Episodes

Mary ​Louise ​Kelly joins Michael to talk about her book,It. Goes. So. Fast.: The Year of No Do-Overs. In it she writes ​about ​the ​dual ​pressures ​that of ​the ​work ​life ​balance ​in ​an ​honest, ​funny, ​revelatory, ​and ​immensely ​relatable ​way. ​Mary ​Louise ​has ​been ​reporting ​for ​National ​Public ​Radio ​for ​nearly ​two ​decades ​and ​is ​now ​the ​co ​host ​of ​All ​Things ​Considered. ​She ​has ​written ​two ​suspense ​novels ​and ​is ​the ​author ​of ​articles ​and ​essays ...

Join Michael in his conversation with Larry Weber about his new book The New Age of Reason, Harnessing the Power of Tech for Good which posits that we are in the midst of a new wave of technology—one that’s ushering our world to an entirely new era for the good. Larry Weber is a successful entrepreneur, thought leader, author, and founder of several global marketing companies. Larry is a globally-renowned expert on public relations and marketing services. He is the founder, chairman, and CEO of...

Join Michael in his conversation with Judge Patricia Broderick about her new book Reinventing the Wheel, Hard Roads Can Lead To Beautiful Places which chronicles her life’s story from a life-altering car crash at age seventeen to her judgeship on the Superior Court of the District of Columbia. Reinventing the Wheel: Hard Roads Can Lead to Beautiful Places: Broderick, Patricia A Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Join Michael in his conversation with Ali Velshi about his new book Small Acts of Courage, A Legacy of Endurance and the Fight for Democracy which tells the 125 years of his family’s history as advocates for social justice as a living, breathing experience—a way of life more than an ideology. Small acts of courage matter. Sometimes, they change the world. Our history books are filled with the stories of those who fought for democracy and freedom—for idealism itself—against all odds, from Mahatma...

Join Michael in his conversation with David Rubenstein about his new book The Highest Calling, Conversations on the American Presidency which chronicles the journeys of the presidents who have envisioned America as it now exists, what they envision for its future, and their legacy on the world stage. For years, bestselling author David M. Rubenstein has distilled the contours of American democracy through conversations with noted leaders and historians. In The Highest Calling, he offers an enli...

Join Michael in his conversation with Anne Applebaum about her new book Autocracy, Inc which tells an alarming account of how autocracies work together to undermine the democratic world, and how we should organize to defeat them. We think we know what an autocratic state looks like: There is an all-powerful leader at the top. He controls the police. The police threaten the people with violence. There are evil collaborators, and maybe some brave dissidents. But in the 21st century, that bears lit...

This Labor Day weekend, That Said revisits an intriguing conversation with Michael Finkel about his book The Art Thief. The book chronicles the extraordinary life of Stephen Breitweiser, the most prolific art thief in history, and has recently climbed the bestseller lists of both the New York Times and Washington Post with its paperback release. This interview is being re-released for two compelling reasons. First, the story of Stephen Breitweiser offers a gripping narrative that’s perfect for ...

Join Michael in his discussion with David Gergen about his book, Hearts Touched with Fire, How Great Leaders are Made as they explore the fundamental attributes necessary to become a leader and the key leadership lessons David has stockpiled from his half-century of public service. David Gergen https://twitter.com/David_Gergen https://www.david-gergen.com/ https://www.commpro.biz/news/a-conversation-with-david-gergen-author-hearts-touched-with-fire-how-great-leaders-are-made Advertising Inquir...

Join Michael in his updated discussion with historian Heather Hendershot in a discussion of her book When the News Broke: Chicago 1968 and the Polarizing of America, which revisits the TV coverage of the 1968 Democratic National Convention in Chicago; a pivotal moment in American history when the notion of a liberal biased media became mainstreamed and nationalized. This discussion will also focus on the upcoming Democratic National Convention and what to look for in the coverage of the 2024 pr...

Join Michael in his updated discussion with E.J. Dionne, Jr. and Miles Rapoport about their new book 100% Democracy, The Case for Universal Voting, which argues that mandatory participation in our electoral system should be the cornerstone of our Democracy. Simply put, the authors make a compelling argument that it is time for the United States to recognize voting as both a fundamental civil right and a solemn civic duty of all U.S. citizens BIOs https://www.commpro.biz/news/a-conversation-with-...

This week we will re-release our February 2021 conversation with John Dean about his book Authoritarian Nightmare: Trump and His Followers. Authoritarian Nightmare was the first book to take a deep dive into the psychology of Trump’s voter base in an effort to answer such questions as: Why does his rhetoric continue to appeal to them, while his actions are often contrary to their economic, health and religious interests? Why do his followers believe his lies despite so much proof to the contrar...

Join Michael in his conversation with Michael Wolraich about his new book The Bishop and the Butterfly, Murder, Politics, and the End of the Jazz Age which tells the gripping story of the rise and fall of the New York Tammany Hall political machine intertwined with a murder-mystery that set everything in motion. Her body lay in the undergrowth beside a road that snaked through Bronx’s Van Cortlandt Park. It might have gone unnoticed but for a white kid glove snagged on a bush that caught the mo...

