My name is Sam Anderson. I'm a staff writer for the New York Times Magazine. Over the years, I've interviewed actors, artists, athletes. Recently, I've been spending time with animal people. Wait, what happens if I put my fingers in that bottom case?

He will probably bite you.

Scientists, ferret breeders, a heavy metal band that rescues baby puffins.

You got one?

Everyone has a story.

When I was a kid, I had bats in the family bathroom.

She didn't hear my mom backing into.

The driveway, and she got pushed by.

My Jessica the rat used to eat ice cream out of my mouth because.

Thinking about animals seems to open up a little door.

This is the baby.

An escape hatch out of the human world. Is that your blood or its blood?

I think it's mine.

They're coming really close to my head.

In the New York Times. This is animal. Listen to it wherever you get podcasts.

From the New York Times. This is the interview. I'm Lulu Garcia Navarro. It has been, no exaggeration, one of the most consequential and dizzying periods in modern american politics. It began with President Biden's disastrous debate. Then came an assassination attempt against former President Trump. A week later, President Biden dropped out of the race and endorsed his vice president, Kamala Harris. And now Harris is the de facto democratic nominee at warp speed. The dynamics of this entire election have changed, not just for voters, but for party leaders like Pete Buttigieg, who went from being a top Biden surrogate to a top Harris surrogate in hours. Buttigieg is one of the most popular figures in the Democratic Party. Nicknamed Mayor Pete, he shot into the limelight when he ran for president in 2020 as the mayor of South Bend, Indiana. He then joined the Biden administration as secretary of transportation. But he's also frequently on tv as one of the Democrats top messengers. Reportedly, he's under consideration to become Harris running mate. If it happened and they won, he'd be the first openly gay vp. On Thursday, I sat down with Buttigieg to talk about how Biden's decision to drop out changed the race, what took so long, and what's next.

And if you notice that I'm not calling him Secretary Buttigieg or asking anything about his work in the cabinet, it's because there a law, the hatch act, that prevents him from mixing his day job with campaigning. Heres my conversation him.I want to talk about that decision, but I first want to just ask you about how the decision came about, because CNN reported that there is a concern.But this is what my answer, what I'm saying is for very good reasons, she knows what shes doing. She knows the job, she knows what she wants, and she knows the people out there who shes going to want to consider. But again, the other thing I would say, and certainly about her future presidency, which will be historic, is that before something like that happens, people always think its impossible. So many people thought that in 2008, anybody who is going to be a first has to overcome that skepticism.Last question. I assume at this point you know Kamala Harris very well. Do you have any specific story about working with her, something about her as a person that you think voters should know?I think people do know this, but she is not just impressive. Shes smart and funny. And the best chances I had to see this were when I was very involved in debate prep. I was asked to effectively play Mike Pence, which is a very strange, psychological, logical thing for me to do. But I'm so glad I got to do it because I got to see her in action. And what I love is that that is coming through. So often you hear about politicians. It is true sometimes they say, oh, this person's really funny and loose, but it just doesn't come through on tv. Or this person's smarter than you would think just watching on tv. I actually think what's interesting, not just tv, but the Internet has picked up on the fact that she has this great sense of humorous. And I think it's, by the way, also revealing that the GOP has tried to attack her for it. And that's fallen flat. I mean, even just this idea of sending around images of her laughing as if her joy is something that looks bad, when actually what looks bad is to be the doom and death March Republican party against a democratic party that on one hand is very clear eyed about the enormous stakes of this election and on the other hand is visibly enjoying ourselves right now.Pete Buttigieg, thank you so much. Appreciate your time.Thank you. Covered a lot of ground there.We did. I appreciate it. That's Pete Buttigieg. This conversation was produced by Annabelle Bacon. It was edited by Alison Benedict, mixing by Atheem Shapiro. Original music by Dan Powell and Marion Lozano. Photo illustration by Devin Yalkin. The rest of the team is Priya, Matthew Wyatt Orme and Seth Kelly, our executive producer is Alison Benedict. Special thanks to Jessica Lustig, Matty Maciello, Rory Walsh, Renan Borelli, Jeffrey Miranda, Brooke Minters, Jake Silverstein, Paula Schumann and Sam Dolenik. If you like what you're hearing, follow or subscribe to the interview wherever you get your podcast. To read or listen to any of our conversations, you can always go to nytimes.com theinterview and you can email us anytime@theinterviewtimes.com. i'm Lulu Garcia Navarro, and this is the interview from the New York Times.

him.

