0:04

All right, everyone, welcome back to Post

0:06

run High. Today's guest is Lindsay Davis.

0:09

She's an award winning journalist, ABC News

0:12

anchor, best selling author, mom,

0:14

and so much more. I'm so excited to get

0:16

in today's combo. Lindsay,

0:27

how was the run for you?

0:29

It was good. I mean, as I was telling you, I guess

0:31

I'm just still congested because I was more breathy

0:34

than I thought. I was like, Lindsay, you are

0:36

not in shape. But it went so

0:38

fast just having a conversation. I

0:41

love to talk and run. There

0:43

are very few other people who I meet that

0:46

liked to do the same. I

0:48

remember one time I was going

0:50

for a run with my sister and

0:52

I was like, Oh, this is going to be such a good bonding

0:54

experience in my head. And we got there.

0:57

We drove to the beach to run along the beach, and

0:59

then she hoped in her AirPods

1:01

and I was like, Oh, I guess we're not talking doing

1:03

this run. So I just think that the conversation

1:06

just goes. It just makes the run go so much faster.

1:08

Lindsay and I just got back from running a mile through

1:10

Brooklyn and it was so nice finding

1:13

out that Lindsay is a runner and that often

1:16

you prep for a show by going

1:18

for a run.

1:19

It's sometimes it's something I like to do by

1:22

myself as well. I mean, there's so many benefits

1:24

to it, but I do like to have that shared

1:27

passion with other people. And as

1:30

we were talking about before, we brought it on our

1:32

show on ABC News Live Prime,

1:34

and it's just a fun way to get to know

1:36

people.

1:36

Yeah, and we talked about this during the run, but let's

1:39

talk about how you guys brought it onto ABC.

1:41

Because I love the concept.

1:43

So we decided maybe

1:47

four years ago that it would be

1:49

a great idea to just bring something that I

1:51

was passionate about and incorporated

1:53

into the show. And so we

1:56

started thinking about running

1:58

on the campaign trail and people

2:00

who were literally running for

2:02

office, that we could kind

2:05

of have a little fun with that in a figurative

2:07

and literal way and run

2:09

with the candidates. And so

2:11

the first one we did was Beto O'Rourke, who

2:14

was running for governor of Texas

2:16

at that time. Then we did Doctor

2:18

Oz who was running for Senate in

2:20

Pennsylvania. Ended up doing

2:23

a number of people. It was interesting Nancy

2:25

Mace at that time, who's a

2:27

congresswoman in South Carolina.

2:30

She had long COVID, so she said she

2:32

couldn't run anymore, even though she was a runner. So

2:35

then we kind of started expanding

2:37

and let people kind of pick whatever

2:39

exercise or activity they wanted to do.

2:41

So we went paddleboarding with her and

2:44

started you know, biking with different people,

2:46

but we still got it race to November

2:49

and just we were just moving forward

2:51

in whatever way on the campaign trail.

2:54

And I just loved the idea because

2:56

quite often, in particular with politicians,

2:59

you know, you have them all buttoned up

3:01

and kind of sitting all quafft

3:03

and you're just asking the basic same

3:06

questions about you know, abortion or

3:08

gun control or whatever it is. And

3:10

this was just a way to kind of just get to know

3:12

them as a person and really humanize

3:15

them and just find relatable

3:17

qualities because you

3:19

know, running or walking or hiking it's

3:21

something that everybody can do. And

3:24

I think that it just, you know,

3:26

it gives a signals to the viewer. There

3:29

are ways that they're just like I am too.

3:31

It's so true that movement fosters

3:33

incredible conversation. So I love knowing

3:35

that you guys have been incorporating that into your show,

3:38

and it not only makes the guests feel

3:40

human and look human, but I feel like it also

3:42

for an interviewer. It helps you come up with

3:45

ideas and maybe things that you would

3:47

not have thought of if you weren't moving your bodies.

3:50

There's something to it that I find really

3:52

inspirational. Like I will

3:54

think about again something that might be upcoming

3:57

that we're going to be whether it's an inauguration

3:59

or a or some big

4:01

event, and I'll

4:03

think, oh, wow, we should bring

4:06

this up. We should talk about this aspect. And as

4:08

I was mentioning too, just to kind of multitask.

