23they didn't

00:42:23vote for me i got that duty so it's you draw a line where it is um about you know

00:42:30things that you

00:42:31cannot negotiate on like fundamental rights and um what the you know rule of law is and standing up for

00:42:39our democracy uh but you have to have a conversation because sometimes you know people are counting on

00:42:45you and maybe you maybe there's something good you can do for someone yeah definitely that's just

00:42:51something that's been on my mind because i i think i'm to myself you know it's interesting you bring

00:42:56up about core values because talking to someone having a conversation even debating doesn't necessarily

00:43:03mean you're compromising your core values um it means you're having a conversation and i think the

00:43:09more information and the more we speak to each other the more opportunity there is for not only you

00:43:14know the person you're talking to to grow up but also yourself in terms of better understanding

00:43:18each other and i think that goes back to sort of the idea of what america is which is the

00:43:24community

00:43:25aspect of it all and i think being on twitch which emphasizes community so much it's just really it's

00:43:31the same sort of thing right you want to have engagement you want to be able to reach people and

00:43:35you really want to be able to have deep meaningful conversations so um i agree i think it's just tough

00:43:41sometimes when people are so as you said dug in on their points of view that it can feel discouraging

00:43:47but

00:43:47that doesn't mean that we should necessarily stop trying and when you try every once in a while

00:43:53you'll have a conversation that makes a difference and that's there's inspiration there or you'll learn

00:43:58something about someone that makes you think okay maybe i've learned something that makes me a better

00:44:03human being or a better leader or better at my job um and so it's it's opportunities for both parties

00:44:12and and when you talk to each other you do sometimes find things that surprise you that you have in

00:44:17common and that's something to build on we saw that during you know reproductive rights roundtables

00:44:22we hosted all across the state women would show up who were voted on the other side of the aisle

00:44:28but

00:44:28came over because this fundamental right was now being threatened and they had stories and that they

00:44:34shared with their families that made a difference and and you know what they traditionally said well i'm

00:44:40i'm absolutely opposed to abortion rights and then once you find out oh that procedure saved your

00:44:45life or saved your fertility or gave you the opportunity to to be where you are today like

00:44:51yeah i don't know better than you you should be able to make that decision and it changed

00:44:56behavior and so even on a hot button issue like that there's common ground to be found but you can't

00:45:03find if you're not talking to each other definitely definitely um since you won't be running for

00:45:10governor um for uh the 2026 in the 2026 elections um you know there's been a lot of movement happening

00:45:19in the race for michigan's governorship uh your lieutenant governor garland gilchrist and secretary of

00:45:25state jocelyn benson are running yesterday republican congressman john james announced his gubernatorial bid

00:45:30i won't ask who you're backing but what advice do you have for who will eventually be the democratic

00:45:35party's candidate for michigan governor um you know i think it's so far we've got some some great

00:45:43candidates who've already jumped in who run statewide by the way um they know how what it takes to get

00:45:49elected so i don't know that any of them need my advice the thing that i would say is applicable

00:45:55in

00:45:56in this role in any state in any role frankly in any organization is the superpower of listening

00:46:05i don't think enough people do that you know we we make assumptions about one another and we tend to

00:46:10assume the worst as opposed to give people the benefit of the doubt we don't ask questions or if

00:46:15we do ask questions we're just asking them to make conversation as opposed to like really listening to

00:46:20what the answer is and so the best thing i did when i ran for governor the first time was

00:46:26go get into

00:46:26all 83 counties and ask people you know if i'm lucky enough to get elected what could i do that'll

00:46:33make

00:46:33your life better and then actually listen to what they say and i think that's um really really important

00:46:40to be able to listen in a way that you know you're you're you're not just hoping for a one

00:46:46-word answer

00:46:47you're you're trying to really understand what's going on with someone yeah um what are you going

00:46:53to do in your time off after you know 2026 2027 hits and you've officially ended your second term

00:47:02what does r and r look like for a former governor stardew valley

00:47:10yes yes i don't know yet you know i don't know yet i'm reading i'm reading a great book right

00:47:15now that

00:47:16talks about you know uh growth and a growth mindset and community and you know purpose you know what

00:47:24your what your purpose is going to be and i think i think i'm really going to take a little

00:47:28bit of time

00:47:29when this comes to a close to to think about that and to kind of you know i always tell

00:47:35people i'd like

00:47:35to go walk the earth for a while and people laugh because it's kind of an odd thing to say

00:47:40but

00:47:41there's some truth to it you know to reconnect and and to i think to take that that moment to

00:47:47figure out what is it that i want to do what do i want to do i'm i'll be 55

00:47:51years old and you know

00:47:53i've got a lot more that i can contribute but what does that what does it look like in a

00:47:58way that's

00:47:58meaningful and that gives me purpose i love that i also love when women are confident about you know

00:48:06saying their age i am 36 years old i'm about to embark on a new chapter of my life and

