The Crux of the Story

In our sixty-eighth episode of The Crux, we welcome back the dean of Boston University’s College of Communication, Mariette DiChristina. Before coming to BU, she was editor-in-chief and executive vice president of the highly respected magazine, Scientific American, as well as executive vice president of magazine publisher, Springer Nature. Mariette was the first woman to lead Scientific American since its founding in 1845. Previously, as executive editor of Popular Science, she was named Editor of the Year by the magazine’s publisher, Times Mirror Magazine. Mariette is completing her second academic year as dean of COM, and it’s been a time full of surprises and change in communications and society.

In our sixty-seventh episode of The Crux, we welcome Aba Blankson, chief marketing and communications officer for the NAACP. Aba oversees and develops communications strategies, campaigns, and partnerships to elevate the NAACP brand’s products and services. She helped the NAACP launch “COVID Unmasked" virtual event series to raise awareness of pandemic impacts and the 2020 Davey Award-Winning campaigns #WEAREDONEDYING and Virtual March on Washington to bring attention to longstanding racial disparities. Prior to joining the NAACP, Blankson served as marketing and communications lead at the Common Application, a thought leader in higher education.

In our sixty-sixth episode of The Crux, we welcome Russell Wilkerson, chief corporate affairs officer at Baker Hughes, one of the world’s leading oil and gas field services companies. Russell is one of the most respected voices in corporate communications. His remit at Baker Hughes is broad and includes global communications, external affairs, community relations, and brand marketing. Russell has 25 years of communication experience, including leading comms at two giant GE businesses – Energy and GE Capital – and led financial communications at GE. Russell has also worked in the U.S. Senate.

In our sixty-fifth episode of The Crux, we welcome Mark Weiner, author of the new book, "Public Relations Technology, Data and Insights, Igniting a Positive Return on Your Communications Investment.” Mark is one of the leading and most respected experts in the world on public relations research, measurement, and evaluation. He has led research programs for scores of Fortune Global 1000 companies. He received the 2018 Jack Felton Medal for Lifetime Achievement from the Institute for Public Relations (IPR) for whom he serves as a board member, and he is a member of the Arthur W. Page Society.

In our sixty-fourth episode of The Crux, we welcome Valerie DiMaria, founder and principal of the10company. Valerie has held CMO & CCO roles at Fortune 100 companies and developed comprehensive brand and reputation building programs working closely with CEOs at GE Capital, Motorola, and Willis. She has been honored with PRSA’s John W. Hill Award for leadership in the practice of public relations, two PRSA Silver Anvils and two Big Apples. Valerie has been named one of the “10 Top Women in PR,” one of the “50 Most Powerful Women in PR” and a “tech industry key player” by PR Week.

In our sixty-third episode of The Crux, we welcome Chris Perry, chief innovation officer at Weber Shandwick, who is at the center of the discussion around how technology, data, and media are presenting new opportunities and challenges for business and communicators. Chris has been at Weber Shandwick for 18 years and previously did stints at GM and Edelman. His weekly Weber Shandwick newsletter, Media Genius, is both necessary and entertaining.

In our sixty-second episode of The Crux, we welcome Robert Brown, president of Boston University. He became BU’s president in 2005 and quickly set out on defining the long-term future of BU, culminating in BU joining the Association of American Universities (AAU), a prestigious organization of 62 leading research universities in the United States and Canada.

In our sixty-first episode of The Crux, we welcome Andrew Winston, one of the most respected writers and thinkers in the world on the issue of business and sustainability. Andrew is a strategic advisor to many large global companies, was named to Thinkers50 Radar Class of 2020 as a “thinker to watch,” and is the author of the bestsellers Green to Gold and The Big Pivot. His latest book, co-authored by Paul Polman, is Net Positive: How Courageous Companies Thrive by Giving More than They Take.

