0:00

Do you own or rent your home? Sure

0:02

you do. And GEICO knows it can

0:04

be hard work. You know it's easy

0:07

bundling policies with GEICO. GEICO

0:10

makes it easy to bundle your homeowners or

0:12

renters insurance along with your auto

0:15

policy. It's a good thing too. because

0:17

you already have so much to do

0:19

around your home. Go to geico dot com,

0:22

get a quote, and see how much you could save.

0:24

It's geico easy. visit

0:26

geico dot com today. That's geico

0:29

dot com.

0:29

Hey,

0:31

it's Anderson Cooper. I want to take a few

0:33

minutes to introduce you to a new podcast from

0:35

my friend and colleague, Adi Cornish. It's called

0:37

the assignment. And Adi's with

0:39

me now to talk about the program and also talk to

0:41

me about my experiences making all there is because

0:43

before I started even making all

0:46

there is, audio was the first person I talked

0:48

to about and really the only person I

0:50

talked to about podcasting. So

0:53

I'm it's such pleasure to be able to talk to her about

0:55

her new podcast and stick around

0:57

after the conversation to hear the first episode.

0:59

How's it going?

1:00

Hey. How are you? I'm

1:01

good. I'm good.

1:02

I love talking to you

1:05

now at the end

1:05

of your process. Yes.

1:07

because I I caught you originally

1:09

made the middle to end. It was

1:11

in I

1:12

started making recordings in my mom's face,

1:14

but I hadn't actually, like, taken

1:16

a step into forming it into

1:18

a podcast, I don't think.

1:19

So you've already done it in

1:22

kind of

1:23

memoir form. Mhmm. You've already

1:25

talked about it in your medium

1:27

of choice which we'll talk about. What

1:29

was it that you thought this could do

1:31

for it? Like taking it on an audio? Was

1:33

it just having the tapes?

1:35

It was more I mean, honestly, I didn't

1:37

really think about I mean,

1:39

when I started, I didn't plan on making

1:41

a podcast. I was just sad in

1:43

my mom's apartment going through her things and

1:45

I'd been reading Victor Frankel's man

1:48

served for meaning and he

1:50

he had talked about narrating

1:52

himself through situations and

1:55

not to compare my situation all to his, obviously.

1:57

But It's something I've done

1:59

in my head a lot, like distance myself

2:01

from something to narrate to to get

2:04

through things and narrate myself through them sort

2:06

of observe myself as a human being

2:08

doing something. And so that's how

2:10

I started making recordings and then decided

2:13

that it's ridiculous that

2:15

I don't know anybody else talked

2:17

about going through their parent stuff,

2:19

and I don't know who you've been called to

2:21

talk about going through my mom's stuff. And

2:24

so I thought I should just start

2:27

doing that. And and I'm too shy

2:29

to actually, like, call up people and just

2:31

ask them for advice on, like, I would

2:33

never call Stephen Colbert and say, hey, can

2:35

we talk about, you know, this thing I'm going through

2:37

in my life? but to be able to say to somebody,

2:39

you know, I'd like to interview you about this. It

2:42

was for you, what what

2:44

what

2:44

is the assignment, first of all? Well,

2:46

I mean, one of the reasons why I wanted

2:48

to talk to you is because the assignment does something

2:50

similar to what you did, which is you

2:53

talk to people about their personal

2:55

experience. Mhmm. And I think in the

2:57

news business, we're really used to

2:59

kind of bringing someone

3:01

on as an anecdote And then

3:03

we're like, okay, go back to your life

3:05

while we get back to the rest of the

3:07

news -- Right. -- sentence caps. And

3:09

I really felt

3:11

like, you know, some of the best conversations

3:13

I've had while reporting

3:15

were with those people

3:17

in that experience. And how can

3:19

I expand that is this the

3:21

right medium to expand that and to, like,

3:23

let that breathe a little bit? I I listened

3:25

to the the only fans episode.

3:28

Yeah. This is one coming up folks. And what

3:30

what I loved about it was And just to give people

3:32

the background, we're going to be speaking

3:34

with what I call the original gig workers,

3:36

but some people in the only fan's

3:39

People have sort of migrated into

3:41

the business of, I guess, what you would call

3:43

sex sex work online. Yeah.

3:45

Yeah. Actually, I know a couple of only

3:47

people who have, like, been very successful and

3:49

only fans. I don't know the well, but

3:51

I I know that. That's what everyone says.

3:53

I know it's super. Yeah. No.

3:56

My my well, anyway,

3:58

it's a long But

3:59

immediately, you can tell

4:02

the approach is, like, from the inside out.

4:04

It's it's as you said, it's not sort of

4:06

just having some voices in

4:08

to illustrate a point and then moving

4:11

on,

4:12

sort of it's all crafted around

4:14

these voices it's like you've

4:17

taken the innards and you've pulled them outside,

4:19

and it's it's very compelling

4:21

in that way. It gets at something that

4:23

I liked about your show, which is

4:25

the intimacy of it -- Mhmm. -- which in

4:28

your case I think comes from the subject matter.

4:30

It's incredibly hard to talk to people

4:32

about the things you spoke to them about.

4:34

But this leads me to my question,

4:36

which is about intimacy. In

4:39

our discussion about which is the more

4:41

intimate What do you mean? had a dinner. Yes. I let's

4:43

just say what happened. when when

4:45

I didn't I didn't really know I didn't I mean, I

4:47

knew what his work, but I didn't know personally when we

4:49

met. We ended up having a dinner together

4:52

that was a very ended up being a very long

4:54

dinner after show one night. And because

4:56

I asked a lot of questions. And it but it was

4:58

great. And it was just a very it

5:01

was a really great dinner and I

5:03

really liked her and But

5:05

it came out of me being like, I don't know how to

5:07

do TV. I

5:08

don't know what I'm doing. Tell me

5:10

what you do to make this feel

5:12

less crazy. because what to me

5:14

in a studio, a TV studio, it's

5:17

lights giant monitors

5:19

with your own image

5:20

being broadcast back at you.

5:22

People speaking in your ear -- Yes. -- this camera

5:24

guy, that camera guy, a

5:25

desk And

5:27

then the anchor,

5:28

so to speak, I think I really fully understood

5:30

the concept of the anchor in all of

5:32

that. It's just the anchor of

5:34

it. Whereas, you know, public media,

5:36

we're like, we're hosts. Right. It's like this intimate

5:38

little party. And so I

5:40

was saying

5:41

it's not intimate at all. See,

5:43

it's driving me crazy. Right. I view

5:45

television differently. I do think television can be

5:47

extraordinarily intimate. I think there's, you

5:50

know, it's I think you get I think people get

5:52

get stuck looking into the camp looking

5:54

at the camera lens and that piece of

5:56

glass and they get stuck in the front of the

5:58

camera. Someone once

6:00

said to me, your producer, David Borman,

6:02

was talking to me a long time ago

6:04

about, you're not looking at the front

6:06

of the camera, you're looking into the back of the

6:08

camera. you're looking through through

6:10

the camera through the back of the camera.

