The Youth Governor: When the Kids Get to Rule the World

Our special guests are documentary writers, directors and brothers Jaron and Matthew Halmy. Their latest production, the documentary The Youth Governor launches on August 26th in theaters and on Amazon.

If kids ran the government and ran for public office, what would that look like? The Youth Governor shows us.

The Youth Governor is a program by the YMCA, run nationwide, in which kids emulate government bodies with literally parallel elected bodies and roles filled by kids.

The film The Youth Governor documents the California youth government and its election of the 72nd Youth Governor. The Youth Governor is the story of the candidacy, campaign, and election of the 72nd California Youth Governor. The program itself takes place in California's Capitol, 4,000 teenagers run a fully functioning government complete with legislators, lobbyists, political party bosses, and elections. Over the course of four months, three candidates emerge from a field of 40. On the campaign trail, in their homes, and with their peers watching their every word, these young candidates put together the unique mix of ambition, confidence, shamelessness, and pure motivation it takes to win. These young candidates see themselves as the heroic leaders that are nowhere around them. They feel burdened to solve the problems that their adult leaders have trouble addressing. Their story is a window into the world of young people who revere American democracy. The film follows these candidates as they throw themselves into the gauntlet of the electoral process.

Today, the  Halmy brothers take us into their world to tell us about the kids, the program and the film, and  how it is our future.

With co-host Brody Levesque