00:48:10i just

00:48:10love being able to i love when women say that and lead with that because i think it's important to

00:48:16embrace all chapters of what your life is going to be so i just want to throw that in there

00:48:20um i love it

00:48:22i have i have to ask you governor gretchen whitmer are you running for president of the united states in

00:48:282020. i just told you i have no plan yet i'm going to walk the earth and and figure out

00:48:36what

00:48:36my next season looks like i don't know yet okay okay i had to ask you can't follow me for

00:48:43that i have

00:48:43to know of course you're doing your job um raquel and chat would love to know or if you would

00:48:51be

00:48:51thinking about starting a podcast is that something that might be on your horizon

00:48:56i don't know you know it is not as easy as it looks well so i think you and so

00:49:01many people who

00:49:02are who are doing it make it look super easy but i know it's a lot of work it's hard

00:49:08to do so i enjoy

00:49:10um listening to podcasts i enjoy you know being a guest um i don't know if i'm the the person

00:49:17to to

00:49:18lead one but never say never i've learned that yeah well you have an incredible team that honestly

00:49:24shout out to the governor's team for helping set up all this tech on twitch too um and i'm

00:49:32sure they could get you equipped for a podcast as well and i'm sure it would be super super successful

00:49:38um before we wrap things up i do have a few more questions that i love to ask chat if

00:49:42you have any

00:49:43questions for the governor feel free to drop them in now we can do some sort of like here there

00:49:48everywhere sort of vibe um what is the number one issue that you think will be at stake for

00:49:54michiganders in 2026 and what about for americans nationwide when it comes to the midterm elections

00:50:02oh you know what it is so hard to know what is going to be front center other than the

00:50:06economy

00:50:06and i think we can always count on thank you for coming join me i'm chopping up uh stumps right

00:50:12now

00:50:12um yes yeah i think that it you know it almost every election comes down to the economy what does

00:50:19it mean what's happening for you can you make a good living and get ahead in you know in your

00:50:25life

00:50:25can you take care of your family and buy a home uh can you afford to get the education you

00:50:32need to be

00:50:32successful and and live your your version of the american dream and so no matter what i think that

00:50:39will always play a big role and considering all the tariffs and the taxes and the um you know

00:50:46incredible hits that so many people have taken in terms of finances with all the decisions that have

00:50:52been made recently i anticipate that's going to be front and center as well as individual rights our

00:50:58personal freedoms are obviously very much continue to be at stake and at risk and i'm confident that

00:51:06that will continue to to motivate people and then the foundational elements over this democracy you

00:51:12know you see what's happening um where people who've done nothing are are being you know um punished

00:51:21it's antithetical to what a democracy is supposed to be and and um sadly i i don't think we've seen

00:51:28we've seen you know that the end of it probably just the beginning and i anticipate that'll motivate

00:51:34people as well and that's going to motivate me yes um we've already seen those motivations come to

00:51:41fruition like i mentioned the approaches protest this past weekend the um election in wisconsin last week

00:51:47two weeks ago um i think we have a question in chat yes ellie wants to know do you watch

00:51:55yellow jackets

00:51:56is that a tv show that's on in your queue oh yeah absolutely i love yellow jackets you know lord

00:52:05of

00:52:05the flies with women strong women there's some great characters i love the uh the actresses who play the

00:52:13young versions of of the character and then the older like they're all spectacular and it's like

00:52:19i don't know 95 of the characters are female and they're tough and they're strong and they're interesting

00:52:24and they're scary i think it's so fun yeah and it definitely passes the bechdel test too right we're

00:52:31not talking about men the whole time we are actually literally trying to survive so i know when you find

00:52:41out

00:52:41yeah so i know it is kind of the opposite of stardew valley but um when i tell you that

00:52:45i i've enjoyed

00:52:46dexter and yellow jackets does it scare the heck do you wonder like what is really going on with her

00:52:52no i think this season has been very very interesting i'm i'm glad we're out of the winter

00:52:58honestly because that was really really tough season two so the fact that we're entering this a

00:53:03little bit more uh summer vibe spring vibes um it's nice but yeah i thought they were going to get

00:53:10rescued i really did i didn't see the twist at the end there so yeah yeah well i think they

00:53:16said how

00:53:16long did they say they were in the wilderness for maybe like 18 months 18 months or something right

00:53:21yeah i think it's like a year and a half between a year and a half and two years yeah

00:53:25yeah so yeah

00:53:28um we have another question from chat governor whitmer if you had an unlimited budget to take a dream

00:53:33vacation where would you go oh god that's a lovely question um i think i would do an around the

00:53:42world

00:53:43trip and take my family and maybe have everyone take like a friend so you know we could explore on

00:53:51our

00:53:51own not all have to be together all the time but i would love to do like an around the

00:53:56world trip and

00:53:57just explore spend you know three days in every port it would be so fun yeah how would you answer

00:54:06that

00:54:06question my dream vacation i would love to go to morocco um just in general i think the culture and