6:12

And Which now I'm always trying to

6:14

do, you should see me with my realized

6:16

searching around. But you don't wanna be searching.

6:18

You just wanna be reaching

6:21

through. So how was it different? You're sitting

6:23

down with people and having, you

6:25

know, you have to be vulnerable in

6:27

the conversation you were having as well. I'm

6:29

finding that as I'm doing the assignment. I

6:31

have to share more

6:34

than I have in the past where I've been

6:36

more

6:38

a a distanced

6:39

observer in a way -- Yeah. --

6:42

because you know what it's like when you're reporting and

6:44

you're trying to get people to talk,

6:46

you have to give of yourself. So

6:47

did you find this space any

6:49

how did you find this space different?

6:52

You know, I don't know. III

6:54

thought the the

6:57

intimacy of being in the room with somebody was

6:59

really interesting. and

7:01

different than a television interview. I mean,

7:03

in television, there are there

7:05

are more things going on in one's mind, at least

7:07

in my mind, during an

7:09

interview. I mean, there's questions about light you

7:11

know, there's question about lighting, there's questions

7:13

about sound. If I'm shooting a story

7:15

in a place where something you

7:17

know, I I've been in situations

7:19

of in a children's hospital

7:22

in Mirati Nysha, in a

7:24

malnutrition crisis. with dying

7:26

children and there is the

7:28

horror of what you are seeing and the

7:30

sadness of it. And at the same time

7:32

part of your mind is also

7:35

thinking of is the sound

7:37

recording is the sound person recording

7:40

the sound properly and getting the sound

7:42

of fluid

7:44

dripping the IV or the

7:47

this person's breath coming in

7:49

and raspy breath coming in and coming

7:51

out, all these things which are horrible to

7:53

think about in that moment and yet they're also

7:55

part of television production.

7:58

in in recording for for the podcast. I

8:00

don't think there is that same level

8:02

of it's

8:03

just you in the microphone, so there's not There's

8:06

not a lot of movie So I'll tell you my dirty

8:08

secret, which is sometimes I am editing

8:10

people in my head -- Yeah. -- because I'm so

8:12

used to conversation having to

8:14

be

8:14

edited down. Mhmm. And,

8:17

you know, people are discursive and and

8:19

they go off and and this

8:21

has been really exciting because it's force

8:23

me to come out of my own

8:25

head the way you're talking about. Like,

8:27

stop trying to edit and manage

8:29

this conversation that you're in and

8:31

just be in it. Yeah.

8:32

I mean, do you is there something of

8:34

the conversations you've had? Is there something a

8:37

moment that stands out to you? For

8:39

me, like, in our opening episode

8:41

about these activist parents

8:43

who have run for election and now

8:45

on school boards. For me,

8:47

it's the moment where they

8:49

themselves have to

8:52

pause and think. And

8:54

you hear a little bit

8:56

like you hear that silence,

8:58

which is very powerful while they

9:00

say, well,

9:01

is that what I mean? You

9:03

know,

9:03

and it's very rare that we let

9:06

people have the grace or space

9:09

to think. Right?

9:11

It's like, don't do that because if you fault her,

9:13

you know what I mean? Like, you could go viral.

9:16

And there is a moment where I'm

9:18

kind of pressing them about whether

9:20

or not they kind of want to roll back

9:22

school policies. and

9:24

they and it's interesting, we end up

9:26

going back and forth over just the phrase

9:28

rolling back. And to me,

9:31

that is

9:31

so revealing. The

9:37

perception is that people

9:40

in your position are

9:41

trying to roll back certain

9:43

policies, whether

9:45

that is discussions around social

9:47

issues, etcetera. Do you see

9:49

yourself as rolling back excess?

9:52

No. I don't. I I think, unless

9:54

you're talking about just maybe over the

9:56

last

9:57

five or six years, That's what

9:59

I'm referring

9:59

to. But but, I mean, I'm

10:01

talking about the activism in the

10:04

classroom where the teacher is bringing their

10:06

own political So

10:08

the answer sounds like is yes. Yeah. Anticipate

10:11

rollback. I thought you meant, like, roll it

10:13

back to I I don't know.

10:15

So

10:16

let me reask. At

10:18

this point, would you like to see

10:20

a rolling back of classroom

10:22

discussions? based on the current

10:24

events of the last five years. So

10:26

LGBT issues for one,

10:29

certainly how race and history are discussed

10:31

in the classroom. It's certainly

10:33

another. I think what we would hope to

10:35

be done is just to adhere to the

10:37

standards of providing each

10:39

side without bias. So

10:41

if

10:42

you wanna but do you see why I'm asking?

10:44

Like, if if you feel like something has

10:46

gone to excess -- Yeah. --

10:47

it sounds to me like the remedy is to

10:50

pull back.

10:50

or you could say that they

10:53

haven't been following what

10:56

Let's

10:58

say, you

10:59

got people going on the extremes,

11:01

you know. So And you wanna roll

11:03

those people back? Yeah. I don't know. I don't know. I don't

11:05

know if rolling back is the

11:07

Right term. I'm I'm I have to

11:10

agree with Amy. It's about getting back to

11:12

basics and teaching the

11:14

standards. What's

11:15

so

11:19

interesting

11:19

to me about that is that

11:21

we are in this age where everything if

11:24

people are talking at each other and in

11:26

bumper sticker slogans and

11:28

people have the slogans down,

11:30

but when you actually just sort of try to

11:32

lower the temperature and actually

11:34

listen to what somebody's saying and respond to them

11:36

as a human being and sort of

11:38

start to just explore what they're

11:40

saying, it's disarming

11:42

to people and sometimes they don't

11:44

know how to

11:46

put away the bumper sticker slogan and actually

11:50

express what they actually think or or

11:52

even explore what they actually think. Yeah.

11:54

And they're

11:55

people are on guard a little bit, you

11:58

know, and rightly so. Their words can be

11:59

weaponized against them, etcetera.

