DSR's Words Matter

This week we put Era of Ignition: Coming of Age in a Time of Rage and Revolution by Amber Tamblyn into the Words Matter Library. Amber is an actor, filmmaker, writer, activist and poet. Her acting credits include Joan of Arcadia, The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants, House and will be seen in Y: The Last Man,. Her written work has been featured in The Cut and the New York Times. @ambertamblyn Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/words-matter. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Happy New Year - Welcome to 2020. This year will be one of the most - if THE most consequential in American political history. For the first time ever, a President of the United States runs for re-election after being impeached by the House of Representatives and facing a trial in the US Senate. Control of both Houses of Congress, the White House and the future of the Supreme Court all hang in the balance. And in the next few months, Democrats will choose their nominee to take on President Trump in November. But going into Iowa and New Hampshire - after nearly a year of campaigning and a half dozen debates, no clear front runner has emerged. And now - in addition to all of that - war hangs over the Middle East after US forces assassinated Iran’s highest ranking military leader less than 48 hours into the new year. Katie and Joe discuss that and more. Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/words-matter. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this Best of edition of the Words Matter Library, Katie sits down with Lauren Moxley, the host of The Ginsburg Tapes Podcast -- which chronicles Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s oral arguments before the then all-male United States Supreme Court from 1972 to 1978 —before she became #Notorious RBG. The Ginsburg Tapes allows the listener to be a fly on the wall for some of the most important cases in American jurisprudence as future Justice Ginsburg challenged laws treating men and women differently. In between the actually Supreme Court recordings, Lauren puts the cases, the law and even the Justices themselves in historical context and explains how as a lawyer, RBG really did change the World. Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/words-matter. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This week Katie and Joe preview Joe's new series "The Professionals" where we give you the inside story of what really drives a presidential campaign. We'll break down what makes a campaign successful and why some candidates come up short. Our experts meet two important criteria - they're not actively working on a campaign now (so they can be unbiased) AND they've been involved at a senior level for multiple presidential campaigns. In the pilot episode Jen Psaki, Paul Begala and Ron Klain take you behind the scenes of presidential debate prep. Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/words-matter. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

As the United States Senate prepares for the Impeachment Trial of President Donald J. Trump, we once again put then-Senator John F. Kennedy's Pulitzer Prize winning book into the Words Matter Library. Profiles in Courage chronicles acts of bravery and integrity by 8 United States Senators. Caroline Kennedy and the late John F. Kennedy Jr. narrate the story of leaders who defied their party and their constituents to do what they felt was right and as a result suffered severe criticism and significant losses. History will be watching to see if there are any modern examples of political courage left in Washington. Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/words-matter. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Last week the 45th President of the United States became only the 3rd Chief Executive in American History to be impeached by the House of Representatives. This week Katie and Joe talk about what it means for President Trump, his legacy AND how long Speaker Pelosi can withhold sending the Articles of Impeachment to the US Senate. Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/words-matter. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Rick Wilson is a political strategist, media consultant and a best-selling author based in Florida who has produced political commercials for governors, U.S. Senate candidates and super PACs. Rick has written for the Daily Beast, Politico, the New York Daily News, Medium and he is the author of the New York Times Best Seller Everything Trump Touches Dies.. His next book, Running Against the Devil: A Plot to Save America from Trump—and Democrats from Themselves will be published on January 14, 2020. His is also one of the Founders of The Lincoln Project, a Super PAC that "will be dedicated to defeating President Trump and Trumpism at the ballot box and to elect those patriots who will hold the line.” Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/words-matter. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This week Katie and Joe sit down with the Chairman of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence. Congressman Adam Schiff is in his 10 term representing California’s 28th Congressional District.Before that he was a Member of the California State Senate where he served as Chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee. Congressman Schiff began his career as an Assistant US Attorney in the Central District of California. Katie and Joe talk to him about the Impeachment of President Trump, what a Senate trial may look like and more. Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/words-matter. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

