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Speaker 1: Hey everyone, it's Sophia. Welcome to work in progress. High

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Speaker 1: wib smarties, welcome back to this week's work in progress.

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Speaker 1: I have to say I am having the most excited

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Speaker 1: sort of nerd alert alarm going off in my brain

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Speaker 1: right now because I'm interviewing one of my brain crushes today,

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Speaker 1: who is a hero to public service, who centers the

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Speaker 1: good of the people and early childhood development in everything

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Speaker 1: that she does. She is just too pure for this world,

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Speaker 1: but manages to also be such a fighter and such

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Speaker 1: an inspiration y'all. Today we are joined by Paula Kerger,

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Speaker 1: the President and CEO of PBS. This is the woman

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Speaker 1: responsible for Sesame Street. This is the woman responds for

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Speaker 1: community care, and since two thousand and six, she has

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Speaker 1: transformed PBS into a multi platform media institution that reaches

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Speaker 1: over eighty percent of US households. And by the way,

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Speaker 1: has no responsibility to an investor, to an owner, to

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Speaker 1: anybody trying to shape what they say or how they

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Speaker 1: say it. Her responsibility is to us, to the American people,

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Speaker 1: to the kids in this country who PBS works to

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Speaker 1: ensure are ready to go to school. I mean, come on,

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Speaker 1: what is better than this? And Paula herself is known

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Speaker 1: for being incredibly dedicated to American community, while fiercely defending

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Speaker 1: each and every local station and that educational programming I

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Speaker 1: mentioned that is critical to communities nationwide. I think she's

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Speaker 1: so special because she was shaped by her grandfather's work

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Speaker 1: in Baltimore Public Radio. She had a childhood curiosity that

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Speaker 1: always centered on public service, and she's grown into this

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Speaker 1: adult who I admire so much, honestly, who I hope

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Speaker 1: to grow up to be like, who manages to blend

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Speaker 1: strategic leadership with such a deeply human touch guys in

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Speaker 1: trying times. Paula is the kind of person who we

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Speaker 1: should look to for cultural relevancy, for educational devotion, and

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Speaker 1: for community storytelling, because she is making sure that all

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Speaker 1: of those things remain accessible to all, even when she's

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Speaker 1: literally under attack by the President of the United States.

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Speaker 1: She is a gem and I am so honored that

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Speaker 1: she's here. So I'm going to stop talking and we're

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Speaker 1: going to dive in with Paula Kirker. How are you.

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Speaker 2: I'm fine, Saphia. It's lovely to meet you.

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Speaker 1: It is so nice to be with you. I just

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Speaker 1: I'm such an enormous fan of all you do. I'm

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Speaker 1: so grateful for your your fight and your dedication to

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Speaker 1: you know, public service, and I'm thrilled you're here.

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Speaker 2: Oh, thank you, and I so appreciate you giving me

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Speaker 2: this opportunity, you know, want to meet you and to

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Speaker 2: talk to you, but also you know, to be able

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Speaker 2: to have this conversation with you in front of all

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Speaker 2: the people that follow you, you know, and it's it's

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Speaker 2: a it's a great opportunity. I'm really grateful.

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Speaker 1: Well, thank you. Gosh, that's really really kind. It's it's

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Speaker 1: interesting when you get to meet one of your heroes

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Speaker 1: and they thank you. You're like, old, what's happening here?

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Speaker 1: You know? I just have to say, and I'm sure

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Speaker 1: to your point about all of our friends listening at home,

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Speaker 1: I'm sure they'll be nodding along. Public service and the

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Speaker 1: way that that extends into community advocacy. I think can

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Speaker 1: make or break a society, particularly when we're talking about

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Speaker 1: our free press, and a free press that has chosen

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Speaker 1: as media has been more and more corporatized, if you will,

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Speaker 1: a free press that's chosen to stick to doctrines of fairness,

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Speaker 1: to not sell itself for explicit profit. To not lie

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Speaker 1: to or mislead its constituency feels to me more important

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Speaker 1: than ever. And to watch NPR and PBS being attacked

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Speaker 1: in the way that they are because they are organizations

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Speaker 1: that mandate truly non partisan an accurate truth to be

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Speaker 1: told feels terrifying. And that's how it feels to me

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Speaker 1: as an observer. So I just want to say, for

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Speaker 1: you on the inside, thank you for continuing to take

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Speaker 1: time out of your day to come and have conversations

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Speaker 1: like this one while you are literally fighting fascism and

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Speaker 1: trying to ensure that folks like us citizens continued having

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Speaker 1: access to the truth.

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Speaker 2: There's a lot in what you were just talking about,

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Speaker 2: and you can even walk back even beyond the role

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Speaker 2: of media, and we should talk about that, you know,

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Speaker 2: what mete in our society, but also let's talk about

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Speaker 2: what does it mean to be a citizen. You know,

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Speaker 2: next year will mark the two hundred and fiftieth anniversary

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Speaker 2: of the Declaration of Independence. And you know, this country

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Speaker 2: was was really an experiment when democracy was created. Idea

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Speaker 2: of not a not a king, not a you know,

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Speaker 2: sort of a monarchy or any of the other structures

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Speaker 2: that existed before. But this idea that we would all

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Speaker 2: have voice. Now it's taken many years to evolve what

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Speaker 2: all means. The word all means, right, But part of

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Speaker 2: what it means to be in a democracy is to

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Speaker 2: be active and engaged. You know, you are very much

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Speaker 2: engaged in a number of issues, and I think that

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Speaker 2: people don't always realize. You know, Civics isn't taught. It's

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Speaker 2: starting to creep back now, but you know, Civics isn't

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Speaker 2: necessarily taught in schools. People don't really understand what it means.

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Speaker 2: And I always like in it to one of my

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Speaker 2: personal heroes, Fred Rogers, and it's about what does it

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Speaker 2: mean to be a good neighbor? Right? How do we

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Speaker 2: look out for each other? How do we come together

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Speaker 2: and make decisions that are not just for ourselves but

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Speaker 2: for our communities? And I think I have aspirations about

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Speaker 2: building the communities in which we want to live and

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Speaker 2: that we all play a role, and part of that

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Speaker 2: is being involved. And you know, I've had the privilege

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Speaker 2: through my entire professional career to work for various nonprofit organizations.

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Speaker 2: I always have felt really lucky that early on I

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Speaker 2: found the opportunity to work in an organization where not

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Speaker 2: only I was, you know, I didn't even think you

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Speaker 2: could actually have a job doing the kind of stuff

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Speaker 2: that I did. I just, you know, I thought you volunteered.

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Speaker 2: I was in I grew up in a family where

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Speaker 2: we were active in a lot of things. But all

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Speaker 2: of us have a role, you know. I talked to

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Speaker 2: a lot of young people as they're either graduating from

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Speaker 2: I've done some commencement speeches and so forth, and it's

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Speaker 2: like when you think about your life, it's all these

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Speaker 2: different pieces, right. There are friends, you know, all the

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Speaker 2: things we do with ourselves and our health. There's our

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Speaker 2: professional life. There's the community service piece, yes, and we

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Speaker 2: all need to pay attention to that, and it can

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Speaker 2: be anything from mentoring a child to becoming actively involved

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Speaker 2: in political work, to helping to clean up parks, to

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Speaker 2: serve on nonprofit boards, to support local arts organizations. There

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Speaker 2: are all little pieces to help a neighbor, there are

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Speaker 2: all these little pieces of that. That's really what it

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Speaker 2: means to be part of a community. And I think

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Speaker 2: it's what means to be part of a democracy. And

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Speaker 2: of that, you know, if we think about our democracy

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Speaker 2: is also where you were going around an informed citizenry,

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Speaker 2: and that was always if you go back to Thomas Jefferson,

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Speaker 2: that was always contemplated is that an informed citizenry was

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Speaker 2: going to be profoundly important as if we the people

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Speaker 2: were going to be governing this country. And so, you know,

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Speaker 2: so that means a robust press, that means having a

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Speaker 2: media outlets where we can find information. And now we're

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Speaker 2: an envine where there is information coming as from so

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Speaker 2: many different places and helping people discern you know, fact

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Speaker 2: from fiction. With the explosion of AI, the possibilities of

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Speaker 2: some things being you know, people misunderstanding or being deliberately misled.

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Speaker 2: I think the risk of that increases tremendously, and I

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Speaker 2: think in this whole array there has to be a

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Speaker 2: space for thoughtful dialogue and for information that you can trust.

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Speaker 2: And when PPS was created, you know, about sixty years ago,

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Speaker 2: the commercial marketplace that exploded with lots of different media possibilities,

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Speaker 2: and there was there was really good stuff in early television,

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Speaker 2: early radio, but there was a recognition by the way

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Speaker 2: the first woman FCC commissioner, a woman by the name

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Speaker 2: of FRIEDA Hennick, she has this idea that this powerful

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Speaker 2: media would be able to do a lot of things,

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Speaker 2: but Marketplace wasn't going to always be able to deal

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Speaker 2: with the citizen part, and that she felt was really

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Speaker 2: important that there would be a space for public media

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Speaker 2: where our customer is really in the interest and our

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Speaker 2: work is really in the interest of the public, not

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Speaker 2: necessarily an advertiser. And that's actually how you know, we

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Speaker 2: first began, and so at a time when there were

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Speaker 2: a couple stations and then us was very clear. But

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Speaker 2: I think even in this environment, you know, people are

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Speaker 2: looking for where do you go for information you can trust?

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Speaker 2: And hopefully brand means something that was sort of a

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Speaker 2: long dialogue, but anyway, it was a little bit No,

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Speaker 2: I love it what you set up for me.

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Speaker 1: I love it. My partner, you know, on a personal note,

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Speaker 1: is always like, honey, you got to get and I'm like, no, no, no,

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Speaker 1: but I can't. I can't give you the full context

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Speaker 1: without these fourteen details that will then bring us back

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Speaker 1: to where I started. Yeah, and we laugh about it,

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Speaker 1: but you know, you said something that really touched me

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Speaker 1: and and it leads me to what is normally my

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Speaker 1: first question for people. I skipped it because I wanted

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Speaker 1: to give you all of the compliments and flowers you deserve,

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Speaker 1: and there are certainly more. But when you touched on

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Speaker 1: mister Rogers and the profundity of what Fred Rogers meant,

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Speaker 1: of what that show meant, of what modeling being a

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Speaker 1: good neighbor meant for early childhood development and also frankly,

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Speaker 1: for social change. You know, you see a lot since

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Speaker 1: the Internet is the Internet, a lot of people will say, well,

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Speaker 1: it didn't used to be this way, and not everybody

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Speaker 1: was always trying to shove an opinion down your throat

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Speaker 1: or be woke or be this or be that. And

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Speaker 1: you think about the fact that mister Rogers sat on

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Speaker 1: a television series during fights over segregation and put his

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Speaker 1: bare feet in a kiddie pool with the postal man

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Speaker 1: on his television show who happened to be a Black man,

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Speaker 1: and what that meant to America at the time, that

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Speaker 1: these two friends sat down and shared a space that

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Speaker 1: was in our country segregated and had a lovely conversation

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Speaker 1: and reminded people of what it means to be a neighbor.

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Speaker 1: And I think about my own childhood watching that show

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Speaker 1: and falling so in love with mission. I think that

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Speaker 1: you know, by the time I was eight I was

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Speaker 1: begging my mom to pick me up early from school

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Speaker 1: so I could have my butt in the seat in

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Speaker 1: front of the TV by three pm for Oprah to start.

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Speaker 1: Another person really trying to remind us of what community

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Speaker 1: is in a broadcast space. What was your childhood like?

