Cara Spencer: Pint glasses of shell casings & public health; Running for Mayor of Saint Louis

About this episode

Cara Spencer, a St. Louis alderwoman and mathematician-turned-politician running for mayor, walks Vance through the mechanics and dysfunction of an "unreformed" city government where 679 elected officials across the metro region fight for relevance in a fractured power structure. She opens with a visceral prop — a pint glass of spent bullet casings she's collected on her daily runs since June, framing it against St. Louis's status as the nation's #1 city for homicides, much of it driven by children carrying guns. She discusses vaccine rollout failures tied to partisan state-city friction, the city's plan to hire a private company to fly surveillance planes 18 hours a day over residents' backyards (which she opposes as "egregious abuse of civil liberties" without data-protection safeguards), and the corrosive effect of a city government that can't reliably answer 911 calls, pick up trash, or warn residents before cutting down 50-year-old trees. She lays out her theory of government — protect the vulnerable, otherwise get out of the way — while acknowledging that in a city with 30-40% poverty, simply retreating won't solve gun violence or joblessness. Vance pushes his "fractal localism" framework (more communal control close to home, less further out) and challenges her on staying in a city where she herself was assaulted at gunpoint by an 18-year-old. The conversation closes on lighter civic-boosting notes — Vance's Formula One/IndyCar-through-the-streets idea, post-pandemic celebration plans — and Spencer's closing declaration that she will be elected mayor and turn the city around.

“I pick up bullet casings in the streets of my neighborhood... I've collected these in my neighborhood since June... a good number of the carjackings that take place in the city of St. Louis... are done at the hands of children.”

“The city of St. Louis is considering contracting with a private operator to put spy planes in the air 18 hours a day to capture images of everything, including your backyard and through your windows... that is an egregious abuse of civil liberties in my view.”

“25% of all emergency level 911 calls, you get a busy signal, you get a recording... there is reason to distrust the system... the city who collects your taxes... is failing to return that investment in a way that engenders your trust.”

Key moments

• ~0-2%: Cold open on the pint glass of shell casings, foreshadowing the crime discussion.
• ~25-31%: Bullet-casing prop and the children-with-guns/carjacking crisis.
• ~27%: The spy-plane surveillance proposal and Spencer's civil-liberties objection.
• ~38-40%: 911 busy signals, unpaved streets, unwarned tree removals as evidence of institutional failure eroding trust.
• ~40%: Vance directly asks why she stays in a city where she was assaulted at gunpoint.
• ~44-46%: "What comes after a trillion?" — both struggle to name quadrillion/quintillion, illustrating scale-of-stimulus absurdity.
• ~99%: Spencer's closing declaration — "I'm gonna be elected mayor, and we're gonna turn this city around."

Notable quotes

“I pick up bullet casings in the streets of my neighborhood... I've collected these in my neighborhood since June.”

“The city of St. Louis is considering contracting with a private operator to put spy planes in the air 18 hours a day to capture images of everything, including your backyard and through your windows.”

“25% of all emergency level 911 calls, you get a busy signal... there's gunfire, someone will be with me shortly. No thank you. That's what happens.”

“Children who haven't fully developed a frontal lobe are carrying around guns... a good number of the carjackings... are done at the hands of children.”