More than 20 years ago - in his closing argument in the Senate Impeachment Trial of President Bill Clinton, Republican House Manager Congressman Henry Hyde held up a letter from 8 year old William Preston Summers, a 3rd grader from Chase Elementary School in Chicago. It was perhaps only compelling moment in the entire trial. This week, we put Congressman Henry Hyde reading third grader William Preston Summers' letter into the Words Matter Library. Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/words-matter. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Katie and Joe sit down with Ruth Marcus of the Washington Post. Ruth is a journalist, political commentator and author who has written for the Post since her final year at Harvard Law School. Among other beats, She has covered campaign finance, the Justice Department, the Supreme Court and the White House. And for 15 years she has served on the Post’s Editorial Board. Her new book Supreme Ambition: Brett Kavanaugh and the Conservative Takeover, debuted last week. Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/words-matter. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This week we put Election Ride Home hosted by Chris Higgins into the Words Matter Library. Chris is a veteran journalist, a writer and a documentarian His previous credits include The Atlantic, This American Life and Mental Floss. Election Ride Home gives listeners a 15-20 minute update on all the day’s 2020 election news. Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/words-matter. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Katie and Joe sit down with political activist, organizer, analyst and author Karine Jean-Pierre. Her experience ranges from presidential campaigns to local politics to grassroots activism. Karine is the Chief Public Affairs Officer for Moveon.org and a lecturer in international and public affairs at Columbia University. Karine is also a political analyst for NBC News and MSNBC and the author of the new book – Moving Forward: A Story of Hope, Hard Work and the Promise of America. Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/words-matter. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This week we put Today Explained into the Words Matter Library. Sean Rameswaram is a journalist, a podcaster, a writer, producer and radio host. His previous experience includes time as a correspondent for Radiolab. He has also created and hosted radio shows for the CBC, and WNYC. Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/words-matter. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Last week the House Intelligence Committee wrapped two weeks of public impeachment hearings. We heard from 12 witnesses in more than 40 hours of televised testimony. Katie and Joe talk to former federal prosecutor Elie Honig about what happened, what it means and what happens next. Elie is a former state and federal prosecutor with extensive experience leading and managing criminal trials and appeals. As a state prosecutor in New Jersey and a federal prosecutor in the Southern District of New York, He directed major criminal cases against street gangs drug trafficking organizations illegal firearms traffickers corrupt public officials, child predators and white-collar criminals. Elie also serves as a Rutgers University scholar, is a CNN legal analyst and is featured on Cross Exam. Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/words-matter. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This week we add China’s Vision of Victory by Dr. Jonathan Ward to the Words Matter Library. Jonathan Ward is an author, a scholar and a strategic consultant. He speaks 5 languages, is founder of the Atlas Organization a strategic consultancy, and holds a Ph.D. from Oxford in China–India relations. Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/words-matter. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Last week, public impeachment hearings of President Trump began in the House Intelligence Committee – and pretty much everyone who does not appear on Fox News or the Rush Limbaugh Radio Show proclaimed the proceedings to be “historic” This week Katie and Joe discuss the history of impeachment with presidential historian Professor Douglas Brinkley. Professor Brinkley is is a celebrated historian and the award-winning author, co-author or editor of more than 30 books, most of these works focus on American presidents or people we know because of presidents. He is the Katharine Sarnoff Brown Chair of humanities and professor of history at Rice University. He is a CNN presidential historian and a contributing editor at Vanity Fair. Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/words-matter. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This week we add American History Tellers to the Words Matter Library. The Cold War, Prohibition, the Gold Rush, the Space Race. Every part of your life -the words you speak, the ideas you share- can be traced to our history, but how well do you really know the stories that made America? American History Tellers will take you to the events, the times and the people that shaped our nation. And they'll show you how our history affected them, their families and affects you today. Hosted by Lindsay Graham (not the Senator). From Wondery, the network behind Tides Of History, History Unplugged, Fall Of Rome and Dirty John. And check out Lindsay's latest podcast -- American Elections: Wicked Game Subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you got your podcasts. American Elections: Wicked Game http://wondery.fm/AmericanElectionsWM Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/words-matter. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Gabe Sherman sits down with Katie and Joe to talk about Fox News and the Impeachment of Donald Trump. Gabe is an award-winning journalist, best-selling author and a special correspondent for Vanity Fair. Earlier this year his book The Loudest Voice in the Room: How the Brilliant, Bombastic Roger Ailes Built Fox News – and Divided a Country, was turned into the television series Loudest Voice by ShowTime starring Russell Crowe as Roger Ailes. Gabe's reporting on Fox News eventually lead to the termination of both Bill O’Reilly and Roger Ailes. Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/words-matter. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This week we put Verify by bestselling author Joelle Charbonneau into the Words Matter Library. This eerily timely, high-stakes page-turner is destined to start important conversations at this particular moment in our history. Meri Beckley lives in a world without lies. When she looks at the peaceful Chicago streets, she feels pride in the era of unprecedented hope and prosperity over which the governor presides. But when Meri’s mother is killed, Meri suddenly has questions that no one else seems to be asking. And when she tries to uncover her mother’s state of mind in her last weeks, she finds herself drawn into a secret world with a history she didn’t know existed. Suddenly, Meri is faced with a choice between accepting the “truth” or embracing a world the government doesn’t want anyone to see—a world where words have the power to change the course of a country and where the wrong ones can get Meri killed. Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/words-matter. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Last week was a significant one for the House Impeachment Inquiry. On Thursday the House of Representatives voted 232-196 to approve rules and move forward with the impeachment inquiry into President Trump’s conduct. The vote was mostly along party lines with all the Republicans voting against joined by two Democrats from districts Trump won in 2016. Katie and Joe breakdown what happened and why it matters in this SPECIAL Impeachment 2.0 Update Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/words-matter. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

