Next Question with Katie Couric

Quinta Brunson is having an incredible year. She and her ABC sitcom, Abbott Elementary, are racking up some serious awards and breaking ratings records. She single-handedly revived the dying network sitcom. The Hollywood Reporter named her Comedy Star of the Year. And she just played Oprah in ‘Weird: The Al Yankovic Story,’ which came out the same month Quinta was interviewed by Oprah herself. How does Quinta deal with it all? On this episode of Next Question with Katie Couric, Katie and Quinta talk about the blur of success, the making of ‘Abbott,’ the real-life inspiration of her characters, her early years in Philly, why she loved her twenties, and so much more.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Mike White is the creator of HBO’s pandemic hit, The White Lotus. In its second season, which is about to wrap, the anthology series follows a group of wealthy vacationers and local workers at a stunning resort in Sicily. But before the lux world of The White Lotus, Mike White spent his time on the periphery, creating offbeat characters in movies like ‘Chuck and Buck,’ ‘The Year of the Dog,’ ‘The Good Girl,’ and ‘School of Rock.’ He has also had a few notorious and fairly successful stints on reality tv shows like Survivor and The Amazing Race. What does all of that have to do with the success of The White Lotus? Come find out on this episode of Next Question with Katie Couric! You can stream The White Lotus on HBO Max. The final episode of the second season airs Sunday, Dec. 11.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On this episode of Next Question with Katie Couric, Part 2 of our parenting deep-dive, Katie shares her conversation with clinical psychologist and parenting guru, Dr. Becky Kennedy. After exploring the historical, political, and cultural factors that make parenting today so impossible, Katie and Dr. Becky talk about the need to equip parents with support and training, just like you would any other critical job. “Parenting is the hardest and most important job in the world and it’s a job we have 24/7 for a lot of years,” Dr. Becky tells Katie. “And most jobs in this country that we value, that we think are important, we prioritize the people in those jobs getting training and resources. And parenting is the opposite. We’re like, just take this baby home from the hospital and we’re given nothing.” Dr. Becky shares her unique parenting philosophy, why she’s filling such a need at this moment, how to navigate screentime as people and parents, and so much more. Find out more about Dr. Becky Kennedy’s parenting support network, as well as her podcasts and her book, Good Inside: The Guide to Becoming the Parent You Want to Be,” at GoodInside.com. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Whether you are a parent, know one, or have been paying any attention at all, you’ll know that the pandemic was a breaking point for caregivers and mothers in particular. “Moms are the shock absorbers of society,” says New York Times journalist Jessica Grose. “Everyone realized that when things fell apart, moms were just expected to be there to pick up the pieces.” Well, moms have had enough. But are our policies, workplaces, and cultural norms progressing fast enough to give modern mothers — and fathers — the support they need? On this two-part episode of Next Question with Katie Couric, Katie explores the impossibilities of modern parenthood with two experts who have been living it and writing about it: journalist Jessica Grose and clinical psychologist (and “millennial parenting whisper”) Dr. Becky Kennedy. Jessica’s new book, “Screaming on the Inside: The Unsustainability of American Motherhood,” which is out Dec. 6, dismantles 200 years of unrealistic parenting expectations to empower all those who might be struggling out there. Jessica and Katie talk about that historical context, as well as solutions that are already being put into place, and how and where moms are finding reprieve. Finally, Dr. Becky talks about creating a safe space for parents to seek advice, support, and feel seen.  Find out more: Screaming on the Inside: The Unsustainability of American Motherhood, by Jessica Grose Jessica Grose on parenting at the New York Times Good Inside: The Guide to Becoming the Parent You Want to Be, by Dr. Becky Kennedy Good Inside, Dr. Becky Kennedy’s membership-based parenting community Reshma Saujani on why there’s no better time to redesign the workplace for women [Next Question with Katie Couric] See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On this episode of Next Question with Katie Couric, Katie explores the subject of happiness. Because as a culture, we seem to be obsessed with achieving it. Just look to higher ed. Some of the most elite universities tout courses on happiness — the science of it, the value of it, the history and future of it. But the search for happiness has also seeped into our regular podcast consumption and our must-watch TV shows. So what’s the deal? Why is happiness the carrot dangling just outside of our reach? And what defines happiness anyway? To find out, Katie talks with one of those aforementioned happiness scholars, Arthur C. Brooks, whose most recent book is called “From Strength to Strength: Finding Success, Happiness and Deep Purpose in the Second Half of Life.”See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Five years ago, on Oct. 5, 2017, the New York Times published an article written by Jodi Kantor and Megan Twohey. The headline read: “Harvey Weinstein Paid Off Sexual Harassment Accusers for Decades.” Fueled by the Hollywood stars in the story, Jodi and Megan’s reporting made the Me Too movement — started by Tarana Burke in 2006 — go viral. Now the reporters and their incredible investigation are the subjects of a feature film called “She Said,” which is based on the eponymous book they co-wrote in 2019. The movie stars Zoe Kazan and Carey Mulligan and not only focuses on the personal lives of the reporters and how they got the story no one else could, but also the lives of their sources — the regular women whose careers were cut short and lives altered because of Weinstein’s torment. “They wanted to break into the industry,” Megan tells Katie, “and instead they experienced attacks and harassment and abuse and to see in this movie the toll that has taken on their lives so many years later. I mean, it wrote them out of the industry.” On this episode of Next Question with Katie Couric, Katie and the New York Times reporters talk about the bizarre experience of seeing their lives unfold on screen, the power of journalism, the comfort of the newsroom, and the lasting impacts of Me Too.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Charlayne Hunter-Gault has spent nearly sixty years chronicling history as a journalist, but when she was just 19 years old, she played a crucial role in making it. On January 9, 1961, she and her classmate Hamilton Holmes bravely walked onto University of Georgia’s campus becoming the first two Black students to integrate the school. On this episode of Next Question with Katie Couric, Katie talks with Charlayne about that historic day and a career that stationed the journalist at some of the most respected media outlets in the country, including the New York Times, the New Yorker, and PBS Newshour. No matter the outlet, Charlayne made it her mission to cover “Black people in ways they were rarely portrayed in the media — in their full humanity.” Katie and Charlayne talk about some of her most impactful stories, many of which have been collected into her new book, “My People: Five Decades of Writing About Black Lives.”See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

