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Brian Lehrer: Brian Lehrer on WNYC. Now we conclude our week of midterm election call-ins for callers of different generations. Today, if you're in your 90s or above, what issue is most likely to inspire you to vote in the midterm elections? 212-433-WNYC, 212-433-9692. We've been climbing the mountain all week for those of you who haven't been hearing the series, starting with callers in your 20s or below on Monday. 30s and 40s on Tuesday, et cetera, and today, we arrive at the peak, callers in your 90s or above. Nonagenarians and centenarians, what issue is most likely to inspire you to vote in the midterm elections? 212-433-WNYC, 212-433-9692, or tweet @BrianLehrer.

Do any of you in your 90s or 100s tweet? This group must have some wisdom because if you live until 90 or 100 in the first place, you must be doing something right. You definitely have good genes, but you must be doing something right. If you're in your 90s or above, with all that accumulated wisdom, what issue is most likely to inspire you to vote in the midterm elections? 212-433-9692. In case you're wondering, listeners, we've had callers who have identified themselves as being in their 90s before for sure, but we've never had a caller who identified themselves as being 100 years old or more that I can recall.

Who knows if we will get any now? If you are 100 years old, this may be history's first radio call-in explicitly for you, and for your little brothers and little sisters who are only in their 90s. 212-433-9692. I looked up some stuff, and if you're 100 years old, you were born in 1922, and so were we. The New York City government approved the creation of WNYC (AM) on June 2nd, 1922. It went on the air two years later. Across the pond, the BBC was also formed in 1922. As we talk about the impact of the internet on democracy and self-esteem these days, when some of you were born, there wasn't even a radio yet in most people's homes.

Another media note, according to thepeoplehistory.com, 1922 was also the year that the magazine, Reader's Digest was born. It was the year of the First Wimbledon tennis tournament. Never mind Reader's Digest, 1922 was the year the Soviet Union was formed with only one legal political party, The Communist Party, opposition to that came to define the politics of a lot of your life, callers. I wonder how that shaped your idea of democracy and freedom, as well as other politics. Now we may be headed to a place where some states only allow one party to be declared the winner of elections here. In 1922, Mussolini's Fascist Party came to power in Italy.

Gandhi was arrested for sedition in India, for leading his movement of nonviolent civil disobedience against British colonial rule, according to thepeoplehistory.com. The Lincoln Memorial opened in Washington DC. In 1922, insulin was first used successfully, it was in Canada, to treat people with diabetes. Maybe today, some of you import your insulin from Canada, because the Republicans in the Senate this summer refused to cap the price in the United States. A bill to do that for people under 65 was defeated, although it did pass for people on Medicare.

If you're in your 90s or 100s, you've seen a few things, the Great Depression, World War II, McCarthyism, the Civil Rights Movement, the [unintelligible 00:04:11], everything else. What is it all led to as your number one voting issue for the midterm elections of 2022? 212-433-WNYC, or if you tweet @BrianLehrer. We'll take your calls right after this.

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Brian Lehrer on WNYC. Now to your calls, if you're in your 90s or 100s, on your number one issue in the midterm elections of 2022. Elizabeth in Green Brook, New Jersey, you're on WNYC, thanks so much for calling in. Hi, Elizabeth.

Elizabeth: Hi. This is my first time getting through to you, but I listen to you regularly.

Brian Lehrer: I'm so glad.

Elizabeth: Do you want--?

Brian Lehrer: We can start with your issue, and I see you're calling with some of your political history, which we'll get to. Do you want to start with your number one issue for right now?

Elizabeth: My number one issue is preserving our democracy. Just the thought of having votes that are legitimate votes that are not counted taken away from us, then our voting means nothing and then we have no democracy. That's my number one issue. I guess my number-- [crosstalk]

Brian Lehrer: Do you think, Elizabeth that this is the most intense threat to democracy in this country that you've seen in your lifetime, or has anything rivaled it?