In our sixtieth episode of The Crux, we welcome Andrew Edgecliffe-Johnson, U.S. business editor of the Financial Times. Andrew has been with the FT for 20 years and today is its U.S. business editor. He also writes and edits a twice-weekly newsletter, Moral Money. It features news and analysis about the socially responsible business, sustainable finance, ESG trends, and the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals.

In our fifty-ninth episode of The Crux, we welcome Reeves Wiedeman, a features writer for New York Magazine and author of “Billion Dollar Loser: The Epic Rise and Spectacular Fall of Adam Neumann and WeWork.” We’ll discuss Reeves’ coverage of WeWork over the years and get his perspective of the new era of larger-than-life – and sometimes “fake it until you make it” entrepreneurs.

In our fifty-eighth episode of The Crux, we are honored to welcome the Chair of the Diversity Action Alliance, Professor Denise Hill of Elon University, and the President of the Diversity Action Alliance, Carmella Glover. The Diversity Action Alliance is a coalition of public relations and communications organizations that have joined forces to accelerate progress relative to diversity, equity and inclusion across the PR profession.

In our fifty-seventh episode of The Crux, we welcome Marjorie Benzkofer and Cherry Bayer. Marjorie is the Chief Strategy Officer of Fleishman Hillard and Cherry is the Director of Internal Communications at LabCorp. They are both members of Page Up. Marjorie and Cherry will talk with us about a report Page Up published last year, Resilience and Change in a Time of Change: Research Findings on the Transformed Role of Communications. It's an excellent summary of the dynamic forces that are transforming business communications almost on a day-to-day basis.

In our fifty-sixth episode of The Crux, we welcome author and CEO of Dezenhall Resources, Eric Dezenhall. We discuss Eric's point of view on the role of business in society and crisis communications in an era of turmoil, acrimony, and collapsing trust in the media.

In our fifty-fifth episode of The Crux, we welcome Kendra Butters, the communications director of the Boston Athletic Association. We discuss Kendra's role and responsibilities and how her team is handling the near-constant turmoil for the crises that were brought upon the association by the pandemic.

In our fifty-fourth episode of The Crux, we welcome Mark Schaefer, COO of B Squared Media. Mark is also a faculty member at Rutgers University and an author. We discuss with him his latest book, Cumulative Advantage: How to Build Momentum for your Ideas, Business and Life Against All Odds.

In our fifty-third episode of The Crux, we welcome Jeff Immelt, the former CEO of GE and today a venture partner at New Enterprise Associates and instructor at the Stanford Global School of Business. Jeff has a new book, HOT SEAT: What I Learned Leading a Great American Company. We discuss the role communications and culture played in Jeff's tenure at GE and how leaders should be thinking about those topics today.

In our fifty-second episode of The Crux, we welcome Jolie Hunt, CEO and founder of Hunt and Gather. We discuss her lessons learnt from holding senior titles at a young age, how the move to digitized relationships has changed influencer ideologies, and how companies should adapt to social movements such as showing their support against racism.

In our fifty-first episode of The Crux, we welcome David Murray, author of An Effort To Understand: Hearing One Another (and Ourselves) in a Nation Cracked in Half. We discuss communicating more honestly with ourselves, how Americans can focus more on what we have in common, rather than our differences, the medias contribution to the polarization that we see today in the U.S., and David shares the meaning of "Words Hold People Together," one of the essays featured in the book.

In our fiftieth episode of The Crux, we welcome Frank Figliuzzi, author of The FBI Way: Inside the Bureau's Code of Excellence. We discuss what led Frank to write his book, the values of the FBI and how they can be applied to other organizations, the January 6th attack on the Capitol, and how the FBI can continue to be effective in the current environment.

In our forty-ninth episode of The Crux, we welcome Eric Handler, Vice President of communications at the YES Network. We discuss what it is like to lead a communications team in the most competitive sports market in the world, how COVID changed his job over the last year, and how sports networks have handled the growing activism in nearly every aspect of life.