4:12

Quite often i'll listen to it audible, you know,

4:14

an audiobook while I'm running

4:16

to prepare for that next

4:18

big event that I'm covering.

4:20

I love knowing when staying active is a big part

4:22

of somebody's life. So I want you to

4:24

kind of back us up and tell.

4:26

Us a little bit about yourself. Where did you grow

4:28

up, What were you like as a kid.

4:30

So I'm from South Jersey,

4:33

Moore's town with an E. As I always say,

4:36

not to be confused, because there's a Moors town in North

4:38

Jersey. So I'm in a bedroom community of

4:40

Philadelphia. Go Eagles, by

4:43

the way. But I

4:45

think I was very extroverted

4:48

as a child. I used to dance

4:51

like Michael Jackson routines during

4:53

recess, and you know, entertain

4:55

my family. I would pretend that I

4:57

had a radio station for whatever

4:59

we and I remember being in my grandparents'

5:02

living room and I would like

5:04

tell like silly jokes and laugh

5:06

and be like ha ha, that was just a joke.

5:08

You know.

5:08

My family all kind

5:10

of entertained this

5:12

concept of me being this entertainer.

5:16

And then, interestingly, I

5:18

don't know, maybe in late middle school

5:21

or then getting into high school, I

5:23

kind of became introverted. I started

5:25

to just be a little shy,

5:27

and I think I still

5:30

am. I mean, I'm the kind of person

5:32

who at a party where I don't know many

5:34

people, I'm not gonna go up and

5:37

introduce myself. And it's something

5:39

that I think surprises people

5:41

because I have this very public

5:44

persona at work, but

5:46

I actually am really kind of

5:49

a quiet homebody. I

5:51

love running, obviously, but I

5:53

love a good book as well, and watching

5:55

movies, and really, because

5:57

I'm so I think on the go with my

6:00

job and career and regularly

6:03

on a plane. I love just kind

6:05

of the quiet times at

6:07

home with family. I

6:09

would say during high school and everything, I ended

6:12

up being kind of a nerd. I

6:14

was playing computer games at home on

6:16

a Friday or Saturday night, always

6:18

had a good group of friends.

6:21

I just for whatever reason, I wasn't

6:23

the you know, the one out at the life

6:25

of the party or anything, but just all

6:28

of a sudden just kind of became a little more

6:30

introverted.

6:31

I find that with a lot of people.

6:33

Often you go through kind of high school

6:35

and your adolescence, and it's oftentimes people

6:37

stray away from kind of some of the things

6:40

that make them them sure, and

6:42

it's cool to know that you did end up coming back

6:44

to that.

6:45

It's full circle in a different way.

6:46

You know. You think you learned that you like being

6:48

more to yourself in your personal life, but you

6:50

do like being extroverted with work.

6:53

My mom always tells the story about how

6:55

I would, you know, entertain and pretend I

6:57

had my little radio show. It is

6:59

interesting saying that, you know, somehow

7:02

there was kind of a seed. I guess that was planted

7:05

early on of the concept

7:08

of how I wanted to present

7:11

information to people, and

7:13

that now I'm you know, doing

7:15

this for a living and loving it.

7:17

What do you think your younger self would think of you

7:19

now?

7:20

I think my younger self would be surprised

7:23

that it all worked out in the

7:25

end. Again, just

7:27

because I kind of went through

7:29

that period where I think I kind of like shrunk

7:31

a little bit, like I just wasn't like the

7:34

big personality and

7:36

I can't even think of, you know, what it

7:38

was that caused that. But yeah,

7:41

I was very into sports. I

7:43

think it wasn't until I

7:46

maybe was thirty that I ran more

7:48

than three miles ever, you know, at

7:50

one time. And really what happened. I lived

7:52

in Indianapolis. I was working at Indianapolis

7:55

affiliate there and the

7:57

station hosted the Mini

8:00

Marathon, which I believe at the time,

8:02

I don't know that it still holds this title, but

8:04

it was the largest half marathon in America,

8:07

and the draw was that you got to

8:09

run around the Indianapolis

8:11

Motor Speedway. They would always encourage

8:14

us at the station to participate,

8:16

and I lived along this running

8:19

trail called the Monon Trail, and I would

8:21

just be sitting there, you know, eating my chips on

8:23

the couch and seeing people running

8:25

by and biking by and rollerblading by.