12:02

And The

12:03

goal of the conversation, at least

12:05

my opinion, is not to

12:06

change minds. You know, I don't have

12:08

that kind of sense of just like the power of

12:11

conversation. It's

12:11

more like What would this

12:14

conversation be like if we actually listened a

12:16

little bit? You might come away

12:18

with different understanding. You might come

12:20

away

12:20

with a better understanding of

12:23

how to talk to people you disagree

12:25

with, which battles to fight over the course of

12:27

a conversation. and how

12:29

to open some doors instead of

12:31

close them. And I'm hoping

12:33

to make the strange familiar.

12:34

Right? Like, that there will be a lot of communities

12:36

that people hear from and

12:37

that they'll go I did not think I had anything

12:39

in common with a sex worker,

12:41

you know, or like I did not. I

12:43

didn't know what was

12:44

going on for gender affirming care

12:46

doctors. Like I've only seen it in headlines,

12:48

I think we've got a lot of interesting shows

12:51

coming out.

12:52

You can check out the assignment wherever

12:54

you get your podcasts and follow, so you

12:56

won't miss any episodes.

13:01

Thanks,

13:01

Anderson.

13:03

What

13:03

does hybrid work mean to

13:05

you? For some, it means working from

13:08

anywhere with anyone at any time.

13:10

For others, it means the chance for

13:12

opportunity, flexibility and dependability.

13:14

Cisco is making hybrid work simple,

13:17

secure, and consistent for each of

13:19

us. So

13:19

log in and connect knowing that

13:22

someone is making sure everything

13:24

is safe for you and everyone

13:26

everywhere even here. Because

13:28

nobody makes hybrid work, work

13:30

better. Cisco,

13:31

the bridge to possible.

13:33

Hey, Joey. I just wrapped

13:35

up the podcast series I was listening

13:37

to, and I'm looking for something new that

13:39

will also Expand

13:41

my mind. You got any suggestions?

13:43

Oh, yeah. I definitely have one

13:45

for you. It's from CNN and it's called

13:47

chasing life. with doctor Sanjay

13:49

Gupta. This season's all about unique

13:51

sensory experiences, like

13:53

people who can taste colors or folks who have a

13:55

hard time recognizing faces. There's

13:57

even an episode about how psychedelics can

13:59

help treat depression. Well, thanks.

14:02

Chasing life sounds like a podcast I need to

14:04

follow. Where can I get it? Bob, you can

14:06

listen to chasing life, add free

14:08

on Amazon music. It's included with

14:10

Prime. Alright? Chasing life, add free

14:12

on Amazon music included with

14:14

Prime. I'm following

14:15

now.

14:19

Okay.

14:19

Before we start, a little bit of personal

14:21

history. My

14:22

mother was an elected school

14:24

board member. In my

14:25

small hometown outside of Boston, this was

14:28

back in the mid nineties, That

14:30

meant she spent long nights

14:32

at meetings in salary fights

14:34

with teachers unions or

14:36

with parents angry

14:38

over a lot of things, fast

14:40

forward to today, and I have a kindergartener. And

14:42

I can't get these images out of my

14:44

head of parents Raging at

14:46

school board members last year.

14:48

Thank

14:51

you for your

14:51

time. Your

14:54

time is up.

14:55

My time is never up because

14:56

I am in school. This

15:02

wave of parent activists

15:04

were upset about how schools handled the

15:07

pandemic, handled teaching

15:09

gender identity, handled issues

15:11

of race, diversity, is

15:14

a code word for anti

15:17

white. Since

15:17

when did the public school system take it upon

15:20

itself to become the moral authority from which

15:22

our children learn their values?

15:23

After

15:25

so much deception, radical

15:28

politics, and eruptions of violence,

15:30

we are pulling our son today from this

15:32

school district. who will be taking

15:34

responsibility.

15:36

But the thing is it wasn't some

15:39

pandemic

15:39

induced moment. It's the latest

15:41

chapter in a long running movement.

15:43

And the

15:44

historians who study this stuff say school

15:46

battles are really just proxy fights.

15:49

what

15:49

it means to be American.

15:51

So I wanted to know more about

15:54

these activist parents. What

15:56

drove them to activism? And

15:58

now that they have

15:59

power, what

16:01

do they plan to do with it? We

16:03

need more critical thinking. We need to be teaching

16:05

our kids to think for themselves and to have their own

16:08

opinions and we need to be supportive of that.

16:10

Unless a parent thinks it's

16:12

inappropriate, then

16:12

they can make a phone call to a tip line. Right?

16:15

And say, I didn't like the way that went down.

16:17

Well, and that's a discussion to be had between

16:19

the school board and the parent. and

16:21

it's uncomfortable, but we need to be

16:23

having discussions.

16:23

I'm Adi

16:26

Cornish. This is the assignment.

16:30

I'm not

16:30

gonna pretend that the parents rights

16:33

movement is new. I grew up

16:35

outside of Boston in the decade

16:37

after the school busing crisis.

16:39

when parents angry over mandatory integration

16:43

fueled riots in the late seventies.

16:45

And I was part of a voluntary

16:47

busing program. so I get it.

16:49

Covering education over the years, I

16:51

found that most of these stories

16:53

were really about power.

16:55

The analogy that works for me is the family dinner.

16:58

Adam Lattz is a historian of education

17:00

at Binghamton University, and he

17:02

studies the power struggle over what belongs in

17:04

the classroom. We think about schools

17:06

as America's dinner table where

17:08

everyone comes and has to sit down

17:10

and has to get along for

17:12

a certain amount of time. It makes sense that this is

17:15

where all the underlying tensions,

17:17

all the long festering angerers

17:20

get expressed from time to time.

17:22

And without going too far down, the

17:24

historian rabbit hole, one of the

17:26

most interesting of those times he told us

17:28

about wasn't BOST in

17:30

nineteen seventy four, but Kanaw

17:33

County in nineteen seventy four, that's in West

17:35

Virginia. And that's where a school board

17:36

fight about so called multicultural

17:40

tech spokes, spiraled into a

17:42

boycott. But the violence continued. And

17:44

bombings. Then, shattered

17:46

windows, chairs, scattered

17:48

about. What was left of

17:50

missus Catherine Albright's first grade

17:52

room at Midway Elementary School at

17:54

Campbell's Creek West Virginia.

17:57

Alright.

17:57

But let me back up because like I

17:59

said, it all started with textbooks.