It is impossible to understand Donald Trump without understanding America's relationship with television. James Poniewozik is the chief television critic for The New York Times. He often focuses on the intersection between television, politics and culture. He is the author of the new book -- Audience of One: Donald Trump, Television, and the Fracturing of America Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/words-matter. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This week we add Take Hold of Our History: Make America Radical Again by Professor Harvey J. Kaye to the Words Matter Library. Harvey J. Kaye is the Ben and Joyce Rosenberg Professor of Democracy and Justice Studies and Director of the Center for History and Social Change at the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay. An award-winning author and writer, he has written 9 books – including: Thomas Paine and the Promise of America (2005) The Fight for the Four Freedoms: What Made FDR and the Greatest Generation Truly Great (2015) “Why Do Ruling Classes Fear History?” and Other Questions (1996) Follow Professor Kaye on Twitter Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/words-matter. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

A special LIVE edition from Politicon – the annual bipartisan “Unconventional Political Convention” held this year in Nashville, Tennessee. Katie and Joe welcome former Massachusetts Governor Bill Weld to Words Matter. Governor Weld began his career as staff member and attorney for the House Judiciary Committee during Watergate. He was later the US Attorney for the District of Massachusetts and Assistant Attorney General of the United States for the Criminal Division from 1986 to 1988 under President Ronald Reagan. In 2016 he was the Libertarian Party Candidate for Vice President. And in April of this year, Governor Weld announced he would challenge President Trump for the 2020 Republican Presidential Nomination. Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/words-matter. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

It's been one month since Speaker Nancy Pelosi announced the start of the House Impeachment Inquiry. A lot has happened -- but has anything change? Katie and Joe discuss whether President Trump is any close to impeachment today than he was 4 weeks ago on this special Words Matter Impeachment Update. Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/words-matter. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Joe sits down with author, historian and foreign policy analyst Max Boot to talk about Syria, Ukraine and the Trump Doctrine. Max is the Jeane Kirkpatrick Senior Fellow in National Security Studies at the Council on Foreign Relations a columnist for The Washington Post and a global affairs analyst for CNN. Max is also the author of six books including The Corrosion of Conservatism: Why I Left the Right. Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/words-matter. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Last Month, we lost best-selling author, iconic reporter and journalistic pioneer Mary Martha Corinne Morrison Claiborne Roberts, "Cokie" to her family, friends, colleagues and the tens of millions of Americans who read her column or watched and listened to her every week on NPR and ABC News. Originally from New Orleans, Louisiana, she learned politics at an early age. Both her father and her mother served for decades in the United States Congress. An award winning political reporter and analyst, Cokie Roberts, along with Eleanor Clift, NPR's Linda Wertheimer and Nina Totenberg transformed the male dominated world of Washington political journalism. An Emmy Award winner, Cokie Roberts also earned other honors, including the Edward R. Murrow Award, the Everett McKinley Dirksen Award for coverage of Congress and the Walter Cronkite Award for Excellence in Journalism. In 2000, she was inducted into the Broadcasting and Cable Hall of Fame. With all the impeachment news weren’t able to properly pay tribute to her life and legacy. And so, this week, to honor groundbreaking journalist Cokie Roberts, we put her 2013 commencement address at LSU into the Words Matter Library. Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/words-matter. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This week Katie and Joe preview a new podcast by Wondery - The Next Big Idea. Ideas are coming at you every day from all directions. Where do you even start? Hosted by Rufus Griscom, and featuring thought-leaders Malcolm Gladwell, Susan Cain, Adam Grant, and Daniel Pink, THE NEXT BIG IDEA brings you the most groundbreaking ideas that have the power to change the way you live, work, and think. Each episode dives deep into one big idea through immersive storytelling, narration and curator interviews with the most interesting authors at work today. http://wondery.fm/TNBIWordsMatter Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/words-matter. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