8:28

After a while, I started kind of preparing

8:30

and training along the mona

8:32

On Trail and ever since

8:34

that, I started running that every

8:37

year. And then, as I

8:39

was saying to you while we were running,

8:43

how I met my husband was because my cousin had

8:45

asked him, you know, what are you looking for in a woman, and

8:47

he simply said one thing, the very

8:49

high bar of she has to like to run, and

8:52

that was it. Even though I

8:54

have some other qualities I think I can

8:56

bring to the relationship.

8:58

It's amazing the people that you meet through

9:00

running. Let's back up. I want to know how

9:02

you got into journalism and what it was about

9:04

journalism, you know, outside of love

9:07

and entertaining people as a younger

9:09

kid, what was it about journalism that you

9:11

were interested in?

9:12

So I went to University of Virginia. At the

9:14

time, they didn't have a communications major, but

9:18

I wanted to be a psychologist. I figured

9:20

out I think, you know, you had to declare,

9:23

I think by your second semester what you

9:25

wanted to major in. And at

9:27

eighteen years old or however old

9:29

I was at the time, I was just like

9:31

panicked, you know, I needed to decide, and I had

9:34

already gone through in my mind several

9:37

concepts. Initially, I always thought I wanted to be a

9:39

lawyer, and then I felt like, if

9:41

I'm in a courtroom, there's always

9:44

gonna be winning and losing, and I'm super competitive,

9:46

and I thought that just wouldn't be very hell ultimately

9:49

for my psyche of just like winning

9:51

and losing all the time for my career. And

9:54

then I decided I really liked talking to

9:56

people. I like listening. I think sometimes

9:59

I go because I I write children's books also, and sometimes

10:01

I go to schools and read, and like

10:04

twice I've been asked by some of the students

10:06

there, the young kids, what's my superpower,

10:09

which is like a okay,

10:11

that's a good question to think about. And

10:15

what I've decided it's empathy. I

10:17

think I'm able to imagine,

10:19

you know, walking a mile in someone else's

10:21

shoes. And so I decided,

10:24

really I was going to be a psychologist. And then

10:27

I studied abroad in London that second semester

10:29

my third year, and it was the first time

10:32

I was able to just take other classes

10:34

outside of psychology. I

10:36

had had a Spanish exchange student from high

10:38

school for whatever reason, I ended up

10:41

in the apartment by myself watching

10:43

last Notesia was watching the news in Spanish.

10:46

It was almost like that Charlie Brown mom

10:48

moment of like want, want, want, and just

10:50

like in that moment, I said,

10:53

that's what I want to do. And

10:55

from that time on, once I got back

10:58

to UVA, just

11:00

started now researching, Okay,

11:02

what steps do I have to take, because I

11:04

didn't want to leave that college to find a communications

11:07

program to start all over again. So

11:10

I just still graduated with my psychology

11:12

degree, and then I went to grad school. So I

11:14

came here and went to NYU and then got Because

11:17

it's different now fortunately for students

11:20

at the time, in order to get an internship

11:22

you had to get it for college credit.

11:24

You couldn't even offer to work for free,

11:27

you know, for a station. So basically

11:29

I went to NYU just so I could

11:31

get an internship and did end

11:34

up interning a WNBC, and

11:36

I just think it was so helpful just to

11:38

get a foot in the door and just understand,

11:40

you know, how the newsroom works. And

11:43

ever since then just was off to

11:45

the races. And I really I don't regret,

11:47

you know, the psychology major, because

11:50

I think that it helps me relate to

11:53

people and just kind of meet them where they are.

11:55

And you know, on our show ABC News Life Prime,

11:57

we talked to authors,

12:00

entertainers, politicians,

12:03

and everybody is kind of coming in at

12:05

a different tone level and

12:07

a different you know, background,

12:10

obviously, and I just think with that

12:13

background that I have, it just helps

12:15

me be a little more relatable.

12:17

And I feel like having that psychology

12:20

degree, you learn certain things and

12:22

mannerisms about people, and it helps you

12:24

figure out how to interact with kind of anybody.