18:02

Three hundred and twenty five of them. By

18:04

the way, I'll do it, so not give and respond

18:06

ability for me to educate my children. Now

18:08

that's from a school board meeting. It was on

18:10

June twenty seventh

18:11

nineteen seventy four in Cannott

18:13

County. We feel that in no way, Cannott's

18:16

type of literature, benefit, and further our

18:18

children's education. We do

18:20

not want any

18:21

teachers to assign

18:22

any of this material

18:25

at any time for any of our

18:27

children to read.

18:30

West Virginia. It recently tried to

18:33

modernize its curriculum. And remember this was

18:35

a tumultuous time in the US

18:37

with civil rights and women's

18:39

rights and the Vietnam War all in

18:41

the mix And around the

18:43

country, there was a

18:45

progressive push, not only to

18:47

integrate classrooms, but also to

18:49

integrate reading lists. the word they use

18:51

at that time, a more multicultural set of

18:53

authors for literature. So

18:55

for example, they intentionally include more

18:58

black authors but they also included

19:00

authors that wrote non

19:02

traditional poetry, so like e e

19:04

Cummings. The school board had been

19:06

prepared to approve these new books suggested

19:08

by the state, but there was one

19:10

member who objected. And her

19:12

name

19:12

was Alice Moore. We've got to

19:14

let them know that the parents, want a boy to let

19:16

their children are studying in move. Sweet Alice

19:18

says she came to be known in the controversy. She

19:21

was an experienced conservative

19:23

activist, and she ran for school

19:25

board because she wanted to make

19:27

schools more traditional, more conservative, in

19:29

her words, more American and patriotic.

19:32

After Alice more

19:32

objected to the new curriculum, rumors

19:36

spread through the county. And

19:37

there was no Facebook at the time, but

19:39

there were paper flyers passed

19:41

around by parent groups And

19:43

these flyers claimed the new books promoted

19:45

reverse racism and

19:47

criminality. Let's call it

19:49

fake news nineteen seventy four.

19:51

So in June, the school board meeting

19:53

was packed. It was in a gymnasium

19:55

and the windows of the gymnasium were packed.

19:57

You know, people were

19:59

sticking their their heads in to

20:02

try to cheer and

20:03

see. There were more than a thousand

20:06

people, parents, teachers, pastors,

20:08

representatives from groups like

20:09

the West Virginia Civil Liberties

20:11

Union. And then here comes the part that's

20:13

gonna sound familiar. We absolutely

20:16

refuse to have the liberal point of

20:18

view pushed upon our children. We

20:20

declare all the taxpayers

20:22

We pay your salary with the

20:25

judicial office. The under

20:27

signed citizens and

20:29

taxpayers of cannot County, whereby

20:31

petition the Board of Education to

20:34

deny the use of certain

20:36

textbooks in the schools of

20:38

this county.

20:41

I have seen two

20:44

If you

20:46

listen close, you can hear the boos on the

20:49

tape there. The

20:51

audience cuts in so often that the chairman

20:53

keeps threatening to the rim.

20:56

After three hours

20:59

of back and forth, they decide to

21:01

buy most of the textbooks. and

21:03

the vote is three to two. But there

21:05

was no way

21:06

that fight was gonna end just like that.

21:08

Now with the history of this

21:10

county,

21:10

has a real strong,

21:12

powerful tradition of of labor

21:15

activism. So when

21:17

school politics got

21:19

heated, the people in Cannock County, you

21:21

know, as as labor

21:24

activists, but also as minors, They

21:26

had not only traditions of of boycotts

21:29

and picket lines, but they had

21:31

also things like dynamite, and they

21:33

used it. Things

21:34

more or less moved in that

21:36

chronological order.

21:38

You had nearly ten thousand people

21:40

stay home during the boycotts.

21:42

kids, bus drivers, truckers, yes,

21:44

coal miners, and then someone

21:46

grahiied Nazi symbols onto

21:49

school buildings. some people took

21:51

shots at school buses on their way

21:53

to pick up the students who were still

21:55

going to school. And

21:57

then, the

21:58

bombs. planted

21:59

at three

21:59

elementary schools and

22:02

dynamite thrown into a school board

22:03

building. In Canal County, West Virginia,

22:06

there was violence today in the

22:08

continuing demonstrations against the use of controversial textbooks

22:10

in the schools. The Charleston Gazette

22:12

said in an editorial today, the

22:14

county is near anarchy.

22:16

Okay.

22:18

So

22:19

we aren't at this point yet,

22:22

but the argument about parents'

22:24

rights It's back. And argument about political

22:27

indoctrination in the classroom is

22:29

back. And as more

22:31

progressive ideas about race

22:33

and gender take hold in the mainstream. Some

22:37

conservatives have felt their grasp on the

22:39

definition of

22:39

what it means to be an American

22:41

slip. And

22:42

in the past few years, we've seen an increasing

22:44

number of parents elected to school boards

22:46

who want to focus on their

22:48

right to

22:49

determine how we should teach our nation's

22:52

history and how and

22:54

if schools should talk about

22:56

race and gender. So next we're

22:58

gonna hear from two people the

23:00

center of it.

23:01

It makes it sound like we're gonna go

23:03

back to Jim Crow laws or something like

23:05

that. It just sounds like this negative

23:08

connotation when actually all we want to

23:10

do is have

23:12

school be a place where you're

23:14

focused on reading,

23:17

writing, arithmetic. More

23:20

in a

23:21

minute.

23:23

In today's

23:25

work world, it's not just about

23:27

finding solutions to recover in the face of

23:29

change. It's about continuing to

23:31

thrive, innovate, and collaborate,

23:34

despite our adversities. Cisco

23:36

helps you make hybrid work work

23:38

for each individual and team, simply

23:41

securely and consistently. So

23:43

log in and connect knowing that someone

23:45

is making sure everything is safe for

23:47

you and everyone everywhere

23:50

even here.

23:50

because nobody makes hybrid work work

23:53

better.

23:53

Cisco, the bridge to

23:55

possible. I

23:58

think I

23:59

i think speak for most parents right now

24:01

that have decided to stand up and speak out

24:03

my school board meetings being called domestic

24:06

terrorist. You know, I'm a

24:08

mom. I'm a small

24:10

business owner. I

24:11

just want to be able to

24:13

advocate for my children.

24:16

That is April Carney.

24:17

She's about to be sworn onto her

24:20

local

24:20

school board in Daval County,

24:22

Florida.

24:22

She and a bunch of other people earned

24:24

the endorsement of Florida governor Ron

24:27

DeSantis who is, like, not

24:29

subtle about where he stands on

24:31

culture war issues in the classroom. Florida

24:33

is the

24:34

state where woke goes to

24:37

die.