Join Michael in his conversation with George Stephanopoulos about his new book The Situation Room, The Inside Story of Presidents in Crisis which recounts the crises and the decisions that shaped the course of history from its creation in 1961 through to today. No room better defines American power and its role in the world than the White House Situation Room. And yet, none is more shrouded in secrecy and mystery. The Situation Room is the definitive past-the-security-clearance look at the room...

Join Michael in his conversation with Professor Barbara McQuade about her new book Attack from Within, How Disinformation is Sabotaging America which addresses the issue of how disinformation is polarizing American society and threatening the foundations of our democracy. We are strategically being pushed apart by disinformation—the deliberate spreading of lies disguised as truth—and it comes at us from all sides: opportunists on the far right, Russian misinformed social media influencers, amo...

Join Michael in his conversation with Professor Eddie Glaude Jr. about his new book, We Are The Leaders We Have Been Looking For which makes the case that the hard work of becoming a better person should be a critical feature of American democracy. Through virtuoso interpretations of Martin Luther King, Jr., Malcolm X, and Ella Baker, Glaude shows how we have the power to be the heroes that our democracy so desperately requires. Follow Eddie Glaude Jr. https://twitter.com/esglaude Buy the book: ...

Join Michael in his conversation with Robin Bernstein about her new book, Freeman’s Challenge, The Murder That Shook America’s Original Prison for Profit, which tells a gripping story of murder, greed, race, and the true origins of prisons for profit in Auburn, NY decades before the Civil War. Robin Bernstein is a cultural historian who specializes in U.S. racial formation from the nineteenth century to the present. She is the Dillon Professor of American History and professor of African and Af...

Join Michael in his conversation with Jane Ferguson about her recent memoir No Ordinary Assignment, which chronicles her journey from childhood in Northern Ireland in the midst of sectarian violence to becoming one of the most decorated war correspondents in a generation. With an open-hearted humanity we rarely see in conflict stories, No Ordinary Assignment shows what it means to build an authentic career against the odds. Jane Ferguson is a special correspondent for PBS NewsHour specializing ...

Join Michael in his conversation with Professor author Derek Black about their new memoir, The Klansman’s Son, My Journey from White Nationalism to Antiracism which tells their journey from the heir apparent leader of the White Nationalist movement in the United States to one of the country’s leading antiracist spokespersons. Derek Black was raised to take over the white nationalist movement in the United States. Their father, Don Black, was a former Grand Wizard in the Ku Klux Klan and started...

Join Michael and former senior speechwriter for President Joe Biden as they discuss his fascinating new book, Undelivered: The Never-heard Speeches That Would Have Rewritten History. Undelivered presents some of the most notable, never delivered speeches from Richard Nixon’s refusal to resign to Hillary Clinton’s acceptance speech; from Dwight Eisenhower’s apology for the failure of the D-Day invasion to Japanese Emperor Hirohito’s apology for his role in World War II. Guest Jeff Nussbaum Jeff...

Join Michael in his conversation with Jim Sciutto about his new book, The Return of Great Powers, Russia, China, and The Next World War which details the realities of this new post–post–Cold War era, the threats posed by an increasingly aligned Russian and Chinese governments, and the flashpoint of a new, global nuclear arms race. It poses a question: As we consider uncertain, even terrifying, outcomes, will it be possible for the West and Russia and China to prevent a new World War? Jim Sciutt...

Join Michael in his conversation with Professor Jefferson Cowie about his Pulitzer Prize winning book Freedom’s Dominion, A Saga of White Resistance to Federal Power which traces this complex saga by focusing on a quintessentially American place: Barbour County, Alabama, the ancestral home of political firebrand George Wallace. In a land shaped by settler colonialism and chattel slavery, white people weaponized freedom to seize Native lands, champion secession, overthrow Reconstruction, question...

Join Michael in his conversation with Timothy Ryback about his new book Takeover: Hitler’s Final Rise to Power which chronicles Hitler’s rise to power in 1932 all within the democratic structures of Germany’s constitutional democracy. Tim has written on history and politics for more than three decades. He is the author of Hitler’s Private Library, a Washington Post Best Book of the Year, and The Last Survivor, a New York Times Notable Book. His work has appeared in The New Yorker, The New York T...

Join Michael in his conversation with Jennet Conant about her new book Fierce Ambition, The Life and Legend of War Correspondent Maggie Higgins which tells the remarkable story of Maggie Higgens, the first Pulitzer Prize-winning war correspondent. Jennet started her career as a journalist at Newsweek covering business, technology, and cultural affairs. She later wrote for GQ, Esquire, Vanity Fair, and the New York Times before turning to writing non-fiction full-time. She has written seven book...

Join Michael in his conversation with Fareed Zakaria about his new book Age of Revolutions: Progress and Backlash from 1600 to the Present which masterfully investigates the eras and movements that have shaped the modern world with a clear-eyed view of the lessons to be learned for our times. Fareed is the Peabody Award-winning host of Fareed Zakaria GPS on CNN. An Emmy award winner, Fareed was named a “Top 10 Global Thinker of the Last 10 Years” by Foreign Policy magazine in 2019, and Esquire ...