12:27

And I also love knowing that you have that very

12:29

empathetic side of you, which is so important

12:31

in interviewing.

12:32

Quite often I will

12:34

go into an interview and I

12:37

think the best question or the best

12:39

interaction is nothing I planned

12:41

ahead of time. It's just something

12:44

I responded to based on

12:46

listening. So now that what I will

12:48

say, Because initially I was saying like I was

12:50

apologizing to my parents because I was like, oh

12:53

my gosh, you know, you basically have to pay this

12:55

fifty thousand dollars fornyu so I can go work

12:57

for free and get this internship. But

12:59

what that master's degree afforded

13:02

me was that I could teach college classes.

13:04

And so when I was in Indianapolis there

13:06

was a Franklin College, I started teaching this writing

13:09

for Journalism class, and I've

13:11

ended up loving being able

13:13

to teach college students

13:15

and just when they get it, you

13:17

know, when they grasp There was just nothing

13:20

more rewarding for me just

13:22

to and just to see their excitement

13:24

and their enthusiasm, and it's just I'm

13:27

so blessed really that I

13:29

was able to go through this journey

13:31

in the way that I did, because

13:34

I think it's it's all just kind of come full

13:36

circle.

13:36

Absolutely, and it's amazing to be able to go

13:38

back and teach students

13:41

what you wish you had known when.

13:43

You were there, exactly.

13:53

When you first started interning at

13:56

these networks, it's a very

13:58

competitive industry. What was your first

14:00

job when you did start working.

14:02

So I was in Syracuse. I was working at

14:04

the CBS affiliate there and

14:08

it was basically like a paid internship.

14:12

I would go out and get mos like which

14:14

was man on the street. So I would, you know, for

14:16

whoever was anchoring and they weren't

14:18

really leaving the building. I would go out and

14:20

ask the people, like, what do you think about this? New

14:22

law that's coming to New York. Hillary

14:25

Clinton was running for Senate for the first

14:27

time, so I did an interview

14:29

with her at the time.

14:30

Was that your biggest interview?

14:32

That was my biggest interview in New York

14:34

for sure.

14:34

Ah. So I just have to say man on the street style

14:37

interviewing, which is what I started with as well,

14:39

builds confidence and improv skills

14:42

like no other.

14:43

I agree, And you know what I've learned

14:45

again maybe that little psychology

14:47

background, I am pretty good,

14:49

Like I can ninety percent of the time tell

14:52

who's going just their body language, who's

14:55

gonna stop for you and

14:57

actually answer your question before

15:00

they were like they opened up their mouth like I'm

15:02

kind of like, you know, I'll be working with a photographer

15:04

and they would say, you know what about this guy? And

15:06

I was like, no, there's no way he's gonna talk to us.

15:08

And at a certain point you just want to be really

15:11

sensitive to time and making

15:13

sure you can get you know, come back with those like four

15:16

different soundbites. So I think I have a good

15:18

I'm very perceptive in that way. Who's

15:20

actually going to talk

15:22

to you and give you maybe like a decent answer.

15:25

Some people will surprise you for sure. I

15:27

remember a bunch of people were sick

15:29

for Columbus Day that year, and

15:32

so they just needed me to go out

15:34

and do an interview. It was my first

15:36

time on air. I was super

15:38

nervous. I had no idea what I was doing.

15:41

I wrote a script that was maybe like five minutes

15:43

long, and you know, really it needed

15:45

to be a minute and a half, but

15:48

that was my It was just very fortuitous

15:51

because everybody was six. So it was like they

15:53

turned around, like lindsay, you're going out

15:55

and doing this, kid, And shortly

15:57

after that they allowed me

15:59

to come back. I can and you know, keep doing it

16:02

pretty regularly after that.

16:03

And I know there was another big moment like that in

16:05

your career. You went from correspondent

16:08

to being an anchor in twenty twenty. What

16:10

was the learning curve like going from

16:13

correspondent to anchor? And you can tell me

16:15

if I'm getting the terminology wrong, Oh.

16:17

No, you're right, I'm right one hundred percent.