24:38

Amy Coffey also recently

24:40

elected to her local school board. This

24:43

was in Lansing, Kansas, and she's

24:45

gotten criticism for some of the stance that she's

24:47

taken as well. immediately since

24:49

I had questioned critical

24:51

race theory, and I had spoke at

24:53

the school board. I was immediately, you

24:55

know, being called a racist

24:57

and message things that I was a racist

25:00

and it got pretty

25:02

nasty, but we just I just tried to stay

25:04

strong. I worried about my

25:06

daughter.

25:06

I worried that they would maybe call her

25:08

a racist at the high school because of

25:10

that. Amy Coffey has been on

25:12

the board since January. her

25:14

governor who is a Democrat actually vetoed a parent's

25:17

rights bill there and then her

25:18

district passed their own version

25:21

anyway. So

25:22

this year, both April

25:24

in Florida and Amy in Kansas,

25:27

while they started the school year in,

25:29

let's say, changed environments.

25:31

I

25:31

actually think we had one of our best

25:33

starts to the school year yet, so

25:36

I'm very happy with that. In

25:38

April,

25:38

what about you? I have to agree. I think that

25:40

we are off to a great start. I

25:43

think there's a very comfortable, transparent

25:45

feeling going on in the beginning

25:47

school year this year. I feel like you guys

25:49

are both on the edge of smiling. Are you

25:51

feeling good? Yes. Yes.

25:54

Bay

25:54

vaguely victorious. Neither

25:57

of these two women had run for office before

25:58

they ran for school board. But

26:00

then twenty twenty hit

26:02

and school closures

26:04

gave them a new perspective.

26:06

This is April. I have

26:09

to say, you know, we were we were

26:11

only closed for a short period of time

26:13

here in Florida from March till the

26:15

end of that school year. And

26:17

I have to say that was

26:19

just enough for me to get a tidbit

26:21

of how hard it is to be

26:24

an educator. It was a struggle.

26:26

It was frustrating. I had said

26:28

to my husband and I said, you know, I really hope

26:30

he go back to school next year because I don't

26:32

wanna ruin my relationship with my

26:34

two girls. you know, I'm

26:34

not an educator. That's not what I do for

26:37

a living. And so I think

26:39

it put parents

26:39

in a pickle. Amy,

26:41

I hear you nodding. I don't know if you have a question

26:44

for April or a story to

26:46

share with your sixteen year old.

26:48

For

26:48

her, it was the social isolation from

26:50

not being in school and then

26:52

the depression that sunk in.

26:54

It really affected the

26:56

mental health, I think, of the

26:59

kids. So but then all of a sudden, you're

27:01

home, you're feeling a little bit

27:03

helpless. What makes you

27:05

decide You

27:05

know what? I need to, like, do

27:07

something

27:08

about what I am

27:09

seeing. I see problems that I wanna do something

27:12

about it. This is

27:13

April. For me, it was

27:16

actually when we

27:17

opened back up the following year.

27:20

We went through a whole process. Our our

27:22

district went through whole process of

27:24

online board meetings with

27:26

the superintendent. I didn't feel like

27:28

I was being listened to when I would stand up

27:30

at school board meetings and speak for my

27:32

three minutes. So, you know, if

27:34

you have a school board meeting where

27:36

sixty five parents stand up and

27:38

say, we no longer want our

27:40

child to be forced to wear

27:42

a mask, and then they vote

27:44

against you. That's how you

27:46

feel like you're not being listened to.

27:48

I also

27:48

spoke at our school board meeting

27:51

too. before I was elected,

27:53

and they sent out the survey

27:55

to the parents to ask if they

27:57

wanted their children to go back to in

28:00

school learning. and over

28:00

eighty percent responded saying

28:02

that they did

28:03

want their kids to go back and then

28:05

they weren't going to vote for them to go

28:07

back five days a week. They just disregarded that.

28:11

Amy also spoke up at another school

28:13

board meeting about Critical Race

28:15

Theory. The school district was arguing

28:17

that they were not using the legal theory taught at

28:19

the college level, but that they wanted to

28:21

take a comprehensive look at slavery

28:23

in the US. Amy

28:26

worried that would include materials from the

28:28

New York Times sixteen nineteen

28:30

project. And then there was this one book

28:32

in particular

28:32

that really bothered It was being

28:34

used at the school approved social

28:37

justice club. It was

28:38

this book is anti racist.

28:41

and

28:41

it had clear

28:45

CRT, you know, ideals in that

28:47

book. Yeah. I think this is a book by

28:49

Tiffany Jewel. This

28:50

book is anti racist, and and the full

28:52

title

28:52

is twenty lessons on how to wake up,

28:55

take action, and do the work. It's it's

28:57

very much

28:57

an activist book. and

28:59

have a teacher child, you know, to do that in different ways.

29:02

And which part of

29:02

it to you is the most objectionable? Well,

29:06

it was a partisan book that the

29:08

country is inherently racist

29:10

and formed on racist ideals

29:13

and that if you're not

29:15

anti racist, racist. I mean, it was a

29:17

very strong book that I think. What

29:19

I want

29:20

is to keep that out of

29:23

the classroom. focus

29:24

on the core curriculum.

29:26

There are

29:27

so many things now that

29:28

fall under that

29:30

category, like one of criticisms

29:32

about some of the bills about

29:34

what to teach in classrooms is that

29:36

they're so wide open to interpretation.

29:39

Mhmm. Like, what is the circumstance where someone

29:41

can talk about race or

29:42

racism in the classroom and who decides

29:45

that? One

29:45

part with ours is that our

29:49

parents, if they they can object

29:51

to in a learning material in our

29:53

principal rights, if the

29:55

material they feel that that harms

29:57

their beliefs, values their prints So

29:59

in some

29:59

instances, it may be that the lesson

30:02

is still taught, but their

30:04

child does a different lesson. And part of our

30:06

parent's bill writes also does say that

30:08

the weeks spec the teacher

30:10

and educator of each child that

30:12

they will endeavor to present the

30:14

facts without distortion, bias,

30:16

or personal prejudice. and who decides that.

30:19

So if it's

30:19

if there's a history of slavery in the country, is

30:21

that a fact? I mean, you should be

30:23

teaching about slavery, of course.

30:25

but you could, you know, you

30:27

you wouldn't, I guess, when you would throw

30:29

in your own personal bias

30:32

or prejudice is when you would

30:34

say that for

30:35

instance,

30:36

like how the sixteen nineteen project did.

30:38

Howard Bauchner: Yeah, April, I don't know if you want

30:40

to help here. Obviously, in Florida, this has

30:43

been talked about a lot. What your

30:45

sense of what's the dividing line?