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Speaker 1: You touched on the fact that you grew up in

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Speaker 1: a service family, But you know, I'm thinking about my

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Speaker 1: own sort of eight year old self learning from these

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Speaker 1: spaces that you have advocated for, and I wonder what

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Speaker 1: your life was like around eight or nine and how

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Speaker 1: just you were of your neighborhood as it were.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, it's you know, I grew up outside of Baltimore,

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Speaker 2: and I grew up in an area that was largely rural,

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Speaker 2: and so for me, I spent you know, I was

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Speaker 2: thinking about this in the summertime, because I would, you know,

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Speaker 2: as soon as the sun was up, I was outside

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Speaker 2: and I don't think I had shoes on the entire summer,

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Speaker 2: you know, And I loved being outside. We I love nature,

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Speaker 2: I love animals, and you know, we had like woods

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Speaker 2: behind our house. I'd go down in the stream and

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Speaker 2: you know, dig for crayfish and all that kind of stuff.

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Speaker 2: And but because of where I lived, there weren't a

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Speaker 2: lot of kids. There were few, but there weren't really

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Speaker 2: that many kids. So it wasn't that whole neighborhood thing

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Speaker 2: where like kids were like in gangs on their bikes

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Speaker 2: like riding everywhere I did. I didn't know that there

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Speaker 2: were there were suburbs that were not that far from me,

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Speaker 2: but it was far enough. There were no sidewalks, we

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Speaker 2: had we had paved roads. I don't want sure you know,

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Speaker 2: it was it wasn't that role, but it was. It

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Speaker 2: was a different environment. And for me, the connection to

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Speaker 2: many things was TV. So I like, we didn't watch

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Speaker 2: TV all throughout the day, but you know, at night

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Speaker 2: I saw a lot of stuff that I experienced because

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Speaker 2: I saw it on TV. So my early memories was

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Speaker 2: as a little girl sitting very close to the TV

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Speaker 2: set watching old Lucy reruns. So that's sort of how

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Speaker 2: like I thought women were, you know, because when you

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Speaker 2: think about like the role of women, you know, I

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Speaker 2: mean she was, you know, she was zany and unbelievably

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Speaker 2: creative and all this, but she was always aspiring to

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Speaker 2: do something more, you know, that was part of it.

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Speaker 2: And then my next role model was Mary Tyler Moore,

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Speaker 2: because she was a woman right that struck out on

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Speaker 2: her own. She happened to go into media and she

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Speaker 2: she had a career and that was really what you know,

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Speaker 2: she had her friends and all of that, but it

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Speaker 2: was it was very different than a lot of the

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Speaker 2: things that I saw. I had other experiences that you

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Speaker 2: know that I mean, I love I love the arts,

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Speaker 2: I love dance. I saw dance on TV. I didn't

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Speaker 2: you know, we you know, eventually maybe we would occasionally

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Speaker 2: go into Baltimore and we would you know, go to

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Speaker 2: see things and so forth. But it was it was,

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Speaker 2: you know, it was a connection to a lot of people,

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Speaker 2: and me it still is for many people. It just

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Speaker 2: connects them. And Fred is an interesting person to talk

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Speaker 2: about because you know, before Fred Rogers and before Sesame Street,

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Speaker 2: children's television was usually it was like the weather man

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Speaker 2: from the station who would like put on a clown

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Speaker 2: suit and they'd run cartoons. That's what kid's television was.

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Speaker 2: And Fred thought, wow, this could be a teaching tool.

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Speaker 2: So this is how he built mister Rogers. And he

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Speaker 2: spoke slow, and he spoke quietly. You had to lean

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Speaker 2: in a little bit to hear him. And he would

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Speaker 2: look into the camera and he would tell kids. I know,

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Speaker 2: he told your little seven year old self, I like

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Speaker 2: you just the way you are a lot of kids

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Speaker 2: that was really profound. So in addition to that beautiful

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Speaker 2: scene that you talked about with the swimming pool and

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Speaker 2: the postman and the two of them sitting together very

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Speaker 2: quiet gesture, he you know, he also told children that

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Speaker 2: they were important and he encouraged them in a way

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Speaker 2: that was just beautiful. He also understood things about how

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Speaker 2: kids learn. So if you remember from those Mister Rogers episodes,

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Speaker 2: he always wove in songs and so a lot sometimes,

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Speaker 2: you know, grown ups forty to fifty years old will

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Speaker 2: sing some of the songs they know, and it's how

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Speaker 2: you remember things that, by the way, we've learned and

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Speaker 2: continue to weave in all of our kids shows. So

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Speaker 2: Daniel Piker's Neighborhood, which is our most popular show on PBS,

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Speaker 2: was created by someone who had been an intern for

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Speaker 2: Fred and that decided to reinvent Fred because you know,

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Speaker 2: once Fred passed, there isn't another Fred Rogers. I can't

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Speaker 2: tell you how many people send headshots saying I can

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Speaker 2: be the next Fred Rogers. There isn't another Fred, but

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Speaker 2: you can reinvent it in an imaginary world. And so

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Speaker 2: that's what Daniel Podger's neighborhood and all those lessons, all

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Speaker 2: the structure of how mister Rogers was organized, is played

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Speaker 2: out again in that show and other shows. It's the lesson,

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Speaker 2: it's the kindness. It's those lessons, not just the numbers

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Speaker 2: and the letters, but how we deal with one another,

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Speaker 2: how the music disforce is the message.

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Speaker 1: It's beautiful, indeed, And now a word from our sponsors

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Speaker 1: who make this show possible. Before I respond to that,

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Speaker 1: I just have to say I love that you brought

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Speaker 1: up Mary Tyler Moore. I always tell people when they

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Speaker 1: ask how I being an actor who also went to

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Speaker 1: journalism school and is obsessed with, you know, public service

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Speaker 1: and political science, I tell them because I was raised

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Speaker 1: by Mary Tyler Moore, Oprah Winfrey and Candicsbergen is Murphy Brown.

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Speaker 1: Those were my idols, you know, And and to your point,

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Speaker 1: television can be such a powerful tool to show you

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Speaker 1: what you can be, especially you know, whether you're a woman,

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Speaker 1: a person of color, anyone who changes the kind of

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Speaker 1: status quo assumption as Fred did, as you know, Candice

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Speaker 1: did as Oprah did. It's so powerful. Yes, and I

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Speaker 1: know you've had such a long career in media. But

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Speaker 1: before we get into you know the importance of PBS,

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Speaker 1: the importance of teaching children and not just to be clear,

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Speaker 1: there's plenty of kids content, but a lot of kids'

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Speaker 1: content is designed to keep them coming back. It's junk food.

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Speaker 1: It's not whole, nutritious food for the mind. You know

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Speaker 1: what you do at PBS, what mister Rogers began, what

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Speaker 1: Sesame Street continued, and what anyone who takes up the

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Speaker 1: mantle of that legacy does is to your point, to

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Speaker 1: make sure we are creating for children in a way

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Speaker 1: that empowers them, that teaches them empathy, that models kindness,

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Speaker 1: that lets them know they have value. You can't do

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Speaker 1: that in an unboxing video on YouTube, frankly, and so

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Speaker 1: before we get into some of you know, the real

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Speaker 1: I would say, moral power of centering the mental health

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Speaker 1: and well being of a child. I'm actually really curious

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Speaker 1: if you can help us cut through all the noise

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Speaker 1: and understand in like the most simple terms, what really

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Speaker 1: is PBS and how is it funded? Because there's a

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Speaker 1: lot of nonsense obviously coming from the political party that

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Speaker 1: wants to cut all our public service so that they

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Speaker 1: can launch the next depression and then let all their

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Speaker 1: rich friends buy up our assets for pennies on the

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Speaker 1: dollar and be even richer. Like that doesn't make any

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Speaker 1: sense in the grand scheme of you know, the American budget.

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Speaker 1: But I think what would help people make sense of

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Speaker 1: it all is to know A what is it that

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Speaker 1: you do? And B how does it get paid for? Okay?

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Speaker 1: And like I do mean in Layman's terms for us.

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Speaker 2: Yes, yeah, yeah, So I'm gonna I'm gonna talk about

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Speaker 2: the what is it by first bridging off of what

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Speaker 2: we were just talking about, which is kids, because then

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Speaker 2: we can talk about what we do for everyone else,

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Speaker 2: everyone who's over five, right, yes, like us just shy, Yeah,

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Speaker 2: we're just shy of over five. We we we focus

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Speaker 2: a lot of our work for children on the youngest

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Speaker 2: because we know that, you know, through the legacy of

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Speaker 2: Sesame Street as well as Fred Rogers and others, that

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Speaker 2: we have an opportunity to reach kids when they're young.

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Speaker 2: We're very focused on the fact that half of the

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Speaker 2: children in this country do not attend formal preak and

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Speaker 2: so we have children in this country that have a

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Speaker 2: lot of advantages and have a lot of opportunities to

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Speaker 2: see and experience things, and we have other children that

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Speaker 2: are more limited. And so the whole idea behind the

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Speaker 2: programming that we've created, even going back to the very beginning,

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Speaker 2: was to try to reach some of those kids. And

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Speaker 2: so even if you don't have the opportunity to be

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Speaker 2: in a formal school setting, to give those children exposure

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Speaker 2: to the basic skills they need to succeed the first

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Speaker 2: time they enter school, both in terms of you know,

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Speaker 2: as I said before, basic letter and numbers, but also

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Speaker 2: some social emotional skills and so forth, so that they

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Speaker 2: can begin to, you know, really have a thirst for learning,

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Speaker 2: a love for learning. That's what all of our children's

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Speaker 2: programs are built on. They're all tested against basic curriculum

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Speaker 2: that kids seem to master before they enter school. They're

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Speaker 2: fun to watch because kids control the dial, so if

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Speaker 2: you don't like it, you're not going to watch. But

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Speaker 2: we also do a lot of measurements around our children

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Speaker 2: actually learning, and we actually go back and do longitudinal

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Speaker 2: studies too. We just did one the first generation of

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Speaker 2: kids that were watching Daniel Tiger that I talked about

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Speaker 2: and like what did they take away and how did

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Speaker 2: that change their lives and impact their lives. So that's

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Speaker 2: the business that we're in. Children's programming is really interesting

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Speaker 2: right now because a lot of the big streaming services,

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Speaker 2: I would say, with the exception of Disney, which is

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Speaker 2: very much in the kids business, have really backed away

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Speaker 2: some from kids' content. So where kids are ending a

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Speaker 2: lot of time as YouTube and there are some good

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Speaker 2: things on YouTube, and there's a lot of things that

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Speaker 2: are not appropriate for kids on YouTube, and increasingly content

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Speaker 2: is being produced by AI and so it is you know,

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Speaker 2: it is you refer to as junk foods. Some of

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Speaker 2: it is you know, does not have the educational rigor

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Speaker 2: that the work that we produce. We're in a different business,

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Speaker 2: you know. We happen to use souls as everyone else.

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Speaker 2: But our goal at the end of the day is

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Speaker 2: to make sure that kids are prepared to go to school.

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Speaker 2: If you're if you're another country producer, your goal may

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Speaker 2: be just to make sure that kids are watching the

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Speaker 2: next clip and the next clip, and that you know,

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Speaker 2: it's created that that circle for them so that it

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Speaker 2: just keeps them glued. But you got to think if

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Speaker 2: you're a parent, What is your child actually seeing? What

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Speaker 2: are they experience? Is this helping their brains develop? Is

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Speaker 2: this helping them see a wider world? So that's what

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Speaker 2: we do for kids. It's also what we do for

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Speaker 2: the rest of the audience that we attempt to serve.

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Speaker 2: You know, we're a variety service. We have the news

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Speaker 2: and we have documentaries. We have a very big interest

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Speaker 2: in science, you know, through series like Nature and Nova.

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Speaker 2: We do a lot lot of productions in partnership with

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Speaker 2: the BBC, the beautiful David Attenborough productions and so forth.

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Speaker 1: They're so gorgeous.