16:20

As I had was always like working my way

16:23

up the ladder and getting to bigger

16:25

market. So I started out in Syracuse,

16:28

then I was in Flint, Michigan. Then I went

16:30

to Indianapolis. So during my time

16:32

in Indianapolis, and I ended up being there for about five

16:34

years, I went from

16:37

the weekday morning reporter to

16:40

weekend anchor. Well I was still then, I was doing

16:42

both. I think then I became like night beat reporter

16:44

and I did that three days week and then I anchored

16:46

two days a week. So I kind of had that skill

16:49

set of being able to anchor

16:51

and report. I didn't

16:53

have aspirations of being an anchor.

16:56

I really just love storytelling. I

16:58

like talking to people. I like telling their stories.

17:01

Just kind of fell into

17:04

the opportunity to anchor it. And even though I always

17:06

had loved it when I was in local news

17:08

and being able to do both.

17:09

What do you think is the difference between reporting

17:12

and being an anchor.

17:13

I feel when you're actually out

17:16

on the street and going to the

17:19

bridge collapse, the plane crash,

17:21

whatever it is, you're you

17:23

know, actually gathering the different

17:26

elements for the story. You're

17:28

talking to people, you're seeing the visuals,

17:30

and you're focused on just that one

17:33

story for the day. When you

17:35

are anchoring, you're more

17:38

removed quite often, and you're telling

17:41

all of the major headlines of the day

17:44

and you're tossing to different

17:46

people who are out in the field or

17:48

on the scene at a different location. So

17:51

you kind of become a jack

17:53

of all trades and know a little

17:55

bit about a lot Versus when

17:57

you're actually the correspondent or reporter, you

18:00

know that story in and out.

18:02

You have your sources and contacts,

18:05

and you're keeping up with them and

18:07

really staying on top of any

18:09

developments with that particular

18:11

story. As an anchor, what

18:14

I'm there, it's kind of my job

18:16

is to tell you what's

18:19

happening in the world today. Are

18:22

you safe with regard to you

18:24

know, war or COVID

18:27

or stocks, you know what, all

18:29

the different aspects

18:30

of any given day's

18:34

news.

18:34

It's amazing the range of topics

18:36

that you guys have to cover on a daily basis.

18:39

Is there a briefing that you go through before

18:41

going on air?

18:42

So every day for Prime we have a

18:45

twelve o'clock Senior's call. Really

18:47

it's not too long, maybe fifteen twenty minutes, and

18:49

we're just kind of discussing the

18:52

obvious headlines of the day, the

18:54

things that we want to flesh out a little bit

18:56

more and give a

18:58

little more nuance and give a little extra time

19:00

too. And then some

19:02

of the more what I would call fringe

19:05

stories. So some of the stories,

19:07

because we have the luxury of time,

19:09

we're able to kind of add in

19:12

some stories that you may otherwise

19:15

not have heard of. And we

19:17

do something called prime focus every day where

19:20

it's an extended story. It might be that

19:22

where we really focus on

19:25

something in great detail

19:28

that you likely will not see

19:30

anywhere else. And that's what I think is

19:33

so unique about our show. And to go

19:35

back to your point of, you know, being

19:37

an anchor versus a correspondent,

19:40

the nice thing about our show for me

19:43

is I'm able to still do both. So even

19:46

you know, yesterday I was in Illinois.

19:48

We were doing a story a jailhouse interview

19:50

with someone who claims

19:53

that he is innocent and is wrongfully

19:55

convicted. So I'm able to kind of get

19:57

off the desk every once in a while and still

20:00

have those direct connections

20:02

and do The reason why I got into this

20:05

was the storytelling. And so it's

20:08

really again, I'm kind of living

20:11

a dream in that quite often you're

20:13

one or the other and I

20:15

and I am able to do both.

20:17

In the setting that you were in yesterday, what

20:20

is your approach to getting him to open

20:22

up.

20:22

You know, I don't tend to bring

20:24

notes, So I think

20:27

that when people see like

20:29

the notepad and like the pen and

20:32

oh no, but that that's.

20:34

No, that's on my

20:36

runs. I don't bring notes.

20:37

I just think, especially in

20:39

a scenario like that where

20:42

you want to disarm,

20:47

I like to look at it as

20:49

a conversation and not an interview. And

20:52

so I'm approaching it like,

20:55

let's just talk, I will say

20:58

quite often, which I really see as a complement.