30:47

I

30:47

think that in the classroom, when you're

30:49

opening for discussion, you're presenting the facts, I

30:51

think that you have to be able as an educator

30:54

to talk about both

30:56

sides of the topic.

30:57

Right? I mean, I think that you need

31:00

to be able

31:00

to sit there and moderate your

31:03

students and open them up to

31:05

critical thinking. What do you feel about

31:07

this? What do you think was

31:08

wrong that happened, you know, during slavery

31:11

in our country. Do you

31:13

feel that we are growing from that

31:15

experience? Do you feel the opposite? I

31:17

think that that's the issue. But

31:19

under these parent bills of right, like,

31:22

can they do

31:23

that? Or have you created a

31:25

scenario we're raising those kinds of

31:28

questions is subject to challenge by

31:30

a parent who feels they're inappropriate

31:32

to ask. I don't feel

31:35

that that's the case. I

31:37

think that the issue at

31:39

hand is that there's only one

31:41

side that's being spoken about.

31:43

It's not being presented

31:45

in a well rounded manner.

31:47

Right. You've got to teach the history without

31:49

teaching any of that other kind of context

31:51

or how do you think about it? Well, it just

31:53

that falls into how it

31:55

is being taught, whether it's being taught.

31:57

With bias, are you teaching

31:59

American history with

32:02

the overarching theme that

32:04

this is a racist country, it's

32:07

still a racist country, or are

32:09

you teaching just

32:11

what has happened and let the

32:13

child form their own ideas on what

32:15

has happened throughout history

32:18

and the changes that have been made

32:20

and that have occurred

32:22

good or bad since then and

32:24

let them form their own opinions

32:26

through critical thinking. The

32:28

perception is that

32:31

people in your position are trying to

32:33

roll back

32:34

certain policies. whether

32:36

that is discussions around social

32:38

issues, etcetera. Do you see

32:40

yourself as rolling back excess?

32:43

No, I don't. I I think unless

32:45

you're talking about just maybe over the last

32:47

five or

32:48

six years? That's what

32:50

I'm referring to. But mean,

32:52

I'm talking

32:53

about the activism in the classroom

32:55

where the teacher is bringing their own

32:58

political answer sounds

32:59

like is yes. Yeah. Anticipate

33:01

rollback. And I thought you meant, like, roll it

33:03

back to I I don't

33:06

know. So let

33:07

me re ask,

33:09

at this point, would you like to

33:11

see a rolling back of classroom

33:14

discussions? based on the current

33:16

events of the last five years. So

33:17

LGBT issues for one, certainly

33:20

how race and history

33:22

are discussed in the classroom. It's certainly

33:24

another.

33:24

I think what we would hope to

33:26

be done is just to adhere to the

33:29

standards of providing each

33:31

side without bias. So if you wanna

33:32

but do you see why I'm asking? Like,

33:35

if if you feel like something has gone to

33:37

excess -- Yeah. -- it sounds to me like

33:39

the remedy is to pull back.

33:42

or

33:42

you could say that they haven't

33:44

been following what

33:49

Let's see.

33:50

You got people going on the extremes,

33:52

you know. So And you wanna

33:54

roll those people back? Yeah. I don't know. I

33:56

don't know. I don't know. Rolling back is the

33:59

Right term.

33:59

I'm I'm I have to agree with Amy. It's

34:02

about getting back to basics and

34:04

teaching the standards. So

34:06

getting

34:06

back is the term you'd prefer to use. Yeah.

34:08

I think it's

34:08

back to basics. We need like I said, we

34:10

have so much learning loss that's happened

34:13

because of the pandemic. Right. But

34:14

either way, it's a it's a going back of something. You

34:17

want to draw back on what's happened. Yeah.

34:19

I think we need to focus on

34:20

what's important and that's

34:23

you know, educating our children to

34:25

be able to graduate from

34:27

high school. Why

34:28

are you guys scared to say this? And I

34:30

I'm not

34:31

picking on you. I I'm genuinely

34:33

confused. If you've both seen an excess,

34:35

you've seen something go too

34:37

far. Why the

34:39

fear around saying let's

34:42

pull back from a thing that's gone too far. Well, it

34:44

makes it sound like you wanna roll

34:46

back to the times when you

34:49

know, like, we're gonna go back to Jim Crow

34:52

laws or something like that. It just sounds like

34:54

this negative connotation

34:56

when actually all we want to

34:58

do is

34:59

have school be a place

35:01

where you're focused on

35:03

reading, writing

35:06

arithmetic, We're focusing on all of these other issues that

35:08

could be addressed at home

35:11

with the parents. Well,

35:13

thank you

35:13

for letting me dig

35:14

into that. I always wanna make sure that

35:16

I'm totally clear on what's being said to me,

35:19

so I'm not misconstruing things. I

35:21

don't want to lose sight of kids in

35:24

this. I asked students

35:26

what they thought of political battles

35:28

finding their way into the classroom.

35:31

I gave them no direction on what

35:33

political battle that

35:34

might be. And

35:36

here is one of them.

35:38

How is it that my existence

35:41

is

35:41

a threat to

35:43

other people because

35:44

my existence in my identity,

35:47

my sexuality, my

35:49

gender, that's me. and

35:50

the same goes for everybody else in

35:52

this world.

35:53

And no one else should

35:54

have the right to try to silence

35:58

me or silence anyone else no matter how young, how

35:59

old. It's such an important

36:02

part of myself and I know that

36:04

for other trans kids. It is

36:06

a important thing for them too. And

36:08

I think the fact that

36:10

we can't even express that in

36:12

schools or we're supposed to be safe where

36:14

we are encouraged to grow and be

36:16

ourselves. I just think that that is

36:18

completely

36:19

unacceptable. What do you hear in the

36:21

voice of a student like that? I

36:23

think that we're putting

36:24

these kids under a microscope.

36:29

And I actually think that by

36:31

drawing more attention to

36:34

the struggles they're going through,

36:37

it's actually putting more pressure

36:39

on them. I

36:40

have a friend of mine who

36:42

whose son is gay. and has

36:44

come home and said, mom, it's

36:48

all

36:48

day, every day. It's nonstop.

36:51

I feel like I'm being singled

36:54

out, and I really just

36:56

wanna be with my peers and

36:57

go about my school day.

