SCOTT DETROW, HOST:
Before I began hosting ALL THINGS CONSIDERED, I spent a lot of years covering politics, which, as you might imagine, involves a lot of lurking in hallways looking for lawmakers and then chasing them through the halls to get quotes. So I know how elusive politicians can be when they do not want you to find them. And that is why I had to be impressed with what a group of interns in Alaska Senator Lisa Murkowski's office have accomplished. Over the course of the summer, they have managed to track down every single senator, all 100, and taken a selfie with them.
Joining me now are two of these interns, Lillian Yang and Claire Moreland. Welcome to ALL THINGS CONSIDERED.
LILLIAN YANG: Thank you for having us.
CLAIRE MORELAND: Hi. Thank you for having us.
DETROW: Claire, can you tell me the background here? How did this quest get started? Whose idea was it?
MORELAND: Yeah, of course. This whole quest began with the June session of interns. And one of our coordinators pitched the idea to them, saying, oh, you guys should try to get selfies with all 100 senators. It'd be a very unique way to get to know the politicians that actually work in the Capitol. And so the June interns got to 75 senators. And so when we arrived in July, it turned into something that we felt we could actually accomplish. And we were really, really trying to get all of them. And I'm really proud of all of us for managing to get all 100 senators in just about three weeks.
DETROW: So sorry to the June interns, but you all beat them. Lillian, how hard was it to get to that final 100? Who was the last elusive senator to get there?
YANG: Oh, the last elusive senator was Senator Klobuchar from Minnesota. We actually - we were waiting outside the Senate floor for hours, but eventually, her interns heard about it. And her interns helped us get Senator Klobuchar off the floor to take a picture with us. And that was a super awesome moment.
DETROW: I love it. Who was the most fun to take a picture with? And I have a guess from my years covering the Senate, but I'll see if I'm right or not. Who - Lillian, who was the most fun to take a picture with for you?
YANG: I think it was definitely Senator Booker.
DETROW: Yep.
YANG: It was really, really awesome. He grabbed one of our phones, and he just took a selfie. And we were like, oh, my God. We couldn't believe that that was happening.
MORELAND: Although, Lillian, I think you had another favorite senator, didn't you?
YANG: I had a personal favorite.
DETROW: Well, who was the personal favorite? You're teasing it. You got to let us know.
YANG: Personal favorite was Senator Ossoff.
DETROW: Oh, yeah.
(LAUGHTER)
DETROW: Claire, what about you? Who was your favorite senator to track down and get a picture with?
MORELAND: Senator Warren. She was incredibly kind and just very excited. And it was incredible to see her, like, in person and to realize that, oh, my gosh, these people do exist in a place that is not just television.
DETROW: Who was the most elusive senator to track down? You said Klobuchar was the last one you got, but who was the hardest to find?
MORELAND: I think Senator Sinema.
DETROW: Interesting. We found that, too, as reporters over the last few years.
(LAUGHTER)
DETROW: That was Lillian Yang and Claire Moreland, two of the eight interns in Senator Lisa Murkowski's office, who collected selfies with all 100 senators and just as importantly, defeated the June session of Murkowski interns in doing that. Thank you. Thank you so much to both of you for - first of all, for being interested in politics in this particular moment, I'll say, and for talking to us.
MORELAND: Thank you so much for having us.
YANG: Thank you for this awesome opportunity. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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