Elizabeth: I guess it always seems like the present problem is the worst in terms of that. There are all kinds of things, the war, and other things. World War II, of course, I'm talking about. I have more fear, today, I will say, of going into a shopping mall, or a theater, or something than I had of during World War II. I remember I was in high school during World War II, and we wore these name tags, I think they were made of asbestos, in case we were bombed we could be identified. We regarded them like fire drills, just, "Oh well, a chance to get out of the building and get a little--"

Brian Lehrer: Yes. You're more afraid now of active shooters is what you're saying, right?

Elizabeth: I am, yes. I think maybe part of it was that when you're young you're invincible thinking you're going to live forever. You're just not afraid-- [crosstalk]

Brian Lehrer: Right, you feel like you're invincible, yes. You told our screener something about who you voted for in 1948, why did you bring up that year?

Elizabeth: That was when Thomas Dewey of New York was running against Truman.

Brian Lehrer: Oh, Dewey won, didn't he?

Elizabeth: No, Truman won,-

Brian Lehrer: [laughs] Okay.

Elizabeth: -but all the newspapers were predicting that Dewey would win. In fact, on the front page on some newspaper, big, big headlines that Dewey had won. I voted for Henry Wallace. This is a spoiler, it would have been a spoiler because I thought that Truman had no chance. It turned out of course-- I was happy that Truman won and I'm sorry that I had voted for Henry Wallace. It didn't matter because Truman won anyway and I do think now in hindsight, that Truman was a very good president.

Brian Lehrer: Elizabeth, thank you so much for your call. Thank you for starting us out. I will say that all of our callers on hold right now are in your 90s. If there's anybody who's 100 years old or more, who wants to weigh in on your top election issue this year, we've got one open line right now, it's what we call line 8, and we're going to save it. Screeners, you got that? Bump anybody else who calls in, unless they're 100 years old or more for line 8. 212-433-WNYC, 212-433-9692. If that person is you. Nancy in Brooklyn, you're on WNYC. Hi, Nancy?

Nancy: Hi. First, I agree with what this caller just said, democracy is in peril, but I am interested in reforming the Supreme Court. I think it's responsible for most of the ills that we have now, starting with the appointment of Bush. Al Gore would never have gone into Iraq, and he would have concentrated on the environment because it was one of his major interests. Then, of course, there was Citizens United, that brought about dark money. Their gun decision is responsible for mass murder, and now abortion, which is responsible for many, many problems that women will have, some of whom will die.

I think they serve as an arm of the religious rights, and the Republican Party at its most extreme. If I had my way-- [crosstalk]

Brian Lehrer: The Supreme Court does, you're saying, right?

Nancy: Yes, the Supreme Court does. If I had my way, it would be abolished, but I'm disappointed. [crosstalk]

Brian Lehrer: The Supreme Court in your lifetime has been a progressive force sometimes. They established the right to non-segregated public schools, they established the right to abortion in the first place. How do you view it in historical terms?

Nancy: In historical terms, I think that it once functioned to help the country, understand the country, and move things forward. It just doesn't do that now.

Brian Lehrer: Nancy, thank you so much for calling in. We really appreciate it. Let's go to Marilyn on Long Island. Marilyn, you're on WNYC. Hi.

Marilyn: Hi. I just love your show.

Brian Lehrer: Thank you. What's your top issue this election year?

Marilyn: My top issue is the keeping of Congress with the Democratic majority.

Brian Lehrer: A pure partisan play to prevent the Republicans-

Marilyn: Absolutely.

Brian Lehrer: -from doing things that you think would be egregious and horrible, right?

Marilyn: I have to tell you I'm a graduate of City College in the '50s and everybody was worried, Joe McCarthy and the hearings. I just learned the value of the party. I never believed you vote for a person, you vote for a party and their agenda. I knew Chuck Schumer from his days in Brooklyn.

Brian Lehrer: Oh yes?

Marilyn: Yes. I worked for the Brooklyn public library for 22 years and I did senior lectures. I was a kid [laughs] doing book talks and he was very active in the Brooklyn social places.

Brian Lehrer: Marilyn, thank you so much for your call. If you went to college in the '50s then you're a baby in the context of this call-in.