As the House moves forward with the impeachment inquiry of President Trump, how the press covers it could determine the outcome. This week, Katie and Joe sit down with Margaret Sullivan to talk about impeachment and the press. Margaret Sullivan is the media columnist for The Washington Post and before that Margaret served as the fifth public editor of The New York Times and was the first woman to hold that position. Margaret is a native of Lackawanna, New York and began her career as a summer intern at the Buffalo News becoming the first woman editor there and managing editor in the hundred and thirty nine year history of that storied newspaper. Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/words-matter. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This week we put Joe Lockhart's performance at The Moth into the Words Matter Library Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/words-matter. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This week we preview a great new podcast - American Elections: Wicked Game from Wondery. On Tuesday, November 3rd, 2020, the citizens of the United States will cast ballots to elect their president, and it feels like the country couldn’t be more divided. America will have to endure another 58 weeks of shouting, outrage, and the worst sort of political rancor. How has it come to this? It turns out, it’s almost always been this way. And the 58 weeks we have remaining is just enough time to review the entire history of presidential elections, from the unanimous and inevitable election of George Washington in 1789, to Donald Trump’s surprise electoral victory in 2016 Subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you got your podcasts. American Elections: Wicked Game http://wondery.fm/AmericanElectionsWM Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/words-matter. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Elie Honig joins Joe this week to talk about the latest in the House Impeachment Inquiry against President Trump -- he explains what crimes may have been committed in the most recent Trump scandal. Elie is a former state and federal prosecutor with extensive experience leading and managing criminal trials and appeals. As a state prosecutor in New Jersey and a federal prosecutor in the Southern District of New York, Elie directed major criminal cases against street gangs drug trafficking organizations illegal firearms traffickers corrupt public officials, child predators and white-collar criminals. Ellie also serves as a Rutgers University scholar, is a CNN legal analyst and is featured on Cross Exam. #CrossExam Send us feedback at [email protected] Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/words-matter. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

A whistleblower complaint filed by an intelligence officer about President Trump’s interactions with the leader of Ukraine could change the course of presidential history. This week we put the audio version of this important document into the Words Matter Library. Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/words-matter. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The House takes the first steps toward impeachment -- Carrie Cordero joins Katie and Joe to explain how we got here and what may happen next. Carrie is the Robert M. Gates Senior Fellow and General Counsel at the Center for a New American Security. Carrie is also an adjunct professor of law at Georgetown University Law Center, a CNN legal analyst, and a contributing editor of Lawfare. Carrie has served in numerous senior positions at the Department of Justice and the Office of the Director of National Intelligence: including as Counsel to the Assistant Attorney General for National Security; Senior Associate General Counsel at the Office of the Director of National Intelligence; and Attorney Advisor at the U.S. Department of Justice, where she handled critical counterterrorism and counterintelligence investigations Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/words-matter. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