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Speaker 2: You're very fortunate to have worked with Ken Burns for

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Speaker 2: many years. He has a big series coming up on

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Speaker 2: the American Revolution. This is why it can speak so

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Speaker 2: knowledgeably about when our country has founded, because I've learned

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Speaker 2: so much from Ken as we've been working on this

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Speaker 2: project together. We also bring the arts, you know, and

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Speaker 2: there's you know, there's all the competition shows, but to

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Speaker 2: bring theater and opera and dan and just the Austin

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Speaker 2: city limits, I mean, just wide array of programming content

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Speaker 2: and all of it is intended to give people access.

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Speaker 2: There are a lot of people in this country. As

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Speaker 2: I was as a kid that just didn't have the

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Speaker 2: opportunity to see a lot of performance. To give people

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Speaker 2: that don't have the economic means to buy tickets to

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Speaker 2: a Broadway show and so forth the access to see

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Speaker 2: those things and to hopefully help people just feel inspired.

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Speaker 2: I mean, that's part of what we do at PBS.

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Speaker 2: And so the way that we're funded is we have

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Speaker 2: for years and when Lyndon Johnson signed the Public Broadcasting Act,

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Speaker 2: he envisioned this public private partnership. He envisioned that the

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Speaker 2: federal government would put some money in it. Ends up,

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Speaker 2: it was fifteen percent of the budget for public media.

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Speaker 2: That means all of our stations NPBS together fifteen percent,

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Speaker 2: and that money would mostly went to our stations. And

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Speaker 2: so if you are in la or if you're in

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Speaker 2: New York and you're a big city, those stations the

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Speaker 2: percentage of our budget that their budget that came from

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Speaker 2: the federal government was probably less than ten percent. It

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Speaker 2: was maybe eight or nine percent. For some small stations

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Speaker 2: in rural parts of the country, the part of the

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Speaker 2: federal the part of their budget that was federal dollars

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Speaker 2: was as much as fifty percent. And so I worked

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Speaker 2: really hard in the many years that I've now been

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Speaker 2: in this job to really make sure that legislators understand

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Speaker 2: is the money that you're providing is not coming to Washington.

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Speaker 2: It's not going to New York. It's going to Peoria.

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Speaker 2: It's going to Granite Falls, Minnesota. It's going to Cookville, Tennessee.

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Speaker 2: It's going to Nashville and Austin and everything.

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Speaker 1: Yes, it's going to parts of Alaska where no one

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Speaker 1: has any other media acts.

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Speaker 2: Correct. And so what was always expected in this partnership

432
00:26:32,040 --> 00:26:34,640
Speaker 2: is that there would be some government money and then

433
00:26:34,800 --> 00:26:38,199
Speaker 2: each station would then do their job in trying to

434
00:26:38,320 --> 00:26:41,840
Speaker 2: rally their community around funding their station. So we often

435
00:26:41,880 --> 00:26:44,680
Speaker 2: think on PBS, thank you to viewers like you. That's

436
00:26:44,720 --> 00:26:47,880
Speaker 2: actually where the largest amount of money comes into public broadcasting.

437
00:26:48,040 --> 00:26:52,480
Speaker 2: So in this moment, the public site has been pulled

438
00:26:52,520 --> 00:26:55,360
Speaker 2: out and pulled out in a way that has been

439
00:26:55,600 --> 00:26:59,200
Speaker 2: very difficult for us to manage because we were always

440
00:26:59,280 --> 00:27:04,000
Speaker 2: given an advance appropriation, so the government would decide two

441
00:27:04,119 --> 00:27:07,440
Speaker 2: years out what moneys would come into public broadcasting. Because

442
00:27:07,440 --> 00:27:09,840
Speaker 2: you know you've been in TV for all this TV

443
00:27:09,920 --> 00:27:13,560
Speaker 2: production is expensive, it takes a long time, and so

444
00:27:13,160 --> 00:27:16,119
Speaker 2: it was put in place so that we knew at

445
00:27:16,160 --> 00:27:19,159
Speaker 2: the beginning of every year that we would have the

446
00:27:19,200 --> 00:27:21,080
Speaker 2: money for that year, and we also knew it would

447
00:27:21,080 --> 00:27:24,280
Speaker 2: be coming for the next year, so we could properly plan.

448
00:27:24,680 --> 00:27:27,080
Speaker 1: You have to know what you're working with, otherwise how

449
00:27:27,119 --> 00:27:29,160
Speaker 1: are you supposed to do a job correct?

450
00:27:29,320 --> 00:27:32,960
Speaker 2: That money was all eliminated. It was pulled out just

451
00:27:33,040 --> 00:27:35,800
Speaker 2: weeks ago. We have two months to figure this out,

452
00:27:36,440 --> 00:27:38,680
Speaker 2: and there were a lot of commitments that were made

453
00:27:39,200 --> 00:27:42,320
Speaker 2: when Congress met. This happened both on the House side

454
00:27:42,320 --> 00:27:43,960
Speaker 2: and the Senate side, and they said, well, we're just

455
00:27:43,960 --> 00:27:46,719
Speaker 2: getting rid of this advanced money. We will deal with

456
00:27:46,760 --> 00:27:50,639
Speaker 2: you in the appropriations process. Guess what worship a proporations

457
00:27:50,640 --> 00:27:54,920
Speaker 2: process began to move forward two weeks ago. No money

458
00:27:54,960 --> 00:27:58,280
Speaker 2: for us. Of course, we have no money now coming

459
00:27:58,280 --> 00:28:01,359
Speaker 2: out of the federal government. So I have been working

460
00:28:01,480 --> 00:28:06,080
Speaker 2: with some foundations to try to get quick money the

461
00:28:06,160 --> 00:28:10,000
Speaker 2: libratory stations so that they actually have a little bit

462
00:28:10,040 --> 00:28:12,320
Speaker 2: of running room so they can figure out what their

463
00:28:12,359 --> 00:28:15,359
Speaker 2: clients are for the future. But I am just really

464
00:28:15,440 --> 00:28:18,280
Speaker 2: very disappointing that something that has worked well for sixty

465
00:28:18,359 --> 00:28:23,640
Speaker 2: years yes, suddenly gone well, and something.

466
00:28:23,320 --> 00:28:30,640
Speaker 1: That feels really important to discuss is the ratio we're

467
00:28:30,640 --> 00:28:37,520
Speaker 1: talking about here. You know, to go from a million

468
00:28:37,600 --> 00:28:44,400
Speaker 1: dollars to a billion dollars is an insane exponential multiplication.

469
00:28:45,480 --> 00:28:48,600
Speaker 1: To then imagine going from a billion dollars in any

470
00:28:48,680 --> 00:28:52,040
Speaker 1: level of the budget to a trillion dollars is unimaginable

471
00:28:52,080 --> 00:28:55,840
Speaker 1: for most people. Our current government is giving a one

472
00:28:55,880 --> 00:29:02,680
Speaker 1: point three trillion dollar tax cut to the wealthiest people

473
00:29:03,200 --> 00:29:08,760
Speaker 1: in the nation while defunding public services for everyone else.

474
00:29:09,680 --> 00:29:12,080
Speaker 1: And what's so frustrating to me is the Department of

475
00:29:12,200 --> 00:29:17,200
Speaker 1: Education budget that PBS was getting, which was just eliminated,

476
00:29:17,480 --> 00:29:21,560
Speaker 1: was twenty three million dollars. It's not even a blip

477
00:29:21,600 --> 00:29:27,240
Speaker 1: on the radar in the grand scheme of what we

478
00:29:27,360 --> 00:29:31,360
Speaker 1: pay for of what we do. It feels like the

479
00:29:31,480 --> 00:29:36,280
Speaker 1: kind of moral loss for no fiscal gain, akin to

480
00:29:37,280 --> 00:29:41,120
Speaker 1: US cutting USAID that's less than one percent of America's

481
00:29:41,280 --> 00:29:45,360
Speaker 1: entire budget to invest in our soft power around the

482
00:29:45,360 --> 00:29:50,440
Speaker 1: world and to be good global neighbors. And so we

483
00:29:50,560 --> 00:29:55,080
Speaker 1: are eviscerating all the things that actually make this country

484
00:29:55,120 --> 00:29:59,320
Speaker 1: great so that we seem more like the kings that

485
00:29:59,400 --> 00:30:02,800
Speaker 1: you reference in the beginning of this conversation, which is

486
00:30:02,840 --> 00:30:05,760
Speaker 1: antithetical to the founding of the country in the first place.

487
00:30:06,400 --> 00:30:08,840
Speaker 1: And so you know, when folks at home are like, god,

488
00:30:09,000 --> 00:30:12,280
Speaker 1: you know you you really seem to hate the right,

489
00:30:12,440 --> 00:30:15,520
Speaker 1: it's like, well, I hate anything that's on American actually,

490
00:30:16,320 --> 00:30:19,640
Speaker 1: and this is this is really antithetical to who we are,

491
00:30:20,560 --> 00:30:24,800
Speaker 1: and I feel like it is my duty. As you said,

492
00:30:24,960 --> 00:30:27,880
Speaker 1: you referenced, I suppose earlier that I'm you know, I'm lucky.

493
00:30:27,920 --> 00:30:30,520
Speaker 1: I've got a platform because of my day job, and

494
00:30:31,040 --> 00:30:33,000
Speaker 1: because I've got the day job I do, I can

495
00:30:33,040 --> 00:30:38,640
Speaker 1: also protest the government and certain agencies in a way

496
00:30:38,760 --> 00:30:42,440
Speaker 1: that people who work inside of it aren't allowed to.

497
00:30:43,320 --> 00:30:46,440
Speaker 1: And so I do feel like it's really a responsibility

498
00:30:46,520 --> 00:30:49,520
Speaker 1: for me. And I have to say a little thank

499
00:30:49,560 --> 00:30:52,240
Speaker 1: you to the folks at home, you know, Paula, My

500
00:30:52,280 --> 00:30:55,560
Speaker 1: fans know me, like the people who listen to this show,

501
00:30:55,640 --> 00:30:58,720
Speaker 1: the people who show up to organize for elections and

502
00:30:58,760 --> 00:31:02,280
Speaker 1: community service and to build schools with me. They are dedicated,

503
00:31:02,320 --> 00:31:05,880
Speaker 1: wonderful people. So I hope that they, you know, always

504
00:31:05,920 --> 00:31:09,880
Speaker 1: feel like when I'm expressing my frustration with attacks on

505
00:31:10,640 --> 00:31:14,000
Speaker 1: you know, our country and frankly attacks on our children,

506
00:31:14,160 --> 00:31:16,920
Speaker 1: like the attack on PBS, is I hope they know,

507
00:31:17,760 --> 00:31:20,680
Speaker 1: like we got to hit the streets for this. How

508
00:31:20,720 --> 00:31:23,520
Speaker 1: can people help you? Because look, I saw the great

509
00:31:24,640 --> 00:31:27,760
Speaker 1: for context. Just today an article came out in The

510
00:31:28,120 --> 00:31:31,280
Speaker 1: New York Times about how there are some grate philanthropists

511
00:31:31,280 --> 00:31:34,920
Speaker 1: who are helping you raise this stop gap money to

512
00:31:35,120 --> 00:31:39,960
Speaker 1: hopefully stop the doom loop of these stations will shutter,

513
00:31:40,040 --> 00:31:41,960
Speaker 1: and then if they shutter, others will shutter. It'll be

514
00:31:41,960 --> 00:31:46,959
Speaker 1: this horrible domino effect for an informed populace. You know,

515
00:31:47,560 --> 00:31:51,480
Speaker 1: I love seeing names like the Ford Foundation and Pivotal Ventures.