Marilyn: I'm 90. I was just 90 in the end of March.

Brian Lehrer: [laughs] There you go.

Marilyn: I was born and raised in Brooklyn and always-- The first time I voted, I voted for Adelaide Stevenson.

Brian Lehrer: Marilyn, thank you very much. Mary in Manhattan, you're on WNYC. Hi Mary.

Mary: Hi Brian. Thank you for your show. I'm a daily listener. I'm going to be 95 in September. I'm a retired university prof. I think I'm aligned with my six young adult grandchildren in terms of the environment but personally, I am really worried about free and fair elections. I just think that'll be the end of us. Unless we can override the insane rules of Texas and other places, I don't see how we can survive as a country if we cannot have free and fair elections.

To put this Republican administration in for another session of the Senate would be disastrous to us or the house. I think we have to be able to vote, we have to be able to vote for the people we want, and it scares me really the fact that all these laws are coming up. I don't know how we're going to circumvent them or abolish them. I'm a great fan of Stacey Abrams and I wish we had more of her.

Brian Lehrer: I'm curious since you said you're interested in climate for the sake of your six young adult grandchildren as well as preserving democracy. Seeing everything you've seen at age 95, war and peace, cycles of boom and bust, expansion but now some contraction in human rights, how optimistic or pessimistic would you say you are about the future of our country or world?

Mary: Well, the Republicans survived some terrible things, including a disastrous civil war and I guess I'm hoping against hope that we will survive this. That there'll be enough people to set it right. I'd like to see more young people involved because I think they are on the right path. I have a lot of confidence in youth. As a professor, I saw generations of young people mature and I look at my own grandkids and I'm praying and hoping that they will be active.

They're much more active than earlier generations, I think. I'm hoping that they see the writing on the wall and will not only vote, but vote for the kinds of things we need as a nation to survive.

Brian Lehrer: Mary, thank you so much for your call. As we're taking calls in this segment from people in your 90s or above on what your number one midterm election issue is in 2022. Here we go. Here's Barbara in Walnut Creek, California who I think just turned 100. Barbara, you're on WNYC. Hi, there.

Barbara: Pardon me?

Brian Lehrer: You're on WNYC. Can you hear me?

Barbara: Yes. I do have a little hearing problem so okay.

Brian Lehrer: That's okay. The phone is good for that, right?

Barbara: [laughs] Hopefully.

Brian Lehrer: How old are you?

Barbara: I was 100 on the 17th of August.

Brian Lehrer: The 17th of August. That was just two days ago.

Barbara: Correct.

Brian Lehrer: Happy birthday.

Barbara: Thank you.

Brian Lehrer: What did you do to celebrate?

Barbara: We had two parties and they're giving me a block party tomorrow.

Brian Lehrer: A block party. The whole block is going to come out and celebrate you.

Barbara: Yes [laughs].

Brian Lehrer: Do you remember who the first person you voted for president was?

Barbara: I think Roosevelt.

Brian Lehrer: He won.

Barbara: [laughs]

Brian Lehrer: What's your number one issue for 2022? Do you have one?

Barbara: The first thing I want to do is stop Trump.

Brian Lehrer: You're lining up with all these younger callers through the week at least in our area.

Barbara: I'm very interested in church and state. Separation of church and state. I think it's being abused.

Brian Lehrer: Can I ask you a media question? I mentioned that most people didn't even have radios in their homes yet in 1922, the year you were born. What's the first way you remember getting your news in your lifetime?

Barbara: The newspaper. We got a newspaper every day.

Brian Lehrer: Do you remember which one in your case,

Barbara: It was in New York on Long Island and [laughs] no, I don't remember what it was.

Brian Lehrer: What do you think is the first thing that you can remember that got you interested in politics?

Barbara: War.

Brian Lehrer: World war II?

Barbara: During the second world war, I joined the USO and we entertained in Europe during the war. We entertained as close to the front as we could get. I was there and saw the results of war, the damage and everything and I just--

Brian Lehrer: It made you skeptical of war even though you felt our cause was just in world war II?

