Playing Stardew Valley With Gov. Whitmer Made Us Feel Better About The World

If anyone understands just how much of a garbage fire the political landscape in the United States is right now, it’s Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer. Currently serving her second term to the Great Lakes State, Big Gretch, as she’s affectionately known by constituents and the internet, went through a tough time right after the 2024 presidential election. “I kind of tuned out for a while,” Whitmer told Refinery29 Entertainment Director Melissah Yang. “I watched a lot of Dexter. If I had known about Stardew Valley, maybe I would have spent my time here.” It’s an understandable response to the reelection of President Trump, who is responsible for racist immigration bans, rolling back reproductive rights, igniting an international tariff showdown, and defunding key federal agencies. But, as Whitmer noted, it's also one that wouldn’t have worked for her in the long term. “I also know about myself though, that when I do that, I feel worse. I feel more anxious. I can feel my stress build — so I’ve gotta be in it and I’ve gotta help people.”

Which Whitmer has done since winning the governorship in 2018. During her tenure, she’s repealed Michigan’s 1931 abortion ban, expanded civil rights protections for the LGBTQ+ community, and implemented a school lunch program that provides meals for all public school students free-of-charge. And, Whitmer said, it’s vital everyone does the same and stays engaged, no matter what or how that looks like.

It’s sound — not to mention welcome — advice, and one of many that Whitmer shared during an all-encompassing conversation in a special Twitch livestream, which had the Michigan governor playing cozy game Stardew Valley for the first time. While harvesting crops and feeding chickens named after the governor's IRL dogs Doug and Kevin, Whitmer and Yang discussed everything from the origin of Whitmer’s infamous shark shoulder tattoo (a reminder to be a “happy warrior”), her thoughts on the latest season of Yellowjackets (“Lord Of The Flies with women!”), her go-to pump-up song when she needs to get sh*t done (FYI, it’s “Welcome To The Jungle” by Guns N’ Roses), and her “dream blunt rotation” (Willie Nelson and Snoop Dogg, of course), to important issues such as how to combat the ongoing attacks on reproductive rights and how to best navigate the extreme polarization in the country. 

“It’s a really troubling time,” Whitmer, a staunch advocate for women’s rights, said. Looking back to the June 2022 repeal of Roe v. Wade, which returned abortion decisions to the state level and resulted in more restrictions across multiple states, Whitmer noted how it also encouraged a groundswell of sorts, with people digging in to fight to protect these reproductive rights. But it can’t stop there. “I’m sad to say that this is an ongoing, worrisome situation where you’ve got a Supreme Court that has upended the law; you have states that are going forward and making it harder to be a woman in their states, cutting off access to health care,” she said. For Whitmer, it’s important that young people know the laws of the state they choose to live in, that they vote with their feet and at the ballot box, and continue to stay engaged with organizations helping women access reproductive healthcare. “At this moment, we can’t change what happened at the Supreme Court, but we can at the community-level make a difference,” Whitmer said.  

And part of that includes bridging the gap between political sides. While it can feel tough — and often impossible — to have conversations and engage with those in our communities that have staunchly opposing political views, for Whitmer, who said she has a duty to Michiganders to bridge this gap with President Trump, that doesn’t mean it’s not important or worthwhile. “I think it’s almost always worth trying to find common ground,” she said. “If we don't talk to each other, you're guaranteed never to find common ground.” Even if this means starting at a basic level, identifying commonalities like a favorite sports team, and expanding from there. “...Even on a hot button issue like [abortion], there’s common ground to be found,” Whitmer added.

Despite the constant turmoil in the news, Whitmer said she’s been encouraged by recent demonstrations, including mass protests across the United States, New Jersey Sen. Cory Booker’s history-making 25-hour speech against the Trump administration on the Senate floor, and the recent victory of a Democrat-backed judge to Wisconsin's Supreme Court in a race that saw billionaire Elon Musk pour millions of dollars of his own money to support the Republican-backed candidate. That doesn’t necessarily mean, like Booker, you need to be intentionally dehydrating yourself. “We have to engage in a way that makes sense wherever we call home,” Whitmer said, “and it looks different for everyone.”  

That could mean writing a letter to your own state’s governor, volunteering for organizations like your local food bank that have been faced with mass funding cuts, and making donations whenever possible. “Everyone of us can participate in whatever way makes the most sense, whatever ground we’re fighting for, wherever we are,” Whitmer said. “And I think that’s something to take inspiration from, how we’ve seen people find ways.”

When her final term ends in 2026, the governor said she plans to “walk the earth” and take time off to figure out the next chapter of her life. “I’ll be 55 years old [in 2026] and I’ve got a lot more to contribute, but what does that look like in a way that’s meaningful and gives me purpose,” she said. 

So will we see Whitmer in the race for the White House come 2028? For now, she’s staying mum — and maybe playing a bit more Stardew Valley.