516
00:31:52,240 --> 00:31:54,000
Speaker 1: I don't have that kind of money. Nobody I know

517
00:31:54,120 --> 00:31:57,240
Speaker 1: has that kind of money. What can the average person

518
00:31:57,360 --> 00:32:01,360
Speaker 1: do right now to support you to supports Like if

519
00:32:01,360 --> 00:32:03,960
Speaker 1: somebody's got five or ten dollars to spare, where do

520
00:32:04,000 --> 00:32:04,600
Speaker 1: they send it?

521
00:32:04,760 --> 00:32:07,600
Speaker 2: Yeah, it's hugely meaningful. So, I mean we have been

522
00:32:07,640 --> 00:32:10,560
Speaker 2: built on I mean I always refer to us as

523
00:32:10,560 --> 00:32:13,560
Speaker 2: the most American and the most democratic of organizations because

524
00:32:13,960 --> 00:32:17,880
Speaker 2: we have been built on support from our communities. It's

525
00:32:17,960 --> 00:32:23,080
Speaker 2: all those five dollars contributions. So this is this money

526
00:32:23,200 --> 00:32:26,120
Speaker 2: that you're referencing, which has been raised by a few

527
00:32:26,120 --> 00:32:28,960
Speaker 2: foundations and others, is just trying to give some of

528
00:32:29,000 --> 00:32:32,520
Speaker 2: the most vulnerable stations a little bit of runway. But

529
00:32:32,920 --> 00:32:35,520
Speaker 2: I'm you know, a lot of people used to think, oh, well,

530
00:32:35,520 --> 00:32:39,320
Speaker 2: you're government funded, You're fine, or they think, well, you know,

531
00:32:39,360 --> 00:32:41,920
Speaker 2: I turn on my TV set, or you know, I

532
00:32:41,960 --> 00:32:44,080
Speaker 2: turn on my computer and I see you, and I

533
00:32:44,120 --> 00:32:46,040
Speaker 2: see all creatures great and small, and I see all

534
00:32:46,080 --> 00:32:47,840
Speaker 2: the things that I love and so forth, and you're

535
00:32:47,880 --> 00:32:52,200
Speaker 2: always there. Well, this is actually a really critical moment

536
00:32:52,760 --> 00:32:55,840
Speaker 2: if you actually care about the fact that you know,

537
00:32:55,880 --> 00:32:59,000
Speaker 2: this is a media service that is absolutely focused on

538
00:32:59,080 --> 00:33:02,760
Speaker 2: your kids succeeding. If this is a service that you

539
00:33:02,840 --> 00:33:05,200
Speaker 2: rely on for your news or the things that you

540
00:33:05,280 --> 00:33:09,640
Speaker 2: care about, you need your support and every dollar counts,

541
00:33:09,960 --> 00:33:13,320
Speaker 2: So support your local station. You can also also go online.

542
00:33:13,360 --> 00:33:17,720
Speaker 2: We have a foundation, PBS Foundation. You can also go

543
00:33:17,760 --> 00:33:21,320
Speaker 2: there and make a contribution to PBS itself. Everyone teases

544
00:33:21,360 --> 00:33:24,240
Speaker 2: us about our fundraising dives and sending you a mug

545
00:33:24,320 --> 00:33:24,840
Speaker 2: or whatever.

546
00:33:25,240 --> 00:33:26,640
Speaker 1: I like my mugs.

547
00:33:27,960 --> 00:33:32,520
Speaker 2: Me to me, I've always believed because you know, look,

548
00:33:32,600 --> 00:33:34,440
Speaker 2: I have been in this job for a while, and

549
00:33:34,600 --> 00:33:37,440
Speaker 2: we have one hundred and seventy nine separate licensees. We're

550
00:33:37,440 --> 00:33:40,640
Speaker 2: in every state. When I first took the job, I

551
00:33:40,680 --> 00:33:43,400
Speaker 2: had worked in our station in New York, and I

552
00:33:43,480 --> 00:33:47,160
Speaker 2: had been the station manager there, and when I took

553
00:33:47,160 --> 00:33:49,880
Speaker 2: the job at PBS, I thought, you know, I know

554
00:33:49,920 --> 00:33:53,560
Speaker 2: a fair amount about public television, but I knew it

555
00:33:53,600 --> 00:33:57,880
Speaker 2: from my lens of running that station. And so I thought,

556
00:33:57,920 --> 00:33:59,680
Speaker 2: and you know, some people think New York is an

557
00:33:59,680 --> 00:34:02,080
Speaker 2: island and off of the coast in North America. You know,

558
00:34:02,160 --> 00:34:04,880
Speaker 2: it's like a little different than you know other places.

559
00:34:05,320 --> 00:34:07,040
Speaker 2: And so I thought, you know, I want to learn more.

560
00:34:07,160 --> 00:34:08,960
Speaker 2: If I want to do this job, well, I'm going

561
00:34:09,000 --> 00:34:11,279
Speaker 2: to travel around the country and I'm going to meet

562
00:34:11,280 --> 00:34:13,240
Speaker 2: as many people as I can, not just the people

563
00:34:13,239 --> 00:34:15,799
Speaker 2: that run the stations. I wanted to meet the people

564
00:34:15,880 --> 00:34:19,000
Speaker 2: that counted on those stations. I wanted to talk to teachers,

565
00:34:19,040 --> 00:34:22,200
Speaker 2: I wanted to talk to different community leaders and so forth,

566
00:34:22,440 --> 00:34:25,480
Speaker 2: and so into every state. I have seen a lot

567
00:34:25,680 --> 00:34:31,040
Speaker 2: of stations in many communities that I visited. Our local

568
00:34:31,120 --> 00:34:37,080
Speaker 2: stations are the last remaining locally owned, operated, and governed.

569
00:34:37,400 --> 00:34:42,080
Speaker 2: Media companies say there aren't local TV or radio stations.

570
00:34:42,520 --> 00:34:44,440
Speaker 2: A lot of them are owned somewhere else. Some of

571
00:34:44,440 --> 00:34:48,560
Speaker 2: them are programmed somewhere else. Yes, that's the properlations are

572
00:34:48,600 --> 00:34:51,959
Speaker 2: run by people that live in the community that care

573
00:34:52,239 --> 00:34:55,919
Speaker 2: about those communities and that are looking at what they do.

574
00:34:56,280 --> 00:34:58,480
Speaker 2: And I'll speak just for television because that's what I run.

575
00:34:58,800 --> 00:35:01,120
Speaker 2: They're looking at what they're telling vision station can do

576
00:35:01,680 --> 00:35:04,520
Speaker 2: to both tell the story of that community but also

577
00:35:04,640 --> 00:35:08,160
Speaker 2: to bring people together. And all of those stations are

578
00:35:08,160 --> 00:35:11,160
Speaker 2: supported by lots of contributions, and so this is really

579
00:35:11,200 --> 00:35:14,200
Speaker 2: a moment. So we'd love to be one of those

580
00:35:14,280 --> 00:35:16,040
Speaker 2: viewers like you that we think on our air all

581
00:35:16,080 --> 00:35:18,799
Speaker 2: the time and just it's an easy thing to do.

582
00:35:18,920 --> 00:35:21,919
Speaker 2: Step up. A lot of our stations also look for volunteers.

583
00:35:22,200 --> 00:35:24,680
Speaker 2: Our stations do a lot of work in schools and

584
00:35:24,760 --> 00:35:27,640
Speaker 2: so that you know you can send a contribution, you

585
00:35:27,680 --> 00:35:31,160
Speaker 2: can get involved, and that will make a huge difference.

586
00:35:31,480 --> 00:35:34,120
Speaker 2: I am not getting up on the government funding we're

587
00:35:34,160 --> 00:35:36,520
Speaker 2: going to be dressing on this. We should, but we

588
00:35:36,600 --> 00:35:40,120
Speaker 2: also have to make sure that we are keeping these

589
00:35:40,160 --> 00:35:44,920
Speaker 2: beautiful stations strong and relevant and important, because, as you

590
00:35:45,000 --> 00:35:47,640
Speaker 2: were saying at the very beginning of this podcast, the

591
00:35:47,760 --> 00:35:51,640
Speaker 2: need for information that you can trust is more important

592
00:35:51,640 --> 00:35:54,960
Speaker 2: than ever, and that what we are relentlessly focused on

593
00:35:55,080 --> 00:35:58,319
Speaker 2: is making sure that we're producing information that people can

594
00:35:58,360 --> 00:36:02,400
Speaker 2: trust as they make the decisions, their communities, yes, their families,

595
00:36:02,640 --> 00:36:03,520
Speaker 2: and for themselves.

596
00:36:04,080 --> 00:36:15,759
Speaker 1: And now a word from our sponsors. One of the

597
00:36:15,760 --> 00:36:18,920
Speaker 1: things that feels important to highlight here as well is

598
00:36:19,680 --> 00:36:26,919
Speaker 1: the information not limiting information for people, particularly in their

599
00:36:26,960 --> 00:36:30,960
Speaker 1: local geographies, is incredibly important. And you know, if you've

600
00:36:31,000 --> 00:36:35,120
Speaker 1: got a say, Sinclair Media, that has a clear bias

601
00:36:35,840 --> 00:36:39,920
Speaker 1: that limits the free speech of its employees and programs

602
00:36:40,920 --> 00:36:46,120
Speaker 1: the same stories to run nationally, that harms the people

603
00:36:46,760 --> 00:36:50,439
Speaker 1: in those communities because they don't know what's happening next door,

604
00:36:50,480 --> 00:36:52,759
Speaker 1: they don't know what's happening around the corner. They might

605
00:36:52,800 --> 00:36:57,680
Speaker 1: not be able to organize to save a volunteer firehouse

606
00:36:58,040 --> 00:37:01,680
Speaker 1: or save a hospital in the town over if it's

607
00:37:01,719 --> 00:37:05,160
Speaker 1: the closest one to them. And there's also the reality

608
00:37:05,200 --> 00:37:09,000
Speaker 1: that a lot of these stations are the emergency alert

609
00:37:09,040 --> 00:37:12,960
Speaker 1: stations for people as well. I got a whole lot

610
00:37:12,960 --> 00:37:18,319
Speaker 1: of flack when this recision's package happened and I heard

611
00:37:18,400 --> 00:37:20,560
Speaker 1: that your funding was cut because it was just, I

612
00:37:20,560 --> 00:37:22,440
Speaker 1: don't know, maybe ten days or two weeks after that

613
00:37:22,520 --> 00:37:26,520
Speaker 1: horrific tragedy. It can't mystic that is in a county

614
00:37:26,920 --> 00:37:29,600
Speaker 1: that didn't upgrade its emergency system when it was given

615
00:37:29,640 --> 00:37:31,920
Speaker 1: the funds to do so by the federal government because

616
00:37:32,800 --> 00:37:34,640
Speaker 1: President Biden was the president at the time, and they

617
00:37:34,640 --> 00:37:37,920
Speaker 1: said they didn't want any Democratic money. And to me,

618
00:37:39,280 --> 00:37:43,440
Speaker 1: refusing to show up for your country and your neighbors,

619
00:37:43,440 --> 00:37:46,399
Speaker 1: regardless of how they vote in either direction, by the way,

620
00:37:47,080 --> 00:37:51,880
Speaker 1: feels criminal and just had proved deadly. And I said,

621
00:37:52,640 --> 00:37:55,240
Speaker 1: you know, how could we do this after this horrible

622
00:37:55,320 --> 00:37:58,120
Speaker 1: tragedy has just happened. And by the way, you know,

623
00:37:58,200 --> 00:38:01,520
Speaker 1: you've just seen this massive, horrific flooding in Tennessee. We

624
00:38:01,560 --> 00:38:06,200
Speaker 1: had just watched this awful devastation throughout Tornado Alley like

625
00:38:06,719 --> 00:38:10,919
Speaker 1: people weren't getting emergency alerts and people were dying. And

626
00:38:11,440 --> 00:38:14,480
Speaker 1: the number of people who said that's not how anyone

627
00:38:14,560 --> 00:38:19,040
Speaker 1: gets their alerts anymore struck me, Paula, because I thought, oh,

628
00:38:19,120 --> 00:38:23,279
Speaker 1: we're really entrenched in this moment of infighting in our

629
00:38:23,320 --> 00:38:25,680
Speaker 1: own country where people think, well, if I don't do

630
00:38:25,760 --> 00:38:28,839
Speaker 1: it that way, no one does it that way. Yeah.