37:00

And so

37:00

I

37:02

think there's a way to be

37:04

inclusive

37:04

without making it a spectacle. And

37:06

I think that's

37:07

what it's become

37:10

And in turn, it's actually having a negative effect

37:12

on these kids that are struggling with their

37:14

gender identity. And I think if

37:16

there was less focus on

37:19

it during the school day and more focused on academics and

37:21

just being a kid, I think

37:23

it might lessen lessen

37:24

the pressure for her. I

37:27

feel I feel for her. I do empathize

37:29

with her. Here's

37:30

what else

37:32

students are hearing. for

37:35

instance, Florida governor Ron DeSantis. Right? He

37:37

was speaking before the moms for

37:39

Liberty Summit over the

37:41

summer in July. and here's

37:43

a sample of that speech. We

37:46

also drew a line in the sand

37:48

and said, you know, in the state

37:50

of Florida, A parent should be

37:52

able to send their kid to

37:54

kindergarten without having woke gender

37:56

ideology shoved down their

37:57

throat. We're not

37:59

gonna have some first grader be told

38:02

that, you know, yeah, your parents named

38:04

Giuliani. You were born a

38:06

boy, but maybe you're really

38:08

a girl.

38:09

What's your response to

38:10

that? And and I'll start with you April because

38:12

you were among the candidates that

38:14

he supported. I think that

38:16

a five year old

38:18

who still believes in Santa Claus and

38:21

the Easter bunny doesn't need to

38:22

be taught about gender ideology. I

38:25

think once you go through puberty and you

38:28

start to figure out who you are and your

38:30

hormones start to even out,

38:32

then yes. If that's how you're feeling and if it was

38:34

my child, I'd be completely accepting of

38:36

that child. But I think at that

38:38

age, it's not necessary in

38:40

the classroom. House

38:43

Bill fifteen fifty seven is about age

38:45

appropriate curriculum. Not one

38:47

place in that

38:48

bill, does it mention anything

38:52

about

38:52

singling out children for their,

38:55

you

38:55

know, persuasion. Right. I

38:57

mean, it doesn't help

38:58

if the governor goes out and it's like, we're

39:00

gonna

39:01

stop this being shoved down your throats,

39:03

it's just being woke.

39:04

Like, that language is not. I mean,

39:06

correct me if I'm wrong, does that language feel as

39:08

careful as you guys are being?

39:11

know, I think I

39:12

think he's speaking for a lot of parents

39:14

that are tired. Yeah. I just think that

39:16

I think that he's, you know, he's a dad

39:19

too. He's got

39:19

three young children. And

39:22

there's a

39:23

there's a lot of

39:24

folks out there that just do not agree

39:27

with what's going on. and

39:28

we can be accepting and

39:31

inclusive of everyone without

39:32

the out putting such

39:35

a microscope

39:36

over it.

39:38

and

39:38

that's what's happened and it's being picked up by the media and it's being

39:41

picked up on social media and

39:43

it's being portrayed in pushed

39:45

and pushed and pushed and it's all you

39:48

see. And what is

39:50

I just wanna make sure I'm following. That life's

39:53

style, the lifestyle of

39:55

the LGBTQ community.

39:58

It's

39:58

it's that's what you choose to do,

39:59

and that's how you feel in your heart, and that's

40:02

who you are. That's

40:04

completely acceptable, but

40:06

it doesn't mean that the rest of the

40:08

world has to be just like you. I

40:11

just cannot stop me for a second. Just I wanna ask you in

40:13

particular because you're in Florida. What

40:15

people are seeing

40:17

is a Governor backing, right, some two

40:19

dozen candidates. And I

40:20

you can correct me if

40:22

I'm

40:22

wrong. You you actually had to say

40:25

that you agree with his agenda.

40:28

Mhmm. This is something he's speaking about

40:32

nationally. It does not seem like it's just

40:34

about helping out parents.

40:36

He's backing candidates. It seems

40:40

very political. Well, I

40:41

think that, you know, the reason why he and

40:44

the first

40:44

lady decided to do this is

40:46

because people just

40:47

simply weren't paying attention at

40:49

down ballot races. but

40:51

it's not that it's a political. Like, we are

40:53

looking at a political movement. Yeah. I

40:55

mean, well, I think it's it's apparent

40:57

movement is what it is. Amy, can

40:59

I ask you about this as well? You

41:02

ran explicitly as a conservative.

41:04

Yes. The idea

41:06

that politics we're not already in that and that it's bringing it

41:08

in, I would disagree

41:10

with,

41:10

because it has already been in

41:13

there, the NEA. the

41:15

teachers unions across the country

41:18

are highly political. Right.

41:20

This is the National Education Association.

41:22

So to you, it is about bringing

41:25

mean, you have an ideology as well. You're not you're

41:27

saying that you're not pretending you don't.

41:29

No. I'm not. I'm not pretending I don't.

41:32

But what I would like in

41:34

that

41:34

ideology as a conservative viewpoint

41:36

of that is to keep

41:40

the politics out of schools that

41:42

I know that I run as a conservative,

41:44

but that's one of the conservative

41:46

views is that we so you can see how that's

41:48

hard

41:48

square. Right? Like, just as an average

41:51

voter. Well, you have lots of political people

41:53

saying they're being a political and they

41:55

all want control of your students

41:57

and syllabus. Right? Like, it seems it seems

41:59

all

41:59

political. I can see

42:02

how you you

42:02

might feel that way on the

42:06

other side, but I feel Not other side, but, like, objectively.

42:08

Right? Like, if someone says, I

42:10

am a conservative, I want to run

42:12

for this position that's usually

42:15

considered non partisan because I believe that my

42:17

ideology brings something to this. It

42:19

is explicitly political. Well,

42:22

it reason why

42:24

I would say that I was a conservative

42:26

is because that way, it it

42:28

shows, you know, your values and

42:31

your views on points so those conservatives

42:33

would have a voice. But as a

42:35

part of a

42:36

school board, I need to listen to all sides

42:38

and that can come back on

42:41

on us too, like, you have

42:43

to watch for both sides being brought,

42:45

you know, into the classroom.

42:47

I don't want the Republican

42:50

side, if you wanna call it that or the Democrat

42:52

side brought in, I want just

42:56

the facts. My

42:57

mom ran for

42:59

a school committee. Uh-huh. This was

43:01

a huge part of my growing up. Yeah. So

43:03

I'm sort of intimately aware

43:06

of how these battles can play out. Right? And I had school friends whose parents

43:08

were teachers and they were in the union and it

43:10

was a whole thing. What I learned

43:12

from that time though was so much of

43:15

this is about control.