I want to talk about that decision, but I first want to just ask you about how the decision came about, because CNN reported that there is a concern.But this is what my answer, what I'm saying is for very good reasons, she knows what shes doing. She knows the job, she knows what she wants, and she knows the people out there who shes going to want to consider. But again, the other thing I would say, and certainly about her future presidency, which will be historic, is that before something like that happens, people always think its impossible. So many people thought that in 2008, anybody who is going to be a first has to overcome that skepticism.Last question. I assume at this point you know Kamala Harris very well. Do you have any specific story about working with her, something about her as a person that you think voters should know?I think people do know this, but she is not just impressive. Shes smart and funny. And the best chances I had to see this were when I was very involved in debate prep. I was asked to effectively play Mike Pence, which is a very strange, psychological, logical thing for me to do. But I'm so glad I got to do it because I got to see her in action. And what I love is that that is coming through. So often you hear about politicians. It is true sometimes they say, oh, this person's really funny and loose, but it just doesn't come through on tv. Or this person's smarter than you would think just watching on tv. I actually think what's interesting, not just tv, but the Internet has picked up on the fact that she has this great sense of humorous. And I think it's, by the way, also revealing that the GOP has tried to attack her for it. And that's fallen flat. I mean, even just this idea of sending around images of her laughing as if her joy is something that looks bad, when actually what looks bad is to be the doom and death March Republican party against a democratic party that on one hand is very clear eyed about the enormous stakes of this election and on the other hand is visibly enjoying ourselves right now.Pete Buttigieg, thank you so much. Appreciate your time.Thank you. Covered a lot of ground there.We did. I appreciate it. That's Pete Buttigieg. This conversation was produced by Annabelle Bacon. It was edited by Alison Benedict, mixing by Atheem Shapiro. Original music by Dan Powell and Marion Lozano. Photo illustration by Devin Yalkin. The rest of the team is Priya, Matthew Wyatt Orme and Seth Kelly, our executive producer is Alison Benedict. Special thanks to Jessica Lustig, Matty Maciello, Rory Walsh, Renan Borelli, Jeffrey Miranda, Brooke Minters, Jake Silverstein, Paula Schumann and Sam Dolenik. If you like what you're hearing, follow or subscribe to the interview wherever you get your podcast. To read or listen to any of our conversations, you can always go to nytimes.com theinterview and you can email us anytime@theinterviewtimes.com. i'm Lulu Garcia Navarro, and this is the interview from the New York Times.

is a concern.

But this is what my answer, what I'm saying is for very good reasons, she knows what shes doing. She knows the job, she knows what she wants, and she knows the people out there who shes going to want to consider. But again, the other thing I would say, and certainly about her future presidency, which will be historic, is that before something like that happens, people always think its impossible. So many people thought that in 2008, anybody who is going to be a first has to overcome that skepticism.

Last question. I assume at this point you know Kamala Harris very well. Do you have any specific story about working with her, something about her as a person that you think voters should know?

I think people do know this, but she is not just impressive. Shes smart and funny. And the best chances I had to see this were when I was very involved in debate prep. I was asked to effectively play Mike Pence, which is a very strange, psychological, logical thing for me to do. But I'm so glad I got to do it because I got to see her in action. And what I love is that that is coming through. So often you hear about politicians. It is true sometimes they say, oh, this person's really funny and loose, but it just doesn't come through on tv. Or this person's smarter than you would think just watching on tv. I actually think what's interesting, not just tv, but the Internet has picked up on the fact that she has this great sense of humorous. And I think it's, by the way, also revealing that the GOP has tried to attack her for it. And that's fallen flat. I mean, even just this idea of sending around images of her laughing as if her joy is something that looks bad, when actually what looks bad is to be the doom and death March Republican party against a democratic party that on one hand is very clear eyed about the enormous stakes of this election and on the other hand is visibly enjoying ourselves right now.

Pete Buttigieg, thank you so much. Appreciate your time.

Thank you. Covered a lot of ground there.

We did. I appreciate it. That's Pete Buttigieg. This conversation was produced by Annabelle Bacon. It was edited by Alison Benedict, mixing by Atheem Shapiro. Original music by Dan Powell and Marion Lozano. Photo illustration by Devin Yalkin. The rest of the team is Priya, Matthew Wyatt Orme and Seth Kelly, our executive producer is Alison Benedict. Special thanks to Jessica Lustig, Matty Maciello, Rory Walsh, Renan Borelli, Jeffrey Miranda, Brooke Minters, Jake Silverstein, Paula Schumann and Sam Dolenik. If you like what you're hearing, follow or subscribe to the interview wherever you get your podcast. To read or listen to any of our conversations, you can always go to nytimes.com theinterview and you can email us anytime@theinterviewtimes.com. i'm Lulu Garcia Navarro, and this is the interview from the New York Times.