For more than two decades, Kelly Ripa has been welcomed into millions of people’s homes, kitchens, and even bedrooms, as the co-host of ABC’s daytime talk show “Live!” And it’s easy to see why: she’s funny, warm, and perpetually self-effacing. And those same endearing qualities come through in her writing, too. Her first book, “Live Wire: Long-Winded Short Stories,” is a collection of hilarious, revealing, and tender memoirish essays that highlight moments of transition in her life — from meeting her husband on a soap opera set, to her awkward tryout for “Live!”, to dropping her youngest child off to college and facing an empty nest. On this episode of Next Question with Katie Couric, Katie and Kelly talk about it all, including their shared frustrations working in the male-dominated media industry and what it was like for Kelly to set the record straight on a few false headlines. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The new movie “Call Jane” is a period piece about abortion and reproductive activism in the years before Roe vs Wade was enacted. But given our post-Roe world and the very real consequences of abortion bans across the country, the plot — about a suburban housewife who desperately needs an abortion but can’t get one in her state — sounds like it could be ripped from our 2022 headlines. What can a story about our past struggles teach us about our present circumstances? Why is levity a convincing tool in the fight for bodily autonomy? Can a movie like “Call Jane” affect the fast-approaching midterms? On this episode of Next Question with Katie Couric, Katie talks with the movie’s director, Phyllis Nagy, and its star, Elizabeth Banks, about the movie’s poignancy, some of its blood-boiling scenes, and why the movie’s not just preaching to the choir. “Call Jane” is in select theaters starting Oct. 28. For more information about abortion access in this country, check out Katie’s six-part podcast series on the subject, Abortion: The Body Politic. Some of the real life Janes are featured in Part Two. You can stream the documentary “The Janes” on HBO Max now.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

We are just a few weeks out from the 2022 midterms and there is a lot to unpack — makeup of the House, will the Senate flip, the very future of our democracy! To help us understand what is truly at stake this Nov. 8, Katie brings on three political strategists to break it all down. On this episode of Next Question with Katie Couric, Katie is joined by her former podcast co-host (and current Democratic political and media strategist) Brian Goldsmith, as well as Lis Smith, who is a 20-year veteran of Democratic political campaigns -- from Barack Obama 2012 to Pete Buttigieg 2020 -- and Republican political consultant Mike Murphy who, with David Axelrod, hosts the political podcast “Hacks on Tap”. The group walks through the biggest issues driving voters to the polls, the impact of Roe, the races that could change up Congress and how all of this affects what’s to come in 2024. Check out Lis Smith’s new memoir, “Any Given Tuesday: A Political Love Story.”See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.