631
00:38:28,840 --> 00:38:31,239
Speaker 2: There's a misunderstanding though, of the role that we play.

632
00:38:31,640 --> 00:38:33,640
Speaker 1: Yes, so I wanted to ask you about that to

633
00:38:33,640 --> 00:38:34,959
Speaker 1: help us he that it's not.

634
00:38:34,920 --> 00:38:37,600
Speaker 2: That you're getting your information from your TV set. We

635
00:38:37,719 --> 00:38:40,920
Speaker 2: are actually feeding the information you're getting through your phone. Yes,

636
00:38:41,320 --> 00:38:45,680
Speaker 2: we are. Because of ours network, right, we can push

637
00:38:45,719 --> 00:38:48,279
Speaker 2: out one to many. So anyone that has been in

638
00:38:48,320 --> 00:38:50,720
Speaker 2: a crisis. I was in New York nine to eleven.

639
00:38:51,080 --> 00:38:55,680
Speaker 2: You know that cell phones, you know, cell phone service

640
00:38:56,400 --> 00:39:01,279
Speaker 2: becomes overworked and it's uninhapable to sustain the volume of activity.

641
00:39:01,880 --> 00:39:04,879
Speaker 2: And that the power about the work that we do

642
00:39:05,280 --> 00:39:08,600
Speaker 2: is because broadcast is one to many, we can push

643
00:39:08,640 --> 00:39:11,799
Speaker 2: a lot of content out. Yes, so we run a

644
00:39:11,840 --> 00:39:15,240
Speaker 2: service that that pushes that content out to the public

645
00:39:15,280 --> 00:39:19,160
Speaker 2: but also to first responders. And so we we were

646
00:39:19,239 --> 00:39:23,160
Speaker 2: knit in as the backup infrastructure for our emergency alert

647
00:39:23,160 --> 00:39:27,560
Speaker 2: system for the country. So it's getting your information from NPR.

648
00:39:27,880 --> 00:39:30,600
Speaker 2: And this actually, this discussion happened on the on the

649
00:39:30,840 --> 00:39:32,680
Speaker 2: it was either the House of the Senate floor, because

650
00:39:32,680 --> 00:39:35,359
Speaker 2: the Senate floor, I think because at the time of

651
00:39:35,400 --> 00:39:39,840
Speaker 2: the vote there was a tsunami warning in Alaska. Yes,

652
00:39:40,000 --> 00:39:43,400
Speaker 2: it was the radio stations that were pushing out that information.

653
00:39:44,239 --> 00:39:47,000
Speaker 2: And you know, someone on the House floor said, well,

654
00:39:47,040 --> 00:39:49,080
Speaker 2: I'm not listening to NPR, so I wouldn't have gotten

655
00:39:49,080 --> 00:39:52,080
Speaker 2: it anyway. That wasn't that wasn't how the information pushed

656
00:39:52,080 --> 00:39:54,200
Speaker 2: out it was also getting pushed out to your phones,

657
00:39:54,200 --> 00:39:56,920
Speaker 2: which you probably would have seen, and that's the member

658
00:39:57,040 --> 00:39:59,120
Speaker 2: was doing. She she held up her phone and she said,

659
00:39:59,120 --> 00:40:01,640
Speaker 2: I'm getting these older it's on my phone. And it

660
00:40:01,640 --> 00:40:04,239
Speaker 2: wasn't because she was tuned to NPR. It's because it

661
00:40:04,320 --> 00:40:06,600
Speaker 2: was being pushed out to her because.

662
00:40:06,600 --> 00:40:08,000
Speaker 1: By public broadcasting.

663
00:40:08,480 --> 00:40:12,680
Speaker 2: Broadcasting. Yeah, so you know, we're going to try to

664
00:40:12,760 --> 00:40:15,840
Speaker 2: keep the the you know, so we are working to

665
00:40:15,960 --> 00:40:21,120
Speaker 2: keep the infrastructure solid. I worry if we start to

666
00:40:21,120 --> 00:40:24,640
Speaker 2: lose some stations, which we we likely will, they'll be

667
00:40:24,719 --> 00:40:28,959
Speaker 2: parts of the country that won't be covered. And part

668
00:40:28,960 --> 00:40:31,280
Speaker 2: of what the federal government was investing in the federal

669
00:40:31,320 --> 00:40:35,360
Speaker 2: government has invested this over the years is you know,

670
00:40:35,400 --> 00:40:37,560
Speaker 2: some of our stations were looking to upgrade equipment to

671
00:40:37,560 --> 00:40:39,279
Speaker 2: make sure they had the wad of software and all

672
00:40:39,320 --> 00:40:42,920
Speaker 2: that stuff, and so all that money got pulled and

673
00:40:43,160 --> 00:40:46,320
Speaker 2: now there's a hole back and forth about well, maybe

674
00:40:46,360 --> 00:40:49,120
Speaker 2: that money shouldn't go to public broadcasting at all. I mean,

675
00:40:49,200 --> 00:40:52,600
Speaker 2: it doesn't make any sense. It has nothing to do

676
00:40:52,719 --> 00:40:55,839
Speaker 2: with anything that we're broadcasting or anything that we're doing

677
00:40:55,840 --> 00:40:58,920
Speaker 2: as a media company. It is an infrastructure. We are

678
00:40:58,960 --> 00:41:03,200
Speaker 2: a public service company, and so to you know, suddenly

679
00:41:03,239 --> 00:41:05,759
Speaker 2: be looking at you know, well, maybe we should look

680
00:41:05,760 --> 00:41:08,160
Speaker 2: at another solution. Why wouldn't you use the solution that

681
00:41:08,239 --> 00:41:10,200
Speaker 2: you have and for a small amount of money you

682
00:41:10,200 --> 00:41:11,400
Speaker 2: can just keep it going.

683
00:41:11,960 --> 00:41:14,840
Speaker 1: Yes, that works incredibly well refficient.

684
00:41:15,239 --> 00:41:18,400
Speaker 2: Do you know how much per person the investment in

685
00:41:18,440 --> 00:41:21,880
Speaker 2: public media in this country is. It's a dollar sixty

686
00:41:21,960 --> 00:41:26,840
Speaker 2: six a year. What is the investment in public media

687
00:41:27,440 --> 00:41:31,880
Speaker 2: from each citizen? A dollar sixty six a year. And

688
00:41:33,320 --> 00:41:36,399
Speaker 2: what we again have tried to do is to take

689
00:41:36,440 --> 00:41:39,839
Speaker 2: whatever as I said, you know it. You know, we

690
00:41:39,960 --> 00:41:43,080
Speaker 2: use a lot of it to lift up stations in smaller, rural,

691
00:41:43,160 --> 00:41:46,880
Speaker 2: poorer communities that could use the support. Everybody gets a

692
00:41:46,880 --> 00:41:50,000
Speaker 2: little base of support, and then we try to be

693
00:41:50,040 --> 00:41:54,120
Speaker 2: as entrepreneurial as we can in raising additional money alongside

694
00:41:54,120 --> 00:41:56,359
Speaker 2: of it in order to create a service that meets

695
00:41:56,400 --> 00:41:58,799
Speaker 2: the needs of the public. We partner with a lot

696
00:41:58,800 --> 00:42:02,120
Speaker 2: of media organizations. You know, everybody knows of our partnerships

697
00:42:02,120 --> 00:42:05,960
Speaker 2: with organizations like the BBC. We partner within HK in Japan.

698
00:42:06,719 --> 00:42:10,520
Speaker 2: We partner with other media companies. I'm partnering with Amazon.

699
00:42:10,600 --> 00:42:14,160
Speaker 2: I partner with anybody that where we can put the

700
00:42:14,239 --> 00:42:19,560
Speaker 2: resources together to bring forward a robust schedule of programming

701
00:42:19,600 --> 00:42:22,440
Speaker 2: that we think meets the interests of the people that

702
00:42:22,520 --> 00:42:26,160
Speaker 2: watch us. And we are we have always been in

703
00:42:26,200 --> 00:42:28,759
Speaker 2: a different position than everyone else. Is again why I

704
00:42:28,800 --> 00:42:31,920
Speaker 2: say we're in a profoundly different business we just use

705
00:42:31,960 --> 00:42:34,360
Speaker 2: the same tools. Is that I don't have to worry

706
00:42:34,360 --> 00:42:39,080
Speaker 2: about how I am satisfying our advertisers. Y worry about

707
00:42:39,200 --> 00:42:42,960
Speaker 2: is I look at what is missing from the broadcast landscape,

708
00:42:43,040 --> 00:42:46,080
Speaker 2: and then this is what we bring forward, and we

709
00:42:46,160 --> 00:42:48,360
Speaker 2: hope that we do a good enough job that the

710
00:42:48,400 --> 00:42:51,440
Speaker 2: public believes that it's important and they support us and

711
00:42:51,560 --> 00:42:53,880
Speaker 2: what we're doing. You know, many of our local stations,

712
00:42:53,920 --> 00:42:56,319
Speaker 2: they're the ones that are doing candidate debates, they do

713
00:42:56,400 --> 00:43:00,920
Speaker 2: town halls, yes to all of this stuff. Well, you know,

714
00:43:01,280 --> 00:43:02,040
Speaker 2: it's important.

715
00:43:02,239 --> 00:43:04,200
Speaker 1: It is important, and one of the things I think

716
00:43:04,280 --> 00:43:10,480
Speaker 1: is really crucial to repeat for our listeners, just like

717
00:43:10,600 --> 00:43:17,200
Speaker 1: you were able to shoot down the myth that people

718
00:43:17,200 --> 00:43:22,080
Speaker 1: aren't getting their emergency alerts from public broadcast just because

719
00:43:22,080 --> 00:43:26,640
Speaker 1: they're not listening to NPR. It's incredibly important. You know,

720
00:43:27,960 --> 00:43:31,400
Speaker 1: This idea that it's all a conspiracy has really permeated

721
00:43:31,440 --> 00:43:35,279
Speaker 1: our culture. Right, Everyone's like, oh, well, the government's a conspiracy,

722
00:43:35,360 --> 00:43:41,799
Speaker 1: and medicines a conspiracy. No. No, private corporations that have

723
00:43:42,360 --> 00:43:46,040
Speaker 1: only a duty to please their shareholders rather than to

724
00:43:46,280 --> 00:43:51,719
Speaker 1: take care of public health. Like, guys, there's your conspiracy.

725
00:43:51,600 --> 00:43:55,800
Speaker 1: They're not prioritizing your wellness. They're not prioritizing the safety

726
00:43:55,800 --> 00:43:59,160
Speaker 1: of your family. They're not prioritizing clean air and clean water.

727
00:43:59,200 --> 00:44:03,239
Speaker 1: They're prioritize returns. And what you just said, Paula, I

728
00:44:03,239 --> 00:44:08,839
Speaker 1: want to shout from the rooftops, PBS centers the wellness

729
00:44:08,880 --> 00:44:14,120
Speaker 1: of the American people, not shareholders, and it makes it

730
00:44:14,200 --> 00:44:19,120
Speaker 1: the most rare and precious thing that we have to protect.