21:00

People will say, oh wow, I

21:02

just felt like we were just having a conversation

21:04

that was so easy. I was so nervous

21:06

about this, and that was painless.

21:09

And so I do think that there is an

21:12

aspect of people when they sit down and they're like, oh,

21:14

I'm gonna get interviewed and I'm gonna get grilled, and

21:16

they see like the long list of questions, where

21:18

people become a little more tense

21:21

and don't give you their

21:24

most authentic answer. So I

21:26

just look at it like a conversation. And again,

21:28

mostly I'm following up, mostly

21:31

because I kind of feel like I come in so

21:34

prepared and I've researched. If you've written

21:37

a book, I've read it. If you've started

21:39

a movie, I've watched it, so a

21:41

lot of it can just be really organic and

21:43

just whatever my inherent

21:45

curiosity is, I'm gonna

21:48

then ask you about it. And quite often just

21:50

in the conversation, people will say

21:52

things that actually become bullet point reminders

21:54

for me, like, oh, yeah, that's right, we

21:56

mentioned whatever aspect

21:59

that they just said, and then I'll it

22:01

becomes a reminder for me that, yes, I wanted to ask

22:03

about.

22:04

That twenty twenty four presidential debate

22:06

between President Trump and Vice President

22:08

Harris.

22:09

What does preparation look like.

22:11

For that kind of a stage when you've got sixty

22:13

seven million people watching.

22:15

It's the most preparation

22:18

that I ever do

22:20

in life. When I did my

22:23

first debate in twenty

22:26

nineteen, which

22:28

was a Democratic a

22:31

primary, I

22:33

was the most nervous I've ever

22:35

been in my life, bar none.

22:38

I remember talking to my

22:40

best friend and I was just like, it's

22:43

months away, and when I think about it, I'm having

22:45

heart palpitations. You know, like, what do I

22:47

do? I think? Like anything? You

22:50

know, once you face

22:52

the fear and you do it one time and

22:55

you decide, oh I did

22:57

that and I lived. You

22:59

know, I lived through it just gets

23:01

so much easier. So I think that even

23:03

though the stakes were higher, arguably

23:06

for the debate that we did in

23:09

twenty twenty four, because

23:11

I already had done it a few times at

23:13

that point, it

23:15

just didn't feel as nerve wracking

23:18

because I just felt, Okay, I've

23:20

done this, I understand how

23:23

it works. Going into twenty into

23:25

twenty twenty four, it was a little

23:28

easier to anticipate just

23:30

because I had done it a few times before. I was able

23:32

to, you know, work a little smarter

23:35

rather than harder in learning as

23:38

much as I did.

23:39

I feel like, at the end of the day, modering a debate

23:41

like that really is a service to the American people.

23:43

So it's like you have to go in more

23:46

prepared than you ever had within

23:57

the craze of world news and debates, which

23:59

can sometimes be very negative. I

24:02

love knowing that you've tapped into a

24:04

different side of storytelling through writing

24:06

children's books.

24:07

By the way, guys, all of these books are so thoughtful.

24:10

Oh thank you, so can you kind of walk us

24:12

through some of your books and where the inspo comes

24:14

from.

24:14

Thinking about my son as he was,

24:17

you know, two or three, and wanting

24:19

to watch mom on the news, and I

24:21

just felt like, oh, this is this is

24:23

too heavy, you know, for a

24:25

little mind to have to watch. So I

24:28

felt this was something that I could share with him

24:30

that would be the good news,

24:32

you know, the positive news. And

24:36

so I knew when I shortly

24:38

after he was born that I wanted to write

24:41

children's books. And I just carried it with

24:43

me for a few years because

24:45

I didn't know how to do it. I

24:47

didn't know where to even begin, and I didn't

24:50

know what I wanted to write about. And

24:52

one day when he was like two or

24:54

three, and I was driving, and he

24:56

was in a backseat of the car, and he asked, Mommy,

24:59

does God open up the flowers? And

25:01

I just thought, what a suite

25:04

and at the same time introspective

25:06

question. And

25:09

I, in that moment, was like, I'm

25:11

going to try and answer that question in a

25:13

book that's I think that's my idea. And

25:17

unbeknownst to him, he really has been

25:20

my inspiration for each

25:22

of the books that I've written, you

25:24

know. At one point he said he came home from

25:27

preschool and he said, how come Santino has

25:29

two grandmas and two grandpas and I just have one

25:31

of each and he didn't

25:34

remember his paternal grandmother.

