DSR's Words Matter

This week Joe sits down with former Secretary of Homeland Security Jeh Johnson about the Anniversary of 9/11, immigration, 2020 election security and more.Jeh Johnson was the 4th Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security from December 2013 until January of 2017. Before that he was an Assistant US Attorney in the Southern District of New York. From 1998 until 2001, he was General Counsel of the Air Force and from February 2009 until December 2012 he was General Counsel of the Department of Defense under Secretary Robert Gates.Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/words-matter. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

For those of you who took the summer off from 24/7 news, Katie and Joe will recap the highlights and the lowlights. From Donald Trump to the race for the Democratic nomination, to the battle for the US Senate, we'll catch you up on the latest.Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/words-matter. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Contenders is a special podcast series by Joe Lockhart. Given the importance of the race for the Democratic presidential nomination, we thought it important and informative to hear from those people who've actually run for president. What goes into the decision? How do you possibly get to the place of thinking you can take on the toughest job in the world? What were your biggest mistakes as a candidate? What lessons did you learn and what advice do you have for those running against Donald Trump?Joe recently traveled to Minnesota to interview his former boss, Vice Presidential Walter Mondale. Nearly a quarter century before Sarah Palin was picked by John McCain, it was Walter Mondale who first put a woman on a national ticket when he picked Congresswoman Geraldine Ferraro in 1984.The former Vice President reflects on that and much more.Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/words-matter. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

It was one of the defining moments of the civil rights movement and one of the most iconic speeches in American history.56 years ago this week The March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom, or the March on Washington, was held in the Nation’s Capital on Wednesday, August 28, 1963. More than 250,000 people turned out to advocate for the civil and economic rights of black Americans. At was here, standing in front of the Lincoln Memorial, that the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. delivered his historic "I Have a Dream" speech.Dr. King considered the words in Declaration of Independence and the Constitution as a “scared obligation” -- he believed that the Founders and their descendants should be held accountable. For Dr. King and millions of others – America would only become great when this dream was fully realized and this country finally lived up to its founding words. This week we put Martin Luther King Jr.'s "I Have a Dream" speech into the Words Matter LibrarySupport this show http://supporter.acast.com/words-matter. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In case you missed this important episode -- Katie and Joe sat down with Professor Kathleen Hall Jamison author of Cyberwar: How Russian Hackers and Trolls Helped Elect a President Professor Jamieson is the Elizabeth Ware Packard Professor of Communication at the University of Pennsylvania’s Annenberg School for Communication, the Director of the Annenberg Public Policy Center, and Program Director of the Annenberg Retreat at Sunnylands.Professor Jamieson details exactly how and why the Russians cyberwar tipped the election in favor of Donald Trump.Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/words-matter. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Battle for the Marble Palace – Abe Fortas, Earl Warren, Lyndon Johnson, Richard Nixon and the Forging of the Modern Supreme CourtAuthor Michael Bobelian is a contributor to Forbes where he writes on the Supreme Court, white collar crime and politics.Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/words-matter. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Our guest this week is a celebrated historian and the award-winning author, co-author or editor of more than 30 books. Most of these works are focused on American presidents or people we know because of presidents.Douglas Brinkley is the Katherine Tsanoff Brown Chair in Humanities and Professor of History at Rice University, a CNN Presidential Historian, and a contributing editor at Vanity Fair.  Katie and Joe talk to Professor Brinkley about the power and consequences of a president's words.Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/words-matter. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Last week we lost one of the most influential and celebrated novelists in American literary history Toni Morrison. A novelist, essayist and Princeton Professor, Morrison wrote nine major novels -- all of which earned extensive critical acclaim. Among dozens of other awards and achievements, she won both a Pulitzer Prize and American Book Award in 1988 for her novel Beloved. And in 1993, Toni Morrison became the first black woman of any nationality to win a Nobel Prize.The citation for her award in literature declared Morrison to be an author “who in novels characterized by visionary force and poetic import, gives life to an essential aspect of American reality.” In 2012, Toni Morrison was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by President Barack Obama.In commencement address at Rutgers University in 2011, Toni Morrison encouraged graduates to seek a meaningful life -- something she herself had certainly achieved. Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/words-matter. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Is the federal government doing enough to fight domestic terrorism? This week we talk to one former senior law enforcement official who says no. For nearly two decades, Daryl Johnson was senior domestic terrorism analyst at the Department of Homeland Security and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms. Back in 2009 he wrote a DHS Report on “Rightwing Extremism” that was widely circulated in the law enforcement community and was leaked to the press.Instead of taking action, Republicans on Capitol Hill attacked his findings.Johnson explains how and why Donald Trump's election changed the pattern of extreme white nationalists and what can be done about it.Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/words-matter. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Shannon Watts is the author of Fight like a Mother – How a Grassroots Movement took on the Gun Lobby and Why Women will Change the World.Until December of 2012 Shannon Watts was a stay-at-home mother of five and former communications executive.The day after the Sandy Hook tragedy, Shannon Watts started a Facebook group with the message that all Americans can and should do more to reduce gun violence.That online conversation turned into a grassroots movement -- Moms Demand Action which now has a chapter in every state and is part of Everytown for Gun Safety, the largest gun violence prevention organization in the country with nearly 6 million members.She is also an active board member of Emerge America, one of the leading organizations for recruiting and training women to run for office.Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/words-matter. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices