Cleaning Up Dirty with Veep Actor - Reid Scott
Clean Air Action just dropped our latest Cleaning Up Dirty podcast — Are We in a Real Life Veep Episode? — featuring self-proclaimed Deadhead turned Hollywood actor Reid Scott. Reid is best known for his roles in Law & Order, Veep, The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, Venom, and more. This native upstate New Yorker has never been shy to go against the grain, even in his younger years. This episode offers a fresh look on timeless topics, from Yankee Candles, fruit-flavored Tootsie Rolls and 90s era Pogs, to unpacking the 2024 presidential election and discussing the pitfalls of American politics.
Podcast co-hosts Liz Green Schultz (Clean Air Action’s Political Director) and Sean Hoffmann (Legislative Director) talk with Reid about people’s thirst for authenticity in politicians. And let’s be honest, most of them could do better. In our pursuit of genuine and authentic politics—and away from ignorance— we should heed this warning from Reid: “Authenticity doesn’t mean benevolence.”
Political corruption is both a red and blue issue that can be difficult to define, though most of us know it when we see it. We seek to shine a light on that corruption by discussing how we got here and, more importantly, how we get back to feeling good about our country. To that end, we try to provide an entertaining and thought-provoking podcast that hosts constructive conversations to uncover how we can make our elected officials listen and do their best work for We the People. This is why we named our podcast Cleaning Up Dirty. And it applies to anyone who messes with our political and civil rights, including corporations and politicians on the right AND the left.
Don’t hate the player, hate the game.
Whether you voted for President Donald Trump, former Vice President Kamala Harris, or didn’t vote, the vibes surrounding the 2024 election, and the ultimate results, show a nation fed up with the status quo. Many Americans across the political spectrum have reached the point where they feel that blowing up “the system” is our best hope to no longer just survive, but thrive as a nation. Who better to disrupt the status quo than the controversial businessman who is now President Trump, right? He might be effective at blowing up the system, but we are not so sure it will bring the results the American people are hungry for.
With this appetite for change as a backdrop, the 2024 election results showed that more Americans viewed Democratic Candidate Kamala Harris as more of the same and President Trump as an agent for change. While it remains to be seen what sort of change Trump Part 2 will usher in, there can be no doubt that President Trump is unlike any President we have seen in our lifetimes. This episode looks at what missteps the historically liberal Democratic Party took to appear so, well, not like progress. Although we stand by our endorsement of Kamala Harris for president, we admit, one giant misstep for the Democratic Party was they stopped paying attention to their people even before Donald was on the scene.
In this latest episode, Liz brings up a conversation she had with a conservative friend who pointed out that no one wants to be an “ist.” In other words, we have become so afraid of saying the wrong thing for fear of getting accused of being racist or another “ist” that we don’t talk about these important issues at all. This applies to us all, including elected officials. Is extreme trigger culture causing us to fear sharing opinions?
As Clean Air Action works to fight for a healthy environment for Pennsylvania, we endorse politicians who listen to their supporters’ needs and concerns––and are not so caught up with tired political theatrics and power struggles that they forget why they serve. Similar to Reid’s epic story of being a controversial student body presidential campaign manager who ultimately took a stand by leaving his Catholic high school, we can all take a page out of his book:
“We saw things differently and we weren’t going to be told to see things how everybody else sees them just because they were in charge.” - Reid Scott
Some of the systems we feel we need to disrupt are the very pillars of American Democracy and the systems that were put into place to protect us against corrupt politicians and corporations. With more and more authentic public servants entering the political arena, people may just start to believe again in our ever-evolving Democratic system.
Hope and something tangible.
Reid says the best use of campaign spending may be educating voters about ethics or political history. (Then Liz jokes that Cleaning Up Dirty is very much available, since that’s kind of our whole vibe!) Now more than ever, politicians need to listen and respond to the community members they serve. People are more adaptable than often portrayed, but we need something tangible to adapt to or we get bored and disengage—particularly with our 2025 attention spans. President Trump gave enough people that tangible thing. Democrats should take note.
For those who are fearful of what the next four years may bring, Reid invites us to remember: America was built to withstand the damage done by each side as they hold power. We are resilient and we will rise again.
Want to hear more about the uncanny parallels between Veep’s satire and our real life political drama? Check out the latest episode of our award-winning podcast, Cleaning Up Dirty: Are We Living in a Real Life Veep Episode?