25:36

His paternal grandfather had already passed before

25:38

he was born. And so I ended

25:40

up writing this book, How High is Heaven, about

25:43

this little boy who's trying to go

25:46

to heaven to meet his grandparents. Because when

25:48

we had had this conversation, because he said, I

25:51

want to go see them, and I said,

25:53

you know, you'll see them one day, you know,

25:55

they're in heaven. And he would

25:57

start asking them questions about what is heaven.

26:00

And fast forward maybe two or three months, and we

26:02

were on a plane and he was looking out

26:04

the window and he was like, I don't see them, and this was out

26:06

of nowhere. I said, you don't see who? And he was

26:08

like, I don't see Grandma Pee. And

26:12

so he inspired

26:14

me, you know, to to

26:17

write about, you know, kids

26:19

who are losing and unfortunately

26:22

it was really during COVID

26:24

when so many people were losing

26:27

loved ones and and

26:29

just trying to explain death I think is a

26:32

really complicated topic obviously for

26:34

a young person, but it's it's necessary

26:37

to have those conversations and just

26:39

you know the world that he was

26:42

growing up with the police protest,

26:45

it was right you know, after George Floyd

26:48

was killed and COVID

26:51

was happening, and there was

26:53

just a lot of tumult. That

26:55

he was about five years old and was just asking

26:58

me questions that were really

27:01

hard questions, and so I would take

27:03

his questions and really use it

27:05

as material for, you

27:08

know, trying to write a book to explain

27:10

some some some hard truths.

27:12

I guess in a in a very palatable

27:15

and appropriate way for a young mind.

27:17

I love it, and I especially

27:19

we love women obviously on this podcast,

27:22

and I especially love Girls of the World

27:24

World. Yes, it's empowering.

27:26

It's cute.

27:27

It shows women that they can do anything, especially

27:29

little girls.

27:30

So even with that one, it's funny

27:32

because I have a boy. But he

27:34

inadvertently again inspired that book

27:37

because I remember one morning I

27:39

was he loves waffles. So I said

27:41

to him, like, why don't you just come in here and you can

27:43

learn how to make the waffles. And he was

27:45

like, Mom, that's for girls.

27:48

And I said, what, No, it's not cooking.

27:50

It's not for girls. And I said, what are you going

27:52

to do when you grow up and you're not living

27:54

with mom anymore? He said, my wife is

27:56

going to cook And so I just

27:58

thought that's it's so interesting

28:01

that he has assigned gender

28:03

roles already. And I think at the

28:05

time he was like seven years old, I

28:08

really wanted to empower

28:11

girls, even for him, you

28:14

know. I mean, I think that it's that males

28:16

have a role in understanding

28:19

early on that women

28:21

are equals and women

28:25

need to understand that so and you know, both

28:27

sexes. I think it's so important, and I think

28:29

that it's important to plant these seeds early

28:32

and not have to change

28:35

minds as adults, but really

28:38

inform young people as

28:41

early as possible.

28:42

What is something from your career, maybe one

28:44

thing, one lesson that you want your

28:46

son to grow up having

28:48

learned. You know.

28:49

I think it really goes back to girls

28:52

of the world. I think that I just want

28:55

him to realize

28:58

that a woman is an equal

29:00

partner. It's funny to me that he even

29:03

had this assumption that women are the

29:05

ones who are at home cooking because

29:08

other than waffles on a Saturday morning,

29:10

I'm not really.

29:11

Maybe it's just like motherly energy though, you

29:14

know what, girls can do anything.

29:18

That's right, and we can moderate political

29:20

debates.

