The Personal Nature of Polarization

Judy Woodruff is not done asking questions. A decorated and respected journalist, she anchored the PBS NewsHour for 15 years until she stepped down in 2022. Now, at age 79, she is traveling the country to answer: what is at the root of the division and disconnection our country faces today? And how do we fix that? To understand across different perspectives requires the ability to listen. At 79, Judy has honed this skill. In the decades Judy spent reporting on Americans and our politics (starting when Jimmy Carter declared his run for president) as well as raising her three children, she has seen enormous change in how people relate to one another. In this episode, we hear her views on the value of really listening to others and having respect, even when we might not agree with or understand, someone. 

(03:15)    Judy Woodruff’s interest in divisiveness in America 

(12:05)    How have political divisions evolved during Judy’s career? 

(17:13)    How Judy became a journalist 

(22:12)    Where did Judy find support in an era when few women were in journalism? 

(26:16)    The role of her mother 

(33:08)    How can we keep family and friends centered when work takes us away? 

(34:45)    How does Judy define success? 

(36:57)    The balance of success, creating meaning, and parenting 

(44:36)    Why listening and respect is essential to Judy’s work. 

(46:54)    How does Judy handle difficult interviews? 

(51:58)    Where does Judy find respite when she needs a break? 

(55:37)    Is Judy hopeful about the world? 

(57:50)    Is there someone Judy hasn’t interviewed whom she’d love to? 

(58:08)    Judy shares a funny on-set moment 

We’d love to hear from you! Send us a note at housecalls@hhs.gov with your feedback & ideas. 

Judy Woodruff, Journalist

Twitter: @judywoodruff 

Instagram: @judywoodruffpbs 

About Judy Woodruff

Broadcast journalist Judy Woodruff is the Senior Correspondent for the PBS NewsHour, after serving for 11 years as its Anchor and Managing Editor. During 2023 and 2024, she is undertaking a reporting project, “America at a Crossroads,” to better understand the country’s political divide. She has covered politics and other news for more than four decades at CNN, NBC, and PBS. 

The recipient of numerous awards, including the Peabody Journalistic Integrity Award, the Poynter Medal, an Emmy for Lifetime Achievement, and the Radcliffe Medal, she and the late Gwen Ifill were together awarded Arizona State University’s Walter Cronkite Award for Excellence in Journalism after Woodruff and Ifill were named co-anchors of the PBS NewsHour in 2013, marking the first time an American national news broadcast would be co-anchored by two women. 

For 12 years, Woodruff served as anchor and senior correspondent for CNN, where her duties included anchoring the weekday program, Inside Politics. At PBS from 1983 to 1993, she was the chief Washington correspondent for The MacNeil/Lehrer NewsHour. From 1984-1990, she also anchored PBS' award-winning weekly documentary series, Frontline with Judy Woodruff. In 2011, Woodruff was the principal reporter for the PBS documentary “Nancy Reagan: The Role of a Lifetime”. And in 2007, she completed an extensive project for PBS and other news outlets on the views of young Americans called “Generation Next: Speak Up. Be Heard”.  

At NBC News, Woodruff was White House correspondent from 1977 to 1982. For one year after that she served as NBC's Today show chief Washington correspondent. She wrote the book, “This is Judy Woodruff at the White House,” published in 1982 by Addison-Wesley. Woodruff is a founding co-chair of the International Women's Media Foundation, an organization dedicated to promoting and encouraging women in communication industries worldwide.

Woodruff is a graduate of Duke University, where she is a trustee emerita. She lives in Washington, DC, with her husband, journalist Al Hunt, and they are the parents of three children.