In our forty-eighth episode of The Crux, we welcome Dean Acosta, senior vice president and CCO of Lockheed Martin. We discuss NASA's Perseverance rover, which Lockheed Martin had a hand in, how being a journalist helped Dean both at NASA and with his role today, the digital-first approach, change management, and Dean's journey to becoming CCO of Lockheed Martin.

In our forty-seventh episode of The Crux, we welcome Judy Samuelson, the executive director and founder of the Aspen Institute Business and Society Program. We discuss Judy's new book, The Six New Rules of Business: Creating Real Value in a Changing World, the changing role of business in society, and why CEOs should be paid less.

In our forty-sixth episode of The Crux, we welcome Jen Prosek and Mark Kollar from Prosek Partners, one of the world's leading financial communications and strategic advisory firms. We discuss the role of purpose, ESG efforts, and areas of growth for the company. As we close out 2020, our team also names our own communicators of the year.

In our forty-fifth episode of The Crux, Gary and Mike speak with Alan Murray, the president and CEO of Fortune Media Group. We discuss the ways the 90-year-old media business has reinvented itself, trends in CEO activism, what business leaders can expect from the Biden Administration, and the future of journalism.

In our forty-forth episode of The Crux, we welcome Stefanie Johnson, professor of organizational leadership at the University of Colorado-Boulder and author of a new book, Inclusify. We discuss research-backed ways to create authentic diversity and inclusion, trends in unconscious biases and related training, and findings on women's tasks and trajectory in the workplace. TW: This episode discusses sexual harassment in the workplace, starting around the 50:00 mark.

In our forty-third episode of The Crux, Gary and Mike interview Vivian Schiller, executive director of the Aspen Institute and former president and CEO of NPR. Vivian emphasizes using evidence-based reality to guide media literacy and shutting down false, harmful information, especially amid the ongoing "infodemic."

In our forty-second episode of The Crux, Mike and Gary welcome Jeff DeMarrais, CCO of Cognizant, one of the world's leading professional service firms. We discuss using the "moneyball" methodology of communications, recruiting talent for the future, and telling your story looking beyond the traditional PESO model.

In our forty-first episode, Gary and Mike are joined by Tony Fratto, managing partner of Hamilton Place Strategies and former deputy press secretary in the George W. Bush White House. In the wake of a historic election, we discuss the evolution of news, polling, internal communications, and the notion of Trumpism.

In our fortieth episode, Gary and Mike welcome Jacqueline Adams, co-author of A Blessing: Women of Color Teaming Up to Lead, Empower and Thrive. Jacqueline shares anecdotes from her career as an Emmy Award-winning CBS correspondent and explains the book's fresh, bold analysis of African American female leadership.

In our thirty-ninth episode, Marta Newhart, Chief Communications Officer at Westinghouse Electric Company, joins Gary and Mike. After sharing compelling experiences relating to her Mexican-American background, Marta discusses how we can build upon diversity to create inclusion, as well as how companies should best communicate nuclear energy, science, and technology in a world that often distrusts and doubts it.

In our thirty-eighth episode, Gary and Mike welcome the team that created the third annual PRWeek Bellwether Survey in partnernship with Boston University. Steve Barrett, editor in chief at PRWeek, Arunima Krishna, assistant professor at Boston University, Ray Kotcher, professor of the practice at BU, and Don Wright, the Harold Burson professor of public relations and chair for the department of mass communication, advertising and PR at BU, discuss agility and its effects on organizational outcomes.

In our thirty-seventh episode, Gary and Mike are joined by Maya Malekian, a recent Boston University graduate, and Geneve Lau, a BU senior, to discuss their virtual pro bono public relations agency, Empath Worldwide. The two professionals share how and why they globally link young talent with nonprofits and small businesses to create purpose-driven work in a COVID-19 environment.

In our thirty-sixth episode, Oscar Suris, executive managing director of C-Suite Strategy and Crisis at Zeno Group, joins Gary and Mike to discuss diversity and inclusion, the convergence of societal issues with business operations, and the evolving nature of crisis management.