History is unfolding in real time. The President of the United States is accused of using the power of his office to extort a foreign government into finding dirt or manufacturing dirt on his leading political rival in the 2020 presidential election. This week, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi took a step she had been reluctant to take for months and announced that the House will begin formal impeachment proceedings into the conduct of the President of the United States. Katie and Joe will talk about what happened, what it means and what may happen next. Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/words-matter. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On July 25th 1974 Congresswoman Barbara Jordan delivered a televised opening statement as the House Judiciary Committee began consideration of articles of impeachment against President Richard Nixon. It is regarded by historians as one of the greatest speeches in all of American history. Congresswoman Jordan offered a passionate and powerful defense of the United States Constitution. A document, she noted, did not include people like her when it was written and completed in 1787. Congresswoman Jordan also provided thoughtful and well documented explanations of our system of checks and balances which were designed to stop any politician from abusing their power. She stuck to the facts and the law and noted the seriousness and the solemn duty she and her fellow members were about to undertake. As she quoted extensively from the founders Congresswoman Jordan explained that those who had drafted and ratified the Constitution anticipated actions like Nixon's and had created the check of impeachment to guard against such executive overreach and abuse of office. Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/words-matter. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Our guests this week are senior Washington correspondents for POLITICO and co-authors of POLITICO’s Playbook, the most important indispensable morning newsletter covering Washington and politics. Anna Palmer and Jake Sherman are also the co-authors of New York Times and national best seller, The Hill to Die On: The Battle for Congress and the Future of Trump's America. In addition to Playbook, Anna is also editorial director of Women Rule, a POLITICO platform that is dedicated to expanding leadership opportunities for women at all stages of their career. Since 2009, Jake has chronicled all of the major legislative battles on Capitol Hill, and is also a political contributor to NBC News and MSNBC Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/words-matter. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This week, the 74th session of the General Assembly of the United Nations began in New York. To mark the occasion, we wanted to pay tribute to one of the most important and meaningful accomplishments of that body – the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Adopted at the 3rd UN General Assembly held in Paris –this document -- As Ken Burns notes in The Roosevelts --was history’s first attempt at laying out the principles under which all nations should behave towards their own citizens and as well as towards each other. It was largely the work of one delegate from the United States, former First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt. This week we put Eleanor Roosevelt’s speech on the Universal Declaration of Human Rights into the Words Matter Library. Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/words-matter. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This week Katie and Joe take a look at what's happening on Capitol Hill with Julie Hirschfeld Davis the new congressional editor for the The New York Times. Julie has covered politics from Washington for two decades, writing on Congress, three presidential campaigns and three presidents. She is a CNN political analyst and next month Julie and Mike Shear have a new book out, Border Wars: Inside Trump’s Assault On Immigration, the inside story of how Trump and his team seized on immigration as a defining political issue and have redefined how America thinks about immigration and immigrants. Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/words-matter. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

She's is a medical doctor on a mission to create a better medical Internet. Dr. Jen Gunter has been called "Twitter's Resident Gynecologist" and "The Internet's OB/GYN". She's a fierce advocate for women's health, a writer for The New York Times, USA Today, and Self, and the host Jensplaining, Dr. Jen joins us to talk about her Best Selling new book, The Vagina Bible, and for straight talk on women's health. Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/words-matter. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This week Joe sits down with former Secretary of Homeland Security Jeh Johnson about the Anniversary of 9/11, immigration, 2020 election security and more. Jeh Johnson was the 4th Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security from December 2013 until January of 2017. Before that he was an Assistant US Attorney in the Southern District of New York. From 1998 until 2001, he was General Counsel of the Air Force and from February 2009 until December 2012 he was General Counsel of the Department of Defense under Secretary Robert Gates. Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/words-matter. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

For those of you who took the summer off from 24/7 news, Katie and Joe will recap the highlights and the lowlights. From Donald Trump to the race for the Democratic nomination, to the battle for the US Senate, we'll catch you up on the latest. Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/words-matter. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Contenders is a special podcast series by Joe Lockhart. Given the importance of the race for the Democratic presidential nomination, we thought it important and informative to hear from those people who've actually run for president. What goes into the decision? How do you possibly get to the place of thinking you can take on the toughest job in the world? What were your biggest mistakes as a candidate? What lessons did you learn and what advice do you have for those running against Donald Trump? Joe recently traveled to Minnesota to interview his former boss, Vice Presidential Walter Mondale. Nearly a quarter century before Sarah Palin was picked by John McCain, it was Walter Mondale who first put a woman on a national ticket when he picked Congresswoman Geraldine Ferraro in 1984. The former Vice President reflects on that and much more. Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/words-matter. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