00:54:15the smells and the foods i think would just be incredible um if i had unlimited budget though i would

00:54:21like to go to antarctica i think the idea of traversing the world stepping where no human

00:54:29perhaps has ever stepped before is an idea that fascinates me and that is what i liked i like to

00:54:37feel

00:54:37like i'm sort of pioneering my own journey um when i am like in the woods i think to myself

00:54:43has any

00:54:45person in the history of mankind ever stepped in this exact spot these are the type of thoughts that i

00:54:50have so antarctica would be on the top of my list of kind of a fantasy-like vacation i love

00:54:57it i love

00:54:58it not something most people would say but it's cool i get why why you are drawn to that that

00:55:04would

00:55:04be neat right i'll add it to my around the world tour yes yes i think they have cruises that

00:55:09literally

00:55:10you could just sail across the whole world for months on end and maybe there's one that stops by antarctica

00:55:15i don't know yeah i just have to pick a lot of dramamine yeah um before we wrap things up

00:55:23we have

00:55:23one more question from chat um fortnight gaming pro 7 asks do tariffs affect me as a gamer even if

00:55:30the

00:55:30gaming companies are in america yeah i think tariffs are going to affect every single one of us because

00:55:37we eat food we consume electronics we are human beings that rely on global commerce and you know

00:55:48the the thought around tariffs is like the other country is paying them but that's not true it's the

00:55:54consumer that ends up paying them when they put a tariff on steel and we're trying to build more affordable

00:56:00housing across this country it just jacks up the price of building a house because we import a lot of

00:56:05that from canada you know the the canadian and mexican tariffs in particular are really troubling

00:56:12because we've built this north american economy that is based on free trade and um this you know

00:56:20there are so so much of mission of american manufacturing is is absolutely dependent on our

00:56:26neighbors in the south and our neighbors in the north you know when there were wildfires in

00:56:30in california canadians came and helped put them out like this has been a a really um important

00:56:39beneficial relationship to both nations and now it's feels very adversarial and it's it's going to

00:56:47iner to higher costs for every single one of us whether it's in our housing or it is in perhaps

00:56:52job losses or

00:56:54it is in the cost of your blueberries coming from mexico in the winter um we're all going to bear

00:57:00the cost of these tariffs unfortunately whether you're a gamer or you're um in any other part of

00:57:06the economy we're all going to feel it yeah definitely and someone pointed out in chat too you

00:57:11know the nintendo switch uh pre-orders were delayed because of the tariffs even if the gaming companies are

00:57:16based in america they source many of the parts that are in your consoles in your controllers and your

00:57:20keyboards is sourced abroad so you know the company might be based here but that doesn't mean their

00:57:26supply chain is um so yeah definitely can affect um last question here from me you know the world can

00:57:33feel so big but sometimes changing the world starts with just making a small change in your community

00:57:40what's one action people can take today to start building a better world for themselves

00:57:46well i think you know whether it is um you know your local legislators having a coffee hour go to

00:57:53it write a letter show up um whether it's you got a food bank that maybe is getting cuts from

00:58:00the

00:58:00federal government you know the the trump administration has cut a lot of food banks if

00:58:05you can make a donation that's something that is beneficial whether you can go and volunteer

00:58:11you know i help serve meals to community that were at warming stations that's something that any one

00:58:18of us can do there are ways at the local level that if you've got a lot some money you

00:58:24can make a

00:58:24donation if you've got some food in your pantry you can donate that could help too so a lot of

00:58:30ways or

00:58:30it's helping helping someone access um government benefits but they don't have a computer to do it you

00:58:38there's a lot of ways to be helpful yeah definitely i mean even playing games playing games and having

00:58:44conversations right co-op convos this is how we can just better understand and better connect and

00:58:49better educate and inform and learn so every little sub and every little action definitely matters and um

00:58:55has an impact uh governor gretchen wetmer i want to say goodbye to you in game do you mind coming

00:59:01out of

00:59:01your home oh yeah sorry i'm in bed yes okay thank you sorry i know you usually get up 5

00:59:10a.m in in real life

00:59:11so 7 40. i know i i kind of am a part i kind of am a farmer in that

00:59:15way yes um governor gretchen

00:59:19whitmer thank you so much for this incredible conversation this very very special team it was

00:59:24truly an honor to host you on arch tonight twitch again and to play stardew valley um do you think

00:59:31stardew valley is in your future do you think you might hop on make a new farm for yourself i

00:59:36do and

00:59:36i'm pretty sure that my daughter sydney is gonna teach me how to even do more than what we learned

00:59:41today and so i thank you and i'm looking forward to playing amazing thank you again so much chat thank

00:59:48you so much for watching um governor gretchen my first seriously from the bottom of my heart thank

00:59:52you so much the door is always open hope to have you again and um thanks thanks everybody all right

00:59:58we're signing off bye everybody thank you bye melissa bye

Co-op Convo with Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer | Good Game | Refinery29

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