43:16

Who is in control? Who gets to draw

43:18

the lines? Who gets to say what is

43:20

appropriate or

43:21

not appropriate? Do you

43:24

feel

43:24

like And especially after we

43:26

started this conversation

43:26

where you said in some ways you felt helpless,

43:29

do you feel like you

43:30

have more control now?

43:33

This is Amy. As far as

43:35

myself, I'm still only one vote out of seven, but I

43:38

do feel like at

43:39

least I can

43:42

assure that parents

43:44

have a voice. And when they bring

43:46

those concerns to me,

43:47

I do have that control where I can

43:49

make that known to the board. and

43:51

and specifically conservative parents.

43:52

Right? I mean, that that was part

43:54

of your campaign to see how it can be a

43:56

voice for you. It is

43:57

the conservative, but I've

43:59

also had two or three recent

44:02

issues that came up these people. They were not

44:04

for what I

44:07

ran for. but they had

44:09

some other issues that needed to be addressed. And I went to bat

44:12

for them. I knew they

44:14

didn't vote

44:14

for me. I knew they didn't agree with me

44:16

on a lot of these issues. In fact, one

44:18

had spoke out on that. But

44:21

I'm happy to say, I

44:23

I can set that as side because I

44:25

have a job to do, you know, as a board member, and it's about the kids. And

44:27

I did that. I mean, honestly,

44:29

I think

44:31

that when you decide to run

44:33

for public office like I did. Do I have my own

44:36

personal

44:36

values? Absolutely. Does

44:38

that mean that I am going to

44:42

be biased when it comes to the overall district

44:44

and what's best for our teachers and

44:46

students? Absolutely not.

44:48

And I

44:50

am so glad that I'm going to get the opportunity to serve community

44:52

and that

44:52

we are going to be able

44:54

to have more robust conversations

44:58

as a school board because now we're gonna have more diversity of

45:00

thought. And I truly believe that when

45:02

you have a more balanced

45:04

school board,

45:05

that those conversations will

45:07

be more

45:10

productive. Going

45:12

forward, what

45:13

do you feel about

45:15

school board races, which in the past

45:17

were at least perceived

45:20

as being kind of uneventful and

45:22

maybe

45:22

and maybe

45:23

apolitical. How do you feel about

45:25

the fact that they

45:27

will become more explicitly partisan.

45:30

I

45:30

would be fine with it

45:32

being either way. Let's face it.

45:34

The country's divided. I mean, our presidential elections

45:37

were very divided. Our

45:40

senate is, you know, almost evenly

45:42

divided. Right? There's division

45:44

all over the country, and I don't think

45:46

it's any shock that there's some in

45:48

the school boards too now. April,

45:50

do

45:50

you feel similarly? Is it okay to have a more

45:52

hyper partisan environment at the school level?

45:55

To some extent,

45:56

yes, because I think again,

45:59

as I

45:59

mentioned about people not

46:02

paying attention to down ballot

46:04

races. We can't just focus on the

46:06

presidential election anymore. the

46:08

local level is it's most important

46:10

and it affects the most important citizens

46:12

of this country and that's our children.

46:15

And so, are there a lot of informed voters out

46:18

there? Yes. Are there a lot that are

46:20

not absolutely.

46:22

And so, To some

46:24

extent, to make it a more

46:26

partisan race, it helps those

46:28

that are low information voters make

46:30

a decision based upon what

46:32

they believe. And

46:34

again, it also It's sort of

46:36

depressing. Like as a parent, I've

46:38

got no. I mean, I've got kids under the

46:40

age of five. Mhmm. and I turn

46:42

on the news and I look out in

46:44

the world and I do see, like,

46:47

conflicts and

46:47

history and they

46:49

need of critical thinking skills, which I very

46:51

much hope to give them. But it sounds like

46:53

you guys are saying, like, don't do that

46:56

in school. Oh, no. I'm a

46:58

I'm a huge That's kind of sending them out in

47:00

the world being, like, wait, can we talk about

47:02

the LGBT issues? I ran out. What do you think

47:04

about racism having more

47:06

critical thinking in the class I think that's

47:08

what we're lacking. We need more critical

47:10

thinking. We need to be teaching our kids to think for

47:12

themselves and to have their own opinions, and we need

47:14

to be supportive of that. unless a

47:16

parent thinks it's inappropriate.

47:18

Then they can make a phone call to a tip

47:19

line. Right? And say, I didn't like the way that

47:22

went down. Well, and that's a discussion to had between the and

47:24

the parent, but we need to be having

47:26

these discussions. And it's it

47:28

needs to happen,

47:29

and it's uncomfortable, but

47:31

we need to be having discussions. I welcome

47:33

parents' commentary. We have to be able to listen

47:36

to one another so that we can come together.

47:38

It's the only way it's ever

47:40

gonna happen.

47:42

That was

47:44

April

47:44

Carney of Daval County,

47:46

Florida, and Amy Coffey

47:49

of Lansing, Kansas.

47:51

The assignment is a production of CNN

47:54

audio.

47:54

Our producers are

47:57

Alex Stern, Madeleine

47:58

Thompson, Jennifer Lai,

48:00

to showcase Samuel and Alison Park. Our senior producer

48:02

is Haley Thomas. Our

48:05

supervising producer is

48:06

supervising producer

48:07

Steve Flicktide. mixing and

48:09

sound design by David Schulman.

48:11

Artwork designed by Nicole

48:14

Pesserou and

48:16

James Andres. and

48:18

our

48:18

technical director is Dan Dezula. Support

48:21

from Adam Levy,

48:22

Osmanor, Sonia

48:24

Tung, Erin Matthewson, Katie Hinman,

48:27

Lindsay Abrams, Tamika Ballens Kalasini,

48:30

Refina Ahmad, and

48:33

Lisa Namuro.

48:35

special thanks to Theo Balchem.

48:37

Abby Swanson is our executive

48:40

producer. I'm

48:40

Adi Cornish. Thanks for

48:43

listening.

48:50

All

48:52

there is with Anderson Cooper is presented by

48:55

Cisco. Collaboration,

48:56

security, networking, cloud,

49:00

and applications are all integral in the new era of hybrid

49:02

work. Cisco is bringing it

49:03

together with agility, efficiency, and

49:06

growth where you

49:08

need it. Cisco

49:08

is making hybrid work simple, secure, and consistent for

49:11

each of us. So log

49:13

in and connect knowing that

49:15

someone is making sure everything is safe for

49:18

you and everyone everywhere.

49:20

Even here,

49:20

because nobody

49:21

makes hybrid work

49:24

work better. Cisco,

49:24

the

49:25

bridge to possible.