It was one of the defining moments of the civil rights movement and one of the most iconic speeches in American history. 56 years ago this week The March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom, or the March on Washington, was held in the Nation’s Capital on Wednesday, August 28, 1963. More than 250,000 people turned out to advocate for the civil and economic rights of black Americans. At was here, standing in front of the Lincoln Memorial, that the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. delivered his historic "I Have a Dream" speech. Dr. King considered the words in Declaration of Independence and the Constitution as a “scared obligation” -- he believed that the Founders and their descendants should be held accountable. For Dr. King and millions of others – America would only become great when this dream was fully realized and this country finally lived up to its founding words. This week we put Martin Luther King Jr.'s "I Have a Dream" speech into the Words Matter Library Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/words-matter. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In case you missed this important episode -- Katie and Joe sat down with Professor Kathleen Hall Jamison author of Cyberwar: How Russian Hackers and Trolls Helped Elect a President Professor Jamieson is the Elizabeth Ware Packard Professor of Communication at the University of Pennsylvania’s Annenberg School for Communication, the Director of the Annenberg Public Policy Center, and Program Director of the Annenberg Retreat at Sunnylands. Professor Jamieson details exactly how and why the Russians cyberwar tipped the election in favor of Donald Trump. Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/words-matter. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Battle for the Marble Palace – Abe Fortas, Earl Warren, Lyndon Johnson, Richard Nixon and the Forging of the Modern Supreme Court Author Michael Bobelian is a contributor to Forbes where he writes on the Supreme Court, white collar crime and politics. Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/words-matter. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Our guest this week is a celebrated historian and the award-winning author, co-author or editor of more than 30 books. Most of these works are focused on American presidents or people we know because of presidents. Douglas Brinkley is the Katherine Tsanoff Brown Chair in Humanities and Professor of History at Rice University, a CNN Presidential Historian, and a contributing editor at Vanity Fair. Katie and Joe talk to Professor Brinkley about the power and consequences of a president's words. Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/words-matter. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Last week we lost one of the most influential and celebrated novelists in American literary history Toni Morrison. A novelist, essayist and Princeton Professor, Morrison wrote nine major novels -- all of which earned extensive critical acclaim. Among dozens of other awards and achievements, she won both a Pulitzer Prize and American Book Award in 1988 for her novel Beloved. And in 1993, Toni Morrison became the first black woman of any nationality to win a Nobel Prize. The citation for her award in literature declared Morrison to be an author “who in novels characterized by visionary force and poetic import, gives life to an essential aspect of American reality.” In 2012, Toni Morrison was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by President Barack Obama. In commencement address at Rutgers University in 2011, Toni Morrison encouraged graduates to seek a meaningful life -- something she herself had certainly achieved. Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/words-matter. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Is the federal government doing enough to fight domestic terrorism? This week we talk to one former senior law enforcement official who says no. For nearly two decades, Daryl Johnson was senior domestic terrorism analyst at the Department of Homeland Security and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms. Back in 2009 he wrote a DHS Report on “Rightwing Extremism” that was widely circulated in the law enforcement community and was leaked to the press. Instead of taking action, Republicans on Capitol Hill attacked his findings. Johnson explains how and why Donald Trump's election changed the pattern of extreme white nationalists and what can be done about it. Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/words-matter. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Shannon Watts is the author of Fight like a Mother – How a Grassroots Movement took on the Gun Lobby and Why Women will Change the World. Until December of 2012 Shannon Watts was a stay-at-home mother of five and former communications executive. The day after the Sandy Hook tragedy, Shannon Watts started a Facebook group with the message that all Americans can and should do more to reduce gun violence. That online conversation turned into a grassroots movement -- Moms Demand Action which now has a chapter in every state and is part of Everytown for Gun Safety, the largest gun violence prevention organization in the country with nearly 6 million members. She is also an active board member of Emerge America, one of the leading organizations for recruiting and training women to run for office. Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/words-matter. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Over the last few weeks, Donald Trump has left no doubt that he is a racist. He has also made it clear -- race will be perhaps THE biggest issue in 2020. The question is: Can racism win? This week Katie and Joe talk to Keith Boykin. Keith is a CNN political commentator, New York Times best-selling author, and a former White House aide to President Bill Clinton. Keith teaches at the Institute for Research in African-American Studies at Columbia University in New York and previously taught at American University in Washington, D.C. He is a co-founder and first board president of the National Black Justice Coalition. Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/words-matter. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices