Katie Couric

All eyes are on Georgia this week as it wraps up its manual recount of nearly 5 million ballots. On Friday, November 13, when the recount began, several news outlets had declared Joe Biden the state’s winner. If that still holds when the recount is complete, Biden will be the first Democratic presidential candidate to win Georgia since 1992. If that weren’t enough, control of the Senate now hinges on two critical Georgia runoff elections, which will happen in early January 2021. At the center of this national political storm is Georgia’s Republican Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger. On this episode of Turnout with Katie Couric, an interview with the secretary, who gives us a peek behind the recount curtain, and talks about the high-pressure stakes of being the Republican in charge of President Trump’s recount: tweets, calls for resignation, and, yes, even death threats. For Brad Raffensperger, it’s all in a day’s work. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio

On this episode of Turnout with Katie Couric, Katie shares her hopes and the need for open-mindedness as the country welcomes in the next administration. Then, we check in with some of our previous guests to get a temperature check on the country’s democracy now that the 2020 pandemic election is (almost) behind us. Jesse Littlewood from Common Cause shares his takeaways from the election, what the big turnout means for future races, and the new potential obstacles to voter access his organization is already watching and preparing to fight down the road. Finally, we check in with Annette Scott, a volunteer from the League of Women Voters, who is also a dedicated poll worker, on how Election Day went for her in New Jersey.More about the topics and guests featured in this episode:Read: I Gave Donald Trump a Chance After He Was Elected. The President’s Supporters Should Do the Same for Joe Biden Now (TIME)Jesse Littlewood is the vice president for campaigns at Common Cause, a democracy and voting rights watchdog

We are finally on the other side of the 2020 presidential election and it was — as promised — unprecedented. And a big part of that is because of you! Voters from all over the country came out (and mailed in ballots) in record numbers. 2020 is projected to have the highest turnout rate of eligible voters in more than a century. In this episode of Turnout with Katie Couric, we’ll hear some of your voting stories, which capture a moment in history that will be analyzed for years to come. Then, Katie shares her conversation with political consultant Brian Goldsmith, which took place on Instagram Live starting at 6 pm EST on Nov. 6. And while the news over the next few days may change in big and small ways, Brain and Katie help put this week and the weight of what happened into context. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

It's election week! And in this special bonus issue of Turnout, Katie Couric talks with New York Times columnist David Brooks about the moment when we fell through the floor of decency and what America has lost these last four years. David also shares what's at stake on Nov. 3, why this is another moment of moral convulsion for the country and how we can mend our extreme political divides. Read more about this episode:Op-Ed: Trump's presidency Smashed the 'Decency Floor'The New York Times' opinion collection, ‘What Have We Lost'Weave, the Social Fabric Project from the Aspen Institute Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

We’ve always said that this series was about so much more than this election. As we’ve shown in the first four episodes, the voting issues of our past — and how we respond to them — pave the way forward, shaping future elections, including the history-making moment we are living in today. But now that we’re face-to-face with the 2020 presidential race, it’s time to start diving into it. On this episode of Turnout with Katie Couric, Katie sorts through some of the week’s big election stories. Then, an interview with newly retired top GOP election lawyer Benjamin Ginsberg about his blunt and public rebuke of President Trump’s baseless claims of voter fraud. Ginsberg talks about the inherent difference between Republican and Democratic election policy, the impact of the 2000 Florida recount, and why Democrats’ worst fears about what could happen after November 3 may be unfounded. Read Benjamin Ginsberg’s Washington Post op-eds:Republicans have insufficient evidence to call elections ‘rigged’ and ‘fraudulent’How

This week on Turnout with Katie Couric: the power and drive of youth activism. First, 19-year-old youth activist Tyler Okeke makes the case for lowering the voting age to 16. Then, Katie talks with activist, author and podcast host DeRay Mckesson on his own youth activism and how to get this new protest generation to turnout for elections (hint: make voting easier!). We also hear advice from civil rights activists on where they find inspiration and why it’s important to keep paving the way, to make the world better and easier, for those who come after you.More about the guests and organizations mentioned in this episode:Courtland Cox, activist and veteran of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating CommitteeTyler Okeke, Vote at 16 Youth Organizer for Power CaliforniaDeRay McKesson, activist, author of the book, “On the Other Side of Freedom: The Case for Hope,” and host of the podcast “Pod Save the People” from Crooked MediaRock The Vote, youth empowerment organizationJudy Richardson, documentary filmmaker and vet

This week on Turnout, Katie Couric explores how disinformation is used to suppress the vote and how it’s being tackled by activists and citizens alike. While disinformation has been used to subvert the voting process for decades, long before the internet, it is now thriving online like never before. “Bad actors” are lurking behind your screen and on your social media platforms, eager to sew chaos and distrust in the election system. But, fear not! There’s hope and also something YOU can do. Jesse Littlewood from Common Cause shares tips for how to spot disinformation on the internet and what to do about it (hint: don’t engage!). And, in an effort to provide some sort of check to Facebook’s unbalanced power, British investigative journalist Carole Cadwalladr tells us how her group, the “Real Facebook Oversight Board,” plans to hold Mark Zuckerberg’s feet to the fire. More about the guests and organizations featured in this episode:Jesse Littlewood is the vice president for campaigns at Common Cause.As part of

Sheyann Webb-Christburg was eight years old when she first met Martin Luther King, Jr. It was late 1964 and Dr. King was in Selma, Alabama, to organize a voter registration campaign to draw attention to the need for legislation that would ensure Black Americans could safely and freely vote, because in the 1960s, particularly in Southern states like Alabama, that was certainly not the case. “Black folks couldn’t vote,” Sheyann’s father said when asked if he had ever cast a ballot. On this episode of Turnout with Katie Couric, Katie explores the historic struggle of Black enfranchisement — from the moments of brief political prosperity during Reconstruction, to the passage of the Voting Rights Act in 1965, the election of President Barack Obama, and the ongoing fight to restore voting rights to people with past convictions. Woven throughout the episode is Sheyann’s story of being Martin Luther King’s smallest Freedom Fighter and what she witnessed on that Bloody Sunday in Selma in 1965. Katie also interviews De

The right to vote can sometimes be described as a “struggle,” a “fight,” even a “war.”But how did this come to be and who has been fighting to make every generation’s path to the ballot a little less arduous? On this episode of Turnout, Katie Couric goes back to the beginning, to find out what our founding can tell us about the continuing war on voting rights. Katie speaks with historian and biographer Jon Meacham about the framers’ hopes and dreams and who was left out of the more perfect union they designed. Then, Wendy Weiser, of the Brennan Center for Justice, and voting and Civil Rights expert Gilda Daniels help define voter suppression — and the many names it goes by. Finally, Oregon Gov. Kate Brown shares the ways she is helping to modernize her state’s election system — and the ways the rest of the country can and should follow suit.Guests:Jon Meacham, author “His Truth is Marching On: John Lewis and the Power of Hope”Wendy R. Weiser, director of the Democracy Program at the Brennan Center for Justice

On this special episode of Back to Biz with Katie and Boz, Katie takes the mic solo and shares her conversation with Disney Executive Chairman, Bob Iger. Early on, Iger dreamed of becoming the next Walter Conkrite and landed a job as the local weatherman for a small upstate New York TV station. He soon realized he was better suited behind the camera and began working his way up the corporate ladder at ABC, eventually leading the network’s sports and entertainment divisions. In 2005, he was named Disney’s CEO, ultimately transforming the beloved brand into a global powerhouse through a series of bold acquisitions -- Pixar, Marvel, and Lucasfilm all joined the Disney family during Iger’s tenure. Along the way, he built a reputation for his kindness, integrity, and enthusiastic appreciation of creative talent. He stepped down as CEO in February of this year, assuming the role of Executive Chairman. Soon after, the pandemic hit and the world changed seemingly overnight -- particularly for Disney, a company built

On this special episode of Next Question with Katie Couric, Katie sits down with former Republican strategist Steve Schmidt. While Schmidt might not be a household name, his reputation looms large in the GOP universe -- he’s helped run campaigns for everyone from President George W. Bush to California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and he was the senior campaign strategist and advisor to Sen. John McCain during his 2008 presidential bid. But then, in June 2018, he walked away from the Republican party, citing it as “fully the party of Trump” and “a danger to our democracy and our values.” Now he’s channeling.all of his energy into defeating President Trump in November as co-founder of the Lincoln Project, a political action committee formed by current and former Republicans. In this urgent and timely conversation, Schmidt shares with Katie what led him to renounce the party he had pledged loyalty to for 30 years, what to expect during this final sprint to election day, and how he thinks Trumpism will impact our p

On this special episode of Next Question with Katie Couric, Katie shares an important conversation with Dr. Anthony Fauci. As Director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases for nearly 40 years, Fauci has advised six presidents and led the fight against emerging diseases including H.I.V., SARS, MERS, and Ebola. Most recently, as the coronavirus pandemic unfolds, he’s taken on the crucial role of America’s explainer-in-chief, breaking down complicated science clearly and providing a trusted, calming presence as our country endures the most devastating public health crisis of our lifetimes. In this wide-ranging conversation, Katie and Dr. Fauci take a deep dive into the issues on all of our minds right now - how to protect ourselves as flu season nears, where we are in the race to find a vaccine, what we should know about sending our kids to school, whether the world has entered a “pandemic era” -- and what exactly that could mean for all us of going forward. Learn more about your ad-choi

It’s that time of the year when students typically descend upon university campuses around the country — moving into dorm rooms, filling up stadiums, cramming into classrooms and swelling small towns to capacity. Unfortunately, that is not the college scene this year. After the coronavirus forced schools to shut down last March, those same institutions are struggling to figure out how — or if — students can safely come back this fall. On this episode of Back to Biz with Katie and Boz, co-hosts Katie Couric and Bozoma Saint John tackle this thorny issue with the presidents of their alma matters, James Ryan of the University of Virginia, a public research school in Charlottesville, and Michael Roth of Wesleyan University, a private liberal arts school in Connecticut. The presidents talk about their fall plans, how much of a financial hit their institutions will take, and how the pandemic — and this moment of racial unrest — could change the higher education system for good.  For more, subscribe to Katie Couric’

You don’t have to be a parent to recognize that parenting during COVID is a struggle. When the coronavirus shut down daycare facilities and schools across the country in March, parents became not only full time caretakers, but also teachers, coaches and playdates for their suddenly isolated kids. And working parents — those lucky enough to be able to keep their jobs or work remotely during the shutdown — have had to also find time in the day to do the job that pays the bills. For single working parents, or black or brown parents, that impossible situation, that non-existent work-life balance, is an even heavier burden to bear. But this isn’t new for Christine Michel Carter. In fact, the marketing strategist, working-mom advocate and best-selling author has been “Chicken Little” for the past five years, running around telling everyone the work-life balance sky was falling. COVID just exacerbated the reality. “The world is exposed to the fact that even in married two-income households — unlike mine — women are

The multi-hyphenate talent Ashley Graham has innovated a career that has spread across fashion, beauty, television, and podcasting. Ashley started modeling when she was just 12, but it wasn’t long before she was breaking boundaries — and changing the face of — the size-obsessed industry, becoming the first curvy model to cover Vogue and the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue (among others), to walk Michael Kors, and to land a major beauty contract (Revlon). On this episode of Back to Biz with Katie and Boz, the model, entrepreneur, TV host, and producer talks to her friend Bozoma Saint John about pushing for more inclusivity and fewer labels at every step of her career. “There was always a label kind of looming over me,” she tells Boz. “Nobody wants to be labeled, yet people still put you in a box for who you are and who you stand for and who you’re rooting for and who you’re not rooting for. And all I simply wanted was to just be accepted for who I was.” Boz and Ashley also talk about motherhood, the need for