731
00:44:19,640 --> 00:44:22,600
Speaker 1: And my hope is that through our conversation people will

732
00:44:22,640 --> 00:44:25,200
Speaker 1: want to, you know, read the articles that we will

733
00:44:25,239 --> 00:44:27,959
Speaker 1: link in our show notes. That are all the things

734
00:44:27,960 --> 00:44:31,280
Speaker 1: I was reading to prep for today, because the more

735
00:44:31,320 --> 00:44:35,240
Speaker 1: we understand what this really is, what it really means,

736
00:44:35,280 --> 00:44:38,719
Speaker 1: and how dangerous these threats are to us, not just

737
00:44:38,840 --> 00:44:45,440
Speaker 1: to NPR, that will I think motivate people. And I'm curious,

738
00:44:45,480 --> 00:44:48,640
Speaker 1: you know again, because it's easy in a country of

739
00:44:48,640 --> 00:44:51,160
Speaker 1: three hundred and thirty two million people to say, well,

740
00:44:51,200 --> 00:44:53,200
Speaker 1: I don't know anybody who's had that problem so you

741
00:44:53,239 --> 00:44:56,200
Speaker 1: think the problem doesn't exist, but like one town over,

742
00:44:56,280 --> 00:45:00,560
Speaker 1: everybody's got that problem. So when you talk about this

743
00:45:00,719 --> 00:45:05,080
Speaker 1: wonderful public broadcast tour that you did when you when

744
00:45:05,080 --> 00:45:10,799
Speaker 1: you took the presidency, what are a couple of anecdotes

745
00:45:10,880 --> 00:45:15,200
Speaker 1: or stories that stand out to you that you learned

746
00:45:15,200 --> 00:45:19,279
Speaker 1: about your own company moving across the country. You know,

747
00:45:19,400 --> 00:45:23,439
Speaker 1: I would love to enlighten people with Oh I might

748
00:45:23,520 --> 00:45:27,040
Speaker 1: not know Mary from Pacoima, but I heard her story

749
00:45:27,040 --> 00:45:31,160
Speaker 1: on this podcast and that really shifted my understanding of

750
00:45:31,200 --> 00:45:33,480
Speaker 1: the landscape. So if you have like maybe two or

751
00:45:33,480 --> 00:45:34,680
Speaker 1: three of those, I would love.

752
00:45:34,560 --> 00:45:38,399
Speaker 2: To hear you. I you know, and I always believe that. Look,

753
00:45:38,440 --> 00:45:41,799
Speaker 2: everything in life is storytelling, right, you know this refoundling well,

754
00:45:42,640 --> 00:45:46,120
Speaker 2: and you know, I mean if you you know, And

755
00:45:46,160 --> 00:45:48,919
Speaker 2: I think that's the way to understand us is through

756
00:45:48,920 --> 00:45:52,640
Speaker 2: the lens of how people relate to us. Television is

757
00:45:52,680 --> 00:45:55,520
Speaker 2: a really intimate medium. Think about where do you Where

758
00:45:55,560 --> 00:45:58,160
Speaker 2: are you when you watch television? Yes, you know, you

759
00:45:58,200 --> 00:46:00,080
Speaker 2: might be in your living room or your kitchen, you

760
00:46:00,160 --> 00:46:04,160
Speaker 2: might be in your bed, exactly right. And so I

761
00:46:04,160 --> 00:46:06,799
Speaker 2: think people have a different relationship with us. A lot

762
00:46:06,800 --> 00:46:09,439
Speaker 2: of times when I was traveling around, and I still

763
00:46:09,480 --> 00:46:12,640
Speaker 2: do some travel. I stopped a little bit around COVID,

764
00:46:12,719 --> 00:46:16,200
Speaker 2: and I haven't traveled so much since then, but I've been.

765
00:46:16,880 --> 00:46:18,600
Speaker 2: As I said, I'd already been all over the country.

766
00:46:18,600 --> 00:46:21,840
Speaker 2: I've been almost to every station. And what I learned

767
00:46:21,880 --> 00:46:23,960
Speaker 2: in those in those experience is people would tell me

768
00:46:24,000 --> 00:46:26,760
Speaker 2: these profound stories about their lives and their families, lives

769
00:46:26,800 --> 00:46:29,399
Speaker 2: and how we touch them, you know, people that had

770
00:46:29,480 --> 00:46:34,000
Speaker 2: children on the autism spectrum. There's something about our programming,

771
00:46:34,040 --> 00:46:37,839
Speaker 2: and particularly about the programs that we produce that use

772
00:46:37,880 --> 00:46:41,120
Speaker 2: puppets and so forth, that breaks through a different place

773
00:46:41,160 --> 00:46:44,520
Speaker 2: in kids' brains. In fact, last year, we launched a

774
00:46:44,520 --> 00:46:47,799
Speaker 2: new series called Carl the Collector, and Carl, who is

775
00:46:47,800 --> 00:46:51,759
Speaker 2: the lead character, is on the spectrum and there's a

776
00:46:52,000 --> 00:46:54,440
Speaker 2: there's a whole group of children around him that are

777
00:46:54,640 --> 00:46:56,880
Speaker 2: new or divergent, and how they come together as a

778
00:46:56,880 --> 00:47:00,480
Speaker 2: community hugely powerful. I cannot tell you how important the

779
00:47:00,520 --> 00:47:03,439
Speaker 2: series has been for so many We've had people come

780
00:47:03,480 --> 00:47:06,319
Speaker 2: to us and say, we've been struggling with how to

781
00:47:06,360 --> 00:47:10,040
Speaker 2: talk to my child about the fact that he has autism,

782
00:47:10,640 --> 00:47:16,120
Speaker 2: and he's been watching Carl and he said to us, Mom,

783
00:47:16,160 --> 00:47:20,000
Speaker 2: I'm just like Carl am I autimism. I mean, how

784
00:47:20,040 --> 00:47:24,359
Speaker 2: profound is that for that family. When I first took

785
00:47:24,360 --> 00:47:27,400
Speaker 2: the job, I went to Nebraska and I went to

786
00:47:27,440 --> 00:47:29,239
Speaker 2: a reception and there were a lot of people that

787
00:47:29,280 --> 00:47:31,359
Speaker 2: were involved with the station there, and this guy came

788
00:47:31,440 --> 00:47:34,280
Speaker 2: up to me. He had traveled, he said, I traveled

789
00:47:34,600 --> 00:47:36,480
Speaker 2: two and a half hours to come to this event.

790
00:47:37,120 --> 00:47:39,680
Speaker 2: He said, because I wanted to meet you. And he said,

791
00:47:39,719 --> 00:47:42,640
Speaker 2: you're the you know you're now running PBS. I said yes,

792
00:47:43,040 --> 00:47:44,719
Speaker 2: And he said, well, I wanted to shake your hand,

793
00:47:44,719 --> 00:47:46,960
Speaker 2: and I wanted to look you in the eye, and

794
00:47:47,000 --> 00:47:49,640
Speaker 2: I want to make sure that you remember me. He said,

795
00:47:49,800 --> 00:47:52,440
Speaker 2: I am raising my children on the ranch where I

796
00:47:52,520 --> 00:47:54,759
Speaker 2: was raised. And he said, we're in a real part

797
00:47:54,800 --> 00:47:57,360
Speaker 2: of the state. And he said, I worried a lot

798
00:47:57,840 --> 00:48:00,719
Speaker 2: that my kids would not have access to everything that

799
00:48:00,760 --> 00:48:04,200
Speaker 2: would allow them to live, you know, great lives, he said,

800
00:48:04,200 --> 00:48:07,080
Speaker 2: but we have you. And he said, I just need

801
00:48:07,080 --> 00:48:10,520
Speaker 2: you to know that we count on you and you

802
00:48:10,600 --> 00:48:13,799
Speaker 2: need to do the best possible job for us. And

803
00:48:13,840 --> 00:48:16,360
Speaker 2: he said, so, he said, I can. I can imagine

804
00:48:16,400 --> 00:48:19,200
Speaker 2: you've got a difficult job, but I hope that if

805
00:48:19,200 --> 00:48:22,040
Speaker 2: you're ever tempted to go a different path or to

806
00:48:22,080 --> 00:48:25,040
Speaker 2: take a shortcut that you think about me, and you

807
00:48:25,080 --> 00:48:29,480
Speaker 2: think about my kids and everything that you mean to us.

808
00:48:29,920 --> 00:48:36,080
Speaker 2: And again, these are really powerful stories, people whose lives.

809
00:48:36,160 --> 00:48:39,680
Speaker 2: We did a video profile of a young guy growing

810
00:48:39,760 --> 00:48:41,839
Speaker 2: up in New York City, Okay, so a place where

811
00:48:41,840 --> 00:48:45,080
Speaker 2: he's surrounded by like a lot of stuff, and this

812
00:48:45,160 --> 00:48:48,279
Speaker 2: kid was a street dancer. He's home one night, he's

813
00:48:48,320 --> 00:48:56,960
Speaker 2: like flipping through somehow stumbles onto a rerun of a

814
00:48:57,000 --> 00:49:00,440
Speaker 2: program that we had aired on Great Performance that had

815
00:49:00,440 --> 00:49:03,399
Speaker 2: Barishnikov in it. And he had never seen he had

816
00:49:03,480 --> 00:49:05,960
Speaker 2: never seen ballet before. He had never seen anything like

817
00:49:06,000 --> 00:49:09,680
Speaker 2: that before. This kid enrolled high school for performing arts,

818
00:49:09,800 --> 00:49:12,719
Speaker 2: became a dancer, became a principal dancer for the San

819
00:49:12,760 --> 00:49:15,719
Speaker 2: Francisco Ballet. That's how we found it because we were

820
00:49:15,719 --> 00:49:18,880
Speaker 2: taping Swan Lake. He was dancing in it. And you

821
00:49:18,920 --> 00:49:22,200
Speaker 2: know what he does now, he's a teacher. He's teachable.

822
00:49:22,360 --> 00:49:28,160
Speaker 2: It's dance. So credible experience on media that changed his

823
00:49:28,200 --> 00:49:32,799
Speaker 2: life changed, you know, obviously touched all the audiences that

824
00:49:32,840 --> 00:49:35,520
Speaker 2: saw him over the years, but more profoundly, he's touching

825
00:49:35,520 --> 00:49:37,440
Speaker 2: the lives of all these kids who are now learning

826
00:49:37,520 --> 00:49:41,359
Speaker 2: from him. The idea of doing anything like this had

827
00:49:41,360 --> 00:49:44,400
Speaker 2: never occurred to him into that experience.

828
00:49:44,800 --> 00:49:51,040
Speaker 1: And that's the miraculous ripple effect for good that I

829
00:49:51,200 --> 00:49:56,400
Speaker 1: believe in. When we create for good, when we center

830
00:49:56,960 --> 00:49:59,759
Speaker 1: for good, I will be a defender of PBS for

831
00:49:59,800 --> 00:50:02,560
Speaker 1: the rest of my life because I believe in you

832
00:50:02,640 --> 00:50:08,799
Speaker 1: as a as an organization for good. I'm curious who

833
00:50:08,840 --> 00:50:12,160
Speaker 1: are our allies in this fight to keep the lights on?

834
00:50:12,200 --> 00:50:14,840
Speaker 1: Because listen, I think the ACLU made a great point.

835
00:50:15,440 --> 00:50:19,120
Speaker 1: There is a wonderful argument to be made here that

836
00:50:19,239 --> 00:50:24,200
Speaker 1: the current administration's attack on public broadcasting is an attack

837
00:50:24,239 --> 00:50:28,400
Speaker 1: on free speech because they desire to alter the speech

838
00:50:28,600 --> 00:50:32,800
Speaker 1: of what is broadcast. And I hope that that works.

839
00:50:33,320 --> 00:50:35,680
Speaker 1: But I am not an attorney who's at the ACLU.