Barbara: Yes. If we don't watch out, war will do us in. All of us.

Brian Lehrer: Barbara, thank you so much for calling. Hey, happy birthday.

Barbara: All right. That was all the questions you need?

Brian Lehrer: Yes. That was all the questions I have time for. I'm sure we could have a long conversation, but I can't make it to your block party in California.

Barbara: [laughs] Church and state is such a big issue.

Brian Lehrer: Thank you very, very much. Saul in Glen Cove, you're on WNYC. Hi, Saul.

Saul: Saul. I'm 94 and a half. I'll be 95 before the end of the year and I'm very active.

Brian Lehrer: Now, Saul let me just say that this is what people when they're three and when they're four do. They say the half. "I'm three. I'm not just three, I'm three and a half." You're

[laughter]

94 and a half.

Saul: I'll be 95 in December. Okay.

Brian Lehrer: Yes true.

Saul: That's to put it straight. Now the issues. I agree fully with democracy. It's unbelievable that democracy is being threatened by people who are voting for the wrong people, and they think that they're doing the right thing. Don't tell them how to vote, don't tell us who's good, and they actually-- I can't believe it. It's [unintelligible 00:20:22], it's sickening. That's a big issue. I have a son also that I've been taking care of long distance. He lives in the same town, but he has a mental illness. He's in a group home, and I'm happy about that.

Now, listen, I want to talk about also community gardens. I live in Atria, and they have a lot of plants and flowers and so forth, but they don't have a community garden and the food is barely passable. They feed you, but I don't want even to talk-- [crosstalk]

Brian Lehrer: You're talking about your independent living or assisted living facility, right?

Saul: Yes, definitely.

Brian Lehrer: Now we're getting to brass tax, but that's not going to affect who you vote for, for Congress, right?

Saul: No, I always vote Liberal, democratic, and I'm happy with that. Also, I want to just say, nobody mentioned the Black people and what they went through. I go, and I do a lot of reading at the library, and I don't see well, but I read. I belong to a low-vision group. Also, I don't hear well, but I managed to hear. I consider myself intelligent. I was a printer almost of my life through my own doing and I made out very well. I'm so happy that you have the-- [crosstalk]

Brian Lehrer: Do you have a number one political hero or most-admired political public figure of your lifetime?

Saul: Roosevelt. I was a young one when Roosevelt came around, and I think he's a great president. We don't even celebrate his birthday, but he was one of the greatest presidents.

Brian Lehrer: Saul, thank you so much, and I hope the food becomes more to your liking there. Thank you very much for your call and all your thoughts. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Maria in Jersey City. You are WNYC. Hi, Maria.

Maria: Good morning. I'm a long-time listener and a great fan. I'm an immigrant from Nazi Germany. I was only seven at the time, but what disturbs me and wiser people than I have written articles and books about this is the parallels now that I see between the rise of Nazism and the rise of Trumpism. Right down to the fact that Hitler's mustache was as much a cartooned as Trump's silly hairdo, but I think that the so-called Christian life, which has nothing whatever to do with Christianity is perhaps like the Gestapo Mueller in their general outlook.

I think instead of the Jews, it's now people of color and immigrants, and they're the focus of hate. The parallels are endless and also Hitler was by many-- My parents were always very liberal people. My father was Jewish which is why we had to leave, but they always vote democratic all our lives. I'm sorry if I'm a little inarticulate there-- [crosstalk]

Brian Lehrer: You did great, and now we're out of time. I'm going to have to say goodbye, but thank you. I guess we end this call-in for people in their 90s and 100s with that dire warning that to 91-year-old Maria in Jersey City. This looks like a time that she remembers when Adolf Hitler was on the rise in her country of origin. Thank you all for calling in today and all through the week on this generational series. It will inform what we do on our Fall Election Series, 30 Issues in 30 Days, which begins next month. We'll do a different series of call-ins in this time slot next week, different questions for teachers getting ready to go back to school.

 

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