It’s our hundredth episode, and in the spirit of us being around so long, Remoy takes us back to when the US did unMASK American leadership: with its first woman VP in the White House. Kamala Harris didn’t become president, but let’s not forget what it meant for her to come so close… Her videographer, Azza Cohen, helps us pull back the curtain on what it meant to have Harris’s leadership and the difference she made for men and women everywhere.

• Remoy loves a guessing game! He takes Samantha on a windy road figuring out how he got to meet this week’s guest, Azza Cohen.
• After a fun windy game, he taps in Azza Cohen, Kamala Harris’s videographer, to describe what it was like to document the first woman vice president.
  • She describes how Kamala’s leadership made more people feel seen than we realize, with a simple description of herself.
  • Azza describes how some news outlets used her nod toward a marginalized community to diminish her leadership, but it was just conservative ones…
  • Our illustrious guest points out how portrayals of women in the media are directly tied to the public’s perception of them as leaders. Kamala was a perfect example of this.
• And then a little context about white balance.
  • Azza shares how photography and camera technology principles have racist roots.
  • She reflects on her experience as adapting previous knowledge to different skin tones.
• Azza shares how Kamala’s leadership impacted her.
  • Azza reflects on the difficulty taking space and having confidence in the workplace, and how Kamala inspired her to do just that in an on-the-job moment.
  • She points out the inherent gender bias that we sometimes have when dealing with kids.
    • Samantha admits having to confront her biases in her own life.
    • Azza shares an anecdote showing how Kamala challenged gender biases in her leadership and the difference it made.
• What about the fact that Kamala was too centrist for some? Samantha plays devil’s advocate.
  • Azza gives an insightful response about our political system.
• Azza shares symbolic moments during the transition of power in 2024.
  • How did the former VP handle it?
  • What were those last moments like?
  • Samantha and Remoy reflect on how important it was for Kamala Harris to be in the position she was in.
• Azza ends with a powerful word on the images we consume, particularly as it concerns the current administration.
  • She wants to remember how women’s leadership is captured in this country and what the impact on our society may be because of it.

COMPANION PIECES:

• Our episode How American Politics REALLY Sees Men & MASKulinity does include Americans’ thoughts about women’s leadership traits
• No, having a woman president would not turn our country into a matriarchy (I think we wish it did kind of?!), but some examples of what women’s leadership could be like would still be helpful. We had talked about matriarchy,
• It didn’t work out, but some men were still about that Kamala as President life

Referenced on this episode:

• That original Slate piece Azza wrote that caught Remoy’s interest? You can read it here
• You can follow Azza on Substack @azzacohen
• The image in our episode art is an Official White House photograph by Lawrence Jackson