Alec Baldwin‘s podcast “Here’s the Thing” dropped a new episode this week featuring Amanda Litman, the co-founder and president of Run For Something. The organization launched in 2017 with one clear mission: get more young, diverse progressive candidates into office. Nine years in, it’s helped elect more than 1,500 leaders across 49 states – primarily women and people of color.
That number is easy to gloss over, but it’s worth sitting with for a second. More than 1,500 elected officials. Across 49 states. In less than a decade.
Litman’s own path into politics started with an email job. She was a writer on Barack Obama‘s 2012 re-election campaign, handling email outreach. It’s the kind of behind-the-scenes work that rarely gets its own documentary. She’s pointed to Obama as the reason she got into politics in the first place. From there she worked as a digital strategist on Hillary Clinton‘s 2016 presidential campaign and on Charlie Crist’s 2014 Florida gubernatorial race. She also served as deputy email director for Organizing for Action.
Run For Something grew out of all that campaign experience, but it focuses in a very different direction. It’s built around the less flashy races – local offices, state legislatures, school boards. That’s where most of the decisions affecting daily life actually happen.
Litman doesn’t mince words about the problem she’s trying to solve. She’s openly critical of “bad boomer leadership” and what she calls a “boomer mentality” in American politics. She also runs RFS Civics, a 501(c)(3) with one specific aim: ending political gerontocracy. Gerontocracy is the idea that older generations hold power long past their moment. Meanwhile, younger leaders wait on the sidelines.
She’s been writing about this, too. Her first book, “Run for Something: A Real-Talk Guide to Fixing the System Yourself,” came out shortly after she launched the organization. Her second, “When We’re in Charge: The Next Generation’s Guide to Leadership,” was published in May 2025. It’s aimed at the generation she’s been recruiting into public service for years.
Baldwin shared the episode on Instagram, calling Litman “an author, digital strategist, and the co-founder and president of ‘Run For Something’ – an organization which recruits and supports young, diverse progressive candidates.”
“Here’s the Thing” covers a wide range. Baldwin has always mixed entertainment-world names with writers, activists, and policy people. Litman fits comfortably into that second category. She’s got real credentials, a clear argument, and a new book to back it up.
The conversation around political age and generational change can feel pretty abstract. This episode might make it feel a little more concrete. Run For Something has been doing the actual work since 2017, long before “gerontocracy” became a regular talking point.
The episode is available now through the link in Baldwin’s Instagram bio.