840
00:50:36,360 --> 00:50:38,960
Speaker 1: I want to know who are who are the allies

841
00:50:39,000 --> 00:50:41,640
Speaker 1: we should be supporting, Who should we be writing to,

842
00:50:41,960 --> 00:50:44,839
Speaker 1: who should we be thinking, who should we be boycotting?

843
00:50:45,160 --> 00:50:48,800
Speaker 1: Tell us where to pull up because my people are ready. Yeah.

844
00:50:49,120 --> 00:50:51,560
Speaker 2: So, I mean, the one thing I will say up

845
00:50:51,680 --> 00:50:56,320
Speaker 2: until this period is we've actually also always had bipartisan support.

846
00:50:56,400 --> 00:50:58,319
Speaker 2: There are a lot of people from both sides of

847
00:50:58,320 --> 00:51:01,520
Speaker 2: the aisle that have always supported us. I think we're

848
00:51:01,560 --> 00:51:04,600
Speaker 2: in a very unusual time right now, and I think

849
00:51:04,680 --> 00:51:09,200
Speaker 2: that if people want to continue, you know, we started,

850
00:51:10,360 --> 00:51:14,320
Speaker 2: we started this effort called Protect my Public Media, and

851
00:51:14,960 --> 00:51:16,440
Speaker 2: you know, people can sign up. I think you can

852
00:51:16,480 --> 00:51:19,640
Speaker 2: still sign up because we're, as I said, we're giving up.

853
00:51:20,000 --> 00:51:22,840
Speaker 2: There will be there will be another moment where we

854
00:51:22,920 --> 00:51:25,760
Speaker 2: will try to galvanize people to reach out to legislators.

855
00:51:26,239 --> 00:51:29,640
Speaker 2: And I think that it's important for everyone to reach

856
00:51:29,680 --> 00:51:32,440
Speaker 2: out to your legislator and just remind them how important

857
00:51:32,440 --> 00:51:37,880
Speaker 2: this is, because this is where this is where it

858
00:51:38,000 --> 00:51:41,520
Speaker 2: is profoundly important for people to understand that their voices

859
00:51:41,560 --> 00:51:45,240
Speaker 2: are heard. Prior to this vote, we literally had millions

860
00:51:45,239 --> 00:51:50,279
Speaker 2: of of calls and texts and emails going up to

861
00:51:50,400 --> 00:51:54,080
Speaker 2: kill and I think there there are some that believe, well,

862
00:51:54,160 --> 00:51:56,080
Speaker 2: we've gone through this moment and now people are going

863
00:51:56,120 --> 00:51:57,959
Speaker 2: to go off into their lives and do their own

864
00:51:58,080 --> 00:52:00,560
Speaker 2: special thing. I think we just have to keep this

865
00:52:00,680 --> 00:52:05,640
Speaker 2: up because you believe that, you know that we will

866
00:52:05,680 --> 00:52:07,560
Speaker 2: have a moment where we can put this back on

867
00:52:07,600 --> 00:52:10,839
Speaker 2: the table, and it should be. I mean, we're gonna

868
00:52:10,840 --> 00:52:13,040
Speaker 2: work really hard. We're gonna try to keep things glue together.

869
00:52:13,160 --> 00:52:16,880
Speaker 2: This effort that you mentioned with these different foundations, this

870
00:52:16,960 --> 00:52:19,439
Speaker 2: is just gonna This is bridge that's what it's called.

871
00:52:19,800 --> 00:52:21,680
Speaker 2: It's a bridge fund to try to get us to

872
00:52:21,719 --> 00:52:24,640
Speaker 2: that next place. I'm hoping what this is going to

873
00:52:24,680 --> 00:52:28,120
Speaker 2: bridge us into is not just giving stations a little

874
00:52:28,160 --> 00:52:30,359
Speaker 2: bit more time to try to figure out how they

875
00:52:30,400 --> 00:52:33,600
Speaker 2: can manage without the money. But hopefully if we can

876
00:52:33,640 --> 00:52:36,399
Speaker 2: get some of that money put back in, it'll make

877
00:52:36,440 --> 00:52:39,399
Speaker 2: a profound difference. I mean, the workers is we pull

878
00:52:39,400 --> 00:52:41,839
Speaker 2: in allow us to be able to do more. So

879
00:52:42,560 --> 00:52:45,000
Speaker 2: in the coming year, We've got like great programming come up.

880
00:52:45,040 --> 00:52:48,279
Speaker 2: I've already mentioned Ken's series on the American Revolution that

881
00:52:48,440 --> 00:52:51,880
Speaker 2: was created a few years ago. I mean, it was

882
00:52:52,040 --> 00:52:55,160
Speaker 2: finished a year ago, and now we're broadcast in November.

883
00:52:55,200 --> 00:52:59,880
Speaker 2: As we weep excite. It is magnificent. It is so

884
00:53:00,520 --> 00:53:01,440
Speaker 2: beautiful it is.

885
00:53:01,400 --> 00:53:02,520
Speaker 1: And we need it now.

886
00:53:02,920 --> 00:53:05,480
Speaker 2: And we need to understand where we came from. We

887
00:53:05,520 --> 00:53:08,320
Speaker 2: need to understand that it was really messy at the beginning.

888
00:53:08,360 --> 00:53:12,279
Speaker 2: It's not this idea that we have of how our

889
00:53:12,320 --> 00:53:15,800
Speaker 2: country came together. It was really a messy. It's messy now.

890
00:53:15,840 --> 00:53:19,200
Speaker 2: But if we care about our democracy, we have to

891
00:53:19,239 --> 00:53:22,440
Speaker 2: come together, and part of that is understanding how did

892
00:53:22,480 --> 00:53:26,360
Speaker 2: this all start? It was improbable, it shouldn't have happened,

893
00:53:26,920 --> 00:53:31,560
Speaker 2: that we shouldn't have been successful in forging this democracy.

894
00:53:31,080 --> 00:53:33,480
Speaker 1: But we were, We were.

895
00:53:34,440 --> 00:53:37,840
Speaker 2: And it is it continues to be fragile unless we

896
00:53:38,040 --> 00:53:41,480
Speaker 2: all take a role in preserving it. And so again,

897
00:53:41,800 --> 00:53:44,560
Speaker 2: as you galvanize all of the people that are listening

898
00:53:44,560 --> 00:53:48,120
Speaker 2: to you to support public media and tell them to

899
00:53:48,160 --> 00:53:51,600
Speaker 2: get involved in their communities, because that's make the difference.

900
00:53:52,560 --> 00:54:05,000
Speaker 1: And now a word from our wonderful sponsors. You know,

901
00:54:05,040 --> 00:54:08,000
Speaker 1: it strikes me because I feel very fired up, and

902
00:54:08,040 --> 00:54:11,880
Speaker 1: I think you get fired up when you feel equal

903
00:54:11,920 --> 00:54:17,880
Speaker 1: parts motivated to solve a problem and imbued with hope.

904
00:54:18,160 --> 00:54:22,960
Speaker 1: You are under unprecedented attack under the PBS umbrella, and

905
00:54:23,080 --> 00:54:27,200
Speaker 1: yet you are ready for the fight, you, Paula, and

906
00:54:27,239 --> 00:54:30,320
Speaker 1: I imagine you're leading your team this way. You seem

907
00:54:30,440 --> 00:54:37,040
Speaker 1: to be retaining hope, retaining optimism. How do you do

908
00:54:37,080 --> 00:54:39,800
Speaker 1: that right now? Or is it because you're a genuinely

909
00:54:39,800 --> 00:54:43,000
Speaker 1: optimistic person who knows we'll get through this, or is

910
00:54:43,040 --> 00:54:46,720
Speaker 1: it because of belief in your team? Or I guess

911
00:54:46,760 --> 00:54:50,560
Speaker 1: maybe a mix of all these things. How do you stay.

912
00:54:50,320 --> 00:54:54,719
Speaker 2: So up because I believe in what we do. I

913
00:54:54,800 --> 00:54:57,759
Speaker 2: believe that it is right and it's important. And I've

914
00:54:57,800 --> 00:55:03,840
Speaker 2: had the real, the unbelievable privilege of being able to

915
00:55:03,880 --> 00:55:07,239
Speaker 2: talk to people across the country who said, and we

916
00:55:07,280 --> 00:55:12,000
Speaker 2: believe it too. And all of the responses that I

917
00:55:12,160 --> 00:55:17,040
Speaker 2: have gotten in you know, the last weeks of people

918
00:55:17,120 --> 00:55:22,520
Speaker 2: saying we're we're behind you, that just lifts that lifts

919
00:55:22,520 --> 00:55:24,680
Speaker 2: you up. And I think we are in a moment

920
00:55:24,719 --> 00:55:28,960
Speaker 2: in this country where people are craving hope and inspiration

921
00:55:29,960 --> 00:55:32,319
Speaker 2: and that's that is who we are and that is

922
00:55:32,320 --> 00:55:35,480
Speaker 2: what we do. I believe in this country. I believe

923
00:55:35,520 --> 00:55:38,120
Speaker 2: in the people in this country, and I believe that

924
00:55:38,200 --> 00:55:41,319
Speaker 2: people will come together and that's what that's why and

925
00:55:41,360 --> 00:55:44,880
Speaker 2: you and you cannot because you know, Sophia, what's the alternative.

926
00:55:44,880 --> 00:55:46,680
Speaker 2: You're going to go into your bed and put the

927
00:55:46,719 --> 00:55:50,200
Speaker 2: covers over your head. No way, nothing good ever happens

928
00:55:50,239 --> 00:55:54,640
Speaker 2: by that. It comes by having a conviction of purpose,

929
00:55:55,320 --> 00:55:58,600
Speaker 2: believing in what you do, and in just trying to

930
00:55:58,680 --> 00:56:02,400
Speaker 2: galvanize support for and I think that the response that

931
00:56:02,440 --> 00:56:05,200
Speaker 2: we have gotten thus far and continue to get. Our

932
00:56:05,239 --> 00:56:08,680
Speaker 2: stations are getting contributions from people that you know, they've

933
00:56:08,719 --> 00:56:11,839
Speaker 2: never heard from before. I mean, this is movement, and

934
00:56:11,960 --> 00:56:17,440
Speaker 2: so really riding on that crest of positivity and hope

935
00:56:17,480 --> 00:56:19,960
Speaker 2: and belief is what's going to carry us forward.

936
00:56:20,560 --> 00:56:24,040
Speaker 1: I love it. I love it. I feel that I

937
00:56:24,080 --> 00:56:27,720
Speaker 1: feel very ready. I want to look up my local

938
00:56:27,920 --> 00:56:30,279
Speaker 1: PBS station up here and figure out how I can

939
00:56:30,320 --> 00:56:33,480
Speaker 1: go volunteer. What are what are some of the things

940
00:56:33,520 --> 00:56:36,839
Speaker 1: that were I to do that I might find as

941
00:56:36,920 --> 00:56:38,280
Speaker 1: volunteer opportunities.