This week on Back to Biz with Katie and Boz, Katie Couric is on book deadline! While she’s busy writing, Bozoma Saint John sits down for an intimate conversation with her good friend and all around entertainment renaissance woman La La Anthony. La La shares her career journey from radio personality to MTV VJ (hello, “Total Request Live”) to producer, actress, entrepreneur and activist. They touch upon the ups and downs of quarantine life, but also dive deep into the current state of social and racial unrest and its emotional toll. Although the country’s racial injustices are amplified now, it is a reality both women have dealt with their whole lives and now have to watch their children go through, too. La La shares how she is preparing her 13-year-old son Kiyan for the world he has to live in: “We have a 13-year-old Black son and we live in New York City,” La La says. “My son walks around with a hoodie … he plays basketball, he’s in the gyms, he’s on the courts outside. So we tell him ‘this at any moment coul

On this special surprise episode of Next Question with Katie Couric, we’re sharing an unreleased interview Katie did back in February with H&R Block CEO Jeff Jones. The interview's release was held as Katie shifted her attention to the coronavirus pandemic. But the conversation — which was done in front of a live audience in our Manhattan offices (another world, right?) — is surprisingly relevant to issues we are grappling with right now, like how to create more inclusive work environments, and the need for companies to lead with purpose. Jeff also talks about being an “unimpressive” kid, how military academy changed the course of his life, and how persistence helped him land his dream job. Jeff ends the conversation with some thoughtful career advice. And a friendly reminder to our listeners, the new, extended tax deadline is just around the corner — July 15!Subscribe to Katie’s Couric’s morning newsletter, “Wake-Up Call,” on KatieCouric.com. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcast

2020 was going to be a big year for Airbnb CEO Brian Chesky: With a valuation around $31 billion, Airbnb was going to go public on March 31. And then the pandemic hit. Within weeks, Airbnb was gutted and Brian was forced to lay off 25 percent of his staff. “It would have been so easy to just spiral,” Brian Chesky says. “But every moment is a moment for us to be doing something that’s defining, to make us better.” On this episode of Back to Biz with Katie and Boz, co-hosts Katie Couric and Bozoma Saint John talk to Brian about how he quickly pivoted his company and how travel will be forever changed. In the wake of the national anti-racism protests, Airbnb has also had to reckon with its record on discrimination. Brian Chesky shares his regrets on not doing more sooner on race and the steps the company is taking now to make the platform and the company more equitable.  Sign up for Katie Couric’s morning newsletter, “Wake-Up Call.” Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omn

Judd Apatow is a comedy powerhouse in Hollywood. From “The 40-Year-Old Virgin” to “Knocked Up” and “This is 40,” Judd has altered the comedy-making template, finding the funny in relatable and vulnerable (even cringeworthy) characters and situations. But what about the responsibility that comes with that power? In this moment of national reckoning on race, what are leaders like Judd doing to lift up black voices and stories? On this episode of “Back to Biz with Katie and Boz,” co-hosts Katie Couric and Bozoma Saint John talk to Judd about how Hollywood can bring diversity to the big screen, the future of moviemaking — and going — in a social-distanced world, as well as his new movie. “The King of Staten Island,” starring Pete Davidson, is an incredibly personal story (based on Pete’s own life) about loss, trauma, and mental health, which Judd says is perfect for this moment. The movie is available to watch on demand. Sign up for Katie Couric’s morning newsletter, “Wake-Up Call.” Learn more about your ad-choi

After Stacey Abrams narrowly lost her historic gubernatorial run in 2018, she did not contest the race. She could have, but instead the long-time activist, lawyer and politician put all of her effort to fighting a broken voting system into ensuring fair elections in the future. “This is not about one politician or one race,” she says. “This is about an infrastructure that’s supposed to serve citizens and it’s not.” On this episode of Back to Biz with Katie and Boz, Stacey Abrams talks about the work her organization “Fair Fights Action” is doing to mitigate the harm of voter suppression and how their helping voters to prepare for November. Katie and Boz also talk to Stacey about her childhood, her love of “Star Trek,” that little VP rumor, and the key difference between the protests happening today compared with the ones that broke out after the Rodney King verdict 30 years ago. Stacey Abrams new book “Our Time is Now” is available wherever you buy books. For more information, follow Katie Couric and Bozoma S