29:21

Yes, I think

29:23

also I want him to

29:25

know that he can do anything

29:27

that he wants to. You know, I think that early

29:30

on my parents instilled in me

29:32

and my I have an older sister that

29:36

the world is ourn't oyster and the

29:39

sky is not the limit. And I

29:42

think I was either smart enough

29:44

or silly enough to believe them,

29:47

And so I want to instill

29:49

that same concept

29:51

in my son. That you know, there's

29:53

a famous quote, whether you think you can or

29:56

you can't do something, you're right. And

29:58

I think so often we limit

30:00

ourselves. We put parameters and closed

30:03

doors and

30:06

believe that, you know, our options

30:08

are limited. I just want

30:10

him to grow up believing that he

30:13

can do it if he thinks

30:15

about it and just wants it

30:18

that and desires it, that he can

30:20

do it.

30:20

As somebody that wants to get into the world

30:22

of broadcast journalism and become a great

30:24

storyteller on my own, What

30:27

is one piece of advice you have for me?

30:29

Whatever you do. You know, there's a quote that says,

30:31

you know, if you want to write books, it's write like a

30:33

reader, right, And so you start

30:35

to whatever you're consuming,

30:38

you start to get an appreciation for what

30:40

works, what is effective,

30:44

what draws you in. So I

30:46

would say, watch the news if

30:48

you want to be on the

30:50

news or you know, that's if you want to be an anchor,

30:52

if you want to be a reporter, study the

30:55

people. Find your favorite

30:57

anchor, find your favorite correspondent. What

31:00

makes them your favorite? I mean, the thing is

31:02

we are invited guests

31:05

into people's homes, and what

31:07

makes that person stand

31:09

out that you want to you trust them enough to

31:11

invite them into your living room every day. And

31:14

so that's my number one piece of advice. Whatever

31:16

it is you want to do, find who

31:18

you think is the best person

31:21

to do it. And that's not to say

31:23

that you become or emulate that person,

31:26

but I think you just get a sense of style

31:29

and effective and what works, and

31:32

you know, and in an aspirational way, you

31:34

know, what is that person doing that? What

31:36

are some of those takeaways

31:39

that I can use to incorporate

31:41

into my own style, into my own

31:44

voice. And I think that

31:46

that's something that I wish if I

31:48

could go back, I really would

31:50

have paid attention at

31:53

an early age, you know, twelve

31:55

thirteen, fourteen, to really pay

31:58

attention to because ultimately,

32:00

storyteller telling, I think is a formula. I think

32:02

there's a style. I think there is a sensibility

32:05

that you over time learn

32:07

and I, you know, just happened was like

32:09

kind of in my early twenties when I was learning

32:11

it, I wish I had learned it a decade earlier.

32:14

I was asking somebody the other day,

32:16

a mentor of mine, you know, is there a

32:18

class you can take to get really good at

32:20

interviewing? And she was like, well, of

32:22

course there's programs in schools and universities,

32:25

but honestly, you learn.

32:26

By doing and by watching.

32:28

Exactly what you're saying, Lindsey, what do you

32:30

have coming up that you're super excited about

32:32

that you want everyone to know about that's listening

32:35

or watching.

32:36

So I'm looking

32:38

forward to and I don't have a date yet. I imagine

32:40

it'll be in April, but we've with

32:44

Jamie Snow, who I was just mentioning. I went and

32:46

interviewed him in a prison

32:48

in Illinois. He

32:51

says that he's innocent and that he claims

32:53

that he's been wrongfully convicted for

32:56

more in excess of twenty five years for

32:58

a murder that he says he did not commit.

33:02

We went and interviewed all

33:04

from Georgetown University students. Jason

33:06

Flomm, of course, author John

33:09

Grisham and then went and interviewed

33:12

Jamie Snow his two daughters who are

33:14

now grown, and so

33:17

really all aspects and this is something I

33:19

having to have a personal interest in criminal

33:21

justice and injustice. We've

33:24

done three prior to

33:26

Jamie Snow jailhouse interviews, all

33:29

three of them ended up being

33:32

released from prison. You

33:34

know. We were doing all just kind of a

33:36

series on wrongful convictions. So

33:40

I'm really eager to share that with

33:42

viewers. Hopefully that'll be on ABCNIWS

33:45

Life Prime at some point in April.

33:46

That's going to be fascinating. I am so excited

33:48

to watch. Thank you so much Lindsey for sitting

33:50

down with me today, and thank you to everybody

33:53

watching and listening.

33:54

Post Run High. Thank you hum