DSR's Words Matter

The Space shuttle Challenger’s launch had already been delayed twice when it finally took off on January 28th 1986.  This particular launch was widely publicized because for the first time a civilian—a teacher named Christa McAuliffe—was traveling into space. The plan was to have McAuliffe communicate to students from space. According to the New York Times, nearly half of America’s school children...

On July 4th we celebrate the birth of the American Experiment. The Declaration of Independence -- written in the Spring of 1776 by a 33 year old Thomas Jefferson -- is America’s mission statement. And like all mission statements, the words represented not what we were, but what we aspired to be. In fact, the author himself was a gifted writer, but a deeply flawed person who – like his country -- d...

Wondery has new tru-crime mini series that we think you’ll really enjoy. In the Mid 2000s James Arthur Ray was a charismatic self-help guru who promised his followers a path to wealth and happiness. But not all who followed him finished their journey. This is the story told in a new true crime mini-series from Wondery called “GURU: The Dark Side of Enlightenment”. James Arthur Ray wasn’t really we...

This week on Presidential Words Matter - we highlight Bill Clinton’s remarks in the aftermath of the 1995 Oklahoma City Bombing. On April 19, 1995 a domestic terrorist used a truck bomb to destroy the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Office Building[2] in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.  Perpetrated by American terrorists Timothy McVeigh and Terry Nichols, the bombing killed at least 168 people, including 19 ch...

On June 26th 2015 President Barack Obama delivered the eulogy at the funeral of the Reverend Clementa C. Pinckney, the senior pastor of the Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Charleston and a South Carolina State Senator. Reverend Pinckney and 8 other Black church members had been murdered a week earlier during Bible Study in a racially motivated mass shooting perpetrated by a white sup...

On June 4, 1965, President Johnson delivered the commencement address at Howard University, the nation’s most prominent historically black university. ‪In his address, Johnson explained why “opportunity” was not enough to ensure the civil rights of disadvantaged Americans. ‪The ‘To Fulfill These Rights’ speech as it is widely known was the intellectual framework for affirmative action.  ‪President...

This week we highlight presidential leadership and one of the most important civil rights speeches ever delivered by a sitting American president. By June of 1963, John F. Kennedy has been president for nearly two and a half years. While Kennedy had long privately expressed his deep moral objections to the treatment of black people in American society and indicated support for New federal legislat...

This week we highlight one of the most significant and consequential calls for racial equality and social justice in American History - “Letter from a Birmingham Jail” On Good Friday, April 12, 1963 - the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King Jr and fellow civil rights leaders were arrested in Birmingham, Alabama as they lead a now famous Campaign of non-violent direct action to protest racial segregati...

This week we focus on leadership and comfort in a time of national tragedy, crisis and mourning. On September 14th 2001 - President George W. Bush spoke at the National Cathedral in Washington at a National Day of Prayer and Remembrance Service. Just 72 hours earlier - more than 3,000 Americans had been killed during the most lethal terrorist attack in US history.  The country was still shut down...

This week we highlight presidential leadership and one of the most important civil rights speeches ever delivered by a sitting American president. By June of 1963, John F. Kennedy has been president for nearly two and a half years. While Kennedy had long privately expressed his deep moral objections to the treatment of black people in American society and indicated support for New federal legislat...

Everyone needs a reminder about just how good people can be. On Wondery’s new series The Daily Smile, host Nikki Boyer brings you stories that will make you feel good each weekday morning. With interviews, inspiring clips, and chats with special guests and passionate friends, The Daily Smile takes you on a journey into goodness, gives you all the feels, and will leave you with a smile on your face...

In January of 1989 after 8 years in office, President Ronald Reagan delivered his 34th and final Oval Office address. His tenure was not without controversy - and there is much about Reagan and his policies for historians and commentators to rightly criticize. But more than anything else Ronald Reagan understood the power and importance of words. For his final presidential address Reagan wanted to...

Katie and Joe sit down with best-selling author and political analyst Doug Sosnik. He has advised presidents, senators, governors, Fortune 100 corporations and universities for 35 years. Doug also served as a senior advisor to President Clinton for six years as Senior Advisor for Policy and Strategy, White House Political Director and Deputy Legislative Director. He is the co-author of New York Ti...

Today, on what would have been his 70th birthday, we pay tribute to the late, great Tim Russert - Moderator of Meet the Press and NBC News Washington Bureau Chief. Unlike many in the public eye - Tim was the same guy off camera as he was on. He was tough, but fair, - always quick with a joke and above all he was forever humbled by his success and the opportunities afforded the son of a sanitation...

This week, we begin a new series, Presidential Words Matter. Since we currently have a president who doesn't seem to know or even understand the importance of words, especially when they are spoken by the president of the United States, we thought it might be helpful in a time of national crisis to remember that we have had presidents of both parties who did understand this. These presidents have...

Cindi Leive is the former editor-in-chief of both Glamour and Self magazines. She was the driving force behind barrier- breaking initiatives like “Glamour Women of the Year” and “The Girl Project” which supports girls’ education. Cindi is the author and editor of numerous books including the 2018 New York Times bestseller Together We Rise, about the organizing of the Women's March. She has intervi...

This week, we want you to join one of our favorite hosts, Lindsey Graham of -- American Scandal and American History Tellers -- as he previews his new six-part series, "The Harry Krishna Murders," as he explores an eastern religion with pure intentions that in the hands of its Western followers became a criminal enterprise of drug running abuse and murder. wondery.fm/wordsmatterAS Subscribe to Ame...

Back in December 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 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...

Our guest today is a senior staff writer at ELLE.com where he has written the daily pop culture and politics humor column since 2016. His opinion columns have also been published by The New York Times, among many others. As a playwright, R. Eric Thomas won the Barrymore Award and the Dramatists Guild Lanford Wilson Award and was a finalist for the Steinberg/American Theater Critics Association New...

Our guest this week is a writer, lawyer, speaker and an advocate. Cassie Chambers grew up in Eastern Kentucky, graduated from Yale College, the Yale School of Public Health, the London School of Economics, and Harvard Law School, where she was president of the Harvard Legal Aid Bureau, a student-run law firm that represents low-income clients. Cassie received a Skadden Fellowship to return to Kent...

In the latest of Joe's special series - The Contenders -- the sixty fifth governor of Massachusetts from 1975 to 1979. Four years later, Michael Dukakis became the sixty seventh governor from 1983 to 1991 -- making him the longest serving chief executive in Massachusetts history. Before that, he was a member of the Massachusetts House of Representatives from 1963 to 1971. In 1988, he ran for and w...

In the latest of Joe's special series - The Contenders -- he interviews author, medical doctor, and from 1991 to 2003 the 79th governor of Vermont. In 2004, Howard Dean ran for the Democratic nomination for president. While he didn’t win the nomination, he started a movement and later served as the Chairman of the Democratic National Committee from 2005 to 2009. His implementation of the fifty-sta...

Katie and Joe are honored to be joined this week by New York Times bestselling author, serial entrepreneur, nonprofit CEO and political leader Stacey Abrams. In 2018, after serving for eleven years in the Georgia House of Representatives, seven as Democratic Leader, Stacey Abrams became the Democratic nominee for Governor of Georgia, winning more votes than any other Democrat in the state’s histor...

Since World War 2, US presidents have had to deal with pandemics as part of their job – the Eisenhower Administration fast-tracked the polio vaccine. Gerald Ford dealt with Swine Flu, Ronald Reagan’s legacy is marred by his Administration’s inaction on AIDS in the 1980s and of course, President Obama confronted the global threat of Ebola. And now we have the Coronavirus – this week Katie and Joe,...