The newly seated Republican-controlled Congress was entering its third day of voting in early January to decide the speakership and , the acerbic and quick-witted author, social commentator, journalist, actor and raconteur, had seen enough.
鈥淐learly the Republicans don鈥檛 care about the country,鈥 she said during that phone call on Jan. 5 that came after witnessing the political theater playing out in the House with hardline Republicans pushing and the presumptive speaker Kevin McCarthy giving in to their demands. 鈥淏ut if it wasn鈥檛 really bad for the country, it鈥檚 pretty enjoyable for the Democrats.鈥
Expect her to expound on her post-McCarthy election opinions and a whole host of political and social issues when she , 318 E. Congress St., on Thursday, April 6. Rialto Executive Director Cathy Rivers will spend about 30 minutes interviewing Lebowitz before she opens it up to the audience for questions.
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Lebowitz said there鈥檚 no restrictions on what questions the audience or Rivers can ask and she will have no idea about them in advance.
鈥淚 refuse to look at the questions so I don鈥檛 know what they are going to ask me,鈥 she said. 鈥淲ith the questions from the audience, which is my favorite thing, practically in the world, it used to be 鈥 you know I鈥檝e been doing this really since I was 27 and I鈥檓 72; that鈥檚 really a long time 鈥 it used to be that in presidential election years, I get a lot of political questions, but not the rest of the time. But starting with Trump, the questions are minimum 50% political and sometimes more. And that is true not just in the United States but also true in Germany and Scandinavia, where I go frequently. The whole world has become more interested in politics 鈥 and that鈥檚 because the politics are so bad.鈥
Lebowitz said voters and young people are largely to blame.
鈥淟ook how long it took for people who are young to vote,鈥 she quipped. 鈥淚 have never understood it because you have much more at stake in every election. The younger you are, the more you have at stake.鈥
Interestingly, a big swath of her audience these days and likely including her Tucson audience are in their 20s, introduced to her through her 2021 Netflix documentary series 鈥淢artin Scorsese Presents: 鈥楶retend It鈥檚 a City.鈥欌
In the series, which they filmed in 2019 and expected to air in 2020, she and her longtime friend Scorsese wander the streets of New York musing about the city they both love, tourists, money, subways, the arts and Times Square. Netflix delayed the release until January 2021; she was told it was to allow time to add subtitles for the 191 countries that have Netflix.
Not that she would have tuned into the streaming service.
鈥淭o have Netflix you must have Wifi, which I don鈥檛,鈥 said Lebowitz, who famously doesn鈥檛 have a cell phone or computer and could care little about what鈥檚 trending on social media.
During our conversation, she also admitted she鈥檚 scared of cacti 鈥 鈥淲herever I stayed the last time I was there was against a mountain and there were all these cacti and at night the shadows. I was terrified.鈥 鈥 and she believes in New York, the weather should be reported by Vogue magazine.
鈥淲e鈥檙e not farmers; we don鈥檛 need to know the weather. Farmers need to know the weather. We want to know: What should I wear,鈥 she said. 鈥淲e should have (Vogue editor) Anna Wintour saying 鈥楧on鈥檛 wear those shoes; it鈥檚 gonna pour.鈥 鈥楧on鈥檛 wear that sweater.鈥 That鈥檚 the news that we need to know.鈥
But she digresses.
She can鈥檛 shake an image she saw on TV from those Congressional speaker votes of the controversial New York Rep. George Santos sitting off by himself in the House next to a little boy.
鈥淯sually on the opening day of Congress they bring their children. I鈥檝e never understood that; I think it鈥檚 silly,鈥 Lebowitz said. 鈥淭hey bring their children including babies and so obviously somebody brought this little boy, and I mean a little boy, like 6-year-old boy. And they (Santos and the boy) were dressed exactly alike and I thought, I can鈥檛 believe no one is commenting on this. 鈥 The little boy is dressed as a little boy in this sweater and this guy Santos is dressed as a little boy with this sweater. 鈥楬ow about a shirt and tie? How about grow up? How about you鈥檙e in Congress?鈥 And the little boy ... kept looking at this guy and I felt like he looked like he was thinking, 鈥榃hy are you dressed like a little boy?鈥欌
The conversation with Fran Lebowitz is presented by Arizona Arts Live.
Tickets for the 8 p.m. event are $45-$59 through .
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Contact reporter Cathalena E. Burch at cburch@tucson.com. On Twitter @Starburch
Cathalena E. Burch
Reporter