In our thirty-fifth episode, Gary and Mike speak with Dr. Matthew Fox and Dr. Don Thea from the Boston University School of Public Health. We discuss the challenges researchers and PR practitioners often face in communicating science, especially amid the ongoing pandemic, as well as best practices in sharing these topics more effectively.

In our thirty-fourth episode, Gary and Mike welcome Andy Pharoah, vice president of corporate affairs and sustainability at Mars. We discuss lessons learned from the pandemic and purpose-driven communications.

In our thirty-third episode of The Crux, Catherine Hernandez-Blades, senior vice president and chief ESG and communications officer at Aflac, joins Gary and Mike to weigh in on coronavirus-related challenges, values-based communications, and diversity and inclusion.

In our thirty-second episode of The Crux, Steve Schmidt, political strategist and principal at SES Strategies, join Gary and Mike. They discuss on the current state of the Republican Party, The Lincoln Project and the upcoming election.

In our thirty-first episode of The Crux, Dean Mariette DiChristina, the dean of the College of Communication at Boston University joins us to discuss virtual learning, the future of education and the impact of the coronavirus on the Boston University community.

In our thirtieth episode of The Crux, Mike and Gary welcome Dave Samson, general manager of public affairs at Chevron Corporation and future global vice chair of corporate affairs at Edelman. They discuss public trust, internal communications and marketing.

In our twenty-ninth episode of The Crux, we welcome Charlene Wheeless, former principal vice president of global corporate affairs of Bechtel Corporation. We discuss the Arthur Page Society’s 2020 agenda, an organization's purpose and prioritizing health.

In our twenty-eighth episode, Gary and Mike welcome Leslie Gaines-Ross, chief reputation strategist at Weber Shandwick, to discuss trends of managing, maintaining and improving corporate reputation.

In our twenty-seventh episode, Gary and Mike interview Boston University professor and political media consultant Dr. Tobe Berkovitz. They discuss political communications strategies in the 2020 presidential primaries and look ahead to the 2020 general election.

In our twenty-sixth episode, Gary and Mike interview their good friend Mike O’Neill, chief corporate affairs officer at American Express. At the time this episode airs, Mike is set to retire in a few weeks, so they talked about his favorite memories working at AMEX and Small Business Saturday.

In our twenty-fifth episode, Gary and Mike have the special honor of interviewing their adult children, Sarah Sheffer and Will Fernandez, two Millennials who care about change and purpose in communications. Sarah is the senior communications officer at Refugees International, and Will is a WPP Fellow at Wunderman Thompson.

In our twenty-fourth episode, Gary and Mike interview Boston University alum and former chief official White House photographer Pete Souza. They talk about Pete’s two books, Shade: A Tale of Two Presidents and Obama: An Intimate Portrait, as well as how we became the White House photographer for two U.S. presidents.

In our twenty-third episode, Gary and Mike are joined by Ray Kotcher, professor of practice at Boston University, Arunima Krishna, assistant professor at Boston University, and Steve Barrett, VP, editorial director PRWeek. They discuss the 2019 PRWeek Bellwether survey done in partnership with Boston University.

In our twenty-second episode, Gary and Mike interview Associate Professor at Boston University College of Communication, Tammy Vigil. They discuss the two books she published this year, Moms in Chief: The Rhetoric of Republican Motherhood and the Spouses of Presidential Nominees, 1992-2016 and Melania and Michelle: First Ladies in a New Era.

In our twenty-first episode, Gary and Mike interview Ethan McCarty, CEO of Integral Communications Group, to discuss the importance of internal communications.

This week, Gary and Mike interview Alex Dimitrief to talk about value and purpose. Alex is the former General Electric CEO outside of the United States. Today, he is a lecturer at Harvard Law.

In our nineteenth episode, Mike and Gary interview Jackie Gingrich Cushman, the author of the new book, Our Broken America: Why Both Sides Need to Stop Ranting and Start Listening.