942
00:56:38,840 --> 00:56:43,680
Speaker 2: Well, each station is a little different. Some stations do

943
00:56:43,760 --> 00:56:46,000
Speaker 2: a lot of community events and they are looking for

944
00:56:46,040 --> 00:56:48,920
Speaker 2: people to be engaged. Some people at some stations, as

945
00:56:48,960 --> 00:56:51,359
Speaker 2: I said, are very active in schools and they look

946
00:56:51,400 --> 00:56:54,520
Speaker 2: for people to help connect. So yeah, so talk to

947
00:56:54,560 --> 00:56:57,600
Speaker 2: your local station and see what they're doing and what

948
00:56:57,640 --> 00:57:01,760
Speaker 2: they might need. And obviously country abutions help. Some stations

949
00:57:01,760 --> 00:57:04,360
Speaker 2: actually have people going door to door and asking people

950
00:57:04,360 --> 00:57:08,359
Speaker 2: for contributions. Some, I mean there's just a lot. Some

951
00:57:08,440 --> 00:57:12,319
Speaker 2: stations are still having volunteers in their studio, you know

952
00:57:12,400 --> 00:57:14,480
Speaker 2: all of that. I mean, it's it's I think that

953
00:57:14,680 --> 00:57:16,919
Speaker 2: each station, I mean, this is the thing that people

954
00:57:16,960 --> 00:57:20,280
Speaker 2: don't understand. We're not a network. So every station is

955
00:57:20,320 --> 00:57:24,520
Speaker 2: individually owned and operating their own thing. And that's actually

956
00:57:24,600 --> 00:57:27,360
Speaker 2: What is pretty cool about PBS is because when you

957
00:57:27,440 --> 00:57:30,160
Speaker 2: travel around and each station is you know, we we

958
00:57:30,280 --> 00:57:32,640
Speaker 2: air a lot of the same programming but different you know,

959
00:57:32,760 --> 00:57:35,440
Speaker 2: stations you know produce some of their own programming, but

960
00:57:35,520 --> 00:57:38,400
Speaker 2: their own stories sort are happening within their own communities,

961
00:57:38,920 --> 00:57:43,600
Speaker 2: and it's it's so there's a there is. It is

962
00:57:43,880 --> 00:57:48,120
Speaker 2: very intensely local and so you know, so I just

963
00:57:48,280 --> 00:57:50,480
Speaker 2: encourage everyone to connect to your local station.

964
00:57:51,200 --> 00:57:53,480
Speaker 1: Well great, maybe we can, maybe we can start a

965
00:57:53,480 --> 00:57:55,160
Speaker 1: little community campaign for that.

966
00:57:55,600 --> 00:57:56,480
Speaker 2: How great would that be?

967
00:57:57,120 --> 00:58:00,960
Speaker 1: I know you are obviously holding so much. I mean,

968
00:58:01,000 --> 00:58:04,640
Speaker 1: you are working for the nation, you are fighting back.

969
00:58:05,880 --> 00:58:10,040
Speaker 1: It's quite a David and Goliath fight, as it strikes

970
00:58:10,040 --> 00:58:15,440
Speaker 1: me as a story. I'm curious though, for you, you know,

971
00:58:15,480 --> 00:58:19,240
Speaker 1: when you when you're not writing for the you know,

972
00:58:19,320 --> 00:58:23,440
Speaker 1: the future of America, just in your own life, Paula,

973
00:58:23,760 --> 00:58:27,760
Speaker 1: what what's on the horizon, what excites you? What what

974
00:58:27,880 --> 00:58:32,360
Speaker 1: feels like your work in progress? And that could be

975
00:58:32,520 --> 00:58:37,919
Speaker 1: personal or professional, certainly, but as you all center public good,

976
00:58:38,000 --> 00:58:39,960
Speaker 1: I also want to know how you center yourself.

977
00:58:40,520 --> 00:58:43,600
Speaker 2: Yeah, it's you know, look, I think for all of

978
00:58:43,680 --> 00:58:47,160
Speaker 2: us that you know, lead organizations and particularly during periods

979
00:58:47,320 --> 00:58:52,960
Speaker 2: like this. It is you have to be very deliberate

980
00:58:53,640 --> 00:58:58,520
Speaker 2: in the personal right because you are, and particularly for

981
00:58:58,800 --> 00:59:01,840
Speaker 2: you know, I'll just speak for myself right now. I mean,

982
00:59:01,840 --> 00:59:06,160
Speaker 2: there's a lot on my shoulders going into the going

983
00:59:06,240 --> 00:59:09,840
Speaker 2: into the vote, and it has been a it has

984
00:59:09,880 --> 00:59:12,920
Speaker 2: been quite a period since January. I mean, I I

985
00:59:13,680 --> 00:59:15,640
Speaker 2: was called, as you know, I was called to testify

986
00:59:15,760 --> 00:59:19,000
Speaker 2: in front of Margie Taylor Green's committee and sort of

987
00:59:19,040 --> 00:59:23,200
Speaker 2: getting ready for that, and you know, just really being

988
00:59:23,400 --> 00:59:26,840
Speaker 2: very much in the forefront of a lot of what

989
00:59:26,880 --> 00:59:29,960
Speaker 2: we were doing. Every day, I just focused on, you know,

990
00:59:30,000 --> 00:59:34,000
Speaker 2: what was sitting right in front of me and right now,

991
00:59:34,400 --> 00:59:37,240
Speaker 2: you know, you know, once the vote happened, then just

992
00:59:37,320 --> 00:59:40,240
Speaker 2: really figuring out how can we stabilize our system, how

993
00:59:40,240 --> 00:59:43,800
Speaker 2: can we can begin to bring resources in I right now,

994
00:59:43,800 --> 00:59:45,680
Speaker 2: I'm very focused on trying to raise money for the

995
00:59:45,720 --> 00:59:48,760
Speaker 2: News Hour, for example, because you know, as for the

996
00:59:48,840 --> 00:59:54,320
Speaker 2: monies that I have lost, there are you know, all

997
00:59:54,400 --> 00:59:57,200
Speaker 2: of our producers are having to make hard choices, but

998
00:59:57,240 --> 00:59:58,680
Speaker 2: the news hour that has to be on the air

999
00:59:58,760 --> 01:00:01,840
Speaker 2: every night, so we've got about a ten million dollar

1000
01:00:01,960 --> 01:00:04,120
Speaker 2: gap there. So I've been really working to try to

1001
01:00:04,440 --> 01:00:07,000
Speaker 2: close that. So anybody wants to make a contribution News Hour,

1002
01:00:07,120 --> 01:00:10,600
Speaker 2: you can contact me. But anyway, I just I do

1003
01:00:10,680 --> 01:00:14,960
Speaker 2: think that for myself, what I've been trying to do

1004
01:00:15,160 --> 01:00:18,200
Speaker 2: is actually harken back to that eight year old You know,

1005
01:00:19,320 --> 01:00:22,880
Speaker 2: when I'm home, I have I have a home in

1006
01:00:22,920 --> 01:00:25,160
Speaker 2: the country. I live in the country. Actually it's not

1007
01:00:25,240 --> 01:00:27,400
Speaker 2: I have a home that is where. That is my

1008
01:00:27,560 --> 01:00:30,840
Speaker 2: home in the country. I have two dogs. I love.

1009
01:00:31,680 --> 01:00:34,160
Speaker 2: I love being out early in the morning. I have

1010
01:00:34,280 --> 01:00:36,600
Speaker 2: the Merlin app on my phone. I love to turn

1011
01:00:36,640 --> 01:00:40,480
Speaker 2: it on and you know, sort of spot I'm very

1012
01:00:40,480 --> 01:00:44,040
Speaker 2: interested in science and nature. I sit on the Natural

1013
01:00:44,080 --> 01:00:47,040
Speaker 2: History board here and I'm just very engaged in a

1014
01:00:47,040 --> 01:00:50,000
Speaker 2: lot of things around science and nature. And I love

1015
01:00:50,080 --> 01:00:53,280
Speaker 2: to look up put all the devices away when I

1016
01:00:53,320 --> 01:00:55,320
Speaker 2: don't need them. I only keep my phone for the

1017
01:00:55,400 --> 01:00:57,160
Speaker 2: Merlin app and then I stick it in my pocket.

1018
01:00:57,240 --> 01:00:59,320
Speaker 2: I try not to look at anything, even if it's buzzing,

1019
01:00:59,800 --> 01:01:03,600
Speaker 2: and I just try to sort of connect back. And

1020
01:01:03,640 --> 01:01:05,760
Speaker 2: I think this were a lot of us actually find strength,

1021
01:01:05,880 --> 01:01:07,840
Speaker 2: is I connect back to those things that really meant

1022
01:01:07,880 --> 01:01:09,840
Speaker 2: a lot to me when I was a kid. I'm

1023
01:01:09,920 --> 01:01:11,920
Speaker 2: not barefoot the whole summer like I was when I

1024
01:01:12,080 --> 01:01:16,080
Speaker 2: was a kid, but I very much that was very

1025
01:01:16,160 --> 01:01:17,800
Speaker 2: much of the grounding for me when I was young,

1026
01:01:17,880 --> 01:01:19,920
Speaker 2: and so I try to come back that a little bit.

1027
01:01:21,080 --> 01:01:23,040
Speaker 2: And I'm not doing such a great job, you know,

1028
01:01:23,200 --> 01:01:24,640
Speaker 2: I know that, you know.

1029
01:01:24,840 --> 01:01:26,360
Speaker 1: Things are a little hard right now.

1030
01:01:26,400 --> 01:01:28,560
Speaker 2: But things are a little hard, but you know, but

1031
01:01:28,800 --> 01:01:30,440
Speaker 2: I do try to get my walk on in the

1032
01:01:30,440 --> 01:01:32,840
Speaker 2: morning with the dogs, with the you know, and look

1033
01:01:32,960 --> 01:01:33,880
Speaker 2: up and just listen.

1034
01:01:34,480 --> 01:01:38,960
Speaker 1: I have started actually to tell myself when all of

1035
01:01:39,000 --> 01:01:42,280
Speaker 1: this feels overwhelming, I will literally speak out loud to

1036
01:01:42,360 --> 01:01:44,760
Speaker 1: myself alone in the room and go, okay, honey, you

1037
01:01:44,840 --> 01:01:49,760
Speaker 1: got gout and touch grass, Yeah, five minutes outside. It

1038
01:01:49,880 --> 01:01:54,080
Speaker 1: really to your point, it's it's so important, and I'm

1039
01:01:54,880 --> 01:01:58,680
Speaker 1: I'm glad to know that you are still centering those

1040
01:01:58,720 --> 01:02:01,480
Speaker 1: experiences as often as you can in the midst of

1041
01:02:02,560 --> 01:02:03,919
Speaker 1: your very honorable fight.

1042
01:02:04,680 --> 01:02:07,600
Speaker 2: Yeah, it matters, and it just reminds us that we're

1043
01:02:07,640 --> 01:02:11,400
Speaker 2: all part of something far bigger than each of us individually.

1044
01:02:11,520 --> 01:02:14,280
Speaker 2: Right Just look up, look at the pattern of the

1045
01:02:14,360 --> 01:02:17,840
Speaker 2: leaves in the sky, you know, just think about trees

1046
01:02:17,880 --> 01:02:21,600
Speaker 2: in particular, you know, quite powerful, you know, so many

1047
01:02:21,640 --> 01:02:25,600
Speaker 2: of them have existed far before we were born. We

1048
01:02:25,640 --> 01:02:29,840
Speaker 2: were there. We're part of this whole interconnectedness and our

1049
01:02:29,840 --> 01:02:32,520
Speaker 2: time on this earth is pretty finite, and we have

1050
01:02:32,640 --> 01:02:37,320
Speaker 2: one chance for this. I'm going to garble Mary Oliver,

1051
01:02:37,520 --> 01:02:39,400
Speaker 2: but this one beautiful life, and what are we going

1052
01:02:39,440 --> 01:02:40,000
Speaker 2: to do with it?

1053
01:02:40,360 --> 01:02:42,160
Speaker 1: You're one wild and precious life.

1054
01:02:42,200 --> 01:02:44,160
Speaker 2: Wild and precious life. How are we going to seize it?

1055
01:02:44,560 --> 01:02:46,240
Speaker 2: So that's it.

1056
01:02:46,760 --> 01:02:50,000
Speaker 1: That's it. Thank you so much, Paula. I just adore

1057
01:02:50,040 --> 01:02:52,760
Speaker 1: you and I'm so glad we've connected.

1058
01:02:53,320 --> 01:02:55,800
Speaker 2: Yeah, this has been really great, Cyphia. Thank you, Thank

1059
01:02:55,840 --> 01:02:56,720
Speaker 2: you so much for the same